Well, it's been almost a month since I last wrote a post. Yikes! The time has been flying! Right after finding out the sex of the baby we started planning the nursery and getting our baby registry together. Both of those have been unexpectedly time consuming. For some reason no one I knew had a list that they could give me to help build my registry so I built mine from scratch using the internet and oodles of advice my hubby and I have been getting so far. So my finished registry list is awesome! My sisters and friends who have their 1st babies after me will love me:) I am an excel junkie so my list is in excel of course and is complete with the brand of the item I registered for along with prices and website links. It helps because we can easily see how much we might potentially spend on baby just during the first year (not including daycare of course...LOL). Right now we're up to over $3k! Geesh! Understandable though. All those little things add up.
So it took me about 3 weeks to finish our registry. I wasn't working on it 24-7 but I was definitely thinking about it 24-7! It took me 1/2 day to decide which diaper pail to register for (made a spreadsheet for that decision too - complete with first hand user feedback and pros and cons of each brand - I'm nuts, I know). Every little thing required thought - it even took me over an hour to decide which bibs to add to the list. And for those larger items... oh boy! Deciding on a travel system required multiple days of thought and multiple trips to Babies R Us to test them out. So it was a challenge - especially for a momma-to-be with decreased brain function - or "pregnancy brain" (no, it is not just a myth or an excuse for women to act ditzy. It's an actual scientifically proven phenomenon that women loose brain cells while pregnant!). My hubby attempted to help at various times, but he did not understand the importance of selecting the best kind of nipple for our baby bottles or what to look for in an infant bathtub. So I usually fired him after a couple minutes. He also kept telling me that stores will still be around after the baby is born and we don't have everything nailed down before the showers or before baby arrives we can buy stuff in the winter or even next spring. Argh - he's right I know, but he is not in nesting mode so he doesn't get it! In my pea sized, yet stubborn brain, we HAVE to have everything that we can possibly have ready by the time the baby arrives! I don't care if they are onesies for a 12 month old. They will be hanging in the closet, ready for him to wear by the time he pokes his little head out into this world! I know, I know, I know! I'm being incredibly unreasonable, but I can't help it;P
Coming up with the nursery plan/theme has been equally consuming. Things have been falling together much easier for that one though. We bought a crib already that we love from Target and know where most of the other furniture will come from and where they will go once we get them. The day we found out we were having a boy, I became a pinterest junkie. I started out thinking we would just get a nursery-in-a-bag from Babies R Us, throw some paint and a couple decals on the walls, and call it a day. But when I saw the possibilities and all the cool designs that are out their for kiddos these days, I changed my mind and started to dream in bold stripes and chevrons. Also did research on what is most stimulating (yet not overly stimulating) for babies while their eye sight is still developing. Turns out that the calming pastel colored themes and intricate patterns, while pleasing for adults, are not very stimulating for babies at all. Interestingly, black and white stripes are best and most interesting to babies early on. Bold, contrasting colors and bold patterns will work also. So we are going with bold turquoise, grey, and white with splashes of orange and green. The patterns in the room will be either chevrons, stripes, or some other bold pattern. I have also become a frequent Etsy visitor. Many of the items I have on my pinterest board have originated on Etsy. I like the idea of supporting small businesses who are selling a unique product that they will customize for you rather than going to a big-box retailer where everything was mass-produced by machines and sweat-shop workers in China! Frankly, I wish we could have gotten all our baby stuff on Etsy - but the stuff on there is not cheap and at a certain point it gets to be unreasonable. But at least all of our nursery bedding and other textiles (minus receiving blankets and clothing) will come from various sellers on Etsy.
Baby has been doing great through all this and I have been feeling okay too. I am waking up feeling as though I've been hit by a bus more often though - so I think the quality of sleep I'm getting is lacking. That and my feet are beginning to feel the effects of the pregnancy - they ache all the time. But other than that, nothing too terrible. We had our 20 week ultrasound and OB appointment last week. The ultrasound was more intense than the usual 20 week anatomy scan. It checked for 8 markers of chromosomal abnormalities. Everything came back looking great - and baby is still a boy - LOL! OB appointment was good as well. I put on the recommended amount of weight - much better than my 16 week checkup where I had only gained 1 pound in 4 weeks. I am up to a total of 15 pounds gained so far and baby accounts for only 11 oz. of that weight. LOL! Oh well. I am supposed to gain 1 lb. every week from now until delivery so that will put me at a total of 35 lbs gained - not too bad. I will weigh the same as my hubby which will be a shocker, but it's to be expected I suppose! Most of current weight gain is in my boobs I'm sure. They are monsters! Really are driving me nuts. With my burgeoning belly it is hard to get a bra under my boobs for adequate support without feeling like I have a rubber band stretching across my breast bone. My boobs end up resting on my belly anyway regardless of whether or not I'm wearing a bra. So that's uncomfortable. Ah the joys of pregnancy! At least my boobs don't hurt anymore. My uterus has been taking over in the pain department though. It has been aching a lot lately. I guess a common complaint of the second trimester is 'round ligament pain' caused by the stretching of the ligaments that support the uterus. I seem to have this most of the time on my sides. Moving around seems to alleviate the pain, but sometimes it exacerbates it:( Driving on bumpy roads is especially uncomfortable! What else.... my heartburn seems to have gone away and oh! Duh! I've felt baby moving around! At first I thought it was just digestive gurgles and stuff moving in my intestines, but it's different than that. My gurgles usually come with noises and such but these other movements have no sound and really don't feel like anything is digesting. Another way to describe it is that it feels like someone is flicking me with their finger from the inside. Hubby has felt it too - usually in the mornings baby seems to hop around impatiently waiting for mama to get up and eat something. Baby's activity also depends on what I eat. He is more active after I eat sugary things. The other day at a local strawberry festival I ate a huge serving of strawberry shortcake complete with ice cream and whipped cream. Baby was dancing all over after that! It was the most active that I've ever felt him. I just started feeling these movements last week. I was at my OB appointment and I asked if it was normal to have not felt anything yet. She said anytime b/n 18 & 22 weeks are when most women feel their first movements so nothing to worry about. Literally the next day, I felt baby moving. It's not with regularity yet and I'm not supposed to keep count until I reach the 3rd trimester - still exciting though and makes it more real that I am pregnant (if my bulging belly has not proved it already)!
So up next is my 24 week OB check in mid-July and then a week after that we will have the fetal heart echo ultrasound. The echo was recommended just because we had ICSI done and there is a slight risk of heart defects with that procedure. But at this last ultrasound, they took a good look at the heart. The doctor said it looked great and the heart rate was right on at about 140 bpm. So not too worried about it. Just another opportunity to see baby! After that u/s though, it will be the last that we will see of him until he arrives! It's crazy to think that in just a little over 4 months, we'll have a real baby boy in our arms:))
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