#TBT

Well it's officially week 35 and a new bump photo is overdue.  It may have something to do with the fact that my belly has literally doubled in size recently or the just general blah-ness of bedrest (there are not a ton of showers and even less days of make-up/hairstyles/acceptable outfits).  In any case I decided it is time to mix it up... and visit some baby days of mark and i.  Maybe this little flashback will help us decide who she really looks like when she finally makes her appearance...

Sneak Peak of our Little Girl

Mark as a little guy, within a few weeks of birth

Andrea's Newborn Photo (we have no idea what i was so scared of)

Showered with Love...Part 1

i was blessed to have a beautiful baby shower in Arizona over easter weekend, thrown by the ladies above (Chris, Heather and Kim).  a huge thank you to all three for putting on the best shower! tt was a really good time and great to see some friends from near and far, especially due to my current hermit status.  

Decorations and  gifts

cupcakes, mommy advice and creepy babies

make a onesie station

the shower had a lot of great details, including delicious food from one of my favorite places, yumm postinos, and also my favorite cupcakes ever.  when in phoenix, you need to eat an ooey gooey cupcake from tammy coe bakery.  they are seriously addictive, especially since i normally wouldn't pick chocolate as a favorite but it is hands-down the best.  trust me, i have eaten a lot of cupcakes to make this statement.  there was also an adorable make little baby stukel a onsie station, with some adorable iron-on's and onsies in lots of sizes.  

enjoying that delicious cupcake

it's amazing how much love this little girl received, and i think her baby wardrobe may already outdo her mom's.  i can't wait to see her in all the cute outfits and use the baby gear we received...

getting assistance

finniest gift, a pacifier that says 'mute button'

gift for mom!

Hop Hop Hop...32 weeks

how far along:32 weeks, which is a major milestone as we can finally deliver at our planned hospital with our own doctors. 

size of mom: + 20 lbs, but started to retain water at the end of the week :( goodbye calfs, hello Flintstone feet

size of baby: babies estimated weight is 3.75 lbs, she is getting big 

belly button: out.. all the time

cravings: strawberries, milkshakes, brownies, spicy food, cereal

best of the week: an awesome baby shower (post on that to come)

worst of the week: the bloating and heartburn that have come on strong.  new rule of the house is no food after 8 pm, or i will pay for it come bedtime. 

bedrest activity summary: 

completed 2 books this week (5 total since this started).  watched way too many episodes of terrible tv, this weeks favorite is teen mom.  i figure it's getting me ready for parenting, just do the opposite of what they do!  i also did a fair share of shredding old paperwork, working from home, and prepping for baby, which basically means internet shopping.  I did score an awesome deal on the kiinde bottle warmer from zulilly, and ordered a breast pump through our insurance company, thanks affordable care act!

as it was easter weekend, Bob and Chris, came out for a nice although mellow visit.  we had a great time laying low, and luckily the arizona spring weather cooperated.  i do want to point out that i was extra lucky at dice, i think the baby is competitive.  

in other news this week, the pups got a little extra focus.  pebbles had a grooming appointment, where a stir crazy mom had a pink streak added to her hair... oops.  both pups visited the vet this week for their annual appointment as well.  we are trying to focus on completing some of those tasks before most all of our attention is on the little one.  

we also had to say goodbye to a special friend this week.  Flat Stanley came to visit us from Christopher's school and we have had a great time hanging out with him while he was here.  Hopefully he will have a good time sharing all the AZ fun we had when get gets back to the classroom.  

31 Weeks

how far: 31 weeks!

gender: definitely still a girl, reconfirmed ultrasound after ultrasound

size of mom: +18 lbs

size of baby: a pineapple (or a coconut depending on which website you look at, a pineapple is easier to draw).

belly button: still out-ish, changes by the day and position, a few more weeks and it will be turkey timer out!

cravings: still in check but definitely loving milkshakes, still love spicy food, strawberries, watermelon

best of the week:  mark spent the weekend building baby furniture and we decided on furniture placement (we think, or at least for now).  it is such a pretty and peaceful place, i have been going and sitting in the gilder to read for a change of location.

worst of the week: umm bedrest, although it really hasn't been too bad yet. today i had the great idea that i should get one of those mobility scooters, think daytime tv commercials, you can't hold me down :)

bedrest activity summary: new category i know, but i thought it would be fun to summarize what i have accomplished (using this word loosely).  since admission to the hospital i have finished 2 books, and am well into book 3.  I have organized my desk area, which was in major need, clearly bedrest is good for blogging since i am actually doing this post and still 31 weeks preggo!!!

since the last post it has been a crazy few weeks.  at 29 weeks and a few days, i had an episode of bleeding that was scary, and the doctor on call sent us to the labor & delivery triage at the hospital to see what was happening.  they hooked me up to the baby monitor, the bleeding had stopped with no etiology and we thought we were going to be cleared to go home.  what happened next shocked us, as i was apparently contracting at a rate that was too much for 29 weeks (i saw apparently as i couldn't feel them at all) and my cervix had started to change, or in other words we had early preterm labor symptoms.  they ended up admitting me, giving me a course of steroids to help the baby's lungs mature, and putting me on this awful drug called magnesium sulfate (awful for how you feel, but man it works).      the next 4 days we got to spend as a practice run at the hospital.  it really was a good practice run as i have a way better idea what to actually pack in my hospital bag and mark did a good job bringing me those items as we realized we need them.  needless to say i was released sunday morning (week 30 day 1) and we got to go home to start bedrest and some oral meds.  since then i am on weekly doctors visits to check on things and make sure we have no progression in labor symptoms.  so far so good, little girl and i have some serious talks about how even though she thinks she is ready to get out and exploring, she needs to stay put for at least a few more weeks.  32 and 34 weeks are big milestones and we are taking it a day at a time.

one last fun note, at out ultrasound check this week, we were able to confirm that the baby has hair!

Sneak Peak

It has sure been a crazy few weeks, but 2 weeks ago we had our growth ultrasound (and what we thought would be final look).  our littler baby obviously had different plans, but we were pretty pleased with the photo shoot.

28 Week 6 Day Images:

Standard Profile Shot

an even better profile view

her precious little face

Big Yawn!

5 toes accounted for...

it's amazing how we can see her little face, just wondering how similar she will look to these when she comes out.   so far we have decided she has my checks and marks toes!  they estimated her weight at 3 lbs 3 oz here, which puts her in the 65% for size.

27 Weeks

so i realize it's been a little while since there was a proper bumpdate, but needless to say, the bump has definitely grown.  let's get to the good stuff:

how far: 27 weeks and less than 3 months.  eeks!  time has sure gone fast

gender: still a girl, although not apparently according to how i am carrying.  i have had multiple women at work argue that it must be a boy, that would sure be a shock at this point.

size of mom: +15 lbs and out of room for her stomach

belly button: out-ish, it is right on the cusp, some days a little more out than others, we are on thin ice for the full inversion to occur.  also it is time to mention that this stat has caused me massive anxiety for the last 8 weeks, i was truly unhappy about the fact that my belly button was going to pop out like a turkey timer.

best of the week: there are a lot of good ones over the past few weeks, having my aunt vicki and dale in town was really a great time.  of the technical last week, i would have to say a sunday afternoon date with the hubby, including a 4 mile bike ride to joyride taco shop, a nice leisurely and delicious lunch (complete with a $5 happy hour pitcher of beer for him) and the ride home to settle the tummy.  plus the fact that i can still ride 8 miles.

worst of the week: having to work on saturday.  bad timing for the office to be extremely busy at the time energy is starting to wane.

we also started work on the nursery the last few weeks.  first step was cleaning it out.  it is amazing what gets stored in a room that you really didn't need.  we also got all the painting done, ironically we changed it from the existing butter yellow color (probably perfectly suited for a nursery) to a greige color.  the closet doors also got replaced, removing the gold trimmed mirrored doors with the white trimmed mirror doors from our master (we are then adding some nice closet doors in the master, exact style tbd). carpet has been selected and is being ordered this week.  i also finally ordered the rest of the nursery furniture so we should have a close to finished project within a few weeks time.

i think the 'nesting' bug has hit both mark and i, so as we wait for our carpet install to keep moving on the nursery, we have also started to upgrade the spare bathroom.  before and after pictures to come.

week 28 is an exciting one (since we are halfway through at this point)... with the dreaded oral glucose test at this weeks appointment.  on a positive note, we do get our last scheduled ultrasound and look at the little before she is born.

cheers!
A

Babymoon: complete with Beignets and Parades

mark and i have had a busy month, with the definite highlight being the long weekend we spent in the BIG EASY.  it was a little extra b-day celebrating for me, plus a nice last adult getaway before our little arrives.  

upon arrival in new orleans, we were pleased to learn it was Mardi Gras time.  confused, but pleased.  the confusion was due to me looking up when Mardi Gras (the specific day was to ensure we skipped that craziness) but not realizing that the city celebrates the Mardi Gras season for weeks before the specific day.  which meant that we got to watch lots of parades, and catch lots of beads.  contrary to popular belief, they just throw the beads in the parade, no flashing required.  what happens on bourbon street in the wee hours of the night is still a mystery as this preggo and hubby were in bed by then.  our favorite parade was the dog parade, or barkus.  unfortunately for the little pups, it poured a few times throughout the parade.  

NOLA is a good place to be when pregnant from a food perspective, and indulging in the local cuisine was a definite part of the trip.  some favorites were the fried chicken dinner (andrea) at little gem, this cool jazz club where we caught a dinner show, shrimp and grits at cafe amelie (mark), charbroiled oysters from acme oyster house (both).  seriously the food was so good, i am salivating as i reminisce.  

we had a cruiser bike tour of the city scheduled, which started out great.  our guide was a native new orlinean (sp?) and had great knowledge of the cities salacious history with great delivery.  the tour was cut short due to severe down pouring, but we did get to see/learn some before getting caught in this building, in a local cemetery.  luckily the rain let up and we were able to ride back to the bike shop, were not asked to pay and received some great restaurant recommendations before heading on our way.  all in all it was a wonderful weekend, and i think we both wished we had a little longer to escape the daily grind.  I'll wrap it up with a few more photos from our trip (also please excuse my insane expressions in the photos, i was apparently determined to not take a decent photo the entire trip). 

view of the superdome from our hotel

i wasn't in pain, i promise

commander's palace, garden district

beignets and cafe' au lait (decaf)

along the mighty mississippi

Marie Laveau's Grave