30 Week Reflections

Ok so I was waiting to post this until I uploaded pics- not happening apparently so here goes anyway:

Written 7/18/2011
So I have hit the 30 week mark and the nugget is the size of a head of cabbage. I feel like this is a huge accomplishment- not that I have really done much to facilitate it happening besides watching the time go by but still I feel like its a huge thing to be 30 weeks pregnant.

That means I have 10 weeks left to get everything done- YIKES! Dan of course promises it will all come together and I know it always does but when you start looking at the weekends and how we have plans every one of them from now until labor day it feels like this baby is going to sneak right up on us- (from what I hear that really isn't possible but a girl can dream).

So Dan painted the nursery this weekend and we got all the closet organization things to put up. I took a picture really quick because I was getting yelled at for being around the fumes :) (which I swear I will try to add soon ) . All this preparation got me thinking back to when I first found out I was pregnant... cue wavy lines and silly music...

We had already decided to get a puppy because after the loss I wanted something to fill that feeling plus we knew if we waited until I was pregnant we would decide it was the wrong time etc... etc... We had the puppy for 2 days and I was sitting on the floor holding him crying and Dan asked what was wrong- I told him that the puppy wasn't house trained and then we were going to have a baby and all I was going to do was clean up pee/ poop for the rest of my life. He tried very hard not to laugh and then explained calmly to me that we had 7 months + to train him and it would be fine.

So with 10 weeks left to go... my puppy is (mostly) house trained except for a few accidents here and there. He is adorable and fun and I wouldn't trade him in for all the world. I can only imagine that being a parent is going to feel like this times a million. And I can't wait to find out.... (but not until the furniture is here and the windows are put in).

See you in September "smallest searles"!

Naturally Prepared????

So this past weekend we took our childbirth preparation class. HA! Just the title of that class is an oxymoron- with the amount of variables involved how in the world can you be "prepared"? Anyway, it went very well and I think we learned some- specifically Dan did not realize how much you moved during labor- i.e. you don't just lay in a bed and have the baby- there is apparently walking, squatting, birthing balls etc...

Taking the class made me think more about wanting to try to give birth naturally... I think.... maybe. I hate the idea of interventions because they usually lead to more interventions and women had been doing this for years without help so I would like the chance to allow my body to do what it is suppossed to do on its own. I talked to Dan who suprisingly had an opinion on this (I figured I would get the "whatever you want") and he agrees with me so I guess that is the plan... for now. I just hope I am strong enough and capable enough and brave enough to do it.

So this brings up all sorts of "are we prepared for this tiny human" questions so I thought about what we have accomplished so far...
1. Nursery is 2/3 painted
2. New windows are ordered
3. Old furniture is moved out of the room for the most part
4. Nursery furniture is ordered.
5. Registry is completed- which was a hilarious endeavor that spanned multiple trips to the store, many hours of me pouring over reviews, Dan getting a little gun crazy which in turn made me spend more time editing, and the two of us staring at walls of bottles blankly trying to decide which ones we needed.

Annndddd.... thats it. We do not have a name for this nugget and my house is in all states of disorganization from my attempts to organize. We have to wait for the windows and the furniture and the shower to figure out our next steps....So I ask you who have done this before...

Are you ever REALLY prepared???

I'll keep you posted on the progress and hopefully get some pictures up here soon.

7 Months Pregnant = 3rd Trimester!!!!

So I made it to the third trimester! I am not sure why this seems like such a big moment although I guess its because it is the mark of the last trimester meaning I am getting closer to meet the "smallest searles" and that is really exciting... and terrifying. But mostly exciting! The baby is approximately 2 1/2 lbs and 14 inches long or the size of an eggplant. Besides the normal pregnancy fatigue and some occassional round ligament pain, I have been feeling great. So far the registry is *almost* complete, Dan is painting the baby's room and I just recently had to wear a maternity shirt (still a little too big) but the rest of my shirts are too small. Baby shower is being planned, we have brought the baby mini-golfing and to its first Jimmy Buffett concert- all in all so far so good.

Things I love about Pregnancy:
1. Not feeling (too) guilty for relaxing at any given time
2. Letting Dan bend down and pick up the mini golf balls because it makes me short of breath so Dan does it for me
3. Not having to pick up the puppies accidents because it made me nauseous in the first and second trimesters and short of breath now
4. Not feeling guilty for napping on the weekends
5. Being able to stop worrying about "sucking it in" because I am suppossed to have a belly now
6. Blaming any "bad" food that I want to eat on the fact that baby "made" me
7. Being able to definitely say I want this to eat and have nobody argue

And most of all... the way Dan treats me. See for those of you that know my husband, you know he is a wonderful man but perhaps not the most demonstrative of types. Ever since we created this baby he is extra sweet and extra caring and a little over protective and I know that I am going against all feminist ideals here but I LOVE it. It is so amazing to feel so taken care of and I know he has always taken great care of me but it feels different now in a way I cannot really explain. Maybe it is because in taking care of me he is already taking care of our baby and that by far is the sweetest thing.

Happy 3rd (and FINAL trimester)!