12 weeks to go

Hello all!

Had my 28 week appointment yesterday and everything is great. My belly measures 28cm from top to bottom (which is perfect since you're supposed to measure the same as your weeks), my glucose tests came back fine (meaning no gestational diabetes) and my iron levels are perfect (meaning I'm in no way anemic). Violet moves around a LOT, and mostly when I'm going to bed or just sitting still (like now, while I type this). So far so good!

Turns out, the reason for my rib pain and the severity of pain below my sternum are due to my body releasing a lot of relaxin for some reason. It's not dangerous or totally uncommon, but I just seem to be producing a lot of it at the moment, according to the doctor. Maybe that will make for an easier labor? Well, one can hope ;)

We finished our baby classes and, although I feel more prepared, I'm also more nervous about the pain of labor than I had been in the past. I guess as it gets closer to the due date, it becomes more real. I'm really, really against any medical intervention unless there is something wrong with me or the baby or we're in danger for some reason. I don't want Pitocin, I don't want an epidural, and I don't want a C-Section. I've already discussed it with the doctor and she's on board for just letting me proceed as necessary and not trying to speed up the process in any way. That makes me feel a lot better. You just hear so many of these stories about women who just can't handle the pain and go for the epidural immediately that, on one hand, I feel like "Maybe I'm being totally unrealistic about how painful this is?" and on the other hand I feel like "Listen, if my mom could do it naturally 3 times and my sisters could do it too, why wouldn't I be able to?" I realize everyone's pain tolerance is different, but I've been through/done some very painful things in my life, so I can't imagine I wouldn't be able to breathe through this, knowing the result is having my baby girl in my arms :)

We're getting ready for our trip to see my family and we're both totally excited! Got Rob some gloves and a hat (which he probably won't wear) and we got some travel stuff, like containers. My doctor also gave me a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. I want to avoid taking it, since it is a narcotic, but sometimes this pain in my chest is really, really horrible and I can imagine that sitting on a plane might just increase the discomfort. I'll have them for emergency use only, basically. Other than that, I'm just doing a SHITLOAD of laundry and trying to get packed today so I don't have to think about it during the week since I'm working.

The baby shower is Saturday and I'm really looking forward to having my friends and family (what family I have in California) with me, as well as my "new" family, a.k.a. Rob's family :) Thanks to EXTREMELY generous friends and family (some of whom can't make it to the shower and some of whom threw me a shower before I left L.A.), we already have the crib and mattress, the crib set (bumper, dust ruffle, comforter, sheets), the changing table, the high chair, the breast pump, the Baby Bjorn, and various other goods like the room monitors and clothing and decorations. It's just unbelievable how generous and amazing our friends and family members are and I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed. It's overwhelming.

Well, I'll be sure to post pictures of our trip and everything when we get back (unless we have down time in Maine where I can upload the photos from the camera).

Hope you all are well!

Special delivery

Meet our new baby, Jamal...

Clearly, he's already wondering what Willis is talking about.




(This is the baby we [or should I say "I"] picked in our Baby Basics class last night LOL Every time I looked over at it, sitting in Rob's lap, I cracked up! I mean what is WITH that FACE??)

Pics!

Me at 27 weeks...





Comparison shot of 13 weeks, 21 weeks, and 27 weeks...





Our living room...




Our dining room...





Our kitchen (taken from the dining room)...




A panoramic view of what we see outside of our bedroom sliding glass door/balcony...

Holy exhaustion, Batman!

Well, the apartment is almost totally taken care of. We/I have boxes to go through before we can store them in the closets and I need to put all of my clothes away, but otherwise things have really come together nicely. We bought a coffee table and a bookcase (our first furniture purchases as a couple) as well as some floating shelves for the living room walls. We also bought paint and Rob painted the baby's room on Saturday! I'll take some pictures when we have better light in there - we only have a small table lamp on the floor right now. But the wall the crib will go against is "Whisper Yellow" and the facing wall, where the changing table will go, is called "Rejuvenate" which is a pale green. We're talking about changing the curtains in the room to a kind of slate grey, which is the other color in the "classic pooh" collection stuff we registered for. Just don't want them to look too heavy on the white wall. ANYWAY, this is only interesting for a few of you so...

Rob took some belly pics last night and, as soon as I get them from him, I will post them. In them I'm wearing a black sweater with thin white stripes on it (thank you, Heather!)
and from the front you can't really tell I'm pregnant LOL It's a total optical illusion... but when I turn to the side... BLAMO! I was laying on the couch last night while Rob was making peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips (mmmmmmm!!!!) and Violet was going crazy (she moves a LOT now). I looked down and could actually watch my belly jump and undulate every time she moved!! I called Rob in from the kitchen and made him sit and stare at my belly until he saw it!
It was so funny and exciting and just WEIRD! Of course Rob says "Hey!!! There's something in there and it wants to get out!!!!" ;)

It's hard to believe that, as of yesterday, I only have 3 months to go. We're gearing up for our trip to Los ArkanMaine (we're visiting family in Los Angeles, Arkansas, and Maine all within one week starting Feb. 2) and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone. I'm a little concerned about the traveling, if for no other reason than my on-going rib pain. Just sitting here typing this out has made my ribs hurt so I can't imagine what 4+ hours per flight is going to feel like. Maybe if we tell them we're pregnant they'll bump us to business class for free on each flight ;) We definitely plan to take advantage of the "If you need extra time to get to your seat, you may board now" policies!

I suppose that's it for now! I have to make an appointment to get my gestational diabetes test tomorrow and I have my next doctor's appointment on Jan. 28. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes and will update with pictures soon.

I promise I will update again very soon...

... but I HAD to post what Rob just said:

"It's like 6 months ago I was a single guy with a cat. And now, not only are we a couple, but in 4 months we're going to have this other person here that's never gonna go away!"

LOL

Pics in the next post, I promise!