35 weeks

We're almost there!! At 35 weeks, baby Sean is still about 20 inches, and weighing in well over 5 pounds, about the size of a honeydew. While he isn't gaining much length at this point, he is gaining weight, a.k.a body fat. Right now, average babies are about 15 percent body fat, by his due date he should be about 30 percent. His kidneys and hearing should be fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. At this point, he is really just staying in there to get more body fat so he can keep warm outside the womb, and continue to allow his lungs to develop before he takes that first breath of real air.

As for me, I am so done with being pregnant LOL! And Mike apparently is too. I don't think I complain too much, but physically I am soooo ready to have my body back. I thought I was pretty much done with the whole swelling of the feet thing.... not so much. Now they actually seem to swell more when I am asleep, as opposed to before, when being in bed all night was my only relief to swelling. Also, my uterus is apparently up under my ribs at this point, which I can definitely feel! Baby is usually pretty good about not kicking me too hard or too often in the ribcage, but when he does it always startles me!

I have my 36 week appointment scheduled for Thursday (35w5d), and then I think we will schedule an ultrasound for my 38 week appointment. My placenta is still not in a safe place for normal labor and delivery, so he wants to check it once more closer to my due date. If it's still not out of the way enough to allow me to dilate safely, I believe they will schedule a c-section at that point, which I understand will be that week. So we may be welcoming Sean into this world in the first week of February if that is the case!

This next week, I have my last day of work to look forward to!! I am working Monday through Wednesday, scheduled off Thursday, then Friday will be my last day! I also scheduled half of a paid vacation day on Friday, so I only have to be there for 4 hours, yey!! I am so looking forward to being able to take naps during the day, and have that extra time to get everything ready for our new arrival. I am just crossing my fingers and praying hard that Mike can work a little more before the baby is here... My little bit of income was not much, but it was something, and it will be non-existent from Friday until the baby comes, and even then, I think for short term disability I only get 60% of my pay. So if you think about it, our financial situation could use your prayers!!!

Overall, I think we are both so ready to welcome our son into this world. I know we are in for a big surprise, and a lot of sleepless nights, but we are also in for the next lifetime of experience being parents, and I am so thankful for that!

32 weeks

This week, Baby Sean is weighing close to, or maybe more than, 4 lbs., and measuring about 17-19 inches (depending on what you read!). Pick up a large jicama to get an idea of what his weight is like. I'm supposed to be gaining about a pound a week from here until the due date, and about half of that goes right to him. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least some respectable peach fuzz) and his skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth. His head is down at this point, as it's probably the most comfortable for him as he continues to run out of space, and it's the direction he needs to be in to be delivered normally.

As for Mommy this week, I have all the typical 3rd trimester complaints- my ankles and feet are both swelling like crazy, and unfortunately I never get any full relief from it. My lower back and hips ache constantly, especially when I am sitting or lying down for long periods of time, and I tire very easily when walking or doing anything physical. I am starting to feel pretty useless at this point, and I am not sure what I will do because we still have 8 weeks to go! I was able to get the laundry basket out of the bedroom and I'm working on a second load to wash right now. I've been trying to keep up with the housework- it's easier when Mike is offshore, I try not to make too much of a mess by myself, and I don't feel like I have anyone to impress so the house is allowed to get a little dirty : ) I already told Mike if it bothers him that the house needs to be vacuumed or toilets cleaned that he is more than welcome to do so, but because his son is constantly kicking and pressing against my lungs it's getting to be more difficult for me to do it by myself!

Today I mailed out Christmas cards, went to Babies R Us and bought our stroller/car seat combo, and went to Target for groceries. I was able to spend about $25 less than I had originally anticipated, so that made me super happy- that money goes towards filling up the gas tank! I cannot wait until January 1st- Mike should have a decent paycheck coming in and I won't have to keep stressing about the cash flow in our bank account. We are crossing our fingers that his work stays steady through all of January, that way he can be home with Sean and I after the birth for a month or two (or three if we are lucky!) before he has to go back to work. It's a risky bet to make- his job is so seasonal and winter is usually very slow.

I guess I forgot to mention I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Everything was pretty good- I told him I was getting a lot of dizziness and shortness of breath. Part of the reason is my lungs and diaphragm are running out of room, so I am literally getting less oxygen to my brain sometimes ; ) He also ran some blood work, and said everything was normal but my blood sugar was a little high. He advised me to eat often, every 2 hours or so, and try to find low carb/high protein snacks so my blood sugar doesn't spike and then drop, which may be what's causing the dizzy spells. I got also my doctor's approval at our appointment on Wednesday to leave my work at 36 weeks, so January 15th will be my last day, woohoo!! That way I can be home resting/nesting until the baby is here, and at that point I will be on a short term disability for 6-8 weeks, with some pay. After that I am allowed up to a year off with leave of absence, no pay. I am not sure when I will schedule to go back to work, or if I will stay for long when I return. Ideally I want to find something where I can work from home, but I guess all of that will fall into place when it needs to.

30 weeks

Just as a disclaimer, at this point in the pregnancy, the updates I have been doing may vary a lot more for each baby, as development can vary so much. But just for fun sake, I will keep doing them anyway: D

At 30 weeks, our baby is about the size of a cabbage (our very own cabbage patch kid!) weighing in at about 3 lbs and getting close to 16 inches long. His skin is becoming more smooth, but his brain is getting more wrinkly, increasing the surface area making more room for that essential brain tissue. Now that he can regulate his own body temperature, he is shedding the downy body hair called lanugo which was previously keeping him warm.

We went to the doc on Thursday, and had another ultrasound. No good pics, unfortunately- he is a bit too big to capture very much in one screen, which is a good thing! I was 29w5d at my appt., but he was measuring at 30w3d- about 3 lbs. 8-9 oz. So our little man is growing healthy and strong! His head is about as far down into my pelvic bone as he can get- I am starting to feel the results of that. They were trying to get a good look that the placenta and my cervix, and his big head was in the way most of the time! They did see that the placenta moved a bit since my 20w U/S, but not quite enough. Doc says he still considers it placenta previa, just meaning that the placenta partially covers my cervix. He recommended one more U/S at 36 weeks, since it is almost out of the way, and it if continues to be stubborn, it just means I have a scheduled c-section instead of a normal delivery. In the meantime, I am on light duty activities for the most part, but I can continue to work until 36 weeks since it's just a desk job.

My sleep schedule is constant now for the most part- I wake up about every 3 hours. I am guessing that will be Sean's schedule when he gets here, I can't see any other reason why I can't sleep more than 3 hour at a time without waking up! He kicks a lot now, to the point where my stomach looks like there is an alien trying to break out inside! I was even telling Mike that I think he has somehow bruised parts of me on the inside. He will kick, and at first it doesn't bother me, and then he will kick another spot and it feels so tender it hurts. But I am so happy and excited to think about meeting this little guy, in as little as 6 weeks, or hopefully no longer than 10 weeks!

In other news, Mike was sweet enough to cater to my needs of having Christmas decorations up soon after Thanksgiving. He hung the Christmas lights on the house on Monday night with Josh, and then we picked out a tree and put that up in the living room. I was too exhausted to do much on Monday (I actually stayed home from work that day because the exhaustion was too much to handle) but then when I went back to work on Tuesday he got the tree all decorated for me! Our living room is a little short on space now, but it's beautiful. I have been listening to a lot of Christmas music, especially instrumental (my favorite). I broke out the Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker, and have been listening to that full blast in my car. They say having your baby listen to classical music helps with brain development- I don't know if it's true or not, but it calms me down and I like it, so that alone must be good for him.

Today Mike and I are off to Lamaze- I am so glad my friend Katie (who is 35 weeks tomorrow!) and her hubby will be there with us. Mike and I went to the hospital tour and birthing basics class on Tuesday, and it was waaaay too crowded for my liking, and I could feel the tension from Mike as he tried to not look like he wanted to run away screaming. So hopefully having some friends there will help make it more comfortable. Tomorrow is the baby shower and I am so excited! But the only problem is that it is at my house, and due to my extreme exhaustion, I have not been cleaning house much- and I am embarrassed to think about having so many people here unless I clean up a bit. I am going to see how much I can get done when I get home today, like a quick vacuum and tidying of the living room, and the rest will just have to wait.

29 weeks

11 weeks until the due date, 7 weeks until we're full term.... I am ready to be done with this pregnancy!! At 29 weeks, our baby is about 2.5 lbs or so, and longer than 15 inches (about the size of a butternut squash). He is almost at what his birth length will be, but he will at least double, if not triple his weight by the time he is due! His muscles and lungs are developing more and more, and his head is getting larger to make room for his growing brain.

This week mommy has been busy! For Thanksgiving, and we had about 20 people at our house for dinner! It was nice though- all we made was a baked 20 lb maple glazed turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin dessert bars, green bean casserole, apple cider, and stovetop stuffing. Everyone else made everything else! Mashed potatoes, fried turkey, more stuffing and yams, pecan pie, corn casserole, cranberry sauce.... all of it was so yummy! It was nice, because a lot of our friends are recent Louisiana transplants, so for most of them it was their first Thanksgiving away from their families... Mike and I, on the other hand, have celebrated 4 Thanksgivings here now, and are kind of used to the idea of doing it on our own. I am hoping next year we will be able to fly Sean to see some family for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we will see!

Mike also made some shelves to put in Sean's room- for books, toys, etc. They look very nice, I am very happy with them. It was hard to decide where to put them, since we have no furniture yet, but I think they will be fine where they are at, and we have our shower in a week, so hopefully we will have some things to put in his room at that point! I know it is a bit early for me to be "nesting" but I am so anxious to get everything done!! I am pretty sure that is why I am not sleeping well. I always feel like there is something more to do, not just in the nursery, but all over the house. It never feels clean enough, and there is always a project that needs to be finished. I am really trying not to overdo it, because my energy levels literally cannot handle it, but my brain can only take so much lying down!

Here's my 29 week belly shot. It's cold outside, so I feel like the layers make me look fatter than I really am, but oh well.

Baby is getting big now! I can feel his kicks (or punches, I guess) in my hip bones now, but he seems to stay away from my ribs so far. You can tell he is running out of room- when he is moving around a lot, my whole stomach moves like a wave, it's pretty neat looking. I am anxious for this upcoming week. We are doing a birthing basics class at the hospital, along with a tour, on Tuesday. Then on Thursday we have our appointment, where we will have another ultrasound to see if I still have placenta previa. Saturday is Lamaze for most of the day, and then Sunday is our baby shower!

I am hoping the Christmas lights get up on the house by the end of this weekend, and I can't wait to get a tree. Mike still hasn't been to work yet in about 6 weeks, so I am worried we may not be able to afford one, but we will see. Money is super tight now, with my decreased work schedule and waiting for offshore work, and of course baby on the way. I am trying with all of my heart to trust that things will all work out, just like they always do, but sometimes that seems highly unlikely, or even impossible.

That's all for now- next post will include ultrasound pictures, so look out for that!

28 weeks

Welcome to the third trimester!!! We are finally in the last leg of the pregnancy, and it's sure to be a doozy! Mommy is supposed to gain about 11 pounds this trimester (I gained more than that in both the first and second I think, so I am a little worried about the third- fingers crossed I don't gain too much!) and baby will probably gain 3-4 times his current weight by the end of it all!

This week baby is about 2.25-2.5 pounds, and about 15-16 inches long (about the size of a chinese cabbage). He is developing billions of neurons in the brain at this time, and his lungs are still getting stronger as the weeks go by. If I haven't mentioned it by now, his eyes now have eyelashes, and he has recently begun to experience REM, which means he may already be dreaming as he sleeps.

I went for my "28 week" checkup on Thursday, even though my weekly mark is always on Saturdays. I had my glucose screening then, which I assume went fine because I never got a call about my lab work, and no news is usually good news : ) The doc says everything is still great, his heartbeat was about 138, and after poking at my stomach a bit he said he is already moving into "position" which means his head at the bottom and his legs and booty are up top : D We scheduled an appointment for 2 weeks from Thursday (I will be going every two weeks from now until 36 weeks, then I will be going once a week until birth) and at my next appointment we will do another ultrasound! I am excited for that- we were only supposed to have the one routine ultrasound at 20 weeks, but since my placenta was partially covering my cervix at that appointment, they need to check it again and make sure it moves out of the way. Which means I get a few more snapshots of our precious baby boy!

When I posted my blog last week I got a little bit ahead of myself and may have been a bit too cocky- I mentioned how everyone around me (especially Mike) was getting sick and how proud I was that I avoided it.... Sunday night my throat was itchy, and my eyes watering, and my nose stuffy/runny- I ended up calling in sick to work Mon, Tues, and Wed : ( I am feeling much better now, but let me tell you, being sick while being pregnant is no fun at all!

This week my lovable husband finished painting Sean's room, I love it! I cannot wait to get the new carpeting, and get furniture in there, it will feel like a real bedroom! My friend Katie said the other day (she is 5 weeks ahead of me and just had her baby shower) that now that they have everything they need, technically they would be ready for their son to make his appearance any day now! And that just hit me- once we have everything we need to get started, and the bedroom put together, we should be ready for him to get here- all this time spent planning and anticipating, and the day is almost here! I can't quite grasp it yet.... But here are some pics of the room- one before, a few in progress, and then a few of the final product!

This is a pic of when our friend Doug was living in this room-

he was going for a "lounge" theme....

This is with the blue primer on top, and the first coat of the dark color on bottom, with trim still primed but not painted

Here we have all the trim and color complete, but the chair rail is not up yet, and the outlets are not the new ones.

These ones start the final product- Mike's mom and dad sent the picture on the wall, and the sailboat on the windowsill is Mike's, it's his first gift to his son : )

24 weeks

This post may be a bit short... I spent a lot of time on the computer last night and this morning organizing my pictures and putting up a blog post about our pumpkin carving yesterday.... so now I am tired of being at the computer, and I have lots of laundry to do today. So here goes!

So at 24 weeks, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball (goodness that seems so huge!) and to top of it has risen above my belly button now (which you can tell because my belly button looks totally different that it did before I was pregnant!) and our baby boy is about the length of an ear of corn, just about a foot long. He should have gained about 4 ounces in the last week. His brain is growing very quickly now ( I have been good about taking my fish oil/DHA supplements!) and so are his lungs- they are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree," as well as developing cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still very thin and translucent, but that will change soon.

As for Mommy, it is getting harder and harder to get comfortable, at any given time- sitting, laying down, standing. And I keep thinking "oh my goodness, can I deal with this for another 3.5 months?" My hips hurt at night- my body pillow helps a little, but we sleep in a full sized bed, so sometimes I think me and the pillow take up a little more than our fair share of the bed. And sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night on my back, with my arms up over my head. Not only am I not supposed to sleep on my back, but when I put my arms over my head they get very cold, because all of the blood leaves them, so they are sore in the morning. And it's difficult to breathe on my back. I can feel little pops in my lower rib cage when I breathe in very deep. Being pregnant makes me feel like my body is old and out of shape! But I am feeling pretty good other than that. I got a decreased work schedule approved by my doctor, so it has been nice to be able to go home early on some days.

That's all I got for now- Doctor appointment is this Thursday, as well as Angelia (Mike's mom in TX) is coming to stay for a night. I'll keep you posted!

In Home Daycare

This will be one of my first posts outside of my pregnancy week-by-week updates.... shows what's been on my mind!!

So I have been looking into becoming a stay at home mom. Nothing official yet, mostly because my current job has INCREDIBLE insurance benefits and pays pretty well for being in Louisiana with no college degree. But I am weighing the options of paying more for the insurance through Mike's company and then saving on the money for childcare. Plus I am really against having to put our child into full-time daycare before the age of two. I do want the social interactions, I plan on taking breaks to go out with hubby and do my own thing before then, but honestly if I can be at home for at most of the time for the first two years, I think it is best. Even if I worked part time.

So as most of you know, I used to teach at a Montessori preschool for 5 years before moving to Louisiana. I did after-school during my senior year in high school, then as soon as I graduated I took the Montessori training, and did a full time internship for the next two years. Then I had my own classroom for two years (well, a year and a half, actually- my room was still under construction for the first half of that year, my classroom opened I want to say February?) I absolutely loved teaching, especially the age group. I worked with a classroom of mixed ages 2.5-6. I don't know if I truly knew it was my calling until I stopped doing it. I have been thinking about it ever since. First I shied away from it because I didn't want another full time job, and was worried about taking a part time job as an assistant. Then my excuse was pay- I was making about $15/hr by the time I left WA. I would be lucky to make anything more than minimum wage in LA at any childcare facility. My lastest excuse (aside from pay and benefits) is that I am worried because it would be so different down here that what I am used to back home. I was in a high income, high class neighborhood where people paid approx. $800-$1200/mo for full time childcare, mom and dad worked for Microsoft kind of a thing. Not to mention the Montessori aspect is just plain different- in the South, there are a lot of public Montessori schools, for grades higher than preschool, and it just seems so very different. Honestly I was (and still am) intimidated by it, afraid I would get a job there and hate it.

So this brings me to what my "5 year plan" is.... I am hoping that I can figure out a way to stay at home with my baby, and maybe watch other peoples kids too as a source of income. Nothing huge- I know full time childcare down here tends to run about $4-500/mo, and I can't see myself charging that.

My concerns are few, but important. First, licensing. I called the Division of Early Childhood Development for Louisiana today- the info I have found online says they are in charge of licensing. I asked what do I do to get a license- they said for 6 kids or less in a home, no license is required. I was like, is that it? Yep. Ok then... that seems simple enough.... yet it feels like it complicates things. Nobody is going to make sure that I have a suitable home to watch children in it? I guess that's ok with me- I wasn't planning on advertising to watch strangers' kids, I was going to stick with friends and referrals.

Next question I have is insurance. Do I just get insurance through my homeowners? Are they even going to let me? We have an FHA loan, which is the kind of loan that allows to you put most of your loan into one- rather than say two loans, 20% and 80%, we have like a 97% loan or something like that. Because it is so much in one loan, they are very particular about what the home is being used for- they were very specific in letting us know that we had to live here for one- it's not a renter's policy, and they would drop us if we were to use it as one. So now I am nervous to find out about in home daycare as an add on. But I think it will be as simple as calling as asking... I am just not sure what to do if they say no way.

Last thing is money- Is it just as simple as setting aside a certain percentage towards taxes at the end of the year? Do I need some sort of a business license? How does that all work out?

These are just my ramblings as I prepare for the next chapter in life. Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.

13 weeks... and time for a VACATION

Heading into the second trimester.... according to What to Expect When You're Expecting, it will be next week, but according to thebump.com, it's in this week.... either way, I am getting bigger while Baby continues to grow : D

I have been reading both babycenter.com, and thebump.com, and they say baby is about the size of a medium shrimp, or a small peach.... about 2.9 inches, and almost an ounce.

Instead of quoting from the website, I will just compile some info from both sites- neither have a whole lot, so I will combine the two. Baby has finger prints now! And vocal chords are beginning to form. Baby is really working on getting bigger at this point- right now the head is about 1/3 the size if the body, almost to normal proportions. And the intestines are moving from the umbilical chord into baby's tummy. I am so excited to find out if it's a boy or a girl, so I can start using a name, and saying he or she!! I feel weird slipping with one or the other, like I feel bad if our baby is a boy and I accidently call him "she," etc.

As far as Mom goes, I have been going to my PT, which I think is helping. I still have sciatic pains, but it is more bearable now, and the exercises they are having me do are good for my already weakened lower back anyway, to prepare as I am getting larger. I still haven't gained too much weight, I don't think. Between weeks 5 and 9, I gained 2-3 lbs, which the doctor said is perfect. I have been checking my weight, since I am growing so fast and getting bigger than I expected at this time, to make sure it isn't me just pigging out and getting fat because I can- if my scale is right, then I have still only gained about 2-3 lbs since 9 weeks, and my next appointment is this Thursday, so I should be good. It has been tricky, because I was lucky enough to never have morning sickness, and I have been crazy hungry, so I have really been trying to eat healthy so as not to gain too much weight- with low back problems and too-weak abdominal muscles, gaining too much weight would be worse for me than beneficial. What's tricky about it isn't eating too much- it's the fact that I crave cookies and ice cream and greasy french fries and burgers and pizza. It's ok, I have also been craving meat and fruit, so I have been going with that- healthier meat options (chicken and homemade meals with hamburger meat rather than McDonalds) and tons of fruit- I usually have an apple, peach, grapes, strawberries, plum, blueberries... all in one day!

So enough about my food options- this week is vacation week!! I don't go back to work until August 17th, whoopee!! I was planning on heading to Austin this morning with Buddy to relax and spend some time with Angelia, but of course (the story of my life) Mike wrote me online this morning to say he will be home today, which is unexpected. We were pretty sure he would be working on the job he was at for at least another week. So of course I didn't want to drive 6 hours by myself that way at 11 am, just to have Mike come home at 7 pm and miss him. As of now, not sure still when he will be here, but it should be sometime tonight, and we will leave for Austin tonight or tomorrow morning. I have my appointment on Thursday, so I was planning on heading back home on Wednesday but we will see... I am off all week, so maybe they won't mind if I reschedule and take my time getting back home.

I am just so excited to finally relax this week! Work has been a little tricky, with changing managers and all, and I am trying to be motivated at work to actually perform well- I went through a bit of a slump, when I was just getting up and going there because I had to, and didn't want to try at all. Now I am trying to do my best while I am there- it makes it easier to go there everyday, when I have a goal to do my job well, rather than my goal just being getting home at night.

Buddy is crying... apparently it is time to take him outside! Stayed tuned for week 14!

Week 10

Update for week 10! We went to the doctor on Thursday for our second appointment, and we got to listen to our baby's heartbeat! How amazing... that little sound brought tears to both of our eyes. Our doctor says it's very strong for 10 weeks, nothing to worry about at this time. And all of my blood work and labs came back normal, so we are good to go for now : D

And to give you an idea of what baby is doing this week, here is my update from babycenter.com....

Though baby is barely the size of a kumquat- a little over an inch crown to bottom- and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical part of its development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissue and organs will rapidly mature.

Baby is swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs- including kidneys, intestines, brain and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac)- are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

Pregnancy is treating me pretty well at 10 weeks- still no morning sickness (yey!), but I am having some pretty bad back pain/sciatica. I told my doctor, so he did refer me to a physical therapist that works with pregnant women. I have to do exercises to strengthen my back everyday, and he has been working to rotate my hips/pelvis to where they belong to relieve some of the pain. Apparently sciatica is very common in pregnancy, due to your pelvis adjusting to make room for a growing uterus- a normal uterus is about the size of a pear, and at 10 weeks it's grown to the size of a grapefruit. So I'd imagine my body is adjusting to that change as well.

Not a whole lot else going on in our lives, aside from the pregnancy updates. Mike and I have both been working hard, and when we are both home on the weekends we have been trying to spruce up our yard a bit. Most of what we want to do will take some more supplies than what we can afford right now, so we have been enjoying (is that the right word?) our new weed-eater and trimming up a lot of the bushes and shrubs around the house. Our little vegetable and herb garden has kind of overgrown a bit, but we will be making it bigger and better when we have a little extra money! Right now, anything extra we have is going towards saving for the baby, and also to replace our A/C- it has acted up on us 4 or 5 times in the last month, and it's getting frustrating. It's much too hot here in Louisiana to be dealing with an unreliable A/C! But they are incredibly expensive to replace, so we are weighing our options at the moment, and trying to keep it running in the meantime.

That's it for now! It's off to the daily grind again for me!

Week 9

Update for week 9! And my pic for week 8 - apparently if you read my blog on blogger, but are not on facebook, you missed my pic last week of my growing belly. I am a bit baffled, I feel like my belly is bigger than it should be, considering I am only 9 weeks along, and baby is really not very big. I figure it can be one of several things- One is, I have tummy flab to begin with, so growing baby is just pushing that and my insides out further, making me look further along in the pregnancy than I am. Two, my abdomen muscles are not strong at all- every time I've had my problems with my back, they always tell me that my core is too weak, and I need to strengthen it to protect my back. And I read that if your abdomen muscles are weaker, you will tend to show earlier than someone with stronger ab muscles, because the muscles tend to hold everything in. Third, I am either further along in my pregnancy than the doctor says, or we have twins. LOL can you imagine? I don't think I am ready to think about two babies yet LOL.

Well here is a pic for week 8....

Sorry, I didn't get to a blog post that week. Baby was the size of a raspberry though : D

And as for week 9, courtesy of babycenter.com again.....

Your new resident is nearly an inch long- about the size of a grape, and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. Baby is starting to look more and more human. Essential body parts are accounted for, though they will go through plenty of fine tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound- your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and valves start to form- as do the tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Baby's organs, muscles and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Eyes are fully formed, but the eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. Baby has tiny earlobes, and the mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job or producing hormones. Now that your baby's physiology is in place, its poised for rapid weight gain.

And here is the pic of the belly....

Bought maternity clothes last weekend, they make sitting at a desk all day much more bearable than the whole hair-tye around the button on my old jeans thing. I bought enough jeans and capris that they should last through my pregnancy, I think I will just need to buy some more shirts at some point- I am preferring the longer shirts that I own now, the shorter ones aren't doing it for me. But I do have a few shirts that I wore before I was pregnant that are working out well for me, like the one in this pic.

Well that's about it for now. Can't think of much else to say. I gotta go into work this Saturday, bleh.

Sorry it's been so long

I just haven't been in the mood to write. Not a whole lot has been going on anyways, but I figured now was as good of time as any to give you guys an update.

I dyed my hair, for fun. Mike helped me. I know, you probably hate it. But I think it's fun. And it's just hair- it grows.

And no, at&t doesn't mind. LOL

I have been busy at work this month. Don't know if you heard, but Apple announced the new iphone to be released on 6/19/09. So needless to say work has been busy. It's tiring, but it also makes the day go by quicker so I don't mind.

Mike went back offshore too. He went out once or twice in May for about a week or so. He left last Wednesday the 3rd, I haven't heard from him since. Which is normal, I'm not worried. Just a little bummed- he hasn't been working in so long, and when he has worked in the last 7 months or so, he was able to call once or twice a week. 

Also, my friends cat had kittens. I asked Mike if we could have one and he said no : ( Other than that, I'm not sure what else to update on. I'll post some more when there are more interesting things in life going on other than dying my hair!!

Easter Weekend

Life has been good. Yesterday was Easter- Mike and I decided to go to church for the first time on our own in  a long time. We found this church called Crossroads Church- it's a non-denominational Christian church, it's very contemporary and we both enjoyed it very much. Our roommate Dan went with us too. All three of us are planning on going back next week, as long as the boys are onshore. If not, I'll be going by myself. But it really was great- I think we have all been doing a little soul searching, so it was a nice experience for us. 

I guess it's time to announce that Mike and I are officially trying to get pregnant : D I've been off birth control for almost 3 weeks now, and we are both stoked. I am hoping we won't have any problems with it, but I will keep everyone posted. I am a little nervous to just tell everyone that we are trying- I guess I am afraid of jinxing ourselves. The part of my brain that doesn't always make sense thinks that once I announce it that we will have a hard time with it- obviously we have never tried before, so we don't know if there will be any issues for either of us. But we both want kids so badly, I would be pretty upset if I wasn't able to carry, or if there was an issue with Mike, or whatever. So, if you think about it, please keep us in your prayers for that.

I also don't think I mentioned that Mike did get his motorcycle. He is very excited about it : D I got to ride on it a bit this weekend too- he drove me to work on Friday since he was off from working in the shop for Good Friday. And Saturday we just did a little driving around town, went to meet up with out friends Tiff and Dan for a bit, and later we took the bike to the movies. And on Sunday we actually rode the bike to church : D

On Sunday I spent some time in the kitchen- I boiled eggs and we colored them for Easter. I also made my favorite slow cooked Chili. I tried making cornbread, but I was disappointed- the kind of cornmeal that I bought turned out terrible. I used to buy the same kind back in WA, and since moving down here I haven't been able to find that kind yet. The recipe I used was always on the back of the box of my favorite brand, so since I can't buy it anywhere, I have been trying different brands with different recipes. Last night's batch was terrible- it wasn't the slightest bit sweet, it tasted like I dropped the whole container of salt in it, and had no flavor other than that. I was bummed. If anyone has a good cornbread recipe I would really appreciate it.

It's back to the daily grind this week. Can't complain too much though- I have been lucky enough to get M-F most of the last month, I have to work 4/25/09 and it will be one of my first Saturdays in a while. I enjoy working M-F so much more than having one day off in the middle of the week to work on a Saturday.

Getting ready to go to work... I am excited because I don't have any Saturdays scheduled yet this month, and the schedule is out until April 18th. :D I love weekends. Been thinking about a lot of different stuff lately... don't really have time to write a lot, plus I kind of want to get some thoughts together before I just start rambling.... life is good though, don't get me wrong.

I hate jumping through hoops

Sorry I haven't been updating about the house lately... We kinda waited through the holidays to make any calls, figured we didn't want to bother anyone, and they would let us know if we needed to do anything. Well, I've been in contact again with the woman who is working with a lender for us, and boy do they have some hoops for me to jump through! First of all, I'm sure everyone knows that Mike is the one who brings home the bacon... but they needed employment verification for me in order to process the loan stuff. I had to call all these numbers with AT&T to get that verification first. Then after I got that, I needed to call Chili's- they had my pay stubs there, I guess I never picked them up. Instead of mailing them to me though, of course they mailed them back to corporate. Melva, the woman who works for Assurance Financial Services, told me she needs my last pay stub or my W-2. They weren't sending out my W-2 until the end of this month, which doesn't help me at all considering we are closing the sale on the 30th. And they didn't have my pay stubs anymore- so then I had to call a whole bunch of numbers with them to get that verification... All I can keep thinking is "all this for the $2.13 I made per hour at Chili's??" Seriously?? My income makes up less than 25% of our combined income, and she didn't ask once for me to get employment verification for Mike! I also had to go and meet with an insurance agent yesterday- that part was easy though. We got our insurance set up for the house, and I found out that Buddy is covered under that too! I thought that was kind of neat. 

So I think we are good now... I still need to hear back from Melva to make sure the Chili's stuff I got is the right thing. As far as I understand now, we are ready to close in about a week and a half! It's actually one week from this Friday- I got that day off from work with my vacation carryover from last year, and I also got a girl at work to switch Saturday with me, so I will have a 3 day weekend! We will close the sale early on Friday, and have the weekend to paint, move some stuff over, and enjoy our first home! I am pretty excited- I am really hoping that nothing else is going to come up between now and then that will prove to be as big of a hassle. 

But I am super excited to get the house!!! I will be posting lots of pictures then! I may make Mike leave his camera here if he goes offshore- mine finally broke after 5 years, so I have to try and get as many pics as I can when Mike is home, and when things go on when he's offshore, I'd better hope that my phone camera is handy! : ) I will be sure to get pics of us painting and doing all of the stuff to it that we're planning on- new counters and cabinets in the kitchen, new carpet in the bedroom, because the carpet that is in there now is turquoise LOL!!

Mike has been offshore since Saturday- we were thinking he would be gone for a while, possibly through the 30th- which, fortunately he got me to have power of attorney for this sale, so I can sign all the papers without him. But he told me this morning that he thinks they may be coming back in soon, so I guess I can't complain about that!

In other boring news, my apartment is a mess. I have been working M-F, and I was lazy last weekend and didn't bother getting anything done around the apartment, and I think the whole "we're moving soon so who really cares" mindset is creeping in... which sucks because I really do care if the apartment is messy, but I really don't feel like putting forth much effort to clean! Oh well, I guess that "this too shall pass." 

So far this month...

It's been a busy month of December- and we aren't really even buying Christmas presents! I wish we could- we would both love to. But we are getting closer to having the house we want within reach- we are looking to close on January 30th. We can't guarantee that Mike will work through January or February, and we want to make sure the money we have now is saved for that back up plan, we need to know we can pay our first month's mortgage!

But, as far as the house thingy goes, We had the inspection last week- everything went well. A few minor things here and there that will need fixing, most of it being vanity things that we would like to fix. We have spent the last 2 weeks dreaming together of all the things we will do (some things soon, some things eventually) to our first home that we actually own! We are kind of waiting to hear back from the lenders to make sure the appraisal went through and hear that we were officially approved for the loan.

Mike went offshore again last night. I have a tendency to update my blog right after he leaves- I guess it's because I am bored. I am so glad he went back to work, because I am pretty sure he was not on standby pay this last week, but I am a little bummed because there is a Christmas party for his company this Saturday, and this is my weekend off so I was going to be able to go, but more than likely he won't be here. Oh well, I guess we will see.

Work has been going pretty well too. I am finally fairly comfortable with the position I have, I don't feel so timid and having to ask questions all the time. I'm also meeting a lot of nice people that I work with, which is always nice. We are doing a secret santa this week- we picked names and we had to buy 5 $1 gifts, one gift to bring each day. It's kind of fun because you don't have to feel obligated to spend a ton of money, but it's fun to be receiving a gift everyday. 

And in other news, we found out yesterday that Mike's sister is having a baby girl! We are both so excited to know that we will be Auntie Jenn and Uncle Mike : ) We are hoping to be able to see the new baby sooner than later once she is born. 

I guess that's it for now. One of these days I will get back into updating every few days so I won't feel like I have to write a novel every time I log in!

*Sniffle*Cough*Cough*

Yeah, my roomie Josh got me sick. Boo-urns. I'm trying to decide if I am going to call into work this morning or not. I honestly don't feel quite as crappy as I normally feel when I am sick, but as I am sitting here on the good old computer I can feel myself reading thing over and over again, not understanding what I am looking at LOL. So I am wondering how much good I will be at work today... I am about to take a shower, I figure I will be able to tell after that how much better I may or may not feel. 

Mike, of course, went offshore again. On Saturday night. I get a little annoyed when he comes home and leaves in between my days off ( I was off Thursday and Sunday this week, he came home Friday and left Saturday). We are totally used to this lifestyle now, but I guess it doesn't keep me from missing him, sometimes it affects me more than others. 

I bought the "Twilight" movie soundtrack yesterday. I am listening to it right now, I think I like it very much- it has a lot of artists on it that I normally don't listen to, but it's growing on me. I also bought the entire first season of the original Get Smart, I feel asleep on the couch last night watching that. I love it  : )

So this week I think, I need to start figuring out what I am doing for Christmas cards- they always take me longer than I anticipate, so I figure this year I will get an early start on them. As soon as Mike gets home, we need to take a nice picture taken with Buddy in it. I think that's the first step- I'll figure out the rest from there. 

Vacation Day

So I am playing on my new iMac... yey! I am so excited we finally we able to purchase it- we are completely broke now, at least until the next payday, but we have been waiting for this for so long it's worth it!

Mike came home about 6 am Monday morning, and he just left a couple hours ago to head towards the dock again. He said they only have a 30 hour window for weather, so he'll probably be home again on Friday. 

I called my work today to see if they would let me use my Floating Holiday today- I am scheduled off tomorrow and I'm working Friday and Saturday, but Mike was home today and he didn't know at the time if he would be home tomorrow or not. The thing about my Floating Holiday is that I just accrued it on Nov. 5th, and I have to use it by Dec. 31st- that doesn't leave me with a lot of options. The way it works is, when you call into work, if they have the time "available" you can use paid time off, whether it be Holiday Pay or Vacation or whatever (we have about 20 different titles for paid time off LOL). If not, and you need to call in, you don't get paid and it's considered unexcused, and you get 11 unexcused absences before they will terminate you. Well they told me today that they didn't have any time available today so I couldn't use my Holiday, but then I told them I tried several times for several different dates to get my Holiday pay, and they keep emailing me back that there isn't time available, so I asked them when exactly they would like me to use it since it expires at the end of the year! They then told me that TOS (my department) has no available time for the rest of this year, so they overrode it for me to take the time today. 

So, long story short, I got to spend all day with Mike today! And it's a good thing I did because he got a call today saying he needed to be at the dock at midnight, so I wouldn't have been able to see him tomorrow on my real day off! We went and saw the new movie in theater with Seth Rogan, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" it was hilarious!!! My friend Samantha gave me a gift certificate to the movie theater so we used that, and then we went to dinner at Chili's. I know, I just told you how broke we are... we really are, but Mike and I haven't gotten to do anything really nice together this month because he has been working so much, so I guess we just splurged. It was worth it : ) Actually, if I think about it, I wouldn't normally consider movies on a gift card and dinner at Chili's splurging..... whatever. 

Anyways, I had a wonderful time with my hubby today, and I am so glad that I was able to be paid for today and be home at the same time! Mike should be home by the weekend, so I will see him soon. 

Wondeful Birthday

I had a pretty great birthday this year... at firstI was a little worried about it because I woke up and it did not feel like my birthday- I know it gets worse as you get older, but I guess the little kid in me still wants to feel like the most important person in the world on my birthday... But I got a call from Mike first thing, and that was wonderful : ) It was the first time I've been able to talk to him since the last time he left, and we got to talk for a half hour or so. I do miss him a little.

Then I went to work. Wasn't too bad- as I said before, I just switched departments, from my transition training to the tansfer of srvice depeartment. I got a new manager, and I was training that day too- it was nice because I like my manager and most of the people I will be working with. I was thinking about calling in to go home early all day, but in the end I decided to stay the whole day and just deal with it.

I got home around 9:30 as usual and talked to my parents for a little bit. They sent me a card and a package of goodies like books and shirts. My good friend Tiff got me an iPod shuffle- I couldn't believe she was so generous! And Josh bought me a strawberry cheesecake ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (my FAVORITE place to get an ice cream cake from!) And then another friend of mine, Tiff's boyfriend Dan went to the Joe Satriani concert, and had backstage passes, so he brought a blown up picture of the last time he went to see Joe in concert, and he had Joe sign it and put "To Jenn" on it. So I was thrilled!

Overall it was a great birthday. The only thing that would have made it perfect would be to have my hubby here with me. He should be coming home soon after the weekend though, he said maybe Tuesday or so. Now I can't wait to go to the mall this weekend and get our new computer!!

Today

I voted for Obama. How bout you, did you vote? I sure hope so. I think it's really important this time around.

My computer stopped working on Saturday. And then it worked when I turned it on this morning. Whatever. I think we're buying the new one this weekend- Mike and I both get paid on Friday, so it should work out. The opened up a Mac store in the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, so I think I'll go there- I called Best Buy to see if they sold Apple Care protection if I buy my computer there, and they said they only sold the Geek Squad protection thingy. I'm sorry, but if I have a problem with my new computer, I'm not always 100% confident that the Geek Squad knows how to fix my problem. And even if they do, they just mail it out to Apple and charge you like $4-500 bucks minimum. So I think it's probably worth it to drive the extra hour to Baton Rouge to get my new computer.

Started my new department at AT&T yesterday- Transfer of Service. Basically when someone wants to get their name and social security off of a particular line/phone number and let someone else take financial responsibility of it. I think I'll like it, it will be a little tedious and repetitive, but it sounds better to me than the general queue. I'm training today, and I think I'll take my first ToS calls either today or tomorrow. 

I am loving that it's cooling down outside now. It's not what I would consider "cold" except sometimes at night it gets into the 50's, but it's brisk and less humid, so it's more refreshing than the normal Louisiana weather.

And last but not least, Buddy is almost officially done with his heartworm treatment-  He will have finished his 31 days after his second shot treatment on November 16th, and then we can play with him again!! For those of you who don't know, he got heartworms, and we had to take him to the vet to get some nasty poisonous shots, and he can't be too active for 31 days after the shots because their job is to break up the heartworms and send them through his bloodstream- if he gets too worked up, his blood will clot and he could get really sick and die. So unfortunately Buddy has been annoyed with me because I won't take him for long walks or play with him at home- But everything will go back to normal again soon. Poor guy has been kept "mellow" since the beginning of September! Yeah, try keeping a Jack Russell mix breed mellow for 2 months! It's not easy! 

Mike said he may be home this weekend for weather- I hope so! He has called me twice since he left, and I missed them both. We have some friends driving into town this weekend to hang out, so I hope he is home for that. We will be celebrating my birthday, woohoo!

Love It or Hate It

This is an excerpt from a book I'm reading called "Quiet Mind- One Minute Retreats from a Busy World" It helped me regain focus this week on my mental attitude...

"My father taught me to work, but not to love it. I never did like work and I don't deny it. I'd rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh- anything but work" - Abraham Lincoln

Honest Abe tells it like it is, I would guess, for many of us. Love work or hate it, we have to do it.

But so many of us live for the weekends. We face Blue Monday. We say TGIF. We work as a necessary evil. It's very easy to be negative when it comes to work, but that negativity can wear us down and we accumulate a lot of depressing energy over the years. Before we know it, it's become our dominant attitude toward life.

So even though there are some things we cannot change, and even though work, or aspects of it, could well remain something we don't particularly like, and even though we might not easily change work....

Is it possible for me to put emphasis on the positive and ask myself how to find affirmative aspects of work to focus on?

Are there people with whom I work, whom I look forward to being with?

Can I bring what I enjoy to my work? (Lincoln would- and did- bring storytelling and joke-cracking to his work.)

What part of my work is most fulfilling to me? When do I feel that I am of the most value or performing a task I enjoy?

Who benefits from my work, even remotely? How can I keep them in mind as I go about my job? Where do I find joy in my work?

Whether the answers come quickly and easily, or slowly and with difficulty, continue to seek them. Life is too short and wonderful to allow work to ruin it. Or maybe you agree with Ronald Regan:"They say hard work never hurt anybody, but I figure why take the chance."

Today find some new joy in your work.