The Start of the Nursery

We've officially started on the nursery. Clay moved the guest bed into the other bedroom before he left so that I could keep myself busy putting the crib together & decorating. I put the crib together over the last couple of nights and it was pretty easy. It seems very sturdy & I'm really happy with it! Unfortunately the dresser that matches (and the crib itself) has been discontinued...which explains why it was such a steal. I think after much looking I've finally found a dresser that will match though, and should be the perfect size. I'm giving myself a few more weeks of browsing for gently used items before ordering it, hoping to find something cheaper and with a bit of character! The lighting is bit goofy in the photos, but the rocker & rocking ottoman is a very earthy sage. I thought it would have more brown in it, but I'm still really pleased. On the ottoman you can see some of Luci's growing wardrobe! This weekend I'll be shopping for a crib mattress & picking out some fabric to make a crib skirt & curtains.

Photos as promised....

A group photo at Tommy Bahama's in our little Market Street...my new suburban downtown! back row, left to right: Erin Mills, Tennille Harms front row, left to right: Chris Bormann, Me, Erica Boos (thanks for the photos), & Jenny Tank...the organizer of the shower! Baby Luci & her parents again say thanks....

If this had sound, you'd hear our wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday in celebration of Jen's 30th! Not sure if she is signing to herself or if she's laughing at us...probably laughing!

Clay left yesterday for a few weeks of deployment with the Naval Reserves. I couldn't stop the tears & have a very hard time keeping it in perspective. Clay is very good at reminding me that we have a lot to be thankful for. MANY servicemen & women are gone for MUCH longer than a few weeks, and in much more dangerous situations. I am trying very hard to keep this in mind...although then I just end up crying for them & their families! One thing that never fails to bring a smile though is something Clay said on the way to the airport...that the next time he goes on a deployment like this there will be a baby Luci in the backseat along for the ride to the airport!

Luci kicked her dad!

Well last night Luci finally decided to kick for her dad. We were on the sofa watching TV after our walk & dinner and she started to get pretty active, mostly in one spot. As I often do these days, I said to Clay, "Give me your hand." Sure enough just a minute or so later she packed a pretty good little punch...I immediately looked over to Clay to see that his whole face had jumped up...that is the only way I can describe it. His eye brows were raised, his eyes were wide open, he had a giant grin, sat up a little straighter and said, "Wow, I felt that, was that her?"

This morning was our 24 weeks appointment. Clay was home and able to go along to meet Dr. Johnson. He described her as kind, concerned, and in control; I am really pleased we found her. She did a quick ultrasound & said that Luci was moving a lot & her spine looked beautiful. I've gained 10lbs total so far, which I'm pretty happy with. Lucky for me Clay will also be home for the next appointment in 3 weeks - which will be the glucose screening for gestational diabetes. It's hard to believe I'm getting so close to the third trimester! Sometimes it seems as though time has flown by, and other times it is hard to believe we have another 16 weeks to go!

Grateful

So the fabulous NHHS girls weekend has come & gone. Approximately 12 bottles of wines, a bottle of margarita mix, a few Mike's Hard Lemonade's, lasagna, several Thai dishes, 2 batches of puppy chow, and 1/2 of a birthday cake (Happy 30th Jen!) with ice cream, among other goodies were had. I still have a fridge full of beer & 4 bags of potato chips...but not a drop of red wine remains ;). And while needless to say the alcohol was consumed by the non pregnant 5 of us, I am very proud to be able to report that I stayed up each night chatting. I might have been the first that suggested it was bedtime, but everybody followed my lead.

It was super fun - and the perfect way to see everyone & catch up. Jen planned a little shower for me at Tommy Bahama's over lunch on Saturday (I'll post a photo when I get one). Luci was blessed with several seriously adorable little outfits, a monkey that giggles, some cloth diapers to spit up on, a gift card to buy some goodies, and she'll be pretty in pink with her new 'bundle me' to keep warm & cozy. After that we hung out in the yard enjoying the Houston weather (yep...I've been told to enjoy it while it lasts), and then were in our pj pants by dinner time. We stayed up talking at the dinner table until 2am about everything under the sun. Sometimes I think it is amazing that 6 of us can get together once every few years & have it be like no time has passed. Then I remember that we all come from the same place, grew up together & have years of shared experiences. And then I think it is amazing that we can go out & still make new friendships that are equally as strong with people we've only known for a few years or an even shorter time. I feel very blessed to have such great friends - both old & new, close by & far away. It seems no matter where life takes me my stock of great friends just seems to grow...and for that I am so grateful.

Lots of Movement

Both Luci and I have been pretty active over this last week. Luci is letting her presence be known more frequently now...to the point where this morning I'm not so patiently waiting for her to wake up & kick me...it is very re-assuring and lets me know all is well in there. If we could time it correctly I think Clay could feel her kick now...unfortunately their awake time schedules don't seem to match up very well! I feel her before I get up in the morning (that time period after the alarm goes off but before getting up), then again in the late afternoon hours, and then again after dinner. Her schedule has really been pretty consistent. Sometimes the morning hours differ...sometimes I don't feel her until a few hours after breakfast, but I almost always feel her at night.

I have been doing lots of moving myself with the Y's pre-natal program. Yoga was great - and a little bit tough. I think it is a good thing I started now...if I was any bigger & had to ease into it I'm not sure I could. I also am not very 'internally focused' these days....which is required to do yoga well. I tried REALLY hard to focus on my breathing & postures, but my mind kept wandering...checking out all the other moms-to-be...wondering how far along they are, or thinking, oh, that's a cute maternity workout tank, I wonder where she got that? I need to work on that if I'm going to attempt this Bradley Method business.

Water aerobics is proving to be a much better workout than I had ever imagined. Who knew you could cross country ski, downhill ski, skate, run, jog, grapevine, do the rocking horse and hop in the water? And the toughest movement...swimming! HA! We swam two laps last night & I was totally beat! We also use water weights...my arms & shoulders are actually sore! The best part is the ab workout I get in the water. Just trying to keep myself up right & move to these different positions requires a lot of core strength...which I'm sure will come in handy when it is time to push!

And she's up :). Good morning Luci.

Week 21

Well we are finally over half way there (and yes, Gap Maternity was having a sale on t-shirts this color the day I went shopping...who am I to pass up hot pink for $4.99). Click on the photo for a nice larger than life look at the belly. I'm feeling pretty well these days - Clay informed me that his book said the fifth month was the easiest & I'd have to say I agree. I'm accustomed to the usual aches & pains by now, and aside from a dull back ache there haven't been many new ones. I've cut back on my walking given the advice of both my official doctor & my sister doctor due to the persistent back ache (I pretty much make sure they are in agreement on all issues...thanks Brookie Nae). Apparently as my belly grows my center of gravity shifts - making it harder for me to maintain good posture & a pain free back. So I walk shorter distances & really concentrate on my form...which means we are walking much more slowly too. So far it has really helped though because my back feels much better. To supplement this reduced walking Clay & I joined the local YMCA. It really is the nicest gym I've ever belonged too...and I've belonged to quite a few. It offers a climbing wall & the usual weights & cardio machines for Clay, and a pre-natal program "Fit for Two" that started yesterday with an orientation meeting for me. Luci will also enjoy the free childcare & play time, as well as a huge kiddie pool once she's old enough. The family programming offered is really outstanding. "Fit for Two" starts tonight with water aerobics, followed by yoga on Thursdays, and a discussion & more water aerobics on Saturday. There are maybe 12 women, and 6 of them are due in July like I am. The woman who sat next to me is due the day before I am, and we'll be giving birth at the same hospital. It is nice to meet some other moms-to-be and compare our belly sizes. Relatively speaking, I'm not so big after all!

Clay is doing well & working hard...his nesting instinct seems to be quite different than mine as he's working lots & saving our pennies. He's also been doing lots of pruning & scrubbing of our sidewalks (mold & SE TX go hand & hand)...getting the house ready for Luci. Once my NHHS girls weekend (I'm so excited to see everyone!) is over we'll really get going on the nursery. Luci has been blessed with several sweet baby girl items (mostly from our favorite new friend Amanda...who HAND CRAFTED a sweet sweet baby blanket for Luci this weekend) and it is about time she gets her own space.

The Bradley Method

Well this morning I signed us up for our child birth preparation class. Not a class for the typical Lamaze, but for The Bradley Method. After some research, talking with friends and Dr. Brooke, it seems that there are one of two ways to go:
1. The Lamaze/Doctor directed method, where you learn pain distraction techniques and about the med's you can receive to alleviate pain.
2. The Bradley Method, where you learn how to completely relax in order to reduce and work through the pain...and drugs are still an option, but they (The Bradley folks) like to think one of last resort.

It is no secret that I hate pain...I don't even like to be slightly uncomfortable. I prefer temps between 72 - 74 degrees. I am incredibly irritable when I'm hungry or thirsty & can't satisfy these 'needs' immediately. I am a beast when I don't feel well or get too tired. I often proclaim I am dying & burst into tears. Clay laughed the first time I did this (because I was ridiculous)...but luckily by the time all day pregnancy sickness hit he had learned that at that moment I honestly felt as though I might be dying and laughing did not help. Overall he was very supportive through the all day sickness...expect for the time I burst into tears because I wanted a burrito but knew I couldn't eat it because it would make me throw up. He couldn't relate to that one I guess...he just doesn't enjoy Mexican food the way I do ;).

So really my motivation is to minimize the overall pain of labor & the healing process. I'm trying to be as informed as I can in deciding how to accomplish this. Much of what I've read says a natural childbirth leads to a speedy recovery and less pain in total. So we've decided to become very informed. I'm not ruling an epidural in or out at this point. I just want to be well informed should we be blessed with a labor & delivery process that goes so smoothly that we have these options.

The Bradley Method is also called 'Husband Coached Childbirth'...and Clay is up for the challenge. Now we just need for him to be home instead of on a 737 when baby Luci (yep, that's her name) decides to join us out here. For now we are just hoping that Grandma Pierse will continue to be right, and that it'll work out :)

7 ounces

I got call yesterday from Dr. Johnson (our OB-GYN) confirming that all of the ultrasound results look great. She weighs 7 ounces already! I'm also feeling her move more & more...she did a few kicks for me last night before I fell asleep. I'm off to the doctor again on Thursday for my 20 weeks appointment.

Over the weekend I made the second big nursery purchase - a comfy rocker in "basil." Now we have a crib & in 8 weeks we'll have a rocker. Then after my big NHHS (New Hampton High School) girls weekend in March we'll get to moving furniture around & putting the nursery together. Until then the two guest bedrooms need to continue functioning as such!

It's a GIRL!!!

I think we were both too excited to sleep last night...I tossed & turned, while Clay decided to get up & play Warcraft on the computer until 2am. Starting at 8am I was supposed to drink 32 oz of water & not go to the bathroom until after the ultrasound was complete at 10am. For those of you who know me well...that was a tall order. By 9am I was miserable and by 9:10am (our appt was supposed to start at 9am) I was just plain mad. I gave in & went to 'release' a bit...waiting till 9:20a and then released more. Then about 9:30am Clay said something funny and off I ran again to the bathroom. We finally got in for the ultrasound about 9:35am. The technician was doing her thing for about 20 minutes and then decided my bladder was too full & might be squishing the baby! So the torture finally ended and I was able to empty my bladder. Another 20 minutes of looking around and she announced we should turn away if we didn't want to know the gender right then. After the ultrasound was over, the tech told us all looked well and that 'it' was measuring to the day of the due date of 7/18. Then she wrote on a piece of paper (per our request) "IT'S A GIRL" and sent us on our way. A few short minutes later we were headed out for brunch & the big reveal. When we opened the card & saw the ultrasound photo it took us a few seconds to see her note...and then I started to cry at The Egg & I. Long story short - we feel so very blessed that all appears well with Babygirl Pea....

Milestones

I think I have felt Babypea move a few times now! I was watching evening TV on the sofa last week (after my 3 mile walk - so that makes it a little bit more okay...right?) and felt what I first attributed to gas in my lower abdomen. Then I thought, wait...that kind of felt like butterfly wings lightly brushing up against me! I wonder if that was Babypea! I've read the first movements feel like butterfly wings, angel wings, or a light tapping. Since that first flutter, I've felt just a few more taps - which leads me to believe I'm feeling Babypea move now! I told Clay I feel sort of guilty that I am getting all of this time with Babypea before he does, and that I wish we could take turns carrying our children. He told me not to worry...that he was just fine with how it all works as is.

The second milestone happened just yesterday. I was out shopping with my friend Amanda, and a woman working in the store said, "I see a tummy!" It was the first time I've had someone say something to me assuming I am pregnant. And I wasn't even wearing the obvious pregnant shirt that I am in the photo I posted earlier...I was just wearing a T-shirt!

The Start of Week 17

I'm starting to look pregnant now! We find out the gender of Babypea on Valentine's Day...stay tuned for the update!

GO BEARS!!!