Pregnancy Dreams

I went to bed fairly early last night, right after I wrote my last blog! I kept waking up every hour, on the hour to pee. And I was having the craziest dreams. They were right when they said you'd experience more vivid dreams while pregnant. I had a different dream every hour. In the one the Sam and I had a bunch of people over or something, and then we went to get in the elevator and the elevator just crashed. I thought you were supposed to wake up when you were having falling dreams? Apparantly my brain didn't get that memo. Yup. So we crashed all the way down to the bottom floor and I ended up flying right out the top of the elevator. Nice, huh? Not to mention I am already terrified of riding in our apartment elevator as it is. Anywho. Then the ambulance had to come because they were worried about me and the baby and we had to fill out this lengthy insurance form. Right as the ambulance was about to take off, we discovered that our insurance didn't cover that ambulance. So as I'm laying there in the back, practically dying, we had to wait for the other ambulance to get there. Ugh. It was just crazy!! Then I woke up. And went pee. haha.

My next dream was just weird, like twilight zone weird. Sam had been sitting on the couch when I dozed off (on my airmattress bed in the living room) and I had a dream that he came over by me, said,"I don't think we should be dating anymore," and walked away. And then he was texting some other girls and went out onto our balcony and smoked. So I wake up just all pissed off, and here he is going outside on the porch to smoke. HOW FREAKY! I hate that when you're half dreaming/half awake and you can't figure out if what's happening is real or not. I was so disoriented. But I gave him a hug when he came in. He hadn't told me that we should stop dating :) I felt like such a crackhead last night.

Then at 2.30 I woke up... AGAIN to go potty and Sam came and slept next to me. I love when he comes and snuggles. It's so nice. Especially when the baby's moving and he puts his hand there. Super cute. But then I couldn't fall back asleep.... go figure. So I laid in bed for another hour. Then I was hungry. Tried sleeping it off. Tummy kept rumbling louder. THEN I had to get up and grab a lil something to eat (buttered bread.... yum yum). Tried going back to sleep. No luck. I was squirming all around I thought for sure it would wake Sam up. Soooo I got up. Paced around my room. Took a bath at about 4.15. Bubble bath. Shaved my legs... which, by the way gets to be a pain when you're trying to maneuver around your belly so you don't miss any spots on the tops of your thighs. Bet you never thought of that! Yeah.... the belly does interfere with a bunch of stuff that I never even thought of before. Stuff like shaving! haha. So me and my super smooth legs got out of the bath an hour later. Took forever lotioning (cocoa butter).... umm... used Mary Kay Satin Hands.... LOVE IT! Then went back to bed at 6.30. And finally fell back asleep. I TELL YA!!

Anyways. Today I'm running uptown. Picking out some glasses frames. I'm getting new ones on Wednesday! Ohmygosh so excited. Hopefully they'll be there before we go to the hospital so I can have some cute frames. Grocery shopping. Going for a walk. Probably taking a nap. And that's my day!

Active lil boy!

Went out for Chinese tonight with Sam and a couple of his friends from work. It was delicious. The baby has been moving since then, though. He started moving at around 7 and has been going for about 2 hours now. AH! It was crazy. I was sitting at the table and you could just see my belly moving around. So cute. Now he's just doing acrobat moves around my belly. =D Pretty cool. So much for trying to get a late night after dinner nap in! At least for a little while.

34 WEEKS

Only 6 weeks left!! At the most. I just can't believe it. Time is definitely flying by. I am the exact opposite from everybody else who says that the end of pregnancy is what takes forever. No way Jose. The end is going by so quickly and I have so much stuff to get done yet. I still have to wash all of his little clothes (getting the baby detergent today!) annnd.... situate my room so that the bassinet fits next to my bed and everything. Just rearrange the whole thing. And I have this urge just to clean... not even clean it's like scourge the entire apartment! Super crazy, I know. Things have to be all organized right now. I'm probably driving Sam nuts, but whatever. I think he'll live.

So, basically this week is the same as last week. Swollen ankles, keep my feet elevated, more of a backache, stay rested, etc... I'm supposed to map out my route to the hospital (according to babyzone.com) but luckily, I'm not sure if that's the right word but, LUCKILY I went into preterm labor previously at 30 weeks so I know all about the hospital route, etc... I am pretty sure if I could handle getting there by myself in -45 weather then I'll be able to figure out how to get to the 3rd floor when Sam's with me! Ohhhh only 6 weeks left. I just can't get that out of my head. I remember being 6 weeks pregnant. ha. It's just the craziest thing ever. I used to think that I would die if I had to go 9 months without drinking. Funny how things change. Now I don't even want to drink, at all. Alcohol just lost it's appeal. It smells gross and I have no appetite to go out and get drunk or anything like that. Gosh, I feel so... MOTHERLY. It's scary. =) I think I will definitely trade off the drunk partying nights for cozy nights in with baby and watching some movies. Being pregnant and getting pregnant and the whole pregnancy thing just changes everything about life, but it's ok with me. Well, that's about it! I did my 34 week vlog today. So proud that I got it done and I'm on schedule. I'll upload it in probably like 30 min.

Hot flash?

Holy beans. Our apartment isn't even that warm. It's been a "comfortable" temperature lately but it's never been too hot. Just the opposite. It's usually freezing in here! Sometimes literally.... not even joking. But yeah... I was fine before I went to bed. This is so out of the blue. I literally had to take off my light sleep pants and tank and throw on this dress that I just bought (I wore it Shell!) Annnd I am still sweating. This is the weirdest thing ever. My whole body is just surging with heat. Crazy. I am going to open up the balcony door. Sam's going to kill me. But I'm soooo warm!!! AH

Lovin' the weather <3

Oh my gosh. It's amazing what a few degrees does! I also think it's kind of hilarious that in the middle of summer time 40 would be frigid and hypothermic temperatures but right now after having it be so much colder for so long, 40 almost feels tropical =) Like the nice yellow font color? Yeah. It was me trying to mimic the sunshine from today. hehe. Sam and I went for a walk. Ah! I just loved it. I threw on my UofM sweats (which still fit, thank you very much!) and some tennis shoes and just a thin sweatshirt!! Ohmygosh. So exciting. It almost smells like spring out. I did pretty good for about the first 10 minutes. Kept up pretty well. Had to be careful on the icy parts of the sidewalk, though, because that's the last thing I need; to trip and fall. But then we got to the hill. Let's just say.... it all went downhill from there. Ugh. I was panting so hard! You would've sworn that I just got done running a 10K or something. I am noticing alot more pressure down in the pelvic area, too. Especially when I've been standing or walking for awhile. And especially after that hill. I had to stop and take a 20 sec breather and that's when baby decided he was gonna stick his knee or something out of my stomach. The whole front of my belly was just sticking straight out in a lump! Oh that didn't feel very good. But it was nice being outside. I definitely, DEFINITELY want to start walking every day. Well, when it's nice out. I think Christopher is coming early. I would love to see myself make it to March 21. Not literally love that, that was sarcastic. Actually making it all the way to my "due date" would ultimately blow. I don't think I could handle it! Also, I am pretty sure his head has engaged. The midwife said it wouldn't be unusual. Sometimes they can do that up to 4 weeks before delivery. I was relieved that it didn't mean he was coming tomorrow or in like 3 days or something. Other than that, not doing much else! Yay I have people who watched my vlog on YouTube. That was pretty exciting. I didn't expect it to have 35 views in the first 30 min. So I was pretty surprised! That's about it for today. Guess what tomorrow is?? WEEK THIRTY FOUR!!! Craziness

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33 weeks + 6 days

Week 33 + 6 days

Successfully got the my first video uploaded to YouTube so it can be seen on my blog. What a pain. Only took a couple of days for me to figure it out. If you're trying to watch the video you might want to turn all other outside noises off and crank the volume because it's really hard to hear. I am going to try and fix that for the next one. But I was proud of myself. In case you really want to know the details I have to record the video on my webcam (obviously). Then I have to upload the video to windows movie maker. After that I have to publish the video in a specific format to my computer. And THEN I have to upload that to another program that allows me to encode the video for the format that YouTube allows, and it took me awhile to figure out what all the different formats were. Basically I just wanted to let you know that it was super hard for me to figure everything out and what I had to go through to get that darn video on the top of my page. =) I think it'll be worth it and will try to have the sound better for the next one. This one kind of sucks. Other than that, not much else is new here. Sam and I are going outside for a walk in about 15 minutes because it's so nice out and I could use the fresh air.

VLOGS : Coming "Soon"

Alright. Finally got the webcam on my computer up and running. My original goal was to do pregnancy vlogs (video blogs) from weeks 30-40, but, with the camera not working that obviously didn't happen. So, I had to reset a bunch of stuff and work my magic but I finally got it to go! Yay! Bad news is; 3 weeks behind schedule. Oh well, better late than never. Did the first vlog tonight. No problemo. Now I'm just stuck in trying to publish it in the right format so I will be able to upload it to YouTube. Uhhh!! It's making me want to scream. It takes about an hour each time I try to publish it in a different format, and, lets just say I'm on my third trial of publishing it and I hope it works this time. Boo Vista. You suck. Hopefully I get them up soon, then you'll be able to see me right here on top of my blog page!

Pointless Appointment

Had my WIC appointment today at 2pm. I get WIC because I'm single, in college, and just generally don't have alot of money right now! It's really helpful because I get milk and cheese which mean Calcium for baby. Along with eggs (protein), cereal (folic acid), beans (more protein) and juice. The WIC office is downtown Eau Claire basically. So its about a 15 min. drive from my apartment. Let me give you the rundown on what usually goes on. I get there and put my little form into the box. Sit around for probably 20-30 minutes reading mommy magazines. There are usually about 7 kids in there, most of them being completely out of control and unsupervised by their parents. You just want to say something like, "What are you doing?? Your kid is 3 years old and superman leaping off of the table and you're not even looking up from your cellphone!! What the hell??" It's really unnerving. Let me tell you. They should have any young couple sit in there for 10 minutes. That would be the best birth control on earth. But besides that. There's usually a couple of cute babies in there, too! So they make up for it. So while all these kids are running around it's like a madhouse. I have already decided that Christopher is going to be sweet and well mannered and adorable. He's not going to be the naughty brat throwing stuff at strangers. Well once they finally call you back all they do is check your weight. Then you go meet with the "nutritionist" and she asks you if you're eating enough and if the checks are getting you enough milk, juice, etc. You say yes. She says ok. Then you're out of there!

Let me break it down. Total 30 min. of driving. Average 20-30 min. of waiting. 5-10 min. appointment. Nice.

But the lady today was astonished by my baby bump and how much he's grown since the last time she saw me. They all agreed that they definitely think he's coming early. (Me, too!) And I was told that I just looked so cute =D I liked that. It made me feel super good! Especially when I feel like jabba the hut lately.

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33 weeks + 4 days

Pack 'n' Play

GOT THE PACK 'N' PLAY ALL SET UP TODAY! WOO HOO ONLY A FEW MINOR SPEEDBUMPS. FOR INSTANCE WE GOT THE CHANGING TABLE ADD-ON ALL SET UP... AND IT JUST DIDN'T LOOK RIGHT. WELL, THAT WAS PROBABLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT WAS PUT TOGETHER BACKWARDS AND UPSIDE DOWN. THEN IT TOOK 15 MIN. TO GET THE SIDES UNSNAPPED FROM EACH OTHER. SUCH A PAIN! THE BABY PACK 'N PLAY IS ADULT PROOF... HAHA. WELL. LETS JUST SAY THAT WE STARTED SETTING UP THE PACK 'N PLAY AT THE BEGINNING OF ALADDIN AND FINISHED ABOUT 5 MIN BEFORE THE END OF THE MOVIE! I'M NOT SET UP TO READ INSTRUCTIONS. THEY JUST GET ME SO FRUSTRATED. I HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING THEM. THEY REALLY NEED BETTER PICTURES. NOW IF THEY HAD AN INSTRUCTIONAL DVD..... =) I WOULD LIKE THAT MUCH BETTER. AND HALF THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE IN SPANISH AND FRENCH AND IT TAKES FOREVER TO FIND THE ENGLISH PART OF IT. AH!

THE PACK 'N PLAY IS A GREENISH COLOR. IT'S REALLY CUTE. THERE'S TINY WINNIE THE POOH PRINTS ON THE BOTTOM OF THE MATTRESS. IT CAME WITH A BASSINET/CHANGING TABLE/MOBILE, TOO! SUPER NICE. AND A LITTLE DIAPER PACK HOLDER THAT HANGS OFF TO THE SIDE. AW. IT'S JUST ADORABLE. I'M SO EXCITED THAT IT WILL HAVE A CUTE LIL BABY IN IT IN A FEW WEEKS!

Early night for me

That's exactly how I'm feeling right now. Ick. Successfully got all of my grocery shopping done. Worst day of the month to go. It's "Mega Member Monday", where all of the crazy coupon shoppers come out and race each other to the best deals. Some old lady even rammed into me with her cart and didn't even apologize. She gave me a glare like it was MY FAULT for standing there. Geez. Next time I'll dodge out of the way. Oh the latest? My XXL coat, which fit nicely over my belly and did a pretty good job at concealing, now barely, and I mean BARELY zips up! So sad. I didn't think I'd grown that much in the past couple of weeks, but I guess I have. I doubt that'll be zipping up for much longer! Even when I finally managed to get it all zipped in today I just looked like a stuffed sausage! Pretty funny.

I got back from shopping and my headache kicked in. I've just been feeling kind of "icky" ever since. That sick, achy-all-over feeling? I hate it. It's probably the most miserable feeling ever. Then I remembered just a little bit ago that I forgot to eat today! Yikes. My appetite has definitely went down alot since the first and second trimesters. Before I couldn't go more than 2 hours without needing food, otherwise I felt like my stomach was going to eat itself. I am just not even hungry for food at all. Pretty much had to force myself to get down a small bowlful of cottage cheese. Nothing at all looks appetizing. Which sucks. The only thing I do want to eat is ice cream, and I can't exactly live on that all day. I think I am going to try making some rice. I just haven't been in the mood for warm or hot foods. I just want everything to be cold. Cold, cold, cold. So weird. I guess that'd be my 'craving' huh? If you could call it that. I crave cold-ness. Guess I'm a weirdo! I did notice, though, that sometimes if the baby's moving around alot and I eat something cold he stops. Or if I drink a glass of cold water? That really helps when he has his butt or feet or something sticking right into my ribs. I wonder if its because he can feel the coldness from my stomach? It's so crazy!

Anyways. I am going to go make some rice. Probably go to Loraandlayton's Youtube videos (which I'm obsessed with). They're the cutest couple ever and she did pregnancy vlogs. Oh my gosh. I heart them. Annnd oh yeah. Do the dishes..... annnnd then! go to sleep. Yay!

Grocery Shopping

Today is grocery shopping day! I love grocery shopping. It's just like Christmas. The refrigerator goes from bare to overflowing. <3>

I'm getting more and more used to people staring at me in public. At first I was so self-conscious about it. Going out was terrifying to me. I just wanted to stay in the house and I dreaded everyone staring. Now it's just like, "Yeah. I'm pregnant. Get over it. Keep staring like that and I'm going to poke you in the eyes." Pregnant people are interesting. I'll be the first to admit that I always stared at pregnant women/girls in public. They were fascinating! Now I realize how uncomfortable it probably made them. Then you always have the "older" generation of folks that think we're all too young and incompetent. Them and their eye rolling. That's what's really annoying to me. It just feels so judgmental. But I try and not let it bother me. I know everybody out there in the world is going to have their opinions and I just can't let it get to me! Oh, and there are ALWAYS the people who think your belly is like public property and an invitation to offer advice and tips. UGH! Some woman walked up to me in shopko before and just touched my stomach! It was like... um... EX-CUUUUSE ME!!! I politely asked her not to touch me. But still. Strangers find it in their best interest to ask you how you're delivering, what pain method you're using, and then tell you why you SHOULDN'T use that method and all about their horrible experiences. I suppose. It's all part of being pregnant =)

I'm hopefully going to *attempt* to make Lasagna rolls tonight. Went to cooks.com to get some recipe ideas. I hate eating frozen foods all of the time. They sound a little tricky though. I've never made lasagna before, but I've always wanted to. Fingers crossed they'll turn out and be delicious.

Had a really hard time falling asleep last night :( Couldn't find a comfortable position and then I just got so worked up and frustrated that it took even LONGER than it would've to fall asleep. I think I am going to have to start sleeping with a blanket or pillow wedged under my big belly for extra support. I think that's part of the problem of why I wake up with backaches. I guess that makes sense though. My stomach sticks out front and I think it just needs a little extra support when I'm sleeping. Something to hold it up a little bit! hehe. Bought a sleeper/dress/nightgown thing. It's heavenly comfortable. I think Sam was making fun of me for it... but hey! I like it, and I think it looks better than wearing oversized t-shirts to sleep. Yuck. I hate feeling unattractive and gross in big t-shirts. Some days they're ok. But, ugh. I just wanted something a little more cute to wear to bed. Don't worry, it isn't a granny nightgown, in case that's what you're picturing!

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33 weeks + 2 days

Why can't there be music?

First you should know that I am really bored, hence I think maybe somewhere around the 3rd blog today. In my defense the other 2 were totally legitimate pregnancy blogs that I probably should've done before. Anyways. The second thing you should know is that this blog really isn't related to my pregnancy.

Not really. Not in any way, in fact.

Do you ever think about what watching a movie would be like if there wasn't any music? No absolutely climatic, mushy music during that one scene in the Notebook? You know what I'm talking about.... she runs to him, big kiss, blah blah blah. In the rain? Or how about scary movies... I don't think they'd be scary at all if you took the music out of them. Just the opposite. I believe they'd be pretty comical! Jaws without the "doo doo...... dooo dooo..... do do do do do do" wouldn't be Jaws. I get so jealous when I watch movies and the main character is just walking down the street and a song starts playing that perfectly depicts their mood and the entire situation that's going on. Something by Jack Johnson probably... And do you know what I think?? "WHY DOESN'T THAT EVER HAPPEN TO ME?" Seriously! Life isn't like the movies for a lot of reasons. I especially like this quote "Life isn't like the movies; the good guy loses, everyone lies, and love does not conquer all." You can add "no perfectly syndicated song that reflects one's every movement, mood, and behavior" to that list. If I had one wish I would, well, it's pretty obvious right? OBVIOUSLY I would use my wish to get unlimited wishes, duh. :) But seriously. I would want a song to start playing for everything I was doing and have it fit perfectly. That would be amazing. Or even sound effects. Also, super cool. So then when I dropped my yogurt on the floor next time the "wahh wahh wahh" would come on out of nowhere. Well. That's basically what I wanted to share with you. That I think life should come fully equipped with sound effects and music. But, I suppose. Once I had it, I would get sick of it. Still, maybe even for a day. I should write to Oprah, have her get on that.

Week 33 : Things to look forward too.....

EVERY WEEK I GO TO BABYZONE.COM OR BABYCENTER, BASICALLY ANY WEBSITE I CAN GET MY HANDS ON, AND CHECK OUT WHAT I CAN BE EXPECTING FOR THE COMING WEEK, FETAL DEVELOPMENT, ETC.... AND I'M ACTUALLY A DAY LATE SINCE MY WEEKS CHANCE OVER ON A SATURDAY. BUT HEY, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

FIRST THING I NOTICED WHEN I WENT TO THE PAGE WAS HOW EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE ADVERTISING THAT BABY'S ALMOST HERE! SO SCARY! EXCITING BUT DEFINITELY SCARY. "HAVE YOUR DIAPER BAG PACKED? GOT THE SUITCASE READY TO GO? MAPPED OUT YOUR ALTERNATE ROUTE TO THE HOSPITAL YET?" AHHH!!! THEY'RE FREAKING ME OUT!!! FORTUNATELY I DO HAVE THE DIAPER BAG PACKED, SORT OF. IT'S ALL ORGANIZED FOR NOW AT LEAST! WELL, UNTIL BABY GETS HERE AND I WON'T BE CARING ABOUT RETURNING THE NUK TO THE SPECIFIC POCKET I HAVE DEDICATED TO IT RIGHT NOW. BIRTH PLAN, MOSTLY CHECK. IN CASE YOU ARE LIKE I WAS AND HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A BIRTH PLAN IS, IT'S THE SHEET THAT YOU TAKE TO THE HOSPITAL THAT HAS ALL OF YOUR SPECIFICATIONS FOR LABOR/DELIVERY. AND LET ME TELL YOU, WHAT A PAIN IN THE BUTT THAT WAS TO FINISH. I WAS SUPER CONFIDENT WHEN I STARTED IT, GOT TO THE FIRST BULLET AND DETERMINED THAT I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT I WAS LOOKING AT. BUT I THINK FOR THE MOST PART I HAVE EVERYTHING FINISHED ON THERE. FOR INSTANCE, IT TOOK ME ABOUT 5 SECONDS TO FIGURE OUT THAT I DID NOT WANT AN ENEMA UPON ARRIVAL TO THE HOSPITAL! I'M NOT EVEN SURE IF THAT'S STANDARD PRACTICE ANYMORE, BUT I CHECKED 'NO' JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE.

BACK TO WHAT I CAN EXPECT FOR THIS WEEK: MOOORE WEIGHT GAIN! WOOOHOOOO. LUCKILY I THINK THE BULK OF THE WEIGHT WILL BE GOING RIGHT TO MINI-ME. HE'S GAINING ABOUT HALF A POUND A WEEK UNTIL DELIVERY. WHICH IS, QUITE A BIT IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT! HALF A POUND EVERY WEEK ADDING ONTO MY BELLY. YAY ....! I THINK HE'S GOING TO BE A CHUBBER :) WITH ESPECIALLY CUTE PINCHABLE CHEEKS. LETS SEE, MORE BRAXTON HICKS! HOORAH HOORAH. THOSE ARE THE PRACTICE CONTRACTIONS THAT HAVE ME WAKING UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT NOW. THEY'RE NOT "PAINFUL" BUT YOU CAN'T EXACTLY CALL YOUR ENTIRE BELLY AND ABDOMEN CRAMPING UP FOR 2 MINUTES COMFORTABLE. IT SERIOUSLY LOOKS LIKE MY STOMACH JUST TAKES ON SHAPES AND HARDENS UP LIKE A ROCK. ABSOLUTELY NOT PLEASANT AT ALL. HM, OH IT JUST GETS BETTER. THE INCREASING WEIGHT OF BABY WILL CONTINUE PUSHING ON MY BACK AND RIBS MAKING BREATHING (MORE) UNCOMFORTABLE (GREEEEAT) AND THE BACKACHES CONTINUE. HEATING PAD HERE I COME! ALL THE DISCOMFORTS ASIDE, ITS PRETTY COOL WATCHING HIM MOVE. MY WHOLE BELLY JUST ROLLS OVER NOW. HE REALLY LIKES THE RIGHT SIDE, ALOT. AS A RESULT I HAVE A LOBSIDED PREGGERS BELLY. THE LEFT SIDE OF MY STOMACH IS ALL SQUISHY STILL, YOU CAN POKE IT ALL YOU WANT! THE RIGHT SIDE, HOWEVER, IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY. SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE MY STOMACH IS ACTUALLY STICKING STRAIGHT OUT OF MY SIDE RATHER THAN OUT FRONT. IT'S KIND OF FUNNY! HE ESPECIALLY LIKES ELBOWING ME RIGHT IN THE RIBS. WELL, I THINK IT'S HIS ELBOW ANYWAY. FIGURING OUT WHICH BODY PART IT IS IS A LITTLE BIT OF A GUESSING GAME.

33 Weeks + 1 Day

Gold star for me! I actually went to bed at a relatively decent time last night and woke up and got my butt to church today. Pretty proud of myself actually. Granted I went to the late service, but still. That's pretty big for me considering I hate waking up and it usually takes me 2 hours to shower and get ready. I haven't been wanting to get up before 10 lately. And (I know, I know) some days I find it hard to get out of bed before..... 11.....!!! Not **entirely** my fault though. Back before I was pregnant (I'm having a hard time even remember what that felt like!) I used to have problems sleeping as it was. Now throw in a 5 lb lil baby practicing field goal kicks with my kidneys and it's, well.... even a little more challenging to get to sleep at night. And it sucks because you aren't allowed to take sleep aids while pregnant, along with the vast list of other things that you CAN'T DO. Ugh. Basically that's what pregnancy is. 9 months and a gigantic list of No-No's.

Anyways =) I'm feeling pretty energetic today and I'm definitely going to take advantage of it! I am going to slip on a pair of sweats or walking pants or something! Grab my tennis shoes and go for a walk. Not too far. I was almost contemplating walking to Burger King..... but, that would sort of defeat the purpose of the walk, right? Maybe next time. Then I will probably hit up Wal-Mart. I'm going to try looking for another cute ducky puzzle to put together and hang up in the baby's room. Actually, I'd even settle for something not rubber duck, just cute and boyish. The walls in his room look a little sad. Plain white. Super boring.

Cravings / Aversions : Third Trimester

Nothing too extraordinary to report here, yet :) Lately I've been craving things like hot fudge, cookies and cream ice cream (I like that its cold), and cream soda. But nothing that woke me up in the middle of the night that I HAD TO HAVE... As far as aversions go, still spaghetti. I don't think I'll be able to touch that until after I have the baby. Something about it just doesn't sound appealing, at all. Although, I've been finding that I'll pull something out to eat, get maybe 2 or 3 bites into whatever it is, and discover that I'm not interested in finishing the rest of it whatsoever. I almost feel like I lost my appetite for food. That or I've just been unable to decipher exactly what it is I want to eat! I do like fruit though. Kiwis, apples, oranges. Mmm. Those have been doing the trick lately. Hopefully I'll have some crazy story to add here before the next few weeks are up!

Cravings / Aversions : Second Trimester

Craving : PB&J

For some reason, I couldn't get enough of them early on in my second trimester. I distinctly remember waking up one night in September probably around 1 a.m. (back when sleeping on my tummy was still an option) and just thinking: PB&J PB&J PB&J, almost zombie-like all the way to the kitchen. After scarfing down 2 sandwiches I went back to bed thinking that would be the end of it. Long story short? Over the course of the next 8 hours I would have a total of 6 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Eventually I gave up on the bread part of the sandwich and simply settled for PB&J.... on a spoon.

Craving : Pistachio Pudding

Sitting on my bed, working on some chemistry homework (balancing equations to be exact), doing nothing at all that would be even remotely linked to pistachio pudding -- and I can't get it out of my head. I tried to tell myself I wasn't hungry. I only had 8 problems left. It could wait. Turns out... it COULDN'T wait. I literally started practically drooling and had to get up and make myself pistachio pudding. There. Mission accomplished. I had made 2 bowls of pudding (1box) and set them into the refrigerator and was then going to resume my chemistry homework to let the pudding settle. I couldn't. All I was able to think about was the delicious taste of the pistachio pudding. Half sprinting to the kitchen, I wrenched open the refrigerator door and gulped down (it was still liquid) one bowl of the absolutely delicious pudding concoction. Deciding that one more bowl wasn't going to be enough, I made up another box of pudding and set those 2 bowls in the refrigerator. By the time I finished doing that, the other bowl of pudding was hard enough to actually be called pudding, and I ate it. Probably about 10 minutes and 4 bowls of pudding later, I was able to resume balancing my equations without any distractions!

Aversion : Cooking hamburger meat

Let me make that a little more clear, it wasn't the cooking part that bothered me; it was the smell. Every time my boyfriend made Hamburger Helper I tried to avoid the kitchen as much as possible. The one and only time I tried cooking hamburger meat during my second trimester I had to cover my face with a dishtowel because the smell just got to me. To me it almost resembled something like cow poop in a barn, it was just horrible! I couldn't even touch hamburger meat at all!

Cravings / Aversions : First Trimester

Aversion : "Surprise Packages"
It was still summertime. Sunshine. Grilled food. My dad likes to cook these things he calls "surprise packages". It's really not a surprise at all. They're hamburger sized pieces of pork topped with cheese, onions, grilled peppers and then wrapped in bacon. He usually throws them on the grill, sometimes cooked over the fire. And he doesn't make them for just our family -- let me tell you. He believes that these masterpieces are so delicious he essentially cooks for the neighborhood and any acquaintance he's ever come into contact with. To the point. It was shortly after I found out I was pregnant when he decided it was that "time of the month" to whip those bad boys up. I remember the smell of them when he brought the steaming platter into the house with that big grin on his face. I will never forget the smell of those pork patties. Sweet, steaming, and horrible. It was all I could do to not throw up right then and there; before I'd even gotten one on my plate, much less into my mouth! Ugh... and the next day. I woke up to grab a glass of milk and there they were. Just sitting there in the refrigerator; taunting me. The smell bothered me so bad, I couldn't even open up the fridge door! In an attempt to rid the house of the odor I pulled my sweatshirt up and put scented lotion right under my nose. I actually got out the backdoor with the platter of them until the stench started coming through the lotion/sweathshirt barrier and I had to drop the platter (not literally) and run into the house where I subsequently got sick in the bathroom. My brother ended up having to take the plate of them out to the other refrigerator in the garage.

The belly

It just keeps getting better! Aside from the large watermelon out front that's keeping me from sleeping soundly through the night, I have now developed the "oh-so-wonderful" pregnancy sign: STRETCH MARKS. At first I thought I would be part of the lucky 10% that dodged them, then I noticed the first small one starting right below my belly button and to the right a little. Apparantly I wasn't lucky enough to avoid them entirely. It makes me so mad! I've been using that cocoa butter lotion and stretch cream stuff since I was 6 weeks pregnant; twice a day, at least! All those days of smelling like a tanning salong for nothing. That just bums me out. I guess I am going to have to gear up because it doesn't look like they're going to show any sign of staying the same size that they are now. Guess I won't be wearing any super sexy bikinis to the beach this summer -- not that I was really planning on that anyways!

Things have been going pretty well around here. Got all of the shower gifts sorted and put away. Christopher is going to be one stylish little boy! Sorted through his clothes and organized the dresser and re-organized the dresser at least 3 times. Definitely have nesting syndrome. Hope it doesn't get much worse! I don't think we'd have enough detergent for me to wash and rewash and wash his clothes over and over.

As the end is getting near I think time is going opposite for me. You know how they say that the end of pregnancy is supposed to take forever? Yeah, .... no. It's going by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was 9 weeks along and now here I am 33 weeks -- that's 8 MONTHS! I can't believe it. When people ask me how far along I am it feels so surreal to say 8 months. My belly is a wavepool of movement. I have the feeling he isn't going to stay in there until March 21st. He wants out!!! I will be very surprised if I make it that far. And probably very uncomfortable. I guess I can't really complain too much, though. Besides the stretch marks, which I will complain about until I turn blue! But other than the backache, I have adjusted pretty well to being pregnant. After reading about the horrors of being in the 3rd trimester: constipation, hemorrhoids (eek), super swollen feet, horrible cravings, I can honestly say I've been very lucky not to have any of those. I mean, the occasional swollen feet when I've been doing the dishes for too long, but other than that I am pretty comfortable! I am also pretty happy that I've stayed within my weight gain goal of 30 lbs. I am going to try to maintain that. I don't want to have to lose too much after the baby!

33 weeks + 0 days

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Christmas

Had a wonderful Christmas! Got lots of stuff. PINK lotion, Bath and Body Works, Mary Kay make-up products (loooove it), Satin Hands from Mary Kay, earrings, hats gloves, an industrial sized box of diapers (I am pretty sure there's 300 in there), and my aunt made a tie blanket for the baby :) It was really ironic because I am doing the baby's room in blue and yellow with rubber ducks and the blanket was blue with yellow ducks on one side and just plain yellow on the other! So that worked out really well. I am getting more excited! I picked up a shower gift from a friend the other night and she included a picture frame, which is adorable. I would've never thought of it!

Now I'm chilling in Michigan at my grandparents house. The ride was kind of long. Its a little over a 4 hour drive and that's usually without weather problems. But luckily the roads were clear yesterday. I am glad I didn't drink that much before we left because after the interstate there's about an hour of driving where you barely run into any gas stations and I think it's a little too cold to just hop out of the car and pop a squat in the snow!! The trip here though has been relaxing which I love. We're going shopping today to get baby shower decor and everything. Then maybe hitting up a couple of stores up here. I am thinking about coloring my hair.... but I haven't completely decided yet. I am nervous that I would dye it darker and it would look ridiculous.

Slept pretty good last night! My back has been killing me =( Which isn't any fun so I have to sleep a certain way. Had to take my rings off because my fingers just swelled right up and now are the equivalent to small sausages. Baby's been moving more and more and I found that we must be on opposite schedules. He wants to be awake.... when I am SLEEPING! ...and consequently I am usually awake then too because he does acrobat moves around my belly which is a little distracting. I don't mind though. It's pretty neat to feel him in there.

Well I / We are going to go get ready for the day and shopping.

5:55 AM --- backache

Well.... things would be much better if I could actually sleep. There's a slight chance that will happen before 8 when I am supposed to be awake and getting ready to go to my appointment. I tried moving to the couch even, but no luck. Sitting hurts; sitting on kitchen chairs hurts, I tried all of the chairs in the living room, I can't lie down; on my side, back, or obviously stomach.... so I guess that leaves me with standing?? haha..... Maybe its all the extra boob weight. Because it hurts way up high. Like I really needed them to get bigger! Ugh. I should probably do the dishes. But... they would probably aggravate my backache =) So I think I'll sit here with a pillow behind my back, "good posture", ice cream, and watch "When a Stranger Calls"!