Babies = Lots of Stuff

Babies need a lot of stuff. And registering for that stuff is kind of stressful! We just spent a healthy chunk of time over at Target and Babies R Us. I can't even imagine if you walked in there with no idea of what you wanted or needed and were given the gun and told "go at it!" Because that would surely induce an anxiety attack.

Luckily, I was armed with my Baby Bargains book, which was very helpful and I had been reading before-hand, as well as our Consumer Reports ratings, which made it all a little bit less overwhelming.

In addition to being A LOT of stuff, it's EXPENSIVE!!! Our car seat and stroller travel system is $300!!!! Yikes. But we know we registered for the one that will be best for us, so I guess it is what it is. And we're not even thinking about how much college is going to cost us yet. Gulp!

Some of the Details

From our ulrasound on Wednesday - Baby is weighing in at 9 ounces and is measuring 2 days ahead. Fred and my brother were both 9 pound babies. Yikes!

We got to the clinic and the first thing we did was sit down with a genetic counselor to go through our entire family history. We have 3 different heart defects in babies in our family - I had a small ventricular defect when I was born up until age 5, my cousin had a large ventricular defect in her heart that required surgery, and Fred had a brother that passed away at age 1 because of a chamber defect (he only had 3 chambers, instead of 4). That, coupled with my multiple miscarriages, gave them a specific focus on the heart. They also asked if we wanted any testing and I said that we didn't think we needed it, but it would depend on the ultrasound.

So, then we got to go into the ultrasound and that was SO FUN!!!! I have only had ultrasounds in the first trimester (3 unsuccessful ones and one that showed this peanut at 7 weeks), so it was VERY COOL to see him moving around! It was surreal because I can't feel him yet, but there he was up on the screen in real time moving around. He was a very wiggly little guy and it was hard to get a clear shot of him, except when it came to showing his boy pieces - we got a clear shot of that!

The ultrasound tech measured his brain, the neck fold, the heart (has 4 chambers!) and monitored the blood pumping in and out (which was pretty neat), the umbilical cord and the blood flow in and out of that, the amniotic fluid level, bone lengths in arms and legs, upper lip, nasal ridge, the location of the placenta, length of the cervix, distance of the cervix from the placenta, and checked out his spine. And it was all NORMAL!

It was all so exciting and we have waited so long for this. We're going to start our registry this weekend and it will be fun for this to become more real!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

And everything on the ultrasound looked perfect! :)

Antibiotics and Baby Movements

It's been a rough few days and nights. Last night I at least got a stretch of sleep that lasted between 3-4 hours, so that's definitely an improvement! I'm staying home from work today, considering that at work they would have taken one look at me and sent me home anyway! I look like death warmed over.

I got a prescription for antiobiotics last night and started taking them, so I'm hoping that helps. My mom said that if she had seen me at the clinic, with my symptoms and being pregnant, she would have prescribed them, so she called it in for me. Go z-pack!

Yesterday, I *think* I felt the baby move. It felt like a couple of little pops and that was it. But I think it was Fressy! I was telling my mom yesterday that I just don't have the energy to get as excited as I would get if I was feeling 100%, but I'm still SOOOOO relieved that my illness isn't affecting him or her.

As for the neti pot - Fred bought me one at Target yesterday, but I've been too scared to try it out. :)

Getting one of these today

It's a netti pot and it's used to irrigate your sinuses and clear up stuffiness with a saline solution. At this point, I'm ready to try anything.

Misery

It's 3 am and I'm awake. I've slept about 2 1/2 hours total so far tonight. My stuffy nose is literally driving me insane and keeping me from sleeping. *Sigh*

Even Sicker

This sucks! I was really hoping that my getting sick wouldn't get any worse and I would be on the up and up by now. But NO. Last night I took a turn for the worse with my nose getting very stuffy and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I had a very rough night of sleep last night and woke up every few hours. Since I have limited medication options, it's not pleasant right now. Luckily I have a Dr. in the family (mom!) who can guide me on what to take. It's a lot easier and I don't feel bad calling her whenever I have a question.

I have been a bit paranoid about the baby, so I've been checking him/her daily, sometimes twice a day. It just gives me that peace of mind.

Also, only 3 more days until we know what kind of baby Fressy is!

I'm getting sick. :(

I have a sore throat and a cough. Luckily, I don't have a stuffy nose yet, since I can't take my favorite meds for it. I'm really hoping it just gets better without getting worse, since this is now day 3 of the throat and cough nonsense.

I'm also SUPER excited for Wednesday! I'm happy that we have off on Monday, so that will hopefully make the time go faster, since weekends always go fast anyway. I think that I will bring in tinted cupcakes to work on Thursday to tell what kind of baby this is :) Everyone likes cupcakes and I don't think we will be doing it for our family, like I was hoping we would and someone at Fred's work did it already (idea stealer. Except he doesn't know me or the fact that I wanted to do this first). So this should fulfill my need somewhat.

We have no plans for Memorial Day weekend. Does this make us boring? Probably. But, we do have some rockin' plans to do some yardwork and paint some cabinets! I'll post some before and after pictures once we get going.

Round Ligament Pain

Is no joke. Fred and I did the AIDS Walk to day at Minnehaha Park and it was a beautiful day out! However, the walk was a 10K, so about 6.4 miles, and I started hurting about halfway through. Not only did I get the RLP (round ligament pain), but my fingers swelled! I felt like I was wearing a fat suit on my hands and they HURT.

But, it was all for a good cause and it got me out and moving, so that's a good thing.

Especially since the night before I threw up in the car on the way home from my brother in law's graduation dinner at Buca. GROSS.

Fressy Can Hear!

New development with baby this week: he/she can start to hear! So now I have to watch what I say :) Also, I've been experiencing round ligament pain, which is basically stretching of my ligaments surrounding the uterus. I notice it most if we're walking, which we did a lot of during the Race for the Cure this weekend. But the exercise was probably needed... Anyway, Fressy is about the size of an avocado this week!

"Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And, if you're interested, an ultrasound might be able to determine gender."

Apples or Oranges

Wow - that apple looks huge! Also, according to the bump, the baby could also be the size of a naval orange! I'm really, really, really looking forward to when I can finally feel the baby moving. (I've heard it can happen as early as 16 weeks up to 22 weeks. I'm hoping I'm on the early end.)

How your baby's growing:Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

New Blog Title

So, Fred has been bugging me for awhile now to change the title. I guess he thought it was too depressing, since we have been blessed with a healthy pregnancy so far. So, he suggested this title. It stems from an article we read probably about 2 years ago about a New Zeeland couple who were fighting to have their kid named "4Real". Seriously. And then New Zeeland said that they couldn't. I'm glad someone was looking out for that kid. Except then they decided to legally name their child "Superman." D'oh!

Here is the article!