Reflections

As I near my due date(the 27th!!!), I find myself reflecting on the pregnancy and how I can't believe that in a few short weeks (please don't let it be that long, Henry) our son will be born and our lives will be forever changed. As I have mentioned before, I am not one of those "I loved being pregnant!' chicks. It certainly was not horrible (perhaps I should wait until after labor to write this), but it has not been a cake walk either.
10 Things I won't miss about being pregnant:
1. Having to pee every 5 minutes
2. Not being able to tie my shoes, put on socks, put on pants, put on underwear, etc. Getting dressed kinda sucks.
3. Not being able to bend over. The floors are littered with stuff.
4. Not being able to eat certain foods, like sushi and soft cheeses. I am dying for some feta!
5. Getting looks and comments from strangers when out in public, like "Dang, you due any day now, right?" Yea dude, any day 4 months from now. Thanks.
6. Stretch marks!
7. Not being able to sleep on my stomach!
8. Heartburn
9. Not being able to see my lady bits. It disturbs me to not know what is going on down there.
10. Not being able to breathe!!!

We have so much love for someone we have never met...I cannot imagine how we will feel when we meet him and see his little face! I also find it hard to imagine how I can love anyone as much as I love Betty! But I cannot wait to find out!
I am ready, Henry. You can come out now!






38 weeks

Progress!

Little Henry is making moves! As of yesterday, I am 1 cm dilated and 50 % effaced, or thinned out (will be 36 weeks tomorrow). I know this really does not mean much as you can walk around like this for weeks, but it feels great to know that something is happening! He is head down and has been for a while, which is what contributes to the progress and the pressure on my bladder. My OB wants to do an ultrasound at next week's appointment to check his growth because he is measuring a bit ahead. Again, these measurements don't really mean much, but I won't pass up a chance to see him again!
I am not feeling horrible all the time, just most of the time! Sleeping is more and more difficult, mostly because I have to pee so damn much! Still waiting for that energy surge to come and allow me to deep clean the house and cook up a storm. For now I will settle for the energy to walk to the mailbox and heat up take-out.

The nursery is just about done. We still have a few things to do, like put up curtains, paint letters, organize the closet, but it is just about complete! I really love the way is turned out!

From Best of All Things

Here I am at 35 weeks


We also had maternity photos taken by Emily Alane Photography. She is awesome and we had a great time! You can see some of the shoot at her blog:
http://www.emilyalane.com/jeannine-and-nitesh/

In the home stretch!

I cannot believe how close we are to meeting Henry! Some days it feels like I have been pregnant forever. You know those days...where getting off the couch makes you feel like you just ran 2 miles and when you realize stretch marks can show up anywhere..yikes! But other days it feels like I just found out there was a little peanut in my womb.
We were finally able to do the 3D ultrasound last week and it was amazing! Seeing his face was incredible! I cannot imagine what it will be like when he is actually here! His weight at the scan was estimated to be around 4 lbs, which is right where he should be.
Little Henry was quite cooperative. He smiled.

From Baby_3D_Images_Video

He yawned...a lot! We did not get much sleep the night before because someone loves to dance around every time I get up to pee, which at this point is every 2 hours if I am lucky.

From Baby_3D_Images_Video

He even sucked his thumb!


All the discomforts and pains of being pregnant (not even talking about labor...ask me about that after he is born) are so worth it...even though I feel like I need a fork lift to help me roll over at night and we go through an obscene amount of toilet paper now.
And to think I felt huge at 31 weeks...


And just because I cannot stop looking at his sweet face...

27 weeks!

As the second trimester draws to a close, I am beginning to get a little more anxious. Ok...a lot more anxious:) Childbirth class is well under way, which forces me to face reality....a child must come out of my womb, one way or another. Labor and childbirth are only the beginning. In just a few short months we will be responsible for this little life. So many fears and unknowns lie ahead, but what joys await us words cannot describe.

A few LP updates:
-I feel him all day, every day. His movements are so much more active and forceful! Nitesh has no problems feeling him kick and most of the time he doesn't even have to touch my belly to know he is moving. The jabs are evident from the outside. Some days I swear he is trying to push his way out of my abdomen. I now have a constant awareness that there is in fact a little person inside me.
-What was my office is now the nursery. Fresh paint is up and furniture is on its way.
- I get full so fast now. This is annoying for 2 reasons: 1. It is simply uncomfortable to have a lot of food in my stomach because everything is all squished up, so it takes me a very long time to eat a regular sized meal. 2. I can't stop thinking about food! Even though I get full faster, I am still hungry all the time! Eating just a few Peanut M&Ms just does not cut it. I am trying to spread out my consumption, which means I am basically eating all day.


23 weeks





24 weeks


27 weeks


LP just kicked...hard! I think I peed a little:)

Is the room spinning, or is it just me?

This may be TMI, but I haven't actually thrown up since 1998. I have come very close on many occasions since then (too much Jungle Juice in college...that was a fun night), believe me, but I fight the urge so hard that I can stop it before it starts. That is until yesterday. I guess I had a good run. FYI: Severe vertigo will make you very nauseous and vomit..fun! Not nearly as fun as the old Hitchcock film, Vertigo...definitely a must see and NOT vomit-inducing. Dramamine seems to be doing the trick right now and I will be seeing an ENT on Thursday. LP is just fine and content to kick and punch the crap out of my uterus....and I truly am loving each and every whack.

Things I wish I knew:
Pregnancy is not all sunshine and rainbows. I guess I really did know this, but not many people talk about the unpleasant parts of pregnancy, other than the whole pushing out a watermelon through your vagina thing. Just because you are having a difficult pregnancy with a ton of uncomfortable and unexpected symptoms, does not mean you are any less grateful or thankful for the child growing inside you. It's ok to bitch and complain about it because YOU ARE GROWING A HUMAN INSIDE OF YOU! That's some major sh*t, people.

Happy holidays everyone! Hope you all make it through the season without throwing up:)

LP's a dude!

The moment of truth has arrived! A tiny penis is growing inside of me...it's a boy!! While I was a bit sad to see said penis on the big screen, I was happy to hear that he looks very healthy. He was lounging when the ultrasound began, but then he started to move around a lot while his quarters were getting squished.
The arrow below will direct you to the goods.


LP enjoying the life in the womb


LP is ready to kick some ass with his feets!


There's a little dude in there! And I feel him all the time, moving around like he owns the place!

20 weeks


In just another 20 weeks, this little guy will be ready!

Things I wish I knew:
-even at 20 weeks, getting a good night sleep is tough! You get horrible leg cramps, wake up in pools of sweat, and it takes forever just to roll over (which you have to do often because sleeping one one side hurts your hip) I need not mention having to pee a lot still. By the time you get your ass out of bed and into the bathroom, you are fully awake and the dog thinks it's time to play. At this point I usually waddle downstairs for a snack because the heartburn/indigestion is so bad and certain foods always taste better in the middle of the night, like donuts or Combos.

Until next time, here's looking at you, kid!

I'm Never Alone

So here we are, 16 weeks tomorrow, and we have 4 more weeks to go until we find out the gender of LP. It is so hard to wait!!!! We all know I am hoping for a girl, insert the obligatory "I am happy as long as the baby is healthy" speech and gender doesn't matter, because we all know it does.

It kind of freaks me out to think that I could be growing a tiny penis inside of me right now. Another thing that freaks me out: knowing there is a little person inside me at all times, accompanying me as I do all of my daily activities, such as going to the bathroom. I guess this is preparing me for when the baby does arrive. I suppose I will be lucky if I can go to the bathroom by myself for a while. I also feel guilty doing things I maybe should not do because LP is always there, like when I polished off the bowl of leftover Halloween candy (we only had 2 children come, so the bowl was pretty full). I feel compelled to explain myself.

Things I wish I knew:
-Pregnant women produce less tears, leaving you with dry eyes. Kind of ironic considering we do a TON of crying, mostly over nothing, like when I didn't get my Netflix movie when I was supposed to. I chastised the mailman for hours, blaming him for all of the bad things in the world, when I found the movie under the newspaper later that night. Then I cried again after I found it. Then I could only get through 20 min of the movie because it sucked, so I cried.

And because so many of you keep asking me for pictures...

From pregnancy

10 weeks
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From pregnancy

11 weeks
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From pregnancy

Another view
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From pregnancy

13 weeks
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From pregnancy

Preggo....it's in there!