Annie's 1st Movement

Yesterday it was uncomfortably hot- not just for a pregnant woman. Annie, my sis, called & said they were thinking of going to the lake if I wanted to go. If you've been reading the blog regularly you'll remember my anxiety of public displays of my body in a bathing suit. Well it was hot, I've been visible in my bathing suit @ water aerobics and I am quite visibly pregnant so I took my boy swimming. It was a nice afternoon, the water was cool and for the 1st time my sister got to feel Rooney kicking. He's been sitting on my right side for the last week. It really hasn't been uncomfortable but there's been alot of action on that side. I think it was nice for her to finally get to feel him move. Then Brandi had her charge put his hands on my belly trying to feel the baby & I started to feel like a freak show. While he's waiting for the baby to kick I looked over @ the family next to us. The Dad was wearing a backward tank top, smoking a cigarette while wearing bright purple latex gloves. I suddenly felt very comfortable in my bathing suit with hands on my belly.

Signs of Life

The last few days have been fairly uneventful- take what I said with a few grains of salt though. Rooney has been moving around & letting Dad & I know he's here. He squirms around & plants himself right on my bladder in the evenings. I've tried asking him to move, demanded he move & finally tried a pinky-promise with him. However, the logistics of getting to his pinky made that deal fall through.

Recently I've realized that this pregnancy is stealing a great love from me...shopping! Once we're in the middle of our appointed errands and my feet start to hurt, I need to lay down & let's not forget to mention the sudden, irrepressible hunger! I've started bringing a Cliff bar or something similar with me when I go out because I don't know when it's going to hit. The other day, I kid you not, we were in the car maybe 7-1/2 minutes before it got me!!! We would have had to turn around if I didn't bring the bar.

I say the last few days have been uneventful because I'm pretty sure this is all typical. The only "new weird thing" is when Rooney moves while I'm walking around, cleaning or doing water aerobics. I'm pretty sure he is just trying to relocate himself to my bladder though.

Just waiting for Rooney

The waiting is the hardest part

Giving the people what they want...

By now you've all seen the nursery photos, and things look even better in person. But here at headquarters, we have gotten a lot of requests to see the best part of the entire nursery. Without more ado: check out those baseboards! Each one a little work of art!

One of the more challenging bits of the entire process was getting the furniture in place after it has all been constructed: there was basically one open spot in the entire room. Arranging everything was like a furniture-sized slider puzzle.

Of course, now that the nursery has officially been declared "done", I have to find some way to spend my time. I suppose I could spend it with the baby books I should be reading.

Hmm, I wonder how I can justify Grand Theft Auto as baby-related research...

All Done or 32 Weeks and Counting

I am officially calling the nursery done. There are a few minor things left but we got the pictures hung, the curtains are up (I will say I did a stellar hemming tape job, despite one being about 1/4" longer than the other), lamp and dog butt hooks mounted! Woo hoo but now what am I going to do?

Today Mike & I went to the MD for our monthly check-up. Tomorrow I will be 32 weeks. Not much time left. The MD said Rooney is good size- not too big, not too small. That's about it. I was a little annoyed because my understanding is that we should be going every 2 weeks now but she has us coming back in a month then every 2 weeks then every week. That means I will basically be 36 weeks next time I see her. That doesn't seem right but Mike has pointed out that not much really happens on these appt's. She listens, measures & that's about it. I guess I should just be thankful that I don't need to see her more often.

Day 32...still clear.

Finishing Touches

Last night Mike & I arranged the furniture in the nursery. Besides the room size factor we have 2 walls that are virtually useless. One big wall has the window & baseboard heater & the other wall has a big closet. Oh there is also only one real functioning outlet. It's amazing how we can still put stipulations on furniture placement when there is really so few choices. We did not want anything hanging above the crib, we had to have the changing table near the crib for diaper changing convenience, we couldn't have any furniture too close to the baseboard heater nor could the crib be next to the heater. We've got it all arranged & I can sit in there now & be amazed that our son will be here soon. The boys come in there & sit with me. I explain to them that this will be their "little brother's" room, ask them to protect him and be good. I'm not sure they get what I'm saying but they generally lick my face & it reassures me anyway.


I realized last night the baseboard heaters will keep me up for 3 months every year. Make sure nothing fell off the chifferobe, make sure the curtains are far enough back, no toys touching, make sure Rooney keeps his hands off...the doggy door was my biggest worry prior to this. I'm sure there will always be something. I'm starting to understand why our parents got upset when they found out Dana, Lisa, Tommy & I were jumping off the roof of their house into their doughboy pool. I'm sure we took all the standard safety precautions that 8-12 year olds could take though.

Day 30...we're good.

B.D. chimes in...

Well, I pushed it off as long as I could. Susan finally had to call me out to get me to post. So, here it is: my first blog posting ever.

So, what took so long? you're probably wondering. As you can imagine, there were several contributing factors.

First of all, I know these things aren't supposed to be super time consuming, but I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to just blog like a normal person. Any significant prose that I write tends to be read and re-read, and then re-written for hours on end. I finish up writing when I am about as sick of the topic as I can possibly be. All of this re-writing leads to long, rambling text, which is probably as frustrating to read as it is to write. Just for curiosity's sake, we'll start a little timer to see how long this actually takes. 9:15, and ticking.

Next, the bar has been set pretty high for quality posts. I feel that Susan has been doing a wonderful job (yes, I have been reading her posts), and there wasn't anything else that I could add.

This segues nicely with the next reason: I was trying to think of ideas that wouldn't be redundant. I seem to be going through the same stuff as Susan. Restless nights? I get those. Frustrations over Tiny House? Check. Weight gain? Game, set, and match.

Of course, some people probably find it interesting that I am going through some of the same stuff as Susan. That's when I realized: there's an angle! Finally, something to write about!

But wait, there's more. Susan mentioned some "Big News". Susan read (yes, Susan read, not me: this has been a frequent point of contention in our house) in one of our baby books that it may be possible to hear the baby's heartbeat around week 28 simply by pressing one's ear against mom's belly. (I strongly recommend everyone give this a try next time you see Susan. I'm sure she'd love to let you listen. AndI promise you won't look silly.) So, we had tried a couple of times to see if I could hear anything. The first couple of tries, I definitely heard something, I'm just not sure what it was. Susan's heartbeat? My heartbeat? The ocean? I'm not entirely sure what I heard, but I'm pretty sure what it wasn't.

Well, last Thursday, I finally heard the baby's heartbeat! I could tell because of how fast that little thing was beating. Not quite as exciting as the first time we heard it through the sonogram, but this seemed more like a part of real life and not part of visit to the doctor. We grabbed a stethoscope (what, you don't have a stethoscope?) to see try to see if Susan could hear, but by then we had lost it. But at least one of us got to hear.

So, there you have it: a post by your's truly. Pertinent info, tons of unique witticisms, and all in fewer than 600 words! Time check: 10:09. This was so easy, I may just end up doing it again.

Until the next time Susan calls me out...

Puppies Everywhere!!

First things first...the walls of the nursery are finished. Unfortunately the nursery is not exactly complete yet & I cannot figure out how to zoom out on the camera so I am just attaching photos of the prints we added to the walls. Mike will be posting to this blog- he has been "planning" it so I will not talk too much about what he is doing. I will tease you a little by saying he has what some might consider exciting news.

As some of you might remember from a previous post I talked about a "big move" from the baby. I thought maybe he was sideways & was getting into position but I was really just speculating. Now Rooney has been very active & his little kicks are around my hip area! What does that mean? My right side inparticular has been a little punching bag. I haven't had any of the breathing problems & kicks to the ribs I've read about. He seems to be carried so low as it is I cannot imagine where he'll be when he "drops".

I will also note that we have finished w/our Labor & Delivery class. Mike took the classes really well, probably better than me. He took notes & everything!!! Mike has a 1hr class coming up in August- "Here Comes Daddy" but that is just a prep class, from a males perspective, of what to expect from me & the baby when we get home.

That's what's been going on this weekend. We did pilfer through Rooney's cousin, Felix's, too small clothes. They'll be 6 months apart so the hand-me-down's should be plentiful. I think I grabbed some pretty cute stuff.

Day 27...still clear, but for how long? My belly button is starting to go away.

We got it!!!

As you've been reading we've been working on the nursery a little while. Mike painted some of the walls & window trim. He finished up the baseboards that were started 2 years ago & repainted the ceiling to cover all the white spots we thought we could live with when he moved in. The room looks great now. We've planned on keeping it pretty simple all along-no baby borders or anything like that. However, because we live in "Tiny House" we've had to recycle some of the things used elsewhere in the house. The rocker is from the living room, the rug from our bedroom & we had a big picture of a dog that was already hanging in the room. So I had what I thought was a really great idea. To make it a bit more kiddish in the room & to go along w/the big dog picture I thought it would be great to put puppy paw prints along the walls. I thought it would be simple & you see these everywhere. Well just try shopping for a great idea! I've been online hunting & we had gone to a couple of craft stores looking for a paw print stamp. I thought we found it @ one store but they were out of stock. I made a special trip down to the store to get this stamp yesterday (because their new stock should have all been out by Wednesday) but it was still out. I was told they don't always get what they order. Seems there may be an issue there but I was too crushed. I called Mike heartbroken & asked if he had time to check a store by his work. Mike did it!!! He got the stamp! Now neither of us has used these before but hopefully it turns out well.

In other news, Rocco officially graduated from training last night. He got to show off his tricks of "Shake" & "High 5". I was a very proud Mom. Now both boys have diplomas. Also, tonight is the last night of our birthing class. Ooooo all the prep classes are ending. That means it's getting close. This Sat. I will be 31 weeks!!! Yikes 9 more to go!

I've lost count on what day of the watch we are on, however it's still clear.

The Big Move

Many mornings I wake up and have problems going back to sleep. Normally because I start thinking of baby stuff & then Rooney starts getting active. Well this morning I woke up around 4:15 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. I was up & down for the next 1-1/2hrs. I had some Cap'n Crunch & came back to bed. As I was laying there, thinking of baby stuff & trying to get back to sleep, my stomach all of a sudden felt like someone was picking it up & twisting it. It didn't hurt but it felt really weird. A couple minutes later I felt it again. I've been saying I think Rooney has been laying sideways. I'm not sure if he was or not but it feels like maybe he moved into the correct position. Once he did the big move he calmed down & then I was able to go back to sleep. Unfortunately Mike was sleeping so he couldn't see or feel this huge move. I'm sure he would have found it impressive.

The Nursery- Part Deux

This weekend has been a very productive weekend. The nursery is basically completely painted, the crib and chifferobe are put together & we got a rocking chair/ottoman in the nursery. Now there is no room for the baby!! Just kidding but that room, much like the rest of the house, is tiny. I always laugh @ that commercial where the couple have to live in "Tiny House" for a year. That's us. We still have some decorative wall painting we want to do & curtains need to go up. They are not ready yet. I have to figure out how to use hemming tape. We also have increased the space in or bedroom a bit. Got rid of the big bulky TV. Everything needs to come off the floor.

Mike worked so hard this weekend, it was really impressive. Than the poor guy gets freezed out @ night. I've been so hot sleeping that we have the A/C on & a fan blowing the cool air over us. I've been sleeping outside the covers & Mike, under the blankets, wakes up w/his arms crossed over his chest shivering. He says the blanket is too short on the bed but I think he's just being tough guy.

My mom really wanted to see a pic of the nursery so I edited this posting & added pic.

Labor & Delivery Relief

Tonight was the 2nd class of 3 in Labor & Delivery. After the 1st class I was so freaked out. I told Mike I didn't want to continue & we could just adopt. I started feeling better this week anyway but after this class I am happy with the choices I've made as far as how the birth will go. I feel more relaxed now & that is a relief. Probably for Mike too since his Number #1 job is to keep me relaxed during labor.

Otherwise, still working on nursery & should make good progress this weekend. Also, we've been working on how to create more space in our bedroom for a bassinet. Any of you that have seen our house know that will take some creative furniture placement. Keep fingers crossed.

Day 17...clear.

Water Aerobics

The day had come. I have avoided really thinking about it since I signed up for the class but I had to don the bathing suit!! When the 1st few women came up it was what I had feared- skinny 1st/2nd trimester ladies!!!! Two of them were still able to wear bikinis!!! Thankfully several more later stage ladies came & the class was actually fun. I had a good time, it was quite a work out & my legs felt better.

I haven't written about this yet but I think my legs are swelling a bit. They've been uncomfortable lately & I've been trying to elevate them. It's a bit hard to sleep that way. Mike officially gets 1/8th of the bed now. Rooney has been really active the last couple of days & seems to like to kick Dad while we're cuddling.

The nursery is progressing & hopefully I'll be able to play with something soon.

Day 16 of the watch...still clear.

Mom & Baby

We finally got a pregnant pic that was at standing heighth. In the background is the newly painted wall of the nursery.