27 Weeks

I'm in the third trimester... I can't believe it!

On Friday (at 26 1/2 weeks) I had my glucose test. Everyone said it wasn't as bad as it was made out to be, but that orange flavored sugar water was NASTY! I felt so nauseous afterward. I was told I would only hear about the test if I failed it. It has been a week and I haven't heard anything so I guess I passed!

In other baby news, we (I think) have settled on some names. It's hard not knowing the sex, because we have to come up with a boy's and a girl's name. And since we were having the most difficulty agreeing on a girl's name, we're pretty sure that means baby Stybs is a girl. We have decided on Alec William and are testing out Kate Alexandra (to see if we like it).

And now for the gratuitous bump shots:

I can't believe how much it has grown in just 2 weeks!


This month's updates:

Cravings: still hooked on salty and fried foods.
Aversions: The smell of coffee will still get to me, but I have been able to have (most of) a cup of vanilla coffee with vanilla creamer and of course decaf peppermint mocha from Starbucks
Weight: +18 overall. I swear the bump grows overnight sometimes
Morning Sickness: all good
Energy: Good, but I've been getting back aches if I stand or walk too long.

The Big Reveal

So today was the day! I told my students that I'm having a baby.
I first started by asking them to predict what my surprise is- I got a bunch of responses that it would be about my cat (or a car or a puppy) and none of them said baby! The aid that works in my room came by to see their reaction, so she graphed their predictions.

Of course she didn't  write "It's a baby!!!" until after I read that part in my book. But the kids still yelled "I knew it!" and I showed them that- no, they didn't, they thought my surprise was my cat.
Anyway, they were really excited and asked a bunch of questions like I thought they would. There was no questions of "how do you get pregnant" or how do you have a baby" which I was very thankful for. But they did talk about how it would come out, and that it hurts, and having to go to the hospital.
One of my boys kept saying "I'm glad I'm not a girl"
Then that asked how i knew it would be born in April, and if it was a boy or a girl. So I explained that it takes 40 weeks for the baby to grow and the baby has been growing for 25 weeks already. Then we charted if we think the baby will be a boy or a girl.

Apparently baby Stybs is a boy because it kicks me- as one girl said "when my mom had me I didn't move, but with my little brother he moved and kicked a lot"

But the funniest comment by far was when they talked about the heartbeat. I said that the doctor had a machine that could let us hear the heartbeat, and they started asking about what would happen if the heart beats so fast... and then the baby comes out running... and then what if it comes out so fast it starts flying around the room like Superman...
I couldn't tell if the kids was serious or joking, but when he drew the picture I burst out laughing.

The best part of the day was at dismissal and all the girls were saying by to the baby and rubbing my belly, then as one girl left she yelled back to me "Take care of the baby!"

I love these kids. They are so funny sometimes.

22 Weeks

It feels like forever since I've posted. I can't believe I'm over half way through this pregnancy! I've been going to the Dr every 4 weeks. And was just told that after next month I'll start going every3 or 2 weeks. Because I'll be in the Third Trimester! What?! I feel like this whole pregnancy I've been trying to keep it secret and it has taken forever. Now that I'm half way, it's like hyper speed. I'm excited to have my baby, but it seems to be getting close to the due date at a much more rapid speed.

Baby Stybs is the size of a papaya

This month's updates:

Cravings: still hooked on salty and fried foods.
Aversions: no coffee still, but seems like I can manage everything else!
Weight: +14 overall. Holy Cow where did that come from?!
Morning Sickness: all good, just fighting a cold
Energy: same-old-same-old

(ugh, horrible pic- i was using the self timer since adam's not here)

Yup- that's a bump! It poked it's way out before Thanksgiving and I feel like there are days when I wake up and go 'Whoa! It grew overnight!' I want to wait until Christmas to tell my students, but I don't know if I can keep it a secret 3 more weeks.

Hand-Me-Downs

I love them! I am so thankful for a sister who is finished having children and is willing to pass on almost all of their baby items.

While we will be getting her crib, that will have to wait until my nephew is a little older. We will probably get it around the time baby Stybs is born, or soon after. Which is fine for me since baby will probably be in the pack-n-play for a while anyway.
We will be getting her glider soon. It is currently at her in-law's house right around the corner, so we are just waiting for a day when they are available to get it to us.

What we have received so far is a TON of blankets/swaddlers/towels/bibs; a baby bath; breast pump; doorway jumper; playmat; and a small and large boppy.

Everything is in the closet of the nursery for now. We haven't moved out the bed or large dresser yet, but we are still trying to keep Grover out as much as possible.

He can't figure out why the door is shut. He crouches and peeks under the door and pounces on the corner trying to get in. Poor little guy. maybe he'll give up on the nursery and go back into the office once the bed is moved in there.

While we still have some furniture re-arranging to do, it's nice to know that so much is taken care of already. My hope for the nursery was to have white furniture- to contrast with the grey walls and go with the dresser we already have. But how can I turn down free (expensive) furniture. It is dark wood stain, and I am a little hesitant about how it is going to work, but I think it'll be fine. And the baby isn't going to care either way.

Here's what we're working with so far:

It'll all come together in the end. And I can't say enough how thankful I am to my sister for passing down everything. It is so helpful.

18 Weeks

Baby Stybs has been on the move! For the past 2 weeks I have felt little flutters that have become increasingly frequent and stronger. It is so exciting to actually feel the baby move and know that things are going well in there.

Friday's doctor's visit was the one I have been looking forward to for the past 2 months. I finally got another ultrasound. We aren't planning to find out the sex of baby Stybs and funny enough, baby didn't show the goods.

I have to go back in about 2 weeks for another ultrasound (to get a better view of the heart and face). I'm excited because I get to see baby again!

This month's updates:

Cravings: Salt. I have re-discovered Triscuits and man are they salty and good!
Aversions: Still no coffee or ice cream for me (But I did cave to a decaf peppermint mocha- didn't taste like coffee at all, this is a good sign that I will one day like coffee again).  I'm better with veggies, but NO tomatoes (or sauce or soups). I have had salads a couple times and have felt no side effects, but there is so much acid in tomatoes that I get severe pain in my upper stomach- some would call this heartburn.
Weight: +2 lbs (+4 overall) The weight is creeping up and my pants do not button anymore.
Morning Sickness: still good :) and no heartburn (I haven't needed Tums since I stopped eating tomatoes)
Energy: Has been good, but I think I've caught a cold from my students so I've fallen asleep before 8 the past couple nights.

The bump is officially here. I can no longer button the pants that used to fit, and pants that were too big fit nicely around my belly. I wonder how long it will be until my students start to notice?

Nursery Art Finds a Home

Remember the prints I framed for the nursery?

I finally hung them in baby Stybs' room.

I actually don't mind that they are all looking in the same direction now that they are up on the wall.

I'm excited that I'm actually making progress on the nursery!

This One Too?

Yet another curtain has fallen down because the screws came out of the wall.

I am blaming this one on Grover. He loves this room and if those little scratches under the window tell me anything it's that he tries to get up into the window to stare/ chirp at birds and squirrels.

Well I needed to shorten those curtains anyway (floor length curtains and baby that will eventually crawl and inevitably grab those curtains is not safe). So after fixing the rod (by trying 2 sets of longer screws, anchors, and finally moving the bracket about a 1/2 inch to the right) I started working on hemming the curtains. I don't have a sewing machine, and I'm not that great at sewing anyway, so I got out the hemming tape that has been sitting in my closet for a while.

But before the hemming process started, I flipped the curtains upside-down, so they will no longer be tab-top curtains. I just opened up the seams from the hem at the bottom to create the new pocket for the rod to slide into.

I don't have a seam ripper in my little sewing kit, but an exacto-knife works well too!

Once they were hanging the correct way, I pinned where I wanted the bottom of the curtain to be.

Making sure they were even, I took the first set down. I followed the directions on the package for the hemming tape, and it's really easy to use. As long as you make sure you hem the correct side.
I forgot to check which part of the curtain I was cutting off, and of course, cut the wrong side! Ugh. One curtain ruined. Luckily one of the windows is narrow so it's not a huge deal, but I felt like an idiot!

On the correct panels, I started by ironing the bottom to get a good crease in the fabric. Then I cut about 3 inches from crease, folded that to make a hem, and ironed again. Once the fabric had nice crease lines, I knew where to put the hemming tape and just ironed away.

much safer for baby stybs

Again, it's very easy to use, as long as you are hemming the right side of the fabric!