Dr visit update

Well Tom & I were both wrong, I'm only dilated to 1 1/2 cm. At least its progress though, better than nothing at all! Baby's heartbeat sounds strong and steady, doc says to just hang in there & that he'll be here in no time at all. My next appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday so in the meantime I'm just going to stay as active as I can to get this baby moving on its own. Elvy & I just went for a 3 mile walk, now its naptime...Elvy's already beat me to it & is totally passed out!

Love.

Due date week!

So maybe this is my last week of being pregnant...maybe not!? I'm due this Friday, only 4 days away but who knows when our little guy is going to come. My guess is that he'll be about a week late but we'll see.

We finally finished all of the BIG projects that needed to get finished in the baby's room. Here's the stencil that Tom made for the teal wall in Baby B's room. He did such a phenomenal job, crafty hubb!

Here's the wall that I stenciled. Came out amazing, its even better in person!



And the grand finale....(drum roll!) is the dresser!!!! This thing was waaaaaaaaaay more work than I bargained for but was definitely worth every second of it. Tom sanded it & I spent about a week painting it. The black piping was the hardest part - that combined with my enormous belly getting in my way! 



The only things left now that we have to do in the baby's room is hang the wall decor and find a little shelf. Almost there! Tomorrow I have another check up and will find out if I've dilated anymore. I think I'm at a 2 and Tom's guessing I'm dilated to 3 cm. I'll update tomorrow! The baby has the green light to come out after Wednesday when Jake gets home from Disneyland. I promised him I'd either have the baby before he left or would wait until he got back on Wednesday. Glad the baby is keeping up his end of the bargain & staying put until big brother comes home :)

Love.

38 weeks

Exactly 2 weeks left now! Crazy, I didn't think I'd still be updating at this point. A couple of weeks ago I thought for sure this baby was coming early, there was so much activity & stuff going on with my body - all the contractions and dilating, hospital visits, etc. But I'm actually really happy to still be pregnant and that my little poppy is still cookin' in there. I've really enjoyed being pregnant & sometimes feel like I could go another month no problem! Well okay, minus the night time back aches, those I don't love so much. No wonder Jake didn't want to come out though & was 15 days late, I think my body is made for pregnancy - these babies just get all cozy inside and it seems like the longer I go the more energetic I become. I've also been off work now for two weeks, pretty amazing. I've honestly wondered a few times how I worked and fit in everything I do! I've been so busy since I've been on maternity leave, its been non-stop but I've loved every second of it. Trying to stay on top of homework, finish up all these little projects around the house...well I shouldn't say "little"! Painting the baby's dresser and stenciling his wall in his room have proved to both be bigger challenges than we anticipated but I'm almost done and have to say that it was worth every stressful moment doing it. I'll definitely post before & after pics later.

Here are some fun facts of what's going on in the Bowman world:
*At 38 weeks I've now gained 25 lbs
*Jake is kicking butt in baseball, just hit a triple Wed night & a double on Sunday!
*Tom gets to take off an entire month after the baby is born WOOHOOOO Can't WAIT!!!
*I'm feeling super sad to have to leave Elvis when we have the baby. I know that sounds goofy but we've never left him over night before, this will be the 1st time. He'll be w/ my sis & bro bro having the time of his life though playing with Mersey - he won't even know we're gone!
*Jake is going to Disneyland with his dad April 16th - 20th, that's the week we're due. Everyone please pray that we have the baby either before he leaves or after he gets back!!!!! I don't want him to miss this!

Updates on the room later...almost there!

Love.

Crafts and Crib!

More progress on the baby's room...Tom putting together the crib & I'm crafting

My big baby! 



My little baby...



Painted baby's room!

Here's a before shot of the baby's room. 3 walls were white and one wall was a bright purple!

Now here's an after...3 walls are now a cream color (kind of hard to tell in this pic) and one wall is Teal Zeal! Not quite finished though...still have to do some stenciling this weekend. Just a fun sneak peek of our work in progress. 

L&D

Let me be the first to say that if you do NOT want to go to Labor & Delivery, do NOT call your Dr and tell them you've been spotting because that's exactly where they will send you! And not once this week did it happen but twice! humph! All I wanted to know yesterday morning when I called is why - why is it happening...that's it. But they said back to Valley Care, so off I went...which really isn't that bad to be honest. The staff is great, the check in process super simple & easy but there's lots of little unnecessary fluff that I could do without...like being wheeled up to L&D in a wheelchair. I mean really, I'm not dying! Oh well, you just have to go with it. After yesterday morning's visit I learned that I've started to dilate, I'm at a 1cm. The baby is doing great, everything looks good & nothing to really be concerned over unless I start bleeding more. Alot of times I guess as the cervix begins to open & dilate, blood vessels rupture which can cause some spotting. TMI? sorry. I could get more graphic but I'll spare you the rest haha!

With everything that's been happening though in this last week - baby dropping, dilating, constant contractions - we definitely think the baby will be early. (Tara's predicted April 13th) Tom's feeling a little anxious over working so far away & is afraid something's going to happen while he's at work but I keep reassuring him that he'll have plenty of time to make it home. Labor is a loooooooooong process! I'm 35 weeks today so the baby can safely come at any time, we're officially in the clear so we'll just have to sit back and wait and see.

Oh! and here's a little sneak peek from our super fun & awesome maternity shoot with Sisterwait!

Love.

Over-due & homecomings!

I can't believe it...8.5 months preggers today! Now of course in the homestretch I feel like, "Where did the time go!" but if you would've asked me that at 3 months, I would've told you we were moving at a snail's pace. I had another check up on Wednesday & everything looks awesome. I didn't gain any weight this time which I thought was weird but the Dr said was fine. We talked about being overdue & what the game plan was, last time he let me go 15 days late with Jake. He said that this time he wouldn't let me go that long & that he'd induce me after a week, 10 days max but most likely not past a week. WOOHOO! So IF I'm late again, they would probably induce me as early as the 28th but no later than May 1st - which also happens to be our 1 year anniversary! LOL My prediction (or hope!) is that I won't need to be induced this time. Not that my induction was horrible last time but I really feel like my body will kick into gear on its own. I would love to go into labor naturally and I'm hoping that all these Toni Braxton's are prepping my body to do something of its own accord.

 

Most exciting news of all is that Tom comes home tonight!!!! He's only been gone a week but I feel like its been an eternity, like he's missed so much! I haven't had anyone to stare at my belly with all week long! I tried to make Jake do it but he said, "Come on mom, I can't stare at it forever. I'm not Tom!" hahaha!! Can't wait to see my babe tonight & kiss his face!

 

Love.

Fat cheeks, braxtons & lamaze!

Well we had our last & final ultrasound on Friday so the next time we get to see our little beeb will be live and in person!! His little face is so pudgy & adorable, he has the fattest little cheeks & lips. I can't wait to kiss them! At the ultrasound they said according to his measurements, he weighs about 5.2 lbs. They're guess-timating that he'll be about 9 lbs, I'm hoping not too much bigger though! Things look good with my fibroid tumors, they're all out of the way and shouldn't cause any complications, no need for a C-section. YAY! We're still doing Lamaze & have about 3 weeks left. We learned a couple breathing techniques last week & Tom got to give me a massage while we practiced breathing - AWESOME! It made me so tired though...I mean hello?! Eyes closed, massage & deep breathing...ni'nite! I had to give Tom a hand & arm massage and man I suck. Thank God Tom's not the one that will be going into labor, I'd be worthless.

About a week or so ago I started having Braxton Hicks (we call them Toni Braxton's though). I wasn't sure what I was feeling at first, if it was the baby doing something uncomfortable or what. I didn't have them when I was preggers with Jake so I had nothing to compare it to. After Lamaze & our teacher explaining exactly what they feel like I realized that's what had been happening - my uterus tightening at the top and gradually spreading down. Tom got to feel my stomach while I was having one, it gets rock hard! They're kind of uncomfortable, not necessarily painful but just uncomfortable crampiness. I guess it's all just good practice for the real thing to come!           

 

Tom's gone in NY this week, boohoo. Tomorrow's his birthday so make sure to send him some extra love! Jake's Middle School registration is this week - totally exciting! My boy is growing up - awwwwwww!  And I only have 18 more days until I'm on maternity leave HOLLAAAA!!

 

Dr appt on Wednesday, more updates to come!

 

Love.

Donations!

I'm almost done sorting thru everything that I pulled out of the baby's room - VICTORY! I have thrown away more garbage, sifted thru & organized more stuff than I thought possible. We are now on our 2nd donation pickup!  The first donation pick up was mostly clothes & some knick knacks but upon yesterday's cleaning I discovered that we owned a plethora of hair dryers, alarm clocks & make up bags! Its amazing the stuff you accumulate over time. We have another donation pick up coming tomorrow...here's our pile of give aways! I can't believe this was all shoved in one room! One man's garbage is another man's treasure though so I'm sure someone will love my make up bags and our old vacuum! Adios garbage~

8 months

I just realized 2 things. First, I'm 8 months pregnant! I'm so thrown off by counting everything in weeks that it didn't even dawn on me that 32 weeks = 8 months, duh!!! Second thing I just realized is that the baby is due in 53 days. The chances of him being born on our actual due date are pretty slim but it totally tripped me out when I realized how close we are. Less than two months away! Tom said he can't believe that a baby is actually going to come out of me for reals! HAHA!

 

Right now the baby is about 17 inches and almost 4lbs. He'll be gaining 1/3 to 1/2 of its weight in the next 7 weeks - eeek, I'm going to be enormous! We started Lamaze last week too & it was awesome. We both got a lot out of it and really enjoyed it. Its fun being in a class with a bunch of other expecting parents and sharing our experiences with each other. We're really looking forward to our next class. Right now we're supposed to be working on a relaxation exercise twice a day for ten minutes each time. The exercise is designed to help you relax regardless of where you're at or what's happening. We've been very bad students though & have not been practicing at all! Now I'll have to set a reminder in my phone to remind me every day. The teacher also talked about due dates and letting go of any specific day. We're now supposed to consider it our "due month" and have an open mind for anything that can happen! Exciting!

 

Fun Facts:

* I've gained 22 lbs total now

* Sleeping the night thru is completely non-existent

* The baby is CONSTANTLY moving - he's a fiesty lil guy!

* I've figured out that if I sit on my stairs its easier to put my shoes on

* We're still not prepared - tons of work to do in the baby's room!

* Everything's been taken care of with my work & my maternity leave date is March 25th - 26 days to go! HOLLA!

* I love chocolate & sweets and hate brocolli & gum still, weird

* Possibly our last ultrasound this Friday - can't wait to see my little poppy!

 

Love~

oH MY ACHING bACK!

Oy, its been hurting pretty bad & becoming a constant now. Its always worse at the end of the day, sleeping has definitely lost its appeal b/c rolling over and/or moving hurts it, getting up in the morning makes me feel like Granny Eileen down the street and bending over is just a big forget about it. I've always had back problems & kind of had a hunch that this pregnancy I'd feel some extra fun effects from it. Yoga & stretching definitely help though so I try to do that a few times a week. Its those moments when I sneeze or move wrong and WHAM I wanna drop to my knees that I hate. Tom's the best though & rubs it for me when we go to bed and tells me almost every night what a great job I'm doing carrying our baby! awwwwww - he's the bestest ever!

Other than the back, things are moving right along & going great. I'm becoming more & more confused with how far I am...30 weeks? 31? 32? (Losing my mind?) I don't know...geesh, the days are just kind of running into each other now. Baby boy is riding up high, lots of pressure up top now. Somedays I can literally feel my stomach stretching its pretty bizarre. He's super active too - I mean this kid is constantly at it....moving, kicking, punching, shifting, turning. Tom & I watch my stomach almost every night now & watch him move around. It reminds me of a waterbed when you jump on it and see the ripples - that's what my stomach looks like! Except its much harder than a waterbed and you don't jump on it.

Stuff that's been happening

*Tom's been working his butt off. I'm so impressed with his dedication to his job & think he's the best supervisor ever! (and yes, I'm totally biased but whatever!)

*Jake is moving up to an Orange belt in Karate - wahooo! Go Jake!

* My work is fighting me on my maternity leave - not so fun, lots of prayers.

*I've gained a total of 19 lbs now - gulp!

*I'm not getting enough calcium & have to force myself to drink milk if I'm not getting it from my foods....I'm not in love with drinking milk

*Elvy got his first cold! (Kennel Cough - even though he was vaccinated!) Awwww poor puppy - but he's on the mend now!

Stuff coming up

*I get new tires next week! Total big deal b/c I'm driving around on really shotty tires - super dangerous, not good!

*Dr appt on Wednesday, I go every 2 weeks now

*Ultrasound on the 4th, hopefully Jake can make it this time. Last time he was sick, bummer. Can't wait to see beeb again!

*And then....Tom's gone for a week in NY. That will be a sad week to blog...be prepared.

Love!

Just a start...

The baby's room has officially been EMPTIED! I'll have to post a picture of what our downstairs looks like right now because everything that was in the beeb's room is now in our downstairs front room & it's a freakin' DISASTER!!! Poor Elvis can barely get to the front window to look out because of all the boxes & crap strewn everywhere, what a mess. But its progress and even in the midst of the chaos there's some sort of reason to it all - reason that yes, only I can understand but oh well, it kind of became my project. While I emptied the baby's room, Tom worked on re-organizing the garage, we're trying to utilize our space as best as we can right now to make room for everything. So now with the room all cleared out we can finally paint and start decorating - the fun part! YAY! Our visions & plans for the room haven't changed since we've found out we're having a boy...in fact nothing really has. I'll leave it a surprise though what we're doing until we've finished it & we post some pics of our little poppy's lullaby land.

 

IT'S A ........ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We weren't going to find out the sex but there was a little slip at our last ultrasound appointment. Watch & find out, we're having a...........???!!!!!

Grooossss...Germs!

Oh boy do I feel like I'm dying. I've been sick for the last 5 days and I've been miserable. Finally saw the doctor today and it turns out that I have bronchitis and sinusitis. What is sinusitis you ask? Just fancy schmancy talk for inflammed sinuses and oodles of congestion, gross and not fun.
Pregnant + sick = YUCK.
I've also discovered that being pregnant & sick when your bathroom is all the way upstairs sucks! The last thing I feel like doing is running upstairs every 1/2 hour to pee when my body hurts all over, totally exhausting. I've also discovered that I hate daytime TV with the exception of Dr. Oz who has awesome health topics on his show. My doctor prescribed an antibiotic...not super excited to have to take it but my Ob doctor assured me that its perfectly safe to take and that if I don't take it I'm putting myself & the baby at risk of infection. Sooooo with that said - bottoms up antibiotic!

On a positive/exciting note - we signed up for our Lamaze classes! FUN FUN FUN! I can't wait. This will be totally new for Tom AND for me. I never took any Lamaze classes when I was prego with Jake so I'm excited for this new experience. Classes are 6 weeks long & start at the end of February - can't wait!

Love.

Tour

Last night Tom & I got to tour the hospital that we're delivering at. It was super cool & got us waaaay pumped about having the baby! Things are really becoming a reality now! We'll be having the baby at Valley Care, same place I had Jake. When I had Jake there 12 years ago it was such a good experience, the staff was really nice & supportive and we got such good care. I'm excited that we get to deliver there. We saw the different rooms they have, the beds for dad to sleep in, the nursery...although last night it was eerily quiet in the labor & delivery ward...very peaceful and calm - not at all like I remember it being! Or maybe I only remember the hustle & bustle because I was in labor and it was all about me & my baby, friends, family, etc.  It was a great night to tour the hospital though because it was so empty. The baby was moving all around during the tour too as if he knew where we were at and what we were talking about - its arrival!  

 

This friday I'll officially be in the 3rd & last trimester - woohoo!!! I had a check up last week & everything looks good. I've gained a total of 15 lbs now & the doc said I'm right on track. (Although I feel larger and larger with each passing day...you should see me try to roll over in the middle of the night - wowee, I feel like a beached whale!) I did the 1 hour glucose test (routine gestational diabetes test) & had to drink some naaaassssty lime flavored gunk & sit at the lab for an hour with some very colorful & interesting people. I don't know the results yet but I'm sure all is fine, not really worried. My next Dr appt is at 30 weeks in 3 weeks and then after that I go every 2 weeks until I'm 36 weeks pregnant & then I start going in weekly! Then its GO time - baby time! We registered last weekend, whew~ that was a lot of work! It was fun picking out baby stuff together though, looking at strollers and car seats, cribs & bedding. P.S I hate bedding but that's a different blog - one that I'll title, Puke on baby themed bedding. We tried not to fall into the trap of "green & yellow everything" since we don't know what we're having but its kind of hard not too.  Still no progress on the baby's room but hopefully the next entry will say differently! School just started last week so I'm trying to get back into the swing of that and juggle the rest. My goal is to pull ahead in school a couple of weeks so I'm not worried about homework while giving birth! Keep your fingers crossed for that!

FUN FACTS!

6 months pregnant...25 weeks and 2 days to be exact!

FUN FACTS:

*I've recently discovered that I bowl much better pregnant - pretty amazing.
*I've also figured out that when you're pregnant and you REALLY have to pee...you don't really have any pee, it's kind of like a big giant joke because you rush to the bathroom thinking you have to pee soooo bad but really its more just the baby pushing violently on your bladder.
*I'm trying to sleep more on my side, I keep waking up in the middle of the night on my back in agonizing pain, not fun.
* My next Dr appt is on the 19th. I'll have the glucose test done, hopefully that goes good.
* I also dye my hair on the 19th - totally not baby related but just fun :)
* The baby likes to lie super duper low. Alot of times its really uncomfortable on my fibroids but other times its just completely bizarre feeling. I don't remember Jake being so low in my abdomen!
*I'm feeling great - like great how I did when I was prego with Jake & I'm loving every minute of it. So happy that the 1st trimester and all of its craziness is over! Bleh!
* I'm really enjoying yoga & working out & walking/jogging Elvis (although I've re-injured my tendon and have to stop walking/jogging till I see the doc this Friday, boooo!)  I've been making sure I'm eating healthy and organic and feel like I'm taking really good care of our little poppy.
* Staring at my stomach to see the baby move has become my new obsession
* School starts again on the 18th - I took the advice of a good friend & am only taking one class this semester so my focus can be on the last trimester and our sweet pea that's coming
*Besides my fibroids the only other concern I've had has been with my asthma. I have to take my inhaler quite often and HATE taking it but I know that I have to so I can breath. I've had quite a few triggers that have launched me into little mini attacks and they're pretty scary. Weird how things can get worse when you're pregnant. Other than that though things are good right now, really really good.
*Oh and my shower is on March 20th. Not sure if I'm having one or two but that's a date for sure that I'm getting showered!

6 month picture - before church this morning.

Love.

Fluttering bird and Nesty New Year!

Baby bird is waaaaay active today! Lots of movement and its super cool now because if you stare at my stomach you can actually see it moving - little kicks and jabs!  Last night Tom stared at my tummy for a really long time (so much patience that man has!) and finally it moved and my stomach went POP! and Tom went WOAAAAAH! It was pretty neat that he got to see it.

 

Well its 2011 now and its official - we're having a baby THIS year! For the last 6 months Tom & I have been saying, Oh next year we're having a baby...Oh next year, we need to start the baby room...Oh next year we'll register. It's "next year" now and we've got lots to do!  The disastrous baby room is first priority on our list. There used to be a walking path in that room so you could atleast get around things but that's slowly diminished over time. Now there are only "leaping pads" - little tiny open spots that you have to jump to from one place to the next to move around. Its quite fun...also kind of dangerous when you're pregnant but for me these days that's living on the edge. I've also been taking inventory on our house and all the little things we need to fix/change/paint/repair and have started a few projects already - NESTING TIME!

 

2011 - you're going to be a great year. You're bringing us a baby, its going to be magical. I can't wait to meet our little poppy seed. Hello poppy? I wonder if you're a boy or a girl?  This is the ultimate of surprises, better than Christmas or Easter or Halloween or those random days that Tom buys me flowers or leaves me little notes in the kitchen (although those days/moments are super special & make me glow for a good week)... but this....this tops it all. Our Baby B is coming!

 

love.