JenniAnne Update

Well we went to the dr yesterday and all is well!! Yeah!! Even though I can feel her moving around I still get an excited nervous feeling everytime we go. We got to hear her heartbeat and got the results of the quad screen- ALL GOOD- no increased risk of downs or spina bifada or anything else it tested for :-)

Our next appointment is our third trimester so I start going every two weeks- which means we are heading into the home stretch. Yikes we have so much to do!

The only bad news was there is not much they can do about my hands falling asleep at nite. They don't tell you that your sleepless nites start during pregnancy. I thought I could at least coast along until she got here feeling rested. But anyways they can't do much, but if I want I can go see a hand specialist to see if a cortisone shot may help. We passed for now, but are keeping that option open.

Mom, Dad, and Baby are all doing well.

We are about to start on the nursery so stay tuned for updates on that!!

Initiation Rite # 2- The Mom-Mobile

Well in order to be a well equipped mom every new mom needs a Mom-mobile. This is a vehicle used to shlep kids and their necessities from point to point. It also has many other functions and names- i.e. soccer mom car. It is usually bigger than a regular sedan as you have lots more to carry SUV's, Vans, and now crossovers should be what you are imagining. I am happy to say I am now one step closer to being the well equipped mom.

My wonderful husband bought me a brand new as in I am the first owner- SUV. Check it out above.

Now this doubles as my push present (def. push present- a gift given from a new dad to a new mom after she has just "pushed" out his child) even though I have not gone through the whole childbirth thing yet, but you can bet he will remind me about this purchase and his sacrifice while I am screaming my head off. We traded in my car and his second car-his weekend driver mercedes. He loved that car, but felt it was time for it to go.

They did not have what I wanted in Houston so we drove all the way to San Antonio, but it was worth the drive. I love my little car!!!

Kickboxing

I do believe that Jennifer is in kickboxing class these days. Those soft flutters and constant guessing is it her or is it gas have now subsided and she has gotten in a few really good jabs the past few days. The other nite I was lounging watching tv when all of a sudden a sharp jab to the left of my belly button comes out of nowhere. It felt almost like someone jabbing you on the inside with a small pencil. I think it was a punch! The past few days at work I have had to stop in midsentence because I am like what the heck is that.

Right now she is rumbling around and it makes me giggle. Occassionaly I will jump when she gets a good jab in, but it is very exciting. My ability to feel her even more now only indicates she is getting stronger which makes me happy. And look out daddy you might have your hands full with this one.

Friday the 13th- Death of a Ring

So my Friday started out like most days- I get up eat breakfast, get ready for work. It was during that process that I ran into problems. I put on my wedding rings and began to gather my last few things for work when suddenly I felt this crazy pain in my left ring finger. I looked down and to my horror and amazement my finger had swollen around ring and was turning bright red.

I began to try and get the rings off (which in essence made things worse) and my finger began to swell even worse and turn purple. I called Simon and said I would need to go to the emergency room b/c these rings were not coming off.

Sarah- to the rescue! Sarah (my sister in law) came over in a hurry- wondering if she was being punk'd because her brother was insistent that it was urgent and I was laughing when she called leaving her quite confused. She takes me to the ER and they try to get the ring off, but are unsuccessful- until they bring out the saw!

Well it was not really a saw, but a small ring cutter and after about 30 minutes (of course I had to have platinum - one of the strongest metals- next time -if there is one- I am opting for white gold) so it took a while. They were able to remove my rings, but I wondered would they ever be the same.

Swelling is common in pregnancy- so maybe I should not have tried to put my rings on if I was a little swollen, but who knew?

The engagement ring portion is repairable (THANK GOD), but they don't think they can save the wedding band. It already has lost one diamond. But I am ok, baby is ok, and I am now sporting the fanciest set of CZ's on my left hand that would make anyone jealous - he he.

My SIL Sarah- said blame it on Friday the 13th- so I am. A big thanks to her for all of her help.

Be sure to check out her side of the story at:

http://aunt-sarah.blogspot.com/2009/02/finger-my-side-of-story.html

It's Baaaack!

The morning sickness is back and it is back with a vengeance! It's like Freddy Krueger or Jason from Friday the 13th it just won't go away.

I called the doctor today concerned maybe something was wrong. She said nope - some people remain sick for the entire pregnancy, for some it may come and go, etc.

Unfortunately- if it does not get better or I am unable to keep foods down they will have to prescribe a medication of some sorts to ensure that JenniAnne is getting the nutrients she needs. That would be a bummer because Simon and I are trying to stay medication free for the pregnancy since you never really know what some of the side effects are of medication on the unborn. I will keep you posted.

For now it is me and the porcelain god!

Half Way

Cool Text Maker

Just a note to let you know Jennifer is half baked! (no I am not talking about the movie) but rather we are at the half way mark with 20 weeks down and 20 to go. We are making progress and surprisingly we feel like we have a lot of large hurdles down including registering for all the things we need , finding a daycare and a pediatrican!! Glad you are all along for the ride! Will post more later.

Hugs!

Registering Part 2

Saturday- the big day has come. After our visit last evening we wanted to check out a few more things on car seats before we were off. We decided on either Graco (b/c I liked the pattern) or the Chicco (the lexus of strollers according to some). We head to Humble to our nearest BRU.

I did the hard part online- all our personal info so all we needed was the magic wand and the checklist and we were off. Simon began to call things out and soon my head became filled with dread- did we need that, did we not- was that rated highly on the website, what were other people's feedback? Yikes it is all so confusing. As we are walking around I notice that half of the shelves are empty. After talking to several sales people they mention the best BRU to check out is the big one on 45 and 1960- SO YEP you guessed it, we were off!

The huge BRU was great- we had a nice "orientation' received a great book and they set us up with the stroller "advisor". We asked about the Graco one with the pattern we liked and the advisor looked at us and said what every parent fears- RECALL!!! (lead based paint)
What how did I not know I even checked out some webpages? oh great. But he re-assured us and showed us a few others. We ended up choosing the Chicco even though it is a basic pattern.

After all my recon work I knew we did not need everything on the list they give you, so I highlighted what we were after and then the magic wand really got it's workout. I watched as Simon roamed aimlessly up and down the feeding isles determined to find a "strainer"- I had no clue what they meant by the general term and decided I did not need it; however he reminded me on more than one occassion "just because we don't know what something is definitely doesn't mean we don't need it!"

We had a great time, picked out some great things for JenniAnne and we are excited.

She is starting to move around more and Daddy got to feel his first kicks recently! What a weird experience. Will write more about that and our quest to find the "perfect" daycare!

Hope you all are well.

Initiation Ritual # 1 - Registering for Gifts

The key to registering for gifts in the first place is heavy duty recon work and boy did I think I was prepared, but I really had no idea.

Ever since I got pregnant my new favorite website is Babies R Us so I can search out the perfect gear for my little angel. They have excellent buying guides and advice. All I needed was confirmation it was a girl and we were off.

Mentioning to one of my friends at work that we were going to register this weekend she comments "oh how fun, picking out exersaucers and yada, yada" I am like exer- what? With fear in my eyes she chuckles to herself and says- you need to get this book and read it before you attempt to register. Boy am I glad I did- for anyone that is pregnant with their first child this was a godsend- The Girlfriends Guide to Baby Gear: What to Buy, What to Borrow, and What to Blow Off. It made me feel very prepared- that is until I got to the store :-)

Since I had done plenty of walking the isles of Babies R Us (BRU) and endless hours on their website Simon wanted to do some of his own- so we went Friday to check out some of the bigger gear items. We started with the Travel system (for the childless this is the stroller, car seat combo) We pull one out are driving around the store and want to pull the car seat out and check out the stroller. We unfasten two pieces and pull the car seat- WAIT it won't come out, we try something else, then something else, but nothing. HOW DO THESE STUPID THINGS WORK? Oh my I am going to be a failure as a mother....... finally some people walking by sensing our distress stopped to help. The lady pushes a button grabs the car seat- and like magic out it comes. Wow, she was an angel sent from heaven. We explained we were new parents (as if that was not obvious!) and laughed to ourselves (hysterically).

The next few items had no moving parts so we were ok, although I was somewhat distressed because I always imagined great baby gear with cute patterns, but I am learning you get one or the other- NOT both.

On to furniture. We decided to peruse and see what BRU had. Finding a nice crib it said drop side- which to me is important as I am short. Drop side, but how do you drop it? Pushing, pulling, banging- NOPE that is not working. What happened to the little buttons on the side like when my little brother was a baby. Talking to ourselves- Simon leans against the crib- AND BAM! down it goes.......... so that unlocks that mystery!

Armed with what we saw this evening we are going back home for a little more recon work before we actually register. Check back soon for this funny adventure.

BTW- we did get registered.

VIDEO Added

Well I promised the video and now you have it. This was not as easy as I thought it would be, but it was much longer than the Christmas video. Anyway, I have added at the top for your viewing pleasure.

Check back later for my posting about yesterday- Our weird initation rite into parenthood- Registering for Gifts! It was a hoot.

Talk to you soon, enjoy!