Cravings

Everyone seems to be interested in what kind of cravings I've had, so here's a list in no particular order:

MILK!! In an icy cold pint glass if possible. (This has been my biggest craving).

Sweet potatoes (baked like a baked potato or sweet pot. fries)

Buffalo Wings with bleu cheese

Chocolate (the darker the better)

Falafel


Weird, I know.

Alien Baby

When I'm chillin' after dinner I can get some pretty crazy movements in the belly. I don't know if it's her fist or her foot, but sometimes she takes one of her appendages and pushes out hard and rolls it across my stomach. If I lift my shirt up you can totally see it. It protrudes about an inch. And it totally freaks Travis out. It's awesome.

28 Weeks

Holy moly! How did I get to 28 weeks so fast? I spent the first half of my pregnancy thinking 9 months is a long time, and then when I hit the end of my first month I sprouted a belly all of a sudden, and every month seems to go by faster than the last. The kicks are starting to really pick up...and get more aggressive, I might add. I can actually see her movements through my clothes sometimes, it's kind of cool...now...ask me again in another month. And she's also decided to add a third workout to her two-a-day kickboxing training; I usually only get significant kicks after lunch and dinner, but now she's added a 3:00 a.m. routine.

This weekend I drove out to Halettesville to hang out with the new Mr. and Mrs. Nick Valenta and Mom, Dad, Gary, Nancy and Camey. Dad, Nick and Marie went hunting and the rest of us just took it easy and enjoyed the reprieve from everyday annoyances like news, noise, and cell phones. It was great, and I hope we can do it again sometime.

I'm still feeling really good, save for some fatigue in my lower back. The doc says I'm growing well, and I don't really have many complaints at this point. I sincerely thank everyone for all their thoughts and prayers and I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Me, Camey, and Mom

The Valentas Return to Corn Hill

Last weekend the Valenta family descended upon the tiny little town of Corn Hill, Texas for our annual Fall Family Gathering. There was bingo, cards, a silent auction, an interactive family tree, washers, and entirely too much food. I managed to eat myself into oblivion that day, but all the home cooking was well worth it, (can you say kolaches?). And because my Uncle Danny is a sucker for pregnant chicks, and pregnant chicks are suckers for pickles, (and he loves me), he let me have one of the jars of homemade pickled okra that he won at the silent auction.

Nursery Furniture

Okay, so I think we've finally settled on some nursery furniture. It's a little different than what we were looking at, but I think I like this crib better. And it's at a price that we can live with. The previous set that we were eyeballing was just a little on the high side, baby would by far have the best furniture in the house. And besides, Mama wants a new couch.

Amy Coe Westport Lifetime Crib (BabiesRUs), paired with the MALM dresser from IKEA.

Namaste

I attended my first prenatal yoga class last night I am so stinkin' excited about this! It's free, I can go twice a week, the instructor is great...certified specifically in prenatal exercise, it's full of women that are all at different stages of their pregnancies...some of them are as far along as 38 weeks! And it was oh so relaxing. I didn't realize how tense my muscles were, I've never been particularly limber, but I think having to sleep exclusively on my side at night has added to the tightness in my neck, shoulders and back. And this is sort of hard to explain, but there's just something beautiful about a room full of pregnant women chanting the melodic ohm at the end of the workout. (And come on, working out barefoot is pretty awesome too).

On the subject of sleeping...I've been having some minor hip pain at night due to trying to sleep on my side more. Apparently I was a back sleeper before and the adjustment was kind of rough for a couple of weeks. So we went ahead and bought an old recliner for the meantime. My parents found one in Corpus for next to nothing at a used furniture store and were kind enough to meet us in Three Rivers with it. It's huge, like bigger than our couch, but it's super comfy and Minnie is especially fond of it.

The next project, (after my friend Megan's wedding this weekend, the Family Reunion next weekend, Nick's wedding on Nov. 8): Cleaning out the two spare rooms and preparing the nursery! Stay tuned.

It's a Girl!

Yeah technology! Last Friday we learned that we are having a baby girl! Mother and mothers-in-law, all your prayers have been answered! Everything still looks really good, I'm either having a big baby or I'm a week further along than they thought. Unfortunately the sonogram photos don't scan well so the picture below didn't come out too great, but she's got a big fat belly and a beautiful profile.

It really was an amazing experience to see her moving around. The doctor's office had just installed a big flat panel television in the sonogram room so we could see everything big and bright. She was very active, flexing her fingers and kicking my bladder, (my full bladder). And unfortunately Travis was stuck sitting in Stone Oak traffic, so he made it right as I was walking out, but both of my parents were with me and I'm so grateful that they were.

It seems like my belly is getting bigger every day, but I still feel great at this point and hopefully that lasts for at least another month. The only weird thing now is that my hips hurt some nights. It helps a little to put a pillow between my knees, but with that, a pillow under the belly, a cat, a dog, and Travis, the bed tends to get a little claustrophobic. I never thought that I'd say this but I would kill for a recliner.

And can I just tell you that I've been shopping for a pair of maternity jeans and it is absolutely ridiculous what they try to charge for a decent pair that are long enough. I tried on at least a dozen today and there was only one pair that fit and they wanted $120. If I'm lucky I could get four months of wear out of them, I can't bring myself to pay that for a pair of non-maternity jeans. The next stop is the Old Navy online store. And if that doesn't work, Billy-Bob's Cover-All Shop.

19-20 weeks

Last weekend we met Nick and Marie in Austin for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. We heard some great music, had some delicious food, and enjoyed the balmy 91 degree weather, (past ACL Fests that we've been to have reached 108 degrees). And was super excited to see that one of my favorite artists, Erykah Badu, was sporting a pregnant belly. And she still got up on that stage and worked it.

As Long as We're Being Crude...

Let's play create a caption! Who can come up with the best caption for the above picture? Get that creativity pumping.

Bad Vibrations

So Nick's been staying with us through the duration and the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, and I'm very happy to spend time with him during the pregnancy. He seems to be enjoying the changes and the quirks in my attitude and behavior. But more than that I've been enjoying paying him back for all of his gag-inducing Valenta gas. This pregnancy gas is deadly, good god, I definitely feel something moving...and I don't think it's baby.

I'm thinking I may need to invest in a gas mask for Travis.

17 Weeks

We've reached the 17 week mark and everything is going well. I had my last doctor's appointment on Friday the 12th and got to hear the heartbeat. I have to admit that I was a little nervous because I go a month between each visit and I often wonder if all is okay because it's too early to feel movement. So when you hear the heartbeat loud and clear it's a relief and it brings a big silly smile to my face. My doctor said I could start feeling movement soon and we scheduled an ultrasound for October 3rd at 4:30 p.m. As long as the kid cooperates we should be able to find out the sex at that point. My belly's starting to grow, I'm too big for my breeches now, and still too small for maternity, so finding something to wear everyday is definitely an exercise in creativity. Apparently I've gained six pounds and I guess that's okay, all my doctor said upon examining my belly was that it looked like I was growing well.

I've been feeling great though, and I'm still not getting any weird cravings yet, except for milk maybe, I've been wanting to drink several glasses a day. So I guess if I'm going to have one, that's a good craving to have.

According to babycenter.com our baby weighs about 5 ounces this week -- about as much as a turnip. (Length: 5 inches, head to bottom.)

A Modern Nursery

We've chosen the color palette for the nursery, it will be the same whether it's boy or a girl. We're going to use peacock hues...like the image to the left. I'd like to find a fabric similar to the Ikat in the middle swatch, but with a little more whimsy to make it kid friendly, maybe something with bugs or animals. The color of the walls will be Sherwin Williams Intense Teal, (at right). And when we paint the walls we'll leave big white animal silhouettes walking around the baseboards.

We've been looking at nursery furniture too, we know we want something with modern lines and we'd like to have a 4-in-1 lifetime crib, one that will convert into a full size bed eventually. The modern cribs start to get a little pricey, so we haven't quite made up our minds yet. The one that we found at Babys'R'Us is by Baby Cache, and it gets great reviews, however they're so popular that apparently the manufacturer can't keep up with the demand. Babys'R'Us has a few others we like and Wal-Mart and Target do too, but they all seem to be 3-in-1 convertibles, not capable of becoming an actual bed. We're still shopping, let us know if any of you come across anything you think we might like.

Hot Cheetos with Cheese

Nick and Marie encourage my craving for Flaming Hot Cheetos by introducing me to an El Paso delicacy...Flaming Hot Cheetos with Queso on top. Mmmmm tasty.

Second Time Around

I'm sure everyone that reads this blog knows that our last pregnancy ended in a miscarriage right at three months. We were both pretty saddened by the event given that we were finally getting comfortable with the pregnancy and with the idea of adding a child to our family. It took us a little while to come to terms with it, and honestly the complete avalanche of hormonal changes that followed certainly made it harder for me. But my doctor was great through the whole thing and she reassured us that one miscarriage didn't necessarily mean that anything was wrong, that they just happen, quite often actually, and most of the time we have no idea why. I was amazed with how many people, from old friends to my anesthesiologist, came forward to tell me that they had gone through the same thing and that they tried again later on and were successful.

So several months passed and just as we started moving into our first house I started feeling much more tired than I should and voraciously hungry again...the same symptoms that I experienced with my first pregnancy. One night as I was complaining about being too tired to eat and too hungry to go to bed, and Travis turned and looked me square in the face and said, "You are so pregnant." And I was like, yeah, I so am!

So I scheduled an appointment with my doctor, whom I'm still CRAZY about, we had our first sonogram before 3 months--everything checked out, and here we are today. A full four months into it, and I've got to say that I'm feeling really good. The lethargy passed with the first trimester and with the exception of feeling a little thick in the middle, I feel like my old self.

Our last appointment was at the beginning of August and we got to hear the heartbeat. Travis summed it up nicely saying that it sounded like someone chomping on cookies. I remain constantly concerned about the development, and though I wish I could have more checkups and sonograms, I'm trying really hard not to worry myself.

Our due date is tentatively February 17th, 2009. And I'll be sure and update this with as many pictures as I can. We're both so grateful for all the support from our friends and family!