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.)