Baby Bear - Week 16

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON FEBRUARY 27th, 2014

On Feb 24th, we went in for another 4 week ultrasound. We also figured that the tech would be able to find out the gender for us - and our excitement over this possible new information was all-consuming. It's so fun to reach these little milestones and each week is such a blessing. My heart swells with love when Ben talks about our baby and how awesome s/he is. 

I'm not a fan of getting ultrasounds, or going to the doctor really. I have an unusual anatomy that I don't plan on explaining to you yet, but it's why I need to get ultrasounds so often. Seeing our baby is a nice perk to the process, so it's not all terrible and annoying. 

My emotions have been really... emotional this week. I feel sort of bi-polar in the way that things affect me so much. The tipping point happened after the ultrasound appointment, and it really took 3 days to shake this feeling.

I mentioned before that I plan on delivering at a Birth Center, which is a few blocks from the hospital. I like the midwives and I'm sure the appointments will get more exciting as the weeks progress. Much to the dislike of my worried mind, there's just not much to tell a 16 week pregnant woman besides to take vitamins. One of the big perks of seeing a midwife, in my mind, is the hands-off approach - like when the midwife told me I didn't have to weigh myself if I didn't want to. I like that.

I've gone to the hospital twice for the ultrasounds and each time I've just gotten an off hand, sort of snarky comment about midwives. Example: I asked the doctor at the end of the ultrasound visit if there were any sort of exercise limitations I should be aware of (since I work out very reguarly). The doctor told me basically the same stuff the midwives did, with even less guidelines. She finished her thought with "I hope that's what your midwife is telling you too." Just kinda threw me, because up until that point I thought she was my doctor and I could ask her questions. It was a reminder that no, she's not my doctor and she has no vested interest in my prenatal care unless they start finding that the baby is going to come premature. 

And the final straw? As we were checking out and scheduling our next appt we were told that we would need to come back in two weeks (19 weeks) for a vaginal ultrasound to make sure the cervix is not shortening and then again in 4 weeks (21 weeks) for the usual baby ultrasound. My stomach dropped. I know I have a weird anatomy that will probably cause a shorter pregnancy, but really - at 19 weeks I have to start coming so frequently??  And why didn't the doctor mention this to us at our end of visit recap?? All of a sudden I just felt terrible and over committed. I lost trust in "my doctor" and wanted to just ignore her and the hospital.

Now that I'm a few days out I still don't like the increased visits, but I realize I can go see another doctor and hopefully have a better relationship with them. I also see my midwife the day before my next ultrasound at 19 weeks so I can get her opinion and comfort.

And besides, this week we found out we were having a baby girl!!

Cat update!

I don't get to talk much about our cats - and since coming back after Christmas break, they've been a little distant and hiding upstairs. It was frustrating to say the least. However, over the past two weeks they've finally come back around to giving and accepting love from us and sniffs from Yogi. It's great. They're so fun and curious, playful and cool.

 Last Friday we had our guest bedroom (which holds the bed they hide under, aka: their safe zone) skim coated by some painting professionals. It left a fine dust on the walls and after a day of giving them access to it, Marco's eye flared up (it does this every couple of months, for mostly no reason) and almost swelled shut. We decided to close off the room until we could wipe it down, clean it up, and paint it. So for a week they had to live without their safe zone. They did amazingly well! A big credit to Yogi for not going ape-shit-crazy finding the cats out of their normal hiding place - he held it together, casually sniffing and stepping back and no barking! And the cats thoroughly enjoyed their cat tree next to the window, bathing in all the pacific northwest sunshine.

We've found that when we act cool and non-reactive or overbearing, that Yogi and the kitties also act with some more calm and collected reactions. We used to excessively treat yogi for not eating them, and he probably had no idea why he was being rewarded and instead got super excited that he was getting treats and took that energy back to the cats, which were less enthusiastic about it. Now we acknowledge when he's being a "Good Dog" and ask him to "leave it" or "who's that?" when a cat comes up to him. He does a lot of waiting, like when we are scooping out the cat food behind the baby gate, and knows that he'll get a treat if he stays calm.... a treat that comes at the end of all this waiting.


My favorite cat things lately:

cats tote bag - $16

Oversized cat tote bag - $30

Cat cave - $80

toddler "right meow" tank top

I'm by no means a professional, licensed trainer - these are all my opinions from experience. When in doubt, find a positive reinforcement trainer in your area - they're usually amazing and can quickly solve any problem.

Baby Bear - Week 14

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FEBRUARY 12th, 2014

Welp. I'm officially into the second trimester, I'm feeling better - just overall not as tired or moody. The baby is the size of a lemon! nearly 4 inches long - how crazy is that! It's so measurable, no longer just the size of a seed or a few cells!

Ugh. I could do without my face breaking out, or more specifically, my neck, shoulders, and face breaking out. Not cool, hormones. Not cool at all.  I also get some infrequent mild aches, like a cramping feeling in my gut, which is just my uterus being all like, "I need more room, woman! Let me grow!" - It can stop me in my tracks, and only gets awkward at work talking to someone. I'm sure I just look like I'm about to throw up. My belly is also filling out. It's such a weird thing, to have your belly grow and it not just be because you had an extra cookie for lunch. 

I'm also keeping up with my workout schedule - 2 to 4 times a week, with a target of 3 times. My trainers are awesome, understanding when I need to take a break and are surprisingly knowledgeable about physical limitations I will be needing (aka, when to limit the jumping, or cross body crunches or mt. climbers). So far no big limitations, but I have been trying not to get my heart rate from going too fast, so I take breaks when I need to (and don't feel bad about it)! 

The most exciting news is just being able to finally tell our close friends and extended family! I thought I would want to share the news on facebook by now but I've started to feel that this is just so personal that I'm not ready to share it with "the world" - hence why these posts are published well after the "originally written" dates. It's a weird, protective feeling - I want to celebrate with everyone, but honestly it's just a celebration with our families, and I don't want to hear the "you should do's" and the "don't do these" just yet. 

Right now Ben and I are enjoying this journey and are totally crazy excited for what's to come.

too many choices

We finally settled on a stroller for baby this past weekend. After literally hours looking at strollers online, where they all look the same, reviews kind of help sort through the brands what would fall apart right away vs brands that have some durability and functionality, we went to babies r us to touch and feel the strollers in real life. We settled on Chicco's three wheeler, and couldn't be more excited - it's light, easy to fold, easy to install the car seat, and super cute.

Okay, major decision one out of the way.

Then we started thinking about the glider/ rocker/ recliner we want to have. And again - so. many. choices. and way expensive. Ben, bless his heart, decided to take up some researching on his own - seeing what was recommended and what works out the best - and it led him down a rabbit hole of DD, DS, FTF, FTM acronyms that he was really proud to have learned. But didn't make any clear cut decision on which type is best. Again, it's all the same IMO. 

So, for sake of argument, because Pottery Barn Kids, Land of Nod, and Babies R Us are all expensive, let's just look at target's options. They seem to be more reasonably price and have a ton of options. 


The Reclining and Glider Option 1 ($600)

I love the idea of having the option to recline (I can see Ben loving this) along with gliding, which I think would be more soothing during nap and nursing times.


The Reclining and Glider Option 2 ($450-600) 

Same as above, maybe cheaper because of the ridiculous color schemes? Maybe I'm just picky about extreme contrast piping, not my cup of tea.


The "Chair and a half" Rocker, Option 3 ($400)

This is so appealing - and makes me think of all the good times when baby bear becomes toddler bear to kid bear and she wants to sit next to me while we read books. How sweet does that sound. swoon. Also, I think Yogi would thoroughly enjoy joining me on the rocker while I nurse and sing lullabies. 


The Basic Rocker, Option 4 ($400)

The standard, can't go wrong with this affordable, upholstered rocker. & I like the side wings, I feel like my head could rest easily on it when I'm closing my eyes, counting my patience... 


Thoughts? 
regrets, wishes, any obvious choices to make?

herringbone

I'm just going to say it - 

herringbone 

is the new chevron

UO - Rug

KFD Designs - wall stencil

downloadable wallpaper

It's deliciously more unique than chevron. It's choppy, flexible in imagination, and more geometric! I plan on adding some scattered herringbone pattern into our freshly painted guest bedroom and I can't wait to see how fun the new walls will look!