An Open Letter To My Uterus

Dear Uterus:

I'm not sure if you have really been paying attention over these past 29 years, 5 months, and 21 days, but the body you're part of is not exactly known to be an 'over-achiever.'  Sure, we've been known to put in extra effort when it really counted, but as a rule, we've been pretty content in our mediocrity.

Take our musical forays, for instance.  Our ability to play by ear made us a very decent piano and French horn player.  However, our contentment with being decent led us to not practice.  Had musicality not come so easily to us, had we been forced to practice and practice to master the music, we could possibly have been excellent instead of being 'pretty good.'

You may also want to refer to our academic history as well.  We pulled down As and Bs in high school without cracking a book.  In college, we faced a little bit more difficulty but were able to maintain Bs and Cs with minimal studying.  Had we not been so content in our own mediocrity, we could've made Dean's List our entire college career, and not just our last semester.  If bits and pieces from the lectures hadn't naturally just clung to our brain and we'd been self-controlled enough to force ourselves to study for hours each night, we could've graduated with honors instead of just simply walking across the stage.

But you, Uterus.  You apparently want to get this whole child birth thing perfect.  So much so that you have decided to start practicing already.  Sure, the occasional Braxton Hicks is one thing.  It caught me by surprise the other day when I literally arched my back and had to grab the arm rest for support, but it was a one-time shot.  You need to start preparing yourself, I get that.  I forgave you for that incident.  However, today..... today was not cool.  I do not appreciate laying in the fetal postion (although the irony does not go unnoticed) for over an hour, clutching my abdomen as I have consistent contractions every 10-15 minutes.  I do not appreciate having to call the after-hours on call OB in a panic because I don't know if I need to come in or not.  I don't appreciate being terrified that I'm going to give birth 10 weeks early.

For the record, I do thank you that you stopped 'practicing' and that keeping my feet up and drinking water is making you happy.

So please take a note from the rest of this body - let's just be content in our mediocrity.  We're pretty good at winging it at the last minute.  I'm sure this birth thing will be fine.  We got this.

Sincerely,
A very stressed out mamma who would prefer not to go into pre-term labor.

Tri, Tri, Tri Again

Yesterday, I hit week 14 of this pregnancy!  Woo-Hoo!!  That means that no matter when you believe the 2nd trimester starts, I am officially in it, so let's celebrate!  Before I became 'in the family way,' there was so much I didn't realize that I didn't know about pregnancy.  First off, I didn't know there was some disagreement in when the 1st trimester ends and the 2nd trimester begins.  Some people say the first day of the 13th week is the big day.  Some say 13 weeks, 3 days.  Others insist it's the beginning of week 14.  Ay yi yi.  But I'm here!  I know I am so blessed to be at this point and I thank God daily for getting me safely through each week and pray for a safe and healthy rest of the pregnancy.  Since I am at this juncture, I thought I would put up a post about my first trimester!

I was quite lucky that I really got to miss out on morning sickness for the most part!  I was plagued by nausea and extreme queasiness from about week 4 to week 9 or 10.  I had a lot of advice to keep crackers around and once I did that, if I felt a little nauseated, I would eat a few Ritz crackers or saltines and I would immediately feel better.  I did have your typical "I gotta throw up" outta nowhere episode once, so I didn't escape unscathed from the morning sickness beast; plus, brushing my teeth always made me dry heave and gag a bit - which was just miserable.

Around week 12 I started getting bad headaches.  No where near as bad as the migraine I had in week 8 when I became stranded an hour away from home because I couldn't see to drive.  Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who came to get me and a wonderful friend who lived near the rest stop I was stranded at and let me park my car at her house for a few days until we could come back and retrive my poor little Saturn.

At 10 weeks, I was told that since I was overweight, we wouldn't be able to hear the heartbeat via Doppler, so I didn't get to hear little Squido at that appointment.  However, at week 13, I was finally able to hear the sound of my little one.  It was the most magnificent experience of my life.  I'm hoping to be able to record it for J-dubs at my next appointment so he can hear it too!  At my 13 week appointment, I also got a 'bonus' ultrasound!  I had this stabbing pain in my side and my ob thought it might be a cyst.  So we did an u/s just to make sure.  Turns out it was just Round Ligament Pain, which is common during pregnancy as your ligaments are stretching out and your uterus is getting bigger.  BUT - I did get to see my tiny baby and see the heart just beating away.  I didn't get a good profile shot, as Squido was squirmy, but I saw that big ol' baby head and I literally saw his/her heart beating.  It was like a little drum  It was beyond amazing.  

I also scheduled my BIG ultrasound that will tell us if we're having a boy or a girl!  We'll know on June 5th, and I am SO. EXCITED.  Once we find out, we can start decorating the nursery! 

So, on to the stats: 

How far along? 14 weeks, 1 day

Total weight gain: -11 pounds

Maternity clothes? Sometimes!  I ordered a lot from Old Navy, but they are still a little big.  I am mostly in sun dresses.

Stretch marks: None so far!

Sleep: Sleeping pretty well, I am waking up a few times a night.  Sleeping 

Best moment last week: Seeing & hearing Squido!  It was amazing!

Miss anything? I have never wanted a tequila shot more in my life.

Movement: I have felt a few flutters, but nothing substantial yet... I have a few more weeks before I feel kicks!

Food cravings: Still craving grilled cheese sandwiches.

Anything making you queasy/sick: Not really.

Gender: We'll know for sure in 6 weeks, but I think it is a boy!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Most of the time I'm happy but I have had many moody moments!

Looking forward to: Our June 5th appointment to find out what we're having!

I will really try to take a picture tonight and upload it tonight!

Oh, Baby!

So I started this blog to have a place to blabber on about weight loss and my sweet pooch.  I decided to also add random insights/funny sayings/experiences from subbing (and hopefully soon, teaching).

Well, now, I have an entirely new thing to blog about!  And oddly enough, my new topic is going to basically over-ride the whole "losing weight" thing, because I'm going to be GAINING for a while!  And it's the one time in my life gaining will be encouraged!  I am going to have a baby!

I finally made it public knowledge today on Facebook.  I've been plotting that for a while now.  I knew I didn't want to announce it too quickly, so I decided to wait until I started my second trimester.  After my first doctor's appointment I slowly started to tell my 'inner circle' of friends, but kept pretty quiet about it overall.  However, after consulting a calendar, I realized that April Fool's Day was only two weeks before I was going to make my public announcement anyway, so I decided to go for it.  It made my giggle to think that everyone would think I was joking when I wasn't!

I initially made the announcement with this picture:

I immediately got several congratulations, and then the fun started.... posts to the tune of what I'd been expecting: C'mon people, it's April Fool's Day, or Is this for real? and various other "I'm not sure what to think but congrats?" posts.  After a while, I finally said "No joke, I'm for realsies pregnant!".  Then I put it on my status and still got a few questions about the validity of my announcement, but for the most part, I'm getting tons of love and congratulations.  I'm so excited that the news is finally out there!!

So I've put together a list of questions I know you're just dying to know the answers to, complete with all the answers.  I am quite sure that I will be updating this blog much more frequently now that I have something exciting to talk about!  (Side note: some of these questions I made up on my own.  Some I stole from this blog, which I've fallen in love with.  She beautifully details her pregnancy and I am pretty sure I'll be stealing a lot more from her.  Plus, we own the same dress from Target.  Not sure how that's relavent, but it seems like a good sign.)

Were you trying to get pregnant? Pretty much.  We didn't have an agenda or timetable to get pregnant.  We wanted a baby, but were in no huge rush.  We do know where babies come from, and realized that by taking no preventative measures, a baby was a possibility, so we were prepared (and excited) for the consequences. We just took it month to month.  It took us about 3 months of sorta-kinda-maybe-a little trying before we got preggo.

How did you find out? I was supposed to start the P on a Saturday.  It also happened to be the Saturday of one of my best friend's baby shower (remember the diaper cake?)  Well, that whole day I was waiting and waiting.  Nothing happened.  The next day, same deal.  I kept waiting and waiting.  I started to get suspicious.  So, we drove home from South Hill and stopped at the Rite Aid by our house.  I grabbed a test, we rushed home, took the test, and stood over it for two minutes while we waited for the two lines to pop up.  And low and behold... they did.  There was lots of smiling and jumping up and down and hugs and kisses and a few tears.  It was magnificent.

Gotta love the mirror images when you take pics with a Mac...

Did you have a suspicion? I kinda did.  The week before I took the test, I'd been overwhelmingly exhausted.  I chalked most of it up to it having been my first week as a substitute teacher, but I was constantly tired.  I came home from school every day and slept for several hours.  It had only been about 6 weeks since my student teaching had ended, and I was surprised that I could have gotten so lazy after not having worked for that short period of time.  I also could not stand to eat greasy food.  It made me gag and once I had to spit out a hush puppy.  A HUSH PUPPY!!  Which is basically the best food item ever.  It made me sad to have to do that.

Have you been sick? I've been incredibly nauseated, but I haven't really been sick.  I had your stereotypical, turn green and run to the bathroom morning sickness precisely once.  However, there was one day I had a migraine and couldn't take my medicine and I've never been so sick in my life.  It was miserable.  That, so far, has been the worst day.

Have you had an ultrasound? Yes!  We had one at week 7.  It was amazing and I almost cried.  They didn't give me a picture to take home though. :(  Lame.

How far along are you? I am 11 weeks today!

Have you gained weight? Nope!  Not yet!  I had lost 10, but I gained two back, so I've down a total of 8 lbs.  I suppose I'm starting to gain weight now, but we'll see.  My Nanaw lost 20 pounds when she was pregnant with my mom, so maybe it's in my genes to lose weight during the pregnancy.  I have plenty to spare anyway.....

Do you miss any foods/beverages? Tuna. Wine. Sushi.

Are you craving anything? I don't know if it's a craving, but I've been wanting grilled cheese sandwiches a lot lately.  I haven't really had an overwhelming, if I don't get this NOW I will kill you feeling, but when I'm asked what I want and I think about it, the answer has been "A grilled cheese."

Are you starting to show? No.  I keep feeling like I might be, but I was so chubby to begin with, I think it'll take a while to show.  

Do you have a gender prediction? I think it's a boy!  J-dubs and I have both had dreams that it's a boy so I'm kinda on the boy wagon.  Although, we're just praying for healthy.... which sounds cliche, but I've a condition called Neurofibromatosis 1, which in addition to creating tumors it can cause some complications during pregnancy and it's genetic, so when I say that, it's not cliche, it's down right honesty.  

What are you looking forward to? I can't wait until I'm showing!  I'm also eager to find out what the gender is and feel the baby start kicking.

So there ya go, peeps.  My first of many, many, many postings about being pregnant!  I am so excited to be entering this new chapter!!

The First Time I.......

Welcome to the second episode of "the first time I...."!  Today, I made a diaper cake for the first time, so I wanted to share it on my blog because I'm super duper excited!

I've wanted to make a diaper cake for a long time, but I've never been brave enough/taken the time & energy to make one.  However, one of my oldest and dearest friends is having a baby this Spring.  Hurray! We have been friends since 6th grade.  We lived together on two separate occasions.  I was a bridesmaid in her wedding, she was a bridesmaid in my wedding.  She is wonderfully special to me, by golly, so she was worth the effort it took to experiment with this project!

First, I gathered my supplies:

Then, I sat down and rolled up all 84 diapers.  To hold them in place, I used these clear plastic hair bands.  To roll them up, start at the bottom, small end and roll it up to the top, and then wrap it with the hair band.

                                                   
Finally, I had a nice, big, stack of rolled up diapers!

Next, I took a big rubber band and put it around a bottle of lotion.  This served as my base.  Then I just kept adding diapers until I had three layers around the lotion.  Then start level two.

For the first layer, I used a small bottle so it could also serve as a vase for the top.  To make it stable, I used a sticky dot to attach the bottle to the lotion pump.

Then comes the ribbon.  Hurray ribbon!  Now, you may say "why isn't this blue or pink or sea foam green"?  Well, the mamma-to-be went to VCU (go Rams!) and bleeds black & yellow.  Her theme for the nursery is black, gray, and yellow and her stroller set and car seat that she got are simply adorable!  So I am continuing the theme!  I put the ribbon around the cake layers, and then topped the cake with flowers!

Now, time for decorations!  I used the sticky dots to attach craft sticks to the mini-bottles.  Then I scattered them around the layers.  I also rolled up some mittens and socks to look semi-flower like and tucked them into the cake layers.

     

   

And - drum roll please - here is my finished project!!  The ribbons aren't perfect right now, and it's a little lopsided, but I have to transport it to the baby shower next weekend, which is 3 hours away, so I am going to take all the supplies with me and touch it up and make everything perfect then.  I am just so tickled and proud, I wanted to share it with you today!

Overall, this project was really easy!  It took me exactly 2 1/2 hours to do this.  I started at 11:40 and finished at 2:10.  The longest part was rolling up the diapers, that took me 35 minutes.  I had a lot of fun and would happily do it again!

The First Time I.......

My super amazing friend, Emily Fazawesome, inspired this blog.  In fact, she's really quite inspiring period.  Seriously.  Check her out here to see the original inspiration for this "The First Time I...." post, and then you should head over to Long Distance Lobsters to see her current masterpiece that she updates daily along with her friend Zoe.  Seriously, right click, open in new tab, and read.  Now.  I'll wait........

Okay, now back to me.  This blog is all about the first time I..... *drumroll*.... refinished hardwood floors!

My husband and I are house hunting.  And by house hunting I meant my husband J-dubs (his selected blog nickname from here on out) looks at houses on Zillow each and every night and then decides we don't have enough money just yet to buy.  But we have gone to look at a few that really caught our interest.  One such house was this GORGEOUS tudor-style (my fave) house in a near-by neighborhood.  It was almost perfect, but we were concerned about some water damage to the roof and backed off a bit.  But it had lovely hardwood floors on the first floor.  We were driving home after touring this house and were talking about how much we loved the hardwood floors.  Now, we've known for a while that our entire house has original hardwood under the dull tan carpet.  We were also planning to re-carpet the house once we sold or rented, due to some stains left over form when we were housebreaking Penny.  The question is posed: What condition do you think that hard wood is in?  I said "Well, let's find out!"  My darling husband replied "When?"  to which I replied "I don't have any plans today!"

So, we came home, moved some furniture around, and proceeded to rip up all the carpeting in the living room.  And the hardwood floors in this part of the house were in really great condition.  That night I ran out to a bachelorette party, which led to me spending the night at the bride-to-be's house.  I arrived home the next morning to find J-dubs standing in the middle of the living room with a random orbital sander.  Apparently, we were ready to go. 

So, we sanded and sanded and sanded the floors, then wiped everything down with Mineral Spirits, and around 10 PM we started staining.  We choose a darker color, Red Mahogany.  J-dubs didn't trust me with  the staining part, so he would brush on the stain and I followed behind to mop it up.  We waited the requisite time between coats and then laid down poly.  The first coat of poly went on around midnight.  Then he had to get up at 3 am to lay down the second.  Yes.  Three.  In the morning.  It was insane.  But our floors looked amazing.

The only problem was that we couldn't walk on it for something like 48 hours.  We ended up boarding Penny for a night, and then I took Penny to my parents for several days so we would not be banished to one room.  Also, for that entire day that Penny was boarded, I had to enter and exit via the window in my room because of the lay-out of our house.  But it was so worth it.  I am still shocked some days when I come into the living room.  It was a very hard task and there are several areas we smudged a bit, but overall it is wonderful and I'm so proud of us for our diy project. :)

Below are some pictures of our ordeal!  I have a few more to add, but I have to get them off of his phone... mine died during the documentation of the sanding and staining:

Ripping up the existing carpet

It's in good condition!

Staining the floors

Difference in colors.

Putting down the poly!

My only way into and out of the house for a few days.