What I Love & STRONGLY Dislike About Being Pregnant

What I LOVE:

1. Feeling him move all of the time
2. When David can feel him move
3. When we both see him moving from the outside
4. That I have felt great *so far*
5. That it's summer and I can wear sandals, skirts and tank tops
6. That my belly is finally big enough where I look pregnant and not puffy
7. When people tell me how awesome having kids is
8. When I wake up in the middle of the night to pee 3-times and think funny thoughts like "could I get struck by lightning sitting this close to the window?", or "I should tell Dave I left the laptop by the bay window and it got all wet", or even better, that thinking my bladder is the size of Niagara Falls!
9. Having my buddy with me 24x7
10. Loving being pregnant, but being so excited to meet him (in due time of course!)

What I STRONGLY Dislike:

1. When people treat me as though I'm handicapped. I'm quite capable of knowing when enough is enough, or something is too heavy, etc. But people seriously drive me nuts when they're always telling me to "take it easy". I know these comments are said as terms of endearment and signs of love...but KNOCK IT OFF!
2. When people respond to me being due in September with "Oh, you're going to be pregnant all summer...that sucks". Really? Why? I get that the heat could be uncomfortable, but A.) you don't work at Progressive. They keep that place as cold as casinos in Las Vegas. To the point that I hesitate putting my turtlenecks away in the summer and always have a cardigan on hand, and B.) You must not know that David is a human furnace and turns the air conditioning on whenever it is mildly humid or might hit the high 70's. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. Heat is not an issue. I love heat. I love the summer. Bring it on!
3. When people tell me, as though we jumped into pregnancy completely blind, that "having a baby will rock your world" or "turn it upside down" or "you just have no idea how much it will change your life" or "you will be exhausted"...etc...etc. Really? You've got to be kidding me! You mean after being a babysitter for ump-teen years and having 10 nieces and nephews, I had no idea that there might be sleepless nights, temper tantrums, and other physically and emotionally draining moments. Thank you SO MUCH for the heads up. You are such a genius.
4. When people ask if it's my first. I can't really dislike anyone for that. It's an innocent question. It just makes me feel awkward no matter which way I answer it.

24-weeks!

Wow. The time is flying. I haven't made a post in almost two weeks. Or maybe in over two weeks? I don't know. I know I'm behind though.

We made it though. We have exceeded the 22weeks & 6day mark. And in pure Angela fashion, she did her best to show her loving spirit. Dave and I had gotten home from a weekend camping/hotel trip that day (our 22w6d mark this pregnancy), and we were laying on the couch watching a movie. Danny was moving all over the place, and I finally lifted my shirt a bit to see if I could actually "see" any of the action. And I did! Then Dave looked over, and he saw it too! That was the first time either of us saw him moving around. It's one thing to feel it, but another to see it. It was so cool and brought big smiles to our faces.

The first night of our psuedo camping trip, my 5-year old niece Jane made the sweetest and most honest statement. She is just so smart, and her memory always amazes me. We were walking down some dirt/wooden steps to the water from the campsite. My nephew Jack (9-yrs old) was like "Come on Aunt Susie, speed it up". I explained to him that I couldn't go too fast because I was afraid I would fall, and that I wasn't as worried about hurting myself as I was about hurting the monkey in my belly. He accepted my response, and kept trucking down the stairs. Janie just looked at me and said, "Yeah, because your other baby died, right?". I said "yes Janie, our last baby died". And that was it. She is just so matter of fact and so sweet, and her voice is that of an angel.

When I told Lori, at first she was mortified and apologized. I told her that I adore it. Janie has made comments on and off over the last "almost" year, and it melts my heart. Why? Because she remembers. And she's not aware that she might say something that others would gasp at. She says what's in her heart. She says what she thinks. And again, she remembers. That's a lot for someone that was only 4-years old last summer. She even named one of her webkins Angela last summer, because it had wings. I remember how excited Janie was to tell me this, and Lori just looked at me like she was sorry, and was it ok? For being so little, she gets it.

A few days later, she asked me when Danny would be here. She wasn't too happy to hear that he wouldn't be here until after she started Kindergarten in the fall, and to her, that is like FOREVER. Whenever I leave my nieces and nephews, they say bye to me, and bye to Danny. They are so excited to meet their cousin, and it makes me so happy.

My nephews Jack & Francis made Danny special mugs to put in his bedroom while we were camping. Jack painted "I love Dannie" and Francis made a Cleveland Indians themed one that even said "Shafer" on the back of the jersey. These gifts are just priceless to me.

In the last couple of weeks, we have wrapped up a few details. I am *almost* done with our baby registry. Wowzer, this took a long time. Fortunately, Lori, Tasha and Jodi have all given it the once over and made a few comments/suggestions. Thank goodness for that, because they pointed out some funny and dumb stuff that I was able to take off. Lori responded to one item with, "Seriously? Seriously?". Tasha responded to another with just "You're funny". What the heck do we know? Jodi was out of town, so her only response has been to questions about "do you have xyz, can we borrow?" Fortunately, between the three of them, everything we've asked for, at least one of them has for us to use.

We settled on the bedding too. It's called "Spot" by Banafish. Here is a link. I am not open to feedback on this, unless you like it of course. If you say anything negative, well then poo-poo on you because I'm not interested in your opinion.

As always, I'm feeling great, and have no physical complaints. I continue to be in awe of how amazing it is to have something so incredible growing inside me. I love love love it. I will say, that although I have physically felt fabulous, I think the hormones have gotten to me a bit. I wanted to punch someone on Monday at the baby bedding store just because she was annoying the piss out of me. That was the second time in a matter of days that I had wanted to stomp my feet on the ground and throw a fit like a two-year old. Fortunately, I was able to maintain composure. Other things have annoyed me to no end, but I'm trying to not go all crazy on people. I curse like a sailor in my head and hope the kid doesn't hear my thoughts :) That would not be a good thing.

I had so many other things I wanted to post, but I held off because they kind of sounded negative. Like wanting to punch the lady at the store. Or wanting to scream at the Home Depot employee because they didn't have the blind samples for us to look at so that we could order the damn blinds...and he said it like 10 times thinking that we weren't able to comprehend him. Mind you, I was already irritated with him because he stunk like an ashtray (gross). Not his fault about the blinds (ok, the smelly part is), but he still irritated me.

Here are some pictures and details of how the kid is growing.

23-Weeks

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

24-Weeks

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

22-weeks.

This week, I am 22-weeks (5.5 months) pregnant. I am still loving it. The physical changes are definitely in progress. I feel like my belly is huge. He's definitely starting to show. He's still flip-flopping a lot. Dave tries to feel him as much as he can when we're watching TV or laying in bed, but sometimes he just stops moving. If there was one thing I could wish for, it would be for Dave to feel what I feel during the day. Those private moments in a meeting or at my desk when the acrobats start. Just the funny feelings that are so enjoyable. I wish he could feel that. I know it's an amazing gift and so special, and I cherish every minute of it.

This has also been a bit of an emotional week for me. Some what of a roller coaster. I think I have shared what a blessing and a curse my memory is when it comes to dates. Angela was born at 22-weeks and 6-days. That point of this pregnancy falls on Sunday, June 1st. That explains why Monday, June 2nd has been my next mental milestone for a while. That date puts me at 23-weeks, which is the longest I will have ever have been pregnant. In the mean time, I think of each day from when Angela was diagnosed with OI (July 10, 21w6d) to when she was born (July 17, 22-w6d). Each day, I have thought about where we were, what we were doing. Which hospital we were at. What doctors we were talking to. That I called Gretchen from the Boston Market parking lot to tell her what was going on, but that I still had an appetite to eat mashed potatoes and mac 'n' cheese. How much I hated one of the doctors. I still hate him,. and his stupid assistant. How my sister showed up to be with us at UH for an ultrasound, and even though we told our family not to come, I was so glad she was there. She brought me a giant Diet Coke. And then I couldn't believe she bought three of the same webkins for her kids (frogs!) at the hospital gift shop. How Lori pretended to be me when she called to make an appointment with the pediatric orthopedic specialist to have our appointment pushed up. And how she "forgot" my social security number, but played it off by being upset. She had the appointment moved up 5-days. She just kept saying that I was my only advocate. And now I believe that so much. But she and David were my voice that week. How we went to the Kenny Chesney concert that weekend to get out of the house. Kenny was in town last weekend. And even though I still love his music, I don't really listen to him anymore.

There are a million more memories. Ones that catch me off guard, or suck the wind out of me. Ones that remind me how much I love my husband. But the end result is always the same. We still lost our baby girl.

So during this 22nd week, as we are counting our blessings, and loving our little boy, we are missing his sister. We are missing our first baby. I keep comparing so many things. I am so grateful that 23-weeks is just around the corner, and that all new pregnancy feelings and emotions will be new for both of us.

I didn't mean for this to be a sad post. We are so happy.

21-Weeks....

Last week was a great milestone, hitting the half-way mark. This week we're at 21-weeks! Wow, time is flying. I love being pregnant, I really do. Now that I have this happy little monkey moving around all the time, it's even more special. Sometimes I just look down and smile thinking "what are you doing?". It really does crack me up.

This week I'm convinced that all of the hair on his head is growing. I'm not sure how many more Tums I can take before gagging. Yikes. But it cracks me up at the same time. It feels like I've eaten a Chipotle burrito and poured the super hot salsa all over it! How lucky am I if this is the worst discomfort I've felt so far? I'll take it with a smile.

So, what's going on at 21-weeks.
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night.

This picture makes him look GINORMOUS! At our appointment on May 1st, they estimated that he weighed 10oz. This week, the average is 12oz. I think my monkey is a little bit bigger then 12oz. With as much as I've gained, you'd think I had a 10-pounder in there!

Busy Busy..

So in my other blog, I was talking about how we've been busy lately. All good stuff. Cleaning the house, getting ready for baby, etc.

Now that we've hit some pretty big milestones in our pregnancy, I've been looking at what to register for. I've been reading a GREAT book called Baby Bargains. My favorite part of each chapter is the section on "waste of money". I love this! I feel like the baby market has so much stuff that you don't need! There is just SO MUCH stuff out there to consider, and I want to know what's fluff. The reason I love this book is because it's based on a lot of reviews. They rate products and brands and include parent feedback. They make some great suggestions too.

So, I'm reading the book, and making our tentative lists. It's fun, but stressful. It's like I'm trying to do 8-billion things at once. So, some of my best Baby Bargain reading is done while Dave drives us over to the west side :) Pathetic, I know.

I'm also trying to finish the baby blanket I started in February. This is coming a long very nicely, but is taking FOREVER courtesy of the thin yarn that I picked. Hopefully, that will be done soon. I made a lot of progress on my long flights to California. I also work on it when we watch TV. That seems to help my multitasking skills.

I'm still feeling great, which we are thrilled about. The baby is moving constantly, and Dave has felt him a few times over the last week. The only thing that has come up over the last few weeks is either acid reflux or heartburn. Not sure which is which, but it seems to happen daily. Fortunately, Tums are already a part of my daily diet for the calcium benefit, so now they're pulling double duty. No complaints though. It's just weird.

I know it's an old wives tale that heartburn is a sign of the baby having a full head of hair. I had some heartburn with Angela too, and she had a lot of hair for being such a peanut. So, maybe this will be true for Danny too. Hair or no hair, we'll take him :)

Wow. It's been a while since my last post. Well, I was in California all of last week (Mon-Fri). Unfortunately, the weather was not gorgeous. It was grey and gloomy, and kind of chilly. I had a conference in Newport Beach. Very pretty place. I'll post some pictures when I get around to unloading them.

Dave came out there with me, and we had a nice time together. I think he was disappointed about the weather too, but we made the most of it.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I'm not going to pretend that it was a good day, but I won't elaborate on it either. The absolute BEST thing about yesterday was loafing on the couch with Dave. For the last few weeks, I have been grabbing David's hand and putting it on my stomach..convinced that he would feel Monkey doing somersaults. Yesterday, the baby was doing a full cardio routine of jumping jacks, cartwheels, and flips. And much to my delight, Dave felt the baby. It was so fun to see his face. I could feel the baby, and then Dave felt him and looked at me startled. And we just started laughing. Danny kicked a few more times and then went back to sleep.

That was the best. A blessing in disguise. I do think it was Angela cheering me up. I think she advised her brother to give me a swift kick, hard enough for Dave to feel, and knock me to my senses...and experience the joy of David's reaction.

One more thing...today is the half-way point! I am 20-weeks...or 5-months :) 20-more weeks...and we will be delighted to meet our boy.

Perfectly Normal Little Boy!

Well, we already knew the little boy part...and we had a lot of tests done that were in his favor for being healthy...but this ultrasound was the big milestone.

Dr. Muise said he measured right on and the looks like a perfectly healthy little boy.

This was the best birthday gift for David we could have ever asked for.

Danny put on a show by strutting his stuff. The first image the ultrasound tech had when she put the wand on my belly was of his junk. She laughed and said that he certainly wasn't shy :) His heart looked great. His femurs measured right on. His head measured great. He flip flopped all over the place.

His pictures didn't turn out that well though. I was hoping to get a good profile of him to put in the frame that Gretchen gave me. I wanted his to be like Angela's profile that I have in the frame Dawn gave me. I even explained this to the tech. She tried, but he was too squirmy and kept putting his back to us or his face. The pictures that were printed came out really dark too, and not really clear. I think they needed to change the toner. I'm hoping to get another ultrasound by my sisters friend that is in ultrasound training (don't worry, it's overseen by a special ultrasound doctor). Maybe that will have a better picture? I'll take a bad picture for a healthy baby any day!

I'm off to watch Grey's Anatomy and will give more updates later.

It was a splendid day and we could not be happier!