Who's temper is worse? mine

Who does the laundry? I do

Who does the dishes? I do

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

Who's feet are bigger? His

Who's hair is longer? Mine

Who's better with the computer? We are both pretty good with it

Who mows the lawn? our neighbor lol. Whenever we're about to do it, HE does it. Crazy neighbor.

Who pays the bills? I do

Who cooks dinner? him

Who drives when you are together? Changes. Sometimes him sometimes me.

Who pays when you go out to dinner? Doesnt matter. It's the same money.

Who's the most stubborn? me

Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong? We both do. Depends what the fight was about

Who's parents do you see more? equal

Who named your dog? I did :) She's mine though

Who kissed who first? I kissed him. His eyes were closed lol. We were laying on his bed just talking...I couldnt help it.

Who asked who out? He asked me

Who's more sensitive? Me

Who's taller? Him...eww can't date a shorter guy.

Who has more friends? me

Who has more siblings? me. He only has 1...I have 3

Who wears the pants in the relationship? usually me, but I give up. I don't want them anymore.

9-15-2009 ~ 18 Weeks

This is late because I've had a crazy week!

Thursday- 18 weeks :) Feeling my son move a lot now. I'll never get used to it! Doc calls me at 5:10 while I'm napping (I worked all week) to tell me that my appt for the following day has been canceled! So I try calling back to schedule for a later time or for Monday and they are closed! (#$*!(@*#$ I told TWO people I couldn't work because I had a doctors appt so now I'm out $100. Stupid doctors. Around 7pm I check my bank account and my mortgage company cashed a check they said they weren't going to cash. (&$(@#$

Friday- My dad and aunt call me aAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL morning because I had asked to borrow money. I slept till noon because I was just exhausted and stressed. They decide they are going to drive FOUR hours to come pick me up for the weekend.

Saturday/Sunday - Spent time at my aunts in central Cali.

Monday - Free ultrasound at the ultrasound college. Confirm that it's a boy again :) They said girl at first! I was like CRAP! Lol. Everything looks good. He has all his body parts and they gave me some cute pics. He doesn't even fit on the screen anymore! Well not his whole body anyway.

Today - Went to my monthly checkup with an OB that wasn't mine because every time I try to make an appt with my OB she's always out! WTF! It really annoys me. She has seen 2 times of the 5. So my next appt is Oct 13th with the same OB that I saw today. She said everything looks good and that I have a perfect baby bump. I'm sure they tell that to everyone but it made me happy. I feel so huge! I now wear a size 14 pants! I used to wear a 2, MAYBE a 4. I obviously know it's because I'm pregnant, but it's still kind of crazy. I've gained 6 lbs total now. But 11 lbs since my last visit because I had lost weight. The nurse was kind of concerned but I basically said I didn't give a crap. I hadn't gained hardly ANY weight foreevvveerrr (See blog titled "Pregnancy Measurements"

Welps....sticky baby dust to all! :)

9-19-2009 ~ 19 Weeks

Time is going by so fast! I wrote my 18 week blog really late and now this one seems like it's RIGHT after the one I just wrote lol. Nothing has changed. I look and feel the same so I'm not posting any belly pics. I think I'll do it every 4 weeks. I had a couple doctors appts and they said it's still a boy :) The nurse was mad because I gained 11 lbs in 4-5 weeks, but I had lost weight so it doens't bother me. I've only gained 6lbs since my pre-pregnancy weight at 19 weeks....not too shabby.

We've been working on the nursery. Such a job! SO much to do. It's essentially my craft room/ teaching supplies/ storage room so I'm a little bit in over my head. Also trying to catch up on all that you ladies have done. I have 76 blogs to read! Yikes! Lol. But I dont want to make dumb comments so I'm trying to read all of them.

Hope everyone is doing great! :)

9-29-2009 ~ AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! STOP!!!!!!!!!

Let me start off by saying I'm perfectly fine with gaining 50lbs. I know you're supposed to gain between 25 and 35, but as long as baby is healthy, I'm willing to gain up to 50. That being said....HEEELLLPPPP!!!!!

For the first 16 or so weeks I pretty much gained NOTHING. I even lost weight at one point. Around 17 weeks I had gained 2 lbs. Then lost it by 18 weeks and gained it back at 19 weeks. I am now 21 weeks (I know it says 20) and I have pretty much been gaining a pound a DAY! Not a pound a week as suggested, but a pound a day. This will surely lead to massive weight gain and ever so dreadful stretch marks that I fear. What do I do?!?! I'm not eating any different. Lord knows I don't exercise, but I'm a sub so I'm always walking around. I'm definitely not lazy. I've been working on my house. About a week ago I was 142lbs. Now I'm 149!!! :( This could be bad....

10-7-2009 ~ Murky and Lurky

My unborn son got his first package today. It was actually addressed to Michael Saunders (his name is John Michael, but we're calling him Michael). It didn't even say mine or my husbands name. I have NO idea who it's from, but it is absolutely adorable!

For those of you that have husbands/boyfriends/fiances who play World of Warcraft or you play it yourself, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's 2 baby Murlocs! They are sooooo cute. I haven't seen them in game, but I think you can get them as pets. Their names are Murky and Lurky. My husband said he didn't order them and there's no name on who it's from, but I'm very thankful. They're absolutely adorable (if you're into WOW creatures. If you've never seen them then maybe they'd look weird.) Here's the link to what they look like. We got both the blue one and the white one.

http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000632

I hope we find out who they're from because I really want to thank them! It's so sweet :) My sons first mail addressed to him and he's not even born yet :) The crib came addressed to me so that doesn't count lol. Even if it IS his. ;)

10-23-2009 ~ READY TO DELIVER??!!?!

Or at least according to my friend! Mind you my son is measuring at the beginning of my 7th month. So a full 6 months. My friend (who has had 5 kids!) tells me today that if she didn't know me, she would think I was 8 or 9 months pregnant. WTF??!?!? Seriously?!? I look like I'm ready to pop this kid out? I've only gained 13 lbs!!!! I'm so sad. I'm already having enough trouble fitting into my clothes and getting out of bed. I'm horribly uncomfortable with the rib stretching. She didn't need to add that I look much bigger than I'm supposed to be :(

I'll post a pic later. I'm taking tylenol and going to bed. I'm so depressed. I know some people just don't think before they talk, but I couldn't believe she said that. I DO have a spine condition where my lower spine curves in too much so maybe that's why I'm sticking out more? I derno...

10-25-2009 ~ Depressed

I don't typically turn to strangers when I'm feeling blue, but I don't know who else to talk to.

I think I'm depressed. I'm also a total hypocrit. I've told so many people not to worry about weight or how big they are getting and I wasn't. Until a good friend told me I looked like I was ready to deliver (see previous post). Since then I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I got on the scale again and I have put on 5 more lbs in a week. No wonder I've been getting comments such as "Wow! You're really coming along now!" Obviously this weight must be needed for my baby, but I can't help but be sad about everyone's reactions. It makes me want to jump in a bubble and hide until after my son is born.

I looked up online "depression about pregnancy weight gain" and it describes how I'm feeling to a T. I don't want to go on antidepressants. That's just so odd to me. But I need help. They say depression can bring on labor too early and that's definitely not what I want for the health of my son. However, guiltily I thought today "Well if I had him early I wouldn't be fat anymore and I might not get stretch marks...." What the hell kind of mother am I ?? I'm crying here just thinking about it. How could I even THINK something like that? I want my son to be as healthy as possible and that means 3 more months of me gaining at least 12 more lbs. I have to come to this realization, but I'm having such a hard time with it. Before I got pregnant I was sooooo excited to get the baby belly and be pregnant. Even up until Friday I was just fine with my growing belly, but for some reason when I was told that I look bigger than I'm supposed to, it just didn't sit well with me. I usually have such a "I don't care what other people think" attitude, but apparently pregnancy hormones took that away from me.

I also had my husband take pictures of me tonight so I could post them because I wanted to be proud of my baby bump and I felt I just looked awful in those pics! I even did my hair and make up and I just couldn't even stand to look at them. My face and my arms look soooo much heavier. I don't know what to do about how I'm feeling. Obviously I'm not going to starve myself or anything. I'm going to gain those 12+ lbs in the next 3 months for the health of my son, but how do I fix the way I'm feeling? :(

11-3-2009 ~ Really?

So I'm doing the normal bedtime rountine and brushing my teeth. I feel a small chunk of something in my mouth and think "Eww...that was a big piece of food!" Then I remember that earlier in the day my filling on my molar felt kind of weird. So I rub my tongue back there and my filling is gone! I can't believe I lost my filling! So now there's a HUGE hole in my tooth.

It doesn't hurt or anything, but I can't just have a hole there. I don't have money to pay the dentist to fix it either. I'm hoping that they just repair it. I got it less than 2 years ago. I'm wondering if my recent dentist visit (about 2 weeks ago) knocked it loose. And he said my teeth looked great. Well apparently not!

As if my cold wasn't bad enough, I now have a crater in my tooth :( Have any of you had this happen? Did you have to pay to have it replaced?

11-27-2009 ~ 29 Weeks

It's hard to believe that I am already 29 weeks pregnant. Seems like just yesterday we were all chatting in the 10 weeks forum.

Thanksgiving was fun yesterday. Everyone was chatting about what it will be like when Michael is born. He will be the first baby in 20 years! Everyone is really excited to have a child around again. I'm personally nervous for any future holiday events. I hope someone else has a baby too so I'm not the only one being judged. At least that's how I'll feel.

Michael is kicking me SOOOO hard no days. It's almost creepy. I can see his foot sweep over my belly. I was showing my husband last night at dinner. I kept saying "Look...do you see the alien?" He thought it was pretty trippy too. I love feeling him move though. It's a big reassurance that everything is going fine. I could go without the pushing. That makes me feel out of breath. Also BH contractions make me feel out of breath too. Not sure how we're supposed to last another 11 weeks! Lol. Especially when he's measuring 31 weeks! Big boy! :)

My baby shower is next weekend and I'm super excited. I think that's when I'll really start to get everything ready. Like his nursery, closet, etc. Right now it's all a little bit messy, but that's ok. I don't have the motivation to get everything ready. My MIL is going to come paint the nursery and I still haven't gotten it ready for her. I need to just hurry up and do it! We'll see. Money is really tight since I stopped working.

Welps...hopefully I'll be updating in about 11 weeks telling everyone what an awesome little boy I have! Can't wait! :)

12-3-2009 ~ 30 Weeks

30 weeks! Three fourths the way done. How crazy! Of course my little man is measuring 32 weeks, so I'm a biggie, but that's ok.

I'm feeling pretty good. I get heartburn every night which is annoying, but bareable. Every time I roll over I get a little sick, but what can you do? I suppose I should try TUMS or something.

I sleep well once my hubby leaves for work and I can take over the whole bed. I'm hoping this trend doesnt continue after the baby is born or I may be kicking the hubby and baby to the other room so I can get some sleep! I sleep of course, but it's better when I'm alone.

Michael has been pretty mellow the last couple of days. He still moves, but not as much. I'm trying to keep an eye on it since they say you should be getting 10 movements an hour. It's hard when I'm doing stuff throughout the day though.

My baby shower is this weekend! I'm excited to see everyone's reaction to my big 'ol belly :) I haven't seen some of the guests since my bridal shower! Crazy crazy....I'll update on Sunday and let you guys know how it went. I'm expecting about 20-30 people to show up so we'll have a good time.

Welps...here's hoping smooth labors to all those counting down the hours and sticky baby dust to those TTC!

12-6-2009 ~ Baby Shower

I had my baby shower this past Saturday. It was great! I’ll start off with Friday though.

So I live about 2 hrs away from Los Angeles (where my baby shower was being held). My husband and I drove out Friday night so we could help clean and set up. We got to the house REALLY late because my husband got off work late. My best friend got there pretty early and helped my mom clean so all was well. When I walked in the door I noticed a HUGE wrapped box near the kitchen. I just assumed it was another gift from my mom. She’s enjoying spoiling her grandson ;)

So I’m just visiting with all of the people there when my mom says, “Why don’t you open your gift!”

Me: “It’s ok. I can open it tomorrow in front of everyone”

Mom: “Ummm…that might not work.”

Me: “Huh?”

Mom and Family starts laughing. My little sister gets her video camera out so now I’m thinking to myself that this must be a really awesome present! So I open the card and it says that it’s from my mom, her husband and my dad. Mind you my mom and dad don’t speak to one another so now I was confused.

Me: “My dad?? Is he IN the box?

Everyone laughs again. So I go to open the present and notice that the back is actually not even there. It was just pushed against the wall. So I try to move the box and it won’t budge, but I can see inside and it’s my sister!!! She lives in North Carolina and is REALLY broke so I just assumed there’d be NO way she’d come to my baby shower. I was so incredibly happy. I cried while she was trying to get out of the box. I couldn’t even open it. Everyone loved it and they all thought that I had known all along. It was the best baby shower present EVER!

Saturday was awesome too! The baby shower went pretty well. Only 22 people came so there was a TON of extra food, but that’s ok. The cake was soooo yummy! I didn’t take any pics, but my mom and MIL took a bunch so I’ll try and put some up if they send them to me. I got a lot of awesome gifts and no repeats. Everyone was really surprised. I got a lot of things that I really needed and lots of cute clothes. I’m so thankful for all of my family and friends and can’t wait for my little man to get here!

12-11-2009 ~ 31 Weeks

Weight gain: 29 lbs

Pros: Feeling good, haven't gained a lot in the last couple weeks. Keeps going up and down. Had a great baby shower.

Cons: HEARTBURN! Discovered my first stretch mark :(

So...31 weeks down, 9 more to go! I discovered my first stretch mark the other day. Well my husband did actually. I didn't believe him at first. It's very small and light, but it's there. I guess it's a good thing. It has prepared me for the doozies that will be coming. If I'm anything like my mom that is. It's on my love handle :D

Michael's room is coming together. I've washed the majority of his clothes/bedding/towels/etc. Still in the process but I have very little energy or motivation to do anything so some of it is in the washer and dryer still. I suppose I should get around to finishing it!

After the baby shower my house had gone to the dogs. It's soooo messy. Plus there are Christmas decorations everywhere and laundry that ISNT Michaels. I was gunna clean today but I feel soooo lazy and don't want to do it.

Welps. .. congrats to those that have had their babies and sticky baby dust to those TTC :)

12-17-2009 ~ 32 Weeks

Weight Gain: 27 lbs

Pros: Feeling my little man get stronger and stronger everyday!

Cons: Heartburn, LOTS more stretchmarks :(, pelvis feels like it's starting to spread and that's painful

Here are my photos from 24 weeks to 32 weeks. For comparison :) The top one is 24 weeks the bottom one 32. Not that it needed that explanation. Sorry they are so big. Not sure how to make them smaller.

So I'm almost done with Michael's room! I'm so excited. I still need the dresser, but we bought a bookshelf organizer thing and it looks a lot better. I'm going to put up the curtains in a little bit. My MIL said she'll come paint the jungle animals on in January. Maybe I'll take some before and after pics? I'm really happy it's all coming together. I have a strange feeling that Michael will come before his due date. Don't ask me why, but I just do.

Welps...off to hang up some curtains! Hope everyone is enjoying time getting ready for the holidays :)

1-6-2010 ~ 35 Weeks

35 weeks

Weight gain: 34 lbs (feeling mighty HUGE these days!)

Wow! Christmas and New Years kept me pretty busy. I mostly stayed home for fear of premature labor, but still got to see tons of family and friends. It was great. I feel truly blessed! We received this awesome glider and ottoman from my husband’s aunt, uncle, grandma and grandpa! I was so shocked! I cried lol.

We also made fudge for everyone in the family. Yummm. Not for me. I don’t really like fudge.

I’ve been feeling REALLY ready for this baby to be out lately. He’s getting so wiggly! I feel guilty for sitting because he just squirms. It feels soooo weird now! I’ve packed my bags for the hospital just in case. He could be coming at any point! I had my 34 week OB appt last week and discussed my birth plan with her. She was only SLIGHTLY annoyed with me. I really want a natural, non-medicated, intervention free birth. She basically was open to the idea if my waters hadn’t broken. So if I’m one of those people who realizes they are in labor because their water broke, then I’m pretty much just any other woman. Monitors, saline, pitocin, L I hope it doesn’t come to that.

So when we got home from the doctors, I took a nap with the hubby and then started cleaning up all of the Christmas decorations. I was having Scott do most of the work since we pregnant women are supposed to take it easy. Well apparently it didn’t matter. I was just WALKING in the living room and somehow managed to fall. Well on my decent to the floor I sprained my MCL again. If you’ve never done this, it HURTS! To me it feels like dislocating your knee, but I’ve been informed that that’s not what happens by my physical therapist. Whatever. It hurts. This is the 3^rd time I’ve done this; once on my left knee and now twice on my right knee. I’m assuming it’s because the cartilage is loosening up because of the pregnancy. So now I am pregnant and on crutches! Yay! Lol. But I can’t use crutches the way they are intended to be used because my lower abdominal muscles yelled at me when I tried. So I’m forced to put a little pressure on my knee. It’s not too bad. I convinced my husband to take me to go see Avatar still J He wanted to stay home after I got hurt, but I refused. So many people are having their babies lately! It makes me want to meet my son so badly. Although now I’m wanting to heal before he comes.

Another exciting thing that happened for the New Years is that my little sister is pregnant! Unplanned and not necessarily ready by ANY means, but we're all supportive and looking forward to the second grandchild of the family. Thank you to all the ladies who have shown her support :) She's a gorgeous little thing. I hate her lol. She is now 6 weeks pregnant. We both had an ultrasound today and thankfully she is only have ONE baby (twins run in the fam) and it has a heartbeat. Yay!

At my ultrasound all of the students couldn't stop making comments because they've never practiced on someone over 25 weeks. So they were like, "Is that the head?!?" "Is that an arm?!?" It was pretty funny. Good news is that he's measuring RIGHT on target now. Not too big or too small. :) He's 5lbs6oz by their approximation. I'm so happy! He's in perfect birthing position. Head down and facing my back.

Well I wish everyone the best! Looking forward to Feb 11th!

1-10-2010 ~ Placenta Calcification?

So when I had my ultrasound on Wed, the teacher told me that I have calcifications on my placenta. I didn't really think anything of it until I looked it up online and read that it can lead to stillbirth! Umm....wth? Should I bring it up to my doc? Or will she think I'm crazy? I read about a woman that lost her baby at 38 weeks because of it. The teacher didn't seem worried or anything, but now that I know it's a possibility I'm freaking out! They say it's worse in smokers. I personally don't smoke, but almost every person in my family does. They try to be respectful around me, but they still smell like smoke all the time. I swear if I lose this baby because of their smoking I will never forgive them.

1-10-2010 ~ I CANT BREATHE!!!

My little sister just informed me that she wants to get an abortion. She can't imagine raising this baby without the father and with only my (and my husband) help. I told her that I would adopt her baby or my older sister would adopt her baby (my older sister is a lesbian and they are having a hard time finding a man to donate sperm). She said no :( She doesn't want to deliver a baby and then not be it's mom. I know it's her choice and I know that being pregnant is tough, but this is killing me! I can't breathe! So many women CAN'T have babies. And abortion is NOT birth control!!! She should have used protection and thought more about what she was doing. I'm so incredibly sad, but there's nothing I can do. I lost my first baby and it kills me to think that she is going to kill her baby on purpose. I don't know what to do.

I love her and I will support her no matter what, but I just can't stop crying. I love her baby already. Maybe it's worse because I'm pregnant and worse because I lost my first baby, but I really don't want her to do this. :(

1-14-2010 ~ 36 Weeks

36 Weeks

Weight gain: 33lbs

I am feeling surprisingly well. I’m only uncomfortable right when I get up from bed or from sitting at the computer for a while. I can deal with that! J A lot has happened the past few days. As you all know, my younger sister decided to have an abortion. It was extremely hard on me as I was ready to raise this baby with her or to adopt it if she didn’t want it. I’m doing a little better now. I realize it’s not my life and not my body; therefore, not my choice. I’m still angry with her for being so careless and using abortion as a form of birth control, but my grief for the loss of the baby is slowly dissipating.

I had my 36 week check-up yesterday and things are looking good. He’s still head down and measuring right on target. I saw a substitute OB because I needed to change appointment times and she was wonderful! She was fully on board with my idea of a natural birth. She didn’t threaten me with pitocin and interventions like my real OB did. She said I didn’t have to have saline either. I really hope she’s the one on call when I go into labor. She also said that the calcification of my placenta is considered completely normal at this stage so not to worry. It’s still hard not to worry, but I can’t help it! I go back in a week for my next appt! It makes things seem so close now. At my next appt I’ll be getting the Strep B test and they are going to do a cervical check. Of course I’m seeing the ONLY male doctor in the practice for that appt. Lol. Hopefully hubby won’t freak out. My very first OB was male and he said it was really weird to have a man down there. I wonder if all of these Braxton Hicks and period-like cramping are doing anything at all. I hope I’m at least a LITTLE bit effaced and/or dilated. That’d be nice. I want to carry to full-term, but I know you can be dilated and still carry to 40 weeks.

My stretch marks are staying pretty tiny so that makes me happy. New ones are popping up, but they are small so that’s fine with me. I know it sounds vain, but if you saw my mom’s stomach you’d understand. My husband and I have already discussed plastic surgery if I end up like my mom after 4 children. I just couldn’t spend my entire life hiding my belly.

Is anyone trying the perennial massage thing? Hubby and I did the BD last night for the first time in weeks and OMG! I’m soooooo swollen and sore down there. I can’t imagine pushing a baby’s head out without tearing. I want to do the massage, but I am so miserable when it’s happening.

Well....4 more weeks! Can't wait to meet my little man! Congrats to all those who've recently had their babies. Also to those mothers whose babies were born in the last few months. It's so neat to hear about their milestones. How amazing they are! Can't wait to be holding my very own soon!

1-15-2010 ~ Surrogacy

So. I was laying on the couch today and just feeling Michael move and I got to thinking how much I'm going to miss being pregnant. It's all coming to an end and I won't be getting pregnant with our second child until I have a career and we're completely out of debt (probably about 4 years). I don't wanna wait that long, so I started thinking about surrogacy.

I went online and researched a little bit today and it seems like something I could do. The only thing that makes me a little bit apprehensive is all the shots I'll have to take. Ewww. But overall I've enjoyed the pregnancy experience and wouldn't mind giving a child to someone who really wants one, but can't have one. My husband is extremely supportive so that's nice. He's not against me being pregnant with someone else's baby lol. He teased that it would be his favorite joke to tell people that his wife is pregnant, but it's not his. Dork.

I was wondering if any of you have either done it before, know someone who has, or has any insight/opinions about it. Just so everyone knows, no, I wouldn't have a hard time giving the baby to the parents because I would know from the get go that it wasn't mine and would have a long time to prepare myself. Plus I'd be honored to give that gift to someone.

Thanks in advance for any words or thoughts.

1-22-2010 ~ 37 Weeks

37 WEEKS

Weight gain: 35 lbs

Well no new pics this week. I'm lazy. I'll probably add one tomorrow or something, but figured I'd write my 37 week blog since I hit full term yesterday :) So happy about that.

Had an appt today and found out that I'm 60% effaced, but not at all dilated. Thanks Braxton Hicks for doing NOTHING. Lol. Oh well. I'm ready for the long haul. Only bad thing about the long haul is that my stretch marks are coming :( I've had them on my boobs, thighs, and hips since like week 32. Now they are starting to come in on my belly. NOOOOOO!!! Oh well. The price we pay for having adorable little babies! Can't wait to meet him.

I'm feeling pretty good these days. Not like I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant. People are always offering to help me get out of the car or to sit up. It's weird. I understand that I look like a hippo, but I'm good. Promise! :) My only complaint is that I'm thirsty 24/7 now! It's crazy. I stopped drinking soda about a week ago and I've gained 4-5 lbs in that week. Strange. I also cannot stop drinking water!

Guess that's it for now. Going to finish re-caulking my tub. It got all nasty so I ripped out the old stuff and am now putting in new stuff. Can't really go anywhere in all this rain. Yes California needed the rain, but my goodness! We're on day 5 now of pretty much non-stop downpour. I'm happy my roof is holding up. It's a flat roof. Yikes!

Well congrats to all of the ladies who've recently had their babies! Like 6 new mommies in one week. Incredible. Hope to be joining you ladies soon :)

1-31-2010 ~ 38 Weeks

38 WEEKS

Weight gain: 36 lbs

Well...the full moon did nothin for me. But that's ok. I wasn't really expecting it to. My BH are getting stronger so I know my body is getting closer :) So I've decided to put an end to the MYTH that I don't have any stretch marks. People always comment that I don't have any in my pics, but I do! So I've decided to take some close up shots. They may be small so far, but they ARE there.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab231/LilChica252/38w1.jpg

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab231/LilChica252/38w2.jpg

See see! I'm normal lol. My mom's are a lot worse so I'm hoping they stay this small, but I doubt it. In 6 weeks they've gone from one tiny one on one hip to this. I potentially have 2 1/2 weeks left if I go overdue.

We're done with Michael's nursery for the most part. We did a ton of painting. Thanks for all of the lovely comments ladies! We worked really hard and are extremely pleased with it. The only problem now is that we started working on the closet which created a TON of dust and covered the entire nursery so now I have to wash everything all over again :(

I'm so anxious to meet my son! I went to a birthday party for a 1yr old and a 3yr old today and there were so many little kids! I just wanted my son so badly. I'm fine being pregnant still as far as the physical stuff, but I'm getting impatient to hold my little man.

Well labor dust to all! And of course sticky baby dust to those who are recently pregnant :)

2-3-2010 ~ Oh Thank God!

This is kind of a long story, but not too bad. I'll try and explain. Ok. My husband is what I call a trust fund baby. His parents make a LOT of money and they invest well. They have a regular house and a vacation house. They don't live like they are rich, but they are. They have an average home (3 bed, 3 bath) and average cars. However, when our down payment on our house didn't come out of the stock market quickly enough, they were able to deposit $6,000 in our account with about 4 hrs notice.

I didn't know this about my husband's family when I started dating him. He does NOT dress like he's wealthy (and still doesn't). When he picked me up in a Camero (brand new at the time) for our first date I was shocked! I thought he was a middle class person like me! :) Throughout our relationship they have bought him a house (while he was in college) to live in rent free, they bought him a truck for graduation and they have lent us money countless times when we've run into rough patches. We always pay them back, but I always feel TERRIBLE for asking for money. I've recently told my husband that we will NOT be asking for money from them ever again. We will figure it out on our own.

That being said, I stopped working a looonnngggg time ago. About 2 months I think. It has been rough on us financially, but I just couldn't do it anymore. I was getting unemployment checks that were about half what I was making, and they were helping ends meet. Well I guess unemployment figured out that I was actually able to work, but was choosing not to due to my discomfort and that wasnt ok. They stopped sending checks and I was fine with it because technically I could have been working. Well this month our bills got really bad. We are right now to the point of "pay this bill or have gas money for work?"

All of that being said, my husband gets $500 a month from his parents (this started this Nov of 2009) from a trust that his grandmother had set up for him and his brother. Mind you this is HALF of the INTEREST that this trust gains every month. I'm not sure how much is in there, but if it's gaining $1000 a month in interest alone, I imagine it's a lot. This $500 a month has saved our butts since I'm not working. This month however, even with the $500 we were in a bind. I feel so bad for my husband because he works so hard now. He's a Sheriff and works 10 hr shifts and drives 2 hrs a day to get to and from work and yet he cant go out to eat with his buddies after a long day because we have no money. Makes me feel terrible.

NOW THE GOOD NEWS! I just got the check in the mail that should've been $500 and instead it was for $1500. I literally fell to my knees in the kitchen and cried for about 10 minutes. I can't even tell you the relief I feel. Our son could be born ANY day and here I was concerned about any co-pay we might have to pay when I go into labor. We don't have any credit cards because we shut them all down to get out of debt. I am soooooo happy that this check was $1000 more than normal. They're claiming it was because of a special distribution. I'm not sure if it's for real or if they're lying, but I don't care! Lol. His mom was here about a week ago painting the nursery and I think she could tell how much we were struggling. I'm just so thankful. I'm beside myself. I'm going to put it into savings and thank the Lord that his family is able to do this. I'm not sure what we'd do without them. My family could certainly never do it!

Ok sorry for the long post, but I could never say this on facebook or anything and I just needed to share with SOMEONE other than hubby how blessed I feel! :)

2-6-2010 ~ 39 Weeks

39 WEEKS

Weight gain: 35lbs

Wow! I only have 5 days left until my technical due date. It’s so hard to believe how fast it’s gone by. I remember when I found out I was pregnant (I was 4 ½ weeks along) and it felt like FOREVER until February. Now it’s here and I’ll be holding my son in a matter of weeks! Days if I’m lucky ;)

So many girls that have my due date have already had their babies! OverTheRainbow, Lindasaylou, Jessi8, and Toastermom. I won’t even go into those who were due AFTER me and have already had their babies (hmmm hmmmm PIGLET! ;)) I’m so happy for you all! I must admit that I’m jealous, but I know Michael will be here eventually. To be honest I’m not quite ready. My house is a MESS! If family plans on coming over right after he’s born I would like to make sure my house doesn’t look like a hurricane came to visit first.

The nursery was all painted a few weeks ago (Thank you so much for all of the wonderful comments!) so hubby decided it was time to redo Michael’s closet so that we could have more storage. I was MORE than excited to do this…..until we started doing it. Oh my goodness.

STEPS TO REDO A CLOSET:

1) Tear down old closet and make huge GAPING holes.

2) Mud over gaping holes and wait an entire day for them to dry.

3) Become annoyed that you have to wait.

4) Ask husband to sand mud so you can paint.

5) Cry in shock over the MESS the dust has created. All items in the room must now by wiped down and washed. And I mean all. Including the walls.

6) Paint over the old color (that the closet pieces were covering)

7) Wait an entire day to dry.

8) Assemble closet pieces while waiting for it to dry.

9) Scream at husband for saying he’ll finish “next weekend”

10) Attempt to finish on your own and fail miserably

11) Beg husband to cut boards and poles

12) Fail at SPRAY painting poles and hand paint them instead

13) Hold poles for 20 mins while they dry

14) Screw in main closet portion

15) Screw in brackets

16) Screw in poles

17) Beg husband to screw in shelves because you fail miserably once again

18) Replace everything BACK into the closet

Smile in accomplishment :)

BEFORE

AFTER

So now that it’s all done I am soooo happy. I had to remove everything from the room and wipe it down. I rewashed the crib bedding and curtains, wiped down the walls, removed everything from the bookshelf and rewashed it, swept the entire room, washed the base boards, mopped, swept again and then collapsed. I’m happy it’s done. Now onto the REST of my house. My cats have decided they are no longer holding onto their fur so I find CLUMPS of it all over the house. Very annoying and gross. You would think summer would be their shedding time.

Well again congrats to all of the mommies who’ve had their babies! I can’t believe how incredibly cute they all are. I used to say that all newborns were weird looking. What happened? Now I think they’re all gorgeous! J

Labor dust to the rest of us waiting in weeks 39-42….not long now!

2-10-2010 ~ 40 Weeks

40 WEEKS – MICHAEL IS DUE!

Weight gain: 37 lbs

I’m 40 weeks in 6 and a half hours, but decided to post now.

Well I must admit. I didn’t think I’d make it this far. My mom had the majority of her babies early, so I assumed I’d be the same. I remember being 20 weeks along and wanting my doctor to check for incompetent cervix because I wanted to stay pregnant as long as possible. Then at 26 weeks asking which hospital I should go to for preemie care. Well apparently I didn’t need it! Which is good of course, but it’s just funny what goes through our heads early on and then our perceptions are all changed.

In the last week family has been driving me insane. I get texts all day with dumb comments. Some not even pregnancy related, but I think it’s to see if I’ll respond. If I don’t respond I’m in labor right? I think I’m going to give my duola the job of responding to texts while I’m in labor so people don’t know lol. I’m determined for no one to show up to the hospital. No one actually knows where I’m delivering, but I have some pretty persistent family members who would call alllll of the hospitals until they found me! On the 7^th there was a rumor going around that I had had him. My husband’s uncle had put a reminder in his phone because he bet we’d have him then. Well when the alert went off, he thought it was a text message and started calling everyone! I just about died. He called my husband’s parents to congratulate them and they were very confused as to why he had found out before them. Very funny! We assured them that they’d be one of the first to know (before his uncle!).

I’ve also had several people tell me (before my due date!) how LATE they were. Well thanks. That’s very encouraging lol. It’s great to hear that you had your baby 2-4 weeks late. That’s nice of you to let me know. I’m ok with waiting until the 21^st to try any sort of induction techniques. I think I’ll ask my OB to strip my membranes if I’ve had no action by my appt next week on the 18^th.

Last night was a little interesting. I finally felt some REAL contractions. They definitely feel a lot different than Braxton Hicks. I was concerned that I might not know the difference, but it’s hard to confuse them. My duola said they might feel the same to me. Ummmm…no lol. Braxton Hicks can get really tight and uncomfortable, but it doesn’t radiate around to your back and have a pinching sensation. I was so excited when they were coming every 5 mins! I had about 8-10 of them every 5 mins. As soon as I got excited they stopped!! I have decided if it happens again tonight I’m going to remain as calm as possible. I think it still did something though because I lost my mucus plug this morning! Yay! I didn’t think I’d lose it before I was on the delivery table. Certainly SUPPPPERRRRRR nasty. I wasn’t expecting it and had to use tissue because we ran out of toilet paper in the front bathroom. So gross. Glad it’s out though lol.

So I guess I’m just sitting around waiting! Everything is ready for him, just not me! I want to meet him desperately, but my mind still doesn’t quite understand that I’ll be a mommy and responsible for a newborn! I’m so happy I have a supportive husband, family and friends to help me through the first few months. I couldn’t do it without them.

Congratulations to all of the new mommies. I hope you guys are getting some rest here and there! Labor dust to all of us left (not many!). It’ll be soon!

2-14-2010 ~ Can I Do This?

3 Days Over Due Date

Well first I'd like to say that I'm very happy I'm still pregnant today. It was my fear all along to have a baby on Valentine's Day for soooo many different reasons. Now that it's 12:30 in the afternoon, my chances are pretty slim :) Yay! I had contractions that were 7-8 mins apart all day yesterday, which really concerned me. I thought for sure I was in for a vday baby. Thankfully going to sleep made them stop. I lost more of my plug which I didn't think was even possible lol.

So onto my reason for writing this blog. Yesterday evening I went to my neighbors house to see her nephews. They are 2 month old twin boys. I wanted to see how I would do with them. Well I suck. I just don't even know how to HOLD a newborn. Once they're big enough to put on my hip I'm good! :) Which is typically about 4 months old. Obviously I'm going to need to hold my son. I feel so dumb. I'm about to be a mother and I have NO clue what I'm doing. This is part of the reason I don't want people in the hospital with us. I don't want to be judged. Everyone keeps telling me what a wonderful mother I'm going to be, but most haven't seen me with a baby. I'm HORRIBLE with babies. Kids.....any day any time. But with babies I'm just a fumbling idiot. I know they say it's different when it's your own, but I'm so afraid they're wrong. I hope that at least my husband knows what he's doing. Sometimes men surprise you right? :(