Here's what momma and baby Lennon are looking like at 7 months!!! It's one day early -- but I was thinking about it and didn't want to forget.
I have so much to be thankful for this year!!! My list is ever growing -- but here it goes!!!!
I swear -- I know exactly what a bag of microwave popcorn feels like. Lennon is literally "popping" around in there -- hands and feet jabbing my belly in rapid motion!!! My belly looks like it's loaded with jumping beans!!!
That's right -- I can't sleep. Miles woke up crying, with teething pain, and now everyone is back to sleep -- EXCEPT ME!!! iPhoto is very entertaining when you can't sleep. Check out the 27 week "BELLY VOGUE"!!! lol
I swear -- IT'S BABY SEASON!!! I know so many people who are pregnant or just were recently. Yesterday I got a call from my cousin Adam, in Chicago, and he gave me their blessed news. They are expecting baby number 3, due June 25. He also informed me that my other cousin, Alex, is also expecting and that she is due FEBRUARY 12!!!! OMG -- my baby cousin is due to have her 2nd baby the same month as us!!! How exciting. My friend and co-worker's wife is due New's Year Eve and I am in the middle of planning their baby shower. And -- AND -- My cousin Les' wife had their baby last month, and my friend Christina had her little girl about 2 weeks ago. I also met a few lovely ladies through my friend Christina who have had or are having babies!!!! WOWZA!!!! You know what all of this means right???? There's lots of "LOVIN" happening around these parts!!!
This little pregnancy symptom of mine deserves a blog of it's own. I have been lucky to not suffer many of the pregnancy ailments that a lot of women experience -- especially the first trimester ones. But this symptom seems to be plaguing me the most this time around. My sniffer is on serious over drive these days. It's so sensitive, in fact, that it is the culprit for my hormonal swings and shifts in mood. There are smells I just literally cannot tolerate. For instance -- the house -- despite how clean I keep it -- there always seems to be a "smell" about it. Our bedroom is the worst offender. I literally cannot stand the combination of smells that join in that room. No one else can smell a thing -- just me -- but good grief it drives me to intense irritation. The kitchen is another culprit. I can't stand the smell of the garbage can. It ALWAYS smells foul to me. ALWAYS!!! There's cigarette smoke, gasoline, unwashed hair, coffee -- so much more. But the weirdest one of all -- MEN!!! There's is something in the chemical or hormone that men put out that drives me absolutely batty these days. Maybe it's because I'm already pregnant and this is mother nature's way of telling me "keep those men away -- you don't need em anymore", but good grief it's so off putting. Each man has their own unique smell that drives me bonkers. Jason -- oh poor Jay Jay buns -- his smell is like a combination of coffee and alcohol -- both of which he does not drink. It can be really subtle or really intense. My good friend at work smells like bad coffee. Another man I know -- reminds me of motor oil. And for some reason the smells are very irritating to me. They set my nerves on fire. These poor men that I love so much -- what the heck???? I don't recall this happening with my first pregnancy. Although, I vaguely remember being sensitive to the way Jason smelled right after he got home from riding his motorcycle. He would absorb the smells of the road and it would take about an hour to dissipate -- but it never affected my mood like this. So strange -- it's unique to this pregnancy. I am really looking forward to getting some relief from this symptom. I know my sniffer will always be mom-a-fied, but I am certain that it will get less sensitive and less connected to my hormones. Damn estrogen -- oh well. BTW -- I read that they think this heightened sense of smell is linked to morning sickness. Thank goodness it hasn't affected me in that way. I'll take some irritation over nausea and vomiting any day!!!
I've been asking around about BIrth Photographers the last couple of weeks and I think we may have picked one. Lisa Bones (our sonogrpaher) and Renee (our Midwife) gave us a few names of some very talented ladies who do Birth Photos and I must say that all of their work is stunning. At this point I am trying to decide between Sandra Corell and Heather Keil. The cost difference is pretty significant, but Sandra Corell makes herself available for the total time of the labor and birth, as well as for the hour after. Heather Keil will be available for 2 hours or as long as we want but her price goes up $100 per every extra hour over 2. That could really add up. Either way -- we have to figure it out soon and book it because they obviously can only commit themselves to so many births in a month. Plus -- my Mom is giving me the Birth Photographer as a gift for Christmas!!!! That's right!!!! I need to get things squared away because MY SUPER AWESOME MOM needs to get everything together before Christmas!!!! How amazing is she? What an outstanding gift -- the gift of picture memories of the birth of our second little boy. I love you so much mom. Thanks!!!
Here's my little tribut to the amazing "butt donut". Anyone who has a baby will tell you that in the first few days to weeks after labor -- this bad boy is a must. If you want to sit, that is. Rock on BUTT DONUT!!! Rock on.
I met with my midwife this afternoon for our 26 week appointment. We're off on our weeks as I didn't see her for the first time until 10 weeks -- but it doesn't really matter. She had me scarf down a banana and 16 oz. of Orange Juice about 2 hours before my appointment, so that she could do a blood draw for Gestational Diabetes. She's also testing my titers this week, as well. The results should be in tomorrow, but I have a pretty good feeling that all is well on both fronts. Miles has O neg blood like me so I was never exposed or sensitized to positive blood. I already told Renee that I will not be getting the Rhogam shot at 28 weeks (I also refused it with Miles), but that I would like to have it on hand at the birth in case Lennon is type positive. I see no reason to inject myself with something that could have potentially adverse affects on the baby if there is really no reason. Plus, if I test positive on my titers it's too late anyway. In other news, I am measuring 1 week ahead in my fundal height and am currently at "27 weeks". This 26 week momma is soooooo not surprised by this news!!! I feel like I'm bigger than I should be. Belly-wise. My weight is spot on perfect at 18lbs. gained -- although I was stunned to learn that I put on 5lbs. in the last month. My midwife was really pleased about it though as I had only gained 1lb. the previous month. I figure -- if I gain 5lbs. per month for the rest of the pregnancy that would put me at a 35lb. weight gain which is about 7 lbs. less than I gained with Miles -- so I'm feeling pretty good about that. I know I will probably put on a little more weight than that, but as long as I stay within the healthy range I'm happy. What else? Oooooh -- the big news -- Renee felt for Lennon's position and she found his perfect little head nudged snuggly against my cervix. I was so excited to learn that he is head down and that the pressure on my cervix is indeed from that. He is also crammed into a tiny little ball up against the right of my uterus and wiggled and squirmed and kicked like a mad man. Renee kept trying to get his heartbeat on the fetal doppler, but he moved so much that it took her several tries before she could conclude that it was about 140 bpm. I filled Renee in on some of the stressful occurances this past month and about the fact that I am way more irritable this pregnancy. She said it's perfectly normal -- especially for a second pregnancy and to just keep reassuring people that I love them. Mostly -- keep reassuring Jay Jay. Poor guy. He gets the brunt. I also mentioned the nightly calf cramping that has begun to occur and she recommended trying a different type of CALM. I said -- WILL DO!!! Oh and I'm supposed to try to get more leafy greens in my diet to up my calcium intake. That's about it -- except that at the end of the visit she mentioned that our next appointment would be at 30 WEEKS!!! 30 freaking weeks!!! Hearing it out loud threw me for a loop. I just looked at her with my jaw dropped and said -- "Here we go Renee -- it's the downhill race!!!"
When I began the process of registering for all of the baby gear that we would need for baby Miles it was an overwhelming and mind boggling task. Where do we register? What do we register for? How much of it do we need? And each particular company you register with makes the decision making process that much harder by offering up a list of about 10,000 things that are MUST HAVES!!! I remember thinking -- "Do I really need a crib, bassinet, moses basket, co-sleeper, and a play yard? The obvious answer was no, but I still needed to figure out what I needed and what I could live without. This time around is so much easier and the been there done that feeling is sooooooo nice. There were things we registered for that we absolutely could not have lived without. Well -- we would have lived, but God knows it would have been waaaaaay harder. Those items are:
As I sit here and slurp down yummy spoonful after yummy spoonful of tomato soup (for breakfast), I am reminded of all the silly and not so silly cravings I have had with this pregnancy so far!!! By far, the strongest and longest craving I have had is for tomato soup. The weird part is that I only want it for breakfast. I swear it tastes different at any other time of day. And by golly -- Trader Joe's has the best carton of tomato soup on the planet. It's so creamy and so tomato-ey and I love to sprinkle basil in while it warms!!! YUMMY!!! Let's see -- what else is on this list. As far as silly is concerned, I have sent to Jason to the store for pickles and Chocolate Special K. I did not eat them together, but back to back. Oh and I should mention that it wasn't the pickles I was interested in, but rather the JUICE!!! YUMMY!!! I have, of course, blogged about the Italian style sub sandwiches and Pumpkin Spice Steamers. There was the few weeks in the first trimester where I wanted nothing and I mean NOTHING but Cottage Cheese. And there were the few weeks after that where I wanted nothing but Trader Joe's Chicken Tenders. Lately, my cravings have really mellowed out and I am only experiencing the tomato soup jones. Although, last week I got a hold of a bag of raw sugar snap peas in the pod and devoured the whole thing. I purchased another bag the next day and -- oops -- ate it all too. So I guess that was sort of craving -- or at least I now know how much I love sugar snap peas. As far as beverages are concerned -- we all know that I am a HUGE green tea fanatic -- and pregnancy puts a little damper on my love for it -- so I have been cheating and drinking tons of half water, half iced green tea. Since green tea has about 5% of the caffeine that coffee has I figure I'm totally safe consumming mostly watered down versions of it. I can't help myself -- I LOVE Trader Joe's Iced Blueberry Green Tea!!! Oh -- and of course water. That one was for my midwife!!! ;0)
Here he is!!! Look at that adorable little Miles clone!!! We were all stunned at how alike our two boys look -- especially when you compare Miles' 24 week scan!!! Lennon looks yummy and perfect all snuggled up in his momma cocoon and, although he was a very sleepy boy, obliged us by giving us a few super sweet face shots. We saw him smiling, yawning, sucking on his lower lip, and even trying to open his eyes. He moved some and kicked. We also got another peek at his boy parts which are looking like they are all in order. Lennon has definitely got long toes like the rest of us. They were shockingly long, in fact!!! We'll see if he fits into those newborn socks when he's born. We got a full diagnostic and everything is looking and sounding perfect. Lennon weighs about 1 lb. 13 oz., and is measuring a few days ahead of schedule at 25 weeks 3 days. The bummer news is that Lennon is Transverse Breech -- which is very rare and occurs in only 1 of 2,500 births -- but we still have about 7 weeks for him turn on his own. If he doesn't, there are some techniques we can try or our Midwife will have to perform an inversion. An inversion is a technique for relaxing the lower uteran ligaments which will help turn the baby. There are also a few techniques that can be performed by a chiropractor or OB if necessary. We're confidant that it won't get to that. We plan on doing everything we can to help little Lennon turn to the correct position. It is our goal to have another unmedicated, vaginal, home birth. The thought of a c-section is terrifying to me, but if the result is a safe and healthy Lennon, then so be it!!! All we really want is to hold that adorable bundle of boy in our arms. How freaking cute is he????
We're making a lot of progress with the nursery and having such a blast doing it. My nesting instincts are in full force and nothing feels better than diving into a Lennon related project and getting some results!!! We removed the wire shelves and filled, sanded, and repainted the holes. We also built the crib and changing table, and put the nursery bedding in. We moved some unneeded items out in order to make room for the things that we will be adding. Their will be 2 bookcases on either side of the crib and a narrow dresser where the desk lamp is. The metal etage' and desk lamp will not be in the room and we plan on adding a hanging lighting fixture to the ceiling and some small lamps on the book shelves. Of course there will also be curtains, wall art, a rug, and the mobile will be hung over the diaper changing table. We learned our lesson with Miles and the mobile and won't be putting it over the crib. It makes so much sense when you think about it -- crib=sleep -- mobile=play!!! LOLOLOL. Anyhow -- that's where we are for now and we will update again very soon.
I have been meaning to blog about this mommy/pregnancy friendly topic. Most women don't want gifts that involve cooking or cleaning. But not this momma!!!! NanaBee and I were getting a few things at Lowe's a couple of months back and I pointed out the Electrolux Ergorapido Ultra!!! I told her that this was my dream "vacuum"!!! I explained that it was very quiet, cordless, lightweight, 12 volts, and has a handheld piece that comes off for hard to reach places or counter tops. She was sold!!! She then GENEROUSLY purchased one for each of us!!! OMG!!!! HOw amazing. Not only is she the most awesome mom around -- but she gets my need for clean floors and appreciates it!!! She also gets my need for something that doesn't require being plugged and unplugged and lugged around from room to room. She also understands my need for something that is quiet enough to use while the babies are slumbering away. It's also so much easier on my pregnant back. I literally get the whole house vacuumed in less than 10 minutes -- and that's saying something when you have an 11oo sq. ft. house and are being chased around by baby Miles. It's so nice to have clean floors EVERYDAY -- especially when you have a little one crawling around on it (and soon to be 2 little ones). So needless to say -- THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM!!! The ergorapido is one of the best gifts I have ever received!!! ANd by the way -- she also clued me into the swiffer wet jet mop and microfiber cloths. I just wet the cloths and put them on the wet jet and my floors are cleaned in lightening speed. I don;t ever have to buy replacement cloths because I use, wash, and reuse the microfibers instead!!! That woman is brilliant!!! Anyway -- back to cleaning!!
He may not know exactly what's going on with momma's belly, but he knows he loves that belly button. He was also MORE than happy to give his baby bro a smooch this morning!!! My heart melted when he snuggled up against my belly and planted one on it!!!! How we hope Miles will wanna smooch Lennon once he arrives!!!
