Oops... Where'd that month go??

So the past month FLEW by! I feel like I just had the growth scan last week and updated but that certainly is not the case! So... here are some updates, and a lot of them.

Piper survived her first earthquake and hurricane just fine. On August 23rd there was a 5.1 magnitude earthquake that hit in Virginia and rocked our office building. We evacuated and it took a little bit to realize what was going on but everyone was safe and sound. Piper seemed to be unfazed.

On August 27th my best friend and sister threw me an amazing baby shower. It was rivaled by Hurricane Irene and threatened to get cancelled but after moving the time up, the show went on. It was wonderful and Piper was spoiled rotten. Unfortunately about 1/2 the people who were planning to come couldn't make it because of the hurricane, including all of Jason's family and my mom:( It was still a lot of fun... just short and sweet so people could get home before the storm got really bad. Here are some pictures! (also, we survived the hurricane just fine, didn't even lose power... friends and family weren't so lucky but everyone is safe)



Labor Day weekend we went to the grand prix in Baltimore. I debated going because I wasn't sure how long I could stand sitting on bleachers and walking around but I'm glad I went. It was pretty incredible.

The second weekend in September, J and I escaped to Atlantic City for our Babymoon. It was our first trip away as just a couple in who knows how long. I loved it and definitely needed the time to re-charge. We stayed in an awesome place and just did things on our own timeline. We even won some money playing blackjack too:)

Last week my coworkers threw me a work baby shower. It was so sweet and people were SO generous! I'm pretty sure we're set on everything we need for Piper's arrival now.

The nursery is about 98% done. Our glider and ottoman finally came in, we finished painting, and her closet is filled the the brim. We still need to figure out what else to put on the walls but that will happen once she arrives. Here are some pictures of the room. I LOVVVVVVVE it. I just go in there and sit and look around. I can't believe it will be our little girls room in just a few weeks!



The gestational diabetes diet has been going well. My numbers have all been where they need to be and it doesn't look like I'll need to go on insulin at any point. I go in weekly for NST's and BPP's which are cool and frustrating at the same time. I like seeing Piper each week but the appointments aren't very fun. For the NST I'm hooked up to a heart rate monitor for Piper and a movement monitor. I have to sit there for 20 minutes and they want to see that when Piper moves her heart rate goes up and stays up for a bit before coming back down. Most of the time this isn't hard to do, especially since PIper generally moves all the time. However, at one appointment I was hooked up for an hour because she couldn't be bothered to wake up! I also have a hard time sitting in the recliner so I'm always moving and readjusting my position. The BPP's are pretty cool. They look to see if she's practicing her breathing, check her fluid levels, and look for limb movements. My fluid levels are always good and for the most part she's good about practicing her breathing so that we can see. The problem is that the little stinker likes to STOP moving as soon as we start that ultrasound. She'll be moving around constantly during the NST but won't budge for the BPP. She always ends up passing but not without a lot of "encouragement" (ie. me drinking cold water, turning to my side, poking at her, etc.) Today was awful though. The NST was fine and she passed within the first 5 minutes (but still had to stay hooked up for 20 minutes). The BPP was not good though. Piper is/was fine as well but laying on my back for it made me very light headed and nauseous. I ended up sitting up and drinking some water and taking a break before we could continue because I almost got sick. I spent the rest of the exam sitting up and I still felt sick. At the end of the exam I got really light headed and ran to the bathroom where I did get sick. Now I'm scared for what my follow up growth scan is going to be like next week:( I'm just glad Piper seems to be doing well each week though.

I have been going to weekly OB appointments since 34 weeks. They are normally just an annoyance but the past 2 have been interesting. Last week the OB I saw said that even with well controlled GD they don't like to let women go past 39 weeks. It's only a week difference but it sent me into an excited frenzy! Oct 24th might be her new due date! At today's appointment the OB ( a different guy) said that they generally induce between 39 and 40 weeks. So, while the 24th might not be THE day, I'll still have Piper before Halloween! He also did my first internal today. I didn't have to have it done but I've been having a lot of BH contrax and they seem more intense these days so he did one to see if they were actually doing anything. Holy hell did it hurt! He said I was already 1 cm dilated though!!!! CRAZYness:) Oh... and I haven't gained any weight in the past 2 weeks! Thank goodness for that since I'm already up 30lbs overall. So here are some pics and the long overdue survey....

33 weeks:


How far along? 35 weeks

Weight gain/loss: Up about 30 lbs but I haven't gained any weight in the past 2 weeks!!!

Maternity clothes? All the time and I've grown out of some of those:P

Stretch marks? I have a few now but it could be worse... I hope that it stays just those few though

Sleep? It's becoming a chore:( I'm up at least 4 times a night to pee, then I just wake up at like 6am wide awake and I'm constantly tossing and turning to get comfortable:(

Best moment since last update? Baby showers, finishing up Piper's room

Food cravings: none really

Gender: A girl!

Belly button in or out? Flat:P

Movement? Moving allll the time and her favorite place to hang out is on my right side. Not in front but on the SIDE of my body. It's weird:P

What I miss? Having my body to myself, sleeping well, not peeing constantly, etc:P

What I'm looking forward to: Growth scan next week and meeting Piper

Milestones: I've hit 35/35! I probably have closer to 28 days left:)

Growth Scan

I have a lot more to update with but don't have time to write it all out right now. I had my growth scan today to see how big Piper is and I also got my glucometer and instructions for my GD diet. The growth scan was amazing and the tech re-confirmed that it's definitely a girl! She's head down and the doctor said all the measurements and "parts" are looking good:) They estimate that she's 4lbs 3oz right now and on track to be a 7-8lb baby, which is exactly what I want. The best part of the scan is when she switched over to 3D for a bit and we could see Piper sucking her thumb. It was so cool to watch her just suck away and move her little fingers! I'm so in love already and as each week passes I get more and more anxious to meet her. I want her to stay put till it's time but I seriously can not wait to have her in my arms! Here is the best shot of her sucking her thumb:



She's JUST like her mommy with those cheeks and even how she's sucking her thumb. Just like I used to do:)

When I have time I have lots more updates about the nursery progress, my baby shower, etc!:)

Heartburn, sleeping problems and Gestational Diabetes OH MY!

So this weekend has quite the ups and downs. On Friday morning I went in to take my 3 hour glucose test. I couldn't eat anything past midnight Friday morning and went in at 8:30a. I had my fasting level blood draw, had to drink that oh so delicious orange drink again and then every hour after that for 3 hours I had my blood drawn to get the different glucose levels. I imagined that I'd be a horribly cranky starving pregnant woman but the worst part was actually not being able to drink anything. I could only have 16oz of water the entire time and I was SO thirsty. I got pretty shaky at the end but it wasn't as bad as I imagined. There was another woman there doing the same test so we chatted about our pregnancies and watched HGT.V:P I was told I'd get the results on Monday (today) since my stupid insurance company requires that the bloodwork be sent out. Saturday was really busy and mostly fun but that night was not so fun. I kept tossing and turning because it hurts so much to sleep on my sides. After about 15 minutes my sides just ache and I have to turn over, which is now a process in itself. Then at about 2am I woke up and realized I was experiencing heartburn for the first time. It was "lovely" and kept me awake for quite a while. And then when I wasn't waking up because of heartburn or the need to turn over, I was waking up to pee. Sunday morning when I woke up I was almost relieved that it was daytime so that I could just end that craziness!

Sunday was a very busy day working on the nursery. J and I finally put up the wall decal and I think it turned out great. Then my stepdad came over and worked on the closet more while J, my mom and I put the crib together! We moved the dresser into her room as well. I'm so happy to have my living room almost back to normal! There are only a few more things to do in her nursery painting/construction wise and then I get to finally have it ready for decorating and putting stuff away! I never thought I'd be this far along with so much more to do with it but I'm excited that the end is in sight:) I'm hoping by this weekend it will be ready so that I can everything I get at my shower on Saturday away!

Unfortunately last night's sleeping was more of the same. Heartburn, tossing and turning, and up to pee. I'm hoping these past 2 nights are just a fluke and I'll get to go back to my mostly restful sleep but I'm worried that won't be the case anymore. So needless to say I woke up pretty cranky this morning.

Cue irritating doctors office... I called this morning to get my results and left a message for them to call me back. After playing phone tag for 2 hours someone finally calls and I answer only to be told that 2 Diabetes Education appointments have been approved and I'll need to call a certain number to set up an appt with someone at Maternal and Fetal Medicine. I actually had to stop the nurse and ask her if that meant I failed the test because she never actually gave me test results! I called MFM and set up the appointment and was told that I would have to have growth scans every two weeks and manage my diet and insulin levels. If I couldn't do that, I'd have to have weekly growth scans and start taking insulin. Not something I want to do. I mean, I'm excited to see my baby girl again but I do not look forward to meeting with someone so often, especially in addition to my bi-weekly obgyn appts! I do NOT look forward to this diet and having to not eat certain things. I will do whatever I need to do to make sure Piper is healthy and strong though. So, bring on the "fun". Special diet and more needles!

Here's a picture of the wall decal and crib. We're going to add a decal with her name which I ordered today.

29 weeks!

This is my last week in the 20's. It's crazy to me that there are just about 10 weeks left in this pregnancy. Time continues to fly by and we continue to stay busy. We're busy every weekend for the next month! Next weekend is my shower and I'm so excited for it:) I can't wait for everyone to see my baby belly and dote on my little girl all day!

SO we're pretty sure we're going with Piper for her name. We're still trying to figure out her middle name but we've decided that we like the more unique name. People's reactions have either been love it or hate it but everyone has at least been nice about it and said they'll like/call her whatever we name her:P

We checked a huge item off our to-do list this week. We finally decided on a daycare center. We're going with the one near J's work and he put a deposit down the other day. It feels like a HUGE relief to have it it checked off our list. We went back and forth for a while and were going to look at a few more places but in the end decided that we liked that place enough that there wasn't much more reason to look at other places. So yay for that!

We also started our childbirth class last night. It's a 4 week class and yesterday we covered signs of labor and the labor process. Our instructor is hilarious so I think I'm definitely going to enjoy going the next few weeks. We start next week with the first video of labor and delivery. J says he isn't going to watch but I kind of hope he does just so he sees that it won't be that bad to watch when Piper is born. He doesn't NOT have to watch her come out, I just don't want him to be grossed out by her initially:P

This past weekend I went to OH to visit a friend that her second child last week. I got to spend the weekend watching what it was like for her to take care of a newborn and a toddler. Thankfully he is a really good baby. I got to spend the weekend snuggling with him and cooking for them. It was a lot of fun and it just made me SO excited to meet Piper and spend so much time snuggling with her:)

So of course I can't always be worry free and lately I've been worrying a lot because I keep having braxton hicks contractions. I have them A LOT and while I know it's normal, I worry that they're actually doing something. I have them basically every time I get up from a seated or laying position and then off and on all day. I think I'm going to check with the doctor about them again at my next appointment. Just some reassurance that things are ok will be nice.

Some more not so good news is that I failed my 1 hour glucose test. So this week I've had to follow a special diet and on Friday morning I go in for my 3 hour glucose test. I can't eat anything after midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning and then I go in at 8:30 to get my fasting blood level. Then I drink that nasty orange drink again and then sit around for 3 hours so they can take my blood every 3 hours. I can't eat until the last blood draw which will be around 11:45am. I'm pretty sure it's going to suck and I feel like I'm going to pass out:( I really hope I pass too. I don't want to have gestational diabetes. Honestly though, I can't say I'd be shocked if I did have it. It's a risk factor with having PCOS and well why not have yet another way for my body to fvck with me:P Keeping fingers crossed for Friday though!

So here's the survey for 29 weeks and my bump picture from Monday!

How far along? 29 weeks

Weight gain/loss: Up about 25 lbs

Maternity clothes? All the time

Stretch marks? I have one starting on the front of my belly. I've been lotioning up a lot and I hope that is the only one!

Sleep? It's generally ok. My one side is sore and I'm always waking up to switch sides. And I get up at 4am every morning to pee:P (remains the same- though turning over is getting harder and harder)

Best moment since last update? getting day care checked off our to do list!

Food cravings: Chocolate Ice Cream

Gender: A girl!

Belly button in or out? In but its getting pretty shallow

Movement? She's still very active!

What I miss? Sleeping through the whole night

What I'm looking forward to: Baby shower!

Milestones: I can't believe we have just about 10 weeks left!

Things I don't want to forget...

This pregnancy is flying by and while I blog about different things there are some things I just don't want to forget so I'm going to document them tonight:)

The good
- The day I found out I was pregnant. It was about 6am, I peed on the stick and just crossed my fingers so hard that I would see 2 lines. My prayers were finally answered and I just couldn't believe it. Going in to tell J was surreal. I loved that we just snuggled and cuddled just spending the morning thinking about how much our lives changed in that instant.
- Seeing your cute "diamond ring" and blob in the first few ultrasounds. It was amazing to watch you grow
- Hearing your heartbeat for the first time. It brought tears to my eyes and I love that I eventually got to record it on my phone just to listen to it over and over.
- Every time we shared our news of your impending arrival with our family and friends. Each person was so excited for us and could not wait to meet you!
- Watching you move around and get comfortable during your first anatomy scan. Learning about your personality that day was amazing and seeing you look like a baby for the first time took my breath away.
- The second anatomy scan was even more amazing. You were moving ALL over the place and it was so neat to see you flip completely over. It was wonderful to see your face profile shot and get to have more idea about what you'll look like. It was amazing to see your heart beating and the 4 chambers pumping blood through your tiny body. Your tiny feet and hands were so sweet and it was so neat to watch you move them around. Made me long for the day when I get to kiss them and snuggle them!
- The day we found out you were a girl. There was so much speculation and almost everyone guessed you were a boy. It was funny because when we couldn't find out at the first anatomy scan, lots of people changed their guesses because they said you must be a modest little girl. You weren't modest that day and we're so thankful! It was the best money spent to find out and just get to plan for your arrival from then on. J initially hoped for a boy but it was so sweet how quickly his tune changed. He was thrilled to know he got to have a little girl to spoil.
- The day I first felt you kick. I was laying in bed in the morning and felt something but I felt that it was way too strong to be a kick. I realize now that it was definitely a kick! As the days and weeks passed your kicks got stronger and each one assures me that you're doing ok in there.
- The day J first felt you kick. He was somewhat impatient in waiting to feel you kick because you'd be kicking up a storm and as soon as he would put his hand on my stomach, you'd stop kicking! One night he waited long enough and felt your strong kick! His face was priceless. I think he was surprised at how strong it was:)
- The day I watched you bounce my belly all around. Your kicks have become more noticeable from the outside and I could just stare at my stomach all night. Watching you move around and make my belly bounce all around its just amazing. I still can't tell what body parts are moving around but it amazes me to know that you're moving around in there and getting comfy! Sometimes I sit in meetings and watch you move under my shirt and I wonder if anyone else can tell how much your moving. It's like my own personal acrobatic show:)
- My growing belly- I definitely look pregnant now and I love showing "you" off! Strangers notice and sometimes comment, thankfully with no mean comments so far:P
- Planning for your nursery. We had a pretty easy time picking out what we wanted your nursery to look like and it all just seemed to fall into place. J even got his girly turtle worked into it:)
- Registering for our baby shower. I've been to so many shower's and it was just an amazing (and overwhelming) experience to pick out what we wanted for YOU. Which crib is best, which baby tub, what shampoo, what carseat, what stroller...?
-Picking out your name. We had a name picked out for years but decided that it was not going to work for you. We immediately agreed that we liked Emily and tried to think of middle names. One night J woke up in the middle of the night, turned over and asked if I liked the name McKinley. Surprisingly, I did. That was another possibility. Then we came up with Piper. Its unique and both J and I love it. We're pretty sure that it's what we're going to name you at this point. We were going to do Piper McKinley but J didn't want two unique names so we're trying to figure out a more traditional middle name. Right now our front runner is Julianne.
- Looking forward to your arrival. I can't wait. I want to enjoy every moment of this pregnancy and yet I want to speed up time until you're ready to make your entrance to the world. I can't wait to see what you look like, to see what your personality is like, and to build our lives with you in it!
- Watching J fall more in more in love with you- it's hard because he's not experiencing all the same things I am with this pregnancy but he talks to you and kisses my belly every morning. He's so in love with you already and he always asks me how you're doing throughout the day:) He's going to be such a good daddy to you!


I'd like to say that it's all amazing in pregnancy but there are some cons...
-Morning sickness- I spent many mornings feeling pretty nauseous and got sick a few times. Thankfully food was the cure all and as long as I ate when I felt nauseous I'd have a brief reprieve. It also seemed to end right around 12 weeks! I only feel sick when I don't eat enough but that is my fault.
- The BLOAT- it was pretty constant for the first trimester. It was hard to fit in my clothes even before I had a belly and was pretty painful.
- Lower back pain- it started pretty early on and seems to be the worst after days of a lot of activity and hard work around the house. There have also been a few days of pretty severe sciatica nerve pain. Thankfully it's not constant and if I take it easy my back seems to be ok.
- Constipation- Sorry for the TMI but it's not fun to deal with
- The discharge- I feel like I'm still taking the progesterone suppositories. It's pretty ridiculous!
- Having to sleep on my sides- I'm normally a stomach sleeper and was able to do that until about 20 weeks. Now it's not advised to sleep on my stomach and it's pretty impossible to do even if I tried. I try to sleep on my sides but I wake up constantly to flip over and my sides and hips hurt:(
- Waking up to pee all the time- right now I generally get up during the 4am hour to pee. Seems to coincide with when Simba is awake and wants me to watch him eat. I long for the days of sleeping through the night but know that it will be a very VERY long time before I can do that again.
- Finding a daycare- we're still on the hunt. I hate that I have to leave you with someone else during the day so I can go to work. The emotional side of me just wants to stop working and stay home with you. The practical/financial side of me knows that working is a good idea so I'm trying to figure out a balance. The day care centers and one in home place we've checked out are all fine and you'd be ok at each one, but I'm completely underwhelmed by all of them and don't want you to go there:P
- My growing belly- I love it most of the time but it's causing some self-image issues. It's better now that I'm obviously pregnant but for a few weeks I dreaded getting dressed in the morning because of how huge I felt. I look forward to working off this baby weight as soon as possible.

26 weeks and baby prep!

Today I'm 26 weeks along. It's crazy to me because that means that I have 98 days left until my due date! We've hit double digits:) I get more and more excited to meet my little girl as each day passes. She is so active and I love the feeling of her kicks and rolls (at least I think they're rolls). This past weekend we went to my brother's engagement party and everyone was so excited for us. My mom and sister had their hands on my belly just waiting to feel a kick. Of course I have a trouble maker and she stopped kicking when they did that but later in the evening my mom felt a few:) I feel like I'm getting huge but people keep assuring me that I look fine.

Yesterday we bought our nursery furniture. The crib was 50% off when you bought 2 or more matching pieces of furniture. We got the dresser which we were already planning to do and then got the toddler guard rail. We weren't planning to get it but it was a better deal with it. We also got 20% off both our glider and ottoman. And then we got 10% off all of it for opening a BRU credit card! Saved us a good $300 bucks:) I'm so excited to get everything too. Our crib/dresser should be available in the next 2 weeks but our glider will take 10-12 weeks because it was special order. I hope it doesn't actually take that long but even if it does it should be *just* in time! Here are pics of each item. The glider/ottoman will be in a chocolate color.


Last week I also caved and got another PPB bag! I got the wistful weekender for 41% off:) I can't wait to get it and plan to use it for our hospital bag. J was sweet about it and didn't give me too much of a hard time for getting it either.


Today I scored another great deal. Our pack n play went on sale for $50 off so I decided to get it and then if we get it for our shower we can return it and use the $ for other stuff. There were also 2 other deals that went in conjunction with the purchase. For making a purchase over $100 I got a $10 BRU gift card and a free umbrella stroller. So we got the$159 pnp for $99:) Sweeeeet! I had to order the pnp because they were out of stock but they said it should be on the thursday shipment so I don't really have to wait much for it (not that I need it for a while). I'm excited to see it all set up though!


Another exciting thing is that my shower has been scheduled and invitations have been sent out! It's about a month away and I can't wait. I just can't wait to celebrate with everyone and see everyones faces when they see how big I am! I won't have seen a lot of the people at all during my pregnancy (or not since I started showing) so I know they're going to be like WHOA! I can't wait to see my little girl showered with love too. I know everyone is so excited to meet her so it's going to be fun to celebrate with people in anticipation of her arrival.

So for now here's my 26 week picture and the survey!


How far along? 26 weeks

Weight gain/loss: Up about 18lbs:(

Maternity clothes? All the time

Stretch marks? Nothing new, thankfully:)

Sleep? It's generally ok. My one side is sore and I'm always waking up to switch sides. And I get up at 4am every morning to pee:P

Best moment since last update? Having my moms feel her kicks:)

Food cravings: Chocolate Ice Cream

Gender: A girl!

Belly button in or out? In but its getting pretty shallow

Movement? She's still very active!

What I miss? Sleeping through the whole night

What I'm looking forward to: Baby shower!

Milestones: Double Digits!

V-Day!!

I've made it to V-Day... or 24 weeks! I really hope Petri stays put for another 16ish weeks but it's nice to know I've made it this far:) Here is a pic from today. My bump is definitely sticking out there!


So I've got lots of updates:) Since the anatomy scan, J and I went on a mini shopping spree. We went to Buy Bu.y Bab.y and I had so much fun! We finally decided between the city mini and city select (we went with the Mini) after playing with them both for a bit. We also got the craziest swing ever. It's called a Mama.roo and it's the only thing J has gotten SO excited about. It's not the most attractive thing but it will do and it doesn't take up much space, which I like:) So here is our new stroller and swing!


We toured 2 daycare centers and they were both fine but I was definitely underwhelmed. I'm not sure what I expected but I just wasn't feeling it. Either one of them would be fine to take Petri to and I know she'd be safe and well taken care of, I just was "blah" about them. My coworker told me about one of her friends that runs an in home daycare so we're checking it out on Wednesday. She's currently getting licensed which I love and she said that she has back up people in case she goes on vacation or has appointments to go to which is also really important. One of the reasons we were going to go with a center was so that we didn't have to deal with finding care for Petri last minute. So to not have to worry about that is awesome, especially since the in-home care is about $100 cheaper per week than the center's we've been looking at. So fingers crossed we like this place!

This past weekend I was in major nesting mode. Last weekend we cleaned out the nursery which was a huge project in itself but our way of cleaning it out was to take EVERYTHING out of the room and then go from there. We organized a bunch last weekend but all last week we still had a ton of stuff left in our living room to go through. So, I went through all that and since J and his friend were able to remove an old entertainment center I've been wanting to get rid of, I rearranged the room too. I feel like it's a lot more open now and we've got more room for baby "gear" if needed. We also put built-ins in our downstairs earlier this year (yay for no wires!) but it wasn't completely finished so the room has been a construction zone for the past few months. So, J spent saturday morning finishing up some of the last touches and I spent the afternoon/evening putting the room back together and putting together a new bookshelf that is sturdier and more baby friendly. Phew! It was a LOT of work both days and I'm definitely exhausted now but I'm so glad to have those 3 rooms (nursery and both living rooms) organized and cleaned out! We still have more to do but I think it can wait a week or 2. I don't want to do anything around the house this weekend, well, other than laying around and being lazy:P The other fun thing I did was make closet organizers. Its a completely unnecessary thing for the baby's room but it was a cheap, fun, and crafty project so I just went with it:) So here they are:)



And lastly, since it's been forever since I've done one, here's my 24 week survey!

How far along? 24 weeks

Weight gain/loss: Up about 18lbs:(

Maternity clothes? ALL the time. Just bought new bras too since I outgrew my old ones!

Stretch marks? Nothing new, thankfully:)

Sleep? I sleep ok but I wake up a lot throughout the night. I HATE sleeping on my side and always wake up sore:( It's worth it for the bebe though:)

Best moment since last update? I guess just viability day:)

Food cravings: None really

Gender: A girl!

Belly button in or out? In but its getting pretty shallow

Movement? All the time. She's such an active baby!

What I miss? Sleeping on my stomach

What I'm looking forward to: Doctor's appointment next week and my baby shower and getting more done to the nursery!

Milestones: Viability day today:)