TIBS - 1 Week Post Ollie

Before Ollie was born, I wondered how long it would take to not look pregnant.  I didn't take a picture in the hospital, but should have.  The first day I looked 4 or 5 months pregnant still, by Saturday, I looked 3ish or barely 4 months, and these pictures were taken yesterday.

There's still a lot of skin and a water belly feel - along with a much wider waist, but I'm pleased overall.  Between today's weather and just generally wanting to wear my old clothes again, I'm ready to run again!  My big girl will be all kinds of excited about that!

This is the best just-after-baby belly shot I have to compare.

I don't know that I'll do another TIBS post - it's been fun to see the weekly changes, but I think it's safe to say that it would be pretty boring from here on out.

For the record, I never did get stretch marks or any itching.  I swear by Palmer's.  Some people say it doesn't matter if you use it or not because some people will get stretch marks regardless.  That certainly may be true, but my skin stayed hydrated and now that I'm not pregnant, it looks better than it ever has.  I still love Palmer's.  Use it! :)

TIBS - Week 40

 Week 40

Being pregnant is still somewhat surreal to me, despite that I've had [gulp] nine months to get used to the idea.  You'd think that it would sink in to feel him moving, to stand in the nursery, to wash and fold his tiny clothes... I still think that in the coming weeks I'll look down at him and have to remind myself that he is my baby and I was pregnant.  Maybe when he's three I'll have come to terms with the fact.  Or perhaps in the first five minutes of holding him.

The last few weeks and days haven't been as crazy as I'd imagined them to be... I thought I'd be anxious and unable to think of anything other than being ready to have this baby.  Instead, I'm surprisingly calm and at peace just knowing that he will be here in the next couple of weeks.  Sure, sooner is better - so is smaller ;) - but for some reason, I'm simply at ease.  I'd had some trouble with my back aching in the afternoons and quickly learned that the garden tub is a fab solution.  I now have a routine date there for at least an hour at night - and bonus: it helps me sleep!

Tuesday, I had a ton of energy and got lots done.  Not nesting, think more just random things like deciding to take a walk and wanting to go here and there as if it were a Sunday afternoon of open houses in Arlington Village.  I can't think of a single thing that needs to be done before OP arrives.  We went to Trader Joe's and Sam's over the weekend to stock up on food and other necessities; picked up everyone's favorite cereal; Chandler finally packed a few things in his hospital bag; you name it, it's been done.

So far, total weight gain has stayed right at 30lbs give or take a couple.  I'm calling it at 30 for now - one appointment will have me a pound or two heavier and another will say I've lost a pound or two.  On average I'm right at 30.3 so I'm calling it at 30 - assuming that between this week and when he's out doesn't bring any sudden changes.

TIBS - Week 39

 Week 39

Late in posting, but week 39 nonetheless!  In two weeks we will for SURE have a baby!  Very exciting... today is actually the start of week 40 and still no itching or stretch marks - whoo hoo!  I really do swear by Palmer's Cocoa Butter: a giant dollop of thick creme at night; four pumps of regular in the morning.  If you're pregnant, do it.  It pays off.  I've never skipped - not once.  That said, I did buy a bathing suit at Sam's earlier this week that's a tank style just in case anything happens in the next ten days or so that might put a damper in my belly skin!  ...and because I doubt I'll want to wear my regular suits after having a baby just a few months earlier.  The best part, was that it was only $22!  I'd found some really cute ones online, but they were $60+ and I just wasn't feeling it...

Keeping our fingers crossed we won't have to do a week 41 post! :)

TIBS - Week 38

 Week 38

Whoa belly!

 That's right - raw and uncensored.

Ready, ready, ready, ready, ready....

20 days until our due date, 11 days of work, 2 bags packed, 20 nurse boxes ready, 4 surprise goody bags assembled, and 1 kinda large belly containing a baby who continues to move more than any book says he should... Did I mention we're ready?

You're ripe my dear child, let's get this party started!

TIBS - Week 37

Week 37

TIBS - Week 36

 Week 36

Week 36

Double pics since I'm posting late... and a video of OP:

OP's Breakout Attempt from Ginger Hatcher on Vimeo.

I purposely waited a day to post this week's picture - hoping I'd have some updates on OP, but nada.  No dilation.  Boo.  We got three u/s pics that are nothing short of funny.  I should post them... one is a pretty circle (skull), another a few lines (his spine and belly/and heart) and finally one of an eye socket.  Exciting.  Our midwife thinks OP is coming on Valentine's day.  I'm holding out for Feb. 8th - only because our anniversary is May 8th.  Other stats, still great BP, no stretch marks, no itching, lost 2lbs (go figure!), and while my uterus is right on for measurement, I don't feel like I've gotten bigger since last week.  Our midwife says I have a pretty belly.  Um, thanks?  She followed with 'I see a lot of bellies.'  So that's fun.  An odd compliment, but a compliment nonetheless! :)

(Video note: most of the action starts around 1:03.)

TIBS - Week 35

Week 35

Not sure why my belly looks so pointy... could be that someone has curled himself right in the middle of my belly, but that's just a guess.  Stats to date - still no stretch marks, no itchy belly, right at 30 lbs gained,  blood pressure still good, sleep = nonexistent... Did I miss anything?  

(I didn't actually wear a plum colored shirt with periwinkle pants - I did however, change out of jeans when I came home from work today... and yes, I wore jeans to work - I only have a few pair of pants I can still wear and I'm not going to buy new clothes for just a couple of weeks.)

TIBS - Week 34

 Week 34

Six weeks to go!  One the one hand, it's been SO fast - but on the other hand, come on already!  After our 3D last week I am SO ready to meet this boy!  He may have an identity crisis before he's three months old, but he's sure to be cute!  He started as Gilgamesh Methuselah but we had to announce his real name, Paxton, before 'Baby Gil' stuck with us.  From the beginning, we've had differing opinions on the middle name.  We discussed a couple options and even tried hyphenating two choices before finally calling it quits on both.  I probably could have had my choice in the matter, but I wanted Chan to be happy with his child's name and the initials of my choice didn't sit right with him.  There was only one other name we agreed on and we decided to go with it.  Without further ado, baby boy will be:

Oliver Paxton

There were several reasons we moved Paxton to the middle, and while we'd always planned to call him Paxton - after seeing his face last week, I can't help but call him Baby Ollie.  SO... all this to say, we're not really sure what he'll go by - Pax or Ollie.  Either are possible.  We've been calling him Ollie Pax most recently - and before you even say it, yes our child is part human part pharmaceutical.  I'm to the point of not caring.  Truly.  And we'll definitely pick one or the other when he's here.  More times than not, he's just Ollie - but I consciously add Pax to the end just in case he looks more like a Paxton and we choose that name... TMI on the naming?  You can thank me for providing the short version and I'll thank you for still being here as I rambled on :)

In other news...

-OP gets hiccups on average, twice each day - once in the morning and then again in the late afternoon or evening.

-Still no stretch marks, no itchy belly, and still LOTS of concentrated Palmers.

-Stroller arrived yesterday so the only item we lack is the swing and when we went to get it they'd sold out and I refuse to pay full price so next time there's a 20% Babies R Us coupon, I'm on it!

TIBS - Week 33

Week 33

...and this is about how I'm feeling these days!

Ready for baby boy to be outta there!

Tomorrow I plan to post nursery pictures - a somewhat fun reveal!  Should be a good blog week actually, massively growing belly picture, nursery pictures, 3D pictures... good stuff!  

Frosty day!

This was my commute home today... I anticipated leaving when the snow started, but apparently no one mentioned BLIZZARD and in just an hour, this is what the interstate looked like.  Yuck.  What normally takes me 20-30 minutes took about an hour and everyone was going 20mph.  Once on secondary roads I pulled over twice to let men in SUVs pass me because they were following a little too close for comfort. Overall though, everyone was -thankfully- very cautious.  I did see three emergency vehicles with lights flashing, two cars in ditches, and one wreck.  Not fun at all!  Chandler got home around noon and we've enjoyed the fireplace, naps, sewing, and cleaning!

Someone LOVES the snow... as soon as I told her it snowed she started running around whining until I could get my coat and shoes on to take her out.  If her paws weren't so sensitive we would have stayed out longer.

Does this count as baby boy's first second snow?

I swear I'm bigger today than I was on Monday when I last took the infamous belly shot.

There's MORE snow coming on Saturday night and potentially on Tuesday.  I've had ENOUGH of this!  We have fun weekend plans I will not be a happy camper to have to change plans.  We're hoping the roads will clear up... I'm such a wuss driving in inclement weather and now that bino is in tow, I'm even more cautious... come on SUN!

TIBS - Week 32

Week 32

It's hard to believe we have less than TWO months before baby boy arrives and we are definitely ready to meet him!  We have just about everything ready and I am SO excited to share his nursery!!!  There are a few things left to do before I post pictures, but it's so much more than I imagined it would be and I love it!

We have also finalized his name - of his first and middle name, we aren't sure which we'll use. Not sure if anyone noticed that he's just been 'baby boy' for the past few weeks :)  Paxton is still part of his name, but it's his middle name.  We went back and forth over a middle name - there was a family name on my side that I thought was beautiful with Paxton, but the initials didn't sit right with Chandler (PPH), so we came up with an alternate that we both liked - only, several family members decided to vocalize how much they didn't like it.  We still like the name and may use it in the future, but decided to skip it this time.  There was another name we'd originally considered and both liked and while it doesn't sound anywhere near as nice as the family name I liked, it's what we're using and I am SO relieved to be done with that!  We had quite the name crisis for a while.  I know Chan would have let me use the family name, but I wanted him to love the name as much as I did and he just didn't.

In other news, Christmas is right around the corner!  We've had snow TWICE this month and I wouldn't be surprised if we had one more day of it - very rare for us and a nice treat!

TIBS - Week 31

Week 31

When I realized it was time for an update I had LOTS to say... suddenly, there's not much to report.  

In the last few days I've felt distinct feet and knees - very cool!  OB appointment was yesterday, overall weight gain is right at 20lbs.  Still no stretch marks, PTL (can I do that for something so er, vain?)... what else... next appointment is in two weeks and we have our 3/4D scheduled for the 23rd.  I did that on purpose thinking it would be a neat gift to see Paxton's face.  Both sets of grandparents are coming up for that and we are super excited to see baby boy!

TIBS - Week 30

 Week 30

...otherwise known as the week the belly took on a life of its own.  

Seriously.  

Let's just have a comparison from only 8 days ago:

...and Monday

Whoa!

In addition to some monstrous growth this week, there have also been new challenges on the 'things-no-one-tells-you' front... like how difficult it is to not only put socks and shoes on, but um, undies/pants and anything else that requires leg lifting.  To most it would seem an obvious challenge at some point, but consider me blonde for a moment.  Sorry blondies - you know I love you.  Dearly.  Deeply.  Also somewhat unsettling... when you sit and your belly rests on your legs.  I should have seen this one coming.  First it was boobs on belly - yuck.  No me gusta.  Not one bit.  Belly on the legs?  Worse - much worse.  Colostrum - TMI?  Yeah, we'll leave it at that then.  Braxton Hicks - check.  Thankfully mild and only rarely.  Next up - might he be transverse?  TBD on Tuesday.  Hopefully not!  Even though we still have ~10 weeks before birth and he could move, let's be real here - more time = less space and less space = less movement.  I can figure that out.  There's quite a list of TMI, but I'll save it for the journal and shield you from the innermost truths.  

On a less uncomfortable note ;) no stretch marks (whoo to the hoo!).  The everyday routine is Lubriderm after a shower (AM/PM, cleanliness is next to godliness) followed by Palmer's concentrated.  So while I go through about a tube of Palmer's each week and a bottle of Lube every two to three weeks, it's been well worth it.  I have, however, heard that most silver stripes come in the last couple of weeks so I'm not totally holding my breath.  At least I haven't had any itchy or sore skin.  I have developed 'the line' and there's a pretty fun design around the button, but overall I can't complain (unless I called you Monday, then disregard and consider that I've moved on!).  

TIBS - Week 29

Week 29

Happy Thanksgiving!

...may gratitude abound...

TIBS - Week 28

Week 28

Several friends remarked that I'm always behind the camera so... voila!

ha! :)

No real changes this week, unless we want to go TMI - I'll save that for its own post.  In other not-so-TMI news, it's increasingly difficult to get comfortable sleeping.  I'm a back/stomach sleeper so being pregnant has definitely put a damper on my sleep positions.  Combine that plus my six pillows with a man and his five pillows (yeah, 11 in total), a dog, AND two cats in the bed and it just makes for a long night.  Cozy, but long.  For the last week, I've been up before 6 o'clock and at work by 8 - super early considering my day doesn't typically start until 9!  While I'd normally look forward to sleeping in on the weekends, it's all I can do to stay in bed until 7:30am.  I'm often bored and just wander around the house piddling around until Chandler is awake.  Last weekend I made coffee at 6am and carried the pot midway up the stairs hoping he'd smell it and wake up on his own... didn't work.  

I'm starting to get more and more excited to meet this tiny boy.  Lately I feel like his personal swimming pool, only instead of swimming he's constantly hitting walls in there.  The nursery is done with regard to furniture - we are still not sure about a bookshelf and the chair should be here in the next couple of weeks.  We rearranged it AGAIN - back to the original 'design' and I'm glad to be DONE.  I'm about to order the items for his walls and then we'll move forward with hanging, pasting, and otherwise just making it nice and classic with a slight twist!

TIBS - Week 27

Week 27

Hard to believe this is my 15th post of 'the infamous belly shot' - and in less than 15 weeks, we'll have a baby!  Thirteen weeks to be exact...

Baby boy is still as wiggly as ever and in meetings, if awake, he often distracts whoever is beside me - that has been fun. ;)  The nursery furniture is almost all here, still waiting on the chair and we're hopeful that will arrive before the end of the month.  My boyfriend happily obliged to take the recliner upstairs so we could arrange (and re-arrange) different configurations.  I don't love what we settled on, but it's the best way to maximize the space, so we're going with it.  (Unless I change my mind, which is highly likely.)

TIBS - Week 26

Week 26

We are very wiggly - so much that I can now distinguish a knee from a foot - oy!  I fear it's only a matter of days before he finds my ribs - ouch.  Maybe another week, depends on when the innards move up again.  I've started to feel him much, much higher when I sit down.  He's most active in the mornings when I wake up, I'm convinced he knows when I'm awake because I don't feel him at all when I'm still deciding how much longer to snooze.  Interesting.  Sleeping has just started to become an issue - rolling over is now a chore and the only reason I do it is usually becauese my ear hurts on that side.  SO excited to sleep on my back in 90 or so days!  Baby boy is going to LOVE Reece cups - I am sure of it.  I'd never admit to how I know... ;)

The nightstand came in this week so we'll pick that up tomorrow and I'm sure I'll post a picture of the set - the chair won't arrive until the end of the month, although I really hope sooner than that as I'd LOVE to know which arrangement is going to work best.  Wonder if I can convince Chandler to bring the recliner upstairs to give me an idea of how big the chair will be.  Hmm... Most people use flower petals to decide if he loves me or loves me not, me - I use big chairs - it defines real love for sure! :)

Now that we're in the final few weeks it's really starting to feel REAL - yeah - it did take that long.  I have love, love, loved being pregnant!  It has been so much fun - all lovey mushy stuff aside, I am so, so thankful to have had this opportunity and I know  it's a tremendous gift.

Two thirds

When I found out we were pregnant (5 days before I'd missed a cycle) I immediately took a picture so we'd have a 'pre' photo.  Because of how pregnant math is done, we were almost 4 weeks pregnant at that time (but really only about two).  I've had SO much fun being pregnant and watching my body change.  It sounds completely cheesy but it really is amazing what a woman's body is capable of - growing and sustaining life.

I am so, so glad I have taken weekly photos - it's neat to go back and see how much I change.  Since there's not really space to post 25 photos side by side, here are months 1-6 (and still not in the format I would have preferred, but that's another story!).

Hard to believe there are only THREE more months to go!  I've also been measuring belly circumference and it's interesting to really SEE the growth.  I was measuring weekly but then realized that there were days where I'd clearly grown so now I just do it whenever I'm thinking about it and this week from Sunday to this morning I was just under a half inch bigger.  The last photo above (also my 25 week TIBS photo) was taken on Monday.  The next 13 weeks should bring some BIG changes!! 

Hoping to have some nursery updates this weekend!

TIBS - Week 25

Week 25

Baby boy is convinced my uterus is a playground. 

Mama is convinced that watching baby boy play on (in?) said playground is fancy entertainment.

...and that about sums up the week.

PS - Baby Boy's best friend Baby Ching was born last Wednesday, happy one week Henry!