Still Preggo

So I'm still pregnant. At my last appointment my doctor said I wouldn't need to schedule another appointment and that I'd have the baby by then, but I scheduled the appointment anyways, and looks like I'll be making it to that appointment! Oh boy. I get the feeling the doctor will probably schedule to have me induced. We'll see. I am still getting contractions, but they are 7-10 minutes apart and getting a little stronger.

My sister and her boyfriend bought us a baby swing! It swings at different angles and plays music, nature sounds, and white noise. It'll be a very useful for a fussy baby.

Of course, I had to put my kitty Matrix in the swing. After the swing was assembled he actually wasn't curious about the new thing at all. But I put him in it and he was like "oh, hello.. this is nice!" I took the picture while the swing was swaying, so it's a bit blurry.

I wanted to put a baby bib on him and matching sockies, but I don't think he'd have appreciated that.

update

Yesterday I had a doc appointment. Originally the doctor said that he thought I was going to have a big baby, 8-9lbs, so I asked for an ultrasound to see how big he's getting. He's 6lbs some ounces now, he'll be about 7lbs when born. So everything is looking great! We were trying to get a good look at his face on the ultrasound, but he was too busy sucking his thumb!

37 weeks pregnant!

Lately, Matrix has been climbing into the crib :-( and shedding hair all over the bedding. I got tired of lint-rolling the cat hair off the sheets, and I'm worried he might poke a hole through the waterproof layer of the mattress when he jumps out. So Bobby and I were thinking of ways to keep the cat out but still be able to have the door open so we can see in easily. Cats can jump over pet gates, so that was not an option. I looked online and the only options I could find were to keep the door closed all the time (and use a baby monitor, which I don't like) or install a screen door.

So today I picked up a screen door! Its sort of awkward but I hope it'll work. Bobby is going to put it up when he gets home tonight. I propped it up against the door frame to see what it would look like, and as soon as Matrix heard the baby's room door open he came running -- head-first into the screen! And he preceded to ram his face into the screen 3 more times! It was so funny! By the time I grabbed my cell phone, he was finished bonking his head and just inspecting the door in frustration.

Bryan's first handmade blanket

Today I received a handmade baby blanket for Bryan. My mom made this for Bryan, and is in the process of crocheting many more things! :-)

Nursery

We have the nursery set up. We were lucky enough that Bobby's mom bought most everything we needed. Unfortunately, that means we didn't get to pick anything out. I had inspirations for what I wanted the room to look like, but no money.

Since grandma decided we didn't need furniture (she wanted us to put baby's clothes in a tupperware container...) we have to reuse some antique furniture I had: lacquered dressers with Chinese paintings on them. They are neutral colored, and the bamboo sort of matches the green crib bedding. The dressers are old and the lacquer is in bad condition (covered in nail polish, chipping, coffee rings) but it's better than plastic bins.

I'd love to decorate the walls, but there is no telling what grandma will buy next that will totally clash with what we've got going now. And I don't feel safe hanging anything over the crib. I have a pretty panda picture that would go with the Asian theme, but no other wall space to put it. That crib is way too big!

Belly Pictures

Mother's day marked day one of my 9th month of pregnancy! For my Mother's day gift Bobby got me a massage. It was nice, I'd only had a professional massage once before. Since I'm preggers, I had to lay on my side. Bryan got a massage too, via belly rub. He was squirming all around in my belly, and afterward the massage therapist and I watched him squirm to get back to his favorite part of my tummy.

So, with the last few weeks remaining, I realized I hadn't posted belly pictures yet. Forgive the blurriness.

29 weeks

32 weeks

35 weeks

Baby's Playpen

Today I practiced assembling and disassembling the travel play yard. Thank you to all of Bobby's friends that bought this for us! It was a wonderful Christmas gift. ^_^

My kitty Matrix likes the mobile. The playpen has a bassinet insert (which Matrix is sitting on), a changing table that goes on top, and holder that clips to the side that holds diapers and what-not.

I want to position the play yard where that TV is sitting. The TV was brought upstairs temporarily for a video game party, but somehow never got put away. It think that will be a good place, right in the middle of the living room but against the wall. The thing is huge! And sturdy enough that it supports Matrix's 16lb fat butt!

Baby name decided

Bobby and I had decided that the baby's name will be Bryan Henry Sarnoski.

We chose the name Bryan in memory of Bobby's best friend who passed away in junior high. Bobby and his father were close friends with Bryan's parents even until now. Yesterday, we spent 3 hours just talking with them over the passing of Bobby's father, Ski, and talking of the happy memories they have of the time they were all together in junior high playing on the school chess team.

For the middle name, Henry was Bobby's father's middle name. Ski was so proud when he learned he was going to be a grandpa.

Update

Recently I had the routine test for gestational diabetes (pregnancy related diabetes, goes away after pregnancy) and it came back high, 185/140, so my doctor sent me to get a thorough test done. The second test wrecked me! It was a 3 hour long test that included fasting, drawing sample blood, drinking a glucose solution as fast as possible, and then drawing blood 3 more times, each an hour apart.

20 minutes after drinking the glucose on an empty stomach I became rather nauseous, compounded by the smell of an old ladies strong perfume sitting next to me in the waiting room. I went outside for a breathe of fresh air but it smelled like urine, probably homeless people use the area at night. The lab guy was nice and let me use an examination room to lay down in. I stayed laying down the rest of the 3 hours.

Thankfully my results came back negative! I was worried I'd have to take insulin until baby was born. So, I think the only complication I've had in pregnancy so far is mild anemia.

Recently, I haven't posting any crafts. I've been thinking of what I haven't shared, and I'd like to post about some temari I've made, my kimono Barbie collection, and bonsai.

It's a boy!

Today was my 20 week ultrasound. We got to see many things, inside the brain, heart, bones, cross-sections of the belly, and possibly his little boy-parts. We also learned that he is very wiggly, and is currently breach (feet pointing down, but he will probably reposition later) and he is standing and kicking right on my bladder. Joy!

The best part was watching him wiggle. Very active! He was giving the radiologist a hard time because he wouldn't stay still. (I'm saying "he", but the checking the gender via ultrasound isn't always accurate) The baby looking like a squirmy little kitten. Current heartrate is 145, weight 12 ounces, and is healthy and normal.

I got some grainy ultrasound pictures!This is the profile of the head. You can see the spine clearly, and the shape of the head. It is difficult to make out the face, but the proportions are normal.

You can see the face better in this picture.

This is supposed to be the "gender" picture. It's hard to see... This is a view from the butt. The grey column in the center is the main body/spine, the legs are amidst the black masses on the sides forming a V-shape, and there is a little thingy sticking up. Hard to see.. I'll outline:
Here is a video of baby moving around. You can see his legs pushing (on my bladder.. the image is turned, he's actually upright). Head is on left, feet and butt on right. Hopefully everything uploads ok. I'm having computer problems now, it crashed several times while trying to post this!

First OB Appointment

Today was the first OB visit. Usual tests were done, but I don't know what exactly. I know I peed in a cup and had 3 vials of blood drawn. The doctor was very tired and thus, unfortunately, very unprofessional. I felt that all my questions were treated with frustration or unwillingness to answer. He even laughed at one of my questions. Despite that, we did have some happy moments. First, the nurse attempted to find the heartbeat but said that it may not be heard this early. We did hear the heartbeat immediately. It was loud and strong! Hearing it made me so excited that I started to laugh a little, which made it hard for the nurse to keep the thing positioned on my tummy. We also got a better look at the baby on the ultrasound! The heartbeat was seen and even the umbilical cord was quivering.Baby is facing downward in the ultrasound pic, with the head on the right. Huge noggin! You can see the leg and foot bent at its pointy little bottom. The long object pointing down in the middle is the umbilical cord.

We also learned that the initial due date is off by a week. The new due date is June 7th. The doctor kept asking if I was sure on the date of my last menstrual cycle, which was kind of annoying. I was 100% positive with this info because it correlated with my birthday. Regardless, baby is healthy so far, and I couldn't be happier.

Halloween at the E.R.

I hope everyone had a nice Halloween! I ended up with a scare and had Bobby take me to the emergency room. I had started bleeding and became worried. At the E.R. I was examined to make sure my cervix was ok - it was. And I had blood drawn to check my pregnancy hormones. If the hormones were low then there was a danger of miscarriage, but mine were where they should be. And, I had an ultrasound done. It is only about an inch long so was hard to make anything out, but we did see the heartbeat and were assured that baby was ok.It is the mass on the left side of the dark spot. Tomorrow is the first visit to the obstetrician.
I'm kind of bummed about Halloween since I have so much candy. Bobby's mom bought a ton of candy yesterday morning and told us not to buy any, but she didn't know that we had gotten our candy a week ago. Who buys candy on Halloween. By then all the good stuff is sold.. But anyways, we have way more candy than needed and planned to give out huge handfuls, but we didn't get home until 9:30 and all the kids were going home. Now I've got a year's supply. Free candy anyone?

Announcement!!

Big news - I'm going to have a baby! I'm excited!
I've known for a while, but I wanted to delay announcing it to all. I'm now in my 9th week, start of month 3, and will have my first check up next week. Occasionally I'd like to post what I'm feeling/going through.

I first found out on September 27th via home test. I repeated the test on the 28th to make sure I wasn't getting my hopes up. People have told me that I am lucky that the majority of my pregnancy will take place during winter, since pregnant women tend to feel very hot. Doctors have guessed my due date will be around May 31st. That is right at the beginning of summer, and I don't know how I'll do toting a baby/diaper bag/carrier car seat/etc. around with me during the peak of summer. All the more reason to convince my husband to finally buy me an air conditioner for the house! just kidding.

So, let me talk about some of the fun stuff that has happened so far - symptoms!! yay!
First: morning sickness - while I did feel especially nauseous, I didn't actually vomit. I'm glad to say that I haven't vomited very much in my 27 years of life. I was also very dizzy for the first 2 months. At the start of month 3, I haven't had either symptom. When I first suspected I was pregnant (when my cycle was late, around the 23rd of Sept.) I decided to stop all my medications cold turkey. I was taking medication for depression and anxiety, and both cause dizzy/nausea when starting or stopping, so I don't know how much of my symptoms I could contribute to pregnancy versus medicine withdrawals.

Digestive issues/stoppage/etc. Within the first few weeks I was sooo bloated that I looked 4 months pregnant already. They say that no one is gassy like a pregnant woman.. it's true. Constipation also goes hand-in-hand with pregnancy, unfortunately. For the first month and a half, heartburn was also a big opponent. Before, I was taking Prilosec OTC, but it isn't safe to take anymore. The heartburn has cooled down for the most part. Rolaids Chews and chewable fiber tablets are my friends.

Food cravings! Weeks ago, I had a turkey sandwich from the store, but it was so dry, so I put mustard and dill relish on it. I loved the dill relish so much that after I ate the hoagie sandwich, I sat down with a spoon and the jar of dill pickle relish. It was so satisfying. I also feel like I'd rather have plain vanilla ice cream over my other favorite flavors. Especially vanilla soft serve. For my husband's birthday we ate at a Chinese restaurant, and it was good until I had to smell the leftovers in the fridge. Ever time the fridge door opened, I was running away gagging.

Breasts. Yes, I'll talk about my boobies... (ugh) The pain..! It hurts so much! I've never wanted so much to just cut them off. Up until now I have never, ever been sensitive there, in a good or bad way. Now I find myself smacking them against random furniture, or even rubbing on my shirt is enough to send me crying. Almost every morning, my cat Matrix likes to cuddle with me by laying on my tummy (his favorite spot, now that I'm expecting) and when he gets the urge to rub against my face his paws put all of his weight on my nipple. It seems he's not bothered by my screaming out in pain. Recently he found himself flying off the bed.

Other symptoms. Excess saliva - apparently drooling is a symptom of pregnancy. I don't know if I drool when I sleep, but during the day I find that I have more spit than normal.
Sensitive to smell - I smell things so much stronger now. Last night I fried some chicken, and even after cleaning up, I couldn't sleep because I could smell oil and it was making me gag.
Itching - this keeps me up most nights. A mix of hormones and winter are probably to blame. Anti-itch cream don't work. Last night the itching caused me to break into tears of frustration. I think this is the worst thing I'm going through right now..

I also have to pee all the time. And I feel exhausted all the time. I've never been so glad to be jobless. I read that the first and last trimester are the worst, and I've just started the last month of the first trimester. I'm counting down to better days soon.

Right now, baby is about 1 inch long. I've gained 6 lbs so far. I'm not fazed by that since my weight has always fluctuated a lot. I gain and lose so fast, and I've already had stretch marks from weight loss/gain before I even became pregnant. I'm looking forward to becoming round like a hippo! My first doctor's appointment will be Nov. 2nd, five more days! I'll have a battery of tests done. My family is pretty excited, and I'll be getting many phone calls asking how things went.

In other news, my husband and I just celebrated 7 years of marriage! The 26th was our anniversary, we celebrated with very full tummies after eating at a Japanese steakhouse.