I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Ok, I know, it's a little late, but I've had a pretty busy week!

Michael and I went to Colorado for Christmas this year and it was absolutely gorgeous! I love the snow! Give me a white Christmas and you've made me a happy camper!

Wow! Look at that tummy! These pictures were taken at 24 weeks.

Ahh, how cute! Who needs mistletoe? Look how adorable he is! I love my husband!

Good Pregnant Day (continued)

Fourth:
We got our nursery bedding delivered and it's super cute! Strangely enough, I still haven't received the material swatches yet. I ordered samples of the material a month ago thinking it would arrive quicker and we'd at least be able to see the colors to pick paint. Oh well, it's the thought that counts. Hopefully it will still be delivered, though, because I could use the samples for my scrapbook! Oooooo! Ahhhh! Oohhh!

Good Pregnant Day

Yesterday I had a kick-ass pregnant day!*

First:
Michael and I finally decided on baby names! Woohoo! However before you get too excited, Michael is hesitant to declare them golden. It's more like silver or maybe even fools golden. He claims they're subject to change without notice, but I'm more confident than he is.

I bet you're expecting me to tell you what the names are, but I refuse to. You can't make me! Actually, in all honesty, I want the names to sink in a little more before we go spreading the news. They're names we've liked for awhile now, but the concept of them being the "chosen" ones is what I feel like needs sinking into.

Second:
I went to my first prenatal yoga class last night. Originally I was going to do prenatal pilates, thinking it would be more of an exercise, but the class got cancelled. So, yoga it is (though every time I go to type "yoga" it comes out as "yogart" or "goga". Weird).

I wanted to join a prenatal class in hopes of trying to do something to strengthen my back and to meet other mommies-to-be. The class was a lot of fun and very relaxing. I enjoyed it quite a bit. And there are other mommies-to-be there! Imagine that! Actually, there are two women who are already mothers and four of us newbies. What's strange about it is that the one girl who seems to be my age has the same due date as me! WEIRD!

I'm going to try out the yoga class on Saturday to see how it compares. I'm told that it's a larger class, which might be nice in meeting even more people, but on the other hand, I might like the personal attention I can get from the instructor at the smaller class. Either way, I'm going to decide which class to join soon, but I'm excited that the first one went so well.

Third:
I took a nice bath last night to relax and apparently the sound of the running water got the baby all excited. She was doing a little dance under the water. I think it might have been the most active I've ever felt the baby be. How strange it is that I can see her move inside of me! It's a little creepy, honestly. Creepy, but again, I love it!


* But a sucky scrapbooking day. Michaels didn't have the stuff I wanted and every printer I try using keeps eating my paper... so I can't finish the "baby name" page that I'm obviously excited about! UGH! Go figure.

Baby Updates

Have you noticed? My baby progress updates change more often! I like it!

Today's update: Gaby's grip will get very strong this month.

However, I just have to add my own disclaimer and tell you that the only way my baby's grip is going to get very strong is if he takes after his daddy's* side of the family. My grip is pathetic.


* Oh my gosh! Daddy. I just had a "I'm having a baby moment."

Quiz Results

A bit of background: To satisfy those inquiring minds on whether or not we're having a girl or boy, I decided to perform a scientific experiment to find out. Upon researching top gender-predicting techniques, I developed a survey with 20 proven dimensions of accuracy. I then allowed sufficient time to pass to erase any lingering knowledge of survey results before taking the quiz myself. Obviously, the procedure I went through to obtain this information was very scientific and thus the results are in no way biased.

Thank you for waiting patiently for me to obtain my quiz results. I had intended to post the answer right away, but that was before I realized that some of them required me to go home (preferrably) and stand in front of a mirror naked. I'm sure that there are a lot of things I can explain away at work, but that one might not be on that list. =)

Here are my results*:

1. Boy - I guess I'm carrying low??
2. Girl - Fetal heart rate ~150.
3. Girl - I'm a-likin' da sweets.
4. Girl - Michael had the nerve to lose 5 pounds!
5. Boy - I'm told face weight should not be my concern.
6. Girl - If I must pick one, the left is larger, but they're both huge!
7. Girl - Haha! I suppose we'll call that a circle.
8. Girl - Definitely have the acne, but should come as no surprise.
9. Girl - Age at conception plus July = 28 + 7 = 35 = odd
10. Girl - Though I'd be willing to admit that this is just me being hopeful
11. Girl - Thinner and stringy hair as always, though I did buy some great fake hair pieces!
12. Girl - My leg hair is growing less than before, but my tummy is certainly now fuzzy!
13. Girl - My tummy line stops at my belly button. How cute!
14. Boy - No bad morning sickness for me, thank God!
15. Girl - Remember, I need the counter-balance so that I don't tip over onto my face!
16. Girl - My feet have been quite pleasantly warm (excluding time spent in Estes Park)
17. Boy - Watching my own eyes dilate is just plain freaky.
18. Boy - Beach ball is today's guess. I'm told it looks "symetrical" so beach ball it is.
19. Girl - Huh. I never noticed before that I usually feel the baby to the left.
20. Girl - Thank God the baby hasn't kicked me in the ribs! That would hurt!

That makes for a total of 5 boys and 15 girls. I guess that settles that question, huh?

* Subject to change. Some of these answers are just plain guesses! Take #1 for example, you try to define "high" or "low" when it comes to where I'm carrying! It looks like I'm carrying the baby in my tummy to me! Or #7, where my pendant went from straight line to circle, to straight line, to circle. Hmm... is there something you'd like to tell me, baby?

Old Wives Tales

I'm sure everyone has heard of certain old wives tales when it comes to determining the gender during pregnancy, and if you haven't, well then I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised to hear that such things exist. Some of them are quite entertaining and make you wonder just how someone would ever believe it!

Here's my little made-up quiz of stuff I found on the web. Stay tuned to see how I score!

1. Carrying High, Carrying Low
G - Carrying high
B - Carrying low

2. Heartbeat
G - Fetal heart rate above 140
B - Fetal heart rate below 140

3. Craving Something?
G - Sweet
B - Salty

4. Weight Gain
G - Husband doesn't put on a pound
B - Husband puts on weight during pregnancy

5. Is Her Face Round and Full?
G - Round and rosy
B - No change

6. Breast Sizes
G - Left one is larger
B - Right one is larger

7. Pendant Swing
G - Holding a pendant over my hand, swings in a circular motion
B - Holding a pendant over my hand, swings back and forth

8. Got Acne?
G - Yes
B - No

9. Combine my age at the time of conception with the number of the month I conceived and the result is:
G - Odd
B - Even

10. Ask yourself - Moms to be are right 71% of the time
G - I'm having a Girl
B - I'm having a Boy

11. Beautiful Hair
G - Thinner and stringy
B - Shiny and full of body

12. Hair Growing Faster?
G - Leg hair grows the same as before
B - Leg hair grows faster than before

13. Linea Nigra
G - Tummy line runs to navel
B - Tummy line goes all the way up past navel

14. Got Morning Sickness?
G - Green at the gills
B - Bliss for being missed

15. Growing in the Rear?
G - My tush is growing in size
B - My tush is not growing

16. Cold Feet?
G - Toasty feet
B - My feet are colder now

17. Look in the mirror for 1 minute...
G - Pupils do not dilate
B - Pupils do dilate

18. Tummy Shape
G - Shaped like a watermelon
B - Shaped like a beach ball

19. Baby Kicks Left and Right
G - To the left more often
B - To the right more often

20. Baby Kicks High and Low
G - Low in the stomach
B - High in the ribs

Soothing sounds for baby

A couple days ago, I apparently ate something that my body (let's blame the baby) did not like and I was rewarded with a non-stop burping rampage. It started out funny, though, because we were lying in bed making fun of all the strange and new sounds my stomach and throat were making. We tried to categorize the sounds with appropriate labels such as "moaning cow", "squealing monkey" or "dying cat".

However, the fun quickly lost its entertainment value when Michael was able to go asleep and I was left to ward off the wild animals on my own. It hurt! It wasn't just that I was burping a lot; it was that every time, I could feel it building up inside me until it finally reached a painful release. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.

I finally got up and looked for some Tums that I was sure my mom would have somewhere in her freaking freezing cold house (it's a log cabin up in Estes Park, Colorado). Much to my dismay, nothing could be found in the guest bathroom or in the kitchen, but I did discover that I felt better when I was standing up. So, I tried to sleep sitting up in a chair, covered in my mom's fur coat for warmth.

That lasted about 10 minutes until I found myself rolling around in pain again. As I sat there trying to decide if I should wake my mom up for help, my mind started wondering about how I could make the most of my misery. The best I could come up with was a device to play the stomach churn sounds to my baby to soothe her to sleep after she is born. I'm sure you've seen a similar device before, where you can play relaxing sounds like the ocean and a heartbeat for the baby because the baby is accustomed to hearing such pleasant sounds in the womb. Uh? An ocean in the womb? Hello!? I'm of the opinion that stomach groans are probably more common.

Soothe your baby to sleep with the relaxing sounds of heart burn and gas! I doubt such a product exists. I'm going to be rich! $$$* Don't worry, when that happens, I'll try to remember all the little people. Or at least the ones I don't resent for sleeping peacefully throughout the night. =)


* Pronounced as "cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching"

When it's ok to stick your hands down your sister-in-law's pants

I try to be a good sister-in-law when it comes to my relationship with my sister's husband, but I know that I have my moments of weakness. So the fact that I got a kick out of this is something I feel bad about, but I'd be willing to bet that you wouldn't blame me for sharing.

My baby has been super active recently. Very little time usually passes between kicks (which makes me wonder how much my baby is going to sleep after he's born but we'll worry about that later). Anyway, my sister was excited to feel the baby move and felt a couple really good kicks.

Since she was so excited, she called her husband over, "Quick! Come feel the baby!" He hesitated and came over to us only to have my sister grab his hand and shove it down my pants and put it on my tummy. My poor brother-in-law grew deep red and was as stiff as a board while he tried to wait patiently for the baby to kick.

Of course, the baby decides he is shy and doesn't move. Maybe he was thinking "if I stay very still, he won't know I'm here!" Whatever the cause, poor brother-in-law just stood there frozen for what I'm sure seemed like an eternity to him, until I gave him permission to remove his hand from my pants by saying "Bummer, the baby stopped." I've never seen someone look so relieved, especially to get out of my pants.*

I tried to make him feel better by explaining to him that my pants are now much higher than my usual pants. Had he placed his hand there 5 months ago, it would have just been on my stomach and not down below any zippers. However, I doubt that made him feel any better. =)


* Ok, ok, I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. I'll stop now.

It's not the quantity that counts...

but the quality that counts. And in case you didn't know, that applies to weight gain too!

Things I learned this week:

1. I (and I'm assuming others as well) weigh a lot less in Colorado than I do in Maryland. Need a good weight loss plan? Go to Colorado! It's simple and you can eat any food you want. For the small cost of a plane ticket, you will automatically lose over 5 pounds! I kid you not. I weigh 5 pounds less here with my clothes on than I do in Maryland butt naked.

2. I have big ankles. I'd like to blame it on the pregnancy. Maybe that's where my weight gain is going! I just hope that my feet don't start to grow to keep up with the ankles. The last thing I need is bigger feet! Maybe in my next life, I can be one of those cute women with little graceful feet.

3. I have large hips. And apparently I always have. This whole time when I was thinking that I was an extremely sexy desirable woman (no comments please... lol) in my prime years, I have really just been blind. Big hips. I'm told that it's a surprise I've never noticed. I hate it when I'm the last to know these things!

4. I am gaining more weight than I need to. Apparently it's not necessary to grow in all directions when there is a baby inside you after all. This week I think I've gained 3 pounds (I'll know for sure when I get back to Maryland and see that it was really 8 pounds or something). At this point in the pregnancy, I should only be gaining a pound a week and so I believe I am now 5 or 6 pounds above average. Ugh. But please, it's the holidays. Speak up if you happen to be the one and only person who doesn't gain weight during the holidays!

5. Weight gained does not go away when you're pregnant. Usually when I gain the typical 5 pounds from eating turkey and candy, I can get rid of it pretty easy. Skipping one meal and drinking loads of water always does the trick for me. However, that seems to be illegal when you're pregnant. I can't skip a meal and believe me when I say I do not need a reason to pee more than I already do!

So I've learned a lot this week that I didn't know before. It's shown me a side of myself that I never considered. However, the most important thing I've learned is this:

6. I have great friends and much of the above just simply is not true. I met my mostest favoritest girls for dinner this week and told them about my newly learned information. They were nice enough to explain to me that most of it was wrong and that indeed I am as sexy as I always thought I was. And they know what they're talking about! These women (all 4 of them) have the sexy thing down! They know what sexy is. So woo hoo! Let's hear it for the girls!

Are we keeping it from you?

I guess I should address the question that seems to be one that many people share... "Are we keeping it from you?" That is, are we going to tell people the names we like or when the time comes, the names we choose?

It's a good question, really. I don't blame people at all for asking. I have asked the same thing when it comes to talking to the few people I've known who were expecting their own baby. It used to surprise me when I would get a hesitant response with no real answer. It made me wonder things like "are you just that unsure of the name you picked?" or "you're making this way too hard. it's just a name!"

Oh how ignorance is bliss!

Here's the thing... We're not exactly keeping it from you as much as we are scared to tell you. We have told a few people our initial list of names we like and have gotten mixed results. Oh, don't get me wrong, everyone is excited about the topic and it's a lot of fun to see their reactions and take in the energy they give.

However, amongst all the fun there are still comments that come out (some joking and some not) that when taken one at a time are not a big deal, but they start to weigh down the excitement a little. Some of the comments I have received so far (some more often than others) **:

"I knew a _______ once and she was a spoiled brat."
"______ for a girl?"
"______ for a boy?"
"______? Isn't that a last name?"
"______? Isn't that a dog's name?"
"______? Like the cheese?"
and last, but not least...
"If you name your boy ______, he'll grow up to be gay, (pause) not that there is anything wrong with that."

Having said that, there are useful comments we've received too, along the lines of:

"Kids will make fun of _____ because it rhymes with _____."
"H_____ I_____ Vincent? You might want to rethink that!"
"There are just too many ways to spell ______, she'll be spelling her name for people her whole life!"
"______ is a fine, but people will call him _____ for short and that sucks."

So even though we haven't shared our names with a lot of people, I can now understand why those who I have asked in the past were hesitant to tell. When it comes down to it, we're not going to make everyone happy with whatever name we pick, but even the critics will fall in love with a name once they fall in love with the baby!

You're probably now thinking "yeah, yeah, yeah, but you didn't answer the question" so now I will do just that... I will share the names we're thinking of as soon as Michael and I come up with middle names to go with them. Our game plan is to pick our top three names (for each gender) and choose middle names for each. Then we'll see where that takes us. I have to keep you guys in suspense, you know?! =)

For now, would you settle for knowing what our initial favorite names were? Kaitlyn and Aidan were by far our favorite names at the beginning, so much so that I didn't think we would have to address the topic again. However, we have since found out that everyone else in the world also loves those names and if there is one thing we've learned from being Jennifer and Michael, it's that we don't want a super-common name for our baby!


** Disclaimer: If you're one of the people who have given one of the responses listed above, please do not be upset that I used it as an example. I know that everyone involved in the process has the best of intentions and that sometimes these comments are meant in a joking manner and spoken with a smile. That's the disadvantage of blogging... though I can type a blog entry with a smile, it gets lost in translation somewhere amongst the fuzzy cloud we call Internet.