Ultrasound (lack of) News

I called the perinatologist's office today and decided to keep the June 20 appointment for the ultrasound. It turns out that they are just booked really far in advance! I asked about an earlier appointment, and the receptionist told me that the next available one was June 27!! Eek! I guess my students will just have to live without knowing :(

Can't Sleep!

I'm so anxious lately about all the changes that I sometimes find it difficult to sleep. Tonight is one of those nights! I thought I would let you guys know that I've started a very basic registry on Amazon.com--click here. There's not a lot on there yet, but expect it to expand soon! I'm sure it will get HUGE after the ultrasound and my first week off school :) There are a few different types of wraps/slings that I am interested in, and Amazon is NOT the best place to find them. I put them on the wishlist, though, so you would be able to search for them online. Most of them have independent websites that you can order from. My favorites are the Moby wrap, the Mei Tai, and the Gypsy Mama Bali Baby Breeze. There are also other items on there that are just guidelines--like the kimono onesies. They are SO expensive on Amazon, but I bet you can find them at places like Babies R Us much cheaper. Also--I realize I've only put expensive things on here so far...I promise I'll register for the small stuff later at Babies R Us. Just FYI! :)

I'll try to sleep now, but I doubt it will happen~good night!

Quick Post

Sorry I haven't been updating, guys! As you know, we've been super busy lately...looking at and buying a house has been pretty stressful and time consuming! Not to mention trying to get our current house ready for the market--it's crazy! Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that all is well despite being a little stressed. I feel great, and I'm actually not sick! Hooray! Here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Week 17 aaaaaaaaaaa Week 18

As you can see, I am getting rather massive! :) I've had quite a few people tell me lately that I am looking "really pregnant." I'm not sure whether to be happy about that or not! I'm so excited that you can see that the baby and my uterus are growing just fine, but it's a little depressing to see my waistline grow day by day.

We have our anatomical ultrasound scheduled for June 20, and we should find out the sex then (as long as Freedlet cooperates!). I am actually going to call tomorrow to see if we can get it moved up just a bit so I can tell my kiddos at school! They are so excited!

Today's Appointment

We had the 16 week appointment with the midwife today, and everything still seems normal. The heart rate is in the 150s (still hinting at a girl!) and my weight gain is good, so the midwife seemed pleased. We talked with her about an earlier ultrasound, but she really dissuaded us. She said that ultrasounds done before 19 weeks or so can be difficult to read and may cause unnecessary worry. The ultrasound tech could "maybe" see something unsettling, but there'd be nothing we could do for a couple of weeks until we could get another ultrasound. I was okay with that, because I generally believe there is too much unnecessary worry and intervention done in pregnancy. We also opted out of the AFP-tetra screening for the same reasons. I can't find the statistics now, but I have read that a pretty large percentage of women get a positive/abnormal test result, but only 1-2% of those women actually have babies with genetic abnormalities. The midwife said it depended on whether or not having a positive result would affect any of our decisions--which it wouldn't. We wouldn't have an amnio, we wouldn't terminate, so there's really no point for us. I can see why people who are high risk or who have a family history would opt for it, but it's just really not for us!

Anyway, we are off to dinner now, so I'll write more and post pictures later!

Update!

The crown molding is DONE and it looks great! Chris had some huge difficulties in the beginning, but it looks so beautiful now. It's really amazing what caulk can do :)

Can't you tell how proud he is??? Everything in that room obviously needs to be painted (it hasn't been touched since we moved in), but the crown molding looks so pretty!

Tomorrow is when I am officially 16 weeks, but I felt like updating today anyway. We have an appointment with the midwife scheduled for Thursday, and I am so excited to hear the heartbeat again! I think I am also going to ask for an ultrasound. We weren't planning on getting one until 20 weeks, but we should be able to tell the gender now. I think it will help Chris feel more involved; he will be able to paint the nursery, buy some clothes, etc.

He started trying to hang the crown molding today, and it's not going so well. The brad nailer we bought doesn't hold long enough nails, so we're going to have to hammer in 2-inch nails by hand! The pieces of molding we bought are also kind of warped (I think that's normal), but it's frustrating Chris because it's difficult to get them to lie flat against the wall and ceiling. Of course, we didn't have any finishing nails on hand, so Chris had to go back out for a THIRD time to buy some. I have a feeling he won't be in the greatest mood when he returns.

We got the carpets cleaned today, and they look amazing!!! We didn't realize how disgusting our living room carpet truly was. When we moved the crates and took up the pad we had laid, there was a clear (but nasty) line of dirt surrounding the pristine area that was protected. What is REALLY nasty is that it must have been pretty much all urine. Suki just LOVES to pee in her crate, and I guess she splashed it around. Yuck! The carpet guy looked at it and said he'd do his best, but it didn't sound too promising. When he finished, though, we were amazed! If we hadn't known about the urine/dirt ring, we wouldn't have noticed it. It looks totally normal...whew!

My legs are FINALLY starting to feel normal again! I was so sore on Wednesday and Thursday that it was affecting my walking. Chris really made fun of me and kept calling me an old woman. I seriously looked like it, too--I was hunched over and walked very, very slowly.

We went shopping at Lowe's today and bought crown molding and chair rail for the nursery! Chris is going to get started on it tomorrow evening, but it will probably take a couple of weekends to complete. Especially since neither of us have any experience putting up molding...

I also think I'm going to start shopping for a few maternity clothes. My normal clothes sort of fit, but they are really not that comfortable. My jeans still work just fine because I always buy them bigger than necessary, but my work pants are unbearable! I'm thinking of just buying 2 pairs of pants--one black and one khaki so that I can wear most of the shirts in my closet. I could also do with buying a couple of shirts...in case you haven't noticed in the pictures, my bewbies are getting HUGE! My shirts that were already a tad low-cut are now downright inappropriate! And my conservative shirts are looking a little provocative as well. I definitely do NOT want to spend much money on maternity clothing, but I think I need a few basics.

I also think I need more sleep...Suki has been waking us up early, peeing on the floor regularly, and being generally annoying. She's really cutting into my sleep time, and it's driving me crazy! Anyone want a dog?