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Showing posts from 2009

27 Weeks & Roasting

Being pregnant I do a LOT of reading! I love to read so this is definitely not a complaint, just a fact. I read four or five books a week that discuss the development of the baby and the changes happening to me (because they all say something different), I read books for fun like Chicken Soup for the Expecting Soul, I read educational books on feeding and scheduling baby. However, in all of these 24 or so weeks of reading, I did not realize until yesterday that each time the writers discuss the size of the baby this week they always use a food item to relate to the baby's approximate size. I suppose the writers of these books think that food is something all pregnant ladies can relate to because we are all fatties. This week according to one of my books the baby weighs around 2 pounds and is between 12 and 15 inches in length. The baby is approximately the size of a roast ! This made me laugh out loud, so I read it to Michael. Really your comparing my baby to a chunk of

Dreams of a White Christmas

Can you guess which stocking is Gabby's? Christmas Eve was a very special day! Michael and I were in Dallas and the most amazing thing happened... It snowed! Not like Texas snow, but real snow! At least two inches that stuck to the ground. I was beautiful to celebrate Christmas Eve like you always see on television and hear in songs. We truly had a white Christmas! Gabrielle has more exposure to snow in utero than I have in my entire life! I wanted to stay out in the snow, but Michael didn't want me to slip and fall and hurt Gabby and he wanted be to stay healthy so I only got a few minutes truly out in the freezing temperatures, but I loved every minute of it! (I will post the pictures soon!)

Walking

Michael and I go walking about a mile and a half a few days a week so that I get some sort of exercise. We typically walk at night because it is dark by the time I get off work so we really don't have a choice. On a recent walk I stepped on the longest worm I've ever seen! Mike looked back at it and realized it was really a snake! So of course he had to go pick it up, inspect it, and show it to me. I'm glad it was a small snake! We kept walking after Mike was done looking at it and then less than a block later there was another small snake in the middle of the sidewalk! This one was even smaller than the previous snake and I didn't step on this one! Michael thought it was crazy that in one night we saw TWO snakes when we have never seen another snake during our walks. I'm just glad Ranger wasn't with us because he would have probably been so scared Mike would have had to carry him home!

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Last night Mike and I went over to my parents' house for dinner. Earlier in the day Mom had let me open some of Gabby's Christmas gifts. After dinner, Michael was given the last 3 gifts to open. Mom told him to guess what they were before opening them. when Mike picked up a small rectangular package Mom said, "Now, if you guess that one right I'll give you a 100 bucks!" So Michael picked up the package, shook it next to his hear, commented that one side was heavier than the other, and then thought for a moment. Then he exclaimed, " Budreaux's butt creme!!" and slammed the package on the table without opening it. Mom's jaw dropped and she exclaimed, how did you know?? Michael explained his thought process and then opened the gift. It was Budreaux Butt Paste... So although he technically didn't get the name 100% correct he guessed the correct item. We were all in awe and laughing. So last night Michael banked quite a few babysittin

Quote of the Day

When I was 19 and working at Mailboxes Etc., a girl that worked their briefly (a single teen mom) told me this: "When you have a baby, you get more smarter." That basically sums up how I feel lately. I don't think my brain functions like it used to! I never understood pregnant brain until now, but I know it's true! Speaking of pregnant brain, I have decided Mike must be pregnant because he has pregnant brain and many other symptoms. Mike frequently forgets what he is doing in the middle of working on an activity, he forgets important scheduled events even if they are written down, he doesn't know he is hungry until he is STARVING, and he eats like an elephant. He told me I should have sympathy for him when he forgets things because that is his life every day, while my forgetfulness is temporary.

100 Day to Go!

So here is the life of this pregnant mommy to be with only 100 days to go: The longest I have made it without morning sickness: 2 weeks and 1 day I have gained 23 or 26 pounds (depending on when you start counting) I am energetic for the most part I can no longer see my toes when sitting and attempting to paint them (Thanks Lacey for painting them for me!) I sleep in 2 hour increments thanks to the bigger belly and the smaller bladder Michael and my life already revolve around our little miracle I am bored! Apparently once you are pregnant (and showing) your friends think you are no longer capable of going out and having fun I am becoming organized...2 closets are clean/organized, one will be emptied by my parents, so then the baby's closet can be cleaned, our room is almost organized, and I have thrown away about 15 bags of trash and given 6 or 7 bags of items to Goodwill. I no longer work any Fridays so have that time to concentrate on cleaning and organizing our house

Sugar Rush

This morning I had my glucose test administered bright and early. Of course I woke up with morning sickness and had to take a pill for nausea, which luckily didn't affect the test results like I feared it might. I downed an orange flavored flat Sunkist type drink and then waited an hour. I had heard horror stories about this awful tasting drink, but I have no complaints about the taste and I don't even care for sugary drinks on most good days. A few minutes after drinking the glucose drink I had my monthly doctor's appointment. When the nurse listened to the baby's heartbeat, which was a mere 139 to 140 beats per minute, I could her "thunk," "thunk," "thunk" because she was all hyped up on such a large amount of sugar that she is not used to. So all I have to say to all of my pregnant friends out there is don't stress over this glucose test, it's no where near as bad as everyone makes it out to be! The worse part for me was

Any Advice?

So, all of you mommys and daddys please leave your comments of any advice that I am now soliciting from you. Anything would be great! One of my friends told me about the miracle blanket she swears by. Any recommendations of items or things I should do? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks

The Celebration of 6 Months!

So first off, let me tell you that I thought I was 26 weeks this week instead of the 24 I really am which sort of bummed me out at first...but not for long! The reason 26 weeks is significant is that is the end of my second trimester and the beginning of my third! Don't get me wrong, I am excited to be 6 months pregnant, that means only 3 months to go right? WRONG! Only a little less than 4 months! I am no math whiz but I thought that was simple math. The official date of my 6th month celebration was December 4th, which was Friday. How did we celebrate this joyous occasion?!? With SNOW of course!! Houston made history on this day having the earliest snow in its known history! Below is a picture of Gabby enjoying the first snow of her in utero life (Mike made me take this picture).

Happy Thanksgiving

Michael gave me my birthday present early so I could wear it to Thanksgiving with my family. It was a shirt that says "Watermelon Smuggler" that he had especially made for me. It was definitely a conversation piece during Thanksgiving and of course my Buddha belly that was rubbed by almost every family member for good luck I suppose. One of my aunts kept telling me that she had never seen me pregnant before (even though she had seen me in August), I think she meant she's never seen me BIG and pregnant. Typically at Thanksgiving there are tons of pictures taken but mainly of my two baby cousins. However since I am carrying a baby within my womb I was added as someone of interest. By the end of the day I was tired of the paparazzi taking pictures of my belly and my shirt, but I loved the excitement everyone in my family has to meet Gabby. My aunt and uncle gave three boxes of baby girl clothes and other family members gave me clothes and baby items as birthday gifts. I was

Getting a Kick Out of Gabby

So like probably half of the female population in the USA I went to see New Moon over the weekend. After the movie I went to my Mom's to discuss the movie with my sister and mom. We lost track of time talking and before I knew it, it was almost midnight! Lacey and Mom both go to feel the baby kick, the hardest I think she has ever kicked! I think it was because it was really late at night and that is typically when she is most active. I think they were both really excited to feel Gabby for the first time.

Babymoon

So Mike and I got back from our " babymoon " yesterday night. A babymoon is one last celebration of your life together pre -parenthood. We had so much fun in Vegas, it's a place we've both always wanted to visit. We went to SEMA the largest car show in the world, walked 100 miles going from place to place, went to Hoover Dam, and saw all of the cool casinos. We are not gamblers and we still had tons of fun (and won about $40 spending only $5)! I would definitely go back again. Gabby is moving more and more every day, but she still loves to stop moving the instant Michael's hand touches my stomach. Apparently Gabby grew and my stomach significantly grew while I was on vacation because I had numerous comments today on how pregnant I look.

Bonding

Michael got to bond with the baby on Monday night. While I was playing on the internet looking at all kinds of baby stuff I could feel her moving around and it was more than usual. I could feel her moving on the outside of my stomach. So, Michael came over and put his hands on my stomach and got to feel her move for the first time! I haven't felt the baby move much since that night, but Michael thinks in about a week he'll get to feel her moving all of the time.

It's a GIRL!!!!

So I have to apologize to my little pink skittle! I have been calling my poor baby, "he" this whole time and was completely wrong. Apparently the claim "you just know" was totally wrong! We had our ultrasound on Friday and it was really amazing. Mike and my mom came and we had the enjoyment of watching my dear baby girl lazily lay around for about 30 minutes while the ultrasound technician measured every bone and organ about 3 times. In the picture in the book it shows the baby slightly squished, but not my baby...oh no! She was streched out literally flexing her toes. The lady doing the ultrasound said you don't normally get such a good view of baby's feet. She gave us 11 ultrasound picture, 6 of which were of her feet! I get to talk to my doctor Monday regarding the results of the findings of the ultrasound, so I cannot defenitively say this, but I believe she is healthy. I got to watch her well timed swallow and look closely and her spinal cord

Baby in my Tummy

My first kid of the day is a little girl who sometimes misbehaves...like runs away from me or refuses to participate in the required activities, but I love her all the same. One day when she ran away recently, I picked her up and told her not to kick because Ms. Amber has a baby in her tummy. Today, she asked me (in her highly unintelligible words) if I still had a baby in my tummy. I told her yes and that the baby would be in my tummy for a long time. She asked if she could see it. (She thought if I showed her my stomach there was a like a glass window to see the baby inside.) I told her that I had a picture of the baby in my tummy and showed it to her. It was the best idea I have ever had! She worked so hard saying 20 words so she could look at the picture of my ultrasound for about 30 seconds. She could even identify the baby in the picture! Later she put her baby doll under her shirt and informed me that she had a baby in her tummy too. She proceeded to tell me that

It's beginning to look a lot like a Nursery!

My Mom and Dad ordered my crib and dresser a little over a week ago. It came in on Friday! So of course as soon as Mike got home he began assembling them. I timed him...an hour and a half to have them completely put together. It makes this whole having a baby thing feel a lot more REAL!! Thank you soooo much Mom and Dad for everything you have done to support us during this exciting time!

Signs of Life

So last night being lazy on the couch while watching pointless t.v. I think I felt the baby move for the first time! It was actually a few times for only a moment each time. It felt like little bubbles fluttering upward in me for only a few seconds. I told Michael it reminded me of how it would feel if the bubbles from a fish tank were in your belly. Mike also swears he can hear the baby's heartbeat with a monitor too, but we aren't positive.

Four!

So my sister-in-law, Sharon, recently got married and 4 of her 8 bridesmaids were pregnant. We are all within a month of each other. Mike has an inside joke with his sister regarding "four" so we took a picture holding up the number 4 on our fingers. Three of the 4 bridesmaids have found out the sex of their babies and 3 of the 4 are having boys....Sharon has changed her choice that I am having a girl, to now I am having a boy, because all of her other bridesmaids are. So of course she expects me to follow the trend (although I have never been a trend follower). I guess we will just have to wait and see if 4 is the number of the year!

Oh Baby!

The door to my room At work we are ALL girls so of course they decided to do something sweet for me to celebrate the baby. Once I told my bosses I was going to start telling parents that I had a bun in the oven they decorated the office and surprised me one day when I was traveling to a charter school I work at. This is what the office looks like, I think the decorations are adorable....not to mention a great ice breaker to telling at least 30 parents that I am pregnant which is ackward (especially dads and grandfathers for some reason). I have been lucky all of the parents at some point have mentioned it to me...so the cat is out of the bag. (We are having technical difficulties, I will post the pictures when our computer decides to cooperate)

Pink or Blue Skittle

Okay so as requested by many, I am posting a picture of my belly. A few people told me that they needed to see my belly before guessing the sex of the baby. When Michael took this picture last night we were both convinced my belly grew from the time I woke up. Please comment whether you think it's a boy or a girl or email me and let me know what you think because I would love to make a little scrapbook page of who guessed what. We will let you know October 30th, whether or not you are correct.

Free Time at Work

Ever wonder what pregnant people do when they have free time at work? Well, I don't have a lot of free time but I do have a little. I don't know what other preggos do with their free time but I can tell you what I do with mine at work. Is it take a quick nap? no Eat a snack? usually Play on the Internet ? no Today I planned a sundae party for Thursday! There is a sign up sheet and everything! I even got the boss involved. So what is on the menu? ice cream hot fudge sprinkles whipped cream cherries bananas nuts brownies The plan: Make a sundae at lunch, spend some much needed fun time with coworkers, and fulfill my craving of two weeks!

"Get In My Belly!"

Officially yesterday I was called out for being pregnant. A mom of one of my client's caught be completely off guard. I was sitting with another child waiting on their parent to return and this mom said, "So is there a kid in there?" and pointed to my stomach. I of course turned all shades of red I am sure and told her yes. Her little five year old son heard this whole conversation and before we went back into my room his mother informed him there was a baby in my tummy. Once in my room my little friend asked yet again, "Is there a baby in your tummy?" "Yes." (I am starting to chuckle because he is VERY interested in this idea and this is the 3rd time he has asked since he heard me tell his mother about 2 minutes earlier) "Mi (miss, he's in speech therapy) Amber, why did you eat a baby?" he asked concerned "You're not supposed to eat babies!" I am laughing so hard I cannot respond so he continues..."Why is t

No longer a little skittle....

On September 4th Mike and I went to the doctor looking forward to hearing our baby’s heartbeat for the first time, as promised by our doctor. However, to our disappointment we did not get to hear our baby’s heartbeat, he didn’t even try to listen to it! Honestly, I don’t think Mike or I even realized he did not let us hear our baby’s heartbeat until we were on our way home. Why?? Simply because we were both so amazed and excited by the sight of our little spawn changing in only 2 weeks into this amazing little PERSON! Our skittle is officially a baby! With legs, arms, and fingers and toes. The instant that the doctor found our little skittle, now baby, we were shocked. He was kicking and moving around like he had somewhere to go. The doctor said that we would get to count the fingers and toes if the baby would stop for even a second, but of course being Michael’s child he did not stop but instead kept on kicking punching. I have never seen something so small being so active. The pict

25% Down....

So officially the skittle no longer looks like a skittle and is no longer an embryo anymore. Now our little skittle has graduated to a fetus! 10 weeks and 25% down only 75% to go! It's is hard to believe but it is nice to know that I (and Michael) have survived a significant part of this process.

New picture of our Skittle...

So the baby has grown about 50% (13.3 mm) of the size it was on Tuesday of last week (9.3 mm) when I went to the doctor. This visit was an unexpected one thanks to mommy's grace! The skittle's heart is doing great so the doctor says there are no concerns! (I secretly think the baby likes having his/her picture taken and that is why I keep having to get ultrasounds!) 3 pictures in the first 2 months is unheard of, but don't be alarmed (s)he's just a little self involved at the moment you know wanting show mommy and daddy the cool thing (s)he can do like grow an appendix , liver, neurological system, the beginning of toes...you know? the usual!

Baby's First "Trip" to the Hospital

So our vacation to Miami was great. We ate our way through the town, walked every where, and spent plenty of time in the ocean. The last day we were there it rained all day, thanks to lovely Claudette! So Mike and I decided to go to a magic show as our finale to the trip. We ordered tickets in advance where we would be seated in one of the first 4 rows. About an hour before the show it stopped raining so Mike and I decided to walk at least part of the way. About a block and a half from the hotel we were staying at Michael told me to walk carefully and tell him if I didn't feel comfortable walking on the wet sidewalk. Well, about 30 seconds after he said this (and walking around high water to avoid slipping) I slipped when the sidewalk turned from concrete to asphalt . I fell butt first and then apparently hit my head, but didn't know it. Since I was in a driveway Michael helped me to my feet so I could walk to a bench out of harms way. As luck would have it I passed out as s

Meet our Skittle!

A ugust 11, 2009 our first picture of our baby (although it's technically the baby's second picture) Michael and I went to the doctor in the morning and were lucky enough to SEE (not hear) our baby's heartbeat for the first time. The heartbeat was strong. Other than that we were informed I am 6 weeks, 6 days pregnant! If you can't find the baby, (or smushed skittle as Michael described him) look for the plus sign on each side. *Interesting fact: the baby is approximately the size of a skittle!

Meeting the Skittle

It all started with a little red Skittle one July 31, 2009. Mike and I went to the doctor because a digital test said "pregnant". We were told we would see our baby for the first time at our first appointment. After the doctor searched for a few minutes he found a small circle and showed it to us on the screen. The doctor printed the picture but did not give us a copy (to my despair), he said we would get a copy whenever he saw a heartbeat. We were relieved to know there really was a baby in there and that in about 7 1/2 months we would be beaming parents. Once we left Michael asked me to text his best friend and inform him we were having a Skittle! Ever since then our future child has been referred to as our little red (why is it red....only Michael knows!) Skittle.