New Ride for the New Baby

We said goodbye to the Volkswagen on Monday and switched to a family-friendly Camry. It was a little bittersweet since that Passat had been with me since we were planning our wedding back in 2005, but it was time to part ways. Maintenance costs were waaaaay too expensive with the VW, and we certainly seemed to have a lot of maintenance issues to handle.

I'm loving the new ride and thrilled to be back in a Camry again! We needed something practical and reliable, and that's just what we got. I must say, it drives so smoothly and has plenty of room for our soon-to-be family of three.

We had been talking about trading my car in for a year or so now, but since Derek just got his new Jeep last spring we were really trying to avoid two car notes. But then logic won out and we realized the last thing we needed was an expensive repair on a car that's been paid off for a few years. And trust me, something would have needed repairing - like the $800 windshield wiper motor we had to replace a few months ago...

Anyways, I love the new car and we're excited to be that much more ready for baby come June! Who knows? This Camry might even be her first car in about 15 years. Ha, wishful thinking, I know! :)

Second Trimester

Today we're 28 weeks! HELLOOOOOOOOO, third trimester! So happy to see you! :)

Now we start the every-other-week appointments, which is fine. I like getting updates. At this week's check-up, Dr. Moses said the baby was perfectly healthy, but mama needs a little work. I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. While it's not the end of the world, it's definitely going to change my life for the next few months.

In summary, she reassured me that there was nothing I could have been doing any differently, and it has nothing to do with the crazy amount of sweets I've been eating because I can't get rid of these crazy cravings. It's genetic and it's just how my body processes sugar when pregnant. Apparently my pancreas can't quite keep up with the overtime work. I will have to follow a pretty strict low-carb, low-sugar diet the rest of the pregnancy and prick my finger four times a day to test my sugar levels. Eek, that's the part I really dread. :(

I've actually only gained 6 pounds total since the start of this pregnancy, so it has nothing to do with the amount of weight gained (which I always assumed it did). The main concern with gestational diabetes is that  if the baby continues to get this streamlined, unprocessed sugar, she'll grow too big too fast, which could make delivery difficult. In my crazy hormonal state, I cried when she was telling me all this. It was just a lot to process! But, Dr. Moses again reassured me that the baby is perfectly fine and LOVES all this sugar. She's thriving. We just need to slow down the sugar consumption now that she's in the home stretch and growing by leaps and bounds each week.

We have another sonogram scheduled in two weeks to see how big she is right now. I'm looking soooo forward to seeing her again! It's been 10 week since we've seen her sweet face, and now I know she should have a little more fat on those chunky little cheeks!

So, following the standard I set with the first trimester post, we'll call the second trimester the Trimester of Growth and Productivity. Everything seemed to change when I hit 20 weeks. That was the magical number. My belly popped and I started to feel her moving, which was amazing. Here are some highlights of the past few months:

• We're about 80% done with the nursery. It looks so good! We're still waiting on the bedding to be made, but the walls are painted, the crib is put together, our changing table/dresser has been repainted, the rug is on the floor, curtains are up... and most of all, the CLOSET IS CLEANED OUT and ready for all her stuff! If you knew how big of an undertaking this was, you'd be very impressed. :)
• We have all of our showers scheduled, and we've finished registering for everything we need. I did plenty of research on the big items, so I feel like we're prepared (as much as we can be, I guess). We're excited for the showers coming up!
• We've been bonding with the baby. I love when she kicks me. I talk to her every day on my way to work about our day ahead and how much I can't wait to meet her. Derek reads to her at night. She is so very loved already.
• With those six extra pounds and expanding belly, I've already gotten some pretty good stretch marks. Booo... :( Oh well, I'll just take that as a sign that she's growing as she should. I'm not too worried about it. They're just not too pretty right now. No bare belly maternity pics for this girl.
• I've felt pretty good this trimester. I've battled heartburn, but that's about it. I'm a little more restless at night than I used to be, but I can still get a good night's sleep.

That's my summary of Trimester #2. We're really in the home stretch now. I have officially begun the countdown whether it's too early or not. We can't wait to meet our daughter in just a few short months!

St. Paddy's Weekend

What a BEAUTIFUL spring weekend! We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went downtown for the St. Paddy's Parade on Saturday. This was obviously a different kind of year for me this year, but it was still a lot of fun. It really is one of my favorite things about Jackson. Fun times! Here are a few pics from the day.

FYI, this is a Diet Coke (my indulgence these days) in my huggie, in case you're wondering... :)

Then on actual St. Patrick's Day yesterday I made a day trip to Hattiesburg to see my cousins in town visiting from Oklahoma. My cousin Julie is also pregnant with a baby girl and due five days after me, so we knew this would probably be our only chance to get a pic of our bumps for the baby books. How sweet! I can't wait for these baby girls to meet one day!

It was a lovely weekend, but it went by too fast, as always. We're worn out on this cloudy Monday morning. Welcome to spring time, where the pollen is out in full force and the weekends are booked! ;)

 

Lucky #7

Sorry for the delay, but I'm out of the office this week and working mostly from my iPhone.

Yesterday was our 7th wedding anniversary, and unfortunately we had to spend it a thousand miles apart since Derek is in Chicago for a conference this week.

We were able to celebrate early on Saturday with dinner and a movie (we saw Silver Linings Playbook, which I highly recommend, and ate dinner at Anjou, which I wouldn't necessarily highly recommend). BUT we're heading to Biloxi for our official "babymoon" in a few weeks, so the celebration will continue. :)

Needless to say, it's been a wonderful seven years, and I look forward to many, many more. We're in for an exciting year ahead! Love.

Everything Old is New Again

We made major progress on the nursery this weekend by painting the walls and the curtain rods (custom cut and fit by the previous owners of our house) and putting the crib together.

It all got me thinking with amazement at just how many times that room has been transformed into a nursery in its 60+ year history. That's one of the really cool things about living in an old house. I just love knowing that other families brought a sweet baby home to this house, and probably put him or her in this very room. It just makes me smile.

We know that the family who lived there before us had two kids who grew up there, and we know that back in the 1970s a family lived there with FOUR teenagers. If you've been to our house, you're probably just as shocked as I am that there would be room for six people total to live under that one roof.

From the little kiddie feet and hand prints set in the driveway concrete to the curtain rods that you can tell were painstakingly made by somebody's loving dad years ago, I just love the history.

I always wanted to bring a baby home to this house. It just seemed fitting. I couldn't be happier that this year, almost six years to the day from when we moved in back in 2007, I'll get my wish. We'll be happy to add another memory inside these old walls.

Blue Skies

Yesterday we finally had our new windows installed in our master bedroom and bathroom and the room that will be the nursery. We've needed to do this for a LONG time. It just took the motivation of a baby on the way to actually push us forward. SO GLAD WE DID!!

Our old windows were original to our 1950s house, and we were having some major moisture/mildew problems in our room and bathroom. Not anymore! Not only are we expecting the house to be better insulated now, but we know we're sleeping safely without the paper thin glass separating us from the outside world.

While I'm sure you might not be able to tell a difference if you were to walk into these rooms, but we sure can. It's amazing. Blue skies ahead! (Or at least through these five new crystal clear windows!)

Baby Boom

We've helped welcome three babies into this world within the past 8 days. Something is definitely in the water. ;)

In addition to our sweet nephew, our dear friends Drew and Kristin welcomed Ella Grace Gorney into the world on Monday. She's a little angel!

And then my friend Brooke and her husband, Justin, gave birth to petite little Neely Rose Sward yesterday. I can't wait to hug on this sweet little baby!

As far as this baby girl in our immediate future, she's moving all around these days! We're 23 weeks today and had a check-up yesterday. Everything's just great. She's a wiggle worm and takes after her dad in the fact that she can't just sit still! It's really going by so fast. So much still to do, but we're getting it all done one step at a time.

Happy Valentine's Day, blog world! I'm definitely feeling the love. :)