Nursery Sneak Peek 2

We taped off the grid for the accent wall in Owen's nursery last night :o)

I'm so excited to start painting - I just want to see what it looks like all nice and finished!!!

The taping took a little while to do (which we were anticipating), in order to get all of the math/measurements correct and the tape lines as straight as possible. Hopefully we did a good job, but it looks good so far!

Saturday should be paint day and then we can take the tape off on Sunday!!!!

So stay tuned for the BIG reveal... of the paint job at least ;o)

29 weeks

How far along: 29w0d

This weeks' weight gain/loss: 0lbs

Total weight gain/loss: 0lbs - Back to my pre-pregnancy weight

Symptoms: My hands and feet are still swelling - no pain, but definitely slightly inflated. So the doctor is going to send me for an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot (just in case, she's almost positive it's just normal swelling but better safe than sorry) and I also have to do a 24hr urine collection and bloodwork (ugh). Other than that, I am feeling pretty good these days - I'm tired and get worn out easily, but that's to be expected at this point.

Maternity clothes: All maternity at this point.

Stretch marks: Some around my pelvic area and thighs, but none on my tummy :o)

Best moment this week: We started painting the nursery!!! It's actually almost done :o) I cannot believe there is a baby's room in my home! It still seems so surreal to me, but I love it!

Movement: He still has "quiet days" (and I try not to freak out too much), but on days when he gets movin boy can that kid go! I love watching my belly move :o)

Food cravings: All of his rolling has started making me nauseous (almost car/sea/motions sick like), so I don't think I'm really craving anything right now.

Gender: it's a BOY!!! Owen Richard W*****

Any baby related purchases: People are still slowly picking stuff off of our registry and I am still working on Owen's scrapbook. Other than that we're also slowly putting the nursery together. So although there haven't been any purchases per say, there's been a lot of progress.

Milestones: We are officially the size of a squash today - that means only 2 fruits left to go before Owen's due date!!! Whoa, when did that happen?!

Nursery Sneak Peek

I've had "The Plan" for Owen's nursery for some time now and have just been itching to get started on it.

As most of you know, we have been waiting to finish our second floor master bedroom remodel and for us to move up there before starting anything in the nursery - primarily because we're still living in what will be the nursery lol

Well time was going by slowly and we were making progress on the remodel, but now it seems as though time is starting to speed up and I am going into panic mode :o) My nesting instincts are kicking in hardcore and I am just dying to get his nursery put together! I know that he wont even sleep in there for the first few months, so I actually have more time than I realize... but I just want to do something and plug into my creative outlet so badly lol Plus, I am soooooooooo tired of all the boxes of nursery furniture laying around my house! Between the slow accumulation of supplies and gear for Owen AND the remodel, I want my house back in order in the worst way!

So a couple of weeks ago, we finally went out and purchased the paint samples for the nursery. I figured at the very least I could put some discrete swatches on the wall and see what they were going to look like.

Well... we bought the paint and completely skipped the swatches stage lol

This weekend my amazingly wonderful BFF came over to help me all out paint the nursery :o)

If you'll recall - this is what we're going for...

I knew it was going to take a few sessions, because the first layer of paint would have to dry completely before we would tape off the grid to start working on the multi-color squares. And so that's what we did...

Just a small preview of what's to come ;o)

We painted three walls a very bright yellow (what a change from the light blue that we've had in there for so long) and the fourth wall all white, which is where the grid and multi-color squares will eventually go!!!!

The valance that you see here, is the pattern for his bed set and the inspiration for the room.

The paper lanterns will eventually be hung from the ceiling in the right corner of this picture, over the glider.

And of course our bed, which is taking up most of the room right now, will be moved out of there.

I am sooooooooo excited to continue working on this project - tonight we are hoping to get some of the other pieces of furniture put together and hopefully into the room. Since we are still technically living in there, daily functioning has become somewhat of a challenge without our own furniture. So the plan right now is to assemble some of Owen's furniture and use that until we can get upstairs.

Until then and as we make progress, I will continue to entice you guys with small tidbits like this one here and there ;o) But nothing too major until the entire room is complete and cleared out of all of our own belongings.

Stay tuned...

28 weeks

How far along: 28w0d

This weeks' weight gain/loss: +2lbs

Total weight gain/loss: 0lbs - Back to my pre-pregnancy weight

Symptoms: Swollen extremities from the heat and humidity, heartburn is starting to flare up again and sleeping is becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

Maternity clothes: All maternity at this point.

Stretch marks: yes :o( around the hips, lower abdomen and thighs *sigh*

Best moment this week: He was moving soooooooo much yesterday - rolling around and kicking the crap out of me, it was great :o)

Movement: Oh my goodness, he's started rolling around in there and whoa does it feel weird lol It's like he curls himself up into a ball and just starts spinning haha

Food cravings: I've moved onto chocolate for some reason lol I've always loved chocolate, but this is tye first time during pregnancy I've actually wanted it.

Gender: it's a BOY!!! Owen Richard W*****

Any baby related purchases: Not really this week, although there have been a few purchases off of our registry. And I did go out to buy some scrapbooking supplies for Owen's memory book :o)

Milestones: Officially into the 3rd trimester!!!

Father's Day

I am sure that everyone has said or will say this on their own blog in the next few days...

But I have the most amazing husband in the entire world, and I cannot wait to see him be the father of our son :o)

Owen may not "officially" be here yet, but in our hearts we are already parents. So as I celebrated Mother's Day as a mom-to-be last month, yesterday we celebrated Father's Day with Bryan as a father-to-be.

Now if you know Bryan, he is a true nerd and geek at heart ;o)

He has always enjoyed the math and sciences' - he studied Medicinal Chemistry in college for both his bachelors and masters degrees. And now he works as a Chemist for a health care company, making drugs and other products for various medical procedures at hospitals across the nation.

One of Bryan's favorite websites (among the numerous nerd sites that he visits regularly) is ThinkGeek.com

If you've never visited this website, you simply must! Whether you're a nerd yourself, have a fellow nerd in your life, or are just looking for some amusement in your day... this site is just completely ridiculous! A must see!

Anyway...

Ever since he found out that he was going to be a father, let alone have a son, he's had his eye on these building blocks from this website. But not just any building blocks... building blocks with the Periodic Table on them!!!

Oy - poor Owen doesn't stand a chance! I'm waiting for the day when I come home to find them conducting science experiments on my dining room table together lol It's only a matter of time and completely inevitable, I know!

So after teasing him for months and saying that I wouldn't let him turn my sweet baby boy into a science geek, I finally broken down and bought a set of Periodic Table building blocks for Bryan for Father's Day this year lol

Bryan is now convinced that Owen's first word will be Tellurium (Bryan's favorite element) haha

As someone who never cared for math or science, I am not sure how I'll survive in this family lol

27 weeks: 3rd Trimester!

So I'm pretty sure that I've decided to move my weekly pregnancy posts to Wednesdays when my actual gestational age switches over. I don't know what I was thinking trying to do them on Sundays.

Anyway...

We are officially in our 27th week of pregnancy and for most that means we are into the 3rd trimester!!!

Yesterday was June 14th and that was exactly 3 months until Owen's due date!!!

That still feels weird to say and I cannot believe it's coming up so quickly! He'll be here before we know it!

Before I get into the actual update, I did want to let everyone know that Owen and I passed the 1hr GTT!!! I hadn't gotten a call from the doctor's office (I was praying that "no news is good news") and so I called them to see if the results were in... our glucose levels came in at 121 and they look for anything under 135 as "passing"!!! Soooooooo happy we passed and don't need to take the 3hr (yuck!)!!!

How far along: 27w0d

This weeks' weight gain/loss: +1lbs

Total weight gain/loss: -2lbs

Symptoms: Swollen extremities from the heat and humidity (thank goodness we put in that central AC a few weeks back, I don't know how we ever lived without it), heartburn is starting to flare up again and sleeping is becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

Maternity clothes: All maternity at this point, but I do think that I have finally finished building my maternity clothing stash! I bought a pair of dress black capris for work and another pair of convertible (capris/pants) black cotton bottoms, which are light and airy for those warm summer days. Couple that with the 2 pairs (light and dark) of jean capris, and 2 pairs (again, light and dark) of regular jeans that I already had... and I think that we're officially good to go! I am ready for anything!

Stretch marks: yes :o( around the hips, lower abdomen and thighs *sigh*

Best moment this week: Passing the 1hr GTT (I was actually really worried, I've heard horror stories!). And my baby shower invitations went out last week - there have even already been some purchases from the registries!!!

Movement: Lots, and Bryan is still feeling kicks from the outside. But there are days here and there when I don't feel him as much, it freaks.me.out!!! I don't know if he's just sitting in an anterior position or if he's being lazy, but I hate hate hate days like that! That's usually when I bust out my doppler ;o)

Food cravings: Still lemonade (even though it gives me heartburn) and fruit, I am love love loving fruit right now!

Gender: it's a BOY!!! Owen Richard W*****

Any baby related purchases: We were at Target and I couldn't resist buying him another cute little outfit (I'm trying my best to cut back, I swear). And we also bought the paint for his nursery!!! Can't wait to get started!!!

Milestones: Officially into the 3rd trimester!!!

Decoy

The weather around here is finally starting to become seasonal appropriate!!!

But that means more hot and humid days, which means mama's extremities are swelling :o(

I'll be honest, my fingers have been swelling since spring - mostly when I'm standing or walking for long periods of time. My doctor assured me that it's perfectly normal and so I didn't really think twice about it... until my rings started getting snug. Aside from being just plain uncomfortable, I really don't want to get my rings stuck and then have to have them cut off - I know it's completely repairable, but it's also preventable, so I decided it was time to beat the heat and take them off *sigh*

But when I took them off, the look of my naked ring finger really bothered me!

So I did what every pregnant woman (or 16 year old teeny-bopper pretending to be engaged) would do... I went out to a local department store and bought myself a set of fake rings! I had gotten a coupon in the mail for $10 off any purchase, and the rings only came to $18... so this is what $8 will buy ya:

I really wanted something identical to my 3 stone princess engagement ring and wedding band, but alas they didn't offer such beauty in glass and plastic. So I choose the option closest to my original set and it's worked really well so far! No one has actually noticed that my rings are different, let alone fake. And now I won't get any side-eye stares from strangers who notice my baby bump and then my naked ring finger.

Pour Some Sugar On Me

Or in me rather ;o)

Today I'm taking my GTT - Glucose Tolerance Test - to determine if Owen and I are at risk for GD - Gestational Diabetes - during this pregnancy. The test is taken between 26 and 28 weeks, today I am 26w1d!

Basically all I have to do is drink this pint of sugar concentrate (fruit punch flavored - yum) and then go have my blood drawn exactly 1 hour later. They will use that to test my blood sugar levels, and test me for anemia.

I've heard that it's very common to "fail" the 1 hour GTT, but I am really hoping that I pass :o)

Otherwise, I have to go and do a 3 hour GTT (ugh)! Same procedure, but instead of only waiting 1 hour to have my blood drawn I would have to wait 3 hours - which normally wouldn't be so bad, but you have to fast once you drink this lovely concoction and you can imagine how difficult that is for a pregnant lady to do ;o)

So bottoms up and fingers crossed I pass this time around!

The directions say that the results usually take a couple of days, so I am not planning to hear anything until at least early next week. But I will keep you all updated and posted, as soon as I know something you will too :o)

Putting Up Walls

In our attic master bedroom remodel project, that is!!!!

After a much too long hiatus from any kind of progress up there, we finally got some more work done!!!

The best part about this portion of the progress, is that it's finally starting to look like a room again :o)

For a quick recap...

This is what we started with:

(can you believe that the sellers actually tried to pass this as a livable bedroom?!)

This is what we did (complete gutt job):

Then we re-wired the electrical work and re-insulated:

Here's where we're at currently (the rebuild):

We still have quite a bit more work to do - finish drywalling this half of the room (including tape and mud), finish insulating and drywalling the other half of the room, paint, put up trim and molding, and finally have new carpet installed. But my father is promising me that this will all be done and we will be moved in up there by September, when Owen gets here... fingers crossed!

I am dying to get started on his nursery, but we need to get out of that room first!

Double Digits - 99 days!!!

Whoa baby - we're officially into the double digits, only 99 days to go until Owen's due date!!!


On a side note - my BFF sent out the invitations to my first shower yesterday :o) I asked her to send one to me as well so that I have a reason to stalk the mailbox this week lol very exciting (I love getting mail), I can't wait!

25w5d

How far along: 25w5d

This weeks' weight gain/loss: +2lbs

Total weight gain/loss: -3lbs

Symptoms: My fingers are really starting to swell when I stand for too long and/or it's too warm and humid out.

Maternity clothes: All maternity at this point.

Stretch marks: yes :o( around the hips, lower abdomen and thighs *sigh*

Best moment this week: Getting my first "official" stranger comment :o)

Movement: Lots, especially when I eat. And Bryan is still feeling kicks from the outside.

Food cravings: Still lemonade (even though it gives me heartburn) and fruit, I am love love loving fruit right now!

Gender: it's a BOY!!! Owen Richard W*****

Any baby related purchases: My mom bought us the mattress for our crib - she bought Owen his entire furniture set (love her). We have all the big pieces of furniture now all we need is a room for the nursery to put it all in!

Milestones: Feeling even more kicks from the outside this week!!!