4D Ultrasound, Baby Kicks, Dinosaurs and Stuff.

So I just (well, by the time I post this today will be yesterday) scheduled our 4D ultrasound appointment at my Dr's office. I forgot to ask if they'll work with you if he's not in the right position--I'd hate to get in there and him not cooperate and us shell out $125 for it--simply because there's a non-medical 4D ultrasound place that does them for around the same price (well, they have various packages) but I've heard how they all but guarantee you'll get a decent pic of the face (obviously you can't guarantee it, but they do everything in their power and I think I've heard they reschedule if the baby just won't cooperate. But I think my friend's Dr office also did this so I hope mine is the same way.) I'm just paranoid since the 20 week ultrasound he was all curled up facing my spine so pics weren't easy to get and because of that I don't really have a good idea of what he's going to look like. 

The pregnancy still doesn't feel completely real to me, partially because I don't feel all that bad and never did, even first trimester. Ok, I felt ill, but compared to most I had it great, the only time I threw up was when I accidentally set off my gag reflex taking pain reliever. I think it will feel much more real once I can see his little face and actually put a face to my little boy and fully imagine him..

I'm just now starting to be able to see him kick, when I think to watch for it. I laid down last night and watched my stomach for a few minutes and he kicked me so hard that when I felt it along with seeing how far he actually made my stomach moved I jumped! In all fairness, he hadn't been kicking at all prior to this big kick, so it was kinda a shock which is why I jumped. Normally I feel him kick and it doesn't phase me at all, I guess seeing it made me realize how hard it was.

I used to think feeling the baby kick would be the freakiest thing (well, next to seeing it. I think it's cool seeing it but I don't ever want to be able to clearly see the outline of his little feet, that creeps me out majorly). It's amazing how you get used to it because if I started out feeling the kicks I have now it might have freaked me out more, but we worked up to them so  I barely noticed the weaker once and then as I started to I got used to the feeling and now it's just like "Oh,, there he goes again."

So my ultrasound is scheduled for about two weeks from now and then my 28 week visit where I get the sugar test and all that is a couple days later (they didn't have an opening on the same day, but I was dreading the idea of going through that test then having to stay there longer to get the ultrasound, as much as I want the ultrasound I doubt I'd be in the mood after the test. I tried to get them to schedule it a week sooner but the lady was nervous to since they don't like doing it before 28 weeks. I told her he had been consistently measuring big so I thought it might be OK, but decided that waiting 'til the next week wouldn't be the end of the world. I just want it before he gets too big to get good pics.

In other news, Patrick and I went to the Birmingham Zoo for their dinosaur exhibit Monday! It was so fun! We ended up going with a couple friends who were also interested when we mentioned we were going. I love dinosaurs. Sometimes walking around the mall or grocery store wears me out quick, especially if baby boy moves into just the right place to make my hips hurt. Lucky for me, he cooperated and we walked around the zoo for three or four hours and I had no issues, even in the heat (which I'm much more sensitive to now). I made sure to put on sunscreen and reapply, though, since I have gotten so much more sun-sensitive. We also got to go swimming, which I'm tempted to go and do now while I wait for Patrick to get home from work... but then I want to possibly go shopping/run to the bank so I might want to wait since I'm all clean and nice smelling right now. Not that chlorine is the worst, and I can keep my hair dry... but still.

So here are a few pics from the zoo trip!

Ok, quick story on my butterfly. Patrick was trying to be polite and hold the door open to the exit of the butterfly exhibit and the butterfly got out into the mid-way point and I managed to catch him and get him back in the exhibit where he belongs and is (relatively) safe (I say that because some horrible little boys were running around, jumping up and trying to catch butterflies by attempting to smash them in their hands--and their mother did not pay attention to them or try to stop them. I was pissed. They didn't catch any, but that is just unacceptable parenting/behavior on all their parts.) Once I caught him and got him in he thought I was pretty cool and actually chilled on my hand for a bit, I had to try to nudge him off onto a bush before he flew away. Patrick did get a butterfly to land on him by being relatively still, popular opinion is that he probably also looks like a flower with that bright hair of his.

Patrick's butterfly.

Us being winners.

Trying to get our dino friend in the picture!

Patrick is an overgrown 5 year old.

I'm in front of the momma dinosaur! Mostly 'cause I love triceratops and this was the closest to one they had!

Work in Progress: Red Panda

I just thought I'd share real quick the first drawing I'm working on for the baby's room. It's my favorite (well, I have multiple ones but they may be my most favorite) animal--a red panda!

Next I'm going to attempt a platypus, which is Patrick's favorite animal apparently.

Then after that I'm going to figure out other less common animals to draw, I want him to be really knowledgeable on animals like I was as a child. Animals were my favorite and I had a big box with cards full of facts about different animals (wish I could find it) and I looked through it all the time. So I want him to be familiar with lesser-known animals from the start.

This is a work in progress, so I'll update once I have it (and probably a few other animal pics) done.

I'm 26 weeks today! I'm so close to the third trimester, so close!

I don't really have anything interesting to say, but I'm trying to be regular about updating so I thought I'd just make a quick post just to make one. I do need to take the dog out, though.

Speaking of the dog, look at her super cute new shirt we got her because I am a crazy pet mom and I have converted Patrick into a crazy pet dad.

However, Lupe thinks when being put in shirts she's being punished, even though I coo over her. I even told her I like her 20% more when she's wearing this shirt, haha. It says (if you can't read it) "I'm adorable. What's your superpower?"

Patrick and I went to a baby shower yesterday for two of my friends who are having babies in the couple months before we're due. It was very nice, and at the end I came home with a ridiculous amount of chocolate, haha. I left the bag on the kitchen table (I forgot that isn't a safe place when we're not here) and Lupe got on top of the table, got the bag off, dragged it a few feet away, ripped the bag up (it was in a gift bag) and then managed to eat at least one Reese's cup. I think she's gotten a hold of chocolate before so I tried not to worry too much, I'm pretty sure she's not allergic to it because it's been over half a day with no sign of sickness yet. Maybe a bit of an upset stomach, but she also got a hold of some wet cat food yesterday. 

So yeah, everybody is pretty good. I saw my wild cat Stash today, he was sitting on the patio waiting for me when I got home from church, acting like he owns the place. He let me talk to him, go in, come back out and I managed to get two feet from him while I was feeding him (closest ever!) and he didn't run off 'til the end, so soon I hope the running away stops. 

I want to go swimming today but I don't want to go to the pool alone and Patrick is at work so I should be productive and clean but instead I'm being lazy. I'm going to get productive in a minute, though.

In other news, here is a photo of me and Patrick from yesterday 'cause I like my makeup.

I think you can see why I want William to have my eye color and Patrick's (and my dad's) hair color. Also, for his sake maybe my skintone--I have my red head father's skintone, I look fantastic with red hair and am naturally pale (I've only started getting a tan the past few years from wanting to be outdoors but being religious about sunscreen so I don't get burnt and my skin has learned to tan). We went swimming the other day and I got barely pink after an hour (I think we went mid-day so the sun was at it's worst) and Patrick got sunburned and it's still not gone away. I had him use 50spf (since doing research I found out higher than that doesn't do much good, it's about reapplying) and I used 30spf. Poor little ginger boy. Anything else can be what he wants--I was hoping for a little girl with my face and eye color and Patrick's hair color... maybe next time. 

And if you can't tell, I really like that shirt. I actually look semi-pregnant in it and it's comfy.

25 Weeks

So I'll start with the fun part, the belly pic!

25 weeks 4 days baby belly!

So I'm finally starting to show--sometimes. The morning that photo was taken I measured myself and I had gone back down to my pre-pregnancy size, I usually hover about 2 inches above that with some variation but when the photo was taken I was 4 inches bigger than I started out that morning! It's amazing what his positioning does to the appearance of my stomach.

I went to the Dr. for my 24 week appointment a little over a week ago, but I've failed to talk about it. Not that it was very exciting. Patrick couldn't come with me so my friend came instead. I started my seeing the other Drs in the practice. This one was fine, it wasn't a very in-depth visit. Pee in a cup, check my blood pressure, check the heartbeat, done. This was my first time going to a male Obgyn. I normally don't mind male Drs, I actually noticed I have an obvious preference for them when it comes to finding a pediatrician for William because I had a older (well, as a child 35-40 seemed older, and I went to him for 20 years so I picture him as a 60 year old) male Dr. and that's what I wanted for William, though we'll probably go with a female Dr. just because right now with our insurance our choices are limited, and I don't have any issues with female Drs in general... I did grow up with a fear of men (since my father passed away so I wasn't around men a lot), but I've mostly gotten over it... but for my comfort I definitely prefer a lady Dr. for my lady-business.

I finally, out of curiosity, asked him if he could look it up and tell me how much weight I've gained through my whole pregnancy. He immediately started to tell me I didn't need to gain very much weight, at most 5-10lbs (my Dr. told me 10-15) and really if I didn't gain any weight at all that it would be fine, though I don't need to diet (Dude, if I'm not gaining weight that means when the baby comes out I'm going to have lost about 30lbs--that kinda sounds like a diet. I guess he just means I shouldn't be trying to weigh less while pregnant, as long as I maintain.). I understood where he was coming from, but I didn't ask him how much I needed to gain, just how much I had gained. I definitely prefer that my Dr. is comfortable with the idea of me possibly gaining 15lbs and even views it as healthy. When I go in they weigh me but don't bother telling me the weight, since I keep up by measurement instead (I don't even own a scale) I have had no idea how much I've gained, so I just wanted to see because all the other pregnant women I know seem to know just how much they've gained. I'd suspected it wasn't much (at most 5lbs); William is measuring big, I'm eating plenty so I am not worried about not gaining weight, while I'm not counting on it I may just not gain any weight this pregnancy and come out much skinnier. I knew if I was gaining too much my Dr. (who I had gone to prior to becoming pregnant so she's seen me skinnier and fatter and never mentioned my weight without my asking because she knows I'm healthy) would have already said something. So after looking up my info he informed me I haven't gained any weight this pregnancy, which was actually a bit of a shock. I'm at the end of the second trimester (well, about two weeks away) and no weight gain. He also had issues with finding William's heartbeat, I noticed he did it differently from my Dr, who goes down low kinda along the bottom of my stomach right above my pelvis. He was trying from my belly button so it would cut in and out. I don't know, I almost told him to try the other way but I figured as long as he was getting some heartbeat it was fine. I don't know if he was afraid I wouldn't be comfortable with him going lower since he is a male or if that's just how he does heartbeats, but I prefer my Dr's method, at least for me.

I have my next appointment June 13 and my baby shower the 15. The Dr's visit is going to be the fun one where they test my glucose and all that jazz. I'm thinking I may try to go on and get the 4D ultrasound done in the next two weeks, I'm so anxious to see what his little face is going to look like. They say they're the best at 28-32 weeks but then people were telling me sooner (like, in the 20s, not 30s) was better because they look squished later on, but I also know that they recommend doing it when they do because before that not all their features are developed. Since he has been measuring big, I feel like 27 weeks will be ok but I may just shoot for 28 weeks... Especially since by my very first ultrasound at 5 weeks I should really only be 24 weeks along, he just measured a week ahead at my dating ultrasound at 9 weeks and then a week and a half further than that at my 20 week ultrasound. I don't really mind him looking squished, I figured he would anyway.... I just want to know what that little nose is going to look like and all that!

Oh! I finally got my tummy sleeves in, I've been using it and I like it for the most part. I do have to adjust the ones I got somewhat often (there weren't a lot of choices in plus-sizes), but for the most part they fit well and do what I want them to do. It's a good thing, too. I'm wearing it in the baby belly pic and while my rubber band can handle 2 extra inches it wasn't a big fan of 4 extra inches.

Infant CPR and Other Things

I feel bad I haven't updated in a few days, I've been busy and distracted (ok, the weekend I was busy but Monday and Tuesday were solely devoted to playing Sims 3, I'm a terrible person).

Just  a quick update, I'll try to get back into the swing of things starting tomorrow... I thought I'd just share that tonight Patrick and I attended the infant CPR class we had signed up for. At one point I thought Patrick was trying to beat up the dummy he used when practicing what to do on a child (ok, I thought he was trying to kill it--and one of the instructors made a face twice and had to correct him and even said "You're killing your baby" so I'm not being dramatic, it was bad) but now I think we've both got it down if for some reason we ever have to use it.

I'm ready to take the other classes now, I'm much more excited about them. Still, it's an important class and I'm glad we got it out of the way.

I also have two huge bug bites, one is on my leg and I found it a few days ago and was terrified it was a blood clot or something worse than a bug bite (in all fairness, I have no idea what a blood clot looks like). It only hurt when it was touched and didn't itch. I found another one today on the underside of my arm, but it itches and is obvious to me it's a bug bite. The older one is just more red and angry today, which worries me. I need to find out how to treat bug bites.

In other news, I'm 25 weeks (26 weeks on the 26 of May, woo), my birthday is in less than a month (June 21! First day of summer and the longest day of the year, yeah!). My baby shower is in less than a month, too. I am finally starting to notice when William kicks my bladder, or at least that's what I assume he's kicking. Sometimes it feels like he's kicking some in-between area down there that's thoroughly annoying but I can't place where it is, but it gives me unpleasant feelings and more and more lately is making me feel like I have to use the restroom after he does it. So I guess I get to look forward to that for 15 more weeks. But I'm glad I'm feeling him more now, just because I was worried I wasn't feeling him enough.

Cat Woman

Patrick's mom managed to somehow get a chipmunk trapped in her bedroom. We went over to attempt to catch it and spent about two hours chasing it about.

Normally I'm excellent at catching small animals (growing up with lots of cats I had to learn to catch them to re-release them once the cats got them in the house/cornered outside), but being 6 months pregnant kinda puts a damper on my abilities. I couldn't jump and chase and crawl about on the ground or lay on my stomach like I used to so I had to rely on Patrick, who is not nearly as stealthy or quick.

When we got there we had no idea where the chipmunk even was in the room, and his mom is in the process of getting her house ready to sell so it was kinda cluttered in the room with boxes and papers and various things. After about 15 minutes I laid on the bed since I was exhausted (I'd meant to nap but didn't get to) and told Patrick to be quiet while I listened for any hint of noise he might make. After a few seconds I told Patrick to look somewhere off to my left. There was a blanket on top of a bag and some other things and as soon as he moved the blanket the chipmunk shot out. We chased him and attempted to get him out of his new hiding place but we never could seem to catch him even when we ran him out, there were too many good hiding places. We'd lost him several times and about three or four times I had to stop and listen for him again (and he wasn't loud). Finally, I accepted that I was exhausted and of little help to Patrick. I was hungry as I'd had a light lunch and my stomach was aching (I ordered belly bands the other day so that should help with some of the aching (from my jeans being a bit tight), if I had thought it wouldn't be a terrible idea to chase a chimpunk about a room while pants-less I would've totally done that). We left and got dinner and I went to bed as soon as possible.

Patrick and I joked when we started dating how my cat, Dumbledore (Dumbles) is our child from the future since he's a tall, lanky, ginger-blonde cat. I'm a blonde and Patrick is a tall, lanky ginger, but I'm also a cat. The fact I could hear the chipmunk moving was impressive to Patrick as he couldn't make it out (and I often worry my hearing got messed up in cosmetology school). I can hear quiet noises for some reason, perfect mom ears. I can even tell when my pets/children in my care are up to something because it's too quiet. I have great vision, notice small details and move quickly despite what my size might make people expect. And of course currently I have the smelling abilities of a drug dog. My personality is also pretty cat-like, although I won't go into it today at least. Needless to say, this just reinforced my assertion that growing up with so many cats has basically turned me into a cat.

And now, because I love photos and have a million, I will show off our beautiful son, Snumbles.

Found him in my sock drawer one morning.

Mommy and Snumblesnore

Proof that he's a ginger.

I guess I should give more of a backstory on Dumbles--he found us and at first my mom tried running him off for fear he'd beat up our cats. One day she was out and he came running up to her and after that she just couldn't help but feel sorry for him. When I finally saw him we sat on the porch and petted him and I wound up bringing him in the house and pulling several ticks off him. We fed him and decided to take him to the vet in the morning to be sure he didn't have feline lukemia or anything (he was missing fur in places and we thought it might be mange but it was just he'd had a rough life 'til then). We were holding our breath waiting for the results of the feline lukemia test to come back as we'd lost our beloved cat, Bamboo, to lukemia a few years prior after we had been late on his booster by just 3 months. Thankfully it came back negative and the vet was so impressed with Dumbles that he even offered to fix him for half-price, just to ensure he found a good home with us (he didn't want him spraying or causing trouble and getting taken to a shelter... which he still does these things two or so years later but we still love him). Dumbles was very skinny at the time, but we didn't realize it 'cause he's just a big cat. They told us he'd weigh about 12lbs once he put on some weight (the majority of our cats have always tipped the scale at approximately 6lbs) because he was so skinny and they were absolutely right. He's a gorgeous cat, though... fur like a rabbit's. And all this happened right around the time when Patrick and I started dating (shortly afterward), so mom teased that Dumbles reminded her of Patrick because he was a tall, lanky ginger (he actually got his name from the Harry Potter character--which was my mom's suggestion (surprisingly) because his face reminded her of the pictures of the character she had seen somehow. I agreed because Albus Dumbledore had auburn hair himself and it just seemed perfect to me to have an excuse to name my pet after a Harry Potter character). We joked that he's our son from the future, come to keep an eye on us (and now we tease mom if he disappears when the baby is born it's 'cause he's our future son). 

Oh, and that fear that he'd beat up/bully our cats was totally uncalled for. He is the biggest wuss, a total lover. Here's a picture of him with my baby boy that passed away after getting hit by a car, Tucker.

Dumbles and Tuck, bff for life.

Baby Sling

The baby sling did come in the other day and I got the chance to try it on, I'm very happy. I thought I'd just share this photo of me trying it out, using Abel as a stand-in for William, as he's not here yet.

I look terrible as I was in my pajamas and not ready to see people or be photographed, but whatever.

Oh, for anybody looking for a baby sling, I ordered this one from Sevenslings.com. I'm a size 22/24 currently (including with my baby weight) and they had a size to fit me, so they carry reasonably big sizes and have a lot of cute patterns (if I had had a girl I can only imagine the trouble I'd have had picking out which pattern I wanted, I still had a bit because I debated between gender neutral or all-out boy).

And if anybody is wondering, I have a pretty big cat. He's at least 12lbs, I'd say. I was excited by how well he fit and how comfy it was (my hand is only holding on to him because I didn't want to risk him escaping while we were outside).

Unrelated, but I still have not found my wedding rings and I am not happy about it!

Cats, cats, cats

We ran out of dry cat food yesterday but we have a stash of wet food we keep to spoil Abel randomly and feed my feral cats with (I only do this in the winter as I heard it's better at keeping them warm). So I woke up at 7:30, which is breakfast time for the animals and I went ahead and fed them and gave Abel wet food before going back to bed. Two hours later Patrick gets up and before I realized it he had also fed the animals. Lupe didn't eat her food (since she'd already eaten) but Abel never turns down a meal, especially wet food. I suspect Lupe got some of it, too. These spoiled animals think they're so smart, tricking Patrick.

My feral cat, Stache, let me be on the patio with him for a few minutes today. He was sitting there, he's learned if I see him I'll feed him so I think he was waiting for me. I opened the sliding glass door and carefully came out and I got two feet away from him before leaning over to pour the food and he ran off to hide in his bush he normally goes to 'til after I've gone back in. The bush is only about 8 feet away so it's not bad, and he'll sit in it and stare at me when I talk to him so I think he's getting that I don't want to hurt him, I just want to feed him. I hope so, at least.

Here's a pic of him 'cause I realized I never posted one:

He looks like a black tuxedo cat but he's actually a beautiful dark brown. Almost like chocolate but with a red tint in the sunlight.

Baby Belly Pics

So I posted my first baby belly pic on here, but it's not the first one I've taken. I thought I'd make a post devoted solely to my baby-bump (or lack there-of).

When I found out I was pregnant, I was sad thinking how I probably wouldn't show at all most of the pregnancy (although now I kinda feel like it's a blessing--saves me from having to buy new clothes, although I still need some). In all fairness, my mom didn't hardly show for the first five months of her pregnancies (she was skinny with my brother, slightly chubbier with me) so I didn't expect to show much either. That, on top of being plus-size (although there aren't enough belly bump pics of plus-size women, especially early in pregnancy, so I was less sure of how a plus-size woman's body changes) made me doubt I'd show much. Most of my friends have been tiny (5'2"-5'4") and more petite in general. I'm tall-ish (5'7"), bigger boned and I have a semi-long torso, so it would make sense I'm not going to show as fast, even if I was skinny. I simply have more room to hide baby.

Anyway, here are the photos!

We started out taking them with Patrick's phone, but uploading them caused them to come out blurry... so by 20 weeks we realized we should use a real camera and we've been using his camera since then. 

22 weeks and 2 days

And then...

22 weeks and 6 days (let's just say 23 weeks)

And finally...

24 weeks 1 day

So basically, this post is a testament to how very little I've changed since the beginning of my pregnancy (at 13 weeks I didn't feel I was showing at all but got pics just because I figured it was silly to wait 'til I started showing and then have no way of guaging how much I've changed). I have changed some, but it's also hard for me to tell how much of it is the clothes I wear on the specific day, etc. Also, William has been measuring a bit big so far, so I suspect he still is and I'm still not showing.

It's also a testament to how screwed up Alabama weather is that I seriously go from jacket to short sleeves to swimming to jackets to sleeveless with jacket (last pic, I took the jacket off as son as I stepped out in the sun).

I think my sling may come in today (or tomorrow, but I hope today since I ordered it over 10 days ago) and I cannot wait to get it out and try it on/force Abel to ride around in it. I don't think Abelard suspects anything yet. Poor boy, always forced to do things he doesn't want to do (mostly receive love).

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Of course, Lupe isn't much bigger than Abel, so if Abel refuses to cooperate I may use her. She just acts like half my interactions with her are me punishing her or me looking at her means she's in trouble (because she's gotten in trouble a lot because she misbehaves a lot and I don't let her get away with it).

I'm thinking I may finally order some tummy sleeves. I've been doing the rubber band trick but I'm sick of it. Depending on the day and time sometimes I can button my jeans fully and zip them but other days I just want to leave them fully unbuttoned (in all fairness, a lot of it has to do with what I'm sitting on/doing). Either way, I've been wanting to get some but I'm nervous because I can't buy them in stores locally as far as I can tell. I was hoping to find ones with more support for my back but as of now I think I'm just going to go with the Motherhood Maternity ones since I think I can at least return those in-store. Since I've barely gained any weight yet and I'm 24 weeks I don't have back issues yet (well, my back aches from standing up more, but since I don't have to work right now it's not a huge problem). I guess if I like the ones I get I may try to invest in one that's more back-support than just helping keep my jeans up while not fully zipping or buttoning them. 

We are 24 weeks as of Sunday! Yay! Patrick is my baby belly photographer and it's hit or miss, so here's my not so great photo (of course, I was also not wearing makeup, so it's partially my fault).

24 weeks pregnant!

I really never feel like I look any different than pre-pregnancy (because I'm still in my pre-pregnancy clothes and all I do is measure my waist, which fluctuates about 2-3 inches from when I started) but then in photos I start to realize my face is thinner, my stomach is shaped differently. I'm really interested to see what my body looks like post-baby. 

I spend a lot of time wondering what William is going to look like. I guess that's normal for any mom, it also is probably a sign that I have too much time on my hands and need to get a job. Unfortunately, my carpal tunnel decided the past couple days to come back with a vengeance. Honestly, I don't remember it ever being so bad before, even when I was doing hair, which has me worried about trying to even go back to doing hair. I know pregnancy can cause carpal tunnel, so it would make sense it would aggravate mine, but I figured I'd at least have started gaining some weight before it started up again. I don't really feel like I've been doing much more with my hands than I normally do so I have no idea where it came from, but I woke up screaming Sunday morning, it hurt so bad. We tried pain reliever (I think ibuprofen works better for me than acetaminophen but I can't take anything but acetaminophen so it just did the best it could), cold packs, wrist braces, hot baths. It's finally gotten better, though.

Still, when we had our 20 week ultrasound done we discovered baby boy was facing toward my spine with his back to the world, so we couldn't even get a profile pic for us.

Lovely view of his spine, though.

She did attempt to get us some shots of his face, but since it's the 2D and not 4D ultrasound it still leaves a lot to the imagination.

Right now I suspect he's going to come out looking more like Patrick features-wise than me, which I'm alright with since we're having a boy. I kept telling Patrick, back when I was kinda hoping for a girl, that the baby better look like me but with his haircolor (so basically, Merida from Pixar's Brave, except straight hair).  At least the nose looks like it's more Patrick's than mine, even size-wise (I had the tiniest nose as a baby).

I think we both hope he gets my eyes, although Patrick may not and I just assume he does because I'm vain and like my eyes (which he does too). Not that I dislike Patrick's eyes, I actually prefer the shape of them, but they're small. My eyes are normal sized but when I smile I have big cheeks that push them up into a squint (so basically, the real-life equivalent of anime eyes). Patrick even has a beautiful color, they're brown but it's almost an orange-brown, which is interesting... But I just want a redhead with gray-blue eyes! Part of me wants it because my father was a redhead with gray eyes, but I also just think blue or green (I wouldn't mind green--my family has blue and green eyes, I can't think of a brown-eyed person) are so nice with red hair! Some of Patrick's family have blue eyes, so I'm trying to keep in mind it's still totally possible we'll have a blue-eyed baby. Just like I'm a blonde but I think it's very likely we'll have a redhead because all of Patrick's immediate family is ginger and I know I carry the gene because of my father and grandfather being vibrant redheads like Patrick.

But I guess we'll just see when the time comes. After all, babies switch back and forth between parents for the first several years of their life, anyway.

I'm the one in the hat, Patrick is the squinty one.

I have yet to start really buying anything for the baby. Partially because I figure I should wait 'til we have a baby shower, partially because we have nowhere to put most of his stuff until August 1 (which I am not happy about, I thought our lease was up mid-July but apparently they give you the whole month so it's August 1... and that gives me a month (that's assuming I don't give birth early) to get a room ready for him. Not happy at all.). Well, I'm sure my mom would store some stuff at her house for us, but there I have to worry about her cats getting on it/spraying it.

Yesterday we did go ahead and buy a nursing pillow and a sling. I figured I might as well because as much as I'd enjoy a boppy, this pillow doesn't look that much different (I think it's thinner) and I got the pillow for free--just had to pay shipping (while I know likely somebody would have given me one at a baby shower, I figure either they'll get something else when they see I'm not registered for it OR I can return it and use the money to get something else I'll probably need. I also liked this pattern more than the boppy patterns I saw at the store).

You can get this at nursingpillow.com

 Then they gave me a code to get the sling for free, so yet again it was just shipping (and I paid extra so that if I have to exchange it once William gets here if I find out it doesn't fit right then I have no issue changing it out). I had had one at one point but it was before I knew what I was having so I hadn't wanted to buy one because while I liked a more gender-neutral one alright, I wanted to go based off gender, or at least know to have that option. But it worked out because they had new patterns so we got one that's very boyish that I think is super cute.

You can get it at sevenslings.com

I'd wanted to get his name personalized on it but I don't plan to call him William when he gets here, though that may be what we do end up calling him, so I figured I'd wait. Also, it'll be easier to give away to somebody if it's not personalized, or to use if we happen to have another boy ever.

I can't wait for them to get here and for him to get here so I can use them.

Our First of May

So Tuesday I went swimming with some friends at one of their parent's homes. The house is really nice and we had a great time, then we decided to go and get some dinner and come back for an evening swim.

When I got there I was wearing my wedding band and engagement ring. I took them off and put them in the bag I had my change of clothes in because I didn't want to risk losing the rings. Admittedly, I wasn't very careful with putting them in, but I remember them going in the bag.

So I get home that night, exhausted because I've been swimming and hanging out for about seven hours at this point. I realize I can't find my rings and I do my best to look through my bag, even clearing it out, but can't find them. At this point I'm struggling to stand so we give up for the night and go to sleep because I told Patrick I felt certain they have to either be in the bag or in front of the pool house. Either way, they should only be either at our apartment or at the house we swam at. We did go out to eat, but at that point I put the bag in my car and rode with a friend, so the rings shouldn't have left that area.

Of course, that night I had a stomach ache from the onion rings I ate plus all the activity, so sleep was not restful for me.

I message my friend the next morning (yesterday), tell her if she thinks it'll be alright that we're going to go back to the house and check out around the pool and just make sure I didn't drop them out there. She responds later with that it should be fine and if we need to get in the pool house then it shouldn't be a problem, the alarm shouldn't be on as far as she knew.

We tried to call her while we were on our way there just to let her know we were headed that way, I really just kinda wanted to be sure I could get in touch with her if need-be.

Well, I couldn't get her, but we carried on with checking around the table outside the pool house and were looking desperately for it out there when we accepted that it wasn't out there. I looked at Patrick and said "Well, it may be in the pool house and she said it would be fine..."

As soon as I open the door the alarm goes off. I quickly close it, thinking maybe it'll shut off (I don't deal with alarms so I'm in hopeful mode at this point), but it keeps going. I look at Patrick and tell him to run (because in my head I'm thinking how while we're not doing anything wrong, her dad has no idea we're there and what we're there for (to find my rings I lost) and I currently can't get a hold of his daughter for her to let him know. I also don't foresee the police being super understanding and Patrick has to get to work in a few hours and, well, I'm pregnant and didn't exactly love the idea of possibly being detained by the police after telling them the truth about why we're there all because I want to find my wedding rings).

We run back to our car, with me in the lead despite being fat (and while I used to be in shape and fat, I am currently not as fit as I once was), starting to get a cold and pregnant and Patrick being the skinny one with longer legs and no baby in him to slow him down. I'm snapping at Patrick to go as he's trying to put on his seat belt (discussing it later he says how in situations like that he tries to play it cool and I tell him "Patrick, people that don't know you recognize you. You're easily recognizable with your bright hair!" When discussing it with a friend later, I realized how much we stand out as a couple. Me being fat and pregnant and him skinny and with bright, noticeable hair... We're just not your typical looking couple, we stand out). We get out of there and as soon as I've caught my breath I try to call my friend again, see if I can't get her so she can let her dad know it was us and it was an accident and we're really sorry, I just wanted my rings. I can't get her so I left a voice mail, we got home and I basically curled up in bed for a few hours trying to get over all the physical exertion I just went through.

So a few hours later I realize Lupe still hasn't gotten to go potty, I'm still worn out but I'm trying to get myself to at least walk thirty minutes a day so I leash her up and we start to walk up to her potty area she likes further up in the apartment complex. As soon as we get there I hear frantic chirping, it's right by the fitness center of the complex so it's hard to hear over the air conditioner, but with Dupe's help I spot a fledgling mockingbird.

Now, every time I've had the privilege of coming in contact with a baby bird, it's been because my mom's indoor-outdoor cats get a hold of one and I'm left to nurse it and take care of it until I can get it to the local wild bird rescue to see if they can't save it.. I have my wild (feral) cats I feed at the other end of the complex so I worry that maybe they, or another cat, could wind up finding this sweet little baby who I'm not sure if he's hurt or not. Lupe is a total terrier, though, and I'm struggling to keep her away while I figure out how to get the baby. In the past, I'd pick the bird up without a thought (it's a myth that a momma bird will abandon it's baby if it smells like a human)--but I'm pregnant, and apparently that toxoplasmosis (no idea if that's right or how to spell it, Patrick and I cal l it the "taco disease") disease that they tell you to avoid cleaning the litter box for or eating unheated lunch meat because of is found in cats that eat wild birds... so I pretty much just assumed that if I hold a wild bird I could possibly get the disease. I decide to run back to the apartment, which was like murder. I wasn't wearing a bra and I'm a big girl with a relatively large chest and... it was not pleasant. When not pregnant, maybe I could manage, but pregnant it was hell. I find a bag, dump out the contents and run/walk/wheeze back to where I found the bird. I coax it with a pine cone into the bag and take it home while I decide what to do with it (take it to a wildlife rescue, etc). I call the rescue I usually take them to and leave a message for them describing the bird and saying how I don't think he's hurt and I'm not sure if I should just put him back. Then, I remember my upstairs neighbor told me she had worked at that same rescue, so I tell Patrick to hurry home from work so he can go upstairs with me to ask her opinion. When he gets there, we go and she tells us he looks fine and he's old enough we can just put him back. We walk back up the hill, me feeling like I'm about to die, and Patrick does the honors of replacing him under the bush.

I get back to the apartment and am exhausted at this point. I've pushed myself too hard in the past couple days. I'm worn out and I feel the cold getting worse. I go to bed and hope it will go away, only to wake up in the morning unable to breathe. It's gotten worse as the day has gone on, my throat is sore from breathing through my mouth instead of my nose and I'm still tired. Then, of course,  figure I should be semi-useful and instead of making poor Patrick bath Lupe I think I can manage it... and that's when my last post about my poop saga begins.

I am a sick, sad little pregnant lady right now.

This post is about this little jerk, our dog Lupe (Dupes).

I am only sharing this story because even though I'm normally not a share gross info with everybody on the internet type person, what happened was pretty funny.

It used to be Patrick would walk Lupe in the morning as she seems to not want to do more than #1 with me. As such, and because Patrick already was pretty much the cleaner of our cat's litterbox pre-pregnancy, I have designated him "the poop guy". So since I'm pregnant sometimes I'm not very patient, or I just don't feel good. Today I just forgot, after I let her out to tinkle I forgot to go back out with her mid-day in order to get her to poop. This is all relevant in that we have recently been thrown off our old schedule and are getting used to a new one... but unfortunately today, before this incident, Dupeh had not poo-pehd.

I was bathing Dupes, she had been playing with her pittie friend, fallen in a hot tub, dug a hole and had just generally gone too long without a bath, so it was time. I had called her in the bathroom, gotten her in the tub, finished bathing her and I had managed to towel her off and was going to let her dry off a bit in the bathroom while I took a quick shower myself. I turned away for a few seconds, getting prepared for my own shower and putting up stuff when I turn around and see her pooping in the corner of the bathroom, so close to the wall that she's pooping on it.. I start saying "No! No!" and she stops. I'm naked at this point, about to get in the shower so I can't run her outside to try to finish her business, in case she has any business left to finish. I was hoping maybe she'd be done and I could get my shower in before getting her out to potty. Well, I was wrong and next I catch her trying to go on the bathroom mat, I manage to get her off it but by this point have accepted she's going to go and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I watch as she poops all over our bathroom floor and I just block her from getting back on to the mat. I realize that I don't want her to think she's not allowed to go in the bathroom--of all the places in our house to go the bathroom is where we want her to if she absolutely cannot hold it, much easier cleanup. So I just sit there and talk nicely to her asking if she's done and when she is I go and clean up all the poop before getting in the shower.

I cannot help but feel like this is just a taste of what being a parent is going to be like... because poop happens, you know? And sometimes there's nothing you can do to stop it, it's just going to get everywhere and you're just going to have to clean it up once it's done.

I've come down with a cold and on top of being pregnant this was just not what I needed today. Especially on top of my day yesterday, which I believe I will share about next because I look forward to telling William that story when he's older.