Monday, April 21, 2008

Catching up...

Tuesday Art, Me & my Mom went for a tour of St. Clare's. All I can say is Holy Shit! The maternity ward is so beautiful! I've heard great things about this hospital but it was nice to see it for ourselves and see where we need to go and what exactly what will happen when the time comes (well, not EXACTLY what will happen). They took us to see the labor room, the nursery and the private SUITE we'll be staying in after the baby is born. The suite is amazing. It has a pull out couch for Art (He's staying with me in the hospital), a private bathroom with shower, TV, DVD player, Internet Access. It was like a freaking hotel room! The best part, besides that it's private which means no sharing of the room, is we get to chose when the baby stays with us. If we want we can have her in the room with us all the time. If we want to get a good night sleep before we go home we can chose to keep her until bed time and then send her to the nursery. Oh, and another bonus, every new Mom gets a massage before they are released from the hospital!!! How awesome is that? Overall, we were all very impressed with the hospital. I have to say I got so emotional leaving there. When we were walking the halls some people who were staying there had their doors open so you could see into the rooms. You could see the new baby's and the visitors coming in with flowers and balloons. It just made everything so real. In 4 few short months that will be Art & I with LC and people coming to visit us. Maybe it was just my pregnancy hormones but it really got me teary eyed. Luckily I held them back until after we left the hospital!

The end of last week was a little rough for me. I had my first couple of days of feeling like complete crap! I think I'm doing way too much at home. Art tells me to sit on the couch and relax while he works on the baby's room but I just can't do that. I feel helpless. So Wednesday Art was working late so I started working on the touch upsin the room. Thursday I woke up and my legs and back were killing me. I told Art it felt like my legs couldn't hold up my body. Like there were going to give way at any moment. Then the pain in my lower back...OYE!!! So I had to take it easy for the last few days. Thursday I went home and laid on the couch with the heating pad on my back. Friday I felt much better. But that taught me a lesson! I really have to watch what I'm doing and how much of it I'm doing.

We also went to see another daycare on Thursday and I think this is it! It's in Denville. We were both really impressed with it. It's a Kinder Care but a smaller facility which I really liked. The director was great and we got to meet the teachers in the infant room and both were really nice. There is one more we're going to try to see this week but we'll probably enrolled LC by the end of the week.

I'm feeling pretty good though! I can't be on my feet too long. After walking around Saturday I had to lay down for an hour or so to rest. I have to get it through my thick head that I can't do as much anymore. But I'm eating much better. I even gained 3 pounds back which only puts me down 5 pounds. I have a feeling I'm going to start gaining now. I feel myself getting bigger & bigger.

Nursery updates:
Friday we went to Home Depot for the chair rail and carpet. They're coming in Saturday (the 26th) to measure and give us a quote. When we got home Art put a piece of the chair rail up and it looks GORGEOUS! I just can't believe how one little piece of wood can make such a difference in a room. I can't wait for it all to be done because it's coming together so nicely. Our little girl is going to have such a pretty room! That's about all we did with the baby's room this weekend. Art worked a little on it but we spent a lot of time running around and packing for our trip Friday. Thank God we're going on vacation! We both REALLY need it!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Fun filled baby weekend!

We got a lot done this weekend.

Friday I went to Home Depot and got the pink paint for the baby's room and Art started painting away. I LOVE the color! It's so pretty. I told Art if we wanted we could just leave the room the way it was (with the pink on top and beige on bottom) but I really want the chair rail & stripes...LOL!

Saturday we spent about 5 hours in Babies R Us. That's a LOT of time in one store!!! We met Art's parents there because they generously offered to buy us our furniture. We got there and showed them the set we liked. Then we saw another set we fell in love with so we were trying to decide between the two sets. We decided we loved the original set so much more but then we couldn't decide on the color, either Tea Stain or Espresso. We FINALLY made a decision. I posted the link below. We're sooo excited! I can't wait for it to come. The changing table actually has a hutch but we thought having the two big pieces (the armoire & the hutch) would be too much for that room so we just got the changing table. If we want to buy it later on down the line we could.

Here it is:
http://www.babiitalia.com/html/bi_pts.html

After that was ordered my in-law's left and we stayed so we could register. Wow, that was a lot of fun yet very confusing...LOL! But I think we did a pretty good job. Of course I came home and had my Mother critique it for me. I love some of the stuff we registered for though. It's just so cute. After we left there we went to TGI Friday's for lunch/dinner and went over everything we got and what we missed. All we kept saying is "I can't believe we just registered for our daughter!" It's so surreal!!!

Sunday we dedicated the whole day to painting the nursery. The top and bottom were pretty much done we just had to work on putting the tape up for the stripes and painting those. Art did a great job on tapping the stripes which is a LOT harder than it looks. We got half of the room done. We'll just have to finish the stripes on the other half, do some touch ups and then the room is done! I'd say definitely by the end of this weekend. Next thing on the list, going to go to Home Depot to price a new rug. We'll do that some time this week.

I had another check up this morning. In my practice there are 6 doctors, 3 woman and 3 men. Throughout your pregnancy you have to meet with all of them at least once. The one I met with today I had never met before but he was the nicest man I've ever met! We heard LC's heartbeat and we went over the results from our ultrasound on Wednesday. He said the baby looks great! She's measuring right on schedule. He also said I looked great! I still haven't gained any weight (I'm down 8) but he said I'm doing really good and I had great coloring. What ever that means...LOL! Then what he said was music to my ears..."You look great, the baby looks great so you're ok to fly next week!!!! WooooHoooo...Jamaica here we come =)

Thursday, April 10, 2008

IT'S A GIRL!!!

We're having a little Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!

The tech at our NT Scan (the same tech we had yesterday) told us she thought we were having a girl and she was right! We're both so excited! For the last two months we had Girl in our heads and Art is really looking forward to it. He said if they told him Boy it would have really thrown him off! He says she's going to be Daddy's Little Girl...LOL!

I tried posting some pics below that we got yesterday but they weren't coming out right so I posted the link. The tech gave us about 9 of them. LC wasn't co-operating so we couldn't get a great pic of her. For the last couple of nights I've been getting up at 12 a.m. to go to the bathroom and when I lay back down the baby moves like crazy. I told Art he's got a night owl on his hands. So when the baby wasn't co-operating yesterday I told Art we were disturbing her sleep time. You can really tell in the pic below because she's covering her face like "Leave me alone Mommy!" It was so cute!

After we left the hospital we called our family & friends. Everyone is real excited. I also called my Grandpa. He likes to make the phone calls to everyone in the family to spread the news. When I was on the phone with him he asked me if we had any names picked out. I told him we were unsure of the first name but we'd like to have the baby's middle name Ellen, after Grandma. He was so touched and so excited! I said to him "Well it's such a beautiful name." And he said "Well she's a beautiful lady. My lady!" I can only wish that after 64 years of marriage Art & I are as in love as they are.

So here comes a busy baby weekend. Friday we're going to finish painting the bottom of the chair rail in the nursery and then go to Home Depot to buy the pink paint for the top. Saturday my wonderful Mother is coming over so we can get some things together for the shower. After that Art & I are going nursery furniture shopping with my in-laws and then we're going to register. And Sunday is more working on the nursery. If everything goes well the room will be painted (at least the first coat) by the end of the weekend!

And to top everything off we came home to a BEAUTIFULLY paved driveway!!! I've never been so happy about asphalt in my life!!!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8KctWrNuzaxE

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

20 Weeks = HALF WAY THERE!!!

Well we've officially hit the half way mark! I can't believe it. Time is flying by! Saturday Art & I went for our first baby class. It was just an introductory class. They tell you about symptoms you're feeling and how to deal with them. They gave me stretches I have to do everyday and a relaxation treatment. They also taught Art a massage to give me when I need it! They said I could give it to him too but is that really necessary? Next week we're going for a tour of the hospital. My Mom's coming with us so she can see the hospital too. I think my Mother-in-law is pretty familiar with it considering she works there...LOL! We also signed up for a Baby and Pets class. They give you tips on how to bring the baby home if you have pets. Marino is a very jealous little man so I'm afraid he'll have some adjusting to do. The easier I can make it for him the better!

I think my cravings are starting to kick in. Art had to work late yesterday so I was home watching some movie. The girl in the movie took out a coconut cake and started eating it. After seeing it that's all I could think of!!! I text Art "I want a coconut cake!" He must of thought I was nuts! But he went to A&P for me and brought me home the BEST coconut cake a pregnant girl could ask for!!! I even saved some for tonight! Art said he wishes he was pregnant so he could eat whatever he wants! I'm feeling great though. No complaints at all! I'm still down 7 pounds but my doctor isn't worried at all. She said the baby is growing and is healthy so that's all that matters!

Tomorrow is a VERY big day for us. We find out for sure if we're having a boy or a girl!!! I'm so excited I can't sleep at night. I was up at 1:oo this morning just thinking about it. After this I have a feeling it's going to go by even faster. So many things are on hold until we find out...registering, finishing the nursery, the shower. So say a little prayer that LC (my short name for Little C) co-operates and they'll be able to tell. Otherwise I have NO idea what we're going to do!!!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

I finally felt the baby move!!!

So Tuesday night after the tornado (or what sounded like a tornado) it got really windy outside. Marino does not like the wind and when Marino can't sleep, I can't sleep. So I was up from about 12-3 watching movies. I watched the end of Message in a Bottle (cried my eyes out of course) and Something About Mary. Well I guess he/she really liked the movie because at about 1 a.m. I felt the little flultters of Little C moving around!!! It was so amazing! I don't know why but I just froze. Like if I moved at all he/she would stop moving. Then I looked around for Art to tell him but he was sleeping in a coma so I couldn't wake him up. I wanted to tell someone so badly so I looked at Marino & said "I just felt your little brother or sister!" You know it's bad when you're having a conversation with your dog at 1 o'clock in the morning! But I was convinced he understood me...LOL! I told Art in the morning and he smiled so much! He knew I was waiting for this!

Wednesday I was laying on the couch and I felt the baby again. Art was sitting on the couch next to me and I told him I just felt the baby move. He got up to come over because he wanted to feel him/her too but I told him it was too soon for that. He wouldn't feel the baby for a few weeks. He got all upset. At night when I was going to bed he put his head to my belly, as he does every night, to "listen" for Little C. He claims he heard the baby moving around. He heard little bubbles and he knew it was the baby. He's so cute sometimes!

Tuesday was 19 weeks. One more week until the BIG ultrsound. I changed the date from the 16th to the 9th. I couldn't wait anymore! Besides, the week of the 16th I'll be 21 weeks. This is a 20 week ultrasound so it only made sense to change it =)

Anyway, here's the 19 week picture! I can't wait for the warm weather!!!