Week 21

Week 21

After much ado, here is a bump pic for your viewing pleasure

This was taken day one of 21 weeks, and I swear in the 5 days that have passed since then, it has grown even more. 

WHAT’S NEW
Macaroni is on the move!  Although I had felt the ole butterbean making a few nudges here and there over the past couple weeks, this week it’s a different story. 

My daily rhythm is to go non-stop, balls to the wall, then I finally hit the wall and crash for the night (typical me: it’s either 0 or 100%).   These days, I am crashing earlier than usual in that I call it quits and finally sit down for first time around 8:30~9pm. As soon as a do, macaroni jumps for joy.  Literally.  It moves for a good solid hour (feeling movement every 15~30 seconds within that hour).

For those of you who have been pregnant, you know the feeling.  There are no words to describe it. (Although sweet for now, soon to be painful as it runs out of room and is kicking at my ribs!).  Nonetheless, no matter how bad of a day I’ve had, I smile (and more times than none will giggle out loud) with every move I feel. 

To add to the excitement, Michael got to feel it for himself for the first time!   As well as sweet Lilly.  She and Pepper actually took a few breaks from each other this past weekend for her to feel my belly!

Side note: that Lilly and Pepper....friends for life, let me tell ya. I mean, just look at this sweetness. Pepper was so tired she literally couldn't hold her own head up. Hahaha. 

Great Danes truly are gentle giants!  

GROWING MACHINE

This week, the baby should be the size of a large banana and should weigh 11 ounces. Should  is the operative word here, as you can recall from my week 18 update, it was already weighing 10 ounces at that time, so who knows how big it is now!   

DEVELOPMENTS

It’s been practicing swallowing and digestion (via amniotic fluid) for the past couple weeks now and it’s taste buds are officially up and running!  I am consciously trying to make my diet more expansive than it already is – exposing the little booger to as many tastes as possible.  Hope it liked the salmon we had last night, because I sure did!

It also has eyebrows and eyelids now.  Those will come in handy for sure!!!

Other than that, it supposedly sleeps for about 12-14 hours a day. I wonder what the heck it’s doing the rest of the time in there (my mind instantly goes to scenes from the movie, Look Who’s Talking!).

HOW AM I FEELING?

Physically - pretty fantastic. I’ve had a good string of really good workouts lately. You know how sometimes you work out and you just kinda make it through the work out, then other days you feel like Rocky climbing to the top of the steps in his training to fight Apollo?  The latter is the kind I’ve been having lately and to me, there’s hardly anything that compares to that feeling!   This is something that brings me great pride. I put a ton of work into organizing my pregnancy workout plan (weeks of work in fact!) and I am thoroughly enjoying executing that plan!  Geaux me!

Emotionally – different story.  I have been more and more worried about the whole giving birth process. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a person who likes to prep for things wayyyy in advance. So in my true fashion I am trying to emotionally prep as much as possible for the all too many things than can happen. Doing this puts me at ease - so thanks to all of you mommies out there who have given me advice. Chats with good friends (thanks Anne Neal!) make me feel all the more confident about the situation. 

In addition to that,  I am soooo over all of the house deco stuff. I mean, geez ‘ems. We put it off for 3 whole years and here we are at crunch time wanting to throw in the towel. What’s that a sign of? Dislike, that’s what.  And ya know Michael agrees! I’m telling you, neither of us can stand all of this crap. Not my forte to say the very least. I suppose this is how some people feel about cooking and baking.  Of all the friends we have across various professions, by golly, we need one in interior design because this girl needs help. I hate every bit of it – spending the money, making the decisions, coordinate the people to do their jobs and get the stuff done they say they’re gonna get done!, wasting so much time on it, etc, etc. etc. Oh why can’t I just win an HGTV makeover contest?!   Regardless, progress is being made. My next post will feature an update on that.

Until then....HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

WEEK 20

Appetite for Destruction!

This past week, I have wanted to eat any and every sugar loaded treat I came across.  This is NOT my norm.  I’m typically a big fat eater (cheese, olives, and lots and lots of chocolate). Because of that, I made a strict “no sugar in the house” policy for the week, which we adhered to pretty good. 

All of that will be blown out the water this weekend, though, as I get to baking away for a trip to Thibodaux Saturday. 

A coconut pie for the in-laws and chocolate, white chocolate chip cookies for Baby Brennan’s baptism party!  Mmmmm.  Those kind of treats are worth it. Not so much the sour gummies from Fresh Market!   

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This next part (Q&A style), I’m copying from a sorority sister of mine, Tara.  She is such a cute pregnant person with such a creative blog (she’s due with twins any day now!). I loved this idea of her of how to quickly divulge info to y’all, so here goes...

How far along?  21 weeks this Saturday.  Here's what our butterbean looks like:

Total weight gain?  7 pounds (which officially means I weigh more now than I've ever weighed in my life, but for good reason!)  Considering most of that is baby business, I’m very pleased at that number and know my metabolism must just be working in overdrive, because I have been eating non-stop!  The good news is that the baby is bigger than it should be (which means I am pumping plenty enough nutrients in my body).  At this point, I could have gained up to 11 to still be in the healthy zone.  Glad I’m got some wiggle room for that inevitable monster gainer week I’m bound to hit.  I like have cushion in the bank!

Maternity clothes?  Sitting here typing this, I am wearing my very first pair of maternity pants!  Ahhhh sweet relief!  While I have 2 pairs of work pants that technically still fit with the button extender, they are not nearly as comfortable as the maternity specific ones.  I’m still wearing the you-know-what outta every dress I own (and new ones purchased!) lately, but my office gets a little chilly sometimes so I needed some pants!  I could get used to this over the belly thing.  SO comfy!

Miss anything?  SUSHI SUSHI SUSHI!  Oh how I long for one of our 3 hour Sushi Yama trips – complete with a full jar of pineapple sake!  Luckily it is CRAB season and Sushi Yama has an unbelievable blue crab spring roll (that is completely cooked) and full of delicious lump crab meat that somewhat gives me my fix! 

Movement?  FINALLY starting to feel some bumps in the trunk….hah…or should I say bumps in the bump. Not very often, but I still feel them. Typically around 1 and 10pm and during my workouts.  I think the little sucker likes all the movement and music. Prolly getting in some of those crunches it was doing in the last sonogram. TeeHee.      

Symptoms? Just some round ligament pain that started happening around week 17~18 and will supposedly stick around until the end.  Nothing too bad, but nonetheless, any sort of discomfort in the belly reason can makes a girl nervous. 

I am careful to separate my heavy activity at least a day apart. For example, I had a very hard workout yesterday, so am going to take it easy today and just walk my girl Pep around the neighborhood and do some cooking and baking in the kitchen.  Taking it easy basically means that I am nixing mowing the grass and mopping the floors from my to-do list this afternoon.   I could do those things, but know the ligament pain will be felt much worse tomorrow…and I’d prefer to take the safe route.   As Leigh Anne (sister) and Shelby (brother) can attest, it’s in our genes to overwork ourselves by trying to do way too much in one day.  I’m trying to suppress that desire while pregnant as much as I can!

Belly button in or out? In, but creeping its way out.  I’m so nervous it’s going to stay out! 

Mood? This past week has been a grouchy one for me (sorry, Michael!).  For no good reason at all.  Ahhh hormones!  

Looking forward to? This weekend for our trip to Thibodaux Saturday to visit the family and give Brennan some kisses!  As well as next weekend…Michael is going to be out of town for work ALL week (returns Friday) and I know I’m gonna be ready to hang out with him this weekend. 

Highlight of the week? Getting a new vacuum cleaner.  (What has my life become?!)  This has been a long time coming….it's a dyson which means this puppy was expensive (but worth every penny), has a 5-year warranty and is a model specifically designed for pet hair. There are just some things in life that give truth to the saying “you get what you pay for.”   For the past 6 months, vacuuming in the Guillot house has been done on hands and knees using the tube of a shop vac!  Imagine that!  Freakin’ pitiful is what it is!  The shop vac works wonders, but talk about a back ache.  Well, back ache no more……hello new investment:

19^th WEEK

THE LIFE OF A CONTRACTOR!

House Projects/Operation Deco:

In an earlier post, I mentioned “operation deco” stating I’d elaborate later.  I think I’ll use this week 19 update to give you the scoop.

With Baby Guillot a’ brewin’, we have decided to give ourselves a deadline for getting all sorts of projects complete.  Deadline = AUGUST!

By everything, I mean everything – mainly a wish list of to-dos and décor stuff that have been 3 years in the making, with some new editions thanks to our upcoming “new addition.”  For those of you who really know Michael and I, you know that when it comes to stuff around the house, we are…how do you say…a lil lazy!  I think a deadline is going to help keep us on task as well as the sense of accountability created by sharing our mission with all of you!     

THE LIST

Patio extension – size, design, vendor, press ‘go’, be patient waiting to furnish until next year (or later this Fall when Summer stuff goes on sale!).  

Landscaping – design decision, complete the job, plant final 3 trees after patio slab is poured

Breakfast nook - decide to refinish existing table and get new chairs OR do built-in seating.  (Leaning towards built-in seating because it’s unique, had a brainstorming session with a carpenter today at my lunch break in fact. Waiting on his feedback/quote).

Keeping room – design, chairs…find and pick fabric, server table or hutch, deco accessories, panels, light fixture…purchase and hang, throw pillows, decorative

accessories, coffee table, rug

Nursery – window covering decision and installation, crib-buy and assemble, shelves, dresser, bedding, glider, lamp, side table, decoration accessories, organization (after shower)

Living room – paint color selection (after two years of debate!), schedule painters (finished last round this morning and I am VERY pleased!!!!), refinish antique mirror (in the works, it was picked up early this morning before I went to work!), entrance light fixture*, foyer light fixture*, dining room light fixture* (*probably next year*), throw pillows, decorative accessories, figure out what the heck to do with the gallery wall above the sofa!, media storage for right side of fireplace, piece for left side of fireplace (picking up after work today with Megan!)

Gutters – Find a vendor, schedule to get ‘er done.

Garage – shelves and organization (thanks, Michael!), 2^nd freezer

{stay tuned for BEFORE and AFTER pics}

Lagniappe for Aug deadline:

~ Holiday decorations – Plan for holiday decorating and battle plan (keeping it overly simple this year with basically no travel!)

~ C’mas gifts – including wrapping.  The good news here is that I bought the first official present of the season last week (for one of the 7 nephews, John Carter. He’s always an easy one because we share a fun common interest)!)  WooHoo!  One down, a bunch more to go and LOVE scratching things off my list so far in advance!

~ Tailgate and football weekends organized (inc’l plans for tickets we won’t use this year)

We are going to try our best to stay busy knocking all these things out this summer so that come the Fall, when I’m nice and huge and uncomfortable, all will be done and we can hopefully use that time to 1. relax and 2. deal with last minute stuff that is bound to pop up.  Some of you may think I’m crazy, but those of you who know me, know that this is actually the best way for me to avoid getting stressed.  The more prep work I do ahead of time, the more relaxed I am when it’s ‘go time.’

Hopefully the next time I post an update on all of this, there are many many more items scratched off the list as well as some good lookin’ “after” photos for your viewing pleasure!

Let the games begin!

Wish us luck!

WEEK 18

Today I am 18 weeks, 5 days preg, which leaves 149 days to go!

We are very happy to say that yesterday’s doctor appointment was a success.  All is well in the world of Baby Macaroni Guillot.  The only comment made was to point out that the baby is bigger than average.  Like, WAY bigger.  At this point, the baby should be 6.7 oz average, when in fact, it is 10 oz!  Yikes!

Dr. Hollier said there’s nothing to be concerned about. My first question was to wonder if my due date was inaccurate – negative. It’s spot on.  I was also worried that maybe I eating too much sugar or something like that, causing the baby to turn into a fatty.  She assured me that since my stats are a-okay and my weight gain (right at 5 lbs) is to par, all is good.  It can just be chalked up to genetics.

On to the good part….look at those little feet!!!!

See at the bottom of the pic, they are in “pilates stance” or as you dancers know it “1^st position.”

At this point, the ultrasound tech looked at us and said, “I think your baby is doing crunches!”  And it was!  It was the funniest thing!  We watched it do about 6 c-crunches in a row.  (wonder where it learned that from?!  Hummm)  

And here is a pretty little profile pic!  Looks like a Gauthier nose to me!

 

Of all of the things we are in awe of (it is a miracle happening inside of me after all), I think the most astonishing thing was to see how much it was moving.  It would not keep still!  Like a little acrobat in there.  Watching the heart pump was pretty awesome, too. I loved watching the 4 chambers in action.  Oh Emily Zerwas Ritchie, how I wish you lived closer…then we could play and watch the baby on the ultrasound machine all day whenever we wanted!