WEEK 23

HOW FAR ALONG?    

Today, I am 24 weeks, 1 day exactly! Only 111 days to go! YIKES! I never would have guessed how fast pregnancy would fly by.

This post will be a recap looking back on week 23.

DEVELOPMENTS

A couple days ago the coolest thing happened!  I not only felt the baby moving, but I SAW it!  Talk about nuts! Ever since that first day of seeing it move, it happens multiple times every day.   

In the next four weeks, the baby's weight should DOUBLE (and therefore I’m expecting a big hike on the scale as well.).  At this point, the skin is really saggy because it grows faster than fat develops. After these next four weeks, it will be a lil more plump. 

At this point, he/she is almost a foot long (about that of an ear of corn) with hearing that is getting stronger and stronger (I am still brainwashing on a daily basis introducing him/her to some of the greats: Janis, Otis, Skynyrd, Zeppelin, Wayne, etc. to name a few!)

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO

Wrapped up the baby registry for one. Geez ems. Talk about a nightmare. Thank goodness for the tips I got from everyone as well as for Michael being so helpful with this kind of stuff.

We also attended our first birth/parenting preparation class offered by the hospital.  The classes came highly recommended (some even attended these classes to prep for baby #2, that’s how good they are!).  This week’s class selection was “Special Delivery, Part 1.”  It was VERY beneficial.

Learned all sorts of things:
- knowing the signs of labor and when exactly to go to the hospital
- what a contraction feels like
- Hospital policies…step by step what is going to happen from the time we pull into the driveway, how many people can be in the room and when, food/water allowances, drug administration, the dad’s role (which basically was “this is when you go park the car, this is when you give mom a backrub, this is when you go get the car”).
- Lots of details about the progression of labor (from the science side, to the emotional side, to the “this is when the room is going to get really chaotic” side)
-Terms we'll probably overhear in the labor and delivery rooms and what they mean
- We even got to hold a 3-D chart showing the progression of the uterus. Michael wanted nothing to do with this one!  Hah!
- All the way to the…dundundunnn…a video of a vaginal birth.  WooHoo.  We were on the edges of our seats let me tell ya (to bring back an 80’s term..N O T!!!)

We both definitely learned some stuff we never knew before, so it was worth our time and are looking forward to Part II of the class.

As if I’m a 3 year old, my reward was a kids cheeseburger (mmmm Dempsey’s) and a hot fudge sundae afterward.  LOL!

OPERATION DECO:

Rain rain go away!  We have been trying to get the concrete poured for our new patio for a month now.  We had a nice dry run for about 2 weeks, but the guy was so backed up on other rain delayed jobs, he couldn’t fit us in.  We are on deck, waiting for at least a 5 day run of no rain. So far, it ain’t looking good.  It seriously rains every single day. It hasn’t even been dry enough to mow the grass.

We did get a couple pictures back on the wall (took down for the paint job, and hung them in a different location), the antique mirror mounted (chose to go the professional route to do this for us…this thing is a beast), and finally was able to hang the panels up in the living room (after having them hemmed).  Things are really moving along!

LOOKING FORWARD TO?
Me – A beach trip this Thursday-Sunday with a group of some of my favorite people in honor of Courtney getting hitched.  I am SO excited!!!!!!

Michael – probably enjoying a relaxing weekend without me posting weekend to-do list for us on the fridge ;). IF I had to guess, he’s going to play 1000 hours of tennis (because that is what he considers “relaxing”).

Speaking of, have you ever noticed the resemblance between Michael and Djokovic?!?  It’s uncanny. Especially their demeanor on the court.

Teehee.  

WEEK 22

I had another doctor’s visit today, which was was officially my last visit to the old hopistal.  WooHoo!   I mean, yeah, it would have been kinda cool to give birth in the same hospital I was born in, but considering the fact that they probably haven't upgraded anything in 30 years kinda makes that a mute point.

For those of you not up on Baton Rouge news, you may not be aware that a new Woman's Hospital is underway and is basically in my backyard. This is awesome for many reasons - mainly proximity to our house.  It is about 2 miles down the street and with only one redlight will take us 5 minutes MAX to get there! SO we are excited about this as you can imagine! Not only for getting there for the birth and all, but for my checkup appointments. As is, it takes about 30 minutes to make it to the old hospital (one way)...that is with average traffic patterns....this makes for a stressful lunch break, let me tell ya! Welp, I'm very happy to have my last hectic lunch break of fighting traffic over and done with! 

DEVELOPMENTS

He/she is about the length of a spaghetti squash and looks something like this:

The heartrate was a 147 today...which for those of you who believe in the old wives tale, indicates a girl (but the stats simply are not there to back this up.)

The organs are becoming more and more specialized (the liver is now busy ridding byproducts-the ones that lead to jaundice if too high).

Fine tuning its sense of touch is a cute one that’s underway this week and very rapid brain growth is happening as well – brain growth that will happen at warp speed from now through about 5 years of age (reminder to take prenatal vitamin!!!).

Tiny tooth buds are developing beneath the gums.

Eyes have formed, but irises (the colored part) still has not. Speaking of - Michael is holding out hope that he/she will have blue eyes – counting the number of people in our family with light eyes over and over. Sorry to tell him, I don’t think we stand a chance!

How far Along?    

22.5 weeks

Total weight gain?

11 pounds

How am I feeling?

Not bad. Still rockin out my workouts and staying on top of yard work. The heat of summer has reared its ugly face, so I have pushed every outside activity back another hour - or until the temp is under 90, which sometimes isn’t until 8pm. Pepper is trying to learn patience waiting for her afternoon walks.  She finds ways to occupy herself in the meantime. In fact, here she is now "helping me" do my laundry: 

Thanks, Pep!

Missing anything?
Still sushi! Adding SEAL POSE and "knees to chest" stretches to the list! 
I want nothing more than to give my core a nice big stretch.  Seal and knees to chest (probably has a better name than that, but that's what my pilates instructor calls it) is the best for that, but with the belly tighteness, it's impossible.  My muscles are very needy about stretching.  If I skip stretching after just a mile walk around the neighborhood, I will feel it the next day. Continuing to workout - focusing a lot of my back - has got me in need of a nice big core stretch that I'm unable to do. Instead, maybe I'll opt for a mommy massage!  Sounds like a fair trade! 

Craving anything? 

Not really. Michael has dramatically increased his consumption of pickles, though!  Sympathy symptoms???

Highlight of the week?

I'd have to say 4th of July celebrations.  Got in a lot of QT with the Daboval's and Liz also paid us a visit (welcome home, Liz!)  We went to the pool (baby bump was stylin'in my bikini...Macaroni was moving and grooving out there...must have been due to Megan's awesome playlist!). We managed to also swing by to pay a visit to some of Michael's tennis friends for a get together they were having. Later that night, Michael made ribs (DELish!) and I made grits and creamed spinach for sides and some nutella cheesecake swirl brownies for dessert. Ending the night with a "pop works" show but Michael, Ryan and Brandon. Let's just say we gave the neighboring Country Club a run for their money.  Ha. Or not.  
In a nut sheel, we fit an entire weekend worth of socializing into one very long day!  I am pooped, but it was fun and very well worth it!

OPERATION DECO – UPDATE

In the spirit of staying motivated to continue to scratch stuff off the list, I’m sending over an update.

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 – doing built-in seating, schedule to get ‘er done.

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, dresser (buy, refinish), bedding, glider, lamp (use existing need new shade), side table (use existing), decoration accessories, bedding, organization (after shower)

Living room – paint color selection (after two years of debate!), painting done, refinish antique mirror, buy panels, find hardware to hang, hang panels, throw pillows & blanket, decorative accessories, figure out what the heck to do with the gallery wall above the sofa, order ottoman for chair, new chairs for dining table, replace rug, media storage for right side of fireplace, piece for left side of fireplace (picking up today after work with Megan!), entrance light fixture*, foyer light fixture*, dining room light fixture* (*probably next year),

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

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

UP NEXT?
- My company is participating in an annual fundraising softball tourney this weekend. (Michael will be representing the Guillots.) 
- A "fun" weekend to-do list of knocking out more house projects (this weekend is 1 of 4 available to finish up house stuff before our deadline. Ahhhhh).
- Hopefully we'll also squeeze in a little fun trip to the dog park with Pepper!
- Start to narrow down the BABY NAME list!  This is a not going to be easy. For the most part, there are 3-5 leading boy and girl names with the same ones we keep going back and forth with for each.  We just have to start really thinking seriously about it.