A post about the HEAT and a a Mid-way point update!

It's Friday and i am not very motivated today at work, i am so ready to get home and start the weekend! Not that i have anything particularly fun planned tonight, actually this is one day for next few weeks that i actually DONT have anything planned. I am looking forward to working out, cleaning up around the house a bit, relaxing.... it's going to be nice and quiet. Matt is going to the Reds game tonight with some friends.

So let me just write for a minute or two about this HEAT we have been experiencing. And it's not just hot out there, it is Holy-Crap-This-Is-Just-A-Few-Degree's-Cooler-Than-Hell HEAT! I cant believe how long the high temperatures have lasted-- almost the entire week. It;s odd to drive to work at 7am and see the the temp is already in the mid-80's. It;s been well into the hundreds the last few days and there is no end in sight for the next few days.  And it;s been SO humid! My sunglasses fog up when i walk outside. AND the LACK of WIND! It seriously feels like walking into a world size sauna every time you open a door.  Odie wants to walk with me a lot of nights-- well, basically every night he runs to his leash and looks at me-- but it's too hot for the fury wearing extra layers. It would take him forever to cool down. Poor little guy. Hopefully next week will be better.

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So tomorrow marks the 20 week point in my pregnancy. I can hardly believe it. And if feel compelled to post about it because it's the unofficial/official half way point. The only one who really knows is the little 10.6oz nugget inside my belly. And gosh we cant wait to meet him or her! I want to try to post a little more often during this time because i want to catalogue it and and remember it.  It's just a brief time, and then everything changes and i forget what this baby free time in my life was like as we get ready.  So I guess ill start with the low lights so i can end on the highlights:

LOW LIGHTS

- The weight gain. The not realizing or knowing where the excess weight is going but just hoping it;s mostly baby and it can be lost at the end of this. That leads into another low light-- hearing about people training for running events or their work out routines and weight loss. I dont want to hear about it. I know it's great for you if you are losing weight and doing healthy things-- but this is not the time in my life where i can hear about it be excited. Because my self image is not exactly the highest AND i cant do a think about it.

- back pain i had a few weeks ago. It's strange how now that i am bigger i am feeling better. At the beginning of the month i couldn't WAIT to see my doctor soon enough to ask questions and figure out how to help myself with out the intervention of drugs. But i have continued to stay active and low and behold it has sort of gone away. And by gone away, i mean the pain is not NEARLY at the discomfort level that it was before.  Lets see how this second half goes...

-Having to buy a new wardrobe. O those weeks where i would have to get up in the morning 10 minutes early just to try on half my closet to see what work attire looks appropriate and fits.  And the expenses that have nothing to do with baby. But i am coming around the idea of investing in it since i know i will have more babies (hopefully) so i can just re-wear all this stuff. Including my bra-- that wasn't cheap-- but i couldn't go another 4 months without getting.

- The hormone changes at this stage in my pregnancy. * i will write about the first stage in my highlights *.  I don't like feeling irritable or impatient some of the time. I feel like this isn't me by some of things i say. My husband is a saint for trying his hardest to not be mad at me for every little thing i say and do.

- The restricted diet. Or more specifically, not being able to eat lunch meet and certain cheeses.  Sometimes i just crave a turkey sandwich or a salad with turkey on it. Especially at lunch-- and usually turkey is healthy and good for you. So having to constantly make substitutes makes it pretty hard.

- The extra worrying that takes place when you are doing everything for two. Eating right, being careful, worrying about development, all those things. I am used to just worrying about me.... boy have things changed.

AND NOW THE HIGHLIGHTS:

- Watching how happy my husband it. Seeing how excited he gets about my belly and how much he says he cant wait for the baby. It makes me excited for him to be able to feel the baby too-- i know he will just love it.

- Feeling the baby move for the first time and realizing that there REALLY IS a living person growing in there. And then it makes me excited to meet him or her!

- Thinking about the future, thinking about what this Christmas will be like and all the future Christmas's we have to look forward to.

- I love hearing about how excited my family and in-laws are. Every time we see them they just give us so much attention about how excited they are about the baby.  Matt's whole family just loves kids so i know family parties will be great.  It will be fun to have all my nephews around the same age too.

-I am excited to be able to pick out baby clothes, some stuff is just SO cute.

- This week-- more than any other week so far-- people at work  are starting to ask me if i am pregnant or congratulate me. Maybe it all started because i had to get up in front of a lot of people and give a presentation that people noticed, but i guess i am showing enough that coworkers that weren't there for that are asking. And asking me questions and showing genuine interest.

- I love my friends J and S who are planning a shower for me. It just tickles me pink that they are doing that for me. 

- I love how the first part of my pregnancy i was relatively level headed and didn't have a lot of mood swings. I thought it did great things in that department.  I think my first tri was so easy becausee i didn't have morning sickness and the worse of it was feeling tired.  Now i have my energy back and i have been feeling great. I am not too big and uncomfortable yet-- i wish the rest of pregnancy would feel like this!

- I love brainstorming names-- as overwhelming as i seem to make it in my head-- i just cant wait to finally decide on a GREAT name!

There are so many more highlights than there are low lights, and i know i am forgetting a few. Probably more than a few.  It's hard to believe how quickly it's all going. I feel like December will be here before i know it. Time doesn't slow down it only gets faster it seems.  But i need to slow down and smell the flowers as much as I can.


This is a song i had put on on here two years ago around this time and i loved it. I feel it's appropriate here too.

Hot weather, good weekend

So alas, Monday always comes back around again. My weekend was nice, relaxing, AND productive.
Matt took some time off with me last Friday and we went to my Monthly doctor's visit. The visit was good,  we didnt learn anything major. We got to hear the heartbeat again, this little nugget is ACTIVE.  I scheduled my next appointment AND the level 2 ultra sound AND the fetal echocariogram (sp?).  The ultrasound is the appointment when we get to found out if little Nugget is a boy or a girl!  I was told we could do if after this last appointment, and now i have to wait an entire month now to find out. It just feels like FOREVER! But hopefully it goes fast. This is the thing i am MOST looking forward too:)

The rest of the weekend was nice, Friday night we drove up to Dayton to hear my friend, J's, band play. Buddah and the Boogie Down-- they play rock songs and were quite good, It was also another friend, j's birthday so it was good we made it up there to see them.  Saturday morning Matt and I drove to Loveland to take a photography class from this guy. It was 3 hours and i learned SO much about my new DSLR camera. I cant wait to get out and start playing with it.  I recommend this guy in the cinci area, he is VERy knowledgeable, but also down to earth and personable. I learned a lot.

The rest of the weekend we spent a lot of time hanging out with Matt's parents and swimming in their pool. I got to spend a some time with my sister-in-law, hang out with my nephews, relax a little bit. It's always nice to have free time. We also got some goodwill written off this weekend and got the week's grocery shopping taken care of.  It was the perfect mix of productivity AND relaxation.

In other exciting news, this week was the first week that i felt the baby kick. It's the weirdest feeling, but i love it!! Sometimes when i didn't realize what  i was feeling i would scratch by belly, but then i remember it's our little babe. This little one is busy!! I feel 'him' a lot when i am just sitting in the car because there isn't much to do. But i have been feeling the babe a lot lately, we think he/she is out little Olympian swimming around in their training for the 2028 games. Cant wait to find out if the swimmer is a boy a girl, cant wait to meet him or her!! Almost half way there!!

Happy things this week

Since i never have much time for updates, but I at least want to jot down those few things that have made me REALLY happy this week- or well, the since the last post--

In no particular order:

Seeing S and J last night for pizza and getting a big surprise from S with a HUGE bag of maternity tops. She must be telepathic or something, but they were all SO cute. She got them from her sister or sister-in-law ( I cant remember) and she gave a bunch to me. She is pregnant and she needs clothes too! Ah, just LOVED it. And love how cute and classic everything was.

(Unlike the clothes my co-worker, Sue,  has been giving me. She finally said something to me this week after i haven't really made any kind of announcement). She is much older than i am, never had any kids, but has some "fat clothes" that she is giving me. And they are ALL not really my style at all. I dont see myself in any of it. I dont know how to say thanks, but no thanks. But the gesture really is VERY sweet. And considering i never really told her i was expecting, very sweet.

I loved having a birthday this week and getting a little extra attention.

I loved my prenatal massage i got on Monday (my birthday). It was amazing. I got to enjoy a pain free existence for almost 24 full hours. So great.
I also loved the fantastic steak dinner on Saturday
The amazing BBQ after our yard sale with J and C.
And i LOVED going to Teak and being able to eat a few sushi rolls with cooked fish in them.

And MOST of all! I love my AWESOME birthday present from Matt. A brand new Canon DSLR camera!! It incredible. It was a gift i have always wanted and never asked for. Just something that would be SO cool to have and do, but never spent the money. AND we are taking a class on Saturday to learn how to use it. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!

I have a baby appointment tomorrow (after my dentist to fill a cavity (boo) ). Looking forward to it SO much. I have a bunch of questions. And that means my NEXT appointment this month is the BIG ONE!

Happy Friday

It's been a good short week, and the 4th of July weekend was very enjoyable. Got to see my family, go to the reds/indains game, go to not one- but TWO cookouts and eat delicious foods, see Matt's entire family, hangout with friends, and even get some stuff done around the house.  The weekend always seems to blow by, but it's been a really nice week. Since it's Friday- and even though it's raining-- id  thought i would post a few things that have made me very happy happy  recently.
So here goes-- this week-- in chronological order!

• Last Friday i was cleaning stuff up around the house and i went to get the mail and i noticed a few letters and stuff that fell through our mail slot and was on the floor. One was a card like envelope and noticed it was post marked a week before. I was out of town and felt a little worried that i never acknowledged this since its was a week late. But i opened it and it was a card from my old college roommate T, who i have gotten a little less close so since she moved away. There was a few years where i felt like we didn't have much of a friendship really, but things are slowly coming back together in the last year or so. Anyway, she sent me a sweet congratulatory baby card AND a $20 dollar baby gift card to Target to help with the baby shopping. I was sooooooo touched! Honestly, even getting a card to say congratulations was so sweet to me. But a gift card too, it just seemed so beyond thoughtful. It makes me happy just to think about it.
•  When my parents came to visit last weekend my mom brought me stuff in a little bag. First she got me a cute little peasant dress so i can have another outfit that is comfortable AND fits. Since i wear the same 6 outfits over and over again. She also bought me a elastic,  but pretty,  ring to use in place of my wedding and engagement bands as my hands are ever so slowly swelling. Every week they get a little tighter. And in the heat outside, they are practically sealed on my finger. It's really pretty and REALLY comfortable. AND it will definitely be nice to wear something to show i am married when i cant wear my rings anymore. But the thing that REALLY got me, she brought me a gold chain with a pendant on it that said "Baby" with a down arrow. My dad got it for my mom when she was pregnant the first time and wore it when she was having me.  I LOVE it. Probably one of my most treasured gifts. Just because it has a history and it's from my dad to my mom and to me.  I love it. And the chain is so pretty, i just cant get over how much i love it.
• This week i told my good friend F that i was having some lower back pain and i wanted advice since she does Yoga. Well she asked her yoga instructor and called me that night to give me some good options to stretches and even looked up places near by my house that have prenatal yoga classes. She just so above and beyond, and really made me feel cared about.
• Yesterday when i got home from work there was a little gift outside my front door left by F. She dropped off 3 ADORABLE little onsies with a card saying how excited she is for the baby.  Honestly, it blew me away. She said she left something, "but it wasn't big."  But seriously the gesture is O so big to me.  It really, really meant a lot. And she probably has no idea how much i appreciate those things.  It really made me happy.
• This morning at work today my coworker L brought me some TUMS. And it's very sweet because they know how much i don't like milk and she wants me to have my calcium. It's a small gesture but it shows she cared.  In fact, the gestures her and G make at work everyday make me happy. They are so excited about the baby, they ask me all kinds of questions and really show a genuine interest. Really. I don't think they know how much it means to me, but it means the world.
• And lastly, for my loving husband that has been giving me massages this week for my back. And taking walks with me when there is time. He has been amazing. And i cant forget the little things.

Although things seem busy at work and sometimes i get worried about things, there always seems to be something right there ready to cheer me up.  I cant forget how lucky I am. Here's to another great week!