35 Is the Magic Number

I am 35 weeks today AND I have 35 days left until my due date!

My newest adventure is researching cloth diapering. "Naive first time mom syndrome"? Perhaps, but plenty of moms do it (and claim to love it) so I know it can be done. I am now becoming proficient in a whole new world of acronyms. First it was the trying to conceive acronyms (ttc, dpo, wto...) , then it became pregnancy acronyms (ftm, c/s, bf...), and now it's cloth diapering (os, BG, FB...). Cloth diapering has come a long way since the plain white cloths with pins. I won't bore you with all the details but let's just say that there are so many options that you will wonder if your college degree really means much about your level of intelligence. Thank goodness for all the helpful mamas on the internet. The initial investment is a little intimidating but the operative word there is "investment". We will start out with "sposies" and hopefully switch over to cloth after the first month or so (either part time or full time, we will see). I first mentioned the idea of cloth diapering to Jason back in the fall and there was a definite look of disgust on his face. I think he's slowly coming around to the idea and what man doesn't want to hear "It will save us money"? Especially if you know my Jason.

I am happy to say I am done with my 17P injections! I was supposed to get one this week but my prescription was out and my Peri said it would be fine to skip this last one. My rear end is thankful since the last few shots seem to have angered it. For some reason I started getting bruises, knots and itching at the injection site (which is so attractive, let me tell you).

I have an appointment on Friday with my OB and from here on out I will be seeing him on a weekly basis. I can't believe we are already to that point, it's really exciting! It still looks like a cesarean section is in our future but a healthy Guppy is all I'm worried about.

One last thing. My positive note for the week.
I think her room is the happiest room in our house. I've dreamed about that room becoming a nursery for years, even stepping in there a time or two to dream about what it could look like. Now I get to walk in there and enjoy what we have prepared for her. Hopefully there will be picture post before the weeks is over.

March 30, 2010


If you watch the front and right part of my belly then you can see her hiccuping! Excuse my frantic breathing, I was trying to take shallow breaths. Also excuse Friends being on in the background.

The Beginnings of a Daddy

34 Weeks today! That means we are down to 3 weeks until I'm term and 8 weeks to our due date. My doctor's guesstimate on her weight last Friday was about 5 pounds (just by feel, I think that's pretty cool and we will someday -soon- see how accurate he is). Guppy continues to get the hiccups at least twice a day and I enjoy watching my belly move around while she wiggles and squirms. The TV may be on but belly watching is a lot more fun.

I'm at the point where it's easy to complain about the aches and pains of a third trimester pregnancy. As much as it hurts sometimes, I am not here to complain about any of it. That would be a disservice to myself and anyone else who has prayed and prayed for a baby. I would rather list the reasons I am so happy and so blessed. I think each week until she is born I'm going to focus on something positive. On that note... My husband has taken such good care of me this whole pregnancy. When I was on modified bed rest he would fetch me water without me asking. I don't think I have vacuumed since I became pregnant and at this point he has completely taken over dish washing (and the occasional dog washing). Watching him put the crib together with my dad, putting together the bassinet, hanging new blinds in the nursery, etc., has been so fun to see. He's great at taking care of his wife and I know he will be great at taking care of his daughter. I love that man with all of my heart. Ok, if I don't stop then I'm going to have to fetch the kleenex.

And now I'm happy to share my shower pictures with you. I don't know if anyone will ever realize what a special day this was for us!

Yummy table of food. Just looking at this makes me hungry.


My sisters about to be subjected to embarrassment. I just got to watch. :)


Itty bitty bathing suit from my friend Amber. Adorable!


My friend Elizabeth who flew in all the way from Chicago! Thank you for the banana onesie, I love it and can't wait to see her in it.


My parents are starting our girl off right with a pink Texas Tech blanket. We will have to share that.


My dad and youngest niece made an appearance.


My mom and the wonderful hostess Cindy.


Soon to be Mommy and Daddy!


And one of the ever growing belly of course.
March 23, 2010

"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad."
~Unknown

Seventh Inning Stretch

Four weeks until I'm considered full term and seven weeks until her due date!

I saw the Peri yesterday and have officially graduated from going back! FFN was negative (yay!), cervical length still good (yay!), amniotic fluid level is good (yay!). Guppy is guesstimated to be weighing in at around 4 and a half pounds. That is with a margin of error of a pound and a half though so it's not an exact science by any means. We will be attending our last birth class this Thursday and I have a regular OB appointment on Friday. Last Thursday we took a tour of the hospital which I personally found to be a lot of fun. There were three couples on the tour and the preggos were glued to the nursery window watching two newborns get dressed and swaddled by the nurses. Will there come a time when this will be less surreal?

Last weekend was a big one for the nursery. Jason and my dad picked up the dresser which has allowed me to put away the clothes I've been washing and folding. The crib was put in place along with the bumper (turned cornice) over the window. The quilt is now up as well and my crafty mom found a place for the extra bumper by putting it over the closet doors. I'm still being stingy about posting pictures because I want it to be finished first. Just a few more touches here and there and it will be complete.

I've posted the 3D pictures that were given to me at my appointment. 3D sonograms are harder to do at this point since the baby is running out of room and it's hard to get a good view. The sonographer tried her best to get a good picture but the umbilical cord distorted the left side of her face a bit. I still think they are cute enough to share. :)

March 16, 2010


Silhouette of a baby belly


32 Weeks and 6 Days (March 15, 2010)


Her cheeks have definitely started to fill out!

A baby changes your dinner party conversation from politics to poops.

~ Maurice Johnston

Honey, Can You Shave My Legs?

Tap... tap... tap...

That's what it feels like when she gets the hiccups. She has been getting the hiccups about twice a day for the last week or more and I think it's so cute to imagine her in there, hiccuping away. She's continues to give me some good kicks every now and then and sometimes it feels like she is just rolling around. I talk to her and tell her that she can kick me as much as she wants.

Today I am 32 weeks with 56 days remaining until her due date. There is a growing list of things that I will not being doing for the next 56 (give or take a few) days.

Grocery shopping - It seems as though the grocery store puts my uterus in a bad mood. I can't say that I enjoy grocery shopping that much anyway, so I guess my uterus and I have that in common. Let me just say that Jason has been a real trooper in taking over for me.

Shave my legs - Take a breath, lean over and try to reach where I can... Doesn't work very well. I warned Jason that he may need to give me a hand since I will be wearing a dress this Friday to attend a wedding. I was hoping if I gave him fair warning then he would be able to get used to the idea by the time I need him to step in. I'll let you know how that goes.

Pick something up off the floor with any sort of grace - I need some of those grabber things with the little tongs on the end. I'm not sure if it's harder to get down there or get back up. And BONUS, pregnancy makes you clumsy! Ah the funny little ironies of life. (By the way, I didn't believe this pregnancy rumor until I dropped my hair dryer, knocked over my water bottle and tripped, all with in about 10 minutes. I was about to wave the white flag and go back to bed out of fear that I might hurt myself.)

I would say sleep for more than 2 hours straight but I think we all know that a good nights sleep is not anywhere in my near future.

Here are the bird pictures I made that match her bedding. I meant to post a picture of them a long time ago but better late than never. I still plan on posting a picture of my glider rocker but I am waiting until it is in it's permanent spot. I love love love my new glider.

March 9, 2010


The Belly (and I)

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!"
~Psalm 139:13-18

Showered with Love and Gifts

This last weekend was my much anticipated baby shower. Much anticipated by me anyway. Here we are, almost three years after we started trying, and we got to have our shower! Worth the wait, just like our Guppy. It was put together by a family friend and she did such a great job. Can we just talk about the food? Pimento spread, veggies, grapes, punch, chicken salad sandwiches (cut into circles with wheat bread on one side and white on the other, the most adorable sandwiches), pb&j's (cut into fun little rectangles, and of course delish), cupcakes (ooooh the cupcakes). Then there was some sort of cheese ball (like a cheese log but shaped... you get the idea). Oh cheese whatchamacallit, I want more. There were also some people there I think.

Kidding.

My bestie from Chicago flew down just for my shower and I was so excited for her to be there. It made the shower complete by having her there. I was surrounded by friends and family and presents. A mountain of presents. Definitely some of the most fun I've ever had opening gifts with lots of "oohs" and "awws" and "oh how cuuuuuute!". The bibs, the binkies, the bottles, oh my! I will have to share some of the pictures when I get them from my sister.

Jason and I also picked up a new glider last night. Yes, we bought one months back but I slowly realized it was an impulse buy. Craigslist can be a dangerous place for an overly excited pregnant lady. This one is prettier, more comfy and has all the bells and whistles we were missing with the first one. Anyone looking to purchase a used (and slightly creaky) glider? We have one for sale.

On a side note, it's birthday week in the Minter house. Daisy's was Monday, Jason's is Wednesday and mine is Saturday!

Oh where, oh where have my little feet gone...
That bump on the right side is a head!


March 3, 2010


I keep thinking about how that sign above my head is a subliminal message. But there is so much to do!

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
~Dr. Seuss (Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!)

10 Week Countdown

It's weird to actually be counting down for once. This whole pregnancy I have been counting up. I think 30 weeks (and 10 remaining) is when you really start to feel like you are on the downhill ride to the most wonderful day of your life, next to your wedding. Of course I assume that subsequent births are equally joyful, I wonder if it ever quite compares to the time you hold your first child in your arms. The amazement that you and your husband have actually created another little person (not to take any of the credit from God who obviously plays a rather large part in the miracle of life).

Updates for the week.

More good news from the Perinatologist, yay! FFN was negative and according to my doc, my cervix is "a mile long". Both are very welcomed news (thank you prayers still going up). I even got to see Guppy yawn on the sonogram. It was seriously the cutest thing. Between her sonograms and all the baby clothes I've been washing and folding, I think I've hit my quota for the word "cute"... for a lifetime. I'm fully prepared to continue this trend as my shower is this weekend! I think it's cheating that Babies R Us allows me to see what has been purchased off my registry. (I look anyway.)

Off the topic of baby for a minute.

In preparation for my shower, I finally got my hair cut. Only about two months overdue, no biggie. I have to say goodbye to the ponytails for a while and dust off the hairdryer I guess. I drive about 25 miles to my hometown to get my hair cut by the woman who has been cutting it for 8 years now. There are two major benefits to this. One being that I just don't trust most hair dressers. You have to earn my trust to be able to take a pair of scissors to my hair and I learned a long time ago that the ability to listen is a prized commodity. I may have also been scarred by a bad bangs decision as a young woman, but weren't we all? Second benefit is that it is across the street from my favorite place to eat. A sandwich shop that is one year older than I and a place I've been going to for as long as I can recall. I enjoy the experience literally from the second I walk in the door. The place smells like heaven and no other place smells anything like it. I savor every bit of my half chicken salad sandwich, carrot slices, broccoli cheese soup and raspberry tea. I look forward to sharing that place with our daughter someday.

Our Guppy is pretty consistent in her position. From the bumps that show up (and all my sonograms giving clues to what those bump are) this is a pretty good baby map. She is breech but that could still change. I'm noticing that my belly is resembling the shape of an egg (appropriate as Easter is just around the corner).


February 23, 2010

Bouncing Beagle and Bouncing Baby

29 weeks today!

Last Thursday we had quite an event take place. A snow of historic proportions in the Lone Star State. First you have to know that Texans get excited over trace amounts of snow. You know, the kind that barely covers the yard and melts as soon as it hits the pavement. You'll see little grassy snowmen that took every spec of snow in the yard to make but people are still happy. That fluffy white stuff is magical around here. By our local news you would have to assume that absolutely nothing else is happening in the world that is more important than the snow that is falling out of the sky. Although, my whole 28 (almost 29 ::gasp!::) years, I know I've never seen a prettier snow. We had somewhere between 12 and 14 inches and it broke just about every record for the day, month and season. So much snow that our little Beagle could only navigate by way of doing some sort of jumping that resembled a bunny hop and left Jason and I almost in tears from laughter. What's that? Pictures?

Our barely recognizable street

Daisy mid bunny hop

In other Beagle news...

Daisy is adjusting well to all the new baby things in the house. This is her after I sorted the hand-me-downs I got from my sister.

In Guppy news...

Last night I watched my belly jiggle like that fat man's with the red suit. At first a sonogram is the first tangible evidence of your baby. Then it's feeling the movement. I think SEEING the movement has been the most fun so far. It's hard to believe that it all started with something that felt like a little muscle twitch. I basically had to sit completely still, mute the tv, focus and wait... then I might have felt something that may have been the baby or may have been my stomach digesting my lunch. I look forward to her birth more than anything but I know I will miss this. I think part of it's charm is that it's just me and her much of the time. I sing to the radio and enjoy the fact that she is hearing me in there. Oh, I have decided that if I get her used to my singing in utero then she will come out being comforted by it and maybe even liking it. It will take her years before she realizes that her mother has no talent for singing.

The crib is assembled! Daddy and Grandpa (aka Jason and Dad) put it together this weekend. It was pretty cute. Yes, more pictures of course.

Teamwork is key


Dad being dad!


Success!

I am still waiting for the comforter and valance to be done so no pictures of those yet.


Last but not least, some pregnancy thoughts, observations, etc:

More stores should put their bathrooms at the front of the store. Does Hobby Lobby realize how huge their store is? My bladder deserves a medal for that walk.

I now know what my body will feel like when I'm a senior citizen. The knees, the hips and no kidding, I woke up to my left elbow aching this morning.

I never used to pay attention to the difference in brands of toilet paper. When the bathroom becomes your second home you start to notice these things. Angel Soft is neither angelic or soft.

February 16, 2010