Baby Booty

Arrrggghhhh, we be garage sale pirates today..... lol. ya, that was lame-O.

But we did totally garage sale it up today. there were miiilllionnnns of them everywhere. We lucked out on some awesome childrens books at one and then hit a bunch of duds before we found a yard sale for La Leche League. It was cool to talk to the ladies there and I got a flier for the Plaza/Brookside group. We're going to the meeting next wed. now. awesome, I hope there's a bunch of militant lactivists there, cause I'm totally hardcore like that. :D seriously. I am. Anyway, it was neat that the yard sale ladies knew our doula Sarah and were talking about how she was THE BEST and totally AWESOME (ya, we knew that!). They were super friendly so I'm psyched about going to the meeting.

Then on the way home I remembered a shop in our little village of Waldo that I hadn't been to yet so we stopped there. They had THE cutest baby stuff EVAR, so we ended up making a wishlist (aka baby registry). They do their baby wishlists in a cool way, I guess as soon as your shower invites go out, she creates a display with all the things you wrote down in it and that way people don't have to search for them, genius! The shop is Alexandria's Place off 73rd and Wornall. We also bought baby a few things that we just couldn't resist.



Mark is going to go into the office tonite, so I'm going to tag along and force myself to do some pretty intense knitting on the baby blanket I'm trying to finish. We know how to live it up on a Sat. nite don't we? whoooo hooooo! lol. :D

I Love You 2nd Trimester

The 2nd Trimester is everything they said it would be and I'm loving it right now. Of course as long as I don't have any crazy nerve pain that makes me walk like a very old woman and screech in agony every time I get up, I'm grrrrrrrrreat! Which is why it makes me a little sad when I think about how we only have another week until we are technically in the 3rd trimester. Not that I'm not totally excited to get to Sept. and birth the heck out of this baby, but it's been so nice here in the 2nd trimester. I'm not really excited to get to this phase they talk about where I'm tired of being pregnant and "want it out." that doesn't sound very pleasant, but hopefully not as bad as the 1st trimester.

Speaking of 1st trimester, it's funny how I kept talking about how awful it was and I didn't understand how you'd ever want to go through that again. I've almost totally forgotten already what it felt like. Hormones are pretty crafty that way. I'm in a very sentimental place right now and keep talking about when we should try for a second baby. lol. Which is weird for me, because I never planned on having more than one biological child. Our plan was to birth one and adopt one. We still would like to adopt eventually, but now those tricky hormones have me thinking crazy things like "oh, well two isn't bad, I mean we'd just be replacing ourselves...it's not like we'd be helping overpopulate the earth with just two." but I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes with Baby Saoirse first. :D

Week 27 (Sunday)

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14.4 inches long with his legs extended. He can now open and close his eyes, and he sleeps and wakes at regular intervals. He may suck his fingers, and although his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with assistance — if he were to be born prematurely. Chalk up any rhythmic movement you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and isn't bothersome to him, so enjoy the tickle. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. Wonder what he's thinking?

Nursery Sneak Peak

Paper Cranes

One of Mark's ideas for the nursery is to fold as many origami cranes as we can and hang them from the ceiling. We bought some paper today and will work on it over the next several weeks. I thought it might be cool to send an open invitation out to our blog readers to join us in our quest. The legend goes that if you can fold 1000 paper cranes, your wish will be granted. now, I'm realistic enough to know that 1000 might be a ginormous stretch, but it's still a nice gesture to make as many as we are comfortable with. In Japan, the paper cranes would be given to a baby as wish of long life and good luck which I think is very sweet. :)

How to Make an Origami Crane

1000 origami cranes

Dr.'s Appt. Wrap-Up

Everything is looking good, so not much to report. Next appt. is 6/20 and that one will be a big one. We'll get another glucose test, and do some blood work at that point.

I did get totally scolded for drinking a Sprite for lunch though. lol. the midwife remarked that I had sugar in my urine again, so I offered up that it might just be the soda I had at lunch. I thought her head was going to explode! lol. "NO SODA!" she said. I was like "but it wasn't diet! and it was caffeine free!" (forgot to add sugar substitutes to the banned food list down there) anyway, she was relieved that it was caffeine free but was still too much sugar, even if it wasn't full of the evil sugar substitutes. lol. I felt like a bad bad mommy-to-be. :( I also felt like crap because I haven't been walking and doing my yoga as planned, mostly because I had alot of pelvic pain (round ligament pain) and now I'm battling my on and off again sciatic nerve pain, which sucks big time. So she showed Mark how to help me with some stretches and things that might help with that and ordered us to walk daily. Mark got scolded too, she yelled at him to "Turn off that phone and come over here!" which was totally hilarious.

I felt pretty good about the fact that I still am under my starting weight by about 5 pounds at almost 6 months. She said I should start gaining from this point on though. but she said it could be as little as 6 pounds when all is said and done which will put me at only gaining like 2 pounds from where I started. That would totally rule. I love my pregnancy metabolism!

Week 26

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber), from head to heel. The nerve pathways in her ears are developing, which means her response to sounds is growing more consistent. Her lungs are developing now, too, as she continues to take small breaths of amniotic fluid — good practice for when she's born and takes that first breath of air. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

Gold Star for Mark

Mark is impressing the crap out of me on a daily basis now. He tracked down an awesome deal on a car seat on Craigslist ($35 bucks! score!) yesterday and we went and picked it up last night. One more item checked off the list! yay!

Our goal is to get all /most of our necessities as soon as and as cheap as possible. I know some people wait on their baby shower, but I would never assume that anyone is going to gift me anything, much less a $140 car seat.

Nursery update: it's painted a VERY lime green color that's sort of shocking when you walk in. lol. Not really what i expected, and I had to change my whole vision of this nursery, but we can work with it. i did some drawings last nite with oil pastels and Mark is going to whip up a couple this weekend. We want all the art in the room to be Tooley originals. :D Also, we're going to stencil her name in huge letters on one wall surrounded by polka dots. we figure it might help her learn to spell it. lol. Can't wait to finish up so we can post some pics!

Baskin Robbins = Idiots

So I got all psyched up about a promotion that Chuck brought to my attention, that yesterday was "Bump Day" and they were giving away free ice cream cones. SWEEeeeT! I thought, but then I find out that they are trying to give away SOFT SERVE to pregnant women. someone in marketing is a big giant idiot and didn't do their research. Soft serve ice cream is on the "foods to avoid during pregnancy" list. Reason: the machines that hold the ice cream do not get washed as often as they should and there is a risk of contracting listeria which can be fatal for baby.

Mark told me that he saw something online about how Tori Spelling (who is pregnant) was in Hollywood for this "Bump Day" promotion, handing out ice cream for Baskin Robbins but no one was showing up. LOL. Maybe because having a free soft serve cone isn't worth the chance of miscarriage, premature delivery, infection in the newborn, or death to the newborn. duh.

In case you're interested, here's other foods to avoid during pregnancy:

Swordfish
Shark (there goes my famous sunday night shark roast! lol)
Undercooked meat and poultry
cold deli meat and hotdogs
limited intake of shrimp, tuna, catfish, polluck, salmon
raw fish and shellfish (no sushi)
Unpasteurized dairy products
Caffeine
Herbal teas (depends on who you are talking to)
Alcohol (duh)
raw vegetable sprouts

Book Registry

Most of our baby registry is going to be thru Babies R Us, and Happybottomus, but I did a baby registry/book "wishlist" on Amazon.com yesterday. I really wanted a list of all the books I love and would like to have for Saoirse, mostly for myself but it might be handy for gift givers who like buying books. :) I've probably got more to add, but this is as far as I got so far. and yes, i REALLY like children's books. alot.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/1J6NLWWAG2KT7

There's definately a baby in there...

Baby moves ALOT now. On and off all day, everyday. It's kind of like having a rumbly tummy most of the time, but now and then I get a kick/punch that startles me and it's like "weird...there's somebody in there!" lol. :)

When she's really going crazy in there I pet my belly and talk to her and she calms down really quickly. I think she really likes when I talk. I like to imagine that is the case anyways.

Our next doctor's appt. is next Friday 5/23 @ 3:30. not that our appts. are very eventful these days but I still get all excited.

We're hoping to get alot done on the nursery this weekend. Mark's goal is to finish cleaning and get it painted. I'll definitely post some pics when it's finished!

Week 25 (Starts Sunday)

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. His hair is probably recognizable now (in color and texture), although both may change after he's born.

Mark is Famous!

Mark made the main page of one of my fav. blogs Cute With Chris! and some of the comments are hilarious! :D Although, he got some information wrong, I'm still totally psyched! YAYYYYY!

http://www.cutewithchris.com/2008/05/men-with-pets-3.html

Sweet Snuggleboots

I received my FIRST mother's day gift today! lol. Mr. Mooty Mcfurry-Mewface surprised me with a gift certificate for a hour long prenatal massage! Fancy!! He even called to get a reference from Sarah, our doula, instead of just calling any old salon/dayspa/whatever. AND he tackled our huge laundry mountain over the weekend and has started on cleaning out the study to make room for the nursery.

I love my Best Buddy. He's snorgleriffic. :D

Worlds of Nappies

We went today to try to register at Happybottomus in downtown Lee's Summit. Unfortunately the owner was out so we'll have to go another time. But we had fun showing Becky all around the shop, which is totally awesome. Mark bought me a button sure to make me very unpopular that says "Epidurals are for sissies" lol.

I was very excited to see that they do have our compostable/biodegradable disposable diapers and wipes. We're planning on using those for the first month probably and then switch to cloth, but also keep some disposables on hand for outings. At this point I think that the pocket diapers will be our most economic & convenient choice but I haven't totally ruled out just plain pre-folds with diaper covers either. If you are interested, here's a good explanation of all the different kinds. http://diaperpages.com/cd_article.php

There are so many choices now, it's kind of overwhelming, but fun exploring all of our options as well.

Mushrooooom Mushrooooom!

We HAD to buy this organic cotton mushroom toy today @ Happybottomus, and now I keep singing "The Badger Song" in my head over and over. lol.

Week 24

I'm a day early on this, but I'm off today, sitting around doing laundry and feeling baby do flip-flops and pummeling me with her little hands and feets. lol. :D

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when she was just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), that makes a pretty lean figure, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds are developing. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance **that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

Things are Happening!

We woke up early this morning to have a special 'bon voyage' breakfast with Cyndie. She is on her way to D.C. at this moment! well, technically she's stopping in Kentucky to visit some friends tonite, but tomorrow she'll roll into D.C. Anyway, I'm very excited for her, she should have a very eventful 10 weeks and be back just in time to get ready for her niece's arrival! :D Mark is sad because he wishes she could live in our attic forever and when she gets back she'll be moving into a place with one of her friends. I definitely will miss her, she's been a great roommate for the last 18 months...but I wouldn't want to try to write my thesis while living with a screeching newborn downstairs either. lol.

Baby Saoirse was excited by the orange juice I drank apparently because she was kicking me up by my bellybutton pretty enthusiastically and I got Mark to scamper over just in time to feel a couple of tiny thumps from the outside! He was awestruck I think. lol. That was only the second time I've been able to feel the movement on the outside, and I'm so glad he got to experience it with me.

Thank You Sandy!

Sandy is pretty freaking awesome. Last nite she sent me home with a gigantor bag of baby clothes. So I'm pretty much set now on the newborn onesies (25), and pajamas (15). lol. There's a stack of blankets in there too, some 3-6 month jackets and a coat and a couple of other items. We are set! yay! So I'm hoping if people want to gift clothing, they'll mostly stick with 3-6 month fall/winter stuff cause we are good on the newborn clothes now I think. Oh, ya there is a car seat cover doo-dad in there too. sweet.

I Heart Spray Paint

Look @ What I did! I seriously hated our dining room light fixture and wanted a new one. But I'm also incredibly cheap so...

Before :(
Didn't think to take a picture of the chandelier before, so this one will have to do.

After! :)

Mega Kicks

Today, in between the Brookside Art Fair and going to the most awesomest bra store in the universe, baby gave me some super megatron kicks. The first two made me yelp and when I put my hand on my tummy, I actually felt the third on the outside! So amazingly cool. :D

FYI for the ladies...you seriously HAVE to go to this shop in Independence. It's called Intimate Designs and I just came home from there with 2 bras that feel like fairies knitted them out of clouds just for me. They give you a pretty thorough fitting and have you fill out a questionnaire and everything. Sandy and Abby both told me that they had heard people talking about this shop so apparently it's famous or something. I can see why. I almost cried with happiness as I was leaving. lol.

Mas Libros

I've slowed down a little on the reading, mostly because there's not much left to read that isn't terribly repetitive, but here are some more for my list.

Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife
Creating Your Birth Plan
Babies Remember Birth
DVD: A Doula Story: On the front lines of teen pregnancy

Ya, I guess I'm going to start in on Sarah's doula materials now. I think doula training is definitely in my future at this point. :D

Entering Week 23 & Month 6

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). His skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing. He can swallow, but he normally won't pass his first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when he hears them outside the womb.