The Thing Called Love

So here is our lil' lady, monkey, jumping bean, Cor Cor, Cora belle, sugar lips...we have lots of nicknames for her already. Most of you have probably already seen these pictures in the last week considering I have shown them to everyone (including their dog, cat and parakeet). It is one thing to know you have a baby inside, and to even feel her moving. It is a totally different level of realization once you see their precious little face. The more I look at these pictures the more I am convinced she looks like her daddy, which makes him very happy. We had so much fun watching her during her 3D sonogram last week. She yawned a lot and even smiled a few times. She also punched me the entire time with balled up fists and it kept making the sonogram technician laugh. At least I now know it is her little fists punching me instead of her feet kicking, not that it makes it any better. I hope she's not already mad at me. I didnt include a belly shot this week because it has basically remained the same. I am hoping it doesn't get much bigger. I have heard enough "Whoa you are huge" to last me the rest of my life.
So, like I said, seeing Cora's face got me even more excited that she is almost here, but for days I had this new feeling of anxiety that I couldnt put my finger on. I went through all the typical anxieties...am I scared about the birth? No. Am I scared that something will be wrong with her when she comes out? Not really. Finally, after much thought, I was able to figure it out. I am anxious about how much I will love her. I know this sounds nutty (I've never been accused of being normal) but give me a second to explain. I know how much I love her now without even meeting her yet, so I cant even fathom how I will feel once she is here in the world for me to hold and take care of. I know what intense love is already, but this is different. The love I feel for my parents is one example, but that is a love I have always known, there was no beginning. The love I feel for my husband is different also. It intensified as I got to know him. But this love is something that will come the second she is born and will be at the highest intensity right off the bat that I am scared my heart may actually explode. Thank goodness I will already be in the hospital. Anyway, that is how I have been feeling the last couple of weeks and I keep trying to remind myself that I have to take a deep breath, relax and just go with the flow. Man, I am the worst with anticipating things!
I am now 31 weeks pregnant and the Braxton Hicks contractions are in full swing. For those of you who have never been pregnant, BH contractions dont hurt, your stomach just gets really tight for about a minute and then goes back to normal. Its really hard to explain..it just feels "weird". Its just contractions that prepare your body for real contractions once the time is here. As much as I want her to be here ASAP, I really hope she doesn't make her arrival until at least after May 8th. I am flying down to Orange County (dont worry, my midwife said its ok) on April 28th through May 2nd for my baby shower weekend. My sister, her husband and their baby Savannah are flying in from Texas and my cousin Onnolee is coming in from Florida just for the shower, so I will be damned if I miss that! Also, the weekend after that my mom is getting married. Unfortunately I cant go because I will be 37 weeks pregnant by then and she is getting married in Vegas. Vegas is no place for hella preggo chicks. So anytime after that, Cora is more than welcome to show her pretty little face.

Until next time folks...see ya! 

I'm huge...and how are you?

I dont know if you can tell by this pic, but I have gotten even bigger this week (week 29). How am I feeling? Um, uncomfortable as hell! My lastest problem is sleep apnea...which I self diagnosed myself with. I kept my husband up all night last Sunday because he said I was breathing really loudly and then suddenly I would stop breathing and then gasp for air. Apparently this went on all night long and he was one grumpy papa-to-be on Monday morning. So on Monday night I tried wearing these off-brand nose strips that I had bought earlier in my pregnancy. If there is one lesson to learn from today's post it is to NEVER use off-brand nose strips. First off...they dont stay on your nose all night and then the next morning you are left with a layer of glue that only gasoline can remove. I didnt actually remove it with gas...but I figured that since not even rubbing alcohol would take it off, then it was probably only gasoline that would really do the trick. On Tuesday my sister insisted I need to tell my midwife what was going on since lack of oxygen for me meant a lack of oxygen for the baby. I called my midwife who told me that it was "not a pregnancy related problem". I am confused by her logic since in my opinion just the fact that I am pregnant, especially in my 3rd trimester, would mean that any medical problem I am having would be considered pregnancy related...duh. She told me to call my primary doctor and see if I should be referred to a sleep center. I did that...and never got a call back. I took matters into my own hands and went to CVS after work and got some Saline nose spray and some actual Breathe Right strips. I am happy to report that it worked! Aaron said I didnt wake him up not once during the night and I slept the whole night through (besides tossing and turning to get this belly situated). Oh, and not only did the strips stay on all night...there was no leftover glue to piss me off the next morning. Bam!
Anywho, the next thing coming up on our schedule is our 3D sonogram on Sunday. This is the sonogram where we get to see what this little jumping bean looks like! I am so excited. I already know from the first sonogram that she only has one head, so that's a relief. Now I just have to worry about her having a proper nose and lips. The weekend after that I have Breastfeeding class (yay, so fun!). I am just hoping it doesnt involve me having to expose myself. Aaron and I have already gone to 2 out of our 6 birthing classes and I have to admit, they are kinda scary. In last week's visit we saw the infamous birth video, which I have to say, the instructor didnt properly prepare us for. It started with a woman talking about pregnancy and then BAM, all of a sudden we see a close up of her...birthing region....and it was a little jarring. Aaron surprisingly didnt even flinch, while I was busy covering my eyes and going "oooh God!". He says he was happy he saw it, while I actually walked away wishing I hadn't.
Other than that, I have just continued on my quest for the cutest nursery. I forgot to put this in my last post, but I had a wall decal customized to go over Cora's bed. Here is what it will look like (except the wall will be painted a very light lavender).

Also, I am glad I didnt buy the rug in my last post because my sister found one way cuter and thankfully I purchased it right before they sold out. 

And last, but not least, my Dad and his wife Carol are going to get us the crib I want! So excited that everything is coming together. Cant wait until I can show you a pic of the final product.

Until next week...Bye!

Nursery Obessed

So now that I know where we will be living when lil' Cora makes her debut, I am now obsessing about her nursery (even though I still have a whole month before we move into our new house). Immediately after I found out I was having a girl I decided that I wanted the color lavender for the nursery. I started out by picking out the bedding, which I thankfully recieved as a gift from my mother for my birthday. 



I will be painting the room a light lavender color to match the bedding. After deciding on the that, I realized that the nursery needed a "mascot". My mom painted a picture for my sister's baby nursery that was of Alice in Wonderland and she said that for my baby she had chosen to do one of owls. I liked the idea so I decided the owl would be the nursery mascot. Since the bedding I chose did not have a matching mobile, I found this one on etsy.com that I am having customized with the lavendar and green. How freakin' adorable, huh? I love the nest.

My awesome mother is also going to buy me the glider for my nursery (thank God...those things are expensive!) I chose this one from JCPenney. I figured I needed to throw in some green so it didnt look like a grape threw up in the room. Doesn't this chair look comfy?

I know what you're thinking...what about the crib??? Chill out. I am about to show you. I really liked the crib my sister has for her daughter Savannah, so I registered for it on Amazon.com. I really like how feminine it is and the fact that it converts into a toddler bed, a day bed and then a twin bed.

 Of course, if some beautiful soul doesn't come along and purchase this for me as a gift then I am going to get this crib...which is much more affordable for me considering all the other furniture I have to purchase.

There is one thing about our new house that I am not fond of (and quite honestly, dont understand) which is the fact that the baby's room doesn't have a closet. I know, what??? So, because of this I am forced to buy andarmoire to hang her cute lil' clothes in. Thankfully, Ikea had one that wasn't too expensive. I am also going to get this 2-in-1 changing table/dresser. I have a feeling lil' Cora is going to have a lot of clothes, so she will need the space.


Now for the finishing touches. While the baby's room might not have a closet, it does have custom blinds so I dont have to worry about curtains. That should save me a good $100 (who knew cloth could be so expensive). But, my sister, the new sewing queen, is kind enough to be making me a valance so the windows have a little touch of decor. She is going to make them out of an extra pair of the polka dot sheets that go with my bedding. Thanks sis! The bedroom also has wooden floors, so a rug will be needed. I am having a hard time deciding on one for a few reasons. 1) rugs are ridiculously expensive...I mean ridiculous! 2) Its hard to tell if the colors will match when all I have to go on is an internet picture 3) Every time I pick one out that I love, I read the reviews and they are usually bad. This one is currently the front runner, but I am having a hard time pushing the purchase button quite yet. (this is not a full pic of the rug, the border goes all the way around)

So, there ya go. That is what I have picked out so far in my nursery obsession. I am sure once it is all in the room and put together it will look a lot more marvelous. I am just hoping that we get it all done before she comes. But, as my sister put it, its not like Cora's gonna come home and say "what the hell, why isnt my nursery done?"

13 more weeks???? Oy veh...

Ok, so I have finally hit my 3rd trimester! I am very happy about this because it means that if the baby were to be born today that she would most likely survive (although she would be damn early!), but on the down side it means that I still have 13 more weeks to go...which makes my head want to spin right off my neck. Somebody shoot me! Not with a gun...but with a really good tranquilizer gun. Something to knock me out and/or give me a good buzz. Since I am a dwarf (not really, but close enough) it means that my body isnt built to carry much weight and consequently I am having trouble doing anything these days. I am, however, extremely good at eating and laying on my back. This is probably how I have gained the 26 pounds! Yup, I'm up to 26. Remember when I was complaining about 14? Thankfully nobody thinks I am big anywhere but my stomach and my boobs (my husband's nickname for me is currently "big tittay momma"). Its funny because people either think that my belly is huge or tiny...never anywhere in between. Its usually the people who knew me before that say its huge.

Anywho, this past Monday I had my glucose test. The sugar drink wasnt bad, it was the 2 hour wait amongst wierdos that I disliked the most. I had one guy sit next to me who felt the need to tell me his life story...and it wasnt pretty. He had a huge open wound on his face that kept grossing me out. He started the convo with "so, are you 8 or 9 months?" Thankfully our convo was short lived. I found out at my Wednesday midwife appointment that I passed the test with flying colors. No gestational diabetes or anemia. I also found out that the baby is already head down (although she can still go back up and down again before she is born) and that that was what has been causing my crotch pain. Yes, I said crotch pain. It feels like someone kicked me really hard in the pelvic bone.

We also got some other good news this week. Well, I should start off by saying that we didnt get the house I spoke of in the last post, but we found one we liked even better and we got that one! It is completely remodeled and even has a white picket fence (the American dream...right?). It has two bathrooms instead of just the 1 we have currently and one of them includes a nice size bathtub (thank you Jesus). The master bath  has his/her sinks! No more cleaning up my husband's shaved hair! The kitchen is beautiful and even has a separate bar with its on sink. In the back yard there is an unattached guest studio (where my babysitters can stay while I am drinking at said bar) and a gorgeously landscaped backyard. Unfortunately, we dont move in until April 15th which will only give us 6 weeks to get everything in order before the baby comes. We (or I should say...Aaron) has a lot of work to do. I have been busy picking out baby furniture and such and I will leave the actual moving and setting up to Aaron (Haha...I mean, poor baby). We are very excited to have found the perfect place and just in time.

Life is beautiful right now...even with a sore crotch!