24 Weeks!

How Far Along: 24 weeks

Baby Size: Baseball Mitt for one more week, GO RED SOX!

Current Symptoms: Slowing down…I think my energy level has started to plateau…or maybe I have just been running around like a crazy person this last week, so I feel more tired. Or maybe its my cold. Celebrating Carson’s birthday in addition to a fun visit with Grampa Moose tuckered me out!  I wouldn't call it exhausted, but definitely not the burst I have been used to the last few months. As I get bigger, I find myself moving more slowly up and down stairs, down the hall to my office, etc. I even had a client tell me that I look like I am walking differently….thanks?

What's Different: The timing of this pregnancy and Halloween! Last time around…Carson was born 5 days before Halloween, and I was smack in the middle of a major medical issue involving my gallbladder, which forbid me to consume anything remotely tasty, including candy! This year is a whole different story. We had a fairly large bowl of candy sitting out at Carson’s birthday party, some of which was consumed by guests…most of which has been consumed by this mama since the party…to the point where I had to go buy more Halloween Candy! I think I better slow down before my glucose test in a few weeks! Can you say recipe for gestational diabetes?

Carson Comments: It’s pretty cute how Carson acts like Wader is already here and a party of the family. He wanted to make sure that Wader was coming to his birthday party, wants Wader to be a “baa baa black sheep” for Halloween, and wants to know what Wader wants from Santa for Christmas. He has been quiet attentive to his baby doll whom he affectionately refers to as “Scooper” (not to be confused with Cooper, which was one of our top name favorites). He enjoys putting newborn size diapers on his doll and is constantly taking off the dolls clothes, stating that Scooper has had an accident and needs a new diaper and outfit! Play mirroring life perhaps?

Daddy Updates:  We have finally settled on a name! It was quite the grueling process! When we were picking names for Carson, this name ended up being our second choice. For this reason, Ryan wanted to toss it out as an option for Wader…if it wasn't good enough for kiddo #1, then it wasn't good enough for kiddo #2! So Ryan dove into the 100,000 baby names book and created a list. I read over the social security’s top 1000 baby names from 2012 and came up with a list of my own. My only stipulation was that I did not want a name in the top 50. (Cooper, btw, was ranked 48 in the state of NH in 2012, that helped us narrow down!). We cross referenced our name lists, and created a top 10 in no particular order. Then we ranked the ten names by our combined preference, and knocked off the bottom 5, believing that they would never beat out the top 5. For the last month or so, we have been trying out the top five names to see what feels right. Eventually, we kept referring to the same two names over and over and eventually just the one! And after all that effort, it turned out to be the same name we almost used for Carson….at the end of the day, I guess we re-affirmed that we truly love the name! We plan on sharing it with our families when we visit them in a few weeks over Thanksgiving, and then we promise to make a blog announcement! Anyway, the reason this is Daddy related is because I knew the name was officially our choice when Ryan was searching for email address options this morning J

Baby Prep:  I have started to make a list on our fridge of “essential baby items” that we will need to acquire by the time that Wader arrives.  We have more than enough baby boy clothes thanks to Carson, so the list is comprised of “boring” things such as diapers, crib sheets for daycare, new nipples for bottles, nursing pads, gas drops, diaper cream, really exciting stuff J We figure if we purchase one or two things each week, we will spread out the list of items between now and February. My friend Kristi has inspired me to do a little couponing. I have a pro bono client that I see that essentially pays me in Sunday papers…free coupons…score! Whenever there is a baby product coupon, I definitely clip it out. We have a decent stock up of diapers thanks to coupons, as well as left overs that friends have passed along when their babies have grown out of various sizes.  I do admit that I have had to use a lot of self-discipline to not go nuts buying more baby boy clothes! I only allow myself to grab an outfit if it is from a consignment shop using store credit. Luckily, I am going to a baby shower this weekend for a little boy, and was able to go on a great shopping spree to satisfy my shopping needs! Watch out Erin, lots of baby boy clothes coming your way!

Wader's current wardrobe

Looking Forward To: Meeting baby Adina Rose Freiman over Thanksgiving! She was born at 38 weeks via C-section the day before Carson’s birthday!  Anna and David Freiman have been dear friends of ours for years and we have shared many milestones together such as graduating college, getting engaged, married, and now parenthood!  Adina and Wader will be in the same grade, and we hope they will be great friends! Anna and I already have plans for summer vacation visits and pen pals! Congrats to Anna and David!

Anna and her daughter, Adina!

P.S. Special shout out to my sister, Dr. Kristen Brewer, who started her first physical therapy job this week following her graduation from med school! 

Aunt Kris!

P.P.S. Carson birthday party pictures coming soon! It was a blast! 

23 Weeks!

How Far Along: 23 weeks

Baby Size: Baseball Mitt for two more weeks

Current Symptoms: HUNGER! I have been absolutely starving! I am eating huge breakfasts, and I am not a breakfast person. Lunch and dinner are equally as large. I bring 4+ snacks to work with me each day and eat them all. I eat a snack around 10:30 PM before bed and without fail, I wake up around 2 or 3 AM starving again! I also supplement by drinking very large glasses of chocolate milk when I feel like I need a break from eating… sometimes I worry that I may be eating too much….but my weight gain continues to be steady, so Wader must just be craving the extra calories! I don’t ever remember being this hungry with Carson…

What's Different: My activity level compared to my energy level. With Carson’s pregnancy I felt pretty sluggish throughout my second trimester which turned out to be linked to Anemia. But that didn't stop me from getting things done….painting the nursery, putting together furniture, helping Ryan with some landscaping, going on dog walks, etc. This time around, I feel like I have all the energy in the world during my second trimester, yet I find myself fairly crampy by the end of the day, especially if I have been on my feet a lot. I ran this by my obgyn today at a checkup, and she said due to my low lying placenta and “moderately high risk” labeling due to fertility issues, that I should avoid cramping at all costs. She basically said “If walking around the grocery store makes you crampy after a long day, then you need to skip the grocery shopping”. Sounds like my body is telling me that even though I have a high level of energy, it doesn't mean I should take advantage of it all the time!

Carson Comments: Ryan and I have boiled our list down to two names, one of which we think we have settled on, and one of which Carson insists he has settled on, and they are not the same. He has been going around to everyone at his preschool telling them his version of Wader’s potential name (which by the way is no longer “Tree”!) When we attempt to redirect him to our name preference, he gets very flustered! For this reason alone, we cannot concretely decide which name to go with! We are leaning towards going with our instincts, in hopes that Carson will eventually come around. And let’s be honest, he could change his mind next week, and want to name the baby “Oatmeal” or something! To attempt to pacify him, we found a baby doll that he has thus far rejected as part of his stuffed animal collection. We affectionately told him he could name this baby his name choice, and he seemed to buy it! He snuggled up with his baby doll at bedtime and informed us that he was the baby’s Daddy. We’ll see how long this lasts!

Daddy Updates: Ryan says he is super excited because he finally felt the baby kick! We checked back on Carson’s blog and noted that he first felt Carson as of 21 weeks. With Wader, it was 23 weeks. I have a theory regarding the disparity between dates. With Carson, Ryan was intensely interested in things like feeling the baby move, putting large headphones on my belly and playing DJ to see what genre of music made Carson move, etc. With this pregnancy, instead of playing with the baby in utero, he plays with Carson from the minute they get home after work! He is very busy being super attentive to the kiddo we already have, which is amazing. I think he also has less patience to sit and wait to feel something he already has felt with Carson. He used to sit during an entire TV show with his hand on my belly just waiting….but with Wader, after 30 seconds he is like “eh, I’ll try again later”. A few nights back, Wader was moving around like a crazy man. I told Ryan to put his hand on a very specific location, and right away he felt a kick! And then another! He was thrilled! I think part of us is also still cautious of attaching to this little guy until he has reached a certain level of viability, but feeling baby kicks makes it that much more real!

Baby Prep:  We have been trying to think more about our birthing game plan. Not so much what will actually happen at the hospital, but more like….what will we do with Carson? The current game plan is to hope that Grammy will be here in time to keep Carson occupied. We have already started talking to Carson about coming to visit us at the hospital with Grammy, and he seems very excited. And if Grammy is not here in time, I am sure Carson wouldn't mind hanging with his buddy, Dean! But last night, Ryan asked….what will we do with Chomper? Good question!! When we had a planned induction, it was very simple to proactively make plans for our furbaby! But what if my water breaks at 2 AM, and Grammy is not here yet? We’ll have to think more about our Chomper plan! Stay tuned...

Just a quick update regarding my low lying placenta situation…I got clarification from my doctor today about just how low lying it is. She said that anything less than 2 cm away from your cervix is considered low lying, and needs to be monitored. Mine measured 1.7 cm away from my cervix at my 20 week ultrasound. We've scheduled another ultrasound for 28 weeks to see if it has moved pastbeyond the 2 cm mark. If it hasn't, they will repeat the ultrasound at 32 weeks. If after 32 weeks it still hasn't moved, then we will get a one way ticket to a c-section! My doctor seems to think that moving .3 cm between now and 32 weeks will be a non-issue, so I am not that worried about it. The silver lining of the situation is that a c-section would be a planned delivery, so we could get Grammy here in time! (unless I went super early?) This would solve our Carson and Chomper issues all together!

Looking Forward To: I think Ryan and I both agree that reaching “viability” in a pregnancy is a HUGE thing we are looking forward to. In today’s advanced medical field, a baby has a decent chance of survival if delivered after 24 weeks, but with some possible long term complications. Babies delivered after 28 weeks tend to have an excellent chance of survival with limited long term complications. So completing next week and then the next month is a pretty huge thing we are looking forward to! 

22 Weeks!

How Far Along: 22 weeks

Baby Size: a Baseball Mitt

Current Symptoms: My cravings for red sauce based food items has really kicked up a notch….still with limited reflux issues. Here is my current list…it is quite the spectrum of meal items! Spaghettio’s, Chef Boyardee Ravioli, tomato soup, paneer marsala (yummy Indian!), spaghetti (with or without meatballs), lasagna, chicken/eggplant parm, meatball subs….have any fun recipes to add to my list? This is new territory for me, as I am not at all a “red sauce” connoisseur!

What's Different: Time of year has been an interesting change for this pregnancy. My third trimester with Carson was for the most part over the summer and a little into the Fall. With Wader, my third trimester kicks off with Thanksgiving, ending sometime around Valentine’s Day! Carson’s birthday is a month before Thanksgiving, adding to a busy Fall. Usually people report feeling like their third trimester drags on…I am fearful that mine might go by too fast!! Historically the time between Carson’s birthday and New Years Day is a bit of a black hole, between the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, traveling, etc. Once 2014 hits, we will only have 6 weeks give or take before this little guy makes his debut!

Carson Comments: We continue to kick around about 4 names that we really like, and recently decided to run some of them by Carson to see what he thinks. We thought we could present them in pairs and see which one he picks, and then pair the last two names together, kind of tournament style! Well…Carson seems to think that he is quite the funny man! Every time we present a pair of names, he answers “no, the baby’s name is “tree!” followed by maniacal laughter. We can’t get a straight answer from him either way! We have explained that in no way will “tree” ever be an option…

Daddy Updates: Ryan says that although the government shutdown is unfortunate, he has been taking advantage as much as possible of his free time at home since his company is at a standstill with the National Archives being closed. So far he has fixed our French door handles, repaired the well pump cover in our back yard, oiled up our squeaky garage doors, installed a new doorbell on the house, and most impressively built new composite front steps! So productive! Ryan says that this time off has also allowed him to focus on baby names…he has suggested that we pick a different name of the four each day, and give them a test run rather than using “Wader”. So far one name keeps popping up more than others… J

Baby Prep:  I took Columbus Day off yesterday since we were able to still send Carson to daycare. Ryan and I did a bunch of projects around the house in the morning before spending the rest of the day together.  When we prepared the nursery for Carson, we had his crib in the room along with a double bed, so that it could be used as a second guest room when necessary. Now Carson has his own twin size big boy bed where the double used to be. I spent yesterday morning reassembling the crib so that it is no longer in “toddler friendly” form, with the mattress raised to its highest level. Carson found it amusing when he went to bed last night, because “Wader won’t be able to get out of his bed!”  We didn’t have the heart to tell him that that was the whole point of a crib! We have also moved the double bed down to our guest bedroom, so now there is a queen and a double in one room, hotel style! This will definitely come in handy when all of our family comes to meet the new baby!

Looking Forward To: Carson’s 3^rd birthday! Grampa Moose is able to make a last minute appearance due to an overlapping business trip in the area. It will be fun to have one last huge celebration for our kiddo before his little brother takes over our world for a while! We are planning a Halloween themed dance party for him with some of his closest buddies. 

21 Weeks and counting!

Black is slimming! ;)

How Far Along: 21 weeks

Baby Size: an 80’s fanny pack (really??)

Current Symptoms: The symptoms theme of this week is lack of symptoms! Earlier in my pregnancy, I would have been worried about symptoms disappearing, but Wader likes to move constantly to remind me that he is very much ok! I think I have gone at least two weeks without a headache…whooo hooo! My acid reflux, which has been an issue essentially since I was pregnant with Carson, followed by the removal of my gallbladder, is the best it has been in probably 3 years! Oddly enough I have also been craving very heavy acid inducing foods such as tomato soup, lasagna, etc. and don’t even need to pop a Zantac! I still have really great energy, and can’t say enough about how much I am enjoying this second trimester.

What's Different: Weight gain has been different this time around. With Carson, I did not gain a single pound until after 20 weeks. I then gained 28 pounds total from 21 weeks until 34 which is not necessarily ideal. Medical professionals believe that rapid weight gain is a common trigger for gallbladder issues during pregnancy. Its not often that people gain 28 pounds in 3 months! I am not sure why I gained weight the way I did…I ate plenty and didn't have any morning sickness with Carson. With this pregnancy, I started off with no gallbladder, so that was a plus! I did have a decent amount of morning sickness, but still have managed to steadily gain weight each week at a healthy speed. So far I am up about 10 pounds. The goal is somewhere between 25 to 35 pounds by 40 weeks. I am pleased with my healthy pace this time around!

Carson Comments: Carson has taken a break from his focus on becoming a big brother this week, because he started PRESCHOOL! This has been a super exciting milestone for him, and so far he has transitioned fabulously. He loves is new teachers, is very pleased to be learning about letters and the sounds that they make, and is grateful to be back in the same classroom as some of his favorite buddies. We have heard from his teachers that he has alerted them to the baby in Mommy’s belly a few times in conversation! So proud of our big brother!

Daddy Updates: Ryan has been consumed with Baby Names!! He has been reading the baby name books during every moment of free time, creating quite the list. I have created a list as well, and we have cross referenced our list, boiling it down to 4 names that we are currently contemplating. Ryan is a master analyzer and thoroughly exploring which name might be best fit for our little guy! I am feeling content with any of the 4 names, and it changes each day as to which one is on the top of my list. We shall see how this all plays out!

Baby Prep:  Baby prep has reached a new level this week as well, as Ryan is on an unofficial furlough! Ryan works for a company that does research out of the National Archives, which is a federal building and has been closed due to the government shut down. Without a place to conduct research…there was only so much “catch up work” Ryan could do at his office. With lack of activities to keep him busy, his boss was gracious enough to send him home as of today, with the understanding that Ryan is to be checking email throughout the day and responding to clients accordingly. This has paved way for Ryan to tackle a bunch of projects around the house – things that we want to get done before the baby comes! Although grateful for this opportunity, as well as the support from his employer, let’s hope he is able to get back to work soon!  

Looking Forward To: I am looking forward to a three day weekend! I did not schedule any clients for Monday (Columbus Day) and Ryan has that day off as well (not counting the fact that he is on furlough!) We hope to take advantage of open daycare that day and have a grown up day, just the two of us! Since Carson’s birthday (October), Thanksgiving/Hanukkah (November), Christmas (December), and New Years (January) bring us right up to when the baby is due, we figure this might be the closest thing to a “babymoon” that we can squeeze in! Looking forward to spending some time with my hubby!