More Nursery Sneak Peak

The nursery is almost finished as we come up on the 22 week mark (this Friday.  Holy cow!)  Speaking of cows, ahem, I am starting to show quite a bit.  It's almost easy to see that I'm pregnant now, and not just a recent indulger of a large dinner.

Here is a picture that will be hanging in little Baby Cakes' bedroom.  I love it, the elephants, the phrasing, everything.  Just perfect.

I added my own unique touches, of course.  And I promise, once all the crafty projects and furniture is in place, I will be posting tons of pictures of the nursery.  So many that all of you will hate me.  

Just as long as you still love Baby Cakes.

20 Weeks Down, 20 Weeks To Go

It's finally here!  The halfway mark, people!  I have been pregnant for 20 weeks, 140 days (give or take), and there is only 20 weeks or 140 days left to our due date.  Of course, Baby Cakes could choose to completely ignore the due date, as most babies do.  I don't mind as long as he or she comes in the 37 to 42 week little window.  Are you listening to your mother, Baby Cakes?  You have from December 14th until January 17th to be born at home.  Otherwise, we have to go to the hospital.  So let's keep it within those dates, darling!

Yesterday, as I have mentioned already, was our 20 week anomaly screening.  The results were awesome.  Heart, stomach, brain, all major organs, legs, arms, head, everything is well formed.  The sex of the baby was determined by our midwife and the technician, but kept a mystery to hubby and myself.  Our midwife even put a folder over the monitor so I wouldn't be tempted to look while the technician got between baby's legs.  She is amazing.  I recommend her care to every pregnant woman in the middle Tennessee area.

What I found funny, was the technician commented on how active the baby is.  I told her I feel Baby Cakes moving all day long, until around 9:00 pm, then all is quiet on the western front.  Or uterus front.  Which is really lucky for me.  But baby made sure to put on a show for everyone viewing.  And, taking 70% after his or her father and 30% after his or her mother, was very stubborn and difficult in letting Beth get certain measurements and readings.  With a little twisting and turning on my part, she was able to measure everything, and got some amazing shots of our little one.

And we also got to see a healthily pulsating umbilical cord.  Honestly so amazing to think that is my baby's lifeline right now.  Good thing they said it looked really healthy and strong.  But I know you all did not come to the site to hear about a pulsating umbilical cord.  You came to see video.  Well, here you go people.  Enjoy the squirmings of our little Baby Cakes.  And if anyone is an expert-gender-deducer, just keep that info to yourself.  I want to be surprised by what is there (or isn't there!) upon our birthing time.

Family and friends, you will be seeing the extended version soon.

I honestly understand how every parent thinks their child is the cutest and most beautiful one in the world.  Because our baby still resembles Skeletor, and I think it is the most perfect and amazing and adorable child that has ever existed.  And I already love him or her more than I could ever love anything else on this world. Besides Patrick.

Do you think I'll give my child a complex when they look back on these writings and see that we referred to him/her as he/she??  Eh.  All parents mess up their kids in some way or other, right?

Hypnobabies

Class last night was AWESOME.  I am so so so happy I chose to go with Hypnobabies as our birthing method.  And that we are doing a water birth.  I know that some women prefer having their babies in the hospital and with epidurals, but that just never appealed to me.  With Hypnobabies, I can birth my baby at home, in a calm environment, all while being comfortable and relaxed.

Hypnobabies is a course that not only teaches you techniques in natural childbirth, prenatal exercises, pregnancy healthy diet rules, lactation practices, etc., but they also instruct mommies and their birth partners (Patrick) in learning medical grade anesthesia.  This class is not to be taken lightly though.  You can't randomly listen to your cds, scripts, or attend class with the hopes of great results.  You have to set aside around 40 minutes a day to study and practice the techniques.  You have to believe completely that you will have a pain-free birth, that your body and baby will know what to do.

We are also not allowed to watch reality birthing stories, movies, or other television shows that portray birth in any other way than the peaceful experience it can be.  Basically, we are deprogramming everything society has taught us from birth - that having a baby is scary and frightening and a disease needing to be cured.  This is far from true.  I am going to have to ask now though, very politely, that everyone refrain from telling me their birth horror stories, or even just rumors they have heard about childbirth.  Patrick also needs to be cut away from these stories.  We love all of you, and we respect your own experiences, but this is part of the method we have chosen.  And we are embracing the method completely, not halfheartedly.

It's funny to me.  If someone is going into a major surgery on their heart or to remove cancer, people give them uplifting stories of hope.  When a woman goes to give birth, people come crawling out of the woodwork to tell her EVERYTHING that could go wrong.  No one needs that kind of negativity.

Here's a breakdown of what we went over last night in class:

• Circle yourself with only positive visualization and imagery about your birth
• Construct and stay in your "Bubble of Peace"
• Focus on only what you want - The mind is not as capable of dealing with negatives, so don't think about what you DON'T WANT, only what you WANT
• Allow no negative birth stories from friends, family, strangers, tv, or movies

We were also given "homeplay" instead of homework... because it's so fun to do, you can't call it work... yes corny jokes are awesome.  I giggled in class when she said it.  Not even going to lie!  CDs to listen to, practice putting ourselves under deep hypnosis, reading scripts together, and reading informative articles and books.

Know what the best part of class is?  We get to bring pillows and blankets to lay on the floor and be as comfortable as possible.  There is even a part of class that the lights are dimmed, and we undergo hypnosis.  How many college classes encouraged pillows, blankets, and sleep???

Just a different kind of final exam!

If anyone has any further question about Hypnobabies, my instructor, or how to get in touch with 9 Months and Beyond, please feel free to contact me!  I don't know a lot right now, but I will help all I can.

143 Days to January 4th

We downloaded little countdown apps for our phones.  Today, 143 days remain until we hit our due date.  Which is just a guesstimate, of course, but it does give us a time frame in which our lives will change forever. Already are changing forever.

At this time, in years past, Patrick and I would be spending every weekend night out, hanging with friends, hitting bars and restaurants, going to the movies, staying up until dawn breaks.  No more.  Nope, we are lucky to be up at 11 PM nightly.  Normally, we are hitting the sack around 9 or 10.  And it is only once every few weeks that we make it out to hang with our friends, and never as late as in the past.  But, just between you and me (and the millions of other people on the internet), I am ok with this change in lifestyle.  Because I will be a MOM.  And my desire to see the little face that is half mine and half Patrick's, well, that's pretty doggone important.

I suppose I am starting to show a little bit more.  A couple of days ago, at Target, one of the associates asked when I was due.  After telling her my due date, she informed me that all four of her children were born around the times of the full moon, and perhaps I should check out when the full moon will be.  Which got me thinking, that is a viable suggestion.  It is a proven fact that birth rates increase around the fully waxed moon.  Hmm.  So I hit up the Farmer's Almanac.

A full moon is expected a week before my due date, on December 28th, 2012 at 5:21 AM.  The Full Cold Moon.

It's just a thought.

Plus, if this kid pops out before the new year, we get a tax deduction for 2012!  Woot woot!

Baby Cakes, I promise, that's not the only reason your dad and I decided to have you.  It's just a cherry on top.

19 Weeks - Almost Halfway There!

So when we first got pregnant, I had every intention of taking tummy pictures weekly, and monitoring my growth.  Well... in real life, sometimes we don't follow our exact plan.  Ahhh... the best laid plans of mice and men.

Anyway, today Patrick and I made sure I put on my Chive On getup and he started snapping pictures.  Here's an update on the belly growth.  Guys, I am carrying this kid super low...

Baby Cakes is 19 weeks old, 6 inches long, and aspires to be a kick boxer.

Patrick wanted a front tummy picture.  And for some reason I could not stop laughing.

June, on the other hand, was extremely bored with the picture taking.  Hopefully she'll be more excited once the baby comes.

First Kicks and Missing Dogs

The past couple of days have been ones of hectic concern in the Cakes household.  On Monday, August 6th, around 3:00 PM, our two pit mixes decided to make a break from our fenced-in backyard whilst being let out to relieve themselves.  Worry began to ensue when 7:00 PM came around, and we had no phone calls from their ID tags, no response from the craigslist ads (yes ADS, more than one), and no sightings of their little brown furry bodies while driving through our neighborhood and the surrounding subdivision.

Our fur kids.  Our ulcer causers.

Patrick and I spent Monday night "sleeping" in the living room (fitfully turning on the couch and staring out the windows doesn't really count as sleeping) with our blinds pulled open and the outside lights on, in case June and George decided to wander up to the front door.

Tuesday came, and Patrick reluctantly left the house to go to work.  I left the couch and immediately went to the computer, to report our puppies missing to all the surrounding counties' humane shelters and vet offices.  I then proceeded to print off about sixty fliers to post in our neighborhood, tape on mail boxes, and at local convenient stores.  Even the arrival of our new video camera (bought specifically for Baby Cakes purposes, more on that later) could not lift our spirits with the thought of our missing fur babies hanging about our heads.

I received a couple of calls throughout the day, after the fliers went up, but most were false alarms.  One lady called to report they had been sighted in her yard on Monday night around 6:00 PM.  Which at least gave me a direction they might have gone.  At 2:30, I decided to drive to Nashville's Animal Control Center, to look through the strays they had, praying they had June and George.  When I arrived, and started walking in, my phone rang.  A pest control guy had found June in Antioch, about 5 miles from our house.  I told him to keep her and I would meet him as soon as I walked through the shelter.  

I was falling apart.  This baby makes me weepy now, much more emotional than I am used to being, and couple that with our missing dogs (one now found, one still MIA), the relief and disappointment were overwhelming.  I managed to hold it together until I had walked all the way through cage after cage of sad eyed dog, none of them containing George, before I could no longer hold back the tears.  I gave them the flyer and asked if they would please call me if they found a dog even closely resembling our George.

I walked back to the truck, tears still obscuring my vision, called Patrick to let him know June was found but George was still missing, and drove to meet the man who found June.

I hugged him.  I couldn't stop myself.  He had carried my dog in his truck with him, not wanting to leave her at the other house he was at, alone, when she smelled heavily of skunk.  And he told me the exact address so I could go back and look for George.  He hugged me back and wished me good luck.  

Driving out to Twin Oaks Lane, a dead end street surrounded by woods, I screamed George's name at the top of my lungs for a full ten minutes, up and down the street.  I couldn't find him.  June needed food and water, so I took her home and waited for Patrick to arrive.  

Right before Patrick got home, my phone rang again.  An elderly gentleman was on the other end, and he had George.  Where?  On Twin Oaks Lane.  Our dogs came up to his house the night before, and he thought his grandsons had already called to let us know.  When he realized we hadn't been notified they were at his house, he called immediately, apologizing.  After realizing how badly George had hurt his feet, it's amazing now to see that he was desperate to get in my truck.  Once we got home, we couldn't get him to walk at all.

Just for reference, here is a diagram of our house (marked A), the dogs' final location (marked B), and the sighting Monday night (marked with a red star).

The red line represents my idea of their path through the woods.  I expect it was a little more divergent than that, though.  A few more twists, turns, and sniffing of dead things.

We deskunked the dogs (as best we could), bandaged their worn paw pads, and put them to bed with plenty of water and a little food.  Both are allergic to fleas and ticks, so they also had a good dose of cortisone.

Dogs get in your heart and stay there.  All I could think about was how our baby wouldn't get to meet their older brother and sister.  I know I speak for both myself and Patrick when I say that our lives without these two giant cuddle bugs would be sad and a little empty.

Even with all this going on, the baby is still growing and thriving.  Life doesn't stop because of tragedy (that thankfully ended in happiness).  Baby Cakes has been moving rapidly lately.  I have been feeling lots of turns and twists and little punches and kicks.  But all inside.  It wasn't until Sunday night that I finally felt a swift kick to the palm of my hand as it rested on my stomach.  Monday night, Patrick put his hand on my stomach for about five minutes before little Baby Cakes decided it was time dad felt his or her presence.  

I have to say it is the weirdest and most wonderful feeling in the world.

Man, we have quite a lot to be thankful for this week.  Don't let the prayer knees get rusty.

Next Thursday, ultrasound time!

18 Weeks - The Baby is How Big??

5.5 inches.  5.5 inches of another human floating about inside me.  The thought is insane to me.  Just to illustrate this 5 1/2 inches completely, here is an anatomically correct photo...

If you're like me, I saw this and just stared in disbelief.  I am not feeling a lot of movement yet, and I'm not really showing except for a poochy lower stomach, so pregnancy still feels unreal to me at times.  But Baby Cakes is really growing and rocking and rolling.  And speaking of rock and roll, little ears are completely formed and starting to hear the muffled sounds around him or her.  This baby will appreciate the joys of Metallica and Pantera.  

What else is 5.5 inches long?  I grabbed my tape measure and walked around the house, taking photos and finding out what else is the current size of our baby.

Baby Cakes is now the size of:

The mason jar of almonds and cashews that I carry around to fend off nausea and hunger pangs.

An okra picked from our garden last night.  Being a proper southern child, Baby Cakes will learn to love and savor all Southern delicacies, such as fried okra.

A dry erase marker.  I love dry erase boards and keep these around in various colors to leave notes on our fridge or in our dining room.

A bottle of Tums.  That I really hope that I don't need to ever use.  No indigestion or heart burn yet...

The bottle of Purell that Patrick forced me into buying.  I don't like the stuff, thinking germs introduced to the system are healthy... but I suppose with a newborn, we'll need to be careful for the first couple of months.

Two more weeks and we'll get to see our little Baby Cakes in ultrasound form.  We will be posting lots of pictures and maybe a video after August 16th!