Week 29: The Expansion Continues
The baby has officially taken over me - socially, mentally, and physically.
The past week has been very much baby-focused as we've been working on putting together a nice bedroom for the lad. The room has been painted - it turned out darker than I'd expected, but I think it'll look really cozy once we have some furniture in there and the antique white curtains I envision (still have to find or make them) will brighten it up a bit. I'll post pictures of the room this week once I find my magic wand to wave all of our shower goodies into order. It's really difficult to put stuff away when you don't have anywhere to put it. As I'd mentioned in my previous post, my family hosted a baby shower for me on Saturday afternoon and everything was fantastic. People driving 1, 2, 3, 4 hours and giving up their precious Saturday afternoon just to watch me open presents and show their support...my family cooking and cleaning and making invitations and name cards and decorating...my family and friends so generously keeping me occupied for what seemed like hours opening all their gifts...all of the advice and compliments and hugs and kisses given to me...It was really overwhelming to me how generous, thoughtful, and loving these people in my life are, and I can't begin to thank them for making me feel special enough that they'd endure a baby shower! Actually, the hostesses did an excellent job of making it not feel like a baby shower. It was exactly as I'd wanted - just a gathering of friends and family enjoying each other's company over an Italian feast, cake, and presents. I think Ella enjoyed herself more than anyone, though, since she not only got to be the primary gift-opener, but also had not one, but TWO babies to gawk and giggle at. Unfortunately, only a handful of pictures were taken by Stephen - his excuse being the fact that he hates taking pictures (very nice) - and the ones that were taken didn't turn out very well. I know a few people took some, so if you have any you'd like to pass along to me, I'd be very appreciative!
Since the shower, I've been spending my evenings writing thank you cards and attempting to put baby stuff away which, as I stated, is challenging considering the lack of a dresser or baskets or anything in which to store all of it. I did get to begin packing our diaper bag, though, which felt very...odd. I have a hard enough time packing for myself and figuring out what I need to take with me, let alone having to now do this for a little baby. It all comes back to the realization that someone's life is going to be lying in my hands...what a terrifying thought! Poor Baby Neener is just going to have to learn to accept the fact that there will be constant trips to the store when we travel, because his mommy will have mysteriously packed five outfits for a three hour outing, but will have forgotten to pack diapers.
When I'm not actively doing baby preparations - when I'm at work, sleeping, or socializing - I'm thinking about the baby or baby preparations. I've only reminded myself twice in this post alone that we don't have a darn dresser yet, but mentally I've gone over this fact again, and again, and again, and AGAIN. At least 512,632 times today. And those are just the number of thoughts concerning the dresser. My mind is constantly racing - mostly in good ways, mostly due to excitement - I like to daydream about holding the baby, seeing him for the first time, smelling the top of his soft, freshly cleansed little baby boy head, taking him to visit his grandparents and watching them smother him with love, having everything set up and waiting for him in his room, and, yes, dressing him in all of his adorable and unbelievably tiny little baby boy clothes. I try not to daydream about the impending doom of labor, our financial situation (i.e., how the hell are we going to afford a child?!), our job situations, or the other ten bazillion things that could very easily go wrong with the baby, with us, with our lives in general. This whole parenting thing doesn't compliment my worrywart tendencies very well, and I know it'll only get worse and will never go away. I think the most annoying part of it all is the fact that I can never decide whether I'm stressed out or really damn excited. I've told Stephen that I keep having the weirdest emotions recently - I'll suddenly feel the happiest of happy and the saddest of sad at the exact same time. I feel like I'm bi-polar, except I experience the mania and depression together. It's very bizarre and I pray it's not a sign of me beginning to lose it.
I'm really enjoying this time of my pregnancy, though. The due date is far enough away that I haven't begun to panic too too much, but yet is close enough that I can really start to get excited. My main complaint right now is the constant backaches that only seem to be getting more uncomfortable as I grow. There's really no relief for them - I'm pretty much equally in discomfort whether I'm standing, sitting or lying down. Also, I've become thoroughly convinced that my baby is actually a giant tapeworm, consuming all of my food, leaving me with an insatiable appetite. Luckily it doesn't take much to make me full, since my stomach doesn't have much room for expansion anymore, but about a half an hour after I eat I'm ready for more. I really wouldn't mind this so much - remember the agony I felt when I had zero appetite because I love to eat - except for the awful indigestion I get in return. I haven't been having much heartburn, but instead I'm blessed with the ability to throw up a little in my mouth every time I burp. Mmm. I've also reached the point in my expansion in which I feel I honestly cannot grow any larger. I know if I were to read this in a couple of months I'd laugh hysterically at my poor, naive self, but I already feel like a tick about to pop. I think I've also begun experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions - my abdomen will suddenly become very tight for a minute and will feel so "full" that it's uncomfortable.
Baby Neener is constantly growing stronger, which both excites me and frightens me. His kicks haven't quite become painful yet, but they're definitely becoming more pronounced and sometimes uncomfortable. He really enjoys lightly thumping around in one spot on my right side - his tiny little bumps and thumps are so sweet and cute - and then WHAM! he'll haul off and suddenly kick me with all of his might in my ribs. It usually startles the crap out of me more than anything, and I just picture him in there wickedly chuckling over the fact that he's already blessed with the ability to torment me. He'd better learn to be a little nicer. After all, I'll be the one dressing him for the first few years of his life. There are soooo many adorable baby girl clothes out there I'm just dying to buy and could very easily dress him in.
The past week has been very much baby-focused as we've been working on putting together a nice bedroom for the lad. The room has been painted - it turned out darker than I'd expected, but I think it'll look really cozy once we have some furniture in there and the antique white curtains I envision (still have to find or make them) will brighten it up a bit. I'll post pictures of the room this week once I find my magic wand to wave all of our shower goodies into order. It's really difficult to put stuff away when you don't have anywhere to put it. As I'd mentioned in my previous post, my family hosted a baby shower for me on Saturday afternoon and everything was fantastic. People driving 1, 2, 3, 4 hours and giving up their precious Saturday afternoon just to watch me open presents and show their support...my family cooking and cleaning and making invitations and name cards and decorating...my family and friends so generously keeping me occupied for what seemed like hours opening all their gifts...all of the advice and compliments and hugs and kisses given to me...It was really overwhelming to me how generous, thoughtful, and loving these people in my life are, and I can't begin to thank them for making me feel special enough that they'd endure a baby shower! Actually, the hostesses did an excellent job of making it not feel like a baby shower. It was exactly as I'd wanted - just a gathering of friends and family enjoying each other's company over an Italian feast, cake, and presents. I think Ella enjoyed herself more than anyone, though, since she not only got to be the primary gift-opener, but also had not one, but TWO babies to gawk and giggle at. Unfortunately, only a handful of pictures were taken by Stephen - his excuse being the fact that he hates taking pictures (very nice) - and the ones that were taken didn't turn out very well. I know a few people took some, so if you have any you'd like to pass along to me, I'd be very appreciative!
Since the shower, I've been spending my evenings writing thank you cards and attempting to put baby stuff away which, as I stated, is challenging considering the lack of a dresser or baskets or anything in which to store all of it. I did get to begin packing our diaper bag, though, which felt very...odd. I have a hard enough time packing for myself and figuring out what I need to take with me, let alone having to now do this for a little baby. It all comes back to the realization that someone's life is going to be lying in my hands...what a terrifying thought! Poor Baby Neener is just going to have to learn to accept the fact that there will be constant trips to the store when we travel, because his mommy will have mysteriously packed five outfits for a three hour outing, but will have forgotten to pack diapers.
When I'm not actively doing baby preparations - when I'm at work, sleeping, or socializing - I'm thinking about the baby or baby preparations. I've only reminded myself twice in this post alone that we don't have a darn dresser yet, but mentally I've gone over this fact again, and again, and again, and AGAIN. At least 512,632 times today. And those are just the number of thoughts concerning the dresser. My mind is constantly racing - mostly in good ways, mostly due to excitement - I like to daydream about holding the baby, seeing him for the first time, smelling the top of his soft, freshly cleansed little baby boy head, taking him to visit his grandparents and watching them smother him with love, having everything set up and waiting for him in his room, and, yes, dressing him in all of his adorable and unbelievably tiny little baby boy clothes. I try not to daydream about the impending doom of labor, our financial situation (i.e., how the hell are we going to afford a child?!), our job situations, or the other ten bazillion things that could very easily go wrong with the baby, with us, with our lives in general. This whole parenting thing doesn't compliment my worrywart tendencies very well, and I know it'll only get worse and will never go away. I think the most annoying part of it all is the fact that I can never decide whether I'm stressed out or really damn excited. I've told Stephen that I keep having the weirdest emotions recently - I'll suddenly feel the happiest of happy and the saddest of sad at the exact same time. I feel like I'm bi-polar, except I experience the mania and depression together. It's very bizarre and I pray it's not a sign of me beginning to lose it.
I'm really enjoying this time of my pregnancy, though. The due date is far enough away that I haven't begun to panic too too much, but yet is close enough that I can really start to get excited. My main complaint right now is the constant backaches that only seem to be getting more uncomfortable as I grow. There's really no relief for them - I'm pretty much equally in discomfort whether I'm standing, sitting or lying down. Also, I've become thoroughly convinced that my baby is actually a giant tapeworm, consuming all of my food, leaving me with an insatiable appetite. Luckily it doesn't take much to make me full, since my stomach doesn't have much room for expansion anymore, but about a half an hour after I eat I'm ready for more. I really wouldn't mind this so much - remember the agony I felt when I had zero appetite because I love to eat - except for the awful indigestion I get in return. I haven't been having much heartburn, but instead I'm blessed with the ability to throw up a little in my mouth every time I burp. Mmm. I've also reached the point in my expansion in which I feel I honestly cannot grow any larger. I know if I were to read this in a couple of months I'd laugh hysterically at my poor, naive self, but I already feel like a tick about to pop. I think I've also begun experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions - my abdomen will suddenly become very tight for a minute and will feel so "full" that it's uncomfortable.
Baby Neener is constantly growing stronger, which both excites me and frightens me. His kicks haven't quite become painful yet, but they're definitely becoming more pronounced and sometimes uncomfortable. He really enjoys lightly thumping around in one spot on my right side - his tiny little bumps and thumps are so sweet and cute - and then WHAM! he'll haul off and suddenly kick me with all of his might in my ribs. It usually startles the crap out of me more than anything, and I just picture him in there wickedly chuckling over the fact that he's already blessed with the ability to torment me. He'd better learn to be a little nicer. After all, I'll be the one dressing him for the first few years of his life. There are soooo many adorable baby girl clothes out there I'm just dying to buy and could very easily dress him in.
4 comments:
I can't wait to SEE movement, that's just as exciting as feeling the movement.
Kim you are so adorable! I was just telling Adam today that I wanted to come down to visit you and Stephen and help you guys get the baby room set up. If it is OK with you guys we will come down this coming weekend. You and I can go shopping and look for some stuff for the room and the boys can do whatever they do. Or if you want we can just go through and organize the stuff from the shower. Just give us a call so we know when is a good time for you guys...otherwise I might be tempted to SUPRISE! you...LOL!!!
Kim you look absolutely fantastic!!!! You still owe Drew and I a dinner date!
I don't know Kim...I saw some pretty darn cute boy clothes at Baby Gap today.
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