It's a...

Girl!

We are absolutely thrilled!

I'll start at the beginning. This morning I had a dream. In my dream, the ultrasound tech told us that the baby is a girl. Then she moved the little wand around again and said it's a little boy--the image on the screen was a cat, and somehow I knew it was Strut. Then she moved it again and showed us another cat, this time exclaiming that it was a girl (Ally). This doesn't make any sense, but that's my dreams for you.

When my alarm went off, I got up and dressed and Corey and I left the house a minute before we had said we would (which is a feat for us, since I'm constantly running late). We got to the Doctor's office, and when I signed in the lady at the front desk told us that my sister was already in the waiting room. My mom arrived shortly after. I feel so lucky that all of them were there for the experience.

The ultrasound tech came out to get us and bring us back, and it was my favorite tech - the one we had for our first scan at 10 weeks. I took that to be a good omen. She is great because she talks about everything she is seeing. She also gave us lots of pictures and a DVD.

This time, she did the same thing - except it felt like there was so much more to see!The tech rolled over the baby's "goods" initially and said "The legs are crossed, so we will go back for that." I thought that would bother me, but it didn't. I was amazed by everything I saw. She is beautiful and healthy. We saw her 10 fingers and we saw her 10 toes. She has two kidneys and a four-chambered heart. They ruled out spina bifida and cleft palate. She also said that baby's brain looked great and she looked very smart.

I think my heart grew to about 4 times it's previous size when we saw her and found out that she is indeed a she! We were commenting about something to do with the baby - I think how much it was moving - and the tech said, yes it is....yes, she is. I was shocked and amazed. Somehow, once I found out she was a girl, I thought "of course she is."

the "money shot"

My mom has always said that would be the case and she was right. We have a perfect adorable baby girl.

And I can't wait to meet her!

19 weeks!

Total Weight Loss/Gain: I have no idea. I haven't weighed myself in a few days. I think it's safe to say I have gained a few pounds - my appetite is ridiculous right now.

Size of Baby: A mango! The average baby is 6.0 inches long and weighs 8.5 ounces at this point. The last time we saw baby, at 12 weeks the baby was the size of a plum (2.1 inches, .49 ounces). So I can't wait to go in for our ultrasound tomorrow and see how much baby has grown!

Maternity Clothes: I can wear my normal shirts and pants but they are getting more snug. I prefer pregnancy pants but I can go either way on the shirts.

Sleep: I can feel myself getting a little bit more uncomfortable during the night. I feel too hot most of the time and it's not as comfy to be on my back.

Movement: Baby is moving and I'm feeling it more and more. It is such an awesome feeling! I can't wait until Corey can feel it from the outside, too!
Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: Mini-Cupcakes - Yellow w/ homemade chocolate icing. Powdered sugar donuts. Onion dip. Hot dogs. Pickles. Salad.

Aversions: The only thing I can think of that grossed me out lately was the thought of taco bell. But I think that is pretty normal.

Symptoms: Nothing new to speak of.
What I miss: Nothing right now, I'm too excited!

What I look forward to: Tomorrow! Our big appointment. Finally find out what we are having and then I get to start decorating! I can't wait!

Moods: Good. I have to admit I'm a little nervous. I'm just hoping Baby Granstrand is healthy and happy.

Milestones: umm....I had my meeting at work to talk about my maternity leave time? I don't know if that is a milestone, but it was on my checklist on the Bump. I also think if all goes well this week, Corey and I might get to go do a hospital tour in the next couple of Saturdays! I'm wondering if it might be better to wait until I'm a little bit further along, but we feel a bit like we've been waiting forever for everything, so we are pretty excited to do things like that!

Medical concerns: Nothing at this point.

Have a great day! I will be updating soon to let you know what we find out tomorrow!

Elizabeth

At long last...funnel cake!

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you might have noticed that I've been craving funnel cake for months now. I talk about it in almost every post. And for that I apologize.

But I needed funnel cake bad. It was getting so intense this weekend that I woke up at 8 AM on Saturday morning with funnel cake on my mind. So after Corey left for work, I called my mom up and she was kind enough to head out to the Austin Flea Market with me, all for the love of funnel cake. I have a good Mama.

After getting a little bit lost in East Austin, we finally arrived at our destination. I spotted the funnel cake trailer right away. They had other yummy treats that they were selling, like fried oreos and fried twinkies, but my heart (and my stomach) belongs to funnel cake.

We felt like since we were out there, we might as well take a look at the flea market. Probably not the best idea. It was depressing -- all of the items on sale in that place looked like they had been used to smuggle drugs into the country. Luckily we realized quickly that this was not for us. We turned around and made a beeline to the funnel cake trailer. 5 minutes later, I was a happy pregnant lady enjoying fried powdered sugar-topped goodness. Finally my craving was met! It was totally worth the trip out to the flea market!

18 weeks

Total Weight Loss/Gain: +3 pounds (this number might be a little off as my scale doesn't usually match up with the doctor's scale and I've eaten a fair amount of food in the last couple of weeks).

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a sweet potato. I love sweet potatoes! I will have to eat some in baby's honor this week. As you can see using the lovely visual above, that means the average baby is 5.6 inches and weighs 6.7 ounces at this point. That is SO crazy! It's a long way from a poppyseed to a sweet potato and I feel like it's going so fast!
Maternity Clothes: Are very comfy. Not necessary at this point, but I prefer to wear the ones I have - such cute stuff!
Sleep: Is pretty good. I have been waking up quite a bit during the night.
Movement: Baby is moving and I can feel it! It's not consistent yet (baby is too small for that) but it's a pretty amazing feeling. I drank orange juice the other morning and it felt like s/he was doing flips in there. So great!
Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: Salad. And the elusive funnel cake.
Aversions: Bacon.
Symptoms: Heartburn and dehyrdration. I'm drinking a lot of water at this point (was at 80 ounces, now I'm upping it to 100 ounces) but it doesn't seem to be enough for me and Baby G. I spend a lot of my time running to the bathroom.
My nesting instinct has definitely set in. I'm finding it very useful!
What I miss: Nothing! I'm in excited mode, so I'm trying to focus on all the things I have going on and less on what I can't do.
What I look forward to: Our ultrasound on 10/26. It's getting so close! I'm getting less crazy about it. I've been listening to baby with the doppler and feeling the baby move definitely helps. I'm trying not to worry myself so much, because based on all the information we have so far, baby seems very healthy.
Moods: Much better this week! Getting my mind off things with projects and fun stuff to do has helped.
Milestones: Feeling the baby move is a pretty big one! I'm enjoying that and looking forward to feeling the movement more and more!
Medical concerns: I'm a little concerned about the dehrydration, but I think the water seems to be doing the trick!
Anything else you'd like to share or vent about? Corey and I made a LOT of progress on cleaning out the closets. Our plan is to change our current guestroom into the baby's nursery, and the current man room into the guestroom (I promise Corey is 100% in favor of this, otherwise it wouldn't be happening!). So one of our goals is to consolidate our stuff in both closets to one half of the future guestroom closet (with some things stored in the garage). I also had to go through our entertainment center in the future nursery, which has a cabinet on the bottom that has stored my craft supplies since high school and my desk that we are moving into our master bedroom. We are getting rid of a ton of the crap that we've had for quite some time--some of it just got thrown away (old papers and powerpoints printed out from college that I don't care to keep, some old homecoming mum supplies that have turned brown, etc). Some of the stuff will be going to Goodwill. We have a lot of old magazines and books (mostly mine) that will be donated, probably to Half Price.
It feels so good to eliminate all of this stuff for such a great reason! I feel really great about all of the space that we are going to have and I've said several times to Corey how much fun this all is, which is very unlike me. My nesting instinct is kicking in! If cleaning out closets seems fun, then I can't wait to start decorating the baby's room! Have a great week!

Elizabeth

13 goals for the next 13 years

Last night it dawned on me that I'm actually closer in age to 40 years old than 12 years old. I'll be 27 in December, so I'm obviously jumping the gun a little bit by thinking about turning 40. Honestly, most of the time I walk around feeling like I just got my driver's license. That's a great way to feel - free and happy. Occasionally I feel like I'm 12, extremely confused by life and what it's throwing at me, worried about whether I fit in or the cool kids like me. Sometimes I feel like I'm five, a little scared by the world and the prospect of meeting new people. Luckily, I don't feel like I'm 5 or 12 most of the time.

While the thought of being 13 years away from 40 was kind of scary at first, when I really thought about it, I'm right where I want to be. No, I don't feel like I'm in the job I'd like to be at 5 years from now. But my career has never been as important to me as the relationships in my life. I look at what is important to me - my wonderful family, my amazing friends, my incredible husband, my healthy baby, my beautiful home - and that is what brings me joy. I'm a lucky duck and I'm grateful to have the life I lead.

But looking at things from this perspective, I also have goals for myself - things I would like to accomplish sometime in the next 13 years. Hopefully all of these dreams will come true, and I would love it if I could make some of these things happen with the people around me that I love. So without further ado, in no particular order, here is my list.

Thirteen Goals for the Next Thirteen Years:

1) I want to go to Europe. Hopefully with my husband and my baby (and maybe even future babies). This one is most likely still a little ways off, but I have never been to Europe and I've always wanted to go. The main hot spots I'd like to hit? The entire United Kingdom - I really want to go to England and Ireland and Scotland and Wales. I would like to spend a few months there, but I will take as much as I can get (even if it's just a few days). I'd also LOVE to go to the French Countryside and Paris, of course. While in Paris, I would want to go to the Louvre, and I want to eat lots and lots of bread products and pastries. Finally, Italy. I must go. I must eat. This HAS to happen. Obviously, I most likely would not be able to go to all of these places. But if I make it to one, I will consider myself having met my goal!

2) I want to learn how to play guitar. I'm married to an excellent musician and he has offered to teach me and even tried at time, but I'm easily discouraged and distracted. I would love to learn how to play guitar. Maybe Corey can teach me an Lil Buns at the same time?

3) I really want to learn how to knit or crochet. I've tried this two or three times. I always give up. But I'm going to make it happen by the time I'm 40. I want to be able to make a blanket or a pair of booties or a scarf - something!

4) I want to be a stay at home mom. This is dependant on a lot of things going right (including the world economy turning around). It probably isn't something we could do forever, but as we've established, relationships are much more important to me than my career. So if I could have some time at home with my babies, that would mean the world to me. I'm hoping we can make this happen!

5) I want to become a better photographer. I'm expecting to get lots of practice with baby, and I have a great camera. I might need to take a class. That would be fun!

6) I want to stop stressing about things I have no control over. I want to learn how ignore the unimportant things and stop caring what other people think.

7) I would like to have a dog join our family. This is a big step as I have never owned a dog and I know they are a lot more responsibility than a cat. I think it will be a good thing for me and Corey, good for the cats, and great for Lil Granstrand. This is something a little way down the road when our child is in school.

8) I'd like to sell our home in better condition than we bought it (we've already done a lot of upgrades) and buy a bigger home. This is probably going to take awhile because it's dependant on the economy turning around, but I definitely want this to happen eventually. We have a three bedroom house and eventually we will probably need more room if we ever want to have people stay with us.

9) I want us to have another bambino. I think two is going to be the magic number for us, but we will see. I feel SO lucky to have this baby, but it's a wonderful thing to have a sibling (I love my sister!), and I want that for Lil Buns. I don't know how far down the road it will be, but it's something we want.

10) I want to post a video on youtube that goes viral. I think my best bet for this will be our cats. They are adorable and do funny things all the time. There is no real reason for this, I just think it would be awesome!

11) I really want to go to Nairobi, Kenya and meet my foster elephant, Naipoki. Because she is adorable and she makes me happy and I want to meet her in person. I would also love to the see the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in person, since they do such great work!

12) I want to solve a mystery, Nancy Drew style. I'm a pretty good detective. It runs in the family, and I have a best friend who is awesome at it, too. I've gotten really good at researching things online (it's a major part of my job) and I think I could totally solve a mystery. Maybe it will be the mystery of the missing socks, but that would be enough for me :) It would feel so awesome!

13) I want to start our own business. Corey has great business ideas all the time. He comes up with them constantly. I think his ultimate goal would be to open his own business (probably a restaurant or a drive-thru coffee stand) and have us work together as a family there. I would love it if we could do that and make his dream come true--I think so many people dream of working for themselves, and I have to admit, it sounds pretty nice (although it also sounds like a TON of work). My one condition: we have to have some kind of health insurance plan. Preferably a good one.

That's it for now!

Elizabeth

17 weeks!

 Edited to add: My 16 week picture. This is getting to be a bit of a habit (posting the picture from last week for this week). But, well, I never got around to taking my picture for week 17. So this will have to do for now.

Total Weight Loss/Gain: I'm still at around the same weight as last week, so 3 pounds up from where I was at the start of my pregnancy.

Maternity Clothes: Are awesome, but not necessary. I'm still able to wear my pre-pregnancy jeans and tops, but pregnancy pants tend to be more comfortable so I do tend to like going with those. But I'm happy that I can still wear pants with zippers and buttons whenever I want.

Sleep: For the most part, it's better. But I'm still getting up a lot during the night. Last night I had a terrible dream that I wasn't pregnant anymore and someone had taken my baby out while I was asleep and replaced it with a ticking clock. The dopplers (mine and the Doctor's) were picking up the clock ticking and not the baby's heartbeat. Obviously this dream doesn't make logical sense, but it scare the crap out of me and made me wish I had access to an ultrasound machine. I'm pretty sure I'm going to drive myself crazy with worry in the next 15 days. Everyone else treats me like I'm nuts to worry, but I can't help it. Wouldn't any mommy worry about her baby when she isn't able to see them for 7 whole weeks? This feels like torture.
Movement: I believe I have felt movement over the last couple of days. I thought I may have felt something a couple of days ago, but I wasn't sure, and then last night I felt more confident that I was feeling the baby and not gas. We were listening to baby with a doppler, and put headphones on my stomach. I'm not positive baby can hear it, but I think it's possible since s/he is supposed to be able to hear me now. The baby's heartbeat went up, and I thought I felt a little movement on the right side of my lower stomach (under my belly button but not in the pelvis). Then after awhile, I sang to Lil Buns and I definitely felt little flutters of movements. So cool!
Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: Salad! And I've eaten grapes almost every day for a week.
Aversions: Grilled cheese.
Symptoms: Round Ligament Pain. A little bit of swelling in my hands and feet. I've also noticed that my eyes are much more sensitive and I can't get away with wearing my contacts as long (something I'm notorious for) which is apparently something that women commonly deal with during pregnancy. Who knew?

The tailbone pain is much better, my pillow is helping me a lot!

What I miss: Nothing right now! I'm just trying to enjoy pregnancy and not focus on "missing out" on anything. I feel very lucky to be me right now :)

What I look forward to: ULTRASOUND! It still feels very far away (scheduled for 15 days from today). I'm having trouble waiting and wondering what the harm would be in going for one at one of those elective ultrasound places. However, I'm trying to exercise self control and just wait. At this point, it's turned into being less about finding out the sex and more about not driving myself crazy worrying about the baby.
I have heard the heartbeat several times in the last few weeks, but I still can't help noticing that I'm not feeling as hungry as I was last week. I'm also not sure if my stomach is as big as it was last week. I know this sounds crazy, and I may just be getting used to a bigger stomach and not realize that it still looks big, but I swear it looks smaller now than it looked last Tuesday. And symptoms going away is supposed to be a sign of miscarriage. I'm so grateful for my home doppler, but I'm still obviously driving myself nuts worrying about the details. I don't know what to do.
Moods: Pretty bad, unfortunately. I think people at work are starting to notice that I have a shorter temper nowadays. I feel bad about this. Also, today I was twenty minutes late to work, I look a hot mess, and I'm pretty sure everyone thinks I'm winking at them because one of my contacts is driving me nuts and I keep having to blink to keep it in. Lord, help me get through this day!
I honestly think my mood is less about hormones and more about stress and concern about the baby. Maybe I wouldn't react so badly if I felt better and wasn't so hormonal. Oh, well. Milestones: Baby is the size of an onion! And has their own unique fingerprints! Holy cow!

Medical concerns: See symptoms and what I look forward to above. Nothing of too much concern, but I'm afraid I'm a little bit off my rocker these days.
Anything else you'd like to share or vent about? Corey and I booked a babymoon in Frederickburg. I'm so excited! We will be going in November, and it will just be for a couple of days, but I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to shop for my baby, eat lots of good food, and just enjoy some quality time with my husband.
Elizabeth

I promise I'm not a Debbie Downer!

But looking at the last few blogs I've written, it's hard to tell. It's easy to get bogged down in some of the little annoyances associated with pregnancy. But I'm so happy to be at this point in my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So today's post is a happy one!

I'm so grateful for this baby in my tummy.

Baby Granstrand-

We hoped and prayed for you. We are so happy that you are joining our family. Right now, you are kind of a mystery to me. I'm constantly amazed by the sound of your heartbeat and the ultrasound photos we have.

I'm feeling pretty desperate to see you again on the ultrasound and find out if you are a boy or a girl. I'm trying to be patient and exercise self-control and wait for our anatomy scan which is now 19 days away.

I cannot wait to feel you move inside my tummy.

But ultimately, I'm just so grateful to be your mommy and have you there with me everyday. I'm trying to enjoy every step of the journey, to just enjoy being pregnant, but I can't help counting down the days until you are due. There is so much to look forward to! Our whole life will be shaped by your arrival, and I can't wait to meet you. I'm so excited when I think about the many years of adventures that we have to look forward to once you are born. If you show up on your due date, that's only 165 days from now!

I get so excited when I think about giving birth and seeing you for the first time and holding you in my arms. I can't wait to find out what your voice sounds like. I wonder if you will wiggle your toes when you are excited like I do.

I'm looking forward to so many things. Putting you in some of the sweet outfits we've already bought for you. Seeing you smile for the first time. Watching you learn to crawl, and then learn to walk. Teaching you how to dance.

I want to buy you your first bike and have you ride it around in our driveway. I want to give you a really awesome complicated toy for Christmas.

I can't wait to learn about new interests through you - maybe you will be into karate, or soccer, or maybe you will want to take art classes -any of these things would open up a whole new world to me!

I want to buy you a puppy or a kitten for Christmas when you are old enough. And I'm totally not above buying you a bunny for Easter.

I want to trick you by telling you that we are going to Mount Rushmore or the Grand Canyon and then get to the airport and tell you that we were just kidding, we are really taking you to Disney. I want to take multiple pictures of you with Mickey Mouse once we get there.

I want to be a room mom at your school who brings cupcakes and cookies for holiday parties. I want to be the annoying mom who chaperones the middle school dance. Okay, maybe I'll let that one slide since you'll probably never forgive me if I dance in front of your friends-- I won't chaperone if you promise to let me take lots of pictures of you all dressed up at home before you leave.

I'm up for the challenge of those rebellious teenage years, when you think I'm SO uncool and you listen to your music loud and roll your eyes at your parents' dorkiness at the dinner table. I'm sure you will hurt my feelings sometimes, but I also think it might make me giggle a bit. I just hope you eventually come out of that funk and embrace your inner Granstrand.

I want to help teach you how to drive and I want to buy you a car, and even if it is old and beat up I want to put a big red bow on it and have it waiting in the driveway for you one morning. I want to watch you graduate from high school and look over at Corey and beam with pride.

I hope you will want to go to college. There is a great little college just a few miles down the road on 40 acres of land (actually a lot more). That's where your mama went and I hope you will want to, too. If you have another dream for yourself that takes you farther away, I hope you will follow it. I'm sure that a lot of tears will be shed by moi, but I will be thrilled for you and I'll be as supportive as possible, even if you are many miles away. I just hope you come back and visit as much as possible.

I look forward to the relationship I will have with you as an adult. It will be so awesome to see you in your first grown up job. It will be amazing to watch you fall in love and get married and have babies of your own.

I hope you will have your Daddy's passion for life. I hope that like him, you will come up with amazing, crazy ideas all of the time.

I hope that you will have my sense of humor and love of the arts.

It's an amazing feeling to have a little someone inside my body who I know will change my whole world. I'm looking forward to meeting you and watching you grow up.

I love you,

Your Mommy

This pregnancy thing is scary and confusing..

First of all, I'm not going to keep you in suspense. The baby is fine. I'm fine. But yesterday I kept feeling jabbing pains in my pelvic region. I started out a little bit concerned. I instant messaged Corey, and he encouraged me to call the doctor. I called my doctor at around 1 PM, left a message for the nurse and sat and waited. And waited. And waited. And grew more and more worried and frantic.

What if this is how a miscarriage starts out feeling? What if it means my baby is missing some kind of vital nutrient? What if I broke my vagina doing the kegel exercises everybody keeps telling me I need to do? Obviously, the more I waited, the more outlandish the reasons for the ridiculously painful jabbing feeling on the right side of my pelvis.

The majority of my responsibilities with my job involve calling people to discuss very important matters related to their cancer treatment. So while I had people I should be calling, instead I was avoiding calling people and working on anything else that I could focus on for a few minutes just in case the nurse called back since I didn't want to miss her call. So basically, I was completely useless at work yesterday.

I finally ended up calling her again at 3:00 PM and left ANOTHER message. By this time I was feeling dizzy and a little bit nauseated. I was sure that there was something major with the baby. They finally called me back around 3:30, and when I told the nurse my symptoms, she said she wasn't sure what could be wrong with me. Said it might just be pregnancy-related pains that are normal or something else. She said if I felt like it, I could come into the office and they would try to fit me in. Of course I said yes, try and fit me in.

I went to the doctor's office. The nurse's assistant, who I've already complained about here at least once (so far, she has mislead my doctor to believe that I'm two weeks further along than I really am, she thought I was a teacher, and she asked really dumb questions during our first appointment) came out and brought me into the office, weighed me (weight hasn't changed by the way, which is suprising based on the massive amounts of food I've been eating) had me pee in a cup, and then came back into the room with someone else's chart and said "Heather?" (REALLY?) Um, no. You just called my name 2 minutes ago in the waiting room. And really, shouldn't you be able to keep the pregnant lady complaining of severe pelvic pain seperate from whoever Heather is? That woman needs to go away.

But then, my doctor came back, and she did a pelvic exam, listened to baby with the doppler, and said that everything looked fine. In fact everytime she would get the doppler in a good spot to listen to baby, baby would move--probably reacting to the pressure for the doppler; I took that as a good sign. She thought it might be round ligament pain (which Corey, my awesome googling husband, had already determined might be the culprit) but she was glad I came in because if it is some kind of urinary infection they need to know ASAP and they can figure that out with my urine sample. She also told me that I can come in anytime I have a concern, but that I probably will be dealing with weird, sometimes inexplicable pains throughout the rest of the pregnancy and that it is completely normal.

She said that there are certain things that I should watch for that would be indicators of something more serious, and a reason to go in to see her:

1) Fever

2) Severe vomiting

3) spotting/bleeding

4) after 24 weeks, if I don't feel the baby move for a whole day (scary)

So I guess in some ways, this is the story of how I freaked myself out. I have a history of doing this. Which probably has something to do with my crazy medical history--I'm conditioned to expect the worst.

But I need to chill out. Because now, everytime I'm really stressed, baby feels it to. And I don't want my baby to be stressed out. I want a calm, happy baby. So I guess I need to focus on being calm and happy, too.

That's all for now.
Elizabeth

My Broken Butt: a Tailbone Tale

Please excuse the ridiculous title, but I couldn't help getting a little creative since the situation I'm in is so embarrassing. My butt hurts. All the time. Specifically, my tailbone, aka my coccyx. I've mentioned it a couple of times already, but this blog is going to be all about it, so just ignore it if you find it boring.

When I was 15, I used to wear much more fancy shoes than I do now. I had better feet and better pedicures. I liked to wear wedges and platform heels. Not the Spice Girl kind, the really cute sandals platforms. Okay, maybe they weren't that cute, but I thought they were at the time. I don't know if it's a sign that I've given up that I don't wear these kinds of shoes today, or at least the 2011 equivalent, but honestly, I'd rather be comfortable. And I work in a very casual dress environment, so I don't like to dress up unless I'm going to church or a wedding.

Flashback to 2000--I had gotten dressed in my finest for school - a skirt, a cute flowery top, and some Steve Madden platform sandals (I promise, it was sort of cute at the time). I stepped out of my bedroom to head down the stairs and I immediately slipped on my giant heels and fell down half the stairs. At first, all I could think was how glad I was that this had happened at home and not at school in front of everyone. And then, the pain set in. Horrible, debilitating pain that made it hard to crawl back up the stairs and change into more comfortable clothes. My tail bone was definitely broken.

For some god awful reason, I went to school that day. I don't know if I had a test or what. Usually I was looking for an excuse to stay at home, and this seems like it would have been a good one. I don't remember a lot from that day, but I do remember having to stand up during most of my classes due to the pain. I know I told my parents about it, and we might have even gone to the doctor, but really, there is nothing you can do for a broken tailbone. You just have to wait it out. And I did. And eventually, it got better.

Now, it's 2011. And I wear comfortable shoes. And I had an amazingly easy 1st trimester. I dealt with a lot of fatigue, but I was expecting to be throwing up every waking moment, and I didn't. I felt like a very lucky lady. And the whole time I was in my first trimester, I kept reading online and hearing from women that the 2nd trimester is such a golden time, and how much better I would feel then. I was looking forward to the burst of energy, I couldn't wait for my nesting instinct to kick in, I was so excited to be able to go out and do stuff after work instead of coming home and taking a nap for two hours everyday.

I'm still waiting for all of that to kick in. And I've been told that it takes longer for some ladies to feel the effects of the lovely 2nd trimester shift. I have been sleeping somewhat better at night and I haven't been sleeping so much in the afternoon, but I'm still feeling pretty tired, and I don't feel like cleaning my kitchen.

And right around the time I entered the 2nd trimester, this tailbone thing started. It's not like the pain I felt when I broke it. It's more of a dull aching all the time that gets worse throughout the day and makes it so I don't want to sit at all when I get home. I'm either standing or laying on my side. So much for the golden 2nd trimester.

I was sure when I told my doc about it, she was going to express concern. Instead, she said it's not a big deal, it happens to a lot of her patients who work in jobs where they sit most of they day. I'm sure the previous tailbone break doesn't help things. She told me some confusing things about the pregnancy hormones changing my bones and possibly shifting them. She said I probably wouldn't get any relief until I got to labor and delivery, and only then if I opted for the epidural. She did say in the meantime, I should get a donut pillow to relieve some of my pain. Which means, now I can have a pillow that looks like I have hemorrhoids at my desk at work. Yay.

My sense of vanity could not outweigh my feelings of "ow!" I went on a search for a suitable donut pillow. The only place I could find them in person was Walgreens. The one I found there felt about as comfortable as sitting on a toilet seat all day. That was not an option.

Finally, my mom (who I love SO much!) found a pillow online that we could order through Wal-Mart. It's not in the shape of a donut, it's more of a square with a rectangular cut out in the back. She ordered it for me in the hopes that it would meet my need.

So, after waiting about a week, the pillow showed up in the mail. And --it's perfect. It's comfortable, and it doesn't look like a hemorrhoid pillow. I did feel a little bit embarassed walking into work with it, but I'm much more comfortable. I'm not in total pain on my way home from work, trying to figure out a way to drive while sitting on one side of my butt. This is a vast improvement over how I felt last week.

Thanks goodness for mamas---this isn't the first time that mine has saved my butt!

Elizabeth

16 Weeks!

I didn't blog at all last week. There is no particular reason for it. It's not as if I wasn't feeling well or was incredibly busy at work. I just didn't make it happen. Sorry! (this is mainly directed towards my mom, who is the only one who seems to notice when I don't update my blog).

How far along? 16 weeks - I can't believe I'm this far along -- crazy!
I usually try and add a picture taken on Tuesday night. Corey and I have been taking them every week, and usually we are pretty good about taking it on the actual day. I don't have my pic for 16 weeks yet, but take a look at where I was at the end of the day last week (at exactly 15 weeks. That's right -- I took the picture, just didn't do my weekly update).

I have no idea what people on the outside of my body think when they see this picture, but to me, it's the first one I've taken where I think I look visibly pregnant in clothing. I've definitely felt it before but haven't seen it look this obvious.

One weird thing I've noticed? I have a relatively small belly in the morning, and by the end of the day, it looks huge. Someone on my bump board said they heard from a doctor in their family that it's because throughout the day the uterus pushes your bowels up in your stomach. Gross. Total weight gain: I'm not totally sure. I think that my scale is off. But I'm pretty sure I've gained a net total or 3-4 pounds since the day I found out I was pregnant (first I lost two to three, then I gained 5 back, I might be up a pound from there)

Maternity clothes?: Definitely wearing them a lot, in part because they are so comfortable, and also because my Mom took my out and bought me some pretty new clothes that all happen to be maternity. I love them. And again, they are SO comfortable. I don't have to wear them yet, but I find myself wanting to.
Sleep: I did have about a week there (my 15th week) where I felt like I was getting the best sleep of my life. I was dead to the world when I was asleep.
I've had two nights in this past week where I've gotten up to go the bathroom three times and gotten up at 3:00 AM and ended up going to the living room and watching a couple of hours of tv before I can make myself fall back asleep. This sucks, in part because I feel like a zombie the next day and also because there is terrible tv on at that time. Nothing at all. I need to work on adding more shows to my DVR routine.

Cravings: Mexican food. And Funnel Cake. The search for funnel cake continues. I've been hungry for about it for about a month now, but not desperate enough to make it myself. Corey and I went to a circus last week (that might be a blog of it's own) and they didn't have any funnel cake. We went to my family reunion this past weekend, drove through all of East Texas, and I didn't see one little fair. This is getting ridiculous. As my mom pointed out to me, carnie-folk are able to make this stuff. I should just suck it up and make it myself.
Best moment this week: People were so sweet at my family reunion. Everyone is so excited for us! Also sweet- friends at work have been noticing my developing belly bump and their reactions have been making me laugh.
Movement: I have no idea. Sometimes I really think I've felt the baby move, but it seems a little early. And I haven't really felt the "feather-like" tickle women talk about, it feels more like a pulling or a kicking. It's probably just gas (gross, I know).

Gender: We don't know yet. Only 22 more days! I can't wait to find out. I had a dream last night that we found out it was a girl. As I've said numerous times, I've been thinking all along that this is a boy and Corey still thinks it's a girl. We will both be extremely happy either way, it will just be nice to know!

Belly Button in or out? My belly button is still an innie, but it's not as deep. I feel like it looks weird though--like a dent in a volleyball).

What I miss: Sleeping through the night. I have a feeling that is something I won't experience for a few years, unless the pregnancy fairy decides to take pity on me and grant me a few more weeks of unbelievable sleep..

Milestones: Baby is now the size of an avocado. There might be a connection between the size of the bambino and my love of guacamole. Or I could just be addicted to mexican food.

Favorite Moments: Spending time with my family this weekend on our road trip. Spending time with Corey as much as possible. I feel magnetically drawn to him right now, and I have told him that it's because the baby likes to be near him, so he puts up with me being his shadow :)

Have a great day!

Elizabeth

The Tale of Fuzzy the Bear

This is Fuzzy. He is a very sweet, very soft bear. And I honestly feel like we rescued him. And he is already bringing joy to our home.

Corey and I were at Target a couple of weeks ago, looking for an embarassing donut pillow for me to sit on at work and in the car to help with my coccyx pain (we didn't find one, of course). Anyway, we were passing through a main thoroughfare in order to head over to the Halloween department (yay!). We came upon two carts, stacked with random goods that were blocking off the majority of the aisle. The mishmash of items looked like things that had been collected at the front, either through returns or people deciding at the check out that they didn't want something.

As we passed, I noticed our furry fuzzy friend and gave him a pat on the head. After that, SOMEONE (rhymes with Borey Branstrand) came along and knocked him down into the cart. I got mad at Corey about it. That poor bear! And even though we had already walked quite a few feet further, I had a sudden crisis of conscience and turned around. I went back and rescued Fuzzy.

He was on sale for $4.00. His box read that he is newborn friendly. And he has very kind, soulful eyes.

You may think I'm crazy. But this is an inherited problem. My parents always brought stuffed animals to life for us. They would go around and look for the stuffed animal that had the kindest face out of all of the many bears, or elephants, or giraffes. They would make them talk and play to amuse us when we were little. My sister and I always feel a connection to stuffed animals.

We also read the Velveteen Rabbit as children, and that had a great effect on me for the rest of my life.
Anyway, I wanted this bear to have a happy life in a fun home with a baby and two cats and two adults that love him. To live a life unattached from the box he came in.
And I know this sounds silly, but I swear he looks happier since he came into our home. I can't wait for Baby Granstrand to meet him!