WHAT?!

I am officially in the double digits!! We have 99 days left until our due date! That is so crazy! It really seems like yesterday that we found out we're having a baby! I'm starting to get nervous now! I picked that big 99 picture because it looked like it was inside of the sun. This week has been the hottest week on record this year....not fun for pregnant mamas! I give myself a pat on the shoulder for making it through the heat this past week. I'm grateful for fans and air conditioning...it saved my life! I also decided to mark this fabulous occasion by cutting 8 inches off my hair! No...I didn't get a "mom" haircut but it was getting so long it was starting to look stringy! Plus my hair is really thick so it was a nice break to have that weight off my shoulders. I'm looking forward to this weekend and going home for my baby shower. This is the only shower that I'm having so I really hope we get most of the stuff we need...since we have pretty much nothing! I will also be entering the third trimester later this week. Well, I guess that depends on what source you use, but I'm impatient so I'm declaring it! :) We are hoping that by the following weekend, we will be able to start painting and decorating the nursery! Can't wait! That's all for now! I'm off to Target for some groceries and some last minute baby shower items!

XOXO,

Megan

Week 26

How far along? 26 weeks!!

Total weight gain/loss: 9lbs

Maternity clothes? bottoms and some tops...still wearing regular shirts and dresses although I do have some maternity.

Stretch marks? haha none from baby..well maybe a few from baby..

Sleep: 50/50..had some good nights and some bad nights...like LAST NIGHT!! :(

Best moment this week: I got a haircut! It was very refreshing!

Movement: Constantly...but especially when I'm laying down at night :)

Food cravings: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a big glass of milk!

Symptoms: heartburn, back pain, pelvic pain, stomach pain...
Gender: ALL BOY!!! :)

Labor Signs: nope! Keep baking, please!

Belly Button in or out? Innie.. i hope it stays that way!

What I miss: not getting out of breath when I go up and down stairs...bending over without back pain or straining...ugh!! I miss being able to get out of bed without having to roll..

What I am looking forward to: Going to Roanoke for my baby shower this weekend coming up!

Weekly Wisdom: Take some free baby classes...you think you know stuff and then you learn so much more! :)

Milestones: I survived the heatwave 2011!!! :)

NKOTBSB

I haven't really had a chance to blog about this but back in June my little cousin, Andie came to visit and we went to see New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys. A gift from Lee and me for her 21st birthday. It was appropriate seeing as how I couldn't really take her bar hopping or anything :) She drove down to VA Beach Thursday and I treated her to dinner at the Melting Pot..do not go there if you're no hungry. It was sort of a waste of money for me...I was still pretty nauseated during that time and it was pretty hard to eat. But, she loved it and that's all that matters :) The next day Lee and Andie and I made the drive to DC for the concert. It was awesome! Andie has loved the Backstreet Boys since she was little and I of course was in love with New Kids on the Block since I was little. There were definitely more grown women than teenage girls there...all reliving their pre and post puberty days...I swear, Andie was even brought to tears. Lee was a really good sport and was proud of himself for knowing 5 songs! We had awesome seats...I begged Lee to pay a little extra and spring for some good seats. It was cool because we could see them backstage before they came on. My camera died at the beginning of the concert when Jordin Sparks opened for them. Andie took AMAZING pictures (Over 400...yikes!) Anyways, the video below (maybe I'm bad at blogger..but it wouldn't let me add my "blogging" to that post) is of the finale at the concert where we were! If you're a fan of either of these boy bands...you will love it. The finale was amazing. The whole concert was amazing. AND that's saying a LOT because I was sick the entire time (baby sick) It was probably right up there with Aerosmith..only a little cheesier :) Anyways..if you have time watch the video, its a little blurry in the beginning but its really good. Enjoy :)

NKOTBSB Finale in DC

Maternity Ward meltdown.

This week, Lee and I went to tour the brand new Maternity Ward at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital. Originally, we were to deliver at Sentara Virginia Beach General, but they are moving all of their L and D units to the new hospital. It's not scheduled to open until August 4th and we were the first group to tour it! It's really nice! The L and D rooms, NICU, OB OR, nursery, and mother/baby unit are all on the same floor. Everything is brand spankin' new...they didn't even have the furniture or computers or anything on the units yet. They did have one L and D room set up for us to see. Cue meltdown. I say meltdown for two reasons. One: I know its a new facility, but have they installed air conditioning yet? Two: Am I really expected toy lay in this bed with my legs spread eagle under those bright lights just to push a baby through the smallest tunnel ever? Are those lights really necessary? What if they blind the baby? Do you really need to see down there...don't they all look pretty much the same? Am I the only pregnant person in the room that looks like a deer in headlights?? I've seen L and D rooms. I've seen babies being born. I knew what to expect. CLEARLY....when you realize it's going to be you on that bed...its not the same. It was after that, that we decided it would be best to invest in some childbirth classes...just so I don't freak out when I get to the hospital.

The next day, I had my 24 week appointment. Everything went well. I was nervous about how much weight I'd gained. Before my appointment, I called Julie and told her how nervous I was. This period between 20 and 24 weeks I finally got my appetite back. AND, it came with a vengeance. I was scared I'd gained 10lbs. AND since my pregnancy has pretty much mimicked Julie's first pregnancy with Leira, she told me that she gained 8lbs during that same four weeks because her appetite also came back. Fortunately, it was only a 5lb weight gain and the Dr said it was totally fine! I was like..."yeah but, I don't want to gain 5lbs every time I come back here!!" She just laughed. Its really strange, but my appetite has already gone back to normal so maybe next time the weight gain wont be as massive great! BP was excellent, baby's heart rate was perfect. I measured 25 and a half centimeters for 24 and a half weeks. Good.

Friday night, Seth and Julie had us over for dinner. Julie made Tacos and enchiladas and they were so yummy! Unfortunately..they didn't agree with my stomach. Noted. Lee and Seth had some weird hankerin' for playing monopoly..so they went out and purchased a brand new monopoly game. I laughed hysterically when they realized they got a bobo version with TWO Tennessee Avenues..(one of those was taking the place of St James Place) hilarious. How does that even happen?? Julie and I of course, sat on our couch having our usual endless conversations about anything and everything. We could both talk the hind legs off a donkey for sure! (thanks, Bethenney)

Yesterday, Julie brought Dax and Leira over to go swimming in our pool. We've lived in these crummy apartments for a year and a half and have never gone to the pool! Can you believe that? Last summer we spent most weekends doing stuff for the wedding or laying out at the beach. This year, I've been so stinkin' hotttt that I've dreaded going outside. Thank God for a beautiful weekend! We had so much fun! There was hardly anyone there and Dax and Leira loved the water. It was sad that Seth had to work and couldn't join us but we had a fabulous time! Lee and and Daxton were pretty much connected at the hip the whole time. Lee is so good with him. I can't wait for him and Bauer to be that close! We spent the early part of the afternoon at the pool and then took the kids to get a happy meal for lunch. We had so much fun! The weird part is... a few years ago, I would've considered a day like that pretty lame..but I guess your priorities change and so does the FUN you have! :)

Its Sunday...its so hard not to dread Monday on Sunday. I try to keep thinking of it as another day and I try not to think of going to work on Monday but its so gosh durn hard to do! We are going to church this morning and as for what the rest of the day holds, I have no clue...but it will probably consist of a whole lotta me relaxing! :)

XOXO,

Megan

Week 25

How far along? 25 weeks!!

Total weight gain/loss: 9lbs

Maternity clothes? Just some maternity shorts...I can still wear my jeans but they're getting tight...who wants to wear jeans in July anyway? Still wearing my same tops, skirts and dresses....scrubs are still getting tighter and I refuse to buy anymore until I REALLY need them. (update: I NEED THEM!) I did invest in some maternity underwear...comfy and they REALLY help my back pain!!

Stretch marks? haha none from baby..well maybe a few from baby..

Sleep: This past week I've slept REALLY good...Still having some crazy dreams though. Lee even slept in the same bed a few nights!

Best moment this week: Getting in the pool....it took all the pain out of my back and stomach...it felt SOOOOO good!

Movement: moving all around...all the time!! I love that I can finally feel him!

Food cravings: Toast! (weird right??) Wild berry skittles and Cheeseburgers! ( I gave into this one only once..but it was SO delicious!!)

Symptoms: heartburn, back pain, pelvic pain, stomach pain...I had swollen feet one night this week...booooo!

Gender: ALL BOY!!! :)

Labor Signs: nope! Keep baking, please!

Belly Button in or out? Innie.. i hope it stays that way!

What I miss: not getting out of breath when I go up and down stairs...bending over without back pain or straining...ugh!! I miss being able to get out of bed without having to roll..

What I am looking forward to: Starting some of our baby care and childbirth classes this week!

Weekly Wisdom: Put your feet up!!!!!

Milestones: Bauer kicked Lee's hand right off my belly!!

Curiously Crafty

Tonite I was feeling...Crafty. For lack of a better word. I haven't been able to put use to my mad Martha skillz in several months since I've been sick/busy/working/lazy...etc..! This is something I bought the supplies for a couple months ago. I wanted to make something to put in Bauer's nursery for his name. I didn't want to buy the usual wooden letters and hang them over the crib..I wanted to something a bit different. I went on ETSY hoping to find some personalized wooden blocks that were painted with his name and that I could stack on a little shelf in his room. Then, I saw that someone made personalized wooden plaques with kids names on them and I was going to order it but it was 60 bucks and that didn't include shipping. After I started looking at it more closely, I thought...I think I can make that myself on the cheap! I already had most of the supplies and all I had to buy was the wooden plaques and the navy blue paint. I also asked people for Curious George books...to go along with the theme of course and used the pictures in the book for the plaques. I tried online first, but I didn't see any that I really liked. The whole project cost me around 10 bucks!! Here's what my crafty feeling led to.... what do you think?? Ta DA!! (please excuse the blurriness...my cell phone camera isn't the best)

Week 24

How far along? 24 weeks!!

Total weight gain/loss: at my last appointment I had gained 4 pounds for the total pregnancy! Pretty good! I have another appointment this week!

Maternity clothes? Just some maternity shorts...I can still wear my jeans but they're getting tight...who wants to wear jeans in July anyway? Still wearing my same tops, skirts and dresses....scrubs are still getting tighter and I refuse to buy anymore until I REALLY need them. I did invest in some maternity underwear...comfy and they REALLY help my back pain!!

Stretch marks? haha none from baby..well maybe a few from baby..

Sleep: Sleep? What's that? I get up about 4-5 times a night to pee...and toss and turn. I usually wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and am wide awake for two hours before falling back to sleep...just to be awoken by the alarm 20 mins later!!

Best moment this week: Daddy (Lee) could actually see my stomach moving!!

Movement: moving all around...all the time!! I love that I can finally feel him!

Food cravings: watermelon, popsicles, and diet coke..

Symptoms: heartburn, back pain, pelvic pain, stomach pain...baby is getting so big!

Gender: ALL BOY!!! :)
Labor Signs: nope! Keep baking, please!

Belly Button in or out? Innie.. i hope it stays that way!

What I miss: not getting out of breath when I go up and down stairs...bending over without back pain or straining...ugh!

What I am looking forward to: 24 week appointment!

Weekly Wisdom: Don't stay on your feet any longer than necessary..give your body time to relax!

Milestones: nursery cleaned out! Almost ready for painting... Not me of course :)

Ya snooze.. ya lose.

Are you ready for the most unflattering picture ever?? I don't claim to be sleeping beauty but this is going too far. As I was uploading pictures to the computer today..I stumbled across this piece of Nikon heaven. Lee obviously took this and thought it was the perfect opportunity to showcase his drooling wife. There are a few things I would like to point out. Yes that is a pregnancy pillow. While going against the advice of some mothers, I've had a difficult time sleeping these past few months and there have been some nights where this monster of a pillow saved me from tears. Notice I'm taking up pretty much the whole bed. That's because Lee and I rarely sleep in the same bed anymore. No...we're not having marital problems. Its because I toss and turn all night long and if he's in the bed with me and so much as twitches, I'm wide awake. I pretty much get the bed to myself..but we alternate between bed and couch so he doesn't get stuck with the couch all the time. Yes, thats a goofy stuffed animal that we got on our disney honeymoon. I never sleep with a stuffed animal so it surprised me to see myself cuddling that little guy...."GORSH" (Goofy voice)..I have a feeling my sleep was compromised with the Goofmeister. Thanks, husband. You'll notice there are two bottles of lotion on my nightstand. Don't get the wrong idea. One of those is for stretch marks. Although, I have no earthly idea why I even purchased it because it really doesn't work..and I already had a few stretch marks so I guess I was just buying into the whole preggo belly cream market. The second bottle of lotion is the Johnson's baby lavender bedtime lotion. I've been buying this for years and I love lathering up in it before bedtime because it relaxes me. And that mirror? Well that's usually not sitting there but for this moment suited its purpose well...that is.. reflecting the person taking the picture of me. Busted, Lee. Although you can't see it in this picture....Simone is laying at the foot of my pregnant body...she loves to cuddle. Speaking of sweet, cuddly, snoozing pictures..the second picture is just that. Our firstborn...snoozing away in one of her favorite spots. Love!! :)

Don't drink the water...or do!

Since I've been pregnant there have been a few things I've been obsessive about. Number one being..my pee. Yup..my urine. I am so paranoid about getting dehydrated! I try to drink a lot of water/fluids throughout the day...I'll admit..the taste of water has started to get old. I have a few preferences now. It cannot be in a bottle. It can come from a bottle, but it has to be poured into a glass. It has to be a big glass so I feel like I'm drinking more. The big glass has to have lots of ice. It must have lots of ice, because I feel like I get more water when the ice melts and I have cold water most of the day. If it does come out of water bottle it cannot be Dasani. It tastes different to me. It also can't be Fiji. The last two times I had Fiji, my tounge started to tingle. I was afraid it was going to swell and I was going to go into anaphalactic shock or something. Weird. And that was BEFORE I was pregnant.

Now, after drinking my yummy, over-analyzed, un-bottled, icy water, I go to the bathroom. I have to always stare at my pee and make sure its light yellow or almost clear. If it looks any darker I start to freak out and I drink like a whole bottle of water in two minutes. I know..TMI. I'm not really sure why I'm so paranoid about this but I guess because its because one of my co-workers, (my boss actually) has been in the hospital three times already for dehydration and has had to get fluids. Speaking of which there are THREE of us in my office that are pregnant..I'm almost 24 weeks, Melia is almost 23, and my boss Stacey is 18 weeks. AGAIN with the not drinking of the water! Not in our office anyway. OK..another co-worker told me that when she was pregnant she got dehydrated and started contracting and had to go to the hospital and make them stop her labor. So yeah, this has all got me slightly paranoid with my pee habits.

Fortunately...along with summertime comes a lot of yummy Watermelon, Cateloupe, popsicles..fun things to keep the preggos hydrated. Downside is...THE HEAT! I am so hot ALLLL the time. THE AC in our office is below average for all the preggos. All the other girls are wearing hoodies and shivering in the middle of the summer! Meanwhile, while they're fighting the urge to wear gloves, I'm fanning myself and sweating...miserable. I told myself that this summer would consist of a lot of me sitting my butt in the sand and spending lazy afternoons at the beach. Sadly, this is almost impossible because I dread the thought of going into the heat at all! Its pretty sad. I'd love to be out there...and while I know I can easily take a dip in the ocean...carrying all the equipment and walking through the dunes is durn near impossible when you start sweating after getting out of the car! UGH...I always feel gross and want to take showers several times a day..which would be great except I get so hot in the shower! No matter where I am in the house..there is always a fan blowing on me. Blow-drying my hair is a special treat. I only do that for special occasions. And when I do...you can be sure that fan is right next to me, blowing directly on me and my naked pregnant body...thats right, the thought of wearing clothes while blow-drying makes me shudder. Again with the TMI but I think when you're pregnant, pretty much all the keeping things to yourself goes out the window...

The bottom line is..I'm doing my best to drink the water...gatorade...whatever I can get my hands on. Hope all the other preggo moms out there are making it through the Summer heat without a hitch. Next time, I'm planning my pregnancy through the winter...I think we all know that'll never happen :)

XOXO

Meg

Pack-N-Play

So, after reading my friend Ashley's blog..it made me realize how much I need to update everyone on this pregnancy. The baby blog I originally started failed so I'm basically moving the baby info to this blog. I can barely keep up with one blog..I don't need two!

Anyway, Lee and I have tried to come up with ways to incorporate a tiny new human into our tiny apartment without feeling like we're being pushed out. Obviously things are going to get a little cramped around here for awhile but we're trying to come up with solutions and space savers.

To Bassinet or not to Bassinet? I think we've decided we're anti-bassinet people. We decided it was something else to take up space in our apartment and it just wasn't practical for us to use for a few weeks...a few months at the most. I'm not against the baby going straight to the crib when he comes home. It would be easier on us in the long run for him to be used to sleeping in his crib instead of transitioning. Plus, most of our friends who did purchase bassinets ended up never using them..except to hold magazines and baby toys..pretty much anything that wasn't a baby. We did come up with a compromise though. We decided to purchase a pack-n-play. We thought this would possibly work for us because we COULD use it in our bedroom at night the first few weeks if we wanted to. It has a built in bassinet/napper station. Another bonus is that it folds up really small and we could take it with us when we visit our families..which we plan on doing several times a year. That way...the baby would have a place to sleep when we go home. Not to mention the fact that when he's a bit older..its the perfect place to play when we need him out of the way to clean or do whatever we need to do. We purchased the Graco Laguna Bay model. We love it! Isn't she beautiful?

Here's a few picks of Hub putting it together..please excuse the messy apartment...Thanks :)

He did a great job...I tried doing a little bit last night..but my back was killing me. They don't say how hard pregnancy is on your body. I'm wondering if its not a little hard for me because of my fibromyalgia...hmmm?

There ya have it... a pack-n-play...ready to be packed and played in? :)

Fail.

I'll admit that the last several months I sucked at blogging. My goal in February when I found out I was pregnant was to create a lovely baby blog so that I could remember every little detail. I've always been a very organized person who loves creating memories and scrapbooking and sharing all the interesting details in my life. Well, I'll be the first to admit that the baby blog was a fail. This blog was a fail. I really needed to start fresh. We have a new camera that I'll admit I've hardly used, although Lee uses it all the time. I am six months pregnant now, which means there's a lot to catch you all up on. I'm going to make a goal for myself to try to blog more..at least once a week when I can find the time between, work, school, and planning for Baby Hammarback.

We'll start with the obvious. The pregnancy. I am now currently 23 weeks pregnant! Hard to believe! Almost 6 months a long...its ridiculous. This pregnancy has flown by so fast. We found out a few days after Valentine's Day that we were pregnant and then found out our due date was Halloween. The distance between those two holidays seems like an eternity. The fact that its July and that I'm well over the halfway point in my pregnancy is insane to me. We found out on Memorial Day weekend that we're having a sweet baby boy! :) I'm really happy to be having a boy. I love little boys. When I worked in Daycare, all of my favorite kids were boys. I would also love to have a girl in the future, but of course I have no control over that. To even SAY or THINK about already having a second child is crazy to me. Obviously, Lee and I want to wait a few years in between children, but a few months ago I swore I never wanted to be pregnant again after this one. I was sick for 5 months straight. MISERABLE. Its crazy how quickly you forget all that when the good stuff starts...

In the last month or so I've felt pretty awesome. I've been able to stop taking my phenergan and unisom at night. Even when I was feeling better, I still had to take it because if I did actually miss a dose, I would be sick. For the last few weeks I haven't had to take the medicine..this is a huge deal! I've also finally been feeling him move for the last few weeks. Its crazy! Some days he moves all day long and others he's a little more quiet. I love him so much already and whenever I feel him move, I keep praying he wont stop so I can keep feeling him! Lee can already feel him moving too, and he loves it! Lee is overjoyed to be having a baby. He's going to be such an amazing dad...we're both hoping that October gets here with a quickness!

We chose the name Bauer Ross. Bauer is a name that has stuck with me since I was sixteen years old! I had a little boy in the preschool class I was teaching named Bauer. He was the sweetest, cutest, little boy and he was my favorite student that year. I cried when he graduated to Kindegarten. That name has never left the back of my mind. Our runner up was Madox. We love the name Max but hated Maxwell or Maximillian so Madox seemed like an excellent choice. It was originally our first choice, but Lee's cousin who was also pregnant, had her heart set on Max as well so we went with our second choice, Bauer. Now that we know its a boy and know his name, Bauer seems like the natural choice and we LOVE it!

We've been steadily starting to make room for a nursery. We live in an extremely small/cramped apartment. We chose this place so that we could save up for a house. The plan is to move out of here as soon as possible when our lease is up in March, but with the baby expenses, we may have to renew and go month to month. Lee is taking his PE exam in October which will greatly increase his salary, but we don't know if he passes, when that will actually go into effect. Also, the test date is October 28th and my due date is October 31st, so we're cutting it pretty close to baby time. If he doesn't pass or isn't able to take the test, he wont be able to take it again until NEXT October. He's started studying for the exam and I think he'll pass..its just going to be a tense time! Lee's mom is coming to stay with us the week before and the week after my due date to help out and my parents and grandparents are coming down to stay in a hotel the first week of November. Hopefully Baby Bauer will be here by then! As far as the nursery goes, we are having to make room. Our second bedroom was basically an office/storage room for us. We are having to move everything out of that room into our "dining area" and will have to give our dining table to my dad until we have a house/bigger place. Yes, its going to be insanely cramped but hopefully worth it for Bauer to have his own special space. Its my first baby and I cannot see myself NOT giving him a nursery, even if he is only in it for a few months. We took advantage of this long weekend to get things organized, taken to the storage unit and moved to the dining room. We've chosen a paint color and furniture but we haven't bought anything yet. We bought an old dresser on Craig's list for 30 bucks and my dad is painting it and staining it the way we want it. It will be our changing table as well. My grandparents gave us money to purchase the crib that we want, but we have yet to purchase it. We will be getting a lot of this done in the next few weeks!!

So much has happened since my last post...we had a great Memorial Day. John came up from NC to visit us for the weekend. He came with us to the gender ultrasound and we spent some time at the beach and hanging with friends. We had a fun night out at Rudee's Inlet with friends...one of the first weekends I was starting to feel good. We've gotten to spend a lot of time with Seth and Julie and their kids. Julie has really become one of my greatest friends. We have so much in common and she and I love spending time together. Lee and Seth have also become the best of friends and I'm so thankful to have them here. I'd be miserable without them. We haven't been going to our church in the last several months. Mostly because I've been really sick and now that I'm not sick, I cherish my sleep. Plus the church has been having a lot of "internal" problems. We plan on starting to go back to church again. There is a new pastor and we're hoping things are starting to turn around there...we need this in our life, and we want Bauer to be raised in our church.

July 4th weekend was eventful! On friday night we went to Ocean View to see the fireworks over the bay! Saturday we spent the day organizing the nursery and had a date night at Lucky Oyster (our fave) with Seth and Julie! Sunday we spent the day cleaning and organizing the nursery..again which carried into Monday. Last night, the 4th, we went to Seth and Julie's to celebrate the holiday! I cooked pulled pork BBQ in my crockpot all day yesterday, and made festive cupcakes and homemade BBQ sauce. We had coleslaw, potato salad, corn on the cob and watermelon...what a feast! Lee changed his first diaper! He changed Dax. I was so proud of him. He said it was hard....poor guy didn' t even have an wetness or poop..it was just a change before bedtime. He's in for a treat isn't he??

Today I had the day off..which was a good thing because I needed some rest. I've been on my feet for the entire weekend and I'm feeling the effects. My whole body hurts and I woke up with my first pregnancy leg cramp last night...ugh lovely. Any advice on the leg cramps would be greatly appreciated! I've been drinking as much water as possible and today I've done a lot of resting and putting my feet up. Its starting to get harder to move around...really. I didn't think this part would come until later in the pregnancy, but seriously, this mama cannot stay on her feet for long..its exhausting. I do my best to get in a good walk everyday after work but its pretty crazy!

Anyways, I think that's pretty much the latest update from the Hammarbacks. I'm going to do better, I promise. Love love love!!

XOXO,

Megan