Not dead. Just super busy!

3 months

This is more of a test from my phone. I just downloaded blogger for Android and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It does make it easier to post while I'm at work. Maybe I'll start posting more! How lucky would you be?!

2 months . . . and I'm bad at blogging again.

Hello, friends. BabyJoe turned 2 months on September 30th. I cannot believe where the time has gone. It feels like this man has been in my life forever, but I am also scratching my head, wondering how two months have flown by in such a short amount of time. Babies do weird things to time.

They do even stranger things to your heart. I wish I could put into words the love I have for this boy. He stops my heart and makes it sing all at once. This month has brought smiles, and I just about die at every one. I would do anything for that smile, which often leaves me looking like an asshole to the naked eye as I dance and sing and make faces at my baby in public places. True story.
Just as I started to feel like I had the reigns on this motherhood thing, I had to go back to work. Part of me was excited to see my friends and talk to adults, but the larger part of me was so sad to say good bye that morning. I do feel a little less over worked at work (you SAHM bust your rears more than I ever will at work!) and I am super confident in the care he is getting while I'm gone, so overall, for now, I'm happy with our situation. I would love to stay at home, but its definitely not in the cards for us at this stage in the game. Luckily, we don't need to put Orion in daycare. I work from home on Mondays so I hang out with my son all day. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Mr. Joe's grandmother comes to watch him. On Thursdays, my bff comes up and on Fridays, Mr. Joe's sister takes a turn. He loves all the ladies in his life :-)

There is so much I want to write about. Did I say that last month? I wish that I had tons of time to blog about breastfeeding, the struggle I had to let go of it, the crazy first days home where I thought I was losing my mind, Mr. Joe's ideas about number two, and a whole ton of pictures of BabyJoe in silly hats. I will try my best. I know you're all at the edge of your seats. Stay tuned!

Because now I Picnik the shit out of pictures of my baby:

Orion was one month on 8/30! He hasn't really done anything exciting in his first month of life, besides sleep a little less. The faces he makes in the morning when he's stretching are so cute. I just want to eat him up. I have several nicknames for him: Big Baby (the baby character from Toy Story 3), Turd (because it felt like I pooped him out after I had him - which? Why didn't anyone talk about the destruction that is your vagina after childbirth? Maybe they did and I didn't listen.), Baby O, and of course, BabyJoe. Now that the baby blues are completely gone, our days are everything I've ever wanted.

So cheesy - I know! I intend to blow this up ginormous sized and hang it all obnoxious style in our living room. Mr. Joe is thrilled I'm sure.

I am so, so blessed. Please know that if you are still waiting, I pray for you daily, even more now than before. God is so good!

Orion's birth story

Friday, July 29th - My 29th birthday - and I sorta forgot about it. For the first time ever, I was more preoccupied with something else on my birthday. I had an appointment that morning and when I went in my blood pressure was little high. I begged my doctor to strip my membranes because I wanted this baby OUT. The doctor was concerned with my pressure and had the tech come in and take it two more times. After they came back higher each time, she decided to send me next door to the lab to have blood work drawn and do a 24 hour urine culture. Do you know what that entails? YOU PEE IN A HAT FOR A WHOLE DAY. The best part was when she told me that we could keep the urine in our fridge since the lab wouldn't be open until Monday. Luckily, it never came down to that because Mr. Joe would NOT have put up with a jug of pee next to our milk. I'm pretty sure he would never use the fridge again after storing urine in it (he is so so bad with diapers. I almost pee from laughing at him each time).

We also scheduled an induction at that time for August 4th. I was not pleased as this date seemed to be eons away at the time. It was also the date that Ronnie's husband had chosen as BabyJoe's birthday and I had promised him that if he came on that date (two days after his due date) that I would punch him in the junk. I told my doctor this, but it didn't seem to phase her. Instead, she shooed me off to the lab next door to get my blood work and special pee hat.

I arrived at the lab slightly annoyed because I hate it there. I feel like I am going to catch the clap when I am there because it is nasty in that waiting room. I wasn't there long though, because on my short walk over, my doctor had called and told me that it really wasn't worth being tested and peeing in a hat for a weekend, I should just head over to the hospital. They might send me home, but they might not. . .

Obviously, I couldn't get outta there fast enough! I called Mr. Joe at work and told him we were heading to the hospital, all the while holding back vomit because HOLY COW MAYBE WE WOULD HAVE A BABY TODAY! I made Mr. Joe take me to McDonalds because I hadn't had anything to eat at that point and what better food for someone with high blood pressure than fries and diet coke?

Once we were all settled in at the hospital, we felt dumb because the nurses were scoffing at what my doctor thought was high blood pressure. After being monitored for an hour with my pressure being only slightly elevated, we were expecting to be sent home. I silently prayed that when the nurses called my doctor that she would just ask them to induce me because I was ready to have this baby. Much to their surprise (but not mine) my doctor asked to have me induced!

This sent all of our family into an excited frenzy of "babywatch 2011" Sadly, they did not realize that being induced takes a loooooong time. We started with cervadil at 3:30 pm. That had to stay in for 12 hours. Time CRAWLED from that point on. My mother in law brought up a cake for me, but I wasn't allowed to eat it because hospitals are torturous to laboring ladies on their birthdays and refuse to feed them anything other than Popsicles. Around 10pm, we attempted to get some sleep, but with being hooked up to so many monitors and being bothered by nurses all night long, I didn't sleep at all. Around 3:30 am we started pitocin and I snuck away to poop. I was hellbent on not pooping when I pushed, because I knew Mr. Joe would not be able to unsee it if I did. As it was, I was worried about him being able to unsee a baby come out of me.

Everything was fine and dandy until 9am when my doctor decided to break my water. Holy googaly moogaly. They wouldn't let me get up an walk around and the contractions were coming a minute apart and lasting for a minute each time. I made it about 2 minutes before asking for the epidural. I cried the whole time because I felt like such a failure! Once the epidural was in and working though, I was over it. I felt amazing and I was able to enjoy my company.

Things moved pretty quickly from there. I had dilated from 3cm to 9cm in that short time that I was waiting for the epidural. My doctor told me to let her know when I felt like I needed to push, which everyone kept telling me would feel like I had to poop. Let me tell you now, I never felt like I had to poop. I felt pressure, but because it didn't feel like I had to go, I didn't think it was time to push.

After waiting around for me for awhile, by doctor came in and told me she wanted to shut my epidural off because I obviously was too numb to feel the pressure of needing to poop. Um, no thank you. I told her she was crazy and she wasn't going to turn it off unless she wanted to lose an eye. Or I said something like that. I eventually let them turn it down, but at that point I was so worried about the contractions coming back that I lied and told them I felt like I was going to poop. As a result, it was time to push! At first, I was just making it up when I thought I had to push, but after a few times, I really had to push each time. They kept telling me to rest during the next one if I had to, but I couldn't. Once I started there was no keeping the kid from coming out.

Here is something I didn't know: pushing a baby out? It's hard work. After each push, I kept declaring that he was stuck and was not coming out. I had my sister and best friend on one side and Mr. Joe on the other side of me cheering me on and telling me that he wasn't stuck. Later, my sister told me that she thought I was being a baby because as the baby was crowning, his head didn't look all that big. Until his actual ginormous head came out, then she was impressed with me. Another fact I didn't know? Epidurals don't really numb you enough for the actual pain of pushing an 8 pound human out of your hooha. I felt everything. Probably not as intense as it would have been without the drugs, but I definitely felt plenty.

Anyway, I pushed for about 45 minutes and then BAM! The head was out and they were trying to yank his broad shoulders out. This is where I swear I heard a crack. Either I cracked or the baby cracked, but he did not come out easily. Everyone says that I was hearing things, but even now, when I hold Orion, sometimes his shoulder feels . . . weird. 3:59 pm on July 30th, my baby boy was born.

I can't describe how I felt the moment he was here. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him cry. It was unbelievable that MY BABY was crying. My sister and Ronnie were crying and hugging, but Mr. Joe and I were not. I think we had so much emotion that we didn't know what to do. They brought Orion over to me and we just stared at each other for the longest time. He was so quiet! His huge eyes were locked on mine. I kissed him and whispered, "I waited a long time for you Orion." and silently thanked Jesus for this baby. He was amazing. I handed him to Mr. Joe and watched the two of them as the doctors sewed me up. Watching my husband hold our baby - that was when I cried.

The recovery has not been easy. Breastfeeding did not go well. I have so much more to write about, but my days have been spent spending my precious time off with my son. I promise to share more later. I've been reading blogs and trying to comment, but I'm still learning how to divide my time. See you all soon!!

I made it to the other side.

Orion Michael Joseph 7/30/2011 3:59pm 8lbs 6oz 20 inches

I never imagined my life could be this way - amazing and terrifying all at once. I'll post more later, but I wanted to share BabyJoe with all of you. I can't thank you people enough for the support and love that you've offered me over this journey so far. It's been more than any stranger would be expected to give. Story and more pictures to come in the next few days ( maybe weeks, we know how I roll with updates)

39 weeks 2 days . . . and a post that proves it

Sorry for the crappy picture. . . but at least you get a picture this time! This is me today on my last day of work! I've been working from home for the last two weeks, which allowed me to stretch out my time at work so I didn't have to take leave two weeks before. Working from home was a lot better than working at work, but it still sucks to work when you're close to popping.

I look like I have a tiny head and huge body lol. I am pretty disproportionate at this point.

As proof, here are my huge feet:

I know they don't look huge, but they are swollen and sausage-y looking. Normally, my feet look like skinny ugly things, but now they look like normal sized feet. With tubby toes.

I cannot even tell you how badly I want this child out of me right now. If I could reach up there and pull him out myself, I would. In fact, I might have tried once or twice, but it's touch to get my arm around the huge belly I am sporting. The stretchmarks are slowly creeping upwards as each day passes. Its a race to the finish between the stretchies and BabyJoe. Whoever makes it to the light of day first, wins! The stretchmarks are pretty close to making it beyond my waistline. I'm reallllly hoping BabyJoe wins. GET THIS KID OUTTA ME!!!!

It's been hot like Africa here in CT lately, so that doesn't help matters either. What does help matters is my fabulous Mr. Joe. Look what this man bought for me as my birthday slash push present:

I'm sorry that it's teeny tiny, but I suck at posting pictures on blogger. Isn't it the BEST THING EVER???? I've been drooling over the Disney Sketch Dooney and Bourke large tote bag for ever - but the steep price made it a distant dream. Mr. Joe is THE BEST HUSBAND ever. You can't tell from the picture, but this bag is the perfect size to work as a hospital bag, or a diaper bag, or a work bag. I am going to use it for EVERYTHING. I am in love. Currently, it stands ready with all the crap I want to take to the hospital. Which I will hopefully be leaving for any time now. Mr. Joe is making ginger root tea as we speak in an effort to get BabyJoe out before tomorrow, which happens to be my 29th birthday. Fingers crossed this works. I know this post is kind of all over the place. So is my brain.

Still preggo

Sorry I've been so quiet as of late. Work is crazy because the company whose disability claims I handle are planning to go on strike, so the would be strikers are grasping at straws to get on disability so they would be paid should they strike. Which means I am denying claims for things like bee stings and fevers, in addition to the people who are ACTUALLY disabled.

The good news is I have been working from home, which means I don't have to wear pants at work! It does mean that I have to answer the door when evangelists or lawn care experts come knocking, so I do have to wear some kind of clothing - but not pants so yay!

Today is a day off for me. I had an appointment yesterday with Dr. Kellie Martin (what was I calling my dr on here? I don't remember anymore) and she determined that BabyJoe is . . . wait for it . . .

8 FUCKING POUNDS.

Please pardon my French, but great googaly moogaly that seems like a giant baby. I know those estimates can be off, but the thought of an 8 pound baby coming out of my hooha has me rethinking my natural childbirth plan. I'm now thinking Ronnie's idea of knocking me out with a kick to the face is sounding pretty good.

Also, I'm ONE CENTIMETER dilated!! I realize that one measly cm is nothing, but I'm trying to get worked up over here so I go into labor before I give birth to a baby that rivals that one in TX. You know the 16 pounder? There's no coming back from 16 pounds.

So I called out today and I'm planning on walking all over creation and possibly getting a pedicure because my feet have seriously been neglected since about 3 months ago. I have already taken care of my lady parts via a wax last week. Word to the wise? Being pregnant makes you sweat a lot more, and if you're anything like me and you sweat in response to pain, you will end up looking like you are suffering from malaria by the end of your appointment. Which is to say, don't make plans to go out directly afterwards. Your crotch might look fabulous, but you will look silly.

Wanna see what I look like at 38 weeks?

Haha tricked you! Although this is an accurate depiction. Please note my lack of pants in this picture and my nasty feet. That's pretty much what I look like now, except I'm not wearing a turtleneck. I was too lazy to fix my drawing. I worked pretty hard on it for you and now I am going to take a nap. Right after I do Mr. Joe's laundry, because before he left for work this morning, he so kindly dragged out his hamper for me because he knows just how badly I have been aching to wash his clothes. I am such a lucky lucky lady.

Pray that I go into labor soon. My lady parts thank you!

Dear BabyJoe

Sometimes, I wonder what the hell I am doing here.

The truth is, I was blinded in the beginning by the deep and physical ache that was my empty uterus. You were just a dream- an all-consuming thought. You still are.

The difference is that now you are physically coming. I can no longer deny that I will not carry you forever. You are quickly running out of room and we are both clearly ready to meet on the outside. I'm not sure I'm ready to share you. You have been my very own for 9 months now, really two years - my deepest desire, my (not so) little secret. I know you like no one else on Earth. Who would want to share that?

I worry that I am not up to the challenge of being a mother. I'm pretty sarcastic. I hate baby talk. I am terrified that I will turn you into a cynical asshole and I don't want to do that. I want to be the best mother that ever lived, but I'm completely clueless on how to be that person. I want to give you the world - the only fair trade after what you have given me.

I have physically carried you over these last few months, but you have carried me for the last two years. You have caused me to fall deeper in love with your father. You've given me the husband that I've always known him to be. You are my own personal miracle, and I will never be able to show enough gratitude. But I promise that I will try.

You are coming. As terrifying as this is, I am comforted by the thought of you here. Each week I hear your heartbeat and imagine that it is the sound of your tiny feet hitting the pavement, hurtling towards me, unafraid. So when you get here, I will pretend that I am ready, too. That I know exactly what I am doing and its under control. I am not the first person to have a baby. I am just the first person to be your mother. I know I can't keep you forever - but I promise to hold on to you for the rest of my life.

See you soon,

Mom

34 weeks

Confession: This is my 32 week picture. Imagine me slightly larger and more lazy than the girl in this picture and you have an accurate idea of what I look like today.

I can't believe I'm 34 weeks. BabyJoe will be here in about a month!! I can't wait to have an outside baby - I'm pretty sure it will be way better than having a 34 week belly. Speaking of belly, mine is now covered in stretch marks. It literally happened over the course of a day. I woke up and saw 3 teeny tiny ones next to my belly button, and then by the end of the day it was a full blown party of stretch marks from the bottom of my belly button down! Apparently, all of my marathon eating before getting knocked up didn't prepare my gut for BabyJoe's expansion.

This weekend is the last of my baby showers. The first one I had was on June 4th. We have so many different outfits. So many in fact, that I really hope people buy off of the registry this time around or I will have to return a lot of clothes so I can get things that this kid will really need, like bedding and breastfeeding stuff. I understand that its fun to buy baby clothes, and I am guilty of buying them just because they are cute and little, but some of the stuff that people have bought for this boy are (at the risk of sounding ungrateful) totally lame. It may be the hormones, but I have come to HATE anything that says "Mommy loves me" or "Daddy loves me" and that seems to be the majority of what the clothes I have say. I don not feel the need to advertise that we love our baby. OF COURSE WE LOVE OUR BABY!! See? I'm full blown crazy now.

I'm sorry I don't have more exciting things to write about, aside from my hatred of lame baby clothes. Work is keeping me busy throughout the day and then the rest of my time is filled in with getting ready for BabyJoe. I've been reading all of your blogs - and I'm cheering you on, even if I don't comment. Hopefully I will be much more exciting after the baby gets here. No promises though so don't hold your breath :-)

30 weeks down!

I think this picture makes me look smaller than I really am. I feel like I cannot possibly get any bigger, yet I have two more months to go! How do people do this with more than one in there?? See my face? I'm trying really hard not to look like a tool. Fail.

I'm 30 weeks and 3 days today. I'm really planning on carrying for another 8 weeks, and then jumping up and down until BabyJoe comes out. I don't want to go the full 40 weeks because having a baby in August sounds like it would be a very hot and sweaty experience. As it is, having a baby in July will be hot and sweaty. August is always Africa hot here in CT, and I just don't want to be preggo after July 31st. That sounds reasonable right? :-)

It seems like all of a sudden my appetite has grown tenfold. I feel like I could eat every minute of everyday and still be hungry. My thoughts are consumed with food all day long. That's when my brain is capable of having thoughts. Mostly, I'm braindead all day. I try to concentrate at work, but it's hard to when you have a giant stomach that move independently. I poke and prod BabyJoe all day long and in return, he kicks my ass! I don't think it will ever get old. I worried in the beginning when I was so sick that I would be one of those people that hated being pregnant and then people would be mad that I hated it after wanting this for so long, but I can honestly say that I have loved most of every minute. I still wouldn't mind him coming any time after 38 weeks, though!

We finally moved the carp out of his room and started work on the nursery. By "we", I mean Mr. Joe. Although, I did put the crib together with him - and we did it without any yelling or injury! Of course, there may have been a few Captain and Cokes involved in keeping the peace. Just saying. The room is painted a light green. I need to find an area rug to go in there and then it will be ready to be crammed full of baby paraphernalia. I can't believe my first of two showers is next week. This is going by so fast!

Mr. Joe and I celebrated 3 years of marriage on Wednesday. Since we are very fancy people, we had an anniversary dinner at the Red Lobster, at around 4:30 with the senior citizens. I'm pretty sure we were the youngest couple in there. Afterwards we went shopping at Dick's for a putter. Pretty exciting 3rd anniversary, huh? We live on the edge. This kid is going to have one craaaaaazy life!

28 ish weeks

Good morning internets!
What has me up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday you ask?
The three hour glucose test, of course!

That's right - I failed the one hour glucose test, which earned me the pleasure of doing it again for THREE hours. Here's the thing: I LOVE me some sweets, but I HATE drinking things that are sugary. I only drink water and diet coke and extremely watered down apple juice. We're talking 90% water, 10% juice. So having to drink that nasty glucola crap was like pure torture. Having to do it twice must be karma for something terrible that I've done in the past but can't seem to recall now. Whatever I did karma, I'm sorry. Very, very sorry. Please don't let me have gestational beetus.

I'm currently at the hospital in an empty cafe typing on their thousand year - old computer to kill time. So far, I've killed 20 minutes of the 3 hours. And it was a long and painful battle to kill them. I forgot a book because I'm at the stage where I'm braindead. So, here I am.

What else can I tell you about? My friend Kelli in Texas had her some babies over Easter weekend. I'm sure they're adorable, but I've yet to see pictures as proof. I'm waaaaaaaiting! :-)

Oh! And I full - on peed my pants yesterday when I sneezed. To be honest, it's only been about a year and a half since I last peed my pants, but that was on my sister's birthday and was as a result of being slightly intoxicated and way too giddy. This time, I was stone cold sober and I didn't even have to go! I was getting ready to do some laundry in my dusty laundry room when out of no where I had this crazy powerful sneeze that almost knocked me on my ass. Then BLAM - wet pants. Marvelous.

So clearly I fail at processing sugars and holding my bladder. I'm going to be an awesome mom, I bet.
I also fail at taking a 28 week picture and blogging.

Tomorrow Mr. Joe and I are headed to the park with his family for family portraits! Can I tell you happy I am that Mr. Joe's mother decided to do family pictures while I was 7 months pregnant? I hope you can sense my sarcasm. While I love being pregnant, wet pants and all, I'm not very pleased with how I look right now. It's not that I think I look huge and hideous, but I've looked better, and I don't see the harm in waiting a few more months and taking the pictures when I look like a normal human being again. AND I have an outside baby to be in the pictures too! Apparently that is a terrible idea. Oh well.

Almost time for me to get my blood drawn. Then only two more hours to go! Wish me luck and think low sugar level thoughts for me. The idea of not getting to eat cake until after BabyJoe is here makes me weepy.

Officially the worst blogger ever.

Here I am! I doubt anyone is looking for me at this point. . . I've been following along with everyone else's blogs, but when it comes to taking the time to write on my own I end up doing other things. Like adding items to my amazon wishlist and taking naps. I thought that once you hit 2nd and 3rd trimesters, you get your energy back? I could nap all day long if this pesky job didn't need my attention!!

Here I am at 26 weeks (yesterday). Depending on who you ask, third trimester. I still have trouble believing that there will be a baby at the end of all of this. It doesn't seem real. Obviously, I have a growing stomach and appetite, and I can feel him moving all the time, but my brain is having a hard time conceiving of the idea that eventually, there will be a little person here. Or that I will push that little person out of me. With little to no drugs.

Then other times, my mind is consumed with thoughts of the son that I am going to have in a short 12 weeks (because BabyJoe and I have decided that 38 weeks is a great time to come). I didn't know it was possible to love someone you've never met so damn much. I feel like every day I learn his personality a little more. I am going to have my work cut out for me when he gets here! He is on the move constantly - especially when Mr. Joe is talking to him. Or I'm complaining about claims at work :-) He responds the most to when I'm listening to music in the car. I hope he loves music as much as I do - so far it seems like it!

We received our very first "shower" gift off of our registry last night! It's an exersauser and it's adorable. It's also in a very large box in our living room until we can make the time to work on the baby's room hahaha.

Not much else has been going on in our little corner of the world. Most of my time is spent at work or at home thinking about the cleaning I should be doing but watching tv instead. Hopefully I will go into nesting mode soon or BabyJoe will have to wait a while till he has a room! I'll try to update more often, but my life is really not that exciting right now!!

I'm in love and 22 weeks

With a stroller. I've been thinking about confessing my love for this stroller for a while, but every time I start to write this post in my head, I hear T-Pain's "I'm in Love with a Stripper". The lyrics make a little bit of sense . . .

I'm in love with a stroller . . .

She vibin' she rollin' she rollin'

Then the rest is pretty dirty about someone's poor baby working a pole.

I thought about posting the video here, but then people would probably think I was trashy. Please don't get me wrong, I am a little trashy - but I'd like you to come to that conclusion based on my words, and not the videos I post on my blog.

Anywho - the stroller:

Phil and Ted's explorer. I heart you.

I have loved it since I first saw it in EPCOT. The whole time we were in the parks, I was staring at every stroller that rolled by. I tried to convince Mr. Joe that it would be ok to take people's strollers on test drives while they were enjoying the attractions with their kids, but he wouldn't let me. So I love a stroller that I have never pushed before - not for lack of trying.

This stroller is going to change my life, I know it. It has the car seat adapter for our car seat, and a second seat in case we have more babies. My sister thinks that the design is a little flawed and calls it "the baby stacker". I like that its compact. I love it, baby stacking and all. The only problem is that its about 500 bucks. I put it on my registry in the hopes that people will see it and give me gift cards towards it. I hope no one thinks that I expect them to buy the stroller outright. I just can't imagine my life without this stroller in it!

How far along? 22 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I'm not sure at this point. I've been eating a lot more and my arms seem hammier . . .
Maternity clothes? They're all I fit into.
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: yes and no. I feel like I sleep ok, but the bags under my eyes every morning say otherwise.
Best moment this week: Finishing the registry. I almost typed nursery - which we have not started AT ALL.
Movement: All the time and I love it! He moves the most at night . . . makes me nervous that he's a night owl :-)
Food cravings: Just food. Lots of food.
Gender: Boy boy boy
Labor Signs: No, thank you
Belly Button in or out? Innie
What I miss: Warm weather, but that has nothing to do with being knocked up.
What I am looking forward to: Warmer weather so I can get out and walk and wear the cute maternity things I have for warm weather!
Weekly Wisdom: I have none and haven't received any.

Milestones: I made it more than a day without being sick. Hooray!!

Halfway there!

Holy cow. Halfway there! I don't know how to turn the ultrasound pic sideways so you will have to turn your head to see BabyJoe. Isn't he cute? Can you tell that he's waving? The anatomy scan was SO FRIGGIN COOL. I made the dr zoom in on his feet to see if they will be ugly like mine. I'm pretty sure my dr thinks I am a lunatic. I feel like in my picture I look smaller than I am in real life. Several people have commented on my girth. Still others sound surprised when I tell them I'm pregnant. I think I look pregnant enough to assume, but maybe they're being nice?

I want to be at the point when people are certain that I am pregnant and not chubby. I want it to be warmer too so I can wear dresses and stop trying to find shirts that cover my growing gut. I have a few maternity shirts, but I'm not really big enough to need those yet. They end up looking silly on me, but most of my regular shirts need a tank top underneath to avoid showing any "overhang" - a dress would take care of all of that. It's too cold to try just yet though.

How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I am officially up 1lb since BFP
Maternity clothes? So far just pants
Sleep: Getting more and more elusive. Mr. Joe doesn't let me have the body pillow so I have to get my own :-(
Best moment this week: The anatomy scan - even though that was last week. Seeing babyjoe move and feeling him at the same time made me hyper aware of every movement now.
Movement: All the time! I feel like I'm starting to learn his personality now that I feel him move so much.
Food cravings: Ice cream and potato chips lately - I better slow my roll or I'll be up way more than a pound at the next appointment!
Gender: BOY
Labor Signs: No thank you!!
Belly Button in or out? Still an innie. I think I will always be though. My belly button is weird.
What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach!! And beer a little. Being at Disney, but thats irrelevant.
What I am looking forward to: Warm weather and March Madness this weekend. Shopping for nursery furniture.
Weekly Wisdom: People love to tell you how your pregnancy is going to be because they know more than you do.
Milestones: 20 more weeks to go!! Less if I have him when I hope I do!!

Sorry to my employer . . .

But I am just not thinking about work now. Even though I'm pretty sure babyJoe is a boy, I CANNOT WAIT to go to my appt today at 4pm!!!!

UPDATE: BabyJoe is a boy!! I'll post his pics soon . . . but right now I am watching UCONN with Mr. Joe so it will have to wait. Trust me though he's cute.

18/19 weeks!

I had a terrible dream last night. My child doctor (did I tell you guys my doctor is very young looking yet? Well she is. And she looks like Kelli Martin of "Life Goes On" fame. And her name is Kelli. Coincidence?) moved my due date. To OCTOBER 28th. I kept insisting that that was impossible because it was two days after my first day of my lmp date on the "cycle" I conceived BabyJoe with, but she wouldn't listen. Mr. Joe just kept saying "I told you so" and I woke up all sweaty and upset.

Not that I hate being pregnant. I actual enjoy it. Even with all the barfing and back ache and people still telling me they had no idea I was pregnant even though they have seen my gut grow for 4.5 months now. My belly pic looks like a belly pic, no? What I'm trying to say is, I have some serious perspective now and I'll take the "crappy" pregnancy symptoms and LOVE THEM because it beats where I was a year ago today.

How far along? 19 Weeks tomorrow
Total weight gain/loss: I think I have gained a pound, but I'll know the official weight on friday

Maternity clothes? Yes to pants, but not shirts yet. I can only wear my longer pre preg shirts though. Dressing for work is getting tricky for me, and it was tricky to begin with because I have ZERO fashion sense.
Sleep: I need to invest in a pillow that will keep me on my side. I keep waking up squishing BabyJoe and kicking Mr. Joe.
Best moment this week: Anytime I was eating.
Movement: Yes, but only flutters still at this point. I want to feel him kick for real!!
Food cravings: Right now, I just crave food in general!
Gender: Still convinced BOY

Labor Signs: No thank you!
Belly Button in or out? Still an innie. I think I will always be an innie.
What I miss: Nothing is as great as this..
What I am looking forward to: Friday's anatomy scan and officially conceding to Mr. Joe that its a boy.
Weekly Wisdom: I still have no idea what I'm doing, so I have no wisdom for you. Sorry!!
Milestones: Almost halfway there!!

17 Week magic . . .

Hellllooooo friends!

I am in Florida, and for those of you in the north, I will spare you the gory details of how glorious it is down here compared to how crappy it is up there.

I don't ever want to come back, and I'm already scheming a plan to trick Mr. Joe to staying here forever and ever. I'll keep you all updated on how that goes.

Anyway, I'm 17 weeks today, and to celebrate, I took BabyJoe to the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. He was pretty stoked. I'm sure today started a life long love affair with WDW. BabyJoe is certain to follow in my footsteps. I have tons of pictures, but I will wait till I get back to share them all. Here is my magical 17 week belly pic:

It was very sunny and warm today. I'm not sure if you can see me very clearly over the glare of my pastey white skin! At least I'm not taking my own pic this week :-)

For some stupid reason, I can't paste the survey questions and I don't want to type them all out here, so no survey this week. I'm 17 weeks, sleeping like a rock until about 4am, I'm still thinking boy, I am 99% sure I can feel BabyJoe move and I'm not gassy, I miss pooping. That's basically the jist of the survey right? I have been reading all of your posts on my phone so I haven't been commenting. I hope everyone is having a great week, and that it isn't too cold back home! Wish you were here :-)

Best Diet Ever?

Here I am, from last week. Looking like a tool as per usual. I gotta get Mr. Joe to take these pictures for me. I look this same this week, so I'm not going to take one. Here are my stats thus far:

How far along? 16 Weeks!
Total weight gain/loss: I am down 10lbs since my BFP. My Dr FINALLY wrote me a script for meds.
How big is baby? The size of an avocado? MMMMMM guacamole.
Maternity clothes? Yep most of the time.
Sleep: I can stay awake now, which is fabulous. I don't have any trouble with sleep.
Best moment this week: Um. . . I don't know. Maybe realizing that after this Friday, I'm done working for the month of February?
Movement: Sometimes, I think so. I've never had a baby before so I don't know if its BabyJoe or just gas.
Food cravings: Mr. Joe's mac 'n cheese, pickles and HOT DOGS, sweet Lord, HOT DOGS. With sour kraut and relish. PLEASE can I have just one?
Gender: Pretty sure we have a boy!
Labor Signs: no, thank you.
Belly Button in or out? I have an innie, so I think it will prolly stay this way the whole time.
Stretchmarks? I only have stretchmarks on my boobs from way back in the day. None anywhere else.
How are you feeling? Barfy as usual. Excited for Florida!!
What I am looking forward to: VACATION! I love my new job, but oh boy, do I need a break from this cold weather and dirty snow.
What I miss: Nothing. I miss absolutely nothing from before I was pregnant. Not even hot dogs really.
Weekly Wisdom: I don't really have much wisdom. . . .I'm a rookie. Feel free to share your wisdom with me if you have it.
Milestones: Making it 4 full months almost halfway there!

I'm pretty content with everything right now. Even feeling sick all the time doesn't bother me much. I would like to start gaining weight though. I don't think its good for BabyJoe for me to continue to lose. I started at 163 and I'm down to 153. It took me a lot of P90 and hard work to lose that much weight before, now it's just falling off. I'm not sure where it's coming from though - I feel like I look the same, with a bigger gut. AND NOW, TMI: why do people always joke that pregnant people never want to have s-e-x? I think that is a bunch of bologna. Since getting knocked up, it's been amazing. Like, way better than ever before - maybe it's not like that for everyone, but it is for us (YAY!). Mr. Joe has this book that was given to him by our friends. It's about pregnancy from a guy's point of view. It's pretty sarcastic in most areas, and the main running theme is that your wife will turn into a nun after she sees a BFP. I want to write to this guy and tell him maybe HIS wife just didn't find him attractive anymore, but that would be mean and I need to set a good example for BabyJoe so I didn't.

My next picture will be from the Happiest Place on Earth, and I cannot wait!! I hope everyone has a marvelous weekend :-)

Happy Valentine's Day:

15 Weeks - to the day, no less!

I am 15 weeks today! I'm 3 weeks into the 2nd trimester now, and the barfiness has been lessening. I'm still getting sick, but it seems to come for a shorter time and not as often. My fingers are crossed that it goes away completely still like everyone promises it will, but I'm not holding my breath :-)

I can only wear maternity pants now - and they are magical! Problem is, I only have three pairs so I've been trying to mix up my wardrobe as much as possible so no one notices I have three pairs of pants and leggings. I'm sure no one pays attention to what I'm wearing, but I'll feel a little more confident once I have a few more pairs of pants. I wish it was warmer so I could wear flowy dresses instead. I have a picture but you'll have to wait until my slooooooooooow phone sends it to my email before you can see my tubbiness.

I've had the strangest cravings for vinegary and salty foods. It's strange because normally I cannot stand vinegar, but lately - I practically want to drink it by the gallon! And while it's cliche, I LOVE dill pickles. I can't have enough pickles in my day.

Not sure if I've felt movement or not yet, but sometimes I feel something going on down there. I'd like to think it's BabyJoe and not gas but I have no idea what baby movement actually feels like. I can't wait until he's bigger and I KNOW that it's him moving around in there. I can't believe I'm already 15 weeks, but it seems like my due date is forever away. I'm so excited for this summer that it feel like waiting for 10 Christmases!

Sorry for the boring update. Maybe I should start doing one of those questionnaire thingies that everyone else does. I hope everyone has a great week! Only 12 days to go until I'm in Florida!!

I suck at blogging lately. Sorry!

Hello friends. Sorry I suck at posting. I have a few excuses though - the main one being that I am so incredibly busy at my new job - which I still love - and it doesn't leave much time for posting. The times when I am not working, I am barfy. In case you're wondering (like my mother and mother in law constantly are), I'm still feeling sick. Please don't say it won't go away soon. Because I DON'T BELIEVE YOU ANYMORE. Every day I get a text from one of them, asking how I feel. Every day, I tell them that I am still sick. And every day, they tell me it will go away soon. I don't think it will. This child likes to send back everything. Mr. Joe is going to be so disappointed when Baby Joe is old enough to tell him why he hates his cooking. Or any cooking, for that matter.

On the plus side, I haven't really gained anything. In fact, I've lost weight. Yet my pants no longer fit, which I think stems from the fact that my clothes must have been a little too tight to begin with :-)

I am 14 weeks on Tuesday, so here is a 12 week bump picture:

Complete with me looking like a tool. When I'm naked, it looks more like a fat roll. Not at all like a baby bump, but when I'm clothed people tell me its a bump. I let them believe it. Enough about me though, let me show you a horrible picture of my kid:

You have to tilt your head to the side, because I don't know how to rotate pictures on here. I can barely handle posting, let alone posting pictures in the right orientation. Can you see how adorable Baby Joe is even sideways? The tech was pretty certain Baby Joe is a boy. I'm inclined to believe her because she was able to point out kidneys and the heart in addition to a penis. She seemed to know what she was looking at. I have a feeling that Baby Joe is a boy, so I admitted defeat to Mr. Joe. We are so excited! I don't want to rush out and buy everything blue just yet, but we have shifted our gears to focusing on boy names and themes for the baby. I have one name I like in mind, but Mr. Joe has a list of 15. One of the 15 is the one I like, so at least I have that on my side. I will try to post more often, but I've promised that the last few times I posted. I've been reading all of your blogs. Thanks for keeping up with your blogs and not disappearing for weeks on end :-)

Hellllloooooooo!

Remember that time I had a blog? And I posted fairly regularly because I was a frosty box and loved to complain and tell you all about my lady parts?

Well, I started a new job and then got knocked up and slept every minute I wasn't consumed with either of those things. Which meant that I didn't really have time to blog. This baby baking business is hard work.

But I am doing pretty well so far. See for yourself:

I really hope Baby Joe grows into her/his large head soon. Head on the left, little baby body on the right, nubby arms on the side. SO. STINKIN. CUTE. to watch on the screen. I was able to trick my new Dr into giving me an ultrasound because I called about the pains I was having in my abdomen and was basically freaking out over nothing. No one really explained that the first trimester can be PAINFUL. Barfy, sleepy, yes. Painful sharp pains that are painful? No mention of that at all friends. Now that I know they're normal, I'm okay with it. When I thought it was the end of the world? Not okay.

I would post belly pictures, but really right now it's just food and not baby joe. I really just look fat right now. Which is starting to be a problem when it comes to getting dressed in the morning. My fat pants are starting to be my skinny pants. I went to Target the other day and bought a BeBand, which I guess is the Target version of the BellaBand. I really like the fact that I can go to work with my pants unbuttoned! I bought a pair of maternity khakis and I may start wearing them next week, but only because they are so comfy, not because I really need to yet.

My new job is fabulous so far. I haven't done any of the actual job yet, but I love it so far. I should be starting the actual work next month. Just in time to go on vacation to Disney! Everything is really falling into place. If only I could stopping feeling like I am constantly going vom all over my desk. I keep telling myself that it should (fingers toes and eyes crossed) be over soon. I'll be 12 weeks on Tuesday and that's usually around the time when the barf subsides.

My favorite part about all of this so far has been working at the movies. I think the theater I work at is more excited than I am. I also have been getting my best advice from the teen moms I work with. They really have a unique insight into pregnancy which I never fully appreciated until now. The rest of my coworkers have been so accommodating, to the point that it's comical. I'm not even showing yet, and they're letting me sit down on the job and giving me extra breaks. I wish they would pay me my full-time job salary, because I love that job!

So that's where I am right now. I promise as soon as I look more pregnant and less tubby I will post a belly pic. Does anyone know where I can find warm weather maternity clothes now for my trip next month? Everything is winter wear still!

Have a fabulous weekend!