Nora Ruth

Well, for all of those that guessed Baby M #2 would be a girl, give yourself a huge pat on the back.

Miss Nora Ruth was born on October 25 at 2:33 pm, weighing in at 10lbs 10 oz and 22 in long.

Her delivery was a little rough, but more on that later. Here is a picture of us in recovery - the first time I got to see or hold her. Instantly in love.

This past week and a half has been wonderful. I cannot remember what it was like to not have 2 happy, healthy and perfect little girls.

Boy or Girl

There are just a couple more weeks left until we meet this little bebe and it is time to start making some predictions.

When will he/she arrive? (My due date is 10/30)
How big will he/she be?
And lastly .... will it be a HE or a SHE?

Place your guesses! There are a variety of old wives tales when it comes to predicting the sex... I have done a couple of them, plus there are some myths that some people think can predict the sex.

One Chinese gender chart that I looked at said boy and another one said girl.

* If you carry low, it's a boy; high, it's a girl. - I think I am high
* If you carry in front, it's a boy; if you're wide at the middle, it's a girl. - I think it is in the front
* Hang your wedding ring from a strand of the father's hair over your belly. If the ring circles, it's girl; if it swings back and forth, it's a boy. - Goes in circles
* Is Baby's heart beat faster than 140 beats per minute (bpm)? It's a girl. Less than 130 bpm? It's a boy. - ranges from 145 - 170
* If morning sickness lingers all day, it's a girl. - I have not had any morning sickness at all

So... what will it be? Boy or Girl?

I've had it.

At almost 35 weeks pregnant, I've heard all of the comments out there.

"You are HOW far along?"
"Oh wow...."
"Any day now - right?"
"You are only having 1? Are you sure?"
"How many are you having?"
"Maybe the second one is hiding."
"My boss is having twins and you are way bigger than she is"
... and many, many more....

And then this morning we were at story time and another pregnant mom and I were talking....
her - "You are due when?"
me - "October 30. About 5 more weeks"
her - "Oh, I am due November 30. But I am the opposite than you. I'm so small that most people still look at me and wonder is she or isn't she?"
(Not the case. She was obviously pregnant)

Here is the deal. Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that I am large. I am not blind and I do own a mirror. And I am a-ok with this. I was equally as large with my first pregnancy and I had a big, healthy baby - 9.3 lb / 21.5" long. Chances are, this baby is going to also be quite large. But, I don't understand why people feel the need to make awkward jokes at my expense. Most of the time I end up laughing it off, but when these comments are happening every single day, I get annoyed.

You are NOT the first person to laugh and say "maybe the second baby is just hiding!" That comment was not too funny the first time and it is definitely not funny the 100th time.

If you want to know how to talk to a pregnant lady, go read what Anne has to say about this subject. She was much more eloquent that I was.

September 21, 2011 - 34 weeks

27 Weeks

Seeing as I am in the final stretch of this pregnancy, I should probably do a little update.

Right now, I am 27 weeks. I can never remember my exact number of weeks/days, so I use this handly little app on my phone to help me out. If you are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, get this app.

We are keeping the gender a surprise. We did this with Miss A, and thought it was fun.... so we are doing it again. According to BabyCenter, #2 is a girl, yet according to TheBump, #2 is a boy. In my opinion, that hardest part about not finding out the gender is picking out 2 good names. And regarding names, we have a short list of girl names and we are still discussing a boy name.

Overall, I am feeling good. There are the standard pregnancy symptoms that I am experiencing, but nothing too major. Some symptoms are hitting me a little earlier this time, versus with Miss A, but that is normal. By the end of the day, I am physically beat. I have always been very physical mom - meaning, I am on the ground playing with Miss A, tossing her into the air, playing with her in the sprinklers at the pool, throwing her around the pool, etc. I have not really slowed down on any of those things that I do with her, so as long as I am physically able to give her an airplane ride through the air or let her ride on my shoulders, I am going to do it. This just means that I collapse on the couch or bed at the end of the day.

As far as the summer heat, well I know it is August and I live in Dallas... so it is going to be H O T. I am not shocked by this weather nor am I surprised that we are breaking heat records all the time. Actually, I am surprised that I am not hating the heat that much. Miss A and I are outside for a couple of hours everyday, and as long as we are at the pool I am ok. If I am going to be this big, I might as well have a good tan.

I have always heard that you show earlier and can get larger with each of your pregnancies. I can vouch for that. I think I was in maternity jeans 5 minutes after getting a positive pregnancy test. Here is a picture I took a couple of days ago.

Bebe #2

Thank you all for the kind words regarding bebe #2! We are all very excited. Here is a rundown thus far:

• I am 9.5 weeks along


• We were able to see the heartbeat last week and everything looks great.


• No morning (or afternoon or evening) sickness, but I have absolutely ZERO desire to eat meat. So, if you have any good recipes without meat, please pass them along.


• I don't think we are going to find out the gender. We were surprised with Miss A and we are going to do that again.


• I have been accumulating stuff for Miss A's big girl room for a while, so we are almost ready to start the big switch to her big girl room.


• We have already started to discuss names. And we will probably be discussing names up until the very last minute. Ha!


• My goal was to wear normal jeans for at least 8 weeks. I was able to meet that goal, but just barely. With Miss A I was pregnant in the winter, so I am having to get all new stuff for this pregnancy. So far, I have ordered stuff from Boden, Gap and Old Navy.


• Overall, I am feeling great. By the end of the day I am beat, but chasing a busy and active toddler all day would do that to anyone!

Michael Jackson skin

Since giving birth to be wonderful Miss A, my body has gone through some **interesting** things... and interesting is putting it lightly... 6 battles of mastitis, a blood clot in my wrist, high blood pressure/extreme swelling, torn tendon in wrist from the repetitive motion of picking her up, a pyogenic granuloma on my face that I had that lasered off and now melasma...

What is melasma? It makes your skin look like this:

Sometimes it is called pregnancy mask. Mine developed the FIRST day we were at the beach this summer. Even with 30 SPF, within 30 min I had brown spots on my forehead, cheeks and upper lip.

And the best part is that it it is impossible to cover up with makeup. I constantly look like I need to wash my face and make an appt with the waxer. Lucky me.

I saw the dermatologist this week and if I want to jump start the clearing up process I can get facial light treatments, laser resurfacing or have a chemical peel done. Yes! Sign me up! Oh wait.... those are out of the budget. Which leaves me with the most affordable option. Bleaching cream.

Yes, the cream that Michael Jackson used to transform from a black man to a white woman. One of the side effects of the cream is being able to moon walk and possibly losing your nose.

Is it in bad taste that I make a joke about a man that recently passed away? Too late.

***That picture is NOT me. No way am I going to post a close up pic of my spotted face.***

Chinese Gender Predictor

***I used the chart found on The Bump***

Since we did not find out the sex of Baby M, I was eager to see if this old chart was accurate.

And it was!

That was the only home gender test that I did, but since then I have tried the pencil/string/needle thing and I said we would have 2 girls. Hum.....

Anyone else have success with these crazy things?

Bikini Bod

The past 9 months I watched my body grow and grow and grow. Now, I want to watch it shrink and shrink and shrink. I have been known to partake in some rather stupid weight loss methods in the past, but those days are behind me. I am not going to do some fad diet that will not translate into real life. ie - Jenny Craig or Nutri System. Don't get me wrong - Valerie Bertinelli and Tori Spelling have lost a lot of weight using those diet's, but I want to be able to make this work without having to purchase certain "pre made diet" foods.

Pre baby I just watched what I ate and participated in a boot camp workout regimen 5 days a week... I am going to be getting back into boot camp, but not right now.

I think I am going to sign up for Weight Watchers... I just don't know if I should do the online one or in person. The online version would great because Mr. could do it with me.... but, then you don't have the public humiliation of getting on a scale in front of someone. Have you done the online version?

She may have been paid to loose the lbs, but I think she looks FAB in that bikini.

Baby M is here!

Baby M is here! She arrived on March 10 and is absolutely perfect!

This is the first time in over a week that I have even turned on the computer .... these pictures are from her first 2 days.

Ouch...

I am lucky that I did not go into labor this afternoon.

I was at the spa this afternoon for my wax appointment and for a brief moment I thought I might just have had the baby right then and there. With every rip of my skin/hair, I began to sweat more and more and all I could think was that she is only half done. Lucky for me, the aesthetician was very complimentary of my high pain tolerance and said that the hospital would very much appreciate what I was doing and other pregnant women cannot handle this pain. (If you can't handle a bikini wax, then how can you handle labor???)

Maybe the saying should change from "sweating like a whore in church" to "sweating like a 9 month pregnant lady getting a bikini wax."

Trashy, Tacky, and Trashy

Pregnancy Piercings.

Who in the world would want to purchase one of the awful things? I saw an ad for these in a magazine and just had to share.

My favorite is sweetness. Classy.

I guess this does it for some guys…..

Last night, MM and I were having a great time at Starbucks, talking about everything from work to jewelry to pregnancy… until the creepy dude next to us started listening to our conversation. He then became obsessed with my pregnancy… wanting to know everything about these past couple months. Some of the best lines were:

- “So, do you just eat a ton?”
- “Do you drink, like do shots drink?”
- “Do you smoke? I have friends who are super smart and their moms smoked all the time when they were pregnant.”
- “How can you not find out the sex? You can do that?”
- “What do you think you are going to have? I think it is a boy.”
- “Like, you could have the baby right here in Starbucks”
- “Come March, I am going to think about the chick that I met in Starbucks and wonder how she is doing…”
- “The doctor said the head is where?”

I am surprised that he did not reach out and touch my stomach. Maybe be had a fetish for knocked up girls. Or maybe he was just feeling guilty because he said that he had to fire a pregnant woman at work the next day. Either way – creepy, yet slightly flattering and funny!

She strikes again

We pass each other in the lobby and she stops and points at my stomach and starts laughing like a hyena. "Oh my gosh, you are huge!"

Someone else came to my defense and said that it was not too nice to make fun of the pregnant woman. And I agree. Not nice at all. I just ignored her.

Strike 3.

"And to think that you are not due until March.... you are going to have to be carted around in a wheel barrow."

Ladies and Gents -- that would qualify as strike 3.


This will be my last baby/pregnancy post for a while. I promise. It gets old -- yes, I know.

Private Baby Blog

I am creating a private blog for baby updates and pictures. I want to be able to use real names and such without having to worry about those weirdos out there.

Let me know if you want an invite.... make sure to include your email.

3 strikes and you are out

There is a person at my office feels the need to act like she is waddling down the hallway when she passes me.

This is also the same person that told me that my dress looked like a tent.

Strike one.
Strike two.
I can't wait to see what she does for strike 3.

(Let me just say, I was on my way to the kitchen for my morning snack -- an orange and Caffeine Free Diet Coke. And my lunch will be a Lean Cuisine and a banana. We will not discuss what she eats.)

Updates

It has been a while since I last did a baby update, so here you go....

This picture was taken about 10 days ago... and yes, I am larger since then. I will be glad when the puffy face goes away.

Baby M should be the size of a butternut squash. (About 15 in long and 2.5 pounds)

I took my glucose test a couple of days before Christmas and I passed! The stuff you have to drink was not bad at all .... I downed it all in seconds.

We are going to register this weekend. I am thinking Babies r Us and maybe Target. The return policy at Target is awful, so I may cross that one off the list.

We ordered our glider a couple weeks ago - it is a gliding recliner! It is incredibly comfy, plus takes up less room than a chair + ottoman. The recliner handle is hidden between the cushions, so it looks really nice. This is just the floor sample - ours will be a yellow velvet.

The nursery is going to be painted in the coming weeks.

We sent in our forms and such for all of the child birthing prep classes. Just the thought of these classes freak me out. Normally, I am one of those people that wants to know everything, but I think that in this case what I don't know wont hurt me. But, since we could not pick and choose the classes at the hospital, we get them all. They start in the coming weeks.

We still do not know the sex of the baby and have not decided on first names. We already have the middle names decided on... but they will be kept secret until Baby M is here.

I am going to start a private blog for the baby... I will do a post when that is complete, if you are interested in an invite.

Pants are becoming less and less comfortable. I have always preferred dresses to pants, and this is still true. I just ordered 6 dresses from BabyCenter.com -- if you are pregnant, check it out. They are closing their online store, so everything is on clearance. I got designer dresses for about $20 / each. (I ordered my stuff last week... it looks like their inventory is way down now.)

I have not indulged in any pregnancy pampering, but I am thinking that right before my due date I will treat myself to a mani/pedi and full on wax session. Yes, I am that vain.

Other than the nightly heart burn, I am feeling great.

Hair Help!

I need help and advice! In the past week, this very pregnant person has developed an oily scalp. Yuck. I hate it!

I need a shampoo / powder, etc. that will help this problem. Any suggestions or advice?

(The posts have been sporadic because we are out of town... will return to normally scheduled programming next week... and Happy New Year!)

Random thoughts

Why do people feel the need to tell you…

“you know, your life is never going to be normal again…” Really? Who is it that decides what is normal?

“you are never going to be skinny again.” Watch me. I have the will power and determination of a crazy woman.

“you will never buy anything for yourself again” They must not know me very well to begin with.

“you wont be able to do __x__ with a baby” I have a friend that made a cross country trip with a 10 day old. The mom looked wonderful and the baby was great. Anything is possible.

“you are crazy for thinking you can go see Britney Spears 9 days after your due date” Who cares? I love the gal. And if I don't go see her, it is not because I just had a baby.... it will be because the tickets are too $$$.

And what I find most humorous of all is when people that have never had kids give you this advice. Kind of ironic. Listen up peeps, I am fully aware that our life is going to change, but we are excited about it. Since when did change become associated with being a bad thing?

And on a shopping note… I just got these 2 dresses. Word to the wise – Old Navy.com has MUCH better things than in the store. Same with Target.com. (I even ordered a bridesmaid dress from target.com – yes, I am going to be in a wedding 2 weeks before my due date.)

Counting down the days...

I am one of those women that does not like being pregnant. People are constantly asking me “do you just love being pregnant???” And when I respond with “no, not so much…” I think I throw people for a loop. They do not know how to react to hearing that. Don’t get me wrong – I am excited about what will be here in March, just not excited with what is going on right now. And this is why I am not a fan of pregnancy….

My feet feel as though they are being smashed into pancakes with every step I take and they are numb a lot of the time.

Heart burn. The only other time in my life that I had it was when I was drinking Diet Coke like it was water.

Clothes. Who exactly designs these things? They are hideous.

I limit myself to one caffeinated beverage a day… I want more.

And I want wine.

Just because my stomach is sticking out, that does not mean you have free liberty to touch me. Hands off.

I am big and I do not like it. Yes, yes, yes I know I am growing a human life, but I still do not like being big.


Any advice to help me make it through the next couple months?