More Stuff For the Baby and More Gender Woes

I did not set out for Monday to be a big baby day, but it turned into one.

First, I went to visit my dear friend Melissa at her new house, and she gave me a gift for the baby!!  And look how perfect it is!!

Isn't that wonderful?  I think I am going to put some headphones on my belly and start playing it for the baby tonight.  I have such wonderful friends!!

After I spent some time with Melissa, I met my mom and dad for dinner.  After a delicious meal, we headed to Target to return some maternity clothes my mom had generously bought me ... but didn't fit. Sooo frustrating, since I had other shirts in the same size by the same designer, but these were like 15 sizes too big.  Grrr.  And then there really wasn't much there.  It really seems like when I was wishing I were pregnant, I saw awesome and inexpensive maternity clothes in my size everywhere, and now that I need them, there is like one rack at Target.  Oh well.  I got one really cute shirt, anyway.  

That same night we also went to Joann Fabrics to do some looking around.  I found some fabric on sale that would be perfect for receiving blankets.  

One was a cute neutral:

This picture isn't amazing, but if you look hard, you can see pink, blue, and yellow.

And one was the prettiest little girl print in the whole wide world:

I figured I should make a few and then if I don't have a girl, I can save them for a little girl who might come in the future or give them to the next friend who has a girl. Either way, it was too cute to pass up.

Finally, I found a good pattern for baby bedding, since I have been LESS than impressed with the bedding I have found thus far.  Nothing is really THAT great, and everything costs WAY too much money, so I figured I could make my own:

Now, here comes the real problem:  Fabric.  If I am going to lovingly make all this bedding, I want it to be for that baby, and not just some neutral boring something.  I found the perfect fabric for a little girl's princess bedroom, and I have visions of a baseball bedroom for a little boy, BUT Jeremy is still being stubborn and wants to keep the sex a surprise.  Everyone knows there is no WAY I will make bedding AFTER the baby is born -- even though Jeremy still maintains we could do all the decorating after the baby is born so I could have a gender-specific bedroom and he can have his surprise.  I mean, come on.  He is clearly grossly underestimating the amount of exhaustion that will be happening around here when that newborn shows up.

I started looking for neutral stuff, and there is nothing I like ENOUGH to design a whole nursery around it.  I am just very disappointed.  I want to celebrate our little boy or little girl, and, in my mind, that includes a fun nursery and clothes that aren't ALL green or yellow.  How can I find a way to make both me and Jeremy happy???  (No, seriously, I need guidance!)

So Impatient

So, apparently some women can feel kicking as early as 16 weeks and most can feel it by 18 weeks.  I am 17 and a half weeks ... and NOTHING!  I am dying here!  I spend most of my time with my hand pressed on my belly, hoping and waiting.


I don't have too much more to say, but that has been my main focus lately, just dying for a little movement!  Come on, baby!

17 weeks (plus a day) belly picture

I didn't get a belly picture yesterday, so 17 weeks and one day will have to do:

When Jeremy showed me the picture, I said, "Holy crap!  I'm huge!"  It doesn't look that big when I am looking down at it!  But I know I will look back at these pictures and laugh, wondering how I could think THAT was huge, when the real hugeness was yet to come. :)

17 Weeks and I Can't Stop Eating!

The 17 week descriptions I have been reading are a lot less exciting than previous weeks.  Other weeks are full of exciting things that make me want to end a million sentences with exclamation marks, but this week is a little short on exciting.


Now that I have made everyone want to stop reading already:  Week 17.

This week, the baby is probably about 5 ounces and 5 inches from head to rump.  His or her skeleton is finally transitioning from cartilage to bone, and the sweat glands are beginning to function.

Jeremy and I just talked about how all the measurements are actually head to rump, and if you think about little legs too, it's much longer than we have been imagining.  We held up our hands and got an estimate of the baby's size, and it was pretty cool.  It's definitely no longer a little soybean, but a little miniature baby doll!!

As for me, I am feeling better.  I am definitely out of the first trimester, and my nausea is pretty much totally gone and my appetite is BACK and bigger than ever.  It is kind of strange all the little things I can feel now that the nausea isn't so huge that it takes over everything.  My stomach definitely feels weird -- moving hurts, and my body is already trying to convince me that bending over is a bad idea.  My bump is getting very hard and my skin is feeling pretty stretched out.  Moving around is just so different that it is a little frustrating and exhausting already.  My hips have been hurting, so I have been slowly increasing how much exercise I get every day.  

I am also pretty unable to get comfortable at night.  Everything I have read has said to practice sleeping on your left side, and it is bad to sleep on your back.  I know that will be more true later on, but it still freaks me out that I fall asleep on my side and ALWAYS wake up flat on my back.  Any ideas on how to convince my body to only sleep on one side?  Especially since I wake up with aching hips from lying on my side on our crappy mattress all night?  Please advise! 

But, overall, I am feeling much better.  I am just more uncomfortable than anything, and I will take that over my first trimester experience any time!!  I am looking forward for the fifth month to begin soon!!