Week 27: 4th of July and Third Tri

The 4th of July weekend was a great one at the Weaver household because my best friend, Razil, and her beautiful little family came to visit! Razil and I are incredibly like minded when it comes to many things, like our home decorating style, cleanliness=Godliness, eating organically, etc… I deeply respect her parenting techniques (her beautiful girl, Olivia, is so well behaved it is amazing) and her wonderful and honest opinions on everything. I have been anxiously awaiting her visit for a while, so she could help me get prepared for Margo. To say that she was a help is an absolute understatement! Raz helped me finish my registry, helped with all the details of the room from wall art to the mobile to furniture placement and so much more. She had such awesome ideas and brought up things I would never think of! I feel a HUGE weight lifted after her visit and have accomplished so much since she was here.

Razil & I, my bump is looking big!

The actual 4th was a bit uneventful. We went to Rice Village to check out a sale at Doodles and it was closed, so we walked around to a few shops that were open and had a yummy lunch at Ruggles Bakery sans the dessert. We worked on the registry at babies R us and had a great dinner at Pico’s. Miss Livy is too young to stay up for fireworks, so we just hung out at home and visited. Bedtime was early because we were pretty exhausted from a late Saturday night, so we left the guys to drink beer and smoke cigars without us. All in all, it was a truly great weekend, just being in the presence of my dear dear friend whom I love so much and don’t get to see often enough. Livy was a hoot and could not get any cuter! Cary had a great time too, hanging with Luke!

Luke & Livy being silly!

So... here I am at the beginning of the third trimester—holy smokes! It is sneaking up on me fast, but I feel I have things more under control and am looking more and more forward to our future with Margo!

Pregnancy Week 26: Anniversary Trip Success & Progress

I cannot believe I am in the last week of my second trimester! I have been wishing for time to fly by, but now I am wishing for it to slow down. I had a doctor appointment this week and everything looks great. I am right on track and Margo looks fantastic! I am now going to be seeing the doctor every three weeks instead of every four which makes me realize I am in the home stretch—yikes! I have a big ultrasound at my next appointment and can’t wait to share the photos.

As mentioned in my last post, Cary and I went on a little trip to the hill country for our ninth anniversary. It was a wonderful time and we got some much needed R&R. Highlights of the trip included… a wonderful visit with my handicap uncle Wilson (picture below—the only one I took the whole trip), lunch with grandpa, breakfast with Adria, Eva and Gary—my beloved family, lots of walks in the park including a great free concert under the stars, food food and more food—I ate three steaks over four days, the best dessert I have ever had – a very special smores dish and a visit with my favorite college professor. My little college campus was barren, but I thought I’d try Dr. Olson’s office and low and behold… he was there! I have not seen him in 11 years and it took him a minute to recognize me, but it was a really neat visit. Funny… his office had not changed a bit and the entire experience brought back a flood of wonderful college memories.

Going into the third trimester, I am finally making some progress on Margo’s room! I am an extremely anal person and am quite the planner. For various reasons, we have not be able to start on the room as soon as I’d like. Keep in mind, I usually have my shopping done and Christmas presents wrapped by Thanksgiving. Anyway, the electrician is coming to hang the chandelier, we are getting new carpet on July 9th, our chair is supposed to be arriving soon and the bedding arrived today. I need to get the furniture from my sis and then we should have the basics done. The details will hopefully be the fun part!

Week 23 - Hyper Dog, Crazy Cat, Growing Belly... Oh' My!!

This week we have had a really sweet house guest, Lola! While her parents (my sister) are in Europe, she is staying with us for a few weeks before being kenneled. We just can't manage her for the whole 3+ weeks they are gone and we are also going out of town for a few days. Although Lola is pretty hyper because she is a young Australian Shepherd, she is one of the sweetest girls ever and we just love her! She has been going on long walks, playing ball and Cary likes to mess with her by blowing in her face, which gets her all riled up. It is pretty hilarious! This experience with her has definitely confirmed that I really want a dog when Margo gets a bit older and I can stay at home during the day.

On other animal fronts, those of you who have known me for a long time know that Tucker is my cat baby! I have had him since high school and he lived with me in college. He is 15 years old and I never imagined I could love an animal so so much. We are very closely bonded! You also know that Tucker is a bit on the crazy side, but could not be a sweeter more loving cat. We recently got him shaved, which he used to love because as a Mainecoon he has a TON of hair. However, he clearly was traumatized by the event this time and doesn't like the way it feels because he is licking himself raw. It breaks my heart... there are sores and scabs all over his body. We are giving him allergy pills, but I don't think it really helps and we will try a round of steroids next week. I think until his hair grows back a bit more, this is going to be a constant challange for us. Pray for my boy, as I hate to seem him in this state. I couldn't get him to look at the camera, but isn't he a pretty boy? In the background are the boxes that will be going to storage this weekend as we continue to prepare for Margo's room--yaay!

Last, but not least... holy moly... my belly is already getting huge! Today marks the beginning of my 6th month, which means I have four months of pregnancy left! I cannot believe how much I am growing and my body is really starting to change. It is an adjustment, but also a neat experience. I am feeling really good and still have a lot of energy. I am trying to keep up with my walking and am eating pretty well. Can you imagine what I will look like in four months? I hope things slow down a bit or I will look like a whale! My belly is starting to get just a little itchy. I have been religious about putting on stretch mark cream, but I have heard it doesn't really matter. I really hope I don't get them. Time goes by slow, but I know I will be regretting saying that when I am eight months along and have nothing ready to go. One day at a time... feeling blessed and quite happy!

Week 21 – Glucose Schmucose

This week I had my glucose tolerance test and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. I was really worrying about it because if I do not eat in the morning or have too much sugar, I often get hypoglocemic. I was afraid I would be passing out, but that was not the case at all. I drank my “fruit punch” like a champ, literally chugging it in less than one minute… because some of you may know from our college days, I can chug like a champ—hee hee! I disregarded the taste completely and was able to keep it down.

The doctor’s office was freezing, so I headed outside to a park bench, read my book and headed back for the blood test. All the while, I felt perfectly fine, other than being hungry. Given the ease of the test, I am hoping that means I passed it with flying colors. On my way to work, I literally inhaled a breakfast taco and was good to go for the day—yaay! I will find out Tuesday if I passed.

On other fronts, the past few weeks have been a bit trying for a number of reasons. There have been some difficult family circumstances beyond our control that have seemed to pile on at once. One being, we just learned that Cary’s beloved grandfather (photo below) has advanced lung cancer. He is 86 and is already severely under weight. Without treatment, he has three months to live, but they are experimenting with some treatment options. Cary wanted more than anything for his grandpa to make it to Margo’s birth, just to hold her one time, but only the good Lord knows what is best and we will rely on His divine plan. All of these issues have been stressing me out a bit even though I am generally a pretty calm person, so… with stress comes insomnia.

I have been battling major insomnia on and off throughout this pregnancy, but this week I cannot seem to get it under control. I would say in a span of five nights, I have slept a total of 13 hours. Pre-pregnancy, I was the kind of person that had to have my eight hours, however I am coping with this lack of sleep pretty well. I did take off my first day of work since pregnancy on Wednesday and was just glad I didn’t have to battle trying to stay awake in front of a computer. I have been allowing myself to take Benadryl every few weeks, but this last time it didn’t do the trick. I hope God isn’t preparing me for a major challenge with Margo. Both of my parents keep reminding me that “payback is heck”—ha ha!

All in all though, life is good and we are so incredibly blessed. We just need a few extra prayers right now and having a long weekend ahead of us helps as well! On a side not, our friends, Deidra and Brian, had a pre-term baby girl this week, two months early. Little Alexis was born weighing 3 lbs. 10 oz., but is doing incredibly well. Please keep all of them in your prayers because I cannot imagine the stress and fear in what they are going through. They are one beautiful and strong family and I know God is going to take extra special care of them.

Week 20 – Craving Misbehaving!

The comparison below shows… the cravings and hunger have officially kicked in!! I swore to myself that I would eat better than I have been, but it is not going so well. In three weeks (week 17 to 20), you can see how my belly has expanded a HUGE amount! I am mostly craving sugar. I have to have something sweet everyday and I hear that is what gets you fat in pregnancy. I have been trying to keep up with my walking, but the warmer it gets and the bigger I get, the harder it gets. I only managed about three miles total this week. On the list of bad foods consumed this week:

Frito Pie
Nachos
Two brownies
Three chocolate chip cookies
Beaver Balls – very bad fried brownie balls with ice cream
Two donuts
German Chocolate Cake
The deluxe plate from Chuy's
Berripop

Such badness! I try to counteract it with lots of fresh fruit, oatmeal and veggies. Hopefully Margo is still getting a good balance of healthy foods. I want her to be smart and healthy, but my self-discipline has officially flown the coop!

So… I cannot believe I am at the halfway mark! I am so excited that she will be here in another 4 ½ months! I am actually very impatient about it all and find that time is creeping by. I am feeling great though, after a terrible first trimester, and trying to just take it all in. I can’t believe how much she already moves and am thinking that she might be sleeping in the night and awake in the day—gosh I hope so! Cary finally got the chance to feel her kicks last night and it was a very exciting moment to share with him. Despite the shortness of breath that is already becoming an annoyance and the almost constant acid reflux, things could not be better on the pregnancy front—yaay! After I finish the novel I am reading, I am officially moving on to a slew of parenting books to help me get prepared. I want to be the best mommy I can possibly be to our sweet girl!