Pantyliner for Pregnancy

Monday, November 30th, 2009 - Day 260

For those who have been pregnant before will be the ones who understand the power of pantyliners. I'll say that I've been one of the lucky ones who hasn't used pantyliners since high school and hasn't needed them throughout my pregnancy until these final few weeks. But with most pregnancies, especially near the end, there is a need for pantyliners bigtime. I was apprehensive about going to buy some because the vision in my mind of what pantyliners would look like were a very thick, uncomfortable spongelike pad that would not feel very natural.

To my surprise, I found the perfect pantyliner. Always Pantyliners Flexi. They come in packs of 50 and the box is super small which means they are thin. They are adhesive and mold to the shape of your underwear. I love them and don't even notice I am wearing one. So if you are looking for a good, thin pantyliner - try these.

2 Weeks & Counting

Sunday, November 29th, 2009 – Day 259

Written by Baby Daddy:

We're only 2 weeks away now and I'm so excited. After seeing those latest ultrasound pictures, I can't wait to meet our daughter. It's truly amazing how far technology has come that they can get a picture like that now.
I have the carseat already buckled up in my car and plan on stopping by the fire station sometime this week to have them inspect it. I don't remember where I heard it, but they say that roughly 80% of people do not have there carseat properly strapped in. I definitely do not want to be a part of that statistic. I'm also going to start packing my overnight bag for the hospital pretty soon just in case our baby decides to come a little early.

Lots of Great Food - mmmmm

Saturday, November 28th, 2009 – Day 258

Tia and I definitely took advantage this holiday season with all of the good food that was available. At every Thanksgiving gathering we went to, we had 2 helpings and boy was it all good. I love mashed potatoes, homemade noodles, turkey and dessert. My mom had pot roast and my favorite Thai noodles. It was all yummy and I definitely ate more as a pregnant girl than I would have otherwise. We definitely out ate daddy! Since we won't be having too much great family cooking at Christmas time since we will be at home this Christmas with our newborn, I was happy to take advantage while I could at Thanksgiving! mmmmm

Seriously, the Potty Breaks have Doubled

Friday, November 27th, 2009 – Day 257

I already went to the bathroom a zillion times a day and at least 5 or 6 times during the middle of the night, but now that she's dropped and has her head on my bladder, I go twice as much. It is crazy how often I go to the bathroom. Especially during the middle of the night, I go every 30 or 40 minutes. I just hope it doesn't get worse but I think it will as it gets closer. My appetite has gotten bigger now that she's moved down a bit. But according to the doctor, she is head down and getting in position. So knowing that things are progressing, having to go to the bathroom ALL the time is worth it. Chris laughs because he thinks I go through one roll of toilet paper every night and I don't think he's far off! Thank goodness for bulk purchases from Sams.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 26th, 2009 – Day 256

Today is Tia's first unofficial Thanksgiving and we have a lot of family gatherings the next few days. Today we'll be hitting my mom's house for lunch, Chris's mom's house for dinner, tomorrow my dad's family for lunch and then Chris's dad's family for dinner. We went to dinner with Chris's Aung and Uncle last night and the other 3 - 4 Christimas gatherings we usually have aren't happening this year due to everyone's crazy schedules. But no matter what, Tia is going to get plenty of Turkey and mashed potatoes the next few days. Mmmmmm

I love my baby Tia!

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 – Day 255

Today we had our ultrasound and it was so great. My mom and mother-n-law also joined and we were all overjoyed when we got to see our little girl. The first time the sonographer showed her face, I bursted out with tears of joy. She was beautiful and it just made me even more excited.



I think we all enjoyed the ultrasound very much. They made sure that she was in fact a little girl and measured her to be only 5 lbs and 4 oz, which is a super small baby.

After the ultrasound, they hooked me up to a machine that measured Tia's heartrate as well as contractions since she is measure on the small side. Her heartbeat was very steady and they were hoping to see some spikes in her heartrate which would be a good thing. For about 10 minutes, the heartbeats were pretty steady around the 138 to 142 range. The nurse comes in and gives me four mini candy bars to eat and once I ate them, Tia's heartrate started to spike up to the 158 to 162 range. When the nurse came back in about 10 minutes later, she was pleased with the results.

The doctor then came in and measured me to be 1 centimeter dialated and 50% thinned. She said that the baby's heartbeat was perfect and that I am having contractions (which I don't feel). So everything is going accordingley and even though she's measuring small, they still plan to take her a week early.

Which means 2 weeks from Sunday or Monday, we may meet our little girl! I can't wait.

She's a Girl, Right?

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 – Day 254

So my mom said my belly looks like I'm carrying like I'm having a boy. The scary thing about my mom, is that she is usually dead on when predicting baby genders. So it scares me because EVERYTHING we have is pink and for a little girl. And we all know that sonographers aren't 100% all the time. We wouldn't be upset if they were wrong because we just want a healthy baby, BUT we'd definitely have to scramble to change the color schemes and return some of the girl items. A few other people have made comments that I look like I'm having a boy too. I am hoping we can confirm it tomorrow at our ultrasound.

It's So Hot in Here!

Monday, November 23rd, 2009 – Day 253

As I enter my final weeks of pregnancy, one thing has certainly gone up and that is my temperature level. I've still been wearing short sleeved shirts and still it never ceases to amaze me that I can get a hotflash or two while I'm working. I have a ton of projects that I'm trying to get finished and there are some times when I get a little hot but this week, I start sweating. Before pregnancy, I never sweat, but things are different now. My coworkers laugh at me because they can see the 'glistening' on my face and arms. It does make me laugh, but wfew - it feels so hot! So this is what hotflashes feels like.

Short Week Ahead

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 – Day 252

I'm looking forward to a short week this week. I have Thanksgiving and the day after off, but took Wednesday off as well for doctor's appointments. I'm really looking forward to this week just seeing family, eating a lot of food and of course going to my doctor's appointment. Wednesday, I'll have my 36 week ultrasound and will be measured for the first time to see how baby is doing. I love short weeks!

Nesting in the Baby Room

Saturday, November 21st, 2009 – Day 251

I don't exactly think I'm nesting, per say, but I am excited that I get to fix up Tia's baby room. We got her crib all decorated last week, but this week I put all of her clothes in the dresser, put some clothes in the closet, and organized some other stuff. I had Chris help me pick out a shelf to match the bedroom set to put in the closet for the diapers, burpclothes, ointments, wipes, toys, etc. I just love how it is turning out. We went today and got some shelves for the wall to place picture frames and other cute trinkets. We also got a curtain rod for the valance. Oh it is looking so good! We do have a few more items to get but I love how the room is and how perfect it will be for our little bundle of joy!

Tia's Heartbeat

Friday, November 20th, 2009 – Day 250

I went to the doctor today and they gave me the Strep B test. I really am not sure exactly what it is all about but hopefully I won't have positive results. My doctor was in emergency surgery so I saw the nurse practitioner instead. I was supposed to have my cervix measured, but she said since I haven't had any contractions that we would wait until next week.

As one of my gifts from my work shower, Tia received a gift card to Build-a-Bear so I went to Build-a-Bear and bought a recorder. The recorder is for kids to record sayings and then put the recorder insider their bears. I didn't buy a bear or any accessories, I just bought the recorder and took it to my doctor's appointment today. When we heard Tia's heartbeat, I used the recorder to record about 10 seconds of her heartbeat. Now, once she's born - Chris and I can go to Build-a-Bear and buy a bear we think would be perfect for her and place the recorder inside. Tia can hear her own heartbeat anytime she wants. We've heard it is very soothing.

Plus, I get to hear her heartbeat without going to the doctor. It is so cute.

What a Great Idea - Is it a Boy or Girl?

Thursday, November 19th, 2009 – Day 249

One of my best friends from college and her husband are expecting their first child and they just hit their 22 week mark. They had their ultrasound to find out the sex of their baby and instead of them finding out there, they had their sonographer put the gender in an envelope and she sent it directly to a local bakery. The bakery will make a cake and the batter will be dyed blue for boy and pink for girl. My friends are having a party next week and at the party with some of the friends and family, they will cut into the cake and find out what they are having. Isn't that a great idea. I love it! I can't wait to find out what they are having...will Tia have another best girlfriend or a future boyfriend?

Teaching for Junior Achievement

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 – Day 248

The company I work for does an annual Junior Achievement in a Day event where we teach an entire school for a day. Last year, I co-taught Kindergarten with my co-worker Karry. It was my first time and it was a bit overwhelming, BUT was so rewarding and a great experience. This year, we decided to teach 1st grade so we'd recognize many of the students that we had last year. Unfortunately, Karry was out sick and not able to teach, so I had to teach by myself for the majority of the day. At first, I was scared to death, but I just embraced it and decided that it is what it is and no sense in getting nervous. I think I did pretty well considering and my boss arrived about the 4th activity and she helped teach activity 5 as well. It was a really fun time and although my feet really hurt, it was another rewarding day. Many of the students were loving my belly and hugging/touching, naming, asking questions and loving Tia.

Tiredness is Back

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 – Day 247

I knew that the 3rd trimester would bring on the tired stage again but I was pleasantly surprised that it really hadn't started until my final month. I'm definitley having to go to bed earlier and no matter how much sleep I get, I'm still very tired. It hasn't affected my work because work has been crazy busy lately. Not to mention getting ready for maternity leave, work will continue to be crazy until my last day. I hope it doesn't get worse though - I don't want to be sluggish when I need to have energy!

Linea Nigra

Monday, November 16th, 2009 – Day 246

Before I was pregnant, I had heard that since I'm darker skinned, I'd have the chance of developing a line down my belly. Well, I definitely have this and according to my doctor, it is called Linea Nigra. I have always had a really big birth mark just below my chest. The birthmark is huge, and I've always called it an upside down Christmas tree because that is what it looks like. To give you an idea of how big it is, I'd guestimate it as being the size of a piece of pie. The line I've developed during pregnancy runs from this birthmark all the way to my belly button then all the way down to my hoo-hah. It divides my belly perfectly in half. It is sort of neat.

Rams Game

Sunday, November 15th, 2009 – Day 245

Written by Baby Daddy:

Today Angie & I went to the Rams game compliments of Lisa (thanks Lisa!!). I wasn't expecting a good game at all, figuring it would be a blow-out by the Saints, but was pleasantly surprised. We still lost, but it came down to a final endzone pass that was incomplete. It was a great time other than the clowns sitting about 6-7 seats down from us. There were 2 couples and I literally think that Angie & I got up about 16 times to let them go by. The girls were very rude as they would walk up when my back was turned and instead of saying "excuse me" they would tap me on my shoulder and I certainly never heard a "thank you" when they walked by. Finally, on their last trip by us I didn't get up and barely moved my legs. I mumbled out loud to Angie when they were right in front of us about it being pretty ridiculous that they're having a pregnant woman get up that many times. In my mind, they were close enough to the middle that they could have gone out the other side at least a couple of times. Maybe I'm just being a grouchy old man, but I get very defensive when Angie & baby are with me.

FastTrack Class

Saturday, November 14th, 2009 – Day 244

Today, Chris and I attended a pregnancy class. It is called FastTrack and covers all the basics in 8 hours. We aren't the type to over educate ourselves and we didn't want to attend a class once a week for a month or anything like that. So we did the FastTrack class. It was very insightful and there were 9 other couples who attended. It is always nice to hear that others have the same concerns as us and we all have the same questions. There was one couple expecting identical twins - I thought that was neat. 5 of the 10 couples were all due on December 28th. I was happy we attended because it really answered some of the questions I had about the hospital and a few other things. The tour was perfect because now I know where to instruct family/friends to go if they decide to visit us in the hospital. I was disappointed we didn't get to see any babies in the nursery, they were all in the rooms with their mommies. But all in all, I would recommend it to any expecting couple delivering at St. Lukes.

Sitting on the Sidelines

Friday, November 13th, 2009 – Day 243

Since I'm the event planner for my company, I plan all of our teambuilding staff events. For today, I planned our staff to do Demolition Ball which is an annual tradition since I've been with Technology Partners. What it is - you are in a mini bumper car with a plastic ball scoop. Five people are on each team and the point is to get this woofle ball to a goal at each end of the cart. It is a blast, but you do get bumped around and nearly whiplash. It is so funny to see the personalities that come out of these competitions. We do a round robin tournament and one team wins.

I had to sit on the sidelines today and watch which was fine with me. Yes, there were moments where it was hard because I love playing, but seeing some of the people get jolted around - I was happy that I was watching and baby was safe.

The Crib is Beautiful

Thursday, November 12th, 2009 – Day 242

I could not hardly wait. I have had so much going on every night that I could not wait until I had a night free to work on the baby room. Our crib was finally up and I was obsessed with working on it first and foremost. We didn't have a mattress, so I went to Mattress Giant to get a crib mattress and they didn't sell any, hmmm. So I went to Babies-R-Us and got a Serta Perfect Sleeper crib mattress, got a mattress pad and was on my way home to get it started. Chris had a work dinner, so it was all me getting the crib started. I got home put the mattress in the crib and got our sheet/crib set out and decorated the crib. Chris got home and put together the mobile that goes with it and we put that on there too. Oh it looks so good. I love it! So excited!

The Waddle is Here

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 – Day 241

Everyone still tells me how small I am and honestly, I do feel small compared to some of the 8+ month pregnant girls I know. I have been moving around easily and I haven't had too much trouble getting up. However, I've hit that stage where I'm waddling around - I feel like a duck. Getting out of bed or out of a car is tougher and I feel a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen. I still have 5 weeks to go - and I know it is only going to get harder.

Hands are Swelling

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 – Day 240

Doctor always checks my ankles to see if my feet have swelled. Although, my shoe size is a size bigger, there really hasn't been much swelling in my feet. Now my hands are a different story. I've been noticing the past few days that it has been tough to get my wedding ring off at night. This morning I woke up and it wouldn't even go over the front of the knuckle. I had to dig out another ring to wear in place of my wedding ring. I read in a baby calendar that the third trimester is a good time to take your rings off due to swelling, but I really didn't think it would apply to me. Boy was I wrong.

Not only that, but I bowled last week and my thumb kept getting stuck in the thumb hole. It would pop off and loft real high before thudding on the lane. Everyone was worried I was going to go with the ball. I made it through the night but it wasn't pretty. Tonight, I got there early and took my ball to the pro shop to get the thumb hole drilled out. He drilled out the hole and I went and bowled a few balls, but my thumb kept getting stuck. So I went back in there again and he drilled it out even more. After throwing one ball, it was still getting stuck, so one last time he drilled it out and this time it was perfect. Next week may be a different story.

I Love Birthdays

Monday, November 9th, 2009 – Day 239

Most people who know me know that I love birthdays. Today is mine and it was the best one yet. My amazing husband got me flowers and a beautiful card, then he took me to one of my favorite restaurants - Kobe. We both stuffed ourselves - but it was worth it! He even helped baby Tia buy mommy a birthday card that was adorable.

I'm 32 and life is going great. I think the best present of all is Tia. I am so excited to meet her and birthdays for myself just really aren't the greatest thing now - I have a new purpose and the moment she is born will be the first birth-day of many birthdays for our baby girl.

Baby Room is Coming Together

Sunday, November 8th, 2009 – Day 238

Written by Baby Daddy:

Well, I'm finally putting the finishing touches on Tia's room. I washed all of the baseboards with a sponge and then repainted them all. I also washed the bedroom & closet doors and touched them up as well. I just finished repainting the closet and touching up the bedroom walls as we speak. Next I'm going to vacuum & then steam clean the carpet. Once that is done, we'll finally be able to start moving our little girl's stuff in. Angie and I are very excited!!

Cravings? That's My Excuse

Saturday, November 7th, 2009 – Day 237

Everyone is always asking me if I crave anything and the truth is that I really don't. I'm always hungry and I eat whatever is around, but I really don't 'have to have' any particular thing. I will say that this kid takes after daddy, because most of the things I'm in the mood for are white pasta, chickens, chocolate, cereal, and things that Chris loves. I love red pastas, steak, sweets like runts, and ever since I got pregnant I usually want what Chris is having.

I went into work today to work on our company computers. I took over all of our Technical Support duties a couple years back for my company and I do this in addition to my normal roles and I've been trying to get all of our 33 computers up to date before I go to maternity leave. But it has been hard because I can only do it when people are out for the day or away from their computers for a lengthy amount of time. So I decided to come in on a Saturday to get the remaining computers done and completed so I can work on my other tasks before I leave for a few months.

What is funny is that I don't crave anything BUT if it is in front of me, I tend to want it. I did a somewhat funny thing today while I was at work. I peaked in some of my coworkers drawers for candy. Of course only those who I knew usually have a lot of candy. I saw large bags of halloween candy and I did steal a bag of m&ms or two. I had to laugh at myself.

It will be interesting to see how I am with any future pregnancies - will I have cravings OR will they love foods I like? I guess time will tell.

All Good at the Doc

Friday, November 6th, 2009 – Day 236

Today started my weekly appointments with the doctor. I've gained 3 pounds from 2 weeks ago and am about 25 pounds so far. Her heartbeat sounded great, my blood pressure was good and my measurements were on par. He did say that she was a small baby which is just fine. He said that the birth will be easier on me and baby and those who have very large babies have a harder time, so look at it as a positive thing. Starting next week, they'll start measuring my cervix and get a 'closer' view of my progress. If all goes as planned, then she will be here before 12-20. My mom sister Sam and sister Nan will be happy because they are leaving for Thailand on 12-24. Plus I'm super excited to meet my little Tia. The final stretch is here - I'm nervous, scared, excited, apprehensive and overjoyed all at the same time.

Almost 6 Weeks Left

Thursday, November 5th, 2009 – Day 235

On Sunday, I will have 6 weeks until my due date. It just sounds crazy that 10 months is flying by. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and every week after that. I can't believe I have to go every week, but I guess that is part of it. I hope things are going well and all is well with Tia. Last time, I was at about 25 pounds in weight gain, which I have heard is pretty normal.

I've been trying to get all of my to-dos done at work so I can start preparing for maternity leave, it just seems crazy how time is flying by. I can't wait until Tia is here, but I'll be on maternity leave for 12 weeks and I want to make sure I leave everything perfectly executable for all of my back-ups. I guess we'll see how it goes!!

I'm Pregnant - Not Dead

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 – Day 234

Seriously, being pregnant has its pros and cons. One perk is that no one will let you pick up, carry, or move anything. I feel so hopeless sometimes. My boss and I went to our company's storage unit to get a box of messenger bags I needed for a Service Project we are doing and she had to carry them for me. I just wanted to take it from her, but every time I attempted, she wouldn't let me. Even for the Halloween Bus Party, my friends wouldn't let me do a thing. I had a coworker deliver a box of business cards to me and when I told her what employee they were for, she wanted to deliver them for me so I didn't have to lift anything - okay a small box of business cards can do no harm. I'm picking up my 14 pound bowling ball for pete's sake. Although, I have to admit, it is nice having the royal treatment. Even with Chris having his recent surgery, our friends are the same with with him as well. Only a few more weeks to go - I might as well milk it for what I can, right?

Bowling for Preggos

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 – Day 233

I haven't bowled in 4 weeks because Chris had ACL surgery and I've been taking him to and from work/Physical Therapy. Plus I wanted to be home in the evening to help him with anything he may need. Now that he is pretty much self sufficient enough to hobble around and get what he needs, I went back to bowling tonight. First of all, there is another girl pregnant in the league. She is the youngest and I'm the second youngest in the entire league. Although, her new sub and my new sub are both youngins too. She is having a girl as well and is 4 weeks ahead of me. So tonight our teams were playing each other. It was literally preggo vs preggo and we are both lead off bowlers for our teams. She is a lot bigger than I am and I was amazed that only being 2.5 weeks away, she was bowling. She made it a game and a half and had to leave because her back was hurting her. I did fine the first game - a bit rusty, but had a pretty good score. Then my hands were swelling and my thumb was too big - the ball kept sticking on my thumb and I almost went with the ball a few times. I wasn't doing that great score-wise, but I was just concerned about bowling with safetly. But the kicker was my thighs were burning. I felt like I was on the leg spreader machine at the gym all night doing about 100 sets. I couldn't believe how sore my uppper inside thighs were. I think being away from bowling for over a month, they were not stretched out. I have 5 more weeks of bowling - so hopefully I'll be able to make it!

Watch our for My Belly

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 – Day 232

So Halloween was a lot of fun, even though I wasn't able to drink. Chris was hobbling around and I was waddling around, so we were quite the pair. Chris doesn't drink much anyways and of course I wasn't able to drink, so we were more low key than usual. Being completely sober, I was well aware of when my belly was being touched, rubbed, bumped or fondled. Of course early on, several people touched my belly and were gentle, but as the night wore on and people started to drink more, the gentleness wasn't quite there. Of course, I don't mind if people touch my belly, even if I don't know them...but I would always hope that people would be gentle and not be too hard when they tug at my big ole belly. There were a couple girl friends of mine who were a bit intoxicated and they would poke, pinch, tug, and be a lot harder on my belly than I was comfortable with. I know they had good intentions, but there was a time or two when I was actually somewhat worried that they hurt my Tia girl. Finally, by the end, if I saw one of these girls coming, I'd cover my belly like I was hiding a football and say 'she's sleeping right now'. It did the trick, but wow - you'd think the first 100 times they got to fondle my belly would have been good enough. I knew who I could be comfortable around to touch my belly, even at the end of the night and those girls/girls were A-Okay to rub my Buddha belly. It is amazing how worried I get with Tia and she isn't even born yet. Even Chris was worried at times. I think he would have lunged at anyone who dare hurt or hit my belly by mistake. There was a fight or two that broke out and Chris was great in trying to guard Tia from harm. He's going to be such a great dad. A big worry wart, but I can appreciate that.

One Step at a Time

Sunday, November 1st, 2009 – Day 231

Written by Baby Daddy:

There's so much going on right now, it's almost hard to decide what to do next. Angie and I have been taking one step at a time which definitely helps. The Halloween Bus Party was a great success and is now behind us. I'm in the middle of some training at work which will be finished this week. We have almost all of our furniture for the baby room now. Once I finish the touch-ups, we'll be able to move all of the baby's stuff in. We have a new TV coming in since our old roomie owned the previous entertainment center. We just finished up picking out a daycare for our little girl. I'm finally starting to move around on my own a little better, although full recovery is going to take a while. It's really nice having everything come together.