2 weeks postpartum

so technically this should have been posted on thursday, but, surprise, i forgot.

How far along: 2 weeks postpartum  (7.29.10)

Total weight gain/loss: not sure... one week ago i was down 16 lbs leaving me at a +8lbs.  but i've been eating a LOT of brownies since then... as i said, that whole "healthy eating during pregnancy" thing was going down the drain after she came out!

Maternity clothes?: no thank you!  i'm wearing my normal clothes and loving it!  my shirts are so much longer without the belly!  and i don't care that i have that spare tire look around my middle.  I STILL FEEL SKINNY so don't you tell me otherwise.

Stretch marks?: the ones around my belly button are barely visible because they aren't so stretched anymore.  the ones on my side... they look as bad as ever.  but with my pudgy tummy out front, who has time to worry about sides?!?!

Sleep: sleep is fabulous.  only two nightmares in two weeks!  and i can get four or five hours at a time.  it is SO much more restful than during pregnancy!

Best moment this week: there are so many.  but i one of my favorites was last night.  chris and i went shopping in redwood city to get him some new clothes.  towards the end, baby girl woke up and wanted to eat.  i took her to the car, got out my cute nursing cover, had a darn good feeding session, changed her diaper on the back seat, and got her situated back in her carseat (all while keeping her bow nicely in place).  i don't care what working people say about stay at home moms, but at that moment (and obviously still right now) i felt EXTREMELY accomplished.  i was handed a challenging new task and i passed the test with flying colors!  i need a plaque.

Movement: it was so weird that the first few days after she was born, i swear i could still feel her moving inside of me.  i'm sure it was probably just a contracting uterus or something like that, but let me tell you, it was creepy!  but anyways, these days, i just love watching her move when she's asleep.  she millions of facial expressions and all of the stretches... it's bliss.

Food cravings:  i call them crack brownies.  they're actually normal (or so they seem) brownies with a little powdered sugar on them but they taste like they have a whole stick of butter in every bite!  YUM!  someone in the ward brought them over.  why are people bringing so many treats when they know i'm still fat?!?!

Gender: GIRL!!!  i absolutely love the bows and polka dots and flowers and EVERYTHING PINK!  absolute heaven.

What I miss:  ummm, it's crazy that as much as i absolutely loved being pregnant... this is just so much better!

Milestones: it's been TWO WEEKS already.  holy cow.  and that i'm only taking a few painkillers a day.
Theme: i have a new life now
Extra:  i posted a comment on facebook about how my in laws left and i was going to be on my own for the first time.  i absolutely loved one of the replies i got "actually, you'll never be on your own again.  that girl is here to stay."  i've thought about it a million times since then.  i love it, i love it, i love it.

rambling

i feel like i have so much going on these days but it all revolves around me me me and how i have a baby now.  i was talking to my good friend rach yesterday about how some people post such annoying stuff on facebook all about them and their baby.  i told her i would try to avoid doing that but i made no promises for my blog.  comments and pictures on my blog won't show up in anyone's newsfeed and if they come to my blog and are annoyed with what they read, let that be a lesson to them!

anyways, back to me.  i have a baby now!

chris texted me the other day... "how do you like your new life?"

wow... crazy.  well, i love it.  i feel totally content.  instead of looking forward to 6:00pm or even better, friday at 6:00pm, i'm just loving the present.  each day and night is flying by far too fast.  i'm anxious to experience it all but i swear i get whiplash trying to keep up with it all.

as of yesterday, baby girl is two weeks old.  she is a good eater and a great sleeper and she almost never cries.  she eats about every four hours during the day and every five at night.  she has spoiled me already and i'm going to be severely sad if/when she turns into a terror.  but, i consider myself a very lucky and blessed individual so i think there might be hope.  and if not, i've enjoyed it while it's lasted!  baby girl has my eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, appetite and love of sleep.  we are crossing our fingers that everything else comes from chris.

the tired caught me

maybe it was adrenaline or maybe that i wasn't on intense pain meds... but the first week i was wired... the next few days still doing fine.  and today, i got tired.  perfect timing since my mother in law leaves tomorrow morning.

oh my goodness, wish me luck.

small update

i'm still here.

life is going really really well.  miss abigail elise is doing so so well and is already winning awards for the world's easiest baby.  as much as i loved being pregnant, i am LOVING all of the energy that i have now and enjoy not falling asleep every time i sit down for more than two seconds.  christopher on the other hand is feeling severely sleep deprived but i'm sure he'll get over it with time.  i had a really really really rough recovery but with the help of numerous appointments and calls to doctors and nurses a lot of motrin and narcotics and the passing of time... i'm getting better little by little.  much thanks to my mom and chris and chris's mom for waiting on me hand and foot and taking care of me while i take care of abigail.  they have been lifesavers.  around here we don't do too much.  we eat, play, and sleep.  that cycle continuously repeats and i love it.  i feel such purpose in life right now and my biggest problem is being gentle with abigail when all i really want to do is smother her with hugs and kisses.  but gentle i will be...

until she can handle more vigorous affection.

a child is born

mine to be exact.

this morning at 1:08 am

8 lbs, 5.5 ounces

20.5 inches long

pictures on facebook

40 weeks

How far along: 40 weeks  (7.10.10)

Total weight gain/loss: + 24 lbs

Maternity clothes?: counting down the days til normal clothes.  i swear i wear the same few outfits over and over again.

Stretch marks?: they don't bother me so much anymore.

Sleep: more normal dreams this week.  consistently waking up to go to the bathroom once a night.

Best moment this week: mom came in town!!! 

Movement: slowing down i think.

Food cravings:  i'm loving squash and zucchini these days...  ummm, i dunno, a lot of times i just don't have an appetite so i'm happy when things look appealing.

Gender: GIRL!!!  i took a non official inventory of her wardrobe and most everything includes hot pink.  i'm in heaven.

What I miss:  i'm not quite sure about that although there's gotta be something....

Milestones: hitting my due date!  but according to chris, that's definitely NOT something we wanted.
Theme: the week of my body is getting ready for labor!
Extra:  my poor christopher.  he is DYING with every second this kid doesn't come.  i know she's getting ready though because this past week has felt so so so so different than before.  i can really feel my body preparing for labor.  the heaviness, cramping, contractions, sudden and intense backaches that extend into my legs, etc.  it's all pretty crazy because it was only a week ago that i felt totally normal, just big.  now, i feel my body gearing up for something big!  i had an appointment on wednesday.  according to the doctor i was 2 cm and 75%.  she said baby is at a -2 station.  keep on coming kid!  i have another appointment on thursday if i make it that long.  and then i think my doctor would induce me within a few days.  i didn't ask specifics on that because i really don't want to have to be induced.  i hope that's not too much wishful thinking.  technically my due date was the 9th.  i had my last day of work on thursday and picked my mom up from the airport that evening.  friday we spent all day shopping and doing some extra last minute things.  i'm pretty comfortable being pregnant, but let me just say for the record that mother and christopher are not at all happy about this baby postponing the party!!!  i used to be somewhat apprehensive about the hospital experience and recovery.  i guess i still am a little, but mostly i'm just really excited to experience the next adventure to this whole pregnancy thing!  so far, pregnancy is everything i could have hoped for and more! 

39 weeks

How far along: 39 weeks  (7.3.10)

Total weight gain/loss: + 22.5 lbs

Maternity clothes?: not so bad this week.  thank goodness for that.

Stretch marks?: they are super bad.  they've just completely taken over and chris loves commenting on my "designs."  what a sweet euphemism for something so unattractive.

Sleep: sleep is still good.  sometimes i get airplane sleep at night but i have my share of sleeping nicely through the night that makes up for it.  still some super bizarre dreams.  one of the strangest nights included four or five weird dreams in a row.  one of them was that i gave birth to a little man.  it was like a four or five year old little boy but he could talk and reason and everything like an adult.  and in all honestly, the "man" was one of my past coworkers!!!  i was talking to the boy about how he wasn't going to fit in any of the clothes i had and asking him if he was wanting me to breastfeed him (we both decided that that would be a tad too awkward).  and one other dream was especially weird too but i can't remember it too well.  i think i performed my own c-section or something like that.  i'll have to be better about writing them down before i forget them.

Best moment this week: packages on my door step!!!  to settle my anxiety, our carseat finally came!  and i got two bebe au lait nursing covers and a rainforest jumparoo from my friend amber, whose daughter, kailee, was my favorite little girl at the daycare in colorado.  and i got a much bigger than i expected package from my cousin marianne!  she said she was going to send me "belly laughs" so i was eagerly awaiting a little package.  but it was a BIG box!  it had belly laughs, and a bunch of hand me down clothes, and some baby girl outfits she picked out herself and i'm in love with the little polka dot pants... they have a giant flower on the bum.  honestly, they're the cutest thing ever.  so that was all a lot of fun and i read belly laughs all in one sitting.  it's definitely a book i'll recommend to my pregnant friends!

Movement: i thought movement was supposed to slow down a bit but especially these last few days she's been especially active.  i can tell she's real cramped in there because even her gentle jabs can be pretty uncomfortable.

Food cravings:  i haven't really liked food much the past week or two and it's getting worse.  it semi reminds me of first trimester because i'm always hungry but i don't want to eat.  so i'm getting headaches more often as a result of that.  but NOTHING could be as bad as those first few months!

Gender: GIRL!!!  i do have enough gender neutral clothes and clothes with blue that we'd be fine either way though... well, that's a lie.  we'd be fine on the clothes front although emotionally i'm not sure i'd be fine with a boy at this point.  ;-)

What I miss:  the non itchy belly... still.

Milestones: now, when people ask me when i'm due i can just say "friday!" instead of giving them the countdown.
Theme: the week of realizing i'm still in denial.  i honestly feel like pregnant is just my new way of life.  it's weird to me that things will change and eventually i'll be non-pregnant and have a child.  will it ever click?  i mean, i still haven't even brought myself to pack a hospital bag yet...
Extra:  my belly still drives me nuts.  a number of times, i've woken up during the night because i'm frantically scratching my belly and i'm so tired that i fall asleep again while i'm still scratching!  as a result, i now have little scabs (gross, i know) speckling my belly because i've scratched my skin so raw.  i look like a kid with eczema.  it still helps to ice my belly when the itching just get's so bad.  i just use whatever i can find out of the freezer.  otter pops (still connected to one another) work best.  using two loaves of frozen bread is okay temporarily but doesn't hold it's chill too long.  i fell asleep a few days ago clutching two loaves to my belly and woke up a few hours later to completely thawed bread.  to a much lesser degree than earlier in pregnancy, i'm experiencing the apathy and overall "down" feeling accompanied by a little irritability.  as long as it's not bad like before, i can totally deal.  chris has been really great about it.  i really wish i could experience that whole nesting thing it seems like everyone gets.  i have the anxiety of wanting things clean and organized and prepared, but i just don't have enough energy for it.  i get to overwhelmed physically and emotionally.  so i find myself worrying about the super important stuff that i know won't get done unless i do it myself (like painting my toes) and chris makes fun of me, rightfully, for it all.  official due date is friday july 9... just days away!!!

dear sawah

 dear sawah,
months ago you asked if i was going to my beach family reunion this summer.  i sadly had to explain that i would miss it for the very first time in my 24 years of life because i would be a full nine months big.  every time i've thought about missing it i've been close to tears... so sad i won't be there to partake of the family tradition this year.  i remember wondering why you were asking me about it.  maybe you were just really thoughtful and in tune with my emotions to know it would be traumatizing for me.  no, when i asked you, your answer assured me that was not the case.  ;-)  you just wanted to see how giant i would look in a swimsuit.  well, here you go.  i crammed my giant self into my swimsuit and went swimming on saturday almost as a tribute to the beach reunion i was missing since i knew my family would be driving to ocean isle at the exact time i was swimming at the stanford pool.  anyways, i had chris take a picture for you.  and just as a fun comparison, i added what this swimsuit looked like on me a short nine and a half months ago...

okay

okay

and OKAY.  say, "wooowww, she's really let herself go.  poor chris."
 ps- i swear my arms have NOT gotten that fat (although i will admit that i AM that pale)...  it's just an unflattering picture.
LOVE YOU SAWAH!

how convenient

so i was at work today reading stories to this sweet boy when he got just a lil bit tired...

sorry sawah... it's just a picture with his head laying on my giant belly so he could rest while looking at the pictures in the book.

38 weeks

How far along: 38 weeks  (6.26.10)

Total weight gain/loss: + 24 lbs

Maternity clothes?: i swear one of these days i'm going to come to work dressed in a sheet or something.  i get excited that i only have a few more weeks of trying to dress this thing!

Stretch marks?: the ones around my belly button are definitely getting worse...

Sleep: sleep is still good.  my hips ache if i'm on my side too long.  i wonder if these dreams will stick around after the kid gets here...

Best moment this week: going shopping thursday night with my honey.  we picked up a bunch of random baby things we still needed.  makes things seem more real. 

Movement: i love feeling her wiggle all day.  and i love that she soothes me to sleep with her squirms at night.  i think i'll miss not having her wiggles to "rock" me to sleep at night...

Food cravings:  rice krispie treats.... holy cow i could eat a whole pan in one sitting.... no problem.

Gender: GIRL!!!  i hope she's a girly girl.  i probably won't be so lucky though... and i'll try to love her anyways...  ;-)

What I miss:  being able to touch my belly.  now with it itching so bad it's just too risky.

Milestones: reaching the "it could be any day now..." stage.  even though we know this kid isn't coming two weeks early!
Theme: the week of oh my goodness my belly DID find a way to itch even worse!
Extra:  my belly itches something severe.  sometimes huge itch waves will come on... so huge i can't even describe it.  and the only thing that stops it is to get something big (or multiple items) and ice my belly.  directly on the skin because the freeze is the only thing stronger than the itching.  and after five minutes of icing i'm okay, as long as i am careful not to trigger things again.  thank goodness for naps at work.  it's impossible to stay awake through nap time unless i'm walking around and goodness knows i'd rather be reclined!  my doctor's appointment yesterday was uneventful and routine... just the way we like them!  still at a 1, but more effaced.  measuring correctly so she's guessing i won't have a giant of a baby.  she said weight gain is good, even though i'm still packing on pounds and i thought it was supposed to plateau by now.  and she said baby isn't super low but she's low enough that she won't move out of her head down position.  wohoo.  last week i forgot to mention the sciatic pain i've been experiencing on my left side.  it varies from day to day but was getting alot worse for a day or two and monday it was really bad in the morning and had me pretty worried that it would get in the way of me continuing working.  but luckily i haven't really felt it since tuesday or wednesday.  we've been living in our two bedroom apartment for a week now and we're loving it.  it's nice having a bedroom for her even though it's an absolute wreck.  haha, i'll have to take pictures of our "nursery" to document it's condition two weeks before our kid is due.  ;-)

golf

sometimes we do fun things.

ha

37 weeks

How far along: 37 weeks  (6.19.10)

Total weight gain/loss: + 23 lbs

Maternity clothes?: i'm being less and less stylish as the days go on... and i don't even care.

Stretch marks?: okay, even chris commented on how they are taking over on my right side.  i haven't gotten anything new on my left side for seriously forever.  but my right side... it hasn't stopped... or even slowed down!  and the ones coming out of my belly button are getting worse too.  but my right side... it just extends all along the underside of my belly until the half way line.

Sleep: i still can sleep through the night.  it's wonderful.  my dreams don't let up though.  they aren't traumatic or anything lately but it's annoying to dream all night that you're at work and then when you wake up you have to gear yourself up to go to work for another 9 hours!  too often it's like airplane sleep.  i know i'm sleeping because the time passes faster and i remember what i dream about... but i'm still conscious of where i am and conscious that i'm laying there dreaming.  how does that happen?!?!

Best moment this week: having another nanny with me at work to share the load with.  on wednesday i was absolutely beat.  like seriously dead to the world and physically just felt like i'd finished running a marathon.  she did all the cleaning, carrying, meal prep, etc. while i made sure to contribute when it came to anything verbal.  ;-)  oh my goodness i would have died without her there!

Movement: i take back my movement comment from last week about slowing down.  she is not.  very squirmy and still very active.

Food cravings:  sweets... just being snacky... and sometimes just not in the mood for food, although i sure make up for it later!

Gender: GIRL!!!  i can't wait for her to be my new best friend. 

What I miss:  nothing.

Milestones: reaching full term!  three weeks!!!
Theme: the week of oh my goodness my belly could not itch any worse if it tried!
Extra:  my belly started itching...bad...just overnight... and it's kept up and gotten worse all week!  lotions aren't helping.  so i've started using calamine lotion which doesn't get rid of the itch but it makes it bearable enough that i'm not scratching my skin raw.  everything is going by so fast for me so it's really hilarious every time i hear chris complain about how long "this" is taking and why can't our kid just come a few weeks early?  haha.  i have been really exhausted this week.  all i ever want to do is lay down.  i move slow and getting up is a chore since i'm so big.  i just don't have the energy that i used to... physically or mentally.  this week i've been taking naps at work when the boys nap.  i don't feel so bad about it since there are two of us there... i say if there are two boys asleep and two nannies present, then one nanny can take a nap... especially if she's big and pregnant.  so i've been telling my doctor that i haven't been feeling any contractions because honestly to goodness i thought that was true.  but when i was in the car monday evening my stomach got real compact and hard like a rock all around like it sometimes does... but this time it was definitely uncomfortable whereas normally it's not.  then it dawned on me that it wasn't my kid just stretching for a bit, it was a contraction!  ha, i felt kinda retarded when i realized that.  too bad i have NO idea when i started feeling them.  that would have been nice to record in this journal. 

a picture at 37 weeks!

here's a picture of me at 37 weeks pregnant so get off my back!!!  now do you feel like you're here and getting the full experience of watching me grow huge?!?!  you should!

oh fine... here you go.  i know this is what you were really hoping for...

and the real picture... PROOF that i'm carrying a bowling ball in my belly...

i swear it's the same size and dimensions and everything!  i mean, it sure feels as bulky and heavy!

and now that i have posted these pictures on the internet, i'm glad i only have three or four readers to see!  i hope i made at least one person happy.

36 weeks

How far along: 36 weeks  (6.12.10)

Total weight gain/loss: + 21.5 lbs

Maternity clothes?: the weather cooperated this week and made getting dressed not such a chore!  how wonderful!

Stretch marks?: liza says i obsess over my stretch marks.  maybe, but i tend to have an obsessive personality.  why else would i detail every bit of my pregnancy for pretty much no reason at all?  the right side confetti is faintly etched to the line below my belly button. just gotta wait for it to really show up.

Sleep: tuesday night i slept with the window and curtain closed so the sun/birds wouldn't wake me up.... and it was glorious!  i was out solid from midnight til my alarm went off at 7:53!  it made for a good wednesday thinking about how blessed i was to have slept so well!  i had a dream that i was hanging out with OMG mom who writes a blog i love.  i thought that was hilarious because when i woke up, i felt like i had a new friend.  i know i'm not the only one with such real feeling dreams...  i actually slept a lot better when chris was out of town!  but i'm sure a lot of it was due to the fact that i kept the windows and curtain closed all night.  i LOVE being able to still sleep through the night.  i feel so spoiled!

Best moment this week: my christopher being done with school and spending more time at home with me!!! (except for being out of town this week) 

Movement: i think she is actually starting to slow down a bit i think...finally...

Food cravings:  they come so fast and so intensely.  but i think that's a good thing because they go away pretty fast too for the most part!  like if i'm craving a kit kat and i don't have one, it goes away within an hour or three.  but if i have the option to indulge it's pretty impossible to resist.  but then again, have i ever been able to resist food when i want it?

Gender: GIRL!!!  i keep imagining her blonde.  if this kid is brunette i'm gonna struggle with it because that is NOT how i'm imagining her!

What I miss:  nothing.

Milestones: less than a month!!!
Theme: the week of feeling more normal again
Extra:  when i was picking connor up from school on wednesday one of the girls in his class started gently poking my stomach and asking "what is that?" at first i thought she was wondering about my belly button but when i asked her to clarify she responded... "that lump!  what is in there?!?!?"  so i told her "a baby" and she asked "why do you have a baby in there?" and i responded "i wanted a baby so i got a baby in my belly"  HA!  if only it was so easy!!!  oh well, i guess life is easy and simple like that for a three/four year old!  and then two minutes later i got another comment from a girl in passing "wow, your belly is big"  ha, why thank you!  yes it is! and ten minutes later a little boy that just kept touching it and running up and smacking it!  ha, good thing i like his mom or i might have been more critical of his actions!  and then about five minutes later i was walking the boys to the car and got another "i hope this one is a girl" comments from a random dad in the parking lot.  so i told him yes, but it was my first and he went on to tell me stuff along the lines of "oh GOOD!  that would be quite a roll to be on!" or blah blah blah about too many kids too fast or something.  i didn't tell him that i totally wouldn't mind having my kids 3.5, 1.5 and newborn.  it all came off badly... i wonder how many mom's he has insulted...  i had my doctor's appointment yesterday morning.  i was happy with my weight... still 152.5 so i haven't gained much in the last week or two even though i feel like i eat til i'm stuffed.  i was worried about that.  especially since thursday was such a rough day at work and i got home and treated myself to a nasty pizza.  oh my goodness it was so delicious!!!  my doctor said i'm at a 1 and 50% and that although the baby is head down, she's not really settled there real well so she still may move... although hopefully not!  my belly is measuring on target... 36 cm for 36 weeks pregnant.  baby's heart beat today was 160.  i think that's all from the appointment.  all in all i'm just shocked at how pleasant pregnancy has been.  i hope it continues, but even if it doesn't... i have six weeks left... tops!

who loves to shop EXPRESS?

the couple that lived in our apartment before us... i'm guessing they were pretty hot dressers!  they have signed up for everything under the moon so i always know when sales are going on at bloomingdales and i stay updated on my victoria's secret catalogs.  anyways, i got something in the mail today from EXPRESS that i won't use since i hate clothes.  BUT i wanted to pass it along to anyone that might make good use of it!

i have two promo cards that can be used in-store or online and are good until JULY 8th.

the first one is  $40 off your $120 purchase

the second one is   $30 off your $90 purchase OR $20 off your $60 purchase OR $15 off your $30 purchase

so leave a comment on here if you're interested and i'll give you the info on the back of the card!

coming together

oh my goodness i'm actually making progress on baby gear decisions!  i never thought this day would come!  laugh all you want, but i've been so stressed out (i blame it on pregnancy screwing up my head) about stupid stuff like carseats, strollers, baby carriers, cribs, etc.  well, i've actually been able to make decisions about some things AND feel peace about it!  oh my goodness, my honey would be so embarrassed if he knew i was writing about this... mr. doesn't get stressed or think twice about anything and just always happens to make the right decision and never look back (i'm too lazy to insert all those hyphens).  anyways, to all four or so readers i have out there, what baby things do you recommend or not recommend?!?!  or what features of things have you found to be especially essential? 

ps- i just started reading the help.  i'm loving it.

are you ready for this?!?!

okay, yesterday was june 9th.  i'm due JULY 9th.

we are on the one month countdown!

oh my goodness, this is surreal.

i am pathetic

my honey is out of town til friday night and i feel so lost without him.  what on earth am i supposed to look forward to after work?  or when i go to bed?  what's fun about an empty home and an empty bed?  oh, right, absolutely nothing. 

in honor of being grumpy and lonely, here is a short list of things i hate...

trying to find a non-ugly, affordable stroller
being hungry
finding clothes to wear
wearing clothes
the fact that i'm not getting a massage right now and i want one
when my mother is in africa
missing my beach family reunion for the first time in my life
chipped toenail polish
dirty feet and dirty flip flops
thank you cards
being cold
sleeping alone

and so i don't leave you on such a depressing note, here is a much shorter list of things i absolutely love...

milk
being pregnant
my honey

35 weeks

How far along: 35 weeks  (6.5.10)

Total weight gain/loss: + 22 lbs

Maternity clothes?: thank goodness the weather warmed up so i could wear skirts and be comfortable!  i think i feel cuter in jeans but they're just getting to be such a pain that it's not worth it to me.  i think pretty soon i'm gonna give up trying to be cute and maybe just live in grungy yoga pants for the last few weeks.  all in favor?  yes, that would be me.

Stretch marks?: these things are hotter than hotcakes.  i felt comfort from my friend megan leaving a blog comment about how her doctor told her she should sue her daughter for the damage she did.  i should probably sue my daughter too.  it's really weird how my left side stretch marks look so insanely different than those on the right side.  left side they are defined and confined.  on the right side they are more like confetti and they're spreading fast!  they keep getting father and father towards my belly!  i'm pretty sure ever inch of me is going to be covered in them.  oh well, they fade right?  it's not like i don't already have plenty of faded stretch marks that i never ever notice.

Sleep: still sleeping on my back.  i'm sure i've already said it but i'm kind of excited to be able to spoon again when my belly isn't so big.  i guess i can be the little spoon but it still means painful sleeping on my side.  i'm just a natural spooner... so of course it's hard for me to just lay on my back on my own side of the bed.  i mean, everyone from girls camp and sleepovers knows that i'm a spooning magnet for anyone within ten feet of me!  but really sleep has been pretty good.  it's getting hot here so i have to sleep with the screen door/window open which means the birds wake me up at 4 or 5 but i can normally just close the door and go back to sleep.  my bladder isn't waking me up at least.  although a lot of times i'm just so thirsty i have to get up to drink a glass or two of milk.  and sometimes my dreams are so stressful that i somehow make myself wake up from them and then it takes a minute or two to go back to sleep.  wow, i sound like such a complainer!  just trying to document it all!  who knows if i'll be loving pregnancy this much the second time around?!?!

Best moment this week: having the new nanny with me at work.  what a luxury to tag team it. 

Movement: same as last week really.  i have an appointment on friday so i'm going to ask my doctor about it and if it's indicative of certain positioning or whatever.

Food cravings:  skim milk... i am so thirsty beyond belief!  i can drink glass after glass after glass of milk.  even when i try to really ration it, i'll still drink at least a gallon in a day!  last night chris and i were at the movie theater last night and i had such a craving for a white cherry icee!  it was $5.50 for 32 ounces and i almost justified buying it!  even though i'm so strictly opposed to buying anything at the movie theater and that it was like five times as much as it would have cost at the gas station.  anyways, i made myself walk away and by the end of the movie i wasn't craving it anymore so we didn't even have to stop on the way home to get me one!  but man oh man was it hard to walk away!

Gender: GIRL!!!  i keep thinking how weird it would be to have a boy when i'm so mentally prepared for a girl.  ha.

What I miss:  nothing really.  maybe just being able to fit through smaller spaces.  i keep trying to squeeze between people in a crowd or chairs that haven't been pushed in or in between cars in a parking lot.  normally you just suck in your stomach and fit through.  now i suck in my stomach (out of habit.  i know it barely gets smaller when i do) and i get stuck.  and then i have to walk around.  it's so weird.  i still have a skinny person mentality.  it's just really funny.

Milestones: FIVE weeks to go!!!!
Theme: the week of being so insanely tired in every inch of my body. 
Extra:  thank goodness i wasn't as uncomfortable this week as i was last week.  last week when i was feeling uncomfortable i was worried it would stick around and get worse until the end of my pregnancy but this week was much better again.  i'm glad it warmed up so i could wear skirts and be more comfortable but oh my goodness... the heat has zapped what tiny bit of energy i had...  my energy is non existent.  i did building cleanup yesterday morning and it complete wore me out.  like for the whole rest of the day.  i even had to sit down and rest part way through because i was so tired and getting lightheaded.  funny story... chris posted on his facebook status something about the five week countdown.  i saw it and was confused a few hours later when he asked me how many weeks along i was.  i just chuckled and was like "well you already know that."  and then he insisted that he didn't.  he goes "i don't know how many weeks you are, just how many we have left."  ha, so i asked him how many he thought i was.  he guessed 40.  ha.  he thought pregnancy was 45 weeks!  i thought it was hilarious.  now he's singing to our baby.  she's dancing to rock around the clock right now.  ;-)  what a great dad.

bring in the backup!

today was wonderful for a number of reasons...  a few were unexpected but one was long awaited and much anticipated....

today was my first day at work training my replacement nanny!  i helped interview and pick her so i already knew she was really nice.  she's my same age and super friendly.  she's great with the boys and has the same parenting style as i do so i think it will be a pretty easy transition!  the wonderful family i work for said they would love for me to continue working as long as i want... even until i deliver!  so with my wonderful new helper, i'm excited to keep passing the time at work... and goodness it flies by!