little bugger

Yesterday was my 2-week checkup (at 33.5 weeks). Baby Campbell's heart rate is great. He's been moving, poking and bumping me all the time. Last week it seemed as though his legs were kicking me near the top of my belly (meaning he was head down). Then during the past few days the kicks have been really low, suggesting he is breech. Well, the sonogram showed that for now, the little bugger is breech. Actually, transverse meaning that he is almost laying sideways. He will hopefully move back to his head down position on his own in the next few weeks. If not, the doctor might try to move him that way OR may just schedule a C-section at 39 weeks (a week early)! I'm a little leary of CHOOSING a birth date. Almost seems a little too God-like in nature. 39 weeks would be Nov. 2 (my niece's birthday); Nov. 1 is my brother's birthday. Or we could pick Nov. 3 and have 1,2,3 covered in the family. But Alex had also liked Nov. 11 (11/11/06). Who knows, maybe he'll move on his own and come when he wants to!

hey poke-a-boo

Baby Campbell's newest trick: he is poking at my belly from the inside out. Maybe payback for the times Alex and I have tapped my belly so Alex could feel him move. This new trick though is more than just a kick or bump, he's actually making my belly visibly rise up! It is very bizarre and exciting at the same time. Seven more weeks until we get to see him in the flesh!

baby gear

Yesterday, my mom came over to help paint the dresser from her sewing room that will be Baby Campbell's changing table/dresser. We also put together our stroller and glider. Sounds easy enough right? The stroller came with illustrated photos with very curt instructions. However, not every picture was altogether accurate, so in those cases we were guided solely by our intuition. Thankfully we were successful. And the glider...we put that together with no directions at all! We have two extra parts (oops) but so far it seems to work without them. And it is SO comfortable, I almost fell asleep in it after all the work it took to get it together!

first hospital visit

Sadly we were not at the hospital for a more happy occasion or a BIRTH as would be expected. My mom, Auntie Ellen, me and the baby visited Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore last night to talk with Dr. Rosenshein, a renowned gynecological oncologist. Unfortunately, it looks as though my mom (Grandma Jones) has ovarian cancer. Surgery and chemo are planned in the near future. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

bigger belly

This picture was taken Sept. 9, 2006 (31 weeks and 3 days). Starting the countdown.

painted nursery

The big task of prepping and painting the nursery is now complete! We had to spread the project over two weekends because so much prep work was involved, but we're happy with the results. Now it's time for the furniture!

The first picture shows the room primed (and Daisy!) and the second shows the new wall color, apple blossom.

another sonogram

So we sweet talked our doctor into another sonogram since he was not able to confirm the baby's sex during the last appointment. This time the baby flipped and is now sitting breech for the time being. This usually makes it more difficult to see the sex of the baby since there is less room in my lower abdomen, but thankfully Baby Campbell was willing to share this time. We were able to clearly see that indeed he is a boy!

We were also lucky to get a clear picture of him since he was bopping around like a deflating balloon. Prior to the appointment I had to drink a glucose substance that tastes like a really sugary orange soda. They take my blood an hour later and this lets them determine if I have gestational diabetes. The routine is to take the test once at 16 weeks and once around this time. I'm at 29 weeks today and happy to report that the doctor just called to let me know that I'm completely normal. Well physically at least. No diabetes for me!

Take a look at our cutie! He's squished up against the left side of the picture. The long blue lines highlight his body and head (his head is tilted like lying on a pillow) and the short blue line shows his hand.

campbell crib

So I told you that we ordered our crib and glider several weeks ago. But now I have a picture of the crib from the store display. So ignore the other furniture and bedding (not mine).


We've almost finished clearing the nursery of its furniture from its phase as a spare bedroom. Then the room will get a makeover with a new coat of paint, new window treatments and wall décor. And my mom's dresser from her sewing room will now serve as a changing table/dresser in the nursery once it also gets a fresh coat of paint. Insert crib and glider and voila, the nursery will be complete!

heat wave

No, I'm not referring to the extremely hot temperatures in the Middle Atlantic region... I've finally found that I'm feeling slightly warmer than usual. I have begun my seventh month, so it's about time that I have some of those negative pregnancy symptoms that I've heard so much about. However, I've heard no complaints from Alex who is loving the ceiling fan setting on HIGH!

hey bugaboo

So, finally a picture of the infamous belly! This was taken on August 1.

Since then, Alex and I have found that our baby likes interactive play already. During his active hours we tap on my belly saying, "Hey Bugaboo," and Baby Campbell kicks back. It is so amazing that he can feel and hear us and, more remarkably, responds! I can't wait to hold this little guy.

cute cartoon

My mom sent me this cartoon from The Washington Post because it reminded her of Baby Campbell's "latest shy bit at the last sonogram."

registered

I've been asked by many where I'm registered and I've had to say "I'm not!" But I'm happy to say that the procrastination is over and one more big task is complete. We're registered at Babies R Us and Target.

After the very LONG day at Babies R Us with feet that felt like they were going to fall off, we tested gliders. The glider search has been the bane of my existance for the past few months. Originally I wanted a fully upholstered chair that, in my eyes, looked more contemporary than the traditional wooden ones with cushions. But I just couldn't find one that I liked that was also comfortable and a somewhat reasonable price. So I expanded my search criteria (Alex was so proud since I'm rarely flexible once I get my mind set on something) to include the traditional gliders as well. And we found the perfect one for us that was brand new in the store. We chose a light wood with a sage cushion. It glides, reclines, locks in any position, comes with a matching ottoman and fits our long legs just right. I wasn't sure if I was more happy to have another decision done or to be off my feet after so much walking!!

week 25

Yesterday Alex and I went to see my doctor for my 25-week checkup. All is good. The baby's head is down, his back and body curl up my right side and his feet are curled up at the top of my uterus several inches above my belly button. We could see a good stong heart beating which was amazing! Unfortunately, the baby's legs were closed so my doctor couldn't see to confirm that the technician was correct when determining that our baby is a boy. But the earlier sonograms (from the technician) seem pretty clear! My doctor said he'd give me another sonogram at the next appointment so he could try to see again. I have one more monthly checkup toward the end of August and then the appointments increase to every 2-3 weeks and finally weekly for the last month.

Below are the sonogram pictures from yesterday's appointment. They are fuzzier so I marked them with blue. The first shows the baby's head. Looking from left to right you see the top of his skull, eye sockets, nose and chin. The second picture shows a view of the entire body (or as much as can be seen at one time). The left circle is the head and the right circle is the body.

feeling good

As soon as I announced that I was pregnant I noticed that nearly all conversations started in a new way. Rather than the traditional "How are you?" I now get "How are you feeling?" My response is almost always the same, "Great!" I hate to say that this pregnancy stuff is easy so far because I know that I will be jinxing myself. So I'll simply state that I've been lucky enough to avoid any nausea, sickness, headaches, indigestion, etc. Other than my growing baby bump, some big kicks from the kid and my restricted food choices and physical activities, I'd never know that I was pregnant. I highly doubt I'll be singing the same tune in month 8 and 9!

colors

So, we've not decided on a crib, a glider or even registered, but I've at least made one decision -- the colors for our nursery! We were planning to paint the nursery a light sage green regardless of the sex of the baby. No changes there. But I've added two shades of blue to the mix -- light blue and a turquoise. For those of you who might be color-challenged (any men reading this?) I've attached some swatches.

sixth-month ankles

Yesterday was the start of my 6th month. It was also my first day with swollen ankles! I showed them to everyone at work as a badge of honor!

thump thump

Until this point, I've been the only one who has been able to enjoy the movements of the baby. During the past week the pokes and nudges have turned into shockingly strong kicks. So last night I returned home really late from stamp club and by the time I got into bed, the baby was throwing sturdy punches and kicks my way. Alex put his hand on my belly and was shocked when he felt the kicks! He was surprised by their intensity! And I'm so thrilled that he's finally able to somewhat "share" the physical experience of this baby growing in my belly!

ultrasound pics

So here are a few of our first baby pictures from June 13, 2006. We're so proud of our little Skeletor -- anyone remember that guy from the He-man cartoons? The ultrasound/sonogram machine uses sound waves to get a sketchy picture of what the baby looks like inside my belly. If you look closely you can see his skull, eye sockets, jaw and even his hands curled up against his ears. Follow his arms down and you will faintly see his elbows before the image turns to mush. While watching him, he yawned. How cute?!

The second image shows, as my husband says, our son's "junk," which the sonogram technician diplomatically marked "boy."

daddy-mobile

So our first big purchase in anticipation for the baby was not a crib. For the baby (err, daddy) we purchased a new 2006 Honda Pilot. Alex has had his eye on this car for some time and we finally got a deal we just couldn't pass up. And we ended up choosing a color we had no intention of choosing before we got to the dealership and saw it in person - Amazon Green. It's a little bit of an Army green with some gold/tan metallic flecks. We both love it and it has already proved very worthwhile. We've used the third row seating when driving with a handful of Alex's theater buddies. And the navigation system has already showed that it is worth its weight in gold when we can search for nearest gas stations when we're in unfamiliar territory. Did I mention it has an iPod link and rear-view camera while in reverse? But of course that pales in comparison with its five star safety rating - much comfort when we're toting a little one around.

first blog

Welcome! I really never thought of myself as a blogger. In fact, the thought of doing a blog never occured to me until my friend Stephanie started one for her family and invited me to read hers. Suddenly I realized this would be a great way to document my pregnancy and share photos and information about the pending birth of our first child with our friends and family, especially those living far from home. Hopefully my blog will grow at the same rate as my quickly increasing waistline! So keep checking back.