32 Week Baby Bump

Hi Everyone!

So I'm at about 33 weeks right now, so these two pics are from last weekend. You can definitely see I'm starting to fill out pretty well :)

I have been feeling well, a little tired, but pretty good for the most part. It's a little hard to sleep, I basically just turn from one side to another. The baby doesn't wake me up with his movements, but whenever I do wake up I touch my belly until I feel him move, I smile, and roll back over. I also pee at least once a night, but I did that even before being pregnant because I drink at least a gallon and a half to two gallons of water a day. I think my maternity clothes will follow me through the rest of the pregnancy and I found a cute dress for my baby shower yesterday. I need a cute but comfy pair of shoes - does anyone have any suggestions? My ankles are a bit swollen, and I don't wear my rings anymore, so I hate to pay alot for a pair of shoes in a bigger size that I'll only need for about 7 more weeks...

xoxo

Work Baby Shower Photos

Here are a few pics from the work baby shower - Blogger has had issues with uploading photos for days, so I'm finally able to post them (thanks Brooke :)

The beautiful and delicious cake!

Curious George Book (and DVD) from my friend Joan A.

The Exersaucer - it is exerawesome (heehee)

Beautiful handmade sweater from my friend Diane, she also made a matching hat and the buttons on the sweater are little teddy bears

Cookie Monster towel...not gonna lie, I put it on my head when I got home

Blogger Issues

Hey peeps - just a quick update - I've been trying to upload photos for days but apparently Blogger is having some issues. I will upload the 32 week baby bump and baby shower pics as soon as this website decides to work properly.

I'm feeling good, I got back to the gym this weekend and it felt great! I have some tiny cramping here and there but I think it's just Braxton Hicks - although I woke up with a pretty big "cramp" last night, I just took a few deep breaths through it and it went away. I'm careful to pay attention since I have no idea what to expect when the time actually comes.

I went to a 2 hour breast feeding class last night and I found it really helpful. I learned different techniques on how to hold the baby and proper ways for the baby to latch on. I didn't make Nick go with me and me and one other girl were the only people without a support person there. I texted Nick and said "you're welcome!"

That's really all for now..nothing too exciting!

Hope everyone is well - so glad Monday is over ;)

xoxo

Work Baby Shower

The ladies at work threw me a (round two) baby shower this past Tuesday, since silly Nicholas decided to cause issues on the day the surprise was supposed to take place.

The people I work with are so incredibly generous - when I got married in 2008 they threw me a bridal shower and gave me an astronomical amount of cash and bought the casual china I had registered for. I work with about 100 or so people in my office and they are just awesome.

My baby shower was no exception - we got a ton of gifts, gift cards, and adorable Red Sox clothing (Nick was pumped) just to name a few items. Two of my co-workers, Diane and Elaine, made Nicholas beautiful hand knit sweaters. Brooke took a few pics at the shower, so I'm waiting for her to send me those and I'll post as soon as I have them (hear that Brooke? ;)

It's a snowy mess outside today and I'm thrilled to have a nice quiet weekend. I'm trying to savor them as much as possible since I know it will be chaos once the baby arrives.

Hope everyone is well!

xoxo

Silly Stuff

My brother and I both love Snoopy and when I was in NY this past weekend he gave me this shirt. What's so hilarious is that it's a 2XL...and I guess I'm thankful that it's not too tight. But it is very cute! :)

Ultrasound Update

I just came from my ultrasound appointment and our little fat ass weighs about 4 pounds! Heehee - it was really cool seeing how much bigger he had gotten since I'm at 31 weeks now and the last one was at around 18-19 weeks in October. Since the bedrooms are being moved around, I don't have our scanner hooked up so I apologize for not being able to post a photo. I can tell you that in one shot he looks alot like Quinton, Dan and Kingsley's son, and he is one very handsome baby! If we manage to figure out how to do a remote hook up I will definitely post a pic.

The little guy's heartbeat was at 136 and we were told that is in a perfect range. his hands and feet were both up by his face so it was difficult to get a good shot of him, but all looks good and he's growing just fine.

Phew!

Today I ventured into sterilizing baby bottles...everyone seems to do it a little differently. Some just put them in the dishwasher, some just sterilized the nipples - I really didn't know what the right thing to do was. We went with the Dr. Brown's brand based on great recommendations from friends. Each bottle is about 4-5 pieces so I basically took them apart and boiled them for about 20 minutes. I burned myself with scalding water several times, and got water everywhere, but let's hope they're sufficiently de-germed!


xoxo

NY Baby Shower

I am almost speechless. And if you know me, you know that's pretty much impossible.

I had the most amazing baby shower in New York today. My mom was kind enough to put together a shower for me so my 84 year old grandmother and close friends & family on Long Island were able to attend. I haven't seen my grandmother in over 2 years, so I was so thrilled my mom was able to pull this off. My mom has never really hosted and does not have parties with friends, so I know she was probably pretty stressed about the whole thing.

The generosity of my family and friends is what has left me (almost) speechless. From my friend Lisa and her family that I have known since I was around 12 years old, to my Aunt who traveled from Pennsylvania to be there, it was just incredible. My Mom and her sisters were up at all hours cooking, baking and preparing, the house looked beautiful, and I had the most wonderful day. The food was fantastic and it was all homemade. My mom invited a few of her friends that I had never met and they also brought the most wonderful gifts. I couldn't ask for anything more. Baby Nicholas is going to be one spoiled little guy!

Here are a few pics of the day:

Nick, Erik, and Bella

Me opening my first of many many gifts!

This was amazing - my friend Lisa and her family gave me a huge box and on the top was a little frog that said "pull", I proceeded to pull out a super long clothesline full of clothing from birth to a few years old - so adorable and such a great idea!

Lisa and her sister Christina - I've known these girls forever!

Mom, Me, Aunt Ginger, Grandma, and Aunt Cookie (my mom's sisters and my grandmother)

xoxo

More babies :)

On Wednesday we got to meet two new additions: Luciana Madison Antista who is the newest addition to the Antista family. She is tiny and perfect and I am a very bad person for not getting a picture of her! Karleigh and Jon are thrilled to have her home and they both look like incredibly happy new parents :)

After meeting Luciana, we got to meet Addison Paige Reinhart, Nick's cousin Bobby and his wife Mel's daughter. She is a little angel - she looks exactly like Mel did when she was born! I managed to remember to get a picture of her, and it cracked me up...my caption is her asking "who is this drunk dude holding me?" Nick did not have a drop of alcohol, it's just a bad picture (sorry babe!)

xoxo

Surprise! Hospital Visit

I had my weekly check up yesterday with my favorite Dr., Dr. Fortune, and wound up in the hospital for 6 hours. My blood sugar is being well controlled, but apparently my blood pressure is not. It was 144 when I got there and when I was getting ready to leave, it was in the 150's. I was sent to the hospital to check what is going on because I'm not quite 31 weeks.

The hospital is very close to both the doctor's office and my home, so it wasn't so bad. I drove myself there and called Nick, and he met me there as soon as he could. I was strapped to a monitor for both the baby and myself, as well as a blood pressure cuff. They did a test where they swabbed my nether regions (I think it checked to make sure I wasn't in pre-term labor)and basically had me "relax" in a hospital bed for hours. I was glad I had my kindle and my iPhone to keep me company before Nick got there.

Apparently I am having contractions a few minutes apart, but they are very small and I did not feel anything. My blood pressure eventually calmed down and the doctor checked to make sure my cervix was still closed (thankfully it is), so I was given the ok to go home. I have to collect my urine for 24 hours and bring it back today to make sure I am not passing any protein. I am supposed to be scheduled for an ultrasound, fetal weight test, and I think another stress or non stress test (I'm not sure which). The doctor's office is going to call me today with more information.

On another note...my friend Brooke was texting me to see how I was and asked if there was any way I could come back to the office at 5, I told her no because I figured I was going to be put on bed rest - I actually didn't even end up getting out of the hospital until 5:15. I figured out that it was supposed to be my surprise baby shower at work - it would have been a COMPLETE surprise, I had no idea anything was going on. I feel so badly because people made food and were probably excited to surprise me, but I know everyone understands (silly baby). I told Brooke clearly our son hates surprises as much as I do :)

I just wanted to let everyone know what is going on, alot of people have called/reached out to me and I've just been trying to sleep/relax alot, on doctor's orders.

Thankfully I was basically given the ok to go home to NY for my baby shower as well, but I'm waiting to confirm that today.

Thank you to everyone that checked on me :)

xoxo

Happy Weekend!

The weather is beautiful today - I think we're in the high 40's low 50's, and for January, that's quite fabulous.

I got up early and went to get a pedicure - my co-worker was kind enough to give me a Spa Finder gift card (hint hint...I LOVE THOSE) for Christmas. I often do neutral colors but went a little crazy this time - it's called Fly by OPI and it was "created" by Nikki Minaj...so you already know it's going to be bright - here's a shot. Fun, right? And yes, I know my feet are still not good.:

I went to Bella Viaggio in Windham (NH) and although Barbara who did my nails was nice, I probably would not go back. I see a woman named Kelly that works right by my office in Chelmsford (Beleza Spa), and I "mesh" with her better and it's very close to me.

After the pedicure I headed to Wal-Mart and The Christmas Tree Shoppe to run a few errands. I got curtain rods for only $3.99 a piece to hang some new valances I bought for our bedroom. Also found a cute flag for when the summer comes. Now I'm home and relaxing, I made a good dent in creating the Thank You's for my baby shower but still have a ways to go.

Here's a 30 week baby bump update:

And here's a few shots of the new car as promised - I'm loving it so far, I'm super comfortable driving it and have managed to stay off any curbs while getting used to the bigger size ;)

29 week Update

Just a quick update as this was my first doctor's visit since being diagnosed with GD. The appointment went really well - My blood sugar is actually a little low because I haven't been eating enough. It's been hard finding combinations of food that work and that don't send my glucose levels out of control. Plus not being able to stuff myself with pizza makes me eat a lot less. :)I'm managing it well though and rarely go over 120 (it's supposed to be between 90-120 2 hours after eating). It has been in the 80's quite a bit which isn't terrible, but it should definitely be higher than that. The nurse poked fun at me a bit, but in a nice way, because I gave her very specific information about the last few weeks of my testing. I told her - "would you rather I give you too much information or half assed information?" She laughed and apologized and said she wasn't making fun of me, and appreciated how much trouble I went through.

Also - I lost a few pounds. In 29 weeks, I've gained a total of 14.4 pounds. I assured the doctor I am definitely NOT trying to lose weight, but having to restrict the good stuff has caused my weight to go down. I've always had a bit of a food obsession, and it's been hard to eat more and more even though I know I need to. But I'm working on it. Plus, I currently have no sense of smell because of congestion/stuffy nose so eating anything tasty just doesn't matter to me.

My stomach measurement was 29 inches, right on track with my due date, and the baby's heart rate was between 140-148. He kept wiggling around and she had to keep looking for him, then I started laughing so it took even longer.

Our friend Karleigh and her husband Jon are currently in the hospital waiting for their babe to arrive (Karleigh was due last week), so please keep them in your thoughts! Can't wait to see their new little one!

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm!

xoxo

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to my favorite peeps :) We had a nice low key night and I’m really looking forward to all the new and exciting things to come this year. I’ve never been one to make resolutions, I think it’s just silly. Also silly – how RIDICULOUSLY packed the gym is right now. Clearly a lot of people made the standard resolution to get in shape/lose weight. As of right now, I like getting bigger just fine – heehee.

I am sick again – I don’t know if it’s something going around in the office, but it’s really frustrating. I try not to be a whiner, but I am just SO tired and SO achy. Hopefully it passes soon. I still try to stretch and do some mild yoga, but when my nose is dripping everywhere, it just isn’t pretty.

For those of you that like to read, I just finished The Hunger Games Trilogy for the second time and honestly wanted to just restart it for a third. It is one of the best series I have read in a very long time. I forgot about certain parts and it just made the books that much better the second time around. I’ve joked with my friend Jenn saying the baby better come early or late because the movie is in theaters March 23rd (and I’m due March 17th). Hopefully I’ll get the chance to see it.

Things are pretty low key for us, I’m trying to make very little plans and just relax for the next few months. It is AMAZING how few people I talk to (or talk to me), and I have to admit I kind of like it. It’s helping me realize who my true friends are. The less stress and aggravation I have, the better, and I’m really enjoying the quiet time. I got rid of Facebook in August, before announcing I was pregnant – I didn’t want unsolicited “advice” and comments from people, and with so many supposed "friends" on there, I knew it would be incredibly annoying.

Something else I thought of - you know how people always say "well when they had kids, they changed?" Well it is true, and I have to admit, I like the change that is coming. True friends are your friends no matter what, yes it gets harder to hang out or make plans when children are in the picture, but it's a simple effort to be made if you really care about a person. (and I'm saying this not even having a baby yet!)

Nick set up the nursery!! It's still a work in progres, but the crib, changing table, and glider are all put together and it looks amazing. I give him major credit for doing it all in one day - he is amazing. We are waiting on things like the mattress, changing pad, etc., so once it's all together I will post pics.

Also, exciting news - we bought a car yesterday and we’re picking it up tonight. I have had my Lancer since 2002- It only has about 85,000 miles on it. The reason we “upgraded” is because the Lancer is terrible in the snow and does not test well in crash ratings. I obviously need something safer and that has a bit more room with the babe on the way. I’m not a person that’s into “fancy” stuff (unless we count expensive body scrubs, heehee), but we got a great deal on a 2009 Nissan Rogue. It is bright blue which I love, and it was a lease so it was very well maintained. I really liked the way it drove, just like a car, and was surprised how instantly comfortable I was driving it. We know several people that have them and we have heard very good things.

Also, congratulations to Nick's cousin Bobby and his wife Melanie for welcoming their beautiful daughter, Addison Paige, last week. She is a perfect little peanut and I can't wait to meet her. Everyone is healthy and doing well.

xoxo