New Book: Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy

i figured i'd take a little break from reading "serious" pregnancy/childbirth books. so here's my next book...

revealing the naked truth about the tremendous joys, the excruciating pains, and the inevitable disfigurement that go along with pregnancy, jenny mccarthy tells you what you can really expect when you're expecting! from morning sickness and hormonal rage, to hemorrhoids, granny panties, pregnant sex, and the torture and sweet relief that is delivery, belly laughs is must-read comic relief for anyone who is pregnant, has ever been pregnant, is trying to get pregnant, or, indeed, has ever been born!

Book Review: Birthing from Within by Pam England

definitely a must-read for those planning to have a natural birth, though i think that all women preparing for birth should read this book. in some aspects it did feel like a cheesy "self-help" book, but england really does give some good insight on why some women end up having a birth experience that they are not satisfied with or did not want to begin with. england also provides exercises to do to help women face their birthing fears, come to terms with previous birthing experiences that they have had, or to just get more "connected" to their current pregnancy.

she also has a section dedicated to the birthing coaches and how he/she can make the birthing experience more "enjoyable", and includes a couple of "cheat sheets" in the back of the book for them to use during the actual birth, which is really nice considering there are so many other things going on on that day, so it's nice to not have to worry about memorizing something. i'll be copying them for D.

32 week status and pic

31 wk 3 da

How Big is Baby: still the size of a squash.

Total Weight Gain: as of 3/27 i was up 30lbs.
Maternity Clothes: yep

Stretch Marks: nope

Sleep: i've been sleeping a bit better on the whole, but i do have those nights when i'll wake up either b/c of bad dreams or to use the bathroom

Best Moment this Week: i had my glucose test last thurs and passed! :)

Food Cravings: bolthouse mango smoothie - heaven!

Gender: still a boy! (as far as we know)

Labor Signs: none this week

Belly Button: barely there.

What I miss: not feeling like my body is being invaded by an alien

What I'm looking forward to: i'm getting pics taken next week! :)

Weekly Wisdom: i have no control over what's about to happen (or when), so i need to just relax and take it day by day!

Milestones: finished washing all of the clothes we received so far, and the cloth diapers, and folded/put them away!

Wordless Wednesday: setting up Baby T's drawer

more nesting... sort of

a few months ago we had a company come out and add an organization system to our master closet, which we had on our 'to-do list' since moving into our house in 2008. when the builders built the house, they just put in 1 row of shelving throughout the closet like this (please disregard the mess - that's D's side):


it didn't really leave us much storage space. and the shelves had that little bar separation throughout so that the hangers couldn't be free-sliding. i hated it!

here's how the closet is set up now after the system was installed - with double rows, and free-sliding shelving:

and some shelves for shoes or other misc items:

obviously we have since put our clothes back in the closet, so i'll have to post a pic of what the closet currently looks like soon. but that will be after we finish our next nesting project - cleaning out/organizing the closet. what does that have to do with nesting? well, with babies come extra stuff, so i want to make sure our extra stuff is at a minimum before adding to that. and we also plan to use some of our closet space to house Baby T's stuff, so i want to get that organized too. pics soon to follow...

Week 31 status and baby "mound" pic

30 wk 3 da

How Big is Baby: still the size of a squash.

Total Weight Gain: as of 3/20 i was up 30lbs.
Maternity Clothes: i actually had to go to khol's this weekend and pick up a couple more tops in honor of spring arriving (all of my tops were long sleeve).

Stretch Marks: none yet

Sleep: still waking up to potty but not because of heartburn - yay!

Best Moment this Week: D finally felt Baby T during one of his intense moving episodes last night, and commented that it felt as though he was "trying to get out"

Food Cravings: omg, i'm lovin' eddy's frozen fruit bars (strawberry). they are so tastey! i bought a box yesterday, and already think i may have to go back to the store tonight to get another one.

Gender: still a boy! (as far as we know)

Labor Signs: none this week

Belly Button: barely there.

What I miss: not having to struggle to get out of a chair or off the couch

What I'm looking forward to: my appt on thurs - i have to take my glucose test

Weekly Wisdom: even if we don't agree with someone's parenting decision, we should always remember that they, as parents, are only doing what they think is best for their child.

Milestones: we washed a majority of the baby clothes we received, and organized "his" drawer.

Wordless Wednesday

setting up the crib last weekend...