New This Week!

1.  Baby Prep Classes
I am very excited to report that we are now registered for all of our baby preparation classes.  We registered for Childbirth Prep, Baby Essentials, Infant and Child CPR, Daddy Boot Camp for Rookies, Becoming Parents, and Breastfeeding, which are all offered at Northside Hospital where I will deliver our baby.  We won't start these classes until January, but we were told that the classes fill up pretty fast, so we went ahead and registered for all of them.

2.  Childcare Research
We have decided that the best choice for us is for me to continue to work after the baby is born.  Because I will be going back to work in August, we will need to find a childcare provider for the little man, so we've started researching childcare providers in our area.  Brad asked me to visit providers in the area to narrow down the search.  Once I've narrowed it down to the top two, Brad will visit and tour the schools to help me make the final decision.  So far, I have only visited Primrose, but I was very impressed!  I plan to continue to visit other childcare providers, but it will take a lot to top what I experienced during my tour of Primrose. 

 3.  Feed Me
I am very happy to say that I haven't gained very much weight so far, but I have a feeling that is about change because lately I feel like no matter what I eat or how much I eat, I am still hungry.  My stomach feels a little bit like a bottomless pit!  I'm trying to make sure I fill myself up with fruits and veggies and other good-for-me foods, but I am just hungry all the time!

4.  Baby Bump
There is no more hiding the fact that I am expecting because I have a definite baby bump these days.  It is really fun to watch my belly grow because I know that it means that Peanut is growing as well.  I love checking out my belly in the mirror right when I wake up in the morning because I swear it looks different everyday!  It certainly makes getting dressed for work slightly more interesting, not to mention the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to tie my own shoelaces.

5.  Brad has Joined the Party
I mentioned in an earlier post that Brad was not yet able to feel the baby moving, well that changed this week!  A few nights ago, Brad was reading Peanut a bedtime story and Peanut was really moving around.  Brad put his hand on my belly where I was feeling the most movement and he was finally able to feel a few faint movements.  It is so exciting that Brad is a part of the action now!!

6.  Brad's Better Two-Thirds
Like many husbands, Brad will sometimes jokingly calls me his better half.  This week we came to the conclusion that I am currently his better two-thirds, as our family is no longer made up of two people.  We are now a family of three, plus a dog, of course!

We Survived!!!

Brad and I survived creating our baby registry at Babies' R Us!  We went to Babies 'R Us yesterday afternoon around 1:00.  When we arrived, we promised each other that we would leave by 3:00 or before either of us got frustrated, whichever happened first.  We started with all the big stuff, the stuff that I've been researching for weeks and everything was going really well.  I had my list and Brad had the scanner gun and we were on a roll.  We scanned our infant car seat, swing, Pack 'n Play, high chair, diapers, Baby Bjorn, diaper bags (one for each of us), Snap 'n Go, Bumbo, Boppy, and monitor without any trouble at all.  We weren't even derailed when we realized that Babies' R Us doesn't even carry the stroller we want.  We were having fun and feeling pretty confident in our baby registering abilities, probably a little too confident.

Brad Comparing Infant Swings

When we turned onto the next aisle and the next section of our registry checklist, the "infant care" section, everything kind of started to fall apart.  Because I had a really hard time finding any of the answers that I needed about these products before hand, I had a feeling that I was going to be totally overwhelmed and my feeling was certainly correct.  We spent quite a while just walking through this section, confused.  Then we sought the help of a Babies' R Us employee, who was really no help at all, although she did give us some coupons.  Brad kept trying to remind me that the baby isn't even going to realize that there are so many varieties of bottles and nipples, he is just going to be happy to be fed, but I think we thoroughly covered my decision-making process in an earlier blog post, so you can probably imagine that we had arrived at an impasse.  Finally, I just had put on my big-girl panties and make some executive decisions and hope for the best.  Once we finally made it out of the infant care section, we headed over to the nursery and bedding section, but we shortly realized that both our time and our patience had expired.  I was so spent by the time that we got to the clothing section that, even though that probably would have been my favorite part, we didn't even try to register for anything.  Brad did a great job of trying to be supportive and helping me approach things from a logical perspective, but in the end I still ended up in tears.  Decisions not supported by research are not my strong suit.  Thank goodness that it was nothing that a Founder's Favorite in a chocolate-dipped waffle bowl from Cold Stone couldn't fix!!!



Founder's Favorite



Also, New This Week:

1.  Peanut is a Busy-Body! 
The little man moves all day, every day.  I felt him move for the first time on October 9th, but after that his movements were sporadic or I was only feeling them sporadically, but now I feel him all the time.  It is such an incredible feeling to know that there is a little human being growing and stretching in there!  I am amazed and excited every time it happens!  Brad has not been able to feel it yet, but we're hoping he will be able to join in the fun soon!

2.  Bedtime Stories
We read that all of Peanut's senses are now in working order and he can now hear what is going on outside of the womb, so Brad now reads him a bedtime story every night.  It is really adorable!  We get all cuddled up in bed, (except for Hank, he has to cuddle up on the floor) and Brad reads aloud to my belly.  So sweet!

3.  Yoga
I started taking a prenatal yoga class this week.  The class is full of mommies-to-be who are anywhere from 12 weeks to 36 weeks pregnant.  It is designed to help us stretch and strengthen our growing bodies and it is relaxing and wonderful!  I've never taken yoga before, but I already love it!

4.  Touching the Belly
People have started to walk up to me and touch my belly.  These people are very politely asking first, but they are touching nonetheless.  I know that this is a pretty common thing for people to want to do and I'm pretty sure I've even been guilty of doing it to close friends a time or two, but it is really going to take some getting used to.  What makes it seem so strange is that, while I am definitely showing, to me it looks more like I've just eaten a really big meal than it looks like there is a baby in my belly. 

5.  Maternity Photos
After talking to a friend about maternity photos, Brad and I decided that we want to have some taken by a professional photographer, something that we had not even considered before.  I did a little research this weekend and we found several photographers in the area who have taken some beautiful (and tasteful) photos of parents to be.  I am really excited about it and I think it will be a great way to remember this awesome time in our lives!

I'm Not Crazy, I Just Plan A Lot

A Look Inside My Brain Before Baby Bargains

I am a researcher and a planner by nature.  I've never made a decision in my life, except the decision to move to Atlanta, that wasn't strategically planned and thoroughly researched.  My friend Jane loves to make fun of the fact that I researched breeders of Golden Retrievers for several months before finally deciding that the dogs at Goldenway in Nashville, Tennessee, were worthy of parenting my sweet little puppy.  Now let's be honest, Brad and I love our dog very much, but he is, for all intents and purposes, just a dog.  I just had to know as much as I possibly could about him before I could commit to him for the rest of his life.  I like to be knowledgeable when making decisions, and so, I plan and research.  I just can't ever seem to make a 100% commitment to anything unless I feel like I'm a relative expert.

You can probably see where I am going with this and you can probably see how this little personality quirk can be both a blessing and a burden in life.  Well, this has proven especially true during the past two weeks.  Do you have any idea how many decisions expectant parents have to make these days when planning for their little bundle of joy???  I'm sure those of you who have had a child, especially in the last ten to twenty years, are emphatically nodding at this point.  Talk about overwhelming!!! 

When I think about it, I guess the decision-making actually started back in July, on the day we found out that I was pregnant.  The first two major decisions I committed to were which hospital and which doctors would deliver my baby.  I spent only about three or four hours on those two.  More recently, however, we have had to start deciding on baby paraphernalia, specifically, what to register for and what to purchase on our own.  These decisions include, but are not limited to the following: child care provider, crib, crib mattress, bedding, changer/dresser, infant seat, convertible car seat, stroller, high chair, swing, and portable crib.  Don't even get me started on which diapers or bottles we'll choose!  If some of you are thinking to yourselves as you read this, "slow down, you've got plenty of time," well you clearly don't know me that well.  The one bit of insight that is keeping me sane in my quest for the best for Peanut is that mothers and fathers have raised perfectly healthy and well-adjusted children all over the world since the beginning of time without many or even all of the above items.  The bad news is, I'm me and I live in present-day America.

The hardest part about making all of these decisions is that we obviously want what is best, and most importantly, safest for our baby, but everyone seems to have a different opinion on what exactly that is.  So, how do you figure out who's right without getting caught up in all the marketing hype and brand wars out there?  I've found that word-of-mouth, consumer reports, and product reviews on various websites were somewhat helpful, but not exactly what I was looking for.  Thank goodness a couple of friends suggested I purchase the book, Baby Bargains.  Getting this book in the mail just might have been almost as good as eating a coconut cupcake from Kelly Kakes.  It is the most amazing and helpful thing I've read so far!  It is 600+ pages of data on the latest and greatest in baby gear.  The way that this book differs from anything that I've read before is that it guarantees that you get the most bang for your buck and it is updated every two years to ensure that the data is up-to-date.  Instead of listing which products were most commonly purchased by parents-to-be, it provides ratings on those products by people who have actually purchased and used them.  It also provides lots of helpful tips, lists of websites, and, you guessed it, bargains!  It is exactly what an obsessive planner and fanatic researcher with a limited baby budget like me needs!

http://www.babybargains.com/

Perfect 10 for my 10/10/10

My Second Birthday

I love celebrating birthdays, my own and the birthdays of my friends and loved ones.  No matter how old I get, my birthday is still something that I anticipate with great excitement.  You would think I would have outgrown this by now, but I haven't, and I totally blame my mother!  (Sorry, Mom!)  My mother is a master at making birthdays seem exciting and special.  No matter what our circumstances were over the years, she always made sure that my brother and I were spoiled rotten on our birthdays and I know that there were times when this was no small feat.  These days Brad has taken on the role of ensuring that I am spoiled on my birthday, or birthday week as I like to think of it, and it turns out that he is great at it!  This year, my birthday held special significance for me.  First, because I am expecting a child of my own, and second, because it fell on 10/10/10, October 10th, 2010, which isn't so much significant as it is just plain cool.  So, to celebrate this year, Brad took me to Highlands, North Carolina, where we stayed at the Old Edwards Inn and Spa.  The Old Edwards Inn was rated the Conde Nast Traveler's #1 Hotel Spa of the Year, and for good reason, it is absolutely breathtaking!  


Entrance to Old Edwards Inn



The Inn

The Lodge



The Pool

Highlands is about two and a half hours from Atlanta.  We drove up on Saturday morning and arrived too early for check-in, so we wandered around the quaint, little town for a while before having lunch and eventually checking in.  After we checked in, I left Brad to his own devices and headed to the spa for an amazing prenatal massage.  The spa was incredible and I probably could have spent the entire weekend there, but I eventually convinced myself to leave to rejoin Brad, who was hanging out by the pool.  I guess Peanut really likes massages and hanging out by the pool because later that evening I got the best birthday present I could ever have asked for, I felt him move for the very first time!  He actually moved three times over the course of about fifteen minutes.  It was pretty amazing!!!  We finished off the evening with a great dinner at Madison's and wins by both Florida State and LSU, so all-in-all, it really was a perfect day! 

Dinner at Madison's.  Can You See My Baby Bump?

On Sunday, we grabbed some breakfast and then walked around Highlands a little more.  We spent the afternoon driving around, looking at waterfalls and other scenic destinations.  We finished off the day with some barbecue from the Rib Shack.  The entire weekend was so wonderful and relaxing, a perfect 10!  It is a trip I will always remember and the best part of all is definitely the amazing gift that Brad and I have already been given, our Little Peanut.

Dry Falls

It's a Boy!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is exactly what you think it is.
You are looking at our son's winkie!


Call it mother's intuition or just a hunch, but I've thought all along, pretty much since that very first home-pregnancy test, that we were going to have a boy.  Since then, I've had dreams about boy babies and I've even had a few friends, coworkers, and one relative stranger predict that I am carrying a boy.  In addition to the hunches and dreams and predictions, I've had both a fortune cookie and a diamond necklace foretell the sex of our little Peanut.

About a week after we found out that I was pregnant, we went to PF Changs for dinner.  Anyone else noticing a theme here?  After dinner, Brad and I were reading the fortunes from inside of our fortune cookies aloud to each other.  For those of you who are used to seeing lottery numbers on the back of your fortunes, the fortunes inside the cookies at PF Changs have a word written in both English and Mandarin on the back of them.   Well, the word on the back of my fortune was jia ting or family and the word written on the back of Brad's fortune was nan hai or boy.  I'll grant you that a fortune cookie isn't a very scientific or reliable way of determining the sex of a baby, but you've got to admit that it is a pretty uncanny coincidence!

Just in case we weren't convinced yet, a couple of weeks ago Brad and I were eating dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, Tara Humata, with some friends from the neighborhood when our friend Mandy mentioned that she could determine Peanut's sex by dangling a diamond necklace above my wrist.  Mandy said that the necklace swinging back and forth would mean boy, while a circular motion would mean girl.  Of course, the necklace moved back and forth over my wrist and I don't know about you, but I think that if diamonds are involved, it's got to be accurate... right?

Even with all of these indications that our baby is a boy, I still wanted to be absolutely certain.  The only way to be absolutely certain is through an ultrasound, so we scheduled one.  My doctor's office doesn't normally do an ultrasound at the 16-week appointment, but I simply could not wait until the 20-week appointment.  We went in today at 11:00.  The ultrasound tech, Cassi, lathered on the goo, apologized for not warming it first, and then we were down to business.  She started by depicting Peanut's position, which was sort of laying on his back with his head on my left and his feet on my right.  His hands were by his face and his elbows were pointing up.  From there, she showed us his little head, complete with both brain hemispheres.  She then moved around to his face, pointing out his tiny little nose and mouth.  Next we got to see and hear his heartbeat at a perfect 148 BPM, followed by his spinal cord.  She eventually made her way down for the money shot.  Unfortunately, Peanut was NOT feeling very cooperative, so she poked around for a little longer and even killed a few seconds by showing us my very full bladder.   After a few minutes of poking and moving around, Peanut finally cooperated enough for her to see his tiny little winkie, which she had to point out for us in the picture above.  At that moment, all of our suspicions were confirmed!  IT'S A BOY!!!

Coconut Anyone?

Who hasn't heard funny stories about pregnant women getting food cravings for all sorts of crazy things?  Pickles and ice cream is an odd combination that I've often heard of, although I don't know if there is any truth to that one.  I have a feeling, that one is just another one of those old wives' tales.  Either way, it is well-known enough that t-shirts have been made and I think there is even a maternity clothing store bearing the name. 

Shortly after we found out that a little bundle of joy was in our future, Brad asked what I thought I'd have cravings for.  We both suspected that I'd crave sweets of some kind because I have always had a tremendous sweet tooth.  At first, I did have a short-lived craving for the chicken lettuce wraps at PF Changs, but the one thing that I still can't seem to get enough of is coconut, fluffy, delicious coconut.  Pre-pregnancy, I could take it or leave it, but these days I seem to want it, or better yet, need it on a daily basis.  My craving is so strong that I have even begun seeking out recipes that use coconut. 

It all started with a coconut cupcake from Kelly Kakes in historic, downtown Roswell.  If you are anywhere in the Roswell area, you should definitely check out Kelly Kakes!  All of the cupcakes are amazing, but my favorite is, of course, the coconut.  There was a 3 or 4 week period earlier on when I had one of those cupcakes every weekend.  However, I soon found myself wanting coconut more and more often, so I had to find other ways to indulge myself.  Since then, we've had coconut gelato, Edy's Creamy Coconut Fruit Bars, home-made coconut cookies, coconut M&Ms, coconut shrimp, virgin pina coladas, and thanks to a suggestion made by a neighbor, coconut cake from Alpine Bakery.  You name it, we've probably had it!  Brad has been really great about helping me find something to satisfy my craving.  While visiting Brad's parents last month, we even made an extra trip to Publix just to find some coconutty goodness.  He did, however, make the mistake of thinking that I wanted an actual coconut, but my craving is more for frozen treats and sweets made with coconut.  I'm sure that one day this craving will subside, much like the lettuce wraps craving did, but until then, I'll be on the search for all things coconut!