Disturbing dreams and restless nights...

Ok, so I knew that sleep was going to get more difficult, but I really didn't think it would just hit me one day out of the blue! The past couple nights, getting comfortable has become Mission: Impossible.

To start with, I have very limited positions with a basketball being attached to my belly and all, and believe me, I have tried every position there is! I have a million pillows on my bed so I am able to prop up my head and back, my feet, stick a pillow between my legs and one halfway under my belly (not all at once of course!) and nothing is comfortable anymore.

Secondly, according to my weekly email updates little Babybug should be going through another growth spurt, so maybe that is why I am tossing and turning.

The third factor affecting my rest are Babybug's nightly practices for his audition in the next Jackie Chan movie. I have never been karate chopped in my life, until now. His little tai chi lessons begin the minute I lay down to sleep and don't end until I have somehow managed to doze off. That's when the real fun begins!

So I finally fall asleep...now what? Well, my brain decides that since I refuse to watch horror movies in real life that it will just make up its own in my dream, ahem, nightmare. I won't even go into details, but I have been witness to some horrific crimes the past few nights. Oh how I wish those would stop! Luckily, the only recognizable person, er...animal, in my dreams so far has been my baby beagle Pilot, who in my dream last night got attacked by some big, mean, monster-sized dog and lost a leg and an eye :( Luckily his missing eye was just an "x" over where his eye should have been. I am so glad that my dreams take some cues from cartoons!

In conclusion, please send all of your good night's sleep thoughts my way for these next few months. I need to be well rested for the sleepless nights I will incur once baby is here! It's now 10:45pm here and I guess its time for me to go count my sheep. Goodnight everyone! Hope you have sweet dreams!

Steph

Look who's THIRTY!

weeks, that is! This past Sunday I hit the 30 week mark in my pregnancy. Woohoooo!!!! That means we officially only have TEN WEEKS until Babybug is estimated to arrive into this world. Pretty amazing, don't you think??? The time has just flown by. The baby has been rolling and kicking and punching like crazy lately. He even let me play a little game with him the other day. He was rolling around and poking me so I decided to poke back. He would then poke back at me and I would do the same. This continued for a few minutes until he got bored (or annoyed) and moved away. What a kick I got out of it though!

I am still trying to distinguish body parts, but I know where his head is located, so from there I can usually determine if its an arm or a leg that is protruding from my belly. I also got to feel him get the hiccups for the first time. That was pretty funny! Bright and early one morning I just felt a repetitive bumping on my left side. It went on for about a minute and a half and then I think the hiccups were gone.

I had my 30 week appointment today and everything looks great! Baby wasn't as active at this appt so his heartbeat was a little slower at 145 beats per minute. My belly is still measuring right on track and I don't think I've gained any weight from my last appt -the dr's scale wasn't working properly as it read that I had only gained 8 lbs total - oh how I would have liked to believe it- but according to my home scale I am still up 18lbs. I also was not described as "above average" in reference to my weight gain as I was at my last appt, so I am feeling a lot better than I was after my last doctors visit.

I have officially preregistered for admittance to Labor & Delivery at the local hospital so I can skip all the paperwork once its showtime! I also signed up for a breastfeeding class which Tim will be attending with me in July (I'm gonna need all the support I can get!) and I visited a pediatrician's office this evening. I feel like I am making a lot of progress, although it is still kind of overwhelming at times. I feel like there is just so much to do before he gets here and being here by myself just kind of heightens the stress factor.

Moving on from Babyland..... We've had a TON of rain lately. Good for the grass, bad for the doggies who like to track mud into the house and tend to get stuck in sporatic downpours at least every other day :) But we are coping and at least the cloudcover has kept the temps down a bit. We also have a beautiful blossoming tree in the backyard. I will have to take pics and post them this week. Oh yeah, I still need to get those living room photos to you. I will get right on that folks! Take care and thanks for reading my novels! I have no idea why I get so long winded with these things!

Have a great week!!!

~Steph

Get your Hot Dogs here!

This has been a warm week here in Texas! Our dogs are having a hard time adjusting after being in the mild New Mexico weather for a month. I came home on Saturday from the Farmer's Market to find Bailey curled up in a shaded corner by the fence and Pilot seeking shelter under this plant! Needless to say, their outside time has been limited to mostly early mornings and evenings when the heat isn't quite so brutal.

Nothing too majorly interesting to report on the home front here. I ordered a rocker for the nursery this past weekend but it won't be in for 6 weeks or so and the crib mattress shipped today so we should be receiving that pretty soon. I have just been unpacking (its a long process for me!) and trying to keep the house cleaned up, which is an ongoing process with all of the boxes and bags from putting together the baby gear. I'm still trying to decide if I am going to take a childbirth class or not. I've been considering getting a dvd series that should cover most of the same things a class would without costing $100. Decisions, decisions.... If any of you have input I would love to hear it because I really just keep going back and forth and should probably make a decision fairly soon.

For those of you wondering about Tim - he is doing fine. He hurt his elbow last week and has been placed on the disabled list. He says it is feeling better every day so hopefully he will be ready to go before too long! We miss him here at home and are looking forward to the All-Star break the middle of July when he gets to come home for a few days! Yay!

I'll post later this weekend and hopefully will have some living room pictures for you. Take care!

~Steph

Houston, we have a heffer

What happens when a 6 month pregnant lady goes on "vacation" for a month? She gains weight! And lots of it! Babybug and I had an appointment this morning where we learned that we have gained 8 pounds in the past 5 weeks!!! Whoops! I guess I should have tried to remember the "Just Say No" motto from my D.A.R.E. classes back in grade school and declined a few pieces of cake and pie at baby showers and graduation parties and birthday parties while I was in Colorado and New Mexico. Oh well! If you can't gain weight when you are growing a baby, when can you???

Outside of the rapidly growing number on the scale, everything went smoothly at the appointment. Baby's heart was beating at 160bpm, my belly measured right where it should, and after an unexpected internal exam (shouldn't they have to give you at least a few days warning for these things?!?!) we found my cervix is not dilating yet which is great! That means Babybug is going to stay put for a while longer so Mommy can finish getting his room ready :)

Tim was playing in Oklahoma City earlier this week, so after his day game on Monday he was able to drive down here and stay for the night and leave the next morning. It was really good to have him home, even if it was only for a few hours, and I think he enjoyed getting to see all the changes to the house (new furniture!). I had him help me put some of the baby gear together and we also put down our new rug in the living room! Its all coming together and I am thrilled to have a furnished living room to relax in! Pictures will be coming soon!

That's all thats been going on with us! Hope everyone is doing well! I will update again soon. Take care and have a great weekend!!!

~Steph