Happy Easter...a little late

Easter was largely uneventful, other than the whole resurrection thing... ;)  However, I did at least manage to pull off two pictures.  The day started surprisingly late as the animals let us sleep til 7.  Man, talk about lazy!  We still ended up worried about making it to church on time, because you KNOW that I was not going to be ok with standing for the entire service.  We fortunately made it with a few spaces to spare, which turned out to be even more necessary than we thought.  It was H O T.  They didn't have the air on, it hit 80-something that day, and hundreds of people were packed into our little church.  I managed to not leave, but the pregnant woman a couple rows in front of me had to step out for a bit.  

My sweet mother insisted that since we wouldn't be seeing any family, and this would be one of the last chances that we had to dress up and go out as just the two of us, that we go to an Easter brunch.  We ended up at the Radnor Hotel, and it was DELICIOUS.  Which of course meant that we ate entirely too much.  That did not stop us from hitting the dessert bar, though!

And, can you believe it?  I got Chris to take a picture.  Well, there may also be some of my back on the camera, but this one is pretty decent.  Even if I had to change dresses after church because I decided the other was too tight, and consequently, too short.  The wardrobe is very limited these days, folks!  Enjoy the whale watching known as 35 weeks:

There are more and more bets going around that I'm not making it to 40 weeks.  And...I honestly wouldn't mind.  We are ONE WEEK from full term, and then the Lion is welcome to make an appearance any time he wants.  I'm up to having a few contractions a day, but it's still the swelling that is killing me.  Just because I'm pregnant, Chris's opinion of air conditioning has not changed, so the 80-something temps this week has made life rafts of my feet.  I don't know if I can take it.  I understand that I'm usually all environmentally (and fiscally) conscious, but I may need some air conditioning in my life very soon.

Hope everyone's Easter was great! 

1 out of 5 ain't bad, right?

I said I was going to talk about all of the pregnancy surprises last week, and I have failed miserably.  But I'll write about the one that has been on my mind the most...

SWELLING

It actually isn't as bad this week as it was 2 weeks ago, but it still isn't much fun.  Although I'd like to pretend that I'm having abnormal amounts, so that I can justify all of my recent weight gain.  It's not pretty folks.  We have now hit that 30 pounds that I was hoping would be the total...and we still have 5 weeks to go.  

Admittedly, I don't look particularly swollen, and my co-worker (God bless her), even as of yesterday swears that you can't tell that I'm pregnant from the back.  However, my shoes that don't fit, the achy joints, and my wedding rings that I wear on a chain all tell a different story.  

It doesn't help that my rings were TINY to begin with.  All of a 3.75 I believe.  They have been on a chain for awhile because I did not want to have to get them cut off my fingers.  The idea of it terrified me!  I don't want any sort of blade going that close to my hand for the sake of jewelry!  The fact that most pregnant women don't wear their rings on their hands by the end doesn't seem to sink in to everyone, though.  A girl I know recently had a little old lady mumble under her breath "Don't you think you should have gotten married first?"  1) How RUDE.  2) She was married, but was swollen.  Way to assume.  I don't know if I would have been able to keep my mouth shut.  But it's why I still try and remember to wear the necklace, so that I don't get any of those nasty comments.  Though, even if she HADN'T been married, it shouldn't have been any of the old lady's beeswax. 

The swelling had actually made me really nervous, though.  I had convinced myself that I had preeclampsia.  I had 1) Sudden onset of swelling, 2) 5 pound weight gain in 2 weeks, 3) JUMP in blood pressure, 4) Blurred vision, and 5) Nausea.  Wouldn't you be scared?  The doctor wasn't because my huge blood pressure jump was from 100/54 to 119/79.  High for me, but not high for the rest of the world.  He did make me go see an eye doctor, though.  And...that told me nothing.  The eye doctor said I still have 20/20 vision, good pressure, and no indication that hypertension is affecting the optic nerves.  So...I get to still be a paranoid first time mom.     

Beyond that, I woke up this morning with a non-functioning finger.  It was a little odd.  Eventually it started painfully moving, and now it's almost normal, but I didn't expect the freezing up!  In an effort to combat this, I have looked for remedies and...found very little.  Yes, I HIGHLY recommend the Neti pot for sinus trouble (congestion, nose bleeds, allergy pressure), but how do you do that to your fingers?

 

Pretty much all I've got is that they say to keep hydrating as much as possible.  And that don't assume just because you're retaining water that you don't need more!  I will now end this disturbing obsession with my puffy self, and return to my water bottle. 

Anyone have any tricks I'm missing?

Friday Five: Pregnancy Surprises

Since I have been so bad about posting, I figured I'd do a preview of what I'll talk about next week.  5 things that have surprised me about pregnancy...and link into Kat's Friday Five.

1.  Animal reactions

Harper didn't care for a long time.  Other than she thought I smelled funny.  Recently, all the changes in the house and working on the nursery has sent her EPI into a tailspin.

Monster has been VERY aware from very early on.  He's been much more in to laying on me, and will do odd things like sleep lying against my stomach, even while the Lion is kicking him.

2.  EVERYTHING swells

Early on, it was my nasal passages.  The neti pot became my best friend. 

Now?  It's everywhere.  My hands may not look huge to you, but I usually have scrawny, boney hands.  Not these marshmellows-stuck-in-a-microwave.  And, even more surprising?  The swelling HURTS!  I have had serious trouble holding a screwdriver or typing in the past week.

3.  There's more than one size of maternity clothes.  And you will NEED more than one size of maternity clothes.

It's a little hard to tell from this picture.  I thought it would be more impressive.  On the left, are a pair of size 4 non-maternity skinny jeans.  In the middle is a pair of size 4 maternity skinny jeans with a full-panel belly.  On the right are my current skinny jeans.  Size 8 maternity and sit below the belly.

4.  How much I would miss my husband

Don't get me wrong, hormones make me incredibly AGGRAVATED with him, but because I get up approximately 50 times a night, I usually sleep on the futon in the nursery.  Boo.

5.  What I'd actually crave

No...it's not pickles and ice cream around here.  

Do Tums count as a craving?  I'm almost through 3 of these big bottles.

CITRUS.  I alone eat about a pineapple and 4 oranges a week.

And even put lemons in my water.

Now go look at cute pictures of Kat's baby. 

Baby Shower: PA Version

 I was very lucky that the moms decided to throw the shower at our house, even if it meant a lot of cleaning, and a semi-awkward scenerio where Chris and I weren't present at the beginning because we were at the animal hospital, but otherwise?  I'd highly recommend your own house.  You don't have to transport the gifts, or travel, and it's just generally a lot less taxing...during the shower.

I now have quite a few pictures, but they are the ones my father selected to send me.  Which means there will be no "belly pic".  He only sent me the one with a bare belly that my mom and sister-in-law insisted I take, and sorry.  Love ya'll, but I'm not posting any bare bellies on here.  Even if it continues to be stretch-mark free (everyone please knock on wood now).

Chris's relatives.  4 aunts, a neighbor, and a cousin.  They all traveled a lot to be there and I appreciate it so much!  And most of them were part of getting our crib, which obviously makes them some of the most useful gift-givers ever!  Thank you, ladies!

This must have been early on because it's missing a lot of the food.  I was mystified where all the tables came from until I realized that I was missing a dining room table.  It might be the one in the back of the photo.  ;)

My amazing haul thanks to some very generous friends and family!

Notre Dame girls from my dorm.  Also known as "Phoxy Ladies".  I actually think I've managed to forget the cheers, though.  Anyone remember?  Shannon and Katie both came up from DC during one of their few weekends in the country!  So lucky!

Apparently we have some big-ole sheets of toilet paper.  I was a lot fewer than anyone anticipated...which I of course can't remember the number now.  But it was low.  Smaller than Cathy's at her shower, and she was only 6 months (and tiny!)

Though some people tried to claim it wasn't the toilet paper's fault, and rather where Happy measured.  But I think that this picture proves she did a good job.  So, take that sore losers!  

The quilt that my mother-in-law made for the baby.  MANY people continued to push her to start an Etsy site, but she's still laughing it off.  She even finished this large, complicated quilt BY HAND in only 3 weeks.  She could easily knock some out on a regular basis.  But, up to her.  I'll just leave it at I think she's talented enough to do it.

Competition of the mothers.  Not really.  But there's the diaper cake you've seen before that my mother made, and the basket of onesie "flowers" that my mother-in-law did.

And my brother showing his enthusiasm toward being an uncle in the most manly of ways...gift assembly!  (Well, and he also gave us the stroller.  Which is incredibly nice of him.)  We already joked that he and my sister-in-law can use it in a couple years since it's her school colors.  (Clemson Tigers)  Though we WERE the ones to register for it.  We just like orange.

And...fine.  I may regret this.  Here's the belly from later that night.  Ugh.  I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow.

Thank you everyone!  It was so great to see you all!  (Even the many of you that aren't pictured.  I still love ya, I just don't have the images.)

Weekend Update

I'll do more extensive posts once I have pictures, but this weekend was a bit crazy, so I'll do the quick version.  My parents arrived on Thursday...just in time for Chris and I to leave for an infant care class.  It was great to have them around, though, because there was a LOT of prep work to get done before my shower on Saturday.  Fortunately, I don't work on Fridays, so we were able to shop, and clean, and generally exhaust ourselves.

Saturday was more exciting, for both obvious and not so obvious reasons.  As we were getting ready for the 1 pm shower, Chris took Harper for a walk to try and burn some energy.  Shortly after leaving, he came running back in with a poop-bag full of blood.  He immediately took off for the emergency vet hospital, both because it was 8:30 am, our vet was closed this Saturday, and it seemed like an emergency.  I initially stayed home, but by 10:30 was worked up enough that I had my dad drop me off to hang out in the waiting room with a panicked Chris.  Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we didn't learn anything new.  We just spent over $700 for more blood work, and x-rays, and medicines.  We also are heading to our vet this afternoon for a follow up.  My mother said, "At some point you're going to have to decide when this is too much", but my response could only be, "Well, I don't want that day to be today."  We made it back to the house around 12:30 pm and RAN to change as people were already arriving.

The shower was great, and I'll have a longer post on that.  My parents and Chris's mom stayed over night, and my brother and sister-in-law (and Brutus the dog) stayed through dinner, so it was nice to catch up with all of them.  Sunday...we did a little cleaning, a little shopping, but generally just passed out from too much excitement.
So, there's the quick run-down.  Hope ya'll had a good one!

My Failed April Fool's Joke

This is Joseph Vincent Paterno.  Affectionately referred to as JoePA. 

This is my son.  Who we are NOT naming Joseph Vincent Poter***, affectionately to be referred to as JoePo. 

C'mon people.  We're Penn State fans, but we're not INSANE.

Mother Nature's Joke on Us

Happy April Fool's Day!  I haven't decided if or what I will be pulling today, so that'll have to wait.  It certainly won't be along the lines of Chris saying, "I have to figure out something mean to do to X."  I don't want MEAN, I want FUNNY.  Internal debates aside.  Here are some pictures of our SNOW as it continues to fall.  We'll see if the Phillies get to play on what those of us around here feel like is the true opening day of baseball.

I can quite seriously say...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!