Week 22: Baby Book Bonanza

Okay, I’m not sure if this is normal or if it has something to do with my over-analytical, OCD personality … My nightstand is stacked to the ceiling with books and magazines. No, not my pre-preggo faves like US Weekly, Vogue, Lucky and Harpers Bazaar, but What to Expect When Expecting, What to Expect the First Year, Baby Wise, Parenting Magazine, A Pediatrician’s Guide to Years 1-5, etc, etc. I feel like that girl in the Bing “search overload” commercial. I still have four months to go and I feel like I have so many reference books, I need to start using the Dewey decimal system just to stay organized! I love reading about all the theories and methods and schedules; some of them I think are totally bunk but others make perfect sense and I think “okay, I’m going to try that.” I’ve also signed up for a breastfeeding class, a childbirth class and an infant care class. A little much, I know--but as corny as it may sound I really do love learning about this stuff and the more I know, the less anxiety I have about the most humongous job life has to offer. With that being said, I also know that many people tell me that the sleeping schedule theories and feeding methods go right out the window once you actually have the baby. But, the classes and the books make me feel nice and prepared so I’m going to continue my nightly study routine for my 22 year exam. (18 years + 4 years in college … but I guess you don’t ever stop being a parent so it’s more like a life long test!)




One of my dear friends Whitney got married over Easter weekend and we had a après wedding bachelorette/wedding shower party this past weekend in Dallas. It was so much fun and so good to see everybody! I flew in Saturday and we went to dinner at this trendy little pizza place in Uptown called Coal Vines—it was DELICIOUS!! We were some of the oldest people in there and I was definitely the largest with my pregnant belly. I felt like we were living that scene in the movie Knocked Up where Katherine Heigl and her sister are trying to get into the club and the bouncer looks at them and says “No way, I can’t let you in; you’re old and you’re pregnant!” We had so much fun though, we laughed and talked and tried to catch up on all six of our lives in two hours. We had reservations at a wine bar after dinner, but being the old crowd we are, we opted to go back to Megan’s and have wine and talk. (I found the BEST sparkling grape juice at Albertson’s, it tastes just like champagne!!!) Whitney, the bachelorette, fell asleep before any of us : )

Sunday I came home to the best surprise ever: Carlysle had FINISHED painting the nursery!!! That alone qualifies him for Dad of the Year in my book. I was elated to see the final result; the colors are absolutely beautiful and the chair rail trim is just perfect for the look I’m going for. We are a long way from being done but I am just thrilled with the way it’s coming together.








Weekly Womb Workings:

Our little Meatball’s hands have grown bigger and stronger and the nerve endings in his fingers have developed his sense of touch. He's in there testing out his newfound abilities by touching his face and grabbing the umbilical cord.

His brain is developing rapidly this week and will continue to do so until he's five years old (good thing I’ve been diligent with my BeBe Sounds)!

His hair is now a short, bright white crop. No matter what color it will end up—most likely blonde--all babies' hair lacks pigment at this point.

Baby Rob now weighs almost a pound and measures almost 11 inches from his head to heel. Until now his legs were curled tight up against his torso, so he was measured from his head to bottom (or crown to rump) and not head to toe.

B is for Belly

….and it has arrived!! Right on schedule-- everyone told me a first-time Mom usually starts showing around five months. Now, as a woman having done anything and everything to have and maintain a flat tummy for nearly the past two decades, I never thought I would be this excited about having a protruding abdomen! But let me tell you, I am SO excited!!! Little Rob is making his presence known with his nightly kickboxing routine and by expanding his sleeping bag, also known as my uterus.

This weekend, Carlysle and I made the last minute decision to spend the weekend relaxing on Lake Travis. We slept in, spent the days cruising the lake on the pontoon boat, and floating in Cow Creek. (Well, Carlysle and Mushy floated, it was too cold for me!) We had a great time and made it back home Sunday evening.



The nursery re-texturing is COMPLETE!! After a long, grueling and powdery process, it is done. (We got a quote to re-texture the entire house and I almost choked when it came back at $10,000, but now I can clearly understand why they charge that much.) I’ve picked out the paint and started painting a sample wall to determine whether or not I like the color in the room’s light. I loooove chocolate brown and blue for little boy’s nurseries, however, it has become a slightly overused color combination so I’m varying it somewhat by going with a powdery-teal blue and tan. The paint colors are “Interesting Aqua” and “Nomadic Desert”. Now that I finally have some color on the wall, I’m in full-on nursery mode. All the furniture is picked out, the chair rail is ordered and my Dad is making me a custom surprise for the windows … pictures are coming but I can tell you, it’s going to be FABULOUS!!

I should start a whole new blog based on my weekly-first-time-mom-baby-gimmick-obsession. However, I don’t think this one is a gimmick: my friend Courtney has a two-and-a-half year old little boy named Easton and he is very advanced for his age. He speaks in full conversational sentences and I’ve always been very impressed with him … well, she let me in on a little secret called BeBe Sounds. When she was pregnant, her sister gave her a headphone set specially made for pregnant bellies and she played classical music every night for Easton while she dutifully read her parenting books. (Can you say perfect Mom?) After she told me this, I started reading all kinds of studies linking the concerts in utero to brain stimulation and early advancement in language and motor skills. Well, needless to say I ordered the headphones! Actually, my Mom, being a huge proponent of education (I’ve had a Pearland Library card since I was five) said “I want to buy it for him!!” immediately after I told her about it. It will take a little while longer than the Snoogle to determine if this one works, but I will let you know! Of course, I think every parent thinks their child is a genius so I might not be the best source.

Oh … and I got my Snoogle and it is wonderful! I think it came complete with special sleeping sprinkles or something because I have slept through the night since I got it.

Weekly Womb Workings

By now Rob looks like a mini-version of what he'll look like when he's born. All his facial features are formed and hair is growing on his head. Hopefully not a lot of hair, I've heard the heartburn is worse the more hair they have. He's even acting like a baby and will occasionally suck his thumb or yawn.

His heartbeat is getting stronger and can be heard using a good old-fashioned stethoscope. By 21 weeks, fetal bone marrow starts making blood cells—previously done by the liver and spleen. This may not sound that exciting, but it's good news.

The amniotic fluid that has been cushioning our little nugget now serves another purpose: he uses it to "practice" chowing down. Yes, it sounds gross (as many aspects of pregnancy do), but it's an important step toward him being able to chow down in the real world. He's been swallowing amniotic fluid for a while now, but now the intestines are finally developed enough that he's absorbing small amounts of sugars from it. And let's face it, being able to effectively digest sugar is important at every stage of life....especially if he gets his Mom's sweet tooth!

He now weighs between 10 and 11 ounces and is approximately 7 inches long. Big Boy!!

Week 20: Feeling Life

Two remarkable milestones this week: 1. I’m halfway through my pregnancy and 2. I’ve felt life for the first time!! I’ve had inklings of little flutters in my belly since about week 18 but last night Carlysle and I were laying in bed talking and all of a sudden – two little taps that I knew FOR SURE were the baby. It was the coolest most indescribable feeling; I was just elated to finally feel my little bug moving inside of me. I am however not having as much fun adjusting to sleeping on my side. I have been a tummy sleeper my entire life and now that is just impossible. Not only is it obviously not good for the baby, it feels like I’m laying on a watermelon! My doctor and everything I read say the best position for pregnancy sleep is on your side and let me tell you, that is my LEAST favorite. In non-medical terms, there is a major vein and artery that run vertically through your body and if one lies on their back, the weight of the baby, uterus, placenta, etc. compresses this vein and reduces optimal circulation; hence the side sleeping recommendation. Yuck. After a while, my hip falls asleep and the ear that I’m laying on starts hurting so I’ve decided to order the Snoogle Sleeping Pillow… probably a pregnant Mom gimmick, but I’m willing to try anything. Here’s a picture of it:



I realize how ridiculous it looks but I’m really excited about it! Another really exciting thing happened this weekend: I found the coolest handmade changing table EVER!! The picture is kind of fuzzy because I took it with my phone but it’s made with old tin roof tiles and cedar wood. It’s painted a really, really dark brown/black so I might repaint it to match the crib or just try and find a black chest of drawers to match the changing table and have the crib as the focal point. Here’s a pic:



I also got to see my friend/pledge sister Carly who is due to have her baby boy, Max on July 21st! She lives in Chicago but was visiting family on her Spring Break. I was able to attend one of her baby showers and see her precious little baby bump : ) It is so fun to be pregnant at the same time as so many friends!

AND ... I'm finally starting to get a REAL baby bump!!! It's about time! It literally seemed to just appear one morning. I will post a pic of that soon too.

Oh, also several people pointed out to me that I forgot last week’s Weekly Womb Workings and I apologize for that. I haven’t forgotten and I will keep posting them but I was running out the door as I was trying to post and that section was sacrificed due to my obsession with punctuality. I’ve heard that will change after I have kids but I doubt it, we’ll see!!

Weekly Womb Workings:

Rob has established sleep patterns akin to a newborn now (I can tell you from the movement I feel he probably wont’ be sleeping through the night). From this point forward, he will put most of his energy into gaining weight right now he weighs approximately 10½ ounces and is about 6½ inches long, about the size of a can of Red Bull (which has way too much caffeine for a pregnant woman to be drinking). He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and we’ll see it in his first soiled diaper … YAY I can’t wait to see that : )

Week 19: The Name Game

What goes best with a family of names like Carlysle, Callie and Mushy? That’s a tough one. Thanks to family traditions, my job with this one was pretty easy. Our baby boy will be named after his Father and Grandfather, Robert Carlysle Gulledge III. And because I love my friends Christine and Lauren, we’ll call him Rob for short after their husbands. (Not really, but we’re definitely not calling him Bert or Lysle so Rob it is!) I am really excited to have a little Carlysle Jr. Hopefully, he’ll grow up to be just like his daddy : ) I went to the Doctor this week and they did another ultrasound … pics coming soon, the scanner is fussy today … and she said everything looks great, he’s growing and moving around A LOT. During the ultrasound, he was in the breech position and doing frog kicks, it was the funniest thing. The ultrasound technician informed me that the organ right next to the uterus that he was jubilantly froggy-kicking was my bladder—that explains a lot!!! With several showers quickly approaching, I’ve been trying to get registered before invitations go out. It is MUCH harder to register for baby stuff than it is for wedding stuff but it’s also a lot more fun to oooh and awww over the precious baby stuff. I just didn’t know where to start!! With a little guidance from friends and family, I’ve managed to register at Babies-R-Us, Doodles and Bering’s YAY!!!

Weeks 17 and 18: Mr. Sandman, Please Stop the Madness!

Between the all night trips to the bathroom and Carlysle and Mushy’s snoring contests (don’t let Mushy’s demure demeanor deceive you, he is a rather formidable foe when it comes to these contests), I actually do sleep a little bit. Lately, that sleep is filled with wild and crazy dreams and I have no idea where they’re coming from. I’ve never had dreams before – well, let me rephrase that, apparently everyone has dreams; you just don’t remember them sometimes. Now, my dreams are as vivid as Lady GaGa’s wardrobe. I won’t go into detail (because you would think I was wacko) but I will share with you parts of one of my recent favorites. So … from what I remember it goes something like this: Heidi Klum and I were on a yacht cruising around the Mediterranean (I was in A Pea in the Pod earlier that day looking at stuff from her new maternity line, I think that’s the connection.) and we were total BFFs. That is, until I walked in on her laughing hysterically while going through my suitcase and stuffing my wardrobe into a big black Hefty trashbag while she was telling me how pitiful it was! She was definitely not as nice as she usually is on Project Runway. It reminded me of a time in college when my roommate Megan and I decided to have a garage sale and called our friend Lauren Stover to come help us. She helped a little but mostly just laughed at all of our stuff we were selling; and she especially had a good time with Megan’s cat shirts, wigs and rollerblades : ) But yes, my dreams have been WILD to say the least. Not necessarily bad, just crazy and very memorable.
This weekend my family and I went to San Antonio to celebrate my Grandparent’s 55th wedding anniversary. 55 YEARS!!! Fifty-five is the emerald anniversary so we decorated my Aunt’s house with green tissue paper flowers, garland and gifts with green wrapping paper. We also enjoyed green beverages such as fresh limeade and margaritas (virgin for me!). It was so much fun, the whole family was there and we bar-b-q’d a big brisket, made potato salad, beans, creamed corn, you name it. And of course, my little belly got lots of rubs and love from all of my Aunts. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful and loving family!
Carlysle has been hard at work in the nursery retexturing the walls. Our house was built in the 70’s so it has this super awesome wall texture that I fondly refer to as wall acne : ) It’s also known as popcorn texture and it is AWFUL! So we’ve decided to slowly retexture the entire house starting in the baby’s room. It’s almost finished and it looks AWESOME. It has kind of an antique Italian rough finish to it, I just love it but it is very time consuming and when Carlysle starts the sanding part I can’t help because billions of tiny white little dust particles fly everywhere and I doubt that’s good for a baby’s developing lungs. I have so many ideas for how I want to paint the nursery, I can’t wait to see the finished product!
Hmmm let’s see, what else went on these past two weeks? Oh, yes, Obamacare passed! I cannot tell you how excited I am that we’ll get to pay for other people’s health insurance! Maybe we should pay for their mortgages too … oh wait, we’re already doing that. Our nation is 12.6 TRILLION dollars in debt, the economy is in the tank, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupt so let’s throw in another government subsidized program! What a great idea! Hopefully this is just the beginning of the fight, 38 out of the 50 states (or 52 states if you ask Obama) are considering legal action against the bill. I just can’t wait to see what doctor’s office’s waiting rooms are going to look like in 2014…. My guess is they’ll be similar to the way emergency waiting rooms look like now. Maybe we’ll try and have all of our babies before then so I don’t have to stand in line for a bed when I’m 9 centimeters dilated.

Weekly Womb Workings:

Baby’s adding fat stores that will keep him warm and cozy after he's born; his weight will increase approximately six times over the next four weeks. Good to know I’m not the only one tipping the scale. He’s also hard at work honing his sucking and swallowing reflexes—all the better for eating that 2 AM (and 5 AM, and 8 AM ...) meal in a few months! The finger- and toenails are beginning to grow from their nail beds, which would explain why he'll need them trimmed almost as soon as he's born!
Baby weighs nearly 5 ounces and is a little over 5 inches long—about the size of a baked potato (load on the butter and sour cream, please). This week is also the beginning of ossification. And while that sounds like some long and involved paperwork we’ll have to fill out, it's really a fancy medical term for the hardening of the baby's miniature bones. And that's a good thing. The baby's nerves are making more and more complex connections. His sense of smell, taste, sight and hearing are all developing. A substance called myelin, which makes nerve connections travel faster, is now coating your baby's nerves.

Week 16: Registry Ruckus

This week was pretty crazy. I had so much going on all week and it ended perfectly with a celebration of my Mom’s birthday on Saturday night. During the week, I took a pre-trial registry test trip to Babies-R-Us out of curiosity. I’ve been there before several times to pick up gifts for friend’s showers but I was usually in a hurry and frustrated with the ultra slow printing pace of the dinosaur registry printer so I cheated and bought gift cards. Well, without ever having thoroughly explored the baby super mega mall that is Babies-R-Us, I was completely overwhelmed. They should offer tour guides for first time moms! I’m serious, there are like five different types of Diaper Genies (I just want to know what the difference is and which one works best). There are fifty different types of bottles to choose from, high chairs, pack-n-plays, strollers, you name it. I was about to have a panic attack trying to figure out if and when I had to buy an infant car seat and a toddler car seat, when to switch them out, rear or forward facing AHHHHH?!? I could just picture a hospital staff nurse escorting Carlysle, baby and me to our car to go home from the hospital, taking one look at the wrong car seat I bought and screaming: “Oh no, you’re not taking the baby home in that!!! In fact, your car seat is SO bad we’re keeping the baby until you come back with the right one!! (In case you can’t tell, sometimes my mind wonders to the worst possible and most ridiculous scenarios!) But it seems like kids have to be in a car seat until it’s time for them to get their driver’s license so obviously we’re going to need a couple different sizes right? (Can you picture driving your sixteen year old to the DMV in a booster seat haha!)

And then, when you think about it, we invite our loved ones and dearest friends to our showers … so why on Earth do we make them spend one of their precious Saturdays at crowded Babies-R-Us standing in line to print out 25 pages of products with 18 digit SKU numbers waiting to play hide-and-seek with their latest victim in a store the size of Wal-Mart? I mean really, that’s just cruel.

Weekly Womb Workings

This week, Baby G is about five inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces (OUNCES?! So why am I putting on POUNDS?!). Baby’s body fat is beginning to form and will accumulate throughout the pregnancy…hopefully he will have lots of juicy fat rolls for me to love : ) He is listening to all kinds of noises now. Apparently he’ll know Mushy’s bark before we even bring him home from the hospital and should sleep right through any outbursts (that’s good news for Mushy). Although the eyelids are still sealed, Baby can perceive some variances of light. Most survival reflexes that he will have at birth are being developed in utero right now.