"just wait 'til you have kids!..." + a dream

It started early and now just seems to be getting more and more frequent- and about more and more things.

"just wait 'til you have kids!"

This phrase seems to follow every minor everyday complaint.

The house is such a mess! "just wait 'til you have kids!"
I'm so tired. "just wait 'til you have kids!"
Oliver is such a nightmare. "just wait 'til you have kids!"
I wish Oliver didn't pee on the floor. "just wait 'til you have kids!"

Okay. I GET IT. I understand our lives will be different after we have kids, and yes, we are anticipating this. And I know people don't mean anything by it, but is it necessary to say that about everything? I just had to vent.

Now on to last night's dream. It actually wasn't a weird one! (as far as dreams go, anyway)
I had a dream that we checked into the hospital (even though it was Overland Park Regional) and we ended up having a baby BOY! For some reason we had no idea the sex of the baby, but had packed all pink stuff because of my hunch that it's a girl. Everything was going great, and after I had him, I realized in the dream that we had the baby at the wrong hospital and started freaking out that our insurance wouldn't cover it. Ha.

1 week and 4 days to go until the ultrasound!

dreams....

I thought maybe I should start recording these dreams of mine, to get a good laugh out of later. When I'm not working, I've fallen into the trend of going to bed around 10 or 11, waking up around 2 or 3 for about an hour, then waking up when Mike goes to work for about an hour, then sleeping until 10. I wish that was the worst of it. I literally wake up with a nervous stomach because of the funky dreams I had that take me a minute to remember. It's that "something weird happened" feeling.
Last night's festivities:
I was at some kind of a cabin in the woods on a work vacation for Mike's work. There were all these people there I didn't know, except Mike's boss. Mike wasn't even there for some reason. So Mike's boss introduces me to everyone else by saying I was Mike's wife and that I was a "wonderful republican." Well, anyone that knows me knows that I'm not a republican, so I said so in the dream. Then came the stares from all the people, and they tried to turn me upside down (pregnant and all) and dunk my head in the nasty river. Then it turns out that the cabin in the woods was in Paris. I then took Maddy and Oliver on a walk in said woods. Oliver was on a leash and Maddy was not on a leash (which isn't all that weird, because she listens on walks really well). Well then this herd of people ran by, and Maddy decided she wanted to go with them instead. Then Oliver started running, and his harness came loose from the leash. So then I'm running after them both trying to catch them in the woods in Paris. Where the hell was Mike?? Then I woke up.
Next: I was sitting in the audience at a huge auditorium with a mix of my family and Mike's. Then all the sudden, I got up, ran up on stage, and started to dance with a bunch of people. We all know I don't dance and have zero coordination, but man, I was a rock star in this dream (needless to say, I was not pregnant in this dream). After the series of dances, Nigel Lythgoe stood up and started talking (so apparently I was on so you think you can dance). But he wasn't even talking about how awesome the dancing was, he started talking to the audience about how the auditorium really needs some new energy-efficient outlets, in case anybody wants to make donations.

16 :)

Friday marked the 16 week mark! Only 3 more weeks until we find out the gender- and we can't wait :) We have officially stopped the name discussion until that time I think- we will resume vetoing each other's ideas then. What a hard decision! I think the responsibility of naming a child is pretty overwhelming, but maybe I'm a little paranoid because I had a 'difficult' name growing up that people constantly butchered (and still butcher).

I've been feeling pretty good these days. It's becoming a little more difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position, so maybe I'll invest in one of those body pillows soon?? It doesn't help that lately Oliver and Maddy ONLY like to sleep on my side, Maddy pushing me off the edge, and Oliver taking up the entire bottom half. So I'm either diagonal into Mike's side or curled up in the fetal position. And another thing about sleep- WHAT is with all the weird dreams? Eeeevery night. Weird and extremely vivid. Sleep is becoming an interesting adventure all around.

My belly is expanding. I'm hoping I'm out of the 'is she fat? is she pregnant?' stage, or will be soon. Here is a picture at 16 weeks:

and here is what's going on with our little baby :)

"Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop."

almost to 15!

I've been officially in the 2nd trimester for almost 1 week! Nausea has gotten a TON better, even when I'm at work! Mike and I just got back from an appointment and everything still looks great! Heartbeat is in the upper 150s to lower 160s. Nothing too eventful at this appointment, we just listened with the doppler (which is something Mike and I do at home all the time anyway) and were asked if we had any questions. Oh well, it was still fun to hear our baby and I got to steal Mike from work for a couple hours :) We also had a sonogram last week (pictures to come), and baby is VERY active! It's still too early for me to feel the baby move, but baby was doing somersaults all over the place, and stretching it's arms and legs out and back in, and out and back in. It was so funny! It's so cool to see all those things, because it really looks like a baby now! I mean last time you could tell it was a baby, but it was still kind of a blob with 4 limbs. This time we could see the face, eyes, nose, spine, knees, feet... I had a feeling the ultrasound lady had a pretty good idea of the gender, but she said she doesn't like to tell this early in case she's wrong. booo! Luckily, I work on an OB floor with nurses who know how to do ultrasounds! I had them scan me on Monday night to see if they could tell, and baby was being so uncooperative! Every time there was a good view, the baby would flip around. In the end, they got a couple good looks- but there was disagreement on what they thought the sex was. The vote was girl: 2, boy: 1. So we'll see! We scheduled our next sono where we will find out for SURE (hopefully) whether it's blue or pink! July 23rd!

Here's what the baby looks like at 15 weeks!!

How your baby's growing:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

BLAH!

I've been lucky so far to only have a few bouts of vomiting, but after my 12 day vacation from work, the first night back was painful. I think I ran to the bathroom more times that night than I had through the whole pregnancy. I think the disruption in my schedule after the long break had a lot to do with it too- my body still hasn't adjusted to working night shift quite yet, and with pregnancy added to the mix, it was just a bad combination. It happened at the worst times too! The first time I was pushing a baby in her crib down the hallway and I got "the feeling," I ran with the crib to the nurse's station- thankfully there was someone there that could watch her- ran to the bathroom and barely made it. The next time it happened in a patient's room. Come on! Hopefully this will start to subside now that I'm nearing the 2nd trimester. I start 3 nights in a row tomorrow night- yikes!

12 weeks!

SO close to the 2nd trimester I can taste it! My belly has officially "popped out." I was debating on whether to do an 11 week belly shot last week, but I thought I still wasn't showing, or that it looked like I just ate too much. Now I'm just thankful we are telling the parents next weekend- because I can't hide this much longer!

note: this is at about midnight, after a very HOT weezer concert :)

3 years!

Mike and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary last week! It's crazy to think it's been 3 years since our wedding day. And it's even more crazy to think that when we celebrate our 4 year anniversary, we're going to be parents! I feel like we are both ready for that next step. I know nothing can prepare you for parenthood, but I feel like we have come such a long way and that we have really built a strong marriage.
Here's a look back at that wonderful day..

Of course, Mike and I had to laugh when our anniversary plans also got rained out! Mike had a wonderful date planned for us- carriage ride at the plaza, and dinner at the Melting Pot- a restaurant I always wanted to try. Although it only rained briefly, it was enough for the carriage company to cancel our ride :( bummer.. but dinner was absolutely amazing.. and we'll do the carriage ride another time!
The pregnancy is still going great so far! My nausea comes and goes- and I have only actually thrown up 3 times (once at work- that was fun). Usually it's just an all over "blah" feeling- nausea, headaches, zero energy. One thing that's fun is that we bought an at-home fetal doppler so we can check on the baby's heartbeat whenever we want! It came when I was 8 weeks along, and I only detected the baby's heartbeat once for about 6 seconds. The doppler kept averaging my heart rate with the baby's, and giving me weird readings. Oce I hit the 10 week mark, we have been able to find it every time! What a great sound :) Baby's heart is still beating in the 160s-170s!
Also- my belly is definitely starting to peek out! This is a challenge since we still have not told our families about the pregnancy (we're waiting until the 2nd trimester). Mike and I were in the parking lot at Price Chopper the other day and a lady was driving by, stopped, rolled down her window, and asked "excuse me, ma'am? are you pregnant?" For a moment, I think I stared at her in disbelief. Nobody has asked me that, not to mention a stranger stopping mid-drive to ask me that. I kinda mumbled "yeah?" and she told me that her daughter is overseas and pregnant so she likes to ask people how far along they are so she can picture what her daughter looks like. I still am not sure if I'm offended. I go back and forth- on one hand.. I am pregnant, but on the other hand- who asks that! There is no way it's already that obvious! Anyway, I'm proud of my belly, and made my first official maternity clothing purchase today. It's time.. I feel like such a chunky monkey in my normal clothes!