Under 100!!!!!

So I just noticed that I have under 100 days to go, according to my little ticker. How exciting!!!! I can't decide if this last amount of time is going to go by fast or slow. I have heard that it goes both ways. I find I am very preoccupied with labor and delivery these days. I think that is normal at this stage in the pregnancy for a first time mom to go thru, but it also doesn't help that the last two "baby" classes have focused solely on these two subjects. Complete with a stuffed animal pelvis and a new born sized baby crashing thru there. How about those visuals? :) Or put a ping pong ball into a balloon and then blow up the balloon. Then try to squeeze the ping pong ball out the end. . .yup, the simulates dialtion! :) LOL the classes have been great, but really have me thinking about labor. I can't decide if I would rather have a C-section or go thru labor. I suppose with a C-section you would feel all of the pain during recovery, where as with the labor it would be painful during but the recovery probably isn't as bad. I don't know anything about either so these classes have been interesting. They haven't talked about C-sections yet, other than to say that 25% of all births are done via C-section. . .the other 75% are natural labor. I know it's all up to my little guy to let me know what route we are going to take. . but it would be nice to know one way or the other a little ahead of time. :) I like to plan too much and am a little type-A but I think this kid is going to change all of that. Mike is excited for that. :) The baby LOVES when Mike talks to him. It's crazy. Last night Mike wanted to feel him moving around before bed and he was not doing anything. So Mike started talking to him and all of sudden, there he was popping around. Mike really gets a kick out of it when he responds to his voice like that. I think it's great. I haven't done much talking to him myself, it just feels kind of funny to me. But maybe I will try.

Sciatic Nerve. . .and a Name!

All in all, my pregnancy has been going fairly smoothly. As it is progressing, I am having more of a problem with sciatic nerve pain. At first it was just a dull throbbing pain in the back of my left thigh from time to time. If I had been standing, I would have to sit down and put my feet up and then it was pretty bearable. I asked my Dr about it and he said there is really nothing that can be done about it, but if it were to get worse, then he could refer to me to physical therapy. I think it finally got worse. On Saturday Mike and I were out shopping and had been doing so for a couple hours so my leg was starting to hurt. I was leaning on the shopping cart to try to take some pressure off of my leg. All of a sudden the pain shot down my right leg. It has been getting more and more intense in my left, but I have never had it in my right leg. So I had it in both legs so I had to sit down in the aisle in Menards right where I was. Then on Sunday I was walking thru the living room with a mirror in my hand and almost fell to the ground when the pain shot down my left leg. Mike had to run over and make sure I didn't fall and grab the mirror before I dropped it. The pain is very intense. I sat with a heating pad on it yesterday for awhile which helped until I stood up. So Sunday I was sidelined most of the day which was frustrating. I feel good otherwise and want to help get stuff done around the house and then have to just sit there. Mike has been absolutely wonderful at home, cooking all the meals, washing all the dishes, getting me whatever I need or doing things I ask him to do like vacuum, and always insisting I have a seat. He is going to be great father. So at my next appointment in Feb, I will be asking my Dr if he can refer me to physical therapy. On another note, we figured out the name!!! :) But we are not telling anyone until he is born. We decided to use family names, so one name from his side and one from my side. Mike got to pick the name from his side and I got to pick the name from my side. Mike had no problem picking his, but I have had a little more trouble. I think I finally decided on it so I am pretty excited. I do not refer to my belly as the name but its fun to say ". . .. . 's room" or ".. . .. .'s pack n play". It's just fun to think of him as an actual little person. There is just so much in a name that its a hard decision. And we are a Jennifer and Michael, two of the most common names. So we didn't want to pick another common name, nor did we want a name so uniquely spelled that he would have to constantly tell people how to spell or pronounce his name. I think what we came up with is great. Its still unique, but not crazy out there. :) Sorry, have to keep you in suspense for something these last few months! Next Dr appt is on Feb 3rd, which is a check up for me, a growth check ultrasound for him, and also the diabetes test for me. We also have the special fetal echo that morning where we go to Riverside to see his heart on a specialized ultrasound. I can't wait to see how much more developed he looks now, compared to the 20 week ultrasound. :)

23 Week Update & Baby Brain

Today we had our 23 week check up. Somehow I am always ahead one week in my appointments, but that is fine with me. :) My primary OB had not gotten the images and recommendations from the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) Center regarding the two vessel cord. So he was a little upset. First he said he would have them fax them over and we would talk about it at the next 4 week appointment. Then I mentioned something about how the Dr at MFM recommended a fetal echo. So then my primary Dr got a little peeved and told us he would have that info faxed over right away because this is the time we would need to do the fetal echo. . .between 22 and 23 weeks. Well here I am! So what was supposed to be a simple check in appointment became a quite lengthy one but we were glad because the primary Dr does want to go ahead and have us go back to the MFM Center and have the fetal echo done. Which apparently is another more advanced ultrasound of the baby's heart. There is a small chance of cardiac problems for the baby due to the two vessel cord so they just want to take a look and make sure everything is OK. So he has to fax the referral back over to MFM and then I have to wait for them to call and then we will get in and get that appointment. The one nice thing about all of this is that we get a lot of extra ultrasounds. :) I will have another "growth check" ultrasound at my next 4 week appt in Feb. and also will be taking the diabetes test. I have now gained the 35lbs they recommend you gain in your whole pregnancy during my first 6 months. Boo. So we shall see how that pans out. :P The baby moves around all the time. It is quite an amazing feeling. I have been feeling a little bad for Mike because every time I get some pretty strong jabs or kicks, I have him rush over so he can try to feel it and the baby stops moving every time. Mike has tried to talk to him and poke and push on him to get him to move and he just won't do it when Mike has his hand on my belly. :) I think he is going to be a little stinker. So I just keep telling Mike that one of these times he will be able to feel him, we just have to keep trying. But the baby is quite active. My favorite is sitting a little forward in my chair at work at my desk and he moves all over the place. Its like I can smush him just right so I can feel every little movement. :) I still have not felt hiccups yet. Looking forward to that. The "baby brain" is getting really bad. Really bad. I just asked Mike to get me a pop out of the TV. He asked me what? And I said "get me a pop from where the pop comes from". LOL!!! The other night they showed the windchill in Faribault on the weather and I got up and pointed to the TV and said "Wow we have the same windchill as Farmington!!" and Mike asked me to point again to Farmington and I pointed right to Faribault and said "see we are close to Farmington". Sheesh!!! It is really bad. It makes us laugh but I know Mike misses my regular brain. The other night I told him this is what it would have been like had he married a ditz and he said "Well I wouldn't have known it could be any better. I know what you are like normal and I like that the best!" I thought that was kind of cute. We are pretty excited that the baby will be here in about 4 months. It seems like there are babies everywhere!!! I know two making their debut in January, mine in Aprilish, then another two in May, another two in July and I think that's it!! Seems like quite the baby boom for 2010!!