Our first parenting class

Jamie and I have officially started training to become parents! That's right, there are training courses for this stuff...and it's free. Naturally, we were all over that.

So our first class was Tuesday evening and was entitled "Baby Basics". Lots of people asked me what I was supposed to learn at this class before we went. THE BASICS, people. That's what I expected. And apparently I don't even know what the basics are...because my head was spinning when we left. I believe Jamie used the words "scare tactics" when telling me what he thought of the class.

Here is a picture of Jamie that I took during the break. This was before the scare tactics, but after some pretty disgusting cleaning techniques. I wish I had a picture of him right after they showed a giant photo of baby's first poo would look like. Don't worry, I can sum it up in words: Sheer Terror.

Long story short here is what we learned.

1. It's probably good we aren't having a boy because those little buggers have some pretty specific/scary bathing and diapering MUSTS. I won't get into the specifics, but if you have a boy, you know what I'm referring to.
2. Diaper changing will be the easy part. For me. Jamie wants no part of that, haha...
3. We are not good at swaddling and will therefore be registering for the blankets that basically swaddle your baby for you. Trust me, we practiced on plastic dolls...and they were not impressed.
4. There are 5 miracle methods to getting your baby to sleep, and one of those methods is holding them like a football. If you are reading this and have seen this done or did this with your child, please let us know. We are not convinced.
5. Their poo will probably make Jamie vomit.
6. SIDS prevention, which really, really scared us. Obviously.
7. Last but not least, we learned that we want/need to be good parents and so we need to start cramming for this baby. I'm pretty sure Jamie has already bought and started reading some kind of baby book.

Oh, and surprisingly there was nothing that scared us enough to not still be out of our minds excited for our little girl to arrive. So that's good. December is too far away...especially since we are pretty much waiting on the best present ever.

Our next class is in just over 2 weeks and is entitled "Breastfeeding Essentials". I'm pretty sure the hubs is going to love this one...so I'll try to take more photos...

Sonogram Photo-18wks3days

In case you don't follow facebook and would like to see one of the many amazing sonogram photos we got last week, here you go!

Our Wonderful Little Sunday Morning

Yesterday I was able to bask in a major perk of being pregnant.

Jamie made me breakfast! Not only did he make me breakfast, but I didn't ask for it. He just wanted to do it. Awww....what a great husband. He made some sort of egg, cheese and waffle concoction that was pretty amazing. My hopes are that this is the start to a very wonderful trend in the Faidley home.

I know, I should have taken a photo to prove to you that this did, in fact, happen. But you see, when someone makes any sort of food for a hungry pregnant woman there is no time for photos. I am a hungry beast.

In other news, we have been keeping all of our "baby swag" that we have received in the to-be nursery. On Friday, Jamie came upstairs to find a furry little monster nestled next to all the baby clothes, diapers and other adorable pink things. That's right, Gizmo is catching on to all of this madness. He is either very excited to welcome a new baby...or making sure we don't forget about him.

I'm hoping he doesn't think the onesies are for him. Although now that I mention it...that could be cute...

Just kidding!

Baby is a Mango!

Today I got a lovely little email from thebump.com telling me that I am now 19 weeks pregnant and the baby is the size of a mango!

If, like me, you have never seen a mango in your life, here are the stats. Baby should be around 6 inches by now and 8.5 ounces (roughly). Still pretty small, but I'm happy to say I have made it to "mango week"!

I still have yet to personally purchase something for our little one. Now that I can, I just don't know where to start. Burp cloths? Hats? Booties? Diaper rash cream (so exciting)!? We will see...I'll be sure to keep you in the loop when I do hop on that bandwagon. Until then, happy Friday!

Diaper Time

Baby Faidley has diapers.

This milestone has come too soon you say? Well, timeline be damned. My mom had a coupon. 

Now, for those of you who grew up with me, you probably know that coupons were cut, saved and religiously used in the Lenz house. There was no question about it. In fact, when I went to college I continued to think this was normal and actually cut out the coupons that you find in the Press Citizen just in case I needed them (I once used a coupon to buy beer once I turned 21 and didn't think twice about it). I am pretty lucky I made friends at all now that I think back on it...

So when my mom and I were at dinner and she said she had a coupon for Huggies Diapers, I knew that meant we were buying some...tonight. 

We got some other things done at Target and then found the diaper isle...after we asked some kid that appeared to be about 12 where they were located. That's right, a 12 year old knows more about buying diapers than I do. 

I'll just say this-there are about a hundred types and sizes of these things. After we found the Huggies we felt we had conquered it. We were wrong. At one point, my mom asked, "do you want to be green?". As in, do I want to put my future child in eco friendly diapers. I had no idea those things could be eco friendly. From what I hear, the smell and mess is something that the earth would no longer want to make use of. 

So, clearly we bought the "green" ones because they said hypoallergenic. Why in the world aren't they ALL that way? Wouldn't it just make sense? 

We had one more coupon to burn and after finding the size we needed there were 2 options. One said "keeps in leaks" and one said "keeps in runny mess". I'm not joking here, it actually said RUNNY MESS. BAHHHH. Why do I have to choose to only combat one of these horrible things? Where are the diapers that say "wonder diapers: self changing, odor and mess free"?  They don't exist. So I decided runny mess sounded more disgusting.

In the end my mom found some that said "leak lock" and we high tailed it out of there to the clothing isle to look at booties, clothing and hooded towels. I think she was starting to sense the panic in my voice as we continued to ponder diaper pros and cons.

Who knew diapers were so complicated? Well, the good thing is that Baby Faid has some diapers and the coupon did not lose its value. Victory is ours.

More later...in the meantime here is a cute picture of baby's new nightlight from Grandma Deb. Awww...

Our Halfway Ultrasound!

The verdict is in...It's a GIRL!

I just got back from the "midway ultrasound" and everything looks good (I am so excited I can't stand myself)! They confirmed that we are having a baby girl and showed us her feet, legs, arms, belly, head, etc. She is a verrry wiggly little one! It took her a while to get some of the pictures because she kept moving her hands in front of her face and wiggling side to side. It was just amazing to see her and know that SHE is a SHE!

My favorite part was seeing her hand with her fingers all spread apart. Waving for the camera? Maybe we have a little model in there...

We also got to see her mouth move and get just a tiny glimpse of her nose. The nose is pretty small yet, which I'll take to be a good sign...haha...!

I haven't felt any kicks yet and the doctor says that even though she's a mover and a shaker I probably won't feel anything for a while since my placenta is on the outside (this is not the case with all women). But it's good to know she's an active little squirt. She's also measuring about 3 days small, which they assured me is fine. My due date is still the same, but she's just a little, tiny lady yet.

Let the shopping begin!

Our Beautiful Sunday Dinner...

Well, tonight I made dinner.

This will probably shock all of you since I'm assuming most of you know that I'm not exactly a master in the kitchen. Tonight didn't change that.

I went to work in the kitchen while Jamie was upstairs and about 30 minutes later, dinner was served. I had made a beautiful Hamburger Helper and canned corn. Yes, gourmet magazine here I come. I even set the table.

Now, I haven't eaten Hamburger Helper since I was a small child but I bought it because I'm not a good cook, I know it's easy, and it cost 88 cents. It was a steal.

As we sat down to dinner Jamie immediately said he didn't like Hamburger Helper and it, "brought back bad memories". I didn't even ask. I just told him to eat it. Then I took a couple of bites and started in on my delicious corn.

I had to eventually confess that I didn't like it either because it was just not good. It's just mushy (sorry to all of you HH fanatics). There's probably still enough HH to feed a family of four. Which I'll be eating for lunch this week because I'm cheap...and lazy.

Now you may be asking-what in the world do I plan to feed my future child? I have thought of that and I've been earnestly trying to learn to cook. But when it comes down to it, I prefer the easy route. That route includes take out, restaurants and frozen foods. I think I'll stick to those.

After I served Jamie a pudding cup as a peace offering for making such a bad dinner, I asked him what he had called the Hamburger Helper while we were trying to eat. I said, "Did you call that dog shi* or dog food?". His answer?

"Both."

Hello Weekend! 18 Weeks...

Just got back from a GLORIOUS massage. It was great. In fact I'm a little comatose right now so the fact that I am typing is a pretty big feat. I am a strong believer that all pregnant women should be allowed at least one massage a month (minimum). Jamie? Did you read that?

So I mentioned fear mongers a while back and I'll briefly touch on that subject today. "Fear Mongers" are what I like to refer to all those people that like to talk about the worse case scenarios. I'm a pretty big fan of TheBump.com and I enjoy the emails, advice, etc. What I need to avoid looking at are the comments from other "bumpies". This is where lots of people talk about their past horrible stories. I am as sensitive as the next, but I think that towards the start of my pregnancy these comments really scared me. They basically made me nervous about EVERYTHING.

Another example of this is a story another pregnant woman was telling me recently. She is on her second pregnancy and jumped into this story about how she had a c-section. During this c-section they missed twice trying to give her the shot that was supposed to numb her. Then, once they finally got it, it didn't numb her left side, so she freaked out. OMG I DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO ME.

I was recently chatting to someone about this and how it seriously made me freak out (and made me want to puke a little bit). They basically told me that mommies like to tell their "war stories" of birth. So all of you-do me a favor and until I'm done with this beautiful time in my life-save me the icky stories unless it's something I can avoid. I can't take the pressure. I'm a pretty big worry wart lately anyhow. Oh, and if I decide to tell you my war story after I'm done feel free to tell me to shut it.

On a lighter note, we get to find out the gender of the baby on Monday morning! I keep asking Gizmo if he'd like a brother or a sister but he has stayed quiet so far. Jamie and I tried to test him the other night with "bark if you want a boy" or "lay down if you want a girl" and he didn't really cooperate. I think he finally laid down after Jamie was barking at him trying to get him riled up enough to bark (he was probably just scared of the crazy human barking at him). I will try to get Jamie's barking on video sometime so all of you can see it. It's priceless.

Below is the Baby's First Onesie! So cute:)

Furry Friend

In case you are not lucky enough to have seen this picture of Gizmo yet, here you go. He was born to model. Which is of course the reason I am seriously considering getting him a t-shirt that says "big brother" or something to that effect. Hilarious or ridiculous...probably the latter. But I still think it's funny:)

In case you wondered, this sweater is an old photo. I don't make a habit of stuffing him in winter attire in the heat of summer. He's way too fashionable for that. It's probably last season anyhow...

It's live...

Well, I just sent out the link to some people today because I feel like it's now or never. Not to mention, this blog was really not meant for just me to read. I have to tell you, it's a little nerve wracking! I have to hand it to people that do this sort of stuff all the time. It's just all out there now...for you to judge...haha! Hopefully you don't all deem me to crazy to associate with after reading this. It's also possible that I will become seriously annoying and you will no longer be able to stand my presence. I apologize in advance as I suspect that will be the outcome...

Ok, enjoy!

I plan to write more soon...I have a serious issue with "fear mongers" and can't wait to tell you about it. More later!

Manic Monday...

Hello All! Well, today it is HOTTTTTT out....which means I feel like I am about to die every time I step outside. But there are too many good things happening for me to complain about that. This weekend we got a few cards from friends congratulating us on our news and guess what-one in particular included baby's first onesie! It is adorable and so, so tiny. It is a Wisconsin onesie (from our Madison friend!) but we will let it slide-our little nugget "just can't lose" on game day I guess!

I will confess that I looked for IOWA onsies pretty much immediately. They did not disappoint in the cuteness department. Although I suspect that any tiny onesie is bound to make me melt at this point.

I am finally getting my energy back and even got in a pretty decent work out yesterday. Don't worry, I'm keeping track of my heartbeat and all that, but it just feels good to finally feel like I can do that without completely passing out! Healthy pregnancy here I come!

Baby should be developing hearing this week, so hopefully he or she is not disturbed by my jamming out in the car. Either baby is getting a really great sense of country and 80's music...or getting his/her first chuckle at mommy's singing!

17 weeks!

Today has been a pretty good little Friday so far. I'm finally learning what people meant when they said I was going to feel about ten degrees warmer than everyone else during this pregnancy. Definitely feeling the heat!

Today is my 17th week mark! For those of you who despise the "week" counting-I am a little over 4 months. I promise I will never tell you that my child is 234 weeks old...haha. I have it written on my calendar of course (anyone who has ever lived with me knows I love my calendars). I got an email from TheBump.com that told me that little one is officially the size of an onion! I will only update you on this when I feel the fruit or veggie they compare baby to is acceptable. At one point baby was compared to a prune...yuck.

I am really looking forward to our doctor's appointment on the 18th when we will find out the sex. The curiosity is getting to me more than I thought it would. Not to mention, I'm finding it hard not to peruse the Pottery Barn for kids website... I'm sure Jamie would really love to know that!

Anyway, expect a VERY EXCITED entry on that day!

It's my pregnancy, and I'll blog if I want to

Ok, so now that you are all caught up on some of the latest BIG stuff I'll start on some of the daily, random stuff that comes along with my first pregnancy. This will pretty much be a sounding board for my worries, exciting milestones, questions, and of course ALL funny things that happen along the way. Just so you know, I'm almost 17 weeks and I'm due on Dec. 16th!

I've just begun on this journey and I feel like I've got a lot to share. I'm also excited to learn more, make mistakes, and share all of it with my little web audience. It couldn't be better therapy! I've already found this to be fun and relaxing. Plus, for all the other mom's to be out there, or currents moms-you know that all you want to do is talk about your pregnancy some days. It's just so exciting!

With some great doctors with me on this ride, I'll let them speak for the medical stuff, because that's their "thing". But here I can hopefully not only update everyone but also help others out by telling you what I've learned over the past months and what I'll learn going forward.

I know that my best confidants so far (besides my docs and nurses) have been mommy friends or other preggo pals. They can commiserate and and almost always relate to something. So, with this blog I hope to be an online preggo pal to some and just a fun read for others!

For those of you who are not pregnant or mommies already I hope you can just laugh at what is bound to be a very crazy experience at times. I'm sure I'll even share some tender moments. Either way, enjoy!

My early screening and FIRST ULTRASOUND!

THIS WAS SUCH A FUN APPOINTMENT!

So the hubs and I went together to the doc this time around (I was just under 13 weeks) and it was nice to have a little moral support there. Something about doctor's offices always make me a little nervous, never have figured out why!

After being weighed I was told I could not used the little girl's room even though a preggo woman's best friend is often the toilet. Apparently a full bladder is a good thing for the ultrasound. If the little one didn't move right away, she'd let me go to see if we could get little Faid to move.

No problems with the moving. A very wiggly little sucker as it turns out.

I have to say, my breath caught when I saw the image on the screen. Our little one already looks like a little person in there. The nurse said, "That's your baby" and I almost chuckled. I mean, thank goodness, right? What else could it be? She also typed the word "baby" on the ultrasound pics we got at the end. I just love it...good thing she didn't type "squirrel" or "rat". Just kidding, I just think it's funny because it's so obvious.

The hubs seemed pretty enthralled by seeing our baby too. She also let us hear the heartbeat again-down a little bit from last time but still very normal! It was the first time he heard it and he smiled at me when I looked over. Proud pappa to be.

I just love hearing that sound. It makes me want to cry.

After that we saw baby in 3D (yep, its not just in the theaters, folks) and we saw the little arms and legs. Then the nurse asked us if we were going to find out the sex of the baby. After telling her there was no way the two of us could stand to wait she asked, "Do you want me to guess?".

So we let her guess because, like I said, we can't wait to find out.

She guessed a girl!

She told us not to buy anything until we get our next ultrasound because she could be wrong...but it doesn't stop a future mamma from looking at some little girl stuff here and there. Just looking can't hurt right?!

We can't wait to find out the definite answer and will of course be thrilled with either! Stay tuned...

The First Doctor's Appointment

After finding out that I was pregnant at only about 4 weeks I was quick to call my doctor only to be told that they like to see us preggos at about 10 weeks for our first visit. At first I thought that was no big deal, and then week 6 arrived and I was already counting down the days until I went in for my check up. As a constant worrier anyhow, you can imagine how crazy I was about this tiny little one growing inside of me. First, I was worried because I didn't "feel" pregnant. Basically I didn't have morning sickness, sore boobs, cravings for pickles; all those things you see on movies or hear from your best friend who swears she felt a kick at week 2.

It may not surprise you to hear that I called my doctor's office 3 times before I saw them for the first time. That's right, 3 times. I called about cramping (normal), what over the counter medicines I could take (tylenol), and something else that I don't remember anymore because it was probably so insignificant that even I knew I shouldn't have been calling. The last time the nurse finally said, "Ok, so we will talk to you on May 23rd," clearly urging me to stop worrying so much in the nicest way she could.

So I finally made it to the appointment and I still didn't "feel" preggo but she reassured me that was good news! Clearly, those girls out there that puked for days will hate to hear that I have somehow gotten off the hook for that one. At this first appointment it was the basics and then all of a sudden she was rubbing my stomach with a tiny contraption-and after a few seconds I HEARD THE HEART BEART!

Such a great feeling and a total relief. After that I made 2 more appointments-one for early testing and one for my next monthly visit.

I called the hubs on my way out to the car and told him the good news. My next appointments will be for early screening and then a regular 4 week check up. The early screening involves an ultrasound, yay!