18 Weeks Pregnant!

Monday I had to leave work early because I was having a bad nausea/dizzy spell. My vision was also impaired. Anteal and Kim drove me and my car to the doctor. I found out the headaches that I have been having over the last few weeks are migraines. I have also been having very very low blood pressure. The combo of the two caused my spell. I was given a few ways to combat my symptoms and was told that if my migraines had not improved before my next appointment that they were going to put me on medication. I want to avoid meds. whenever possible so I am following the doctor's orders exactly.

On to more exciting news... The baby must be getting really big because I am feeling it him/her all the time. The baby is big enough now for me to feel movement by putting my hand on my stomach. Last night (Thanksgiving) while Kevin was putting the little man to bed I was laying on the couch trying to feel the baby. I laid my hand down on my stomach and the baby kicked my hand. He/she did it 3 times and they were STRONG hard kicks. I yelled for Kevin to come down so he could feel the baby moving (since he hadn't felt it yet). The boys came running down the stairs. Kevin put his hand on my stomach but the baby didn't do anything. He kept it there for a little while but nothing happened. I then took Breckin hand and said out loud "Ok Baby! This is your brother. Let him feel you." I put Breckin's hand on my stomach and the baby kicked him... hard. It was enough that I could feel the kick on my hand through Breckin's hand. He got this surprised look on his face. I told him that was the baby and he got the most amazing smile. It will be a moment I never forget. We tried for the rest of the night to give Kevin a chance to feel the baby with no luck. It will come. If this baby is anything like Breckin you will be able to see him/her moving in my stomach from across the room.

What's going on with Baby B: He/She is about 5.5 inches long (isn't this how long the baby baby was last week?) about the size of a bell pepper, and weights around 7 oz. The baby is moving around a lot.

Symptoms: I am getting control of my headaches but I also haven't had a very stressful week. Hopefully they wont come back next week when I have a busy work schedule.

Cravings: Salt!

Gender Prediction: The heartbeat at the doctor's on Monday was 150... So I am going back to thinking it is a boy

Birthday Prediction: April 23rd

17 Weeks Pregnant!!

This week I had a doctor's appointment where they gave me my first glucose test. My number was 90 and they want it to be under 139, so I am good! No gestational diabetes! The baby's heart rate was 160. It's still pretty high! The baby was moving around like crazy and it took the nurse a little while to catch the heartbeat. I just laid there and enjoyed listening to the heartbeat and baby move. It's really one of the best sounds in the world.

I have also been battling a 4 day long headache this week. It got really bad yesterday. I was walking around with my left eye closed because somehow it helped... a little. It was blinding by mid-afternoon. I emailed the doctor and got a response to check my blood pressure every once in a while.. living this far out there really isn't a place to get it checked. I posted this problem on Facebook and got a slue of responses and luckily Melissa, who lives a mile from me, had an automated one I could borrow. Kevin ran out and got it for me so I was able to check my blood pressure WHILE I was having the headache. It was 99/63. Breckin woke up a 6 this morning, like normal, but when I told him to go back to sleep he did. Normally he asks for a hug, climbs into my arms and it's all over from there... we are up for the day. He ended up sleeping until 8 which helped so much. I needed that extra sleep so badly. I still have a mild headache today but nothing compared to yesterday. Hopefully my nap later helps knock it all the way out. I had an insane to do list to do today. I had to go through and pick what NEEDED to get done today and what didn't. Breckin and I have spend most of the morning coloring in bed so far.

What's going on with Baby B: Baby B's skeleton changed from soft cartilage to bone! The baby weighs about 5 oz, and about 5 inches long from head to rum, about the size of an onion.

Symptoms: The geographic tongue is back this week and it is worse than before. The headaches I guess count as a symptom too.

Cravings: Mushrooms, grape juice, sugary treats. Chicken is still pretty unappealing.

Gender Prediction: Oh gosh. I don't even know anymore. I have a strong girl vibe now but I still can't let go of the boy vibe I had earlier

Birthday Prediction: April 23rd

Mission: Cut Waste and Budget

With the new baby coming into our lives Kevin and I are trying to figure out how to organize our world. Our biggest goal, one which seems impossible right now, is to get our budget down to the point were we are living strictly off of Kevin's salary.

I wrote out our budget recently and have compiled a list of things that we can cut back on. There isn't much because we don't live very extravagantly to begin with. We don't go out to eat, we rarely shop for ourselves, we haven't been on a vacation in years, and we don't have the latest and greatest anything... our phones are phones. So in order to cut our budget we are really having to get serious. So where do we make cuts?

Gas -

We live in the middle of no where. We are lucky that my work is only ten minutes away and that Kevin has a company car (since he has a 75 mile round trip each day) but when it comes to going anywhere else we have to drive an hour. Every time we go shopping or to visit friends we end up spending hours on the road and use up a ton of gas. For years Kevin and I would grocery shop once a month and we needed something like milk Kevin would pick it up on his way home from work. This not only saved money on gas but on food as well because those "treats" and more expensive dinners that you have a tendency pick up every time you go to the store you don't get as often. Maybe eight or so months ago Kevin and I decided to go to grocery shopping every two weeks so we could get more fresh items and it has shown in our budget. So, we are going back to the once a month shopping. Driving to town half as much should cut our gas budget quite a bit.

Food -

We spend far to much on food each month. We like fresh veggies and fruits and we have a habit of not focusing on being economical when it comes to dinner planning. With the once a month shopping I have to really plan out our dinners, and looked specifically for dinners that are healthy and cheap. No more of this "There's nothing "good" to eat. We need to go shopping" stuff. I have a list on the fridge. Those are our choices and we don't shop until they are gone.

Our other problem, we shop mostly organic. It's important to us to feed our son healthy, fresh, preservative free foods. So we had to decide what NEEDS to be organic and what doesn't. Some things, like cereals and bread, maybe it's not as important to get them organic, especially when it costs twice as much.

Another issue... We waste... ALOT. I will buy fresh veggies or fruit for a recipe and end up not using everything and the left overs go wasted. We also end up buying a lot of veggies out of season because we need them for a recipe. We have this big beautiful freezer that my mother bought us for Christmas a few years ago. It's time to start using it. We are starting to buy fruits and veggies when they are in season or on sale and we are taking the time to cut them up and freeze them for future recipes.

I don't always have the energy to cook healthy meals, and with Kevin working a lot of late nights I end up relying on frozen meals. These aren't cheap, the portions are small and they are full of preservatives. I have been doing a great deal of research on freezing meals. So when I have time to cook, I cook enough for two meals and freeze half for later. This way we have healthy meals that are cheaper than store bought freezer meals... and the portions are better!

Diapers -

I never thought I would be saying this... but we are looking into cloth diapers. It's not that I have anything against cloth diapers but I have so many things on my to-do list each day that the thought of having to wash diapers and deal with cleaning up poop beyond the actual diaper change makes me cringe. I have a couple of friends who cloth diaper and I think they are changing my mind. Beyond the obvious savings it's not THAT much extra work... especially when you are breast feeding. The diapers can be used for future children as well. I have been doing a lot of research and think this might actually be for us. So we are going to trying and since we are making such a financial investment in the diapers we are going to MAKE it work.

Power -

There isn't a whole lot we can do here but I am having Kevin put up a laundry line for me after winter. Not having to run the dryer everyday once we include the cloth diapers into the mix should be helpful when it comes to the power bill.

So what have we done so far -

This weekend we went back to our once a month shopping. We went to Sam's and Kroger and this wasn't a cheap trip.. in fact it busted the budget but I am trying to remind myself that many of the things we got I wont have to buy again for many many months. We stocked our freezer and have enough dinners for a month and a half and that doesn't include leftovers.

While at Sam's we bought bell peppers, onions, and meat in bulk. We also bought lots of mushrooms while at Kroger. The rest of my Saturday was spent cutting up everything up and freezing it. I will say that I will NOT do this with onions again. The freezer REEKS and I can't seem to get the onions packed up enough to make it go away. We have six months worth of onions!! We were able to get six steaks for ten dollars. We cut them up for three meals of fajita burritos, two meals of stir fry and one meal of steak sandwiches! I had to cook the mushrooms before freezing them. It wasn't a ton of work and considering how much I am into mushrooms right now it will be well worth it.

For dinner I made Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Shells and I made enough for two meals. I separated them out and froze half. After dinner I calculated the cost of the shell dinners and found that each meal with bread cost a total of six dollars and that is with about half of the ingratiates being organic! I think that is pretty good. The shells were awesome and I am excited that I have another meal of it in the freezer waiting for me.

So... I guess we will see where all this work.

16 Weeks Pregnant!

Oh how time flies. It feels like I am writing one of these every other day now. So many things are coming together this week!! More details later.

I have a doctor's appointment coming up this Monday. I have to take my FIRST glucose test for this pregnancy.

I've been dealing with some seriously rough allergies. I am finally to the point where I am just dealign with a clogged running nose. I did have some really terrible pressure behind my eyes and consistent headaches but both of those have mostly subsided.

What's going on with Baby B - Baby B is the size of an avocado, about 4.5 inches long.

Symptoms - I've been cramping again. It mostly comes up when I have been moving around a lot. I hate it! I am happy to say that I have gotten some more energy back! I have been able to clean the whole house the last two weeks. It is so nice having a clean house again.

Cravings - Is it bad that I have been craving Roman Noodles? So gross... but so good. I could also go for some brownies right now. I am big into artichokes right now. They are a lot of work for such little reward but are so good.

Sex Prediction - Believe it or not I only have 3 more of these where it will be a sex "prediction." The 4th will have the actual sex!!... as long as the baby corporates. I am so confused at this point. I keep going back and forth. Something is telling me girl now but my boy instinct was SO strong before. I don't know if the fact that EVERYONE else thinks it is a girl has swayed me towards girl.

Birthday Prediction - April 23rd

15 Week Pregnant!

This was easily one of the most stressful weeks of this entire pregnancy... home stuff, work stuff. I am hoping for a somewhat relaxing weekend. The house is clean, so that is one less worry. Saturday is jam packed but sunday I left open to just have family time... so sunday.. relaxation.. hopefully?

What's going on with Baby B - Baby B is 4 inches long from crown to rump, about the size of an apple, and weights about 2.5 oz. I showed Breckin what 4 inches looks like with my hands and said "this is how big your baby is," he looked puzzled at the space between my fingers staying "baby?" Every week when I read the size it amazes me. The baby is growing at such a rapid pace and it wont be long until I am feeling more consistent movement. He/she can sense light now. He/she is also developing taste buds.

Symptoms - I have continued to have consistent headaches but I think most at this point are sinus related. The netti pot does help a little. I have gotten a little energy back, so I spent the week trying to get the house back in order. I am hoping that this energy sticks around. I much prefer a clean house and being able to actually cook meals rather than heating something up. I have spent some time collecting recipes that freeze well. My plan is make all these meals in the two months before the baby is born (which is apparently going to be here in the blink of an eye), so we have plenty of good homemade meals once the baby comes

Cravings - Nothing really.

Gender Predictions - When I think boy it just seems right but when I think girl if feels like a possibility. I am tired of this guessing game... a little over a month to go. Come ON Dec 9th.

Birthday Predictions - April 23rd