7 months or 28 weeks

I am officially 7 months pregnant today- whoa! It's hard to believe in a few short months Anthony will be here and we will be parents. Wow, when did I become a grown-up? This coming week we have our 28 week check-up and the one hour glucose tolerance test that tests for gestational diabetes. We also will go over and pre-register at the hospital after this appointment. I think while we are there will look into birthing classes, too. It's not a requirement but I think it will ease the anxiety for me a little bit. 

Speaking of hospitals, we chose to deliver at Winter Park Memorial Hospital in the Dr P Phillips Baby Place. http://www.winterparkhospital.com/en/services/the-dr-p-phillips-baby-place  

We really enjoyed the hospital tour and are looking forward to a Christian focused, personalized birthing experience. JJ and I both will get a massage after baby arrives and a smoothie every day at 3 o'clock for a snack. There are 10 Birthing Suites and 30 Labor and Delivery rooms for after baby arrives. We really like the group of doctors that will deliver Anthony, we've seen every doctor in the group so far at our monthly appointments, and the L&D nursing staff seems to be great too. That in itself, relieves some of the nervousness of the unknown.

JJ and I made our first big purchase as parents this week. We bought the Travel System - car seat and stroller set. After months of research on the internet, JJ and I decided on the Safety First Aerolite LX. The car seat will hold an infant up to 30 lbs, has the Air Protect technology and was the #1 crash test rated car seat in 2010 for the low-middle price range. It came in a brown and blue color, pretty gender neutral for the future.One of our close friends who just had a baby also has this Travel System and they love it so far. We spent a good half an hour with it in Babies R Us to make sure everything was pretty easy to maneuver, and compared it to different models. The online reviews were great for the product too.

 

The bedding for little Anthony's nursery has arrived and is even more adorable than the pictures! There is a lot more to do to prepare for baby's arrival, but I feel like we are on the right track forward. Poor JJ has worn himself out working 2-3 extra shifts a week at Wyndham. We've finished prepaying the doctors for the birth, and are now attempting to take care of some other bills before he comes. What a tremendous help the extra income has been, especially since I can't really work any overtime these days. My 24hr shifts are getting more and more difficult. Our busy season has just begun and we are running nonstop all shift, when we aren't sitting on bed delays at the hospitals. I'm hoping to be able to make it until Christmas at work, but we will see. My doctors are not thrilled about the hours, stress and physical requirements. 

Baby development wise, Anthony is working on his immune system and his lungs. He practices breathing the amniotic fluid, and sometimes gets the hiccups from it. He probably weighs about 2-2.5 lbs, and his brain is rapidly developing. He already has all the brain cells he will need throughout his life, but he still has yet to form the connections using the neurons in his brain. He can open and close his eyes and suck his thumb. I also read that should he be born now, he would have more than an 80% chance of survival. That's not to say there wouldn't be complications, but it is a relief to know that should something happen he would more than likely be okay. Many people tell me not to think about these things, but having a nephew born at 26 weeks and working in the field that I do, I am always thinking ahead of the game. 

For me, the heart burn continues, and my appetite has decreased even more. How that is even possible, I'll never know. I usually eat like 4 bites of something and feel like I've just sat down for a whole Thanksgiving meal. How fitting considering Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Maybe I can regain my appetite to take part in my most favorite holiday meal, but I think it's pretty unlikely. Anthony is moving around like crazy, sometimes kicking/punching so hard it takes my breath away. I'm loving that I can poke him when he moves around and he responds with a kick/punch back.

Life As We Know It

"Life as we know it" - JJ and I just saw that movie in theaters, and for those who haven't seen it, it's a pretty cool one. Without giving away the whole story line, I was faced with the realization that with Little Anthony on the way, JJ and I should probably fill out a will and designate the people who should care for him should anything awful ever happen to both of us. And watching that movie, I was also faced with the fact that life is so incredibly precious. I can't imagine not being able to see him grow up, or not having JJ by my side to complete the intended team in raising him.  I know I can't get wrapped up in what might or could happen one day, but it sure is a scary thought.

Not only that, but I'm overwhelmed looking ahead into the future. God is trusting me to be a Mom to this little boy, and I really have no clue how to perform this job. It is such a great responsibility. I feel like it's the biggest and most rewarding thing I will ever have to do. This past Sunday the church sermon was on parenting, and what an amazing sermon it was. I can't wait for our small group this Thursday to talk about it with other young adults. I foresee a lot of prayers, a lot of tears, and a lot of mistakes throughout this journey. 

Speaking of Little Anthony, he is one active little boy the past few days. I have watched my stomach morph into some pretty contorted shapes, and have seen what could be a foot or hand wave across my belly button, which is still an innie, thank goodness. I joke and say its the Shamu show, and it's really starting to look that way from the outside. I can not only feel his movements, I can actually see them outside of my clothing. It's amazing and kind of creepy all at the same time. I read in my pregnancy book that women are supposed to count the kicks daily to make sure baby is healthy, and they say that like 6 in an hour is ideal, and I really think Anthony far surpasses that 6 mark. I can tell his movements are more fluid now, and they definitely are a lot stronger than previous weeks. Sometimes, I feel like I'm literally bruised from the inside out, and I know it's only going to get "worse" as time goes on and he gets bigger. Maybe he'll be a soccer player, or something else as equally athletic. The book also says he weighs about 2lbs now. Wow! I am realizing I have to sleep only on my left side or I get this awful sensation that I can't breathe and my arms go numb. Must be another fun pregnancy symptom. I can't even flip from my left to right side anymore as I get this awful headache and become short of breath. I haven't been able to sleep on my back in quite some time. I do have a wedge pillow that I fear might be time to start using. It will allow me to sleep on my back but at a significant incline to take pressure off my diaphragm and allow me to literally breathe easier. The problem is, with all the other pillows I seem to require these days, I don't know how there will be room in the bed for JJ. :-) I am already taking up more than my share of our queen size bed, and unfortunately our couch isn't all that comfortable to be sleeping on long term. Maybe it's time to take over the recliner and learn to sleep in that over night. It seems like everything has become quite the ordeal.

October 20, 2010

Today I got the Flu Shot, the preservative free (no mercury) dead vaccine. It didn't hurt at first, but it sure is sore now! Since Anthony won't be able to get the shot until he is at least 6 months old, I was told the antibodies I develop for the flu from the vaccine will pass on to him when he is born. Since he will be born in the middle of peak flu season in Florida, I'm hoping this will help prevent him from getting sick until he can get the vaccine.


In much more exciting news, tonight, JJ and I went and started our Baby Registry at Babies R Us. Talk about an exhausting and overwhelming experience! There is so much stuff we will need for baby and so many different options. We spent about an hour and a half in the store, and still have to do our research on various items before deciding on them. JJ had a good time with the scan gun- I imagine we will need to go in and tweek a few items, as the scanner sometimes scanned a different item than what we had actually wanted. For those who are interested our Registry is # 46106201, and you can look it up either by my name or JJ's name. We are also registered at Target as there were items available at one location that the other store did not have.

I'm convinced that every morning I wake up my belly is growing bigger and bigger! I've also started to swell up a little bit in my ankles, lower legs and my hands. When I got a pedicure yesterday the nail tech noticed it before I did. I'm told it's normal for this stage in the pregnancy, but it's def not something I'm enjoying. I'm watching my salt intake and drinking lots of water as it is, and they say this is the best way to combat it. I have an App on my iPhone that tracks how much water I drink a day, and one of the settings is whether or not I'm pregnant. It's pretty cool- it tells me how much I should be drinking each day. Right now it says 113oz per day. 

Baby News

JJ and I are super excited to be expecting our first child, Anthony James. After being told a year and a half ago that it would be extremely difficult for me to have children due to Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), I was amazed and blessed by this incredible news! 

May 20, 2010 I woke up early and took a pregnancy test just because I hadn't been feeling well. I was nauseous, had unbelievable heart burn, and a few more of the classic pregnancy symptoms. I didn't even mention anything to JJ, until the double red lines showed up about 15 seconds later. He was asleep in bed and I yelled for him to hurry up and come here. Groggily he came out to the guest bathroom and I told him to look. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it, even after I told him all the symptoms I had been experiencing over the past few weeks. We called the doctor right away and made an appointment for the next day. Of course, Dr. Farwick confirmed for us both that I was in fact pregnant! I was so excited, thrilled, nervous, scared, and so much more! I think JJ was in shock. :) 

I instantly began brainstorming about how we would tell our families. I Google'd how others had done it, and decided we would buy bibs and cards for our immediate family to tell them. I couldn't wait to share our wonderful news with everyone. We went to my Mom's first. JJ handed my mom a bag and said it had been sitting on the entry way table when we walked in. She opened it to find a bib the said "I love Grandma." She didn't get it until she started to read the card. She cried. She was so excited for us. We left there and went straight to my Dads house and gave him his "I love Grandpa" bib- he was completely shocked. Speechless almost. We then called Aunt Katryna and asked to meet her at work for lunch, but she had already eaten, so we made plans to come to her house later that night for dessert with both her and JJ's Mom. We called JJ's Dad and met up with him when he got off work around 2pm. We gave his his "I love Grandpa" bib and card and he was thrilled! Later that evening, we brought a Publix cake over to Katryna and Nathan's house, along with their personalized bibs. JJ's Mom was completely shocked, and didn't say a whole lot. Katryna was really happy. She said she knew this news was coming after we called and wanted to have lunch with her at work, as we've never done that before. She even asked JJ on the phone if that's what was going on, but he denied it. Man, talk about an exhausting day!  We sure made our rounds. Aunt Brianne had already known, I had to call someone when I got the positive test results on day one! JJ and I decided she could keep the secret until things were confirmed. We made an appointment with an OB/Gyn in Winter Park, and got to see our baby in an ultrasound for the first time at 7weeks 4days! The heart rate was 169! We made another appointment to come back a month later. 

The first trimester was pretty uneventful, full of morning sickness (that lasted all day long) but I was thankful that I never threw up. The doctors never gave me a target weight gain, but I'd like to keep it as minimal as possible. I had strong aversions to poultry and vegetables, both usually staples in my everyday diet. I lived off everything bagels and cream cheese, and ginger ale and juices. I lost about 8lbs overall, and have just now started gaining it back.  

The second trimester has brought on a whole new world of fun pregnancy symptoms. Heart burn, back aches, headaches, insomnia coupled with complete exhaustion (makes perfect sense, right?), and learning how to maneuver with a growing belly. But, along with all the not so fun stuff, came being able to feel him move around inside. I felt the first flutters around 14 weeks, and have really enjoyed the movements ever since. It wasn't until about 18 weeks that JJ was able to feel and see the movements in my belly. 

We had our gender scan on September 2, 2010 at my 19 week appointment. Since my 25th birthday was just two days later, JJ and I decided he would find out what we were having, and then purchase our baby's first outfit based on the sex and give it to me as a birthday present. He loved this idea, and did an incredible job of keeping it a secret for two whole days! He went shopping with Aunt Katryna and they picked out some adorable little boy outfits. I woke up early before JJ left for work on the 4th and opened the box! What a special way to find out we would be having a BOY!!! Less than 4 hours later, JJ and I had decided on a name via a series text messages. We had spent the first 20 weeks talking through names but we were never able to agree on anything. We did know for a boy we wanted to be able to have several nicknames to pick from. The middle name would either be John (after Daddy's) or James (after my Pop-Pop who passed away a few years back). Daddy really wanted to honor his Italian heritage and decided that he loved the name Anthony, and since he chose the first name, I would choose the middle name. Alas, we came up with Anthony James Marinelli aka AJ, Tony, TJ, etc... 

We are currently 26 weeks 3 days along. I'm still down 3lbs from my prepregnancy weight, but expect that will be changing any day now. At our doctors appointment last week Anthony's heart rate was anywhere from 130-150, and very strong. We have settled on a nursery theme:  Fire Trucks. We can't wait to start decorating the nursery!

I still have pretty strong aversions to vegetables and poultry, and am drinking nearly 2 gallons of milk per week. The heart burn sure hasn't let up any. Anthony's favorite position seems to involve snuggling some where in my rib cage and kicking like crazy. I swear there is a circus going on in my belly most days. He is a really active little boy already, and loves to stay awake all night.