OMG!! It's a Boy!?!!!

I am so surprised and beyond excited!

So, yesterday we went for the BIG U/S which was at a totally different location, St.Vincent's Hospital, which was such a pain. We had to go through an hour of registration and being checked in, then up to the L&D area and then wait in another gross room for another hour with the rudest receptionist ever. I am so glad that was not my regular OB office. See, in NY, even though it is rich and fabulous, everything is old and disgusting and difficult. I think I have mentioned this before. :)

ANYWAY, it was finally our turn and we went into the US room. The DR was nice but seemed very rushed and was clearly running behind. First we saw it's little face, and the profile looked just like me! I was sure it was a girl at that point. He continued doing measurements - eyes, ears, counted fingers, hands and toes.. We were so anxious to hear the sex, but after being snapped at at the NT scan we were quiet and didn't ask him anything...just waiting.. Then he had to take a call! Agonizing 15 minute wait... when he came back and started again, he was chuckling and said "You know what it is?" and we both said "No!!" He said, "Oh, you don't want to know, right?" I don't know if he was just teasing us? We yelled "YES! We do want to know!!" And he said, "Oh, he is playing with his thing! He has been the whole time, I thought you didn't want to know!" WHAT??? His thing??? A BOY??!! DH was SO happy and proud, it was the best moment ever...so far at least. :)

Everyone is beyond excited, especially my Dad who had 2 girls, and of course DH who is having visions of a family band already.. The name is picked, the email was sent out and now it REALLY feels real. We went for a yummy Japanese lunch and I wanted to go get him a little first outfit but we didn't have time because the grocery delivery was coming. Plenty of time for baby shopping still I guess. :::Taps fingers:::

FIL was in town last night so we went to a nice dinner, then to band practice with DH. The baby LOVED it! He was kicking and dancing up a storm in there! He is being born into a lonnggg line of musicians on both sides. I am sure he will be playing guitar before he can walk. Haha.

Soooo excited! Eeek!

Tomorrow is finally the BIG u/s and I am so excited I don't know how I will be able to sleep tonight. Last night I dreamed that it was a girl, which I have been leaning towards all along.
I also dreamed that my sister was getting married and I wasn't in the wedding! I was crying to my mom, trying to figure out what was going on, I was trying to yell to my sister.. Of course, I woke up hysterical and on my back with the tingly fingers. Very strange.
Time to make dinner now. I am turning over a new healthier eating leaf. Apparently my craving-inspired cooking is making DH fat. We have been eating sooo much pasta, cheese, french bread, sour cream and ice cream! Oops! Tonight I am making grilled salmon (Pacific Wild, of course) and steamed artichokes. And that is all.

20 Weeks!

Halfway there at least! Yay!
It was soo hot yesterday I wore my Old Navy beach cover up all day with some bike shorts underneath. It is going to be a long hot summer I think.
I joined this local parent group recently and added myself to the list-serve which has been great. There are parenting questions which give me a better idea of what to really expect, lots of things for sale or to give away, and classes and groups that meet up. I am so sad, a new mom group started yesterday but I had a meeting I couldn't re-schedule. Hoping they meet again next week. I could really use some pregnant friends.
DH had his band mates over last night which was fun. I love hearing them play, but it gets pretty boring with everyone else hitting up the whiskey and getting wilder and wilder and I have to slink off to our room and go to sleep. I want him to do everything he wants to do this summer though, before the baby comes and we have to tone it down. I guess I already had my last chance to get wild, but that's no reason to punish DH as well I guess. He has been so great and I want him to be happy more than anything.
I think I need to find some watermelon and lemonade today.

Spring? And my LOVE of self tanner.

I think yesterday might have been Spring here in NYC. It was a beautiful 70 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. Today shoots up to 85 - then 88 Sunday and Monday.. then back down to the 50s.... Hmm. It is definitely time to get the winter body out of hiding which is a little scary. I painted my toenails this morning and gave myself a little mini pedi with some yummy Burt's Bees Mama Bee Foot and Leg lotion which is nice and tingly.

Now on to self tanning. I have to explain that I love self tanner. I grew up a pale freckly redhead on a tropical island and not being able to have the glowing tan of my friends and family was the bane of my existence for my entire childhood. It really was brutal. When I was 13 or 14 we were summering in fire Island at a rental house and in the back of the cabinet was a bottle labeled "sunless tanner", which I had never really heard of (this was maybe 89' or 90'- it was not around like it is today). I put a little on my wrist and forgot about it. A day or so later, I looked at my wrist and there was a patch of golden tan! I couldn't believe it! I immediately took it back to me room and slathered myself. A day later, all my freckles were evened out by this wonderful warm tan! A love was born. I even got my first little boyfriend/ pen pal that summer I think - thanks to the tan I am sure!

So, yes, I love self tanner. I don't use it year round, only a little in the summer in NY but then very seriously when we go down home to the Caribbean. We are going to down in a few weeks, so I have been researching the toxicity of all my cosmetics on the cosmetics database. This has been a real eye opener and quite upsetting. I found that my precious Dr. Hauschka I have been paying dearly for gets ratings anywhere up to an 8 (very bad!) - my Rose Day cream gets a 7! I feel so cheated since I have been paying so much for that stuff thinking I am not putting any toxins in my body. :( Anyway, LUCKILY, before I spent $45 on a Decleor self tanner made with organic tanning agents, I have realized that my Oil of Olay Hint of Sun has the same score anyway so I will now tan away until I find something even lower.

By the way, tomorrow is 20 weeks. I will be back with more on that I am sure - I am so excited.

SO Cute!

Could these baby Gap collections be any cuter?? I am already picturing the little one at the beach next Christmas! This will be a LOT more fun next week when we finally find out the sex!

19 weeks!

19 weeks, ahh! The belly has popped out even more this week and I actually feel like I am starting to waddle - must put an end to that ASAP! Too soon! The weather turned beautiful this weekend and we were able to take the dogs to the dog park three days in a row which has been very helpful. They are getting much less awkward. It is also super fun to check out all the parents and strollers in the park! We just can't wait to have our own little one to stroll around!

Sleeping has been harder this week. I have been having these strange nightmares where I wake up hysterical and my body tingles and hurts - the way it does if you get really frightened or startled by something. I have noticed that when I wake up like this I am always on my back. You are actually not supposed to sleep on your back in the 2nd half of pregnancy because the weight of the uterus and baby presses on the vena cava and blocks blood flow. Maybe that is what is happening and it wakes me up? The dreams themselves haven't been SO scary that they should have me waking up hysterical and in pain. The dream the other night was that I took Lloyd (our Yorkie) to the water park. I woke up crying to DH that I TOLD Lloyd I wouldn't take him to the water park again, but I DID! I was so upset!

Another interesting thing that happened yesterday.. I actually saw stars. I was getting ready to go out and suddenly I felt a little dizzy then saw flashing blinking sparkly stars all over the room. Very strange. I sat down for awhile and they went away. Just add it on to my weird list of symptoms.

Last night we went to a housewarming party which was fun, except the hostess is a personal chef and had the lost amazing cheeses I couldn't eat and amazing cocktails all mixed up that I couldn't drink. It was one of DHs best friends so we had to stay forever and my back was killing me. I wish I knew SOMEONE else who was PG so I am not the only loser all the time.

Ugh Donuts and Poppers

I was sooo bad yesterday. DH pinched a nerve in his neck so he didn't want to go all the way to Fairway, the nice organic grocery store, so we just went to the ghetto local one where I let the worst of my cravings get the best of me. I have been craving powdered sugar donuts, but was trying to hold off and find homemade ones at least. I ended up with a box of crappy Entenmanns. I don't even want to think about how many preservatives were in them or how long ago they were actually baked. But I didn't stop there, I also got frozen jalepeno poppers AND mozzerella sticks. AND that's what I made for dinner! I also made a field green salad but still. It gets worse because, as ill as I felt last night, I just ate another donut for breakfast. :( OK, that was my one really bad day. And just to clarify, it's not the fat or the weight, it's the chemicals that I feel bad about. Now I have to go make my homemade cereal so I have something decent to eat.

In other news, I actually felt the baby kick for the fist time yesterday! (no wonder it was probably cracked out on msg) I haven't felt a lot of movement yet, just bubbles and tickles here and there, but this really felt like a kick! Only 2 weeks till the big U/S, then another 2 weeks till Babymoon!

18 weeks!

Yay, it is Easter and we are 18 weeks! I say "we" now, because now that I can feel something actually moving around a little bit in there, I feel like baby and I are really in this together. Of course, DH is in it as well, but you know what I mean.

I finally got my Paige maternity jeans yesterday and they are AMAZING. I actually look professional and cute again. We went all the way uptown to Gossip Girl land to this fancy maternity boutique on Madison (Gwyneth shops there) that has all the best maternity denim. They had some amazing things - Vince cashmere wraps, adorable dresses, beautiful lingerie- but we are not it the market for $500 + sweaters at the moment. The first pair of jeans I tried were perfect so that was painless. Although the shop lady thought I may need a larger size at the very end, but that I most likely will NOT be wearing jeans in August in NYC at 8 months pregnant. I will take her word on that. These jeans WILL be adorable PP in September until I can squeeze back into my regular jeans.

To celebrate buying more $200 jeans we went out to dinner in the city. We were craving really good Indian so we went to Little India in the East Village - Yummm... Sag Paneer, Raita, Nan.. live Sitar and drums. It was nice to have a date night.
After dinner I fell asleep watching a movie and DH went out with friends. I really don't want him sitting at home working on a Saturday night (which he will do) so I assured him I wouldn't even know he was gone, which was true.

Today is Easter Sunday and it is BEAUTIFUL, but cold. I am hoping to take the dogs out to the dog park and get some chocolate bunnies but 50 degrees may be too cold for them, even with Lloyd in his parka.

Yogurt with Granola, nuts and Banana..

YUM! I love my breakfast and my water-coffee. Feeling the baby has been the highlight of the week so far, but it hasn't happened again. I can't wait until I can feel it more often.
I have been a little bit worried because I really haven't had any dreams about the baby at all. I see other women writing letters to their babies and talking about this strong connection and love for them that they have already (even at just a few weeks PG). I am SO excited for the baby and SO excited to meet the baby. I think often about how he/she will look, act, what we will do together.. But I don't really feel attached to what is in my stomach right now - I am not really making the connection. I am thinking this will change when I can actually feel it moving, and also when we find out the sex. Right now I just feel like I am in this strange limbo. SOMETHING is in there, but who is it? WHat is it doing? I can't feel it or see it, I can just imagine this future and all the wonderful ways our lives are going to change..
I had an annoying conversation with my Dad this morning. First he had to give me some advice on one of my clients who he was stalking on Facebook- annoying and not helpful. Then he told me the rumor going around my hometown is that my little sister is the one who is pregnant! She is 24 and has been with her boyfriend since high school, but it would still be shocking since they aren't married. She has gained a lot of weigh lately which may be part of it! This rumor also came from a very gossipy woman and I almost think she made it up. I know her daughter and her husband couldn't have a child and ended up adopting so maybe she is jealous and just trying to jab my Dad a little, which she loves to do. Anyway, what my Dad took from all this is that it is my fault this rumor got around and I should have just let him tell everyone from the beginning and if something had happened then I would just have to deal with that pain or whatever. He can really be such a jerk and so selfish sometimes.

OMG

I think I just felt the baby move for the first time. That was sooooo cool and strange and exciting.

17 weeks and the Snoogle!

Ever since I heard about the Snoogle, I have been obsessed with saying it. I have been using DH as a Snoogle, but he gets too hot and makes me go back to my side of the bed. I have been trying pillows under my knees since I can't sleep on my stomach anymore, but my back has been hurting more and more. SO yesterday I had a meeting in the city and dragged myself to BRU in the pouring rain and got the Snoogle. It is so big it like having an extra person in the bed - or a giant worm- but it is AMAZING! Especially now that I have read that I have to stop sleeping on my back soon as well. I didn't know about that. I had such an amazing sleep last night all wrapped up in my Snoogle.
We had a super busy weekend and I was exhausted. DH had a show Friday night, we had a brunch Saturday and a birthday Saturday night. We told another group of friends about the pregnancy and I think they were a little shocked that we hadn't told sooner. I am really showing a lot now so it must have been a bit of a surprise to see me like that all of a sudden.
Now we have a busy week ahead as well. Dinner with FIL tonight, he is in town on business- fancy dinner yay! Meeting with our tax accountant tomorrow- uh oh. Meetings Thursday and Friday.. No plans for Easter weekend. :( It is lonely being in the city with no family around on the holidays. I suppose by next Easter we will have some kind of Easter Egg hunt to go to and have a bunch of baby friends. I am really looking forward to that.

Latest Book Shipment arrived!

My latest shipment arrived from Amazon yesterday!


We originally bought the Mayo Guide to Pregnancy when we started TTC, having read some bad reviews of What To Expect. However, the Mayo guide is pretty much boring us to tears. Seriously, it is SO boring and the index sucks. Nothing I want to to look up is ever in there, it's just a few pages long. What to Expect looks way more exciting and I like how it is divided up by month with boxes and quotes and fun things. I think I will start it from the beginning.


Raising Baby Green has great reviews and has won some parenting awards to I thought I would get started with that. I have already read The Complete Organic Pregnancy which was great, but this moves more into parenting as well.

Baby Bargain's 8th edition JUST came out, so the timing couldn't be better on that. I am SO glad I waited to buy things until after reading this! It is SUPER helpful, especially the little grids showing how long each thing lasts. The ratings are great because they show the best deal and best quality for each price point. Turn out the Young American furniture I love (which costs a fortune) is made with chipboard, it's not even solid wood for those prices AND it's made in China!!! The book also has info on organic products and what to look for. For example Pottery Barn's organic sheets are only made of 5% organic cotton! I have only gotten through cribs and bedding so far.
Based on the BB high rating, we are going to go check out the cribs at IKEA today and see just how hideous they really are. We have such a small space and no room for matching furniture so this 1st crib doesn't need to be an heirloom or anything. If the cribs are decent looking and safe, I would rather save there and get an organic mattress and sheets, great stroller, car seat etc.