Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Willy has a girlfriend!

Of our two dogs, Biscuit & Willy... there's always been the good dog and the bad dog. Biscuit (the older one) is usually the well behaved pooch, reliable and trustworthy. Willy, on the other hand, has always been the mischevious one. As an example, he is 3 years old and we still can't leave our shoes on the floor, because they will, without a doubt, be devoured by the little man. Lately though, Willy has grown to be quite the lover! What started out as the evil doggie.. always finding trouble, eating everything in sight... he has grown into such a good boy... very sweet, over-affectionate and super snuggly. He even moans when you rub his ears or belly. And I mean LOUD moans. He makes a point to lay on my belly all the time now too, which leads me to believe that he suspects the upcoming arrival of little Ava. Ken and I both agree that Willy will be a very good brother to Baby Ava... looking after her and acting very protective. I have a feeling that in the future, when I can't find Willy, I'll find him in Ava's room, curled up by her crib... waiting patiently for her to wake up from her nap. I keep teasing the little bugger... "Willy's got a girlfiend! Willy's got a girlfriend!"... he just wags that tail (a dog's true way of smiling) and dances about. I think he'd even blush if he had it in him.
This is a pic of Willy, Ava & I... taken today (29 Weeks)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

28 Weeks: 12 more to go!

Today was my 28 Week Dr appointment and everything went great!  Blood pressure was perfect.  Ava's little heart did the usual "whoosh-whoosh-whoosh" at 150 BPM.  She even kicked twice while we listened to the heartbeat, scaring the Physicians Assistant. "Whoa!!  She's feisty!!" She said.  Takes after her Momma, if you ask me!  

I stepped on the much dreaded scale, only to find out that I've gained 14 lbs thus far... which was far better than I had anticipated.  The Doctor says healthy weight gain for pregnancy is considered to be between 25-35 lbs.  At the rate I'm going, I should hopefully end up around 25 lbs when all is said and done ("hopefully" being the key word!).  Never know though... my chocolate cravings have kicked into overdrive lately.  I just can't seem to stop eating Snickers!!  Good thing we buy the bite size ones!  If I was eating the full size ones, we'd have ourselves a problem!

Everything else is moving along just fine!  I still feel great!  I have noticed that it's harder to get up and around these days... I get winded going up and down the stairs (we live on the 3rd floor of a walk up).  It must be from carrying the extra weight.  It's also getting a little harder to get up from the floor or from out of bed (makes me laugh at the gimmick below... they actually make a rope for this very purpose).  Another new thing I've been experiencing is that I'm getting full from food, much faster.  I've read that this could be due to the fact that the baby is getting bigger (2.25 lbs this week!), causing everything to squish together, which in turn has made my stomach smaller.  This should be a good thing!!  Bummer is, I end up eating smaller meals, which means I'm hungry more often. Watch out Snickers bars... I've got my eye on you!  

We're off to Quincy next weekend to visit with family and to attend a shower, hosted by my Mom, Sister & friend Susanne.  I am so excited!!  We're also going to be loading up all of the goodies that my sister is "handing down" to us... We're getting everything from furniture to clothes to swings to bathtubs!!  You name it, she's giving it to us!  We're so thankful for her generosity because we're learning more each day, how expensive babies can be.  This is going to help us out tremendously, especially since I recently lost my job.  With all of the furniture finally in there, I can start organizing Baby Ava's room and getting everything ready for her big arrival.  I may have to pace myself though... I still have around 12 weeks until her expected due date.  Yikes!!  It'll be here before we know it!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

99 and counting!!

Today marks 99 days left in our pregnancy!  
I realize that babies are sometimes late and on the flip-side, sometimes early-- however it feels as though I've reached a major milestone in my pregnancy.  It has already been a very long journey (finding out at exactly 4 weeks) to where we are now (week 26).  I continue to try and find things to occupy my time.. but so far, have been unsuccessful.  
The recent loss of my job doesn't help matters either... Where most people would welcome the free time, I constantly find myself with nothing to do.  I've been trying to keep busy by cooking & cleaning, running errands, getting things ready for Baby Ava, reading and lots of playing on the computer.  Ellen & The Baby Story (my two daytime shows) certainly help, too!  I welcome any & all suggestions for other things to do... and no, cleaning your house is not one of them! :)
Oh!! And I forgot to mention, I've been feeling Ava move like CRAZY!  The little rascal seems really active right about the time I choose to wind down... Ken and I can literally see her movements in my belly!  I first felt her move during week 21/22... and each week, her movements are bigger & stronger.  I just love it when she says "hello"!  In fact, yesterday I had a prenatal massage... the masseuse was laughing near the end (when I was on the back) because he could literally see her moving and poking!