Holidays

Wow, I can't believe that Christmas and New Years came and went already!  I remember during the summer, thinking that once I got thru the holidays, this baby would almost be here!  And time flew!

The week before Christmas, we had quite a few events.  I was so tired by the day after Christmas that I didn't move all day Sunday.  I think I even stayed in my PJs all day.  We had a work party for Steve on the Sunday before Christmas, and another one the Thursday before Christmas.  It was also Kevin's birthday, so we went out to celebrate at the Ladyface Alehouse.  I had some amazing bread pudding that I can't wait to go have again.  I think we even went to trivia night that Tuesday too.  I don't know how I did it!  

For Christmas Eve we went to my parents house as usual.  The whole Anschultz clan and extended family were there, plus Steve's parents, and Aunt Sue.  It was loud and fun and all the kids had a blast.  I didn't overeat, which was a miracle.  But I managed to sample just about everything.  Christmas morning, Steve and I exchanged gifts, then Steve and Tina came over to our place for our gift exchange. Then we packed up and went to my parents house to exchange with them.  We really got soiled this year.  We got tons of gift cards, a changing table, a bookshelf for the living room, an entry way mirror/shelf, baby stuff, and all sorts of other little things.  We are lucky to have so many people who love us!

Next we headed to The Odyssey in Granada Hills for brunch.  This was our first time here, as we have gone to the 94th Aero Squadron in Van Nuys for at least the last 12 years, maybe longer.  I thought that the food was much better, and the view was really nice.  Here's a couple of pictures from after brunch.  I didn't realize how huge I am beginning to look until I saw these!

The next week, Steve started to paint the nursery.  He did a little each day, and it's almost done.  Because of our high ceiling (wooden beams that are painted), it is a real pain.  So he had to edge with a paint brush, and you can't really tape off the ceiling because it won't stick.  I felt bad that I couldn't help, but he refused.  So we painted the top 2/3 yellow, and the bottom 1/3 sage green.  It came out really nice.  We put up a wallpaper border in the middle to separate the two.  Now he just needs to paint the baseboards, the window, and the trim around the door.  

This past weekend was New Years, and we went to Kevin and Sarah's to hang out with friends.  She made homemade lasagna, a few friends made some appetizers, we took over garlic bread and lemon meringue pie (special of the month at Marie Callendars, fyi!) and we just hung out, played games, and caught up on life.  Watched the ball drop, wished each other a happy new year, and then went home.  Definitely a fun mellow night. 

I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, but also put the crib together and got all the bedding on it, with the help of my mom.  It looks fantastic, and I am super excited.  I will try to take a picture and post it soon!

28 weeks

We had our second and last visit with the perinatologist during my 27th/28th week.  They basically do another in depth organ scan, making sure that everything is developing normally.  We found out that the baby is measuring 1 week ahead, and that all systems/organs are perfect!  Here's our little one.  It's not the greatest picture, because I took a photo on my iphone of the image.  But you get the idea.  It kept blocking it's face, but finally moved down enough to get a shot of it's face. 

 Most people thought the baby is a boy after seeing this picture.  I still have no clue.  I feel sorta bad referring to the baby as it though!

Also, here I am at 28 weeks.

At this point, I was starting to get pretty uncomfortable.  Sleeping is more and more difficult, and our bed has been taken over by my pillows.  Poor Steve.  He said he feels like we are in entirely different beds, cuz I keep a big pillow down the center of the bed to prop my belly up.  I also have to launch myself off the bed/couch, otherwise, I can't get up.  It's pretty funny!  Only 12 or so weeks to go!

26 Weeks and the beginning of December

Here I am at 26 weeks, 3 days.  

I think I am starting to look pretty big!  I had gained 22 pounds around this time, I think.  I am in the normal range, but at the high end.  I sorta wish it was a bit less, but I know I've been eating tons of sweets, so it's my own fault!  Oh well!  It's the holidays, and as long as my doctor isn't worried, neither am I.  I didn't mention in my last post that the baby is really starting to move a lot now.  Some days I swear it is trying to climb out my belly button.  I am not really uncomfortable yet, but it is definitely weird!  It swims all over, kicks my bladder, my ribs, and everything in between.  It's fun to feel, especially now that I can sort of pick up its patterns.  It is very active at bedtime, of course.  Steve cracks up at how much it gets moving sometimes!  And for some reason, when I take baths, it goes nuts too.  It's fun to lay there, relax, and just watch my belly move all over the place.

December 9th marked the beginning of my third trimester.  Apparently the baby is now the size of a head of cauliflower.  Weird analogy to me, but whatever.  The baby is about 2 lbs, and is 15 inches long.  Craziness!  And it seems that that week all hell broke lose.  I sneezed and lost control of my bladder (it was only like 2 drops, but ew!  I was praying that part would skip me!), my back was killing me, I began to waddle, my hips began to ache at night from sleeping on my side and I just feel generally huge all of a sudden.  But even still, I don't have much to complain about.

Steve's birthday was December 11th, so that was a fun weekend.  We went to Gino's with the fam on Friday night for some yummy Italian food and good wine.  Then Saturday we woke up and I made Steve pancakes and we went to the gym (which I am now obsessed with).  Then he worked on some computer stuff while I baked about 50 cupcakes and straightened the house up.  We had some friends over on Saturday night to watch the UFC fight and then played poker after.  It was a good night.  Then Sunday I shopped while Steve hung around the house.  Then we went to SIP, which is a wine tasting place on Kanan on the way to the beach.  Cool atmosphere, good music, and we got food from my fave, Blue Table.  It was a really nice weekend, and I think Steve had a nice birthday.  He hates getting older, but I keep reminding him that this is going to be a great year for him!

24 Weeks and the rest of November

November 18th marked 24 weeks pregnant.  I am not doing my usual update, because I am too behind and it would take way too long to catch up on where the baby is at developmentally.  I will do a real update for my 28 week post.  But here I am at 24 weeks, 1 day pregnant.  I think that it was at this point that I started to feel pretty tired again.

About 5 minutes after taking this picture, I left for the airport, to go visit Vanessa for the weekend.  I took Friday off, so I flew up Friday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon.  As soon as Vanessa picked me up, she handed me a folded up shiny paper, that I have become all too familiar with.  It was an ultrasound!  Turns out, she is pregnant too!  She was waiting to tell me until I came up there.  She always does this, and it makes me crazy.  I found out she was pregnant at my bachelorette party, about a week after she found out.  And I found out she was engaged about a full MONTH after Patrick proposed, because she mailed me a bridesmaid book to surprise me, and it kept getting lost.  Anyway, it was a great surprise, but I can't believe she didn't tell me sooner.  She is due June 18th I think, so only about 3 months after me!  

We spent the weekend eating and shopping.  Mostly me eating, since she is miserably nauseous.  She helped me with my registry, which was great, since I don't really know what we will need.  I also had a great time hanging with Emma.  She followed me everywhere I went.  She wanted to play with me, have me read to her, sit with me.  She even waited outside the bathroom door, every time I went, to make sure I wouldn't leave.  It was pretty cute.  I got some Christmas shopping done, and did some relaxing.  It was really nice.

The next week was Thanksgiving.  We had it at our house again, with my parents and brother, Steve's parents, my cousin Lin, and our friends, Jeff and Nisha.  I had a meltdown and luckily my mom and Tina helped me and forgave me when I was a be-otch to them.  Dinner was fantastic as usual, and everyone was a huge help.  I had made a lot of things the day before, so that really helped too.  Although, by the end of the night, my feet and back were killing me, and I was done.  That was when my backaches started, which lasted a couple of weeks.  Here's our yummy turkey...

The rest of the weekend was spent with Steve putting up the outside Christmas lights, me shopping for decorations and presents, and finally, decorating the house.  We didn't get the tree up till Sunday night because we were too tired.  Steve had a genius idea this year....we got a dog gate thingie to keep the cats from killing the tree and presents.  And it works!  The tree is still in one piece, and I haven't had a single meltdown over them ruining it!  You can kinda see it here.

On a baby note...I had my glucose tolerance test the week of Thanksgiving, and I passed.  Which means that I don't have and probably won't get gestational diabetes.  The test really wasn't all that bad.  Then the next week I had another check up with my OB, and she says that I am doing great.  It's funny cuz at the beginning, every appt was so exciting.  And now, it's like a routine.  Check in, pee in a cup, get weighed, see dr, she finds the heartbeat on the Doppler, asks if I have any questions, and then tells me whatever is "next" on the agenda, as far as tests/milestones go.  It takes about 15 min.  So funny.  I still love going and hearing that I am doing well, but it's almost mundane at this point.  I think it'll get fun again soon since we are nearing the end!

Vegas baby!

We took our annual trip to Vegas this year, but this time with a big group of friends, and in November instead of December.  We left on Thursday, and came home on Sunday.  It was SO nice to be off work for four whole days!  We stayed at the MGM.  The rooms were really nice, and the hotel is huge!  It took me four days to figure out where I was going because the casino was just a big maze.  Most of the weekend Steve and I lost money, and we didn't do a whole lot of gambling.  But on the last day, on my last $20, on my last pull of a slot, I got a spin on the Wheel of Fortune machine and won $125.  So I quit and ended up only losing about $100 for the whole weekend.  Steve also won on that machine, and so we ended up ok overall.

The first night we walked the strip and explored a bit.  It was really cold, and basically everyone was just interested in drinking, of course.  We ate at Margaritaville, which was fun.  The second night we went to the Hofbrauhaus.  It was really interesting.  Loud, fun, very entertaining.  As you can see from the pics below, the boys had a great time!  Steve and I ventured off to Red Rock Resort and Casino on Saturday, and now I want to go stay there next summer.  It was super nice.  Awesome pool, movie theater, bowling alley and very clean casino.  So maybe next summer we can go with our parents and baby.  Or by ourselves for a quick getaway.  We'll see.

It was a fun getaway, and we probably won't get another one before this baby arrives!

22 weeks

I forgot to mention in my last post that I am feeling the baby move all the time now!  Steve has felt it a few times, and he is always so surprised by how strong it's kicks/punches are.  It's really fun to feel the baby move around, except when it karate chops my ovaries or my bladder.


We went to the doctor today.  I am measuring perfect, my weight is right on track, and everything seems great!  Next milestone is my glucose tolerance test in 2 weeks.  I better pass!

Here I am at 22 weeks.  I am looking tired because I had just finished a crying fit.  Hormones got the best of me a few days this week!

How pregnant am I?:  22 weeks, 4 days

Weight gain so far:  16 whopping pounds.  Yikes!

Belly Button:  Definitely getting flatter, but not an "outtie" yet

Clothing options:  Maternity, maternity, maternity

Boobs:  Had to go buy bigger bras, AGAIN.  Uf.

Now about the real star of the show:  Last week our baby was the size of a banana, and this week it has grown to a papaya.  It's getting pretty cramped in my uterus now.  The baby pretty much fills all the empty space, and now they will grow together.  Not a whole lot of room already in there though!  Baby Nichols has taste buds, and I read somewhere that I should be eating lots of different foods, so the baby hopefully won't be too picky after it begins eating solid food.  The baby also sleep about 12-14 hours a day!  It weighs more than a pound now, and that will double over the next 4 weeks.  It has eyebrows and eyelashes, and is growing hair on its head.  The crazy thing is, the hair is bright white, since there is no pigment yet.  

Pregnancy "symptoms":   Well, I feel the baby kick a lot now.  Particularly when I lay down to go to sleep at night.  And after I eat.  It definitely likes food!  Also, I am having heartburn, but it hasn't been horrible yet.  I just chew my tums, and try not to lay on the couch after dinner.  I have to make sure I am sitting up!

Cravings:  Sweets still

What I've bought so far:  We haven't bought anything new, but we did pick up the crib that Steve's cousins gave us.  And Mona gave us a swing and a bouncer chair.  We have lots of stuff for this baby already!  And we also picked out paint colors a few weekends ago, although Steve probably won't paint for a few more weeks.

Best moment this week:  Feeling baby kick me all the time.

What I miss:  Nothing really this week.  I am content!

What I am excited for this week:  Vegas Baby!  We leave on Thursday, so only two more work days this week!

21 weeks

Here I am at 21 weeks.

I am definitely getting bigger, but not too huge yet!  This is a comfortable time for me.  No big complaints, and I definitely got some energy back.  I've been cleaning again, working on odds and ends around the house, baking, etc.  It's nice to have some energy back!  During this week, I went to my cousin's 40th birthday party, which was a really good time.  Then the next Saturday, I went to see Lady Antebellum at the Nokia theater with Amanda.  They were awesome and we had a great time!  So I had two late Saturday nights in a row, but I wasn't nearly as tired as I thought I would be.  Before I was pregnant, staying up that late ruined me for a few days.  But maybe that was because a lot of wine usually accompanied those late nights?  Who knows.  But I was grateful to not be completely spent the next day.

We didn't do anything for Halloween this year.  I am sure next year will be much more eventful!  Steve has said that he is in charge of the baby's costume, so lord knows what he will come up with!