18 Weeks - Baby Daniel's Movin' & Regular Baby Bump Sightings

It's official. No more flutters and wondering if that was a baby movement or...well, something else moving.

Today, I definitely felt Baby Daniel move!

There I was, just working away the afternoon when Baby D decided to get to work, too. Who knows, flutters I felt before might've been baby movement, but we've moved way beyond flutters now. No doubt Baby Daniel is on the move.

It feels...weird and a little intense.

You know that weird, intense, kind of burning you can feel on your insides when you push your finger in your bellybutton? Imagine that, multiplied a few times and without the burning, coming from inside layers of padding lining your abdomen.

Every time I feel movement, I can't help but wonder: Are you uncomfortable, Baby D? Are you just bored? Or is it too quiet and you want to feel some movement or hear something going on? It's so curious but, as of now, I love the little, "Hey Mom - I'm in here! What are you doing?" reminders.

Grandma Cindy's 1st PG Visit

My mom came in for her first of many pregnancy visits this weekend and boy did we get a lot done and had such a fabulous visit!

We kicked the visit off Friday afternoon with a visit to the hospital where Baby Daniel will be born - Covenant Lakeside. A patient educator took us on a tour of the pre- and postpartum wings where

we were able to see an LDR (labor, delivery and recovery) room - which even in the calm silence of the empty room and all the equipment off and patiently waiting for its next victim, it still felt like a fresh hell to me - and a very pleasant postpartum room where the new family all stays together for a couple days.

We also saw the nursery which was hoppin' with 14 newborns! Nurses and doctors were hurrying through the hallways and in, out and all around the nursery. We even saw a newborn receiving his very first scrub down.

No, not a bath - a scrub down. Apparently, it's hard to get all the bodily fluids off which I never would've imagined. The poor little guy was
screaming and the nurse was really workin' him to get him all cleaned up.

It was kind of traumatic actually - I teared up hearing him scream but my mom assured me that he was fine and that the nurse wasn't hurting him. In fact, it's good for babies to cry like that because it helps to clear out the fluid from their lungs that they've been breathing over the past nine months. Nonetheless, the panicky feeling that settled in while listening to that baby scream was not a fun feeling.

Alas, nothing like shopping to calm the anxieties of parenthood so the next day we were off to visit the multitude of baby boutiques around town. After a full nine-hour day of shopping, we were home by 9 p.m. loaded with lots of ideas for the nursery decorations and furniture and even a few new maternity blouses and dresses for me and a couple new outfits for Baby Daniel!

The only traumatizing part of this day was discovering maternity pants. Sure the legs look fine and normal but when you lift the flap that covers and hangs off the belly the pair of pants looks like something that should be floating in the Macy's parade!

I just couldn't go there yet, so we skipped that part of the maternity section.

Negative Can Be Such a Positive!

I received a call from Nurse Rhonda today with the Quad Four Screening results.

The test came back negative which is positively fabulous

and a great relief! This not only means

Baby Daniel's risk for Downs Syndrome and Trisomy-18 is nonexistent but also that Baby D has no neural tube defects!

In this particular instance - yaaayyy for negative test results! :)

16 Weeks & Hearts are a Flutterin'

This week began with a great visit to see Dr. Owen.

Baby D's heartbeat was loud and strong - the doc said it was perfect in the 160 bpm range.

However, Baby Daniel's heart wasn't the only one pumpin' fast - Justin and I made a couple big decisions. After a reassuring discussion with Dr. Owen on result percentages, benefits and insurance coverage,

we first decided to go ahead with the Quad screening which tests for the baby's risk levels of Down syndrome, trisomy 18 and open neural tube defects.

Then, after discussion about options, benefits and potential risks we also decided to schedule our induction date - 7/23. We can cancel at any time should I change my mind but I have to say, once I heard it was a guaranteed way to ensure Dr. Owen delivers Baby D I was pretty much sold.

The middle of the week was kinda rough - I got a headache like I've never felt before. Not quite as torturous as a migraine but it ran a very close second.

I felt like I was turning in to some character off Mad Max growing a metal-spiked mohawk out of my skull.

The pain initiated at the base of my skull, radiated up across the top of my cranium and pinged the sinuses behind my eyeballs at the rate of a steady, thunderous beat. The pain became so much that I was puking...again. A couple days of that and it eventually subsided.

One of my coworkers said she "[could] see [my] tummy!" So, I've included a couple shots so you can see what you think. In certain clothes, the baby bump is pretty clear but for the most part, only Justin and I know there's a difference.

Our last Valentine's as a "we" was very "lovely" - we had a four-course meal at La Diosa. Justin had lobster and I had a filet for our main course. The red velvet cake dessert seemed extra delectable!

Even though I couldn't toast with champagne, drink wine with our meal and I
had to fight falling asleep after the main course,

the candle-lit dinner and romantic, live, Sinatra- and Bouble-ess music was all just fabulous! Thanks for the special evening, Daddy D, and here's to next year's Valentine's as an "us."

Baby D Preparation - Portion of Phase I COMPLETE

Yaayyy! Today, I finished organizing the office supplies in the Lucy Room closet and it's PERFECT!

The shelves Justin installed are simultaneously super sturdy and super easy to move and adjust to any height - they're awesome, I couldn't ask for more! Here's a look at the finished product.

Full Frontal

Top

The Scrappin' Side

Top Handmade Ribbon Box

The Office Side

Top

Drama @ the Neighborhood CVS

After running out of my awesomely sized and coated-for-ease-of-swallowing prenatal vitamin samples I had to have a prescription called in. Anxious to see how much these puppies were going to cost, we whipped through the drive through on the way home after work.

NOTE: There are two things that make me anxious when doing them with my ever-so-price-sensitive husband - one is hearing the total for groceries and the other is hearing the cost of prescription meds. With a sigh of relief and a great $10 deal later,

we were pulling around the building when I made Justin come to an
abrupt stop. The gargantuan, hideous, black, monstrosity I was holding between my fingers which dwarfed my hand and made my throat begin to swell at the mere sight of it was not my prenatal vitamin.

Between gags, I told Justin to park...I was going in. As I hurried back to the pharmacy,

my pulse raced as all the horror stories from recent new mothers
of humongous prenatal pills came shrieking back to me complete with the screeching sound effects to stress their advice of requesting chewable pills.

I was trying to remain calm, assuring myself that it was a simple generic substitution but

between the thought of attempting to swallow that gruesomely black horse pill of death and Justin fretting and asking me how much exactly
I was prepared to spend on the name-brand pill

I could feel my throat going dry.

I took a deep breath as I approached the counter and calmly asked if I could find out the cost of the name-brand version of the pills I just picked up. Of course, they couldn't give me the cost with insurance - they couldn't even tell me whether or not my insurance would cover the name brand.

I held my breath as they looked up the information and glanced over my shoulder to see Justin who wisely decided to stand back by the magazines.

"Cash price is $37, ma'am."

Yes - there is a prenatal angel!

"I'll take it," I almost yelled, like I'd won a prescription bingo or something, "and please do whatever it is you need to do with these frightening looking things."

Needless to say, the pharmacist looked at me very strangely but I did manage to get my account flagged to ask my preference for generic or name brand on prenatal vitamins. :)

Sinusitis Strikes AGAIN :(

OH MY LORD! Monday evening, a runny and stuffy nose hit me outta nowhere and

by 6:30 a.m. Tuesday I was back to worshipping the porcelain God every hour throwing up more mucous and bile until about 3 p.m.

I had terrible back and thigh aches and could only keep Sprite down. Needless to say I stayed home from work but campus ended up closing two hours early because of an ice storm that hit Lubbock.

The next morning, campus opened two hours late so I made it in to work at 10 a.m.

I barely survived the day on over-the-counter sinus meds

and had take a nighttime dose to ensure I'd get some sleep.

I began feeling a little better by Thursday but still had to take OTC sinus meds. A congested, hacking cough and stuffy nose kept me up at night.

However, by Saturday I felt good enough to begin organizing the new and improved Lucy closet.

Justin got shelves installed for me and I was able to organize and arrange all my scrapbook stuff -

I'm so pleased with the way it turned out! Check back for a picture of the final product next week when I get the other half of the closet done - the office stuff.