Gray hair

Mom has always blamed us for her gray hair. Before my existence, there wasn't a gray hair on my mother's head (or so she claims).

Now it's my turn.

Yesterday, Cayla was playing with my still newly-cut hair and nonchalantly said "Whoops, found a gray hair. Want me to pull it?"

"WHAAAAAAAA? Yes!"

Upon closer inspection and multiple second opinions (we were in a yarn shop with lots of ladies), I agreed that the single strand of hair, about 6" long when pulled straight, was indeed WHITE and not blonde. I was going to bring it home to show Ken and take a picture, but I lost it.

Goodbye, sweet youth..... I miss you already.

Appt #4 - 16 weeks

This morning's check-up went well. My blood pressure was 110/70 (nurse said that was good), urine was clean, and I'm up two lbs from last appointment. Baby's heart rate was 158, which the doctor said is good. It's a little on the fast side and he said some people believe that means it's a girl. I told him about the chinese gender chart and he laughed and then said "well then, just because of that, i'm going to guess boy!" We'll find out soon!

He measured my belly and it's about 16.5 cm, which is just right since I'm finishing up my 16th week (1 cm per wk). I think he's going to measure every appointment from here out, just to make sure growth is on track.

I told that him my nosebleeds have been a pain and he said that they're common, but not usually on a daily basis. So he gave me a referral to an ENT with a note "30 years old, 16+ wks pregnant, dailly nosebleeeds, please evaluate." I'll call the ENT on Monday to see how soon they can see me. He says that there's a chance something has ruptured (I guess since it's primarily my left nostril?) and that the ENT can close it off. Doesn't sound too pleasant! Ironically, I didn't get a nosebleed today. :P

Next og/gyn appointment is July 13th (Friday the 13th!) at 9:20am. This is actually one week earlier than we expected but when he gave us the option to come in at 19 weeks instead of 20 weeks I was like "HECK YEAH!" because this is when we'll have the "big" ultrasound. I'll see the sonographer first and if the baby's cooperating, we'll find out the sex! WOOHOO! :) Then I'll see my doctor for the usual peeing, blood pressure, and measuring.

Nosebleeds

Remember when I posted that the nosebleeds were gone? Turns out that was just temporary. And today was the big day, the day I had long dreaded....
my first PUBLIC nosebleed.



i guess i knew it was coming eventually. i had a lunch appointment with one of my brides at frank & angie's pizza. about two minutes before she arrived, my nose started bleeding. i couldn't rush to the restroom because i was holding our table and had my laptop already set-up (not easy to grab, with my purse, while holding my bleeding nose). luckily, after yesterday's bloody nose in the car, i remembered to put some more tissues in my purse! she arrived and immediately asked "are you ok???"

how embarrassing!!!

"yeah.... but i'm going to run to the restroom."

and most people don't know that pregnancy can cause nose bleeds so then i feel compelled to explain .... i just dont want them thinking i snort coke or something!
and now i'm always afraid to sneeze or even TOUCH my nose.

ugh. 16 wk appt tomorrow - will definitely see if my dr has any recs. i've been getting at least one nosebleed every single day! and, with only one or two rare exceptions, it's always my left nostril.

ah well. at least it's better than nausea....

Furbabies: An Introduction

Have you met our furbabies?


This is Ella:


We added Ella to our family at the end of 2005, when she was a couple of months old. She's a chocolate lab with fancy bloodlines. She's quite possibly the smartest dog in Austin, maybe Texas. Here's a list of her mad skills:
* sit
* stay
* lay down
* come
* back (as in get away)
* leave it (as in don't pick up that toy or put down whatever's in your mouth)
* bed
* easy (as in calm down, you're getting too excited)
* outside
* get it! (we'll throw something for her to fetch but she'll sit and watch until we give her this command)
* get it! is also used when we balance a treat on her nose and are releasing her to eat it
* and, last but not least, she rings a bell when she wants to go outside



Most impressively (in my opinion) is that she knows I'm pregnant. She is paying a LOT more attention to me (follows me to the closet and whatnot) and licks my feet every chance she gets. She has very strong mothering instincts (have I told you about her "false pregnancy" at the end of her first heat?) and we'd like to breed her sometime soon.

This is Kitty:


We added Kitty to our family in November 2006 because Ella didn't like going outside without us. Ella used to love going outside when we had our other dog, Heifer, but without Heifer, Ella would just get lonely. Ken wanted an outdoor cat too, to keep the snakes away. So when I saw this kitten who needed to be rescued, it was a no brainer. Ella LOVES Kitty. She often prefers to be outside, just so she can be near Kitty. She licks Kitty and they cuddle together. It's all quite odd. Kittle loves Ella too and lays down right next to her for a nap.



I'd list Kitty's tricks but she doesn't know a single one, other than playing with a dog ten times her weight.

My Hair

I got sick of my hair so I cut it off. Erik, start singing: mop-head girl, and she's living in her mop-head world....

I'm thinking about growing out my bangs. I know the look is very dated so I'm going to try swooping them to the side as they grow, and then taper them once they're long enough to curl and still give me some coverage for my HUGE forehead.

I feel so much lighter, FREEer! I weighed 2 lbs less this morning than I did yesterday morning - think he cut off 2 lbs worth of hair???

Baby needs?

I'm trying to think of everything we need to get done before the baby makes its debut. Help me out....

get life insurance
set-up nursery
register (after week 20)
find pediatrician
decide on day care
health insurance (will my new school district's insurance take me? what would it cost to stick with old?)
birthing/nursing classes (ugh - when do i have to do these?)
make a will?
organize plan for birth announcements
make appointment for 3D/4D ultrasound?

What else?

And what are the things that we *really* need to register for? Already have: crib, cradle, dresser (double as changing table), highchair, playpen. Here's what we need that I can think of off the top of my head:
swaddling blankets
diapers (varying sizes and brands?)
swing
boppy (or similar)
carseat
stroller
sling-type carrying thing (what are those called?)
breast pump
bottles & nipples
clothing? is it necessary to register for baby clothes, or do people just know? like toys and such?
rocking chair/glider (probably won't register for this, but I think we need one)

What else is a necessity? Bottle warmers? Wipe warmers? Diaper genie? Or are all of those just gimmicks? Help me out, parents! :)

Chinese Gender Chart

This chart - found in an ancient royal tomb near Bejing - is said to be over 90% accurate in predicting your baby's gender. How to use this tool? Match the age you were at baby's conception (down the left) with the month of conception (across the top) to forecast the baby's gender.



So conception happened for us in March, when I was still 29. Which would give us a Girl, right??? Woohoo!

Although I'd be just as happy with a boy and all I really care about is that the baby is healthy and delivery is smooth and blah blah blah.... but I'd be super excited to have a girl! :) BUT- Ken has said that if we have a boy, I have permission to dress him up like a girl, as long as there are no pictures. Haha! I was SHOCKED that he agreed to that! Brings up fond childhood memories for me... Lisa and I turned Jacob into the prettiest little girl ever, back in the day.