11 weeks to go...

How Far Along: 29 Weeks

Size of Baby: Baby Chon is the size of a SQUASH

Other things baby is up to: Baby's energy is surging, thanks to the formation of white fat deposits beneath the skin. Baby is also setting into sleep and waking cycles, though -- as you've also probably noticed -- they don't necessarily coincide with your own. Also this month, all five senses are finally functional, and the brain and nervous system are going through major developments.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20 pounds, with 11 more weeks to go at about 1 pound a week, I hope I only gain 30 pounds this whole pregnancy which would be AWESOME! I'm not really tracking weight but it seems that for now I can eat what I want and I'm not gaining as much weight as I would not being pregnant, so I'm taking full advantage! For example, this morning's breakfast consisted of rice and soup and then a piece of tres leches cake, definitely not holding back. 

Movement: Not so much movement this week, just the occasional toss and turn here and there, no hard jabs to the rib which I'm thankful for but I'd like to feel some more kicks. 

Sleep: Sleep has been pretty great still, nothing to complain about!

Symptoms: Does feeling fat count? I'm feeling like a huge tub of lard right now and just not happy with how anything fits me. I've tried on dress after dress and they all either don't fit or make me feel like I'm wearing a tent.. I think I had my first pregnancy breakdown. 

Belly Button: I'm still an inny, but a shallow one at best. I'm sure this thing will either get shallower or pop any week now.  

Milestones: I passed the glucose test which is a great milestone since I thought I was in trouble with all the sweets and junk I've been eating throughout this pregnancy!

Looking forward to: This weekend is Easter which is a grand celebration for us since this is the basis of our religion and beliefs. I'm also looking forward to our next U/S where we get to see you, in just one more week!

Next appointment: April 28, 2011 - We won't have a real appointment, just a 30 week growth ultrasound to make sure that you are growing at the rate you should and to see how you're doing. 

Other: Dad finally said yes to getting me an embroidery machine so I finally have it getting shipped to me and I should have it by tomorrow! I cannot wait to make some really cute stuff for you -=) I'm so excited to get started on embroidering and making new things custom made just for you. Grandma also helped me pick out glider fabric and fabric for your curtains so everything will most likely be done within the next couple weeks and I'll finally be able to sit in your room on the glider and relax when I want to.

art projects to keep mommy busy

I've been busy "nesting" as some people would call it, I say that I'm bored and need something to keep me busy. To each their own, I've been working on a couple projects while daddy is playing Halo and yelling at the TV for most the night. One of my projects that I worked on was closet dividers so that I know which clothes go for which month of age. I've gotten tons of great reviews so I decided I would post up exactly how I created them.

Supplies (these are the supplies I used but of course you can use what you would like to create your own look):

• hot glue gun (Michaels, a cheap one will run you about $10)
• acrylic paint (You can buy this at Michaels, Walmart, any place that has an arts and crafts section. Each paint color will run you about $0.65)
• sharpie marker (Walmart for about $1.00)
• wooden door hangers (Michaels, $0.79 each)
• shower curtain hooks (Walmart, $1.50)
• ready made wooden animals (Michaels, $0.59 each)
• ABC stencil with numbers (Michasels, $2.00)

I don't have the supplies before I created them (I obviously wasn't prepared to share all of this) so I'll only be able to show you the final product. 

Steps that I took to accomplish the final product:

1. I painted each door hanger a color that would look nice with the animals I selected (animals were ready made so they were already colored and finished).
2. Glue the animal onto the door hanger. You can put it anywhere really, you could even try to cover the hole since you don't need the hole to hang the finished product.
3. Using a stencil, I traced the numbers for each divider and then used a sharpie to create a bolder look.
4. Using a hot glue gun (carefully of course), glue the back of your divider and press the shower curtain hook. Add extra glue on top of the hook to make sure that it is secure.

This is the final product without the shower curtain hooks. I created one for each size that most companies use to break down their infant sizing.  

A close up view of the 3-6 months divider. 

The final product hanging in Baby Chon's closet. 

Hope you enjoy and have fun creating your own homemade closet dividers -=) 

am I having a boy or girl?

Here are some old wives tales that help you predict gender of the baby*.

Highs and Lows

This one you can do just by looking south: if you're carrying high, break out the pink. If your bump is low, you're carrying a boy.
GIRL

Be Still My Beating Heart

Next time your OB pulls out the Doppler to listen to baby's heartbeat, ask her to tell you what the heart rate is. According to legend, 140+ beats per minute indicates a girl, and below 140 a boy.
GIRL

Sweet and Sour

Craving ice cream every single day? Some people believe this means it's a girl. If you have to have salty or sour stuff, then it's a boy.
GIRL

Chinese Birth Chart

This ancient method uses your age at conception and the month you did the deed to determine gender. try it here.
BOY

Even and Odd

Legend has it that the Mayans determined a baby's sex by looking at the mother's age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it's a girl. If one's even and one's odd, it's a boy.
GIRL

Unlocking the Mystery

This is one for a friend to try. Place a key in front of your preggo friend and ask her to pick it up. If she grabs it by the narrow part, she's in for sugar and spice and all that. If she picks it up by the round part, it's snips and snails.
GIRL

Spot On

If you're breaking out like crazy, blame it on your girl babe. The belief goes that girls steal their mother's beauty, hence, those annoying zits.
BOY

Nice Ring to It

Pop off your wedding ring -- if you still can! -- and tie it to a string. Hang it over your belly. If it swings in a circle, a little guy's in your future. If it goes back and forth, you've got a girl.
I've tried this but really have no clue how this works, so I can't say boy or girl

Queasy Does It

Sick as a dog during the first trimester -- or still? Signs indicate you're having a girl. Little or no morning sickness points to a boy.
BOY


Now that I've done all the tests and told you exactly what I am having, it is your turn to take a poll on the right hand side and tell me if you think I'm having a boy or a girl

*taken from parenting.com

happy third trimester.. 27 weeks

Congratulations on cooking for 27 weeks, we are finally at the home stretch. I can't believe how fast the road has been traveled but then again, it isn't finishing fast enough.

How Far Along: 27 Weeks

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of an eggplant - 13.6 to 4.8 inch, and 1.5 to 2.2 lbs, you're getting BIG! 

Other things baby is up to: Baby's lungs are going through some major developments these days, which (combined with the opening of previously plugged nostrils) means he's now able to practice inhaling or exhaling. The lack of air in your womb means every "breath" is filled with amniotic fluids, but hey -- its progress.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 17 pounds, I believe but I'll know for sure when I go in for my appointment next week.

Movement: You're not as strong as I thought you'd be, I'm feeling you a ton as I write this but for this week I haven't really felt you as much as I think I should have. But I'm not complaining as long as you're happy in there. 

Sleep: Sleep is great except that I need to wake up to roll over since I can't roll over comfortably anymore. Last Saturday I got one of those cramps in my calf and I wanted to die. I was yelling and screaming at dad to wake up so that he could ease the pain. For 3 days afterwards, it was still tender and sore. I'm eating more bananas now so that I hopefully do not have this happen to me again this pregnancy. 

Symptoms: Not being able to breathe, you are right on my lungs and making it quite hard for me to breathe comfortably. Please move down just a bit so that we can both be comfortable. 

Maternity Clothes: All my tops are now not fitting correctly and bump is getting in the way of covering my whole belly. Please let the warm weather come faster so I can wear dresses!!

Belly Button: still an inny!! but one of these days, I'm sure it will pop. 

Milestones: 3rd trimester is a HUGE milestone, I can't believe its already been 2/3s of the way through pregnancy.

Looking forward to: Today Dad and I are going to the hospital that we will deliver you so that we can see exactly what we're in for. We've both never been to the hospital or have any clue where it is so it'll be nice to see where we will deliver you and also where we will spend our first couple nights as a family.

Next appointment: April 13, 2011 - and I get to take that nasty orange liquid to see if I have gestational diabetes, yippeeee (not). What I'm really looking forward to is that 2 weeks afterwards I'll be able to see you again through an ultrasound which is always an exciting visit. 

Other: The fur babies are driving me crazy! Walnut decided to somehow jump his way onto the counter and eat some bagels, obviously sharing with his brother Pistachio. I can't believe how athletic he is and we still don't know how he even managed to get the bagels off the counter. He might have used the chair to help him somehow but I'm thinking he just jumped and jumped until he got the bag of bagels in his mouth just enough for him to bring the whole thing down. Either way, I can't believe they do these things while we're gone and from now on they are in our room until they grow up some more. Walnut is usually the culprit so I let Pistachio out and the bathroom garbage was ransacked and torn apart, I tell you bones are not enough and they obviously need to keep themselves busy with something else -- maybe if I turn on the TV it'll help them concentrate on something other than tearing the house apart. 

kids say the darnest things

Today, just like most Wednesdays, I went to pick up my little girl S from school. This was our conversation:

S: Lois, do you have any snacks in your car?

Me: Nope. What kind of snacks are you talking about anyways?

S: You know, like those cookies with chocolate or mints.

Me: Nope, I ate all the cookies with you last time and I have no other snacks in my car.

S: You usually always have snacks in your car, you must have been hungry to finish everything.

Me: Yup, or baby must have been really hungry.

S: (giving me a blank stare) Baby must have been hungry? The baby can't eat.

Me: Well the baby gets the food that I eat so when I eat something, the baby also gets to eat.

S: Well how can the baby eat if the baby doesn't even have teeth?

Me: Well, the baby gets the nutrition, not the real food.

S: (completely ignoring my last comment) Well the baby can eat pancakes because pancakes are soft and they don't really need to chew it.

By now I'm cracking up and thinking about how cute she is to really think the baby in my belly is chewing and eating the food that I eat.

S: Well, you shouldn't be eating cookies then because cookies aren't healthy for the baby to eat.

Can you say cute? I really just had to mark this down in my blog so that I always remember the innocence of the youth.

98 days and counting

I'm not going to do my weekly survey since for the most everything is the same from last week. I'm almost the exact same other than the fact that I'm feeling you a lot more than before. One thing though, I would really like to ask you to stop kicking my rib.
Milestone: I am now pregnant and not just fat, I don't get weird stares anymore from spectators wondering if I'm just really big or if I'm indeed pregnant. Glad that one is out the way and I can finally sport the bump.

Tomorrow I am meeting with a family doctor that was referred to me through a member from our church. I'm pretty excited to meet her and see if we like her. If we do, we'll have a doctor for you to meet when you get here! Things are slowly all coming together, I can't believe we only have 98 more days to prepare for your arrival.