We're now 18 weeks and 4 days along! I haven't had a whole lot to post on lately, I've mostly been taking it easy and enjoying our little girl's strong kicks. As I'm typing this, she's kicking the keyboard I have in my lap! Matt felt her kick for the first time tonight, finally! I'm pretty positive he could've felt her about a week and a half ago, but he didn't have the patience to sit and wait for her to kick, and of course, the kicking always slowed down as soon as he put his hand on my belly. Anyway, he felt her tonight! She is so strong already, I'm amazed! For the past 2 weeks or so, she's been kicking hard every day, several times a day, and I love every little one (even the ones on my bladder, for now anyway...). She usually kicks every morning when I'm waking up, after I eat or drink anything, and when I'm laying in bed at night. I love falling asleep thinking about her playing around inside, trying to stay up past our bedtime. I had a dream about her a few nights ago- I had given birth in the waiting room of a hospital located in an airport while Matt was parking the car. While we waited for Daddy to get back, we just sat there in the waiting room smiling at eachother, and she had her Daddy's little grin- it was just precious. I've been thinking about that dream since then, and I can't wait until she's born and I can see what she looks like, and which one of us she takes after.
I'm growing a lot too lately, and Matt has taken to calling me his pufferfish. It took a long time, but I'm slowly putting back the weight I had lost during the first trimester, and I'm almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Hopefully another week or two at the rate I've been going, and I'll be back to where I started. Despite the small number on the scale, certain parts of me have definitely grown! I was looking at pre-pregnancy pictures last night, and I was actually very shocked at how much my body has changed! It's been such a gradual process that I hadn't realized how different I look now.
My energy is coming back, finally! I've gone back to working my old schedule at work (which had been cut in half until recently) and it's been much easier to cook, clean, go shopping, etc. I'm still trying not to push myself too far, but I'm enjoying the extra energy!
And speaking of shopping! Babies R Us just opened on island last week, and I'm in heaven! I hadn't seen any baby-specific stores out here yet, with the exception of a Carter's Outlet (fun!), and I was pretty much in heaven when we found it! Matt and I started our registry today after quite a bit of research on my part over the past week! It was incredibly overwhelming figuring out where to start. I found the travel system I wanted, played with it in the store, read the reviews online, and so on, and I'm super excited about it! It's beautiful, and gender-neutral, in case we happen to have a boy next. From there, the pack-n-play and swing fell into place, and at that point, I was on a roll. I honestly have no idea when you're supposed to make a registry, but I figured that since I know of a few things that I definitely want, why not go ahead and start it up now? I am absolutely open to and looking for suggestions from other moms about things that I should register for, things that I wont really use, and so on.
I would also like to pose a question, and before I get to the question, I have a story to tell. While my darling husband and I were at Babies R Us, we spent quite a bit of time looking at and discussing nursery bedding sets and how we want to decorate the nursery. Since we're having a girl, I found a really nice set by Cocalo (A La Mode) that is pink, green, chocolate brown, and cream, with flowers, polka dots, and stripes. Its girly, but not frilly (I'm not a fan of frilly at all). Matt thinks that it looks too "quilty" and he thinks we should decorate the nursery in a Nautica collection of blue sailboats. So my question is this: Do blue sailboats scream "BOY!!!!" to anyone else but me? Matt thinks it's a totally gender-neutral theme for a nursery, haha, I really do love him. I think gender neutral is a great idea for some things that we'll definitely re-use, like the stroller, pack-n-play, and so on, especially since we're planning to have more than one baby. But I still like the idea of making the nursery a little girly. After all, if we have a boy next, I can always redecorate for him- it'll give me something to do while we wait for him!
I suppose that's enough rambling for one night. Our next appointment with the midwife is October 5th, and we also have our 20-week ultrasound that day! I'm pretty excited, I absolutely love our ultrasounds!
Thanks for reading, we love and miss you all!
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I've gotta say...Sailboats seem boyish. Now, an underwater theme? That can be gender neutral. :-)
ReplyDeleteHey, I stumbled across your blog and wanted to add my two cents.. Matt, er, your husband, is totally right. A blue sailboat theme from Nautica sounds awesome and I think you should listen to me, er, him. That's all.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
Haillie loved her "bouncy seat" from Graco.
ReplyDeletePlus, they are always on the leading edge with safety. My mom has done daycare for 24 yrs now and swears by Graco products. As far as what you'll need...umm everything! J/k Lots and lots of bottles 4oz and 8oz(so you don't have to wash every couple feedings) and I found that the little nail sissors worked way better on those tiny little fingernails than a normal baby nail clippers and it was a whole lot less nerves worrying if you're gonna cut her lil fingers because of how they're curved its nearly next to impossible. You will have to send me your address so we can send you something for her. Lots of love you guys..tell Annonymous to check his inbox!
Hey, I have to agree with Christina, Blue Sailboats are for boys! Sorry Anonymous!
ReplyDeleteI believe the one thing I used more than anything else was receiving blankets. I used them for everything, from a light cover up, to spit up towels, to cover for breast feeding, rolled up as head holders, to make-shift places to change a diaper, etc! Also, onesies are priceless! There were some things I never used...sorry Dianna, but I never used the clippers, I simply bit their nails until the were around 1, then used regular clippers. I tried the scissors and clippers and they all moved so much that I was constantly just giving up and biting them.
I used a swing for 3 of them, but Matt hated the swing. He preferred being held and having someone's constant attention! The bouncy seat was awesome, but they only lasted a short time there, except Nikki, who loved her bouncy seat and would stay in for hours.
If you are interested in your child wearing sunglasses or hats, start them early! If you don't do it as infants, they won't wear them until they are much older.
I could probably go on and on, but I will save all that for another post.
We miss you guys and can't wait to see you! I can't go into a store without checking out the girls' clothes and now that I know you don't like fussy, I can start buying!
Oh and here is a message from Pa..."Any little girl who is born in Hawaii and has the last name Reif should be named Coral!" He doesn't believe any more discussion should be necessary! Ha Ha! I actually considered the name for Kaitlin, but changed it at the last minute. Pa still thinks it is ideal, especially with her being born in Hawaii!
Ok, back to work. I love you both! Take care of each other!
Mommabear
Hey, Christina! Isn't registering fun (after the research, that is)! I just finished registering last week. We're in the process of decorating the nursery also. I agree with the other posts...I think the sailboat idea is a little bit more of a boy thing than it is "gender neutral". I think I know what bedding you're talking about (pink one) and I like that! Colt felt our baby kick for the first time a couple weeks ago. Its amazing how strong the kicks are now. Especially since I have an anterior placenta! I enjoy the kicks, although, I'm not a fan of bladder kicks. I feel like I'm going to the bathroom every 5 minutes! Ugh! Haha! One piece of advice I got about registering is don't register for an infant carseat by Evenflo. My cousin got an Evenflo carseat, and she said her son's head popped out of it all the time. She returned it pronto. I stuck with Graco for everything "big" like the travel system, pack-n-play etc. It had really high ratings, and the patterns were really cute. Feel free to check out my registry. I put a lot of time and research into it! I'll check yours out too! So fun!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Pa. Coral Reif sounds like a smashing idea.
ReplyDeleteI'm obviously not a mommy, but when I was a nanny, I LOVED having the snuggle contraption that let's the baby hang from your mid-region. If you get the kind where the baby faces out towards the world, it's a really nice way to keep the baby with you hands-free so you can get other things done at the same time. =)
sailboats are def a "boyish" theme!! i love reading all of your little updates and it sounds like you both are doing well! i am happy that you are gaining back the weight and that she is in there kicking her little heart away...maybe she will play soccer!! :)
ReplyDeletemiss you girl, love ya!