Memory Lane

I've seen on a few blogs that people are looking back to what they were doing a year ago, how they were feeling and what not. I guess the holidays brings that out in you. I had to look back to see what was happening and to my surprise this time last year I was recovering from my hysteroscopy and laperoscopy. In someways it seems like eons ago that we were going through that hell but other times I'm surprised at how close to the surface all of those feelings are. I wonder if I'll ever get over and recover from those agonizing two years of TTC to a place where I'm not easily angered by someone else's sheer happenstance of getting pregnant or anothers lack of reverence at how lucky they are not to have struggled.

This pregnancy has not erased the bad memories like I naively thought it would but it has slowly started to heal our shattered hearts. So to all the ladies struggling to conceive this holiday season and to those that where meant to have babies in your arms right now but sadly don't, please know we are still here for you and have not forgotten how hard it is to do what you're doing. XOXO

Still Breech

Had a midwife's appointment today and Bit is still breech. Apparently Bit is destined to be a Olympic diver because he/she is in the pike position making a V shape, with head in the upper right and feet in the upper left. Our midwife isn't worried about this and thinks that Bit will flip by 32 weeks. In the meantime she has given us some tips on how to encourage Bit to take a nose dive.

1. Go to a pool and do somersaults or handstands (ummmm...NO WAY! I wouldn't even be able to do this if I wasn't pregnant.)
2. Shine a flashlight down the side of my belly
3. Play music lower down on my belly
4. Apply pressure to the outside of my pinky toes

Needless to say I will be trying 2-4 and leaving 1 for some other brave soul.

Next visit we'll be doing the glucose tolerance test. I've heard all these stories about how nasty the drink is so I was prepared for the worst. To my pleasant surprise my orders are to eat a very sugary breakfast. The example given was pancakes with syrup, big glass of orange juice and some eggs (I will be rounding the meal out with some crispy bacon on the side). This might be the best test prep I've ever had to endure!!

Must Have Deals and Books

I've found a few sites where I go to look up baby buying deals so I thought I'd share and was hoping you could share yours as well.

So far my go to sites are (names are clickable):

bTrendie(it's by invitation only so let me know your email and I can invite you in)
Mamabargains.com
Baby Cheapskate
Amazon - Daily Baby Deals

Also, we have the following books, are there any other must haves?
- Happiest Baby on the Block
- Baby 411
- The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night
- The American Academy of Pediatrics New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding

Wedding and Belly Shots

Last night our friend got married and we celebrated the event with friends and family. It was so much fun because Melissa, Bit and I got to dance the night away. It was amazing that Melissa had that much energy to hang all night. We had to be at the wedding by 4 pm and we got home at midnight. I think Melissa is paying the price today. She is exhausted and has no energy. Here is a picture of us at the wedding last night.



In other news my sister Jennifer is about a week or less from giving birth to her baby Lily. We are excited to finally meet Lily. It will be the first baby in the family so everyone is anxious for her arrival. It will be helpful that Jennifer is going to have a 2.5 month head start on us. She can give us tips on what works and what doesn't for Lily that might work on Bit. Jennifer lives about 3 hours from us so we can go visit. Melissa and I plan to visit them the first of December to help out and meet our niece.

It's been a while since we have posted a belly shot so I'll end with a new belly shot. Bit has be growing like a weed over the past 2 weeks. Melissa is doing great and only major issue has been daily heartburn. Time should start flying due to the holidays. I can't believe we only have 3 months until Bit is here.

Double Digits

I just realized that we are officially 98 days away from our due date. Amy feels like we've been in the second trimester forever, while I think we've totally blown through this pregnancy. But as fast as I feel we've moved seeing the number 98 put a whole new perspective on it for me.

We've had a lot of fun this trimester. Amy likes to lay her head on my belly and talk and sing to Bit. Bit is always sure to give Amy a kick or a punch to the face to let her know he/she is listening. Amy believes it's Bit giving her props for her great voice and oh so funny jokes. I on the other hand...

In other news, we got our crib yesterday! We were very excited and put it together right away. I've heard horror stories of shed tears and near divorces caused by putting together a crib so I went into the whole process with dread. It was easy peasy! We had that thing together in under 30min. I guess it helps that we didn't get anything super fancy. We'll be sure to take pictures of the room once everything is in place.

Some people have been asking about the Babies and Dogs class we're going to take in January. The training facility where Campbell got certified as a therapy dog teaches that class at certain times throughout the year. They'll teach us how dogs see kids from birth to adolescence along with how to handle Cam and Bit. I'll be sure to post more about what we learned and share all the information we get once we take the class.

Gettin'r Done

We are checking things off left and right from our to do list.

DONE:
- finished registry
- bought crib
- bought dresser (will serve as changing table)
- bought bookshelf
- bought car seat
- bought stroller
- got lots of great baby must haves from friends
- getting our wills put together
- second parent adoption paperwork started
- on daycare waiting lists
- birthing classes start this weekend

STILL TO DO:
- interview pediatricians
- baby shower
- get last few baby items
- sew baby quilts
- finish knitted cap
- schedule home visit with social worker
- attend babies & dogs class

Our goal is to have everything done by the end of December so that the last stretch can be as stress free as possible. I honestly don't know how we would have done the registry on our own. It is a completely overwhelming experience. We solicited the help of new moms to help us register and look through our registry to let us know what was needed, nice to have or a complete waste of time. Their insight was invaluable and I highly recommend doing that if you are feeling lost.

We even got our first gift sent to us off of our registry. VERY FUN!!