Babymoon and So Much More!

Wow, I have so much to tell you guys! 

Probably the most exciting news is that Mike and I have booked our babymoon!!! This was a big decision for us (who am I kidding, it was a no brainer for me but it took some time to work on Mike). He thinks that I truly believe money grows on trees or that we are of the same status as celebrities or something. But I honestly believe that this is something we should do and it will be good for our relationship. We clearly planned for this pregnancy so we are obviously ready and aware of all the changes that are coming for our life. But I think it's still important to have a life outside of the baby, after all once the kids leave the nest (I know that's way down the road but still) we will be left with each other so it's really important to me that Mike and I continue to work and develop our love and relationship with each other. With that said, I explained to Mike that this is literally the last time ever in our life that we can take a vacation just the two of us. Even if we are able to leave the kids with grandparents for vacations later on I'm sure they will still be in the back of our mind. I want to go away with Mike and really be able to relax with no worries or concerns and just enjoy this special time before our child is born and our life changes forever. Needless to say I finally got my way (as I usually do) and we began looking into where we wanted to go. My requirements were fairly simple: nice pool, great beach, and a good amount of food available since that's about all I can indulge in these days. We decided on Mexico, Playa Del Carmen to be exact. The resort we are staying at is Occidental Grand Ixcaret. It has some pretty amazing looking pools and beaches for me, plus it is all-inclusive so Mike can have plenty to drink! It's built into the surrounding jungle so I guess it's pretty common to see Spider Monkeys swinging around in the nearby trees, and I've read that there is a nearby beach that frequently has sea turtles. I'm so excited I can't even put it into words. We are going to be leaving in just under a month and that can't come soon enough!

 

Mike and I are also making progress with the nursery. The crib bedding came yesterday (minus the skirt which is back ordered until April) and it looks so cute!! Even Mike said he's glad we went with the pattern I picked out. And today Mike scraped all the nasty popcorn off the ceiling. Thankfully it tested negative for asbestos but it still made a huge mess that I'm sure I will be sweeping/dusting/mopping for days as particles settle but it's something we've been wanting to do and it looks so much better. The next step is to paint. We previously painted the walls grey but it didn't turn out quite as I had imagined it. When I was browsing nursery galleries on ProjectNursery.com I found a room with wall colors that were exactly what I was looking for and it listed the exact brand and name so I went down to Home Depot and bought a gallon of each. The main walls will be Glidden's Knitting Needles and the crib wall is going to be a 50/50 mix of ICI Paint's Almost Pink and ICI Paint's Cradle Pink (Glidden has bought ICI Paint and while they don't have the colors displayed they are in the computer system so the men at Home Depot were able to make it for me). I painted a square of each color on the wall and they look PERFECT! I can't wait to see how it turns out and will take some pics once it's done.

I still need to get the skirt and lower the mattress a little so you can see more of the outside bumper pattern

These are the exact colors I bought

Also, to update you on my shopping addiction I thought I'd let you all know that I have stuck to my promise and not bought anymore clothes for Emma. I have, however, received quite a bit of clothes as gifts from my sister-in-law and mother-in-law in the last week!!

I'm seriously in love with the Osh Kosh dress!

Is Emma going to be a princess or what?!?!

And finally, I had my 22 week OB appointment today and all is well. The nurse said my BP was normal. It seems that every other appointment I've had it's been slightly elevated. It's not to the point where they are worried but I guess they are keeping their eye on it. Anyways, this appointment it was good so perhaps that means next time it will be high again. The nurse also found the heartbeat on the doppler, as usual. I must say I was anxious for her to find it because I wasn't really feeling much movement today compared to most days but the nurse said she could tell from all the static noises that the baby was moving a lot. I guess it's not uncommon at this point to not be able to feel all the movement still. After that Dr. Sugihara came in and said that she had reviewed the images from my anatomy scan and everything looked normal (yay me!). She measured my belly with a tape measure for the first time and said it's right on track. Apparently my uterus is a couple inches above my belly button at this point. I also was given lab work for the glucose tolerance test. I've been dreading drinking this nasty sweet drink but I guess I have to do it. Dr. Sugihara said she doesn't think I'll end up with gestational diabetes as I haven't been showing any of the symptoms and my urine never has any sugar in it. But as I've mentioned before my mom had it for one of her pregnancies and so did one of my sisters... 

The only less then ideal news that I got (and even I'll admit it's not that big of a deal) is that my prenatal blood work revealed I am RH negative. To be honest I had no clue what that meant. I think I can vaguely recall hearing pregnant women talk about if they were RH negative or RH positive but I didn't know what the difference was or what the implications of it was. So for those of you who also don't know, here is an education. Most people are RH positive, 85% to be specific. There really isn't any negative side effects to being RH negative accept when it comes to pregnancy. The problem arises if the mother is RH negative while the baby is RH positive. In my case, Mike is RH positive so we have a 50/50 chance that Emma will be positive too. An RH negative mother carrying an RH positive baby can develop antibodies against her baby's red blood cells. In future pregnancies, these antibodies can cross through the placenta and destroy the red blood cells of the developing fetus. In the old days, this often resulted in fetal death or necessary blood transfusions immediately after birth. Fortunately, there is a shot that is given to RH negative women during the 28th week of pregnancy and then is given again within 72 hours of giving birth that decreases the odds of developing antibodies to about 2 in 1000. My doctor said I really shouldn't be worried about it so I guess I won't worry. It just means another wonderful shot in my booty!

The best news of all though is that after my next appointment in 5 weeks I will be going every 2 weeks instead of once a month!! Woohoo for progress. I'm still blown away to be where I am today with this precious baby inside me :)