Good news!!

I finally got my 28 week picture done! Thank you Stacey!  Remember to check my belly photo page if you want to see the progression from month to month.

But that's not the only good news! ;) We found out today that Jason is not a carrier for the CF gene!  That means that our child will not have CF!  (Technically there is still a possibility but the chances are very very small... the gene test only tests for certain mutations of the gene.  Unlike most genetic diseases there are over 1,000 CF gene mutations; it would be nearly impossible to test for all of them. If Jason were to have one of the mutations not tested for though the chance of our child having CF would be 50/50 since I'm obviously a carrier on both genes).

We had initially chosen not to get the testing done because a) we knew that it wouldn't affect our decision to have children and b) the doctors said it wouldn't affect care during the pregnancy.  But after some encouragement from various people we decided to go ahead, and I have to say that I am more relieved than I thought I would be!  People were right, it is good to know we have nothing next to nothing to worry about!  We knew that research for CF care and treatment has come a long way (obviously! Here I am, happy, healthy, and pregnant!), but you still hope and pray for the best for your child.

On another note, the registry is finally complete!!  It was frustrating, exhausting, and completely overwhelming to realize just how much we need!  I know that we can probably make do without a lot of the stuff... so in some ways the registry is a wish list.  I honestly can hardly tell you what will be the necessities though and what will be the "nice to have" items.

A few last notes to add to my previous registry post...

1. I completely forgot to thank my friends for being so awesome and helping me with my registry!  Thank you so much to Sabrina, mom of a three-year old, who helped explain A LOT of stuff and gave me the "low down" on what I really need and what I don't!  And of course for putting up with me AND her toddler as we strolled the long aisles of Babies R Us!  And thank you to my best friend Stacey for being patient with me and my indecisiveness, twice!!! She had lots of awesome advice too after going through this twice with her sister-in-law!
   
2. If you are choosing to buy us a gift (for which we are very thankful!) you are welcome to shop around for better prices.  The registry makes it easy for us to exchange items if we get doubles of anything.... I chose to register at Babies R Us for the ease of having just about anything you could imagine you would need for a baby under one roof.  But Babies R Us isn't always the cheapest place.

Bring on the third trimester!

According to most sources I am now officially in the third trimester!  Woo hoo!  BUT that means we only have 3 months left to prepare!  Yikes!

Thankfully I've taken the first few steps and finally started my registry.  Unfortunately it is not yet complete though as after 2.5 hours and having only made it through about half the store I was too exhausted to continue.

Some notes I want to share about my registry:

1. I do not expect gifts from anyone.  The registry is as much for me to prepare and be able to purchase items piece by piece as it is for people who would like to buy gifts.  I often feel like making a registry is a way of begging people to buy you things, but I think it's just nice to have everything you need written in one place, especially since it would be impossible to afford it all at once.
2. I did not put any clothing on the registry.  First off, we do have quite a bit of nice stuff from Andrea and Jason's dad and Donna.  But I also know that people LOVE buying clothes anyway, so I'm not going to tell them what they should buy.  If you would like to purchase clothes for Floodling, feel free to pick something you think is cute.
3. I do plan to breastfeed.  I may have a post about this topic later, though I'm not looking for as much input as I have with past issues (childbirth, diapers, etc.).  I am pretty convinced this is the way I want to go.  I did not register for supplies for breastfeeding though as I don't foresee people wanting to pick up nursing pads and nipple creams and such for me.... I also do not know what I'm going to want in the way of a pump and all of that.
4. Even though I plan to breastfeed I did register for bottles and supplies.  I will be going back to work so I will have to pump and therefore have bottles for feeding.
5. I registered for my stroller and car seat at Wal-Mart because both were a lot cheaper there... Babies R Us does sell the same items though and depending on if there is a good sale going on they may be cheaper at Babies R Us.... I am not a huge fan of Wal-Mart overall, but sometimes you just can't beat their prices...
6. My registry is not yet complete.  I realize I do not have any receiving blankets yet.... a play pen.... and plenty of other things.  A girl can only do so much in one day, especially a preggo one!
7. I did register for things like sippy cups for later on.... I figure the more prepared we are now, the easier it makes it later!
8. If you are choosing to purchase a gift for us, when it comes to the small things I'm really not excessively picky about brand, style, etc. (pacifiers, bibs, towels, for example).  You do not necessarily have to find the exact item on the registry.  If it makes you feel more comfortable, that's fine, but overall I have a feeling that everything and anything will be useful!
9. Again, if you are purchasing a gift, the registries have our shipping information so if you choose to purchase online, items can be shipped directly to us.

All that being said, you can view my Babies R Us registry here and my Wal-Mart registry here.

As I said, we are now officially into the third trimester at 27 weeks.  Floodling is growing bigger and stronger by the day!  I'm enjoying feeling his antics in my belly and was allowed to rest a little knowing that apparently he's so squiggly now because he still has a little space to do acrobatics.  When he's bigger, however, the space will be tighter and he won't be quite as mobile.  I've been concered about what he's going to do to my insides when he does get even bigger and stronger so that news was somewhat comforting.

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother him, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

More thanks!

This is a big thank you to our friend Jessica!!  We now have a crib! Thank you Jessica (and Lilly too, of course!)  I'm starting to feel like things are finally coming together!  Maybe we will actually be ready for a baby in three months....  I think I'm also finally ready to do my registry this weekend... it doesn't seem like it should have taken me this long to get it done (register for things I want!? How hard is that??)  But there are just so many big decisions, and by now you have all figured out that me and decisions are like oil and water!

Isn't it nice?  It has a built in changing table and storage too!

(And no, the Paris painting on the wall will not be staying there... doesn't really go with the "golf" theme!)

Strollers and car seats???

So my outing yesterday was fairly successful.  I am glad I went alone and gave myself plenty of time to peruse and meander through the stores.  I played with and touched plenty of things... my dad will tell you how much I LOVE to touch things (it used to get me in a lot of trouble at stores because it frequently led to breaking or spilling things), but in this case I felt it necessary to touch, feel, and play so I could really get an idea of what I was looking at. Opinions are welcomed and wanted again!! :D  (Again, you do not have to log in to post a comment, you can choose "anonymous" then you can sign your name.  Or you can e-mail me!)

While I sorted out a few of my questions by playing with some things, I now have some new questions.  First off, what kind of stroller do I want???

Do I want a "travel system" like this one from EvenFlo:

These "travel systems" seem to be very popular these days. Basically they come with an infant car seat that clips on top, but the car seat can be removed and underneath is a regular stroller for infants to toddlers.  They have all kinds of perks like cup holders, baby wipe holders, storage beneath, purse hooks etc.  This particular one was easy to maneuver, folded down with a one-handed push of a button and twist of a handle, and I loved the handle on the car seat and the stroller itself:

 

I was also a fan of this model from Graco.  It was heavier than the above one, but only by a bit.  I particularly like the pattern.  It was also easier to fold up one-handed and the pieces seemed to snap together a little more easily.  But it didn't have the "twisted" car seat handle nor the one-handed steering handle like the stroller above.

But maybe I want a stroller and car seat seperately?  Most of the travel systems are really bulky and heavy.  I like that you can plop the car seat in so you don't have to transfer the baby, but I don't like how cumbersome they seem.  I did find this though:

It allows you to clip in an infant car seat, as pictured below (ignore the pink, I grabbed the closest appropriately branded car seat):

It, like the others, folds up with one hand but is soooo much lighter.  And I understand that it will only be good while baby is in the infant car seat, but I keep reading that most people recommend getting an umbrella stroller or a simple stroller like this later on anyway....

 

I am NOT a strong girl, especially in the upper body department, and though I was working on that with a personal trainer (pre-pregnancy of course), and I know I'll get more strength once I'm lugging a baby around, I really don't want to deal with something heavy and cumbersome.

When it comes to car seats in the first place I don't even know what I'm looking for!  All of the above involve infant car seats, but do I want an infant to toddler convertible car seat?  My question is how soon we'll be thinking about having another little one.... and I don't really know right now.  But if one is going to be a toddler and another an infant at the same time (which is most likely), it seems we ought to have separate car seats anyway otherwise we'd have to buy a new infant car seat to accommodate the baby while Floodling is using the convertible one as a toddler seat.

In any case, I think I really like this pattern, what do you think??  Is it neutral enough to accommodate future little ones should we end up having a girl later on??

 

Close up of fabrics:

 

And I also liked this one (I was kind of surprised that I did):

 

Close up of fabrics:

Both of these were Graco and had matching high chair, play pen, swing, etc.  Obviously I need to choose a brand/model I like before I choose a pattern I like... otherwise I'll end up choosing a stroller/car seat based on how "pretty" it is (a bad habit of mine that I am trying to avoid), but just curious what you think.

I also did some searching for fabrics in another attempt to settle on a nursery theme.  I came up with this combo in the "dino" department that I thought was cute, but maybe a little bright:

I also ventured into new territory... doggies:

As for something simple and theme-neutral, I really liked these prints:

Overall, I think one of my faves is still the "golf" argyle print:

 

I found some really cute stick-on leaves (that peel off the walls later) that might go with the above, and with a golf theme... I think they would be cute covering one wall.

Enough visual material for you today?  Can you tell I am a visual person???

I would REALLY love some opinions and thoughts! :D

Saying "thank you"!!!

Feeling a little unloved right now... only my mom commented on my previous post?  I really want to know your opinions and your own experiences...
 
My plans for today include hitting up Babies 'R Us, Target, Jo Ann Fabrics, and Borders all in attempt to sort out many of the millions of questions racing through my mind and to try and nail down some of the things we need and want.  I don't think I'm quite ready to start my registry... today is kind of a "research" day.  I think the "nesting" instinct is beginning to kick in though... it started with my freak out last weekend that lead to the deep cleaning of my dining room.  I know it seems unrelated, but basically the room that will be Floodling's is a storage room right now, so we were wondering where we were going to put all the stuff, especially considering our dining room was overflowing with more junk that we had no idea where to store!  So I cleaned the dining room, Jason brought down the futon from his game room and replaced it with the bed from the guest room (to be Floodling's room), and now we more or less have an empty room ready for baby!  Phew....

Actually, the baby room is definitely not empty.  It is already starting to fill up with baby stuff thanks to wonderful in-laws!  (I dislike using the word "in-laws" though... it seems too impersonal, but I don't really have a better term).  Jason's sister Andrea had a baby boy (Noah!) last June so she sent some awesome bags of clothes!  I had a great time sorting through what was there!  It's actually quite perfect considering Floodling *should* be needing the same sizes of clothes during the same seasons!  Also, Jason's dad and step-mom Donna hit up a consignment sale and bought us a TON of goodies, including some more adorable clothing, a Leap Frog bouncy seat, a little "tent" to take him outdoors, a bath seat, and a Diaper Genie (woo hoo!) WITH refills!!  I believe there was more that I am just not remembering off the top of my head.  They also bought some cute little shirts and sweatshirts at Kohl's yesterday, and I LOVE this little brown fleece sweater that says "Hot Dog" and has a little weiner dog on it.  Too cute!  We are so appreciative of all the wonderful things we've already gotten from people!!  It has been daunting realizing how expensive things might get.

We also have two friends who have a number of the "big ticket" items left over from having their baby girl 3 years ago.  It's all in GREAT condition, and a very neutral theme (animals).  They've offered to let us use whatever we need (play pen, high chair, stroller, infant car seat), which is awesome!  Our debate right now though is if we'd rather have our own things since we're planning on having more than one in the future...  but it's nice to have a back up for now knowing that all of this adds up FAST!

I have a new "fruit" picture again!  He is an eggplant this week!  I read that baby is about 13.5 inches long right now, so I got out my ruler at school (only 12 inches of course) and am shocked!  How can that be inside my belly?  Of course I know that Floodling is curled up, it's not like I have a 13.5 inch stick in my belly, but still... it's really starting to dawn on me just how big I'm going to get!

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.