Showing off the stash...

No, not the lovely red mustache that has become a permanent fixture on my face... my baby gear stash!

This kid is spoiled for clothes. No really, she already has 112 pieces of clothing and some of those are 2 piece outfits. Yikes! So far we have amassed the following items for Squirrel, mostly through gifts and hand-me-downs:

• A pack n' play (gift)
• An infant-to-toddler bathtub (gift)
• Crib bedding, diaper stacker, valence and matching changing pad cover ($150 on Amazon)
• A dresser (freecycle, plus $18 for paint)
• An activity mat with a musical mobile (gift)
• 4 penguin-themed children's books (Daddy gift from London, £20)
• 3 FuzziBunz cloth diapers ($13 resale)
• A red wrap-style baby carrier ($40 from BabyEtte on etsy)
• 2 handmade burp cloths (gifts)
• A swanky handmade nursing cover (gift, laying on the pack n' play in the pic)
• A polka-dot swaddler from a craigslist lot of winter baby girl clothing ($30 for over 60 pieces of various sizes listed below)
• A pink Halo sleep sack (from craigslist winter lot)
• 19 Newborn outfits (5 gifts, 14 from craigslist winter lot)
• 50 size 0-3 outfits (16 gifts, 34 from craigslist winter lot)
• 11 size 3-6 outfits (2 I couldn't resist, $6 at Carter's, 9 from craigslist winter lot)
• 20 size 6-9 outfits (all gifts)
• 2 size 12+ outfits (all from freecycle)
• 11 size 18+ outfits (all from freecycle)
• 19 size 24+ outfits (from freecycle & gifts)
• 12 toys including a penguin stroller clip-on thing that shakes! (all gifts)
• A vintage red pleather bag, heretofore re-purposed as a diaper bag! (already had it!)
• 8 bibs (all gifts)
• A super soft pink polka-dot blanket (gift)

I love, love, LOVE the gorgeous nursing cover and the bedding because neither of them are pink and they match any room of our house!!

We're so very lucky to have so many great friends and family members sending us baby love... Squirrel is off to a good start I think! If she were here tomorrow all we'd really scramble for is a car seat, a boppy, a pack of newborn diapers and some baby wash.

The painting of her room will hopefully happen soon. We're going with a light greeny-sage color called Wasabi Powder (Behr color UL200-16 if you're really curious). A fitting name, as the mobile I'll be making is origami! Can't wait to really get started!

The Beetus and What in the HELL was that?

So I'll get the crappy news out of the way first - I failed my one-hour gestational diabetes test. My highest allowed score was a 130 and I got a153. Extra credit is not good in this situation, so now I'm slightly freaked out. Tuesday is my next appointment which will include a 3-hour test. Draw blood, drink super sugary flat Sunkist, draw blood again several times over the next 3 hours to see how my blood processes sugar over time. Fun and exciting, I simply cannot wait.

If I do end up having gestational diabetes, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I've done well with controlling my portions, staying active even when I don't feel like it and generally just trying to be healthier. Both of my grandmothers had the beetus later in life so it very well could be genetics that are working against me, not my occasional bad habits. Either way, it will be a pain to deal with poking myself for the next few months if I come back positive, but I can handle it. And maybe my change in diet will get Joshua to change his less-than-healthy eating habits too. I should know my fate by the end of next week.

And now the coolest thing ever.

Last night we had an Ordeal of the IKEA Variety. We (and by "we" I mean Joshua and David while I was at a baby shower for my dear friend Carol) bought an amazing entertainment center that bolts to the wall and has doors to hide stuff and also doesn't look like it's about to topple over onto small children. All these things are a massive bonus given our impending arrival and the already very active toddlers we have in our life. Hooray for no more of my hovering next to the TV.

Of course if you've ever purchased something from IKEA you know it's not always quite as easy as it sounds, or looks. Creepy illustrations of safety dos and don'ts complement the pages upon pages of steps instructing you, the sucker consumer, where to insert small pegs and hand-screw oddly-shaped bolts. Ingenious designs, but totally a pain in the ass.

This is where it gets cool.

Into hour 4 of our IKEA Ordeal, way past my bedtime especially given the amount of socializing I had done for the day, I'm in a foul mood and coming down off what is surely my 18th wind while laying on the couch, half-watching Joshua affix the doors to the shelving units. Shirt up to give the belly some air, resting my hand where Squirrel usually hangs out, not really wanting or hoping for anything extraordinary to happen because surely she's is just as tired and uncomfortable and pissed off as I am.

And then, my belly hits a 9 on the Richter scale. The symbiote is having an incredible rock concert that shakes my entire stomach and as suddenly as it started, it stops... and a tiny appendage pokes up, makes its way across about 3 inches of stomach, and disappears.

Peter, Paul and Mary what in the HELL was that??

It was like Shark Week... a single fin emerging from the mysterious deep, narrated by Jacques Cousteau in my delirious brain. I'd been given a live, non-electronically-assisted glimpse of something human inside me and my only verbal response was some combination of "whooooaaaa" and "oh WOW that was weird". I begged her to do it again. I even called her by her full name in true mom-style, hoping to strike fear into her precious little heart to perform for me one more time. No luck. And I have yet to feel another knee... or elbow.

Her performance did thrust me into my 19th wind, and we did end up finishing the entire 3 pieces of the entertainment center and shelving that we purchased, albeit not completely finalized nor bolted to the wall. A kick, nudge, fin from her is all it took to get me back into a productive, happier mood. Looking forward to much more of that sort of unconditional, innocent encouragement outside of the womb from you, Squirrel.

The mostly finished product of our IKEA Ordeal. Doors and drawers make me happy in the mommy pants.

25 week belly

Ta-da!

Also, "ta-blah" applies. Thankfully she's just pushing out forward, not sideways too.

It's a regular Tae Bo gym in my tummy lately. I can see her karate chop from the outside now, which is strangely endearing. Mostly just strange though. Squirrel is still being such a good girl... she lets me sleep all the way through the night. Keep that habit, child.

Went through a mess of nesting this past weekend. Bought paint for Squirrel's dresser, new stuff for the house and started sorting through Random Boxes of Crap that have been sitting in our closet for 2 years. I put a bunch of stuff up on Freecycle for porch pick up, but nobody wants it... at least not yet. I'll give it a week then it all goes to Katy Christian Ministries. Also started rolling ideas around with Mom for our girl's first scrapbook pages, starting with the ultrasounds. Once I get those put to paper you can bet I'll be posting them!

Also, I've forgotten to post this because I didn't have it scanned until last week, but... for my birthday I got a 24 week ultrasound. You can see her little face...the first pic is a sweet smile, the second pic is a death metal scream! Expressive little Squirrel!

I'm late. Again.

I told you guys I was terrible at this.

Since last update I have...

*Played awesome hostess at a killer July 4th party. Here's a picture of all the pregnant ladies at the party, due November, September and June (born July 7!) in order left to right.

*Turned a year older (now 27)

*Gazed nervously at the still unfinished pink baby headband, afraid to do the final finishing stitch

*Most likely eaten my weight in Pringles

*Started crying MUCH easier than I ever thought I would

*Purchased this super cute crib bedding for Squirrel's room

*Popped

That's right, the dreaded "pop". When viewing my from the side, my boobs no longer stick out the farthest on my body. As evidenced below...

Whiiiiiiiiine. Everyone says I look great. I certainly feel great, and I think I look ok. It's just hard to watch yourself go through so many changes, no matter how expected they are.

So that picture was snapped at 22 weeks, 3 weeks ago. And this is at 24 weeks, taken after a night on the town for my birthday, July 15...

Next up? I want to start sanding and preparing to paint the dresser that will eventually go in Squirrel's room. And paint, definitely paint.

Having conversations with my little girl

Things are a bit off at the Heerssen household lately. Joshua has been gone a lot, first with chaperoning kids for a week at a theatre convention out of state, and now he's started grad school and stays with our very good friend David downtown 3 nights a week. He's at school 12 hours a day, 4 days a week and it just makes sense so he doesn't have to drive so far every day. I am so proud of him and happy for him that he loves what he does so much... but at the same time I miss him badly.

It's kind of hard on me because there are things that I can't do around the house that NEED to be done... cleaning, yard work... but because I'm pregnant, I simply can't. I've tried and I just get too out of sorts too quick, dizzy, crampy... all those things you're not supposed to be feeling. I don't feel safe, but I feel like a huge slacker because I'm not doing these things. We're having our annual July 4th party this Saturday and I feel anxious just thinking about it because there is so much to do, most of it I'll be doing without help.

Anyway, that kind of explains the lack of updating and belly pics and all that. I wish I were better at taking pictures of myself so I could continue to document my growing belly like I have been. I've missed 2 weeks now and that's kind of depressing.

Outside of the real world and in womb land, Baby Girl is doing great. She's flipping around and bopping me all the time. I don't really feel her from the outside yet... I touch my belly and she knows it and stops grooving. When she's really active at work and it's distracting me I'll rub my stomach and she's quiet for several minutes... then she'll start up again. I've started talking to her, asking her what's up and why she's moving so much. My coworkers are used to it.

I've also started singing to her when we're alone, just singing whatever is on the radio or on my iPhone. She can hear my voice now, which is cool. I'll put my phone on my lap sometimes while I'm driving or on my belly when I'm laying down and turn on Explosions in the Sky, an instrumental rock band that I love. Mozart it isn't... but I'm not a Mozart person. I downloaded a bunch of string quartet covers of classic and modern rock songs to play too. Happy medium I think. I don't put much stock in the whole "play music to your baby in the womb" thing really... but it makes her wiggle, so I like to do it.

Her Nonni, my mom, has started calling her "Whooz-it" seeing as no one will know her name until she's born. We may or may not already have it picked out. We'll never tell!!

Other news, I've started to knit. I have one practice headband 95% done... surprisingly easier than I expected. I'm looking forward to cranking out more and putting them on her little head.

She'll be here before I know it...

The baby hoarding has begun...

Now that we know we're having a girl, I've been shopping... and I'm not buying anything else.

So far, from gifts and from the 4 things I bought this weekend, we have... a dresser for free, a pack n' play and a bunch of toys for free from Joshua's teaching partner Maggie, lots of outlet covers and more toys from my sister-in-law Karen, 3 footed newborn-sized pajamas and a robe from Joshua's mom, several 0-3 sized outfits, 2 size 6 outfits, 4 footless gowns, one pack of 9 month onesies, and one Darth Vader toddler t-shirt (thanks Julia!) From what I hear about how fast she'll grow out of them, hoping for no more newborn-sized stuff... but we'll see.

Reeses, inspecting the pack n' play. All of the cats were pretty concerned about this particular piece of furniture.

Boba Fett and the toys.

I'll be trying very hard to keep her in neutral colors, like blue, red and green, that are still distinctly "girl." I've never been a pink person so I don't want too much that looks like a floral shop threw up all over her. But I know that's going to be hard to combat, given the choices out there and given the fact that people think girl and think pink. Gag me.

As far as my registries are concerned, I really think I've added everything I can that is absolutely essential. Mom is helping me decide what crib bedding I like. The nursery plan is neutral colors, green, brown and blue, with really fun artwork and accents all over the room.

Cloth diapers are going to be a whole different animal. I'll probably just get those on my own.

I'll be ramping up my knitting in the coming months, totally to stereotype, and learning how to make little hats. Because seriously, who doesn't love a baby girl in a cute little headband or hat. I'd rather her be super girly with the little hats. People who wear hats have character.

It's a squirrel!

TP measurement for today is 11.75 squares... but that's not at all the biggest news of the day.

We're having a sweet baby squirrel... I mean girl and I couldn't be more thrilled!!

I'd gotten to the point of quitting trying to decide what I felt like "it was" and just let it be. Not like I could change anything, nor could anyone else who may have wanted things one way or another. So, with that attitude, despite all my trepidation and whining about surprises, we were off to the land of 30 minute ultrasounds.

The found the placenta and Head measurement first, looked great. The technician said there was a good-looking brain in there, like her mom. Then onto arms, hands, spine, stomach, kidneys, legs, feet, heart, arteries and those "3 lines" they always look for when they don't see a twig and berries. Her legs were crossed during the ultrasound, which if I remember correctly from my mom, my legs were also crossed at my ultrasound. We're ladies.

At one point the tech had her foot in full view. The tech was pushing and prodding around still, and baby girl did NOT like that at all and kicked away from the wand. I can't wait until Joshua and I can really feel her kick and punch. We got to see her face too. She was just chillin' and grinning.

Two of our friends also found out the sexes of their little ones today... a girl and a boy. Out little jellybean will surely have her pick of all the boys in our group of friends.

I have to say, calling her "she" instead of "the baby" or "symbiote" or "it" feels a lot better. We got a video and pictures, albeit only a few pictures. Once I get them online I'll add them to the blog.