"Big Noggin"

I got a call from my doctor's office saying that Dr. Norwood was going to need to do a surgery this afternoon, so I would need to come in right away if I wanted to see him (a little over an hour early). So I rushed out and got to the office within about 15 minutes, but he had already left. I ended up seeing one of his associates, Dr. Shannon McCants.

She. Was. Awesome. She's YOUNG, I would guess early 30s, and totally down-to-earth and unpretentious. She told me she chose Dr. Norwood to deliver both of her own children, which was a great sign for me! She was very encouraging and positive. I was concerned that I had gained a couple of pounds since I saw Dr. Norwood about two weeks ago. She said basically that it's summer and I'm almost eight months pregnant, so I'm going to be carrying around some extra water weight and I need to not worry about the numbers on the scale. I'm still well within the healthy range, but it's bizarre to feel like gaining a pound or more every week is okay and normal!

I asked her about this thing the baby does where he'll just start shuddering really dramatically for several seconds. I hate sounding like a worrywart, but it feels like a seizure, you know? She said that's perfectly normal and is just the sign of a developing nervous system. It's not a seizure.

I also asked her about the hiccups, and if me feeling them in different places (not just my lower abdomen) means he is not head down all the time. She said he's going to be able to move around for a couple more weeks before he runs out of room, so it's very possible that he would be rotating positions. That's different from what Dr. Norwood told me a couple of weeks ago (he said once they find the head-down position, they like to stay there since it's comfortable). But it makes sense, based on what I'm feeling. Plus, it's no secret that our guy likes to move... I have been feeling him do acrobatics in there since 16 weeks. They can turn him to head down as late as 38 or 39 weeks, so she just said don't worry about it.

My doctor's nurse had told me at my last visit they would do an exam and draw blood this week, but they ended up deciding to wait until I'm 35 weeks and my doctor is back in the office. So it was a pretty easy visit. We heard the heartbeat (it was varying between 150 and 160 bpm) and she pointed out where his butt was. :) The baby was head down during the appointment, and when she found his head, she said, "There it is, what a big noggin!" Groannnnn. Just what I need after hearing last week that his head is really hard, too.

She didn't measure my belly but seemed pretty comfortable with everything. Great "bedside" manner... If my doctor were to retire, Dr. McCants would be an awesome choice for our next baby. She said she may be working weekends in July, which would mean she COULD deliver the baby (since my doctor only works weekdays). I'd be okay with that.

Next appointment is in two weeks, then after that I'll start going every week! It's really getting exciting!

This and That

Hi, all! I'm so sorry for the radio silence. I shouldn't make excuses, but I have been really, really busy for the last couple of weeks! ALL good things. :) But for the few weeks, I have spent my weekends being SHOWERED with love by family and friends! I am going to do a dedicated post on the showers sometime next week. Spoiler alert: I'm overwhelmed--in the best of ways--at the outpouring of love and support Brad and I have received. It has been incredible and I feel enormously grateful.

Speaking of gratitude, I need to write more thank-you notes! I literally have just not had time! :-/ If I owe you a thank-you, be patient: I am no less thankful, I am just a smidge busy. (sorrryyyy!!!!)

I'll briefly give you an update on what's happening in Baby Land, though I'll know more tomorrow after my doctor's appointment. I'm going every two weeks now, which is exciting! I have a sneaking suspicion the little babe has rotated in the last couple of days and may not be head down anymore... He gets the hiccups every now and then, and the last time he had them the little thump-thump was on my left side above my belly button, and the time before that the rhythm was coming from my right side. Who knows if that really means anything, but it used to be clear from the hiccups where his head was, now not so much.

The nursery. is. FINISHED!!!! At the risk of sounding like a tease, I'm going to wait to post pics until I get my nice camera (should be a few more days). For Mother's Day this year, I felt like I was given VIP access to this club--the mom club--by mistake. People would wish me a happy Mother's Day and I kept thinking, "Me? But I'm not a mom!" But believe me, I was more than happy to partake of the privileges. I got cards and gifts (including a groovy Mother's Day mix put together by my mom, audiophile Nancy Thorne) and even got treated to brunch by my baby daddy. Brad surprised me by buying me the digital SLR camera that I had been no so subtly hinting about for weeks, but we're still waiting on its delivery.

I haven't had any Braxton Hicks since those two or three contractions I had several weeks ago. Really, I'm feeling very good. The only bummer symptoms are that occasionally, very rarely, I'll get a little pinched nerve in my lower back, but it goes away pretty quickly. Other than that, I'm having a grand time watching my belly undulate as the little dude throws elbows and kicks. It has been so much fun.

I promise to share more soon! Oh, and newsflash: Less than FOUR WEEKS until the baby is considered full term (not preemie), and less than SEVEN WEEKS until his due date!!!

Until next time, here's a photo (well, a photo I took of a photo) of Brad as a baby lounging by the pool at his grandparents' house. It says, "I wonder what the peasants are doing today?" Hahaha. :)

Hardheaded Baby

Took this image of a baby at 32 weeks from BabyCenter.com. Can't believe how much the baby looks like a BABY!

Saw Dr. Norwood this morning. LOVE him, and I know I'm getting great care, but his office has not been on schedule once! This morning I waited for an hour before I saw him. Usually I cut him some slack and assume he was delivering a baby or something, but I don't know. It's just a little frustrating when I have to reschedule conference calls because I'm still sitting in a waiting room an hour after my five-minute appointment was supposed to be.

But enough complaining. There's much to be happy about! As I said, my appointment only took about five minutes, but we were able to hear the baby's strong heartbeat and measure my growth (right on schedule). My blood pressure was good and my weight was on track... I only gained a pound in the last month! What?! I have been eating SO BAD -- burgers, pizza, cake, cupcakes, cookies -- that I thought I was going to get lectured at. The doctor told me I can afford to gain about five to seven more pounds until the baby comes... When I do the math, the baby should gain three to four more pounds, so I have a little wiggle room. Just a little.

There was one very interesting moment during the appointment... The doctor was palpating to feel the baby's position, and he dug his fingers into my lower abdomen and goes, "WOW!" like he was shocked. Not something I really want to hear. When I asked him what was going on, he said, "Your baby has a very hard head! Proves paternity, huh?" Cute joke, but I don't want my baby to have a hard head! His head can suddenly become very hard immediately after birth, but I want it to be soft and sponge-like until he's out of me! You know?

So I haven't googled "unborn baby hard head" yet, but I probably will. Google... frenemy.

The good news is that the baby is head down, yeahhh! I asked Dr. Norwood what the chances of him flipping to head-up are, and he said not high. Apparently our little dude has discovered the most comfortable position, and he's unlikely to want to get out of it until we're ready to meet him. So that's an answer to prayer!

I have had about three Braxton Hicks contractions over the past week and a half. The first two took my breath away because they were so painful, but I have read that they aren't supposed to hurt. So I asked Dr. Norwood, and he said that's baloney -- that in a lot of patients they hurt worse than real contractions because the muscle groups are pulling APART (Braxton Hicks) rather than working together (real contractions).

Now that I'm 32 weeks, I'll start seeing Dr. Norwood every two weeks for the next couple of visits, then every week. Exciting! I can't believe how it's flying by!

Overdue

No, not that kind of overdue... :) I still have about eight or so weeks to go. But I am long overdue for a blog post! I have been writing all kinds of posts in my head -- about Mother's Day, the nursery (almost done!), and more... but I have just been enjoying my FREEDOM (said like William Wallace in Braveheart) since graduating that I haven't sat down to write it all up.

Work has been busy enough, though not as crazy as it was last month and earlier this month. It's kind of nice to feel like it's slowing down a bit after some emotional/chaotic days. I don't plan to take maternity leave (or in my company's case, short term disability) until I go into labor.

We're interviewing a pediatrician this afternoon, then tonight we'll go to IKEA to pick up a few nursery things. We need drawers for baby clothes, a rug, and a couple of RIBBA frames. Once we get those items, all I need is a rocker and/or glider, then bring on the baby! (Okay in all honesty, we probably need a ton more than that, but at least the nursery will LOOK finished at that point.) :)

More soon! Until then, all is well in babyland. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as we get closer to July!

Since I haven't posted a bump shot in a while, here's an iPhone pic I put on Facebook last week at 30.5 weeks.

Bump, Week 29

This photo marks the moment I realized I am officially going to have to start doing my hair for the bump shots. Scary.

Feeling good! After a couple relatively low-key weeks, baby has started moving even more frequently. Just like old times, only stronger kicks and punches! Supposedly the seventh month is the most active. I can't wait to meet him. Yep, I said it. The nursery isn't close to finished, and we are woefully unprepared on the "gear" front, but I am ready to meet this spunky angel boy. Brad is even more impatient than me. What an awesome, fun time this is!

Nursery Sneak Peek

I just attended my last class as an SMU master's degree candidate last night. What an incredible feeling!

With that chapter coming to a close (I expect to have my grades within the next week, and I'll be graduating May 14), I am, of course, THRILLED to move on to the next chapter: motherhood!

As you know, I've been highly anticipating getting to work on the nursery. It's FAR from finished -- Mom is coming to help me with a few sewing projects not this weekend but next -- but progress has been made!

Brad found himself with a free night last Tuesday and decided to paint the nursery. What a guy. He had not painted a room in about 8 years, but he kept reading articles about how babies and pregnant women are exposed to too many household chemicals, including the VOCs in paint, so he insisted he tackle that project. Almost six hours later, during most of which I was at class, the room was painted.

The crib was delivered the next day, and he assembled that in no time. HOORAY!

Ceiling fans... What can I say about them? NEED them in Texas -- plus babies should have good ventilation in their rooms because of SIDS concerns -- but man, are they ugly. I decided to try to make the ceiling fan in the baby's room disappear as much as possible by spray-painting the fan blades white (don't worry, I used a mask). I took before and after pictures but I can't find them on my camera... Oops! Trust me, it's a subtle improvement.

I also made over a little bookcase that my grandmother had used for cookbooks for years. It's a great size and shape - nice and narrow for small spaces - but it has probably seen better days. I decided to paint it celery green (low odor/low VOC paint) last weekend, then distress it and apply a sort-of aging glaze.

Before:

After:

It looks yellow in this picture, but it really is sort of a bright, spring green.

Right now it has mostly childbirth/child-raising/breastfeeding books on it (ha!), but soon I will get some more baby-appropriate reading material, as well as a cute basket, and stage it nicely.

Finally, we randomly bought a chair on Saturday... I moved the dark brown chair and ottoman from our living room into the baby's room, leaving a giant furniture void in that corner of our most lived-in room. I had a $150 Groupon to a furniture store in North Dallas, so Brad and I headed up there just to see what was available. They had a pretty reasonably priced, neutral arm chair, so we pulled the trigger and bought it. Once we got it home, however, we realized it was GIANT and made our couch look really dinky. So, another switcheroo, and now that chair is in the nursery and the brown chair is back where it was in the first place.

Pillows subject to change. I like both of these pillows, but not necessarily together.

More soon! I can't wait for the sewing to commence. I am putting myself on a spending freeze this month, so it may be a while before there is much more to show. I've got an IKEA shopping list at the ready...

Granola Bars

Psst... In case you don't subscribe via RSS or email, scroll down for a Bump Chronicles/appointment update post. 

Bars, poured and rolled

In the process of cutting

I cut away the rough edges, which were great for snacking on at home

Packaged and ready to go!

(Sorry for the bad quality of the photos. My dinky little point and shoot just isn't cutting it. Hoping for a nicer camera - an entry-level DSLR - before the baby gets here!)


I love snacks... always have. One of the things I have liked best about pregnancy is that you're encouraged to eat small meals and snack frequently. The key is making the most of each snack. If I have an apple and peanut butter in the morning, I'll have a stick of cheese or a boiled egg in the afternoon to balance out the food groups, and then maybe a small cup of nutty granola and fat free milk after dinner.

The challenge is snacking on the go. I can't keep string cheese in my purse all the time, and we tend to finish Kashi bars pretty quickly around here, which adds up if I want to have some handy on a regular basis. So when I saw this recipe for granola bars with a decent dose of protein, I knew I wanted to make them. I already had all of the ingredients on hand, though I made some changes, and will change more the next time I make them.

The recipe, with my tweaks and suggestions:

2 cups old-fashioned oats (I used instant because that's all I had, but steel cut would be better)

1/2 c. flax seed, milled

1/4 c. quinoa (it's not clear in the recipe, but you add this dry)

3/4 c. shelled sunflower seeds (use unsalted, the peanut butter plus added salt is plenty)

1 c. chopped nuts (any kind or combination) (I used almonds)

1 c. shredded coconut (unsweetened is best)

1/2 to 1 tsp. cinnamon (desired amount) (I added the full teaspoon, plus some ground ginger)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. brown sugar or your favorite natural sweetener (I added way less than this - maybe 1/4 a cup)

1/2 c. honey (I used a mixture of honey and agave nectar)

2 tsp. molasses

4 T. butter (I cut this in half - did one tablespoon butter and one generous tablespoon coconut oil)

2 tsp. vanilla

4 T. peanut butter (I used Target brand's natural organic peanut butter - my favorite. I definitely recommend a natural peanut butter, as it has a thinner texture than, say, JIF, and works well in this recipe. Almond butter would be good too.)

1 c. dried, chopped fruit (optional) (I used Target's Archer Farms Superfood mix, with pomegranate, blueberry, cherry and cranberry - didn't chop it)

I also sneaked in: 

A scant 1/4 c. oat bran

2 T. wheat germ

1 T. chia seeds/solba (I would have added more but that's all I had)

1. mix first 8 ingredients together and place on a rimmed baking sheet. toast in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes. stir and let cool at least 15 minutes. Watch this closely; the coconut around the edge of the pan burned at about 12 minutes, but it wasn't a big deal.

2. bring next 4 ingredients to a simmer, stirring continuously. stir in the vanilla and peanut butter and cool for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. put the toasted ingredients and dried fruit in a large bowl and pour the liquid ingredients over it. mix very well.

4. place parchment or wax paper in the rimmed baking sheet and butter the top side, then place the granola bar mixture in the pan. put another butter sheet of paper, buttered side down, on top of the mixture and press down. roll with a rolling pin to make it very tight, smooth, and even. Don't worry about rolling it into a perfect rectangle. Just get the basic shape, and when it comes time to cut, you can trim off the uneven edges and snack on those separately.

5. let set for 2-3 hours (in the fridge) and cut into desired bar size. makes about 20-24 bars (I cut them the size - area, not thickness - of Kashi bars and it made 32). package in snack size bags or an airtight container (I rolled them individually in plastic wrap since I knew we'd be eating them on the go and I didn't want to use that many snack bags). if not using within next few days, store in freezer (we stored the wrapped bars in the fridge). they keep very well, and thaw quickly. (really yummy frozen, too!) 

I should have taken more pictures during the actual baking/cooking/mixing process, but I didn't think to. I will tell you these were a huge hit. They really sustain you and are tasty, to boot. I calculated the nutrition info of the bars with my changes. See below. And happy snacking!