Central Oregon Blogger Meet-up

On non-baby related news ....

Central Oregon Blogger Meet-up
Wednesday, April 30, 5:30ish at the Summit, Downtown Bend
To RSVP visit this event's page on Upcoming and click "I'm Going!", leave a comment, or email me at jenblackledge at gmail.com

The first blogger meetup was a big success! Since then there's been a lot of growth and new folks have popped up in our local "blogosphere". Meetups like this are a nice chance for all of us to gather, unwind, and put some faces together with the blogs.

This event is primarily intended for bloggers who wish to meet other bloggers. If you don't have a blog, then this may not be the get-together for you. So, if you just can't stand not being there and don't already have a blog... what are you waiting for?!

Busy times...

People are just starting to touch my belly. I'm OK with people I know touching my belly, for the record. But call me "huge" and I'll bit your head off. I have less than 7 weeks to go. I also learned I can not wear heels anymore. Ouch! My feet still hurt today.

Friday I ended up with dehydration contractions again. I'm taking water with me everywhere and I'm going to drink 32 oz before leaving the house and heading to work. It's the worse feeling to have to lay down on the floor in your office for an hour. I guess for me, it's embarrassing because I'm working hard and have a list a mile long to get down and I have to lay down! Ugh.

We had our "Baby ABC's" class at Birthing & Beyond yesterday and learned things I never thought of about baby care, breast feeding and the 5 S's. My husband was amazed at how easy it is to quiet a baby with those 5 S's.

I am feeling overwhelmed that I'm running out of time. I need to schedule our house for a deep clean though everyone tells me that nesting is going to kick in. I have been so lazy with cleaning the house, I hope people don't pop in and want to use the bathroom - it's gross. The baby's room needs to get organized and I need to make a trip to Entrees Made Easy to get meals prepped for my husband to make.

I have exciting news and I feel so lucky -- my husband will be working from home starting in a month. What timing! He'll be home all summer and the baby won't have to go to day care full time -- just 20 hours a week. He told his employer on Friday and then go word over the weekend that he got a part time job from home. The job is twice his salary and 10 hours less a week. But now I'm relieved that there will be help in the afternoon. Yay, how life works out sometimes.

I pick up my cloth diapers tomorrow. My husband is not excited about this. He'd rather throw disposables in the landfill but I remind him this is for the best. He's also mad we're not doing a diaper service. I think he'll get over it.

Off to Target. I need to return the diaper pail I bought -- I need a trash can with tight lid and I'm going to try and return my Advent bottles for BPA free. I wish I would have known about BPA before registering.

This week is exciting a small shower, cloth diapers, I get to see my good friend from Eastern Oregon (I MISS YOU), breastfeeding class and a bachelorette party!

100 oz a day?

Last night I knew something was off -- I kept having these funny cramps every hour. I thought I might have overdone it with my walk with Diana. Then this morning, the little bugger wasn't moving and I freaked out. Work has been a little bit on the stressful side so I thought that maybe I was too busy to sit and take notice so I called the doctor.

An hour later, she ran all kinds of test ... FFT, UTI and then the non-stress test. She said my cervix was hard as a rock but then the non-stress test came by I was having mild contractions twice an hour. The culprit -- water. I'm only drinking 26 oz a day when I should be drinking 100 oz. Do you know how much peeing that is? That is going to the bathroom twice and hour.

So, I've drank 78 oz today so far and my kidneys are hurting but I have 7 weeks to go.

The doctor says that if I go full term my baby is going to be 9 lbs now. She's going to sit and think about it until my next appointment. She's also toying with the idea of me starting maternity leave at 36 weeks to reduce my stress levels which is scary because that's not far off. YIKES!

I'll keep you posted!

Baby bump 30 weeks

Baby bump 30 weeks
Originally uploaded by Shanlee

When Brian took this photo, I THOUGHT he was taking it of the dog. Everyone is waiting for my bump to drop because I'm carrying really high.

Photos from the shower

Baby Shower by Joey
Originally uploaded by Shanlee

Here are photos from my fabulous shower. I can't begin to thank my family and friends for the wonderful and thoughtful items for my lil guy!

OMG showers!

I am so tired but I have to post something about my baby shower ... it was awesome. My friends and MIL were so gracious. We got so much stuff, I still don't know what we need. I'm set on onesies for the first year, I believe.

Thank you to everyone! I am so blessed AND I have two more showers to go.

My feet are killing me and I'm so tired. Must put feet up and rest.

31 weeks

I can not believe I'm 31 weeks meaning I don't have much longer to go. I feel good about where we're at with things around the house. My husband is going to finish painting our bedroom this weekend and he's going to start on the hallway/living room/dining room/kitchen next weekend.

Next weekend we start childbirth classes. I wasn't going to take them since I'm not going the natural route but my husband insisted just in case I went into labor in the middle of no where. I have a Baby ABCs class along with a breast feeding class, a meeting with our pediatrican and a tour of the birthing center.

I haven't packed my bags and I agree with everything -- that list is WAY too much stuff and I'm not birthing in clothes of my choice.

Lately, this little guy has been really active at night. During the morning he's really active and then get nothing until I'm home from work. Someone told me this means his days and nights are mixed up. YIKES! It's amazing the twists and turns he makes at night. My husband is mesmerized by the belly movement. And when I wake up to go to the bathroom, he's a moving away.

I can't believe I don't have much longer. This is has gone too fast!

Photographing your bebe

So, Brian suggested we start looking for someone who specializes in baby photography so we can get newborn pics when he arrives since his announcement is designed and I've started the digital scrapbook. I'm not at all interested in showing my stretch marked belly to no one so maternity shots are out of the question. I think if I were a little skinnier, I'd do it but I'm having body image issues as of late.

This is when I wish I was a good photographer because the pricing is all over the place. Mind you, this comes when I'm not working and we're down to Brian's part time/freelance income but we have been saving. I'm just looking for someone to shoot the photos and give us a disc because most will go in the scrapbook and a surprise for the grandparents. I have inquired with some of the ppl I know but if you have an suggestions in Bend, let me know in the comments or email me at shanlee at gmail dot com.

p.s. I bought some unisom and slept like a baby. I feel awesome today and can conquer the world

More whining

I've been trying to stay positive and thankful today but I am so sleep deprived it's not funny. I just want to cry it's that bad. Please tell me when I'm sleep deprived with a baby that I can stay focused but I'm having a problem focusing today. Lie if you have to, please.

sigh.

I'm breaking down and buying unisom tonight.

I have surrogate moms

Everyone lately has been asking when my mom was coming out. It's been mostly work ppl that don't know my mom isn't alive and if you catch me on a good day, I'm fine with it but if you catch me on a crazy hormonal day, I'm not.

The thing is, I know I'm gonna be OK. My friend Shawn is coming to stay with me the first. This should be a whole lotta fun considering her baby will be 9 months old. Then a few weeks later, my Arizona in-laws will be stopping by and then a few weeks after that my dad. Yes, my mother-in-law lives her but that relationship, well, is a little estranged for my husband. We haven't seen her in months and then last week I ran into her at the hospital. She was shocked at how huge I've gotten. Do I think she'll be much help? Can't say but she hasn't been much in the 4 years I've lived her so I don't see anything starting now.

BUT, this leads me to all of those who are mothers in my life. For example, Joey, my lovely boss. She doesn't have kids (just a crazy Britney Spaniel) and she feels like a mom to me. She even asked if she could be the baby's surrogate grandma. She stepped in and threw me a shower! She's always willing to listen and always willing to give hugs when needed.

I have others, like Shawn's mom, Jane. She even offered to come over from Salem and help out.

And there are my aunts, though they live in the midwest, always want to know what's going on and have plenty of advice to offer.

I'm fortunate to also have a lot of Bend friends and out of state friends to offer advice and arms to hold baby.

So, the point of this post -- I'm going to be fine. I just have to stop breaking down in tears when ppl ask me.

Gotta love hormones. 9 more weeks to go!!!

Much better spirits

I had a little scare when I went to my regular OB appointment on Thursday. My blood pressure was elevated. The doctor was a tad worried so she made me sit around and have it retaken 20 mins later. It ended up being fine so after that, I didn't go back to work -- I went home and prepared for my three day weekend with my husband to Eastern Oregon. I figured I deserved that much. Last week was a bit rough, with the hormones and all so the thought of a relaxing 4.5 hour drive to Baker City was all I could think about -- oh and the pizza my friends were going to feed us.

I must say, our good friends spoiled us this weekend. Pizza, salads, appetizers, subs, stromboili - I think I will have to eat vegetables and fruit for the next week to make it for it. And since there wasn't much to do in the winter in Baker City (there is skiing but I can't do that right now), Brian and I just relaxed at this lovely spot called "The Cat in the Hat."

We took our time getting home. Something about car rides lately make me so thirsty.

Nine weeks to go. I'm excited and nervous all at once!

This &%$* is bananas

I have the lyrics of "Hollaback Girl" in my head -- well the bad part of the song that is. I believe the hormones are kicking in full force. Btw work, home, trying on maternity clothes (OMG, I look like a cow) and some unpleasant new pregnancy symptoms I feel like if one more thing goes wrong or I get one more complaint, I will blow it.

I cry at the dumbest things. I cried over something at work yesterday I'd never cry over. I was crying in the shower yesterday. I cry when I come home and saw the sink full of my husband's lunch dishes. I cried when my boss said the reassuring things I usually say to her. I cried when I tried on maternity clothes.

When I get this way, I try to think positive. I try to use "The Secret" I'm always preaching about but it's just been a total snowball of life things.

Pray that it gets better. Please.

Changes in our lives

Over a year ago, my lunch date Shawn and I would have been talking about roller derby but today we were talking about babies. It's amazing how friendships evolve when a new little one joins your life. Today we talked about making baby food and breastfeeding.

It seems that really no one in our lives really has breast feed. Our mothers didn't along with a lot of family and friends so when I tell ppl I'm going to breastfeed, I don't get flack but a lot of questions about why I want to do it. I'm all about saving money and that's really why I want to do it.

Shawn also turned me onto Ask Dr. Sears. I wish I would have known sooner about this but now I know. I think I'd get more out of this than Babyfit.com.