6 months!

6 months sounds so far along!  I don't feel like I could possibly be that far along!

This week he is the size of an ear of corn, which seems appropriate right now!

                              

The bump is a-growin'!

This week I went back to school but only had students for 2 days. 

I was amazed though at how tired I was at the end of those days! 

Poor Dan had to live with some easy to make dinners this week while I tried to keep myself from going to bed at 6pm.

The kids loved hearing I was pregnant. I always get such honest answers from kids (which I love). They were so excited for me though and loved reminding their classmates that I had a baby in my belly. So between having hair and a growing stomach I look a lot different from last school year!

This weekend Dan was actually home! For the whole weekend! I felt very spoiled. We hung out with friends on Friday night and went to bed early (see exhaustion from school day). Then Saturday we spent a ton of money at Home Depot and got a lot of work done in the nursery. I am going to save pictures for when we are all done with the nursery. It still looks like a hot mess at the moment.

Saturday night we went to the drive-in for the last time this season. We saw Despicable Me 2 which was very cute. We also enjoyed some corn dogs and elephant ears! Yum! 

We hope next summer to bring baby boy to the drive in as well. Drive-ins seem to make it easy for new parents to go see a movie. Just stay in the car! Kid can pass out in the car seat and parent don't have to worry about disturbing other people by bringing a baby to a movie. 

Questions!

How far along: 6 months!

Total weight gain: 2 pounds again. So the total is 10 pounds with 16 weeks to go. My goal was to only gain 15 pounds. 

Maternity clothes: Doing good! Unfortunately with this heat wave we are having I don't have very many summer maternity clothes. Here is hoping for cooler weather soon!

Stretch marks: Nope! And my new super organic stretch cream seems to be working great!

Sleep: Ouch! Between sore hips and falling asleep hands sleeping is not so easy anymore. Looking into more pillow interventions.

Best moment of this week: Getting so much done in the nursery this weekend and getting to hang out with Dan! We had a lot of fun together.

Miss anything: Caffeine. I have a feeling that might just get worse with the school year.

Movement: Baby boy loves kicking me at school and if I sit down at home. Dan still hasn't felt him though. :(

Food cravings: Chocolate frosting. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Feeling good!

Have you started to show yet: Belly is bigger than my boobs (sorry Dad!)

Gender: Boy Harts

Labor signs: Some tightening at school, but running around made me get dehydrated sooner. I will have to keep up on my water intake.

Belly button in or out: Still in!

Wedding rings on or off: Better this week! Not as swollen!

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy! Looking forward to September being a great month!

Looking forward to: Next weekend I am working on the nursery again. Dan is gone next weekend to the Ozarks so mom and I will be tackling as much as we can. If I can talk her into sitting down for a few minutes we may try and get pedicures too! ;)

two to the three

23 weeks!

Feeling great this week as summer winds down. 

Last Wednesday Dan and I headed over to Barnes hospital which has the Siteman Cancer Center. It is a HUGE complex and the cancer center itself is well renowned. We wanted to have a consultation with another oncologist about the reasons/benefits for keeping our baby's stem cells.

The next course of treatment for me, should the cancer ever come back, is a very high dose of chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant. If you have been pregnant within the last 5 years you may have heard about stem cell banking. I know that most of my weekly pregnancy newsletters talk about it or have ads that are advertising big stem cell banks. 

I thought that having a stash of stem cells set aside may be a good course of action for us. Usually you save stem cells for the child in case they become sick with some horrible disease. 

Well we found out a lot of information that we didn't know. One, that for there to be enough stem cells for a transplant of an adult we would need 2 or 3 donors. Also that 90% of the time with stem cell transplants they use the patients own cells. The other 10% of the time they like to use a close family members. 

So it looks like my baby's stem cells won't get to help me this time, and unfortunately due to the cancer/chemo I can't keep the cells for my baby to use either. We have to "trash" them, as the doctor eloquently put. 

So a long day of driving back and forth to St. Louis, but much information learned.

Other than the trip to St. Louis I had a very lazy week. Trying to soak up as much summer as possible. 

Bump pic!

At first I was worried I didn't look any bigger...

But then I pulled up weeks 18, 20 and 23

Definitely see some growth!

AND! I forgot to mention. I got the job as a youth music coordinator at First Presbyterian Church. I am very excited to start! I took a tour of the church this week and started planning out a program. It will be a program to build from the ground up, but I am excited to do it!

Questions!!!

How far along: 23!

Total weight gain: Ok, only 2 pounds! So pregnancy total is 8 so far. Once school starts my eating habits always get better so I am hoping the weight gain will slow down.

Maternity clothes: I have been on a mission with finding flat shoes to replace all my lovely heels. Having some fun trolling Ebay looking for good deals. With as clumsy as I tend to be I didn't want to risk running up and down stairs and falling. Falling is one of my huge fears with this pregnancy and my school is full of stairs!

Stretch marks: Still none! Planning on making some homemade stretch mark cream out of lovely stuff. I found out bio-oil has some junk in it that makes me nervous to use it anymore.

Sleep: Harder. I end up sleeping on one side most the night and then I wake up so sore! Also my hands keep falling asleep from carpal tunnel brought on by the pregnancy. yippee.

Best moment of this week: Going to the chiropractor for the first time! I was always a little leery about chiropractors but my hip pain convinced me to try it out. I really liked it. The chiropractor was really gentle and works with pregnant women all the time. Afterwards I was able to walk normally! No more pregnant waddle! I am headed back tomorrow to see if the pain in my hips can lessen even more.

Miss anything: Margarita. Sitting on a patio at a Mexican restaurant with Dan and his mom Wednesday night really made me want a chilly, fruity beverage. I treated myself to Sprite instead.

Movement: Feeling a nice kick or 5 everyday! LOVE IT! Now we are trying to catch one so Dan can feel it.

Food cravings: Besides margaritas? Potato skins!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Felt pretty good this week until this morning. We waited awhile before we had breakfast and then I realized that all of sudden I was feeling pretty bad. Cramps, nausea, just awful. Realized that on top of being pretty dehydrated I probably needed to get my blood sugar up to. As soon as I ate some breakfast and had 2 big glasses of water I felt perfectly fine.

Have you started to show yet: Yep!

Gender: Baby Boy!

Labor signs: Feeling great this week. No braxton hicks.

Belly button in or out: In but getting shallower? Is that a word?

Wedding rings on or off: Still wrestling a bit to take it off, but still keeping it on. For now.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, maybe a little overwhelmed by everything coming up. 

Looking forward to: School starting! I always love the start of a new school year. Clean slates, excited kids, new classes, the whole year in front of me to tackle any goals I can come up with. LOVE IT! I may start posting more maternity fashion, just because I was able to get so many great ideas for my wardrobe from looking at maternity blogs. We'll see how I handle looking nice 5 days a week. Eek!

The nursery

It's no secret how much I love to decorate. Our home has seen some decorating changes over the 4 years we have been here. I have added in a yellow piano, a dark bedroom and fun DIY's as we have lived here. Dan is very accommodating to my ideas and decor changes.

For the nursery I had soooo many ideas. I had already helped two friends design their own nurseries and knew how many options were out there. I wanted everything!

I had some great ideas for a girl's nursery, but struggled more trying to come up with a boy's. However! After many incarnations, and much discussion between Dan and I (and girlfriends) I have come up with the nursery idea board:

This is an Idea board, but you get the idea. I already ordered the fabric for the curtains (aqua dandelions) and the crib skirt (grey chevron) and will slowly buy more.

Most of the accessories and decor items are from Etsy (I LOVE Etsy). We are making or DIY-ing a lot of things as well. The crib is from IKEA and super inexpensive, which is awesome!

Three of the walls will be that nice medium gray and then the wall that the crib is on will be aqua. The crib will have gray sheets and then hopefully that gorgeous quilt! Over the crib I am stitching a embroidery hoop wall. Like this: 

The hoops will all be painted white as will the trim and closet doors. So lots of white with a nice soothing gray, a vibrant aqua and pops of red.

I guess if you had to categorize this nursery it is a "woodland" theme in aqua, grey and red. 

I love it and so does Dan! Which really is all that matters, but let me know what you think!! And hey, if you know someone that wants an Idea board for a nursery hit me up! I can't wait till I get to design another one! ;)

Busy busy busy

Dan and I have had a busy week with 2 busy weekends on either side of it. However, we have had so much fun!

Lets start with last weekend. Dan ran his first 5k Saturday morning after getting home from a gig the night before at 3 am. He is such a trooper! And he did really well!

Midas and I were there to cheer him on and I was so proud of him. He had trained for awhile for this.  After he was done with the 5k we hopped in the car and headed to Indy. 

We had a nice chill weekend with my parents and got to see mom sing on Sunday night with her touring choir. They do gigs all around Indy so it was nice to see her sing. 

Monday morning Dan and I woke up and went to meet our friends for a 5 day vacation. We stayed in a beautiful lake house in south eastern Indiana. No cell service. No Internet. Just good friends, good weather and good times. 

Panorama of the basement of the Lodge. We weren't roughing it at all!

             Some people have no problem swimming in a lake! ;)

                            Beautiful sunsets over the lake!

It was so nice to just get to hang out and talk with everyone late into the night. We swam, boated and fished. Oh, who am I kidding! I sat on the dock and read the whole time. But it was still lovely. Half of our group are teachers so it was nice to have one last summer hurrah before we go back to school. 

On Friday Dan drove me back to Indy and I rode down with my parents to Kentucky. Dad's family is from Kentucky and some of his aunts, uncles and cousins still live there. They threw me my first baby shower and then we got to visit with everyone too! It was sooo nice. 

           Such a BEAUTIFUL cake! And it tasted amazing as well!

     The nucleus of our family! We missed having Abby and Dan there!

Sorry for the blurry photo. Even though my great aunts are all over 80 they move fast!

It was so fun to have my first baby shower and get so many cute things for Baby Harts. Thank you so much to Cousin Teresa and Aunt Elaine for throwing me this beautiful shower! Mom, Dad, and I headed back to Indy and then met Dan halfway to Illinois. I finally made it home last night and collapsed!

It was a great weekend, week and then other weekend!! Now here we go with questions for the week!

How far along: 22 weeks. :D Going down the other side of this big mountain!

Total weight gain: I actually don't know at the moment and I am scared to look. Did I mention I have been on vacation? I'll give myself a few days of normal food and then look.

Maternity clothes: I have really been enjoying my maternity jeans. While we were on vacation Dan asked me once if I wanted to go put on some comfy stretchy pants and relax on the couch with him. I lifted up my shirt to show him I always wear comfy stretchy pants now! :)

Stretch marks: None so far!!!

Sleep: It's nice to be back in my own bed, though I have to say staying in a king bed at the Lodge made me really wish we had one. We have a queen and with Fred the body pillow and my big shouldered husband, we run into each other a lot at night. It was really so nice to sleep in a king bed and not wake up every time one of us rolled over.

Best moment of this week: Vacation!

Miss anything: Nope! Not this week. Too perfect.

Movement: Kicks! Actual kicks! I can really feel kicks after breakfast and after dinner. There may be a few punches too since they are higher up, but I feel Baby Harts move every day. It. Is. AWESOME!

Food cravings: Cherries

Anything making you queasy or sick: Even with all the car riding I did, I felt fine. 

Have you started to show yet: I was in a lot of pictures this week, and as you can tell from my shower pic, I do look pregnant now! Which is great since school starts next week!

Gender: Boy!

Labor signs: Some tightening and cramping, but just think baby boy is getting comfy in there.

Belly button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: Really tight this week! :( A few times I took my rings off (after wrestling with them) worried that I would not be able to! They are still tight tonight and I am going back and forth about what to do. Maybe find a bigger ring to wear for the pregnancy.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy, happy!

Looking forward to: Well not necessarily looking forward to it, but this is my last week of summer vacation! I will try and enjoy it to the fullest, but I have a long list of things TO DO before school starts next Wednesday. Also this Wednesday (the 14th) Dan and I are headed to Barnes Hospital which has the Siteman Cancer Center. We are going to talk with a new oncologist about stem cells and what we should do with our baby's once he is born. Stem cell treatment would be the next step for me if the cancer ever comes back. Having stem cells that match my DNA ready to go seem to be the best course of action for us. However, Dr. Rowland (my oncologist) wanted us to go speak with the experts at Barnes to make sure we really needed to keep the cells since banking them is a very expensive endeavor. So, we will head to the huge cancer center on Wednesday to talk about cancer one more time. I am anxious more about being in a cancer center, with the smells and the flashbacks. I just keep telling myself that I don't have to have treatment, we are just talking. Either way, I am enjoying my last week of summer!

We know....

This past week we had a lot of doctor's appointments. I say "we" but really it was all me. We saw Rowland on Monday and he said all my blood work came back fine. Everything looked great and I won't have to see him again till November.

So then Friday came, the BIG DAY!


First, and most importantly, the baby is great. Everything looks perfect, normal, healthy. No worries there, which is great. It really helped Dan and I feel such a sense of relief to know that everything is ok with our child.

Ok, ok, I have kept you waiting long enough.


Baby Harts is a.....

That's right! It's a Boy Baby Harts!

We are beyond thrilled! Half of you were right too, you guessed a boy! :)

So everything looks great. My due date is still the same, 12/17/13 and I'll get to see the little guy one more time at 32 weeks to make sure everything looks good. We met with the midwives after the ultrasound and everything still looks good blood pressure and glucose wise. 

Here is my today bump pic! So this is 20 weeks:

20 weeks in my new maternity jeans and maternity tank top!

I also started to feel Baby Harts move now! My placenta isn't anterior anymore!!! YAHOO! His feet right now are by my lower stomach so I can feel him kick me, especially after dinner. I am hoping soon Dan will be able to feel him move from the outside.

How far along: 20 weeks!! HALFWAY!

Total weight gain: Ok, not so bad. I haven't gained any weight from 2 weeks ago, so total weight gain for this pregnancy is 6 pounds. Not bad so far.

Maternity clothes: Bought a ton! Now I think I'm set for awhile. I have gotten some great deals on Ebay and the consignment shops in town. It's been a lot of fun finding 90 dollar maternity jeans for 10 bux!

Stretch marks: Still bathing in bio-oil.

Sleep: Can't sleep on my back really anymore, but always wake up on it. I hope to head to the chiropractor this week to help with my hip pain.

Best moment of this week: Finding out about our baby and getting to tell all our friends and family!

Miss anything: Being able to sit on the ground comfortably! Went to a park this afternoon with friends and couldn't sit on the ground easily. It sucked!

Movement: Stuff! Weird, light stuff, but STUFF! Kicks I am assuming.

Food cravings: Fruit, English Muffins.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Being back in Rowland's office in the cancer center made me feel so nauseous. I hated that feeling since I wasn't there to get any treatment. :(

Have you started to show yet: You guys tell me! My picture definitely looks pregnant up there, I am just happy to know I am not HUGE yet.

Gender: Boy!

Labor signs: No Braxton Hicks this week.

Belly button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: Still on

Happy or moody most of the time: After Friday was over I felt I had been holding my breath the whole week. I knew I was nervous about seeing if everything looked good on the ultrasound. But Friday night I was able to sleep so hard and realized it was because I wasn't worried or anxious anymore!

Looking forward to: Next weekend we head to Indy to hang out with my parents some and then we head to a cabin with our best friends for a week of vacation! We'll be in the middle of nowhere on a lake in a gorgeous cabin. I have been looking forward to this week all summer! I know we are going to have so much fun and it will be nice to get away with everybody, possibly one last time before the baby comes!

This week

This week is going to be awesome!

Monday morning Dan and I get to take a visit to see our favorite oncologist, Dr. Rowland!

I will have blood work done and a physical examination. There is no doubt in my mind that he will give me a continued clean bill of health. And maybe we'll get to surprise him with my pregnancy!

Maybe not though considering his wife was my fertility doctor. :)

Did I mention that to you all?? We went for an appointment with Rowland in March and the nurse who checked us in made a joke that the only 2 doctors I had on my chart were married to each other! You could have blown Dan and I over with a feather!

What I am thankful for is that both Rowland and his wife are cancer survivors. We have always felt so understood and welcome by them both. I really love my doctors.

So it will be great to see Rowland and hopefully look obviously pregnant. I swear this weekend I shrunk! I don't feel as big! I am almost 5 months pregnant, I really didn't think I could hide it anymore at this point. 

But maybe not. What do you guys think?

I did not do my hair today so you can a neck down shot! Also excuse my painting shirt.

Also this week I get to go to pre-natal aquatic aerobics 2x, and then Friday is our day of appointments. Ultrasound first thing, then meeting with the high risk OB (due to my chemo), and then the midwives in the afternoon. Dan is taking the day off to go to all of the appointments with me and then we'll have some close friends over that night to announce the sex. 

We'll make the rounds that weekend with friends and family and then announce it on the blog Sunday night! So stay tuned!

And for those wondering I am ALL DONE with my grad school courses, I am just waiting for one more grade. For those keeping track, I am now officially half way through with grad school! Yippee!

This weekend was soooo productive! I am so thankful for my mom and all the time and energy she gave this weekend to help me get the house in better shape. We had to change our original game plan to get the nursery ready and instead tackled all the closets in the house.

5 closets, 3 bags of clothes to Goodwill (garbage bags) and 4 bags of trash later, I have organized closets!

The baby's closet is completely empty and ready for a closet organizer, my closet now has an organizer and is gorgeous! The coat closet, linen closet and Dan's closet all are clean and organized as well.

It make me ridiculously happy. Probably too happy, but I love being organized! So thanks Mom for all your help and thanks Dad for lending me Mom for the weekend!

Mom and I also went to a few maternity stores and I finally bought some more maternity clothes. Hopefully I'll have something to wear now, though I am really feeling this cartoon:

This weekend Dan will be home and I hope we can really get started on the nursery, or at least clean the room out completely so it is ready to go for paint. I am waiting to pick the final nursery colors and theme for when we know the sex. I am almost more excited about starting the nursery then knowing the sex! Almost.

Question time!

How far along: 19 weeks! Almost half way! Baby is the size of a Mango.

Total weight gain: I have refused to get on the scale this week. I'll let you know next Sunday.

Maternity clothes: Bought some! Still sticking with elastic waistbands for a little longer, though I do hope I look more pregnant soon!!

Stretch marks: Swore I found one, but Mom and Dan insist it wasn't. I am bathing in bio-oil.

Sleep: The body pillow has become my best friend. The aqua aerobics are hurting my lower back some so the pillow really helps me relax when I sleep.

Best moment of this week: Getting so much done over the weekend with Mom!

Miss anything: Soft cheese. That's all!

Movement: Nothing really this week. :(  I really hope that they tell us at the ultrasound that the placenta has moved more posterior than anterior.

Food cravings: Chinese! I made Mom go to the Chinese restaurant twice this weekend (sorry Mom)!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not necessarily queasy, but if I stand up too fast I get the nice tunnel vision, whooshing in my ears feeling. So now I have to make sure I stand up slowly.

Have you started to show yet: I think I shrunk! :(

Gender: Soooooo close! 

Labor signs: No Braxton Hicks this week.

Belly button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: Staying on! Unlike Dan's!

Happy or moody most of the time: Doing well, just getting anxious for the ultrasound Friday. Besides the sex we are going to find out if anything seems off or not developing correctly. I hope above all else that our baby is healthy.

Looking forward to: Next weekend Dan is home! Plus we will be able to start the nursery. And do I even need to say it...? ULTRASOUND!!!! :D

Yes, Dan is still here.

And he has opinions.  I'm kind of freaking out.
Let me just get this out of the way.  This won't be some mind bending computer code post like last time.

Opinion #1:
Babies are scary.  I know they shouldn't be but I find it hard to believe that any parent out there hasn't been hit by a case of the "what ifs".

Opinion #2:
Dogs are babies best friends. Proof.  I can't tell you how much I hope this holds true in our family.  To know that our first born has a built in companion makes some of the "what ifs" go away.

Opinion #3:
Pregnancy is a beautiful blah blah yackity shmack.  Phooey.  Pregnancy is cruel.  Temporary or not.  Life changing events can be traumatic.  Outside of the fact that it seems to be easier for some people, I don't think it should be taken lightly by anyone.  It's not fair that Julia has to worry about everything she eats, or every piece of discomfort that comes her way.  Given this definition of the word pregnant, it's no wonder that many mothers develop an inherent sense of guilt.  This important person hasn't even said hello yet and some piece of cheese that you thought sounded good might have some terrible bacteria in it that will impact this meaningful life.   Stallone didn't have this much pressure in Cliffhanger.

Opinion #4:
I am a selfish person.  I think everyone should leave me alone and I also don't like to share food.  There, I've said it.  I'm just being honest.  Not because I want you to know something about me, but because I'm afraid that I won't be fair with my child.  Mothers aren't the only ones afflicted by "mom guilt".

Opinion #5:
Entertaining a small child is more difficult than entertaining three hundred wedding guests for FIVE hours.  I've figured it out.  I know what makes grown people break free from the safe comfort of their chairs and let everything out on the dance floor as if no one was watching.  I'm also fairly sure I understand the psyche of a woman, which every comedian will tell you is impossible, more than I understand what on earth a toddler wants to do.

Opinion #6:
I'll be a cool dad when my kid is old enough to hold a soldering iron.  How long does that take?

Opinion #7:
I will never be a cool dad.  And I actually kind of dig that.  I hope I embarrass the heck out of my kids.  If they are embarrassed it is because they actually do want to be around you they are just trying to look cool in front of their friends.  So my goal is uncool.  After thirty-one years of zero organized sports, four seasons of marching band, a penchant for anything Legend of Zelda, and a wardrobe that would make a college student look good; I've about got this in the bag.

Opinion #8:
My wife is amazing.  Sit down for this one.  You want to know what she did while I've been freaking out about a baby?
-Completed a semester load of graduate school courses.
-Planned at least three different permutations of a nursery.
-Organized a flash mob dance at a fourth of July celebration.
-Mowed the lawn.  Twice.
-Fed me.
-Kept the house clean.
-Planned a "Gender Reveal Party"
-Took an aquatic aerobic class.
-Shouldered the burden of worry about our child.
-Planned an out of town vacation with some of our best friends.  A well needed one at that.
-Babysat for our friends.
-Fed me.
-Found great prices on maternity clothes.  Like free!
-Insisted that corn dogs make a suitable dinner.  I can't argue with her.
-Went back to the next aquatic aerobics class.
-Got a "pedi".  And her toes still look great.

Opinion #9:
I have no idea what point B looks like now that we have a child to factor in to the equation, but I know that I will arrive with Julia.  And I will arrive because of Julia.

Ok, Questions:
How far along:  I'm 31 and a half.  I'll gladly accept birthday checks next January.

Total Weight Gain:  I've been kind of waffling between 3 and 5 pounds.

Maternity Clothes:  Why would you ask me that?  Next Question.

Stretch Marks:  Dude, I was a fat kid.  I've had those for years.

Sleep:  Daily.  Not a problem, although my IT band in my left hip acted up sunday morning.  So I got up and watched some crappy movies.  #sharknado

Best Moment of this week:  When Julia told me that she didn't care about me being lazy, she cared about me getting in the way of her eating at TGI Fridays.

Miss Anything:  Is that like a beauty pageant or something?

Movement:  Daily.  Around 9 am.

Food Cravings:  I love burritos.  Anything mexican.

Anything making me queasy or sick:  Our cat killed a mouse.  I mean it didn't really bother me but I guess it was gross.

Have you started to show yet:  Again.  Fat kid.  Stop asking bad questions.

Gender:  Male.  Duh.  OH! The kid.  Hell I don't know yet.

Labor Signs:  Like the orange ones on the interstate?

Belly button in or out:  I thought I told you to stop asking bad questions.

Wedding Rings On or Off:  Weird.  But Mine is actually too big and it falls off quite frequently.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  I'm a moody jerk.

Looking forward to:  Eating bagels with Julia sunday morning.