DIY Maternity Pics

I've seen a lot of people post their professional maternity pictures and have been wanting to take my own. I couldn't justify spending the money to have professional pictures done, so I grabbed the tripod and my camera and snapped away. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be - I would set up the shot, set the timer, rush to get in the frame and smile. Over and over again. I must have taken a gazillion pictures and only ended up with about 20 decent ones. I'm glad I have some nice looking "belly pics" now and not just my weekly wet hair pics. Here are some of my favorites.

32 Weeks

Well Thanksgiving is over and even though we sent people home with tons of food, we still have a lot of leftovers. At least we won't have to cook for the next few days. Since I never cook any of the Thanksgiving dinner, I spent the day (and night) doing dishes and just cleaning up after the cooks (Tom and Peter). They went a little overboard on the amount of food and the number of dishes they (and others) prepared. We had fried turkey, rib roast, leg of lamb, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, 2 kinds of stuffing (though people really liked Mrs. Bishop's sausage stuffing), rice pilaf, corn spoon bread (one of my favorites!), Martha's beans, cranberry sauce, mushrooms, 2 kinds of salad, corn bread, regular bread - I think that's just about everything. We also had tabouleh, hummus, tzatziki, cocktail weinies and other bite size snacks for appetizers. Plus 6 pumpkin pies and 2 apple pies. We had food coming out of our ears! And we managed to fit everyone (all 16 of us) except the 2 kids at the same table (the kids ate at a small table in the same room). It didn't take too long to clean up after everyone left and now the house is back to normal.

We spent most of today relaxing, which I really needed after being on my feet most of yesterday. Since we're not hosting Christmas, I plan to spend that whole day on my butt. We did manage to get out of the house though. Tom's been saving for a while now and has had his eye on this PRS guitar, so we went out and finally got it. Then we went on our search for a bureau for the nursery. We drove out to Buy Buy Baby in Springfield and saw quite a few bureaus, but they were a bit too much for us. Tom couldn't believe the amount of baby stuff in the store - the same feeling I had when I first walked into the store. We finally found something at Target, so we'll put that together tonight or tomorrow.

My back is really starting to ache at the end of the day. The baby's been pretty active lately (especially right now since Tom's playing guitar). The websites say the baby should be sleeping 20-40 minutes at a time. It must get all of its sleep in while I'm asleep because it's usually pretty active during the day. I'm still getting charley horses in the middle of the night which are no fun at all. My feet have decided to join in on the fun by spasming randomly throughout the day. My belly button still hasn't popped - I'm starting to wonder if it'll just stay an innie for the rest of the pregnancy. I love playing with it - it's all soft and squishy now - kind of grosses Tom out. I also love watching the baby push its butt out of the side of my belly. If you push down on it, the baby will swing over to the other side. It's weird to feel and see the baby moving from side to side. Cool, but definitely weird.

Alright, enough babble - here are my weekly pictures.
Parents.com - A sack of potatoes!


WhatToExpect.com - This is definitely the position the baby's in - that butt is always sticking out around my belly button.


Morning after Thanksgiving belly

32 Weeks

Thanksgiving preparations

The house is ready for our big Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. We'll have a total of 18 people tomorrow; well 19 really, but one is still in the womb and doesn't eat a whole lot. Tom's got a pretty big menu planned - fried turkey, leg of lamb, a roast and a ton of sides. I'm going to bake some banana bread tonight since all of our bananas are close to being all black.

I'll try to take some pictures of the festivities to share, but I can't promise anything. I usually get so wrapped up in preparations that I forget to take pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Ouch!

This baby is kicking and punching the crap out of my insides! And when it's not doing that, it's pushing other body parts into my ribs or out of my sides. This morning it kept ramming my side with its butt over and over. Like it was trying to beat its way out. And here I thought the baby would be nice to me today since I'm feeding it grilled cheese, fries and a pickle.

Busy weekend

We got a lot done so far this weekend. We went to Joanne's last night and got fabric to make pillows for the couch, curtains for the kitchen and covers for my glider. The pillows and curtains are done and I'm almost finished recovering the ottoman for my glider - I just need to find the staple gun and then I'll be done. We finished painting the nursery last night and we're going to put together the crib after the Redskins game.

We still need to get a bureau, bookcase and lamps for the nursery. And get the zoo painting framed and hung. I'm going to get the lamps and curtain rods for the kitchen in a bit. I promise to have the nursery finished before the baby shower and will post pictures of it as soon as it's put together.

31 Weeks

31 down, 8 to go! I am not sleeping well at all anymore. I end up waking up once to use the bathroom, but then multiple times to get comfortable. By the end of the day, it's a little more difficult to walk and my lower back starts to ache. I've also been having Braxton Hicks contractions a few times a day and they're pretty uncomfortable. I had one last night as we were walking in the mall and I had to stop to let it pass. It's also getting a bit harder to put my socks and shoes on - that's going to become Tom's job soon (luckily all of my work shoes are easy to slip on).

I'm getting really excited for the baby shower and love checking the evite everyday to see who's coming. And everyone will get to see the house and all of the work we've put into it. We're going to finish up the nursery this weekend (I know, I keep saying that, but this time it's true).

I also realized that if I only sit up halfway, my belly makes this weird cone-like shape and my belly button gets all squishy and weird. Tom hates when I do this, so I try to do it and trick him into seeing my belly all weird. I figure I should find something fun to do with my big belly, right?

Here's what the baby's been up to this week according to WhatToExpect.com:

As far as growth goes, your baby's still on a roll, measuring an impressive 18 inches and weighing in at more than three pounds. At 31 weeks pregnant, you can still expect your baby to gain at least three to five pounds, possibly more, before you two meet.

Your baby's brain is working overtime these days, developing faster than ever. Connections between individual nerve cells are growing at a frenetic clip, and your baby can now perceive information from all five senses. Sure, your baby can't smell anything right now, but that's only because he or she is still submerged in amniotic fluid and needs to be breathing air to get a whiff of anything. Lucky for you — and your baby — yours will be one of the very first scents your baby breathes in, a scent
that will quickly become his or her very favorite.

So what's your little dove doing all day while you're busy feathering your nest for his or her arrival? Making faces, hiccuping, swallowing, breathing, pedaling with little
hands and feet along your uterine wall, and even sucking his or her thumb. In fact, some babies suck their thumbs so vigorously while in the womb that they're born with a callus on their thumb (what a little sucker!).

And here are the weekly pictures.

Parents.com - No idea how I went from a basketball to a sweater to a soccer ball, but whatever.

WhatToExpect.com - This isn't the position our baby's in though - our baby is head down with its feet in my ribs.

31 Weeks - My belly button hasn't popped yet, but is getting close (keep those fingers crossed, Jennifer).

Dressed for work in my new cords.

New couch

Our new couch is here and looks great! I haven't sat on it yet; I'm waiting for Tom to get home so we can both try it out at the same time. I'm going to recover the three smaller pillows in a dark brown or blue (I don't like the pattern on the back half of them). So now our living room is officially finished. Yay! Another one down!

State of the Uterus

I just got back from my doctor appointment. Everything's measuring right on track, my blood pressure's good and the baby's heartbeat is strong. When Dr. Pickford was trying to find the heartbeat the baby pushed its butt out on her. Then she felt around to feel the position of the baby and said the baby was head down and should stay that way for the rest of the pregnancy. This is great news because that decreases our chances of needing a c-section. She did say the baby would probably do corkscrew turns, but probably won't be flipping anymore. So what I've been feeling pushing out of me has been baby butt, knees and feet. Tom was worried that I've been poking the baby's head, but Dr. Pickford said it's fine if I did.

The nurse told me I have to start doing fetal kick counts every day at 34 weeks. I have to make sure the baby kicks at least 10 times in an hour. Ha! Try 10 times in 10 minutes. Although the baby's really stopped kicking and is now just stretching and pushing on me.

They gave me the pre-admission forms for the hospital today as well as the circumcision forms (in case it's a boy). Dr. Pickford told me all of the Labor and Delivery rooms are private rooms (yay!), but the triage rooms are 3 to a room (boo). She also confirmed that the tightness I've been feeling in my belly have been Braxton Hicks contractions, but since I'm only having a few a day, it's not a problem. Oh, and I gained less than a pound since my last visit.

My next appointment is in 2 more weeks. Right now I'm working from home for the day and waiting for our new couch to arrive. I promise to take pictures of the living room once the couch is here.

30 Weeks

9 more weeks to go! WhatToExpect.com says the baby hasn't grown much in the past week, but it feels like it's running out of room in there. I'm constantly stretching back to ease some of the pressure in my ribs. I wish I could take a peek inside to see what the baby's up to. I swear it's just stretching and rolling all day to entertain itself. We still have a pretty long To Do list before the baby comes.

-Finish the nursery
-Sign up for car seat inspection
-Baby Care class
-Maternity tour at the hospital
-Contact my family doctor to see if she can see the baby
-Complete my leave forms (they're so confusing!)
-Choose a name for the baby

And the list goes on and on. Hopefully I'll cross some of those things off by the end of next week.

Here's what WhatToExpect.com says the baby's been up to this week.

Your baby's height and weight haven't changed much in the past week, but the big news is your baby's brain gain. Until now, the surface of your baby's brain was smooth. Now, your fetus's brain is taking on those characteristic grooves and indentations. The reason for this change in appearance? Those wrinkles allow for an increased amount of brain tissue — a necessary change as your developing baby prepares for life outside your womb, and the street smarts he or she will need.

Another big change at 30 weeks pregnant: Your baby's bone marrow has taken over production of red blood cells (before, tissue groups and then the spleen took care of producing the blood cells). This is an important step for your baby, because it means he or she is better able to thrive on his or her own once born (with a little TLC from you, of course).

And here are the weekly pictures.

Parents.com - a wool sweater
I think Parents.com has the weirdest items to size up the baby each week.


WhatToExpect.com


My belly in all of its glory


My belly dressed for work

National Pie Day

Our baby is due on National Pie Day. Now we have to rethink baby names. I'm leaning toward Mincemeat Merkel.

The baby's lucky it missed out on National Talk Like a Pirate Day. Then it would've been named Blackbeard Merkel.

New furniture

Our dinette is finally complete. Pete graciously gave us a table, 8 chairs and some paintings from the restaurant for our dinette. We love the way it turned out and Tom is very happy to have some roosters in the house. Pete also gave us a bunch of beer glasses and we'll get all of our dishes from the restaurant, too.

We bought a new couch tonight which gets delivered next week. Once we have that in place, I'll take new pictures of the living room to share with you. I'm hoping to get the nursery finished this weekend, too. I just finished the baby blanket I was making and will upload pictures of that once the nursery is complete.

Yay for furniture!

Missing: Trashcan

Have you seen me?

Last seen: Friday, November 7, 2008, late afternoon

Yes, that's right. Some pathetic sole stole our trashcan. I called the company and they want $100 for a new trashcan because we didn't choose to pay for the trashcan protection fee. I really didn't think we'd need the protection fee, but apparently people do steal trashcans. How they get away with it in broad daylight is beyond me. I mean, wouldn't you think it funny if you saw someone dragging a big garbage can down the street? And it was only our garbage can that was taken - all of our neighbors have theirs.

Tom and I have a master plan. We're going to take a nice stroll around the neighborhood on trash night and look for our trashcan. How will we know it's ours you ask? We have our can's serial number (confirmed by the company). If we find it, we're taking it back, with the help of the police (I'm afraid of what someone might do if they see me "steal" their garbage can at night).

In the meantime, we're just going to use the cheap garbage can we bought for our yard work. We're also going to alert our HOA and the sherrif's office of the theft. You might think that's a bit much for a trashcan, but it's worth $100 so that's petty/petit larceny. And I figured they could use a good laugh.

Happy Halloween 2009

I went to the mall today to pick up my new lenses and had an hour to kill before I could pick them up. I went to Old Navy and found the cutest Halloween costume for Baby Merkel for next year.




It's a bat! How cute is this? And it was only $0.97! I couldn't pass this up for that price. I'm so proud of myself - it's my first official baby purchase (beyond the things for the nursery).

Dead mouse

The cat just killed a field mouse. Tom's walking around praising the "good kitty" now and is very happy with her. I can't believe she KILLED a mouse! I mean, I'm used to her leaving bug parts around the house, but a MOUSE! Yech! I feel like I need to sterilize her before she comes near us. I should have taken a picture of the mouse before Tom threw it out, but we had to get it out fast - the cat was stalking around trying to play with its dead body. Double yech! I think the mouse must've come in through the utility room and I hope that Tom can figure out how to keep more out.

Fur baby in trouble

This is our greenhouse window over our kitchen sink. The cat is not supposed to be in this window, but sneaks up there when she can. This morning we heard a big crash come from the kitchen while we were getting ready for work. I ran downstairs to find the cat on the floor looking guilty and a broken glass in the sink. She had knocked over a bottle when she jumped down from the window, which broke the glass. As soon as she saw me, she took off - she knew she was in trouble. We're going to have to figure out how to keep her out of that window.


Here are a few more pictures of her from this week.
Spying on the neighbors


Sanitizing her feet



Up close and personal


Ah, this is a new game of hers. She pretends to be frightened and then runs up and down the stairs all poofy and arched. She did this for about a 1/2 hour the other night. What a weirdo.

29 Weeks

I was reading cnn.com this week and one of their headlines said something about Obama only having 10 weeks until he's inaugurated. I thought, that can't be right, I'm due that same week. Well, crazy as it sounds, it's right - I only have 10 weeks left. The baby's been playing a fun game with my ribs. It'll slowly stretch out until its little bigfoot is lodged in my ribcage. I then spend the next 10 minutes massaging the foot down to a more comfortable position only to have the baby immediately jab its foot right back in my ribs. It's also started pushing its butt out a lot which feels and looks funny. Tom thinks it could be the baby's head, but I'm pretty sure it's all butt that's sticking out. I think the baby likes mooning everyone. So, here's what baby's been up to according to TheNest.com.

Baby’s energy is surging, thanks to the formation of white fat deposits beneath the skin. (Have those kicks and jabs to the ribs tipped you off yet?) Baby is also settling into sleep and waking cycles, though -- as you’ve also probably noticed -- they don’t necessarily coincide with your own. Also this month, all five senses are finally functional, and the brain and nervous system are going through major developments.

And now for the weekly pictures.
TheNest.com


Parents.com - a basketball, really?


Belly shots - there are a lot of them this week
From the front


And the side

What's happening to my belly button? I think it's going to pop in the next couple of weeks.

My view looking down

Dressed and ready to go

Thieves!

I got a call today from our bank's security company asking about some "unusual activity" on our account. Turns out the unusual activity were charges from all over the place - Stockholm, Brooklyn, South Carolina...and totaling over $700. I had to close the card and file a fraud report and a lost stolen report. I went through all of our charges for the past month with the bank (I check our account regularly) to find all of the fraudulent charges. They have no idea how this person(s) got my card information, but it must have been in person because these were all online charges and you would need the expiration date and security code for those. The charges started Sunday night. I only made 2 purchases all weekend, 1 at Lowe's and 1 at Chili's. I'm leaning toward blaming the waiter at Chili's. Unfortunately, I don't think they try to hard to find out who made the purchases, but if they do I'm going to be kicking some fraudulent butt.

What a pain.

Last monthly appointment

Today I went to my last monthly doctor appointment. I start going every two weeks until I'm 36 weeks pregnant, then I switch to EVERY week! EEP!

This appointment went really well, just like all of the others. My blood pressure was 110/70 and there was no protein in my urine (always good). My weight is good - I've gained a total of 16 pounds since the beginning, though I put on about 2 pounds a week since my last appointment. And I haven't increased my food intake since then either. The doctor said my weight is great and the baby is measuring right on track (he measures my uterus with a tape measure). We listened to the baby's heartbeat and it was nice and strong, just like its kicks. I told him that my stomach has been tightening up every now and then and he told me to call if that happens 6 times in an hour.

At my next appointment I'll get the pre-registration forms for the hospital. And we're registered for our Baby Care class and hospital tour at Fair Oaks. It's hard to believe we're already in November and we'll have a baby in 3 months!!!