Pediatrics

Pediatricians

where to begin...

I need recomendations, who do you all take your babies to in the granger/southbend/mishawaka area?!? I have a list here to stare at but this tells me nothing about the person, do i make apts to meet with them before she is born to "interview" and see who we like ?! do people really do this? it seems like a great idea to me.. but i dont want to seem crazy. so i just wondered if any one had recomendations i know not all people who read my blog are from this area but even if you have any ideas on how to go about picking a good prdiatrician that would be very helpful .

thanks!!

*we went with WHITE*

last night the Hubsters and I went out to the Natural way and Hugs from heaven... hugs from heaven had the davenport that i have been drooling over and the natural way had a crib that was $300 cheaper that i have liked but there were certain things about it that bothered me such as where they placed the brand label ( right smack dab on the lower left corner it was black on a white crib) but then i started to stare harder and harder at it and I imagined out little girl sleeping in this bed, would i really notice the label or the silver screws on the legs of the crib?!?! I think not, and then nick said i mean chels the stroller you picked out is 459 so we could get this crib and put the 300 towards the stroller how great would that be... and I was like your right, totally right, so we grabbed the sales man and said " well we want this one" we were going to get the crib and the changer table dresser things just like we were with the "davenport" so he was like ok, now what about a mattress... and i told him i wanted organic for sure, and then he says now you also will need to purchase the side rails to make this a toddler bed and then you need to order the slats and metal for the "full bed rail" the mattress, was $259, the toddler rails were $90 and the full bed rails were $150.... so then we were like wow this is adding up to be more that the $300 savings... but if this is costing this much why don't we drive back over the hugs from heaven and ask about the mattress and rails and all that stuff... so we headed out and back to the store, 

we arrived back at the store with the "Davenport" and I asked her what the mattress cost and she said because i would be purchasing the crib I would get the SAME Organic mattress as the other store for $150 and that the toddler rails go with it and the full rails were only $100 ... bam

SOLD!!!!!!!

and Daddy and I both were super excited and happy with our purchase!!! oh and we got White, which i am very excited for I think the room will look very soft, perfect for our little girl.  

oh and after this trip we were so excited and proud we drove over to babies R Us and started our registry... and guess what ?!!?!?! I found a stroller that I L*O*V*E and it comes with the car seat...!!! and a base and its only $259!!!! mind you the stroller i wanted before was $459 and then the car seat was $229 and then i had to buy the $60 cover for the car seat to match the stroller duhh... but not anymore!!! we registered for the stroller combo set and then the jeep overland jogger stroller!!!! we are doing so great with all of these decisions and daddy and I are on the same page!! 

after our successful trip of registering, we headed over to target to pick up this pink side table i fell in love with last time we were there, daddy and I both thought it would look perfect in her room next to the rocker, I read the price sticker last time we were there and it was 19.99 ( cant beat that) so we walked over to target after leaving Babies R us and found one pink table left. i picked it up off the shelf and i started to inspect it, making sure there were no bumps and bruises and then i said ... woops... honey, the price sticker i read last time we were here was for the STOOl... 

the table is 59.99......

nick glares at me and said " thats my girl "

On Second thought..

last night after our taco dinner with some friends, I was talking about Jada's room and started to wonder if I really really really wanted that crib after all... now that i was sure i liked this bedding, which has been the hardest decision of all, i am not so sure it will look so hot on a espresso colored crib... maybe it will be too overpowering, strong and dark for a soft pink room.... when i close my eyes I see a white crib with it... maybe this is because that is what is featured in the pic with the bedding ) but I don't like that particular crib ) so any how there has been this other crib in the back of my mind that yes i have liked all along but i didn't want to let the hubby know i sorta liked it because i figured if i did he would be all " well then why don't we get that one, it cost less and you like it" so i kept my mouth shut but truth be told i have gone to the place that carries this bed 3 times now on my own and taken a peak at it... so what to do?

Today after work i am going to go by the store again and sit in one of those comfy mommy chairs and stare at this crib and picture the bedding and really really make the decision today! I will be back later on to let you know how it goes. wish me luck!

22 Weeks

here is Jada in all her Glory, just kidding! but this is the size that she is now... crazy hu?!?! now keep in mind she she just be about 1 lb right now and that sucker there looks more like 6 haha but you get the idea :) she is our little spagetti squash this week!

the Decision has been made....

so here is the crib bedding that we both have agreed on... YAY! because boy was I getting tired of looking at bedding and then walking into her empty room trying to picture it... so I like this its not overly frilly but it is girly, and still clean lined and contemporary looking. So this is it... I also Love the window treatment however her window in her room is like double the size so it will not work but I have registered for the blanket pictured in back and the mobile... so here it is.. thought you all would like to see!! and pictured here is our crib and changer table/ dresser that we will be using!!! or she will be using rather... yes ladies this is the Davenport crib in the espresso color that I was talking about oooh maybe a month ago.. well its a Go! i am so excited about it... and no no no I didnt "win" the Hubby and I sat down and talked about our budget and we both comitted to doing something that sounds crazy to many but we completly save 100% of my income and live only off his which is fantasticly awesome... now we were already living like this only kinda sorta... before we would use $500 of each of my checks and saving the rest.. yes thats right you got it... so by doing this we are saving an aditional 1,000 a month to what we were already saving! we are super excited about this and this is just money saved not money towards this stuff Jada still has her own fund of money, but by doing this we feel secure with our finances that we can get these things and still be A OK :) as you know we did Dave's financial peace university class at the beginning of our marriage and after that class we were completly debt free and we both have been so excited for this but now we are just working on fully funding our savings act, once this is complete we are going to fully fund a roth IRA and start investing our money long term which is the step nick gets so excited about! which is why we are both feeling good about saving 1 whole income because we are getting there so much quicker than expected. ( back to baby business)

so today I am 22 weeks prego!! I get so excited for Fridays because I am one week closer to holding our baby girl. this week says my belly button should be popping out any day now and that I will be getting very tight around the belly region and she is getting bigger. I asked nick this morning if he thougth my belly button had already popped. ( for those of you who know my belly button, which prolly arent many becuase well.. its my belly button) well lets just say its really deep like seriously deep, like i can fin my pinky finger from tip to the first knuckle thing.. yeah i know its crazy, well the past few weeks it has longated quite a bit and i feel as though someone could well just jump in there if they wanted lol... but its super tight, so i dont really think i have the belly button that will well, Pop.. but it will stretch and that it has. i would totally put a picture up but well no I wouldnt haha ...

It.Happened..

yesterday at work I was sitting in my computer chair looking at the monitor and all of a suden i jolted out of my seat and grabbed the left side of my belly, there it was miss Jada Grace kicked me!!!!! it was the most indescribable feeling ever. I had been to see my midwife earlier that day and she asked if i had been feeling her move, and as i mentioned i "thought" i was and then she said do you feel little gas bubbles but never get the gas? well if you do, thats her... and yesterday i was feeling alot of that at work and it was so cool to know it was her in there and that i wasnt going to have to excuse myself and use the restroom!! haha but seriously it is the greatest feeling!! and then later that day i got the HiY Yow Pow kick move on my left side! it was incrediable!! I was hoping to feel more like it later that night so maybe Daddy could feel but all i was getting were the little gas bubble movements which i of course love, but Daddy will get his kick soon and he is much more patient than I am.

in other Fantastic news my friend Kaley @ cheaptherapy had her little baby girl this morning at 7:08!! little miss Avalon is now going to be blessing this world with her presence of big bows and flower headbands!! congrats to Kaley and Rob!!!

It's gotta just be belly.. right?!!?!

Today was my Dr. apt, I am 21 and 1/2 weeks I will be 22 weeks on Friday and I measured right at 21 and 1/2 weeks, great! she looked over my chart from our ultra sound that was done when I was 18 weeks prego and saw that my placenta was anterior meaning that it is on the front which is quite possibly the reason why it has been difficult for me to feel her moving around, or why i have second guessed is that her or is my body just digesting what i ate?! because the placenta is acting as a cushion between her and I. as she gets bigger and stronger I will be able to feel her better, and placentas move around during the pregnancy so we will see what happends.

we got to hear our little girls heart beat again today and the Midwife told me, wow you have a very low herat beat you must be a runner or a swimmer ( i heard my husband chuckle) hey pipe down over there before I ask you to leave Mr. I kid I kid. but seriously she said my heart rate is in the low 50's which is very healthy and she found it funny that the baby's heart beats 3 beats to my 1 . it was pretty crazy but also amazing.

So all of that is the good stuff and then, the SCALE.... I may or may not regret putting this on my blog, but hey I wanted to blog about the pregnancy so I can look back and remember everything. so I step on the scale and I am 4lbs more weight from my last apt just TWO weeks ago... thats 2 lbs a week..... making it a total 11 lbs I have gained thus far.... 22 weeks we will say... is this normal? good? when i think of the 11 lbs in 22 weeks that doesnt sound bad, but 4 of them in 2 weeks does....

so what to do, what to do .... how about laying off the homemade cupcakes with cream cheese frosting on saturdays at grandmas or quit making chocolate chip cookies, no ice cream... hot coca with lots of marsh mellows.... yeah that sounds like the plan....

I have to take the glucose test on the 23rd of next month and i never have had the sweet tooth like i have had since being pregnant like righ tnow even though I am writing to talk about giving up the sweets I just though of home made carrot cake with cream cheese frosting... what is wrong with me?!?!?!

we will take it one day at a time, i will try to be a good girl only having a little bit instead of giving in ALLLLL the time.

but to me before becoming pregnant a good 4 lbs was noticible, and 11 for sure... so what? is it all belly? its gotta be that sure popped out.... hmmm looks like I will be keeping up with the exercise I started earlier this week with the hubsters.

so what should you take away from this post?? if you see me to NOT offer me the "good stuff" please and thank you :)


.....

I may just sneak it later haha

BUMp 21

today marks 21 weeks. and as usual every Friday I get my "bump" updates sent to my e mail so at 6:45 when the alarm goes off i roll over, grab my phone, and thumb through my e mails and discover the "bump" update... today read..

Gasp...is that a stretch mark?!! Take deep breaths and remember -- they'll fade after delivery. Your skin may also feel dry and itchy, especially over your emerging bump. Take a cue from your fetus, now coated by vernix (a milky, protective cream), and slather on the lotion.

well "goodmorning" to you too... I quickly was in the bathroom checking out the bump, so ar so good, but boy are we growing. I am still feeling great though, however sleeping is not so good. I have never been one who says they cant sleep through the night, in fact as soon as i am in bed within 5 minutes of saying goodnight to my Mr. my eyes are closed and i am out like the lights.

lately, not so much last night went a little something like this, slept for 2 hours, bathroom, slept for 1 hour, bathroom, tossed and turned for 45 minutes, fell asleep for 30 minutes tossed around again for 20 minutes slept for an hour, cuddled up real close to Nick and said "honey... Im hott..." he got up and turned the air conditioner up, fell asleep for 2 hours, bathroom break, drank a glass of water, bathroom break, beeep beep beeep the alarm goes off... and I wake up to my bump e mail ....
I have been thinking of ordering one of those pregnancy pillows that has the cut out for your belly to rest over, and then rest of the pillow you can hug in close to you... they arent bad priced either, so we will see how the next couple nights go for us...

I am really enjoying being pregnant I must say, Nick and I are both enjoying each and every day of it, latley we come home from work and after dinner we sit in teh living room with our hands on the bump waiting to see if we will feel little Jada Move... I believe I am starting to feel slight fluttering, but I keep telling myself "no way, that couldn't have been her" so we are anticipating when she is bigger and stronger to give us a good kick where we both can feel.. we have another apt with our midwife on Tuesday because my last apt was the first time I had seen her she wanted to schedule an apt for 2 weeks because last time she didnt have all my records, so hopefully they have all been transfered and who knows maybe we will have another ultrasound... I will keep you posted...

well not its time to go put some hott rasberry leaf tea on, I have been loving this and really good during pregnancy, it builds up the lining in your uterus making it stronger for contractions for a smoother delivery... here is some more info about it

http://journeytocrunchville.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/red-raspberry-leaf-tea-what-every-pregnant-woman-needs/


have a great Friday Everyone :)

Mommy Networks

I have often heard of play groups and such but last night at Yoga I learned of one that sounded very interesting to me, it is called the Holistic Moms network... I have posted a link for it here. http://www.holisticmoms.org/category/aboutus/holistic-parenting/


there is a local South Bend chapter and i figure I may as well go check it out, they have monthly meetings, playgroups, book clubs, moms nights out, new mom mentoring, field trips, and e mail loops... It sounds great to me, I want to meet other mommys and little ones and play dates just sound cool haha ...

I will be attending this months meeting which is being held this comming monday the 17th, it is at 7:00, there will be guest speakers on breastfeeding and someone speaking about "baby wearing" - you know those cute little wraps that mommas wear...

I also was introduced to a group called La Leche League of south Bend, they have 2 informal meetings a month, they are a community of mothers helping mothers and they cover everything that has to do with breastfeeding. the meetings are free and open to all women and their children. the meetings are 7 pm every second tuesday at the st joseph medical center or 10AM every third tuesday at the River Park Library branch. here is the link to the south bend group
http://lllofsouthbend.blogspot.com

I wanted to share this info for any other mommas or expectant mothers who are in the south bend area, but these are also national groups so you can still google search them for your area.

20 wks and no "Kick"

I officially measured 20 weeks at the Dr on Tuesday, which was great, i am right on track... I told the Dr. I was really excited to hear her heart beat again because I have yet to feel her move and everything I read says 16- 20 weeks you can start to feel from teh inside and 20 plus weeks you can feel from the outside... I laid on my back and the Dr. got the doplar thing and we heard out little girls heart beat loud and strong... as the Dr lifted up my shirt, she said oop and looked at me and said " i felt her kick, you didnt feel that?!? " umm no... I am pretty sure i just took a breath haha... so here I am at 20 weeks and still havn't felt her move i am just so excited for that first time... I hear all the time its like a butterfly... well i havnt felt that. I havent felt anything other than pressure in some areas ( which i assume that is her) and then a couple twitch things, but thats it... so I am not worried I know she is doing great.. I am just getting anxious to feel it !

SiX sleep OveR

WE SURVIVED!!!!!!
here are the Six kids that spent the night at our house last night they are all my younger cousins and my younger sister. Nick and I were so excited to have them stay with us and give their moms and Dads a night together. We had a blast there was lots of running and screaming in our empty basement, there was a little wresteling, game playing, lots of laughter and a couple bloody kids ( only a little though) we wrapped up the night with warm milk with Honey and we tucked everyone in bed. the night ended around 12:30 and began again thismorning at 8.
I wanted to be super sitter so I woke up early at went to martins and picked a dozen fresh doughnuts, milk, Oz and some fruit. When everyone woke up they ate and then ran around the basement again screaming and playing which was toally fine by me, I should really say we had SEVEN kids sleep over because nick fit right in with them all... after breakfast all the girls got their hair straightened and played "house" this was a great weekend. pick up time is just around the corner and we all survived, we look forward to having them all over again soon!!! and we are so excited for little jada to have such wonderful kids be a part of her family because they are just so excited to meet and play with her :)

ta ta for now...

Flower Power

I have recently realized that I have yet you fully express my excitedment having found out we are having a baby girl..... but
OOOOOO my goodness!!!!!! get ready Jada Bug, momma can't wait to put you in these overpowering flowered hats and headbands! Daddy is going to just Love us :)

I've Got a New AtTiTuDe

yesterday did the trick!!! I got my hair done at a new salon and got my hair cut and highlighted, and guess what ?!!? when you get a color treatment you get 50% off mani and pedi so what did this chick do?! thats right i got a pedicure, so now I am super blonde, my hair is off my neck, my toes are bright purple ( come on ladies the bright colors are in now ) and guess what... Today i woke up feeling so much better i even put pn my running shoes and went for a run with the Hubsters and the Doggie... it was great! but then i still had to shower and get ready for work and i began dreading the prego pants....

i looked at them and thought nooooo.... You can't bring me down... so what did I do?!?! I slid a pair of my pre prego pants on ( unzipped and unbuttoned dug... slipped my shirt on and headed out to the car and drove my newly pampered self right on over to the Natural way and bought myself a Bella Band... it is a $26 slice of heaven for expecting mommas...

ladies, I am in heaven and sitting pretty....

Why ...Why ...Why ....did i not do this 19 weeks ago?!? ( if only i had listened to people ) one can only wonder. but lets just say this chick has a New attitude :)

InbEtwEEny BlAh

I am starting to feel Blah.. nothing I have looks good on, when i try to get new clothes nothing new looks good on, i am in an inbetween stage which is not a good look for me... my breast have grown much larger, and now i feel like i have double boob when I wear my bras, my belly feels like a jiggly ball as it has not yet hardened completly.... my rear end i feel as thought it needs a seat of its own and my body is just feeling a little "loose" yeah "loose" is a good word....

so what to do?!!? is this just the inbetweeney stage?!?! will I be over this hump soon?!?! will my belly harden soon? will my body tighten up again?!

and dont get me started on the Prego Pants... seriously GROSE!!! I feel so nasty in them, first off yes i menationed my rear needs a seat of its own but seriously I dont know who they make the Prego pants for because when i put them on there is nothing more discusting of a feeling when they droop down and just about touch the back of your knees at the end of the day, and the waist is all loose, thats right... I have some pairs and thats how i feel in them , but then when i wear my me prego pants i feel as though i am moving my baby to my back squeezing her up to tight... so what do i do? i buy the un flattering prego pants so baby girl is comfy... and mommy feels like a loose slob..... see how much i love my littel girl already? I will wear the ugly pants for her....

now dont get me wrong, i could get a really nice designer pair of prego pants, and i have tried them on, but i am not going to spend $150 on prego jeans when i dont spend that amt of jeans when i am not prego... so cheap we will stay with the pants...

maybe all of this rambling of how i am feeling is due to the fact that I havnt worked out in so long except for my momma yoga i do on wednesday nights.... or maybe its because my roots are touching my eyebrows and my hair is sitting on the back of my kneck causing me to be iritated... ....

one can only hope.... so today I am getting m hair cut and colored... at 3:15 I am trusting that I will feel like one pampered hott momma after this apt, and then i have yoga tonight. believe it or not, i feel a little better already just letting this all out in the open...

agh how refreshing it is to have a blog :) well now I must go stare at myself in the mirror for a few more minutes deciding on weather or not i am really going to walk out of the house like this ..

Love ,

the inbetweeny stage momma

Petunia Pickle Bottom

http://www.petuniapicklebottom.com/collections/original/boxybackpacks/tranquiltibet/

so as you may remember from my recent posts I am so excited about getting a Petunia Pickle bottom baby bag, and I was set on the one I wanted. and what happened?!?!?! I see today on their site that they have released new prints... so now I still think my number one is the Misty Shanghai glazed because the colors are light and can go with whatever... but now they have a tranquil tibet in glazed also ( i want glazed becasue it is wipable, which in the baby world seems to be a necessity.) I added photos of the misty shanghi but I had to attach the link to see the tranquil one because its so new google doesnt have images yet and you cant copy and paste pics from petunias site... ... what are your thoughts? yes the tranquil tibet is blue and were having a girl but its a pretty shade it is teal looking and it is bringht and happy, easily spotted... hmm decisions decisions....