Shower, Blogger Issues and heading into the home stretch!

Hey all, Happy Memorial Day!!! Hope you are all enjoying your 3 day weekend, if you get one!!!  We have had a really nice, very low-key weekend and it's been awesome!!  I've seen two movies  - Hangover II and Bridesmaids. Both were funny, but Hangover was so much like the first one that it wasn't nearly as funny or shocking. Bridesmaids made me laugh so hard I cried and almost peed my pants at times..  which isn't that hard to do these days since I seem to have quite a loose bladder!!! :)

So, Blogger seems to be a pain in the ass for quite a few of us here!!  I still can't comment unless I'm reading blogs from my phone.  And, while I wish that the reason I only got one comment on my last blog was due to the comment issue,I know it wasn't!!! I've come to the realization that I'm just not an avid blogger anymore and just don't have that connection with people that a lot of you do.. add to the fact that the majority of the peeps I follow are lap-banders and right now, well, we know that I don't have much to say about the weight loss front these days..  and really all I have is this baby stuff going on..  oh well, such is life.  I'll keep reading and doing blogs as I have something to say and if people read, they read, if not.. whatyougonnado?

Speaking of lap bands..  seems like while mine seemed to take a hiatus for awhile, my restriction is back!!  Last week, I attempted to eat a sandwich on two seperate occasions and got completely stuck and actually PBd.  I think it's probably b/c baby boy is running out of room and might be putting some pressure on the band. It's not bad enough that I need to go in and get completely filled and I'm still getting in most foods no problem, just have noticed it quite a bit lately! AND, my weight gain has subsided as well, which is fantastic, since I'm up about 40lbs..  which blows!!

Baby is good.. went in for my growth ultrasound this week and he's estimated at 5.5lbs already so he's right on track.  The ultrasound tech even showed me that he's already got quite a bit of hair which is hilarious.. we always knew the poor kid is genetically predisposed to having lots of hair, being short and chubby so that was just a little confirmation!!!  Otherwise, my pregnancy has been remarkably problem free - just have the usual hip pain, lack of sleep and waddle going on still!!!  Only 5 more weeks until I'm due!! CRAZY!!!


My shower was last weekend and it was nothing short of fabulous.  The hostesses, Michelle and Joy went completely overboard and really outdid themselves!! My mom came to town as well as my friend Angela and her little one Delaney.. it was a fun girls weekend... I'll leave you with some pics!! 

Cute Invites!!

Me and Michelle - the creative hostess!!

Mom and Me!

girlfriends from work!!

Lisa and Kelly

Yummy Cake and DONUTS!!! 



Blog Neglect and Doing Good Deeds....

Ay yi yi..  I'm such a neglectful blogger. I hate it!! 
Work has been incredibly busy lately. Mainly b/c I'm training my temp replacement who will be here when I go on Maternity leave.  It's exhausting to spend 8+hours talking!!  Plus, poor girl gets me at my most flightly..  I'm all over the place!!  I start one conversation and end up talking about the most random things!   I went home last night and probably had the best night of sleep I've had in months.. just from all the talking and walking I did yesterday!!  hmmmm.. maybe I should keep this habit up.. will get more sleep!!

Anyways, what else is going on??  My shower is this weekend and I'm so excited! Feels like it's been on the books forever!!  My mom is coming into town on Thursday and I could not be more happy to have her be here!  My friend Angela is also coming to town as well so it'll be a full house. Lots of fun!!  AND, my girlfriends at work are throwing me a "Open House" in a couple of weeks as well for my work peeps.  I do not for a minute not realize how lucky I am to have such great friends!!! 

So, last week, 7 of my co-workers and I volunteered at a homeless shelter.  Why, you ask, would a 8 1/2 month preggo volunteer to organize a volunteer event where we would be feeding the homeless? Good question!! Not sure what I was thinking but it was so fun and rewarding!  AND exhausting!!! My body ached for days. Luckily my friends asked the coordinator to make sure I had a seated job while there, but that didn't stop me from sweeping floors, mopping floors, chopping vegetables, manning the food processor.. I just don't know how to stop!!  Like I said, it was super fun and we are hoping to organize more of these types of events for our departments to do as a group.  My company gives everyone 8 hours of philanthropic time a year so there is no reason to not do it!  I'll leave you with some pics of the event!

hope you are all doing well!!
xo,js

Old Pants, New Pants, Khaki Pants, Blue Pants...

So, I'm finding that my pants situation has really taken a turn for the worse as I round out the last 8 weeks (8 weeks?? Holy SHIT!!!) of this pregnancy..  Early on, I bought a bunch of maternity jeans and while they still fit me, they are getting a little snugger.  And honestly, I'm at a point where I kind of refuse to buy any more b/c I've only got 8 weeks left..  soooooo, what's a formerly overweight girl to do??   You guessed it, dip into her old stash of pants that a year ago were swimming on her, but fortunatly, now, are only big in the legs but just right in the belly.  Part of this makes me feel bad b/c a  long time ago, I was supposed to ship these said pants to several bandsters as part of the "sisterhood" thingy and truth be told, just never got around to it.  PLUS, I did send out a TON of clothes early on and it cost a pretty penny to do that, so I was trying to watch my funds..  So, sorry to those bandsters who never got my goods, but happy day to me to find out that I have something to wear in the last stretch!!!  I'll be happy to never wear these pants again once the babe is here and I'm back to my losing again..   but for now, they'll do..

I have been thinking a lot about what will happen post-baby and I can get back on the "band" track... I hope I'm as motivated as I want to be right now.. Frankly, I'm over not being able to work out as much and I find myself wanting to walk for miles or do tons of ab work and I just can't!!!  I still work out a few days a week, but I've had a lot of problems with low pelvic pressure, that I'm a bona-fide waddler nowadays.. it's not cute!!! I'm seeing a chiropractor for the hip and back pain and that all has seemingly gone away, so now it's just the pressure down below which my dr. says to just get used to b/c it's not going anywhere until he arrives.. 

Otherwise, I'm feeling pretty good.  My allergies have been HORRIBLE this year and my sleeping has been affected, but all things considered, I've been soo lucky with this pregnancy and can't really complain about much! 

Hope you all are doing well!!

xo,js

Catching Up and Checking In..

Just looked at the last time I blogged and it's been almost 2 weeks.. I guess there really hasn't been too much going on that I needed to blog about, either that or I keep forgetting things that are happening and then by the time I blog, all my memory is lost..  I think that's the case. Preggo brain is for real people..

• I had a really really good 4 day weekend and was so super sad last night when it came to an end.  Thursday, my girlfriends, the Jens and I, along with my friend TMac who came in for the week on her spring break, went to the Spa for our annual spa day.  The weather was perfect and my massage was exactly what I needed. I've been having a TON of pressure in my lower belly and back as a result of this kid getting bigger and pushing down that I needed some pampering big time!! We just hung out at the pool for the rest of the day and chilled.. PERFECT!

• Spent the rest of the weekend prepping for Easter Sunday.  I had 8 adults and 4 kids over and while it was chaos personified, it was so fun and again, such a beautiful day!!!  The food and the company was amazing and by 8:00, I was snoozing in bed..  We had a little easter egg hunt for the kids in the backyard, the boys watched baseball and basketball in between rounds of putting golf balls and throwing the football out back and the ladies sat by the pool sipping on bellini's and mimosa's..  I myself indulged in a mimosa and it was fabulous!!!  another Perfect day!! 

(not that big of a fan of this pic, but it's the only one we got!! I was sweating like a beast in the kitchen and my hair is a disaster!! )

• I hit 30 weeks preggo tomorrow and I can definitely feel it..  my body is aching something fierce and this little guy likes to spend a lot of time practicing his soccer kicks..  but I'm so excited that it's getting semi-close!!  
• This weekend, my sweet friends, the Jens, offered and are coming over to paint the nursery.. apparently, I just get to supervise.. I love them for this!!  

Hope you all had some fun on your Easter weekend and got to enjoy yourselves!!  I'm off to catch up on blogs. I've been a bad commenter but what's new..  I'll try harder at that!!

xo,js

Sneak Peek!!!

of my little man... 

I have to say the 3D ultrasound thingy was a little anti-climactic for me!  Not sure if I thought he would be staring right at me with his eyes open and saying HI Mom! or not, but either way, I'm excited to see him and his cute little chunky cheeks already!!!   

Also, thanks for Gilly and Sarah on your comments on my blog on Tuesday!  Gilly, that pillow is CRAZY big! but looks awesome!! I finally got a good night's sleep last night and it was only b/c I actually  switched sides of the bed with Timmy!! 

xoxo,

Jen

We have a Snoogle Situation (and other misc ramblings)

People, we have a situation...  a very serious situation...  I'm not sleeping.. No sleeping = crankier than normal Jen.  It's not pretty.  This better than average pregnancy has taken a turn for the worst in the sleeping department. My hips hurt something fierce and I can't get comfortable at night. I've tried a lot of things but I got desperate last night and went out and bought the overpriced "Snoogle" which is supposed to cure all pregnancy sleeping woes.. Let me set the scene.. 
This thing is shaped like a big "C" - so you lay in front of it with one of the C's under your head and the other comes up from under and you put it between your legs..  at first, all signs pointed towards a good night's sleep, but only 1 hour in, the hips started hurting like a mo-fo again, so I switched positions and so it went ALL.NIGHT.LONG..   finally, desperate times called for desperate measures, I rigged up a little pallet on my bed including all of the previously used aids to sleep.. here is the final product and what it looked like in my bed this morning: 

Little bit ridiculous right?? Add a husband who is losing all the weight I'm finding.. (mofo!) and two beags and it's a tight squeeze..  tonight, I'm heading to another bed, one that is much firmer b/c now I'm convinced it's the bed and not all the contraptions.   Any advice??   Mama needs some sleep!

• Besides the bed / sleeping situation, not a whole lot has been going on, thus my lack of blogging.  
• Timmy was out of town this weekend in Milwaukee for the Cubs / Brewers series..  it was quite lonely without him!!   Our dogs pretty much moped around all weekend and had sad faces like this one:

• Sweet little KD turned 2 last week and celebrated with a big party at a Play Factory!!!! This year's occasion was MUCH happier than last year's!!  (anyone remember this?? )  Well, there were no tears at this partay!! 

She's growing up way too fast and is really at the most fun age..  totally sassy, lots of personality and Funny as all get out!!

• I think that's all I've got for now..  except for an updated pic of the bump!!!  (I'm having a 4d scan tomorrow so hopefully I'll have some fun pics to share later this week!! )

xoxox, js

Thoughts on being 39, banded, and knocked - up

Hey all, I know that at the beginning of this pregnancy, I promised to not be one of those people who ONLY talked about their pregnancy and I've tried to steer clear of writing blogs talking about these things, but truth be told.. I got nothing else going on for the next 3 months with the exception of the bun in the oven.. we have none of the usual fun trips planned, we have no visits from people planned, nada, nothing..   so, either I fall off the blogosphere or I talk baby..  hope you can deal with it..

So, the other day as my friend Mary was driving me home b/c my car was in the shop, she made a comment to me that made me laugh and then think a little.. she said something to the effect, "I hope when I'm pregnant, I'm like you..  you just seem to go with the flow, not really stress about anything (read:  not really know anything!!)"  I thought it was funny that she said that b/c it's true, I'm totally going through this pregnancy with a little bit of forced naivety..  what I mean by that is that I'm purposely not overwhelming myself with all that is out there to read, classes to take, etc..  I'm getting advice from friends and my doctor, not from the web or books, which BTW, I've said it before and I'll say it again, is the devil when it comes to self-diagnosing yourself!!!  I haven't even read "What to Expect When you are Expecting" (the horror!!)  but I will say that I have the app on my phone just so I can check to see what fruit or vegetable my baby is each week!!!  I have read Jenny McCarthy's book "Belly Laughs" and it's freaking hilarious... even if you aren't preggers.  
So, what is the purpose of this blog?? Who knows??  I tend to start things lately and 5 minutes later, not know where I'm at or how it's going to end.. much like this blog!!! So, I figured I'd point out the things I enjoy about being pregnant and the not so fun things..

Things to Enjoy:

• Maternity Jeans  - OMG, I love them. there's a chance even after I have the kiddo, that I will still wear these jeans.. I have been wearing Old Navy maternity jeans and they are ok, but they dig a little into the lower belly but I have found heaven in the Motherhood maternity jeans..  I felt like I was putting on my pj's today..  awesome.. 
• Using the "I'm pregnant" card..  I honestly thought I wouldn't need to use this but it's awesome..  I've been able to change seats on planes, not have to lift things and I can pretty much get my husband to grab me anything from upstairs if I am downstairs..   I know. horrible..  but I only get to have this luxury for a short time in my life so I'm taking advantage of it.. 
• Sleeping - I have a love/hate relationship with my exhaustion..  I am sleeping more but I hate feeling like I am too tired to do anything and am weaker than I'm used to being..  
• Spending more time with hubs..   since I've been pregnant, obviously, we've cut back on going out and have spent a lot more time doing non-bar related things..  like movies, dinners with friends.. things that don't involve hangovers the next day.. I love that he's so excited about his baby boy and making all sorts of plans for him. 
• Eating - I wouldn't be telling the truth if I didn't mention that I'm enjoying eating all the things that I couldn't eat while being completely filled.  I still have 1/2 the fluid I had pre-pregnancy so I'm not complety unfilled but it's loose enough that I can still eat a burger if I want to, something I missed terribly before.  I am starting to feel more restriction though the bigger he gets and the less room there is in my belly. I may have to go get the rest of the fill taken out but am waiting to see how it goes.  So far, I feel pretty good about my eating but it is nice to indulge every once in awhile.  

Things not to enjoy:

• All the testing b/c of my age..   I call them the "you are too old and have no business having a kid at this age" test..  the medical community prefers to call them AMA (Advanced Maternal Age) testing..   I've been poked, prodded from here to China already and I still have another trimester to go!!!  I actually opted out of getting the big whopper tests - the CVS and the Amnio, b/c my doctor did not encourage them based on the results of other testing that came back fine. 
• The shoe situation - I'm a platform wedge kind of girl and I've been forced to semi-retire these for low flats and flip-flops that make my short stumpy legs look even shorter..  yuck!
• The weight gain - I have gained 20something lbs so far (to be honest, closer to 30)  From weeks 18 - 22, I gained 10 lbs!!! It was horrifying at the doctor's office!!!  HOWEVER, I will say that while I've gained all this weight, I have not gone up in a size or anything. I'm still wearing the same pants I was wearing before, but with a belly band (when I'm not rocking my fave maternity jeans!) I really haven't gained weight anywhere but the belly area..  so I'm trying to be OK with it.
• The exhaustion - as I mentioned before.. somedays I'm ok with laying around and somedays, I just want my energy back!! Everyone says that the 2nd trimester is where you have your energy.. well, I'm screwed then, b/c I'm about a week and 1/2 away from my 3rd trimester and I have yet to see said energy!!!
• The misc cramps and side pains you get and you instantly freak out thinking that something is wrong with the baby, only to find out it's just growing pains or gas.. 

If you are still with me and scratching your head as to what the point of this blog is, I got nothing for you.. just some random thoughts rolling around in my noggin..   All I know is that the 8 year + wait is so going to be worth it when we meet this little boy..  I don't know if I can handle waiting another 3 months!!! 

xo,js