HDBD - 36 weeks!

One week until we're full term - 4 weeks until the due date!  We had our 36 week check up and Strep Test today.  Baby Nicolette is being a good girl, head down just like she should be.  She hasn't dropped yet so there is a chance that she could flip around, but at every appointment and ultrasound so far she's been head down.  And I still feel that sweet little bootie of hers pushing up into my ribs every day so I'll look at that as a blessing and not the curse that it feels like :)  The doctor didn't say anything, but my gut is telling me that this little girl is going to take her sweet time getting here - I think she'll be late. 

Here's Hump Day Bump Day pic for week #36...weird - I almost think the bump looks smaller in this pic than it did last week - but promise it's bigger! 

While Nicolette tortured me for the first 16 weeks with chronic "morning sickness" - she's definitely making up for it by being a VERY good baby now.  So far I can still wear my wedding rings and my heels and my doctor called my ankles "tiny" at my appointment today (women who have been pregnant can totally understand how incredibly flattering that one little comment can be).  I'm still sleeping through the night...soundly and haven't had to ask hubby to turn the AC to a cooler temp.  And so far (knock on wood) I have no stretch marks (praying that we can make it through the next few weeks with that still being true)!!!!!  I figured by this point my ankles would be swollen the size of my thighs, my rings would be long gone, I'd be confined to (gasp) FLATS and that I'd be functioning on less than 2 hours of sleep a night.  So THANK YOU BABY for being so nice to me.  You have no idea how much mommy appreciates this!  

Week 35-36 has brought on a severe case of NESTING.  Hubby made the mistake of reminding me that we have a Carpet Shampooer machine thingy, so I started upstairs with the nursery (shampooed that 3 times), then the two rooms upstairs (shampooed those twice), then our loft/bonus room area (shampooed that 3 times).  I asked him to bring the machine downstairs yesterday so that I could start in our room and I shampooed the carpets in our master bath and closet 3 times (twice last night and got up SUPER early this morning to hit it one more time).  Plan to work on the Master Bedroom tonight and tomorrow night and then probably work on our living room and dining room Friday and Saturday after work.  The Italian thinks I'm insane...I kind of agree, but I just will not feel right unless it is DONE.

Hubby is nesting a little bit too...on the way home from a business trip last week he stopped at a rug store because he just felt that our family room rug was too old and dirty for our new little one, so he bought an enormous Jute rug to replace it.  We both loved it until the first night we realized that our cat-child Sasha may think that we just bought her the world's largest scratching mat!  She picked at it two or three times, but we gave her a couple of quick "NO's" and she walked right over to her scratching post and did her thing there instead...she hasn't picked at the rug once since then.  Such a good kitty-child.     

We also made some serious progress in the nursery this weekend.  I took pictures with my fancy camera and now can't find the stinking USB cord to download them.  Promise that I'll get the pictures up as soon as I can - we're REALLY happy with how it's turning out!!!!!  It is so sweet and soft and pretty :)  The Italian put together the crib and dresser and helped hang the drapes, valance and some of the wall hangings this weekend.  He calls it the "princess room".  There are no princess-y things in there, it just is really, really pretty...fit for OUR princess.

So this is my last 6 day work week at work this week - praise Jesus!  I do plan to keep working right up until we go to the hospital, but no more 6 day weeks after this.  Giving tours at work is getting more and more difficult.  I'm finding that walking brings on more Braxton Hicks contractions which are NOT painful AT ALL - however they do take my breath away and literally make me winded which is kind of awkward when you're walking around our enormous hotel with a bride and her fiance and/or parents.  Luckily my teammates have offered to step up and take some of my sites for me over this last month.  I have several scheduled for Saturday that I'll have to take myself but we'll get through it.  Walking around this place is pretty much all of the exercise that I'm getting these days...well that and the insane carpet shampooing marathon.  The carpet shampooing jump starts the BH contractions too, but at least that's at home and not with strangers.

I'm really excited about The Italian's first Father's Day this weekend - he'll be enjoying watching the US Open no doubt and he gets a special present from Nicolette and Mommy...will post pics next week.

Feeling blessed to be exactly where we are right now.  It's only a matter of time now!!!!!  6 days until we're considered FULL TERM and only 27 until the official "due date"!      

HDBD - 35/35

35/35 - today we are 35 weeks pregnant with 35 days to go until D-Day!!!!

That means that after today we only have 4 weeks and 6 days!  It hardly seems possible!  And we really only have 1 week and 6 days until we are classified as "full term"  WHAT THE HECK?????

Well Nicolette is definitely GROWING...and RAPIDLY!    Below is a picture of the bump at 35 weeks (now) and below that is the bump at 33 weeks (2 short weeks ago)!  WOWZERS!  

(the bump.com says that by this point, the uterus is 1,000 times it's normal size!  yikes! I still have my doubts as to if, how and when that will go back to "normal size")

35 weeks

33 weeks

I don't know how she's growing so much - she's decided to put me on an all watermelon and cucumber diet...it's all I want to eat - but I could probably eat a 10 pound watermelon in 1-2 days if I'd let myself.  Who knew that a baby can survive and THRIVE on cucumbers with hummus or ranch dip (that I make with greek yogurt instead of sour cream) and watermelon?

I can still manage to keep myself from waddling most of the time and still sport my 4" heels at work so we're feeling G-O-O-D!  I almost hate to mention it, but I really do feel great.  I'm still sleeping through the night and sleeping WELL and I haven't seen any swelling (YET).  I attribute the lack of swelling to the cucumber and watermelon diet that Nicolette has put us on...was reading and learned that those are both foods that help reduce/eliminate swelling.   Thanks Nicolette!  So happy that she likes eating healthy stuff instead of pizza, chips. brownies and all the stuff that I expected that I would be craving! 

We got our car seat this weekend - HOORAY!  And I got some bottles at my shower this weekend, so we really have everything that we NEED to have when we bring her home.  Still lots of odds and ends to take care of but we have plenty of time for that.  I'm officially banned from buying anymore clothes (self imposed restriction).  

Starting next week we see the doctor every week.  We have our hospital tour and a meeting with another pediatrician in the coming week(s).  I have yet to pack my hospital bags - if anyone has any tips as to what to pack, please send them my way!  Want to be as efficient as possible but still have the things that I'll want to have around me in the hospital.  

Saying prayers every night that this little bun stays put and cooks a while longer so that she's nice and strong when she arrives!  Thank you Jesus for bringing us this far!!!!! :)    

Nicolette's Baby Shower ~ The TopCat edition

Sunday was a special day indeed!  We were showered with love by the "Pride of the Carolinas" - my Carolina Panther Top Cat Alumni sisters.   We had the BEST time and the ladies who planned the shower really outdid themselves!  We were at Vivace in Charlotte, NC and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  The weather was amazing and all of the little details were so sweet, so girlie and so very "me".  We felt so blessed and loved!  I wish that ALL of the ladies that I cheered with over my 6 years would have been able to make it, but that would have been one crazy big shower!  I just wish we had more occasions to force us all to get together more often.

I hope to have more "detail photos" to share later, but here are a few photos of some of our stunning guests.

 The greatest party planners ever!  Amy, Brooke, Tiffany, Tara and Erin - my excellent Shower Hostesses

 My 2006 Sassy Silver Sisters - Sparkle & Shine ladies - we're just missing Miss Foxy Roxy :(

 with Miss Vicki Wong (now Mrs. Victoria Wong Allen) 

 Some of us "Old School" TopCats - Jenny, Mama Platt (who drove all the way from Greensboro even though she's due with a baby boy ANY DAY) and me

 with Miss Brooke - who just had a precious baby girl 4 months ago!

 with Tara, Erin, Brooke and Erin's sweet 3 week old baby Patrick (i.e. Nicolette's future boyfriend)

Tara just had a baby 3 months ago, Erin 3 weeks ago and Brooke 4 months ago...I need these ladies' secrets to looking so fab after baby!!!  Seriously!

Hands down the most beautiful group of shower guests ever (both inside AND out)!  So thankful that little Nicolette has all of these amazing "Aunties" to look up to!

Daddy (aka "The Italian) had a busy weekend as well!  The nursery is coming right along - crown moulding is painted, closet is painted, and the chandelier is up!!!!!  I shampooed the carpet tonight and we'll probably hang the drapes and start moving the furniture in this weekend!!!  HOORAY!  I'll share pics when we get to a picture worthy point...right now it just looks like a gray box with a really pretty chandelier :)  

We had a 35 week check up today and all was well until I let the doctor know that I had noticed a decrease in Nicolette's activity over the past 24 hours.  Boy, they do NOT mess around when you mention that.  She told me that she wanted me to stay and have an NST - I did not know what an NST was so was starting to freak myself out and they block out the wireless back in the dr.'s office areas so I couldn't look it up.  After an hour wait I was in a room with a nurse with two monitors strapped to my belly (which is apparently all an NST is = Non Stress Test).  Wouldn't you know it that as SOON as she turned the monitors on our little Sleeping Beauty was suddenly wide awake and ready to put on a show for us!  Little drama queen - I think she just wanted some extra attention today.  She even had the hiccups for about 15 minutes so it was interesting to hear that.  After an hour of monitoring her heart rate and movements they determined that all is definitely well and our little princess must have just been extra sleepy (or mommy has just been a little too active).  She's been a jumping bean for the rest of the day so that makes me feel good...although she is starting to get into some REALLY interesting and UNCOMFORTABLE positions.  But I'll take it, happily - just to know that she's ok!

Tomorrow is hump day bump day!  :) 

HDBD 34 weeks - the home stretch

34 weeks!  Yes that's right...34 weeks!  That means that it's only 3 weeks until we are considered "full term" and only 6 weeks until her official "due date"!  How in the world did this sneak up on us????? 

I've had lots of questions about the nursery...let's just say it's still in nearly the same state as it was following "nursery-geddon" back in April (for those who missed the dramatic post, click here).  The walls are painted, the crown moulding is up (not yet puttied or painted), the closet is not painted, the chandelier is in a box on the floor and the drapes are still in their pretty Restoration Hardware packages just waiting to be hung.  We picked up the crib and dresser 2 weeks ago but that hasn't made it into the room yet since daddy still needs to finish the painting first.  I'm leaving this up to him (yes to he who said "yes we can have the nursery finished by January," back when I started planning this in November).  I'm not going to stress about it (famous last words) as we already have her pretty little bassinet set up in our room and that's where she'll stay for quite a while anyway.

Nicolette has decided to make a nice little home for herself in my right ribs...love you honey but that hurts.  I spent about half of my work day yesterday at my desk with my right arm straight up in the air just trying to create more "space" for her to settle in.  As soon as I put my arm down she'd sneak right back up into the rib...silly girl...this is not a game! :)

I had a dear friend who is insanely talented and was kind enough to take some maternity photos last week.  She posted a beautiful blog on her site at Kristin Vining Photography.  And another special (and adorable) chick was kind enough to do my hair and make up so that I didn't look like a total hot mess, she is cute as a button and has the best sense of style, you should check out her website at Lindsey Regan Thorne.  One of my favorite pics from the shoot is below :) 

The countdown is on...5 weeks and 6 days to go!

HDBD - 33 weeks & Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Sorry I'm just a wee bit late with this update.

Yesterday was a  fun day - had some professional pics of the "bump" taken by a dear friend and uber talented photographer, Ms. Kristin Vining.  If you have time you should definitely check out her website/blog - she's amazing!  www.kristinviningphotoblog.com/

I also just realized that yesterday was my Blogoversary!  That's right...one full year of "blogging" (sporadic as it may be).  For those of you who have not been following from the beginning you can catch my first post here: The first blog entry.  But our journey began long before the first blog entry and that is something that believe it or not I've actually started to forget about.  It seems so strange that something that consumed my life for 2 1/2-3 years now seems almost like if couldn't have been real.  Now we have everything that we could have hoped for - ours just came with a little more time, money and needles than most.  Looking back I wouldn't change a thing because if it had happened any other way we wouldn't be getting ready to welcome Nicolette into our family...I believe that everything happened the way it did so that SHE could be a part of our little fam.  We can't wait to meet her...only 7 weeks or so to go!!!!

Wake up call!

HOLY MOLY!  A friend and co-worker of mine who is also pregnant (only 2 weeks ahead of me) delivered her baby yesterday.  All is well and baby and mommy (and daddy) are all fine (PRAISE GOD), but boy was this a wake up call for me!  She was only 35 weeks pregnant!   I'm 32 1/2 weeks pregnant...What in the world would I do if little Nicolette arrived in two weeks?  (cue panic attack and remember to remind hubby that the car seat that we're registered for is at Babies r' Us - we can make do without all the other stuff, but if we want to bring baby girl home that is the one thing that we absolutely have to have).  

Starting TODAY I'm going to definitely start taking it much easier and slow down.  (I say as I'm typing on my laptop at 4:30 in the morning instead of sleeping).  After the 5k yesterday I went straight to work where I was on my feet for most of the day meeting with clients and giving tours of the Hotel, then went to the grocery store and Sam's, then came home put everything away and made dinner, did dishes, etc.  I was on my feet about 80% of the time from 5am until 8pm...and I felt it at the end of the night.  I couldn't even sit on the couch and hang out with the Italian last night I just HAD to go lay down in bed (and was fast asleep within 30 minutes).

Anyway, sorry for the scattered post - Above all I'm keeping the Yatko family in my prayers and praising God that mommy and baby are well - even with this early arrival!  What a blessing that everyone is healthy and happy!    

And to my little one, "We can't wait to meet you baby Nicolette, but please stay put and "cook" for another month or so!  You have plenty of years ahead of you to give me anxiety so no need to start this early."  :)  

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight" ~ Proverbs 3:5-6  

Nicolette's first race...

And I use the term "race" lightly as the only race for me was to try and make sure that we didn't finish last.  Today started out bright and early as Nicolette and I headed out to the YMCA Ballantyne 5K this morning with friends from work.  Less than a year ago a 5k run was like a warm up for me and now I'm lucky just to be able to walk half that distance!  I was blessed to have a fellow pregateer with me today so that I had someone to walk with as I'm still too scared to go for walks by myself.  I did have to stop a few times because of this stupid light headed-ness that I still have going on but we made it through!  Silly baby apparently likes to take every bit of my blood and hang onto it and not let any get to my brain.  Most women suffer from "pregnancy brain" or forgetfulness...not me I just get dizzy and almost pass out...awesome.  This definitely makes getting exercise in a little challenging.     

I did feel a little bit like a freak show when at the end of the race the race photographers made my friend get out of the picture so that he could get a full profile shot of me.  Breaking news: "8-month pregnant woman finishes walking Ballantyne 5k!" - note my sarcasm here.  I somehow doubt that the Today Show will be calling to interview me as they did Amber Miller who finished the Chicago Marathon while 38 weeks pregnant (and then proceeded to deliver her child hours later).

This will definitely be our first and last "race" until the little one arrives.  But once she's here and old enough I can't wait to take her running with me in the jog stroller!!!!!  I was chatting with a mom of a 7 week old baby girl before the race and she had her baby girl all nestled into her BOB stroller and took off running as soon as the race started.  I'm definitely looking forward to that!

Don't EVEN ask me what our time was today...let's just say that most of the 10K runners were finishing as we finished our 5k walk. :)   

 I couldn't bring myself to pin that silly race number right over my bump.

 

We're in LOVE!

So, no bump pic to share today, but I have something even better to share...pics from our 3D/4D Ultrasound!!!!!  We went to an awesome studio (The Prenatal Picture) for our ultrasound session.  At the ultrasound the tech mentioned that I have an Anterior Placenta which basically means that the placenta is on the front of my belly instead of the back.  About 50% of women have anterior placenta and this explains why I don't feel her kicks or movements in the center of my belly, only on the sides.  Aha, now it makes sense!  It also means that it's a little trickier to get a clear shot - especially with this little snuggle buddy...the tech said that Nicolette really likes to snuggle up close to the placenta (probably because it's warm and she can hear my heartbeat).  She said that this also means that Nicolette will probably be a snuggly little girl when she gets here too!  YAY!  I love snuggles!!!! :)

I need to dig up some baby photos of both of us to compare but we both think that she looks more like me.  I think she has a Gulbranson nose and Lord knows that she has the same chubby cheeks that I had when I was a baby.  (When I was a baby my head was 90% cheeks).  The tech also said that she already has a LOT of hair, but obviously we can't tell what color it is yet :)  I need to see a baby pic of the Italian once again because Nicolette has really full lips and I don't think that I had full lips like that when I was baby (nor do I have them now).  Regardless, we were both in awe as we watched her move around, wiggle and giggle...yes, we got a few good laughs out of her because we were poking and prodding trying to get her to move her little hands away from her face but no such luck...for 30 minutes straight she had one or both of her sweet little hands right up by her face so we didn't get a super clear shot of her face.  Here are a few of our favorite pictures (we got 52 images, so I won't bore you with ALL of those - however there were several shots of the "girlie parts" so we can confirm with absolute certainty that she is 100% girl - she might have been shy showing her face but not a bit shy about flashing the lady parts...let's hope that's not a sign of things to come in the future :)

 She's playing peek-a-boo!  You can see her little smile behind her right hand.  

 Giggling!  She's a happy girl!

 Still smiling, but dang it she won't move her hands out of the way!

 At first glance this appeared to be our sweet, precious little baby giving us the one finger salute (and I wouldn't blamer her if she did.  We were poking her and wiggling her around just trying to get her little hands out of the way).  But it's actually her index finger. 

 Squishy face - I think she has mommy's cheeks (mommy had HUGE cheeks when she was a baby)

 Trying to settle back in and go back to sleep. 

 Daddy said that she was practicing "Tebowing"

Sleepy girl!

HDBD - 31 weeks!

So here we are at 31 weeks!  Only 8 weeks and 6 days away from D-Day or 5 weeks and 6 days away from being considered "full term". 

Had a busy week last week working on my favorite event of the year.  Here are a couple of pics snapped at my 13th hour of work from Tuesday evening's gala event :)  Still hangin in there and might I add that I'm still able to rock my 4" heels for the full day.  Those who know me well know that I don't do flats...I really only own 1 pair (and they're leopard print ballet flats so they won't go over too well with my conservative dress code at work).  My plan is to rock the heels until delivery day (so long as they don't hurt me or the bambino). 

After a busy week at work the hubs and I were able to spend Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship.  He's so sweet, all week long he kept saying that he didn't want me to go to the tournament because I'm 7 months pregnant...he must have missed the news story about the woman who ran the marathon at 8 1/2 months pregnant.  I think I can handle a few hours walking around the golf course honey, but it's sweet that you're concerned.  I'm glad the weather cooled off a little so that he felt comfortable taking me out there with him.  I have been getting a little stir crazy since I've been afraid to leave the house to go for walks by myself due to my light headedness/dizzy/almost fainting spells so it was nice to be outside and walking around for a while.  I know that the weather here will be in the upper 90's before we know it and then I probably won't want to be outside even if I could! 

And I wrapped up the weekend with some nursery shopping with my mom.  God bless Babies 'R Us and their 20% off coupons.  We got Nicolette's bassinet - I'll post a picture in a post later this week.  We set it up in our room and put the batteries in the little light, noise maker, vibrating thingy.  It was fun to turn it on last night and see what Sasha (our cat child) did.  She was VERY curious...especially when we put it on the nature sounds instead of the music.  But she was a good kitty - she didn't try to hop in the bassinet at all - she does however like to curl up in the storage basket underneath (where we're supposed to keep diapers, wipes, etc.).  I think that may be Sasha's new nap time spot which is fine with me as long as she's not trying to get IN the bassinet where the baby sleeps.  We'll let her think that we bought it especially for her.  Chance (our dog child) couldn't care less.  He's the most mellow dog you'll ever meet...didn't even sniff the bassinet or anything, just laid down on his bed right next to it and went to sleep.

As for cravings - I can't get enough FRUIT...watermelon, pineapple, mango, apples, grapes, berries...on two separate occasions I have eaten a pound to a pound and a half of grapes in one day...that can't be normal!  At least she likes fruit and not brownies and ice cream :)

And Tuesday was my birthday - 35 and proud WAHOO!  This means that I am officially of "advanced maternal age" - sounds awesome right?  We had a check up with Dr. Bale and so far everything is progressing just beautifully.  When I asked about the light headedness/fainting, Dr. Bale said that most women just get "pregnancy brain" where they get a little forgetful (this is a legitimate thing by the way caused by the majority of the blood in your body going to your little one instead of up to your noggin).  I haven't been forgetful (or at least not that I remember) so he said that my version of pregnancy brain is just getting dizzy, light headed and almost fainting.  cool.  Now don't feel too sorry for me...it doesn't happen every day, just once in a while and totally randomly so I'm a-ok. 

Little Nicolette is probably right around 3 pounds today.  We have our 3d/4d ultrasound next week and I can't wait to see her little face!  I'm sure that it has changed so much since our 19 week ultrasound! 

And I just realized that I'm wearing black in all of these pictures - no I am not in mourning and yes I do own and wear other colors...promise!

HDBD - 30 weeks

So I must apologize but I really have nothing clever to say today.  However today is Hump Day Bump Day and we are officially 30 weeks along.  That means only 7 weeks until we're considered "full term" (HOLY SMOKES) and 10 weeks until the estimated due date. 

Little girl is making lots of use out of the space she has on the right side of my body but seems to have missed the memo that she can hang out on the left side too.  Sometimes it feels like she's trying to crawl all the way around to my back so I gently nudge her back to try to get her centered a little bit.

I was thrilled to receive an awesome baby gift last night which included Mustela® baby care products.  I've been struggling to find a brand of soap, shampoo, lotion etc that I was comfortable using for little Nicolette.  I try to use paraben, phthalate-free products for myself and the Italian and really want to do the same for our sweet little one as well and this line of products fits the bill perfectly!    I've included some more info on Mustela® products and parabens below:

Mustela® Our Commitments

Expert Naturalness

• Priority is given to ingredients of natural origin that are rigorously selected
• Exclusion of questionable ingredients: paraben-free, phthalate-free, phenoxyethanol-free, essential oil-free, alcohol-free and Bisphenol A (BPA)-free

Proven Effectiveness

• Proven results from medical testing under actual conditions of use
• Products developed in close collaboration with healthcare professionals

Guaranteed Safety

• Hypoallergenic products and rigorous tolerance testing
• Traceability of our ingredients and products, from suppliers to point of sale

Special Pleasure to Use

• Development of pleasant textures
• Selection of delicate scents 

Environmental Commitment

• Our boxes are made using wood from sustainably managed forests and are printed with ink containing vegetable oils.
• Concrete actions being taken to reduce the use of plastic, paper and cardboard for packaging (recyclable recipients, deletion of inserts, etc.)

From wikipedia:

Parabens are a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives by cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Parabens are effective preservatives in many types of formulas. These compounds, and their salts, are used primarily for their bactericidal and fungicidal properties. They can be found in shampoos, commercial moisturizers, shaving gels, personal lubricants, topical/parenteral pharmaceuticals, spray tanning solution, makeup,^[1] and toothpaste. They are also used as food additives.
Their efficacy as preservatives, in combination with their low cost, the long history of their use, and the inefficacy of some natural alternatives like grapefruit seed extract (GSE),^[2] probably explains why parabens are so commonplace. They are becoming increasingly controversial, however, because they have been found in extremely low concentrations in breast cancer tumors (an average of 20 nanograms/g of tissue).^[3] Parabens have also displayed the ability to slightly mimic estrogen (a hormone known to play a role in the development of breast cancer).^[3] No effective direct links between parabens and cancer have been established, however.^[4] Another concern is that the estrogen-mimic aspect of parabens may be a factor in the increasing prevalence of early puberty in girls.^[5]