Baby Makin(g) Machine

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Hello, My Name is Jenn and I'm Addicted to the Internet

It started for me back with AOL and my fascination to connect with people and surf for information hasn't gone away.

Last year and some odd months, I started this blog. It has since become more than a hobby and started to suck away my free time.

Then someone told me about Twitter. I swore I wouldn't join because I was already online too much, have enough social networking going on with Facebook, plus WHO wants to know what I'm doing 24/7? Umm, no thanks stalkers!

... I now have two Twitter accounts.

Then don't get me started on eBay! Running home to catch an auction before it ended became my obsession my sophomore year of college... When I had JUST enough grant money to help me splurge on a some $7 jeans and $15 perfume. But trouble came when I'd be so determined to win I'd go WAY over what I was REALLY winning to spend. I'd feel happy for a moment but then the remorse would set in.

I since tamed my online auction shopping addiction, however now as this little girl grows inside me, I have a new category to search for in rows and rows of items. And let me tell you there are some DEALS!!

Look what I've won already everything total including shipping for about $40:

$10 for all 3!

$17 for the set of 10!

My next thing is to get colorful onesies to make all of these dresses more modest for my little one! But I'll wait to see what I get first from family/ friends.

And this is what I'm keeping my eye on (don't even THINK about bidding against me!):

I've been trying to be mindful of the seasons and sizes on the things I'm getting. I figure it's better to be too big than too small with dresses. Oh yea, notice that there are no pants? I'm not sure if I'll ever buy her any!

The bad thing about my eBay and Twitter addictions is less time for blogging, but not just posting, I usually still find time to jot down my thoughts, but blog engaging! I've turned into a... Dare I say it... BLOG STALKER! Lurking in the bushes, reading blogs, hopping along from blog to blog, not letting you know I'm laughing, crying, or interested in your thoughts. Funny thing is, I don't encourage blog stalking... And I've become a stalker myself.

I would like to give a shout out to some of my blog friends though who have stuck by me despite my new bad habits. I out back my Top Commentators widget (my other one broke) and I wanna give a shout out to them, plus a few others! Don't be sad if I skipped you, I plan to do this more often and I looked to see which ones were loyal commentators on posts other than giveaways.

Alanna, I think has gotta be one of my top commentators. I love her words of wisdom and we are not too far apart from each other in our pregnancies. She's about 25 weeks along now and she's currently in need of prayers since they're trying to figure out their financial situation before their little baby comes and she has to take time off work.

Jessica, from My Silly Monkeys I think we stalk each other, but when I get a comment from you it makes my day, it's ok when I don't though cause you're there to answer my desperate twitter DMs 20 times a day even though you're due to pop any day now.

Mammatalk, I love your blog, and when you comment on something I've written it brightens my day because you know what... You're a WAY better writer than me, and quite frankly, I'm honored to have entertained you for a few moments.

Jen, I love this sweetheart. Jen and I tend to chat more on twitter but she is a LOYAL commenter on my blog! And not just for all of the giveaways. I owe her big time for visiting me all of the time. Jen is TTC for baby number one and she blogs about her life After the Alter.

Kate from Busted Plumbing has a special place in my heart. I felt so worried after finding out I was pregnant that I would loose the TTC friends I made. Kate has been so nice and supportive of me and I've been rooting her on in her journey. I LOVE her blog and her humor, you MUST check her out!

And just some other people I love: Gena from The Morris Bunch, (who is hooking me up with some old baby girl clothes, can I get a whoop?!), Johanna from (The Road To) Mommyland. I've read her blog for awhile now, from when she had been TTC almost a year to now, she's due about a week after me! Emily from Baby Dickey, I loved reading about her pregnancy and now life as a new mommy! Sheena who was the Mommy in Mommy Daddy blog but is re-defining her blog self over at Sophistishe! Love her new spot, love her new voice, love that she's also up at crazy hours of the night to instant message with me on google chat! Check her out!

Ok, for real, I need to do this more often! I have other blogs I love on my "friends" page if you're looking for other reading material. I recommend you check these peeps out cause they rock and keep me addicted to the internet!

Are you a stalker? Come out of the wood works, and say hi! And I'll be sure to visit you, even if it's been awhile, even if I've NEVER "met" you! I'd love to meet you now!

****

Random.org winner of the $55 Gift Certificate to Clementine Rose: #15 Emmy! Congrats! Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail{dot}com so I can get your prize to you!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

20 Weeks Down 20 Weeks to Go!

Dear Spawnie,

We've made it! Can you believe it? We are to our half-way point! Not only that, but this week I found out you're my baby GIRL! I can't believe it. Partly because all of the tests seemed to think you were a boy and partly because it just seems to good to be true! I know boys aren't that bad but girls are just so much fun! I told myself if you were in fact a girl then I'd be in for it, cause you're one to go against the grain already. But you know what... That's a lot like your mommy!

Let me tell you something little girl... I want you to know you can be WHATEVER you want to be! You can be a doctor, a lawyer, a firefighter, a teacher, and you can be a mom too! As you're growing up you'll see all sorts of moms and women who do all sorts of things! I want you to know you can go for whatever you dream! I did, and I'm so happy I did. Especially since I'm finally going for my biggest dream, and that's to have you!

When we went in this week for our ultrasound I was SO surprised to see you were a girl. Finding that out really made me the happiest mommy alive! It also makes all of this seem so much more real!

Your daddy bought you a dress that day and I got you one the next day. People tell us not to buy too many clothes and to stock up on things like diapers but it's so hard when dresses are the fun things. I'm not sure I'll ever buy you a pair of pants!

When we got your measurements you were looking nice and healthy! You kicked me quite a bit during the ultrasound too! I could see it and feel it at the same time! You were upside down, it didn't look very comfortable, you were really standing on your head! I was worried at first because your pictures didn't look like other pictures I've seen where they can clearly make out all of the body parts. At first it looked like you didn't have any arms! But you aren't armless! The tech pointed out your arms to us!

You look like you're weighing about 10 1/2 ounces now. You should be about 6 1/2 inches long now, or about the length of a banana. I can't remember what you measured to exactly during the ultrasound.

You're swallowing more now, which apparently is good for your digestive system.

There were a couple of things the doctor talked to us about concerning you. Number one, mommy is five months pregnant now and I've only gained about 3 pounds! You wouldn't think it looking at this picture though. You can even see my belly button sticking out through my shirt!

I don't get a lot of time to eat during the week when I'm working hard so I'm going to make a conscious effort to eat more this week. We also couldn't see the front of your face because of the way you were positioned so we'll be doing another ultrasound in three weeks to make sure you're looking nice and healthy there too... I'm sure you are! We also have to get more pictures of your umbilical cord.

I'm already beginning to shop for you! I ordered you a princess book, and some other story books. I also got some butterflies to decorate your room with, and I'm looking for your crib bedding now! I can't wait to meet you my little daughter... Oh. And we decided on your name! I hope we don't change it, I like it! But I'm not telling anyone yet. I will tell you though that you and I will have the same initials! J.L.!

Love you baby girl, keep growing strong!

Love,

Mommy

****

Question of the day: Did you ultrasound pictures confuse you too or did your baby look more like a baby at 20 weeks?

A word from a sponsor: For more in depth information about being 20 weeks pregnant check out Pregnancy Corner.

Oh, and looking for a nursing bra? My friend wants you to know about a good deal on nursing bras.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Her Name Won't Be "Spawnie" Forever

Choosing a baby name is a lot harder than I thought! I thought I had it all figured out and decided if we were having a girl but that all changed when I found out she IS a girl!

I'm sure this is one of many "help me name my baby" posts I'll have. I'm not sure yet if I'm sharing the name I choose. Some of the names we've loved forever don't seem as appealing to me now and I've gone through an entire iPhone app full of baby girl names. Nothing screams "this is it" but I do like about 6 or 7. My husband likes all but one.

I'm looking for something not common, but not too unusual. My husband and I both have common names and we want to give our child something more unique. I would love to find a name that starts with a "J" so we can share the same initials but that's not a requirement. I also really like names that also have shorter nicknames.

I know some people invent names but I'm not very good at that. Have any suggestions?

Here's a few names I liked but don't look like they're making the cut:

Jaden
Jocelynn
Maybellene
Mya
Serena
Serenity
Trinity
Vanessa

That should give you a little bit of an idea of the type of names we like. For a middle name I'm thinking Lee or Lynn.

So please, help a mama out! Name suggestions? Name book recommendations? Help!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

IT'S A...

Going through my mind the morning of, before SHOWTIME:

6am: Crap, gotta go pee. Try not to trip past the fireplace, make it to the bathroom. Go back to sleep.

8am: CRAP! Gotta go pee again! ... Can't go back to sleep. Wishing I could so that I could wake up again later, closer to show time!

8:05-8:30: Mess around on my iPhone, check email, Twitter, Facebook. Get a text from my mom that says something to the effect of "You'd better tell me today" hinting at the fact that she'd seen the details of my pink or blue party.

8:30: Get a call from my mother-in-law. She too was trying to get the details of our appointment. Nope, not this morning, I wish! Yes, it's this afternoon, yes, I'll call or text you as soon as I know!

9:00: Have conversation #20 about our thoughts on the day's events. Make a plan to go exercise (him, not me... I stayed on my computer), get ready, go to the bank, go to the store, the post office (none of which actually happened). Talk about how he's doesn't care if it's a boy or a girl and that I don't either!!!... I just am ready to shop! ... Make a plan to go to Babies R Us after the Ultrasound.

9:30-11:30: Goof around online, get on Twitter, answer work emails that can't wait until Wednesday, start writing blog post drafts, ANYTHING to kill time. Wait... Did the clock just move BACKWARDS?! I think it did!!

Fast forward to 1:30 pm. We're in the parking lot waiting to go in. I'm drinking orange juice and eating hash browns, my husband is downing a Quiznos sandwich. My stomach started to turn in knots as it always does before my appointments. I hadn't really felt Spawnie kick all day and I was beginning to worry a little... I'm not sure why, it's habit I guess.

When we went and checked in I took off my jacket and revealed my "Alien on Board" Tee from Speggwear. It's one of the only maternity shirts I have so far and I enjoy showing it and my little bump off. I calmed down in the waiting room and tweeted my updates. After just a few minutes we were called into the ultrasound room.

It was dark, I'm not sure why but I didn't expect that at first. The woman who greeted us was a nice lady, older, she seemed like she had been doing this awhile. I wanted to ask her how experienced she was but my courage went out the window as my nerves kicked in.

I laid on the table and got lathered up with jelly... Cold jelly. Then I fixed my eyes on the screen.

The first thing I noticed was Spawnie's head. Spawnie was upside down in what looked like the most uncomfortable position. Chin to chest, head stuck in a corner near my bladder. I saw its head, torso and legs. But no arms.

The tech was pointing out Spawnie's head and "nice spinal cord" "great heart" but WHERE WERE ITS ARMS?! I was overcome with nervousness, all this time I'd been worried about my child's gender, praying for good health, yes... But now I was starting at what appeared to be my armless baby and limbs immediately became the only thing that mattered. My eyes began to water as I thought about this. Perhaps it was my punishment for calling my baby Alien Spawn for so long.

As the tech moved the wand around my belly different body parts began to focus. Spawnie's femur bones and... Wait... Yes, ARMS! And hands, and fingers! I counted five fingers on each of Spawnie's little fists!! I silently thanked the Lord.

The tech moved around explaining each body part and all I could do was smile and nod. When she hovered over Spawnie's bum, sticking straight up, I was looking for boy parts. I had studied about 50 ultrasound gender-determining pictures on About.com the night before and was sure I'd be able to decipher between a boy and a girl if the position was right. I saw three white lines, and no turtle head when the tech asked us if we wanted to know what it was. We both said "yes" (I knowing I couldn't wait another second) and she told us it was a baby girl! A very... Non-shy girl! I was so shocked, surprised and completely excited. I turned to my husband who had an elated look on his face. He gave a fist-pump showing his excitement. I cried after realizing we were really having a baby girl.

My OB later examined the photos and said it was a very obvious girl!

I knew it! It was my gut instinct from the beginning and my husband's all along. I think he also wanted it to be a girl just so she would prove Intelligender wrong. I was mentally preparing myself for a boy but I'm so happy to be having a little girl! SO HAPPY!

Seeing her on that screen made yesterday undoubtedly one of the best days of my life! I can't wait to meet my little girl... Our daughter!

(horrible picture I know! I don't have a scanner so gotta go to Kinkos!)

Monday, February 1, 2010

Pink or Blue Party Prizes and "Clues"

Ready for the party to start? They'll be a chatroom on my site tomorrow so you can join in! Be sure you're typing in pink or blue! Here's some hints (most myths) as to what I knew before my ultrasound:
I was carrying sorta "low"= Boy
Intelligender Test results = Boy
My 91-year old great-grandpa who claims he always predicts correct = Girl
Heartbeat was high 160s@12weeks and high 150s@16 weeks= Girl
Craving salty foods= Boy
Husband is gaining weight too (to his credit, it's muscle)= Girl
Ancient Chinese Lunar Calendar= Boy
Dreams were all of boys until a few weeks ago = Girl/Boy
Dry skin=Boy
Morning sickness= Girl
Sleep on the right= Girl
Feet are colder than before (hard to believe!)= Boy

Hmm. Looks like we're back to 50/50. Which test do you believe most?
Good luck with your guesses ;)

Now on to the Pink or Blue Party Prizes!

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