Happy Halloween

We weren't sure if we would make it to Halloween or not... we did.  So we quickly set up our Halloween decor and waited for all the Trick-or-Treaters!  A lot of ladybugs, angry birds, and super mario brothers this year... and most of them actually said "Trick-or-Treat" this year! 

Cauldron with a mist maker near the door.  Everyone wants to touch the "dry ice" as they stick their hands into the cauldron... perhaps we should put a sign next year. 

I decided to dress the baby up whether she was physically here or not.  I made the shirt two days before hand hoping it would jinx me and I wouldn't be able to wear it... didn't work, but at least Lady Novack got to participate in her "quasi first" Halloween!!

Nursery

Finally a post that begins with an N!  I wanted to write a post involving all the sewing I have done for the Lady, but I have already packed some of it up for the hospital.  So I'll just point them out when I come across something in a picture.

We started with the nursery around the time my pelvis gave out.  The Physical Therapist said that the second trimester would be the best time physically to get things done, so we seized the opportunity!

View as you walk into the nursery: 

Curtains sewn by JJ (Bryan's mom) and me.

 

Up close:

changing table area:

Nap zone: the glider is quite soothing.

I "sewed" the quilting hoops with fabric, since this used to be my craft room.

crib:

You can't really see it in the picture, but the bed skirt was sewed by JJ and me.

Yes, that is a bumper, but it is the breathable bumper, we'll see what the pediatrician says.

Full view of this side.

Paintings done by Grandma Homlar.

 I took all the ribbons from presents and tied them around a quilting hoop.  My intention was to do a mobile, but I can't figure out how to hang it without hanging it from the ceiling.

Closet: 

Cravings, Aversions, and Quirks

Everyone always asks if I'm having cravings, when in reality it's not a craving I got, but aversions during pregnancy.  During the first trimester I noticed aversions towards anything that would give me heartburn, especially mustard! I have dealt with a lot of heartburn throughout the entire pregnancy and have been able to deal with most foods that are prone to give you heartburn, but mustard and hot drinks, forget it!  Of course the first trimester is usually the hardest in regards to "morning sickness." I can't say I really had morning sickness, so the aversions didn't really affect me in that regard.

I have noticed some quirks in my eating and drinking habits.  I now have a necessity for ICE COLD drinks!  Water must be served with a full glass of ice, water, and preferably with a straw too!  I also prefer all fruit, fruit cups, and drinks to be refrigerated and cold before consuming. Usually I could eat and drink those at room temperature.  Perhaps it's the heartburn.  Another quirk I have noticed is that when I am hungry, I become starving very soon after.  So I have to keep a snack with me at all times.  Speaking of snacks, I have had a few episodes when I'm driving and I get a hunger strike for something specific, such as artichoke dip, that I must go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients, and cook it asap. Does that count as a craving?  The cravings I did have occurred from week to week.  A better question to ask me is, "what are you craving this week?" Usually it was something sweet and candy related: air heads, blow pops, jolly ranchers, and now and laters.  Good thing cravings didn't occur often!

I'm Not A Baker

On July 11, 2011 we decided to tell small group the gender of our baby.  I decided to bake a strawberry cake and frost it in green.  Let me reiterate I am not a baker.  I have a history of failing in the bakery department.  The first cake I baked was for Bryan's 23rd or 24th Birthday. Failed. I didn't spray the pans and the cake was literally stuck to the bottom and sides, tasted great, looked horrible.

This time I remembered to spray the pan, but I only used one pan... apparently you're supposed to use two pans. As the cake was baking, a pink substance began oozing out the bottom of the oven.  It looked kind of cool, but it was messy.  I decided to wait until the cake was done baking/oozing before cleaning it. The cake still tasted good!  The frosting, as I mentioned, was supposed to be green, but I accidently grabbed the blue bottle and squirted a few drops before noticing, so the frosting ended up a sea teal color.  Oh well, it matches the walls of the nursery!

Again, I should have taken pictures, but I forgot...

It's a GIRL!!

On July 1, 2011 we found had our anatomy ultrasound.  This ultrasound is the lengthiest of all of them because they are checking not just the gender, but all the internal anatomy as well.  Bryan came with me and he was just as mesmerized as I was seeing all the body parts.  A few times he jumped out of his seat to take a better look.  I was hoping they would give us the ultrasounds of the heart chambers, kidneys, and  bone structure, but they gave us the standard ones.     

Sucking her thumb:

Her middle toe is longer than the rest... just like Bryan! He was pretty stoked!

We asked the technician if we could guess what the gender was before she told us: I instantly said, GIRL!

After all the standard anatomy shots, the technician clicked the machine over to 4D, since I drank a coke before the appointment (it is said to help the baby "show" itself).  The technician kept having to chase the baby to get the shots she needed.

Probably more than necessary, but it's so cool!

Lady Novack!

That weekend we were going to see both sides of our family in Atlanta for the 4th of July.  Bryan and I decided to surprise them with the gender of the baby.  We had told them that our appointment to find out the gender wasn't until July 8th.  We purchased pink (and blue, which we returned) maracas from Party City and gave them to the grandfathers.    

13 week ultrasound

Due to the tornado, I was unable to go to my 12 week appointment and the usual appointment schedule would be thrown off by a week for the remainder of the pregnancy.  At my 13 week appointment I was able to get an ultrasound of the baby!  Not because it was cool or that I could, but because the doppler wasn't picking up the baby's heart beat!  I was excited at first when the nurse said "if I can't find the heartbeat we'll have to do an ultrasound," but when she couldn't find the heartbeat, I was a little concerned. 

I had begun to feel something in my lower abdomen that week, but didn't know what it was.  The books say that when the baby kicks at first it can be confused with gas bubbles, please tell me what gas bubbles feel like?  I would feel some kind of twinge, like something tumbling, every now and then, maybe once a day, but didn't know what it was.  When the nurse put the probe (where she needed it to get a reading), I could see the baby move around!!  I saw the baby curl up into a ball and then splayed out it's entire body and appendages, not to mention I FELT the baby do that right at the exact moment.  From then on whenever I felt that tumbling twinge, I knew it was the baby making a big movement. 

This image captured the heart rate, 160! 

Apparently the baby was still in my pelvis and hadn't risen to my abdomen yet.

Beginning to look more like a little human!

Tornado and Registering

I apologize that the posts aren't rhyming with N words, just trying to get all caught up with the pregnancy before our baby arrives... any day now. 

Back in April, April 27 to be exact, Huntsville experienced mother nature's wrath, an E4 and E5 tornado, although most of the media was focused on Tuscaloosa.  The E4 tornado came through 0.1 mile south of our house, while the E5 tornado came through 3-5 miles North of us.  It was pretty scary that day, but everyone we knew were fine.  There was a lot of damage further east of us some minor, some major, some total devastation.  This map shows the slew of tornados that touched down across the south that day.  

Huntsville was without power and cell phone reception for about 5 days.  The radio announcers originally said 3 days, then changed to 7 days. So we decided to bail and head down to Birmingham especially since I was pregnant and didn't want to chance it on nutrition and slowly spoiling food.  Not to mention that we couldn't call anyone to let them know we were okay.  As we drove, as quickly as we could legally since we were running out of gas and no local stations had any, we could see some of the damage.  As we approached Cullman, about an hour south of us, we were able to use our phones to call family.  Bryan's family, to which we were driving to, were happy to hear that we were okay since they had "heard wind" of some tornados going through Huntsville and we got the approval for us to crash for a few days.  When I called my parents, they just wanted to chat about what we had done that day and what our plans were for the weekend... just a normal conversation!  The only news that they were getting about the tornados were the one's in Tuscaloosa.  Once my mom got more information about what happened near us, literally, then she began to freak out. 

So what to do in Birmingham when we didn't have any plans to be there... might as well start registering! We decided to register at Buy Buy Baby as our main registry.  We did end up registering at other locations since we don't have a Buy Buy Baby in Huntsville, which I am still shocked about.  The store, Buy Buy Baby is awesome!! It's a sister company to Bed Bath and Beyond.  I'm not sure if sister company is the right word to use, but Bed Bath and Beyond owns Buy Buy Baby and you can use the coupons at both locations, the stores are designed with the same layout, and the prices are great!  

Awe registering... if only we could get a copy of the security camera that day!  I do believe that whom ever looked/looks at the day will pin point "the future new parents" instantly!  We spent about 6 hours registering or it felt like it.  We did some in the morning, took a break to eat lunch, and went back for more.  The best thing I like about Buy Buy Baby is the associates that work there.  They know the specifications, quality, safety, practicality, and can answer any and all of your questions without having to get a manager or telling you to call the 1-800 number!  

What took us the longest registering was the strollers, car seats, and baby bjorn.  We probably asked a bazillion questions about car seats and strollers.  Comparing specifications, quality, safety, etc.  With my pelvis being dislocated, and will continue after delivery, weight was our biggest concern. We were lifting and folding just about every single car seat and stroller in the store!  Not to mention, we didn't know how to fold or unsnap any of them, hence funny security videos!

But our most hilarious moments were trying on the baby bjorn carriers! The store has all the carriers available for you to try on... let's just say it took us a while to figure out how to wear the bjorn!

It probably took us 45 minutes to get to this point! 

Telling Small Group

Every Monday night we go to church for a small group gathering with our friends.  We decided to tell our small group at 11 weeks that we were pregnant only because of my pelvis.  You know, in case I needed to call someone to help me off the ground...  

That night we were bringing dinner for the group. For dessert I made chocolates melted into baby shapes: rattles, booties, baby animals, etc. As we were chatting during dinner, the group was asking me about my back: what I had done, what had happened, what caused it, etc.  When I replied, "it's directly related to my pregnancy" a few people looked at me excited, while others were still processing... We said that we were pregnant and "the baby is already a pain in my butt."

I meant to take a picture of the chocolates, but I guess "pregnancy brain" began earlier than I realized!