Things I crave (in this late stage of pregnancy)

I thought it would be fun to look at my 37 week Belly pic next to my 30 Week belly pic. Its amazing how much bigger I've gotten in 7 weeks.

I haven't really had cravings thru this pregnancy. Perhaps its because my brain is hard wired to eat healthy. D and I have been cooking at home (he's been making me loads of dinners) and we have a (fairly) very well balanced diet (if I do say so!). But this past 2 weeks I've been making weekly visits to Taqueria La Cumbre, my all time favorite burrito/taco place in San Francsico. I have to go to UCSF for my fetal monitoring and on my route home (up 16th street) if I find parking near Valencia, I stop at La Cumbre for a delish Grande Taco. I've been having really good parking karma the past 2 weeks, so let's see if I can keep it going on...

My other craving is Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. However, I do have a little self restraint (no Ice cream for breakfast or lunch!) Its my nightly ritual. D and I have been watching "True Blood" and what goes better with Sex, Blood and vampires than a little Ice Cream? We just finished Season 2 last night, and I must say I am quite impressed with the series and season story lines. I mean its certainly not Mad Men. Oh god, I can not wait until next season for some more Draper drama.

When I last purchased some Choc. Chip Cookie Dough ice cream at Whole Foods, the cashier asked me if I had tried the Oatmeal Cookie Chunk - which I haven't. And I've been on the hunt for it ever since. I even went onto the B n J website to locate where they carried it nearby. They say they carry it at Safeway. So we invited my mom over for dinner earlier this week and she asked if she could get us anything. "Ohhh can you stop by Safeway and get me some Oatmeal Cookie Chunk Ice Cream!?" She called me in a panic as they didn't have that flavor. WTF!? I'm going to send B n J a very heated email about their store locator.

Tomorrow we have our 37 week doctors appointment. I not too certain what to expect - "Am I getting a pelvic exam" "How close am I to going into Labor?" I'm sure the doctor will not have all the answers as I understand its close to impossible to predict just When someone will giving birth.

Basically, our doctor told us that there was a 20% chance that I could give birth this week or the next or the next. That means there is a 60% chance that I could go into labor before my due date (of Jan 7th). I then read that only 5% of women ACTUALLY give birth on their due date. Which means (if I did my math right) that the other 35% of suckers out there go into labor after their due date. Please, baby don't make me the sucker!!

It's getting harder and harder...

...to be independent and get around. I'm at the point in the pregnancy that everything is a chore. Walking from the front room to the back is a hassle. Call me lazy - but its a huge effort. I feel like I an constantly running short on breath - perhaps it's that this bruiser of a kid in my belly is taking up all the room in my chest. I'm awaiting the moment when I feel the baby "drop" as I hear that my breathing will be back to normal.

My husband has been wonderful in making sure I don't overdo myself - he's been cooking and cleaning (hmmm maybe I should get pregnant more often? hah!) My mom and bro even went to Costco (which I had been putting off for weeks now) and got me a few things I needed. Whew. What a relief. And today I actually was able to talk my husband (Mr. Anti-shopping) to go to Costco for a few things. It was not too terribly crowded and to top it off - I got him one of his favorite things in the world...a Costco Hotdog.

I managed to squeeze in most of my Christmas shopping and have sent off to D's family this week. Relieved to have gotten all the packages out in time for them to be there by Christmas. Yay! A sense of accomplishment in my tender state!

One unusual thing that I have been experiencing this past week is that the baby has been getting hiccups. Baby hiccups for 5 - 10 mins each day. Sometimes multiple times. Usually it appears to occur after I've had a meal. Its such a strange sensation as I feel this rhythmic movement in my lower belly close to my hip (the baby is head down - thus ready for action!) I initially didn't even notice them, but was going in for weekly fetal monitoring (where they place a monitor on my belly to watch baby's movement and my contractions). The baby usually moves around a lot and uses the spot where the nurse has attached the monitor as a kicking bag. So there is typically lots of movement. "Oh it looks like your little one has the hiccups!" Upon paying closer attention to all the movements going on, I sense this rhythmic movement, which is different from the jabs to the fetal monitor or my ribs. Once it was pointed out what the hiccups felt like, I have been noticing them daily.

This pregnancy has been very easy (as compared to the horror stories I've heard about) and I am extremely lucky that I have been this healthy and energetic [knocking on wood]. However, we did hit a few bumps in the road at first, which were completely unnerving. The roadblocks were all caused by the first and second trimester genetic testing blood work.

First, we had some irregularities in out First Trimester blood screening and we're informed that our baby might be at risk of having Down's Syndrome. My heart literally fell out of my chest. I was inconsolable and it was hard to be positive about it. "How would we raise a child with Down's Syndrome? We have my health to contend with." In order to wipe out the worry for the next 6 months, we decided to get a Amniocentesis. The Amnio itself wasn't too bad - it was just the nerves I built up thinking about a 5 inch needle being stuck into my belly. It was at the least, an unpleasant experience. Luckily, we got the results back and things all appeared normal. Whew.

We didn't come to find out about another irregularity in one of my hormones (for the 2nd trimester) until about a month ago. Our doctor had neglected to tell us until it was suitable (as the monitoring couldn't start until the 35 weeek). I am so thankful that the doctor waited to tell us and didn't cause us any unnecessary worry. So, due to the irregularity in the blood results, we had another ultrasound (thus the "ONE BIG ASS BABY BUSCH posting") where the technician told us that things were looking fine and that the baby was healthy. I still have to go in for this weekly Fetal monitoring, which is fine, as its reassuring when the nurses don't see anything "out of the norm". Its so frustrating as I read that there are many false positives in the genetic testing for the 1st and 2nd trimester. I'm toying with not going thru the whole process if we get pregnant again.

So all the worrying aside, we are excited and eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little one. Now the only thing that I really am dying to find out - will it be a boy or will it be a girl??

I'm trapped in the body of an 80 year old lady

Here's my 35 week Baby Bump

Ok so maybe its just that I'm pregnant :) Its so weird, these sleepless nights - I have to pee every 2 hours, regardless of if I've drank anything or not. Then I have trouble getting back to sleep. Cue the 4 am bowls of cereal to trick my body into going back to sleep. I'm sure getting ready for this little baby to come.

We've been pretty fortunate and have been able to get alot of stuff from our baby shower and Craigslist. Found "the deal of the century" on baby furniture on CL - We got a crib, Changing table, Amoire, and glider! It's all high end baby furniture that a guy needed to get rid of, as his son is now 4 and they no longer needed it. He gave us a free toddler bed and frame as well. Here's a pic of the crib with Kermit the frog. Its a nice neutral green, so will be perfect for a baby boy or girl (which we have YET to find out!) We are so happy with the furniture!

I've taken a video of my baby bump - I shot it using the new Flip that we got as a baby shower gift. I feel so tech savvy now - I have means to shoot video and just got a new laptop. Thanks to my lovely husband for the early and thoughtful "Push Present." I love me some practical gifts :)





I ordered the cutest wall decals for the baby's room today from Blik I can't wait to get em. Plus the Cheap Ass Bitch inside of me got 20% off too! woot woot!

Baby Bowling with MJ - Happy Turkey Day!

Had a great time last night - the fam (minus Grandma Bootsie) went bowling. Its starting to become an annual event. Next year we will have our little munchkin with us. I went bowling last month when I was in Dayton, OH and got a Turkey! This time no turkey though. It's amazing how off skew I am. However, I still managed to get a few strikes. Woot! Here's a Bowling Belly Pic with my Doula ;)

Yesterday I was hanging with my Dad and Bro. We were walking back to our car and I hit a unlevel part in the concrete. Thank God my Bro was walking right next to me as he was able to catch me and break my fall. He literally saved my life and the life of MJ as I would have surely gone down hard!

One big ass Busch baby...

So D and I went to get an ultrasound at the advice of our OB and everything was looking good. The technician measured the circumference of the baby's skull and seemed puzzled. "How sure are you about your Due Date?" D and I say that we are going off what the doctor told us - and we are at 33 weeks. "Hmmm interesting, I see that your baby is measuring in at the 35 week mark" Thankfully we had a doctors appointment just after the scan and we discuss this with her. She states that there are a few things - The baby could potentially come early (20% chance), that the tech measured the baby's skull at an elipse and not a true circle which could throw the results off - or that we might have a big baby. We discuss with her the birth weights on Danny's side (His mom had three 10 lbs babies). So I guess time will tell what the outcome will be. His brothers wife had 7lb babies so perhaps our baby will not make it to the 10 lb "bruiser" mark.

Here's my 34th week belly pic. I'm certainly getting bigger - but as everyone remarks, "I'm all baby" - no weight gain anywhere else - Thank god!

Morgy got home yesterday and we went over to the fam's for dinner. D and I were in an intensive birth class all day yesterday, which was slightly exhausting. The class was overbooked and I'm not sure that we took alot from it - but we did get to watch 3 births (yes, while watching the birth I cried and D caught me. Its emotional!)

Our baby shower is coming up this weekend and I'm not going to stress about it (you hear that Auntie and Morgy??) x