The baby is 30 weeks this week...10 weeks to go!  We went for our 30 week ultrasound today and was told the baby now weights 3 pounds 12 ounces.  It sounded like a lot to me, so I asked if they could tell how big the baby would be at full term.  They said they couldn't tell at this point, but right now he's in the 30th percentile.  I was like REALLY?!  I wonder how big the babies are at the 100th percentile.

*edit*  Okay, as a health care prof, I know this is probably the worst thing I can do, but I couldn't help myself and I googled baby's average weight. The average weight for a 30 weeker is 2.9 pounds, which most people round to 3 pounds.  The ultrasound tech must've been looking at the wrong line or something because Baby Bear is much bigger than 2.9 pounds....he's actually what a 32 weeker should weigh!  And they say the baby gains approximately 12 pound per week from here on out...so if I go the full 40 weeks, that puts him at 8 pounds 12 ounces at delivery.  Okay fine, the ultrasound estimate usually means nothing since it can be off by as much as 2 pounds....but if it's true, that is a lot of baby!  Maybe he'll become a famous football player...and then we can retire early. HAHAHAHA.

But he looks really squished in there now.  At all the previous ultrasounds, there was all this space around the baby....now it's like the baby is pressed up against the uterine walls.  No wonder all his movements feel so much bigger now.  We saw him breathing for the first time, which was really cool.  And he's been head down for the past few visits and he still is.  I hope he stays that way!  He also showed us his foot during the ultrasound...like out of nowhere it just showed up in front of his body hahahaha.

His profile picture still looks the same....still has that big, round head.  They didn't say anything about it being unusually large, so I'm guessing it's okay.

Oh yeah...i also had a pretty bad blood pressure reading experience.  The tech pumped that cuff up to above 200 to start out with (which is pretty darn tight)...then let the air out WAY too fast....the pressure was falling like 20 mmHg per second...and she didn't even wait for my diastolic pressure to stop thumping...she just let all the air out of the cuff at around 70...and I ended up with the highest BP reading ever (still within normal, but high for me).  I was like wth.  So I made PB redo it when she left...and it was more like my normal.

Worse than the belly rubbing is when people comment on my belly button popping out and then PRESS on my belly button (sometimes repeatedly) as they tell me.  HELLO...it's not a REAL BUTTON...nothing will happen if you press on it.  So annoying.

But the cool thing about the belly button is that the skin around it is thinner than the rest of the belly and if i put my fingers there, I can actually feel bony parts of the baby...not just a bump...but like something hard.

This morning, I couldn't get my feet into my clogs!!!!  And the clogs are meant to be loose on your feet so that your heels move freely.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get my fat feet into them.  I ended up wearing a pair of old sneakers...but OMG.  They don't look swollen...but I guess they are. I hope this isn't a daily occurrence...I can only get away with sneakers if I'm sitting most of the day.  If I'm on my feet, I won't last.

I downloaded the Galactic album I was gushing about earlier.  It is SOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOO good.  The electronic/funk jazz with the old school style rap is genius.  People need to come out with more music like this...not the crap the play on the radio now.

This past saturday was the annual softball tourney.  I don't have that many pictures because it was hard to take pics and heckle the other team at the same time.  I had to make a choice....so the camera got packed away.  I must admit, we were pretty annoying....if I were on the other team, I would be annoyed.  HAHAHAHA.  I actually think we were much tamer than we used to be.  But it was so much fun to be there again...and VERY stress free to be there as a spectator instead of a player.  I sat in the shade all day instead of standing in the blazing sun in the infield for hours at a time.  I do admit that I missed it a little...i felt like just taking one swing...or throwing the ball just once...but Papa Bear said no

Here are some of the A team'ers...sorry, outfielders, I didn't get a chance to get any of you...the cheerleading had to take priority!  They don't look very active in the pics...but they really did play hahaha.

The pitcher...AKA Papa Bear! 

Eric, the catcher (sans face mask during this game)

Ronnie, the first baseman.  (PB played catch with him and said he couldn't imagine taking one of those in the eye....it hurt him just to catch his throws with a mitt on!  Although I'm sure Yach knows what I'm talking about since she took one of his hits in the mouth!)

The fearless captain, Anthony...with his sexy thigh highs.

Shortstop, Avery

3rd baseman, Janu

My favorite play of the day was by Papa Bear (and I'm not being biased).  He had a few weak at bats because he hadn't touched a softball in years...he's a bball guy. Looks like he's swinging for the fences...but the ball ended up being popped up to the pitcher.  The pitcher bobbled it...and tried to make a play at home.  While all the commotion was going on at home plate, PB made it all the way to 3rd base.  When they finally realized he was running, he was just rounding third base and made an attempt to go back.  They threw to 3rd and he took off for home plate...and just avoided the tag.  HOME RUN.....from an infield pop-up!

Us, celebrating his "home run"!

Sunday was my second shower...but i don't really have too many pics...so everyone, send me the pics, so I can blog about it!!!!

I'll be at the softball tourney for the first time in a few years!  I can't wait!  Let the obnoxious Union girls cheerleading commence!  See you all tomorrow!

Someone just told me that my wedding bio was on www.weddingbee.com  as one of their Knottie Bios of the Week!!!!  http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/07/23/knottie-bios-of-the-week-128/#more-59667   

Thanks Mrs. Bell Pepper for nominating me!

Today, some of my co-workers were talking about their own horrid first trimester symptoms.  I didn't really get hit too badly, so I didn't really say much.  And one of them was like, "well, it's probably because of you're age...you're so young...how old are you?"    I answered 29 just as she was guessing, "23?".  I was like, "23?!!!"  just as she was like, "29?!!!"  She was like, well, i wouldn't have guessed 29, that's for sure. (And she's not that old herself...she's in her 30's). But hey, I'll take it...maybe I'll just say 23 from now on hahaha. 23 fo' life!  This is kind of scary, but I can not remember what I was doing at age 23 hahaha...I think that's when I was working at Rockefeller U, being nice to the mice.  That feels like eons ago!

Totally unrelated but I just found out one of my most FAVORITE groups, Galactic, put out a new CD, where they teamed up with hip hop stars and brass bands.  I know, sounds weird, but it works!  One of the songs features Chali 2na from J5.  TWO of my favorite groups in ONE song...it's sooo good!  I must have this CD, or download it!

Sometimes we put the core of a toilet paper roll in Tobiko Chen's cage because she likes to play/chew on it.  I put one in there last night...and this morning, I went over and saw that she had inserted the tube into the tunnel of her igloo house.  At first I thought maybe it was a coincidence, that she accidentally pushed it in there while she was playing with it.  So I called her to see if she would put it out so that she could get out.  Nope, she came out THROUGH the tube...and went back in THROUGH the tube (she's so big now, she barely fits)!  She is a nutjob, this hamster.

She thought she found an escape when I opened the door to take pics...

Her new entrance

She even plugged the extra space around the tube with her bedding.

I just found out the two more women at work are preggos...that's makes 5 of us due within a 7 month period.  There must be something in the water in the pharmacy dept!  The first one of the bunch just had his baby yesterday!  It's a toss up between me and the other Oct mommy for next in line (she always goes early, so she may beat me to it even though her due date is after mine).

Somehow, I have this uh, gift for outting mommies before they've announced the pregnancy.  The first time was with our friends.  We were driving on the way back from a whitewater rafting trip.  The wife had a headache and had her husband stop at a gas station to pick up tylenol.  Because of my migraines, I always carry a stash of advil with me just in case. So I offered her an advil so that they wouldn't have to buy Tylenol.  They kept saying no, it's okay and turning me down.  But I insisted, because it didn't make sense to buy meds if I had some.  Then the wife said that she couldn't take advil.  It never crossed my mind that she was preggo because we just came back from whitewater rafting!  I interpreted that to mean that she was allergic to it.  I was intrigued (being the pharmacist dork that I am) because I had never met anyone with an NSAID allergy.  So I started asking her all sorts of questions about her allergy.  Finally, she said that she wasn't allergic to NSAIDs...and then the husband kind of said, what other reasons would make her unable to take ibuprofen?  I think I mouthed "pregnant?" to PB because I mean, we just went whitewater rafting!  I couldn't be!  And yep, she was.  We were the first to find out...even before their parents!  All of that from "I have a headache".

I actually found out about the 5th preggo girl at work in a similar manner.  She was actually asking me about Baby Bear..and I knew she had two boys.  So I kiddingly asked her, "so are you going to try for a girl anytime?".  She turned bright red and was like, "actually, i haven't really told people yet, but I'm expecting!!!".  oops. hhahaha

So if you want to keep your pregnancy a secret, don't talk to me!

But actually, I did have people ask me about having kids while I was still in hiding.  I just flat out lied hahaha.  Well not really.  They'd ask when we'd start...and I'd say, oh...whatever happens happens.  Or I'd say, we would love to have kids.  Something vague.

I'm back from my 28 week visit.  I passed my GTT (yay!!!), so no more getting poked and taking blood for a while!  I have terrible veins and I was left with a bruise for almost 2 weeks after the last time.  MD says my CBC is normal and my hemoglobin levels are great!  And my baby belly is measuring right at 28 weeks!  I asked about the carrying low thing since all the women at work keep asking me if I've already dropped, which scared me a little.  She said I was fine and just carrying low.  I guess the old wives tale is true in my case....if you're carrying low, its a boy.

I did have a little scare because I thought I heard an irregular heartbeat and the MD spent longer than usual listening to the heartbeat.  But it became regular after a while and then you heard a big THUMP.  Turns out, Baby Bear was moving around in there and then decided to flip over.  Crazy boy.

I also am back on track with the weight gain, so now I'm right where the MD wants me to be.  I gained 7 pounds since the last visit 4 weeks ago.  I don't care about the weight gain as long as it's appropriate, so if the MD thinks I need more weight, I'll add more weight!  After the last visit, I added two big snacks to my day....  between breakfast and lunch, I'll eat a granola bar and drink a boxed chocolate milk drink.  And then when I get home from work, I'll eat a huge bowl of cereal with milk.  Oh, and I realized I can tolerate 1% milk without too many issues down there.  woohoo! No mo' gas!

A recent new mom at work sent me this list of must-haves to stock up on before the baby gets here.  I am allowed to purchase stuff through our pharmacy at our price, so it saves us a bundle to not have to pay retail price for these things.  Is there anything else to add to this list in terms of medical stuff? And how many of each do I need?

medipaste (generic triple paste)
hydrophor (generic aquaphor)
infant acetaminophen
simethicone drops
ibuprofen drops (i did not use until after 6 months)
Dermoplast spray

vasoline small one for circumcision care
2x2 non-stick gauze
alcohol wipes for cord care

So far, I haven't had things too bad...but lately, I've started getting cramps in my calf in the middle of the night.  So far, it's happened three times.  Sometimes, if I'm awake enough, I can stretch out my calf RIGHT when I feel that twinge, so it doesn't happen.  But if I don't catch it in time, it turns into a full fledged charley horse.  Apparently it happens more the bigger you get.  I usually end up waking up PB too because I start yelling, OW OW, CRAMP CRAMP while nudging him at the same time, not like there's anything he can do.  tee hee.  I know i shoudl just stretch it out, but that hurts so much...so usually I just ride it out.  I had one two nights ago (right after I ate a banana too) and my calf still feels like I ran marathon.  I don't know if being on my feet all day has anything to do with it...maybe.  Ugh

I noticed that I'm carrying kind of low.  Someone at work asked me if I've already dropped.  My pants no longer stay up hahahaha.  I normally wear my scrubs on my hips...but pre-pregnancy, I had a waist, so they stayed up.  Now my belly and hips form a straight line, so they're ALWAYS sliding down...i'm always trying to either hike them up, or pull my shirt down.  But the good part is that I don't have any difficulties with breathing or GERD or getting kicked in the ribs.

*see protected*