22 Weeks = 6 Months

How far along? 22 weeks = 6 months

Best moment this week: CJ and I visited our first day care center this past week. We visited ‘Your Place to Grow’ in North Cape on Hwy 45 which is conveniently located on my way to work. We met with one of the directors/teachers who gave us a tour of the facility and explained their different programs such as the infant, toddler and 3-5 classrooms. Your Place to Grow is a small daycare but the teacher seemed nice and I think they would accommodate our needs well. We are planning to visit at least 1-2 more places before our final decision. My mom and I also started painting Parker’s room! We would have finished the room if we hadn’t run out of paint during our second coat on the final wall! Looks like I will be making a trip to Menards to pick up a spare quart so we can finish the final wall and the edging. CJ and I also visited with his cousin Katie and her 1 month old daughter, Peyton! Holding Peyton makes me soo excited for Parker!

Symptoms: Sciatic pain in my lower back and pelvic pressure = both are very uncomfortable

New baby items (purchased or received):  Grandma & Grandpa TT bought CJ and I a Magic Bullet for our 4^th anniversary (modern gift for 4 years). I am also going to say that this is a new baby item, as I want to try to make baby food using this machine. From what I have heard it is fairly easy to make your own baby food. Basically you would take fresh or frozen veggies, boil, mash, freeze in ice cube trays, and then store in a freezer safe container until ready to use. Once baby is ready to eat you take a cube of food and microwave it until ready to serve. It sounds pretty easy and it’s much more cost effective to make it vs buying jars of food.Parker was also given his first Brewer outfit! (Thank you again to Rob and Tracy!) As long as he is not super little, we should still be able to have him fit into the onesie for this baseball season!

This week baby is the size of: Spaghetti Squash

Baby’s development this week:  Lips, eyelids and eyebrows are more distinct now. Eyes have formed but the irises sill lack pigment. Tiny tooth buds are even developing under his gums.  He should measure to about 11 inches and weigh about 1 pound <- He’s getting big!

This past week has been pretty crazy around the Torosian household!

Monday was CJ’s 27^th birthday. For his birthday I made him dinner, bought a mini cake, and then went with him to bowling.

Tuesday night we watched 2 episodes of the Homeland season (2).

Wednesday we learned that my uncle (mom’s brother) lost his battle with melanoma and passed away at the young age of 58.

Thursday night CJ and I viewed our first day care center and stopped over by his cousin Katie to visit with her and her daughter, Peyton.

Friday morning I dropped CJ off so he could leave for his Nationals Tournament in Reno, NV.  Friday night, I was able to leave work early to attend my uncle’s funeral. Once I was home from the funeral I started painting in Parker’s room. A little while later my brother dropped off his chocolate lab, Moose, for me to watch while they went away for a weekend for a wrestling tournament.

At 6:30am on Saturday, Moose and Lacey were wide awake and ready for the day, which meant that I too had to get up and share their excitement of being up so early on a Saturday! I did a few things around the house, then headed back to the funeral home for one last goodbye and a mass for my uncle. As soon as mass was over I had to head straight to Party Animals (monthly fun bowling tournament). After taking 2^nd place in Party Animals I came home to continue on with painting and spending time with 2 never ending energetic dogs!

At 6:30 am on Sunday, Moose and Lacey were wide awake and ready to go for the day AGAIN (apparently these dogs have not heard of sleeping in on weekends!), went for breakfast with my mom and grandma, spent some more time playing with 2 never ending energetic dogs outside, painted some more until I ran out of paint, did some deep cleaning in the house (scrubbing floors, sinks, toilets, windows, vacuumed, and laundry), dropped Moose off at home, gave Lacey a bath, had dinner with my mom , got ready for Monday and headed straight to bed (mostly because I was in so much pain with my back I could no longer move)!!!

Whew! Today is Monday in which is the start to another hectic week ahead! At least CJ gets home tonight from his long weekend away in Reno!  

Picture of the room BEFORE paint (please excuse the mess!) The lighting is bad, but the walls are originally white

Walls are now tan! Almost done! 

21 Weeks

How far along? 21 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yes. I can no longer button any of my pants. I have been doing this handy dandy trick where I take a hair tie or rubberband and make a loop around my button and through the button hole so I can still fit into my regular work pants and jeans!

Sleep: I have been so sleepy all of a sudden. I feel like I could sleep all the time! I’ve heard that it gets worse as the 3^rd trimester comes around. I get an hour for lunch so a lot of the times I will go into an empty office if a doctor is out and take a nap for 30 minutes or so. I feel much more refreshed afterwards! J

Best moment this week: CJ turned 27 this week! I officially signed Parker’s name to CJ’s card for the first time!

Movement:  Yes, the movements are getting a little stronger than just the little flutters. It feels like someone has made a fist and is lightly moving it around in circles.  I thought by now I would feel more movement than what I do but have to keep in mind that he is still pretty little! CJ still has not been able to feel Parker yet though.  

Food cravings this week: I’ve really wanted Captain Crunch cereal, but I have not yet given in to those cravings!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing new in this category!

Gender: BOY!!! Parker Torosian

 Symptoms: Heartburn which seems to be almost daily now. I have also started to get some lower back pain.

This week baby is the size of: Carrot

Baby’s development this week:  Parker’s eyelids and eyebrows have now formed on his face. He should measure to about 10 ½ inches and about 12 ounces.

New baby items (purchased or received):  I did not purchase or receive anything this week, but I did call 2 daycares to see if they had any openings in October for when we would be needing daycare and to get some more information about the day care. I am going to look at my first daycare on Hwy. 45 in North Cape, Thursday on my way home work. I better bring a notebook so I know what to ask and then write down the answers so I don’t forget! Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should ask? (If so comment below!)

I also can't help but feeling that I am in a bit of a pickle:  I feel so accomplished by calling the 2 daycares as I have been dreading this part of the process, but I just don't know what the best thing to do is. I would really like to have Parker stay closer to home so CJ (or a grandma/grandpa) can help pick him up. But with me working so far from home I struggle with the question "what do I do when he has a doctor's appointment?"  (Most likely we will have to find a dr. in Milwaukee because that's where my insurance covers.) At that point I say, well it would be easier for him to be closer to my work so I can drop off and pick up and then take him to an appointment right away. But then I have the question of "well what if I am sick?" I can't just run him up to Milwaukee and then me drive home, then back up to Milwaukee to pick him up and then home again! He would almost have to stay home with me when I was sick so I didn't have to run up to Milwaukee. CJ may not always have a job up in Milwaukee so it would be hard for him to help pick up and drop off if we found a day care in Milwaukee. That's my current dilemma, but I guess my gut is saying that being closer to home is the better option. 

Feeling (Happy, Mooody, other):  Excited!  Between my motivation returning and starting to get Parker’s room organized, I am quite excited to start seeing progress.  I also like that I can start calling him by his name vs ‘Baby’. 

Looking forward to: Getting Parker’s room painted this weekend!  

20 weeks!!! Baby is a BOY!!!!

How far along? 20 weeks = ½ way there!

Best moment this week: This was absolutely an amazing week! 

 For those that did not know, we held a gender reveal party on Friday night for all of our close friends and family to come find out what baby was going to be! CJ and I went in for the ultrasound on Friday March 14^th at 1:45. We explained to the nurse that we would like to find out what baby is, but still would like it to be a surprise. We asked her to write down the sex in an envelope and seal it.  She did just as we asked. (Believe it or not we did not peek!)  From the ultrasound we walked back to my work and gave the envelope to my coworker. (All of my ultrasound appointments are up here at Froedtert.) My coworker then took a box that I had decorated and filled it with whatever color balloons the paper in the envelope said. From there she brought the sealed box out to the party where we opened the box in front of everyone to see! Blue balloons floated up to the ceiling!

CJ and I both agreed that it was more special finding out the way we did than if we would have found out at the actual ultrasound appointment! A huge thank you goes out to Amber Robinson for helping in coordinating this big surprise!

I also decided to get my butt in gear and start working on baby’s room now that we know baby is a boy. I set a goal for myself that I needed to clean out dresser #2 and the closet this weekend so painting could happen while CJ is at nationals in Reno in 2 weekends. Thanks to my mom, baby’s room is clean and all furniture has been moved around to make room for a crib and is now ready for painting!

CJ and I decided to name our little man Parker! CJ picked the name Parker as it comes from a brand of hunting bows. Since Parker is associated with hunting & being outdoors, I made the executive decision to go with an outdoorsy nursery theme which would include woodland animals like deer or bears and pine trees.  I knew CJ would not be disappointed with that nursery idea! Colors will be based on tans, greens, and browns.

This week baby is the size of: a banana. Parker weighed approximately 10 oz. at the appt on Friday.

 

New baby items (purchased or received):  Ok I couldn’t help myself by purchasing a few items now that I FINALLY know that baby is a boy! I purchased a Vera Bradley diaper bag, I’ve always said I wanted one so when I was in the area I made sure to scoop one up! I also purchased a few outfits at a children’s resale event called “Just Between Friends.” Parents of younger kids – take note that “Just Between Friends” is a good place to get gently used, and reasonably priced clothes, some even still had the original store tags on them! I picked up 5 outfits for less than $20. I also made a trip over to Jennifer’s house, my sister in law, as she had a few items for me as well! From her house I was able to scoop up a high chair, rocking chair, bathing tub, a couple wash cloths, towels, and a pack and play!   

Balloon Box

Parker = 19 weeks

20 weeks = size of a banana

19 Weeks

How far along? 19 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yes. I can no longer button any of my pants. I either have to wrap a rubber band around the button (make a loop around the button and through the hole) or wear a belly band. The belly band covers my stomach & the top of the pants – It’s like a tight tank top minus the top part!

Sleep: Having some pretty crazy dreams! I would share them if I could remember all the details!

Best moment this week: Made it another full week without getting sick plus a couple days! I’m up to 10 days nausea free! Woo hoo!

Miss anything? Warm weather! The one day of 55 is such a teaser and am desperately hoping for more warmer days! I also miss my flatter stomach already. I know I have a long way to go to get that back, but now that the majority of the people know they are constantly staring at my stomach. Its almost like they expect it to grow while they stare!! What’s really awkward is me watching them stare. I wish I could hang a sign on my belly that says, “baby does not grow in the 5 minutes we have been talking, please stop staring!”

Movement:  Yes, but no crazy movement stories this past week.

Food cravings this week: Surprisingly none this week! I even went a week without French toast!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just the smell of pizza & bumpy roads!

Gender: We find out this Friday!!!! OMG we are so excited! Hopefully baby will cooperate during the ultrasound so we can see what baby is and because we are having a gender party later that night!! CJ and I plus a few guests will all be finding out Friday night!

 Symptoms: Heartburn has started to kick in. I have never gotten heartburn before so this is new to me. I now carry Tums with me everywhere! They say that if a mother gets heartburn during pregnancy that her baby will be born with hair. I can’t help but daydream to think if baby will have brown hair like me or blond hair like CJ!

This week baby is the size of: a large heirloom tomato. I had to Google what this is because I have never seen a tomato bigger than the bell pepper, which was baby’s size last week. Apparently it’s a fairly large tomato!

Baby’s development this week:  Baby should be about 6 inches and weighs about 8 ½ ounces. Hair is starting to form on baby’s head (which probably explains the sudden onset of heartburn!) Research also suggests that baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch this week. Some may even argue that baby can start to hear my voice this week.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy! My motivation has returned finally! It’s only been missing for 18 weeks!

Looking forward to: Friday!!! 

New baby items (purchased or received):  This is a new category that was suggested for me to add to the blog. I will share any new items that we have purchased or received.   

Who knew that picking out baby products is a lot like buying a car!

Last week a coworker of mine introduced me to this book called ‘Baby Bargains’. She raved about how this book helped her make a lot of decisions when picking out items for her son, so I thought it might be worth reading! Basically this book reviews and rates numerous baby products based off of what parents have experienced with the company or the product itself. They do not favor one company over the other nor do they work for any of the companies. Each product/company gets rated on a Good, Better, Best scale with an overall A-F rating.

I just finished chapter 1 which just discusses CRIBS. Yes, this whole blurb is all about cribs! Within this chapter, close to 200 different brands and types of cribs are evaluated. Most brands are listed with a little description on whether the company has been around for a long time, how their customer service skills are, and what people are saying about the brand itself or any recalls the company has had, and if you are just paying for a brand name such as Eddie Bauer.  Different types of cribs are also compared such as a regular crib vs convertible cribs. (A Convertible crib is a crib that can transform into a toddler bed, day bed, and eventually a full size bed). They discuss the different types of woods that are used for making cribs and which wood is the most recommended to get. They state that “hard wood” like maple is the sturdiest and best option for cribs, and “soft wood” such as pine, is not the best quality but it is the most common wood used in cribs that are bought from Target or Babies R Us.  What’s the difference?  Hard wood” has a better chance of standing up to toddlers who like to gnaw on the wood or are a little rough with banging toys on the crib, and “soft wood” will typically dent and scratch easily. WHO KNEW! …well maybe CJ because he works with wood all day! Another thing to consider is where the best place to purchase a crib is going to be. Of course if you go to a specialty store like American or Steinhaufels, etc the price is definitely going to be higher and potentially better quality wood than those purchased from Target or Babies R Us.

This is where the book really comes in handy and puts everything into perspective. As a parent your number one concern is safety and if a product will be safe for your child.  As I am processing all of this information about cribs I am trying to keep in mind that I want my child safe but I also do not have all the money in the world to purchase a fancy crib, so how can I still get a nice crib that will last for a long time but is still safe and reasonably priced? Knowing that I definitely want a convertible crib due to its many functions, and wood to me is not a major concern, I can now think about my other options. The book is very good about stating: 1, if you have a lot of money, then these are the cribs we recommend; 2. If you do not need the highest quality but would still like to have nice durable and safe crib, then this is what we recommend; 3. If you are on a budget then here are your options; and 4, stay away from these products regardless!  So for me, my thought process on cribs would be equivalent to a 2. I do not need the highest quality, but still would like something nice.  

Seriously, who knew that there was so much thinking that would go into picking out products! It’s more time consuming than shopping for a new car, and I’ve only just begun to research baby items!!! When shopping for a car you may consider safety ratings, color of exterior/ interior, features, or even which level of car you get!  I always thought you just went to the store and picked out the pattern that you liked! Maybe that’s naïve of me, but that’s what I always thought. Turns out there is a lot of thought processing that goes into picking out baby products!

Gender Poll

Since CJ and I will be finding out if baby Torosian will be a girl or boy next week I thought I would do something fun and add a little poll so we could see what everything thinks baby Torosian will be. You can find poll to the right of this post. Click on your best guess & see what everyone else is thinking!! ->

18 weeks = 5 month mark already!

How far along? 18 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yes, as long as I want to stay comfy and not look like I am bulging out of my regular pants. Pants are the only thing that really isnt fitting anymore.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Starting to have some pretty crazy dreams. I can’t tell you about any of them because I don’t remember them when I wake up!

Best moment this week: Made it a full week without getting sick! But then of course I had to start all over because I got sick on what would have been the 8^th day!  Grandma (Dummer) came with to my 5 month check up to hear the heartbeat. Baby’s heartbeat is a strong 150.

Miss anything? Warm weather! But I think we all miss that!

Movement:  Yes. I felt baby’s foot or hand slide across my stomach! That was my first strong movement that I felt. It felt like someone lightly took their finger and slide it across my skin.  I am a bit weirded out about something moving in my stomach but at the same time it makes me really happy knowing that baby is growing and staying healthy.    

Food cravings this week: Still French toast as well as suckers.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just the smell of pizza & bumpy roads!

Gender: We will find out on March 14th!!!

 Symptoms: PREGNACNY BRAIN!!! I can’t make this stuff up, but I forget EVERYTHING and I can’t remember ANYTHING! Yesterday I put a ham in the crockpot for dinner. Turns out I never turned the crockpot on! I got everything prepped and ready, left for work, came home from work and realized that I never turned it on! I am having a hard time remembering the work I did at work, so if someone asks me a question on it I stare at them blankly because I just don’t remember even doing the work in the first place!  And of course there is the infamous night sickness that still haunts me every now and then.

This week baby is the size of: a bell pepper

Baby’s development this week:  Baby should be about 5 ½ inches and weighs about 6-7 ounces. Baby’s ears have finally moved into the spot where they should be. Baby is also doing a lot of flexing with its arms and legs. I should start to feel more movement from here on out.

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: I felt pretty happy this week. I had a little bit of motivation this past week so I finally caught up on a lot of house work and did some pretty in depth cleaning! It was squeaky clean until CJ came home!

Looking forward to: 10 days until we find out what baby is!