25 Weeks + 15 Weeks To Go!!!

How far along? 25 weeks, 15 more weeks to go!

Maternity clothes? Yes. Bought a pair of maternity work pants, khaki cargo pants, and a couple tank tops

Sleep: All is good in this area  

Best moment this week: CJ got to feel Parker kick twice this week! 

Food cravings this week: Strawberry pop-tarts

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

Miss anything? I miss not easily getting back pain. I walked a mile and a 1/2 and now I have lots of back pain. :(   

Gender: BOY!!! Parker Torosian

 Symptoms: Lots of movement. Starting to get that pregnancy line on my belly. (Not sure what it is called, but it’s the one that is on the middle of my stomach by my belly button)  

This week baby is the size of a: rutabaga

Baby’s development this week: He is starting to gain some ‘fat’ this week so he is not all skin and bones. He should measure to about 13 inches and about 1 1/2 pound.

New baby items (purchased or received):  None

Feeling (Happy, Moody, other):  Happy

Looking forward to: Finishing painting Parker’s room.

Other Things Going On: I called my insurance company to inquire about finding a pediatrician and asked them to check their system for any providers that are closer to home vs Milwaukee. I mentioned that I looked at a listing that is offered on their website but only saw Milwaukee doctors. I gave her the name of the doctor that I was looking at and to my surprise this doctor is part my network! I chose to go with Rebecca Lescher of the Aurora clinic in Racine on Washington Ave. Dr. Lescher came highly recommended by CJ’s cousin Katie who takes her daughter there. Woo Hoo another huge check off my to do list! 

24 Weeks + Pictures + First Pregnancy Dream!

How far along? 24 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yes. I can no longer button any of my pants. Everyday I go to work with my pants unbuttoned haha! No one knows as I always have a shirt that covers the button. It’s probably time that I invest in some maternity work pants! I also have one pair of regular jeans that still fit comfortably. I am also starting to have to wean out and put away some of my tops as they are no longer fitting.

Sleep: Good in this area  

Best moment this week: Spending the past week with my mom in Florida soaking up some sunshine and warm weather!  I was also able to feel baby kick when placing my hand on my belly. CJ and my mom have tried several times to feel him, but he seems to stop when someone tries to feel him! What a stinker! (I hope that is not a sign of what his personality will be like!)

Movement:  Yes, lots over this past week. The books say they are most active between 24-28 weeks. So far this seems to be true

Food cravings this week: Strawberry pop-tarts

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

Miss anything? Florida’s warm weather and sunshine! I am so over Wisconsin’s 30-50 degrees and snow in April!

Gender: BOY!!! Parker Torosian

 Symptoms: Lots of movement. Starting to get that pregnancy line on my belly. (Not sure what it is called, but it’s the one that is on the middle of my stomach by my belly button)  

This week baby is the size of a: ear of corn

Baby’s development this week: His brain is brain is growing and his taste buds are continuing to develop. He is also developing “branches” in his lungs to help him breathe on his own once he is born. He should measure to about 12 inches and about 1 1/3 pound.

New baby items (purchased or received):  None

Feeling (Happy, Moody, other):  A bit sad having to come back to reality after a nice vacation.

Looking forward to: Finishing painting Parker’s room. With me being sick and being out on vacation I have not done any more work on the room.

Other Things Going On: This week I finalized and booked a spot for Parker to attend daycare after my leave is done. He is expected to start attending mid to late October. We chose to go with a daycare in North Cape as we felt it is easily accessible for both CJ and I to pick up and drop off (or grandparents if needed). This was a tough decision for me as I debated about going to a better rated day care up in the Milwaukee area near my work but then it would not be easy for anyone else to drop off/pick up if for some reason I couldn’t. This was a huge “Check” off my to do list!

 Next up on my to do list is finding a primary care doctor as it is required to have one before we leave the hospital after Parker is born. This “project” as I like to call it, is another big dilemma that I am facing and currently I do not know what I should do. One option is to pick a physician up at Froedtert as that is where we are going to have guaranteed insurance coverage.  The con side of having a Froedtert physician is that there are none in the Racine area so I would need to stay in the Milwaukee area for appointments! That also means that I would basically have to take a day off of work for doctor appointments because it doesn’t make sense to be driving to Milwaukee for work, then leaving to come back to North Cape to pick him up to take him to his appointment in Milwaukee and then back home! While I am on maternity leave I would not mind driving up to Milwaukee for appointments because I would only have to be going up there once, but once leave is done it doesn’t make sense to be doing all that driving. My second option is to find a doctor that is closer to home in the Racine area so CJ or I can come from work, pick baby up, and then head to Racine for an appointment. If I stayed with option 2 that means I would need to call the insurance company to see what my out of network costs would be and if anyone has dealt with insurance before, you can guarantee that this will be a mess to try to figure out! I think I am leaning towards option 2 but am dragging my feet with calling insurance! 

Pictures were taken in Clearwater Beach. Clearwater is known for having amazing sunsets! 

I had my first official pregnancy dream last night. I’ve always heard that once you are pregnant you will start to have dreams about being pregnant or having baby related dreams. Well I encountered my first one last night and it has me hoping that he doesn’t come too early!

Dream: At 29 weeks I ended up getting admitted to the hospital for a complication and ended up delivering Parker. The dream showed that he was healthy but very small since he was so early. Since he was so small he needed to stay at the hospital for a little while to be monitored.

…Next thing I knew it was time to go home and the nurse asked us where our car seat was. CJ responded that we didn’t have one yet because he was so early and just hadn’t gotten one yet. The nurse said that in order for us to go home CJ needed to go and get a car seat right away and to make sure he had a crib or somewhere to sleep once he was home. Of course we didn’t have any of those, so off to the store CJ went.

In the next scene, CJ comes bursting into the hospital room all breathless (must have been running to the room) saying that he grabbed the only car seat that the store had. Looking at the pink car seat I said, “really that was the only one?” The nurse replied, “Well that pink car seat will at least get you home.” So in the pink car seat we packed our baby and headed for home! Once we were home I asked CJ where baby was going to sleep since the bedroom was never finished and we didn’t have a crib. (The bedroom looked exactly how it does now – not fully painted and all of the furniture pushed to the center of the room in order to finish painting!) CJ said that he bought a crib when he was at the store picking out the car seat but had not yet set it up. I told him that we should get it set up so that he had somewhere to sleep. As he was putting up the crib, I said that I needed to go to the store to pick out other things that we needed such as bottles, clothes, diapers, and a swing! While I was in the store people commented on how tiny my ‘daughter’ was and I had to explain that baby was a boy but since he was so early we had not gotten a car seat yet and this pink one was the only one the store had!  Everyone seemed to stare at me puzzled because I had a boy in a pink car seat!

I woke up shortly after that. Kind of a silly dream to have, but I sure hope he doesn’t come at 29 weeks because we are not ready for him! The room is not finished and we only have a few packages of diapers, a couple outfits and a pack and play!                                                                                                                                                                                             

23 Weeks

How far along? 23 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yes. I can no longer button any of my pants.

Sleep: I can’t seem to get enough sleep.

Best moment this week: Heard the heartbeat again this week. Heartbeat was 140.

Movement:  Yes, but I haven’t felt him much lately.   

Food cravings this week: Strawberry pop-tarts

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

Miss anything? COLD MEDICINE – specifically DayQuil and NyQuil! Of all the time I could have gotten sick this winter, I somehow picked up a terrible cold just in time for vacation. Go figure! Anyways, I am limited on the medicines that I can take that would normally help ease some of the cold symptoms. These are the only ‘pregnancy safe’ medicines that I am allowed to take: Robitussin DM and Mucinex

Gender: BOY!!! Parker Torosian

 Symptoms: Lots of lower back pain.

This week baby is the size of a: Mango

Baby’s development this week: Blood vessels in the lungs are developing to prepare for breathing. He should measure to about 11 inches and about 1 pound.

New baby items (purchased or received):  I purchased a few DIY décor items for Parker’s room. (I’ll post pictures when I finish them)

Feeling (Happy, Mooody, other):  Excited for my Florida vacation this week!  

Looking forward to: Vacation and feeling better

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.