18 weeks -- baby block is a bell pepper!!

ha! i find this funny because i was just talking about peppers yesterday with my intern, talya. hee hee.


from babycenter.com:


How your baby's growing: Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

See what your baby looks like this week. Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.


How your life's changing: Hungry? An increase in appetite is pretty common about now. Make it count by choosing meals and snacks that are rich in nutrients instead of empty calories (chips, French fries, candy, and other sweets). Bigger, more comfortable clothes are a must now as your appetite and waistline grow. Your cardiovascular system is undergoing dramatic changes, and during this trimester your blood pressure will probably be lower than usual. Don't spring up too fast from a lying or sitting position or you might feel a little dizzy. From now on, when you do lie down, it's best to lie on your side — or at least partly tilted to one side. (When you lie flat on your back, your uterus can compress a major vein, leading to decreased blood return to your heart.) Try placing a pillow behind you or under your hip or upper leg for comfort.

If you haven't already had a second-trimester ultrasound, you'll probably have one soon. This painless procedure helps your practitioner check how your baby's growing, screen for certain birth defects, check the placenta and umbilical cord, determine whether the due date you're working with is accurate, and see how many babies you're carrying. During the exam, you might see your baby moving around or sucking his thumb. Bring your partner along, and be sure to ask for a printout for your baby's first photo album!

like i said, we're super excited for the ultrasound!! can't wait!!

ultrasound scheduled!!

i just scheduled my first (and last, probably) ultrasound for monday, august 11, at 11:30 a.m. we're so excited for this!!! first photos of our baby!!

daddy block reminded me to call this morning, as i've been forgetting to call for the past 2 weeks. yeah. can't trust a pregnant woman to remember a damn thing i guess. LOL...

posting more in a moment!

more nursery consideration... bedding

so... as everyone knows, the baby's nursery is also my office space. we'll just have to coexist. which is fine with me... but there are things that i've purchased for the space that i'm not sure if i can keep.

the main issue is the window treatments. i purchased the above curtains a few months back with loren, on a trip to ikea. i love how they look with the white cabinetry and the orange walls in the office. however, before i got a chance to put them up, i found out i was pregnant. and, therefore, i have stalled in my window decoration, and they remain in their packaging.

i love the curtains, and i think they still look great in the space. however, i realize that in order to use them, my baby bedding will have to go with the curtains.

does this mean i need a black&white color scheme in the bedding? i'm ok with that thought... but can i get color too and still have it go with the windown treatments?


i think i'll stop back into buy buy baby this weekend, bring the curtains, and take a closer look. in the meantime, there are some great b&w inspirational photos that i found on apartment therapy's ohdeeoh.

oy... and the confusion continues

which crib??????!!!!!! ack!!!

dave and i stopped into buy buy baby yesterday in the city to go over their inventory of cribs. we figured it would help us narrow down our registry locations -- if buy buy baby has a crib we like then we can register for most things there since it's a chain. if it doesn't have a good choice in cribs, we order our crib from the baby mod line at walmart.com and register for a lot of our other baby things at babies r' us -- a chain i don't particularly like, but that is convenient for so many people to get to.

so we go in. a lot of the crib inventory is beautiful but pricey. waaayyy too pricey for us. but we come upon the oslo crib by berg (shown above, best photo i could find), which is much more reasonable. it's less expensive at this store than at any others i've seen. they have it in white and espresso finish, which is what we're most attracted to, and the knobs come in a selection of colors which is fun. also, this crib and it's maker get great reviews. still, it is $130 more pricey than the ones we're considering from walmart.com.

while the price makes me concerned, i am enamored with this store. buy buy baby carries all the brands i'm interested in for everything concerning baby block -- our stroller, car seats, bedding, breast pumps, etc. my head is swimming from all the different places that i've seen these items listed online, and to have one location that has everything is pretty awesome. PLUS (and this is a big plus), the customer service was incredible. we were at the manhattan branch of the store on a sunday afternoon, surrounded by dozens of young families and expectant parents. and we -- and everyone else around us -- were still able to find plenty of salespeople that were knowledgeable on all the products and more than willing to help out. in fact, they sought us out to ask if we needed help, without ever being annoying. now, how often do you see that at BRU? ok, maybe someone has, but not me.

the mark against the walmart cribs? the two we're most attracted to are out of stock online, and have been for 2 weeks. it's hard to determine if this is going to be an ongoing situation, and of course the only response i received from their email customer service was a generic form letter. (this is another place where buy buy baby scores big, because when asked a question about registering by email, i got a response within a few hours from a PERSON who answered my SPECIFIC QUESTION.)

so, what do we go with? both companies' cribs have been rated well, so safety and other aspects are not an issue on either end. it's more about the store and the prices.

if anyone feels like weighing in on this, feel free! i know in the end the decision will be ours to make, but i like hearing from others.

17 weeks -- baby block is a turnip!

so sorry i wasn't here yesterday to put up a development post. i was away for a couple of days, and there was absolutely no email/internet access.

but i just found out that baby block is the size of a turnip!



from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing: Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop. See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing: Starting to feel a bit off balance? As your belly grows, your center of gravity changes, so you may begin to occasionally feel a little unsteady on your feet. Try to avoid situations with a high risk of falling. Wear low-heeled shoes to reduce your risk of taking a tumble; trauma to your abdomen could be dangerous for you and your baby. You'll also want to be sure to buckle up when you're in a car — keep the lap portion of the seat belt under your belly, drawn snugly across your hips, and also use the shoulder harness, which should fit snugly between your breasts. You may also notice your eyes becoming drier. Using over-the-counter lubricating drops may help. If your contact lenses become uncomfortable, try wearing them for shorter stretches of time. If you still have discomfort, switch to glasses until after you give birth.

gutsy parent!

Image © Phil Mansfield for The New York Times.

cross-post with my design blog... those who read both, you can skip this story on one of the two!

just found this article from the new york times, via apartment therapy's ohdeedoh blog. can you believe this? the mother, pamela bell (a former partner in the Kate Spade brand), let her three children draw and write on their furniture with fabric markers, as well as letting the children do other things such as picking out the paint colors in the home.

i'm impressed, to be honest. that is one gutsy parent. and the results are fabulous! i love how the furniture pieces came out, as well as the other fun details throughout their home. will we let our child do something similar? no, hehehehe... but we have started focusing the house to be comfy, colorful, and child-friendly. it's about as free as i'll get with my decorating! =D

happy to have love for our little one

we realized this past weekend how lucky we are, as parents-to-be, to have so much love surrounding our child already.

we spent time with both sides of our family this weekend. i saw great-grandma mary on friday evening, where we spent most of the time talking about baby block. late friday night, uncle noah and aunt olivia came in for their weekend visit with us, and all of us drove upstate on saturday with grandma barbara to celebrate aunt pearl's 93rd birthday. we were surrounded by the block/katz side of the family... almost all of the cousins, all of the aunts and uncles except uncle larry -- we see him this upcoming weekend.

we had such a nice day, spending quality time with baby block's very excited family. everyone is thrilled and offering their love, their help, and their undivided attention once he/she arrives. all of them were very concerned with whether i was feeling ok or not. grandma barbara is busy working on what name she actually wants to be called by the baby -- so "grandma barbara" may not be used on this blog much longer. =) everyone is just overflowing with love for our child, and they haven't even met baby block yet.

sunday we saw grandma maria, grandpa hank, and uncle steven. more talk about the baby, rubbing of the belly, etc. i talk to grandma maria almost every day -- more out of concern for my health than anything else -- but that never stops her or my side of the family from going nutty with chatter for the child.

we just can't express how happy it made us to be surrounded by so much love and support. we knew it was there, but it's so wonderful to feel it around you, to have it be tangible. baby block is one lucky kid.

image above from joom.

great doctor's visit

i didn't get to write about my doctor's visit on thursday afternoon -- i had a really rough migraine day and just wasn't up to it. so i thought i would get it in now. =)

i had told dave not to take off work to come to this appointment -- after all, all we were doing was checking the heartbeat and my weight. same as the last visit. plus, daddy block will have to find time to come to the ultrasound... no need to take so much time away when he has such a busy schedule.

after the visit, i felt kind of sorry he wasn't there. =\

the appointment went just as i expected. first i had to weigh myself -- i've only gained 1.5 pounds since my 12 week appt., which makes 5 pounds total. yay! after that, i just went in to get the heartbeat. i think i expected it to be similar to the last (and first) time we heard it -- there, but faint and far away. not so much! the midwife put the doppler on my abdomen, higher this time than the last, and we found the heartbeat immediately. it was very strong and very loud, which was surprising and wonderful. baby block also moved around while we were listening, so we could hear him/her moving. so i guess we have a very active and strong child on our hands!

i was so happy to hear how strong the baby is... and slightly sad that daddy block didn't get to hear it too. of course, he immediately told me he'll be at the next visit, no matter what!

we also get to schedule our ultrasound. sometime between 18 and 22 weeks... so i'll keep everyone reading this blog posted as to when it is.

16 weeks -- baby block is an avocado!

yum, avocados! i think i'm craving avocado now... what? you can't mention foods to a pregnant lady. that's all i'm saying.



from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:
The top of your uterus is about halfway between your pubic bone and your navel, and the round ligaments that support it are thickening and stretching as it grows. You're probably feeling a whole lot better as you settle into pregnancy, too. Less nausea, fewer mood swings, and "glowing" skin contribute to an overall sense of well-being.

Soon you'll experience one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy — feeling your baby move. While some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, many don't feel their baby move until about 18 weeks or more. (And if this is your first baby, don't be too impatient — you may not be aware of your baby's movements until 20 weeks or so.) The earliest movements may feel like little flutters, gas bubbles, or even like popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll grow stronger and you'll be able to feel them much more frequently.

taking a break for happier stuff

i'm having a rough time dealing with this situation of the missing woman. so i'm trying to move on to more happy thoughts.

we have to start doing our research for the baby items. carseats, strollers, etc. my biggest issue right now is cribs.

i have a few requirements for the crib we purchase/register for. first, it has to be white in order to go with the decor in the office/nursery. second, it has to either be a crib/changer combo, or fit a changer next to it just like a combo. that's the only way we can fit in both pieces. and third -- and this is the hardest part -- it has to have clean lines and be fairly modern in design.

dave loves a good modern crib. of course, most of those are very expensive pieces of furniture -- way too pricey for us. trying to find a similar look in the more affordable brands is really difficult. i'm not necessarily personally tied to something as modern, but i would appreciate a piece with cleaner lines and no curves. the curvy pieces just don't work with our general asthetic.

and in the end, obviously, what trumps everything is the safety of these items.

to all the fellow parents that check this blog: do you have any recommendations on where to buy a crib that meets our desired looks and price point? babies r us just isn't doing it.

thanks!

missing mom in north carolina

this is a departure from my usual posting. but i feel it's necessary.

nancy cooper is a wife and a mother from cary, north carolina. she left her home at 7a.m. on saturday morning for a jog, and never returned. she did not have a purse, keys, or i.d. on her when she left.

it's not expected that the mother of 2 young girls (4 and 2 years old) would have voluntarily left. so the search has been on since yesterday for nancy. unfortunately, no luck yet.

the poster above is the poster her friends and neighbors have been distributing around the area. a friend of nancy's is a member of the design community and has asked us with blogs to distribute this information. i feel the situation so deeply that i couldn't help but post it.

you can read more about the situation here and here. in the meantime, if you have any information on nancy cooper, please call the cary police department. the information is listed on the poster.

thanks everyone.

in the meantime, please remember to carry i.d. with you whenever you leave the house, including for a run. dave has an armband that he wears with all his vital info and contact numbers. if carrying your license is too difficult for you, this is a good solution.

what's with the tailbone thing?

pregnancy brings along very odd side effects. perfect example -- my excrutiating tailbone pain.

it's very strange. the pain started out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago, and gets steadily worse as time goes on. apparently, it's pretty common, and is due to the stretching of my ligaments in my hip and pelvic region for childbirth -- throwing everything off. but it hurts really bad! i keep trying out new seats and new positions and nothing makes it go away. damnit.

hehehe... the joy of recording everything during pregnancy. =)

15 weeks -- baby block is an apple!

and apples are daddy block's favorite fruit! =)

from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:
You've probably gained about 5 pounds by now (a little more or less is fine, too) and are well into the swing of your pregnancy, but you may still be surprised by an unexpected symptom now and then. If your nose is stuffed up, for instance, you can probably chalk it up to the combined effect of hormonal changes and increased blood flow to your mucous membranes. This condition is so common, there's even a name for it: "rhinitis of pregnancy." Some pregnant women also suffer nosebleeds as a result of increased blood volume and blood vessel expansion in the nose.

If you're having amniocentesis, it'll most likely happen between now and 18 weeks. This test can identify hundreds of genetic and chromosomal disorders. If you're getting very anxious while waiting for the results, it may help to know that most women who undergo amniocentesis get good news about their babies — bringing welcome relief from their worries.

Don't be surprised if you and your partner are feeling a little stressed out these days. Many pregnant couples worry about their baby's health and how they'll handle the changes ahead. But with physical discomforts on the wane and energy on the rise, this is also a wonderful trimester for most women.


just a note on the above: we're not having an amniocentesis. i'm not in a risk group, so no worries there. but i thought i would include the information just in case anyone wanted it for their own knowledge.

i am feeling better... don't know about the headaches yet, but my energy is way up from where it was. which is really great. feeling more like my old self.

i have my next checkup next thursday, on my 16th week. should be pretty routine, but i'm anxious to find out how much weight i've gained. i haven't been eating badly, and i'm trying to keep myself in check about that -- i really would rather not have to worry about how much weight i have to lose later. but you never know... i could be a heavyweight at this point and not know it!

thank you

just wanted to thank everyone who has been reading this blog -- friends, family, and collegues. as you all see, i get a bunch of comments each day, as well as a lot of emails and facebook comments. we started the blog so that we could share our experience with those we care about, that can't see us or talk to us all the time. it's been so great for us to know how much you all care.

i totally plan on making this blog into our baby book... blurb books has an easy option for converting blogs into books. i figure that while we'll definitely continue the blog after the pregnancy is over, these 9 months of thoughts, pics, ideas, and comments will really be amazing to keep in hardcopy, and have to show baby block in a few years. so keep those comments coming! it makes this even more precious.

i hope everyone is having a wonderful day, and enjoying that breeze that is coming through all my windows. =)

letterpress thank you note by sunlit letterpress (hi erin!).

maternity shopping -- long and frustrating

as i said in my last post, i pretty much grew overnight -- and had a big baby bump by saturday morning. this meant that i couldn't fit into any of my regular jeans (though i do have some fat jeans that still fit). and my tops are quickly being outgrown. this meant that, unless i wanted to walk around in my robe or my sweatpants every day, i had to bite the bullet and do some maternity shopping.

grandma maria said that kohl's had a maternity department -- that i had apparently missed somehow -- and gave me a discount card to use. this all sounded great to me, since i had no intention of spending tons of money on clothes that i'll only wear for a few months. so, today, off i went. i left nice and early in the morning (kohl's opens early) to get the shopping done, and figured that after that i could run some other errands. um... yeah. that didn't happen. since it took me TWO HOURS to find stuff to wear.

i bounced between their tiny maternity section -- which was compiled of motherhood maternity's brand -- and the rest of kohl's misses brands... since it's the year of babydoll's and empire waists, i figured i could get some faux-ternity tops at the same time. but not everything fit that i thought would fit... the jeans/short/capri's from maternity were all either slightly too big or slightly too small... and a lot of the maternity tops seemed to be designed to make pregnant women look fluffy and soft like cotton balls. not really the look i want to be going for.

i finally settled on a couple of pairs of jeans, walking shorts, and capris, all in medium (they only come in S, M, and L, which is annoying). then i bought a whole bunch of tops, some maternity and some faux-ternity. and finally a comfy, inexpensive faux-ternity dress rounded out the collection of goods.

i never thought clothes shopping could be more frustrating for a woman. guess i was wrong! alls well that ends well, i guess. now, in usual nicole fashion, i'll have to wear something new tomorrow. =)

image above from motherhood maternity.

baby bump is here, and real -- and weird!!

happy monday all! hope everyone had a good 4th of july weekend. we had a lovely one -- spent time with some good friends, spent time alone relaxing... it was very good.

so, i have had a little bump for a few weeks now. nothing big though -- hard to see by others (except for dave, me, and my mom!), and still fitting into my clothes just fine. well, it seems as though baby block grew overnight, quite literally. friday i had the little bump, but i woke up saturday with a much larger one. and it's finally starting to get harder!

we had been meaning to take new belly photos for a while, so this was the best time. so behold -- the new, more pregnant nicole. complete with real baby belly!!


i must admit, it's a bit weird to have a serious baby bump. seeing as i've spent my whole life trying to get used to my body as it was, and finally finding peace with all my idiosyncracies. and now, this little person is growing inside of me and making his/herself rather known. it's very odd... cool, yes, but odd. a new thing to get used to with my body, i guess.

enjoy the belly pics!

14 weeks! second trimester! baby block is a lemon!

and i don't mean that our baby is a dud... so no jokes on his/her lemon stage!

yes, i'm very excited today. i'm officially 14 weeks along, which means i'm officially in the second trimester. this means that my exhaustion is going away (i will already admit to having more energy) and the rest of my first trimester side effects should diminish (which means maybe the headaches will subside, but i'm not counting on it). most of all though, major stuff happens in this trimester. i'll feel the baby kick for the first time. the rest of the world will finally be able to recognize that i'm pregnant (not just getting fat or something). and other great baby-making developments.

so, onto this week. from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:
Welcome to your second trimester! Your energy is likely returning.

The top of your uterus is a bit above your pubic bone, which may be enough to push your tummy out a tad. Starting to show can be quite a thrill, giving you and your partner visible evidence of the baby you've been waiting for. Take some time to plan, daydream, and enjoy this amazing time. It's normal to worry a bit now and then, but try to focus on taking care of yourself and your baby, and having faith that you're well equipped for what's ahead.

our announcement

as all our friends and family have found out, we sent out little announcements about the pregnancy. we've never seen this done before, but we thought it would be a lot more persona than a mass email -- we'll save that for the second child! =) anyway, it gave us a good opportunity to surprise everyone, and we've gotten the nicest phone calls, emails, and comments ever since. so thanks everyone for being so happy!

for those that i told in person or that knew beforehand, your announcements are coming (yes, you still get one!). but i've included it below so that you can get an idea of what it looks like.

coming up... the 2nd trimester! and the development updates!

are we going to be "less happy"?

i saw this newsweek article on msn.com today -- does having kids make you happy? apparently, the answer is no. according to several studies, couples who decide to not to procreate report greater mental well-being and happiness, and greater marital happiness, than those who decide to have children.

i find this article very interesting, and not very surprising. kids are a worry -- you worry about how to feed/clothe/school them, you worry about their health, you just worry. and marital relationships, often times, tend to get pushed down the ladder of importance and replaced by your relationship with your child. i know many couples who have opted out of having children, and they're certainly content with their decisions -- you only have to be concerned with each other, your jobs, your traveling. all the things the rest of us focused on before kids.

i think it's really important to keep this in mind as we move forward and start our family. we have to keep each other uppermost in our priority list, so that our marriage doesn't suffer. we have to make sure that we pursue other goals besides those we have for our kids -- as i've always said, i never want to be known solely as "baby block's mom". and at the same time, we have to remember the joy that our child brings us, and why we had him/her in the first place.

a lot to remember huh? maybe i should write some of this down. oh, wait... =)

to all our friends and family, whatever your personal decision in this matter may be, we hope that you are always happy.