Monday, March 29, 2010

Dear Baby Helland: (Of 29 weeks):

Dear Baby Helland:
We survived sisters weekend. But just barely. Here's what happened:
I specifically looked up which stores would have maternity clothes so I knew what to expect. We usually go to Burnsville Center and when I looked on-line, Old Navy and Gap didn't carry maternity in those stores at that mall. Since there was talk of heading to Eden Prairie, I requested that we go to the mall there. So that was our Friday night plan. We headed into the mall and I found the Gap. Absolutely nothing. So I tried Old Navy. After walking around the store about three times, I found the wall of empty racks with a sign attached stating "Sorry for the inconvenience but we no longer carry maternity clothes within this store. Please check oldnavy.com". Boy that'll tick off a pregnant woman. I was about to cry. That was breakdown #1. I texted frauntie Jessi and Daddy. They both replied which made me feel better. And for Daddy to text back, even the simple phrase "hang in there", that's pretty huge. (He says it takes him too long to text anything or doesn't know how to do it.) The rest of the sisters finished up at the mall and we went to Don Pablos. Food made Mommy feel MUCH better. Connie had cheescake waiting at her house so the night ended much better than it started.
Saturday morning we started with a stop at Caribou/Bruegger's Bagels. I didn't have any coffee because I knew I wanted some pop in the afternoon. The smell was good enough. We headed to a Kohl's and Herberger's next. I had it set in my mind that I was not going to find any clothes and that I'd just get a good walk out of this weekend. I walked around Kohl's looking at shoes and then wandered to the baby section. Such cute stuff, but I'm trying to hold off buying you any more until after you're born. I looked up at the ceiling to see what sections were around and right in front of me was a sign that said "Maternity". Score! But wait.......everything under that sign was little boy clothes. I was about to get angry again. Why do this to pregnant people? Do stores not understand that our emotions are already on edge? Then, I looked across the aisle. There were four racks of maternity clothes. I grabbed whatever I could find and started trying them on. It's interesting trying on clothes when you're expecting because you are such a goofy shape. It's hard to tell whether or not the clothes are making you look goofy or you just look goofy anyway. I grabbed a few outfits and made the sisters approve. Luckily we found a summerish outfit and a dressy outfit. I decided that anything I found the rest of the day was just a bonus find. Then came breakdown #2. We were in the Dress Barn and I found a necklace that I thought was pretty neat. I thought and thought and thought. Do I really need this necklace? Do I have something else like it already? What could I really wear with it? Will I find something better at the mall? I was driving Auntie Cindy nuts. She whips out a $20 and says "You're driving me bonkers, just go buy it or give it to me and I'll buy it!". For some reason, this made me tear up and I felt really goofy trying to hide my sniffles while making my purchase. I still don't exactly understand why that got to me. I like the necklace. I plan on wearing it today. I must be more emotional than I realize. The rest of the day was spent at the mall where I found even more clothing options at JCPenney and some shoes. Speaking of feet, I didn't realize that my feet have grown. All I've been wearing lately are my brown or black flats because they are comfy and don't make me fall off the podium at school. Luckily I did find some silver flats that were pretty comfy.
I'm starting to feel more and more pregnant. My feet are sore (but I think it's from all the walking during sisters weekend), my back is starting to ache, and I've started to feel this sense of entitlement. For example, when waiting in a restaurant, I looked at some people sitting on the waiting benches and thought "hello, let the pregnant lady sit!". I may not be a "house" quite yet, but I'm sure that will come in a few weeks and I bet when that day arrives, I'll expect people to step out of the way even more.
Ah the joys of pregnancy!
Well, it's time for Mommy to get ready for school. We'll talk soon.
Mommy

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Dear Baby Helland: (Of 28 weeks)

Dear Baby Helland-
Well we've officially made it to the third trimester. Everyone says it goes super fast from now on. I can believe it. There are times I sit down and think "holy cow June will be here before I know it!". There still are times that it seems like forever until we actually get to meet you. I'm not so nervous right now, I'm more excited than anything. Will you be a quiet baby or a noisy baby? Will you have hair right away? Will you be a light or heavy sleeper?
We had our last monthly doctor visit yesterday. From here on out we meet with Dr. Leino every two weeks. These appointments are so easy, I wish every doctor's visit was like it! She said we're measuring right on and your heartbeat is exactly where it should be too. We discussed how to take kick counts and the possibility of Daddy catching you. When I asked if she would be ok with it or had any thoughts she replied "Oh, I completely planned on Tyler delivering the baby!" We brought up the fact that I might need Daddy to help me more but she said that with an epidural she thinks we'll be just fine and Daddy can catch. So, we'll hope that works out! At this visit we also had to do the glucose test. Daddy and I had a really healthy meal of only meat and veggies and then I skipped breakfast so we had the best chances of passing. Everyone had warned be about how the orange stuff is really gross to drink. It's true. I thought I'd be fine because I'm not a picky eater. It was nasty. It's about have the size of bottle of pop. Ick. But it's done! And we passed, so no gestational diabetes! Our weight gain this visit was much better than last time and my blood pressure is still nice and low too. Like I said before, if only every doctor's visit was this easy!
It's really starting to feel like spring outside. It feels great to be out on walks with Prudence. Every day we are home in daylight and it's not icky out, we go on a walk down the street. I know it's important to get excercise and I really feel like the fresh air keeps me healthy. Bring on the warm weather!
I'm contemplating changing what we currently call you. Right now we say " Baby Helland". At one point Daddy wanted to start calling you "Baby Gaga" (like Lady Gaga), but mommy had a weird dream about Lady Gaga being a vampire and chasing her, so that's no longer a go. In a recent facebook, the name Lil' H evolved. Auntie Kristen and Uncle Erik were discussing Cousin Amy's wedding in July and where everyone will be staying. I thought it was pretty funny how they started calling you Lil' H, so I'm going to start using it too!
You are still quite the mover. One day last weekend, I was laying on the couch and you were moving A LOT. So I starting watching my belly. It was really funny! Daddy hasn't been able to see it yet, but he does get to feel it which is fun too.
This week I've been more tired and I'm not sure why. I've taken a bunch of little naps and get a lot of sleep at night. Maybe it's just not really restful sleep which is entirely possible.
This weekend is sisters weekend which means I'll be doing a lot of shopping. I need to find some more maternity clothes because I seem to be outgrowing my black dress pants. So far I've just done my shopping on-line so it will be nice to actually be able to try something on. There was also discussion about eating at Don Pablos. Mommy LOVES mexican food. Ok she basically loves food in general.
I've still been eating a lot of fruit. I eat an orange every day for lunch and whatever other type of fruit is in the house for supper. I try to get my vege's in. I'm not a fan of peas, but because I don't want you to be a picky eater, I've stopped picking them out of stuff while carrying you. One of my favorite things lately are cookies from Subway. Double chocolate or chocolate chip are the best. You'll probably love chocolate. Mommy doesn't go a day without it and now even daddy is used to something sweet after each meal. I should probably go eat an orange now to fight off the urge for those cookies!!
Talk to you soon!
Mommy

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Dear Baby Helland: (Of 26 weeks)

Dear Baby Helland:
Once again, not too much has changed so I'll apologize in advance if this post isn't that exciting!
Our next Doc appointment isn't for another two weeks, so no news to report there. At this next one we have to do the glucose test which I hear is not too much fun. Daddy and I are already planning on eating a very healthy supper the night before, and an egg if anything for breakfast. Mommy really likes her chocolate, so we have to be extra careful with this test to be sure we pass!
You are quite the mover still. I feel you moving every day. It doesn't hurt like it did before when I thought you were trying to kick your way out. :) One night you were moving so much, Daddy even got to feel for a while.
The most common question I get asked is whether or not we know what gender you are. We still don't plan on finding out until you're actually born. Some people say it's better to find out the gender to get to know you better or bond with you. That may be the case for some people, but since you're growing inside me, I think I know you pretty well. Whether or not you are a boy or a girl doesn't change what I think about you or how I talk to you. With that being said, I've been thinking about all the myths people have about gender. If we look at the Chinese gender chart, you're a girl. If we go by how much food I like to eat, you're a boy. If we go by how fast my hair is growing, you're a girl. I want to try to remember some of these to see what was true for us. Maybe there will be some more signs later.
This last weekend, Daddy and I visited some college friends. We met Leo, Jake's greyhound. What a giantly sweet puppy. (He's really sweet, but he also is really huge.) You'll love him. On Friday night, we ate at an Indian restaurant. I read somewhere that if I don't want you to be a picky eater, I should try to eat a lot of different kinds of food to get you accustomed to it. Who knows if it's true, but Daddy and I like to try different foods anyway. We also watched Tralle jump in Lake Calhoun for charity. Your Daddy took some pictures with Tralle's fancy camera, which was nice because we still plan on buying a nice one before you're born. I love pictures. Your cousin Rhyan once counted all the photos on the wall on the top floor of our townhome. It was something like 150. And that's not counting all the pictures in scrapbooks. Get used to the camera. Daddy likes to be creative with photos and mommy likes to put them up. You'll end up looking at yourself a lot!
People have been commenting that I've really "popped" lately. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Part of me is still self conscious about having a big belly. It's pretty obvious that it's a baby belly now, but it's weird to wear clothes that actually allows it's shape to been seen.
On Friday I'm going to check out a possible day care for you in the fall. I've heard many good things about this daycare lady and you would be the only baby. I like that you'd be the only tiny one. I'm also happy that this lady was really supportive of the part time option. School is going to allow me to alter my schedule so I can cram my hours into three days instead of a few hours each day. That means I get two full days, and part of another morning home with you. That excites me.
I feel like I'm getting a bit of a cough so I'm going to load up on some OJ and hummus. Who knows if hummus will help anything, but it's the healthiest dip I have in the house. And mommy loves her dips!
More later!