29 weeks

The baby is now the weight of a butternut squash, about 2 1/2 lbs and about 15 inches long. I'd think it would weigh more than that, seeing that I've gained 26 lbs!

The nursery has been an ongoing project....the painting is just about done. Big thanks to my mother in law Kathy, my father in law John, my mom, Christine and our friend Matt for all their help painting. Especially Kathy, who has been here all week it seems like!

Here's a before photo. Yes, that is high gloss, fake knotty pine paneling. It is VERY ugly. And VERY difficult to paint.



Here are some in progress painting photos:





I will post more as it starts looking like a nursery!

We had our first hypnobirthing class tonight and we really enjoyed it! It was 3 hours, but they flew by! We have 4 more classes.

Sara asked about the cloth diaper class we had a while back. It was good, we were there a long time...it was a lot I already knew from researching online, but it was nice to actually see and feel them in person. We are definitely using cloth, for many reasons:

It's better for the environment, even with the energy used to wash the diapers, the energy and water needed to make disposables is way more. Disposable diapers take 500 years to decompose. Even the so-called enviromentally friendly diapers, like G-diaper liners that get thrown away, are in a trash bag that does not allow decomposition. For them to decompose faster, they must be exposed to air. Also, human waste should NOT be thrown into the trash. It even states that on disposable diaper packaging. The poop should be dumped in the toilet. Human waste should not be in landfills, as it will contaminate the water supply. Gross. So, if I have to scrape poop anyway, why not use cloth?

Cloth diapers are cheaper. This was our main motivation. Disposables are expensive.

Cloth is way better for the baby. Disposables are full of chemicals. FULL. They took a toxic chemcial out of tampons because of toxic shock syndrome, but it is still used in disposable diapers. I don't want my baby sitting in chemicals constantly. And, would you rather wear cotton underwear, or plastic? They have got to be more comfortable in cloth.

And, last, fluffy butts in cloth diapers are so darn cute!

My shower is Sunday and I just can't believe it! Time is going sooo fast! October 30 will be here before we know it.

26 weeks

That "week" was fast! With my new due date (Oct 30) the updates will now be on Thursdays. So, this week, the baby is as tall as an English hothouse cucumber, about 14 inches, and weighs 1 2/3 lbs. The lungs are developed enough to take small breaths of the amniotic fluid. The retinas have developed, and the baby's eyes are open now, and blinking!

This is my last week of my 2nd trimester! That's crazy! Heartburn has come back with a vengeance, good thing we stocked up on Tums, I'm definitely using it now! I guess that is normal, because by now my intestines have been pushed up into my upper abdomen. I'm supposed to start getting klutzy too, dropping things, and falling. I won't mention that to my patients.

Oh, and just so everyone knows...the LAST thing a pregnant woman wants to hear is how big she's getting. Seriously, do you know how many times a day we hear it?? Give us a break! Of course we are getting big, there is a baby growing inside...don't you think we've noticed the increase in our belly size?? And, if you ask a pregnant woman how she's feeling weekly, or daily, and she is well past her 1st trimester, and she answers "good" consistently...please stop, clearly she feels fine. The answer is she probably feels fat, but in order to stop the "huge" comments, she isn't going to answer that way.

I have to schedule my 1 hour glucose test soon, to test for gestational diabetes. I guess I have to drink this SUPER sugary drink, wait an hour, get blood drawn and feel ill the rest of the night. Fun. Then hope I pass so I don't have to do the 3 hour glucose test.

Sue asked for photo updates on the nursery. There are none. Nothing has been done, except the priming John did months ago. I do hope to have it finished by the shower (August 17) so we have a place to put all this stuff!

If you know me well...

...you probably know that a HUGE passion of mine is the death penalty. I don't get into much controversy on my blog, but I am very passionate about this subject and I love to share my information if anyone is interested. I am pro-life. In EVERY way. Including and especially for prisoners on death row. I won't go into my reasons, and there are MANY to be opposed to this barbaric system; unless anyone wants me to. Shoot me an e-mail, I am happy to discuss the subject with anyone.

Why am I posting this? I just saw that New Jersey just outlawed the death penalty. I nearly cried tears of happiness and I thought I could post about it in case anyone wanted more information. I think that people get caught up in the fact that these are really bad people that deserve to be killed for whatever they have done, and they forget that one of the basic tenets of Christianity is forgiveness. And, my reasons are not all faith based.

I mean, if ONE innocent person is executed...is it worth it??

Crappy day...

with a little glimmer of light in it.

Yesterday sucked. I was fasting, since it was Ash Wednesday, and it made me feel especially crappy. I was dizzy, shaky, and just felt awful. I fast twice a year every year and I have never felt this bad. At the end of the day at work, I decided to eat a granola bar and see if it helped. If I was sick because of fasting, it should have. I wanted to throw up as soon as I ate it. I didn't, but it did not help at all. I came home and ate some dinner (big mistake) and I was sick all night. I mananged to get down to the computer for a few minutes because I was expecting some news, and I got what I was looking for...just not EXACTLY what I was looking for. The Scrapbook Zone was choosing their new design team, and I wasn't chosen. Just what I needed in between trips to the bathroom.

John thinks it's good, he says there is something else out there for me to do. I don't know. I like being part of something, so I enjoy design teams a lot more than getting published, so I'm not going to be submitting like crazy or anything, and I've now been turned down for 3 design teams, so I don't know that I want to try again any time soon.

My friend Benita did get on the team, though, and I'm so happy for her! And the rest of the team, it is a great team to be a part of and Kelley and Kevin and Sue are great to work with!

My glimmer of happiness for yesterday? We are going to spring training!!! In Florida!! In 3 weeks!!!! I'm soooooo excited! And now that I'm feeling better, I can really feel excited about it! We are going to a game against Philadelphia and maybe a game against Cincinnati.

Oh and one more thing. I don't get into stuff like this on my blog much, but it is scary. I don't shop at Walmart, because I don't want China to take over the world. Now Chrysler is for sale, and China is looking to buy it. Not good. Especially not good for our already suffering Michigan economy. So, please, unless you want to start learning Chinese, PLEASE don't buy Chinese cars. They are coming, and they will be cheap. STAY STRONG!

Until April...

Baseball season is over...

We were sad Friday night that the Tigers lost the World Series, VERY sad. I was worried that the next day, people would bash my boys and their errors and bash the pitching staff that had a huge role in getting us to the World Series in the first place. I thought everyone would be disappointed in them.

So far, I was wrong. A few people have mentioned how badly they played, but not many.

Let's not forget that this was most incredible season by the Detroit Tigers. We lost 119 games 3 years ago. We WON 95 games this year. Beat the Yanks, swept the A's to win the American League pennant...and PLAYED in the World Series. Incredible!

This will be the most memorable season in my lifetime for the Tigers. Even if we win the World Series next year, it will not top this 2006 season. Coming from where we came from, to playing in the World Series, is stunning. This team was hoping to be a .500 team. That's it. We will never feel the excitement of this season. That is why I am sad today. That that season is over.