Weird Dreams and Acid Reflux

Well it's the middle of week 23 and I have been experiencing acid reflux for over a week now. I cannot really complain since I didn't experience morning sickness, but it is burdensome. Others have (unheededly) suggested ways to to prevent reflux, but it hasn't really worked. I experience acid reflux from drinking water!

Weird dreams have plagued me since the beginning of M's conception. Bizarre dreams are nothing new to me. I should journal about my dreams and sell the ideas to Hollywood for horror films. I had not been surprised by these dreams in the past because I have been watching horror and thriller movies since age seven (shh, don't tell the 'rents). Since the dreams now occur more recently, they tend to stand out more. In addition to freaky, scary dreams, I have had a few pregnancy-related dreams. Nothing really out of the ordinary I suppose for pregnant women, but not right in terms of our stage and the actual status of pregnancy.

Has any one of my fellow preggers experienced either of these occurrences during pregnancy? I would love to hear about your experiences, as there is power in numbers!

The newest development around the house includes washing all of M's new clothes from newborn to six months that Mom-Mom J gave us. Thanks Mom-Mom--baby M will be a well dressed baby.

She is so generous! Gotta love that baby detergent smell! I then proceeded to hang all of the clean clothes in M's closet and categorize by size, of course...shocker.

Next came washing all of the stuffed animals I had collected over the years. Not really sure why I had purchased the critters at the time, but it now makes sense as I plan to accent M's room with animals.

This is daddy D's idea of prepping the nursery

and the rest of the house. One can never be too safe, I suppose!

Can't wait to get the current spare bedroom furniture moved downstairs and start decorating the nursery! Alas, the excitement must ensue until we actually have things to put in the nursery.
  ;-)

Registries Complete...

D and I underwent the excitement of the baby registry while in NJ a few weeks ago. All of the research I did was helpful--excluding the nursery bedding. Thanks everyone for providing your input with the bedding, although we chose to go another direction. D must have felt a little left out with the pregnancy, so he got a little power hungry with the registry. Frustrations aside, we decided on bedding at Babies R Us:

Of course, this was not on the list of bedding I had previously selected, but it is something we both agreed on for M's room.

The nursery furniture was another ordeal. The crib we had originally chosen had been discontinued due to product recall--yikes! We were stuck choosing new furniture in the store. It was a challenge for us to find something that we both liked. We ended up agreeing on some Mahogany pieces. Ask Mom-Mom J for more details; she helped us with the registry and got a kick out of D's reaction to the entire event.

If you'd like to view some of our picks for the baby, go here for Babies R Us or Target. We hope all is well with everyone!

20 Weeks: Finally at the Halfway Point

We are finally at the halfway point in our pregnancy. I thought we'd never make it! We had our 20-week ultrasound last Tuesday. Yes, it's still a boy (see the proof below).

Spine: M always shows off his beautiful spinal cord. He had been back-side up for both ultrasounds.Genitalia: M's testicles have begun to descend from his abdomen. What a difference four weeks make! From his femurs, I think M may be tall...
Face: The ultrasound tech threw in a 3D photo of the face for us. M sure does have full lips--just like both of his parents. I think he may favor his father (similar eyelids), although D thinks it's too soon to tell. M is resting his right cheek on me (yes, that's my insides) like a pillow.
That's all I have to share for now. I'll update you on our most recent trip to NJ and the baby registry soon. Bye for now.

Nursery Ideas--Bedding

I have slowly, but surely been choosing a design for little M's room.
A while back I chose the colors (brown, blue, & green) and the design (animals--safari, zoo, jungle, etc.). The difficult part will be coordinating the two.
Babies R Us has some of the bedding that I have in mind,


Babies R Us
but Target





and JC Penney have more choices that I like.




JC Penney
I would get D's input, but he thinks it is too soon to decide on the nursery--too cute!...No offense, but I don't plan to decorate the nursery when I am eight months pregnant!
I am thinking about going with a neutral bedding in the colors that I like and then accenting the room with animals. Let me know what you think!

18 Weeks and Beating

We are at the end of the 18th week and all is well. Little M keeps my body temperature elevated, especially when I sleep. I woke up this morning and was burning up, then I realized that I had a furry heating pad on each side of me. I guess Lucky and Riley are trying to absorb my extra heat!

Yesterday and today I have experienced some heart palpitations, but am not sure if I should worry. I am aware that blood volume and heart rate both increase during pregnancy to assist in blood flow to the fetus. I was diagnosed with a heart murmur prior to pregnancy and was told by my doctor to alert future physicians of my murmur. Any who, I will alert my physician at our next appointment of the previous murmur and the recent palpitations and keep an eye out until then. If anyone else experienced this during pregnancy, please let me know for reassurance sake.

Gift of God

Several of you know what D & I are naming our little boy. It is a Hebrew and Italian name that means gift of God. How true and what a great choice! We haven't chosen a middle name, although we have tossed around a few possibilities. No worries, there's still time!

Kick a Little

Well, I thought I felt movement for the first time last night, but it was very brief. Then I felt the same thing this morning in the shower--only much more activity. I dismissed the movement a little as morning hunger, but I am still optimistic that little M is beginning to say hello!

The joys of pregnancy are evident right now. It is amazing that I have a little bambino growing inside me. Although we haven't even hit the halfway point, I am already wanting to meet little M. In due time, we will get to see the little guy...until then, I'll let him keep growing!