22 Weeks

Does this fetus make me look fat?

Today marks the completion of my 22nd week of this pregnancy. To celebrate, we had another OB appointment to check stuff out and for the most part, everything looks great. You know- you get there, you have to urinate in a cup (sorry mom), they weigh you, and then you talk to the doctor. As soon as our doctor came in he said, "Alright, so 9 pounds? really?"

I literally almost fell out of my stirrups.

I gained 9 pounds. In five weeks.

NINE POUNDS.

Do you know how long it takes to lose nine pounds? A really, really long time. Nine pounds. I just have not been able to get over that all day long. I mean, I am walking for an hour three times a week, sometimes more, I don't think I am eating as perfect as I could so there is definitely some room for improvement there. But NINE POUNDS.

In my defense, we just had a fantabulous weekend with my girlfriends from California and all caution was thrown right into the wind. Pizza, churro bites, cheese ball, you name it. I will definitely be watching what I eat more carefully now that my doctor has gently reminded me that a "14 pound baby can only be delivered by c-section."

Other things.

1. My hair is too short and it can not grow fast enough. What was I thinking? It's like what Amy says in Little Women, "Oh no, Jo--your one true beauty."
2. I have some how contracted The Cold of Death. I am usually proud of my healthy immune system but it has failed me this week, and if we weren't so short handed at work I would be curled up in my bed watching Pride and Prejudice and drinking 7-up from an over sized cup.
3. I finally feel prepared for Disneyland Weekend '09. Outfits, sunglasses, camera case, obnoxious tennis shoes, CHECK and ready to go. I hope me and my NEW NINE POUNDS can keep up with everyone. If you see me zoom past you on a moby, you will know why.
   
4. Cinnamon causes severe heartburn when consumed in mass quantities, just a heads up. Also, heartburn is not to be confused with a heart attack or a case of omg Jazz I think I am dying. There is a difference.
   

Upcoming blog posts: What Baby Sorensen is up to now, Leigh and Mex do the 'Tah '09, and Disneyland, Take Two.

Calendarizing.

Listen people, we have some big events coming up. *Warning, serious planning ahead. May cause jealousy.*

First, my besties Leigh and Mex are flying in tonight from San Francisco. These are my people, my bosom buddies, and they make the trek to Utah about twice a year. How lucky am I? We are going to have a fantastic weekend together full of the Wii, food, and So You Think You Can Dance, and lots of talking. (Sorry Jazz)

Last night Jazz helped me clean the apartment in preparation for our guests. He even picked up the carpet cleaner from his mom's house, moved all the furniture, then and restored our carpet from grey to white. What a guy.

I made tasty morsels too- Black Bean Salsa for dipping and cheese ball for devouring. Although, I didn't really know that the Salsa recipe would yield a whole bushel, so if you are in need of a little snack, stop on by.

I have been looking forward to this weekend for awhile now- none of my friends (from home) have seen me pregnant yet, so its kinda fun. Also, we have Monday off. And we have Friday off because we are going to Disneyland, so its basically a three day work week stuffed in between weekends of fun. Kind of like an Oreo.

Disneyland is going to be totally epic- four days with my entire family at the happiest place on earth. I really think it is more fun as adults than it ever was when we were children. Now we can just shove the slow kids aside and run frantically from ride to ride, stuffing churros and crazy large turkey sticks in our mouths in between attractions. We have to keep a sharp eye on Mom though because if she had her way, she would set up a cot on Main Street and never leave.

Three weeks after Disneyland we are all meeting again on the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii. This has sort of evolved into a family tradition and this is Jazz's first year on the trip. I am so ready to sit and relax, take in some sun, and be with my family. Although, the other night at 4 AMI realized that I can only tan my front side, since I can no longer lay on my tummy. Interesting.

I feel like the last five months have just been work, work, sleep, laundry, and work. I think we are both totally ready to have some time to just chill out and not worry about stuff. Once we are back from vacation, it will be July, and it will be baby countdown time. Throw in a couple of birthdays and BAM she will be here.

Scientific Experiment

Problem: I am extremely pasty and white. Almost see-through. Though my OB told me it was fine to tan in a tanning bed for short periods of time while pregnant, he warned that I would get some dirty looks. His actual words were "You won't cook the baby." That, combined with my brother Sean's advice (You will get cancer. You will get cancer and die.) I decided to try a different route.

Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that Jergens Natural Glow self tanning foam will generate an lovely even tan for my translucent body when used correctly for multiple days.

Experiment: After showering, I applied this foam evenly (or so I thought) all over my skin. I also applied moisturizing lotion on top of the foam for added softness. I did this for three consecutive days.

Observation:

1. This stuff smells like ground coffee, burnt skin, and tanning product.
2. This smell lingers all day long. No matter how much deodorant/perfume/lotion/ clorox bleach you apply.
3. My skin is slowly changing colors. Except my feet, I forgot to do my feet.
4. My elbows and hands and ankles resemble that cool cat from the Cheetos commercials
5. My arms and legs don't look too bad.
6. I forgot to ask Jazz to put the foam on my back. Now I have a line where my arm's reach ends.
7. Did I mention its stinky?
   

Conclusion: I would give this product a rating of "Eh." While it did tan my skin without harmful tanning bed rays, or spending time baking in the same, my color is not even. I was very careful in my application, as I have heard HORROR stories about turning into a tangerine overnight. My arms and legs look pretty good, minus my elbows and ankles. Maybe just skip those parts next time. And I am fairly sure it is impossible to evenly apply anything to your feet. Too weird and bony and curvy and stuff.

It is an adequate replacement for my usual tanning habits, at least for now. I'm going to cool it for a few days to see if I can mellow out the orangey areas and then possibly reapply. Overall, it did its job, just not as well as my favorite high pressure tanning bed usually does.

5/17/09

This is more how I feel.

I'm sorry to disappoint you with ANOTHER post about being pregnant and maternity related stuff but guess what. This is my life right now, so deal with it.

Since we have been enjoying some honestly perfect weather, my winter wardrobe has been replaced with my spring/summer wardrobe. And by that, I mean I basically got my flip flops out. None of my old wardrobe fits, mostly because I am considerably pregnant this year.

Last year at this time, I was in "Project: Wedding" mode and I was hardcore working out and eating right and losing a bunch of weight. Me and Morgan regularly hiked the Y and tortured ourselves with resistance bands and endless sit ups. It was awesome.

This year, I'm struggling a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I am very understanding of what is happening to my body, I know it is a miracle and I am thrilled to be able to have a healthy pregnancy.

However. I am NOT thrilled with my clothing options. Those who know me know that I enjoy shopping. I enjoy finding bargains, its just my thing. Maternity clothes are just not my style. Here is my qualm with the maternity industry.

You basically have two options.

1) Pay premium prices (about $100 a shirt, up to $200 for jeans) for high end maternity clothes that are stylish. Wear them for a few months, grow out of them, and then be forced to live on the street because you spent your rent money on a new pair of pants.

2) Pay lower prices ($30 a shirt, $40 for pants) for low end maternity clothes that sacrifice style and quality. Be ugly for 10 months, and then work really hard to get back into normal clothes.

Now, can't there be a happy medium? Something that is semi-affordable, yet stylish at the same time? Especially if I am going to wear these clothes repeatedly for multiple pregnancies, I feel like I am wasting my money on Old Navy clothes that won't last very long.

It is starting to really warm up now- and we are heading to Disneyland in 12 days to meet my entire family (ten of us!) for a weekend in the Magic Kingdom. It's going to be hot. I have nothing to wear. Pregnancy doesn't just make me gain weight in my tummy, it makes me gain weight in my thighs, arms, face, basically everywhere. I feel more like Stay Puft Marshmallow Man than a glowing expectant mother.

And if you say, "Oh just you wait, you are going to get so much bigger and more uncomfortable..." I might punch you in the face. I am aware at some point this baby will take residence in my ribcage and her foot will poke out my eardrum.

All I am saying is that I could make some serious money designing a stylish, modest, affordable maternity line to fill this much needed void in maternity wear.

Week 20- Half Way

This week marks HALF WAY through this pregnancy. WHAT? Are you joking me? I feel like I was just counting down the days to make it to five weeks, then six weeks, and now I am at 20 weeks. After today, there will be more days behind us than there are in front of us. 140 days doesn't seem like very long at all!

At 20 weeks, the baby is about the size of a cantaloupe or the length of a banana. That seems huge to me, I can't imagine a baby that size just chillin out in my uterus right now. The baby weighs about 11 ounces and measures 7 inches long from head to rump, or 10 inches long from head to heel. (!!) This baby girl has fully formed ovaries complete with 7 million eggs. No wonder I have been tired lately. The babies skin is becoming more thick, and her hair is starting to grow in. (Well, we hope.)

When I was looking at the calendar yesterday I realized that *gasp* we have a baby coming in 14o ish days. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with all of the things we need to do before this baby comes- find housing, move, complete a nursery, go to Disneyland, travel to Europe, become instantly rich, get in really great shape. Ok, so only a few of those are must-dos before the baby arrives, but it certainly put things in perspective. I'm sure all mom-to-be's feel this way at some point in their pregnancy.

We still haven't made much progress in the name department. We probably should get on that... I am still feeling very good overall- in fact, sometimes I forget that I am pregnant I definitely feel more of a baby bump, and I will post a picture as soon as I can get a sister photographer up here. (I love you, Jazz)

My life in numbers:

-140 days until Baby Sorensen is due
-37 days until Jazz and I head to Hawaii with my family
-9 days until my besties from California visit

Mother's Day

My 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Bessilever decided that we would prepare a fancy "Tea for Two" gift for our mothers. It included two herbal tea bags, some little cookies, and special lacy napkins. I was thrilled. My mother would totally LOVE this. We would put on hats and gloves and dine in high fashion together, as grown up ladies did.

On Mother's Day, I presented my mom with the Tea for Two goodies in a cute little sack, all carefully decorated by me. In the afternoon, we set the table, put on our fancies, and sat down to enjoy our tea time.

I picked up the tea bags, cut them open, and proceeded to dump them into the warm water so they could dissolve. I stirred and stirred and the little bits were not dissolving! What was going on?! My mother smiled and picked up our tea cups, and in a few minutes returned to our table with some lemonade replacing the unsuccessful tea water.

"Here," she said, "this is much better. We can have our tea now."

And so we proceeded with out tea party, just the two of us, and she never spoke of my tea-making mistake.

Thanks Mom, for covering up the tea incident, for driving me everywhere and for being kind about my prom dress choices. Thanks for being honest about my hair cuts and supportive about my music lessons. Thanks for not laughing at me when I was 16 and was crying because I had died in a video game. Thanks for dragging me to church when it was early and making sure I wasn't home too late. Thanks for giving me best-friend siblings and protecting me from bad friends. Thanks for letting me travel to Europe by myself, even though it was scary for you. Thanks for all of the delicious warm chocolate chip cookies you baked for me late at night. Thanks for being theatrical and silly and for singing at the top of your lungs.

Thanks for teaching me how to be a good mom.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, I'm so glad we got to spend it together.

A few of my favorite things...

As previously mentioned, we have started to shop around for baby stuff, and it is FUN. I have never really been a fan of pink, I was always a purple kind of gal, but there are some really cute things you can do with a pink baby room.

I would like to paint the walls green- something light and fresh, something that could be used for our little girl OR a future boy baby. Something along these lines...
The crib that I totally fell in love with is like one million dollars at Pottery Barn Kids- but I received a secret tip that there were some pottery barn cribs at the Down East outlet here in Sandy. Sure enough, they have the exact crib I had been swooning over, just at 60% off! (Thanks Candace!) We haven't purchased just yet... where do you store a giant pre-assembled crib?

Next...bedding. I am kind of particular in this area, only because I want the baby bedding to be beautiful and girly without having Dora the Explorer stuck all over it. There are a lot of really ugly crib sets out there and I am pretty sure I have seen them all now. So far this one is my favorite:

I love the stripes and polka dots, and I know I can easily match it to the rest of the room. Its antique feeling (totally my style) without feeling like it made the pioneer trek across the plains.

Of course, what room would be complete without some Ikea furniture. Also, my pregnancy brain has made it impossible to spell furniture without the aid of my spell checker. (Twice now. nice.)
This would theoretically be a changing table with a pad on top. I am not crazy about the idea of having a built in changing table on top because I would like to be able to have some versatility here. Not to mention, some babies love a changing table, some babies hate them. We will see. Wouldn't it be cute to swap the knobs out for some cute anthropologie hardware?
I'm a tad obsessed with this bookshelf. It would be perfect for books, toys, picture frames, basket drawers full of onesies and diapers... I mean it is a total dusting nightmare, but it would be so cute in the baby's room. And with Ikea, you know you aren't going to spend a ton of dough.

I love this Pink Bird Mobile by Blabla. They have tons of cute baby things, but this one is my favorite. Everything is handmade and super adorable.


A realize that coveting is a sin, but I'm pretty sure there is a clause somewhere in there that says "except for Anthropologie stuff, you may covet that all the live long day." Here is the Buzzing Garden Shade by Anthro. I saw it at the store last week and tried to fit it into my purse. It didn't fit. And it's also illegal.


I realize that we have a lot of time to finalize everything, and I am sure I will change my mind one hundred times before the room is finished, but I am excited.

As soon as Jazz reads this blog, his eyes will roll into the back of his head and he will start foaming at the mouth, his hands will shape into dollar signs and he will pass out. He will come around though, just give him some air, he will be fine.

So, what do you think?

19 Weeks

Dear Baby,

Look at how much you have grown in just a few short weeks! This morning your dad and I went to the imaging center to see your big debut via ultrasound. You gave us quite the show! You wiggled and waved, moved around, and at one point your put your hand in your mouth. Your dad almost fell off of his chair, he thought it was so adorable, and I think you have already succeeded in wrapping him right around your 2 millimeter finger.

After the tech confirmed that you are indeed a lady baby, we looked at the four chambers of your heart, just pumping away, and your kidneys, brain, spinal cord, femurs, and your cute little button nose. So far you look perfect in every way and are measuring right on track.

You are weighing in just over 8 ounces, getting closer to a pound! You are a little over 6 inches long and can be compared to a delicious mango. Well, your size anyway. Your kidneys are already functioning to get rid of waste in your teeny little body. Some research suggests that you can hear and recognize my voice now. Helloooo can you hear me in there?

Baby, this week I have started picking out cribs and bedding and strollers and all kind of stuff you are going to need. This part is going to be really fun for me because I love to shop and decorate and nest. Your father is worried that I am going to shop too much and we will end up a little bit homeless. Please don't listen to him when he says things like that, he is just being silly.

Also baby, Mother's Day is coming up next Sunday. It's weird this year because I kind of count- I mean, you aren't born yet but that's ok, right? I can't wait for all of the macaroni necklaces and finger painted portraits and handmade cards you are going to bust out over the next few years. I can tell you will be crafty like your grandma.

Yesterday for some reason I forgot I was pregnant and I ate two ginormous meals for lunch and dinner. Oh, I was so regretful and barfy feeling. I wanted with all of my heart to get that food back out because there was NO SPACE ANYWHERE FOR IT TO GO. Alas, I had to painfully wait for it to digest. Now I know better, I have learned my lesson, and I won't try to squish you with my food.

Baby, here you are doing some baby yoga with your foot up by your head. Where did you learn that? Certainly not from me.

And here is a shot of your tiny little footprint. This is important because think of all the shoes we can share! Well, not yet, but eventually. You know what I mean.


Well baby you continue to impress us with your growing and moving and cuteness. I can't tell you how excited we are to welcome you into our little family- your dad and I think that you are already just perfect. Someday these little letters will stop and instead I will just talk to you while you are in my arms. Can't wait.

xoxox

Momma