Nursery Paint Colors

Updated to add the color Sundance; I didn't realize I left that one off.

Here is where I would REALLY like any and all opinions. My dad is graciously helping us with the nursery this weekend and we need to pick paint colors... We have a decal we want to put over the crib and I have wanted to use that with a blue background ever since I came across the decal and before we knew boy/girl. But now that we know boy, I would personally like to avoid making the room scream baby boy based on the blue we choose.

We are considering doing an accent wall and then the other three walls a different color. I know which wall in the room would be the accent wall and the other hard part is that I don't know if we can work out a furniture arrangement to have the crib on that wall. I am thinking we would just want one wall blue and the other three a different color, because the blues we are looking at are fairly dark for doing the opposite.

We went to Sherwin Williams and here are some combinations we are considering. I have the samples against the dressing table to give an idea of how it would all look together.

First, these are the colors we have been kind of playing with, from the web site. I'm wondering how much the camera on my cell changes these colors and the pictures from the Sherwin Williams web site are a little off as well:

Revel Blue SW 6530

Turkish Tile SW 7610

Blue Cruise SW 7606

Surprise Amber SW 6654

Bakelight Gold SW 6368

Sundance SW 6897

And here are some of the combinations we're trying against the furniture.

Sundance and Blue Cruise or Revel Blue

Blue Cruise and Bakelight Gold

Blue Cruise and Surprise Amber

Turkish Tile and Bakelite Gold

So... any and all opinions are welcome. Whether it's that color definitely goes, that color doesn't go, scratch all these ideas, that combination is good, etc. Or yeah blue accent wall with the other 3 being the 2nd color sounds good, paint all walls one color, or the blue should be across three walls.

There is no way I can make it more representative in pictures.  The blue cruise looks a bit darker in the pictures than it does in person.  And Revel Blue I really like but I'm thinking it's just too dark for even one wall combined with the furniture color.  Furniture wise we have a crib, chest, and changing table. And we picked mostly plain colors for sheets and things like that. I can go adjust the registry if we want to after we choose a final set of colors...

26 weeks

Sorry for the lack of posts and this will not be very long- I have been working a LOT to try to meet a work commitment and that includes working the entire weekend. I'm hoping once this is done, I won't have to be working as many hours. We'll see... Until then I have been very sporadic on any social media (including email- sorry, anyone who has emailed and not gotten a response!) On the plus side, I'm in my pajamas doing work so it's more relaxed than sitting AT my desk at work. ;) I paused long enough to change into regular clothes and when I hit post the pajamas are going back on. Lazy, lazy.

26 weeks 2 days

How many weeks: 26

Size of baby: A cauliflower and measures 24 cm or 9.4 inches, crown to rump length. Head to toe is 14 inches. The baby also weighs 850-1000 grams or 1.8-2.2 pounds. Keep growing, baby boy! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I gained 2 pounds so I'm up 16.5 pounds. I am wondering if I should actually change this number to my pre-pregnancy weight or not. I will still leave it as is for now. That's getting to be a hard number to look at though. Sigh. By the way, with work the way it is, I've been doing a bad job eating/staying hydrated. My weight as of 26 weeks and 2 days as I write this post is around a gain of 15 pounds. I need to fix that! I should NOT be losing weight right now and I'm not trying to. I think it's early enough that if I start bringing snacks with me and just eating during meetings, I can turn that around and will probably still have a gain next week. Ha, anyone who has tried to lose weight can attest, I'm sure, to the fact that it's so easy to put it on but hard to take it off.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity clothes now

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: He seems to be extremely active! Even when I'm busy at work, sometimes he moves hard enough that I do feel it and each time I pause and smile internally.

Sleep: I still fall asleep so easily but don't sleep well for long. I am really thinking at least part of it is baby movement. I'm such a light sleeper and I know he moves a lot now, especially when I'm sitting still.

What I miss: Right now it's not pregnancy related. It's only been for about the past week or two but work has been insane and it has been hard to fit other stuff in since I go to sleep so early. BUT I am certainly not complaining- with pregnancy #2 I was trying to work 72 hour work weeks while pregnant with no end in sight to those work hours. After that miscarriage I stopped working the 72 hours without saying/asking. (Actually on midwife orders and an official note towards the end of that pregnancy I dropped my hours down- I think for the last week before my miscarriage. The baby had already stopped developing but I didn't find out for another week. And the midwives have stressed that the work hours did NOT cause the miscarriage. Those were some of the absolute worst days of my entire life- that whole pregnancy and trying to keep up with work and the miscarriage that followed.) At least right now my manager is super supportive and understanding, and keeps yelling at me to take breaks and stop working so many hours. ;) Guess I should listen to him. But I can't have a team under me busting their butts and me slacking off. A different manager was on a call yesterday while we were all at work and it was infuriating to hear background noise and know he was taking a 9/80 day off but telling us all the work we still have to do. Oops, this started a tirade. I won't say any more, but yes, I miss free time to do something other than sleep, haha.

Cravings: I keep saying none but I always want something sugary or chocolaty  I try to refrain to some extent, but it's hard. I don't necessarily call this a craving because I am a sugar lover whether I'm pregnant or not.

Aversions: None. 

Symptoms: Hmm... I'm almost to the 3rd trimester and symptoms are supposed to pick back up! Honestly I have a few TMI ones that won't get discussed in a public forum. Achy back. The bleeding nose seems to have gotten a lot better, although my gums still bleed but that is probably just going to be a given the rest of the pregnancy. And the bleeding gums are better since my trip to the dentist, thank goodness. I'm really tired all the time and my belly is continuing to grow.

Best moment this week: Our friends came over to help us install overhead lights in the nursery and the guest bedroom! They look soooo nice! And they also fixed the weird wiring in the nursery- we did replace the outlets so they are now all white; I like that. We haven't decided yet what color to paint the nursery but the white just feels fresh to me.

Looking forward to: I think this entire week is going to be work intensive. I'm looking forward to that slowing down!

And for your viewing pleasure, Dave took this picture in our basement. Yes that's a towel around my head; it was after I got out of the shower. But you can kinda see the bump even in a sweatshirt. Ok, maybe it's not obvious. But still...

25 weeks

Work is getting increasingly busy, which makes me more tired in the evenings, so these posts might get shorter. I know I can get wordy so maybe that's not a bad thing, haha.

We decided to buy a camera instead of a video monitoring system meant for babies. The video monitoring system isn't secure where a camera can be encrypted with a password, etc. And it actually ended up costing about the same! We got two cameras and they arrived earlier this week. Dave geeked out over them ;) and it's been really interesting just messing around with them. They have night vision and I can access them from either my phone or the computer. There's an app you can pay for (which we will) to get some extra features. I think we'll be able to talk through the camera and we'll be able to hear unlimited. With the free app or whatever we're using (I just go to the app or link Dave told me to, he set it all up) you can get audio but a minute at a time. Anyway, I admit now I'm geeked out about it, too. Just messing around with it, we watched the cat for awhile. Now I know why she weighs so much. She picks one spot to sit in and she is there all day unless she is at the food bowl eating.

25 weeks 2 days

How many weeks: 25

Size of baby: A cauliflower and measures 23 cm or 9 inches, crown to rump length. Head to toe is 13.5 inches. The baby also weighs 700-800 grams or 1.5-1.75 pounds. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I gained 1 pound so I'm up 14.5 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity clothes now

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: I am starting to get patterns now. The baby moves when I'm in the car driving to and from work. I'm not sure why. I also feel it a lot at night when I'm lying down, especially when I'm trying to go to sleep. And I've talked about it before, but the cat purring seems to also get the baby going, even if she's not laying on my stomach. Dave definitely felt the baby when he was having a party in my stomach. That was really cool. 

Sleep: I fall asleep so easily! But I haven't been sleeping well for some reason. I can't figure out why. 

What I miss: Same old stuff 

Cravings: None.

Aversions: None. 

Symptoms: Well, I can't burp lying down anymore, haha. I don't know if that's normal and something people don't talk about but I kind of like talking about some of the weird symptoms. If I'm lying on the couch or in bed, I feel like I have to burp but can't. (I tried once and it was bad and Dave even said, "That was weak." but as soon as I stood up whoa!) I'm continuing to have a bloody nose kind of and my gums are still bleeding but since going to the dentist they're a little better. My stomach is continuing to grow and movement is getting more pronounced. Oh and this one is weird- sometimes I just get this feeling like I could throw up but it's not a nauseous feeling. I have no idea what's going on there. 

Best moment this week: I don't know if this would be called a promotion but I am going to have a new role at work. Our test lead is quitting (which is actually not a good thing- I like him a lot and we'll really miss him) and my manager divided up the role. He was going to do that anyways. He made a test coordinator who will coordinate everything and be the interface to management, etc., and then technical leads to oversee the actual testing. I am going to be the test coordinator. I could go on about the details of the role but I'm sure that would get boring fast. So I'll just say I'm just happy about it. My manager had planned on doing this anyways, dividing up the work, because testing is really ramping up. But this kind of made it happen earlier than he had planned.

Looking forward to: Our friends are coming over this weekend to help us install overhead lights in the nursery and the guest bedroom. One step closer to getting things set up! Our house is kind of a mess. 

Also, side note: This is my 200th post on this blog. I can't believe I actually have that many posts. Especially considering I really started this to let friends/family see what we're up to and put some pictures up every so often.

Jars of Clay

This past weekend we went to a Jars of Clay concert. I can still remember when I first heard their music; a friend and I who liked Christian music were on a marching band trip and she told me I should listen to this new band she found. I did and it was really good- and not the type of Christian music that was typical. This was alternative style; I loved it.

Stephen Mason, Dan Haseltine, and Matt Odmark

Ever since then I've loved the band. I'd say they're my favorite band. Dave laughs at me a little because they're my favorite band but I don't know all these factoids about them or even who the members are by name (shame on me) like he does with his favorite band, Rush. I just know I love their music, know a lot of lyrics to a lot of their songs, and our band plays covers of some of their songs.

This concert was at the Altar Bar, which is in the strip district. I had never been there before. It used to be a church and is fairly small. There wasn't much seating- just at the bars and on one side downstairs. By the time we got there the downstairs seats were pretty much gone so we headed upstairs to the balcony and were able to stand on the side right next to the stage with a great view. I did drag a chair over because I wasn't sure about standing for that long- I've had kind of an achy back and stuff. But what's funny- I was pretty tired but as soon as we walked into the Altar Bar I got a burst of energy. I was just so excited to see Jars of Clay live!

Unzoomed view from Dave's Samsung Galaxy S3

There was a meet and greet afterwards. I get really excited and I tend to be either the obnoxious fan or I become a mute. This time I did ok- we probably had some boring conversation for them but I was just happy to talk to each of the original members of the band. They seemed really down to earth, and kept saying thanks for coming to see the show. I asked if they'd come back to Pittsburgh again and said we'd be there for sure. I also asked if they get tired of playing Flood (response to that was- that's a fair question. I wonder if they get asked that a lot). I asked Matt Odmark that question (see I know their names now!) and after his initial response he said that there was a period where it got to be too much but they feed off the crowd's energy and it's still fun to play each time.

We got autographs- on an LP of their first album and the Good Monsters CD. We did not take pictures of us with them, although we did have our camera. I thought with the autographs and everything I didn't want to ask for too much, and they walked around individually. It was really cool to talk to them individually but we didn't get a group picture. I think I preferred it this way although I wish I'd gotten SOME pictures. Oh well!!! This definitely still made my day/week/month, whatever! They put on a great concert and played a lot of good songs.

The opening acts were Mariah McManus and Sleeping At Last; there were both pretty good as well. We bought one of the CDs for Sleeping At Last. (One of his songs is on one of the Twilight movies.)

Mariah McManus

Sleeping At Last

Oh and we got this for our baby (cute?!?!):

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness

In October 1988 Ronald Reagan declared October as National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.  He said, "When a child loses his parent, they are called an orphan. When a spouse loses his or her partner, they are called a widow or widower. When parents lose their child, there isn't a word to describe them." October 15th was declared by Robyn Bear as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day to set aside a special day to remember our lost ones. In honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, Bear suggests on her website that grieving parents light a candle at 7 p.m. in their respective time zones to create a wave of light around the world in memory of babies lost to pregnancy and infant loss.

I plan on lighting a candle this year and will remember not only our losses but the losses of my friends and family. I didn't recognize this month or holiday last year because it was too hard for me.

I discussed some techniques I use to calm myself down during my current pregnancy but here are some mantras I came across on the internet that might also be helpful to anyone trying to get pregnant or currently pregnant.

1. “Today I am pregnant and I love my baby.”
2. “I am pregnant until someone tells me otherwise.”
3. “My past does not dictate my future. A previous miscarriage does not mean I will have another miscarriage.”
4. “Just because a friend/relative is having a miscarriage, does not mean that it will happen to me.” Miscarriage and pregnancy complications are not contagious, only fear and stress are.
5. “Hope does not make bad things happen.” You cannot “jinx” your pregnancy by getting excited or telling someone. Live in the positive.
6. This is the hardest: “There is nothing I can do to prevent a miscarriage from happening.” Worrying yourself sick doesn’t prevent a miscarriage. “And if (gods forbid) it were to happen again, I know I will survive.”

Growing up in a motel part deux

Growing up in a motel was a unique experience and I wrote a previous post just remembering some of the things that might be different from what people are used to.

We met a lot of people (obviously) through the motel. I should ask my parents for more stories (and at least my mom reads this, so remind me of some). But I met a friend who is still friends to this day (and we're friends on Facebook now) - she also played violin and it turned out we both went to the annual Spring String Festival at Houghton College. After we made that connection, we hung out there. She's a year older and I felt really cool to be hanging out with someone "older".

One time all the rooms in our motel were full, and I can't remember the details but this couple's car broke down or something so they asked if they could just sleep in their car in the parking lot. They might have even offered to pay for a parking spot (I'm sure my parents said no to that one). My parents felt really bad for them so they were invited in for breakfast the next morning. They were from NYC and I just remember being mesmerized by the accent and how "different" they were. I think the woman had kind of a punk style that might be embellished in my memory, and I remember her more than her husband/boyfriend. I wonder if my parents ever kept in touch with them (or if my mom even remembers who I'm talking about.) That in itself was rare though; we tended to try to keep our home life private and we did not invite guests into the area where we lived. And honestly when kids were outside on the swingset, I usually would shy away from them. I think my parents pushed me to talk to the friend I talked about above, and that was because they were regulars and really nice.

For at least a year (more in my mind but again my memories might be embellished a bit) my dad decided to make a little extra money by cooking breakfast for the guests if they wanted it. Well, it was either for extra money or just because people kept asking if breakfast was available. Maybe I should stop guessing at why things were done... Anyway, when timing worked out, guess who "got" to deliver the breakfasts? My sister and myself. Yippee. We were soooo excited about that. Can you sense the sarcasm here? The only nice thing was that sometimes people would tip us for carrying it down and we got to keep it! My mom said that she and my dad rarely got tips if they delivered the breakfast so maybe people felt sorry for the little bleary eyed kid standing at the door with some hot food. Oh and hunting season was TERRIBLE for that. My parents got a TON of orders which kept us hopping and we were forced to drag ourselves out of bed at some ungodly early hour (since hunters get up so darn early) so that we could run back and forth from our place to the rooms with the breakfasts.

Speaking of hunting season-

• I rounded the corner for a few years in a row before figuring out not to do this and saw dead deer hanging in our shed or in trees around our shed. Blech. Blech. Blech. In various states of... deadness? Skinned, not skinned, BEING SKINNED? Did I already say Blech? And even though there was plastic tarp down on the concrete floor, blood would get through and that always grossed me out even after it was dried up and just a stain. Blech.
• The hunters all got up super early and in the same time frame. That was typically before we would get up to go to school. So we knew hunting season had started when all the hot water for our showers was gone and we were standing in the freezing cold water trying to wash up as quickly as possible.

When I was about 10, Hurricane Hugo came through. It was pretty scary for me at that age. There was a HUGE tree outside my bedroom window and we got a lot of wind. That tree- I got scared it was going to come falling down on me. That one was fine, but a different tree uprooted and came down on our shed. So we rebuilt the side of the shed. Maybe this isn't necessarily particular to living in a motel, but still. We did a lot of work around the place, more than I think would be typical for a normal kid. My dad pretty much did any and all construction and or maintenance on the place and we were his helpers.  So I have helped: expanded rooms, rebuild a roof, change electric wiring, completely redo a room when a pipe burst and water ruined everything in the room, drywalled, laid carpet... Then there are the outside things: building a lawn pond, sealing an entire deck (and building it), sealing a huge driveway and painting lines and numbers on it, raking a ton of leaves, trimming bushes... Now I will admit I was just a helper. So when I say we sealed a huge driveway- we helped use a 2x4 to mix the sealant up (took turns with that one and honestly my sister did more work because I was such a weakling) and then used brushes to get the sides of the driveway as my dad actually did most of the sealing work. This means I recognize a lot now about how a job should be done but if I had to do it myself I'd be pretty lost. I'm much happier being a helper (and no I was not happy about it growing up).

BTW when I talk about a shed I'm talking about a decent sized building, not one of those tiny sheds (which we do have) that you would put next to your house. This was a separate building in the backyard that had the riding lawn mower, tools, lumber up in the rafters, etc. And a lot of boxes for storage.

24 weeks

24 weeks marks viability day! This is another milestone. Basically, once the baby is considered viable, that means that doctors will use whatever intervention they can to try to save the baby if I were to go into pre-term labor for some reason. Before this, the odds aren't great of a baby surviving but the odds just keep going up and up from here. Happy V Day, baby!

This also means that I'm 6 months along, counting in 4 week months. With 4 months (16 weeks) left to go.

Also, after I got home from work today I decided to use the treadmill. I ran/walked in intervals for 20 minutes and then walked 5 minutes for 2 miles total (if you run at 6mph and walk at 4mph it works out perfectly). That was TOUGH. Wow. It wiped me out. Before pregnancy running a mile straight was no problem and I could definitely do it faster than a 10 minute pace. Guess that's what happens when you get pregnant and stop exercising for awhile!

24 weeks, in maternity clothes

How many weeks: 24

Size of baby: A papaya and measures 22 cm or 8.7 inches, crown to rump length. Head to toe is 10.5 inches. The baby also weighs 600-700 grams or 1.3-1.5 pounds. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I've gained 2 pounds so I'm now up 13.5 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity clothes now

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: Dave definitely felt the baby. The baby likes to move around a lot at night when I'm trying to go to sleep. And I'm at the point that sometimes (not through clothes though) when he gets really active I can see the movement, too.

Sleep: Still tired a lot. I don't see that changing. I'm trying to make sure I exercise- that seems to give me a burst of energy when I do it!

What I miss: Beer and wine. I found a non-alcoholic beer that tastes better than St. Pauli Girl N/A (BLECH) and O'Doul's. Kaliber, I think it's called. And another blogger (Brittney) posted about some non-alcoholic wine I might see about buying.

Cravings: None.

Aversions: None. 

Symptoms: Ok, let's see. Bleeding gums, check. My visit to the dentist was good- they said that pre-term labor occurs when people have gingivitis/gum disease that is not treated and teeth are not cared for. They did say I have a lot more bleeding than normal but blamed it on the pregnancy and said to keep brushing my teeth even if it bleeds a lot. Bloody nose, check. My nose isn't dripping but it is starting to feel stuffed up in the mornings and it turns out it's bloody inside there. At times I feel tremendous pressure in my stomach area. Specifically in my intestines and bladder. I think it's because I'm carrying the baby so low? Maybe? But man when I have to go to the bathroom I HAVE TO GO. RIGHT NOW. And sadly, even though depending on what I wear I am still getting comments about not showing, I do have some stretch marks on my sides. On my sides? I thought it would be more in the stomach area where I'm stretching. So that's kind of weird to me. And means I'm probably doomed, doomed, doomed for stretch marks if I'm seeing some already.

Best moment this week: We got most of our registry done. I should say started, actually. We're trying to decide colors in the room and that could change sheet colors and things like that. Registering was really overwhelming though so I'm glad we're done with the bulk of it. Changes we make now should be pretty minor, or a little at a time.

Looking forward to: We are going to a Jars of Clay concert Saturday night! I love that band and it's the first time I'll see them live. Plus we got VIP tickets which include a meet and greet!

September Exercise Totals

My goal is just to keep moving, doing something. I still get tired easily and I'm getting achy but if I find the time to do some type of exercise, I seem to feel better. That's going to be my continued goal.

September
Run: 5.9 miles
Bike: 43.5 miles
Walked 10 times 

Total Run mileage
January: 60.122
February: 61.634
March: 77.715
April: 38.022
May: 23.28
June: 0
July: 0
August: 4.98
September: 5.9
2012 total: 271.7

Total Bike mileage
January: 20.2
February: 52.7
March: 57.9
April: 22.3
May: 50.6
June: 34.8
July: 52.8
August: 100.2
September: 43.5
2012 total: 435

My two runs this month were on the beach in Duck in the Outer Banks (and were a combination of running and walking.) It felt really good to get out and enjoy the fresh air. I think half of my walks were also on the beach. I got a lot of beach time while we were on vacation.

23 weeks

For the moms out there: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-tate/mom-pictures-with-kids_b_1926073.html

I am so excited (and yes, at times scared) about being a mom and bringing up our baby boy. I know there will be good and bad but I just can't wait.

23 weeks 2 days. This is why I am not wearing regular clothes anymore. I used to wear Large sizes and this is XL (Women's) and looks pretty tight

23 weeks 2 days with a maternity shirt on

How many weeks: 23

Size of baby: A papaya and measures 21 cm or 8.3 inches. (This is crown to rump, not head to toe.) The baby also weighs 500-600 grams or 1.1-1.3 pounds. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I am up 2 and a half pounds so overall I've gained 11.5 pounds. 

Maternity Clothes: Yep I'm in maternity clothes. No be band for me. Even though I bought one, I just don't like it.

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: To me, the movement is getting stronger but Dave still isn't feeling it. Tigger continues to sit on my stomach and the baby either loves it or hates it but either way it definitely gets our baby moving.

Sleep: I'm really, really tired. That's part of the reason I haven't had any blog posts and why this one is short. I'm busy at work and when I get home I just... crash. :) 

What I miss: Same old stuff. Surprisingly, add lunch meat this week. We went to a birthday party and all they had food wise was lunch meat (and soup), which is a no no because of listeria. Well, I have to admit, I was hungry so I ate it anyways. WOW did I scarf that down, practically smacking my lips. (Can I say poor Dave again?) And now in the cafeteria at work I'm eyeing up the deli counters. I was amazed at how GOOD that sandwich tasted. 

Cravings: None.

Aversions: None. 

Symptoms: It seems to me like this is too early but I'm starting to get some back aches. Actually, so far it's just on my one side and part of my back. I'm a bit worried if I'm already feeling this now, how much worse it's going to get! I'm also pretty tired and am finding if I stay out late (ha which is really early) it affects me for days. Another side effect that I want to ask the dentist about- my gums are bleeding a LOT. I have had issues with my gums anyways and thankfully I have an appointment next week. Gum disease or whatever can cause pre-term labor, low birth weight, etc. So I want to find out what I can do to make this better or if it's just normal and I'm being too sensitive about it. 

See you can definitely tell in the belly shot!

Best moment this week: One of my friends had her baby and I got to hold him when he was less than 24 hours old! Both mom and baby are doing great, and it was just amazing to hold him and think that in about 4 months I'll have my own son in my arms. AND, wow. Ok so I always thought newborn babies were tiny (and they are) until I looked down at my own stomach and thought oh crap, something that size has to come out of ME somehow??? That's something I figure is just going to happen so usually I don't think about it too much and I'll deal with it when the time comes. Denial? I don't know. But it keeps me from freaking out about it. 

Looking forward to: See my sleep comment above.  I can NOT wait for the weekend and getting some extra sleep. Every morning it has been harder and harder to get out of bed when that alarm goes off.