Baby Mikey's Room

This week we got most of Mikey's furniture and set up the baby room.

Solar Panels

This past week we finally got our solar panels. We've been in the process since last March. As the first people to get them in our community (sub city of Miami) it took a lot to coordinate the permits. The instillation went very smoothly and the company was so nice. On cool, sunny days like we've been having lately we produce far more evergy than we use. On hot, cloudy days we use some from the power company. Each year we should break about even! At some point we'll get our state and federal rebates for a good size chunk of the cost. Yeah for going green!!!
On a side note we spent last night at the ER when I started having bleeding and cramping. My placenta is still sitting on my cervix and decided to bleed for no apparent reason. I still get to do my normal activites just the more relaxed version and if I start bleeding again I have to lay down for that whole day. I feel like I'm turning into a lump on the couch :( I don't think it's a good sign that Mikey is already making things difficult.

Belly Update

Just a quick update on my belly. I'm now 22 weeks (5 months). I've gained about 15 lbs and the little guy kicks me pretty hard every day. As you can see from the picture there is no mistaking I'm pregnant now so I do get a lot of comments from my clients at work :) I've been feeling a little better lately. The Braxton Hicks contractions (practice contractions) have slowed down to a few a day and I can eat most of the foods I want. I've been having horrible gastric reflux and heartburn in the evenings and that probably won't change until the baby comes. And I still have no energy so Mike does most of the housework. It's been fun to start getting things for little Mikey. So far we've found a bathtub and towels on clearance, shelves for his room, and a few clothes at outlet stores. This month we should be able to get the crib and stroller. I don't feel very prepared yet.

Vet Conference

I just spent this past week in Orlando at a veterinary conference. It is the second largest each year in the whole country. It's hosted at the Gaylord Palms which, you can tell from the picture, is just massive. There are also two other hotels that have lectures, labs and exhibits and several hotels that offer rooms. Mike didn't come with me this year because we thought he'd be bored not going to the amusement parks. Both of us love roller coasters so the parks are just torture for me right now since I can't ride them.
I did learn a lot of new and interesting things that I think I can use on my patients as well as picked up some free samples. Normally I replenish my pens for the year but there wasn't many given out this year :( I attended a total of 22 hours of lecture. Unfortunately I got sick from the lunch on Saturday and spent Sunday throwing up. After that I ate lunch each day at the other hotels. By yesterday I was tired of lectures so I went to the outlet mall. They had both a Carter's and an Osh Kosh outlet so I had too much fun! I got the cutest little striped overall shorts! (Yes mom, I still remember ours!) Last night I had the good luck of being at the right place at the right time and got a free buffet dinner and games at Sea World. They had a Shamu show scheduled for later but it was too cold (really, we've been having a cold snap). Today I drove back home and I'm happy to be back with Mike and the dogs :)

Baby Boy and Christmas

My 18 week ultrasdound was today and everything looked good. We found out it is definitely a boy! My placenta is sitting on my cervix so I get to have another ulrasound in 4 weeks to make sure it's moving. We will be naming him Michael Patrick McGowan III. I know it sounds pretentious, he'll be called Mikey. Unfortunately I can't call anyone with the exciting news because I caught a nasty cold the day after Christmas :(
We spent Christmas in Crystal River with Mike's stepmom Karen. We really enjoyed spending time with her and hope we lifted her spirits a little. Mike's dad (big Mike) passed away in November and I know it's been a rough holiday season for her. Mike is working on a memorial website for his dad so I haven't really posted about it here (wanted to link to the website).
Karen is always so creative with her gifts and gave us personalized M&Ms with our picture and possible baby names on it. That was super thoughtful! Mike's mom had a great idea of all of us sending 2 of our favorite movies to each other. We've been seeing new favorites :) As usual my folks sent money which is always appreciated! We've been low on the gift giving this year between the economy and my lack of energy. I did send gift subscriptions to Ranger Rick to the nieces and nephews which I hoped they recieved.
We always enjoy the time with family and joy that comes with the holiday season.

Baby Room and Belly Pics

So here's the first step in converting the office into the baby's room. For those of you that don't know (or remember) our office was black so this is a huge change. The desk wrapped around two walls and is now just in the closet where I think it will still be very useful as a changing table. We moved a portion of the desk into the guest room closet to become our mini office. Since we don't know the sex yet we thought yellow was a good neutral color with lots of options.


And for those of you that are curious to see how big I am so far here's some lovely pictures, acne and all. I'm 16 weeks pregnant, 3 1/2 months for those of you not obsessed :) So far I'm 2 lbs heavier than pre-pregnancy (lost some weight the first couple months but have now gained that back).

Thanksgiving

I know I've been a slacker with posting. I'm still feeling pretty sick and have no energy... We had lots of fun over Thanksgiving. My parents flew in the week before and spent lots of time with us. My mom and I went shopping for maternity clothes and I found lots of cute things. On Monday of that week Mike's mom and stepdad flew in and it was really busy from there on out. On Wednesday we went to Fairchild tropical gardens which is huge and just full of beautiful flowers. It was perfect weather and just the right amount of exercise for those of us with lower energy levels ;)
For Thanksgiving we had the two sets of parents as well as my mom-in-law's best friend Mary. We had a wonderful fried turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans, rolls, pecan pie and pumpkin pie. It couldn't have been better!
The parents have all gone home now so things have quieted back down. Now I need to start getting out my Christmas decoration and making my holiday cookies. Anybody want me to send them some? I'll be making fudge, caramels, shortbread stars and biscotti this year.