LARGE and in charge...

Bo that is. Not me. About being in charge. Although I guess we're kind of large together...

Things are going well in the Bratschie house. Momma Mags is visiting to help us prep for Bo and things are winding down in the nesting process here. Gearing up for the waiting game and all the fun little "honey, wake up!" moments that happen a thousand times in the middle of the night.


Starting last weekend (after my cousin's gorgeous wedding weekend - our family is awesome), baby Bo seemed to grow exponentially. The fundus grew 3 cm to 38 cm. And now he's officially ginormous. Everyone that sees me (seriously everyone - neighbors, friends, co-workers, strangers on the street) tells me that the baby has dropped. But he hasn't according to my doctor. Which just means that he's growing lower too and straight forward - and have I mentioned exponentially?

At this point (38.5 weeks along), I'm just hoping to have him while he's still able to wear newborn size onesies. Game on, Bo - I'm ready. The waiting game has begun.

It's official! Anna is going to be a big sister!

Our news is officially official. We went Facebook public with the announcement of our growing family on May 22nd.  Our little blog did such a great job of keeping loved ones informed on the coming of our little Anna-bug. So now, of course - we're back to blogging! (Aren't you excited?!)

See the newsworthy announcement here...

And for those of you not on Facebook, this was Don's latest update on the newest member of our clan: The deets: Amanda is due Nov 28th, she just hit 13 wks so we should be smooth sailing into the 2nd tri and baby is the size of a shrimp. Just a normal shrimp, not one of those gigantic shrimp cocktail. Anyway we are starting up the old blog soon and will keep everyone posted! (wasn't it nice of him to warn everyone about the blog? Yeah - I thought so too.)

As of today, I'm officially 14 weeks along and new Baby is about the size of a lemon. Which is probably just a coincidence, but I've been craving tart things lately. One of the first questions people ask when they discover/uncover/reveal that you're preggers - besides 'when are you due?' is 'have you had any cravings?'. Well - first trimester all I could think about was donuts. I think I did a pretty good job limiting my time at Dunkin Donuts and I may have even made it past that there's-no-way-they-can-actually-be-what-my-body-needs craving. Although, admittedly, I am familiar with their Men in Black 3 products and think that entire partnership is kind of genius (and delicious - picture below)

Crave-worthy

Yummy, right? But thankfully, my unstoppable cravings have started to focus more on things like lemonade, salt and vinegar potato chips, pickles, relish & mustard (on hotdogs) - really, just anything tart. And soft serve ice cream (unrelated). This is not a typical pickles & ice cream preggo story. Although - I really wouldn't be surprised if that comes in about a week or two.

And really - that's all the news and updates we have for the moment. Maybe even more than you really wanted to know - but thanks a bunch for tuning in with us and caring enough about us Bratschies to read our blog. We have some of the best friends in the whole world!  :)

Love and hugs!

Hump Day Bump Day! (11/18)

We barely made it today.  Phew!

Not only am I getting HUGE - but I believe my nesting instincts are starting to kick in.  I'm knitting a blanket - and I baked cookies from scratch twice in the last 4 days.   Of course, maybe those two things are related?

Anyway - enjoy the update.  It's time for me to toddle off to bed.  ;)

so much to do...

the excitement of becoming a mother is starting to turn into anxiety over everything that we have to do to prepare for Baby.  and when i say "everything", I really mean it.

up to this point, the only thing we've done is make our monthly checkup appointments and watch me get bigger.  Oh- i also take my vitamins every day.  But that's it. 

Last weekend, Don and I took a test called Strengthsfinder 2.0 by the Gallup peoples.  Anyway - it confirmed a lot of what I already knew to be true - and that is: I'm strong at developing relationships with people, but I usually lack vision.  It also revealed to me what I previously did not know - Don is also a relationship builder and not so much into planning for the future...  that one was quite a bit of surprise for me.

Now this isn't to say that we NEVER plan, but just that our natural tendencies don't fall that way so much.  Now - point being, because I know this is something to we need to focus on in order to make happen, I'm blogging about this for a little bit of accountability. 

Here are some things that we need to start working on in the Bratschie house:

• Nursery area
• register for classes at the hospital
• register for baby things

Also - if you know the layout of our place, or if you just happen to be an interior designer - we need some serious help planning out our nursery area.  You can consider this an official cry for help.  ;)

19 Weeks!

As of yesterday, Baby is at 19 weeks.  WOW.  I can't believe it's already 19!  One more week and we'll be at 5 months!  This seems like it's going by so quickly!

According to our babycenter.com email, Baby is approximately 8.5 ounces and measure about 6 inches from head to rump - or, in produce terms, is as long as a large heirloom tomato.  Because "large heirloom tomato" is quite vague, I'm including the official picture again.  Here it goes:

Again - use the quarter for comparison.   Because of the latest produce comparison, Don has enlightened me that a heirloom tomato merely means that the tomato is not a hybrid, but a pure tomato.  So - the quarter is even more helpful than I thought... (here's the wikipedia article for anyone that might be a doubter out there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_tomato).

Hump Day Bump Day! (10/21)

Week 18! - Bell Pepper

Baby is about the length of a bell pepper this week (5.5 inches long).  Wow!  This little one is growing FAST!  The gender organs are also developed at this point too - but no, we're still not going to find out if it's a Brat-he or a Brat-she. (HA!  Get it?  A play on our last name?!  I'm so funny!)

Anyway - I included this babycenter.com picture to help anyone who may not know what size bell pepper these peeps are comparing Baby to.  It might help to use the quarter for comparison...

Enjoy!

Hump Day Bump Day! (10/14)

Preggos are EVERYWHERE!

In case you've been under a rock for the past 6 months or so, I feel I should come right out and say it.  "Everyone is pregnant".  This is, of course, a slight exaggeration, but I assure you - not by much.  It might be more like 1 out of 3.

I run into other preggos everywhere.  Everywhere except work, that is.  I'm definitely the only one there - at least the only one that's been "outed".  And now I'm so big that I couldn't hide it even if I wanted to (which I don't).

But back to my first point - preggos are everywhere.  Maybe it's just Chicago... but I'm not so sure.  I think it's a National epidemic.  When we picked up my prenatal vitamins, the pharmacist said "been fillin' a lot of these lately".  Um yeah - that's your job.  And I heard the hospital where I'm supposed to deliver Baby has broken the 'birthing record' every month for the past few months - meaning they birth a record number of babies every month than from the month before.  Wow!  That's a lot of babies!

You have to wonder - why all the babies?  I heard someone mention snarkily that it was the recession to blame.  I'm not sure about all that.  It really didn't have a lot to do with our Baby - Don and I are both employed full-time and hadn't really stopped going out when Baby came to be.  I heard another theory that it's the boomlet's having babies.  That's right - that Baby Boomer's kids are now having kids.  That makes a little more sense to me - but what really explains this?

I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run - but it's great for those like me and the preggos coming after us - we've going to have so much maternity clothes for them to borrow/buy from consignment shops!  Speaking of consignment shops - I heard a recommendation for a great kid's clothes/maternity wear consignment shop in Chicago - called The Second Child.  I'll have to check it out and write a review. 

In the meantime - i'll leave you with my deep thought for the day - "preggos are everwhere".  Except my apartment.  I'm the only one in here right now...

How am I feeling?

I'm asked this question probably more than any other question.  Well - how am I feeling?  Honestly - it depends on when you catch me.  I'm almost always nauseous first thing in the morning - at least until I get a little something in my stomach.  My personal theory is that the blood sugars get thrown way off when my stomach is empty and that's what leaves me feeling queasy.  Of course, it could just be tiny unicorns in my belly poking holes in the lining of my quease-barrier...

Besides that "I'm-about-to-puke-but-only-in-the-morning" business, I'm feeling great! Well, that and I've been learning lately that I actually have to schedule in down time every once and again.  Or have a series of mental breakdowns.  Whichever.

We have such a full schedule all the time.  I'm so used to it that I don't stop to think if I've rested enough - or thought about nothing in particular enough.   Or even built time into our schedule to do laundry enough.  And it really only seems to be catching up to me lately - there have been a couple of days in the past week or two that were particularly rough.  When I got home at the end of the day, I kicked off my shoes and went straight to sleep - barely even saying "hi" or "good night" to Don.  Poor guy.  So, yes - I'm queasy in the morning and I'm learning to slow down and work some downtime in my life now.  And that's how I'm feeling. 

17 Weeks - TURNIPS!

As of yesterday, Baby is 17 weeks and  I still haven't felt any kicks or flutters (although I wasn't sure if maybe I felt it last night... could've been indigestion).

According to my weekly babycenter email, Baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to hard bone.  Seems like good timing for Halloween, no?  ;)   And now Baby weighs roughly 5 ounces - the size of a turnip.  YAY for turnips!

 I don't even know of what we can make with a turnip though - anyone got any good turnip recipes?

Hump Day Bump Day! (10/7)

Finally!  The long-awaited HDBD photo!

Enjoy!

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

but the dark is what's going to keep me in.  My workout buddy and I decided to move our morning walks indoors to the gym now that it's getting darker outside in the morning.

As you might be able to tell from the picture I took this morning, it's still gorgeous even thought it's dark out now.  The sunrise was, well... "wow"!  Or as my dad might say, "breathtaking and beautiful".  But in spite of the beauty, it's still very dark and there's not nearly as many people out in the morning anymore - it just kind of makes for a less safe feeling walk.  (Hence the move indoors).

I think it's going to be okay though because we already decided to start incorporating light hand weights into our time at the gym - maybe get some toning in our upper bodies to match the toning I see in my legs from carrying around all this extra weight in my belly. 

16 Weeks! And Babies are Really Just Produce...

Baby is 16 weeks (4 months) as of yesterday.  Wow.  We're almost halfway through this pregnancy thing.

According to our Babycenter email - Baby is roughly the size of an avocado and is growing toenails, among other things.  The first thing I thought when I read that was, "Getting toenails is the first step to pedicures - YAY!"  (If Baby is a girl, that is - not that boys don't get pedicures, but they don't usually talk about it).

The second thing I thought was "what size avocado?"  Out of pure coincidence, we made guacamole last night - yeah, I guess that's a little sick in retrospect but take heart in knowing that it wasn't planned.  Of course, now we might actually try to work whatever produce item Baby is currently the size of into our menu.  I kind of think that would be funny.  Anyway - we used 5 avocadoes and they were all such different sizes!

So - back to this idea of Baby being the size of produce - Babycenter has this slideshow that compares Baby's development every week to a 'common' produce item - to help give people a better idea of how big their baby is getting.  (As if a giant belly wasn't enough of an idea)...
They have everything from a sesame seed to a pumpkin.  That's right - a pumpkin.  

The key to note here is that the growing baby is like this produce item in some way, usually weight or length.  Otherwise, some of these don't make sense - like an ear of corn at week 24?  I can hear it now "What?  My baby is like an ear of corn right now?  NO WONDER I'm uncomfortable!"

Hump Day Bump Day! (9/30)

It's Hump Day Bump Day (HDBD) again!  YAY!  And as promised, I'm including the very first HDBD photo for easy comparison...

Here's the first one, taken September 9th:

And here's the photo from this morning:

Okay - so I KNEW that I would get big.  But I had no idea how quickly!  It's been about a month since we've started taking pictures and it's already pretty obvious that my belly is serious about getting really big.  I'll be 4 months on Friday.  5 more to go...

With all this growing that I have left to do - I'm just hoping that Baby isn't going to be ginormously huge - like that 19.5 pounder in Indonesia last week. 

Feeling Any Movement Yet?

According to all the baby stuff we've been reading, I should expect to feel Baby moving any minute now.  Of course, it could take up to even a few more weeks to feel anything too.  It depends on how active Baby is and how alert I am to Baby's movements.

And the fact that I don't really know what I'm watching out for makes it a little bit harder to watch out for it.  But I got some tips to help me out - like I'm more likely to feel Baby's movements when I'm just lying down and relaxing or right after I eat.   So - at least until I feel Baby move, I plan on doing a lot of lying down, relaxing and eating.  I want to make sure I'm giving Baby optimal conditions to help me feel Baby movements.   

15 Weeks!

Today marks 15 weeks for Baby.  I know, I know - that's lovely  - but what does that really mean for Baby?

Well - Baby is about the size of an apple (4 inches long, 2.5 oz)... and Baby's legs are growing longer than the arms now.  (Maybe that's why I've been so tired these last few days...  I'm always convinced that when I'm particularly exhausted, even though I've gotten plenty of sleep, that Baby is up to something BIG.)

Oh- and probably the biggest news - Baby is forming taste buds!  This is big news mostly because Don's favorite hobby is cooking and he's darn good at it too.  Baby's taste buds are sure going to come in handy!  :)

Working out...

It turns out that it's super important for preggos to be active and exercise throughout their pregnancy.   And everyone has a different reason why - I've even heard that it can make labor and delivery easier (but how in the heck would they prove that?) Somewhat counter-intuitive if you ask me - all I wanted to do for at least for the first 12 weeks was sleep.  Well, and pee - but that's a different post.

Anyway - before I was pregnant (or, more correctly, before I KNEW I was pregnant) I was training for the half-marathon, so I was working out 6 days a week.  Running a lot - doing ab workouts, going to yoga, the whole 9 yards.  As soon as I found out that I was pregnant, my knees really started hurting - it might be coincidence from running too much - and it might be all mental.  But I'm not taking any chances... so i stopped all the mileage all i was putting on my jogging sneakers and started a walking routine instead with my gym buddy, Sarah.

Sarah is an awesome gym buddy and has been so wonderful with this whole pregnancy thing that Baby and I are going through.  She meets me early in the morning, even though she doesn't have to be up that early.  Anyway - the days that I used to go running in the morning, we now walk.  And it's been AWESOME!  I love walking around near the lake and watching the "ducks" (they might actually be geese or some other kind of fowl - I don't really care enough to figure it out) and the few people that we see out and about are SO FRIENDLY in the morning.  That was probably the biggest shocker.  People are actually friendly in downtown Chicago in the morning.  Really friendly.  Everyone greets us and wishes us a good day.  It's almost other-worldy.

But anyway - this revised routine is turning out to be quite a highlight!  It doesn't bother me that much to wake up at 5:30, either!  Here's to an easier delivery!  (?)

Letting Baby be just a baby...

For awhile now, Don and I have gone back and forth about whether we want to find out if Baby is a boy or a girl.  Don doesn't want to know until Baby is born - but at first I did want to know - ASAP.  Of course, we don't even have the option of finding out until the end of October - when baby is about 5 months into formation.  That's when they do the "fun" ultrasound - otherwise known as the "privates-seeking-ultrasound".

There are many many reasons for both sides of this particular argument and neither side is right or wrong.  So it just kind of comes down to - what do WE REALLY want?  Do we want to know - or would we rather just let it happen?

After thinking about it a lot, I've decided that for me, the only real benefit to knowing is being able to bond more by calling Baby by name sooner, while Baby is still in the womb.  However, there seem to be a lot of benefits to waiting.  One - people have done it that way forever and it would be neat to do it the way our folks and their folks and their folk's folks did it - (but this is kind of weak.  Mostly because if we have this available to us, why not use it?)  And sometime ultrasounds can be wrong anyway (even though that's not nearly as common anymore with the advancements in today's technology).  But the best one yet, is that I would end up buying the stuff that we really need for Baby, like diapers and cribs and strollers, instead of the super-cute baby clothes that I see all the time at the store when shopping for maternity gear - or even when just shopping for toilet paper and detergent.  Who can pass up buying cute baby clothes?  Not me.  Seriously. 

So - back to my point.  After much consideration, we've decided to wait and not find out if Baby is a he-male or a she-male.  We'll give Baby these few extra months in the womb to just be our baby and we don't have to worry about pink or blue.  The time will come when Baby will join us here on the outside of my body and then we'll all know.  And besides - I can use cute little nicknames for Baby and bond, bond, bond our prenatal time away.

Btw - 'm pretty sure that Baby is a girl and Don is pretty sure that Baby is a boy - so until Baby gets here, I guess we'll just be arguing at dinner parties over Baby's gender - unless Doc slips up at one of our many, many office visits in the upcoming months...

What the Bump?

I saw this sign outside my place and decided to take a picture of it this morning on the way back from the gym.  This describes my belly perfectly right now - I can't wait until it's obvious that I'm pregnant instead of looking like maybe I just had a few too many pints of Moose Tracks instead.