Stubborn Baby!

Coraline is being one stubborn pain in my side. Literally. 

We had contemplated for a while waiting to pick a name - torn mostly between Claire and Coraline. Claire meant, "Clear, bright" and Coraline meant, "Precious growth of the sea: Coral". When browsing www.sheknows.com and their baby name meanings we stumbled upon these Expression and SoulUrge meanings. Claire's was, "SoulUrge Number: 6

People with this name have a deep inner desire for a stable, loving family or community, and a need to work with others and to be appreciated.

Expression Number: 3

People with this name tend to be creative and excellent at expressing themselves. They are drawn to the arts, and often enjoy life immensely. They are often the center of attention, and enjoy careers that put them in the limelight. They tend to become involved in many different activities, and are sometimes reckless with both their energies and with money."

 Coraline's said, "SoulUrge Number: 3

People with this name have a deep inner desire to create and express themselves, often in public speaking, acting, writing or singing. They also yearn to have beauty around them in their home and work environment.

Expression Number: 5

People with this name are excited by change, adventure, and excitement. They are dynamic, visionary and versatile, able to make constructive use of freedom. They fight being restricted by rules and conventions. They tend to be optimistic, energetic, intelligent, and to make friends easily. They may be changeable, restless, untidy, and rebellious."

So we agreed, we will wait until she is born and see if she looks like she is meant to be in "in the spotlight" or an "adventurous trouble-maker".

Well, Henry ended up picking the name Coraline a week later. There were so many reasons we fell in love with this name! Hearing Henry talk to her and calling her Cora-Lou just makes my heart melt. I mean seriously, here we are, two southern people with a soon-to-be baby girl named Coraline (Cora-Lou) Faye Johnson. You can't get much more southern than that! Henry's deep southern accent just makes it sound even better! I am talking Josh Turner-deep-voice. Yea Buddy! 

Ever since we started calling her Cora-Lou - she has been a stubborn pain in my side! All day long she chills, doesn't really move at all. At night when I lay down it's tap dances all around! "Oh you want to go to sleep? Well I slept rocking along in my cocoon all day as you worked your butt off, now I want to play! On. Your. Bladder. TEE HEE" 

Then there is, "Oh, I am two weeks ahead of the growth schedule? I am a big baby? I want to be transverse. Let me press right up against this artery and make you throw up and black out. Now let me switch my head to the other side and make it feel like I am trying to bust through you abdominal muscles." *Giggle, Giggle*

The ER doctor (yes emergency room) even moved her into the correct position and about 2 minutes later, "Just kidding! I am going back to being transverse." LOL The ER doctor wasn't fully trained except during his brief rotation with the OB/GYN on rotating the fetus, so now I have to wait until Monday when I see my OB/GYN to have her re-positioned, hopefully in a way that is more permanent than a few minutes. Dear God please let it be more than a few minutes!!!

I love this Little Lady more than anything, and understand the pain comes with the territory. I am just hoping she is getting most of this out of her system while she is baking to perfection, then will be a sweet little angel until she is 12. :-D

A girl can dream right?

Mama-To-Be Freebie!

For those of you soon-to-be Mamas, or perhaps you know someone who is going to be a Mom, you need to take advantage of this freebie!

It is hard to read because it was a screen shot:

1) www.NursingPillow.com

2) Click on "Shop Now" and select one of the 9 options.

3) At the shopping bag enter promo code "MOTHER" for 100% off your Nursing Pillow

4) THE CATCH: You pay the shipping. Thats it! See my order below.

Here is a picture of my order. Yes shipping is $12.95. My total is $17.90 because I chose to get a "Minky" pillow for an extra $5, but that is still cheaper than all the other nursing pillows! Boppy ($29.99 + $10.99 for a cover), My Brest Friend ($47.99 wtih cover), Comfort and Harmony ($54.99 with cover), Boppy Nursing Pillow ($49.99)...and the list continues.

The bonus on top of this deal - it then gives you the code "NPILLOW" for the same deal with a Carseat Canopy from www.CarSeatCanopy.com, Udder Covers for a nursing cover from www.UdderCovers.com, and a baby carrier sling from www.sevenslings.com.

I am not sure how long this deal is good for, but it worked for me today! (4/2/13)

WEEK 21

How far along? 21 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 10 lbs on the nose as of my appointment two ago. Our baby is two weeks bigger, but just because she is a big baby, not because they are going to change the due date. Yay! 

Maternity Clothes? Ok I have ordered a few maternity things from ASOS in the UK, however they are so cute and the way they are designed can be worn post maternity too. FINALLY somewhere that has cute maternity clothes for women in their 20s!!

Stretch Marks?  OMG! I think I am getting one tiny one on my boob. TMI? It is just a small red line right now about 1/2 inch long, and my mom said she got red marks, but they all disappeared after pregnancy. I am REALLY hoping this one disappears and no buddies join the party. 

Sleep:  She has started to settle down at night, especially since my amazing pillow has arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. 

Best moment this week: Picking a baby name!!!

Miss Anything? Sushi, raw tuna, raw salmon. I would kill for some RAW sushi! I am tired of this cooked crap.

Movement: Lots and Lots and Lots of movements. She moves all the time!

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon), Sushi, Thai food and Kit-Kats! I finally went and bought a big pack of kit-kat bars because buying them at the gas station was getting to be too much. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. I have not dared try orange juice anymore since I threw up that last time, again. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Decreasing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. Then she was transverse at one point which led to throwing up and blacking out. Fun!

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: This week was slightly miserable. 

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Names? Well boy names are scratched. haha Henry at dinner Friday night said he wanted her name to be Coraline. He had been thinking a lot about it and decided Coraline would be best because he wants to call her "Cora-Lou" which I LOVE! I was so overwhelmed with the cuteness of the name I began tearing up at dinner. Henry looked at me all shocked because here I was grinning ear-to-ear and tearing up. He laughed and said, "OMG your eyes are tearing up!! It's just a name." Then I started laughing, "Its the pregnancy hormones! Don't judge!". We sat there laughing for quite a bit at my ridiculousness. Ugh! I love this little girl and Henry so very much!

Thoughts: More about the name. Coraline - "leine/line" in the end of a name in German means like "little loved one" so we really wanted a line name since my German grandparents gave me the nickname "Heatherleine" when I lived in Germany. Coraline also happens to be a move from my absolute favorite movie director "Tim Burton" and we can't wait to dress her up as Coraline for halloween now. :-P Henry's mom's name is Carol so he said it's a variation of her name. It flows well with Coraline Faye. Coraline means "precious growth of the sea: coral" and we just happened to have decided on a nautical nursery months before. If you look up the name meaning on www.sheknows.com Coraline already sounds like the epitomy of what our child will be. And being able to give her that southern, country nickname of Cora-Lou is just the icing on the cake.

**NEW** About the Board: I wet the board down with a damp rag and then wrote with Walmart brand skinny chalk. 

I chose to alternate between Green, Orange and Yellow for a change of color, then Pink for her name since it's a she. <3

When editing I increase the "saturation" to make the colors even more bold.

The fonts this week is:  Harrington (my favorite)

I pull up word, type what I want in the fonts chosen, then eyeball it onto the chalkboard. :-)

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: I am wearing long and lean tank top from Target, blue skinnies from Motherhood Maternity, and cowgirl boots (which you can't see, but they are there.)

Ok see the super cute face on the bottom left? LOL

What's Going On In The Johnson Household

So normally on Wednesdays I post the pregnancy chalkboard tracker from the week before. Well, this week would have been week 20, but that was posted early. For obvious reasons. {If you missed it click here.} Things have been pretty hectic around here. The hubby was gone for business/bachelor party/business for the last two weeks and let's just say, although he travels a lot, I never get use to him being gone. That always puts emotional stress on me. Not to mention I have been driving around like crazy. Not so great for being preggers. We had a huge thing here called Antique Alley that I sat our for two days doing. This acquired a LOVELY sunburn on the left side of my face. It was so cold and windy, who thinks to put on sunscreen when your wearing a wind-breaker and a blanket? Not this girl. Then I have begun "nesting".

The hubby being gone has made me a crazy woman to say the least - yea, yea, pregnancy hormones don't help. Between working at the office, taking care of the 3 dogs, dealing with lovely Baby Girl's growing movements, cleaning the house, prepping for Antique Alley, and driving all around the state of Texas - I was physically drained too. I had to drive to Sulphur Springs for a Bid Opening, San Antonio where the Hubby was working, College Station to bring the hubby clean clothes for the week, and Arlington for something I am sure wasn't all that important, but I drove there none the less. 

The sunburn from Antique Alley couldn't have been any better placed. It was ALL down the left side of my face, and it was BAD. Why did it have such perfect placing though? Well, I am at that stage where I can really only sleep on my left side - get it? Laying down at night consisted of much discomfort from Baby Girl refusing to ever stop moving and my face feeling like it had the worst rug burn of my life with a heating pad on it. Not to mention the sun drained me of any energy I had left from all the driving. Ugh!

Top it off with Baby Girl deciding she wanted to be transverse while simultaneously trying to kangaroo kick her way through my sides WHILE trying to get through a training session that ended in me blacking out and throwing up. Attractive. Good lord I thought I was going to die the other night. I was a literal wreck! An absolute disaster. After much research I found that babies while in the womb will move their head toward the warmest spot. A nurse friend suggested putting ice packs on either side and then something warm near your pelvic bone to help guide the baby's head downward. Ice packs were not going anywhere near my abdomen, so I decided to fill the bathtub with really warm water a few inches below my belly button. I sat in there for a bit and sure enough I felt the pressure from my sides and the sharp, fiery sensation that came with it disappear! Thank you Jesus! 

With all the pain finally gone I began cleaning like a mad woman. Also known as "nesting". I was able to clear out most of our garage that was piled high with cardboard boxes, fill up 4 giant black trashbags from all the rooms in our house, and get the nursery organized for the crib to be delivered and the walls to be painted.  

Sounds exhausting doesn't it?