Two weeks too long!! All sorts of updates...

Well, well. Hello again, after a considerable amount of time! I am so sorry I've not been around to update you! I've been telling myself to get on this dang computer and update, but then I always find something else to do, like nap or eat haha! But I'm back now, and with pleanty of new news and updates and information. =)

Lets begin with my move upstate!! October 4th, 2009 the family came down to NYC with the truck and the trailer to pack me up and move me on out! By the time they got to the apartment, I hadn't finished packing (of course) but everyone chipped in to help me throw what I hadn't packed into plastic bags (since all my plastic tubs were full!) and load it into the trailer. I had the majority of my packed things outside the front door already, so while my brother and step-dad put all that stuff in the trailer, mom did my dirty dishes and I picked up random odds and ends. It was a bit hectic. But despite everything, we were able to pack and clean up the apartment in about 45 minutes. I went upstairs to say my good-bye's to my landlord and collect my mail and the money he owed me for moving out early, and we were on the road! It all happened so quickly that on the ride home I was feeling a little sad, more so than I expected.

My first few days back upstate went well. I started bringing in all my clothes and certain things I use every day from the trailer. The majority of my stuff is still out in the trailer however. I am sleeping, for the time being, in my old room (now the spare bedroom) until my step-dad's parents move in for the winter. When they join us, I will be sharing a bedroom with my little sister. As for now, plans are still that I will be in my parents' house until early December, but I am currently looking for apartments all over as well. If I find something worth it, I will move in as soon as possible. The toughest part of this whole move I believe, has been for my cat, Muffin. Being a "City cat" she's not used to outside or other animals. Now she's living with 4 other people, 2 other cats, and a dog! She is constantly hiding and isn't eating well. She's afraid to use the litter box so shes peed on my clothes and on the couch upstairs in the living room. Funny thing is, she poops in the litter box though. We tossed her outside this past weekend after we found out she peed on the couch and then she crawled under the house and has been under there all weekend. Last night I finally crawled under there to grab her. I've got her in my room again now, with her own separate litter set up. She's eating better now and using the litter box, but she's still scared to death of everyone and everything new. I don't know what I am going to do when Grandma and Grandpa move in, because I can't keep the litter in there then or give her the privacy she is really looking for to feel comfortable. I'm really afraid this might not work out having her up here. IF ANYONE IS LOOKING FOR A CAT, ABOUT 1 YEAR OLD, FOR A QUIET FAMILY, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! I really want to give her to a family who I know will take care of her well. If I can't find someone, I might have to drop her at a farm some place. =( My mom just really hates her here and peeing on things. I don't know why she's doing it either! She's never peed on the floor or anything else for that matter since I've had her! She just can't be around other pets I guess. She feels threatened maybe? If anyone has advise, please let me know! =)

Other than that, my first week here was all about getting back to work at my old job! I had to get fingerprinted and drug tested and fill out paperwork galore. I took a driving test to be certified by the agency and now I am all good to go! I began working again this past Monday! =) This past Tuesday, I went to pick up my new (used) car!! I bought a 2007 Toyota Camry. They were able to give me a really great deal and I had some money saved up to put a decent downpayment. It feels so amazing to have a car again, let me tell you. Nice and expensive, but amazing. I forgot how much I love driving. It is so relaxing to me. No more waiting for trains and busses outside in the cold weather!! =) I personally would have lifed to get something a little more sporty, but I have to be family efficient now ;) This car is amazing though. It's in beautiful shape and has a ton of space without being a huge car. It is really comfortable. And perfect for a family of three! I've already driven it down to Akeem's school to pick him up this past Wednesday and bring him upstate here for the weekend! (Sadly, I had to take him back to school again last night.) I miss him oh so much, but we had a great weekend together. We were able to visit some friends and relax, we got to look at some furniture a friend of my mom's is selling (possible additions to our new place), and we ever started looking at some houses to rent. We would really like to be in a house all to ourselves instead of in an apartment, and my partent's are thinking about investing in some real estate to rent out, so it may work out for the best for us all! (Having my mom as my landlord, who would have ever thought!) I really hope we can make that tiny desire come true.

Also, last week, I went to my first prenatal appointment here upstate! I went to the Women's Health Group at Cobleskill hospital. I met my doctor, Martha (whom I adore already), and got everything routine taken care of. I got to pee in a cup, get my blood drawn, get a height (5'7") and weight (137.7lbs) check, and a full STD check through a pap smear! Now I should be good to go! I was able to talk to Martha about all my concerns with my pregnancy due to my sister's neural tube defect, and she assured me that she would make sure I got all the proper care and attention to check into these problems. She prescribed me extra folic acid on top of my prenatal vitamin just to be on the safe side, since folic acid is most important to baby's development. At this appointment, although I didn't get to see baby, I did get to hear the heatbeat again with a little hand held audio sonogram! =) She said the heartbeat was about 160 bpm; still very strong and healthy. It's really strange to hear that heartbeat, I tell ya. On one hand, it is absolutely amazing to know that there is a human inside of me. On the other hand, it's kinda creepy to know there is a human inside me!! =) I love it though. Every day I am becoming more and more excited about becoming a mommy! I set up my next ultrasound and quad screening for November 4th. At that time, I will have reached 15 weeks. Martha told me after that appointment, we would schedule another ultrasound down in Albany (the 3-D ultrasound) for a closer look at baby's body development, just to see if everything is growing correctly. She said they like to do that around 18 to 20 weeks. I'm really hoping when I go for that appointment that they will be able to tell me what I will be having!! They say it is easiest to tell between weeks 18 and 22. But then again, I kind of don't want to know what I'm having either... any suggestions? Should I figure it out? Or should I let it be a surprise! On one hand, I really want it to just be a surprise. But on the other hand, I wonder, since this is my first child and I am already as unprepared as a person can get, should I find out what it will be to be able to better plan for baby shower gifts?!? I know a lot of people find it easier to shop for a specific sex. I don't know... I kinda just want to know for this one. Maybe my next pregnancy I can let it be a surprise. =) I know daddy wants to know if he's having a son or a daughter, that's for sure!! =) Names are still not coming to us either. Maybe if we just know what it is, it will be so much simpler to think of names haha. We both have pleanty of names individually picked out, but I think all his names sound like little old people and he thinks my names will be cause for our child to be picked on for the rest of its life!! Haha!! (I like names like Jupiter, Malikai, Kyrie, Ophelia, Greyson... he likes names like Betsy and Rosalee... enough said!) Anyone have baby name suggestions?!? HELP!! =) Be a part in naming our baby!! I should start a contest... =) If it's a boy, we've already got middle names picked out. It will be [First Name] Vincent Schuyler Spence. If it's a girl, one middle name will be Schulyer (last name Spence, obviously) but we still need first names and another middle name for a girl. IDEAS, IDEAS!! =)

Other than all that, not much else is new. I guess there wasn't as much to update as I thought =) I know that I need to start walking everyday. I'm being really lazy and not doing that yet. Without a solid work schedule yet until the end of October, I'm not really working mcuh yet, unless people call me and ask me to cover last minute. I've inquired about yoga classes, and really need to get signed up. So, with that being said, I need to get my butt away from this computer and go excersize!! Have a wonderful day everyone, I promise I will be back more often to update you all. Until next post, all my love!

Lazy momma... packing for the move!

Nightmares continue, but I finally found out that if I fall asleep to some light classical music, I tend to sleep better than ever. I actually (finally) had a good dream the other day during a nap about searching for and buying some sexy "undergarments" ;) Funny though how in my dream I was searching for something sexy and something that would cover my "baby pooch." I never thought dreams were this reflective of actual life.

Sleeping is becoming more and more difficult for some reason. I will be cold all day long, but as I get ready for bed and actually lay down, I feel like I am laying in dead summer heat. It often takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to fall asleep. I am still waking, on average, every 2 to 3 hours to pee.

I am getting excited and nervous about moving. My apartment looks like a disaster, however I refuse to clean it since I will just have to re-clean one last time once I get all my stuff out. I have started packing my things. I went to Target and bought some big plastic tubs to store everything in. It would have been cheaper to plastic bag everything, but since this is one of a few moves that I will be making while pregnant, I decided it would be easier, not to mention more environmentally conscious to spend a little extra now to tote things around in. Mom said she would be here this Sunday around 8 or 9 am, so I hope to be back upstate and settled in around dinner time. The best part about this move will be the lack of actual helping I will have to do =) Being pregnant seems to make people a lot more prone to helping you out when it comes to lifting heavy things!!

Akeem left for Jamaica yesterday and won't be back until the 11th of October, so lucky him gets to miss the moving out process. Unfortunately, he's gone because of a death in the family, so I bet he wishes almost that he could be here instead of there, considering the circumstances. I didn't plan on moving until the day he got back, so that he could help, but my landlord is so anxious to get me out, that he offered to give me back half of my rent if I managed to move out this weekend instead! Fine by me! Just made a few calls to some strong friends and the move is good to go.

Today is my official last day of work, however I will still get paid for another week or so since I have accrued some time off that I never used. And by next week I should be back to work at my old job upstate. I am really looking forward to getting a simpler schedule back on track so I can focus more on relaxation.

I haven't grown much since the last belly picture. I measured the other day and I am 32 inches around! But since I never measured in the beginning, I can't tell exactly how much I've expanded. I know my jeans are a bit snug these days still, but I have my days where I know I am just more bloated than anything. Even though I'm no where near as big as I will eventually be, my body is really feeling the effects of being pregnant already. My shoulder was killing me the other day, and for the past two days, my lower back and abdomen are really feeling the stretch taking place inside. I feel like no matter how I sleep, my back just isn't comfortable. I wonder how much worse this will get as I grow! I've decided that it may be time to buy that mommy pillow that is supposed to do wonders... the "U" shaped pillow. But then again, I would like some opinions on that, because it seems to me like it may be a waist of money... I think that sticking a few body pillows, which I already have, or even regular pillows around, under or between areas of my body might work just as well. I think I really need to get to some stretching every day as well. I just feel out of shape right now, mostly.

Made my first pre-natal appointment upstate with Women's Health Group. October 14th I will go in for all the blood work and testing needed to make sure that mommy and baby are all healthy and ready to continue. Hopefully EMC clinic here in the Bronx will have mailed my needed paperwork by then so that I won't have to go through another sonogram (not that I would mind seeing my lil' bean again and hearing the heartbeat!) But it would just be simpler and faster if EMC would send the paperwork I already have. =) Since I don't have insurance right now, I need to look in to Medicaid and I need a butt load of paperwork for that as well, so the sooner I get it all together, the sooner I will feel more secure.

Again yesterday, the woman I spoke with on the phone at Women's Health Group estimated (based on my last period) that I was about 12 weeks... but I am only 10 weeks. So, now I see why the first woman thought I was two weeks farther than I really was as well. I guess all my timing was just off. Miracle baby? =)

I am trying to fight through being tired all the time, but I just feel so lazy... and I am still hungry... alllll the time. But all I seem to have left to eat in my house is cereal and soup. And neither one have been very appealing the past few days. It's like I'm hungry but have no idea what I want to eat. I crave fruit all the time still. And I haven't been eating any over the past few days because I refuse to go grocery shopping as well, since I leave in TWO DAYS! I don't need to buy anything else right now, and I don't think I could go into the supermarket and just buy fruit. In Target last night I had to pull myself away from buying some Ritz crackers for the block of Cracker Barrel cheese I have in my fridge... But, I am told that first trimester is time for being lazy. Everyone says enjoy the quiet time and the chance to have nothing to do, compared to when baby comes! Supposedly, in a few weeks (around week 17-ish) I should be more like my "old" self, energy-wise. Looking forward to it.

Until next post, all my love!