Pregnancy 1: Week 30 (EEKK So close!)

Week 30!! What a milestone! We only have 10 weeks left!

Symptoms: Occasional nausea, HEARTBURN!!!, constant peeing, breast soreness, upper abdominal muscle pain (stretching more! Many suggest this is because of the added pressure on my lungs and that it will disappear once he drops), groin muscle pain still, & Patrick’s kicks are getting more intense (occasionally they feel less cute and more painful--although watching this still puts me in awe every time).

Weight: This week I have gained in total just under 11 lbs.

Family Reunion: My dad and his family do a family reunion the last week of June every year and since we knew it wasn’t likely for us to make the drive with a 3 month old for Christmas (which is when we normally go) we decided we would try to get there to the reunion this year instead. Normally we do it at a creek/park and we all have so much fun. This year however some were worried about the heat and so we ended up staying at one of my aunt & uncle’s houses instead. We still had fun eating, playing uno, playing dominoes (my favorite...and I won! heehee), and most of all spending time with family!

A cool experience was Uncle Steve performs in bands and he loves to celebrate his Polish heritage, which is always something we love to talk about with him as Tomek is Polish/German. So he shared these very nice collectible vintage hats that he keeps well protected but wears them for some of his heritage celebrations, and one was Polish and the other German so we actually had Tomek try them both on...When he wore the Polish one uncle Steve also put this Polish medallion on Tomek that was his mothers. I love how close Tomek is able to be with my family especially sharing his roots with Uncle Steve.

Family Baby Shower: My aunts (Cathy, Becky, Laurie-Ann, & Sue) all worked together in planning a wonderful baby shower for our little Patrick. We had such a wonderful time playing baby games (one was Harry Potter -- not surprising I won that one. heehee). We received so many amazing gifts, including such beautiful homemade baby gifts for Patrick, that we just adore already! We took some great pictures with my aunts and dad and I managed to get a few with or of cousins that were there as well. This was such a blessing to have this time for Patrick with my family (my dad had fun trying to have me take this picture as well….) We had a great family time, lunch, gifts, games, planning for their visit after Patrick arrives, and then packed up to get ready for our car ride home.

Surprise: So Tomek and I have been talking for a few weeks now about how putting up the privacy fence is great but has cut Maggie off from other dog interaction. Even before that she seemed more down and I have associated that mostly with the fact that I am her main play friend during the day but I am so exhausted, barely getting chores done each day because of how much it takes out of me, or even just getting too hot and winded when running around with her outside. Therefore, we really were considering getting another dog to be friends with Maggie. It is such a huge decision as a new dog is a big responsibility and we have to be so careful to pick a dog that Maggie will love not one that they end up fighting all the time (Thus male dogs are out, any dog that seems overly assertive, etc.). Last week Tomek talked about the pet adoption week and we considered looking into that but we just couldn’t decide. However, while we were in Iowa just off-handed I shared with my aunt about how I felt bad that my baby girl seemed sad because I couldn’t focus on her as much. My aunt Sue told me to take the dog that her and my aunt Laurie-Ann had in their house, Ruby. I explained that I couldn’t take my aunt Laurie-Ann’s dog from her (as she was more hers). However, they both explained that the dog needed more attention and time then they were able to offer. She is a puppy and just a little too much for my aunt Sue to handle during the day (and she is the one at home more often).

So, that night Tomek and I stayed up until midnight laying in bed talking about this dog...should we really do this? Patrick is due in less than 10 weeks!?! However, we had went and played with her earlier in the day and she was so loving, eager to please, clearly very trainable, a gorgeous purebred golden retriever that my aunt Becky had bred with her little girl Charlie (Charlie seems to always have the most gorgeous puppys with wonderful personalities). We decided we could not pass on this opportunity. The next morning we went to the store to get Tomek some flip flops since he had only taken his nicer shoes and I walked in and asked if we should get a leash and stuff for the dog. At that point it was clear we obviously both wanted this puppy. So we got her a new leash, collar, water bowl for the car ride, a dog bone (with plastic to entertain her on the 8.5 hour car ride, and when we got back we took her for a walk before our baby shower. She was so good and walked right beside us, when she went a little further we said stay close and she waited for us to catch up!

She was so good on the car ride, we took extra stops for her to make sure she was okay, and even stopped at Petco and took her in with us (we realized we needed doggy doo-doo bags which we haven’t ever needed with Mags). We made it about half-way through the trip when I gave her the bacon flavored chew bone and she just laid down and enjoyed it but didn’t even over-do it, we arrived home and more than half was still there.

Ruby (Rubes): So now we have a 2 year old puppy named Ruby, from Wilson’s Goldens purebred golden retrievers, and she already has been so wonderful. We obviously have some training things (she loves to grab things and just move them to another spot in the house, cell phone charging block, Tomek’s socks, and a kleenex) but our biggest concern was how Ruby and Maggie would get along. Maggie growled a couple times in the first day and still likes to claim what is hers so to be safe we bought another dog bed so there are 2 in our room that they can decide between the two of them but at least they each have one and we bought new toys in duplicate so they won’t be fighting over the one that Maggie had before. However, Maggie and Ruby started sharing a food and water feeders immediately without a problem and now go outside together and play (though their first joint endeavor they managed to kill a bird that was already hurt in the yard we believe). They don’t cuddle (Maggie isn’t a cuddler) but they do lay beside each other, lick faces, and neither one seem to put up any fuss. I believe we made a great decision and am so happy for Maggie to have a friend here. Maggie also loves collars/jackets/bandanas/etc. And so when we brought Ruby home I stopped and bought Maggie a nice pretty new collar as well (I seriously love this collar, it pops off of her dark fur so beautifully!).

Birth & Baby Class #1: This week we start out the first of a four part birth and baby class at our hospital. Jokes on us the class was actually moved to the health pavillion, so naturally we were late. I have being late and add to the fact that I am even more emotional at times the frustration was pretty big. Thankfully, as we were walking in I calmed down and the class was very informative. We are both excited to go to this class each week. Tomek even thinks it will be helpful for the two of us to prepare for the labor and delivery process. I am so thankful for his support and desire to be as involved in this pregnancy as possible!

July 4th: We did spend the day having an impromptu get together with Tomek’s parents, uncle, and sister. We wanted to have them meet Ruby before I posted about her in our blog here but we also wanted them to get to know her by being with her rather than just telling them about her. They quite loved her and felt like she had the perfect demeanor for a family (we quite agree!). So we grilled some but it was so hot we ate inside and spent time together. :)

What a wonderful holiday! Okay yes that was a tone of sarcasm there. I love celebrating Independence Day and I feel it is very important for us all to understand the sacrifice of so many for us to have the freedoms we have each day that are sometimes taken for granted. However, I do believe that sometimes people use this as a holiday just to light off mortar fireworks and be as loud, obnoxious, & drunk as possible. I figured since it fell on a weekday it wouldn’t be so bad….man was I wrong! Our new puppy Ruby doesn’t mind the fireworks at all but Maggie was abused before we got her and she is terrified beyond belief of them. I spent most of last night laying on the floor holding her, trying to make her feel safe, giving her doggy melatonin treats, and she still couldn’t stop shaking. The fireworks started to slow down at 1:30am!! Seriously, if you live in Indiana please know this is ILLEGAL! The fireworks are to end BY midnight on July 4th and Memorial Day and all other days they must end by 11pm! I was so exhausted when I woke the next morning I was grumpy and all of my body aches from laying on a floor for so many hours!

Ending: We finished out this week resting, acquainting the pups (they are actually playing together most of the time now), and prepping for our baby shower that is next week. I didn’t do anything for our baby shower that was out of state (though that would have been difficult anyway) however, this shower with our friends and Tomek’s family I have done quite a bit more of the work for it but I am excited because the things I have been doing have been so much fun to make and prep! I am especially excited that in the net blog I will actually be able to share pictures with you all of the things I have done, since I keep talking about them all but haven’t been able to yet. So that is a wrap for this week! Thank you for reading.