Drink up, ladies!

... water, that is.
As we grew up, we were all told by our parents and doctors to drink eight glasses of water a day. But did you know that during pregnancy, you actually need to drink a lot more than that?
According to an article that I found, "During pregnancy your blood volume will increase by forty percent and water is necessary for this process. Fluids are also needed to carry nutrients to cells and take waste products away. During pregnancy there is about one quart of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby and your body completely replaces that fluid every two to three hours! Proper hydration also helps you stay healthy by regulating your body temperature and aiding in digestion during pregnancy and helping to prevent constipation." The article goes on to say that pregnant women lose 2-3 quarts of water each day!
Something that a lot of people don't realize: by the time you actually feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated- and usually at least a cup of water behind where you should be. In addition, drinking a lot of water can make ultrasound pictures much clearer. If you're a fan of water bottles- be sure yours is BPA-free! :)
To read the whole article, click here.

I'm a pretty big water drinker as it is, but I've been EXTRA thirsty lately. Of course, all the extra water I've been drinking doesn't help when it comes to frequent bathroom trips... sometimes I have to get up four or five times during one movie!

How my prayers have changed

I keep reading all of these horrible statistics about miscarriage in the first trimester.
So, here's what my prayers look like these days: "Please keep peanut safe. Please don't let anything happen to him/her. Please let me have a long, healthy pregnancy. Please Please Please Please Please...."
Hopefully prayers and positive thinking is enough!

The problem with having a baby overseas...

Sure, it sounds really exciting to have our first baby overseas. Someday, our son/daughter will be able to say: "I was born in South Korea! Where were YOU born?" And everything else will probably seem somewhat... normal in comparison.
BUT there is a huge drawback to having our first baby overseas: our family and friends will not be there. This means we probably can't have a baby shower. My mom won't be able to coach me through childbirth, as I've always hoped. I won't be greeting guests at the hospital. There will be no family members visiting or staying during our baby's first week home. No helping hands. The only way we will be able to introduce our baby to our family will be through pictures and video. The list just goes on and on.
In addition, I probably won't be able to attend birthing classes or prenatal yoga. And I have no idea if water births (my top choice!) are common in Korea. [sigh]
Well... I'm sure we'll figure it all out. The later half of our pregnancy, our birth story, and our first few months as a family of three will still be special and unique. And, one thing's for sure... the whole experience will definitely be memorable.

Like our layout?

Huge thanks to Jocelyn at Blogs by Jocelyn for our adorable new layout. If you're ready for a change, I highly recommend working with her. Once I'd picked out the design kit that I wanted, I gave her a little information about what I liked/wanted and she went right to work. Only a few days later, the layout was finished and I LOVED it. She offered to make changes, but honestly it was perfect just the way it was- no changes necessary.
Head on over to her website to check out all of the other wonderful blogs she's designed- and perhaps to request one of your own! Her prices are affordable, and you won't be disappointed!

Cloth diapering for dummies.

I know you might think it's too early to be thinking about this, but... Well, who am I kidding? It's never to early to start thinking about these things. The fact of the matter is, babies poop. A LOT. Consequently, they spend a lot of time during their first days (and weeks, and months...) on this earth getting their diapers changed. Aaron and I have decided to... *drumroll please*
Cloth Diaper.
Now, before any of you wrinkle your noses and say, "ew!" Cloth diapers have really come a long, long way. There are a million brands out there, and cloth diapers are starting to become very, very popular in many of the online baby communities that I belong to. Here are just a few reasons to cloth diaper:
1. It's better for your wallet
2. It's better for your baby
3. It's better for the environment
4. They are SO stinking CUTE!

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about it right now. There will be plenty of future posts dedicated to this topic, I'm sure. So, for now, here are reviews of the two brands I'm considering using:

bumGenius:


FuzziBunz


Interested? Visit Kelly's Closet to check it out.

Thanks to you guys, we are moving up the charts. So, if you have time, we'd love another vote!

and the doctor says...

I had my yearly gyno visit today. I told her right away that I was pregnant, so she had me pee in a cup and the results came back positive. After my pap smear and all that other fun stuff (not!) they whisked me away for my OB briefing/consultation, which normally would have been scheduled separately, but since I was already there, they went ahead with it. I was pretty proud because I already knew most of the stuff the nurse told me- such as the importance of folic acid, etc. I guess being a bookworm (and addicted to babycenter) pays off!
My expected due date is January 3rd, 2011! Which is actually a few days earlier than I thought. They gave me a nifty Pregnancy and Childbirth handbook. Well, according to the cover, it is "A Goal Orientated Guide to Prenatal Care." It's pretty neat because it is broken up into all of the different prenatal visits and has spaces for filling in different information and keeping track of things. After the appointment, I picked up my prescription for prenatal vitamins. They are a LOT bigger than the over-the-counter prenatals I was taking- hopefully they won't make me sick.
My first official OB visit can be anywhere between 6-8 weeks. I'll probably call tomorrow to schedule it. I'm five weeks today so the appointment is only one or two weeks away. The mere thought of possibly hearing my baby's heartbeat in a couple weeks makes my heart beat about 1200x faster. I can't wait!
It looks like everything is going well so far, which I'm glad to hear. :)

a lovely dream

I know I already posted once today, but I couldn't let musical monday get in the way of what I really wanted to talk about today: dreams. Last night, I had a dream that our baby was a boy with his daddy's brown hair and vibrant green eyes, and my pale ivory skin. His name, well, I can't tell you that yet, but it fit him perfectly and made me even more confident about our choice. (We have already decided on a boy's name.)
My husband and I are both hoping for a little girl (even though a mommy's boy would be just as great!). To be honest, though, I feel like there's a boy in there. It's still really early and I'm sure I'll probably change my mind a million more times before we find out, but I have this really strong feeling that it's a boy right now. Interesting note- my mom has always told me that she knew I was a girl right away, and never once changed her mind. Hmmm, I wonder if that mommy's intuition runs in the family...
Did you have many dreams about your baby while you were pregnant? Were they accurate at all?

Musical Monday.

Every Monday, I will do a family/kid friendly musical Monday, where I will talk about a band, group, or artist that I like. And of course, it has to be something that I would have no problem playing in the car with kids or in a nursery. :)
This week: Iron & Wine.
Iron & Wine is american singer-songwriter Samuel Beam's stage and recording name. Het was born in South Carolina, grew up in Florida, and now lives in Texas with his wife and four daughters. He recorded his first album in 2002, and has since released four other albums. His music is soft and soothing, with powerful, original lyrics, and includes the acoustic guitar, banjos, slide guitar, and several brass instruments. His songs have appeared in several TV shows (such as Grey's Anatomy and House) and in several movies (most notably, in Twilight).
I discovered Iron & Wine during my freshman year of college, when I really started branching out and looking into new types of music. My favorite album is The Shepherd's Dog, which I plan to play in our baby's nursery.



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Gotta start somewhere...

Once I actually start showing, I plan to take belly pictures every week. So, I figured I'd better post a "starting point" picture before I get any more bloated! So yes... somewhere in there, is our little peanut (or, as Aaron likes to call him, our "seamonkey", lol).
I can't WAIT to have a baby bump, even though know I'll probably regret saying that in... oh... seven months, when my skin is threatening to explode and I feel like I'm about to pop.
MAJOR pregnancy perk- today, Aaron volunteered to clean the toilet, because, as he ever-so-kindly reminded me, bleach and pregnant women don't get along very well. "Well, yeah... I probably shouldn't be doing that anymore," I admitted. "Duh!" he said, "You shouldn't be doing ANYTHING! You're pregnant!" <--- Now that's a good husband, right there.

First baby purchase.

We officially made our first baby purchase yesterday at Target.





Isn't it CUTE? Aaron pointed it out and I knew we had to get it. The best part? It was only $6.00. I love that a boy OR a girl could wear it. In fact, browsing the baby clothes yesterday made me realize how difficult it is going to be to wait another 14-16 weeks to find out what we're having. The unisex selection was almost nonexistent- almost all the clothes were obviously for a boy or a girl. :( And I'm not against dressing girls in "boy" colors and boys in "girl" colors. But I don't think my husband would appreciate me dressing our son in a frilly pink onesie that says "Princess" across the front.

Happy May Day! This is one of my favorite months of the year. I'm in love with the juicy red berries and pink blossoms outside our window. You know that old saying, "April showers bring May flowers"? Well, there is definitely a precious little flower blooming inside of me :)

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