Continuing education: Baby Edition!

So, last night when I was cleaning like a crazy woman, I came across the schedule for the different baby classes available at the hospital I will be delivering at.

Dave and I went through them and decided on 3; Prepared Childbirth, Breastfeeding Basics and Baby Care Basics (which I'm told is AWESOME for first time Dad's). I figured they would want me to take the classes at least 1 month before my expected due date (in case Law decides to make a slightly early entrance.) So I decided to call today to check availability.

Am I ever glad I called! All of the classes are full until Oct/Nov and those classes have limited spaces left! Thankfully, we got into the classes that are the best timing for us- but I am so lucky I didn't wait any longer! Especially since this is our first, I think taking the classes will help me to feel more prepared and more at ease and I know it will make Dave more relaxed as well. Here's a description of what they are...

* Prepared Childbirth - This 6 week series focuses on preparation for childbirth, emphasizing the experience of labor and birth and the important role of the Dad/Partner. A variety of comfort measures are taught and practiced in class, including relaxation and breathing techniques. Medical interventions and options are discussed, as well as a brief overview of cesarean birth, postpartum, and newborn. A tour of the birth center is included.

* Baby Care Basics- A two week course for expectant parents to learn how to care for a newborn. Discussion, demonstration and class participation are used to teach basic information about baby's bath, cord care, diapering, safety and feeding. Other topics include normal newborn behaviors, symptoms of illness, how to stimulate learning, parenting and issues around returning to work.

* Breastfeeding Basics - It's about breastfeeding :-P

Check in :)

How far along? 19 weeks 3 days (AKA, in my 20th week!)
Weight gain/loss: Lost 6 lbs in 1st tri, gained 4 lbs since. So, still -2 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Maternity pants, regular shirts. Maternity shirts are so ugly :-(
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep? Sleeping well.
Best moment this week? Best moment was last Sunday- Dave felt Lawson kick for the first time!
Food cravings: Spicy foods.
Gender: Boy <3
Belly button in or out? In.
Movement? Yes! Getting stronger, too!
What I miss? Being able to paint my toes.
What I'm looking forward to: Our anatomy scan on the 28th!
Weekly wisdom: I'm just not feeling that wise right now I guess...
Milestones: On Thursday I'll officially be half-way done! (Half baked :P...)

Lawson Banks Lightner!

That's right, it's a little boy! We had our elective ultrasound on July 2nd (I know, I'm pretty late in updating...) He looked great and was moving all around :) He got the hiccups part way through and they lasted for the majority of the scan, it was so cute. He was rubbing his face and his knees with his hands, kicking and finally gave us a good money shot!

That night, we had our families over to do a sex reveal party, it was amazing and everyone had a great time. I baked a little cake that was dyed blue inside and cut it for everyone to find out... we had lots of food and got to show everyone the dvd of the ultrasound (which the Grandma's put on repeat and just watched for the entire evening). This will be the first grand-baby on Dave's side, so I think they were super excited :). My family was also thrilled though because I have 6 nieces and 1 nephew, so they were [secretly] crossing their fingers for another little boy.

Dave and I are so happy. This made it so much more real for both of us because he has a name and now we really feel like we can bond with him. We went shopping for a couple cute little outfits after the ultrasound and got his crib all set up. I also went through all the clothes my Mom has gotten so far and this kid is so spoiled already! This past weekend Dave and I also went out and got him some little baby Jordan's which Dave is just in love with :) He wants to go get him some crib Jordan's to wear home and his plan is to get the same pair for himself so they can match. He's so excited about it all... I feel so blessed to have him.

Could they make it any harder to pick out baby stuff?

Woah. Dave suggested I start on a registry because I am admittedly bad at doing them. It took forever to do our wedding registry. I get so overloaded because there's so many things to pick from that I end up procrastinating and throwing something together at the last minute. I've only started one with Target thus far and it is so hard. I'm hoping it will at least be a little easier once we know the sex of the nugget, but there's still so many different options!

Here's a picture of what we have done to the baby's room so far...



We are going with dark wood (Espresso finish) to contrast all the light in the room. Here is the crib we picked out...(It's the Graco Lauren crib. Very common, but I really like it and I think it fits the room well.)



Other than that, we don't have much picked out. I have a couple different bedding sets in mind but picking one really depends on the sex. I don't know if I want to register for a whole set. I keep going back and forth because honestly, Do they even use the comforter? Most of the time I see them hung on a wall or something and I'm not the hang-a-quilt-on-a-wall kinda girl. In fact, I don't want to hang much of anything on the walls.

Oh, I'll add this picture of a mobile that I absolutely positively L*O*V*E. I really wanted a bedding set that had clouds and stuff, but I haven't been able to find a single one! Check out this cuteness!



Well, only 2 more days until we find out if we're having Lawson or Evelyn! So exciting! <3

Hello, my name is Juliet and I am a pregnant girl.

Hi! So I already have a super cute blog set up for Baby Lightner so the whole family can keep up with his/her growth and development... but I feel weird posting anything else on there (and I assume that once the little one is here, the blog will just be converted for him/her). That blog is www.babylightner.wordpress.com.

So, this blog is going to be for me. It's going to be all about me... ok and likely my family because if I only talk about me I think my Mom will be my only follower and most every post will be a rant filled with obscenities. No one cares much about that.

Some of the other fabulous pregnant ladies I've been fortunate enough to meet on a pregnancy forum that I'm a part of use this little questionnaire in their blogs every week, so I'll jump on that bandwagon. Mostly because I don't really have anything else to write about today :-)

Also, I feel the need to add this disclaimer... I'm very sarcastic and I say whatever I think. If you would like a super-sweet-blog-about-rainbows-and-butterfly-kisses, look elsewhere- I'm not for you. Truth be told, I'm not for a lot of people. And a lot of people aren't for me either. If you are choosing to stick around, I'm very glad to have you :)

How far along? 16 weeks 5 days (AKA, in my 17th week)
Weight gain/loss: Lost 6 lbs in 1st tri, gained 2 lbs since. So, still -4 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Yep. Constantly since I got my Zofran pump. I can't have a hard waist band on the cath line.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep? Not sleeping well lately. Sciatic nerve is already giving me troubles and restless legs (I swear my friend Sarah cursed it on me the other day!)
Best moment this week? My husband did amazing at his race! Finished 14th and actually passed some people <3. I'm so proud of him!
Food cravings: Fresh fruit and veggies. I swear I wish I could just run ranch dressing into my veins.
Gender: We find out Friday!!!
Belly button in or out? In.
Movement? Yessir! Feels like a little fish bumping and flopping around. Mostly at night.
What I miss? Being able to sleep without a bra :-(
What I'm looking forward to: Finding out the baby's sex in 3 days!
Weekly wisdom: Do not argue with a fool. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Milestones: I'm out of 1st tri (Ok, well, that was a month ago, but whatever).