Future Music Lover in the Making ...

With all the "new age" baby stuff that is on the market now, its hard not to want to try everything- especially the different devices to stimulate your baby in the womb. My little man seems to LOVE music.. and by love I mean practice breakdancing in my uterus.

I was out to dinner with my mom and aunt when the music started blaring, as soon as the thumps kicked in from the bass, the baby immediately reacted. He was moving around so much that my aunt was able to feel him for the first time. There have been many other instance here and there where the music has been blasting and it instantaneously jump started the baby to "bust a move" which is why as soon as I heard about the Bellybuds, I wanted in.

Bellybuds are wearable speakers (bellyphones) that can be plugged right into my ipod (or any mp3 player). The best part is the Bellybuds come with a device that allows me to plug in my earphones in too... so baby and I can listen to music at the same time. The speakers have a hydrogel adhesive that sticks right to my belly. I prefer to use the speakers right on my belly, but you can definitely attach them over your clothes. There are 2 cords, you use 1 if you just want baby to hear and you use the second one if you would also like to listen. Set up takes about 10 seconds and is SOOOO easy!


While many moms-to-be talk about playing Beethoven and Mozart, I'm more of a contemporary-- we'll say "hip" mom-- and would much rather have a little Dave Matthews Band, Pink, Rascal Flatts, Sons of Leon, etc. Yes my baby boy rocks out to Guns N' Roses and will be able to recognize The Beatles songs at birth. I'm a firm believer in music diversity and I'm able to pass along my passion for music before he is even here with these Bellybuds!!


BEST PART !!! As you all know, my in-laws live about 15 hours away and my sister is away at college (needless to say, not hangin' home unless she's on break). With this nifty little device, anyone can record a message and send it to me, then I upload into my ipod and play the message for the baby! Its like they are right here with him and I'm sure he will be able to recognize their voices even though they aren't talking to me everyday.

I'm traveling for business and will be away from my husband for a few days, which is such a bummer. This trip we were able to record his voice and upload it so while I'm sitting in my hotel room (or on the plane) we can still hear his voice!! They came with a cute little pouch that easily stores the buds on their "dock". I would definitely recommend anyone who is a big music lover OR has relatives out of state to test these puppies out!


Some info from Bellybuds:
- A stylish and convenient way to bond with your baby in utero, while at home or on the go

-Bellybuds have a fixed, maximum sound level strong enough to penetrate to the womb. They reach the baby at a decibel level roughly equivalent to a casual conversation and lower than a mother's heartbeat.

- Easily stored in the included "dock" and placed in the accompanying pouch for portability and safe keeping.

- The bellybuds bellyphones Deluxe Pack is an excellent pregnancy or baby shower gift and is available for suggested retail price of $49.99



Disclosure: This item was sent to me for review

Is this really a symptom?

When you first tell people you are pregnant (and for the duration of your pregnancy) you hear all about the "symptoms" of pregnancy. No two women are alike and most of the time you hear the general.. morning sickness, back ache, stretch marks, headaches, etc. Luckily for all of you I started this blog when most said I was in the "honeymoon" stage of my pregnancy so you missed hearing about my morning sickness and migraines that lasted for days on end.


I thought I was pretty much in the clear until I hit my third trimester. Sure there are going to be back aches and heartburn full speed ahead, but I've been prepping with pillows and extra strength Tums. Besides at almost 22 weeks I was feeling great .. until we got a heat wave in April and the temperature hit 90 degrees!


I was at the kitchen sink washing and cutting veggies for dinner and all of a sudden there was ringing in my ears. The ringing was familiar, that sound I get whenever I go for bloodwork right before I know I'm going to pass out. I turned quickly to plop on the kitchen floor and manged to utter a few words to my husband before I went down. No worries .. he was able to catch me before I hit the floor :) Of course I called the doctor and they figured it was from the heat (must make sure I stay hydrated) but before I hung up with the midwife she advised me not to be alarmed fainting "can be a symptom of pregnancy"


Are you kidding me??!!?? Now that I FINALLY have an appetite and don't dry heave for the first 30 minutes of my day .. I have to worry about passing out as my replacement symptom! Not to mention I'm due in August so there will be MANY hot days to follow. So even after reading Jenny McCarthy's Baby Laughs book I was blinded by the possibility that fainting can be a symptom of pregnancy. I'm thinking about sending her an email to see if she can add fainting to an appendix of the book since she seemed to have covered everything else (I'll let you know about delivery once I get there) with the finest detail and forewarning.


In the meantime I'm just going to have to be EXTRA careful about making sure I'm snacking all day and drinking plenty of water and Gatorade.


Here are some tips to avoid fainting during pregnancy:

-Make sure you are eating enough: Try to keep you r blood sugar from getting too low by eating small, frequent meals during the day instead of three large ones. Carry healthy snacks so you can eat when you get hungry (I love Kashi bars)

- Don't stand up too fast: Avoid springing up from your chair or bed. When you're lying down, sit up slowly and stay sitting for a few minutes with your legs dangling over the side of the bed or couch. Then slowly rise from sitting to standing.

-Stay hydrated: Stay well hydrated by drinking eight to ten glasses of water a day — more if you're exercising or if it's hot.


-Don't let yourself get overheated: If you feel dizzy when you get too hot, avoid stuffy crowded places and dress in layers so you can shed clothes as necessary. Take warm showers or baths instead of hot ones, and try to keep the bathroom cool.

What’s in a name anyway?

I’m sure I am not alone and many women can relate with having their kids names picked out since they were 8 .. okay maybe 12. I figured it would be smooth sailing as far as picking a name once I had a baby since I have had my favorite names since I was in 6^th grade. Well for those of you who read my post about finding out the sex of the baby (if you haven’t .. go check it out Those in favor of surprises.. please sit down) you know that this was something my husband and I greatly disagreed on. Well .. big disagreement #2 .. THE NAME. I have always loved a particular boy’s name. It just so happens, my mother in law also loved the name and used it for my husband. Most people would think perfect .. you’ll have a junior, a lot of men want to name their first son after themselves so its win win situation. No not for me .. not for this wife. My husband REFUSES to name our son after him. I even suggested giving the baby a different middle name so my husband can avoid the Jr. element and the initials would also serve as a cute nickname. No luck.

So we spent weeks .. months even researching names. We bought the book of 100,001 Baby Names when I first found out I was pregnant before we even knew we had a little boy on the way. Of course in my mind I figured yeah we’ll look at the book but at the end of the day I love this name and I’m sure that’s what we’ll use. I couldn’t have been further from reality. My husband and I went back and forth making lists of names we liked and not being able to match one name on each other’s list. We then decided to put the name search on hold so we didn’t end in a feud every night and hoped once we found out the baby’s gender it would inspire us to get our creative juices flowing on the same page (go ahead … let out a chuckle).

After it was official .. we are having a boy! .. it was time to hit the pavement again on the name train. I tried to “promote” my name suggestion, but my husband was not having it. I am even guilty of trying to form an alliance with my mother-in-law and convince her to convince him that we should use his name. Now as luck would have it, I happen to have the mother-in-law everyone dreams of who never buds in or pushes us to do anything so there was no chance of a gang up on my husband. She told us whatever we chose for a name would be wonderful.

I like Italian names, which my husband hates and thinks are too “ethnic” while he likes all .. odd names- or at least odd to me. We FINALLY agreed that we wanted something different but not over the top. I also didn’t want something that was in the top names for the past 10 years. There are so many “different” names that we liked but have recently become popular .. Carter, Jayden, Gavin, Ethan, Aiden, Chase, Logan , etc etc .. this name game just hit a new level!

So here we are sitting every night going through 100,001 names in that baby book that I swear lists the same name 1,000 times. Then hop on the computer to see what names we haven’t already looked though. And at the end of the night we end in “he’s just not going to have a name!” and stop the search.

So tell me .. what are your name suggestions!!?? How long did it take you to find a name?? And did you agree on the name with your significant other or did one of you pick it and the other one dealt with it??

The drive, the wait, the result!

We finally made it to the day of the BIG ultrasound! My husband and I both took the day off of work so we could go to the ultrasound in the morning and spend the rest of the day looking at baby stuff and probably buy a thing or two. My appointment was 9:30 am so going to bed was nearly impossible the night before. We got up nice and early and got ready. The entire morning I felt nauseous .. like that feeling you have when you are little and you know you’re in trouble. We stopped at the convenience store on the way so I can grab an orange juice and make sure this baby was ready to move. Unfortunately oj after freshly brushed teeth and a nervous knotted stomach isn’t a great combo, so I decided 2 sips would have to do to get the baby moving. My husband was just as nervous as we drove the 15 or so minutes to the doctor’s office.

The entire time all I could think about was the health of the baby. Since we declined all of the screenings and tests, this would technically be the first time we would see our baby and know if everything was healthy. At this point I was also convinced the baby was a girl. EVERYONE was saying boy at the beginning, with the exception of a few so I convinced myself everyone is most of the time wrong and we have a little girl, I tried to prep my husband .. “you know I REALLY think it’s a girl” but it didn’t matter at that point. We didn’t care if they said boy or girl we just wanted to hear HEALTHY!

We’re at the office!

We sat in the waiting room for maybe 5-10 minutes. The woman performing the ultrasound (Chris) brought my husband into the room as I did what every pregnant woman does every 10 or so minutes .. use the restroom. I was so excited/nervous/excited I couldn’t even pee. After what seemed like hours of thinking of waterfalls and listening to the water run I finally handled business and was ready to see my baby!

My husband was in a chair to my left, the ultrasound machine and Chris were to my right, and there was a big flatscreen television straight ahead where we can watch the ultrasound. She lathered up my belly with that cool jelly, put the wand under my belly button, and BOOOMMM our baby was on the screen sucking its thumb

. The cutest baby and cutest thumb sucking I have ever seen in my entire life. My husband and I just stared in amazement with our mouths wide open at the little miracle we created. The baby definitely didn’t need ANY of that oj because it was ALL over the place… from thumb sucking to both hands up (touchdown position) to flipping .. literal FLIPS! Chris was so sweet and relaxing, she hummed lullabies as she moved the wand around and did her different measurements. We let her know we DID want to know the sex and she told us we had a “mover and a shaker” in there and asked the baby to hold still for a sec so she could get a picture. Suddenly the baby flipped and a butt was on the screen. I immediately knew what I was looking at while my husband waited for the description from Chris. I also noticed there was “nothing” there .. until she moved the wand a smidge and I saw a “something” followed by Chris saying “and there’s a penis”. IT was a BOY !! We made a BOY! My husband’s face lit up the entire room, he was floored. I was shocked as I thought of the select few that stuck to their guns and said it was a boy when everyone was flopping that it could be a girl.

Throughout the rest of the ultrasound we were able to see his liver, kidneys, 4 chambers of his heart, brain, bladder, stomach, 2 feet, 2 hands, 10 fingers, 10 toes, spine, and he showed us his butt (and goods) about 4 times. We were also able to hear his heartbeat (first time for my husband), see his heart beating, blood flowing, and nutrients going to him from the placenta. It was without a doubt the most amazing thing I ever witnessed and the best visit by far because it was followed up by an “everything looks perfect and he looks healthy” a whole 10.5 oz!!

And yes as soon as we left the doctor’s office we went right to the store. My husband bought not one but TWO bats and balls, a talking King Julian from the movie Madagascar , and a Yankee outfit. Can’t wait to meet my little man!!

Those in favor of surprises.. please sit down

I’m a girl who loves surprises. I never peeked at Christmas presents because that ruined the fun in opening, I never snooped if I suspected a surprise party, and I could hold out for just about any gift or surprise event. Before I was pregnant I always knew I would want the same surprise regarding the baby’s sex. I couldn’t understand people who went to find out if they were having a boy or girl… after all where was the “surprise” in that? Then once the baby was born there was no “IT’S A BOY!” or “IT’S A GIRL!” .. its more of a “Yes, it was a boy at 20 weeks and now he’s here”. So naturally when I found out I was pregnant I figured I would go for the BIG ultrasound to see the baby and make sure everything was healthy, but make sure the doctor knew I did not want to know the sex. My husband had other intentions …

After what seemed like a never ending battle, my husband finally “convinced” me into finding out the gender. Although I always dreamed of that moment after you give birth when the doctor announces for the first time if you have a daughter or son, I decided since I will be experiencing so much with the baby throughout the rest of my pregnancy, this was something I could let my husband experience. His valid arguments of course were getting the baby’s room ready-not having to use a gender neutral motif and having the option to go to the store and know if we should be looking at ballerina tutus or baseball bats. So he sold me on not being surprised about the baby’s sex. The appointment was scheduled, and the wait to know we were having a little boy or little girl seemed like the longest three weeks of my life.