36 week checkup

So I just got back from my 36 week checkup! She said that everything looked good! When she checked me, she said that I was probably around a 1/2 cm dialated. So I'm not a full cm, but I'm on my way there. She said that it was good that I was dialated some, and that it showed that my body was making the changes it needed to to prepare for having Trey!! I go back next Friday for my next checkup, so we will see what kind of progress I have made then! There is a full moon tomorrow and on the 1st, so hopefully that won't do anything crazy!

Brian and I are getting our new car on Friday since we are both off work, so that will be nice to have that taken care of! I took my car this morning to get the car seat installed, and then I am trying to make another appointment for after Friday to get the other carseat base installed in the new car. We needed 2 since when I go back to work, Brian will be getting off work before me, so sometimes, he will need to pick Trey up from Tina's house!!

More updates to come next week after my appointment!! I'm excited that I will be 37 weeks this Saturday though!! Trey will be considered full term at that point, and I am pleased to know that he managed to stay in there through the holiday season at work! What a relief!!

4 weeks and counting!!

Only 4 weeks left!!!! Brian and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little fella!! He could be here anytime, but I just hope I'm not at work when he decides its time to come out! I don't want to feel even more stressed and stress everyone there out either!! I do have another manager working with me at all times, so at least I don't have to worry about there not being a manager there with me if I did go into labor at work!

I have my next check up on Wednesday morning, so I'm anxious to see how that's going to go! I'm also going that morning to get the car seat installed in my car!! We'll have to make another appointment to get the other base installed in Brian's car! All the pre-baby errands are almost complete, but I still feel like there is lots to be done!! Brian and I need to run a couple of errands later this week to finish up some things, and then I think we will be set!

We are so excited to meet him!! Just can't wait!!

35 weeks/35 days!!!

I had my last 2 week check up yesterday and everything with Trey is going well! They listened to his heartbeat, and it was very strong which is always a relief! They also measured and that was good too! Next week is when I start my weekly appointments, so we will see how that goes starting on Wednesday!! I have had some braxton hicks contractions as of late, but too my knowledge, none of them have been the real thing. It's still a little early for him to come in my opinion, but he'll come whenever he's ready, so it may not be when I would like it!

Yesterday I had a pampered morning. After my dr appt, I went and had an hour long prenatal massage and an hour long hot stone pedicure that Brian got me for my birthday!! It was so nice and relaxing! I definitely needed it, that's for sure!! Now if I can just make it through the rest of the holiday season, I feel like I will be in the home stretch! hahah! I just need to get everything finalized with the HR department at work for my maternity leave, and then we will be ready!

34 weeks

So we are getting closer and closer with every day, and Brian and I are so excited about Trey getting here!! We are almost completely finished with his room, and once that is finished, all we will have to do is wait for him to decide that he's ready to be here! In the meanwhile, I'm trying to rest on my days off, but sometimes that is really hard because I always think of things that I need to do. However, today I am off work, and I am making myself get some rest! Especially for my feets sake!! This coming Friday I have a doctors appt where they will check for Group B strep, and then after my appointment, I am going to redeem the gift certificate that Brian got me for my birthday for an hour long massage, and after that an hour long hot stone pedicure! It should be a really relaxing day, and I'm definitely looking forward to it!!! Now I just need to make it through the rest of the holiday season at work, and I will be home free until Trey gets here!! Can't wait!

33 weeks!!

So we only have about 6.5 more weeks until Trey's due date!!! We are so excited and can't wait for him to get here so that we can hug him and kiss him and play with him!!! I have one more 2 week doctors appointment next Friday where they will test me for Group B strep. Then after that, I will start going weekly until our little guy is here!!! I am reaching that point where I'm just ready for him to be here! I'm exhausted all the time, and working gets harder and harder every day! Now I need to figure out what day I'm going to give to the corporate office for when my leave starts. I want to try and work as long as possible, so that I have more time off after Trey is born, but we will have to see what happens! I do know that my dr won't let me go past 40 weeks before inducing, so I don't have to worry about being weeks late or anything like that. I do still feel like I have a chance of going early since it is the holiday season in the retail industry, and that comes along with stress! I try to not stress out, but I don't think thats gonna happen! It's just what I do! hahaha.

I just had my last baby shower, and got some more amazing gifts!!! Trey's room is almost completely finished, and as soon as it is, I will get the pictures posted!! For now, I'm about to head to work. Last year, the extended holiday mall hours weren't that big of a deal, but now, I just hope I can make it through!!!

The furniture is here!!!!

Here are pictures of Trey's nursery so far! It is still a work in progress!!

I love this little lamp! I think it is so cute!!

This is Trey's dresser/changing table. The rails around the changing pad come off, so that when he is older, he has a nice plain dresser!

This is his chest of drawers!!

This is the glider that my parents got us! I was so concerned with picking a color that would coordinate with the walls...then when the glider came in, the fabric matches the carpet in his room perfectly! So funny!

These are the letter that are going to hang on the wall behind his bed!

Here is his lifetime crib!! We obviously are still needing a mattress! haha.

This is the view of the room where the changing table and rocker are!

This is the few of the other side of the room. I couldn't get behind the rocker to get one of the other view, but the bed is the only thing on the other wall, so there really wasn't that much more to see!

My mom is working on making me curtains for the room that are brown/brown tonal stripes!! And Pop (Brian's granddad) has made me a wooden clothes hamper, and they are getting paint/stain to match my furniture so that he can get that painted to match!! Brian and I really love the nursery! We have both already been in there rocking in the rocking chair!! Only about 8.5 more weeks, and Trey will be here with us enjoying his new room!!

Check up today

Today I had my 30 week checkup! Everything went well! I even was able to finally get my H1N1 shot! I'm glad to have that finally! Now I just have to make sure I don't get sick in the next couple of weeks since it takes a couple of weeks to get in your system completely. Everything at the check up went well though! My blood pressure was great she said, and Trey's heartbeat was nice and strong too! I love getting to hear it on the dopplar every time I have a check up! They measured me again, and this time I was right on track at 30cm. At my last check up 2 weeks ago (28 weeks) I was only measuring 26cm which is still in the normal range, so I guess I had a growth spurt these last 2 weeks, because I was right where I should be today! I have another check up in 2 weeks (December 4th), and then I can't remember if that is when I'll start having to go every week, or if it will be another time after that. I will be 32 weeks at my next visit, so I can't remember. I think I will have a few more every 2 week appointments before then, because I don't think the every week appointments start until I get to 36 weeks. But I guess we will find out! haha!

I'm also really excited because I went and paid the balance on Trey's furniture this morning, and Todd and Brian are going to pick that up tomorrow and bring it home to put together! It will be so nice to have his nursery all put together!! Or at least have the furniture so that I can start putting things in the right places will be helpful!! :) Don't worry, I will take lots of pictures when we get the furniture in there!! :) And I plan on taking pictures of all the gifts from my last shower and posting them today on facebook, but I will put some of them on here so that you can see a couple of things if you don't have facebook!

Baby shower #2

This past Sunday I had another baby shower at my sister in law's house in Louisville! It was hosted by Candy, Kate, and Ginger, with some help from my mom! Ginger and Kate couldn't make it for the shower from Texas, and I wish they could have been there, but obviously being so far away, I understand why they couldn't make it! I was really excited that we got our stroller and carseat as a gift!! That was something that we definitely needed, so it was really a nice surprise!! We got tons of other great gifts again at this shower, and I will be taking pictures of some of the gifts to post on here so that you all can see some of the awesome stuff!! I will be taking pictures of everything and putting it on facebook, so when I get those on there, I will put the link on here for everyone to see!! Thank you to everyone who made it to the shower and for all of the great gifts!

10 weeks and counting!

Well, I am only 10 weeks away from my due date!! It is really exciting to think that Trey will be here soon!!!! Now we just have to finish getting everything ready for his arrival, and we will be all set! I got a call yesterday that all of my furniture is now in, so I'm really excited about picking that up and getting that in the room!!! I can't wait! I will definitely take pictures when we get the furniture in the room, so that everyone can see what it looks like! I have another check up on Friday of this week, and I'm going to get my H1N1 shot at that visit as well. Here's hoping that everything is still going smoothly! I don't have any reason to think otherwise so thats good!! I'm sure I'll get to hear his heartbeat again, and I love hearing it beat so strongly! More updates to come after my doctor's appointment. My boss is coming into town tomorrow for 2 days, so things are a little stressful at work preparing for that, but it shouldn't be too bad. I'm also trying to prepare myself for the start to the holiday season next week after Thanksgiving! Crazy!!

Trey's nursery

I wanted to put up some pictures of Trey's nursery!! We just had the room painted today, and it looks great! I will take more pictures as his room is finished, but I wanted to take some so that everyone could see it as a work in progress!!

These are the letters that we are going to hang on the wall!! :)

Baby shower #1

So today I had my first of 3 baby showers!! It was so much fun and we got so much great stuff!! Tina's friend Debbie hosted the shower, and it was beautiful. There was tons of food (which was delicious) and tons of gifts!!!! I am going to put the link to my facebook photo album that I created with pictures of all the items we got today, so hopefully you can check it out!! :) We got an assortment of things from pacifiers to piggy banks, diaper champ to changing pad! So many great gifts, and Trey is going to be set by the time he gets here!! :) He is definitely a loved little boy already, and I'm sure he will only be more loved when he arrives in the new year!

If anyone has problems seeing the pictures on facebook, let me know, and I will post a few pictures on here so that everyone can see what we got! I am going to put a few pictures on here from the shower, but there are about 50+ pictures on facebook! :)

Here is the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2357134&id=12920400&l=4b3a5294c2

Here are some pictures from the shower too:

We graduated!!

As the PA at my OBs office told me today, we have graduated from check ups every 4 weeks, to now having check ups every 2 weeks!! That's definitely one way that I know we are getting closer!! :) The check up went well. I got to hear Trey's heartbeat, and it was nice and strong! While she was listening to it, it ranged from 147-151! It is always such a nice relief to hear that strong heart beating in there!! They measured me again this week, and that was fine too. I am 28 weeks along, so they want me to measure within 2 cm of how far along I am, and I measured at 26 cm. She said that by my next appointment, I could be measuring right on track again depending on when Trey has his growth spurts! Today I also had to get my 1st rho gam shot. That wasn't the most pleasant! I don't like shots in the first place, but that one was pretty painful. I don't know if it was the needle that hurt so bad (she said it was a bigger needle than she used to use, but now they ship the medicine with the needles already on it) or if it was the medicine, but it hurt and burned for a bit! Yuck! But, I was feeling fine afterwards! I had to run a couple of errand this afternoon too, so all the walking around during that helped make it less sore!

One thing I did get mad about is that no one in my doctors office told me how early I needed to sign up for a childbirth class. I came home from my appointment and logged onto the hospital's website to register for a class only to find that the class is already full, and the next one they have available isn't over until after my due date, which obviously isn't very effective. I put in a call to the maternity education department over at the hospital to see if there was any way possible that Brian and I could get into one of the classes that would be completed prior to our due date, but I had to leave a message. I never did hear back from them today, so I'll be calling them back on Monday, since the class we want to get into is set to start on Thursday! So please say a little prayer that we can get in that class! Brian and I are already a little bit anxious about what to expect since this is our first little one, so it would be a nice peace of mind for us to be able to have this class to kind of prepare us! So here's hoping!!

12 more weeks!

Well, I have finally hit the 7 month mark in this journey, and now I only have 12 more weeks left!! I get a little anxious thinking about how little time that is, because there is still a lot to be done! I have my first of 3 baby showers this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to that! Trey is going to get so many new things that he needs, and I am excited about getting his room finished, and being able to get everything in there!! I have a check up tomorrow, and then from here on out, I will be having check ups every 2 weeks!

new picture

Everyone has been asking for a new picture of my growing belly, so I finally remembered to do it! :) The new picture is of my belly at 27 weeks. Just under 7 months! I think my belly is huge, but I have been hearing a lot of people tell me that I don't look that far along. I am thankful that so far, all of my weight gain is in my belly! I'm hoping it makes it easier to lose afterwards!!! I'll make sure to do another picture in a few weeks!!! Enjoy!! You all can let me know what you think!! :)

26 weeks

So we have made it through another week, and this week just seems like my back is really taking the brunt (is that even how you spell that?!) of all symptoms. My back kills me all the time! It feels like there is a 400 lb person sitting on my back all day every day! No matter how I sit or lay it always is hurting me, so I'm just hoping it doesn't stay like this the rest of the time. I want to at least have a small break from it if possible! Just something that is already getting on my nerves. I just would love to have a little bit of relief every so often if possible! New picture coming up sometime this week!

25 weeks!!

So this is the image for weeks 25-28. I can't believe our little guy is an eggplant! He's getting so big, and I certainly believe it since my stomach gets bigger and bigger! Don't worry, I'll be putting up a new belly pic soon! My check up went well on Friday and they said that everything was going well. I looked healthy, and according to the anatomy scan that I had on Wednesday, everything is looking perfectly healthy on Trey's part too! That is such good news!!

My next appointment is the day after my birthday (November 6th) and then starting after that appointment, I'll start having my appointments every 2 weeks. I know we are getting closer when those appointments start!! We got the furniture moved out of the guest room for the most part last weekend, and this weekend, Todd is coming over and putting up the chair rail in Trey's room and he is going to finish putting the ceramic tile down in both bathrooms! Then the last thing left to do is to paint the nursery! We are just waiting for Trey's furniture to come in so that we can get his room all set up! That will be really nice to have that taken care of!

I'm feeling pretty well, but my only complaint is how bad my back hurts sometimes. I expect it to just get worse as I get bigger since I am on my feet all day every day at work, so you can't really expect it to not hurt. I just have to try and stretch it out when I'm at home, but that's easier said that done! hahaha.

Here's what the site says will be happening with Trey during weeks 25-28: Let your spouse put an ear to your belly -- he might be able to pick up baby's heartbeat (no stethoscope required). Inside the womb, the formation of tiny capillaries is giving baby a healthy pink glow. Baby's also soaking up your antibodies, getting the immune system ready for life outside the womb. Eyes are forming, and baby will soon perfect the blink -- perfect for batting those freshly grown lashes.

So healthy!!

Today I had an anatomy scan ultrasound to check out Trey's organs and make sure that everything that is supposed to be in there is!! He checked out perfectly!! He has all the organs he is supposed to have and the ultrasound tech said he looks really healthy! His heartrate was 145 BPM and that is right around what it has been the whole time!! One thing I did notice is that he loves to have his hands up by his face, because he was like that for the last ultrasound and again today! He didn't want to move them at all!!!! Too funny!! They said that he is measuring right on schedule too. In fact, today he was measuring 2 days ahead which would put him being born on Mom and Tina's birthday, but the tech told me that it can fluctuate since he is constantly growing!! :)

I'm just so please to hear/see that he is healthy!!! He was pretty active during the ultrasound too, so that was really funny to see him squirming around in there! He did calm down and cooperate after a while though!

We can't wait to meet him!!

6 months along

Yesterday I hit the 6 month mark! It's exciting to be in my third trimester! We are finally getting close to meeting our little boy!! Brian and I can't wait to meet him, see his face, and just play with him!!! I have been feeling him kick more and more as the week has gone on, and finally last night, Brian was able to feel the kicks too!!! He was kicking so hard (or punching..haha) last night that we could see my stomach move when he would do it. At one point it looked like he shot one of his legs and arms out at the same time because my stomach moved in 2 places at the same time on opposite sides! It was really funny to watch! I couldn't stop laughing!!!!

We are getting ready to get everything in the nursery all ready. We need to move our furniture out of the room, get it painted, and put up the chair rail so all of that is finished when our furniture arrives in about 3-5 weeks!!! I'm also trying to decide on the fabric for Trey's rocker too, but its just so hard to decide!!! Why are there so many choices on things?!? hahaha.

I have Trey's anatomy scan this week on Wednesday where they will do an ultrasound to check him out and make sure that things are looking good! Then on Friday I have my check up and they will do my diabetes test that morning before it too. I took Friday off work so that I can stay up until midnight on Thursday night and eat/drink something then since I can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight before my test! I'm sure I'll be starving! hahaha. I will put up a new post after my ultrasound on Wednesday to let everyone know how that went! I do have to work that afternoon/evening, so depending on what time I get out of the doctor's office, I may have to post it on Thursday if I don't have time before heading to work.

Kicker!!

I felt Trey's first little kicks this morning!! It felt like someone was lightly flicking me in the stomach! I felt it right after I woke up this morning when I was still laying in bed!! I'm so excited to feel him move in there and knowing that he seems to be fine!! :)

I am 23 weeks along now, and next week I have my anatomy scan to make sure everything is ok in there as far as his organs and things are concerned. My checkup is next week too, and they will do my diabetes test that day too. Lets pray that turns out ok!

I'll let everyone know how those scans/tests go next week!

Month 5

So our little guy is a papaya now...well kind of. The site that I use to get the weekly updates now just jumps to tell you about what is going on from month to month now. So Trey will be a papaya until after week 25! Thats just a few more weeks though!

I still haven't noticed any movements from him, and it makes me a little nervous since I'm over 22 weeks, but the doctor told me that it was normal, so I'm fine with it. This past weekend we had a little bit of a scare. I woke up on Friday morning to some cramping that was accompanied with some pressure, and it really scared me. My sister went into preterm labor when she was 4-5 months pregnant with my niece, so I wanted to make sure that the same thing wasn't happening to me. I called my doctor and she told me to come in and they put me on a fetal monitor. I was on that for about 15 minutes and nothing happened while I was hooked up of course. The PA told me that she thinks the cramps were caused from me being dehydrated since my work didn't have any A/C for 6 days. She put me on bedrest for the rest of the day and told me that if I could stay calm and be relaxed during the UK/UL football game that I could go. I was on full bed rest for all of Friday, and then we went to the game on Saturday and I did behave myself. I sat down almost the entire time, and I never got super excited. I certainly didn't want anything else to happen. The rest of the weekend I was resting too and really focusing on drinking lots of water.

Things are fine now (no cramps since Friday) but my allergies have been out of control since Saturday too, so now I'm sick with those. I have so much sinus pressure going on, it makes it hard for me to concentrate and to work. I was able to take a sick day today and leave halfway through my work day. Hopefully after resting the rest of today and then tomorrow morning before heading to work in the afternoon, I will start feeling better. That's what I'm hoping for at least! I just don't want to have anymore scares with Trey! Brian and I were really worried there for a bit!

Here is some info I got from another site about week 22: Hair today, gone tomorrow? Your baby develops two kinds of hair in utero--the soft, downy body hair called lanugo, which generally falls off before or shortly after birth, and the hair on her head. Many parents are surprised (to say the least) to see their baby's hair at birth--blond couples often have black-haired offspring, dark ones are just as likely to deliver a little blond or redhead, and parents who have tight, wiry curls often produce babies with soft, loose ones. The bottom line seems to be that birth hair--or lack thereof--bears little resemblance to your child's "real" hair. The birth hair generally falls out by the time the baby is 6 months old, to be replaced by a more logical set of tresses.

Here's what's going on with Trey this month: Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.

Another week down!

Well I'm sure that everyone saw on the blog from this week that we are having a little boy! Brian and I both are really excited about it, and we can't wait to meet our little guy!! I have been doing well this week, but I'm still fighting these allergies. My mom got to see how I get firsthand when she was here on Thursday night, and it gets to the point where I'm constantly sneezing and my eyes are watering and itching so bad, tears are just running down my face and I can hardly see what I'm looking at. So annoying!

At my doctors appointment this week, they measured me for the first time and I measured exactly what I should. They said that they want my measurements to be within 2 inches of how many weeks along I am, and I measured 20 inches at 20 weeks!! We were glad that those measurements were on track! My next appointment, they will do another ultrasound to measure Trey and check out all his organs to make sure that everything is looking they way that it should! He did have a good strong heartbeat (146 BPM) during the gender scan, so we were glad to see that!

Lots of shopping has begun, and we are just loving everything that we have seen so far! My mom has bought us several things for Trey and some more clothes for me, because, well, I only had a few things that I could still wear, so it was time for some more new stuff! Tina, Brian's mom, has been doing lots of shopping for the baby, and he is definitely going to be very well dressed! I'm still in the process of trying to decide on what crib I want, and all that good stuff, so here soon, I plan to get all of our guest room furniture moved out of our house and start working on the nursery!! Hopefully by then I will have been able to decide on a crib!!

Here's what's going on with Trey this week: Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

Trey's new clothes

So I wanted to put pictures on here of the 2 things that Trey has to wear! The brown striped outfit is from one of my assistant managers at work, and the other outift is from Todd and Tina!! I did close ups of the boots because they are the cutest things ever!!

Aren't they adorable!?

Trey is on the way!!!!

So after our big appointment this morning, Brian and I are officially having a little boy!! Todd Brian Howard III "Trey"!!!! Yes, that's right, a little Brian loose in the world starting in January!!!! We are both really excited about it. I will post a new belly pic up sometime this week, and as soon as I can get the ultrasound pics scanned onto the computer, then I will post those! We have the normal ultrasound pictures and some really awesome 4D pictures too!

Todd and Tina bought Trey his first outfit today and its adorable!!! I will be taking pictures of it when I get some new batteries for the camera (tomorrow!) and post them too! It's a pair of jeans, a thermal onesie, socks, and the cutest boots I have ever seen. They look like Timberland boots, but teeny tiny size!! Precious!!!

Halfway there!!

So we have finally hit the midway point!! I feel like it has taken a long time to get here, but I feel that after Wednesday, it will start to pass by a lot quicker! I have still been feeling fine as far as the pregnancy goes, but my allergies are just killing me. Every night when I go to sleep I pray that I will wake up with either no allergies or a really hard frost, but every morning I wake up, I feel the same....terrible!!! I maybe get about 1-2 hours of good health during any given day, and it is just really trying on me to feel horrible all day long every day. There's nothing like not being able to breathe through your nose....ever! So annoying!!

So Wednesday is the big appointment! I really hope our little one cooperates and will allow us to be able to find out the gender! I just can't wait to know what we are having!!! I took the following day off work so that I can go shopping, and my mom is going to come in town for it too, so that will be a lot of fun!!! Brian and I are really excited and anxious to find out what we are having!!! Don't worry, we will post what we are having on here as soon as I can! It might be that night though depending on how long my appointment runs because I have to work the 1-close shift on Wednesday at work, so if I can't post it before I go to work, then I will CERTAINLY post it that night when I get home from work!!

Here's what's going on with our little one this week: Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed!

I'd like the roast duck with the mango salsa...

So Brian reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from the Geico commercials, and it was perfect for this week's post!!! So this week I haven't had many changes that I have noticed other than my allergies being OUT OF CONTROL!!!!!! If any of you have been suffering with sinus/allergy symptoms as of late, then stop and think for a second what it would be like if there wasn't anything that you could take to give you any kind of relief. I can only take Mucinex, which does nothing for me, and Flonase, which really doesn't help either. So I just suffer with my allergies day in and day out with these miserable allergies! You have NO idea how ready I am for a really good frost to hit Lexington, so that hopefully it will kill everything that I am allergic to! I feel sorry for the little one because I'm sure I shake it to death everytime I sneeze, and trust me, that's quite often! But enough about that.

I still haven't felt any kind of flutters or anything. So many people have told me that it feels like different things (flutters, muscle spasms, gas, etc) and I'm always wondering how you would know the difference between the baby moving and something else....so to my knowledge, I haven't felt anything yet, but I am very anxious to! I still think its weird that I can't feel him/her in there, so I'm ready to be able to do that!

Only 2 more weeks until the big reveal about what we are having!! I hope you all are getting as excited as we are!!!!!!

Here's what's happening this week: Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature.

18 weeks and counting

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.

I thought that a sweet potato was an interesting size reference...had it not said that it was a sweet potato on the site where I get these from, then I wouldn't have had a clue what it was! hahaha. Things have been going really well as far as how I'm doing! I have been staying busy with work as always, so I know that I will just continue to get busier and busier as the holiday season gets closer. We are about 2 weeks away from finding out the sex of the baby, so the closer that gets, the more excited and anxious I get about it! We are just so excited to know what we are having! There are so many things to do: pick out a crib, stroller, get the nursery together, set up our registry, etc!! Things that we wanted to wait to do until we knew what we were having!!

Everything is normal!!

I got a call from my doctor's office this morning and they informed me that my blood work from last week for the AFP test came back normal!! Brian and I are so thankful that everything is normal for our little onion!!! Thank you so much for the prayers about this!! We are relieved to know that everything seems to be on the up and up in there! It was something I wanted to know given that Brian's cousin has Down's Syndrome, and it is a relief to know that we are in the clear!! Now we are just waiting until the big day (9/9/09) to find out what we are having!!!!! Then it's time to get the nursery set up!!!

We have decided to just stay where we are housewise for now....we will be having to get a new car when Brian's lease runs out, and with that and me being off work for 3 months with no pay, we decided that we would just wait a while and see what happens after the baby is born! So now we are ready to start getting everything in this house up and running for the little baby because we know that January will be here before we know it!!!

I do love our onion, but not really the food onion!

Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

So another week has passed and I still haven't felt any movements, so who knows when that will come!! The nurse at my doctors appointment this week said that it was still early to feel anything and that a lot of people don't feel it until 22 or so weeks, so that makes me feel better. Brian and I are really looking forward to the day that we can find out what we are having!! I'm going to take that day off work for that appointment, and then I can go shopping for boy or girl things that afternoon!!!! haha! I'm a nerd I know!! I am just so anxious to find out. Brian and I were at the mall for a bit this morning returning a couple of things, and we saw some cute boy clothes, and some cute girl things, so we are just ready to know what we have in there!

Still no word yet on our blood test results, but they did say 7-10 days, so it hasn't been that long yet! We are obviously saying our prayers that the test comes back negative!!

I got a call from my mom today who is up at Camp Perry with my dad this week, and is crocheting my first baby blanket!!! She called me today and said that while she was sitting there while my dad was shooting, working on my blanket, that it hit her that 27 years ago, she was doing the same thing at Camp Perry...but that time, she was making me a baby blanket!!!! Isn't that funny?! hahaha. I thought it was really cute! She is making me a white, lavender, green, and yellow baby blanket!! I think it will be beautiful!!! I know that between her and Nana making us blankets our little one will never get cold!! :)

Let the countdown begin!!

So I found out yesterday that Brian and I will get to find out the sex of our little one on 9/9/09!!! We are really excited about finding out what it is!!! I feel like I can start getting things done and ready for the arrival once I know what it is!! Yesterday at the doctors appointment I got to hear the baby's heartbeat on the dopplar, and it was really nice!!! She found the heartbeat really quickly, and that was nice since she told me that sometimes this early, it takes a little bit to find the heartbeat. The heartbeat was between 145 and 150, and she said it was a really strong heartbeat!! I was very pleased to hear that!! So let the countdown begin until the day when we find out if we are going to have a little boy or a little girl!!!

I also had the AFP blood test done yesterday. It is a blood test that they do to check for abnormal levels of a specific protein that the baby would make if there were signs of some kind of genetic abnormality. They took some blood from me, and I will get the results in 7-10 days they said. They will let me know our results either way, so that is good, but now I have to just sit and wait, and pray that everything is ok. There is a chance that we could get a false positive on the results, so that is something that we have to be prepared for. If it does come back positive, we would start seeing another OB who specializes in those type of pregnancies in addition to Dr. Karon so that it would be a sort of joint effort. Brian and I are obviously praying for a negative test result, but I also wanted to be prepared in the event that something might be wrong with our little one. I'm not a big fan of surprises, so I have found that I would rather be prepared. I will put up a post whenever we do get the test results to let everyone know where things stand! So we would really appreciate all the prayers for a negative test result on this test!!

4 months and counting

Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And, if you're interested, an ultrasound might be able to determine gender.

So we have now hit the 4 month mark, and I still feel like it is passing really slowly. I know that a lot of people feel like time is flying by, but for me, not so much. I still haven't felt the baby move, so I'm just hoping that everything is ok in there! I know that I am just now in the time when people start to feel the movements, so it's not a big worry, but I can't wait to feel it!

My next appointment is on Tuesday, and they are doing that AFP blood test, and I think that is all they are doing. If I remember tomorrow, then I'm going call the office and see if they said they were doing an ultrasound at my appointment or not. I know this is one of the earlier times that they can tell the sex, but if they are doing one, then I want Brian to be there so that he can see it too! It was really cool seeing it the last appointment when I could see it kicking at the ultrasound wand as I call it! I don't really know the proper name for it!

I have been feeling really really tired as of late, and I don't know if its because things have been getting a little busier at work with the back to school time being in full force, or what, but last night I was asleep for the night at 8:30. I'm getting ready to go to sleep tonight, but I wanted to get this post on so that everyone could see where we stand! I know some of you look at this all the time to see what's going on that's new, so I didn't want you all to wait too long!! :)

I'll put up a new post sometime after my appointment. If they just do the blood test, then I'm sure we wil have to wait a while to get the results, but you never know I guess. Just please say a prayer that everything is fine there with our little avacado!! Brian and I are both anxious to find out what we are having. Brian is really really hoping for a boy, and I don't care either way as long as it's healthy. But I think I'm probably having a boy too. I would be really excited if it was a girl though! We do have names for both, so that's something we don't have to worry about!! :)

15 weeks pictures

In case you couldn't see them very well on the side of the blog, I thought I would put them in a post thinking they would be a little bigger.

Vitamin C

Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably still can't feel the movements.

So I am really happy that I'm 15 weeks now!!! Just one more week until 4 months!! Yay for that!! I feel like time is passing so slowly, but I feel like when we can finally find out what we are having that the time will start to go faster for me. It's hard for me right now because I feel like I can't really pick anything out! hahaha. If its a girl, I want a white crib, but not if its a boy....I want different paint depending on if its a girl or a boy...so I feel like I'm just on hold for now! But hopefully everything is going smoothly with its development in there! I still haven't felt it move yet, or if I have, then I don't know it! But they say that it might be another week or so before I really feel it!

I thought we would post more pictures of the new belly size....I feel like it looks much bigger, but I'm not sure if you all will agree! hahaha. My jeans are definitely much tighter, and most of them I have to use the little rubberband trick instead of buttoning them! I'm in the process of getting some Guess jeans turned into maternity jeans so that I will still be able to wear jeans to work, but the first try proved that there are a few tweaks that need to be made, so I'm working on that!!! Take 2 will come this week!

My next appointment is next week, and they are doing the AFP bloodtest on me. It looks for a certain kind of protein in my blood that would have come from the baby and abnormal levels of that protein could mean there could be something going on with the baby such as Downs Syndrome, etc. I don't know if they will do another ultrasound at this visit or not. I don't think they are, so I am expecting to find out the sex of the baby at the visit after this one, so sometime in September is my guess! Don't worry, we'll let everyone know!!!

When Life Hands You Lemons....

Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.

I do feel like things are starting to pass quicker, so thats nice. I guess it's that I'm feeling better more and more!! Things have been pretty busy here recently with all of Brian's baseball tournaments he's coaching in, and with work, and trying to find a new house. I get so frustrated because the price range we are looking at is probably the most common one in town, and all the houses I find that I like, either fly off the market, or are way over priced and I am worried that they won't come down on their price like they need to. Brian and I are still considering putting an offer in on a house that we both loved but is way over priced. So we will see if we decide to do that or if we want to let it sit on the market longer and see what happens. I just really want to be in a new house by the time winter rolls around so that everything is in place and ready for the baby come January....I don't want to have to deal with moving with a newborn, or moving right beforehand, because obviously that time of year is the busiest for me at work, and I won't have much energy as it is being almost full term, so the sooner we can do that before that time would be the best decision in my mind....but we aren't going to just buy any house, so I guess I feel a little added pressure from that too. We'll just have to continue to wait and see what happens!

Mmmmmm peaches!!!

Sorry that this blog is delayed!! The site was down with my pictures/descriptions about what is happening with the baby, so it just now came back up!! :) Enjoy!!!

Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords... savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy. (Much more convenient.)

I have been feeling pretty decent as of late. I just try not to get hungry because that is when I start to feel sick. So I am constantly eating, and its much more annoying than I thought it would be. It's kind of hard to work when I'm having to snack all the time! hahaha. But all in all, I'm starting to feel better most of the time.

Brian and I are in the process of trying to find the right house for us....so I'll let you all know when that happens. I would like to find a place and get in there by winter so that we can get everything settled in the house before the baby comes! Here's hoping!!!

Dr. Appt #2

Today was my 2nd doctors appointment and it went really well! I didn't really know what this appointment would be like, but it was a breeze. They did another ultrasound to check up on the baby and to make sure that everything was going ok, and thankfully, everything was going great! I could see the baby on the screen, and I was amazed at how much bigger it was this time from our first appointment just 4 weeks ago!! When she would run the ultrasound wand (that's what I call it b/c I don't know the technical term..haha) over my belly, the baby would kick at it. It was really cute. It was like it was saying "Get that out of here!" hahaha. It was so neat to see it kicking away since I can't feel the kicks yet. Sometimes I would find myself worrying about it everything was ok since I can't feel it's movements, but seeing it on the screen was really nice. I could see it's heart flickering away too, and she told me that the heartbeat looked really strong, and that was good!! It did turn and face us, so she tried to see if you could tell what the sex was, but it was still too early. But hey, nothing wrong with trying to find out right?! hahaha. My next doctor's appointment is on August 11th, and at that one, they will take my weight/blood pressure measurements, and then I will go down and get my blood work done. They will be doing the test for Downs Syndrome at that point, so I'm sure I will be a nervous wreck for that. Brian and I both already worry a lot about things, so I'm sure it will be a tense couple of days (or however long it takes to get the results back) until we get the news. We do have a slight worry about it since Brian's 2nd cousin has Down's, but that doesn't mean that we are more likely. My doctor told me that it's not really a genetic factor, but just depends on how the chromosomes split. And since I'm under 35, my chances of having a baby with Downs are much smaller, but that it wasn't something that could be ruled out either. So here's praying that everything is fine and perfectly healthy for our little one!!

I haven't had a plum in forever!

As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of baby's systems are fully formed.

Finally the 1st trimester is coming to a close!! It's so nice to know that I have that behind me. I do feel like there is a little bit of pressure that comes with the first trimester because there are so many things that can go wrong up to this point, so I'm really excited to know that we have made it this far!! Just 2 more trimesters to go!! :)

Things have been going pretty well as far as how I'm feeling but my allergies have been driving me up a wall as of late! I can't wait for my doctor's appointment so that I can find out if there is anything besides Mucinex that I can take to put them at bay a little bit. I sneezed my entire work shift yesterday, and that is just really annoying, so if that will stop, I would love it!!!!

My next doctor's appointment is this coming Tuesday (July 14th) and I'm looking forward to that, although I'm not sure what the appointment will entail. haha. I will make sure I put up a post when I get home from my appointment on Tuesday so that everyone can stay in the loop! I still need to take a picture of my stomach....I promise I'll do that soon! Really, I promise!!