ScrapBooking

A few weeks ago, while I was ordered to stay home (& bored) I decided to do a little scrap booking.  I had all these ultrasound pictures & needed to do something with them b/c he edges were curling up. I didn't want to just put them in a photo album so this is what I came up with. 

6 & 7 Weeks

8 & 9 Weeks

Of course our latest at 18 weeks!

I don't know that I will make this a hobby. But I would like to put one finish up this album with pregnancy pictures & a hospital page or two!

I would really like to do another ultrasound to see what our little man is looking like these days. We got so used to having them so often. I don't know how people go with only having 1 the entire pregnancy, I would go nuts! Anyway, I am planning to call this week to see how much the 3D ultrasounds are. We didn't really have much of a desire to do one, but curiosity might get the best of me. :)

Where's My Belly Button?!? ;)

~25 Weeks~

Well here we are at 25 weeks! I can't believe we have come so far. This pregnancy seems to be going by so fast, yet when I think about it I have been pregnant now for 6 whole months! That's 1/2 a year! So we have 15 weeks to go if all goes as planned. They will not stop labor once we reach 36 weeks, so that is only 10.5 weeks away! YIKES!!

I have been feeling pretty good. The last couple of days I have been exhausted & starving, so our little man must be having a growth spurt! Before yesterday I have had lots of energy & been able to do pretty much everything. Work has been going fine, no more contractions, at least not consistently. I am pretty sure I have the Braxton Hicks contractions now & then, but they are nothing to worry about.

I have defiantly grown since my last post. I am interested to see what they say I am next week (Feb 3rd) at my appointment. I will also be having my glucose test next week to check for gestational diabetes. Nothing major, just a sugar drink & a blood draw.

Of course I have added some pictures of my growing belly...

He remains low as he has been the whole time. He must like it there! I don't mind except when he thinks it is a fun game to kick my bladder! :)

Okay, the next one is not my favorite, but I just wanted to prepare you before you scrolled down.

It is a bare belly shot!

Probably the 1st & last time I will post any in that fashion....

This pic makes me look huge! My little basketball. Even though I don't like bare belly pictures (as you girls at work are well aware) I wanted to include these to show my vanishing belly button. It is pretty much flat now. The mark above is from my belly button ring, which I finally took out about a month ago. I still stick it in once in a while to keep the hole open. So far no stretch marks!!! I am hoping & praying that will continue. I do have good genetics on my side for that & some Burt's Bees Belly Butter.

So this week the baby is very busy. He is over a pound in weight now & something close to 14". As we progress through week 25 his lungs really start developing. This is an important step for delivery! His nostrils also open this week so that he can practice breathing. Finally, as the blood vessels under the skin continue to form his skin is becoming more pink, instead of translucent.

In the last few days we have been enjoying watching the baby move. Yes you heard me right, watching! He is getting big & strong enough now that when he really kicks or is flipping around we can see him moving. I hope to get a video, but it is so sporadic it is going to be tricky!

Other than that things are progressing as usual. Dustin has a new schedule at work this week. He is now working 7a to 5p every day, which is great in a financial aspect, but takes away from time spent together. For the last year or so he has been getting off at 2p every other day. We have really enjoyed that for days I have to work or for appointments. We knew this would happen eventually, but we weren't expecting it now. He is excited to be taking on new tasks & learning more & more.

That's about it for now. I will have a couple surprises to post about next week! Can't wait to share!

22 Week Appointment

I went to my 22 week appt this past Tuesday. After all the drama that happened last week I was expecting a little more excitement at my visit. But to my surprise my doctor is not overly concerned about the contractions that I had. She said if it continues to happen & be an issue than we will began to worry, but for now all is fine. So I am free!!! I can't imagine ever being on bed rest, I pray that I don't have to do that as the due date gets closer. I don't wish that on anyone. 

Everything looks good. My weight is good (I have gained a total of 12 pounds), baby's heart rate is good & steady & my measurements are good. Well, actually I am measuring at 25 weeks. She said we won't change my due date, but just to be aware. She asked me how big I was when I was born. I told her 5-8 at 5 weeks early. She laughed & say "we might be having a good size baby here". I was not laughing! I like the little bitty babies (healthy of course). 

Other that than all is well. I included some pictures of me currently! Enjoy...

1st Trip to Saint Lukes ~ Already...

Last night, while I was at work of course, I started having pains in my left side. I didn't really think much of it at first, I figured I was stretching, the baby was kicking me, or I was having gas pains (I know the lovely things about being pregnant). This all started around 12:30 am. I just kept doing what I needed to do, but the pain kept coming & going. I still didn't really think anything of it. I then went to lunch at 1:00 am, thinking resting for bit would help. Well I was wrong! While I was at lunch the pain got worse. So I thought to myself, "could these be contractions?". I have never been 21 weeks pregnant before & I have never experienced contractions before. Anyway, I started timing them. The pain was coming every 3 to 5 minutes & lasting about 10 to 20 seconds. A few times the pain was radiating around into my back, but not every time. I think thought to feel my stomach & it wasn't feeling tight as this was happening outside, but it felt like it was tightening inside. I then decided to try to use the restroom, maybe that was the problem. Nope, not the case. At 2:20 am I decided to call the doctor on call, for peace of mind more than anything. She asked me a bunch of questions & then decided I should go in to L&D to be evaluated. 

I then freaked out a little!! I had a zillion thoughts running through my head.

What if I am in preterm labor??

What if they put me on bed rest, I still have 4 months to go??

What if something is wrong with the baby??

What if something is wrong with they placenta??

You get the point, freak out mode!!!

So off I went to Saint Luke's North at 2:30 in the morning. I called Dustin on the way, so he knew what was going on, but told him not to come. I would call him if they were admitting me. 

I got there & they were waiting for me. I had a really nice nurse, Sherry. We went to the triage room & she hooked me up to the monitors, checked my vitals, checked my cervix, & asked me a bunch of questions.

My blood pressure was high (of course, I was in a panic), the monitors were not showing that I was having contractions at that point, & my cervix was completely closed! Good news, not preterm labor!!! (1 worry down)

The baby looked good on the monitor heart beat at 157 & moving all over the place. I haven't been able to feel him very much because I have an anterior placenta (meaning the placenta is in the front, basically right behind my belly button), but last night I could feel him like crazy.  I think it was because I could hear when he was moving on the monitor so I payed close attention. (2nd worry down)

They decided to watch me for a little bit. 

She came in at 4:15 am  & said we are sending you home. I was relieved but then came. The doctor wants you on "modified bed rest" the rest of the week. Meaning I don't have to stay in bed, but I am to be home resting, not out & about, not at work, not cleaning house. Boring!!! This is not what I wanted to hear! At least it is just for a week, right??? 

I am to see the doctor next week & will more than likely be heading back to work on Monday night. I am worried I am not going to have any maternity leave, but I guess we have to get the baby here healthy before we worry about that. We will cross that bridge when we get there.

So here I am at home, on my 27th Birthday, on "house rest". Fun times!! Dustin just called & said they are closing until Monday after today, so at least he will be here with me. He is not one to be a home body though, so I imagine I will be here by myself a few days. It is going to be very hard for me to stay home until Monday too, so I defiantly understand. By Sunday, I may have to venture out a little. :)

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. If we can at least make it to the 1st week in April I will be content with that. In the meantime I will take it a little more easy. We have to keep our little boy safe in there!

Christmas Time

I have to admit that I was not really looking forward to Christmas this year. Many things have changed in both Dustin & my family's over the past year & I knew things would be different. But to my surprise we had a really wonderfully pleasant day with both our family's!!

We began our celebration Christmas Eve at The Sumner's house. For those of you that don't know Mrs. Sumner & Jim (this is what I have called them since I can remember) are family friends of mine & now are family to me that I have known since I was born. My grandparents lived next door to them & then my Mom & I lived up the street from them for several years. Anyway, we had a nice chili dinner with munchies on the side & good conversation. Dustin & I also got to experience the Wii for the first time!!! We had soo much fun we have decided we have to have one! We played Tiger Woods Golf, of course Dustin won, the video game expert he is.

On Christmas day we started at Dustin's parents at around 9:00 with cinnamon rolls. We then opened our gifts. They surprised us with a new TV for our front living room, what an amazingly nice gift!! Totally too much!! I am not one to like more than 1 TV in the house, because I feel like it divides everyone up. But I am tired of watching Dustin play XBox, so it was time! We than ate a huge meal of ham, mashed potatoes, corn, mac n cheese, & yummy rolls. After we all couldn't breath anymore we decided we should probably stop eating. We spent the early afternoon playing Devin's (Dustin's 12 year old sister) new Life game, which by the way now comes with debit cards instead of paper money, who knew. At about 3:30pm we ventured home to let Scout out & then to my parent's in Kearney. I was bummed because my Mom was making soup this year instead of a traditional Christmas dinner, but she made my 2 favorite kinds of soup & they were both very yummy! I don't think we could have eaten another huge meal. We had a really nice time visiting & then we all played Scatagories (spelling?) with my parents, brothers, Aunt & cousins. We played this Thanksgiving day also & had so much fun! It is always funny to hear what everyone comes up with. :) We continued to enjoy dessert & munchies of course. We were tired & decided Scout had been home long enough so about 9:00pm we headed home. All in all it was a really great day!!!

Since the day after Christmas we have been searching Kansas City for a Wii. Unfortunately everyone & I mean everyone is sold out & no idea as to when more are coming. We also went to get a cable box for our new TV & we even had to go on a waiting list for that. Which is fine, since we have to have a new cable jack put in! We have enjoyed a couple movies in our "new living room" though. I must say it is different to sit upstairs. Our main living room has & still will be our family room, it is just different to watch TV somewhere else.

We are thankful to have spent the day with our family! We are all so busy these days with our everyday lives we often forget to take time out just to visit & spend time with one another.

It's A Boy!

Here are some pictures of our Baby Boy!

Profile

Waving at us. :)

Leg bent at the knee. Just relaxing...

Blowing Bubbles

It's A Boy!

We were able to a lot with our ultrasound this past week. They also told us they are 4 chambers in the heart, the head size looks good, the bones are right on track, and the baby weighs 9oz and is 10" long. 

To Paint or Not To Paint...

I know my original plan was to not paint, but I am having second thoughts. We are having our ultrasound Wednesday & if they too say it is a boy the blue paint is going to appear. I am so excited to decorate the nursery & I just don't think it will "feel" baby enough without some paint to go along. I think I am going with a brown/blue color scheme. That's all I will reveal for now, but I have lots of ideas up my sleeve.

**18 Weeks**

We have made it to 18 weeks today! I am so happy & excited to be (finally) experiencing this pregnancy journey! It is still so surreal to me. At times I don't even feel pregnant & then I walk by a mirror. :) Actually I don't really think I am that "big", I'm sure my time is coming so I am not at all worried about it. I am still wearing 1 pair of my jeans, I just am not ready to surrender to the maternity jeans yet (they are so unappealing). I am so used to wearing my jeans so low (since that seems to be all that is available these days) that when I put on the maternity jeans they feel so much higher & just uncomfortable. I'm sure in a few more weeks I will think they are God's gift to earth. :)

I am still feeling good. Just the occasional headaches & my once a day dizzy/fainty spells. Which yes I have asked & have been told it is normal. It is to do with the increased blood volume. Luckily, they don't last long & then I am on my way. 

The countdown is on... 5 more days until we find out what we are having. We have some pretty concrete beliefs that this little one is a boy, which is totally opposite of my gut instinct! But all will be confirmed in just a few more days! :) I am excited to start decorating our "blank" nursery & trying to come up with names we both really like! Who knew naming a baby would be so difficult. You don't want something to baby like for when they are adults & you don't want something to grown up for when they are a baby. Anyway we have a few in mind, but none that we are set on. I would like to go into delivery with 2 names that we really like & then when we see the baby pick which one we think fits the best. 

Thanks for stopping in! I hope to get Christmas decor pictures up soon! 

The Beginnings of the Nursery

We have started on the nursery!

I know many of you are probably thinking it is early, but I want to be on top of things, not rushing at the end!

Anyway, we got it from Nebraska Furniture Mart. The one we wanted at USA Baby was really nice, but very expensive. We decided to be more practical & be able to get more items. I do really love this crib! The slats are wider which gives it a really nice look. 

We were able to purchase a crib, mattress, 2 mattress pads, a chest, & a recliner. I know a recliner in a baby's room. I thought that too! I wanted a chair with ottoman, but we got to looking & this chair was 1/2 the price! I am sure we will LOVE it on the sleepless nights to come.

Of course we have much more to do. Which I am anxious to get going! Once we find out what we are having we will be ready to get bedding & curtains. The rest will come as we find it!

16 Weeks 4 Days

Time seems to be going by so fast, yet so slow! 

We are so excited to have made it (almost) through the 4th month! I honestly never thought we would be here. 

I went to the doctor today for my nurse visit. I haven't been feeling to great yesterday or today so they went ahead & had me come in. All is well! The heart beat is strong & steady. The rate has dropped into the 150's, which is totally fine, but lower than it has been. I still think it is a baby girl, but with this lower heart rate I am second guessing my instinct. I asked Dustin recently if he had an thought about what it might be, he said he really hasn't had a feeling either way.

It is so sweet now that my belly is showing. Dustin is always touching & kissing it. It has to be hard for Dad's to connect through this whole process when they aren't the one going thru the changes. I think he is finally realizing this is real! :)

I have pictures of nursery furniture to post, I will try to do that. Yesterday it wouldn't work, of course. 

Anyway, that's all for now.

15 DAYS UNTIL WE FIND OUT IF OUR BABY IS A BOY OR GIRL!!! :)

For fun I will put a survey on the side of the blog, it will be fun to see what everyone thinks!