1 week

I just wanted to do a quick update now that Lily is a week old! Things are going really well here. Sean and I are both a little tired, and I know it will just get worse tomorrow when he goes back to work. We have had a steady flow of visitors since a lot of my extended family is in town for the holidays. I'm excited that Lily has gotten to meet so many of her cousins, aunts, and uncles.

I am feeling a lot better and am happy to be able to move around a lot easier. It is amazing how fast the weight has just fallen off. My feet and legs still get swollen if I am sitting in a chair for too long or standing too much. I have been limiting myself to the couch for the most part to help me remember to keep my feet up and rest. It is really hard to not get up and do things around the house.

Sean is amazing with our daughter. I love watching him with her. The two of them have a special bond. He is able to calm her down really quickly. He does a lot with her so that I am able to get some sleep, only waking me up to feed her.

Now is time to eat some dinner and hopefully get some sleep...

Birth

Warning: This post might be a little detailed and graphic for some.

I want to get the birth story out while it is still semi fresh in my mind. It has only been 4 days and I know I am already forgetting some of the details. Lily is actually sleeping and I am awake so I figure now would be as good of a time as any to write this up.

Saturday night (12/19) Sean and I were both really tired for some reason and decided to go to bed around 8:30pm. Sean got up shortly after that because he couldn't sleep but I was still tired. I woke up at 12am with contractions that were about 10 minutes apart. They weren't horrendous at that time, but definitely stronger than any contractions I had felt before and were time-able. I got up and hung out with Sean for a bit before I decided I wanted to try to get some sleep in case this was the big day. I really didn't think I was going to be going into active labor at this point because only like 5% of babies are actually born on their due dates. I went back to bed around 2 or 3am and slept very poorly till about 7am. At this point I woke up to go to the bathroom only to notice some bleeding. On the list of warning signs my Ob's office gave me it said to call them whenever you had any bleeding, so I did. The Dr that was on call told me that it was probably bloody show and that is a sign of more active labor. He told me to call back if my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart for and hour and a half. About 8 or so the contractions started to get a lot stronger and were sometimes 7-8 minutes apart and other times 3-4 minutes apart. At some point during this Sean went to sleep since he really hadn't gotten any sleep that night. I continued to monitor my contractions for the next several hours until around 2 or 3pm they were getting very strong and consistently 3-5 minutes apart. I woke Sean up at this point just because I needed support. Around 3:30 I called the doctor again and he said that if I was comfortable I could stay home otherwise we could start heading to the hospital. We packed up the last minute stuff we wanted to take and got Selene's stuff ready to take her to my parents' house. We dropped off Selene and were on our way to the hospital.

The ride to the hospital was not fun. Every bump, turn, and stop seemed to coincide with each contraction I was having. I'm not sure exactly what time we got to the hospital, but I think it was around 4:30. They got us into the labor triage and checked me out. At this point I was 4cm and contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart. They checked me in at about 5:15pm. I was told by my Ob at the appointment the previous Monday that I probably wouldn't be able to have an epidural because my blood platelet levels were too low. This was fine with me because I was wanting to go natural anyway. Once we got to the labor and delivery room my contractions got a lot worse. Sean was an excellent support person. He would get me ice and water when I asked and let me squeeze his hand during each contraction. He also talked me through each one trying to keep me relaxed. Our nurse was also amazing. She helped with showing me how to use the labor ball to be more comfortable and to help move things along. After awhile the contractions got to be really close together and pretty long so I wasn't getting that much of a break. At that point I did ask for something in my IV to take a little of the edge off because I didn't think I would be able to have enough energy to push if I didn't at least get a little rest. I was around 7-8cm at this time. They gave me just enough to give me a bit of a rest, but not so much that it would effect her. Around this time my parents came into the labor room to visit for a bit and offer some support. It was great to get to talk to them to kind of distract me from what all my body was doing. The medicine started to wear off and the contractions were getting stronger so they left.

The nurse had me get on the labor ball again because there was still just a little bit for me to go. I was basically 9.5cm at this time. The ball was great during the contractions, but I didn't like it so much in between them. I was much more comfortable during the "breaks" to be in bed but the nurse kept convincing me to stay on the ball for just one more contraction...this went on for several contractions. I kept feeling like I needed to push and the nurse said I had to wait just a bit longer. This continued after I got back into the bed. I'm not sure how long this went on for, but it seemed like forever. Sean was great during this time talking me through everything and reminding me to breath.

Finally I was told I was allowed to push. I only pushed for 4 contractions which ending up being right around 8 minutes. They had me look down once her head came out and it was amazing to see her beautiful face and long hair. There were times during the last little bit where it didn't feel like it was actually me going through all of this and that she was my baby. Shortly after she was put on my chest we attempted to breastfeed and she has been doing great with that ever since. Love at first sight is amazing.

The proud daddy

First family photo in the hospital

Christmas Eve family photo

Lily's first Christmas outfit

Pictures of Lily

Here are some pictures of our wonderful little girl. The story will come later because I am typing one handed while holding her.

Our little Christmas gift

Mommy and Lily

Sucking on her fingers to sooth herself shortly after birth.

She is not happy about the whole being born thing.

Lilian Marie Penner

Lily was born last night at 11:01pm. She actually came on her due date which one of the nurses here said only happens about 5% of the time. She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and is 20.5 inches long. She has the most dark hair I have ever seen on a baby.

It is amazing how love at first sight works. There are times where it still doesn't feel real that I have an outside baby, but when she is here with me everything just seems so natural. Right now she is sleeping because I guess she was up most of the night in the nursery. We were hoping to keep her in our room, but we were both exhausted so we asked them to take her to the nursery for a little bit. We still didn't get much rest though because people kept coming in all night to check on me and give me updates about tests they have done on her.

She adores her daddy and quiets down soon after he picks her up. I love getting to see him with her. As much as I love hold her and cuddling, there are times where I am just as content, if not more, just watching him with her. He did great with me during the delivery as well and I don't know if I would have been able to do it without him. I will post more about the birth story, as well as pictures, a little bit later. Right now I am going to try to get some sleep as well since she is being so quiet.

Still no outside baby

So Lily still has not made an appearance. She still has 3 more days until her eviction notice is up and a couple weeks after that until she needs to be out by the doctor's standards. Still I am getting impatient. Although, I don't think I'm getting as impatient as everyone else. I have a bunch of family, friends, and coworkers that are all so excited and wanting to hold and see her. Hopefully she will grace us with her appearance soon because I want to have her as far away from Christmas as possible. Also, if we have her before Christmas then a lot of my extended family from out of town might get to meet her since they will be in Ohio for the holiday.

At my appointment this past Monday there really wasn't all that much change. She did tell me that my platelet levels are really low and depending on how low they are when I go to the hospital that I might not be able to have an epidural. I told her that is actually kind of a good thing for me since I want to go natural. It just takes that option away so I know I have to do this on my own without and chance of pain relief. She did ask that if I didn't want and epidural did I not want to be induced. I told her that I did not want to be induced just so that I could have Lily when I wanted to (ie before Christmas), but that I was definitely open to induction if it gets too far past my due date or if something is wrong with either Lily or myself. The medicine that they give you to induce typically makes contractions more painful, I don't see why I would want to do that knowing that I wouldn't be able to get an epidural. That just doesn't sound very smart to me.

There have been some things happening the last couple days that usually happen shortly before labor starts. I won't get into the gory details because no one wants to hear about that stuff. I even wish I didn't know the details. Hopefully all this means that my next post will be about Lily's birth!

Single Digits!

There are only 9 days left until my due date. Overall I feel like time has flown by since April when we found out we were expecting, but at the same time, this past week has almost felt like time has stopped. I am just ready to be able to hold my baby, not have to take over a minute just to roll over in bed, and to be able to wear other shoes than just the tennis shoes I have been wearing because of swelling.

I am starting to wish I didn't say I would work up until my due date. I know I just have today, a couple hours tomorrow and then 4 days next week, but I am still getting tired of being there. I feel like I can't concentrate completely on my work while I'm there because I am thinking about something with the pregnancy or parenting. Also, in the past week there has been a lot of added stress at work due to scheduling problems (both with patients and with one of my replacements) and with people being sick. I just wish I could stay at home and get stuff ready for her. Who am I kidding, I just wish I could stay at home and lay in bed or on the couch and relax until she comes! I have also run out of clothes that fit. I have about 2, maybe 3 shirts, and one pair of pants that fit properly enough to be worn to work. If I was just able to stay home then I could just wear sweats all day.

Sorry, this post was not supposed to turn into a giant complaint. I just feel like we have made it so far and yet I can't completely see the finish line.

38 weeks

Not much is happening here. We are just getting some last minute things together while waiting on Lily to make her appearance. There was no new progress at the doctor yesterday and she kept talking about seeing me at my appointment next week. I wanted to say something about the next time I wanted to see her was at the hospital, but I didn't.

Last night I did not sleep well at all. I was awake every 30 minutes because I either had to go to the bathroom, had a dancing Lily in me, or I was uncomfortable and needed to roll over. I know this is just to get me ready for the lack of sleep that is to come, but at least then I will have a cute little baby to play with, now I just have what seems like an alien moving around in my stomach.

The nursery still needs a lot of work. There are things just scattered around the room, but I figure that she won't be in there much the first couple months because she will be sleeping in a bassinet in our room so we have time to get it organized. Also, she won't care what her room looks like right now.

Progress!

So we had our Dr appointment today and progress has been made. Not much, and the Dr was sure to point out that Lily could still take several weeks to make her appearance, but it feels really good to hear that some progress has been made. I am 1cm dilated and 60% effaced. She has not dropped yet but is in the head down position.

37 weeks/full term

I am officially full term today. Hopefully Lily will come in the next few weeks and not make me wait too much longer to hold her in my arms.

I decided that in honor of this milestone I will post pictures from 7, 17, 27 and 37 weeks. It is amazing to see the difference 30 weeks makes
.
7 weeks: Basically my before picture as nothing had really happened yet.

17 weeks: Starting to show! I remember thinking that I was looking so huge at the time...little did I know.

27 weeks: Bigger but feeling better. I remember that I actually had energy and was no longer getting sick. I still felt huge.

37 weeks: It kinda looks like I just stuck a basketball up my shirt like I did when I was a little girl playing "house" and pretending to be pregnant. I am starting to think I may need something to prop my belly up with as it is starting to get heavy and uncomfortable.

Tomorrow is the start of my weekly Dr appointments. While I will always love getting to hear her heart beat I am getting tired of going to the Dr. I don't like having to sit and wait in the uncomfortable exam room (I do not think they had pregnant women in mind when they design those exam tables), I mind having my blood pressure taken, and I really don't like getting weighed every time. Now I am also getting internal exams to tell me how much progress I have made and I really don't like that part. As of right now, no progress. I may feel differently about this part once there has been some progress but as of right now it is just uncomfortable and kinda discouraging. If there was something I could do to help things progress then that might be fine, but right now I just feel as though I'm not getting any where but there is nothing to do about it.

Eviction Notice

Dear Lilian Marie Penner,

While I have enjoyed giving you a place to live for the past 37 weeks and have worked very hard to make it comfortable for you, I have also been working on a wonderful place for you to live outside of me. I know that you are running out of room in there and think you will find it much more spacious out here. There are many people out here that are looking forward to holding you and they can't do that if you stay in Mommy's belly. You have 3 weeks to vacate your current living situation.

Sincerely,

Your ever increasingly uncomfortable mom.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I can't believe all the things I am thankful for this year.

Warning: This list is probably very mushy (remember I am an emotional pregnant lady right now)

- Of course I am thankful for this wonderful life that is growing inside me (even if she does wake me up at 6am with a nice kick to the ribs).

- I am thankful for my wonderful husband. He is my best friend and support. I know I wouldn't be who I am today without him. He has been amazing throughout this pregnancy and I can't wait for him to get to hold our daughter too.

- Our family. We have so much support and guidance from all of our family members. I can't wait for Lily to meet everyone that has loved her so much for the last few months.

- I have some of the best friends I could ever ask for. They are always there for me

- We have an amazing house (although it could probably use a little redecorating).

- Sean and I both have jobs. I know that sometimes we get frustrated with them, and feel that we could do so much more with our skills and talents, but in this economy I am just thankful that we are both able to hold a job.

- I am also thankful for Selene. She definitely still acts like a puppy at times and needs lots of guidance and can get on my nerves, but then she comes and just puts her head on my leg or tries to lay on my lap if I'm sitting on the floor, and everything seems to disappear.

Cleaning

So here it is the night before Thanksgiving and all I'm doing is cleaning and organizing. I think some of it has to do with the fact that I am finally nesting (hopefully this feeling will continue throughout my 5 day weekend) and part of it is because both of my grandmas are coming to see our house tomorrow. We moved in a little over a year ago and neither of them have been here. My parents are hosting dinner, but when we all leave my grandmas are coming over to see the place. I don't know why, but I feel like everything has to be perfect for them to come see it. This is really hard because our house has been far from perfectly clean since I have been pregnant because I just don't have the energy to do anything. I wish I would have decided before the night before to start cleaning.

Lily and I have made it to a really big milestone today. While Sunday is 37 weeks (which is considered full term) , today is the day that my doctor told me she wouldn't do anything to stop labor if it started on its own. It is an amazing feeling to know that I'm far enough along that my doctor would let Lily make an appearance if she decided to. There is no reason to think that she is going to come anytime soon, but it is a very big relief to have gotten to this point. When my doctor told me 36 weeks and a few days I didn't realize that would be before my birthday. I always thought we would have the chance of having her on my dad's birthday (the day before her due date), but never did I think there was the chance of having her on mine. I hope she decides to come on her own special day instead of sharing a birthday with someone else in the family.

The last few times that I have dreamed about her birth it has always happened on the same day. I am not going to say when that day is, but I do wonder if it is sign or if it is just something my subconscious wants. I'm not saying what day it is because I don't want people hounding me about whether she has come or not around that date.

Well, I think the break from cleaning is over. Hopefully I will stop at some point tonight and decide it is clean enough so I can get some sleep before a wonderful day with family and good food.

4 more weeks

Only 4 more weeks until my due date. This weekend I have been having different contractions than I had been having before. They still aren't painful, but they are definitely more intense than before. I am hoping that means something is happening and my body is getting ready to make Lily an outside baby. I am ready to let other people hold her too. I know that she still has another week till she is considered full term so I'm hoping she waits a little bit longer, but as soon as next Sunday comes she is getting her eviction notice. She will have 3 weeks or less to be on her merry way out of me.

There are still somethings that need to be done before she comes, but they are mostly just small things. I have tied up most everything at work, but another week of training the new girl would probably be helpful to her. The nursery is still kinda messy and unorganized, but so is the rest of our house. I don't think I can expect that room to be perfect. Plus, we probably won't use the nursery much when we first come home because she will be sleeping in our room. We will probably just change her diapers and dress her in there and spend the rest of the time on the couch and glider in the family room, or in bed with her in the bassinet. The bassinet does need to be picked up from my parents' house though. This is something that we will need our first night home. If we don't get it before we have to go to the hospital though I'm sure my parents will bring it over, or we always have to pass their house to get home from the hospital.

This weekend has been a lot of fun. Yesterday the family threw a surprise birthday party for my 95 year old grandma. I loved getting to see her face when she walked in and everyone. It wasn't just her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids, but also her nieces and nephews and their families. It was great to see some of my cousins especially since I probably won't see them for Christmas.

We also had company from out of town this weekend. Our friends from Toledo came to visit which always makes for an interesting and entertaining weekend. I hope these weekends will be able to continue once Lily is here.

35 week picture

I really don't like this picture, but it definitely shows how big I have gotten. It was taken Sunday afternoon before we went to hang out with some friends to eat and watch football before the guys had the volleyball game. Well the girls surprised me with a baby shower. It was great because us girls got to eat and talk about baby stuff while the guys ate and watched football. We did get some gifts and they were all practical things that we really need.

Yesterday was a busy day off from work for both Sean and me. We went to meet with a pediatrician. We liked him except he just finished with all of his school and residency in June and is working on starting his own practice. I think both Sean and I would be a bit more comfortable with someone that has had a bit more experience. After that appointment we ran some more errands, ate, and went to my OB appointment. She is still not concerned with my swelling legs because I have no other symptoms that it could mean something. My blood pressure was actually lower this visit than the one 3 weeks ago. She did check for progress and there is none yet. I know that no progress at this point means nothing as to when I will deliver, but I will admit that I was slightly disappointed because I am starting to get to the point where I am done being pregnant. After the OB appointment we did some more errands including going to Target and Babies r us and getting a lot more for Lily. We then came home and Sean moved a whole bunch of furniture around and set up the dresser/changing table and the glider. I tried to spend sometime organizing the nursery last night, but it is so overwhelming what all has to be done that I don't know where to start. Hopefully this week and weekend I will be able to get some stuff done. I know once I get started it will be easy, it is just the actually getting started part that is hard.

35/35

Today is my 35/35. That means I am 35 weeks pregnant and only have 35 days left until my due date. While this milestone is not important at all it is still kind of cool. Things are really coming along. We are going either today or tomorrow and getting a few more things for the baby because I have some coupons that expire soon and some gift cards. We are also going one of these two days because Sean and I both actually have both days off. There are some weeks where we don't have any days off together and this week we have two! Too bad we have a long list of things that need to get done so we can't just spend time together doing fun stuff, but at least we can spend time together.

Yesterday mom and I put some stuff in an arts and craft show. I have never done one before with my own stuff (I helped mom when I was younger and she did them) so I really didn't know what to expect. Since I had zero expectations I was quite please with how I did. I found Christmas gifts for a bunch of people and still made more money than I spent. Hopefully I will get to do it again next year, but we will see how that goes with an almost 1 year old.

It is not even 10am yet and I have been awake for about 4.5 hours. Last night before going to bed I purposely turned off my alarm clock because I had nothing to do this morning and wanted to sleep in (I had to be at the art show by 7am yesterday and it was 40 minutes away from my house so sleeping in today sounded great). I figured I would wake up whenever my internal clock told me too. Unfortunately my "internal" clock, ie Lily, decided that 5:15 was a good time to be awake. She rolled, kicked, flipped, punched, danced, jumped, and whatever else she does in there, till I finally got up around 7.

countdown animation and rib kicks

On the side of my blog I got a new thing that counts down the days left until my due date. While I think the idea of this is great, I really don't like the animation on it. There is no way that Lily is just floating and bouncing around like that. She is squished. She is pushing on both my ribs and my bladder at the same time. She does not have that much room. I'm not completely complaining that she doesn't have that much room because the less room she has the sooner she is to being here for me to hold in my arms instead of my belly. I am more complaining that the animation is so inaccurate. I guess a little baby squished into that sphere probably wouldn't be as cute as the floating one, but it might make me feel a little better about all the kicks to the ribs I have been getting today.

34 weeks, cooking, dreams, and baby showers

34 weeks yesterday! I can't believe that in just 3 weeks she will be considered full term, or that in just over 2 weeks my doctor wouldn't do anything to stop me if I went into labor. The realization that we are going to be having this baby very soon is really starting to hit. I went on an online shopping spree last night at Babiesrus and got a lot of things we still needed. They were having a big sale on clearance items plus I had a bunch of coupons. There are still some coupons that I can only use in the store (which is fine because some of the stuff I want can't be bought online anyway) and I have some gift cards to use so I'm planning on making a trip to the store sometime this week or next too. The nursery is really getting full, but right now it just looks like a warehouse instead of an actual room. I really need to find the time to organize and clean it, but have been super busy with the arts and craft show this coming weekend. Hopefully after Saturday I will have more time to get stuff done around the house.

This weekend I was going to do a bunch of cooking. I wanted to make a bunch of meals and freeze them so that when Lily comes and we are just too tired to cook we can just pull one of them out instead of ordering pizza. I did end up making about 8 meals (all of which are big enough to actually be 2 nights worth of food for us, or at least one dinner and lunch the next day). I still have 6 more recipes that I want to do, but I ran out of chicken and was too worn out to go get any more. The 8 meals I did make only took me about 2 hours to do. Hopefully we like them because I'm hoping this is something I will continue in the future just so we have some already made meals handy. If we do like them I will post some of the recipes on here in case other people would like to try them as well.

One night late last week was littered with dream, both for me and the dog. Selene kept making noises in her sleep and moving her paws like she was running. It was quite adorable, but did keep me up. My dreams weren't quite so adorable. I had my first labor dream. It really wasn't a bad dream, but I can't believe how vivid it was for something that I have never actually experienced. I wonder how true it will become. The second dream I had was actually kinda cool. I was walking around a neighborhood and there were a bunch of people sitting out in their front yards and garages. At first I thought I was just going to garage sales, but then realized that I wasn't actually buying things, but that the people were giving me baby things. There were other pregnant women walking around to each house too. It was kinda like Trick-or-Treat for pregnant women.

This past week my co workers threw me a shower. It was great to spend time with all of them, eating wonderful food, celebrating Lily. They were all very thoughtful and got us the Exersaucer that we registered for and a gift certificate. I feel very special to be a part of such a wonderful group of people.

33 weeks

Baby's now the size of a honeydew!
Things are heating up inside as well: Baby may grow up to a full inch this week alone, and his brain is developing like crazy. Pretty soon, he'll be able to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. Also, his bones are hardening, and he's started to keep his eyes open when he's awake.


Yesterday was Halloween. I was an angel and Sean was a devil. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of us. One of his coworkers took one so hopefully I can get it from her. Handing out candy last night was a lot of fun and got me really excited to get to dress Lily up next year.

Last night was also when you set your clocks back. Unfortunately you cannot set back the internal clocks of pets and babies. Lily started kicking extra early this morning and Selene decided that she needed to be fed at 7am. I had been looking forward to the extra hour of sleep since I definitely overdid myself yesterday. I went shopping in the morning at the outlets with Nicole and Michelle. It was a lot of fun, but I'm sore today from all the walking. Then I handed out candy and met some more of our neighbors. Then the Halloween party at some friends' house followed by a quick appearance at a party thrown by one of Sean's coworkers. Today is now being spent doing laundry and laying on the couch watching tv and sleeping (but mostly sleeping).

This week my coworkers are throwing me a baby shower. I feel so special that they would think to do that. I love how everyone there tries very hard to make it feel like a family.

32 weeks!

We had another appointment with our doctor today. She is still not worried about my weight gain and says that everything is going great. Lily is already in a head down position and shouldn't change in the next 8 weeks. I actually had a bunch of questions for my doctor this time instead of the usual none when she asks. I found out that she is the doctor that is working 12/24-26 so if Lily decides to come on Christmas I will still get to have my doctor there. If she comes much later than that though I will probably have to have someone else from the practice deliver her. I also found out that if I go past my due date she will induce as early as a couple days after, but will also let me go up to 2 weeks if I want. Right now I think I would like to wait as long as possible so that Lily has all the time she needs to "bake", but I'm sure that if my due date comes and goes I might be changing my mind slightly. The doctor also said that she wouldn't do anything to stop labor after 36.5 weeks. That is only 4 weeks and a couple days away! We have so much to do.

Sean and I got our Halloween costumes today. While we didn't end up getting what I had planned I'm very happy with what we got. I will definitely post pictures next week.

I am going to do my first attempt of freezer meals or "once a month cooking" in a couple weeks. I figure we will want to have some homemade dinners on hand after we get back from the hospital and I have a free weekend coming up soon. I have picked out all the recipes I want to do, now all I have left is to go shopping and actually prepare the food. I am hoping this will become something I like doing because it would be so much easier to just pull a meal out of the freezer than to come home from work and make a meal from scratch.

Maternity floor tour

Monday Sean and I went on a tour of the maternity floor at the hospital where we are going to deliver. It seems really nice there. All of the rooms are private rooms and the nurses that we met along the way were all really nice and helpful. Our tour guide kept making sure we were standing by the nursery if she had anything to talk about for a long time that didn't require us to be in a specific room (registration, visitation rules, etc.) so that we could look at all the tiny babies. I think many of the guys in the group were more excited to see the little ones than all us moms were. All the moms were listening intently while the guys were oohhing and ahhhing. The nurses in the nursery kept bringing little babies up to the windows for us to see. They were all so adorable and made me want to be able to hold Lily that much more.

Seeing all the little ones and being on the maternity floor made me realize just how soon we are going to have our little girl. I know I have the constant reminder of her with her little kicks, and all the baby stuff filling up our house, but this really made it seem real. In a couple months we will be going into the hospital just the two of us and coming out a family of 3. (Or 4 if you count Selene!). While our house is piling up with stuff, there is still so much to get.

Mom and I went to a consignment sale recently and I was able to get a lot of stuff. Many of the things off my registry for a fraction of the price. There was so much stuff there that it was slightly overwhelming. I'm sure I could have found more, but I was starting to get tired and didn't want to end up buying things that I would later regret just because I was not thinking clearly.

So evidently I look huge. Everyone keeps telling me how much weight I have gained (as if I didn't notice on my own) and that they think either I'm carrying twins and one was just hiding or that I am actually due sooner than what my doctor tells me. I figure that since my doctor isn't worried about any of these things than neither am I. I do have another appointment on Monday with her so hopefully she will still not be worried. I will post pictures probably after this weekend when we take more.

I know this post has gotten really long, but there is one last thing. I just wanted to say congrats to some friends of ours that had their twin boys on Monday. While they were born early they both seem to be doing great (and mom looks wonderful). I am very happy for their family of two becoming a family of four.

3/4 complete

Yesterday marked 30 weeks. That means I am 3/4 of the way done. Only 10 more weeks to go. That also means just over 10 weeks before Christmas. Even before I got pregnant I was planning on trying to shop for Christmas gifts throughout the year instead of doing the mad rush at the end. Then I found out I was due right before Christmas and decided that I HAD to shop early otherwise there would be no gifts from us. I did really well with this for a couple weeks, but still am not done. My goal is to have all the shopping done by Halloween. Now I just have to motivate myself to actually go to the store instead of sit on my couch all day on the weekends.

Lily is moving more and more everyday. There are times where I feel like I should go to the doctor to make sure she didn't break one of my ribs or injure one of my organs. (OK, not really, but sometimes she does kick so hard it hurts.) Along with moving more, I'm realizing that her wake and sleep schedule has changed a little bit with more time awake and less asleep. I hope this changes with she comes out so that I will be able to get some rest.

I am hungry all the time now, but never can eat that much. I feel like I am constantly munching on stuff throughout the day because when I sit down for a meal I can only eat about 5 bites before I'm full. About 30 minutes after the meal I am hungry again though. I was looking forward to all the stereotypical ideas of pregnancy and being able to eat a whole bag of chips in one sitting and still be wanting more. I'm sure it is better for me that I'm not eating that much, but this is supposed to be the one time that I can eat anything and everything.

Hiccups and New Haircuts

I'm sitting here early on a Thursday morning wide awake because Lily has been active for the past 2 hours. Her moving, combined with horrible heartburn and Sean's snoring, prompted me to actually get out of bed. So now here I am on the computer. Selene seems very confused as to why I am up before the sun and has fallen asleep on my feet under the desk. Lily had the hiccups for a little bit a few minutes ago and shortly after she got them so did Selene. It was really weird to feel both of them having hiccups at the same time. There were moments where they were almost in time with each other. I'm not sure what caused both to have the hiccups, but I think they are gone.

I got my hair cut on Monday so we took our weekly picture a day late so my hair looked cute in it instead of my typical ponytail. I was kind of worried about how short it is because I can't put it in a ponytail, but I styled it myself yesterday for the first time and it was super easy to do and didn't take that much time. It will probably grow just enough by December that I will be able to put it up at least partially so that I won't have to spend a lot of time and energy to do it. Not that I will have time or energy, or any desire, to do anything besides take care of Lily come December.

29 weeks

Baby's now the size of a squash!

Baby's energy is surging, thanks to white fat depositing beneath his skin. And since he's growing so fast (weight will triple by birth), things are getting kind of cramped in the womb. What all this means for you: Get ready for some more kicks and jabs to the ribs.




So fall has officially begun here. The temperature has decrease, the colors of the leaves have increase, and I hearing about pumpkin stuff everywhere I go. I have never been much of a pumpkin baked goods fan (except for pumpkin pie), but this year I can't seem to get enough. I love Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte, but definitely can't afford one as much as I would like, so I have settled on putting some pumpkin spice in my decaf coffee in the mornings. It kinda works, but is definitely not the same. I have a really good pumpkin dessert recipe from a friend that I think I'm going to make next weekend.

Tomorrow is another doctor appointment. I doubt this one will be any different from the past few, but it is still really exciting to get to hear Lily's heartbeat. While I love every time I get to hear her heart beat, I'm glad that isn't the only way I know she is doing well anymore. Now I have the wondering kicks to the ribs and the fact that she thinks my bladder is a punching bag as constant reminders. Sometimes I can't wait till she gets a little bigger and runs out of room because I hear the really strong kicks and punches will die down a bit.

I have enjoyed a wonderful long weekend this weekend filled with fun evenings with friends and being completely unproductive during the day. I have enjoyed sitting around the house, snuggling with the dog, and taking a nice long bath today. I think I'm going to continue the unproductive-ness with pjs, a bowl of ice cream, and some tv.

Hormonal Pregnant Lady

I'm starting to realize how "fun" pregnancy hormones can be. While I haven't gotten overly snippy, at least I don't think I have, the littlest things will make me cry. Let me give you an example. Yesterday I was getting ready for work. Now let me say, getting dressed has become more difficult recently, especially putting on pants. I lose my balance if I try to stand up while putting them on, but if I sit down it is quite a struggle to reach to put my feet in. So after struggling with my pants and getting them on I realize they are backwards! I just sat there on the edge of the bathtub and started crying. Not just a little weepy, but tears streaming down my face crying. I finally calmed myself down and put them on the right way, but was still kinda upset about it all day. The worst part of this story is that this was the second time it has happened. About two weeks ago I had the exact same problem with my pants and started crying. I really need to learn to look at my pants a bit more carefully before I put them on in the future.


This is the weekly picture of me from this past Sunday. 28 weeks pregnant.

Other than being overly emotional things are going really well. We have bought a few more things for the nursery. I have a 3 day weekend this weekend so hopefully I will be able to get that room a bit more organized. The last couple nights I have slept better than I had been. I still wake up on average 5-6 times a night either to go to the restroom or just roll over, but I'm going back to sleep faster than I was before. Unfortunately I'm still tired all the time. It isn't just that I feel like I could sleep all day, but that my body feels like it just participated in some workout that I don't remember doing.

On Monday I have another doctors appointment and then I am getting my hair cut! I'm super excited about that because the lady that cuts my hair is pregnant too and due about 2 weeks before me. Also on Monday Sean and I are going to visit our old campus neighbors. She is also pregnant and is due on Christmas, but she is having twins. It will be fun to compare my belly with both of theirs and swap stories.

28 weeks

So yesterday marked 28 weeks for us. I can't believe there are only 12 more weeks until my due date. Sean took the weekly photo of me yesterday and when I saw it I almost didn't believe it was me. I know I'm getting bigger, I can tell this by how it is getting harder for me to do things that I used to be able to do, but seeing myself this big is kinda surreal.

Sean's mom, Mary, came to visit this past weekend. It was a lot of fun to get to spend time with her and show her all the baby stuff we have already. We went to the zoo and I started thinking about how next year, and many years to follow, I will be going to the zoo with my daughter. Sometimes I can't believe how much things are going to change, but I'm super excited for all of it.

I'm not looking forward to going back to work today. I enjoy the weekends when I can sit and relax more. Partly because I am just so exhausted all the time and partly because then I have more time to notice when she is moving. Lily is starting to get a lot stronger and her kicks are starting to hurt.

That is right guys, we have a name! Lilian Marie Penner! We will be calling her Lily though. It took us awhile to come up with the full name and we discussed many names, but Lilian was the only one that really kept popping up in conversation. Also, soon after we found out she was a girl and started discussing names, every time I said Lily she would move.

Anyway, time to go back to a full week of work after an amazing weekend. Hopefully I will be able to get on and post the latest baby bump picture soon.

3rd Trimester?

So according to some sources I started the 3rd trimester yesterday, but other sources say it doesn't start until 28 weeks, which is next Sunday. Either way I'm nearing the finish line.

Peanut is moving around quite a bit and I have noticed she has fallen into a schedule. She is usually awake and moving by 6am and stays that way till about 7:30am. She then moves a lot after I eat lunch, usually for about 30 minutes. And then again at night around 9:30-10pm she starts moving, this time for about 2-3 hours. I can get her to move other times of the day by sitting in certain positions, being around louder noises, and eating/drinking cold things. This schedule actually isn't that bad and I wouldn't mind if she continued something similar to it once she is born, but I'm not holding my breath.

I was at work the other evening and Peanut was being super active because I just had some ice water. One of the social workers at my job came in to pick up something he forgot and brought his daughter with him. I think she is around 6 years old. Her dad was talking to her about how I am going to have a baby girl and that she was in her mom's tummy just like my little girl is in mine. She just kept staring at my stomach with this weird expression until her dad asked her what was wrong. She said "It keeps moving", with really big eyes. I hadn't thought about the fact that I was wearing a tighter shirt that day and most of Peanut's movements are now big enough to be seen from the outside. I think it scared the little girl though. I asked if she wanted to feel her and she said no quickly and went to stand very close to her dad.

26 Weeks!

I am definitely starting to show a lot more. I'm wondering how much bigger I'm going to get.

Last week we had another doctor appointment. It was mostly just the normal check my blood pressure, listen to Peanut's heart, and ask/answer questions. I did also have to have my glucose tolerance test which meant I had to drink this really really sweet stuff and have my blood drawn an hour later. I ended up getting a horrible headache and stomachache from all the sugar and then slept for 3 hours. I got a call from the nurse yesterday that said my levels looked fine though so I don't have to go in for another test or start treatment for gestational diabetes. She did tell me though that my iron levels were pretty low and that I need to start taking an iron pill. Not a big deal, just another thing to add to my morning cocktail of prenatal supplements. I am having a problem getting the pill from the pharmacy though. I went yesterday to pick it up and they said that they didn't have any of that one in stock so they were just going to give me something similar. When I asked if it was cleared through my doctor she said no, but that it would be fine. I was very adamant that she call my doctor and ask since I was pregnant and a lot of meds are not safe for me. She just looked at me and was like "oh wow, I'm sorry I didn't know you were expecting. Yeah, you can't take anything besides the one your doctor prescribed." How did she not know I was pregnant? I was wearing the same dress that I am wearing in the above picture. Anyway, now they are trying to find some of the correct stuff for me, but it could take several days. I'm glad this isn't something life threatening that I needed right away.

I guess I will update on what else is going on with us that isn't baby related. I am back to working 6 days a week for awhile. Hopefully it will only be till the end of September, but who knows. I am completely exhausted from it, but my coworkers are very understanding when I need to take a break to put my feet up or get something to eat. I'm sure the over time pay will be helpful in the coming months. This past weekend was the last that Zoombezi Bay was open. This week Sean is working there to help clean stuff up and put stuff into storage for the winter, but for the most part is done there and only working at Buffalo Wild Wings now. He is starting to get more shifts at the bar there instead of serving which is quite exciting.

I am going to try to start taking pictures of the nursery in the next few weeks so everyone can see how it is coming together.

99 Days

I usually post on Sundays because that is the beginning of a new week for Peanut and me, but I felt I needed to post today as well. As of today I have 99 days left until my due date. Almost to the 3rd trimester, definitely already to the uncomfortable part. We just ordered a glider for those late nights that we will have to spend rocking Peanut to sleep because Target is having a big sale on a lot of baby stuff and we could get it for 20% off! Even though it is supposed to come this week I was thinking we would wait a while to set it up, but now I am remembering how comfortable the one we sat in at Babies R Us was and I think I will need that extra comfort the next few months.

There is no doubt anymore that I look pregnant. Everyone is noticing and asking when I'm due. I have lucked out so far that I haven't been the recipient of the stranger belly rub that I have heard a lot about from many other pregnant women.

Also, the nursery is finally starting to come together. While we are keeping it still a guestroom for a few more weeks because we have some company coming, more and more baby stuff has made its way in there, including the crib! We received our crib on Wednesday and I convinced Sean last night to set it up even though it won't be used for many months.

25 weeks

I'm still having problems uploading photos, but hopefully will be able to soon.

Today is the start of another week. 25 weeks done already! That means only 15 more...I can't wait to hold my little girl, but at the same time I wish time would slow down. We still have so much to do before she gets here.

She is kicking up a storm. I keep seeing my stomach move out of the corner of my eye, but when I put my hand on my stomach or tell Sean to, she stops. I know that soon there will be so little room in there that there will be no way she can hide her movements from the "outside" world.


Baby's now the size of an eggplant!
That oh-so-handy sense of equilibrium is kicking in, and baby's learning to distinguish right side up from upside down.

I'm getting a lot more comments from strangers. Every time it still takes me a moment to realize that I am actually getting big enough for others to tell I'm pregnant. I also keep forgetting that my belly is getting bigger and I don't fit places like I used to. I can no longer get in the passenger side of my car if it is in the garage, but keep attempting to and then realizing that I can't.

We have another doctor appointment this Thursday. I'm not looking forward to this one because they are going to the Glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes (they do this for every pregnant woman). I'm not worried about having it, I'm worried about them drawing the blood to do the test. Other than that I think the appointment is just going to be a normal routine one where they just take my blood pressure, listen to the heartbeat and ask if I have any questions.

So for some reason the website won't let me upload photos this week. I'm not sure what is wrong with it, but it is kinda frustrating. Hopefully it will start working again for me soon.

Today is V-Day for me and Peanut. No, not Valentine's Day. Viable day. We have finally reach the point where if for some reason she needs to be born early she has a fighting chance to survive. Of course I don't want her to be born for another 16 weeks, but it is good to know that we have reached this wonderful milestone.

My family is throwing me a shower today! I'm quite excited to get to see everyone and celebrate Peanut. It is making me realize that the nursery is still just a guest/storage room right now and will need a lot of work before we can start taking all the baby stuff in there. I can't believe how fast all of this is going.

On a not completely baby related note. I got a digital SLR camera yesterday! It is a Nikon D90 so I can use my old lenses from my 35mm Nikon and borrow some lenses from my dad too (or just take them ;)). I am hoping to learn a bit more about the camera and start taking some better photos and hopefully get some better lights and backdrops so that we can save some money with Peanut and do our own "professional" photos instead of spending money to have someone else do them.

23 weeks

So nothing that big and exciting has happened this week as far as the pregnancy goes. I've been feeling many more kicks and punches, but she is still really shy about letting other people feel her kick or punch.

This past weekend some of Sean and my friends from Toledo came to visit so now I'm exhausted, but we had a lot of fun. Steffy and Kris gave us this really cute scrapbook for the baby's first year. I took pictures of it that I will post on here hopefully later today because Steffy did just a great job making it.

How far along? 23 weeks 2 days
How big is baby? about the size of a small doll
Total weight gain? again, I'm not saying. I guess if the doctor isn't worried about how much I have gained then I won't worry either :)
Stretch marks? none yet :)
Sleep? Not all that great, but better since I got a new body pillow
Maternity clothes? yep
Belly button in or out? still kinda in, but mostly flat
Best moment this week: getting to open the first official gift for her
Movement: There is a lot of this, especially on my bladder :(
Food cravings: not so much a craving, but I've been eating a lot of dairy, particularly milkshakes, because it helps with heartburn.
Labor signs: none yet :)
What I miss: Well this weekend it was actually beer because we had company and I couldn't have any...I just had to settle for smelling it.
What I am looking forward to: Baby shower this Sunday with my family :)
Milestones: I think I am finally done registering...there is just way too much baby stuff out there.

22 Weeks

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.

How far along? 22 weeks 1 day

How big is baby? About 10 inches

Total weight gain: I don't really want to say :)
Stretch marks? Nope (hopefully it will stay that way)
Sleep: I'm sleeping a lot better than I was a few weeks ago. Now I'm just waking up to try to roll over, or when I need to go to the bathroom (which right now is only 1-2 times a night :))

Maternity clothes? A must

Belly button in or out? Ummm...neither? It is kinda flat right now

Best moment this week: Starting to buy things for our little girl

Movement: There has been lots of movement. A lot of the kicks are visible if you happen to be looking at my belly at the right time
Food cravings: Just cold things since it has been so hot here
Labor Signs: None thank goodness
What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach
What I am looking forward to: Painting and setting up the nursery
Milestones: I have been able to brush my teeth without feeling nauseous all week :)

A couple months ago I went to a garage sale and the lady had a whole bunch of little girls clothes in the right size/season as what we are going to need for our little one, but at the time I didn't know if we were having a girl or a boy. I took the lady's name and phone number and told her I would call her if we found out we were having a girl. I went this morning to look through all the stuff that she hadn't sold and bought so much. I got about 30 different outfits plus a bunch of extra shirts all for around $50. If I would have bought all of this new it would have been well over $300. I figure if our little peanut doesn't wear it then its not a bit deal because I didn't spend that much. She said she is going to have a garage sale ever year so I need to keep her address handy.

Ultrasound Photos

The ultrasound tech was super nice and got a lot of good pictures.

Peanut is a girl!

So we had our big ultrasound yesterday and everything looks great, plus we got a very clear view that Peanut is a GIRL! We are both super excited. I can't wait to go out this next week and start buying stuff for her. I'm sure she is going to be super spoiled (although, I have a feeling a boy would have been spoiled as well). We received some cute ultrasound pictures that I will try to post tonight or tomorrow, whenever I get my scanner hooked up.

Halfway!

So today marks the halfway point of this pregnancy. I can't believe it has already been 20 weeks. This past week was a bit harder at work than typical for me, just a bit more walking/standing than sitting due to a coworker leaving to go back to school. Because of being on my feet a bit more I noticed Friday and Saturday that my ankles and feet were really swollen. Today I took it easy around the house and just spent time watching tv and reading baby books all afternoon with my feet up. The swelling has gone down and I'm feeling a lot more relaxed. While I was laying on the couch I felt the baby move a few times and when I looked down I could actually see it! It was really weird to see part of my belly poke out at random times.

I have been researching a bunch of baby stuff and feel I am almost ready to venture into the baby store again. Last time it was so overwhelming because I didn't know about any of the brands or anything, but now I feel prepared.

Thursday is the big ultrasound day! Hopefully Peanut won't be modest and will give us a good view of whether we should be buying blue or pink.

I decided that since I am at the halfway point now would be a good time to include a baby belly bump picture. The first is 5 weeks pregnant, taken just a few days after we found out, and the second was taken today.

Movement!

Sean got to feel Peanut move last night! It wasn't very strong, but it was still movement. It is cool that I can now tell where the baby is in my stomach just by feeling it. I still can't tell if is the head, body or some other body part, but I can definitely tell if the baby is on my right or left side. Sometimes I can even tell just by looking at my belly and seeing where it is slightly misshapen.

This coming Sunday is the halfway mark of my pregnancy. I can't believe how fast this is going. I know this second half will seem much longer though. I didn't know about the pregnancy till I was 5 weeks along so that took up some time. Also, I will be so much more uncomfortable at the end and will just want to be able to hold my baby in my arms. Ok, I already just want to hold my baby in my arms, but I think it will be cuter come December than it is now.

In other news, we put an in-ground shocker fence for Selene this past Monday. She had gotten shocked at my parents' house a few weeks ago and when she went outside and saw the flags (that mark the edge of where she can go) in her yard she turned right around and tried to go back inside. She is doing a lot better now though. She is still giving the flags a large amount of space, but this morning I had her out there and let go of her leash and just let her walk around on her own and she didn't get shocked. I can't wait till we can just let her outside and she can run around.

Pregnancy has made me not very lady like...

So I have decided that while it is females that have the baby, being pregnant is one of the most unfeminine things ever. There are bodily functions that my body is committing that I didn't know it could do. Plus the ever growing belly is making it hard for me to sit in "lady-like" positions.

Peanut is getting more and more active everyday. At least getting to the point where I can feel s/he more every day. I think there was once that I could feel the baby on the outside with my hand, but it stopped kicking before Sean could feel it. Our dog, Selene, and I were laying on the floor together earlier and she had her head on my stomach and I could feel the baby move and suddenly she jumped, so I think maybe she felt it too. The same thing happened this weekend while we were visiting Sean's dad and step-mom with their cat. I can't wait till I feel that baby even more and till Sean can feel it.

I have been researching baby items the last week or so and am amazed at how much there is to think about when buying this stuff. I found an amazing book that tells you how to find deals on baby stuff and which brands to avoid and which are the best for your money. I'm trying to figure out most everything I want to register for before we actually go in and register so we are not so overwhelmed at the store.

Less than 2 weeks till we get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl! It will be exciting to be able to start talking about names and stuff, but we are still planning on making the nursery as gender neutral as possible since we are hoping to reuse this stuff in the future.

I'm starting to get a lot of belly rubs and pats. This has only happened from family and co-workers and I'm OK with that. I'm not sure I'm going to like it if an old lady at the grocery store comes up and touches my belly.

4 months

I can't believe I'm already 4 months along. This baby will be here in no time. The dizziness I was feeling last week has not come back so it seems it was just that I needed to tweak my diet a little bit. I eat so often now that I don't even really get the chance to be hungry. My boss looked at me the other day an said "every time I come out here you are eating". I thought he was going to tell me to be more productive but he proceeded to ask if he could have some and sat down and ate with me for awhile.

I have been feeling the baby a lot recently. At first it just felt like gas bubbles in a place I have never had them, but now feels stronger almost like pop corn popping in me. I don't feel it all the time, but when I do I almost always stop what I am doing because it just feels so weird. I did notice that the baby sleeps, or at least is really still, most of the day and seems to wake up when I lay down on the couch in the evening. This morning I sneezed while getting ready for work and felt a flurry of movement. I must have scared Peanut awake. (I did feel a little bit bad). I can't wait till the movements get even bigger and Sean can feel them.

I bought a couple books yesterday that help with the all the jumble of everything you are supposed to buy for a baby. One of them even give you money saving techniques. I'm excited to really start researching this stuff and finding what is the safest and most affordable. It will probably still be about 3-4 more weeks before we start making to many baby purchases because we want to find out the gender before we buy too much.

I haven't really gotten to many comments from strangers about my baby bump yet, but I know they will be coming soon because I keep getting stares. It always makes me feel like I buttoned my shirt the wrong way or have something on me, and then I remember they are probably just looking at my growing peanut.

I had my first moment of irrational crying due to pregnancy hormones yesterday on my way home from work. I was stopped at a red light, checked my left to see if I would be able to turn right and the guy behind me laid on his horn and made some exasperated hand movement. Evidently the light turned green right after I turned my head and this guy was extremely impatient. Anyway, I turned and then I felt the tears welling up. I have no idea really why I was crying, I hadn't done anything wrong. That guy just kind of hurt my feelings and crying seemed like the thing to do. When I told Sean about it he was really supportive but I could tell he thought it was really funny. I told him to go ahead and laugh because I thought it was hilarious. I'm sure there will be more crazy emotions to come in the months ahead.

Old Wives Tales

I found this fun website the other week. It asks you a bunch of questions based on Old Wives Tales and gives you the chances you are having either a boy or a girl. Right now I couldn't answer a bunch of them because I'm not far enough along, but here are the results from the ones that pertain to me. I think it will be fun to keep track of this during the months to come and see how right it is.

Congratulations!

You have a 33% chance of having a boy.
And you have a 66% chance of having a girl.

And Here's Why...
You are carrying the extra weight out front, so it's a boy.
The hair on your legs is not growing any faster during your pregnancy, so it's a girl.
Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl.
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl.
Dad-to-be hasn't been gaining weight along with Mom-to-be, so it will be a girl.
The maternal grandmother doesn't have gray hair (dyed or natural), so a girl will be born.
You had morning sickness early in pregnancy, so you are expecting a girl.
You are not looking particularly good during pregnancy. Therefore, it must be a girl, because girls steal their mother's looks.
Your chest development has not been very dramatic during pregnancy. You should expect a boy.
Since the sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of the month of conception is an odd number, it will be a girl.
Your urine is a dull yellow color, so you will have a girl.
You have a craving for salty or sour foods, which means that it is a boy.
Your nose hasn't changed during pregnancy, which indicates a girl.
You have been craving fruits, so it is a girl.
Your baby's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute, so it's a girl.
You have no desire for orange juice, so it's a boy.
You are having headaches, so it's a boy.
You use the handle, so it's a boy.

Heartbeat!

We heard the heartbeat today! It was a strong 150 beats per minute. It was so exciting. The doctor kept the machine on my stomach for awhile so we could hear it while we talked about some other stuff, but I honestly don't remember what all we talked about because I couldn't concentrate on anything besides the heartbeat. I wish I could hear it everyday.

This past week I have been experiencing some dizziness and weakness. I called my OB earlier in the week and the nurse there said to limit my time standing and in the heat and to eat more. She was thinking that the baby was having a growth spurt and if I didn't get enough nutrients in me then it would take from me what it needs and leave me with not enough. That plus the really high temperatures we had this week. When we went to the doctor today she said it is probably just me not eating all the right stuff. So for a few days I have to up my protein intake and salt intake and limit my carbs and sweets. If that doesn't help then she wants to me contact my family doctor about a cardiac work up to see if there is something going on with my blood pressure. I am hoping just fixing my diet will be enough, but I will keep everyone informed.

Sean and I went to Babies-R-Us today to start looking at stuff. It is amazing just how many different strollers there are. We picked up a list of stuff that the store recommends people register for and there were 7 types of strollers on it. Who needs 7 different strollers?!?! I am going to us that list though for ideas and make our own so that we can start comparing different brands and stuff. I'm starting to realize just how fast this pregnancy is going to go.

2nd Trimester

So I'm realizing I'm not the greatest at updating these posts, but really not all that much has happened. I am now in the 2nd trimester. My morning sickness has subsided and my energy levels are up a bit. I still get out of breath and kinda light headed if I do too much on my feet (a nice excuse to get Sean to do some extra cleaning :)). I am in maternity pants pretty much completely with the exception of my scrubs. Maternity tops look kinda funny on me still, but I'm sure in the next couple weeks that will be all that fits.

We have another Dr visit the 29th and we will get to hear the heartbeat at that one. I can't believe how fast all of this is going. This morning there was huge thunderstorm here and I suddenly realized that in a few years we will probably have a little one running into our bed during them or at least calling out to us.

Morning Sickness, Showing, and an Excited Father

I'm knocking on a really big piece of wood right now as I write this, but I think my morning sickness is over. As long as I don't eat anything spicey (all my favorite foods basically) I don't get sick. Hopefully the aversion to spicey things will change over the next few months, but at least it isn't basically every food like it was a couple weeks ago.

I think I might be starting to show. I have been in maternity pants for about a week or so now just because they are just so much more comfortable than trying to squeeze into my other pants. A couple people at work that know I'm pregnant said they thought I was starting to show. I figured it was just because they know so any weight gain they would notice. Then I was at Target the other day to find a new swimsuit and a lady, with a very tiny baby, asked me when I was due. I could understand this question if I was in the maternity section or something, but I had just walked into the store and was getting a cart.

Now that Sean has been to the doctor with me I feel he is starting to get alot more excited about all of this. Maybe even more excited than me, but I think that is only because he doesn't have to deal with all the undesirable pregnancy symptoms. We went to Zoombezi Bay, the water park where he works, yesterday and ran into some people he knows. He immediately reached into his wallet and showed them the ultrasounds. I can't wait till we have to buy him a larger wallet because it won't hold all the millions of pictures of the baby he will be carrying around once s/he is born.

Ultrasound picture

This is my favorite of the ultrasound pictures. It is basically looking at the front of the baby. The head is on the left side of the picture and the dotted line going down the body was the doctor's way of measuring it.

It is too early to tell the gender, but everyone has their guesses (and right now it seems like 50% for both).

First Ultrasound!

Things on the baby front are going really well. We had our first appointment with the OB yesterday and had the first ultrasound. The doctor asked me if I had coffee that morning because the peanut would not stop moving. I think it was just the excitement of seeing the little one and this finally seeming real. Even though the morning sickness has kind of made it seem real to me. I scanned a couple of the photos and will hopefully figure out how to post them on here soon. Sean has one that he is carrying around in his wallet.

I will be 10 weeks tomorrow. Only a couple more weeks of the first trimester and then bring on the second. I hear everything gets better in the second trimester. Things really havn't been that bad though. Only a few days of morning sickness, like maybe 1-3 a week, all the other days I feel fine. It will be nice to have a little more energy though. Our house really needs cleaned.

I can't believe how fast this is going already. It seems like just last week we found out and it is already 5.5 weeks later. 12/20/09 will be here before we know it.