32 Weeks

32 weeks!!!  approximately 55 days until my due date.  It is sneaking up on me but ever so slowly (if that is possible!)  This past week Brian and I got to take a tour of the hospital and see where all the fun stuff is going to go down.  I loved it!  We saw where we go to check in when I go into labor, where I will pace the hallways, and where I will actually deliver.  We got to ask some questions and just take in the atmosphere....makes us both excited and maybe a little antsy.  It won't be long until we are back in that place!!

I had a dr appt today and am measuring at exactly 32 weeks...right on schedule!  The dr confirmed that the baby's head is down so that is good news...hopefully it stays put now!  Heart beat was between 151-155.  

Here is my 32 week picture.  I feel that I have pretty much exploded this past week.  My comfy t-shirts are starting to not cover the whole belly anymore, I never really saw that coming for some reason.  It is getting harder and harder to find gym clothes that fit and most people ask if I am going to have the baby any day now. 

 I am starting to get the black line on my stomach, leading all the way up above the belly button.  Kind of hard to see in this pic. 

Just in case you thought this wasn't very big, here is a reminder of what I used to look like: 















This weekend we went to Minneapolis to watch the Vikings beat the 49ers with our usual group. 

It was the baby's first Vikings game!!  It was definitely loud in the metrodome and the baby was feeling it! 

31 weeks

9 weeks left people!!  we are down to less than 2 hands....love it! 

Here is our excitement from the past week:

The crib bedding arrived!!  I have never been so excited to do laundry in my life :)  I got the bedding washed and put together right away Saturday morning. 

Car seat arrived!!  Not installed but ready and waiting in the nursery.  I bought a canopy cover for the carseat a while back and it matches perfectly!  Baby R is going to look so cute in his/her car seat!! 

Brian has been busy too.  He is working on building a huge shelving unit in the garage for us to put totes etc on.  He has also been busy staining the doors and drawers that go on our bathroom vanity.  All we have left is to plumb in the sink and buy a mirror.  Once the mirror is in our electrician will come back and install the final lights above the vanity.  so close!! 

30 Weeks!

10 weeks to go!  Definitely getting more and more excited to see the face of this squirrely baby!  The kicks are getting more powerful and the limbs are beginning to poke out of my stomach!!  Most of the time I enjoy feeling and watching the babys kicks, but sometimes (when I'm trying to sleep) I try to tell it to settle down ;)  

We are trying to get more ready for the baby's arrival.  The car seat and the crib bedding should be arriving in the mail soon, and then we can breathe easy.  We will be able to bring the baby home and it will have a place to sleep.  Those are the important things that I needed to get off my chest.  I can't wait to get the bedding put in the crib!!  I told Brian we are going to swaddle a doll and lay it in the crib until Baby R arrives!  

The basement is still trucking along.  We have the bathroom vanity and linen closet, just need to get it all installed.  Can't wait for this to be done either.  Hopefully my next blog will contain pictures of a finished bathroom and a finished crib.  

28 Weeks {3rd trimester}

We have officially entered the 3rd trimester!!  I have been feeling really great through this point and I really hope that trend continues!!  I think this past week the baby has grown and has gotten really strong because the kicking is getting really prominent and I am really starting to feel  actual body parts instead of just tiny kicks and flutters.  It feels so strange yet amazing!!  

Brian and I went to Chicago this past weekend with Jena & Kory and we met Andrea and Jon there.  It was a college roommate reunion!!  We had so much fun together.  We went to a Cubs baseball game and the temperate was HOT!  It felt about the same temp as it was on the 4th of July, and I think I was sweating even worse at the game than at the parade.  The amazing part is that people in Chicago seem to LOVE pregnant women.  At the game I was given a lot of attention and a lot of the stadium staff made it a point to tell me that if I was too hot at any time just to let someone know and I could utilize a special "cooling" room at the stadium.  I didn't use it, but it was nice knowing it was there.  

We did a ton of walking in Chicago.  I have never had such sore feet in my life!  The extra 20 pounds I'm carrying around is really getting to me :)  This was my first experience with swollen feet.  Luckily Brian was a champ and as soon as we got back to the hotel he got me a bag of ice and propped my feet up on some pillows.  30 minutes later the swelling was down and I wasn't grossed out by my feet anymore!!

Here is my "official" 28 week photo taken on Navy Pier with the Chicago skyline in the background. 

Brian and I at "The Bean".  I can't wait to see a movie based in Chicago so I can see the sights again!  We had so much fun in Chicago and definitely not enough time to do it all.  We will have to go back again soon!!

Week 25 | Lots going on

I'd like to say I have been so busy I haven't been able to make time to update the blog.  Well, that's not really true.  Brian has been super busy and I have been super lazy and also super obsessed with watching the Olympics.  Here is what has been happening with us lately:

I went to the Dr for my 24 week appt.  Everything seems to be well, my weight gain is reasonable (I would rather have heard excellent, but I'll take reasonable).  I've gained 15 pounds through 25 weeks.  Can you tell?

Maybe it is all the Pizza Ranch I've been eating? 

We got a pizza after church today and it was DELICIOUS!! 

Belly shot :) 

We also moved into the basement this weekend!  It is so awesome finally having a finished basement and seeing the smiles on Brian's face as he accomplished everything he wanted to.  We still have a few finishing touches left but it is definitely livable for now! 

Brian's man cave is complete!!  He is so happy with the way his surround sound and fireplace turned out.

Bedroom one is ready for visitors!!  Who will be first?

Bedroom two is also ready!!  Come on over!!

Brian discovered a hornets nest under an eave on the back of the house. 

So we sprayed it.  Knocking the nest down is still on the to-do list. 

Here is how lonely our upstairs living room is now.  We can't buy furniture until we close on our re-finance so it's going to look like this until September!

Brian and his dad also got the crib set up this weekend!  It is so exciting that we now have an actual nursery and we can start to decorate!!

Here is the crib set up and the baby's first outfits!!  They are so cute!  Thank you Grandma Vickie!!

And here is what we are doing tonight......I made celebratory smoothies and put them in fun glasses.  We are sipping on these while watching the Olympics tonight!  Go USA!!

Great News!!

We received great news this AM.....the daycare provider we were hoping for has accepted us!  She is a great lady and lives super close.  Our baby will be her 5th and last child that she will be watching so our baby will get lots of attention and still have friends to play with.  The bonus?  She lives 1.7 miles away! 

More on Baby R to come soon!  

Week 21

Last week was week 21 of Baby R's life.  We finally had our ultrasound and got to meet it!!  My favorite part was watching a leg or an arm on the ultrasound screen move around and feel it at the same time.  It made it feel so real!!  My least favorite part of the ultrasound was when the Dr. told us they found an echogenic focus on the baby's left ventricle of the heart.  Apparently this is a soft marker for Downs Syndrome.  The Dr did a thorough ultrasound and showed us that all the other markers for Downs were not present and that the chance our baby has Downs is around .1%.  So a small freakout session was had by me at this time!!  Now that a week has passed and I have had some time to research it and pray about it I feel 100% better than I did last Friday when we first found out.  Most of the stuff I have found online says that most babies born with an echogenic focus are totally healthy, normal babies.  Here is a link with more info:

http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/Images/GEN_US%20EIF%20handout_tcm63-9941.pdf

Anyways, I like to focus on the fact that Baby R is super cute and looks like Brian!!  Only 130ish more days until we will be formally introduced!! 

Isn't this the cutest baby ever?!  I can't wait to snuggle with it!!!  And no, we definitely don't know if it is a HE or a SHE.  My gut feeling is still boy though!!