The time is getting near...

Only 15 weeks left!  That's 3 1/2 months or 105 days!!!  I get more excited about having her with us every single day.  Here are some new things going on in the pregnancy:

- I'm getting larger (I know, not super new but I've been told by several people that I have finally "popped")

- Baby can now kick one side of me and hit/head butt the other side of me at the same time so I can now definitely TELL she's bigger and FEEL her getting bigger.

- My stomach has started to ripple every time she kicks and when she rolls it's a sight to be seen because it looks like I've got an alien inside of me.

- She's starting to play games, when I feel her kick I press down on where she is kicking and she'll start kicking/hitting the other side of me until I put my hand there and then she goes back to the other side.

- Baby has proven to be a night owl/early morning bird.  During the day she's pretty quiet and I'm lucky to get a flutter from her but after 8:30pm she goes to town with her acrobatics.  When Mike wakes up (at 4am most mornings) she wakes right up with him and I have to BEG her to let me go back to sleep for a couple of hours.  :)  

- Kids seem to gravitate toward my belly.  I have kids in the hallway at school (mostly kindergartners) who have no idea who I am but reach out and touch my belly when they're passing me.  Strange...but interesting.

So, I think that's it as far as pregnancy updates go.  I have a Dr.'s appointment. next Monday (Oct. 20).  It's my glucose screening to test for gestational diabetes which I don't show symptoms of, so it shouldn't be an issue.  I think I mentioned it before but essentially I'll be drinking a bottle of non-carbonated orange soda with about an extra half cup of sugar in it...yum yum.  It's already in our fridge waiting for me.  I think (and will double check) that I have this appointment and then one more four weeks later and after that I start going every two weeks.  It's all surreal to me but so exciting!

That's all for now.  I'll update as soon as I can with the 25 week picture.

Growing Baby!

22 weeks and growing! When this was taken Mike and I were getting ready to go out on a date to celebrate being OVER halfway through this pregnancy! It has not been an easy one by any stretch, but I wouldn't change any of it because God has truly shown his blessing on us through it all.

The only together shot that we have together so far during this pregnancy. Mike usually is the one behind the camera so that we can get the right angle for the pictures (I usually make him take 5 pictures to every one that I post) so we'll have to find a new photographer so we can get some pictures together. We're headed to Disney for our anniversary trip and we're going with some good friends of ours so I expect we'll get quite a few of the two of us then! :)

24 weeks. We have 16 weeks left until our due date, sometimes it feels like the time is FLYING and others it just drags and drags. We are so looking forward to bringing our little one home!

Another 24 week picture.

I'm going to try to make it a point to take at least one picture a week until the end of it all from now on so that we have more of a record of how quickly I'm growing. I literally will wake up from one day to the next and notice that I've gotten progressively larger.

22 week appointment

We're over halfway there!  Only about 18 more weeks to go until # 3 is here with us!  It's crazy to think that we've come this far, we feel so blessed and so elated.  We're still working on names but will not be revealing the final decision until the day of her birth.  We've got very special names in mind for her and we'll be very excited to let everyone know what her name is when she's here.  It'll be something fun for Mike to be able to tell everyone once she's born and is named.  

Anyway, in other news, baby and I had our 5th (?) appointment with Dr. Kellogg yesterday.  Mike couldn't make it as he was reffing a volleyball game so my dad took me.  It was a pretty routine exam, just heartbeat, measurements and weight.  So far I've only gained 6lbs which they seem to think is a little unusual but I eat pretty healthy and the baby's size is on track so they aren't concerned.  Baby is measuring right on track and the heartbeat is healthy and LOUD.  

I also expressed some concern because Sunday afternoon I got a nasty pain that started in at the bottom of my shoulder blades and went all the way through my jaw.  It was killer and NOTHING helped with it.  I got to the point where I was in so much pain that it made me sick.  This went on for over 12 hours until I finally was able to fall asleep.  After explaining what the pain felt like he looked at me with a small smile and said that it sounded like I was experiencing really bad gas....are you kidding me?  :)  I also have had some bad pain in my right side that heads on through my back.  The nurse told me that the baby is finding it comfortable hang out on my sciatic nerve and it will be causing me pain throughout the pregnancy.  She actually said that because of how consistent the pain is and because of how long it lasts when it happens that it sounds like the baby is actually sleeping on the nerve.  Thank goodness all of this will bring us a sweet baby in the end!

So that was the extent of it.  My next appt. is on October 27 and it is my big glucose test to see if I have developed gestational diabetes.  It's actually kind of a nasty test.  I basically will be drinking a bottle of flat orange soda with essentially an extra half cup of sugar in it to see if my body can process sugar correctly.  Yuuuuuum.  

Until next time!

She's getting bigger!

This was me at 19 weeks.  I started to notice a little bump at about 15 weeks but it was at 19 weeks that I seem to have "popped" and people started to ask if I was pregnant.

This is me at 21 weeks.  A co-worker of mine is expecting on November 15 and this is her baby shower at work.  I know you have to look closer at this one to see my bump but you'll notice it is a bit bigger than the first.  In fact, the phrase I hear most at work is, "you're getting bigger!"  (at least 3 times a day)  Will post more soon!

Out with the old...in with new...

It came time to transition my wardrobe this week.  I am realizing that less and less of my pre-pregnancy clothes are fitting me.  Even my bigger shirts are starting to get a little snug.  Mike has been bugging me for a couple of weeks to go through our closet and put my pre-preggo clothes into storage so that there is room for my maternity stuff (it has just been sitting on the floor in the closet making it hard to get around).  I was hesitant for a while to do it because I just kept convincing myself that there was no way I'd stop fitting into some of my clothes.  When I went to put on some of my old shirts last night, after going through 4 or 5 of them, I realized it was time to transition.

It's a fun time because I get to explore all of the new clothes so graciously lent to me (it's like going shopping without spending money :) ) and they now occupy the drawers in my closet.  It's also exciting because I know that my baby girl is getting closer and closer to being home with us (about 4 months!).  Every little step we take in the pregnancy gets us closer and closer which is extremely exciting!

This week our project is to clean out the guest room closet.  It has been our little storage unit here in the house and now we need the room for our new addition.  Our goal right now is to throw away/give away most of the stuff in there because as of now, the stuff has sat in there for a year and hasn't even been looked at.  We'll see how that goes.  :)  

We bought a crib last week.  It's a beautiful white, hand crafted sleigh crib (well, it says it's sleigh, I don't think it looks a lot like one).  It retails for $800 dollars normally, plus it's got an added storage drawer on the bottom that would add an extra $100, AND it came with a $150 dollar mattress (yes, we researched each part of it to make sure we weren't being scammed) and we got it for well under $200 so we are elated!  The family that we bought it from is done having kids and they wanted to get it off of their hands and had been trying to sell it for several months.  When we were interested they were happy to bargain.  We'll probably buy their changing table also as it matches the crib, is of good quality and is a great price ($20!).  God really blessed us with this purchase.  We knew it would be hard to afford a brand new crib but we wanted something nice and this one is better quality craftsmanship than any of the new ones that we would have been able to afford.  Mike set it up and I find myself regularly walking into the room just to imagine having the little one around.  :)  (I'll post pictures of it when the room is cleaner)

My next appointment is Sept. 29 for just the routine stuff.  It will be the first one that I go to by myself so I'm praying nothing out of the ordinary happens.

On another note...the baby must LOVE college football because any time I have it on or have something related to it on she kicks up a storm.  Must take after Carolyn.  ;)

The Results From The Gender Scan Say...........

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting a baby girl in February!  It comes as kind of a surprise.  I actually suspected that it was a girl early on, but had convinced myself that it must be a boy because my suspicions certainly could not have been correct.  :)

We got to our appt. about 15 minutes early and the tech honored that by pulling us in after about 5 minutes.  He started off by letting me know that I wouldn't be able to see most of the ultrasound because the monitor would be facing him, but that Mike could watch the whole thing.  I was incredibly nervous (as usual) and as soon as he sensed this, he turned on the audio from the ultrasound so I could listen to the heartbeat.  At that point I relaxed and let the man do his job.  About 5 minutes in, he made a comment along the lines of, "I wish I could get her to stop moving for a minute so I can get some of these measurements!"  At that point, I knew it was a girl.  Mike swears he didn't hear him say it, but I know what I heard ;).    The scan went on for another 15 minutes or so before he turned the screen to me.  He explained that he had, in passing, noticed that it looked like it was probably a girl but he wanted to make sure.  He showed us the proof and kept it there for a minute  or so to make sure there was nothing hiding and sure enough, it is a girl!  Her little feet were actually crossed at the ankle and were swinging back and forth the entire time we were looking at the shot.  

She is a "textbook" baby.  Her measurements were all right on target and everything looks beautiful.  GOD IS SO FAITHFUL!  

Little kicks!

I've been told by every mom that when the baby starts to have noticeable movement, I will most definitely know that it's the baby.  Starting about a month ago, every once and a while I'd feel little flutters-like little butterflies-on the right side of my stomach.  I always attributed that to gas because I've been told it's really easy to get confused with the two.  

About a week ago, I was lying in bed and felt a very strong kick on my right side though.  At first, I thought I was imagining it, but I put my hand down on my stomach and sure enough, I felt two more strong kicks and knew that it was 100% baby.  :)  It was the most amazing feeling ever!  It definitely made the fact that we'll have a newborn in a few short months very real.  Since then I've noticed that if I'm sitting certain ways, or if I stay still after being really active, I can get him/her to give me a few kicks.  It's very sporadic and I look forward to the days when it happens frequently.  

In other new baby news-

**This Thursday, Sept. 4, we go in for our "anatomy scan" where they look to make sure all of the baby's organs are functioning properly and are forming properly.  It is also during the scan that we will *fingers crossed* be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl!  :)  So big news to come this week. I'll also be having my big spinal bifida blood test done while we are there.  I've been praying daily that when we have the scan and blood test, everything will turn out normal and we'll know that our healthy baby is on the way.  Matthew 6:34, Proverbs 3:5-6 and Phil. 4:6 are what I've been reciting to help give me some peace.

**I am now having to wear maternity pants full time.  Even my pre-pregnancy pants that don't have buttons/zippers are starting to get uncomfortable.  I have been very lucky because a girl at church has lent me most of her maternity clothes and so Mike and I have been able to save a lot of money because of it (and we have the same taste in clothing, so I LOVE the clothes!).  Every once and a while I have to pull out one of the shirts, I have a feeling though that in the coming weeks I'll be wearing them full time as the bump is getting bigger by the day.

**At this point in the pregnancy I am supposed to stop sleeping on my back.  I guess when I lay on my back for long periods of time I am compressing a vein and it slows blood flow to my heart which can cause some problems.  This is very hard for me because I am a total back sleeper.  I've never really been able to fall asleep on either side.  I have been struggling with this for several days and final caved today and went out and bought a body pillow to help prop me on my side at night.  

**I am really starting to enjoy the pregnancy.  Even heartburn and swelling has been a blessing because it is a reminder of what God is doing inside of me.  To think that come February Mike and I will have a baby is crazy!  What is even more insane to think about is that God has chosen us to be the parents.  We are so thrilled to start this new adventure!  I will tell you that I have never felt more strongly that God exists than now.  Every time I feel the little kicks and think about what is going on inside of me, I can't help but be in awe of our creator and His intricate design.  

We'll definitely post on Thursday or Friday with the results from the scan!  Any last minute predictions?  All of the girls at work think it's a girl, the church is split (those who care to guess, anyway), and my mom changes her mind every other day!  :)  I don't have a clue!