baby shower catch up!

I know, I know..we are WELL overdue for an update on here. It's unacceptable that I haven't done it in two months. Honestly, I think about it every couple of days, and KNOW that I need to just sit down and do it, and of course I don't. My energy level is pretty depleted by the end of the day these days, and composing a blog entry is usually the last thing I want to do. It's just so much easier sitting on the couch, zoning out in front of the TV. But with less than four weeks to go in this pregnancy, its time to play catch up!

I don't even know where I left off..Thanksgiving? The weekend after Thanksgiving was my baby shower. My mom and sister threw it for me, and it was lovely. They worked hard on it, and even threw in a couple surprises for me. If you know me, you know I'm pretty tough to surprise -- but they pulled it off! One being a fun little game involving Ryan. My sister video taped him, asking him a series of questions about babies and a few other random questions, then had me answer how I thought he would respond. I loved it! I think that Ryan, being the clown that he is, got some laughs out of the crowd as well!



We had a great turn out for the shower, and are SO thankful for everyone that took the time to be there, and even the ones who couldn't, that still acknowledged us in some way. Everyone's generosity towards our little girl is greatly appreciated! She's not even here yet, and so many people already love her. It's a great feeling.

In fact, this whole pregnancy, we've experienced nothing but positive words and support from our friends and family, and it's been awesome! We can partly thank technology for that one (ie; facebook) but thats okay, because its the best way to reach out to a bunch of people at one time. What DID people do before the existence of social networking?! :)




Next up, was Christmas. We spent it in Erie with my family, and had a good time. We were spoiled again by our family -- both near AND far. We are blessed, thats for sure. It's weird to think it was our last Christmas without kids. But I know that next year, even though she'll only be about 10 months old, the holidays are still going to be given a whole new meaning. I'm looking forward to it :)


We rang in our last kid-free New Year's Eve in a low key fashion -- which was completely okay. After Ryan got off of work, we headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, we swung by the store to pick up some sparkling grape juice (oh yea, high rollers!) and then headed home to relax on the couch until midnight. Once midnight rolled around, we watched the ball drop, then headed to sleep shortly after that. Party animals! ;)



2011 was a great year. Many ups, a few downs, but all in all, it was good to us. I am looking forward to welcoming 2012 in, and all of the wonderful blessings yet to come.

hello, third trimester!

I am now less than three months from my due date -- crazy, right?? It's hard to believe that in two days, I will be at the 29 week mark. Last week marked the start of the third trimester already. It honestly feels like I just found out I was pregnant, and now we are on the home stretch! I know that everyone keeps telling me that this is the trimester that will drag on and on, but we've got some things going on in the next couple months to keep us busy. My baby shower, for one. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and getting the nursery ready. Now that I think about it, three months doesn't seem like ENOUGH time for what we have to do! We have some clothes, I bought the letters for her name hanging on the wall, and well, that's about it. After my baby shower, we will need to be in full baby mode and get prepared!!

On the baby front, everything with her is going well. She's kicking every day, which is still cool to feel. Ryan gets to feel her all the time. He talks to my belly, which is sweet :) One night, he was being silly, talking into my stomach to her in a weird voice and baby didn't like that very much -- she kicked him in the face. LOL. May have been a punch, I can't distinguish body parts quite yet! haha.

I failed my one hour glucose test. Barely, but enough for them to want me to go in and do the three hour test. I got that done the following week, and it was NOT fun! It was a fasting test, so not only did I not get to eat for over 12 hours (pregnant woman torture!!) but I got to get blood drawn every hour, which ended up being four separate blood draws. Needles don't bother me, but my poor arms were starting to look like a drug addicts by the end of the test! Luckily though, I passed that test so all is well with that. Thank GOD. Gestational diabetes is not my idea of a good time, for several reasons.

Next week is Thanksgiving, then after that is my baby shower. I'm looking forward to it! A few short weeks after that is Christmas -- I need to start my shopping! We'll also probably put our tree up sometime after next weekend. Lots of exciting stuff going on around here in the next few months :)

I will leave you with my latest belly shot, taken at 27 weeks.

baby kicks :)

It's been awhile since I've posted! I don't wanna say this pregnancy has been very un-eventful (*knock on wood*!!) since I've hit the second trimester, but it really has! Therefore, there hasn't been too many milestones to write about. Everything as far as my health and the baby's health, is going smoothly. I had my 22 week check up last week, and everything looks and sounds great. My next appointment is set for October 28th, which is when I get the lovely glucose test. However, I've already been there, done that..so taste wise, I'm not worried. I just hope the tests come back normal!

A few weeks ago, I went on a little adventure with Katie and Jamie to pick up a doppler off of a woman from Craigslist. For a retail value of $99, I got it for $40. woo! I don't use it all the time, but its been nice to hear the little one's heartbeat here and there :) Always in the 140's. It was definitely a good investment!

The biggest and coolest thing since my last update is baby kicks :) It started as flutters, and is now full on kicks, punches and rolls. Since I've gotten over the freaking me out part, its the coolest thing! Ryan has even felt her over the past few days :) I think he really likes it & can now feel more involved. A few weeks ago whenever I'd mention the baby was kicking a lot, he'd ask if he could feel yet. Now, she's definitely strong enough to be felt on the outside! I'm pretty sure she recognizes his voice by now, because when he talks to her, she kicks even harder. So cute.

We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary last weekend :) We both had the weekend off, and instead of going out of town somewhere like we planned, we stuck around Pittsburgh and just spent the whole weekend together. It was nice! We hit up the pumpkin patch, went out for dinner one night, and even went to Babies R Us to work on our registry (lol). It was a nice, relaxing weekend and a lovely way to celebrate one year of marriage together :)

That's all I've really got for now. I promise to update more frequently, especially since we are getting closer to the end now!

Before I go, my most recent belly shot. Taken at 21 weeks. I'm due for a new one, I know!

we have a healthy heart!

Yesterday was my fetal echo-cardiogram. I went alone this time, because Ryan had class and we weren't sure I'd be done in time before he had to leave. Since he took off most of his classes for the day for our 18 week ultrasound, I told him not to worry about it.

When I arrived, I was nervous. I told myself I wouldn't worry -- and for the most part, I didn't. But the DAY OF..nerves were a little high. I was a little relieved when the tech told me that she would take some pictures first, then the fetal cardiologist would come in and take a few more, and then give me the results. Here, I thought I'd have to wait three more weeks until my next check-up to find out any news!

The test itself was kinda boring. I didn't even get a screen to look at. Plus, the tech was SO QUIET. She literally said two words once she started scanning my belly with the doppler. I know she was concentrating on getting all of the right shots of baby's heart, but the silence was a little awkward. And, I've never had a silent ultrasound tech before. They've always assured me as they go along, that things were looking good. So, I was starting to assume that maybe she saw something, and didn't want to say anything -- and of course, I was afraid to ask! Luckily, the doctor came in shortly after that. He looked through all of the shots the tech had taken, and seemed satisfied enough not to take any himself. The good news is, he said everything looked BEAUTIFUL and there was absolutely no need to worry!! This was such a HUGE relief. Now, we can concentrate on getting everything ready for the arrival of our little girl. I just realized that on monday, I'll be 20 weeks. This means I am halfway done with this pregnancy. What?? Where has the time gone?!

it's a...

Last week, we had our 18 week anatomy scan ultrasound, and discovered we'd be welcoming a sweet little girl in about five months :) I can honestly say, neither of us were surprised. In fact, Ryan almost convinced himself that it was a girl for weeks before hand. Even though I thought all along that it was a boy (not sure why, but my "intuition" was clearly way off!!) but when the tech said there were no boy parts to be seen, I wasn't shocked. Probably because EVERYONE except me, thought it was a girl :) But I have to say, shopping for a girl is going to be SO MUCH FUN. Yes, much to Ryan's dismay, our daughter will be wearing pink and big hair bows and everything else girly..at least while I have the power to dress her and choose her outfits!

Finding out she was a girl actually proved to be a little difficult! For awhile, we thought we'd walk out of there still not knowing. She's a stubborn little lady!! For the longest time, she refused to open her legs enough to get a peek (good girl! lol) eventually, she moved her legs just enough to show us that she is indeed, a female. Then, the tech was trying to get a good shot of her face to check for cleft lip, and she refused to move her arms away from her face! So stubborn -- she's taking after her mom already ;)

Everything else was measuring on track. I have to go in on Thursday to get a fetal echo-cardiogram done, to check just her heart. Apparently, they could not get a good enough picture of all four chambers, so as a precaution, they are bringing me back in to get another picture. I have chosen not to worry yet, because that will get me no where. I did a little reading, and it seems that its not uncommon for this to happen, especially since at 18 weeks, the heart can still be hard to see. My doctor did not seem concerned, and assured me that this happens in 20-30% of pregnancies. So, in the meantime, positive thoughts and any prayers you might want to throw our way are certainly welcome!

For those who have asked, yes, we DO have a name picked out. However, we've decided to keep that to ourselves until she's born. A few family members know, but, we thought it would be neat to keep SOMETHING a secret. Sorry for those who have to wait!!

Until next time..

goodbye first trimester..hello second!!

Monday marked a milestone, as far as this pregnancy is concerned -- we are now in the second trimester! This is seriously crazy to me. I am already three months pregnant. Where has the time gone?? Ryan commented today that in six months, we'll have a baby. What?! But, I've heard from several people that the second trimester was their favorite time -- so, I am looking forward to it! The nausea has already gotten better (yessss...oh, and KNOCK ON WOOD!!) which is wonderful!

I had my 14wk appointment yesterday. Much to our disappointment, our doctor STILL couldn't locate the heartbeat using the abdominal doppler. She tried four weeks ago, during my 10wk appointment (after much begging, on my part) and we couldn't hear it. I thought for sure we'd be able to hear it this time. Nope :( She didn't seem concerned though, but decided to pull out this extremely ancient ultrasound machine to check on the baby. The machine was seriously SO OLD -- but, we were able to make out the baby very briefy, saw a little movement (I think it was sleeping..lol.) and most importantly, a heartbeat. I felt better after that! I might just end up being one of those unlucky folks who NEVER gets to hear their kids heartbeat...only gets to see it flickering on the screen. Thank you for that, tilted uterus!

I finally purchased my first pair of maternity pants! Honestly, I'm still able to wear my regular clothes (though, my pants are getting a teeny bit snug) but, I had been eying up these gaucho pants on Old Navy's site. For a week or so, they had pretty much no sizes left in stock, except for extra-small (yea, right!) and one morning, I noticed they had re-stocked their sizes and also, had a 20% off special going for that day, so I jumped on it! I ordered two pairs -- one in black, one in coffee brown. The black pair arrived today and I LOVE them. They are SO comfortable! They are nicer than sweat pants, so I can wear them out in public without feeling TOO much like a bum ;)

Before I go, I leave you with my first belly pic (okay, I took one at 7wks, but it doesn't look like anything, I promise) Most of it is still not baby bump, but oh well!



Oh! Our next appointment is set for September 7th -- this is when we find out if Baby F is a little boy or a little girl :)

the secret is out!

I suppose now that the big secret is officially out -- we can share our big news with you! In February, Ryan and I will be welcoming a new addition into our family -- our first baby!



We first found out in the beginning of June (it was confirmed via blood test on my dad's birthday, to be exact!) and while it was a surprise, it was a wonderful surprise, and we're getting more and more excited about it everyday! We told a couple of our closest friends and family, but chose to wait to make the big announcement until we got our first ultrasound at 12 weeks, to make sure everything was absolutely okay.

Our first ultrasound/first trimester screening went AWESOME. It was truly amazing being able to see our little bean right in front of us! It's so crazy that at just 12 weeks along, it already looks like a little human. We saw it's little face, arms and legs -- it was wonderful! Up until that point, we hadn't been able to hear the heartbeat, so to be able to SEE the little heart beating on the screen was so cool :) The heartbeat was coming in at a strong 165 bpm. Then, the little one must have woken up, because it started kicking its legs and punching its little arms around in the air. Ryan was so excited, and couldn't stop staring at the screen (neither could I!) he even asked the tech if she could tell the gender yet, but she said it was way too early to even make a guess -- lol. We should be able to find that out around Labor Day! At first, I was up in the air about wanting to find out, but honestly, I don't think I can wait that long. Plus, I am not a huge fan of the color yellow, and I want to be able to go out and buy little outfits!! I'll be darned if my kid has to be decked out in yellow for the first six months of its life! haha! Speaking of gender, I made a post on a baby board for some ultrasound tech's to try and guess what they think the baby is -- and we got 50/50 answers, so right now, it truly is up in the air!

The other day, I was out shopping and spotted a clearance section of some baby stuff at Target. Normally, I try to steer clear of baby stuff right now because I don't plan on buying anything until we at least have the anatomy scan. However, that bib caught my eye! I have been a blogger for YEARS and that bib is absolutely perfect. lol. Not to mention, it was only 58 cents!! What a deal! Then, Renz spotted those little pants and even though they are yellow (ehhh) when I saw they were only $1.98, I couldn't resist! So, the baby officially has its first few baby items :) I promise, no more purchases for a little while!! That is, unless I run in to some more sweet deals ;)


Pregnancy news wise, I've been feeling a lot better than I have been the past few weeks (thank the Lord!) I never got violently sick, but I definitely felt nauseous a lot, and had some serious food aversions. Seriously, NOTHING sounded good. It was incredibly hard for me to even think of what I might want to be able to stomach, so cooking on my part was very scarce for those couple months! Luckily, my husband was a trooper and ended up eating A LOT of subway sandwiches during that time! lol. Now, things are a lot better in that department (I do get nauseous at times, but mostly when I go too long without having something in my stomach -- gotta work on that!!) and I've been cooking more, and food is starting to sound good again (yay!). The biggest annoyance right now, is headaches, but I can deal with that!

Now that we have such big changes going on in our lives, I promise to update this more often than I do, because there will be many updates in the coming months!!

Until next time...