baby f -- in 3D!!

I've had a very textbook pregnancy (knock on wood!!) and because of this, I've needed minimal medical intervention. My appointments consist of measuring the fundal height(aka uterus size, basically) and checking baby's heartbeat. Then, sending me along my merry way because everything always checks out perfect, developmentally.

Of course, we are VERY grateful for this case, as it could be much worse. But, on the other hand, we've only been given two ultrasounds because of it. When you're an anxious parent-to-be, the waiting is tough! There are elective 3D/4D ultrasound clinics out there, and seem to be quite popular lately. You don't need a doctor's referral, and it gives you the chance to see your baby in 3D -- which is amazing. The only downfall is having to pay for it out of pocket, as insurance obviously doesn't cover something elective.

We'd been on the fence about this. We really wanted to, but there is only one place in the Pittsburgh area, and the cheapest package is $225. With it being the holiday season, that's pretty pricey. So, we were just going to forget about it, and suck it up and wait. But then, my sister told me about a place in Morgantown, WV. Their prices were competitive, and much more feasible, so we decided to go for it.

The experience was awesome!! We hadn't seen our little one since early September, which was 18 weeks along. The first thing Ryan said when we saw her on the screen was "wow! she got big!" and she totally did. So big, you can't even get her entire body in one shot anymore. Crazy! But seeing her in 3D/4D was SO COOL. We could see all of the features of her face, right down to the little lines in her knuckles. It was crazy! She was being pretty cooperative, except for when she kept sucking her thumb. It was very cute, and she was very content with her hands on her face. lol. A couple times, she stuck her tongue out and at one point, flipped us off! Too funny.

Without further adieu, I leave you with some pictures of our girl.






and lastly -- I leave you with my latest belly photo.

introducing: the nursery!

I figured the nursery deserved a post in itself. Sure, its nothing special or "designer" by any means, and you probably won't be seeing it on pinterest -- but we're happy with it and I love the colors :)



Back when we found out it was a girl, Ryan requested that the nursery not be all pink, and I was completely okay with that. I mean, I do enjoy pink, but I know it can be overkill. In fact, when I was 7 and we moved into a new house, my parents let us pick our own carpet for our new rooms. Ha! I bet they regret that, because of course, I picked out the gaudiest pink out there. Then, insisted that my closet doors, trim and light covers also be pink. And since my dad is the best, he complied. I just wish I had a photo on me to show you the obnoxiousness!

But anyway, so Ryan and I both agreed on purple and found a nice bedding set we both liked, while registering for our baby shower. It's a nice mix of purple, pink, brown and orange :) One day while I was at work, Ryan decided to surprise me and paint the nursery. This was in November, over his Thanksgiving break from school. I thought for sure that the walls wouldn't get painted until his Christmas break, so I was pleasantly surprised at his initiative -- and he did awesome, it turned out great! It was his idea to do the three alternating colors, with the lightest color strip across the center. Turned out great! We had decided to just do an accent wall so we didn't have to repaint the whole room in the future.



First, we'll show off the crib. That was hand made by my Dad. He does AMAZING work, and we couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Seriously. My parents wanted to get us the crib anyway, and when I found out my Dad wanted to make it, we were all for it! I knew he would make it with safety in mind, so that wasn't even an issue for us. Plus, its a 3-in-1 convertible crib, so, she can use it as a toddler bed and eventually, a full sized bed in the future. Plus, the fact that her Papa made it with his own two hands, makes it pretty special :)



About a month ago, I was perusing Craigslist to see what I could find. Seriously, that place can be a goldmine when it comes to baby items! I stumbled across a couple selling a changing table/glider together for $150. Not a bad deal, AT ALL. We had planned to buy these things anyway, and I had found both of them, in excellent condition, for the price of one. So happy! We went out one Sunday to pick them up, and I also scored a Bumbo seat with a tray for $15 (those normally retail for about $50) so I was very pleased!



I've been having fun organizing and washing everything. She got TONS of blankets, so we are definitely good on those! She also received a lot of 3 month and up clothes, so we went out and bought some things in newborn size, just in case. That's the tough thing about preparing for a baby -- you don't know what size they'll be! But, we have a few things in different sizes..so until she actually gets here and I can get more of the correct size, we're good for now!



I also got my hospital bag packed, which is exciting! There are still a few more things that need thrown in there, but for the most part, its good to go. Some time next week, we'll probably get the car seat bases installed in the cars. Just a few last minute preps to go before showtime!!

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..