5 Month Photos!

I can't believe that I'm almost 24 weeks pregnant already!  24 weeks....  Being a PICU nurse, that number is super scary.   I don't even want to think about all of the "ex 24 weekers" that roll into our unit on a lifelong basis.  I just want to be out of the 20's and into the 30's. 

But on a positive note, I've been feeling pretty good lately.  I went to the doctor after the few days of cramping I had a week and a half ago and luckily everything was fine.  She checked  my cervix and Baby Girl's heart beat and everything checked out normally.  She said that I probably just overdid it and I need to make sure to stay hydrated.  Phew, sigh of relief!

The one weird thing is that I've been getting a lot of nosebleeds lately (about 4 in the past 3 weeks), which I've read can be a side effect of pregnancy.  My belly also seemed to really pop over the past month (especially from weeks 20 to 22).  I went from gaining 6-7 pounds in the whole first half of my pregnancy, to 5 pounds in the 2 weeks between weeks 20 and 22!  My belly button officially popped out at about week 22 as well.

Another exciting thing is that I have been feeling Baby Girl moving a lot more in the past few weeks and Mike was able to feel her move for the first time when I was exactly 22 weeks along.  We were laying in bed that night (same night as the doctor's appointment) and she was kicking harder than normal so I told Mike to try to feel it and he could!  Maybe it was her way of telling me that she is fine :)  Mike was really excited to feel her move even though it was very slight.  As the weeks go on it'll get stronger and stronger, and easier for him to feel.  Today at work while I was at lunch I actually watched my belly and could see her move!  It was very slight, but I could see it!  This is getting really fun!  Sometimes I feel like I feel her kicking my insides (if that makes any sense).  It almost feels like she is kicking downward into my cervix.  I've been wondering if maybe that was what I was feeling when I thought I was cramping.  Her kicks are still so slight that they are hard to discern.  I can already tell that they are getting stronger though!  Baby Girl is gonna be one tough cookie!

Now onto my 5 month pics!

                                 And there is my new "outie" belly button, up close and personal!

It's fun to see the progression of the monthly pics.  I'm glad my sister suggested I do them!

Here are my 5 month stats:  September 15th, 2010
                                                    
Starting weight: 127.8 lbs             Current Weight: 140.4 lbs
Starting breast: 34 inches              Current Breast: 35 1/4 inches
Starting waist: 29 1/2 inches          Current Waist: 33 3/4 inches

Moving right along... Mike and I got a package in the mail the other day from my dad and step mom with these adorable outfits!  Check it out...

I love it all!  It's My First Penn State Tee with little pink paw print socks, a cute hat and mittens, a Steelers cheerleader outfit with white socks and black patent leather shoes, and a ballerina onsie with pink ruffle flare pants and pink ballet slippers!  Too cute!!!  I can't wait to see her in them!

So speaking of babies and baby paraphernalia, Mike and I had our Ohio State friends visit this past weekend with their 6 month old baby boy and it was so much fun!  I loved spending some quality time with an infant to see what's in store for us!  And probably my favorite thing about having them visit was seeing Mike interact with the baby.  It was too cute for words.  Mike adored their little guy and he loved Mike too.  Mike even commented that he missed the baby when they left!  He'll be such a great daddy.  One of the things I look forward to most is seeing Mike with his baby girl!  Daisy even did much better than expected which was a huge sigh of relief.  She was a little sketched out by him, but she warmed up and even licked him several times (especially when there were leftover green beans on his hands!). 

Spending time with our friends and their baby for those two days gave me such peace of mind about having one of our own.  A lot of work?  Yes.  A lot of fun too?  Absolutely!

Beach Vacation and Bachelorette Recaps

It was a busy, but definitely FUN week!  Mike and I headed up to OC MD with my fam for an entire weekover Labor Day and then we topped off the week with a bachelorette party for Tina and a bachelor party for J!

We had great weather at the beach, which was awesome considering that we're had some bad luck the past few years with rain while at the beach.  Especially last year, when it rained EVERY day but one!  That's right, EVERY day but one.  As in, no beach time whatsoever on those days.  But this year we lucked out, so we were able to spend our days lounged out on the beach and our nights lounged out in the condo.  Ahhhh, the relaxation!

Not to mention that we stayed in the nicest condo that we've ever stayed in this year.  Marble counter tops, stainless steel appliances, tile floors, tile showers, wall mounted flat screen TVs in every room.... I could go on and on.  Here is a pic of our place from the beach.  We are on the 2nd floor (but it's the first floor that you can see from this pic), all the way to the right.

Some other beach pics...

Baby bump in full view!

The fam getting ready for dinner....

It was a great week, and I look forward to our family beach vacations all year.  So much so that I'm already planning for next year.  Although next year will be slightly different.  We'll have an infant and possibly a dog in tow.....Yeah, just slightly different, right?  I'll look back and smile at these pics of our relaxing days on the beach.

So, Tina and I left OC on Friday evening and headed back to her place in Philly so that we could get an early start on Saturday morning to PSU for her big bachelorette party!  It was such a blast and my sister has some really great friends.  Everyone made the day so special for her!

It started with the matching T-shirts (that were obviously a surprise to her!)

Then we opened some presents...

And we all got ready to head out!

Had to get some pics on the Nittany Lion!

This was hilarious....note Sam and Lib hanging on for dear life!  It is not as easy to climb on that Lion (and stay on!) as it looks!

We finally all pulled ourselves together...

Queen Tean!

From here we headed to dinner at the Allen Street Grill and then we hit up the bars.  It was really fun (even sober!) and we all had a blast dancing the night away!  It was by far the cheapest bar night I've ever had, ha ha!  "I'll have a water please...yup another water."

The start of the night...

And the end of the night...

Ha ha, I love Tina's face in this picture!  Poor Sam, those Monkey Boys at the Saloon were the death of her that night!  It was a long and vomitous (is that a word??) night for our pal Sam.

I was carrying Tina's camera and my own while we were out, so I took most of the pics with her camera.  But I did manage to get a few!  Then on Sunday morning we had the obligatory Waffle Shop (not to be confused with the Waffle House, ewww) breakfast and headed to Hollidaysburg to pick up Daisy dog and then back to Philly to re coop.  We met the boys back in Philly after their bachelor party weekend in Dewey Beach.  From the way it sounds, they managed to have fun without us :)

A busy week, yes, but a great week spent with my favorite people!

Today is my sister's church wedding day and I've been thinking about her and wishing I was there all day.  So, their real wedding is next weekend, and it will take place at the Top of the Tower in Philly, but J really wanted to get married in a church, so they had another ceremony today in a church in his hometown.  Tina sent me a pic and they look soooo happy; I wanted to cry I wish I was there so bad!  But I have to work the next few days so that I can be up there in plenty of time for the real wedding and reception next weekend.  I'm so excited (albeit nervous about my maid, ahem, matron of honor speech), and I can't believe it's already here!!!  Woo hoo!

My next post (which I'm hoping to write later tonight) will have my 5 month pregnancy pics and I'll talk about my pregnancy related feelings lately.  I can't believe I'm at almost 24 weeks already!!

It's a.......

                                  Girl!                                      

We found out last Friday (September 3rd) at our ultrasound appointment and we couldn't be more excited!  The ultrasound went really well and everything measured as it should.  4 heart chambers...check, spinal column closed....check, brain size correct....check.  Phew!  Those were the big ones, but they also measured things like the bladder, and the feet, and multiple other things.  Everything is normal and our little girl is growing as she should!  What a relief!

We have several ultrasound pics as mementos of the occasion, and I think my favorite is the one of her foot.  It's soo little and cute!

Then there is the full body view...

And, this one I think is hilarious.  You can't really make out what anything is, but read the fine print and note the arrow....

Yup, it says "girl parts" and there is an arrow pointing to them.  Gotta love it!

We got 8 pictures in total.  One of the arm, body, foot, 2 girl parts, heart, and 2 face.  The face pics are also hard to discern and look slightly scary, so I didn't include them.  We are thinking of possibly getting the 3D/4D ultrasound that they offer because our neighbor got one and said it was really neat.  It costs an extra $200 though.  But Mike said "How often do you get pregnant in your life?  Let's do it."  So cute!

On other pregnancy news, I have been having some mild cramping over the past 2 days that has me slightly worried.  Over vacation I had intermittent cramping on the sides of my abdomen, which I know is uterine stretching, so I wasn't worried about that.  But starting about 2 days ago I started having vaginal cramping that is pretty persistent.  I haven't had any bleeding, but I am still concerned, so I called my Ob this AM and I have an appointment at 11:30 just to get checked out.  While I was at work yesterday I thought I may have had some slight contraction type things too, which also made me nervous.  I'm sure it's nothing, but I'll feel better after being checked out. 

Otherwise I have gained a ton of weight in the past 2 weeks.  5 lbs!  As of this morning I am 140.4 lbs.  My belly is definitely showing now and I wore my first maternity shirt to work yesterday.  Still don't have any major cravings that I can think of, I just eat A LOT!  It's also getting more difficult to get comfortable in bed, but not too bad yet.  Just wait, right?

Today when Mike gets home from work we will take my 5 month pics!  So I will post those ASAP.  I will also post some pics from vacation and from my sister's bachelorette party this past weekend.  Yup, me and baby girl were rocking out at PSU for Tina's big party! 

I am thinking that maybe some of the reason for my cramping might be that I went a little overboard in the last few weeks.  I power walked every day on vacation, then drove up to PSU and partied (water in hand) until 1:30 AM at the bachelorette party, then drove back to NC and unpacked the car for the third or fourth time in a week.  I may or may not have carried in the cooler from the car and noticed the cramping after that.  Lesson learned.  No more heavy lifting for me.  So my plan for today is to take it easy and see what the doc says and go from there.

To end this post I want to say that I am so excited that we are having a girl!  I can't wait to see Mike with a little girl, because I know he'll be just great with her, and I'm sure it will melt my heart.  I told him to get excited for ribbons, and bows, and barrettes, and braids, and dresses, and tutu's....  This will be so fun!

Halfway!!

So today Mike and I have the 20 week appointment where (hopefully!) we will be able to find out our baby's gender!!!  I am sooo pumped. 

When they called to confirm my appointment two days ago I asked if I needed to arrive with a full bladder for my ultrasound.  The woman replied "We don't have you down for an ultrasound, where did you hear that?".

Ummmmm, whaaattttt????

I calmly replied that they told me my 20 week appointment would include an ultrasound. 

"Hmmmm," she states, "that's true, but they never slotted you for an ultrasound appointment."

Now I'm borderline freaking out, because I have been looking forward to this!  Don't tell me you can't do it!  I'm going on vacation with my family tomorrow and I wanted to be able to tell them in person!  Now I didn't actually say any of this, but I did tell her that my husband rearranged his work schedule to come to this appointment and we need to have it done at that time.  No exceptions. 

"Oh good, it looks like we can fit you in at 2:30 for an ultrasound!"

Thank goodness.  So that was a slight scare, and I'm just glad that I asked the initial question that I did, or we would have shown up at 3:30 (as originally scheduled) and not been able to have our ultrasound before vacation!  Whew!

So anyway, I am officially halfway through my pregnancy!  I feel pretty good these days.  I have been feeling little flutters more and more often, which is cool.  Its interesting to see my body changing at such a rapid pace.  I definitely look different, clothes don't fit right, my belly button is popping out, and I can feel my abdomen stretching.  It's weird, but cool, because I know that my body is making room for our little one!

I've been a baking fool this morning making food to bring on vacation!  Yum!  All sweets of course, nothing good for you.  But it's vacation right??

Ok, time to start packing, and my appointment is in T-minus 3 hours!!  I'll keep you posted!

(Sorry for all of these random thoughts thrown together, but I am in a rush today.  It's beach time folks!)

4 Month Photos!

I am 18 weeks into my pregnancy and had been feeling great until this weekend.  I've been really tired, kinda nauseous, and a little dizzy this morning.  I was in the process of making homemade waffles with fresh peach slices on top (yum!) and I had to have Mike finish them because I felt like I might faint.  I didn't, thank goodness.  Anyway, my symptoms are probably a combination of pregnancy and being post-night shift.  Back to day shift tomorrow, so after the slight shock to my system of waking up at 5AM, I will hopefully feel better being on a regular schedule again.

But, onto more fun things...my 4 month pregnancy photos!  Mike took them on August 13th.  I've been trying to do them on the 14th of every month, since the 14th of April was the start of my pregnancy, but Mike wasn't going to be home on the 14th, so I cringed and made do with the photos a day early.  A little crazy that that annoyed me?  Probably, but cut me a break; I'm pregnant.  I'm gonna use that excuse as much as possible for the next few months. :)

Anyway, here are the pics!

Oh yeah, I forgot until I looked at them that the other problem with these pics is that I'm wearing my glasses!  We had just gotten back from Seattle the night before and I didn't have my luggage, so I had to use different contact solution that night.  Well, apparently I didn't read the bottle well enough before using it because it is not the kind where you can take your contacts out and put them directly in your eye in the morning.  You have to rinse them first.  Needless to say, I did not, and it burned like you would not believe!  My eye was red for the rest of the day and I had to wear my glasses, which is something that I never do.  Ahhh, the joys of lost luggage.

P.S.  I will also tell Mike to not cut off the top of my head next time!  Pffft!  Where is my sister when I need her???

Ha ha, now that I look, this one isn't centered either, and I can't blame this one on Mike!  I guess it's obvious who got the photography genes in my family.

So there you have it.  4 months along and 5 months to go (or less!).  I'm feeling pretty decent, though getting slightly more uncomfortable.  I can feel my skin stretching and my belly is really tight now, which is a weird feeling.  Glad I got rid of the belly button ring when I did!  To those that know me I am definitely showing, though to a stranger on the street it's not obvious yet.  Still in that kinda awkward stage, but little by little I'm growing!  Mike and I weigh ourselves and measure our waists every Wednesday morning when we wake up, and once a month I measure my breast circumference too.

Starting weight: 127.8 lbs          Current weight: 134.2 lbs

Starting waist: 29 1/2 inches      Current waist: 32 inches

Starting breast: 34 inches           Current breast: 35 3/4 inches

I've gained about 7 pounds so far, about 2 1/2 inches around the waist, and 1 3/4 inches around the breast.  So those are my stats.  I don't really feel like my boobs are growing, but I guess they are according to the measurements.  They do feel heavier though, so I've starting wearing my maternity bras, which have thicker straps and are just all around more comfortable.  I bought two nude colored ones for everyday wear and one black sleep bra, which is soooo comfy.

So in pregnancy news, I've had a few nosebleeds (maybe 2 or 3), and I almost never get nosebleeds.  But, I've read that can be another symptom.  I also got back the results of the penta screen (AFB test), and they were normal!  Yay!  Now we can rest a little bit easier.  Still not sure if I'm going to be billed for that test though.  We'll see.

My next item of pregnancy news is waaayyy more exciting ...I've felt movement!  I think I first felt a little something when we were in Seattle, though I'm still not sure if it was baby movement or my food not sitting right with me, ha ha!  It's hard to tell the difference this early on.  I haven't noticed any movement except at night when I'm laying in bed.  Even then it's very slight.  I told Mike that it feels like pop rocks (remember those?!) in my belly.  Either that, or sometimes it feels like bubbles.  I can't wait until it's noticeable baby movement... and I really can't wait until Mike can feel it too.  He was so cute in Seattle, because when we were laying in bed and I told him that I might've felt some movement he came over to me, put his hand on my stomach, and said "I want to feel!".  Poor guy, he was so excited.  And then I told him that he can't feel it yet.  He looked so dejected. 

So far I am really the only one experiencing the pregnancy, which is normal I know.  But he wants so much to be a part of it, and that is such an endearing characteristic.  He tells me that he wants to know how I'm feeling and when I feel movement.  Last week at the beach I had this weird tightening in my stomach on the one side and I didn't know what it was.  Mike's mom told me it was the baby, which was pretty cool.  Then later that night Mike asked me to describe exactly what it felt like. 

I know that everyone says the woman becomes a mom the day she gets pregnant and the man becomes a dad the day the baby is born (or the day you take the baby home depending on who you ask ;)).  I guess that's the truth because I've had to change my diet and my habits, and not drink alcohol or too much caffeine, and watch which meds I take.  I've felt the cramping, the nausea, the fatigue, the dizziness, the abdominal stretching, and now the movement.  He's changed... nothing.  He's felt....nothing.  I can understand why he feels a little left out of the whole pregnancy thing.  But soon enough he'll be able to feel the baby move too, and then soon after that he'll be able to hold our baby, live and in person!  Then he'll understand. 

Sleeping in in Seattle

Mike and I got back last night from an awesome trip to Seattle!  He had a conference there and we went for 6 days and also classified it as our "babymoon", meaning our last official vacation with just the two of us before the baby comes.  A few of our other friends went out too and we all loved the city!

It was such a relaxing vacation, which is just what I've been needing after how hectic my schedule has been lately.  We slept in until between 8 and 9 every day (which is west coast time mind you, so it's like sleeping until 11 or 12 here!) and then we'd find a great place to get breakfast and some Seattle coffee (I made my mind up that I wasn't gonna have any Starbucks while I was there, just other local coffee).

Mike drinking coffee at one of our favorite breakfast places, Lola.  He became quite the little coffee drinker on this trip and he loved himself some Tully's coffee.  Some other great Seattle coffees that we tried were Stumptown and Cafe Vita.

 My pancakes were to die for and these little gems were ahhhmaaazing....

Yes, these are homemade donuts with a honey and a vanilla spread and they tasted even better than they look.

My other favorite breakfast place.

Those juices were fresh squeezed and delicious!  My was on the left and had oranges, pineapple, and pear.  Mike's had strawberry, pineapple, apple, and banana.  They had Cafe Vita coffee at this joint and my latte was yummy.  So was my actual breakfast (Belgian waffle) by the way.

So anyway, after breakfast Mike would occasionally do conference stuff and I would go shopping.  Let me just tell you that the shopping in downtown Seattle is amazing!  I guess it's a good thing that I'm pregnant, because I couldn't really buy any clothes (but don't worry, I found 2 maternity stores).  However, what I failed to purchase in clothing, I more than made up for in accessories.  Let's see....I got a large brown leather purse to use as a carry on, a gym bag, and a cashmere scarf at Nordstrom Rack.  I got cute flats and a gray leather purse at Aldo.  Some jewelry at Francesca's.  Three books at Barnes and Noble.  And some maternity bras (which are more of a necessity at this point as my regular bras are getting uncomfortable) and a maternity shirt from the maternity stores.  Whew.  All of this and I still had to literally force myself to go back to the hotel.  I could've gone on and on.  Shopping for me is a hit or miss.  Sometimes I want to shop and I don't like anything anywhere.  Other times....well, this is the result of the other times.

Unfortunately my checked bag is still MIA from Seattle and it has a lot of my new stuff in it, so I am feeling some anxiety at this point.  The airline said it would be delivered to my house today, but it has yet to show up and I have been waiting patiently(?) allllll day.  Every car that drives by causes me to run and look out the window only to have my hopes shattered again.  Oh well, as long as I get it back at some point I guess.

We went to some great places for dinner in Seattle.  On the first night we went to Elliott's and had some delicious Seafood right on the water at Elliott Bay.

They are famous for their Dungeness crab and Mike decided to try it out and loved it.

Mike's friend from school (across from me) happened to have a high school acquaintance that lives in Seattle so he suggested this place for dinner and then he took us around for a personal tour of Seattle.  It was a great way to see the city!

A great lookout point he took us to for a view of the city.  Of course, this picture doesn't do it any justice, but it was beautiful, take my word for it.

There were two drawbacks to going to Seattle pregnant.  One: I couldn't partake in as much coffee consumption as I would've liked, and two: I could partake in any of the alcohol consumption.  Mike and his friends went IPA wild in Seattle, like at this bar for example, which had 160 beers on tap!

We went down to Pike Place Market a few times too, which is the famous one in Seattle where they throw the fish.  It was so cool to see and they had a lot of great looking stuff at that market.  The flowers were so gorgeous and vibrant, and cheap!  You could get a really nice bunch for $5!  All of the produce looked amazing as well.

Random crazy bike that was parked down at the market one day.

So we're strolling down Post Alley on our way to Pike Place and what do we see but this gum wall!  Apparently it's famous and I've never heard of it, we just happened to stumble upon it in our travels!  And yes, I did add my current piece of gum to the wall.

The world famous fish throwing place

This sign was right inside the market by the fish place.

Note that the weather looks pretty dreary in some of these pics, but it didn't really bother us.  It drizzled a little bit on about half of the days, but it never really "rained" and it was great to get a break from the 100 degree weather down here.  Most days were in the 60's or low 70's.  Heavenly.

Mike and I down at the Market while he was chatting with my mom.  This day was his 31st birthday!!

We also did an underground tour in Seattle which was just OK.  Downtown Seattle burnt down a long time ago and they built the new city one story on top of the old city, so we got to take a little underground tour and see parts of the old city.  It had the potential to be cool, but our tour guide was wacko, I almost fainted (more on that later), and like Mike said "I'm from PA, I've seen grungy basements before".  

So yeah, we're down there in the basement type thing and I start feeling that all too familiar sensation coming on.  I used to pass out fairly frequently, so I can feel it coming a mile away.  I grab Mike's arm, which he doesn't notice until I'm really digging into it, at which point he whips around and says "WHAT?"  Then he takes one look at my pale face and is like "Oh no, what's wrong with you?".  So I move to the back of the group, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible and kneel down and put my head down.  Kinda hard to be inconspicuous when you're doing that in a disgusting old dirty basement in front of a group of 30 people.  That helped though, thank goodness.  So I didn't actually pass out, but I did draw attention to myself (my worst nightmare) from the tour guide and probably everyone else.  Soooo embarrassing.  So for the rest of the tour I couldn't really pay attention because I was trying so hard not to pass out.  I skipped lunch that day because I was out and about and it was about 5PM by this point, so lesson learned.  Pregnancy and skipping meals do not mix.  I think that was the first time I've skipped a meal since becoming pregnant, and it'll definitely be the last.

We also went to a Seattle Mariners game one of the nights.  Going to a pro baseball game is a ritual for Mike and his friends at these conferences.  He went to one in Cleveland, Denver, and now Seattle.

View of the city from one side of the field

View of the Olympic Mountains from the other side of the field

Then, on our last day Mike and I went out to the Space Needle for a really awesome view of the city.  It was the nicest day we had so far, so the perfect day to go up there.

Mike facing West Seattle and the Olympic Mountains on the other side of the Puget Sound. 

 Side note:  I was wearing my PSU sweatshirt one day and our waiter said to me, "So, you're from around here huh?".  I laughed, thinking he was joking and told him my sweatshirt stood for Penn State.  He then laughed and said there is a college out there called the Puget Sound University, which they call PSU.  I never knew there was another PSU in this country!  So then I continued wearing that sweatshirt everywhere so that everyone would think I was a local.  Haha!

Cool view of the city with Mount Rainier in the background to the left

View of the city and you can see the stadium where we were the night before by my left ear

See, I told you we had a gorgeous day!

I got a pic of our hotel too, just to remember it because it was amazing. 

The Olive 8 (conveniently located at 8th and Olive Streets) is Seattle's "greenest" hotel and had lots of cool features like a huge green area on the roof to prevent rainwater runoff and save money on heating and cooling.  The rooms also had a slot for your key card which is what turned on your lights.  Then when you left the room and took your key, the lights would shut off.  Pretty cool huh?  There was an amazing pool, gym, and spa in the hotel too, all of which I utilized!  I got a "mommy to be" massage which was outstanding.  I would definitely stay in this hotel again and recommend it to anyone else going out to Seattle.

So that's about it for my barrage of pictures and stories from this trip.  We really had such a relaxing time.  No schedules to follow, just got up when we wanted to and played the days by ear.  I really, really loved that about this vacation, and it was a "babymoon" to remember!

P.S.  I just got a call that my bag is on its way!  Yay!