Week 39

Weeks Along: 39
Weight Gain: +14 lb
Sleep: Not too much these days.
Movement: Still moving well, wish she'd move her way on out :-)
Labor Signs: Dialated 1cm, 50% effaced with Braxton hicks contractions.
Belly Button: Completely flattened out.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Finally meeting this little girl.
Appointments: Saw Dr. Sweeney yesterday. She is great. No progress on dialation unfortunately. She did say that she thinks this is still going to be a large baby. Guess we will just have to wait and see when she comes out.

Week 38

Weeks Along: 38
Weight Gain: +12 lb
Sleep: Not too much these days.
Movement: Still moving well, wish she'd move her way on out :-)
Labor Signs: Dialated 1cm, 50% effaced with Braxton hicks contractions
Belly Button: Completely flattened out.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: My mom coming up this week to help me out and be here when the baby comes.
Appointments: Saw Dr. Martin yesterday. Love him! I hope he delivers little girl too. He said everything looks good and its all up to her now for when she wants to come.

Week 37

Weeks Along: 37
Weight Gain: +12 lb
Sleep: This past week has been rough, not a lot of sleep. Going to the bathroom a lot, Braxton Hicks contractions, mind constantly running, only a few of the things keeping me up.
Movement: Still moving well frequently, but have been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, not fun.
Belly Button: Completely flattened out.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Meeting this little girl already!
Appointments: Last Thursday I had a sonogram to check the size of baby girl per request of Dr. Martin. Ironically, after all this time thinking she was huge, she has actually leveled off and is right on target for how many weeks along I am. The doctor said that sometimes they have growth spurts and then level off, which is why we were getting bigger numbers for a while. Doctor estimated her to be high 5s, maybe 6lbs, making her 7ish at the time of delivery depending on when she decides to come. That news made me very happy as you can imagine. Much rather deliver 7lb baby than 9.5lb one. Doctor checked my progress and I was 1cm dialated but no efacement.
I had another appointment today for just a check-up. Doctor checked me again and this time I was 1 cm dialated still but 50% efaced. Making progress! Next appointment is Monday 23rd.

Week 36

Weeks Along: 36
Weight Gain: +11 lb
Sleep: Trystan has been trying to help by sleeping in until late, so even though I don't sleep soundly through the night, I don't feel exhausted when starting the day.
Movement: You can tell she is running out of room and she is starting to hit major organs with her kicks and punches because sometimes it really hurts, but most of the time I feel her butt that she likes to poke out :-)
Belly Button: Completely flattened out.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: My sonogram this Thursday to see how big she is and talk with the doctor about plans. Also this week we have a Big Brother class for Trystan at the hospital. Saturday he will get to tour where Mommy will have the baby and be staying a few days, get a Big Brother Bag full of goodies and have his picture taken to be posted outside the nursery.

New Nursery Items

New crib that I got for free off of Craigslist. It is white obviously and converts to a todder bed then into a full size. The puzzle on the left wall is from my brother that he put together along with some help from my mom.

I wanted some storage organization for the white shelving unit instead of trying to keep things nice just sitting out on open shelves. My step-dad made these wooden cubes that turned out great. My mom painted them lavender and Trystan painted the knobs grey. Now I have a great place to store blankets, towels, etc. and for much cheaper than buying canvas ones.

My adorable new diaper bag from my sister, Kellen. I am currently making a changing pad to go with it and will post a picture when it is done.

Week 35

Weeks Along: 35
Weight Gain: +10 lb
Sleep: Not getting too much these days it seems.
Movement: She constantly has her feet moving, like her brother. Might have another one on my hands soon that I struggle to keep up with :-)
Belly Button: Pretty much completely flattened out.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: My mom coming up this week for the 4th. Hoping she can help me get some things in order while she is here.

Week 34

Weeks Along: 34
Weight Gain: +10 lb
Sleep: Falling asleep during the day a lot now, tired all the time.
Movement: A lot of rolling back and forth and some painful jabs here and there.
Belly Button: Still in, but pretty flattened out.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Getting the petti rompers I ordered so I can start making plans for her baby pictures to include on announcements.
Doctor's Appointment: Saw Dr. Sweeney and she agrees with Dr. Martin that we should induce a week early or so if she doesn't come earlier on her own. I am measuring 4 weeks ahead. Her heart rate sounds good in the 140s and my weight and blood pressure are fine. Other than that, Doc says stay away from the sweets :-)

Week 33

Weeks Along: 33
Weight Gain: +9 lb (have to avoid a lot of carbs and sugars, weight not going up because of it)
Sleep: Falling asleep during the day a lot now, tired all the time. 
Movement: She has some set movement times and if I start to feel hungry and don't feed her right away, she gets upset and starts kicking me.
Belly Button: Still in, but pretty flattened out.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Having another sonogram the beginning of July and getting to see my little girl one more time before delivery (doctor will be checking her for a better idea of her size to make delivery plans).

 

Week 31

Weeks Along: 31
Weight Gain: +9 lbs
Sleep: About as good as can be expected but not feeling well rested next morning. 
Movement: She seems like she is trying to keep up with her big brother, but considering all the ruckus she is probably hearing from him while in there, I can't say I blame her.
Belly Button: Still in, but pretty flattened out.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Getting to see Dr. Martin on the 11th, it will be only the 2nd time, the 1st being when he delivered Trystan.

More Crafts Complete

Still getting as many projects for baby and nursery done before her arrival because I know it will be crazy for a bit until we can get in a routine and I get used to having a newborn with a toddler. Here are some pics of other crafts I have been doing.

Changing Pad with cover done in lavender and white stripe with grey ruffle edging.

Hair Bows clipped on her Bow Board.

Headbands

Wrap-style Carrier, made with brown stretch jersey and cotton center panels. It is reversible and the other side is same fabric as pink but in a soft teal color. I am making 2 more, also reversible with lavender, pale green, tan and pale blue panels.

30 Weeks

Weeks Along: 30
Weight Gain: +8 lbs
Sleep: Not so well these days, guess I am just gearing up for when she is here and wanting to be fed every 2 hours at night. 
Movement: She is moving around quite well still.
Belly Button: Still in, never popped with Trystan, wondering if it will this time.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Going to sonogram on Wednesday and finding out about placenta previa but also getting a sneak peak at my little girl another time before her debut.

28 Weeks

Weeks Along: 28, yeah I am in the 3rd trimester!
Weight Gain: +5 lbs
Sleep: Have a feeling it is going to be decent at best from here on out. Starting to get the leg cramps at night now, oh joy! 
Movement: She is quickly outgrowing her space I am afraid. It is either a kick or punch up in my ribs or so low I wonder if she is falling out. Still pretty active though despite apparent lack of space.
Belly Button: Still in, never popped with Trystan, wondering if it will this time.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Deciding on a name, hopefully that happens sooner than it did with Trystan. It took him being on my chest before he got his name. I want to know little girl's name before that point.

More Nursery

This is the bedding I got, for a great deal of $25, to go in the nursery once we get the crib. It is two shades of lavender and has branches with flowers and birds. I can't wait to see it in the room all set up in the crib but for now I held the comforter up to the wall and it looks fabulous.

These are the two wall hangings I mentioned in previous post above the dresser/changer. The first is a headband and bow holder I made and the other is a sign with Peter Pan quote. I still need a changing pad and cover, which will be lavender of course, but I finished diaper caddy (shown sitting on dresser). I got a basket on sale at Michaels and had my sister spray paint it white. I took lavender stripe fabric I used to make pillow and made a liner with grey bow to dress it up.

Nursery

This past weekend Oma, my mom, came up to help get nursery started. My wonderful husband did a lot of furniture moving and hauling and Oma and Kellen painted after helping him a bit. It isn't finished but I wanted to at least get some pics up of what there is so far. The walls are "Lavender Sparkle" accented with grey and white.

My sister, Kellen, painted tree in grey after my mom sketched it out.

Finished tree with 3 frames hanging from branch above where crib will go. We don't have one yet but still have a little time before we need it. The initials inside the frame are in no way any indication of what her name will be, except for the G of course. Ted and I are no where near agreeing on a name but I wanted to see how it looked all put together, so I put the initials I hope she'll have :-)

Entry to room, small wall so we did a small painted mural at bottom of flower, fairy and toadstool. Then I did a white board and added hooks to hang various things. The picture above it is a framed fairy puzzle from my mom and brother.

Rocker is from my mom. I made new cushion covers out of lavender fabric and I also made the accent pillow. Hard to see but it is white and lavender stripe with a grey ruffle down the middle. First attempt and I am pretty happy with it if I do say so myself.

Area rug, 4.5x6, that is in the middle of the room. Found it at ikea for an awesome price and I absolutely love it and how it fits so well in the room scheme.

Still have some things to hang and get but this will give you an idea. Ted and I hope to find some fairy pictures at the Ren fair this year. We get most of Trystan's art there and it would be great to find hers there too. Those pictures will go above the white dresser, that is also serving as a changing table, on the wall opposite the crib along with a hair bow and headband holder and fairy quote sign, both of which I made.

6 Month Appointment

Got to meet Dr. Skinner for this appointment. She seems nice and I could see going to her for a couple more appointments. She said the heart beat sounds good, 147/min if I remember correctly. She mentioned that my weight gain was low at only 5 pounds but wasn't overly concerned since baby will be gaining a lot in 3rd trimester, which is right around the corner. She measured the belly and at about 27 weeks along, the belly was at 30 haha. I think Dr. Simmonds was on the right track with this "little" girl being in 97% percentile for size. I really want him to check, when I go back at the end of the month for my placenta check, her size to see if she is still measuring that high or if may have dropped a few percentage points. Skinner gave me paperwork for glucose test and wants it asap with baby measuring as big as she is. Hopefully that will come back negative. I go back to office May 17 for another belly check and will hopefully receive good results then. I will also at that point have to go get my shot for being a negative blood type, not looking forward to that one bit.

26 Weeks

Weeks Along: 26
Weight Gain: +4 lbs
Sleep: Not very well. Ligaments on side of belly are tight and have to keep pillow under belly or they pull.
Movement: She is pretty active and apparently already has music likes and dislikes. Moved a lot to one song in Kellen's car but then stopped as soon as the song was over :-)
Belly Button: Still in but getting more shallow with each passing week.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Painting the nursery this weekend and getting some of her furniture and decorations in there. Will definately post pictures for you all to see.

24 Weeks

Weeks Along: 24
Morning Sickness: Well behind me.
Weight Gain/Loss: +3 lbs
Sleep: Not very sound, Trystan has been waking up at night and getting up really early for some reason.
Movement: She is moving a lot and really getting some force behind some of them punches and kicks.
Belly Button: Still in but getting more shallow with each passing week.
Rings: Still on.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: Working on more of the projects for the nursery. Finished rocking chair cushion covers and window treatments. And, found out my Me-Me has baby's exact room color in yarn so she is knitting a blanket and if she wasn't already wonderful, she went to JoAnn's and found exact some fabric as I am using on projects and is making a quilt to match. I am so excited to see how they turn out.

Big Sonogram

Well, since I had hit around the mid-point of my pregnancy, it was time to go in for my big sonogram. When told to schedule my appointment, I originally went through the hospital like I did with Trystan. However, when the doctor learned of this, she really wanted me to change it and have it done at the office. Well they mixed up my due date and so didn't schedule me until I was 22 weeks. The reason I wanted to go through the hospital was because it was such a great experience with Trystan and I had concerns about doing it at the office. Only recently did they start doing the big sonogram there, only 2 doctors knew how to do it, they are always running behind and knew they would schedule me in an unrealistic time window. Well all my concerns were for good reason. I had to wait like an hour just to be seen, I had to correct the due date they had for me, which meant waiting 5 more minutes while the doctor weant and checked my file and first sonogram ( I was right and he had to change data on computer so all baby's measurements were for right week of pregnancy), doctor went through everything quickly and only gave us two pictures and they are horrible. Ted didn't think he was going to be able to make it to appointment, but I am glad he did because he wouldn't have gotten much from pictures. With Trystan at the hospital, doctor took her time letting us enjoy seeing our baby and gave us lots of good pictures to share with people. Overall, I was disappointmented with having sonogram done at office. He did confirm that baby is a girl and looking good. She is definately going to be bigger than her brother when she comes out, have to wait and see how much bigger. I do have a condition called placenta previa which is fairly common at this stage in the pregnancy. Without getting into too much detail, it means placenta is at the bottom instead of the top, and is blocking baby's exit route. He said that it is very likely the problem will correct itself but just in case, he wants to do another sonogram in 8 weeks. Another issue I had was he wouldn't really say much except that he wanted to see what sonogram revealed in 8 weeks. Like, he didn't want to explain a bunch of stuff if the problem could go away. Well, you can't just rattle off a condition to a pregnant woman with no details and expect her to just say ok and forget about it. No, I came right home and googled it. Well, that gave me every possible horrible thing that could happen. So instead of the doctor taking 5 minutes to talk with me about this and calm any fears, he didn't say anything and I freaked myself out. If ever Ted and I have another baby, I am going to hospital for sonogram and not get pressured into doing it at office.

See, not very good. You are looking at her straight on. That is her right hand up next to her face and you can kind of see mouth nose and right eye.

This one, also horrible, is closer up on her face. She is kind of turned and looking at you but you can only kind of see her eyes, nose and mouth.

And that was it, only two bad pictures. I go back in 3 weeks for routine belly and heartbeat check and then the sonogram in 7 weeks ( took me a bit to post about appointment, otherwise it would have been 4 and 8 weeks for next appointments). 

22 Weeks

Weeks Along: 22
Morning Sickness: Well behind me.
Weight Gain/Loss: 0
Sleep: Having the weirdest dreams and waking up several times each night.
Movement: She is moving a lot more and can even feel it from outside if she is positioned right.
Gender: Girl
Looking Forward To: My big sonogram appointment on Wednesday with Dr. Simmonds. They will be measuring and checking everything to make sure she is doing well.

5 Month Appointment

Well, I wasn't sure what the doctor was going to say about weight gain since she wasn't too happy last month when I weighed in still down 5 lbs. Since then, I have gained 2 lbs and am only down 3 so she seemed to be ok with that. We listened to the heart beat and it sounded good and strong. Other than that, not too much happens at these appointments. I asked about the sugar test and that isn't until around 28 weeks, so a little while before that. Same for the lovely shot I have to get since I am O- blood type. I've had 3 of these things and it does not get any better let me tell you. Those things hurt and keep you sore for quite some time afterward. So, I am not looking foward to that again. Maybe baby girl will also be a - blood type and I won't have to get another one after she is born. I still go every 4 weeks to see the doctor but because I am doing a seperate appointment for the big sonogram, I go back to the office in 2 weeks to have that done and get some more time to see my baby girl. Also hoping for some good pictures since I will be like 22 weeks at that point.

Halfway There

Weeks Along: 20
Morning Sickness: Well behind me.
Weight Gain/Loss: -4 (not sure how doc is going to feel about that)
Sleep: Trying to get as much as possible because toddler and pregnancy wearing me out.
Movement: Some definate bumpin and thumpin goin on in there. Notice it most when laying with feet up resting, other times I am moving too much to feel her well or I put her to sleep :-)
Gender: Girl, yeah!
Looking Forward To: Looking for cute things that could go in her room now that I have a color scheme in mind (purple, lavender and white).

The Results Are In And...

Ted and I went to Stork Vision last night for our sonogram. The place was very nice and calming. The room looked more like a living room than an exam room. The doctor was really nice and after getting baby to cooperate, told us it was a girl. Ted and I were both a little surprised. I think we were both thinking it was more likely a boy. So, we got to see our little girl for a little bit while doc took pictures for us. Then we saw 3D images for a few minutes. As, I am only 18 weeks, it is still a little early for quality 3D imaging but I think we still saw some great shots. We got to see her yawn and do a front flip. Overall, it was a great moment with my hubby and little baby.



18 week sono-profile

Confirmation shot with arrow showing we have a girl

3D sono-you can see facial features; eyes, ears, nose, and her right hand up by her face

After leaving the office, Ted and I went to the Melting Pot for a nice dinner. Trystan was home with his Aunt Kellen, who graciously agreed to babysit for us. Over the course of our dinner, we were able to narrow our name selections down to 5. I will more than likely be posting them to get votes and feedback on what you all think. Other than that, we are still just enjoying having seen our baby again and finding out the gender.

18 Weeks

Weeks Along: 18
Morning Sickness: Gone, thank goodness!
Weight Gain/Loss: -2
Sleep: Trying to stay on left side because supposed to be best for baby, just not sure its best for Mommy.
Movement: A few flutters here and there and a kind of rolling movement.
Gender: Unknown but finding out really soon.
Looking Forward To: Going to Stork Vision and finding out baby's gender so I can start making decisions about things.

4 Month Appointment

It was nice to go into the office for my appointment. It feels like I am making progress with the long road that is pregnancy. Another appointment means another month has passed. No sonogram because the baby should be big enough to hear the heart beat with the dopplar device. The doctor kept moving it around and around and I was getting the flutterings of panic. When I said, "I'm getting a little worried here, doc", she replied that there was no issue other than the fact that the baby was playing hiding seek. Everytime she would catch baby with the dopplar, he/she would move and hide before she could get a reading. Finally we caught up to baby and the heart beat is a healthy 150 beats/min. Not too often do you hear your doctor say that you need to gain weight but because I weighed in still 5 pounds below where I started, she wants me to start gaining weight. Healthy weight of course and only a little at a time. I look at my picture from this week and can't believe that I am lighter than the start of my pregnancy. I feel like I am so big for only 4 months. I look back at pictures of my pregnancy with Trystan and I feel like I look as big now as I did with him around the 6-month mark. Oh well, as long as baby is healthy and I am too, the rest doesn't matter much. I am hoping to go to a place and have a sonogram done in next few weeks to find out gender. My doctor doesn't want to do it until April 4th and that is just crazy. We'll see what hubby says and I'll keep you posted.

Weeks Along: 16
Morning Sickness: A spell here and there but pretty much gone.
Weight Gain/Loss: -5
Sleep: Still some very weird dreams.
Movement: Felt a little flutter last night.
Gender: Unknown still but we're hoping to find out soon.
Looking Forward To: Feeling more and more movements as baby grows bigger.

14 Weeks

Weeks Along: 14
Morning Sickness: Still a little bit
Weight Gain: Down another 3lbs, so -5 total
Sleep: Restless and very weird dreams
Movement: None
Gender: Unknown still
Looking Forward To: Heading south to see my Dad, Janis and Me-me for a week. Leaving Fri 2/10/12

3 Month Appointment

This morning, I had my 12 week appointment with Dr. Ali. Ted had to drive me because Frederick had major freezing rain and I was nervous about the roads. He had a 2 hour delay at work cause it was worse there, so it worked out well that he didn't have to use any leave time. Dr. Ali went over my blood work I had done a couple weeks ago and said everything looked good so no worries there. She wasn't sure if I was far enough along to hear heart beat through dopplar, so she tried but couldn't get anything. So she had to do a sonogram to check on heart beat. Oh darn, another chance for me to see Baby T haha. She let me see the baby for a little bit. She pointed out head and body which is more obvious now than at 8 weeks. I saw a hand and asked her to make sure. It was up by baby's mouth, maybe starting to suck? Then she played around with the angle a bit and we saw both hands go up and move around. Pretty cool. Then she did a reading on heart for us to hear and it was at 166/min and sounding good. She wants me back in 4 weeks for another check-up and even though I don't go until March, she gave me the paperwork for my sonogram at 18-20 weeks when we can find out the gender. I am posting the picture she took today at the appointment. Again, it isn't the best quality but you can kind of see. Baby's head is on the right and just above neck/chest you can see faint outline of arm and hand.
Weeks Along: 12
Morning Sicknesss: Yes still unfortunately.
Weight Gain: -2
Sleep: Not so well, Trystan keeps waking up in night because of "ghosts".
Movement: No
Gender: Don't Know.
Looking Foward To: Having this morning sickness go away and having some energy back, hopefully soon!

The Worst Two Weeks

Just after the holidays, the first week of January, Trystan got pretty sick. He had a temperature of 104, no appetite, cough, runny nose and just overall ickiness. I was still having a hard time with pregnancy symptoms, i.e. tiredness, nausea, morning sickness. So, trying to take care of him was a challenge. We took him to the doctor when his fever didn't come down on the third day and they said it was just a cold. That "just a cold" lastest 6 days. Once he started to feel better, Ted and I started coming down with the same symptoms. So now we had a feeling-better toddler and two sick parents. This "cold" was a beast and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. And of course being pregnant, I was resigned to tylenol doses every 4-6 hours, which was doing absolutely nothing. My temp was around 101 with the tylenol, Ted's hit upwards of 102.7. Just like Trystan, there wasn't much we could do except try and keep temperature down, get a lot of fluids and rest. Not easy when you have a toddler. It was hitting me extra hard because it threw my morning sickness into hyperdrive. All I could manage was water, gingerale (occasionally because it hurt my sore throat), crackers and toast. Ours lasted around 6 days too, equalling the worst two weeks. We finally just got our Christmas tree down and did a preliminary cleaning of the house. It needs a lot more work since our toddler had basically been running the show for a week. I am posting a picture at 11 weeks, obviously it was taken after I was feeling better from last week.
Weeks Along: 11
Morning Sickness: Still a big yes!
Weight Gain: -2
Sleep: Better now with pillow.
Movement: No, not yet.
Gender: Don't know.
Looking Foward To: My next appointment so I can hear the heart beat again and know baby is doing good.