90 Days To Go!!

Last night Paul and I took a tour of the Birthing Center at Appleton Medical Center. It looks like a nice area of the hospital. The nurse showed us the ceasarean rooms as well as a standard labor/delivery room. Like many hospitals now a days, everything happens in one room. Your early stages of labor to the delivery and recovery all in one room. This makes it so much nicer for the parents to not have to be carted around to different locations. There were a few really small rooms that the nurse said they use as an absolute last resort if the labor center to too busy. Well, I know the end of October, early November is a busy time for births... I know so many women between friends and ladies in my pregnancy & fit workout class who are due around the same time... we are really hoping we don't get one of those little rooms! The standard labor rooms are a good size for equipment and people... which makes everyone (especially ME) a happier person with a little room to breathe!

We have chosen a Pediatrician at Thedacare in Appleton. I have scheduled a "meet the doctor" appointment later in August to get to know him a little better before the little guy arrives. I have my 29 week appointment in two weeks. I want to know if she can tell me how big my baby is right now (or mainly, how his head size is measuring up :) ).

Joe and Allison stopped by our place for a short visit and lunch on Sunday while driving back through from Sturgeon Bay. Always nice to see them! We are having the three of them stay over for the weekend in the second week of August. That should be a lot of fun! We just need to get the baby gate up first. Once that puppy gets nailed in the wall (at the top of our exposed staircase)... it'll be years before it comes down. We'll just say, Paul is NOT looking forward to that at all! But it's necessary and no way around it.

We are heading to Chicago this weekend to visit with Brian and Emily. It has been too long since we stayed by their place and we're all real excited for that! Suppose to be a horribly hot and sticky weekend. Giddy up!

Hot (Rainy) Summer!

Well, summer sure is moving right along. Can't believe we're half way through July already. And to think I we're going to have alittle baby here with us in just over 3 months!
Paul's job is going well. He faced with many challenges each day, as most people are I suppose. He's gaining a lot of experience with the company that he can use to his benefit in the future. The two minute drive to work sure has been a blessing (on his sanity and gas!)




I am pushing toward my goal to stay working until Sept. 27th. Even though I am only part time, the days I am on my feet all day are really starting to get difficult. My feet don't seem to be cooperating with the "comfortable shoes" I've been wearing. Note ladies: If you make a strict habit of wearing fashionable heels for years... make sure your off setting that with low heels or even flats so that your heels/ankles remember how to support your body weight! I will be having an assistant working with me starting in mid August. I can not wait, but I really need those 5-10 minute breaks between people to sit down while she shampoos them for me. It's also a chance for her, having just starting to take clients, to meet my clientele and give them another familiar face with the salon for when I leave. It'll be nice to know that they will feel comfortable coming to the same salon, moving to another stylist in a smoother transition.

We were happy to entertain my parents and grandmothers yesterday. They all came for a visit so my grandmas could see our new house for the first time. It was a pretty hot day yesterday, so spending it in the air conditioned house was a nice choice. My Grandmas gave Paul and I a beautiful floor ceramic vase for a house warming gift. It's perfect for our decor, having an amber mat coated finish fits right in with our earthy tones.





26 weeks and counting! I am feeling pretty good for the most part. Our little man is kicking and squirming around in there. I believe he still has plently of room to move around, because we feel more kicks but haven't seen an fluid movement across the belly yet (elbows or arms dragging). You can see from the profile photo that I am carrying him pretty low and forward.
I have a gestational diabetes test in two weeks and then my 29 week ob check up the following week. The glucosa sugary soda-like drink they have you drink an hour before the appointment, was given to me at the last appointment to take before I come in. Sorry Allison! I got to refrigate mine and stay at home until the blood test :). But I can imagine like you, after having to down that drink in 5 minutes... I don't think we'll be stocking Orange Soda in the house for a while.

24 Weeks!!

My appointment went well today. This was the first time with a new doctor. I am not very thrilled that this is my third doctor with the Women's Care of WI group in Appleton. The clinic is going through a huge change with doctors relocating and hiring new ones. The group also has a location out of Neenah. I found out today that this new doctor will be phasing herself over the next couple of months to work solely out of that clinic. Goody! She said she will still deliver at the Appleton Medical Center which is where I plan to have my baby. So, I told her I would drive to Neenah if I had to for my appointments because I refuse to see a FOURTH doctor. I want to start getting a re pour with someone! Needless to say, Paul isn't too happy with the way things have worked out either.

This weekend was a busy one for us. I spent most of the week in West Bend / Sussex because I went to the Rascal Flatts concert at Summerfest on Monday. Driving back to Appleton for only one day made little sense with gas prices. Paul came down to Sussex on Friday the 4th of July. We spent time with friends out on Silver Lake that day, and enjoyed dinner with more friends on Saturday. Sunday was recuperation after the drive home.


I believe I have gotten a really good start on the nursery! There is plenty of wall space to fill with photos yet and I am very happy with the room. I still have to figure out something with the curtain. It came with the set of bedding, but certainly does NOT fit the large window. It drives me crazy that the cats love the rocking chair because it's sooo comfy. So I keep the door closed all the time because I don't want them getting hair all over my baby's stuff :). Plus, Allegra always spots this little teddy bear stuffed animal that is sewn to a little blanket. It's so soft and cuddly! The cat likes to drag it all over the house. I don't think so!!





The baby's heart rate is 148 bpm and I believe my belly measured pretty well because she didn't comment on it. I have now gained 14 lbs. at the 24 week mark. I will go back in three weeks to be tested for gestational diabetes.





24 week along! Time has really flown by, however I do start to feel it slowing down a bit now :). My sleeping positions are limited to just the left side for circulation purposes and that doesn't leave me with much freedom to sleep comfortably. I wake up several times at night because I'm on my back and that causes my body to wake me up. So, sleeping in different beds during the days when I'm working in Milwaukee has begun to make things more difficult for me.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. The weather's been too hot to really enjoy up here, especially without a desk or a lawn :). I will work on keeping everyone posted!

Why was I writing this post?

This sketch completely describes me at this point! It was from my 22 week pregnancy newsletter I receive by email. I can't seem to keep a single train of thought these days! I forget things that were just told to me. Plus, when I leave a room (on a mission to retreive something, for instances).... I get to the other room and just stare. I try for the life of me to recover the thoughts that I was suppose to do, but it's not until I go back into the room I came from to see evidence of my quest!

As many of you who know me, for the most part I have my mother's memory. Which I'd have to say is as keen as they come (at least when it comes to daily tasks and upcoming events). So I'd have to say this is the most debilitating factor of my pregnancy (I know, if that's it... I have it GOOD!) But I feel like I'm losing my mind at times! Thank God for my ability to make lists in my sleep!

Baby's First Kick!!

Recently, I have been a little discouraged because I still hadn't felt much from my little man in there! But for the past week now, I have felt fluid movement (if you can make sense of that). Feels more like what a popping bubble would feel like. There really hasn't been much fluttering, at least not that I would describe it as.

Last night, around midnight I still couldn't fall asleep. Paul is crashed out next to me and I decided to see if I could get my baby to move. I slowly pushed on each side of my belly... nothing. So, with both hands I sort of sloshed the uterus back and forth a little to see if I could wake him up. Then I felt a very solid movement in the middle of my belly. It was followed by one more identical movement. I gasped because I really didn't think I was going to get a reaction from him. But I am sure it was some sort of a kick because it was unlike anything I have felt from within.

I didn't know whether to wake up Paul or not. I was crying from excitement and I lightly placed my hand on his face for a second and I heard his deep breathing seize. I waited a second or two and asked, "Oh, are you awake?" He kind of groaned, I explained what happened and he put his hand on my belly. Of course I couldn't get the little guy to do it again, but he was excited anyways. So much fun!

We have decided on a bedding set. There are so many to choose from (so many are way too expensive!). But we found a simple one from Target that will suit the wall color nicely. It definitely says BOY without over doing it. We have the dresser/changing table unit in pieces all over the nursery floor. I think we're both waiting for the little helper elves to assemble it for us! HA! I will get a full photo of the nursery when we get that far. It's great to finally know what we're having! Only 20 more weeks to go!!

IT'S A BOY!!

Our appointment at the OB clinic went really well today. Aside from the ignoring the fact that you have to use the bathroom real bad... you are easily distracted as soon as the ultrasound screen turns on in front of you.

First, the tech started taking measurements of the organs and bones of the baby (as my husband had not quite arrived yet :) ). She informed us that the baby was unmistakeably a boy. I have been in the mind set that we were having a girl and had subconsciously started planning accordingly (ideas for the baby's room, looking at girl's clothes, had a girl's name picked out etc.) So now I have to let this exciting news sink in a bit.

Everything looked good from what the tech showed us. The Doctor has to review all the screen shots to confirm that everything is developing properly, but most likely the tech would have caught something abnormal. The baby (HE... I can say that now!) weighs 12 ounces and his heartrate is at 140 beats per minute. I haven't gained any weight in the past two weeks, but a total of 8 pounds so far which the Doctor said was fine.

During the ultrasound, the tech had to continuously chase the baby around my tummy. He seems to be so active which is relieving because I haven't felt any movement at this point. She mentioned that because the placenta is located in front and slightly to the side, it has probably acted like a cushion to the movement. She tried hard to get a really good profile shot (to view in 3D form) near the end of the ultrasound, but the baby wasn't cooperating. He was burying his face into the uterin wall, or covering his face by rubbing his eyes. OH! And he kept opening his mouth to yawn, which was really cool to watch on screen.

Paul is very excited, he said BOY from the very beginning. Now we get to start deciding on a boy name!

Our Halfway Point

Allison - 20 weeks pregnant with her second child

April - 19 weeks pregnant with my first child

18 Weeks OB Appointment

To think I'm 18 weeks! Time has gone by so fast, I think because I have been feeling so good the whole pregnancy. I had my OB appt. today and the baby's heart rate is at 153 bpm, which is good. I have gained 8 lbs. so far... which kind of shocked me. I don't feel the added weight on my body yet, but I could see it a bit in the photos from this weekend. The Dr. said that at some point soon I should be gaining about a pound a week.

I have set my 20 week ultrasound for June 11th. I haven't been thinking much about when I get to find out the sex of the baby, but now that there is a date set I find myself getting very excited! So, in about 2 weeks we'll finally know what we're having!! Will the poll stand true and tell us we're having a girl? I read our results from the Chinese Birthing Calendar (theoretical, but shockingly accurate) and that showed a girl for us! Two more weeks and the guessing will finally be over...

Not So Hidden Anymore!

Naturally while most people still can't tell that I am pregnant, I am definately in the stage where I feel that way! I say "Of course I look pregnant! How can you not see that? What did you think? That I ate a big breakfast?" My belly is certainly starting to take a shape unlike I ever had and it's very exciting!

I dragged Paul to the Babies R Us last night to start alittle bit of registering. We are going to wait on the clothes and gender specific things until we find out what our baby will be, but in the meantime there's plenty of stuff to get on there. Plus, it's an overwhelming process when you see everything that you should be prepared with when your child arrives. I can't imagine getting it all in one day.

I am 16 weeks this morning, or 4 months. I am still feeling pretty good. Having a difficult time eating the full amount that the doctors recommend. That "eating for two" ceratinly hasn't set in yet. But I think I'm progressing well, I have gained about 4 lbs. thus far (of the recommended 25 lbs...yikes!) I will have a 18 week appt. at the end of May. And my full ultra sound will be scheduled around my 20 week point. Hope everybody is doing well, have a great spring!