Under the Sea...

Daddy and I threw ourselves into this project this weekend. Last weekend Brad started the background-sand and sea-and at that point neither one of us wanted to wait very long as we were excited. I probably overdid it a lot since I am very sore today and ready to cry but we have all the paiting done! We still need to put alot in the room but you get the idea. My parents are gifting us a glider with matching ottoman and it should be delivered this week so imagine that in the room as well. We are also planning on putting the toy chest next to the changing table and looking for some area rugs or throw rugs or something to go on the floor.

27 Weeks

I am in the last few days of my second trimester. We will soon be in the homestretch!!! Baby bear is a big mover these days. I can feel him whether I am sitting, standing, walking, or laying down now. We have also moved into another milestone where we can SEE the baby move as well as feel it. My stomach jumps around a bit now and I have been able to get Brad's attention a few times while it was happening. He loves watching it and has felt it more often now too. Our book says that the baby now has distinct waking and sleeping times and boy does mommy notice :) We had a bit of a scare last week and I ended up going to the hospital. I woke up around 4 am with and indescribable pain in my lower back and terrible aches in my legs. I have a muscular disorder so I just told myself it was that. I didn't really sleep anymore after that and when I finally got out of bed a few hours later I was still very much in pain. Nothing I could do would change it :( To top it off I wasn't feeling the baby like I normally do. I know of a few things which will make the baby kick me and tried all of them to no avail. I did finally feel it shortly after noon which is NOT normal and it took well over an hour to feel four kick counts. I called the Doctor's office to talk to the nurse hoping she would tell me that I was worrying for nothing but she told me to head to the hospital. After initially not being able to reach Brad I called my mom and she rushed out the door to get me. Brad called me back finally and he left work and we met my mom at the hospital. I was hooked to a fetal monitor and they found a very strong heartbeat and about ten minutes into the monitoring someone got very upset with everything on my belly and began beating me up! What a relief! The baby is absolutely FINE. I am not in labor, not dilating yet, everything is as it should be and where it should be; I don't have a kidney infection, bladder infection or a UTI nor gall or kidney stones. Yay! What I did hurt is my sacroiliac muscle....have no clue what I did to it though. I don't suggest it as I am still in some pain and discomfort and it will probably flare up and get worse as the pregnancy progresses. JOY of Joys. But I have been resting a lot and Brad took a day off to take care of me last week and doesn't let me do much when he is around. But, other than that and the normal pregnancy pains I am fine and doing well as the picture below shows!
We also began painting the nursery this weekend and as of tonight daddy should have the background colors done so we can start adding the pictures to the murals. Very exciting and I go into the nursery all the time and tell baby bear what a good job his daddy is doing. We'll get our bedding in sometime this week too so we can put the crib all together and have even more done. I have another doctor appointment next week and will hopefully have all good news after that!

Baby News

Yesterday was my monthly appointment with my doctor...we've made it to the 6 month mark! Just saying six months is unbelievable but I know I feel like this is taking forever. I am very impatient. The doctor measured me and I am right on target to where I should be and my weight gain wasn't too bad this time. The baby moves around ALOT now and it started going crazy when the doctor started talking to me. I had been in the same position for a while up to that point and felt nothing until I started talking with the doctor so I am wondering if baby bear can hear and make out new sounds/voices. Its favorite time to start to move around is when mom lays down, gets comfy and closes her eyes. Of course, when it starts it is hard to ignore and I tell baby bear to calm down. I now have to start keeping track of fetal kick counts which they taught me about. The doctor talked to me about getting flu shots. He would like to see me get both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines but I don't know how I feel about that. We'll be praying on that until the next appointment. I have to go in for the standard blood glucose test which thrills me not but hopefully it will all turn out ok.

Baby bear's nursery is all taped off and waiting to be painted....hopefully we will start that in the next two weeks around our busy schedule. I am starting to wash all the clothes and stuff I have been picking up too. I got a baby shower gift in the mail today from someone who can't come to the big event and it was so exciting. So, we are starting to get the real 'tools' that we will need for the baby and it's getting real. We've got a couple crazy weekends ahead of us so we are hoping to get organized sometime soon and at least started before the end of October and my baby shower. I have one more appointment in October before we start going every two weeks. I went to put my appointments on our calendar and it just hit me how fast things are going to start going soon. We'll be there before we know it!

I added a poll to the right side of the blog. Please, just take two seconds because I really want to see what everyone thinks. So far everyone who sees me says the same thing...I am the only one who says different. I don't have a feeling or anything; my thoughts on the matter change everyday really. But, so far most everyone thinks the same thing so I would like to see what more people think!

All grown up!

I have to blog about this because I am SO super excited and giddy. I recieved some great mail today. After reviewing our finances and figuring out what we can afford and what we could cut from our spending before the baby came I decided to take some of my money and pay off my car! I had my old checking and saving accounts from my pre marriage days that I had been too lazy to throw into Brad's accounts. I haven't touched them probably since before the wedding so they were only sitting there anyways. I would never let Brad pay off my car entirely, even though it was OUR money that had been paying it for the last few months anyway-it was my debt and I would feel guilty. I took a large chunk of what was left of my single girl savings and sent a payoff check to Ford Motor two weeks ago. I got the letter of termination on my loan today and wanted to cry! This was my first adult purchase three years ago after getting my first adult job and I was so proud of myself. I even paid it off two years early so we got a tiny bit of a refund too. I own a car!!! Now, if I could just drive it :) I haven't driven it much since getting married either. So technically I own a car that Brad drives and I drive a car that Brad owns! I'm really a big girl now :)

Bonding with Dad

After MANY attempts and weeks of putting up with our silly, stubborn child Daddy has finally felt baby bear. I have been feeling the baby more and more-almost every time I am laying down or sitting and Brad has been waiting patiently. Whenever it would get moving we would place Brad's hand on my belly and wait. Of course, our little stinker would stop moving every time!!! It was almost as if baby knew that daddy was waiting to feel him or her. Even one morning Brad kissed me good bye and left for work and as soon as I heard the door close I felt someone starting to dance. Kind of like, whew he's gone lets get going. But, last night in bed while we watched TV Brad put his hand on my belly since there was quite a bit of action and we waited. All of a sudden he said he felt something and it happened to be the baby! He was so excited and every time he felt it he would ask me to be sure-THREE times in all. Then of course the baby stopped again but Brad and I both were so happy. He is already looking forward to the next time the baby says hello :)

Home Makeover

As of yesterday our 'To-Do list' got a little bit shorter. It took two Saturdays and a few hours on labor day but a big project is finally done. Brad, with the help of my dad and mom, has finished our new banisters around the stairs. The only thing left to do is stain them but they look beautiful already and we are very happy with them. The old ones as you can see were metal, VERY low (I could bend my knees and sit on them) and had spaces too big between the rungs and between the floor and the bottom. The new ones pass current safety regulations as far as spacing and they are higher and we both can lean over them and feel safe and know that the baby will be safe once it is mobile :)

BEFORE:

AFTER: But before staining. We also have to pick out a new handrail too.

The other home makeover was big victory on my part. Way back in May when I first got pregnant Brad painted our room and then made the valances I wanted hung. All I had to do was cover them in fabric so he could hang them. This past week I finally got around to it and they are hanging and our room is now done!

We're halfway there!!!

As of tomorrow I am at 20 weeks which means I have 20 more weeks to go! I have discovered just how impatient I am through this process of growing a human being. I don't think I was as antsy waiting a year until the wedding as I am going to be the nine months of waiting for the baby. Everyday I wish I could hold our baby in my arms. I had my ultrasound on Friday and baby bear is doing great! We are the right size and everything is in the right place and looks normal. Daddy couldn't be with us because of work so my mom actually got to tag along. She was so excited because it would be the first time she went to an ultrasound for one of her grandchildren. I was able to see and make out so much with the help of the tech and the heartbeat is great and it moves alot and even had the hiccups during the ultrasound :) We also found out why I am not feeling kicks yet...which is also the reason why it will be much longer until Brad will feel the baby. The placenta is right at the front of my tummy...it acts as a buffer between me and the baby. Almost as if you put a pillow on your lap then tried to poke yourself through it...you wouldn't feel much. But, this is normal and it isn't a complication and it is perfectly fine where it is. You can kind of see it in this picture...Brad says it looks like it is crushing the baby's head but it's fine. Yes, we are having an alien...the baby is looking straight at you at this angle. ..in this one you can see the eyesockets and the nasal cavity and jawline which makes the baby look a bit off :)

And in this one you can make out a bit of the jaw, some of the spine down at the bottom and a arm and a leg.

Mommy has a good size baby bump now and keeps thinking about how much bigger she is going to get :) I don't sleep through the night anymore and have lost the ability to use the muscles in my abdomen to help me get out of sitting or laying positions very easily already. I am doing great though and Brad takes very good care of me!

Thank you, grandma and grandpa Borek...it came just today and we already have it put together!