26 weeks

i'm at the can't-eat-enough-give-me-that-if-you-aren't-eating-it stage. it's lovely. i love food. food that i never loved has become friendly with me. although oddly enough, pretzels gave me indigestion yesterday and so have left a bad taste in my mouth. gross. apples...yum. soy protein drinks - must have in the AM. pasta - do whatever to it - you're mine.

as i thought i would, i am enjoying pregnancy a lot, though trying at times. i forget sometimes that i need to slow down when i walk which causes cramps that stop me in my tracks. i feel like i'm 50 pounds heavier when i get out of bed (when i've only gained 20), my butt has been over processed cottage cheese since day one, i get brown spots on my face when out in the sun too long, i fart uncontrollably, i snap when you look at me wrong, the heels of my feet hurt if i stand in place a bit, my boobs are bigger than two over-sized watermelons, limbs fall asleep when i get comfy in bed, my back is in spasm more often than not, and i itch like mad on my belly and my chest every other day! hey - this is great! seriously, with all of that going on....just to feel the baby kick and move around makes it ALL worth it! it just blows my mind how much your body changes to accommodate growing another human being. it's amazing that it's possible at all. so, i'm NOT complaining. i'm just stating...so you may laugh at will. this material will be humorous for me to read after the fact. and to think, i'm going to get bigger... :-)

the laminate flooring is laid in the nursery and master bedroom. it looks awesome! i'm so excited to see the rooms unraveling! baby will love her room! i love our room, just love it. i'm so excited to see the kitchen get started. again, my superman is super wonderful! thank you, thank you! sorry i cannot help out more.

beauty grows within

Ok, the laminate flooring and the tile for the kitchen/tv room are on their way. Ted has indicated that the gas lines need replacing as does the water heater.

If there is one thing i have learned from watching home remodeling shows, it's this, you will invariably run into all kinds of hurdles when you set out to complete project A. Project A becomes sub-part a, b, c, d, e and sometimes even f. challenging...i still don't know how he does it. How do you keep your wits about you, my dear?

Little girl has been thumping away today. it amazes me when i read that my moods affect her. if she is feeling my day today, i apologize....you shouldn't have to feel stress this early in your life! i wonder if she feels my frustration when i am driving. I wonder if she feels my emotions when i just want to up and cry for no reason at all. i wonder how we will be able to console one another once she is born....because no matter what happens right now, i am able to run my hand over my belly and lightly remind her i love her and somehow, everything to me is OK.

I picture her in my rear view mirror when i'm in the car. I imagine her crying in the middle of the night. I see another infant smile and wonder what her smile looks like. I hear a child laughing and hope our girl is the happiest in the world. Becoming a mom is going to be an incredible experience. I am only experiencing part of that now and it lights up my world. I sit and wonder if she is comfortable, all squished up inside of me. I sit back and probe trying to get her to play with me. I talk to her when i think she is napping. I sing and remind her that i know no lullabys. I ask her what music she prefers to listen to. I try to imagine what she sees, feels and tastes. all of it, yes all of it.....is the most precious thing on earth. our baby, our daughter, our precious little girl.

hey, where'd it go?

I've watched as my belly has grown bigger and bigger, waiting for the day when i would start to lose site of "things" below my belt.... well, it's official....6 mths is what it took to lose site of my privies!

It's really funny to watch your body change so drastically within such a short amount of time. I mean...your belly grows so big and all you may feel are some back pains and a ton of itching. i can no longer cross my legs and have instead, chosen to sit with them spread with a slight arch to my back to support the weight up front. wait til i get bigger. holy cow. where do i put it? i have four months to go here people...the toilet is going to become quite the obstacle. do they make seat wideners for pregnant butts? :-)

i tested the waters and threw out some maternity leave options to my employer today. It all must be discussed with the head honcho, so i am curious as to what will come back to me. I chose to try to leave for 8 wks and then work from home the last 4. i thought about part time from home but am afraid of losing benes. so what does a mommy do...keep her baby home with her while working from home? that's what i foresee. i'm sure, as with everything else, this will be a learning experience. how do you juggle breastfeeding, entertaining, answering the phone and drafting pleadings? the way i see it - who cares - it's only 4 wks. pray for me please....please let them work with me on this one.

let's see - food cravings? none. i crave nothing. i see you eating it...i want it. that's about all. my mind is going...i have trouble completing sentences and remembering where things are or go. My tolerance for annoying people has become a bare minimum - i find it excruciatingly difficult to hold back words. unfortunately, innocent bystanders are feeling the grunt of the pain. i have been keeping up with doing yoga and trying...when i have the strength...to not eat JUNK FOOD. i made excuses all weekend long because it was a holiday...but now....i have to watch it. i will balloon if i'm not watching...

i love my belly and enjoy talking about our baby whenever possible. i am so excited that the nursery is almost done...just flooring to install and it's ready to go! it will look so pretty when it's done. We have, again, ted to thank for that, as well as my dad who pitched in by painting the woodwork. yeh!!!

here's a picture of me this week... i think the baby plateaued for a week or so but i can sure tell she is cramped. her kicks are stronger and wider spread. she is catching up to where she should be on the growth chart.

i am so excited to Fall to start! we have been graced with cool weather lately and it feels fantastic to be COLD when you sleep! fresh air, open windows...summer is almost over.

oh yeah, i got my hair cut...a ton of it cut. i figured at the rate it is growing right now...why not?!

baby, baby, baby

this is our baby girl during her ultrasound on August 14th, 2007.

I wasn't able to get a picture of her legs, but we did see them. they are long, just like her daddy's. As you can tell here...she has some pretty long fingers too. Our little super model!

It took some probing and jostling around to see what gender the baby is, but finally she got a shot of her "sitting" on the lens for us. it was pretty obvious to me. Hello little girl!

We got to tour the birthing center that same day. It was just as i had hoped. My friend Jenni had her daughter Lily almost two years ago...when i was still living in Colorado, and her hospital labor delivery room was awesome. She got to experience that room (and delivery) all over again with the recent birth of her son, Harrison Lee on August 20th. 10 pounds 1 ounce! Congrats Jenni and Randy!!!!! Anyway...as i was saying, her birthing room was so cozy, i knew that when i have a child, that is the way i want mine to be. St. Joseph's Medical Center built a new facility and opened last November. Their LDRs are just as lovely as Jenni's...without the view of the Rockies. Complete with hardwood floors, flat screen tv and cabintry to make it look like home (kinda). Ted and i were both pleased. that 's a load off my mind.

last night, August 26th, baby was getting pretty active as we were sitting watching tv. I had been up and moving all day so i had felt very little during the course of the day. As i was sitting there feeling her bump and kick around i told Ted to put his hand near my abdomen, below my belly button and keep it there. He finally felt the baby kick!! Up until now, i tried to get him to feel her, but he didn't have any luck. finally! he commented...that's pretty neat! I think it will take him some warming up to appreciate her movements. It must be pretty strange to experience pregnancy as a man. He is so removed from it all. Me, my days are consumed by her. I eat, breathe, and sleep baby. literally. she's all i ever think about. :-)

The house is still coming along. Primer paint has been coated on all the walls in most of the house, minus a few rooms. BUT - it is coming along nicely. For those of you interested who didn't get the pictures sent to them, let me know and i will forward them to you. i tend to keep tabs on the house through the slide shows on Sony Imagestation. i don't ever mean to keep the progress that Ted has been making out of my blogs, but with the two things going, it is hard to mention everything on both.

i would like to say that I think Ted is the most amazingly ambitious person i have ever met....or even heard of. He knows how to do it all...and if he doesn't, he learns. no project has been too big for him and he has kept a level head throughout the project even through swift kicks in the butt by bugs, rodents, fungus and leaks. you are my miracle man, baby, and I want you to always know how much i appreciate you and all the hard work you are putting into building our future. I love you greater than the sky's vastness and all the stars within it.

It's a...

Girl!

A wonderful, beautiful, healthy baby girl!!!!!

Our ultrasound was yesterday. The images are difficult to decipher at first, but once your eyes get used to it, the unraveling of our baby's hands, feet, spine, butt, head, ears, toes, fingers were all visible!!! fascinating!!! clean bill of health! we couldn't ask for anything more! she is the most precious thing i have ever seen!!! I will try to figure out how to upload the ultrasound pic here...

My due date is not off too much. After making all the necessary measurements, it was determined, that as of yesterday, our baby was 21wks5dys. Her arrival has been bumped up to 12/20. I still say she will get her sooner! let's hope! my dates weren't far off at all.

Here's a pic from Monday, August 13th - 21wks4days

Our OB/GYN had scared me with the thought of twins....she said i was measuring 3 1/2 wks ahead. the ultrasound revealed that to be untrue. completely untrue. apparently my Dr is not very good at measuring fundal height. oh well. just ONE baby!

I get to put the lady bug crib sheet set on my registry! happy happy joy joy!

2 weeks, too long

boy, it's been awhile since i posted...i didn't realize time flew by so quickly!

Well, the house is coming along wonderfully. Ted has been "mudding" and prepping the kitchen walls for paint. This is a very tedious task as there is a lot of waiting around while the mud dries and then you sand, and start all over. Pictures would not do this any justice, so if anyone is wondering where the pics have been...what you may see may not look like much....but it does if you see it every day...coming along nicely.

We chose a kitchen plan and are pretty set with our cabinets. I have picked out paint colors for the master bedroom as well as the nursery. The landscaping has been trimmed back considerably which allows us to view the neighbors across the street when looking out the front door. Decisions are still being made on flooring although we both agree that we shall fore go any use of carpeting in the entire house. The entry way, kitchen and family room will be tile and the rest of the downstairs will wait until after our move.

I have to hand it to my guy - the most motivated, wonderful guy ever - who has plugged away, day after day without any help and has kept his vision of completion within eyesight. I do not know of anyone else who would take on such a huge project....all alone. True, Drew has helped out when he can which has been an enormous help and i thank him for it....but Ted is there every day....doing something...in order to get our house ready for us to move in. no laborers hired...no friends to the rescue...working weeknights and weekends...my super hero! he deserves more than a pat on the back, or a "job well done". there is no reward big enough baby. thank you from the deepest part in my heart.

on another note, i have been wrestling with a painful tooth lately and with the helpful budge of my friend Meredith, i have decided to once and for all take care of the problem and rid myself of pain. i go to the dentist today to find out what may be in store for me. i know a root canal is an option but i fear what else may be wrong... at any rate...i can honestly say, that as much as i despise and abhor the dentist...i look forward to this finally being over. don't worry everyone, no harm to the baby...i googled all i could and this is safe!

Ultrasound is tomorrow. i can hardly stand it. good thing i had my tooth on my mind or the day wouldn't have come up so quickly. i simply am giddy about finding out the sex, altho my honey is "excited", it cannot possibly relate to my elation. woo hoo - stay tuned for more on that.

gotta get a new pic of the belly. i am growing quite nicely, i must say. i am still loving being pregnant! the kicking is the most beautiful feeling in the world. ;-) we love you little baby.

and more on the belly front...

We are now in week 19...one more week and we will have reached our half-way mark. Our ultrasound is scheduled for 8/14! I'm still packing on the pounds, more than what they write about, i'm sure. for some reason, your body does not crave (or want) healthy food when you are growing a baby inside of you. you would think that it would, however, somehow grilled cheese and pizza are about the most delicious things you can devour. oh well...

belly at 18 weeks, forget about trying to fit into that pair of pants for the picture! not happening! even with my bella band, extending the life of some of my pre-pregnancy pants, I have found myself having to let go and become....yes...fat. in the name of the baby. :-)

oh, the itching. there are thing people don't mention, or forget to mention, or don't ever bring up when you are pregnant. here's one....your boobs and belly will itch unbelievably. this is from your skin stretching. now i might have it worse than most because my boobs are growing right along with my belly...because the belly itching is tolerable. lotion, lots of lotion.

i have noticed that it is mostly my boobs growing with my belly. not my ass, not my arms, not my legs....just those two spots. thank goodness. stay that way, please!!!!

pregnancy is cool, very cool. the most wonderful experience you can ever feel is the movement of your little one. baby has become a little less active as he/she grows. the thumps and pats are getting stronger but more on the "hey, i'm just hanging out" kind of feeling. before, it felt like he/she was trying to escape. now, i think there is a comfort level.

baby is very high. right under my boobs. although, some days it seems lower and sometimes it's high. there are days when my belly is tight as can be - can bounce a quarter off of it and then there are days when it is mushy. i have days when i am super tired and others when i manage to do more than one errand. but the hunger plagues me!

Some people say i have the glow. i don't always feel glowy - but i definitely have good days. my complexion is good then bad....my nails are horribly dry, but growing like weeds.

i read and i read and i fill out info for free stuff....all this preparing is mind-bottling (ha ha). this is good...ted has the house to occupy his time...and me, the baby.