17 Week and Baby Can Hear You Now!

Well, here we are again. Another week and another post. I have been feeling pretty good this week now that i am getting over that cold! I was telling Derek last night that i am a little surprised at how big my stomach has gotten. You see, i spend the majority of my time in my comfy pants and a sweatshirt, so when i get dressed to go out that is when i notice how different my clothes are fitting. I keep trying to squeeze into my two pairs of jeans that i CAN still squeeze into only trying to delay the inevitable. As for my shirts, well those are still fitting okay, but some are starting to get tighter. It is exciting to say the least. Here is a picture of where our little one is hiding out at 17 weeks...

Still not feeling of movement yet, but it's not for a lack of trying! I am anxiously awaiting that moment, but oddly weirded out by it as well. Now this doesn't sound very motherly, but i was telling Derek recently how weird it is to think that there is something growing inside of me that i will soon be able to feel. I just keep replaying those awful alien movies in my head and thinking "good lord, please don't pop out of my stomach and look like that!"..okay bad motherly rant over.

The baby has grown to about 5 inches this week, about the size of your open hand (well i guess this depends on the hand!). His/Her body fat is starting to form and soon i will start feeling the effects of my temporary built in furnace! I'm not sure if i am too excited for summer. The baby's eyes are in their final location, are making small movements side to side, and can even sense some light. (imagine flashlight pressed up against my stomach...now what would be the sense in that.) He/she is also practicing their swallowing and sucking movements. But, what i find most amazing about this week is that our little one can hear us now! This just blows my mind. The baby will also startle/respond to loud abrupt noises (think car horn, etc). I guess it is time to start singing in the shower! Only 9 more days until we can finally say He or She!!!

We have started getting things in order for the nursery. Most everything is moved out of the nursery except the couch (which reminds me...anyone wanna buy a fold out couch or a "beautiful" baseball ceiling fan? see pictures below) and the book case. We have the windows measured and will be ordered in a few days. But until we know boy or girl, we must wait to paint! I have the closet system designed and the furniture blueprint on the ground! Like i said..i'm a planner!

One other piece of info to share. I was hired to do some social work/discharge planning/case management at the Rehab Hospital of Wisconsin today. It is a per diem position that was left open to possibly become part time! It is a foot in the door! I was flattered by this because i had originally interviewed for the full time position back in January and was told i was a "close second". Then i got a call out of the blue last week about this position...they were not even posting it because i was the first person she thought of for it! I was a little hesitate today telling them that i was pregnant (i know legally it shouldn't matter..but...) But she was so excited for me and said that everything will work out great with the position. Derek's excited too! :)

Well, off to make supper for the hubby, like a good little house wife that i have become!

16 week Dr. Appointment and a Find!

As expected all went well at the doctors this morning. My blood pressure is good and my weight went up 5 pounds. I must say that knowingly gaining weight is both nice and scary at the same time. As a woman (most that is) are looking at the scale all too often to see the number go down or at least stay the same, but i know this is one time that i want the number to go up. I have a goal weight to not exceed which is still in the normal range of what i "should gain". Let's not hope to overachieve that goal! :) I also have been graced with a lovely congested, sore throat, hard to breath cold as of the past day or so. Derek was kind enough to run to Walgreen's last night at 10:30pm to pick up a humidifier and Vick's Vapor rub. Not sure what i would do without this wonderful man! It helped some with the breathing..thankfully because i was getting myself all worked up which was not helping the situation.

Baby's heartbeat was in the 150's-160's range which continues to be normal. I also asked the doctor to show me where my uterus actually is, because all these books say it located here or there and that i should be able to feel the darn thing but i haven't. Well, come to find out i was pressing in the correct place but not hard enough through the belly fat. I still have some tenderness in the right ovary area, but she said that even if it is a residual ovarian cyst there is nothing we can do about it. Lovely! Luckily, it only hurts when i press on it, so i guess i will not press on it any longer...yeah right!

Next appointment with her is on April 19th. But, what Derek and I are most excited about (along with a few future grandparents and others) is the "20 week ultrasound". Well I asked if it could be a bit sooner than the week before my appointment with her (i have to have to go to Waukesha Memorial Perinatal Assessment clinic for it, therefore she wants it done a week before we see her.) She seemed to think that it would be alright...So Thursday April 8th we will be able to find out if we will be having a little boy or girl....that means only two more weeks! yea!!!

While Derek was on a run to pick some items up for work, he stopped in at New To You Kids in Greenfield (it is basically right next door) just to see if they had anything new since their stock changes so frequently. Well, low and behold, there was a bassinet that I checking out at Babies r Us at the same time. Derek inspected it and then wanted me to come take a look, so i drove down to take a look. It is only a year old, looks new, makes musical & nature sounds, and was only $30! I said SOLD!

Unfortunately, Mia has already decided that it is her new bed! So we will have to start with the teaching of spaces that are not hers...wish us luck on that one because we have created a spoiled monster!

16 weeks and getting excited...

Well, Hello World! The past few weeks have brought some changes, good changes that is. There is no hiding it now! Looks like I have finally gotten the proverbial baby bump because people have been noticing!

I am in that inbetween stage where I feel like I go back and forth from feeling like I drank a few too many shamrock shakes to looking pregnant. I am still wearing my jeans, thanks to the invention of low-rise, (2 pairs only) but i feel that is only going to happen for a few short weeks/days longer. So the time has come to start looking for dum dum dum...maternity clothes. While Derek and I were out this weekend we hit a few new shops "just to look" and walked away with a few new things!

Yes, we do have some names picked out but they are not "for sure's"...so we got a book that breaks them down and not just into lists...found a few more that we like!

we actually got this a few weeks back at a resale shop but never posted about it...Sophia has one just like it and I really liked it and the price was right!

I ended up with two new shirts and a Dress that I am hoping to "grow" into a little for the summer wedding events! I know what you are thinking...."Sara in a Dress?!?!?" Sadly, this may be a common scene this summer as I get big as a whale with a built in human heater! In other Sara news, nothing really new to report. I have only the occasional nausea with dry heaving. I just close my eyes and go to my happy place (a beach on St. Thomas) to make it stop.

This is similar to the image I have in my head....not that you really cared. :)

I have been trying to be more careful when sleeping as well. I have always been a stomach sleeper and that has gone totally out the window and now back sleeping (which i have surprisingly found comfortable) is now not an option. So, it's a good thing that Derek is deep sleeper because I am not sure if he would still be sleeping next to me if he knew how MUCH I am moving and bumping him. The one other pregnancy "symptom" that has been fun has been the acne...so i am embracing my teen days again! :) Eventhough, this is occuring and has occured for millions of women over the years, I am just so incrediably greatful for this experince. Everyday, I wake up and go to bed thanking God for giving us this opportunity to bring a child into this crazy messed up world.

Baby this week is the size of an avacado or naval orange ( about 4 1/2 inches) depending on where you get the info. His/Her heart is now pumping 25 quarts of blood a day and the bladder is emptying every 45 minutes! He/She is very active in the womb moving with increased coordination. The hair on the scalp is just starting to form.

Many People have asked if I have felt any movement. That answer is a big ol' NO, but not for lack of trying to feel for it. I know it may be a bit early since this our first pregnancy, but "they" say i could start feeling baby between now and 22 weeks. I will try to lay still and try to see if I sense anything. However, if you know me, i don't lay still for more than a few minutes so, I guess i will have to wait for a while longer to feel our baby doing aerobics.

I have my 16 week appointment with Dr. Young on Thursday, so I will have some additional info then. I am excited and nervous to hear our little ones heartbeat again. It is weird to think that it has been a whole month since we last saw a doctor. Still getting used to that concept. Although, it has taught us some additional patience and trust is the process. At the appointment I am going to try and convince Dr. Young to let me have our "20 week" ultrasound the second week of April and not the third week. I just hope the little one cooperates and lets us see his/her "parts". Then the fun can start with getting the nursery ready with either blue or pink!

Here are a few pictures of what Derek and I found at our new favorite Children Consignment store in West Allis. It is big with alot of stuff above and beyond clothes. We couldn't help ourselves and found a few things that the baby won't use for at least 6 months but the price was right and we were excited for baby!

Andy and Tim feel free to come play with these bloks anytime your little hearts desire! :)

We know it will be a while before our little on can play with this but the price was too good to pass up and well, we were excited to be buying "baby" stuff.

And last but not least...a big Congrats to Tim and Stef on the long awaited arrive of Ella! She was 7 days late and in the words of Jackie "about frickin' time!" :) The majority of the Dinner Club had the chance to welcome Ella to the group in Friday night at the hospital. Welcome to the Club Ella!

This clearly is not Ella, you'll have to visit her blog to see pictures. As everyone knows, this is Mia enjoying her cat nip grass. She wouldn't leave it alone for a few days!

14 weeks and not much to report

Well, we are 14 weeks along as of Monday. Nothing really much to report on the pregnancy to report. I have been feeling better (i.e. not much nausea) in the past 5 days. My energy level is increasing, although i still get winded easily, and my appetite has also picked up. I hope that I have not just jinxed myself as I have in past postings! Derek is happy that I am finally getting back to doing laundry, dishes, and cleaning!

As for little baby Umnus, the books always differ a little but most agree that the baby is about the size of my fist and he/she is nestled in a melon size uterus. I become amazed every week when i read about the development of our little one. The baby's body is finally catching up to the size proportion of the head. The head is starting to raise off the chest as the neck elongates.

We have two more weeks until our next appointment and then hopefully only two-three more weeks until we finally put the question of boy or girl to rest. Then the real fun can start! Pink or Blue? What is your guess?

On a side note, we are all very anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby Blaha! Ella has decided that she likes the warmth of her mom's belly and has stayed 2 extra days so far. Come on Ella, we are all waiting to meet you!

Rubber Ducky Your The One...

Well a quick post about our new Rubber Ducky that tells the bath temp! I was feeling crummy this evening (funny thing how i always post i am feeling good and then I am not) so Derek encouraged me to take a nice relaxing bath. Remember how I told you that I like my baths HOT...well even before i got in there i felt the water with my hands and arms....i didn't feel it was warm enough yet, but we decided to put the duck in first before adding more hot water...That's right it hit 103 degrees at that point. So in went the cold water to get it under 100 degrees! Makes me really wonder what temp i used to take baths at...Well off to bed, bath make sara very sleepy...

13 weeks...

Sorry about the late post. Last Thursday Derek and I went to our first official OB appointment. It was exciting and nerve wracking all in the same big ball of wax. We really liked Dr. Young and we really liked the fact that she took a lot of time talking with us and answering our page full of questions. She really had set my mind at ease which helps. The appointment went well and it was so very different than the appointments we have had up until this point. First of all the appointment lasted more than 10 minutes! Second, there was no ultrasound. :( We have gotten so used to being able to see our little one every time we go in for an appointment that it felt a little weird not to. But we did get to hear the heartbeat, which is always when i hold my breath and say a little prayer that the doc can find it. She did and it was in the 160's. The other thing she informed us about was that we will only be getting one more ultrasound until birth unless anything would warrant another. That was kinda a bummer but i think once i can feel the little one moving around i will probably be feeling a little more okay with it. The one ultrasound will be the BIG one sometime during the week of April 12th! We will be finding the gender so that we can start making bigger plans. If you know me, i like a plan. We can't wait for that day. There are many predictions already for both boy and girl...and all i know is that it won't be both.

Derek and I have been hitting up the children's resale shops in the area to just get an idea of what they have and the prices. I know some may disagree, but it just feels wrong to buy all brand new stuff when the kid is only gonna use it for a little while. We are excited for Rummage season to start! Here is a picture of one of the things we found at New To You Kidz in Brookfield...it's a duck that you can put in the tub to take the temp. It was only $3.50 in the original packaging! To be honest it is really for me so i know that i am not taking too hot of baths in order to not "cook the baby" (Doctors words not mine)! I like to take baths so hot that my skin turns red, so probably a little to hot for baby!

As for how I have been feeling...well the past few days have been much better. I still get a little tinge of nausea but haven't thrown up my supper like the past few weeks! So i am hoping/crossing my fingers/knocking on wood that maybe the all day sickness has gone on a permanent vacation! I still get tired out easily and end up napping in the afternoon for a few hours and end up back in back by 9:30-10pm. I know I know, enjoy it now while i can! I also have enjoyed the fact that Dr. Young said that my uterus "is nice and big" but is moving higher off my bladder. So i have been able to only enjoy nighttime trips once or twice a night instead of the 3-5! Yea for baby moving north! Here is a picture of my belly at 13 weeks. I still feel like my belly is a little smaller than it was just a few weeks ago! Kinda figured that would happen due to the swelling ovaries that have decreased (not normal size yet, but getting there!)

Here is a picture I lifted from Carla's Blog from the night I announced baby Umnus to the Dinner Club ladies. (Thanks Carla!) It sure was fun finally letting them all in on the secret. Later Derek had told me that he only a few minutes to tell Jason and Tim in person before the wives started calling to see if they heard the news! Derek and I are just so excited that we no longer feel like odd man out with out a kid to talk about or play with when the group is together. Honestly, as silly as it sounds...it feels liberating! We could not have asked for a better Dinner Club! You have all been so amazing and supportive and we love you all!

Here is one last picture for your viewing pleasure. Mia has learned a new "trick". She will actually try to get my attention in the hallway and lead me to the bathroom so that i can turn the faucet on for her to drink! It is actually very comical to watch because she doesn't just stick her tongue out to lick the water, she feels the need to bite at the water and it ends up all over her face and none in her mouth! She eventually figures it out and licks the water, but sometimes it can take a few minutes. And yes, she does have a bowl of water.

And for all you name mongers out there...We have some names that we are putting on and taking off our list constantly. However, when we decide on a name we will be keeping it a secret until we see our little one, so you will just have to wait on that detail about another 189 days! :)

P.S. i have fixed the pictures on the past few posts so they are now visible...sorry for the inconvenience Jackie! :)