Happy Thanksgiving

It has been a busy, yet not busy week here. Last Thursday, Nov 19, was the day of our Hallmark baby shower and I was getting a hair cut before heading over. A little after 9 am I got a call from my nurse midwife saying I have elevated protein levels in my urine and I am to be on bed rest immediately. The protein levels, along with higher blood pressure and water retention are all signs of preeclampsia. It is something that can elevate quickly and often leads to induction. They are hoping to get me to 37 weeks, then look at inducing. She wanted me to come in for a quick check up with them, then to the hospital for fetal monitoring and an ultrasound. I told her I would have to come in later after the baby shower.
We had a wonderful baby shower, about 30+ people showed up, we had yummy cake and goodies and a lot of well wishes. It was great to see so many people there to support John and I. We passed around ultrasound pictures and dog photos. I think more people enjoyed the dog photos just as much, if not more!
From there I headed down to the doctor's office and went over things with the nurse midwife. With preeclampsia the big fear is a sudden increase in blood pressure and pain from your liver. It can come along suddenly, so I have to be aware. It would affect me more than Anna. They were going to try to get us to 37 weeks before having to deliver depending on how I was doing. I then went over to the hospital labor and delivery ward for a non stress test for Anna and blood pressure for me. It was supposed to be an hour, but I was strapped to the monitor for over 3 hours. I tried paging someone and was not having any luck. I think they were waiting on results from a blood sample they had taken. I then went to have a bioscan ultrasound done. During this they look for Anna to perform 4 different things, such as a large movement and moving her diaphragm, all within a 30 minute period. She did accomplish them, but she was a little quiet after kicking the monitors for the previous 3 hours. I finally left the hospital close to 7 pm!
I have been resting, except for my doctors appointments twice a week. Each time I have a NST (non stress test) and my blood pressure checked. The second protein level I had done showed lower levels, which was good. It seems I am on the edge of preeclampsia, but they feel better safe than sorry.
John decided he wanted to do a full turkey dinner still and put together a nice dinner. I did suggest to him that he could go straight to leftovers since it was the two of us. I was able to talk to my parents and grandma on Skype, a free video chat site. Grandma commented on how large I am. I showed them where we were at in the nursery and toured around the house a bit. Later we talked to Scott and Tiffany while John was finishing cooking. Fun to do, especially if your camera is mobile.
This weekend we expect Mary and Earl in with the mobile home on Saturday afternoon. They will be here until Monday morning and will help John out with a few things. And eat turkey!
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

45 days left!

Sometimes I want it to hurry along and other times I cannot believe how fast it is going. Anna is doing well. This weekend she decided to move up and now rests her back above my belly button. I had some blood work run to check this with my swelling and slightly high blood pressure. Everything came back good and clean, so I just need to stay off my feet more. One more week at work, then I am done.
I am at week 34, so this means Anna is around 17 inches and 4-4.5 pounds. She continues to move around, but is starting to show signs of sleep patterns. John put his head on my belly to listen and got a kick to the ear. She does not want to be crowded. My uterine and abdominal walls are getting thinner allowing her to see more light and work on opening and closing her eyes. We are estimating her final weight to be in the low eights. We shall see!
We had our first snow here this morning. Very wet and melted quickly. Was still nice to see. We are still waiting for our Pin Oak to drop leaves so that all the leaves will be raked up. The acorns are a different story. So many! Things are slowly getting done around the house, but very slowly as I cannot do too much helping. I cannot imagine bed rest, house rest is bad enough! Ally and Milo find our days to be boring. I would play with them more if Ally would bring her toy to me rather than a foot away. I told John I need one of those long gripper arms.
We scheduled our birthing class and went to our breast feeding class. We have a baby shower at Hallmark on Thursday, then need to make plans for Thanksgiving. I did not realize it was so close! I hope everyone is well!

Sad sad day

So yesterday ended up as one of our saddest ever as we had to say goodbye to our most beloved Kodak. He had been slowing down over the past few weeks, right after his 11th birthday. We had a great day Sunday out raking leaves, playing with the neighbor kids and he ate the best he had in the past 2 weeks. I was going to call the vet Monday anyways to take a look at him as he had been drinking more and was dragging his back legs. We have been watching him get weaker in the back due to his spine fussing. Well, yesterday morning he literally dragged himself downstairs for me, I am not sure how he did it, but he kept enough control not to knock me down. He went outside and peed what looked like iodine, then refused to move off the couch. I knew things looked pretty bad. He was breathing heavy and coughing up phlegm. John came home, half carried him to the car and we went to the vet. We took Ally and Milo in case this was their chance to say goodbye. Our vet said there was a lot of wet sounds in his chest, so much it was hard to hear Kodak’s heart. His temp was 106! So, left and right he was doing really bad. We were looking at kidney failure, possible heart failure and a raging temperature that would involve hospitalization. Our vet said we could do a bunch of diagnostics, but it looked like the only proper thing, even after diagnostics was to say goodbye.
We decided it was best to let him go and not let him suffer. I wanted him to go out having had a fairly good day the day before, not forcing him to hang on for us. He was not very aware of things, so we loved on him and said goodbye. Overall he had not been sick long, he just went down very quickly. We miss him so bad it hurts. He was my best friend with all the moving we have done and he was always there for me. He was John's guy and John felt better with him keeping an eye on things. We had a special bond and I will miss him every day. I wish he had been around long enough to met our baby, he loved babies. We had him for about 8 1/2 years, not long enough. He was wonderful and he is greatly greatly missed.

Happy Halloween!

We are entering week 32 already! Things seem to go really slow, then very quickly. She is about 16 inches in length and usually has her bottom up by my belly button. She does move around quite a bit still, but she seems to hang around on my right hand side. It is funny to rub her and get a response, sometimes it is a big movement. Anna weighs approximately 3.7 pounds. I will not say how much I weigh! She has full finger nails and toenails. The next few weeks will be spent gaining weight and getting a bit longer. We have a last ultrasound scheduled for 11/13, so maybe we will have a good guess at her size then.
As for John and I things are a bit busy. John is crazy at work with Christmas tests and fixes. Lots of meetings and running around. He went on a market tour the other day with people from Walgreen's and his new boss' boss' boss and besides sharing all his knowledge of cards he was able to dazzle them with some great barbecue suggestions. Lots of leaf raking and still oak leaves to fall. When we are outside we get hit with acorns, and those hurt! The dogs love the fall and have been having fun hanging out with the Tripplett kids next door. Kodak even managed to catch a leaf on his nose. He is slowing down and we are keeping an eye on him. Have a good week.

Meet Anna

If you had not heard bebe's name is Anna. Anna has been a long time favorite of ours.
Week 28 came and went. We were recovering from our trip back East and John was very busy with work. I am finally feeling a bit better, but it is getting hard to move up and down at work. I shall have to see how much longer I can keep getting up and down. I may have to see if there is something else I can do.
This past week we went for our second ultrasound. Anna is growing well. She is in the 64th growth percentile, very active and everything still looks good. My placenta, the reason for the appointment, is still off by 0.12 cm, so we may have a third ultrasound. We need to talk to our new clinic about it. We are now in our 29th week, so we are officially in the third trimester. Anna weighs between 2.5-3 pounds and is about 15 inches long. She is becoming more and more active, moving around quite a bit. At the ultrasound she had her head down next to my right pelvic bone. She also had her feet up next to her head making it hard to get a good view. Our technician Caroline was determined to get a look at her face for us and even turned the machine over to 3D view. We got some cute shots of Anna with her hands beside her head. We even saw her suckling! Quite the facial expressions already. According to different info I have read she will really start putting on weight now. That means more weight for me! But we have a healthy baby girl growing, so we will keep up eating as healthy as we can. I have my glucose test tomorrow and I hope all is well.

NH Visit/Fair Week

I am now 27 weeks pregnant (9/28). This means bebe is the approximate size of a sock monkey! She is now over 2 pounds and at least 12 inches. Next week we have another ultrasound, so we shall have to remember to find out how long she is. I am feeling fine, just tired from being so busy and my ankles are swelling more. Yeah. She is moving around and last night I could physically see movement as I lay down on my back to put my feet up. Very strange.
We have once again been quite busy. Last Sunday John's brother-in-law Eric came to visit and we caught a wet Red Sox game at the Royal's stadium. Unfortunately we lost. I flew out to NH early on Tuesday (9/22) and John and Eric went to the game that night. John says he just missed catching a batting practice ball. He said another man's glove got in the way.
Thursday I watched Ethan and Enola while Tiffany had an interview. We then all went apple picking. The MacIntosh were really yummy, but all the good ones were up high. Tiffany put Ethan up on a branch and held his legs while giving him directions as to which apples to pick. Enola and I kept watch for orchard workers. It was a warm 80 degree day. John was offered tickets for the last Red Sox game and went with some coworkers. They had a good time and the Sox won. All in all a good day.
Sunday was my baby shower put on by Jenn, Mom, Tiffany and Rebecca. We had it over at Tiffany's grandmother's studio. It was an afternoon tea with yummy baked goods by Jenn and Tiffany. There was local NH tea and the party favor was local NH soap slices, all very nice. We had fun. Enola was helping by pulling all the tissue paper out of the bags, sometimes even before I could get it! She also did a silly laugh which had everyone going. Thank you to everyone who put it together and those who came. It was great!
After the shower we had a 80th birthday party for my Grandma Bauer. It was nice seeing the whole Bauer family. The Hanson family came out from Chicago, which was great and Aunt Michelle driving up with all of them. Come to find out my pregnancy is going just like both of my aunts'. Nausea in the beginning and a bunch of weight gain in the end. Yeah!
Tuesday (9/29) I picked John up in Manchester and I had more movement in my belly than I had had the week before. She missed his voice! We had a busy afternoon running some errands and then heading down to Boston for the game. The day before Scott had called saying his CEO offered him his box seats and would we like them, yes! It was a great game (better if we had won) and a lot of fun to get to Fenway on a very charged night.
Wednesday we headed up to the cottage and had a nice evening with Mary and Earl and a lobstah dinner. Thursday we spent at the Fair with Tiffany and the kids seeing all the animals and trying to convince Ethan he did not want to go on the rides. We then headed over to Gonic for dinner with Drew and Becca. We had a nice time visiting and a very long day. We slept in a little on Friday before heading over to visit my Aunt Flora and Jackie. We then met up with Mary and Earl to go see Gram up at her retirement home. It is a nice facility with lots to do and many people she knows. It was good to see where she has been staying and how much she enjoys everyone there.
We then checked out the outlets for baby clothes and stopped to see Uncle Junior before heading down to Deerfield for the night.
Saturday we hung around the house in the morning with John helping Uncle and Scott working on the porch. It was a rainy day. Mary and Earl came over and we ended up grabbing Ethan and Enola and all of us going down to the Fair. The kids were good, if not hungry. We stayed until the weather started to turn then headed over to Scott's house for supper. Sunday we packed up, stopped by the Fair and then headed out getting home a bit after 7pm. A long crazy couple of weeks!

Dancing Queen

Okay, it has been too long since the last post. We have traveled a lot and therefore I had to catch up on a lot of sleep. I think I am finally getting there.
The Dancing Queen reference is to the ABBA song. I was packing to go to Chicago and listening to the song when our little one decided to start violently bouncing off the wall. Her busiest yet! We have not tried it again, but it was pretty funny.
We are now in week 25, so officially 6 months(+) along. She is usually quite active, but I cannot seem to get used to the bumps. She is especially wiggly if I am too scrunched up, sitting curled up or leaning over. She is over 1.5 pounds, around 13-14 inches and about the approximate size of a 5 pound bag of flour. I am glad she is not 5 pounds yet! She has great reflexes, can grab her toes and is even starting to show signs of her dominant hand. My uterus is around the size of a soccer ball, hence all the kicking. John can now hear her heart beat if he puts his ear on my belly. She is getting big.
John and I have had a lot going on in the past few weeks. The weekend of August 29 we headed up to Minnesota to see the Olson's, go to the Minnesota State Fair (yummy food) and see John's Grandma. Mary and Earl were also in town, so we were able to visit them as well. Labor Day weekend we drove up to Chicago to meet Eric and Jack. We caught a Red Sox/White Sox game (we lost), saw the Harry Potter Movie exhibit and checked out some museums. We went swimming where I found I am much more buoyant. If no one was splashing I would hover around eye level without moving.
Mary and Earl met us at home when we got back from Chicago and were able to stay until Saturday. It was a nice to have them visit for a few days. John and I celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary last Tuesday with a nice dinner out with Mary and Earl. It was a fun and enjoyable time. Can you believe it has been eight years!
This weekend we caught up on rest and laundry. We also finished putting plants in the ground that I had just received for my birthday from my parents. Just a word of warning, budding peony roots need to be planted in a hole 18 inches deep and 18 inches around! John did all the digging, I supervised and "ran" for tools. Today I am starting to feel rested, just in time to start packing for my trip to NH. I am very excited for cooler weather, but I need more maternity clothes. I do not have a lot of layers to wear if it is chilly. I will try to post a picture of my belly next week.

Kick Dog-base Ball

We are now in week 22. Our girl continues to grow reaching between 10-12 inches in length, about half of what she will be at birth! Her canines and molars are starting to develop as hardened tissue in her gums. Her eyes are developed, but the irises have no color. She is exploring the womb by touching everything, and I can tell you some days she is very busy! My favorite fact this week is that she now has a full set of neurons and can now process everything she learns. She now weighs a pound, that seems so big! I am feeling okay, a little sore from all the stretching going on. I still have a belly button, but it is slowly disappearing. The day it is gone will be a weird one.
It was a busy weekend here, hence the late post. We spent Saturday working on our baby registry and getting a lot of that done. When I got home the Triplett kids were over to play with the dogs. This is where the title comes in. Travis (9) was swinging and I was tossing a tennis ball at him to kick. We started to joke about needing bases and the next thing we knew we had developed a game. Milo was first base, Ally was second and Kodak was third. John was over by this point and had also joined in. Travis' mom Jana came out and his four year old sister Evie joined in whenever an extra player was needed. We did not keep score, just outs. It was really a lot of fun as our bases would run away, try to grab the ball or run towards the pitcher. I did have the unfair advantage of having Kodak and Milo follow me constantly, but that is okay because I could not run as quickly as the others. It was a lot of fun and wore us all out. Sunday was catching up on some rest and working on painting. The dogs and I did play with the kids again. I got the kids to "help" me bathe them, so we got clean dogs out of that deal. The nursery is 90% done, just need to touch up the white stripes (not the band).
Next weekend we head to Minnesota to visit the Olson's and Mary and Earl. So we will try to post from the road. Have a good week!

Colors

Wow, it is hard to believe it has only been a little over a week since we confirmed we are having a little girl. It is much easier to talk about her now and plan for things. To help our family and friends with our thoughts on girl colors John and I decided to put some info in our blog.




So, no baby pink or baby purple (unless it is a minor color). I am not into pink at all, but am okay with fuchsia/raspberry, deeper pinks in my book. I love how there are lots of variety in girl clothes right now. Chocolate or navy back grounds with stripes or flowers in fuchsia, yellow, greens, purples and all sorts of other colors. I have shared some pictures of patterns we already own to help. Hope this gives people a better idea of what we are thinking. It is not absolutely no pink, just pink as a minor detail, not the whole outfit. Ruffles are fine, no lace. We love all the nature patterns out there right now, especially birds and owls.
So baby girl has been busy this weekend. She has been bouncing around in there having a good time. She wanted to get up at 5:30 am yesterday just like we had all week. I hope this does not stick with her long! She did not want to get me up this morning thankfully, but has been flipping around quite a bit this afternoon. It is so hard to believe that she is about 10.5 ounces! That is about the size of a can of Rotel's (making chili today!). She is about 9-10 inches. I forgot to ask at the ultrasound, but I think she is good and big. Her digestive tract is working now and she is taking sips of amniotic fluid to absorb some fattening nutrients. She can even taste the fluid now! The rest of her senses are still developing, but at a fairly quick pace.
We have finally put our first coat of paint on the walls in the nursery. Still a soft yellow with white stripes on the bottom. We are looking for some black and white curtains for the two windows and John wants to go with dark brown furniture. So, things are coming together slowly there. We are trying to make a list of things we will need and what to register for. Not too busy here this weekend and I even got in a nap. Yeah!
I hope everyone has a great week!

Baby Girl Steman

Here are two of our favorite ultrasound pictures. The first if a nice profile shot with her hand up by her face and the second is her first footprint. John thinks she may sleep like him with her hands up. She was actually moving her hands and feet a lot during the appointment. I laugh to think her profile looking like one of us versus the other because we both have the straight German nose! It should be fun to see her in another 2 months.
We are now in our fifth month. Wow! It has been flying since I started to feel better. Our baby girl is about the size of a coconut now. She can use all her senses now so John tries to read out loud to her every night. Her skin is covered in vernix, a cheesy coating to protect her skin from the amniotic fluid. She may even get the hiccups now. I shall have to see if I can feel that movement. She can grab her umbilical cord if she feels it, so could be practicing some swinging in there! Very busy girl!
We had a busy week this past week. My mom came to visit and we checked out local gardens, found some plant seeds, saw the baby and looked at baby clothes and other items. I was good and only bought 2 shirts, Mom picked up some cute onesies/shirts too. I have to wait for more winter clothes come out before I can look for a going home outfit. Cold weather gear, here we come.
Hope everyone enjoys the pictures!

It's a...

Grapefruit! Well, that is the approximate size of the baby this week. It must be rolled up because bebe is almost 9 inches now!
So the news you have all been waiting for, if you have not already heard, is, wait for it...drum roll please...We are having a little girl! She was a very active baby at the ultrasound today. She moved around quite a bit throwing her hands in the air like she just does not care...Feet were moving hands waving. In a good number of the ultrasound shots she has her hands up around her face. John says she takes after him for the arms over head sleeping position.
We had a great ultrasound appointment with a technician named Carolyn. She had been doing this over 30 years and was real quick to check the sex for us when we said we wanted to know. She printed a lot of profile pictures as those are her favorites. One of the shots with bebe's hand at her head Carolyn called bebe's Drama Queen pose. We also have a foot picture and a shot of her girl parts.
The midwife told us everything looks really good. All growth seems to be moving along at the right speed and bebe shows all the signs of being a nice, very healthy baby girl. One slight concern was the placenta being attached a little low in my uterus, so we get to go back for another ultrasound in 8 weeks. There should be no problem with the placenta, but they have to check, so another free view for us!
I had a great birthday. I felt like a little kid waking up this morning expecting the ultrasound and to confirm our suspicion of a little girl. We had a good lunch and took mom to check out some baby stuff. We were good though and only bought two small shirts at Target. A yummy Italian supper and a wonderful gelato cake rounded out the evening with presents. John had called the local gelato store and talked to them about making a Carvel like cake. They nailed the cookie, but they did not let it crumble. It was delicious, but hard to get through!
So, that is all for this week. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Girl or boy? Boy or girl?

So in preparation for tomorrow's appointment I have some fun myths and folklore for distinguishing the sex of the baby for you.

If your fingernails are growing stronger and faster during the pregnancy it indicates boy. So, 1 for boy. Nice healthy nails here!
If my mothers hair is gray, it means boy. If it is a color (even if dyed) it if a girl. Mom has brown hair, 1 for girl.
If your bottom is gaining weight, girl. If it is maintaining its pre-pregnancy shape, boy. According to John, score 2 for boy.
If your hands stay nice and smooth, girl. If they get rough and callused, boy. My hands are still nice and smooth, so 2 for girl.
If your leg hair growth is heavier than before, boy. If it is growing at the same rate, girl. Well, I still shave the same rate here, so girl again.
If you have shortness of breath and find it harder to breath since becoming pregnant, this indicates you are carrying a boy. And I thought it was because I was more out of shape than I thought! Boy here.
It is a tie!

So, what does all this show us? I took away that you can find enough myths and folklore to indicate either and we shall just have to wait until tomorrow!

Farewll to a good friend

Last week was a difficult week for us. Not because of anything to do with the baby, but because we made the decision on Monday that were going to have Daniel put to sleep on Friday evening. He hadn't been doing well lately and given that he was recently diagnosed with cancer we didn't want him to suffer any longer. The anticipation was agonizing for us, but on the brighter side, Daniel had a really great week. He was more active than he had been and was eating well again. For the past few months Daniel has been exclusively eating canned food and we've had to monitor it closely, as when he walked away from his dish, Tobin would gladly finish his food for him. It is because of this habit that we ran out of canned food on Thursday night, so I ran out to the store at 10:30 to get him more; 6 cans more to be precise. Christine called me on Friday morning to inform me that it appeared as if Daniel was on pace to finish all 6 cans. I spent the second half of the day at home in order to spend a little extra time with Daniel. I'd like to think that Daniel had a good last week and especially a great last day. We were both there for him at the end, and honestly, it's one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life.
Daniel had a great 16 years with us and we're glad to have had him for that long. We was a good pet and friend.
Aside from all that, Christine has entered the 18th week, which means the baby is about 8 inches long and 6 oz. Her uterus is roughly the size of a cantaloupe. We also found out that fetal movement is technically called quickening, which for those of you fans of "The Highlander" movies occurs when one immortal lops of the head of another and sucks away all of their life energy. Yup, sounds just like a fetus.
This weekend we kept ourselves distracted by doing some more work on the baby's room, prepping the walls for painting. The weather was also nice enough that I could finish repairing the window frames in our white room.
We were also relieved to hear today that my Mom's surgery was successful and that she is on the road to recovery. She had to have a mass removed from the tissue between her skull and brain, that was putting pressure on her brain. The surgery went better than expected and was done approximately 2 hours early. The mass they removed was benign to the relief of everyone.
Lastly, we're getting excited for the ultrasound next week. Christine's mom will be in town and Christine had scheduled the appointment for Thursday, which also happens to be her birthday. I will be off that day as well, so we can all share in the occasion.

Hope you all have a great week!

John

As lively as a turnip

So this is the start of week 17. The baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone and the umbilical cord is growing stronger and thicker. Bebe can move joints and is developing sweat glands. Size is still about 5-6 inches and the baby weighs about 5 ounces, about as much as a turnip. Fat is starting to accumulate and weight gain will increase more rapidly from now on.
On my part, I am feeling good still. My body is still looking forward to afternoon naps, but I can skip them if I need to. I am usually ready to head to bed about 9pm, if not earlier. On Saturday morning I was waking up with my hand on my belly and felt a bit of a faint fluttering a few times. I have not been able to repeat it, but it was nice to actually get some movement. John still has not gotten a chance to feel any movement yet.
John has been busy this weekend redoing the outside window frames in our upstairs back room (the white room as we call it). The lower part of the frame had rotted out and was allowing air in on windy days. We thought only the two windows on the north side needed to be done, but walking around outside on the garage roof we saw the west window was actually the worst. The weather has been clear in the low 80's all weekend, so a great chance to have the windows taken out. John has two windows 90% done and should be able to do the last one next weekend. We hope his being able to put in foam insulation will really help the drafts. We may have to take a look at some of the other windows as well!
The dogs got to play with the Triplett kids next door 3 days in a row, so they had fun being outside in the cooler air and sun. I keep telling Jana I need to get our maple tree to get a lot bigger to shade their yard in the afternoon. It has gotten several feet larger, but not enough to cast a good shadow.
We also picked up some paint to freshen the yellow room and to cover up patches from cracks and nail holes. I found that there are many layers of paint over some red wall paper on the bottom and blue wall paper on the top. A lot of blue and turquoise colors, maybe there were more boy babies in there than girl? It was built to be a maids room, so who knows. The Kelly green coming out from under the white trim is one of the weird parts. Hopefully we will be able to work on it throughout the week and get to organizing things soon!

Finally feeling ducky!

Well today marks the beginning of week 16. The baby is about the size of a rubber ducky this week, about 5-6 inches. Bebe is growing hair, eyebrows and eyelashes and has the ability to move all of its joints. The sex is now evident and we will find out on my birthday, August 6! So, this leads to our poll on the side of the blog as to whether you feel it is a boy or a girl. It is anonymous, so feel to put down what you really think. Please give a vote, this should be fun!
We also added the option to subscribe. I did not realize I had to activate this, but it is there now and you should be able to put the blog on your home page and see new updates as they happen. And please try to remember to comment every once in a while and let me know if it is still not working.
It seems this past week things seemed to finally come together for me. I have been feeling better and much less nauseous. Yeah! I even felt well enough Friday night that John and I went out for Italian. Now when I feel hungry I just feel hungry, not like I am going to get sick. I feel like eating salad and fruit, so my diet should be much better now. My belly continues to seem larger than it should to me, but I keep getting told that it looks like a pregnant belly, not a over filled one.
I had another appointment this past week. It was a quick one just checking to see if the heart beat was still good. It was much easier to find this time. The midwife I saw this week was okay, but not my favorite so far. She seemed in a bit of a hurry even though I was the first appointment after lunch and was 15 minutes late. One more to see and then I will decide.
Not much else going on for us this week. We had a rainy weekend and I worked five days this week, including yesterday. It seemed long after having been napping so much lately and not exercising too much. It was nice to get the extra hours.
John was excited about an article we heard about in Mens Health magazine from this year. It was a list of Anthony Bourdain's 13 restaurants to eat at before you die. Number 13 was our local favorite BBQ joint, Oklahoma Joe's! He says, "People may disagree on who has the best BBQ. Here, the brisket (particularly the burnt ends), pulled pork, and ribs are all of a quality that meet the high standards even of Kansas City natives. It's the best BBQ in Kansas City, which makes it the best BBQ in the world." Kind of cool.

Happy 4th of Juy!

So Happy 4th everyone! It has been a quiet week 14 here for us. We saw the new Transformers movie for a second time at the new all digital AMC theater in downtown KC. John was very happy to see it again and liked it just as much the second time. I told him that he better get all the movies out of his system for a while, as we may not have many opportunities come next year. Last night we went out to dinner with some other recent Hallmark transplants. It was nice to go out with some people, for a change.
I am still nauseous, maybe more so than last week. I still do not feel any movement, but with having an upset stomach I am sure it is hard to tell. The baby can now smile and frown and the heartbeat should be a lot easier to hear at next weeks appointment. The baby can now make a fist and may even be sucking at a thumb!
I will write more after the appointment next week.

Egg baby

So this is week 13 entering into our second trimester, yeah! So far I am feeling a bit better. I went swimming at the gym and am I out of shape! I am hoping to go more often to keep up some muscle tone. I even feel like getting things done around the house which I am sure John appreciates.

The baby is about 3 inches this week, about the size of a large egg. The baby weighs about 1 ounce and has a more pronounced nose and chin, a tiny person! Still building up reflexes and starting to be able to suck on those tiny thumbs. Gender is well defined now, but we still will not find out for another 6+ weeks.

It has been warm here, over 95 for the past 10+ days. The humidity is not too bad, only in the 75% range. We have had some thunderstorms pop up which helps cool things off. Now, if we were from here we would be telling you that it was horribly humid and terribly hot. Glad we have more experience with weather.

We got a new tree for the front of the house and also grabbed one for the back. We had credit for two plants we lost last year, so we did not have to pay much. We (mostly John) got those in the ground Sunday in the heat and have been watering them like crazy.

That is about it this week. John's group did well with Father's Day, leading the company. That's great! Have a great week everyone and Happy Belated Father's Day (forgot last week).

Week 12

So big countdown this week waiting for the lucky second trimester to start. I am hoping with the start of week 13 my nausea will decrease.

We spent the weekend outside working in the yard and attending some activities. I split up 5 of my huge hosta on Saturday, washed dogs and we went to our neighborhod block party that night. There we were able to share our news with a lot of neighbors and caught up with people we see 2-3 times a year. My back was really tight after all the digging. John was mowing while I dug and hung out with Evie, our 4 year old neighbor. She was checking out the bugs in the plants and "helping." I also showed her how Milo loves to chase water out of the hose. I got sprayed twice:)

On Sunday we got up early and went to the Dog 'n Jog at the Plaza. We did the 2 mile walk. Last year I ran, but was not up to it this year. But when I saw people with 11 min, 30 sec miles I should have! We were back home by 10 am. I was out talking to our neighbor Ron about plants and we got involved in a hosta exchange. We traded plants, I planted some of my split hosta and gave the rest to our neighbors across the street. John trimmed back the holly and we hung out with the Tripletts (Evie's family) again. All in all a busy weekend. I was bushed.

So baby wise this week we are seeing more reflex movement, especially fingers and toes. The baby is about the size of a pacifier this week and growing quickly!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

We are up and runnning!

Hello everyone and welcome to our blog! John and I had discussed having a blog to keep everyone up to date on what was going on in our lives. Steman Tails for all our four footed friends!

So, the big news is we are expecting a baby for January 3, 2010! This was planned, but still happened sooner than we expected:oP Things have been going okay. I have been nauseous and very tired. Thankfully with my job at Barnes and Noble I am done at 11 am and can get a nap in during the afternoon. My belly has puffed out already, but it looks like I ate too much, not so much that I am pregnant. I have had food aversions, sometimes very strongly, poor John. Not too much vomiting, yeah for something!

We are getting excited. We heard the heart beat yesterday, even though the baby was moving around and hard to locate. In 8 weeks we will have a sonogram and find out the sex. We already have a yellow bedroom we will probably use and adapt to the baby. Just need to clean out the closets!

I am almost 12 weeks along now and the baby is about 2 1/2 inches long with hands, feet, eyelids and even finger prints already! Moving around a bunch and soon I should be able to feel the baby.

Thanks Shannon for this idea!