We've Got Movement!

Yesturday afternoon I was walking down the hallway at work when all of a sudden it felt like I had a goldfish swimming in circles in my lower abdomen. It was both the weirdest and coolest thing I've ever felt. It didn't last long and I didn't feel anything else for the remainder of the day but it was still awesome. Mike was so excited and I feel so badly that he's not able to feel any movement outside my belly yet. I can't wait until I start feeling actual kicks!

17 Weeks

Only two more weeks from tomorrow until our big ultrasound! It seems that's all I can think about lately. While my intuition was originally leaning towards the baby being a girl, I'm now starting to second guess myself and am now leaning towards it being a boy. Either way, it's so exciting to know that in just a few more weeks we can finally start referring to the baby by name rather than "it" or "the baby".

I'm still patiently waiting to start feeling any signs of movement. I felt a few strange flutters the other day at work but I have no idea if what I was feeling was really the baby or something else. Aside from that, I'm just extremely tired. Just last night I came home from work and fell asleep on the couch off and on for the rest of the night. Mike is back on first shift again as of this week and won't be going back to second shift until sometime around the end of September. Unfortunately, that just means I keep falling asleep on him each evening leaving him to do most of the housework. Poor guy.

According to Baby Center this week, our baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — the lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Our baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and is now around 5 inches long from head to bottom. The baby can move its joints and sweat glands are starting to develop.

Thinking About Names

I finally picked up a baby name book over the weekend in utter desperation since Mike and I can't agree on ANY girl names. Neither one of us want to be locked into a name until we find out the sex in 2 weeks, so we're still in the tossing around stage. However, I think we're leaning towards the following names thus far:

Girl - Gabriella Lyn / Gabriella Reece

Boy - Carter Zachary

I LOVE our boy name but am on the fence about our choice for a girl. What are your thoughts?

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary! We won't be able to celebrate together since Mike is temporarily on 2nd shift at work, but we went out for a nice dinner this past weekend to celebrate instead.

Here's looking foward to many more years to come!

16 Weeks

I don't really have anything new to report since last week. I'm still feeling the same, although I'm still waiting for more of my energy to come back. I'm typically still exhausted by 6pm each night. My bump still isn't really a "bump" so to speak - my waistline just continues to get thicker and thicker. Even though I haven't gained any weight thus far, I feel like I've gained about 40 lbs.! The only new development is that I've started to feel pressure occasionally on my pubic bone. It's not uncomfortable but it's certainly noticeable.

According to Baby Center this week, our baby is now about the size of an avacado - 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. Baby's legs are much more developed, its head is more erect than it has been, and its eyes have moved closer to the front of its head. Baby's ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of the scalp has begun, though locks of hair aren't recognizable yet. Toenails have even started to grow. There's a lot happening inside as well - the heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day and this amount will continue to increase as our baby continues to develop.

Big U/S Scheduled!

August 13th is the big day! I'll be 19 weeks 1 day at the time. Holy cow - this time next month, I'll be halfway through this pregnancy. Let the panicking officially begin!

My appt. today at 15 weeks 1 day went very well. My blood pressure is good and I've only gained one pound back so I'm still down one pound from my pre-pregnancy weight. The doctor was able to locate the baby's heartbeat immediately again on the doppler and then I got sent down to the lab to get some more bloodwork done. It was the quickest and simplest appointment I've had so far. The doctor actually joked that she wished she could clone me so that all pregnancies would be as easy as mine. I figure that's pretty good news ;)

Total weight gained so far: -1 lb.

15 Weeks

...And feeling great! I have my 15 week appt. tomorrow morning and can't wait to hear the peanut's heartbeat again and we'll schedule our big ultrasound tomorrow as well. I have to say, I'm much less stressed about this appt. than I've been for any of the others thus far - it's a nice feeling for a change. Oh, and did I mention that I'm hungry ALL THE TIME?!

I've also decided that it's time to start researching cribs. I don't necessarily want to buy one until September, but I think it's high-time that I at least begin thinking about the nursery. I have a few peices of nursery furniture that I've picked out in the past that I really like, but I'd still like to see if I can find any better deals out there since we certainly need to buy within a budget.

From BabyCenter this week, our baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2.5 ounces (approximately the size of an apple). Baby is busy moving amniotic fluid through the nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in its lungs begin to develop. Baby's legs are growing longer than its arms now, and he/she can move all of its joints and limbs. Our baby can now also sense light and is just being to develop tastebuds.

Lovin' the Country Life

Since the move, I've been asked repeatedly what my favorite part of living in the country is now that we're out there. I think these pictures speak for themselves - this is the view of the sunset from our front living room window this past week. And yes, everything out here is just as gorgeous.

We're Homeowners!

Our closing yesturday went off without a hitch and we are now officially homeowners! I amended our taxes last night to claim the first-time homebuyers credit and it's already in the mail as of this morning - I don't waste time when it comes to money ;)

14 Weeks

According to Baby Center, our baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can even grasp, too. Baby is also now the size of a lemon and weighs 1.5 ounces!

For the most part, I feel great. My energy is slowly returning (thank goodness) and I haven't felt sick in quite a while. I'm now getting up more often throughout the night to pee and my appetite is steadily increasing. Aside from the peeing part, I'm very much a fan of the 2nd Tri thus far.

I also came across this and thought it was funny:

Closing Tomorrow!

We're scheduled to close tomorrow at 10:30 am. I'm a bit nervous that something will go wrong (as I always am) but I'm excited for this whole process to be over with. I'm stopping by the bank on my way home from work to get the certified check to cover our escrow and closing costs - eeek! This is by far the largest amount of money I've ever spent at one time. It's a bit sad to part with this money we've been saving for the past 3 years, but it's what it was there for I guess. Wish us luck!

Happy 4th of July!

I know it's a little early, but I'll be out of the office tomorrow for the holiday and we don't have our internet service hooked up yet, so....Happy 4th!

Color Decisions

So, now that I believe I may have decided on the Nautica bedding for the master bedroom, I can't decide which color I should paint the room (which I'd like to get done this weekend so that next week when the new bed is delievered, we won't have to worry about moving it).

Based upon the pictures of the bedding in my last post - keep in mind the bedding is not as dark in person as it appears in the pictures - would you go with an olive color paint or a chocolate colored brown? The one plus to the chocolate is that we still have some left over from when we painted the bathroom so I won't have to buy as much as I would with the olive. My only concern with the chocolate, however, is that since the bathroom is so close to it and the dining room (which will also incorporate similar shades of brown), that it will be too much.

Here are some shades similar, although not exact, to what I'm picturing:

Why Is This So Difficult?

Mike and I just purchased a new bed frame and mattress over the weekend (finally!) and since it's a king and we previously had a queen, we're now in need of some new bedding. Doesn't sound difficult, right? Wrong. I've now looked at sets from BB&B, Macy's, Target, Amazon, and Overstock and can't find anything that I even remotely like that will match the rest of the room. I'm mainly looking for a sage green and brown pattern - no floral - which is amazingly hard to find, especially without breaking the bank. I did find one set that's ok but it will cost around $400 when all is said and done. IMO, that's a whole lotta dough for something I'm only in-like with. Maybe I'm just being too picky here....I don't know.

I then stumbled upon this set at Kohls.com and it would certainly work since I don't mind the blue being mixed in. The price is also amazing. However, I'm just not sure.

What do you think?

The Big One® Barclay Bedding Set - On sale for $67.50 (King)

Close-up:

EDITED TO ADD: Ok, so I stumbled across this Nautica set on Ebay and feel the price ($249.95 with free shipping) is worth in comparsion to what this set has been retailing for in stores. I think I might have actually found a winner.

13 Weeks

Helllloooo 2nd Trimester!

This certainly is surreal - there's just no other way to describe it. It feels as if I've suddenly stumbled upon an amazing milestone in this pregnancy that I truly feared I may never reach. All-in-all, life is good. I feel amazing although I do still get tired very quickly if I overexert myself. I can't believe my next prenatal appointment will only be two weeks away as of tomorrow. It still feels like I was just there for my NT scan!

Mike and I have started tossing around the idea of some names we like for the peanut. So far, the top contenders for boy names are both Carter and Tucker and for the girls, so far we've only agreed on Madison (which is certainly not my first choice). We're actually struggling with girls names which surprises me to a degree. I've always been the opposite - there are a million and one girl names that I love and only a handful of boy names that I sorta, kinda like. Mike, on the other hand, has completely different taste in girl names than I do which really has us stumped.

For now, here is another weekly picture from Baby Center which diagrams the baby's growth thus far, however, I'm actually going to post my first real life belly picture first thing tomorrow morning (sorry for the suspense, the internet is not set up at the new house yet). So for those of you who have been asking about pictures over the past several weeks, hang tight! Now which box did we pack the camera in....

First - the fully clothed shot:

Second - the bare belly shot (the appropriate caption would be, "Waist? What waist?"):

Disclaimer: Now that I finally dug out the camera from the endless pile of boxes in the house, I'll have Mike take some better pictures at some point over the weekend. I fully realize that the quality of these isn't the best. TYIA.