30 Week Update

This week I am at 30 weeks, which means that I've got 10 (or hopefully less!) weeks to go! Today I had another doctor appointment to check and see how everything is going. Blair's heart rate sounds great and she continues to be a very active little girl. At my next appointment (in two weeks), we'll get to have an ultrasound to check and see how our little girl is growing. Here are my latest 'stats':

• Total weight gain (since becoming pregnant): 18 pounds
• Waist: 37.5 inches
• Pregnancy cravings: nothing unusual... I eat cereal pretty frequently, I have now become dependent upon a morning glass of chocolate milk - which I lovingly call my "coffee," and pastries (croissants and blueberry muffins to be specific), which sound good on a daily basis.
• Other "fun" symptoms / side effects: I get dehydrated very easily, despite my constant intake of water - which leads to painful charlie horses in the middle of the night (no fun). I have also noticed that I have to move and walk around a lot more frequently, otherwise my whole midsection (pelvis) is very stiff and uncomfortable. This is especially noticeable while I am at work. Heartburn is a daily occurrence and has become the norm. I still eat pretty frequently (5 - 6 times a day) as to avoid nausea.
• Below is an updated belly picture...
  

I recently talked to my employer about my maternity leave... well, it's not really called maternity leave, but short term disability. Lovely. Anyways, my plan is to be home for about 6 weeks, then when I go back to work, I'll decrease my hours to 30 hours per week. This will enable me to get off around 2pm everyday and have time to spend with Blair and Travis (since Trav gets off work at 3pm). I think that this is a great way to balance working, motherhood, and being a wife. Luckily my boss was very understanding (and grateful I was still going to work 5 days a week) and gracious to afford me the reduced schedule. :)

Ok, so it's been over a week since Craig and Ligia's shower and I have pictures to post! Yay! Such a fun shower and so happy for the soon-to-be parents! FYI - the pictures are a little blurry because I took them off of Facebook!

Hope you are having a great week!

Working on the Nursery...

Ouch. Travis and I have spent our last Halloween / Halloween weekend (as just the two of us), painting Blair's room. It's amazing how much faster the job gets done with two people (makes me wonder how I possibly painted the rest of the house alone!). Her room is now painted "Timeless Taupe." We finished the taupe yesterday, and I painted the trim today... and OMG... I am hurting EVERYWHERE. Note to anyone planning on having children in the near future: go ahead and paint the room now! I am completely zapped of all energy and muscle control, and my two tylenol limit (per day) isn't cutting it!

Next up on the list of things to do, is hang her blinds, paint the doors, shampoo the carpet, and start assembling her furniture. We picked up her crib this weekend, but the dresser won't be available until later this week or next weekend. Booo. I'm trying to stay motivated with my current list so I can get to the FUN stuff!

Latest bump picture, with my amazing hubby, below! :)

In recognition of November being "Prostate Cancer Awareness Month," Travis is participating in a fundraiser at work in hopes of raising money for this cause. I am proud of him for taking part in such a worthy cause - despite it meaning that he has to grow a mustache, thus pushing our Christmas card photos to December! :) Please see below!

This Movember I've decided to donate my face to raising awareness about cancers that affect men. My commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember, which I know will generate conversation, controversy and laughter.

I'm doing this because:

- 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in his lifetime
- 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime

This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I'm asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to support the great work of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG. To help, you can either:

- Click this link http://us.movember.com/mospace/782516/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account; or

- Write a check payable to Movember, referencing my name or Registration Number 782516 and mailing it to: Movember, PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726

The money raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others, through the world's most promising prostate cancer research and LIVESTRONG's programs that support young adults and their families battling and surviving cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit http://us.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs/.

Thank you!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween and a great week!

(PS - I welcome any and all candy donations!)

Week 17

Today we had our 17 week appointment with Dr. Schmidt. I have gained 6 lbs ("finally!" says Dr. Schmidt) now and Blair's heart beat sounds great. They finished drawing the rest of my labs and all of our other tests have come back normal. Everything is going smoothly with no problems. I feel so much better and have gotten that burst of energy that everyone assured me would come. I am so excited for her to get a little bigger so that Travis can feel her kicking!

Blair is now the size of an onion and the bump continues to grow! Updated bump pictures are below!

Our next appointment will be the big 20 week appointment (though actually it will be our 21 week) where they will do an ultrasound and take Blair's measurements. Hopefully we will get a better idea on her due date... for now, we just say 'the end of March.'

Today I came to a decision as to how we will decorate Blair's room... this has been something that I have been struggling with over the last couple of weeks. I feel really good about our decision, despite yellow not being the color of the walls! At least I only painted two walls! Haha. We will pick up her crib and changer / dresser this weekend. Once we paint the walls, we will be able to set up her furniture. Here are pictures of her furniture:

Once we have decorated the room with her new bedding and some of our (ok, MY) girly ideas, I will post pictures of her nursery. I think it's going to be really beautiful nursery... and I can't wait to see it all come together!

Tickled Pink!

Well, if I thought that Wednesday night was exciting and overwhelming... we have topped that! After spending some time with Allyson, Richard, and their new son Hudson, I decided I could not wait any longer to find out the gender of our baby! Travis, being the uber patient and wonderful husband he is, suggested we call my Mom's friend, Kelly (an ultrasound tech) to see if she might be able to scan us that night (at 6pm on Saturday). Luckily, Kelly was on call and graciously met us up at the hospital (in La Grange!) to help us with this age old question... boy or girl?

Almost immediately, my Mother gasped and held back a giggle. After about 15 seconds of checking to be sure, Kelly let us know that we were having a GIRL! 100%, without a doubt, girl.

I was so surprised and shocked... we were just SURE it was a boy. All of the old wives tales, the gender predictor test, the Chinese predictor test... all of it pointed to a boy! Despite being completely surprised, Travis and I are SO thrilled, excited and happy! It really makes this whole journey so much more real! And its hard to believe that SHE will be here in just a few short months.

And I am so ready to do some shopping! Today, we are going with Nancy (my mother-in-law) to go crib shopping. She says that when she was pregnant with Travis, her mother-in-law took her crib shopping! So today we continue in that tradition. I will also be loading up on some adorable girl clothing. Bring on the pink, bows, and precious outfits!

Like I said before, we have not decided on a girl's name just yet... but there are many lists and ideas!


Oh what fun!


As I mentioned earlier, we spent some time over at the Sherrill's house yesterday to see Ally's new baby, Hudson. He is the spitting image of Richard and the sweetest baby! He makes the cutest sounds and can make you melt!




We are so excited to share this wonderful news with you all! Thanks to everyone that voted on the poll! :) Looks like some of you were right!


XoXoX

Week 14 - Bump Sighting

Today we hit week 14, and I bought my first pair of maternity jeans! Traded in my little size 4's for maternity size 4's- and I will be honest- they are comfortable!!!

Now that the bump is starting to appear, we took pictures to track the progression.

Hello.... comfy jeans! :)

Nausea is tapering off and I am regaining some normalcy back in my life. Cravings at the top of the list: Seafood (shrimp, crab, and of course- lobster) and Sugar (candy, chocolate, and popsicles... Otter Pops to be exact!). Not together, but they always sound good. My desk at work is stocked full of candy and chocolate (it's embaressing), but I feel like I have a good excuse. :)

It's Picture Time!

As promised... here are the pictures of our Peach from our last ultrasound (at 13 weeks)... they are kind of hard to see, but the baby is face down, on his/her tummy.

The first picture shows the baby's head on the left, facing down. The little light spot (among the dark area on the left) that is oval shaped is the baby's foot!

The second picture shows the baby's head (again on the left, facing down), the flicker of the heart, and a curled up leg (too cute!).

The last picture is a good picture showing us the head, spine and body.

If you arent used to looking at ultrasounds, you have to kind of use your imagination. The 4D ultrasounds are really neat where you get a really good look at the baby, but we won't do one until the 7th or 8th month.

Yesterday, we did some shopping at Babies'R'Us. We have picked out a really neat crib and dresser / changing table. We even did some actual shopping... we got some onesies and a few books for the Peach!

We hope you are all fortunate enough to be enjoying this beautiful fall weather! Have a great rest of your weekend!