Half Way There at 20 weeks!

Today was the big day! We had our ultrasound this morning! First of all, let me say that everything on the ultrasound shows a healthy baby! Second, it's a girl! We're both very excited. It makes it both more exciting and more real as now we can call the baby "her" instead of "it" :). I must admit, I had a bit of an inkling that it was a girl because the past couple of weeks my brain kept wanting to say "her"!

Well, that was the big news of the day but I can't believe I'm already 20 weeks! It's unbelievable that in another 20 weeks we'll be meeting our little girl! I'm a little freaked out! The other funny thing is that most people can't even tell I'm pregnant. This is me at 20 weeks

20 weeks!

So this afternoon I'm supposed to meet with a pediatrician. I'm really not sure what to ask him about. I printed off a little worksheet from BabyCenter's website but I've never  interviewed a doctor before. Guess I'll have to go off of the office and gut feeling after talking with him. 

I also have a new widget on my blog, if you didn't notice so you can keep track of my progress. This weekend I think my sissy and I will get together for baby shower plans now that we know what we're having! Exciting!!

Until next time!

Belly Diary Entry

Here I was yesterday, listening to the baby kick! It was really amazing. It sounds almost like one lub of a heart beat but it just stops there. Then I could actually see it kick right near the stethoscope like it was trying to kick it off of my tummy!

So much to do

There's so much to do before a baby comes! At my last appointment my midwife assigned me the task of beginning to look for a pediatrician. I've started doing that using a list of pediatrician's on the American Academy of Pediatrics website that live near our house. The next step is to call and set up interview's to see the offices and speak with the doctors.

After that, I think my next big task will be to start looking for child care options. This is the one I'm not thrilled about. I wish I could stay at home with my little one for the first few years. I would love that, but that doesn't look to be an option currently. So I have to go through the gruelling task of finding someone I don't know that I will have to trust with the care and protection of my new baby. Obviously I will be doing TONS of research on the places/people I check out and I will keep you apprised on that.

And then there are the "smaller" things to do like get the baby's room ready, even though he/she will be staying in our room for quite a while. Figure out what types of diapers I want to use, get the house ready, and a big one...

Get the pup ready for a new sibling. That one will be interesting. I downloaded an e-book from the internet called "Good Dog, Happy Baby". Believe it or not, there are only a few of the things we need to work on with Drake. Item 1, jumping up to greet us. Yes, he does this and Marc has kind of been the encourager of this since he was a little pup. But it was too cute to resist, it still is some days... that is until we have a handful of grocery bags and we're trying to make it up the stairs while he's jumping up and at the same time trying to stick his head in the bags to see what's in there! Another issue he has is walking. I love walking my dog because I love to see his little curiosity in EVERYTHING he passes. It's just so cute. What I hate about walking my dog is that his attention is on EVERYTHING he passes and not on me when I'm trying to tug him out of the way. This trait has also been a part of him since his puppy-dom but it's not like we haven't worked on it! He's been to hunt dog training where he learned to heel while wearing his hunting e-collar, however, he lacks that ability while on a normal walk. According to this book, I should try training him with a pinch collar. So I finally picked one up last night. The thing looks so evil! With these prongs that are meant to pinch. Well, I'll try working with him on it this weekend. I just don't want him to loose his excitement when we say "wanna go for a walk?" and his ears perk up and he starts pacing near the door. Hopefully, it will only take a bit of training but with Drake, it's never that easy. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes!

That was so cool!

Being that I'm now nearing the middle of month four, I'm supposed to start feeling baby movement. So last week I'm trying to concentrate on my tummy laying calmly on the couch with my hands resting on my tummy. For me, trying to stay still and be zen is difficult most times so this never lasted to long and I would be somewhat frustrated that I hadn't felt anything. A couple times I thought I felt what was like a muscle twitch every now and then in my tummy region but it was really subtle and I only noticed it a couple times. So I decided that I think that's baby movement. (It could be gas but I'd rather think positively).

So last night after I had blogged about my sadness at the last of the Harry Potter films I had put away the laptop and was watching some tv. The hubby came over to me and put his lips to my preggo belly (which is finally starting to show) and I thought he was just gonna give it a kiss (aw... how sweet). All of a sudden he starts speaking to my belly with his lips pressed firmly against it... kinda like Dori on the Disney movie Finding Nemo when she's trying to speak whale. And he's saying "Baby! Can you hear me?! This is daddy!" and then he blow a couple rasberries on my tummy! I was laughing so hard! So then he just sat there and put his hand on my belly. All of a sudden there were these distinct little "thump thump thump's" right where his hand was. He looked up at me with eyes wide and a big smile and said "that wasn't your heartbeat!". The baby did it a couple more times for him and it was so cool! It is one of those moments you'll never forget because we experienced it together and it was very definite!

I guess you might say our baby is starting out on the right educational track as we begin multi lingual training in whale! :)

The End is Near!

I can't believe the last Harry Potter movie is here! It's already premiered in several places around the world but I can't wait to see it on Friday! I'm so excited... yet sad at the same time. It was bittersweet when we read the last book. My husband and I stood in line at midnight to buy the book and we each bought a copy so that we could read it together. (I actually had to take breaks so Marc could catch up...). It was epic! It was perfect! I was sad it was over! But I had the remaining movies to look forward to. Which I've enjoyed tremendously! Now we all know, that most of the time books are better than the movies, but in this case the movies are just as good as the books! Even though they may not keep exactly with the book, or tell all the side stories from the books, they retain the imagination and magic of the books. And here we are, at the end of a great journey. I feel, as many do, a part of the Harry Potter phenomenon and will be sad to see it end. But it will live on every time I read the books, and plan to one day read them to my little one! Through those moments I'll get to share the magic that J.K. Rowling has brought to millions!

Preggo pants

So, here I am now 17 weeks pregnant. The past few weeks I've had to use a rubber band stretched through the button hole to make my regular pants "fit". But that can really only last so long because then they just start getting uncomfortably tight. So I decided it might be time to buy some preggo pants. I went to JC Penny and found their "maternity" section was little more than about 4 small racks with limited variety. Plus, the maternity pants looked like fishing waders on me! Next I tried Kohls and their "maternity" section was even smaller! Even the small size of preggo pants made me look like a clown with hoop pants on! So I headed back to the junior's section where I usually get my pants and decided to try a few sizes bigger. Those worked much better! At least... for now! When my belly finally does pop more I'm sure I'll eventually have to go to the waders.

On another note, I had my 16 week appointment this past Tuesday. Just a quick check of the belly and all. And even though my pants are tight and I had to move a size up, my midwife says I definitely need to start gaining weight this month as 4 ounces does not count! It's not like I haven't been eating! :) So, I got on the websites to see what are some healthy ways to gain weight during pregnancy. Okay... there are some of these I already do, for example it says "eat 5-6 small meals per day". Done! Or "have healthy snacks for munching like trail mix, nuts, dried fruit, crackers and cheese" I have nuts and dried fruit in  my drawer at work. But then it gave me a weird suggestion like adding dry milk to mashed potatoes, ground meat, cream soup, pudding, casseroles, hot cereal, and... Milk! This suggestion is to increase protein and calories. Guess that's the next thing I'll try. Well, by the end of this week, I weighed myself again and I have gained 2 pounds! Yay! I know... big woopie... At about this time next year, I hope I'll be back to this weight!