25 weeks!!!!

We've rolled right on into the 25 week mark! That means, based on our plan with the doctor, 14 weeks to go! Then we'll be gazing into this little boy's sweet face!

He is "a pound and a half" now, according to the web, but apparently he was that much at my last ultrasound! And he is 13 1/2 inches long! Whoa! Emma has a baby doll that is 14 inches long and it's gigantic! haha.

My job for this week, along with finding his curtains (!) is making a "To-do/To-buy list", you know, so we don't forget anything important like a car seat. ha! And also, trying to decide if we are going to do one of those 3D-4D ultrasounds at an ultrasound place -- where you can bring your whole family, they put it up on a giant TV to watch and you take home a DVD full of memories. While I realize it is totally unnecessary because I HAVE 3D pix of the little guy, it sounds like such a special experience. Once I finally convinced Trav that it was worth the moola (haha), now I have to decide if I think it's safe enough. Yes, the doctor says it is safe, but the ultrasound is not with a doctor -- although it would be at a certified place with quality machines. Oh, I don't know! I just want to get a peek at him!!! :) Has anybody done this kind of ultrasound?

Oh, and since we started "counting" days of this pregnancy on January 1 (great way to start a brand new year, I'd say!) that means on Wednesday I'll be 6 months pregnant! All of a sudden that sound like a lot!

Well, no pictures for you today, but we do have our photo shoot with Erika on Friday. :) Wahoo!

Naptime.....

A Work in Progress

We had quite the painting team here today! Travis and his parents worked ALL day long on Baby Sam's room and it's almost done!!!! Meanwhile, Emma and I did our best to avoid the paint fumes. :) He has 3 taupe walls and one blue wall --and a coming soon dark brown stripe around all four walls. They also painted his nightstand (that used to be mine -- and was hand crafted by my dad!) the dark brown color. Don't worry, I worked hard too. I went to Target and chose new drawer pulls. haha. It was a fun day! Thanks for your help, everyone!

Travis getting ready to paint the stripe.

Snickers with paint on her ear!

Me, caught eating a pickle! How cliche! :)

Good News

So, good news times 2!

1. My pulled muscle is BETTER!!! I am soooooooooo thankful. And happy. And relieved. My dear hubby was afraid it wouldn't heal til the baby got here! Which, by the way, if you are counting is only 14 1/2 weeks away!

2. Baby Sam's pack-n-play has shipped!!! (Which also means all my craigslisting has paid off and we sold our old stuff!) I ordered it through Walmart dot com and got it shipped for free to our store, so it should arrive soon! I mean, how cute and cozy does it get! That little part on the top left is a "newborn napper", which I am very excited about. They didn't have that when Emma was a baby!

That was our item of the week! Next week...I'm thinking curtains! :)

24 weeks!!!

I almost let 24 Weeks come and go without posting!!! :)

Our baby boy is doing great!! My cough is gone -- my pulled muscle is NOT -- but in the absence of coughing it doesn't really bother me. He's been kicking and hiccuping (I think) a ton and I love every second!

We are about to buy his item of the week -- a pack-n-play!!! We got Emma's out over the weekend and it was soooo gross. It looks very, very used well loved, has been chewed on by the dogs and has a big stain from who knows what. We decided that Baby Sam needs a new one. :) (Emma slept in hers in our room for about the first 6 months until she moved to her room. Then we took it everywhere we went on overnights and she loved it!)

My good fried is an amazing photographer and she is going to take maternity/family pix for us next week. I'm so excited!!! And I told you I love Etsy, right? I had a friend's sister, who has an Etsy shop, make a cute shirt for Emma to wear in the pix. It is a white tee with a baby blue heart on it! I can't wait to get it in the mail!

My next OB appointment is on July 2. I tried to make it for Friday, July 3 -- but they are out for the holidays. And then? And then I remembered what happened last July 3. What a long way we've come. Last July 3 I had a d&c at 10 weeks. Oh, how I'll never forget that tiny little baby. And how I spent 4 weeks wondering if the baby was okay in there. And how I was very much so already showing. It was a very weird place to be in. Looking pregnant. Feeling pregnant. Still pregnant? I have a bracelet on my wrist that I think I have only taken off twice in the last year that has two tiny charms on it - to help me remember the two tiny babies who I will meet one day in Heaven.

So this July 3, I will be even more thankful for this kicking, rolling, hiccuping, growing, healthy baby boy in my tummy. I love you, Baby Sam!

:)

I have started to realize all the stuff I'm going to need!! It's been almost 3 1/2 years since we did this whole baby thing! hhaa. I am going to check one thing off my list each week, lest it appear like a giant shopping spree.

My item of the week? A nursing cover!!! I had no idea these existed with baby Emma and was always finagling a blanket and trying to cover myself. haha. And "real" brands cost $35 -- but on Esty.com (my favorite place!) I found a handmade one for $21! It is sooooo cute, if I do say so myself. Here's a picture of the fabric. Boy colors for Sam, but girly flowers for me!

Well, I am off for my nap!

Ain't He a Cutie?

Well, as it turns out, three days with a stabbing pain in my tummy is about all I can take. :) Who knew?? I decided that I'm the only one who can really speak up for this baby boy -- and I needed to make sure everything is okay in there! (Which, long story short, IT IS!!!)

(By the way, I can't get blogger to put spaces between my paragraphs....)

Yesterday on the phone, I got the nurse to say they'd "squeeze me in" today for an appointment with the doctor. But not before she gave me a little pep talk about "enjoying my pregnancy" and "not worrying about everything". Which caused me to want to say, "I do enjoy my pregnancy, but it is hard to enjoy it without worrying after losing 2 babies!!!!" But....of course, I just listened to her and waited for her to tell me what time to come in. Because she does make a good point. And I very much need her on my side. :)

So I went it for my 10 am "appointment", waited for the doctor til about 11:15 (about which I would never complain, and am just grateful for being squeezed in), was scheduled for an ultrasound at 12:30 and told to go eat lunch while I waited. Which was about when I went to the cafeteria and cried on the phone to my mom. I'm not really sure why. But part of me felt bad about imposing on the doctor and embarrassed that I'd just been there (for my regular checkup) last Thursday. But a peanut butter and jelly (and a cookie), along with a nice chat with my mom (who was playing hookie and I suspect in the pool -- I heard some splashing!) and I was back on track. Oh, and there's a maternity boutique in the building too, so that helped. :)

My 12:30 ultrasound, I was told, could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours,

because they were, indeed, "squeezing me in". It did not take that long at all!! The tech confirmed that we are REALLY having a boy!!! :) She checked everything out, it was double checked by a radiologist, and then I was sent back to my doctor who told me that the baby looks "perfect"! Perfect fluid levels, perfect blood flow (wahoo! blood flow is kind of a buzz word for a girl with MTHFR), perfect size (he weighs a pound and a half!!!), etc.

Five hours later I was headed home! :) This is where I should thank SUGAR for helping out with Emma alllllllllllll day. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Emma is such a trooper for appointments, but five hours is a really long time!! She sure had a blast with her Sugar. :)

So, Baby Sam is GREAT. Nothing appears to be wrong. So we leave it at a pulled muscle. And ohmygoodness, I can't tell you how much it hurts. But at least now I know it isn't hurting the baby.

On the way home, I was listening to KSBJ and the DJ was talking about fear. And she was saying that God didn't make us to have a spirit of fear. And that we should go forth with bold confidence that God is taking care of us.

And that is where I am right now. I am trying to take things one day at a time and go forward with bold confidence that God is taking care of Baby Sam. Because I do believe He is!

23 Weeks!!

Our little one weighs about a pound now and is almost a foot long!!! Whoa!

It's been a bit dramatic around here. I seem to have coughed so much and so hard that I pulled a muscle in my tummy. OUCH. It hurts soooo much to cough, but sometimes I get that tickle and I just have to! Especially when I'm sleeping.

As any ache or pain would, this tummy pain has gotten me a bit worried, all wrapped up in "kick counts" and wishing I had a doppler. I talked to two different nurses yesterday and they are not concerned.

I do not want to rely on baby kicks, but rather rely on my hope and faith that God will keep this little boy safe. Would you say a prayer today for our Baby Sam that he would be unaware of my discomfort and growing strong? Thanks. :)

GranJan to the rescue! She's coming over to help us grocery shop...better get showered!

Cutie Pie Blanket

Okay, so remember when I said I was not a "theme" girl? Well, it turns out maybe I am -- but I am just a really picky "theme" girl. Because, really.

Isn't this just the cutest?????

It matches one of the sheets we got for his room! The plan, of the moment, is to paint the wall behind his bed this shade of blue. THEN, with Sugar's help, outline in brown paint a bigger version of 3 of these little vehicles -- not sure which ones yet. So, for example, above his bed there'd be a car, a boat and a plane. Or something. To match this super-cutie-pie blanket.

Which would appear to be a theme. Gasp!

22 1/2 weeks!!!

Whoa. Whoa. An extra post. 22 and a half weeks!!! Good times.

Today I had a doctor's appointment. This appointment marked the first time I made it a whole 4 weeks between appointments. (I got spoiled with Dr. Wonderful, the specialist, who saw me every 2 weeks -- and then I had a little habit of going in in between appointments for a doppler or ultrasound. haha.) And guess what?? Now I get to go every 3 weeks! Hooray! :) I just love getting baby Sam all checked out and hearing his sweet heartbeat...and asking all my questions to my very patient doctor.

When he walked in the room today he saw my notepad of questions, picked it up, got comfy in the chair near me and said, "What do we have today?" And then he read through my notes, poking fun at me for drawing a smiley face next to "How many weeks?" as in, how many weeks before the scheduled c-section.

And then he sat with me forever (translation: Emma had enough time to finish the ridiculously large snack I packed for her, that she is allowed to start eating when the doctor walks in the room) and answered each question. Oh, and the answer to the c-section question is "at 39 weeks"!!!

While I pondered this appointment this morning, jotting down my questions and coming up with brand new questions just because I could ask them today, I realized it is easy to get all worked up and focused on what could go wrong. And forget about the part where God told us we were going to have this little one. The part where he promised me a baby boy named Sam.

I often need to clarity of a children's Bible to show me what I need to see. :) In Emma's Bible tonight, we were reading the story of Abraham and Sarah, and how they were really, very old but God promised them a child (well a huge family, really). This is what her Bible said, "Sarah didn't believe God could do what he promised. She had forgotten that when God says something, it's as good as done. (Of course, it was as easy for God to give her a baby son as it was for him to make all the stars in the sky.) Sure enough, nine months later, just as God has promised, Sarah gave birth to a baby boy.....Her dream had come true."

We love you, Baby Sam and we can't wait to meet you in 16 1/2 weeks!!! :)

22 Weeks!!!!!

(There's a little bit of belly in this shot! haha.)

"At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily." (According to Baby Center.)

I finally have a doctor's appointment this week!!! I'll be glad to check in with the doc and hear the baby's sweet heartbeat.

I don't really know when the whole 'nesting' thing is supposed to happen, but lately I have been looking around the house and wanting to change/organize/clean/redo everything! However, with my big belly and easily tired self, I feel pretty helpless in that area! Travis sure has been working hard, though!!! :) Baby Sam's room is really coming along!!! Now we are onto the Craigslist portion of the transition. Brown leather couch, anyone? ;)

All Things Boy

When we go shopping these days, the boy clothes all seem to have imaginary twinkly stars floating around them. I just can't stop gazing at them!!! haha. Here is the start to baby Sam's new wardrobe.....A gift from my neighbor, Sara!

Could an outfit be any cozier???

Big Sister picked these out for her little brother. <3


When we were picking this one out, we were trying to decide between "newborn" and "0-3 months"...since our baby girl weighed NINE pounds. The girl working at the store said, "Okay, I'm deciding for you. Our clothes run big, get the newborn." Then the other girl working there said, "When are you due?" I told her October. She counted months on her hand. And the first girl said, "Girl! That's going to be a big baby! I'm switching you to the "0-3 months". ;)

A gift from Sugar and Poppa! :)

A gift from GranJan and GranDude!

This morning Trav has steamed the carpet in the baby's room. A while back, we had gotten so proud of our new puppy for not having any accidents. And then? And then we found the baby's room. It had become the puppy's secret spot to...you know. Oy. So it is cleared out, vacuumed, steamed and in much better shape. But those kind of puppy "accidents" soak down to the carpet pad and I'm pretty much disgusted. We are trying to decide if we should call Stanley Steamer for a good all over house cleaning before the baby comes OR splurge on new flooring. Hmm.....

Sam's Room

Last weekend we started clearing the clutter out of the baby's room. We made some great progress!!! (Until Travis stepped on a screw and then I caught Emma's cold...)

So today, we went to Babies'R'Us! After browsing the baby boy bedding, we've come up with a theme! And by "theme", I mean brown & blue. :) I am not a big "theme" girl, so all the (very cute) themes just don't float my boat. So we are going with brown & blue!

Here are two fitted sheets that we found (one brown with blue squares and the other blue with cars and planes) and a brown oh-so-soft changing pad cover!

And here's his name for the wall!!!!! The background is white and there are blue and brown vertical stripes. Oh, the fun!

Right now his room has a great big red wall. That has to go. :) We grabbed some paint chips at the store today to see what we like! I can't wait!

Dance Party

I am very thankful that our little baby decided to have a dance party for almost an hour this morning! I am so thankful because at 6 am, I woke up from an awful dream. A dream where I was having a very bad problem (pregnancy-wise) and I couldn't get anybody to listen to me! The doctor I saw just looked at my belly and said, "Well, you are about to have the baby, that's normal!" and calculated my due date as June 5. It just went on and on and I could never get any help for the baby. And dreams can feel sooooo real. But when I woke up, not only did I get a reassuring kick, I got an hour long dance party!! Thanks, Sam! God is good. :)

21 Weeks!!!

Baby Sam is about 10 1/2 inches long and 12 ounces!

(That's about the size of a carrot!)

Grow, Baby, Grow!!!

In related news, I am feeling a bit better. I have the energy to face the day, but I'm already looking forward to my nap...and it's 7 am! haha. My normally very healthy eating habits were joined this weekend with ice cream!!! Yumm....It was either ice cream or Tylenol to make me feel better....It has always been my "sick food". :)

I got a lot of good baby kicks this weekend! I hope our little guy has been unaware of how I've been feeling!