Bedding

We FINALLY received part of our bedding order today. I am so excited. We have been waiting on this for a very long time. Today we received the bumper, blanket, sheets, and diaper stacker. Hopefully, everything else will be in after the holidays. As promised, here are some pictures of the bedding. We are still missing the dust ruffle, but you should be able to get the general idea.

I can't wait to see it all put together! Now that we have part of it, we can finally start shopping for decorations for the walls.

Stairs + Pregnancy = Trouble

Well, it finally happened. I am not the most graceful person even when I am not pregnant, but I have tried very hard during pregnancy to watch where I walk, not run up and down the stairs, etc. I should have known I couldn't make it 40 weeks without an accident. I did make it to 31 weeks exactly.

Yesterday morning I was running late for work (surprise, surprise) and I had to run downstairs to let our dogs out. I only had about 5 steps left when my foot slipped off the edge and I tumbled down the rest of them. It's amazing how your first instinct is to protect your belly. I somehow managed to grab the rail and turn on my left side as I was going down. This was not as graceful as it may seem in writing. I came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and have to admit that I just laid there for a little while.

I finally got up and called my husband to tell him what had happened. Calling the doctor had not even entered my mind at this point. I just wanted to tell him how bad it hurt. :) Of course, he was more realistic about the situation, so I called the doctor. The doctor wanted to see me immediately, and I spent the majority of the day at the doctor's office getting myself and Ava checked out.

The doctor was very nice. I really thought I was going to get a lecture about how I need to be more careful. He checked me and then hooked me up to a fetal monitor to make sure Ava was okay and I wasn't having contractions. We were both doing well, so I was sent home to rest.

Today, Ava seems to be doing fine. She is moving around like a crazy woman this morning. I am just really, really sore. My body (especially the left side) is one gigantic muscle spasm. I feel like I fell down a flight of stairs yesterday. :)

I will try to be much more careful for the remainder of the pregnancy. I don't think Kurt's blood pressure can take any more of my accidents. Kurt and I are just very thankful it turned out the way it did.

Update...Finally

After being harassed all weekend, I am finally updating my blog. I have been very busy and have just not had time lately. I will try to post often during my last 10 weeks and keep everyone informed. Warning: this is going to be a very long post.

A lot has happened since I last posted. I am now 30 weeks and 5 days. Time was flying by during my second trimester, but things have slowed down significantly for Kurt and I. I am still feeling pretty good, but I do get tired a lot more easily these days. I really can't complain though. I've had a relatively uneventful pregnancy which is definitely a good thing.

Since I last posted our crib and dresser came in. I love them! They look great in her nursery. Here are a few pictures:

If I did this correctly, you should be able to click on the pictures and make them larger. The last picture is a close up of the drawer on the dresser.

After we got the furniture, we found the perfect chandelier.

I do think the chandelier looks prettier in person, but I hope that gives you a good idea of what it looks like. The middle picture is of my dad hanging the light.

Our bedding should arrive today. If so, I will post pictures as soon as I get it in the nursery.

This weekend my family hosted a baby shower for me in my hometown. It was very nice. We got a ton of much needed baby stuff. My mom is emailing me pictures from the shower, so I will post those soon also. It's amazing that someone so little can need so many things! My poor husband not only had to load everything into the car and unload it at our house, but I made him put almost everything together last night so I could look at it. He put his foot down when I asked him to put the travel system together at 10:30 last night. Maybe I can get that done tonight. :)

Finally, here are my 30 week pictures.

Getting Big...

As of yesterday, I am 26 weeks pregnant, so I wanted to give a quick update on Ava's growth. She is now 14 1/4 inches long from head to toe and weighs a little over two pounds. I can't believe she is getting so big! Her eyelids should open sometime this week and she will start blinking in the womb. Because of this last fact, I have to tell a story about my husband. And yes, he will kill me for telling this story on our blog.

When my sister, Jennifer, was pregnant with my nephew, Caleb, we were sitting around talking about Caleb's birth. I'm sure the conversation had something to do with how we were really ready for him to be born because it seemed like she was pregnant for 2 years. We were very ready for him to get here! Anyway, in the middle of the conversation, Kurt asks Jennifer how long it will be after Caleb is born before he can open his eyes. Everyone stopped talking and just stared at him. I couldn't believe he had just asked that question. Jennifer said, "He's not a puppy. He can open his eyes when he is born." Of course, we all almost fell out of our chairs from laughing so hard. I don't think he will ever live that down. I made sure to tell him last night that Ava should be opening her eyes any day now. :)

Nursery Pictures

Well, I am finally getting around to posting pictures of the nursery. We still do not have our furniture or bedding, but we are done painting. Hopefully, everything else will be in soon! I took a ton of pictures throughout the painting process for Ava's scrapbook, but I have chosen just a few to post here. I left out all of the ones of Kurt and I looking so cute in our painting clothes.

The top color in this picture is the original color of the room:

The next few pictures are of the final paint colors in her room. It is impossible to get the entire room in one shot, so these are just a few different angles.

During my last post, I mentioned visiting my cousin Melissa who is also pregnant. She is due exactly a month before me. Here is a picture of the two of us pregnant. Doesn't she look cute?

I can't wait for us to both have our babies. They are going to have so much fun growing up together.

Pictures

I am finally getting around to posting my 24 week pictures. These were taken on Wednesday. My sister suggested wearing the same outfit in my pictures each month so you can see a difference. That's why I am wearing the same outfit I wore last month. Here they are:

We also had a dr. appointment on Wednesday. Everything looks good and the doctor was glad to hear that Ava is moving around like crazy. I am still measuring small. The doctor told me not to be offended when friends, family, and everyone else tell me I am not big enough to be _____ weeks/months along. He also told me I am on the tall side for a woman (like I didn't already know that) so Ava has a lot more room to grow up without me growing out. He said even at the end I won't be very big. I am kind of excited about that. I have been dreading getting huge. Maybe I'll avoid the pregnant woman waddle. Is that possible??? I just hope I don't prove the doctor wrong by exploding over the next three months.

We finished painting Ava's room (except for a few touch-ups) and her furniture should be in today. I am so excited! Now Kurt gets to figure out how to put her crib together. I am not allowed to help on those types of projects. I always think I know what I'm doing, but Kurt always has to go back and redo it. I'm glad I married someone handy or we would really be in trouble.

Kurt and I are going home this weekend for my grandma's 85th birthday. I am really excited. My grandma hasn't seen me since I was about 12 weeks pregnant. I'm wondering if she is going to call me "fat girl" like she did my sister when she was pregnant. By the way, my sister did not get fat while she was pregnant. She did get big, but it was all baby. When you are 5'4, you don't have anywhere for it to go. I have a cousin who lives in my hometown who is pregnant also. I hope we get to see each other this weekend. If she'll let me take a picture of us, I'll post that on Monday. I haven't seen her since she was 12 weeks, so I can't wait to see her pregnant belly!

23 Weeks and Painting

Just a quick update on the pregnancy and Ava. I am 23 weeks today. My belly has really popped in the last week or so. Strangers are now asking when I am due. I am so excited about that because I am so tired of the is she/isn't she pregnant looks. Well, I am excited as long as they do not start touching my belly...

This week Ava is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. Apparently, loud noises may scare her and make her jump or blink. I think that is really interesting because this weekend we were at the A&M football game and every time they fired the cannon she suddenly became very active. I joked with Kurt at the time that I thought the noise scared her. It's kind of sad that the noise may have actually scared her.

This week Kurt and I started painting Ava's nursery. We painted it brown/taupe on the bottom and light pink on the top. It looks so good. My parents are coming this weekend and my dad is going to help Kurt put up the chair rail. I can't wait to see what it looks like with her furniture and bedding in there. We took lots of pictures of the painting process, but I will wait to post those when we are completely finished.

Only 17 more weeks to go...

22 Weeks

The last two weeks have been very eventful. Ava went from just moving around to full blown kicking. Last night, Kurt and I discovered that we can now see Ava kick from the outside! I was laying on the couch and could see lumps/bulges every time she kicked. Very exciting! Ava either really loves her daddy or doesn't like him invading her space. She can be completely quiet, but every time he puts his hand on my belly she starts kicking like crazy. I think it's very cute. I choose to think that she just really loves her daddy.

According to Baby Center, Ava is now about 11 inches long and weighs almost a pound. She now looks like a miniature infant (not like an alien anymore). Her skin is wrinkly because she hasn't started putting on fat yet. Only 18 weeks to go before we meet our little girl! Hopefully, we will get to meet her a week or two before then...

Kicking

Miss Ava Grace finally put on a big show for her daddy! Every Wednesday, Kurt and I read our pregnancy book about that week of pregnancy. We were right in the middle of doing this when Ava started kicking me like crazy. I decided to lay down to see if Kurt could finally feel her. As soon as he put his hand on my belly, she gave him the biggest kick yet! She went on kicking for several more minutes. Then she decided to move to a different part of my belly and start again. We were both so excited!

I kept wondering what had gotten into her until Kurt reminded me that I had a large sweet tea at dinner. It must have really gotten her going because she kicked me all night long. This morning I just wanted five more minutes of sleep, but Ava kicked me in my side until I got up. I love every minute of it. Of course, her kicks don't hurt yet. Check back in a few weeks and I may have a different opinion about this subject.

My sister and Caleb are coming to visit today. I don't want to load Ava up on sugar and caffeine again, but I really hope she kicks for Aunt Jennifer.

20 Weeks

I am officially halfway through my pregnancy. After my first trimester, the time seems to be flying by. We had another appointment on Wednesday. Everything looked good and Ava's heartbeat was nice and strong. She really doesn't like the doppler. She will only let the doctor listen for a couple of seconds before she runs away and he has to try to find her again. I think it's really cute. Her movements and kicks are getting stronger and more frequent, but they are still not strong enough for Kurt to feel them yet. Hopefully she will put on a big show for him in the next couple of weeks.

Kurt took my 20 week pictures on Wednesday. I look pretty bad, but it had been a really long day! Anyway, here is my growing belly...

Ultrasound Pictures

I promised I would post pictures, so here they are. The first one is a side view of Ava. She is laying on her back with her legs up in the air. She looks like a real baby now!

This pictures shows that Ava is definitely a girl. Once again, this is the first thing we saw when we started the ultrasound.

Ava also kicked me for the first time this weekend. I apparently had way too much sugar at Caleb's birthday party with the cake, punch, etc. After the party, I laid down to watch a movie and Ava kicked me four times in the same spot. She kicked pretty hard, but it was so exciting. I can't wait for Kurt to be able to feel her.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Thankfully, our baby did cooperate and we are having a little girl! As soon as they put the ultrasound "wand" to my belly she was showing us that she is 100% girl. Of course, they looked at all of the important things such as her kidneys, heart, stomach, bladder, etc. and everything looked great! What a blessing!

We are naming her Ava Grace. Kurt and I are so excited because we could not come up with a boy name that we both agreed on. Now it is time to start shopping! We have so much to do. It makes it so much more real to be able to refer to the baby as "her" or "Ava". We got some great pictures of Ava, but I will have to wait until I get home (probably on Sunday) to scan them in.

One More Day...

I hadn't planned to post today, but the anticipation is killing me! I can't wait to find out what we are having tomorrow. I am so excited to finally be able to call this baby he or she or better yet by his or her name!

I know I am not going to sleep tonight. I woke up all night last night thinking about it. I can't wait to finally be able to look at girl or boy things are start picking things out! Kurt has not let me buy ANYTHING for the baby because we don't know what we are having.

Tomorrow afternoon, Kurt and I will be traveling to my sister's house for our nephew's first birthday party. I can't decide if I am going to be nice and tell them as soon as we find out or make them wait until we see them in person. I would love to see their reaction, but I just don't know if I can hold it in all day!

Let's all hope that the sugar/caffeine advice I have been given works. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be posting to let you all know if we are having a boy or a girl!

Scare

We had our first major scare today. I have been able to feel the baby fairly regularly over the last few weeks. When I am sitting or laying still, I can usually feel the baby move a little. However, this week I have not felt the baby since Monday. I thought I would give it until the end of the week, today, and then give the doctor a call. I wasn't too stressed out about it, but I just wanted the doctor to tell me it was completely normal. I did not expect the response I received.

My doctor was not in the office today, so I spoke to one of the nurses. When I explained to her that I am 18 weeks and haven't felt the baby move in four days, she freaked out. She told me I had waited way too long to call the doctor and that I need to go directly to labor & delivery to have the baby monitored and get an ultrasound. After she lectured me for a while longer, I went to the hospital.

Once I got to the hospital, they told me there was no reason for me to be there and that I needed to go back to my doctor's office. A doctor that works with my doctor was there at the time and he said he would see me when he was done there. So, Kurt and I went over to the doctor's office (it is connected to the hospital) and waited on the doctor. We had a great nurse that went ahead and listened for the baby's heartbeat to calm us down a little bit. The baby's heartrate was 152 bpm. We finally saw the doctor and he said he thought everything was fine, but he was going to send me for an ultrasound just in case. So, we got to have an ultrasound a week early.

During the ultrasound, we found out why I haven't been feeling the baby. Our baby was curled up in a little ball and would not move for anything. The baby was so curled up that it's knees were touching it's nose. We did see the baby move an arm or leg here or there, but it would not move out of it's curled up position. We were able to get a few measurements and the baby is measuring exactly 18 weeks and 2 days like it should be. The baby weighed 9 ounces which puts it in the 58th percentile for weight. This does not surprise me.

Since the baby would not change positions, the sonographer was not able to get the pictures she needed of the heart, kidneys, etc. She was also not able to tell us the sex of our baby. That means we get to keep our appointment for next week and get another ultrasound. She told me to drink a huge sugary drink before the ultrasound to make the baby move around. I hope that works!

That was our stressful day. Kurt said it's amazing how much you love and care for something so tiny you haven't even seen yet. I have to agree. This baby is stressing out mom and dad already!

Below are a few pictures of our baby all curled up in a little ball. I couldn't tell if they were better scanned in as black & white or color, so I did a couple of both.

Above: You can probably make out the head to the right side. The baby is looking toward the left side of the picture. The white line making a "J" coming from the head is the baby's spine. That's how curled up he/she is.Above: You can make out more of the face in this picture. Once again you can see the spine curved up toward the left side of the picture. The baby's knees are touching it's nose.Above: This is the first picture again scanned in black & white instead of color.

18 Weeks

I am now 18 weeks (and one day)! We are getting close to halfway! Our baby is now 5 1/2 to 6 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 7 ounces. The baby's ears are formed and can now hear the outside world. I think Kurt is most excited about this. He has been talking to the baby since the beginning, but the baby can actually hear him now!

We have our big ultrasound in 8 days! We can't wait. Hopefully, we will be able to pick out a boy's name between now and then. I am not counting on it though. :) I will post pictures of the ultrasound as soon as possible on Friday.

I am still feeling pretty good. I have started having back and hip pain which I thought wouldn't start until much later. I have been really tired this week, but I think it is just from lack of quality sleep. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to sleep on my side. Between that and my five trips to the bathroom every night, I don't think I will ever sleep well again. Can you tell I didn't sleep well last night??? Oh well, it will all be worth it in five months...

Boy or Girl?

Well, we will finally get the answer to that question on Friday, September 22. That is exactly three weeks and one day from today. I will be 19 weeks and 2 days when they do the sonogram. Everyone keep their fingers crossed that our baby cooperates and doesn't keep his/her legs crossed!

We had a good dr. appointment yesterday. The baby kept "running" away from the doctor, so he had a hard time getting a heart rate. He was finally able to get it at around 138. This is quite a bit lower than last time, but he said everything is fine as long as it is in the 120-160 range.

I still haven't technically gained any weight since I am nowhere close to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I did gain one pound between my 12 and 16 week visits. Kurt took my 16 week pictures last night. I will post them below. I don't know how my stomach got that much bigger and I only gained one pound! I have a new intern from A&M that started on Monday and today, Thursday, when I got to work she actually said, "I think you get bigger every day." Doesn't she know I decide her grade??? ;) Anyway, I thought that was funny. I just keep telling myself that I am just going through a growth spurt. I am probably kidding myself, right?

Fifteen Weeks

I am fifteen weeks today! I am definitely enjoying my second trimester. My nausea is almost completely gone, and I now have my appetite back. Unfortunately, I am not craving the healthiest foods. I love sweets! My biggest craving so far has been lifesaver gummies. I just can't get enough of them! I am trying to eat lots of fruits and veggies, but that is not what I want to be eating.

Our baby is really growing. This week the crown to rump length is 4 inches. The baby now weighs 2 1/2 ounces. Even though the baby's eye lids are fused shut, he/she can sense light. I think I have felt the baby move a few times, but I am not sure yet. Several times I have felt "bubbles popping" or a very light "tapping" in my lower abdomen. This is usually when I am laying down. A few times when I am sitting up I have felt a very fast fluttering that lasts for a few seconds. It almost felt like I had a butterfly in my belly. So, I guess we will just have to wait and see. Hopefully in the next week or two they will get stronger and more often.

I go back to the doctor a week from today. I can't wait to hear our baby's heartbeat again! I am hoping the doctor will schedule my big ultrasound where we get to find out the sex of the baby. I don't know how much longer I can wait!

I will take pictures again next week after my appointment.

Second Trimester

I have been dreading taking pictures of my belly, but since I am now 13 weeks and into my second trimester I guess it is about time. Last week, people started to notice my "bump". Kurt and I have been able to see it for a while now, but you can finally see it through my clothes. It really depends on what I wear right now. Some things make me look bigger than others. People that do not know I am pregnant probably just think I am gaining weight, but if you know I am pregnant, you can definitely tell.

These pictures were taken last night at exactly 13 weeks.

160 bpm

I never thought today would finally get here. I am so glad we had our appointment in the morning because I don't think I could have waited all day. Well, we get to the doctor and surprise, surprise the doctor is running late because he is at the hospital. They said it will at least be an hour before he gets there. Kurt wanted to reschedule, but I had waited three weeks already and I was not about to wait another day. We didn't have to wait long before the nurse called us back. She said since we were just there to find the heartbeat, she would do it for us.

She warned us ahead of time that it may take her a while to find it because even though I can't feel it yet, the baby is moving all around in there. She put the doppler on my belly and we heard the heartbeat immediately. I have never been so relieved. She said the heart rate was really good. It was right around 160 bpm.

The old wives tale says anything over 150 is a girl, but as the baby grows their heart rates slow down. So, when are you supposed to count?

Kurt and I both think we are having a girl. We will be shocked if they tell us it's a boy! Of course, like any other parents, we just want a healthy baby. I am exactly 12 weeks today, so we should be able to find out the baby's gender in 8-12 weeks.

Since I am almost done with my first trimester, I am hoping the nausea will slow down sometime soon. I have now lost 18 pounds. At some point it has got to start going in the other direction!

Kurt and I have been married for three years today. Hearing the baby's heartbeat was a great anniversary present!

Heartbeat?

We had our appointment with the doctor today. Apparently, this appointment was just to check for the baby's heartbeat using a doppler. He tried for a long time, but he was never able to find it. He wanted to see me back in two weeks, but we will be in Florida on vacation. So, now I have to wait three weeks to make sure everything is okay.

I am only 9 weeks and 1 day today. The doctor said not to worry and it is probably just too early to hear the baby with the doppler. I can't believe he tried to tell a pregnant woman not to worry about the baby! I am sure everything will be fine, but I am very stressed now. Luckily, we will be very busy over the next two weeks. Hopefully, the time will fly by.

Third Appointent

We had another appointment today. This appointment was considered our "prenatal appointment" where they asked us a million questions about our family medical history. They also took a ton of blood. Kurt had to go sit out in the waiting room for that because he was afraid he would pass out. I am not sure how he is going to handle the delivery. :)

Unfortunately, I have been dealing with morning, day, and night sickness. I have lost about 10 pounds so far. Hopefully, that will go away soon! I am now 8 weeks and 1 day, so I am afraid I am just getting to the worst part.

We just saw the nurse at this appointment, so we go back next week for our appointment with the doctor.

Sonogram

We had our first sonogram today. It was amazing to see there is actually something in there! We got to see and hear the heartbeat. I was not expecting to be able to hear it. Here is the first picture of our baby.

I am only 7 weeks and 2 days, so the baby is really tiny. You can see where they marked the baby with an arrow.

Our Story

First of all, let me just start by thanking my sister for creating this pregnancy blog for us. I have no idea how these things work, so I guess I'll learn as I go. Here is our story so far:

We found out we are expecting on June 8, 2006. I was exactly 4 weeks and 1 day. I always thought we would wait until 12 weeks to share the news with everyone, but we were too excited. We had to start calling right away. My sister and I had a deal before she got pregnant with my nephew that I would be the first one she told about the pregnancy if I would quit asking her when they were going to have a baby. So, I decided I would return the favor and tell her first also. That first night we told my sister and brother-in-law, my parents, and my grandparents. Of course, everyone was very excited. We also told Kurt's brother, Kolton, because he was visiting us at the time. We were really hoping he could keep a secret and not tell the rest of his family!

Kurt's parents and sister were coming to visit us the next day, so we decided to wait and tell them in person. After we shared the news with them, we started making all of our phone calls. It was fun to hear everyone's reactions.

We had our first doctor's appointment on June 15, 2006. This was a very quick appointment to basically just confirm the pregnancy. I had already taken four pregnancy tests, but it was so nice to hear them say we were definitely pregnant! They scheduled our first sonogram for the end of this month. We can't wait to see our little baby!

Expecting

We are expecting a baby due February 14!