Happy [almost] Mother's Day!

This time next year will be a very happy Mother's Day! As for today, I'm about 4.5 weeks from my due date, June 8th. Wed. will be 36 weeks. We are getting very excited, and yet I'm getting a little nervous too. We had our last baby class last Thurs. and saw a full fledge birth- yikes! We practiced breathing that I'm not convinced I'll remember; maybe that's why the nurse recommends practicing at home...hm, maybe I should be doing that? ;) We also practiced all kinds of different positions to get in to get through the pain of the contractions. I'm pretty convinced I'm getting an epidural so I kept thinking it was pointless for me to practice positions I won't be able to get into once my legs are numb. :) Oh well, it was a good, informative class. We've learned a lot we had no idea about before.

I think I'm more nervous about the way my life schedule is going to change forever. I can't fathom how I'll figure out when to feed (and how, for that matter- breastfeeding seems so technical), what to carry with me when I leave the house, when I'll get time to workout, and especially how much time it'll take to get ready in the morning once I go back to work and have to take Rya to the babysitter. I understand I'll learn it all as I go basically, but I don't like not knowing how it works now! :) So this is more nerve wracking to me right now than labor is! When I'm in labor I figure I'll just let the nurses tell me what to do.

So, other than that, I'm still feeling pretty good. I am getting more uncomfortable at times, and it's really hard to roll over in bed now; it kind of hurts. I don't think Rya has dropped yet b/c I still struggle to catch my breath. But she is in general, low. She rolls around and tries to stretch pretty often, and it's funny to see my lopsided belly from her sticking her butt or back up. I don't know yet, but I think she has her head down on my right side and her feet then curled around to my left side. I'm feeling what I think are hiccups from her. One day I remember she had hiccups two or three times and I told Jesse I felt bad for her b/c I hate hiccups! :)

Rya is already pretty spoiled! I've had wonderful baby showers, and therefore Rya's room is full of pink! :) Lots of cute outfits; I can't wait to see her in them! Thankfully I've received some very good practical things too, such as crib sheets & blankets (including beautiful ones that a great friend, Jesse's grandma and Jesse's aunt made for Rya) bottles, boppy pillow, a bumbo seat and bath items.




Another great friend is letting us borrow her bassinet and we received that last weekend too. I can't wait to get a crib and book shelf for Rya's room. We are waiting until after all the baby showers to determine what all we still need, so currently Rya's room only has Jesse's old dresser and then all the pink gift bags, tissue paper and gifts! :) My last shower is about 2.5 weeks from my due date. We're hoping little Rya doesn't come too early, although one of my co-workers has placed an early bet that Rya's coming a week early! Here is what she is basing this bet on-

Those are at 34.5 weeks. I don't want to rush the final 4 weeks, but we are excited to meet baby Rya. We have a lot to do until then, so for now I'll enjoy my [almost] Mother's Day! To end this post, I'll leave you with a few more random pictures of the cute, fun gifts Rya has been spoiled with. :)

And the countdown begins!

Here is the latest bump picture, at 31.5 weeks. Yep, less than 10 weeks to go, and now officially less than double digit-weeks left! It's exciting, and a bit scary. I'm really excited to see who Rya looks like the most. :)

She's still moving around a lot, and the other night Jesse was resting his hand on my belly as we were going to sleep, and since this is when Rya gets really busy moving around, he felt her make a big movement and he was amazed. He thought it was really neat. I love when he gets excited when he feels her move! He loudly said, "Oh my goodness!" I've been feeling and thinking that for a while now. :)

I still haven't ever felt sick, but I am starting to get a little uncomfortable at times. It's hard to sing in church b/c I'm out of breath a lot! ;) My feet swell a little more often now, but I have to consider myself lucky overall. I haven't started feeling any braxton hicks that I know of yet, and I'm not sure if I've felt Rya have any hiccups or not. But I do think I'm starting to have what everyone calls "pregnancy brain"! Haha. I'm still exercising at least 3 days/week and I think that's really helped me stay feeling so well.

I have some baby showers coming up that I'm very excited for. One is today in fact, hosted by Ames coaches' wives. I have another shower in 2 weeks hosted by my co-workers, another at the end of this month hosted by my girlfriends, and 3 different family showers in May! Jesse and I are so blessed, and thankful!

My next doctor appointment is the 18th; I'm starting to go every 3 weeks now instead of every 4. I guess that's all for now. Not much more time for many more blog posts since we only have 8.5 weeks to go!

Our last hoorah before baby...

Baby Rya made it to TN and back for her first vacation. :) Jesse and I decided to take a spring break vaceation for one last hoorah before the baby comes. It was really fun. We left last Friday night after work and drove to Danville, IL, about a 6.5 hour drive, to stay half way overnight in a hotel. We then got up Sat. morning and headed on the road to TN, about a 7.5 hour drive, to a resort at Fairfield Glade, TN. Our vacation consisted of relaxing watching the NCAA basketball tournament, walking to the fitness center to work out, going on walks on trails around the resort and golf courses, 36 holes of golf and 175 balls hit at the driving range for Jesse, and a day spent in Nashville. Nashville was only about 1:45 from our resort. We drove there and spent the day walking on Broadway in all the shops and bars, including the Wildhorse Saloon and The Stage. The day was ended by seeing the Dukes of Hazard museum and then catching a show at the Grand Ole Opry, seeing Thompson Square and Jason Michael Carol on stage! What a vacation we had! The drive home was long yesterday, on my birthday, but it was worth it! We had to stop a few times when Rya was getting uncomfortable, but we did all right driving the whole 12 hours or so, and would definitely consider doing it again someday.

As for an update on the pregnancy itself- I passed the gestational diabetes test (with the sugar drink) "with flying colors" the nurse said, thank goodness. I'm feeling Rya's movements a bit stronger now, mostly on the left side for some reason. Sometimes she moves so much Jesse can see my whole stomach move and he likes that! We passed week 28 while on vacation and here are a few pictures.

As you can see, we had fun, and look forward to future vacations with baby Rya!

Next

I don't really have much to post about right now, but I figured I'll get harassed if I don't get something posted, maybe with a couple pictures. Not much has gone on since our special Valentine's Day finding out we're having a girl. I did have another doctor appointment, but it was just as short and boring as usual! I did learn that at my next appointment I have to do the dreaded sugar-drink test to test for gestational diabetes. I have a fruit punch flavored drink so I hope that helps a little. I also learned that I've gained a total of 13 pounds so far, at week 25 (Wed. will be week 26).

I feel baby Rya moving a lot, and it's becoming really cool. At first it was kind of weird to me, but now I really like it. Jesse can feel it now too, which is even cooler! He's so excited- he likes to say "how are my girls?" or "have a good day, girls". =] I love it!

Other than that, not much else is happening. We did find out friends of ours are having a girl about a month after us so Rya will have a little girlfriend the same age to play with!

We aren't very good at remembering to take pictures often, but here are a couple of new pictures at 25.5 weeks; I don't think my baby bump looks much bigger than the last pictures at 22 weeks, but, my belly button is trying to pop out now! It's pretty weird looking.

FI-NAL-LY!

We opened the envelope with the gender picture tonight. We really only knew what we'd be looking for if it was going to be a boy, which I was pretty certain we'd find.

We waited until we got home from work, got dinner served, and then opened the envelope. Jesse let me open it...

I was shocked, and gasped when I saw the picture say "IT'S A GIRL!" I gave the picture to Jesse with a big smile and said "Oh my gosh, it's a girl!" He smiled, kind of laughed. We both questioned what exactly we were looking at in the picture; all we knew was it said we're having a girl! =]

All night I couldn't stop saying, "I can't believe we're having a girl!" I'm still in shock! :) After calling our family we headed to the store to buy cake mix and frosting to make cupcakes with pink frosting for work! We made such a good team making our 72 cupcakes together, practicing for future little girl birthdays. ;)

Sat. I bought Hawkeye onesies I found at Target. I thought for sure I'd be taking them back, but I'd buy them just in case. Turns out, we get to keep them, and daddy is excited!


Happy Valentine's Day! This is sure to be one we'll never forget!

1 week, 1 day to go

Valentine's Day is only 1 week, 1 day away, which means we get to find out the gender of our baby in 1 week, 1 day! I'm excited. I think Jesse is too, even though he still claims he wants to wait. I keep saying I think we're having a boy and he keeps saying, with a smile, he doesn't. He jokes that if we say we're having a boy, it'll be a girl. ;) We bought our first baby clothes- 6-9 month boy and girl winter fleece full piece suits, since they were both on sale for $6 each! We figure we'll just take one back after Valentine's Day.

The boy one says "DADDY'S #1 DRAFT PICK" and the girl's says "SUPER STAR". I'm sure it's no surprise to some of you that both pieces have stars on them and I wanted 'em! =)

I still think we're having a boy, and one reason is I feel the baby move a lot now and I feel movement pretty low sometimes. I don't think I look like I'm carrying low- I feel like I'm carrying right in the middle :) but you be the judge- these were taken this weekend @ 22 weeks




Here comes big mamma... =D

21 weeks...

We had our 21 week ultrasound on Wed. It was really neat! I didn't think the baby looked alien-like or very skeletal at all. I would love to see it again. We told the tech before starting we didn't want to find out what we're having, yet. So she turned the monitor off at the end to get the gender shot. We got 3 pictures to show, all of the others on a CD, and the gender one in a sealed envelope. The lady gave the envelope to Jesse and I thought, "Nooo, he'll hold it hostage and not let us find out on Valentine's Day!" :) Jesse joked he is going to make me wait until my birthday, but too many people think the Valentine's Day idea is so cute so I think he'll go with then. We think it's a boy bc the baby has big feet & long bones according to the nurse. But my sister has big feet & big hands, so you never know. :)

I've only gained 7-8 pounds, and the doctor hasn't said anything about not gaining enough weight so I guess I'm ok. I don't feel anymore hungry really and don't really eat anymore than usual. But, the baby is about a pound now. I was measuring 21 weeks 3 days; originally I was on track to be 21 weeks that day. So June 8th is still the due date, give or take a few days. At this point a girl would be named Rya and the boy of course, Kelso (my maiden name). I'd certainly be ok with a boy since then we'd get to use Kelso for the name right away, but I also would love to have a girl since so many of our friends seem to have or be having boys, and I have 3 nephews, no nieces so it'd be the first girl for my parents. My mom and sister think we're having a girl, but I think that's just bc they want a girl, bc everyone else thinks boy. :)

Here are some ultrasound pictures. This first one is of the peanut, at 9 weeks.

The next ones are from our 21 week ultrasound on Wed. The first is, I believe, a 4D image of the baby. You can see the ear and nose, chin and hands up at the chin.

This next one is the big foot! And a profile shot.

Jesse and I are even more excited to meet the baby now, but still have a little less than half-way to go. We are just enjoying the last part of our "normal" life before it all changes, and the fun really begins!