Weekly update and 32 week Ultrasound

Well here we are, almost at the 33 week mark, already behind when I'm doing an update ;-)  So where to start, progress...the belly is getting bigger and bigger and baby is pushing my organs and insides out of the way.  Ultrasound tech said the little booty and potentially feet are what I feel shoving up under my right ribs.  So as of now (I know we have a lot time left) the baby is head down face out in a good position to come out, makes mom happy other than the rib uncomfortable position.  I feel great so far, I'm very thankful to still be sleeping good and no food aversions to speak of.  I did get a little wake up call this morning, baby decided to do the wave dance for about 20 minutes at 4am.  So nice to feel the activity but would also like to sleep ;-)  My energy level is still way up, it feels good to remain active and walk the pups and go to yoga.  I went swimming this weekend for a little cardio and it felt AMAZING!!!  The cool water and weightlessness was the best thing ever, unfortunately the gym closed the pool on Monday for cleaning and maintenance until March 9th :-(  After that I will be a little fish ;-) 

 

Here are a couple bump update pictures...Kyle is getting better at taking the pictures and the new phone helps with quality :-)

 

We did our last sneak peak ultrasound this past Friday at 32 weeks, they surprised us we some 3D views, what a fun little preview of our wee munchkin.  Baby is measuring right on track with the averages for weight, length and noggin size ;-)  Mommy is very happy with that, once baby is born we can work on getting into the 90%.  Ultrasound tech said baby is measuring around 4.5 pounds right now.  The first view we got of the wee one was the foot, Kyle and I are taking guesses on how big a hockey skate/ballet or golf shoe this baby will end up wearing, seems like a big foot :-)

 

Less than 8 weeks till D-day...I went for my normal check up on Monday, Dr. was VERY impressed my our little peanuts face on picture, said she hadn't seen one taken that clear and sharp in years.  Joked that the kid was destined for Hollywood, I said sounds good to me, can take care of Mom and Dad ;)  She was pleased with my vitals and said she would see me again in a couple weeks, after that I'll switch to weekly appointments indicating baby is to the point where coming to greet us would be perfectly healthy.  We are just beyond excited :-)

After the Dr.'s appointment I joined Kyle at his office for a baby shower over lunch.   It was a great gathering as a couple of his co-workers used to be my co-workers as well.  We had a fabulous lunch, played a couple silly games.  See picture of the mashup game, everyone assembled pieces of Kyle and my face into what they thought baby would look like, freakin' hilarious!  Then we all voted on categories like Most Creepy, Most likely to succeed, Best Hair, Best Smile, Most Popular.  In the end Kyle and I voted for number 8 as the overall winner, time will tell if that person is correct. 

In other news, Kyle and I had a fantastic valentine's day.  We went to an early dinner, got him the flu shot so he won't have to wear a mask the entire time we are in the hospital and watch Gone Girl at home with the pups.  Earlier that day we both worked our hineys off in the yard, I did a lot of tree and bush hacking and general clean up, Kyle tackled the lawns.  Felt good to get sweaty and dirty :-)

 

 

What a weekend we had BEFORE valentine's day...we made a surprise trip to San Diego for my sister's birthday.  My parents rented a beach house in Mission Bay for all of us to stay together.  Mychal tricked Devarae and got her down to the house for us all to surprise her.  It was great, we had a blast.  We walked on the beach, watched the sunsets, went on a food tour of La Jolla, eat yummy food, had a great brunch with a wonderful group of her friends and overall just got to hang out and relax.  It is so much fun to spend time with Devarae and "compare notes" on our experiences.  I can't wait to start planning her shower(s) and celebrate with her and then meet her little baby.  My wee one is going to be well traveled and handled baby before "it" even turns 3 months old, LOVE it!  

One final thought before I close this long blog session.  To add to my unusual/not typical pregnancy experience I am strangely really excited for the birth portion of this journey.  I know a lot of women get really scared about the pain and what their experience will be like but I feel totally at peace with that part, I have a great doctor and I think my hospital is wonderful.  For so long I've heard stories about this part of things and how rough it is but to me it is the final push before something wonderful joins our family and I can't wait for that day to be here (ok I can wait a little longer so baby is ready, but you know what I mean).  I look forward to sharing this experience with Kyle and the bond something like this will form between us, it is really something only the two of us can share together and I think that is amazing.  This child is already such a huge part of our family and is loved in so many ways and fashions it just makes me overwhelmed with joy to meet this person. 

Ok ok, enough of my gush episode, I'll post some more pictures in a couple weeks or if something fantastic happens between now and then.  Thank you all for reading this post, especially those who made it all the way to the end.

Until next time,

Shalyce and the dancing monkey in my tummy ;-)

Couldn't help myself

Too darn cute not to share, love my fury four legged kids and the soon to be two legged kid, melts my heart.

Nursery and 30 weeks

We made it out of the 20s! The first week of the 30s has brought on a very very active baby, tends to like to tap dance on my right ribs during work hours and early morning. Friendly reminders he/she is still in there.



As promised here is a panoramic of the nursery. Things are pretty much ready for move in day other than the fun stuff and must haves like diapers ;) hopefully the shower will help in fill those items. Couldn't have done all this without my mom and sister, it has turned out way better than I could have hoped. I sure can't wait for the room's resident to get here (alright I will wait at least 4 more weeks). My glider should be ready middle of March very early April just in time for munchkin, that will go in the living room :)



Ok enough for this post, on to more junk removal around rest of the house. Happy weekend everyone :)

Tahoe and 29 weeks

 It has been a whole week and weekend since we were in Tahoe, what a fabulous trip we had.  There were very little people there and those that were seemed to be more interested in skiing/snowboarding that what we were up to.  We rented a little cabin in south lake, about 2 miles from the stateline and the casinos.  We never made it to the casinos but the location was great, we were in a little community, very quiet and dark at night.  During the days we took the dogs to the lake and did hikes with and without the pups.  The first hike we went for a very beautiful hike to Emerald Bay, I had never hiked all the way down and Kyle had never been to Tahoe during the summer months so it was a very nice walk.  The hike was about 1.7 miles each way and we had a gorgeous view of the lake and the bay.  We even found a campground we would like to go back and visit during the summer, Eagle Point, sounds like it will be closed for the rest of this summer for renovations, after that we will definitely be visiting with our new bundle of fun.  The next hike we went on we took the pups with, it was about 2 miles round trip.  We started on the barn trail in the bi-state park just behind Northstar village and under their gondola, then we switched to the cal/nev trail to finish the hike.  The dogs were in heaven, the hike was so empty that we got to let the dogs off leash and enjoy the freedom.  Needless to say the mutts were very sore, so sore that they had a difficult time going up and down the stairs in the cabin.  We can't wait to go back to Tahoe and hopefully we can make it happen this summer. 

Front of our little cabin

Second hike, we happened upon the state boarder on our way back to the car, pretty fun

View from our first hike, we hadn't turned the corner to see Emerald Bay yet

First night in Tahoe, the dogs loved the lake!

Now on to baby update....I am just past the 29 week mark, in fact 2 more days until I leave the 20 weeks.  Feels like the 20s have drug their feet and oh boy will I be glad to turn that 2 into a 3 :-)  Let's see, I've started going to the doctor every 2 weeks now, I have another appointment next Wednesday.  Every time I've gone so far they seem pleased with my weight gain, blood pressure and the baby's heartbeat.  My next ultrasound is scheduled for right around valentine's day, what a present to see baby just before that holiday couldn't ask for better gift.  Baby has become VERY active during the work day hours, I figure it is just a matter of time before someone notices the movement during a meeting.  Overall I am feeling great, still functioning relatively normal.  Baby is starting to push up under my ribs on the right side, Kyle giggles at my belly daily because it is so pointy.  I do look forward to having baby out and holding in my arms and have my body space back to myself.  I sleep great still and I am very very thankful for that, I have noticed that I've started snoring and waking myself up.  Thankfully it doesn't seem to bother Kyle but I bought some breath right strips so I stop waking myself up, HA!  It really is the little things I am starting to miss, like turning around to check over my shoulder while driving without feeling like I'm fighting a watermelon or eating a normal size meal without feeling like I just finished a thanksgiving feast and will explode at any minute.  Just makes me even more thankful that I've had things so easy this far and still feel great just a little uncomfortable. 

We do have our maternity pictures scheduled and are planning to head down to the coast in the 17 mile drive area.  Speaking of I need to reach out to my hair lady and see if she is available and if she can do makeup too.  I've started looking for a pediatrician and think I have one in mind, would like to go meet her in person before sending in my registration papers for the hospital.  We did our hospital tour last night and I am very happy with the vibe of the hospital and the accommodations they set up.  They seem to be very flexible and understanding but we shall see when the actual time comes.  I still plan to work up until baby starts making the grand entrance into this world, just can't imagine hanging out at home "twiddling" my thumbs waiting for something to happen.  I feel pretty good about where we are in preparations, we have the essentials it would take to bring baby home so that is what I care about.  The nursery is coming along fantastically.  I'll try to clean up the miscellaneous items this weekend and post pictures of the "finished" room.  My mom and sister came to help and boy did they make a difference, what a great end product we came up with. 

I very much look forward to helping Devarae with her nursery in return and am ecstatic about starting to plan her shower.  My shower, then baby, then her shower, then her baby, time is quickly passing by and the fun will be here soon.  Thank you all for checking in on the blog, I will post room pictures soon and possibly throw in some other pictures from around the house too, we've upgraded some furniture and I'm very proud :-)  Until next time...happy kick kicks from baby C

Pointy Butt!

No doubt in 3rd trimester now

Off we go to Tahoe but weekly picture first :) Baby is excited about Tahoe, kicking up a storm. Mutts are excited because we are at home Friday morning instead of work and they see their things getting packed along side ours. I hope there is snow and that we even get a little snowed on.

Entering the home stretch

According to half the sources I have 27 weeks marks the start the third trimester and the other half day 28. So that said I consider myself already having started the home stretch or if you are of the 28 mindset you could say I am technically one day from it. I am hoping that things continue as they have thus far and this next 3 months treat me kindly.

I have started the every 2 week Dr visit rotation and need tip get my whooping cough booster. I felt hiccups on Monday night during yoga, that was fun. I definitely 'feel' pregnant now, the tummy is undeniably a baby not just a food baby anymore. My skin on the mid section is very tight but for the most part I am still comfortable. I have started to have some indigestion but if I pop a tums I seem to be ok. I keep some close for the middle of the night just in case. But never fear the threat of heartburn has not deterred me from enjoying my normal spicy hot food :)

Thankfully I haven't experienced the troubles sleeping most pregnant women face. I still get up at least once a night too pee but don't find it hard tip fall back asleep. Please cross your fingers that remains the case until at least closer to arrival time.

I passed my gestational diabetes test with flying colors, to quote the doctor I can eat the horse and the horseshoes, pretty much got free rein to eat what I like. Great news, I love clean bills of health. Our next ultrasound (32 weeks) is scheduled, 2/13 @ 1pm we get to see our sweet baby again. We are getting close to starting our birth classes and hospital tour, things are getting really real now.

My mom and sister came to help me with the nursery and baby shower planning this past weekend. What a fun filled whirlwind productive weekend we had. I can't wait to get a couple more items delivered and/or hung so I can take pictures and show you all. I am more than thrilled at how things are coming together. And boy oh boy am I just so excited to celebrate munchkin with all my girlfriends. My mom sister and I were an incredible invitation assembly team, they are freaking adorable!

Our little baby will be here in no time flat, I can't wait to meet baby and start that part of the journey. We hAve continued to play the name game and I think we have a couple names for each gender but nothing finalized yet. Trying to figure out maternity leave timing with my sister's due date and how much time Kyle will take off, so many things to consider.

Kyle and I had to Tahoe this weekend for a little get away with the pups...is it too early to call it our babymoon??? I think so, I want to eek out at least one more trip before calling it a day on just us and the fury kids. I will post pictures and a recap of our trip. Hopefully there will be some snow our better yet it will snow while there, hope the mutts like the cold white stuff.

Thanks to all for following my journey and all your wise and helpful advice and input.

Holiday Season

Merry Christmas everyone!!!  So here I sit at my gestational diabetes test, I have downed the dreaded liquid, no where as bad as I envisioned. Really tasted like the Orange "juice" we got as kids out of the big Orange McDonald's cooler after a sports game. I didn't have a problem drinking it in the allotted 5 minutes I was given, took about 30 seconds, wouldn't want to drag it out longer than that anyways. Boy oh boy does it make baby kick though...fun to sit here and feel all the activity.

Today marks my 180 day of pregnancy or so says my daily app.  That means after today I will be in the double digit count down, really is amazing ho  quickly things are flying by.  Kyle asked if we could go baby shopping this evening, start collecting some essentials for bringing munchkin home. Shower date has been nailed down, grandma has her plane tickets, things are starting to take shape.  My sister and mom are coming up next weekend  to help me decorate and finalize the nursery decor, can not wait.

For the holidays, Kyle and I made the long road trip down to southern California, so great to spend time with the family and just relax. My dad`s mom isn't doing so well so it was especially nice to visit with her for Christmas eve, another fabulous dinner with the Irgens side.  As is the tradition, we spoiled one another again this year. My grandma's living room was consumed my presents. Next year I imagine the recipients will be slightly younger in age and not quite as impressed by the massive pile of goodies, but the following year, oh goodness!!! The doggies enjoyed their vacation as well, walks multiple times a day with a morning run behind a local church with my mom and dad.

So along with progressing in weeks toward delivery and meeting our new family member, my belly continues to expand. I swear this baby is standing on its toes and stretching as far toward my ribs as possible all while sticking its little booty toward my belly button. The skin on my mid section is stretched just about as tight as it could go, after every meal I tell Kyle I feel like I am going to rip open.  And if you missed my confession on Facebook I am pretty sure my nice innie belly button is a thing of the past, at least until baby has arrived and I get to do some crunches. But these things are a small price to pay for the sweet baby we will get in April. 

Next milestone for me...continue cooking baby and visit doctor regularly. Ultrasound will be at 32 weeks so a little while to wait on that.

One last thing, I am writing on my kindle, so if something doesn't make sense please ignore for now, I am going to proof read from home this afternoon, thank you.