6 Month Update

It's official...I'M HUGE! You know you're big when strangers come up to you and ask when you're baby's due. Scary thing is...I still have over 3 months to go and I'm only going to get bigger! No matter how I look though, I'm still super excited about all the changes my body's going through. We had our 24 week appointment on Friday and the doctor said that everything still looks really good. The baby's kicking all the time and her heart sounds great! At our next appointment, we'll have a second ultrasound to make sure the shadow we saw on her heart at 20 weeks has gone away.
A few milestone events occurred since the last time I posted. I had my first Braxton-Hicks contractions on May 27th, likely caused by dehydration because I hadn't yet increased my water intake since getting bigger. Last Thursday (6/5), I had my first bout of edema (swelling)...again probably caused by not drinking enough water...I promise, I'm drinking water, apparently just not enough. And finally, yesterday morning (6/7), Adam finally felt our baby kick!!! It's funny because he's put his hand on my belly several times with no luck...she's stubborn just like her mommy :) Then, he got advice from his mom to lay next to me tummy-to-tummy and guess what...it worked! He was a little surprised that a kick doesn't yet feel like a kick, more like a quick vibration. However, he was excited and I'm glad he can finally feel what I'm feeling...kind of :)

We also had a busy weekend painting our house. This past week, we hired a contractor to put up seamless gutters and new siding on the front, garage, and front-side of our house. Up until now, this part of the house was sided with a combination of masonite planks and faux stucco...yuck!!! We love the masonite board look, but could not stand the stucco. After much searching (on Adam's part), we found a contractor who still sides houses with masonite (comparable) products. He also was able to offer us a masonite-like product that resembles cedar shakes. I think it turned out great! Thanks to help from my dad, the three of us were able to get the new siding primed and painted all in one weekend!!! Thank you dad! Adam owes you big time!

Front of house

Front-side of house

I laughed so hard, I cried!

So, after several suggestions from others who've already had children, I finally decided to go out and buy the book "Belly Laughs" by Jenny McCarthy. I'm not even kidding when I say that I began reading all of your chapter titles and was laughing so hard I was bawling. I kept trying to find funny titles to tell Adam about, and it just made me start crying more. I'm sure he thinks I'm crazy...but during this pregnancy, that's no different than any other day! :) I'm only 1/4 of the way through the book, but for anyone who's expecting, I highly recommend it! If you aren't expecting, but you know someone who is, I think this book would be a great gift that would brighten any pregnant woman's day!

Real Kicks!

We are officially over halfway until the baby comes! YIPPEE!!! I am happy to report that as of last night, I finally felt my first REAL kick from the baby!!! I've been feeling movement for weeks now, but last night she actually kicked my hand away on three separate occasions! I then figured if I could feel it that Adam would be able to as well...of course she stopped doing it as soon as I put his hand on my belly! :) She's stubborn just like her mother! I reassured him though that within the next few weeks, he should be able to feel the kicks too. This is all just so exciting! Until next time.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Adam and I are happy to announce that we are having a GIRL! On Friday morning at about 8:30am, we didn't see anything between our babies legs except for 3 distinct lines.
The news of the sex of our baby seemed a bit anticlimactic that day when the radiologist was able to find the sex within the first few seconds of starting the ultrasound. For a split second, I thought it may be a boy until she froze the frame and there was no question it was a little girl.

We honestly couldn't be happier, but for anyone who knows my family history, it would've been great to break the female trend with the first boy. My mom comes from a family of six girls, my mom had three girls, and my sister Meredith has three girls. Needless to say, we love girls in our family and are still absolutely ecstatic! People always say "I'd be happy either way," but in our case given the family circumstances, it's actually true.

Our little baby girl is already cute as a button! During the ultrasound, we were able to see a 4D view of the baby and actually make out specific features. As the radiologist described what we were looking at, she said that my placenta is actually low on my back as opposed to high in front, and our little girl was hugging it like a pillow. She's already our little sweetheart! I can't wait to see her snuggle the woobie (baby blanket) her mama bought for her after she's born!
So, on Friday evening, the plan was to have our families over to annouce the good news. My dad was the first to find out when he came over to help us with our garage sale that afternoon. My mom was next when my neighbor spilled the beans mistakenly. Then it was The Meyer family...it was so fun to teach Maddie and Morgan their new cousin's name...if you don't already know, you're going to have to wait :) Last was Marissa and then Don and Kathie. It was great to share the news with the Loch's given she's the first grandchild. Everyone was greeted with the start of our baby girl's room. It was so fun to go shopping after our ultrasound for "pink" things! As Adam said, pink has officially infiltrated the house...and it's just the beginning :)
I thought Adam's personal addition to the room was a good one with a onesie that says "you can call me princess"...and that's exactly what she'll be...daddy's little princess! Daddy displayed it proudly on the crib as soon as we got home. I personally thought the ginormous pink poodle we picked out was especially appropriate considering we have two poodles of our own :)
On a final note, I thought it would be worth mentioning that I have OFFICIALLY popped. I had thought I popped before, but oh no...now I've popped! I can no longer see my feet if I look straight down and my belly button is becoming less and less defined. The transformation has been both amazing and very quick! Literally, within a week I got absolutely huge! It's funny because even as I say that now, I know that that HUGE is yet to come :) Until next time!

Trip to Ixtapa

Tomorrow I'll be 18 weeks pregnant, so Adam and I decided to go on our last big trip last week to Ixtapa, Mexico. It was absolutely amazing and so difficult to leave! Adam and I realized a few weeks ago that we've never really been on a trip together...without family or friends to a destination you can't drive to. After 9 years together, we knew now was as good of time as any!

Here are a few of the pictures from our trip to give you an idea of how our week away went.

On Day 2, we went horseback riding in the mountains of Zihuatanejo near Ixtapa

On Day 3, we went snorkeling on Ixtapa Island

On Day 4, we relaxed all day and had a nice sit-down dinner at Costa Azul Restaurant

On Day 5, we had an unsuccessful, but beautiful day of deep sea fishing. All we caught was a bird that got wrapped up in one of the lines.

On Day 6, our last full day, we went boogie boarding at our hotel

That's Adam riding an awesome wave (in the middle)!
Our hotel room was HUGE!
That's Adam sitting at the desk at the opposite end of the hall!

Sunset and the view of Ixtapa Island from our room

Hard not to enjoy our trip when there's beauty all around us!

We can't wait until our next trip to somewhere exotic! We had an absolutely fabulous time! Our next trip will have to wait another year or so, until that sweet baby is old enough :)

Don't forget to check back here often! Especially on 5/9 when we find out the sex of the baby!!!

16 Week Update

I can't believe I'm already 4 months pregnant! Time is going by so fast...but hopefully it won't go too fast so we can actually enjoy the last few months before our lives change forever. Below is my latest picture update of my ever-growing belly. He/she is growing so fast I feel like my belly is constantly changing. Only 4 more weeks until we find out if we're having a little boy or a little girl! We can't wait to find out which "Baby A" we're having!!!

Well, we're off to Ixtapa, Mexico tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure to post one more update before we go. We are so excited to go on our last big trip before the baby comes! We have big plans for while we're there to go snorkling, horseback riding on the beach, golfing, and hopefully do a canopy tour assuming the harness doesn't go over my belly. I'm a little worried about what we're going to eat while we're there, but hopefully everything will be alright and I won't get hit with anything. I can't wait to share our trip pictures when we get back!

Baby Practice

I meant to post this message earlier in the week, but I've been sick at home all week. I thought I could make it all winter without getting sick...but I wasn't that lucky. I've had hardly any sleep all week. Today's the first day I've actually felt human, so hopefully I'm taking a turn for the better.

Anyway, last weekend, Adam and I had an opportunity to watch our baby niece Isabelle overnight at our house while her mom and dad were in Mexico and my parents were with her big sisters in Iowa. What a great opportunity to prepare Adam and I for parenthood! Thankfully, Izzy B is just about the sweetest baby in the world, so even though she was sick and teething, she was still a joy to watch! I'm not even kidding!!! Here are a few pictures from our weekend so you can see what I mean :)

Izzy B in her favorite swing with her ducky

Izzy B working on her new tooth

Izzy having a blast in her swing...I told you she was the sweetest!

Andy and Mary Jo came over on Saturday night to have dinner with us and meet Isabelle. I used to think she was afraid of strangers, but she warmed up well to both of them! Then, on Sunday my parents met us at our house with Izzy's big sisters and Eno (my sister Erin) and we all went to Chuck E. Cheese's. Now that was an experience! The girls couldn't get enough of Chuck E. and the games, and I couldn't get enough of Izzy and the food. After Isabelle left with my parents, I went through baby withdrawl. I missed (and still miss) her so much! I actually cried the next day when I called my mom to check in and see how she was doing. Must be my crazy pregnancy hormones... I think this is a sign of great things to come for when our own child comes into this world. If I love my niece this much, I can only imagine how I'll be with my own baby :)

Till next time!

12 weeks...at 14

Today I am now officially 14 weeks along. I can't believe how fast the time has been going. Before you know it, we'll have a family of 3! That's just crazy! Anyway, sorry for the delayed posting of my 12 week picture. I have had numerous requests from my friends out of state to see the progress of my belly from month-to-month and I just now downloaded the pictures onto my computer. I plan on taking a picture every 4 weeks so we can keep a record of how this pregnancy has unfolded.

As you can see from the picture below, I'm already starting to "pop"! Adam hates when I use that term because it scares him...he's so sweet :) All I can say is if that was me at 12 weeks, I can only imagine how quickly my belling is going to grow from now on. Every day, I look down and can't believe there's a little "Baby A" growing inside me. For those of you who don't already know, we've already picked out our baby names...both of which begin with A. Not sure why we were on an"A" kick, but it's nice to know that there won't be any surprises when it comes to names :)

That's all for now...until next time :)

Exciting Morning!

It's official! We just got done with our 12-week appointment and our baby has a strong heartbeat! It's amazing to think that our baby is only 2.5" long and yet, we can hear the heart already! We were a little nervous at first when our doctor couldn't find the heartbeat, but then she reassured us by telling us that our baby kept kicking the monitor away and that's why she was having troubles getting the heartbeat to come through on the doppler. Sounds like we have a stubborn little Libby on our hands :) Only a baby of mine would kick at a doctor as if to say "get out of here".

Anyway, we are absolutely thrilled to hear that our baby sounds great and that everything is right on track. We'll have another appointment in 4 weeks where we'll hear the heartbeat again, and then another one 4 weeks after that to have our first ultrasound and find out what we're having. I've had several dreams already of having a baby girl, but I would be absolutely ecstatic for both Adam and my dad if we were to have a boy! Maybe this baby will prove my premonition-like dreams wrong! I guess we'll see.... Just so you know, though, they haven't failed me yet with each of Meredith's pregnancies :)

Also, I've had several requests for pictures, and I'm sorry for being so forgetful. Adam and I are already planning on taking my "12-week" picture tonight, so I promise to post a picture soon. There isn't much to see yet, but it will be neat tracking my progress every 4 weeks or so to see how much my belly changes. It's obviously changed enough so that I have to wear maternity pants every day :) I'm not complaining...this is the most comfortable I think I've ever been in dress pants and jeans!

Pants without zippers...

I never thought I'd be so happy to start wearing pants without zippers! My mom and I went shopping this past weekend to find me the first of many maternity clothes. After a long few days in Phoenix for work, wearing pants that are getting entirely too tight, I figured it was time to buy paneled pants. I think I've made a good dent at finding replacement clothes for the ones I already have that may be "too obvious" (since I haven't told hardly anyone at work) and for those that just plain don't fit :) I thought I'd be more upset about getting bigger, but actually it's been kind of fun. It's neat to see my belly get a little bigger each week and know that it's not because I'm getting fat :) I haven't been doing a good job taking pictures of myself to show my progress, but I promise I will start doing that soon. I can't wait to see the transformation unfold!