Poynette Baby Shower

 

Grandma Larson and Aunt Amy



Baby Girl was very blessed yesterday with a wonderful baby shower with many friends and family present for the festivities.  Hosted by her Aunt Amy, Baby Girl now has a supply of homemade onesies, cute outfits, homemade blankets and quilts, diapers, rattles, and bath toys.  I've enjoyed reading through everyone's advice for mommy cards!  Food selection included cheese and meat trays with bread rolls, fruit kabobs, veggie tray, fruit pizza, and cupcakes for dessert.  Weather was a warm 90 degrees and sunny but perfect weather for the holiday weekend. 

Ryan's aunt brought her doppler to the shower so we were all able to listen to Baby Girl's heartbeat.  She wasn't moving too much at the time so her heartrate was 136 bpm. 

Ryan and the men went golfing during the shower but Ryan made his appearance at the end of the shower.  As you can tell in the below picture, Baby Girl has done plenty of growing the past couple of weeks.  It's hard to believe that she is weighing just over 3 pounds at this time and in the next 9 weeks before her due date, she will more than double in weight!

Parents-To-Be

It was so wonderful to spend time with so much of our extended family this past weekend.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who was able to join us and help us prepare for our little girl.

30/31 week update

Where to start...so much has happened this past week!

Wednesday, May 16 we had our monthly doctor appointment.  Baby heartrate was 150 bpm and fundal height measured on schedule for 29 weeks.  I gained another 4 pounds (so that's 17 total now) and the nurse midwife was very happy with the consistency of weight gain.  With 10 weeks left in the pregnancy, and if I continue at 1 pound per week, she said I'll fall right in the recommended 25-35 pound weight gain.  We are now on a twice monthly appointment schedule and we will be able to see the nurse midwife one more time for our 32 week appt, however all appointments after that will be with our doctor.  The advantage with scheduling our appointments with the nurse midwife, appointments were on time!  Our next ultrasound with the doctor will be at 34 weeks where they will measure the size of the baby, confirm position of baby and measure amniotic fluid levels.

That night we left TX for our 24-hour drive.  We stopped every 2-3 hours for bathroom breaks and to walk around and we still made the drive in just over 24-hours!  Moana and Tex were excellent backseat drivers again and helped navigate.

This first week of our vacation has flown by and we've enjoyed spending time with family and friends in the Granger area.  We've been able to indulge in some of our favorite Midwest foods and  to Ryan's relief, Baby Girl has become a fan of Culver's custard as she dances in my belly afterwards.  Some family members continue to smirk when they see my pregnant belly and just shake their head at my new body shape.

Here is a picture we remembered to take at the 30 1/2 week mark as she has definitely grown since the 28 week.  (Please excuse the shadows).  She also has began to let me know that she no longer likes me sleeping on my left side.  I've tried to be good about sleeping on the left side as doctors say that position increases circulation to the uterus.  However, when I lay on my left side, she insists on moving and shifting in there until I give in and switch to my right side and she quiets.  Her movements continue to be more pronounced and I can see my belly being warped in funny directions as she plays in there.  I try to have Ryan feel and see as much of her movements as possible but when he puts his hand on my belly, she quiets.  Hopefully, the fatherly touch will continue to comfort her when she arrives in July!

July is a busy month for our family as there are several anniversaries and birthday.  I counted back and we will be 38 weeks on my parents anniversary (July 16) and Ryan is hoping that Baby Girl will arrive on my birthday (July 17) so he only has one date to remember for both our birthdays.  My brother's anniversary is July 31 and my grandparents anniversary is July 12.  It'll be up to Baby Girl to decide if she wants her own day or to share her day :)

I'll close this past with a family photo of the 5 of us we took this past week. 

3D Ultrasound pictures

Well, we learned quite a bit about Baby Girl this morning at our 3D ultrasound appt.  She is positioned head down :) and on my left side, facing in.  The movements that I have been feeling on my lower left side are her hands moving around as she reaches her face, mouth, and ears.  I think this ultrasound made it much more real for both of us, esp. Ryan, to see her facial features and to watch her move.  Ryan asked the technician if it was the baby moving or the transducer but the technician reassured him it is all the baby moving as she was pretty active at the beginning of the session.

 We saw her open her eyes, yawn, bring her hand to her mouth, and change positions.  We didn't see her smile as sometimes the baby does during these ultrasounds.  We saw her throw her head back twice so hopefully that isn't her practicing for tantrums!

Her feet are butting up to my ribcage, but fortunately, I'm not feeling her kicking my ribs yet.  The technician said that there is placental material between her feet and my uterus wall which helps to soften the kicks.

  When she had had enough of the ultrasound, she turned to her side and put her hand over her ear and refused to be coaxed out of that position!  The technician had me cough, change positions, poke my belly but Baby Girl decided that she had showed us her face enough.

We have our next doctor's appt tomorrow afternoon where I've created quite the list of questions now that we getting closer to July!  We're excited to see so much family in the upcoming weeks!  Hope everyone enjoys the pictures...maybe these pictures will help inspire her name...suggestions welcome!

Nursery Project

Here are the much anticipated pictures of our nursery make-over.  Ryan was really busy, working hard to get the project completed.  I think it was a welcome change of pace from the spring semester of school.  I was amazed at how fast he got everything done as it seemed that when I'd get home from work, more and more was completed.

First step: Rip out carpet and paint walls:

Second step: Stencil wave pattern onto walls to separate sea from sky:



Third step: Admire your work :)

 Fourth step: Install flooring and assemble crib:

 Fifth step: Kick your feet up to relax for a few minutes:

Sixth step: Move furniture into room. The changing table is from Sarah's parents and was used for Sarah and her brothers.  Unfortunately, the crib from 30 years ago is no longer legal because of the drop down side. 

 Final step: Relax while reading a children's book.

We have a few things we plan on making to hang on the walls.  Once those items are added, it'll complete our tropical aquarium/beachy nursery!

28 weeks!

This feels like it has been a month of growth.  It's hard to believe that Easter was already one month ago as that was our last monthly update.

Baby Girl has become much stronger these past 2 weeks as her kicks are more pronounced and more noticeable during the day, even while I am moving around.  I was just commenting to Ryan yesterday that I'm ready for her to expand higher as she still sits so low and on my bladder.  Well, perhaps she was listening because when I woke up this morning, my upper abs felt fuller and lacked definition.  Maybe she has discovered that she has more space to roam!

It feels to me that she has a favorite position, low and towards the right with her feet kicking on the left side of my belly button.  Pushing on my stomach, it feels firm throughout that whole area while more laterally and above the belly button remains soft.  I tried hearing her heartbeat with my stethoscope on my stomach but still can't hear her yet.  Maybe later in the pregnancy.

Ryan's class recently covered therapy exercises appropriate for a pregnant patient.  I'd like to think I was able to do most of the exercises but he'll probably tell you otherwise.  It's amazing how fast strength goes away when you aren't able to use your muscles!  Can't wait to start running again!

I've tried to be good the past 2 weeks about going for morning walks 3-4 times per week and that sure feels nice.  I'm hoping that the walking will help with the lower leg circulation as we prepare for our 24-hour roadtrip.  While I'm worried about lower leg swelling, Ryan's worried about too frequent bathroom stops!

Fun Facts at the 28-week mark:
*Baby should weigh just over 2 pounds.
*Baby measures almost 15 inches head to heels.

*Eyes can now open and close and she may be able to perceive light.

Below is the future nursery...a blank slate at this time.  Ryan's last final is Thursday and that's when his baby project(s) begin.  Just thought I'd throw this picture in as our goal is to have the nursery put together (minus a few handmade accessories) before we drive to Indiana/Wisconsin. 

Bloodwork results

How sweet ;)  No gestational diabetes :)  I am super relieved by those results, not sure why I was too worried in the first place.  I guess being pregnant gives us many extra things to worry about!

However, my iron levels dropped so the nurse gave me the option of iron supplements or increasing my daily protein intake and also recommended Total Cereal to snack on.  I guess this explains the afternoon fatigue while I simply explained the fatigue from not sleeping soundly at night.  Given our upcoming travel plans and how I slacked off this past month with my iron intake, I opted for both options.  We just don't seem to eat as well as we should while traveling.  The nurse said it is very common to have some anemia during the final trimester because the demands of the baby are so much higher.  I'm not worried about this, just glad to know so we can correct things now rather than later!

On a side note, I tried to register for a birthing class at 2 of the area hospitals.  One hospital isn't offering the class in June and the other hospital is booked for their May and June classes.  July 7 is the earliest class available.  Hoping Baby Girl doesn't come before then otherwise we will have no choice but to just do as we are told.  I'm not sure how much the class will help during the actual labor but it seems those classes are a rite of passage for the expecting couple.  So hopefully her arrival will be between July 8 and July 30!

Sorry that this post wasn't of anything exciting...it's serving as a place to document the pregnancy happenings for us.  The next post should be better!

HELLO 3rd Trimester!

WOW!  Can that be correct?  Are we really entering the 3rd trimester already?  Only 13 weeks to go until we meet our little bundle...so much to do before she comes!

We had time this weekend to plan out more nursery details, which means I am finding more ideas of what I would like to include in the nursery and adding more projects to Ryan's 'honey-do' list.  We are sticking with our neutral theme but will be adding some pink/girly accents.  I'm getting more and more excited about starting the nursery in 2 weeks when Ryan is finished with the semester finals.  I can't wait to see how it comes together :) Pictures to come as we makeover the room.

I wouldn't say I am nesting per se however I did sleep very good last night after washing and folding 2 loads of baby clothes yesterday.  Between my shopping, gifts, and hand-me-downs, Baby Girl already has far more clothes than I anticipated she would have at this point.  Granted, I may have had too much fun shopping after Christmas clearance racks for her first Christmas ;) 

One thing I have noticed this weekend, ankle and foot swelling!  I need to remember to keep my feet elevated if I am sitting at home doing paperwork and that seems to have helped today.  Ryan joked that I'll be wearing compression stockings for our roadtrip in May (which may not be a bad idea!)

I should hear back my gestational diabetes blood results early this week.  Hoping those Sweetwater's donuts were out of my system by last Friday! 

Belly pics to come next weekend...til then, have a good week!