38 Weeks!

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)
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Very interesting about eye color. I have blue eyes and T has green eyes - so apparently she could be born with either and then change to the other. huh... crazy

This week I have spent as a slug. I did have a few doctors' appointments which caused me to leave the house, but other than that, I was home in my chair. Or some other chair in my house doing sit-down projects. On Monday, my OB said everything was great and after I told him about my sciatica issues, he said, "Oh, that's awful and won't go away until the baby is here" and promptly gave me a slip to be off work until 6 weeks after the baby is born. I seriously have no idea how I could possibly have taught school this week. Some of the time, I feel pretty okay and can walk around, but then BAM! walking and moving just can't happen. Bizarre. I have seen my chiropractor and massage therapist this week too and I think that has helped some. I think. In a couple weeks, all this won't even matter anymore since she'll be here and I'll feel better, right? RIGHT?!?

I have never been away from my class this long before - well, I guess I missed a week when my Grandpa died and we had to go to Florida, but I knew I was coming back to school when we got back. The idea of being home for the next 7-8 weeks or so is so strange! I totally feel out of the loop at school - although my mom keeps me pretty updated on what's going on. Just me trying to overcome my control issues. I keep thinking about kids at school and if my sub is doing such-and-such at this time, or whatever. Why can't I just let it go?!? I know that soon I'll have a major distraction to make me stop thinking about school.

This coming week I have another OB appt on Monday - he's going to check my cervix again and see how we're coming along!

I have a to-do list that I've been whittling away at. Yesterday I finally got out the new video camera we got for Christmas from my parents to start figuring out how to use it. No, T will NOT be videotaping the birth. I don't think that is really an event that I'm going to want to view over and over again. After she's here, then we'll fire it up! :)

I have pretty much the same agenda this week as last week. Appointments, rest, repeat. I still have a few things to do on my list, but they're all sit-down things and I try to tackle a couple a day. Usually with a nap in between! :) I'm trying to bank up as much sleep now as possible. The dogs are sure loving having me home. Smokey rarely leaves the comfort of the couch, and Remy seems to have taken over the guest bed as his new bed. He sleeps or looks out the window most of the day. He'll be in for a rude awakening when I go back to school and he's back outside in his run!

Oh! My new HD dish gets installed on the 9th! :) Have I mentioned lately how much I love our new tv? We got it just in time for me to have a lot of quality time with it. :)

Well, I'm off to make a grocery list for T to tackle this morning. Have a good week, everyone!

37 Weeks

Congratulations! Your baby is full-term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away. He weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long.
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Wow, full term. I have a feeling that I'm not going to go all three weeks. Although, I'm hoping that she'll be closer to her due date, than say, this week. For some reason, I have Feb. 10 in my mind. Four days early wouldn't be so bad!

This past week has been an interesting one. I seem to have developed sciatica in my left leg. It is so debilitating. Some of the time, I'm really pretty okay, but then out of the blue, I can't walk anymore. At school on Friday I had my worst day. At one point, I had to be wheeled around in a desk chair because there was no way I could get up or walk. Hopefully, she changes position soon so that I can feel like a normal person again- or as close to it as I can!

In other "weird things happening to my body" news... if I thought that I had cankles before, then a new word needs to be invented for what has become of the area south of my knees. I really didn't notice it much until this morning in the shower and I looked at my feet and I couldn't stop saying "OH MY GOD!" Everything is crazy swollen and huge. So it's looking like my butt will have a permanent imprint in the big brown chair for the time being with my feet up. Ick.

So what do you think of my new blog layout?!? I thought it was time to mix things up a little bit! :)

I have another OB appointment on Monday - I'll see what he has to say about everything. I'm also going back to the chiropractor that day - maybe he can help me out too!

Friday night, my mom and I made a quick trip to GR to ba.bies r us and tar.get to pick up a few remaining things that we needed. We had a few more places to go, however this giant pain in my ass prevented me from walking very far. Oh! Something kind of exciting - at Tar.get, I was looking at the nursing bras, and who else was there doing the same thing? Cute little Rachel Ruiz from Channel 8! Local celebrity siting!

Not much is planned for this week. I am going to be packing my hospital bag tomorrow so we're all set for whenever. T installed the base for the car seat today. :) Now I need to drive down to the fire station to make sure it's okay. He also put up the bassinet that is going to stay in our room. The dogs still don't seem to know what to think about it. Remy is very interested in all the toys and well, everything. Smokey will sniff things a bit and then go back to the couch. I'm sure that he will be fine with the baby. Remy I think is going to be a bit jealous - he won't be the baby anymore! A friend who also has labs told me to carry around a doll for a while to get the dogs used to me carrying around a baby. I also packed a couple extra receiving blankets so that we can use them in the hospital and bring those home first for them to sniff before we bring her in the house. I think they're going to be fine! :)

36 Weeks

Your baby is gaining about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy hair that covered her body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, your baby will be considered full-term. Most likely she's in a head-down position, but if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where she'll try to turn your baby by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.
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Sorry about the lateness of this post. I'm not sure what I was waiting for. I guess I was hoping to have some pictures downloaded onto my computer to share, and that hasn't happened. So, here's my post sans pics.

Since my last post:
I had a doctor's appointment and all was great. T came with me and heard the heartbeat for the first time - strong and steady 150 bpm.

I had two baby showers! Wonderfully fun times! :) I think we're all set for her to get here!

My mom and I went and saw Legally Blonde the musical. It was one of the best shows that I've seen in a loooooong time. And as an added bonus, we got to see the original Elle from Broadway - I was so excited and she definitely didn't disappoint!

My long-term sub has started taking over. I've had several days off over the last few weeks. This week, she's been with me observing for 2 days and I've had a conference and a meeting so she's there without me for a couple days. I think that this week is going to be it for me. If I keep teaching, I think that she will come early since I'm on my feet so much. I was already dilated to 1cm last week and I'm retaining so much fluid that I don't recognize my feet anymore. I want her to stay in and cook as long as possible! Anyway, I think that we found a good fit for my class - she seems very comfortable with my class and eager to get going.

This weekend we're going to get the last of what we think we need. I'm also planning on packing my "goodie bag" as they called it at birth class. It's my bag to take to the hospital.

In just a couple days, I will be at 37 weeks and considered full term. How fast this whole journey has been!

35 Weeks

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.
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The room is complete! Now we just need a baby to put in it!


Okay, so now I realize that her name is no longer a secret! :)



This is the antique cradle that she will use for not very long! But it's just so pretty! You can also see the chesser (a cross between a chest and a dresser) that my grandpa made us for a wedding present that is actually going to be used to store all of her things. We met a woman at a craft show in December who is painting the knobs to go on it. If you can see the small pink and flowered box on the chesser, the knobs will be painted like that. We also ordered several other pieces from her - a large painting that says 'dream', a mirror, and a few other things that I can't remember. Most of it will be Christmas presents from Grammy and Grandpa next year. :)



In this pic, you can see more of the smaller flowers, dragonflies, and ladybugs that we put under the window.

Her closest - it's so hard to resist buying baby clothes! I also did my first load of laundry of her clothes - I did just the 0-3 month stuff that she has. Wow, socks are TINY!!! You can also see in this pic the small toy chest in the bottom right hand corner. This was also made by my grandpa for my dad when he was little! It was one of the first pieces that he ever made. I remember it being at my grandparents' house, but it wasn't until recently that I found out it was my dad's. A third generation using it - made by the fourth generation!

This week was an interesting one. Monday was supposed to be my first day back after Christmas break - and we had an ice day! A nice added bonus! Tuesday and Wednesday I did well at school - I felt good and things were fine. Thursday I felt like I had been hit by a truck - I was exhausted all day. My poor kids at school - they had to put up with cranky me. Oh well, it's not for much longer - they'll survive. I got home from school, took a three hour nap, was up for about an hour, and then went to bed. Friday was not much better. And on top of how tired I was, I started throwing up again. Crap. So Friday night was another lounge around and try to keep food down kind of night in my big brown chair.

We had had plans for quite some time to go see my cousin play basketball at Hope College on Saturday - he plays for Albion and we usually make it to the games that he plays at Hope and at Calvin, since they're the closest for us. This year he's a senior and he plays a lot because he's good (I don't say that just because he's my cousin - it's the truth!) so it's nice to see him at this level. The Calvin game is Feb 18 - not exactly a good time for us, so we were really looking forward to the hope game. Especially since this would be the last time that we'd ever get to see him play college ball. I actually put some effort into my appearance and did my hair and everything (something that really hasn't happened lately!!) and then we heard from my uncle that the roads were total crap in Holland and that we shouldn't come. UGH!!! Why has the weather f*&%ed over everything that we have had plans to do this winter?!?!? It's so frustrating. It literally snowed all day - so, we stayed home and watched the msu game and finished the baby's room instead.

I went and met my OB on Monday. He seems very nice - I go back again on the 19th. When I was there, he said that I was measuring a little ahead of where they thought I was, so if that's still the case when I go again, they're going to do another ultrasound (YAY! More pictures - maybe she'll be more photogenic this time!!) to see what's going on in there. It's looking like I'm going to have about 2 more weeks of school before I'm going to try to take a little time off before she gets here. Being on my feet all day is not helping my legs. I sit as much as possible and my kids are always very helpful to bring me things or get up and come to me, instead of me go to them. That's an odd concept for me, because I'm so used to being the one up and around. However, if those little things can help my fluid retention and my resulting CANKLES (ugh!!!) then I'm all for it. My massage therapist told me that it's not getting any worse - that she can still definitely feel bones in there, so I guess that's a bit of comfort.

This week will be an interesting one - and one that I'm hoping to get another snowday or two! It's supposed to get frigidly cold around here and it would absolutely not break my heart to get another day. Tuesday my mom and I are going to Wharton Center to see Legally Blonde the musical - I absolutely cannot wait!!! We bought the tickets in the summer, hoping that almost 5 weeks before my due date would be safe. Unfortunately, there are several shows coming in the few weeks past my due date that we also would have loved to have seen. Oh well, they'll come around again! Other than that, it's supposed to be a pretty normal week - oh! Except for 2 showers next weekend! :) Fun fun! :)

Have a good week everyone! Stay warm!

34 Weeks

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

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Happy 2009 to everyone out there in bloggerville! It's so hard for me to believe that I can now say that my baby is due NEXT MONTH. Whoa. So far '09 has been a great year and I'm sure it will just continue!

This week I have done a TON of cleaning and cleaning out. Remember my mission to get things situated before the end of Christmas break?!? Well, I made it! The guest room is much more roomy and the baby's room is approximately 95% complete! :) My mom came over today to start the actual decorating of her room - and it looks awesome! I am also planning on putting her name above her crib on these cute little boards and hanging them from cute little ribbons, but the paint that we got for the background just isn't quite right, so that's pretty much the only thing we don't have up.

We also got our carseat and stroller this week! Now, if she's born early, we can take her home from the hospital! :) T has had SO MUCH FUN this week putting together all of the new gadgets and toys. Okay, some were more fun than others, but he did it! Now we have car seat in our living room staring at us - the big pink elephant in the room - it makes it difficult to think about anything else and that soon there will be an occupant in there. Craziness. T's project tomorrow is to figure out how to secure the base in my truck.

New Year's Eve was spent with some good friends and their two adorable kids. We had an absolute riot - although we were old farts and left by 9pm so we could sleep in our own bed and turn out the light to go to sleep at approximately 12:01am. It was still a great time and since they're now out of the baby-making stage, they have graciously let us borrow a bunch of their things. Our nursery is now very well stocked with goodies!

It's been a fantastic break - a break that I very much needed. I wrote in my Christmas letter this year that we were hoping to face the new year rested, relaxed and READY! And that's exactly how I feel. No stress, no tension. After many many late work nights in December, T has also taken all but one day off this week with his built-up comp time and it has been great having him home. A lot has been accomplished! I still have some washing to do (we went and bought our first bottle of Dre.ft yesterday!), but other than that, whenever she decides to come - we're ready!

Here is a pic of how the main wall of the nursery looks now. This is really the only wall we're decorating - of the other walls: 1 has a big window, 1 has a dresser, a bookcase and a door to the bathroom, and 1 is taken up by the closet. So, this is the pretty wall! The big flowers on the right are lights from I.kea that look very cool when lit.

Here it is with the lights on - but it looks kinda weird in a picture. They're pretty awesome in person, though!

When everything else is in place and the way it's supposed to be, I'll post that too! :)

It's Saturday night and I'm off to bed. I have had 16 days off from school, which means that tomorrow I have to go spend the day at school to be ready for the week - or, I'm hoping to get ready for the next few weeks to help with the fatigue I'm sure I will be experiencing once Monday rolls around. Whatever planning time I do have during the day, might have to turn into nap time. :) Let's hope for 3 more snow days in January!! :)

33 Weeks

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

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Santa brought me more stretch marks for Christmas. Ho ho ho.

Merry Christmas, everyone! :) I think that we had the best Christmas ever. It's been a wonderful few days. Unfortunately, we were unable to have Christmas with my aunt and uncle and cousins - we had a quick meetup at Pan.era's and exchanged gifts. Also, because of the weather, T and I were unable to make it to T's parents' house for the family gathering - it was just toooooo nasty around here for us to venture out. :( Christmas morning, we were all up around 7am to open our gifts and see what Santa brought our way. Some of my fav gifts had to be a portable dvd player, video camera, and the complete SatC series (I'm an electronics junkie). My grandparents and other uncle and his girlfriend came over Christmas night. It's kind of a pain to get all the present carnage cleaned up to have company over that night, but it's also a nice excuse to get my butt in gear and get things put away and back to normal. Traditionally, my mom and I have always gone out at the before-crack-of-dawn the day after Christmas to do some shopping. Again, the weather made us stay tucked inside. We did venture out around noon and we got some great deals. I managed to get us a new Christmas tree - much to T's delight! All I heard this year was complaining during the putting up of our tree, so I found a 7' slim, pre-lit with white lights tree - exactly what I was looking for, for 70% off! :) Whoohoo! Next year will be much easier! I not only came home with a new tree and other 50% off Christmas goodies, but I also came home with a 40" LCD sony tv! :) I had a nice target coupon that helped a lot - and we had been talking for quite some time about getting a new tv. We spend a lot of time at home (fine with us - where do I want to go anymore?!?) and we watch quite a bit of tv. It's just beautiful. :) Now, I need to contact Direct.tv so that we can get an HD dish to make the picture even better. It's definitely an upgrade to go from our former 27" normal tv to a 40" widescreen. Love. It. Merry Christmas to me. :)

I had my 32 week appt this past week and all was fine. Although, she did think that just based on the exam, that she may be breech - but there's still time for her to wiggle around where she needs to be. I did get referred on to my delivering doctor - I will see him Jan. 5.

On the way to my appt, I ran into some very nasty road conditions that totally freaked me out. My normal 7 min. trip into town took me 20 min. All the ice made me very edgy. Roads have never really made me feel like that before. I drive a big truck and I've always gone wherever whenever I wanted to. I'm careful and have never really had any problems. Needless to say, when I got to my appt, my blood pressure was higher than it's ever been. Ugh!

That day I also went back to the eye doctor and found out that I need to wear readers on top of my contacts. I still need to go pick those up...

Here are a few pics from the past week or so. Those of you who still have time off - enjoy it!

This is a pic of a pheasant that I took from my kitchen window on our snow day.


C - the little musical genius! :)

My parents' dog Ellie on Christmas morning. All the excitement tuckered her out. :)

Me in one of my favorite places - the couch - with two of my fav dogs - Ellie and Smokey - and yes, that is a piece of my grandma's pecan pie on my lap. :) Yum!

32 Weeks

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
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Wow, 32 weeks - it's really getting down there! I'm feeling more and more like a beached whale everyday. Especially when I try to get up from the comfy chair or the floor. Excellent.

I went and saw my eye doctor this week and he told me that my farsightedness hasn't really changed, but my nearsightedness has and the reason that I can't see far as well is because my eyes are exerting so much extra energy to see near that I have a hard time flipping over to see far. So, we're looking at some readers or other glasses on top of my contacts. I have to go back tomorrow to see if I do the same things and if so, then he'll figure out the treatment. Super.

I also go for my 32 week appt. tomorrow. I will for sure be referred on to my delivering doctor then. I don't think that my physician wants to give me up. She always says, "Oh! My favorite OB patient!" when she walks into the room. But unless she's planning on delivering this baby, then I need to start getting to know someone else.

I received an early Christmas present in the form of an additional day off added to my Christmas break! We had a snow day on Friday, which puts our grand total of days off at 17! :) I am sooooo ready for this break. I really like my class this year - although there are still days when I want to pop some heads off, but there's always those kids - it's not that I need a break from them. I just need a break from actually doing things! I seem to do pretty okay in the mornings, but by lunchtime, I really don't want to go back upstairs for the afternoon. Luckily, my school starts earlier (and ends earlier) so our morning is actually longer than the afternoon. January is going to be interesting for me!!

We have a crazy amount of snow and it just keeps coming! We were supposed to have my aunt and uncle and cousin over today for our Christmas, and no one is going anywhere! It's actually snowing sideways and we're supposed to get like another 8" of snow today - on top of the 12" that we got on Friday! Crazy! I remember so many Christmases here in Michigan where there was no snow at all. One of my favorite Christmases when I was a kid was up at the cottage and I got a new bike - and got to ride it most of the afternoon because it was pretty warm and there was no snow.

Last night, T and I went to a holiday gathering at some friends' house and had a great time (and no, I'm not just writing that because I know they read this blog!). I love all the holiday food, fun and getting together that we never seem to get around to doing during the rest of the year.

Saturday I learned how to make my dad's chowder! :) It took pretty much all afternoon to make 2 batches - but it was definitely worth it. It's something that cannot be rushed - which is hard for me to do. It turned out to be not as difficult as I had imagined. The recipe in the book makes no sense to me whatsoever - there really aren't directions, just ingredients listed in order that you add them. I cannot cook like that. So, I took a lot of notes. The second batch, I pretty much did on my own and I didn't screw it up! :) Yesterday, we finished all of it just as we were about to leave to go out, so I didn't get to try any of it - today I will though!

Well, it's a good day to stay inside and work on Christmas things - I'm planning on getting my wrapping all done today. T said he's trying to work up the courage to walk to the end of the driveway to see if the Sunday paper got here. Our road actually did get plowed yesterday - it's probably all drifted back over again now. I hope that wherever you are - you are safe and cozy at home, enjoying the season! If I don't post again before Thursday - have a wonderful Christmas! :)

31 Weeks

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt.He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.
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Kicks and somersaults are right. She is movin' and shakin' all over the place! I used to not be able to feel her much during the day - just in the evening and at night when I was resting. Not anymore! It's all the time. She especially seems to like being active about 30 minutes after I eat. She must like food - just like Mommy! :)

Saturday we attended our first Christmas gathering. It was a great time with some great friends!

Today was my church choir's Christmas cantata. I directed them for both services and all went well. The first service ended up being more like a dress rehearsal - the second service was much better. Luckily, my parents and T decided to come to the 2nd one and saw the good show!

I'm watching the evening news as I type this and they're talking about crappy weather coming again tomorrow. Of course - it's Monday!!! All Mondays in December seem to be pitted against us since we have to go to GR for birth class. ugh... We really want to go tomorrow since we get to have the hospital tour! We also go this Tuesday for a Beginning with Baby class. Good thing gas is cheap again!

T just got in from an evening hunt and he finally got one - an 8 point!! YAY! :) Gotta love a full freezer...

This is my last week of school and then I get 2 weeks off for winter break and I have a feeling that this week is going to go by in a blur. Although I do have one day off from school this week for appointments - the eye doctor and the dentist in the morning, and a massage and adjustment in the afternoon. T thinks I need to try to schedule an OB appt in the afternoon and maybe try to squeeze in some allergy shots too in order to hit all of my health care providers in one day! haha... I think I'm going to try to start some of my holiday baking that afternoon in between appointments, actually. Next weekend is our big time party and party-prep weekend. Friday we have my school's party, Saturday we're getting ready for some family to come over, do more baking, and go to dinner at a friend's. Sunday my aunt and uncle and cousin are coming over for our Christmas celebration. My dad has also agreed to teach me how he makes his famous New England clam chowder. My dad is a fantastic chef and every Christmas he makes his chowder (out of the Professional Chef's cookbook). It's a lot of work, so he will only make it once a year. I've looked at the recipe and some of it, I have no idea what it means - hence, I am not a professional chef! So, he's going to show me - wish me luck on Saturday that I can keep up with the chef!

How do Christmas cards sneak up on me every year? Yesterday, I did actually sit down to write a letter to include in our cards and for some reason, Word kept booting me out. Three times!!! I got frustrated and just gave up for the day. Maybe I can get to it a little later tonight, or next weekend. If you're anticipating a card from us, give me a little time - I'm experiencing technical difficulties!

30.5 Weeks

I found out that my glucose tolerance test results came back absolutely normal. Hooray! Here's my new thing: I can't see!!! My eyesight is changing, what feels like, every day!!! I didn't go for my annual eye exam this summer because my pregnancy books told me to wait until after the baby was born because of changes to your eyesight. Also, my mom's vision changed quite a bit when she was pregnant for me, so I had a feeling that this was going to happen. Although I thought it would be after she was born!! I started noticing a few weeks ago how seeing the tv from bed was getting a little fuzzy. It's a little more than fuzzy now. Last night at choir rehearsal, I could barely read the words in my music - I was directing them all goofy and giving them the wrong words. Not a good thing. My poor choir!! So, I have an appointment set up for next week - I'm hoping he can give me some stronger contacts to try, because I would bet that my eyes are just going to keep changing! Ugh!

We had to skip Birth Class this week because of the bad weather. We read in our book instead - unfortunately, a lot of what was going to be covered says in the book, "refer to the techniques you learned in class". Crap. We'll see what next Monday's weather brings.

In very happy news, one of my preggo buddies had her baby on Tuesday! If you get a chance, go to the 4jmilewskis and check out their new little bundle - he's adorable! Although now it should be called the 5jmilewskis. :)

I have some very random winter pics that I wanted to post, so here ya go...

We have geese who walk on water in Saranac, aren't you impressed?

Can you spot the 3 deer? This was taken on our snow day last week behind our house.

This was the first night that we had our Christmas tree up. The fire, the lights, it just makes me calm. It was also snowing quite hard outside, unfortunately I couldn't capture that! I'm noticing that our tree is a bit crooked... hmmm... I need to go home and fix that.

30 Weeks

How your baby's growing:Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face.
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Holy crap, 30 weeks!! I cannot believe how incredibly fast everything has happened. 30 weeks sounds like a ton of time, but it's really not! It's crazy to think that a "full-term" baby could be living at our house in 7-10 weeks! Whoa!

I have decided that working full days just isn't very fun anymore. With all of the conferences, meetings, and doctors' appointments that I've had this year, I feel like I've been a part-time teacher. Again, this week, I am gone for 2 days! Good thing that I have a nice class that just rolls with it. My new long-term sub came in this week to observe and take over for a while, and I think everything will be just fine with her. She used to teach 3rd grade in Florida, so she's pretty accustomed to this age!

This week I had to go for my glucose tolerance test. Yuck. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. And of course, knowing that I had to go totally freaked me out so I did a bunch of research before I went and knew what all of my levels needs to be under at each hour. The first poke, I was way under (it can't be higher than 95 - I was 73). The other 3 pulls were full blood draws - no instant results. Grrr!! I'm still waiting to hear the official results from my doctor, but because of the first one, she didn't seem concerned at all. Hopefully, she's right!! I used to get pretty freaked out if I had to have blood taken or get shots. Now, after over 2 years of allergy shots and all the poking and prodding that happens during pregnancy - I'm not such a wimp. The nurse had to do all my draws from my "one good vein" - so I'm pretty bruised there, but it wasn't a big deal. T asked me if my right arm felt lighter than my left since she took all the draws out of that arm.

Oh! We started Birth Classes this week! T got out of work a little early and we headed over to Metro with our 2 pillows in the middle of a gigantic snowstorm with very yucky roads. Our usual 35 minute trip took us almost an hour. It was a good class - we have about 8 or 9 other couples, and everyone was married except for one girl who was there with an older woman (by girl, I mean she was probably early 20s). I had heard from other friends how when they went to class that they were the only married ones there and everyone else was there with their boyfriend (sometimes not even the father), or a friend, or their mom or someone. Maybe that's just in Ionia... Anyway, T said that he learned a lot! I read a lot, so not much was new, but our instructor went over a lot of things about preterm labor. Now, every time I say that I'm hot, T asks if I have a fever and if we should call the doctor. I just have a funky heating system right now! We go again this week to learn about actual labor. Then the next week is the tour of the birthing unit - that's what I really want to see! Where the action is!! We have class pretty much every Monday in December - plus one Tuesday for a Beginning with Baby class. That should be interesting - I'm spending all this time figuring out what to do when I'm pregnant - I should probably start learning about what to do once she finally gets here!!! I have more books to read... Christmas vacation is coming - I'll have time to read then.

29 Weeks

Your baby is growing rapidly now. This week he weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is getting bigger to accommodate his growing brain — which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. With this rapid growth, it's no surprise that your baby's nutritional needs reach their peak during this trimester.
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I thought that I had been doing really well, as far as staying healthy, but this week, things finally caught up with me and I've been pretty sick. Monday night I was in the chair and I said to T that I thought I was getting sick. Sure enough, Tuesday morning I woke up with a nasty cough, sore throat and nose full of crap. Ugh... Luckily, I only had school Monday and Tuesday this week. I had Wednesday to lay low and get some things done for Thanksgiving. We go up to T's aunt and uncle's house every year for an awesome meal and a chance to see some folks we only see once a year. This year, they also did a small shower for us! Very fun! The first present I opened was a handmade quilt from T's aunt and these two pieces of fabric. They were very soft and nice, I just had no idea what they were for. So I asked - I found out that they were burp cloths. Okay, so I've still got some things to learn about baby gear. Everyone thought this was hysterical. Therefore, every present I would open they would ask me if I knew what it was. Ha ha. Anyway, it was a nice day and even though I coughed through the whole thing, I had a great time.

Friday is customarily one of my most favorite days of the year. Black Friday - good deals everywhere. This year, I dragged my butt out of bed at 3am and got out there. I went to a few stores here in town and in GR and I was back home by 7:30am and back asleep by 7:45am. I slept until around noon and I was totally incapacitated the rest of the day. I had so much that I wanted to get done - it just wasn't going to happen. Today I did actually get up at a decent time and get some things done. Although, I only last about an hour and then I have to sleep for about 2 or 3. It takes a long time to get things done that way! Tonight we went to dinner with T's parents to celebrate his birthday (which was Wednesday) and then we went and finally did some real registering. I need to go again with someone who really knows what we need, but we knocked out a lot of what we think we need. We think. As we were scanning, we agreed that we were totally out of our element and feeling like strangers in a strange land. We still have a lot to learn before February rolls around!

Well, tomorrow is the last day of my nice, long weekend. I should go into school since I'll be gone half of the week this week, but I don't think that's going to happen. Between getting my house back in order and how it takes me forever to get anything done, I think that I'm going to need the day at home.

It's hard to believe that this is the last week that I'll be in the 20's. It's amazing that there isn't that much time left in this whole incubating thing. I'm a faithful watcher of Jo.n and K.ate plus E.ight and she delievered her sextuplets at 30 weeks. I can't imagine being ready this early! I guess I could be, if I knew that I had to be, but I'm not!!

28 Weeks

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open and close her eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate opening and closing, but it won't be long before she's batting those beauties at you.
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Hmm... funny that the update this week talked about eyelashes. I had an unfortunate eyelash incident this morning as I was getting ready for church. Hair was done, makeup done, just curling my eyelashes when somehow the damned thing slipped and proceeded to rip out about 3/4 of my top lashes on my left eyelid. I was in a bit of shock first, since it hurt, and then I thought, "Oh #$%@, what does my eye look like?!?" Sure enough, I look pretty bald in that region. So I cried. I cried a lot. I cried because it was swollen, because it hurt, and because I looked like a freak. I cried so hard it made me throw up. I hadn't eaten anything yet, so it was all bile-y yucky. So, I tried to put myself back together as much as possible and headed out the door to be choir director. Oh the way home, I did stop at the store and pick up some fake eyelashes to try gluing on tomorrow morning. If only my glasses were the right prescription, I could just wear those for a while and it would cover it pretty well. Grrr... curses on me for not going for my eye appt this summer...

This post should have been titled 28 weeks/Getting Hurt since I not only had my traumatic eyelash incident (don't laugh- it was TRAUMA AND DRAMA!) but getting the truck loaded for our super-fun scrapbooking weekend last weekend, I fell! See, most of my maternity pants are still too big for me - apparently I will "grow" into them. Well, my jeans are the biggest offenders - not only are they too big, but they're also pretty long. So, I wear some taller wedge-y clog-type shoes to balance them out since I think that when they actually do fit the way they're supposed to, that they will be okay. Well, I was carrying a case of bottled water from my mom's truck to mine and somehow my shoe turned and I proceeded to fall on my knee, elbow, and then land pretty much on my side - but on the water. I also ended up under my truck - which was kinda muddy from my crappy dirt road. My mom FREAKED OUT. I was okay, just scratched up and a little muddy. Oy vey. Me and my balance, or lack thereof, I should say.

Hmmm... other than that, things have been pretty normal around here. T is out back right now trying to restock our freezer with venison. My mom left today for sunny Florida to visit grandma - wish I was with them. :) But, I'm looking forward to the nice long weekend (only 2 days of school for me this week!) to get lots of things done. I've decided that I'm not going to go so ape-sh*t decorating for Christmas this year. Normally, every picture, every decoration, EVERYTHING gets put away and holiday stuff comes out. This year, I have some new pictures that I want up, but I think I'm going to do the tree, the mantle, the railing to downstairs, and then put up my Jim Shores (Gym Shorts, Andrea!!). That might be about it. If it stays so frickin cold, then I don't know if T will even get our outside stuff up. He goes on the roof for a lot of it and I don't want him up there if it's cold and icy. So our outside decor may also be a bit different this year. I just don't have the energy to do it all!! Plus, I'm thinking that a lot of it will need to be down before I go back to school in January because I really want everything to be all set by the time January rolls around. What if she decides to come a few weeks early?!? We have to be ready!!!

Speaking of being ready - I thought that I was really all set at school for my sub for my maternity leave. My principal hired someone for it, she had come in for me to sub many times already this school year - getting to know my class and our routines. Then I get a call from her this week saying that she got a job!!! How dare she!!! No, really, I'm happy that she found a real, live teaching job in a) this economy and b) this time of year. She felt badly, but she would be making like 4x as much as what she would as a sub, so I sure can't blame her. Again, I'm happy for her, but it sucks for me - I've got to train someone new now. My principal said he had a couple people in mind and would get with them soon and let me know who I would be having this week. Grrr...

Well, if I don't post again this week, have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

27 Weeks

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.
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I know I'm a little early this week, but I'm going to be gone this weekend on a retreat to a cottage on Lake Michigan with a big group of ladies to do some scrapbooking! :) My mom and I went last spring with this group and had a fantastic time. This time, we're actually orgainized enough to have things to SCRAP. Last time, it was just after a full weekend of performances (along with the months of rehearsals before that) and I had had no time to get anything around. In fact, I had to take the afternoon off before we went so that I could get some materials around. We ended up stamping - just making cards and tags. True, I was frantically packing papers and pictures and supplies last night and I have an order of pictures ready at Wal.greens to pick up on the way out of town, but I feel so much more prepared this time! Also, last time it was early May and it turned out to be a gorgeous weekend - we walked by the lake, sat out in the sun, etc. This weekend, it looks like we're going to be getting snow! The big room where we all scrap is surrounded with windows and looks out on the lake and I'm actually hoping for some big fluffy flakes. This time of year, I like seeing the snow. By about February I'm totally sick of the snow - especially this year the snow is just going to taunt me since there will be no skiing for me until next year!

I hope this weekend finds you all cozy and warm in the cold weather! Good luck to all the deer hunters out there - it's time to restock the freezer!!

26 Weeks

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

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Anyone ever heard of an English hothouse cucumber? Yeah, me neither...

T was actually able to feel the baby kick last night!! I have been trying for what seems like forever to get her to do it and it wasn't one of her biggest jabs, but he was still able to feel it!! Very cool!

Last night we went to GR with my parents to celebrate T's bday early (about 3 weeks early, actually!). My parents always miss his bday because my mom goes over Thanksgiving to see my gma in Florida and my dad goes with a group of guys for a big golf vacation in Myrtle Beach. So, we went to dinner at the Grand Rapids Brewing Company - always fantastic food and I encourage you all to go (those in state, country, etc that is!) because they never seem to have much business, but they're so good and we don't want to see them close!! Then it was off to the giant baby store to pick out an off-road stroller from my gma and gpa b. My dad was absolutely amazed at all the baby crap that could fit into one gigantic store. We found a jeep one with huge tires and speakers for my ipod so baby and I can jam while we walk the road. :) Then is was on to a furniture store to pick out a new chair for our living room from my parents for Christmas. We came to the conclusion a couple weeks ago that we wanted the glider rocker that was in the living room to go into the nursery and we'd get a smaller rocker/recliner for the living room. The ottoman for the glider just took up too much room in the living room and we wanted it in the nursery. So, I had my mind set on getting a smaller recliner that rocked and was red. I wanted to brighten up the room a bit! Red!! While T, my mom and I looked around at the recliners, my dad headed to the clearance center and found exactly what we were looking for! Because it was in the clearance center, they wrapped it up and put it in the back of the expedition and it's now sitting in my living room! :) Our last stop of the evening was to T's fav ice cream place - cold stone - to pick up a cake. All in all, it was a very successful night!! :) We had a lot of fun - I like to call those kinds of days little vacations from my life. To top it all off, my sparties knocked off yet another team and are now 9-2 on the season and get a week off before heading to happy valley.

In other news... if you've noticed my baby countdown, you have seen that we're now in double digits!!! On Friday, I noticed that it was at 99 and I started freaking out a bit!! I sent T an email about all the things that we still need to get done and he didn't seem fazed a bit. I remember when I started that countdown and it was like 220 some days. Now it's under 100! Holy crap!! This all really is happening!! No turning back now!!

My last bit of news from this weekend is that we did a complete overhaul of our home office/desk area. I had intended to work on it last weekend and that just didn't happen. So, Sunday we took about 3 hours and did it. Here are the before and after pics:

In this pic you can see the mass disorganization and piles of crap everywhere.

Ahhh...This pic just makes me feel calm. Look at all that horizontal space without anything on it!!! I LOVE IT!!! And yes, we intend to keep it like this. We're instituting some new organizational rules for both of us and it's going to stay this way! The thing is, this desk is in what is now the guest bedroom and we're anticipating many houseguests to help out with the baby in the coming months, so that's really the driving force behind all this reorganization. We know that we're slobs, we just don't everyone else to find that out! :) hee hee...

Our next job is to finish the reorganization of this room and then move on to finish the rest of the nursery. My hope is to finish all reorganization/redecoration projects by the end of Christmas break. So that all of January and February until she comes can just be a nice, relaxing time! That's my plan, at least, we'll see how it goes...

My last tid bit before I sign off for the week is that we have decided on a name!! I do not want to post it here, however, if you know me well enough to have my email address, I will certainly tell you personally! :) Her name is exactly what we were searching for - different, but not too "out there", classic and old-fashioned, but still unique. I absolutely adore it and we're trying to use it to refer to her more and more.

25 Weeks

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.
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We're pretty sure our little girl is going to be a blondie - the only question should be eye color. Blue like me, or green like T. Just call us the recessive gene family. :)

Last week was plain 'ol nuts. Conferences totally sucked the life out of me. Then there was a dead-woodchuck-on-my-back-steps incident that freaked me out and then of course, Halloween! We did have Friday off from school, so mom and I went to bir.ch run to do some outlet shopping on a beautiful day. Seriously, it was a perfect day - and Halloween too! That night I went to her house to pass out candy. We give out directions to kids in our classes since it's out a ways. I live about 20 minutes from school, I doubt that anyone would make the trek out here. We each had 3 kids from our classes come, and with siblings, we had a total of 12. Not exactly our best year, but it was so nice out, I think more kids stayed in town.

This weekend went by in another blur. Saturday mom and I went to a craft show that was more antiques and overpriced junk than anything else. Then we all went and helped my grandparents clean up their yard and flowers. They're both in their 80s and are having a hard time keeping up with the outside. Plus my grandpa has really bad knees that he refuses to go get fixed, so it's hard for him to even get around. We spent about an hour and a half and got all their leaves (there were lots) taken care of, my mom cut down all the flowers, and T washed windows. The only trees with leaves that we have at our house are down by the lake - none really go in our yard, so we can do our "leaf duty" there. :) Sunday was a bday party with T's family. Food, fun, cake, and kids running everywhere. Good times. :)

On Friday I bought a new desk at Pott.ery Barn and I was very anxious to get that up and in this weekend. However, that just didn't quite happen. T has it all put together, I just need to unhook and clean up the computer and the area around it. No small feat! I had planned to Saturday night, but we ended up going grocery shopping, and then I was too tired by the time we got home. We outgrew our current desk about 5 minutes after we moved in. It's the desk that my grandpa made me to take to college in my dorm. It's pretty small, and at our house, it's constantly piled with crap because there's no where to put anything. I get it cleaned up and poof! It's back to chaos in no time. grr... This new desk is going to be organized! No more crazy clutter!! It still seems crazy to me to buy furniture. Ever since I can remember, my grandpa has always made our furniture. We would go pick out something that we liked, or see it in a catalog, and then show it to him and he'd make it. With his health, he has now pretty much given up woodworking, which is such a shame because he made beautiful things. I guess it just makes me grateful that I have what I have from him. :)

Is anyone else's favorite day of the year the fall back day? I guess it's not exactly my most favorite, but man, it really ranks up there. :) A free hour of sleep. Doesn't get any better than that!

24 Weeks

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.
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It's amazing how fast the baby is growing now. And I know that will just keep picking up speed until the end. I remember really early on being like "Wow! The baby gained half an ounce this week!" and being very excited about it. Crazy.

This week T and my dad and his dad all left for South Dakota. It's not as weird for me this time having him gone since my mom and ellie (their dog) came to stay. We have had a very relaxing weekend - it's been great. We ventured out of the house once yesterday to go pick up a few things at Wal.mart. We didn't take showers or anything, we just thought we'd make a quick trip. Little did we know, but we arrived about 5 minutes before they had trick-or-treating in the store! So much for a quick, quiet, incognito trip to the store. We each saw about half of the kids in our classes and the store was packed. Awesome!

This week we have conferences, so our schedule is totally whacky. Plus, I'm also taking a day during the week - in the morning I have a meeting, but I'm taking the afternoon sick to go to my 24 week doctor's appt. So all in all, I'm going to be seeing my kids 2 days this week, and one of the days, we're having our Halloween party pretty much all afternoon. These kinds of weeks are few and far between, so I'm going to enjoy it!

Mom has been a busy little seamstress this weekend. Saturday she made the dust ruffle for the crib and as I'm typing this, she's making the valances. Once it's all done, I will post pics. :) SO CUTE!!!

Of course the best thing that happened this weekend was a little game that went on Saturday in AA. They should call it the big sad house. Not only my spartans triumph over u of m, but they also seemed to be in a battle with the officials - or more specifically the officials in the replay booth who apparently have no clue as to the rules of how a touchdown is actually scored. The superior team won anyway and it was a great day! :) Go Green! :)

23 weeks

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.
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Hmmm... dancing... that hasn't happened in a while. The squirming I have definitely been feeling a lot of lately. Very random. Whenever I try to have T feel them, she never cooperates. Hopefully soon. :)

Glad to know that when she gets here she'll already be accustomed to the dogs barking. Although really it's just Smokey barking and us yelling "Remy! Stop humping your brother!" It's nice that she's getting used to that now.

Wow, this weekend seemed to go by in the whirlwind. Saturday my mom and I headed to the fabric store to get what we need for the crib set. Then home to watch my poor spartans get their arse whooped by a very good (I hate to admit) osu team. :( Then a nap and a sweetest day dinner out to the closest restaurant to us. Sunday was spent madly cleaning our house. I was exhausted by the time my parents and T's parents got here for an early dinner. As soon as everyone left, I was back on the couch for a long overdue nap. Then up again this morning to start a new week at school. BAH! I didn't even get a chance to watch all my tivo shows this weekend :( This coming weekend I'm not planning on leaving my house. T and the dads are making a pilgrimage to the promised land (aka pheasant hunting paradise in s. dakota) so my mom and their dog are moving in with me and smokey. Good times!

I keep meaning to post pics of the crib and everything. My parents also brought over the antique cradle that I used when I was a baby. My dad repainted it last week and it's just gorgeous. It's not something that's been in our family forever - it would be cool if it were, but my grandma was able to bargain it from the people that they bought a house from. It was in the attic of the garage and the previous owner was showing her around. She made an offer and they left it! :) So it's a "new" antique to us. Well, like 40 years or so. I WILL post pics soon. Promise.

Okay, I have to go to bed. Exhausted. Yawn. G'night...

22 Weeks

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.
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Sorry for the lack of post this week so far. But here it is.

In an exciting development - on Monday I had a couple of doctor's appointments in GR so I was able to swing by and pick up our crib and changing table, that were finally in! :) I also spent some quality time at B 'R Us... and became more confused than ever about the gear that I thought that I wanted. The stroller set I was totally sold on IS SO HEAVY!!! It's adorable, but I think I'm going to pass on it. I stopped like 3 other women in the store with babies and asked them if they liked their travel system. One woman said, "Well this IS the number one safety-rated system." Um, yeah, of course, I knew that. Oy. I've also been talking to other friends to see about their systems and now I think I have a new favorite. I wanted to go check everything out myself first before taking T to look at everything.

Tonight I got home from choir practice and T had put the whole crib together! :) I had told him that he couldn't go to Dakota until at least the crib was put together - I'm so mean!! But I did finally decide on the crib set that I want and we have a very crafty friend who will be making the little quilt and bumper and my mom is going to do the rest. I needed the crib to be put together so we knew how long to make the dust ruffle. This weekend we're heading to the fabric store to get what we need. :) YAY! :) It's coming together!

Ummm... what else... MEAP is going on this week and one more day next week then that will be all done and over with - hooray!

Last weekend was quite uneventful (love that) and I think that the same holds true for this weekend. We're hoping to go to get registered, or at least knock out some of the bigger gear things soon. I do NOT want to go on a saturday - I've been there before on a weekend and I would rather chew tin foil. So maybe that can be a trip for some evening next week.

Pics

Here are our latest pictures of our little girl... :) Last night she was very squirmy so getting clear pictures was a challenge, but here's what we've got...





In this one, she's looking right at you and her little arms are up by her face.

NOW WE KNOW!!!!

Okay, it's not ever 100% for sure, but from what the tech could tell, she was quite sure that we're having a GIRL!!!!!!!! She said she saw no sign of boy parts (which are of course the most obvious), and she thought she saw some girl parts. :)



We're still in a little shock over finally finding out. Now it's time to go SHOPPING!!! :) PINK PINK PINK!!!!!!



I told T that it's only fair- I've been the only girl around here for a long time, we need a little more estrogen in this house!