The Final Countdown!

If I can't even update our blog before baby I am a tad worried about how it'll be once she gets here!  We are now down to 2 more weeks until her estimated due date.  I've been told that first time moms can expect babies to arrive within two weeks of their due date, either 2 before or 2 after.  While I am not getting my hopes too high that she will come early, I'm really hoping she is not two weeks late! 

Things are going great.  Everything, as far as I can tell having no idea really what to expect or what I am doing in preparation, is good to go.  Carseat has been in the car a few weeks now, everything has a place in the nursery, clothes are washed, bags are packed, etc.  My nerves are ever increasing while Shaun is still just excited.  Every time I flinch for any reason, whether it be a kick, or something non-pregnancy related he gets all excited like it's go time.  Today he told me he will be able to take at least a week after her arrival which is great as we weren't expecting much time off since he hasn't worked at Chase the whole 12 months to qualify for the leave.  Guess they just like him!

My comfort level is definitely decreasing!  Sleeping has become a chore.  Rolling over from side to side is a feat that includes at least a 3 point turn to accomplish it!  Finding a comfortable position even on the couch is getting old as well.  I know I can obviously anticipate the lack of sleep that comes along with a newborn, but I am really looking forward to being comfortable in my own body and then being tired! 

I've definitely become more emotional these last few weeks as well, if that was even possible.  Every time I think about holding little Leighton I cry happy tears in anticipation of how wonderful it is going to be.  I spend a lot of time with my cousins and their son as well as other family members and friends with babies and I cannot wait to experience the love that I see with them and their children towards my own. 

Shaun and I met with a pediatrician last week.  She came highly recommended and we really liked her but her office was just too far out of the way for us.  We have another meet and greet on Saturday morning at an office very close to us and we are hoping the doctor will be a good fit for us!  I've been asking around for recommendations so I defintely trust those we will meet with but it'll all depend on how we feel about the doctor I guess!

Belly has definitely grown to become quite large!  I guess being tall it looks a lot smaller to other people and a lot don't believe I am as far along as I am, but I feel big for sure!  I feel like some days I look smaller but I guess it's probably just her positioning! Check out the progression below:

 33 Weeks.  Guess I forgot to take my weekly photo that week!

 

9 weeks to go and counting!

 

Never in a million years did I think pregnancy would fly by as fast as it has.  I remember downloading baby apps on my phone that stated your baby is the size of a poppy seed.  Now at 31 weeks she is the weight of 4 naval oranges and definitely starting to take up space in the tummy!  Currently she is favoring my right side.  Often my belly will poke out on that side with either her head or butt, but I have yet to be able to differentiate!  Still hoping one of these days I will see a clear impression of a hand or a foot poking out!

 

9 weeks seems like such a long time and such a short time as well.  I'm starting to get nervous but Shaun apparently thinks he's got babies down from his experience with his little brother as a baby and watching his neices grow up.  Doesn't seem to have a nervous bone in his body.  Kinda hoping that changes and the moment I go into labor he starts to panic a little!  I don't want to be the only one!

 

I am definitely on the road to getting stuff prepared before the baby comes.  I surprisingly have a lot of Christmas shopping done already and even spent some time yesterday getting stuff wrapped!  Yes it is way early but I figure the earlier it is done, the more time I have to relax and enjoy the holidays and time with family.

 

Since Leighton's room is now painted and furniture is put up, I decided that the rest of my weekly pictures will be taken in her room!  I absoultely love it!  There are more details to add including some shelves and ladybug designs but I told my mom I would wait for her to get here so she could help since she bought the bedding that has the little decorations that came with it.  It will be a good experience to share with her, my dad, and Shaun's mom as well as they all arrive next Friday for the shower.  Target is now a dangerous place for me because in their bedding section, they have all kinds of ladybug things!  I've bought an LED pink ladybug night light and yesterday picked up the squishiest, softest ladybug pillow ever!  I know I shouldn't buy stuff before my shower, but it really is hard to resist adorable things for my little lady!  Space is limited in our tiny 10x10 spare rooms so it will be interesting to see how we can find a place for everything!

 

 

31 Weeks

Daddy did a great job painting!

Changing table and diaper pail!

Beautiful crib!

 

Fast Forward

A little worried that I am finding it hard to update our blog regularly now and the baby isn't even born yet!  Maybe this will be one of my escapes once she's here...a rare moment of mommy alone time that I think I have heard of!

To catch up, we are now in our 30th week!  While the first two trimesters were amazingly easy and fun, several weeks into the third trimester I am definitely feeling uncomfortable and imagine it is only going to progress until sweet baby Leighton arrives.  I now have a very hard to miss pregnant belly and recently have had to deal with everyone noticing it.  I don't mind the "wow you've sure popped" statements so much, but the "hey why don't you lay off the snacks" comments are starting to strike a nerve.  While I know my now round belly is all baby...well and maybe a few bean burritos here and there, it's still just not cool to call someone fat regardless of their situation!  I have a feeling the next two months I will hear plenty more and I just have to tough it out, but commenters be warned, you may just make a pregnant lady very angry...and you won't like me when I'm angry!  Mommy Hulk smash!!

Leighton's movement has increased in recent weeks! So far it is the most amazing feeling and I am not experiencing any painful jabs to the ribs just yet.  Shaun gets to feel her occasionally, but I think she just likes to share her time with me right now!  I believe she has taken residence on her side and has started putting pressure on my belly which I would say is the most uncomfortable position.  Yesterday she favored my right side which was a pretty neat thing to see a weird lopsided belly! Sleeping has become a chore, but not because of her doing per say, just the fact that my hips feel enflamed to lay on and my pelvis screams every time I try to shift my weight to roll over.  She seems to sleep through the night in the womb, so perhaps she will be a good sleeper upon arrival too!  Hey we can dream!

The past 6 weeks since my last update have been full of some great times.  Week 25 included a vacation to see my parents, brother and his girlfriend in Northern California at my parent's new place.  We walked what felt like the entire city of San Francisco with my cousin, went wine tasting (I watched), and I even got to spend 5 hours in the emergency room with what seems to have been kidney stones!  Week 26 my Grandma threw me my first baby shower in Tucson with an adorable stork theme and we received some wonderful gifts.  That same day I attended my friend Alicia's bachelorette party in Tucscon as well, part of it at least, and I discovered how awkward it is to be in a bar being 6 months pregnant!  Week 29 I attended Alicia's Alice in Wonderland bridal shower which was a blast.  I am very excited for her and her husband to be and cannot wait for their wedding!

25 Weeks, Sawyer Vineyards.  The one week I forgot to take a picture at home!

26 weeks, growing bump!

27 weeks, looking oddly surprised at my growing belly!

28 weeks, holy smokes I'm definitely pregnant!

29 weeks, hello fall, hellooooo baby belly!


Nursery pictures to be posted soon.  Shaun did an amazing job painting lines in her room.  I cried when it was finished.  Crib will likely go up this weekend and I will probably cry again!  We get very emotional picturing having our baby in our lives for real!  2nd shower will be October 28th and our moms will be in attendance.  So very excited.  Halloween is a little over two weeks away and for the first year in as long as I can remember, I have no idea what to be. Kinda stressing me out a little!  After that, my annual apple pie party, Alicia's wedding, Thanksgiving, then whoa Nelly, it'll be bout time to have a baby, just in time for Christmas.

Long post, but a lot to update! Life is good :)





The 24th Week

Our 24th week was a great week!  On August 28th we had a follow up ultrasound to our 20 week one for the sonographer to confirm that all four heart chambers had formed and were functioning right.  At the last scan, the baby was laying in such a position that they couldn't see all four valves.  Thankfully everything looked as it should and we are told our little girl is doing great!  They estimate that she is about 1 and a half pounds.  Her head measured about a week a head of the rest of her body so hopefully her body catches up otherwise she will definitely have her father's head!  We were pleasantly surprised that part of our ultrasound included some 4d pictures.  We originally had decided we weren't going to pay for a scan like that but were told it was just what they did there and we were amazed to see the face of our beautiful baby Leighton!  In case I haven't mentioned it to date, Leighton is the name we have chosen for our little one!  No middle name just yet but were are tossing around some ideas!  Check out how amazing technology is below!

 

Maybe sucking her thumb...

Thumbs up!

 

I think she looks like Shaun in this one!

 

 

Leighton's movement is still very inconsistent but feeling her move is the highlight of my day.  I like to set the tv remote on my belly and show Shaun when she kicks it since he sometimes can't see what I feel.  Our midwife said that within the next few weeks or so I should be able to notice that she kicks during certain times of day!

 

My belly is definitely growing to accommodate our growing baby:

 

 

This weekend we spent two nights up at my Aunt Laurie's place in Munds Park, AZ with our friends Alicia and Mike.  They were engaged the week after Shaun and I were and will wed in about 2 months!  We are looking forward to their big day!  We love hanging out with them and spend a lot of time playing board games.  This time we tried out two new games we got from our wedding registry; Buzzword and Logos.  Both were extremely fun and we had a hard time getting through them at a few points because we were laughing so hard!  The weekend was capped off by Boss finding a mouse in the house!  Shaun and I spent over 30 minutes trying to coax it to run out the open door but were not successful!  The little guy gets to live another day of freedom in my aunt's place.  Next up on our fun schedule is a trip to Danville, CA on Thursday to see my parents and my brother and his girlfriend!  Can't wait!

23 Weeks

As I updated earlier in the week, confirmation of life in my belly was felt last Sunday afternoon!  Throughout the week I really didn't feel anything consistent like I had that day, just the normal flutters.  Starting Friday our sweet baby finally began making her presence known continuously.  If I lay still she tends to moves a ton and every so often you can actually see my belly move a little.  Shaun hasn't really been able to feel her much but he will definitly get his chance as time progresses!

We have made progress on her room and now have one full coat of primer on the walls!  One would think a 10x10 room with a window and a closet wouldn't take long but it definitely is a bit time consuming.  Our goal this week is to prime one wall a day so that by the time we get back from vacations over the next two weekends, we can actually start painting the colors.  I'm more of a supervisor when it comes to the paintings but I did line the baseboards with painter's tape and got a few rolls in! 

Our bedding arrived the other day and we totally love it!  It's sweet, simple and will be perfect!

 



 

In other big news we received the crib we registered for from Shaun's Dad and Stepmom Cindy on Saturday!  Unfortunately we will have to wait for the room to be done to be set up but we are looking forward to everything coming together.  It's somewhat funny to me to have a nursery set up for the baby even though she won't sleep in it for several months after she is born but I definitely don't think things would feel complete if it wasn't ready and waiting for her!

 

Happy to report I am still loving my growing belly!  I find pregnant tummies adorable and am so happy to finally have one!

 



 

 

 

 



Moving Right Along

Over the last few weeks I have anxiously been awaiting that first real movement. That special moment that is entirely distinguishable from gas! Flutters have been felt often throughout the day but nothing I can feel from the outside. This past Sunday I was relaxing in bed with my hand on my stomach. I suddenly felt the alien movement I had longed for! Confirmation there was real life in my belly! I quickly told Shaun to put his hand where mine just was and after 2 or 3 bumps I was feeling he was able to feel our baby girl! It was emotional but most things are these days!

Upon my begging, we finally are starting the nursery!  We picked our bedding and she will slumber upon pink and green ladybugs courtesy of my mom!  We also picked paint samples and will be doing green and white stripes!  Definitely learning the space is limited in her room but we will make it work! She also has a bunch of clothes in her closet already!

I'll be 23 week starting tomorrow! One week closer to meeting our little ladybug!

Halfway There!

We hit the halfway mark on Wednesday!! The big news of the week was our anatomy ultrasound on Monday.  The scan revealed a healthy baby growing as expected and on track for a December 19th due date.  At each of our ultrasounds the measurements appear to be a bit ahead of my estimated due date but they will not change the date since its not more than two weeks ahead.  The best part of our ultrasound was when the sonographer revealed the sex of our little baby!  It's a girl!  Both Shaun and I got emotional seeing this!  This was our third scan but this one definitely made it more real.  We've got a little princess growing and we can't wait to meet her in December!  She will be the best Christmas present ever!

 8 Weeks

12 Weeks

19 Weeks 5 day!

20 Weeks and 4 days today. Pretty sure I'm feeling movement!!  Excited to feel her kicks get stronger!

Also this weekend, Big Brother Boss had minor surgery on his eyelid to remove a cyst.  He's been adjusting to wearing "the cone of shame"!  It's been sad but rather amusing watching him try not to run into things!  He's got about 8 more days until he can get his stitches out, but he's getting back to his normal hyper self.  We are definitely interested in seeing how he will handle the arrival of his baby sister!!