37 Weeks

Woohoo! Full Term!  It is so exciting to know that she could come at any time now and she would most likely be totally fine.

I am feeling great, with absolutely no signs of labor or anything close to it.  I still don't even think I've had any Braxton Hicks.  Oh well, she'll be here when she's ready I guess.  But I'm ready!  My sisters and my mom threw me a fabulous baby shower yesterday that I will write about once I get the pictures from my sister.  Other than that I am loving the long holiday weekend from school and excited that this will be a fast week with only 3 days of teaching.  Hopefully by next week we're starting to see some signs that she'll be coming soon!

36 weeks

Here I am at 36 weeks.  My due date is one month from today and I am so excited that it is getting so close!  Nothing has really changed though so I don't have too much to say.  I'm gaining lots of weight and popping out more and more.  I finally organized all of baby girl's clothes and opened her toys and things for her nursery that I got at my baby shower in Colorado.  We have everything we need for her to come and we are very ready to meet her!

34 Weeks

 So remember how I said I only had one skirt left that fit so I wore it all of the time?  Well...apparently not anymore.  It's a pretty stretchy skirt and it hasn't felt tight at all, it's actually really comfortable and doesn't cut into my waist at all.  I also don't have to worry about it being too short or moving around throughout church so I've loved it throughout my pregnancy.  Until today.  I put it on, it still felt great so I got ready for church and we headed out.  As I was walking into church though, I went to go pull my shirt down and felt my tights instead of my skirt on my butt.  Uhh..what?  I looked back at my butt only to find that the zipper had split open!  I grabbed Nate and told him to walk right behind me to the bathroom as I tried to hold it closed without drawing any attention to myself.  Nate and I were both laughing and I was somewhat in shock as I snuck into the bathroom and told Nate to wait right outside in case I couldn't fix it and we had to leave.  Luckily, I was able to take it off, get the zipper back down and zipped back up and back on me without too many problems.  But who knew that my behind had grown so much!  It was a hilarious way to realize that my flat bum had expanded quite a bit throughout this pregnancy.  We hurried back into church and I was careful as I sat down, only to have my name called one minute later and I had to stand up!  I looked at Nate and just prayed that the zipper was still closed, and he assured me that it was as I stood up next to him.  I'm not sure what I would have done had my backside been hanging out again.

But anyways, other than that excitement today this week was much better than last.  After getting my complaints down on the blog about pregnancy turning uncomfortable last week, everything went back to normal.  I felt great again and haven't been too uncomfortable all week.  Thank you baby girl!  We are getting so excited and can't wait to meet her!  I can't help but sit and think for hours about what she is going to look like and act like and what her little personality is going to be like.  6 weeks left!

I have also made it to weekly doctors appointments, which I am pretty excited about.  Even though I don't really find anything new out at these appointments, it means we're getting close and I get to hear her heartbeat every time!  I am still gaining weight right on track and she is measuring perfectly.  It's good to be reassured that everything is still going as it should be every week.

33 weeks

Well, this was the week that pregnancy officially became uncomfortable for me.  I guess it was bound to happen eventually, and I still can't complain with only 7 weeks left...at least not on here.  Nate hears about it plenty though.  But hey, I'm growing a baby inside of me, the least he can do is listen to me complain every now and then :) haha.  No, it really hasn't been too bad.  The heartburn has kicked it up another notch and there have been times that it has been so painful that I didn't know if I wanted to throw up or cough or what to help.  I had to sleep sitting up a few nights this week because it was keeping me up for hours.  Fortunately though, as long as I don't have heartburn, I am still sleeping great. (Can you tell this is pretty much the most important thing to me since I mention that I'm so grateful I am still sleeping the whole night in every post?)  Nate on the other hand has been having trouble sleeping for a few months now, which I feel bad about... but if he's going to be up anyways then I won't feel as bad sleeping while he takes care of baby girl ;).

The only other thing that made this week uncomfortable is that I feel like overnight I became huge.  On Friday at school it felt like I was carrying a fanny pack full of bricks around.  And I kept bending over to pick up a crayon, or tie a shoe, or whatever it was and my stomach would get in the way!  I need to learn to squat instead of bending over now that my tummy gets squished every time.

Another thing to note that happened this week was the other night when we got into bed baby girl was going CRAZY.  Seriously, I kept twitching and jumping because she was kicking SO hard, I have never felt her that much or that consistently.  Nate put his hand on my stomach, which usually calms her down, but she just kept at it and we ended up laughing about it as she kept it up for a good ten minutes or so until I finally turned over and she settled down.  Although Nate loves to feel his little girl moving around, he did admit that he could see how that could become a little uncomfortable every now and then.

And on a side note, I have no idea why Nate putting his hand on my stomach usually calms her down, but every time I tell him she's moving and he tries to feel her she stops.

Anyways, here I am at 33 weeks.

Nate wouldn't just take the picture and was frustrating me... hence my facial expression.

31 weeks

At 31 weeks, I am really getting a kick out of watching my tummy move when baby girl kicks.  I am running out of clothes that fit so I have begun repeating outfits pretty often (especially church outfits, I have one skirt left that doesn't cut off all circulation to my lower body and all of my dresses are too short because they now have to fit over a bump).

I am still sleeping great!  Actually too great according to Nate.  I can go to bed at about 8:00 at night and be completely out until my alarm goes off at 6:15.  Poor Nate thinks I'm so boring these days but I'm just so tired!  I've woken up with a few leg cramps but nothing I haven't been able to massage out myself and go right back to sleep.

My feet are taking most of the beating these days as I'm standing on concrete floors for 7 hours everyday while I teach, but luckily that hasn't been too bad either yet.

I can't say I really have any complaints right now except finding church outfits, so I'd say this pregnancy is still a success!  We'll see how the last 9 weeks treat me.  I can't believe how soon she is going to be here!

Just for your information, at 31 weeks she is the size of a squash, weighing in at about 3 pounds, and about 16 inches long (according to www.thebump.com).

Baby Shower!

At 28 weeks (here is the beginning of my third trimester bump!) all of my aunts-in-law threw me an absolutely incredible baby shower!  Nate and I came out to Colorado for it and I cannot believe how spoiled I was!  The food was amazing, the decorations adorable, and the gifts were beyond anything I could have asked for.  I am so grateful to everyone who showed up to support Nate and I and our new baby girl and especially to Nate's aunts for all of their hard work in putting it together (and it was the perfect venue, thank you Shannon!).  It was so thoughtful and made me feel so loved by the family.  Thank you so much!

Guests mingling at the beginning of the shower:

So glad my cousin April was able to come even though she didn't know anyone else!

Nate was there at the beginning to see everyone.

With my mother-in-law, and proud Grandma of baby girl.

Yummy sherbet punch and delicious food.

Enjoying more company while eating.

Opening gifts:

Something really funny must have been said...

My clothesline from Grandma Van Dyke.

More adorable gifts.

Grandma Van Dyke, Nate's mom, and the hostesses: Aunt Evette, Aunt Pam, Aunt Valerie, and Aunt Robyn.  Thank you!

All of baby girl's Great Grandmas.

Again, I cannot say enough how grateful and I am to everyone and especially to the aunts for this shower.  And to top it all off they bought me the crib that I wanted!  We can't wait to set it up in our new house so that our baby has a brand new, safe place to sleep! (I had been planning on using my mom's old crib that she used for all of us when we were babies and my sister has been lecturing me about the safety of it for months, so she was just as excited as I was to hear that I have a new crib that meets all safety standards)

Pretty Much 27 Weeks

So I will be 27 weeks tomorrow, and at my last ultrasound baby girl was measuring 5 days early so we're going to just say that this is me at 27 weeks.

At my parents' Ward Christmas breakfast.

I finally look pregnant.  And everyone that sees me can tell.  There was even a lady in Target last night that came straight up to me and asked, "How far along are you??"  So I'm hoping that means I really do look pregnant and not just fat, like I'm pretty sure I do in the picture above.  Oh well.  All of the weight gain is good for baby.

At 27 weeks, I feel really great!  Luckily I have felt this great throughout my entire pregnancy.  But there really isn't anything to complain about right now.  I am finally feeling her kick and even Nate felt her on Thanksgiving day.  It's still pretty faint and I just feel like my stomach is twitching all of the time, but every now and then she gets in a good one that makes me jump.

I think I have started to get heartburn the past few days. But I'm not sure what heartburn is or feels like and it's only happened twice so I can't be sure?  It's not anything painful though, just a kind of an uncomfortable feeling in my chest.  Does heartburn really mean babies have a lot of hair?

Other than that I feel pretty normal.  It's weird walking by mirrors and seeing a lot more of me there than I'm used to, especially because since I feel so normal I forget that I don't still look normal.

We're very excited though and can't believe how soon she is going to be here!  After the holidays are over and done and I head back to school we'll only have two months left!  I've found my long term substitute for my class and I am starting to get ahead on my lesson plans so that if she comes a little early I'm prepared.  We can't wait but we definitely still have a lot to do between now and then.

Halfway

Yikes.  Buying a new house, my first year teaching, being pregnant, and keeping up to date on all of my TV shows are like four full time jobs.  Plus I didn't want to update my blog because I've really enjoyed seeing the picture of my cute baby girl at the top whenever I come to our blog.  Isn't she the cutest?

Haha, but really, although teaching is not as stressful anymore it still consumes so much of my time!  It's unbelievable.  But I'm getting the hang of things and starting to have many days where I feel really good about my lessons and the kids' progress.  But then this week gets here and report cards are due and all of the stress comes back.  Oh well, that means we're already through 1/4 of the year!

Time is seriously flying!  Which is great because before I even realized it, I was already halfway through my second trimester!  I had another doctor's appointment this morning, and after many measurements we got the news that baby girl is right on track!  She measured exactly 20 weeks and 4 days, which is what we thought, she weighs 12 oz, has two beautifully forming brain hemispheres, a working heart with all 4 chambers looking great, and she has all of her fingers and toes (it was a very in depth ultrasound).  Unfortunately, I couldn't really tell what anything was this time because she was very scrunched up, with her legs crossed and arms up by her face.  But it was good to see her moving around since I still haven't felt anything! (Dang anterior placenta :( ) and to hear that she is healthy and growing exactly as she should be.  So here I am starting to show at 19 weeks, which was a little over a week ago because I haven't taken any pictures since then.

And here are some of the pictures from today of baby girl at 20 weeks, weighing 12 oz.  Sorry if you think ultrasound pictures are more creepy than cute...they kind of are.  But for now, it's all we have to prove she's really coming. :)

Baby Girl

It's a girl!  Our cute baby girl is growing perfectly and definitely on her way!

Right after we found out, we used some giftcards to go shopping for her and I am already so excited to put her in all of the cute outfits I see!

We couldn't be more excited and can't wait to meet our little girl in 5 months!

What Will it Be?

Wednesday is the big day when we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  Well I guess there's always a chance that you won't be able to see, but we're hoping!  Nate feels sure that it is a boy and I think it is a girl.  Neither of us have any sound reasoning...so we'll see.  So what do you think?  Nate Jr. or Mini Chelsea on the way?

And while we're posting pictures of us as little ones...

Can you believe how blonde Nate's hair was??

Annndd... I look exactly the same.

Too tight.

Here I am at 15 and 16 weeks.

Sorry, this one isn't the best picture to see anything.

Symptoms as of late include some pretty severe leg cramps in the middle of the night that Nate has become an expert on massaging out, and wanting to eat everything I see at all times.  Although I never got really sick at the beginning, food never sounded good and I really had to force myself to eat something because I was never in the mood to eat.  I would call my mom complaining that I hated all food.  But now I feel like I am always craving some kind of food (in particular ice cream and chocolate snacks, but I'm not sure if that's pregnancy related or just a great excuse!).

Also, I wore a skirt to church yesterday that was high waisted...not really thinking that I now had a somewhat larger waist until I put it on and could barely zip it up!  I finally got it on and thought I'd be fine, but was dying all through church!  I finally had to go to the bathroom and unzip the skirt, then just made sure my sweater was long enough to cover the open zipper.  Haha, so embarrassing but I could not take how tight it was anymore.  Needless to say, I learned my lesson and won't force my poor baby bump into anything too tight again.  And it made me realize just how much I really have grown!

Update

So I have lots of things to blog about.  My class, our trip to San Diego, every week of pregnancy so far... but the cord for our camera is still packed away in storage.  And blogging without pictures is kind of pointless.  So I finally remembered to have Nate take a picture on his phone last week when I hit 14 weeks.  I'm going to be 15 weeks tomorrow, but haven't had time to blog until today.  So you're getting a 14 week update (even though I'm 15) and that's the only pictures you'll get for now.  Sorry.

I'm actually feeling really great!  For about the last three or four weeks, I often forget I'm pregnant.  I haven't had any sickness lately, I'm super tired at the end of every day (as you can see by my lack of makeup and outfit in the above picture - both taken after long days of teaching) but I'm working for 10 hours a day, so I don't really think the tiredness has anything to do with being pregnant.  Our little one is definitely growing, as is evident by my growing bump.  Family and close friends can all tell now.  And I realize that since I have always been so skinny, I now look a little more normal to people...but that bump is not normal for me!  It has never been there and it is very weird to look down and see.  But I'm glad for the reassurance that baby is growing.  This week baby is the size of an orange.

Anyways, that's all there really is to update on.  I still haven't had another doctor's appointment as I'm still getting insurance and medical records switched over.  But hopefully at our next appointment in a few weeks we'll be able to find out if it's a boy or a girl!

Our Little Lime

Est. March 12, 2012 Nate and I are going to have a baby.

I couldn't get a very good picture of it :/

7 weeks

It's a little weird to announce, I still don't feel like it's real.  But family is begging to tell their friends and sometimes I forget that everyone doesn't know and almost slip.  I am 11 weeks (last Monday) and baby is apparently the size of a lime.

11 weeks, and apparently I love this shirt?

Sadly, I think you can already tell in this picture and I'm only 11 weeks.

I have only gotten sick a few times and for the most part am feeling really great.  I get nauseous if I wait too long to eat, and nothing ever sounds good, but I know forcing food down is the best way to keep from getting sick.  I'm just so sick of food and eating.  I've been tired, but I was also working 9 hour days in the Preschool followed by my job, and have now moved on to loongg teacher trainings and setting up my classroom, so I think I'd be pretty tired these days anyways.

There have been a few days lately where I think you can definitely see a bump.  Even though I'm only 11 weeks, there really isn't anywhere for that little baby to hide on me.  I've been eating lots though and trying my best to gain weight!

Nate and I are so so excited for this new addition to our family.  It's definitely going to be hectic as it is my first year teaching, Nate is finding a job while making decisions about grad school, and we're looking for a place to live...but we definitely felt it was the right time to bring a baby into our family and know that everything will work out fine.