20 Week Update (Halfway There!!)

20 weeks and I have finally hit the half way mark! 

Hoooooray!

I do realize I skipped 19 weeks, last week was pretty busy, and earlier this week Chris was officially appointed at a town meeting by the Board of Selectman as a Fire Fighter. I was a little distracted, and so now I went right to 20 weeks, not much has changed anyway. 

Baby girl and I are still doing great, I feel so lucky to have had such an easy pregnancy up until this point (knock on wood!!!) I can still sleep on my stomach but I'm worried I will crush her if I do (I know this is silly). I still have my achy moments, but I have been trying to stretch more and keep up with my walks with Chris. I have fallen behind on my yoga regiment, but I am trying really hard to make it part of my routine. Sometimes at the end of the day, I want to sit on my couch and eat oreos, not do yoga. I'm pregnant, so I've been indulging myself a little bit. But, I made a commitment that I was going to do it, and I am determined to stay healthy and keep up with working out so I am really going to make more of an effort. I really do miss tumbling and cheerleading workouts, and cannot wait to get back into the gym. I have found a great "Mommy and Me" Tumbling class at a local all star cheerleading gym and I can't wait to go with baby girl! At the ultrasound it looked as though she was doing back flips, she could not stay still...so maybe I have a future PC Cheerleader :) or olympic gold medalist...I'll settle for either. 

 Other than my horrific shopping experience in Babies R Us (which I promise to never complain about again, last time I swear), things are going pretty well, and I have started a mental to-do list for what needs to be done for the baby. Now that we have hit the half way point, Chris and I are beginning to buckle down and try to get stuff done. We have set a deadline of Thanksgiving to have the nursery completely finished (honestly if it is painted and somewhat organized I will be thrilled) but we are aiming for the majority of the work to be done. I plan on doing a blog post of some nurseries that have me inspired, so watch for that! Like I said, I completely take back everything I said about owls, I want a neutral girly nursery with owl accents. I have already started collecting some, and I will post pictures soon! 

Baby Registry

Whoever said registering for the baby was the best part is sadly mistaken. After an overwhelming trip to Babies R Us Chris and I came to the conclusion that baby girl can share Brew's toys and his dog bed, since he rarely uses it anyways. Needless to say, starting our registry did not go so well, and we were clearly unprepared. 

One a positive note, we picked out a gorgeous nursery set and realized an owl themed nursery is not the way we want to go. I was so thrilled to have a baby girl because I am one of the girl-iest people I know. However, everything that was for "baby girl" was too much pink, too many butterflies and flowers, and just so far from what we both envisioned for a nursery. I take back everything I said about having an owl theme nursery. Chris and I are going to use light tans (maybe soft yellows) and pinks as a color scheme, and have owl accents in her room (maybe a wall decal, as long as we both don't hate it...wish me luck) As well as stuffed animals and some cute framed photographs. 

The trip was not a complete fail, as I said, we realized we want a very neutral but subtly girly nursery for baby girl, and picked out the nursery furniture we wanted which I am absolutely in love with and will look great with soft colors. 

If I wasn't so in love with baby girl already, I would offer her to the woman who created Lucieslist.com. I honestly do not know how any woman registers for a new baby without using it, and serious props go out to the ones who did it on their own...you are a better woman than I. Who knew there were 8 different types of car seat stroller combinations and each one was 'essential' to the life and safety of your baby?! That is how everything seemed!! Lucie's List is great breaking down what you need, why you need it and having different price point options for new mamas like me who need their hand held through this process.

With a disastrous trip out of the way, and realizing I do not need a different car seat for every month until she is old enough to drive (thanks to lucieslist) I am ready to brave Babies R Us once more, but this time I am going in with re-enforcement.  My cousin, who is a super mama-to-be is accompanying me this weekend, (after bribing her with a manicure and lunch before hand) and helping me navigate the baby registry. If we weren't both having girls around the same time, I would just copy everything off her registry, but I suppose its time to be a big girl and figure this out. Hopefully this trip goes better, if not, I'm not 100% kidding about baby girl having to share Brew's toys. 

For those of my friends that are reading this, I have really put my organizing to a whole new obsessive level for this trip...yup, I made a folder of what I wanted/needed (to include pictures and pink file dividers). 

I have my plan of attack and nothing will get in my way. I'm blaming this on crazy pregnancy hormones...thank goodness Chris is away at a Hockey Reffing Clinic all weekend or I may scare him away. 

Spoiled Baby Girl

Tonight I went to dinner with one of my best girl friends Kendall, and she brought me some great gifts for baby girl!! AND they are owls, what could be better!! Baby girl is getting spoiled and she hasn't even arrived yet!

Baby book! Now I can finally start putting together baby girl's baby book! This one Kendall picked up from the Hallmark store. Its so great, and has so many pages to record things I never would have thought. The pages are set up like a scrapbook, so this will be amazing to keep and look back on as she grows up. It will also make for so many more awesome blog post ideas!!

An owl dress, owl tights, an owl purse with a matching stuffed animal inside, and little owl book! 

All these goodies for baby girl Kendall got at Crazy 8 at Legacy Place in Dedham. (crazy8.com)

The dress and stockings are 3-6 month size, so they will be perfect for baby girl in the spring time and summer! Leave it to Kendall to plan ahead, since we will be overwhelmed with newborn sized clothes, gotta love having a nanny has a best friend! I was thinking the stockings might even work perfect in the winter under a onesie or dress, depending on how big baby girl gets. Pictures to come in 5 months...

18 Week Ultrasound Pictures

Here are some pictures from the ultrasound at 18 weeks

profile of baby girl

baby girl sucking her thumb!

another shot of baby girl sucking her thumb

a picture of the head, looking towards the camera. She looks like a deamon baby here, but I'm sure she will be adorable when we finally meet her :)

18 Week Update

WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!

Chris and I could not be more excited to announce to our family and friends that we are having a baby girl! We had our ultrasound on Monday, and the ultrasound tech was able to tell us the gender of the baby. I will be out buying cute dresses and shoes, while Chris will be out buying guns so she will never have a boyfriend. Brew is excited to have a little sister!! The doctor said she was healthy and growing normally, which is even better news. Names are still being discussed, but we will share once we know. 

I am still feeling great, at times I have an uncomfortable "full" feeling, but I suppose if that is the worst I've had up until now I'll take it. The position of the baby and the placenta makes it hard for me to feel her moving around, its perfectly fine and won't interfere with the baby's development. From the looks of how much she was moving around on the ultrasound, it may even be a blessing in disguise. I am still able to go for walks with Chris and Brew and keep up, and we are going to try to go hiking this weekend!

Baby girl is the size of a sweet potato this week, and is super active! The baby's hearing is stronger now, and can hear what is happening outside the womb. Chris talks to her sometimes, but maybe we will try playing music or reading, but for now we have her listening to the Red Sox games. Her heartbeat was strong, at about 155 beats, and she is about 5 inches and 8 oz.

17 Week Update

17 Weeks! Will baby be a boy or a girl??

Only four more days until Chris and I find out if we will be having a boy or a girl and we cannot wait!! We will share the news with everyone, I can't keep any sort of secret, let alone a big one like this!! 

Things are all starting to move pretty quickly, including the baby! I'm feeling lots of movement and my belly is growing. I am still feeling great throughout my pregnancy, if it wasn't for my growing belly I would feel the same! I have not been getting sick or having any discomfort, and I can still sleep on my stomach (hooray!) Yesterday marked a sad day in my pregnant life, I had to take out my belly button ring, in my head I kept saying, good-bye spring break body! Good thing I can still fit into my clothes! That will be another ordeal and I hope Chris is prepared to handle me :) 

I have a lot of fun making the white board, but does anyone have any suggestions for taking the pictures? I can't seem to get the lighting right. 

This week the baby is the size of an onion, and is 5 inches long and 5 ounces (an estimate, thanks to thebump.com) The bones are hardening from cartilage into bones, and it is gaining more weight. The baby also has fingerprints that are distinct now!  


Sorry for the late update, but check back at the beginning of next week for some big news!!

Feeling some movement!

I have been so anxious about feeling the baby start to move lately. I will be 18 weeks on Thursday (I will post a 17 week picture before that! Dont worry) and it felt like everything I had been reading said the baby should be moving. I wasn't worried anything was wrong, just anxious that I was going to miss the feeling or something, must be crazy pregnancy hormones! Today for the first time I felt some movement and kicks in there!! Very exciting stuff is happening and I am so excited to share it with you all! :)

This is a big week in our little family!! I felt the baby move for the first time today, and yesterday Chris was offered a full time position as a fire fighter for a local town. Today is my Grandpa Flanagan's (my dad's dad) birthday, and it just goes to show what amazing angels we have looking down on our family!