Passed!!

The dreaded glucose test has come....and gone! Whew! I'm glad that one is over! My mom and I went into the hospital this morning about 7:30 and started the test. My initial results of the first blood draw came back normal, so I had to continue on with the full glucose test. However, they lied to me!!! My doctor said that it would be about three hours from start to finish...well, it ended up being about four instead. Let me tell you, that last hour was hard! Had I anticipated it from the beginning, it wouldn't have been a big deal. However, when they did the bait and switch, I wasn't too happy! The baby was definitely unhappy as well as he or she definitely wanted some food by that time! They said the glucose test was three hours, since once you drink it, they draw your blood at one hour, two hours, and three hours (hence the three hour test, but my doctor had said it would be drawn at 1/2 hr, 1 hr and 2 hrs). However, they do the initial blood draw too and it took about 40 minutes to get those results, and then another 10 - 15 to drink the sickingly sweet, orange pop beverage (that you hope you don't see again based on your very empty stomach!). Anyway, you'll all be happy to hear that I made it through the test and PASSED! I hope I never have to do that one again, although I know there are worse things out there. For someone who is not really a fan of orange pop in the first place, drinking it so fast at 8:30 in the morning, on an empty stomach, was not a treat!

During the test, we were able to go and walk around a bit though, so naturally we headed upstairs to the labor and delivery and postpartum floors. Phil and I have our tour next Saturday, so we'll find out everything then, but it was interesting to see the rooms and how things are laid out. The postpartum floor is very secure, which is great. Before today, I knew that security was high around the babies, but I guess I didn't realize it was to that extent. Each room is locked and needs to have a key to swipe in and the nursery is no longer open for viewing. Once you buzz into that section of the floor, you have to check in as well. I guess I'd rather have it that way though, then not know who is coming and going. Don't worry, you can still come and see us in the hospital!

Have a wonderful weekend!!! I feel a craving for ice cream coming on now that I know I'm safe..... hahaha!!! :)

The Nursery!!

What a busy two weeks!! However, we do have something to show for it...the nursery!! After a lot of hard work painting, stenciling, carpeting, and putting together furniture, we now are closer to being ready to bring our new arrival home and have a place of his or her own! We absolutely love how it is turning out and can't wait to continue to add "finishing touches" on it over the next weeks. Here are some pictures for you!

This is what it looked like when we first moved in...

well, minus the rocking horse, since that was there as a staging tactic when we bought the house.

Gotta love the lavender walls and purple carpet....

It was definitely in need of a change before our baby arrives!
We started with yellow walls....

Then added some stars....

Then put in the new carpet and furniture and wallah!!! NURSERY!!!

Besides keeping busy with the nursery, we are now half way though grad school for the summer, and are looking forward to three weeks from now! It will be a great day when we drive away from St. Thomas on July 17th! Tutoring is going well for me and Phil is also enjoying being a roofing inspector again this summer, especially on the cool days!

I had another doctor's appointment this past Friday and everything went well as far as my health and the baby's. I measured right on for size again, so that was great. However, I did fail my glucose test, so I now get to take part in the three hour test on Wednesday morning. No food from Tuesday night on will not be fun, but it is important that we figure out if I have gestational diabetes. If so, I should be able to control it through my diet, since my numbers of the initial test were not far off. My doctor didn't seem to be worried though, as many fail the first test and don't actually have gestational diabetes. Whatever will be, will be! I now start my two week visits for the month of July and then we're on to every week for the month of Aug. Time will fly until this little one arrives!

Enjoy your long weekend over the 4th!! We will update again soon!

The Third Trimester is HERE!

Wow, time flies when you're having fun! Well, the school year ended successfully and grad school has started. We're now almost two weeks into our six weeks of class, so we are off and running! The classes seem to be intriguing, so that's all we can ask for, especially after we've had some real winners leading up to this!

This past weekend, Mike and Jeanna flew home for our family "vacation" weekend. We decided to stay in town and make it more on the inexpensive end, since they are preparing for a wedding, we have the baby on the way soon, and Stephen just bought a house a couple of weeks ago. We had a GREAT time! After 18 holes of mini-golf (which I won because I'm fantastic... especially with my growing belly!), dress shopping at David's Bridal with a stop at Babies R Us (it's right next door!) for the ladies and Best Buy and Sports Authority for the guys, burgers at the Convention Grill, the Como Zoo and Conservatory, grilling at my mom and dad's, moving my brother into his house, and just hanging out until the wee hours of the night/morning, we are all trying to catch up on sleep now! It was a wonderful weekend! Cleatus the Fetus also enjoyed the festivities. He or she was very active at times, and other times, was taking the nap that we all wished we were taking! I no longer have much of a belly button, so that was a fun topic over the weekend as well. Everyone was able to watch my belly move and feel the kicks so that was fun since the next time we are all together in two months, I will be close to delivering!

Here is a picture of Phil and I at the Como Zoo and Conservatory. :-)

I have definitely grown over the last few weeks! When I had my last OB appointment, almost a month ago now, everything was right on track. My next appointment to see the doctor again is next Friday and will then start my 2 week visits for the next month and finish with one week visits. Pretty soon our new little one will arrive and we can't wait!

Our office was moved downstairs a couple of weeks ago, so the nursery is now ready to be done! Tomorrow night we will be painting it with the help of my parents (since I'm banned by everyone from getting on or near a ladder, as well as stretching to paint. I am told I am to be the observer from a chair with a beverage (probably water) in hand!). The walls will be a pale yellow and I will then be stenciling stars around the middle of the wall next week. Our theme is Goodnight Star from Babies R Us if you want to check it out! I can't wait until it's done! We will be sure to post pictures during the process for everyone to see!

Overall, my pregnancy is going really well! I obviously have nothing to compare it to, but have felt great throughout everything. However, I am definitely starting to notice how big I'm getting and can feel myself getting worn out faster, but I just try to counter act that with a little quiet time. Now that it's summer and I have a lighter schedule with only a little tutoring and grad school, it lends itself better to being able to slow down when I need to. I have had a few of the Braxton - Hicks contractions over the last week, but nothing to really speak of - only when I've been active and need to slow down or hydrate a little extra. Phil and I are looking foward to our tour of the hospital and Birthplace in a few weeks as well.

Enjoy the sun and summer! We will update again soon with pictures of the nursery...and ME!

So Much Movement!

It's hard to believe we are in the final week of May! The school year is almost over, which is much needed at this point! As school nears an end, we are getting closer and closer to meeting our new little addition! The baby has been moving a TON over the last week or so and has had the hiccups several times! It is an amazing feeling to have such a little person inside of you and really have "normal" things happening, like the hiccups! Phil was able to watch my stomach move and feel the hiccups over the last few days as we relaxed up north at his mom and dad's house. The more I relaxed, the more active the baby was (or the more I was able to feel it because I wasn't running around)!

I have definitely grown over the last few weeks. Phil was gone to chaperone the 8th grade trip to Chicago a few weeks ago and came home after 4 days and definitely recognized how big I had gotten! At this point, the baby should be about 1.5 - 1.75 pounds. We have another doctor's appointment on Wednesday, so we'll update more at that time. We'll be adding some other full-length pictures soon!


This past week, we also picked out our nursery paint color and are looking forward to having time to clean out the "purple room" as it is now called, (the previous owners had painted the walls lavender and put in lavender and grey carpet, which we were too cheap to change, knowing that someday it would be a nursery and done at that point!) and start making it into our nursery. With grad school and working, we will enjoy doing it little by little so I can also partake before I'm too big and have issues being on the floor and then moving things around. So many things to look forward to!

Have a wonderful last week of May!

What a Beautiful Baby!

Well, here are our ultrasound pictures. Isn't Cleatus the Fetus (the "gender neutral" name for now...) cute?!! During the ultrasound the baby was VERY active! He or she liked turning, kicking, moving his or her arms, and covering his or her face often, which made it hard to get great pictures. There were a few pictures of the baby's face that were amazing, but we weren't able to catch it in time! However, we are very pleased that that baby is as active as it is, which is a great sign! The heartbeat was 146 and weighs about 14 oz right now.

My doctor's appointment today was great. The baby and I are both right on schedule, so that was good to hear. Phil felt the baby kick today for the first time too, so he was very excited about that.

What a cute foot!! You can count the little toes!!!
Here is the baby's face. Yes, it looks a little alien-like, but it was because of the contrast they had set on the machine. There were better pictures, but he or she is already dancing!

What a wonderful profile! The little "bubble" you see above the baby's chest is the umbilical chord. You can also see the four little chambers of the heart (the darker area just below the chord).

Here is as much of the baby as they could fit onto the screen! And no, you cannot tell the gender in this picture! It even went in our file as "not disclosed" so our doctor doesn't even know! I'm going to make her guess and predict one of these days.....

Well, time for the mom and baby to have some "cuddle" time and head to bed!

More updates soon!!

19 week picture

It's a little late being posted, but better late than never! (I'm even bigger than this now...) OH! Some of you have asked why my face isn't in any of the belly pictures. Right now, I'm taking the pictures myself, because Phil has a hard time not making me look bigger than I actually am. His angle wasn't so sweet.... We'll work on that for the last 1/2 of the pregnancy!! :-)

It's been TOO long... we know!!!

Yes, it has been far too long since we've updated and posted anything on our blog. To be honest, there wasn't a whole lot going on with the baby, other than just getting bigger! I went through the mid-stage where I still didn't feel movement, but just started to grow. However, the movement is there now! (The baby is actually saying hello at this moment!) It is SO fun to be able to feel the baby moving around and have the little taps of a kick! When I was lying down flat, my mom was able to feel it move about a week ago, but Phil has yet to feel it (He was turkey hunting at the time, so I don't feel bad for him....). Since then, every time the baby has started to move around, it's not in a position to actually feel it from the outside. Hopefully it will happen soon though!

I am now officially at the point where I cannot see my toes anymore! They are gone!! I guess this means pedicures for the summer, eh? I am feeling great though and can't wait for our level 2 ultrasound tomorrow! We are SO excited to see detailed pictures of our little one! We will post them as soon as we have a chance to scan them in. I will also update the belly pictures too. I took a few pictures at 19 weeks, but they never made it up. I PROMISE that we will do a better job in the coming weeks! We're now done with 21 weeks... time is flying by!!

We had fun registering at Babies R Us and Target this past weekend. What an experience that was! As we started the process, Phil was quite surprised by how many things such a little person needs! As you look at our registry, you will notice a few things that I most likely did not add while I was in charge of the scanner....perhaps a Twins baseball hat, Twins jersey, Twins pacifier and clip..... :-) Our little one sure will be cute when he or she is watching those games with Dad! It was great fun, but more will be added to our lists, as we realized when we got home from the baby wonderland that important things like burp cloths and mattress waterproof covers weren't on the list!! Too many things to take in all at one time, I guess!!

After our ultrasound tomorrow and my regular doctor's appointment on Wednesday, we will let you know more about our little one!