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!

We're Growing...

The momma to be is growing along with the baby (so's the daddy to be). Here's a pic of Ann at 15 weeks. She's smokin'!!!!!!

We heard the heartbeat!

Last Friday, the 29th, we had our first ob visit. It was great! We were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time, which was absolutely amazing. What a miracle! The baby was quite active though, so our doctor had a hard time at first finding the heartbeat and then timing it, since the baby didn't want to stop moving. Phil said we're already in trouble if the baby is that active! Just wait until I can feel all that activity... it will be bliss! Everything else looked good though! We head back for another visit on April 2. Pictures of my growing belly will soon be added too!

Other exciting news - my brother Mike and his fiance, Jeanna, set their wedding date!! They are getting married at Notre Dame on June 13th, 2009! The call in process was not nearly as difficult or painful as we had thought it may be, so that was wonderful!! My younger brother, Stephen, is also close to buying a house.... Phil's brother, Matt, is enjoying his new job in Madison, after moving there a week ago and Tim is progressing through Medical school..... and only 2.5 more weeks for us before spring break!!! Great things are happening all around us!!! :)