6 Months

Friday marked the beginning of 6 months and entrance into the 3rd trimester. I'm currently up in Arlington, TX at my sister's house for a long weekend. My cousin, who's 6 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, had her baby shower today. It was lots of fun! We have been looking forward to the shower since Erin and I wanted to take "belly" pictures together.

First, photos of me at 24 weeks. Jason was taking the picture and said, "Where did the moulding go?!" So here is a photo at 20 weeks and then at 24 weeks.

This is when I first got to my sister's house and sat down with my nieces and nephew. Cameron is 6 months old, Aery is 5 years old, and Lizzy is 10 years old.

My cousin, Erin, and I for our first true belly pictures. She is 30 weeks and I'm 24 weeks.




And finally, this is the 3 pregnant ladies at the shower. Erin, myself, then my sister, Cheyanne (due in February).

21 Weeks

Our appointment today went very well. I started the morning off thinking the appointment was at 8:45 am, on the way there I double checked my calendar.... oops.... 9:45 am. So we went over to Dean Porter Park (by the zoo) and sat by the resaca and watched the ducks and seagulls for a little while. Quite entertaining. Then back to doctor's office by 9:30ish and was out by 10:10 am! Love my doctor.

Did all the usual, blood pressure (116/80) and weight. I've gained about 3 lbs! Woohoo! (This is big for me since I have not gained any the entire time and I was starting to wonder what was going on.) We listened to the heartbeat first then went to the other room for sonogram. Baby is so much bigger than last time, at least it definitely seems that way. I know I feel him/her moving around a lot more.

Baby is growing just the right amount. At 1 pound already. We told the doctor before sono that it is supposed to be a surprise so not to say anything. She said she wouldn't even look, but we both know she went over the area just to check the entire baby, sadly she was too quick and even with eye strain we didn't see anything. =) It's going to become a game for us whenever we go in I think.

Here's the two photos we got today:

Head and belly shot

We got this one because the doctor said the hand picture was just too precious to not have a copy of.
So hello from baby Straub to all of you reading this!

20 Weeks: Halfway There!

Today marks 20 weeks, AKA halfway there!

Not too much going on for us. I've had some lower back pain this week which I think can be attributed to baby wanting to renovate their condo and make it bigger. It hasn't been very fun, but it seems to have tapered off since yesterday morning at least.

Other big news is I can definitely feel movement. Last night Jason and I were talking and I got a nice little punch/kick to the middle of my gut. Definitely knew at that point that it wasn't a gas bubble doing that! It's nice to enjoy the little flutters every now and then. Jason is very excited for when he get to feel baby move for the first time.

This is about where baby is at right now: Size of a cantaloupe!




Here are the fun belly shots:



This is what I look like right now.
There is enough of a bump that I feel like I'm showing, but I wonder how many people look at me and think, "she's just pudgy." But, it doesn't matter because Jason thinks I'm beautiful, so I'll accept his opinion.


Our next appointment is the second week of June. I think we are decided that the gender of baby will be a surprise. The next big task will be working on our name list.

So that is the question of the week:
Suggest some names (boy or girl) for baby Straub!

Nursery Theme

We are at 19 weeks as of yesterday! Yay! Feeling good, finally getting some sleep at night the last couple of nights. I had sinus/allergy problems start at the end of last weekend and couldn't sleep for a couple nights. One night on the couch in order to prop myself up enough to be able to breathe while sleeping. Oh and Jason was on midnights this week, which usually makes it harder for me to sleep too. Only 1 left tonight though!

I still like to eat about every 3 hours, but I have become accustomed to that a little more now so it's not so annoying when I'm all of a sudden starving. I've come to expect it. Amazingly so far this entire pregnancy I have not put on ANY weight! I am surprised at each checkup that my weight has not changed since they weighed me at the very first visit in February. And people, this is not for lack of trying! Like I said, I eat about every 3 hours and it's not huge portions, but it's a decent amount of food (and not empty calories either) and I'm stuffed full. I guess this little one just has the high metabolism like I did when younger. (Secretly I have missed that. Eat whatever I want and not gain anything.) :-) As I type this I am snacking on a peanut butter and honey sandwich to help me last until 12:30 when I go to lunch with my mom.

Everyone has been asking 3 questions right now:

1. How are you feeling?
2. Is it a boy or girl? Will you find out?
3. How are you decorating the nursery?

Well, #1 is kind of starting to get annoying, but I understand that there are so many that just want to know if I'm doing ok. Sadly when I explain some of the "symptoms" I'm having no one else has been able to relate to them. Which is okay, maybe one day someone will ask me about it and I can tell them how I coped with them.

The second one is of course what everyone REALLY wants to know. The sad thing is, I still don't know! At our next appointment in June we could possibly find out, I'll be far enough along for them to at least try to figure it out, but I still don't think I want to know. I've heard lots of opinions on this. Some say, "It's still a surprise when you find out now because you didn't know before." Or one couple we know had the husband tell the wife when the baby was born. That seems really special too! So often I try to please people to keep the peace, but for now, I'm still holding out on not finding out until birth. Feel free to try to persuade me, I've really enjoyed some of the things people will come up with to go one way or the other. :-)

And finally, what IS the theme for the nursery?! We've kept in under wraps until now because we had to get in the color palette to choose from. It's here and Jason and I have started working on it, so now I know the colors. Our theme will be..... drum roll please.....................

Noah's Ark

We have decided on this theme because it is gender neutral and that is what we want because it will carry through any and all kids that we might have. I'm not one to buy everything in one color then have to go back and buy it all again later in another color because that just doesn't work for how we want to spend our money. Plus, once a child is a toddler and outgrows the crib and/or we have another child and need it, then they will go into their own room with a design/theme that suits their little personality and preferences. (Within reason of course.) So for us, we liked the idea of Noah's Ark.

Now then, the colors. The next big hurdle to get across. I knew I did not want to purchase the crib "sets" that are out there because they just don't suit my style. I don't need a crib comforter/quilt because you can't use it until the child is 2 years old or so, and I won't hang it on the wall as decor. The styles and colors the Noah's Ark choices are definitely not me either. I'm going to be spending plenty of time in this room, so I want it to be something I can relax and enjoy. So I decided I will make my own sheets and bed skirt. (Still debating the crib bumpers, don't really see a need for them right now.) We don't want everything all "matchy-matchy" either. So the only option was to find a "theme piece" and base the room off of it.

Many of you remember last year when Jason got me started on cross stitching. View past projects HERE. Well we've come a long way! This is what I found that we both loved and thought it would be perfect to center the room on. It's called "Noah's Journey."

I purchased the chart and charms package off of ebay and then ordered the thread and aida. This past week the last of the back ordered colors came in and it has been started. I sat down with all of the colors, there are 31 to choose from, and chose the ones I liked best for colors in the room. I scanned them so that everyone can see. Remember, they are scanned so the colors will be slightly different on each person's monitor. I've also included the number for the DMC thread so if you'd like to see it in person you can go to any craft store that carries DMC thread and find them.

So now, everyone knows what the theme will be and the colors. Hopefully that will occupy everyone for a while as those that wanted to make something by hand will have a better idea of the colors/style we are going for. Please, please, please don't by anything and everything that looks like Noah's ark. We don't want to have a TON of it in the room. We want this cross stitch to be the main piece for the room and we'll just accent it with a few other items.

I hope this catches everyone up on what has been happening with us.

Now, let me leave you with this:

Post a comment on your best reason as to why or why not to find out the gender of the baby.
Maybe this will help me decide. ;-)

17 Weeks Today!

Thursday morning we had another appointment at the doctor. It was a fun appointment because my mom got to come with us! (Since she's off for "swine flu" school closure this week. Silly we know.) When she was pregnant with my sister and I they did not do sonograms unless they thought there was a problem. She really enjoyed seeing her next grandchild for the first time.

I was totally surprised by the fact that I still have not really gained any weight! And believe me, I am TRYING!! I think part of it was because of overnight stay in hospital back on April 15th when they thought my appendix was going bad and would have to be taken out. They starved me for 21 hours because if I had to have emergency surgery I couldn't have any food or drink in my stomach. This was a pain because I usually ate something every 3 hours or I got sick. Anyway, I think I lost a couple pounds those couple days and just gained them back.

Having the sonogram was a lot of fun since the baby is so much bigger! He/she wasn't too active, but wiggled around a bit. We got to see a beautiful shot of the umbilical cord across the front of baby, it looks like a pearl necklace kind of. Currently baby is about 1/2 pound. No change for due date at the moment, still October 16th.

The photo below is labeled to help those that have a hard time figuring everything out. The "dot" in the middle of the belly is the umbilical cord. The position is like if you were looking down on a baby laying down on its back. At the time the head was up on my right side and feet down by my left leg. Jason said, "The picture of the baby looks like a teddy bear." Which is true since the knees are drawn up.

The new question for everyone to ask now is, "Do you feel any kicks or movement yet?" Well, all I can say to that is, "maybe." Since I've never done this before I'm not sure exactly what it feels like. I do feel some little slight twinges in different areas every so often. I had a friend tell me that when the baby kicks, I will definitely know I've been kicked. I look forward to that.

Here are a few things that are going on right now with baby:

• Hearing is developing and can maybe hear our voices and other noises.
• Little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints
• Moving joints and sweat glands are starting to develop
• About the 5 inches in length
  

And of course for those interested, here's a photo of me from this morning and also the beloved "belly shots." And YES I am showing now! My mom said I've hidden it well.

Thanks Becky for some fabulously comfy shorts!!!