Week 20, gender reveal, nursery, pics :)

This past week marked the halfway point, 20 weeks!   I am surprised, but extremely happy that we've made it this far.   Our baby continues to grow and I've been able to feel definite movement in there.   

This past week was Thanksgiving as well, and the week we revealed the gender of our baby to our siblings, and then the rest of the world.   I wanted to do something cute, so it wasn't just a comment in passing, i.e. "It's a girl".   So Josh suggested doing something cute with the last ultrasound and putting the name on it as well.   I also wanted to add a little poem/riddle or something to keep the suspense a moment longer :) This is the picture we had framed for the parents and siblings in our immediate families: 

We wrapped up the pictues in blue wrapping paper and pink ribbon to keep them guessing a little while longer and addressed them to their relationship to her, i.e. Uncle Toby.   

Inside the envelope was the following poem: 

 The first letter of every sentence spelled out It is a girl.
Below is the comparsion picture: 20 weeks, the baby is the size of a banana.

 And here's a belly picture :)

 My brother Andy and his fiancee are getting married next June and their wedding color is red.  I figured it would be hard to find a little red outfit in the spring, and they are all around right now because of Christmas, I picked up a little red dress and shoes for Maia to wear at Andy and Maria's wedding :)

 Now that we've made it to the halfway point, I've finally felt comfortable going thru the nursery and going through things that we had set aside for babies #1 and #2 (Angel and Ethan).   We have had generous family and friends throughout each pregnancy and have some of the "big" items already.   We also had been storing all of our childhood belongings in there as well, such as stuffed animals and children's books I was collecting when going through the credential program.   There is still much to do, but this is what the nursery looks like right now.   The two quilts on the crib were prayer quilts made for us for babies #1 and #2.  

I bought this little diaper bag with baby #1 back in 2008 and finally opened it up.  

 I bought this for Ethan back in 2009 because it has little music notes on it ;)

The baby seems to be okay and we have our anatomy scan and appointment this week.  I'm sure we'll have some more ultrasound pictures to share with you all :)
Since finding out the baby is a girl, so many friends and family have been very generous in wanting to pass down items to us.   We have been blessed with so many loving friends and family.   
We can't wait to see our baby girl again tomorrow!  Tomorrow also marks 21 weeks :)   Thanks for checking in!

Week 19 Womb with a View :)

So after falling asleep by 9pm the last week or so, I am stuck awake!  Might as well cross this off my to do list :)


This is week 19!!!  We've never made it this far, so that previous statement is very exciting for us :)    We are almost halfway there!   However, my doctor thinks that with my bicornute uterus, that I will be prone to pre-term labor and not make it to week 40 and maybe not even April!

I had been feeling very anxious and nervous in week 18 because it had been 5 weeks since our last ultrasound, and this crazy mama needs to SEE our little gummy bear to be reassured :) (I guess more like a small teddy bear now, not so much a gummy bear).  Since our next ultrasound wasn't until week 21, we decided to go to Womb with a View, here in Modesto, to get a sneak peek at our little one.   We were able to see a pretty clear ultrasound image of our baby, hear the heartbeat, and get a "preview" of the 3D image.  We even found out the gender.   It's a ...  (sorry :)  you'll have to wait until next week after our siblings have found out first :))

The best part about Womb with a view, unlike a regular doctor's visit, is that you can include family members to sit in and watch the whole scan on a huge flat screen TV.  Since this was the gender check we invited our parents (who live in town) to come share this special moment with us.   It was a very emotional night :) and I am so glad we invited them to join us.  It's been a long journey to get to this point, and they have been there for all the ups and downs the last 4 years.   Although it is AWESOME to know the sex of the baby, I was just SO HAPPY to see that Baby Stime was okay :)   Since I have never made it this far I had never seen an ultrasound where the baby was so active and so baby-like in it's features.   I was so relieved and SO happy to see our little one moving around.   During the gender check, Baby Stime had it's legs up under the crotch area so we weren't able to tell at first but eventually the legs moved and it's gender was revealed.  I promise after Thanksgiving we will share Baby Stime's gender with everyone else :) 

The moving around is so neat.   I can feel the baby when I'm singing in the car :) but especially when I'm playing trumpet (although those days are numbered-can't breath as well or feel breath support as much), and especially in my 7th/8th grade band class.  
Josh has been super cute with the baby as well.   Ever since our visit to Womb with a view, he has melted into a puddle of goo :)   He has been talking to the baby everyday, since he learned that around this time the baby can hear voices and other sounds, and may recognize them outside the womb (i.e. if we had a dog that barked all the time, the baby could possibly recognize it outside the womb and be accustomed to the sound-according to What to expect :))  He has already started to call the baby by it's name.  It's so cute :)

So here is my 19 week belly shot.   Not too much of a change since 18 :)   Some of my smaller maternity shirts are getting a little tight, but I've lost another 2 pounds and have not put any back on since the initial lost (14 pounds total!) and I continue to grow.  I have been SUPER tired this past week, hence the falling asleep early comment above.  To quote Gloria from Modern Family "You want to know why I'm so tired?!   I'm turning food into a baby!!"  So funny :)

If you didn't see these on face book, here are some pictures of the baby from Womb with a view:

This is a blurry picture of the 3D preview of the baby.  It's right hand is bent into an L shape, like it's waving at you :) 

This is the baby in profile, with it's head on the right side.  You can see the ribcage, and two arms, and if you look carefully, the jaw.  Once the gender is announced, I will post that ultrasound as well next week.   

That's it for this week, just overly tired, happy, and know what baby Stime is wearing to it's Uncle Andy and Auntie Maria's wedding in June :) 

Thanks for checking in with us!  Week 20 starts on Monday :)   

Week 17 and 18 and pregnancy announcement

Short post :)

This month has seemed to fly by as we are heading into the 18th week tomorrow.   Week 17 was fun for me because we announced to the rest of the world (well at least the rest of our world :)) that we are pregnant.   For those of you not on Facebook I posted the following picture with the following caption: Trick or Treat, trick or treat, in April a little skeleton you all will meet.

Physically I feel about the same, just rounder :)

Here is week 17:

And as we head into the 18th week tomorrow, November 5th, here is the 18 week belly!  I don't know if it makes a difference, but I had just a big lunch right before this so some of it might be me being bloated or something :) LOL

We are planning in another week or so to get an ultrasound done at Womb with a view so hopefully I'll have some more baby pictures to share with you soon, and maybe even the gender :)     I can't wait to finish month 4 after this week!

If I make it until mid December we are going to go out and buy the baby a red dress or little suit (depending on the gender) for my brother's wedding in June.  His wedding colors are red and black and it will be too hard to find a red dress or outfit in June :).  Can't wait!

Thanks for checking in!