24 Weeks

The yoga pants that I usually wear in these pictures have finally been retired. They no longer fit without taking 20 min to get into and then uncomfortably digging into my belly. So maternity jeans it is. Luckily the shirt is still working :).

Also the location of these pictures has changed since the shelf I usually set the camera on in the baby's room has been relocated. So Max has graciously agreed to take the remainder of the pictures :).

Hopefully I'll be able to show you the progress of the baby's room soon! I work on it a little each weekend and it's progressing nicely!

How far along: 24 weeks
Total weight gain: 16 lbs.
Sleep: My hips suck. And terrible leg cramps.
Sickness: Nope
Cravings: salt, chicken wings, hummus, chips
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind, anything too sweet.
General Symptoms: General stretching pains but nothing terrible.
Miss anything: Red meat, sandwiches and, seafood
Maternity Clothes: Just the same jeans and tops and I still mix in some old stretchy favorites
Movement: Quite a bit! Sometimes the kicks to the rib cage are not quite as cute. A few weeks ago we were finally able to see the movement on the outside. I showed Max one night as we were on the sofa and his immediate response was "IT'S ALIVE!" which was pretty cute :)
Gender Prediction: I go back and forth. I think I'm back on train girl. It's weird the closer we get the less I seem to care. I just want to see my baby already!

Names I like at the moment:
Girl: Claire, Olivia, Alice, Eloise (Ellie), Charlotte (Charlie), Lucy
Boy: Jack, Edward (Ed, Eddie), Milo, Nathan (Nate), Ethan, Neal, Luke,

The baby is now the size of a cantaloupe. It's skin is becoming less translucent and more opaque which is good thing lol.

The Kaechele's stop by

Last night Max and I met up with my family friends the Kaechele's. I have known them since I was a baby but haven't seen them in a while since they live in Oregon. But they are down here for a week on vacation so we had to meet up.

We went to one of our old favorite restaurants, O.H.S.O. It was so nice to get to see them again and show them the baby bump in person. We talked about what all they have done and seen so far and Max gave them some tips (maybe too many lol) on places to go and things to do outdoors since he is the Arizona backpacking expert and they love to be outside too. They are enthusiastic bird watchers and are heading down to Tucson to do some watching so hopefully I will get to see some great pictures soon :).

 I hope we get to see them again soon once this little babe pops out :).

22 Weeks

How far along: 22 weeks
Total weight gain: 13 lbs.
Sleep: My hips suck.
Sickness: Nope
Cravings: cheese, salt, chicken wings, hummus
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind, anything too sweet.
General Symptoms: General stretching pains but nothing terrible.
Miss anything: Red meat and sandwiches and seafood
Maternity Clothes: Just the same jeans and tops I got a few weeks ago for my birthday
Movement: Quite a bit! It's the most around lunch and at night. I love feeling the baby in there :). Max has also finally been able to feel it. Which was so amazing.
Gender Prediction: Boy. While we didn't find out the sex at the 20 week ultrasound, the nurse found the gender and confirmed it was doing well pretty quickly so I have a feeling it's a boy now :)

Names I like at the moment:
Girl: Claire, Olivia, Alice, Eloise (Ellie)
Boy: Jack, Edward (Ed, Eddie), Milo, Nathan (Nate), Ethan

The baby is now the size of a papaya. It's facial features are now more prominent and it's sleeping in regular cycles. Maybe this will continue after it's born, huh, huh, huh ;-). Some how I doubt it.

Thanksgiving Weekend

So I know this is a bit late but I had to wait for some free time to get all the pictures together :).

Thanksgiving weekend was amazing but such a blur! I am from the Bay Area in CA; which is where all my family is currently. Max and I trade which family we spend the holiday with each year, so this year is Thanksgiving with my family in CA and Christmas with his family in AZ.

I was nervous to fly on the plane, not because something was going to happen to the baby but more worried about me! Was I going to have to get up and pee every 5 minutes; was it going to feel weird, was there going be a lot of pressure. But sure enough it was no different than a normal flight. It's also only 2hrs so it couldn't be that bad anyway :).

We landed Wednesday night and had dinner with the family. After that my mom and I started in on the pies, we are the pie ladies in the family. While it may suck to get off the sofa to make them we always have a good time talking and laughing while we bake.

Thursday was awesome per usual. We watched the parade, ate appetizers, watched some football and of course cooked delicious food. Between dinner and dessert we all got around the table for a re-match of Munchkin. Even though this game mysteriously took twice as long as the first Pat still ended up winning. Clearly he is rigging the game ;-).

Now since Black Friday is basically the spawn of Satan I stayed home and watched tv and hung out with the family. However, my mom had to work a 10hr shift! Which totally sucked but we got to hang out later. We of course watched the ASU v. Arizona football game; I'd rather not talk bout it. Boo. The lucky baby clearly feel asleep on the job.

Saturday was a huge day! It marked the 1/2 way point in the pregnancy, 20 weeks, it was my 25th birthday, and it was the fist baby shower for all the CA people who can't travel to AZ! It was a big day :). My sister Katie did an AMAZING job on the shower. She had so many cute decorations and actually really fun games. It was really nice to get to see some family friends and my best friend Katy (yes this has always been confusing).

Auntie Katie!

The girl cake! It was chocolate chocolate chip and the boy one was Pecan.

I guessed most of them right haha

20 Week Ultrasound

Today was our 20 week ultrasound! This is the ultrasound where they do all the anatomy checking. And where you can find out the sex if you want.

Max and I decided to keep the sex a surprise! Sorry everyone you will have to buy us all gender neutral items. Let the predicting begin!

We saw all 10 fingers and toes, two strong legs, and two cute arms. The head and brain are in good shape, thank god. And the heartbeat is at 140, nice and strong. Both kidneys are there and the bladder and stomach are looking great too.

The baby is now just under a pound! Getting bigger each day.

All in all this little baby is doing great in there! It's nice too now that I haven't failed as a mom already :).

Now for the fun part. Pictures!


Torso, leg, and foot. The head didn't make it in the picture, little creepy :)

Face, leg, foot, and hand. Look all 5 fingers! :)

Face, torso, arm, and hand.

20 Weeks

How far along: 20 weeks
Total weight gain: 10 lbs
Sleep: This is not getting any easier. My hips KILL me in the morning.
Sickness: Into the second trimester so all is good :)
Cravings: cheese, salt, chicken wings, hummus
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind, anything too sweet.
General Symptoms: General stretching pains but nothing terrible.
Miss anything: Red meat and sandwhiches
Maternity Clothes: The soon to be grandparents couldn't let a present opportunity like my birthday go by without buying me some cute new maternity clothes. So I have 3 pairs of pants (jeans, red and black skinny jeans) and 7 tops. And the best nursing bra from Target.
Movement: Quite a bit! I love feeling the baby moving around in there. It is stronger and stronger each day. I can tell it's getting bigger because it started first lower near my groin and now its up around my belly button :)
Gender Prediction: Girl. Our 20 week ultrasound was today where we could find out the sex if we wanted but we decided to keep it a surprise!

Names I like at the moment:
Girl: Claire, Olivia, Alice, Eloise (Ellie), Hailey, Lynn, Amelia
Boy: Jack, Edward (Ed, Eddie), Eric, Milo, Nathan (Nate), Ethan

The baby is now the size of a banana. It is now gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid a day! This seems too crazy.

Surviving the First Trimester

So now that I am nicely settled into the second trimester I thought I would give all the first trimester mommies some tips on how to survive this "special" time.

So pull up a chair, grab a barf bag, and read on!

1.  Morning sickness is not ONLY in the morning: I am sure you have heard this 100 times but it is so true. The only times I ever felt sick was immediately upon arrival home after work. Needless to say Max was not too pleased by this. The only times I got to talk to him during the work week was filled with the constant fear that I might throw up all over him. So be prepared to feel sick at any time. Know where the bathrooms are and maybe bring barf bags with you just in case. But don't stress about it too much, this too shall pass.
2. You will be exhausted at all times: I'm not talking about you might feel like a short cat nap but more like you may fall asleep at any moment and your plate full of dinner looks as comfy as your pillow. Ladies this is real; don't pretend like you can still stay out until 1AM partying. You will be lucky to survive the car ride home from work. So stay safe out there and go to sleep whenever you feel like it. You will need your rest once this nugget pops out.
   
   
   
3. Your boobs will try to kill you: This is no joke, I thought, "Duh. They are stretching just like everything else but it can't be that bad". This now makes me laugh like a 60 year old woman watching all the 20 something's wrangle their kids. It will hurt so bad that you will turn into a Gollum like creature screaming "Not my precious!" while covering your boob whenever anything/anyone gets too close. This is perfectly ok. The only thing I can suggest is a slightly tight bra that also fits the new size of the girls comfortably. This will protect your boobs and those dagger like things they call nipples from the outside world.
   
4. You will have to pee constantly: This is NOT only in the third trimester like others will have you believe. Starting like 3 hrs after you find out your body will kick into baby mode and you will be in the bathroom more often than any human should be. Don't get too excited, this isn't because you have an awesome ahead of the curve baby and it's already pushing on your bladder, this is because your body is starting to make the amniotic fluid which means you are creating more blood and other things that produces waste and thus you pee...a lot. So stay hydrated and learn to love your porcelain thrown.
   
5. Get comfortable with farting in front of those you love: This sounds weird but is very true. I thought it was just me and kept apologizing to my husband every time; however I learned through other amazing blogs and some www.thebump.com research that this is completely normal. So ladies LET IT RIP :).
   
6. Eat REASONABLY: There are 1001 websites out there that will make you believe if you eat one bite of deli meat your baby will either turn into a mutant creature with gills or you will kill it from Listeria bacteria. Take a breath. As long as you have stopped doing all those drugs and you are leading a decently healthy lifestyle you will be fine. Women have been having children while eating sandwiches, fish, and even drinking wine for generations. So if you hare craving a hot dog, go for it. The first trimester is about survival. Eat whatever you can keep down and skip what you can't. Once you are past the first trimester you can start worrying about eating vegetables and fruit like it's your job. You will be so hungry anyway that anything will sound delicious.
   
7. Love thy partner: Show your partner in baby crime some love. While they are not going through the special hell, I mean wonderful beautiful experience, that you are going through they are going through their own version. While you are constantly throwing up, they are holding your hair and kissing you. You get to fall asleep (while uncontrollably) at 5:01 after work they are cleaning up dinner, maybe off your face, feeding the dogs/other kids, etc. So show them how much you appreciate it. Say thank you as much as you can, offer to help during your non puking and awake hours. Talk about their day rather than the uncomfortable gross things that are happening to you.
   
   
   
   
   
   Stay strong ladies. The second trimester is close and I promise it gets better. You will be able to feel your baby move in a few months, which makes all this so worth it :).

18 Weeks

How far along: 18 weeks
Total weight gain: 7 lbs
Sleep: This is not getting any easier. My hips still hurt in the morning and the dreams are still crazy.
Sickness: Into the second trimester so all is good :)
Cravings: cheese, salt, chicken wings
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind, anything too sweet.
General Symptoms: General stretching pains and still feeling that tingling in my rib cage every once in a while. No this it not the baby, he/she isn't that high in my belly yet :)
Miss anything: Red meat and sandwhiches
Maternity Clothes: still just the nursing bra from Target.
Movement: Thought I felt the nugget once last week but it's so hard to tell. Can't wait until it's big enough to really feel :). *UPDATE* One day after this post (so on 11/16/14) I felt the baby move quite a bit! It was kicking me on my left side. It doesn't hurt since it's so small but it's amazing to feel. Can't wait until it's a little stronger for Max to feel :)
Gender Prediction: Girl

Names I like at the moment:
Girl: Claire, Olivia, Alice, Eloise (Ellie), Hailey, Lynn, Amelia
Boy: Jack, Edward (Ed, Eddie), Eric, Milo, Nathan (Nate), Ethan

The baby is now the size of a sweet potato. Just in time for Thanksgiving :). The nugget can now hiccup, swallow, and yawn. But we're ahead of the game because we saw it yawn on our 12 week ultrasound!

The Kelly's Come to Visit

The last few weeks have been a world wind of family and I love it, even if my bank account might not ;-).

Last weekend my sister and her husband came to visit from SF. Her husband, Pat, got here on Tuesday so he could go on a man backpacking excursion with Max. To say they had a blast would be understating it. Here are a few pictures from their adventures.

Picture compliments of Max Wilson

Friday they were home and my sister, Katie, had arrived. It was pretty late so we just stayed up playing what is quite possibly the greatest card game ever created...Munchkin. Pat won, we can chalk that up to either beginners luck or the fact that he was a guest in our home ;-).

Saturday was the big event, Notre Dame v. ASU. Max and I didn't go to the game since it was just too expensive, but Katie and Pat went tailgating and Pat got a ticket to the game. The lucky baby worked again. We got the win! Thank you lucky baby!

That night Pat and Katie spent the night getting the ASU gang back together and celebrating. My pregnant sleepy self couldn't quite pull it together to enjoy the festivities but I was celebrating in spirit...and with closed eyes in my bed :).

It was so nice to see some family and get this nugget some CA love :). Miss these guys already and can't wait to see everyone again for Thanksgiving/Baby Shower/My birthday. Wow a lot is happening the last weekend of NOV so watch out for those posts :)

Picture compliments of Katie Kelly

Dad Comes to Visit

This past weekend my dad drove all the way from the Bay Area in CA for a short visit and it was so nice to have some of my family around.

Besides just coming to see me, which of course was his main priority ;-), he also was on a mission to deliver us a reclining chair. My parents bought all new living room furniture and I jokingly said, "I would love to have that red reclining chair for the nursery!" A few weeks later I got a phone call from my dad saying he was going to load up the chair and bring it down and what weekend would work best for us. After realizing there was no stopping him, and getting the chair was a pretty awesome deal, we picked out a weekend.

We also thought that if he was going to be here during football season, which my dad and I are completely in to, we might as well go to an ASU game (my alma mater of course). So all three of us (4 if you count the bump) jumped onto the light rail and went down to Tempe.

On our way to the game on the light rail. Go Devils!

Of course my dad spared very little expense so we were in row 27 almost on the 50 yard line. It was awesome.

The game was epic!!! By the end we were tied and it went into overtime.

Note: The way overtime works is whoever goes first gets possession on the 25 yard line. They have one set of downs to score, either with a field goal or touch down. The second team then gets possession on the same 25 yard line and has a chance to match or do better than the other team. So if the first team gets a field goal then the second team has to get a touch down to win.

We held Utah to only a field goal. We were sure they were going to make it since they have one the best kickers I have ever seen. This meant we had to get a touch down to win. By some miracle the kicker misses! But apparently the Utah coach called a time out first and the kick was void. So after the time out they set up again and the kicker misses again!!! At this point I am jumping up and down and don't even care how much that hurts. So now it's our turn. A field goal wins it. On 4th down we set up for the kick...

THE KICK IS GOOD. WE WIN!!!! 

On our way home after the win

I guess this is a lucky baby :)

16 Weeks

How far along: 16 weeks
Total weight gain: 5 lbs
Sleep: Still having crazy pregnancy dreams; like super crazy.
Sickness: Into the second trimester so all is good :)
Cravings: SALT
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind, anything too sweet.
General Symptoms: General stretching pains especially around my rob cage area
Miss anything: Red meat
Maternity Clothes: still just the nursing bra from Target.
Movement: none yet!
Gender Prediction: Girl

Names I like at the moment:
Girl: Claire, Olivia, Alice, Eloise (Ellie), Hailey, Lynn, Amelia
Boy: Jack, Edward (Ed, Eddie), Eric, Milo, Nathan (Nate)

The baby is now the size of an avocado...mmm delicious :). It now has eyebrows and eyelashes. It can also hear my voice and will recognize it at birth. That's amazing. I should start feeling it move soon too.

From: www.thebump.com

14 Weeks

How far along: 14 weeks
Total weight gain: 4 lbs
Sleep: Everything hurts. I have to lay on my left side so my left hip and shoulder are always throbbing when I wake up. And I'm having crazy pregnancy dreams; like super crazy.
Sickness: Into the second trimester so all is good :)
Cravings: Anything salty and chicken wings.
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind, anything too sweet.
General Symptoms: General stretching pains.
Miss anything: Roast beef and salami sandwiches. Medium rare steak
Maternity Clothes: Nursing bra from target. Best bra ever.
Movement: none yet!
Gender Prediction: Girl

Names I like at the moment:
Girl: Claire, Olivia, Alice, Eloise (Ellie), Hailey
Boy: Jack, Edward (Ed, Eddie), Gavin, Eric

The baby is the size of a lemon! Apparently it can make a lot of facial expressions now like squinting and frowning. Our baby is going to be so charismatic :)

Nursery Planning

So since I am a huge nerd and love to plan ahead I went straight to my favorite site: www.floorplanner.com.  I took all the measurements of what will be the nursery and built an amazing floor plan to help me plan where everything is going to go.

We are fortunate enough to be able to get a lot of the major baby items as hammy downs from family and friends. We are beyond amazed and grateful for everything we are getting. But since things are trickling in at different times I had to come up with our nursery layout and plan relatively quickly.

Below are some pictures of how the room is laid out currently. Right now it is my sewing/crochet room. I had this girl cave for all of 5 months, but o well I guess the trade off is pretty great ;-).

This is my sewing table and the green table is the table I cut my fabric on. The green table will have to leave us as it doesn't fit anymore and the new rocker or recliner will take it's place.

This is the bookcase that houses all of my sewing stuff and the closet is behind the ironing board.

This is the TV stand. We are turning this into the baby's "dresser". All the stuff that is in there now will go out to the family room and it will get some nice new white storage bins and house clothes, toys, shoes, diapers, etc.

Now here is the BEST part, the handy dandy floor plan. Really guys this site is amazing. Since our rental house didn't grow and extra room I still had to figure out how to keep my sewing stuff in there as well, which was quite the task.

I decided to put the table the sewing machine sits on in the closet because that allows it to be put away and out out of sight as well as keeps it away from tiny hands :). And since it has accordion doors I can just open them up and sit right there to work without having to move anything. The bookcase is too tall for the closet since there is a shelf in there so I am hoping to screw some doors to it so I can at least close it off and keep all the pointy pins, scissors, and things away

More to come on the girl cave to nursery transformation as things come together!

12 Week Ultrasound

We had our 12 week ultrasound! The baby is starting to look like a real baby, check it out!

We also got to see it move! It opened and closed it's hands, wiggled it's feet, and even turned around. I couldn't feel any of it but it was amazing to see. The heart beat was also really good and fast, which the old wives tales say means it's a boy. Though we still feel like it's a girl. It was so amazing to finally see a real baby in there with all the features you would expect instead of a small white bean :).

12 Weeks

*My hair is finally getting long enough to pin back. Next you might see a baby half pony to go with the baby bump :)

How far along: 12 weeks
Total weight gain: 3 lbs
Sleep: Still generally uncomfortable with lots of tossing and turning and it's only getting worse :(
Sickness: No up chuck! I survived the 1st trimester without throwing up. Mark that down as win #1 in parenting :)
Cravings: Anything salty and chicken wings, lots and lots of chicken wings.
Make me queasy: Yogurt of any kind.
General Symptoms: General stretching pains.
Miss anything: Roast beef and salami sandwiches. Medium rare steak
Maternity Clothes: None yet. But watch for some tutorials how to sew your own. Got to save money for that baby!
Movement: none yet!
Gender Prediction: Girl

Names I like at the moment:
Girl: Claire, Olivia, Alice, Eloise (Ellie), Hailey
Boy: Jack, Edward (Ed, Eddie), Gavin

The baby is the size of a plum! I love plums :). It's also developing it's reflexes so if I poke my belly it will likely react and move! I can't wait to start feeling that.

From: www.thebump.com