Almost done...kinda scary!

Hey all -
Just thought I'd update you on the last couple appointments I had. I had the Group B Strep test done 2 weeks ago and got the negative results back - so that's nice to know, and I won't have to be hooked up to antibiotics during labor (for this anyways!). Other than that, the last couple appts have gone very smooth. My blood pressure continues to be very steady and in the excellent range (thanks mom!). Froggie's heartbeat hasn't waivered at all either - still very strong and healthy. I'm still measuring right on the weeks, so no major weight changes to worry about. OK, now the non-doctor stuff...things haven't really started to change drastically yet, so I'm still trying to get everything done before its too late...or nesting as some people call it. I'm not just cleaning/organizing though, so I'll just call it, over-doing it! I got my living room carpets cleaned last weekend and Sandy helped me with the mini-blinds and windows in the house. That was a huge bonus, since they have been driving me nutz for the last 6 months! I finally started to wash all the blankets and clothes this weekend - I didn't want to do it too early and then they start to smell dusty again! So I have 1 load left of the blankets and the comforter for the crib, then I should be all done, until the flood of stuff comes in after Froggie gets here. My mom and I went shopping this weekend and got lots of goodies for Froggie. I was missing a couple things that I needed to have (or so that's my excuse). We still didn't find the changing table and a glider for upstairs, but I have a couple weeks left and we'll probably just have to order them online so I can get something that will fit in the tiny room. Physically, I'm starting to swell like a balloon. Its just in my feet and ankles, which makes it really hard and uncomfortable to do much when I get home, since I just want to sit with my feet up in the air. Isaac has been so awesome, I got a foot and back rub last night. He said that I had a 'hard day of spending his money' so I deserved it :) I love that guy!! I think he is getting himself prepared to be my caretaker for a couple days, and its less terrifying if he volunteers for it, than me having to ask/tell him what I need!Well, I think that is all I have for now. I have another appt on Wednesday of this week, and if anything changes I'll let you all know!Until then, stay cool - I know I'm going to try like crap!
Oh, here are a couple pictures for you to have a good laugh! Isaac and I were going rounds with the comments...at least you can get a good picture of my belly!

First mistake: asking Isaac to take pictures for me...I was telling him, above the waist!

Not sure what he said, but I was trying not to laugh...

Then he tells me to 'Shut up and SMILE' - is that good enough for you dear??

Isaac telling me that I'm a super tard, and to smile right!

(no, I'm not having a contraction!)

And finally, me telling him to 'screw off' :)

32 weeks and still growing!

Good Morning!

I have a few updates for everyone. Things have started to pick up in the last week or two and more changes are coming!

First, the good news - I had my first 2 week appointment yesterday. My blood pressure is excellent still and Froggie is measuring right on at 32.5 cm. The heart beat is still right around 150, so for those of you that think that means something, give it your best guess! Also, last time at my appointment, I had the glucose test (drinking a bottle of really crappy stuff...or at least I thought it was!). The results from that were good. My glucose was at 99 and everything else looked right on, but she wanted me to make sure that I have a little more iron. It was .10 off of the minimum she likes to see. So I have to find stuff that iron is actually in! I know the green veggies and red meat, but I don't eat red meat and always forget to have broccoli and green lettuce. But I'm working on it!

Also, in the last couple weeks, Froggie has gone completely mobile, and likes to beat up my inners! :) I know there is a growth spurt coming, or came, so that's most likely the reason that I can all the sudden feel lots of movement, but its just weird how it went from very few movements to lots all the time! This weekend, Isaac and some friends got to see my belly actually get all contorted and feel the beatings. Isaac couldn't believe that it actually moved like that all the time, but he is so facinated with it now, that he keeps feeling my belly! I think it really started to sink in after that feeling, because he had only been able to feel it one other time and it was still pretty lite.

This weekend, I had the first shower for Froggie. There were alot of awesome gifts that are going to be very useful. Sandy, my mother-in-law, put this one on for family at her house. She had a few fun games and great food. She did a great job and I can't thank her enough. And I have to tell you about Isaac's favorite gift - Grandma Rena was able to make a blanket for Froggie!!! Isaac and all the grandkids have a blanket (quilt) made by Grandma Rena and now that Froggie has one, he is just so excited! The blanket is beautiful, its a light green, almost teal, with patches of dogs and horses, and other animal heads. There is a picture of it at the bottom.

We will also be having a shower for my side of the family (hopefully) when my aunt Pam comes up for a few weeks. We'll be heading down to central Iowa and spending the day with family to hopefully get to see everyone. Then I think we'll have a get-together after Froggie is born, so we can have everyone else come and see.

Finally, the newest thing was yesterday, we got a crib!! We had it shipped to my mom's house and it arrived yesterday. Mom & Kim brought it to the house last night and we unpacked it. Its a nice honey color, but Isaac has a small job of putting it together! I don't think it will be too hard, but he looked at all the hardware and wondered how long this was going to take!! As soon as we have it up and all the bedding on it, I'll get some pictures on here so you can see it! It will look better in the nursery than the play pin. That will be downstairs anyways.

Well, I think that is about it for now. I have another appointment in 2 weeks and after Isaac gets the crib assembled, I'll post some pics. So you'll want to check back a little more regular now that things are starting to pick up! OK, that's assuming that I keep my butt on track and add stuff! I promise I'll try harder!

Here are some pics of the shower and the blanket!

Here is Grandma Rena's blanket!

People at the shower

Sandy & Amber starting the games

Rachel thoroughly enjoying the diaper game!

Froggie's coming home outfit and the hooded Froggie towel!!

The winner of the best wrapped gift from the Kanasas gang!

Me in all my glory, the best belly picture so far.

Our Bumbo chair - thanks Adam (& Jen!!)

Yes, my mother always gets my best side! Thanks mom!

Nursey is done!

Hi all!

Here are some pictures of the newly painted nursery. We went with the same green as in my kitchen and a lighter tan & white. I think it makes the room a lot more bright. I'm glad we used the white trim too, it would have been really dark otherwise. I've also got some of our goodies stashed away in the room. In one of the pictures, you can see the froggie theme! It was unintentional, but as soon as 'Grandma-to-be' saw the little froggies, she just had to get it! I'm so glad she did - it matches perfect and the blanket & bumper are so soft! Now we are on to creating registries & looking for a crib. I think I've found a nice one, but I just have to find the best price! For those that are wondering, we have created a few registries (all are accessible online too) at Target, JC Penny's, Babies-R-Us, & Wal-Mart.

I know the room is pretty small, but we should be able to get all the essentials in there (crib, changing table, dresser, chair). The rest of the stuff will be scattered around the house, I assume, or we can also use the little landing that's right outside the room. I'm getting the fifth degree from 'a couple people' about putting the dresser in the wall (because the closet goes the length of the room), so next time I post some pictures, it might look a little different!

I've also put on a few pounds, or it feels like it anyways...I have my next appt next week, so I'll let you know how that goes - I have the diabetes test and another test, so hopefully that goes well.

As for updates on Isaac, he is the best man in the world. I told him that I wanted to go and pick up some retaining wall blocks this weekend and then we can work at replacing the blocks around our deck. So we came back Saturday with a trailer full of blocks (yes, it was a little over loaded!), and we just dinked around a little on Saturday with it. Then I got home Monday after work, and the entire front side of the wall was done! He only had about 10 feet left to go, which he finished up after his planning & zoning meeting. I'm telling you all - he is the best husband in the world! I was so shocked at the change, I was speechless - and all he said was 'happy birthday' :) Man, I'm so spoiled!

Well, that's been the fun and excitment around Maurice for the last couple weeks. I'm getting more sore, tired, and larger and Isaac is loving being able to be outside finally and doing some projects, and the girls are just getting spoiled being outside all day and able to lay around in the grass while we work outside!

I hope your spring is going as well as ours is going so far!

25 weeks and growing!

Wow - its been a while and things are starting to change! I had my monthly appointment last week and all is well. My blood pressure is still good, Froggie's heart rate is still good, and the dr measured my belly this time for the first time. I'm around 24 cm and I still don't know what that means, but she didn't seem worried! I get to have the joy next month of taking the GD test, so I get to chug the sweet red liquid that she gave me, and get my blood drawn again. So I suppose that no new news is good news...right!?

As for the other changes, well, I'm finally showing a bit, and I did gain 10 pounds finally. Not that I'm really excited to add more weight to my already over extended skin, but it was nice to see that there was something growing inside, and its getting bigger! I'm still not into maternity clothes yet, and I'm not sure if I'll ever wear the pants, but I do like the occassional larger shirts and the dresses will come with the heat!

The even better news is that I finally started to feel Froggie move! I know, it should have happened a long time ago, but since we found out the placenta is in the front, I never thought much about it and quit trying to stress over it. Well one night I was just laying around (like usual) and I just thought, what if...and I pressed on my lower belly and woo hoo!! I felt something that I'd never felt before, so at that point I tried to feel it again to make sure I wasn't imagining it, and it took a little bit, but I did feel something again. So at that time I just assumed it was Froggie, becuase I'd never felt anything like that before, so what else could it be! Now that I know what I'm feeling, I feel it all the time...when I eat too much, when I'm hungry, when my pants are too tight, etc...Froggie is letting me know what's up - so they really do start running your lives at an early stage! Isaac hasn't felt Froggie yet, but I blame that on his really rough hands and they aren't very sensitive to the small movements, so he'll just have to wait until they are stronger and possibly even visible.

Enough about me, now for the fun stuff! I was able to get some baby stuff over Easter!! I stopped at my Grams house and she gave me a pack-n-play, and stroller, and a baby car seat!! I was able to get it home and set it up in the nursery room (that isn't finished, but is cleaned out!!). The pack-n-play is awesome! It is exactly what I'd been looking to buy, with the bassinet and changing table all built in, so we can leave it set up in the living room. Thanks Grams! The car seat has the base so I don't have to fiddle with anything but a latch and go. I just got all the pads and cushions off this last week and got them washed and all cleaned (oh yeah, with my new washer! - sorry had to through that in there). Now they are all ready and waiting for Froggie to come so we can start to use them.

OK, I have to tell you about my new washer! We just got it last week, because my old one pooped out, and we went to find the water pump but no one carries parts anymore. So for being down a week and not wanting to wait another week, Isaac said I could buy it!! We ended up at Lowe's after a couple other stores and they had started the 10% off for Enegry Star, 100% pedistal rebate, and another % for the weekend sale!! So it was really good deal, and I couldn't pass it up, but it was probably the most expensive washer water pump you'll ever come home with! So all last weekend and this weekend, I've been doing laundry and sanitizing the dog stuff and playing with the steam features. I just can't believe how bad of a job my old one did, and how good the clean stuff now smells!!

And the final new stuff is that we started to paint the nursery room!! Mom came over Saturday, while it was crappy outside and we couldn't do anything else, and we started painting! We started priming the trim, which was pink, and we put green on two walls. Its the same green as my kitchen (for those that know what that is), and now I have to get a lighter beige for the other two walls and a darker color for the trim. When I figure out what I'd like, it'll only take a couple more hours and it'll be done!! Ooo, ooo, ooo, and then the shopping begins!! Ok, so I've started doing some online shoping, but I haven't bought anything, just created registries, and I'm using them as shopping lists! So I can go back to them when I'm ready and see what all I should buy (and don't neccessarily need, but want! :))

As for things not baby related - Isaac has been a machine this spring with yard work. He's aerated the yard, spread seed, and fertilized. All this after he thatched and bagged the entire yard! He's a machine, I'm telling ya! He's slowed down a bit at the shop with the really nice weather (farmers are back in the fields), but with the rain this week, its picking up and things are getting dropped off at the door to be fixed! This is baby related, but we did finally agree on 2 names, boy and girl. We have time to think of others, but we both like Cooper and Kendra. Depending on what we have, the middle names will be 'D' or 'Dee' but we still are in discussions about it. He wants the boy to be Lee, which I want to use, but for the 2nd child. I want the first one, boy or girl, to be D. So we'll see what happens. I do like the fact that either name can go with either middle name!

Well, I think that's about it for now, I'm getting tired and Froggie is saying its time to eat something and go to bed. Oh, here is a picture of me now that there is a bump...so there, I've taken pics!

OK, I'm going to bed now, I'll talk to you later! Hopefully it won't be this long next time, but you all know better - I'm 'super' good at staying on this stuff! G'Nite!

Our 20 week update

Good Morning all!!
We just had our ultrasound appointment yesterday. We now have an album of pictures of Froggie and I'm only halfway done! While we were there the tech showed us all the parts of the body - except the 1. We could see all the organs and bones and some features of the face. We had the older ultrasound (not the 3D one), so it wasn't near as detailed. We were able to see the brain, spine, feet, fingers, stomach, etc - it all looked really good. She took some good pictures for us of the feet and hands and of the face. I'll put them on the bottom so you can see Froggie.
While we were in there, she had a hard time getting some pictures of certain things or of both hands and feet. I'm telling everyone now - This is Isaac's child! Almost the entire time the baby's feet were moving and kicking me. Froggie also had fun rolling around when she wanted to look at certain things. I had my suspicions after our first ultrasound at 8 weeks and then every month while listening to the heartbeat, we could hear the kicking and punching - but this solidified it that Froggie is going to be just like his father - going nonstop!
For those of you that aren't sure who Froggie is, its the nickname for our baby! Since we don't have a clue if its a boy or girl, I'm not calling the baby 'IT' for the next 5 months - so I told Isaac that I wanted to come up with a nickname. Its a long story, but it has to do with my love for green and needing a unisex name - so I came up with Froggie. Most of you can probably figure out that Isaac isn't too excited about it, but it sounds tons better than saying 'it' :) so that's what we use!
Everything else during the appointment went well - I met with the Dr after the ultrasound and blood pressure & all vitals were good, so onto the next month! I did talk to her about my weird episodes that I've been having. She mentioned something about allergies or it could be a migraine. So we talked about what I had been eating before it started, and what I was doing, and she is starting to think that I may be getting a migraine from something in the food. I asked about my blood sugar or anything else that could be fluctuating, and because its only one side that gets affected at a time, she said that wouldn't cause it. So because the tingling only happens on one side of my body and it doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to what causes it, she wants me to prepare some of the food at home that have caused this reaction. This will let us know if its something in the processed food - like MSG - that is causing it. So I figured we'll have taverns for supper tonight and I can see how the beef settles. I'll keep you posted if it gets better or not - I'm sure if I stay away from all the bad food (which I should be doing anyways!) I'll be just fine.
Well, I suppose that is about it for now - if I think of anything else, I'll let you know! Have a great week!

There's my baby!!

Good laugh

I just wanted to share the good time I had with my physical therapist on Thursday. I ended up making a chiropractor appt right before my therapy appt, to hopefully kick this hip problem in the butt! :)
Well, I went to my therapy appt as scheduled, but when I got there, they didn't have me on the schedule. Since I come from out of town and it was my 1 week check up, they wanted to squeeze me in. I ended up having a different therapist, named Brad. I know him from somewhere, but I can't figure it out...anyways, he went through the same routine as last week of figuring out how bad it was and where exactly it was causing the problems. Which was much improved, to my relief!
We got through the initial stretching and moving my legs, and then he wanted me to walk with my left arm behind my back and my right arm in front of my stomach...talk about weird feeling...but the pressure went away. So he tells me that when I'm having bad pain, this is a way to immediately relieve the pain. GREAT - except for the fact that I'll be walking around the office or the store looking like a complete idoit!
Well, we got passed the looking dumb part and he started on the massage of my hips to loosen the muscle. About half way through the massage, my therapist from last week comes in, so not only is my butt hanging out for the whole hallway to see, I find out that she is a member of our church and works with Isaac's sister...this is getting much better! After the door was finally shut, Brad decides to explain what he's doing. In lamen's terms: massaging my muscles...is what I got. But he was very adament when he explained it. The people at the the therapists office call this kind of treatment 'soft tissue stimulation of the piriformis muscle'...so I just thought: great another thing wrong with me that I can't pronounce and even remember! But then he decided to tell me that he's doing this soft tissue stimulation and I shouldn't confuse it with a 'butt massage' :) I just about fell off the table when he said it! I asked him what the difference was between the two and he told me that what he was doing was the soft tissue stimulation and a butt massage was something that Isaac gets to do!
So for the rest of the appointment, everytime he referred to the piriformis muscle, he made sure to add the disclaimer 'not the butt muscle!'
We both had a lot of good laughs and I did leave with a very relaxed 'butt'!

Week 16 update

Happy Friday! I know I'm glad for the end of this week. Most of you know already that my Grandma Culbertson passed way last week and we had her funeral this week. Which the day was beautiful and everything went very well. Although, at this point, my body doesn't handle traveling very well. I've been having very bad lower back & hip pains, and sitting down for that long of a time, doesnt' help at all.
I did have a check up yesterday though. All went well. My weight has gone up 1 pound, blood pressure is good, and the baby's heart beat is steady at about 150. She found it much easier this time, so I didn't have a mini freak out! I also told her about my back pain and she sent me straight over to physical therapy - oh my gosh, that woman is a miracle worker. I've been to the chiropractor and stretched and all the things they tell you to do - none of it worked. The therapists spent 10 minutes or so rubbing my muscles and moving things in the right spots, and I stood up and had no pain. Too bad I can't see her everyday! She said its not my syatic nerve, which is good, but it is in my hips. I think they just aren't strong or flexible enough (hard to believe, I know!) for all the changes going on.
I have my next appt & the big ultrasound scheduled for March 25th. So we'll have another update then and I can scan my pictures too so you can all see the little one. We aren't going to have any pictures of the privates, because we don't want to spoil the surprise, but we can still see the face and arms/hands! As of right now, I haven't felt anything, but like I said its been one heck of a week. So hopefully I'll get some time to lay down this weekend and just check things out. The dr. told me about where to start looking to feel it. So I'll let you know if I find anything!
Well, I'm fighting a migraine today (didn't eat soon enough) so I'm going to wrap it up and try to relax a bit so I can function. I'll let you know if I have any changes!