some of the normal daily activities that are becoming more and more difficult as the belly continues to grow outward... !

* getting in and out of the car and not hitting my belly hard on the steering wheel
* turning around to see out the back window when i'm backing up - not so easy to twist around anymore
* washing dishes! the height of the sink is at just the wrong height - it hits me right in the middle of my belly, so i have to either stand on my tiptoes or turn sideways to wash dishes!
* brushing my teeth and leaning over far enough so that i spit in the sink and not on my belly - especially in the mornings when i'm half asleep :)
* getting in and out of public bathroom stalls - why do they leave such little room to get it and close the door?!!

it's all worth it in the end! ...on with the adventure...40 more days!!!

the growing belly

so i guess when you're pregnant you're supposed to document the growth of your belly with pictures. i like to think about it as documenting the growth of the baby, not so much the belly...but since you can't see the baby, the belly shots are all you get (it seems a little less weird that way!).

anyway, for those who are interested, here is a series of the growing baby/belly...i'll post the ones where you don't actually see any skin so it's less graphic...

she has a name!!!

Our sweet little bun in the oven finally has a name! ...well, only a first name so far, but that's a BIG step from none at all! We are still working through a lot of middle name options to choose the right one, but we thought we'd start spreading the word that her name is...





... Sierra ! There you have it! We picked it mostly just because we like it :)
Once she has a middle name, we'll let you know.

...and that was me a week ago - growing and growing...

Move over!

I have loved getting to feel this little girl move around so much! It makes all of this seem all the more real...except still very surreal at the same time.

There has been a definite progression of baby movements - from the first tiny flutters to stronger kicks to stretching and rolling. It's funny because when I haven't felt her move in a little while I will try to encourage a little kicking - drinking something sweet, poking or rubbing the belly, asking her to kick for mommy, etc. It's just all so ironic, because I'm sure one day when she's a toddler she will really be kicking mommy and then I'll have to tell her "no, we don't kick people." ...I hope she doesn't remember all these times in the belly when I've asked her to kick me! ...poor thing will be so confused :)

The way I describe her movements now is almost like she's nudging me saying "hey, move over a little bit...I don't have enough room on this side", as she stretches out some body part and holds it there for a few seconds (distorting the shape of my belly). It's really cute. I'm sure it's getting quite cramped in there! I'm also now experiencing those kicks and movements that actually hurt just a little bit - I can't really figure out what she's doing or why it feels so uncomfortable, but I'm sure it all goes back to the very tight quarters!!

I'm loving it though!! Even as I type, I'm watching this bulge move from one side to the other!

...oh yeah, and she's starting to get the hiccups pretty frequently...poor little thing!!

Here is a picture of the BEAUTIFUL bedding that my mom made!!!!!!!!!!

A sweet surprise

A couple of weeks ago, I had to have the glucose screening at my doctor's appointment. It's routine for everyone at a certain week of pregnancy to see if you have developed Gestational Diabetes. They make you drink this orange sugar drink and then take your blood (and urine) an hour afterwards to see what your glucose levels read. If they are higher than 140, you can to go back for the full 3-hour Glucose Tolerance Test.

Well, my levels were 150 - ugh. The nurse said it was so slightly over that she didn't think I actually had Gestational Diabetes, but that I was required to take the GTT since I was over 140. I was really bummed. I knew that if I had it, I would just have to alter my diet and prick my finger to monitor my blood sugar - which really is not that big of a deal; it's not harmful to the baby if you monitor it well. BUT...it would mean no sugar!!!!!!!! It's not that I even eat that many sweets because the salty stuff has been more of what I've craved. But to not be able to have any at all for 2 months just seemed devestating at the time.

Long story short, I was at the doctor's office for almost 4 hours - had to drink another orange drink and have my blood/urine taken once an hour for 3 hours...and my results are normal!!! I don't have the diabetes!!!! They called me at work on Thursday to give me the good news and I was thrilled :)

...the sweetest surprise...Kyle ordered Tiff's Treats cookies (delivered freshly baked and warm!) and my favorite ice cream to my office that same afternoon for me to celebrate!!! It was scrumptious! ...and he definitely won some points with my co-workers :)

I'm so thankful for a healthy baby, no Gest. Diab., and my sweet and wonderful husband!

let the nesting begin

here's a sneak peak at what our little girl's room is going to look like...

thanks to the grandparents for helping out so much with the furniture, painting and sewing!!!

...now all she needs is a name! gosh, i never thought that part would be so hard...

to be continued...

we took a peek!

at our 22 week appointment we had the "big" ultrasound! it really was amazing to see so many parts of our baby - from the brain, to all 4 heart chambers, to details of the spine...and even a little nose, chin and lips! it was incredible and we are so thankful that everything is developing just as it should be!

before we even started, the first question the sonographer asked was "So, are we going to take a peek today? Do you want to know if you're having a boy or girl?" and our answer was a quick "YES" - we've been dying to find out and hardly patient about it. well, she did the whole 25 minute ultrasound checking all the vital organs and development before taking that peak - so we waited a little longer...

ok, before the big revealing here's a background story...

way back in february, the day we told my parents we were pregnant (we had just found out ourselves less than a week before) we went out to Pei Wei with them for dinner. we were all so excited about the new baby news. after we ate, we did the obvious at an asian restaurant...we opened our fortune cookies and read them outloud for eachother. there's nothing exciting to tell about the fortunes themselves, but you know how on the other side they print lottery numbers and then a chinese character and it's meaning in english...well, we were fascinated by kyle's...take a look...

seriously!!!! we couldn't believe it!!! we all started talking about how this must be a "sign" of what were were going to have. we were laughing about it, when all of a sudden kyle opens his second (yes, he always eats 2) cookie and his eyes get big as he reads the next one...

i know! it was so crazy...none of us could stop laughing and couldn't believe it! so...for the last few months, we have all been dying to find out if the "Pei Wei prophecy" was going to be true or not. kyle kept these and said that he would either show our son one day and then take him to pei wei any time we needed an answer (ok, probably he wouldn't, but you know!) or he would show our daughter one day and tell her never to believe in fortune cookies. we actually think this played into why more than 90% of people we asked thought we were having a boy - we think they were swayed by the fortunes! :)

SO...were the fortune cookies true? ...or not? ...

we're having a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so there you have it...the moral of the story is: do not believe in fortune cookies.

we are soooooo excited!!! there was a little bit of shock, especially for me because i really had a "feeling" we were having a boy. but i LOVE little girls and LOVE this little girl so much already! we are working on names, and hope to have one soon.

here's a recent pic of the growing belly for those who like to see that kind of thing: