Springtime blooms

Happy spring! It makes me so happy to have warmer weather and sunshine. I was also thrilled this week to see some flowers blooming! It's been fun for me to walk through the new neighborhood and see buds on trees and people out landscaping.

These flowers aren't the only things blooming though...

22 weeks

I'm doing well and excited to finally feel some kicks! They started a couple of weeks ago while I was in surgery. I was closing the incision on a patient when I felt three little kicks in my lower abdomen. It made me jump! I thought at first that it was the patient moving, but then realized it was Miss Peter (our temporary girly name for her). It was so exciting! Now I feel her move several times a day. She seems to get excited right after I eat and at night while I am lying down to go to sleep. Bryce has even been able to feel her move. What a highlight!

The Bump

I had Bryce start taking pictures of my profile at around 14 weeks. It has been fun to see the progression, so I thought I'd share how much I've grown in the past 6 weeks! As of today, I am halfway through this pregnancy.

I've been feeling well overall and am just coping with this constantly growing belly. I'm feeling big already and I know I still have a long way to go. It's becoming a challenge to find outfits that work and I'm venturing out now to buy maternity clothes. Just one of the many joys of pregnancy!

14 weeks

16 weeks

18 weeks

20 weeks

Nursery Progress

This weekend we had both sets of parents and Bryce's sister Jill here to visit and see our new place. We had a great time catching up and trying out some new restaurants in the area.

Sunday afternoon my mother, mother-in-law, and I went for a walk and came back to a fun surprise--the men were assembling the crib! The crib was a gift from Bryce's parents and I have been excited to see it out of the box ever since we got it. The guys did a great job and I'm so happy to have one thing taken care of for the nursery. I now pop my head into the nursery on a daily basis and smile!

Such a good dad already :)

Gene, Bryce, and Steve show off their crib-assembling muscles.
Thanks for your hard work, men!

And it's a...

It's a girl!

Yesterday Bryce and I went to my ultrasound appointment together filled with excitement (and a little nervousness). The tech started from head to toe looking at the baby and taking lots of measurements. The detail of the ultrasound was pretty impressive. We saw the following:

Brain and skull measurements


Profile


Little skeleton head


Tiny little hand that was up by her face the whole time


Four-chambered heart beating at 145bpm






Teeny little foot- can't wait to grab those toes!


Profile with mouth open...likely laughing at us!

From what we could tell, everything looked normal and she measured perfectly for her age of 18 weeks and 2 days. We are so excited (well, Bryce is a normal amount of excited and I am pretty much giddy) that we are having a girl! I just can't wait to start shopping for pink frilly things. I can already envision a future of nail painting, dress-up, baking, shopping...

The Big Move

This past week has been very busy for us! We closed on our new house and started moving in right away. Fortunately, we can take our time moving out of the condo so we have been taking car/truckloads at a time and slowly unpacking, cleaning, and painting.

We have had several deliveries including a new mattress, bed, and living room furniture. The pictures here are of the living room with new furniture and hardwood flooring. More changes to come!


Last Wednesday I had a doctor appointment. I feel relatively normal except for weight gain (probably one of the hardest things for me to get used to in this whole process), and some hip pain. The doctor says everything looks normal so far! She used the doppler to listen to the heartbeat and easily found it ticking away in the 150s. The most exciting thing is that she scheduled our next ultrasound for 2/23. Finally, we can find out if Peter is a he or a she!

Home Sweet Home

Tomorrow afternoon we are scheduled to close on our new house! We are both so excited to move out of our condo and into this house. We've spent the past few weeks picking out new furniture and daydreaming about the changes we'd like to make.

Our spare time now is spent packing boxes at the condo. Starting tomorrow we will be packing, moving, and tearing up tile in preparation for hardwood floors. Although I am anxious to move in and decorate the house, I am most excited about the nursery.

Here is a before shot of the nursery. It will take me several months to reach the final product, but I will be sure to post the "after" pictures.

Pink or Blue?

One of the things that has surprised me the most in this pregnancy is the difference of opinion Bryce and I have on finding out the sex of the baby. I always assumed we'd be in the same boat since we both like to plan and be prepared. So, when I heard Bryce say he wanted to be surprised, I was shocked!

I spent the next several weeks trying to understand his position and convince him that finding out the sex is really a better option. Among my reasons were:
1. Eliminating having to choose a boy or girl name
2. Planning a nursery according to sex
3. Other people like to know (it's one of the first things they ask!)
4. Now I have plenty of time to shop for cute clothes, and obviously I will be busy later on!
5. I wanted to be able to imagine the person I'm growing inside me

...and ultimately:

6. We'll be surprised whether we find out during an ultrasound or in the delivery room!

Bryce left me hanging for awhile and I had many conversations with friends and co-workers about how I could convince him to see things my way. It seemed that most people sided with me, though there were some individuals who had waited to be surprised themselves or saw the excitement in the unknown. I sort of understood, but not really...

A couple of days before Christmas, Bryce and I decided to exchange gifts. As is tradition for him, Bryce handed me my gift wrapped in a pillow case. I pulled out two onesies: one pink and one blue. I asked Bryce what he was trying to tell me with these gifts...
He said "Well, I wanted to be the first one to buy the baby something. We can take back the one we don't need."
"When will that be?" I wondered, trying to see if he would cave.
"Well, we'll probably find out near the end of February, right?"

Yippee! He gave me exactly what I wanted. Of course I was thrilled and jumped around, as is tradition for me. Bryce said that although he still wanted to be surprised, he couldn't make me wait if I really wanted to know. What a guy, huh?

The ultrasound isn't scheduled yet, but we should be able to find out the sex (as long as Peter cooperates) toward the end of February/beginning of March. We'll keep you posted!