3D Ultrasound

Well, as usual Lauryn was lazy and snuggled up to the placenta. She has done that at every ultrasound so far. No matter what tricks the ultrasound tech had to get her to rollover, Lauryn was perfectly comfortable the way she was laying, so we didn't get any full face shots. We will be going back though. We did get these shots:
Lauryn grabbing her foot up by her head.
A hand up by her face, profile shot
Another view of her profile and hand up by her face.

My mom still thinks she looks like Jimmy, lol.

22 weeks

Here is my 22 week belly shot. I am posting my 5 week belly shot for comparison, lol!
22 weeks
5 weeks!

I'm crazy, I know

Well, we finally bought furniture for the nursery! And yep, you guessed it... it was NOT what I posted in my last post, lol. I ended up deciding not to get that set after reading the reviews. There were a lot of complaints. So, I found a new set that had nearly 100 reviews and got a 5 out of 5! And the price was good, too, especially for solid wood. Mom and dad helped out with a large chunk of the cost, so that was awesome. Here is a picture of the crib and changing table we bought:
Changing table (the top fits a changing pad... both the top and the changing pad can be removed so you can use it later as a TV stand or something)
Crib
Crib turned into a toddler bed
Crib turned into a full-size bed. As you can see, it will last her a while!

In other news, the baby has been kicking a lot and we have been watching my stomach move. It's really freaky. I feel like there is an alien in there, lol. It's a neat feeling though and makes it all more real. It's moving so fast! We should get the furniture in next week and then we will start planning to paint the nursery and figure out what curtains to sew (mom is going to sew them).

Lastly, we are getting our first 3d/4d ultrasound on Saturday. We will be getting one later when I am 32 weeks because she will look more like she will when she is born, but the suspense of knowing what she looks like is killing us so I decided to book a 3d/4d scan for Saturday. My brother's girlfriend had it done a few weeks ago when she was 22 weeks and her pictures were awesome. We can't wait!!

I'll be posting a 22 week belly shot later.

Wow

I must first point out that I had this nice post typed out, and then Firefox crashed. Arrghh!

Anyway, I can't believe it has been 10 days since my last blog post. I swear I JUST updated it! That just goes to show how fast time flies. I was telling Jimmy at dinner tonight how it feels like just yesterday that I was 7 weeks pregnant and thinking to myself "man, it will be so cool to be 20 weeks pregnant... I'll be half-way there! But 20 weeks is sooooo far away." and here I am, nearly 22 weeks pregnant. I told Jimmy, "these next 15 to 18 weeks are going to fly by. We pretty much have a baby." I think I freaked him out a little, lol.

Today was such a nice day. It started out lazy. We slept in until 8:00, and then Lauryn (the baby in my belly, lol) and I decided we needed a nap at 9:30. We slept until 11:30. Then Jimmy and I watched TV and played cards (I won). Then I finally got my lazy butt in the shower and we went to the new mall because I needed to get my wedding ring re-sized. My hands and feet have been swelling because of the heat and pregnancy. I was concerned with it at first, but my doctor told me last week that I am fine and need to stop worrying about everything (more on that later). I thought for sure I wouldn't get my ring back for a day or two, but they told us it would only take a couple of hours, so we decided to just eat dinner (it was nearly 5:00) and walk around a little. We went into Pottery Barn Baby for the first time and absolutely fell in love with some crib bedding they had. I was especially in love with it because Jimmy loved it, too. He doesn't like the bedding I had picked out from Land of Nod. So, since this bedding was on special, we decided to buy it (pictures below). It's the first baby item we have bought (aside from a couple outfits) so I am super excited. I am also excited because now we can start decorating the nursery. My mom is going to buy our crib and changing table (pictures below) next week. We just need to get the bed and desk out of the guest room (we are going to use the tall dresser, night stand and the armoire) and pick a paint color. We will be getting the carpet cleaned in October, although it really doesn't need it. We have done a good job of keeping the dogs out of that room... they have yet to pee or poop in there. But my OCD self wants to get the carpet cleaned anyway.

Ok, so about my doctor's appointment. It was a regularly scheduled prenatal visit. I had a couple concerns though... I determined a couple weeks ago that the rib-icking I was feeling so much at night was not rib-kicking at all... it was actually heart fluttering/palpitations that would leave me quite breathless. Since I have had heart issues in the past, I started to really worry. I googled like crazy and found differing opinions... some said heart palpitations in pregnancy are completely normal due to the increased blood supply causing extra demand on the heart... and some said it wasn't normal. So I asked my doctor about it last week and she said as long as it isn't accompanied by chest pain and as along as it doesn't happen a lot then I am fine, but if I became concerned about it she would happily refer me to a cardiologist. It has gotten a lot better because I took it upon myself to cut back on caffeine (which I had been drinking a lot of to keep my headaches at bay). Anyway, I don't see it as a problem right now, but will keep my eye on it.

Lastly, here are some pictures taken with our new camera (except the ones of the crib and changing table... those are from a website, lol):

Bedding. The skirt is on the bottom, sheets in the middle, bumper at the top and quilt on the right.

Close-up of the birdies on the quilt. So cute!


Crib we are getting. It turns into a toddler bed and then a full-sized bed.
Changing table we are getting.

Picture of the art niche in our house taken with our new camera. It's our engagement picture and then below that is a photo thing with a poem and an ultrasound picture of our baby. And then a married couple dancing :o)
And our family room taken with the new camera. The colors are more true than in previous pictures taken with our old camera. We love our new camera!

20 week survey

*Updated to add pictures*

Belly button starting to pop (not that you know what it looked like before, lol) and the faint dark line that is appearing.
Bare belly side view. Compare to my 11 week picture... quite shocking.

I have nothing to write about. Nothing new and exciting is happening. I figure I will start the surveys again (probably every 4 weeks) since I am getting to the point where there will actually be rapid changes. So here it goes.

How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Up 14 lbs. from pre-pregnancy (this sounds like a lot to me, but apparently it is average, so I won't worry too much)
Maternity clothes? Pretty much exclusively now. My neighbor-friend gave me all of her maternity clothes... so much cute stuff!
Sleep: Sleep is good. I haven't had to get up to pee for the past couple of nights, although I have been getting woken up by the baby kicking my ribs (the ticker above is totally true!)
Best moment this week: I guess feeling a firm kick in the ribs. It was weird.
Movement: Lots! I feel the baby about 10 times each day now, sometimes more. I feel her the most at night when I lay on my right side with my knees up. She doesn't like that position apparently... but of course I do it anyway just to feel her move, lol. We can't feel movements from the outside yet, much to Jimmy's dismay.
Food cravings: I usually need one sweet thing each day in the afternoon. Other than that, nothing really.
Gender: Little girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? It's starting to pop out. I will have to take a picture soon. I'm also getting one of those dark lines down the middle of my stomach. It's really light right now, but I know it will get darker.
What I miss: Being able to get off the couch, out of my car, out of bed, etc. with ease. My center of gravity is off and this extra weight is getting to me!
What I am looking forward to: Ordering our baby furniture in a couple weeks! Thank you mommy and daddy!
Weekly Wisdom: If you are going to get stretch marks, cocoa butter won't work (note: no stretch marks yet!)
Milestones: Being HALFWAY THERE!!!!

Letter to baby

Dear Lauryn Irene,

We found out about you 15 weeks ago. That was the best day of my life thus far. I can't explain to anyone the way it felt that morning to learn about you. Other mother's know the joy, and one day I pray you will know, too.

My favorite thing now is when I feel you move in my tummy. I can be doing anything, and when I feel those flutters, it takes my breath away, and I remember what a special gift you are. I can't wait to meet you. I can't wait to be your mother, and to love you unconditionally for the rest of your life. I already know that no one will love you like I love you.

I can't wait to see you with your daddy. I can't wait to see him fall in love with you in a split second and be wrapped around your tiny finger from the first day. He is going to be the best daddy any girl could ever have. You are so lucky to have him as your daddy.

We love you so much already and we are counting down the seconds to when we will meet you for the first time. October seems like so far away, but it gives me plenty of time to make things perfect for your arrival.

Love,
Mommy

Ultrasound Pictures

The ultrasound tech took a bunch of measurements today... the head, belly organs, legs, looked at the blood flow in the belly and umbilical cord... etc. She said everything looked perfect! I was so happy. She also confirmed that we are having a little girl. Here are the pictures we got: