For those of you who love belly shots...

Here they are in chronological order My belly shots

So, you're having twins???

Apparently when you're pregnant, people decide that they have the right to comment about your weight, your size, your diet, your birth plans, etc. Everyone has an opinion and more than likely it is different than the woman who is the one actually carrying the child. Very frustrating in my opinion.

I had my fair share of "morning" sickness this pregnancy, so if I wanted to eat Easy Mac for breakfast - because that is the ONLY thing that sounded remotely edible AND would not make me vomit, then I did it.

Being 6 weeks out, I have not gained excessive weight and my doctors are very pleased with my progress. They don't care that I stop at McDonald's for a soft serve cone every chance I get. All they are concerned about is that my Blood Pressure is "phenomenal", my urine is clear of toxins and the baby is growing on schedule. They don't even blink when they look at my stretch marked belly.

At any rate, some people enjoy passing judgement or offering unwelcome advice. Last Monday, a stranger at work came up to me and made the comment of "So, any day now, huh!??!!"

When I gently replied that I had 7 weeks left, she then thought to take the comment one step further and ask "Oh, so you're having twins???" ......................................

............................................

Um, NO, but thanks for making me feel like an even larger whale than I already am.

For your viewing pleasure, I have added a belly shot from that day, wearing the same outfit. I was 33 weeks along.

2 more months!

Time is flying by... Wednesday I have a dr appt and it seems like just yesterday they were sending me off to my glucose tolerance test telling me that hopefully they wouldn't be talking to me until August 6. 3 weeks of sitting on pins and needles has passed... I think it's safe to say that I do NOT have gestational diabetes!!! THANK GOODNESS!!! So here is where I spend most of my time at home now... Our Glider is fantastic! It's by Best Chairs Storytime series. I LOVE IT! It will be great when the bambino arrives. And for all you who care, here is a ~31 week photo of the "the bump".

The early tour of L&D...

Tuesday was our 2nd "Prepared Childbirth Class" The night started off ok, we picked up a burger at burger king (ok, not so healthy but we're out of groceries and I'm knocked up), enjoyed our evening talking about C-sections, Pain Meds and breathing exercises. Robert thoroughly impressed me with how interested he is in childbirth. I'm very proud of him. While other husbands were poking and prodding their wives during the "therapeutic" massage portion of our evening, Robert gave me a great massage and didn't crack one single joke. He is going to be a great labor coach.

After the class ended, we went home and pretty much went to bed. When I got into bed, I was really uncomfortable, like little miss was IN THE WAY. ugh! but just chalked it up to pregnancy and went to sleep. At 2 am I got up for my standard trip to the bathroom (the joys of pregnancy) and was in a lot of pain... no contractions and baby was kicking just fine but my entire upper body had sharp constant pain. My back hurt, my upper abdomen hurt, everything from belly button up hurt. I didn't think it was indigestion because I didn't have a sour stomach or anything and I didn't feel any gas at all, just felt like my entire gut had been wrapped up in a gigantic knot.

I called the on-call nurse and she told me to take some tums and drink something fizzy. I did that, and took a Tylenol and didn't feel great but I was able to fall asleep on the couch. At 5:00 am I rolled over on the couch and HOLYMOTHEROFGOD! I was in INTENSE pain! It was unbearable! I got all sweaty and threw up but I wasn't really nauseated, I think I puked because of the pain. The nurse told me to go to L&D if it didn't subside or get better... so off we went. They strapped me in, baby hated the monitors and kicked at them for hours. My pain subsided from a 10 to probably a 7-8 (9 at times). The nurse gave me some pepcid and out of exhaustion I fell asleep. By the time the Doctor came by my pain was gone (I'm still sore - like someone has been punching me in the gut and back) but she told me that it was probably my gallbladder and there was nothing we could do right now and I just need to be very careful about eating fatty foods (no more whoppers!)

So now I'm home... I feel a little stupid about going to L&D over indigestion but I can honestly say that I have NEVER been in that much pain in my entire life. And... the dr didn't make me feel stupid at all - in fact she told me that when she was pregnant, she went in after she had accidentally peed on herself thinking her water broke and she is an OB!!!

Also, I feel very "ready" for labor now. I kept telling myself that at least with contractions, there is some sort of reprieve whereas with this pain, there was NONE. It was persistant pain for essentially 6 hours straight. I am proud of myself for handling it as calmly as I did. I used to go a little (Ok, a lot) hysterical when I had a lot of pain (especially when I was younger suffering menstrual cramps). But I breathed through it and managed to stay calm. There were times I started feeling like I was out of control but Robert helped remind me to breathe and calm down.

Of course upon us returning home from the hospital (after a braless visit to Costco - I can't believe I actually did that!), I googled "Gallbladder and pregnancy" - and found this quote "I thought that I was dying. It hurts as much as childbirth, but unlike contractions, the pain doesn't go away," I kept telling Robert that while we were in the hospital... I'm glad someone else who had gone through this felt the same way... If I can handle that, I can handle giving birth!

29 weeks!

I seriously cannot believe that I'm already 29 weeks along! This was taken on Friday night when we got home from our friend's birthday dinner.

Portland Baby Shower

My trip to Portland was EXHAUSTING but so much fun. Thursday was a little rough starting - Atlanta Airport basically shut down for 4 hours and I ended up missing my flight and going back home and starting over. Friday mom picked me up from the airport and we bought a few groceries, picked up my friend Erik from the train station and headed home. We probably had about 40 people show up and visit. As you can see everyone had a nice time sitting and relaxing with one another. It was great to see everyone but I think next time I go home, I wouldn't mind just having one on one visits with our friends.

Kids jumping on trampoline Eleanor, Some lady I can't remember, Vicki and Eleanor's Brother Dexter, Harvey, Jeff - sitting, relaxing on the deck

My friend/coworker Erik came down from Seattle to visit. While he was here, he did so much work! It was so appreciated and he ended up "manning the grill". It was funny though, a huge 24 pack of HUGE hot dogs got left out and my mom's two dogs got a hold of them. The next day they had the worst food hangover EVER.

Saturday was BUSY! We dropped Erik off at the train station, then Laurel, Mary and I went to go get pedicures at Spa-La-La in Portland. Afterwards we had lunch at the Old Wives Tale. After lunch Laurel and I hung out and went to some cute consignment shops around Portland. I bought some VERY cute items for our baby girl to wear next year. I can't wait to see her in them!

Later that afternoon, My roommate from college (Meaghan) drove up from Klamath Falls Saturday evening. We ended up going to Rock Creek Tavern . I really missed the beer while I was there :( It was great to catch up with her!

Sunday - My friends Mary and Lauren threw me an awesome baby shower! It was more than I could have ever asked for. Baby Girl received a TON of clothes and in all different sizes so we should be set for a VERY long time. I haven't had a chance to take pictures of some of my favorite items (I will do that in the next few days). Here are a few pictures from the shower.

Laurel made this cute quilt for us! I especially love it because it's made of a soft flannel and it's USABLE - meaning I will be able wash it and lay the baby on it. I love quilts but usually don't see a use for when they are so pretty you can't actually use them.

This picture cracks me up because no one is paying attention...HILARIOUS Becca and I Beaverton Bakery Cupcakes and a cute cute diaper cake!

My belly went on a growth spurt between the time I wen to bed on Friday night and the time I woke up on Saturday.

Mary, Donna, Laurel, Me, Meaghan - the "bouquet" is made of onesies and baby socks

My lovely hostesses Lauren and Mary - Thank you girls so much!!!

See that huge belly? I was 28 weeks!

This is such a great picture of Mike and his daughter Grace. This is Lauren's hubby and baby. This is why we bought the Nikon - I LOVE this picture! Everyone enjoying themselves

After the shower we went to my mom's friend's house to visit a while. Their dog Libby likes to smile - but only at people she likes - apparently she REALLY likes Becca!
On Monday I got to FINALLY see my friend LaRina and her new baby girl Samantha. She's such a sweet sweet baby. I think this is the first time ever that my hair is actually longer than LaRina's! WOW!!! I really like this picture. It makes my hair look like I spent hours with a curling iron but this is all "natural" - with the exception of a quick flat iron to my bangs. I love my hair dresser!!! My mom is SOOOOOO ready to be a grandma!!! She put Samantha to sleep immediately and she slept in our arms for nearly 2 hours!

Easy Mac to the Rescue!

According to the "Nest" - I am 29 weeks today - (28 weeks, 4 days to be exact) and I have been sick. I woke up this morning with a sour stomach, gagged a little and was "ok". I was ok until got to work and ended up puking everything I ate this morning (glass of milk and a nutrigrain bar). And FYI - Sour Stomach + Milk = curdled milk vomit :D So - I ate Easy Mac at 10 am... Lovely - I'm reverting back to my 1st Trimester ways when I ate Easy Mac for breakfast and lived off of cottage cheese. Hey, maybe that means I can convince Robert to get Soft Taco Supremes for dinner tonight!??!! I haven't updated in a while, I promise to update more tonight. But for a sneak preview of my shower... Here is a very cute picture of my sister copping a feel of the baby belly.

2 Years!!!

Monday, June 23, 2008 Robert and I celebrated two years of wedded bliss. Well - actually we celebrated on Sunday and Monday was spent at home doing the 'norm'. Sunday we went to Bridgestreet for dinner at Dolce - they have half off entrees on Sundays, you can't beat that. Before dinner we went and saw "Don't Mess with the Zohan" - it was a stupid funny movie but enjoyable. We decided that we'll be taking in a lot of movies this summer - it's nice and cool and something ol' preggers can totally do!

After dinner we walked around the shopping center and headed home. All in all it was a great evening! It seems we have started our own tradition of me being knocked up for our anniversary. Last year I was about 6 weeks pregnant for our anniversary. However I think the tradition may have to be broken for next year - I couldn't imagine being pregnant AND having a 8-month old - then again, I would like to have children somewhat close together so we'll just have to see what 2009 brings us.

For all of you enjoying the ever-growing belly - here's a belly shot from Sunday evening when we got home - 25 weeks pregnant

Yes, baby, I feel you...

Last Saturday, (May 31, 2008) it happened! I felt my first kick from the outside!!! Robert and I had rented the movie "27 Dresses" and were having a relaxing movie night at home and the baby started moving around. I gently pressed into the area where I felt flutters and ::crickets:: NOTHING, NADA, ZIP. Baby stopped. Well since I had nothing else better to do, I waited, and waited and FINALLY I felt 2 or 3 really prominent, KICKS from the outside. I tried to have Robert feel but he couldn't feel any of the kicks against his hand.

Since then the kicks have become much more frequent and predominant - so COOL!!! The baby weighs about 1 pound now and is about 11 inches long!!!

Last night I think the baby was practing its back flip while I settled down into bed... Robert had already fell asleep and therefore missed out on the kicks again. I am hoping tonight we can find a time to lay down and get the baby going and hopefully he can share this great experience. It's just sooo cool!

Banana = 10.5 inches long

And this week is "Banana" week.

Here's what the nest says this week

"Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch."

If the baby is developing taste buds now, that means that my baby is going to eat Lucky Charms morning, noon and night (and all the times in between). Monday during our weekly grocery shopping excursion I had a craving... yes, one of those stereotypical commercial type pregnancy cravings where a pregnant woman has this INSANE NEED for some crazy food and she MUST HAVE IT NOW... and that craving was none other but LUCKY CHARMS cereal. I don't feel too bad about it because, after all, it's Whole Grain, Vitamin Fortified and Magically Delicious.

I've mentioned this before, but I am constantly amazed how my taste buds have reverted 22 years to that of a Five Year old! I can some how justify that fish sticks and tater tots is a healthy and adequate meal for Robert and I. I barely eat my way through a well rounded meal of grilled pork chops, peas and rice, but Easy Mac makes a fantastic breakfast these days.

As long as the baby is growing as it should be and I'm not gaining any excessive weight above the guidelines, then I think the Lucky Charms is providing us all the nutrients we need.

Baby Morgan, I can't wait to meet you in 136 days! I love you already!

Canteloupe Belly Shot

I think I have officially "POPPED" this week. I feel like I look pregnant now. Maybe it's the clothes. I'm 19 weeks, 4 days pregnant.

The receptionist told me I'm "carrying high" today and she thinks "she-devil" could be a boy... we'll find out June 10 huh??!

Here's one of my cute new shirts I bought over the weekend.

And here is a picture wearing a more snug fitting shirt.

Is it a boy or a girl???

From day one this baby has been a handful. Coupled with me being very much a worry wart about EVERY LITTLE THING, it's been quite an eventful pregnancy...even for a pregnancy that hasn't had any complications.

In a previous entry, I wrote about the "emergency" ultrasound we had at 15 weeks, one week prior to the regularly scheduled appt. Well - Yesterday we had another unscheduled Dr appt. I think my dr is going to get sick of me. I certainly did not mean for the appt to happen, it just sort of did...

I called the office to see if there was a chance we could reschedule the "Big" ultrasound since I had a training class that was going to conflict with the appt. While I had the receptionist on the phone I asked her if it was normal to not feel movement for a day or so when I am 19 1/2 weeks along. I wish she would have said "yes" and we would have been on our merry way. But... instead, she wanted me to come in to check the heart sounds. Ok...

Robert and I headed to the Dr's office - only to find that the baby's little ticker was beating beautifully at 155 bpm. But...since we were there, why not just do the big ultrasound that day??? Cool! Now I don't have to miss half a day of training... well our little stinker of a stubborn child was turned funny and would not despite the technician's efforts to TURN the baby, show off it's goods...

Everything looked great, the baby is healthy, measuring right on time, but we are SOOO dissappointed that the "Maybe baby girl" wouldn't let us know for sure if we're on team pink, or team blue. I know I should be joyous about a healthy baby, but man! I really wanted to know for sure. So... because of the way the baby was positioned, the technician couldn't get a good picture of the four heart chambers and we're headed back on June 10 for ANOTHER ultrasound... hopefully this time the baby will cooperate a little better! What a stinker!!!

MANGO

18 weeks 4 days

Crib? Check! Changer? Check!

We were able to check TWO things off our list today!!! I couldn't be happier!!!

I bought the book "Baby Bargains" last week after I had a mini panic attack about the timeline!

Can you believe it! Today is exactly 5 months from my due date! that's not a lot of time! And if you consider that I'm going home in July for my shower, that means that invites need to go out in June - so I need to know where I'm going to register at like yesterday! So far, we signed up online at Babies R Us but I'm still debating Target, even though their new return policy apparently isn't that great.

So anyways, Baby Bargains, has product reviews and suggestions and the crib that I have been wanting had an "A" rating to it and I knew it was on back order, so I went ahead and ordered it today. Along with it, I ordered the changing table. I have a dresser that I am in the process of refinishing and staining to match the wood tones of the new stuff. The furniture came from JC Penny. I hope I like it when it comes in JULY!

This is the changing table. I liked it because it has both open shelves and drawers - for easy access AND organization.

I liked this crib because of the "solid" back and since it converts to a double bed, I thought it looked the best when converted.

Sweet Potato!!!

On http://www.thenestbaby.com/ there is a sizing system the website uses to give you something to compare the baby too using food. We started out with a poppyseed and now have advanced to SWEET Potato! How cute!

So folks, here's the picture of the sweet potato!

We'll have you in and out in 15 minutes or less!!!

Yesterday was our first "standard" pre-natal appt. I hit the 16 week mark (40% done!) on Sunday. Does that mean I'm technically "twice" as pregnant as I was last time? (as if, I'm LEAPS AND BOUNDS ahead this time!)

We got to the Dr's office right on time and they saw me right away. Took my weight - I had gained 2 pounds in a week but considering the amount of CRAP I ate over the weekend combined with actually keeping food in me, I'm not terribly worried about it. I'm still down -10 pounds for the pregnancy. My blood pressure was normal. The nurse brought me into the examination room to listen to the heartbeat

The nurse was trying to find the heartbeat and kept missing it. After what seemed like an eternity waiting to hear those little heartsounds, I told the nurse that I *think* I usually feel the baby in my lower left abdomen. She moved the doppler in that direction and bam! There it was! The heart beat was in the 160's so perfectly healthy and normal. After we heard the heartbeat, the doctor came in and felt around on my belly. He said everything looked perfect, to take it easy and assured me that I can't squish my own baby. (Irrational fear maybe? I don't know - but I have been starting to half way listen to Robert about bending over and what if I break the baby?)

From the time I signed in at the reception desk to the time I jumped off the table was less than 15 minutes total. Gotta love that

I wasn't terribly worried about the heartbeat, but I was worried that I might be losing my mind about feeling the baby. NORMALLY You don't hear of someone feeling movement until around 16-20 weeks, however I have been feeling flutters for about 4 weeks now. But... I kept thinking that maybe it was just my imagination and I was making it up. Heck, for all I know, it could have been indigestion movements, I don't know. However, my fears of insanity quickly vanished after the heartbeat was found exactly where I feel the little tickles.

For the record, I hope this little one is TICKLISH because I am going to tickle the crap out of it when it comes out because all day I feel like I have ants in my pants. In a panic I have felt around for a bug crawling around just to realize it's the baby tickling me from the inside. It's a wonderfully sickening feeling and I can't wait until the movement is more severe and Robert is able to share this amazing feeling with me.

Last Monday's appt, the technician guessed we're having a little girl. I'm getting more and more used to the idea of a little girl (I still don't care either way though if she might have been wrong). And I really do hope it's a girl for my mom's sake - since she has started compiling little girl clothes for the baby. Even I haven't purchased anything for the baby yet! I can't wait until I can though!

Maybe I'll get brave enough to take pictures of my belly soon. I'm still worried it just looks like pudge and not baby belly.

What Honeymoon???

In every pregnancy book and website you read, it always says the Second Trimester (weeks 14-27)is the "honeymoon stage" of your pregnancy. Your morning sickness has subsided, your energy has returned, and you are not feeling the physical annoyances of carrying around a baby (swollen feet + swollen ankles = cankles).

Well, let me ask - when is this "honeymoon" supposed to happen? Because I have been in the 2nd Tri for 2 weeks now and I have never been so sick. My hateful child is probably paying me back because I was telling everyone on Thursday and Friday how much better I was feeling. That soon ended on Sunday.

Sunday started off ok. I got up around 8:30 and ate breakfast. Wheat Chex and 1% milk - something I have ate before and felt fine afterwards. Not Sunday. By 9:15 I was visiting the porcelain throne and seeing my breakfast for a second time. NOT FUN! I brushed my teeth and started on my "spring cleaning" project for the day. It's amazing how pregnancy can minimize how bad puking really is. Usually after a good regurgitation of a once enjoyed meal, one feels awful, looks for sympathy and goes to bed...or at least that is what I used to do until now.

Our bedroom furniture was terribly dusty and needed a good wipe down. I got out the bucket of hot water, added some murphy's oil soap and started cleaning. It was then that I started feeling a little crampy and told Robert about it. He immediately put me on bed rest. So much for finishing the bedroom furniture. The cramps weren't BAD, but they were a little disconcerting. I hadn't felt any cramps since the very early beginning of the pregnancy. I immediately picked up my trusty copy of WTEWYE (for non-preggers people - that stands for "What to Expect When You're Expecting"). No where in the book could I find that cramping in the 2nd Trimester was normal. I visited many message boards, asked pregnant or proud parent friends, frantically googled "2nd Trimester Cramping". And received mixed messages. Some resources said it was ok and normal, others said to call the emergency room. I opted to just stay in bed.

Robert brought me lunch consisting of Easy Mac. (Why is it that when you start growing a child, your palette reverts back to when you were 5 years old? Cravings for PB&J, Pop Tarts, Chicken Nuggets, Mac & Cheese... and the thought of broccoli will make one turn their nose in disgust!) At any rate, I gobbled up the Easy Mac and drank some ice water. 10 minutes later that doomed feeling came over me and once again I got to revisit my once enjoyed meal... CRAP!

I was worried. I was crampy AND sick. This wasn't a normal feeling for someone who is supposed to be on their HONEYMOON!!!

Monday morning I called the doctor. While I had been able to keep a piece of toast and peanut butter down, my cramps were still lingering. The nurse was patient with me and invited me to come in and see the On-Call Doctor at 1:15. Sign me up! With Robert in tow, we headed to the Clinic. I stepped on the scale, surprised to find that I have lost another 4 1/2 pounds (that is a total of 11 pounds lost so far). My blood pressure was "perfect". They gave me another ultrasound to check on those cramps. We got to see our precious hateful child. The baby had it's hands up, clasped together and was probably taking a nap, or was in a starvation coma since I had managed to eat 3 corn bread muffins and a piece of toast in the past 48 hours... Note to self: Eat not for you but for your unborn baby...

The technician told us the baby looked perfect and asked if we wanted to know the sex...Um... is the sky blue??? She told us not to start painting the nursery yet but guessed that we are having a baby GIRL!!! I thought for SURE we were having a BOY but we'll take it either way! It was a relief to see our little girl's heart beating away at 165 bpm.

The doctor came in afterwards and touched on my belly a few times and told me the cramps were probably caused by Round Ligament Pain and there wasn't anything to worry about.

I felt at times I was probably overreacting. No, Scratch that... I WAS overreacting... But...Robert assured me that calling the doctor and going in was not overreacting but playing it safe. It's so nice to know that I have a husband who is so supportive of me and doesn't think I'm too much of a drama queen. I know I am truly lucky!

And for my final words - Welcome Maybe Baby Girl Morgan!!!

Check out those bones!!! Guess that Ice Cream after dinner is paying off!!! (Robert told me that the baby is now too "skinny" and I need to start fattening her up... give it time...)

Isn't she precious? I can't wait to meet our baby in October!