30 Weeks



    Wow, time is really flying by. It is hard to believe that I am 30 weeks already, just 10 weeks to go! Part of me wants it to slow down a little, really enjoy it (not that I am not enjoying it, but it is flying by). All you moms out there are going to laugh because I am sure you all know that in about 6 weeks or so I am going to be posting that I am so ready to be done! I feel pretty good. Sleeping is a little more difficult, finding a comfortable spot to sit so my back doesn't ache is a little more difficult, but all very minor things. Even the swelling in my legs is pretty limited to working my 12 hour shifts. I also can't say enough how much I enjoy feeling her moving! Those kicks, rolls and jabs are just so much fun!

  I had my 30 week appointment on Friday and although I have like all the nurse practitioners and doctors I have seen, I really like this Dr. Krause. He was really kind and told me what to expect in the coming weeks and why. For instance, everyone says "you need to feel 10 fetal movements in 2 hours or you should call the doctor." That has always made me a

little nervous because she is not a real active baby. What he said was that I should feel her move at least 10 times in 2 hrs once a day and mostly in her active time. The reason being is the further along you get the older the placenta gets (especially after 36 weeks). He said even if you have an appointment the next day at 8am, just give us a call if something doesn't seem right. I would hate to have someone wait too long and not find the heartbeat. The once nice thing is that we do have an at home doppler so I can check if I get nervous and it does really put me at ease. The doctor said right now things look really good. My weight gain is on track, although it feels like a lot to me (I have gained 20lbs so far). The average weight gain is 25-35lbs for pregnancy....now lets just hope I can lose it fairly easily! He also said my blood pressures are running great and the baby's heartbeat sounds fantastic. I am down to going every two weeks now!

  It is funny the things that get harder to do with a bigger belly. Shaving my legs, while do-able, is a bit trickier these days. Clipping my toenails is out of the question so it looks like I will be getting a pedicure in the near future. Work is still going pretty good, it is the bending over that gets me more than anything, but I am still doing my 12 hour shifts.

 I am really looking forward to my showers in the next couple of weeks. I am so blessed to have wonderful sister-in-laws and friends who will be throwing me showers. I also have some amazing work friend who will be throwing me a shower in July. I am certainly blessed (and so is this little girl) to have all this love and support.



My girlfriends Erika and Maija who are throwing my shower



  One of my friend's throwing the shower is experiencing some infertility treatment of her own at the same clinic. At this point, it is unexplained, but I hope for her that she doesn't have to go through all of the steps that I had to. Although worth it in the end, it is very hard, emotional journey to take so I hope and pray it is quick for her.     





My Friend Stephanie Madson

   I also have a friend who I have talked about before here. She is current undergoing her last round of  chemo and will be undergoing a stem cell transplant to try and rid her of her Hodgkin's lymphoma. In addition to all of that, she got some devastating news that this stem cell transplant, while it can do wonders for her cancer treatment, had a great risk of infertility. Not the kind of news you need in addition to all the other things she is going through. I know her and her husband will be wonderful parents whether through conceiving on their own or adopting, but I do hope she has the chance to carry a child of her own. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. She is a strong woman and there is no doubt she can get through all this, but it is a lot for a person handle and she deserves a break! We have been friends for a long time and although we lost touch through the years due to distance, that facebook has a way of getting people back in touch and I am so glad it did. Here is a picture to enjoy of us in kindergarten!





3rd Trimester!

At 28 weeks I have officially made it to my 3rd trimester. I had my 28 week appointment a little early (at 27 weeks) because they had to get the glucose screening test done. I wasn't that nervous, but with my mom having gestational diabetes with my brother, I knew there was a chance I could have it to. Luckily I passed so it is not an issue. My blood level was just slightly lower than they like to see it (hgb was 10.8 they like it 11 or greater), but they were not concerned and I don't need any supplements. My grandma asked me if it felt like it was going slow. I actually feel like it has gone very fast. I am trying to savor every moment since I am sure this will be my only pregnancy. I am trying to take in all those sweet baby kicks and rolls and even the comments "when are you due?", or "look at that cute belly." However, every week that goes by is just another week she is safer if she did happen to come early, so for that fact it is very comforting. Sleeping has become a little more difficult (I know, can you believe it? even for me!) only because I have to lay on my side and the pressure after a few hours tends to hurt and I have to flip. Oh and there is that little thing of having to get every few hours to pee, but for the most part it is just fine. I was even still rocking the mini heels yesterday! I had some minor cramping the other day in my lower abdomen that made me slightly nervous, but when I called they told me to drink more water and that it was probably just my uterus stretching. I laid down and had some water and low and behold they went away. I have been lucky to not have that round ligament pain that you read about so any kind of pulling/cramping is new for me and scared me a little. Like I said though, although it would not be ideal if she came out, I can breath a little easier knowing that she could do okay. However, little Paityn....STAY IN THERE!

  I spent some time at my friend Maija's house yesterday with her and her girls. We had a lot of fun hanging out in the sun. She also gave me a car load of things to bring home including a boppy, swing, and bouncy seat. I know I have said it before, but I am so blessed she is letting us borrow all of her stuff. We are saving a TON of money. We also hit up another just between friends sale in Elk River. She found some fun things for her girls and I found the below items (of course with super mom's recommendations):

I got all this stuff for $16.00 - not bad!

  I was at target the other day looking for a gift for our friend's Scott and Julie who are expecting girl number 2 any day now (literally just got a text after I wrote this sentence, little girl is born and is 9lbs 11oz!!!! Woooo Hooo). I have really been trying not buy any clothes because this little girls already has a ton of stuff.



That is just the closet. Not to mention I know she will get more stuff for her showers and I have a TON of clothes from Maija, but I just couldn't pass this outfit up. How cute is that skirt? It even has white undies underneath the skirt.



Seriously, could you pass it up?

   We also got the NEW and unbroken dresser that we bought. We are really happy with it. We just need the changing pad to do on top of it (of course we registered for it :) ) Also below I will put some pictures of the lamp that I mentioned in another post. I still need to get the orange ribbon on it and it will actually go on the nightstand, not the dresser. We will have to do a little room organizing since the window and the closet take up so much space, but everything should fit and hopefully look halfway decent. I don't have any artwork up yet, but my lovely girlfriends are going to help me with that soon. We are going to have a craft day!!!

 With mother's day coming up I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful mom and mother-in-law. There is so much love and support from the two of them! Last mother's day it was a very real possibility that I may never be a mom. This mother's day I am so overjoyed that I am pregnant and Brian and I will get to raise this little girl. For all those who are still experiencing infertility, it is long, trying journey filled with heartbreak. But hold your head high, because in the end, all those tears will be worth it!

What's in a name

  My friend, who is an avid reader of blogs, suggested that I do a post on how we came up with our daughter's name. Unfortunately, being a nurse,  a lot of names I correlate with patients I may have taken care of (most of them being a negative correlation). Brian liked a lot more names than I did and I spent the majority of the time shooting down his ideas.

  We were lucky enough to have some phone apps and a name book to search through names. Most people are surprised when I tell them that we have already come up with name, but once we found out what we were having, Brian wanted a name we could start calling the baby by. Some people are very adamant that a baby may not "look" like the name and to wait. I personally think a lot of babies look similar and don't really grow into their "look" until further along so that has never been something that has concerned us.

  Both Brian and I were never "set" on a name we had always wanted (well I guess that is a lie, I was set on the middle name) for a boy or girl so we just started throwing out ideas. Brian came up with the name Peyton for a boy. I told him I didn't like it for a boy, but for a girl I did. Brian didn't care if it was a boy or girl name, he just liked it. The more I started to think about the name the more I started to fall in love with it. Once we saw some of the meanings behind it, I was sold! From day one the embryologist called this baby a fighter and to give it a chance. With only one two-celled embryo, I knew if this baby took it was going to be a fighter. Depending on what app or book you look at, the name Payton comes from either "fighter's farm", or "from the warrior's village." How perfect!!!!

  There are three ways I have seen Payton spelled and, of course, we are going to spell it the least common of the three. PEYTON is often the spelling used for boys. PAYTON is the most common female spelling. PAITYN is another way to spell it and, to me, it is the feminine especially with it being a gender neutral name. People always warn you about spelling a name differently. They say "you will never find a cup with her name on it, etc." So many things can be personalized these days it doesn't even bother me. You can make a case with even the most popular names: Sara, Sarah, Katie, Kate, Katy, etc. I will tell her to not get mad if people spell it wrong, it her mom's fault :)

  The middle name I have touched on before. My great grandmother's name was MAE. I feel so blessed to have been able to enjoy 21 years with her. She died when she was 96 and was one of the most wonderful women I have ever met. Not only that, but my grandmother, mother, and myself all have the middle name of MAE. I told my great grandma before she died that if I had a girl, her middle name would be MAE also. I am so excited to carry on a such a meaningful name and can't wait to tell Paityn about her great great grandmother.

 So with is all decided, our little fighter daughter will be named:     

PAITYN MAE HIME

Baby kicks

   It is such an awesome feeling to feel that little girl inside of me moving and kicking. I know some people have babies that are always moving around and , at times, can get annoyed. My little girl is pretty mellow. There are times I can go most of the day and only feel her move a little. I have noticed that when I am working nights I feel her way more than I do when I am up and home during the day. I think I am going to be in trouble!!! :) Although I have felt her move and kick inside and with my hand no one else has seemed to catch her. I was so happy that today daddy got to feel her move and kick! He has seen my belly move and "maybe felt" something, but this time he knew what he was feeling! I can't tell where she is laying in me, but I know she tends to hang out with limbs that kick me on the upper right side and lower abdomen. Again, I just can't get over what a neat and wonderful feeling it is!

   I must have finally reached the stage where it is very clear that I am pregnant. My co-workers have commented lately that I have "popped" as you can now see my bump through the scrubs. In fact, some scrubs are getting quite snug. Today at the grocery store the clerk took one look at me and told me this must be the pregnant aisle today. She then proceeded to ask me what I was having, the name, etc. Brian's grandma has been very sick and in the hospital for about 3 weeks now, but every time I walk in she perks up and loves to rub my belly. It is so sweet, she was so excited to find out it is a little girl!

  My girlfriends send out my baby shower invitations this week. They are so adorable I can barely stand it. I took a pic with my cell phone and with the lighting it does not do it justice, but here it is:

  The invite says I am registered at babies r us, but we haven't gotten that far yet. Brian and I hope to register there this weekend and if we have time Target also, but that may have to wait for another day. My mom and I did pick up a few cute items at the just between friends sale in Andover. Tomorrow is the Maple Grove one and I still have my eye out for a pack and play. I guess this sale is about 5x larger than the Andover one so I hope to find some good stuff!

 

Holy weight gain batman!



If the sign isn't obvious enough, 24 weeks!

  I had my 24 week (well I am actually 24 weeks, 4 days) appointment today. The first few appointments I didn't gain any weight, as I didn't have an appetite until around 16-18 weeks. Since 20 weeks, I have had quite an appetite. I am not eating for two....(lets face it, I don't want to look like Jessica Simpson!) but I am eating a little more than what I did before I was pregnant. I gained 7 pounds in 5 weeks! Yikes! I asked the nurse practitioner if I need to be more careful about what I eat, but she said I was probably just catching up since I didn't gain any for the first trimester. They are more focused on the total weight gain - wanting to keep people between 25-35lbs. I haven't had any food cravings where I am like "I need to have it," but I have been eating a ton of strawberries. If you are person who loves strawberries, they are really good right now! I also have had a sweet tooth. I like sweets, but have always preferred salty snacks. When I told my best friend about my love for sweets she was shocked saying "that is so unlike you!" She is happy though because she is sweet tooth herself (love ya Erika).

  Brian and I were on the hunt this weekend for a dresser/changing table combo. It amazes me how expensive they are and how cheaply they are made! We checked on a really cute dresser at HOM furniture that was on sale for $559. The problem was you could just feel by the way the drawers slide that it is not that great of quality. For a dresser that price, there should be no issues! We did end up finding a cute, white dresser at babies-r-us that was recently put on sale. They had just dropped the price $100.00 to $478.00 (I also feel that is really expensive), but we were lucky enough to score a 20% coupon, which made it a pretty good deal. The dresser is made of walnut and the drawers have ball bearings. We had to drive from Roseville to Maple Grove to get it. Once there, it almost didn't fit into the truck. I was so excited to get it in the room, but when Brian pulled out a drawer, the wood was all cracked and broken. Long story short, we had to order one and will have to pay a $80.00 delivery fee. At least they will take the broken one and I can inspect the new one before they leave and make sure it is okay.

 We have almost all the "big" purchases done for the room. The last "big" bedroom purchase will be the mattress. My friends have picked out a shower date and were working on invitations so I will have to get my butt in gear and think about registering within the next few weeks. Brian and I will go register together and he can scan all the items (our neighbor says that is the best part). After the initial register,  I am going to go back with my friend Maija, aka super mom, and she is going to help me make sure I have the things I "really" need on there :) It is so nice to have someone who knows and can help!

  A lot of moms have told me about Just between friends or JBF. JBF is a consignment store that has a bunch of gently used/new baby and kid stuff. They are having a Blaine/Andover sale this week and I am going to take my mom. I will probably wait and see what I still need after my showers and then go to some sales this summer (also, garage sales are coming up!), but my mom is looking for a pack and play for their house so that is our mission.

  Lastly, both Brian's cousins had their babies recently. Lauren had her little boy, Max in the beginning of March and Ashley just had baby Aubrey on April 9th. Little Max is so adorable! I have been able to see him twice since he has been born and just can't get enough of him. He is a really good baby. I am really looking forward to seeing Ashley and baby Aubrey this Wednesday. I have seen pictures (and she is really cute), but haven't seen her in person yet. I am also excited to hear how Ashley's labor went. Here is a picture of the two of them I stole off Lauren's facebook:

The Room



  We have been busy working on our little girl's room. We bought the crib before we knew what we were having because we knew we were going to go with white furniture. Once we found out it was a girl, it didin't take long for us to have the bedding all picked out. I had narrowed some bedding down for each a boy or girl before we found out so it was easy to pick once we knew. For those of you who don't know me very well, I LOVE elephants. I knew I was going to do an elephant theme!!! We got a great deal on ebay which included a few extras (the mobile, rug, lightswitch plate, and some wall decals).





   Brian was really excited to paint the room. Unfortunately, the pictures don't show the color well, but we matched the yellow of the bedding as the paint color. He did a fantastic job! We are going to accent the walls with the pinks, whites, and oranges that are also in the bedding. My friends have been busy thinking of artwork ideas! We still need to purchace a dresser/changing table combo. My friend is loaning us her very comfortable rocker, and my mom is going to try and repurpose a small nightstand that my grandfather made. I found a really cute lamp at Home Goods that has a white base and the shade the pink of the bedding. There is a white ribbon around the top andI am going to glue a smaller orange, bright ribbon around the center of the white ribbon for added color.

  Remember that great deal I told you we got on the travel system in the last blog? Here are the pictures:                  

        

     I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE feeling our little girl move. Some days she moves more than others, but the days she is really active is so fun. I feel her most of the time when I am laying down. I can feel her moving around and occasionally a kick or two. Brian has not yet been able to feel her, but I hope he will get to soon!



It's a GIRL!

 I have been meaning to write in this blog a few weeks ago, but got busy with work. Brian and I had a very exciting week! On Tuesday, Brian and I had our ultrasound and doctors appointment. I am not going to lie, I was a little nervous for the ultrasound. I just wanted so bad for this baby to be healthy. The baby was laying head down with the feet to my left side. The ultrasound tech was able to see right away that I have an anterior placenta laying on my right. Most people's placentas form toward the back of the uterus. There is nothing wrong with having an anterior placenta, it is just slightly less common. The only thing that hey said was I may not feeling the baby moving "as much" because there is extra "cushion" there. We got to see views of the babies legs, arms, kidneys, heart, spine, brain, etc. It was a little hard to see the profile because the face was down, but we did get to see a slightly blurry look at her nose, mouth, eyes, etc. We have a super cute picture of just one little foot that she was able to capture. The ultrasound tech was able to say that for how far long we are, everything looks as to be expected. The growth of the baby looks good and so does the structure. She asked us if we had any questions for her. We did ask a few and then said, as long as the baby is healthy, we were wondering if you could see what it is. Luckily our little lady was cooperating. She was able to tell us right away that it was a little girl. I had a few tears run down my eyes. We did not care what the baby was, as long as they were healthy. There are fun sides to both boy and girl, so we are just ecstatic! I know Brian is hoping she will be a daddy's girl! I am really excited to be able to pass on my middle name. My great-grandmother's name was Mae and she was a the most amazing lady. My grandmother, mother, and my middle name are all Mae so it is really special to be handing it down to this sweet little girl!

 The doctor that we saw was the same lady who sent me to Dr. Corfman. At the time, I did not like her because I though she was giving up hope on me and just handing me off. I left her office that day and cried to my mom that " I am never going to be a mommy." Now, I am so thankful that doctor sent me straight to him! I have gained about 6-7 pounds so far and my uterus is just slightly above my bellybutton and I measured 21cm, which is right on.


  We had to keep the gender secret for a few days, because we were going to do a gender revel party for our parents. A few people were sworn to secrecy, I told my two best friends who have been very involved in this whole process (love you girls) and Brian told his nephew. It was sooooo hard to keep the secret! My parents and Brian's parents came over for dinner on Friday night. My parents had a good idea what was going on, but we were able to surprise Brian's parents. We had a nice dinner and then brought out a cake. Brian and I heard about people doing the surprise cake and putting whatever color the gender is in the middle so when you cut the cake you will see what it is. We were able to take some pictures:



The pink icing!




The family was very happy and excited!



   We had a great time on Friday. I was able to tell my grandma, brother, Brian's sister, and sister-in-law. Everyone was very excited and happy! We feel so blessed it is unbelievable!

   After we found out it was a girl, we took back a few clothes that were more boyish and had a blast picking out some cute girly things at Carters. Luckily we were having a sale because we were a little excited. We also stopped at babies-r-us to return jacket and decided to just browse around. We just so happened to take a peek at the strollers and noticed a chicco travel system that was on clearance. Brian had done some research and decided that he wanted to purchase the chicco brand system. The stroller looked to be in good shape and we enquired about why it was on clearance. Apparently it was floor model, but since they are not a full babies-r-us they are no longer carrying the model so they were getting rid of the floor sample. The stroller/car seat is mostly gray with some pink and we got it for $130.00. The originally price is $330.00!!!! We had no intention of buying a stroller that day, but how can you beat a $200.00 savings???? We were pretty excited!



  Today it came to the point where I had to buy maternity clothes. I have been using the b-band with jeans and a hair binder. Although it had been working it was super uncomfortable! My friend/fashion consultant went with me to motherhood maternity and I was able to get a pair of capris and jeans and about 5 t-shirts/tank tops. I put on my capris on when I got home and oh the comfort! I should be set for awhile now!



  I have started to feel the little girl move around 18 weeks. I have not been very confident about it though as it feels like gas. The night of the ultrasound I was sitting on the couch with Brian and felt three very strong kicks! That was the first time I was SURE it was her moving/kicking. I don't feel her a lot yet, but mostly at night I feel a little movement and it is so amazing! I can't wait until Brian can start to feel some of the kicks!



 Again, I can't say enough how happy and excited we are! We are so lucky and blessed!