Active little guy

Our little guy has been really active the last two weeks. It was such a drastic switch from the week before when he seemed pretty quiet. I think he must have been going through a growth spurt that week and now he's full of energy again. He's been kicking, stretching out, and moving around like crazy. He is big enough now that when he moves he makes my belly pop out and moves around. People at work have even noticed my belly moving as I'm talking to them at times. Quite frequently I see my belly moving out of the corner of my eye, it is just so amazing; I'll sit for hours and just watch him move around. Andy has really enjoyed getting to feel him kicking so hard and see him moving as well. He gets to feel his little boy kick more frequently these days and sometimes it's totally by surprise when we're just sitting reading or watching tv. We can feel him in my belly as well and tell where he is a lot of times, we'll try to guess which body part we call feel and how he's laying.

He's getting taller/longer, I feel him both kicking my sternum and punching near my hip at the same time or punching on my left and right side at the same time. He's up in my ribs these days a lot more and yesterday morning he woke me up with a big kick to the bladder. I'm guessing once he's actually here he'll find lots of other creative ways to wake us up in the mornings. This morning he decided that starting at 3am it was play time and a great time to practice karate moves. So we (the little guy and I) sat by the Christmas tree and watched Juno early this morning.

8 month appointment

I had our 8 month appointment yesterday afternoon. I can't believe we're already at 8 months, only 8+/- weeks left to go. The check up went well, his heart beat sounded nice and strong right around 150 bpm. Our doctor was happy because I've put on a chunk of weight since our last appointment two weeks ago and before then I had been a little on the  lower side. It is ironic because I was kinda shocked when I found out how much I'd put on but I guess it's a good thing. She did say that I'm measuring a bit small, I'm at 30cm and I should be at 32cm. At my last appointment I was 1cm on the small side. So while I am gaining weight I'm still a bit on the small side. She's not really worried about it, but we're going to have an ultrasound at our next appointment in two weeks to check his size and make sure that everything is still growing in the right proportions, check the placenta and find out just how big he is. Everything looked good at our 5 month ultrasound so we're not too worried. She said that I may just be measuring small because I am small and we may be having a smaller baby, or because of the way he is laying. However, she wants to keep an eye on him and make sure all is still as it should be.

Other than that the appointment went well, and we'll get to see another ultrasound of our little guy in two weeks! I'm really glad that we have a doctor we are so comfortable with. It was really easy talking to her about all the different questions that we have as they come up.

The Av's

We’ve gotten to go to a few Av’s games lately and we’ve had such a great time! Andy’s company has two sets of season tickets and we’ve been lucky enough to get tickets to a few different games lately. One pair of tickets are glass seats which were awesome, I’ve never sat that close at an Av’s game before but the action is right there in front of you! The other pair of tickets is club level which is really nice as well; you get a great view of the ice no matter where they are playing. Sunday’s game was incredible, so exciting, and they really played well and pulled off a great win! We also picked up a cute Av’s hat for our little guy; it’ll probably be too big for him for a while, but it’s really cute and was fun to get a little something for him, it’s shaped like a hockey helmet. Of course he'll be an Av's fan like him mom and dad.

We’ve always had a great time getting to go watch the Av’s play. They are such a great team, especially this season, and we love getting to watch live sports together. This year it has been especially nice. We haven’t been going out as much while we’re trying to save for our little one. So it’s been an extra special treat and a great date night out. We’ve also been going out and getting coffee on our way home and just talking for a while. It’s been really nice to just sit and spend some time together talking. Sunday after the game after getting some coffee we went by the judicial building to look at this years lights. We loved getting out and spending some quality time together! Andy is my best friend and I love that we get to share our lives together.

30 weeks

I went to the doctor yesterday for my 30 week appointment and everything still looks good. His heart beat was at 150 which is a bit slower than at our last appointment when it was at 153, our doctor said it was perfect and sounded great. When she first started to check things out during my appointment she said 'can you believe that you're already at 30 weeks?' Nope, no I can't actually. We are 3/4 of the way there, or as Andy puts it .75 or 75%. She said that I'm measuring a bit small but it's not anything to be worried about and that it's probably just because I'm small and I might be having a smaller baby. I think I was around 6.5 lbs and Andy was 8lbs 6oz so we'll see where our little guy lands. I'm hoping more towards my birth weight but still on the very healthy side.

On babycenter.com it says that this week his eyesight is continuing to develop, although there's not much to see now and his sight isn't very keen yet. Also when he's born his eyesight will only be 20/400, so he'll only be able to see things that are a few inches from his face. (He must have gotten that eyesight from my side of the family). But his eye's will get strong as times goes on and his eyes strengthen.

I realize that I haven't posted any belly shots for quite a while and there is a lot of growth that has occurred since the last ones. The first one is at 27 weeks then the next is at 28 weeks or 7months and the last one is at around 30 weeks at the baby shower.

Christmas Tree

Over the weekend we had planned on going and getting a real tree to set up like we've done every year since we've been together. We got up early Sunday morning and headed out to go get a tree in the snow, we decided on our way that if we got a real tree the snow on it would melt all over the house for the next few days. We were excited to get our tree put up so we went the American way and got a fake tree. I actually like it, it looks nice and is much less of a mess. Andy was really excited about what the rock star job we did decorating our tree this year. The ornaments are ones we've collected over the last few years together. We started out with just some really cheep balls and it's grown. Although there are a number of glass ones that I think we will have to be put away after this year it exchange for some more kid friendly ones. 

Andy brought back the baby ornament  from Crested Butte when he had to go for work back in September. It's adorable, and the perfect addition to our tree this year!

Christmas is a bit odd this year. It feels different for some reason to us. We're still excited for it, we had a great time getting the tree set up and decorated. We've enjoyed listening to Christmas music and we're looking forward to going and looking at lights once it's not quite so cold out. But this year Christmas is a holiday that we need to get through and then we can just focus on being excited for our little guy. We have this amazing event that is going to happen shortly after Christmas that will change our lives! We are really looking forward to getting to meet our little guy and have him be part of our family. After Christmas we'll have about a month and a half left.  This year with out a doubt the most amazing gift is that God has blessed us with a little baby boy and he is healthy and developing and growing just as he should be. We will get to 'open' our gift a bit later this year, however it will be worth the wait. God's timing is always perfect.

Little Pultorak Baby Shower

We had a fabulous baby shower sat! Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated little baby Pultorak with me. And big thanks to Shannon, Mom(Grandma Pultorak) and Becca(Aunt Becca) for all of your help in putting together a great shower. It was really great to see so many good friends and family, and get to spend some time relaxing and having a good laugh together! We had a delicious spread of brunch foods, which at lest for me hit the spot.


I was skeptical of baby shower games at first mostly because the most popular one seems to be guess how big the mom is, which doesn't seem like that much fun to me, however we had some good games that provided lots of laughs. The matching what size fruit or vegetable he was when certain millstones in development occurred caused a lot of discussion. What type of cantaloupe was it, because they do vary is size or squash vs eggplant, which is bigger. Then the guess what type of chocolate candy is melted in the diaper. They looked so realistic it was scary! However Sharon knows her chocolate, even melted and in a diaper, no matter how grouse it looked.


Thank you a ton for all of the lovely and generous gifts! Andy and I really appreciate it. Baby Pultorak is getting well prepared for and pampered. I will take a picture of his nursery soon and post it so everyone can see how it's coming along. So far so good though! Thanks again for a great shower to everyone who was a part of it, I had a really lovely day.

Yoga & Tap Dancing

I’ve been taking a prenatal yoga class at the rec center since September and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve always wanted to try it out but just never did it. When we found out I was pregnant we decided that now would be a great time to go for it. They say yoga is really good during pregnancy, both for momma and for growing baby, so that was my motivation to finally sign up for a class. It’s just once a week for an hour but its great, it’s really relaxing, and good stretching and excercise. It also helps with those aches and pains of pregnancy. It’s been great to get to know some other mom’s-to-be in our area as well and connect with them. They also have a postnatal class I'm planning on going to after our little one is here. I look forward to yoga every week, I really missed it last week when we didn’t have class because of Thanksgiving. I think our little guy likes it as well, at the end of class when we do our few minutes of relaxation time he always starts kicking and moving around a ton. I love it.

Also, it being at a rec center there are all sorts of different classes in the surrounding rooms. There is a little kid’s tap dancing class next door that is right in the middle of our yoga class. It only lasts about 20 minutes or so but it’s hilarious. Right now they are mostly learning to walk in a circle in time with each other. How adorable must that class be.

Firsts

 

His first toy, from Grandma Pultorak! Every kid ought to have the classic stacking ring set. Grandma Pultorak surprised us one day and dropped off his first toy and a cute little outfit for him with puppy dogs on it. It was such a fun surprise, and it's great to have started his toy collection. The monkey is his first stuffed animal. I found it on Amazon a few months ago and loved it. I've looked at it tons and finally gave in and ordered it, it came in the mail last week and it's perfect for our little guy. I love his big ears and little grin! I'm thinking those big ears are going to get sucked on and the tail pulled around quite a bit but our little guy. The nursery still has decorating to be done but I love these two additions!

Here is his first little guy newborn outfit. The day after we found out we're having a boy Andy called me up at work and suggested that we meet for lunch to go get our little boy something. It was such a great idea and fun way to do something for our little boy and celebrate finding out. We were both so excited for him, it was so much fun to go take a look at all the cute little boy cloths and imagine our little guy in them! We picked out this outfit for him which we're thinking may be his coming home outfit. It has little monkey's on it and on the bananna it says 'Gone Bananas'.

7 month appointment

We are at 28weeks or 7months! I had my 28week appointment today which included my gluclose test and I also met with Dr. Russell. The gluclose test went fine, the stuff I had to drink was grose but not as bad as I had made it out to be in my mind. It tasted like really flat orange soda with lots of extra syrup and it has to sit there for an hour before I can drink anything including water. So I was glad that they got my blood drawn in time so I won't have to do it again.

I met Dr.Russell today, who is one of the other Doctors in the practice who may be on call for our delivery, and she was great. She is really nice and laid back. She made me feel very relaxed and comfortable and even though I had never met her before I felt really at ease talking to her about everything. She took plenty of time to talk over things with me as well and is very supportive of the type of delivery we'd like which is comforting. I would feel totally happy having either her or our regular doctor there to deliver our baby, they really do have the same personality and mind set on things.

She said that my blood pressure looked great and my weight gain and the babies growth are both right on track with where they should be. His heart rate was at 150 today and she could feel where he was as she pushed on my stomach. At our last appointment at 24weeks he was even kicking as our doctor was getting his heart rate, which was 156 then. From now on we start going in for appointments every two weeks! Can't believe how close we really are.

I'm so thankful that our little guy is doing so well and so far it's been a health pregnancy! God really has blessed us in so many ways.

Our Eggplant- How far we've come in 10 weeks

We are at 27 weeks; almost 7months. I was reading online this week that he weighs about 2lbs, and is about 14.5” long. In terms of fruit or vegetable he’s now the size of an eggplant this week. His lungs and immune system are maturing and his brain tissue and neurons are all developing at rapid pace this week. His brain waves are now firing away just like those of a newborn baby.

One of the websites said he's grown a great deal by this week compared to 10 weeks ago. So I was thinking back to about 10 weeks ago and it seems like a lot has changed since then! First of all our baby and my belly are a lot bigger! He's twice the length and about 6 times as heavy as he was at 16 weeks. At 16 weeks I had just started feeling faint movements every now and again. I had to be paying attention to it to be sure that it was actually our little guy moving and not just my stomach digesting. Now I’m feeling full on kicks punches rolls and all sorts of movements all throughout the day. Andy can feel all sorts of his movements now as well which is amazing! I love when we get to feel him move together. There's just something really special about that. Back at 16 weeks my cravings were starting to switch from the early pregnancy healthy cravings of tons of OJ, salads, and fruit to cookies and other sweets. Now my cravings are starting to change again but back to the healthier side now. Today for lunch I just had to have a big salad for some reason. In week 16 his ears were moving to the right location on his head, now his ears are fully formed and he’s able to hear us! 10 weeks ago we still weren’t sure if we’d be having a boy or girl. Now we know for sure we’re having a little boy! We’ve done a lot more preparing for his arrival as well, we've been trying to become more educated with classes and more reading, and we've been working on getting his nursery prepared with the gear he'll need.

It amazes me how much has changed in only 10weeks! We can’t wait to meet our little guy and live life with him as part of our family. I’m sure those first 10 weeks will be like our world has been turned upside down. What a wonderful rollercoaster ride it will be!

Under 100

I just realized that we've past the 100 day mark! Our counter on our blog shows that we have just 94 days left (plus or minus a few). I can't believe it, time seems to just be flying by! When we first found out that I was pregnant we both thought that 9 months was a long time and it'd go by really slowly. However, it has actually gone fairly quickly. With the holiday's coming up as well it feels like it will all of the sudden it will be February before we know it. Although I'm guessing the last little bit will seem to go slower as we're waiting day by day for our little guy to come.

We went to our first ‘Prepared Childbirth’ class at Sky Ridge wed night. We really enjoyed it; it was great to get to see where we’ll be having our baby and pretty exciting. The class seems really inforational so far and I'm sure we'll learn a lot more in the next few weeks. She showed us some diagrams of the body pre pregnancy and then another at around 7 or 8 months. It's no wonder that there are more trips to the bathroom and more tumms consumed to help indigestion. All the organs are all squished to almost nothing to make room for the baby. We also learned that the uterus is the strongest muscle in the female body! The instructor put the average amount of weight recommended to gain during pregnancy into a backpack and had some of the husbands try it on to see how hard it was to bend over etc with that extra weight up front. They all seems pretty surprised.

The hospital seems really nice and we've heard a lot of good things about it from others who have delivered there. We go on a hospital tour during our 3rd class. We're looking forward to getting to see the maternity ward and rooms etc. I'm hoping being somewhat familiar with the rooms and area will take away some stress when we go in during labor.

Little Monster in Me

I actually saw our litte guy move last week! It was amazing. I was laying in bed reading and he starting kicking. I thought his kicks felt a bit different for some reaso;. I looked down at my belly and all of the sudden with his next kick there was a littl bumb that came out of my belly. It was incredible. I got to see his little foot kicking my belly out of the way. I called Andy to come in and see but of couse he had stopped kicking by that point. Andy was in disbelief that I could actually see his kicks. We sat and watched my belly for a bit to see if we could catch him doing it again but no luck. We also tried putting the flaslight on my belly again because he kicked pretty hard when we did that the first time. However I think he was all worn out from his earlier kicks and he moved some but no bust out of my tummy kicks.

All of his movements amaze me! We both got to feel him have the hicups and he's been doing all sorts of rolls and flips lately. It's like having a cute little monster in my stomach. One minute he's kicking on one side then the next minute he's flipped around and kicking on the other side. We've seen my stomach move some this last week when he rolls or something but no other little feet poping out since last week.

Surprise

I've started to have a harder time sleeping at night the last little while. I’ve been waking up at night and just staying awake. Monday night hit a new lack of sleep high. It is a lot harder to get comfortable and sleep at night with my new 10 lb belly full of baby. No sleep didn’t help much after a tough couple of days of not feeling great about things (thanks hormones).

However even while I was sitting up at 2am in the front room drinking warm milk to try to get myself to sleep I loved getting to feel his little kicks and him rolling around. Even at 2am our little guy puts a smile my face.

Tuesday Andy was able to leave work early and was already home when I got done with work which was a really nice surprise. When I walked in the front door there were a few other surprises waiting. Andy stopped by the store on his way home and did a little shopping for our little guy and I. He got a great car seat! It’ll fit with our Bob stroller that we got during the REI sale, and it’s adorable! It has cute little green elephants on it; I can wait to have our little guy all safe in it for the car ride home from the hospital. Andy knows me so well; he knows that anything to help prepare for our little guy will instantly make me feel better.

He was really thoughtful and also got me a Boppy Cuddle Pillow to help me sleep, what a great hubby! A few months ago I would have thought that buying a funny shaped pillow to sleep with was a bit ridiculous. However, after a much much better night sleep Tuesday and another good night sleep last night I’m sold. It will make the next 15 weeks a lot easier being able to get some sleep, and it will come in very handy as a nursing pillow once our little guy is here.

Andy is my hero. He knows just what I need and how to comfort me.. He has been amazing though everything. He’s been so thoughtful and good about taking car of me and our little guy. I’m really thankful to have such an amazing husband and I know he is going to be an amazing dad.

Flashlight Experiment

A few weeks ago I read that our little guy can sense light now and may respond to drastic changes even though his eyes are still sealed shut. I’ve been feeling him move around so much lately we thought that maybe we’d be able to feel if he really did respond to light.

Monday night we got a bright flashlight out, Andy held it on one side of my stomach and after about 30 seconds I could feel him move to the other side away from the light. It was incredible! It felt like a big wave going through my stomach. Andy then moved the flashlight to the other side of me stomach and again after a few second I felt him move away from the light again and actually kick a few times. It was as if he was saying ‘hey what is that, what are you doing?’. He probably didn't really like it, he used to it being all dark in there after all. We moved the flashlight from side to side a few more times and he kept moving and would kick on my left side when he moved in that direction. It must have been the way he was laying. We were both in awe, it’s amazing that he really is aware of some of what is going on out outside around him. Getting to feel him respond to what we were doing and knowing that there was a direct correlation and not just us being hopeful was amazing. I don’t really know how to describe the excitement, but it was quite an incredible feeling getting to connect with our little guy.

23 Weeks and Strong Little Ears

We are at 23 weeks; it’s hard to believe we are already over half way there! He is growing a great deal; he should weight a bit over a pound now and measure about 11.5 in long or so. With him growing so much so am I. My belly button has disappeared for the most part; it’s nearly flush with my belly now. I guess it's about time for those belly shots I've been asked about. The picture in the pink is at 7 weeks and the one in the black sweater is at 21 weeks.

Looking at the picture from 21 weeks I realize that I have grown in the last two weeks. There are days when my skin almost hurts it feels so tight its as if it has stretched as far as it will go. But then amazingly enough it stretches some more and creates more room for our lil’ guy to grow.

I read that this week that his middle ear is developing further and therefor his hearing is getting better. He can now hear our voices and will start to recognize them so that when he's born he will know him mom and dad's voices already. It also said that he will start to respond more to loud noises as they are a lot more clear. That explains his extra movments/cheering during the Broncos game monday night. I love knowing that he is already starting to get used to our voices and will find them comforting. He's also becoming familiar with Buster's whipmers and groans and the other sounds of home.

He's even kicking now as I'm writing about him.

Karate Kid

It’s hard to believe that in 17 weeks or so our little guy will be with us, I can’t wait! I’ve been feeling him move tons the last couple of weeks, his punches and kicks are getting stronger by the day. At times it feels like he’s practicing karate in there.

I love getting to feel him moving around throughout the day. He's been moving around a lot more lately, or rather I can actually feel him moving more now. It doesn’t matter what is on my mind or going on, when I feel his little pokes I can’t help but smile, nothing else seems to matters at that moment. I’m thankful for all of his little reminders that he’s in there growing strong. Andy can feel his kicks and punches now as well which is amazing. I love getting to share it with him and I know that he is loving getting to feel his little boy kick now as well. His face lights up when he feels it and he’s just thrilled to feel him. Last night I felt two of the hardest kicks I’ve felt so far; both times Andy had his hand on my belly so he got to feel them as well. He’s really getting some strong little legs in there.

I love just sitting and paying attention to our little guy and all of his movements, and I’m thankful for every one of them.

H1N1 - I was sent home for others being sick

I got sent home from work today due to others in the office being sick.

There has been a lot of concern regarding the H1N1 flu this season worldwide. Recently here in Colorado we've had many reported cases of H1N1 and hospitalizations lately. Andy and I have been following it really closely, especially information on the vaccine, because I am in the top risk class because I am pregnant. I heard today that 6% of the deaths from Swine Flu have been otherwise healthy pregnant women; typically only 1% of the population is pregnant at any one time which makes the statistics about H1N1 startling. We've talked to our doctor about it and she recommended that I get both the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1. So I've had the seasonal flu shot already and will get the H1N1 when it is available, which should be a little over a week from now at my next appointment. Until then my doctor said to avoid prolonged contact with anyone who has it and to let her know if I start to have any symptoms.

I work in a very small office (about 10 people) we've had people sick on and off for the last few weeks and it seems like this week people were dropping like flies. One of the owners now thinks that he has H1N1 as well now and hopefully has gone home. I was pretty sick earlier in the week with food poisoning but have finally recovered from that now. So I was back at work today and actually feeling pretty good. This afternoon the owner called a meeting to discuss how to handle H1N1 all the sickness that seems to be going around the office. His wife is a nurse and had been on the phone with him telling him to do something; get the sick people out and to keep me away from it. In an effort to ensure I don't catch whatever it is the others have my boss sent me home for the rest of the week, and I'm supposed to check in on Monday before I go in. They have also decided to disinfect the office this afternoon to try to get rid of any germs that may be lingering. How crazy is this situation. My boss told me he's not willing to take a risk at me getting sick, I thanked him and told him neither am I.

I am thankful that they are being so thoughtful and looking out for me and our babies best interest, and that so far I've managed to avoid it. I am also thankful for their wives who where very firm that they needed to make sure I wasn't stuck around whatever has been going around the office because I'm pregnant and more susceptible to it.

The owner and another principal of the company both have wives who are nurses and have heard of all the work cases that are around. One of them, who works at a Denver hospital, said that they had a woman in the other day who was 26 weeks along and had H1N1. She ended up loosing her baby due to the flu. It pretty scary what is going on right now. I just pray that God will watch over us and keep the baby and I healthy and safe, and get us through this flu season.

Our baby boy!!!

We went for our 20week or 5month apt last Monday and found out that we’re having a little boy!! How fabulous is that! We were so excited to find out; we’ve been waiting anxiously and could hardly believe it when the time was finally here. We had the ultrasound tech print out a picture for us, label it and put it in and envelope so we could open it over dinner just us. The tech was really funny because she made sure that we couldn’t peak through the envelope, she even sealed it shut and marked it with and x so I’d know if Andy peaked. It was so great to get to open it just us and get to really enjoy the moment, celebrate and be close as a family, instead of being in the doctors’ office and having to go finish our appointment. It was so amazing to get to see our little boy!

We could hardly believe it, our excitement was right up there with when we found out that I’m pregnant. It’s so special to get to find out more about our little guy, (that he is a he) and getting to see him on the ultrasound! I feel even more connected to him now, getting to know a bit more about him, talk to him, and thinking of all the things he’ll do and who he’ll be. Oh and I’ve been feeling him move now as well which has been incredible! I love all the little reminders that he is in there growing. It's like little pokes from him to say hi.

From his pic we think it looks like he’ll have my chin and Andy’s nose. We even got to count fingers already, one less thing to do at the hospital. Yup all 10 are there! It’s amazing what you can se in the 20 week ultrasound. We could see his spine and all his vertebra, his brain, heart, kidney’s, and it the top one you can see his fingers and thumb, and his knee and leg, and all. I love that we got to see his expression on his face. The tech measured everything, the heart and checked all the chambers, kidneys, and his brain; she said it all looked perfect! He kept on reaching up to play with his ear as well, kinda like ‘what is this thing’. How cute!

Andy already can’t wait to get his little boy on a pair of skis! We’ve been starting to look more at things for the nursery a bit now and it’s been a lot of fun. We found this cool play rug at Ikea that has a picture of a town on it with roads etc for driving cars around. Andy was saying that was one of his favorites as a kid. I’m guessing there are many hot wheels in our future. There were also some cool wooden train sets that we may have to get later on down the road for our little guy to play with. I know that Andy is going to love to get to show his son all about cars and trains and skiing and all sorts.

Lil' Mango

We’re 19 weeks today and our little one is now the size of a mango. I read on the Baby Center today that his/her “brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.” How anazing is that, she can hear us now! Andy already sings all the time so I’m sure the baby will recognize her dad’s singing pretty quickly and love it like I do! We have a bunch of kid books from when I was little that we’re going to start to read to our little one at night as well.

Andy and I have both noticed in the last few weeks that my belly seems to be growing quite quickly now, my skin is so tight. I felt flutters of movement a few weeks ago but the flutters have mostly stopped now. I have felt some pressure is certain areas randomly as if he/or she is pressing their head or something against me. I'm looking forward to getting to feel more! Andy and I will lay there holding my belly trying to feel for him to kick, but no kicks yet, maybe soon.

One week till we find out if we’re having a boy or girl and we can’t wait!! At first we were pretty sure we knew what we are having. Now Andy has switched and is set that it will be the other because of the way the heart beat sounded, and I’m not sure, I go back and forth.

Baby Pultorak's new room

We got our crib and dresser (thanks for your help dad)! We actually got it a few weeks ago but I'm just posting the pics. We've been looking around for a while and found this great set that we both really liked. When we found the crib and dresser my dad came by with his new truck to help us bring it home. What a way to for him to break in his new truck; picking up his first grandson or daughters crib. Andy was great about getting it all set up for us when we got it home! He moved all of our furniture out of the nursery into our new bedroom and got the crib all put together for us.

Things are coming along quite well! We have a nursery now, and even though it’s still pretty empty it’s really nice to have a space in our house that we've created for our little one. I love the way the nursery is starting out and I can’t wait to have it all together and ready for when we get to bring our little one home with us!

Proud Dad!!

Cookie Monster

I’ve had a lot of people ask me what kinds of foods I’ve been craving so far and for a while I couldn’t think of very much; but thinking about it there are definitely been some specific things. Like chicken tortilla soup, which I’ve always really liked but there have been a few times I just had to have it. I went through weeks where I was set on a certain food. One week it was peanut butter on everything I could think of, and then it was cheap Lipton chicken noodle soup for lunch everyday and other foods full of sodium. Also oatmeal for breakfast everyday for about two weeks, not the instant stuff though real oatmeal made with milk. There have been other random things as well but the one that seems to have stuck is sweets, specifically cookies!

I’ve never been one to keep cookies and cake around the house, but that has changed in the past few months. I have turned into cookie monster. Double chocolate chocolate chip, chocolate chip, peanut butter, white chocolate macadamia nut, shortbread, oreo’s; all have been a must have at some point. This week we’ve been eating wesson oil chocolate cake my dad made and brought over sunday with ice cream (Thanks Dad!).

If cookies are what the baby want who am I to deprive him/her of that?!

I've popped

I’ve popped. We’re at 4 months now (16 weeks) and my belly is definitely growing. It seemed like all of the sudden the other week I just popped out and now instead of just feeling chubby I am getting the round prego belly. It’s pretty exciting now to actually start to see the changes and be able to look down and know our little one is growing in there. At first it took a day or so to get over not being able to fit into half of my pants anymore. But now I'm enjoying it and just wearing my looser pants. Andy told me this morning that I’m going to be huge, especially after another 5 months.
I think he’s right.

We had our 4month doctor apt Tuesday and everything looks good! We got the results back from my blood work and they said that we are actually at a lower risk than is expected for our age group for birth defects and disabilities. What great news to get. The heart beat was at 160; nice and strong. Every time we hear the heart beat it is just amazing. Our doctor did say I need to start putting more weight on,she said I’m supposed to eat eat and then eat some more! I’m supposed to put on at least 1 ½ lbs a week this month to try catch up to where I should be weight wise. Bring on the milkshakes!

Pre-Baby Trip to D.C.

We had a wonderful pre-baby trip to DC this the other week! It was so nice to get away for a bit and get to enjoy spending some time together just relaxing! It was also good to get to see family and hang out. There is so much to see and do in D.C. it is just packed full of History. We stayed in Arlington right on the Potomac River, and only about a block from the Metro station.

There seemed to be quite a bit of great food around the area as well. The first night we were there we ate at a sushi place, that's right sushi, and it was really good. Well the veggie rolls were really good; Andy will have to vouch for the real sushi, but seeing as there was a second round ordered and he talked about it for the rest of the trip I’m guessing it was pretty amazing! You can’t get much fresher sushi than on the coast. We did also have fresh crab out in Annapolis with Ag and Holly which I did get to have and it was delicious along with the mussels.

We got to see quite a bit while we were there, all the highlights! We started off with the Air & Space Museum which was really cool! Andy knows so much about that stuff it was like getting to have my own personal tour guide. Every corner we turned there was another aircraft from a great moment in history. The museums out there are just incredible, they are so well done and the buildings themselves are pieces of art in their own right. We got to see quite a few of the other Museums along the mall, Art Museum, American History, Holocaust and all of the Monuments and Memorials. It was pretty incredible to get to see so much while we were out there. There was a sculpture garden on the Mall that we walked through on the mall that was really nice. There was a tree there called the wishing tree which had a ton of little notes on it of peoples wishes and prayers. I thought it was really touching. I just kept thinking of all the things that we pray for for our little one as she is still growing, and for her life as she grows up.

We got to go on a tour of the East Wing of the White House (Thanks Holly!!!!) which was pretty amazing. We went through a lot of the rooms that they still use for entertaining. A lot of them we’ve seen on tv during famous visits from foreign heads of state etc. It was kinda sureal to stad on the front steps of the White House. The Botanical Gardens were really interesting as well; they had a huge indoor area which worked out great because it poured, I mean buckets of rain, one afternoon. All in all it was pretty good weather, too humid for me but good none the less. Our last day we went to Arlington and then to the Zoo, both are definitely must see places while in D.C. Even though a lot of the animals weren’t very active at the zoo because of the heat (which I don't blame them for) it was still an impressive zoo. We did get to see the famous giant panda’s and the red panda’s along with other animals and bamboo forests. My favorite part I think of our last day was that we bought our first baby item! A cute little top from the zoo for our baby. It’s size for 6mo so it won’t fit for a little while, but come next Aug it’ll be perfect for her.

All in all a great pre-baby trip and time away together.

Orange

We are 15 weeks along, oh my! Our little one is now the size of a navel orange. He has grown so much in the last month even though he/she still only weighs about 2.5 or 3 oz. I read in our baby book a few really fascinating things that are going on this week. This week our little can start to sense light, they can’t actually see because their eyelids are still shut, but if we were to shine a flashlight on my belly he/she would sense the light and most likely move away from it. The other thing that stuck out to me was that this week he/she will be spending a lot of time practicing breathing by actually inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid.

Now that the bathroom is finally done we’re going to move onto getting ready for the nursery. First we need to rearrange some rooms in the house. The office will be moving downstairs to the spare room, our bedroom will move to the old office in the front of the house, and we’ll have the nursery where our room is now because it’s in the back of the house and will be quieter etc. So this week I’m going to try to finish clearing out and organizing all the extra junk that’s in the spare room and Andy is going to move the office furniture to the spare room downstairs. Maybe we’ll even paint what will be our bedroom this weekend or prob next week. I’m looking forward to getting to have a space for our little one, even if it will be empty for a while until we start to decorate and get the crib and all.

I’ll do a post on our DC trip soon with pics and all soon. I just don’t have them at work with me right now. We had a fabulous time though, it was a great trip!

We got to see our baby!!

We got to see our baby yesterday!! It was so incredible, we actually got to see our baby, and he/she looks like one this time. In the last ultrasound he/she mostly looked like a pulsating grain of rice, which was still amazing, but my he/she has come a long way in 4 weeks or so. We were so excited to get to see our little guy, we got to see the head, and face; nose, eyes, mouth and all. His/her legs and feet, arms and hands, belly, neck, and even their heart beating away. The ultrasound tech said that he/she was being very cooperative and was in a great position, which I'd like to hope will continue! It was so cool, we got to see him/her moving around.

The tech was able to the measurements so easily she decided to try to get a good 4D image for us. It was absolutely incredible, we could see him moving around in there in real time, and he was moving a ton! He was wiggling his legs and had his arms up by his head moving them up and down as if he was dancing; then he got a bit tired of all the 'dancing' and decided to suck his thumb. It was so incredible! We were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves. It was definitely an amazing moment for Andy and I to get to share together. It's such a miracle that God has made it so that this all works so perfectly.

It's amazing seeing how much he's moving around and how much he has already grown into the little person he will become. I still don't feel anything that's going on so it's just astonishing to see it. He/ she's really responds to my movements as well already, the tech pushed on my tummy a few times and it made him bounce around a bunch. I think getting to see the ultrasound really helps us both, it continues to make it more real even though I can't feel any of it and neither of us can see too much of a difference in me size wise yet.

So they checked around the neck and checked the length of the nose because that is where they would see signs if there was a problem with extra chromosomes, and everything looked good. So they are sending some blood work off to check some other things as well but so far it looks good. The heart beat is at 155 which they said was perfect for where we're at.

3 months!

We’ve made it to the 3 month mark! We go in for our 12 week appointment today (a week late so it’s kinda our 13 weeks apt) and are really excited about it. All weekend we’ve been talking about how we get to go see our baby today! We’ll have another ultrasound today and also hear our babies’ heart beat! Andy hasn't heard the heart beat yet, so I'm really looking forward to getting to hear it together! Our baby should look more like a baby in this ultrasound rather than the little dot we saw in the first one. We are having the nuchal fold scan done today which will check for spina bifida, Down syndrome, and other chromosomal abnormalities. So I’m feeling a bit nervous about it, but God has taken care of everything so far and I know He will continue to do so. It will still be good to hear the doctor say that everything is normal and our little one is still growing like he/she should be.

So now that we’ve made it to the 3 month mark we’ve started telling more friends and extended family as it comes up. It’s been really great to get to start sharing our good news with everyone! Although, we’ve spent the last 3 months trying to be careful to not say anything about it and not to spill the beans, it’s odd at times to be able to actually talk about it now. But it’s exciting to get to share it with others! I’m thinking that I need to tell work soon, I think a few people are a bit suspicious, including my boss, and the frequent doc appointments don’t help. So I’m thinking that this week I’ll sit down with my boss and let him know. I think Andy will let his work people know as well, we have his company picnic sat so I’m sure they will all find out then if not before that.

Showing or maybe just bloated

So about two weeks or so ago we thought I was starting to show. We were convinced of it, so we took pictures of my belly and everything. We were so excited thinking 'wow this is really cool' and 'I can't believe that I'm showing already'. Well it turns out that the next morning I was not 'showing' nearly as much as I had been. In actuality all that random food I had been eating had just made me bloated for the previous few days. So in fact we have pictures of me one night when I was really bloated. I will spare you all the pics.

We have now noticed that I am actually starting to show a bit now, which is really exciting. Andy really gets excited about it too, which I love. It's another tangible sign that we have a baby growing in there and we can feel more connected with him/her. For the most part my pants are doing a good job hiding it. I'm just barley starting to show; but the doctor said that I would probably start to show early. I still haven't put any of that weight on I'm supposed to gain, eventhough I'm sure working on it. I'm sure that will be here before I know it. I am starting to get some energy back again which is really nice! I felt like I was a walking zombie for the last month; I was just in a haze I was so tired all the time. I'm actually feeling with it again!

lil' prune's heartbeat

I'm towards the end of 10 weeks now and lil baby Pultorak is the size of a prune. Most all of his/her vital organs are in place and this week his muscle tissue is forming, his arms and legs can even bend now. We were talking the other day about how crazy it is all that has already formed in our lil one; they just need time to grow bigger and stronger.

I had to go to the doctor for a random extra appointment on Thursday, I didn't think that they were going to do much more than some lab work so Andy didn't come. Once I got all checked in the nurse said that she was going to try to find the babies heart beat using a doppler ultrasound. She warned me that it was really early to hear the heart beat seeing as they don't usually try to fdind it with the doppler until 12 weeks. I was really excited to get to hear the heart beat, and also sad Andy wasn't there to get to hear it too. If we would have known they were going to do that Andy would have come. She wasn't able to find it but said it didn't mean there was anything wrong, 'it's like finding a needle in a haystack'. I was alright with it because she had said it was almost too early to find it and I wanted Andy to get to be there the first time we hear it. So the nurse left and I waited for the doctor for around 45 min or so; if I would've known I would be in there waiting so long I would have brought snacks and something to read with me. Eventually the doctor came in and said that she was going to find the heartbeat. She was pretty determined. So she looked around with the doppler, and actually found it! It was incredible; I got to hear our little babies heart actually beating! It was so amazing. I wasn't sure I would know what I was supposed to be listening for but the second she found the heartbeat I felt this overwhelming joy come over me. I started crying a bit I was so excited. I no longer cared how long I had to wait, I would have waited there all night to get to hear that. It was so incredible to get to hear our little ones heart beating! I actually know where the baby is now too by where she found the heartbeat. I was so exctied to get home and tell Andy all about it and show him where our baby is etc. I can't wiat untill we go for our next regular appointment and Andy gets to hear the heart, and we'll get another ultrasound!

His/her heart rate is at 168 right now which they said was good for how early it is and that it would start to slow down in the weeks and months to come. It should be around 120 by delivery. On to week 11 tomorrow.

Ultrasound!

So little Pultorak is about the size of a medium olive right now, which means these are terribly out of date, but here they are:

Drop Box

New Bathroom for a New Baby

So when we started trying for a baby we assumed we'd have months and months like everyone else we know. Simultaneously we decided that our existing bathroom with no fan, a non-functional window, cracked tiles everywhere and a dirty tub was not adequate to keep a child clean. So we began to tear things apart. Then we found out about the littlest Pultorak! Well things got ugly pretty quick but we've made an impressive comeback now. We've got new electrical, a new built-in fan, paperless drywall and a brand-new window. We've also found an awesome handydude to help with the detail stuff for cheap. This week we're putting in sparkling new subway tile and really cool travertine floors.

We went to Home Depot over the weekend and spent a couple hours and used an entire isle to select the travertine floor pieces we liked the best. The checkout was staffed by a particularly incompetent woman, who, realizing that the pieces we selected did not have SKU numbers, and not caring enough to look them up, rang us up a total of $13.30. That's for 18 pieces of 18"x18" imported travertine tile with tax. Alas, I could not bring myself to just swipe my card and leave, instead I forced her (against her will, no less), to call the tile guy and get the correct amount. There's $80 I will never have again :(

There is something in there

It was so great to go for our first doctors’ appointment last Monday. It was so good to hear the doctor say that our baby is healthy and growing just like he/she should be at this point, it was really comforting! We have a long way to go still but so far so good. The baby at this point is about 1/3” or about the size of a lima bean; on the ultrasound it looked like a pulsating grain of rice. He/she’s mostly all heart at this point. It was amazing to get to see the first glimpse of our little baby and to see the heart beating! It was definitely a special moment for us. It was incredible to get to see our little baby that we’ll get to meet in 7 months! It brought a new level of reality and excitement to us. It was almost the same feeling as when we first found out we’re expecting.

It was also good to meet some of the other doctors at the office that we’ll see when we go in for appointments etc. They were all so nice and comforting I feel really fortunate we found a good doctor. That bag of stuff they gave us had a lot of good information in it along with all the advertisements. They gave us so much information while we were there it was good to have some of it to read over once we got home.

Mountain Biking

We visited the OBGYN for our first appointment (8 weeks). Our due date has been set at February 16, 2010 & the size measurements from the ultrasound pegged us at a little more than 7 weeks along. The doctor's visit lasted a truly grueling 2 1/4 hours but we got a lot of really helpful information, plus a bag full of advertisements to take home. Our new demographic (young couple w/ a child) looks to be bloodthirsty marketing territory. A couple of surprises from the visit to the doctor:

• No deli meats or cheeses - they potentially contain dangerous parasites. Jess really resisted this one - I think because we just bought a pound of delicious ham which I will now be forced to consume on my own.
• No mountain biking. I asked several times and the doctor just laughed. She didn't think I was serious.
• The baby's heart is beating at an amazingly fast 136 beats/min (correct me if I've got that wrong darling). The heart is under the control of the spinal tubes right now & will slow down when the baby's brain starts to take over.
• The doctor wants Jess to gain about 20-30% of her current body weight by the end of the pregnancy. That seems impossible right now!

The best part was seeing the baby. It was special for both of us but I think even more amazing for me because Jess still looks the same as always on the outside. More to come later...

Naps are my new best friend…

The tiredness has definitely set in. I’ve been so tired lately that I’ve been taking quick naps when I go home for lunch and whenever else I can fit one in. We read in my book the other morning that I burn more energy laying on the couch than Andy would by going to the gym and lifting weights. How crazy is that! When I think about all that is going on with the growth of our baby it makes sense, but it's still pretty amazing. It also explains my new found love for naps.

We had a great 4th of July weekend, just nice and relaxing with lot of naps on my part and a ton of drywall hanging on Andy’s. He’s becoming the drywall King! Almost all of the drywall is up in the bathroom and ready for tape and texture. He’s been working so hard to get it done for us. Other than that we enjoyed hanging out with the families and a nice bike ride to Confluence Park and a picnic!

We’ve been anxious for our first doctor apt which is finally here! We can’t wait to go talk to the doctor this afternoon, get some more info and get our first ultrasound!

1st Baby Appointment

Really excited for the first doc. appointment on July 6th! Jess's book says this appointment will take the longest & that we should come prepared with lots of questions, but that's not a big deal because I have plenty of them to ask! Also we rented National Geographic's "The Womb" from Netflix and watched it last night. Jess fell asleep at around 22 weeks so fortunately she missed the birth scene. However I had a hard time going to sleep afterwards.

Andy

Big Exciting News!

So as you all know by now, we're having a baby! I'm pregnant! We found out about a week and a half ago and are so excited! We could hardly believe it when we got the news ourselves; we are going to have a little baby to add to our lil family! It took a few days to actually sink in that it's not just a dream, God really has blessed us with a little baby. We were totally on cloud 9 when we found out the news... and still are! Although it's finally seeming more real which is really cool!

So far we have shared the news with family and our closest friends, other than that we're waiting for a little while until we make it public knowledge and tell others, work etc. We'll probably try to wait until the end of the summer to share with everyone else. Although neither of us are ever very good at keeping a secret so we'll see how long we can last. We are so excited this is all happening, it's amazing! It's amazing to think that next year at this time we'll have a little baby to celebrate fathers day for Andy with.

Shannon gave me a firm nudge to start a blog to keep everyone up to date on whats going on. I thought it was a great idea (thanks Shan), so here it goes. I've never done something like this before so we'll see how it turns out. I'll try to do little updates on all of the events and adventures of being pregnant and getting to add one to our lil family.

It's so crazy to think that there is actually a little baby growing inside of me. I still have a while till I start showing but I'm definitely feeling and seeing signs that there is something going on in there! I'm really enjoying getting to feel those little changes, it's so incredible (although I know come 8 months I won't be saying the same). I've been eating constantly! Andy's always amazed at how much food I'm putting away; and so am I. I've never been able to eat so much in my life. I'm eating every few hours, I went from eating just something small for breakfast to eating two breakfasts a day! One before I leave for work and another when I get to the office. How crazy is that! I'm eating like horse! But Andy's being so good about it all, he's been awesome about making sure there is always plenty of good food around the house and stopping to get a snack when we're out because inevitably I'll get hungry. The other big thing that I've noticed is smells, my nose seems to be so sensitive sometimes. It's like I can be sitting there and all of the sudden I get hit with the smell of Andy's apple juice he's drink on the other side of the room as if it was right under my nose! The same sort of thing has happened with pineapple and when Andy has a beer. I thought I was totally loosing my mind at first but I guess it's normal. It must be my spidey sense tingling!

Right now the baby is about the size of a blueberry, his/her heart is beating twice as fast as mine is, he's forming 100 brain cells a minute this week! His/her kindney's have formed and their little arms and legs are starting to look like appendages instead of just bumps. It's amazing to think that something the size of a blueberry has all of this going on; and last week he/she was smaller than a nail head! What a little miracle!!