Family

We dropped my Mom and Dad off at the airport this morning. I was so sad to say good-bye, but so grateful that we'd had such a good visit. I was doing okay at keeping it all together until it hit me that the next time I see my Mom, I'll be a mom. That sent me into hysterics....Sandy did a good job of reminding me that it would all be okay but I have to say that the further along I get in this pregnancy, the more I want my family and friends nearby. Thankfully, Heather decided to stay an extra day, so she helped me do some cleaning this morning and this afternoon, we went on a great walk around the airpark. Thank goodness for family. :)

Baby is doing well (it seems anyway!). I can feel lots of movement in the evenings but it is pretty stationary during the day. One night this past week, I was lying on the couch watching a movie and we could actually see my stomach move around as the baby flipped and flopped. They were big movements too....very noticeable.

I am still feeling great and am very thankful for that. Although, I am certainly starting to show more and more as the days go by. I am also getting varicose veins on the back of my legs (gross, I know!). So, I am trying to be more diligent about not crossing my legs when I sit down and doing other things to try and prevent more from showing up.

I am also starting to get more tired again. After a big walk, I need a little nap to keep going for the rest of the day!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Above is a picture of our beautiful Christmas tree --- definitely the nicest tree we've ever had!

We went to Gold River yesterday to visit Sandy's family for Christmas. Rob and Pam put on an incredible feast and we all had a great time catching up. That's what the holidays are all about: spending time with family and friends .... and eating lots of yummy food!

We are all set for Christmas here .... just waiting for Santa to come visit tonight! Really though, I feel like I've already received the best gift possible with having my Mom, Dad, and Heather here. Plus, with the gift of this baby growing healthy and strong ... I feel very blessed.

Speaking of the baby, I think it must have gone through a growth spurt this past week because my belly certainly has gotten much bigger! I am starting to feel more and more pregnant every day and I love it.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Showing off our bellies!

A mini update

Sandy and Heather made it home fine on Friday. We had a great weekend with the five of us...lots of eating and drinking (only water for me!). On Saturday, we bundled up and trundled off through the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree. Heather found a beauty, so Sandy chopped it down and carried it back to the truck. We put the lights and decorations on the tree Saturday night and it looks so beautiful! (I'll have to post a picture)

Sandy and I both headed off to work today. I went to a high school and taught a bunch of kids who really didn't want to be there, so not the best day. Sandy spent his day in a dirty crawl space (welcome back to work!).

I am still feeling really good....definitely starting to get bigger too! The baby has been moving around a lot again. I feel lots of kicks around 9-10pm .... hmm .... hopefully, this baby isn't a night owl!

One complaint I do have is that I can't shake the sniffles! I caught a bad cold the first week of December and felt really horrible for 4-5 days. I have been feeling so much better lately, but my nose is still stuffed up! Not that these are the best kind of details, but I keep blowing my nose and still, it's stuffed up and I am sniffling. I hope this clears up soon!

That's all for now. I'm off to bed. :)

So Happy!

I picked my Mom and Dad up at the airport this morning! I could barely contain myself waiting for them to get off the plane (of course they were the last ones off!). As soon as I saw them, I started crying so hard....I was just so happy! It was kind of embarassing and my Mom thought something was wrong, but nope! I was just having a bit of an emotional breakdown! Wonder if I'll have a repeat performance when Heather and Sandy show up tomorrow afternoon?

"Nesting" .... or maybe just crazy!

I've heard about this phenomenon called "nesting" where pregnant women go all crazy and clean their homes from top to bottom. I think it normally happens just before birth as a way to get active plus get the house ready for it's newest member! I think this nesting urge can also happen throughout pregnancy...I sure hope so anyway! I've been going non-stop all week long moving furniture, sorting through junk, throwing stuff away, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!

I think I'm getting towards the end of what will be accomplished right now though. For two main reasons: reason 1 - I'm almost finished my "to-do list" and am running out of things to move around and clean AND reason 2 - my Mom and Dad arrive tomorrow for Christmas!!!! I am so excited to see them and can't wait until they get here.

Tonight I think I was feeling some braxton-hicks contractions. Joanne asked me if I'd noticed any since they can start around 16 weeks. I hadn't really noticed so I started paying closer attention. I'm not totally sure this is what is actually happening but my stomach gets really tight and hard for a few moments (well technically, it's actually my uterus but it's kind of weird to talk about it and actually say uterus!). It doesn't hurt or anything .... just feels a bit different.

The baby has been kind of quiet lately. I was worried that something was wrong but I asked my Mom and she said that it was probably just tired from all of the running around I've been doing! My favorite part of the day is when I sit down on the couch for a cup of tea before bed. This is usually the time that baby decides to move around and give out a few punches and kicks :)

Snow!

These pictures are from the first weekend in December. I didn't get a chance to post them before but I still wanted to show how crazy the weather was around here! We got over 2 feet of snow in 48 hours. It was so beautiful, but also made driving (and walking) a bit treacherous!

Ryder loved every minute of it (of course!). And, I was very grateful that Sandy was home for a visit....he got his exercise shovelling that weekend!

Where does it go???

TIME! It's going by so quickly...how is it already December 11th? Seriously, time is going by so fast for me right now. I remember at the beginning of this pregnancy that being 22 weeks seemed sooooo far away, but here I am today at 22 weeks and time is just zipping by.

I have been doing my best to try and take a moment each day to just sit and have a moment with the baby. I know it sounds kind of corny, but this is going by so quickly and I want to make sure that I enjoy every minute and cherish every moment. I'll never be pregnant with our first baby again!

And, what's even crazier is that 2 weeks from today, it will be CHRISTMAS!!!

Hello!!!

Here is our little baby at 20 weeks 6 days old....waving "Hello"!!!

My ultrasound on Monday went really well. I had a student sonographer who took her time making sure all of the details and measurements were correct. Then, the actual ultrasound tech had a look to double-check that everything looked good.

After they had done all of the anatomy measurements, they turned the screen so that we could see the baby.... SO COOL! It looks like an actual baby now! The tech showed us it's little feet kicking around, it's arms, (NO leg shot or between the leg shot, so no guesses on the sex...sorry! :), it's heart, brain, face, everything! It was really amazing.

She labelled the picture for me. "STO" stands for stomach and "FH" stands for fetal heart. The darker areas in the picture are fluid (aside from the shadow in the middle of the picture) and the bright white areas are the baby's bones. I love how the baby has it's little arm up in this picture....just hanging out saying "Hi".

Joanne called with the actual results of the scan on Tuesday. All of the measurements are right on track, the baby's brain looks good, and the amniotic fluid level is "perfect". I'm feeling extremely fortunate to have such a healthy pregnancy and baby.