Denver Baby Shower

May 14th, 2007

Well Nate, Hayden and I just got back from a trip to Denver for Mother's Day. It was one of the best weekends we've had in a long time - just perfect honestly. Nate's sister, Katie, threw us a fantastic coed baby shower, and I have to say, I would recommend a coed shower to everyone - the laugh factor was much higher than for an all girls shower, and I think the men were even more intrigued by the range of gifts (pee pee tee pee) than the women! And Katie had planned great games - just fun all around. We got so many things that we needed for the nursery, and adorable clothes. Nate's mom knit us a gorgeous afgan and little booties and a hat with a pon pom and rattle for the baby. But the best gift of all is that Hayden is going to be a cousin only 5 -6 months after he is born! We found out that Nate's brother Brad and his wife Britt are expecting their first baby in December. We are so happy for them and just excited that this new generation of the family is going to be growing so quickly. There is a lot to look forward, and CONGRATS to them, and thank you to everyone for all the great gifts. We will post pictures of the nursery as soon as we get it set up this week :)

Spring Hike

Hello everyone! I just made it to week 27 and I am officially entering my third trimester :) Supposedly the bliss period is now over and I should start feeling uncomfortable and fat! But luckily that has not happened yet and I'm still feeling very lucky to have lots of energy and to feel relatively comfortable. I have my 7 month check-up tomorrow and I'm hoping to learn I haven't gained more than 5 or 6 pounds since my last check-up a month ago, but I'm not holding my breath. I've been hitting the desserts pretty hard lately! Nate has been motivating me to stay in shape though - I've been going to yoga twice a week, swimming laps at our local outdoor pool, and walking the dogs almost everyday. My goal is to stay in shape right up until I deliver, so I have a better labor and recovery.

We got Hayden's nursery ready for furniture this weekend, which was a MAJOR accomplishment. Now the closet has been emptied of our clothing and is filled with baby toys and blankets. We picked out the nursery furniture we want, and will be ordering it hopefully next week, so we can start getting things set up! We rewarded ourselves with a nice walk behind Wente Vineyards tonight with the dogs. We saw about 7 deer, and Dallas managed to stay under control which was a minor miracle. I'm wearing the dress that my mom made me, and she also made Lilly a matching bandana. How cute :)

Hope everyone is enjoying Spring! See you all soon.

Happy Easter 2007

HAPPY EASTER!!

April 8th, 2007

Nate and I want to wish you all a wonderful Easter! We miss our families on holidays like this. We went to church today and Hayden was bouncing around during the music portion of the service, so we decided we had better start playing music for him more often :)

As you can tell from the photos below, Nate is already a *great* father to his dogs, and he is just pumped to be a father to baby Hayden :) In all honesty - he is really excited about the baby and is happy to see me growing and healthy, and just enjoying all of these changes and joys yet to come. Although he has been reluctant, I finally convinced him to go to Babies R Us today to register, and of course it was closed for Easter....it figures right?!! But we'll get there soon.

Baby Hayden is getting decidedly bigger these days - as you can easily tell in the photos below! I am in my 6th month of pregnancy, and Hayden is 25 weeks old today. He is almost 2 pounds, and about 14 inches long from head to toe. I can constantly feel him stretching and moving around now, especially at night or after I've eaten. The baby's ears are fully functional (which explains his reaction to the music this morning), and he may even blink in reaction to loud noises (say barking dogs!).

Hayden has been very kind to me so far this second trimester - I've felt excellent and my doctor said that everything is progressing perfectly. I'll be entering my third trimester in two weeks and I hope things stay this calm and pleasant!

Baby Kicks

Nate finally got to feel the baby kick last night! It was so exciting for both of us. Nate not only felt the baby, but he could also see my tummy where it was moving. I cannot believe he is already strong enough to kick me that hard. He is very active all the time lately, especially at night, or really whenever I lie down. It's nice to know he is there with me all the time, and I'm so glad Nate got to experience his little kick ;)

Also, I had my first baby shower this weekend! I visited my parents in Ohio and my neighbor Betsy and my mom's good friend Marsha threw me a suprise baby shower for all my parent's neighbors and family friends. It was so much fun. We had Hector come in and cook and serve a delicious paella and I recieved so many beautiful gifts. I am going to have one well dressed little boy! So thank you everyone, Nate and I are so appreciative and thankful.

Spring Weekend

Here we are enjoying a spring weekend and getting excited about the baby! I have been feeling kicks all weekend and that is extremely exciting. When I lay on my stomach the baby just kicks away at me, usually just below my belly button. Nate actually placed his hand on my belly the other morning and he thinks he felt one of the kicks! The baby should only get more active from here on out.

IT'S A BOY!!!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

We had an amazing and exciting 20 week ultrasound today. The radiologist showed us the heart (we could see all 4 chambers distinctly pumping), the kidneys, bladder, spine, brain, and all of the limbs. The baby was kicking and squirming the whole time and the technician said she could even feel him kicking! Yes....I did just say HIM! We are having a lil boy. It was very obvious, no doubt about it! Both Nate and I are extremely excited to welcome a son into our family. I don't think anything could have prepared us for the emotion of the experience. Knowing that we are having a son makes everything about this pregnancy seem more real and tangible.

Our son weighs a whopping 13 ounces right now and is measuring bigger than his 19 1/2 week due date. He is measuring closer to 20 1/2 weeks, which is great! The earlier I have him the less time I have to spend hugely pregnant in the hot Livermore sun :) He had a heartrate of 153 bpm (we got to listen to it again), and everything looked perfectly formed.

Profile

Spine

Legs

Lil feet

Lil arm and hand

Here is our lanky baby lying face down

Boy parts!!!

19 Weeks But No Gender :(

19 weeks

Well we unfortunately did not find out the gender of the baby today. My forgetful pregnant brain didn't realize this was simply a regular appointment with our OB, not with radiology to get our "big" ultrasound. Signals were crossed at some point! So the update is that the baby has a strong heartbeat - 160 bpm, and looks great on the ultrasound. I am measuring right on target and my weight gain is perfect. The appointment was a success on that front.

We have scheduled our "big" ultrasound for Wednesday, March 7th.