33 weeks

33 weeks holding up mobile

 I'll get a better view of the mobile once it's up over the crib, but here I am holding it at 33weeks along. The mobile has a raccoon, owl (turned backwards in the pic), cloud and 2 leaves. Thanks Lisa for doing a lot of the work! And Brandon helped a lot too! Our little boy seems to be doing fine. He is quite active, but doesn't cause me too much discomfort. A lot of the time I see him stick out on either side of me, so I'm guessing he hasn't turned head down yet.

sleeping situation

Sleeping is going okay. I have a nice ramp to sleep on to help with the heartburn/reflux, and I have a side pillow for between my knees. Sometimes I have one on either side of me to get comfortable and to prop my arms out. My right arm and hand cause me the worst pain, but it usually doesn't wake me up until around 5am (sometimes 3ish though). Next to the bed I have my Tums, wrist brace (doesn't really help) and breathe right strip. Of course water also by the bed! Brandon sleeps somewhere down there on the other side of the bed :) And the cats curl up at the bottom.


I'm also starting to get some crazy leg swelling by the end of the day! We only have two more baby/labor/delivery classes, this month has gone by quickly! Looking forward to Christmas with the family!


ETA: Also we noted development of the linea negra this week and the baby seems to by lying sideways/transverse most of the time

32 weeks

 Raquel and Lisa threw a beautiful shower!

32 weeks

32 weeks was exciting because Lisa was here! She and Raquel threw me such a beautiful shower! She also helped me get a little more organized in the nursery and make a fun mobile for the room! We had a lot of fun hanging out. Seeing all the clothes and gifts at the shower really made meeting our little boy soon seem so real! My 32 week appointment went fine, and we are still enjoying our baby preparation classes. We got to skip ahead a bit and do a tour of the hospital where we will deliver and learn about taking care of a newborn. 

31 weeks

31 weeks! Not too much has changed since last post, just more of what I described below. I've also started to see a bit of foot/ankle/leg swelling at the end of the day. Our first labor/delivery/baby class went well last week. We got the main piece of art up on the wall as you can see. Also, Lisa comes to visit this weekend for the baby shower! Yay! Time is marching along quickly for now! My next doctor's visit is next week, then I will start having appointments every two weeks.

29 weeks

We had a wonderful thanksgiving day! I ate as much as I could fit, and we spent the day relaxing with Brandon's family. Things are going well on the pregnancy front. My glucose test results came out normal last week. 3rd trimester has brought stronger movements, more back pain, worsening carpal tunnel pain and arm numbness during the night! The little guy will actually keep me awake sometimes now because of his movements. So, sleeping is getting worse, but I guess he is just trying to prepare me for what is to come!! We enjoy trying to figure out what body parts he is sticking out of my belly and I look forward every day to the time we spend feeling his movements together. Next week we start our baby classes and I'm really looking forward to that!

Other news

In other news, Shawn's baby girl seems to have had an influence on our little boy! When she got here she was describing how often her bean has the hiccups, so our little guy decided to start it up too! He had hiccups for the first time this last weekend and has continued having them off and on. 

Almost 27 weeks, here I come third trimester!

girl bean and boy bean

glider without cover

crib skirt but no mattress yet

Yikes! Third trimester starts next week and it's kinda stressing me out! My excel spreadsheet of lists is keeping me sane though :) My belly button has popped out as far as it can go I think. I am getting some back pain and lots more movement from our little boy! I need to be exercising a lot more than I am, so I'll be working on that this week. My also-pregnant sister-in-law is visiting this week and it's fun having two pregnant girls in the house! She is only about 2 weeks ahead of me!

24 weeks, 5 days

The big news this week is the wattlet is now strong enough to move my belly around visibly! It's fun watching for belly wiggles every night before we go to sleep. 

Crib!

Nursery update

With Brandon as leader, and the help of Picote the French chicken, we assembled the nursery dresser. It will double as the changing table. Also, the crib arrived Friday! So we will put that together and then get some more pics of the room progress.

23 weeks, 6 days

Pregnancy update: I'm feeling pretty good. Some days are better, some are worse, but I'm enjoying the sixth month of my pregnancy overall.  I have gained 15 lbs to date and my belly button is an innie in the morning, and an outie or something in-between for the rest of the day. We are trying to read aloud more often. I wake up a few times a night, usually just to turn over and get re-situated, but it's not too bad. I feel like I'm getting used to being pregnant! I like carrying him around with me all day and feeling him move around.

22 weeks, 5 days

There's a baby in there! He's moving around right now :)

ouch!

Pregnancy is no piece of cake! I guess no one ever really said it would be! I think my pelvis/pubic bones are widening more today...ouchy. It sure feels like that at least. Or maybe it's just ligaments stretching, who knows. Also, Sunday and Monday I had bad fatigue and fuzzy brain, but today that seems to have improved. It's a good thing, because I'll need energy for our shopping spree tonight! Because of scheduling conflicts, we had to move our shopping we had planned for Sunday to tonight. We'll be heading up to West Elm, a giant baby store, and Ikea...I hope we survive!! I'll try to take a belly pic tomorrow morning so I can post that update. I hope we come back with some good stuff!


Oh, and I'll also add night time leg cramps to the list! Ouch! 

We're having a boy!

He showed us right away!

His cute folded up legs 

This position looks so uncomfortable! He was folded up like a pretzel most of the time, which made it difficult for the U/S tech to get all the views she needed. I did some jumping up and down, stretching and squatting to try to get him to move.

21 weeks

I just wanted to post a quick update on our last day in Switzerland. We've really enjoyed the trip and will post many photos when we get back! We've had some cold weather, but luckily we brought enough layers to stay mostly warm. Over the weekend we met up with some friends and stayed in the Berner-Oberland area of Switzerland. This pic is taken on the Schiltorn, viewing the mountain Jungfrau among many others. I think we are at around 10000ft. 

The baby is now the length of a carrot approximately and is kicking away! Brandon has been able to feel about 3 kicks so far I think. I feel the baby kick mainly in the afternoon, at night when I lie down, and when my bladder is really full. Also, my belly button is definitely getting more shallow! I have never been able to see the bottom of it in such detail before! :) 

20 weeks

We celebrated being halfway through the pregnancy in the French Alps! We had perfect weather today in Chamonix and were able to go up the gondola to get a great view of Mont Blanc and the alps from around 12600ft. Travelling while pregnant has been mostly fine. As long as I can find bathrooms easily and get food when I need it I do well. The sitting while traveling is less comfortable (belly is really interfering), but overall I think this point in my pregnancy is a great time to travel. I don't have to worry about being sick and it's fun to think about telling the little one all the places it got to visit :)

This week I'm feeling mainly chubby! I feel like I'm expanding everywhere except my belly! :) I'm still feeling the same amount of movements, but I can't wait until I can feel them more strongly.

19 weeks (last week)

Feeling pregnant! This week I've really been feeling like a pregnant person :) My belly is interfering more with my daily life, and I feel weird "feelings" and "movements" down there daily. Sitting during the day gets uncomfortable and I have to shift a lot otherwise it feels like I can't breathe well. My bending over strategy is changing. My belly isn't that big, but it doesn't exactly fold in half like it used to! We worked some projects this week getting ready for our big trip. We had to have our screen porch repaired, so I worked on cleaning it up and painting it after the workers got done. Also we got a new range and microwave! We had been planning to get it in Oct or Nov, but Lowes was selling the floor model of the one we wanted...so we grabbed it! Always nice to save money, but we had to quickly clean up and move out our old set (well Brandon did the work) and install the new ones (ok Brandon did that too). I'm loving the new set though! I will attach my 19 week belly pic and the new appliance pics when I get back.

18 weeks

This weekend we attended the 1st annual Charlottesville SDA Couples Retreat in the Outer Banks. It turned out to be a really fun, relaxing and enriching weekend! We had perfect weather; thankfully Hurricane Earl passed by on Thursday before we headed out for the weekend. I have been feeling very tired, but I think it must be due to the cold that is still lingering. It was horrible being sick because I tried to take as little medication as possible. I had to take off two half days of work to sleep. Little one has been kicking me a lot more, so that is really fun! The frequent urination has also gone up a notch even though I thought it was supposed to decrease in the 2nd trimester. Overall things are going really well! Brandon is doing well also, no change in his symptoms :) He has a strong immune system, so he hasn't caught my cold yet, thankfully. 

17 1/2 week update

another 17 week shot

Our appointment this week went well. We heard the heartbeat again and could hear the little one kicking around in there even though I couldn't feel it! I forgot to ask the doctor what the heart rate was. I have been feeling more movements and had one big kick the other night. We scheduled our anatomy ultrasound---we have to wait until September 29! It seems like a long time to wait, but they said that at 22weeks they can get a better view of the heart development. Also, time will go by quickly in September because we will be travelling for half of it. I've been down with a horrible cold this week, but I'm pretty sure the morning sickness is gone even though I felt even worse! I'm hoping the rest of this trimester is great and that I will avoid catching any more colds!

17 weeks!

At 17 weeks the baby is about the size of a turnip and its skeleton is starting to harden. I could be feeling stronger movements in the next few weeks! It's around 5 inches long head to bottom and should be able to hear. Our next check up is September 1, but it could still be another month before we have the anatomy ultrasound! We will schedule it at the next doctor's visit, so I'm hoping we won't have to wait that long...We are getting very excited to find out whether it is a boy or girl! So far we are both guessing boy. I had a dream the other night that we found out we were having a boy, so thats what I'm going with right now! Plus the fact that Brandon's two sisters are both having/have had girls, I figure it seems unlikely we would all have girls! However, most of the old-wive's tales indicate girl:

Heart rate > 150bpm=Girl

Acne=Girl

Morning sickness=Girl

Dad not gaining weight=Girl

Carrying high or low? Can't tell that yet!

Type of craving? Not really having that yet either...

Belly shape? Can't tell that yet either

I'm sure there are more tests, but those are the only ones I've heard so far! Well, I guess its time to start putting in your guesses!

Room update

This week we painted the baby room a light grey/brown. We also taped out some furniture placement options (you can see the crib outlined). One item checked off our list!

Wattlet Room

Here is the baby room so far. Paint swatches on the wall and our baby items in the middle. Thanks mom for doubling our baby stash!

First baby gift!

We received our first baby gift yesterday! Thank you to Great-Grandma and Grandpa Van Dolson!

Beginner belly shots

Belly shots at 6 weeks, 9 weeks and 13 weeks. hmmm, think I need to cut back on the food? :)

14 weeks, 2 days

1. pants still fit in unwashed mode--putting off washing them since I'm a little worried they won't fit after...
2. let the news out to the world, ie facebook and church
3. had the talk with the boss and it went really well!
4. slept straight through the night Saturday night and Sunday night--no getting up to pee, no bad dreams and no waking up with nausea!

13 weeks, 4 days

Hurray! Got to see the little one wiggling around like crazy today at the ultrasound! Brandon is sad he had to miss it for a meeting! I'm feeling really happy to be at the end of the first trimester. The doctor said everything looks right on track and the baby was measuring around 3 inches CRL with a heart rate of 159bpm. Seeing the baby looking like a real little person and jumping around in there was very cool.

12 weeks, 4 days

Hard to see the baby belly b/c its so glaringly white!

I had a great visit home! It was very relaxing. Brandon is coming home early from his trip to Nigeria--tonight! Yay!

The baby is now about the size of a lime. Pretty soon I'll start posting my belly pics! I have made use of my beband (belly band to hold up unbuttoned pants) once, and I think it will come in handy! Not just for pregnancy-everyone would be a lot more comfortable at the holidays with one! Our next appointment is August 4, so I'm really looking forward to finding out how our little one is doing. Unfortunately, the nausea has continued to follow me, but I am expecting it to go away any day now. On a more positive note, the bleeding seems to have resolved itself!

11 weeks, 6 days

July 24, 2010

I'm at home in Paradise this Sabbath, enjoying the sunny days. Today we will celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday! Baby Watt seems to growing well. I'm looking forward to being 12 weeks along tomorrow!

10 weeks, 3 days

http://www.babycenter.com/slideshow-baby-size

July 14, 2010

We celebrated 10 weeks of pregnancy by attending the church work bee and board meeting on Sunday. Hurray! Thankfully it was a cooler than normal day, and it was fun to be working outside with friends. Our pregnancy books now compare the size of the baby to a kumquat. We've never had one, but maybe I should try Whole Foods to find one? I think the baby is now considered a fetus, instead of just an embryo-yay! I think its going to start growing more quickly now, so I may need to rethink my pants situation :)

There is nothing much new on the symptom front, nausea still comes throughout the day and I'm still having some bleeding. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but my dreams are still very vivid and detailed. Sometimes they make me feel tired, or, if I wake up in the night, I don't want to go back to sleep because of the dreams!

Brandon will leave this weekend for Nigeria. It will be hard to be apart for two weeks, but I'm hoping it will go by quick! I get to go home for a few days while he's gone, so I'm really looking forward to seeing Mom, Dad and Ray and getting some relaxation! I have gained about 5lbs since finding out I was pregnant, so I think I am doing okay. I just need to work out a little more often to keep things on track! Hopefully I can do a lot of swimming while at home!

9 weeks, 3 days

July 8, 2010

At our 9 week appointment yesterday, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! We had seen it on our last ultrasound, but hearing it was something different. The doctor said there was only a 1 in 5 chance of being able to hear it, so we didn't get our hopes up, but then there it was! "whoosh whoosh whoosh" The doctor estimated the heart rate to be around 170bpm.

This week the baby is supposedly the size of a grape, around 1 inch long. I know the baby's in there, but it still seems a bit surreal. I'm looking forward to seeing what its like to be 10 weeks pregnant!

Blueberries cause change in hair and complexion

Jun, 24, 2010

Our 7 week ultrasound shows our baby as about the size of a blueberry (11.3mm) with a heart rate that went up to 159bpm. Doc said all looks good! An area of blood is still visible, but the Dr. said it would likely resolve, so no worries. We could actually see the baby this time and the little heart blinking! Wow! On another note, one of my earliest symptoms was my hair and skin becoming oily! I guess its part of that pregnancy "glow" which I now know is really just extra oil secretion :) It was kind of fun having such a drastic switchover like that. Weird!

Spreading the news

June 16, 2010

So far we have told our immediate family members! Brandon's parents and siblings and my parents and brother all seemed pretty excited!

Size of baby is between lentil and grape

June 16, 2010

It has been making its presence know for a while now. My symptoms have included: General queasiness, fatigue, heart palpitations, bloating, crampiness, frequent urination and a few others that may be even more TMI :) Brandon's symptoms have included telling random strangers we are expecting :) hehe, I think he is pretty excited.

Welcome!

June 16, 2010

Our pregnancy timeline so far:

Friday, May 28: Got positive pregnancy tests!

Thursday, June 3: Brandon and I met with the OB nurse educator and I went for my blood work

Tuesday, June 8: First visit with doctor, scheduled dating/sizing ultrasound

Thursday, June 10: 1st ultrasound showed we were 6 weeks along!

Migration

Hi All, Decided to move everything over here. Using Babies Online was getting irritating :) I will bring over all the posts and comments.