Babies 'R Us

Jared and I registered at Babies 'R Us this week! It was both exhilerating, and overwhelming! It was really fun to walk the aisles, choosing items for our baby!!! Some things were easy, and we went scan happy. Other items were more difficult, because we just do not know what we will need, what is the best brand, what is the most safe, etc... But all in all, I think we did a really good job, and had a blast doin it! Before we knew it, we had been walking around for nearly 3 hours! If anyone has any suggestions to offer about baby items that they found particularly helpful, we would LOVE to hear them!

Also, I have heard much concern about the price of Babies 'R Us, and don't expect you all to shell out the dough. However, I did some research this week, comparing prices between Babies 'R Us and Target, and found that across the board, prices were exactly the same. The few exceptions I found showed that Babies 'R Us was, in fact, cheaper! But please, by all means, feel free to purchase items elsewhere if you find them cheaper. Also, Babies 'R Us has a price match guarantee. Just bring in an ad if you find something on the registry cheaper at another store, and they will honor that price!

Here are some helpful tips (that are also printed on the front page of our registry):

-Gender of baby is a surprise, so please choose gender-nuetral colors, such as pale yellows, greens, oranges, whites, etc. We are going to have a shower after the baby is born for gender specific clothes, etc.

-Nursery Decor: Pastel Yellow, Pastel Orange, Pastel Green, Pastel Blue
Theme: Jungle Babies

I will post our 18 Week update on Thursday after our appointment!

17 Weeks

Buddha Belly

This week has been a good one for baby and me. I have definately begun to notice baby's growth this week. I am having an increasingly difficult time finding clothing that fits properly. I am beginning to grow into more maternity clothes now without looking like I am swimming in a garbage bag! I have also noticed the increase in belly volume when going about daily activites. When I roll over at night onto my stomach, the pressure is uncomfortable and I need to move ASAP. Also, I have not been able to spring out of bed as I usually do, unless I want to crumple on the floor in pain (from overextended ligaments). Bending over has already been stealing me of breath! I just can't wait to see what a few more months, and few extra inches around the middle will bring! (What am I in for here?!)

Yesterday, Jared and I went to Babies 'R Us and got our registry started. We did not have time to actually scan anything in at the time, but we are planning on returning tomorrow to go trigger happy!

We have our next prenatal visit a week from today, and our first ultrasound in about 3 weeks! We are hoping to bring a tape recorder to our appointment next week and record the rythmic sound of little BB's heartbeat to share with all of you!

*Pictures to be added later

16 Weeks

Nursery Furniture Finds

This week has not shown much change in growth, but my body is telling me otherwise! I have been extremely itchy these past few days as the skin on my stomach and chest is expanding.

I basically lost my appetite completely at the beginning of this week, and had to force myself to eat anything. Since yesterday, however, I have noticed my appetite slowly returning. I think it came back willingly when it heard we were going to be dining at Khan's Mongolian BBQ last night. I sure enjoyed that meal!

I have had a significant loss in energy this week as well. I have found myself becoming fatigued easily and thus have been spending many precious hours in bed.

Shinae and Josh wanted to buy us a crib, which we were very excited about! They took me to Ikea on Wednesday to look at the selection. After realizing that they did not have much to offer, we went home unsuccessful.

On Thursday, Jared and I went on our own search for a crib. We started at Once Upon a Child, and found three cribs, but nothing worth buying. We did get an almost brand new Pack 'n Go playard though for only $45! It is in excellent condition and very gender nuetral!

Then we headed off to the Slumberland Clearance Center, and God blessed us with a beautiful oak crib and matching oak changing table for $175!! That was just about the amount Shinae and Josh wanted to spend on just the crib alone, so we got two things for our money! As soon as we get the nursery painted and the crib set up, we will take some pictures to share. God really blessed us this week with these incredible finds!
We will be registering at Baby's 'R Us and Target hopefully at the end of next week.

15 Weeks

Starting to "Pop"

This week I noticed that my belly just popped out within a matter of days. Several people who saw me only last week could not believe how much I grew. This is the first week I have had to use some maternity pants, as all of mine are too tight now, except one pair.

I went through my closet this week and packed away about 80% of my wardrobe, and replaced it with the very small collection of maternity clothes I have aquired. I still fit into quite a few of my tank tops and t-shirts however, and think I will for at least another month.

I have been receiving chiropractic pregnancy care from my friend, Dr. Cara Borggren. This winter she wrote a doctoral article for a medical journal on the topic of how chiropractic care benefits pregnancy and delivery. It was VERY interesting, and I have been extremely excited at the benefits I have already noticed! I have been very comfortable, and been free of lower back pain since being in her care, which I know can only worsen during pregnancy.

Here are my first "showing" pictures...

14 Weeks

First Prenatal Visit

We had our first prenatal visit this week. I was very excited to finally see the midwife, and to make sure everything was going well. Our appointment lasted only about 30 minutes, and consisted of several questions regarding which tests we wanted performed, a pelvic exam, and then the best part of all-- we got to hear our baby's heartbeat on the doppler! It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. It made things seem a little more real to me. Especially since I had no symptoms and had not been feeling very pregnant.

Our little baby's heart was beating so fast: 160 beats per minute! And it resembled the sound of whooshing water, somewhat like a washing machine I suppose. Amazing what a little sound can do to a person.

Weeks 5 - 13

After finding out that I was pregnant, I feared that each new day would bring the dreaded morning sickness with it. One of the things I hate most in life is throwing up, so this was particularly scary for me. But it never came!!! I made it safely through the whole first trimester without feeling nauseated or sick once!

The first symptom I noticed was how quickly I grew tired. Luckily, I was able to sneak in about 3 naps a week, which helped me get by. Then around Week 8, I started having aversions to some foods and smells. But even this was not severe. I flew through the first trimester symptom-free. In fact, my first trimester was so easy that I began to worry by about Week 12 that I had just imagined it all. So I snuck into the bathroom one day with one of the unused tests we had bought, just to make sure. No worries! I was still pregnant!

During these first few weeks, I got my hands on several pregnancy books and poured over them. I learned everything I needed to know about nutrition, exercise, and what was happening inside of me. Every night I would read to Jared from these books, and we were able to moniter the growth and development of our baby.

We decided to take a few pictures around Week 6, before I had grown at all, so we could have a baseline to watch the progress of my growing belly.

Finding Out

After realizing I was late having my period and that my temperature was unusually high (as we could see on our Natural Family Planning chart), Jared and I took a pregnancy test on Friday, January 19, 2007. We waited the appropriate amount of time, and after seeing only one line, we threw away the test and thought nothing more of it. We weren't pregnant. After a few days and my period being over a week late, we took another test the following Tuesday. We looked at the test and saw a barely visable line in the pregnant box. Jared looked at it with disgust and asked, "What? Does this mean you are kind of pregnant?" We waited two more days, and then took another test, hoping for some clarity. With the same results of an almost unnoticeable line in the pregnant box, we were confused and a little frustrated at the undecisive results. Three tests and we still did not have an answer!

Do YOU see the faint lines? Nearly impossible, eh?
So we marched to the computer. After researching on the internet and realizing that any line no matter how faint it is, is a positive, we sat back in silence to take it all in. I think we both had a hard time believing it was true. Even though we had planned on having a baby soon, it still came as a shock! So that night we went to Wal-Mart and bought one of the most expensive tests available. We wanted to be SURE. After going through the check-out line, I ran directly into the bathroom and took the test. Within seconds, two pink lines showed up clearly! I came out of the bathroom beaming, and showed Jared the test. I tucked it safely away in my purse, along with the empty box it came in. We were blissfully on our way out of the store, when the security beepers started sounding loudly! An employee stopped us and dug through our shopping bag. Confused at finding nothing that would set it off, she asked to see our receipt. Immediatly she spotted the pregnancy test on the receipt and asked where it was. Sheepishly, I dug my hand into my purse and retracted the test. How getto are we?!? We took a pregnancy test in the local Wal-Mart! Ha ha! She smiled and let us go as soon as she saw it.

We had plenty of time to let it sink in, because the day we found out, my dad left for a 15 day trip to India. We had to keep quiet until he returned. During that time, we stormed up ideas as to how to break the news to everyone. Here is what we came up with!

We are...

(We are... Prego!)

We were finally able to tell everyone in early February by giving them a copy of this picture!

Pregnancy Report

This blog is specifically devoted to keeping you all updated on the progress of my pregnancy. I will post any breaking news we have to share, summaries of our prenatal visits, and will try to include weekly photos of my physical progress as well. I thought this would be a good way for everyone to be in the loop as to how things are going for me and baby!