Baby Smith 2008!!!

~ Online Baby Arrival Date Pool ~

2008-08-19T12:51:00.002-04:00

One of my girlfriends at work set up an online pool for everyone at work to guess on Baby Smith's arrival date - anyone is welcome to join in the fun! Just click on the link below to play along:

~ 36 Weeks ~

2008-08-18T19:29:00.003-04:00

We are now down to hopefully 27 Days or less until we meet our baby girl! I had my 36 week appointment this morning where I had the GBS test & found out I am 1 cm dilated & 75% effaced! :) The truth is, I could be 1 cm dilated for weeks, but it feels good to hear that some progress has been made so far! I go back again next week & the week after that, etc LOL My blood pressure was up at the appt again this morning - 134/86 - which isn't terrible, but definitely pretty high for me since I normally have very low blood pressure. The nurse checked it again before I left & both numbers had gone down by 10. I don't have any other signs/symptoms that coincide with the high blood pressure, so we're just keeping an eye on it for now. It is normal for it to increase slightly as you get closer to the end of the pregnancy. My belly is expanding rapidly - here is a comparison - going backwards from 36-35-34 weeks:

We also had our last ultrasound on Friday morning! My OB mostly wanted to check on the baby's size, position & fluid levels. She is head down now - no longer breech - and the fluid levels were low. The doctor estimated she now weighs 5 lbs 6 oz & she looked very healthy & active. Her abdomen is measuring in the 50th percentile, but apparently her head is measuring slightly below average. I talked to my regular OB about it this morning & she said we are still in the normal range & she agrees with me that it is likely just due to Craig & I both being smaller than average in height, etc. I know Craig has a small head since he can't wear the one-size-fits-all hats that are so popular - they are always huge on him! We were both only 7 lbs at birth, which is about what I'm on target for if the baby continues to gain 1/2 lb a week until the end. :) Here is an ultrasound pic - we think she has my nose! ;)

It is getting harder & harder to get around like I'm used to with my belly expanding so rapidly. My back & feet ache every night & picking something up off the floor is near impossible - LOL And getting out of bed or off the couch is a workout in itself. ;) I actually stopped & got a new pair of cushioned flip flops today after the doctor's appt. The only pair I had that fit me have been worn every day for a couple months now & are completely worn down to the point it hurts to wear them. I also now have a VERY itchy rash/red bumps all over my belly over the last couple days. The doctor isn't sure if it's just major heat rash or PUPPPS - a pregnancy rash that some women get within weeks of their due date - mostly due to extreme stretching of the skin at this point. If that's what it is, it won't go away until a week or so after birth. I have some new soothing oatmeal lotion that seems to help. It also feels best when I can let it breathe, which will be difficult to do at work tomorrow. LOL ;)

We took an experimental drive with the dogs on Saturday - now that the baby seat is installed in the backseat of my Jeep, they each had to sit on the seat on either side of it. They are used to having the seats folded down back there & having free reign to walk around or lay down. They did pretty good with it overall, but were definitely confused! LOL Just getting them in the car was the trickiest part. Hopefully they'll get more used to it as time goes on.

Yesterday we went to our last Indians game of the season & then to the Feast in Little Italy for some yummy food. It was very hot yesterday sitting in the sun, so we didn't last at the game very long. I was also pretty aggravated that after spending $20 on waters & pop, I could not get some ice in my cup. They wanted to charge me $3.25 for some iced tap water....gee, thanks. After that, we weren't really in the mood for the crowds at the Feast - & it was VERY crowded - but, we enjoyed our cavatelli's & meatballs with a pepperoni bread from Corbo's. We also got some yummy desserts to take home - Craig got a cannoli & I got some delicious brownies from Corbo's bakery. :) We had a very nice weekend - they're just never long enough! ;)

~ 35 Weeks ~

2008-08-11T19:59:00.002-04:00

~ Sunday, August 10, 2008 ~

Only 35 Days to go!! We had a big cool down this weekend weatherwise & it has been a huge relief. :) Saturday morning we went up to Babies R Us for their free carseat installation check. They checked out our infant seat & it's now officially installed in my backseat, ready whenever the baby is. ;) It takes up a lot more room back there than I thought it would.

Saturday afternoon we went out to the Browns training camp in Berea. The weather was very nice, not too hot or too cold, but I did end up with my first major sunburn of the summer. I put sunscreen on, but apparently not good enough - my nose, my knees, the top of my feet & the skin right along my tank top (I must not have put the lotion close enough to my shirt) is all very crispy. I had to take a cool shower when we got home & put on lots of aloe. Craig got a couple of autographs, which was a nice bonus. :)

Sunday was a nice vegging out sort of day - breezy & rainy all afternoon. We stayed in & put some finishing touches on the nursery - we've now got the crib mobile installed & everything up on the walls where we want it. I've also slowly been working on packing some things for the hospital. It's very hard to pack away an outfit to come home in when you only have a few outfits that fit at this point anyways, so I'm putting that off a bit longer. I at least have the baby's coming home stuff ready to go, the cameras all set & my toiletry bag ready. :)

I took some belly pictures today & can't believe how much bigger my belly looks just from a week ago! I went so many weeks where I didn't notice a major change, but it really seems to have expanded in the last week! We have our final ultrasound this Friday, 8/15 to check on the baby's size, position, fluid levels, etc, so we're excited for that! :) Monday, 8/18 starts my weekly appointments! Can't believe how close we're getting to meeting our baby girl. :)

Some of the work we did in the nursery Sunday:

~ 34 Weeks ~

2008-08-08T11:32:00.002-04:00

~ Sunday, August 3, 2008 ~

As of Sunday, we were down to 42 days to go until my due date! At my 33 1/2 week appointment I spoke with my doctor about the nausea I've been feeling, combined with the heartburn & reflux at night. She thinks the nausea was linked to the heartburn & reflux & started me on Prilosec OTC instead of just using the Zantac after I got heartburn. I still haven't felt perfect lately - I still seem to be experiencing some nausea, but it feels SO great to not have any heartburn or reflux at all these days!! :) It's been months since I didn't experience major heartburn daily, so it's a huge relief to not have that constant issue.

I'm also having a lot of swelling - mostly in my feet & usually if I spend too much time sitting at my desk at work all day or walking around too much on the weekend. I think the heat & humidity we've had here lately really make the swelling so much worse. I'm basically living in one pair of Teva flip flops that fit me, but even those tend to leave a big indent in the top of my foot from the strap. I also have what I've been calling "memory foam" feet - by the end of the day if I push a finger into the top of my foot an indent will remain there for several seconds or a minute. It's pretty special!

Here are my pictures from 34 weeks:

~ Thursday, August 7, 2008 ~

We attended our first Browns Preseason game of the 2008 season - they played the Jets, who were all over the news after acquiring Brett Favre this week. The weather was nice & cool - I was concerned I'd cook at the preseason games in August this year - but, quite the opposite happened! With 4 minutes left in the 1st Quarter, it started pouring & there was lots of pretty crazy lightning over the lake & stadium. They suspended the game pretty quickly & ordered everyone out of the stands. This was easier said than done - once the concourse was filled up below, there was no place for anyone to go. We got soaked just trying to get down out of the stands. We ended up finding a decent place to hang out for 45 minutes or so on the ramp that takes you to the upper deck - everywhere else was shoulder to shoulder people.

Once they finally started playing again they had pulled all of the starters. We stayed until halftime & then decided to call it a night. We were cold, wet & tired & it was getting late already since the game was delayed so long. We had a nice time at our first Browns preseason game as Season Ticketholders. :) Hopefully, the weather will be nicer for the next game on 8/28! We're also hoping I don't go into labor at the Cowboys game on 9/7 or the Steelers game on 9/14. I guess it would make for an interesting story! LOL

Here are a few pics:

I've also determined this week that the baby seems to be affected by storms! Tuesday night we were woken up by a tornado siren - there was a strong thunderstorm rolling in off the Lake & apparently a strong possibility of a tornado forming so they set the alarm off at 2:45 am! The baby was very active until about 4 am, making it difficult to get back to sleep. The next night we had another storm roll thru again at 3 am & she was moving around again like crazy. Then, last night at the Browns game, she started getting really active just before they delayed the game for lightning. It's pretty interesting! :)

~ 33 Weeks ~

2008-07-27T20:40:00.002-04:00

~ Sunday, July 27, 2008 ~

Only 7 weeks to go! Time is really moving by fast these days it seems. I have been feeling pretty good, but have had a couple of rough days with heat exhaustion. My only other complaints right now are the constant heartburn - I can get heartburn after a simple bowl of corn flakes in the morning...not good - Zantac is my best friend lately, the backaches by the end of the day & my huge swollen feet most evenings. Other than that, I'm really feeling pretty good & am enjoying my pregnancy.

I am now working from home at least one day a week, which really seems to help me not to feel so exhausted. Some of the first trimester fatigue & morning sickness seems to be trying to creep back in from time to time. I'm also noticing that as hungry as I am sometimes, I am no longer able to eat a huge meal - my stomach is too squished I think! LOL So, I'm eating more often, but much smaller portions.

I am now visiting the doctor every 2 weeks instead of 4 & in just 2 1/2 weeks, I'll be onto weekly appointments! We also have one more ultrasound coming up on August 15th - the doctor likes to do one more towards the end to check on baby growth, the current size, position & fluid levels to insure there are no issues that we aren't aware of. So far, everything has been great at my doctor's appointments.

At 33 weeks our baby is now approximately 17" long & over 4 lbs - it is estimated that she will gain a 1/2 lb a week now until the very end. Here are some pictures from today:

~32 Weeks~

2008-07-27T20:25:00.003-04:00

~ Saturday, July 19, 2008 ~

Craig & I travelled down to Louisville, KY to see Craig's friend Kevin from OBC get married. It was our last little weekend away just the two of us for awhile, I'm sure!

Friday night we drove down to Columbus for the night & met up with my friend Sarah for some yummy dinner at Hoggy's! We really wish there was one up here closer to home - it's our favorite for BBQ (for Ohio anyways...) Craig & I did some clearance sale shopping at Old Navy & got a lot of great deals before checking into the hotel in Hilliard for the night. The hotel room was like a sauna when we got there, not great for an 8 months pregnant girl. The AC wasn't on, so I kicked it on full blast & it eventually cooled things off in there.

Saturday morning we got up & ended up grabbing a quick breakfast at McDonald's before hitting the road again. We made it into Louisville by 1 pm & went straight to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Tour. We went on the short factory tour to see how they make baseball bats & toured the tiny museum there before checking into our hotel in Downtown Louisville to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding was at 4:30 & a very nice ceremony. The wedding reception was at 6, but not much happened until the wedding party arrived at 7. It was open seating & we didn't end up knowing anyone else there but the bride & groom, so we sat with some odd people. LOL The wedding reception actually started clearing out by 8:30, so we left by 9ish & went back to the hotel to rest up & get changed out of our dress clothes. The wedding party was supposed to head downtown to the 4th Street Live area around 10, so we drove over there to meet up with everyone. After paying to park & wandering in & out of several restaurants & bars there on a busy Saturday night, Craig got a hold of the groom & found out they weren't going to make it out after all. It was probably just as well, I was exhausted & was getting some strange looks from the people at the bars. LOL Our most interesting site of the night was some guy dressed up like Colonel Sanders that you could get your picture with.

The next morning we had planned on just getting up & hitting the road, but the bride & groom felt bad that we hadn't seen much of them after making the drive, so we hung around & met them for breakfast. It was a later start than I had wanted, and to top it off there was an hour wait for breakfast where we went! By the time I got my food, I literally thought I was going to pass out my stomach was so empty - this baby likes it when I eat!

We got home & picked up the dogs & were just plain exhausted. Overall, we had a very nice last weekend away for awhile, but I am definitely done with road trips for the duration of this pregnancy. I just could not get comfortable for a 6 hour drive back!

Here we are dressed up for the wedding:

Baby Shower!

2008-07-27T19:18:00.002-04:00

~ Saturday, July 12, 2008 ~

We had a wonderful baby shower!! About 25 guests were there - it was great to see everyone! I helped my Mom with some of the baking & preparations on Friday and had a very busy day with the shower on Saturday, so by Sunday I was exhausted! I am glad that our shower ended up being as early as it was - my fatigue has really set back in over the last couple weeks.

We made lots of pink foods & drinks for the shower - we had pink lemonade, pink strawberry cupcakes (these were SO good!), brownies with pink frosting and strawberries, pretzels & cookies dipped in pink chocolate. We also had some delicious chicken salad tea sandwiches, deviled eggs, pasta salad, fresh mango salsa, fruit salad & shish-ka-bobs. We had SO much food! LOL It was all delicious!

We got SO many great gifts, too! Everyone was very generous - we even got some great gifts from some people that were unable to make it to our shower. We played a couple games at the shower - one was for everyone to guess the size of my belly by cutting a ribbon & the other was a trivia game on nursery rhymes. My Mom also passed around a journal & had everyone write a comment or piece of advice in it for us. It will be a very nice memento to look back on over the years. Another fun shower idea was that my Mom requested everyone get a small baby book for us to dedicate to the baby instead of the standard greeting card. It was a fun idea & now we have a great collection of baby books started for our baby girl!

Here are some pictures from the big day:
The yummy food!

The gift table:

Me with my friends Sarah & Jen:

Mom & Me:

Me & Craig:

My friends from work - Marisa & Amanda:

Me & Craig & my Sisters-in-law, Kara & Kaitlin & Mother-in-law, Robbi:

Baby Quilt my Mom made:

Baby's 1st Skechers!

Diaper cake from Robbi:

~ 3D Ultrasound ~

2008-06-28T19:54:00.002-04:00

~ Saturday, June 28, 2008~

We went today to a place specializing in 3D Ultrasounds for a special momento of our baby girl. It was a neat experience, but I think their machine wasn't quite as impressive as the doctor's was that we got to see already at 18 & 26 weeks. It was really cool to see the baby move up on the big screen & feel those movements at the same time!

Here are some of the pictures we got today:

A couple profile shots:

Here it looks like she is laughing:

~ 29 Weeks~

2008-06-28T19:32:00.002-04:00

~ Saturday, June 28, 2008 ~

Tomorrow marks 29 weeks into my 40 week pregnancy - time is really flying by these days! Over the last couple weeks I've hit a couple milestones - I'm now in the 3rd & final trimester & into my 7th month! My belly has been rapidly growing & baby girl is very active these days! You can see my belly move from the outside much more often & I am feeling more kicks throughout the day now, too.

Here's my 29 week belly:

I'm getting excited for our baby shower - it's just 2 weeks from today already! :)

~ Follow-Up Ultrasound~

2008-06-07T18:46:00.003-04:00

~ Friday, June 6, 2008~

Today was a big day for us, we got to go in for another ultrasound. The OB that performs the ultrasounds is very thorough, so when he couldn't see all the chambers of the heart he needed to at our first anatomy ultrasound he scheduled us to come back in at 26 weeks for a repeat. He was able to clearly see everything he wanted to pretty quickly this time, so everything checked out well! :)

He called her a moving target since he was having so much trouble getting a good face shot for us! He estimated that she is weighing in at 1 lb 15 oz! Based on various measurements she is at the 50-60th percentile for size - so average to slightly above average. I'm just happy to hear that she's growing as she should! I go back in for my next appointment on Wednesday & I'll get the standard 1 hour gestational diabetes test that everyone gets between 26-28 weeks.

In other fun news, for just 2-3 days now I have been feeling lots more movement & I am now even seeing my belly move from the outside! It's almost like something out of Alien - LOL ;) Craig got to see my belly move & finally feel the movement from the outside for the first time last night.

Here's our one & only ultrasound picture - we think she may have the Barnes nose, still hard to tell since she was moving around so much:

~ 25 1/2 Weeks ~

2008-06-07T18:35:00.002-04:00

~ Saturday, May 31, 2008~

Just 3 days after returning from NYC we had new carpet installed throughout the entire upstairs at home. Our old carpet was 12 years old & had definitely seen better days. We got the $99 installation deal at Lowe's - we picked out a nice neutral beige carpet, and after much frustration had it installed last Saturday. The deal included moving all the furniture for us (which certainly came in handy for me these days!) & when the installer got here he was pretty much a jerk from the beginning. He gave me a hard time about moving things & complaining that we should have had one room done at a time....needless to say I'm happy to have that stressful day behind us. I'm just happy that our baby girl will have clean carpet to roll around on. :)

~ Wednesday, June 4, 2008~

As of last weekend, I am officially in my 6th month! Can't believe I'm so far along already. I hadn't taken one of my usual weekly belly pictures with all of our weekend travelling lately, so I took a few at about 25 1/2 weeks. Getting rounder & rounder!

Memorial Day Weekend in NYC!

2008-06-07T10:56:00.005-04:00

It's definitely been a busy couple of weeks around here! Just 3 days after returning home from our Cooperstown trip, we had to do more laundry & packing all over again. We flew to NYC Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend for our last little trip just the 2 of us for years to come. We had a wonderful weekend there - absolutely perfect 80 degree & sunny days during our entire stay! :)

We were checked into the Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel in Manhattan by about 12:30 - we got unpacked a bit, got our backpack repacked with the camera & essentials & ran down to hop on the subway. This part of the trip didn't start out as we expected - for some reason the subway stop right next to our hotel was only travelling uptown during the start of our trip, no trains were going downtown. So, we had to go uptown one stop and reboard a train to go back in the correct direction - LOL - good times. After we got headed in the right direction we took the subway to Battery Park since our plans were to ride the boat over to both the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. When we arrived we were still a bit early for our ticketed time, so we walked around to see the sights & stopped for a slice of NYC pizza before boarding the boat. Once over on the island we walked around the statue & took lots of pictures & found out that our tickets also included admission to the base of the statue. We had to go through security stricter than the airport screenings to be allowed up there, too. We walked up 160 stairs to get to the base...I had to stop & let people pass me about half way up - LOL I am just getting winded so easily now.

We also went over to Ellis Island briefly, but got there a bit late in the day to see much. After arriving back on land, we walked over to the Piers & visited Pier 17 like we did in January. It was much different this time around being a holiday weekend & actually warm out - you could barely walk over there! I bought a pink "Prada" purse for $20 & we walked from there over to Little Italy for dinner. We were surprised to see they actually had a festival going on for the weekend there with the streets blocked off. All the restaurants were open on the front with patio seating & there was live music playing. We ate at Cafe Nappoli & it was delicious! We grabbed dessert out at the festival & then finally headed back to the hotel after a very long day!

Sunday morning we got up & headed over to Yankee Stadium to see a game there during it's last year in use. The morning started out very rough with very rude workers at the stadium & them closing the Heritage Park Craig wanted to see just 15 minutes after they opened the gates. Our seats were great & the Yankees won, so it ended up being a pretty good day. Even with sunscreen - we both got a bit cooked in the sun - I think I drank about 5 liters of water to keep hydrated.

New Yankee Stadium:

After the game we were both dying for a shower & a change of clothes, so we went back to the hotel for that & then walked down to Grand Central Station for dinner at Junior's Cheesecake Company. We had yummy burgers, cole slaw, fries & onion rings - it was way too much food! We could have easily split a meal there. From there we hopped on a shuttle to Times Square to take in some of the sites for the evening.
Grand Central:

Times Square:

Monday morning we got up to go to the Bronx Zoo - one of the places I was really looking forward to on our trip. This would also end up being the roughest neighborhoods we saw in NYC. The Zoo itself was very nice, but very expensive. We rode the monorail around to see some of the animals & it was even an extra charge to see the gorilla exhibit! They also have a skyway & camel rides, but being a holiday it was over an hour wait for both. It was too hot & I was too tired to want to wait for either one at that point.

We ended up with dinner at Grand Central again since there are so many options there & it isn't far from the hotel. We also needed to be there to catch our next Subway train to Shea Stadium to see the Mets game we were attending that night - this is also the last year for Shea. I think it was mostly from being cooked in the sun for 2 days, but this evening game was the only time I was actually chilled during our NYC trip - I definitely should have thrown on some jeans! Unfortunately, the Mets lost, but we enjoyed seeing the stadium - it was definitely a bit nicer & easier to manuvere than Yankee Stadium.

Our final morning in the city was our shopping & Central Park day. We didn't spend much time at Central Park due to several reasons - it had rained earlier that morning so everything was too wet to sit on, my feet were so swollen & painful at that point it was excrutiating to walk at that point & the last thing we saw on the news on our way out of the hotel was about someone getting killed there the night before. LOL - I'm sure this is a frequent occurrence, but we were a bit uneasy anyways.

After our walk there we walked over to 5th avenue & went shopping at the Huge World of Disney store. We got a cute little pink onesie with Minnie Mouse on it for the baby, I got a new pair of pink Mickey crocs for my swollen Fred Flintstone feet this summer & we both got a t-shirt (although it'll be awhile til I can wear mine!) By this time I was starved & we were able to find our favorite pizza place from last time just off 5th Avenue. It is just delicious!! And probably the most affordable place we ate all weekend. From there we found a subway stop & headed over to Herald Square for my final shopping stop. My goal was to find the H&M store that has an H&M Mama line of clothes - I had a gift card I was dying to use! Their maternity section was very tiny considering the store was 3 floors big, but I actually found a couple tops, pair of capris & 2 pairs of shorts - so, I should now be set for the summer with clothes that fit. Craig also found a Modell's sports store that had lots of cheap Mets & Rangers t-shirts.

The Bellman at the hotel was able to set us up with a towncar service to the airport which was $20 cheaper than a cab would've been & even slightly cheaper than the miserable van service we used on the way there (that wanted to pick us up 4 hours before our flight time...) It was a wonderfully comfortable ride back to the airport. Our trip ended up with us sitting on the runway at LaGuardia for about 4 1/2 hours before we could take off....not fun for a hungry pregnant girl! LOL It was sunny skies when we boarded the plane, but they were backed up allowing planes to take off. By the time it was closer to our turn a storm moved in the area & they stopped all planes from taking off! So, we sat, and sat, and sat some more. Once they were letting planes take off again, we got bumped down the list again. We ended up landing at about 9:45 pm - originally due home at 6. I had dinner in my car from Wendy's at 10:30, picked up the dogs & came home to crash!

We had a great trip & look forward to returning there again some day. :)

~ 23 Weeks ~

2008-05-21T22:09:00.004-04:00

~ Sunday, May 18, 2008~

We spent a couple days in Cooperstown, NY - I had to go for a business meeting & since Craig has been dying to get there for years, he was luckily able to come along! We stayed at the Otesaga Resort, which was an old & fancy place - men were required to wear jackets to dinner in the evenings. The weather was cold during our stay, so we didn't get to spend a lot of time outside by the lake. Craig really enjoyed the Baseball Hall of Fame, but it really is out in the middle of nowhere! LOL

My business meeting concluded with a guest speaker, Jim Craig - the goalie for the U.S. Olympic team that won the Gold in 1980, so that was a nice end to the trip. It ended up being a long 7 hour drive home & we are still dragging today a bit. Trying to get rested up since we're hopping a plane to NYC on Saturday!! Busy, busy this month!

I've been feeling more movement lately, which is a lot of fun! I mostly feel her moving around at night when it's time for bed. I've read that my movement during the day rocks her to sleep & when I crash for the evening on the couch or in bed, she wakes up & is ready to party. When on the move it's also harder to feel any movement - I think I may have been kicked in the ribs a couple times in the last week - that really smarts! I have my next doctor's appointment tomorrow morning - should just be another monthly check-up - I think I'll be making my appt for 4 weeks from now where they test for gestational diabetes - good fun! LOL

~ 22 Weeks~

2008-05-21T22:06:00.003-04:00

~ Sunday, May 11, 2008~

Here is my 22 week belly! Getting bigger every day! LOL We had a very nice Mother's Day with both Moms - really looking forward to being a Mom myself next Mom's Day.

~ 20 Weeks - Halfway there!!! ~

2008-04-27T21:41:00.005-04:00

~ Sunday, April 27, 2008 ~

Today marks 20 weeks - officially the halfway mark of my 40 week pregnancy! I'm now in month 5, which seems pretty far along. Our Baby Girl is now measuring as long as a banana & weighs in at about 10 1/2 oz.

I had another one of my monthly doctor's appointments on Thursday & everything was looking good. She said I was doing great on my weight gain, which was somewhat of a relief since I feel like I eat like a horse several times a day (just ask Craig - LOL.) I've taken 2 prenatal yoga classes now that I've enjoyed. It's a good way to relax after a stressful day at work & teaches a lot of stretching techniques. It's also fun to spend some time with other pregnant girls my age. My newest pregnancy related issue is swelling ankles & feet most evenings after work - I get some lovely cankles or Fred Flintstone like feet...they are very attractive...really! ;) Only major discomfort at this point is horrendous heartburn & backaches off & on. We've got another busy week coming up - can't believe it's going to be May already!

~It's A...........

2008-04-19T17:52:00.002-04:00

GIRL!! We had our big ultrasound yesterday & found out we're having a healthy baby girl! The doctor took measurements of all the body parts, including the organs. Then, he was able to flip back & forth between the regular ultrasound & 3D - it was pretty cool to see!

She was very active, like usual, and we could see her opening & closing her mouth & putting her hand to her face. It was a great experience, and I think made it all the more real. The doctor couldn't get a good enough picture of the heart (he said he preferred these appointments at 22 weeks, so no idea why they let me schedule mine for 19!) so, we're due to go back again at 26 weeks for a better picture. He assured us there was nothing wrong, but that he would just like a clearer picture once the baby is a bit bigger. So, I'm excited to go back & hopefully get another peek with the 3D ultrasound. I was considering going somewhere in town where you can pay to have one done, but maybe I won't need to now! :o)

The doctor also recorded the ultrasound for us on a dvd, so that is a great keepsake for us. We went out today & bought a few pink outfits to add to our collection. There is SO much cute stuff out there! Now that I've gotten it out of my system, hopefully I can hold off on too many more purchases for awhile. ;)

~ 17 Weeks ~

2008-04-06T19:30:00.004-04:00

~ Sunday, April 6, 2008~

Today marks 17 weeks for me - time is moving by pretty well these days. Baby Smith is now approximately 5 inches long, weighing in at about 5 ounces. I have read that the baby goes through it's biggest growth spurt between 16-20 weeks & my greatly increased appetite over the last week must agree! I feel like I could eat another full meal within 2 hours of every meal I eat! LOL It really is crazy, and I'm hoping the constant hunger slows down a bit.

Had a great weekend - the weather was beautiful here - actually wore capris & flip flops today to enjoy the sunny day! My Mom was in town to celebrate my birthday & we went baby shopping yesterday & today. We now have a mattress for the crib & a car seat & stroller set. I had been looking all over for a cute pattern & when I found the cute one we got at Target today we just had to get it. Craig & I put the stroller together this evening & the dogs really weren't sure what to make of it - they were pretty funny. Colby was especially bugged when we put his stuffed gorilla in the stroller & pushed it around the living room. LOL

We are anxiously awaiting our big ultrasound in less than 2 weeks now to hopefully find out boy or girl. It'll be fun to shop for some gender specific things at this point and start talking about names a bit.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! :o)

~ Nursery ~

2008-03-30T23:14:00.002-04:00

~ 16 Weeks ~

2008-03-30T23:04:00.003-04:00

~ Sunday, March 30, 2008 ~

I am now 16 weeks along!! Seems crazy, but time has actually been flying by lately. We had a very successful weekend - we got the border up in the nursery & even got our crib put together. It literally took less than 5 minutes to put together!! We were shocked after hearing everyone's horror stories about putting together their cribs. No tools were required - all the pieces just kind of locked into place - it was pretty cool! So, we got that set-up where we want it & I was able to leave my scrapbook table in the room for now, which will be nice for the next couple months. We are very happy with the paint colors & the border now that it's all come together. I turn the big 3-0 on Tues! I'm looking forward to my Mom flying in on Thursday for another birthday weekend celebration. We're looking forward to going shopping for some baby things! :)

~Doctor's Appointment ~

2008-03-25T18:46:00.003-04:00

~ Tuesday, March 25, 2008 ~

I had another general check-up today & everything is looking great! :)

We listened to the baby's heartbeat, which was very difficult to do! LOL Our Baby is VERY active in there & tends to hop around all over the place, especially when anyone tries to listen to their heartbeat. My belly is measuring where it should & the most exciting part of today's appointment was that I got to make our big ultrasound appointment for April 18th!! Only 24 days to go until we find out if there's a baby boy or girl in there!

We went to Babies R Us last night just to look around & ended up coming home with a crib! LOL I thought for sure we'd have to order the crib, but they had the one we liked in stock, so we just went ahead & got it. :) We also picked up the baby's mobile for the crib that Craig is really excited about. I'm happy with it, too - it is too cute with the Browns dogs on it! Craig was also very busy on Good Friday getting the baby's room painted! It looks great!! We're really happy with the colors - I'll have to post a picture after we get our border up this weekend.

~ 15 Weeks ~

2008-03-25T18:36:00.005-04:00

~Sunday, March 23, 2008~Happy Easter!

I've been feeling better each week, other than these headaches I keep getting. Hopefully those will go away one of these days! My belly is really starting to stick out a bit more now, which I'm still getting used to. Lots of my clothes certainly don't fit the way they used to! LOL

Baby Smith is now about 4" long & the size of an apple. The baby can sense light if you were to shine a flashlight at my belly, even though their eyes aren't opening yet.

Here is my 15 week belly shot~

~ 14 Weeks ~

2008-03-16T19:31:00.003-04:00

~ Sunday, March 16, 2008 ~ Today marks 14 weeks down - we're more than a third of the way thru this pregnancy already! Now that I'm out of the scary first trimester, time seems to be moving along much more quickly for me. I am still getting these horendous headaches, but other than that, I am feeling pretty good most days. According to one of my pregnancy books, Baby Smith is now the size of a lemon & can frown or smile. I was able to share the baby's heartbeat with my Dad & brother this weekend which was a lot of fun. I also went shopping earlier this week, which was a lot of fun. I am loving my new maternity jeans & I also got a cute pair of cargo pants that fold into capris if it ever warms up here. I also love this new pink t-shirt dress that should be nice & cool this summer, and will be a cute Easter dress next weekend. Craig is off for Good Friday this week & is planning on getting the painting underway in the nursery! I'll post pictures once it's complete.

~ 13 Weeks ~

2008-03-10T09:34:00.002-04:00

~ March 9, 2008 ~

Today marks 13 weeks for me, which is also the start of my 2nd Trimester!! So, I'm about a third of the way thru this pregnancy & the chances of anything going wrong at this point are greatly reduced which brings me some relief. We were snowed in on Saturday, so we had a pretty quiet weekend. I swear I've felt a couple of little flutters that could be the baby moving around, but not very often yet. :) I'm still getting horendous headaches pretty frequently & I thought my morning sickness had subsided, but it reared its ugly head on Thursday again...so, I'm still sticking to foods I know work with my sensitive tummy.

~ Baby's Heartbeat ~

2008-03-06T20:06:00.005-05:00

Click the link to hear our baby's heartbeat: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v660/arizonacolbys/?action=view&current=babyheartbeat030608.flv

For my piece of mind, I decided to buy a home doppler on ebay a few weeks ago to listen to the baby's heartbeat at home in between doctor's appointments. A lot of people rent these, but for about the same money, I can just have one of my own. It is SO cool to hear Baby's heartbeat!! As we saw at our last 2 ultrasouds, Baby Smith is VERY active in there! Sometimes I can only find the heartbeat for 5-10 seconds before the baby flips around or moves on me. LOL I recorded the heartbeat on my cell phone today, so it's not the greatest quality - hopefully, I'll get a better recording of it in the future to post.

~ 12 Weeks ~

2008-03-05T08:50:00.002-05:00

~ Sunday, March 2, 2008 ~

Here is my 12 week belly shot!! My belly is really starting to fill out now - kinda crazy...I really didn't think it would show this early. The good news is that I'm really starting to feel better these days, too. I've always heard that the 2nd trimester is when you feel the best & I'm only a couple days away from that now, so hopefully it's true! :)

~ February 28, 2008 ~

2008-02-28T16:42:00.002-05:00

11 Weeks, 4 Days ~ We got another ultrasound today & the baby was moving around like crazy in there!! We got to see the arms moving around & you can even make out the little fingers now! Really cool. The baby did a couple of flips while we were watching & we got to see the baby head on where you could kind of make out the face a bit. After the ultrasound, we also got to listen to the baby's heartbeat for the first time!! Baby's heartbeat was steady in the 150's & sounded great!

10 Week Belly Shot

2008-02-18T12:04:00.002-05:00

~Sunday, February 17, 2008~

Well, there it is! It's really starting to stick out now! LOL I'm pretty much in maternity jeans now (I got a new pair at Target on Friday) or sweats/pajama bottoms at home. It's much more comfy for sure. :)

~Saturday, February 16, 2008~

2008-02-18T08:42:00.003-05:00

We went shopping today & I picked up the border we plan on putting up in the baby's room. We already have a Winnie the Pooh & Friends crib bedding set that I got on clearance last year & since I'm a big Pooh & Tigger fan, the border ties everything in! We also went out & got our paint yesterday (paint was really cheap at Sears yesterday!) - a pale green for the bottom half of the walls & a pale blue for the top half with the border running around the middle. I may also paint clouds on the top half, but haven't completely decided yet. That bedroom is painted purple right now, so we also bought some primer to help cover that up! Our project over the next couple weeks will be to get a lot of my scrapbooking stuff put away in that room so that we can paint it eventually. We also got a neat surprise from my parents this weekend - they have a really cute 3d cutout of safari animals - a giraffe, monkey, elephant, lion & zebra that they're going to try to get back to Ohio for us to put up on one wall of the nursery! Pretty Cool! :)

9 Week Belly Shot~

2008-02-13T13:19:00.003-05:00

~ Sunday, February 10, 2008 ~

Here is my 9 week belly shot! It's definitely starting to stick out a bit! None of my regular jeans fit anymore...unless they are unbuttoned. Not really sure it's baby sticking out yet, or just a lot of fluid, but trying to wear any of my old jeans is getting downright painful! I'll be seeing if I can pick up a pair of jeans with a stretchy waist this weekend to help get me thru the workday! :)

Morning Sickness has Found Me!! Eek!

2008-02-13T13:15:00.003-05:00

Well, I didn't get my first signs of morning sickness until about 8 weeks or so, but it has finally set in. I think I've done a pretty good job at learning to help control it, but some days there's just not much you can do to avoid it! I've kept crackers in the nightstand drawer for a couple weeks ago & have to nibble on them before getting out of bed.

Pizza is my new best friend - I swear I could eat it every day! Something about the sauce, bread & cheese just really hits the spot right now. I've gone to Pizza Hut for a personal pan pizza at least 2-3 days a week lately for lunch. We also love the pizzas at the Winking Lizard! Yum!

For some reason just this week, I have felt ill an hour or so after dinner..regardless of what we eat! It really stinks....but, I know this too will pass soon.

Feb 7th ~ 2nd Ultrasound!!

2008-02-13T13:03:00.004-05:00

Today I went in for my first appointment with my new doctor. I have to say I really loved her! She is night & day compared to my old OB (who was very cold & hurried all the time, with a poor bedside manner.) My new Doc was just SO excited for me & talked animatedly the entire time, which was very comforting. At the end of the exam we got to do the "fun part" - another ultrasound!

This ultrasound was amazing compared to the first! Baby is now measuring 19mm compared to the 5mm just 2 weeks & 2 days ago! That means our little bean almost quadrupled in size in just over 2 weeks!! Crazy! You could actually make out little arm & leg buds on the screen & the baby kept moving their head all around!! It was SO cool to see the bab moving on the monitor. I was given 4 pictures this time to take home with me. I wasn't sure when I could get another u/s since Craig wasn't able to make this appointment with his work schedule, but my doctor told me that if he can make it to the next one, we'll just sneak a peak so he can see! I was very relieved to hear that. :)

After the exam & ultrasound, they decided to take 80 million vials of blood to get my type & test me for everything under the sun...good fun! LOL

7 Week Belly Shot~

2008-01-31T12:13:00.000-05:00

~Sunday, January 27, 2008~

Here is my first official Belly Shot at 7 weeks - I can't wait to see how it grows over the next several months! Right now my tummy really expands by the end of the day, but I don't think it's actual baby bump...yet.

1st Ultrasound!!!

2008-01-31T12:03:00.000-05:00

~Tuesday, January 22, 2008~

I was a nervous wreck going in for our first ultrasound. Things didn't go well the last time when we went in for that first ultrasound, so I just couldn't grasp getting good news this time. The nurse was very nice & bubbly & right away showed us our little babe & the flickering heartbeat! I was measuring at 6 weeks and 2 days, giving me an Estimated Due Date of September 14, 2008...also known as my Mom's Birthday! So, that was some fun news to get! She gave us 2 pictures to take with us & told us the baby was still very tiny - about 5mm, or the size of a grain of rice. We are now eagerly awaiting our next ultrasound which will take place on Thursday, February 7, 2008.

New York City~

2008-01-31T11:13:00.000-05:00

Friday, January 18 - January 21, 2008

We spent 3 nights in New York City! Neither one of us had ever been there, so it was definitely an adventure. Friday we landed in the morning, got checked into the hotel & decided to hit the streets. We took our first of many subway rides & stopped at Grand Central Station, checked out the Chrysler Building (which we could also see from our room) went to Ground Zero and ended up at Pier 17 and then in Little Italy where we had some delicious dinner!

Saturday we got up & walked over to 5th Avenue to do some shopping! We checked out the World of Disney, Gap, Trump Tower, Build a Bear, Niketown, the NHL Store, Rockefeller Center and a couple other misc stores. We had some delicious Sicilian pizza slices for lunch! Then, dinner was bbq pork sandwiches at Grand Central Station on our way to Times Square & Broadway to see Lion King. We really enjoyed Times Square & we enjoyed the Lion King, but aren't necessarily in a hurry to see another show.

Sunday was one of the highlights of the trip for me - seeing the Rangers play at Madison Square Garden! It was awesome...even though the place is kind of a dump. LOL They lost, but it was still just so cool to go to a home Rangers game for a change. We went back to the hotel after the game to dress warmer since it was now really, really cold out. We went back to Times Square to check out a few things we'd missed the night before. We really liked Times Square, but it was just too cold to enjoy! We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square that night, which was pretty good - we were able to watch some of the Giants game there - they won that night while we were in NYC to advance to the Super Bowl.

Monday was our last day there...and it wasn't a full day. We got up & headed over to the Empire State Building one of our goals of the trip. We got to go up to the top & let me tell you...it was COLD up there!!! We only spent a few minutes at a time out there, before having to go back in & warm up again! LOL But, it was definitely something really cool to do. We killed some time at the big Macy's around the corner and I got a dress there to wear to an upcoming Army Ball. We ate lunch at the Heartland Brewery inside the Empire State Building & then went back over to 5th Avenue to find FAO Schwartz & made one more stop off at World of Disney where we ran into Tigger & Pooh! :)

It was a great trip & we're planning on returning there sometime this spring/summer to see Yankee stadium before they demolish it (even though we are definitely not Yankee fans!) The trip was a great distraction to our next doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning....

Bloodwork~

2008-01-31T11:09:00.001-05:00

~ Monday, January 7, 2008~

I started out my morning driving in a blizzard out to the doctor's office in Beachwood to have my blood drawn. Due to my history, they wanted to check me out & make sure things were progressing the way they should be. The measure the level of HCG in your blood - on Monday mine was measuring at 448...a little higher than average.

~Monday, January 14, 2008~

Today was my follow-up bloodwork day - blood was drawn first thing in the morning again & this time my number was up to 8,615. Basically, the doctors like to see your number double every 48 hours...my number equaled a doubling time of 39.39 hours. So, things were definitely progressing as they should!

Yet Another Test~

2008-01-31T11:04:00.001-05:00

Sunday ~ January 6, 2008~

Just to make sure...I took another test Sunday morning. LOL As you can see, the line on the left is definitely getting darker! We might actually be starting to believe this...

The Digi~1/4/08

2008-01-31T10:52:00.000-05:00

As some of you may or may not know...sometimes trying to read lines on a pregnancy test are a nightmare. They now have Digital Pregnancy Tests that simply state the words Pregnant or Not Pregnant....at lunchtime the day I tested positive I ran up & got a couple digital tests to try out. I was originally going to wait until the next day to try taking one...but curiousity got the best of me & I took the Digi that same night after work. Here's what I got!

I can't believe it!!

2008-01-30T15:28:00.000-05:00

Friday ~ January 4, 2008~

I had just told Craig the day before that I just didn't feel it this month and wasn't sure I was even going to test. We had spent a lot of time in the car that day driving out to my Father-in-Law's Deployment Ceremony Overseas. Since I had tests in the house, I gave in & tested first thing Friday morning before getting in the shower. Before I could even set the stick down I immediately saw 2 lines!!! I kept trying to wake up & focus on those lines & ran into the bedroom to wake up Craig & the pooches. I think I yelled something like "I think there are 2 lines!!" LOL The rest of the day was a blur...not sure I was able to focus on anything the rest of the day! Those 2 lines were long overdue...