19 Weeks

How far along? 19 weeks

I had a severe cold this week and I just let it go because I never had a fever or anything that sparked calling the doctor, but I was coughing up a lung.  Thursday morning I woke up and cold was MUCH better but I had what felt like a side ache. It lasted about 4 hours so I called the Doctor and told them I was 19 weeks and I'm sure the pain was stretching and the cold/coughing but wanted to check in. 

The nurse took some notes and consulted with the Dr. and the decided they wanted me to come in for an ultrasound and to check my cervix is long enough and closed. I found a sub for after school care, called Alex from at work and asked him to get out a little earlier and if we could drive together, he asked my mom to pick up our dogs and feed and let them out, then we hurried to the doctor in Neenah, and it became hurry up and wait. We waited an hour and a half for an ultrasound.  My cervix is 1/2 an inch longer than they need to see so I was safe there and my cervix is completely closed. Turns out I was right it was just the coughing and stretching but doctor said he was still glad he checked. I was the third person he had seen that day for the same thing.  I am also on a Z-pac to make sure the cough is not bacterial and playing it safe.

Baby hiding his/her face but
at least we know it has one
ear, 1 elbow, & 1 set of ribs.
You can kind of see the fingers
dangling down by the elbow.

Hand up by the head.  You can
see the eye socket and a bit
of the nose.

 Total Weight Gain: 6.5 lbs

Maternity Clothes? starting to wear shirts now, but can still fit into some looser clothing

Stretch Marks? no

Sleep: doing pretty good actually.  My cold made it rough, but I survived.

Best Moment this Week: Seeing baby on the ultra sound and seeing Alex's face when he felt baby for the first time. Brings me to tears thinking about Alex's reaction....every time.

Miss Anything? doing pretty good

Movement: Yes!  Alex loved feeling it too!  Still tiny little taps, but we are enjoying it so much!

Food Craving? no

Anything making you queasy or sick? no
Have you started to show yet? yes
Bellybutton in or out? moving its way out, but still tucked in for now.
Gender Prediction: Gender predictors say girl, wives tales say both boy and girl but more towards boy, and my gut says boy.  We shall see next weekend!
Wedding Rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time? I was very upset driving to the Dr. even though I had a feeling everything was fine, I would go through these waves of panic, then be fine, and panic again.  I do find myself feeling sappier and crying at things like the ultrasound, Alex's emotions to the pregnancy, and just being with my husband in general.
Looking forward to: The next ultrasound on Monday, getting more pictures, and having the gender party with our friends and family next weekend.  I am just so in love with this man in my life and the baby in my belly I just cannot wait for this whole experience to continue.

Crib is up!

18 Weeks

How far along? 18 weeks
Total Weight Gain: I only weigh myself at the doctor...it was 5 lbs at week 16
Maternity Clothes? Not shirts yet, but we are getting close!
Stretch Marks? nope
Sleep: been pretty good.  I have been sleeping with a pillow under my head, in my arms, and between my legs.  I then have the pregnancy wedge behind me to keep me from tipping over and if I do tip over my back is angled.  Not as great as it used to be, but probably as good as it is going to get!
Best Moment this Week: feeling what I am 99% sure is movement!  It is so crazy to FEEL the life inside me.
Miss Anything? Not really, doing pretty good this week!
Movement: I am pretty sure!  I have had the same feeling in the same area of my abdomen on both sides so I am thinking it is the real deal! 
Food Craving? Nothing this week.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Mornings.  I for some reason, get nauseous every day at 8:15 this week, which is rough because that is morning circle in 4k.  Try singing the morning song when all you want to do is clamp your mouth shut!  ugh!  It goes away quickly and with water and granola so far though, which is nice.
Have you started to show yet? yes
Bellybutton in or out? it is still an innie, but getting closer to outie every week!
Gender Prediction: now I am back on the 50/50 train! We shall see in 2 weeks from Saturday!
Wedding Rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time? This week was much better. I did very well...except when I went to get a second cart at Menards and came back to find Alex gone (he went to find peg board while I was gone).  I welled up in tears ridiculously as I sat with my empty cart and no purse or phone looking like a dork til he came back.
Looking forward to: felling more movement and stronger movements.  I cannot wait to see the ultra sound in a week and a half!  
Anything Else? The move has gone well and has pretty much wrapped up.  It is looking good!  Pictures are about ready to be posted, keep an eye out!

The Move (part 1)

Our bags are packed, we are getting ready to go!

We have the final walk through today at 10, closing at 1, and we can get in at 3!  We cannot wait to get started!

Before Photos:

living room

Fire place and reading nook 

Stairs, garage entrance, bathroom, coat closet, wall the TV is on.

Entering the dining room/kitchen 

Kitchen

Back Yard

No pictures of upstairs as the guy was cleaning the carpets at the time.

I can honestly say I have NEVER felt the exhaustion I have felt this week.  It started with when we got in on Friday.  The previous owners were supposed to leave the paint colors, but upon starting the touch ups upstairs, it was discovered they left a primer instead of the upstairs paint color so we could not paint the rooms.  This means that the moving crew was still coming Saturday but we could not have the walls painted first.

The moving commences all day on Saturday and pretty much everything was moved over.  We fell into bed on Saturday after hours and hours of moving.  We slept at the old house and cuddled with the dogs getting ready for the new home the next day.

We woke up early on Sunday to get started on moving, cleaning, and painting.  Alex enjoyed cuddling with the dogs in the bed one last time as the dogs will not be allowed in bed or bedroom in the new house.

Sunday was spent all day unpacking the boxes that did get moved, and painting and painting and unpacking. It was VERY late on Sunday by the time we got in bed.

Once the week started, we left for work, worked all day, got out of work as soon as we could, came home, work on the house until 11ish, and then fall into bed to do it again.

By Thursday (today), we have hit our walls.  We both took the night off from everything and rested, watched tv, went to diner, took our weekly picture (yay), and watched more tv.  I unpacked a couple boxes and was in bed at a normal time.  FINALLY!

The unpacking had almost all wrapped up, things are going on the walls, and after pictures should be ready this weekend!

The plus side? The closets and drawers are done!  I love my color coded systems.  

17 Weeks

How far along? 17 weeks
Total Weight Gain: 5 lbs
Maternity Clothes? Still wearing my maternity jeans and work pants and leggings, but only certain leggings work now.  Shirts are still pretty good, though some of the tighter or less stretchy ones are slowly being put into boxes.
Stretch Marks? not yet
Sleep: Getting better, but with the move, I hit the pillow and then the morning alarm is waking me up.  Hopefully a normal bed time will help me resume normal sleep....only better.
Best Moment this Week: Moving in, seeing the nursery, touching up the nursery, and accidentally buying the crib!  Alex and I went to buy the stuff we needed for the house and happened to walk by the baby section of Shopko.  We walked past the exact crib style I wanted, and upon walking up to it, it was on CLEARANCE...for under $100! yay new crib!
Miss Anything? Energy
Movement: Maybe!  I leaned on the counter on Friday to put my mascara and I felt something funny on the exact spot the doctor heard the strongest heartbeat.  Then, a couple times when going to bed I felt a little flutter.... sometimes my stomach twitches when I am tired and I have been the MOST tired I have EVER felt this week so it could be that, but I am optimistic!
Food Craving? I've "needed" noodles whole grain tuscan linguine twice this week.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Doing pretty good.  I was pretty sick this morning so I had to go visit the office and ask if they had any mints hiding. Thank goodness they did, that and 3 breakfasts and I felt a little better!
Have you started to show yet? yes.  In looking at pictures this bump looks different than a couple weeks ago, so I think it is a real bump!
Bellybutton in or out? Still in but it is starting to look different, which is making Alex laugh at me.
Gender Prediction: I am leaning on boy still. I feel a lot of pressure pretty low, baby was on the right and heartbeat was 147 so I am still leaning that way. We find out in 3 weeks 2 days!
Wedding Rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time? This week was rough. I am so tired and I am just hitting a point I do not have control of my emotions.  I have cried, yelled, and cried, and yelled.  Doing better as the week is winding down though!
Looking forward to: Gender Reveal, settling into this house and making it our HOME.

16 weeks

I am pre-writing this one and then going to add to it through out the week.....because we close the day after!

How far along? 16 Weeks!
Total Weight Gain: 5lbd 
Maternity Clothes? Same pants and looser shirts
Stretch Marks? no
Sleep: using a body pillow instead of two regular pillows has actually helped. I roll less, need to wake up less to roll, and stay on my side better.  I am glad I found something I have been sleeping much better with the body pillow.  Now having to get up the bathroom more as I am pushing more fluids is another story..... ;)  I got a pregnancy wedge from Abby Smith so we shall see how this goes.
Best Moment this Week: This was a good week!  On Saturday: Watching Kolton come second in the entire state for individual wrestling.  You want to see a balling sister, make her pregnant and watching a live stream on the computer when it suddenly goes out in the third period!  It came back on and he did great!  So proud of him!  Also,  Hearing the heartbeat!  I love hearing our little one in there growing and knowing everything is going to be ok.
Miss Anything? Apparently being able to stay at work and dance with my kids like I used to be able to do. We had a school dance on Friday and when I got home I was so sore!  I was actually a little worried because I had so much muscle pain and a cramp going down my left thigh.  The pain was still there Saturday so I called on my trusty nurse (and mom) friends and asked what they thought. They suggested pushing water and rest since there was no redness or swelling indicating a clot.  So Saturday I pushed water and rested and felt much better on Sunday.  It was scary.  I miss doing things without being terrified I am affecting the little life inside me.
Movement: not yet.  Really excited-hoping soon!
Food Craving? I didn't crave, but really wanted a BLT from Subway.  I had it all planned out I would get it on Wednesday while Alex was at work, but then I realized it was Ash Wednesday and I couldn't have meat.  THEN I really wanted it, but I did restrain myself.  Thursday I ate my footlong BLT.  No, I do not have a problem with eating a footlong sub.
Anything making you queasy or sick? not really, though if the kids could just use tissues and stop making the gross phlegm noises that would be great!
Have you started to show yet? a little more each day!  I love seeing my belly grow! It is the best sign that everything is alright and that baby is growing strong!
Bellybutton in or out? It is in, but the middle is going more out.
Gender Prediction: Based on the baby being on my right and the heart rate being 147BPM, I am leaning towards boy, but we shall see in 4 weeks!
Wedding Rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time? Like I said, when the internet cut out for Kolton's match I was so upset!  Alex wanted to know why on Earth I was crying over nothing we could fix.  I just kept blubbering, "I'm missing it!  I'm missing it!"  Also, moving is stressful, this week was stressful, and I just feel helpless when it comes to the move.  I also had a melt down on Wednesday. I was working on computer things, cleaning/packing the basement, and trying to focus on the move and school and everything and I just had an emotional mess.  I called my mom sobbing, I called Alex at Walgreens sobbing.  I did tell everyone that I was fine and my brain knows that everything was fine, but my emotions wouldn't let me stop.  Other than that pretty good.....haha 
Looking forward to: Moving to the new house!  I cannot wait to start out the nursery, start our new home, and start the next chapter of our lives!  This is the last picture in this house!  We close tomorrow!!!  Also, we are excited to find out the gender of our little one! Our next appointment has the ultrasound so we are super excited to get it written down and then discovering the gender at the gender reveal/ house warming part we are having in April.  
Anything Else? I plan on posting the new house when we get in there.  I may do some before and after shots and show the place.  We shall see what the week brings.

15 Weeks

How far along? 15 weeks
Total Weight Gain: 5 lbs
Maternity Clothes? still wearing the pants and regular shirts, thought the shirts are the looser ones.
Stretch Marks? not yet
Sleep: Sleep has been rough as I keep falling onto my back in the middle of the night, and when I am on my back I get a really bad back ache, almost like when I got my kidney infection.  I mentioned this to someone and they mentioned baby may be on my kidneys when I am on my back and that may be the source of the pain. Sure enough putting a pillow behind me and keeping me on my left side has helped my back and my sleep.
Best Moment this Week: Registering!  We loved getting an idea of what baby stuff we want and need.  It was also nice to spend some time together really planning about our baby!  We also got all the new stuff for the house!  We got a new washer and dryer, couch, recliner, kitchen table and chairs (bench), and some little stuff.   It has been a crazy busy week. The best moment was probably making it through the week.  I had tie-dying with the whole school on Monday, Field Trip on Tuesday (note to self: get a new bra or don't sit in the back of the bus anymore!), and conferences all day on Thursday.  phew.  
Miss Anything? Sleeping on my back, being able to lift things and not having to second guess myself.
Movement: Not yet
Food Craving? not this week
Anything making you queasy or sick? Still phlegm.  Ewww, please keep it away.
Have you started to show yet? I have started to show, but its not quite as big as it was because the bloating is going down. I am glad it is real baby in there now!
Bellybutton in or out? It is still in though not as far as it was a few weeks ago.
Gender Prediction: my gut is leaning towards boy, dont know why.
Wedding Rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time? I have had my moments, but relatively happy.
Looking forward to: Our Doctor appointment on Tuesday! I get to hear the heartbeat and talk to the doctor about all the stuff I have been feeling.  I just want to hear and know everything is ok. :)
Anything Else? The move is 8 days away!  Packing is in full swing. Boxes are filling up the spare room here at the house and the house is slowly looking more empty.  Next week is our last picture in this house.  Crazy how fast the past 2 years have gone in this house, especially with knowing how slow the getting pregnant process was.  We are excited for the next step of our journey, but it is amazing to look back on it thus far and see how far we have come and how this house is where we have done a lot of that growing.  

This is what I look like after a whole day of conferences and spending 7:30-6:30 at work.