17 Week Update.

I can hardly believe that in just 2 weeks Mitch and I will be seeing our little one again... and hopefully find out that our baby is healthy as can be along with the sex.

Also, a couple of weeks ago Mitch and I noticed a new milestone. I officially have the linea nigra- the dark line on my belly. It's weird... but hey. Most of what happens during pregnancy is weird so I'm beginning to get used to all of this.

Today marks 17 weeks, 1 day of pregnancy and I must admit. I still love being pregnant. There are definitely some less-than-ideal side effects to pregnancy, but just knowing that I am growing our baby is beyond amazing. I wouldn't have it any other way.

It looks like there is still the possibility of us moving into a bigger house late this summer which is wonderful... and frustrating all at the same time. I'm starting to feel this strong urge to get a room all ready for Baby H and start buying a few things, but we really don't have room for that here. If we do end up staying in the townhome, we will have to move the majority of the office into a storage facility until we do have the ability to move into a bigger place.

So far the only thing we have bought for the baby is the baby book (which I still love even though it sits on the tv stand staring at me with a judging stare saying "Come update me...."). I can't wait to start a registry... it is just looking like we probably won't have a free weekend to do that until July around the 23 weeks mark. We'll see how it goes... things have a way of happening when they do around our household... regardless of planning.

I have a hole in my belly...

Yesterday I felt like I lost a bit of my youth. I had my belly button piercing removed and am now left with a hole above my actual belly button.

And I must say that I really miss my belly button ring.

So. I went online and ordered 2 pregnancy belly button rings. That's right. Pregnancy belly button rings. I think it is somewhat amazing.

So I ordered both a pink one and a blue one so that when we do find out the gender I can coordinate the color scheme to match the gender of our little one. Mostly cute and only somewhat silly in my book. And my book is the one we are going with right now.

It does feel weird not having my belly button piercing though.

3rd Dr. Appt... and future appointments!

Okay, so check up #3 was today for our 16 week appointment and it went really well... and really quickly! I think we were seen for about 4-5 minutes tops before we were sent on our way. Which I guess is a good thing as it means that everything is progressing on schedule! I've gained a total of 9 lbs so far which is right on track with where I should be in regards to weight gain. She also measured my belly and said that I'm right on schedule and then she busted out that doppler and we were able to hear the heartbeat again. (Which makes for a very happy Lindsay).

The sound of our baby's heartbeat just brings a huge smile to my face. It is absolutely amazing to hear that heartbeat and to also hear whenever the baby moves. And we heard it move quite a bit... I just can't feel movement quite yet. That should be soon... typically around the 19 week point (though some feel it earlier) although Mitch won't be able to feel any movement until about 24 weeks or so.

Back to the appointment though, the heartbeat was at 152 beats per minute and sounded nice and healthy. So after the appointment we got to schedule our anatomy ultrasound and it is scheduled for 3 weeks from today on June 11th... 2 days before our 1 year wedding anniversary! So that is the ultrasound in which we will be finding out if we are having a baby girl or baby boy- as long as the baby cooperates with the ultrasound. We will get to make sure that there are 10 fingers and 10 toes and see how much our little one has grown. Can you tell that I can hardly wait? We'll then meet with the doctor 5 days later on the 16th to go over the results.

Time is just starting to fly.

Baby Bump: 15 weeks, 3 days

Two posts in one day? Yes, indeed. Here is my 15 weeks, 3 days picture of my growing belly. In all honesty, it doesn't seem much different from my 12 weeks, 3 days picture which is confusing as people at work insist that I "popped" around the 14 week mark. Either way, I find it very interesting to document all of the changes that are going on throughout this exciting journey. And also... who doesn't want to see that belly grow throughout the pregnancy?!

Also? 16 week doctor appointment is on FRIDAY which means that we will get to hear the heartbeat again. It also marks how close the big gender/anatomy ultrasound is getting!

Sailboats and Rabbits

Yesterday, Mitch and I went to Babies 'R' Us just to look around and get some ideas for what we might want or not want. We don't necessarily want to start a registry yet as we feel it is a bit too early for that. Probably in about a month we will start putting our registry together (around the 20 week mark). We want to have both of our moms go with us and with Mitch's mom's recent surgery, it makes even more sense to wait. Besides, I'm sure the shower(s) will not be until mid to late September so we have plenty of time.

So we checked out practically everything in that darn store. We checked out baby monitors, breast pumps, bathtubs, cribs, bassinets, travel cribs, travel systems, entertainers, so on and so on. It was a great experience though! We were able to play around with the Chicco Keyfit 30 Cortina travel system in Miro and guess what. We love it. So that one is pretty much decided on... as is the swing and bassinet for that matter.

We also have decided on gender specific nursery themes for our little one and they fit perfectly with us. And even better? They both work with my pale yellow painted nursery walls. For a boy? Blue/sailboats. For a girl? Pink/rabbits. And I'm thinking white furniture for both with the pale yellow walls.

Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited for all of this?

Travel Systems and More Updates.

I have found a travel system (so stroller and car seat) that I absolutely adore. The safety ratings are fantastic and for icing? It has yellow in it (to follow my "I want a happy baby" theme of crazyness). Mitch and I both agree that this one looks to be a good fit based off of the demos that we watched online and from review after review after review that we have read. Next thing to do is to go to a store that has this travel system and push it around and play with it to make sure it is the one for us.

This is exciting news because I was feeling overwhelmed from all of the car seat and stroller options there were out there and I feel as though some weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. We researched like crazy and feel confident that we can make informed decisions on car seats/strollers at this point which is a complete relief!

In other news, Mitch's mom had surgery yesterday to take out a cancerous tumor and remove possibly infected areas for further safety. They took out a bit of her stomach, pancreas, small intestine, and the tumor on the bile duct which meant that they had to completely reconstruct her bile duct. Major surgery, but she got through it just fine and we are hoping for a speedy and safe recovery. This is a huge relief for all, but especially for Mitch. I only wish I could have been there more for him yesterday (instead I was writing a research paper and then taking my second to last final before graduation). I did manage to make it up to the hospital and see Becky post-operation and she looked good.

As for the pregnancy, things are going pretty well. We are 2 weeks away from our 16 week appointment today which is amazing to think about. The time seems to be going so slowly, yet incredibly fast all at the same time.

With that said, I will go ahead and post a picture from April 25, 2010 that is my belly picture at 12 weeks, 3 days according to the new due date of November 4, 2010. It's weird to think that this picture is almost 2 weeks old at this point... guess that means it is about time to take a new picture as we continue to document this journey.