Week 19

Adam and I had another doctor's appointment today. Just a routine check-up and to listen to the baby's heartbeat again. It took the practitioner a good TWO MINUTES to find it! I wasn't really worried b/c I had no symptoms of a miscarriage. She was pushing on my stomach to get the baby to move a little bit. She finally found it and it was beating exactly 150 beats/minute. The doctor thinks the baby was sitting way towards the back of my uterus. We go back next week for the 20 week ultrasound, where we get to see the anatomy of the baby! I'm about 75% sure that we ARE going to find out the sex of the baby now!!!! We can't wait any longer...don't worry, we'll let all of you know!

Here's whats happening with the baby at 19 weeks:

Your baby is now the size of a large tomato. She is 6 inches long and weighs almost 8 1/2 ounces now! This is a very important time in terms of sensory development. Inside your baby’s brain, certain areas are being specialized for smell, touch, taste, hearing and vision. Another big development in the last week, hair may finally be sprouting from her scalp. By 19 weeks, the uterus is developed in the female and the testes and penis are easily identifiable in males. It may also be time for your ultrasound, so if you don't wish to know the sex of your baby, be sure to make it clear to the ultrasound technician, to avoid any unwanted information!

Kitchen Floor

My parents and Brett came down this past Saturday to help put in the kitchen floor. It was a VERY busy day! They pulled in our driveway around 8:30 a.m. and didn't leave until 6:30 p.m. My dad and Adam worked on the floor that entire time, and still didn't finish! While the guys were busy working, my mom, Brett and I hit up some garage sales. We found a lot of good baby stuff. I know what you're thinking - you bought stuff for your baby from a garage sale!?!?! I thought I'd never be one to do such a thing, but it really does make a lot of sense. Why pays lots of money for toys and other accessories that the baby will only use for a few months? When we got home after our two-hour splurge, we sanitized EVERYTHING before storing away. We could've done A LOT more damage if we would've know the sex of the baby - we saw LOTS of cute name brand clothing in great condition. Once again, why pay $30 for an outfit that your baby will only wear a few months, when you can get it for $3 on a rummage sale?!

A few of our purchases - a potty chair, books, night stand, books, toys

After we finished rummaging and got some lunch, my mom and I decided to put together the new kitchen table, chairs, and a bar stool. We were cruising right along - following directions - no worries!

Well, lets just say that the first two chairs that we put together are not up to par! We accidentally drilled the wrong screws into the chair - the screws were way too long and went right through the back! Whoops!!!!!!!!

This picture doesn't even come CLOSE to what it looks like in person! I laugh about it now - how dumb were we? As my dad said, "You two have common sense, but NO construction common sense!"

Adam and I both had to work on Saturday night so my parents left around 6:30. They had been working on the floor for almost 10 hours! They came close to finishing, but not quite. Adam worked on the floor today and should finish it up tomorrow.

Almost there!

Becoming quite the handyman!

Brett laying on the new floor

Looking into the new bathroom from the kitchen

New sink and mirror

The new and improved dining room

We still have to put the trim back on, paint the ceiling, paint the living room and upstairs, and then I will add the finishing touches. Check back for more pictures as we start to clean things up!

Fantastic Friday!

Today is going to be a great day! It's 10:00 and I just got back from a walk, 75 degrees, sunny and breezy! I LOVE this weather! We're supposed to break a record today for high temperature - supposed to be 87! This weather puts me in a good mood - makes me want to clean - which NEVER happens! Today, Adam and I are going to wash the windows and put in the screens, rip up the kitchen floor, paint the ceiling in the kitchen, do some laundry, and then grill some steaks tonite for supper! Sounds like a great day, huh?!

My family is coming tomorrow to install the kitchen floor. It's the last step in the remodel! Sometime this spring/summer we're also painting the living room, and upstairs hallway and staircase. We'll finally get to put together our new bar stools and kitchen table and chairs tomorrow! My mom, Brett and I are also going to hit up some rummage sales b/c its city wide rummage sales - maybe we can find some good bargains! Wish us luck!

Have a FANTASTIC weekend everyone - stay dry!

Week 18

Your baby is now the size of a bell pepper. She is 5 1/2 inches long and weighs almost 7 ounces now! If you are having a boy, his genitals are now noticeable, if he isn’t curled up and hiding them during the ultrasound. If you are having a girl, her uterus is fully formed and in place, along with her fallopian tubes. Your baby’s skeleton, which up until this point has been made up of flexible cartilage, is now hardening into bone. Myelin, a protective covering around her nerves, has begun to form. Myelin plays an important role in the communication between neurons and it will continue to develop through her first year of life. At 18 weeks, your baby’s skin is still thin and transparent, so to help protect her, something called the vernix caseosa develops. This is a greasy, cheese-like substance that not only insulates her developing epidermis and dermis from the amniotic fluid; it also makes her nice and slippery for an easier delivery!

growing...

The baby is really starting to grow!  This week alone I gained 3 pounds - a bitter sweet moment.  Some days I look more pregnant than others, depending on what I wear.  But Adam says that I finally look like I'm pregnant - not just fat!  Finally - everyone has been saying around the fourth month that I'll start showing.  Yea!  Now that the weather is warming up, I've starting walking one mile everyday.  Next week I'm going to walk a mile in the morning and another mile after supper - I don't want to gain too much weight! 

17 weeks 3 days

front view - getting rounder

Green Thumb

Last fall I planted six tulip bulbs around each of the two small trees that we have in front of our house. I honestly didn't think that they would bloom this spring because it was my first time planting anything! But a few weeks ago I noticed a few green stems popping out of the dirt..and with all of the nice weather we've been having they're growing even more! Hopefully the rain we're supposed to get this weekend will help them out even more. I feel so proud - they're my babies!

Around one tree, I planted a mixture of pink and red tulips..and around the other tree I planted white and a multi-colored tulip. Hopefully they will look nice. I would eventually like to plant a vegetable garden sometime this spring - but Adam thinks he'll get stuck doing all of the work..and I think he's probably right ;)

Week 17

Your baby is now the size of a turnip! She is 5 inches long and weighs 5 ounces now. That's even more than the placenta weighs! Though no new structures have formed this week, she has developed fat deposits under her skin that will account for about 2-6% of her total body weight at her time of birth, just 23 weeks from now! Her skeleton, which up until this point has been made up of flexible cartilage, is now hardening into bone. Another exciting event ... her sense of hearing begins to develop this week!

***The email uses 'her,' we don't know what we're having***

Easter Weekend

Adam and I had a wonderful weekend at home. It was so nice spending quality time with our family and friends. We headed back to Northwood on Saturday afternoon and stayed through Monday. As soon as we got into town, Adam and his dad, brother, and good friend Bradley went golfing. While the boys were golfing, me and Brett helped my grandma make lefse. I got a lefse grill for Christmas, but have yet to attempt it on my own. Hopefully I'll get around to it sometime this summer when I have a few days to experiment. Making lefse is a family tradition that I hope to conquer. My great-grandmother always made it for the holidays, now my grandma makes it. There is no one else in my family that makes it besides her, so I would like to be able to keep the tradition going.

Getting everything floured up!

Rolling out the dough

Brett even helped out!

On Sunday we went to church with our parents. The guys had a little too much fun on Saturday night, so we were running a bit late. Nothing like having to walk down the center aisle in front of hundreds of people while the pastor has already started the service! Whoops! After church, we went to Adam's house for an Easter egg hunt and dinner. My grandma was also having Easter dinner, so we had to leave right away to spend time with my family. Needless to say, we ate WAY too much on Sunday.

The Easter Bunny left a basket for us at my parents house!

On Monday, we went shopping in Rochester. I wanted to look for some tax-free maternity clothes! I got a few pair of capris and a pair of shorts. Most maternity clothes are still a little too big on me - but my clothes are too tight! I HATE it! We ate lunch at the Olive Garden and hit up Cold Stone before we left town! :) We also shopped around Babies'R'Us - awesome store! We are definitely registering there - and probably Target too. But we won't worry about that until later this summer.

Day of Shopping

Since I had today off, I decided to go shopping just for something to do. I rarely ever go shopping just for me, so it was a well deserved trip. I was very successful at checking 'stuff' off my list - maybe a little too successful ;) I am right in between regular clothes and maternity clothes and I HATE it! I look like I have a beer belly in my regular shirts, but I'm not quite ready for maternity shirts. Well, sooner than later I am going to need bigger clothes, so I picked up a few shirts today at Kohls. They are very cute and make me look pregnant, not fat. It's exciting but I look WAY more pregnant that I really am. (I'm wearing one of the shirts on Easter - so you'll see a pic on the next blog)
I was in baby mode today and bought the book 'Belly Laughs' by Jenny McCarthy - everyone says its a must read! While I was at the book store, I came upon a little board book called 'I Already Knew I Loved You' by Billy Crystal. I opened it up, read the first line, and tears were streaming down my face! As I continued reading the book, I could hardly make out the words because I was crying so much. The book was written for the baby and narrated by the grandpa. It was an emotional moment for me, probably just the hormones kicking in.
My last purchase of the day was not for me, but for the BABY! Younkers was having a sale on their sleepers, so I just HAD to buy one. It is so hard to find cute neutral clothing, so when I saw the yellow one with duckies, I had to buy it up. This was my first baby clothing purchase - I think I might have started a bad trend! Actually I don't plan on buying a lot of clothing until the baby gets here and we know whether to buy pink or blue. Babies grow so fast and I don't want to spend a lot of money on clothes that I don't 'love'. Neutral stuff is fine while they're a newborn, but I'd prefer the baby to wear cuter stuff as it gets older.

Bathroom Floor

We finally got the bathroom ceiling and walls painted last weekend, so Adam was able to install the bathroom floor yesterday! We put down the peel-and-stick linoleum tiles, something that was easy enough for us to do ourselves and inexpensive.

This was Adam's first time installing any kind of flooring. He did a very good job. He even let me measure and cut a few of the edge pieces. It was actually fun - but I like numbers and math stuff.

The finished product! The plumber should be here this afternoon to install the toilet and sink! Then all we'll have left to do is hang up the little stuff like the mirror, towel bar, etc. Tomorrow I am going shopping for accessories - we're going with a pale blue and brown color scheme!

Sorry this is out of order - but I just had to put this picture up! Adam installing the last few tiles. Must have been hard work - the shirt is off :)

Week 16

We successfully made it through another week! It amazes me at how fast the weeks are going by. I had some lower abdominal pain and cramping this weekend, so I called my nurse, and she said I was probably dehydrated and/or experiencing 'round ligament pain.' This is just my muscles stretching to keep up with the babies growth. She said its completely normal and many women experience it during the second trimester. Here's what's going on this week:

Your baby continues to be busy growing and developing inside of you. He's now the size of an avocado, measuring 4 1/2 inches and weighing approximately 3 ounces. His heart is now pumping 25 quarts of blood every day and his bladder is emptying every 45 minutes.
His limbs are even more developed and their movements have become increasingly coordinated. He doesn't yet have any hair but the patterning of his scalp has begun.
What's in the future for your little one? A growth spurt is just around the corner! In the coming weeks he will double his weight and add inches to his frame.

Boring Week

Other than our doctor appointment on Tuesday, nothing exciting has been happening in the Nerlien house. Adam has been doing A LOT of painting. He finished painting the nursery, the new bathroom, and had to repaint over the half-wall because our contractor had to texturize the new drywall. HIS next painting project is the living room - we also had to texturize the other side of the half-wall, and of course don't have the paint color for it. I think we're going to paint it sage green. Anything but another shade of brown - all of the furniture is a nude color, so we need a splash of color.

It's hard to believe that we're under a blizzard warning for the weekend - I hope Adam makes it back safely from the National Guard. Actually, I'm not surprised - it seems like it always snows at least once in April.

Oh yeah - CONGRATULATIONS to Adam's brother, Justin, for passing the PPST - a 3-part test required to get into UNI's College of Education! It is a difficult test - but we knew he could do it. We have another panther in the family now!