22 Weeks!

So we're back home. Tired, sore and have alot more miles on the ol' car, but it was great seeing family.


•How far along?•
22 weeks
•Total weight gain/loss•
Down 5 lbs. Gain back 4ish
•Maternity clothes?•
I love them.
•Sleep•
I crave it.
•Best moment this week•
Chris felt the baby move! April 26th at a hotel in Butte, MT after a LONG day of driving. She was kicking away and he felt a bunch of them. His response: "She's real."
•Movement•
I feel her kick every day.
•Food cravings•
Jonagold apples. Crispy, sweet, juicy. But they must be Jonagold.
That and ice cream drumsticks.
•Gender•
Girl :)
•Labor Signs•
No.
•Belly Button in or out?•
Shallower by the day.
•What I miss•
My toes. I can't see them AT ALL anymore.
•What I am looking forward to•
Baby shopping with my mom tomorrow.
BIG Ultrasound Part 2 on Monday
•Weekly Wisdom•
I need to keep a drawer FULL of snacks at work because my lunch is never big enough. She's gonna eat me out of house and home. But I still haven't gained much weight...
•Milestones•
I felt her having hiccups for the first time. So cute!

Kylie's Baptism

I considered titling this post something about compelling demons, but you kinda had to be there to think it was funny.

I need to expand on this post, but for now, here is a picture of the little girl!

The GodFather

Chris named our Wall, SD roadtrip the GODFATHER ROADTRIP. Obviously because he was asked to be the Godfather. :) His other sister Katie is the Godmother. It works out well.

Here was Kylie's reaction to meeting Uncle Christopher for the first time:







Obviously, she wasn't that impressed at first... but she warmed up after a little while. :)

WALL, SOUTH DAKOTA

Have you ever been?

If you've driven on I-90 in South Dakota and managed NOT to take the exit after all those billboards, you have a will power to be jealous of.

Chris and I first stopped in Wall in January 2007 when we were drive cross country to relocate to Portland. After ads for Free Water, 5 cent Coffee, Pie, Homemade Ice Cream, etc, we just had to stop.

It was late at night. in January. and Wall Drug was deserted. It was a huge let down to put it mildly.

We bought a magnet and hoped back on the interstate.

This time, we were ready to fully embrace the amazingness of Wall during daylight hours.

First we stopped by a TShirt store trying to find a WALLDRUG Onesie. No dice.
But we did find some really pretty cowboy hats.


My coworker requested a photo of me on the Jackalope. I had no idea what she meant, but couldn't miss it once I saw the statue. I climbed on board and struck a pose. Chris wasn't as fun.



There were some more photo opportunities in the Wall Drug backyard. Check these beauties out!








Later, we explored some of their back buildings and came across this vending/toy machine. I remembered the same machine from somewhere in my childhood. I knew the chicken spun around and there were lights and it was all very exciting. Chris thought I was crazy when I asked him to put in a quarter and pulled out the video camera. It was extremely anticlimactic. Apparently I had a very active imagination as a child because this machine is lame. I have the video (which I was holding the camera the wrong way for - vertically instead of horizontally - so I have to attack it with my video software before uploading.)



There is also this giant animatronix dinosaur in the back building that is SO LOUD and scared me when it started going off. I'm just happy I found the bathrooms before the T-Rex attack started. Unfortunately I was talking to mom when it went off and she was REALLY confused by all the racket coming from my end of the conversation. Did I mention it was LOUD?



That was about it for our exploration of Wall Drug. We never were able to find a WALL onesie so I'll gonna search on the internet for one. It was her first vacation after all!

21 Weeks!

We're on our way to Wall! SHHH! It's a secret *wink*


•How far along?•
21 weeks
•Total weight gain/loss•
Down 5 lbs. Gain back 3ish
•Maternity clothes?•
I have a feeling I'm really gonna like cotton maternity dresses this summer.
•Sleep•
With enough pillows, I can make anything happen.
•Best moment this week•
Doing my first loads of baby clothes after the consignment event!
•Movement•
She's moving more everyday.
•Food cravings•
I can't quite put my finger on it, but I want it.
•Gender•
Girl :)
•Labor Signs•
No.
•Belly Button in or out?•
Shallower by the day.
•What I miss•
Being the copilot on roadtrips that doesn't complain about my hips killin' me.
•What I am looking forward to•
Attending Kylie's Baptism / Holding a baby :)
•Weekly Wisdom•
Offering to make the Christening gown takes up more free time then you think is possible.
•Milestones•
Baby's first Roadtrip!

20 Weeks!

•How far along?•
20 weeks
•Total weight gain/loss•
Down 7 lbs. - Gained back 2ish
•Maternity clothes?•
Daily. :)
•Sleep•
Once I get to sleep, I'm out. But getting comfortable is starting to be an issue.
•Best moment this week•
Our 19.5 Week ultrasound where we found out that we're on Team Pink!
•Movement•
I feel a kick about every other day, and general movement throughout the day.
•Food cravings•
Apples and Oranges.
•Gender•
It's a girl!
•Labor Signs•
Thankfully, no.
•Belly Button in or out?•
I can see the bottom scar from my college belly button ring, so it's getting shallower.
•What I miss•
I guess the cute boy's nursery I planned will just have to wait!
•What I am looking forward to•
Buying PINK clothes! There is a big consignment presale event after work! I can't wait, I just wish Chris could go with me to help carry the loot!
•Milestones•
Referring to the baby by her name.

The BIG Ultrasound

So, I had been counting down the days to the big ultrasound for WEEKS now. You crazy girls that decide against finding out the gender are just that, crazy.

Actually, I think it would be really neat to be totally surprised at the delivery, but I want to know. :)

Our previous ultrasound experience was at 12.5 weeks when we had the NT scan done and we began to see her stubborn personality. The tech wanted her to move and she was gunna budge. We were prepared for the worst.

We got in and right away everything went fine. The baby was kicking and moving all over the place thanks to the OJ and maple bar I DOWNED right before we left the house. My mom came with us and was hoping for a girl. Chris had convinced me that it was a boy.

She started taking measurements and all the numbers were 20 weeks+ so, the baby is already big for it's age. But healthy!

The first thing we saw were the cute little feet. If you look closely, you'll se two white spots on the LEFT side, those are the hip bones because this is a view from up underneith the baby.


Here's one little foot. Perfect. :)


Here's a little hand:


Now, when looking at other people's ultrasounds, I hate seeing this picture - the demon face picture - but to me, it's so cute. Do you see the little hand waving?


And finally, it was time for the big moment. The gender reveal. The tech asked us if we wanted to know and I told her yes! So looked and looked between the legs but couldn't tell, so she said she'd come back to it. Then I asked "What are those two white dots?" and she said "Actually, I think it's a girl." and I responded "Are those her ovaries?" She laughed and explained that the white dots were her hip bones, but she thought it was a girl because she finally got a view where she could see the labia. Money shot:



I was kindof in shock and my mom squeeled. I asked her to check again, so she approached it from a different angle and still said it was a girl. In my mind I'm trying to wrap my head around 'PINK' and the tech finished up the scan.

I snapped back to reality when she said "Well, I think that's all I need." I put up a finger and sheepishly asked if she'd check the gender again. Everyone in the room laughed at me, but all I could think of was the McDevitts. :)

She checked again and yes, it was still a girl.

So then the main doctor came in and explained that they needed a few more views of the heart and hands - stubborn baby would not open her fists - and so she tried for a few minutes to get better pictures than the tech... and failed. I pointed out that we'd be more than happy to come back for another ultrasound and she suggested that we schedule round 2 three weeks from now.

Besides the obvious, we were excited for another chance to see the baby because she wasn't cooperating today and I really wanted to get a cute profile picture like we got at the 13 week scan. This is the best we could get:


I'm ashamed to even admit this, but I did ask the main doctor to check the gender again (I just wanted two people to agree before I went hog wild buying girly clothes). She looked and looked and agreed "All vagina!"

At least our baby has a sense of humor.



So just in case you missed it - IT'S A GIRL!

18 Weeks!

The baby is very mobile and is spending its day yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing.


•How far along?•
18 weeks
•Total weight gain/loss•
Down 8 lbs.
•Maternity clothes?•
Maternity jeans are amazing, and my 'normal' tops aren't long enough anymore.
•Sleep•
Once I get to sleep, I'm out. But getting comfortable is starting to be an issue.
•Best moment this week•
Yesterday, at 17 weeks 6 days, I felt the baby - for sure - for the first time. I nice hard kick on the right side. Then later than night it felt like somersaults in my tummy.
•Movement•
Every once in a while!
•Food cravings•
Food. Just give me food and no one gets hurt.
•Gender•
We can't wait to find out!
•Labor Signs•
Thankfully, no.
•Belly Button in or out?•
Still in.
•What I miss•
Being able to easily put on my steel toed boots at work.
•What I am looking forward to•
Feeling the baby more regularly. (I'm gonna regret that request later on, aren't I?)
•Weekly Wisdom•
We're now 45% of the way done with the pregnancy.
•Milestones•
First kick and Round ligament pains