What A Week!

Last week, my husband and I drove 2400 miles across the country. R had to be in South Carolina for a military school, so we decided to make a mini-vacation out of the drive out there. We started planning this trip before I knew I was pregnant. I wasn't sure if it would work when I found out I was pregnant, but as the pregnancy progressed without complications and after talking to my doctor, we decided to go ahead with it. We took our time and stopped to stretch a lot, and overall, I felt great during the whole trip. 

I love road trips with my husband. It takes away all the distractions and we get to really connect. We also saw beautiful parts of the country, did some fun things and ate some good food. Our first major destination was Chicago.We spent two days there, starting things off with a Chicago White Sox game. The WS are R's favorite baseball team, and they won. It was also bring your dog to the park night. All of the dogs and their owners paraded around the park before the game. It was so cute! We stayed in a hotel downtown and walked around downtown the next day, even though it was rainy and windy.
I had my first Chicago deep dish pizza, and it was Ah-mazing!

I had several different strangers comment on or congratulate me on my pregnancy for the first time in Chicago. It was kinda strange, but it felt good. It's amazing how complete strangers will smile or talk to a pregnant woman. It somehow softens people. I don't quite understand it, but it's really interesting.

Our next stop was Kentucky to visit R's aunt and uncle. They live right in the heart of hourse racing country. It was beautiful, and I so enjoyed our time there. Finally, we made it to South Carolina. Before I had to fly home, we had time to explore the Fort where R will be spending the next 6 weeks. It wasn't until I was packing my bags that it hit me, I won't see my husband for 6 weeks. I had been so pre-occupied with planning the trip that I didn't have time to think about the 6 weeks that would follow. I know many military families go much longer separated from their loved one, and I know 6 weeks is a relatively short time, especially in the scope of a life time. But, I did break down and cry when I thought about being away from my best friend, my biggest supporter and my other half. And, when I got home to an empty house (well besides my animals who were very happy to see me) I cried off and on all afternoon.  But, I haven't cried since then. I know these 6 weeks will go by fast for both of us. R is so busy, he won't have time to think about the clock ticking, and I have several things to do. I am planning to drive to visit my family and new niece this weekend, and my mom is coming out to visit me in a few weeks. I also want to start getting the house ready for baby. I started feeling like I have a cold yesterday, but it isn't a full blown cold and not the typical cold symptoms. I am wondering if I am getting seasonal allergies. I have never gotten them before, but I have heard that it's possible to start getting allergies while pregnant. I really hope it doesn't turn into a full blown cold, because if it does, I really shouldn't being visiting my niece. I guess time will tell.

One of my goals is to do weekly updates with pictures, mainly so my husband can see my belly growing while he is away.

I had my 23 week appointment on Monday and everything looked good. My doctor commented on how much my belly/uterus has grown, but he said it is right where it should be. Little girl was moving all over the place while we tried to listen to her heartbeat. I don't really know if our baby moves more than the average baby. I just know that she moves A Lot, and I love every second of it. I also got the bottle of orange syrup for the blood glucose test at my next appointment. How crazy is that?! It is one of those milestones that I wasn't sure I would ever see.

I don't have a 23 week picture, but here are a couple pictures from 21 weeks. I will definately have a new picture within the week.

We have a very fiesty girl growing in my tummy

I had my 20 week ultra sound on Monday afternoon, and we found out that we are having a girl!  She definately made the ultra sound tech work to get the "money shot", but we finally got it. She was such a wiggler. She didn't stop moving for the entire 30 minute ultra sound. As soon as the u/s tech would try to get a shot of her heart or kidneys, she would twist and turn. That was probably the best part of the 30 minutes, just seeing her move all over the place. R and I were both surprised that she isn't a he, but we are so excited. I have to say, knowing that we will have a little girl makes it so much more real. I find myself getting teary eyed when I hear father daughter or mother daughter stories, because I can start to imagine R and I raising a little girl.

The first question I get from people when I tell them that we found out we are having a girl is, do you have a name picked out?  And the answer is, no, not even close. We thought it was a boy until yesterday and we didn't even have boy names narrowed down. We haven't talked really seriously about names yet. For me, I think this was partly because I was afraid to think too far into the future. I just wanted to take one day at a time, which meant not committing to a name or buying baby items. It is really starting to sink in and starting to feel like we will really be holding a baby in 5 months. I think we better start getting serious about baby names. We both think that we will have a few names in mind but we will wait until we see our baby to know for sure what her name should be. I am really into name meanings too. The meaning of a name is just as important to me as how it sounds. We have a long road trip coming up, so I am planning to bring the baby name book and start digging in to baby girl names.

48 Hours of Labor!

My sister-in-law is amazing! She went into labor on Sunday morning at 1 am. Her contractions started at 20 minutes apart and by Sunday afternoon they were 6-10 minutes apart. She called her doctor and he said to go ahead and go to the hospital and get checked out. Since they have a 40 minute drive to the hospital they didn't want to wait too long. When they got to the hospital, they found out that she was only dilated 2 cm, so they told them to come back in 2 hours. They walked around and got some dinner, and then returned to the hospital. She hadn't progressed at all, so they were sent home at 11 pm Sunday night. She continued to labor all night at home. They went back to the hospital Monday mid-morning, and she had dilated to 4 cm, so she was admitted. This poor girl labored all day without pain meds. By that evening her contractions were right on top of each without a break in between, and she was still only dilated 3-4 cm. She really wanted to have a natural birth, but finally decided to get an epidural when things weren't progressing. Thankfully, the epidural helped her to rest and relax, and she began dilating. She had her baby girl at 2 am on Tuesday morning, after 48 hours of labor! I am so proud of her and overjoyed for her and my brother! My sweet little niece is healthy and everyone is doing well. They are very proud parents, and my goodness, what a story my SIL has to tell!

My sister-in-law is in labor!

My younger brother and his wife are also pregnant. I mentioned thier pregnancy announcement back in September. My SIL is due on May 8th and had a wonderful pregnancy. I just heard this afternoon that they were on their way to the hospital after SIL had been in labor since earling this morning. I am so excited for them!

I drove the 9 hours to visit them and go to SIL's baby shower a few weeks ago. It was so fun to see each other pregnant and get to share that special day with her. She got so many adorable girl outfits, so fun! SIL's mom made the most amazing cupcakes. They were almost too beautiful to eat.....almost. :-)  My mom made SIL a baby quilt that is adorable and goes with the colors in her nursery.

My mom and my aunt took a picture 30+ years ago when my aunt was days away from giving birth to my cousin and my mom was holding my oldest brother in her arms. They are standing back to back, my aunt pointing at her belly and my mom pointing at my brother. I have always loved this picture, so I knew I wanted to get a back to back picture of my SIL and myself. Hopefully we will get another one when I am almost due, with SIL holding her baby girl.

Here are some pictures from the shower. I was 16 weeks pregnant at the time and SIL was 36 weeks. The maternity dress I was wearing makes me look VERY pregnant. I don't look that pregnant in other outfits.

Can't wait to get word from my family when my niece is born!