24 Weeks (The Belly, a Spider, and Giraffe)

Here was the 24 week belly picture that I haven't had a chance to post. I wasn't going to put on makeup just for this picture, so you get what you get. When I get a day off of makeup, I take it!

 

Here is Daddy putting the finishing touches on the dresser. It is a much better quality dresser than the first one we tried; I'm thinking we are going to be much happier with this one in the long run. 

 

All done! It is just what I had in mind. :)

 

All I had to do was light a little fire under Daddy that we needed to get started thinking about some things for the nursery, and he was ready to go. I had one night where I hardly slept at all because I was starting to stress out about all of the things that needed to be done, and what seemed like so little time to do it since I work every other weekend (I know, I know I was maybe being a tad ridiculous. But I am a planner, and we are getting short on weekends with all the parties/showers/holidays coming up!) After that, he was the one pushing to get things figured out and start getting some thing settled. He was the one pushing to get back up to NFM to get the right dresser and to get the glider ordered since it takes 6-8 weeks to come in, and I appreciated that more than I can ever say. I'm fairly confident in saying that he has had just as much fun with all of this as I have. We have had so much fun doing all of these things together...time together, alone, that I will never take for granted.

 

This next picture is really just for me. A couple weeks ago, Daddy told me that he had brought home a toy from his parents' house from when he was little. He had a couple to pick from, and he said he had picked the spider because it was most like us - our spider is a story that goes way back with us.

 

Anyways, I didn't really think too much about it. A couple days ago I was in the nursery getting a pair of pants before work, and I saw something odd in the crib. I walked over and saw this:

 

I had NO idea what that thing was, or where it came from. As I was getting ready, it dawned on me that it was probably that toy that Daddy was talking about. There that thing sat in the very middle of Baby Girl's crib. Not on the wide open bookshelf, not in the closet where most of the other toys are...but in the very middle of the crib. I just had to laugh because that is just something that Daddy would do...It is probably something only I can appreciate. And now I can't bring myself to move it. I can just picture him walking in there and wanting to put it somewhere special, and that is right where he chose.

 

He has also told me a couple different times these past few months that there is a giant giraffe that he walks by everyday at the hospital gift shop that he wanted to buy for Little Miss. I have always liked giraffes, and Baby Girl does have a couple giraffe toys already so I just laughed it off for the most part. I haven't really thought much about that giant giraffe until the other day when he was unloading the dishwasher and out of the blue he asked "What are you going to do if someday you come home and there is a giant giraffe in the corner of her room?" I had really just been blowing it off every time he had mentioned it, but at that moment I realized that he was really serious about buying this giraffe and that he was feeling me out about it. I asked if he was really serious about buying it, and he said "Well, kinda. I know how much you like giraffes and I think I'm starting to like them now too." I didn't even ask how much that thing costs, because I'm pretty sure he doesn't know himself, or really care for that matter. So let's just say, I won't be surprised if one day I walk in the nursery to find it. A bit ridiculous, maybe? But so dang cute if you ask me. :)

Nursery Progress

So I am a little late posting this, but about 2 weeks ago Daddy put the crib together for me. He was a good sport with all of the pictures I was taking. I reminded him that this was a monumental occasion, of course.

And this is where he and I are much different - he reads the instructions, and I do not. Which also explains why things always go so much smoother for him.

Snapped this picture, and he looked up at me and said,
"Am I going to make the blog?"
Not sure what he meant by that, but yes honey, you made the blog :)

It turned out pretty cute! Can't wait to get the bedding made and see how it all comes together. We went to put the dresser together a week ago and took the first piece out of the box, which was the top piece, and it had a crack in three different directions on that one piece alone. So needless to say, we packaged it back up and shipped it back for a refund. This was one of our longer discussions prior to purchasing nursery furniture, because I approached the dresser as something that would be her's until she graduated and would probably have quite a bit of wear and tear from being in a kid's room...so therefore it should probably be more durable to begin with. Daddy insisted we spend as little money as possible on a dresser just like we are doing with the crib and glider, and I gave in because he is always right about those things (it's all about picking your battles, right?). After seeing the cracks in the dresser that we got, he didn't waste too much time telling me that I was right...so it looks like we are going to be going to look at furniture stores another time for a dresser that will at least hold up well enough to make it to our house.

He also put together a bookshelf that we got a great deal on a couple nights later. I cannot wait to fill that thing up with books for all those special nights before bedtime!

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There have really only been three things in my life that I absolutely could not wait for: getting engaged, my wedding day, and having a baby. The first two were absolutely perfect and God continues to bless me everyday with the man that I married. They were everything I ever dreamed of. More perfect, actually. I am so trying to take this all in as my third dream becomes reality here in less than 4 months. I don't want to take a single moment for granted.

I love your Daddy so much it hurts, and I already love you, Baby Girl, that much and I have yet to meet you. I cannot fathom the depth of love that I will have for you, having half of the same of everything that I chose and love so much in your Daddy -- his patience, his continuous acceptance and forgiveness of others, his gentleness towards others, his positive outlook on life, his love and regard for his family and friends, his contagious laugh, his sincere smile, and his ability to give a sincere hug at just the right time. You are going to be an amazing little girl.

Great-Grandma bought you your very first diapers and baby lotion, and boy was it wierd to think that in less than 4 months we will be wrapping you up in those tiny little diapers and lathering your skin with that smell that I love so very much. I just can't wait to meet you...this miracle that has been growing inside of me, kicking my belly and bringing smiles to my face, and the little girl who has consumed my thoughts all day long...that little girl that I love so dearly.  

Love and Prayers in Week 24, Sweetie!

Partyin' in the PM (23 Weeks)

23 weeks = 17 to go!

 

This was after a long day of work, and I am a hot sweaty mess

after wearing a mask all day. Please excuse myself and the

quality of these pictures. How embarrassing!

(Hoping to purchase a new camera in a couple months)

How far along? 23 weeks
Total weight gain: 8.5 pounds
Baby is the size of a: Large mailing envelope?
Maternity clothes? Tank tops, and I did break out the leggings. LOVE this cooler weather! :)
Stretch marks? Nothing new here
Sleep: Can't complain!
Best moment this week:  Starting to feel Babe move on my right side...finally! I've felt a couple really faint kicks on my right side (probably because my placenta is still hanging out on my right side) these past few weeks very rarely, and tonight for the most part it's been on the right side! Also, right at 23 weeks was the first time I felt movement in the top of my belly and not down by my hip bones...that was a cool feeling. I have a feeling that I might not think it's so cool when she won't get out of my ribs here in a few weeks. Babe has also decided that the pm is a great time to party...she has been particularly active in the evenings lately, and even more so throughout the night and early early mornings.
Miss anything? A big glass of red wine...
Movement: Quite a bit, she's getting stronger and stronger every week now. For the most part it is always on my left side still.
Food cravings: Ice water, Chicken fried steak, oatmeal chocolate cookies from The Cookie Company.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing!
Gender: Sweet baby GIRL!
Baby Name: Closer...still not for sure. I've started thinking of her by name, so we should probably make sure that it's for sure here pretty soon.
Labor Signs: None
Symptoms: Indigestion, feeling overheated all the time, and a couple episodes of round ligament pain. Surprisingly less fatigued this week which has been much appreciated.
Belly Button in or out? Getting more and more shallow...
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, of course
Looking forward to: This week I have been especially looking forward to Thanksgiving....the one holiday a year that we almost always make it back to Cambridge and we get to stay more than a couple days when we go. I love being around family and having 4 days away to just relax...not to mention all of the good food! Also, only 2 months and 11 days until I put the Christmas tree up...Dan has been prewarned that the tree is going up even earlier this year because of Little Miss' arrival being during the holiday season. Also looking forward to the weather cooling off so that I can start running my oven again...and that means pumpkin pies, pumpkin bars, fresh cinnamon rolls, soups, and hot mulled apple cider.

Baby Girl - We have finally decided on the chair for your nursery that we will spend lots of time partyin' in with you, and I can't wait to make those sweet memories with you in that special spot. But for now, you can continue with your cozy party, and I'll cherish these last few months of uninterrupted sleep. Love and prayers in week 24, Sweet Baby Girl!

22 Weeks

How far along? 22 weeks  (Little late posting, but I had typed it last week)
Total weight gain: 7 pounds
Baby is the size of a: Small doll
Maternity clothes? Tank tops, but also getting excited about breaking out my maternity leggings!
Stretch marks? Trying to stay really diligent with my cocoa butter...
Sleep: Can't complain! I also just got a pregnancy wedge while we were registering and that + my Snoogle pillow are making things pretty tolerable right now
Best moment this week: Laying in bed this morning, watching my belly while it was raining and thundering outside. I can feel a wave when she moves from one side of my belly to another, and can always feel right where she is at when I'm laying down. I layed there soaking it all up for about 2 hours more just because I could :)

Here is a pic from my morning laying in bed watching her move. I am laying
completely flat, and that sticking up on the right is either her head or butt. I could
feel a wave of movement when she went from the left side to this.
Nothing better than enjoying this while it is raining outside :)

Miss anything? Still Diet Pepsi, being able to bend easy in the middle
Movement: This past week and a half she has been moving a lot! She's getting strong enough that it is almost distracting at times.
Food cravings: Ice water, Chicken fried steak.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing!
Gender: GIRL!
Baby Name: Haven't talked about this much recently
Labor Signs: None
Symptoms: Just some indigestion still, and feeling really really hot all.the.time. I have always had hot flashes even before pregnancy, but now it seems like I just have one continuous hot flash. I am thankful that it isn't 120 degrees outside anymore, but today it was 80 degrees and I thought I was dying. Good thing winter is coming up, I think the cooler weather is going to be perfect timing.
Belly Button in or out? Getting more and more shallow...it's about to be neither in or out
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, of course
Looking forward to: Being another week closer to December!!

21 Week Ultrasound

I have been waiting for this day for what seems like forever...to get another peek at Little Miss! Beware of picture overload!

Doctor said everything is looking great! She is in the 64th percentile, which is good, and all anatomy looks great. She weighs 14 ounces and her heartrate was 150.

He also reassured me that sleeping on my back is completely fine, and I'm just going to keep trying to keep one hip propped up just a bit. I'm so relieved!

Unlike other ultrasounds where she hardly cooperated, the first look she gave us was her lady parts :) She also kept her leg and foot up above her head the entire time, making it really hard to get any great looks. We got a few, but the majority of the time we were trying to get her to move so we could see better.

Loves that leg and foot up by her head!

This picture is amazing. Many of you probably received this in a text
awhile ago. What a beautiful miracle!

May have caught a little smirk here?!

Arm up by her face.

Be still, my heart!

And we can't wait, Baby Girl!

And we're off to a winery tonight with friends! Guess who gets to be the DD? :) It's ok, it was my idea and I am completely looking forward to it. Gotta take advantage of these weekends with great friends and a good-night's sleep afterwards while we can!

We got the crib put together last night, so more to come soon after our big weekend of shopping and registering!

The Proof is in the Parts

Spiders. Tonka trucks. Footballs. Batman. Bugs. Cows. Blue. Tractors. Spiderman. Green.

Bulldozers. Frogs. Cars. Dinosaurs. Firetrucks. Monsters. Airplanes. Swords. Nerf guns. Trains.

What do all of these things have in common?

These are things that WON’T be joining the new inventory of our house

(for now, anyway) because Babe is a BABY GIRL!!

So I’m thinking more along the lines of:

Cabbage patch dolls. Tea parties. Tutus. Barbies. PINK. Necklaces. Dresses. Shopping trips.

Hats. Headbands. Bracelets. High heels. Makeup. Doll clothes. Purses. Flowers. Butterflies.



This was a very early ultrasound at just over 13 weeks, and this was our first clue Babe was a girl
because of the "Angle of the Dangle."

Again at just over 13 weeks. The arrow is pointing at the "Angle" that you look at
for the "Angle of the Dangle." If it is parallel with the spine it is most likely a girl, and
if it is more than a 30 degree angle from the spine, it is likely a boy.
Ours is about as straight as it gets! :)

We also had a couple other between the legs shots that also pointed to a girl, but
unfortunately I didn't get pictures of that (we weren't just going off of the
Angle of the Dangle).

 On June 16th, we were pretty confident Baby Matthes was going to be a girl.

Here are a couple of Baby's parts on ultrasound at about 17 weeks.

You have to really know what you're looking for on this one, but this is a view of Baby's derriere
looking up. The area of brightness is the 3 white lines you look for if Baby is a GIRL!

Because you can see her legs on this one, you can better tell what angle you are looking at here.
The arrow is pointing to the three white lines (which are the labia) and you can clearly see
that there is nothing else between those legs :)

These last 2 are from the US on 8/10/12. Just more proof of the parts! :)

I have always dreamed of having a baby girl. Since my sister and I were very young we played house for hours and hours a day, and my baby was always a girl. It’s just what I knew.

However, these past couple years I always saw Dan and I having two boys. I swore that this child was a boy, and didn’t even believe it when I saw the ultrasounds. While I can honestly say that I would have been honored to have either a boy or a girl, I can also say that every time I process what it is going to look like with more PINK around here, I get more and more excited. I LOVE thinking about all of the fun things I will get to do with my daughter that I did when I was little. I also can’t help but to think of all of the fun things that we will do together when she gets older that I have been missing out on doing with my Mom being gone.

That hand that we have been watching wave to us and that I have been dying to hold throughout our ultrasounds is our daughter’s. The little feet that I can’t wait to kiss are those of our daughter’s.

The baby girl who will make me a Mama. The baby girl who will have her Daddy wrapped around her finger at first glance. The baby girl who will make our lives so much more richer just by being here.

My heart is happy, content, and excited. And I absolutely cannot wait to meet Baby Girl in 4 more months!

21 Weeks - 19 to Go!

Goodness, 21 weeks already! Still amazed at how fast, yet how slow, this whole process is. Three patients in a row today (whom I haven't met before) asked me when I was due...so I must have crossed the line from just looking fat to showing enough that people are confident enough that it is baby to ask a question like that :) Makes me smile.

How far along? 21 weeks
Total weight gain: 6 pounds
Baby is the size of a: Banana
Maternity clothes? Still just a few maternity tank tops.
Stretch marks? Ugg..
Sleep: Same as last week - Struggling with continuously waking up on my back and feeling guilty for doing it, otherwise not too bad
Best moment this week: Feeling babe's entire body when I had been laying down...pretty amazing
Miss anything? Sleeping on my back
Movement: Yes, off and on...still pretty sporadic
Food cravings: Ice water, Chicken fried steak.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing!
Gender: I might as well wait until it is confirmed for the 3rd time to make the announcement at this point
Baby Name: Daddy keeps referring to Babe by name, we will see if it sticks :)
Labor Signs: None
Symptoms: Still having a few rare what I think are Braxton-Hicks contractions, occasional indigestion
Belly Button in or out? In...but it sure is getting more shallow every week
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, of course!
Looking forward to: Ultrasound Friday, putting nursery furniture together, registering, and spending an entire weekend with Daniel. Haven't looked forward to a weekend like this for so long!

Love and Prayers in Week 22!

Please excuse the poor quality of my pictures, the blurriness, the "links" that somehow appear in the paragraphs that I have no idea how to get rid of, the obnoxious background/formatting of this blog, and the random formatting errors that are present in every post. I cannot figure out why these things are happening and I am not able to fix them. I really am not as stupid and careless as this blog makes me seem. :)