32 weeks

Hi all

Sorry this post is a day late.  We had a long Sunday and I was a little tired last night.  We had a nice weekend.  We just hung out on Saturday doing some things around the house and made some great pulled pork, a new recipe.  Then on Sunday my Mom and I headed to John and Lisa’s house to have lunch with them and the girls.  They are learning so many new words and we had a good time reading to them.  Since I had not included a picture of me lately, here is one with me holding Ellie and Hannah sitting on the step in front of me.  Yes my baby bump is starting to show a lot more!

32 weeks with Hannah (left) and Ellie (right)

Then that afternoon Shaun and I headed north to watch a part of the Eagles game with our friends Mike and Heather.  They had a great dinner for us and we got to catch up which was great.  All that eating and visiting did wear me out though and I was in bed relaxing by 8:30.  I am looking forward to getting my energy back at some point.

Since I am now in my 32nd week, I can’t believe 8 weeks to go, I have to do twice weekly non-stress tests.  I had my first today.   They hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor and a contraction monitor.  At first I was laying on my left side with the monitor on my right side… and little man cooperated for a little while.  Then he decided to start moving all around and we couldn’t get a good heart reading.  I basically have 1 hour to show his heart rhythms and they want to see them go up and down while he is moving around.  After that hour I have to do an ultrasound to continue to check him.  They warned me that over the next few weeks I would not pass in the first hour and I am laying there assuming… great the first time I do this we are not going to pass.  So they moved me to my other side and we pressed the monitor to my left side.  Then little man decide to cooperate and we got a number of good readings including a few of him kicking at the monitor.  He is a mover for sure when he is awake, though I don’t feel it all the time due to how everything is sitting in there.  We will see how he does later this weekend at his second try.

We also have an ultrasound this week to see that he is still growing at a decent pace without getting too large.  I will post pictures from that if we get some good ones.

I also wanted to include an update on my grandfather.  He continues to do better.  They moved him to the nursing home this week and according to my uncle he is looking better than he had even before he went into the hospital.  Hopefully he will continue to do well!

Have a good week!!!

Waiting and Nesting

Hi all

So this weekend ended up being about waiting.  We found out at the end of last week that after taking a fall, breaking his hip, and then having a full hip replacement… My Grandpa Anderl had acquired pneumonia and was not doing well.  They are currently keeping him comfortable and my Uncle Jim, Aunt Jean and cousins Pete and Sarah have been keeping him and Grandma company.  So for the weekend we have been waiting for phone updates and the potential for my Mom and Shaun to have to go to Iowa.  Since I am in my 31 week, I will not be able to go.  We continue to wait for the latest updates and assume that a trip West will need to occur at some point this week.  UPDATE as of 6 pm on 11/8… just got an email from my Uncle, my grandpa is doing much better and may be on the road to recovery.  The Anderl men, even at 93 are fighters!!!

To help keep our minds busy, I have gotten my Mom and Shaun involved in some nesting activities.  We were very productive this weekend.  Let’s see… we got our car seat from Babies R Us on Friday.  Then Saturday we cleaned up the basement and set up another guest bed that used to be in the baby’s room, so please come visit!!!  We also found a crib, carriage, highchair, and doll bed plus my cabbage patch kids.  The crib and doll bed had been made and used with love when I was a child, so when John, Lisa and the girls stopped by to drop something off, we asked if they wanted to borrow them.  The girls seemed to really love pushing the carriage, so they acquired the items and we found more space. 

John and Lisa gave each of us Tulip bulbs that were purchased for brain tumor research which was very nice of them.  So on Sunday, Shaun cleared the center bed out front and then dug 25 holes for me with the soil auger so I could plant the bulbs.  Hopefully they will come up in the spring as I have always wanted tulips!!!  Shaun also was able to put together the rest of the baby furniture and finished putting up the decorations.  So I can actually show you what the rooms looks like….

Here is the view from the door with the chair and changing table…

View from door

View from the window back at the crib…

Crib view

The corner with the shelf we got at a friend’s garage sale with the chair and Dr Seuss pillow from Aunt Karen…

Corner view

Finally the view from the closet to the outside wall which has the dresser along with the Dr Seuss pictures…

Dresser view

The room only needs a few more updates.  We are still waiting for a nightstand and have a Wall saying from Dr Seuss to put up as well.  Thanks to Shaun the room will be ready for the little man.

Hope you have a good week, please say a prayer for my Grandparents.

Feeling like I am in the Third Trimester…

Hi all

I hope you are doing well.  I will be honest that I have no new pictures this week as I have been a little lazy.  I am going to blame this on actually starting to feel pregnant.  I am at 30 weeks, now in the third trimester, and finally feeling pregnant.  I can’t believe only 10 weeks left!

This week has provided less sleep, more leg aches and weird dreams.  Also if you ask Shaun the emotions have been a little more rollercoaster, though I am trying to control them as much as possible.  It is nice to have an understanding husband

Although I don’t have pictures, I was able to meet my friends Deb and Chris’ new baby this weekend.  They escaped the 20+ inches of snow in Colorado to come east to visit family.  Shaun and I were able to spend a few hours with them on Saturday.  We also got to see John, Lisa and the girls since Lisa is Deb’s sister.  Lisa brought out a number of tubs of baby things that she was nice enough to share with both Deb and I.  Thus the baby’s room is starting to get more filled up.  My Mom helped me on Friday hang up a number of clothes items we received and we determined where the decorations would be hung up.  Once the room is a little more set I will post pictures.

I didn’t want the week to go by without any pictures, so here is one from 2 weeks ago at the surprise shower my former co-workers through me at Wyeth.  I am standing next to the awesome rocking horse my former team got me that has Dr Seuss characters painted on it…

28 week picture with rocking horse!

I hope you have a great first week of November!!!

Family Weekend

Dr Seuss Hat

This weekend was very nice.  Shaun’s sisters and families were in town this weekend (Karen, Doug, Abby and Ben and then Kate).  We went up to Shaun’s mom house on Saturday and some of Shaun’s aunts and cousins came by to see everyone and meet Ben and also surprise me with a few gifts for the baby.  They also made me where a goofy Dr Seuss hat… figured you would like to see that….

I also included a full shot of me with a clothesline of baby clothes that Shaun’s Aunt Eileen and all his cousins and families gave me….

Wrapped with the clothes line!

As I am starting my 29th week I am starting to feel more pregnant.   Friday was one of the first times I really felt exhausted all day and had tired legs from how he baby was sitting.  The rest of the weekend was better, but I figure this is the first of the third trimester fun!

Have a great week.  Shaun put the furniture together this week so I hope to put up pictures of the room next week

28 weeks…

I have hit 28 weeks and am entering my third trimester.  I am starting to feel more tired and feeling the little man moving around more.  We had an ultrasound this week as I have to get them every four weeks now due to the diabetes.  They want to make sure that he is not getting too big.  The doctor said that everything looks good and he is a little over 2 1/2 pounds.  He is currently in the right size limits, so no worries right now.  Here one of the pics we got from the ultrasound:

28 week ultrasound - profile pic

I was also nicely surprised this week by my Accenture co-workers and many of my old clients at Wyeth (now Pfizer as of Friday).  They asked me to come in for a meeting due to the merger and instead had a surprise breakfast shower.  It was great to see everyone and very special that they would remember me and the upcoming baby.  I had 3 great years working with them and as always with Accenture continue to move on to new things, but my time at Wyeth will be remembered always as a highlight of my career.  I will post some pictures once I receive them from one my co-workers.

Have a good week!

Farm weekend

This weekend has really centered around the word farm   On Saturday Shaun and I went to a garage sale of a friend from high school.  We were able to pick up quite a few toys at a reasonable price, though most of them seemed to a farm theme.  We were able to get a full play farm with animals and farmers, then a little push cart that had a farm scene on front that moves and a small push tractor with attached animals that the baby will be able to push around.  For our family who is on the red or green side… all of this was green .  We also picked up a shelf for the baby’s room, a booster seat we can take to the cabin with us and a Cat in the Hat stuffed toy, it was nice to see my friend Beth and get some great things for the baby.

Saturday afternoon was spent at Peter Wentz Farmstead (farm theme) for their Laerenwaert Day or Worth Learning Day.  The Farmstead had a number of craft people along with demonstrators showing crafts from the  Revolution  time period.  It was a little emotional to be there, I did cry a little at one point, since it was first time back since my Dad passed.  He did enjoy the fall at the farmstead with the trees changing and the wonderful smells that come out of the kitchen when they are cooking over the hearth.  I worked for a few hours in the gift shop and they did steady business even though the weather was not perfect.  I did feel it in my legs after those few hours.  I give a lot of credit to pregnant women who are on their feet all day.  

 Also I did learn that the Memorial tree for my Dad from the Anderl and Mielke extended families will be delivered this week and planted.  Once it is in I will post pictures. 

The final farm themed event this weekend was visiting local Merrymead Farm with Shaun, John, Lisa, Hannah and Ellie.  We took part of their Harvest fest and were able to take a look at the animals, go on a hay ride and Lisa took the girls through a corn tunnel.  We skipped the pumpkin painting and corn maze this year, maybe as the kids get older.  The girls seemed to really enjoy themselves and all of the animals that they go to see…  Here are a few pictures for this week…

John with Hannah, Shaun with Ellie in front of Harley the big pig

My 27 week picture with Hannah (left) and Ellie (right)

I didn’t take any measurement pictures as I have not really grown   I am starting to get jealous of pregnant women with bigger bumps.  I saw the doctors this week and they are happy with where I am and how little boy is, so I am not worried.  I have an ultrasound this week so hopefully will be able to post a shot or two of the little man next week.

Have a good week!  Go Phillies and Twins!!!

Decorating…

Hi all

So no pictures of me this time.  I measured for the 26th week and there was no real changes from last week.  It is one of the things I have found being plus sized and pregnant… I don’t show as much and grow slower.  So far I have been able to gain no weight which is what the doctor has requested… actually I have lost weight, though am steady now.  I am hoping to keep up the steady weight on the scale for the rest of the weeks.

We did make some progress this week with decorating though.  The room was painted Latte a few weeks ago and Shaun, his Dad and stepbrother were able to get the furniture up to the room, though as you can see below that it is still in the box…

Painted Room with Boxes

The plan is to use accents in primary colors and Dr Seuss.  There are not a lot of ‘cheap’ Dr Seuss pictures out there, so I found a Dr Seuss calendar and framed a few pictures from that.  Aunt Karen was also nice enough to give us a Dr Seuss pillow.  Here are the frames and pillow… I know the one doesn’t not seem to be the same colors as the other, but I plan on putting that one on the side since I loved what it said… ‘You have brains in your head, You have feet in your shoes, You can steer yourself any direction you choose!’ 

Dr Seuss pictures and pillow

We are looking forward to finishing the room once the furniture is put together.  I will take a few pictures next week to post.  Have a good week!!!

Watch me grow…

Hi all

So I have had a number of requests to take and send pictures so people could start to see how the pregnancy is going.  I figured I would try to create a blog to be able to post pictures and updates on how we are doing.   My goal is to try and post new pictures each week… I will try

Here is a picture that was taken at week 21 (Aug 30th) at our neice and nephew’s (Abby and Ben) Baptism.  Shaun was the Godfather for both so we were honored to be there.  I also included a picture of the proud parents, godparents and kids, though there were a number of people taking pictures, so not everyone is looking at me

Shaun and I at 21 weeks

The proud parents, godparents and children

The following pictures were taken today at 25 weeks.  I also am trying to use the measuring tape – currently between 49 and 50 inches.  In the last week or so I feel like I have popped a little more, so we will see how this week goes.

Starting to pop

One including my face

Measuring the belly

Shaun and I attend a Birthing Prep class today.  It was interesting and we both learned a lot.  We were also able to take a tour of the labor and delivery area along with the maternity wing.  The labor and delivery rooms are huge, the maternity rooms not as big.  Tomorrow we are going to pick up the baby furniture.  Hopefully I will be able to post pictures from the baby’s room soon!

Hope you have a great weekend!