I think I may have felt movement!

Obviously being a first-time mom, I do not have a lot of experience with pregnancy ;) But I think the other night, when I was 19 weeks 6 days (yes, I know exactly how far along I am; can you tell I am so excited for Februrary?), I was laying in bed, and I just felt a tiny bit of pressure in one spot. It wasn't gas, it wasn't hunger; it was something different than I'd ever felt before. That was Tuesday, and ever since then, I've been noticing it more and more. It's usually at night when I'm laying there, but sometimes it'll be during the day, too, although I obviously notice it more when I'm just laying there, as opposed to when I'm working or walking around, etc. It makes it seem so much more real now that I can actually feel the little guy/girl moving around in there!

Our Doctor's Appointment

So we had our doctor's appointment yesterday, when I was exactly 20 weeks (yay! Halfway there!) Everything sounded good; the heartbeat is still going strong at 160 beats per minute (which, if you go by the old wives' tales, means we're having a GIRL!!!!.... although I know not to put too much stock in those, haha). She said everything sounded great; I'm measuring just what I should be, I'm apparently eating all the right things, etc. So we were glad that everything appears to be spot on!

Our appointment got done around 3:45, so we figured there was no point in going back to work for a whole half hour, so we decided to go see The Informant. It was pretty good, although kind of slow in parts, but overall it was entertaining.

So, I cannot believe I am halfway done with this pregnancy. I am so excited to meet this little guy/girl. February (or, knowing how my family is, early March) just seems soooo far away! I am so thrilled to expand our little family. I can honestly say that I have no preference for the sex of this child. Before I got pregnant, I was SO girl-hungry. I pictured us with a girl, always said, "When we have a daughter," etc. It's not that I didn't want a boy; I just didn't have this overwhelming desire for one like I had for a girl. I can honestly say that the minute I knew I was pregnant with this little bean, all preferences I ever had vanished.

Sure, I would still LOVE to have a girl; my little Kate Elizabeth. I would love to have a daughter to raise into a strong, intelligent, confident, feminine woman who is a wonderful mother to her own children. I would love to (knock on wood) have that close relationship with her that I have with my own mom. And, of course, I'd like the more "superficial" things about having a daughter, too; prom dress/wedding dress shopping, helping her plan her wedding, buying the cute frilly clothes when she's a baby and toddler. And seeing Dan with Rori and Kirsti just makes my heart melt; he is so gentle and sweet with them, and I know he'd only be even more so with his own daughter. I think every little girl deserves a dad like Dan, and that is a HUGE reason that I want a daughter of our own.

But I would absolutely LOVE to have a boy as well. Dan has been so fantastic throughout this pregnancy; he has always been an absolutely wonderful husband, but he's stepped up to the plate even more than I could have ever imagined. Happily taking off work for my doctor's appointments, doing whatever he could to make me feel less nauseous when I was in the throes of sickness; I can't even articulate how lucky I am to have a husband like him. I hear other women complaining about their husbands: how he doesn't help around the house, how he forgets birthdays and anniversaries, how he doesn't get along with their (the wife's) family, how he's not romantic anymore... and I honestly cannot identify with ANY of that. I'm just sitting there thinking, "Hmmm, Dan does just as much housework as I do--and 90% of the cooking--he sends me cards for birthdays and anniversaries--even the anniversary of our first date--he's still romantic, he loves my family, etc." And I realized that the world needs more men like Dan. So I would be so THRILLED to have a little boy to raise with Dan as his role model. I can see him growing into a loving, respectful man who takes just as much of an interest in his children as their mom does, who takes pride in providing for his family, and who believes in treating women with respect--just like Dan does. (Need I point out that my mother-in-law, Gail, did an AMAZING job of raising her son?) There's this song that pretty much epitomizes how I feel; I don't even LIKE country music, for the most part, but there's this song called Watching You by Rodney Atkins, and it's about how his little boy idolizes everything he does and wants to be just like him, so he realizes he needs to be the best dad he can be. It's really sweet and makes me cry every time.

Plus, since Dan's own dad pretty much ran out on him, I think it would be almost healing in a way for Dan to have that father-son relationship that he never had with his own dad.

So, there is my long treatise on why I can honestly say I have no preference as to the sex of this child!

Our weekend

Our weekend was pretty fun. I didn't get the guest room (which will soon be the nursery... and guest room.... and office) cleaned out like I wanted, but we did get to see a movie (Surrogates; very interesting), go out to eat a couple of times (we tried a new Italian place in Sun Prairie and will NOT be eating there again, but hey, at least we got to spend time together, right?) and I got my showers cleaned and laundry put away. I have a nagging suspicion that it's a sad reflection on my life if I'm excited about getting my showers cleaned, but oh well.

I made a little headway on my quest for boy bedding (option 1). I'm still not sure if this is what we'll go with (I was hoping for just navy and ivory or navy and white, without any cutesy decorations) but it is kind of cute. I also like this one (option 2) and this one (option 3), even though it's not in line with my nautical theme, but I love blue and brown together. This one (option 4) and this one (option 5) aren't bad, either, although they're probably my least favorite. Let me know your thoughts... option 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5? Ooh, I just found this one (option 6), which I really like. Thoughts?

As for girl bedding, I thought I was all set (see my last post) but then I found this one, which I also think is really cute. I can't decide which one I like better... probably still the first one, but I don't know.

I tell ya; as glad as I am to be keeping the gender a surprise until delivery, I admit that I am *slightly* wishing that we knew the gender so that we could get the room painted and the bedding bought! :)

Back from my two-month hiatus!

Ok, wow, I did not mean to let two months go by without writing; oops! Anyway, this pregnancy is going well, thankfully. I was sick (and I mean, "I-can't-get-off-the-couch-someone-put-me-out-of-my-misery" sick) for a total of three weeks, and now I'm pretty much back to normal. Considering that some people are sick the whole nine months, I'm not complaining!

We first heard the heartbeat at our appointment when I was 12 weeks. It was weird, I couldn't distinguish it at first (although Dan could; the look in his eyes when he heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time was amazing), but then after it went away, it kind of clicked, like, "Oh, ok, that noise that I'm no longer hearing that I thought was static was the heartbeat."

We had another appointment when I was 16 weeks. This time the baby was very active; I could hear the heartbeat right away, and the baby was doing lots of flips and stuff to get away from the doppler. As you know, we're pretty non-invasive; we're not even getting an ultrasound unless there is some issue (bleeding, cramping, etc.) But when we were at this most recent appointment, we did get offered the quad screen test, which tests for our risk for Down Syndrome, anencelaphy, Trisomy 21 or 18, and spina bifida (I think those are all right). Since it's just a simple blood test, Dan and I figured, why not? So I had my blood taken (which I HATE) and then we got our tests back after Labor Day. Our test was thankfully negative, so while there are a few false negatives, it is very rare, meaning that we have a very small likelihood of having a child with any of these disorders. We're so relieved, even though that wasn't even really something we were thinking our baby had in the first place!

Our next appointment is on September 30, so a week from tomorrow. I'm 19 weeks tomorrow, by the way, which means I'm almost halfway there. I can't believe it.

I have been looking for crib bedding for this little imp (we're going to turn our guest room/office into a guest room/nursery/office--yes, it'll be a multi-purpose room!) and I think I've found my girl bedding. Click here if you'd like to see it; I love it and think it's very English cottage-esque, which is totally me! I haven't found my boy's bedding, though, even though I can totally see it in my head. Oh well, I guess I'll keep looking.

Very soon I will be posting pictures of various things we did throughout the summer, including the awesome shower my mom threw for me :)

Sorry I haven't been around lately...

But nothing much has really been happening! Just the normal pregnancy ups and downs :) I had terrible morning sickness for two weeks (weeks 6 and 7) and now I'm almost 9 weeks on Wednesday, and I seriously feel like I'm back to my old self! If that was all the nausea I had to endure, I'm going to consider myself lucky!

We've also had two appointments with our midwife, and she gave me some great strategies to help with the nausea (maybe that's why I feel so much better?) We haven't heard the heartbeat yet, but that's ok; she says it's more around 13 weeks or so. We were really impressed with the birth center (check it out here) where we plan to have the baby; it has a very low hospital transfer rate, and they're really committed to helping women realize their dream of natural childbirth, which is a goal of mine! I love how the birth rooms are very homey and welcoming; not at all like some sterile hospital rooms I've seen.

My parents are here visiting now, which is a lot of fun. Dan and I will head up to the lake this weekend (my dad and brother are already there, and my mom is going up on Tuesday), and then we're all going to the Dells at the end of July. That's one of our favorite summer traditions, so I'm really looking forward to it!

Other than that, Dan and I have just been enjoying the warm summer weather (the girls and I are getting a lot of use out of our pool!) and hanging out with family. It's been a fun summer so far!

We told Tracy, Dan and the girls last night...

And they were so excited! It was great :) We went to Kirsti's middle school graduation, which was very nice (we're so proud of her! I can't believe that the six week old baby I saw for the first time laying on my aunt Chris's floor is now this amazingly intelligent and respectful 14 year old! Where does time go?)

Kirsti literally screamed when we told her; it was so sweet. And Rori was so excited; we went out to eat afterwards, and she wanted to sit by me, like she usually does. She put her head on my arm and her hand on my stomach and said, "Hi little baby!" It was so sweet; she is such a doll. If my little girl turns out even half as nice as Rori, we'll be very lucky!

We are going to tour the Madison Birth Center tomorrow; they have tours every Wednesday evening. I'm very into the holistic, natural childbirth thing, so I think this sounds like a good fit for us. Hopefully our tour will confirm that!

Our weekend!

Well, we went down to Chicago for my cousin's high school graduation, and it was a lot of fun. We found out something unexpected, however; we are expecting a baby on February 17!!! Holy crap!

It was funny; I wasn't due to get my period until this Tuesday (tomorrow) but I was worried for some reason, although I was still kind of thinking, "Nah, I'm not." So I took a test--and I honestly thought it was more of a pre-emptive strike, and I TOTALLY expected it to confirm my suspicion that I was NOT pregnant--and saw just the faintest of a second line. I did a double take and just kept saying, "No, no, no!!!" My heart was racing. I have taken so many pregnancy tests where I was just terrified they were positive, and then they never were (obviously). With this one, I took it but didn't even really entertain the possibility that it was positive; I just assumed it would be negative, and I was thinking, "This will just confirm what I already know--that I am not." Yeah, right!

I went downstairs and asked Dan if he saw a second line, and he said, 'Yes, but it's so light; I'm sure the test is faulty.' Hmmm. So I asked Katrina, and she said the same thing. So I'm thinking, "Ok, maybe they're right."

So later, I took another. Same line, same place. Hmmmm. I told Dan, and he said, "Well, if one test is faulty, I'm sure they both are" (since they came from the same box). So the whole day at the graduation and at the dinner afterwards, I was SO nervous (but yet kind of excited). Before we headed back up to Madison, I went to Dominick's (their grocery store) and got a digital test. I asked the cashier, "Do you have a restroom around here?" She directed me to it, and I took the test immediately.

I set it on the counter, with its little hour glass thing twirling around and around, and washed my hands. I grabbed a paper towel, looked over at the test, and my jaw just dropped. "Pregnant." WHAT?!?!

I went outside where Dan was waiting in the car, and as soon as I got in, he said, "Well, shall we go?" I was surprised that he didn't seem curious at all. I just looked at him. He said, "What?" And I said, "Promise you won't be mad?" and I showed him the test. His jaw just dropped, and he said, "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Whaaaat? Are you serious?" No, honey, I doctored the test as a joke ;) Yes, I'm serious! He didn't realize that I was actually going to take the test in Dominick's; he just thought I was going there to buy it. He even said, "I was wondering what was taking you so long!"

So, that was our exciting weekend! We called my mom right away, and she was excited. She was already happy that Roger Federer (she's obsessed with tennis) had won his tournament today, so she answered the phone, "Hello, Roger Federer is the king of the tennis world, fan club headquarters," and I said, "Hello, future grandmother on Valentine's Day." (I originally thought I was due the 14th, not the 17th) She said, "What?" I repeated myself. She said, "No way! You're kidding! You're not kidding, right? Oh my gosh!" She seemed very happy, as did my dad.

Then Dan called his mom, and she was ecstatic. We talked to Nancy, too, and she couldn't believe it :) I then called my aunt Chris (since we had just left her house) and told her that "come February 14th or so, you're going to be a great aunt!" She screamed she was so happy; it was very cool. Then we told my grandma (since we were following her back from Chicago, and we could tell she was having a hard time driving since it was night, so Dan offered to drive her van), and she seemed very happy.

Now the only person we have to tell is Tracy; I really want to do it in person, since we're so close to them (and I can't wait to see the looks on their faces! Rori has been asking me to have a baby for quite some time, haha), so hopefully we'll be able to go to their house tomorrow night or something. It better be soon, otherwise I won't be able to hold out!

And I'm going to see my group of friends (that I used to work with) tonight, and I'll tell them then. I texted Angie last night and told her, so almost everyone knows now! I just need to email my aunts and uncle in Minnesota, and then we'll be set! Crazy, crazy, crazy. I'm completely shocked, since we were planning on 2012, but I'm excited as well!