Ganirelix Start

This morning, we began the Ganirelex injections. I sat in the parking lot at McDonald's & bared my hip. Didn't hurt so much during the injection, but it really hurt afterwards. Like stabbing/achy pain. Anyone else familiar with this?

The stims & ovaries haven't felt as bad, but I have been wearing loose clothes & sleeping a lot. I don't know if it's the meds, but I have been pretty tired lately.

I have another u/s tomorrow morning. I am guessing the afternoon call from the nurse will include setting up a (final?) appt in Jax on Wednesday or Thursday. Appears we may trigger Thursday or Friday still.

So, that is pretty much it. I am nervous that I don't have much belly tenderness... but, I will know more after tomorrow's appt.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening!

Little Moments

I feel more comfortable coming back to this blog & writing more. Maybe it's cuz we are considering our second IVF or I've been stalking my IF buddies blogs or I've encountered so many other women going through IF. Anyway, it's good to be back. I'll be more active, I promise.

It’s amazing seeing all the ways Elias is developing! He’s definitely starting the imitation stuff. Last week, he used my phone in the “right” way. He grabbed it & held it up to his ear & even chatted! He also used a MegaBlock as a phone, too! Today, he found a small comb in the bathroom cabinet. He handed it to me, so I combed his hair a bit. When he got it back, he immediately used it to try to comb the back of his head! He copies us anytime we laugh or cough or sing or dance. It is so fun!

He has been pretty much on a nursing marathon kick now. When Nick has him while I work, he barely takes 6 or 7 ounces of breastmilk from a bottle… yet he nurses many MANY times during the day still. I read recently that over 8-10 months, the baby may refuse the bottle & only nurse straight from the source. He does a bit of both. Nick said he gets super playful with the bottle & offers it to Nick, then takes it back, then offers it again.

I’ve been using a washcloth to clean his teeth. He loves it & loves to bite down. He thinks it’s funny, too, if Nick or I hold it in our mouth & shake it around. He grabs it away, then shoves it back towards our mouth.

Elias does so many funny things with such personality. He’s been walking over a month now & it didn’t take long for him to STOP crawling! I miss his crawling. He kept one leg bent & the other straight. Made it super easy to sit up from crawling! And he was so quick! I don’t think he’s quite as quick walking now, but he’s getting there. He fights being in the cart @ Target & just wants to walk & be free the whole time. This can be a bit frustrating to Momma.

Little Man loves climbing up into cabinets (since we may be switching houses soon, we haven’t installed all the cabinet baby-proofing door pieces). He loves doors & swinging them back & forth. He loves looking at himself in the mirror. He loves dancing with his arms & twirling in a circle. He loves his sippy cup, but never actually drinks much from it. He still adores water. We have been to the water park several times this summer & he is unstoppable! He wears me out!

Guess that’s about it for now! Will journal more of E’s great little characteristics!! :)

{DUCK: Will miss seeing your updates, but loved seeing all the posts about little Monkey & Giraffe! Good to know you'll still be "out there".}

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from the last couple of months...

Nick's Dad has many tractors & here's E's first perch on one of them!

We went on vacation the week of Memorial Day & looped around Florida visiting family. We stopped in St. Augustine on the way back & we all ate. Elias must be moving his leg at all times. Napping, sitting, nursing. He kept putting his foot on the table, even though I moved it MANY times. I thought it would be cute to have Nick snap a shot. He just turned 9mths old.

The oil leak is definitely affecting parts of our coast, but thankfully it hasn't the beaches that are closest to me. This is @ St. George Island right about the time E turned 10mths old. He loved the beach & crawled ALL OVER the place in the sand! :) {This is also one of the cloth diapers we use as a swim diaper; a GroBaby... LOVE them!}

Nearing 12mths

Not sure if this will work, but I wanted to share some photos of our little guy...

Family Pictures

If that doesn't work, here's a couple of my favorites...



Planning a tractor-themed birthday party for the end of August & I'm still blessed to be staying @ home with my little guy. I recently started working as a shift supervisor @ a local nursing home; it's every other weekend, 16hrs/wkd. It's still very hard leaving E, but I am happy to be able to contribute some money to the family budget. We are in the middle of trying to sell our house & purchase another home through a short sale. It's been a bit crazy, but we're hoping it'll work out. If not, that's okay!

I still check all my buddy blogs, but don't comment as much. I'm sorry. I will be better about this...

We are already talking IVF#2. Possibly starting in the Spring. We have to be weaned for at least 3mths due to my prolactin levels being too high to give us the best chance of pregnancy.

I realized yesterday it's been over 3 months since I've posted here. Sorry for that!

Since my last post, I passed my state board exam & am officially a Registered Nurse. I'm perusing the job postings, but still planning to stay home w/ Elias for as long as possible. If something comes up that's truly exciting & @ night, I may consider applying for it! :)

Elias is a little wiggle worm that's gone mobile. He's not what I would call crawling yet, but he definitely gets around the floor. He's pulling up on everything & trying to stand on his own sometimes. He has so many expressions & sounds... he is so entertaining!

I have gotten better w/ this whole motherhood thing. We understand him better. We can anticipate what he needs before he needs it, so if he begins getting slightly fussy... we are prepared.

We are still bre.astfeeding. Almost exclusively. Sometimes E gets a bit of pureed babyfood or a taste of our soup, but I'm really interested in pursuing baby led weaning. Also, E just sprouted his first baby tooth a couple of weeks ago, so I'm hoping we can progress in solids as his set of toofies come in!

We had to file an amendment to our tax return & are planning to use it to buy E's bigger boy carseat. It's a convertible, but I'm not sure what the official term is. Soon we will no longer be using the infant carseat/restraint. I've prepared myself to get used to this & leave the carseat in the car. We carry him in & out of the car since we'll have to do that with the new convertible seat.

E is officially 8mths old today. Estimating his weight, I would say he's about 20lbs or 9kgs. Maybe a bit less or more. I am not sure of his height; I'm hoping to measure him today or tomorrow to mark the info for his babybook. Yes, I'm trying to keep up w/ his babybook! I keep it stored in the living room, so I can add info when I think of it!

We are pretty much using cloth diapers exclusively. I have not ventured into using them during the night, but have recently purchased some that should work through the night for us. It's almost become addictive. So many cute options & they are so versatile. I actually love cloth diapering! :) {Following are a couple of pictures of E in some of his cloth diapers.}



What else? I'm not sure what I'm leaving out, but I will share some photos with you all!

Hope you all are having a wonderful week! We are enjoying the incredible weather! I love the sunny days & evenings!! I even just bought a bathing suit to help hide those ugly spots from post-baby body. I've gotten down to my prepregnancy weight, but hoping to get down to my pre-IF treatment weight by the end of the summer. About 10lbs left to lose. Maybe more if I'm lucky.

Already getting the bug to be pregnant again. My cycle has started back. Twice I've gotten my p.eriod, but @ 5wks apart. Not sure if it'll stay that way or not, but I'm going to count on it now... so I don't get my hopes up. We are thinking if we're not pregnant when E turns ONE, then we'll be visiting the clinic again & hopefully cycle by the end of the year. Has anyone else checked out their clinic for pricing lately? I'm shocked @ the discounted cycle prices now! Even ICSI is cheaper, the monitoring, etc. I can't believe it's gone down in price that much in just over a year; I've been stalking our clinic's website since the beginning of the year. Either way, we are blessed to now have insurance that covers IUI &/or IVF completely once the deductible is met. I'm sure we'll still have to pay the meds, but that puts our cost @ a fraction of what we paid for E's cycle. I feel like we hit the lottery w/ IVF#1 & am scared to tempt by doing another cycle that will fail. We'll see. Plenty of time to figure out our plans!!

Been A While

Sorry I've been such a slacker about posting. I guess now that I've had my baby, I don't want to post much about how each milestone is bittersweet... never knowing if I'll experience this with another child, but so absolutely grateful that I can experience it once.

Elias is just developing by leaps & bounds. He's so freaking hilarious & cute! Even when I'm @ my wit's end & just wanna cry, he somehow manages to melt me all over again with a HUGE-GOOFY-HALF-OF-HIS-FACE grin! It's awesome.

He's almost 4.5 months old now. Umm, seriously!?

He's been rolling over from his back to his belly for about a month now, but has just begun rolling from his belly to his back. And apparently this is out of the norm. They usually do this the other way around. He doesn't care for tummy time, so unless we hang out with him & cheer him on & smile @ him with lots of encouragement... he fusses on his tummy! Like tonight, he fell asleep on his side (his preferred position of sleep), flipped in his sleep, then woke up & cried because he was on his tummy.

We are still exclusively breastfeeding. In the beginning, I would say the first 6wks or so, I didn't enjoy it at all. I think I was half angry at the baby because b'feeding hurt so much. And I felt like he ALWAYS needed to eat. I was so sleep deprived & upset about having to wake up every 2-3 hours, take the baby into the living room, pump or latch him, deal with the screaming, etc etc. I kept pushing myself to do it just one more week... one more day... try another day...

Then, around 6-7wks of age, it started clicking. This was a collision of several factors that I attribute to this becoming easier: Elias began sleeping through the night; we began side-lying b'feeding; the lecture portion of nursing school was over; & b'feeding stopped hurting. Even when he latched.

Since then, b'feeding has become exponentially more enjoyable. I appreciate that I am the only one able to provide for his nutritional needs. I am marvelled at the fact that my body has been empowered to nourish & support another human being from conception to 4.5mths old. I mean, it's pretty freaking amazing, right?! I adore the giggles & coos & "talking" as Elias stops his feeding long enough to connect with me. I love being able to soothe him to sleep or calm his anxiety. I get it now... the overwhelming emotional, physical, & hormonal connection that accompanies b'feeding.

At his 4mth appointment, the doctor cleared him to start solids whenever we want to. I don't feel as though he's ready yet. He's not showing signs of interest & I've attempted giving him little bits here & there. I'm planning to wait until 6mths to start him on solids. We'll see how he leads.

"In the meantime", I completed nursing school! I am officially a graduate nurse & am studying to take the NCLEX to become a registered nurse!!

I have also recently found some mommy groups in the area that I'm excited about meeting up with. I've been thinking about creating my own group as many friends have had babies in the past year or so. I'll letcha know how it all comes out after the next couple of meetings... I plan to attend at least two in the next week and a half.

Oh, one more thing, I'm a MINIVAN MOM! :)


So, without further adou, here's some pictures of the little munchkin...

{He looks thrilled doesn't he? But, really, he loves his Bumbo!}

This was from today...

{He is definitely his Momma's baby; he has so many crazy expressions! He's even got a bit of a Blue Steele streak in him! LOL}

And just a picture that I thought was cute from last weekend of his diapers drying on the line. We do cloth diapers during the day, then disposables during the night & when we're out & about.


And guess what?! N's new insurance (kicking in around March-ish) has IF coverage! That means we may have another chance at a kid or two more! What a blessing, huh!? I'm hoping he'll agree to cycling this summer, but then we'll probably still be b'feeding, so maybe early 2011! How exciting! And, yes, I definitely still want more kids!

Too Long

Since I've posted! Promise I will get internet set up before December!

For now, here's a couple of pictures...




And, we had a very good friend + photographer take some portraits & here's our sneak peak... Can you believe his hair is this red?!

Preview from Marybeth Mills Photography

More to come later! I have my first weekend of Preceptor Hours this weekend... not looking forward to it at all, but thankful there's only a month left & I already have banked enough b.reastmilk to not have to worry about the baby starving Friday or having to supplement with formula! :)

More Pictures

Ya know I love showing him off! :) Since we bought the cutest cloth diapers EVER, I had to snap some photos of him... also, for the baby dedication @ our church this Sunday, I wanted some cuter pictures. Here's some of my favorites:




(These are G-Diapers we scored off Craigslist!)

And, how much do you wanna kiss those sweet lips!?


Hoping to have our internet connection set up soon, so then I can update more often with more pictures! :)

Some New Photos

These were all shot from my cell phone, but I thought they came out pretty well!

Today after our trip to class... my last lecture!


Yesterday just hanging out with his belly full!


A couple of weeks ago after his bath!


Again, a couple of weeks ago hanging out in his camos!


Will post more stuff later, but just happy to have gotten on & browse the internets! :)

Have a wonderful evening!

Quick Update

Sorry to have been MIA, but life has been a bit busy. Between the baby & family life, I've also returned to my (hopefully, if I can pass) final nursing class. Less than 5wks left of the lecture portion of it.

On to more exciting things... or people! ;)

Little E is doing fine. In fact, last night he let me sleep over 4hrs straight... nursed for a bit, then went right back to sleep! A contrast to the prior night, where he decided he didn't want to nap/sleep @ all from 3am-6am. That was rough on Mommy... but we also napped together yesterday, so that helped!

I haven't been as crazy about taking pictures as I thought I would. I guess it just seems so laborious to grab the camera when he's doing something cute. I have many pictures from my cell phone & lots of sweet video clips from my Flip camera to upload later, but the "nice" camera isn't as mobile/portable. I think the better I begin to feel, the more pictures I will snap! :) Baby steps!

I still have achiness & pressure in my abdomen, but every day it seems to get better. I'm not as tried/lightheaded/dizzy as I have been, which hopefully means the anemia is getting better. Have more of an appetite now, too. For the first couple of weeks, I just didn't care to eat/drink anything.

We're still getting the hang of brea.stfeeding, but am fortunate that little E has not had issues going from br.east to bottle. I left the hospital pumping as latching hurt & the nurses were pushing us to supplement with formula. We were determined to do all we could to avoid that. The day after we left the hospital, my milk came in. I was producing three times what he was needing for each feeding, so we already have a decent amount of milk frozen & stored. We attempted latching several times a day, but by Thursday (his 1 week birthday)... I decided we would try nursing exclusively. It still hurt, but he was doing great. We have found a routine with bottles of brea.stmilk @ night & nursing during the day.

He get hiccups pretty much every day. They say there's nothing we can do about it, but it's so sad watching him. He inherited his daddy's violent hiccups. He lost his umbilical stump last Wednesday & has a cute little belly button underneath. He loves kangaroo cuddling & I do, too! His skin has become less peelie in the past couple of days... his little hands & feet were so peelie! :) He loves to have his head rubbed, unless he's just too angry with the world! Then, not much other than nursing helps that! We have been naughty & co-sleep sometimes with him. More so in the first week than now as we have learned his sleeping pattern & regulated his feeding more to suit his growing needs.

Well, I have a project to research for now, so I should head off. Sorry for the lack of updates, but I think I'm getting back into the swing of life & not feeling so much like a zombie all the time. I would leave with a couple of pictures, but not able to upload to Blogger right now? You can click the link for one of the most recent ones of Little E...

Click here

At Last...

Elias arrived Thursday, August 28, @ 3:55am.

He was 7lbs3oz & 18.75 inches long with a full head of hair! :)



We're doing great & in so much love!

Baby Update: 38wks (Still Knocked Up!)

Since I didn't get my post done in time, I thought I'd update a bit here. Can't upload pictures with our internet connection... so I'll add the fruit/veggie of the week later. I think it's a LEEK that Elias is now as long as.

Thoughts/Happenings:
** This week, we had a procedure performed to see if Elias's lungs were mature enough to induce labor a bit earlier than normal. Have I mentioned that the closer we get to his due date, the more overwhelming the anxiety I have about actually bringing home a live baby? I think I've cried at least once every single day since hitting the 37wk mark because I'm so nervous that something horrible will happen. Yes, it's irrational & illogical & probably unjustified... but I can't help it. I'm worried & stressed like nothing else. So, after discussing this with my OB, he agreed to induce if Little One's lungs were developed. Since we know his exact gestational age... I didn't think there would be any problems at all. Well, his quick results (on Wednesday) showed immaturity. At that point, they wait for an (almost) 48hr return test that *could* reflect lung maturity. Got the call this morning, that that test also agreed with his lungs not being mature. I was shocked. Still am. Oh, and even more nervous. The Specialist did say that we can safely assume if my body goes into labor on it's own, that his lungs should be fine by then. And, every day he's still "in the oven", his lungs get more & more mature. So, my next appt with my OB is Wednesday... a day after they'd induce any other patient... but, I obviously have reservations about it. I'm very much looking forward to being able to discuss all this with my OB. Oh, and my Fall semester starts back up Monday. This will be fun... and probably not possible.

** As of Tuesday, I hadn't dilated any more. I was still at 3cm, but 80% effaced & the baby was in "0" station. Progress on that front, at least. Still "any day now" mentality. Ha.

** I've had this whole week off from work. It has been nice, but I sure haven't felt much like doing anything. I have worked a bit in the office (umm, MAJOR work needs to be done in there... been putting it off) here & there. Rested plenty. I think I'm sleeping 9-10hrs/night plus naps. Got the animals to the vet today... three dogs + one cat for a 2hr vet visit + a 9mth pregnant woman. Not as bad as I imagined it may have been!! Smooth, actually. I've cleaned & cleared dishes every day, some laundry, cooked several nights (except for the night I'd been craving Mexican), & other piddling around the house. I'm sure there's more I can do & since Nick will have to work yet again tomorrow, Saturday, I'll be working around the house then, too.

** Hmm, not sure there's anything else I can think of to add? Oh, we went to triage twice in the last week. Last Thursday was because I thought my water might have broken. It hadn't, but we found out I was losing my mucus plug already. Sunday (early morning) was because I had an extremely intense pain that would not stop from about 1am to 2am... which we called the doula & headed to the hospital. It eventually went away & they monitored us for a while, but he was okay.

Cravings/Symptoms:
** Some discomfort @ night, when I have to roll over or change positions... other than that, I get very nice restful sleep. A bit of heartburn every now & then if I have soda, but I've cut out almost all of that... so it's not as often as before.

** Still lots of movement. Elias has permanently planted his backside on my left side & kicks like crazy on my right side. Lots. Especially during the procedure w/ the Specialist Wednesday. What a stubborn boy... so much like his Daddy already.

Hope to not have a 39wk update... unless it's got pictures of this boy outside the womb, but as long as he needs to stay in... we're okay with. I'll just be an emotional wreck that much longer worrying!!

Maternity Portraits Done!

Check out Amick's website to see our maternity pictures! :)

MATERNITY PORTRAITS

Been having contractions all weekend long, so we've got out fingers crossed to meet this little guy face-to-face soon!

Baby Update: 36wks (60% effaced!)

Yay! We've almost made it to full term. Only 1wk until Elias would be considered full term! We're truly in the homestretch!

According to the websites, Elias is over 18.5inches long & weighs almost 6.0 pounds (or the weight of a CRENSHAW MELON)!


Thoughts/Happenings:

** We had our maternity portraits shot this weekend. I'm very interested to see how they turned out & hope that we got several "favorite" shots. Our photographer is on vacation this week, so I think we'll have the edited photos in our hot-little-hands within 2 or 3 wks. We'll have them on CD/DVD with print rights, so we can print them @ our leisure & post them online no problems! :) AND, we've already set up a tentative newborn session by the end of September! Yay! {You must know that I will post some of the shots as soon as we get them!}

** I am officially heading to the doctor every week. Every Tuesday to be exact! My group B strep status: (still waiting on the call back from the doctor) ; my dilation/effacement status: 2-3cm/60%. Who knows how much longer we'll have? ;)

** Had some either fake (okay, I know they're technically Braxton Hicks) or real contractions last Thursday evening/Friday morning. Woke me up I was hurting so much. But, they went away. We can only hope they were a couple of "real" ones that are preparing my body for labor & delivery in the next couple of weeks!

** My last day of work before maternity leave (unless Elias comes earlier) will be August 14th. Our plans are for me to return to this current position at the beginning of January. That gives me about 4mths @ home with Elias, so we're very excited about that! :)

** Elias's hospital bag is packed... only thing to add later is when we get the "unborn child John" insurance card in the next week or so. Our hospital bag is pretty much packed. I'm sure I'll add more later, but we have the little toiletries, the Flip video camera, extra batteries, one change of clothes each... probably will add a robe & the computers on the way out. We can stay up to 48hrs following the delivery, but as little as 24-36 hrs be discharged. I think we're leaning towards the 24hr mark as long as the pediatrician clears Little One to head home with us!

** The carseat bases have yet to be installed, but the carseat + base are located in Nick's car. That's the one we'll plan to take to the hospital. Hopefully, we can have the carseat base installed & checked in the next week. Doesn't hurt to be as prepared as possible!

** Elias's room still has some work to be done, but not too much. I hope to make some room in his closet for his swing + bouncer, so that will be outta the way. His bassinet is already beside the bed & a changing table we were given is in our bathroom. A tight squeeze for sure, but we're hoping it'll help get us through the first couple of months as it has shelves for (lots of) extra diapers, wipes, outfits, & sheets. Once he outgrows the bassinet, I think we will move his playpen beside our bed until it's time to move him into this own room. Weird to think about even now.

Symptoms/Cravings:

** More heartburn every now & then, aching back during sleeping/rolling over, & lots of fetal movement! It's great!

** Still craving proteins... steaks/burgers, dairy... ice cream/milk/shakes.

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Baby Update: 34wks

Umm, seriously? This is cah-razy! Lots of stuff happened in the last week & I'm sure it will just continue until Little One is born!

We are only 3wks away from official full-term, 5wks away from possible medical induction, & 6wks away from "technical" due date.

This week, the websites estimate Elias' weight as 4.75lbs (a CANTALOUPE) & almost 18inches long. You can tell the length has slowed considerably as he was growing 0.5-1.0 inch each week... now, he's in the fattening up stage! :)


Thoughts/Happenings:
** We have another week until our doctor's appt. He will do a check to see if my body is progressing at all towards labor & also complete a beta test. If I'm positive, I'll need some prophylactic antibiotics during labor. If not, I get to labor @ home as long as possible!!

** We met with our doula Sunday. Very good meeting. We still feel very comfortable with our plans & are excited about the additional support our doula will provide!!

** We had two baby showers this week! One @ work on Wednesday & one @ church on Saturday. They were so much fun & we pretty much have all we will need (umm, we THINK we will need?) for the baby's arrival! There are several items I'll still need, but most definitely was not comfortable w/ other purchasing them! :) I don't have pictures of all the stuff, but I will try to take the rest of them tonight & post them tomorrow!

** Nick & I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on Friday. G'Ma was so sweet & prepared a meal for us... more to come on that later!! I have a post ready w/ pictures for that! :) It's hard for me to NOT reflect when I reach milestones, so I think of what I expected when we got married. I would have thought we'd have several little ones running around & maybe done with the child-making "thing". But, God has different plans than we do. We are so thrilled to be expecting this sweet little boy he created just for us to love & raise for Him.

** We are rescheduled for maternity portraits on August 1st. After cancelling our first session & several emails back & forth, we will be using the same photographer ( Amick Cutler), but here in the "greater Tallahassee area" instead of Pensacola. He & his wife will be in town that weekend, so we're hoping to head to the Coast to take pictures near the lighthouse. I'm so thankful this will work out & will share pictures here as soon as we get them!

Symptoms/Cravings:
** Pretty predictable here... milk, steak, cheerios, sweet stuff. Heartburn is coming pretty consistently, but not horrible. I have more aches & pains moving around at night... sleeping is harder cuz my back & hip get to hurting, but it sure doesn't stop me from sleeping! (Last night, I got approximately 10-11hrs!) Clinicals are a bit more difficult, but still not unbearable. Standing up is harder since it requires more than a quick thought & leaning over to pick up trash (or anything) takes much more effort & time. LOL It's funny. I still haven't had horrible swelling, but my ankles & hands will get swollen at night.

Heading to the grocery store tonight after work, then home for a bit of resting & organizing in the baby room. Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Baby Update: 31wks

Today marks 31wks of pregnancy! Can you believe it!? It sure is getting more & more real, but still unbelievable! :)

Little One is over 16inches long (WOW!) & weighs approximately 3.3lbs... or the weight of...


(four naval oranges)

Thoughts/Happenings:
** We got the stroller + carseat set this week! It was magically assembled by Daddy Nick & I love it. I pushed it around a bit to see if I could work it right, but it worked MUCH better after Nick unlocked the front wheels. I still ran into stuff, but I'm hoping most places will be a bit more spread out than our little house is! :)

** We saw Elias via 3D/4D ultrasound on Friday. It was wonderful. His little head was buried deep in my right side & his legs & curled up knees where tucked under my right ribs... poor guy doesn't know he's got a whole other half of the uterus to get comfy in! We went home w/ two DVDs, a CD of photos, & 10 or so pictures. I love them. :) My parents, g'parents, Nick's mom + nieces, & my sister-in-law made it!




** We had a doctor's appt today. This was the one where they scheduled another 2D ultrasound to review Elias' growth as I was measuring a teeny bit small two weeks ago at our 29wk appt. Our little guy is measuring 31w5d, so even a bit ahead of schedule! Which is awesome! They estimated his weight as 3lb15oz instead of the "average" 3lb5oz (like the oranges above), so a bit bigger. We'll take that! :) He is also head down & the doctor said that he will more than likely stay head down. He was very active during the u/s & for the appointment that followed! OH, he also has hair! We have a picture, so I will plan to scan it tonight to share tomorrow on the blog! :)

** Birthing class went well again. We watched a video about different coping techniques during labor & practiced more positions. Weird to think we only have 1 more class left!

** Since we have a couple of baby showers coming up soon, I am pretty sure I finalized up our registry & will not be peeking in the next couple of weeks! :) Got some super cute things in there that I'd love to have for the baby... cute AND functional. Or so I hear (functionality), like the swing & bumbo seat & baby wrap! :)

** We're hoping to head to the store & get the 25% discount on the dresser/changing table to complete the furniture in Elias' room. Then, we can finalize plans for the mural in his room, & really get his room ready. I'm SOOOOO ready for his room to be set!!

Cravings/Symptoms:
** Same ole, same ole cravings!

** I have an achy lower back during the night... I can still sleep, but it seems the only time my back hurts is when I'm laying down. I'm considering moving to the recliner in the future if it gets worse, but for now... it's fine!

Baby Update: 28wks

Well, I have to say that I have some of the BEST friends in the world. Seriously.

Nick's birthday & my birthday are very close together. So, we usually celebrate w/ a dinner or date out. Weeks ago, Nick emailed me an invitation for that date. It was supposed to be Friday night.

I say SUPPOSED because it was all a hoax. For a surprise baby shower. Nick & the girls worked it out perfectly... Saturday while working on the baby room, I kept remembering all of these little things that I could have picked up on or what-not, but it was so sweet.

First, onto how big Elias is getting!! He's 2.25lbs (WHOA!) & 14.8inches long! His weight compares to the weight of a chinese cabbage...



Thoughts/Happenings...

** Well, the baby shower of course! I feel silly for being so surprised, but they did a wonderful job of orchestrating it! I was in class w/ these girls literally every day in the past week & no one dropped a hint or anything! I don't have pictures from the night yet, but did snap some pictures of some of the gifts. They were so special to me!! I cried when I realized what they were doing (the surprise shower) & even more after I got home from the shower. It takes me back to never knowing if we'd ever have an opportunity to have a child... we are so blessed to be pregnant & doubly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

Here's a cute puppy-dog sleeper w/ a frog romper (I think that's what they are officially called?)


Here's a gorgeous handmade crocheted blanket in some of my favorite colors!


From the hostesses (hmm, plural for hostess?), Elias' baby book!


Along with a hooded towel, coordinating bibs, & a gift card that I used to buy this play quilt & crib skirt!


A shirt (it says I love danger!), onesie, elephant toy...


And these wonderful monogrammed receiving blankets! I love seeing his name on them!


From another nursing friend, three of the sweetest, bestest books!


And the extra carseat base, so that Nick & I can have bases in each car to switch the carseat in & out of! :) (PS: this was from the friend that also works in the neurological ICU & definitely has safety in mind!!)


The next couple of pictures are the gifts from Mom... some shorts, shirts, & the cutest toof-brush!


The toothbrush holder + ribbiting soap dispenser...


And the matching rug for Elias' bathroom!


** Head back to the doctor's in a week! We'll be visiting each two weeks from now on until mid-August. We have lots of questions to ask about labor & delivery...

** We cleared out the baby room on Saturday! There's still transitional items in the living room, but as soon as the crib is assembled & then the rocker is moved into the room... we'll be able to move the other stuff in as well. It's hard to know if something will look or feel right until it's in there, but we don't want to have to move everything out of the dresser or shelf if we need to rearrange stuff! I pulled all the packing stuff out of the crib box, so hopefully Nick can get the crib put together by the end of the week! You know there will be pictures!

Here's a quick shot of how the living room looked @ one point! Remember, we switched the bed from room to room & cleared out space to assemble to crin IN the baby room!


A peek into the baby room & the beautiful antique dresser for his room. There are drawers that slide into this opening & I still need to clean & polish it more. But, exciting none-the-less!


** This weekend, we ran into the sweet friend who has offered to paint Elias' room! She's amazing & we have yet to decide what we'd like painted, but it's exciting to have ideas! Hopefully we can figure out something in the next couple of weeks!

** We got a couple of bags of clothes to go through for Elias' wardrobe. I haven't tackled this project yet, but hope to this weekend in between studying & school projects due next week. (Only 8 more days until this current summer semester is over!)

Cravings/Symptoms...

** Started getting these back aches in the morning. I can sleep just fine, but when I wake up it's painful moving around. I think I figured out the sleeping position that helps, so I am going to be trying that from now on to see if it helps w/ the lower back aches!

** Same food cravings! :)

Baby Update: 27wks

Elias is now 14.5 inches long from head to toe. It may not sound very big, but here's snapshot of 14.5inches w/ my belly...


He also weighs approximately 2.0 lbs or the size of a head of cauliflower!


Weird, huh!? And, since we recently had an infant/pregnancy loss bereavement lecture which was pretty upseting (thankfully, Elias was moving literally the WHOLE time... an answer to prayer...), he has a 90% chance of survival outside of the womb if something were to happen this week. Please don't think me morbid, but thankful. I actually met a girl this weekend in the post-partum floor that was 1 day ahead of me & had her little girl a week ago. It's a miracle both her AND the baby made it alive. Mmm, we are so very blessed.

Thoughts/Happenings...
** We got Elias some great Little Tykes outdoor pieces from a friend's yard sale. They will need to be cleaned, but we got a great deal on them!


** We had another doctor's appointment yesterday @ the 27wk mark. We had a different doctor, but she was nice enough. I am measuring at 28cm, have gained 22lbs so far this pregnancy, & Little One's heartbeat was "between 145-150". Didn't get an exact number, but oh, well. We are now heading to the doctor every 2wks! Crazy, huh!?

** Nick went to our first birthing class Monday. Again, I will miss two of the classes, but he is recording them for me & I have listened to a good part of Monday night's class. We also have various things to practice for this class, which is kinda funny. I'm sure it'll help some, but I'm very glad we've already locked in our doula for the labor & delivery! :)

** I think we will work in the baby room some this weekend. I actually have three weekends w/out clinicals!! So, we're hoping to move the twin bed out of the baby room & into the office; at least review the crib (still in box) to make sure it's not scratched or bummed up or something; move little clothes from the original dresser to the beautiful antique dresser we will be using now; maybe something more? Although, this sure sounds like more than enough to keep us busy this Saturday!

Cravings/Symptoms...
** Just love watching my stomach... we can now SEE him wiggling from the outside. It's so cool. I'm hoping to catch it on video to save for later on. I still can't get over how blessed we are. One year ago, it was rough. Personally, relationally, hormonally, emotionally, financially, spiritually... it is amazing the difference a year will make & this miracle has so much to do with these changes.

** Same ole, same ole! Milk, ice cream, steak. Still chips, too! ;)