34 weeks belly!

Just because Gina is cute. :)

Gina really wanted in on the pictures.

..and I'm only gonna get bigger. Oi!

Baby Rhodes is 34 weeks!

Today was another routine appointment and everything looked fine. My fundal height is right on (if not a bit high), baby's head appears to be down, and his little heart is beating away at 140bpm. Baby is still very active though he's definitely not doing any flips anymore thanks to being so cramped. He certainly knows how to make me feel uncomfortable though with his kicks to the bladder and diaphragm. Despite that, I am already so in love with this little guy and can't wait to meet him whenever he decides to make his appearance.

This past weekend was my baby shower and I'd like to thank everyone who was there or sent their best wishes for our little baby Rhodes. So far this week I have been busy getting the nursery ready for the arrival of our little guy. There are still a couple of art projects left, but I've mostly been focusing on getting his sheets and clothes washed, bottles sterilized, etc. Although decorating is fun, it isn't quite as important as just getting everything ready for his arrival.

I know I promised a belly photo last week, but I really will get one up here (possibly as early as tonight). On another note, after this next appointment in two weeks, I'll be seeing the doctor every week which means there are only 2 appointments left that David will be missing! I can't wait until he can join me!

33 weeks down, 7 to go!

Well, there's not much new to report this week. Baby is as active as ever and really has some strong karate moves going on. With it being November, I've started playing him some nice instrumental Christmas music which he seems to love. Sometimes I think I feel him moving to the beat of the music and reacting when the music gets loud or the instrumental sound changes which is so cool!

Unfortunately for me, I think this may be the last week or so that I'm able to wear my wedding rings - as if I needed more reason for people to think that I'm a single, teenage mom :p. If I am active at all, I find that I pay for it later with back pain and swelling of the feet and hands - occasionally even my sciatic nerve decides to join in on the fun. I suppose when I think about it and realize that my body is carrying 30+ more pounds than it's used to it all makes sense though.

With David not here, I've been putting off taking a birthing class of any sort, but I think I will probably give in and at least go to the free one that NKCH gives. There's one there on December 10th that David will be here for (he'll probably be back on December 2nd), but who knows, this little guy may not wait that long to join this world.

The art projects for the nursery are officially underway, though I'm still at a loss for how to complete one of them. Several of my Austin friends are great artists and I wish they were here to help me out, but considering the cost of shipping something as large as I want, it just isn't practical.

I think that about covers it. This weekend is my baby shower and I couldn't be more excited!! I wish that all of my Austin friends could make it up, but I know they'll be there in spirit (and I look forward to seeing all of you soon, I hope!). I look forward to seeing those awesome folks that are able to make it on Saturday, though!

Baby and I miss you, David!

My long weekend with my hubby flew by. It was extremely hard to say goodbye to him even though we have plenty of experience with being long distance - though not nearly this long of a distance. Being pregnant, I'm naturally more emotional, but also I just love seeing David interact with our little boy that is growing in my belly. The plan is for David to be back here in a little over a month which is much better than the two months that it had been since I had seen him this time. In those two months, my belly grew a ton so it was fun to see David's face when he first saw my belly (and when my belly got in the way of a hug :p). While he was here we discussed names for our little guy and I think we may have picked one, but it won't be for sure (and thus announced) until he's born.

I had a routine appointment today which was pretty uneventful (not complaining at all). My measurement is still slightly ahead and I've gained about 30 pounds so far and with 8 weeks to go, who knows how much I'll end up weighing when I give birth. Our little guy's heartbeat was much slower today at 140 which makes me feel better as I was a bit worried his heartrate wouldn't go down. Maybe David's visit helped me and the baby calm down as we were both happier with him here or maybe it's just a coincidence.. who knows.

I think that's all for now, I'll post another belly photo this weekend or early next week.

Under 2 months!

With yesterday being 10/22, I am now less than two months from my due date!

Although I have limited time with my husband, I thought I should at least write a short blog post. Once he leaves again ( :'( ) I will write a longer one.  Baby and I have been enjoying our time with him and he's been getting to feel our little boy kicking and moving around a lot which is quite exciting for him. The last time he was with us, baby was definitely not as easy to feel and wasn't moving nearly as often.

This Wednesday I have a routine check-up, but with David leaving on Tuesday morning, he won't be able to come along. I really wish David could have gotten to go to an ultrasound appointment with me, but even I won't get another one of those unless my measurement gets off or something isn't seeming quite right to the doctor.

Now I'm going to go spend more time with my husband, but here are a couple belly photos!

31 weeks 3 days

31 weeks 3 days with my family (minus Bandit)

Only 10 weeks to go!

This past week has been full of progress for the nursery! After spending several days removing a wallpaper border from the nursery (thanks, mom), my parents were able to get the room painted. Once the room was painted, I put together the crib and shelving unit which really helped to make the room look more complete. Today, the crib mattress arrived so I threw the crib bumper on and had my mom take my belly photo in the nursery!

Today I also had a doctor's appointment for another routine check-up. Since my last visit 12 days ago, I've gained 5 pounds, bringing my total weight gain up to about 28 pounds. Strangely, I haven't had any real swelling or weight gain in my face or feet or anything so who knows where all these pounds are going. I'm wishing they'd order another ultrasound just so I can find out how much this little boy is estimated to be weighing. Baby's heartrate was at 165 today and he was, as usual, extremely active during the visit. My belly is measuring at 31, so about a week ahead of schedule still. Other than that, the visit was mostly just chatting with the doctor about what I'm feeling and any questions I have, etc. Back to the doctor in two weeks..

Over this past weekend, our neighborhood had a garage sale that happened to feature one house where it was said that they would have "enough clothes for ten boys (Newborn - 18mo)." Sure enough, they had lots of clothes and we walked out of that garage with quite a few clothes, bibs, etc. for practically nothing.. $4 to be exact. Oh how I love garage sales! We've also been to a couple of consignment sales and such where we've picked up a few random baby items. I have officially cut myself off on buying clothes for the baby (except for exceptionally cute and cheap finds), knowing that I'd just keep buying until this little guy gets here. Baby clothes are just too adorable..

David will be here in less than 10 days for a short little trip (a HUGE thank you to Remedy for making this trip possible) and I'll be sure to make him get in on a belly photo! For this week, these pictures will have to do..

29 weeks 6 days

29 weeks 6 days

Hello third trimester!

At 28 weeks and 4 days, I am officially in the third trimester! Yay! Last Friday I had a doctor's appointment that went pretty well. Baby's heartrate, at 170, was slightly high, though they didn't say anything about it so they must not be worried. He was active at the time which raises his heartrate naturally and I also had the glucola test prior to the nurse checking his heartrate, so those may be why they didn't even mention that it was slightly high. Hopefully it will be lower next Wednesday when I have my next appointment. My blood sugar came back fine (phew!), but the test showed that I am slightly anemic, so more iron supplements for me! I was measured to be 29cm which is about right for how far along I am (at this point it's usually 1 to 1).

Today my maternity clothes finally returned from their month and a half long trip to Finland! It took them about two weeks to get to me after they finally shipped them back to the states, but I'm just happy to have them. Along with that package, I got some of the things I bought on eBay for baby. I've been on quite the eBay kick lately - so far I've gotten some extremely cheap onesies, swaddle blankets, and even Packers gear for our little Packer fan!! The deals you can find on eBay are absolutely amazing, so I highly recommend it to any parent.

Baby shower invitations went out this past weekend, so they should be arriving soon! If you've been to a baby shower where you've played a fun game or done something that you really enjoyed, please share your ideas. For those interested in the baby registry, I will put the link at the bottom of this post.

Less than 12 weeks until this little boy is due to arrive in this world and we couldn't be more excited!

http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/2YVCPLR4ZNALL

Almost 28 weeks belly!

I will put up a new picture soon, but I know some of you really want to see this belly of mine. With David not here, I either have to have my mom take the picture or take it myself.. this time I took it, hence why I am wearing my pajamas! Pretty much any time that I am not going somewhere, I am in pajamas, so get used to it (they're so much more comfortable).

27 weeks 5 days

Nursery Progress and Such!

For those who don't know, it has been decided that I will remain in the states and give birth to our baby here. David is currently still in Finland (which has been extremely hard for us) and will be coming back to the states near the end of November or very early December. David's employer, Remedy Entertainment, has been extremely supportive of us and our decisions and I thank them so much for that. After the baby is born, David and I will decide where we want to go from there. While in the states, we will be staying at my parent's house where they have so graciously agreed to let us set up a nursery. It's kind of cool because our little boy's nursery will be in the same room that I lived in for most of my life.

As far as the nursery goes, the paint color has been picked and even if you know David and I well at all, you know that especially after finding out  that we're having a boy some "geekiness" will be involved. Like I said before, the nursery is a surprise that David will see when he gets back to the states, so no real details on that. If you need to know for some reason, feel free to email or facebook me. The crib came in this week and will be put together once the room is painted. My mom and I have some craft projects planned for the nursery as well, which are going to be fun to do together!

Also, for those that don't know, a baby shower is being planned for November 5th - keep an eye on your mailbox as invites will be mailed out soon hopefully.  I know some of you have been asking about our baby registry, so here's the scoop... The registry is pretty much complete, though as I'm sure most of you know, it's hard to stop looking so a new item or two may be added every now and then. The only registry is on Amazon.com, but if you look next to any item, there should be a link that says "Buying this gift elsewhere?". If you click that link, then you'll just enter your email, click a link in an email that Amazon will send you and then the item will be marked as purchased. This feature allows you to purchase the item elsewhere if it is more convenient, cheaper, etc. for you. As far as clothes go, anything 3 months or above will be great - we have quite a bit of newborn items already (we couldn't help ourselves). Here's a direct link to our registry, but you can find it by typing either of our names in as well (David Rhodes or Angela Rhodes).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/2YVCPLR4ZNALL

I think that's about it.. I don't think my mom will let me go much longer without taking a belly photo, so you can bet that one will be up soon!

26.5 weeks and finally getting the nursery started

Since finding out that we are having a boy, I have been hard at work trying to plan the nursery and get a baby registry going. The registry is pretty much complete and I have a fairly clear plan on what I'd like the nursery to look like. David wants the nursery to be a surprise, so I can't say too much about the details, but the color scheme is going to be light blue and chocolate brown! This week we picked up a changing table (espresso/cherry colored) and got the crib ordered (should be here in the next couple of weeks). Although I never thought I would like a crib like this one, I loved it the moment I saw it in person - here's a picture of it:

Our little boy's crib

 It has been really cool this past week knowing what I am feeling as far as kicks, punches, etc. go. Thanks to the ultrasound I know that the baby's head is down which makes it much easier to figure out whether I'm getting hit by his little feet or fists. I'm starting to get kicked more and more in the back and ribs which doesn't feel so great and leaves my back hurting.. and I'm sure it will only get worse. It will all be well worth it when the little guy gets here though! It's hard to believe that I'm almost in the third trimester, but three months still seems like such a long time to wait for our little boy to arrive! Lately I feel like my belly grows every day which, though I'm sure it technically is, isn't growing by a noticeable amount every day. I'll get a picture up soon since it has been over two weeks!

In another week and a half or so, I will be heading back to the doctor for a routine appointment as well as my glucola test (ugh). I look forward to hearing the little guy's heartbeat! After this appointment, I will be going every two weeks for a checkup.. crazy stuff!