Family Baby Shower

Last week, Margey and Heather threw me a baby shower for the family at the Veritable Quandary. It was so great to see everyone again and I am so thankful for all the gifts people gave to Owen.

Check out that belly!!!




Steve has made a comment of how confused Owen is going to be over college sports. We are presently set up with 2 OSU Beavers outfits and 1 WI Badgers bib, so OSU is in a strong lead.

We also had Christina, our wedding photographer, over today to take some pregnancy pictures with "flattering" angles. We will see how they turn out in a few weeks and I can post the link here.

Here are some before and after pics of Owen's room. We aren't big theme people but I guess you could say our theme is blue and green...

These before pictures aren't even the room at it's worst.



Kiddo has a lot of toys thanks to Lucas!

Holidays

Thank you everyone for helping make our holiday season so memorable. We have had a great week off and are now, in the aftermath of Christmas, relaxing a couple more days before (one of us) returning to work.

Baby update: We had our 30 week appointment on 12/24. I was measuring right where we need to be but the baby was being an escape artist and not letting the midwife figure out his position. We ended up having a quick ultrasound to determine location. He was breech as of Thursday, but he is a mover so I am not entirely sure he still is. She also told me that my placenta is great so I don't need to be eating as much as the previous trimesters...which is weird because I am often STARVING. My glucose screening came back extremely low (mine was 65 and I think the level to be concerned about is somewhere in the 130-140 and up range). So, that being said I am now trying to eat small amounts all day long to keep my levels up, while limiting my sugar. Well, I guess today is day one of this because how could I not gorge on Christmas with my Mom's mud pie :)

Update

We had another appointment last Friday and things were right on track. I am now 28 weeks pregnant (wahoo third trimester) and measuring 28 cm, which is right were we should be. I had a blood draw, which really hurt, (some people should not be given needles)and I find out tomorrow if I have gestational diabetes or anemia. My midwife told me that I need to start having fun stop and worrying so much because I am evidently "perfect" but it is hard to believe that for some reason.

He is moving like crazy, sometimes waking me up at night but not too bad. I am trying to say movement or wiggling in the presence of children instead of kick because Lucas said kicking isn't nice.

The biggest thing in our lives coming up is going to be working on the nursery this winter break. We already have the changing table put together but still have the crib, to paint the shelves and to start making sense of all the things we have piling up in the room. I took before pictures but will post them along with the progress pics to give the real effect.

Beyond baby preparations and my growing belly, we are just enjoying getting ready for Christmas and looking forward to having some time off together.

Checking in

Not a whole lot to report but I haven't written for a month and thought we would let you all know that everything with the baby is moving along fine. I had an appointment a week ago and everything sounded and measured great. I have been having a lot of rib pain which is being attributed to my short torso but I am learning to cope. Falling asleep is hard but once I do, I wake up and the pain is gone until mid afternoon, making me a very motivated morning person. I have started looking into registries, furniture, clothes, etc and have received A TON of hand me downs from Margey, clients, friends and my bosses. It is very overwhelming to look into Daniel Owen's room but we are going to start attacking the room come Christmas time.

Work with Steve is going well. He has a new student that is bringing some challenges but, as usual, Steve is working his magic and the parents are happy. He also has been recording a lot again and we are awaiting his new CD shortly. He hasn't thought about the artwork yet so "shortly" isn't a defined time, but it is in the works.

Everything else is going okay. We are looking forward to a low key Thanksgiving to start the holiday season. Steve and I are already talking about getting a tree and putting up lights which is very uncharacteristic of us...maybe Steve is doing a bit of nesting as well.

Don't worry

Evidently I didn't emphasize that the bright spot isn't a huge deal. I admit, hearing anything is wrong with the little guy wasn't my favorite part of the appointment, but it is a really common occurrence and doesn't mean that his life will be challenged beyond what is to be expected. Steve and I are doing really well and adjusting to calling him a he. It is pretty surreal to start thinking of the baby as a little person. Hearing the gender has created a bond that I wasn't expecting to occur until later in pregnancy/birth. I am feeling the need to jump into planning mode and figure out the house and what we want need to get to prepare. This is a fun but anxeity provoking time.

It's a boy!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today and got an interesting view (Margey said it reminded her of someone sitting on a copy machine) veryifying our baby is a boy. Don't look at the pics below if you are modest:)

The baby is right on track with it's development and still expected to arrive in early March. Ten fingers, ten toes. Everything is fine, but there is a "bright spot" on his heart, which basically means that there is extra tissue or something like that. The Doctor said it was nothing to worry about, and no need to come in and monitor it. He said it is present in lots of typical babies and sometimes even goes away. There is nothing wrong with the heart itself. However, it is an indicator of Downs Syndrome, which brought our risk from 1 in 4000 to 1 in 2000. The Doctor said not to worry and he was even on the fence about mentioning it but since there is a "risk" he wanted us to know. I am doing my best not to worry, and Steve doesn't seem worried at all so that is good. At least one of us can stay calm.

Anyway, good news, not so good news (big deal or not) and the start of a lot of anxiety over the next few months.

School and Appointments

We had another appointment today to check in and do some blood tests. The babies heartbeat is still strong and everything seems to be progressing as it should, which is great news. I have been having a hard time the last 2 weeks since I no longer feel sick or even all that tired but can't feel the baby moving yet. I am really looking forward to the first kick we can feel and our 20 week ultra sound, which is on Wed 10/14. No belly shots yet for the blog. I am waiting until I look pregnant and not just like I eat too much ice cream, but I am getting there.

Steve has had a rocky start to his school year. Transitioning into the new school, new kids and new challenges has been a constant source of anxiety and stress, but, the good news is that yesterday was a success so I think he is starting to work out the kinks. Regardless, I am betting he is pretty happy it is Friday and he can have a couple days off to watch football and relax. Go Packers!