22 week letter

Dear Peanut,

Well, it's confirmed x 3. You are my precious little GIRL. I'm so excited, I really am...which is not to say that had you flashed us male parts that I wouldn't be excited, but if you want to know the truth, I really wanted a girl. So did your dad. This isn't to say we won't try to give you a baby brother someday, but we definitely had visions of having a daughter.

I find I can't look too far ahead because picturing you as a teenager scares the bejeebus out of me. We see all the scantily dressed high schoolers on their way to school every morning and it's terrifying to the point that if you came trouncing in wearing short shorts and UGG boots, your dad might have a coronary. I'm not kidding.

So I'll put blinders onto the fact that one day you'll be that age and concentrate on what a sweet little baby you will be. How it's almost inevitable you'll have dark brown hair and a toss up for your eye color. I can picture you with your hair long, playing at the park. I can't wait to hold you and read you stories and build forts with you.

I'm feeling you move and kick more and more. You have a particular interest in my right hip bone. It doesn't move, by the way. You seem to love early evenings and like your momma, you could do without early mornings. You're a very active little squirt. Everyone who's tried to get a heartbeat reading or done an ultrasound has said so. You also seem to have a lot of personality. You have a stubborn streak that can be blamed on your Irish heritage (your dad) or me. It's probably me. I can be pretty bull-headed, if that's the correct animal affiliation.

We took you to your first sporting events this month--two basketball games and a hockey game! Lucky you. I think all the noise at the WNBA Finals game (Mercury won!) definitely disturbed you. I blame the 12-year-old satan child in front of us who constantly smacked the inflatable noisemakers together. You were rolling around a lot that game. Same for the Coyotes game. We took it as a good sign, though if you had started punching at the left side of my belly toward where Uncle Philip was sitting, we could have confirmed in utero that you have good team loyalty. (Actually, you just started doing your wild speed boxing move into that side as I type!)

We're two weeks past my scary fruit comparison and you're still growing strong. The ultrasound tech estimated you to be almost a pound and you should be about 11 inches at this point. You're about the size of an over-inflated football. Alternatively, you're the size of a spaghetti squash. Now, I'm not familiar with that particular kind of squash, but let me tell you, it's a heck of a lot bigger than a quarter and infinitely bigger than your poppy seed beginnings. Admittedly, the watermelon comparison frightens me...a lot, but I want you to keep on growing and packing on the pounds, kiddo. We still have some important milestones to hit over the next few weeks.

Oh, and your nursery is freshly painted with new floors. Also, you have more clothes than me and you're not even born yet.

I love you.

Love,
Mommy

21 weeks!

What's going on with Kaelyn: Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion, and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, if baby is a girl, her womb is now stocked up with her lifetime supply of six million eggs (the number will drop to around one million by birth).

Your baby is now busy putting fat onto those tiny bones. Most likely, you have felt his or her in-utero gymnastics by now, since lots of amniotic fluid provides plenty of room to move. Fetuses have sleep and wake cycles, and you may find that these get more predictable as the months progress. But they may not coincide with yours: Babies in the womb are typically active in the late evening, just when Mom is trying to get to sleep.

How far along? 21 weeks

How big is baby? I went with the guy-friendly size comparison this week. Little girl is about the length of a beer bottle, head to rump. The fruit/vegetable comparisons are a banana and a carrot.

Sleep: I have my days where I'm really energetic and others where I need more rest. I definitely need a full-night's sleep if I can manage it though..and I'd take more.

Best moment this week: Getting the nursery completely painted and the floors in.

Movement: Every day!

Food cravings: My appetite isn't as ravenous as it was a few weeks ago and no big cravings right now. If anything, grilled sandwiches, but that's not unusual for me. Potatoes are still wonderful.

Gender: Girl! (Unless we're told otherwise on Friday)

Belly Button in or out? In. Belly continues to make its presence known. I've gotten some "Woah" reactions from people this week.

What I miss: I'll admit it. I want me some coffee.

What I am looking forward to: Seeing Kaelyn on Friday! Spa day w/ the hubs for our anniversary! 85 minute massage for him, 55 minute pre-natal massage plus a 55 minute pre-natal facial for moi. I think we both need it.

Milestones: Daily movement (she seems to be most active around 7pm), 2 weeks without morning sickness ::knocks on wood repeatedly:: Morning sickness has been replaced by drop-of-a-hat-tears. Stupid things make me want to cry. We also scheduled some prenatal classes, including our hospital tour!

Weekly Wisdom: Pregnancy brain is frightening--keep a calendar w/ reminders.

18 week letter

Dear Peanut,

So I haven't written, but my goodness have I been thinking about you. It's hard not to. Everything seems to revolve around you and our future with you. It's easy to have tunnel vision. So much has happened. We've seen you 3 more times, which has been amazing. You're a wiggle worm and you don't sit still! Some of the big news is that you have a name! (We considered keeping "Peanut," but I'm not sure you would appreciate it.) So Miss Kaelyn Evangeline, we are so excited to be expecting you.

Obviously you're a girl, though don't expect too much girly stuff in your wardrobe. We won't be strapping huge bows to your head, though I do like those ruffle butt shorts. I don't know why, but I find them precious on little diapered baby butts. I don't like purple so your estrogen-infusion will likely be pink, but I suspect your wardrobe will primarily be gender neutral and hockey-themes. Hopefully you'll like hockey and get your daddy's sense of balance. Your momma isn't known for her gracefulness, that's for sure.

Now, your name is special to us because you're named after both of your grandmas. My mom's middle name is Kay and your dad's mom's name is Linda so we combined these and just changed the spelling a little. We just loved your middle name from the first time we heard it (specifically in a British accent on Nanny McPhee). Kaelyn Evangeline...it's a very sweet sounding name. Deceiving considering we goofily dream of you being the first starting female NHL goalie. No pressure.

We're already talking about your future, what schools you'll attend, and how we want to be sure we travel with you and give you those life experiences. We're definitely planners. We want the world for you.

It's so fun getting to know you, even before we really do. Like I said, you're so active. Even the doctor yesterday commented on this. You don't stay in one place. Most babies just chill out in the womb, but not you. You're doing somersaults and testing your boundaries. I am just starting to be able to feel this. I can feel little tapping and sometimes I swear I feel the whirling effect of you flipping. You seem to have personality already. You like to look directly at the camera as though you're staring us down and at one point, you made binoculars out of your little hands. You also like to moon us. What a little booger you are already. That would be your dad's influence. Another thing is that you don't seem to like mornings and that's how I know we share the same DNA. I don't blame you, I really don't, but your dislike of mornings make my mornings much tougher to deal with.

On that note, I must add this plea: Kiddo, I have been nauseous for over 11 weeks now. This was supposed to end after 1st trimester. That was 6 weeks ago. I know I like to take my time and not be rushed so I imagine you're the same way, but seriously? Give your poor momma a break.

So there's a lot going on here in the outside world. We're changing out the flooring in the bedrooms so your nursery will have new floors very soon. Goodbye yucky carpet! By "we" I mean your dad, grandpa, and uncle, of course. I think I'll put another coat of paint on your walls and get some other things done while they work. We're also celebrating our 1 year anniversary this month by having a spa day and going out for dinner. Holidays are coming up quick too! I'm excited to decorate for Christmas, but I'm not sure how early I could get away with setting them up. Perhaps November. October would be pushing it.

Well I hope you're finding Momma's belly nice and comfy. Stay put and keep growing. I love you.

Love,
Mommy

I feel like Stretch Armstrong

except that the only part that feels like it's being stretched is my uterus. My uterus and the pathetic excuse for muscles around it. Holy crap. Peanut must be going through a growth spurt!

Belated 13 week photo

Taken at 13 weeks, 4 days. Am I glowing? Because it's probably sweat. Summer in Arizona, what else would you expect? Had first appointment w/ my actual OB. Peanut had a heart rate of 150-ish and was back on the left side. S/he is sure switching back and forth a lot! I can't wait to actually feel it!

13 week letter (a couple days early)

Hi Sweetie,

Yes, I know the letters have been few and far between. I haven't been feeling particularly great lately, but I do believe we are turning a corner, my little Peanut. We're now in the 2nd trimester, which is supposedly the "honeymoon of pregnancy." Let's hope so, if you're wanting any siblings. I'm not gonna lie, 1st trimester was miserable enough to have me thinking of making you our one and only. I believe this is when the amnesia that strikes all women starts and I'll forget all of the nausea, all of the days where I literally felt like I was turning green at the gills. The amnesia is necessary for them to willingly sign up for it all again, but don't get me wrong. It's all worth it for you. Really. I know I am unbelievably blessed to be having you. I won't forget that.

So this week you're pretty much done developing your major organs, which is the reason for the balancing of hormones and me feeling a bit better. There's less demand on me. Hopefully my energy will return soon too. We've got miles and miles of walking to do at Disneyland in a couple weeks, Kid. There's some pretty delicious food in the bargain if you're good. (Let's face it, there's some delicious food in the bargain even if you're not.) You're also about the size of a peach and you're growing quickly! It's surreal to think you were once the size of a poppy seed and you're going to be the size of a watermelon by the time you're born. Oddly enough, the fruit comparison that frightens me the most is not the pumpkin or even the watermelon. It's the cantaloupe. Perhaps because it's so much closer to where I am now and my mind cannot fathom my tummy expanding to accomodate either of the other two so I happily cover my ears and shake my head in denial.

I think pregnancy teaches patience. We had to wait 5 weeks to get confirmation from the doctor that you were real after finding out I was pregnant. From then, we have to wait upwards from 9-10 weeks before finding out if you're a boy or a girl. At our first appointment, we got to see your heartbeat, but we didn't get to hear it, so your impatient momma rented a home doppler so we could. You were too low in my belly at first, but it's gotten pretty easy to find you...until you start squirming, that is. Your heartrate has been strong and fast since the beginning. You've stayed pretty close to the high 170s. It's been really reassuring to be able to plop the little wand on my belly and find you. Moms worry. It's a fact of life. Hearing that whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, has really been awesome.

The next milestone is feeling you move and kick. I can hardly wait.

I love you, little one. With all my heart.

Love,
Mommy

We own a stroller. Wooooah.

So we made our first BIG Peanut purchase. After a trip to BRU to shop for Carrie's baby shower on the 30th, we took a look at the strollers. Admittedly, this was not our first stroller shopping experience, evident by the fact that I immediately went to my selection and Brady went to his. We even had a battle of the strollers literally in the aisle, which basically had us ramming into the other. Ultimately, we both are getting what we want. When we got home, I went online to see what kind of deals we could get and we compared our options. I stumbled upon diapers.com, which had the travel system I liked--Chicco Cortina Keyfit Travel System--marked down from $299 to 258 on sale. They also offered a 10% off coupon for new customers and I got free shipping. This is a smoking deal considering the carseat normally goes for $170-180 on its own and the stroller separately is about the same. So, what was $299 at BRU, we got for $233 shipped. Not too shabby.

This is also the color we ended up with--it's called Adventure. I liked the blue Coventry one I saw online, but it wasn't being offered at the sale price. It's a really nice looking stroller (BRU had the stroller in the color we bought) and we're really happy with our purchase. The car seat has top safety ratings, the handle on the stroller is nice and high and super comfy, and there really wasn't anything bad we could say about it.

We're going to check out Kid to Kid for some joggers, but otherwise $100 isn't bad at all.