17 Week Update

I haven't been the best at tracking this pregnancy.  I had my 16 week appointment last Tuesday and everything is looking great.  The baby's heartbeat was in the 140's.  I had a period of about two weeks where I was getting really bad headaches but things seem to be settling down again.  My midwife confirmed that I likely have sciatic nerve pain on my left side.  She gave me some tips to help relieve the pain and if all else fails she suggested a chiropractor who specializes in pregnancy and sciatic nerve relief.  I swear I think sciatic nerve pain is more painful than labor!

So far I have gained 2 pounds.  I am hoping to keep my weight gain to a minimum this time, we'll see how that goes.  No real cravings.  Sometimes I crave chocolate, sometimes I crave salty foods and sometimes I crave cheeseburgers or air heads or milk.  I'm all over the place.  I am still thinking this one is a boy, though a few people have guessed girl.  My next appointment is November 19th and that is when we could find out the sex of the baby.  If we can both keep strong, we will keep that surprise for delivery day, though. :)

I've had a few Braxton hicks contractions.  I seem to have about one a day.  Nothing serious; but I guess my body remembers what to do.

Marissa has changed from "We're having a baby girl and her name will be Gracie" to "we're having another DD (Dylan)" to "we're having a boy AND a girl."  Silly girl!

I want to keep track of a few old wives tales; just so I can look back and see if any are accurate.

-Chinese Gender Chart says - boy

-Cravings - I've craved sweet, salty and meat so it could go boy or girl

-Morning sickness with Dylan, morning sickness this time - boy

-Face breaking out - girl

-Carrying high - girl

-Heartbeat in the 150's at the 12 week appointment - boy (Dylan's was also in the 150's)

-Moody - girl

It will be so exciting to hear Danny announce "it's a..." 

I can't believe I am almost half way through.  Pure craziness!

16w3d 

First Deck

Just a quick update on the house progress.  You'll hear me say this a hundred times before we move in, but this is some exciting stuff!

I will let the pictures do the talking.

The first floor deck is on.  You are standing in our kitchen looking into the family room. :)

Marissa and Dylan exploring the back yard.  One day we will have a nice stamped patio out back.  

The grid-like boards you see on the deck are walls.  So hopefully they will start going up this week.  

We have lots of decisions to make in the next few weeks.  How do you pick colors for 4 bathrooms!?  I hope Pinterest doesn't fail me on the idea front.  

Hello, 2nd Trimester & Fall

Sunday I was 14 weeks and I've entered the second trimester.  This pregnancy seems to be flying by.  My morning sickness has subsided and I am mostly feeling normal again.  I've been getting headaches in the evenings and I've been having some sciatic nerve pain when I sit for too long, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good.  My appetite is back and I have more energy!

I have felt a few tiny flutters here and there.  While some may argue that it's too early for that, this is my third ride on this merry-go-round and I think I know what a flutter feels like. I officially cannot button my pants so I've borrowed a belly band from a friend.  I thought I had packed all of my maternity clothes together in storage but apparently I separated them from casual and dress clothes.  Unfortunately, I was only able to find my dress clothes for work, so hopefully I can hold out until the house is finished for my maternity jeans.

My first bump picture: 13w3d

We went to the pumpkin patch with the kids this weekend.  We went for a tractor/hay ride and we each got a pumpkin.  Hopefully we will have time to carve them in a few weeks!  It was way too hot for picking pumpkins (hello, 90 degrees in October!) but a storm came through yesterday and really cooled things off.  So it is starting to feel like fall!

Our little pumpkin family.  One of the small ones came from PupPup's garden.  It's hard to believe we will soon be a family of 5.

Rolling Along

This whole building a house thing is really starting to come together.  It is so exciting seeing it built.  We obsessively drive by the house several times a week in hopes of something new going on.  We were a little bummed on Friday to see that our basement floor was not poured; but come Monday afternoon we had concrete floors in the basement and garage!  We were also told that our building package, i.e. lumber would be arriving today! Yipp-ee!

The basement view from the walk out.

The door on the left will be my wine cellar (woot!) and the door on the right will be a bathroom.

The double bay side-loading garage.

I have a feeling the next stage is going to be so exciting to see!  

We Have Walls

We just got back from our Disney vacation (another post for another time) and we came home to some real progress on the home site.  It was really exciting to see that we have WALLS!

Right before we left for vacation they had dug out the basement.  It wasn't really much to see, though.  Just a big hole in the semi shape of a rectangle with a bunch of dirt.  But upon our return we had poured concrete walls and prep for plumbing.

See, not much to look at, right? Picture taken September 11th. 

NOW we're talkin'!  Look at this beauty. :)

Front of the house.

Back corner of the house.

Basement walk out.  Pictures taken September 20th.  A lot can happen in a week!  Maybe we need to go on vacation more often.  

Danny and I were pretty excited to see this.  It makes us feel like we are actually making progress.  

Yesterday the basement plumbing was done and the inspection was supposed to take place today.  Our contractor said that we should have a concrete floor in the basement by the end of the week. 

Facebook Reveal

After my 12 week appointment today and hearing the little one's heart beat we felt comfortable enough to share our news on Facebook. We are so grateful for friends and family who support us.

The little one was moving around quite a bit this morning (caffeine rush?!) but the nurse was finally able to get the heart beat on the doppler and it was measuring right around 150 beats per minute.  Based on my pregnancy with Dylan, I'm going to say this one is a boy!  I'm still having some morning sickness here and there and since I never actually got sick with Marissa but did with Dylan, I'm thinking that it's another boy.  His heart rate was also 150 BPM right around the 12 week mark.  Only 28 more weeks until we find out. 

So far I have gained 1 pound.  I haven't really been craving anything but when I hear something that sounds good, I think about it until I get it.  I feel like I already look 5 months pregnant, especially at night when my bloat is the worst.  Looks like I will need to dig my maternity clothes out of storage soon.

Marissa is 100% positive she is getting a baby sister and that her name will be Gracie.  I'm afraid she is going to be disappointed.  I have tried telling her that we don't get to pick what we have and that she might get another baby brother.  She doesn't seem to think so.  

Lot Cleared - Check

We've finally seen some progress on the home front.  Our lot has been cleared and they are in the process of removing the brush.  We were really surprised at how quickly they got the lot cleared.  Now it's back to waiting for the next big thing to happen.

Day 1: August 22nd

It's not much to see...but it's something!

View from the road.  I like that we have some buffer trees between us and the neighbors. 

We're leaving for Florida next week so I hope we arrive home to some new action going on.