Half-way there...20 weeks!!!

WOW we are finally at 20 weeks and it feels amazing! After the ultrasounds and finally feeling her move...I know she's really in there. Speaking of moving around, she moves all day now. They are still soft movements but I can feel her fluttering around in there. The other night it felt like she was doing flips, LOL! At one point I was able to put my hand on my belly and actually feel her which means it won't be long before Brant will be able to feel her and he is very anxious! I hope Brooke is as much fun as Mason has been and everyone can enjoy her little (or soon BIG) movements!

In other news...I start working nights on Sunday...eek! I am excited but also a little nervous to see how my body responds to it. I am typically a night person so I am sure before long it will be no problem at all. Brant GRADUATES in 16 days and is still working his butt off to finish his capstone project. I am so proud of him! After 5 years of...well I wouldn't say fun ;-)...he will be DONE!

Congrats sweetheart...you will be an amazing architect!

Here's Brooke...

Baby Brooke

We went to the 3D/4D US place today just to have a 2D gender check. I needed my 100% HAHA! She looked right away and found that Brooke was indeed a girl...good thing because I don't think a "he" would have liked the name Brooke so much. After that she surprised us and switched the machine to 4D mode...we were in awe! She had just begun moving around and we could see all her TINY features! She was swallowing, sucking on her hand, and sticking out her tongue. I could stare at her for hours. I think the best part, though, is looking over at Brant's face...he always has the biggest smile when we do anything "baby" and I love it! We were only supposed to get a few pictures in 2D but she printed several all in 4D!

It's a GIRL...we're 90% sure!

HAHA! So we went for our anatomical/gender US today! Lets just say this little baby did not want to completely show us the goods. We were able to get a pretty good picture from the side where you could clearly see the three lines but I need MORE proof, LOL! We are planning on going in the next couple of days to get our 100%! For right now we are calling it a HER and her name is Brooke Elyse! We are ecstatic and even if it changes at the next US we will still be SO thrilled! It was just so amazing to see her moving all around and kicking her legs. She didn't really like having her picture taken and kept kicking the US probe :-). It was neat because that was the hardest I had felt her kick! Now I just can't wait to hear from the midwives that everything looks ok with her. I was able to get my diaper bag today and we bought her two little outfits from the Carter's Outlet! We were also able to go out to dinner and celebrate with some wonderful friends tonight, Dave and Beth! They brought us a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a cute little card. It's starting to feel more real!

Here she is...

19 weeks!

We are almost half way there! Besides the few moments a day where baby decides to do a little dance and I can actually feel his or her kicks...I am still waiting to "feel" pregnant! I am sure once I wrap my head around it, the baby will be here and it will be over, LOL! My only complaint is my round ligaments. They have really been my only problem, LOL! The other day I was doing some light stretching...it felt great but about 20 mins later I realized I pulled my round ligament on my left side! It did not make work on Tuesday any easier but I am hoping going to the chiropractor several times over the next few weeks will help :-).

We now have THREE days left until we find out the sex...I thought it would never get here! We are just going to be calling everyone afterwards to let them know...unless someone wants to wait a few weeks and get more of a surprise HAHA! We are planning on going to get a coming home outfit and our diaper bag after wards! I am excited about the little outfit but EVEN MORE excited about my diaper bag :-)! We are going pretty simple on everything baby but Brant said I could splurge a little on my diaper bag as long as it wasn't the almost $400 Coach one I had wanted, LOL! So I am going with a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag which Meg introduced me to! These are the three I love...but we'll see which ones the store has and which one Brant is "OK" with...he's so darn picky for a boy :-).

Here's the baby...

It's a mango!

Baby looks a tad bit squished here...

 Belly pic coming soon!

18 weeks: Upated...

I forgot the BEST part of all, LOL! I finally felt the baby move for sure this last week. I thought I may have been feeling something before but I was able to tell for sure it wasn't just something in my head, LOL! It wasn't flutters like some people explain but actual kicks or punches (not sure which). It feels like someone is tapping me on the inside of my abdomen, LOL! This is what I imagine our little one doing...HAHA!

Hilarious!

Now I don't have a problem with people touching my belly at all...not too many try at this point, LOL! I'm excited to be pregnant so touch away but this shirt made me giggle!

18 weeks!

Things have been going pretty well! I have recently started having Braxton Hicks contractions (painless contractions that should not progress to labor). The don't hurt but are just annoying, LOL! I just make sure I am drinking plenty of water and rest when I can so they don't turn into anything more. In more exciting news...we find out in 7 days what we are having!!! It will also be our first ultrasound where we can actually see what the baby looks like and make sure he/she is healthy! I was dying to have a gender cake party (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vU7WBDFsCo) with family and friends but unfortunately Brant just can't make it back to Phoenix soon enough to do it. We'd have to wait about two weeks to go home after the US so we still need to find some other cute way to tell everyone!

The belly...

The baby...a sweet potato!

Funny...

17 weeks!

I know I say this EVERY week but I can't believe we're at 17 weeks. I still don't really feel pregnant and I'm not big enough for others to know I'm pregnant so it's still weird, LOL! We had our third midwife appt yesterday and it went great. It wasn't long but we were able to ask some questions and hear the heartbeat...a strong 156 bpm :-). We were also able to make our anatomical/gender ultrasound appt for April 23rd!!! I can't believe in 2 1/2 weeks we'll know for sure (fingers crossed baby participates) what we are having!
Pregnancy wise I have been feeling great but unfortunately on Sunday I started to get sick. I haven't been sick in forever and you can't really take anything for it while pregnant. I left work early Sunday (the NICU is not a good place to be sick) and then went back on Monday. I felt pretty good but by the time I got home I was achy, my throat was sore, and my lymph nodes felt huge. I thought it would have gotten better by now but pregnancy lowers your immune system and is not very helpful in recovering quickly. When I went to the midwife yesterday I wasn't feeling too bad so I didn't really think about it. I started coughing like crazy, though, and decided before I got really sick that I should go to the doctor. The NP said I have the start of Bronchitis and prescribed me amoxicillin and cough medicine. I'm really glad I went now...it could have turned into something much worse. Hopefully the amoxicillin will clear it up. I would just LOVE to stop coughing because it has made all of the muscles in my belly so sore. I am sure the baby is not too found of being bounced around every few minutes either, LOL!
My belly...which seems to be sticking out quite a bit further...pasta and salad or baby?? LOL!

Image from Babycenter....I think it looks like a little Buddha baby...just skinny :-).

I do NOT like onions but that's OK.

In other news...I think we found our bedding! We have been looking for a while and weren't sure if we'd do neutral or boy/girl. We are both pretty picky...well mostly Brant, LOL! Our biggest problem has been that we don't really like anything "baby". We had found something alsmot exactly the same at Pottery Barn but they stopped making it. We really wanted the bedding to be simple so that we could decorate around it and do more accents. We love the rug too but aren't sure what color yet. We won't be doing the valance or diaper stacker, though. It's not for everyone but we really like it. Hopefully we can order it soon!