Thanks Baby R

My best friend Vicki had her follow-up ultrasound today and this time the baby cooperated. SHE IS HAVING A GIRL!! She is very excited to start planning the nursery and her registry. How exciting if we both have girls... they can be baby BFF's!!

22 weeks today...

It still is hard to believe that I am over half way. Only 126 days to go. It is REALLY going to be something when we have less than 100 days. Wow, that will be exciting!!!! Lately I have been feeling pretty good. I am able to stay up later now and if I miss my afternoon nap on the weekends it doesnt ruin the whole day. I have been wanting to go on walks and now I just need the weather to cooperate with me. I must really look pregnant because strangers comment on baby. Sometimes I wonder what in the world they are talking about and then remember, whoops i am pregnant!!

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had a nice holiday and ate our fill. Miguel, Dad, and I cooked turkey and all the fixin's on Thursday morning... then we all went to Miguels parents house for dinner with MORE FOOD... and we did it all again on Friday when Joey and Jill came to town. SOOO MUCH FOOD!!! It was great and we all enjoyed ourselves. Now we just have to finish up these leftovers :)

I am feeling what I think is baby moving around more and more each day. According to the online info I read baby is about 1 pound now so that would make sense that I am feeling more! I think it will be exciting the first time baby has hiccups, I am looking forward to that! I cant wait until baby moves so much Miguel can feel. I know he is anxious for that to FINALLY happen. I also read that baby hears more and more of my voice and those around me. I keep encouraging Miguel to talk to my belly so that baby knows his voice and I have to remind myself to only say "nice words" so that baby doesnt pick up any bad language. hahaha :)

Wedding Registry was WAY easier...

We are officially registered!!! We have baby registries at Babies R Us (www.babiesrus.com) and Target (www.target.com). We had a lot of fun picking everything out but it is amazing the amount of stuff we need. Basically it comes down to this... WE HAVE NOTHING AND NEED EVERYTHING!!! It felt like we were registering for the whole entire store and in the end we probably did. I have decided that the wedding registry was MUCH easier than the baby registry!! It is a lot less stressful to pick out crock-pots and spatulas than it was to choose a car seat and stroller!

We went Friday afternoon to set-up the one at Babies R Us and believe it or not it took almost 5 hours to complete!! By the end my feet hurt so bad and I was REALLY ready to sit down! I don't know if it took so long because I move slow or if it was that difficult for me to make decisions. It definitely started off VERY overwhelming and I sort of froze and Miguel had to take charge for the first bit. It is just really stressful for me to know which type of bottle, pacifier, toys, etc to choose when there are soo many different brands and I just want the best one for baby but don't know which one that is!! We ended up just scanning whatever looked good and may need to make changes to the registry as we go along and learn more. After we finished at Babies R Us we were both too tired to go to Target so I just set that one up online. I need to go to the store and make some additions/changes and plan to do that sometime this week.

Baby still doesn't have many clothes on the registry (I only put onesies and sleeping gowns). But everyone reassures me that just comes with time and I should not worry about it. I sure hope they are right because I have recurring NIGHTMARES that my baby has no clothes to wear and is naked all the time!!! Poor baby is sooo chilly :(

The only thing I am not completely happy with on the registry is the crib and changing table we choose. I am not sold on the brand, quality, or style. We do know we want a convertible crib and I do like the darker wood finish but just think this one may not be the right one for baby. A book I have rates baby brands and it gave the crib a B+ but the changing table got an F. I DO NOT WANT F quality anything for baby!!! I want to keep looking around and hope to find something else. We probably will have to spend more money on the crib but at least we will know it is good quality and will last.

It is AMAZING when I think that we are half way closer to baby being here! We have a registry set up of all the things we need to welcome baby and now we just have to get the nursery set-up too. I am so excited!

Half Baked!

Today is the offical half way point, 140 days down and 140 more to go. It is hard to believe we have already arrived at this milestone. SOO EXCITING! I guess this means I am 5 months pregnant, WOW. Only 4 more to go!!! Miguel and I have SO much happening in the upcoming months... Miguel takes Dental Boards Part II, Register for Baby, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Start setting up nursery, Baby Showers, My birthday, Miguel takes Patient Based Dental Boards, Miguel interviews and hopefully finds a job, Baby arrives, Miguels graduation! So many exciting and wonderful things all in the next 6 months, crazy!

Within the last 2 weeks my belly has finally popped. I really do look pregnant and not just an in-between fat stage. YEAH!

Miguel is BUSY BUSY BUSY studying for his written Dental Boards (which he takes this Thursday and Friday) so we plan to hold off our 20 weeks celebration until this weekend when we will finally start our baby registry. I think we plan to register at Babies R Us and Target. It is going to be exciting yet VERY overwhelming. I am stressed about choosing the right brands, the right stroller, the right bedding, the right everything. There are just so many options but I want to get the perfect one for baby. If anyone has suggestions about good products/brands or ones to stay away from PLEASE let me know. Also if you have a favorite MUST HAVE for first time moms let me know that too bc I am very open to others experiences. Afterall, other moms have the best advice to give!!

Guesses Anyone??

We were given different images of the gender along with many different pics of baby (click on the pics above to see larger images). We have two gender revealing images (one bottom shot and one shot with the legs stretched straight out), a footprint, a scary face shot that looks like a halloween mask, and many images of the body profile. One even has the arms crossed in front of the face, cute!! If you can figure out what you are looking at please send us your guess. We now want everyone to help us guess, do you think BOY OR GIRL?!?!?

Mom's Birthday

Yesterday was a very special day, it was my mom's birthday as well as my 18 week anatomy ultrasound. We had a wonderful day! After my appointment I met up with my dad, brother, and Linda Ware (a dear friend of my mom and our family) and we went out to Umstead Park. This beautiful park has always been a favorite spot for my family and especially my mom because of her love of trees. We did our favorite hike and just enjoyed walking through the woods on a great fall day. My mom would of loved the rustling of the leaves on the ground! We also attended the All Saints Day mass at St. Raphael's and afterwards went to dinner. We spent the day together knowing that mom was with us too.

The day started off with Miguel and I going to our 18 week anatomy ultrasound. I was quite nervous/excited and anxious. I just wanted to see the baby and hear the heartbeat (FHR was 148) and know that everything was still ok. Miguel was excited and very calm which helped me relax a little. We first met with a genetic counselor and went over a lot of family history. Then we were brought into the ultrasound room which reminded me of a spa's massage room. The lights were dimmed, soft music was playing, and it was a very calming atmosphere. SOO NICE!! The exam started and immediately we got to see baby again. It is soooo amazing watching the screen and seeing baby move around. I hope that VERY soon I am able to feel all those movements more! We saw in depth images of the heart, brain, spine, and all the organs. The babys development looked great and everything was healthy. They also checked for markers for Downs syndrome and nothing was seen. We left the office feeling relieved, happy, excited, and just sooo grateful for a healthy report.