Soon!!

Soon I will be out of school, have a little more available time, and can then blog about how I don't have enough time! HAHA!! Between the holidays and the final days of school, I have been running excessively short on time! That is all compounded by the fact I have lost most of the sensation in my right hand thanks to pregnancy induced carpal tunnel! It makes it difficult to type, and accomplish any other fine motor tasks (which is another problem since I am right handed!!) I am looking forward to being out of school because then I will be able to cross stitch the wall hangings for the nursery, however, with decreased or no sensation in my right hand it will be difficult!!

I am so very excited that I will be done with school in a week and a half. I am so giddy and full of excitement I don't know what to do with myself! I don't remember the last time I was this close to accomplishing anything...and to top it all off, the two biggest things I wanted to accomplish by my thirtieth birthday were to have my Bachelors Degree and be a mommy...both of which will be accomplished in the next three months (just three months shy of my birthday!!)

Speaking of becoming a mommy, I am now 27 weeks pregnant. Baby is getting bigger and stronger everyday. It is so exciting to feel him kick! I sometimes think he gets stage fright because he will kick kick kick over and over again until I put Dave's hand there and then he stops! He does the same thing to Aunt Jocelyn too!! Nobody else has really wanted to feel him kick, but I suppose he would do the same thing at that point too! It will be interesting to see how big he ends up, because if they are actually right, at 24 weeks he was 2 pounds (which is three weeks ahead)...although everyone has warned me those are not too accurate... oh well :) Another ultrasound next week, although here he is at 24 weeks

I can't wait to meet him and hold him in my arms!!!

Today we bought a "new" car (new to us)...it is officially a baby mobile, a Mazda5, which is a compact minivan. It has numerous safety features on it and is so cute, sporty looking, and fun to drive!

We also have (not in our possession, but it just came in and we need to pick it up) a crib, changing table, and glider that we got an awesome deal on the day after Christmas! Daddy will be putting those together during his two weeks off from work over Christmas. We also have his bedding and his carseat, so the last big essential thing we are missing is a dresser, which will be purchased soon.

December 10th is the graduation recognition ceremony. That night, Dave is hosting a celebratory dinner at Pino's. I keep telling myself I don't deserve such a big deal to be made about it, but at the same time, this is a huge accomplishment. I feel like I have come so far from 3 1/2 years ago... anyone who knew me back then would agree I am not the same person at all. I do feel accomplished, and I can't wait to start the next phase of life with my awesome husband and my child in tow! The one thing about graduation that is daunting right now is the prospect of getting a "real job" after graduation. At least I have a job right now, but I want to do more than be a glorified babysitter. I feel I deserve it after the amount of work I have put into this. I know all grads feel that way...but now I understand why. So much work and so many hours spent in school! Plus, I now have a clear picture of my student loan debt! Scary!!!

So, that is all for now! Looking forward to December 10th more than anything right now!!

School school school...

School is like, seriously getting me down right now. I have a small reprieve for a week or so but then get bombed with papers again. Graduation is in sight though, December tenth... I am at least passing my statistics class which I'm happy about, but not by much because anything below a C won't transfer and right now I have a 73%.

Luckily this past weekend was my Fall Break from school so I got to relax a bit. On Friday we test drove some cars, Saturday we went to Galena all day, and then Sunday we went to the Baby Expo at Giovanni's. We got some good information at the baby expo, and we had a lot of fun in Galena!!

We are having a little boy!!! We were still debating back and forth if we were gonna find out...we decided we would. Although he really made the decision for us though because as soon as she put the u/s wand on my belly he showed it!! There was no denying it and no missing it :) I'm admittedly a little nervous about having a boy but I am sure I will figure it out. And while I went into the pregnancy wanting a boy first so he could protect his little sister, I felt the whole time that I was having a girl... Between different "old wives tales" and dreams I was having!! But of course Dave is excited. I am too, but of course Dave is a little more so he will have a little buddy...

 So we are slowly trying to make decisions regarding everything. We have decided on nursery furniture, decided on cloth diapers, decided on a name...that is about it. Feels like there is still so much to do and decide!! We still have a long way to go, starting with do we want to buy cloth diapers and clean them ourselves or use the service...along with other things like finding a pediatrician and stuff. I think I need to concentrate on this last month and a half of school first, and then figure the rest out!!

Do you see a pattern here?

Again, it is painfully obvious to me that I really do not have enough time to do the things I want to do...let alone extra things! At this point, I am totally overwhelmed with school. This weekend I had 5 writing assignments to get done, I have a statistics test on Tuesday, and so I studied two chapters of that, I had to start reading my 60 page psych chapter so that I can do a writing assignment on it due Wednesday, and I have a 10 page paper due Friday by midnight. I have only gotten to do a limited amount of research for it. Everything seems to be due at the same time. This is by far my hardest semester!!!

Luckily I did get to have SOME fun last weekend. We got to babysit my niece, Allie, for the weekend so that my sister and brother in law got to have some fun adult time. We went to Noodles and Company, and then to Edward's Apple Orchard. Then we went to Wal Mart for some groceries, ate dinner, took a bath, and she went to bed. She did not nap on Saturday at all, so she went right to sleep and slept in until 9am! She was so funny all weekend. She kept stealing our keys and saying "beep beep". She learned the word bus, and she kept repeating almost all of our words too! One of the funniest parts of the weekend was when we were in Wal Mart and she kept sticking her finger through the button holes in Dave's shirt! She loved Dave on Saturday and then wanted nothing to do with Dave in Sunday!! Also on Sunday, Allie got her first haircut!

In other exciting news, our ultrasound is Tuesday! I feel like we have been waiting for this forever! Tuesday I will be 20 weeks along. I keep flashing back to when we first found out, how excited we were and how long ago it was! I have been able to feel flutters for about 4 or 5 weeks now, but the flutters have been pretty strong for about a week now. So I guess it won't be long til I feel "actual" kicks...we are still debating on finding out the sex of the baby or not...decisions decisions...

See, it's true!

I find it amusing that I have not had time to post on my blog entitled "Never Enough Time"!! Things got real crazy when I was winding down my summer class and getting ready for the new semester to start! Also, my best friend got married out of town, and there was quite a bit of prep with that too...So, anyway, here are a few things I missed...
We got an updated picture at our ten week appointment...here s/he is...

 on July 30th, my best friend got married! I got to be in the wedding, and do one of the Bible readings. It was a fun and overwhelming experience. Normally, I do not cry at weddings, but I think the pregnancy hormones wreaked some havoc and I was crying almost the entire ceremony!!

A couple of weeks later we had our first trimester genetic screening...also known as my NT scan. It consists of a blood test, and a specialized ultrasound where they measure the amount of fluid on the back of the baby's neck. The results are given in terms of probability of the genetic disorders appearing in your baby, and they are compared to the probability for the mother's age. I misplaced the paper so I do not know the exact probability in my age group, but our specific probability is 1 in 10,000 for Down Syndrome and Trisomy 18. 1 in 10,000 is the very best result you can get!!! So, although we weren't too worried based on our medical histories and age, it was still a relief compatively!! I was thrilled we got another picture of the baby, plus it was SO cool to watch the screen as they waited for the exact picture they needed. I got to watch him/her squirm and move all over the place!

A week or so later, it was time for school to start...yippy...So far school has been overwhelming. Way too much reading to do...that is whet I get for taking six classes at once. And on top of it all, one of them is statistics. Math is the bane of my existence anyway, and this is proving to be no exception! No bog projects as of yet, but just a lot of reading and quite a few little projects... getting up for 8am class has been difficult as well!!

As of today, I am 16 weeks along. I never thought we would make it this far! I am pretty sure i felt a little fluttering last night, and I am looking forward to experiencing more. Our twenty week ultrasound is October 13th. We are still debating back and forth if we are going to find out the gender or not...it's a hard decision! I want to be surprised, but prepared. I am terrible waiting for surprises though!

This weekend we are going to Jumer's for my friend's birthday, and then next month we are going to Galena! So exciting!

It's really in there!

We had our first ultrasound on July 21st...when we were supposedly 9 weeks, 2 days... Well, it turns out I was more like 8 weeks, 2 days. That was not a fun part, learning we have to wait another week to meet our precious Sweetpea... this was the fun part... I was astonished at how much we could see with it being so tiny and all. Technology is wonderful isn't it? As soon as she started it showed up right away!! It kinda took my breath away! After the fact when I talked to my sister and she said that she didn't have anywhere near the cool experience we had for her first ultrasound, I felt very lucky to have seen it. I know Dave was in awe the whole time too...These are the pictures we got!

and this...

and this...

There was one more, a 3d picture, but it looks SO WEIRD!! HA HA!!

We also got to hear the baby's heartbeat, it was 167 beats per minute. That part was absolutely the coolest... although I wish she would have let it play a bit longer. By the time she told us that is what it was, she had turned it off already! Even though we had seen it on the screen already, the heartbeat is what made it seem more real. Although I have to admit that even after all that, it is less-so now, but it still seems like such an abstract concept... there is something growing inside me that right now is 1.74cm long, and in nine months will be 18-20 inches long?? Everyone keeps telling me that once our baby grows large enough for me to feel movement that it will finally sink in at that point. Then I will know all of this unpleasantness is actually counting for something!! I am considering myself lucky right now still, since I have not gotten sick at all! I have felt a little nausceous at times, but as long as I eat slowly in the morning, do not take my vitamins until I have eaten, and eat a little something every two hours or so it has stayed away... also I have had a little heartburn, nothing too bad. The only thing I want to complain about is waking up 6-10 times a night to use the bathroom! REALLY?? I have been cutting off fluids two hours before bedtime and still does not work. Like one of my friends said though, it is good practice for a crying baby...

The next day after the ultrasound, I had my initial visit with the nurse practitioner. A pap, pelvic exam, and five tubes of blood later, I was outta there. She didn't seem very helpful, or eager to be helpful, although she did explain the constant need to use the bathroom. If this thing is only 1.74cm then why do I have to go so much? She said it's because of the size of the uterus...and tha it doesn't get any better...great, something to look forward to! And she scolded me for gaining weight already...which I explained to her the scale is only 1-2lbs heavier really. I put on 5lbs after the wedding :( And for all I know it could be water weight...Oh well!!

Had a pretty good weekend too! Saturday we went to the movies, had dinner with some friends, and watched an awesome documentary!

The highlight of the weekend came on Sunday afternoon when we went to Madison to babysit my niece, and I also got some quality time with my sister Jessica! She has been a wonderful support so far with all of my questions and concerns about being pregnant, and she also loaned me her maternity clothes! I am sure the shirts will fit, hopefully the pants will too (she was much skinnier than me when she got pregnant, thanks to running and diet)...but I am sure they will! And it was SO much fun spending some one on one time with Allie too! It was a preview of things to come, chasing around a toddler!

A few pictures, of course...

She stole my headband when I took it out of my hair...

played in my shoes... this was funny because my sister had just done a blog posting about Allie's fascination with big flip flops...

and the reason that she is a personal favorite of Dave's...she loves mac n cheese!! Dave gave her a big spoon, I gave her a little spoon, and she used both! Silly little girl!!!

And now it is back to the grind :( School today, work today! I counted though, combining the five more class sessions I have of philosophy, and the days in the fall semester, I only have 78 more days of school in my undergrad. That is definitely something to celebrate, and look toward as I exhaust myself this semester...

That damn truck!

That damn "pregnancy truck" has really hit me hard the last week or so!!! I didn't really have any sort of fatigue, or really, any sort of pregnancy symptoms at all (except heartburn) REALLy until last week. Since then, I have been unbelievably tired from sun up til sun down. In the morning I feel like I have not slept at all and would rather just lay there all morning than get up! This is a real problem because I have my summer class that started last week (right when the fatigue set in!) My ideal morning would be to wake upa round 7:30, relax for about a half hour, exercise on the treadmill for a half hour, shower then go to work. Instead, my alarm goes off at 7:30, I reset it for 9:00, finally get out of bed at 9:45, and shower then go to class... leaving me feeling pretty unproductive for the day!!! I have heard the fatigue will go away soon, only to come back in the third trimester, and then after the birth when our bundle of joy wakes up every two hours to eat!

I have been doing my best to power through it, but then after I finally get myself up and going, when I get to eat my breakfast so i can take my vitamins, that is when the nausea hits me! So far I have not gotten sick or anything, but it's been tough!! I have even managed to keep the apartment somewhat clean!

I am trying not to complain, and I know that Dave and I are infinitely blessed to be able to conceive at all, let alone so quickly, but it's a little to adjust my lifestyle. I have never known the meaning of the word relax, and I am needing to learn it so that this does not get the better of me :) He has been working a lot of overtime and his paychecks have been nice too...we want to get everything paid off ASAP so that we can actually afford to rear a child. I get sad when I don't see him though...

In other areas, school is going alright. The class I am in is halfway over, and then I have about two weeks off until my final semester as an undergrad! My big obstacle now is finding $300 for books and $500 for the remainder of the tuition my aid did not cover. But I *possibly* have some other aid that is going to come in soon!

Our first ulrtasound is Thursday!! SO excited for that!! Then we get to meet with a nurse educator, and then a nurse practitioner. The following week I see the doctor, so then maybe it will feel a little more real :)

And it starts...

As has been the pattern throughout my entire life... I am always SO short on time!! So much so that my mother's Christmas present to me this past year was a beautiful cross stitch that reads "Never Enough Time"!! That is the name of this blog, although I couldn't make that the URL because there is another one with that name that nobody has posted on since 2005! But whatever!! So, currently I am on summer break, right?? Well, I have a philosophy class Mon-Thurs 10:30am-1:30pm until August 2nd, and then I work 2pm-10pm daily. And on my days off I always seem to have plenty to do too! For instance this Friday I have off and I am getting a pedicure (totally self-indulgent, and not a NEED but definitely a WANT... I haven't had one since the wedding)... I also need to do a little bit of laundry, and I am signed up to sell carnival tickets at Old Settler's Days that evening! So far during this pregnancy I hadn't been too awful tired until today, and then it hit me... What the hell am I thinking???????????  Meaning that I am having a hard time keeping up now and it is only going to get worse! I stopped participating in extra stuff but still seem to fill my plate with everything else! I guess we will just have to soldier through and see what happens.

In other news, today I am eight weeks! Which means the baby is the size of a raspberry...one of my favorite fruits!

We have an ultrasound a week from Thursday! And while I know we won't see much on it, I am still WAY excited! We will get to hear the heartbeat at least!