First Week of School

Well, the first week of school has come and gone. I always have mixed emotions about a new year. I wonder what the kids will be like, will they like science, will they like me as their teacher, will they be well behaved... etc. So far so good. This is a good bunch of kids so far. Of course, they are 8th graders, so you have a few naughty/sneaky ones... but for the most part... such a good group! I always look forward to finally knowing all of the kids names, and building a relationship with them. Once that happens, teaching is even more fun!

Last week I began thinking about not being at school during my maternity leave, and hoping my long term sub does a good job of teaching the kids what they need to know. I like to have things done my way-- especially in my classroom-- and I am beginning to realize I will have to let go while I am gone. I am sure once I have that little girl in my arms, it will be easier... but just something that I have began to think about.

Between soccer and school-- I was so tired everyday. I was in bed my 9... and of course my alarm goes off at 5:30am every morning so I am out the door by 6:30am.

Yesterday was an emotional day. I am not sure why yesterday. I have many more good days than bad days, but yesterday everything just hit me. As I am getting farther and farther along, this is becoming more and more real, and I am so afraid of losing this little girl again. It is so reassuring to feel her ninja kicks ALL the time, but still scary. I just can't wait for January. The first half of my pregnancy went so quick- but at the same time slow- I am hoping this second half goes fast- which I am sure it will since I am back at work and have the holidays to get through.

Dan and I really need to begin registering- which is so overwhelming. I have no idea what bottles to get/ how many/ what types of nipples-- since I am breastfeeding. I hope to not use them that often, but obviously will need to when I am not around and eventually when I go back to work-- if I return before the end of the school year. Between that and getting the bedroom cleaned out and turned into a nursery-- we are going to busy! And I SHOULD be beginning my capstone for grad school. Hopefully once soccer is done.

Speaking of nursery-- I just ordered our bedding for the baby today!! I have had my eye on it for a long time, and I just happened to go on and look at it again today, and it was on sale! So Dan and I decided to order it, and we should have it by the end of the week! It is SO cute.


So tomorrow is the first Monday morning of the school year. Blah. Hopefully this week goes fast, because I am looking forward to next weekend already. My birthday is on Saturday. We are going wedding dress shopping for Shannon, and then we are going to have dinner at Burger Moe's on West 7th-- it is a new restaurant that sounds amazing and my mouth is already watering excited for it. I am sure Dan and I will go there quite a bit during the Wild season, since it is right by the Xcel.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I am so loving this nice fall weather!

Crib and Changing Table!

BIG purchase this morning. Thanks to my awesome neighbor and friend, Keri, she let me know that Target was having a sale today on a baby crib.... so I went online and checked the ad... what do you know... it is the EXACT crib we were registerd for!! The deal was buy the crib we got the changing table for free :) So we headed off to our Target... we got there at 9am (opens at 8am), and they were already sold out! The lady that helped us was nice, and told us that Brinsville had 2 left. So we headed to the car, I called, and again had such a nice lady help us. She pulled it out for us and held it until we got there... so we got it! I got a bit emotional putting it into the car. So crazy. It is one more big step to the baby being here! Here are the pics of our crib and changing table.

The BIG 2-0

So, yesterday was my big 20 week appt/ ultrasound. I was 20 weeks 2 days, and baby is measuring 20 weeks 4 days... so right on track! I am officially past my loss date, and it feels so good. Baby girl looks so perfect! Everything is great!! She is so stinkin' cute! She has the cutest little nose and it is so fun seeing her move all over in my belly on the ultrasound. Our ultrasound tech said that means she is happy in there! :) My next appt is Oct. 1 and I will be 24 weeks! WOW! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. Before I know it, soccer will be over... then we have October... then Thanksgiving and Christmas and we know how fast the holidays go... then BAM January the baby will be here! I can't wait!

Since everything looked good yesterday, this means we need to being buying the big stuff-- crib/ furniture and stuff for the nursery. We also need to start cleaning everything out of the room.

Exhaustion. This sums up the last week for me. Holy buckets. September is going to be rough, especially with lots of Saturday games. Between working all day and soccer.... I am so tired. Yesterday we went to the fair. It was really chilly! But I told Dan, being at the stage I am in my pregnancy was perfect for the fair! My appetite was amazing! I have never eaten so much in one day at the fair!! If I would have been in my 1st trimester, I couldn't have eaten anything. If it was my 3rd, I wouldn't have been able to walk all day (I struggled yesterday being 20 weeks!) so maybe we should plan future babies around the state fair :) Haha. Let's see.... what did we have to eat. We split everything.... we started with foot long hot dog, then we tried a pickle dog (pastrami, pickle, cream cheese, jalepenos), philly sandwhich, waffle fries, corn fritters, deep fried pickles, cheese curds, sweet marthas cookies, caramel apples... I think that is it. It was awesome.

So what am I worrying about now??? FLYING to Miami. I have a workshop I am going to and hate flying, and the idea of the possibility of something going wrong when I am so close to having our little girl, scares me. Argh.

Today we are going to my friend Sara's and her husband John's house for dinner! It will be so nice :) Tomorrow BBQ at Dan's moms... and back to work with the kiddos Tuesday. Dan and I have a lot of talking to do as far as maternity leave. My goal is to take off the rest of the year. We will see what happens. Have a good weekend!

Body Image.

So, last night I just looked at myself in the mirror.... and as my body is changing, I am having a difficult time. I don't think of myself as a vain person at all. I have always been an athlete, and active, and comfortable in my body. I have no idea if this is a normal thing women women have a hard time with... but I am. I am scared of never having the same body.... stretch marks, veins appearing and not going away, will I ever be confident about my body again?

Then I remind myself it is obviously worth it. I already love this baby girl so much, and she is so wanted by Dan and I. However, Dan is still my husband, and I want him to be attracted to me after the baby arrives. Will he be? Will it be different? I hope not. I hope that doesn't come across as being weird... but it has been on my mind lately.

Onto a ligter note... Dan felt the baby move on Thursday night! It was so great! It was an emotional moment, and very cool for me to see him experience it... since I get to feel her all the time. Then last night, I was watching my belly while laying in bed (this is when she tends to be the most active), I could actually see my belly move! :o) I just can't wait to meet her.

Emotional.

So, tomorrow I will be 19 weeks. I was exactly 19 weeks when I had my anatomy scan with Elizabeth and found out everything, 19 weeks 5 days when I deleivered her. Needless to say, I am having a tough/ emotional week. Is it possible that my pregnancy is going to continue? I am feeling the baby move... but again, felt all that last time. Argh. I know many people don't understand. I don't even think Dan understands. On top of worrying about this baby, I have thought about Elizabeth a lot more this week too.... since like I said, I am at the point to where I was with her.

Soccer started about a week ago. It is funny. I didn't think I would be tired... thought it would be just fine. Ha. Was I wrong. I like being independant, and active, so it is different for me to get so tired, not want to bend over, my back and hips hurting. Yikes. I keep saying to Dan, I am worried about when school starts. I am going to be SO TIRED. I am always tired when school starts, add pregnancy on top of it with soccer.... oh boy. It is only through September though. I can handle it.

Let's see.... other than the rough week I have been having, just looking forward to the fair and hopefully the end of the humidity. It has been such a horrible summer for humidity. Hopefully it is better next. I have bought some really cute outfits for baby girl, but refuse to buy big stuff until after our 20 week ultrasound which will be on Friday, Sept. 3. Dan took the day off :) and we will be heading to the state fair that day. I pray for continued good news. Dan said after our last ultrasound he is just waiting for bad news, since we have had such good news this far. It just stinks that we have those thoughts. I really hope we have another great Dr. appt on that day.

What will the second half of my pregnancy be like? Will I be able to relax a little bit more since I will have surpassed my loss date? I hope so. I am looking forward to experiencing that part of pregnancy I wasn't able to before.

I will try to get some belly pics up tonight or tomorrow... I have definitly popped.

16 Week Ultrasound and Blood Test

Friday Dan and I had an appt for our 16 week ultrasound and the second blood draw to test for genetic abnormalities. I was nervous, but not as nervous as my 11 week check. I had seen the baby a few times now, so I had a good feeling everything was going well. I was anxious about seeing a healthy baby, but also about the possibility of finding out the gender. Dan had no idea what he thought the baby was, I KNEW it had to be a girl... so we were hoping to find out.

We got into the ultrasound room, and one of the first shots that went up on the screen was the shot that showed us the sex. Immediatly I yell "It's a Girl!!" Dan looks at me like I am crazy, and the ultrasound tech asks "Do you even need me here? Do you want to take over?" We were laughing. So yes, I was right, my instincts were right, and Dan and I have a healthy baby girl on the way!! Everything looked great. It is amazing what they can see already at a little over 16weeks! Doctor came in too and took a good look, and everything was fantastic. We were just thrilled!






After the ultrasound, I had my second blood draw to check again for odds of our baby being born with Spina Bifida, Down Syndrome, and Trisomy 18. I wasn't as nervous this time since the first draw came back so good. I got the call today from Mary Ann, our genetic counselor, and she said our baby is a rockstar! All of the tests came back the lowest they possibly can go! The lab gives odds no lower than 1:10,000for DS and tris 18, and that is what the odds are. For spina bifida, lowest odds they give are 1:6000, and that is what our odds are too! SUCH good news. This is so crazy that we keep getting all this good news. I went out shopping for clothes this weekend, and feel weird about it. It is still kind of hard for me to believe we are actually going to bring home a baby... but I am beginning to believe it.

Baby has been SO active today. Feeling her move like crazy. Dan and I have no names set yet, and we struggle agreeing! We will see how long it takes us to decide! :)

Brad Paisley - Anything Like Me (Lyrics)

I just had to post this tonight. I heard this tonight on my way to meet the girls for dinner, and it brought me to tears. Good tears. With us having our ultrasound tomorrow, and looking specifically for the banding that we had with Elizabeth, it was almost like a good sign for me to hear this. The day before we had our ultrasound with Elizabeth, I had a moment in the car where I was a mess and was sobbing, knowing we were going to get bad news. Today, hearing this, brought a peace over me. I got a GOOD feeling about tomorrow... that we will see a healthy baby on the screen. Of course, also hoping to know if it is a little girl or boy, but most importantly healthy. I want to end this post with Psalm 121:

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.