31 Week Appointment

I'm not sure what's cuter... watching Baby B hiccup during the ultrasound OR watching him take two big yawns and then instantly fall fast asleep (once the hiccups were over of course). It's so overwhelming how much I'm in love with him already... every little move he made during the ultrasound today made my heart skip a beat. I think I must have asked Dustin a hundred times "Did you see that? Dear, did you see THAT??" I can't imagine what it's going to feel like the first time we get to hold him in our arms.

Our appointment went really well today- everything is looking great! Baby B's heartheart is a strong 150. It was in the 140s, but the doctor said it's normal for it to go up the last few weeks. We were able to watch him (reconfirmed it is definitely a "him") for a good 20+ minutes today during the ultrasound, which was awesome!! I was a little bummed because he was so active in the beginning... but when the doctor was ready to take a 3D video, Baby B decided it was time for a nap. Oh well, I guess we'll have lots of time for home movies in a few weeks. Check out these precious pictures of him sleeping with his hand by his face. So cute!!

Happy Birthday Dustin!

Dustin's b-day was yesterday and we had a great little celebration at home and then went out to a nice dinner with our friends Chris & Kimberly. It was also Chris' b-day on Saturday! The celebration is continuing this weekend when we go out to dinner with Matt & Amy, who ALSO have birthdays this week!! And Laurie's birthday is Saturday... but her and Rob will be back east so we won't be able to celebrate until next year (love you Laurie!!). Lots of December birthdays!! Just think, only about 9 more weeks until we'll be celebrating another birthday... Baby Bradley's!!!

What A Difference 4 Months Makes

Kara had her babyshower last weekend, which was a blast (although the "poopy diaper" game will not be played at my shower!!). Check out these belly shots- what a difference 4 months makes!! :-)

3 Months

7 Months

Dustin's Holiday Party

We did it!! When Dustin told me he volunteered to have his company holiday party (50 real estate agents) at our house this year I almost fell over... but, everything turned out wonderful and I think people had a really good time. The best part was it was like a "complimentfest" for Dustin and I. Everyone was so impressed with the kitchen cabinets (yes he got them finished just in the nick of time) and all of Dustin's other projects. Everyone also kept telling me how good I look, which never gets old when you're almost 8 months pregnant and feel as large as the house! :-)

Check out the pictures below of the house decorated for the party. Thank goodness Martha Stewart (aka Dustin's Mom) came over to help us decorate. We couldn't have pulled it off without all the help from his parents. Thank you!!

Office Holiday Party

Dustin and I had a great time last night at my company holiday party. The party was downtown overlooking Petco Park- amazing views!!

Nobody freak out- the last picture is just a joke!!! My friend Jamie thought it would be funny to pose with the beer bottle... and it was. The best part is the girl looking at me like I'm crazy. Ha ha.

Putting Together the Crib & the NEW Nursery :-)

The nursery construction is complete! I'm so thrilled with how it turned out!! We love the new room!! Dustin even put together the crib last night- I needed to take measurements for mom who has been busy sewing away making a bed skirt, curtains, boppy pillow cover, etc (THANK YOU MOM!!). I can't wait to get everything put together- it's going to look amazing. Next step- painting the room (poor Dustin's "to-do" list gets longer by the day). :-)

Birch Aquarium

Dustin and I took Ava to the Birch Aquarium the other day and had a wonderful time. :-)

Thanksgiivng In SD

Babymoon At Lake Arrowhead

Dustin and I had a GREAT time at Lake Arrowhead this weekend!! We've been on a lot of vacations, to a lot of wonderful places... but this was one of my favorite trips, and it was practically in our backyard (only 2 hours away)! As most of you know, we were supposed to go to Europe in October, but I was still having some issues with morning/all-day sickness. So we canceled our Europe trip and decided we would take a weekend getaway once I started feeling better. Obviously, Lake Arrowhead is no Europe, BUT we had an awesome time!! We stayed at the Lake Arrowhead Resort, which was amazing, and basically just spent the entire weekend relaxing and enjoying the fall weather. The trip was exactly what both of us needed- location was convenient, weather was great, resort was beautiful, food was amazing and company was perfect.

Dustin's Projects

Dustin has been working tirelessly to finish the kitchen cabinets and they are looking AMAZING!! This ended up being a MUCH larger job then either of us imagined... but they are soooooo worth it! I guess that's easy for me to say since I'm not the one doing all the work. But don't they look good??!! We're getting close to "the end" - Dustin thinks he can get them finished by his company's Christmas party, which is going to be at our house on Dec 12th.
















In addition to the kitchen, Dustin has also been working on our new office. He's built four built-in bookcases already and is working on a desktop that will put Bob Villa to shame. It's a little hard to describe, but I'll try. He ordered this special type of "bendy wood" that he's cutting into thin strips and then molding each piece to the circular shape of the desk. So the end result will be a stained, red-oak, curvy, "butcher-blockish" desk. It's going to be awesome. Here's what everything looks like now. I couldn't get a picture of the desktop because that is being worked on in the garage and is currently covered in clamps and all kinds of other "woodshop" contraptions.

Nursery

We started the nursery project last week and it's looking awesome. I must have changed my mind on this project about a hundred times, but now that I'm seeing everything come together I know we made the right decision! For those of you that have been to our house, the new nursery is the room that used to be the office/master retreat (right off the master bedroom). It was basically a 4th bedroom that was set-up as a master retreat (missing the 4th wall). So we are adding that missing 4th wall and installing french doors- so this room will get lots of light and can be used as a "retreat" or playroom later on. We're only on Day 2 of construction, but I thought I would go ahead and post some before & after pics :-)

Before

















Day 2 Progress

My Growing Belly

Lesson Learned

I learned a valuable lesson today... Don't try to fit into your favorite pre-maternity jeans when you're 6 months pregnant. I thought "I bet I can still do it- I just won't be able to zip or button (that's what bella bands are for)". WRONG.


If I hadn't just gotten a new pair of True Religion maternity jeans and some Habitual "Knocked Up" jeans... I'd be crying my eyes out now. Nothing makes a girl feel pretty like a perfect pair of jeans... especially when they are stretchy and comfortable.

BIG Kicks

So just a few hours ago I wrote about how Dustin was finally able to feel kicks... Well about 5 minutes ago the baby kicked so hard it almost knocked Dustin out (not literally- but you get the idea). He was kicking so hard my whole belly was moving- it was clearly visible. Crazy!! Weird. Ha ha :-)

BTW- Here's a pic of my friend Megan and I today at our work Halloween party. Everyone calls us "M&M" so the we thought the costumes were appropriate... I went as the peanut M&M of course. :-)

6 Months- Can You Believe It??

Wow!! It's crazy when people now ask "How far along are you" my response is "6 months". That seems impossible! Time is flying by!!

I had my 24 week appointment today and everything went great. This appointment was just a check up, so not much new to report. I did end up having an ultrasound today though! My doctor has a new PA that is working with him that wanted some practice with the u/s machine. He said "Want to see your baby- Do you have a few minutes?" Of course I replied "YEEEEEEEES!!" Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any good pics- Baby Bradley was a bit camera shy (he was turned into me- not facing forward). But it was still awesome to see his heartbeat, brain, little legs, feet, arms, etc.

Other updates: Dustin was finally able to feel kicks last night! He was like "Those aren't kicks- that's your heartbeat" (always knowing everything). I said "Well do you feel them right now?" (I asked when the baby wasn't kicking). He said "no". And I said "Well my heart didnt stop... Those are kicks you're feeling!" He was pretty excited!

Congratulations to Gulam and Dorota!! They had a happy and healthy little boy last night. Dorota was only in labor for 1 1/2 hours!! I'll have what she had!! And congratulations to Amy and Jeff on the birth of their little boy last week. And congrats to Rob and Laurie who just found out they are having a boy too (due a month after us)! Everyone is having boys- I think we could start up our own little league!! I also have another dear friend (you know who you are) that just found out she is pregnant... with TWINS!! So exciting!! October has been such a great month!

Trip To The Pumpkin Patch

Dustin and I went to Bates Nut Farm this weekend with our little niece Ava and Dustin's parents. We had a great time! Ava loved running around and checking out all the pumpkins, especially the "tiny ones", which were her favorites.

As you can see from the pictures, I'm definitely "showing" now! I'm feeling less pregnant (no more throwing up, more energy, etc), but looking very pregnant! Baby Bradley has been kicking away this week. The kicks are still not strong enough for Dustin to feel yet- hopefully only a few more weeks for that. :-)

20 Weeks! Half Way There :-)

We had our 20 week appointment today and everything went great! We were able to see Baby Bradley's kidneys, lungs, heart, etc. Everything looks awesome! It's so crazy how our little one weighs less than a pound and is about the size of a banana... yet all of the major organs are formed and functioning. He's measuring exactly 5 months and 2 days so we are right on schedule. He was all scrunched up in there today (sleeping with his hand by his face) so it was hard to get a good picture, but he's looking more and more handsome each month. Just check out that close-up of his face!! I'm in love :-)



Alot of you have been asking for some updated "bump" pictures so here you go! I'm looking more and more pregnant by the day (although its hard to tell from the front)! I gained 5 pounds since last month, making my grand total weight gain only 3lbs since I lost so much during the first trimester. Doctor Biter says not to worry though, that I will make up what I've lost in double-time now that I'm keeping 99.9% of food down. I'm still getting a little sick in the mornings about every other day, but it's nothing compared to what it was. :-) Next appt is Oct 31- Halloween! That appointment will be just a check up (no U/S) since everything is looking good.

Birthday @ The Del Mar Races

I had a great birthday yesterday!! It was a perfect day- started with a wonderful doctor's appointment and then finished with winning a little money at the races! Check out that bump- my favorite new accessory!! :-)

It's A Boy!!!!

Today's appointment went GREAT! Everything looks wonderful- including Baby Bradley's new penis! That's right- It's a BOY!! Looks like everyone that voted "boy" was right! Now we just need to pick a name... easier said then done. Even though Dustin and I both had a "hunch" it was going to be a boy, our list of girl names was about 10x longer then the list of boy names. :-)

Our little boy was giving us the thumbs up, dancing, waiving, and even picking his nose in the ultrasound! So cute!! He's certainly active (although that nose picking thing must stop once he's born)! Last week I even started feeling "flutters" in my belly!!

Other updates- I gained 3 pounds since last month. Yipee! The morning sickness is still coming and going- mostly "going" now which is GREAT! We also decided not to go to Europe next month- just too much going on and I'm still not feeling 100%. So we'll make up that trip later. On another note... we found out our OB-GYN, Dr.Biter is in a new music video! Click here to check it out. You can fast forward to 4:48 to see him. Regardless of your political views... still pretty cool.

Ultrsounds- the first two are 3D frontal/side views of Baby Bradley. The third is a little hard to “get” without an explanation so I'll try to explain. Do you see the window outlined? The view in that “window” is hard/soft tissue so you can see bones, organs, etc. Keep in mind that in this picture you are looking up at Baby Bradley- kinda looking at his butt like he was being held over your head. Do see the leg bones now?? Now look in the middle- viola! A penis!! Baby Bradley is also giving us a "thumbs up" in that picture like... "Look what I got Mom & Dad!!"

Strap-On Baby Bump

While mom is in town we did a little shopping at GAP Maternity... Who knew they made strap-on baby bumps?!? SOOO FUN!! Doesn't Dustin look amazing with a bump??

Picture of the Future...

Holding Baby Kira- Congratulations Laryssa & Mark! Kira, and her twin sister Azaria, are only 5 weeks old and a little of 7 lbs. So cute! I love these pictures and can't wait to take some with our own little bundle of joy!

2nd Trimester- Whoooo Hooooooooooooo!!

Today is officially the first day of our 2nd trimester!! Dustin and I are both SO EXCITED that now we can finally share the news with all our friends and family!!

For those of you who are reading the blog for the first time I’ll give you a quick recap: We found out we were pregnant June 19th- it was a bit of a surprise, since we had planned on starting to “try” in October after our trip to Europe, but Baby Bradley had other plans and we couldn’t be happier! I also found out my friend Kara at work is pregnant too and we’re due only 3 days apart! It’s been great having someone to share stories and swap advice with.

I’ve had pretty bad morning/all-day sickness the entire time, which I’m hoping will start to go away soon now that we’re out of the 1st trimester. We’ve had 3 doctor appointments so far and all have gone very well- Baby Bradley is doing great!! Our next appointment is September 3 and we’ll be able to find out the sex then. I can’t believe how fast time is flying by! My doctor, Dr. Biter, has been AMAZING- I feel very lucky and blessed to have found him!

Dustin, my “Knight in Shining Armor”, has been amazing throughout the entire pregnancy- pretty much waiting on me hand and foot. I couldn’t ask for a better partner to go through this journey with. I’m sure he’s getting tired of eating potatoes, tomato soup, and Cheezits all the time, which is pretty much all I’ve been craving/eating. Not to mention all of the last minute trips to the store he has to make for Pedialyte (my drink of choice these days), but he’s doing a GREAT job of being supportive and understanding. He’s also taken on several household projects to get ready for the baby like redoing the kitchen cabinets and landscaping in the backyard. His latest project is building built-in bookcases and a desk for our new office, since the existing office will soon be a nursery. Who knew I married such a handyman- everything looks awesome!!

I think that’s pretty much it for now. :-)


Kara & I were both 12 weeks pregnant at the time of this pic. It's crazy how just holding your belly instantly makes you look preggers, even before you start to show.

12 Week Check-Up

We had our 3rd sonogram today (this time on the belly rather than internal). Dr. Biter says everything looks GREAT- heart rate, measurements, etc! Baby Bradly was even putting on a little show for us- moving all around. :-)

Baby Bradley is doing great... Mommy is getting there. I'm still feeling very tired and nauseas (especially in the mornings). I've lost 6 pounds since last month, but the doctor says not to worry that losing weight is pretty common for mothers who have bad morning sickness. As long as my iron looks good, which it does, everything is fine. Hopefully I'll start feeling better as my 1st trimester wraps up (count down to August 20th).

Next appointment is September 3rd- my birthday!! We'll be able to find out the sex then. What a great b-day present!?! Other updates: We got the green light to go to Europe in October. Doctor thinks we can also go back to NC for Christmas, but he says no more flying after that. Yipee!!


Baby Bradley is now the size of a lime! How cute!!

2nd Sonogram

Well… this trip to the doctor was a little unplanned. Thursday and Friday were both pretty rough days for me- pretty much throwing up non-stop. I decided to work from home Friday because the thought of getting out of my pajamas that morning was just unbearable. I felt like crap and I hadn’t been able to keep any food down since the morning before. Ugh. No fun.

Unfortunately it went from bad to worse and Friday afternoon I started bleeding unexpectedly. I called the doctor’s office hysterical and they told me Dr. Biter wasn’t in, but he would call me back on my cell. A few minutes later he called back, asked a bunch of questions, and then told me to meet him at the office in 30 minutes. I was terrified. Dustin came home from work and rushed me to the doctor. Once we got there Dr. Biter was very comforting. He explained that this happens to about 30% of all pregnant women and about 50% go on to have healthy babies. “What is meant to be, will be.” I just had to keep telling myself that over and over. He reassured me that nothing I did, could have caused this. Sometimes it just happens.

He did a sonogram to check on the baby and see if he could tell the source of the bleeding. The first thing he showed was the heartbeat. “Your baby is ok” he said. Dustin and I were both so relieved. Dr. Biter said the heartbeat was very strong and everything else looked great. As for the bleeding, he said it looked like it was coming from the cervix, which is in front of the baby and poses no immediate threat. It might be that I just have a sensitive cervix, or I might have “irritated” it from all of my throwing up. Whatever it was, I’m just glad the baby is ok. The bleeding stopped that night and I spent the rest of the weekend just taking it easy. Whew... what a roller coaster of emotions.

One good thing that came from all of this is a new sonogram picture. You can clearly see the arms and legs now! Baby Bradley is cuter than ever and looks very content all snuggled up in there. My next appointment is August 5 (12 weeks) but Dr. Biter said I can come in for another sonogram whenever I want if I get worried. He truly is an amazing doctor, I feel so blessed.

The Yard

Not only has Dustin (aka Mr. Wonderful) been busy working on the kitchen. He's also been making our yard into a tropical paradise. I can't wait to tell the baby "your daddy did this". I'm sure he/she will be so proud, just like me. :-)

To blog or not to blog…

...that is the question. For me at least. Meg seems to have taken to it like a duck to water. A goodbye party for food!?! Although I love to pry in to the personal lives of other people I can't imagine anyone would be interested in mine! Not to be TOO cynical (me, cynical?) but it seems like the height of arrogance to think other people would be interested in the hyper-neurotic thoughts swirling through my head. But I suppose if it makes the ones we love feel a little bit more connected to this wonderful journey we are embarking on then it is a good thing.

So, on to the blogging!

So far I feel really good. I have no morning sickness and I haven't put on a pound. This pregnancy thing is a snap. Meg on the other hand is throwing up pretty much non-stop. The only hardship I have endured is waking up to the rustling of Saltine Cracker wrappers at all hours of the night. Not everything is working out in my favor though. The MASSIVE job of refacing the cabinets that we started right before Meg got pregnant is no longer a two person job. Can't have the baby being exposed to all those nasty fumes and I am too stubborn to pay somebody else to do it. At least now I get all the credit when you all come over and GUSH about how wonderful the cabinets look (and there better be gushing). That's all for now.

Dustin

3 done. 6 in progress. Only 26 to go!

Good Bye Party To My Favorite Foods

It's almost midnight and I can't sleep. What am I craving??? Nothing else but a Dr. Pepper. (I can't believe I'm losing sleep thinking about a carbonated beverage.)

Maybe I've been so wrapped up in "new pregnancy jitters" that it hasn't really hit me (until now) all the things I have to say good bye to. I don't mind making the sacrifices- I'd much rather have a healthy baby than a DP right now. But it's hard... So I've decided to have a going away party (at least in blog land) for some of my favorite foods and drinks.

Good bye to:
- Chai Tea: Mornings won't be the same without you.
- Red Wine: One glass is usually all it takes. I love that about you.
- Starbucks: Fate would have it that they open one so close the week I get pregnant...
- Deli Meat: My bread and mustard miss you already.
- White Wine: What will summer be without you??
- Dr. Pepper: We've been friends for a long time. I'll miss you dearly.
- Sushi: The perfect dinner out with friends. Good bye Station Sushi.
- Champagne: All the bubbles... so yummy (but probably not good for gas)
- Brie: I will miss your melty yumminess.
- Shell Fish: Shrimp & lobster.... Why, oh why, do you have to be bottom dwellers??
- Goat Cheese: I crave you more than you'll ever know

For now, the little jelly bean growing inside me is all the sweetness I need... but I will miss all of you. Ok that's it. Starting to feel sleepy.... thank goodness.

I had one last girls weekend a fews weeks ago- complete with wine on the beach at sunset. (Didn't know I was preggers at the time)

First Doctor Appointment

It's the 7th!! Finally, my first appointment with Dr. Biter!! I feel like the luckiest girl on earth... not only have a found a doctor that comes highly recommended, he takes my insurance, AND he starts seeing patients at 7-8 weeks!!!! I think all of those things more than make up for the fact that a. he's a man (I thought I wanted a woman, but I'd rather have someone who's recommended) and b . he's from Pennsylvania (those who know me know how I feel about this state- long story).

My appointment was at 3:30 and I was running a bit late. After almost having a panic attack because I couldn't find a parking spot (it's the littlest things these days) Dustin parked my car while I went inside to check in. This was going to be the moment of truth... is everything "normal".

So we waited, and waited, and waited. Gulam (my friend who gave me the referral) had given me a warning that Dr. Biter is notorious for running late. I guess you never know whats going to come up (or out) at an OB-GYN's office. Dr. Biter puts his patients first. If that means something comes up before you, you have to wait. And I'm 100% fine with that because if "something comes up with me" I would want him to take the time with me too. No rushing patients in and out- isn't his style. I love that. Granted, next time I will definitely take a book...

So 2 hours later we were brought back to the sonogram room. (I am so nervous at this point I can barely function.) Dr. Biter comes in and introduces himself. He has a really calming personality, I feel at ease (or at least more at ease) almost immediately. He goes through all the "what to do" and "what not do's". After the "basics" I present him with "the list". "The list" is a list of questions I've been working on since day 1... it's pretty expansive- almost an entire page single spaced. After "the list" I brought out "the bag". "The bag" is full of all of my bathroom products I wasn't sure were "safe" or not. Everything checked out. Dr. Biter jokingly asked for me to bring all of the contents in my kitchen cabinets next time. Which I might. :-)

Now the good part. The sonogram was so easy... Just put that thingy up there and voila- there's your baby!! It was crazy to see to see "the little jelly bean" for the first time. Dr. Biter told me I was 7 weeks and 3 days pregnant. It's crazy how they can tell almost to the day!! And even better- it actually looks more like a baby than I expected (although you cant really tell from the pictures). Its only the size of a raspberry!! You can see the head, arms and legs. When he showed us the heartbeat beating away at a million miles a second (which is also "normal") I screamed with excitement. What a relief!!! Everything looks great. I'm so excited and Dustin is too!! Both of us couldn't be happier!!

Next appointment: Aug 5
Official due date: Feb 18

Starting to Feel It

So after going from "100% sure I wasn't pregnant because I think would FEEL it" I am now "100% sure I am pregnant because I DO feel it". It's crazy how a couple of days can change everything.

I started feeling a little sick in the mornings, but no throwing up. That quickly changed to "throwing up" in the mornings. That quickly changed to "throwing up all the time". Add being bloated, feeling "fluish without the flu", and food aversions... I officially "feel pregnant."

I'm also feeling like a huge ball of nerves. "Is that normal? Is this normal? Uh oh, Is that normal??" I don't think I've done as much "research" as this since college. I'm constantly looking things up online, reading the message boards, etc. Thank goodness for the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book given to me by our neighbors Emily & Ted (thanks guys!!). That book covers everything- literally.

I'm still feeling very, very anxious for my first doctor appointment though (which after all of my "research" I have learned is a very "normal" feeling for moms-to-be). My first appointment with my OB-GYN, Dr. Biter (thanks for the referral Gulam and Dorota!!) is July 7th. Two weeks away!! I'm not sure if my nerves can hold up that long...

Happy Birthday Grandma

So the day we find out we're pregnant just happens to be Diane's birthday. Once the initial shock wore off (happy shock, but still shock) we decided to surprise Dustin's parents with the news. We drove over to their house ("just happened to be in the neighborhood"= lie) to give Diane her birthday card. In the card Dustin wrote "Happy Birthday Grandma". It was so hard for me not to blurb out the news the minute we walked in the door, but we agreed that we would tell them with the card.

Fred immediately offers drinks as we walk in (always so hospitable)....
"No thank you." I say.
"Oh come on" he says. "Have just one."
"No, I'm fine"
"Not even just one for Diane's birthday??"
"Ummm.... maybe a ginger ale. Uh, that sounds good."

So we all settle on a round of ginger ales. He must have thought something was up because we rarely pass up a celebratory drink!

Diane, on the other hand, had no idea. She opens the card. Reads it. Laughs. And politely closes it and hugs both of us.

"Mom" Dustin says "Don't you get it?"
"Yeah I get it- I'm old" she says
"Mom?!?"
"I get it- I'm a grandma! I'm old!!"
"I don't think you get it mom"

She looks at me confused. I pat my belly. And then the light bulb goes off.

She says "you are??" And Dustin screams "we're having a baby!!" Everyone starts hugging and crying over the good news!

An unforgettable birthday :-)

I think we're........ PREGNANT!

So I'm 4 days late. I think no big deal- must just be from stress. After all I did just host a big girls weekend at the house with Colleen and Sonya. But, Dustin thinks I should take a pregnancy test. "Honey- don't be silly, I would KNOW if I was pregnant". To humor him, I pick up a test while we're at the store getting groceries for dinner (Risotto and white wine.... yummy!)

I decide it's probably best to go ahead and take the test before I open the bottle of wine. I think I was literally peeing on the stick and calling to Dustin in the kitchen to go ahead and open the wine at the same time.... 100% sure that I wasn't pregnant.

The test says it can takes 1-3 minutes to register the results. .0001 seconds later.... "Pregnant". Speechless I walk into the kitchen and show Dustin the results. He's as shocked as I am. "Get in the car dear- I think we need more tests" he says. So we run back to the store- pick up 2 more tests. I run back into the bathroom. Second test- positive. Third test- positive. I can't believe I even had enough pee left for the third test to give a result- much less a positive one!

I call mom.... "Mom, I think I'm pregnant."
"Well sweetie, are you late?"
"Yes"
"Have you taken a test?"
"Three"
"Yep, you're pregnant"