Movin' right along

We had a painting party with Aunt Shelly this weekend and got the baby's room all done. I don't think this picture really shows the true color though. We are so pleased with the way it has turned out so far. Now we just need to work on getting some furniture in there! I can't wait to see the finished product.
This is a picture of my cousin, Rebecca, and I just after we got back from Topsail. I am 23 weeks in the picture and she is 35 weeks. Our babies will be just 3 months apart. I don't think our baby girl will run out of playmates!
I would not normally post a picture of my bare belly, but I took one the other night and was absolutely amazed at the growth in the last few weeks. I am DEFINITELY looking pregnant now! So far, no stretch marks either, but I still have a lot of growing to do. I have had a 10 pound weight gain so far, and I'm hoping to gain about 1 pound a week until she is born.
The normal 24 week belly picture. She is getting more and more active every day. Saturday was the first night she has kept me up because of her activity. Last night, Nathan and I just sat on the couch and watched my belly for about 30 minutes because the movements it was making was unreal! I think she might have had the first hiccups that I could feel last night. It was so funny. We can also now start to feel where her body is in my belly. We found a little foot last night and it was an awesome moment. I was amazed at how cramped she is starting to get in there. I guess because she is still so tiny that I just pictured her floating around and doing whatever she wants, but now her growth will be the main thing that makes me bigger until she is born. AMAZING!

Check out the link if you are curious what I am talking about (shows a baby at 24 weeks gestation, but this picture is a breech baby):
http://www.babycenter.com/fetal-development-images-24-weeks

I am at my 6 month beginning mark! One more month until I reach my 3rd trimester. I have to get my blood glucose test on July 9th. Fun, fun! Last Tuesday's appointment went great and her heart rate was 148bpm and she moved all around. I am measuring normally for this point in pregnancy and the doctor's nurse practitioner called me "petite"! Woo hoo!

Can't wait for a visit from Nathan's parents next week. We'll post fun pictures of baby's Gram and Pop! :) Have a great rest of the week.

Back from the Beach

Belly at (almost) 23 weeks
Lookin' prego at the beach
I miss the waves already
We love the beach! What a view, right?!
Last week's 22 week belly picture

So I have been delinquent in my blog post since we have been on vacation. I can't believe we are back already...it was the fastest week ever. Why are vacations always like that? We spent the week in Topsail Island, NC. Overall it was a really great week and I have a nice little tan to show for it! I got just a little burnt in places, but not bad.

As for Baby, she is rapidly growing and becoming more and more active. She would be very active at nights at the beach when I was really tired. She would also kick a lot if I was just sitting in the sun, but calmed down the minute I would go out in the water. Today on the flight home, she must not have enjoyed the pressure change because she was kicking me HARD once we started descending. The little papaya in my belly will do a lot of growing and finally weigh about a pound or more by now. She should still double in length before she is born and her little face is now completely formed. My next appointment is this Tuesday and I'm expecting a good report!

I was surprised how much the vacation actually wore me down. It was totally different than working, but I experienced more back pain and swelling than I ever have. By the end of my work week before we left, my feet were sooo swollen. Being in the ocean really helped, but they were really swollen yesterday because of the high heat and humidity. Nathan kept rubbing them and putting aloe on them because they were on fire and it felt like I had bugs running inside my feet. It was terrible! The flight also increased my swelling a lot so I need to spend lots of time with my feet propped for the rest of the weekend!

I also had a very emotional week this past week. The beach was so peaceful and therefore gave me a lot of time for reflection and anticipation. The realization that she will be here in 4 short months is unbelievable. The realization of how my body is really starting to change now is also very emotional and I just don't tolerate things the way I did when I wasn't pregnant. Food, activity, stress...it's all different now. I have to hand it to my hubby...he handles it very well when I'm emotional and I think this week really brought us closer and gave us some good energy to build up until baby arrives.

We are scheduled to paint next week and we have a lot of preparation to do in her room before we are able to do that. Here's hoping for a good, productive week!

Nothing like the flu to help a girl keep her girlish figure during pregnancy

My little banana has grown this week! She is about 10 1/2 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 12oz. Most people are finally realizing that I am pregnant from my "look." I've been pretty sad about all the things that I haven't been fitting in these past few weeks, and my cousin Payge got to have a "shopping spree" in my closet of all the things I can no longer wear. The biggest thing has been my dress pants. I am not quite ready for maternity, but I'm also not really fitting in my regular ones anymore.

I guess the "big" happening this week was the reappearance of the flu in my wonderful life. I had it once in January (which was much worse than what I had this week) and then Friday morning about 12:30, I started waking up with terrible stomach pain. It actually hurt to even touch my stomach and I could barely go back to sleep. Finally, embracing my fate, I got up at 1:30 to let the fun part begin.

I have to say... my husband is so wonderful. I cannot imagine what it would be like to sit there and watch me get sick and hold my hair and get me cold wash cloths, but he is so nurturing during those times. He was up with me every time I got sick and then had to go into work after only a few hours of sleep. I felt so terrible for him! I also felt super bad for my coworkers because we had several out on vacation on Friday so it was the WORST possible day for me to get sick. Being sick makes me feel so bad for others...haha! I had to stay upstairs in bed all day because I couldn't go downstairs where the previous night's dinner skillet laid unclean in the sink, reminding me of all the late night festivities I had just been through. I'm sure that's enough image for most of you, so I'll just move on...

I am looking foward to vacation next week and hopefully getting a little R&R. I haven't been sleeping as well and I've had several headaches lately. Work is getting harder to be up on my feet all day and my poor back pain is just peaked by Fridays. Hopefully I can catch up on some sleep, get a little sun, and rejuvinate my spirit and body just a little.

Hopefully this hasn't been one big complaining session, but this week looks up comparitively so maybe next week's post will be a more enjoyable read. Have a great week!

HALFWAY THERE!

As you can see by my 20 week picture, although I'm not "huge", baby and I have been growing! This week, she is about the length of a cantaloupe (6.5 inches). This week's interesting fact is that she is busy starting to make meconium (black, tarry, nasty poopy) which she will have in her first little diaper for daddy to change! :) I am enjoying rubbing this one in for Nathan! Last night we were at a friend's house and I was changing her son. As soon as Nathan saw that there was a little #2 in the diaper, out of the room he went! We are gonna have to work on this!

The past week has been wonderfully exciting since we have found out that baby is a girl. It's nice to be able to refer to her as a "she" because it helps give her some identity and makes it feel all the more real for us. Both sides of the family are super excited too.

She has been moving A LOT! Sometimes it just feels like she's rolling around in there and then sometimes she is full on kicking and punching. Nathan was able to feel her for the first time on Tuesday which was a wonderful treat for him.

I have bought a few cute little girl things for her which is so much fun! I have to try to show some restraint or I'll buy out the store! My friend Stephanie's littlest girl was born in October so she already gave me a bunch of the clothes that she wore in her first year. There are so many cute wintery things that I can't wait for her to wear!

Glad to have a 3 day weekend so we can get some rest and have some fun. It'll be busy at work the rest of the week, but so worth it. Have a good Memorial Day!

It's a......

GIRL!


Little baby Seago is now officially "little baby GIRL Seago!" I had my ultrasound at 9:30 ish this morning. I woke up not feeling well at all and I thought 'Why of all days, today?' But by the time I was on the table I was feeling a little better. It was neat to see all the pictures of her and hear her heartbeat (and see it pumping!). Her HR was 138bpm which is really good and normal. She has all her fingers and toes and all her bones are there and intact! I also have gained 5lbs since my last appointment 6 weeks ago, which was a nice thing to hear. When they got to the part about telling us her gender, the tech was very dramatic....

"You guys... are having.... a .... little....................................girl."

The little stinker is stubborn... she wouldn't move her head (which is currently pointed downward) in a place where her brain could be measured so the tech kept hitting my belly with the ultrasound head. Not a good thing, because they make me pee in a cup every time I am there and I downed a bottle of water pretty quickly before I got there. I am not very excited about peeing in a cup, but I was so happy when she finally handed it to me. Ha ha!

Daddy Nathan is very excited and I keep hearing the expression "We are having a little girl!?!" over and over. It's adorable. He will be wonderful with her.

We bought her first little girl outfit. It's a little pink sleeper that says "Mommy and Daddy's Sweetest" with a big strawberry on it. It is soooo cute!

So everyone is excited and we can't wait to meet her in October!


By the way, we don't have any names picked out yet!

18 weeks

So I am at the 18 week mark... just a few short weeks from being HALFWAY through! Wow! I really can't believe it because at my 6 week mark, I was going "how am I going to do this?" Glad to report that I am feeling really good except for headaches and back pain/SI joint pain. Both of those things can be pretty disabling at times.

So at 18 weeks, the baby has started moving like crazy, but I only feel it occasionally. One day I thought my pager was going off, but I realized that the vibration I felt was not where my pager was... I'm assuming that is the baby, but I'm sure I'll feel him/her much more soon. He or she is passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. It is about the size of a sweet potato now.

We have one more week until we find out the sex of the baby and get to see him/her for the first time! I haven't had any ultrasounds since they have been able to find good heartbeats each time I've had an appointment. What do I think it is? My feelings at this point say BOY. Who knows though... I could be wrong!

Because of my feelings that little baby Seago is a boy, several have asked what would we name him... Honestly, I have no idea. But my friend Holland from work suggested : Viggo Seago because of Nathan's uncanny resemblance to the actor Viggo Mortenson (see picture below). Hmmm, I'm not sure that I'm hooked on it, but it sure would be funny!
I probably won't post again until after my ultrasound on the 18th, but stay tuned!

Belly Explosion!

This is a 17 1/2 week picture taken tonight. I have been fretting this week a little bit about how I haven't gained much weight, etc. The Lord must have heard me because overnight, I sprouted this belly. The baby must have REALLY grown in the last few days. Or maybe it's all that southern cookin' I tried to squeeze in this last week. Anyway, I just thought it was update worthy! Enjoy!