55 days and counting

Yes, it’s been awhile since I’ve updated. And no, I’m not going to apologize about it. :) Between working full time and growing a baby I feel like I’m allowed some leniency of how often I post. But since Kyle is at work and I have already taken a nap this morning (that’s right, I took a nap within 2 hours of waking up!) let me update everyone.

Now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t know if we have ever announced on our blog that we are expecting. So here’s a big surprise to anyone who happens to still follow our blog and has not heard our news! I am 32 weeks along, which puts us less than 2 months away from June 20^th. We are so excited! Kyle is thinking we’ll have a little girl

while I have a gut feeling the baby is a boy.

I guess we’ll know for sure the first time we change the little squirt’s diaper…

We actually were pregnant for the first time back in June and were due on March 3rd this year. But for some reason things did not work out and I miscarried. It was really tough, both at the time and for months afterwards, but we made it through it. And although I still can’t say I’m glad it happened, I think it has helped me deal with the less pleasant sides of pregnancy with a better attitude.

One of the things that helped me cope with this loss was training for my half marathon that I ran back in October.

It was a Halloween marathon and I dressed up as an American Flag. It's cool, I promise. I ran cross country and track in high school and it was SO NICE to get back into a running routine. It was good to be working towards a goal and the training definitely helped me manage the new stresses of working as a Registered Nurse on the orthopedic/neurosurgery floor at the hospital. My training was going really well, that is until morning sickness set in. I ended up running the race when I was 7 weeks pregnant. The first 7 miles went really well. Miles 8, 9, 10, oh who am I kidding, and all the rest of the race were rough (I’ll spare you the glamorous details of what that means). Fortunately, 13.1 miles came and I finished! My time wasn’t too impressive but I am definitely very excited to start training for another in a few months.

Most of my pregnancy has gone pretty smooth. Just twice a day I would meet my worst enemy.

That’s right, my toothbrush. I don’t know what it was, but something about sticking this plastic tool in my mouth with all of its minty freshness would make me throw up. I don’t know if any other ladies out there can relate to this, but it was a daily routine. I embraced being “Lindsay Rotten Mouth” because I could hardly brush my teeth longer than 30 seconds. Fortunately, we live in the modern age where gum has been invented. Trident Tropical Flavors became my best friends and thus I was able to keep all of my friends without scaring them off with foul breath. :)

So after months of puking daily, we made it to the blessed 20 week mark and had our first (and only) ultrasound. Now, up to this point I would have a near panic attack each time we stepped into the doctor’s office (we are going to Valley OB here in Provo and love it.) What if there was no baby? So the second our baby popped up on that big screen, I couldn’t catch my breath. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! Our ultrasound tech was so nice and was going into all kinds of details after she found out I was nurse. Here's a picture of the heartbeat.

And look at these cute little feet! She said that each foot measured an inch.

And here is a sideview of our baby! I can't believe how well defined the features are!

And here's a shot of the face head on. Kind of looks like Skeletor from He-man... but a very cute Skeletor....I probably shouldn't say things like that...I promise I will be a very supportive and loving mom...even if our child does look like a villan. :)

I think this photo is amazing because you can actually see the lens of the eye. Isn't that wild?

And a cute picture of the back to show that there are no signs of neural tube defects. The tech mentioned that I had a large uterus and that the baby should grow into it...hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me...I've never had someone comment on my uterus before. :)

After she measured everything she asked us if we were going to find of the gender. Now, for some reason we had thought it would be fun to make it surprise and told her “no.” She got so excited and pulled out two chocolates, one says “It’s a girl” and one saying “It’s a boy.”

Now granted, she gave me the boy one and Kyle the girl one, so maybe that’s why we both are swinging the way we are. After it was all over, she pulled me aside and told me that if I ever changed my mind later in my pregnancy she has the gender written down and all I have to do is ask. Too funny! So far we haven’t caved yet!

I finally broke down and began wearing maternity pants once I was 24 weeks along, and to be honest, I don’t know if I will ever go back to wearing normal clothes again! I haven’t had to do up a zipper or button on my pants for months!!! So if later on this year you still see me wearing my stretchy waist band pants, don’t act too surprise. Pregnant women and grandmas have got the comforts of life figured out. And for anyone shopping for maternity clothes, I recommend going to Burlington coat factory. The clothes there are a fraction of the price of the other maternity stores I've been to.

Now getting up at 5 in the morning and getting home shortly before 7 at night when I work has been tiring to say the least. But I do feel so grateful that I have job that we have insurance to take care of our family. On average, I walk about 5 miles while I’m at work (one of the girls I work with wears a pedometer) which is great exercise. Plus I love my co-workers and my patients. But I will blog about that another day.

Well there is the latest and greatest. I’ll end with some pictures so you can see how the baby and I are progressing.

This is the best pre-pregnancy picture I could find from the side. I guess I never have thought of taking side shots of myself until I was pregnant.

This is me at 20 weeks and still in normal clothes!

This is 23 weeks

This is 24 weeks

This is 26 weeks

Sorry I don't have any that are more recent. I'll make sure to take one soon and update. For now, be satisfied with a picture of our cute infant seat.