Carseat adventures and 37 week update.

With my due date only three weeks away I decided it was time to figure out the carseat and get it installed in my car. It took me a little while to figure out the instructions and to figure out where the LATCH anchors were located in my car, but eventually I figured it out. The hardest part was getting the straps attached to the LATCH anchors because they are located behind the seat and I had a difficult time getting my hand in there. After some struggling I think I got the base installed correctly and the carseat hooked in, but just in case I am going to call the Utah County Health Department and see about having them do a carseat check in the next week or so.

In other news, I had my 37 week OB check-up today. Everything still looks great, though I've hit the 35 pound mark for weight gain and I'm starting to get a little nervous about taking it off after the baby is born. I was a little dissapointed that I'm only 1 1/2 cm dilated, but I am 70% effaced and the baby is head down and low in my pelvis, so I'm making slow progress. He also estimated that she weights about 7 pounds, which I have to admit makes me a little nervous since she could still grow for another three weeks and I am just one tiny woman. The doctor just laughed at my concerns and said he didn't anticipate I'd have any problems delivering a 7 to 8 1/2 pound baby... I guess we'll see. :-)

1 cm dilated and 50% effaced

This isn't a particularly exciting post, but I did have my "36 week" appointment today, even though I'm just over 35 weeks since my doctor will be out of town next week. Nothing has really changed since the last appointment- bp is still good, belly still measures well, I'm still gaining weight appropriately and although my rings don't fit my swelling in minimal. I did have my strep B test today, but I won't find out the results for another week and a half. He also checked me for dilation and effacement, and much to my surprise I'm already dilate a centimeter and half way thinned out. I guess that means we're on our way, but there's no predicting when I'll go into labor. 4 1/2 weeks until D-day.

We're getting anxious and excited for this baby's arrival, and hopefully she won't keep us waiting for too long (the thought of this pregnancy going to 42 weeks... don't want to think about it). I'm getting a little stir crazy hanging out at home, and with being so very pregnant I'm having a hard time getting out to do things. It's getting harder to move and breathe and since we don't want to spend a ton of money our options are limited. I'm also getting a little nervous about Christian being gone at Scout camp at the end of July. He'll be gone the 20th through the 24th, and I'm paranoid I'll go into labor during that week. I guess we'll wait and see.

Baby's room

With all the time it took us to have a successful pregnancy and how excited I finally was to start preparations for our little girl, it should come as no surprise that with only just over 7 weeks to go I basically have the baby's room ready.

Our shower gift from my mom and dad was the money to pay for our crib. We ordered it a few weeks ago and this past Monday we finally went and picked it up. Thursday we got it put together, which wasn't super difficult, but putting the drop side on and getting the base for the mattress attached was a little frustrating.

Here's what it looks like in her room (and of course Tieg had to get in the picture too).

The dresser/changing table.

A closer look at the shelves next to the window and changing area.

Lace curtains- and yes, I made them.

The rocking chair and bookcase.

There are still a few finishing touches to add in (a hamper, a diaper pail, supplies to actually change the baby, baskets for the book shelf to organize her toys...), but I'm really pleased with the way it has turned out. :-)

Baby Shower Part 1

I flew to Michigan on Thursday to visit family, attend a flag corps show at my old high school and have a baby shower my mom, aunt and sister threw for me. They did a beautiful job. I didn't get a picture on my camera, but my Aunt decorate her basement all in pink with flower and candles. She also used some adorable stuffed animals on the table that I got to bring home to put in baby's nursery. We also played a few fun games. We played BABYO (bingo, with nursery rymes) and a game where you had to guess the amount of money it would cost for a basket of baby items my mom purchased. Best of all, I got to take the basket of stuff home! There's a box of baby wipes, a bottle, a jar of baby food, pacifiers, a cooler bag for bottles, finger nail clippers and a hat and bootie set. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people who love me and Christian and are excited about our coming addition. We received lots of adorable baby clothes, a good start to baby Burrell's stuffed animal collection, and a generous amount of money and gift cards to get some needed baby gear. I'll admit, I'm excited to go do some serious baby shopping and to put all the cute clothes away in her closet and dresser. Here are just a few pictures of today festivities.

The cake my sister made.

A beautiful crochet blanket and pillow from Audrey (one of my closest friends, and my oldest friend- we met in preschool!).

A few of the baby clothes (these are from my mom). My favorite of all the little clothes is the yellow shirt on the right. It says "pint sized peanut" which my Mom got for us because we call our little one peanut. That's my cousin Kim's little girl Ryleigh next to me. She was so excited to help me open my presents. She was really cute when she said goodbye to me- she wished me "good luck in getting that baby out of my tummy".... if only she knew! :-)

Another hand made gift from my shower. My mom and Aunt's found a white apron in my grandmother's house when they were cleaning it a few weeks ago that my greatgrandmother made for my grandmother. My Aunt Kathy turned it into this gorgeous baby bonnet. I can't wait to see it on my sweet little baby girl. It matches my christening gown (which my grandma Luckhardt made for my dad and then I wore) that we will use when baby Burrell is blessed.

My favorite part of the day was everyone's reaction to my round belly. I get lots of comments that I don't look big for (almost) six months and that I look really great. It's nice to hear. Of course my brother and my Aunt were teasing me that they look more pregnant than I do, so we took a picture to compare. Isn't this great?

It's been a really great day. It was so nice to see everyone. I even got to spend some time with my niece and nephew. I can't wait until they can play with their little cousin too.

Receiving Blanket part 2 and other random updates

So about 30 minutes after the last post I decided I really didn't want to leave the yellow receiving blanket like it was. I pulled out all the stitching and re-did the top-stiching on the entire blanket. I used the zig-zag stitch instead of a straight stitch. I also didn't try to turn the corners this time. I am still a pretty novice seamstress and just getting a straight line is difficult for me. I think it turned out a bit better than my first attempt. It's still not perfect, as you can probably see from the pictures ... but I've been told this sewing thing gets easier with practice.

In other news, I also went and finished my baby registry at Target tonight. This registry trip was much better. I don't know if it's the obvious bump, or if people at Target are just nicer, but I had a much better time registering tonight than I did at BRU. My mom should be happy now though- she was on my case tonight to get the registry finished since the invitations to my baby shower (on May 9th) are going in the mail on Saturday.

I also had my 24 week appointment today. Even though Christian would rather see her on another ultrasound it was still nice for both of us to get to hear our baby girl's heart beat again. She's so cute, she kept moving out of the way of the doppler--- apparently she didn't like being squished in there. They also measured my bump for the first time today. I'm measuring 23 centimeters, which is apparently just right for 24 weeks (Dr Watabe told me I should be within 2 cm of how many weeks I am). It was a relief to know that I'm measuring just right, even though I still think I look pretty tiny. Everything with my pregnancy looks absolutely perfect and I'm officially considered very low risk. YAY! I do still have to have a glucose tolerance test, but apparently this test is routine for anyone. I'm not looking forward to drinking the bottle of orange stuff in my fridge, but hopefully the results of that test will come back normal. :-) I also found out from my doctor that he will schedule an induction for 1 week past my due date, which means that in 17 weeks we will definetly have a baby. It's crazy to think that I'm only 16 weeks away from my due date today... this last half of my pregnancy has definetly been going by much more quickly than the first half. Let's hope it keeps up this way!

Nesting?

As mentioned in a previous post, I've been on a craft/sewing kick lately. I finished my first ever quilt last Saturday and decided to post some pictures to show it off. Since it's my first ever attempt at a quilt and my first time on a sewing machine in years, it's not perfect. I wish I would have taken a picture before I washed it because washing has bmade the top pucker a little bit. That might be due in part to the fact that I tied it instead of quilting it. I just don't have the patience for hand quilting and I was afraid I would ruin it if I tried machine quilting. But never-the-less it's ababy quilt that I made for my baby, so that makes it special.

I've also tried my hand at a few burp cloths. The inspiration came from homemadebyjill.blogspot.com, but I made some changes. I did a 9x18 rectangle instead of a peanut shape, and instead of just one seam down the middle I actual "quilted" them, sewing a seam down the middle the long way and three seams the short way making 8 squares. I kept the rag edge because it means less pressing and I can be a little less careful with my seam allowance. Here are a few pictures.

I made three different colors and used 6 different fabrics. Here they are lined up in "pairs".

I also made a receiving blanket using two pieces of flannel. I LOVE the print of this one... the stiching on the other hand is a little sub par (as is the picture taking). I may actually pick out the top stitching on this one and re-do it to make the corners more square... but until then here it is.

And last but not least, we dyed easter eggs on Saturday night and I thought I would show off one of my favorites. We had a "Star Wars" egg dyeing kit and it came with a Darth Vader helmet. I decided to color an egg to look like Christian and put the helmet on it. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Saturday craft session

So a little bit of a disclaimer: I am not a crafter. I usually don't have the patience, the skill and/or the creativity to come up with a project and see it through from start to finish. However, for the past few weeks I've been feeling a little restless and in need of a project- a rare feeling for me, but I chalk it up to the "nesting instincts" that supposedly come along with the second half of pregnancy. It's the only way I can explain my sudden need to create (not to mention clean, organize, sanitize and beautify). I was a little bit at a loss for project ideas. Then, miraculously, the other day I was bored and browsing through the "friends" links on my friends and families blogs and I found a link to a delicious new blog with tons of baby crafts and projects. Suddenly I had an inspiration! This is my first attempt at a craft from her blog www.homemadebyjill.blogspot.com- a "take me home" infant tee. I couldn't find a newborn size in these simple side snap shirts, so I bought 0-3 month size. They'll be a little big to begin with (unless she's over 8 pounds at birth, but in my family that would be a pretty big baby... then again C was 9 1/2 pounds... but I digress...), but I figure that's ok since most babies outgrow newborn sizes pretty quickly.

Since the t-shirts come in 2 packs I chose two different colors for my little experiment, and I'm quite happy with the results. I was happy to also be able to find coordinating buttons! If you look closely the stitching isn't perfect. I'm a novice with a sewing machine and sewing ric-rac on to a tiny infant-t is not the easiest task in the world, but overall I don't think they turned out half bad.

Here's another picture with just the pink shirt. I could make a dozen of these to stick in my baby girl's drawer. I keep thinking about all the possibilities: yellow with sunflower buttons, red with heart buttons, purple with butterfly's (I saw some really CUTE buttons at Joanne'S!).

This one little project seems to have tapped into the creative side of my brain. As I was finishing up with the blue shirt I saw a scrap of the ric-rac and thought I could make some cute coordinating headbands. The elastic I had on hand was a little wider than the ric-rac but it works out ok. I'm pretty proud of these little creations too, especially since the idea came from my own noggin! :-)

And THEN I remembered this really cute red gingham ribbon I saved off a recent gift! I had enough that I made a headband for baby and a matching one for me. :-) I've become a crafting monster today.

What's next on the agenda? My mom is teaching me how to quilt. Granted, she is in Michigan and I am in Utah so my instruction comes over the phone, but I bought some super cute flannel at Joanne's and she is walking me through the steps. Stay tuned, because now that I've started crafting I don't think I'll be able to stop!

Finally!

At 21 weeks I think I finally look pregnant! Even a few friends at the gym made the comment that I'm finally looking pregnant, and not just fat (ok, I added the "not just fat" part). This isn't the greatest picture of me (I need to stop taking them right when we get home from the gym... how about when I've actually done my hair and makeup?)

Unfortunately I've also reached the milestone where I have little to wear. I have a few prepregnancy stops that look ok and one pair of jeans I'm still trying to convince myself fit. I guess it means I'll be going shopping this weekend. Anyone want to come along? :-)

More baby fun

I got Christian to agree to go to Babies R Us with me tonight and while I had him there we decided to set up our baby registry. I was worried it was a little early, but my Mom and a few others have been asking me about it and encouraging me to go register, so I did. The girl at the counter was really helpful and reassured us that we could register whenever we wanted (and that a lot of people come register right after they find out what they're having). I've been on their website almost constantly the past few months looking at stuff and pretty much knew what I wanted anyway, so I figured "why not". It was pretty fun until the very end. We were looking at gliders and one of the sales associates came over to ask us if we had any questions. And then he had the gall to take one look at me, give me a dirty look, and tell me that it was "WAY too early for me to register". I said something to the effect of "I don't think so", which prompted him to ask my due date and then insist AGAIN that we were jumping the gun. I didn't feel like arguing with someone who was supposedly there to help so I semi-politely thanked him for his opinion (I think I actually said "thanks for your opinion, but I could have done without it"...) and walked back up to the registry counter to return my clicker. It shouldn't have upset me. It's my baby, my pregnancy, and my business what I do, but I ended up bursting into tears in the parking lot and crying the entire drive home. I'm chalking my emotions up to pregnancy hormones, but seriously, where do people I don't even know get off passing judgement on me? What could make a sales associate think they could tell a customer that they should't do something? I'm still a little peeved about it to be honest... as if you couldn't tell from the rambling blog post. But seriously- I just don't understand some people! It's bad enough that everyone who finds out I'm pregnant comments about how tiny I still am (as if I'm lying about how far along I am? I don't get it). Ok Sarah, deep breath and relax.

At any rate, we're registered (thankfully his comment came after I had clicked every thing I wanted)....

Daddy's little girl

I'm amazed at how much seeing our little girl at my ultrasound has changed Christian and my perception of her. She finally seems real, like a real little person who will be joining our family. We pulled out the ultrasound pictures from my 6 and 7 week appointments last night, and were amazed at how much she's grown in 13 weeks. We also put in the DVD from my ultrasound last night. It's only about 2 minutes (they only record the highlights), but it was awesome to be able to see her stretch and kick and make faces at us. Christian kept restarting it and when I asked him about it he said, "I just can't stop looking at her". I know he's as nervous about being a father and I am about being a mother, but I also can tell that he already loves his little girl so much. She's really lucky to have him as her daddy. Actually, she's just such an incredibly lucky girl. That's more and more apparent to me as I realize how many people already love her and can't wait to meet her.

Speaking of little girls, when Christian's cousin Chris found out we were having a girl he told Christian to "get used to the color pink". I was orginally planing to do her nursery in more neutral tones so that if she has a little brother before we move into a bigger house I won't have to completely change the nursery. That was me being practical, but I've decided practicality must go and that I'm doing the nursery in pink with yellow accents. Why not I say- besides, there's a 50% chance she'll have a little sister in a few years too. :-)

It's a girl!!!

I had my 20 week ultrasound today and as you can tell from the title of this post, we're having a girl. She let us have a really good look and there's no doubt that she is not a boy. She was so active this morning, bouncing and kicking and showing off for mom and dad. She's just precious and we couldn't be happier. My doctor also said that everything looks perfect with her development, organs are all in place and measuring where they should be, and she's measuring right on for 20 weeks gestation. Her momma might not look 20 weeks pregnant, but she definetly is. One interesting thing we found out today-- I have been feeling her squirm around in there, but I havn't been feeling any really definite movement. I found out today at my ultrasound that it's because I have an anterior placenta, which means the placenta is attached to the front of my abdomen and when she kicks around in there the placenta muffles some of the movement. At any rate, here she is! I can't wait to meet her (only 20 weeks to go)!

Here she is in profile. Isn't she gorgeous?

Her precious tiny feet.

A view of her sweet little bottom giving us litte doubt that she is in fact a baby girl.

Why I love Ikea.

Christian and I just got our tax refund and we're planning to use some of the mone to buy a new couch for our front room. I was online Sunday night looking at Ikea's couches and came across their Presidents day sale. The dresser I wanted for the baby's room was on sale, Monday only, for $39.99! (It's normally $79.99). So I got in my car Monday morning and braved the madness. I got there at about 11am, and it actually wasn't too bad. The only confusing part was that you had to go upstairs to get a ticket for your dresser and then go stand in line and no one told me when I first walked in the door. Oh well. After about 15 minutes I figured it out and it only took about 20 minutes to get my dresser, including time to walk upstairs for my ticket and wait in what seemed like a very long line.

I decided to set it up when I got home and the set up was pretty easy. We have the larger 6 drawer version in dark brown in our room, and setting that up wasn't too bad. This 3 drawer version was even easier. It took about 30 minutes total. It's surprisingly heavy for being made of particle board and at $40 if it lasts until our son or daughter is in kindergarten I'll be happy. Here's a picture!

The stuffed animals are mostly mine; a few favorites from childhood I brought with me when I moved to Utah, and a few that Christian has gotten me over the years. A few are actually the baby's. They won't end up on the dresser ultimately, thought I don't know where I'm going to put them, but for now they look cute. Eventually I think I'm going to turn the top of the dresser into a changing table, but I havn't decided. I've got almost 6 months to make up my mind any way. Well- 24 weeks. :-)