6 Month Update

Here is the jogging stroller that we recently bought.

Here is Peyton's new swimsuit and hat for our trip to Hawaii in August!

I know everyone says this, but really I can hardly believe I am already 6 months pregnant! This means we get to meet our little girl in about 3 1/2 months. This pregnancy really has gone pretty quick.

I had my 6 month check-up with the Providence Midwives (Gretchen) last week. I have been feeling great for the most part. The only complaints I had was that I was sleeping not so great. I kept waking up every 1-2 hours which is really bizarre for me. I had been reading in books that you are not supposed to sleep on your back after about 16 weeks. Since I am naturally a back sleeper, I kept being paranoid that I was going to wake up on my back, hence me waking up every 1-2 hours. Gretchen told me that I don't need to worry about waking up on my back. She said the main reason its not great to sleep on your back is because the extra weight from the baby can potentially compress your Vena Cava and disrupt blood flow. She said if I was on my back and this were to happen, my body would naturally respond by either waking up a little dizzy, or just moving to a different position. She said I could try sleeping with a small pillow under one of my hips to tilt my body a little bit. Good! Sleeping issue solved. That in combination with the fact that we desperately need a new mattress (ours squeaks every time you move at all) was the reason for sleeping funny. Needless to say, we are in the market for a new mattress as well. The other thing I wanted to bring up with her was that I had 2 long, physical days at work and noticed towards the end of the day that my belly was crampy. After laying or sitting down for a bit and taking a break though, it went away. She said this is normal when doing too much physical work, and that as long as it goes away after I rest a bit, no need to worry. I have walked around Greenlake a few times as well and noticed that towards the end of the walk, I get a little crampy as well. Must be a result of physical activity again.

The other things we went over at my appointment were:

• I have gained a total of 15 lbs!! That is good news, and Gretchen said its right on track. She said typically you gain about 1lb per week, and I am not gaining that much, but close enough to be healthy.



• Gretchen measured my belly with a tape measure and said I was measuring right on track



• Peyton's heartbeat was strong as usual, and always fun to hear (I think this is John's favorite part!).



• We discussed that at the next appointment I will do my Glucose screening for Gestational Diabetes.



• Gretchen re-tested my Thyroid just to make sure all is well. She said if there was any concern with the lab results, she would call me the next day and I did NOT receive a call from her, so I am assuming all is well with the Thyroid.

My next appointment will be at about 7 months and with one of the other midwives in the office. We decided to meet with the other midwives so that we can start meeting them all, as we won't know until delivery day which one will actually deliver Peyton. My appointment is with Ira, who is the only man midwife in the office.

People are always asking how I am feeling, and to be honest I can't complain really at all about being pregnant. I feel, for the most part totally normal and like I always feel. I don't' want to jinx myself, but its been great so far being pregnant. I can only hope that it continues this way!

The nursery is still a work in progress. John has been working hard on the dresser, and I did a test letter for Peyton's letters that will hang above her crib and love how it turned out. We took the glider cushions to Debbie along with some fabric we picked out and she is working away on that. Can't wait to see it!

It is AH-MAZING how many clothes that Peyton already has. Between what Katie gave us and what John's co-worker Lisa gave us, I truly believe Peyton is set for clothes up to about 12 months. My mom and I also came across a great sale a couple weeks ago and gymboree where all their summer outfits were either $3.99 or $6.99 and we must have bought 15 of them! She will be all ready for Hawaii this August. I have washed and organized all by size and am just waiting for the dresser to be done to put them away. We feel completely blessed to have been given all these nice clothes and can't wait to put her in them all!

Yesterday we bought a jogging stroller (pic above), which I am stoked about. I can't wait to get out there and start running again after she is born. I can't say I ever had the itch to run as badly as I do right now!

We also recently set up a registry on Amazon.com. I used the book "Baby Bargains" that John got me for Christmas along with reviews online to make our decisions about what to register for. That book was a lifesaver!! I can't wait to pass it along to Anna and Colin when they get pregnant.

Peyton is still moving alot, especially when I sit still or lay down. The other night I felt her roll for the first time, which was really interesting. John likes to put his hand on my tummy when we lay down for bed and feel her move all over and kick, kick, kick!

That's it for now. Check back soon for a new belly pic!

23.5 Week Belly Pic

Nursery progress so far...

Well, the bedding has been decided on, ordered, and has arrived. Like all things in marriage, this was a compromise decision. If I had it my way, I would have made Peyton's room pink, lacy, with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. If John had his way, he probably would have made it even more of a jungle theme, with less pink and purple. So, we searched and searched the online baby bedding sites, and finally came to the compromise of this bedding. We are both really happy with the decision. A huge reason we picked this bedding was because it tied in the green paint that was already on the wall in the nursery. We were trying to avoid painting (who am I kidding, John was trying to avoid painting), since the paint in there was new within the past year.

We still have a ton to do in here. John has been working really hard on the dresser/changing table. We purchased this before we even found out we were pregnant and had planned on using it for a china buffet in the dining room. Well, it ended up not fitting in the space we needed it to in the dining room, and it sat and sat taking up precious space in the garage. Then, we we found out we were pregnant and started thinking about furniture, it dawned on us that this piece would be absolutely perfect for a dresser/changing table. I adore it! Its super girly, has an antique feeling to it, lots of character on the wood-work, etc. It was painted with a horrid yellow/cream color, so John has been busy stripping the paint off it, and then we will paint it white. This also means I get to shop for dresser knobs! Can't wait to see this when its done.

The glider that you see in the pictures is also being worked on as well. We bought this on Craigslist when we first found out we were pregnant. It is in great condition, but we weren't thrilled with the denim fabric on the cushions. We have hired Debbie Nelson (who is also going to be Peyton's daycare provider) to sew us some covers for the chair. We are busy looking for the perfect fabric to match the bedding (and that will be unisex in case we have a boy next).

I have always wanted to hang name letters in the nursery, so we will be doing this as well. Similar to this idea: http://ny-image3.etsy.com//il_fullxfull.80894931.jpg . I may attempt to work on this project myself, but we'll just have to see.

More pics to come as we make more progress!

Ultrasound Pictures

I wanted to share our ultrasound pictures. The above pictures show our ultrasounds from 8 weeks, 12 weeks (2nd picture on the left side), and 20 weeks (2nd picture on the right side). Its amazing to me how much Peyton changes each time in just a few short weeks. We will have another ultrasound around 30 weeks to check the placement of the Placenta and be sure that it has moved up.