Bumpdate 20 weeks!

How far along: 20 weeks!

 

Baby Size: Head to heel Baby G is about 6.5 inches long and weighs approximately 10.5 ounces, at our 20 week ultrasound she weighed in at 13 ounces. Baby G is about the size of a banana. She is swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. We were able to see the contents from her stomach empty into her bladder on the ultrasound Friday morning; it was very cool to see her bladder get bigger.

Maternity Clothes: Yep and loving them!

Sleep: Sleep has been okay, I’m getting more comfortable sleeping on my side.

Gender: It is a GIRL! We had an amazing day Sunday, celebrating our baby girl was so much fun!

 

Movement: Yes I believe I am feeling Baby G move and on Friday at the ultrasound she was moving & stretching and playing with her feet. It was so fun to see and I'm looking forward to feeling her movements become more recognizable as she gets bigger.

 

Best moment this week: The best moment this week was seeing Baby G during the ultrasound. At one point she stretched her arms & legs out and yawned big; it was a fantastic moment for Andy and me.

Looking forward to: Picking out items for the nursery and starting to talk about names.

Food cravings: Still loving orange juice and really love toast with butter!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Labor Signs: Absolutely not!

What I miss: Nothing much.

Symptoms: I’m getting a little clumsier; I’ve noticed that I am a little off balance at times. Increased appetite…snacking is the new normal, little aches and pains (mainly in my hips and rump). The“bump” is making an appearance and goes from rock hard to soft at various times throughout the day. Such a weird feeling.

Nursery: Baby G is one loved little lady, she now has some additional outfits, a pink tutu, a soft snuggly (handmade) blanket, a changing table, 2 pair of shoes, 2 bottles, baby monitor, some picture frames, Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal and a basket of books!

Wedding rings on or off: On

Mood: Pretty good this week, my emotions are up and down at times but that is expected with pregnancy.

With love,

Mrs. G

 

Gender Reveal Party!

Our 20 week anatomy ultrasound was Friday 02/21 and we planned our gender reveal party for Sunday 02/23.  We took a little bit of a risk as there is no guarantee that the baby will cooperate but thankfully Baby G cooperated.  The invitations went out about 3 weeks prior and I love how they turned out, please excuse Donald Duck...I had to block out the address.



 

When our appointment started, the ultrasound tech asked us if we wanted to know the gender, we told her yes but we wanted it either in an envelope or if possible an email sent to the cake maker.
Our ultrasound tech was so sweet and due to the snowstorm she emailed our cake maker so we didn't have to drive anywhere to deliver it.  She really went above and beyond for us, at our next appointment we are going to bring her a little thank you gift. 

During the appointment she took a peak at the gender without us even knowing and she didn't say a word, I was so surprised when I got a text from the cake maker saying she received the email.

The person who made the cake is a friend of mine, A has been my friend for 30 years and we were bridesmaids in each others weddings.  It meant so much to me to have her be the first person to know and to make the cake.  I sent her some pictures via pinterest, I really wanted a cake with white frosting and pink & blue polka dots...it turned out perfectly!



A was able to keep the secret for 2 days, both my mom and younger sister harassed her a little for the goods and she didn't even flinch! 

The party was to start at 3pm so we served light snacks and refreshments, it was much easer on me.  I ordered most of the decorations from birthdaydirect.com and the prices were extremely reasonable and I loved that they had a gender reveal section.  We had adorable pink & blue plates, napkins and cups along with a pink and blue table cloth. 
On Saturday afternoon Mr. G and I ordered balloons for the party, we chose a pink "it's a girl" giraffe and a blue "it's a boy" giraffe.  They were adorable, we spent too much on balloons but oh well...it's our first baby:) 

I put together a poster board with some of the gender predicting "Old Wives Tales" and here are the predictions I included:

Heartbeat above 140 bpm = Girl
Morning Sickness (no) = Boy
Chinese Gender Predictor = Girl
More Headaches (yes) = Boy
Parent.com Gender Predictor = Girl
Dry Skin = Boy
Acne (yes) = Girl
Clumsy (yes) = Boy



We served vegetables & pretzels with hummus, a cheese & meat plate, guacamole & salsa with chips and a fresh fruit tray. 



For drinks we served baby blue punch and baby pink punch (Non-alcoholic) as well as rose champagne (pink) and brut champagne with a little blue curacao to make it blue.  Sorry about the quality of this picture, our buffet was hard to photograph because of the sun.



All of our family and friends arrived by 3:20pm (yes we had some stragglers, which was frustrating).  We had all of them choose their guess of Baby G's gender by wearing a blue or pink ribbon pin.

 

By 3:30pm Mr. G and I could not wait a minute longer.  We had both gone back and forth thinking it was a boy and then a girl and then a boy...so we really had no idea nor any "gut instincts".

We gathered everyone around the table and cut into the cake!!!

So without further ado...Baby G is a...



 

 

GIRL!!!!!!



 

As you can see by the first reaction picture, it was an emotional and surprising moment.  I cried...okay okay I sobbed and Mr. G was very excited!  We are thrilled that our baby girl is growing on schedule and is looking healthy!  Both families are very excited to be adding a little lady to the fam.

We could not have asked for a better day, celebrating with our families and special friends was incredible.  I am so thankful to have our families close.

20 week bumpdate will be posted soon....so much to post this week!


With love,

Mrs. G

20 week ultrasound and the bus trip getting there.

This winter in Minnesota, Minnesnowta as I have been calling it, has seemed especially harsh.  We have had close to 60 inches of snow and a record number of frigid temperature days...our school districts are scrambling to figure out how they are going to make up all of the school days cancelled due to the record negative temperatures.

Last Thursday and Friday were no different, the storm began on Thursday around 12:00pm.  It started with freezing rain and slush and turned to wet heavy snow by 5:00pm; we typically call this type of snow "heart attack snow" because shoveling it has been known to cause heart attacks.  Driving in this storm was very difficult due to the layer of ice that was on the ground first and the wet slippery nature of the snow. 

The MN department of transportation recommended no unnecessary travel on Friday, well our 20 week ultrasound appointment was necessary.  Luckily our doctors office is not far from our house, only about a mile, and the bus route to get there was simple and quick.

Now I will be honest, I was not thrilled about taking the bus to our appointment however I also knew that getting our car stuck in the alley behind our house would have been an even bigger problem.  So I bundled myself up and we headed for the bus stop.  Thankfully the bus was only about 7 minutes late and we arrived at the transfer station 1 minute before the second bus came.  We were able to make it to our appointment in 20 minutes.

Unfortunately I did not take any photos of the snow or our trip on the bus, honestly I didn't want to take my mittens off to operate the camera or my phone.

Now to the really amazing part, our 20 week ultrasound!  Mr. G and I were so thrilled to be able to see our baby and make sure he/she was growing okay and looking good to the doctor.  We, like many parents to be, had been looking forward to the appointment for so long.

Our appointment began with pictures and measurements while I had a full bladder, making a pregnant woman drink 32 ounces of water an hour before an appointment is almost torture.  Once our ultrasound tech was done taking those measurements she thankfully let me run to the bathroom, and I am serious about the running thing.

After the bathroom trip the real fun began, we were able to watch Baby G move and stretch during the entire appointment.  It was so much fun!  The ultrasound tech explained each and every measurement and picture she was taking.  We saw the baby's stomach, bladder, 2 kidneys, spine, brain and learned about the red flags the doctor looks for when scanning these pictures.  Everything was measuring perfectly and Baby G looked great!

Baby G was a little bit uncooperative at one point as the ultrasound tech needed to get pictures of the face and of the heart and our little bundle of joy kept turning away and putting its hands over its face.  We tried everything to get Baby G to turn and cooperate, I drank juice, ate some candy, used the bathroom, danced and skipped around and layed on my side for a while.  Nothing worked, so we have to go back at 24 weeks to get the additional pictures of Baby G.

I think our favorite part was when Baby G stretched out its arms and legs and had a big yawn...it was incredible to watch it.  It was a very emotional moment for both of us.

I bet you are wondering about the gender of Baby G, well you will have to wait a little longer...I'm working on the Gender Reveal party post.  Our ultrasound tech was kind enough to email the results to our cake maker, thank goodness too...I didn't want to have to drive anywhere on Friday.  The party was incredible and I can't wait to fill you in! 

With love,

Mrs. G

Bumpdate 19 weeks!

How far along:  19 weeks!

Baby Size:  Head to rump Baby G is about 6 inches long and weighs approximately 8.5 ounces.  Baby G is about the size of a mango.  The baby's nerve cells are busy developing his/her sense of taste, hearing, sight and smell.  The kidneys are making urine and studies show that hearing is developed so reading and talking to Baby G is encouraged.

Maternity Clothes:  Yep and loving them!  Still wearing some non-maternity tops and yoga pants that are stretchy and feel okay. 

Sleep:  Sleep has been hit and miss the last week...not terrible though.

Gender:  Less than a week before we find out, actually just a couple of days!!  We are so excited and can't wait for our gender reveal party.  I will do a post specifically for the party and to reveal the gender of Baby G.

Movement:  Not really sure...I'm hoping that what I am feeling is Baby G but I think I will have to wait a week or two for the movements to become more discernable.

Best moment this week:  Getting some additional items for the nursery and looking at bedding options.  So adorable!

Looking forward to:  Knowing if Baby G is a he or she and working on the nursery.

Food Cravings:  Still loving orange juice and toast with butter!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nope.

Labor Signs:  Absolutely not!

What I miss:  Nothing much.

Symptoms:  I'm getting a little clumsier; I've noticed that I am a little off balance at times.  Increased appetite...snacking is a must, little aches and pains (mainly in my hips and rump).  The "bump" is making a bit of an appearance and goes from rock hard to soft at various times throughout the day.  Such a weird feeling.

Nursery:  Changing table, 2 pair of shoes, 2 outfits, 2 bottles, baby monitor, some picture frames, Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal and a basket of books.  We've added a few more items but the list is just getting too long.

Wedding rings on or off:  On

Mood:  Better this last week, the backstories about the Olympic athletes are so good and make me tear up (okay they often times make me cry).  Sometimes I try not to watch not only for my emotional well-being but my poor husband's well being as well.  Ha ha!



With love,

Mrs. G

Water damage and tired of the Minnesota Winter!

I'm quite behind on my week 19 bumpdate, I promise to post it later today, but we have been dealing with the joys (insert sarcasm) of the Minnesota winter.

Let me back up for just a moment, last weekend we had our stairway leading to our upstairs and our hallway upstairs painted.  We are working on getting some things updated and fixed up prior to the baby coming.  Our painter worked all weekend, did a fantastic job and even offered to come start the ceiling in the living room on Monday, his day off. 

I was able to work from home on Monday due to the painter and the lovely snowstorm we got, about 4-5 inches of new snow.  The painter finished up about mid-day and was on his way.
The temperature began to increase and by 7pm was about 33 degrees, we knew that Tuesday and Wednesday were going to be very nice...about 40 degrees. 
That type of a thaw in Minnesota is known to cause water damage due to ice dams, which is the back up of ice that can eventually cause water underneath the shingles and into the house.

At 6:30am on Tuesday morning I woke up to a strange sound downstairs, it sounded like my kitchen broom had fallen and the handle hit the floor.  I sent Mr. G down to check it out and when I heard my normally quiet husband exclaim "OH NO!  OH MY GAWD!!!" I knew something was bad.
I went scrambling downstairs to find a portion of our living room ceiling falling into our living room, it reminded me of skin peeling.  Water was dripping out all over our hard wood floors and a leather chair that was directly below the issue...it was a big mess.  I couldn't believe it, as if it wasn't bad enough the ceiling had been painted the day before!

We took a bunch of pictures for the insurance company, collected the biggest pieces of the ceiling in case the insurance company wanted to see them and after chatting with the insurance company I began the clean up process.  Luckily we have hard wood floors and I was able to sweep some of it up and then wash the floors.  I put out buckets and towels so the floors wouldn't get ruined and then cleaned up the leather chair and put a fan on it to dry it out.

My day was spent with insurance adjustors, general contractors and concerned family members calling to make sure we didn't need anything. 

Our general contractor assessed the damage and told us that the entire living room ceiling will need to be opened up, foam and new insulation will need to be put in and then the ceiling closed and fixed.  He said that Mr. G had done a great job keeping snow off the roof but that the big thaw was a perfect storm for leaks like this.  The job will take them about 2-3 weeks, we may have to move out during that time due to dust and it not being safe.  We are hoping that the insurance company pays for a hotel and that we don't have to inconvenience our family members too much.

While we love living in Minnesota close to both sides of the family it is times like this that I would love to live somewhere warmer and not have to deal with snow and ice!  But I am guessing it would just be something different in a warmer climate.

I hope all of you stay safe as these winter storms travel throughout the country, we are expecting an additional 10-12 inches today.  Working from home is an option I am truly thankful for!

With love,

Mrs. G

Bumpate 18 weeks!

How far along:  18 weeks!

 

Baby Size:  Head to rump Baby G is 5 1/2 inches long and weighs approximately 7 ounces.  Baby G is about the size of a sweet potato.  Baby G is busy flexing his/her arms and legs, hiccupping and yawning; something that I hope to feel soon!  His/her ears are in their final position and we are encouraged to talk to Baby G so he/she recognizes our voices at birth.  It is likely that the gender of Baby G could be identified now, but we still have a couple of weeks to wait.

Maternity Clothes:  Last Friday my older sister, my niece and I made a trip to the local Motherhood Maternity Outlet store.  I'm so glad that we have an outlet store here in Minnesota, I got some great deals!  We had a blast, I tried on lots of clothes...some with the 7 month bump...which was a lot of fun.  I purchased 2 pair of jeans, a pair of dress pants, 4 shirts and a dress; the best part is I didn't spend a fortune.  When I tried on the maternity clothes I felt 100% better, it felt so good to be in clothing that fit...and I felt cute!!  Winning!

Sleep:  I am continuing to attempt to sleep on my side, most of the time I end up flat on my back after a while.  Sleep has been hit and miss the last week.

Gender:  Only two more weeks!!  I'm busy preparing for the gender reveal party, I cannot wait.

Movement:  I have read that if you want to feel movement you should drink some cold orange juice and lay down to relax, Mr. G and I tried that last week...I didn't feel anything.  Oh well, soon enough.  Our doctor insists that I won't feel anything until around 20 weeks, first time moms have a hard time identifying the difference between gas and first time kicks.

Best moment this week:  Purchasing some maternity clothing that fits and feels great!

Looking forward to:  Knowing if Baby G is a he or she and working on the nursery.

Food Cravings:  Still loving orange juice!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not really.

Labor Signs:  Absolutely not!

What I miss:  Nothing much.

Symptoms:  I'm getting a little clumsier; I've noticed that I am a little off balance at times.  Increased appetite...snacking is a must, little aches and pains (mainly in my hips and rump).  The "bump" is making a bit of an appearance:)

Nursery:  Changing table, 2 pair of shoes, 2 outfits, 2 bottles, baby monitor, some picture frames, Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal and a basket of books.

Wedding rings on or off:  On however, I also have my great grandmother's wedding set on my right hand and that is starting to get tight.  I think that one will be off and in our safe deposit box prior to my wedding set.

Mood:  Very happy to be in the second trimester and feeling good...however, I have been a little tempermental lately.  Okay...truthfully I have been downright moody!  The littlest things irritate me and then I feel bad for getting irritated and I cry.  Sheesh!

With love,

Mrs. G

Bumpdate 17 weeks!

How far along:  17 weeks!

 

 

Baby size:  Baby G is about the size of an onion and weighing in at around 5 ounces and is about 5 inches long from head to bottom.  The baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone and he/she can move the joints and the sweat glands are starting to develop.

Maternity Clothes:  Belly band with all pants, one pair of maternity dress pants and a cute shirt from Old Navy.  My next purchase is going to be a pair of jeans and a few shirts that will get me through the next few months.

Sleep:  Not very good, I just cannot get comfortable and I wake up many times in the middle of the night.  I may be investing in a pregnancy pillow that lots of blog ladies have recommended.

Gender:  Not sure yet, February 21st is the date!  Mr. G and I have enjoyed reading the gender predicting "Old Wives Tails" and it is pretty much split down the middle.

Movement:  Movement is debatable right now; I swear I felt the baby once about two weeks ago.  However, our doctor insists that I won't feel anything until around 20 weeks since it is my first baby.

Best moment this week:  We purchased a changing table (pic) and having it in the nursery makes both of us smile each time we see it.  Mr. G and I are excited to continue working on the nursery...there are so many cute items out there.

 

Looking forward to:  Knowing if Baby G is a he or a she and working on the nursery!  And also, I have a weekend away with friends this coming weekend and I'm pretty excited:)

Food cravings:  Still loving orange juice!  I have also been on a grilled cheese sandwich kick, the Panini maker has been getting a lot of use.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not really.

Labor Signs:  Absolutely not!

What I miss:  Yesterday I had brunch with my sisters and my younger sister had a bloody mary that looked awesome!  Made me miss it, just a little;)

Symptoms:  I'm getting a little clumsier; I have noticed that I am a little off balance at times.  Increased appetite...snacking is the part of the new normal, little aches and pains (mainly in my hips and rump).  My tummy is getting a little hard in places, just another sign of Baby G getting bigger.

Nursery:  Changing table, 2 pair of shoes, 2 outfits, baby monitor, some picture frames and Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal.  Mr. G's brother and SIL have a basket of books waiting for us to pick up; Baby G is set with reading material for a while.

Wedding rings on or off:  On

Mood:  Very happy to be in the second trimester and feeling good...however, I have been a little tempermental lately.  There have been some tears shed for silly reasons, I guess the saying "don't cry over spilled milk" was meant for pregnant women.


With love,

Mrs. G