Week 40

My little girl was born Sunday March 2nd at 2:24pm!! We ended up naming her Alyssa Grace, and she weighs 7 pounds 1 ouce and is 19 inches long. She is a sweet, adorable little baby and we love her more than we could ever imagine :) Her birth story is under the "children" tab on my page!

Week 39

Well I finally had a day off and was able to finish our little girl's nursery (pics below)! Almost everything is ready for her arrival, we are just waiting for her to decide when to make her entrance! I went to the doctor yesterday, and I am 50% effaced and about 1cm dilated. The baby's head is only at a -2 station, so she hasn't fully dropped yet. My doctor would not give me a guess on how much longer I may have. She said with a first baby, it could be days or even a few more weeks. I really don't mind being pregnant for a few more weeks, but I am getting anxious to see my baby. My only fear about going over my due date is that she will keep gaining weight and I will have trouble pushing her out. I do not want to have a c-section!! But I keep telling myself she will come when she is ready. I can't believe this part of the journey is almost over, I can't wait!

Week 36

We had our last baby shower this past weekend (we ended up having 5 showers total). Again, we got tons of stuff! With all of the showers combined, we were given the crib, changing table, stroller and carseat, bouncer seat, rocking chair (glider with ottoman), crib bedding, swing, 2 pack-n-plays: one for traveling and a beautiful Laura Ashley play yard that we are using for the bassinet, crates of diapers from NB size to stage 2, crates of baby wipes, bath tub, bath products towels and wash cloths, baby monitor, breast pump and supplies, euro rider baby carrier, a beautiful Vera Bradley diaper bag, boppy pillows, toys, bottles, pacifiers, cups bowls and spoons, blankets, burp cloths, and TONS of clothes!!! We won't have to buy clothes for this little girl until she is 12 months old. The only thing we had to buy was extra crib sheets and a toy box. We still can't believe how far our friends and family went to help us with this baby! It's absolutely amazing. I finished packing the baby's hospital bag this weekend. I still need to pack my bag and finish up some odds and ends around the nursery. I also need to clean out my car and take our car seat to the fire department for a safety check. Other than that, we are just waiting for our little girl to make her appearance! I am hoping she will arrive as close to her due date as possible. I would like to keep working for the next 3 weeks, and I feel like I still have a few weeks worth of planning and cleaning to do around the house! I know these last few weeks are going to fly by, and I really can't wait to meet my daughter.

Week 34

The girls I work with threw me a surprise baby shower at work on Friday! I was so surprised, I cried a little lol. I can't believe all of the nice things they got for us!!! They gave us our travel system (stroller and car seat), baby monitor, a huge pack of wipes and diapers from Sams Club, and tons of clothes, blankets, toys, and bath stuff. We are so grateful! I just can't believe all of the things people have given us. It's amazing, and we really need it since it's our first baby. Our friends are throwing us a baby shower tomorrow, then we only have 2 more to go! :)

My brother came over tonight and helped my boyfriend put our crib together. It looks great, and the nursery should be almost complete by next weekend. We also took a tour of our hospital's maternity floor this morning, and it was nice. It feels like everything is really starting to come together, and we can't wait to meet our daughter. It's sooooo exciting!!

And I think we have finally decided on a name: !!!!!!!! Alyssa Nicole !!!!!!!!

Week 33

My boyfriend's mom threw us a baby shower tonight. It was a lot of fun, and we got TONS of stuff! Mostly clothes and blankets, we also got a bath tub, a diaper genie, toys, and lots of other necessities. It was great, everyone was really generous, the food was good, and we all had a good time. Only four more baby showers to go! lol. I am doing well at this point in the pregnancy. It is getting harder to get around carrying all of this extra weight, but it's not horrible. The baby is still really active. The doctor said that she is head down and little chance she will flip again. I am measuring normal to small, but I did get yelled at for my weight gain this week. I have gained over 40 pounds total, and in the last 3 weeks I've gained 7. My doctor told me that I'm only allowed to gain one pound a week for the rest of the pregnancy! That's not going to be easy, but I am going to start walking more to even out the weight gain. I'm also thinking about trying some natural labor induction methods in the next 3 or 4 weeks. I don't want to have her too early, but it would be nice to have this pregnancy thing done with a few weeks early or at least on time.

Week 31

We had our 3D ultrasound last weekend, and it was amazing. Things are really hectic around the house right now, and I'm starting to wonder if we will have everything set up and ready for the baby's arrival! I'm not having my baby showers until the end of January, which will only give us about 4 weeks to get everything ready to go. I hope she doesn't decide to come early! The third trimester is turning out to be very stressful on my body. I have gotten a LOT bigger in the past 4 weeks, and it's hard to walk up the stairs, sleep, breathe...everything is difficult. But when I feel her moving around and kicking it reminds me that it's all worth it.

Week 22

My mom and I went to Target tonight and did the baby registry for our little girl. It was sooooo much fun, but I was exhausted from working all day and put my mom in charge of the scanner. Well I just got online to review the list of items, and we scanned a ridiculous amount of stuff! Half of the stuff I don't even remember seeing so I know my mom went crazy, lol. I have almost 80 items on the registry right now. One of my friends is due in November and only has 25 items on hers! Oh well, we were just really excited and will probably end up buying half the stuff ourselves anyway :) It is so much fun planning for our little angel, I can't help it!!

Week 21

We had another ultrasound today to check the baby's organs and other vitals. Everything looked perfect, thank God! Her heart rate was 140 and she now weighs one whole pound. It was great seeing her move around. I am feeling her move every day, and her kicks are getting much stronger. I am feeling great, but eating a lot and gaining tons of weight. I've gained 22 pounds so far, and my doctor recommended trying to eat healthier and walking. I'm going to try really hard this month to do both, and we will see what happens!

Week 17

We had our ultrasound early and it's a GIRL!!!! The baby's heart rate has slowed down a bit to 144. I'm feeling great, the 2nd trimester definitely rocks. I have been doing a lot of shopping for baby clothes and have been spending time designing the nursery. My boyfriend and I are still discussing names, and hopefully we will agree on one soon! Right now we like Marissa, Hannah, Katelyn, and Jessica. I think this is the bedding we are getting for the nursery:

Week 13

Yesterday, I heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time!!! I have to say, it was the most amazing experience. The heart rate was 160 bpm, and the doctor was actually laughing because the baby was being incredibly active. She said, "Wow, this is a crazy little baby!!!" It was so great hearing that lil heartbeat, and I am getting so excited about this entire experience. Week 13 has been great!! Most of my nausea is gone, and I'm feeling better every day. I can't wait to find out if I'm having a boy or a girl. October 13 seems sooo far away!!!!