Just for fun...

Madame Zaritska, our resident clairvoyant, wants to help you prepare for the arrival of your child. Here she does her best to predict certain aspects of your labor and birth experience.

What she senses for you
The day you deliver, outside will be blustery. Your baby will arrive in the morning.

After a labor lasting approximately 9 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and will be 18-1/2 inches long. This child will have dark brown eyes and a lot of hair.

August 15, 2008- Today marks the 14 week mark! I have been busy reading my Pregnancy Bible and it's so interesting to read about the changes that are taking place with the baby as well as my body! It's amazing that there is a little human growing inside me and oftentimes I wish my tummy was see through so that I could see exactly what the baby looks like and what he/she is up to in there! The thing I am looking forward to most right now is feeling the baby move for the first time! It truly is a miracle, and nothing like I imagined it would be!

Up until about a week ago, I had been pretty "normal" so far in the sense that emotionally, I was normal, typical, me! Well that went out the window! I had a bad week this week and found out some more frusterating stuff about my speech path 'career', and all of the sudden as I am standing over the pot of boiling noodles I was making for dinner, I started to cry. I could not believe it! I know that normally these little things would not bother me to this degree, but all of the sudden everything is magnified! I am obsessing about everything...getting the patio done, getting a job, deciding what I want to go back and get my masters in, the dog hair that I feel is ruining my life, the fact that I chopped off my hair, and the list goes on! What an insane maniac! So because I know I am being crazy, I try to stop it and be my ususal bubbly Alicia, but nooo...pregnant, psycho Alicia has taken over! I knew things were bad last night when Gregg looked at me and said, "Jeez Alicia, I guess I really do need to read the pregnancy books because right now I don't understand you! Do you think those will help me be able to deal with you a little better?" Poor guy, he has been so good to me and continues to try and make me feel better about all these silly little things! He has for sure earned an A+ so far, so supportive and involved! He has not missed a single Dr.'s appointment, and so far, there have been many bc of the early circumstances! Well, that's all for now, I will be posting again in a week, along with another belly picture!

August 22, 2008- Today marks week 15. I can't believe it, it sounds so close to 16 which means I am just a pinch short of being 4 months! Yay! 4 months sounds so much farther along than 3! Anyways, going into my closet to get dressed has become one of my least favorite things to do. My stuff still fits, it's getting a little tight, but I am still not really looking pregnant. I throw on a tank top and then look in the mirror at what looks like a little belly chub, I want to dress a BUMP! It's not big enough, but I know I need to be careful what I wish for! Once the bump is here, I will probably wish it away because it will be getting in the way of things! I am just excited to have a tum tum!

I am thinking about having some sheep in the baby's room. Gregg and I have inside jokes about sheep and I think it would be funny for sheep to be watching over the baby while it's sleeping. I am not sure, it's just an idea. My cousin gave me her barely used baby furniture to use, which I am super excited about and very thankful for! All we need to buy is the crib. Not a bad deal! Putting the room together in a few months will be exciting...the dogs will probably sense that something strange is about to happen, especially my Bell! Ok, that's it!

September 5, 2008- I am 17 weeks today and feeling back to normal as far as feeling sick goes. So glad that is over. I am feeling hungry often and if I don't get a snack as soon as my tummy starts to growl, I feel sick. I can deal with that! Gregg and I went to the 4 month appointment a couple days ago. I have finally gained some weight, 4 pounds baby! I was worried and beginning to wonder if I was going to gain the 30 recommended pounds my last 4 months! Yikes, that would not be fun! I would rather gain it gradually, like I have started doing. I just want to stay healthy, and I am not concerned about weight gain at this point, it's my job right now! The doctor also said that I should start to feel the baby move soon...in the next few weeks! I am so excited to see what that feels like! The next appointment is Sept 30, and it's the big 5 month appointment. We have an ultrasound and the option of finding out the sex, which we are still not planning to do. It's hard though, because I want to buy clothes! It's all so cute! Hopefully both of our parents can make the appointment!

Now that the weather is starting to get cooler, I am thinking about taking the dogs for a walk everyday, although sometimes that can be DANGEROUS! Maybe Gregg can walk them and I will just walk next to them...yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

I had a funny thought the other day. When Gregg and I started dating, I was in college and on the weekends I would come home and do laundry at his house. The first load I did of our clothes together, I got real emotional, thinking "Aww, my clothes have never been in the washer with another guy's clothes (except for my dad's and brother's of course)! I thought it was so romantic for our clothes to be tumbling around in the same washer and dryer together. Well, I got that emotional feeling again the other day while doing laundry...but this time I got emotional because it was the first time that I have ever had baby clothes in my washer! Might sound funny, but when you go from having zero baby stuff in your house, to having little traces of things here and there, it's an exciting feeling! I can't wait to have little silverware and bibs in our kitchen drawers, and bottles and tiny dishes in our cupboards! It's going to be so fun and I am getting so excited!

My mom took me shopping for maternity clothes today and pretty much bought me my whole winter wardrobe! It's so cute and I can't wait to wear it! I got a really cute pair of jeans too! Thanks mom and dad! You are the best!

October 9, 2008- Ok, well baby, it's been a long time since I have written anything...I am now 1 day away from being 22 weeks! Holy cow, where is the time going?! I am over half way done, and that is an ok thing! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Our parents bought us a bassinet. It's very nice and goes well with our bedroom furniture. Should make the first month or 2 a little easier having the baby right there by us when it decides it's hungry 40 times a night! We put it in our room and it's exciting to look over at it and think that in 4 months a little baby will be in there! Also my brother bought us something very cool, a video camera! Yay! Now we can record what that little stinker is doing. That was such a generous gift and we are VERY grateful for it!

We went in for the big 5 month ultrasound on September 30th. It was a lot of fun. We stuck to our guns and did not find out the sex. My parents had never seen an ultrasound and were very impressed by the technology, especially my dad! He was asking all kids of questions and was totally into it! The baby was laying with it's little knees under it's chin! I guess he/she is shy bc they kept their legs closed most the time. They also hand their little hand up by it's face the whole time. It was in the breech postion, which I guess 50% of babies are at this point of the pregnancy. It was about 10 inches long and weighed 13.5 ounces! It was very active, moving around and kicking it's legs, doing ninja moves with it's arms. Of course we fell in love with it the moment it appeared on the screen. It even had the hiccups! Haha, it was funny. Everything looked normal, and from what they can tell, the baby is nice and healthy! So cute! My belly is getting bigger and there are not many shirts that can still hide the bump. We are going to get ready to register for the shower soon. It's going to be December 13. We did buy a stroller, it's very fun colors and we can't wait to bust it out of the box. I am hoping to start painting soon. Well I will not be painting, but Gregg will! We are also shopping for a crib right now. I guess they can take up to 3 months to be shipped, so we need to get on that. The one I LOVE is of course almost $1,000. That is not going to happen, I need to step it down quite a few notches! ;) Well I am going to post the 21 week Belly picture!