33 Weeks

Wow... Sorry for the lack of updates, it has been a busy past month!    I am not even including the most updated belly pic (sorry Auntie Marie) well... because it looked awful hah... My hubby took one today in front of our tree and I look so sleepy! I am pretty sure I am retaining water not just in my now very large ankles and once tiny hands and fingers but now maybe in my face too.  We'll try again on a well rested day.. maybe this weekend :-) haha

My church family in Knoxville, where I grew up, threw me a baby shower a few weeks ago that was wonderful.  

Jake and Bucky dropped me off the morning of the shower

  Aren't they both just the cutest? ;-)

My mother-in-law Jill hosted Thanksgiving at her house this year and invited my family over as well.  Oh my goodness it was delicious.. I'm glad I wasn't as far along at Thanksgiving as I am now.  Baby Girl is squishing my stomach and there is no way I could have eaten all the tastiness that was there otherwise :-)  No longer am I able to out eat Jake.

Bucky wasn't being very cooperative during picture taking.

And onto the questions...

How far along? 33 weeks 4 days :-)

Total weight gain/loss: I think I'm pushing close to thirty pounds, my ankles can sure tell the difference all of a sudden!

Maternity clothes? Maybe the best question is can I wear anything BUT maternity clothes?  Well.. not really :-)  A few T-shirts . and my mom laughs every time I wear my under armor hoodie because the front is a little "short"

Stretch marks? Nope! I'm telling you.. that gallon of water a day is good for something!

Sleep: Sleeping okay... still wake up 2-3 times a night for potty breaks, but my pregnancy pillow sure helps a lot in keeping my comfy most of the night.  Just a slight backache when I first wake up but it goes away once I get up and move around.

Best moment this week: Nothing too exciting this week... But two weeks ago our little Johannah had hiccups for the first time.  Or at least it was the first time I could tell that was what they were :-)

Miss Anything? Not really.. I've been able to have some orange juice or decaf coffee every once in a while as long as I am good about not eating a lot of sugar or acid foods at other times.  My heart burn has been surprisingly more controlled the past few weeks.  I have reflux anyway.. but the time when most people have it the worst mine is the best :-)  Maybe I've finally just got down what to eat and not to eat to not aggravate it.

Movement: Tons!  She also seems to like to snuggle under my right rib cage, silly girl.

Food cravings: I don't think I've had anything too new lately that I've been craving. But....I did have some baked apples at lunch today and I am pretty sure I am going to need to start making a lot of those... they were DELICIOUS :-) 

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Same as always... just have to be careful having anything very acidic like orange juice (which I love!), chocolate, or coffee (even my decaf).

Have you started to show yet: I've had two people tell me I didn't look like I was big enough to be 33 weeks recently.  I think they must've just been being nice to me because my brothers say I look like I swallowed their soccer ball.

Gender: Baby Girl 

Size of baby: Pineapple (doesn't that sound delicious!)... averages a little over 17 inches in length

Weight of baby: Between 4.5-5 pounds!

Labor Signs: No way!!

Symptoms: No real symptoms other than some aches here and there. Nothing too bad.  I do get spoiled with foot massages from a very nice husband :-)

Belly Button in or out? In... although the top sticks out a little bit. 

Wedding rings on or off? Off :-( I finally caved and took them off last week.  I could still twist them around my finger easily but had to use soap and water to wiggle them off.  I didn't want to risk forgetting and them getting stick... or getting a bunch of fluids during delivery and them needing to be cut off.  

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! :-)  Although some anxieties are starting to set in.. she's going to be here SOON!  My bestie has already said she's coming over after my baby shower in a few weeks to help me get everything all set.  Phew, I think I'll feel better then... all the up in the air things are a little anxiety producing with miss Type A over here.

Looking forward to: Meeting our little girl!  I have a shower in a couple weeks that I'm looking forward to.  Lots of friends and family together will be fun... plus I am hoping and praying for a couple friends to be able to all have some good news soon and make it necessary for us to all take a few group pregnancy pictures :-)

Third Trimester... He We Come!

That cute lil pup is our little Yorkie, Bucky... he was feeling left out and needed to be in the picture too :-)

Happy Third Trimester

Wow, I can't believe I am now officially "third trimester."  It doesn't seem like I should be that far.  And it is hard to believe that our little girl will be here in about 12 weeks! 

 Doesn't that just blow your mind?  

 It's been a busy past few weeks. I started a new job as SKIFF (the local hospital in town) as their Clinical Education Coordinator.  I finally made the official change from big metro hospital to local small town hospital. I couldn't pass up the hours and benefits with no weekends or holidays.  Plus... the hospital is literally a mile from our house!  I know I will relish that once our little one is here.  

No, I haven't left Mercy entirely.  I definitely am not ready for that.  I am still teaching nursing students in clinical and filling in in the ER.  I'm still an ER nurse at heart, I couldn't give that up entirely :-)  But not having a 45 minute commute (one way) on the interstate.. in the winter.. with an infant at home,].. and working a thirteen hour shift... not doing that three times a week..that will be a nice blessing!

Here's a pic of my bestie, Jessi, and I from the Women's Conference where we led worship at last month. (I forgot to include it on my last blog post.. whoops!)  

Shout out to her for completing her first half marathon and decreasing her time by .... 23 minutes?  Okay that part I can't remember as well... (Sorry Jessi.. I know its twenty something :-)) 

Funny story, the beginning of this year I was trying to convince her to train for a half marathon with me and she refused... after we got pregnant guess who announced they were going to do a half marathon? :-) Yup, going to tease you about that for a while!

Is this the stinkin cutest thing ever?  I told my brother-in-law he needed to get this because it made me laugh every time I walked by it in Buy Buy Baby :-)  

Our nursery is coming together too.. Our baby furniture is here and put together (all thanks to my handy husband!). Jessi helped me coordinate some cute accent decorations. I'll post some pictures soon (Aunt Marie ;-))

How far along? 28 weeks!!

Total weight gain/loss: About 22lbs! EEK!  That sounds like SO MUCH, most women gain around a pound a week from here on out so that should put me around or just under 35 pounds total which is the average "healthy" weight gain.  Still seems weird to see the scale creep up when you're so used to NOT wanting it to do that :-)

Maternity clothes? Well that is a silly question :-) Although my favorite Yoga pants from Victoria Secret and my Mercy T-shirts all still fit me and have become my uniform as soon as I get home from work :-)

Stretch marks? Nope! Maybe that gallon of water I'm drinking a day is helping in that too :-)

Sleep: Sleeping okay.  I have started waking up more than just once for a potty break.  I've started having to change positions every few hours because my back or hip I'm lying on has started hurting.  In other news.. I caved and got a pregnancy pillow two nights ago (aka the "snoogle").  And it has helped.. it is pretty amazing.

Best moment this week: Hmmmm... it has been a pretty average week really.  It is still pretty awesome to feel our little girl moving around.  Some times I catch myself smiling when I'm sitting quietly on something and she's decided to do flip flops and I feel like my whole stomach is visibly moving.  The people around me probably think "what is that crazy girl smiling at"

Miss Anything? Coffee!  Once a week or every two weeks I'll get a small decaf coffee, but I always pay for it later.  It makes my heartburn worse which really means makes my whole tummy feel gross from over acid production. But.. I can't complain, I don't have it too bad.  That's pretty manageable.

Movement: Yes :-) Jake has been able to feel her on quite a few occasions without me having to help him find where she is lying.

Food cravings:  I love homemade smoothies!  I did before I was pregnant, but the greek yogurt in them was making me feel queasy in the beginning.  I hadn't eaten them again until this past week and... they... are... DELICIOUS!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Coffee and sweets mainly..  they're bad for making your tummy kick into overdrive for acidity which makes me feel pretty icky.    

Have you started to show yet: I feel like I'm huge all of a sudden!  A woman at church (and another person at the hospital) had told me I didn't look big enough for how far along I was.. maybe it was just what I was wearing, but it was nice to hear I didn't look quite as big as I felt :-)

Gender: Baby Girl 

Size of baby: Eggplant... averages between 13.5 to just under 15 inches in length

Weight of baby: Right around 2lbs

Labor Signs: No way!!

Symptoms: Heartburn and more heartburn :-)  Sometimes I'll get some hip pain if I'm sitting sitting more on one side than other and usually at night.  I think she ends up putting pressure on certain nerves and joints and they get achy after very long in one position. 

Belly Button in or out? In... although it may start becoming an outie soon, its looking a little funny.

Wedding rings on or off? On.. sometimes its a little more snug than others

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! :-)

Looking forward to: Our 28 week appointment on Wednesday.  Although.. maybe not because I'm pretty sure they may be giving me some injections.  I'm not afraid of needles by any means (I like watching them draw blood and have ever since I was little.. could anyone tell I was going to be a nurse when I grew up?) but one of them tends to sting pretty bad.  But... I always enjoy getting to hear little miss's heart beat so that will make up for it any day :-)

24 Weeks

Happy 24 Weeks!  

My tummy sure has popped out all of a sudden!  When I showed my mom this picture I said "maybe I shouldn't have been wearing stripes.. maybe it is making me look bigger than I am?" She said "no... I don't think it does"... eek!  Well, I guess that is a good thing anyway, it means our baby girl is getting bigger :-)

It's been a busy last 4 weeks.  My brother and his wife moved from LA to Ohio and stopped at my parents to spend the night so we had a day early birthday dinner for me.  I included some pictures just for you Aunt Marie ;-)

Me and my handsome hubby at my parents.. yes, I purposely did not post the picture of him making funny faces at the camera (maybe I should have)... it is a rare thing to get him smiling in a picture!

My older brother Jonathan and younger brother Alex

Most of our Sundays have been spent watching my younger brothers play soccer.  It is fun to watch but I don't think I'll be too sad when I can lounge around on Sunday afternoons instead...  I blame it on being pregnant :-)

Alex at their soccer game in Norwalk this past Sunday

David at the Norwalk soccer game.... if only I had my picture from a week or so ago... there's a funny picture of him knocking a kid over while he was playing defense :-) Let's just say he's a very good defense player!

 And in other news.... I passed my glucose test today!! HURRAY!  I knew I didn't have gestational diabetes, but I REALLY didn't want to take the test nor did I want to repeat it with double the amount to drink.  I don't like sugary drinks and corn syrup tends to make me sick when I'm not pregnant not to mention how I can't really eat sweets or ice cream right now that I am.. My level was only 88... take that stupid glucose test, I showed you :-)

How far along? 24 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss: I keep forgetting to weigh myself the past few days so I don't know exactly ..it is about 15lbs.  I know what a jump in the past 4 weeks.. I can sure tell a difference in how big my stomach is in pictures over the past four weeks.

Maternity clothes? Of course!  You can also now officially tell in normal T-shirts.  My bestie came over a few days ago (it had only been a week or so since we'd seen each other in person) and her first words were "Holy cow you're pregnant!"  Yup... no hiding it now ;-)

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: Sleeping okay.  Some nights I feel like I wake up a lot to change positions and sometimes I sleep almost the entire night through.  

Best moment this week: I got to start our registry this past week with my mom.  It was a lot of fun, but I sure was tired by the end!  Buy buy baby took quite a while to get through.. there is SO MUCH there!  Sure makes things feel "real".  It is still pretty weird to think we're going to have a little baby girl in our house soon.. and that she belongs to US!

Miss Anything? Not really.. it would be nice to eat a bowl of ice cream hehe :-)  And a glass of red wine sure sounds tasty.

Movement: Yes :-) Jake felt her for the first time a few weeks ago.  She usually kicks harder in the evenings and he's felt her a few times since then.  

Food cravings: Hmm... I'm not sure right now.  I haven't had anything to0 new that I want to eat every single day like before.  Homemade noodles and mashed potatoes have sounded mighty tasty quite a few times but I need to make them with my mom... I've got her cinnamon rolls down but I haven't tried the noodles by myself yet.. plus rolling and cutting them by hand (since I don't have the fancy press and cutter thingy) seems like a long process when I want to eat them "right now" haha.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Sugary foods make my heartburn pretty bad which in turns ends up making me feel queasy and sick... no ice cream either... or coffee.. oh how I love coffee.  I've tried decaf once or twice and it usually comes back to bite me for at least a day or two after drinking a small cup so I've sadly just given up on it.  

Have you started to show yet: Most definitely .... see above comment from Jessi when she saw me in "normal clothes"... thats right.. I told everyone you said it ;-)

Gender: Baby Girl 

Size of baby: Size of an ear of corn... just under a foot long

Weight of baby: Around 1 1/3 pounds... just 4 weeks ago she was around 10 ounces!  She's getting bigger and quick!

Labor Signs: No way!!

Symptoms: Heart burn?  Well that's been happening the whole time...Round ligament pain definitely... more achy the past month since my belly has been suddenly growing. My ankles are starting to get puffy already!  Although I notice it is pretty strongly related to water intake.  When I get close to the gallon a day you're supposed to drink it is really minimal but if I don't drink a lot they are enormous.. lesson learned.  Plus I feel a lot better when I drink a lot water anyway.  

Belly Button in or out? In... although it may start becoming an outie soon!

Wedding rings on or off? On.. sometimes its a little more snug than others

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!... still hungry... I am giving Jake a run for his money at meal times.  Sometimes I can put away a lot... some weeks I feel hungry all the time and others just "normal".  I can tell when she's going through a big growth spurt depending on my appetite!  Panchero's burritos have nothing on me! :-)

(notice my plate is clean... Jake's is not :))

Looking forward to: When I started writing this last night I was going to say my glucose test being over... but now that it is...?  We have a fairly uneventful week planned.  But this weekend my bestie is running her first half marathon (yay for Jessi!) and my brother's have one of their last club soccer games.

Gender Reveal.... Little Man or Little Miss?

Hello World.........

I'm a Girl!!!!!

It's official!  Baby Stielow is a GIRL :-).  Jake has officially broken the "Stielow Streak"... his Grandmother had all sons, they had all sons, and all the grandchildren are boys (except one single girl).  

It took our ultrasound tech a few tries.  She told us pretty early that she was at least 90% sure it was a baby girl, but baby was tucked in a ball with her legs together so she kept trying to get her to move to make sure nothing was hiding :-)

It was amazing to see her in there.  She was pretty active and kicking.  She was tucked up in a ball with her feet by her head.  We both laughed because our little Yorkie, Bucky, likes to snuggle in the exact same position :-)

We had my family all open an article of clothing and put the outfit together to figure out if it was a boy or girl.  Here's a picture of my mom holding the two main pieces.

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
Psalm 139:13-14

Oh Boy... or Girl?

We are 20 weeks pregnant and Monday is the BIG Day!  Well... not "the" big day but close.  We get to find out if we are having a little miss or a little man :-)

Old Wives Tales Gender Predictions

History of Parents - Girl

Moodiness - Girl
Wedding Ring - Girl

Mayan Calendar - Boy

Chinese Calendar - Girl

Daddy's Weight - Boy

Morning Sickness - Girl

Baby's Heartbeat - Girl

Skin - Boy

Cravings -Girl

So far our mother's are guessing it might be a girl.  I have two younger brothers... Alex is certain it is a boy and he will teach him how to play soccer before he is able to walk.  He says that our little boy will be the next Lionel Messi :-).  David, however, is certain we are having a little girl.

What is YOUR prediction?  Don't forget to cast your vote!  

(Our survey is on the top right hand of the blog... but it is only visible when viewing our blog on an actual computer).

How far along? 20 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss: Around 9lbs.  I keep thinking wow... that is too much isn't it?  Nope, when I do the math or look at the weight gain by week calculators I'm right on target.  Phew

Maternity clothes? Of course!  Although some of my yoga pants are getting uncomfortable because the waist band is getting too snug :-(

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: Still sleeping great - minus the frequent trips to the bathroom and the bizarre dreams

Best moment this week:  Same as last week.. I feel our baby move a lot more now than I did a few weeks ago :-)  I love feeling little nudges throughout the day.

Miss Anything? Not really, I was at a training for work and they had a large salad bar for lunch... the meat was all deli meat.  I miss not being able to eat some things safety when thats all I have as options.

Movement: Yes :-) Usually morning and evening I feel nudges and what I can only assume are flips and sometimes in the afternoon I will feel a few here or there if I am sitting down.

Food cravings: I am just coming off of my lemonade kick (still sounds pretty tasty) so I am sure within a few days I will have something new I want to eat every day.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: I can't eat ice cream :-(  I know, right?  It just gives me awful nausea/indigestion so I have just given up on it.  I have an unopened pint of Ben and Jerry's "Everything But The..." that Jake bought me a few weeks ago but haven't been able to eat it. 

Have you started to show yet: Most definitely   I think finally this week I look like I have a belly in a normal T-shirt instead of just looking chubby although it may still is a toss up.  I had my first person acknowledge my pregnancy that didn't know me at Costco this week :-)  

Gender: We will find out tomorrow :-)  I plan to have a snack shortly before and bring a bottle of ice water just incase our little miss or mister needs some encouraging to move around.

Size of baby: Banana or Mango (Around 6.5 inches from head to bottom... they start measuring head to feet after 20 weeks)

Weight of baby: About 10 ounces 

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!... and Hungry?  This week it seems like I am always hungry.  I am trying to eat healthy and have lots of fruits, nuts, cheese for my many snacks.   My mom and I ate lunch at Pancheros on Friday before our Costco trip, and she thought it was hilarious that before she had even half of her burrito finished my plate was clean.  She told everyone "it was the first time I'd ever seen that child finish a plate of food in her life."  What can I say... baby's hungry!

Looking forward to: Our Ultrasound tomorrow!  I can't wait to get to see our little one, our first ultrasound at Mid-Iowa fertility was at 4 and 6 weeks to make sure we had a viable pregnancy and baby was no bigger than a little blob on the screen with a barely able to see flicker of a heart beat.... oh yeah and finding out if it is a boy or a girl ;-)

18 Weeks

Sorry... no chalkboard this time...we normally take pictures on Sunday since it the official day we go up in weeks, but were too busy celebrating our third wedding anniversary and swimming in my parents pool this weekend to bother.  ;-)

Happy Labor Day!  Does anyone even know what Labor Day is or why it is celebrated?  Me neither.... and neither does anyone else I have asked.  Our family spent the holiday at the Omaha Zoo.  I honestly cannot remember the last time I have been to a zoo and conveniently did not remember how much walking was involved during the four hours it takes you to make the trek around the zoo.... I used to be in shape.. I just blame it on the mysterious 6 pounds I have gained in my belly.

So for all of you long distance family members (this means you Aunt Marie ;-))... I included some pics of everyone, then on to the fun questions :-)

I think the poor cats were as hot as we were .... they were all hiding in the shade.

 I have a feeling this one was tired of people congregating around him and decided to become rather vocal about his annoyance :-)

My handsome husband and two brothers....you can never get all three of them make a good face at once.... this was as good as it got.

Jellyfish

Monkeys

These animals must be more like pets because I was inches from this bird and he didn't care.

There was a giant butterfly garden... so pretty

Watching the seals ... takes lots of concentration...

Happy three years to my handsome hubby :-)

How far along? 18 Weeks, 2 days today... the picture we took was done yesterday so subtract a day.

Total weight gain/loss: just under 7lbs... eek! I keep doing the math and I am actually right on target, but it is still a surprise to step on the scale every week and see it steadily creeping upward :-)

Maternity clothes? Of course!  Don't ever let people tell you that you have to wait, especially since most jeans and other pants these days hit around your lower abdomen and are snug fitting... they are so uncomfortable once you have any type of belly.

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: Still sleeping great - minus the frequent trips to the bathroom and the bizarre dreams

Best moment this week: Feeling baby kick!  Although at first it felt like a snake wiggling in water kind've feeling... now it feels more like popping bubbles.  It is always about an inch under my belly button and feels like it is right under the surface.

Miss Anything? Not really, although on cool fall nights I am going to miss drinking my hot tea every evening.

Movement: Yes :-) Usually when I am sitting or lying down and still otherwise I don't notice it too much.

Food cravings: It is new every week... first it was everything salad, then Culvers chicken strips, next was fried eggs and toast... this week.. LEMONADE!  I must say, Cheesecake Factory makes the BEST lemonade... holy cow!  Good thing the closest one is about 45 minutes away :-)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only if I eat sweets as a snack instead of something with protein... it is more just horrendous  heartburn/indigestion but I don't think that part is every going to go away.  It has just become more manageable the further along I get.

Have you started to show yet: Yes!  I think I am still in the middle stage where someone might assume I am pregnant but I'm not big enough yet to ask with confidence :-)

Gender: We don't know yet and it is killing me :-)  We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow but he said he's going to make us wait until 20 weeks for the official ultrasound... bah! :-)

Size of baby: About the size of a sweet potato or a bell pepper... about 5 1/2 inches

Weight of baby: About 7 ounces 

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!... and Hungry?

Looking forward to: My 20 week ultrasound! :)... 1 1/2-2 weeks away!

Is baby Stielow a boy or a girl?...Don't forget to take our poll on the top right hand side of our blog! :-)