3D Sonogram

Last Saturday we went for a 3D Sonogram. Even before we got pregnant, we had decided that we didn't want to have a 3D scan, but I had a change of heart and decided that I REALLY wanted to have it done. After looking up prices and information, I talked Tyler into agreeing to have it done. He thought it was kind of silly, but he said we could do it, so I called to get it scheduled.
Both of our moms and my sister came down to go to the appointment with us. It was at a house that the owners have turned into a Maternity dream. There is a little baby boutique with the cutest clothes, a second hand maternity clothing store, a maternity spa and the room for the 3D Ultrasounds. It was a great place to go because it was so cozy and we were welcome to bring our families with us.
We hadn't had an ultrasound since week 20 when we found out that Baby Sidwell is a girl, so we were excited to see her and even more excited to see her sweet little face in 3D!
The experience was so neat! She was kicking and Tyler had put his hand on my stomach and was poking her back after each kick. We could see her smile on the screen when he would poke back, which was about the neatest thing yet! Of course, both Grandmas were shrieking with happiness to see her face and each time they would make noise, our baby would smile and react.
The scan was about 30 minutes and it was the greatest time to interact with her and to see her face. They reconfirmed that she's a girl (which was something in the back of my mind that has been a worry. Everything we have is pink and I keep hearing stories about how a baby is born opposite of the gender that the parents were told).
We have a DVD with the scan that we can watch again and again and a CD with 70 images of her that we were able to print off. I've got a framed picture of her smiling on my desk at work and it's just so sweet to look at and imagine how much cuter she will be in person in just a couple more months.

Baby Class

For the past two Monday evenings, we have gone to the hospital for a few hours for our "Childbirth Prep Class." I like to call it Baby Class, but the name doesn't matter. So far, so good. It's a little hard to come straight home from work and head there until 9, but we only have one more session and we'll be done.
The first class was a little boring. There was lots of lecture and videos about the stages of labor and how the whole process works. The second part of the class was about massage and ways that Tyler can help me through labor by using massage. That was the best part of the night for me! I got to be the recipient of several different types of massage while Tyler practiced the techniques, which was WONDERFUL!
Our second class, we learned about the different labor positions and got to walk through the labor stations while I practiced my breathing and Tyler helped with massage. It was actually pretty fun. Even though it was a quiet time with theraputic harp music playing, Tyler and I were the only couple that was laughing during a few stations. It was just funny to look at ourselves and we couldn't stay serious... oh well!
The last part of the class was about the interventions of labor. We started our list of many questions for when we have our consultation with Anesthesia. Because of my history with back injury and surgeries, we have MANY MANY questions about having an epidural and what our options and risks are. We will meet with the doctors for that in late December and we'll know more about what our plan will be once we have a chance to meet with them.
So, we've got one more class. The teacher told us that we'll talk about C-Sections and then take a tour of the Maternity Ward. I'm really looking forward to getting to see the unit and more of the hospital. We've only got 10 weeks left until our sweet baby girl is here!

It's Baby Season!

Lately, it seems like it's Baby Season for all of our friends and many of our co-workers. We found out a few weeks ago that another couple in our friends circle is expecting a baby and are due in April! At Bre's workplace, there are 8 babies who will be born between February and April. Tyler has a few co-workers who are expecting about the same time. In our friends' group, there was a baby girl born in July. We have friends who are expecting a boy just a few days after our daughter is born, Bre's cousin had a baby boy about a month ago AND now there will be another baby born in April.
It's just so exciting that so many people we know are having children around the same time. That means that our daughter will have playmates her age wherever we go! It's exciting to talk to our friends about how our children will play together and graduate the same year and all of the fun things that go along with growing up together!
It's amazing to think how our lives will look in the next year. When we hang out with friends, it will mostly be at someone's house with our kids playing together. So much different than when we used to gather for dinner and go out to a bar for the night. We are excited about how life is changing and how our next adventure will look with our daughter in our lives. And to think we'll have many friends along the same path with us makes it even more exciting!

The Nursery

A few weekends ago some of our family came down to help us work on things for the house and get the nursery painted and furniture built.
I should have taken a before picture, but the room was completely white. It was one of the only ones that we hadn't changed since we moved in. We painted it two soft shades of pink with a cute black and white border in the middle.

We got the room done a little early, but with the holidays coming up, we wanted it done so that we had a place to put her things as we are getting them and that it would be done if she decides to come a little early.

We love how it turned out. It's a room she can grow in and it doesn't scream "baby". (Well expept for the crib and changing table, but you know what I meant). I like to go in there and sit and imagine what it will be like when she's here. Tyler says that I'm like a kid who lays under the Christmas tree and can't wait for the presents... and he's right.

The other day I was doing laundry and couldn't find Ryder (our dog). I went in the nursery and he was under her crib playing with one of his toys. It just made me smile because he's spending time in there too and I hope that once she's here they'll be best friends and they'll play in her room together.

We still have things to add, like a rocker and a book shelf, but it's perfect for now and I can't wait to see it grow as we get more of her things.

Movement

For about the last 2 weeks, I have felt our baby moving. At first I wasn’t sure that it was her because it was just light little flutters. Over the past week or so, she has really started moving and there’s no doubt that it’s her causing the movement.

Tyler got to feel her last week. We had had Mexican for dinner and I had some spicy salsa. I’m not sure if she enjoyed it or hated it, but it REALLY got her moving. Enough that both of us could sit on the couch and Tyler had his hand on my stomach and could feel her movements. Ever since then, I have felt her moving about every day.

It's the strangest thing to be sitting in a meeting and feeling her doing flips or dancing or whatever it is that she's doing in there. It feels like I'm riding on a rollercoaster and no one can tell that anything is happening. It is pretty neat though. I get to feel her all the time and we're already bonding. I just love her so much already.

PINK

From the day we found out that we are having a girl, our house has begun to fill up with all things pink. Buying the little outfits has been fun for all of our family and friends. In fact, I think this girl has more clothes than I do… and I’m not kidding. Many things have been bought ahead for next summer on great clearance and there’s lots that has come from garage sales, so our little girl is already a bargainista!

We decided on nursery bedding and the plan is to find paint and border this weekend so that we can decorate next weekend. We’ve had boxes in our garage for weeks for the crib and changing table. It will be great to see them built and in place so that we can start getting all things baby settled in that room.

It seems like the wait until this point has been so long, but now that we know her gender and I’m getting further along in my pregnancy, things are picking up! We need to decorate the nursery, we have signed up for all of our baby classes and have scheduled our appointments through the end of the pregnancy. When we look at the calendar, it’s filling up fast. And we can’t forget that we have Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years’ during the 3^rd Trimester… we are going to be busy! That is wonderful though because time will just tick away and before we know it, we’ll get to meet our sweet baby and we can’t wait!!

The Past 11 Weeks

So maybe I’m not near as good at this blogging thing as I had imagined. Maybe, too, it’s the fact that many of the last weeks haven’t been very “news-worthy.” Don’t get me wrong, many things are changing during this pregnancy, but everything has been going right along schedule and we haven’t had any issues, so it’s been smooth sailing.

We found out on September 23^rd that we are having a GIRL! That appointment was our second attempt to find out if our little one was going to be a boy or a girl. She is breech and reverse, so seeing the important parts for the scan was a bit difficult. At our second appointment, the nurse wasn’t even sure if we would find out, but luckily she cooperated and showed us just what we wanted to see. In fact, the technician said it was one of the most clear pictures she has ever seen, so that was great to hear!

As we were watching the screen, I saw the picture pop up and instantly knew what it meant. The tech started typing, “It’s a…” and I looked at Tyler to ask him if he knew. I told him it was a girl and the tech looked at me and said I was right. Tears just started streaming down my face because I was so happy to finally know what our baby will be. I think in that instant millions of thoughts ran through my mind of what our future family would look like and the things that we would get to do. I could “see” the bows and the tutus and all of the girly things. I could picture having a little girl whose parents loved her more than the world and I instantly fell in love. Tyler looked over at me and smiled and just held my hand while I cried for the rest of the appointment. It was real. We are having a daughter. This little person growing inside of me just revealed more about herself and it made us so excited that we just couldn’t stop talking about her.

I, honest to God, think the situation would have been just the same had they said it was a boy. Just knowing what our little baby will be gave us so much happiness and we were able to bond with our child and envision the future. We are both completely excited and happy that our first child will be a little girl.