23 weeks and counting

So 23 weeks and 5 days in and we feel great! Here I am at 23 weeks and 3 days. Just a little update for today.

Meet Bauer

This is our adorable 10 week old Chocolate Lab! After years of saying we wouldn't get a dog we finally broke down and got one after someone tried to break into our house. He's been amazing so far. Last night he slept through the night! Amazing! I slept beside him on the kitchen floor but that does not take away how amazing it is that on his third night here he slept! He's only had 2 accidents in total and those were on his first night here so that's to be expected.

We are excited for this addition to our family and can't wait to learn more about him and to discover his personality.

Our baby moves...

And moves and moves!!

We just got back early this am from our cruise with Tom's family.

One night we were there and I was laying in bed reading while the rest were drinking wine in the hot tub. I was feeling a little sad to not be participating. As I was reading I was resting my book on my belly and blamo! My book jump because my baby kicked it off! S/he gave about 3 bigs kicks after that which I could see. One was so big it made the strings of my pj pants bounce. It was amazing. I wasn't expecting to be able to see it so early. I wanted to videotape it and knew as soon as I moved to get my camera it would likely stop. After I grabbed my camera I took about 10 minutes of video trying to tape it. I got one good one with a little kick.

So our little one is growing quite active. All day today I have felt so much movement! It is amazing! We go for an ultrasound Friday to check on our little ones heart. I can't wait to say hello again!

Half Baked!

So Tuesday marked the halfway point through our pregnancy! I am so excited to be further in then we have left - in theory at least. I am aware we are likely to be late since this is our first but a girl can dream. So halfway and things are going well. I'm feeling much better and have energy still. I feel huge but pictures seem to downsize me. I'm not sure if strangers know I'm pregnant or think I've just had too much too eat. I can't wait for my first stranger comment. So here she be - the bump at 20 weeks. Below is our baby at our ultrasound at 19 weeks and 2 days! Soo cute!

18 weeks and counting!

So close to half way! I cannot believe it but at the same time it already feels like I've been pregnant forever! I cannot imagine how I'll feel in another 20 weeks!

Our baby now weighs a half a pound! Crazy! S/he seems to be growing because so is my bump! I was at home visiting for 5 days over Thanksgiving weekend and my family thinks I grew from day 1-day 5. Tom believes so too! When I got home he was like 'wow you're pregnant!'

All this growing leads to uncomfortable me though. I have had pain in my mid to lower back and always on the right hand side. I've also had a lot of round ligament pain on the right of my belly. Blah! Add in pain at the bottom of my rib cage and you have one happy camper. Not to mention the lack of sleep due to being unable to fall asleep because of discomfort and waking up multiple times to empty the always full bladder I seem to have! It'll all be worth it in the end when we get to hold our little one in our arms.

We haven't done much or got much baby related yet. I've started researching cloth diapers and hope to decide by Christmas. We also plan to register for baby things by December. Fun!!! I know nothing about baby stuff so it's time to start researching and reading reviews.

Here is my bump at 18 weeks and 1 day! Again, it feels much bigger then it looks in pictures.

Grow baby grow!!

So today we are at 17 weeks! Almost halfway there! So hard to believe but so exciting! It's still hard to believe it's real - even with the ever growing belly, morning sickness (which has passed it seems - praise God!!), and low energy. It feels real when I feel the baby move. That is amazing! It's like little flutters in my stomach. I can't remember when I first felt them - around 15 weeks I would guess. In the beginning the baby seemed to favour my left side but the past few days s/he has moved over towards my belly button venturing to the right. it's crazy to think of how big our baby is. One website said from head to rump our baby is the size of my hand outstretched - oh my word! Then add legs!! Wow!

In two weeks we'll go for our ultrasound and I think that at that point it will begin to feel more real. Shortly after that Tom should be able to feel movements of the baby too which I can't wait for. Right now I feel bad that he can't feel our baby growing and moving.

Baby brain is a crazy thing. Most recently I tried to make orange juice Friday morning and failed miserably. I grab the oj can and opened it. I then grabbed the 'jug' and poured the juice in......to a pot! It was amazing and Tom had to document it. Excuse the weird look on my face and dark around my eyes. Blah!

Telling the Family

So as I said, we found out we were expecting 2 days before my birthday. Our plan was to wait till the end of July to tell our parents and siblings. That way we would have seen a doctor and be further along then 4 weeks.

That plan failed! My mom and 2 of my sisters A and L came down that weekend for my birthday. It was great to have them there! But what did they bring me for my birthday!? A bottle of wine and a bottle of sangria! We got through the gift opening without spilling it. Then they kept talking about drinking it that night.

My brain was spinning...how can I get around this!? I always drink wine! So Tom and I decided we should just tell them. I had no time to think of how to tell them. My sisters and I were messaging each other on whatsapp for fun - it was new to us and we were in a group chat. So in the message I said, 'I can't drink the wine you brought for 9 months.' They were like, 'really?' It took them awhile to believe me but they did. My mom was sitting there on the couch out of the loop and asked what was going on and I'm not sure how but we told her. Needless to say they were all excited and very happy for us.

Tom had to go to work at this point but we had to tell my dad and other sisters. We waited patiently for my dad to get off work and then we called him. We told him that Tom got me a puppy for my birthday and that we wanted to show him so to go on Skype. So he did. Once we were chatting I said that before I showed him the puppy I had some questions. So I asked him if he knew where the baby bath was that him and mom bought for my niece and nephew. He said ya it was around and I told him that we would need it in about 9 months. He got a HUGE grin on his face and congratulated me. We did the same thing to tell my sisters N and K.

We told Tom`s family the following Monday at a birthday dinner.  I think we caught them more off guard then my family! They were in shock but all very happy for us.  Tom told them when his brother was getting beer for everyone at dinner. He asked me and I said no. Then Tom said, `Katie can`t drink beer for 9 months.` It took them awhile to put it all together but they did!

All in all our families are excited for us! Both of us have always wanted to have kids so for most it was not a huge surprise.  I am so excited to see our little one and to show him or her off to everyone!