Here we go. Picture updates :) Above is week 24ish and below is week 25ish.

I had an appointment a week ago and baby K's heart rate is now in the 130s.

Boy or girl??

The suspense is almost too much to handle!

xoxo Jill

Kickin Thru Week Two-Two

This has been a week of more obvious kicks

from Baby K and a new symptom...

heart palpitations.

The kicks are the coolest thing in the world

and a very reassuring sign that all is well in that amniotic

sea the baby is dwelling in.

Baby K is especially active in the evenings and

when I'm going to sleep.

Last night Key felt the kicks

for the first time and he was one proud Papa. :)

The heart palpitations on the other hand are, well...

not so cool. They are a normal finding during

pregnancy because of the wildly increased amount of blood

pumping through one's veins, but they are still quite a shocking feeling.

They are at random times and just feel like my heart

skipped a beat or something.

Otherwise...all is good and we are anxiously awaiting baby K's arrival.

We have a vacation planned the 1st of June to Florida to visit

Aud and Beej

and get some much needed R & R

before our lives change forever!

Hope all is well for everyone reading! Happy Spring!

Jill, Key, Baby K, & Sir Wallace

20 weeks

1/2 way already! Key and I went for our 20 week ultrasound today. It was quite the experience. We held strong and didn't ask to find out the sex :) Baby K was 13 oz. and was very active. (S)he was sucking its thumb, had one leg kicked up in the air and was kicking/hitting me with its feet and hands. We could even see it moving its mouth and seeming to smile! The placenta looked good and wasn't anywhere near the cervix, so that's a good thing. The head is on the right side of my body and the rump is on the left. The head is pretty large right now compared to the rest of the body, which might explain why the other night I had this sudden sharp pain under my right rib cage. It went away, but oh my goodness...it was quite the pain! I also randomly had a charlie horse in my right calf the other night and have not been sleeping the best. I just can't seem to get comfy...but I'm sure that will get much worse!

We have been quite productive since my last post. We have the carpet laid in the bedroom downstairs, so now Key and a buddy can move all the furniture from the spare room downstairs to create room for the baby. Once that's done, we need to paint the room and then we'll get some new carpet! I picked up some paint swatches the other day and think I'm going to do a light grey with a thick yellow stripe about 1/3 down from the ceiling with a thinner stripe that will be either magenta or turquoise once the baby is born and we know the sex. We've also gotten the crib in the mail and I found a really good deal on a Thomasville used dresser at a local consignment store. Key is slowly getting used to the fact that Baby K has to have some stuff of its own :) Slowly, but surely...Lastly, my bod is changing, which is such an interesting thing to experience, I must say. I'm definitely now showing to those who know me, but no random strangers coming up to me yet just feeling my stomach (kind of glad for that!). Well, I think that's good for now...enjoy the pic of Baby K!

Dreams and themes

Dreams are the theme this week (week 19) and they are crazy! I'm not sure how accurate they are but I definitely dreamed I was having a boy this week. And he was no regular sized lad. He was born about 1 1/2 months early and had legs longer than some of the full term babies in the nursery. Everyone kept looking in at him and then looking at Key and commenting on his long legs and how he was definitely going to be a basketball player. This didn't really bother me too much until I noticed how abnormally large his head was also. I mean, it was HUGE! The circumference of babies' heads are supposed to be bigger than their chest circumference during the first year or so of life, but this baby had a near watermelon for a head. I woke up in a near panic about this "alien child" as it was in my dream. It's funny because this is not my only very vivid dream...they've all been like this lately. Very detailed, very interesting.

According to world-renowned psychologist and dream expert, Patricia Garfield, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Dreams, dreams during 1st trimester usually are centered around anxiety about birth/motherhood, self-consciousness about your changing body, and awareness of amniotic fluid (dreams with water in them). Second trimester dreams are more about the mother-baby connection, insecurity about appearance, & worry about your mate's love or commitment. The last 3 months are dominated by predicting your baby's sex, choosing a name, or imaging it's face. So, needless to say, according to Pat, I'm a little ahead of schedule on my dreams. However, I have had some interesting ones that fall into other categories...but we won't get into those today :)

Sweet dreams everyone!

xoxo

Jill, Key, Baby K & Mr. Wally

Whoa baby!

So here we are. Week 18 and we get another ultrasound! I'm pretty excited, except for the fact that we're sticking with the plan of not finding out the sex, which makes it harder, because I WANT TO KNOW!!!!!! It's especially hard since I've started looking at ideas for Baby K's room. I thought I'd do a pic of me with a shirt covering my belly, so you can see that I'm actually starting to show when I'm wearing a tighter shirt :)

I thought I'd give everyone a little sneak peak at some of the ideas I've been throwing around for Baby K's room. Since we're planning on not finding out, I'm going with some more neutral colors and then will have to accent with pink if it's a girl or boy colors if it's a boy. A neutral theme is harder than you think but I've come across a lot of ideas for colors, like yellow and grey (then I could accent with pinks/oranges if a girl or turquoise, blues or greens if a boy). I think this is what I'm thinking will be the colors right now, but who knows, it could easily change!

I've liked this crib the best ever since I started looking at them. It also comes in all espresso color. Might go with that too...just not quite sure yet. Can't wait to post pics of Key assembling...haha...should be great!

I found this custom crib bedding set designer on Etsy.com. Buttercup Forrest. She has tons of fabrics to choose from and I'm planning on just doing sheets and a blanket from her and maybe doing accent pillows in more gender specific colors once Baby K comes. I could probably attempt making these with the sewing machine my mom got me for Christmas this past year...but I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle that at this point. Any sewers out there...I would pay you too!!

Japanese paper lanterns are a really fun idea that I think I'm going to incorporate into the baby's room. I love the soft glow they provide and they come in soooo many different colors!

Other things I've been looking at are those huge stickers that are in shapes of trees. I don't know why, but I've always liked trees and am actually very attracted to pictures of trees and have several of them in our home. There is something that is just very calming about them to me. Ok. Good for now. We'll keep you posted after this weeks appointment!

Jill

love love love love love love love

love was in the air in Iowa City the first week of February

(and so was about 18 inches of snow)....luckily, I didn't have to work much last week,

so I was able to bake some Valentine's sugar cookies. I stayed inside all day Wednesday, worked on homework, and baked. Now, I know everyone has their favorite sugar cookie recipe, but I have to say, I love this recipe from my friend Heidi's mom, Josie. When we were growing up, Heidi's mom always made these and had them available for all the kids who showed up at her house. I love them because of the lemon extract. Now, I know prego mammas aren't supposed to have raw eggs, hence, no dipping the finger in the cookie dough...but you know me...I had to have a little small taste :)

Agghhh! Look at all that snow!!

One of the many bennies of being pregnant...no snow removal or shoveling for me!!

love love love love love love love love

Baby K at 17 weeks!! No more nausea, more energy. I am noticing my stomach grow in the past 2 weeks or so though and so is Key. After the photo today, he told me to suck in my stomach, and I did my best to and he started laughing and said "That's it??" Little things tell me he's really excited though, for example, the other night he came home after refereeing a basketball game & going out for a few drinks with the guys. I was asleep, but he preceded to start rubbing my stomach and talking to it with his face right down by my belly button. It was pretty annoying at the time because I was trying to sleep, but really, a very cute daddy thing to do.

Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day enjoying it with the one or one's you love :)

xoxoxo

Jill & Key

Surprises

Just a small little update. We had our 3rd OB appointment on Wednesday this week and I was able to hear the heartbeat. Poor Key got out of work late and got to the office just as I was getting ready to check out, so he didn't get to hear it...I felt really bad for him :(

But I heard it! It was between 150-155 bpm when Dr. Wenzel and I were listening and we even heard a few kicks. My doctor also showed me where to feel for my uterus (although I thought I knew where it was already...she just confirmed it for me). Next appointment is in 1 month around 18 weeks!

Now my understanding of week 18 or so, is that IF one wants to find out the sex of the baby, one can find it out. I have quickly responded to questions in the past that "YES, I for sure wanted to find out" the sex of the baby, but now I'm having second thoughts. What a surprise that would be!! Key really doesn't want to find out and now I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't. I can honestly say that I have had very few, if any real surprises in my life and at 27 years old, it may be about time. What do you think??

Jill

xoxo