38 wks

Hi Everyone!!

Everything is going well..my apologies that I haven't been doing wkly updates following my doctor visits..Here is the latest: I was 1cm dilated for two weeks straight and not effaced at all, but Dr. Jaacks did feel the baby's head!!.. as of last Tuesday. Today's appt, however, was very exciting because I am now 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. We are so anxious for Isabella's arrival but unfortunately our doctor is out of the office on vacation next week, go figure!! All that means is that if she comes in the next week we'll have the on call doc from her office deliver her instead, no biggie I suppose..everyone needs a vacation sometime, especially around Christmas. We're going with the flow..otherwise, she recommended today that we induce on Dec 28th when she returns to the office, which just so happens to be one day before my birthday! I might think about requesting the 29th instead, we'll see. More to come shortly, almost there!!

35 wks & 3 days

Thanks to my good friend Paige (the amazing yoga instructor) I'm feeling great and not at all uncomfortable, can you believe it?!! I've been practicing yoga regularly and James and I are vigorously walking to keep me feeling tip top : ) With just a few weeks to go, I'm hopeful it'll continue to go as smoothly from here on out. Our plan is for a 100% natural childbirth so wish us luck!!

Thanksgiving 2008

Unfortunately, my sister and Alex weren't in town for Thanksgiving this year, but here is most of the family on Thanksgiving Day at my mom's house..

Shower Time!!

Long time coming..shower was November 8th, sorry for the delay!!

Here are a couple of pics with the family to mark the event ; )

Getting bigger..

Here I am at my mom's the day prior to the shower..growing and growing!!

33wks & 3 days

Ok all..I know, I know - I'm slacking with my updates. It's been a long week with the baby shower last weekend and getting things settled in Isabella's room with all her new goodies..I only caught a few photos from the baby shower on my own camera (since my mom took most of the and I'm having technical difficulties with loading them at the moment..sorry! I promise I'll be getting those up later this week.

I had an amazing restorative yoga session with one of my best friends, Paige, and I'm looking forward to weekly sessions from now until the baby arrives. Also, with the weather being so nice, James is finally game to going for walks, which he is now initiating..way to go Jimbo, keeping me on track! Isabella is moving around like gang busters and she's one strong little girl, let me tell you..We're just about set with her room and finally getting finishing touches for her crib; bedding, etc..more pics to come, don't you worry!

I'll have my next doctor appt on Tuesday..my doctor says this is the last "boring" one because in another 2 wks, she'll actually 'check me out' to see how things are coming with my cervix..fun, fun, I know.. We're getting close ; ) I'm sure these next few weeks will fly by but I'll be making a more dedicated effort to more frequent posts now that things are getting exciting!

Talk to you all sooon!

Here's another angle of my baby bump at 31 and a half weeks!

31 weeks & 3 days

Well, me and Isabella are growing and growing. I feel great with the exception of the ever-lurking heartburn that comes with pregnancy, regardless of eating pricy or not! Urrgggh..All in all, I feel great though. Last week, James and I started our birthing classes and we'll continue for the next 3 weeks on Tuesday nights. They've been very insightful and it's nice to get acquainted with the hospital, Banner Thunderbird, since the classes are on site where we'll deliver. I'm getting very excited for the upcoming baby shower, this Saturday November 8th (at grandma's house). I can't believe November is already here, the countdown draws near!

This "thumbs up" was so precious..I think she's got a foot next to her face too, it seemed to float up every once in a while during the session.

I think she's giving us the peace sign here..so cute! Here's where we got a first glimpse at that strong jaw/chin and nose..My mom says the eyes look like mine but they're closed, that's still up for debate ; )

Here's little Isabella snoozing..she likes to keep her hands close to her face, we'll see if that thumb makes its way into her cute little mouth.

3D/4D Ultrasound Appt

Yesterday's appointment was amazing!! It lasted about an hr and the whole session was given to us on video/DVD to cherish forever. They had it set to music and it is so precious to watch. We noticed that as we did, the images seemed even clearer watching from home than when we were there for the appt. There were quite a few precious moments, a couple of which included her smiling to the loving comments that James made and giving him a 'thumbs' up when he asked if she had the best dad in the whole world...priceless. If you know anyone thinking about 3D/4D, I highly recommend it. Yay for technology giving us a sneak peek at our beautiful Isabella ; )

The Belly Moves Now!

Ok, Monday was a big night! We saw Isabella's hiccups in action with a little belly flutter/pattern. It was amazing!! I can't wait to see a big foot swipe across one of these days but in the meantime I'll settle for little waves : ) Fun stuff, more updates to come!

26 weeks & 3 days

Here I am, growing and growing...It seems like I'm carrying really low relative to some other mommies and mommies-to-be that I know, but I guess it's a girl thing - all my friends have boys in the hopper. But, I'm not overly concerned..everyone is different I suppose. We're still stuck on a middle name. Anyone out there is welcome to vote on a few we've narrowed down so far. Ok, here it goes...Ashlynn, Brooke, Naomi/Noemi, Hayden, Erin & Chanel. I know, not as narrow as you thought right? Well, it's tough..what can I say? We're still open to other name suggestions should some other name blow us away, get your thinking caps on let us know! I am very, very lucky that everything about my pregnancy so far has been wonderful, not a bad symptom to date!! Ok, except for the occasional heartburn. But I'll take that any day over some of the other horrible side affects associated with pregnancy, I thank my lucky stars everyday trust me. I'm so happy that Isabella is kicking away now and getting us more and more excited for the day she finally arrives and we can hold her in our arms. We're strongly considering doing the 3/4D ultrasound but they say 27-32wks is the best time to do it, so we're sitting tight for the moment. Also, my mom needs reassurance that these ultrasounds aren't harming the baby - I keep telling her 'no' but she needs to hear it from a medical professional to feel comfortable I guess. James is the cutest dad-to-be and he is so excited for our little girl. As I suspected she would, Isabella's already got him wrapped around her finger! I can't wait to see them together and how cute that will be to see all those 'daddy's little girl' moments.

Isabella's Room Makeover - So Far

Here are some pics of Isabella's beautiful room! We've got a ways to go but it's coming together nicely and we're excited to fill it up with more color, more furniture and her beautiful Sugar Plum bedding set! James and I slaved away on doing the border and all the little details while on vacation last week..it was a blast, we had a lot of fun!!

2nd Ultrasound Appt

We had our 2nd ultrasound appointment this afternoon. We're technically 23wks and 5 days, however the sonographer told me she thinks I'm 24wks and 1 day..we'll just have to see about that. It did however, give me more confidence that my intuition is right, that Isabella is going to be a December baby rather than a January baby. Last visit, the doctor was hesitant to say girl 100%, only that a girl was his best guess, along with the sonographer. This time, we had a different sonographer perform the ultrasound and she was good about getting down to business - confirmed, it's a girl; we saw the structure of the labia and everything! Thank goodness, we just spent a bunch of time decorating our baby girl's nursery last week while on vacation, whew ; ) In case you're wondering how big our little one is..1lb,7oz and almost 12 inches long!!!

I can finally feel my lovebug!

Hello~



I turned 22 weeks on Thurs 8/28 and was starting to get antsy that I hadn't felt any thumps or kicks yet. But..that night I finally did, woohoo!! So exciting, it's even better than I imagined, I don't mind it the least bit. Funny story for the record..I was chatting with my younger sister Sarah this past Friday afternoon on the phone and she said "so, did you guys decide on the name Isabella?" Just then, I felt the baby move and less than a minute later, she said the name again and once more she gave me another bump. So, since she knew we were talking about her, it only seems right that that's the name for her. Besides, remember earlier I told you all about my labor premonition dreams? The part I left out was that the "girl" dreams were very distinct in that the baby's name in the dream was Isabella. I think it'll be cute to tell her later that we picked her name because we drempt about her before she ever came into this world. We're just starting to get her room ready, we've got the biggest items out of the way, crib and changing table. I'm anxious for the rest to come together to post a preview of the nursery, patience everyone!

Growing at 20 1/2 weeks!

Here I am with just the beginning of a baby bump.. I've got a ways to go but you can definitely notice the change in the tummy area, not to mention being just a smidge bustier : )

Baby Profile

Baby Update - It's a GIRL!!!

Hey all, the day has finally arrived! We're having a baby girl!!! This was very much a surprise as James and I were thinking boy all along. Reason being is mainly due to the lack of morning sickness; based on other mom comments I thought feeling so great this whole time meant it was likely to be a boy. However, I should've known better because I've had a total of 4 baby (delivery) dreams, the most recent one being on Friday August 8th - had a girl..which was the case in 3 of the 4 dreams ; ) We had our ultrasound appointment yesterday at 19 weeks and 4 days. She was being very difficult with legs crossed and hovering around my belly button so we couldn't get the best peeks, but it's clear enough to call it fairly certain at this point. She weighs 10 ounces according to all the measurements and my belly is now starting to peek -I'm finally looking preggers, woohoo!!

First Ultrasound

Hi everyone! Today marks 15 weeks and our first ultrasound! It was an amazing day and I'm so glad that my mom and stepdad got to share it with me. I just switched to a new doctor's office and I am so happy with my decision. It's still too early to see the "goods" but any picture of our little one is just fine by us. Our next visit in 4 weeks will determine whether we shop for pink or blue going forward, so I'm very anxious since I haven't been able to baby shop at all at this point. James and I are so excited, enjoy the pics!!

Doctor Visit

This week marks my 13th week - our little one is now the size of a peach! All the fingers and toes are fully intact and all the major organs are developed..it's just a matter of growing now! Today we visited my doctor and listened to the wonderful wooshing of the heartbeat! I was a little bummed to find out that we won't have an ultrasound until week 21, but we're trying to be patient. I suppose I'll rewind and recap for those of you who may not know, pregnancy has been great so far - not one day of morning sickness! So far, so good. The prelim due date is New Year's Day, January 1, 2009. But I personally think we won't have to wait that long. Time will tell~

The Beginning

Hello! Well, here we are..James and I celebrating our first pregnancy. I celebrated 12 weeks yesterday so we've got a ways to go. My next visit should be my first ultrasound so it will be very exciting.