One month left

It’s just one more month until my due date. Whoa. That’s scary. For 8 months now it has seemed like this date would never come, and now the baby could potentially come at any time (or a week or two late). And like Santa, I’m making my lists and checking them twice of all the things that need to be done before baby gets here. Luckily, Matt and I had a very productive week last week.

Last week I had my 35 week doctor’s appointment and found out Spot was head down. So let’s hope she stays that way. Everything else was good and my next appointment is set for the day after Christmas. 

We also had the chance to visit a couple of daycare centers. And doing so kind of made me feel like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The first one we visited was VERY nice, but also VERY expensive. The second was the lowest price and the smallest facility, and while I’m sure it was a very nice place and ran by very nice people, it just didn’t feel right for me. But the last place we visited was JUST right. It feels nice to have that item checked off the list.

We also had a tour of the hospital where we will deliver last week. They showed us the very nice rooms and made sure we were all registered. So once it’s go time, all we have to do is show up!

On Saturday I spent the entire day organizing the baby’s room. Ever since we first started receiving baby gifts, the room has served as more of a catch all for the pile of baby items we’ve received. Now it’s clean, clothes and blankets are washed and put away, and we can walk in the room without tripping over a Bumbo seat or baby bathtub. I just need to finish (making and) putting up the decorations. That will have to wait until after Christmas though.

The room BEFORE I cleaned. I'll post photos of the after once it's all complete.

 

Speaking of Christmas, we’re excited to spend the holiday weekend with both sets of future grandparents and a few future uncles and aunts. Merry Christmas everyone!

The countdown continues

On Thursday Spot turns 35 - weeks that is. Which means the due date is only 5 weeks away. Coincidentally, as of Thursday I will also have 35 days until my due date.

This week I’ve noticed my belly has gotten bigger. It seems like it’s always a drastic change. One day I look in the mirror and then BAM! But then it will linger around the same size for a few more weeks until the next growth spurt. I’m not sure if anyone around me can tell, but I sure can

As for Spot she’s still moving and grooving right along. I’ve been having what at first I thought were spasms where she would push herself against my upper belly, but after reading up, I am now suspecting those spasms might be Braxton Hicks contractions or what are referred to as practice contractions. (Totally normal.)

Life is getting a little tougher these last few weeks. Spot’s movements are less “fluttery” and more uncomfortable. And finding a comfortable position to sleep gets more difficult with each passing night.  Even just sitting at my desk can be a challenge when Spot decides to nestle up into my rib cage. But I’m still hanging in there (and I’ve said this before, but pregnancy symptom-wise, I’ve been really lucky) and want Spot to stay in there and keep cooking for as long as she wants to – provided she doesn’t wait TOO long after her due date.

I don’t have a photo of my belly this week, but on Dec. 2 at 33 weeks we took some maternity photos with our friend and fabulous photographer Melissa McGhee. Enjoy!

45 days and counting

That’s right, 45 days (or just 6.5 weeks) until our Jan. 17 due. With Christmas coming up, and the month of December being chock full of holiday and baby plans, the realness that we are going to have an actual baby soon is starting to sink in. Until now it’s really felt more of like this event that was going to happen in the distant future, but it always seemed so far off. Now realistically, I know Spot will probably make her arrival right around 39 or 40 weeks, just like she is supposed to. Especially since (knock on wood) I’ve had a pretty easy pregnancy so far. But then I start thinking about a friend whose baby came at 36 weeks. 36 weeks! That would be Christmas! And of course in the online forum for January 2013 expectant mothers I have been reading, several have already had their babies. (Although I’m pretty sure that forum exists solely to make pregnant ladies paranoid.)

This weekend we took “All about Birth” class at the hospital. I was convinced the main purpose of the class was to traumatize us prior to actually giving birth - and there were some scary parts - but I'm actually glad we took it. It feels good to have the information on all the things that could happen before they actually do. Although, I think the 3 hour class was a little long (and they said they've cut down the time, yikes) and our teacher wasn't the most efficient with her time. But like I said, lots of good information.

We also got to take some maternity photos with the fabulous Melissa McGhee on Sunday. That was a fun process and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Next weekend, my girlfriends in KC are hosting us another baby shower. Spot has been so blessed with a couple family showers already, but I am so excited to get to celebrate her arrival with these ladies. Since neither Matt nor I have much family in the KC area, these girls have definitely been an awesome support system close to home. We've also got my office Christmas party and our friend James is flying in from Dallas to hang out with us Sunday.

And while things are looking busy in December, they certainly weren’t any less busy in November. The last time I posted, we were getting ready to go to our first baby shower hosted by the amazing Aunt Linda and Aunt Jean at my grandma’s house in Cuba, Mo. It was awesome. They worked so hard to make everything perfect and it definitely was. The decorations were adorable and the food was amazing. And a special shout out to Aunt Linda who not only made the three kinds of cupcakes I requested, but also made a fourth kind. They were all delicious of course. (Don’t worry, I passed my glucose test.) And like I said earlier, Spot is already a very lucky little girl. We received so many wonderful gifts and are so thankful for everyone’s generosity.

Between the shower and Thanksgiving, we were able to get some downtime in November. This translated to some much-needed house cleaning time.

Before our Thanksgiving travels we took a “Newborn care class.” I’m really glad we were able to do that and we learned lots of things we probably wouldn’t have even thought about before.

On Wednesday the week of Thanksgiving we traveled to Fort Wayne, Indiana for the Landstra family Thanksgiving. Yup, that was 9 hours of driving (riding for me) both ways. And even though sitting for long periods of time is even more uncomfortable now with a baby belly, the trip was definitely worth it to spend time with the entire Landstra clan. In addition to the Thanksgiving festivities, the ladies in the family also threw us another awesome baby shower – complete with a diaper cake. I can’t say it enough; this little girl is so blessed to have such an awesome and loving extended family. We are so thankful!

And I’m not going to make any promises, but I will try to post more often in the month of December.

*Disclaimer: So the reason I waited so long to post again was because I need to pull photos off my camera. But I keep forgetting to do that when I am at home. So I only have one picture for you guys this week, and it was taken the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if it's the way I'm positioned or the shirt I'm wearing, but it's not the best "belly shot."

32 weeks (About 7 months) in this photo

Happy (belated) Halloween!

Wow, a lot has happened since I last posted. So here’s a quick summary for you:

1. We got the crib and it fits perfectly in the little nook that we wanted it to go in. Thanks Mom and Dad!

 

Matt setting up the crib.  

It fits!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. We, sadly and unexpectedly, had to travel to South Carolina a few weeks ago for the funeral of Matt’s grandmother “Mom Mom.”It was a beautiful service and even though I had only met Mom Mom a couple of times, I know she was a very special lady.

3. Later that weekend, we flew across the country to San Diego from South Carolina to attend the beautiful wedding of our friends Randy and Dana. While there, we were able to do some sightseeing and of course visit the zoo. We loved it so much, that we decided we’ll have to go back with Spot someday.

27 weeks on the beach!

Being tourists at the San Diego Zoo

Matt and I with the happy couple!

4. Of course after all that travel, I got a nasty cold the next week. But thankfully it didn’t last too long and some much needed resting seemed to (mostly) do the trick.

5. And of course that cold didn’t stop us from traveling again the next weekend. Though, to be fair, I was feeling much better by the time the weekend rolled around, and our traveling was just driving to Lincoln, Nebraska, instead of flying across the country and back. We went to spend time with Matt’s college roommate and our dear friends, Brad and Heather Horn. They recently got married and moved from KC to Nebraska when Brad was offered a PhD position at the University. Funny enough, the day we were in Lincoln was also the day Michigan played Nebraska. We didn’t go to the game, but we did get to experience some tailgating and Brad showed us around campus. Then we went back to the apartment and watched the game from the comfort of a couch while eating some delicious chili. Thanks Brad and Heather for a great weekend.

Go Blue! In front of Nebraska's Stadium. Too bad they didn't win. But it was still a great weekend.

 

6. And that brings me to today. I’m officially 29 weeks todayand feeling good. That means I'm in the third trimester. Wooo Whoo! Yesterday morning I had a doctor’s appointment for my regular check-up, plus they took my blood for a glucose screening. Good thing that was first thing in the morning, I didn't feel quite as guilty indulging on some Halloween candy last night. I won’t get the results until later today, so cross your fingers I pass, because…

7. ...This weekend is Spot’s first baby shower thrown by my wonderful aunts and held at my grandma’s house and I am REALLY looking forward to eating some Aunt Linda cupcakes. (Also looking forward to seeing everyone.)

Making progress...26 weeks! (About six months)

Well Spot is cooking right along. Nope, we still don't have a name for her, and when we do, we'll probably keep that to ourselves until the birth just in case we change our minds.

She's been really active lately. I swear she turned a summersault the other night. And last night as I was laying in bed, she was adamant that I was laying on the wrong side and kept kicking me hard until I rolled over.

The last few weeks we've really been trying to prepare her room...and ourselves...for her arrival. It will be here before we know it, espeically with the holidays coming up (and of course our tendancy to book our weekends months in advance with weddings and football games.)

Matt has been hard at work building a shelving/changing table unit. He finished it last weekend and it is perfect! Exactly what I pictured in my head. Spot's really lucky to have a dad that's so handy. Matt has also been installing the baseboard in the nursery. Now all Spot needs is a place to sleep. We found out the other day that the crib we ordered is FINALLY in and we plan to pick it up Sunday afternoon. Next on the project list is repainting and repairing an old dresser. And after an extensive search we finally found the fabric I was looking for, so Aunt Linda has kindly offered to make her a crib skirt and I've been busy getting my craft on to make some matching wall decor.

And now for some photos...

 The awesome shelves my husband made.

 

Fabric samples from Hobby Lobby. While there isn't a theme really, this should give you a better idea of what we are going for with the nursery. Basically, the theme is bright colors. I also want the orange to be my main accent color. (I know, suprise, Miranda like's orange.) We'll still have some pink stuff, since it's practically impossible to purchase any baby girl products in another color. Hence why most of the items we registered for are "gender nuetral" or "boy" colors. Also, I like pink. I just don't want it to feel like pink threw up all over the nursery if you know what I mean. Also, please no owls or other creepy forrest animals.

Oh what a lovely handmade quilt...is that a hedgehog or a porcupine frightening my daughter?

Sorry, I don't want my child to have nightmares about oddly proportioned creatures of the night (Even if they do come in the right colors.) Sorry if owls are your thing, it seems to be really trendy right now. (Photos stolen from Google Search.)

 

Lunch break photo shoot. 26 weeks exactly.

 

.
.And another one just for fun

25 weeks and counting

This week we are going to switch up the format for the blog post. Enjoy!

How far along: 25 weeks, or a little over five months.

Maternity clothes: I may not look that big yet, but maternity pants are a must.

Sleep: Is awesome. Finding the right position is sometimes difficult, but once I get there and finally get to sleep I'm good to go...at least until a train goes by and wakes me up, or I hear Charlie up and prancing around on our wood floors or Matt gets up or moves suddenly. Then I wake up and am reminded how small my bladder feels these days. But getting back to sleep doesn't seem to be too much of a problem unless I happen to wake up about 10 minutes before Matt wakes up for work. It's always frustrating to lose those precious extra few minutes of sleep!

Best moment this week: Spending time with Mom and Dad Landstra this weekend (even if we did watch A LOT of golf).Taking cousin Megan to visit our Alma mater, the University of Central Missouri. Visiting with my dear friend Melissa over a pizza buffet lunch.

Miss Anything: A nice big glass of red wine.

Movement: She's really squirming these days. We've read where she's starting to develop some hearing at this stage, and I could definitely tell when we went to a UCM football game last week. Every time the band would play or the cannon went off for touchdowns she would be kicking away. I told Matt his daughter either LOVES football or HATES it. Whether the kicks were good or bad, it was hard to tell, but either way she had a strong opinion.

Food cravings: I was never really a snacker before pregnancy. And certainly not a person who craved sweets or chocolate a lot. But now I am all about the desserts. Cupcakes have been a big one, especially strawberry cupcakes or chocolate with strawberry icing. Ice Cream, Pop Tarts and donuts are also some of my most indulged items. I even went to the gas station specifically to buy a pack of sour gummi worms one day, and I NEVER eat candy like that. Also, pizza pretty much sounds good anytime, but that really hasn't changed much from pre-pregnancy. As a side note, my next doctor's appointment contains a glucose test in which they determine whether I am at risk for gestational diabetes...maybe I should lay off the sweets so I don't fail that sucker.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Have you started to show yet: Some. We didn't take a picture yet this week, so you'll have to wait to see.

Gender: Girl!

Happy or Moody most of the time: I suppose it depends on if you are asking me or Matt, but since I have been feeling really good the last month or so, I'd say I've been pretty happy lately. I can't remember any random tears or moments of inexplicable, irrational anger recently.

Looking forward to: Getting her new room decorated.

 

Sorry guys, no pictures this week, we've been slacking. I'll try to make sure we have some next week since this weekend Matt will be finishing her new shelves.

Sorry for the wait...

Oh my goodness, we’re so sorry it took so long to update you all on our exciting news, if you haven’t heard yet…It’s a GIRL!

We couldn’t be more thrilled. However, I was convinced Spot was a boy. I kept asking the ultrasound tech if she was sure and how accurate the reading was. I think she was a little insulted, but I was in shock. The good kind of course!

The first thing Matt said as we walked out of the doctor’s office was, “OK, we’ll have a Michigan softball player. Or soccer, or basketball.” I told him basketball was probably the least likely given the fact that I am the shortest person on BOTH sides of our families. I didn’t want to burst his bubble too badly by reminding him that I am also the least athletic person on both sides of our families…

The first thing I did was immediately go to the store and look for pink outfits. 

Since then, we’ve been hard at work preparing for our little girl. We met my parents for lunch the Saturday following the ultrasound, so they got to hear the news in person and see the first baby photos where she actually looks like a baby. I was really proud of my mom for waiting and extra 2.5 days after the appointment to hear the news. I thought for sure she would be calling me that night. When we arrived at the restaurant that was, of course, the first thing they wanted to hear. Shortly after, they gave Matt his birthday card, but before he could open it, I had a bag of baby goodies in front of me to open as well. Sorry, Matt, but that won’t be the last time you are upstaged by baby stuff.  Mom and Dad were also generous enough to purchase our first BIG baby item – the crib. We can’t thank them enough!

Our family has had some other VERY exciting news this week, I found out I am getting another Sister-In-Law!  My brother proposed to his beautiful girlfriend, Jenna this week. We couldn’t be happier for them.

This weekend we are headed to St. James to spend time with my family, and I have it on good authority there will be Grandma Pascoe chicken and dumplings involved…exactly what this baby has been craving ALL WEEK.

22 Weeks

A little blurry, but you get the idea.

 Our little GIRL!

 That's her arm

I celebrated by buying baby girl clothes and making pink cupcakes (one of the things this little girl has been craving.)

Halfway there!

Twenty weeks down, 20 to go...give or take. We were able to celebrate the halfway point of the pregnancy with a three day weekend. We kicked it off with date night Friday night of pizza and a movie. Saturday, of course, was dedicated to college football...for Matt anyway. I spent most of the day upstairs watching reruns of really girly television. Sunday we were able to meet some of my old work friends for a delicious barbecue lunch, some good conversation and a little baby talk. The Bubalo's brought their four month old and were gracious enough to let me get a little practice time and hold him for a bit. Matt held the baby too, but it was for about 0.5 seconds...the time it took for me to pass the baby to Matt and for Matt to pass him right on back to his mother.
Monday we decided to venture into the world of baby superstores and started a registry at Babies R Us. Let me tell you, that was exhausting, overwhelming and a lot of fun. Matt has successfully held me back from making any baby purchases up until this point, so it was fun to be in the store and see the products for myself and start creating our wish list. Still no baby purchases, but after that first trip, I think we both have a (slightly) better idea of what Spot is going to need in the next 4.5 months.

This Thursday is the big day. We've got the anatomy scan ultrasound, and if Spot is cooperative, we'll finally be able to tell whether we'll have a boy or girl!

20 Weeks (4.5 months) 

This week I really started feeling Spot move around in there. He or she is especially active as soon as I lay down for the night. At first I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or if I could really feel him from the outside. So I had Matt put his hand on my belly and sure enough, he could feel it too!

 The only thing in Spot's closet so far. A gender neutral sleeper from my Mom. My grandma did send us some adorable hot pink infant socks earlier this summer, but it's still a 50/50 chance whether or not Spot will be wearing those. 

 We FINALLY got rid of the green carpet a few weeks ago. This will be Spot's room. Luckily I picked a baby room appropriate color when we repainted this room a few years ago.

 And finally, here's a picture of our first child, Charlie, this week. He got put in the cone of shame by the vet due to a spot on his paw he just couldn't stop picking at. Well that healed last week, but then he ended up breaking his toenail off. Back to the vet, and back in the cone for him. At first he was pretty unsure of what to do with it on. Now he just barrels through everything until he gets to where he wants to go. Hopefully for our walls, furniture and trim, the cone will be coming off soon!

How are you feeling?

That seems to be the No. 1 question I get after announcing I’m pregnant. And guess what, growing a human is hard! I never really thought about ALL the different effects growing a baby would have on my body. I just assumed it would be mostly physical changes (like the growing belly) and maybe some morning sickness.

I’ve considered myself pretty lucky in terms of morning sickness (though really it should be called all day sickness). I’m pretty functional and most of the time any queasiness can be cured with some constant snacking. Let me tell you, I went through a lot of Honey Nut Cheerios in the first trimester.

Luckily, I don’t have any aversions to food either. I am trying to eat and snack healthier so I can give Spot as much nutrition as he or she needs. Also, with the constant urge to eat, it’s probably good if I am not constantly picking up the donuts, cookies or cupcakes. Contrary to what they say, eating for two is not as exciting as it sounds. Technically I am supposed to eat just an extra 300 calories a day.

As far as negative symptoms, probably the roughest have been the constant fatigue and some heartburn and indigestion. No more can I stay up until 10 or 10:30 on a week night or take that third slice of pizza (although with the pizza, I can’t ever seem to stop and am always kicking myself after the fact.)

Luckily I am well into my second trimester, and all the books say most of these symptoms tend to go away around this time. I still get tired and need to go to bed a lot earlier than I use to, but now I get bursts of energy throughout the day. (Before, I pretty much felt like a zombie all day.) And, most importantly that all day queasiness I had been feeling is pretty much gone.

18 weeks (Four months)

The bump is still pretty undetectable to the average eye. We went to the doctor last week and Spot's heartbeat is strong. (In the 140s -- apparently anywhere between 120-160 is good). 

We also heard him moving around in there, though I haven't been able to feel anything yet.

On September 6 we go in for our ultrasound that will tell us if Spot is a he or a she!

Baby Landstra, AKA: Spot

The first time we got to see our baby, he or she was about 7 weeks. At that time all we could see was a tiny spot. So somehow that became our nickname for Baby Landstra. Now Spot is much larger than, well, a spot. At 17 weeks (a little over 3.5 months) He/she is the size of a sweet potato this week. We are making our way through the produce department each week. Spot was turnip last week and an avacodo the week before and I had guacamole to celebrate! I might just have to have guacamole again this week, too.
For those of you worried we’ll continue with the Spot nickname, don’t worry, that’s just what we’ll use while he/she is still in my belly. I promise we’ll come up with a good (normal) name for Baby Landstra over the next 5 months.

Operation Baby Landstra has commenced

Matt and I are expecting our first child January 17, 2013 and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Since many of our family members live miles – and states – away, we wanted to be able to update everyone on Baby Landstra’s progress.
I’ll also be writing some about my first experience with pregnancy, since “how are you feeling" is one of the top questions I get asked as people begin finding out. However, there are some components of pregnancy I will do my best NOT to share. And if you don’t know me all that well, let me tell you prior to being pregnant I had some pretty strong feelings about pregnancy over-sharing. So here is my pledge to you:

• I will not post about bodily functions. Yes, I had no idea how much these certain unmentionable things we take for granted in our everyday lives are affected once a baby starts growing inside you. But I promise I will not write or talk about it in detail.

• Pregnancy is counted in weeks. 40 weeks to be exact. And it used to drive me nuts when pregnant people told everyone else their progress in weeks and not in months. But because the doctor, the baby books and other new moms or moms-to-be always count in weeks, I have noticed myself falling into that trap. So to save you from figuring up how long 17 weeks is in normal people counting, I will do my best to try to translate that week count into an approximate month count. Because seriously, normal people don’t talk in weeks.
• Facebook will not know more about this baby than you. Usually I am a big fan of Facebook, but something about announcing a pregnancy on Facebook makes me kind of feel icky. While I know – or knew – everyone on my friends list at one point in my life, something about letting them all in the loop feels odd. So while I am not going to be super-secretive about this pregnancy on Facebook, I am taking relaxed approach. No big Facebook announcements for me – especially not to announce when this baby starts coming! But I promise, we will let you all know the important events through this blog, emails or phone calls.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoy reading and keeping track of Operation Baby Landstra.

 14 weeks on July 18 - Just barely a bump

16 weeks on August 2, still not much of a baby bump