Start of Vacation (21 weeks 6 days)

We have had a Panama Canal cruise booked since the first of the year. When we found out we were pregnant, we had to decide if we wanted to go. Initially there was the whole issue of if I would be allowed to travel and safety concerns related to it. A woman cannot be on a cruise ship after 24 weeks. Well I made it by one day, so we were allowed to go (I will be 23 weeks and 6 days on the last day of the cruise)! It was really complicated for NCL to let us know if we could go. Because several months ago talking to NCL stressed me out, Brain handled it. After talking with my doctor, we decided that we wanted to go on one last big vacation before baby.

Things got a little complicated with Brian having to go to Boston for work before our vacation. He left on Sunday and I met him in Boston on Wednesday. Being pregnant and getting everything together for vacation takes a lot of work but I handled it okay. I had to get him ready by Sunday then I had to do it all again for me for Wednesday. I missed Brian a lot but managed. It was great to reconnect with him on Wednesday in Boston. I was more emotional than usual with Brian gone. I know pregnancy had something to do with it too.

I am still at the stage that it is not completely obvious to people that I am pregnant. People that know me know that I am pregnant because I look so different. However to strangers I may just look fat. So with traveling, I did not get any help from people. The taxi driver did not even get my suitcase out of the truck of the car. My suitcase weighed 50 pounds and I got it out myself!

While in Boston, Brian and I walked around the city a lot. When had to use the subway at times because I could not walk anymore. My legs get tired easily and I am still getting the round ligament pains. I would have to sit to take breaks too. I do not want to overdo anything either so I am being cautious. Last thing I want is something to happen to baby while we are traveling. So my most important priority is taking care of baby.

Eating has been a challenge while traveling. We flew to the west coast last night. There is a 3 hour time change so that messed up my body and eating cycles. It is hard to eat healthy and frequently while traveling. I know soon I am getting on a cruise so I will have endless supply of food. That could be good or bad. I know I have to watch what I eat or I’ll gain too much weight too fast. I have not gained any more weight for 2 weeks now. I am exercising more right now because I feel so good recently.

Baby has been active recently. This morning while Brian and I were laying in bed I felt baby. I put Brian’s hand on my stomach and he got to feel baby for the first time this morning. It was really cool. I am sure it is harder for Brian because he does not get to feel baby like I do.

We are getting ready to board our cruise ship. Brian and I are going to relax and have fun. I plan to update both of my blogs.

Melissa in Town (21 weeks 1 day)

Friday was Brian’s birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy to be! His sister Melissa came up for the weekend. That was really nice of her. My dad was nice enough to drive to Pittsburgh to pick her up from the airport. Melissa, Laura (Melissa’s BFF), my parents, and Brian and I all went to dinner Friday night. It was a lot of fun. Melissa is always so entertaining. She no longer talks to me. She talks to my stomach to baby Mattie. Melissa is still so excited about this baby.

While we were at dinner, my dad saw a woman who had a T-shirt that said Mattie’s Mom on it. So Melissa, asked the women if we could please take a picture of the shirt. Only Melissa! I think Brian had a great birthday with all of us.

Yesterday I had a family dinner for Brian’s birthday. We got to show everyone the ultrasound pictures. Many had already seen them on the blog, but Gramma and Gramps had not since they don't have a computer. I made hot coca cupcakes. It was a new recipe. They were hard to get out of the pan and that stressed me out a little bit. I enjoy cooking and when things don’t go well I feel bad. Brian stepped in and helped and it worked out okay. Despite the mess and effort, they were pretty good in the end.

Also before people came over, Brian and I worked on packing. He leaves today for Boston for a work conference. I am glad that he does not travel much for work. We will be apart for 3 days so it will not be too bad but it is different for both of us. While packing, we had to see if I could fit into any of my formal dresses for our Panama canal cruise that starts next week. None of them fit me anymore. I was upset about that too, but I what can I do? Luckily I have some informal summer dresses that still fit okay. My mom also got me some maternity clothes from a woman she works with. They were in really good shape and very nice. I now have several pairs of nice pants and a few extra shirts. It was exciting.

Melissa and Laura came over early to help with dinner. They helped decorate the cupcakes and clean up the kitchen. Also they had to see baby Mattie’s room and ended playing around with some pregnancy clothes and contraptions I had been given by other people. They liked the room so far. We do not have the crib set up yet. Also my sample blinds came in so I let them decide on which color to order. Melissa got to put an outfit she got for the baby in the dresser. It is really cute. She also got Mattie a monkey that I just love!

Grandma, Gramps, and my parents all came over for dinner too. I made lasagna. It was really yummy. I cannot get enough Italian food right now! Everyone also liked the cupcakes. It was a great night. Melissa even made sure I rested while she cleaned up the kitchen. That was sweet of her.

The only thing was I had a severe headache all day. I usually do not get headaches. I know I can take Tylenol but choose not to. Luckily this morning my headache is barely there. Yesterday it was pretty severe.

We have to finish getting Brian ready for his trip. I will be taking him to the airport in a couple of hours. It will be weird without him here but at least I get to go see him in Boston in 3 days!

First baby kick (20 weeks 4 days)

I have felt baby kick! It is a weird feeling. I do not feel it often but I have felt it a couple of times. It is amazing to have a person inside of you and to feel him/her is unbelievable. I am so blessed.

I have been feeling well all in all. My stomach is getting bigger. I am carrying baby pretty high now. Because of my large stomach, I cannot sleep on my stomach. So my biggest challenge is trying to get enough sleep. I think baby is preparing me for when he/she is born since I will not be sleeping much then either. I cannot get comfortable at night. I toss and turn. Most nights I end up on the couch just trying to get some sleep. I have been going to work early this week. However I have been awake before my alarm goes off which has been 5:30am. I think my days of getting 8 hours of sleep a night are over!

Brian put the dressers together this week. The handles needed to go on and the mirror needed to be attached. They really look nice. At times, I think we should keep them and give baby our old dressers. Just kidding! Also my blind samples came in. Now we have to decide on what color to go with. I will order them soon. We have not put the crib together but we will once we get back from our vacation.

I also realized something else this week. Before I was pregnant, I would get dressed without any difficulty. My clothes would fit, had many choices, and it was quick. Now I have to find clothes that fit (always a challenge) although I did go shopping for more clothes so I now have some options. But if I want to wear a pair of my prepregancy jeans, I need to also wear my Beband. It does take a little bit to put on correctly. I now also need bra extenders because my bras are now longer wide enough. My days of getting dressed quickly are now over as well. I now need lots of accessories to help me.

My sister in law is coming up tomorrow. She has not seen me pregnant yet. That should be interesting. She is really excited about the baby. I’m sure seeing me pregnant will make it even more real. Brian’s birthday is Friday. It is nice that his sister came up for it. It should be a fun weekend.

20 Week Ultrasound (19 weeks 5 days)

On Tuesday, we had our “big” ultrasound. I was off on Tuesday which I was really glad. It is hard for me to be at work and leave for a doctors appointment and an ultrasound. I was nervous all day long. It is hard to explain why. I knew that during the ultrasound they check to make sure everything was developing. The ultrasound is a chance to look at baby and see if everything looks normal. Being a nurse, I realize that having a healthy baby is not a given. I pray everyday for a healthy baby. I have tried to do everything right so baby is not exposed to bad things but you never know. I have to leave it in God’s hands and hope for the best.



I picked Brian up from work so we could go together. Once we got there, we had the ultrasound first. It was amazing to see how big baby is already. One would think that baby is not developed yet, however that is not the case at all. Baby is just about all developed however he/she just needs to get bigger. We told the tech right away that we did not want to know the gender. It is really important for us to be surprised. We got to see baby’s face. It looks like a skeleton face on the screen. It is weird. We also saw baby’s arms and feet. We also saw all the chambers of baby's heart. Everything is developing like it should. We could not get a measurement on how long baby is because he/she was in a ball position. We are expecting a long baby though since Brian is tall. It is so cute. The best pictures we got were of baby’s feet (previous post). It is so exciting!



I talked to the doctor about my concerns. I was worried that I have gained so much weight this month. The doctor was not too concerned. He said that I have only gained 8 pounds so far which is normal. That made me feel better. Also I have not gained any more weight this week. Thank goodness! Also I have been getting right groin pain when walking a lot. We went to the Taste of Hudson on Sunday. While walking around there, I was having severe pain in my groin that freaked me out a bit so I was glad I could ask my doctor about it. I found out that is round ligament pain which is also normal. It is caused by the uterus growing and the ligaments stretching to support it. Resting helps the pain. The doctor says everything looks good and normal.

I have found that sleeping with 5-6 pillows surrounding me really helps. I need all the support for my every part of my body as possible. Last evening I was so uncomfortable I tried my prenatal yoga. It really helped me stretch out and sleep better. I need to do that more often.

What is this picture?

We had our ultrasound today. Can you guess what is in this picture? We will do a post later in the week with more photos from the ultrasound.

Spaghetti Warehouse

Tonight was a date night from Brian and I. We went out to eat at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Should I have white sauce or red sauce with my spaghetti? Thanks to their combo option, I didn't have to decide. Now that's a pregnancy friendly menu!

Baby furniture (19 weeks 1 day)

Last Sunday, Brian and I went baby furniture shopping. We drove down to Wayside Furniture and spend over an hour there looking at different types of dressers for baby’s room. Interestingly we found the same set that we liked in two different sections: the children’s section and the adult section. Once we realized they were identical, we knew that this was the one we wanted. We did not measure baby’s room before we went shopping so we had to measure to see if we could fit the bigger dressers in the room. Once we got home and measured, we realized it would be better to get the smaller of the two dresser versions. We need room for a bookshelf and toys too. Even with the shorter one, baby still has more dresser space than we do!

While we were out on Sunday, we also stopped at Motherhood Maternity. We wanted to get me some clothes for our Panama trip. Since it is the end of summer here, they had some good deals. However I still ended up spending a lot of money on clothes! I am going to need more work clothes soon too. It is so hard right now because all my current clothes are too tight however I don’t really need maternity clothes yet. I am still in the fat stage. Yick! I did buy a BeBand Maternity Band. This is the coolest thing ever. It is band that goes over your waist line and allows you not to button your pants! No one can even tell. It is really great.

This week for work I was in training all week. It was a nice break from regular work. However it was stressful because I had to prepare a presentation and take 3 tests on Friday. It was really important that I pass all the tests! I was so grateful after I took the tests and found out that I passed. My heart was racing each time I hit the submit button. Even after the tests were completed my heart was still racing. I tried to relax for baby's sake!

Yesterday, Brian, Dad, and I went to pick up our baby furniture. Brian and Dad carried everything into the house. The dressers were pretty heavy. Once we got home, our crib had been delivered to the house too and was sitting outside of the garage. It was perfect timing. I was so excited. We basically have all baby’s furniture now. We still need a mattress for baby, bookshelf, and new blinds. I ordered blind color samples today so I should get them this week. Brian is still working on baby’s room to fix the drywall spot so the furniture has not been moved into the room yet. He wasn't happy with how it turned out the first time and is doing it over. It looks so weird to have that room empty.

I have the guest bedroom now all set up downstairs. That room really turned out nice. That use to be our “junk room”. We would just put stuff in there and shut the door. It was like our basement but not it is a livable room. I’m proud on how it turned out. Luckily Brian was able to move a lot of the stuff that use to be in that room to the garage. He built nice new shelves in the garage. Our house it nicely in order now!

I have been feeling pretty well. No nausea or vomiting. Some minor aches and pains but nothing too severe. I have not realized it if I have felt the baby kick. I have so many different feelings that it is hard to tell. I love to eat right now. I have to be careful with that so I don’t gain too much weight. It is hard to be hungry all the time though. I have now gained 9-10 pounds. I hope my weight levels off a little bit. I am exercising more than I was a month ago just because I feel better.

Also this week, Melissa finalized “Mattie’s” baby shower. That was a bit of an ordeal but at least the date and location has been finalized. It was hard because Melissa and my mother in law live out of state. So they have to take off work and come up for it. Finding a date around the holidays was a bit of a challenge. Melissa calls the baby Mattie. She is convinced we are having a girl. We could find out the gender this week but we still want to be surprised so we will not know for sure until baby arrives.