Baby Research

Okay all! I have begun the research as to which baby products I need and which ones are the best for the price! I have started on strollers and car seats! I think the more I read the more confused I get. If anyone has any advice on favorite baby products MUST HAVEs or DO NOT NEEDs, email them my way (or leave a comment)! One day soon, Matt & I will enter the land of Babies R Us to register so any advice is greatly appreciated!

Pregnant Women Galore!

Whoa Nelly! It seems like CHKD is the place to be if you want to get pregnant! You can be in the dietitian group. We had one girl deliver in February, another due in July, and me in September. Keep in mind there are only 6 of us! Then I go up on the oncology unit! 2 out of our 3 residents (doctors in training) are "knocked up," me, and our attending doctor (head staff doctor)! If you want to get pregnant, just come to Norfolk, Virginia. There's something in the water here!

Braxton Hicks

I think I have already experienced some Braxton Hicks. These are also known as "practice contractions." I can't remember exactly what day they started but it was in the last week. I thought the baby was curled up into a ball, but then it happened again. It felt like a ball right in the middle of my lower belly. When I touched my stomach, it was really hard. And it has happened more often. I will have my next doctor appointment next week, so we'll see if these are really Braxton Hicks or if it is the baby curling up in a ball!

22 weeks belly post

See what 1 week of pregnancy will do!

21 weeks...22 weeks and 10 pounds later!

I think I've grown quite a bit! My bottom part has actually exceeded the top part of my upper torso!

22 weeks and getting fat!

As you can see, my weight gain to date is just shy of 10 pounds. I'm quite pleased with that! I made it into the weight gain chart and hope to stay on track for the next 18 weeks!

Okay, so I took pictures and just was not happy with them! So we're going to have to try again tomorrow! Maybe it was the angle of the picture, or the fact that we spent the last two days outside working, or maybe my face is just getting fat, but there is NO way I am going to let you all see me looking like that with 18 weeks left to go! So, maybe I'll take better pictures tomorrow! Until tomorrow... have a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Starting the job -- Saturday!

The straight top fence...

The level bottom fence...

Instead of relaxing and enjoying the kick-off to summer... Matt and I have been doing some home improvements. Matt put up posts for a fence last year! Yes! Last year! And we finally have the time and money to finish it! So instead of buying the premade fence slabs, we decide to do it fence slat by fence slat. So, we start on it yesterday, making sure the top of the fence is nice and straight! We even use a level for each and every darn fence slat! But when we are done (yes finished!), we realize there is quite a big gap on the bottom of the fence thanks to our uneven grass! So, Matt decides he doesn't like it and takes down almost each one of them and starts putting them back up! This time we use a step system to cover most of the ground, but the tops are uneven. So you decide! Which one is better? The straight top with a gapped bottom or the step system top but level bottom?

It's the end to an era

Okay -- for all of you who voted for me to take my belly button ring out... well, it's out! It's been a part of me since I was 19 years old. That means 10 years it has been a part of my body. So sad to see it go!

To those other 2 voters out there... I'm sorry. I really wanted to wait until the very end, like when my belly button popped out but it was starting to rub on my clothes. Not fun! Every time I think of my belly button popping it reminds me of the timer on a turkey baking... lol! So the deal is, if my hole doesn't close by the end of the pregnancy, I will put it back it. But with my track record, it will close. I've had my ears pierced like 4 times now. Every time my "real" earrings fall out (I have a pretty severe allergy to all non-real jewelry), my holes close literally within days!

Can you see who Baby B looks like?

Here are some baby pictures of Matt & I! Who does Baby B look like?

Hard to tell who Baby B looks like! My mom is still convinced it's a girl and looks like me!

Ultrasound!

Exciting news! Upon my return to a mound full of mail, I discovered a letter that had my ultrasound scheduled for this morning! Good thing I'm obsessed with mail! Here are the pictures! Hard to believe there is a little person in there. Kind of freaks me out that this little thing is going to really be here soon!

Profile view
Look at those leg muscles already! Comes from good stock!
The 4-d view. I think he/she got my cabbage patch nose. Matt thinks it looks like a boy!
I'm hiding behind my hand!
See the feet! And the umbilical cord!

21 weeks!

19 weeks...

2 weeks later!
I'm definitely growing! I'm sure the week in Europe also contributed to the swelling belly bump! It's almost caught up with the upper part of me!

Mom wants to know...

1. Where you were when it happened? We were at Mister Bed in Strausberg, France. I actually felt it the Thursday prior to leaving. But once I tried to feel for it again, the little bugger stopped. But on Friday night, I felt it again at our little hostel/motel type of bedroom. It was definitely a little kick in there. I had Matt feel it. He said, "It's probably just gas." Then a big thump came from the inside.

2. What did it feel like? The first couple of times were like little taps coming from the inside. After Matt's "gas comment," the baby gave a big thump!

3. Did it only happen once? It's happened quite a few times since then. Friday night, the baby was giving lots of tapping from the inside. Maybe it already knows Morse code.

4. How about with Matt? See answers #1 and #2.

5. What are you guys thinking? Like it's for real, now? I laughed because once Matt said something the little thing kicked harder!

We're back!

Matt and I are back from our whirl wind of a trip! Boy did it go by fast! We went through 5 (count them five) countries! Although most of them went by in a blink!





Saturday-We started at Zurich, Switzerland. We flew in here and ate breakfast. Drove to Freiburg, Germany and ate lunch. Drove to Strausberg, France where we spent the night. Strausberg had the most ornate and magnificent cathedral I have ever seen. One of the books we brought along said it took over 2 centuries to build! 200 years! And we complain about a freeway taking a few months! We ate dinner here in Strausberg. Let me tell you! Europe serves a lot of sausages! I think my hot dog days are done for awhile. Well, until the 4th of July at least! We stayed in the smallest little motel room you have ever seen. Too bad I forgot to take pictures. It was not quite a hostel but not quite a Motel 6. The bathroom would fit into what a half-bath is here in the US. I can see why Europeans are not fat. Besides how much walking they do! They bathrooms are tiny! I could barely fit in the shower! I had to put my shampoo and stuff on the toilet!


Sunday-We woke up bright and early and headed for the Alsace region of France which includes Strausberg. They have a lot of wine tasting to do there! Don't worry! I just had a few sips! This is where we kind of took a detour and ended up hiking up to a castle, Chateau de l'Ortenbourg built originally in 1262 (well, according to wikipedia). And when I say we hiked... I hiked up in my wedge sandals while everyone else hiked up in flip flops! Definitely not on the plan of events. But what a wonderful experience! We had a relaxing picnic up at the top of the castle! Then we picked up where we left off and restarted the wine tasting stops! From there, we headed down to Colmar where we ate dinner. This is where we saw the Statue of Liberty in the middle of the city. So of course, all us Americans hopped out of the car to take a picture! After a quaint dinner, we headed back to Strausberg where we crashed for the night.






Monday-We woke up bright and early again, hopped in the car and headed to Paris. We stopped in a small city of Reims for a quick bite to eat at a boulangerie. These are small, awesome bakeries where I had the most delicious chocolate croissants. We made a quick stop at another cathedral. Then we headed to Paris! Matt and I found an amazing deal on a cute hotel. It was two stories, with a loft bedroom for $83! In Paris! Isn't that amazing??!!! Then it was off to the Eiffel tower where I took tons of pictures! From here we headed went to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile {ahrk duh tree-ohmf' duh lay-twahl'}, the world's largest triumphal arch. Then we went off on foot to meet some friends who live in Paris for dinner.





Tuesday-We started off at the Notre-Dame de Paris. Then we hopped back in the car and headed to Leiden, Netherlands. Our friend, David, lives there right now. On our way, we stopped at one of the coolest towns, Gent, Belgium. David had a friend from there who gave us the quick tour. I do have say that I would definitely recommend this city as a stop in the European tour! Matt was able to taste a beer that was original to Belgium. I was treated to a little European romance when David's friend, Aaron pulled a rose off a rose bush. It was a sweet treat. We concluded our day by hopping in the car again and headed off for Leiden.


Wednesday-Matt and I slept in the catch up on our zzz's. We woke up and headed out on foot to explore the town of Leiden. It's a small, college town where everyone travels by bike. We found their market and sat down for coffee and breakfast. This is a 2 hour event in Europe! Any meal is really. It's quite the change of pace. You should try it some time. Just relax! Then we headed out for more sites to see. We found a museum that had a special exhibit on the Melting of the Ice. If global warming continues at the same rate until 2100, half of the Netherlands will be under water! That night David through a BBQ dinner. Matt quite thoroughly enjoyed some of David's political science friends!


Thursday-Matt, David, and I hopped onto the train to Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was a quick 30 minute ride. Matt enjoyed Amsterdam although I could have passed on it. My opinion was that Amsterdam was for the Red Light district and "coffee houses." Well, it was a site to see for once in my life. We did get to go into the Van Gough museum where they housed a majority of his paintings. I saw the sunflower painting. Unfortunately, Starry Night was not in their collection.


Friday-Matt and I hopped on a train to Brussels, Belgium. We arrived at about 2pm, checked into our hotel. We got a bit lost even though the hotel was literally one block away from the train station. Frustrating! We headed out on foot and found their town center, Town Hall (Hotel de Ville)Town Hall (Hotel de Ville) which dates back to the 13th century! I do have to say that the European historical architecture was a site to see! Between the castles and cathedrals.... it was magnificent!


Saturday-we finally headed back to the States. After 17 hours of traveling we are back at home!

I have so many pictures I thought I would start with uploading my favorites. Here is the link! Hope you enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hllnzph.1dwe7vk1&x=0&y=g6ahe6&localeid=en_US

Pregnant News!

I was so excited to update everyone on my trip that I forgot on the baby news update. So here is the short version!

1. I am starting to look more pregnant!
2. I have definitely felt the baby kick!
3. Matt has also felt the baby kick!
4. No major swelling of the extremities.
5. 20 weeks pregnant -- half-way mark!
6. In maternity pants, plus one pair of pants that still fit!

I'll update pictures of my belly on Sunday!

Whoa Europe!

Bonjour! We have finally settled down at our friend, David's house in Leiden, Netherlands. We flew into Zurich, Switzerland Saturday morning. We ate breakfast in Zurich. Hopped in the car and traveled to Frieberg, Germany where we ate lunch. Hopped back in the car and ended up in Strausberg, France where we ate dinner. We got to see the Cathedral of France which was one of the most amazing pieces of architecture ever created! Sunday morning we went out to explore Strausberg and explored Alsace, which is a wine region. Monday morning we woke up, hopped in the car and headed to Paris. As you can tell we saw the Eifel tower. We climbed up many flights of stairs to the second tower, yes me too even though I am pregnant! We went from the Eifel tower to the Arches (not sure on the exact name), then ended up at the Louvre museum, although we didn't have time to look around. Tuesday morning we woke up and saw the Cathedral of Paris. Hopped back in the car, stopped in Gent, Belgium which happened to be a really cool city. Hopped back in the car and traveled to Leiden! We will spend tomorrow here. Thursday we will get onto a train to Amsterdam. Friday morning take a train to Brussels. Saturday afternoon load onto the plane back to the States! Whew! More pictures and details to come!

Off to Europe we go!

Hello all! We leave for Europe today! Boy did time fly by! We are both working half-days to close things out for the next week. Then we fly out of Newport News at 3pm. Fly into Pennsylvania. Then take a red-eye flight to Zurich, Switzerland. From there, David (Matt's best man from our wedding) is picking us up. We are going to try to find a little town where the "Besmer" name is in every 4th family or so. They even have the family crest up in a little church! Then we travel through the Champagne region of France, up to the Netherlands, and maybe to Belgium! See you all in one week!

I saw a doctor!

Yeah! I finally got to see real doctor today! I'm back at the civilian practice, Riverside family medicine. I saw the same doctor who I started out with. She's a 2nd year family medicine resident who will have a family med/OB doctor with her. She measured me at 18 to 18 1/2 (not quite sure the measurements). AND I heard the heart rate. It was in the 140s. She said... girls like to say hello and boys run from her when she does the Doppler heart checks. Well, it took a long while to find the heartbeat but she did. Google says, "As the old wives' tale has it, if your unborn baby's heart rate is higher, above 140 beats per minute, that means you're carrying a girl. A lower heart rate below 140 bpm means you're having a boy.." I got my 18 week labs drawn which also includes the quad screen which tests for Downs syndrome, spina bifida, and obviously 2 other tests. Plus they are supposed to call me back to schedule the ultrasound! Yeah! And I get to see her in another 4 weeks! Wow! Whatdaya know?!

Upgrades!

Well, I've come into the world of "Smartphones!" Matt and I upgraded our old phones to new ones. Mine was only about 3 years old. But it was well built, resistant to drops, and still working. I can only hope this little Blackberry will be as good!

Ever feel like this?

I thought this was funny. I don't know why... but Parker always puts his head under the bed when he sleeps. Maybe it's the same concept as us putting a pillow or blanket over our heads. I am now on day 10 of 12 work days in a row. When I get home I just feel like this! But at the end of this 12 day stretch I get to go to Europe! Yeah!

19 weeks!

18 weeks to now...

I really think I finally grew a little this week! My weight shot up 2 pounds in one week! We'll see if it sticks this week again. I wanted to update all of you since next week is 20 weeks, the half-way mark, but we'll be in Europe so I'm not sure I will remember to take belly pictures. I think 2 more weeks, I'll have a little pregnant belly not just a beer belly! I predict I'll look pregnant at 21-22 weeks, especially when you add in all the European food!

Happy Birthday Matt!

Parker enjoying some of the sun!

Our only family picture with Parker.

Today is Matt's 29th birthday. After returning home from work, we took Parker to the dog beach. Parker enjoyed spending quality time with his Mom and Dad.

Parker enjoying playing catch in the ocean water.

Squeaky wheel gets the oil!

Well, of course first thing I did once I left the darn doctor's office is I call my husband. Thank goodness for my husband! So, he gets on the phone and asks to talk with the the hospital. Well, the front desk can't do anything of course, so they give him a patient advocate who of course can't do anything either. So he continues to push for the head honcho. He eventually ends up with the head of the Women's Clinic. Long story short... he gets my OB care released back to my initial doctor at Riverside Medical hospital, a hospital which is literally around the block from our house! So thank my persistent customer driven husband for getting me into a real hospital with real doctors with an MD behind their name and real anesthesiologist in house 24-7!

Pee-oed!

So I am pi$$ed off! Excuse my French! So, I had my "first" OB appointment with the base except there was horrible tunnel traffic so I was 30 minutes late to my appointment and the nurse practitioner refused to see me!!! There was only one person in the entire office! So, I raised holy hell. I'm 18 weeks pregnant for goodness sake... talk about GREAT OB care! Thank you! I have not been seen since I was 10 weeks pregnant and that was at my last family med appointment. So other than the fact that a doctor has told me... Congratulations! Yes you are pregnant! And thank goodness I had an ultrasound... otherwise I might question if I am pregnant! I have not seen a doc since. And to top it off! I have the potential of a midwife delivery!!! I'm not so sure about that! Working at a Children's hospital makes me very weary about not having a doctor there! So... now I will be 19 weeks pregnant by the time I will actually be seen by someone. Oh... here's the kicker! It's still not a doctor but a midwife!!!