Catch-up Posts

I was just looking back over the entries and realized there are a few things I have missed in the past couple of months.

First week 25 picture never got posted.

Mommy Mobile

Back in October we decided that that little Subaru wasn't going to cut it once that baby arrives so we started car shopping. I love my Subaru's so we quickly settled on another used Subaru. We did some test drives and decided that the Tribeca was the only model that had the space we were hoping for. We got lucky and found a Blue 2008 for a great price through a broker.

Thanksgiving

We headed to Fort Collins for Thanksgiving this year and got together with my family. My Aunt and Uncle and her two boys all live in Fort Collins now which is so exciting! I have never

had so much family so close! PIME had been kicking like crazy early in the week but could not be convinced to give anyone a good kick at Thanksgiving.

Jesse did such a great job and got the house decorated the weekend after Thanksgiving. It looks great and I have really enjoyed coming home to a beautifully lit house for the past month.

We put the tree up the following week and got it decorated at the beginning of December. The dogs posed perfectly while we were decorating so I got great pictures of both of them for the Christmas card.

Car Seat

I have decided a March baby is perfect timing since I am just getting motivated to buy stuff and there have been so many great Christmas sales! A few weeks ago I got a coupon for 20% off the car seat I had already decided that I wanted to purchase. Unfortunately it was a one day sale but Jesse is such a good sport he went to Babies R Us with me after the gym that night . . . thus we became the proud owners of a car seat!

I have enjoyed trying out all the new baby gear on two of my childhood baby dolls Joe (small newborn size) and Sally (~6 month old size). Sally is modeling the car seat below.

Weeks 26 and 27 and Furniture

Two weekends ago we got to go spend the weekend in Winter Park for a friend's wedding. We also got to celebrate Jesse's birthday while up there. We had a great time and it was so beautiful. Both strange and fun to spend time by a ski resort and not ski - it is still so beautiful up there and much more relaxing without the skiing part :) No good 26 week belly shot since were were out of town all weekend.

Week 27

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone so far - I started my third trimester Saturday! I still feel pretty good but can see I am going to be pretty huge soon! PIME is crazy active now and goes through periods of 10 to 30 minutes just moving and kicking and stretching like crazy! So fun and so strange! I keep laughing that poor PIME got the studio condo.

We had a very fun but busy weekend this past weekend -

I actually managed to get Christmas cards done and they are going in the mail today - yea!

We also got to pick up our crib and dresser (we ordered them last weekend but the dresser had

to come from the warehouse). They are a nice cherry colored wood (Jesse's choice). Normally (ie not pregnant Emily) we would have been able to get them inside on our own but we were smart this time and we got our neighbor to help Jesse carry them both into the house (they were over 100 pounds each and I would not have been very helpful at this point). Jesse got the crib all assembled while I broke down the boxes and

made a giant recycling pile :)

A friend came over later in the day Saturday and we picked out paint samples and bought the tiny cans so you can actually see the color on the wall - I have never done that before but it is pretty fun (you can that a little bit in the dresser picture). I am very excited to get the color(s) picked and get the room painted.

Jesse has been so great getting stuff assembled and even helping pick paint colors :) I am so blessed to have him! I feel such a relief to have some stuff now (we have a car seat too) and am so excited to start getting the room set up.

Weeks 23 and 24

I am beginning to get a little bit stressed that we have done nothing to prepare for the baby. Actually, that is a lie - I have purchased cloth diapers (various brands and types) so we should have diapers for the first few months but that's it.

I am getting a little antsy to sign up for classes and to buy a crib and such but soon enough - we did do a little crib shopping but nothing bought yet. I really want to start decorating the room but don't even know where to begin. Plus I need to give Jesse a chance to get some stuff done in the basement (he is working on getting stuff ready to start finishing it) before I start pilling more stuff down there :) Oh well - I am sure I will get to start soon enough!

I am definitely getting big now and PIME moves much more (and with much more force). Monday and Tuesday last week the "kicks" (or whatever the movement was) were fairly high on my belly and you could actually see the movement! Crazy! Unfortunately, PIME seems to have changed positions later in the week and has been primarily kicking my bladder lately.

Now for the pictures . . .

Week 23

Week 24

One very strange thing that I wish could be seen in the pictures but does not show - is that my belly seemed to drop between week 22 and week 23 (sorry no week 22 picture - we were slacking). During most of week 22 I was carrying much closer to my ribs then all the sudden (around the time Jesse first felt PIME move) my belly seemed to drop much closer to my pelvis. I noticed but thought maybe I was just imaging things but mentioned it to Jesse and he had noticed as well.

All is still going well and I feel pretty good most of the time. I do get overheated really easily it seems which can make me feel a little nauseous but I still feel like it has been a pretty pleasant pregnancy.

On the Move!

I think I tend to ramble a bit so news first . . . PIME kicked (or head butted/punched/kneed) Jesse!

Jesse was out late last night with friends so I was already asleep when he got home but woke up when he came in. I was laying in bed while he was getting ready to sleep and PIME was going crazy! Really moving a lot and I kept feeling pretty good kicks (or whatever) on my left side. So I put my hand on my stomach and definitely felt the movement! When Jesse came to bed a few minutes later I told him PIME was really moving and I thought he would probably be able to feel it. He showed him where I had put my hand and it didn't take more than 10 seconds before he says "I felt it!" He got to feel a couple other good movements within the next minute or so too.

Well, like I said PIME was moving like crazy so I couldn't get back to sleep for over and hour . . . the movements aren't that disturbing yet but I was really enjoying the sensation. When PIME finally calmed down I felt pressure on my left side and felt it and am pretty sure I could feel either bottom or head!

I am so amazed and so excited that Jesse got to feel it too!

Now for the rest of the story . . .

Since the ultrasound last week I have been much more convinced at what sensations are PIME moving and what are indigestion/gas/etc and have noticed much more movement this week. And I have to say the ultrasound lady was not kidding - this is one active baby! When I am noticing movement there will be a bunch for several minutes at least. When we were at the appointment last week I asked when Jesse might be able to start feeling the baby move and we were told at 24 to 26 weeks usually. I was a little disappointed we would have to wait at least a month more for Jesse to be able to feel it but glad that time was coming. Regardless I have been putting my hand on my stomach when PIME is moving just to see if I can feel anything . . . no luck all week though - until last night :)

Halfway Mark!

Can't believe I am already past the halfway point (if the baby cooperates and comes close to on time). Although I think it was the easy half that I am done with :) You don't even know for the first month and I didn't really feel sick - we will see how the second half goes! I have been enjoying the experience thus far though and am looking forward to what the second half brings!

Alright as promised a couple belly pics from the last couple weeks. I am getting bigger by the day now it seems and by bedtime each day my belly button is pretty flattened out (although it still looks somewhat like a belly button in the morning).

Week 20

Week 21

I think I look bigger in the first picture (at 20 weeks) but they must be taken from different angles or something.

Introducing PIME (ultrasound pics)

We had the anatomy ultrasound this afternoon and everything looks great! We asked to not find out the sex so it will still be a surprise when the baby arrives. I will do a longer post later this weekend but I wanted to put up a few quick pics now.

The ultrasound lady got lots of good pictures despite the fact that the baby is VERY active and would not stop moving the whole time!

Now to explain PIME . . .

We decided about a week ago that since we weren't planning to find out the baby's sex we needed an in utero name for the baby since I was getting really tired of calling it "the baby". There is a little blog on one of the pregnancy sites I look at that calls her baby "bun" which I think was pretty cute but I wanted a unique name for our baby. I told Jesse we should think of a name for the baby until it is born and he came up with PIME.

Now for a little background . . . Years ago we saw a "House MD" episode where a lady came to the clinic complaining that she couldn't lose weight was feeling sick and several other symptoms. Dr. House told her "You have a parasite . . . Don't worry. Most women learn to embrace this parasite. They name it, dress it up in tiny cloths, arrange playdates with other parasites." Anyway, Jesse and I both thought this was hilarious (and pretty true as well) so he came up with PIME (Parasite In My Emily). It has kind of stuck so PIME it is :)

Week 17 and 19

I feel like I am getting bigger by the day now! I was fortunate to be able to borrow some maternity clothes from a friend which I have started wearing - they are just so much more comfortable and I know they will fit :)

Week 17

Week 19

I think I have felt the baby move a couple of times now but not enough to really be sure yet - probably not long for that though! I have also noticed that I don't think my belly button has much longer before it pops . . . yikes!

Week 15 and 16 Pictures

I have been bad at posting pictures and giving updates so I am a little behind. Pictures from week 15 and 16 are posted below. I don't think the pictures do my belly justice because I am definitely looking big now. Probably not big enough yet that strangers would necessarily think I was pregnant but I would say it is getting to be obvious to anyone who knows me. I kind of think I look more pregnant in clothes :)

Week 15

Week 16

I have been having back pain for a few weeks now so I visited a prenatal chiropractor Wednesday - I am very hopeful that it will help relieve the pain. I am planning to start taking prenatal yoga next week too which I am really looking forward to.

I had my 17 week appointment Friday - everything is still looking good. The heartbeat was much easier to hear this time and still absolutely amazing. I will get another ultrasound at my next appointment at the beginning of November - we are both really looking forward to that :) It will actually look like a baby this time instead of an olive :) We are not planning to find out the sex though - hard to believe we already could if we wanted to.

I met with a friend of mine a few weeks ago to get some information about cloth diapers and carriers. I got some great information and will probably start picking some up soon so we don't have to buy them all at once.

We have been keeping busy car shopping so we have something that can fit a car seat, two large dogs, and an extra large husband :) We are planning to get a Subaru Tribeca but we just need to decide which one we want to go get it. We have also started looking at furniture for the baby's room and we need to be deciding what colors we want to paint it.

We had the first snow at our house this week - can't believe winter weather is already showing up! Weird to think that by the time it is really warm again the baby will be here!

Week 14 Belly Pic (Last week)

Haven't gotten a belly picture taken for this week yet but here's last week's.

The Apple

This is a pretty interesting funny site about the size of the baby any given week (a couple weeks ago it was a shrimp :) ).

http://www.babycenter.com/slideshow-baby-size#1254085794616_12

The Word is Out!

Appointment

I had my third appointment on the 11th - everything looks good - yea! The best part is that we got to hear the heartbeat (I have been waiting for this!). Jesse came with me (because of course he wanted to hear the heartbeat too). The practitioner said the heartbeat can sometimes be hard to find at this stage and the baby often moves away as soon as you find it. But she found it right away we the baby stayed put for probably 1

0 seconds or so. We could hear it pretty well and it was so amazing! One of my books has described the sound as similar to that of a train which I though was a pretty good description. Jesse though the doppler was almost as cool as the heartbeat itself (he was also very impressed with the ultrasound machine last time).

Having completed my first trimester and had a good checkup on the 11th meant it was time to spill the beans!

Telling Work

I had been worrying about how to tell my boss at work - not really worried about his response as several other women in my department have been (or still are) pregnant and no one has been treated poorly because of it but I am a worrier. Plus I am currently working in the Denver Tech Center and my boss is in Golden which means I have to actually schedule a time to meet. I was also having trouble deciding when to tell, I wanted to have the word out and I felt like work needed to know before it became public knowledge but my year anniversary with the company is at the beginning of October so I kept trying to decide if I could wait that long and announce my pregnancy after my review.

Well, Monday my prayers about when and how to tell were answered. My boss called in the morning offering me the opportunity to work out at the refinery for a year or two. This caused me a moment of panic realizing this would not be a good time for this assignment and I needed to reveal my pregnancy. I told me boss I would like to speak with him in person and he said he would actually be out at the tech center that afternoon (perfect!). When I told him he was congratulatory and agreed now would not be a good time for that assignment and said he will make sure he finds me space on a project back at the Golden office! I think he was as relieved to hear the news as I was to give it since he said he had guessed I was either pregnant or quitting and pregnant was definitely the better one :)

The kids (finally) notice

After work Monday at the gym while the kids are stretching on of the girls (Kelsi - she is 10 I think) tell me she needs to ask me a question. Ok I say - she jumps up and whispers in my ear "are you pregnant?" Maybe I tell her with a smile :) "I knew it!" she says. One of the other girls who was sitting right next to her overhears and says "I knew it too!" By the end of practice I think they had spread the word to all the old team girls and probably most (if not all) of the new girls who just moved up from pre-team. They were quite upset to hear we don't plan to find out the sex of the baby but they are enjoying trying to come up with names. It is pretty cute because they are very excited. I am glad someone finally asked, I was getting worried they were getting too old for those sort of "inappropriate" questions :)

Mass Revealing

Last weekend I started making the posters I needed and we finally got the pictures taken and posted up this slideshow Wednesday evening on Facebook.

http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d54457a4f5455354e7a413d0d0a&blogview=true&campaign=blog_instructions_directurl_makeyourown

Comments came flooding in from all my friends

almost immediately - fun to read people's reactions and so nice to have the news out! The few people who already knew (Molly especially) were very happy now that the news is "Facebook appropriate conversation" as one person put it :)

And of course I am behind on pictures as well.

13th week

The peach

The End of the First Trimester

Tomorrow officially marks the end of the first trimester - yea! I think I was blessed to have a pretty easy time of it but I am still looking forward to the "honeymoon" trimester.

I know pics have been requested so here they are (week 12 will go up Monday hopefully).

Week 9 - The strawberry

Still doesn't look like anything but most of my pants already aren't fitting well at this point. Loving the rubber band trick though (hair tie through buttonhole and around the button). Makes a big difference and makes my pants much more comfortable. Also loving my BeBand (by the makers of Bellaband) from Target.

Week 10

Yup - definitely something there now. I definitely look different even in clothes. Very paranoid about what I wear to work everyday - I don't want people suspecting before I actually tell my boss and such. Making sure I wear looser shirts and cardigans to work so it is not so noticeable. Told my boss at the gym this week - tired of trying to find t-shirts to wear and worrying about one of the kids saying something if wore a tight tank top like usual. So far no comments but I doubt I will have long . . .

Week 11 - The small kiwi

Looking forward to being done with the first trimester. I have been pretty lucky - I wouldn't really say I had morning sickness but I would really like to have some energy back - I have definitely felt exhausted for the past few months. Napping has been a lifesaver but so hard to get anything done when you feel like you need a nap!

I know it will happen soon enough but I am ready to look pregnant instead of just fat :) I am not rushing it though - just trying to enjoy the experience.

I have to say - I am still in awe and disbelief that there is actually something happening. It is hard to grasp that I am not just gaining weight and getting out of shape :) Looking forward to my next appointment on the 11th. Hopefully I can hear the heart beat for the first time!

8th Week Belly Pic and First Real Morning Sickness

At church the morning I got to experience my first (and I am hoping my last) real morning sickness. One minute I am standing there singing for worship - suddenly I feel really hot and sick to my stomach (worse than usual). At community time a go to the bathroom and am sick. Fortunately I actually felt much better for the rest of service as long as I was sitting down. I have lazed around for the past couple hours and think I am alright now - needing to eat something other than Ritz crackers though so we will see how that goes.

In the past week I am found that things are definitely changing. I am needing to do a bit of bra shopping and I am much happier without my pants buttoned. Luckily Target rocks and they now carry the BellaBand type thing which I picked up yesterday - great invention! I can't believe you can see a bit of belly already at 8 weeks! One more month before you want to let the cat out of the bag and tell everyone . . .

8th Week

Still the little grape but . . .

I was reading last night in my books it will be the size of a peach at the end of this 4 weeks -crazy!

Belly Shots and the First Baby Pictures

We have taken to calling the baby whatever size my books say it is, so at first it was the little tic-tac. Then the bean and now the grape.

So I finally got around to getting all the pictures I have taken in the past month off my camera and getting them uploaded. Here are the belly shots so far:

4 Weeks (the day we found out) -

Nothing to see here . . .

The tic-tac stage

5th Week - Still nothing . . .

The bean

Week 7 - Maybe a little something . . . or maybe just a big meal

The little grape

The picture doesn't really show it but Jesse and I could both tell that my stomach wasn't flat anymore by the 7th week. Monday my friend Heather says - your stomach is totally not flat anymore! Depending on the cloths I definitely think it is showing a little by the end of the 7th week but not enough that anyone would say anything yet . . .

First Baby Pictures

On Friday we got to go for our first ultrasound - first baby pictures - I am so excited!

So now I think it

looks more like an olive than a grape :)

The head is at the left side of the picture and the black circle is part of the brain.

The ultrasound was very neat. They measured the little grape and confirmed the March 20 due date. They also recorded the heartbeat and measured it - 158 beats per minute - just right. While they were doing the ultrasound you could actually see the heart beating . . . amazing! Jesse was interested in how the ultrasounds worked (in case anyone else is wondering the waves go right through liquid so all the black parts are liquid filled sections and the waves bounce off anything else).

Mihelich Family Reunion

This week was the Mihelich Family Reunion in Fort Collins. My mom's wish for the reunion was that "Kathy and John would have an offer on their house in Ohio and that Jesse and I would be expecting". She's a pretty good wisher :)
We drove down in the afternoon on Wednesday for dinner at my parent's house that evening. As everyone arrived at the house I had to decide how I wanted to tell everyone our good news. It turned out mom had already told Aunt Kathy and Uncle John. When John came in he gave me a hug and whispered "I hear congratulations are in order". While we were outside eating dinner my mom kinds of spread the word to the cousins Jason, Corie, and Jeff.
My grandfather and his sisters with their spouses were eating inside. After dinner was finished I went in to find an opening to announce the good news. Jim and Bill had both left the table at this point but my grandparents, Helen, and Elsie were still sitting there talking. I waited for a lull in the conversation and announced, "Jesse and I have some exciting news to share . . . we are expecting". Everyone was so excited and grandpa got right up to give me a hug. He teared up as he shared his excitement and congratulations. There was hugs and congratulations all around and I staying inside talking about the estimated due date, and all the other plans to this point.
We joined my grandparents and Great Aunts and Uncles at New Belgium Brewery Thursday afternoon. Everyone (excpet me of course) enjoyed the beer sampling. I really enjoyed the cherry mango sparkling water they had. Thursday night was dinner at Corie and Jason's house which was also very delicious and enjoyable. It turned into a beautiful evening (after a hot day) and we enjoyed sitting outside enjoying each other's company.
We headed back to Denver Friday morning to be around for all Bonnie's festivities. We had a great trip and love getting to see the family. We are so excited for Aunt Kathy and Uncle John to get moved to Colorado this fall.

First Post

I always have said to myself - when we start a family I will start a blog so family and friends and keep up with us. I have always really enjoyed reading the blogs of my friends so here goes.

The News
We got the good news on Saturday morning. I told myself I could take a pregnancy test first thing Saturday morning. I awoke around 7:30 am and of course could not go back to sleep - less than 3 minutes later I had the news. I brought the test to Jesse (who was still sleeping in bed) and showed him. I think it was a bit of a shoking way to wake up . . .
I was not shocked - I knew right away before any test could tell me. Two weeks ago we joined my family and BrewFest in Fort Collins, that morning I woke up feeling a bit off a little nauseous and super hungry. The following days were all the same so by the time I had the test to confirm it I had been feeling different for two weeks. Although not shocked I was very happy and even a little relieved (yes! not creating symptoms in my mind!).

Telling the Family
After showing Jesse, I started frantically trying to get a good picture of my positive test to share with my family. I emailed it to my mother, and sister and texted them "check your email". My mom got it right away texting back "omg" then calling. As expected she was so excited. Molly called and talked to Jesse while I was in the shower around 9am and I called her back after that. She was thrilled as well, although disappointed she could not share her excitement on Facebook since we are not yet sharing with everyone.

Jesse's parents came over later in the day and Jesse shared to news with them as well. Then a crazy day of packing before heading to the beach for a family vacation with Jesse's extended family Sunday.

We arrived at the beach expecting questions from the family, especially since I now eat like a garbage disposal, however, day 1 at the beach was a bit crazy and no questions came. We had some time away day 2 with just Jesse's grandmother so he got a chance to tell her. That night at dinner it was all set for her to ask "when her great-grandchildren were on the way" and Jesse to answer "about 8 months". They were quite surprised and excited for us.

Jesse's 4 year old cousin Jenna came up shortly after and her mom told her that I have a baby in my belly (Jenna has a 2 year old sister so she knows what that means). All the young cousins were hanging out all evening and I heard the talk in their room for part of the evening was "we have a baby cousin coming!"

That is one of the things we are very excited for, Jenna and Laurel both live in Denver. Although they are technically Jesse's cousins we have always played more of and Aunt/Uncle roll in their lives. We are really looking forward to having family around with kids close in age.