Getting ready for baby...

It's been over a month since I last posted, but that's only because we've been hard at work getting ready for the baby... well, that's not completely true - the 2010 holiday season kept us very busy as well.

But several things have happened on the baby front. I'm almost 19 weeks now, which means we're 1 week away from the halfway point. But back at 16 weeks, I had a checkup and everything looked good. The baby's heartrate was 160 and I had gained 6 pounds... not too bad, yet. I spoke to the doctor about how congested I have been (going on 8 weeks now) and how I've had a cough, too. She explained that it's most likely caused from elevated estrogen levels. I guess it causes swelling in the sinuses and nasal passages. It also causes your body to increase fluid production to help the baby (amniotic fluid, I think) but also fluid elsewhere... hence the congestion. She told me there's really nothing I can take to clear it up, but reassured me that it will go away when the baby is 2 or 3 months old. That sounds like an eternity to me, so I'm just choosing not to think about it.

Back at 16 weeks, I decided to take photos of my baby bump at each of our doctor's appointments. I'm quite a bit larger now, but here are the beginnings of what will most likely be a pretty large belly.

Our next appointment is at the end of this month (21 weeks), so I will post another picture then. We always keep up with the baby's growth and development on http://www.babycenter.com/. It's pretty fun to read how the baby is changing and how my body is changing as well. This week the baby is the size of a bell pepper or large tomato. I find it to be amazing that I have something that large living inside of my abdomen, but when I squish and push around, I can't ever feel it. In the past, I never believed it when I heard about people who go to the doctor and find out they've got a tumor the size of a melon. But seriously, I'm beginning to wonder if I wouldn't be the same way... under all the flab and muscle (yeah right) you really can't feel much. My belly just feels firmer than it used to, but I think that's because everything is pushed together and outward.

Last night was a milestone though... I felt the baby move for the first time! I was laying on belly... not for a long time, but because I heard that when you lay on your belly, you can feel the baby move. It worked! At first I just felt something in my belly, almost like I was laying on a rope or something, but when I laid still, I could feel fluttering and movement. It was super cool! Things are starting to feel more real as each day passes, but feeling the baby move got me really excited! I felt it twice throughout the night, just like bubbling or spasms just below my belly button. So fun!

We've also been working on the nursery quite a bit. I set a goal of having it done by the time my spring break is over - third week of March. Here's the before photo... plain and boring. Keep reading to see the progress we've made.

So what have we done to the nursery?! Lots! We've painted, cleaned the carpet, ordered and assembled furniture (still more to do), and bought a few accessories. The painting was a bit of a headache because it took 3 coats of Whisper Yellow to cover the builder-gray paint already on the walls. Ryan and I tag-teamed the painting, which made it go faster.

I am having such a blast decorating the Dr. Seuss-themed nursery (chosen by Ryan before I was even pregnant). The bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids (clearance!) and the crib (pictured below) and changing table are Bassett, but I ordered them from Amazon because they had Free Super Saver Shipping... even better! The toy storage is from Target, but we don't have too many toys to store just yet. I've also found some Dr. Seuss items at http://www.funtocollect.com/ and Kohls. The red rugs are from Hobby Lobby (50% off sale) and Tysie's zebra-print bed is Target (you can barely see it in the picture).

We assembled the crib last night and right away I ran out to buy the crib mattress and some baby laundry detergent. I washed all the bedding and put it together before I went to bed last night... I just wanted to see the final product! Below are some pics... what do you think?!

Like I said, there's still more to do! I'll keep you posted as we make progress. Check back soon to hear about our big ultrasound on January 27th. Even though we're not finding out the gender of the baby, we're still really excited to see the baby and find out if everything is developing properly.