Oh my....my back is aching!!!

So as I'm walking around...almost 27 weeks pregnant, I wonder to myself...how on earth do women do this pregnancy thing more than 1 time?!?!?!?  Today I'm 26 weeks and 4 days along and my back is KILLING ME!!!  And with me having 94 days till Lauren's due date, I'm 100% positive this back ache will not go away until after I give birth! 

My ankles are starting to swell some if I spend to much time on my feet.  That's a good excuse to get out of grocery shopping :-)

Anyway...that's enough complaining!  After trying to get pregnant for 1 1/2 years, I'll take a back ache from a bulging baby belly anyday :-)

Wow...that was CrAzY!!

Lauren is getting MUCH stronger these days!  She's kicking and punching hard enough that her daddy and I could watch her move my belly last night!!  What a huge milestone! 

1 day shy of 26 weeks :-)

Well, we've almost made it to 26 weeks!  Every week along, means 1 more week closer to meeting our daughter!!!  WE CANNOT WAIT!!  Today, we've officially entered the double digit countdown till Lauren's due date!  99 days!  Lets hope she makes a timely appearance! 

Daddy got to feel a really hard kick this last Saturday!  You should have seen his face!  He was shocked at how hard she kicked his hand!  He was so excited to feel the 1st "big" kick! 

                                                                    25 weeks & 4 days

I'm really starting to feel pregnant these days!  My back kills me if I do too much.  Grocery shopping was a dreaded deed before I was pregnant and EVEN MORE dreaded now!  I feel as if I've been beaten by the time we are done walking around the store...then I've got to get everything put away!  Thank God my husband is wonderful help! 

Doctor's Visit 4/7/2011

We finally got to meet the midwife, Jolene Hamann!  She was very nice!  I'm still not totally cured of my fear, but I'm sure the more I see her the better it will be.  It's just kind of scary when I've had Deb for so long.  I can ask Deb anything under the sun, some of which, would be embarrassing to ask someone else! Deb said she had to choose between infertility and midwifery, because she didn't have enough time to do both.  So although Deb can't deliver Lauren, we have her to thank for giving us the opportunity to be parents :-)

Jolene said everything is looking good.  Lauren appears to be growing at the appropriate pace.  I measured in at the correct week and I've only gained 7 lbs this entire pregnancy....so far!!  I'm sure that is about to change!  We got to listen to Lauren's heartbeat with the doppler.  At first it sounded kind of strange, but Jolene said we were listening to the umbilical cord.  Then she moved the doppler and found her heartbeat!  It was at 145 beats per minute.  We could also hear her kicking around!  It was so much fun to hear our little girl! 

My next appointment is on 5/5/2011.  This appointment is jammed packed with tons of things!  I'll be 28 weeks so that is when they will do the gestational diabetes test.  Then I'll have another sonogram....I CAN"T WAIT!!!!  And after that, we will see Jolene again.  I'm sure by then, I'll have tons of other questions for Jolene to answer! 

Lauren is defiantly getting more muscle tone!  She is kicking and punching away these days!  I love it when her daddy can feel her!  Of course the most powerful kicks, I never have his hand in the right spot!  It probably won't be long till these punches and kicks start to get a little uncomfortable! 

It's amazing how we've never met this little angel face to face, but we love her more than words can describe!  I can't wait till we can hold and kiss her!

Daddy felt his little girl!!!!!!!!!

Well...Daddy got to feel Lauren for the 1st time the other day!!!  I've been trying and trying to put his hand in the "right" spot at the right time the last week or so.  And FINALLY he got to feel her little flutter!  I have noticed the kicks and punches are starting to get stronger.  At 4am this morning, I woke to use the restroom (like always!).  When I laid down, I must have squished her, because she started punching and kicking like crazy!  I put my hand on my belly and felt 1 really good kick with my hand!  Just wish Daddy's hand had been there for that one!  They are not quite strong enough to hurt yet, but I'm sure those days will be here before I know it! 

I feel her!!!

I always wondered if I would know for sure the 1st time I felt our baby moving.  Well, I learned the answer to my own question....no.  Not at 1st anyway.  It felt as though I was having muscle spasms.  Which, I've learned were not actually muscle spasms, but it was little baby Lauren! I've been feeling her for about 1.5 weeks now.  It's pretty amazing!  I've gotten a few good thumps so far.  Not that they hurt, but I was just surprised by how strong a few of them were.  I am excited, but I'll be even MORE excited once her daddy can feel her kicking too!!

Baby H is a ??????

On 03/10/2011, we had our 20 week sonogram.  And guess what it showed?!?!  A baby GIRL!!!!  So Baby H is no longer just Baby H.  Her name is Lauren Marie!  Her weight/length was measuring in at 20 weeks 1 day.  I was 20 weeks that day.  So the Dr. said she is right on target!   We got to see her for the 1st time in a 3D/4D picture.  I know I'll slightly biased, but she is BEAUTIFUL!!!!  If I could figure out how to download pictures to this site, I would, but it's still a mystery!