23 weeks - Hello Spring! Hello belly...

Happy Spring!!

23 Weeks!

We've had several inches of snow in the past week (along with much of the country)! Very wintery here in Kansas, but it's supposed to be warming up soon. Definitely a change from good old Alabama. It has taken a little while for our Brownie to get the hang of snow, but she's learned that romping around in the white powder can be pretty fun!

Our house has actually been quite a project. Even though we're only renting (hopefully we'll be here 3+ years!), we're making a lot of improvements to the non-remodeled sections. Ripping out an ancient glass sliding door for the tub, stripping and re-caulking in the bathrooms, painting trim, replacing weather stripping, changing out all the light bulbs... the list goes on! Once it gets warmer, we'll get into some landscaping :-)

Zoie has continued her acrobatic kicking this week! Especially with the spicy food. We went out for Thai food last night, and man, as soon as the red curry hit my belly, Zoie was going nuts. I can't tell if she likes it, is bothered by it, or just stimulated. Since babies can taste flavors from foods the mother eats by swallowing amniotic fluid, perhaps she's responding just to the strong flavors?

We set up Zoie's bed! Since we're going to try a floor-bed, we ordered a Sleep Number extra-firm twin sized mattress that's only 6 inches tall. Once she's about 4 months old, we'll transition her from the bassinet to her little floor-bed. I'm really looking forward to avoiding a crib! I think it'll be a lot easier to soothe her to sleep and sneak away without crib bars in the way (especially since I'm so short, lifting her in and out of a crib would get annoying). If she rolls off the mattress in the middle of the night, the rug is super soft. If she eventually crawls out, I'm hoping she'll find a toy to play with for a bit until she's sleepy. She'll soon figure out that her mattress is for sleep. Yay for independence!

Oh, and I'm REALLY excited to have found a rocking chair for Zoie's room! I've been looking for a Bentwood rocker for a few months on Craigslist, and lo and behold, an ad popped up for a $40 rocker! It happened to be a 2 minute drive from our house too. Score! 


How far along are you? 23 weeks! That's somewhere between 5 and 6 months.

How big is Baby?  Zoie weighs over a pound now! That's about the size of a large mango. She's more than 11 inches long from head to heel.

Weight Gain? Tonight I'm 141! That's 9.5lb so far. My belly is feeling heavier this week.

Gender? Baby girl!

Maternity Clothes? Ah yes. And my regular shirts are getting quite snug around my pooching belly!

Sleep? Sleep has been good! Plenty of energy during the day.

Movement? Super squirmy. Especially with spicy foods :)

Food Cravings? Chocolate has been amazing this week. My mom mailed us a little Easter box with like 6 different kinds of Seattle Chocolate bars... so good! And I bought some Nutella. SO good on English muffins!

Labor Signs? Not yet.

Belly Button in or out? Still normal! Perhaps a hint of outward expansion.

What I miss? I've missed drinking on a few drinking occasions this weekend... But being the DD isn't so bad :) And I've discovered virgin strawberry daiquiris are delicious!

Best moment(s) of the week? We met up with a few of James' new coworkers and their spouses for a late happy hour on Friday (omg, a pint of microbrew came out to $2.38! I can't wait until I can drink again). Saturday night, we all met at one of their houses for a game night! Anyone else ever played Quelf?

What I am looking forward to? This weekend is Easter! We're going to celebrate with James' parents, go to Easter Mass, and even dye some eggs :)

Cheers,

Martha

22 weeks - Can't hide this belly anymore!

Hey guys!

22 Weeks!

So we're finally getting settled into our new city. Besides unpacking and organizing (we just got internet yesterday, hooray!), we've been busy exploring restaurants, parks, and shops. We even went to church on Sunday. I absolutely love our neighborhood and new little community, the people here are so friendly! There's a little German lady next door (who owns a temperamental dachshund named Willie) who brought over fresh lemon pound cake and a houseplant. So sweet!

There's even a dog park within walking distance from our house. Brownie is a lucky puppy! However, she doesn't quite know what to think of the new leather couches we bought last week. She only sits on them if she's in a lap. In protest of our new couches, she's been sneaking off into our bedroom to burrow into our blankets for a nap. I finally closed the bedroom door, and she's been checking on it every half hour to see if it's been left open again!

I didn't realize this until recently, but the hospital we had planned to use is only 2 MILES from our house! What a nice coincidence! I can't wait to sign up for their childbirth/newborn classes. They even offer a "Daddy Basics" class.

Little Zoie is doing well. She's quickly growing bigger, and demanding more space! My belly is really starting to pooch. I'm enjoying my new pregnant-looking belly instead of just feeling bloated.

We only have 4 months until her due date... 4 short months until we become parents! My mom mailed us a box last week addressed to "Zoie" - It's so fun to see her name! She's so real! I can't wait to meet her, and I love her already. 


How far along are you? 22 weeks! Only 18 left to go!

How big is Baby?  Baby girl is almost 1 pound! At 11 inches long, she's the length of a spaghetti squash.

Weight Gain? Found our scale! Tonight I'm 139.2, total weight gain = 7.7 lb

Gender? GIRL! Zoie Elizabeth ♥

Maternity Clothes? Yep! When I unpacked my closet, I put all my fitted clothes into a box labeled "130" - a box I won't touch until after Zoie is born and I shed my weight back to about 130 (Hopefully 125?). I have plenty of tops that work for now, and several maternity tops.

Sleep? Good! So happy to have our bed again. I LOVE my 3 inch memory foam mattress topper...

Movement? Zoie continues to wiggle and squirm! I feel her all the time, and her movement is starting to creep higher in my abdomen. Sometimes I can even feel her from the outside with my hand!

Food Cravings? Still enjoying citrus, sour, and grapefruit juice!

Labor Signs? Nope, not yet.

Belly Button in or out? Still normal I think.

What I miss? I miss having regular hormones. I can get so frustrated sometimes over nothing! Last night, the world was about to end because I forgot to defrost some chicken for the cheddar broccoli soup I was making. James is SO sweet and patient with me, I'm a lucky gal.

Best moment of the week? Lots of good things this week. James surprised me with a couple Yankee candle jars - delicious scents I've been enjoying every day! We finally built Zoie's IKEA dresser and shelf, and her little room is really coming together. We've been slowly unpacking our house, cleaning, and making it ours. Our landlord gave us plenty of freedom for changing fixtures, closets, paint, landscaping, etc... so we've been having some fun trips to Home Depot!

What I am looking forward to? My birthday present arrives tomorrow... a Brother sewing machine! I'm going to be making curtains for our living room and bedrooms, and try my hand at sewing little baby headbands and leg warmers. Yikes, I turn 25 in 2 weeks. Quarter century baby!

Cheers,

Martha

21 weeks - We made it to Kansas!

There's no place like home...

21 Weeks!

After two days on the road last week, we arrived in Kansas at our new hometown! James' parents live nearby, and they've been wonderful to let us stay with them as we look for a house to rent. We got lucky, and found an awesome house that had just been put on the rental market for a great price! James doesn't start work until Monday, so we have the rest of the week to get moved in.

It's so nice to be getting settled in the city where Zoie will be born and live her toddler years. Now we get to choose a doctor, sign up for some classes (childbirth, breastfeeding, infant CPR, etc...), and continue preparing to welcome our little one into our family. We already have permission to paint in our rental house, so James and I are going to find the perfect shade of light blue for the nursery!

We bought pink baby hangers for Zoie's closet today, which made me REALLY excited! It's the first thing we put into her room. It's amazing to imagine sharing our house with a tiny baby in a few months, a tiny baby that is ours!  


How far along are you? 21 weeks! Finally starting to really feel pregnant.

How big is Baby?  Zoie should be about 3/4 of a pound, and 10.5 inches long (about the length of a carrot).

Weight Gain? Still haven't weighed myself in a while, but tummy is continuing to pooch, so I'm guessing I'm gaining something. I'll have our scale back in a few days! Yikes, am I getting closer to 140?

Gender? Baby girl!

Maternity Clothes? Still enjoying my comfy maternity jeans and using my BeBand with regular pants. Wearing most of my normal tops, but especially ones that have a looser cut.

Sleep? Not too bad. Sometimes my hips get sore from sleeping on my side, but I've been putting a little pillow between my knees (this helps quite a bit!).

Movement? Zoie is so wiggly! It's amazing how much stronger her kicks/nudges/pokes have become since I first felt her move a few weeks ago. I'm also picking up some patterns in her movement. Anytime I lean my abdomen on something, she kicks. I suppose I wouldn't like my space being squished either... I also notice more movement when I eat spicy foods.

Food Cravings? Haven't noticed much. Food is delicious! I've been drinking a lot of water lately, been feeling thirstier than usual.

Labor Signs? Nah. I don't think I would even recognize a Braxton-Hicks contraction if I felt one.

Belly Button in or out? Still looks normal.

What I miss? I miss not being concerned about certain foods. Salmonella bacteria from raw eggs, listeria from lunch meat, bad things in undercooked shellfish... We went out to for brunch today, and I had to send my poached eggs back to the kitchen twice because I kept asking for non-runny eggs. I felt embarrassed to be so picky, but I was worried about eating undercooked eggs!

Best moment of the week? Many moments have been awesome. It's been really fun spending time with James' parents at their house, and watching our chihuahua/dachshund puppy play with their German Shepherd and Jack Russell. It's very entertaining! Also, we had a great moment today when we signed a lease and got the keys to an awesome rental house. Our movers deliver our household goods on Friday, woohoo!

What I am looking forward to? I'm SO excited to get our house organized and decorated, and explore our new city. I'm also looking forward to Kansas turning GREEN soon! When we first arrived, I was a little shocked when everything was brown. No leaves on trees. No grass-colored grass. After living in the Northwest and southern Alabama, this does not feel normal!

Cheers,

Martha

20 weeks - Halfway there!

20 weeks already?

20 Weeks!

Time has kind of flown by, and I can't believe our little girl is at the halfway point! 20 more weeks and we'll have a baby in our arms. A little mind-blowing.

In other news, we thought we'd go ahead and let everyone know our little girl's name: Zoie Elizabeth Bowen! We LOVE the name, and have thought about the name Zoie for several months now. It's a variation on the spelling of Zoe, which is Greek for "life".

Tomorrow we begin our drive to Kansas! It's been a hectic few days getting back from Florida, vacating our house, coordinating carpet cleaning and inspection walk-throughs (quickly patching nail holes in the walls...), and finally turning in our keys. Tonight, I'm writing from our cozy Holiday Inn Express hotel room. Tomorrow, we'll be somewhere halfway to Kansas!

We're really going to miss all the Army friends we made here in Alabama. We had a wonderful get-together at the Mellow Mushroom pizzeria tonight and said our goodbyes. Of course we'll all see each other for visits and trips, but hopefully we'll get stationed somewhere with our Alabama friends again!

Speaking of trips, I just bought my ticket for a trip to Seattle in late April! It'll be sooo good to see my family and friends again. A few of my best friends in Australia are returning to the Northwest in April, and I can't WAIT to see them!


How far along are you? 20 weeks along - only 20 more to go!

How big is Baby?  After 20 weeks of development, babies are measured from head to heel instead of head to rump. Zoie should be about 10 inches long (about the length of a banana!), and should weigh around 10.5 ounces.

Weight Gain? Haven't found a scale since ours was packed up last week, but I'm guessing I'm at least 137 now. Tummy is starting to pooch a little more!

Gender? We're having a baby GIRL!

Maternity Clothes? I think I have one pair of pants that still fit comfortably around my waist. Otherwise, maternity pants and BeBand!

Sleep? It's been good! I make a bathroom trip in the middle of each night, but it's alright.

Movement? I've been feeling Zoie move quite a bit! Several times a day. Mostly soft pokes, but today I felt something kind of move sideways. Even though her movement is gentle, it often startles me if I'm focused on something!

Food Cravings? Food in general tastes really really good. No real cravings, but no aversions either! Except pickles. I keep trying them, but they don't taste very good anymore.

Labor Signs? Nothing.

Belly Button in or out? Looks normal. I wonder when I'll have to take my belly button ring out?

What I miss?  Missing wine and beer a bit. In Florida this weekend, we picked up a few bottles of our favorite Georgia Wines Blackberry wine. I can't wait to drink it in July!

Best moment of the week? This weekend was EPIC! We drove down to Panama City Beach in Florida, and rented a huge mansion of a beach house with 15 of our friends for 3 nights! It was pretty chilly and windy, so we didn't exactly sunbathe, but we had a blast! I was actually glad to be avoiding alcohol... not everyone fared so well in the mornings. A shining moment was when the office manager knocked on our door to check on us - someone reported that we were being loud and looked "quite young" (what a compliment!!).

What I am looking forward to? Arriving in Kansas and spending time with James' parents, hunting for the perfect rental home (3-bedroom, big kitchen, and fenced yard are musts!), and getting settled into our new house! I can't wait to decorate the nursery :D

Cheers,

Martha

19 weeks - Baby girl is a wiggle-worm!

What a week!

19 Weeks!

Our entire house is currently packed into boxes, which today are being hauled into a huge semi-truck. We'll meet up with our belongings once we find a house to rent in Kansas!

Sunday, our friends here hosted an AMAZING baby shower for us! A beautiful sunny day, delicious foods and drinks, and adorable decorations - it was so much fun! After games and trivia, the boys came over (after beer and video games with my husband at our house) to help us enjoy ice cream cake and open presents. We received such generous gifts from our friends and family, here in Alabama and all over the country! Thank you to everyone!

It's been so much fun finally knowing the gender of our baby. We pretty much have a name picked out, and we'll make it public sooner than later :)

And SHOPPING! I've drooling over baby girl things on Pinterest, Etsy, Amazon, Baby Gap, Land of Nod... such adorable things. I have lots of ideas for the nursery. Light blue painted walls, white dresser/shelves, pink/coral/red accent colors.

Baby girl's unique fingerprints are developed now! She's also growing a waxy coating on her body to protect her skin while submerged in the amniotic fluid, and to regulate her temperature. Like a nice body mask? Haha. Most all of it will be gone by the time she is born.


How far along are you? 19 weeks!

How big is Baby?  Our baby girl was measured at 8oz last Tuesday, so she's probably closer to 9oz now (BabyCenter says average is 8.5 oz.). In other words, she's the size of a large heirloom tomato, or a softball. (James! She is not like an 8oz steak!)

Weight Gain? Well our scale is packed up, but yesterday I was just over 136. Total weight gain is about 5lb.

Gender? GIRL!!!

Maternity Clothes? Sometimes yes, sometimes my regular clothes. I'm not a fan of much that hugs my belly, this weird in-between stage just isn't cute... I want the nice curvy bump!

Sleep? This last week has been good! You know, it really wasn't that hard to switch from sleeping on my back to my side. I don't even think about it anymore.

Movement? I felt the first movement a week ago, the evening after the ultrasound! Since then, I've actually felt her quite a bit every day. I think actually watching her wiggle around on the ultrasound has made me more aware of what sensations to feel for. It doesn't feel anything like flutters though. Maybe I felt those earlier and thought it was just digestion... Little girl's movements feel like something is shifting around inside me. Soft little pokes... I love it :-)

Food Cravings? Not really. Well, except chocolate. I needed brownies the other day, so I made some... And I needed a Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzard the other day, so James took me to DQ (where I bought a Mini, and they gave me a Medium by mistake! Haha...)

Labor Signs? Nope.

Belly Button in or out? In as usual.

What I miss? Not too much. I'm enjoying being pregnant so far!

Best moment of the week? So many! Finding out that our baby is a GIRL (and calling our family with the news), watching James graduate from his course, seeing a couple friends from Washington (SO great to see them again!), enjoying crazy flaming Japanese Hibachi as a farewell dinner for James' class, partying (well, observing drunk people play slap cup), and having a great time at our baby shower!

What I am looking forward to? We're headed to Panama City Beach for a 3-day weekend with 15 of our friends from James' class. It's going to be an amazing finale to our time in the South! By next Wednesday, we'll be road-tripping to Kansas.

Cheers,

Martha

IT'S A GIRL!!!

WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!!!

We couldn't be happier, this is SO exciting! The ultrasound appointment was amazing, so much fun to watch our little girl wiggling around! It only took a few minutes before she uncurled her legs from sitting Indian style, and we could all see that she is definitely a girl.

She was so active! The ultrasound technician asked me if I had just eaten a snack (I had some pizza before we left), because she was bouncing all around. Apparently baby girl likes pizza :-) We got to watch her flip from her back to her tummy, and return to her back! It looked like she was doing yoga with all the stretching and flexing going on. It was pretty amazing to see.

Baby girl weighs a whole 8 ounces! I was wondering how big our baby was since I'm not showing very much. Her anatomy looked perfect, strong heartbeat at 153bpm, and she's right on track with growth! What a relief to know we have a healthy baby on the way.

This evening when James and I got home, I was laying on the floor on my tummy on my laptop, and I felt the baby move for the FIRST time! She kicked 3 times. It was amazing to feel! Today has been such a good day. I can't wait to feel her move again! Maybe I should eat more pizza? :-)

Cheers,

Martha

18 weeks - Boy or girl? We'll know in a few hours!

We're only a few hours away from our anatomy/gender ultrasound!

18 Weeks!

It's been difficult being patient for so long, we can't wait to find out the sex of our baby! I'm excited to start envisioning the nursery, clothes shopping, finalizing a name, and feeling more in sync with the baby in my belly. James keeps saying that he'll feel a lot more excited about prepping for baby once he knows the gender. Today is going to be a very good day!

It's been interesting doing so much research and thinking about what's important to me when it comes to having a baby. There are SO many different ways to raise a baby, and so many decisions to make! Breastfeeding vs. formula, and on-demand vs. schedules? Cloth diaper vs. disposable? Natural birth vs. epidural? Homemade baby food vs. store-bought? And teaching your infant how to fall asleep and stay asleep... hundreds of methods!

Personally, I gravitate toward natural approaches, even if they aren't always the most convenient. I realize that once we have the baby, everything could change. Who knows what challenges we'll face? Nonetheless, I wanted to voice my goals for Baby Bowen.

• Have a natural, drug-free birth at a hospital.
• Breastfeed and/or use breast milk in a bottle for at least 1 year
• Not use a pacifier right away, if at all. 
• Introduce wholesome, nutrient-rich solid food at 6 months. Perhaps some mashed egg yolks or avocado? I'm excited to try my own purees and soft foods for baby to explore. We're not planning on using rice cereal.
• Cloth diaper mainly, using disposable occasionally for trips/outings.
• Enjoy babywearing as often as we can - I love the idea of wearing a baby snuggled to my chest!
• Carry and hold our baby, instead of toting a car seat carrier. The car seat we plan to purchase is a larger one designed to convert into a toddler seat.
• Have the baby sleep in a bassinet in our bedroom for a few months, and then transition to a Montessori-style floor bed (twin mattress on the floor) in his/her baby-proof nursery. We're not planning on using a crib.
• Talk to our baby as much as possible.
• Sooth our baby when he/she cries in the middle of the night with feeding/diaper change/cuddles, but give our baby the opportunity to self-sooth and learn to fall asleep on his/her own.

Some of these goals aren't exactly mainstream today, and it takes some energy to explain to people who aren't familiar with these practices. Cloth diapering? Ewww! Drug-free labor? Are you crazy! No crib? Won't the baby just crawl around?

But that's okay. With so much support and love from our friends and family, I'm feeling more confident in our decisions and following our instincts. Parenthood is sure going to be an exciting adventure! I can't wait for the challenges and rewards James and I are about to experience.


How far along are you? 18 weeks - yikes, we're getting closer to 20 weeks, that's halfway!!

How big is Baby?  Baby Bowen is the length of a bell pepper - about 5.5 inches long! He/she weighs almost 7 ounces.

Weight Gain? My weight has fluctuated a lot this week. I was 135.6 this morning, so I've gained about 4lb total.

Gender? I'll tell y'all later today!!!

Maternity Clothes? Yep, now and then. Still rocking the BeBand with my regular pants, and enjoying my super comfy maternity jeans.

Sleep? Sleep has been good! Crazy insane dreams (I somehow drove my car on the monorail track! AHH!!!)

Movement? Still nothing :-/ Hopefully soon!

Food Cravings? I don't notice much, but James will remind me of certain food kicks I get on... CURRY.... CHEESE... CHOCOLATE!

Labor Signs? Nothing yet.

Belly Button in or out? Looks normal.

What I miss? La Fiera Moscato. My mom was talking about it yesterday... it's probably the best wine I've ever had. I might buy a bottle to pop (when I pop!) in July!

Best moment of the week? Spending time with my Alabama girlfriends throughout the week, because I'm getting sad we'll all be parting ways so soon! This 6-month "vacation" in Alabama has been pretty awesome.

What I am looking forward to? I can't WAIT to find out the gender of Baby Bowen in a few hours! And I'm really looking forward to Sunday - our friends here are throwing us a baby shower!

Cheers,

Martha