25 weeks 4 days!

This picture was actually take at 25 weeks and 2 days, but there is such a difference from the previous picture.

I'm still feeling great! I am definitely trying to get the entire house together. There are several things that we have done in the past couple of months such as painting the living room and nursery, redoing the guest bedroom and getting rid of all of our extra "things." You can collect a lot of stuff even when living in a house a little over two years. I want the house to be completely ready for Ella when she arrives.

Yesterday Sarah and I went shopping and I was able to get her dresser. Now, Brian just needs to put it together (which could take a LONG while).

I'm also noticing a difference in my body by not being able to bend over as easily and finding it a little harder to get up from a chair. Ella goes CRAZY usually around 7 pm. She's pretty wild and definitely let's me know she there and glad that I'm finally sitting down for the day.

I'm really excited to see who Ella is going to look like. Will the Asian gene dominate? Will my daughter even look like me? Only a little over 3 months to wait!

This is her newly put together crib that was completed last Monday!

21 weeks today!

This past weekend was successful for Ella :) Not only did she get her room painted, but she also got her bedding in the mail and wooden letters painted with her name on it! The Patterson grandparents came up the entire weekend and helped paint the nursery and the Ward grandparents came up to help get some other things accomplished (such as measuring the walls in her room for the crown molding and lights put up in the basement). She also got a ton of clothes, bottle warmer, boppy and bottles from Aunt MJ. It's great being a baby after so many cousins! She recruits everything!


I feel great and seems like I have just as much energy as ever. Yesterday Ella seemed to be all over the place in my stomach, she was definitely making herself known! I cannot believe that I am already over half way through my pregnancy, I can't WAIT to meet her!!

I have also finally broken down and bought some maternity clothes! My old clothes just don't fit anymore and it seems like the regular clothes are cuter than ever! It just gives me motivation to get back down to my normal size post Ella!!!

These are just some of the many clothes that were bought for her or given to her. She's already rotten!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

This is Ella at 20 weeks! She's definitely showing her stuff now! I feel flutters often.

Okay, so Brian and I found out on Friday (January 9th) that is was a 99% chance that it was a girl :) I was really excited and I'm sure I would have been just as excited if it was a boy, but it's great to know what I am having so the planning process can begin!! So what if it already has with a quilt personalized (Ella of course!) and the tons of clothes that Grandma bought her this weekend. She also got some headbands so that there is no question about her gender if she's born without hair.

There is been so much going on this past week that I could go on all day writing about. I went out to dinner with my friend Lauren and she also bought Ella two outfits. They are so tiny and I can't imagine a human actually fitting into them. She also received a teddy bear and a book from a neighbor. It's going to go great in the nursery!

Friday was the sonogram. They looked at everything from the brain to the heart to making sure of 10 fingers and 10 toes. It's amazing how much can be seen. She seemed like she might be a gymnast some day! Her heartbeat was 155 which was the same as my last doctor's appointment.

On Monday, I had my 20 week doctor's appointment. Everything went well. I gained one pound since the previous doctor's appointment four weeks before. They also drew blood to make sure everything was going okay. I can't believe that I am already over half way through!

I guess this sums up most of my pregnancy so far. The last thing I want to end on is that we did get several Christmas cards that included the baby on them. I took a picture of the one that I thought was the most clever. This was from our neighbors. In case you cannot read it, it says: "Brian, Dana, Mason & Pepper (& Dana's passenger). Wishing you guys the Merriest of Christmas Holidays."

I never thought of it as having a passenger, but it's totally true (even if she's only 10.5 ounces).

1 month and a day since my last blog... I'm terrible!!

Ok... so a lot has happened since my last post and I feel terrible for not writing about it. My last doctor's appointment was November 18th (Happy Birthday Paw Paw). It was a short, but productive appointment. I was finishing up my first trimester and that was a huge relief because I began to feel COMPLETELY better as far as nausea and tiredness is concerned. At the appointment I was able to hear the heartbeat on the Doppler. They said that the heartbeat was between 160-170 which was great.

Well, now I definitely look like I have more of a belly. I wouldn't necessarily say I look pregnant, but I can definitely tell that I'm filling out. That deep belly button that Brian used to make fun of, isn't so deep anymore. My pants no longer button.

I also have a lot more energy now. I can actually stay awake past 7!

I have posted a pic below of my belly. I will be 15 weeks tomorrow. It looks a lot different than it did at 7 weeks!! Pepper had to be in the picture :)

Time for a new blog :)

Well, there isn't much going on right now, but I thought it was time to write another blog. I'm really excited that I only have two weeks left of my first trimester because it will be nice to have energy again. Most of the time I fall asleep on the couch around 7 because I am so exhausted. It doesn't help that time just changed and it's dark outside around 5:30.

I guess I could talk about food cravings and aversions. The only food that tastes absolutely great to me now is ice cream. I can even eat it for breakfast (ok... I did do that yesterday). On Thursday, Brian was ten minutes late getting home from work and he came home with a half gallon of strawberry ice cream! What a great husband :) Ok, as for aversions... I HATE the smell, taste and sight of red meat. Also, the smell of garlic really turns me away. Those are really the only two things that I'm not really fond of.

From reading about old wives tales, looks like my cravings might make me believe that I'm having a boy now. Brian now says that it doesn't matter anymore. He would be perfectly satisfied with either. I still feel the same way!

How am I feeling?? I feel pretty good. I'm still tired pretty often and every once in a while I feel nauceous, but doesn't seem like anything compared to what other people go through.

Doctor's Appointment Results

Today was definitely an eventful day at my appointment. First, they made a mistake and told me to go to the Ashburn office when I was supposed to be at Reston. So, I was about 20 minutes late due to the mix up. Everyone was very apologetic, but I was excited because I was able to see the heart beat again.

They did the usual by checking my blood pressure and weight. Then, I was taken into the consultation room and they gave me a bag full of goodies and paperwork to go through and read. Following this, I was able to go in the examining room and they began the sonogram. This machine was definitely not like the machine at the radiology place. The sonogram was a lot more blurry, but they were able to detect the heartbeat and she said it was between 150 and 160 bpm and that everything looked great!

Today, they said my due date was June 4th. I'm starting to get a little more excited each day! Finally, Brian took a picture of me. This is at 7 weeks and 4 days. I really haven't gained that much weight which is nice.

Doctor's Appointment Today!!!!!

Well, today is another exciting day :) I get to hear the heartbeat at my visit!

As far as how I am feeling.... well I'm not throwing up, but until about 1 or 2 everyday I have constant nausea. Although, yesterday was a good day for the nausea, but going full force today. I know that I only have 4 more weeks of my 1st trimester so I know then that I will be feeling great.

What's my intuition???? I think it's a girl. This past weekend I went to Bath and Body Works at the mall and purchased $15 worth of hand soaps so I was able to get a little stuffed lamb for free. I definitely chose the white lamb with pink legs. It's really soft and something that Mason thought could become his toy. Brian wanted to give it to him, I was like NO WAY :) Even the dogs need to understand that a change is about to happen.

How do I think the dog's will react? I think Pepper will have the hardest time. He is so possessive over me and always wants me to himself. I believe that Mason will just ignore everything that is going on and will not really want any part in it. That's how he usually is around babies.

Tomorrow I will be 8 weeks... Woohoo :) I can't believe that I have known for 4 weeks already. Time goes by pretty fast.

Brian keeps telling me that I need to post pictures of my belly. Hopefully we can take some tonight. Not too much there yet!