We're ready!... I hope...

Over spring break a few weeks ago, I recruited my husband and we got everything all ready for the baby when she decides to come! We deep cleaned the entire house, washed all of her clothes, towels, blankets, and sheets, put together the crib and put all her clothes in the dresser. I even decorated the nursery a little! We put together the pack and play and set up "diaper changing stations" around the house. We even have the car seat base installed in our car! All we are waiting for is a rocking chair, and my mom is going to bring that up when she comes. She got a killer deal on one! Anyways, I think we are all set for baby girl  to come, hopefully! But I kinda know that we can't ever really be ready for a baby.

The last few weeks of pregnancy have been a little rough on my body. At the beginning of March, I caught the flu and had a really high fever. I went to the doctor and they were worried I broke my water because I was throwing up so hard. So we had to go to the hospital and make sure everything was ok. Everything tested fine, so I was allowed to go home.

I also tested positive for Group B Strep, so while I'm in labor, I need to go in fairly early so I can get 2 doses of antibiotics (2 doses takes about 4 hours to get into your system.) before the baby comes. It's a fairly common condition in pregnancy and the doctor didn't seem worried about it at all. They just told me to listen to my body and when I have regular contractions, that hurt, and they are about 8 minutes apart or less, then go in to the hospital. I also have to go in right away if my water breaks (even if I don't have contractions) or if I have any bleeding whatsoever. Then if I have any headaches or side aches or blurry vision, I need to go in too. Sheesh....

Then a week ago, I had a doctor's appointment and my blood pressure was higher than normal for me. The baby's heart rate was also lower than normal for her. (she is usually around 145-160 bpm, but this time she was 123 bpm. It's still within normal range, but a little alarming since that's not her norm.) My feet and hands were pretty swollen, and my weight was different than it has normally been as well. (I lost 15 pounds in the first and second trimesters, then my third trimester I've been slowly gaining it back. I had just barely got back to my original weight. Then started gaining about a half a pound a week. So I was up about 3 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. But at this appointment, I had suddenly gained 5 pounds on top of that.) These are all signs of preeclampsia. So the doctor had me go to the hospital again for some monitoring. After an hour on the monitors with baby moving just fine and her heart rate completely normal, and my blood pressure stabilizing, they said I was good to go, but I have to go back twice a week until I deliver for more monitoring. Bleh. It's not that fun. So I have a doctor's appointment every week and two hospital visits every week. Busy pregnant girl...

On the plus side, I found a CNA and a nurse (who is LDS, which is nice) who I really love and we have a good time chatting every time I go in. They said that if I came in for labor when they weren't working, that I should request them and they would come in for me. So sweet!

Other than that, doctor's appointments have not been very eventful. So far, I am only a finger tip dilated and "low" (whatever that means). She always measures right on schedule. She's such a good little baby already. We just love her to pieces and we haven't even met her yet!

Soo.... PICTURE TIME!!!

Here is the nursery before we organized it. (And me in all my very pregnant glory)

Here it is after we organized it! My friend Emily made the little tissue paper "clouds" with little rain drops and "suns". My other friend Tessa made the cute frame! Dave and I put glass in the frame and added the "you are my sunshine" I think it turned out very cute! The only thing I wanted to do that didn't get done was to re-finish the dresser. It's just been too rainy outside and I didn't want to do it in our apartment. Maybe this summer.

Here is the Pack and Play with the bassinet all ready for her to sleep in our room for the first little while! Also a little changing station so we can change her diaper in our room.

And here are some updated pregnancy pictures! I can't believe the difference sometimes! I also can't believe I'm 39 weeks pregnant! She'll be here so soon! Yay!

31 Weeks

Wow I haven't done one of these for a while! Lots of things have changed...

How far along?: 31 weeks!!!

Total weight gain: At my last appointment I was still down three pounds. My doctor didn't say anything about it and said that everyone is different, so I guess I'm doing ok! Baby is happy and healthy and that's all that matters!

How big is baby?: About 16-17 inches and 2.5-3 pounds.

Sleep?: Sometimes I sleep harder than I've ever slept before, and sometimes I toss and turn all night long trying to get comfortable. I think it depends on if I have taken a nap that day or not.

How are you feeling physically?: Haha... Huge! My back hurts a lot at the end of the day, but that's just part of the deal, I guess. But I do feel pretty darn good for the most part! I have had an extremely easy pregnancy and I am so blessed!

How are you feeling emotionally?: Pretty good. I don't think I've had too many pregnancy hormonal out bursts... Dave said that I'm doing well. haha!

Best moment this week?: Last night I had my hand on my stomach and I felt her foot (or hand? arm? leg? I don't know what position she's in) so I pushed on it a little and it moved away. Then I found it again and pushed it again. It moved away again. It was so fun to interact and I know I was probably driving her crazy! So fun!

Movement?: All the time! She's fairly active. Mostly when I sit down and rest or lay down. I feel her all over too, that's why I don't know what position she's in. I haven't had too much problems with her getting under my ribs, but I feel her kick in my hips once and a while and that kinda hurts. I love love love feeling her move! 

Food cravings?: Not really. I like junk food, but that's not new. I try to limit it and eat as healthy as possible. I get hungry quite often, make a big huge meal, and then I can only eat about three bites of it. I think my stomach is getting squished. Good thing Dave loves food. 

What I miss: Getting off the couch easily, fitting in my kitchen when the washer is in there (we have a washer that hooks up to our kitchen faucet. So when we are doing laundry, it's a tight fit between our oven and the washer. I used to be able to squeeze past... but not any more.) Putting my shoes and socks on is a pretty hard chore. But I really love being pregnant and I'm thankful for it!  

What I'm looking forward to: Seeing this sweet girl! Also I'm pretty excited for my baby shower next weekend!!

Random Thoughts: I just love being pregnant and feeling her move. I love my new body and even though I know I look like a huge cow, I feel pretty. :) Dave is so sweet and makes me feel so good. Best husband/new daddy ever! 

Snow Day!

Dave and I have a snow day tomorrow! The Moscow School district is closed and even U of I is closed!! Closing college campus is unheard of in Rexburg, but they're kinda whimps up here. Haha! But we definitely aren't complaining!

The last couple of days it's been snowing really hard and we have about a foot of snow on the ground. We had zero snow just a week ago. They aren't really good at plowing or anything up here, so the roads have been terrible. Well, it's also pretty warm and this evening instead of snowing, it's been misting. So it's covered all of the fluffy nice snow in about a quarter of an inch of ice. It's a hard crusty shell on everything.

Dave and I thought it was really cool, so we took a little video of it. Sorry it's kinda dark, but you can still hear the snow when Dave knocks on it. Pretty awesome. Enjoy!

2011 Year in Review!

2011 Was such a great year! We has so many fun events and trips and reunions! I thought I would review some of the highlights of the year (kinda a catch up on blogging as well, I haven't been doing so good lately...).

• At the first of the year, Dave got to go to Florida with his competition team at BYU-I. They did very well and came in second in the Nation. 

•  My dearest little puppy dog Bodrie died. But he's much happier where he is. 

•  In the summer we went to City of Rocks with Dave's family. It was so much fun!

• We went to the Oregon Coast with my family! Also so much fun!

• In August, Dave and I found out that we were pregnant! One of the very happiest, longest awaited day of our lives!!

•  I left my job at JD Premium so we could move to Moscow. I miss it there, but glad we are where we are supposed to be.
• Dave and I moved to Moscow, ID so Dave can get his Architecture degree. We love our ward here and are starting to like the area as well. 

• We had lots of fun going to ward parties and getting to know people here in Moscow. 

Halloween Party 2011

Our Friends Joel and Kaitlyn and their baby Tytus came to carve pumpkins

• We found out our baby is a Girl!! We couldn't be happier!!

• I found out that I take inconsistent pregnancy pictures. :)

• We went to Rigby for three weeks to celebrate Christmas with family. Dave did a ton of traveling. He went to Vegas with Austin, Lucas, and Dad to watch Boise State win their bowl game. They had the time of their lives! But Dad hurt his ankle storming the field after the game. Get better soon Daddy! :)

 We also went to Salt Lake to see Dave's family. He had a beard growing contest with his brothers. Dave won.

• My little brother Lucas Clark Dahl left to serve the Lord in the Rapid City, South Dakota mission. We'll welcome him home at the end of 2013. We are so proud of him and his choices. Love you Luke!! 

This is obviously not his missionary hair cut, but I love this picture of him.

Luke walking away at the MTC. Love you!

• We celebrated New Years back in Rigby with my family. We loved the time we had with them.

We had such a fantastic year and 2012 is going to be even better! I can't wait to see what life has in store for us. Hopefully I can keep better track on my blog. Maybe that should be one of my resolutions.
Thank you to all of those people who helped make our year great. We love you all so very much. Happy New Year!!!

22 Weeks!

Wow. Sorry I'm so bad at posting! I need to catch up soon! But here is a little pregnancy update in the mean time and my goal this week is to catch up! 


How far along?: 22 weeks!!!

Total weight gain: I am still losing weight. even over Thanksgiving, I lost a pound or two. I think my metabolism is working a ton better than it ever has and I have some extra weight anyways, so I'm fine with the weight loss. If the baby is fine, then I am fine.

How big is baby?: About the size of a banana! About 3/4 of a pound and 10-11 inches long! 

Sleep?: Still sleeping well. Hip pain is the only thing that is super sore. But I just roll over.

How are you feeling physically?: Great! I really don't feel bad at all! I'm so blessed to have such an easy pregnancy so far.

How are you feeling emotionally?: Just fine! The only thing that gets me going is our money situation, but that's stressful even if I wasn't pregnant. Lol.

Best moment this week?: Well, it was a few weeks ago, but we found out our little baby is a GIRL! We are so very excited! We are probably going to name her Brielle Shirlee. Dave and I both love the name and she is named after my grandma!

Movement?: Oh yes! She bumps me at least once a day, mostly at night. Dave even felt her move last week! He hasn't felt her move since, but I'm waiting for her to have a party one night and make sure he feels that. 

Food cravings?: I like bland things. Plain bread is good. But I also crave chips and other salty things.

What I miss: Nothing! I'm so happy to be where I am!

What I'm looking forward to: To have a bump big enough that other people can tell that I'm pregnant. Family and friends can tell, but no one out on the streets would be able to. Sometimes I rub my belly, or put my hand on it so that people kinda know that I'm pregnant, not uber chubby. Haha!

Random Thoughts: I just wanted to tell about our anatomy scan that happened when I was 19 weeks. I was so very excited to find out what we were having! 
We went in and I had to pee so so so very bad. They told me to come in with a full bladder, and that's not a problem at all for me. I drink half a glass of water and I have to go! But they called me in and measured my cervix and then I was allowed to pee. Haha.. pure joy. Lol. 
The tech asked if I wanted to know the gender, and I was like "Ohhh yes!" So she found the baby and found a good heartbeat. Then she tried to find out the gender for us. Unfortunately, the baby was in the fetal position with it's feet tucked up underneath the bum, blocking the important parts. So the tech said she would come back to it. She measured everything! The heart had four beautiful chambers, the brain and head was measuring a day ahead of schedule, the chest looked great, she had good arms, cute little fingers, all measuring right on time. Then she measured the femur and the legs were behind schedule about a week. I was like "Oh no! The baby got my short legs!" It was pretty funny. We even measured the kidneys! Then we went back to seeing if we could find out the gender. Well, the little feet had kicked out, but now the umbilical cord was wrapped right where we needed to see! We tried and tried to see, but finally the tech had me sit up, go to the bathroom, and drink some water to see if we could get the baby to move the umbilical cord. Well, that worked and we saw that we had a beautiful baby girl! Everything looks very normal and she is doing just great! 
On the way out of the hospital, Dave turned to me and said "That's right! Our girl doesn't spread her legs for anyone!!" It was pretty funny. Probably had to be there... haha!
We are so excited to have a little girl! We are so blessed!!

17 weeks!

I am excited to document my pregnancy and the things that I am feeling. It will be fun to look back on, I think! So, here it is:

How far along?: 17 weeks!!!

Total weight gain: I have lost about 10 pounds. My doctor is mad at me... oops. But I've started eating a lot healthier, started drinking more water, stopped snacking as much, and my biggest food aversion is sweets! So that's what you get when you make all those changes, I guess.

How big is baby?: About the size of an avocado! 

Sleep?: Pretty well, when my nose isn't super stuffy. Weird thing, though... I have some pretty bad hip pain. It's hard to sleep on my sides, and sleeping on your back and stomach is a no-no... so I toss and turn quite a bit.

How are you feeling physically?: Pretty good! I have a little bit of a cold right now, but I've been feeling just normal for the most part. My pants are getting a little bit tight, but that's ok!

How are you feeling emotionally?: Great! I had a bad dream and I was pretty nervous about our baby, but we had a great doctor's appointment and everything is very normal, so I feel better now!

Best moment this week?: Going to the doctor and hearing the heartbeat again (152 bpm). The nurse was listening to the heartbeat and we heard a *flump!* sound and she was like "Did you hear that? The baby kicked the doppler... It's getting mad at me for poking it!" Pretty much that was awesome! We also made an appointment for November 16th to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl! YAY!!

Movement?: Maybe?!?! I feel some tickles/butterflies, but just when I realize what is happening and I stop to feel it, it doesn't happen again. So I don't really know. I was eating cheetos on the way home from the doctor and I felt the flutters a couple of times in a row! Maybe the baby was still mad about being poked, haha! 

Food cravings?: Still don't really like sweets at all. Salty things are amazing!

What I miss: I miss home. 

What I'm looking forward to: Finding out if our sweet little one is a boy or a girl!

Random Thoughts: I told Dave that I have pregnancy diarrhea of the mouth. I just want to talk all about pregnancy and babies and I can't wait for someone to bring it up so I can talk about it more! I also think I have mommy-goggles on (kinda like beer-goggles, but not). Because I think our baby is the cutest, smartest, best baby in the world. But I think that's how everyone thinks about their babies... haha! 

Our doctor appointment went so well yesterday! Besides the doctor getting mad at me for losing weight, everything was super normal and right on track! I am so glad that we are having such an uneventful pregnancy! It's the best thing ever! I can't wait to for sure feel those bumps and thumps and know that they are my baby!

And then there were three

So I haven't posted very much lately because I was scared that I would somehow spill the beans that....

7 weeks, 3 days along

I'm Pregnant!!!

7 weeks, 3 days. Heartbeat of 171 bpm

That's right! Our little Waddoups is due on April 9th, 2012 and we couldn't be more excited! I'm almost 14 weeks along so we are out of the first trimester. We'll find out if our baby is a boy or a girl right before Thanksgiving.

Dave and I could not be more thrilled! We have been waiting a long time for this little one, and we feel so very blessed!The peace and joy I feel is totally indescribable. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have a little one on the way and a sweet husband to share this with.

12 weeks, 3 days. Kinda hard to see but our baby is face down, the arrow pointing to the little belly.

This pregnancy has been shockingly easy. I've hardly been sick at all, which is so surprising. I only threw up once but I felt so much better after I did. I have had some crazy cravings though. Lots of salty foods. I love pop corn and chips. But I also love crunchy foods like apples, crackers, carrots. Carbs are amazing too. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing pregnancy so far. I've lost weight so far, just because I don't feel like eating anything until about 2:00 in the afternoon, but I'm working on eating breakfast better.

So, there's our big news! I'm so excited to be able to share our wonderful news with the world! I can't even explain how ecstatic we are! YAY!

12 weeks, 3 days. You can kinda see the outline of the body and an arm. Heartbeat of 164 bpm.