29 Weeks

I am 29 weeks along now and have started going to the OB every two weeks. We had an appointment this week on Wednesday and tried for the second time to get a 3D/4D ultrasound picture. We were really looking forward to seeing our little pea pod, as the doctor said at this point the baby’s features have all developed and it is not just a matter of the baby growing for the next two months or so. At our last ultrasound the baby was face down and sleeping on my belly so we couldn’t get a good look at the little guy. Our fingers were crossed that baby had shifted positions. The good news was it had and is no longer breached, but now face down. There was also plenty of amniotic fluid to provide for a good 3D picture. Unfortunately, our little one is just as determined to be a surprise to us as we want him or her to be for us because baby hands and feet were hiding his or her little face. In the pictures you can see a hand and foot covering the face on the first and on the second baby did move his foot, and you can make out a little chin, lips, and part of a nose – that is the best we could get!

They said we could try again if we would like but we do not plan on it – if baby wants to be a surprise, we are totally ok with that and just happy baby is healthy! Once he moved his foot away from his face we were able to see his or her lips just smacking away and he even stuck his tongue out a time or two which was really cute.

Baby Shower

This past weekend we had our first baby shower – it was so much fun! We chose to have a “couples” shower at Titletown Brewery on Saturday afternoon. I was so excited to be able to include Bob in this very special day, as together we are embarking on a new chapter in our lives. We were very overwhelmed and touched by all of the family and friends that came out to support us, celebrate the pending arrival and Baby Seidel and enjoy some good food and drink:) A special thank you to my sisters Michele and Elizabeth and my mom for planning this special day. You girls did a great job and it all came together beautifully! Also to Peg Houston for putting the flower arrangements and centerpieces for the tables together, they were so cute! Also to my Aunt Jeanie for taking some wonderful pictures to help us remember the day by – it seemed to go so fast! We kicked off the weekend Friday afternoon making and decorating cupcakes for the shower – we had a blast. It was so great to spend time with my mom and sisters and bond over frosting and sugar:) Here are some pictures from the shower…

We have a stubborn little one on our hands!

This past week we had our second ultrasound and we were so looking forward to seeing our little bambino one more time before meeting him or her this summer. This ultrasound was the 3D/4D picture and my doctor likes to do it when her patients come in for their glucose testing, as the testing takes about an hour and the ultrasound is a good way to fill up that time. When I got to the doctors office, I had to drink the sugary drink and then went in for the ultrasound. Our little guy was resting peacefully on my tummy, just sleeping away face down…we were sure that the sugary drink would be enough to stimulate the little one, but as it turns out, we were wrong. His or her little feet were kicking away and he seemed to be scooting along in my belly, but after 45 minutes of prodding at him or her, it was clear the baby showed no signs of flipping over anytime soon. We were pretty disappointed, but have rescheduled to do another ultrasound at my next appointment in two weeks and are hoping our little guy is more cooperative. So no new pictures to share, but we will hopefully have some in a few weeks – stay tuned!

One difference from our last ultrasound to this one, is our ultrasound tech was able to identify the sex of the baby. She indicated she is 100% she knows what it is, which leads me to be even more convinced we are having a little boy, although she is the only one who knows for sure. Bob and I decided from the very beginning we didn’t want to know the sex of the child, and I have been very content with that decision. I have to say however, now that there is another person who knows what we are having, I really want to know! What makes my curiosity even worse is the fact that she is our neighbor and lives down the street from us! But after some serious discussion last night we decided to stick to our plan and wait until delivery to find out what we are having.

Bob and I are very much looking forward to our first baby shower this weekend! We are excited to celebrate with some of our close family and friends the approaching arrival of Baby Seidel, which, as each day passes, we are reminded that our little bambino will be here before you know it!

Spring is Here!

This past weekend I was reminded how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family and husband. With Michele and Mike living so far away, our times together as one big family are few and far in between. Mike had come to Green Bay for work on Thursday and coincidentally, his brother who works for Disney was going to be in town on Saturday for a show at the Resch Center. So Michele decided to fly to Green Bay for the weekend. She is planning on coming home next month for my baby shower, so this trip was really just an added bonus. Her flight was suppose to come in on Friday at 7:30 in Milwaukee, but the plane had mechanical problems in Boston and she didn't come into Milwaukee until 9:30 or so. Mike picked her up and they got to Green Bay around 11:30 that night. I am proud to say I managed to stay awake waiting for them! (OK, maybe I snoozed just a little on my parents couch!) Saturday, Michele and Mike came over to see the baby's nursery, went to lunch, met up with Andrew, Mike's brother, and then met the family up at Eve's to celebrate dad's birthday - Happy Birthday Dad! As usual, Eve's did not disappoint and we had a wonderful dinner with great food, our favorite waitress Mary Ann, and wonderful company! We were excited to have both Grandma Willis and Grandma Von join us for the meal!

Given that the weather was nicer than forcasted, we decided on Sunday we really needed to take advantage so we put on some sweatshirts, made a fire in the fire pit, and sat out in the sun and grilled brats and burgers. It was such a fun afternoon. After a long Wisconsin winter, nothing beats sitting outside for the first time taking in the sun:) It was ALMOST like we were at Miller Park for Opening Day!

There is a baby in my belly!

This week Bob and I had our second ultrasound. We were very excited for the occasion and decided to ask both my mom and Bob’s mom to come along with, so they too could catch a glimpse of their future grandchild. We decided going into the appointment we were not going to find out, which is a good thing, because the ultrasound tech herself was not able to tell what the sex of the baby is, looks like we have a feisty one on our hands! We were her last appointment of the day and the first couple to not want to know. Up until us, she had boys all day long, which only peaked my curiosity more, but we managed to stay strong. She was able to render a guess in our file, with question marks all around it and assured us if we changed our mind we could come in for another peak and she would try again. Baby looks good, very active and weighs approx 13 oz, and is in the 35th percentile. The ultrasound tech did do a 3 D scan, which was so exciting to see. Being able to make out the features of baby’s eyes, nose, and mouth brings a whole new sense of reality that there really is a baby in my belly! For the first time, I think I finally believe this is really going to happen. Bob is still adamant it is a girl and Lois is determined it is a boy. From the beginning of the pregnancy, I have always said we were going to have a boy, but now after seeing the sonogram, I don’t know what to think. Either or, we both agree all we want is our baby to be strong and healthy!

Did you feel that?!?!?

Such very exciting new - this weekend Bob was able to feel the baby kick!!! I have been feeling flutters every so often, especially right before I go to sleep at night, but for the first time this weekend, I was able to feel Baby Seidel kick when I put my hand on my tummy. I was laying in bed Saturday morning, watching the Food Network Channel, which is my normal Saturday morning routine, when all of a sudden I realized that those little bumps I could feel with my hand on my stomach was the baby moving! I called Bob in a frantic into the bedroom, because I didn't want him to miss it. Sure enough, Bob could feel it too! I loved seeing his reaction to it, because I know it definitely makes the whole thing feel that much more real.

We had a great weekend celebrating some birthdays. Friday night we were up at Titletown for Joanne's 30th surprise b-day party and Saturday we went up to Door County to the clubhouse where mom and dad have purchased some land and went swimming with my parents, Liz, and Grandma. We came home and had a Willis family Chinese pig out and cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday Mom and Jo!!!! Bob and I spent Sunday cleaning the house and shopping for the nursery. We found some picture frames, a lamp, some wall decals, and very cute blue bird beanbag chair that match the bedding we picked out very well at Target, so it was a successful shopping trip.

My prenatal yoga class at the Y ended two weeks ago and so my girlfriend Kelly and I decided to try the prenatal swim class this session and I absolutely love it! I have always loved swimming and being in the pool and this class is a great way to get some exercise and enjoy the water. The girls and the instructor are great, I highly recommend the class to anyone who is expecting!

On Tuesday I will officially be 20 weeks along. It is hard to believe we are already halfway through! We have our ultrasound in two weeks and cannot wait catch a glimpse of Baby Seidel!!!

4 Month Update

Above are some pics, the first is of our first glimpse of our little peanut - this was from my first ultrasound at 8 weeks and the second is Bob putting together our crib ...

We had our 3rd OB appointment today and I am happy to report all is going well. My appointment was scheduled for 3:30 and around 11 I received a call from the Doctor's office asking if we could come in for 12:30 because my Doc had to do an emergency surgery this afternoon. Since Bob couldn't get off of work and home in time, my mom was able to go with me. Needless to say, she jumped at the chance to hear her future grandchild's heartbeat, which was beating at a strong 152 - which was music to our ears. I am measuring right at 17 weeks and am happy to report I haven't gained any weight yet! I have no doubt that will catch up with me very soon as I am starting to notice my pants are getting a little tight - might be time to start shopping for some maternity clothes...which I have to admit, I am a little excited to do! We are looking forward to our next OB appt - we will have our second ultrasound and will be able to find out the sex of the baby if we want.....do we or don't we?!?!? As of now, we don't think we want to, but are very tempted!!! We have also officially settled on names for both a boy or girl. We have had a boy name picked out for quite a while, but have struggled to agree on a girl name. We decided to give ourselves a week to come up with our top 5 girl names each and see if we could pick one from there...turns out it wasn't as hard as we thought it would be and over dinner quickly settled on one we both loved.

We officially have a painted nursery and I am very excited with how it turned out. After testing the colors on the wall I decided I didn't care for the brown stripes I was thinking of going with. I hadn't taken into consideration the difference in brown to the woodwork and closet doors and did not like the way it would look, so we decided to do just a simple light green color. The paint color is Pistachio Ice Cream and it is a very calming and soothing pastel green.