And if Baby Wasn't Enough...

As if there wasn't enough of a change in our future, Joe decided to make another big leap. He started a new job today with his previous employer, Questar. Of course he wasn't planning on taking a new job right before Baby, but they came a knockin' with an exciting opportunity for him. Questar is a market research company in Eagan and Joe is their new Vice President of Business and Product Development.

Congratulations Joe/Daddy! We're so proud of you!
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Full Term!

Okay, we'll be officially full term in 2 days. And as exciting as that is, it does mean that we could still have another 3-4 weeks to go, which, at this point, is sounding a bit longer than I would like to wait. Don't get me wrong. For the most part, I have actually loved being pregnant. It really is a miraculous experience. But I've hit that point that everyone warned me of; that last month of pregnancy, and I'm getting pretty uncomforable.

The good news is that Baby is now facing head down which we weren't sure he was going to do. We had an ultrasound last week to check on his position and it was so cool to see an ultrasound with him fully developed. He's looking pretty cramped in there, and with good reason as they estimated his weight to be approximately 6 lbs. 7 oz. (right on track for where he should be). During the ultrasound they also verified that he is definitely still a boy (Daddy is so proud) and they also think they can see some hair, which I didn't even know you could see on an ultrasound. Amazing.

And now we just play the waiting game. It's good to know that we've reached that safe stage for delivery. If anyone has any tips on getting labor started, I'm all ears. :-) We'll now be going into the doctor every week to check my progress and hopefully we'll be posting some cute little baby pictures soon!

In the meantime, here's my big 'ol belly.

35 weeks...getting huge

37 Weeks - Look at how much he's dropped! That means the time's getting closer...

Happy Father's Day!

Baby, Rocky, and I want to wish a very happy Father’s Day to an incredibly special man!

I’ve always known how lucky I’ve been to have Joe as a husband. He’s such an amazing partner and best friend. And now I feel even more blessed to have him as the father of my child. I couldn’t ask for a better role model for our children. Joe is one of the most caring, intelligent, ambitious, and patient people that I know. And once in a while, he’s even kind of funny. I can see how wonderful he’s going to be with our baby by how well he’s taking care of me throughout this pregnancy. With the little bumps along the way and my crazy “nesting” stage now, his unwavering support amazes me everyday.

Happy Father’s Day Daddy! We love you so much!
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Maternity Pics

Here are a few of the photos that my friend Jen took the other day. She took a lot so I may have more to share in the near future. This is such a special time for our family and I'm so glad that she was able to capture it so beautifully. :-)

Check out Jen's photo blog and website!

Rocky's bandana says "I'm the big brother" :)

He's so proud!

Baby Showers Galore

32 weeks down and only 8 to go! Things are really starting to come together and the reality that we'll soon have our little one here with us is sinking in. We are so anxious to meet him! Here's some evidence of his growth. This was actually taken 2 weeks ago and I'm getting bigger by the day!

30 weeks

We've also been busy getting his room ready. We're still waiting on a couple of items that are on backorder, but here's his crib. Can't wait to put it to use!
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I've been enjoying some amazing baby showers the past couple of weekends as well. I am so amazed at all of the wonderful baby gifts we're getting. It's been so fun!

Last weekend Joe's mom and sister-in-law (Grandma Kathy and Auntie Britt) hosted a very fun and creative shower. Here are some pictures from the event:

The hostesses with the mostesses

Grandma Lori, Mommy, and Auntie Kimberly

Couldn't keep the prego away from the food table

Adorable cupcake cake

And this weekend, my mom and sister threw an incredible shower. It was so much fun to get the family together to share all of this excitement with! Here are just a few pictures from the day:

Me again, with Grandma and Auntie

Sweet Caroline

Sisters

Cousins

And on a final note, stay tuned for some fun maternity pictures. My friend Jen came over today for a maternity photo session. She has just recently started her own photography business and asked if we'd help her build her portfolio. Jen does awesome work and I look forward to seeing the finished product. :)

Into the 3rd Trimester!

So the most exciting news in the world of Baby Stanton is that I started having Braxton Hicks contractions this past weekend. I was walking Rocky and began feeling this tightness and pressure that would come and go. It wasn't painful at all, but made for an uncomfortable walk. I started to wonder if that's what I was feeling so I googled it when I got home (after Joe ordered me to lay down on the couch) and I'm certain that's what it was. Totally normal in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, but definitely exciting to know that my body's preparing to bring this baby into the world!

Everything still appeared to be going well at our appointment last week. My hemoglobin was still low though, even after all of the additional iron, so they've recommended I take even more! Yikes. They mentioned that it'll drop even more after labor and they want to do anything they can to avoid a blood transfusion, which makes sense to me. They've also ordered a fetal echocardiogram to be done in a couple of weeks. Nothing alarming, but with a history of some heart conditions in the family they just want to check on things with baby's heart. Other than that, he's just been growing and moving around constantly. I can't believe how active and strong he is! Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure my baby is probably the strongest in the history of 29 week fetuses...

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With just 11 weeks remaining until our due date, it feels like we've still got a lot to do. It does feel like things are starting to come together though. Joe painted the nursery last weekend but we're still waiting for our furniture to arrive. It was on back order and I'm starting to get anxious about it getting here soon. We've already got such a cute collection of little baby clothes and I can't wait to get them washed and put away.
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In other exciting news, I had my first baby shower this past weekend! Two friends from high school, Mary and Katie, threw a shower for three of us pregos. It was a blast. Jaime, Melissa, and I are all due with our first babies this summer. Jaime is having a girl and Melissa is waiting to find out the gender, so the shower was the perfect combination of blue, pink, and yellow :)

Me, Melissa, Jaime

Showing off our baby bumps

The gang
Too much excitement for Quinn

26 Weeks

Okay, I'm officially a bad blogger. It's been over a month and a lot has been going on. I'll start off by saying that we did have another appointment a couple of weeks ago. We had another ultrasound and our little boy was much more cooperative this time. Everything looks great with him and he's measuring right on track. At this appointment I also did my glucose tolerance test which wasn't as bad as I've heard people say it would be. The good news is that I don't have gestational diabetes. Unfortunately, my hemoglobin was low so they've put me on an additional iron supplement which leaves me sometimes feeling nauseous again. It's making it hard to keep up with work and everything else that we need to do to prepare these days, but we'll get through it.

In other news, the little guy continues to be active and his movements are getting stronger and stronger. He now weighs over a pound and a half and measures approximately 14 inches long so, as you can imagine, things are getting a little crowded in there. We're not only feeling his kicks and punches these days, but can actually feel where he's positioned a lot of the time by just feeling my belly. He's usually pushing on the right side of my belly and we can feel his body pushing out on me. It's amazing to think that that's our baby we're rubbing and patting.

With 26 weeks down and 14 more to go, we've still got a lot to do to prepare. We started registering at Babies R Us and Target last weekend and ordered all of the nursery furniture the other night. Joe will paint the nursery soon and then we'll start getting everything put into place. I've been going to a prenatal yoga class once a week and we'll start our other baby class in a few weeks as well. It's great being in a room full of other pregnant ladies and comparing notes. Just hearing about everyone else's experiences and "pregnant moments" makes me feel surprisingly normal.

Here are some recent prego pics:

On Easter with proud Grandpa Wilhelm

And with Daddy

And the 25 week belly

Also, on a side note, a number of people have mentioned to me that they've tried to leave comments on here, but aren't able to. I'm not sure why, but that seems to have been the case after the first posting or so. I'll try changing some settings. I promise I'm not blocking your comments!