28 Week Check-Up

This past Tuesday I went for my 28 week check-up to the OB. I am officially in my 3rd trimester with only 12 more weeks to go! I had a great report. I have gained a total of 14 pounds which the doctor said was textbook perfect. He listened to her heartbeat which was wonderful and always good to hear. Then he measured my uterus again. The uterus' length should measure in centimeters how far along I am. He said it was measuring 28.5-29 which means I am right on track. So everything looks great! I asked a few questions that I had and that was it. We talked a little bit about epidurals and then how labor/delivery works with the doctors. Whichever doctor in the practice (there is 3) is on call will be the one that delivers. Unless there is complications, the doctor usually isn't there until the end when the baby is ready to be delivered. The nursing staff handle checking me and everything else. He said that the two midwives that are in my practice are around a lot too there so they will be available at times. I have two of three doctors - Shuwarger and Robertson (both males). I definitely like Robertson better - he is my regular GYN. I see the female doctor next time and I have heard she is really great too. As long as the baby comes out healthy, that's all that matters though! I now start going every 2 weeks for the next 2 months and then the last month I will see them every week until I go into labor. Here are some belly pics for this week:

On an exciting note, Matt's mom told me that if I wanted to get a complete 3D/4D ultrasound done that they would like to pay for it. My practice is the only one in Lynchburg that has the technology so far and they still aren't scheduling appointments because they still have more training to complete. So we have decided to just have it done in Virginia Beach when we go home for the shower next weekend. That way our parents will be able to go too. I am having it done at the same place that Matt's sister had hers. I'm really excited because our baby girl will be chubbier this time and we'll get to see her moving all around! I also caught our baby girl on video this week kicking my belly. She starts doing it around 30 seconds into the clip so keep watching!

Falls and Urination

Yes, you are most likely intrigued by the title of this blog post. Don't worry - there are stories behind both...

I am 27 weeks now - time sure is flying by. This past weekend we went to North Myrtle Beach for a last mini vacation before the baby gets here. We met up there with my sister and her family. The resort was absolutely beautiful - right on the ocean and on the 19th floor. There was a great lazy river and pool there too. We had a great time with my niece, Ava, too! Ava says to me - "your belly is fat!" It sure does feel that way more and more now! Here is a few pictures from the trip:

On the way back from Myrtle Beach, I started crying in the car because we had to leave vacation (yes, the waterworks are going off much easier now a days!). So Matt starts laughing because he doesn't know what to do for me to make me feel better. Thus, I start laughing at myself - so I am crying and laughing at the same time and then it happens.... I pee on myself! This of course makes me laugh even harder. My bladder has gotten much weaker! It was a great moment though!

Then this past Monday I was at the grocery store after work picking up a few things. When i came out of the store I got caught on like a ledge in the parking lot and the cart starts to fall forward and I am going with it. All I could think was "just don't hit the belly." It was a very scary moment as I'm headed towards the ground. Luckily I was able to catch myself on my hands and legs. I have a few bruises and a bump knot on my shin, but besides that I'm okay. Thankfully I didn't go down on the baby!

My weight gain is still on track I believe. I've gained about 14-15 pounds now. I can hardly believe it when I step on the scale at times. Even though I'm still small in comparison to most people, it's still weird seeing these higher numbers that I never have before. Luckily it is still all staying in my belly and growing breasts! :)

That's about all the news for now. My sister is letting me borrow a whole bunch of Ava's clothes to use - which is WONDERFUL - she had really cute stuff. So I have been going through those and putting them away in the dresser this week. I go again to the doctor on Tuesday next week so I will update again after that. Our baby girl is kicking as I write, so she must want me to say hi to everyone!

25 Week Belly Pictures

25 Weeks and OB Visit

Last week I went for my 24 week check up with the OB. First I had to go in and drink this REALLY sweet stuff to test for gestational diabetes. So after getting that down, I had the ultrasound done. They were able to get good shots of the heart this time that they needed and said everything looked great. She weighs about a pound and a half and everything is on track for my due date. She was all curled up like last time and low down. She couldn't get any good profile shots to print out because she was turned over looking towards my back. We did get a cute picture of her with her hand up in the air waving hi! The second picture is her curled over with her face downwards. You can see all of her little spine.

Then they took blood to test for the diabetes after an hour and I was fine for that. My hemoglobin (iron) levels were low though which means anemia in familiar terms. So the doctor told me to start taking an iron supplement in addition to my prenatal vitamin to bring that up.

Besides that, the doctor said everything looked great. He started measuring my belly this time too and that was on track as well with my due date. At the appointment I had gained 10 pounds.

In other news, this past week we signed up for a childbirth class at the hospital. My friend from college, Alicia, who is pregnant and due a few days after me is going to take it at the same time with her husband too - so we'll have friends there! It's been great getting to share our experiences and know that someone else is right there along with you! The class is a 5 week series and you go every Tuesday night for 2 hours. Hopefully it will be beneficial for me and Matt! It starts in mid September and finishes up in October.

The furniture for the baby's room is also supposed to arrive this week sometime. I'm very excited to be able to get it in the room and start getting things ready for our baby girl. Time is flying by fast - only 15 more weeks to go! I will post new belly pictures soon since I haven't done that in a few weeks.

23 Weeks

So.... I noticed I hadn't posted anything in the past few weeks. Things have been very busy in the Bruns' household.

In regards to baby news, our little girl is kicking more and more! I can tell the difference now between kicks, turning around, and hiccuping. It's so wonderful to be able to feel her moving around inside! I continue to be amazed at the whole pregnancy/birth process that God designed. He is forming our little girl right there in my belly!

I have gained a little more weight now for a total of about 7 pounds. The belly (although it has a lot more to grow) already feels very big to me! It's harder to get up from the sofa and bed. And it gets in the way of being able to prop my legs up to shave. I also am having pain on the right side a lot when I sleep at night. So I keep playing around with pillows trying to figure out what will work best and make me the most comfortable.

We have done our registries. Our main one is at Babies R Us since my big shower will be back home in Virginia Beach where they have this store. There is just a lot more options there. We have also done a somewhat duplicate registry at Target for people in Lynchburg that don't have access to a Babies R Us. I'm still working on editing it a bit but for the most part it's completed.

We ordered the crib and dresser for the baby's room this past weekend. It should be here the 2nd week in August. You can check the crib out at: http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=42249&CatID=42332&GrpTyp=STY&ItemID=11c1ba1&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CmCatId=405254233142332. The picture shown is in a white finish but ours will actually be in the honey finish.

I am also trying to decide on bedding. It is down to two. The first one is at Babies R Us: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2415206&cp=&pg=2&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2255957&sr=1&origkw=alphabet+soup&kw=alphabet+soup&parentPage=search. The second one (which I think I am leaning more towards) is at Baby Depot: http://www.burlingtoncoatfactory.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Section_Id=45144&pcount=&pn=1&Product_Id=462752&SearchedProduct=t.

I can hardly believe that there is only about 4 more months until our little girl is here. I just fall in love with her more and more everyday even though I haven't even seen her yet! We have still been working on a name and I think we finally have decided on what hers will be. It is going to be a surprise though for when she is born.

I think that about covers the past few weeks. I go for another appointment on Tuesday morning. They will be doing another ultrasound, blood glucose test, and the normal visit with the doctor. I will post afterwards to let everyone know how that went. As always, continue to pray for our little baby girl. She is in our prayers everyday that God would protect her and keep her healthy.