Ultrasound Update

This morning we had a regular appointment with my doctor before our big ultrasound appointment. My appointment went really well, I have finally gained some weight (8 lbs), which I guess is okay since I am 20 weeks. :) We got to hear our little one’s heart beat and I got my thyroid levels tested again (it has been low my whole pregnancy, but my doctor thinks it was just because I was so sick).

Right after that appointment, we headed down the street to our ultrasound appointment. Everything looked great! Our little one weighs 10 ounces and everything measured right on track for my due date.

Here are a few pictures.

Two little feet

Two little hands up by the face.

Okay, well I guess that’s about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh wait…did you want to know if our little one is a boy or a girl?? :)

It’s a BOY!!

We are so excited that he is doing great! We picked out our boy name a long time ago (back when I was just 6 weeks pregnant). We had absolutely no idea what we were going to name a girl.

So meet our son,

 

Aedan Cole Dechiro

-Lauren-

A Productive Weekend Wrap-Up

Wow, is it already Sunday night? This weekend flew by! Saturday morning Jon had a remote job early in the morning. While he was working in the office, I slept in. :) When he was done we decided to tackle the soon-to-be nursery.

Last weekend we combined our office and our guest/extra TV room into one room. While that room now looks great, the other room looked like a giant storage closet. We started by rearranging some storage in the garage (and cleaning out some junk), then we moved a lot of stuff to the attic and garage. We have an entertainment center that we bought when we first moved in and later replaced. We thought we were going to sell it since we no longer need it. As a puppy Hiro did some damage to the corners so we knew we won’t get much. We decided to just set it up in the garage and use it for storage. It worked out great! We were able to clean out the entire nursery. It is now a completely blank slate! I can’t wait to start planning the nursery.

I have picked out a few cribs that I like as well as a dresser that I think will work. I am thinking white for a girl and espresso for a boy.

I’m leaning more towards the first one (both come in both colors) but I’m not for sure yet.

Here is the dresser I like

Once we find out what we are having I am going to start seriously looking at bedding. I’m thinking about making some things myself, like a crib skirt and curtains. There is just so much cute fabric out there and I really want to personalize the nursery, plus it will save us some money. :)

Anyway, what I really need to do is study for comps this week and use next weekend to think about all the nursery possibilities. :)

-Lauren-

Date Night and Weekend Plans

Jon had to go into the office all week and it really made me realize how much we hang out during the day when we are both home. Since he has to go out of town on Sunday, we decided we should have a date night last night.

We went out to dinner at Blue Bamboo. It was so good! Since we were in the area we stopped by Baby’s R Us to look at carseats (and everything else I want to get). From there we got dessert at Hey Cupcake! All and all it was a great evening.

This weekend, I think we are going to try an do a little cleaning out. Last weekend we rearranged some furniture and combined our office and guest bedroom. I’ll post a picture later this weekend. Now we have tons of stuff to go through in what will be the nursery. We have to sell some furniture and box up a lot of stuff for the attic.

I also have to buckle down and study this week/weekend. I have comprehensive exams next Friday. I am very ready for them to be over! It will be four essay questions and I will have 90 minutes to answer each one. Its going to be a long day of writing! Ugh. I think I may be a little stressed this week. Luckily I have already made study guides and outlines for the four questions so now I just need to buckle down and spend some time going through them. :(

On a happier note, we have our big ultrasound appointment on Thursday! So in 5 days we will know if we are having a baby boy or girl! Any guesses on what it will be? My whole family thinks it will be a girl and even a lot of people I work with have the same feeling. I think I may celebrate being done with comps next weekend by shopping for our little one. :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

-Lauren-

Lights

We added some lights around the pergola this weekend. I love it!

Over the weekend one of my best friends Amanda came to visit. I think we ate most of our meals outside since the weather was wonderful. We had a great time shopping and enjoying the great weather. 

We had some friends over on Sunday evening and enjoyed chili and corn bread out on our new patio. It’s great having the extra space outside. I think we will be getting a lot of use out of it over the next few months.

-Lauren-

The First Flame

Last night after eating dinner outside, we decided it would be a good time to break in the new chiminea. We made a quick trip to the grocery store for some fire wood, starter logs, and of course marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate.

As soon as we got home, Jon got the fire started in the chiminea.

And I got everything ready for some smores!

Since Jon doesn’t like smores, I got to enjoy two for myself. :) One for me and one for the baby, right?

We had a great evening relaxing in front of the fire. I can wait until its cold enough to be out there wrapped up in blankets!

-Lauren-

17 (Almost 18) Weeks

 

How far along? 17 weeks(well almost 18, since I am late posting this)
Total weight gain/loss: at my last appointment I had gained 1/2 a lb, but I am still negative a pound or so (I lost a good 5-6 lbs being so sick). I haven’t been nearly as sick over the last couple of weeks so I’m sure I have gain more weight now.
Maternity clothes: I’ve been using a bella band with all my pants, and I have been mostly wearing maternity shirts starting this week.
Stretch marks: Not yet and hopefully it will stay that way. 
Sleep: I wake up at least 2-3 times but usually go back to sleep right away. I have been having some pretty crazy dreams!
Best moment this week: Not feeling sick all the time.
Movement: Not yet.
Food cravings: Not really anything specific, but when I get an idea of what I want in my head, that is all I want.
Gender: We’ll find out on the 29th!
Labor signs: None!
Belly button in or out: Still in.
What I miss: Not worrying about throwing up.
What I am looking forward to: Starting to buy baby stuff!
Weekly wisdom: Don’t have anything to drink a few hours before going to bed…too many trips to the bathroom!
Milestone: I think I am officially showing this week. I ran into someone who didn’t know I was pregnant and she kept glancing at my belly. :)

-Lauren-

A Little Yard Work

It finally stopped raining here and Jon was able to do some yard work today. He moved our new chiminea to its new home on our patio. I took these pictures this afternoon, so the shadows are pretty bad. I’ll get some better pictures this weekend, when we use the chiminea. :)

 

I planted some herbs in my new turtle planter. So cute!

We are looking forward to enjoying our outdoor space now that the weather is cooling down!

-Lauren-

A Cold Weather Weekend

The heat index on Thursday was 102, then the high on Friday was only in the 60s! It rained most of the day Friday and today, and the entire weekend has been full of cool fall weather. I have loved every minute of it!

Friday I worked late so Jon and I enjoyed a quiet evening together at home.

Saturday we slept in and went out to breakfast. Hot chocolate and pancakes, yum! After breakfast we went shopping for a chiminea. We found a few at a place near us, but we didn’t like the designs on them and the price was a little high. Since it didn’t rain yesterday, we took Hiro out to play and then came home and did some cleaning. Jon had to work last night, so I got caught up on some TiVOed shows.

Today we went to lunch with Jon’s grandparents and great aunt. It was great to see them and enjoy some unlimited soup, salad and bread sticks at Olive Garden. On our way home we stopped at another outdoor shop to check out some more chimineas. We found the perfect one for much cheaper than the last place. I also picked up a cute turtle planter that will be perfect for planting a small herb garden. Since it’s still raining the chiminea and planter are in our garage. I will post some pictures once we get them moved to the backyard. Now I just need to add smore ingredients to my grocery list this week. :)

Okay, time to bundle up to take Hiro for a walk, and then enjoy some Sunday night TV curled up on the couch.

-Lauren-

The Flu

It seems like everywhere I turn someone is sick with the flu! One of my clients has come down with it, along with his whole family. I am just glad that I haven’t seen him since last Friday. No it looks like I have some more time off work. :) No complaining about that here.

My plan for tomorrow is to get my school work done before my afternoon session, that way I have the weekend free. It is supposed to be really beautiful this weekend (of course, since ACL was last weekend). Jon and I are going to go shopping for a chiminea on Saturday and then Sunday we are going out to lunch with his grandparents and then to his soccer game. I am looking forward to come cooler weather and maybe a little shopping for more fall accessories.

-Lauren-

Belly Picture

Here is my 16 week picture, I thought I had a 15 week picture too, but I guess we missed that week.

I made my 20 week appointment for October 29th, so we will know what we are having by the end of the month! :)

-Lauren-

Fall is in the Air

Last night I tried out a prenatal yoga class for the first time. I loved it! I have taken lots of yoga classes before, but it was pretty exciting to get to go to a prenatal class. My cousin’s wife (who is due in December), has been going to a yoga studio near our house and told me I should check it out.

I signed up for an 8 class pass and I think I am going to go at least once a week. Once school ends, my work schedule will change and I am hoping I will be able to go to 2 classes a week.

In the same shopping center as the yoga studio is a Bath and Body Works. I decided to pop in when my class was over, and I am so glad I did! I LOVE their candles and the 3 wick candles were 2 for $20, which is basically buy one get one free! I was trying to decided on 2 new fall sense when a salesman came and told me that if I spent over $15 I could get something $13 or cheaper for free. I ended up getting 2 big candles and 1 small candle (a $50 value) for $20!

I picked up Creamy Nutmeg

Kitchen Spice

And  Spiced Cider

I also picked up a couple of pumpkins at the grocery store, my house is beginning to look and smell a lot like fall. :)

Jon and I are thinking about going shopping for a chiminea to put on our great patio. I can’t wait to wrap up in a blanket in our Adirondack chairs and make smores in our backyard this fall and winter. :)

I just got back from my practicum and I am done for the day! Tonight is national night out (I think the real day was over the summer, but here in Austin we like to push it back so that it’s a little cooler outside) and our neighborhood is celebrating with a big ice cream party. As long as it doesn’t rain, it should be lots of fun!

-Lauren-

The Year It Rained

This was our 5th year to get a 3 day pass to the Austin City Limits festival! It’s kind of a tradition for us, since we started going to first year we started dating.

This year things were a little different. They moved the festival to October since every other year, the weekend of ACL has been one of the hottest weekends of the summer. It never fails the weekend before and after would be beautiful weather and then the weekend of ACL, we would get a blast of hot weather. As much fun as ACL is, there is something not so fun about spending all day outside in 100+ heat with 65,000+ other people. This year everyone was looking forward to cooler temperatures as well as the nice green grass that had been planted all over Zilker Park.

Friday was perfect. The high was only 82 and the park looked great! Isn’t Austin pretty? :)

We started off by getting to park here…

 

Yes, at 4 months pregnant I rode on the back of Jon’s motorcycle so that we could take advantage of the free motorcycle/scooter parking. We were only a few yards from the entrance. It’s only a 5 mile drive from our house and it was great not to be stuck in traffic or have to walk from far away.

The entrance to the festival

The nice green grass

We had a great time on Friday, but by the time the last band played (Kings of Leon) I was exhausted!

Saturday, we started the day off with a big breakfast at Dan’s…yum! Then we headed to the park that afternoon. It was pretty cool (only 76 degrees), we even had to bring jackets! We were there for about an hour before the rain came. It really wasn’t too bad. We had ponchos and a tarp to sit on. It was pretty difficult to eat in the rain, but other than that it was a pretty good day. I didn’t take any pictures because my iphone was in a plastic bag the whole time.

Sunday…oh Sunday. It basically rained from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning. We were expecting it to be a little muddy, but we were wrong. It was not a little muddy…

It was a lot muddy! I don’t think there was more than a couple patches of wet grass, everything else was mud. I lasted a couple of hours but then Jon brought me home. They must have used some natural fertilizer or something when they did the big overhaul on the grass this year and the entire parked smelled like a huge farm. It was awful!

All and all this was a fun but different year. Being 4 months pregnant definitely made me much more tired and my newly found excellent sense of smell made Sunday pretty difficult.  We are thinking we might have to skip next year, but hopefully we will be able to continue the tradition for many years to come.

-Lauren-

Quick Advice

I need some advice…Jon and I are invited to a wedding next November in Mexico. We will have a 7 and 1/2 month old…will I be okay with leaving him/her with grandparents? I am just feeling like I won’t want to leave a baby that young, even for a few days. Not to mention the fact that I am sure I will not be ready for a beach vacation that includes lots of people I know and bathing suits! My gut is telling me that they should count us out, but I thought I would throw it out there…what do y’all think?

-Lauren-

Doctor Appointment and ACL

This morning I had my 16 week appointment and I thought I would give a little update. Everything looks good. Nice strong heartbeat at 150 (the nurse thinks its a girl).

My TSH levels are way low, but my thyroid levels are normal. My doctor thinks it is because I have been so sick, so we are going to keep checking them each time I go in. And, yes, even though I am 16 weeks, I am still sick! Ugh! If I take Zofran every morning then it gets me through the day, but I start feeling sick in the evening…my doctor told me to go ahead and take one in the evening as well. I am just ready to not have to worry about throwing up everyday, its gross!

We get to schedule our big ultrasound for 20 weeks. Since I will be 20 weeks on a Saturday, I think we will have to make the appointment the week after, but we should know what we are having the first week in November! Yay!

Tomorrow starts off ACL weekend! I am so excited about the cooler weather (this will be our 5th year to go and I am pretty sure it has hit at least 100 degrees every other year). The only bad thing is they are calling for 60% chance of rain all week…looks like I need to go buy some ponchos. Stay tuned for pictures!

-Lauren-