April 13 - nursery update

Dear Baby,

I just wanted to share with you what we have been doing with your room. I have this idea in my head what I want it to look like, but how it actually turns out will hopefully be what I had in mind. So here is the description of your room. 3 of the 4 walls are painted yellow and the 4th wall was reserved for the mural I am painting. We are going for a Winnie the Pooh theme and I wanted to find the perfect scene to paint. That was the hard part. It took what seemed like forever to find what we wanted on the wall. This weekend, your daddy and I started on the mural. I have done most of the work, but he played a huge roll in getting it started. Here are a couple of pictures of what we have so far:

Here is your daddy just chilling after a hard day painting.

Your grandpa and Daddy having way too much fun.

After Day 1 of the mural

After Day 2 of the mural

April 8 - Its been a long road

Dear Baby,

The other night your daddy brought up a very good point to me. He pointed out that two years ago, this month, we started our very first round of fertility treatments. We had been trying for longer than two years, but it was two years ago that we started to figure out what was wrong. We didn't actually use any procedures, but I started my very first round of clomid. We went into it knowing that the chances of getting pregnant on the first try was very slim, but we couldn't help but be hopeful. Month after month of not getting pregnant would eat away at me, but I just had to keep going. I knew that it would eventually pay off and the reward at the end would be worth it.

Here we are, two years later and nearly 23 weeks pregnant. I still have times when I can't believe this is all real. Until next time.

I will always love you,
Your Mommy

April 5 - Kicking

Dear Baby,

I just had to share this. Last night after I ate a late dinner, I was lying down on the couch and noticed you were moving around a lot. Well, I called your daddy in to feel my tummy in hopes that you could feel you as well. He had his hand on my tummy for about 15 seconds and was able to feel what I think was my pulse and then all of a sudden you kicked. He quickly pulled his hand away and had the most freaked out look on his face. I couldn't help but laugh. For some reason he didn't think it was going to feel that strong. I am about 22 weeks along right now and have been feeling you for the last 3 weeks or so, but this was the first time anyone else could feel you. I can't wait until we can actually see you move around.

Today we also went and bought your mattress for your crib. Boy does it make a huge difference on what the room looks like. I can't wait until we get all the bedding in the room. We still have plenty of time though. Until next time.

I will always love you,
Your Mommy.

April 2 - Boy, its been a long time

Dear Baby,

It has been nearly a month since I have written anything to you. So much has happened since then. Your daddy and I went to California for a week to spend time with our family and friends in California. We also had our very first baby shower where we got all kinds of amazing gifts. I can't even begin t list all the cool baby gifts that we got. There are so many cute little outfits that you will definitely get a chance to spit up on. I love them all. We are definitely going to have to thank Dee for all that she did for us. Everything was so nicely decorated and the food was yummy and delicous. I wish I didn't get full so fast because I just wanted to keep eating. We also got to meet a lot of Dee's friends who keep hearing about you.

You did a great job on your first long road trip. I thought that driving out to California was going to be painful, but it wasn't so bad. We took Tessa with us and she was a great doggy on the drive out there. She is definitely going to be a great doggy around you. Even though I loved the time out in California, I am not planning on making th drive out there again for a while. The next time we go out to California will be in November when we fly out there for Thanksgiving. That's when you will get to meet all your mommy's mom's side of the family in person. They are going to go crazy over you.

On another note, we went and saw the OB last week to make sure that everything is going right on track for your growth. He measured the size of my uterus and said that it was growing at the right speed. Also, we were able to hear your heartbeat which is awesome. I fall in love each and every time I get to hear or see you. I can't imagine how it is going to feel the first time I get to hold you in my arms.

The OB also recommended that I go ahead and get my glucose screening done. That's where I have to drink this lovely sugary drink and then they take my blood an hour later to check to see how my blood sugar levels are. I haven't heard anything back from the doctor's office and they said no news is good news so I guess we are just going to have to assume that everything looks good so far. The test usually isn't done until week 25-28 of a woman's pregnancy, but since my blood pressure was a little elevated and I am overweight, he wanted to check it earlier than usual.

I am still enjoying every moment of this pregnancy. The best part of my day is when I can feel you kicking me. Nobody else can feel this or see it, so I feel like its our own little secret. Hopefully soon we can share this experience with your daddy, but no hurries. I also enjoy every time your daddy reads to you at night before I go to bed. I hope that you can hear him. Everything I read says that you can hear his voice.

Let's see what else is there to tell you? Oh yea, you now have a name. Your name will be Alexander. We don't have a middle name picked out yet, but you will have one before you are born. I still call you Squirt though. Ok, that is definitely it for now. Until next time.

I will always love you,
Your Mommy