The babe is still hanging in there.  Today I went for acupuncture and as soon as the needles were in, the babe started kicking up a storm.  It was prolly the most intense bout of kicks I've felt so far, especially in the middle of the day.  I got a good chuckle out of it.  

Mom is getting all packed up as I type and in just a few days she'll be here in Denver!!  CRAZY!  Safe travels momma.

XOX

Liz

This HAS to be the baby moving. It's still kinda strange . . . feeling mostly like a bubble popping on the inside . . . or actually like a little kick or somersault. I am 18 weeks going on 19, so it's about that time. CRAZY!!

I THINK I felt the babe moving last night. It's so hard to tell though. I've had a few moments of - was THAT it?? - before, but this felt a little more certain. Everyone says it'll mostly happen at night when you lay down in bed and get comfy. So, every night I have been getting totally ready for sleep and then really concentrating on whether or not I can feel anything. Last night was a little different than before. I took some slow deep breaths. On the exhale I would try to hold it for a minute - being completely still - and see if I could make anything out. And, there it was. It was like a little hiccup or a little kick. It wasn't too strong. Maybe I felt it three or four times. But I felt something!!

We went on our tour of St. Joe's hospital tonight. It was nice. The whole Labor & Delivery section of the hospital was redone in the last 4 years or so. As a "guest" I would spend time in two different rooms. You labor and deliver in one room. These are huge gorgeous rooms with all the amenities. The baby's station pulls out of a cabinet, like a mini murphy bed. There's even a warming machine that swings out of an overhead cabinet if that's needed. Only one room doesn't have a jacuzzi tub and that's a handicap accessible room. The beds are crazy convertible to enable moms to deliver in a VARIETY of positions that I hope I never experience. ;)

Then, a few hours after baby is born they move you to a recovery room. Those rooms are smaller and not as sparkly new, but nice. There is a murphy bed in each room for Dads, so that's nice. He won't have to sleep on a recliner.

The NICU is a level 3 facility, which I guess is pretty high. They don't transfer babies out of there. This hospital gets a lot of high risk pregnancies from lots of nearby states, so that's good to know. They're ready and equipped to handle any problem we might have, so baby and I could stay at the same facility.

Hey - you can all take a virtual tour of this facility online. Click here to go to the hospital's Webpage and take the tour yourself!

We were the least pregnant people there tonight. While many people were CLOSE to delivering and just getting the lay of the land, we were in a fortunate position. We can choose between two hospitals, so we were almost interviewing them. That's kinda nice. We'll see our other choice in a few weeks when we go with the Klebbas for our first childbirth class.

Although mild, tonight I am nursing my first case of heartburn. Fun stuff!

XOX
Liz

I went to listen to the babe today. The doctor offered - anytime I wanted to come in for a listen - so I took her up on it! I called yesterday and made an appointment and they got me in first thing. It all sounded good. Heart rate was in the 150s. Now I gotta wait two weeks and two days until the next appointment . . . the big ultrasound appointment!!

In the meantime, someone tell me I'm crazy . . . . you know the nursery I love?? Well, I found some similar sheets by the same maker at Target - the DwellStudio School Book set. It's $55 for the three piece set. However, I REALLY like the Dwell Alphabet Set MUCH better. The colors are brighter. I like that it's got large letters (vs. numbers in the Target version). However, it's $320 for the Alphabet set. That's crazy. Tell me I'm crazy! For that price difference I could buy the bookshelf I want for that room or another whole piece of furniture. I need to get over myself. ;)

XOX
Liz

Well, I am still in love with just about everything from that nursery I saw over the weekend (see Saturday's post)! IF IF IF we have a boy I think we'll go for that look. Actually we could probably do it very nicely in pink too. Anyway, we can do just about everything except the wall mural fairly easily. The crib and dresser we can get at Babies R Us. The bedding - we can get something VERY similar at Target. We've got a West Elm in town where we can get the bookshelf. The rockers they sell everywhere these days. And voila - we're very close!!

Maybe one day we'll add a fancy mural if we can find someone talented enough to execute it. Last night I had a great idea though. Instead of replicating that WHOLE wall mural, we could do some wall art. We ordered a few pieces from this company last year around the holidays. Look at Wonderful Grafitti's Website. They will make quotes and other custom things into STICKERS that we can stick on the wall and remove when we're over it. So now we'd just need to decide what to say. Hmmmm. I like that I'm not so undecided anymore. PROGRESS!!

XOX
Liz

PS - I think I WILL call the doctor and go listen to the heartbeat this week. I'm not worried really. But why not go listen if she offered?? ;) I'll let you know more later.

LOVE this nursery!! CLICK HERE to see it. They tell you everything you need to know to execute it on your own, but it looks MUCH harder than they make it sound. I guess I'd need to find a graphic artist and then a good painter!! Hmmmm.

Long time no post. No news is good news, right?!? I have been BUSY with work and play. I traveled last week to Arizona and worked HARD! I was on my feet for at LEAST 15 hours each day. It was crazy but a very successful week. When I got home it took me a few days to bounce back. I think the first night I was home I was in bed by 8 pm. SAD!

Then there's LOTS for Jeff and I to do to help Mom get ready for her big move to Denver. We've got a contractor in her condo now doing some tweaking to the new pad. So, we're making some decisions there, buying some materials, etc. Hopefully that will be all wrapped up by the end of next week, so we can get the carpets cleaned and have everything ready for her arrival!!

Next week the same contractor starts the Kegg baby room!! ACK!! So, I need to seriously start thinking about what to do in a baby room. Do I want a chair rail? Do I want built-ins? What should I do?!?!

I'm 17 weeks now. No baby movements yet that I can detect. Totally normal, I know, but that doesn't mean I'm not anxious about that. I've thought about calling the doctor to go in for a quickie listen to the heartbeat, but I am trying to not be overly paranoid.

Our five year wedding anniversary is next weekend (Sept 27th). We always had big plans for the 5 year mark. I was thinking a week in Europe somewhere or a luxury cruise. We just didn't get it together. As of now, we've got a triple date planned for next Friday night and then a solo dinner reservation for the actual anniversary at a NICE place in the Boulder area. Hey, I'm an excellent designated driver these days, so we might as well take this opportunity to do some fine dining a little further away from home.

That's all for now. Next doctor's appointment is at the 20-week mark. It's scheduled for Oct 9th. Mom is going to go with us to see the babe and find out the gender. FUN!

XOX
Liz

What a day! I was soooo worried about my doctor's appt. It'd been too long since I'd seen the babe and I can't feel it moving yet, so I was a little nervous going in today. Everything went really well. We listened to the heart rate first. That sounded good - in the 150s. Then my doctor did a quickie ultrasound. She made a GUESS at sex, but we're not sharing until we know for sure. That will be on Oct 9th, so you'll have to wait a few more weeks for that news.

We met with the potential nanny last night. That went well. She was very experienced and very nice. She's conservative - like us, loves to cook - like us, and loves Diet Coke - like me! A good fit. ;) She's taken care of infant multiples before, so she's used to having two babes at once. That's all good stuff. Tonight we're having dinner with Dave & Gwen to discuss next steps.

Talk to you soon!
XOX
Liz