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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

4 Months Old!!

Seriously every time I go to update our baby blog, I think "Whhhhat? Our baby is already how old?!"

I got home from a long day at school yesterday and I looked at her- and just when I think she can't get any cuter- she does. She is getting so big. We are going to give her her first solid food of rice cereal sometime this week. She has her 4 mo. check up and shots next week... Here are some recent cuteness facts on P:

*She is a champ at her tummy time now. She is lifting her head up to about 90 degrees and then she looks at you and smiles like she is so proud.
*She loves to use her legs and "stand" as mommy or daddy hold her up under her armpits- and again she will look at you and gets a huuuuge proud smile on her face.
*She is grabbing (this includes grabbing mommys hair)
*She loves to suck her thumb- ok more like her whole hand
*She is laughing so hard now at..well anything...sometimes we just look at her and she will start cracking up!
*She is ticklish now!! She's in trouble!
*She is still working on talking-saying ah-goos and gees etc. However, she recently started yelling her ah-goos and gees. And man she hurts mommy and daddys ears sometimes she gets so loud
*Sometimes when she is sitting or laying back,she will fold her hands over one another and sit there like a little lady- so precious
*She likes playing games (head, shoulders, knees, and toes is a fav.) and getting books read to her
*She likes getting lifted up into the air like a rocket

She is such a big girl, getting cuter and cuter every day!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Payton at 2.5 months old

I cant beleive I have not blogged about our little one for over a month, she has grown so much since then. Just when you think she can't get any cuter- she does. My heart beams with joy just thinking about her. But the thing that has been really getting me lately is when I am holding her in my arms and I am feeding her a bottle, sometime she will stop eating a second and look up at me and smile and coo. Oh man she is cute! Here are some typical Payton things going on lately:

*She is grabbing/grasping things in her little hands- she loves grabbing onto her rattle or Mr. Frog and giving them a good shake (and giving herself the occasional rattle to the eye/face)
*Her favorite toy is Mr. Frog- he's a little stuffed frog with a rattle inside and he has crinkley wings, all you have to do is put Mr. Frog in front of P and she will automatically smile :)
*Mommy and Payton invented "The Paci Game" this is where P will suck on her paci and spit it out and I say "Uh-oh, you dropped it!" and she will laugh and smile, then mommy will suck on her paci and do the same thing....man she laughs everytime. It is so fun to see her interacting more and more and thinking things are funny!
*Peanut had her 2 month shots, she handled them like a trooper, only cried a little bit right after the shots, was sore and a little fussy for a couple days after...but it all went way better than I thought it would. Her 2 month check up went awesome too, she is in the 16% percentile for her head circumfrence, but her weight and length were right around the 50th precent.
*She is talking like crazy saying Ah-goo, ah-gee, ah-gaa, da-goo, hiiii, and a bunch of other silly combinations.
*She is laughing like crazy too! It is my favorite to hear her laugh and squeel!
*She is sitting up- if you hold her around her low back she hold her head up so straight, and loves to sit up like that.
*She is a hungry baby, the other day she downed 7 onces in one hour! She is a growing girl!
*She is loving her baby bjorn, but she is able to face outwards now so she can look around which is one of her favorite things to be able to do.
*As she loves looking around...she discovered the TV (uh oh) So if mommy and daddy are watching a movie she will watch it for bits and peices too- AND will laugh at it too!
*She is immitating! She will watch mommy or daddy click their tongue and she trys soooo hard to do it, but every once in a while she will do a tiny little click, it is so cute!

Lovin our little girl! Can't beleive she will be 3 months old pretty soon!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Our baby is a month old!! (what?!)

How time flies... P is already a month old, and she is growing so fast! Everyday I see her she seems to have grown a little more. I keep telling her to stop growing up so fast, but as usual she doesnt like to listen to Mommy too much. She has been sleeping much better and got up every 4 hours last night (compared to the ever hour or two she was doing before!)

*She still loves her mobile in her crib and even if she is fussing when you lay her down and turn on her mobile she will get super wide eyed and get a huge smile on her face
*She loves to play the game where Mommy and Daddy get her by making a chomping noise and gobble on her neck, she get super excited and starts breathing really fast and flailing her arms and legs around.
*She is ticklish on her feet, tummy, and armpits...but she doesnt laugh when you tickle her...just jerks around and evily glares at you lol.
*She has been super smily and has a cute little laugh
*She is starting to discover her voice and makes lots of "ahhh" noises, sometimes she even yells it out!
*She loves to look at Mommy or Daddy talk and she smiles if we say silly things or sing silly songs.
*She loves "You Are My Sunshine"

She is so pretty...Her eyes are turning a lighter blue color, I though she would be a brown eyed girl- so we will see!! We love her more and more everyday, being a parent is the best gift in the world I can't help but feel overwhelmingly blessed everyday. Sometimes I get butterflies in my stomach because I can't beleive how lucky I am!

Friday, September 4, 2009

3 weeks old and growing fast!!

Payton is 3.5 weeks old today and I can't beleive how big she is getting! It is so true what everyone says that they grow up fast... Everyday that goes by our love for her and bond with her grows and grows. She has such a happy personality and loves to laugh and smile. Last night she was up quite a bit (she thrives at 3am) and she was ssooooo happy with a huuuge smile on her face and was bright eyed looking around. Even though it was 3am and I was dead tired, I didn't care because she was being so darn cute! Grandma and Grandpa Boutain were up babysitting all week while I started my first week back to college. It was so hard to leave my baby girl, I welled up with tears everyday walking out the door, I hope it gets easier because I get such mom guilt. Even leaving her to take a shower I get mom guilt lol...

Some things about Payton this week:

*She attended her first Fantasy Football draft with mommy and daddy this year (will be many more to come!)
*She has been smiling and laughing more and more
*More and more eye contact
*She loves her Bumpa's (Grandpa Greg's) singing- she fusses when he stops singing to her
*She likes taking naps on mommys chest
*She can hold her head up for several seconds at a time
*She started scooting! We laid her down on her tummy on the couch and she pushed with her legs and scooted about a foot!
*She is up to drinking about 3oz at a time- I think she has gained quite a bit of weight since her last appt. She is getting really cute chubby cheeks!
*She loves her feet and head rubbed
*She loves bicycle kicks- sometimes it is the only thing that will get her to quit crying
*She likes being held by Uncle Derek (she smiled 3 times when he was holding her- Uncle Derek is so proud...)

Next week Payton gets to stay home with Daddy while I go to school- it will be an interesting adventure! I am sensing some double trouble coming on!

~Momma and PowPow

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

2 weeks old today!

It is Payton's 2 week B-day today! I can't believe how fast these last 2 weeks have flown by. She is growing up so fast already! She had her first bath the other day and absolutely loved it, she just laid back and chilled in the tub no crying or fussing! Here are some other fun facts about our little Payton at 2 weeks old:

~She can roll over from her back onto her side
~She loves to be in her Baby Bjorn
~She is eating every 2 hours or so and eats like a champ- almost 3 oz
~She moves her mouth in her sleep like she is eating
~She smiles all the time, especially after she is done eating (I think it is her favorite thing to do)
~She smiles and giggles in her sleep
~She loves looking around the room, at the ceiling, at faces, and she loves to look at the bedding and mobile in her bedroom
~She doesn't like to sleep at night- just durring the day
~She loves to be held and rocked
~She loves to sit up
~She is very gassy & fussy lately, poor thing...
~She does awesome in her carseat & almost always falls asleep durring the car ride
~She doesn't mind getting her diaper changed anymore but she doesnt like getting dressed
~She has an umbilical hernia
~When she is really hungry she starts grunting like crazy and flails her hands around, Daddy calls this "The Gremlin" lol...
~She goes cross eyed when she is really trying to concentrate on something


She is so amazing! I could go on and on about all the cute little things she does... I have never felt so overwhelmingly blessed in my whole life. I love our family and I couldnt ask for more! <3

~Ashley

Friday, August 21, 2009

I thought I should write a bit about the whole labor & delivery and our life with our little girl since she is already almost 2 weeks old!!

So around 8pm on Tuesday Aug. 10th- my official due date- I decided to take a chance on trying out castor oil to see if it would start labor. I had heard that it worked for a select few ladies and others just got all the bad side effects from it and no baby. But I was rrreally wanting to meet our little angel so I though why not?! 8pm- Castor oil ingested, it was disgusting and I gagged it down... the next hours consisted of many trips to the bathroom...12am finally got to sleep...1am got back up to go to the bathroom and then all of the sudden, my water broke! I was in denial for quite a while about it actually being my water for some reason...then I say "Honey, wake up, my water just broke!"

Brandon jumps out of bed quicker than I've ever seen him move...he's running around the house packing bags & bringing stuff out to the car...hands me the phone with the Birthplace so I could tell them I was heading in...getting paper work and phone numbers and our birthplan out and ready...in about 5 minutes he's ready to go with keys in his hands and I haven't even gotten over the fact that my water broke!

We drive to the hospital, its about 15 minutes away, no contractions yet so I was feeling good. Brandon and I look at eachother & we both can't believe its finally time. Brandon drops me off at the Emergency entrance where I am escorted to the Birthplace while Brandon parks the car.

I am greeted by the night nurse at about 2am, change into a hopsital gown, and then they hooked me up to the external fetal & contraction monitors. Brandon finally finds his way up to the room after some parking ramp confusion. The nurse attempted 2x to start an IV and failed so she called in another nurse who was able to get a good line started right away. Contractions start kicking in...They test my water to make sure it actually broke, and it did but with Meconium in it that will require the NICU to suction out the babys airways ASAP after delivery. The Dr. comes in (finally) for an exam and I was 3 cm dilated.

The next couple hours I suffered through contractions that got stronger & stronger, Brandon was THE BEST labor coach- he was so supportive and kept telling me how great I was doing, which I really needed! The nurse came in and offered me some pain medication because she said the anesthesiologist wouldnt be here for a while- I refused until about half an hour later I couldnt take it anymore & she gave me a small dose which didnt seem to help too much. Finally the anesthesiologist comes in at 5am & started my epidural which I was able to control with a push button if I started to feel it wear off. Thank God for epidurals- after it was started I felt very little pain, it was suuuch a relief and made the rest of my labor experience a good one! Next time I was checked by a Dr. I was 10cm & ready to push! I pushed for 2 hours & needed an episiotomy, after the episiotomy I think I pushed one more time & out she came! They suctioned her up and she was all ours!

She was 7lbs, 21inches long, born at 12:15pm- Our little miracle!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Payton Izabella Erickson :)







After 40 weeks of anticipation and excitement our beautiful little angel was born at 12:15 on Tuesday, August 11th. She was born very healthy and very beautiful! Ash was amazing throughout labor and came through with flying colors. Payton was 7 lbs and 21 inches long. After two days in the hospital our new cute little family was headed home! Ashley and I are so thankful for all the calls and visits from our loved ones while we were at the hospital. Thanks and Payton is looking forward to meeting all of you!






Monday, August 10, 2009

Today is my due date...

Bummer... Looks like I'll be going over my due date. My doc said she will induce at 1.5 weeks overdue...So on the bright side, sometime by mid next week our baby girl will finnnnnaalllly be here! I hope she decides to come on her own because being induced is NOT what I had hoped for as there is a much higher rate of C-section. I don't have time to recover from a C-section, I have to go back to school in full throttle in 3 weeks! Recovery time from a C-section is 6! So I will keep on praying that our baby girl decides to grace us with her presence before we have to resort to any of that!

I have an OB appt. this Thursday (if she doesn't come before that) and at that time they will do a Non-stress Test and ultrasound to see how baby is doing in there. Sometimes babies don't "thrive" in utero when they are past due, and if thats the case then they will induce sooner rather than next week.

We've been trying to do some "self-inducing" which are mostly old wives tales of how to bring on labor. We've been doing lots of long walks, I get contractions during the walk, but they go away when we get home. I think I am finally at the stage where I may try the castor oil technique, not recomended by most, but I would rather go through the bad side effects in hopes of it working & not going through induction at the hospital! So off I go to Walgreens...desperate times call for desperate measures lol!! :)

~Ashley

Thursday, August 6, 2009

(Almost) 40 week appt.




Had OB appt. today, Dr. stripped my membranes which is a mild form of induction that works for some people and not for others. Typically this would start contractions within 3 days of the procedure. So hopefully baby decides to come meet us this weekend!

Baby's heartbeat was verrry loud, strong, and clear and was 143. She was still measuring 37 weeks but the Dr. said that was due to how low she is haning out, so the measurement isn't the most accurate.

I have been lightheaded, dizzy, have this horrible pain in my lower L abdomen area when I move or walk, and I'm nice and swollen... I have been up having trouble sleeping at night with back pains/mild contractions/peeing at night, and by the time I fall asleep and finally get some rest, it's time to get up! So I've been pretty tired these days too. Pregnancy is taking its toll!!

Any day now baby!!!

~Ashley

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Waiting

The nursery is all done, hospital bags all packed, swings, pack n plays and car seats all assembled now it's just a matter of waiting for our little angel to come out! It's pretty difficult just sitting around waiting, being so excited to see her. Everytime Ash strings together a series of contractions about 5-10 minutes apart, a hopeful labor coach asks if he can start timing contractions in hopes of the real deal. Although we've had some close calls where we thought it may be time, Ash had contractions every 4-7 minutes for about an hour getting progressively worse, getting up and moving around stopped those. As far as Ash and I are concerned, the sooner Payton comes out the better! I know Ash's poor feet wouldn't mind having Payton come out a little early either...So until that day comes where we get to bring our little angel home, I guess the daddy and mommy to be just have to keep on waiting!

-B

39 weeks

Well I had my 39 week OB appt. today. I was still only 1cm dilated BUT 70% effaced!! Things are moving along! Hopefully next week I will be ready to go! Been getting lots and lots of painful Braxton Hicks contractions...getting more frequent and painful. Just about everyday I get about an hour straight of them about 5 min. apart which puts me pretty much out of commission.

Baby's heartbeat was 149 and was measuring just fine. She is turned sideways, head down, facing my R side- which is where all the kicks have been lately...my poor right side needs a break! Especially after Daddy talked to her today and she karate attacked me!

Got our hospital bags all packed and ready to go...

It's all up to when baby decides to come meet us now!

~Ashley

Thursday, July 23, 2009

38 weeks

Had an excited OB appt. today, I am now 1 cm dialated & 50% effaced...things are happening which just adds to my impatientness and excitement! Babies heart beat was 144 & was measuring perfectly. Now all there is to do is wait, wait, wait...and wait.

The baby has finally slowed down with her movements, the Dr. said because she is so far down all she can really do now is wiggle a little bit. We are completely ready for her arrival now & we can't wait to meet our little angel!

Here is my bump progression from 21 weeks to 38 weeks! There is room for one more picture I will put in at the very end of the pregnancy :)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Baby Shower Mania

We had our last 2 baby showers this past weekend and we just wanted to thank everyone for all the awesome gifts and good company! We are allll set for the baby to come home now & we are working on putting everything away and making all the finishing touches. It is great to have such a great group of family and friends who have been so supportive in our baby journey! So thank you guys- you are the best!



(I dont think I posted any ultrasound pics yet so here are some old ones at 20 weeks! Isn't she cute!?)

Thursday, July 16, 2009

37 weeks down- 3 to go!! woo woo!

I can't believe my due date is in only 3 more weeks! Still hoping she comes before then but that is wishful thinking....

Pregnancy is taking its toll on my body, went to bed crying last night because my back was hurting so bad. Then when my back wasn't hurting for a couple seconds my pelvic cramps would kick in...No fun! Brandon gave me a good backrub that helped me get to sleep and I got a heating pad for my back so hopefully that will help a little bit!

Brandon and I installed the car seat last night and then I went and got it inspected at the car seat safety clinic today. They said they were impressed and we did a good job- they made one adjustment and that was it. It will be comforting to know that the baby will be safe in her car seat!

Little Payton has this body part we call "the snake foot" ( I think its a foot lol) It is off to the right side of my stomach and it goes crazy! It pokes out all the time so I can see the little bump it makes on my belly & then it moves like crrrazy and feels like a snake moving around in my belly. It is a weird feeling! I think she will come out doing the Stanky leg like her Daddy :)

As D-day gets closer, the days get longer and longer waiting the arrival of our little girl....especially now that I am on maternity leave and have nothing better to do but wait! This weekend will keep us busy though, we have our final 2 baby showers. The last baby shower is co-ed so it will be nice to have Brandon experience at least one shower (although he is dreading it!)

No OB appt. this week, the Dr. said since everything looked so good at the last appointment there was really no need to come in this week unless I really wanted to...so we will see whats up at the Dr. next week at 38 weeks!

Friday, July 10, 2009

36 weeks

We had our 36 week check up at the OB doc today. Baby's heartbeat was 134 and she was measuring at 34 weeks ( a little small but within the normal ranges). Doctor said all the measurements from the ultrasound 2 weeks ago looked really good. She said my cervix is thinning out (woowoo, one of the first steps to labor!) and that everything looks very good & healthy. Starting today I'm okay to go into labor- which could start any day now to next month.... we're hoping for something in between the two!

We just got our new travel system for the baby the other day. We went with the Graco Stylus travel system in Morocco. We wanted something gender neutral so we can use it for our next babies too. We love it and I can't wait to push our little girl around in it! Brandon and I are going to attempt to install the car seat bases tonight, and then we are going to go to the car seat safety clinic on July 16th to have a certified person check it out and make sure it is installed correctly.


Other than that, baby is still squirming and moving around like crazy, nothing seems to slow her down. She is supposed to be so squished from growing so much this last trimester that movements typically slow down the last weeks...but no sign of that, which is okay by me! Im still having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, which is normal and warming my body up for labor. My feet started to swell up lately and caused me to have no ankle bones...not attractive. And lots of back pain and cramps. Pregnancy starting to get not as fun! I just want to meet our little girl!

Anyway here's our travel system!





Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Payton's room!






Her going home outfit :)




Babies first toothbrush- her Hygienist mamma is so proud!


Few of her first baby books :)






A few pics from our almost done nursery- still need to do a few finishing touches. But I think we have all the necessities to feel comfortable bringing her home :) Getting excited!



Monday, June 29, 2009

Cutest thing ever!

So daddy has been reading to the baby pretty much everynight now. He snuggles up to my belly and reads her stories or just talks to her, and she freaks out! She starts kicking, moving, and squirming around evvvery time! My belly looks like it's having an earthquake! I'm trying to think if when she is born, is daddy's voice going to be soothing to her, or is he going to get her all riled up lol? We will soon see!

~Ashley

P.S.
Baby's ETA- Only 42 more days!! Ahhhh! Let the freaking out begin!

34 weeks and counting...


Well last Thursday we had a scare at my OB appt. Here I was worried the baby already dropped because I was having some new pressure & pain and a slew of other symptoms -and she tells me that all those were normal (I wanted to slap her for some reason lol- All these things are normal?! Why dont you tell me ahead of time what to expect so I dont freak out for 2 weeks before I can get in for another appt!?)

Then we listened to the heartbeat and it was 136, which was perfect and sounded stronger than it ever has. Here was the scary part- when the Dr. went to take the Fundal Height, the baby was measuring only 30 weeks. So she scheduled us an ultrasound right away. All the while, Brandon was stuck at work that day so I was by myself. I call Brandon at work and tell him the baby is measuring small & I need an ultrasound right away. Then I get Brandon all shaken up so he called in reinforcements at work so he could leave and try to make it to my ultrasound. On his way from WI to Duluth, his car breaks down! So he didnt get to make it for the ultrasound- I was on my own! (And poor Brandon was stranded in the boonies and freaking out!)

So the creepy Ultrasound guy calls me back and starts measuring away all the little weird looking shapes that apparently are an arm or a leg...He tells me her head is measuring 34 weeks (a week a head of schedule), and her various other parts were measuring 31, 32, or 33 weeks. He says she is 4 lbs and 6oz. and is measuring normal. He says that if I deliver her on her due date she will be 8lbs and 6oz! So I have to deliver an 8 lb baby with a giant head lol?! At least she will be smart? I also made him double check that she is in fact a girl, and he says that he is 90% sure it's a girl lol... lets not even go there with the possibility of the other 10%!

Needless to say, our Dr. is horrible & measured wrong, and got all of us freaking out for no reason....next time I see her she will probably say that it's normal.....
~Ashley

Monday, June 15, 2009

Woah!

So last night Brandon and I were laying on the couch and playing the "guess that body part" game trying to figure out what part of baby was poking out of my belly- elbow, knee, hand, foot?? Brandon had his hand on one side of my belly and I had my hand on the other, and then all of the sudden the baby kicked out as hard as she could on both our hands and Brandon and I both screamed and then looked at eachother and started cracking up! What a stinker!

I think it is so cool how she is reacting more and more to noises (like Daddy's voice) and loud movies/music, and to touch (if I poke one of her elbow, knee, foot, hand parts- she pokes back!) Oh and she loves car rides, she always moves & kicks a ton in the car. So cool and so blessed!!

~Ashley

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Daddy's perspective

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for the great gifts we received at Ashley's first 2 baby showers. With that much baby stuff, and still 2 baby showers to go, I think we'll have to give Payton the master bedroom with the larger closet! There are only a few moment's in life where you loose your breath, your heart pounds out of your chest, and you are overwhelmed with happiness. So far in this whole process I've already had plenty of those moments. The most amazing one had to be at the 16 week OB appt. when I heard my little angel's heartbeat for the first time. She was so tiny, yet had such a strong, healthy heartbeat. I didn't think there would be any more moments that could live up to that one. Then came the 20 week ultrasound. Seeing my little girl for the first time was unlike anything I have experienced in my life. There's this beautiful little baby who I have never met, and I'm already thinking to myself, wow I love her. She is perfect. Nothing can live up to this moment, right? Then came the first time I felt my little girl kick. Our little girl started kicking early and often, and boy can she kick! She already has Daddy's wrapped around her little finger, when I talk to her through Ashley's tummy she goes into a kicking frenzy. Must be just like her mother already ;). And what an amazing mother that is. Ashley has been nothing but incredible for this whole pregnancy, just when you think you can't possibly love anyone, anymore something like this happens. Well, that's some perspective of a soon to be Daddy. Thanks again to everyone for being part of this whole process with us.

-B

Friday, June 12, 2009

A little scary...

So we ended up having to call the hospital last night because I was always told to call if I had more than 4 Braxton Hicks contractions in an hour & I had about 7 in an hour and a half. Too many Braxton Hicks can be a sign of preterm labor. So I talked to the on-call nurse at St. Mary's and after asking me a million questions she said I dont have to come in unless my symptoms don't go away or I have 6 more contractions in an hour. So I drank lots of water and laid on my left side and only had maybe two contractions the rest of the night. So we are in the clear! Just a little scary of the thought the baby could come that early & we are no where near prepared! Hopefully that little baby hangs in there at least 5 more weeks then she will be full term.

~Ashley

Directions to St. Mary's Birthplace

I-35 North
Right exit onto Mesaba Ave.
Once on Mesaba Ave. stay in the R lane
Turn R onto 2nd st. w
Go 10 blocks (stay in the L lane)
The St Marys 3rd st parking ramp is a L turn after St. Annes residence & after 4th ave w (it is right under the skywalk).
Parking fee is 2 dollars per day

Once in the ramp you will either park on level f, or park on any level and take the elevator to level f which is where the skywalk is.
Take a L out of the elevator and turn R onto the skywalk.
Walk to the 4th St. building & take the elevator to the 5th floor E(The Birthplace).
Cafeteria is on 2nd floor.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Photo courtesy of Mrs. Ange Lindell

OB Appt. 31 1/2 weeks

Just got home from my OB appt. Doctor said everything is just perfect- her heartbeat was 140, she was measuring perfectly at about 32 weeks, and she is still in the head down position (please stay there!) The Dr. said that some women's bellies get big and filled with lots and lots of amniotic fluid, but she said that I am all baby. She said that was good because then she could feel the baby really well :) After this I have two more appts at 2 week intervals, and then I start seeing the Dr. every week until the baby is born. Can't beleive how fast it is going!

~Ashley

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

31 weeks

Well I had always wanted to keep a pregnancy journal but never got around to it, so I figured I would keep a pregnancy blog-journal instead. I regret not doing this earlier on in my pregnancy but better late than never!

Only 9 more weeks until baby arrives, and I couldnt be more excited (and scared, nervous, anxious, overwhelmed, and overjoyed)... I can't wait to meet our little girl, but I CAN wait to go through the contractions & yucky stuff.

I've entered into my 3rd trimester so I am back to feeling verry tired as I was in the 1st trimester. I feel like every move I make takes extreme effort and I waddle when I walk now! Typical pregnant lady... Belly button has officially turned into an outtie, leg cramps at night, nose bleeds. I've been crying at commercials or anytime there is a commercial/show/movie involving babies- it just makes me think of our little bundle & us going through the daily activities and all the firsts.

We went to childbirth education class this past weekend and to infant safety class last night. Didn't learn too much at the first class; we had to watch lots of birthing videos which were fine in my book- until they showed the birthing of a placenta (gag). Infant safety was actually an interesting class, and we both felt like we learned a lot. We learned how to properly install a car seat (80% of car seats are installed incorrectly) and learned about all the different products that interfere with safety of baby in the car seat (which are a lot- we are going to have to return a couple things already, including our Bundle Me & baby head support). Made us think of all the loose objects in a vehicle that if in an accident could fly around and hurt baby (there was a baby in the ER after a car accident & a corner of a kleenex box punctured its head! So imagine what all the bigger objects could do!)We got some training on infant cpr & choking. So I feel a little more prepared after taking these classes.

Also had my first baby shower this past weekend with all my girlie friends which was very fun! Opening all those gifts got me sooo excited for the baby to come! I love imagining her in all those cute little outfits :)

9 weeks couldn't come soon enough, but Brandon and I are trying to enjoy our last months alone together & soakin up all the sleep and relaxation we can before the chaos begins :)

~Ashley