Can that really be her?

I was completely surprised today when I felt this aching pain in my ribcage. I started pushing on my tummy, thinking it was a cramp and to my amazement I felt Ava pushing back at me. I could not believe that my little girl had positioned herself in my ribcage and actually responded to me when I tried moving her down. It was the coolest thing ever. I then felt this strong pressure on the front of my tummy and when I pushed on it, I felt her again (it felt like her butt, but that is just a complete guess). She moved once I started rubbing it and all of a sudden I no longer felt that same pressure. It just made me realize how big our little girl is getting. I have carried her with me for so long and to actually be able to physically feel her through my tummy is such a beautiful thing.

27 Weeks 6 Days - Last Day in 2nd Trimester

Today marks the last day in Trimester 2! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. Tate and I were able to make some progress this weekend in the Ava's room by taking down the double bed and moving it to the garage. We are trying to get things re-arranged so it will be easier for us to paint. I still haven't figured out what color to paint the walls with yet, but I think I am just going to bring in the bedding to the paint store and see what looks best with it. :) At least that is the plan for now. I also called BabiesRUS today because I had not heard back from them regarding our dresser/changing table combo. Good thing I did because they had misplaced our order. The table is no longer on back order so I was able to pay for it today and it should be here within the next week or two! I can't wait! I will finally have a place to put all of Ava's clothes and baby products. The nursery is definitely coming together....slowly...but surely. :) Yesterday was Father's day and Tate and I spent the morning together on the boat before he had to take off for a VFW trip to Omaha, NE. I can't wait until next Father's day when Ava will be here. It is truly going to be a very special day for us all.

27 Weeks 2 Days - Doctor Visit - GD Test

I went to the doctor on Tuesday and found out that I not only still have bronchitis, but now I have a double ear infection which includes a temp. :( I have been doing my best to take care of myself and try to get rest, but I can't seem to shake this stuff. I had to go on antibiotics for the ear infection and I have been having a really hard time taking the medication because I am worried about the effects it will have on Ava. My doctor has reassured me many, many times that it is perfectly safe for Ava, but I just feel so guilty. I just want Ava to have the best and I worry when I feel like I am not able to give her that. I have been coughing for over 2 weeks now and I know that is not good for her either, so I have decided to keep taking the medication for the both of us. On a good note, I found out that I am measuring perfect and the doctor has already predicted Ava will be somewhere around 7 lbs. We will see if that is actually the case though. You never can tell how babies will grow in the last few months. At the clinic the other day I had to take my gestational diabetes test which included me drinking a very sugary drink (which gave me heart burn of course) and then waiting around an hour to have them take my blood. I asked the lab technician when I could find out the results and she told me to call my nurse the next day. So, yesterday I called in and found out that.....I do NOT have GD! Yippee! That means I can still eat sugar and carbs. I have been pretty good about my diet, but you never know what your body is going to do when you are pregnant. It's another great sign that Ava is in a good place within my tummy. :) My next appointment is in 3 weeks and after that appointment, my doctor wants to see me every 2 weeks from here on out. They want to keep their eye on me and hey, I can't complain with that. :) I know Ava and I are in good hands.

27 Weeks 1 Day - Pictures of the Crib

I decided to take a bunch of pictures of the crib last night because I am so excited about it finally having the bedding in it. I was able to add Ava's first stuffed animals and a princess doll (thanks to Gramma Cummins) and I couldn't resist taking pictures of it. You will notice that we have yet to paint the blue walls, but I promise that will be done before Ava makes her arrival this September. Tate and I hope to pick out paint this weekend. That is at least step 1 in the process. The next step will be to remove the double bed and dresser that is currently in the room and move our recliner downstairs. It will be nice to see the room without all of the clutter that is currently in there. The changing table is still on back order, but I am hoping to have that by the end of July. I guess we are going to have to take this just one step at a time. :)

27 Weeks - First Baby Shower! :)

I took the day off from work yesterday to attend my very first baby shower. Tate's work hosted a baby shower for myself and 3 other ladies who are all due this summer. I drove to Medford to attend the shower and it was so much fun. Tate was there with me and I was completely amazed at all of the gifts everyone had for us. They were so generous and so sweet. I received many "firsts" yesterday and I loved opening up every gift. Little Ava is going to be one stylish girl. She received so many cute "pink" clothes. Tate just sat there and smiled. I had him write down all of the gifts and who gave them to us so I could make sure to get my "thank-you's" sent off right away. It was such a great day and so much fun hanging out with everyone. I also finished putting the crib together yesterday. I can not believe how beautiful it is. I will take a picture of it and post it later for you all to see. Yesterday was such a great day and the best part was that I got to spend the entire day with my husband. :)

26 Weeks 1 day 6 1/2 Month Marker. :)

I did not get a chance to write yesterday which was my 6 1/2 month marker. I can not believe how quickly the time is passing by. My sister-in-law Jenna is due any day now and it is so exciting. It will be weird to be the only one still pregnant after little LJ is born. His little cousin Ava will still be growing inside of mommy's tummy. It is going to be so nice having cousins so close in age. I have a big feeling that they will be really close. I have always been close to my cousin Neil who is 3 months younger than me and I have always cherished that relationship. I am hoping Ava and LJ will have the same kind of bond. I have to admit, I broke down and bought a few more maternity clothes this weekend. I just started realizing that I was wearing the same shirt in a lot of different pictures so I took that as a sign to go shopping. :) I am sure all of you ladies out there would agree with me as well. :) Besides, a pregnant girl has to look cute too right? I am still fighting bronchitis, but it seems to slowly be getting a little bit better. I am hoping this weekend turns out to be nice so Tate and I can take the boat out on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. I need to catch a bunch of fish for Grandpa Frankie who is watching from above. :)

25 Weeks 6 Days - Countdown is now in the Double Digits!!!!

I feel like I have reached a HUGE milestone today. I am officially in the double digits countdown. 99 days left to go until I get to hold this little angel of ours. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed by. It feels like just yesterday when I first found out I was pregnant. This is actually a great time to tell you about when I found out I was pregnant. It was back in December and I was having a very hard time waiting to take a pregnancy test. I thought I had all of the days counted correctly, so I took a few tests earlier than I probably should have. I was absolutely heart-broken when I went to the bathroom and saw that the test showed negative. I instantly had tears in my eyes and I went and found Tate. I was so disappointed and I feared that maybe something was wrong with me. Being the saver I am, I never ended up throwing my test results away. I went into the bathroom later on that day and stared at the test again, hoping that maybe, just maybe it changed. Guess what?? This time when I looked at the test, I noticed that there was a second very faint pink line. I had to keep staring at it to make sure I was not making it up in my mind and finally I called for Tate to help determine if it was actually there. He looked at it and also said that he saw a faint line. All of a sudden, I was filled with this wonderful feeling that I might actually be pregnant. I waited a couple of days later to look take another test (December 31st) and this time, the test was very obvious....I was definitely pregnant. I told Tate at midnight on December 31st and we started off our new year knowing that in 2008 we would have a new addition to our family and that our dreams had finally come true. Little Ava is already loved more than I can describe and I am so excited for the day I get to hold her in my arms. She is definitely a dream come true and mommy and daddy can't wait to meet her.

25 Weeks 5 Days - Bronchitis

Yesterday morning before I headed off to see my cousin, Brad I spent a good 2 hours in Urgent Care. I started coughing on Friday and by the time I woke up on Saturday, my cough became much worse and I feared I may be coming down with pneumonia again. I was not about to take any chances so I headed off to the doctor. They gave me an nebulizer treatment (a machine that vaporizes medicine in a tube so I can inhale it), hoping that would work. The doctor asked if I have ever suffered from asthma and I told him no. So, they ordered me to the lab for some blood work. I waited at the doctor's office for the results of the blood work and Good News.....no pneumonia! However, I do have a viral infection which has lodged itself in my chest. Unfortunately, there isn't any medication I can take since this is a viral infection, so I just need to wait it out. The doctor gave me an inhaler along with cough syrup (which is 100% safe for little Ava, I made sure of it) and told me to take it easy. He said this infection could last anywhere from 3-7 days. After visiting my cousin Brad, I came home and tried to rest. I never realized how much a viral infection can take out of you. I guess I have always thought that if I don't have a fever, I'm healthy and I can do anything. Not true! This infection has definitely taken it's toll on me and my chest. I have been trying to take it easy, but it's not an easy task when it is gorgeous outside and when Bailey is staring at me with his sad look just waiting for me to take him for a long walk. Thankfully for Bailey, I had enough energy to take him for a walk this afternoon. I have promised Tate to take it easy the rest of the night. Chicken noodle soup and a movie are all I have left on my to-do list. :)

25 Weeks 4 Days - Saying Goodbye to my Cousin Brad

Today, May 31st our family all gathered together to support my cousin Brad Kaufenberg who is headed to Iraq. There were over 700 service men and women at the convention center today, all with their families there supporting the troops. Brad will be leaving this week for Oklahoma and after he finishes basic training he will be headed to Iraq. Brad will be in all of our prayers. It was great to see everyone again and to spend time with Brad. We will most likely not see Brad again for a couple of years. I have promised to send him care packages full of chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. :) We are very proud of you Brad!

25 Weeks 3 Days - Great Surprise for Mommy

Yesterday afternoon I was pleasantly surprised by a beautiful bouquet of roses. My wonderful husband sent a dozen long stem roses to my work just to tell me how proud he is of me and to thank me for the support I have given him with his crazy ball schedule. Isn't he the sweetest husband ever?? I was so completely surprised and it absolutely made my day, well actually my entire week. He has done such a great job taking care of this mommy-to-be and I feel so lucky to have such a great husband. Tater definitely gets my husband-of-the-year vote! :)

Dinner with Melissa (6 Months)

Last Friday night, May 23rd I met my beautiful friend Melissa, out for dinner. It is always so great to hang out with her because we are honestly like two peas in a pod. Melissa hadn't seen me for awhile and was amazed to see how much my tummy has grown. During dinner I was able to ask Melissa a ton of questions about being pregnant since she is already a wonderful mother of two. She gave me such great advice and of course told me how great I looked. You can always count on your best friend to say the right things at the right time. :) After dinner we headed to target to add items to my registry since she has been through this before and could help me figure out what I needed. Being able to share my pregnancy with my friends and family is absolutely priceless. There are so many changes going on with myself and little Ava and I love being able to share that with everyone. When we finished with dinner I put my seat down in the car in hopes that Melissa would feel Ava kicking, but our little sweetheart was not cooperating. Ava is usually pretty quiet right after I eat and only starts to kick hard when she is hungry. That's my girl for ya. :) I feel very blessed to have such wonderful friends and a very loving family.

25 Weeks - Date Night at a Wedding

This past weekend Tate and I attended a wedding of one of Tate's good friends. I spent the day, along with Bailey in the stands on Saturday watching Tate's high school team play. It was a long day for this mommy-to-be to sit in the stands, but it was well worth it. The team won and advanced on. After the games, Tate and I headed to Rochester, MN to attend Craig Braaten's wedding reception. We were able to bring Bailey with us because the hotel we stayed at allowed pets. :) It was so nice getting dressed up for the night and to see my husband wearing something besides a baseball uniform. I had a pretty good-looking date. :) Tate and I saw a lot of friends that we hadn't seen in awhile and it was great catching up with them. We also made it out to the dance floor and Tate soon noticed the difference dancing with me now that I am pregnant compared to when I wasn't. As soon as we started dancing, little Ava began to kick pretty hard. I think she wanted to let her daddy know that she was there dancing with him too. :) The next day Tate and I had a nice lunch together and made it back to the Cities in time to go fishing. Unfortunately, neither one of us caught anything but at least we were able to spend some much needed quality time together.