Baby Room Complete

Final touches made this weekend...we're offiically "Baby Ready". I also got a pic of Dave (Daddy) putting together his first Baby toy!! Exciting!!

Almost 37 Weeks....and Nesting!

So, I got home yesterday from work and decided to do another load of the Baby's laundry...get all those onsies washed. I think it was around 8p.m. when Dave stopped me, gave me a hug and said, "Honey, you're nesting real bad!" I hadn't stopped doing things for the Baby since I got home almost...laundry, unpacking more items from the shower, organizing the room etc. I guess it fully sunk in this morning when I decided to stay home after being on my 3rd day of a stupid cold and around 7:30 a.m. I went into the junk drawer to get a pen and decided the drawer just needed to be organized. Um...okay, I think I may be nesting!!?? Anyway, I guess it's just part of being pregnant. And no, I am not open for business to come to anyone else's house to organize and clean. :)

Went to the doctor today and no update from last week really. The baby's heartbeat was 142, I stayed the same weight exactly to the ounce and no progress from last week. Although, what I wasn't told last week was that besides being 1cm dilated, I'm 75% efaced and the baby is in a -2 position (which is apparently very low - lower than some babies are when women go into labor). So, hopefully this all goes in my favor once the "BIG" day does arrive.

I hope to put final Baby room pics up on the blog after this weekend. So, stay tuned...

36 Weeks

This weekend was one of the busiest so far, as far as getting ready for the Baby! Saturday was our all day Childbirth marathon class. We were supposed to have class on Sunday also, but since only half the couples showed up, we were able to get done all in one day, which was nice! Dave and I were pretty overwhelmed with everything and it definitely hit home that we're in the final weeks of pregnancy!! I've already pre-apologized to Dave if I turn into "Evil Jamie" during the process and he's vowed to do whatever I need at that point to help with the situation. Overall, I think the class was good for both of us and now we'll just wait to put our knowledge to work.

This weekend was also my family & friend shower, where Dave and I got almost everything we'll need to care for the Baby at least the first few months. I had a great time and there was a great turnout of people!! Everyone was way too generous in their gifts - this Baby is already spoiled! We received many handmade blankets, some of our larger items we needed (pack-n-play, mattress, stroller/carseat combo), crib sheets, towels, cute little bathrobes and MORE!!! Thank you again to EVERYONE!! I'm going tomorrow to finish up everything we absolutely NEED prior to the Baby arriving so we'll be all set.

Thursday is my next doc appointment, so we'll see if there is any progress there. At 37 weeks they consider the baby "full term" so it's great that we're at the point where the baby will be healthy if I were to go into labor early. Speaking of...Dave and I have yet to pack our bag. That was a "to do" item for this past weekend, but time just got away from us, so something I will do this week!!

Baby Room Progress

The room isn't complete yet, but thought I'd put some pics of the progress...we now have the bedding and mattress, so we put the bed together this weekend. We had hung the wall decorations last weekend. We picked up the rocking chair last weekend and Dave put that together (a gift from Dave's grandpa!!).

8 Month Appointment

Today I started my every week appointments at the doctor's. It's very exciting and a little scary all at the same time! I gained another 2 1/2 lbs. this time, bringing the total to 26. The doctor said the baby is definitely head down, which has been the case for the last few appointments, but the baby could still move. The doctor said the baby will probably stay head down from now on, because things are getting more cramped. I swear the way this child moves sometimes, there is no way Baby is that cramped...I think the baby will come out doing acrobatics sometimes!! The baby's heartbeat was 143 this time and it was funny because Baby had hiccups while they were measuring the heartbeat, so we could hear the noise through the heartbeat monitor. The doctor's estimate is that the baby is about 5 lbs. now and will probably be between 7-8 lbs at birth, so I can't complain about that. :-) And probably "TMI" (too much information) for some of you, but something I think is pretty cool is that I'm 1cm dilated. Obviously this doesn't mean that I'm close to having the baby or anything, but just exciting to know that things are progressing. 1cm down, 9 to go. If only the rest of the way was as non-painful..ha ha. Anyway, that's all the update for now. This weekend is of course the 36 week picture and plenty of pics from my shower this coming Sunday with friends and family!

Work Shower

Today my co-workers had a shower for me and I got lots of great things for the Baby! Dave now has his first item to put together, the Jumperoo...although the Baby probably won't even use this until early next year. But, this is the first of many things he'll put together for his child as a Dad!! I was quite self-conscious today being the center of attention, but luckily we had cake to feed everyone so I wasn't 100% of the focus the whole time. We're slowly coming together on all these items we need as parents. Now it's time to start putting the room together so it's in workable order as soon as the little one arrives. Up until now, I've put everything in the Baby's room to store there, but now it's time to get everything organized.

34 Weeks

Here we are, at another 2 week update! I had my doctor's appointment this past Tuesday and nothing new to tell. I have one more 2-week appointment before I start going every week!!! Dave and I are definitely getting excited that we will be parents soon..we just go into the Baby's room and look around sometimes and realize there will be a little one in there before we know it. Dave is growing increasingly watchful over me. Whenever I walk or drive anywhere, I am reminded that I need to "pick up my feet when I walk" or to "drive safely". And, I'm only allowed to go on walks where there are houses in our subdivision so "no one takes me". I look at this as his form of nesting. :-)

This weekend was one of the busier ones for us. We had a wedding on Saturday evening for one of Dave's co-workers. It was a Greek wedding, which was interesting.

Sunday, we went to my Grandma's 80th bday celebration in Wisconsin. It's amazing how large my family is and I love when we can all get together! My grandma has 7 children, 19 grandchildren and we have her 7th great-grandchild on the way! Makes for a HUGE family reunion when everyone is there with significant others etc.! Here are pics of me with my mom and grandma and my grandma with all my girl cousins.

"Mini" Shower Pic

A picture from my shower last weekend with friends.. my next shower will be Aug 28th at work!

32 Weeks

My oh my, I honestly can't believe I have only 8 more weeks to go! But, here I am...at 32 weeks. Dave insisted we take the picture somewhere new, as the front door background is just 'boring'. So, what better place to take the picture than in front of the Baby's crib.

This weekend was great for us! I had brunch with some high school girlfriends and they surprised me with a mini shower. So, we got our first wave of tiny Baby items. Honestly the thing I couldn't stop smiling about was the size of the newborn diapers! I of course took a picture of all the little items they got me and have posted below.

On another note, Dave is quite eager to make sure we're prepared for the Baby. He keeps reminding me that we need to pack our bag and all sorts of other things. He makes me laugh sometimes....but he is right, we do need to start preparing. What better weekend to designate to some final baby preparations than "Labor Day" weekend. That's our plan for now, to ensure we have most of the preparations completed by then. Back to the baby names, we have taken at least 5-7 names off the boy list and a few from the girls - so we're working our way down.

2 month countdown...

Today was the start of my 2 week appointments vs. only once a month. Not much new to report. I gained 3 1/2 lbs. in the last 3 weeks, so a total of 23 1/2 to date! The nurse was able to find Baby's heartbeat as soon as she put the little machine to my belly and it was 150bpm this time. We talked about pediatricians, so now Dave and I have a bit of "homework" to do to pick which doctor we want to see our baby when we're at the hospital. I printed out all the bios for the doctors that are at the location closest to our house and there are 6 to choose from, so I think we're good to go. It's funny because my friends at work talk about how I'm all organized with printing out my lists of things for the baby and doctor options etc. but yet I didn't find out the sex of the baby to be the "most organized" that I possibly could be. I laugh too because it's a good point. I just think this is the last big surprise we have and when we call everyone to give them the news, there will be that much more anticipation for us to tell you what we actually had!

On another note, a friend gave us a baby name book to use and I'm not sure if it's helping or hindering...so far we've made it through all the boy names and we have 21 options! Now, I know the baby needs a first and middle name, but 21 names is definitely excessive. We haven't started even going through the girl names and we already have 10-12 names! I told Dave we need to narrow the list down to at least 5 of each sex and if we still can't decide, we'll bring the list to the hospital....Baby can always be "Baby Hickman" for the first few hours of life. One thing I can count on Dave for is if the name has anything to do with a car part manufacturer, he tends to like it....he cracks me up!! I think we'll definitely be able to narrow the field down in the next 2 months though.

That's it for now...this weekend is the 32 week picture time and in another 2 weeks I'll maybe have some new doctor update.

30 Weeks

Time for another picture of my expanding belly! We've officially hit the 30 week mark, so that leaves roughly 10 more, depending on when the active little one inside me decides to greet the BIG world!

This weekend Dave and I visited with my Mom and family - I got a picture with my brother Adam once more, as this is the last time I'll see him before he heads off to his second year at college in a few weeks!! After that, we went to a friend's bbq. While we were out visiting and hanging with friends, Sasha stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Hickman....soon it won't just be Sasha going to the Grandparents, hopefully she doesn't mind sharing the attention with Baby! :-)

Beautiful Quilt!

Dave's Aunt Peggy made Baby a beautiful quilt and sent it this week! I can't believe how perfect the quilt matches the theme of the turtle bedding we picked out! The colors are beautiful and bright and I just know that Baby will LOVE to play on the quilt!! I took a picture of it hanging on the crib for everyone to see..

Batavia Fest

Last weekend Dave and I celebrated a friend's birthday with a cookout at her house and then we went to the Batavia Fest to hear a band. We didn't stay out too late, but did enjoy the time with friends and to get out. Here's a few pics from that night.

Canoeing down the Fox

Who says a woman that's 29 weeks pregnant can't go canoeing for 5 hours down a river? That's exactly what Dave and I did today with a group of friends. Luckily, most of the trip was spent letting the river take us with the current, but at one point, everyone decided it would be fun to race down the river...actually, I think the boys decided that they wanted to see who could win this made up race (after having a few brews). The girls decided next time we should all canoe together and then let the boys canoe so they could play their games. Overall it was a pretty nice day for a canoe ride down the river, not too hot. Although I think most of us were ready for the trip to end, as sitting in a canoe definitely is butt-numbing after a while! I'm quite sure that next year Baby could be put in the baby seat and join us...although we should probably wait a few years before we attempt canoeing with Baby.

Here are photos of everyone. Note that Dave was pretty insistent that I wear my life jacket the whole time, until it just got too hot for me. At that point, we had all the men promise to jump in to save me if I happened to fall in during the trip. I must tell you too that I think most of the trip was in water that was no more than 3 feet high...but Dave wanted to ensure that Baby and I would be safe - what a good husband and future daddy!

6 Month Appt.

So, I just got back from the doctor's office and all good news again. Everything checked out okay on my latest bloodwork, so I'm not anemic and didn't get gestational diabetes. Two weeks ago I had to go drink a sugary fruit juice thing and sit there for an hour and then they drew my blood to check these things. If I would've gotten gestational diabetes, I'd have to go to a 3 hour long test where they take my blood every hour...yuck! Also, I made up for my "oops month" this time, I only gained 1 lb. I asked the doctor if I should be concerned and she said that everything looks fine. I know Dave is worried that I'm being too active with walking every night, but seems like things are okay. That makes a total of 20 lbs. so far!! The nurse measured my belly and got a measurement of 2 cm too short at first, which concerned me. Then, she tried again and got 29, so right on target! The baby's heartbeat was 157bpm, Baby was being a squirmer again and moving around, that cracks me up!!

I go to the doctor again in 3 weeks and then I start my visits every 2 weeks and then down to every week for the last month. I can't believe we're really only about 2 1/2 months out!! That's all for now!

28 Weeks

Hiking

I went hiking at Starved Rock with my family today and gave Dave some quality time with his Camaro. It was actually a pretty nice day, not too hot and there was a nice breeze when we were walking around on the trails. We actually got to see a deer really close to where we were walking on our way back to the car....it seemed to hear us, but kept eating and checking on us, to make sure we weren't getting too close!

Here are some pictures...(no, I'm not that much taller than my Dad, it was the area I was standing on, which made me look taller). :-)

How do we look?

The last weekend in June Dave and I had to head up to Wisconsin for my cousin's graduation party and on the way we stopped at one of my High School friend's house to visit and see her daughter. Her daughter is 10 months old and is so cute! Of course, we took a few pictures together and I think Dave and I look pretty good with a kid! Before we know it, it will be out little one we're holding in between us!!

New Camaro Gas Tank

I've decided that since this blog is "The Hickman Blog" I probably shouldn't monopolize the stories about what is going on in just my life. So, a dedication to my wonderful husband...a story about his "baby" (for now)...the Camaro. Dave worked diligently last weekend to get his countertops and cabinets up in the garage so he could finally do some work on his car and I must say that the garage definitely is a man's dream...if you like to work on cars. As you can tell by the picture, he also managed to fit his old stereo system for some jammin' background noise. How perfect when he put the cabinets up and the stereo was a second thought to him and it managed to fit perfectly in between!!

Last night he spent the night changing out his gas tank. I decided to take a picture, because it captures all the work he did last weekend and it proves that he was working on his Camaro finally! I think Baby and I will now have to fight for quality time with Dave from the neighbors. At least 2 neighbors stopped by to chat and watch Dave work on the car (and compliment the garage floor). Oh well, it's great that we have friendly neighbors here.

26 Weeks

Baby's Room Started

We started the Baby's room this weekend and I was so excited!! Dave painted on Saturday and he offered to put together the crib tonight! What a great Daddy he'll be, I'm so lucky to have a great guy. Here is the crib all put together and we decorated with the few turtle things we have so far. We still have to go pick up the other two pieces of the furniture set this week and then the room will be complete for a while.

The "Oops" Month

So, according to the nurse today, the "oops month" is a common expression for women in their pregnancy and although I'll take her word for it, it doesn't make me feel any better! Yes, I am talking about that scary topic of 'weigh-in' at each appointment that I so fear! Does anyone remember on a previous blog when I mentioned that I'm supposed to gain an average of 1 lb/week?? Let's just say that I gave double the effort this past month! Yes, that's right, I've gained 8 lbs. in the last 4 weeks. Now, everyone keeps telling me that I'm "all baby" so let's hope this doesn't correlate to our child coming out weighing in at say 10lbs. or something!! Kind of funny that as soon as we got back from the appointment tonight, Dave went to the gym and I went for a half-hour walk!! I had been doing so well with 2 walks a night; one with Sasha and one with just me or with Dave. I guess I need to get my schedule back and get to work! So, there's the most shocking news I had all day!! On to the other items of interest from the appointment, the baby was so active today while I was at work and this continued at the appointment. The nurse had to try 3 different times to keep a steady heartbeat because the baby kept moving around so she couldn't hold a steady count! In the end, it was 156, so definitely on the higher side compared to past appointments! When the doctor came in, he asked if Dave had been able to feel the baby and he told him that he's been able to feel for about a month now and the doctor was impressed and said we have a "strong" kid....definitely strong like daddy, maybe we ARE having a boy! I also got my belly measured again and it's right on where it should be, so that's another good sign.

Not much else to tell, I have another blood test to take in a week or so to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes and to check a few other things. Other than that, it's an appointment in another 4 weeks and then after that, I'll start going every 2 weeks.

Started to Register!

Last night I went to Babies R Us with a friend and started to register. Oh my, what an overwhelming task!! Between the number of different types of bottles and the variety of strollers, swings and portable cribs, I was exhausted after the 2 hours and decided I'd come back a second day to do more. Let me tell you, after going to register, I did see how knowing the sex of the baby might be helpful, as there is only so much yellow and green I can handle...I was amazed at the complexity of even picking out a bib for the baby not knowing the sex, but I found a few cute neutral ones to add to the list. I think I did pretty good at getting most of the basics covered, but I definitely need to go back one more time. At least I've gotten this task started and I think I'll take Dave along with me next time for support. I also got to look at our furniture when I went in yesterday and we hope to pick it up this week (they make you look at the furniture after it comes in to make sure there are no defects, which is nice). The only piece Dave has to put together is the crib, because the two dresser pieces are already together. We finally picked a paint color for the bedroom also, it's a very light green, called Celery Spice or something like that. So, we'll do that Friday evening!! Ugh, do I really have to wait 3 1/2 more months for our baby to get here!!

24 Weeks - Pre Father's Day

Baby Update at 24 Weeks:

Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week. Since she's almost a foot long, that makes for a pretty lean figure, but her body's filling out proportionally. Your baby's brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds may be working now. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily. Your baby can hear more now, and you may even notice her startle at loud, sudden noises. But she's probably getting used to the regular noises she hears around the house, such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner.

Dave and I had a great Father's Day Weekend. We celebrated with the Hickman side on Friday evening with dinner and ice cream...mmmm! Saturday was a busy day, as we had our annual Hickman Party with about 40 people that showed up. Quite the party animal I was, being able to stay up until 1a.m. (after getting up at 6am that morning to start making food). Sunday, we had a nice breakfast with my Dad and hung out for a few hours. Of course Dave was wished a Happy Father's Day also!!

Good news, I believe we'll be painting the Baby's room this next weekend, since our furniture got in already! So much for waiting 1-2 weeks, it only took 3 business days! We still haven't picked up the furniture, but hopefully we'll get it in the next week! My next doctor's appointment is Thursday, so we'll see how that goes!

Baby Accessories

Kind of silly I know, but I took pictures of all the little things we've gotten for the Baby so far, because I think this stuff is so cute!! Yesterday, I was excited to come home to the Wall hanging set and little pillows that match the bedding we registered for. I decided to go ahead and order this stuff through JCPenney because I thought it was adorable! I also purchased a picture frame last week from Kohl's that is ready and waiting for a picture of the little one. And, last but DEFINITELY not least, we were given the gift of a baby book to track all the information for Baby Hickman from birth through high school from my friend Rachel. Like a diligent mom-to-be, I've already started to keep track of the family tree information (although I'll definitely need help from the grandparents-to-be) and tracking all the information about my appointments etc.

Baby Room Decisions

This past week Dave and I finally decided on a theme for Baby's room, it's going to be Turtles! We found the cutest little bedding at Babies R Us!! We also went and ordered the furniture last Thursday night and we only have to wait 1-2 weeks for it to come in. So, hopefully sometime this month we can get the room painted and then start getting the room all set up. I'm wanting to do something creative with the painting with the turtle theme, but we'll have to see what we can come up with. I believe next week I'm going with a friend to register for the rest of the stuff at Babies R Us; I figure bringing a Mom with kids will be helpful to tell me what I do and don't need to have.

This past weekend was again an eventful one. Saturday Dave and his friend started the electrical work in the garage and then we went to dinner with a group of friend's to celebrate a birthday! Sunday we spent all day in Joliet at the Top Fuel drag races. I think that our baby will sleep through anything, because I didn't really have much movement until the very end, which I was a bit worried about. Every time a car went down the track, I put both arms around my tummy like I was hugging myself to hopefully provide more of a sound barrier.

22 Weeks

Another two weeks has passed by, so I figured some are anxious to see another picture. Don't mind my casual outfit and hair...it's a weekend! Not much new to report, still feeling GREAT! We still have another 2 1/2 weeks before our next appointment, so just a waiting game on that. The baby has been moving a lot more this past week and I even think Baby had hiccups a couple days ago. I felt a constant movement every few seconds, which is I guess what it feels like.

This weekend Dave finished the Camaro stall with the epoxy flooring, so luckily that's over. I believe next weekend will finally be dedicated to shopping for Baby's bedroom furniture! Yipee!! Dave and I went on a dinner date on Saturday, which was nice. We went to Key Wester and had a great meal. We were going to try for a movie as well, but we didn't want to sit through the 3 hour long Pirates of the Caribbean movie starting at 8:30 (although, not sure I could've stayed awake that long either).

Dave's Garage

Dave worked diligently this weekend on putting down the epoxy covering on the 2/3 of the garage. He did the 2-door section for now and he'll do the Camaro stall next weekend probably. It's a three-step process with different drying times, so he started on Friday and finished yesterday, but now we have to wait a couple days before we can move stuff on the floor or pull the cars in. It does look really nice when it's all finished! Now Dave just needs to set up the garage and he can be a true 'home mechanic' to all our cars! I do have to say that he was pretty anal about the whole process...I was laughing at him because he even took the little color chips out to measure so each part of the garage would have the same amount of chips! (see below picture for proof of his measuring) So, next time you come over, you definitely have to give him a hard time about whether the chips are evenly coated or not!

It's a.....

Just kiddin', we didn't find out! Although, I have to tell you that Dave changed the gameplan on me last minute, and really did want to find out what we were having. I think it's the whole fact that he really thought we were having a girl and then he had a dream we had a boy a couple of days ago. So, I think he's doubting his psychic powers. But, he respected my wishes not to find out and we went on with the appointment.

There were three key measurements they did on the baby. They measured the head, abdomen and femur bone. We watched the first two measurements, but we were told to look away when they did the femur bone measurement because the baby had spread open legs (as if to say "Mommy, Daddy, find out what I am"). We got to see the feet, arms, spinal cord, head, stomach and lots of movement. After they finish the ultrasound, they do calculations from the measurements to tell you when they think your due date is and they calculated out my exact due date, so that is PERFECT! Let's just hope Baby decides to come out on time!

Here are pics from the appointment. Daddy even asked for his own picture for work, so he got an extra copy for himself, how cute! The one on the left is the baby looking directly at you, you can see the face real well! The one on the right is a side profile and you can just barely make out little fingers on the top of the picture and we saw the little heart beating! There was another side-profile shot, but it's blurry, so I copied in the best ones!

5 Month Appointment

Just got home from my appointment and I think these days just put me in a good mood! I saw a new doctor this time, from now on I will see a new one each time so I can meet them all. The doctor was VERY nice! Everything checked out great he said, so I'm very happy about that. I gained 3 1/2 pounds in the past month, which is right on track. They started measuring my belly this time and the measurment should be the same as the number of weeks I am along and it was right at 20, so perfect! The baby's heartbeat was 146 this time, I guess they look for a range between 120 and 160, so we're right in the middle. That sound never does get old; it always brings a smile to my face!

Now it's the 24 hour wait for the ultrasound tomorrow afternoon! The technician will show us the baby and tell us the sex (if we want to know it....WHICH WE DON'T) but they don't really tell us much more than that. I guess they send the results to the doctor's office and then the doctor will call and give us all the details on whether things look okay and the measurments etc. Either way, I just think it's going to be amazing to see the little one squirming around inside. This past week the baby has really started to move a lot more!! I still look at the picture of our 8 week ultrasound on the fridge and see the little kidney bean and just know the changes that we'll see tomorrow will be amazing!!

Oh yes and something additional to share...my Dad's new name for me is "tubby" and Dave officially told me the other day that I'm going to be "huge" at the end. Ahh, the men in my life are so supportive! ha ha ha. No really, it's all in fun. I get a kick out of Dave because he really can't get over the "baby bump" I'm growing. I can roll with the punches now, but we'll see when I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant and someone wants to tell me how big I am...watch out for one hormonal woman!

20 weeks - halfway

Just a picture for now, more updates this week after my appointment and the ultrasound!