18 Weeks

How far along? 18 weeks 

Size and growth of Baby Hannah? She is 5.5 inches long and weighs about 7 ounces. She is roughly the size of a sweet potato. Her bones are starting to harden and she's busy flexing her arms and legs. Her ears are finally in the correct position and her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place.

Maternity Clothes? Yup! I got lots of new clothes (including some maternity jeans) for Christmas that are now in full rotation in my closet.

Weight Gain? Total of 8 pounds. Yikes...I have officially never weighed this much in my life (including my 'Freshman Fifteen' Years ;) All for a healthy baby though!

Stretch Marks? Not yet

Gender? Girl!

Movement? Sadly not yet. :(

Sleep? Not so great. I wake up several times a night needing to flip over to my other side and get more comfortable. This past week I have also woken up several times with sharp "ROLPS" (round ligament pains) that feel like I am actually snapping muscles in my abdomen. Not the most fun thing to wake up to. :/ 

Food Cravings/Aversions? Cinnamon applesauce! Specifically Tree Top Cinnamon Applesauce...for some reason it has to be that particular brand. I have been eating that stuff by the bowls! My only aversions are York peppermint patties, because they were the only things that comforted my nausea in my first trimester. I ate so many of them back then that I can't even look at one without getting slightly sick.

What I Miss? Still missing my sandwiches! I was craving one so bad today and technically I am allowed to eat lunch meat if I heat it up to steaming....which I tried. Unfortunately, microwaved lunch meat is about the least appetizing food and I was unable to go through with my sandwich making. Bummer. 

Symptoms? Still feeling my "ROLPS" and I've started having very itchy skin (side effect of stretching), but other than that, all is good! 

Best Moment of the Week? Opening presents for Hannah at Christmas and thinking about how much fun next Christmas will be with our 7 month old baby! 


Worst Moment of the Week? Hmmm...I can't really think of a worst moment...possibly it would be the microwaved lunch meat catastrophe.


Other Thoughts? I've been hitting up the message boards on BabyCenter and WebMD again; looking up every little symptom that I have. It's led to many sleepless nights worrying over every little thing and comparing myself to perfect strangers on the internet. I am officially banning myself from those sites!

Wedding Update

We have officially booked the venue!

Our wedding will be at The Harbor Club of Bellevue on October 20, 2012. Only 302 days until we get married! Yikes!

I had a very specific look in mind when we were venue shopping. I wanted a very classical and romantic feel, and I have always wanted a Fall wedding, so I knew I would be looking at indoor venues with lots of opportunity for twinkling lights and candles.

I looked at a few ballroom style rooms in various hotels in Seattle...I wasn't in love with a lot of them and I only found one out of the 8 we viewed that was a possibility. Unfortunately I found out that particular hotel was going through a major renovation in a week and would be completely re-done and decked out in modern style decor by the time of our wedding. We are talking green carpets, metal sculptures in the entryways and strange "emo" art on the walls. Not exactly the look I was envisioning on my romantic wedding day.

I was getting very discouraged and stopped getting excited about making venue appointments...until we looked at The Harbor Club of Seattle. I loved it! I was about to book it that second but decided to take a look at the Bellevue Club first...just to get a feel. I am so glad I did.

Noah's family was able to come down and tour the Bellevue Club with us and everyone loved it. It is exactly the look I am going for; dark woods, romantic city lights below and dramatic chandeliers everywhere.

Oh and did I mention it is on the 25th floor and has 360 degree views of Bellevue? :)

It's absolutely gorgeous and the best part is that I don't have to worry about too much ceremony and reception decor because the space is beautiful on its own! 

Booking the venue was definitely a load of stress off my back and I am so excited that we officially have a date now! 

Now comes the wedding dress shopping...this should be interesting since I am already looking like I swallowed a small pumpkin. ;) 

Week 17

How far along? 17 weeks

Size of Baby Hannah? She is about the size of an onion. 5.1 inches and 5.9 ounces!

Maternity Clothes? Oh yes...I can still wear my regular tops but my pants are out of the question. Even the Bella Band is about to retire...

Weight Gain? Total of 7 pounds

Stretch Marks? Not yet

Gender? Girl!

Movement? Nope, I keep waiting and I THINK I feel her and I hold my breath to see if I can feel it again but it's gone

Sleep? So-so...definitely no more sleeping on my stomach and I have to switch sides constantly throughout the night and usually wake up a few times with a sore back

Food Cravings? Not really...I haven't had any significant cravings so far...

What I Miss? Wearing regular jeans...So far I have not found ANY maternity jeans that I like. Every store carries the strangest style and sizes of jeans...No thanks, Old Navy and Motherhood Maternity, I do not want to wear your ripped in the knees and distressed/acid washed size 18 maternity jeans...get with the program people! Just because we are pregnant does not mean we want to wear jeans that were popular 10 years ago. Sheesh! I guess I am going to have to buckle down and shop online for my jeans.

Symptoms? Round ligament pains....these little guys are a BEE-OTCH. Round ligament pains (or "Rolps's" as they have become known to Noah and I) are basically just sharp pains that come from your uterus stretching and growing. My doctor warned me that they would feel like menstrual cramps. Totally something I can handle....nope. My doctor has clearly never been pregnant (side note...he is a man so he definitely has NOT been pregnant) because these pains do not feel like normal menstrual cramps. They strike out of nowhere and its the quickest sharpest pain...they are over pretty fast but they are so sharp that it takes my breath away and I go instantly pale and feel like I'm going to pass out.

Best Moment of the Week? 1) Christmas shopping with my mom and sister. We stopped by Babies R Us and picked up the little bebe some presents. Noah claims he has never heard of a baby receiving Christmas presents before they are even born...psh! My mom stopped and asked the parent of every baby we saw how old they baby was and then informed them that she is going to be a grandma. :) She's going to be the best grandma ever!
2) FINALLY finding some "Expectant Mother's" Parking. Seriously...my stretching uterus and tired legs appreciate a little respect in the parking department, especially during the busy shopping season!

Sweet Dreams

Noah often tells me that he is so excited for Hannah because he "thinks, no.....KNOWS, she will be the love of our lives." 

He has dreams about her all the time and might get a little teary-eyed when we talk about how much we are going to love her and how much joy she will bring our lives.

I am so lucky to have such a sweet, sensitive and handsome guy. :) 

16 Weeks

How far along? 16 weeks!

Size of Baby Hannah? She is 4.5 inches and 3.5 ounces...about the size of an avocado

Maternity Clothes? I can still fit in all my pre-preggo shirts...I can barely fit into my pants...the Bella Band works wonders though so I haven't had to go out and buy maternity jeans yet.

Weight Gain? About 5 pounds...I feel like I weigh more though...

Stretch Marks? Not yet...but I am just waiting for the day. I hear they are genetic and there isn't anything you can do to prevent them...of COURSE my mom had them so I am just a-waitin.

Gender? Girly girl!

Movement? Not yet. She was kicking a lot at our last appointment though. The doctor said she is definitely a feisty one and that I should be able to start feeling her anytime between now and my 20th week!

Sleep? Pretty good this week! Kelly got me a Boppy Pillow for my birthday and it has been wonderful for napping!

Food Cravings? No huge cravings yet...although I could really go for some celery with peanut butter right now!

What I Miss? Sandwiches! I LOVE them and I hate that I can't eat lunch meat. All for a healthy baby though!

Symptoms? Heartburn and backaches 

Best Moment of the Week? Putting the deposit down for a venue and having an official date for our wedding! It's a load of stress off my shoulders and I am happy I don't have to walk around another site and listen to the whole schpeal again! 

Welcome to 'Life According to Us'!

Hi everyone!

I am new to blogging, so bear with me as I get a feel for the blogging world. :)

We have so many new things going on in our life right now so I thought this would be a perfect way to keep everyone in the loop on all the new happenings and plannings.

Many of you already know what's going on but let's recap, just for fun. ;)

On October 12th we found out that we were expecting a baby! I had been sick for a couple weeks with really strange symptoms (little did I know those "symptoms" were signs of pregnancy) but being pregnant was the last thing on my mind. I tend to self-diagnose myself through webmd, which my doctor has since FORBIDDEN me to do (I think he started getting annoyed with the panicked calls over every strange feeling). Naturally I had self-diagnosed myself with everything from the flu, to lactose-intolerance, to acid-re-flux.  When reading up on my new diagnosis of acid re-flux, the word "pregnant" popped up...and of course after reading that, I couldn't get it out of my head. We took a test and confirmed our latest suspicion.

We had every range of emotion at first, but in the end we couldn't be more excited about our little gummy bear.

10 weeks old

In other news, we are newly engaged! Noah proposed while we were on vacation in Hawaii. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter or more "us" proposal. It was perfect. 

Noah took my family on a day long hike (I had to stay behind due to my tired pregnant legs), but when he got back he told me that he had to show me something cool that he found around the resort. I hadn't seen him all day so I took this opportunity to show him all the cool spots that I found around the resort too, along with a few bathroom breaks...poor guy. Apparently he was super nervous and I'm sure my excessive chatter and several stops to show him animals I found in the rocks were anything but wanted. 

But we made it down to the beach just in time for sunset and he popped the question. It was beautiful...and I love my ring. :)

Excuse my dinosaur wrinkle hands...apparently someone forgot to put on lotion that day. ;)

So that's about it! Our lives are about to be engulfed in weddings and babies...on top of that, I still need to graduate from Grad School in June! Yikes! 

Thanks for reading everyone!