18 Weeks

How Far Along? 18 weeks

Total Weight Gained/Loss? 6 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Just bought some & can't wait to wear them!! :-)

Sleep: Not as good as I used to but not bad yet either

Best Moment of the Week: Turkey day and having a four day weekend!!!

Movement: I've been feeling something weird lately, just not yet sure if it's really her.

Food Craving: Well not really a food craving but this girl LOVES some chocolate milk!!

Food aversions: still a quite a few

Gender: It's a GIRL!!!

Labor Signs: Hopefully no time soon!

Belly Button: Still in and hoping it stays that way. I do need to get a preggo belly ring soon to replace mine.

What I miss: Not having indigestion after everything I eat!

What I'm looking forward to: 20 week scan in less than 2 weeks!

Weekly Wisdom: The belly really does pop over night and everyone carries differently so don't listen to everything people try and tell you.

Milestones: Finding out the sex & finally being able to buy her a thing or two (or three! ;-))

Here is a picture of me and my SIL. We finally remembered to take a belly shot before my nephews arrival very soon! She is 38 weeks & me 18 weeks. 20 weeks apart.

Busy weekend!

What a busy few day's it has been. Friday I had the day off. We had a wedding to go to @ 6pm so I just decided to use one of my vacation days. Chris and I decided to look and see if they still had our bedroom set @ City Furniture. I got it about 4-5 years ago but was hoping they still had it because we have been thinking about upgrading to a king size bed. Our Queen bed has not been working out so great lately. I am just all over the place since I have been PG!! And I'm not even big yet! So we went and unfortunately they are getting ready to discontinue my set and have no kings left at all!! So now we are not sure what to do because the dresser is still in great shape and we really don't have the money to buy a whole new set and mattress with baby on the way. So I think we are just gonna deal with our Queen bed for now.

The wedding that night was for our friends Andrea and Matt. Congrats guys and best wishes!! Everything looked beautiful, including you both!!

Saturday I went to the movies with my friends Olivia & Kelly to see New Moon. We weren't too impressed. It wasn't horrible, just didn't live up to what we thought it should. We have all read the books also.

Saturday night I got a text from my BF Dana that her water broke!! She wasn't due for 2 more weeks. Well she didn't finally go the hospital until Sunday morning because her contractions weren't regular. When she got there she was still only 2 1/2 centimeters dilated. Finally around 11:30am they started her on Pitocin as she wasn't progressing and her water broke @ 11:30pm Saturday night. The pitocin got things moving along and @ 3:10pm she delivered a beautiful baby girl!!! With no drugs for the 2nd time delivering!!! She is such a champ and I hope I can do the same come delivery time.

Alyssa Marie Williams
Born 11/22/09 @ 3:10pm

5lbs 60z. 18 1/2 inches

Sunday was also a busy day for us. Chris and I went furniture shopping for baby girl. Our Mom's came along also. We weren't planning on purchasing anything yet, just wanted to see if we found anything we liked. We found three different sets by Pali furniture.

Trieste / Salerno / Carrigan

With each we will only be purchasing the crib, dresser and maybe the nightstand. All of these cribs are also convertible. Meaning they convert into a toddler size bed and then a full size bed. So this furniture will stay with her for many years.

Here is an example the Carrigan crib converted into a full size bed.

So now we just need to decide which we like best. Opinions?? Also I am debating on the white wood or the cherry wood. They all come in both. I'm very conflicted because the theme of her room would go better with white but I hate to buy expensive furniture for that reason alone. I do think they both look nice, though. Just trying to think of down the road. So what do you all think??

I also think we might go with the Peg Perego stroller. The Pliko Switch. Here is a video if you would like to check it out. http://main.pegperegousa.com/switch-video

A bit more money then we were planning on spending but we have heard many good things about this stroller. And either way a stroller is a couple hundred so we figure might as well spend a little more for something we will love and will last. And if we don't have any more children we can pass it on to one lucky friend.

So after furniture shopping we went to The Olive Garden for some soup, salad & breadsticks. Hmmm....love it!! Then my mom and I went to shop for my first Maternity clothes!! Yayyy!!! 17 weeks and my regular jeans are just so not comfortable anymore!! A few friends had told me about Motherhood Maternity and Target. So we went to Motherhood maternity and my Mom treated me to a few new VERY comfortable outfits!! I got two pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts and a few cute tops. Gosh I didn't realize how uncomfortable I really was until I tried this stuff on!! lol Next I will check out Target this weekend. I can always go on my lunch break as I have heard sometimes they have stuff and sometimes they don't. After our long day of shopping I plopped my ever growing butt on the couch. I had been up from 2am to 4am Saturday night from horrible stomach pains. That will teach me to eat Papa Johns EVER again while preggo!!

So that was our exciting weekend. Looking forward to Thanksgiving and eating (a little every hour for me) and seeing the family. Unfortunately Chris is on shift but my Mom already told him there will be plenty of leftovers for him.

So HAPPY THANKSGIVING a little early everyone!!

**Also put new belly pics @17 weeks in our album if you wanna check out the growing bump ;-)**

Results are back

I forgot to mention that last week I went to have my blood drawn again @ the Perinatal Office. Part two of the testing we had done @ 12 weeks. The nurse called today and our Baby Girl tested negative for

1. Down Syndrome
2. Neural Tube Defects
3. Trisomy 18

I wasn't too worried because we have no family history on either side for any of these. Also our 12 week scan looked good. But it was still nice to hear. Especially after still not knowing exactly why I had the 2 miscarriages before. And now I can't wait to see baby girl again at our 20 week scan!!! 3 more weeks! Ughh!! lol She is worth the wait. I just ♥ to look at her already....

Exciting news!!!!

We just got back from brunch with both our families so I wanted to post the video I made of our exciting announcement!! We wanted to wait until after we told our families today.
Click here http://picasaweb.google.com/nabramczyk210/MyVideos# to watch our announcement! (once you click the link it's the second video).
I will update with more info later!!! :-)))

******************UPDATE**********************
So let me update on the past week. First off the week started out kinda crappy. Chris was on shift last Sunday and ran a call on a 17 month old that was seizing. Turns out later that night the hospital called them and the child tested positive for H1N1!! So Monday I ended up staying @ my Mom's house just to be on the safe side. Tuesday after work I decided to stay @ home but we still slept in separate bedrooms. Wednesday Chris was on shift again and by Thursday he had no symptoms so that was a relief.
Friday I made the decision to get my H1N1 vaccine. It was available to immediate family members of the Firefighters. I had been struggling with this decision for weeks. I did A LOT of research, though. Checking up on trials done on pregnant women and also reading about many other women that have received the shot over the past few months. It is very new which is what mainly scared me. BUT it is very similar to the regular flu vaccine which has been given to pregnant women since the 1960's and has NEVER been proven to harm the unborn child. Also if you think about it the flu vaccine is new each year. As the flu changes slightly each year the vaccines are made up of the new strand of the virus each year.
Also working in the health care field I just couldn't take my chances. And having so many people I know have family or friends who have contracted the virus lately really scared me. My SIL's mom was in ICU for weeks. And another friend's 6 year old cousin was just put in ICU with it. No underlying conditions. And then if I did catch the virus I would have to be treated with Tamiflu which isn't an approved pregnancy drug! BUT because of everything we have been through putting anything in my body gives me doubt. I'm already anxious enough about our lil Pea. I mean I was even afraid to get my hair done and when I finally did (i waited until i was 12 weeks) my hair lady made sure everything was foiled and NOTHING touched my scalp!
Not to mention my first decision to decide what is best not only for me but for my growing child was a really hard choice. It's so different when you are more worried about someone else. But I decided this was the best decision to help keep us both healthy. And hopefully from what they are saying now our little girl will be protected after birth until she is old enough to get her own shots.
So......about our scan we just had to find out the sex. My next scan at the dr's isn't scheduled until next month when I will be 20 weeks. The anatomy scan. A few friends told me there are some place's that will tell you the sex of the baby once you are at least 15 weeks. Of course you have to pay. I called around and Ideal baby was $50 to find out the gender. And of course I would get to see our lil Pea again! So this was a total deal to me!! So on Monday I scheduled the appointment. This was around when I decided I would like to tell our families in person once we found out. So I called everyone and told them since Chris is working Thanksgiving I wanted to get everyone together for brunch. And it worked! Unfortunately my Dad could not come as he does not live here. Also Chris's Dad was out of town with his grandmother who recently had a heart attack so he was not able to make it. But the rest of the family would be there.
My Mom had said from the beginning that she wanted to go to the gender ultrasound with us but it ended up being the same day she had to pick my niece up from the sitter to watch her. So I asked my friend Olivia who had wanted to go to one of my ultrasounds while I was pregnant. She was definitely excited to be able to go to this one!!
So Friday after work we went to see our lil Pea and find out. A little girl or boy. Well lil Pea was NOT having it! lol She was crossing her legs at first. Then the cord was in the way. Finally the lady said we could come back another day. Then I told her about wanting to surprise our family Sunday. So then she gave me a soda, said to drink it and come back in 20-30 mins. So we did this and came back. The cord was still there but she was finally able to get a few good shots this time. She said she was 200% sure. Daddy your having a little GIRL!!
WOW!! A little girl. I think we were both in shock the rest of the night. At first all I could think of was all the scary things. Like talks of dating and birth control. Shaving her legs and mini skirts. But over the past few days I have been thinking about how I will be having a little girl. To braid her hair or ribbons and bows. Maybe she will want to dance like I did?! We are of course both still really excited! And now that the shock is wearing off we are getting eager to meet this beautiful little girl of ours.
Here is the video from today when we told the family. http://picasaweb.google.com/nabramczyk210/MyVideos#5404475132317182050 (you can also go to our album and then look under videos to see either video)
The onesies said Daddy's little Angel and the other said Mommy's Precious Girl.
After a long exciting day I am ready to lay down so thanks again to everyone and we are so happy to share our wonderful news about our soon to be BABY GIRL!!!
Let the shopping begin!! ;-)~

15 weeks

How Far Along? 15 weeks

Total Weight Gained/Loss? 4 pounds

Maternity Clothes: None yet but I have been using the belly bands

Sleep: I toss and turn a lot which I never used to do

Best Moment of the Week: my BF Dana came down to visit and we were able to take a belly pic together. This is her 2nd and last Pregnancy so I was happy to be able to share this moment with her. She is 35 weeks *pic below*

Movement: still too early but hopefully soon!!

Food Craving: still none. Nausea is going away a bit but the indigestion is bad

Food aversions: still quite a few

Gender: next scan is @ 20 weeks but might try to find out before then ;-)

Labor Signs: Nope & hopefully none for at least another 20 weeks

Belly Button: In and hoping it stays that way

What I miss: enjoying eating. lol

What I'm looking forward to: Finding out the sex soon!

Weekly Wisdom: gosh this really does go by fast!

Milestones: Making it to the 2nd trimester last week and can't wait for many more to come!!

Belated Halloween

Hope everyone had a happy & safe Halloween. Friday night we went to a party at our friend's house. You can check out some pics from the party here. For those of you that are True Blood fan's you will be able to appreciate my costume.
Saturday night for Halloween we decided to just hang out at the house and give out candy. We had the house decorated and get lot's of kids that trick or treat here. We had only lived in our house a few weeks last Halloween. We had just moved in.

No new pregnancy news. I did forget to mention about my dentist cleaning in my post last week. Let me start by saying I have never had a cavity. Well seems like lil Pea is taking my good teeth along with the lovely acne, nausea & horrible indigestion! lol I have my first ever cavity!!! Ahhhhh!!! My dentist said it is small, though, so they will fill it after I have the baby. But when I listened to lil Pea's heartbeat w/my Doppler tonight all of it is just so worth it to hear that fast beating!!!

I also wanted to attach a pic of me on Halloween wearing this cute top I ordered online. Hope everyone has a good week!