The Belly is Growing!

I suppose that I can no longer deny that I am showing. I have had 3 or 4 people, acquaintances at work, come up to me out of the blue and in one way or another ask if I am pregnant. It happened twice Friday. I have noticed my belly growing too. I think we must consider this a belly growth phase. I have mixed feelings about this- at least they don't think I have gained a bunch of weight but people are looking at my belly. I am almost 5 months, so I guess this is to be expected. But as a woman, it's not good if people stare at your belly. While I am sometimes unsure, Brian seems to like the growing belly. He is constantly petting it or looking at it.



Some of you may know that Xander, our pug and fur baby, had back surgery on Monday. undere is home now but very weak still and unable to walk on his own. According to the vet this is to be expected after surgery. I went home at lunch Friday to let him out. When I was home he stood up on his own- new for him. He is an independent little soul. He wants to get around on his own so badly. He can stand if you prop him up and position his feet. But he has no sense of how to put his feet down correctly- keeps standing on the tops. Once standing he also thinks that he can walk and unless you stop him will fall over. So he remains in puppy jail, aka his crate. He is supposed to have crate rest for 4 weeks. Poor puppy.
We are glad to have him home. I think that he is glad to be home too. We have to do puppy physical therapy with him 3 times a day and he seems to like it. He gets massaged and loved on- what's not to like. Though he does appear to get tired. It's probably because we make him stand on his own for about 10 minutes total. Walking him is also quite a sight. He has his harness on and a sling under his belly- made of ace bandage or towel. So when you walk him in one hand you have the leash and in the other you are holding up his back legs with the sling. It's alot of work. He wants to go fast- darting around the yard like he isn't hurt. I have some trouble keeping up with him or slowing him down but Brian is pretty good at it already.

Kelly's Visit

As many of you know, Kelly came to visit this week. We have had the pleasure of her company since Tuesday, but unfortunately I have to give her back today. We have had a lot of fun and gotten into a little trouble over the past few days.
We stopped at Ikea on the way back from the Charlotte airport and the trouble began. I know it's early but I bought a crib and changing table. I start fellowship in July and have Internal Medicine boards ($1300, all day test- yuck) in August so I won't have much time towards the end of my pregnancy to do this stuff. Plus I had a willing accomplice. :) So I bought small/simple furniture and Kelly and I assembled it.
Well the crib had these panels that seems to be asking for something more than the design that was already on them. So we found this very soft textured cream yellow fabric and upolstered them. I told you that we got into some trouble- but it turned out really well. The crib looks more expensive and matches the guest room really well. The fabric is almost the exact color of the wall above the chair-rail. We found the most adorable flower lights and installed them on the wall above the changing table. And we found these really cute storage boxes on sale 50% off at Michael's which are now on the bottom shelf of the changing table. It has been a lot of fun decorating and it's starting to look like a nursery. We still have some stuff to do but what a great start!
We did other useful stuff this week too. Kelly helped me clean out the closet in the guest room and get rid of the big wood box that was in there. We re-arranged the furniture to make everything fit and cleaned up as we went. All the while making sure to goof off a little and take frequent breaks. I am posting a few pictures of our handy work below.

Now for the fun stuff!

Time to come up with some baby names now that we know that she's a she and not a he (even though I knew all along). Let's hear everyone's ideas. I really like Cammy, Charlotte and Lily.

I was right!!

IT'S A GIRL! Just got home from the ultrasound. Got to see the spine and the heart and the brain! And it's a girl! I just knew it! I got so excited I was texting people during the ultrasound.. Here are some pictures :)

There she is from the side...

This is something, not really sure what it is but it shows us she's a she.

Here is her face from the bottom, you can see her lips and nose.

And here is this...

Baby is Stubborn

I had a tummy check this morning. That's what the OB calls these little 4 week check ups. They are easy and quick. Get weighed, pee in a cup and see the doctor for like 5 minutes. The doctor checks in with you and then uses the doppler to find baby's heartbeat. Well not today. Baby was not cooperating.
The doctor was trying to find the heartbeat and we were chatting. I was telling her that I am excited about the anatomy scan and finding out the sex next week. I referred to baby as she or her a couple times and the doctor said "it has to be a girl, she's stubborn." She could hear her move- sounds like a swoosh- but couldn't get a fix on the heartbeat. I laughed and told her that the baby was genetically 1/2 me and that her being stubborn is not surprising. Just to make sure everything was okay they brought in the ultrasound machine. Baby was fine and has a good/fast heartbeat. But all she would show us was her back. We got a great view of her spine but that was about it. I think the doctor was trying to sneak a peak at the sex but baby was not cooperating again. Funny little stubborn baby. :)
I also got the results of my integrated screening at my appointment. Everything was really good. We have very low risk of Down's syndrome and neural tube defects. On another happy note I have been feeling pretty good lately. My nausea is much better and my energy level is also picking up.
This past weekend Brian and I drove to Orlando for a wedding. Brian was in the wedding party for a high school friend. It was a fun but very busy weekend. It was in truth a little reality check for me. Apparently pregnant Sarah can not go go go like non-pregnant Sarah. And hitting the wall when pregnant feels pretty crappy. Thankfully a little extra sleep fixed it all and I am feeling well. I even got to feel baby move for the first time Sunday night. That was pretty cool. I only feel her when I lay quietly and feel for her. It feels like little flops in the pelvis. The movement is not very dramatic but it's kind of thrilling.