Haven't updated in awhile so I thought I would catch you up on what has been going on around here.   Things are definitely crazy as we try to get everything under control over here to prepare for Bryce's arrival! 

Bryce's Room:  We have started getting the room ready and the big overhaul should be done by the end of this week.  When mom and dad came to visit they helped us move out the old furniture from the 2nd guest room and move the furniture from the 1st guest room to the 2nd guest room.  The new guest room turned out really cozy and cute! 

The next step was for Brad and Hank to rip out the old carpet the 1st guest room turned Bryce's room.  This was done last Wednesday.  Next, Brad and I will be picking out the paint and purchasing it tonight so that Hank and Gayle can help us paint tomorrow night.  Last, we'll be getting the new carpet installed in the afternoon on Friday.  Whew!  What a busy week!  We are also getting a new closet system installed in our master bedroom closet so that we can become more organized and make room for the stuff that was in Bryce's closet (mainly dress clothes). 

We are so happy that our parents have been able to help us out!  I don't think Brad and I could have done all of this ourselves.

I hate picking out paint.  For some reason Brad and I aren't really good at this.  The first paint we picked for our house was for our downstairs and the blue turned out terrible.  Brad repainted last July with a more neutral and nice tan-ish color.  We then picked a paint color for the guest room which was supposed to be a light gray and turned out to have a nice tint of blue in it.  The comforter we picked for Bryce is a baseball themed comforter with navy blue, light blue, tan, and I think some maroon in it.  Mostly dark colors besides the light blue though.  I want to lighten up the room a bit so we'll be doing a light color on the walls but tan is boring so we'll be going with a light blue color....probably close to our guest room color even though it was supposed to be gray.  Sigh!

Registering:  I'm finally done registering!  Whew again!  I didn't think it would be so hard.  I first thought that I would register at Penny's and Babies R Us.  So a few weekends ago I went to the BRU on the West Side of Madison.  The store was within the Toys R Us and was so small and horrible.  Didn't have a selection to pick from at all.  So then I went to Penny's and it turns out they don't have anything baby related in the store at all.  So I tried Burlington but only came home with 10 items registered.  My friend Teri went with me the next day to the BRU on the East Side and it was MUCH better.  She was a big help and we got tons done.  Then Mom, Meg, and I went through it on the phone and online together so I could get their feedback.  They were so helpful!  With their feedback I went to the BRU in Milwaukee with Lindsey to finalize the registry.  Lindsey and I changed a few things and got some neat toys!  With everyone's help I am finally done and registered at both Babies R Us and JC Penny online (only bedding).  Even though I wanted Brad to help out in the first place I'm glad he didn't now.  He wouldn't have been able to help at all and it would have been more frustrating for the both of us!

Starting Classes:  We start our baby class today!  I'll keep you posted on this too!  It consists of 6 classes.  I believe 2 are birthing classes, 2 are newborn care classes, 1 is a hospital tour, and 1 is breastfeeding.  Brad is going to all classes with me but the last one.  He isn't too excited about them yet though.....

Doc Friday:  My next doc appointment is this Friday so I'll write again to let you know how that goes! 

Middle Name:  Brad and I cannot agree on a middle name to save our life so we are probably going to go with Thomas since that is his middle name.  Then they can both have the initials B.T.S.  Bryce Thomas sounds nice....although I'm still not over the fact that I really wanted Michael for the middle name!

Ta ta for now!

I had my latest monthly visit on Friday and most of the visit went well.  The heartbeat is great, my blood pressure is normal, my labs came back fine, my weight gain looks good, and my uterus is growing the right amount.  :)

 I kinda feel like I'm in confession when I go to the doc. I 'confessed' that I was in a bowling alley where there was some smoke b/c I felt so guilty about it.  (Last weekend we had a 29th birthday on Friday night so I went for 1 1/2 hours before the smoke got bad and then we had a 30th birthday on Saturday that was supposed to be non-smoking but it wasn't!)  I thought it would be easy not being around smoke but it is everywhere.  Luckily Madison is smoke free and a lot of the surrounding areas are going that way.  It will be so nice to be able to go out wihout worrying about smoke one day.  Clean air is a necessity, smoking is a habit!  Doc said to just avoid it as much as possible. 

I also think I have been eating too much tuna so I need to cut back.  So confusing since they want you to eat some but only a specific amount - 6 6oz servings / month of canned chunk light to be exact.  We talked about all my aches and pains (back, hips, knees) and I'm getting a body pillow soon and I may start using a heating pad at nigh. 

Most importantly we started talking about a birth plan.  First, Brad saw something on the news about delayed umbilical cord cutting.  Supposedly even waiting for a few minutes is very beneficial for the baby.  My doctor does practice delayed cord cutting except in situation where the baby needs attention right away.  Brad still isn't sure if he wants to cut it though! 

I asked about getting a walking epidural because I have been reading about them and have been nervous about getting a full epidural.  A walking epidural is basically 1/2 the amount where you can still feel your legs and the pushing but it numbs the contractions.  Unfortunately they don't practice this at any hospital in Madison.  :(  My only options for pain are a full epidural and IV pain medication. 

Last, I found out my doctor is on vacation during my expected due date!  :(  That made me very grumpy since I feel comfortable with her.  They have on call doctors but it would be terrible to have some random person (or dude) deliver my baby.  If the baby goes a week early or 4 days late we'll be ok though.  I guess the % of women who actually deliver on their due date is very low.  Blah.

To Do for Me:  Check into my insurance to see how they handle travelling and pregnancy!

BOY!!!!!  :) :) :) :)

We just had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and it was SOOOOOO amazing!  You can see so much at this one.  (I'll post the pictures hopefully this week!)  At first the baby had his spine towards my belly but the lady was able to get him to flip over by putting me on my side and pushing on the belly.  We were able to see the organs, the spine, the brain, arms, legs, etc.  Wow!  He is 1 lb 1oz right now (apprently the size of a large banana according to my latest whattoexpect.com email) and everything looks good!  She said he is already cute!  lol 

I found that I cannot read ultrasounds for the life of me.  I kept waiting for her to say here is the 'boy part' but instead she kept pointing to the arm, leg, etc.  Finally she goes 'And we know what this is!' but I didn't want to make a wrong assumption so I said no, just tell me!  Brad was smiling though so obviously he knew what it was on the screen!  She said she thought she saw it right away but didn't want to say anything until she was sure.  Brad asked if she was sure and she said if it wasn't a boy she shouldn't be doing her job!

It was so exciting and we were both amazed.  Brad is VERY excited.  Bryce has become very active in the womb the past few days.  I felt him before but the past few days I have been feeling him a lot more.  I even felt a few actual kicks the other day!  It is so weird but cool!

I'm now working on picking the bedding!  We'll be going with a baseball/sports theme of course.  I couldn't say no....but there goes my baby animals theme! 

I have a doctors appointment in two weeks again so more later!