Time is flying and crawling at the same time: how bizarre. I'm about to enter my 23rd week and it's so exciting to be nearing the end of the second trimester. The neat thing is that I'm feeling pretty great. While FM still rears it's painful head now and then, I'm feeling more fit and healthy then I have in a long time. i'm exercising regulary, eating well, and actually pretty pleased with my smooth and round tummy :)

Baby Boy has become SO active and I really love it. Feeling and watching him kick and roll in there is the best part of pregnancy so far, and I often just sit and alternate between watching him and feeling him; it's really quite amazing. (oops, big kick just now as I write!). Jeremy finally got to feel some motion which made me really happy. I think he's going to be a pretty big boy! Sometimes his kicks cover my whole belly within seconds of each other. I'm guessing he's going to be pretty long :)

I think I'm feeling the Braxton Hicks, or some kind of painful/crampy/contractiony thing now and then. I don't think I'm a fan....

Today I purchased crib bedding!!! Wow hey? I have spent WAY too many hours browsing for the 'ultimate' set. Ideally I would have found something in earth tones with branches or leaves or something, but decided to go for a really nice set of sage green, chocolate brown, tan, and white. It has stripes and spots and solids, with some cozy velour and zipy-off covers on the bumpers (which was the final selling feature for me!). It's supposed to be really plush and cozy. We're going to accent with some kind of tree mural or something (thing 'white tree of Gondor' type silouette). I'm also finding some amazing wall decals online which might be fun to work with. Actually, I think I want to start using designer wall decals throughout the house for decoraing; there are some really amazing designs out there!

So, questions of the week...
- Is the whole "don't sleep on your back" as serious as it sounds? I'm trying, but I keep waking up on my back and it feels so nice.... I don't want  to hurt Baby, but I'm not sure just what to do.
- Baby seats, what's best? Swings, bounch chairs, others? There seems to be just so much out there but who knows what's best to buy?

Well, until next week... :)

Hm, pregnancy, what’s new?
I haven’t written on here for forever as I’ve been cutting back on my internet use—it can become quite the time eater! But for now, here’s my update, seeing that I missed last weekend.

-         I’ve passed the half-way mark!!! This is pretty huge to us and something we were really looking forward to. Yay!

-         I’m getting really big and it’s weird. It’s funny, every random person I meet exclaims as to how tiny my belly is, but I honestly didn’t think it would be this huge until the end of my 6^th month. I know I’m not huge compared to some, but the thought of doubling where I’m at…yikes! Thankfully, no stretch marks yet but the really big stuff is yet to come.

-         Baby Boy is moving SO much: I love it! Jer hasn’t still really caught him in action, but just a few minutes ago he was making my whole belly dance. He’s at the bottom, the top, everywhere! I’m predicting one big boy ;)

-         I’ve been feeling really great the past few weeks, though today must’ve been a growth spurt for Baby or something as I was entirely bagged out! I found an empty office and fell asleep part way through the day, then crashed again when I came home. Bizarre.

-         Staying active, exercising regularly, eating well, gaining weight. Frankly, despite it’s soon to be ridiculous size, I think my body looks fantastic right now ;)

-         There are some adorable mat’ clothes out there. I really need to get some of them!

Questions/Thoughts of the day:

-         I was planning on a green and brown nursery with a kinda celtic look and ‘Lord is my shepherd’ theme. However, I cannot find the bedding I want anywhere in our price range! I have seriously looked for WAY too many hours, I’m even dreaming of it. So, I might shift back to brown and blue…. What do you think? Chocolate brown and baby blue? It’s tougher than you think! Alson, I don’t want to go all cheesy cartoony; we really like the classic look. I was loving some of the toile out there, but again, either too girly, wrong color, or too pricey. Hmm.

-         Current options: All mint green ‘minky dot chenille’ OR taupe and cream with dragon flies OR brown and blue (selection of stripes or shapes, etc) OR mint/sage beautiful set with dragon flies (just not sure about ‘wash and wear’).

- Other questions: looking for more credible info' on vaccines and plastic bottles.

What else…?

Hung out with one of my prego sisters last weekend, which was utterly fantastic. We emptied Edmonton of all its baby wares and   brought home sweet loot. We also ate way too many treats ;)

Nephew #2 of the year is due to arrive in the next few weeks out on the East Coast, good times. And friend baby #? Should have arrived last week (anyone have word on Brittany ? I’m dying here without my Xanga connection!)

Well, there’s my big update. Getting big, planning nursery, reading too much prego’ stuff online, feeling Baby daily, and eager for spring.

Things are going well and Baby Boy is growing more each day. My belly is getting nice and round and is really quite nice. Baby is moving so much and I can now see and feel him from the outside, though Jer' has yet to catch him in action (hopefully soon!). Now that we know the gender we're getting back into name reflections. I'm still so torn...! There are many good names out there, though we really desire a strong meaning and hopefully some connection to faith and/or family. A name is forever- yikes!

According to my last prenatal I've gained 7 pounds this pregnancy, though my scale says 10: who knows? I feel like I'm doing well though I also am beginning to think this is going to be a big boy. He's already showing long limbs and is a few ounces ahead. I sure can't wait to meet this little man; I just know he is going to be utterly fantastic.

Prego Pool

"It's a boy!" "No a girl!" "You'll definitly be late...or early..." "Big baby, tiny baby..." On and on and on, we've all got our hopes and predictions....

An idea that came up lately through our pregnancy blog (and some xangas as few years back) is hosting a 'pregnancy pool'. It's a fun, simple, and silly way to share your incredible insight and predictions with our pregnancy, and to make a few bucks along the way. No pressure, just fun; a pool that's open to friends, family, coworkers, etc., as we continue to dream about our baby and all that this arrival will bring. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.pregpool.com/online/deepregpool/

Should be fun :)

Anyways....

BOY!!!
We're having a baby boy! We have a son! :)
We're incredibly excited and very pleased to know a little bit more about who's growing in my belly.

Today was amazing and intense and exhausting.
We started off with -43 degrees and a frozen car. After our friend helped us get the car going we took the trek into Calgary. On the way, we were notified that one of my expectant sis-in-laws had gone into labour! 12 hours later she's about to have a c-section and we're waiting by the phone. AND, my other sis-in-law found out that they're having a girl! A full day for babies in our family.

Made it to Calgary and had a fantastic experience with the ultrasound. They spent more than an hour with us and we're so informative and awesome. From what they can see, our boy has an excellent heart, a beautiful spine, looong arms and legs, my nose, great movement, gorgeous cheekbones, and functioning organs. He was moving all over the place, it was great. He's 10oz, not sure how long. They said he looks beautiful and healthy and that he was very cooperative (he gave us a great open legged shot to confirm his, uh, presence.) We bought the video and will post pictures by the weekend.

Right now we're cold and exhausted. We followed up the appointment with a celebratory meal and a load of errands. We all have a full day of work tomorrow, along with company in the evening. It's super late now, so we'll call family and such in the morning.

Yay baby boy!!!