Maternity pictures - Finally

I finally have some of my maternity pictures back and now that they are ordered. I'm pushing it to get one of them back before my shower but I'm sure my friend Steph will come through for me. These were taken at 33 weeks!

Here are a few of my faves, well these are the ones I ordered. The first 3 are my favorite and they'll be in black and white and I hope to do a picture frame to hold all 3 and put it in our room. The 3rd one is my favorite!

 

These two with the green background are not edited yet, hopefully they'll turn out.

She will be covering up the "C" on my bra - LOL

 

 

We had lots of fun taking them and I'm so happy that I did it, I'm sure once he's here I'll be more thankful knowing he's really in the pictures as well. I bet he's smiling! LOL

35 Weeks!

Today I am 35 weeks pregnant - 5 weeks to go!

Pregnancy highlights:

Size of Baby:  He is now over 18 inches long and tips the scale at 5 1/4 pounds about the size of a honeydew melon. And boy could I feel him today!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I think I stayed the same the last 3 weeks. 

Baby's heartbeat at last visit: At my NST yesterday everything looked great. His heartbeat gets as high at 160 then drops and goes back up, just like he's exercising!

Maternity Clothes: Heck yes! And I've been wearing Tom's t-shirts while lounging around the house and they seem to be getting tighter.

Gender: Boy - Cooper Thomas Hillebrand (I love saying that name)

Movement: Yes, Yes, Yes, he's a squirmier. Today at work he was going crazy! It seems if I can sit back in my chair it's not as bad but if I'm up, kind of hunched over, he's kicking me. I don't think he likes when I sit like that, I'm probably squishing him and I think he's running out of room, it's hard to imagine what I'm going to be feeling the next 5 weeks but I have a feeling I'm going to start getting uncomfortable.

Sleep: Not too bad, as long as I can keep my mind from thinking of all the things that I need to do then I can sleep great, but I'm still up around the same time - midnight and 4am!

What I miss: Definitely being able to move, such as getting up off the chair or couch or even rolling out of bed. Putting my socks and shoes on without huffing and puffing would be wonderful.

Cravings: Sweets, such as ice cream and brownies and anything that I'm not suppose to have, as I'm watching the food channel right now and they just showed a banana split. Yummy! I did splurge on a mini butterfingers blizzard from DQ the other day. They kids asked since they were going and it was yummy.

Symptoms: Yes, definitely feeling those Braxton Hicks contractions, I'm just wondering what the real thing feels like. My feet are starting to swell but I try and keep them elevated at night while watching TV. My back is also starting to ache a little but nothing to serious, unless I overdo it like cleaning and scrubbing floors and all. I cleaned the laundry room this weekend, which needed it, but I wasn't too bad after that.

Best moment this week: Picking up our baby furniture! It seems like I've been searching for the perfect set for so long and now I finally have it, it's stuffed in our living room but we know soon it will have a place to call home. I have also started to get some baby gifts, my aunt and cousin, who can't attend my shower this weekend, each sent me a gift for the baby. My cousin, Sara, sent me some wash clothes and baby towels, and my Aunt Jannie sent me a picture frame that has Baby's First Year - a picture for birth, 3, 6 and 9 month and one for his first year plus a $40 gift card to Target. I can't believe my shower is in 3 days! 

Few basement updates

This is after today, the plumbing is done and ready for the next step, not quite sure what that is but it looks like something is happening.

Here is one of the kids' bedroom, the window is in!

 

  Bathroom

More of the bathroom, the square thing on the ground is where the toilet will be and next to that will be the shower.

Then next to the big pipe will be a wall and the vanity will sit there. Kind of confusing, but I'm sure it will all be great once it's done.

Here is the work out room! We'll need this after the baby is born!

So for now that's all we got! Again, I can't wait for it to be done!

All I can think about...

Is Baby, Baby, Baby!

Last night would have been a good night to blog, as I lie awake in bed thinking about this little guy growing inside of me and my head just starts to spin, what is he going to look like or who is he going to look like, is he going to have lots of hair or no hair at all. Is he going to be a good baby or am I going to have a fussy one on my hands, (I'm hoping for a good baby) but all these emotions are starting to build up and I can't even begin to describe how I'm feeling. I'm super excited, don't get me wrong, but it seems like we've waited so long for this to happen and in one short month, if not sooner he'll be here.

So as I lie awake last night, I start making a list in my head of what I need to do and all the questions about the birth and what to take to the hospital and when to start packing. Everything I am reading they are telling me to have my bags packed and ready to go at 35 weeks - HELLO THAT'S TOMORROW! and I don't have a bag packed or anything. And my questions about that are:

• Do I pack one big bag?
• Or do I pack three separate bags? One for me, one for Tom and One for the baby (could I use my new diaper bag for him)?
• What do I pack? I'm starting a list and my sis-in-law gave me a good blog to refer to for this so I'm making my list.

I just don't want to over-pack, hello that's what us women do, but I'll try and keep it to a minimum.I'm sure I'll forget something but it's not going to be the end of world, I'm not a vacation up there all I want is to deliver a healthy baby and safe labor for me.

Other things on my mind are my maternity leave and once I have this baby I have to call to tell them how I delivered and what day I delivered on, this will probably not be on my top priority but it's something I have to do so my maternity leave starts. It's just all so confusing but I know it will all fall into place once the delivery is over and I have my baby in my arms.

The one thing on my mind of course is the baby's room, I really want to get this done before he arrives because I don't know how I will be once the baby is here. I'm sure I'll be very overwhelmed and I know I'll have lots of help but I would really like our house organized before Cooper arrives. With that said here's a list of what needs to be done:

• First and foremost the basement needs to be finished, I knew it would come down to this but they are making progress, the plumbing was installed yesterday so they can start working on the bathroom.
• Figure out who's moving to the basement. This I'm staying out of!
• Move whoever is moving to the basement and clean, clean, clean that room. I'm still thinking Micayla is going to just let Brandon downstairs but I still think she should get it, again I'm staying out of it. If Brandon moves downstairs, which would give me a great excuse to totally clean Brandon's room and paint it then Micayla would move into his room. 
• That frees up Micayla's room which is going to now be Cooper's room.
• Paint the baby's room (still deciding on color)
• Clean the carpets! Both rooms and living and dining room as well. We want clean carpets for little baby to crawl around on. Not that he'll be crawling anytime soon but I'm sure we'll be down on the floor with him.
• Bring furniture in the baby's room and set up crib. Both dressers are in our living room area waiting for a place to call home.
• Organize the closet!
• Clean all of the baby's clothes, bedding and anything else that will be touching him. Then organize the closet.
• Decorate the room.
• Hopefully the glider I ordered a couple of weeks ago is in, figure out where to put that.
• Get Coops changing table all ready to go and drawers organized.
• Install car seat! Yes this should be at the top of my list!
• Set up anything that needs to be put together, such as the baby swing..
• Unpack all our goodies from the shower, I can't wait for Saturday!
• Purchase anything we need that we did not get from the shower.

I'm sure there is so much more I am missing and please let me know if there is something I am missing so I can add it my ever growing list.

So as the days and weeks pass by I'm hoping to be able to cross a lot of things off this list and get everything ready for baby Cooper to arrive!

Basement Day 3

The work has begun and we are finally starting to see some progress.

 The studs are up!

The bathroom floor has been started, the plumber had the flu today otherwise this would probably be done. Darn flu stay away from our plumber.

 

And the window is in the bedroom. And as you can see the studs are up for the bedroom and the closet in the bedroom. 

That's some great progress for 2 1/2 days, next week once the bathroom stuff gets done they will finishing up with the framing and then the dry wall goes up, this is when it will really start to sink in. I can't wait!

We are picking up the baby furniture tomorrow and I'm going to be so anxious to get everything set up but I know I have to wait.

It was a beautiful morning this morning, we got a few inches of snow and it made the tree's beautiful. Here's a couple pictures I took from my car driving from our house this morning.

I don't think he had much snow on the trees this year, it's crazy February is almost over with and we hardly have any snow on the ground. I'm not complaining!

Not much to blog about but thought I would share a few pictures!

Week 34!

Today I am 34 weeks pregnant - 6 weeks to go!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of Baby: Baby H now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds, about the size of an average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Wow!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: This week I gained 1 pound!

Baby's heartbeat at last visit: Baby's heartbeat sounds great, his heartbeat is usually around 160 bpm. He's got a great HB and my NST's have all passed with flying colors.

Maternity Clothes: YES

Gender: We are having a BOY!

Name:  COOPER THOMAS HILLEBRAND!

Movement: Oh my yes! Lately I've been  putting the remote control on my stomach and just watch, it's so amazing knowing a little baby is just swimming around in my belly, it's very hard to believe that I'm going to have a baby. I think the reality is finally starting to sink in and a few people actually said to me this week that "I'm finally starting to look pregnant"! LOL

Sleep: Sleep is pretty good, we seem to still be on the Midnight and 4am schedule, it's amazing that its so much like clockwork however it's harder and harder to fall asleep at the 4am potty break. My side sleeping is starting to bug me because me hip will get sore so I'll have to flip and well flipping is just not that easy anymore. But I'm managing!

What I miss: I was trying on sandals with mom with weekend and it had a buckle and I couldn't get my own sandals buckled, mom had to do it for me. My big ole belly is getting more and more in the way.

Cravings: Still ice cream, or anything sweet and with carbs of course.

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks! They are crazy, at my NST yesterday they could see the contractions on my scan, it was quite amazing and she asked if I felt it and yes I definitely did. Other symptoms are my ankles, they have been swelling up a lot lately, I'm trying to relax at night when I'm at home but it's hard sometimes. Other than that I haven't had much else, I still feel great and can't complain one bit!

Best Moment This Week:Spending Saturday with the Jazzercise girls on Saturday up in Madison, they are such a great group of girls and they are planning a little shower for me once Cooper is born so this way they can see and play with the baby. I think it's a wonderful idea and that will be here before we know it. Also spending the day with Mom, her and I went shopping on Monday, we had a great time and I can't wait to show my gift that she bought me at my shower.

And last but not least! They have officially started!

I am getting so excited to have our basement started, it should only be a couple of weeks now! And we'll have lots to do before baby gets here however I can't wait!

A Birthday Weekend!

The weekend was filled with birthday's! Friday night we finally got to meet our new neighbor, his name is Danny and he was born a few days after Christmas. Kathy and Joe invited us down for pizza, we have been trying to get together since he was born and it just didn't work out, so finally we found a day did it. He's now about 7 weeks old but he's the cutest thing.

It's not the best picture but here's Danny with his dad Joe. He's was born at 11 pounds and is in 3 to 6 month clothes. He's a big boy!

After dinner, we headed up to mom and dad's to trade vehicles, Saturday I was taking her van to Madison with the Jazzercise girls and none of us had a big enough vehicle to fit 6 so mom said we could use her vehicle.

So Saturday we met about 11:00 down at the Jazz center to head to Madison. The occasion was, 3 of us have Birthday's in February so we all try and get together around our birthday's, and this one is always fun because 3 of us are celebrating. This is the first year we went out of town, but it was so much fun. We all headed to Madison for the day, it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and it wasn't too cold. We went downtown near the capital, State Street, they have a bunch of different shops, kind of like Galena but bigger. Up towards the capital they had a big Ice Festival going on, we didn't walk up because we really didn't need to see snow.

Here's a picture of the Capital!

We decided to eat at at a little pasta restaurant, not the best choice for me, but it was OK. I had a panini and I splurged on some french fries, they were delicious. I didn't get to take my blood sugar because I didn't feel like carrying my purse so I left it in the van. I took the bread off the panini so I don't think it would have been too bad. I can't remember the name of the restaurant.

After putzing around downtown we headed to Trader Joe's this is the closest TJ's we have around, it's a fun little store to look around. I got a few things, some lotions, olive oil and pasta sauce. After TJ's we headed to Burlington Coat Factory, a few of the girls have never been to one and I think we were there for a least 2 hours, it's now about 6:00 at night and momma was getting a little hungry. It was a huge store, I think I was in the bathroom 3 times. LOL

Here's a picture of Judy, Linda, Brenda and Julie, not sure where Shelly is, she's short and may be in this pictures somewhere but they're all shopping the clearance section. I found a cute will pajama outfit, it says "Soon to be one sexy mama" LOL and shirt for Tom.

After BCF, we all decided to get something to eat, it's now 8:00 we can't believe how the day got away from us. We decided to eat at Chili's. I had a quesidilla and a bowl of Enchilada soup, it was yummy. We got back to DBQ around 11:00. I got home and Tom was in bed, he was out with his buddy Johnny and then with his uncle at the casino.

Sunday morning, my birthday, Tom made me breakfast. He made a ham and cheese omelet with olives, it was so good and I enjoyed a glass of milk! I sure miss my milk but every time I have a glass my sugars seem to be high so I try and stay away but I went with out toast so I could have a glass and my sugars were good.

Chris called me and asked if we wanted to come over for lunch because they were not going to be able to make it to mom and dad's for supper so Tom went and took a nap and I headed over to his house. They made some homemade pizza, I had a couple of pieces. It was nice visiting with all of them, it seems like forever since I've seen them all.

After Chris's I came home and got Tom and we headed up to mom and dad's. Grandma, Andy and Bill, Tom and Linda and Nikki and Lexi were all there. Dad made fish and french fries, it was so good.

Nikki and Lexi did not stay for supper but Lexi made this cake. It was delicious!

.

And here are a few of my gifts I got for my birthday. 

 

All and all it was a great weekend and to top if off McGraw-Hill is closed tomorrow because of President's Day. Yippee! Mom and I are going to do some shopping. We are heading to one of the outlet malls, either Williamsburg or Johnson Creek, we haven't really decided yet.

And while I was up at Chris's house I got a call from the lady who took our maternity photos, she stopped over to give my the flash drive, so here's a quick sneak peak at one of my favorites. More to come on that...

33 Weeks!

Today I am 33 weeks pregnant - 7 weeks to go!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of Baby: Baby H now weighs a little over 4 pounds about the size of a pineapple and has passed the 17 inch mark!  

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I actually lost a pound from last week! Probably this darn diet I'm on.

Baby's heartbeat at last visit: Baby's heartbeat sounds great, I had my first NST on Tuesday and the nurse said everything looks perfect, they are looking for the heartbeat and see how active he is and then how the heartbeat does down plus any contractions and kicks.

Maternity Clothes: YES

Gender: We are having a BOY!

Name:  COOPER THOMAS HILLEBRAND!

Movement: Yes! Yes! Yes! I can see him moving around all the time and a couple times a day he will really get me good and I have to actually stop what I'm doing because it just shocks me that he's that strong, I love it!

Sleep: Sleep is great! Cooper and I seem to be on a schedule already. I usually wake up around midnight to go to the bathroom (at this time I can get back to sleep pretty easily) then again around 4:00am and at this time Cooper wakes up and wants to play or something because he feels like he's doing somersaults in my belly and I have a hard time getting back to sleep. I'll just lie there and smile because I've been waiting for this for so long. So I'm assuming that's probably going to be my schedule once he arrives. I'm OK with it, for now anyway.

What I miss: Everything that I can't have! But thanks to Diet Cherry Pepsi I do have something to look forward to. I'm also missing my energy it seems I'm starting to get tired a lot again.

Cravings: Seems for my nighttime snack I'm always looking for something with ice cream so I've been having a small bowl with a little chocolate syrup. Ymmm, I could go for one right now!

Symptoms:Definitely feeling the Braxton Hicks Contractions, I didn't really realize what I was supposed to be feeling until I was at the doctor's office yesterday during my NST, my belly got really hard and that's what she said was BH contractions.  I also asked the nurse during my routine exam when she was measuring my belly if she could tell if the head was down and she said it felt like he was, so that's good! Although he could still turn lets just hope he stays in the that position since that's they way he needs to come out. I don't want any complications like that!

Not So Best Moments This Week: Starting insulin :( Yep I couldn't control my sugars so they decided this would help out and that's what I did. Friday, Tom and I went to the Diabetes center to discuss this and go over how the shot works and how it will help with my sugar levels. This shot is just like the one I used with IVF, the first shots anyway that went into my belly. It looks like and EPI pen. I have two different insulin's one right before dinner time, I have to give myself a shot and depending on what I'm eating I can give myself that much insulin, so normally it's about 5 units I give myself, this allows me a few extra carbs. This is a fast acting insulin so I take this about 15 minutes before I eat. Then the other shot is before bedtime, this is a slow acting one so it will work while I'm sleeping so my fasting sugars are better. It's just a pain but I'm doing this all for the baby and now with the insulin I have to have a NST twice a week! Plus my doctor's visit once a week, but I can make the NST the same time as my doctor's visit. So my schedule will be every Tuesday - doctor and NST and every Friday - NST. All I can say is I hope the next 7 weeks go fast but not fast enough where I don't have anything ready to go. OMG I have so much to do!

Best Moment This Week: So many things!We finally got the approval from the Bank that we can start finishing our basement, we were super excited, me more than Tom, but I think he's pretty excited too. They are hoping to be done my the 2nd week in March, which will be perfect! I''m hoping the bedroom will be the first thing done so we can start moving one of the kids down, I'm staying out of this one though, it's going to be a battle, but I think Brandon's going to win, Micayla's not a fighter so she'll probably give in. If she does, she'll get to paint her room if she wants, we're just not going with bright pink like at the old house, but something that will look nice, it's just a boring white room, but it's big and has a double closet, just what every girl dreams of.

Other best moments this week and looking forward to include:

• Ordering my rocker/glider and footstool, this will take 6 to 8 weeks to get in, I think I should have ordered this about a month ago, but time just got away from me. I'm hoping it will be here in the 6 week range rather than the 8 week, we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.
• Ordering our baby furniture from Babies R Us, this should be here sometime next week. And we got a great deal - 35% off each item!
• VALENTINE'S DAY! This was a wonderful day. When I got into my car Tuesday morning there were 2 cards, one on my steering wheel from Tom and another on my dash with a bag of sugar free chocolates from Cooper. It was the most sweetest card and when I read it, it made me cry. Tom is the best and the sugar free caramel filled chocolates are pretty darn good. I'm going to eat one now! I have to tell you what Tom wrote from Cooper, it melts my heart every time I read it - I can't wait to look into your eyes for the first time mommy and have you hold me in your arms. P.S. Here's a snack to keep you satisfied until then. That just makes me tear up every time. I hope he's not mad at me for telling the world. We also made a roast in the crock pot for dinner that night so we enjoyed a nice dinner at home.
• Maternity Pictures - Tom and I have an appointment tomorrow, Thursday, with a friend of mine who is going to take a few pictures. I'm kind of skeptical of doing it but I think if I don't I will regret it. I only want a few just because if this is our only child I want to remember every moment of it, not that I'll forget but you know what I mean. I only have my weekly pictures to look back on right now so that's why I'm doing it. Before our pictures I'm hoping to eat at Vinny Vanuchicci's for dinner, our appt. is at 6:00 and I don't think I can wait until after, I'll be starving!

Here are a few random pictures: I feel bad because it feels like forever since I've blogged.

 Here I'm burning a bunch of cabinets that came from Tom's parents house that was in our basement, we had to get rid of them and this was the best way. Brandon and his friend broke them all up and I was manning the fire, it was a hot one! Notice the snow on the patio. LOL

My feet/ankles see what I mean about the sock line? I have to adjust my socks all the time, this was taken today, Wednesday. Usually it's worse than this, I just pulled my socks up before I started this blog and this is what they look like now.

Here's the HUGE box of clothes I got from my sister-in-law all from Lane. I can't believe how many clothes are in this box. I don't think Coop will ever wear them all but you just never know!

Here I am at my first NST, thanks to Mom how came up and sat with me. If you can see the baby's heartbeat is at 131 and it would get up to 160 then come back down. He was perfect! And that chair is pretty darn comfy.

And last but not least, my special Valentine's from Cooper. It was so sweet!

32 Weeks!

Today I am 32 weeks pregnant - 8 weeks to go!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of Baby: Baby H now weighs about 3.75 pounds about the size of a large Jicama (I have no idea what that is) and measures 16.7 inches long from the top of his head to his heels!  

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Roughly 20 pounds

Baby's heartbeat at last visit: Baby's heartbeat sounds great!

Maternity Clothes: YES

Gender: We are having a BOY!

Name:  COOPER THOMAS HILLEBRAND!

Movement: Yes! Yes! Yes! I can see him moving around now, I love it!

Sleep: Sleep is great! I'm not looking forward to that day when I can't sleep, sleep has always been my friend, I think I have a rude awakening in the next couple of months and years for that matter.

What I miss: Everything that I can't have!

Cravings: again, I'm craving anything that I can't have, that's an easy one! LOL

Symptoms: I'm starting to get the swollen feet. If I wear dress socks and the elastic is tight around my calf area I get big indents and my ankle swell up really bad. So I'm trying to stay away from those kinds of socks but it's hard when I have to dress up for work.

Best Moment This Week: So many things! We completed our birthing class, had a nice relaxing weekend and I received my baby shower invite in the mail the other day. I can't wait for March 3rd! And today we got the approval from the bank that we can start finishing our basement, Cooper is finally going to have a room of his own. I was thinking he was going to room with us forever. Now that means I get to go order our furniture, that's on the agenda for this upcoming weekend, we're heading to Babies R Us. I sure wish we had one of those in Dubuque.

Child Birth Education Class Completed

That's one thing we can check of our list! We didn't really know what to expect going into this class but we came out very satisfied and thinking "this wasn't too bad" (even Tom thought that). We, or I, chose to do the one day, all day, class. It was from 9 to 5 or we could have done a 4 week class one day a week for a 3 hours. I thought this would be easier than committing to every Tuesday or Wednesday for 4 weeks. I'm really glad we chose this one and we are both glad it's over with. There were 5 other couples in the class and we were all around the same age and of course, due around the same time. Out of the 3 couples that knew what they were having, we were all having boys! I thought that was crazy. I think 2012 is the year for boys! The most exciting part of the day was getting the tour of the birthing suites and getting to see our nurse, Jenni, bathe a baby (boy) he was a day and a half old, his name was Jayden and he was so cute! We got to watch a few videos, nothing really gross or anything, but everything was very interesting. We got about an hour for lunch and Tom and I went to AJ's Cafe inside Hartig's, it was very good. I had a BLT and NO chips, I thought that might be OK on my "diet" but my blood sugar was high as it was this morning and I only had a few hashbrowns. Tom made ham and cheese omelets with hashbrowns. Anyway, the day was good and I just can't believe it's almost here.

After class, which got done at 3, we came home and took out steaks for dinner and I decided not to have any carbs tonight so we'll see how my sugars are tonight. Both test earlier were high but they were great the last 2 days. I just don't get it! When the nurse was talking about snacks and stuff in the room during delivery and what you can and can't have I was hoping I could have whatever I wanted but I don't think I'll be able to, she said they have sugar free stuff, yippee! Oh well I'm doing this all for little Coop so it's all worth it! I'm hoping to maybe get an extra ultrasound out of this but we'll see.

Tomorrow we are heading to Tom's parents for the Super Bowl, she's having a "Chinese" theme. Everyone is making some kind of Chinese food. We are making what we had for supper the other night, it was like sweet and sour chicken it was very good and low on carbs. I just have to watch the rice and anything else with carbohydrates.

The other day Tom and I took a nice walk around our neighborhood when it was in the upper 50's and I took a few pictures of the stream or it's actually Catfish Creek:

It was a beautiful week and the snow is almost melted but I'm sure we're in a for another snow storm in the near future!