Bump Day!!

Pregnancy Bump Day or in other words 20 weeks down and 20 more to go.  I'm more than half way there!  Nothing new to report, just thought it would be good to start posting monthly bump pictures!

Its a .....Boy??? or Girl???

Officially 20 weeks (5 months) and our second sonogram was today, October 18th!!!  AND we found out whether we were having a boy or girl!  Before we get there, I should probably start from the beginning...HAHAHA!  So for the past two weeks we have been spending much of our time at the new house getting things prepared and that has left us with lots of time to debate on whether or not to find out.  Last weekend my grandparents came down to help paint the baby's room and even they were getting into the discussion.  I'm not even sure how it came about, but our debate went from defending each of our views to just wanting to be the one who could guess correctly and be right.  I proclaimed that it was a girl and Ryan insisted that the Chinese calendar was correct and it was a boy.  After careful negotiations we agreed that we would find out so one of us could prove the other wrong  ;o)  But bragging rights was not enough, we had to "make it interesting" as Ryan called it.  The correct guess would win "10 Get Out of Diaper Free" cards.  So, although we have agreed to take turns and help each other out, the winner would be allowed 10 opportunities to pass on their turn!  Honest, I felt I would win either way because I'm sure Ryan would waste all 10 of his the first week  :o)

The appointment was with a specialist office today so that we could thoroughly look at the baby's heart.  My grandfather was born with a hole in his heart, so the doctor wanted to be sure we found any issues in advance so that we could properly prepare if needed.  The baby was moving around like crazy all night before the appointment.  I'm not sure if it was just the baby or if I was anxious about the appointment and it was making the baby go crazy, but Baby Tolle kept me up all night long!  Then we get to the appointment and the baby was still moving all around the place.  It was making the tech's work a little more of a challenge, but it let us see the baby a little longer.  The tech started with what measurements she needed to get for the appointment before we
"looked around".  The baby measured 10" long and weighs approximately 13 ounces.  We thoroughly looked at the heart, which is the size of a thumb nail right now.  We could see all 4 chambers, the valves, and the blood as it entered (colored blue on the screen) and exited the heart (color red on the screen).  She even listened to each individual valve as they pumped.  I would look down at my thumb and I was amazed at the details I could see on the computer screen.  She measured the head, the abdomen and counted each finger!!  It was absolutely amazing and even more grateful when we heard that everything looked good with a healthy heart!  The tech ended up giving us over 20 sonogram pictures and it was really hard to pick which ones to post, but here are the three that we thought could show you the most. 

The first picture (above) is a traditional sonogram profile picture showing how Baby Tolle was bent in half almost the entire time with legs up over the head.  If you look closely you can see the toes (little white specs) just hanging over the head.  Also in this picture, the knee is literally touching the nose!!!  No wonder I feel little kicks constantly :o)  The second picture (below) is the new 4D picture format that is looking at the side where you can see the face with nose and mouth, little arm and again those legs!

The final picture is of the face where you can really see the nose and mouth.  We thought it looked like a little grin and wanted to share it with everyone so you could finally meet our little girl, Madelyn DeLois Tolle!!!



The "Tolle House"

We closed on our new house September 30th!!!  We were searching for probably close to 8-9 months and almost gave up.  The foreclosures were completely wrecked and would need a ton of money to fix up.  The short sales either weren't really "short" or would take 10 years to ever hear back from the bank.  For all others, people were either so upside-down or haven't "realized" the market conditions that they weren't willing to negotiate their price.  Luckily, Ryan found the one (and I don't mean me...lol) and suggested it to our realtor.  I didn't even want to go see it because I really thought the sellers, like so many others, were not willing to come off their price.  Ironically, we were leaving another property and our realtor said "Now, let's go see the house your going to buy"!!!  How funny is that?  We pulled into the neighborhood and immediately loved the feeling of a warm and cozy family neighborhood.  Lots of trees lined the drive, passing some peaceful ponds and a long winding sidewalk with tons of people out taking a walk or jog.  As we pulled up to the house we were excited to see it, but I had to keep a realistic focus and calm down.  As we walked in the door I was AMAZED how clean and maintained the home was kept.  So many homes we previously visited were so dirty I was almost gagging as we walked through, but not this one!  We loved it so much that the same evening we put in our offer and immediately (like minutes) they sent us a counter offer, which was promising because everyone else would just decline.  After a few logistics we were set to close in a little over 30 days.  After lots of paperwork and signatures, we finally have our new home in a great neighborhood with top-notch schools for Baby Tolle.  We haven't moved yet, since we decided to take our time making changes prior to moving in.  Nothing too dramatic, just replacing carpet in bedrooms, paint throughout & a few other items.  Not having to rush & move has really helped with the other baby items we need to accomplish (day care interviews, hospital registering, etc).

As of yesterday, I am 18 weeks along!!!!  Almost half way until we get to meet our new family addition.  The past 2-3 weeks I haven't been sick at all and last week I really started to get my appetite back.  I still struggle with what to eat for a meal, but I have my "between-meal" snacks down to a science.  After breakfast, I have my morning snack of dry Life cereal.  After lunch I usually have either raw veggies or fresh fruit.  I haven't really wanted anything sweet besides fruit, but even then I can only have a small amount.  Late afternoon before I go home, I have cheddar cheese squares with wheat crackers (Toll House...lol) to hold me over until dinner.  I've even been feeling well enough that I started taking yoga classes!  Although awkward feeling at times, she says it is extremely helpful in preparing your body.
Our 16 week appointment was pretty non-eventful, but they did take more blood.  Goodness gracious, I can't believe how much blood these people need!  At least this is the last time they will take blood until my 28 week appointment.  WoooHooo!  Just before we left, we met with the doctor and got to hear the baby's heartbeat!!  This is my favorite part because it makes it so real!  Since the baby is a little bigger, the heartbeat is a slower than last time and was around 150 bpm.  As you can imagine, immediately Ryan asked for her to make a guess on the sex based on the heartbeat.....but the doctor said 150 bpm is very average and really could go either way.  If you haven't heard the great debate of 2010, I would like it to be a surprise and Ryan is dying to know whether it is a boy or girl.  So the debate can only continue a little longer before we will have to come to a concensus.  So stay tuned :o)

Lastly, I've started to gain a little weight!  I've gained about 3-4 pounds, but don't have much to show for it.  I decided to take my first "baby bump" picture, but it really isn't much to show at 4 1/2 months.  Ryan thought this was probably a good time to start doing them each month, so look for more going forward.  The small amount of weight I've gained is mostly due to the increase in the baby (although only about the size of a sweet potato).  Exactly one week ago, September 27th, I felt the baby without a doubt.  I actually have felt the same thing about 3 times previously, but I didn't know what it was!!  It felt like a light thump or like a popcorn pop, but turns out it was the baby!  That morning I was sitting on the couch drinking my hot tea and enjoying the news and it suddenly started moving all over the place for like 15 minutes straight.  I could even press my hand on my tummy and to confirm it!  Ever since then, Baby Tolle has been on the move anytime I'm sitting still.  I keep trying to get Ryan to feel it, but I can never seem to time it right.  He gets so frustrated, but I'm sure it won't be long until he will get to feel it too!