Couch Chronicles

Shortly after my last post, I was placed on bedrest. The first week was beyond fantastic; reading books I hadn't had time to read, catching up on missed favorite tv shows, napping. It was like I was getting paid to be on vacation! Unfortunately, the novelty of my medically-induced vacation was short lived. I quickly realized that being forced to put my feet up on the couch all day was not at all what it was cracked up to be. With Chris working nights, we had little time with one another and as a family. My one outing of the day consisted of driving Sofia to daycare. And, to top it all off, all three of us came down with one of the nastiest cold/flus that had come through our house in years. Oh yeah, and did I mention I was continuing to have contractions every 15-20 minutes? We were in rough shape to say the least.

Thus, no motivation to communicate much via the blog. What was I going to talk about anyway?

So here we are, nearly 6 weeks later. Bedrest has worked and the baby is still cookin' away. I am officially 37 weeks and 5 days -- a "medical marvel" as my OB put it a few weeks ago. The nice thing is that I am not confined to the couch 100% anymore since I am officially full term. And, to say the least, I am in a much better mental state. Where am I now, you ask?

Get. This. Child. Out. Of. Me...and being as patient as possible! :)

Here's a glimpse into the last month. Sofia is a sweetheart. Our moms are incredible. My husband is the love of my life. I'm getting bigger by the minute.

Stirring like a champ!

Baking with Mom on our "Special Sofia & Mommy Day"

Rockies game for Father's Day

Cleaning with Grandma

Baking with GranMary

36 Weeks

Our 6th Anniversary!

Hugging her future brother. :) Sofia is going to be such an amazing big sister!

I promise to do a much better job of keeping things up to date from now on. :)
Hugs.

Preggo Meggo: 31 Weeks

The last month has been nothing short of eventful with this pregnancy! With trips to the hospital and multiple visits to the doctor due to contractions, we've been both busy and tired!

Regardless, here is my 31 week photo. I'm getting large and in charge!

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day weekend was filled with great moments. We had a great lunch outside at a little corner spot not far from a local nursery where we picked up some leafy things with colored petals all of which have names I am not even going to try to spell.

Smoochy Smoochy!!!

While mom was getting a cut, color, and a back massage on Saturday, Sofia, Haley, April and I went to the Zoo. Anything more fun than a ride on a Cheetah?

Sofia and her self-proclaimed BFF.

I see a belly button...

Preggo Meggo: 26 & 27 Weeks

Want to see a magic trick? Check this out!

Here is my photo at 26 weeks & 2 days:

Pretty normal for 6.5 months right? Well, check this out. Look at me just 6 DAYS later!

Seriously, we might have a future linebacker on our side! Getting slightly nervous...

Next Tuesday will mark the beginning of my third trimester and the final phase of growing this little bean of ours. We are getting so excited to meet him!

Life With A 3 Year Old

My goodness. Our little girl is getting big!



Sofia loves to ride her bike and go to the park. These are just hilarious...


Sofia also has decided to practice her feeding skills for when her brother arrives...

Preggo Meggo: 24 Weeks

That's 6 months and 2/3 of the way there! We're starting to get really excited about this little guy entering the world. The next major task is figuring out what to name him....

My beautiful daughter. Busy painting after work today. I just love the the seriousness on her face as she was concentrating on her purple toucan. :)

And Time Goes By

Ah yes, my typical excuse of busy work, busy home, busy life and oh, how time flies.

Here's a little glimpse into the last month. :)

• I completed my first year of coursework for my PhD during the first week of March. 6 months of independent research on my own schedule, here I come!
• Another year of successful CSAP assemblies flew by. I'm chalking this year's events up as a success due to my convincing capabilities to get 10 grown men to wear dresses, wigs, and dance in front of 800+ children. Along with dodgeball, gladiators, and a great student versus staff basketball game, the week proved to be a great way to end each long day of testing.
  
• The annual St. Patty's Day Parade
• Third time's the charm...with potty training! Sofia has now been doing all of her "business" on the porcelain throne for nearly two weeks now. The most amazing part of it all is that she is napping in her undies AND waking up each morning with a dry pull-up! We may actually make our goal of only having ONE child in diapers! Woo hoo!!
• Chris is wrapping up his 5th consecutive project with MYC and in amazing form, might I add. He has, as usual, received tremendous accolades from King Soopers big wigs and his own company execs for his continued ability to run a safe, clean, under-budget, and on-time remodel. He is nothing short of amazing at his job and I am so proud of him!
• We have ordered the beginnings of the new bedroom that will be for the kids. Two dressers and a mini-crib are on their way. Spring break next week will bring on some serious storage room excavation as I send off baby girl clothes and make room for all the needs of this little boy on the way.
• Tuesday, March 23, marks 24 weeks of pregnancy. That's the 6 month mark! Woo hoo!
  

Want some pics?

This picture is at 22 weeks. I will post an updated one this week.

St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Denver. So much fun!

The next few weeks should slow down a little bit which will be really, really nice. Hopefully, I will have some time to update more often...and who knows, post some pics of the new bedroom for the kids!

Its a baby boy!

Here is a picture of our 21 week old Baby Boy. We can't call him Baby Daniel because our last name sounds like a first name! He is healthy and everything is on track! I am doing back flips and Meg is also excited. 4 months to go! Just in time for preseason...

Here is his foot. Can't wait to tickle those toes!

The technician who did the ultrasound was really cool. Not only did she give us printed out pictures of the ultrasound, but she also gave us a ton of video footage. The first is of our little man swallowing. The second shows the front of his face and his heart beating away on the left (it's kinda hard to see, but if you look hard, you'll find it.).

Preggo Meggo: Swell Watch 2010

Just hours away from being 20 weeks, I am beginning to feel like the milestones of pregnancy are finally applying to me...
- It's definitely undeniable that I am growing a little person when you look at me now.
- I. Am. Starving.
- Sciatica has set in through my left leg (Super fun!).
- I'm exhausted but can't sleep.
- Hormones? What are those?
- My hair and nails are growing like crazy!

Surprisingly, the swelling in my hands and feet that took place almost immediately during my pregnancy with Sofia has been minimal. In fact, at this point with her, I had already retired my rings and normal shoes. Now, it's no secret that I have, well, some seriously chub-a-riffic fingers. So, when swelling sets in, it's bad. Today, my hands started to feel a little tight, and thus it begins: Swell Watch 2010.


My goal is to make it at least one more month before saying goodbye to beloved jewelry. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, it's extra water and a continued low-sodium diet for me!

The other swell concern is a little strange. But, to this Greek girl, this concern takes high priority: my nose. During my pregnancy with Sofia, I swear that my face completely transformed with the epicenter being my nose. I think it tripled in size! Seriously. And while it eventually went back to normal, I don't think I will ever shake the feeling that my bigger-than-average schnoz turned GINORMOUS! At this point, I think I'm doing ok. However, if there is anything that I hope doesn't change with the growing of this little bean, it truly is my nose. Keep your fingers crossed!

That's it for now. Our big ultrasound is on Friday afternoon. The event of the day will be finding out if we are having a boy or a girl. When we asked Sofia what she thought I was having, she replied, "How about a girl?!!?" We'll see...

Preggo Meggo Out.

17 Weeks Down...

Well, here ya go. By popular demand, my first pregnancy picture. At 17 weeks, I FINALLY look like I've done more than just eat a big lunch. :) I am feeling a few quickening feelings here and there, which are such wonderful signs of reassurance that this little bean of ours is progressing nicely.

While we've had nearly 8 ultrasounds already due to different bumps in the road we've encountered, we haven't gotten any pictures yet! We have our BIG ultrasound in just a few weeks where, I'm pretty sure, it will be like seeing this kid in HD. Plus, they will give us tons of pictures that we'll be able to scan in to share. It will be really interesting to see how much the technology has changed just in 4 years since our last big one.

Needless to say, I'm glad to be past the sickness phase of the pregnancy and onto the fun, growing phase instead. I feel much more productive. :)

That's all for now. Dinner to make and homework to accomplish this evening....oh yeah, and be a wife and mom too!

Love to you all.
M