Doctors and dreams

So my husband needs to write on the blog... But I will do a quick update. Baby is moving up a storm but Dave hasn't felt it yet. Every time he puts his hand on my ever expanding belly, baby r goes still. I can definitely feel our little one from the inside but not sure about the outside. Hopefully Dave will feel it soon. We had one scare with a trip to the ER a few weeks ago. Pain in my belly that ended up being round ligament pain but better to be safe than sorry. Ever since then, I have been feeling fine. Hip and belly pain on occasion but it is normal and the doctors say to adjust how I move and get up from a sitting position. Baby r is a mover at night. LO moves at the same time everyday from 6pm through the night. I am getting more and more excited to meet him or her. As we put the room together with some help from my parents and sister, I think about how wonderful it will be to hold our baby. We got a glider chair now and I even sat in it with a blanket just to test out how it would be to rock our baby to sleep. Goodness knows we will spend many sleepless nights in that chair with our crying child. Dreaming of that day...did I mention it is true about crazy pregnancy dreams? We won't go in detail about those. And daycare searching, I think I will let Dave tell you about that.

Baby Rothe is one normal, healthy, growing baby!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today after nearly 14 weeks without seeing our baby on the big screen.  Our little one was not into moving much, just squirming around on the ultrasound moving its arms, legs, and head and every once in a while giving us a yawn as to say, "come on, stop bugging me."  We got some great profile shots of our Baby R and Joyce, our tech, did a great job of concealing the gender.  She said she knew what we were having and David almost gave in to find out by asking me if we should.  But I stood firm.  We're going to wait and get a surprise.  Two relatives now have said the ultrasound profile looks like them!  It is hilarious.  Half the time during the ultrasound, we could tell what we were looking at.  But we are happy to report that our little guy or girl has all ten fingers and toes, four chambers of their heart, a good looking belly and brain, and two kidneys.  He or she is also comfy crossing their little legs and making fists.  Their bladder and heart are working great!  Although the 25 minutes ultrasound was exciting, we know really cannot wait to actually see him or her and get to know them in person!  As Bon Jovi would says, Ohhhh....wer're half-way there!  And my belly is getting huge.  It feels like it doubled overnight.  I have also begun to feel the rolling of our moving little one.  Baby R really likes to move around 6 pm at night till about midnight.  I feel what I can only describe as popcorn or that stomach like dropping feeling only its in my belly each time the little one moves.  Heartbeat has remained consistant at about 145 per minute, faster if it is later at night.  Dave is getting the feeling that this is for real now!  During the ultrasound he couldn't stop smiling or recording it on video using his blackberry.  He kept asking questions like what is that or is that his belly, arm...etc.  He is using he a little too much!  What if we've got a little Jenni in here!  I am stuck with using little one or baby r.  I am not sure what gender our baby is, but I will be so happy with either boy or girl.  Time seems to be flying!  We met with our first daycare prospect two days ago.  It has been a busy last few days.  Next I know I will want to do that nursery!  I've been hooked on searching the internet for bedding and ideas. Gender neutral is hard...but we are keeping firm about not knowing!  Here's to being halfway there and feeling good!  Here's to also knowing there is only one baby in there.  We got a little scare the other day while using the doppler...heard two heartbeats but realize now that one was the cord!  More later....

January 4th, 2011

Happy New Year! So excited to think that 2011 is the year our baby will come into this world!
So how did our winter break go?  Before the holiday break even started, the year ended with a bit of a cry/meltdown at work.  I thought the emotional thing was done!  I had a bit of a cry when I couldn't handle my students chaos of the last day before the winter break.  They were out of control with excitement.  I teared up and had to leave the room because they wouldn't be quiet for the math lesson after repeatedly stopping  the lesson.  Ugh...Good thing, my co-teacher was there to take over.  Baby R sure does hear me go through many emotions from yelling to crying to laughing while at work.   Our little one will know their mommy has a majorly emotion filled job! After a quick recovery, many hugs, apologies, and pats on the belly from my kiddos, the day ended with laughs and a little sadness that I wouldn't see my students for a few weeks.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I was happy the winter break and the student-break had started!  The holidays were fun and exciting with 4 Christmas' and a nice long break.  We got to have our Arkansas family, the Bennicoffs, here at our house for the holidays.  Mom, Dad, Karissa, and the Bennicoffs came over and we had the first big family Christmas in our house.  It was truly special to have them all here.  Next we ventured down to Wisconsin for the two more Christmas' with the Isaacsons and the Burkes.  We finished our break traveling down to Miami to see our Rothe family!  What a nice time we had exploring Miami with VEG and D & G Rothe (otherwise known as mom and dad).  We enjoyed seeing Glen and Velvet's new home and of course, playing with Evan!  Donna and Glen even took time to throw us a surprise baby shower: Our first one.  It was so kind of them and we got some adorable gender neutral clothes and baby supplies that we very special to us!  All our immediate family members got to hear the baby's heartbeat during our visits.  Each niece and nephew seemed excited about the new baby.  Liam had to try and listen to the baby using a 'kid" stethoscope.  Lots of questions were asked about when the baby would get here and how big it was.  Liam and Evan both have names for the baby including smoke and march april bennicoff.  All kiddos said hi to the belly and told him/her how much they loved them.  It is so adorable to see them so excited about their new cousin coming soon.  Baby Rothe enjoyed the pats on the tummy and was especially happy during the break with the cookies and holiday meals that we were fed. My belly is getting bigger!  I don't know if it is all baby cause I know there must be some "fat" in there too.  Dave swears I look adorable but he is just a great husband. We spent the New Year at the Pachners celebrating with David's cousins and aunt/uncle!  Family time is always so wonderful!  And now we are back to the grind of work and home life.  I love being with my families, but it is good to be home with my new family...and soon Dave and I will be more as a family of 3.   Feeling really good....have flutters here and there.  I can't wait to feel it for sure.  Right now our LO feels like it is tickling my belly.  Hip pain and sore back are some of my fun symptoms right now.  Tings and pangs of pain come and go but overall I am feeling good. Memory loss and jumbled thoughts seem to be in full force. My belly is certainly hard and at times (especially at night) is huge!    I am seeing the spider veins coming too! Oh the joys of getting older and of course, those that come with being pregnant. But one thing is for sure, this baby is going to loved so much!  There is so much excitement by our parents, siblings, and especially the little niece and nephews for this little one to come.  Baby R, you know mom and dad can't wait to meet you!  More to come!  Our next appointment is next Tuesday!  One week till we get to see you on the big screen little one!  It has been too long since we got a peek at you!  David promised to post next so now let's see what he has to say on the blog.....