30 Week Update!

How are we already 30 weeks?!

Things have been pretty good the past 10 weeks. Our 'Little Guy' is growing right on track and doing well. He's been super active the last couple of weeks which has left me with some bruised ribs but as long as he's healthy and happy, I will take it! I'm starting to feel pretty big which is intimidating since I have 10 weeks or so to 'grow' yet! My official due date is November 10th, but they say only 5% of babies are actually born on their due dates and that first babies are commonly on the later side (closer to 41 weeks). I'm preparing myself for being a full week beyond that... however in the off chance I go early, I want to be pretty much ready around 35-36 weeks... Just in case, plus once I'm that big, I may not want to be fussing as much about being ready.

Adam and I have 2 weeks left of our 6 week childbirth class. (or "Huff and Puff" as my parents call it!) It has been quite educational... some weeks I walk out thinking "we got this!" other weeks I walk out and think "what have we gotten ourselves into?!" - either way, this kid is going to come out, so we'll just roll with it. I'll do my best to be prepare, emotionally and physically and we'll take it from there!

We are going to do a few home improvement things over the next few weeks, painting, adding some laundry cabinetry etc, but other than that, we are just letting Little G continue to grow and ready himself for his arrival. I'm excited to meet him and start this new chapter in our lives .... but not too excited that I can't wait for him to be ready!

10 Beautiful Moments in my life

So I was tagged on facebook in a "I feel beautiful" challenge... I stewed on it awhile, forgot about it for awhile, and then, came up with this spin (I can't do anything "as is" can I?!)

10 Beautiful Moments in my life.

(from left to right, top to bottom)

1) Dinners out with Jess

2) My Mom and I at my wedding

3) My Nephew Noah and I, his first Easter

4) Our wedding - first married kiss

5) My Nana and I at my cousin Paul's wedding

6) Adam and I with our niece Madalyn

7) Engagement pictures 

8) Adam and I in Philly at a book signing with Brian May (Adam was giddy!)

9) My cousin Valerie and I at her brothers wedding

10) My friend Martha and I when I visited her in Seattle (she's an east coaster now!)

Halfway! 20 week update

I am having trouble believing that I am halfway through my pregnancy already. I just cannot grasp it!

At 20 weeks I'm feeling pretty energetic and feeling the little one move quite a bit, which has been very fun. I'm learning that sleeping will often not be easy, and that certain things (like bending over and tying sneakers) are starting to get harder. I get a swift kick if I bend/squish someone too much.

We had our 20 week ultrasound. Everything looked good. I'm measuring right on time for my November 10th due date. Two arms, two legs, two kidneys, a heart rate of 142. We do have a shy one though, the wee one was not anxious to give us a profile shot for a while. I had to lay on my side and the technician kept having me shift around. However we did find out the gender.

We are excited for this little boy to join our family. It certainly makes it a bit more real seeing the tiny human shape and knowing the gender. (Not that my growing stomach wasn't 'real')

That's it for now... I know I need to do a 'nursery tour' post as we have it painted and some of the furniture in... but that will have to wait for another post!

17 week Baby Unger update

This is what 17 weeks pregnant looks like on me! (along with some awesome tan lines!) Our little Bat Baby is just over 5 inches long and over 5 and a half ounces!

I'm feeling pretty good. I'm hungry a lot and find myself forgetting that I need to eat more often than I'm used to, partially because I can't eat as much in one sitting as I used to!  I passed my glucose test with flying colors and all of our other genetic test / blood work results all came back normal. We didn't anticipate any issues, but it's still a relief to have that confirmation that you aren't a high risk for any genetic issues. There is always still the possibility, but it is pretty low.

All of the information I am reading says that between 16 and 18 weeks I should start to feel movements/flutters of sorts. The feeling has been described to me as flutters, a gold fish in your stomach, tickles, etc. So at 16 weeks I started to pay a bit of attention ... and felt nothing. I was sure things were fine, but just kept telling our little 'bat baby' that they could let me know for sure. Still nothing. Finally, Saturday morning I laid down in bed and just 'listened' to my body (if that makes sense...) and thought I may have felt something. I held my breath and waited - YES! there were little tickles going on in there! It was so neat! I jumped up and ran to tell Adam - who just gave me a puzzled look when I yelled "IT MOVED!" Once I explained what I meant, I'm not sure if he was more creeped out or thought it was cool. Since then I heard about the cold water trick. If you drink cold water and lay still, it usually wakes them up and they move around a bit. Monday night, I hadn't felt anything since Saturday so I tried this trick. Very neat! with in a few seconds bat baby was moving around! Since then I've gotten a few kicks or jabs (very gentle ones since they are so little yet) which is pretty neat.

We have our 20 week Ultrasound on Tuesday June 24th... I am getting pretty darn excited to stop saying IT! I will be perfectly happy with either, but Adam would like a boy.  Any guesses? 

Anniversary and Baby Unger update

Adam and I celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary yesterday! It's hard to believe that it's been that long! We had a nice evening out at a restaurant that we hadn't tried before (Kamrai in Lemont) and then relaxed at home for the evening. Quiet and uneventful, and we were just fine with that!

Baby Unger continues to do well. I am 16 weeks along now and have a little bump. I told a woman today that I was pregnant and she just looked at my (lack of) belly and just gave me that 'just you wait' smile...  We have a regular check up next week and then our 20 week ultrasound scheduled for the end of June. I'm very excited to see our little one as more than a peanut or little bat as they were on the first ultrasound. We also hope to find out the gender if they cooperate. We'd certainly like some help in reducing the number of names to comb through!

We also painted the nursery. I am very excited about how it turned out!

... and bump photos....

11, 13, 14.5 and 16 weeks.

I feel like I had a bigger bump (bloat?) at 13 weeks than I do at 16 weeks. It's hit or miss. Some days I feel/look bigger than others. Generally I'm feeling pretty good. I have a lot of ligament stretching so I'm pretty sore, but that's par for the course. Otherwise, we are just moving along, talking about baby names, looking at nursery furniture and keeping up with the house/normal stuff!

A busy couple of months!

I know that it has been awhile since there has been an update from us other than my birthday post. Things have been a bit crazy around here in the Unger house, so I wanted to post an update on what's been going on.

Adam got re-promoted! He is now back to being a co-manager at the Walmart near our house and seems to mostly be enjoying it. He is currently on night shift so that's been a tough adjustment. The back and forth of schedules really just wears on both of us trying to keep up with what is going on. Plus, they just recently went through inventory so that's always an added stress with extra shifts, but we survived and the store did well!

I got a 'promotion' of sorts as well. I'm in the same position with the Ritchie Lab, however we got my position upgraded to a level 3 from a level 2. It is just a way for Human Resources to re-evaluate the job you are already doing and see if it's worthy of an upgrade. It's been a long, 10 month fight, but it was official as of April 1st!

We've been in our house for a full year as of March 18th! We've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to build this house and look forward to continuing to make it our home. We've rounded out our year of first holidays and are into our second spring/summer. We love it! We have a few projects we want to do (paint the office, hang cabinets in the laundry room, switch from mulch to river rock, etc) but overall we love every bit of our house and really enjoy spending time at home either by ourselves or with our guests.

We are still spoiling our guinea pigs. They want to share some news with you:

Yes, it is true. Adam and I are expecting our first child this fall! I am just over 13 weeks along right now, and feeling pretty good. I had some pretty nasty morning sickness the first few weeks but that faded by week 8 and I could at least eat SOME foods again. Now my two main aversions are chicken (unless it is fried) and the smell of coffee, especially if it is burnt! The exhaustion is letting up as well and I can make it through the day with out a nap now! :O)

Here is our first ultrasound picture at about 9 weeks of our little 'bat baby' as we are calling it. Hanging upside down already! 

We will be turning one of our spare bedrooms into a nursery in the coming weeks/months, which I am very excited about. We are doing a cute safari theme and have a border and paint picked out! Now just to find the time/energy to jump in!

We will find out the gender when we have our 20 week ultrasound if our wee one cooperates. You all know I'm too much of a planner to not know! But we will be sticking with mostly neutral gear / nursery colors anyway. Keeps it simpler if there is a second and neutral to pass on to others!

Thanks for allowing me to share our big news! I'll try to post updates here every so often, so check back!

Thirty!

Back in November, my friend Martha over at Growing Palm turned Thirty and did a post about a bucket list, but of things she had accomplished by Thirty. I thought this was a fantastic way to ease myself into the idea of no longer being in my 20's (which were fantastic!) and focus on what I have done versus what I haven't. 

Thirty things I have accomplished before turning thirty:

1. Graduated High School (looking back this seems easy, but I remember while I was IN high school, I just wanted to do well, and get out!)
2. Attended Regional Band/Choir in High School
3. Participated in a sport in high school (track and field counts!!!)
4. Was the featured singer in Jazz band
5. Got INTO college at Penn State (those who know me, know this took some trial and error, but I made it in, and into the School of Music!)
6. Marched in the Penn State Blue Band -where I performed in front of over 108,000 people.
7. Saw a show on Broadway - Wicked in 2003 I think!
8. Graduated College with ANY degree (This was another challenge, but I did it!)
9. Moved out of state - I think this counts, even though I moved back in 10 months!
10. After a 2.5 year relationship ended, I put myself back out there, and ended up meeting the most amazing man on the planet who is now my fantastic Husband!
11. Bought a car, all on my own.
12. Sat in the Stands for a Penn State Football Game, and Tailgate! (after 5 years in band, this was a big deal!)
13. Selflessly helped others - I get such a thrill from this one!
14. Developed some pretty amazing friendships, in college and out - that have become like family
15. Met Brian May of Queen - Adams favorite person ever!
16. Saw Jerry Seinfeld at Eisenhower Auditorium
17. Saw The Fray in concert - the '45 minute' concert!
18. Saw Elton John in concert - the 3 hour concert!
19. Went to Hawaii! (and watch the sunset... breathtaking!)
20. Relaxing vacations to the Outer Banks with the man who would become my husband!
21. Got Married to the most amazing man!
22. Went on a trip (as adults with no children in attendance) to the Pittsburgh Zoo
23. Bought a House - had it built even!
24. 1st Anniversary trip to Washington DC - (and the zoo) which I planned as a total surprise for Adam
25. Watched the sunset in Mallory Square, Key West - Stunning!
26. I Do Photography as a hobby - and be ‘hired’ to do pictures for events!
27. Hosted some pretty awesome dinner parties / picnics
28. Have 2 nephews and 1 niece that mean more to me than I can put into words
29. Been a Guinea Pig Mommy for 10 years, to 7 unique guinea pigs.
30. Had my gallbladder removed - only surgery (other than wisdom teeth)

While not all of these are huge events, I feel pretty good about them. I'm also pretty excited to see what I can accomplish in my thirties!