30 weeks!

Today marks 30 weeks with only 10 more to go!  I can't believe how big my belly is now.  I look like I swallowed a basketball or maybe even a large beach ball!  We're so excited and can't wait to meet our little girl.  I have my next OB appointment this coming Monday and will have appointments every two weeks instead of every 4 weeks now.  I just can't believe that we're in the home stretch.  Day by day walking gets more tiring and I'm definitely waddling now.  I really have to force myself to not waddle and when I'm carrying all my music therapy/music class stuff there's no hope for loosing the waddle!  Our baby girl is pretty calm throughout the day but in the afternoon, the evening, and even at 2am when I can't sleep, she is going to town.  I can now feel her kicks on the outside of my tummy and Deric was able to feel her really kick the other night.  Although her big kicks aren't comfortable, it's such a blessing to know that's she's growing stronger and stronger.  We are so thankful that God has given us this little bundle of joy!

29 weeks!

I'm home today not feeling so great so I thought I'd take a few minutes in between naps to update our blog. 

We're officially in the home stretch.  Only 11 more weeks to go!  I just can't believe we only have 11 more weeks to finish preparing for the arrival of our baby girl.  For those of you that know me well, you know I am not a procrastinator and love checking off a to do list quickly.  Well, I am starting to panic with the amount of things we have left on our to do list before the baby arrives!  As usual, Deric and I have spread ourselves thin with projects, especially Deric, and there's just not enough time in the week to get it all done!  Deric has been working at a rapid fire pace to renovate our master bathroom, but because of this the nursery is still a big mess, currently a storage room for all of my music therapy stuff.  I really just want to get in there myself and lug all of my things to the basement and get the room painted; however, I know full well that I can't lift all of that stuff, shouldn't be painting, and I just don't even remotely have the energy for it.  So, I just have to sit patiently and wait on my sweet husband.  I still have a few more things to sew for the nursery to, but again I need Deric's engineering brain to help with some of the measurements since I'm not using a pattern.  So again I wait. Poor Deric, he's in high demand.

Somehow over the last few weeks we've managed to fit a Northside tour in and a childbirth preparation class this past weekend.  I started to feel under the weather Saturday when we headed to our class so I wasn't quite as excited about it as I had been but none the less we had a great time and learned a ton of information.  I had no idea, there were so many different positions and things to do to help with labor pains.  I also had no idea that there were other pain relief options besides an epidural.  We left the class feeling far more informed than before.  Going into the class, we had planned on an epidural delivery.  Most of our friends that have had babies have had epidurals and at one of my first doctor's appointments they just asked if I wanted one or not, without much explanation of other options, so I of course said that I wanted one.  Well after hearing about side effects of an epidural and other pain options if needed, I think we've decided to attempt to go the natural route.  I've gotten a lot of feedback on classes we should take, what we need to do such as switching to a midwife, hiring a doula etc.  Honestly, it's been a bit overwhelming looking at all the options now with a natural childbirth.  After praying about everything, Deric and I feel a peace about staying with our current doctor, reading a book on the Bradley Method and Hypnobirthing and even possibly a book on Lamaze and giving it a go with just those resources.  We just don't have the budget to spend on any more classes and I think switching practices at this point and trying to add another person to the equation would really stress me out more than I need.  We'll just see what happens and if I end up needing an epidural because the pain is unbearable so be it but we're going to give it our best shot to try the natural way first.

We're having record high pollen levels here in Atlanta.  I thought that's what was causing my coughing and congestion over the weekend but yesterday and today, I woke up without a voice and some body aches.  We're hoping the rain that's coming tonight and tomorrow will wash this pollen away and I'm hoping that by the weekend, I'll start to feel like myself again.  I'll try to post some more pics of the growing belly soon when I'm feeling a little better. 

27 weeks!

27 weeks

27 weeks



This Wednesday marked 27 weeks in our pregnancy.  I can't believe we only have 13 more to go.  I had a big doctor's appointment on Friday.  I had my one hour glucose screening, the first step in checking for gestational diabetes, which I passed with flying colors!  As usual, I was worrying about failing the test since I started seeing floaters at various points in my vision this week and last week and seemed more thirsty.  My Mom had gestational diabetes with me, so everything online you read says that I was at a higher risk for getting it but thankfully I don't and I can still enjoy an ice cream sandwich every once in a while!  I'm RH negative, because I have O negative blood and Deric has a positive blood type so there's a chance that our baby girl might have a positive blood type.  So...I had to get a fun shot in my backside to help prevent any antibodies from building up in my body that could potentially pose a risk to a future pregnancy.  Thankfully, I had this shot previously and was prepared for it but it still wasn't fun.  I'm so thankful this shot exists though.  I also had more blood drawn to make sure that I haven't built up any antibodies since they last checked.  By the time my appointment was over, I was exhausted and starving!  Deric so wonderfully volunteered to take the morning off work and came with me to the appointment and then treated me to a wonderful breakfast at J. Christopher's.  It was a relief to hear that everything was going well and that I was right on track with my weight gain, blood pressure, measurements, etc. 

Deric has been working hard to renovate our master bathroom.  This is our last big house project that we planned to have completed before the baby arrives.  So far, Deric has been making fast progress and already has two walls of the shower tiled and will finish the other one soon.  Hopefully he'll be finished in a few weeks and we can start on the nursery.  I've completed sewing the curtains and quilt but still have the crib skirt and throw pillows left to sew along with covering a lampshade in the same fabric. 

In our spare time:), we managed to take the Northside Hospital tour this week.  I must say it was fun but a bit overwhelming.  I was fine until we went into a labor and delivery room.  The reality of everything hit me like a ton of bricks when the guide started to explain how things would happen in the room.  Deric was pretty nervous too and didn't say much at all.  Of course we were the only ones on the tour with 3 months left before we deliver so I felt kind of silly being there so early yet relieved that it's one thing that's checked off the list.  We even met a nice couple that uses the same practice and doctor that we do so that was neat.  Next week we are taking the childbirth class which I'm sure will be equally as fun and equally as overwhelming.   I can't believe we'll be in our third trimester on Wednesday.  Time sure is flying by!

~Ashley
 

Babymoon in Waynesville, NC

Deric and I were fortunate to go on a quick getaway to Waynesville, NC last weekend.  It was wonderful to take one last trip before I'm too huge to feel like doing much of anything!  As you can see we had beautiful weather!

Deric has done a great job figuring out the new camera that we got for each other around Christmas time and captured some beautiful pics like this one of the Smoky Mountains on our trip!

We had planned on traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway as the main activity for our weekend getaway, but it was closed due to ice in tunnels once we arrived.  So...we decided to go on quite the adventure to do some elk watching in the Cataloochee Valley!  To our surprise, after the 13 mile trek up and down a narrow and curvy mountain road (which ended my month streak of no throwing up), we ended up actually seeing a big herd of elk shown in this pic resting in the shade of some trees! 

It must have been lunch time for this elk!

Showing off my baby bump at the end of 24 weeks by a beautiful mountain stream!

We had fun exploring this beautiful old home site, from 1903, and posed for a quick pic together!

Here's the house that we explored, built in 1903.  It was huge!!

In the upstairs rooms of this house, old newspapers lined the walls.  Deric had fun picking out the craziest ads.  He particularly loved this one!  For all of us women, we now have the cure well for just being a woman! 

23 weeks!

Today marks week 23 of our pregnancy.  I can't believe our baby girl will be here in hopefully 17 more weeks.  I actually got pictures of my growing belly on day one of this new week.  Hopefully I'll continue to remember to take a picture every week the rest of the pregnancy.  I can't believe how much our little one has grown!

22 going on 23 weeks!

I can't believe on Wednesday we'll be at 23 weeks!  I've been a bit behind on updating the blog so this post will be a bit long. 

Let's see what's happened the last 4 weeks?  Well for one thing, the Swanson's have been BUSY hence the major delay in posting.  I'm wondering if I'll be able to keep up this lightning pace as I move further into the pregnancy.  I definitely don't move as fast as I used to these days. 

Deric and I have been busy the last few weeks finishing up projects around the house.  He's been wonderful at tackling his "honey do" list with fervor.  The upstairs railing has finally been rebuilt for safety purposes and painted white to match the downstairs railing and side rail that we painted forever ago. He repainted the bottom railing because it needed to some major touching up as well as the walls and this house almost looks brand new!  We had our carpets cleaned a few days ago which has just added to the newness of the house.  Deric even finished staining the bench he built for our dining room table and it looks just like one you'd buy at the store!  I think my nesting is already kicking into high gear!  Poor Deric!  He's been so gracious though and is working hard to get our house put together just right for myself and our baby girl. 

While Deric's been working hard on little/big unfinished house projects, I've been working hard on my sewing projects for the nursery.  I finally finished baby girl's raggy quilt and I must say, I'm proud of how it turned out considering the fact that I've never really sewn anything more than a simple throw pillow, bag, and Christmas stocking when I was in middle school.  Here's a few pics so you can see what I've been working on.

Baby Girl's Raggy Quilt

Up close view of the raggy edges which give it that girly look!

Another up close view

Also, I've started working on the nursery curtains.  I finally decided on a fabric called Sugar Baby Splash that I found at Calico Corners and I lucked out because it went on sale a few weeks ago.  I've already sewn both panels and added a lining.  All that's left is the top pocket that the curtain rod will go inside.  Here's a pic of the fabric that we went with.  I think the colors on the quilt and the curtains match perfectly!



Sugar Baby Splash fabric that the curtains will be made out of

I also plan on incorporating this fabric into the crib skirt, some throw "owl" pillows, and covering a lamp shade in it so hopefully it will all coordinate well.  As soon as I make more progress on my projects, I'll post pictures!



21 going on 22 weeks

I haven't been the best about taking pictures of my growing belly every week like I had hoped to but here's a picture from a few weeks ago.  It's amazing how fast our little girl is growing!  Today I had a regular check up with my OB and they picked up her heart beat right away which tells me she's growing.  At previous appointments, the nurses had to search around for a few seconds to find her.  Also, the beginning of this week, I started to feel her moving pretty clearly.  She feels like little butterflies just flying around in my belly or at some points like little firecrackers exploding.  I've noticed the frequency of her movements just the past few days so she's a growing girl!  My next appointment will be the first week in March and that will be the fun routine glucose test to make sure that I don't have gestational diabetes.  I remember when they told me I would have this done and it seemed so far away;  I can't believe I'm doing this at my next appointment and will be through with this trimester in just a few weeks! 

I think those are the major updates for now!  I'll try to be better about not waiting 4 weeks to write my next post.  Hopefully I'll have pics of finished curtains to post soon!

~Ashley  

It's A ??

We had our second ultrasound today and were able to find out whether we're having a boy or girl!  We were both beyond excited to get to our appointment and Deric said that he couldn't concentrate the last hour at work today.  We were so thankful to see our little baby come clearly into focus when the ultrasound started.  It was amazing how much we could see in the ultrasound.  Our little one's heart was going to town and we could even see the chambers.  Amazing!  We saw both feet right away up by the head.  At one point our little one even waved at us:).  So as you can see from the new blog background, we are proud to announce that we're having a healthy little girl!  I couldn't believe it when the tech said we're having a girl.  We were both convinced that we were having a boy for awhile but when the morning sickness kicked in I started to wonder.  Deric and I had lunch right before our appointment today and it was so funny to see how excited he was.  At one point during lunch he asked me if my intuition said that we were going to have a girl after all.  Of course I really didn't know but we both knew we would be thrilled either way.  I already have lots of girl ideas for the nursery and can't wait to get started.  I'm sure I'll post some of my nursery projects soon.  Below some of our first pictures of Baby Girl Swanson!  Enjoy!!

Beautiful profile shot of Baby Girl Swanson

Another profile shot of our baby girl which really shows her prominent nose:)  Her mouth was open too as if she was singing!  Maybe she'll take after her Mama!

This is a shot looking down at her face so it's more skeletal looking.  To the left you can see her nose, two eyes, and below is her chest.

This is one of her famous foot pictures.  Her left foot in fact.  We kept seeing her long legs and feet the whole ultrasound and she had them up near her head!  She must be flexible!

 Here's her right foot.  She looks like she's kicking me pretty good!

Another foot pic.

This is another shot of her precious little face.  It's similar to the earlier one looking down on her instead of from the side.

This picture shows that she's indeed a lil girl :)!

Deric gave this to me when we got home from our appointment day.  He said he's had it for awhile and knew that one day we would find out that we're having a girl and give it to me then because it looked liked the perfect necklace to celebrate having a girl.  I've decided that when our little girl has a girl of her own, this beautiful necklace will be passed down to her and hopefully the tradition will continue.  Until then, I will wear this proudly and will always remember this day.  I do have the best husband ever!!