Pregnancy Recap

Now that I am nearing the end of my pregnancy (8 weeks to go!), I'd like to share a little bit about my pregnancy journey.

First Trimester.....

October 15, 2012.... Morning sickness began and I didn't see relief until the beginning of December, so about 8-9 weeks of terrible nausea, throwing up and horrible food aversions.  Nothing tasted good and food was hard to keep down. I was prescribed Zophran, which helped some days and other days not so much.  I actually lost a few pounds during the first trimester and was almost sent to the hospital a couple times due to dehydration and not being able to keep anything down.  All in all...NOT FUN!

November 12, 2012.... I heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time today!  What an absolute amazing sound!   The heart rate was 150 bpm and the doctor said it sounded "girly"...he then told me that over 140 bpm makes him think it may be a girl.

December 4, 2012.... Aaron came with me to the doctor appointment   This was the first time we heard the baby's heartbeat together at the doctor.  We heard it clear as day!  The heart rate was 160 bpm.  I am finally starting to feel better now that I am nearing the end of my first trimester and my appetite is returning to normal...thank goodness!  I haven't felt like myself for the last couple of months and this relief is much needed.

After running the 2012 Akron Marathon-9/29/12-4 weeks pregnant

At our niece Bella's 1st Birthday party-about 10 weeks pregnant

Second Trimester.....

January 25, 2013....we have our 20 week ultrasound to check to make sure baby is healthy and find out the gender. We were so nervous, excited, anxious....just so many emotions were going through both Aaron and I before this ultrasound.  More than anything, we just wanted to be reassured that the baby was healthy, growing, and everything was normal.  The sonographer was very nice, her name was Ginger, and she talked to us throughout the ultrasound.  We watched everything on a big tv screen on the wall.  The baby was very active while she was looking at all the organs, bones and the heart.  Of course Aaron (being the RN he is) was talking to the sonographer in medical terms I couldn't understand.  My heart was racing so fast the entire time....at the end the sonographer told us we were expecting a BABY GIRL!  I cried...I was so happy.  Tears of joy, and just so relieved that the baby was healthy and everything was okay!  After the ultrasound I had a regular check up with the doctor.  Needless to say, my blood pressure was very high when the nurse took it....but only from all the excitement that had just occurred :)  Aaron and I decided on what we were going to name our little girl at the doctor's office, but agree we want to keep it a secret until after the baby is born.

20 weeks...Baby Girl Frye 1/25/13

2nd Trimester Highlights....

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

• Nursery planning begins as soon as we find out we are having a little girl....we end up deciding on a pastel and bird theme for the room
• Clean out and paint nursery...we choose Buoyant Blue from Sherwin Williams
• I start feeling baby movements!  Around week 18-19 I feel movements.  At first they feel like bubbles popping in my stomach.  By week 20 the movements are more distinct and I feel them more often....more noticeable at night.
• My mom and I start thinking of Baby Shower ideas, choose a date, pick out invitations and send them out to family and friends.
• We pick out and order nursery furniture from Wayside Furniture in Akron.  We picked out a crib and dresser made by Young America.
• I have to start buying more maternity clothes! I start showing around week 15 once my morning sickness passed and I start putting back the weight that I lost during my first trimester.  Luckily my good friend Lisa let me borrow a bunch of her maternity tops from when she was pregnant a year ago. 
• Appetite is fairly normal, nausea is gone and I have a lot of energy!
• Baby Registry time....my friend Lisa went to Babies R Us with me one day and we spent about 2-3 hours registering for baby items. All I can say is.. THANK GOODNESS she was there to guide me...I still left the store slightly overwhelmed but thanks to her help, it made it much easier and I think we registered for all the main necessities.  My favorite item on our Baby Registry is probably the Graco Jogger stroller...I am hoping we can get a lot of use out of it and go for walks and runs together this summer & fall :)
• Signed up for 2 baby classes at Akron General....Baby Care for Beginners and a Childbirth class.
• "Nesting" has kicked in and I want to organize EVERYTHING (not completely out of the the ordinary for me) but I find the need to want to purge items we don't need to make room for baby stuff.  My main priority is the nursery at this point but that doesn't stop me from re-organizing the entire kitchen, spare bedroom, pantry and every other closet and drawer in our house.

Freshly painted nursery...We chose Buoyant Blue (Sherwin Williams)

15 weeks

17 weeks

20 weeks...wearing my favorite shirts of the 2nd trimester (one my friend Lisa let me borrow)...it so cozy and I wear it often in my 2nd trimester

23 weeks

25 weeks

My best friend Liz and I at her baby shower on March 2, 2013---she is due 4 weeks before me.  It has been great going through this experience together!  Her shower was adorable...Very Hungry Caterpillar themed.  Her and her husband are waiting to find out the gender.

Third Trimester....

March 16, 2013....We attend our Baby Care for Beginners Class, a 3 hour class on a weekend. This class was extremely helpful in my opinion and helped ease some anxiety I start to feel as I enter into my third and final trimester.  We learned things like how to properly bathe a newborn, swaddle, diaper and basic first aid. The instructor also touched on things like what to expect before, during and after delivery at the hospital.  Aaron agreed the class was helpful and we were glad we took it.  He looked like a natural holding and diapering the "fake baby" we were given for the class.

28, 29, 30 and 31 week pictures

The one outside was a warm April evening after a little tennis playing in the driveway with Aaron.  I'm loving the weather getting warmer and things getting greener outside...it means the baby is close and I'm getting excited!  The picture of Aaron playing guitar was from Easter Sunday, we had dinner at my parents (who just moved to Ohio) and him and my dad played some guitar and banjo post dinner :)

My baby shower is next weekend, April 20th, at our house---my mom is hosting it for us. There are about 30 people that RSVP'd. Our nursery furniture gets delivered next week so I'm excited to get the nursery completely set up before everyone comes to our house.  The room has been painted since early in my 2nd trimester and we have a wall decal, 3 prints and wall bookshelf to hang.  We already have the glider and ottoman so we are just waiting on the crib and dresser. I have also made tissue poms and hung them from the one corner in the nursery to add some color and dimension to the room. I have loved decorating and designing our little girl's nursery :)

Baby Shower invitation created and printed from Shutterfly.com

2 months to go until my due date of June 12!  I have been measuring right on schedule and baby girl is SUPER active...and with the lack of space in my belly, the movements are more pronounced and stronger than ever!  I love feeling her kick, squirm and roll around in there though and wouldn't trade this feeling for anything.  We are truly blessed to have had a healthy pregnancy up to now.  Of course I am starting to get a bit uncomfortable at times....and I make Aaron very aware of this ;-)...but then again I am not one to hide my feelings...good or bad... and I never have been....he knows this and has been so supportive.  For the most part I feel good though.  No swelling yet (been checking my wedding rings every day to make sure I can still get them on and off)...and still wearing my heels.  However I have only worn my Clarks shoes for the majority of my 2nd and 3rd trimester which are amazingly comfortable and still give me some height, which I need only being 5'1".  Still able to wear some of my non-maternity shirts, although the selection of those that still fit are spare but I still have enough options for work every day.