22 Weeks

I started feeling Ringlet move about two or three weeks ago. This week, it's been non-stop movement! Kyle can't feel her yet, but I also limit his belly touching :)

Ringlet is now the length of a papaya. I don't know, are those big? The bump's website will leave her at the papaya stage for a month; so no new fruits/veggies until week 25.

 

I go in for a Glucose Tolerance Test on January 10th. I've done a little research and not only am I at low risk, but only 3-5% of pregnant women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I'm not yet a believer that poking me with a needle is really necessary.

This weekend we'll be celebrating Christmas with my family. My aunt is flying in from Phoenix. Christine will be flying in tonight. The rest of the family will be driving down on Friday or Saturday. A second Merry Christmas to everyone!

Bump...

Me: "I feel like I'm getting really fat"
My husband: "No honey, you're just getting more pregnant" 

Random guy at work who looks like he's 9 months pregnant with twins: "Wow, I can sure tell you're pregnant. Your face is getting really chubby".

Purchasing agent at work: "One of the maintenance guys was noticing all the weight that you've been putting on. I had to explain to him that you had a bun in the oven."

The Baby Corner weight gain tracker: "You are 6 pounds over the high end of of your target weight range"

I've come to accept that weight gain is part of pregnancy. I am gaining more than some women and less than others. However, I've noticed that men should probably just avoid voicing their "pregnancy weight"observations...

21 Weeks

We are at 21 weeks. Little Ringlet is the length of a banana (head to toe). She's almost a full pound. Though she may only weigh one pound, I've gained over 10 pounds... Picture coming soon. I meant to take one this week, but I was in Arkansas and Oklahoma visiting customers for work... I will have a bump photo posted before 22 weeks. For sure.

Here are some photos from my work trip. Front row seats at the Arkansas game. (I have a tough job). I was reminded of how much I love college basketball...

 

While I was hard at work, Kyle was working hard on Ringlets nursery and hanging our Christmas decorations.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Organ and Body Parts = Check

I had a fun time yesterday getting to see all of little Ringlet's little body parts.

We saw all four chambers of the heart, the brain, spine, kidneys, etc. Luckily, she has two feet, two arms, two legs and two itty bitty hands, in addition at all of those important internal organs. The ultrasound tech confirmed that little Ringlet is still a girl :) We got to see her cute little button nose and what looked like a ski mask or pair of goggles. She was jumping all around and posing for us.

Whoa Oh, We’re Halfway There…

We’re 20 weeks and still growing. Next week, Little Ringlet will graduate from being measured from head to toe (rather than head to butt). With a current head to butt length of a cantaloupe, little Ringlet weighs in over 10 ounces.

 

Today, Kyle’s mom is coming to Terre Haute to go to the 20 week ultrasound with us. Hopefully we’ll have photos to post tomorrow.

Nursery update: Kyle finished the painting, the chair rail is up, and the blinds are hung. We’ve installed a dimmer switch, new white light switches, and doorknob. Tonight we’ll replace the dingy old outlets and covers. Then it’ll be all ready for Kyle to install the flooring. We can’t pick up the flooring until David gets back into town with the minivan on the 28th, so we might just have a week of nothing nursery related to work on… Any recommendations for Kyle’s hardwood flooring endeavor?

19 Weeks Pregnant

We are now 19 weeks pregnant. In fruit and vegetable terms, that means Ringlet is now the length of a mango. I haven’t taken any pictures of my pregnancy belly yet. Hannah, I promise to post one soon! 

My new pet peeve is belly touching. It’s not a huge deal, but just really awkward.  The less I know someone, the creepier. I guess I would never go up to someone and start rubbing their belly. And I promise you (random person that I just met) even if you rub it longer, a magic genie will not appear. I guess every pregnant woman is different, but as for me, hands off the bump :)

Kyle’s friend, Bryan Brownewell, was visiting this weekend. Anything that they could bet on or make into a competition, they did. While they were concentrating on boardgames, Frisbee, and football, my dad and I installed a dimmer switch and new outlets in Ringlet’s nursery. One more coat of lilac, and the painting will be completed. Up next, hanging blinds and hardwood floors.

On Sunday, I went to Theresa’s Christmas party in Bloomington. She had a great turnout, and got me in the holiday spirit. I even got to see these guys this weekend:

Signing out,

Michelle (and Reggie)

What’s in a Name…

Naming a baby is hard. Very hard.

We’ve thrown around names for weeks. Some were very nice, pretty names (names that I chose), and some names reminded me of awful people from my past whom I’d hate for any Ring offspring to share a name with (those were usually Kyle’s picks). No matter what name we rattled off, usually one of us didn’t like it.

I’ve heard horror stories of telling others the name that you’ve chosen prior to the baby being born. And the reasoning makes sense. When Kyle suggested the name “Anna”, I crinkled my nose and stuck out my tongue and looked like I was going to vomit. I think he realized that "Anna" wasn't going to make the short list.

No matter what name we choose, somebody's not going to like it. If it takes two of us weeks to find a name we both like, I’m sure it’d take years to find a name that everyone else likes too. And I think little Ringlet needs a name before she enters high school.

People constantly ask if we’ve picked a name. And I think we have, maybe… But for now, we’re going to hold off on announcing it; I’m not quite thick-skinned enough to politely handle a vomitty face.  :)

Holiday Gifting...

This year Kyle and I are cutting back on our Christmas shopping. With Ringlet on the way, we’re putting all extra $$ towards either things we’ll need (diapers, bottles, and butt creams) or things that I really want for her (hardwood flooring).
 

This year, in lieu of the traditional gift exchange, my family is doing a CD exchange. Steve and Susan are going to be contributing as well. Each person makes a CD of whatever kind of music they want (a holiday mix, your latest favorite artist, a Gym mix, or whatever you think up). You make 10 copies and at Christmas you give each person a copy of whatever you compiled. I’m excited to hear what kind of songs everyone else picks. Possibly, some music I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of??
 

In addition to forgoing having to purchase a lot of family gifts, I also decided to make my niece’s Christmas gift this year… Handmade finger puppets (I made a set for Ringlet too). 

Saturday's creation

18 Weeks

I'm pretty sure that's a sweet potato. Little Ringlet now measures over 5 1/2 inches! Our next doctor appointment is two weeks. Hopefully we'll have some updated photos to share from the ultrasound. In just two weeks I'll also be halfway through pregnancy. 

As I mentioned previously, Kyle has taken on the task of creating a nursery out of what used to be our office. He now only has 154 days left to empty the room, tear up the carpet, paint the ceiling and trim, paint the walls (5 different colors), paint and hang chair rail, hang new blinds and install hardwood floors. 

Here are pictures of his progress so far:

Old Wall and Trim Colors

New Colors

To Car or Not to Car...

I bought the TT back in 2006 and double paid my car payments. I had it paid off in about 2 ½ years. For a while I was car payment free.

When I took my job in Terre Haute, we purchased a Mazda3 and Kyle started driving the Audi; and the car payments started again. A few weeks ago, we sold the Audi, paid off the Mazda3 and eliminated our car payment. My parents have been lending us the Miata until we buy our next car.

Quick storyline: I bought the Miata when I first graduated college, I then flipped it into a swamp and State Farm totaled the vehicle. My dad bought the car off of State Farm for a reduced rate, fixed it up, and got it running again. Mom and Dad said we can borrow the Miata for as long as we want... (My parents are totally cool!)

We sold the Audi so we could purchase a  "family car". You know, one of those super nice, 4WD, all leather, luxury SUVs with the never used headlights on the top. We’ve had our eyes on this:

 

A brand new Nissan Xterra. Yet, Kyle's still driving the Miata. Why? Because every time I think we're ready to go take on another huge car loan, I watch this video: 

Here's a direct link to the video: http://www.daveramsey.com/media/flash/elearning/drive-free/player.html

Every time I watch that video,  I keep thinking, "maybe we could get by without the fancy schmancy SUV for just a few more months"

It's a ...

This Thanksgiving we got to share the wonderful news of Ringlet with Kyle’s family. We’ve been slowly leaking the news as we saw friends and family over the last few weeks. We decided telling people in person would be more sentimental than via email, mass text message, or social networks. And it was… I just wish we had the opportunity to tell everyone in person.

The Kelly-family Thanksgiving is similar to many family Thanksgivings, except at a much larger magnitude. Everyone takes their seat at an incredibly long table, and prior to carving the 3 or 4 turkeys, we go around the table saying what we are each thankful for. This year Kyle and I went last. He said that he was thankful for the expected addition to our family and I said that I was thankful for mother-daughter relationships.

That’s correct, little Ringlet is a GIRL! We can now start using words like “she” and “her”. We had an ultrasound appointment right before Thanksgiving, and brought my mom with us. She didn't know about the appointment, or that we were finding out the gender.

We had planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family on Saturday; however the whole family was sick, so we decided not go over to my parent’s house. Instead Kyle and I cleared out our office, and started transforming it into Ringlet’s room. After four trips to the paint store and numerous samples of purple and greens, I think that we’ve picked out the perfect paint colors. Kyle started to paint the ceiling and trim. Next up will be painting the walls five different colors and hanging chair rail (which also needs to be painted). After that he plans to hang new blinds and install hardwood floors. Have I told you how talented my husband is?

On Sunday my friend Jim and his wife Kristin met us out for lunch in Terre Haute. They were heading back to Chicago from Columbus and made a detour to hang out. It was nice catching up and hearing about their honeymoon and discussing life with dogs and babies :)

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend.

P.S. For anyone who's keeping tabs, Ringlet's now the size of an onion.

Arizona...

I phones take awesome photos, especially when the weather is gorgeous!

Kyle and I are back from Arizona. We had such a great time with my best friend, Draves and her fiance, Mark. It's the first time since being pregnant that I've had a ton of fun and didn't even notice that I couldn’t have a glass of wine (that speaks magnitudes of how fun these two are). They are adorable together and I think they really bring out the best in each other. It's such a good feeling to see someone you love this happy. 

On Saturday morning, Draves and I went wedding dress shopping in Scottsdale. For a girl who’s not much of a shopper, I surprisingly enjoy wedding dress shopping. I felt like we were on an episode of “say yes to the dress” (minus the overwhelming entourage, crying, and five digit price tags). While the boutique girls were clipping dress after dress, the boys were out on a “man-date”. Somehow in just a few hours, they stopped at a festival, went on a brewery tour, watched Wisconsin beat Illinois, had a beer at an ASU pub, and even browsed some trinkets. During their excursion, Kyle was shocked to be flashed the Arizona State pitchfork by a seven year old. By the time Draves and I met back up with them, they knew as much about each other as I know about Draves. Kyle's already hoping to go back for the Cub's spring training. Though he may be going solo, since at 8 months pregnant, I won't be able to fly.

Only three days of work this week. I hope it goes by fast!

16 weeks for Ringlet

Today Ringlet is 16 weeks. Did anyone guess it'd be the size of a yummy avocado?? (Oh, and I will challenge that an avocado is a vegetable, not a fruit. Similar to tomatoes, you find avocados in vegetable salads, not fruit salads).

16 weeks. That means another 24 weeks to go. Kyle has volunteered to paint the ceiling, walls, and install hardwood floors in the baby's room. I have a feeling he's going to need all 168 of the days we have left.

I haven't felt any baby kicks or hiccups yet. However, my belly keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It's starting to look more like a pregnancy belly rather than looking like I ate a few too many doughnuts. I was catching up with my friend Jim on the phone last night, and he asked if my belly was looking like a basketball... I'd say it's more like a partially deflated football. Not quite the perfect round bump that you see on TV.

Tonight we're flying out to Phoenix for the weekend. Then just three more days until Thanksgiving!

Ringlet's locks...

So far I've been able to avoid all bad pregnancy symptoms. No nausea or food aversions. No cravings for pickles or morning sickness. However, this week I've started experiencing very mild amount of heartburn. Although my sister (a doctor) tells me not to trust any old-wives tales, this one I really believe to be true... 

Heartburn during pregnancy = a hairy baby. 

I'm not sure if the heartburn is convincing me that our little Ringlet will be born with a full head of hair or if it's mine and Kyle's hospital birth photos... (And yes, Kyle's mom promises that photo on the left really is Kyle)

15 weeks tomorrow...

I decided to do tomorrow's post today. Especially since tomorrow's veteran's day and in celebration, I plan to not do anything productive.


Last weekend we took the niece and nephew to Indy. The weekend before we went to one of my best friend's weddings in Chicago. It was nice catching up with some of the guys that I spent so much time with my freshman and sophomore years of college (photo).

My friend Angela was suppose to come visit us in Terre Haute this weekend, and I was really bummed when she cancelled. However, yesterday Kyle sent me an evite asking me on a date on Saturday (insert "awww" here). A prenatal massage and dinner at the Melting Pot. He knows how to cheer me up.

Next weekend, Kyle and I are flying out to Phoenix. I get to go wedding dress browsing with Draves! It's been a while since I've last seen her, so it'll be great to girl chat and catch up.

And, the weekend after that is Thanksgiving! I don't think I've ever looked forward to Thanksgiving as much as I do this year. This year Kyle and I have a lot to be thankful for, and Thanksgiving dinner also marks the end of our silence about Ringlet.

Ringlet's fruit of the week is an orange. What a perfect fruit, since all I ever want lately is more orange juice. Kyle and I even started buying the gallon sized jugs, so we can cut back on our trips to the grocery.


I'm a bit nervous; at week 16 we move up from fruits to vegetables. Stay tuned to find out what healthy green we move up to next...

Fruit of the week...

A Sad Breakup and a New Relationship...

Today Kyle and I went through a very sad breakup. We parted ways with the Audi TT. A guy from Cincinnati came and purchased it just an hour ago. I even considered putting together a video tribute of all the good times we spent together. We will miss you Audi TT. Tear.

A note on our new relationship: The Terre Haute Q'doba opened today. I have a feeling that we will be frequenting the new establishment on a minimum of a weekly basis. Maybe I'll pick some up on the way home. I'm sure Kyle will think that it will help as we mourn the TT.

A few months back I sent Kyle a link that there would be a new Q'doba opening in Terre Haute. 

Kyle's response: "My prayers worked!! (Hmmm, maybe I should have been praying for something more important.)"

Zoo

Kyle here, first-time poster.  Yesterday, we decided to take advantage of a beautiful early November Saturday.  We picked up Franny and Yoshi and went to Indy.  After stopping to look at some wood flooring for the future baby's room, we went to the zoo.  Franny liked the giraffes and the rhinos.  Yoshi liked the lions and the babboons (especially the "monkey butts").

After the zoo, we met my parents and Kelly and Jason for a fun dinner before heading back home.  A good way to spend a Saturday. 

The First Day of the Second Trimester

Well, today's the day that most pregnant women finally start to breathe. We are officially in the second trimester, and as of today our chance of someday meeting Ringlet is 98%. Inhale deeply, and Exhale. Phew.

Yesterday's appointment went well. It's hard to go from seeing the little heartbeat each week to just once a month. The ultrasound tech had difficulties getting pictures, since Ringlet couldn't stay still. Here are the one's she did capture:

She said not to worry, the baby doesn't have a deformed face. It just kept moving while she was trying to take it's picture, so the face is a blur. She estimated it to be about 3oz and about 2 days larger than expected.

Boy or Girl? Early, Late or On Time?

I’d love to have a list of everyone’s guesses for Ringlet’s gender, birth day and time.

I’d like to document it in their baby book (You know, when I start one)... A special prize for whoever comes closest to the actually birthday and time.

So if you’re reading this blog, please vote! (Yes, that means you too)

We will be finding out the gender as soon as we can, and we’re not telling anyone until we have a sufficient number of guesses :)

For those who believe in old wives tales here are a few facts:

I did not have any morning sickness. None. No nausea, no troubles keeping food down. Nada.

My hair is growing faster.

My skin is worse than when I was a teenager.

If I crave anything, it's Orange Juice.

No food aversions.

Ringlet's heart rate at 10 weeks and 3 days was 174 bpm.

Ringlet has always measured right on track for size.

Our due date is May 4th.

By the way, to post a comment:

Click on the title of this blog post.

Put in your guess.

“For comment as”, select Name/URL.

Put your name under “Name” and leave the URL blank.

Vote now! Boy/Girl? Birthday? Time of Birth?

13 Weeks

Ringlet is officially 13 weeks in fetus age. When I did the 12 week post, I had a plum for breakfast. Ironically, this morning I had a peach. I think I might avoid pineapple and watermelon for a few months...

Here are Ringlet's stats:

Roughly the size of a peach. Almost 3 inches in length. Has developed vocal chords and fingerprints.

My facebook news feed leads me to believe that there will be a lot of other April/May 2012 babies. Maybe a baby-boom is in the works?? 

It seems like about now (13 weeks) is when people start breaking the news to family and friends. Kyle and I have decided to wait until Thanksgiving; that way we'll be able to tell people in person (there's just something nice about finding out in person, rather than via mass text message, email, or status update).

Kyle and I have no problem keeping the secret a few weeks longer. Though, I think our mom's are ready to tell the world!

Just a Crib...

Kyle and I found and bought this crib on craigslist:

It's just a crib. 

Just one piece of furniture. 

Not even assembled. 

Just sitting against a wall in our office. 

Just one of the many things we're going to need before Ringlet arrives in 28 weeks... 

I didn't think that "just a crib" would turn out to be "just a preview of sleepless nights, and a realization that some little, crying, real, live, tiny person will be lying in this crib waiting for one of us to tend to it's every needs in just 28 weeks". Yes, I realize that we have a long ways to go... But between this crib and my sweatpants, I'm realizing that "just 28 weeks" really isn't that far away!

A Zero Proof Beer Belly...

At 11 weeks and 6 days I officially started to feel my jeans digging into my stomach. Today, at 12 weeks and 1 day, I feel like I have a mini-beer belly. (Don't worry mom, no alcohol was consumed to create the beer belly). I swear this little pouch just showed up over night.

Kyle and I decided to dedicate today to searching for a larger vehicle. Before we set out on our adventure, I asked Kyle if I could just wear sweat pants. Like any good husband carefully responding to an overly sensitive pregnant wife, he said "of course". I have a feeling had he answered with anything else, we wouldn't have made it to the car dealerships...

The car searching adventure went well, sweatpants and all. We really like the Nissan Xterra, but I'm really not sure I'll ever be ready to part with the TT...


An update for those non-pregnancy experts:
At 12 weeks, the little Ringlet is the size of a plum... A lot of growing to be done in the next 6 months!

Plum from the bump.com. I guess it's normal for pregnant women to compare their fetuses to fruits and vegetables...

YoYo and his Big Wheel

Wahoo! YoYo's Two!

A few weeks back we celebrated YoYo's 2nd birthday. Here's a rundown on the events...
(Sorry about the sideway pictures... I'll have to figure out how to fix that!)


Kyle and YoYo played with the dogs... I am AMAZED at how good Reggie does with the kids. YoYo would throw him a ball and Reggie would be so happy and bring it back. He'd walk with Franny over to the playset and sit at the bottom of the stairs until she came back down. Overall, I think he's going to make a great family dog!

YoYo had fun with his superhero cape and mask from Aunt Dee and Uncle Bob. My dad's Uncle Bob and Aunt Dee had driven all the way from Arizona and were traveling around the Midwest visiting family and friends. They are two of the nicest people on the planet. It was great getting to see them.

Franny said that she loves her brother... I think that my favorite part of the night was after YoYo had opened one present; my mom handed him another gift, and he gave it to Franny and said "Your Turn". Wow. Talk about sharing!

YoYo loves his new Thomas Big-wheel.... (I have a video of him saying "Thank you Auntie Kiss, but I'll have to figure out how to upload that too). I love having a sister so that we can go in on gifts for birthdays, weddings, father's day, etc. It let's us get something so much cooler than I otherwise would have.

The birthday boy blew out his candles and then went straight for the frosting...

Overall, one great second birthday!

Our first i-phones

Saturday morning Kyle and I each activated our new i-phone 4s. Pretty much I've been playing on mine all weekend. My favorite thing so far is the camera. I liked the camera on the palm pre, but it never gave me pictures like these:

Yes, that's a pile of pregnancy books on the nightstand...

Little Ringlet's 10 week 3 day Photo Session

I met Dr. Nour and his midwife (Franny) yesterday. I really liked both of them. The ultrasound tech was really nice and funny. Kyle thinks it's a good sign that the midwife's name is Franny (we've never met a Franny that we didn't like). Even though, I adore my Indianapolis doctor (Dr. Priddy), I'm starting to think everything's going to be alright in Terre Haute...

The little guy/girl measured right on track with a Crown Rump Length (Crown=head, Rump=butt) of 3.46 cm. It's little heart beat measured at 174 bpm. I checked my ruler, and 3 1/2 cm is not very big!

I don't have to go to the doctor again for another month! It's been a long time since I've had such a long break from the doctor. Good thing I have a dentist appointment in between now and then to keep me occupied. The midwife said that I can go on LIGHT jogs and bike rides. She also released me to take yoga or any low impact class that doesn't raise my heart rate. I like her already! Unfortunately, I couldn't get her to tell me that a glass or two of wine was good for the baby...

YoYo's Birthday is on Hold (just the blog post)

The post on YoYo's birthday will be delayed until Kyle returns from his seminar in Indy. (He has the laptop with the birthday party photos)

Let's Make Like a Fetus and...

At ten weeks, the little ringlet is now "officially" a fetus. (This puts a damper on my signature fetus line).

My wonderful sister, Theresa, has lent me boat loads of pregnancy books. I've been reading one that she recently dropped off, and it said that 80% of women experience morning sickness. They compare morning sickness to a bad case of motion sickness that lasts for hours.  I guess I'm just in the lucky 20%.

On another note, Kyle and I ordered new phones this morning. We've been eligible for an upgrade for a while and our phones are cracked and make weird noises. Sprint just released one that happened to catch our eye :) Cheers to another 2 years with sprint!
 

Business Lunch

Yesterday, Kyle was meeting some other attorneys for lunch. So, I decided to meet some other associates for lunch as well. Here's a summary of what was discussed:

YoYo will be turning 2 this week. He argued that he'll be 3, but Franny was quick to correct the group, that he will in fact be turning 2. 

When asked what he wants for his birthday, he said "uh huh" to just about everything we suggested.

Franny said that for her birthday she wants a blue daddy-horsey to go with her pink mommy horsey, that way her and YoYo can both ride at the same time. She added that YoYo is not very good at jumping while on the horse. She also said that she wants a baby doll like Auntie Chel so her baby and my baby can be friends. She informed us that she has a lot of friends. Franny predicted that Auntie Chel is going to have a little baby girl with blonde hair.

It was confirmed that Franny likes black olives. This was discovered when she saw me eating around them on my plate and said, "I like those". I responded with, "What?" She then proceeded to grab the olives off my plate and say "THEESE!" I asked her if YoYo likes olives, she said, "no". I wasn't sure if this was a ploy so she didn't have to share them with him, so I gave him one, (he did keep pointing at my plate like he wanted one). It was true. YoYo does not like black olives. 

Spaghetti mustaches': The new "in" look