Doctor's Appointment & Ultrasound

Monday we were given the best Christmas gift yet - a great check up and a healthy ultrasound! At my 19 week ultrasound, I was told that my placenta is "low lying." This means that instead of it being high on my uterus (as it should be), it's low down by my cervix. Normally, as the uterus grows, the placenta grows up with it. However, if it doesn't, then an automatic C Section and bed rest is required towards the end of pregnancy. I wasn't too worried, because the majority (in the 90th percentile) of women who have a low lying placenta early in pregnancy don't have the issue later on.

So after we were told the good news that my placenta had grown up and was normal, we got to see Peyton move around and even yawn a few times! I'm not sure if he was actually yawning, but he was opening and closing his mouth. He was measuring about 2 weeks ahead, mainly because of his large head!

The past few weeks we've been cleaning out my office, which will be the nursery. The closet was full of boxes, so we spent a lot of time cleaning out other rooms and closets in the house to make more room for storage. Every thing's pretty much cleared out, except for the big pile of Goodwill and Craigslist stuff sitting in our loft. Somehow we got away without needing to rent a storage unit. So in the next few weeks we'll be painting and the decorating will begin!

Being that I've got lots of Christmas shopping yet to do (eek!), I probably won't have a chance to blog tomorrow. So here's the tidbit for 26 weeks:

Your baby is as tall as an English hothouse cucumber and weighs about 1 2/3 pounds. (Length: 14 inches, head to heel.) *Peyton was measuring about 1 lb, 15 oz on Monday, which means by tomorrow he'll probably be 2 lbs!

I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A VERY MERY CHRISTMAS AND THAT WE ALL REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

LOVE TO YOU ALL!

Deck the Halls!

Just wanted to post a few pics of our house all decked out in the Christmas spirit!

A little tradition I've been doing since 2002, the first year Steve and I started dating, is to get an ornament for that year and put our picture in it. It's fun to pull out all the past ornaments and remember each year. It's also a little crazy, at this point, to see how much we've aged and changed! But we always have a good laugh at a few of the oldies but goodies :)

Christmas 2002

Christmas 2003

Taken in Carlsbad, CA

Christmas 2004

Christmas 2005

Another in Carlsbad, CA

Christmas 2006

An engagement pic - Dec 23rd was when he popped the question!

Christmas 2007

The year of our wedding!

Christmas 2008

Our first Christmas w/ Ginger :)

This years pic will probably be a belly shot, and 2010's will be our first real family picture! Here's what our cozy house looks like:

And here's an ornament my mom gave us - Parents to be!

Here's Santa's (bad) helper:

She wasn't too thrilled about her new necklace, but we were ;)

Baby hiccups?

Thursday night after I got up to use the restroom, I noticed Peyton started kicking a lot. As I laid there, I felt him kicking and then noticed some light twitching that was pretty consistent and coming from where I think his head was. It only lasted a few minutes, but I'm pretty sure it was hiccups!

I was reading about hiccups the next day and it was saying how they're practicing breathing and if you eat something or get startled, they'll sometimes get the hiccups. So maybe when I suddenly got up to use the bathroom that startled him. It hasn't happened since but am hoping it does!

Update

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! I can't believe Christmas is in 2 weeks, let alone New Years in 3 weeks. Wow!

Steve got back today from a Real Estate conference in Texas. He was gone for 4 days and it was so hard to be away from him! It definitely gave me some insight as to what women go through when their husbands are away for months at a time in Afghanistan... only that would be a million times worse. I don't know how any of them do it!

While he was gone, I spent a few nights at my moms house. It was lots of fun and she really pampered me (& Peyton). She made huge meals both nights and we watched a few Christmas movies. Mom got in some really big kicks from Peyton and it was nice to get some mommy/daughter time in before I become a mommy myself. :)

Last Saturday kicked off the Christmas Party marathon! Then this weekend we have 3 events to go to and up until New Years, our weekends are packed. Even though I love this time of year, all I can find myself thinking about is the baby and starting the nursery! I know come January 1st (the start of not only a New Year, but the 3rd trimester), I'll be tearing the Christmas decorations down and be in baby mode until the nursery is complete. Also in Jan we start our childbirth preparation classes, baby care class, and I'll take a breast feeding class. Then Feb is the baby shower, and I'll also be getting maternity pictures taken around then too. (can't wait!)

Tomorrow I'll be 24 weeks. The picture of me was taken tonight.

Here's the tidbit for this week:

Your baby has caught up with an ear of corn in size and gained about 1/4 pound since last week. (Length: almost a foot.)

I can't believe he's gaining 4 ounces a week now! I remember when he would gain 1/2 an ounce a week and that seemed to be a huge milestone.

Oh also, I have to share the biggest laugh of the week. I took my car into get serviced and check out what they gave me as a rental -- a Smart Car! I think karma caught up to me because just last week I said those cars are the ugliest cars ever! I'll admit, I had a choice to get something else, but this was free of cost and I was kinda curious about it. ;)

Enjoy the rest of the week!

23 Weeks!

Today I'm 23 weeks pregnant! Steve took a picture of me last night and boy have I grown. No wonder my back is killing me!

Peyton's been kicking a lot and I love every minute of it. My appetite has definitely increased and I've noticed my tennis shoes have been pretty tight, so I think my feet are swelling a bit. To date, my biggest pregnancy complaint is definitely the awful backaches. However, if that's the worst it gets, I'd say I'm pretty lucky :)

Here's a tidbit about 23 weeks:

Your baby weighs about as much as a large mango -- just over a pound. (Length: more than 11 inches.)

And the Winner Is...

We're excited to announce the name of our baby boy... and the winner is... PEYTON!!

Amazingly, it wasn't a hard choice, as we both fell in love with it right away. Funny how it came about -- one night at an ASU football game, Steve was joking and said, "We should name him Peyton Tom Eddie Olson!" These are a few of his favorite people: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Eddie Vedder. We laughed then after a second I said, "I actually like the name Peyton!" That night we looked up the meaning (Warrior of the Village) and fell in love.

Since then we've used it constantly and nothing seems more fitting. We're still deciding on a middle name, but for now he's Peyton Olson!!

Peter Piper Pizza

The other night Steve was so kind to take me to my favorite pizza place - Peter Piper Pizza! To kill some time, we played some games and spotted a cute little boy eying the prizes who we gave our tickets to. He was probably the most thankful kid we've ever given tickets to. :)

On our way out, his mom thanked us as well and said that soon we'll be keeping those tickets for our little one. That was the first person to mention something about my pregnant belly! I was wondering how long it would take before people no longer wondered if I was fat or pregnant, ha ha. But I was super excited!

Then she asked our due date and about had a heart attack when she found out, because her boy we gave tickets to was born on April 1st!

Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent Thanksgiving in Flagstaff with all of Steve's extended family. It's always so fun to head to the pines and cold weather for a few days and catch up with the fam. We saw a movie Thanksgiving night - 2012. I'll admit, I slept through almost the whole thing! It wasn't the best movie, but I was also sooo tired from the day. :)

Ginger was such a good little girl and got lots of attention from everyone. She loved it! My family took it easy this year - dad, Julie, and Laurie headed out this morning for a weekend hiking the Grand Canyon. That's the one thing that I'll be anxious to do after my pregnancy is hike the Grand Canyon. I'm a native of AZ and have never hiked it! Definitely on the To Do list.

For the remaining of the weekend I have plans to put up the Christmas decorations, cook my first turkey, and of course go to the ASU vs UofA game! I steered clear of any Black Friday shopping - I must be getting old because fighting the crowd to save a few bucks doesn't sound appealing at all!

I hope everyone had a moment to think about all that they're thankful for. For me, it came easy, which is a blessing in itself!

Doctor's Appointment

Yesterday I had another doctor's appointment and all is well! She actually started measuring my uterus with a measuring tape and I was right on track. His heartbeat sounded great! I was given a registration form to fill out for the hospital and a big book of info. Exciting to start getting that stuff! After I asked my millions of questions, I was on my way!

Birthday Celebrations!

This weekend we celebrated Steve's Aunt Terri's birthday in Flagstaff and his cousin Katie's 30th in Los Angeles... all in one weekend! We were on the road a lot, but it was worth it.

Friday late afternoon Steve, Dennis, Joan, & I arrived into Flagstaff and went to Terri's surprise, all-girls birthday party! Boy was she surprised! Props to Uncle Gregg and Megan for putting together such a fun party.

Then, early Saturday morning we hit the road and arrived in LA just in time for Katie's 30th birthday party. Her boyfriend hosted at his beautiful house in West Hollywood. That was a fun time! (Unfortunately I didn't get any pics.) That night after dinner, Joan felt the baby kick for her first time! She was so excited and as always, I was ecstatic that Baby O performed for Grandma. :)

That next morning we met up with the Knight's for brunch, then headed home. Happy birthday to Aunt Terri and Katie!! And thanks to Dennis and Joan for a wonderful weekend away!

Girls Weekend in Palm Springs!

This past weekend we had a girls weekend in Palm Springs, CA! My mom, sisters, and I had the best time together and I believe it was the first time the 4 of us have ever spent a weekend away with only each other.

We stayed at the Desert Springs Marriott, which was lovely and we had plenty to do there. We took a boat ride through the resort, walked around the grounds, spent some time at the Starbucks (moms fav) and had a steak and crab dinner. There was an Ernst & Young conference that weekend, so it was very busy, but that also made it lots of fun. Jay Leno was there Saturday night to talk at the Ernst & Young gala. Too bad we didn't run into him!

Friday night after we got back from dinner, the baby started kicking and my mom & sisters got to feel him kick for the first time! I think I was just as excited as they were!

We spent Saturday shopping at the Cabazon outlets and walked around downtown Palm Springs. We also worked in a pedicure before heading home on Sunday. It was a fun time for sure!

When I got back home, Baby O started kicking a ton and Steve got to feel him for quite awhile. Ever since then, he's been kicking and turning pretty constantly. Nothing in the world seems to matter during the moments I'm feeling him kick. Sometimes I just sit back, close my eyes, and imagine what he's doing inside my womb. I get the biggest,

uncontrollable smile on my face and an overall feeling of peace and calmness. :)

On a side note, Steve was at Dick's Sporting Goods in Gilbert on Friday night when he noticed Chester Bennington, singer of Linkin Park, sitting right next to him trying shoes on! Steve got a picture with him (unfortunately it's blurry) and called me up right away, he was so excited! Glad Steve had some fun this weekend too :)

20 Down, 20 to Go!

Today I'm 20 weeks, which means I'm officially halfway through my pregnancy! As I feel more and more kicks, I'm that much more anxious to meet our little guy. It has become so real compared to the first trimester, when I often wondered if I was really pregnant. :)

We've got lots to do in preparation, and with the holiday's, I'm thinking we won't get started until after the new year.

I've been going to prenatal yoga, which has been amazing! Just talking with other pregnant women during class time has taught me more than any doctor's visit or book I've read (well, almost). And of course, the stretching and strengthening had helped my body and very achy back.

Here's a tidbit about 20 weeks:

Your baby has grown as big as a banana. (Length: about 6 1/2 inches from head to bottom, and 10 inches from head to heel.)

November 5, 2009 Ultrasound

Here's a few pictures from our most recent ultrasound on Nov 5th. The first is showing his two legs and what's in between... a boy! ;) The other is a profile shot - you can see his head, belly, legs, and his right hand waiving near his head. That's our boy!!

Catch up & Milestones

I stopped blogging for a while since I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with this site or not. BUT I am :)

Catch Up:

We had the first trimester screening test done on Sept 18th and the results came back great! What a piece of mind. We got a 25 minute ultrasound and a DVD of the whole thing, along with amazing 4D pictures. The tech also asked if we wanted to know the sex... we said, "yeah... you can tell already?!" TOTALLY not expecting to find out until 18 weeks but excited to find out NOW, she said, "It's a Boy!" WAHOO! Steve wanted a boy more than anything, I wanted a boy because of how bad he did. We shared the news with our friends and on facebook that night.

A few weeks later, I got a nasty cold. After a few days, Steve got it. This was really hard since I didn't take anything for the symptoms. But I toughed it out and within a week I was better and 2 weeks later I was completely back to normal.

Luckily we were both better in time for our PEARL JAM extravaganza!! We went to Hollywood and

saw them 2 nights in a row, then headed to San Diego for another show. It was a great trip and we did all sorts of other fun things on our week vacay. :)

While we were there, I started feeling the baby kick!!!!!! At the time I was unsure, but was almost sure it was quickening. In

hindsight, I'm positive it was him kicking!

A few days after we got home, Rachel & Jansen flew in from NC and stayed with us for 11 days! Kevin flew in a few days after them. We had a great time!

I had my first annual pumpkin carving party on Oct 23rd. That was so fun! I made caramel apples, cookies, cupcakes, and just spent an evening with great friends carving away.

On Oct 25 while we were laying in bed, the baby started kicking really hard! It took me by surprise that I literally jumped. I grabbed Steve's hand in hopes he'd feel it and indeed he did - he felt the baby kick 2 times!!!! It was SO EXCITING!!

2 days later we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary! We went to dinner at Sapporo where we sat next to another couple celebrating 2 years AND the wife was 18 weeks preggers (same as me) and next to them was a couple celebrating 3 years. Weird!

We spent Halloween day at the ASU football game (we won't talk about that loss, ha) and the night handing out candy, imagining how next year we'll have our own little pumpkin. :)

A fews days later I turned 28, and had yet another fun birthday! My mother-in-law took me to Destination Maternity and really spoiled me :) Got TONS of maternity clothes. We

went to dinner at my mom's house where I got more gifts and a yummy homemade lasagna dinner! On my actual bday we took the day off and went shopping - got a Coach baby bag and a prenatal massage. Steve made me breakfast and gave me beautiful flowers. 28 is great so far!

We had another doctor's appointment not too long ago and all was well! We heard the heartbeat (that NEVER gets old) which was nice and strong.

Today we had our 19 week ultrasound where we were supposed to find out the sex of the baby ;) Again, all was well and we got a firm confirmation that indeed, It's a Boy!! I'm measuring a week ahead, which makes me think I'll either be having a big baby, or a baby in March. Either way works for me! Healthy and strong is all I'm hoping for :)

That sums up the past month or so. I'll be better at blogging now that I'm back in the groove. Check back often! XoXo!!!

12 weeks is finally here!

I can't believe I'm 12 weeks along! Starting the 2nd trimester is quite exciting! I must say, the "horrible" first trimester wasn't bad at all. But, I'm ready for this "relaxing/better part of pregnancy" 2nd trimester to begin. I've already noticed a few of my symptoms subsiding. Although the tiredness hasn't gone away yet!

So our biggest concern right now is whether or not I should get the swine flu shot. Doctor's say yes, my intuition says no. We still have a lot of talking and research to do over the next month, so hopefully by then we'll know the right answer for us.

I'm getting super excited for the holiday's! I can feel Fall in the air (despite the 97 degree's today). ASU football season is here and I just feel like there's so much to look forward to. October will be busy - Rachel will be staying with us for nearly 2 weeks! We're taking a week vacay to Cali for some Pearl Jam action, our 2nd Anniversary is in Oct, not to mention birthday's and Halloween!

I'll start posting belly pics soon here since I'm starting to pooch a tiny bit. I've been taking them weekly since 4 weeks, but nothing too exciting to post for the normal eye ;)

Happy Birthday, Ginger!

Gingersnap is 4 years old today! She's the cutest and sweetest doggie ever. I can't wait to see her with a baby in the house! I attached one of my favorite videos. Click the link to watch. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMppUgSQNPU

2nd Doctor's Appointment

Today we had our 2nd doctor's appointment, I can't believe it's already been 4 weeks since my last one!

I was anxious to get all of my results back from the million tubes of blood I gave and of course all the other tests. I found out I have A positive blood type, which made me happy because had it been a negative type, I would've had to take medication so it doesn't interfere with the baby's blood, for lack of a better explanation. She told me ALL of my tests came back normal and pointed out that my Vitamin D levels were above average, which made me proud :)

Next we listened for the heartbeat... which we couldn't hear. Such a bummer, but it was still a fun experience hearing everything else in my stomach. She said since I've got a long torso there's more room for the baby to be and therefore harder to find and hear. She also said that my long torso may be a reason why I may not start showing until 20 weeks or so. 20 weeks!! That's more than half way through, we'll know the sex by then, and you're telling me I may barely be showing by then?! Doesn't seem right!

Another great appointment and we're already anxious for our next one!

Happy Birthday Steve!

Steve turns 29 today! Happy Birthday Babe! We're going to the new water park, Wet 'N Wild. Although I won't be going on any slides, I'll have fun watching him. ;) We're celebrating with his friends tomorrow, and family on Sunday. One more year till he's... dun, dun, dun... 30!! Here are some pics that I added from the weekend.

First Doctor's Visit

On Monday, August 3rd, Steve & I had our very first doctor's appointment & it was one of the best days of our lives.

After all the routine stuff, the doctor told me that because I was experiencing intense cramping at night, they wanted to do a precautionary ultrasound. *Note to self: want early ultrasound, complain of bad cramping! * We were SO happy because we couldn't wait any longer to get a first look at our little one.

This was an amazingly special moment that I can't even begin to describe. We didn't quite know what to expect, except for what you see in the movies :) After the technician said everything was great, I was so happy that I wasn't thinking about anything other than the good news.

Out of nowhere, she pointed out the heartbeat and then we heard it. We both had tears in ours eyes (okay, i was crying a bit) and it was beating at 99 BPM, which I think it had only been beating for a day or two. I hope God continues to be this good to us!

I'm Pregnant!

We're so excited that I'm Pregnant!

A little background: We decided to become parents back in March, & had to wait 3 months before trying for maternity insurance reasons. These 3 months were hard but well worth the wait.

Fast forward 3 months and 3 weeks later and I WAS PREGNANT!!!

What a blessing to have it happen the very first month. Already off to a good start! We found out the good news on Monday, July 20th when we took a pregnancy test and it was positive!!

New Blog!

Now that I'm pregnant, I thought this would be a good time to get started on a blog. My plan is to update this with any new events and pictures regarding my pregnancy and just our life in general.

Although we've decided to keep quiet about this exciting news until I'm 12 weeks (& won't share this blog until then), I figured I'd better get started now so all of the new and exciting things that are happening can be written about in the moment.

We hope you enjoy it!

XOXO

Jenny, Steve, & Baby Olson <--- that's weird to say!