baby olive is here!

wow.. i have so much to say, but yet it is so hard to put the last 4 days into words! my water broke at noon on friday, april 4th and olive louise was born at 1:00 am on saturday, april 5th. it was an absolutely amazing experience, more than i could have ever imagined. i was lucky to be able to have a completely natural labor and delivery, everything worked out so well and my recovery has been great. olive was 6lbs 10oz, nice sized, but still a 5 week early premie. she needed a little assistance breathing at frist, but was released from the nursery after 1 hour.. josh was with her holding her hands the whole time. we are mesmerized with how incredibly perfectly beautiful she is, we cannot seem to put her down!

we hope to begin sharing lots of pictures and details with you soon, but i wanted to let you all know we are doing great and let you have a peek at her!

pretty green organic baby shower!

we had our big shower this past sunday, it was perfect! the theme was organic/green and the wonderful hosts pulled it off beautifully. i loved it all! we had great food.. lots of fruit, cheese, potters crackers, nuts, cupcakes and some delicous salads for lunch. it was all very yummy! ruthmari's diaper cake was amazing, check out the pic bellow.. made with organic diapers of course! my mom came and i was so happy to see her, she is very excited to be a first time grandma! we had a great turnout and the baby received lots of gifts. thanks everyone for being so generous! what a lovely day! THANK YOU!!!

greta and the wonderful shower hosts..
ruthmari, donna, debbie and ashley

greta and cousin carolyn

best diaper cake ive ever seen!

custom hand stamped napkins!

my absolute favorite.. chocolate mint!

leaf fruit skewers

how cute is this appetizer display!

yummy salads!

playing aunt donna's games

our niece gracie is a great present helper

a very pretty knitted blanket from GG!

my aunt kathy made the baby a super cute sock monkey quilt!

josh's "diapering after dark" toolbelt kit!

34 weeks!

Baby Andersen now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

co-ed friend baby shower!

our really great friends victoria and adam threw us a great co-ed baby shower. they had a lot of delicous food that josh could actually eat, including a dairy-free, gluten-free bundt cake! we played games.. guess the melted candy bar in the diaper, pin-the-tail-on-the-baby, and we decorated onsies. we got a bunch of great gifts, thanks everyone!

adam, shower time!

yummy food

victoria and adams delicious bundt cake

guess the melted candy bar in the diaper game.. ewwww!

onesie decorating

josh playing pin-the-tail-on-the-baby

lorraine playing pin-the-tail-on-the-baby

vince playing pin-the-tail-on-the-baby

33 weeks!

This week baby Andersen weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Well, this has been the first really tough week. I switched to a new doctor who i feel so much more comfortable with and who is also much much closer to me. the practice is a family practice so he will be the baby's pediatrician too, very cool. the hospital i will be delivering at is highland park hospital, about 45 minutes away. in the process of switching doctors it was discovered that my blood pressure is higher than they would like it to be. this is new, its been normal until now. i am also borderline anemic and retaining alot of water. these are the symptoms of preclampsia which would not be so good and i am really hoping to avoid.

the good news is i have a whole list of things i can do to help turn this around and i am doing them all! most of them are dietary changes, more protein from meat, less whole grains and a whole bunch of different supplements. they also have me drinking a daily gallon of distilled water for 3 days. ive been taking a walk everyday which is really great because it is so beautiful up here, spring is coming yeah!!

i have 2 baby showers coming up, one this saturday, and i am so excited! ill post some pics and all the details soon!

7 weeks to go and cant wait to get this baby out!

32 weeks!

By now, baby Andersen weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

thanks a million!!!

ive been feeling really lucky lately and i want to thank the other people that are helping me so much and making life much easier for me.

a big gigantic thanks to josh who has been so awesome throughout my whole pregnancy. we've always been a team and done just about everything together and during this pregnancy he's had so take care of so much without me and take care of me at the same time. he hasnt complained once! everything ive asked him to do he does, he does everything he can to make me more comfortable and brings me flowers. yes, i know.. im the luckiest girl in the world.

also a huge thanks to tom and ruthmari (josh's mom and dad). they have done so much for us and i cant thank them enough. the fact that we can all live under the same roof and not want to strangle each other is really a testament to how cool they really are, love you 2! ruthmari takes me on errands often and i am so grateful for this.

thanks to the rest of our families and friends who have been really supportive and excited along with us about our baby!

im totally crying rignt now.. im such a cliche pregnant lady!

a shout out to my very special friend rosie!

my very special friend rose is every pregnant womans dream! she has been coming to my house every tuesday and giving me a fantastic pregnancy massage. i cannot even begin to explain how great this feels.. i finally have relief from lower back pain! rose is a massage therapist, soon to be certified. if you need a great massage.. i can put you in touch with rose. best massage ever.. i aint lyin!

ultrasound pictures.. so cute!

our ultrasound yesterday was amazing! they had a new setup that included the ultrasound on a big screen tv right in front of us.. we could see it all! no.. we still dont know if its a boy or girl.. its a surprise for all of us. josh's mom (ruthmari) and sister (ashley) came along with us. so far the verdict is that baby andersen looks like greta.. what do you think?

oh, and you should all know that i am having a nice big baby.. this baby is already 4.6 lbs, not the 3.something that the average baby is at 31 (almost 32 weeks). the doctor estimated that baby andersen will be 8.6 lbs at full term!


cant wait to kiss those lips!

here the baby smiled for a few seconds..


look closely.. its the babies profile..

baby greta.. this was the youngest pic i had..

newborn baby josh..

31 weeks!

This week, baby Andersen measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

30 weeks.. waddle in full swing!

Its offical, i am now a full time waddler. it used to be just when i was tired, now i walk like a duck!

Baby Andersen is about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

29 weeks.. on the road

we were on the road last week.. in kentucky! we just need a relaxing get away so we spent 5 days driving through illinois, indiana, kentucky, virginia, tennessee and a small corner of ohio. we had a great time, did some sight seeing.. here are a few highlights from our trip..

the appalachian mountains

hush puppies.. we decided that breaded deep fried cornbread was pretty much gross!
gatlinberg.. the wisconsin dells of the midsouth on steroids!

Baby Andersen now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

28 weeks!

By this week, Baby Andersen weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

$$$$$$$$$$$$

josh got a job!!! we are beyond ecstatic, it is quite nerve racking to have a baby on the way and no regular income so this is so wonderful! He will be working as a computer salesman for medium-large business for CDW. his retail days are over, on to corporate/office work! it is supposed to be a great company to work for with good benefits and seems like a position josh will thrive in. he aced the whole interview process which consisted of 2 apptitude tests, 2 phone interviews and yesterday, the in person interview. they are lucky to have him on their team! I included a pic because he just looked so incredibly hot.. im sure you'll agree!

we went out for sushi to celebrate with tom and ruthmari and the baby was doing some new tricks. i can now feel how the baby is positioned because i can feel the baby's butt and head. but during diner my belly got this really odd ridge down the middle. i think we're having a stegosaurus, not a baby.

p.s. his suit is the same one he wore to our wedding almost 5 years ago and we had to have it altered because it was just too big for him now. he has worked hard to lose about 30 lbs since jan 1st.. congrats josh!

27 weeks.. 3rd trimester here we go!

This week baby Andersen weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14.4 inches long with his legs extended. He can now open and close his eyes, and he sleeps and wakes at regular intervals. He may suck his fingers, and although his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with assistance — if he were to be born prematurely. Chalk up any rhythmic movement you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and isn't bothersome to him, so enjoy the tickle. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. Wonder what he's thinking?

kicks, kicks, kicks!

this baby is kicking lot now! i can also now feel how the baby is positioned in my belly. right now the baby is pressing his/her head right above my belly button and kicking the lower right side of my belly. this really is a wild baby! i am seeing some sleepless nights in my future!

our new camera is here!

Yeah.. we got our new video camera in the mail today. Can't wait to use it! We are moving on Saturday though, so we decided to try it out after we move. Hopefully i can figure out how to add video to the blog.. i know its possible in some form.

26 weeks!

Baby Andersen now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber), from head to heel. The nerve pathways in her ears are developing, which means her response to sounds is growing more consistent. Her lungs are developing now, too, as she continues to take small breaths of amniotic fluid — good practice for when she's born and takes that first breath of air. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

feel free to comment

hey everyone, feel free to make comments on any of my posts. all you do is click on "comment" located at the bottom of every post and type your comment.

25 weeks!

Head to heels, Baby Andersen now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. His hair is probably recognizable now (in color and texture), although both may change after he's born.

24 weeks!

Baby Andersen is growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when she was just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), that makes a pretty lean figure, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds are developing. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance **that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

23 weeks!

Baby Andersen is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). His skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing. He can swallow, but he normally won't pass his first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when he hears them outside the womb.

22 weeks!

Baby Andersen now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her head and body is now visible. Her lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. Her eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

sara had her baby!

my best friend sara had her baby boy this morning at 3am! i dont know many details yet, but george franco sirianni is healthy. she said the labor and birth went very well and it was an amazing experience. i cannot wait to meet him!