23 Weeks!

Hello! Today we had another doctor's apptointment and all is well with baby and momma! Baby was playing a bit of 'cat and mouse', kicking the tech everytime she tried to obtain a heartbeat and then skirting around somewhere else... it took quite a bit to catch her and hear that beautiful heart thumping in the 150's! We seem to be right on track and were told the ultrasound was "normal," but we expected nothing less!

Shaye and I are off to Italy early Sat. morning for 10 days of exploring and are very excited! We'll talk with you all again when we arrive home.

Loves!

PS. I heard how many of you are having a hard time seeing Baby in our photo so I very un-artistically labeled it in paint! Hope it is crystal clear now :)

Ultrasound

Yay... I (Shaye) finally got this picture to work :) Here is our 22 week photo of our little girl. What you are looking at is her face.... I'll describe in case you are unsure...

The two little circles toward the right are her fists and they are curled up next to her chin/ cheek. She is laying sideways so her forehead is to the left. You can make out one eye really well (the other is kinda hidden) and her nose and mouth. Good luck! ;)

The Results are in...

Today was my ultrasound appointment and although baby was being VERY stubborn, we got a peek between the legs and determined GIRL! Guess the majority of you who voted were right on track :) The above pic was my first "girl" purchase today.

Unlike her previous reputation, Baby was snuggled in deep on my right side with her little butt tucked away and showed no interest in playing along with us. After tilting the bed so my feet were higher than the rest of me, some shaking of my belly, and some poking, she finally wiggled enough to give us a glimpse before snuggling herself back in again. Guess I should have had some sugar before the exam!

Today's exam solved some mysteries for me though. I always feel like she begins dancing on my bladder once full, well that is exactly where her feet are sitting so she literally is :) And my belly has been "lop-sided" to the right, completely where she is camped out! I know she still has lots of room to move and change but it was fun to learn how she is currently positioned and just what it was I have been feeling lately. She weighs in at 1 lb and 1 oz and her size is consistent with my due date so it appears we are right on track. We have an official appt. next week with the OB to discuss the results of today's exam but as far as I could tell... all is well!

I have a ultrasound pic of Baby's face, but the format the scanner saved it in is not cooperating right now so I will try to get that up tomorrow :( Sorry!

Below are my 22 week photos. I will be posting our Edelweiss/ Germany trip in the next couple of days. Love to you all!

Momma Olstad in England!

Wow, what a wonderful 10 days we had! So much to share with you all...

Sandringham Gardens.

We started off with a visit to Sandringham Estate (one of the Queen's many residents). She spends Dec. to Feb. there every year and celebrates Christmas with the family. The estate was really nice and we even got to have a little tour of some of the rooms inside. Granny, we even saw where the Queen does her puzzles!

Shaye gettin some good luck ;)

We spent time showing mom our life around "base" and our community as well. It went pretty good most of the time, but she forgot all forms of ID the very first time we tried to take her on base... Shaye made sure she didn't forget again :)

River Cam.

We spent time walking around Cambridge and when punting down the river. We went to see the beautiful and historical town of Lavenham. It has some really great old "stick" buildings (as they referred to them). These beautiful logs are seen on the inside and outside of most of the houses.

Lavenham streets and the "crooked house"

We went to Bury St. Edmunds for mom to experience Market Day and the beautiful Abbey Gardens. We tried to go to Cadbury world, but little did I know just how popular a place this was and we couldn't get tickets! Good thing she'll be back in 5 months!!

We took her to see a castle, Hedingham Castle, which was very nice and we were able to explore the grounds inside and out... unlike most of our castles that are what remains of their "ruins." That day we also visited a really great pottery shop that mom actually discovered! We were looking at brochures that I have collected over the last year and she pointed it out. We all thought it was GREAT, got some nice pieces and will be back to visit it again and again!

Friday, the 4th of July, we had some friends over for a BBQ. Shaye made chicken and mom did some wonderful salads and a yummy caramel apple pizza that everyone LOVED! It was a beautiful day with great friends and a night of fireworks on base. The down-side was the hour it took us to get home (40 minutes of it getting back off base). I have to mention too how much the baby responded to the big bangs! It was so much fun to feel it respond to the noises it was hearing!!!

Finally, mom's last full day in England was spent in London. We made sure to show her a lot of the tour "hot spots" all though, there is more to see and another trip will be warranted when they come back. We even made it to the city on a day of demonstration and saw many elaborate cosutmes marching down the street. Apparantly all of these pics ended up on mom's camera. She'll have to be the one to share 'em!

I ended up driving mom back to the airport myself (much to Shaye's dismay) but all went well. He got sent out on a mission last minute and had to leave at 3 a.m. Sunday morning! The weather was so gorgeous the entire time mom was here (sunny and warm) that I told her she couldn't leave. Sure enough, all the way back to the airport and the next 2 days it was pouring rain!!!

Well, Shaye and I are off to Germany again for another week of travels! We are headed to a different part this time and hoping to venture into Switzerland and Austria as well. We will update you again when we get back with more tales of our adventures... not to mention the baby appt. to solve the mystery between boy or girl!

Loves!

Happy 4th of July!

Well we have been busy, busy, busy! Lots to tell and more to come...

We start with finding out last Thursday that Shaye made Tech!! This is very exciting and something he wasn't quite sure he'd pull off this year... turns out, he ranked #1 against all those in his testing field... So he didn't just make it, he did amazing!! For those of you not familiar with the Air Force, this brings another stripe, more responsibility in his job, and a nice pay raise :)

Mom and I Punting in Cambridge!

Mom arrived safely on Friday and we have been very busy!! It has been great having her here and I will do a big update with pics just as soon as our adventures are finished (She flys back home on Sunday). We like too, that mom seems to have brought some good weather with her - we've only had a slight shower and loads of sunshine since she has arrived! Daisy is also thoroughly enjoying her visit and her other half of the bed... not to mention Grandma came bearing treats! (Wonder how long this will keep up when baby is in the picture?)

19.5 WEEKS!

Finally, I want to leave you with another baby update! I had an appointment yesterday to find that mom and baby are both doing very well :) I am doing well with all my vitals and weight/ measurement seems to be right on track (less morning sickness and the last 4 weeks brought on all the pounds I was missing in the first 15 weeks!). Baby gave us a good heart beat and for once, didn't play a cat and mouse game with the Dr. Mom got to attend this appointment and hear it with me! The baby has also been very active and I truly enjoy feeling it move around... it is also strong enough now that mom and Shaye have both gotten to feel it kick as well!! Next step is the ultrasound on the 21st where we hopefully learn boy OR girl.

Just for fun... Over on the right, play along and vote on what you think it will be!!



2 Belly Angles... Shaye claims to be Very creative ;-)