32 Weeks.

We had an ultrasound appointment last week and our little guy once again showed off his stubborn ways. He absolutely refused to show his face to mom and dad! The ultrasound technician tried everything, she even had me move from one side to the next. Baby Turek was estimated to weigh about 4 lbs. 6 oz. That puts him in the 77th percentile for weight with his head measuring in the 91st percentile! That will be fun when it comes time to deliver. ;)

The images confirmed once again that we are indeed having a boy. Good thing, because the baby's room is now painted! He already has hair on his head and still has ten fingers and ten toes. Everything looked great... except for one thing.

He isn't head down yet! At our last appointment in Germany he was already head down, so I have just assumed this entire time that he was still ready to go. (Although now the location of his activity finally makes sense.) Apparently he decided he'd have more room if he laid cross-wise, so his little head and feet are in my ribs while he read end is down (and on my bladder!)

Our son loves to hang out in my ribs... kicking and prodding away. I don't mind that much, but every once in a while he shows off his strength and it seems takes the breath out of me. At least I know he is active and strong!

Mother's Day = 29 weeks

My very first Mother's Day and also our baby's first time in church. It was such a special day for me, something I have dreamed of for such a long time. As I felt our son kick and move during our worship time I was again reminded of the amazing God we serve and His big yet little miracles.

27 (and 1/2) weeks.

Our little guy suddenly doesn't seem so itty bitty anymore... and neither does mom. I am having a hard time imagining how in the world my belly is going to continue to stretch over the next three months. While I have been slathering myself with pregnancy massage oil, I fear there may not be a way to avoid stretch marks if I keep expanding so rapidly!

26 Weeks.

Oops! I am behind one week in posting this... imagine that. ;) This was taken last weekend, before John's last home game of the season. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. I am not-so-patiently awaiting the arrival of my hubby from another road game. Only one left of the season. Where has the time gone?

Speaking of time, the first two trimesters have flown by and we entered into the third trimester having now finished up our 27th week. Our little guy is getting bigger by the second it seems. I love sitting and watching him move around and I find myself talking, reading, and singing to him more and more. I am looking forward to holding him in my arms, but for now I am just happy to have him with me 24/7.

Six Months!

We passed the six month mark this Easter weekend! Just four more months and we'll be holding our son in our arms. As he gets bigger, his kicks and movements keep getting stronger. The other morning I woke up to what felt like little feet running across my uterine wall. They stopped for a few moments and then started up again. I imagined our little guy looked a bit like a hamster in one of those wheels running around. (Only MUCH cuter, obviously.) John responded with, "He's just getting his morning work out in," which made me laugh.

As for me, well... I am pretty sure I now need to retire almost all of my pre-pregnancy jeans. They made a good run for it, but not being able to button them any longer makes me think it is probably time to put them away. Only four weeks until we return home, so I just have to make it a little longer with only one pair of maternity jeans. ;)

23 Weeks.

I finally look completely pregnant, and I even managed to find a couple of new shirts for my ever growing bump. I also managed to break the tie in the back of the shirt I am wearing here and thus looked rather frumpy the rest of the day, but at least I didn't have to worry about my belly hanging out the bottom. ;) Have I mentioned that I can't wait to wear maxi dresses and sandals? Hurry up warm weather!

22 Weeks.

And I'm starting to run out of clothes that fit. ;) My latest shopping efforts have been fruitless, but I must find something soon as my growing "bump" is making everything too short!

21 Weeks.

I'll just say it... I feel huge. I know, I know... everyone keeps telling me how tiny I am. But I don't FEEL tiny. I feel more like a hippo with bird legs and T. Rex arms. My fear of being stuck in that "is she fat (more like does she have a beer belly) or pregnant" stage was confirmed by two different sources Saturday night at John's game.

The first being with a news reporter whom interviewed me before the game. Perhaps she wasn't really listening to my responses, as it was loud and she was probably thinking of the next question to ask. But I clearly stated that John and I were thrilled to be parents come July. Afterward she was asking me some off-camera questions and I explained how sick I had been in the previous months with my pregnancy. A slight look of shock registered across her face as her eyes quickly dropped to my ever expanding belly and she said, "Oh, now I see."

The second being a visitor of a teammate. She asked if we had any children to which I responded, "We are expecting a baby in July." Her response: "Oh, I didn't even notice!"

Okay... not that I expect everyone to walk around looking at my belly. That is not the point at all. My only point is that I am not quite in that "oh, she is pregnant" stage. I am sure I will be, within a matter of weeks and then I will keep growing and growing until I feel like Violet from Willy Wonka (you know, the one who swallowed the chewing gum.)

Bad analogies aside, it truly is amazing what a woman's body goes through to bring a new life into this world. Every time the baby kicks I want to stop everything and just enjoy the moment. Sure, I feel huge at times but I must embrace it because I certainly won't feel smaller any time soon. I've always thought that pregnant women were absolutely beautiful, and I still do. After all, carrying a child is a miracle; it only seems right that the beauty of God's creation radiates through to the outside as well.

Edit: Leave it to my 14 year old nephew to bring a little perspective. He wanted to see me on the webcam since it's been a while, and his response was "Wow, she is really showing!" Too cute. Maybe it was just the outfit I was wearing in this picture that made it less obvious. ;)

20 Weeks.

It's half time! According to our doctor, our little one is approximately one pound. Every week is a cause for celebration, but the half way mark is especially exciting. I can't believe how fast the time is going. I find myself wishing that it would slow down as I can't imagine how fast the time will go once he or she has entered the world. That tiny, itty bitty newborn stage will definitely pass by too quickly.

19 Weeks.

Baby Turek was ready to cheer for daddy at his game. ;)

17 Weeks.

Yes, I know... my (not so) organized self is a little out of order here. I realized that there was a pretty dramatic difference between week 15 and week 18, so I went looking for an in-between photo and managed to find this one on John's computer. (Our camera batteries were out for a while, so we were making due with Photobooth hence the graininess of the photo below. We finally purchased a new battery charger, only to find out that most of our "rechargeable" batteries are no longer chargeable. Nice.)

18 weeks.

My bump at 18 weeks, before heading out on a Sunday afternoon walk around the lake with some new friends. Baby Turek is growing and so is mom!


Note to self: Next time stand in front of the plug in and don't let John cut off your arm. We'll figure it out by the time our baby comes. ;)


And then we headed out to the lake, followed by dinner at Vapiano. I am so glad the sun's recent appearance has melted most of the snow and that the temperatures are rising as well.

15 Weeks.

My "baby bump" at 15 weeks, 4 days. (In quotes because I'm not sure if it really qualifies as bump yet!) It is starting to show a little here, although if you didn't know me well you probably wouldn't really notice.



I believe this was taken in the morning... on the day of yet another ultrasound appointment. Baby Turek decided to cross his or her legs for us... leaving us in suspense for yet another month! That is okay though, I have kept busy researching cloth diapers, baby products with safe chemical ratings, strollers, cribs, and all sorts of other necessities that we will need regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl!

Beginning Stages of the Bump.

I figured it wasn't fair to say I was starting to get a bump and then not post at least one picture.

The following photo was taken at 14 weeks, 2 days. I am a little confused whether I should label it as my bump at 14 weeks or 15 weeks. Technically I was IN my 15th week but only 14 weeks along. Why do they have to make this so confusing? I guess I should just label it as 14 weeks. (My thinking: If a baby was one week and one day old, you would just say he was one week old.) Glad we got that sorted out! ;)

Consider yourself warned: If you scroll down you will see my bare belly. Not that I really enjoy exposing my bare stomach to the world, but whatever... I'll get over it. In all honesty, you couldn't really tell that I even had a bump unless I showed it off a little.

At this point it wasn't actually a "baby" bump, but rather bloat. In the morning it looked pretty normal, but by the end of the day it looked like this:



My uterus is progressively moving upward, and I think it could probably be considered an actual baby bump by now! I'll be sure to post more pictures soon.