Happy New Year's Eve!

Wow, where does the time go? One month from today we will (hopefully) be welcoming baby Batten into the world! We are so excited to become parents in 2009!

This mom and pop to be are taking it easy tonight. Just a nice quiet dinner out, alone! We've gotten many invitations to hang out w/ friends, but huge uncomfortable pregnant woman and crowded bars full of drunk people just don't mix! I doubt I'll even see midnight, maybe I'll make Ben wake me up, probably not! He knows better :)

Work is very slow today, looking forward to lunch...our team is going out and the company is picking up the tab, can't beat that!

Happy New Year everyone!

Daycare - check!

Finally, our search for daycare is over! I guess the 3rd time really is a charm. We actually had 2 daycare interviews set-up for last night, but cancelled the 2nd one b/c the first was so perfect. Plus the 2nd one currently has a 3 week old and way too many 3 year olds!

The one we're going with, Sherri is just starting her daycare. She has a 4 month old son and is not looking for a lot of kids to watch, she only wants 3 or 4 including her own! It's been so hard to find someone w/out a lot of kids and w/out other newborns. I want our newborn to be the only one!

We were instantly impressed, I'm pretty confident in our judge of character. She has an open door policy, so we can pop in un-announced - she also wants us to the bring the baby over and just hang out so the baby can get acquainted w/ her, her son and their home.

What a relief to have that off our to-do list! Next up - baptism classes.

Baby Shower!

Today was our first baby shower! We got lot's of great stuff - thanks everyone! I hosted the baby shower at our house, just thought it would be easier to have all the gifts here plus everyone got to see the nursery. We had a great turn out, a lot of fun and a lot of cute soft snuggly things. After this weekend I think I can officially say that we're ready for baby, it's becoming very real and now that I see all the cute blankets and outfits I'm really ready for baby Batten to make his/her grand entrance into the world. We still have 7 weeks left though and s/he needs to cook a little longer in there before greeting us :)

Grandma Sadler, mommy-to-be and aunt Em

Pack n play from Grandma and Grandpa Sadler

isn't it cute? The little bassinet vibrates, lights-up and plays different nature sounds.

Mommy-to-be with aunt Joy and cousin Becky a.k.a. the shower committee! We're all Batten's by marriage.

One of my very best friends Deanna with mommy-to-be.

everyone want's a picutre of the profile!

Grammy Batten (she doesn't want to be called Grandma) mommy-to-be and aunt Megan.

Mommy and aunt Megs.

Prenatal Classes

Well, we can check another task off our to-do list. Today we attended the fast track birthing class at Mercy. We both found it very informative, we've been told by other first time parents or parents-to-be that they thought the class was pointless or it scared them or everything will go in one ear and out the other - well I'm sure you don't remember everything or even any of it when your actually in labor! I thought it was great and I think it was really eye opening for Ben. It tells you signs that you are in labor, when to call the Dr. and when to go to the hospital and birth plans and meds. and all sorts of stuff.

We also got to tour the birthing suites, which are huge and really nice. Then we got to go see the nursery, which is sooo cute. They told dad's where to drop mom off and where to park and all of that stuff that we didn't know and now we're glad we do!

All-in-all we both thought it was great and it prepared us a little for what's to come and what to do.

sleep deprived already?!

Now I know why I'm so tired, I think I got about 4 hours of sleep last night! I was up at 3 to go to the bathroom then I tossed and turned from then on, I know I saw 4:00, and 5:30...I'm starting to get really uncomfortable too can't bend over, roll over or even sit-up in bed. And babe is up w/ me whenever I get up in the middle of the night - little shit is kicking and moving at all hours of the night. I think I'm starting to get into the cranky complaining phase of this, I've always heard mother's-to-be say how ready they are to be done w/ their pregnancy and I always wondered why, I'm now starting to understand. Don't get me wrong, I've loved the whole experience I'm just ready for the end result!!!

So tired

I can't seem to wake-up today, I'm dragging...is it the weekend yet? I'm so done with work right now. Not that I can sleep in or anything, my body won't let me anymore. I guess it's preparing me for what's to come. Or could it be the stress of the season, work, Christmas shopping (that I haven't even started) daycare interviews, childbirth education classes (yikes), baptism classes...why would I be tired?

Home Stretch

Yesterday marked 8 weeks until Baby Batten's expected arrival! I can't believe s/he is almost here! We can't wait!!!

Here's a picture of me and baby to be in front of the Christmas tree :)

Momma @ 27 weeks

Changing table/dresser

Nursery Furniture

Last weekend we registered at Target and Babies R Us and found our furniture at Babies R Us! Both bedding sets that I like are on backorder until after Christmas - great!

Nursery!

The nursery has been painted for a couple of weeks now. It's Ivory and chocolate brown since we don't know if it's a he or a she although we feel strongly one way over the other, but we'll see in 12 weeks!

Our little Bumble Bee

Happy Halloween!

Poor Dog

This poor spoiled dog doesn't know what he's in for! Ben was curious about diapering so we tried it out. He's so used to a nice clean quiet house, and so are we! He's not going to know what to do when the baby comes. We think he'll make a great big brother though.

Baby momma

5 1/2 months and growing...I feel like I'm getting bigger everyday! It's fun though, we're loving all the changes and movements. I'm feeling great, exhausted at the end of the day - but that's to be expected I suppose.

5 months

Wow how time flies! Here we are at 5 months, 4 days and 6 additional pounds (me, not the baby - the baby is only 13 ozs). I shouldn't have bragged about not gaining any weight at my last appointment, I blame our trip to Mexico and the full 3 meals a day. Oh well, I'm not worried about it, I'm enjoying myself! Today we had another ultrasound and got these new pics. of baby Batten. Everything looks good and we're still on track with January 31st, even though the Dr. mentioned Feb. 4th so don't be surprised if s/he doesn't make her debut until February. Grandpa Bill would be happy, the 4th is his birthday! After seeing the baby today I think we've both changed our minds and think we may be having a boy now. It's one or the other right! We'll be happy with either, we just want a healthy baby.

Our trip to Mexico = heartburn

We flew to Mexico last week for Pat & Em's wedding and the baby really kicked during the flight. Mexico also marked the first week of heartburn, Tums are now my best friend! Right before we left for Mexico I had my 4 mo. appointment, which was the standard weigh-in, pee, wait, heartbeat and done. It was nice to have that reassurance before flying and leaving the country! Our next appointment we'll have another ultrasound, I'm so excited to see how big the baby is getting! This is also the ultrasound where they could tell us the sex of the baby, but we've decided to wait. I've always wanted to be surprised and think it's a surprise well worth waiting for!

Here's the bump, I think I'm starting to show don't you?!? It looks bigger here than it does in my 20 week picture, I think it's the dress and all the food!

Latest Update

4 months, 4 lbs., and 3 pairs of maternity pants....Saturday will be 4 months for baby and me and while lying on the couch Monday night watching the Olympics I felt our little swimmer for the first time. It felt just like little flutter kicks, I guess watching Michael Phelps win his 10th gold medal inspired baby Batten. It's so amazing, I'm loving all the little changes I'm going through and I think Ben is really enjoying them too.

2nd Dr. appointment - The Heartbeat!

So Friday was our 12 week check-up, although I was 13 weeks the next day! It was pretty painless, didn't even have to have an exam - thank god! I got to keep all my clothes on too! Pretty much the usual weight, pee in a cup, blood pressure then wait for the Dr. while Ben looks through every pamphlet in the room! Finally after about 15 minutes of waiting the Dr. walks in with a microphone device in his hand and gets right to it! It took him a few minutes to locate, which is kind of unnerving, but when he did it was amazing and speedy. 150 beats per minute, which I'm told anything over 140 is supposedly a girl!

This weekend also marked the first shopping trip for momma clothes. My jeans aren't cutting it these days, the dress pants and shirts are still okay although most days my pants are undone as I drive home! That's all for now...

First Doctor's appointment

Thursday, June 26th our first appointment, nearly 9 weeks pregnant. I've been sick now since 6 weeks so I'm thinking this has got to be a good sign right? Our appointment is at 10:30, I wake up with a knot in my stomach. It's a dark, dreary day and starts down pouring just before Ben comes to pick me up at work. We drive to the appointment, about 4 blocks from where I work in nearly silence. I can tell we're both very nervous. Of course we wait to get called back, then wait for the Dr. to come in, I mean this is agonizing. Finally he comes in, we chit chat go through the routine then he turns the lights off, time for the ultrasound oh god. I think I stopped breathing for a minute until I heard him say "that's what we're supposed to see", I sit up "you see something?" I look at the screen, I see something! We can see the little tiny baby and the flickering heart beat, tears roll down my face I grab Ben's hand we're both so relieved!

As soon as the appointment is over I call mom and tell her that everything was fine, she's going to be a grandma for real this time, she's also very relieved. Then I call Em. Ben is doing the same with his family while I'm getting blood work done. So relieved, but my stomach still hurts. Oh yeah, I haven't had anything to eat today! We grab a quick lunch then back to work it is. When I got back to work there was an all company meeting going on, so I just had to sit there and try to pay attention while grinning from ear to ear.

The secret's out!

Home for the weekend, well Algona actually to stay with Pat and Em in their new house. Ben was going to a Jack Johnson concert in Wisconsin with 2 of his buddies so I loaded up Marley and headed north. When I got to Em's I got the tour and she showed me the room I'd be staying in and on the bed was a card, which I thought was strange. I left it and we went to eat lunch then took Hannah and Hunter to the pool for the afternoon. Chad, Jen and dad were gone on a Harley ride.

After the pool we hung out at Em's for a while before heading to Whittemore to meet up with the bikers and have some dinner. I decided to open this card that was sitting on my bed, it was a "Congratulations to the new addition to the family" card, how the heck did she know?! Well I guess both Chad and Emilie had figured out my secret. They discussed it over drinks the night before I arrived and when Emilie asked mom, mom of course can't lie so she gave it away without even saying anything!

It was nice to finally be able to talk about it with my family, they were all very excited! The next week was my first doctor's appointment so I was a little worried and nervous, but telling my family was comforting and I knew they'd be there for us no matter what happened!

Keeping the secret

The weekend we found out the exciting news was Memorial Day weekend. My whole family was coming to town! Adam and Andi were flying in from Georgia on Friday afternoon for a family friend's wedding. Mom and Dad were coming down on Saturday for the wedding in Ames and Chad and Jen, Em and Pat were scheduled to arrive on Sunday for a BBQ at our house.

Friday night went pretty smooth, Adam and Andi were at the rehersal dinner so by the time they got to our house it was later in the evening. I was drinking cherry 7up, they thought with Vodka in it! I thought I was doing pretty good, but Ben told me I needed to drink more than 1 glass per hour!!!

Saturday at the wedding I was drinking cranberry sprite with a lime, pretty sneaky with the lime! No one suspected a thing. Sunday was the real test, it was hot out we were sitting outside everyone was drinking beer because what else does my family drink?! My drink of choice lemonade, they were told it was a smoothie (vodka lemonade).

Well I made it through, one weekend down 2 more with family to go!

And Baby Makes Three

After getting the go ahead at my last Drs. appointment in March we were plesently surprised on May 23rd. It was a Friday morning just like any other, I got up to get ready for work and while in the shower thought hmm I don't remember getting my period this month. Then trying to remeber the last one I had gotten. After getting out of the shower I contiplated taking a test just to be sure, afterall we had plans for the weekend and I just wanted to be sure.

Well after the oh so long 5 minutes, sure enough 2 pink lines on the stick. At first I was confused, let down, thinking 2 lines crap not pregnant. Then I look at the box, look at the lines, read the directions 2 or 3 times OMG 2 lines is a good thing!!! Quick what do I do, Ben is downstairs finishing his breakfast sure to be up soon to jump in the shower. I run around to find a piece of paper and a pen and scribble a note "Your going to be a daddy!" I put the note with the pee stick on his bathroom counter. I run back to my bathroom and continue getting ready and sure enough up the stairs he comes and walks into his bathroom, by this time I'm peeking out from my bathroom. I hear him set his coffee cup down on the counter then he walks out of his bathroom holding the pee stick! We hug and kiss, quite possibly the greatest moment you can share with your spouse, well so far!