Picture Show!

We went to Pittsburgh this past weekend and got some fun outfits from Grandmama Collins!

SO cute right?

So I have changed my mind about the baby's bedding about 100 times but I think I have made my final decision... Here it is!

Our Little Juliet at 20 weeks, it is so real now that I know the sex of the baby (in a good way!) getting really excited to meet her :)

I'm half way there and having a....

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weeks: 20 weeks today OR 5 months OR the halfway point to 40 weeks!

Our Little Girl: We had our ultrasound this morning and we could definitely see it was a girl! John was right all along and never thought for a second it was a boy. He kept saying... I can't wait till we find out we are having a little girl. How cute. I told him next time we will have a boy for him, ha ha. But we are both excited and the most important thing is that everything looks good. Her measurements are perfect (those were the ultrasound techs words!)

Tip of the week: Everyone should go get a massage! I have had my second prenatal massage and it is one of the greatest things in the world to help me relieve stress and relax. I plan to get one at least once a month until I deliver :) So how does a prego get a massage? I was expecting a table with the belly cut out so you could still lay on your stomach but nope... They have you lay on your side during the massage. It's definitely a different experience but totally worth it. FYI to all my prego friends you have to find a place that specializes in prenatal massages or they won't take you as a client if they know your pregnant. Ohhhhh and you have to be out of your first trimester before you can get a massage.

Cravings: It's strange I have not had one of those cravings yet that if I don't get something I will feel like the world may end. I have always imagined pregnancy as having intense cravings, you know the kind where you send you husband out on food runs all the time b/c you can't go another minute without pickles and ice cream. Fortunately for John he has had to make any crazy craving food runs yet. I do however sometimes get hungry and have a craving for nothing!!!! I just stare at the food in the house disinterested in anything we have (and we are fully stocked these days) in these instances I usually just end up eating a bagel. BUT I do crave SWEETS and SALTY things more then I did before (well not according to John, he thinks I ate that stuff all the time before also... Maybe I did????)

Dear McDonald's why do I love you!? Since I was talking about cravings I guess I should admit I go to McDonald's about 5 times a week! (sometimes twice a day) and I will get one or two of the the following foods: Fries, ice cream, an egg McMuffin sandwich (hold the meat!). I really don't feel bad about getting the ice cream or Egg McMuffin b/c at least there is some nutritional value for the baby in those items but I do feel guilty when I get fries more then once a week b/c that is pure junk food (unless someone can tell me something nutritional about fries to make me feel better)!!! Just to clarify... I NEVER feel guilty about eating and do it all the time I just sometimes feel guilty about eating things that are bad for the baby but taste sooooooo good to me.

My button won't button! So I realized this week that most of my pants won't button up anymore without causing me much discomfort! SO I just want to say thank god for belly bands they are getting much use now and make my pants so much more comfortable b/c I can just wear them now with my button undone and it's perfect! Summer is around the corner and I plan to live in stretchy skits so I don't have to worry about stupid buttons.

Weight gain: 10 pounds - Which I think is on target for the amount I should be gaining so that is good. The books I have say between 8-15 pounds.

Ultrasound tomorrow!

John and I are soooooooo very excited that we get to see Baby Collins tomorrow and hopefully find out if the baby is a HE or a SHE (I might cry if they are unable to tell me!). John is still convinced it's a girl and saying things like "I can't wait till we find out we are having a daughter tomorrow" I won't be suprised either way and no matter what I will be super excited. The poll on the blog is now at 11 votes girl and 11 votes boy! So it's looks like friends and family are split right in the middle with what they think I'm having.

Our appointment is at 9AM and I will be sure to call/text/post so that everyone can share in our joy... Thanks for everyone's support :)

19 weeks

I think I finally look pregnant this week rather then just looking like I have a beer gut, the tummy is starting to round out and I love it! (the flower in the background John got me for no reason, love that!)

Any final Guesses? We find out next week (hopefully!) the sex of the baby. John is still convinced the baby is a girl (and I have gone back and forth but still think it's a girl) But I won't be surprised if it's a boy b/c it is a 50/50 chance after all. According to our poll on this blogger the voters are guessing a girl too (10 to 9 in favor of a it being a girl).

How am I feeling? GREAT! I had a really easy week and I was able to walk outside almost everyday this week which mad me sooooo happy. I love to take walks with John when he gets home from work :) I am so in love with March because the weather has great. I am also excited for this weekend b/c it's my friend Beth's 30th birthday party and John and I get to see some friends that we have not seen in a while.

Doctor's appointment: Not much happened at my doctors appointment this morning, listened to the baby's heart beat (which I can do here all the time!) the heart rate was 140 which she said was normal and healthy. Baby was moving a lot so it took her sometime to get the heart rate. I have an active one! Other than that just had to get some blood work done.

Baby Bedding: Still undecided :( I want to look a little more and wait till next week to see if that sways my decision at all.

The way I eat: So I tend to eat about 100 small meals a day (never going more then 2 or so hours without eating!) and I just read that eating small meals often is much better for the baby then eating 3 huge meals during the day even if they are the same calories b/c the baby is getting a nutrients more regularly. I am not sure if John's birthday cake that we are still working on counts as a source of nutrition but I am going to pretend it does.

Realizing I can't do what I used to do: I went to the gym yesterday thinking I was going to a yoga class but read the schedule wrong and ended up in an interpretive dance class! It was fun and I love dance but I realized I just can't move as fast as I used to. I was having a hard time keeping up with the movements that were super fast and just ended up doing my own thing when I couldn't keep up (it was my interpretation!) The stretching at the end of class was hard for me to b/c my belly is now getting in the way when I bend forward (and in other directions) The second half of my pregnancy is going to be here next week so I guess I should expect this stuff but not sure how it went by so fast... I think this belly snuck up on me.

Weight Gain: 9 pounds! 2 pound weight gain this week (oh boy!) Hello double digits we will be getting acquainted soon :)

I'm not good at making decisions

I thought I loved the baby bedding that John and I picked out the other weekend but now I have found two more crib bedding sets that I love. Let me know if you have a faviorte! The first bedding I picked out is a few posts ago...

I really like the big animal little baby animal theme in this one! So cute.

This is an organic bedding set that I really like but worried that its not colorful enough??? But kind of like the netural feel

18 weeks

John and I bought the baby it's first stuffed animal!

18 weeks prego - Sorry for the bathroom shot, John still at work so I had to take it myself (the pants I have on are my new maternity pants!)

What's new this week? I can feel the baby moving! It's not a strong kicking feeling yet but I feel it several times a day :)

Doctors Appointments: Haven't had a doctor's visit in about a month but I have two coming up, one of Friday the 19th and one on Friday the 26th. The 26th is the ultrasound and I am very excited to see the baby move around.


How I am feeling? Right now I'm very tired! It was a very busy week and I have not been home much so looking forward to starting the weekend and relaxing. I think John and I may see the movie "she's out of my league tonight"... and eat yummy movie popcorn of course.


Note to Self: Do not combine spicy foods with high fat foods because it might make you throw up! On Wednesday night for John's birthday we went out for Mexican b/c that's what he was craving and I ended up getting a spicy shrimp dish (ate the whole thing and it was big) then went home and had a big slice of birthday cake and ice cream. This was not a good combo for me or the baby but I woke up in the middle of the night to a massive stomachache which ended with me getting sick :( I went the whole first trimester with no morning sickness so this was not normal. I was worried at first that I had a stomach bug but was fine after I cleared my stomach. Lesson learned - don't combine a ton of bad foods!


Weight gain: about 7 pounds (again my scale is hard to read so it could be 7.5 or 8!) I will be more sure when I hit 10 pounds.


Maternity Clothes: My new favorite maternity store for shirts is Forever 21 (ha ha!) I swear they carry maternity clothes but the store is just in denial about it. Plus if you know the store you know there stuff is super cheap so why buy the maternity expensive stuff? As for my regular clothes still have a few pre pregnancy pants that fit and I have my new awesome maternity work pants (super comfy) it would be easier if I could just go to work in sweat pants!

The Collins Baby's Bedroom!

The Musical Mobil The full bed set BUT not how I want to set up my room, don't like the wall color (or the wall boarder) or how busy it is

This is the wall color I will go with and the crib color will be similar, I am getting a dark cherry crib/bedroom set

John and I went to bye bye baby this weekend and it was a much better experience then when we first went shopping at Babies R US. We actually started to register and I was a little more calm about the whole thing. We have picked out our bedding for the babies room, even though I'm finding out the sex I want to go with a more gender neutral room b/c I don't really like the really girly stuff or the super manly rooms! Plus I love frogs and I found bedding that has some frogs in it :)

17 Weeks

The First person to notice my BELLY: I had my first person notice that I was pregnant (that I didn't tell) it was one of the students I work with at my internship at Montgomery College. She looked at my belly and then asked me to turn to the side, so I said are you looking at my baby bump? She then said yes!!! I knew you were pregnant. I also had a girl that takes classes with me at the gym overhear the instructor talking to me about how being a parent never gets easier (she has three kids) and told me she thought I was pregnant but was afraid to ask (you know in case I had just been really really bloated!) So I guess if you are pretty observant then you might be able to tell I'm pregnant but for anyone that does not know me it might not be so apparent.

My Babymoon Plans: We just booked a trip to Paradise Island in the Bahamas in April for our last trip before the baby is born. I don't think traveling in my third trimester is a good idea so we needed to book something before Mid May.

How I'm Feeling: Great! It's been a good and busy week

Cravings: Making a veggie burger and fries for dinner, have been thinking about fries for a while. I also have to admit I have been enjoying a McD's ice cream cone almost every day of the week. It's hard not to stop when you drive in your car all day and see multiple McDonald's. Good thing I'm still in Vegetarian mode or I might also add a Burger or nuggets with that.

Weight Gain: 7 pounds (the books were not kidding about gaining a pound a week!) Also my scale is very hard to read (it's not digital) so sometimes I'm not excatly sure where I fall on the tiny little lines but it looks to me like about 7 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: This last weekend my car was held hostage at Sears Automotive at the local mall for 6 1/2 hours so let's just say I had some time to shop! I bought my first pair of Maternity Pants and a Maternity shirt from Gap. But what I want to brag about is that awesome sale I got... Maternity Clothes are not cheap. My first pair of Maternity pants were only $16 dollars (from GAP sales rack!) and they are super cute work pants that I really think I could wear not pregnant also b/c the only difference is they have a stretchy low waist band instead of buttoning up (so great for those days you eat too much!). Not fully wardrobed but let the collection begin!