Nine Weeks to Go!

Today we had an appointment to check on Clara so we decided to make a day of it. We went to the appointment which went great! Clara has turned head down and her estimated weight is 3 pounds 8 ounces, right on track with her due date. It's hard to believe we've only got about 9 weeks to go before we meet her! She is getting some chubby cheeks!  Here's our new pictures!

We then went and ate at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (YUM!!!) and got some more Christmas shopping done. (I may have found some cute shoes on clearance for me, yay!) We ended the day by going to watch The Hobbit. It was a good movie but not up to par with the Lord of the Rings trilogy yet.

It was a great day for us, although we are heartbroken with the tragedy that happened today with the children and teachers who were killed. We have lost a child and it is devastating, but I can't even begin to imagine losing a child that way. Our prayers go to those families.

Nursery Swirls Part 2

It has been a busy, busy weekend! Saturday was our first baby shower for Clara at the church I grew up in. It was absolutely wonderful and my sis-in-law, mom, and grandma did an amazing job decorating. Beautiful! 

Then today, I worked some more on the nursery! I've finished up the swirls in the nursery on the gray wall opposite the pink panels. So aside from some touching up the painting should be almost done! Which is a good thing, because we have got to get all of Clara's goodies moved into her room!

Nursery Swirls Part One

Since we got the main painting done in the nursery, I finally got the chance to add the accents that I wanted. I started on the pink panels. I've free-handed swirls on them. I'm using a technique that I mentioned in a previous post, the base was done in a flat finish and the accents I'm adding are in high gloss in the same colors. It's subtle in person so it's hard to get great pictures of, but I tried. Anyway I've finished pink panels, minus a few touch-ups. I'm also doing the opposite wall, but haven't started on it yet. Here's the progress!

The first panel

Close up

All three done!

All that's left to do to these is final paint touch ups and adding frames around them! I'm hoping to finish up all of the painting by the end of the weekend. We shall see. I'll be taking a break from it Saturday morning for one of my baby showers! I'm so excited to see everything my sis-in-law and momma have gotten done with this shower; I'm sure I'll have some pictures to share of that too!

Clara's Nursery Decorating Begins!

We (finally!) began Clara's nursery yesterday! We have done most of the painting, however the final touches still need to be done. Here's the progress we have so far!

The Before Picture

All Primed!

First spot of color!

Taping out the panels

Painting in progress

Pink panels

First coats of color!

I will post more as we make more progress!

Clara's Still Growing!

We had our appointment this morning at 9:30 and everything went great. They surprised me with the glucose test this morning, which had I known or had some warning, I wouldn't have had a glazed donut for breakfast along with hot chocolate, but oh well. I didn't pass the one hour test with Noah, and it looks like I probably won't with Clara, but I shouldn't have a problem with the three hour test.

Miss Clara is measuring right on schedule! She had a heart rate of 141 and her estimated weight is 1 lb 13 oz. Aaron and I know that she is our rainbow baby when one of our favorite things to see are her straight, long femurs and her ribcage. (Looking perfect as well!)

Here's my favorite part, some of the pictures. We have a few to scan onto the computer that the doctor took that are really good, but didn't make it onto the CD we were given, but here are a few good ones!

Caught her with her mouth open.

She decided we needed a picture of a foot and a hand!

Clara's 21 Week Appointment

We had an appointment for Clara this morning. While this was a small routine appointment, it was a bit of an achievement for me. I can't remember the last time that I had an OB appointment where I wasn't stressed or worried about what we might find out. It was so nice to be able to sleep the night before and be completely relaxed the whole time!

Clara is doing great once again. We knew there wouldn't be an ultrasound and assumed that we would get to hear the heartbeat. We were partly right. No traditional ultrasound, however instead of checking the heartbeat with a fetal heart dopper (Is that the right name for it? I'm not sure...) they used a hand held ultrasound machine called a Vscan. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a picture:

 We couldn't hear Clara's heartbeat but we got to see it and her for a minute or two. It is just amazing what is available to doctors these days. My husband wants to buy one to keep at home. (I'm sure my mother would not disagree with that either!) Anyway Clara looked great with a heartbeat of 140. That was all we did today besides me getting the flu shot. Great appointment and a great day!

On another note, when we got home, some of the fabric for Clara's nursery came in! Oh the planning begins!

My Already Spoiled Girl

Just a small update. Clara is a very active little girl. I never knew how little Noah moved. He always moved, but he was always in the same general spot and would kick and fist bump every now and then. Miss Clara on the other hand, is all over the place! When she starts kicking she keeps kicking. She was being stubborn and not letting her daddy feel her, but she is now kicking him as well. She has now decided to be stubborn with her grandma and not kick her yet.

We spent some time with my family today to watch the OU vs. Texas game (Boomer Sooner!) My mom and sis-in-law gave me all of the clothes they have gotten for Clara so far. Let me tell you and just show you, Clara will never lack for clothes. I counted it up and there are around 35 outfits, not counting leggings and diaper covers and hats and bibs. She is already very spoiled and very loved!

    

Clara's Blanket Beginnings

Just thought I'd share a little preview into Clara's blanket. These aren't the only colors in the blanket but this is what I have done so far! 

The first circle!

Getting in the groove...

 Half of the circles are done! Two more colors to go!

Taking a break from circles and starting to make the squares!

More to come! I make take a break and make little projects now and then.

Let the Nesting Begin!

Let me just say that Pinterest is one of the best websites ever! I've been pinning baby stuff for awhile now, but now that we know we are having a girl, I've gone a little nuts with the pinning. I have an idea of how I want the nursery to work, color scheme, painting techniques, decorations; all thanks to Pinterest. lol I also began working on a blanket this weekend using a free pattern that I found on, once again, Pinterest. I thought I would share some of the inspiration I've found and then as I work on it, share our own progress for Miss Clara's room. Instead of linking to my Pinterest page, I'm linking to the original source of the pin.

The nursery color scheme:

Nursery Inspiration

 

I'm not going with this exact picture but this is my color scheme. I'm planning on gray walls with bright accent colors. I'm also painting a pattern on the walls so most of the accents will be solids.

 

 

Wall pattern technique:

Wall Technique

 

I'm planning on using this technique for the walls in the nursery, I will probably do swirls like this as well. Perfect for a little girl's room!

 

 

Blanket:

Blanket

 

I love this pattern so this is what I'm using for Clara's first blanket. My circles will hopefully match her bright nursery.

 

So there is a little sneak peek into what I'm planning. Like Noah's nursery I will be posting progress as we make it. Step one: Clean out the nursery!

 



 

 



 

 

Introducing...

Let me introduce you to our DAUGHTER, Clara Jeanette! She weighs about 8 oz right now and to quote the doctor she is "picture perfect healthy." She is measuring about 4 days ahead but not enough to change our due date. We are so thankful for all the prayers we have received and we cannot wait to meet her! Here are a few more pictures!

Over to the right of her face is her leg, her foot is about level with the top of her head. lol She was curled up into a ball.

Baby Bow's NT Scan

We finally came up with a nickname for our little baby. We decided to shorten Rainbow to Bow, so until we know he or she, baby will be Baby Bow.

We had our NT scan this morning. For those not familiar with this, bloodwork is done on me (we won't know results of that until next week) and then an ultrasound is done. During the ultrasound, a measurement is taken of the space in the back of baby's neck. If this is too big, it can be an indicator of Down Syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities. 

Baby Bow had a heartbeat of 158 and is 6.5 cm. Bow also measured 12w6d, a day ahead. Last time the measurement was about 4 days behind. We noticed that Bow moves around more than we ever saw Noah move, which we take to be a good sign. The space in the back of Bow's neck measured 1.44 mm. The tech did the measurements and of course cannot say anything about the results. So in between seeing her and waiting on the Dr. I looked up the normal ranges. Bow is well within the normal range. Of course, Dr. came in and confirmed everything. So far he says everything is going great. 

We will have our next appointment on September 21. This is when they will do the anatomy scan. We continue to appreciate prayers, because it was at the anatomy scan that something was first noticed with Noah's issues. But right now we are so thankful for a healthy baby! 

Now for the best part...the pictures! They even did a couple of 4D ones for us, it was amazing to see everything that clearly.

Small Quick Update

I forgot to mention when our next appointment is scheduled. It was going to be August 10, but it had to be pushed back to the 17th. We will be doing all of the blood work and checking for signs of Down's Syndrome at that time. 

Also a small little celebration for me. I can see a small baby bump forming. If anybody else thinks they can see it, they're just kidding themselves, they are just seeing bloat. lol However I can tell what's bloat and what's bump, so I'm having my own little party at the moment.

I still need to come up with some sort of nickname for this little one until we know boy or girl. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Rainbow

I'm going to start this post by once again asking for your prayers. Aaron and I are expecting a baby in February! We had our first doctor's appointment today and right now, everything looks great. 

My best guess was that I was 6 weeks 5 days pregnant. The baby is measuring 6 weeks 1 day and has a heartbeat of 120 bpm. Doctor says everything looks great right now. We are keeping the doctor that we had with Noah, even though he is a high risk doctor, just because he knows our history and we are comfortable with him. Our due date is February 24, although we will be having a c-section probably a week before that. We are incredibly excited and are just hoping for a healthy baby! We know that it's very early but we wanted to share this news as soon as possible to ask for your prayers for us and our family!

Let me explain the title of this post for those who don't know what it means. For moms that have lost a baby, when they become pregnant again, several will call this baby their rainbow baby, because they are something special after a storm in their life. So this is our rainbow baby and we can't wait to meet him or her!

Oops! Another Before and After

I was looking at the blog today and realized I left off the family room which is one of my favorite rooms in the house! So here it is!


Before

AFTER!

View of the window and my better half!

Close up of some of Janna's fantastic work!

And one other addition to our house that we are glad to have back!

House Befores and Afters!

I finally found my camera battery charger so I could take pictures! Here's some before and afters of the house!!! Right away I want to thank my WONDERFUL mother-in-law Janna for making all of the curtains, pillows, and everything else that is fabric related in our house! Our bedroom is a mess at the moment so I'll have pictures of it later. We don't have anything on the walls yet either but we're happy with the progress!


Living Room:

Before

and AFTER

Dining Room:

Before

and AFTER

Guest Bathroom:

Before

and AFTER

Guest Bedroom:

Before

and AFTER

Kitchen:

Before

and AFTER!

We are so so happy with how the kitchen turned out!