25 Weeks and Counting

My belly is so big and round now - I love it! I'm sticking straight out and it looks like a basketball. Definitely all boy! :) Noah is very active. I feel him move all the time now and he seems to be getting stronger as the weeks go by. Luke and I can actually see the movements now, and that is really neat. It's so entertaining to watch!

Not much progress has been made on the nursery, and I'm getting a little nervous. Only 3 more months until our little boy arrives and I have so much to do! We're hoping to get a lot of painting done over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I'm pretty much done with my registries at Target and Babies R Us, although they do need a little tweaking. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. I feel like it was just yesterday that I saw "YES" on that little stick. :)

♪ Noah's Song ♫

Luke and I co-wrote a song for Noah and we like to sing it to him together. Here's how it goes:

"Little Noah, how are you?
What do ya look like?
What do ya do?
Where will you go
And who will you be?
Who will you meet
And what will ya see?
I can't wait 'til
You...are...free!"

Nursery Planning is Fun!

Luke and I have decided how we're going to design Noah's nursery. Originally I had thought a Noah's Ark theme would be fitting. Luke said that was too obvious and not really original - we could come up with something more creative. So then I thought of having a Calvin and Hobbes theme. Luke loved Calvin and Hobbes when he was growing up, so naturally he thought the idea was awesome! The concept of Calvin and Hobbes surrounds the adventures and imagination of a little boy. This is a concept that can grow with Noah. It's definitely a unique theme, and it will be super fun to decorate!

Right now the room is bright orange. It was my office. About a week ago we managed to clean and move all of my office stuff downstairs to what used to be the guest bedroom. This was a large task considering that my office had become my "junk room." I really didn't do a good job of keeping it clean and organized. Many hours and six bags of trash later, it was moved! Then we moved the nursery furniture from the garage to the nursery closet. Now it's time to paint. We purchased all of the paint, but have yet to get started. We have decided that the upper walls will be a creme color, followed by a white chair rail, and navy blue for the lower walls. As for the Calvin and Hobbes theme, I will be painting a mural and several other illustrations throughout the room. I'm excited! Noah is going to have the most awesome nursery! :)

We have decided on this scene for the full wall mural :

I will paint this smaller illustration above Noah's crib :

I will paint & frame this with a note saying, "Love, Mom & Dad" :

Luke and Noah

Luke finally felt Noah moving last night! We were lying in bed watching a movie. I had just eaten a Schwan's Silver Mint Bar. I think the sugar got to Noah because he was very active. I touched my stomach to see if I could feel him from the outside (this attempt had been unsuccessful up until this point). But lo and behold I felt him this time! So I told Luke to feel. Noah moved again right away and Luke looked at me with bright eyes and said, "Is that him?!" I told him it was and I nearly started crying. Noah stayed active for awhile and Luke felt him the whole time. It was such a special moment! :)

It's Noah Matteson Stombaugh!

It's a boy and I couldn't be happier! I've been praying for God to prepare my heart for either gender all along the way, and he most certainly did. I can't wait to meet my little man! We had our big ultrasound yesterday. It was so much fun! It's amazing how at just 19 weeks pregnant, my baby already looks like a real baby. I'm overjoyed with love for him. Here are some photos from my 19-week ultrasound on October 7.

Getting Anxious....

Our gender ultrasound is exactly two weeks from today! Luke and I are SO excited to find out if Stombaby is a boy or girl. Last night I had a dream that we went to the ultrasound and it was a girl. But the ultrasound tech would only give us one photo, and I was mad about that. As far as my dreams go, the score is girl-2 and boy-1. Half the people I know say it's a girl and half the people I know say it's a boy. I feel like I have no clue at this point. Luke really wants a girl, and it's so sweet how he talks about it. But I keep telling him that we must remain neutral. At this point, I just feel like I'm going to be relieved to know. Then Stombaby will have a real identity, we can call him/her by name, and I'm sure I'll feel a little more connected to the baby once I know the gender. 2 weeks!!!

Stombaby is Moving!

Today I am 17 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I started feeling Stombaby move last week when I was 16 weeks. I wasn't sure at first if that was it, being a first time mom. But after awhile I was positive. It's definitely not my body. I feel the movements low, exactly where my doctor said Stombaby is resting right now. It's such an awesome feeling! I feel like Stombaby has been really active over the last week. I feel him or her quite often. It's reassuring to know that the baby is really there and doing well! :)

Sniffles, Hips and Pains

I've been congested and sniffly ever since I got pregnant. At first I thought it was our house. I asked Luke if we needed to get the air ducts cleaned. But we left town and the same thing happened. Now, after talking with my friends who are moms, I have found that this is just another symptom of pregnancy. I will probably be blowing my nose until February. :)

My hips are already feeling tender. Most mornings when I wake up they ache. I try to sleep with a pillow between my legs, but it doesn't always help. I am planning on getting a pregnancy Snoogle pillow soon. Maybe that will do me some good.

Since the early weeks of pregnancy, I have experienced twinges of pain in my stomach whenever I cough or sneeze (and sometimes when I laugh). I was worried about this at first and thought something was wrong. My friend Tamrah who is currently pregnant with her third child told me that this is completely normal during pregnancy. Ligaments in your stomach begin to stretch soon after conception, preparing for the baby. When you cough or sneeze they stretch even more. That is what causes the pains. I am happy to have all of these experienced women in my life to set my mind at ease!

Stombaby Dreams

Last Saturday, August 8th I had my first gender dream since being pregnant. I dreamt that we already had the baby and the three of us went to the movie theatre. For some reason we were waiting until the first doctor appointment to find out the gender. I really wanted to know, so I told Luke that I had to check the baby's diaper. When I looked, he had abnormally large genitals. Then I looked at Luke and said, "It's Noah!" We hugged and were both very happy. Noah had Luke's nose, which I was very happy about since I think Luke's nose is so much better than mine.

Then last night I had a dream that we had Olivia May. She had a ton of dark brown hair and big blue eyes. She was adorable! There was a lot of breastfeeding going on in this dream. My friend Emarie was helping me to learn how to do it.

So who knows. I've now had a dream about a boy and a girl. I guess we will find out in October! :)

Welcome back, Appetite!

So my appetite is finally back. Stombaby had taken it for awhile. Eating is no longer a chore. I am so happy about this! There are still a few foods I couldn't imagine eating right now, but overall I eat well and often. Hurray! :)