I Miss Sleep

I didn't think it was possible to sleep less than I currently do and still function. Seriously, I get between four and five hours of sleep a night. Unfortunately, I am also incapable of taking naps so I just deal. Luckily, I will be ready for early mornings and late nights when Baby Girl arrives! Her due date is getting so close. We have just over five weeks.

Luke and I have spent much of our free time the past few weeks working in the yard. We tend to redo the landscaping beds every year. I'm really hoping we got it right this time! On my birthday, Luke also surprised me with a vegetable garden. He spent all day building the garden so it would be ready when I got home from work. It was perfect!

As I write this, Luke is racing his bike in Rolla, MO. It is a 70-mile road race. To me, that sounds like torture, but he loves it. I decided to stay home this time to relax and catch up on all the things I keep putting off. Of course I spent the first couple hours washing baby clothes and working on the nursery.

34 Weeks.

Busy, Busy...

I can't believe it has been well over a month since my last posting. I am beginning to think that if I am this bad at updating the blog now, it will only get worse after baby Musselman is born. I might have to resort to simply posting pictures. Part of the problem is the fact that our lives are relatively boring. Luke and I have been crazy busy the past few months, but haven't done anything too terribly exciting. Work, yard work, bike races and getting ready for baby have occupied most of our time. In fact, I am sitting at a bike race as I type this. Unfortunately, I SHOULD be catching up on work instead. Oh, well!

We have about eight weeks until baby Musselman arrives. I can't wait! Lately, I feel like I get bigger everyday. It has gotten to the point where sleep is virtually impossible. Luckily, Luke does a good job of putting up with my tossing and turning, bathroom breaks every ten minutes and inevitable crabbiness after a night of no sleep.

We are slowly getting ready for baby. The nursery is virtually complete. We just have to get some pictures to hang on the walls. I am much better at clothes shopping than getting the things we really need. Unfortunately, baby girl clothes are just way too cute! Because of my coat addiction, Luke thinks we will really be in trouble when fall and winter come. Oh, well!

Luke is in the red and blue toward the front.
28 Weeks. Growth & Fluid Ultrasound. 2 lbs, 9 oz. 50th percentile.

30 Weeks.

It's A Girl!

Last month, we found out that Baby Musselman is a girl. While I couldn't be more excited, I have decided that Luke and I will probably go broke buying baby girl clothes! They are just so much fun!

I had my monthly check-up today. Baby girl is doing well. I am finally starting to gain weight; I gained four pounds this past month.


Lately, things have been going really well. I feel great and have started to actually look pregnant. I also found out that I survived Merck's layoffs and still have a job. It was such a relief!

25 Weeks.

The Unexpected "Joys" of Pregnancy

As my pregnancy progresses, I quickly learn that I don't have the best luck. I have had a lot of cramping lately, but started having terrible cramping around midnight last night. It made me feel like I couldn't breathe at times. I thought maybe stress and other factors were getting to me so I waited to call my doctor until this morning. Of course, Dr. Jones wanted me to get to the office immediately. When I got to the office, he did a full exam along with blood work and a urinalysis. It turns out that I have kidney stones. While they will not be fun to pass, it is one of the better things that could have caused the cramping. (I'm trying to look on the bright side!) I was running a slight fever so there is still the fear of appendicitis, but it seems unlikely since the urinalysis came back signaling kidney stones. Now I simply have to drink a lot of water and wait this thing out. I'm hoping for a quick passing!

On a positive note, baby celly started kicking this past week. At first it felt like little air bubbles, but the real kicks began last night. I was able to feel the kicks with my hand on the outside of my belly. While this is a really neat experience and it's fun to finally have confirmation that the baby is moving around, I'm not sure how I feel about it. Honestly, it feels like an alien is taking over my body. I think baby Musselman is practicing kickboxing in my belly! He/she is very active.

I Blame Everything On Pregnancy...

As the title of this blog entry denotes, I blame everything on pregnancy. Seriously, every part of my body is involved in this pregnancy! For starters, I seem to be losing mass quantities of brain cells on a daily basis. Not only do I seem to get dumber everyday, but my memory is shot as well! Second, I am breaking out like a teenager. It is even more frustrating that there simply isn't anything I can do about it. My eating habits have gotten even worse than they were pre-pregnancy. I now have trouble eating ANY form of meat. As a result, I average two to three peanut butter sandwiches a day. On the plus side, I doubt baby Musselman will have peanut butter allergies! Finally, no matter how much sunscreen I applied while on vacation, my skin still got terrible sunburns. The worst part was that the sunburns looked like strange rashes. I love pregnancy!

The good news is that I am starting to actually look pregnant. It is really exciting! I love my newly round belly and look forward to the continued growth. It makes the pregnancy seem so much more real. Here are a couple bump pictures at 18 weeks.

16 Weeks

Tomorrow marks the beginning of my 16th week of pregnancy. So far, my pregnancy has been progressing fairly smoothly. The sickness has finally subsided and the hunger has kicked in. I get especially hungry at night. Honestly, it is fairly annoying because I usually have to eat a second dinner around midnight. Hopefully this doesn't have any reflection on the baby's sleeping patterns! I still haven't gained much weight. Since I started this pregnancy, I have gained two pounds. I finally have a slight baby bump. For me, this is incredibly exciting. I am really looking forward to the continued growth of my belly!

Decorating the Christmas tree. It was the best deal of the year. $20 for any tree on the lot!

13 Week Ultrasound

We're Expecting!

I guess it's time to share the good news; Luke and I are expecting our first child next June. While we are incredibly excited to bring a new addition into our family, I'm not so sure baby kitty is sharing in our excitement! I am currently about 10 weeks along and Baby Musselman has a healthy heartbeat of 170 beats per minute.

We found out about the pregnancy on election day. I thought I had the flu, but the doctor told me otherwise! My response to the nurse telling me the pregnancy test was positive, "No, it's negative. It isn't possible that I'm pregnant." You see, Luke and I had an appointment lined up to see a fertility specialist the following month. I was in such disbelief that I had to take two home pregnancy tests to confirm the news after already having both blood and urine pregnancy tests at the doctor's office.

So far, the pregnancy has been exciting, but rough. I can't believe this olive-sized baby can have such an impact on my body! My moods are terrible. I really try, but cannot control them at all. I can't sleep, but am tired all the time. I vomit non-stop. Whoever came up with the term "morning sickness" was sorely mistaken. I am not sure how women can possibly gain even a pound during the first trimester. At this point, I am just trying to keep from losing too much weight.

We Really Need to Get Better at this Blog Thing...

So, it's been a few months since my last post. I know, I am terrible at this blog thing. I honestly do have good intentions. Unfortunately, life always seems to get in the way. Since September, Luke and I have hardly had a free weekend. Luckily, things are slowing down a bit for the holidays. I can't wait! For those of you who don't know, Christmas time is my favorite time of the year. From my guilty pleasure, Black Friday shopping, to baking Christmas cookies, watching cheesy Christmas movies and tree decorating, I absolutely love every aspect of the holiday season! Now we just need some snow to go along with the cold weather.

Since it has been so long since my last post, I will simply post pictures. For those of you who have been waiting for pictures of our newly finished basement, I will leave those pictures for Luke to post since it has been his and my dad's project for the past eight months.

On the beach in Holland, MI

Cheering on our Missouri Tigers!

Wedding FunCollege Roommates