37.5-week update

We went to the doctor yesterday and everything is looking good. I'm not dialated at all yet, but my cervixed has softened some and the baby has dropped all the way down so the doc said that I should be dialating soon now.
Monday we walked 2 miles! It was really hard for me after not doing a whole lot of walking in the last month or 2. We're going to keep that up though, and we also bought a pineapple to cut up and enjoy because our childbirth class teacher said that was a natural labor inducer too. Does anyone have any other ideas they've heard to naturally induce labor? (And yes, we know about sex being one!)

Belly Photos!

Rena took some awesome pictures of us at the beach in Newport. If you'd like to see the rest of them, click here: Pregnancy Photo Shoot

Week 35 update

Well, I have been sick for almost a week now, but I'm on antibiotics, and today I finally feel a little bit better. Gigi seems to be doing fine though, she's still shifting her butt from side to side and sticking her feet out to my right side often. At our last doc's appt I was still measuring a little small, but I had grown consistently from my previous appt, so my midwife/NP thought that I probably just have a lot of baby inside me all curled up.
This past Saturday, I hosted a bridal shower for my friend Rena at my house. Here is a picture of Rena, Myste and me. That morning Rena took some fun maternity pictures of David, Me and The Belly in Newport. As soon as I get them back I will post some.

Ultrasound pics!

We had another ultrasound on 3.27.07 to check the size of our baby. Size-wise, things looked good. And for those of you who have been thinking, "with all that pink stuff they've been getting, what if it's a boy?", we got more confirmation that it's a girl. :)
The first one is a nice face shot (although she does look a little alien-like) and the second one shows her body (spine/ribs) and her head (brain matter!).

First Baby Shower!

I had a great time at our first baby shower this past weekend down at my mom's house. I got to see lots of family friends and they blessed us abundantly with some fun stuff! It was extra special because my good friends Emily and Kristina and their moms came all the way down from Northern California and stayed for the weekend.
If you'd like to see a few pics, click here: shower pics!
I didn't take too many of the actual shower unfortunately, but there are a few to look at!

Nesting & Baseball

So I experienced a bit of the "nesting" bug yesterday; this is how it manifested itself: I spontaneously went to Babies-r-us to get a crib sheet so that we could see how cute it looks all put together with the adorable bumpers my mom made, I made cookies, I finished making peanut butter balls that had been waiting in the freezer since Christmas, and then I made dinner. I was feeling a little crazy to say the least. I have been having Braxton-hicks contractions like crazy lately, and I'm happy to have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, to make sure everything is going well.
Also, I wanted to post a couple of pictures from our spontaneous trip to Arizona for a couple of Spring training games-- Gigi's first baseball games in the womb! We saw the Angels beat the Padres and the Royals beat the Cubs. The weather was beautiful (it felt great to be out in the sun), and it was a fun little "baby-moon" for David & I.

Father's Day Gift Idea

So I guess it's about time that I chimed in here. Please do not mistake my absence for a lack of interest in this pregnancy. I am uncontrollably excited and I cannot wait to meet my sweet Gigi.
As most of you know, I am an avid Dodgers fan so this is a wonderful time of year with the new season just around the corner. It is doubly wonderful since a new season in my life is also fast approaching. Ever since we learned of Gianna's existence, I have been preparing myself to be neglected because I know that everyone will not be looking at my ugly mug when they see that cute little baby.
Since everyone will be looking at her, it is appropriate that she be decked out in an officially licensed product from Major League Baseball. So to get to my point, this photo is an example of the exquisite attire offered in the Los Angeles Dodgers spring collection. Is there really anything cuter than a precious baby in an amazing pink Dodgers outfit?

Getting Ready

David has had the fun priviledge of building our little Gigi's crib and finishing our changing table in a nice antique white finish. He did a great job! And we ended up getting 20% off the crib because we got a cracked leg and they had to reorder part of it. The discount was worth the wait!

Nicole at 30.5 weeks

Nursery theme

In addition to the rug you can see down below, I wanted to post a few more pictures of some of the fabric we are using in the nursery for your viewing pleasure. The 2 main ones are unavaible anywhere so I can't get a picture of them, but they are each a seashell print, one on pink, one on teal.
The seashell prints belong to the same collection (called "Seaside Rose") as these first two below which we are using also (the teal is slightly greener in real life).
The third one is also going to be part of the bedding.
The fourth one my sister-in-law Stacey also happened to find (after my mom & I had already bought it to use in the bedding), and she made me an awesome "Mei-Tai" baby carrier out of it.
I'm also hoping to find a pretty hawaiian print fabric with pink and teal in it to recover an old chair that I have in that room.

Week 28

David and I took our "condensed childbirth" class last week which was an all day affair. It was good- we learned a lot of details about the labor/delivery process, I got to have David practice massaging my back, we learned some breathing techniques and we watched a few videos that I could have done without. I see the nurse practitioner/midwife this week (my doctor is on maternity leave) and then after that I will start going to the doctor every 2 weeks! Crazy! It's going so fast!

27th-week-update

Hi! Well I had my glucose test this week, and everything came back normal except that I have low iron so I have to start taking iron supplements along with Vitamin C (must help with absorption?). I bought a body pillow yesterday so I'm hoping it will aid my sleep comfort level. We have our childbirth class this Saturday as long as the teacher doesn't get sick again, we've already had it cancelled once!

This picture is of me just past 26 weeks. Notice the cute maternity dress that I got at Target for only 6 bucks! What a deal!

On a side note, David has been traveling this week in Orlando for work and as he left the airport today he saw an abundance of cheerleaders which made me remember that last weekend was the weekend I was always there for Nationals!

Daddy to be!

David models a super cute outfit that we got from our friends Ashlee & Dustin. David liked the baseball-like stitching on the sleeves. We've already gotten some really precious clothes from friends and family, which makes us even more excited to meet our little girl and dress her up so cute!
We have our next doctor's appointment next Tuesday, the 3oth.

Surf's up in Gianna's bedroom!

Well, the fetal echo went well. The doctors said our baby's anatomy including the heart all looks normal (they can see about 75% of defects thru the ultrasound), and we now have had 5 people say that it's a girl, so I think we're going to go ahead and go with the pink. :-) Actually, I'm posting a picture of the rug I got for the room so you can have an idea as to what the decor is going to look like. I feel like I'm showing more and more each day, which is fun, although the not-so-fun part is that I'm growing out of more and more of my clothes! We're off to Sacramento this afternoon where we have a wedding that David is in, and I will be wearing my one maternity dress to the 3rd wedding this year! Shhh, don't tell! :)

Halfway there!

Here are 2 pictures of me at 20 weeks, or 5 months (Saturday, December 23). The first one is getting ready to go out to a friend's wedding and the second one is me wearing a cute shirt from Rena (thanks!). :) Tomorrow we have our next doctor's appointment, and next week we have a fetal echocardiogram (which is a stage 2 ultrasound)-- hopefully we will have a more cooperative baby so that we can get more verification that she is indeed a girl!

Baby pics! 19 1/2 week Ultra Sound!

Merry Christmas, everyone. Here is an ultrasound picture from last week. Click the link below to view the rest of them.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennettars/sets/72157594438032880/

Future Gymnast in Womb!!

Well, after an hour and a half long ultrasound with 2 techs trying to figure it out, we are pretty sure that Baby Bennettar is a GIRL!!! One thing is for sure, she does not take after her maternal grandpa (possibly the most inflexible man ever), as the reason why we aren't for sure about her gender is because her legs were up over her head for most of the ultrasound. She rolled and flipped around and showed our tech about every part of her anatomy except the part between the legs (I even tried doing some jumping jacks!). But finally at the end, both techs were pretty sure they could see the 3 little white bones that signify girl (not to mention the lack of any boy-like parts).
We actually have thought it was a girl since our last ultrasound (around 13.5 weeks) when the tech thought she could already see the girl indicator. And my intuition has been telling me girl all along (along with my lack of heartburn and cravings for sweets!). We got some sweet pics of her and I will be scanning and posting them tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Welcome

Hi Everyone! Welcome to our Baby Blog. We are having our ultrasound to hopefully find out the gender of the baby tomorrow! I started feeling the baby move about a week ago. It's the most amazing feeling!