Blue vs Pink or Eric vs Michelle

One of the privileges of being Eric's wife is occasionally being right and getting to tell him "I told you so". (I know, not a great marriage practice, but that's a separate blog.) Frankly I don't get the opportunity to do it much. But we may have come upon the greatest "I told you so" of our lives.

The gender of our unborn child.

That's right, we're back to square one as far as knowing whether we'll have a little Eli or Maggie. As you may recall, at our December appointment the ultrasound tech said she thought she saw scrotum. Eric confirms that he saw what she was talking about. I, however, saw no such thing and was not fully convinced. (I will not be fully convinced until I see a penis.)

Today, thanks to Eric being on the board and the wonderful people who work there, we were able to have another ultrasound at the Bella Pregnancy Resource Center. Jodie, the nurse manager, was kind enough to do the ultrasound for us. It was amazing to see our baby on that screen again. We were lucky enough to see the Niesling sucking on toes, hands, and the umbilical cord. Eric's parents, who had never seen an ultrasound, were also there experiencing it with us. Roxie, Bella's executive director, was there as well. It was amazing for all of us.

We explained our gender conundrum to Jodie (Eric believing wholeheartedly that it is a boy while I remain somewhat skeptical) and she attempted to discover the sex herself. Unfortunately, our baby has a sense of modesty and kept his/her legs together, preventing any peeks into our boy vs girl problem. Eric flat out asked Jodie, if he put a gun to her head what would she say, and her reply was that she had no idea. It is completely 50/50 in her mind.

So while Eric still says it's a boy, I am back to telling people that we're not sure. We're hoping to have another ultrasound in a couple weeks to help determine who is right and who is wrong. The winner of this argument will be talking about it for the rest of our lives. Let's just hope it's me. :)

Baby Accessories We Have

As Eric and I are both first time parents, we have been asking plenty of friends and family for advice. They have all been open and wonderful answering our questions and giving us suggestions that work for them. Of course, every baby is different, but it's nice to hear everyone's point of view. Since I have this blog anyway, I thought I would do posts on baby needs and accessories that we already have and are still looking at getting. This way we can keep track of what we still need to get for him and others can see what we already have if they want to buy the Niesling something. I might still do a registry, but I think this will work out just as well.

We have already started receiving gifts for the Niesling, especially since we just had Christmas. Since we found out it's a boy, a majority of the clothes we have received have been specifically for that gender. These include some cute sporty slogans and lots of blue! We also received a beautiful Winnie-the-Pooh fleece blanket from some friends. Eric's brother Jared and his wife also sent some wonderful Christian baby books. We also got a sippy cup from Eric's aunt and uncle that his cousin Cole used. This cup was made by another of Eric's aunt and uncles. The family hopes to start a new tradition of passing it to each new baby!

Thanks to my sweet mother-in-law and her love of garage sales, we also have bigger baby pieces. These she got right after we found out I was pregnant and they have been sitting in our shed since late August/early September. The funny thing is Eric and I recently decided that we wanted to do animals (jungle/African) for our nursery and when I went to check to see exactly what his mom had bought, nearly all of it was animals! It is safe to say that will be what we go with since we already have some pieces and it's gender neutral for our next baby.

The Niesling already has:

1. Evenflo Embrace Car Seat and Base: I pulled it out today to make sure that it is a current model as apparently car seats have expiration dates (which I did not know before). It is the kind that has a base you leave in the car and you can snap and unsnap the carrier. The fabric is adorable with zebras, elephants, alligators, hippos, giraffes, and turtles.

Athena testing out the car seat for the Niesling

2. Instep Jogging Stroller: I wasn't sure about this at first, but I'm looking forward to using it now. Not that I was ever a jogger or runner, but it looks like a good quality stroller that we will be able to use for a long time.

3. Fold Up Stroller: This is a nice little extra stroller that folds up easier and faster than the jogging one. I'm guessing this will be used for Wal-Mart and other store trips when the Niesling gets a little older.

4. Exersaucer: Everyone I've talked to and all the blogs I've read have said they could not live without this. Kris found one that has a circus theme, so it has the animals we are looking at incorporating into the nursery. I'm so glad to have this!

5. High Chair: I'm not sure when most babies start sitting in a high chair, but we have it whenever he's ready! It has adjustable heights not only for the tray, but also for the legs.

6. Bouncy Seat: Another favorite of many moms, I'm hoping our baby loves it as much as others do. Plus it's got cute little animals on it too as well as a removable activity bar with hanging animals.

7. Swing: Another must have. The one Kris found is basic, but what more do you need?

8. Fisher Price Rainforest Mobile: This is so adorable we couldn't resist taking it out and trying it the first time we saw it. Unfortunately, the buttons are marked wrong. Pressing the button for Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart plays the incorrect music. (Not that I would have ever noticed, but Eric the classical music man could tell.) I'm sure we will relabel them so they are correct.

We are so thankful for the amazing friends and family that are giving us gifts for the Niesling. We greatly appreciate it and hope they know how much we love them!

Don't Worry, I'm Still Here!

It has been forever since I last updated the blog and I have gotten a couple gentle nudges this week from friends to update. So here I am. There won't be any pictures of me for this post as Eric is not here and I'm not sure how to upload them from the camera. I will learn though, so I can post pictures whenever!

Since I won't show you photographic evidence, I will tell you that I finally have the obvious pregnant belly. Last week Eric and I trekked to Rapid City and bought some more maternity clothes for me. I was pleasantly surprised how well everything fit and the selection of cute shirts to choose from! It has now reached the point that I cannot wear any of my old pants except sweats and lounge pants. Most of my shirts could stretch to accommodate the baby bump, but they're not long enough. So it was a good thing we expanded my closet.

I have had two doctor appointments since the last post. At the December check up, we spent 3/4ths of the time doing an ultrasound. It was amazing to see our baby on the screen! Here are a few of the ultrasound pictures.

We asked about the gender before the ultrasound tech was done and she said she thought she had seen scrotal skin. She showed us what she was talking about and Eric apparently saw it. I, on the other hand, could not tell head from tail so I'm not positive. However, we are telling everyone it's a boy! (Eric says I'm still denying it because I want a girl so bad.) I am hoping we can get another ultrasound and the baby will be in a better position to verify gender. Either way both Eric and I are super excited!

The rest of the December appointment and our January appointment were talking with the doctor. We didn't have any questions and she had no worries so they were relatively quick visits. I've gained 14 pounds since I first saw Dr. B at the beginning of October. Seven of those pounds were put on between the December and January visits. Needless to say, I'm no longer worried about putting on enough weight! Especially since I seem to be eating every 2 hours. (The ladies at work like to give me grief about my snack drawer. I can't help that I'm growing another human and need to nourish him!) (And the pancake craving seems to have faded away as well, to be replaced by eating any and everything.)

The next doctor appointment is January 27th. I will be doing my glucose and anemia tests that day. I have to say I'm not looking forward to the orange sugar drink, but I am anxious to make sure my sugar and iron levels are okay. My pregnancy has seemed so smooth that I'm worried something will happen to make up for all the easy parts.

Oh yes, and baby is constantly moving now. He seems most active when I'm sitting or laying down, but I can feel him moving at anytime. He enjoys jumping on my bladder at 2 in the morning, which can be a pain, but it is a wonderful feeling nonetheless. Eric can feel him moving everyday now, but whenever I'm around others I can never catch him moving long enough for anyone else to feel. Which is disappointing for family and friends, but hopefully we can remedy that soon!

In other exciting news, Eric and I are buying 5 acres of land between Spearfish and Belle Fourche and plan to build a house this spring! We had originally hoped to be in before the baby was born, but it is looking like it may be a month or two after. Either way is fine with me. I'm just glad we'll have more room now that our family is expanding.

Week 21

We are starting Week 21 and feeling pretty good. The baby is kicking quite a bit, which is an amazing feeling. I try to get Eric's hand there to feel it, but he is pretty impatient waiting for it. Although he has felt it at least a couple times. I'm just waiting for the baby to kick him in the face when he's doing this:

Wouldn't that be hilarious? So far, no go though.

I can count on the cat to sit on my lap and keep my belly warm. She is more clingy than usual since we left her home alone for a week over Thanksgiving. If I'm sitting under a blanket or laying out comfortably you can pretty much guarantee that she's there in 10 minutes or less.

Sadly, I have not gotten my pancakes in the last week. I may break down and buy some mix to make some one night. However, I haven't been having the craving for them either.

Two days until we find out gender of the Niesling. We are both hoping for a girl, although I wouldn't mind a little man either.

The next update should include a gender annoucement, as well as maybe some name possibilities. Hope everyone has a great week!

Week 21

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

Life around this Nies household have been crazy lately. Eric has been working very hard and seems to have a lot of meetings. I haven't been so busy, but time has just been flying by. Even though that's easy to say when you seem to spend all your extra time sleeping.

It did help that we took a week off to go visit Eric's brother Jared and his wife Sarah. They were kind enough to host us for Thanksgiving in Litchfield, IL where Jared is currently doing his vicarage. Litchfield is a great little town and they are staying in the parsonage, which is great. We spent most of our time there just relaxing and enjoying time with Jared and Sarah. They cooked some great meals, which was especially good for me as I'm still hungry all the time.

On the way to and from IL, we also stayed with our friends the Nevins near Omaha. We love spending time with them and it's even better now as they are pregnant too. You can imagine how much time we spent discussing baby names and poo colors. Their daughter Celia was there this time, so we got to hang with her as well. She was especially enamored with Eric and he with her. I think it just reaffirmed his desire for a daughter.

I also bought my first maternity clothes with Cara. Three pairs of pants, which are still just a little too big. But I don't think it will be long before I fit in them, as I seem to be finally getting the classic belly. Which is good because the regular pants are not going to hack it for much longer.

The most exciting part of our vacation, aside from feeling the baby kick more and spending time with some wonderful people, was hitting a deer on the interstate 30-some miles from home. Luckily all three of us seem to be fine and we have insurance to cover the damage. Eric and I will be down to one car for a few weeks, but that's a small price for all of us to be safe and sound.

Because of our vacation, we did miss week 19 pictures. Below are weeks 17,18 and 20.

Week 17:



Week 18:

Week 20:

Also, just a reminder that next week is our next doctor's appointment when we will hopefully find out the gender!

Oh, and I still want pancakes all the time. :)