25-26 weeks pregnant

 Oh man, what a month December was! We had the greatest time celebrating the holidays with our loved ones! January is already off to a crazy and fun start too! We are so grateful for our families and the blessings we have on a daily basis!

Maternity Clothes- YES! Movement- Baby girl is SO active, I feel her so much! Pretty much everyone who has asked has been able to feel her as well, and you can often see the movements now from the outside! Cravings- I am still craving egg white delights! I also want chocolate shakes! Good thing I have a healthy macro friendly recipe I like to use to help them be a little healthier! Morning Sickness- I am doing SO MUCH better I haven't thrown up in weeks. I am still nauseous in the mornings, and I need frequent snacks. But it has been so so SO much better! Crazy Moment- we had a little bit of a scare last week at the doctors. They ordered urgent tests and told me to be prepared to be admitted into the hospital for bed rest. I was so thankful when the results came back pretty good! I am supposed to be taking "intentional rests" I am not supposed to do any high intensity exercise, and my daily schedule needs to be more calm. I am trying my best to follow the guidelines, but I have a toddler, so its a bit tricky. I am feeling pretty good overall right now though, and I am grateful for that!

Life Update- Mike's brother James was married a few weeks ago, we got to head to warmer weather in AZ for a few days and spend some much needed time with the Delahuntys! It was so nice to get away and have time with them! We miss them so much!!
We were informed that our condo wouldn't be done until the end of April, that time frame was not going to work for many reasons. The first being we are due with this little girl in April, and the second being our current living space was only available to us until March 1. I spent a couple of days feeling pretty stressed about it and then realized we weren't out of options! We called our builder and come to find out there was 1 other condo available with our same exact plans! We were SO happy! So we signed the paperwork to do the switch and now we are getting ready to move in a few more weeks! We are waiting on a few last minute finishes to get done and then we will be good to go. We are so happy everything worked out and that we will be moving about the same time as we had expected. It was such a miracle!

20 weeks and a life update!

I am 20 weeks! Maternity Clothes- yes! Movement- They are getting stronger and stronger by the day! Mike, Lyla, and my mom have all felt some good baby kicks! Gender- ITS A GIRL!!! I have had a feeling it was a girl from the moment I found out we were pregnant! I am over the moon that Lyla and this little one will each have a sister! My sister is my best friend and I hope they are so close!  Morning Sickness- Just as I thought I may be getting over morning sickness it came back with a vengeance! Holy smokes this last week was really hard! Cravings- My most recent craving is an egg white delight from McDonalds (these cravings are not a joke!) Favorite Moment- Lyla felt the baby kick for the first time this week! It was so sweet and a little funny she was confused wondering how I had done that to her, I told her it was the baby! And then she gave my belly big open mouth kisses. I hope she is this sweet when the baby actually comes!

We are loving this time of year with Lyla! Seeing her experience and recognize the magic of Christmas is so rewarding! I took President Nelson's challenge to read the Book of Mormon from start to finish from October until the end of the year. I have never read the Book of Mormon this fast and it has been amazing. Something I have noticed is that I have been praying, hard, for extra patience with Lyla. She is at a difficult age right now. She is VERY head strong, and is finding her boundaries by making insane messes, spilling everything- milk, lotion, food, etc; screaming, and hitting! It has been hard to make it through a day with her and stay happy and calm. Over the last two weeks I have felt this divine peace within myself. I have been so much slower to frustration with her, and I have felt like things she does just don't bother me as much. I completely attribute this to a blessing from following the counsel of our prophet! Something he promised in his talk was- "As you prayerfully study, I promise that the heavens will open for you. The Lord will bless you.." what a blessing it has been to see this happening in my life. I am so grateful for a living prophet, for a loving Savior who is involved in the details of our lives, and for the opportunities they give us to be obedient. Something else that has resulted in my lesser frustration is a nicer child. She is more loving towards me and seems to be getting easier! I just feel so blessed and don't ever want to forget this experience!

Lots of love,
Brookey

Week 13 bumpdate and a pumpkin patch date

Maternity clothes- my regular pants are TIGHT, maternity pants won't stay up. I'm in that awkward in between stage. Morning sickness- Yes, unfortunately! Its not quite as bad as it was with Lyla, but the toilet bowl and I are too close of acquaintances right now. I'm just hanging on because I know it will end soon. haha! Cravings- Fruit, sorbet, and Gold fish- I don't think I had eaten gold fish in years.. so that's a little funny. Movement- I started feeling faint fluttering last week only when I was laying down!! This is hands down my favorite part of pregnancy and I can't wait for it to get stronger and for Mike and Lyla to feel it too! Gender- We would be so happy with either! But I have a hunch its another little girl!  Favorite memory this week- Finally sharing our news! Also watching the baby move all over during our ultrasound.

Pregnancy Pros

This is what happens when you let your sister come to the doctor visit with you.. such an embarrassing yet real photo of how life has been lately. 

As we are rounding up to our last week and a half of pregnancy,  I realized there are some things I am going to miss. Amidst a lot of discomfort, there are some really great things about pregnancy. Here's a list of the pregnancy pros:

1. Feeling the baby move. The hiccups, kicks, punches, scoots, etc. I LOVE watching and feeling the baby move all day and night. It makes me smile every time!

2. People are so nice! Strangers and friends are constantly asking about me and how I am doing. I am always offered a seat when in a public place. I love how everyone is just so nice to a pregnant woman.

3. Massages! I have had a free pass to get a massage from my husband just about every single day of my pregnancy. Seriously, I think I get a massage at least 5 days a week! He is too good to me, I know! I will miss that!

4. Giving into cravings. Sometimes, the craving is just so strong that you cannot talk sense into yourself. Normally I am one to just eat something I have on hand regardless of how bad I am craving something, but during pregnancy, I have gone to get exactly what I want.

5. The anticipation. The anticipation always makes things better! I have never anticipated something so intensely in my life. I am dying to see our little girl and to find out what she looks like, how she acts, etc. I am so excited to meet her!

6. The miracle of pregnancy. The miracle of life being created, and developing inside of me. It is truly amazing! I am so grateful we were able to get pregnant with our sweet girl after months of trying. And I am so grateful that she is healthy so far.

Update- My preeclampsia symptoms have gotten worse so they have scheduled me for an early induction at our 38 week point on the 27th. Yesterday I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. I was up 3 times last night with some pretty strong contractions, so we will see if she comes on her own before the 27th!

We are getting so so excited to hold her, kiss her, and love her in just a week and a half or less!

Lots of love,
Brookeydee

Pregnancy Update

We have had a crazy few weeks over here!!

I have had high blood pressure since about 20 weeks of pregnancy. It has gotten high enough that my doctor has required me to get twice weekly non stress tests (NST) and weekly Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) tests, labwork, and doctor's appointments, and ultrasounds every few weeks. Last week we went in for our first testing that included all of the tests- AFI, NST, ultrasound, and labwork. I was at the doctor's office for over 3 hours. It was a long time. Thankfully the AFI and NST showed that the baby is doing great! In the ultrasound, they told us that she is still doing good. She went from the 90% in size at our 22 week ultrasound to 40%  at 34 weeks. So she isn't growing quite as fast. They pushed back my due date just a few days to July 11th, instead of July 7th because of her size. So the baby passed all of her tests as being healthy, and the labwork showed that I have Preeclampsia, but it is not negatively affecting my body. So that is pretty good news! They told me this morning that I am dilated to a 2 and 60% effaced. I would LOVE it if this little babe came early. I would not be sad to miss out on those final weeks of pregnancy.

The other good news in our crazy day last week was I got to see her in two different ultrasounds, one at the beginning of the morning and another at the end. They told us she weighs about 5 pounds right now, and just estimating based on regular baby growth cycles she will weigh just under 8 pounds at full term. They also showed us that she has hair on her head! I am so so happy about that! My family has a curse of baby baldness and I haven't had heart burn once during my pregnancy so I was convinced she would be bald too, but she has hair! YAY!! I am so excited to meet our sweet girl.

I want to remember a story from Wednesday night. I have come down with a cold, the symptoms are mild besides the coughing. Wednesday was the worst night and I just felt so sick that I had no appetite. I made dinner but couldn't stomach it and I tried to eat just about everything in our kitchen and nothing sounded good, not even chocolate! That's when Mikey knew I was really sick haha! A combination of hormones (mostly hormones), hunger, and sickness led to a complete breakdown. Poor Mike, sat there trying not to laugh as I cried uncontrollably because I was hungry, sick, and tried of sharing my body. LOL. I literally said between sobs- "I just want medicine and I want to be able to skip a meal because it won't affect anyone but me, but I have a baby in there!" " I have been pregnant since October! I want to just have me in my body!!" And the crying just wouldn't stop. It was so so pathetic. I think it lasted about an hour, haha! Like I said, poor Mike!! We finally ended up at the McDonald's drive thru around 11 pm so I could get a grilled chicken sandwich and a diet coke. My husband is a saint. I wanted to remember this crazy pregnant lady moment, because I see how plain ridiculous it was. I have had one other experience like this and Mikey was so sweet to me then too. I am grateful this has only happened two times and is not a frequent occurrence. I hope it was the last.

34 weeks

We are 34 weeks! This week the baby should be just under 5 pounds and almost 18 inches! She is getting so big! Just this morning Mike and I sat in bed watching her move and he was dyinggg. She was moving around a lot and you would see her bum or hand or foot push up against my stomach pretty high or at one point she stretched across my body and you could see her body stretching and then she pushed up at each end so my stomach looked concave (for the first time in months!) Mike thought that one was insane! It was so funny.

I am so relieved we made it to and from Hawaii in one piece! I have been a little concerned about not being able to go on that trip or having complications while there, but it was smooth sailing! The flight attendants on every flight said to me- "you keep that baby in until we land!" and it made me so nervous every time haha!

We are getting so excited to meet our girl!!

lots of love,
brookeydee

33 weeks on the Big Island

I cannot believe we are 33 weeks, when did that happen?! It is crazy that we are getting so close to meeting our girl! We have been on the big island for this whole week and it has been a blast!

Things are a little slower for me right now, I am at a full on waddle. And I am a lot more cautious of hiking. But I have still managed daily runs, walks, or hikes in the mornings and I have been plugging along on our adventures here. The big island is beautiful and amazingly diverse and we have LOVED it!

It's going to be really hard to leave this beautiful island on Monday night! We are trying to soak up every minute we can!

ALOHA,

Brookeydee

31 weeks

We had Slapfish in Lehi this week, it is SOO good.

This week wins. This may be my most favorite week of pregnancy yet. Finals are over, my favorite shave ice shacks are open, I have time to spend with Mikey, the weather is sunny and warm, AND we are leaving for Hawaii this week! That last semester was a doosy. And I am so so glad it is done. I am ready for long and easy summer days!

Baby girl is 31 weeks! This week she is around 3.3 pounds and she is over 16 inches long. That seems about right, because when she moves, my whole stomach moves. Sometimes its so crazy to look down and think that she is really in there, getting big and healthy. Pregnancy is truly amazing!

Lots of love,
Brookeydee

Life Lately

I cannot believe we are at 29 weeks already! How in the world did that happen? This week the baby is about 2 1/2 pounds and is 15 inches long. She moves so much. We had a little scare last week, so the doctor had me track all of her movements for a few days, on average she will move around for 10-15 minutes every 45-70 minutes, twice a day she doesn't move for about 2 hours, but after that, she moves around for about an hour to an hour a half without stopping! This awake time is usually in the morning from 6-8 and at night from 9-11. I love feeling her move all day long! It is one of my favorite parts about being pregnant! I have been told by other moms, pregnant friends, and the doctor that she is quite active, so I am starting to mentally and emotionally prepare for a child that does not sleep much! Haha!

We are finishing up the semester and the burn out is strong. This semester has been one of the hardest on both of us since we were married. With Mikey working full time and going to school, and me working 30 hours and my intense school schedule, we never see each other or get enough sleep. During the week, we get about 30-45 minutes to eat dinner and talk at 8:15 when Mikey gets home before we both have to get to homework. Its nice to spend time together on the weekends, even if its just running errands, cleaning the house, and doing homework because we are never together.  I miss my husband. We leave for Hawaii in a few weeks and we are SO ready and excited for a break from reality!

Things have been going great! We have all of the big baby things, the nursery is 95% done, we have all of the big gear. Now all we need is the day to day stuff like clothes, diapers, soaps, lotions, etc. We still need to get a baby monitor and a baby carrier for hiking too but that's all!

We had a wonderful Easter last weekend, we got to spend Saturday with Mike's family and Sunday with mine. I forgot my phone at home so I didn't get any pictures of our new Easter outfits. But, it was actually really nice to enjoy my day with our family without any distractions!

27 weeks

We are 27 weeks! Baby girl is 14.5 inches and 2 pounds now. We are in the third trimester. How did that happen??!

I took my glucose test this week. Everyone warned me about the test being bad, but it wasn't too bad for me. I am grateful it wasn't a super bad experience and very grateful that my results were negative!

I haven't done a pregnancy update in a while! I haven't had any super strong cravings or aversions for a while. Salads are still not my favorite thing to eat, but I can stomach one if I have to. I'll have random cravings too like yesterday I wanted a jolly rancher... I am pretty confident I haven't eaten a jolly rancher in 10 years haha!

Baby girl is still so so active and I love it! I love watching my belly move throughout the day!

My sleep is getting a little rough at night. My belly feels heavy and its so hard to re position during the night. I wake up a lot because I am uncomfortable or I have to pee, again! I make myself a nest of pillows every night and that helps. Sometimes I use mike as a full body pillow too. So I can have one on each side, haha! Last night baby girl was kicking him in the back hard enough that he could feel it and it was so funny. This child is going to be sassy, I am sure!

We have really begun getting things ready over the last few weeks. So far we have the crib, mattress, sheets, and the quilt. The nursery is almost totally decorated, we just have a few more things to finish up, it is my favorite room in our little home! We also have a baby bath, thermometer, bassinet, blessing dress and lots of random little things.  We have ordered the stroller and car seat yesterday so those are coming.  We still need a baby monitor, a baby carrier so we can go hiking, and all of the soaps, lotions, creams, diapers, lots more clothes, etc. But we are pretty prepared considering we still have 13 weeks!

My Sister opened her mission call recently. We are so excited she is going to be serving in the Baltimore Maryland mission! She is going to be a fabulous missionary and I know she is going to have so many wonderful experiences! She leaves on July 12. My family will all be out of town for 10 days until July 5, our due date is July 7, her farewell will be July 9, and then she leaves on July 12. HAHA! It is going to be crazy town over the course of that week. I am really hoping that the baby is healthy and ready whenever she comes, but it would be most convenient if she came anytime between the evening of the 5th through the 9th, I am probably going to jinx it because I am saying that! But I want to be able to go with the family to drop her off at the MTC. And I would love it if the baby came before she leaves so she can have a few days to snuggle her! But, more than anything I just want our girl to be healthy. So I will be happy with whatever is supposed to happen.

Here's a little video I made of Bry's mission call opening.

Lots of love,
Brookeydee

22 Weeks

This week the baby is the size of a spaghetti squash! She is 15 ounces and 11 inches long.

We had our mid pregnancy ultrasound yesterday. Everything looked great and she is healthy. I can't tell you how relieved I am! She was active- shocker- throughout the whole ultrasound and we had to try many different positions to get all of the pictures they needed of the organs and bones. We also had a super hard time getting a picture of her profile. We tried and tried and tried. We got a few pictures but nothing super clear, because this baby is so BUSY! She also swats and kicks at everything that encroaches on her space. So sassy. The ultrasound should have taken 20-30 minutes, but we were in there for 50 minutes.

She did use the time to show us just how sassy she was, covering her face when we were trying to get pictures, giving the peace sign with her fingers, waving hi, and the best was when we were talking about how stubborn she was she legitimately shook her head up and down three times. I was dying it was too funny.

Her head circumference was in the 85th percentile- not good news for delivery day for this mama. But the rest of her body was small between 30-50th percentiles and her stomach circumference was a small 24th percentile. So good luck to me, I am going to be very grateful for that epidural! Give me all the meds!

We were looking at her little face to check for a cleft pallet- which she doesn't have, and we got a super detailed picture of her nose. She has the Polynesian nose that we all got from my mom's side of the family. Her head shape and cheeks looked rounded like mine too! But we will see when she comes. I have been convinced this whole time that she would look like Mike, but now I think she is going to look like me. Hopefully she will get my darker skin and mike's curly hair!

I am so excited to meet this girl. We are excited to get started on her nursery we are planning to start buying things on Saturday! Mikes parents ordered the crib and mattress for us this week! (They are so kind and have already begun spoiling this baby so much!) I am so excited to see it in her little room! We bought a few more bows for her this week :/ someone needs to stop me. I just can't with all of the cute bows! We just adore this sweet little baby already!! We are so excited to be parents!

Lots of love,
Brookeydee

21 weeks

Baby girl is 21 weeks! She is the size of a cantaloupe. She is 12.7 ounces and is 10.5 inches long! I can now feel where her body is in my stomach and its the craziest thing.

I feel so weird taking bump pictures.. this is the first one I have ever taken.

My cravings are still chocolate and salty snacks, like chips. So bad. I have been really trying to limit those from my diet.
My aversions are still cafe rio and costa vida. It is still very sad.
Even with the move tomorrow, I bought some baby bows last weekend. They were on sale and SO SO CUTE! This next week we will start buying for her nursery. I am ecstatic just a tiny bit excited! Mike told me not to buy anything else until our ultrasound this next week, just to make sure that it is really a girl! They were sure at our first ultrasound, but it would be so sad to buy all of these baby girl things for a boy. HAHA!

My belly is really popping these days and there is no hiding this baby bump! My hands have also begun to swell. I don't love that. I am not going to be able to wear my wedding ring for much longer. We go to the doctor this Thursday for our long ultrasound where they check everything. I am nervous, I really hope our sweet girl is healthy and progressing correctly. I am so excited to see her in there and I am hoping she is face up this time so we can see her profile! She kicks anything and everything that gets in her way. Whether its Mike when we cuddle or a desk. She is so possessive of her space :/ poor baby is going to hate being squished soon! HAHA! We have a sassy one on our hands, no doubt. We are excited for our move tomorrow and hope everything goes well!

Lots of love,
Brookeydee

19 Weeks

Our sweet little girl is the size of a mango. She weighs 8 and a half ounces and is 6 inches from her head to her bum. We already love her so so much! We can't wait to meet her!

Cravings- still chocolate and chips. I wish it wasn't so.
Aversions- still cafe rio and costa vida
Movement- I am beginning to feel bigger more defined movements. I love feeling her move!

Baby girl and I had a rough week. Last weekend Mike and I spent all of our Saturday cleaning and organizing our house (mostly giving and throwing away soooo many things) so packing would be easier. I did a little too much lifting and was SO SORE for a few days. I didn't realize that the things I could easily do just a few months ago are not so easy anymore! I also got strep this week and it was rough. But we caught it quick and I was able to miss some school to go to the doctor and I am so grateful to be on the mend. We are moving in two weeks, so things are going to be crazy over here for a hot minute, we are so excited we found a place in Lehi so Mikey's commute is a bit shorter and we will be closer to both of our families!

18 weeks

Baby girl is the size of a bell pepper. She is just under 7 ounces and is over 5 and a half inches from her head to her bum.
I am still pinching myself that we are having a sweet baby girl. It makes me so happy! I was secretly terrified of having all boys- so I am SO glad I for sure get my girl! I cannot wait to play dress up and house and do all of the fun mommy daughter things. I am so grateful I have an angel mother who has prioritized family time and taught me all the fun and sweet things to do with this baby girl.
This week I decided to eat more healthy, so I planned out our dinners and made a goal to only eat fruits and vegetables for snacking and stuck to my plan, except for the entire bag of chips I ate and the chickfila and chocolate my angel mother brought me.. Why do I crave chips and chocolate SO BADLY? Those two things have been a constant craving for me for about a month now. Anyways, I am really proud of how I ate, besides the chips and chocolate, and I feel balance is an important thing in life, so it's all good, right? I know if I cut out all of the yumminess I would give up in a few days, so I am taking baby steps :)
I still have an aversion to cafe rio and costa vida. It is really sad. I am have a feeling this one is going to last my whole pregnancy.
Baby girl is SO active. I am beginning to wonder when she sleeps! I was at a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and we could hear her moving through the heart monitor. The doctor said she was very ative. In about a minute's time we heard her move 5 or 6 times. I feel her moving around every night now and even Mikey felt her for the first time! That was a special moment, he was beaming. He is going to be the cutest daddy, I can't handle it.
I didn't buy any baby products this week, we are hoping to move north a bit to lessen mike's commute to school and work.  I am hoping we move sometime in March and then I am going to start on the big purchases of crib, car seat, stroller, etc and get working on that nursery.

Mike started his new job this week and is really enjoying it! Except the commute. His schedule is absolutely crazy, and he hasn't complained once. We wakes up everyday at 5:30 and leaves for school around 6:15. He goes to school for a few hours (its different everyday) and then goes straight into work until 7:30. (He is working 33 hours a week.) Then he gets home around 8:10, eats dinner, and does homework until midnight. I don't know how he is doing it. He works so hard. He is seriously my hero! I am grateful our move is going to cut back on his commute so he has about another hour each day to do homework/sleep. I love my hubby so so much!!

lots of love,
Brookeydee

17 weeks and Grandpa Dean's Funeral

This week baby girl is the size of a pomegranate. She weighs 5 ounces and is 5 inches long from her head to her bum.

I didn't have any cravings this week.
I still cannot handle a costa vida or cafe rio salad. My brain tells me I really want one, but my stomach says NO! I also have an aversion to all the things I used to crave at the beginning like refried beans and cottage cheese make me want to die.
Movement is still very uncommon for me to feel, I only feel her in there a few times a week so it's still very special! I cannot believe how active she was during our ultrasound last week! I know I mentioned this last week, but she was kicking and moving around THE WHOLE TIME. The ultrasound tech was laughing at how active she was. I also can't believe how long and cute her tiny little legs are. I can't wait to see her! Growing a human is an amazing miracle and I am so humbled that I get to be the one experiencing this!
The only thing we bought this week was this rocking bassinet- it was on killer sale and I had an amazon gift card to use so I literally saved more than 60% on it! Baby stuff is so expensive so it's relieving when we find a good sale! We are on the lookout for sales of cribs, city select strollers, bumbos, (or another easily portable awesome high chair) and the nuna carseats.

This weekend we were in Monticello for the funeral of Mike's Grandpa. It was a beautiful service and recognition of his life. I learned so many things about him this weekend and it was so fun for me to know him more. As we were there I caught myself getting extremely emotional. Funerals always remind me how precious life really is, and to hold on tight to your loved ones. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and the hope and promise it gives us that we will be together as families forever. It is a beautiful part of the gospel. It was a hard but wonderful weekend all at the same time.

Lots of love,
Brookeydee

16 weeks

We are 16 weeks! The baby is the size of an avocado. The baby weighs 3.5 ounces and is 4.5 inches from its head to its bum.

We went in to find out the gender yesterday and we are SO excited to be having a little girl!
I felt the baby move for the first time this week! I felt a super faint fluttering in my stomach and then it happened again just a few moments later. I was laying flat on my back and so I started pushing back on my belly and felt it a few more times!! I have felt it again four different times this week when I have been laying down.  I cannot wait for the moving to be so strong that Mike can feel it through my belly!! While we were at our ultrasound yesterday the baby was moving all over! Just kicking and jerking. I don't think she likes to be pushed on, HAHA! I am a little worried that when she is bigger she is going to do some damage to my insides!
I didn't really have any cravings this week!
I am still having an aversion to salads in general, which is so weird cause salads are normally a staple in my gluten free diet, but I can't even with a salad right now.
We bought a bunch of baby clothes yesterday! We couldn't help ourselves! It is so fun to know what we are having, I am so glad we decided to find out!

It seems like pregnancy goes by SO much faster when you're not throwing up all of your food! I have been feeling SO much better over the last couple of weeks and now it seems like time is flying right by!! We are so grateful for this little baby girl!

Lots of love,
Brookeydee