Week 31

31 weeks! I know that the due date is just an approximate guess as to when she will be here but if she decides to bless us with her presence June 26th that is only 2 months away :)

I was thinking we should start a pool about everyone's guesses on when she'll get here. Feel free to comment on here, text me, or Facebook it and I'll start a calendar to keep track. :) I'm not sure if I can have more than one guess but I have two :) It may be on June 23rd (because it's the biggest full moon of the year and wives tales say lots of pregnancies are in a storm or full moon) or June 29 (because that's my grandpa Ray's birthday and that would truly be a sign).

Raelin, what are you up to this week?!?!
Well I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and it went great. Her heart rate was 143 and strong. The midwife said she was already head down and even though she can still move around she is most likely to stay in that position. Her being in that position makes sence because now I can feel her feet under my ribs, which is a weird sensation and hurts sometimes lol.  She apparently is the size of a bunch on asparagus and weighs about 3.3 lbs.

Hypnobirthing is going really well too. There are some really nice couples and the instructor is very informative and helpful. I know labor isn't going to be a walk in the park and things don't always go as planned but I feel confident and prepared as anyone can be and am looking forward to welcoming Raelin into this world, thanks to all the support and love I get from my husband, close family and amazing friends, I couldn't do this without you all :)

Things are going to start picking up soon because Raelin is almost here, Trev will be home soon and we have alot to do, not just finishing Raelin's room but other things as well so next week will be my last week volunteering at the Adult Day Care. I have enjoyed doing it every week and will miss seeing all their faces but I know they'll understand. I'm sure after awhile too that I can take her in and show her off to everyone :)

Next week I'm sure I'll have more pictures to share but here are the 2 I have this week :)

Here is a picture of the bassinet all ready to go in our room :) can't wait to see her in it! This bassinet has so much meaning and is one of Trev and my favorite things for her. Trev's grandpa (Papa) Koepke made it especially for Trev when he was born and was past to Stephen and all his cousins and now our daughter. What a wonderful heirloom to share :)

Trev and I want to thank Ron and Pam for the wonderful gifts we got in the mail from them the other day. I'm so in love with the bag and love that it has Raelin's name on it.

I hope everyone has a great week and I'm looking forward to sharing more soon :)

Daddy's Corner

Daddy’s Corner!

Hello everyone.  Let me start by saying how wonderful it is to be home with my Beautiful Wife!  I was amazed at how far along she is looking and am getting really, really excited to meet my Daughter.  It has been a long deployment that has been about as eventful as watching the grass grow.  The only thing that seemed to keep me sane the entire trip was hearing from Misty daily.  She kept me up to date about Raelin kicking and all the organization of the baby’s room that she has been doing. 

Hearing from her was the best part of my day and will continue to be the best part of my day as we are not done with our deployment on the worst running polished turd of a Cutter I have ever been on.  Everything that could be wrong on the borrowed Cutter (the Escanaba of all Cutters) has gone wrong and I guarantee the Escanaba Crew is not going be grateful of all the hard work we put into it. 

We are almost done with the deployment though.  We are on Port Call right now in home port so I am able to sleep in my own bed, but we are working all days we are here, then we get back underway.  We spend a few more weeks underway and deliver the Escanaba back to her original crew in Boston and I will be home with my wife for the rest of the summer and the rest of the pregnancy.  I can’t say it enough that I am really, really excited to finally meet my Daughter, Raelin.

Week 29 & 30

Hello, hello :) I think Spring is finally here. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't see any more snow. Lots of things have been happening. First of all, Dusten and  my sister-in-law Kala had their baby on April 7th at 12:36pm. She was 6lbs. 12oz. and 19 1/2 in. long :) They named her Dusti Lynn Rose.

And here is a picture of this beautiful baby girl :) Trev and I are so happy to be an Uncle and Aunt.

 

 

 

We are so excited for Raelin to get here because we know they will be best of friends :)

 

So most of you are probably wondering how Raelin is doing....

We only have 10 weeks to go!! Woohoo! We are in the home stretch! She's do great :) I had a doctor appt almost 2 weeks ago (next doc appt is this Thurs) and her heartbeat was 148. I'm measuring out well and everything is normal. Just within these last couple weeks she has started to kick and move so much that it wakes me up in the middle of the night or if I'm sitting there eating I can feel her moving around. One side of my belly will go up, then the other side. It's just amazing and I love it. I can also tell when she gets the hiccups because it's a rhythmic twitching that goes on for a few minutes. She is the size of a green cabbage now according to my baby app on my phone lol.   

So what have I been up to?

Still volunteering on a weekly basis. I sewed some burp cloths and am working on other things for Raelin's room. My Hypnobirthing classes have started and I'm really enjoying them. It's giving me a new perspective on how this birthing thing is going to happen lol.

 

 

(burp cloths I made and soon bibs to match)

 

Trev pulled in the other day on the boat and will be here for a few days. It's been really nice showing him everything in Raelin's room and just around the house in general. It's feeling more like a home :)

It's been great to share with him all of Raelin's kicking too. I kept telling him while he was underway every time I emailed him she would kick. I'm sure she knew I was happy and that's why she was kicking. Needless to say she's been kicking up a storm since Trev has been home and I've gotten to share that with him. He thinks it's really cool too :)

 

(Trev's boat pulling in)

 

(happy he's home)

 

(really happy he's home!)





(30 weeks baby bump)

 

 

 

 

 



Week 28

This week was a long one. I was able to volunteer Tues and Wed. and even though it's only for a few hours each day, I definitely need a nap when I get home lol. Thursday one of the Coastie wives and myself tried to start sewing some things for Raelin's room but decided it was a better activity to do at the beginning of the week instead of the end. Hopefully we will be more rested and my mind is a bit more clear. Pregnancy brain makes you forget everything, all the time lol :P

Thursday night I went to this "Mocktail Party" which was a party for new moms and moms-to-be. They showed us how to practice hands on swaddling techniques, baby massage, baby wearing, and calming, as well as simple yoga breathing for relaxation. It was really fun, learned a lot and met some nice ladies.

                                    

What's Raelin up to this week?!?!

Well when I told Trev he described it back to me as... Raelin was jumping on my bladder, kicking my ribs and playing jump rope with her umbilical cord, LoL! He is too funny.

So she is the size of a head of lettuce this week, and weighing in at about 2 1/4lbs. She is developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding on more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world. She has eye lashes now too.

(my pic of a head of lettuce, lol)

How's Trev doing?!?!

Well he's in port right now, in NYC for a bit so I am able to talk to him on the phone. He's doing well and happy to be on land for a couple days. He's went and had sushi and enjoyed a movie while in NYC, trying to keep it low key so when we get a chance to go together we can go see big things like the World Trade Center Memorial and the Statue of Liberty.

This upcoming week will be a busy one. Going to try and get some sewing done, volunteer, my first hypnobirthing class :) and more stuff in Raelin's room.

Trying to stay busy while Trev is gone has been difficult and while I have many projects in the works for the baby's room I have also been doing some shopping and have found sooo many great deals on clothes I think we may need a second closet :P Everything is just too darn cute to pass up though.

 Hope everyone has a great week and I'm excited to share this upcoming week of events with everyone :)

Oh and real quick wanted to thank everyone for the comments, Trev and I enjoy reading them and love to hear what you think. I try and add as much dancing food as possible but some time it's not available so I have to get creative....hence the picture for this week :P