Hiccups

So yesterday I felt baby Casey have hiccups for the first (and then second) time! What a neat feeling, it made me laugh! Too cute. Yesterday was also the start of week 27 and the third trimester...time is flying! And I am growing, wow. Ryan and I went to a demolition derby in walla walla, and Casey was kicking me rhythmically to the song "Another one bites the dust"...he likes music I guess!

Next week is my glucose test, and our 28 week ultrasound! I can't wait to see Casey again, and see what position he is in, it's hard to tell by his movement. Some days I think he must be head up, other days head down, and sometimes I think he is a pretzel.

My new hobby is saving money:) I have been introduced to thebargainjargon.com; afistfulofcoupons.com; and krazycouponlady.blogspot.com
These have saved me mucho money! I was able to get 5 jumbo packs of huggles diapers for $10, shipped to my house; and 11 boxes of huggies wipes for 75 cents each. Also, I have been stocking up on cereal for about 50 cents a box. I recently got $25 worth of groceries from Albertsons....this did not actually cost me any money, I made $7 on the whole deal. Yes, they paid me $7 to take $25 worth of food. Last week, one of my receipts said I spent $39, saved $45 and was given a $9 catalina (coupon to use on anything in my next purchase). I am just following the websites and their deals, and using coupons for things that go on sale. I get a lot of items for free, or for just pennies. I get lots of free things and coupons in the mail too, a nice change of pace from all bills!

25 weeks

We have hit 25 weeks! We went to the Dr last week, and everything is going well. We heard Casey's heartbeat, it is still 160. Such a beautiful sound! He kicked the whole time, so I could feel his kick and half second later, I could hear it on the doppler. He is so busy in there, and his strength is definitely improving! I feel pretty good, I am not happy about the return of the heartburn...seems like after going off the ulcer meds, the heartburn made an immediate return. My hip joints (sacro-iliac joints) continue to throb and make walking and sleeping quite painful. I tried a pregnancy band on, that my Dr. recommended, but its was awful and awkward and I did not buy it, especially after my insurance was iffy about covering it.

Because of the hip/joint pains and also an issue with the placenta, we are not going to be able to walk in the 60 mile breast cancer walk. We are really disappointed, but of course the safety of our child comes first. I am really happy to report we were able to raise over $1600 for breast cancer! Every penny of your donations went to the Susan G Komen for the cure fund.

This past weekend, Ryan and I went to Seaside to visit with Ryan's family and play on the beach. It was a little rainy, whcih was actually a nice change of pace from the hot tri-city sun. I don't like the actual rain, but the clouds and cool weather were nice. This made camping a little difficult, and we stayed in a hostel the first night, rather than tent in the rain, pregnant. Not to mention, I need the luxury of a close bathroom at night...the hostel was very interesting! It made for quite an adventure, and Ryan and I are always up for an adventure. We boarded the dogs for the weekend, but we wished we could have let Josh and McKenzie run on the beach. Next year we will go with the dogs and Casey.

6 months!

Wow, I can't believe I am already 6 months pregnant!! We go for our 24 week check up tomorrow, nothing too exciting, but in 4 more weeks we get to see Casey again on ultrasound!

Casey is very busy, and he must be growing like a weed, because his kicks are getting bigger and bigger. I think he is an acrobat. He already likes the glider, it rocks him to sleep. I like the glider too, it feels awesome on my sore lower back. Sleep is still a nightly challenge, and finding a good position. Poor Ryan, he is scrunched on the bed, as I pile on pillows and blankets to try and find a good spot. And Tobie gave up on my side and insists on sleeping tangled up in Ryan's legs. The other night I had 6 pillows, a full length body pillow and a fleece blanket spread around....not much room for Ryan! Sadly, this only led to a sore neck for me, it didn't even help.

Ryan and I went to my parents last weekend, to meet and celebrate our 2 new nephews!! Matt and Kelly gave birth to Caleb Joseph on August 3rd, and Shauna and Noah had Keegan Jameson on August 13th! They are both just precious! We drove our new Ford Expedition over there, we traded in the truck and Ryan's 66 galaxy. Casey is expensive, we already bought him a great big family car and he isn't even born yet! While we were over on the west side, we also registered at Babies R Us...there is so much stuff!

I will post some pictures soon....

Pictures!

Here is the last picture of all three of us girls pregnant....with our hubbies. Left is Matt (my brother) and Kelly; Ryan and I; Shauna (my sister) and Noah. This was the weekend of Kelly's baby shower, and Ryan's graduation! We figured this would be the last chance to get a picture before Caleb or Keegan is born...
Here I am 21.5 weeks pregnant, with Josh and McKenzie, my sweet aussies.
We have been hard at work on Casey's room! We painted the lower half "Star Command blue", the upper half "Cinderella's ball" blue, and did white framing around the middle and bottom.
Here I am in the newly painted room. Ryan, the master builder, is very excited to start putting together the baby crib and changing table/dresser combo. We put the glider in the room, and I can't stay out of it. It's just so comfortable. This putting together a nursery is so much fun!

Casey is a very busy boy, he squirms, moves and kicks most of the day. Ryan can now feel him kicking! Casey loves to kick hello to his Daddy, and I love to watch Ryan's reaction.....it is all so very exciting!

The heat in the tri-cities has been crazy, in the upper 100's for a week now. We are lucky to have AC, but playing outside is just not happening. We have been keeping the dogs inside as well, they are going a little stir crazy! It is supposed to cool off a little, but August is predicted to be an average of 94 degrees. I love hot weather normally, but not so much this year. Ryan and I are spending lots of time swimming!

20 weeks....Half way there

We made it to 20 weeks! Ryan and I went to the 20 week ultrasound Wednesday. The tech confirmed it's still a boy! Not that we had any doubts, but we could definitely see the boy parts....he was showing off! It is amazing what they can see on this ultrasound, we were shown his kidneys, stomach, spine, aorta, heart, and many different bones and brain structures. Everything looked great! Baby was so very busy during the ultrasound, he was opening/closing his mouth, arching his neck and wiggling all over the place! It is so amazing to know this baby inside is a living, functioning child inside of me! We were told he is 15 ounces, about the size of a can of pop! Baby center said at 20 weeks, babies should be about 10.5 ounces.....and I was concerned he is HUGE...but after talking to other Moms at prenatal water aerobics, he isn't too big:) We will get to see him again at a 28 week ultrasound and see how much he has grown!

If you haven't heard the big name decision: Baby is going to be Casey Neal. Casey is a good Irish name that we both love, and Neal is Ryan's middle name and his Dad's middle name. I love Baby Casey!

We are hard at work on Baby Casey's room, which will be primary colors with a barnyard theme. Since we have horses, dogs and cats, it is fitting! We have a lot of work, but we have many boxes filled with a crib, changing table/dresser combo, bedding and toms of clothes. I have been really lucky to get lots of new and used clothes from family and friends. We also just got a baby swing....I love a good bargain. My Mom got us a great exersaucer, and we are accumulating bibs, socks, books and toys. We need to clear out his room, paint, steam clean and get everything set up!

I am so happy to have Ryan home after a month of being on the west side for work. I have the world's sweetest, most supportive husband, and it was hard to not have him home and to not get my hugs and kisses. And everything I broke while he was gone is now fixed:)

It's A Boy!

It's a boy! Our 20 week ultrasound is not actually until July 22nd, but due to an emergency ultrasound at the hospital, we were able to find out early that we are having a boy!! Last week, as I was running agility with McKenzie, I sent her from the dog walk into the tunnel, did a front cross and tried to turn around to send her over a jump and the teeter....but I fell and rolled a few times. Not very graceful, very embarrassing and definitely not good for baby. The next morning I was having cramps, so I called the OB to see if I should be doing anything and was very surprised to be sent to the ER! After many hours and many tests, baby looked good and I was sent home to rest. They had talked about admitting me for monitoring, but let me go home. They said baby is right on the line of still being really well protected and him being more vulnerable to trauma. When they did the ultrasound, I was quite nervous, as they wanted to make sure baby was moving. I was at a bad angle and couldn't really see any movement on the screen. After awhile, the tech said "Wow, what an active baby! I am trying to get baby to hold still!" So that was a relief. She asked if I knew the sex and I said no.....she asked if I wanted to know, and I fought myself for awhile, because Ryan wasn't there, but I just could not say no! She pointed out boy parts several different times, although I couldn't see anything. At our 20 week ultrasound we will get to see better and get pictures!!

When I went to my parents for the weekend, we all went out to dinner and Ryan and I announced it's another boy....he will be grandson #4 on my side of the family!!! We have chosen the name Casey Neal. My Mom has a sign from the dollar store that you can see in this picture...."It A Boy"....yep, missing a letter! It's now the family joke and we all have our picture with the "It A Boy" sign!

This last weekend was Shauna's baby shower and next weekend is Kelly's! It has been so much fun planning the showers, and getting pictures of the 3 of us every time we are together....won't be too many more, both are due in August!

That's all I have for now!
Megan and baby Casey!

4th of July weekend

I can't believe it's already July! We packed up the dogs and headed to the west side. Friday we went to a dog show. Josh was entered in conformation, and both were entered in obedience. Being from the tri-cities, Josh and McKenzie are practically bald, they have shed so much! Then I see all the west side dogs who still have coats....so we didn't do anything in conformation, but Josh is doing well remembering how to be a show dog! We havent practiced obedience in awhile, as our focus has been agility, so we just played around in the obedience ring. But it was a fun show, and we saw Kim, breeder of all my aussies, past and present! And we saw Taz, Josh and McKenzie's Mom. We went home to a BBQ at my parents, with Shauna, Noah, Cooper, Matt, Kelly, Jenna, Dustin and my Grandparents! We took some pics of us 3 pregnant girls...Shauna and Kelly's baby showers are the next 2 weekends! And then Keegan and Caleb will be arriving!

On the 4th of July, we headed to Uncle Kevin and Aunt Casi's beautiful house on Lake Stevens. We did some boating, tubing, wakeboarding, jet-skiing, swimming, floating etc. No worries, this pregnant lady did nothing that could result in injury (well for me, even walking can cause harm, but no major water sports for me!). Ryan and I taught Josh and McKenzie to swim, and even had them jumping off the dock and swimming to shore. It was pretty entertaining. The fireworks on Lake Stevens were pretty amazing, and Kevin had gotten a lot for us. The teen boys had a blast setting them off on the deck, under the supervision of the pyro, Noah.

Sunday, Ryan and I went shopping at IKEA, Target and Babies R Us. We picked out some things we like, and are going to pick them up in the next few weeks. The babies room will be started soon! And July 22, we will find out if Baby French is a boy or girl! I am 18 weeks now, and my belly is growing! Still having headaches, but the new meds actually help. Thursday I will see a specialist about my gallbladder. Hoping for some answers, but there isn't much that can be done while pregnant.

I can't wait til the 22nd!