Birth Class

Tim & I took a six week birth preparation class at the hospital to learn everything there is to know about having a baby.

We had a lot of fun playing all of the games they had; such as "name that hospital instrument", "birth a ping pong ball" (see photo below), "guess the baby's weight" (which I won!!), "dress, diaper and swadle the baby" (see photos below), and many more.

They also made us watch lots of birth videos (yikes!) and gave a hospital tour.

We can't wait to go back and meet our little Natalie!

Tim couldn't get the ping pong ball out of the balloon!

Tim diapered and dressed the baby!

And swaddled her!

The Price Is Right

Mom, Dad, Tim & I headed to California for a very quick trip for the Price is Right's baby shower episdoe!

We got up extra early and headed to CBS studios to wait in line for my chance to be called down (only pregnant people were eligible to be called down).

Although I didn't get picked, we had PRIMO seats right behind contestants row. Drew Carey talked to all of us during a commercial break and told my mom that she didn't look old enough to be a grandma.

It was a fun experience!

Watch for our episode on January 11, 2012.

Fall Family Pictures

We found a local photographer that was doing mini-photo shoots and were very excited to get some pictures done in Prescott!

A select few are below and they can all be seen on our Shutterfly site- http://staciaslife.shutterfly.com.

Enjoy!

Ouch!

Last night while talking to Cara on the phone, I got the worst pain in my lower back I had ever had! I tried all of the stretches they gave us in birthing class and nothing helped. After about 20 minutes, I was in tears because it hurt so badly.

Tim told me to call the OB department at the hospital and they told me to come right in. I picked Tim up at work and he drove us to the hospital. They hooked me up to an IV and monitors for Natalie, then took blood and urine to run some tests.

After two hours of horrible pain (a 7 out of 10), they finally gave me some pain meds through the IV and I felt like a new woman.

They received the test results back and there were lots of minor issues. They then diagnosed me with probable kidney stones and sent me home with a urine strainer (gross).

After the pain meds kicked in :)

Sure enough, today, I "passed" a stone. It is gross, but at least we found the culprit!

That is the "stone" in a baggie, in my wedding ring to show size

Not sure I will be able to take the pain of pushing a baby out now after how much this little thing hurt!! UGH!

Natalie's First Email Address

Earlier this week, Julie called from St. Louis to ask if I had seen a new Google commerical about a newborn with her own email address. I hated to admit that I hadn't, so she emailed me the link...

After watching the video and getting tears in our eyes, we decided to set up an email account for Natalie so friends and family can send her messages throughout her life.

I will plan on printing everything out once a year and keeping in a binder for her to enjoy as she gets older.

So... here goes. Please add Natalie to your address books and email her at Natalie.Ehlen@gmail.com with any thoughts, photos or videos you think she would enjoy as she gets older.

The Nursery

It takes every ounce of energy we have to not buy everything at every store that we see for Natalie. However, as you can see below, we have bought plenty!

Her nursery is almost done, as is her closet!

When my mom gets home from her trip, we are going to finish the bumper and crib skirt

I painted the wall paintings to match the decor

Tim's favorite part of the nursery... the closet!! 

Every girl needs hair accessories right? Bows & hats!

Cravings...

Now that my appetite is back, I am starting to crave all kinds of food.

One of my favorites that I've been having lately is frozen yogurt (chocolate!) with Reese's peanut butter cups, strawberries and walnuts (or pecans). I decided that it almost hits all of the major food groups so it is good for Natalie and me :)

My other cravings mostly relate to Disneyland & Disneyworld...

Bengal Barbecue has the best chicken and beef skewers and amazing bacon wrapped asparagus.

The refreshment corner on Main street has amazing hot dogs and chips.

The Plaza Restaurant has yummy corned beef sandwiches and soup.

Think Tim is up for driving to California? 

New York!

We took a quick trip to New York to see the Black Eyed Peas in concert at Central Park. While we were there, we also went to a Yankee's playoff game, hung out with my brother John and his wife Brigett, had lunch with Tim's Aunt, Uncle and cousin, visited the Statue of Liberty, went to the Met and much more!

Central Park

Lady Liberty (please note the baby bump!)

The Met

Times Square

A replica Statue of Liberty torch

Manhattan view

Yankee Stadium

Go Devils!

Earlier this month, a couple of my aunts, uncles and cousins came to town for the ASU vs. Mizzou football game. We saw it as a great opportunity to hang out with family and for me to attend my first ASU football game!

Fortunately for thos of us who are former Devils, ASU won (in overtime!)! YAY!

Two former Sun Devils

my cousin Zach is in there somewhere

Tim, Nancy, Dad, Mom, Jim, Louis & Matt

Both of my parents supported ASU!

We're Having a Baby Girl!!

Today was our "big" ultrasound to take all of the important measurements and confirm that we are in fact having a girl!

Baby Natalie looked great on the ultrasound- the four chambers of her heart were perfect and so were her facial features. She has ten fingers and ten toes :) Her measurements still put her right on track for her original due date of February 11th.

We cannot wait to meet her!

16.5 Weeks Strong!

After having some minor issues on Monday morning, we went to the doctor's office to make sure the baby and I were ok.

After confirmation from the ultrasound tech that everything looks good, we were able to get some good pictures of the baby!

Already Nesting...

When we moved in June, we set up one of our basement bedrooms as the nursery and have been having so much fun setting it up!

So far, we have a crib (thanks mom & dad!), a dresser and chest (from when I was a kid!) and we recently purchased our stroller set (which obviously won't stay in the nursery, but it looks cute for now!). We are also starting to stock up on diapers...

The pregnancy is still going well- I have stopped wearing normal pants (boo) and am now wearing lots of dresses and maternity jeans. The belly magically appeared last week and is getting bigger every day.

Baby E is still on track too... "It" is now the size of an avocado and will double over the next two weeks just in time for our BIG ultrasound on September 19th. The polls are now open... will Baby E be a "Cooper" or a "Natalie"?


p.s. Save the Date! January 14th, 11:00 am, Baby E's baby shower at Paradise Bakery in Scottsdale.

Doppler Machine

Since I am slightly paranoid about the baby, I decided to buy a small doppler machine so I could hear the baby's heartbeat whenever I wanted!

After getting it in the mail, I tried for ten minutes to find the heartbeat and couldn't. I was laying on the floor ready to cry when Tim came in. He instantly found it!

The video below is really just audio of the baby's strong heartbeat. It is twice as fast as ours is!

Making Progress...

I cannot believe that I am already twelve weeks pregnant! One more week and I am out of the first trimester and have been told that many of my "issues" will go away and I will be a new woman :)

The baby is now the size of a lime, and my pants are starting to get a little snug. I have gained one pound from my start weight, but have really gained six, due to the five I lost from my wonderful morning sickness. I think I've gained all six in my stomach area...

Had my second OB appointment yesterday and we heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. I cried as soon as we got in the car.

The doctor said my next ultrasound won't be until 20 weeks, so no finding out the sex until the end of September! YUCK! I asked if I could pay for one early and he laughed and promptly said "No". Darn...

Our Belated Honeymoon

Tim's dad offered us a week at their time share in Cabo and we jumped at the opportunity!

We had a great time relaxing by the pool... Tim enjoyed drinking Coronas and I enjoyed virgin strawberry daquiris.

One of the days we took a water taxi our to Cabo's landmark... the arches. It was a very relaxing and beautiful ride!

Here are some of our favorite pics. As always, all of our photos can all be seen on our Shutterfly site http://stacislife.shutterfly.com

On our boat ride in front of lover's beach

On the Sea of Cortez side of the Arch

On the Pacific Ocean side of the Arch

On the beach in front of our hotel

9.5 Weeks in the Making!

We just got home from our second ultrasound and are already in love!

The ultrasound tech was amazing, showing us all angles of our soon to be new addition and explaining what everything was.

Our "grape" is measuring at 2.73 cm, just over an inch from head to bottom. The grape's hands were tucked under her (or his!) chin and we were even able to see some movement of arms and legs multiple times.

The first photo is a 3D ultrasound pic of the baby from the side. The second photo is a top view and the third is the baby's heartbeat- which is still going strong at 162 beats per minute.

Due date is currently estimated at February 11th or 12th...

Morning, Afternoon and Evening Sickness

For the past two and a half weeks I have been sicker than sick.

After weighing myself Saturday morning and realizing I had lost five pounds, I finally decided to call the doctor.

Tim left work as soon as he could and went to pick up a prescription of Zofran, an anti-nausea drug for me (along with popsicles and Pedalyte).

So, I am happy to say that I am FINALLY feeling better!! Now back to reality... laundry, vacuuming, cooking, etc.

p.s. Ultrasound is scheduled for Wednesday for our little grape who is now nine and a half weeks in the making...

The Bean

Our appointment yesterday went very well… the doctor said that Baby E is measuring right on track!

The Bean (how we currently refer to the baby because it is the size of a lentil bean), measured at 6mm, which puts us at six weeks, three days. Our official due date is February 11, 2012.

Baby E’s first photos are below!

The large black circle is the water sack that will hold Baby E until birth. The small black circle within is the yolk sac which will deliver nutrients to the placenta. Right above the yolk sac is the embryo (with a + sign on each end).

The bottom photo shows Baby E’s heartbeat. It was beating at a very fast 118 beats per minute, which is normal for an embryo.

The Lone Follicle

Because we are being seen by a fertility specialist, I get lots of ultrasounds.

Our May ultrasound revealed a single follicle in my left ovary, that measured a mere 17 mm (they like to see 23+ to produce an egg).

Little did we know that this little guy would soon release that egg to make Baby E...

(the photo is of the follicle after it released the egg and continued to grow)

Third Time's a Charm!

We finished round three of treatment in May and our "test date" was the Saturday we got back from DisneyWorld. We talked about it ahead of time, and decided to just wait until we got back to Prescott on Sunday night to test. However... when the time came, we couldn't wait and stopped on the way home from the airport to pick up a pregnancy test.

I went straight into the bathroom after arriving at my parents for the night and immediately saw the plus sign appear on the test stick!! I cannot tell you how shocked I was. I opened the door (Tim was waiting patiently) and showed it to Tim. We were so excited, but not ready to share the news yet because the doctor's office requires TWO blood tests to eliminate the chance of leftover hormones in my system causing a false positive on the at-home test.

I took another test Sunday morning and another Monday morning. The plus sign appeared immediately both times again!

First blood test was Monday, a level of 50 or higher means pregnant. My results came back, and my level was a wonderful 155! Second blood test was Wednesday, hoping to double Monday's results, and my level was 390! YAY!

WE ARE OFFICIALLY PREGNANT!!!

p.s. Please don't yet share this news... If you are reading this, you are hereby sworn to secrecy! We will let the world know as soon as we make it past the first trimester.

Corrected New Address

After tons of help from my parents and Tim's dad (and a couple of movers for the big stuff!), we are completely moved!

Our new address is:
Tim & Stacia Ehlen
532 Goshawk Trail (old house was 538)
Prescott, AZ 86301

Home phone is still 928-237-4351.

We're Moving After All... UGH...

While we were on vacation last week, I received a call from our landlord telling me that they want to sell the house we are living in. He said we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted, until it sells that is. 

He gave us the option to move two units over and sign a new lease, or stay and show the house and move when they sell it.

So... after much dismay, we have decided to move two units over. The house is the same floorplan and actually has nicer upgrades (wood floors!!). However, we have to pack everything up and move. Yuck.

Who wants to help?

Disneyworld Trip

We spent Memorial Day week in Florida at Disneyworld with my parents, my cousin Julie, her husband Joe, and my Godson Jack, because my Dad was nice enough to get everyone a condo at the Animal Kingdom Village with a view of the savanna!

We had a great time, with the exception of the unbearable humidity and the crowds of people!

Here are some of our favorite pictures... As always, they can all be seen on our Shutterfly site!