Have a GREAT weekend...

Because i know i will!! So excited to drive home today! Baby shower is this Sunday! Cant wait to celebrate Madison and see all my family and friends!! Hopefully i'll be having a second shower here in Orange County so local friends and family can go! Well Just wanted to wish you all a Happy and Safe weekend! Hope to see some of you at Madison's baby shower this Sunday in Ridgecrest! ♥ ♥ ♥

Baby Shower

Baby Shower

Ridgecrest, Ca

**June 27, 2010**

I am so excited for this Sunday to get here! .Some. may say that 30 weeks is TOO early to have a baby shower but i disagree:) I have only bought a few small things here and there and James doesn't want to start shopping for Madison until AFTER the shower. This is to avoid getting doubles of certain things and so we'll know exactly what we still need. So i am excited to see my friends and family and also excited to REALLY start shopping after the shower;)

A part of me is also super worried that Madison will come early and we won't be prepared! My little sister had her first 2 kids around 32 weeks! I would be soooo unprepared if Madison came that early.. not to mention raising a preemie is not easy! :(

My best friend, Cori, and my soon to be mother in law, DeRonda, are throwing my shower! I appreciate it soooo much and feel super loved ♥

Wishing Ridgecrest wasnt so far from friends & family down here and in San Diego but my friend Lizbeth had already offered to throw me one here so that local friends & family and coworkers can attend! We'll probably do this one in August!

Can't wait to post pictures of the .BIG. event!!! See ya all on Sunday! ♥

Results from 28 week Anatomy scan

•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥• Madison Shine •♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•

So, last Friday my Dr.'s office called with the results from the 28 week anatomy scan as well as my glucose test results.


I passed my glucose test and my blood count looked okay with the exception of a low iron count. So my nurse told me to pick up some iron supplements with stool softeners at the drug store. I always figured i was slightly anemic and was surprised this didn't come up during previous blood tests. I was so nervous to get the ultrasound results back because my Dr. was slightly concerned when he measured my fundus. He said i was was measuring "small" and this may be because Madison is just going to be a small baby but ordered an U/S "just in case". So my nurse called and told me that the results were in and everything looks great! She is growing at a good rate, all extremities are there, heart is working properly, cord and placenta are in a good location, nice amniotic fluid levels, long and closed cervix, and all facial features are right where they should be! Yayyyy! Baby Madison is PERFECT! ♥
Well hope all you dads out there are having an AMAZING Father's Day!! ♥

For those of you having daughters..

i DARE you to watch this without crying! LoL! :)

Capri -- Colbie Caillat

7 month checkup (28 weeks)

7 MONTHS
12 weeks to go (9 'til full term)

Well today we went in for my 28 week doctor appointment. Another quick appointment! I stood on the DREADED scale, peed in a cup, got my blood pressure taken, and then heard Madison's heartbeat. Dad sat there quiet like he always is:)
My pre-pregnancy weight was about 133 so i have gained 16.8 pounds thus far. Yikes! Sounds like a lot but I'm glad i only gained 4 pounds in the last 4 weeks! If i continue at this rate hopefully I'll stay under 30 pounds?! The average recommended weight gain for my BMI is about 15.5-18.8 so i think I'm okay?! My blood pressure is awesome (lets hope it stays that way!) and fetal heart rate it good! Everything seems right on track EXCEPT... when the Dr. measured my belly he said i was measuring a little on the small side. He said it is nothing to get worried over it probably just means Madison is going to be a small baby? Both James and i were small(er) babies. Just to be .safe. he wants me to get an ultrasound to check on Madison's growth. So this Wednesday we will be going to get another ultrasound. Of course i freaked out at first but many mamas and friends have helped me calm down and on the bright side we get to see our baby girl again!!
The nurse also gave me a cute lil' diaper bag filled with goodies. Free samples, tons of magazines, and a book with all the hospital registration forms in it and stuff! This sort of freaked me out!!!! Hospital registration forms....birth certificate preregistration form..birth plan paperwork?? Ahhhh does that mean she's almost here? We're so not ready!!! LoL! Time to start preparing myself!! :) I just know that when Madison does make her appearance we will be so thrilled..ready or not!
SO our next visit with Dr. Tatarin is in THREE weeks.. yup not FOUR! Then after that its every TWO weeks!! Craziness! This .journey. has been so exciting and i can't stop falling more and more in love with our baby girl each and every day! I love how James is already the best daddy around and i cant wait to have our lil' family of .three. ♥

The most amazing feeling ever ♥

BABY'S 1st MOVEMENT:

::quickening//flutters//butterflies//popcorn popping//goldfish swimming::

almost INDESCRIBABLE



Well right around 18 weeks i started reading in my books and on the forums that i may start to feel the "flutters"... so i would sit there for hours a day just TRYING to feel something! I quickly learned that this isnt something that can be forced... when you least expect it is when it happens! Around 20 weeks these flutters started turning into jabs and around 21 weeks daddy finally was able to feel his baby girl moving!



I still remember one morning(around 22 weeks) we were in bed and James pressed his cheek to my belly. He was telling Madison "good morning" when all of a sudden he felt a jab to his jaw!! We were cracking up! He then started to tease her saying "Is that all you got Madison??" so she started hitting him harder! What a precious moment! Baby girl is already showing daddy WHO's BOSS! LoL!



Now-a-days those punches and kicks are out of control!! Here i am, 28 weeks pregnant, and some days she's kicking and punching so hard it HURTS! But i cant get mad.. she has limited space in there;) I definitely feel her feetsies in my rib cage.. OUCH! In the last few days i've even been able to make out what body part is where! Like when she pushes her BUTT out and keeps it there or this morning i felt her HEAD roll across my tummy! Her elbows are what she uses when she REALLY wants to get my attention! OWIEEE! :)



What's even better is when i get to let others feel her kick and move around and to see their faces lights up!! Especially younger kids, like when my 5 year old nephew felt her kick.. he said "THATS MY COUSIN!!"



I may not miss being pregnant BUT the one thing i will miss is feeling my baby inside moving around!! Until you feel it for yourself you wont even begin to understand the JOY i am talking about!! So excited to see her "on the outside" showing off her kick boxing skills!! :))









** Not my belly but an awesome picture**

Here we go...

And so it began...






Well January 6, 2o1o started off just like any other day. Woke up and got ready for work. After work i came home, more exhausted than usual, and decided to take a nap while James was at work. I woke up with a strong urge to go buy a pregnancy test... so i drove to Walgreen's and picked one up. Once i got home i opened the test, read the directions and peed on the stick:) Certain that it was going to be negative i finished up in the bathroom and walked away for a couple of minutes. After about 2 minutes i went back and to my suprise..... "pregnant" flashed across the screen! Thank God i was alone because my reaction would probably shock most... i threw the test and went running for the door, grabbing my cell phone on the way out! Now where we lived we get NO cell phone reception so i knew if i was going to share news like this i had to have service! i jumped in my car crying(scared but happy at the same time) and drove to where i got reception. Now this might sound funny to some, but.. the first person i called wasnt James, it wasn't my family... it was my best friend Cori Muhle!! LoL! She was soooooo happy and calmed me down enough to attempt to call James. But before calling James i needed some reassurance... so i called his MOM! lol! I cant even describe how excited and happy she sounded! it made me cry even more! What a proud grandma already!! I then called James!! But not wanting to tell him over the phone i cried "Get home NOW!!!" and left it at that! He must have ran out of work! LoL! 15 minutes later he was walking through the door with a bouquet of flowers and a huge smile across his face! Before i could say anything he said "I'm HAPPY!" Boy was this a relief!! Now we weren't "planning' this but we definitely weren't avoiding it either! (**lol**) He knew i was late and have been wanting to take a test so he had assumed this was why i called him telling him to get home!







Well Grandma and Grandpa Shine (haha) were set to visit the next day. We had a great weekend with the "in laws". Then the weeks started going by.. i felt fine except for being extremely tired! I thought i had escaped morning sickness... then week 9 came!! Oh boy was i sick!! I'm not even going to use the term "morning sickness' because it was more like ALL DAY sickness! I couldn't even work for 5 minutes without running to the restroom to "hug the toilet"! Worst feeling ever!! EVER! (so far.. haha!) Well shortly after 9 weeks i scheduled an ultrasound! We couldn't believe what we saw!! James's parents were also down for this!! So i had my little entourage in the room! :) Our baby was already the most BEAUTIFUL thing i have ever seen!!

I cried like a baby.... Dad stared with wide open eyes at the screen looking happy and terrified at the same time! LoL! Grandpa Shine kept cracking jokes and Grandma Shine took lots of pictures! :)




I chose my Dr. shortly after! His name is Dr. Tatarin and he works at St. Josephs Hospital in Orange, CA. James and I both really liked him!! He even has an awesome staff! I have never had a male OB so i was scared but he made me feel very comfortable!! At my first appointment he said everything looked great and i was very healthy!!


Around 15 weeks we scheduled an ultrasound at an elective U/S center. I have heard that sex can be determined around this time but i was more concerned with just seeing our baby again!! Well... we got to see her!! Yes.. HER!!! It's a GIRL!! I couldn't believe it! I was certain that i was going to have a boy! Don't get me wrong... i would be happy either way BUT James's mom only has boys... 4 of them! I didn't think the Shine's were capable of having a girl! lol! I should've known though because i could only come up with girl names and girl nursery themes! haha! James was..well.. lets just go with scared! haha! He wasn't raised around girls.. he said "what am i gonna do with a girl?!?!" He was happy as well just.. SCARED! After the initial shock wore off we were soooooo excited and the shopping began! :))






Well my tummy started to grow around 16 weeks....


17 weeks...

Around 18 weeks we were scheduled to go in for our anatomy scan! This is the u/s that the hospital does to take measurements of the baby and make sure she is growing accordingly! I had high hopes for this u/s after hearing how detailed and cool it is.. well we didn't think it was all that great! :( Maybe we just had a bum u/s tech but he didn't explain what we were looking at on the screen and it was over within 15 minutes! Friends had told me it was a long u/s lasting at least 30 minutes:( But on a positive note, we got to see our baby again!!!! :)

A few days later the nurse called to tell me everything looks GREAT! She was measuring perfectly!! What a relief!!! So by now i had done all the blood tests and everything came back great as well!! I feel accomplished.. my oven is doing a great job at baking this lil' bun of ours! hehe! :)

a few more pictures of my growing tummy...

19 weeks:
21 weeks:



Im a lil' crazy when it comes to this but i cant help but want to see our baby girl at least once a month... our insurance only pays for ONE ultrasound! Ughhh! SO... we decided to get another elective ultrasound. So at 21 weeks we went back to the same place that we went to at 15 weeks! i also wanted to confirm the gender (just in case! lol!) and YUP still a GIRL! :) Auntie Lizzy got to come to this one! I was so excited to show off our baby to someone else! haha!

As the weeks went by my body kept changing.... i was finally starting to look PREGNANT and not just FAT!! yayy! and people started noticing and congratulating me! :)



22 weeks:

24 weeks:

26 weeks:




Finally the time came.. 3d ultrasound time!! :) James's parents were coming down to visit again so i set the appointment for that weekend! I was about 27 weeks!! This lil' booger was not cooperating though! haha! She had no problem showing us her "parts' to confirm she was still SHE but when it came to showing us her full face... no way Jose! She kept both hands in front of her mouth at ALL times.. well she finally put down one hand only to replace it with a FOOT! hehe! And let me tell you.. she sure does have her mom's feet and hands! poor girl! Long toes and long fingers! :) Still an AWESOME experience! She is ADORABLE!!!


And here she is pointing to her big foot;)


Well that's our lil' girl's story so far!! Madison Shine! Cant wait to meet her!
I'm very new to this whole blogging thing so hopefully i can learn a few things on how to really do this! ha! But for now this should do!