"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." {Philippians 4:4-7}
Rejoice~ That is exactly what I have been doing the last 20 weeks or so!! Rejoicing that the Lord has decided to make me a mother and entrust me with a child. I have been so thankful the last few months and have really seen first hand what pure joy looks and feels like. Telling our parents they are going to be grandparents, telling our friends our great news, celebrating and feeling the love I have for my husband each time I feel my baby girl move, it has been an amazing 20 weeks!
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| Me and Benny |
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| Benny and Erin |
Lets recap the last 4 weeks since that is the last time I updated.. Well the biggest news I guess is that baby Lilja is a
GIRL!!! We found out last week at my 19 week ultrasound that our sweet child was a girl and that everything looked perfect. She is healthy and growing exactly how she's supposed to. It was a great day, I started out the day by sleeping in and then met my friend Erin for lunch with her baby boy Benjamin. Erin and I met in nursing school and became great friends, we got married just weeks apart and our babies will be less than a year apart. It was great to catch up with Erin and chat about babies and being Mommies, she gave me lots of advise and tips on cloth diapering (yes we are going to try to cloth diaper baby girl!!!), which things are necessities and which things I can totally live without. After lunch and snuggles, I headed back home to pick up Chad before the ultrasound. He had just interviewed for a free-lance website design (Which he got!!!!) and then we headed to Minneapolis for the appointment.
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| Chad and I after we found out Baby was a GIRL! |
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I had gotten lots of tips from other moms to drink orange juice before my ultrasound so baby was active... well let me tell you, after eating a full lunch and having a diet coke, there wasn't a ton of room and I was feeling pretty nauseous. (Yes, the morning sickness was not gone at 19 week like everyone promised...) We were pretty early, and waiting seemed to take FOREVER!!! Our first ultrasound was done at the clinic close to us in Burnsville, so I had yet to have a scan at my normal OB and boy was it great! There was a huge TV on the wall for you to look at so you didn't have to wrench your neck to look at the tech's little screen. The ultrasound tech was fabulous and explained everything she was looking at!!! She said that nurses, especially ones that work on my floor tend to be very nervous and paranoid at the 20 week scan so I was a breath of fresh air. (Confession: I have not had ANY feelings of doubt or any bad feelings this entire pregnancy! I have put all of my trust in the Lord that he will protect my baby girl and whatever happens, happens). So after a while she asked us if we wanted to know the gender and of course we said yes... She then starting typing on a picture of baby that she was a GIRL! I was SHOCKED to say the least!! The first 16 weeks of this pregnancy I was pretty convinced baby was a girl, but the 3 weeks leading up the the scan I had a huge swing in my prediction and thought babes was a boy. Chad had kept his guess a secret all along but then confessed that he was confident the entire time baby was going to be a girl (likely story!). So after the initial shock set in, we enjoyed looking at our little girl for a few more min, and then went to meet with my OB. We were so excited and ready to get out of there that I'm pretty sure I rushed my OB right along so we could leave (only after hearing baby girls heartbeat again!!!).*Please note our color choices that day, not a plan.... Pink and Blue!
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| Baby Girl!!! |
The first person who we told was our friend Andy, he had been texting Chad the whole time and finally Chad gave in and told him. After out appointment I was determined to surprise my best friend Bri at work to tell her in person. I snuck into her clinic, she gave me a big hug and I told her that I think we needed to get some more hair bows and flowers! Her reaction was PRICELESS and did not disappoint... she started screaming and jumping up and down in the lobby!! I knew she would be ecstatic and have a great reaction because her reaction hen I told her I was pregnant was probably one of my favorite reactions we got while sharing our news! After a few more hugs, Chad and I were on our way back home! I spent the entire car ride on the phone with my family, first my Mom and Dad, and then my Sister and Brother, followed by my cousin Jen and Chad's cousin Cindy! Then a slew of texts went out to close friends who we knew could keep quiet with our news until we went public that evening! We had dinner with Chad's family planned for that evening so they had to wait in suspense, don't worry I assured Grandma Nanci that baby was HEALTHY so she wasn't dying waiting to hear :)
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| This does not show their enthusiasm... |
Chad and I had contemplated how we were going to break the news for quite some time and finally decided on telling them via cupcakes stuffed with pink frosting. Chad and his brother Josh decided that it would be funny to make their mom wait until after dinner before she got to find out. Let
me tell you... Dinner was painful for both me and Nanci!!! I could barely say two words to her, and definitely couldn't look at her because I knew she was going to freak out when she would out baby was a girl... and that she did! Once she figured out that the cupcakes the waitress brought to the table held this information she was on a mission. We made her pass one out to everyone before she cut it in half, I swear it was like a karate chop followed by a scream and then high pitched yelling and then happy tears. BEST. REACTION. EVER. HANDS. DOWN. I knew her reaction would be the best because she was the last person to expect we were having a girl... (Both of my parents and Mike predicted GIRL, Nanci, Hannah, Ben, Josh and Danielle all thought BOY).
After we talked forever about baby girl and opened some presents
(Nanci and Danielle you are amazing!!) it was time to head home (and
update our chalkboard, take a quick pic, upload to facebook for the
world to see) and then go to bed. Who can sleep?!?! I laid in bed for a
very long time thinking about our little girl and was in pure JOY.
The next day I did a little shopping (shocker! summer clothes were on sale at Target...) Saturday I had a few hours off of work and spent the day with my cuzzy and goddaughter! Ashlyn had a blast with GG and even said hi to baby!
Chad spent last weekend up north Hunting in Ely with our good friend
Adam and the dogs. It was a much needed break for him, and I'm
guessing there was a fair amount of drinking and talking about raising
little girls (Adam has a little girl who is almost 1). So glad he was
able to get away and spend some time Hunting in this beautiful fall
weather.
As I write this its about 6am on Saturday
morning (I have been awake since 2:30ish... that's what a week of
working nights will do to you!!!) baby Girl is going crazy and must also
be WIDE awake (PS did I mention I can feel her now!!! The kicks have
even started, hoping Chad will feel her soon!!). We are headed to a
Gopher Football game this afternoon which I am soooo excited about!!
Chad and I went to so many games while I was in college at the U, and
it's always so fun to go back and cheer on my favorite team! We have a
fun evening with friends after that, and then Chad and I are headed up
north tomorrow for a few days. We are going to be doing some fishing on
Rainy lake in International Falls (yes, practically Canada...) like we
do every year. Can't wait to get away and enjoy some quiet days
together.
That's pretty much the life update for the Lilja's! Ill give you a baby bump update if you keep reading!
Weekly/Monthly/Whenever I get around to it UPDATE!
How far along? 20 weeks
Total weight gain: 8 lbs total
Maternity clothes? Yup! Finally made the plunge and am SOOOO happy I did! Feeling so much more confident and comfortable.
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: Sleep is great (except after a week of working night shift!)
Best moment of the week: Finding out baby is a GIRL!!!!!
Miss anything? Beer and hard cider.... and maybe some Wine...
Movement: Yes! Started at 18 weeks with flutters and popcorn feeling... Now wev'e got full fledged kicks.
Food cravings: Anything sweet... Ive been bringing lots of sweet treats to work this past week
Anything making you queasy or sick: I can't say it with complete
confidence... But I think the puking may be OVER?!?!?!? I went 4 days
in a row without puking at work... besides some occasional nausea
everything is staying down! (Time to grow and put on some weight baby!)
Gender prediction: Thinking its a Girl but expecting a Boy!
Symptoms: Nothing unusual this month minus the random emotionalness and sweet tooth
Belly button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time? Happy, with occasional bouts of random crying!!
Looking forward to: A weekend away with my hubby, fall weather and fall clothes!!!
Here are the latest bump Pics!
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