33 Weeks

Lil W's pictures:

Not a great ultrasound pic...but the baby is looking at the "camera" and giving a wave! (The baby's face is on the right side..his/her eye sockets are the black circles)


Look at that long leg!!!!!! And mommy knows right where that foot ends...right under my right rib!

Our little peanut is 33 weeks as of yesterday! He/She is 2 weeks older than Abigail was when she was born, so that's such great news. And what a difference even 2 days makes! I had an ultrasound done at 31 weeks 4 days (Abigail was born at 31 weeks 2 days) and the baby was already weighing 3lbs 10 oz...1/2 a lb more than when Abigial was born. So we should already be over 4 lbs since the baby gains about 1/2 a lb a week now, which is the magic NICU number (babies can't go home before they weigh 4 lbs..Abigail went home the day she hit 4 lbs). Lil W's stomach was measuring small..but it has measured consistantly small so they said it will just be a skinny baby. They also said the baby's legs are measuring a week ahead of the rest of the body, so it's going to be very long and skinny! I'm pretty sure both my kids will be taller than me before they start high school!

We are so excited to meet the final piece of our family puzzle! We are so grateful that we are this far along and we have been given this blessing! We know that this little peanut is one of our 2 biggest blessings in our life!

Countdown...7 weeks till we'll meet Lil W!!!!!!

She's Our Girly-Girl!

Do we have a "ham" on our hands? Miss Abigail's girly side has sure come out lately! She cracks us up because her personality is all her own...and it's funny!!! Here are some pics from our weekend:


We were trying on some new clothes and Abigail couldn't just try the clothes on...she had to pose and give us her famous "cheese!" Our little model!


"Cheese!"



On Saturday we took Abigail to Monkey Joe's (which is a play area with tons of inflatable, jumpy houses). I'm not sure who had more fun...her or Rob! Abigail has been such a trooper stuck inside the house all day every day, so we were so happy she got to go out and have a fun day for herself!!!!

Abigail is sporting her new Bears bow! My friend Racquel made her two Bears bows...along with the cutest scarf! Thanks Racquel!

While we were watching the Bears WIN...Abigail was busy playing. We looked down and she had taken everything we use to change her diaper out of the drawer and was putting a diaper on her dolly..along with using a wipe and using rash cream! She's getting ready to be a BIG sister!

On Sunday, my sisters threw a small brunch at the cutest little restaurant, Janes, in Chicago for Lil W! They wanted to make sure Lil W got his/her spotlight (and knew I'm totally against people having 2 showers, so they kept it small and low-key..with a request for just time together, no presents)! Also, they knew it always bothered me that I wasn't pregnant at my own shower...so I got to be pregnant for our brunch! It was a perfect Sunday with Lil W's grandmas, aunts, and my closest friends...oh, and the Big Sister! Thank you to my sisters for thinking of Lil W and of me!!! It was a perfect morning!!! And thank you to our moms, sisters, and friends from the bottom of my hearts for the generous gifts! We are so excited to meet in Lil W in 8 weeks...and I had such a great morning making Lil W the center of attention!!

I'll post an update later this week on Lil W...who is growing big!!!!!!!

Pretty in Pink

This weekend we transformed our guest bedroom into Abigail's big girl bedroom...and she LOVES it!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Rob and Neici for all your help painting the room (since I am stuck on the couch and of no help at all). The room is all painted and turned out cute. We realized we have to get Abigail a new "big girl" bed...we are on the search for great bedroom furniture for her!! After we get her new furniture and some accessories (mirror, pictures, etc) the room will be ready for Abigail to move in. She wants to spend all her time in the room already, so she's ready to move in as soon as we are!!!

Here are some pics:

Before picture

After picture

We LOVE how the pink and brown turned out.

Abigail's getting a new bedroom set!!! This bed is just too big for our little peanut! White furniture will look great in this room!

I think the face tells you how Abigail feels about her new room! She LOVES it!!!!

An extra special thank you to Rob! I have been really stuck laying around on the couch, and Rob has taken on so much extra work. After he gets home from work he has to help with dinner, feeding Abigail, bathing her, putting her to bed, doing "tasks", cleaning, etc...all while I lay around..and all done without a single complaint. I could never get through this without such a wonderful, loving, supportive husband! Thank you so much for all your help, Rob! We love you!!!!

Abigail thinks her daddy is the greatest!



Daddy put Abigail's new art table together!

Family Picture...Go BEARS!!!!!

THANK YOU:

Thank you to Neici for all her help painting Abigail's bedroom, we appreciate all your help!

Thank you to my sister Jules for coming out to watch Abigial so I could work one last day.

Thank you to my sister Kate for taking the train out to spend the evening with us!

Thank you to my mom for coming over Wednesday afternoons to watch Abigail (I have weekly dr appt's) and help around the house..and thanks for Abigail's new Elmo books...they have kept her very busy!!!

Thank you to my friend Nicole for making us gravy and muffins..and visiting us! Abigail loved having her friend Joey out here to visit!!!

Thank you to everyone for their calls and/or emails checking in on us and offering your help!

And to end on a GREAT note: Today I am 31 weeks 2 days. That is the day Abigail was born!!!!!! So everyday from here on out is a great accomplishment. The nurses told me when I was on bedrest with Abigail that every day a baby stays in the womb is 3 less days in the NICU! We are feeling great about this baby's birth now that we have made it to this day! Yeah Lil W...keep growing big and strong and stay put for another 9 weeks!!!! Can you believe today is September 22nd??? We are 2 months away from our due date! Wow...we can't wait to meet Lil W and have our whole family with us!!!!

Abigail-isms

Abigail is speaking a lot more...and says so many cute or funny things. So I thought I'd take this time to document a few of the new or funny things Abigail is saying:

-Everything is "I want":
"I want fish" (either goldfish crackers or her new favorite book One Fish Two Fish)
"I want mouse" (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)
"I want dad" (when at work)
"I want boot" (book)
"I want cheese" (take a picture)
"I want pider" (sing Itsy Bitsy Spider..she is obsessed with this song)

-Today we were going to meet my sister and I said "Abigail, we are going to see Aunt Julie" and Abigail said "I want Joe (Jule's hubby)"....so funny!

-Every letter or word is "AB" (whenever she sees a word, it's "AB")...today we were singing songs and she said "I want AB mouse"...I finally figured out she wanted me to sing the "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" themesong..."M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E". She knew it was letters and it was about Mickey Mouse. I really was shocked she figured this out.

-Abigail also has hit her "girly-girl" stage. She LOVES to have shoes on...especially high heels or these pink shoes with jewels on them my sister Kate got her. And she LOVES to have a necklace on...Rob worked a golf tournament this weekend and gave Abigail the pass he had to wear, she wears it as a necklace all day. And she loves to have a purse, especially her pink fuzzy Paris purse.

Here are a few pics from the week:


Showing off her heels


Getting "pretty"



Abigail and Daddy on the way to her playgroup open house at Glenbard North High School. She starts in October and loved her classroom!


"Cheese"

30 Weeks...and always exciting with Wennerstrom kids!

30 Weeks Picture

Well, apparently this baby realizes that Abigail is going to do everything 1st...so he/she decided to beat Abigail at something! With Abigail, I went into the hospital with contractions at 30 weeks. Yesterday, at 29 weeks 6 days, I again went to the hospital with contractions. However, this time was much much much different. I knew what to expect and didn't wait a second...around 1:00 I felt contractions so I tried to hydrate and lay down, but after an hour they weren't stopping so we didn't waste anytime. We called the dr and the sent us to Central Dupage Hospital. Once hooked up to a machine, they were able to track my contractions, which were not very strong or close (8-12 minutes between). They tried an IV but it didn't help...so then I got a shot of something that made my heart race so fast. That worked...from the second I got my shot, the contractions stopped!!!!! They also did this fetal test that is 99% accurate and it said I won't deliver in the next two weeks. This 4 hour trip in the hospital was much better than when I went with Abigail and stayed there for 2 1/2 days...and the test came back positive that I'd deliver in the next 2 weeks with her (and I delivered 10 days later, so this test is amazingly accurate). So I'll be relaxing A LOT the next 6 weeks!!!! I am probably done working, but we'll do whatever it takes to keep this baby growing! At this point, I'm still not on bedrest, just on "limited activity"...so that's great news!!!!

I started packing my bag yesterday morning and I told Rob how "This time, I'll be ready"...but we def. weren't expecting to have to be ready the same day....it really made us realize how much we have to do to get ready! So the next few weeks we will be in full-gear baby mode!!!

Yesterday (before the drama) we went to Home Depot and picked out the paint for Abigail's new big girl room. It's going to be bright, bright pink and brown. Rob was able to tape and start painting before our unexpected visit....so hopefully we'll be able to finish by next weekend and start to move Abigail's stuff to her own room (and yes, by "we" I mean "Rob")!

So that was the 30 week excitement!!! But things are looking much better in terms of having a preemie than with Abigail so we are very hopeful we'll make it to at least 36 weeks...our goal!

I will post tomorrow about Abigail's open house and some cute pics of her from this weekend!

Cosley Zoo

*I posted 4 new posts today....so keep reading down and down and down after this post!!

On Thursday we headed to our local favorite...Cosley Zoo. We went later in the afternoon so all the animals were hungry...and noisy! It was a lot more interesting than our usual morning visits. Here are a few cute pics!

Abigail loved standing on the rails to see the fox!

The cows were inside and very loud....and apparently very funny!!!!

Abigail and Abigail the cow!

Friday night with Grandma and Grandpa

On Friday Rob had his fantasy football draft in the city. Abigail and I headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's! Mommy got a manicure and pedicure while Grandma and Grandpa watched Abigail! Then we had some Lou's pizza...then headed over to Oberweis for ice cream! It was a great night!!!


Grandma, Grandpa, and Abigail feeding the ducks by Oberweis

Grandpa when to Toys R Us while mommy was gone! He came back with a bag full of toys for Abigail! I'm not sure who had more fun playing with the toys!

Before we headed home, Grandpa took some time reading Abigail her bedtime stories!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the great night!!!!