Holy Hannah I'm Pregnant!

Well it's been a while since I posted any pictures of my growing belly!
Not having a camera that I can upload pictures a few at a time as I
take them, has been difficult to handle, but I am still suppressing all
my high maintenance/impulsive tendencies to go out and buy
a camera that I have been wanting for quite some time! I am still
kickin' it old school and using my disposable camera, but now that
I have found out that i can edit my pictures on Flickr online and
still post them to the blog, I am one VERY happy camper!

This is me at 20 weeks! Me and Bear have reached
the halfway point! Yay! This is also the first time I
wore a maternity dress to church because all
other church outfits no longer fit my growing gut!

Michael documenting that I am now doing my "wifely duties" in the
kitchen again....the first 3 months of pregnancy I MIGHT have
been a lazy slob....but I am back on the bandwagon now! MJ is thrilled!

21 Weeks and growing!

So weird how much Bear grows everyday it feels like!

Right before we went to the ultrasound at 21 weeks!
Best day seeing our baby bear on the huge big screen!
I put on makeup before our appointment (i usually only
wear makeup on Sundays for church) and Michael
asked why i was getting dresses up for the baby because
bear isn't going to see us today, we are going to see bear!

21 Weeks on Valentine's Day <3

22 Weeks! I have grown inches around my belly!
But Michael says I still only look pregnant from the
front or side....luckily the weight gain hasn't spread
to my love handles or back fat just yet. Although,
I know my bum has gotten bigger, but I don't quite
see him ever complaining about that! ;)

I am still enjoying pregnancy, and really enjoy actually looking pregnant
not just chubby! Although I now feel full ALL the time, and the last thing
I want to do is eat, I still continue to fill my belly with food :) I feel bear
move all the time, and sometimes I just can't help but laugh when he/she
kicks me so hard! I love knowing that bear is continuing to grow healthy
and strong down there and I just might be hatching the next greatest thing
in sports(especially with how active bear is)!
I couldn't believe how big bear looks now when I look at pictures
of him/her for this week. Bear is about 11 inches and almost 1 pound.

She/he starting to look like a miniature newborn. Bear's lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and even developing tiny tooth buds beneath the gums. Bear's eyes have formed, but her irises don't have color yet. When they do I wonder what color they'll be! I have dark brown eyes and daddy has blue/green eyes. It is so fascinating to
me that this lil' baby inside my belly will be half me/half Michael, and I am so curious
to see what features and from who bear gets. I look EXACTLY identical to my
wonderful mother, and can't help but wonder if bear is a girl, if she will look
exactly like me. Then we will have 3 generations that look identical! That would TOTALLY
trip me out! I used to look at baby/toddler pictures of my mom and point to
them and say my name, so that would be crazy to have my own lil' clone! I have
also added a name to each list for a boy or girl. I like the name Crew for a lil' boy
and I like the name Mia Rose for a little girl. And if bear is a little girl, with all the kicking
and squirming she is doing, she very well might be the next Mia Hamm ;)

P.S. With the winter Olympics on, we have not been able to see any new episodes of our favorite shows, and I am counting down the days til' the olympics are over! I LOVE the summer Olympics and could sit down and watch just about anything, BUT i cannot get into the winter Olympics at all. I don't care if someone can do cross country skiing. Or the biathlon....REALLY? I don't care if someone can cross country ski and then shoot a gun! and the real doozy is ice dancing! I mean COME ON PEOPLE! This is not a sport. These are
the rejects that obviously couldn't land any tricks in figure skating competitions, so we make up a competition so they don't feel bad about themselves or have low self-esteem? I don't get it AT ALL! Ice dancing is like the JV squad of figure skating.

P.S.S. Michael was talking in his sleep again last night. How do I know this? Oh maybe
because as of late I have some serious insomnia! It's BAD! Oh i can fall asleep just fine, but come midnight when I have to pee, I cannot for the life of me fall back asleep. I generally stay up from about 1-4 or 5. It's the worst. I just lay there wide awake and my back hurts and
I can't get comfy on either of my sides. My belly is too big to actually lay on my belly like I used to and THE only way my body feels good and relaxes is on my back BUT OH WAIT!!! I am not suppose to be laying on my back at this point! So instead, I am awake tossing and turning, but last night Michael made my night interesting! First he was dying laughing in his sleep. I was a little sad i didn't know what he was laughing about because at this point, I could use a good laugh! But then he got a little sassy! Out of nowhere, probably a good hour after his laugh attack he says, " I don't remember, DUDE!" with the emphasis on DUDE! Which can really only mean one thing, he was mocking me in his sleep! I say dude ALL the time, even call him dude but not on purpose, it's just a habit I guess. So whenever I call him "dude" he makes sure to mock me right back. What a gem! Even in his sleep he mocks me! What a real treat this guy is! ;) Although it did put a smile on my face and made me laugh a little!

Baby Bear's BIg Screen Debut

This last weekend couldn't have been more perfect! I was

able to spend the whole long weekend with Miguel, and our crazy kitty, moose juice caboose! I love long weekends just for the fact that I get an extra day with both of them.No matter what we are doing, no matter how fun or how "boring"(like laundry and cleaning) Michael always makes me laugh,and smile in everything we do together. I couldn't have picked a better man to share my life with, if I had tried. I am so grateful for him in every way, and so grateful that our kids will have such and amazing man to look up to! I know he will be an awesome dad, and I cannot believe how fast it seems that moment is approaching!Yesterday was the day that we were able to see our baby bear on the big screen. Every week leading up to this point, I became even more and more nervous to see just what was growing down there. Would the baby have both arms and legs? Would the brain be developing the way it should be? Was the heart healthy? I had a million things going on in my head, that just increased over the weeks and it was all coming down to this one moment. The moment of truth! I don't know why, or even if this isnormal but carrying a baby inside of me has turned me into a worry wart! Iconstantly wonder if my body is the best it can be to raise this baby to be healthy and happy once it arrives! So needless to say, Sunday night was not a night of rest. I barely slept if at all, and I was ready to go super early to our appointment. I made sure to drink some O.J. to try and have an active baby while we were checkin' her/him out. So we get to the dr.'s office, they call me back to do the usual tests, but my blood pressure was RATHER high.I knew it would be because as soon as the nurse called my name, my heart was just about beating out of my chest! I couldn't help it! I was nervous, anxious and excited all rolled into one. The nurse looked at me and asked if I was ok? I told her I was fine but was really nervous for this appointment. So she told me I would have to have my blood pressure takin' again before I left to make sure all was well. So, we go back into the room and wait for the tech so show us our cute lil' baby! I was expecting to be huddled around the ultrasound screen just like in our first visit, but much to my surprise, bear really did have her/his debut on a big screen! We were in this TINY room, that a 52 inch TV took up the entire side of one wall! It was such a neat experience, and once we got in the room and the video of my belly started, all my nerves went away, and all I could do was smile at this miracle growing in my belly. I really thought I would be emotional, but all I could do was smile and look at that huge screen and be so excited for what was coming to us in June! The tech started with the top of the skull to show us the brain development and was checking to make sure everything was growing the way it should be,and so far so good! I hope we have a smarty pants, but doubt she will get that gene from her mama! :) We then saw the front of bear's face. We saw the eyes, nose, mouth and even saw bear yawn too!Apparently all the squirming around bear has been doing is really tiring! Then to tech showed us the spine and ribs and basically the structure of baby bear's body. Then he moved to the abdomen, and showed us the heart beating like a champ,the bladder, stomach and kidney's, which I had a hard time making out. He then showed us where the umbilical cord attaches, and to me on the screen it looked like a duck face! I think the bladder was the "eye" and the cord was the duck bill! Next I made sure to close my eyes once the tech got down near the kid's "cash & prizes",so that I wouldn't ruin the surprise for later, (even though I am STILL very confident we are having a girl). The lil' one was VERY squirmy throughout the whole process, which kinda made it fun to see just how much they really do move around down there! The video ends with bear trying to take a nap on it's belly face down, just like Mama likes to do too :) Bear is so healthy and it was so amazing to see how big he/she has grown into in the 20 weeks in my belly. Creating a life is truly an amazing and beautiful thing, and I am so overwhelmingly grateful for my chance to bring a baby into this world. I didn't expect it to be this soon after getting married, but I wouldn't change it for the world. This baby will no doubt bring us even closer and will officially make the Bakken's a family. I can't wait for the next 19 weeks to fly by,so that I can hold my sweet lil' shnookums and tell bear how lucky we are to have him/her here with us and how much we love her/him!

Here are the minute marks and what they are measuring or what we are seeing on the video:

Measuring skull- 0:25 seconds
Showing brain development- 0:45
Showing us the pallet- 1:13
Eyes- 1:22
Nose- 1:24
Mouth/Lips- 1:28
Baby Bear yawn's- 1:41
Spine- 1:59
Ribs- 2:08
Abdomen- 2:40
(see heart, bladder, stomach, kidneys)
Measure abdomen- 3:44
Duck Face- aka bladder & umbilical cord- 4:15
Baby squirming around for a while----
Bear sleeping on it's belly, face down- 5:42

What's Going on Down There??

We all know that baby bear was a great swimmer when
he/she needed to be back in October. No one will
ever deny that bear dominated everyone else! But to
this day I still think bear is doing laps in my belly!

Who knows what bear is up to down there, for all I know
bear could be a boy (even though I REALLY think bear is a girl)
and practicing all his football moves and tackles!

Bear could be the next best gymnast with all the twists and turns
I feel bear doing now daily! It still continues to tickle and puts
a smile on my face every time I imagine her doing a back flip!

Or MAYBE bear will take after mama bear and combine soccer
with gymnastics! Soccer is the best sport for girls! Especially
girls that aren't afraid to get dirty and be competitive and be
physical! I LOVED playing soccer my whole life. I started when
I was 4 and still love the game just as much now as I did back then!

I wish I had a picture of me slide tackling someone but I don't. But
as you can see form this helmet picture, I mean business ;)

I am posting all of these hypothetical pictures and scenarios because
now that I feel bear move ALL the time, I always wonder what he/she
is doing down there! It is finally to the point where now Michael can
put his hand on my belly and feel bear squirmin' around too! It is
still so much fun to feel him/her move all around especially right now
while the baby still has lots of room to move and isn't too cramped! The
last 2 days bear has kicked so hard that it catches me off guard every time
and I just laugh cuz I am still getting used to all the movement. Luckily
all the movement is still during the day and not a ton at night when I am
trying to sleep. I have been having the hardest time every night this week
getting BACK to sleep after my early morning bathroom trip. So I just
lay there at 3 am wide awake, trying everything I can do to get my lids to
rest up! I am officially 20 weeks but on Sunday will be 21 weeks. My bulge
continues to grow I swear by the day! But it is so much fun knowing
that a mini me or mini Michael is growin' in my belly! We get to see
bear on the big screen this Monday and it will be the best belated Valentine's
day gift ever! I am just hoping and praying that we have a healthy lil'
one and it comes to us with all the fingers and toes and a cute lil' nose!
Next post will include pics of bear so stay tuned!

Movin' & Groovin'

When I was told about feeling the baby move, my mom told
me that it would feel like little butterflies, and I will say others
say it would feel like air bubbles, or gas (weird) but for me personally
it totally feels like a mix between butterflies and someone
tickling the inside of my belly with a feather!

But I like to think that baby bear is doing something more along the
lines of something like these little ones! :)

19 Weeks

Let me just preface these pictures, and say that they are the worst.
I have now experienced life without my digital camera, and I
would like to have my normal camera back NOW PLEASE!
I promise to never complain again that i don't have the camera
that I REALLY want, and promise to be just grateful that I at least
have a digital (and pretty great) camera at that!

Michael is quite the camera man! Don't mind the cut off head!

My bump is so high, it looks like I am carrying baby bear
in my stomach! Can't wait to be kicked in the ribs constantly!

Lookin' fine before church!

This is the last and only "Pre-Pregnancy" dress I can
fit into anymore. All my skirts don't fit this gut!

My belly button officially looks like one from a Cabbage Patch Doll!
It has popped out and it makes me laugh every time I look down and see it!

I am enjoying this stage of pregnancy, as I start to look more pregnant with
each passing week! My belly is starting to harden more and more, and I
continue to rub all sorts of stretch mark cream all over my back, belly and boobs!
I am excited that the baby has decided to continue to reside in my belly, and love
feeling bear move around. It kinda feels like someone is tickling the inside
of my big ol' belly! I have been exceptional at working out this week, and want
to continue on this roll I have going! It is slightly weird though that I hardly
sweat these days, and how often I check my heart rate to make sure
I'm not pushing it too hard! Haha, that is something I am definitely NOT
used to at all! I still have a VERY healthy appetite (minus red meat). And my
sweet tooth has made a comeback :) But luckily it's not too out of control,
and I don't have any late night or midnight snack cravings, when I wake
up at 2 and 4 to go pee! I love the morning and nightly kisses Michael gives
my growing belly, and loves when he says "Goodnight Girls" :)
Melts my heart every night! He is the best!

Deep in Thought

As time has gone on now, I continue to think of baby names.
It's a little harder since we don't know the sex of baby
bear, but it's also fun to think of names for both genders.
I honestly think we might narrow the list down to 2 or 3
names that we agree on for each sex, and take that list with
us to the hospital. I think I will need to see our baby before I
can KNOW, what this kid will be named for the rest of his/her
life. Some names just fit faces better than others.

So since we are waiting to find out the sex, we can at least
have fun making up names for our sweet little one to come!

Boy Names:

• Brady
  
• Russell (my grandpa's name)
• Connor
  
• Jett
  
• Dylan
  
• Jackson
  
• Lane (like the football coach for USC now!)
  
• Lang
• Beau
• Carter
• Cade
  

Girl Names:

• Brynne or Brynlee
• Charley Nicole
• Emerson Rose (Rose was Michael's Mom"s name)
• Avery
• Paige
• Reagan
• Madison (Michael likes this one, but I'm not sold on it)
  

For me, it is way easier to come up with awesome boy names, where
as girl names I am very critical and picky. I have either known one, and
those girls left a bad taste in my mouth( i.e. "loose ladies" ;) bratty, obnoxious,
"lover's of food", or just down right crazies!) or I think of how the name
could be made fun of while in elementary school when kids can be so cruel.
I luckily did not have a problem getting made fun of by my name, BUT a
few boys I would beat in kickball, or handball or dodgeball at recess, often
referred to me as "a boy" (apparently they couldn't think of anything clever to
say so they just kept it simple) but it was enough to really hurt my feelings,
so much that I was crying to my mom and we marched right over to Mervyn's
(which was the place back in the day...at least to me)and bought me a brand new
outfit for the next week at school. One i felt cute in, and girly but that I could still
run around if I wanted to! Oh what exactly did we buy? Oh none other than a
"SKORT" yep! I totally tricked out those boys! One of them, named Ben, who I
can't believe I remembered his name, made a comment while lining up for
class the next week. "OMG, Brooke is wearing a skirt?!" "That's right you
little weenie I AM wearing a skirt! haha only it also has shorts so I can still
make a fool of you later at recess!" BOOYA! Brooke=1 Ben=0

Anywho, let me know what you think of the names we have so far, and I
am always down for suggestions! :)