Mid-week activity...

An article appeared this morning on MSN that referenced a recent study about the diet of the mother affecting the sex of the fetus. If you are not ready to guess the sex of our child, this article may help your opinion. You can look at the story by clicking the link on the right-hand side of the page. Be sure to register a guess as to the sex of the child in the polling box below the link.

Super Saturday

Nima tuckered out. Isn't she adorable?

This was Nima after "helping" Ethan with the kitchen remodelling. She is actually quite scared of the construction and played outside most of the day.
Again, Nima after a hard day's work.

Nima likes to help with computer work. This was Ethan and Nima not long before his comps.

This is Alex Kruse. His parent's are Chad and Maria. Maria and I have been friends since I was born.

Alex is very entertaining.

I had ice cream with Cassandra a few weeks ago. She and I finished our undergrad in nutrition together at UNL.

Cassandra and me being silly.

I went to Lincoln last Friday to stay with my friend Erica and attend a breastfeeding workshop. When I got home, this was what my kitchen looked like.

After some cleaning, here is the new pantry.

A view of the pantry from the door leading into our kitchen.

Our fridge back in it's place.

Ethan posing in the midst of his labor.

Hi! I know it's been a few weeks...we have been busy here at the Mann house. The past few weeks have included Ethan passing his comps (he is now an OFFICIAL PhD candidate), me preparing for finals, childbirth classes, a kitchen remodel project, and some outside time for Ethan and Nima (our yard looks plush and green!). I have been fortunate enough to see some old friends and am preparing for a bridal shower for my college roommate Kellie. Ethan bought a new 'toy'--a new video camera--so we'll try posting some video soon.

We have now been through week 3 of our Bradley childbirth classes (9 more to go). There are six other couples in the class who all seem very nice. Ethan and I are probably the more inquisitive couple but our instructor doesn't seem to mind. We had an introductory class where we watched one birthing video already, a nutrition class (nothing I didn't already know), and relaxation/massage during labor. I have been doing some exercises that are supposed to reduce risk of C-section and prepare my body for labor. In any case, they make my lower back and legs feel good. One great 'exercise' is the relaxation technique where I lay on the floor or bed in a certain position and train my body to relax (we are supposed to imagine I'm in labor). It is relaxing! Our reason for choosing the Bradley method was to learn some techniques to make labor easier and we are getting that.

We are finishing up our kitchen remodel project that we started a few months after moving in to our house. I posted some photos, but will post the end result in another week or so...we are still waiting for a few cabinets to come in. I think I am going through a nesting phase, because I have been slowly cleaning out closets and throwing stuff away; I have also been keeping the house cleaner than normal. The only messy part is the office where I still have classwork thrown all over. Only two more weeks and I will be done for the semester! Anyway, Ethan did a great job in the kitchen. He worked really hard and did most of it himself. I actually did help paint a little.

Right now Nima and I are enjoying this Saturday morning and relaxing. Ethan is coaching at a junior high track meet. He is headed to the Husker spring game later this morning, then we are babysitting for Alex Kruse. He is 11 months and one of the cutest kids. We enjoy anytime we get with kids :).

I have been feeling great! I have days when I get really tired and just have to take a nap. I have my next midwife appointment next week. I'm hoping I'm gaining weight appropriately. I definitely have my appetite back :).

Have a great week!

Pictures of baby

The day has arrived! We had our ultrasound today. It was so amazing to see all the little parts; technology is so neat! Although we deferred our quad-screen (to detect possible birth defects) the ultrasonographer checked the cerebellum and spine for signs of spina bifida (no signs), the bones of the little finger for Down's Syndrome (no signs), and the nose and palate for a cleft palate (no signs).

The little one was all curled up and made it hard for the ultrasonographer to look at the heart and c-spine but she was final able to get a few images. It's legs were curled all the way up and over it's head and it kept moving it's arms and hands. We have two arms and hands and two legs and feet.

The baby is about 14 oz today which is the 71st percentile. I have adequate amniotic fluid and my placenta is away from the cervix, so no placenta previa. The baby's head is also down. We were able to be strong and did not find out the sex of the baby. Unless we ask for another, I doubt we have another ultrasound since everything looked great. The high-risk OB said I should relax and enjoy the rest of my pregnancy because he sees so signs for concern. I can breathe easy now!

I am up to 130.2 lbs today. At the next midwife visit I will get the Glucola for the glucose tolerance test (to see if I have gestational diabetes).

That is about all the exciting news from Omaha. Ethan and I are settling in for an evening of NCAA basketball and homework. Hope all is well!!

A profile view with a little hand.

Another profile view.

On the left, you can see it's little leg going up and over; it's head is just out of sight below. On the right is a little foot. I am such a sucker for baby feet that this is one of my favorite pictures and one of the first shots she took.

Easter Sunday

Jesus is Risen!

Ethan, Nima, Tracy, mom (Teresa)

Me, my baby bump, and grammie

The Mann's :)

My mom and me

19 weeks, 5 days

Happy Easter everyone. At this time next year we will have a little one. I saw a ton of cute kids at church today and the children's choir sang; it was a joy to hear all of the little voices!

My mom came for the weekend. We spent most of yesterday afternoon buying maternity clothes...I hit the 'motherload' so to speak. My mom definitely spoils me! I should be set for the rest of my pregnancy. I am very blessed to have Ethan and mom to take care of me!

Today I planned a feast for the three of us. Since I was feeling ill at Christmas I missed out on the 'holiday food', so I made up for it today. We roasted a turkey, had yams, asparagus, cucumbers, carrots, rolls, and hot fudge sundae cake with ice cream for dessert. Needless to say I took a two hour nap afterward. It really hit the spot!

We are really looking forward to our ultrasound this Thursday. The baby has been moving quite a bit so I know it's in there, but it will be nice to SEE it.

Have a great week everyone!

Weekend in Muscatine, IA

The baby cake Alane made me; I forgot to post it last week.

This past weekend Ethan and I were fortunate enough to spend the weekend with family in Iowa. Ethan's mom, Debbie, rode with us and we stopped in Iowa City to see Erin (my sister in law) and have dinner at HuHot. We left Debbie there for the weekend and continued on to Muscatine to stay with my cousin Katie (and her hubby Shane) Struckman. Katie is due about three weeks after me, so we had a lot to catch up on! On Saturday Ethan had to do some research work at U of I so Katie and I relaxed most of the day. We did find time to do some baby clothes shopping though :). Sunday we headed back to pick Debbie up and have lunch at IHOP before heading back to Omaha.

Katie has a dog named Bella so she and Nima spent some time playing and sleeping. They didn't quite know what to do with each other, but they were fun to watch.

Updates on the pregnancy front...nothing extremely new (you will notice in the picture that I am continuing to grow). I went to the clinic last week for some sinus issues and a rash and according to their scale I have now gained ~7 lbs. This evening after walking at the gym I was sitting on the couch and the baby was moving non-stop. At first I could just feel it, but when I looked down, my whole belly was moving and so was my belly-button. I read that at this point the baby is about 7-9 inches (about half the birth length) and about one pound. We have our ultrasound next Thursday and I'm really excited!! Although we are not going to find out what we're having, I'm excited to see that everything is ok in there, God willing.

Anyhoo, below I posted a few photos.

Happy Easter!

Our hosts, Shane, Katie, 'lil bean', and Bella Struckman (we love you!)

Our "little girls" playing. They were fighting over Nima's squeaker toy.

Later that afternoon...sleeping. Nima took over the recliner for a while.

Cousins sharing some love...we have always been a close family.

The belly bumps (isn't mine growing?)! I promise I am not poking it out.

I couldn't resist buying these two onesies and booties. Besides a beanie, they are the first baby clothes I have bought. It's hard to find 'unisex' items. The orange one has a giraffe on the butt too. So cute! And the booties are so tiny...Ethan said if I have a 10 lb. baby they won't fit :).

Photos

As promised, photos for my previous blog.

Emily and me at the Creighton game.
Ethan and me enjoying an evening out.


Ryan and Emily Banks, good friends since our freshman year of college (7 years!)

Keith Urban's opening song. Notice the arrow pointing him out; we watched quite a bit on the HD projector screen right behind him.

A small stage in the middle of the Qwest. Keith is on the left with the more 'orange' guitar.

March 9

Hi! We have been keeping busy. Now that I am feeling better, we are actually going out with friends and trying to do some fun things. Last weekend we went to a Creighton basketball game with our good friends Ryan and Emily. We ate at a "legendary" place just down the street from us called California Tacos. It was really good. Whenever we tell people where we live they say "oh, you live near Cali Taco", so it was probably time we ate there!

Just this past Friday one of our nutrition technicians made me a baby cake with rubber duckies. It is so cute and it was so sweet of her to make it for me. I admit we haven't cut into it yet, but she makes the best cakes so I know it will be good.

Friday evening we went to a Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban concert. It was a blast and Keith Urban is phenomenal. One of our friends told us he has his Master's in guitar; he played two or three acoustic songs and also played the piano. We went with our friends Ben and Brigid (couple) and Chad and Maria (couple). We ate at another "legendary" neighborhood place, Dundee Dell, and had fish and chips with Chad and Maria. It is well liked by the Catholic crowd during Lent, and I must say it was very good. Ethan already wants to go back.

Yesterday we headed to Lincoln to see some good friends of ours from Chadron, Jerry and Jill Mack. They were in town for boys state basketball and their daughter goes to UNL. They were our mentor couple when we were taking our marriage classes and Jill was my sponsor when I joined the church. It was so great to see them and catch up. We were also able to see Emlyn, my sister in law, who baked some chocolate chip cookies that were fresh out of the oven when we got there. She's the best!

As you can tell, we have been pretty busy! Maybe that's why I feel so tired today?? Other than that, I am continuing to grow. I finally had to rubber band my jeans to go to the concert and over to Lincoln. We went to Mimi Maternity to get a belly band to hold up my work pants and a cuddle pillow for sleeping on my side. I am no longer sleeping through the night...between urinating, crazy dreams, and coughing, it's a little rough. I am fighting a crazy cold so I sound terrible and I don't feel very well. I wish the weather would just get warm so everyone can be healthy.

That is all from cloudy Omaha. Have a great week!

**Pictures to come...no patience to wait on them to download today**

Also, we got our Girl Scout cookies this week--YUMMY :)