24 weeks

I wasn’t sure whether I’d enjoy being pregnant or not.  Weight gain, stretch marks, morning sickness– none of these sounded all that pleasant to be honest.  In fact, the first trimester was pretty terrible as far as feeling good goes. Feeling like you have the flu 24/7 with all the energy zapped out of you can really put a damper on things.

All that said and now feeling great well into the 2nd trimester, I’ve really loved being pregnant. As my belly grows, so does my heart. Every little movement; every twitch; every ache and pain reminds me that baby Ytterberg is healthy and on the way!

 

Maternity Clothes?  Some. Im lucky to get to work from home, so I haven’t had too many issues with feeling like I have nothing to wear.

Stretch Marks? Nope, but skin is super dry.

Sleep?  Not horrible. Getting up in the morning is much harder than I remember.

Movement? Tons and I love it.

Miss anything?  Energy! I’m tired, a lot.

Cravings? Nothing lately

Gender?  Girl!

Belly Button In or Out? Still in

Symptoms: Tired, have to pee ALL THE TIME

Best moment of the week? Crib bedding came in 🙂

What I am looking forward to: Picking up our crib this weekend (thanks a ton to our parents)

babymoonin’

Ryan and I went back and forth a million times at the beginning of summer on where we should go for a mini-vacation. Our original plans to backpack through Europe had been postponed to a later date for obvious reasons. We also knew we wanted to be able to just relax without feeling obligated to be “doing things” like sightseeing.

Where did we decide? The hills of Tennessee, of course. We laugh that we even considered going here as Ryan and I had a few horrible experiences on trips to Gatlinburg during college and promised to one another we’d never return. Nonetheless, we decided on a small town in the mountains called Townsend, about 20 miles outside of Pigeon Forge, and it ended up being just the break we were looking for!

20 down, 20 to go and we’re having a…

20 weeks! Hard to believe we’re half-way there! Big week for us this week. For one, we are leaving tomorrow morning for a long, relaxing weekend in Tennessee. We are so looking forward to some downtime, hiking, reading, cooking and just enjoying some time alone and away from work.

And secondly, we found out the sex of our baby! You’ll have to keep scrolling to see how we got there….

Monday morning I had my 20 week ultrasound. Turns out the baby is very healthy and VERY active. We could hardly get it to stop moving for the US tech to take the images she needed.  Rather than finding out the sex during the appointment, we had the US tech email the sex to a bakery where we had cupcakes made that day.

After work, Ryan came home with these! I could barely finish my dinner to bite into the cupcakes and reveal the gender!

Boy, Girl…What do you think?

A GIRL!

We had a hunch it was a girl, and we were right!  Praise God for a healthy, baby girl 🙂 We cannot wait to meet her in November.

Revealing Gender to our Family

We had to keep the sex a secret until Wednesday evening.  My parents, Matt and Kari came over for some pizza and cupcakes!

Here they are realizing for the first time that they were going to have a granddaughter/niece.

Later that evening in Chicago…

Eighteen pink and blue balloons arrived to Ryan’s parent’s house. But not just any balloons. Each balloon was filled with confetti, and only one contained the answer to the baby’s sex. We had Ryan’s sister FaceTime them in over the computer, and we had a good laugh watching them bust each balloon and sort through the confetti to find the answer!

The balloons arrivve

We join via video chat

Proud Grandparents

Needless to say it has been a great week, and we can’t wait to meet this little one in just another 20 weeks.

Maternity Clothes? Bought my first pair of maternity shorts, which are surprisingly comfy and not even that ugly. Also got a few shirts, which are actually a little more flattering than a regular shirt on my growing tummy.

Stretch Marks? None yet, but my skin sure is dry.

Sleep?  No problem falling asleep at all, but do tend to wake up a lot throughout the night.

Movement? Movements have really been noticeable here lately. Ryan has even been able to feel them! I love it.

Miss anything?  Shopping for cute summer clothes, having more energy and being able to go on runs.

Cravings? Anything chocolate lately

Gender?  Baby Ytterberg is a Girl!

Belly Button In or Out? Innnie, although it looks like it could pop any day now.

Symptoms: Morning headaches, some dizziness here and there….

Best moment of the week? Finding out that we are having a sweet baby girl and revealing the gender to our parents.

What I am looking forward to: Buying girl clothes and our long weekend trip to the Smokey mountains tomorrow.

17 Weeks

17 Weeks

Maternity Clothes? Not yet, but belly is definitely visible now through my shirts. Jeans are also getting pretty snug around the waist.

Stretch Marks? Nope, lathering up every night with Palmers though to keep any at bay!

Sleep? No big issues yet, except its super annoying getting up 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom. Also can only sleep on my side comfortably, which is an adjustment since I’ve always been a stomach sleeper. Ryan bought me a Snoogle maternity pillow for Mother’s Day and I’m going to test it out soon!

Movement? Can’t tell yet if what I’m feeling is the baby or just my stomach.

Miss anything? Running. Doctor says it would be fine, but it seems so uncomfortable.

Cravings? Not nearly as much as when I had morning sickness. For some reason biscuits and gravy or a chicken tender wrap from Buffalo Wild Wings always sounds delicious to me!

Gender? Find out in 3 weeks and can’t wait!

Belly Button In or Out? Still in….hope it stays there!

Symptoms: Lately, headaches, some nose bleeds and occasional dizziness. Otherwise, feeling much better than I had been during the 1st trimester.

Best moment of the week? Picking up our new BOB stroller!

What I am looking forward to: Next appointment at 18 weeks and registering!

we’re alive! and (very) well.

It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted. I say this to my whole five readers, two of which are my mother and mother-in-law who I chat with on a weekly basis. 🙂

So much has happened with us since our move to Cincinnati, I’m not sure where to begin. Five months into our new surroundings, we seem to be adjusting well to the new city and overall embracing this new place we are learning to call “home.”

Ryan is already nearly six months into his new job, I’ve really enjoyed being able to work from home for the same company I worked for in Chicago, and we are trying to soak in the new city by exploring when we can. We’ve also both had the opportunity to get in touch with old college friends and a few of my old highschool friends who are also in the area. We LOVE living in the city– something I had never realized I could appreciate about Cincinnati. We live in Eden Park, and it is such a beautiful area, especially this time of year. If you live in Cincy and you’ve yet to venture over to the park, then you should definitely do so.

Lets see, what else? Back in March I got to take a girls’ trip with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to Florida to visit Ryan’s grandmother. We had a such a fun time, and who doesnt enjoy some Florida sunshine during the crummy month of March?!

Florida

My brother and his fiancee, Kari are getting into wedding planning mode. Their wedding is next March and it’s been fun shopping for dresses (even if Kari has hit a few road blocks along the way).  🙂  I can’t wait for their big day and am so excited to be gaining another wonderful sister.

On a more lifechanging note…..

Ryan and I are absolutely thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first baby in November! We’re going to be parents! Baby Ytterberg (or the YtterBUG as we like to call it) should be making its entrance early November, just in time for winter, Football and the Holidays!  Prayers for a healthy pregnancy are much appreciated as I am learning through this first pregnancy that its full of lots of surprises, uncertainties and bumps (literally)– all of which are completely out of my control! Thanks to all of you for your outpour of love and support. We can’t wait to announce the gender in less than a month!

16 Weeks

More updates (hopefully more frequently) on our new bundle of joy coming soon.

Be My Everything- Tim Hughes

Love this song…. touches me every time.

finding our way.

Exhaustion. Ryan referred to it as one of the most intense weeks of his life, and I would definitely have to concur.

Oh how our lives have changed in the last month.

On a whim Ryan sent his resume to a company in Cincinnati. Less than a month later we found ourselves packing up our apartment in Elmhurst in just 24 hours, living with Ryan’s parents (so wonderful for letting us move back in…again!), our old apartment no longer ours, a new apartment waiting for us in Cincinnati, and a huge Uhaul packed to the brim with all of our belongings sitting in my in-law’s driveway.

A lot of big decisions made insanely fast in an incredibly small amount of time.I’m certain I suffered numerous melt downs through this whole life changing process. And somehow we survived.

Now? Now are doing the long distance marriage thing for a few weeks. Ryan started his new job on Monday, and I am wrapping things up at mine here in Chicago.

To say we’ve been blessed through this chaos would be an understatement. We got out of the lease of our Elmhurst apartment (unbelievably fast), and found a great place to live in Cincinnati the same day our Elmhurst lease was voided. God’s hand in this has been undeniable, and Ryan and I are so incredibly grateful for our wonderful family and amazing friends’ support through all of this.

As if the holidays aren’t crazy enough, this additional pandemonium that we’ve added to the mix has sure kept us on our toes. But things are slowing down and we’re definitely excited and looking forward to celebrating Christmas with my family this weekend and Ryan’s family on Christmas weekend!

We feel especially blessed this Christmas and hope you do too.

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas.

running on empty.

It’s been a while since my last post. A lot has happened in the last month, so much that I’m not sure I can even remember everything to include in this post.

I didn’t realize how “go go go” we had been until I got home from work this evening and sat on the couch. It’s the first night in a long while that I have gotten the place to myself, and while I had made a list of things I wanted to do (grocery, bake, clean, organize, read…) while Ryan was meeting up with old friends, I can’t seem to get even a flicker of energy to do anything but sit here with my computer on my lap.

I guess we all need to unwind sometimes. And I am going to listen to my tired body and take a break this evening.

Speaking of tired body, I finished my 1st marathon last weekend! It was such an amazing experience, and even after 5 months of long, intense training, I think it was totally worth it. Who knows I might even be crazy enough to do another full next year!

Ryan and I love fall…everything about it from the leaves changing to football and anything pumpkin flavored. Elmhurst is such a gorgeous town this time of the year. We hope to enjoy a few more weeks of it before another Chicago winter creeps in. At the beginning of September we were able to kick off the fall season with a trip to Colorado with my family. It was such a nice time spent with my folks, and you really can’t beat the breathtaking views and mountains.

We hope to squeeze in a few more fun trips before the season ends including a camping trip next weekend with friends and a weekend in Michigan in November.

This weekend we’ll spend time with Ryan’s family celebrating the life of his Grandpa Burklund. Ryan’s grandfather passed away this week, and while I never had the opportunity to get to know him very well, I know that his family adored him and can’t say enough about what an incredible friend, father, husband and grandfather he was.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39