I was a little dense in connecting the dots this week …

• experienced some minor heartburn for the first time early in the week
• have been incredibly exhausted, despite getting long and good sleep
• had a little trouble reaching my feet to tie my shoes this morning

It was only when I got on the scale this morning and discovered that I’d gained 3 pounds in a week that I realized – growth spurt!

I figure growth spurts are a good thing, because so much of baby’s weight is gained in this final third of pregnancy. I’m sure we’ll be having many more weeks like this.

Baby boy is starting to get more consistent with his movement patterns. He’s most active between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. I get to enjoy it every day because I tend to spend my afternoons on the couch in my office with my feet up and laptop on my thighs – it makes it really easy to see my entire belly jerking from side to side as he moves around. Sometime he goes to town pummeling me, and I could swear that he’s boxing with my bellybutton as his target.

I had my 28-week prenatal appointment earlier this week, and everything continues to look good. Because I’m low-risk and my blood pressure and glucola are good, I don’t have to go back for another 4 weeks. I’m glad not to be living at the doctor’s just yet!

In other fun news, we have narrowed down baby boy names to a couple of favorites. We aren’t telling what they are – and in all likelihood I think we’ll wait until we meet him to decide officially.

WinterFest with the teens is next weekend, and then we head into baby shower season with 3 in a row!

Five years ago I stepped foot into BabiesRUs for the first time, and thought I was traumatized for life. My not-ready-for-a-baby-yet brain couldn’t handle the warehouse filled with nothing but things for baby.

Two Saturdays ago, however, I went in again – this time full of anticipation and excitement, clutching the list of items our sisters had recommended.

I’m not sure who was more excited – me or Ben – and it had nothing to do with getting to play with the scanner gun.

We got started off on the right foot by parking in an exclusive “Expectant Mother” parking space for the first time. I’d been dying to get to use one of these, but hadn’t been anywhere that had them.

At any rate – after a fun but tiring three hours in the store we had pretty much found all the items on our list. Fortunately, I had the sense to have several long conversations with my sister Sheryl and Ben’s sister Lindsey to get a useful list of must-have items and the best brands. It was way more helpful than the one BabiesRUs provided, which started with more expensive furniture items than anyone actually needs, and worked it’s way down from there. The sister list had odds and ends that sound incredibly useful that BabiesRUs never mentioned (Boppy pad liner for the changing pad) – and left off lots of things we don’t really need or that people tend to buy lots of (bibs, clothes, and burp cloths).

The most useful items aren’t always the most exciting, but still exciting because they are necessary. Here are a few of the fun things we found that we are most excited about:

Skip Hop Treetop Friends Crib Set. We didn’t see this one in the store, and I spent all weekend trolling online until I found one that we both loved. This is the winner. I like it even more every time I see it!

Musical bouncer. We loved this! Soft, cuddly, and totally adorable. We didn’t have to spend a long time in the Bouncer aisle to know we both loved this one.

Chicco Limonata Stroller. Love the colors, the features, and we both had fun practice-pushing it up and down the aisle.

Baby Bullet System. For making and storing our own baby food! Cheaper and healthier.

You can check out our complete Baby Registry list here.

And in other fun news, we’ve also obtained a crib and changing table. Ben’s parents were in to visit over the weekend and kindly got us a crib that John found on Craigslist. It’s convertible into a toddler bed, less than two years old, sturdy, and in good condition! We got it from a couple who is moving back to Saudi Arabia (tomorrow actually!). It was very fun to meet them. Changing table was a hand-me-down from a friend at work.

We’re officially in rearranging the house and collecting stuff for baby mode now!

After drinking down my sugary orange stuff, having my weight and blood pressure taken, and meeting briefly with the nurse practitioner to do a tummy check and listen to baby boy’s heartbeat, I settled down in the waiting room for my hour to be up so I could have my blood drawn.

Finally the phlebotomist called my name to do my bloodwork. As I was packing away my Kindle and gathering my things, the nurse who had handled my check up stuff walked back in and said to me…

“Based on your measurements today, we’ve moved your due date back to July 13. We need you to schedule an appointment to come back ____ weeks for a ____ to confirm.” (I was seeing red after the first statment, so missed what the blanks were)

Realize, my due date is APRIL 28. July 13 is TWO AND A HALF MONTHS later.

I was panicked and in shock, and then gathered my wits enough to start arguing. I asked how it was even possible for my due date to move by that much; the nurse said it was and just kept insisting that my measurements gave me a July due date.

I insisted it had to be a mistake, she insisted it wasn’t. Back and forth we went, with me saying there had to be some mistake and that couldn’t be right, and the nurse reiterating the whole line about measurements, new due date, schedule an appointment, yada yada yada.

Just as I’m about to insist that I need to talk a doctor immediately, the nurse says…

“Oh! You’re not Chelsea. She was the other girl just in here. I’m sorry.” And walks out.

The phlebotomist was simultaneously amused and mortified, and told me that my face was hilarious, like I was on candid camera. The whole time she was drawing my blood she kept mumbling about how “we shouldn’t make mistakes like that, this is going to be one of those days, and your face was great.”

So, apparently I am incredibly unique in that I have an 11-month gestational period of an elephant (or a horse, actually). All I could think was, TRUST me, I know how this all works and I’m definitely due at the end of April.

In the world of glucola tests for gestational diabetes “no new is good news,” so since I haven’t heard anything by now that means I am in the clear. Baby boy continues to measure right on target for the end of April and has a heartbeat clocking in at 152 beats per minute. He’s been very consistent with that.

Oh, and while it didn’t affect me at all, Baby had a serious sugar-high from the sweet orange drink I had for the test. I’m pretty sure he spent the rest of the day practicing his kick-boxing in there.

Yesterday morning Ben played Hillsong’s “One Way” on his cell phone and put it on my belly for the baby to listen – nurturing the next generation of great worship leaders. He did get a good kick in response for his efforts!

My abdominal muscles are starting to mildly protest pregnancy. With the added weight to support and everything stretching out, I’m starting to feel a little difficulty in sitting up and occasionally when shifting positions. I started doing some yoga today with a pregnancy DVD I found on Amazon. It focuses on stretching and strengthening poses that help to relieve pregnancy pains and prepare for delivery. It has three different 15-20 minute segments and variations on the poses adapted for each trimester. I hope I can make the time to do a session each day.

The little baby inside me likes to do yoga poses of his own morning noon, and night – or maybe he’s practicing his wrestling moves like his father!

Here’s a random pre-pregnancy photo of me Just-Dancing at 2 in the morning when we had some friends in for the weekend…

Here we are 15 weeks in early November. It may not look like much of a baby belly yet – but it was enough that maternity jeans were a necessity! I’d already been doing the rubber band thing for weeks and it was time to invest. I might not ever stop wearing maternity jeans; they’re super comfortable and flattering to boot.

And our most recent picture – no mistaking I’m pregnant now – at 22 weeks on Christmas Eve.

And just for fun, here’s a picture of the whole family (minus Ace). You can see Luna’s ears in the bottom right. I’m pretty sure she is going to love climbing into the crib! It will be interesting to see what they think of the tiny human that’s their size.

We are currently at 23 weeks, and everything continues to go well. Momma is feeling well, eating well, and I’m even back to my normal energy levels (let’s not talk about the hormones, which reduce me to tears over silly things like being stuck in PA unexpectedly due to snow).

Sister/Aunt Sheryl is quickly moving into full-blown-baby-shower planning, and is ready to book an early March flight from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania to run the festivities. She balances my “just wing it” attitude very nicely.

And as for the question that everyone is currently asking: no, we haven’t picked a name yet. And even if we do, we’re not telling!