20 weeks and counting...

Wow! I am half-way there! It has been a wonderful week! This week we went for our ultrasound, and it was an amazing experience. Words cannot express the series of emotions that I went through. I was upset that we had not seen our baby since 8 weeks, but I think that made the experience even more incredible. To go from a little pebble to a baby that looks just perfect was an amazing sight!

We are officially having a little girl! Her name will be Zoe Danielle Ryken (this name is not for sure yet but it is really close). Zoe means Life.....and I love that! I did not know that until recently. We have had this name picked out forever. We never picked out a baby boy name....I guess it wasn't meant to be! :) We both secretly wanted a little girl, so we are so thrilled! I think God knows best in these situations (I mean in all situations)!

I love the pictures of the baby. I stare at them on my computer at work....at the gym on my phone....and at home on the fridge. Hopefully you all have had a chance to look at them on Facebook. I am going to upload some of them here for the world to see! I loved the fact that she was moving all around. She sucked her thumb, rubbed her eyes, gave a us a big yawn, and even put up one of her fingers to tell us she was the one! :) The memory of that experience will not be forgotten by us. It was awesome. We have video for part of it, and we hope to share that as well soon!

They measured everything and looked her over from little head to little toes. Everything seems to be looking great, and we are grateful! Thanks be to God! I hope you will continue to pray as Zoe continues to grow and progress as she should! :) Thanks for all your prayers so far! This experience has strengthened my relationship with God, and has made me feel closer to Him. Zoe is giving me a new Life! :)

19 Weeks, the photo

As promised, here are Krista and baby at 19 weeks.

19 weeks and counting...

Wow! 19 weeks! It was a great week! I love feeling the movement of the baby! I absolutely love being pregnant. God has blessed me with a wonderful pregnancy so far! I feel so lucky! I even love my big belly! :)

This has been a pretty slow week. I really don't mind because I enjoy having time to cook dinner and workout to keep me and the baby healthy. Next week, will be busier but exciting. We find out Tuesday boy or girl and then my friends Cinda and Lauren are coming to town! :) They both have timed it perfectly, so we can go shopping knowing boy or girl! :) Hopefully Mini-Ryken will cooperate with us on Tuesday! I am looking forward to deciding what to do for the nursery and buying a couple of things for baby! :)

It is funny how people are for sure I am having a boy or for sure I am having a girl! I love to play along and then laugh a little. I have had probably exactly the same amount of girl and boy guesses! Ha! Someone asked me this week whether or not I "feel" like it is a boy or girl! I just laughed! I think that is funny! I must not be as in touch with my inner self!

We will for sure reveal boy or girl on Tuesday, but I am not sure about the name. It is taking longer for a decision to be made than I thought! :) So....we might have to wait! We might have to be mini-boy-ryken or mini-girl-ryken for awhile!

Our baby is supposed to be the size of a mango this week....but I don't think that is big enough. I think these must be some big mangoes from the Caribbean or something! :) It is funny though because I had a virgin Mango daiquiri last night at dinner with a friend! :)

Please pray for us this week! I am hoping for a healthy baby report and that everything has developed as it should. They will be looking at all the organs and measuring to make sure we are on track! :) I know that the Lord has blessed us with this baby boy or girl. I feel confident I will have what I am supposed to have. I am trusting in Him to help us through!

Oh by the way....Geoff said we will probably take some pictures this weekend of my belly! :)

Not quite 19 weeks....

We are not quite 19 weeks yet, but it happened today! I called Geoff at lunch today because I felt the baby move for the first time today!!! :) I was teaching my 2nd period, and I felt something strange....but I definitely knew what it was! It happened a couple more times today. I am getting so excited! One week from today we will know boy or girl....we will keep you posted!

18 weeks and counting....

18 weeks! We are almost to the half-way to the point! This week the size is compared to a sweet potato. I don't like sweet potatoes, and the only pictures on google images were ugly. So, I have put a picture of a sweet potato pie instead. :) The only consolation is that it is sweet! :)

This week has been a lot calmer compared to last week. I have been busy with school, but that is about it! I made it to the gym almost everyday this week which makes me very happy. I have noticed that the extra weight makes the cardio work so much harder. I don't know how the people on the biggest loser do it!

10 days until our ultrasound! We are definitely on countdown! I can't wait to find out girl or boy....hopefully he/she will cooperate that morning! We still don't have our names picked out yet, but we will definitely come to a decision this week. I still haven't felt any movement.....well at least I don't think I have. I have felt round ligament pain (or stretching pain as I call it) this week for sure though. I feel the pain one day and then the next day I look a lot bigger. The baby is the size of a 6 inch Subway sandwich this week, so it needed more room!

Well, I hope you will continue to pray for us during this exciting time for our family. We will keep you updated! :)

17 weeks and counting...

Each week that I type in a new number I cannot believe the time has gone by so quickly!

It is actually quite fitting that my baby is the size of an onion this week because of all the tears that have been shed by me. This has been a tough week for me. One of my closest friends (Lana) at school lost her husband, Jon. I love her so much, and I wish I could take her pain away. It makes you put your life in perspective for sure and makes you thankful for each and every day on this earth with your family and friends.

I am getting quite anxious for March 10th. I am really wanting to see my baby again and find out boy or girl! Only 16 days away! We still need to work on boy names before that day.... and a middle name for a girl! :) I love keeping the secret, but I can't wait to share the news with everyone! I am also getting excited for feeling our baby move. It is supposed to happen somewhere between 16-20 weeks. I will definitely blog the first day I feel this....it is supposed to feel like butterflies fluttering....not sure what that feels like! :)

Today I am determined to buy some new pants. I can still wear my brown and black work pants, but it is just getting a little scary of how I have to rig them up to wear. I could not find my bella band one day, so I decided to use a safety pin instead. That was a mistake! Ouch! I think it is time! :)

Each day I am pregnant is a blessing. I love the feeling that my baby is always with me. I ask you to continue to please pray for Geoff, myself, and Mini-Ryken (who we will call by name soon enough!).

16 weeks and counting....

So......I am behind on my baby blog! 16 weeks! I can't believe it! I don't know what fruit I am, but this week I have felt like a watermelon so we will go with that fruit! :) I really have felt larger this week, and I even broke out the maternity jeans!

I have a good excuse for not blogging. We have officially moved! :) The last couple weeks have been a fury of packing, painting (not by me), and working. Luckily, we have such wonderful friends and family that have helped us out so much! I can say we have a room for our baby now! It is filled with boxes right now, but it will belong to the baby soon enough. As soon as I can get it cleared out, I will post a picture of the before. I am excited to decorate a nursery and make a special place in our home just for Mini-Ryken.

This week I went to the doctor. I took the whole day off, and I am glad I did. I have been exhausted all week. I guess I am recovering from the week before still. The doctor took blood and listened to the heartbeat again. She said everything is still looking really good. I am very thankful. I am looking forward to our next appointment on March 10th. We will see our baby that day with the 3D ultrasound, and hopefully find out the sex! :) I absolutely cannot wait for this date. We plan on having a name picked out by that date, and announcing it the day we find out! :)

It is an exciting time in the Ryken family. We are so blessed with our new home, and with a healthy baby. I am enjoying being pregnant so much! I am tired.....but I am blessed to be tired. I feel big....but it is a blessing to feel big. Praise God from who all blessings flow! :)