DuBar Dolls

As you know my Aunt, Breast Cancer Survivor, Mom and cousins along with a few other ladies have made the commitment to raise money- which they raised a TON- and now the time is about here where they will walk 60 miles to help in Finding a Cure for Breast Cancer in the Breast Cancer 3-Day.

So, For anyone interested:

The DuBar Dolls can get mail when at their campsites in the evenings!

If you want to send them some mail to encourage them and give them strength to finish their walk send it to:

3-Day Camp Post Office
Their Name (DuBar Dolls or their individual Name)
PO Box 28069
Crystal, MN 55428-8069
It MUST be sent by Friday, August 10 or they won't get them.

They have worked hard to do their part in supporting the search for a cure for Breast Cancer so let's all give them some support to walk those 60 miles!! You can do it Dolls! We all believe in you!!

Dr. Appointment

My Dr. Appointment went very well. OK- I was VERY nervous to meet Dr. Saul- especially because Taylor was unable to go with me to this appointment so I was seeing my first male OB doctor all by myself.... It turned out great!! I really liked him!

On the vitals area: I have offically gained 2 pounds now! My blood pressure is low but he said it was a good thing as long as I felt good at that number- 90/58. The heartbeat was at 145 strong and steady. He said my uterus is growing perfectly and I have no signs of any swelling at this point-- he said it being so hot lately its very common.

I had the option of doing the quad screening/blood test at this appointment- and apparently I need to do to more research before I go to my appointments- I thought this test was for cystic fibrosis and Downs- but it isfor Down but also Spina Bifida- so I had initially declined the test as we have no cases of C.F. or Downs in the family- and I thought this was the test that almost 50% come back with a positive/negative result. Well- Dr. Saul so kindly took the time to really explain what the quad test was for and explained to me that now-a-days there are specialists out there that if your baby does end up having Spina Bifida they can go into the womb and fuse it together so that the baby is born normal. -Amazing what they can do these days. Well- I so graciously thanked him for taking the time to explain that to me and yes, of course I did the blood test. I appreciate those that take the time to make sure I'm really understanding something before just sending me away.

My next appointment is August 31st and we are meeting with Dr. Saul again for my prenatal check and then I get my ultrasound after that! I'm so excited to see the baby moving all around and to ensure that everything is developing correctly. I'll be 22 weeks to the date at that appointment so everything should be larger and clearly visible.

17 Weeks

Still moving along at 17 weeks

My belly is very slowly and gradually getting bigger.

I had a CRAVING for cotton candy this week and got some and it was SOO good!!!

I go to the Doctor today, Wednesday afternoon, so I'll update you tomorrow on how things went- its just a routine check up but I do get to schedule my next ultrasound! I'm so excited to actually get to see the baby moving around in there this time- last time it just sat there- it was too small to move around.

17 week belly shot......


And Joey is getting so big.... Us playing in the backyard

16 Weeks

Everything is still about the same. I've been craving healthy food-- it's about time! FRUIT I just can't get enough of! And I think either its the not so healthy food or my Crohn's kind of acting up because I haven't been feeling the greatest on that end of things and food isn't staying with me long enough- but now that I've been trying to eat lots of healthy food every day it seems to be helping. With my Crohn's my body has a hard enough time absorbing enough nutrients as it is and that's not good for the baby- so I decided that I better eat as healthy as I can so that what does get absorbed is at least good healthy vitamins.

I learned this week that the baby is now 5 inches long!! And between the baby, placenta and amniotic fluid it all weighs 3 pounds- and so far- I've only gained those 3 pounds- I'm not complaining now though because I guess I'd rather it be that way then saying I've already gained 10+ pounds.... I've got 4 more weeks to put on a few more pounds or my doctors might start nagging me- but I honestly eat ALL DAY LONG- so I'm trying- I really am!

We go to the doctor again next Wednesday, August 1st- and at that appointment we get to schedule our next ultrasound- so I'll update again next Thursday with what happened at the appointment and when our ultrasound is going to be.

I saw this really amazing photo online this week and thought I'd share.

15 Weeks

Still just hanging in there at 15 weeks...

Morning Sickness: still present but VERY sporadic

Cravings: its different every day and some days I don't really "crave" anything but others I just HAVE to have what I want- still the same key items: grilled cheese (now I like a little meat on it too), peanut butter toast, tator tots from a resturant- Dairy Inn ones are my favorite, cooked carrots, and every now and again I just HAVE to have a fountain pop.

Weight Gain: well- with all my sickness I had gone down three pounds, according to the doctor's scale but I think- according to my scale at home- I am now back up to my pre-pregnancy weight. My doctor told me she isn't going to start bugging me about my weight until 20 weeks- but at least I've put back on the three that I had lost so hopefully I'm on the road to weight gain-- but only 25-30 pounds please.....

Belly growth: well- you can tell I'm pregnant now..... don't you think.....





Baby Shower: well- I have my first baby shower planned! My Auntie Michelle is throwing me one in September- she's having a baby shower weekend- with Katie Sjoblom also expecting- we are 4 weeks apart- she's throwing her one that same weekend. SO- baby showers mean we have to start our registry. I've got it a little bit started online at Target and Wal-Mart but within the next month here we'll be going to the store and really getting to it. SOOO--- all those experienced moms out there- Please give me advice on some baby items that you got that worked well for you and what didn't work for you-- I can take all the advice I can get!


House: Still waiting on the basement carpet-- you'd think this was summer time and EVERYONE is getting new carpet (oh wait- that's true)-- it better be in by next week or they'll be dealing with a hormonal pregnant woman!

And Taylor too.....

OK-- So I've fallen guilty of making everything about me-- opps--- YES- Taylor is very much apart of all of this too! We had a nice weekend up at the Haggstrom Cabin for Kelsey's wedding... lots of games, a pretty wedding, amazing food, and relaxation! This is Taylor and I at Kelsey's wedding.



I forgot to get a belly shot over the weekend-- I'll post one for ya this week though-- its getting bigger! :)

14 Weeks

Well, not a whole lot has changed at 14 weeks. I wanted to get a belly shot but we've been really busy trying to get ready for a weekend up north- so I'll get one over the weekend for sure.

I think my morning sickness is coming to an end- I still feel a bit queasy in the morning but if I eat my peanut butter toast first thing then I'm just fine. My appetite has changed- I use to eat ALL DAY LONG but now I don't eat quiet as often as I had been but I feel like I crave more "meal" food rather then just the crackers, granola bars and other snack items as before.

My energy is coming back- I do get tired every once in awhile and need to take a nap but I have enough energy to actually get things done now.

I have noticed that some of my veins on my lower stomach and hips are starting to show more- they say that its because more blood is being flowed through this area to help the growing uterus. I have already begun my fight against stretch marks and got this lotion that helps with that from Mary Kay-- obviously- so far I haven't gotten any- but I wanted to start now with keeping my skin moisturized and help it stay firm so hopefully I won't be one big stretch mark by the time I'm done with all of this.

Doctor's Appointment

The doctor's appointment went well. My weight is holding steady- I'm still down 2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight- but I had been down 3 so I at least put back on one pound. She said with me dealing with this sickness that as long as my weight is holding steady she isn't going to worry about it until 20 weeks- then she said I better start putting some on.

I've been dealing with headaches and neck and shoulder tension- she said me being so tight in my neck and shoulder's is a bit different as usually your muscles loosen up when you're pregnant but I told her I've been seeing a physical therapist to loosen my jaw muscles and now that my jaw is better we still had sessions left so she is now working on my muscle tension and trying to help me get rid of these headaches. I told my doctor that when my physical therapist pushes on certain points in my shoulders or neck that I can feel it all the way up my neck and into my head-- she had some medical term for that- but she was glad to hear that hopefully that's the cause of my headaches and that they hopefully aren't hormonal ones- as there really isn't much you can do about those. I get to see my physical therapist now every other week until the end of summer so hopefully things will be better by that time.

Other then that- it was a real quick appointment- she said things are sounding great with the baby and they'll see me in four weeks!

I've now see Dr. DeLuca, Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Gruenwald (my normal doctor) and now the only two I have left to see are Dr. Nelson and Dr. Saul-- the only male. I know many women say they love their male doctor's- but I've never had one for my female stuff-- so I'm kind of nervous to meet him for the first time- so we are seeing him next- I wanted to meet with every doctor at least once because whoever is on call when I go into labor is who I get- so I wanted to be familar with all of them. So far- my favorites are Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Gruenwald. Next appointment- August 1st.

Baby Pagel's Heartbeat

13 Weeks

I usually update this every Wednesday- but it being the holiday I'm a bit behind- BUT we are going to the doctor today and Taylor gets to hear the heartbeat for the first time and we plan on getting some footage of the heartbeat to share with all of you- so check back later tonight or tomorrow so you can hear Baby Pagel's little heartbeat!!

As for everything else in the 13th week- everything is still about the same- morning sickness is now sporatic but still present- so hopefully in the next week here it gets better. I had my first tummy pop on Sunday- its obviously not very big but it was a big change for me right now- I looked down on Sunday morning at my stomach and I was like- HEY- you weren't this big yesterday morning-- and it's starting to firm up a little more now. So it's all starting to feel more real to me!

On the house front-- we are still waiting on the basement carpet- I'm sure the holiday here is holding things up so hopefully it will be in by next week. Our last summer project is going to be putting in the new laminate in my bathroom- its just to help it "look" better until we can afford to do what we really want with it- we got a whole bunch of laminate tiles from Dean Taylor so it won't cost us a thing and anything looks better then avocado laminate! THEN we'll be continuing to working on putting more things away in our house- we have one room downstairs full of stuff that we just need to go through and put somewhere- and- the nursery might look nice- but you don't even want to see the closets in that room right now-- full of mine and Taylor's clothes- like sweatshirts and jackets and stuff- so we still have that to work on-- its all coming together- eventually.

12 Weeks and the Nursery

Well-- I know it may be a bit premature but we just couldn't help ourselves...we have the nursery set up! When we moved in we knew that the first thing that room was going to be was a nursery so I painted it accordingly and ironically the Monday of the week I found out I was pregnant (Friday that week) I was just looking to see if I could find the bedding I had pictured having in that room- THE POND - and I found it so I bought it- I figured I knew we were trying and its better to spread out the cost of all the baby stuff-- and lucky for me that I did buy it! Then my mom found the changing table at a garage sale and the crib is from the Lorentz family- so we figured- we might as well get it all set up so the nursery actually looks organized!





Here is a closer image of the crib



Here is a close up shot of the bedding-- THE POND- if its a girl we'll jazz up the walls and other things with Fairies, Flowers and Butterflies and if its a boy we'll jazz it up with more Blue Dragonflies, Frogs and Turtles.



I also finally got around to taking my 12 week belly shot-- this is me at really 12.5 weeks along-



And here is a new photo of our babies Tigger and Joey....





For 12 weeks-- I'm slowly doing better-- I have more better days then bad days so that's a good thing and I'm easing into my 2nd trimester- hopefully within the next two weeks I'll find myself being able to keep everything down, feeling more energized and hopefully getting that pregnancy glow. But for now- I have made it to the "safe Zone" they say usually by 12 weeks if everything is still going well for the baby it should stay that way! So that's exciting! Baby Pagel has now started its reflexes- sucking, swallowing, going to the bathroom and moving all around- I just wish I had a little microscope so I could peak in and see what is going on in there- I just can't wait until the first time I feel it move! I'm really looking forward to that!

As far as being pregnant in general-- Totally excited for the fair- A footlong corn dog is calling my name- and so are cheese curds, dippin dots and a freshly squeezed lemonade! You know- all the healthy stuff!!! But I have been craving fruit- watermelon, cantaloupe, and strawberries! YUM! Peanut Butter is still my best friend but my cravings are starting to branch out a bit more then just PB&J and grilled cheese- and I do find myself having to eat about 10 times a day- very small meals of course- but I can't eat very much at one time- I'll be starving and when I sit down to eat I can't even get half of it down- so I just eat small meals and snacks basically all day long- good thing my job allows for that!

New Carpet!!

Well, we finally got new carpet in!!! So far only the two bedrooms upstairs have been completed- the downstairs should be coming in a week or two.

Let me just take you back to the carpet before..... these pictures don't really show how old the carpet was but you can get the idea...





So- obviously in order to take out the old stuff and put in new stuff we had to move everything out of the rooms-- we had a camp out in the living room for 2 nights-- and boy was it a mess out there!!!





This is our bedroom with the nasty carpet all torn out! YEAH!!



And here is our finished bedrooms!!! It is such a GREAT feeling to have fresh new carpet down- it's so much more comfortable in there, smells fresh and just changes the whole feeling of the room!





We are hoping- we'll see how life is this time next year with the baby- but we are hoping that with Taylor's next coaching paycheck we'll be able to finish off the house with new carpet and replace the carpet in the upstairs living room and hallway and the stairs. Updating a house takes time and we are fine with taking baby steps.


And just because I've seen this on a commercial where a person walks into their living room and it looks like a bomb went off and really the dog just destroyed his favorite toy... I couldn't believe how big of a mess he made in such a short amount of time! I just had to laugh! But Joey is getting much better- he is learning to behave now and has mellowed out a bit and the best thing- he finally can control his bladder and goes to the door like a good boy when he needs to go out!

11 Weeks

Well- I thought 11 weeks would bring me a sign of relief but- I had a few hurdles to still pass. I was very sick on Friday- I even went to bed at 6:30!! Saturday I was just a bit queezy but other then that I was Ok but ended up coming down with a headache- then Sunday woke up with the same headache which made me a little sick. Monday morning I woke up with still the same headache and was very faint when I was trying to make myself some toast. I emailed a nurse at the hospital just to see if it was something to be concerned about or not. She called me shortly after and wanted to see me right away.

I was slightly dehydrated- but not enough to put me on an IV- she thought I could fix it on my own, and she changed my anti-nausea medication to Phenergan (sp?) that one makes me feel better but pretty tired- so I only take it when I really need to.

BUT- the best part of my unexpected doctor appointment was that I got to hear the heartbeat!!! She wanted to make sure things were sounding fine in there and she pulled out her doppler and I got very excited- so I laid back and she moved it around for a minute and then finally found it-- a HUGE smile came across my face and she kind of looked at me like- What, it's just the heartbeat-- so I said- This is the first time I've heard this- and she said OOO really- and turned it up so I could hear it more clearly. The heartbeat was between 155-160, so nice and strong. I was bummed Taylor couldn't hear it- but he is coming with me on July 5 to our next scheduled appointment so he'll get to hear it then- and I plan on bringing my camera with to record some video of her checking the heartbeat so you all can hear it on here too!!

This is just another neat photo of a baby at 11 weeks..... just something fun to look at!



On the house front-- I need to take some photos tonight and post them for you- you can't even imagine what my living room looks like right now! We are actually sleeping on our mattress in the middle of the living room and you can't hardly get to the couches- its madness! Our new carpet is getting put in in our bedroom and the nursery on Thursday- and we are getting a deal on some really great carpet for the basement but we have to wait 2 more weeks for it to come in- so as long as the upstairs gets put back together here soon we'll be fine waiting for the basement for a little longer. Hopefully pictures of our mess to come tomorrow.

And stay tuned for next week and my 12 week belly shot!

10 Weeks

Well- not much has changed from week 9 to week 10 besides I think I'm slowly but surely beginning to get over my morning sickness-- Monday's seem to be a bad day at work- the past two I was sick for most of the day- but then come Tuesday I'm only sick once and now it's Wednesday and so far so good- so hopefully over the next 2 1/2 weeks now I'll notice things starting to get better.

I have felt more motivated this week- I made some homemade salsa and tacos so far this week- and before this week cooking like that was the LAST thing on my list!

Just another cool photo of a baby at 10 weeks- they say its the size of a plum now and weighs 5 grams! And the baby has started to move all around in there- of course I can't feel anything yet.... probably not for another 4-6 weeks until I experience that.



I have started water aerobics which is every Tuesday and Thursday night- I'm doing it with my mom, friend Megan and her mom-- its a lot of fun! I don't necessarily work my butt off to try to loose weight like everyone else in the class but it does feel good to just work my muscles, move around and play in the pool. I'm taking it at my own pace and its nice to be able to do that.

We are in the process of getting new carpet in parts of the house- Taylor finally got that nasty red stuff pulled out in the basement and we are hoping we'll be able to do the nursery and our bedroom as well- we are just waiting for the carpet guy to come over and give us an estimate.

Joey is growing bigger and bigger every day- we got him a shock collar to help train and we've only had to shock him a few times- he sure has learned quickly and it makes for a better house hold when he behaves himself. Tigger is turning 2 on Thursday, the 14th!! He is getting a nice helping of his favorite wet food for dessert!!

9 Weeks

Well- here we are, half way through 9 weeks and its not treating me any better. I spent all of Sunday in bed- it was nice to get the rest and anytime I got out of bed to try to do something I got sick- so in bed I stayed. Then Monday came and getting through a full day of work was a chore- but then out of no where at 8:00pm I got a burst of energy- picked up the whole house, cleaned out my closet of clothes I don't wear anymore- and felt like grocery shopping at 9pm- so I went and got all the things I have been craving- a big pickle, pop tarts, beef jerkey, Fruity Pebbles, Orange Juice, Kiwi's, Nectarines, Oranges, and yogurt. Almost all of which I brought with me to work today so that whenever I get hungry I'll know I will have everything that my tastebuds desire.

One other thing I bought was popsicles- This morning I started not feeling well, again, and went to the freezer for a popsicle and TA DA- I felt better!! Sugar Free Grape Popsicle seemed to do the trick- that and sitting in a chair when I got ready in front of the mirror. I think, and I hope I have found a trick for getting through my mornings! So- hopefully things will start to look up from here-- I hear that weeks 10-12 you start feeling better and better each day and I'm looking forward to that.

Here is just another cool photo I found online- the baby has grown its fingers and toes this week and is about the size of an olive.

8 Weeks

Well-- the doctor gave us good news! ONE healthy little baby!! We couldn't hear the heart beating quite yet but we could see it beating on the screen- 156 bpm- so very strong and healthy! It was just amazing seeing our little one- it really makes this whole thing real to us.

Here I am at eight weeks-- I think I'm mostly bloated- my anti-nausea medication doesn't help in that category- but I think I'm getting over my sickness, I only had to take one pill this whole weekend, so hopefully things are getting better!



This is Little Baby Pagel at eight weeks! You can see the cord, the head, and that white area on the chest is the little heart-- so hard to believe that this little thing is the size of a sunflower seed!



Lucky for us- I'm a super planner- when we moved in and painted the whole house I planned for the nursery- Hint of Olive is the color I choose- and I had hoped that I'd be able to do the nursery in a Pond Theme- that way if it's a boy we can add more blue dragon flies, frogs and turtles, and if it's a girl we can add more pink lady bugs, butterflies, flowers and fairies. I had found this bedroom set- the crib bedding, the valances, diaper holder, lamp shade- the whole bit and it was the PERFECT pond theme that I was looking for (and it matched the wall color perfectly). Here are the valances that we hung up, the bedding and the music mobile have pink daisies, pink ladybugs, and the blue dragonflies, and the frogs-- its very cute!



Here is the other window and you can see the music mobile that I put together- and all the stuff that Pam brought over of Landon's stuff. Our next purchase will be the crib eventually, its just nice to start getting those bigger ticket items slowly as we go along so those huge expenses don't hit us all at once-That's the plus side of a pregnancy lasting 9 months!

Strange Reaction

OK- so far this pregnancy has just been one thing after another...

So- this weekend I went camping with my Mom, Dad and Dylan and Danielle to Lanesboro. We had just arrived and decided to go for a walk down town-- as we were leaving my jaw started to feel a little sore- I was just connecting it to my TMJ which I am currently see a physical therapist for-- as our walk continued the alignment of my jaw got more and more off and before I knew it my lips wouldn't even meet up correctly and my bite was basically almost on the side of my face and when I tried to talk I talked with a major lisp. It was the most painful thing ever! We didn't have a vehicle down there- just the motorhome so we planned on just packing it back up and getting me to St. Mary's ER immediately- luckily Peter and Janna were around with their car so mom and I hoped in and started driving to Rochester.

On the way I was icing my jaw to see if it would help- and then mom's purse split over in the back seat so, in all my pain, I reached back and picked up her things then sat back up again and all of a sudden my tounge fit back into my mouth! I looked in the mirror and my lips were touching like they should- it went back to normal! So we turned around- we had only made it to Fountain- only about 15 minutes from Lanesboro. But then on our way back my jaw started doing it in the other direction- so now my bite was on the right side of my face and I couldn't control it-- Mom decided it was a muscle thing and that the ice seemed to work so we continued back to the camper to ice and take a nap. As I was napping it finally came to my mom that when we were at the doctor's on Thursday she said my medicine she gave me could cause twitching- and twitching is a muscle spasm- and it finally was clear that my jaw had spased and since it was a weak point in the first place that is just where it attacked.

She got on the phone with the hospital immediatly and they told me to obviously stop taking that medicine and they called in a new one for me as they said that I had just experienced one of the possible side affects. - Man- who knew that some people actaully experience those side affects-- I never have done that before with any other medicine.

So- now I'm back on a new anti-nausea medication and things are looking back up again- even though I had to go through another horrible Monday when nothing would stay down-- but hopefully things from here on out will continue to go as planned!

Stay tuned for a Friday early evening post of our first ultrasound!!

7 Weeks

Well-- I tired to work through my morning sickness but it just got the best of me and I couldn't even make it through a full work day. I went to the doctor and they gave me some anti-nausea medication that seems to be helping quite well- that and she told me to stop taking my prenatal and switch to a Flinstone's vitamin- which were my most favorite thing when I was little so that was an easy switch! She said the most important thing I need right now is Folic Acid and I can get that from the Flinstone's.

She also tested my thyroid to see if that could be a bit out of whack it might be the culprit-- and she also scheduled me for my first ultrasound for next Friday- right at 8 weeks to see of the possibility of there being more then one in there! Oh man.... Guess we'll just have to wait and see.... next post-- I'll have the very first picture of our little bundle(s) of joy!!! :)

6 Weeks

Well- I hit the 6 week mark today- and along came all the beautiful joys of pregnancy. I had my first experience with morning sickness today and uncontrolable sleepiness. My morning sickness came around 9:30-- even after I had a big breakfast-- I was at work and didn't want to go in the bathroom so I breathed through it and got myself to get past it and after about an hour went to the gas station and grabbed a Sprite and was able to get some Saltines down and then it went away and I'm feeling much better now. I purchased some Preggie Pops at Motherhood Maternity-- you are suppose to suck on the suckers when you experience neusea and it helps calm it down-- and of course they are sitting next to my bed- now I will be carrying them in my purse!

So, we are moving along just fine. May 30th is our first scheduled Doctor's appointment- and that day can't seem to come fast enough!

If you haven't noticed-- My "baby" is hanging out on your screen! It has the countdown of how many days we have left to go and the baby develops as it would be in my tummy each week-- kind of cool to watch.

Here is an up close picture on what "Baby Pagel" should be looking like right now in my tummy--- I find these photos like this just amazing!!

My First Craving

OK- I had my first extreme cravings yesterday... I wanted CHICKEN!! I couldn't get enough-- For lunch I swung by Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers in Apple Valley-- highly recommened-- it's fresh chicken made into chicken strips- not frozen processed chicken strips-- and OH man-- their Cane's sauce-- it's to DIE for! Then I got home and was looking in the fridge for something for dinner and everything sounded gross except for- MORE CHICKEN--- so I baked some chicken- very delicious- and as I was watching 7th Heaven that I had DVR'ed they were eating freshly made chocolate chip cookies-- I wanted nothing more then a bite of that cookie but I didn't have the stuff to make some... so then I got to thinking about a Dairy Inn ice cream.

Soon after Taylor got home from his baseball game and at this point in time I was a little crabby as Joey was super hyper because he didn't get his walk due to the rain and I really wanted to take a nap-- I was crabby about having to fold laundry and I stomped downstairs- got the laundry- stomped back upstairs and told Taylor to leave me alone-- then a few minutes of me being in the bedroom folding laundry I hear Taylor in the living room--- Mindi-- would you like me to take you to Dairy Inn--- "YES I WOULD" and then I was in a better mood! :)

Oh the JOYS!! But I'm loving every step of the way! :)