36 Week Appointment

Yesterday was our 36 week appointment and our meeting with the pediatricians. The pediatrician visit went very well! We're really impressed with their office. It has all of the typical amenities that you look for in a pediatrician office such as separate well and sick waiting rooms, cleanliness, nice receptionists, real person answering services 24/7, open hours on Saturday, and a 24/7 on call nurse and doctor, and same day appointments. There are 7 pediatricians at the office. We were able to meet 3, all of the male doctors. I was very impressed with 2 of them. The third was nice, but just a little too mellow for me. I like doctors to be outgoing and talkative. It actually puts me more at ease. I wish there was a way to meet all of them, but obviously they aren't all 7 in the office all the time.

We haven't decided who we want to go to for Evan's first appointment, but our tour guide said that they encourage us to keep switching until we find who we want to stick with. His first appointment there will be 48 hours after we are released from the hospital. They won't be able to come up to our hospital to do the in-hospital care and circumcision, but they recommended a doctor at our hospital who can take care of him and they also recommended some doctors from another office who could come by. Anyway, I'm so glad that we found such a great office and doctors that are right next door to Matt's office. It's nice to have that checked off our list!

My midwife visit also went well. It turns out that they don't do vaginal exams every week unless I want them. And I'm happy to leave everything down there a mystery! If I'm still pregnant at 39 weeks they will do another exam, but otherwise it's optional. So the midwife just measured me (right on track) and listened to Evan's heartbeat (healthy and in the 130s). He has dropped!! The midwife said so and I can tell because I've been feeling a lot more pressure down there, even more than last week. He's also occasionally pinching a nerve in my right leg. Whoa! It feels like a jolt of electricity right in the crease between my leg and torso.

**TMI alert!**

I think I already mentioned that I lost my mucus plug on Monday. Lots of mucus on Monday and Tuesday, not so much on Wednesday and Thursday, just normal amounts. This morning - a lot. And there was a little bit of blood in it. I'm not sure if this is officially "bloody show" or not. From what I read labor usually occurs within hours to a week of having bloody show. However, I'm not sure if that's only when it happens at the same time as the mucus plug coming out. Even if it isn't official bloody show, it does mean that something's going on down there, meaning that I'm dilating at least a little.

Whether or not I will go into labor within the week, this has made me want to get everything ready!!! We are going to pack the hospital bag tonight as well as clean out the car and install the car seat.

Matt's office threw us a shower today. But I'll write a whole separate post about that - with pictures - tomorrow.

36 Weeks

Evan is about 6 pounds and still roughly the size of a honeydew melon. He'll be full term in one week! He's almost completely developed, but his lungs could still use some growing time.

I lost my mucus plug 2 days ago. There was no blood at all, so I know that it may still be a few weeks before labor kicks in. Duh. lol But I am hoping that losing it so early will mean an early delivery, especially since he is so low already. We'll see! My next appointment is tomorrow afternoon and I'm eager to see if any progress has been made.

We have the nursery almost ready! I'll post pictures as soon as it's complete. We set up the bedding and most of the wall decor. Things are pretty much organized. On Friday we have a shower at Matt's office. We're waiting until after that to buy the final things for the nursery such as sheets for the Pack n Play (that Evan is going to sleep in the first few weeks since I want him to be in the room with us then), sheets for the crib, the changing pad covers, bath tub and other bath and health supplies, etc. The car seat just arrived today (we got it for 15% off!). I was disappointed that the box was completely smushed. Part of me wonders if we should send it back, but Matt is pretty sure that another box was placed on top of our box which made it sink in on one side where there is empty space inside. We still haven't opened it up because we're considering sending it back. I have a feeling we'll keep it though... Matt's right, it doesn't really look like it was beat up or anything, just that something was on top of it. And the side where the car seat is just under the surface of the box is fine. It is a good feeling to have it though! Now I just have to clean out the car!

I've been having a weird experience the past week. I'm popping! lol There are popping/snapping noises coming from my belly. It's not my joints popping, it isn't my ribs or hips or anything, it's coming from inside my belly, where Evan is. It only happens when he moves. Not every time, but several times a day. I've looked it up online and one large theory (this does happen to other women!) is that it is the baby's joints popping. No one knows for sure and a lot of doctors claim that it doesn't happen and is all in the woman's head (which is ridiculous, I've talked to several women, including my SIL, who heard it towards the ends of their pregnancies), but it that theory sounds feasible to me. Another theory is that it is the woman's ligaments stretching, but I'd think I would be able to feel that or that then it would happen when I move. I can be sitting still not moving a muscle and he'll move and I'll hear it.

I've been having cramps the past couple of days. Also, the nerves in my legs have been pinched some days. I've been so lucky this entire pregnancy to not have much back or leg pain, but it's catching up with me now. Also, my feet have finally started swelling. Not all that much, but my Rainbow flip flops are a little too tight now and my mom noticed that my feet are "fat" yesterday without me pointing it out. lol They really aren't that bad, most people would never know. My shin splints are acting up again and my feet are sore a lot, but that's to be expected as I keep getting bigger.

Monday and yesterday I was at my grandparents' house near Charleston, SC with my mom. Matt and my dad were both out of town Monday night, so we decided to go down to visit. Of course, it was during the hottest days of the year so far! We've had a very cool summer here in Charlotte, the highs most days have been in the mid-80s! However, the past couple of days, in Charlotte and Charleston, the temperature has been closer to 100. It was 100 in Charleston yesterday while we were out on a boat on the Edisto River. We're crazy! There wasn't a cloud in the sky, which was beautiful, but HOT. I drank a lot of water, but didn't go to the bathroom for hours because I was sweating so much. But it was so worth it, I love going out on the boat. It's beautiful there and it's very relaxing to lean back in the seat with the wind blowing my hair back, snacking on boiled peanuts.

At one point I was a little worried when we were close to the ocean and the water got a little rough and the boat slammed up and down a couple of times. Granddaddy turned around and slowed down pretty quickly though. It woke Evan up and he started kicking and squirming. My grandma kept saying, "Stay in there, baby! Don't bounce out!" My granddad said, "I don't want to deliver a baby today!" lol Maybe it just kind of bounced him closer to delivery. ;-) Afterwards I was a little worried that maybe that was too rough, but he's been very active since then and I haven't noticed anything weird, so I think it was alright.

We had such a great trip, my grandparents are very excited about Evan coming. I hadn't realized how much my granddad loves babies. I noticed he kept grinning really big when I'd mention Evan kicking or moving around. I told my mom how glad I am that he seems excited, and she said, "oh yeah! He loves babies!!" I guess I learn something new everyday. My dad also felt Evan move for the first time over the weekend. I was so happy that he didn't even have to wait to feel anything, he put his hand on my belly and Evan kicked right away. My dad was pretty excited about that! It makes me happy to see family members being involved and eager to meet the new addition.

Tomorrow we are meeting with a group of pediatricians. They don't normally attend the hospital we're delivering at, but we're going to try to work it out with them. I hope we can, because I've heard several great recommendations for them from our midwife and from some friends of ours. I'll let y'all know how it goes and post a 36 week picture then!

35 Weeks & Birth Plan

I can't believe I'm here! Only 5 weeks to go...35 days. Amazing. :-) Evan should be around 5 1/4 pounds and 18 inches long. Most of his physical development is complete, the next few weeks he'll just be packing on the pounds. I can tell he's become a lot bigger (and stronger) this past week. He is kicking so hard that it hurts! There are so many times where it hurts so bad (and surprises me so much) that I actually yell out loud. I also double over in pain at times and when he's really active I have to hold on to my upper abs to try to contain it, it helps absorb some of the impact. I've heard that some women get broken ribs from their babies kicking so hard...let's just say I'm not surprised that happens sometimes! I actually like it that he's moving so much though. It was pretty uncomfortable for a couple of days, but yesterday he calmed down a little and I was sad not to feel him quite as much.

I have still been feeling pretty good except for really bad hemorroids (from the pressure) that my midwife is going to take a look at on Friday since they aren't going away with Prep H and Tucks pads (probably because the pressure isn't going away either). TMI, I know, but hey, it's a big part of my pregnancy right now! lol My stomach has been feeling pretty good, but sometimes at night I wake up and it's very upset, I feel like I will throw up. I always wake Matt up to get me some cold water. That just happened last night. ;-) Headaches are a little better and I'm definitely feeling better than I was a month ago when I was losing weight and feeling so weak and tired.

We've written up a birth plan and will go over it with the midwife on Friday. I'm not sure if I'll add anything to it, I'm hoping my midwife already feels the same way I do about most things, so I shouldn't have to be super specific. However, if it seems like there may still be some misunderstandings with her, one of the other midwives, or the L&D nurses, I may add to it and make it more detailed. For now here it is:

• We would like the mother and father to be together at all times.
• We would like to maintain freedom of movement during labor and request the presence of a squatting bar in our room.
• It is not necessary to offer pain medications, we will let you know if they are needed.
• We do not wish to have continuous fetal monitoring unless it is required by the condition of our son. After the initial monitoring, intermittent checks are preferred as are limited vaginal exams.
• We prefer to have as few staff members in the room during labor and delivery as possible. The father, midwife, and minimum amount of required nurses are all that are needed in the room until after the birth.
• We do not want an IV or hep-loc.
• After the birth, we prefer that all procedures and exams be done with the baby in the room at all times.
• After the cord has been cut and the baby has been wiped clean, we would like the baby to be handed to the mother for skin to skin contact at the breast, with both covered by a warm blanket.
• We prefer not to be woken up during the night for any testing that can wait until the next day.
  In case of emergency: If a c-section is required, we request that the father be present for the surgery, that the baby be handed to him after the cord is cut, for the father and baby to remain in the room with the mother at all times, and that skin to skin contact at the breast take place with the mother as soon as possible.

Yesterday's appointment at the diabetes center went really well. My dietician said that my levels are great and that there is no way the GD is affecting Evan at all with those numbers. She said he shouldn't be large from the GD at all. That makes me feel so much better, I'm even more hopeful that the u/s tech was wrong a couple of weeks ago. Hearing from her that I had a large baby, plus knowing that GD makes babies large had me worried, but I'm happy that the sugar isn't making Evan grow too much! If he is big, it's not the GD that's causing it. The dietician also said I shouldn't have any problems with my sugar levels after Evan's birth. I'll still be checking my levels every once in awhile, I'll have to come in for another appt and to have another glucose test, and then they want me to have a glucose test every year after to make sure that I don't get Type II, although the dietician said she highly doubts I will ever have a problem. I'm so glad my levels have gone down from what they were a month ago! I've discovered the key is extra protein...peanuts and cheese have become my best friends! lol

I haven't gained any weight the past couple of weeks, but that isn't unusual at this point in pregnancy. I've been feeling good, so I know I'm healthy. Back when I lost weight a few weeks ago I felt awful all the time, it was definitely unhealthy. But I feel almost like normal these days. Plus, it's obvious that Evan has gained weight, so the dietician and I aren't worried.

34 Weeks

Evan is the size of a honeydew melon, should be almost 5 pounds (unless he is over 6 like the u/s tech claims!), and is about 18 inches long. I've heard several women say that their doctors would not stop labor after 34 weeks. It's crazy to think that if I went into labor now, my midwife very well might let it go just as if I was full term! According to BabyCenter: "...you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies." Amazing!!! It's a huge relief to be at this point!

I get tired more easily than I did a couple of months ago, but that's to be expected. For being almost a month away from my due date, I'm actually feeling really good! I still forget that I'm pregnant sometimes! I think the biggest deal lately is that I feel like I have an almost constant headache. It does come and go, but it seems like it's aching more than it isn't. I think it's my neck. Last week my chiropractor adjusted it and it was so out of place. However, the next day it was back to hurting and my headache was back too. So I'm not going to go to the chiropractor every couple of days because I know it'll just come back. It's probably just one of those things that pregnancy causes, I'm being strained in new places.

It's so hard to bend over now. I thought it was rough a couple of months ago, ha!! Now if I bend I feel a lot of pressure down there, it kind of freaks me out! Plus, my stomach quickly starts hurting if I do much bending. So it's hard to do a lot of household chores. The past couple of months I've been really careful about vacuuming the baseboards and around the bottoms of the furniture, but last week I discovered that's really not a good idea for me to do at this point, even if I sit on the floor to do it instead of bending. Matt keeps offering to do it, but he's so busy too that nothing is getting done and the house is a mess. I feel so overwhelmed, I want my house CLEAN, but the cleaning process takes a lot out of me. How do other pregnant women keep their houses clean!!??

Today I think I'm going to wash Evan's clothes, blankets, burp clothes, and bibs! It's kind of scary to take the step of cutting off tags and putting stuff in the washing machine. I'm still unsure about detergents, fabric softeners, etc. I've heard you should use special baby detergent, no dryer sheets or fabric softener, etc, but I don't want Evan to get shocked with static!! I'm not using the special baby detergent... I have a dye/scent free detergent that should work fine. I'm still thinking about the whole dryer sheet thing, any advice is welcome! I hear something called wool balls are nice. I've used dryer balls in the past and they did not keep the static away, so I don't think I'll use those. I'm not going to wash all of the newborn sized clothes we have in case Evan really is big. I'm going to wash one new long sleeved sleeper and one new short sleeved onesie, plus the few NB size hand me downs that we have. I'm going to wash all of the 0-3 month size clothes though.

Today I'm also going to go to the store and buy some craft stuff! *gasp* Yep, I'M going to attempt to do something crafty for the nursery. I'm going to buy some more storage bins and baskets at Michael's (they are 50% off this week!) and I'm going to buy some wood spray paint. Then I'm going to paint some hat boxes my MIL gave me, the closet door knobs, a shelf, and a wood letter E to hang on the outside of the door. And possibly some of the baskets that I buy. I've never done this kind of stuff before, so we'll see how it goes!

I've been so busy the past couple of days. All day yesterday and the day before I was out with my mom running errands, so I haven't had as much time as I'd like to organize the nursery and all of the gifts we received the other day. Yesterday we dropped the quilt Mom made Evan off at a monogramming shop to have his name put on it. We pick it up next week, I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I don't have an official 34 week photo yet, but here's 33w5d:

31 Weeks & Maternity Center Tour

Today Evan is about 16 inches long and weighs about 3.3 pounds! Here's what else BabyCenter has to say about him: "He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy." And yep, it's true! This morning I could have slept later, but his thrashing around kept me up. :-) The past couple of days he's really taken it up a notch. He's moving more and it is much stronger. He's also taken a liking to my far right side, especially right up against or under my ribs. I have to say, sometimes I want him to stop kicking because it hurts. When I think about it though I'm really grateful that he's moving so much, I know how depressing it is when he doesn't move as often and I also know it means he's healthy. But my first instinct when he's kicking so hard is "make it stop!" Haha, there is no way to make him stop, but I've found that pressing lightly over the spot where he's kicking helps absorb the impact.

I think I may have felt Braxton Hicks contractions last night for the first time. I'm not 100% sure though. Right after I laid down to go to bed it felt like Evan was kicking my bladder or something deep inside me. But after a bit I realized it felt more like all of my insides, at least down low, were being squeezed. It wasn't really painful, just uncomfortable. It felt like if it lasted too much longer it would be painful, but just as it got to that point it would stop. It happened several times over 10-15 minutes, but I didn't start thinking it might be BH until the last 3 that happened. So I think I had about 6 over the entire time period, maybe 2 more if those "kicks" I felt at first were also BH. It'll be interesting to see if it happens again. And like I said, who knows if they were really BH or maybe Evan was just squishing things down there over and over?

The maternity center tour was great! I'm very excited about delivery now! I really liked the maternity center at our hospital better than the others I've been to before (which is a grand total of 2, one hospital where my friend delivered and then the one my SIL delivered at last year). It's a completely separate building, but it's connected to the back of the hospital by a single door. There's separate parking and the entire place has a very comfortable and homey feel. You wouldn't even know you were near a hospital once you're inside! Even the parking lot is nicer, it's removed from the hospital parking and away from all of the roads nearby. The family waiting room was very comfortable and nice. There are several kitchenettes that give away drinks and food to the families. The rooms are all private and you labor, deliver, and recover in them. They all either have patios or bay windows and they all have whirlpool tubs, refridgerators, flat screen TVs, and DVD players as well as fold out beds that come out of the wall for the hubbies to sleep in.

The hospital is very "family oriented," they want the babies to spend as little time in the nursery as possible although you can request that the nurse take them there if you need rest. As a matter of fact, the nursery was empty when we were there because the babies were all with their parents. They do everything in the room like bathing, weighing, tests, etc unless there are special medical needs that can't be provided in the room. They provide birthing balls and other than requiring you to be hooked up to a fetal monitor for 20 minutes when you first come in, you can go the rest of the time off monitors to walk around freely (unless there's a reason that you need to be continually monitored). All in all I am very pleased with it, especially the fact that it doesn't feel at all like a hospital, I was very comfortable in there. And I hate hospitals, the times I've been to visit my friend and SIL I was so uncomfortable and nervous. I figured I'd be that way when having my own baby too, but nope, I liked it there!

29 Weeks

As far as the GD goes, things are kind of sort of getting better. The other day my levels were lower and that made me feel so much better, but yesterday they were back to being up. Very discouraging! Then last night not only could we not get blood to come out (Matt helps me after dinner when he's home), we found out that the last container of test strips we were given weren't compatible with our testing machine. It was too late to go to the pharmacy to get refills (which I didn't expect to have to do until Thursday) so we used the machine Matt's co-worker gave us before we knew if our insurance would cover one. It took awhile to figure the new one out and the entire thing stressed me out so much. I know none of you "get it," I know Matt doesn't really understand why I was so upset. But the entire thing is so frustrating: the diet, the blood testing, etc.

The weirdest thing is that this new machine is giving me much lower readings. It's a nicer model, you just touch the test strip to the drop of blood and it sucks it right up and immediately starts counting up the levels instead of making me drag the strip across my blood multiple times. So I'm kind of wondering if there isn't something wrong with the machine I was given? I will have to ask the doctor about it on Friday. However, getting levels in the appropriate range is great and my lunch level was so low I was wishing I had eaten another burrito! I'm only supposed to eat one at this point because the wheat tortilla is 24 grams of carbs and there are carbs in the beans (I can have a max of 45 g at lunch). Anyway, I'm just hoping things will continue to get better.

Highlights of week 28: feeling Evan hiccup for the first time! I know I already wrote about it, but I have just a little more to add. The first time was last Wednesday night, then again on Thursday morning. I haven't felt it since then until last night. I told Matt and he put his hand on my stomach and was able to feel too! He paused the show we were watching and we just laid there on the couch and felt him hiccup and talked to him. SO CUTE!!!

Another highlight, peeing my pants a little. lol! It was the weirdest thing and came completely out of the blue. On Sunday we were over at my parents' house playing THIS game. My dad joined in, which is incredibly rare in our household. As a matter of fact, I can't even remember the last time that he played a game with us. I vaguely remember it happening once when I was in jr high... Anyway, he was hilarious and he said something that made everyone burst out laughing. Well, a little pee happened to burst out of me at the same time. I didn't have to go to the bathroom, I didn't even feel it coming! Such a weird sensation. Thankfully it wasn't much, I just kept my mouth shut about it and nobody knew. lol Believe me, I'm doing more Kegels than ever after that incident!

Let's see, what else has been going on as far as pregnancy... I'm more tired these days. As a matter of fact, I could take a nap right now. And all I've done today besides computer stuff and making lunch is vacuum the house. And I'm not even completely done with that yet! I think I have a couple of more stretch marks on my butt, but none have appeared anywhere else so far. Evan is kicking and moving around more than ever. It's uncomfortable sometimes. I find myself pressing down to absorb some of the impact of his stronger kicks and when I am laying down I tend to change positions to make it a little more comfortable. I still love feeling him kick, I still can't help but smile! I know how depressing it is when he doesn't kick as much, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt/feel very uncomfortable sometimes.

I scheduled the hospital tour and 2 classes. The tour is on July 7! I'm really looking forward to it, the hospital we're delivering at has a fairly new maternity center (built in April 2008) and I've heard from several people that it's very nice. We have a breastfeeding class on July 9 and then an infant safety & CPR class on July 22. We decided to skip the childbirth class. We're going through the Bradley Method handbook and Husband Coached Childbirth, I think that will be enough. Going through the Bradley lessons and book has helped me feel more confident about labor and delivery. I'm not nervous about it at this point, I'm more nervous about just after delivery when I have a fragile infant to take care of! My next prenatal appt is July 1 and I'm eager to talk to my midwife about her thoughts on L&D, especially since I now have GD. We'll also schedule another u/s to see if my placenta has moved up and away from my cervix.

26 Weeks

And I'm huge!! And I have stretch marks. :-( On my boobs and my butt. :-( Just a few days ago I started using cocoa butter to relieve the itching and weird stretching feeling on my stomach. Yesterday I decided to go ahead and start using it on my legs and butt too to possibly prevent stretch marks. I don't know if anything can really prevent them, but I thought I'd give it a try. Then today I noticed I have them on my butt!!!! I don't think they were there yesterday. Maybe cocoa butter causes stretch marks..... hmm.... Anyway, Matt's co-worker who just had a baby a few months ago recommended cocoa butter to help stretch marks and the burning/itching/stretching feeling. But if any of you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them! So far I don't have any marks on my belly, hopefully it'll stay that way. The other ones I have look awful.

Evan is still in the pound and a half weight range and is about a foot long. He's still roughly the size of an eggplant. His ears are forming even more and he's getting more and more sensitive to sound. So far I haven't noticed him jumping at loud noises, but he definitely responds to noise, just like he has the past couple of weeks. His eyes are also forming and apparently soon he'll start blinking. Aww!!

On Friday and Saturday that was a very big difference in the amount he was moving. There were about 3 times that I seriously considered calling the midwife because he went about 4-5 hours without moving at all. Then when he moved it was very light fluttery feelings, no kicking. He didn't always respond to sound or me poking him that I could feel. I read that this happens to a lot of women around 25 weeks, the baby either turns or just doesn't have as much room to kick at that point. However, starting Sunday, Evan picked back up and is kicking and moving more than ever! Last night he was kicking me so hard that Matt could see my belly move through my shirt from across the room! I missed feeling him so much, now every time he moves I feel so incredibly happy, even more than I was feeling before.

And I've realized....I love being pregnant. I know I still have a ways to go and may change my mind, but so far the shin splints, round ligament pains, stretch marks, upset stomach, morning sickness, heartburn, and insomnia aren't nearly enough to make me dislike the condition I'm in. I'm lucky because I don't have those side effects constantly. The joys of feeling him move, seeing my baby bump, and having the satisfaction of knowing I've got a baby inside me overpower the negative stuff.

I feel so much more confident and complete. It's hard to explain, but I guess the past couple of years have been really rough on me. After I graduated and couldn't find a job I felt so much like a loser. I felt (and still do to a certain extent) that people look down on me for not working. I wondered what was so wrong with me that I didn't get a job in spite of the hundreds of applications (sadly, I'm not exaggerating all that much, I really did fill out about 150 applications to all sorts of different jobs) I filled out and the several interviews I had. I haven't been doing what I wanted to do, my dreams didn't come true. But now I feel like I'm where I should be, I'm doing what I really want to do. I feel more grown up and finally equal to the other adults around me.

Last night Matt and his friend R put together Evan's dresser! It matches the crib and it's beautiful! It's also a changing table, so that will save us some space in the nursery. Now the next big step we have for the nursery is to put in a ceiling fan and light. Right now we have to rely on lamps for lighting. It will be nice to have an overhead light. We are also planning on painting the trim, although I have to admit that I'm feeling pretty lazy about that and thinking that maybe we'll just leave it be. I don't know...there are a few places that could use sanding and touchups. So it might be best to just paint it all. After that I want to start organizing and putting up the decor!

Arrr - you can see the splotchy tan on my arm. Ugg! I didn't quite smooth sunscreen all over my arm at the beach and got burned in one place...you can even see the fingerprints where I got some of the sunscreen, but didn't rub it all in! Unfortunately it turned into a super dark tan.... I'm trying to even it out, but it's hard once it's there.

Flying & Crying

I'm flying to Arkansas in mid-July for my grandparents' 50th anniversary party. I'll be flying to Little Rock alone, meeting my dad there, and then we'll drive to Fort Smith. I'll be 32 weeks then. I sure hope it's okay for me to fly then! I looked up some message board posts on the subject and it seems like a lot of women fly at that point. I didn't check with any of the midwives before my dad got the ticket, but I'm guessing they will be okay with it since I've had a smooth pregnancy so far and am not high risk.

This whole thing has been really spur of the moment. My dad had purchased a ticket for himself, then a week later found out he's going to be in Little Rock on business the same day he was going to be flying there himself! So he wanted to transfer the ticket to my name (since it's non-refundable), but it's also non-transferable. So he decided to use some of his frequent flier miles to get me a ticket. He sounded excited about me coming along and it would be nice to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins and most likely even more of my extended family from Texas. This will be my last chance to travel on a whim. After Evan comes, any trips I make will have to be well planned. I probably won't do much, if any, traveling alone after Evan comes. So Dad asked if I wanted to come on Saturday night and by yesterday afternoon he got the ticket. Matt is excited I'm going, the only problem I have with going without him is that he'll be on a business trip the 4 days before I leave. He'll get back the day I leave so we won't see each other for an entire week. But I've gone that long without seeing him before, so I think I can manage this time. ;-)

Did you fly that late in pregnancy? Would you? Just after I hung up the phone after telling my dad to go ahead and get the ticket I had a mini panic attack. What if you aren't supposed to fly that late!? What if something horrible happens to Evan on the plane!? But after researching it some and seeing other women discuss their travel experiences at 32 weeks or later I feel much better about it!

Speaking of panic attacks, I've been much more emotional the past few days. Weepy and more stressed than normal. Poor Matt! I have to say, he's been very supportive although I haven't been the nicest person to be around the past couple of days. All of our yard projects are weighing on me and he's the one who has to do the work, so I keep nagging him and getting upset that things aren't moving along faster. I have no clue why it seems so important to get it done quickly, but it is. I really am ready to have the front flower bed and the back patio finished. I think my life will be easier after they are finished. I can tell myself it's no big deal and not to stress all I want, but it doesn't help! I think it's pregnancy hormones. I haven't been very emotional since getting pregnant, at least not any more than I used to be. But the past couple of days I can't seem to help myself, so pregnancy hormones are the only thing I can attribute it to.

25 Weeks

I'm getting closer and closer to this actually working. I can't describe how I feel, I guess I honestly have felt like surely something is going to go wrong this pregnancy. That we won't make it. But as the weeks go by I'm feeling more confident that I will be holding Evan in my arms someday. I've been feeling him move everyday throughout the day. I feel healthy and optimistic right now. I pray that everything will continue to go smoothly. I'm not jinxing it by writing all of this, am I!?

Highlights this week.... hardly being able to fit in my pre-pregnancy tank top (a staple in my wardrobe, I wear tanks under everything). Over the weekend I went and bought 2 maternity tanks to wear underneath my shirts. I can still wear some of my regular shirts, but my wardrobe has become half maternity, half non-maternity at this point. I think I may need to buy a larger size underwear?? Sunday my underwear started falling off in the middle of church! I was wearing jeans, but my underwear were basically not even covering anything, they were as low as they could go in the jeans. Good thing I wasn't wearing a dress. lol! I had to excuse myself from the service to go take care of it. I think my jeans (they are the underbelly kind) are pushing them down, plus they don't stay up as far with my belly pushing them too. So I'm thinking a bigger size will help out...maybe. Hopefully!

There are times where I feel like I am going to bust open! I honestly don't understand how I can get any bigger than I already am. It's harder to breathe sometimes, I feel very squished in there. My stomach has been a little more upset than normal lately, the other night I woke up and felt very nauseous, it helped to sit up for awhile. No wonder, Evan is about a pound and a half and is about 13 inches long, roughly the size of an eggplant. I'm surprised I don't have stretch marks yet. I'm sure I will get them though. I already have some on my legs that I received from normal growth as a teenager. My mom has them and my sister has some too from normal growth. So I'd be shocked if I didn't get any. For all I know I do have some on the underside of my belly and I just can't see them!

I'm going to copy Nity and post a chart too. It will be interesting to see what the next 15 weeks hold. :-)

Another new development, I can now feel Evan on both sides of my abdomen at the same time. I don't understand how it works, but I guess he's kicking and punching? He's definitely kicking on one side because it's much stronger, but at the same time the kicks are happening there's a lighter movement on the opposite side. Awesome! I think one of the best parts of the week was during church on Sunday. The band at our church is super loud, it's like a concert, they even give away ear plugs. Well they started out playing a softer, lower volume song, but it suddenly picked up and started blasting away. Evan immediately starting kicking, I could tell that he could hear the music, it may have even woke him up. The service was a worship service, so it was songs throughout, with the pastors and leaders speaking in between. Every time the music would start up really loud Evan would start kicking, but when it was softer or someone was speaking, he would stay still. It was so fun! Matt thinks he takes after himself, a little drummer. I think he takes after mom, he just loves his sleep and hates being awakened. ;-)

We ordered the dresser/changing table combo that matches the crib this week. We haven't set it up yet, we want to paint the trim in the nursery and get the rest of the room cleared out first. I can't wait! Matt is out of town, but I'm hoping that this weekend we can get some work done in there. We also have so many things to do in the yard, it's crazy. It seems like whenever Matt's home it's raining or everything is still too wet to do anything.

My exercises are going well, Matt and I have also started going through our Bradley Method book. We aren't going to take the classes, we'll just go through the book together. I don't know why natural childbirth appeals to me so much, but it does, so we're hoping to go that route. I was very encouraged to hear that my mom went all natural with my little sister. Hey, if she can do it, I can too! She didn't even use any special methods or techniques, she just got through it. She had a horrible experience with meds when she delivered my brother, that's one reason why I'm going to try to avoid them. But we'll see, I'm not making any firm plans.

I don't have a bump picture for 25 weeks, but you can look at my beach pictures to see what I looked like at 24 and a half for now. :-)

24 Weeks

It's amazing how fast time is flying! I know I say that every week, but it's true! My pregnancy book says this is the last week of my 2nd trimester. However, everything else I have, including my packet of info from the midwife, says that week 27 is the last week of the 2nd tri. Weird.

Evan weighs over a pound now, closer to a pound and a half! I believe it, I'm feeling him move a lot more now. Even when he does kick I can sometimes feel him moving, I don't know if he's flipping around or just wiggling, but I can feel different types of movement. He has active spurts and will kick over and over for a couple of minutes, then I won't feel him for another hour or so, then I feel him moving and kicking for another several minutes. Last night I felt him during the night for the first time. Of all the time I've spent laying awake for hours at a time in the middle of the night, I've never felt him move until last night. Usually it's only during the day that I feel him, or in the late evening/early nighttime hours. I've read that a lot of babies in the womb are more active in the middle of the night, but he hasn't been while I'm awake anyway. I'm also feeling him move even when I'm walking and moving around. Before, I had to be sitting and leaning back in order to feel him. Also this week, I felt him on the left side a couple of times. I usually only feel him kick on the right side and sometimes in the middle (usually lower down). But I was laying on my left side this week and felt him lightly kicking or moving on that side. So cool!

I've been feeling pretty good, except for some minor lower back pain last night and this morning. Woke up with heartburn in the middle of the night a couple of times the past week. My cure for that is to get up and drink some chocolate milk while reading for awhile. Milk has been working wonders. Anytime I have heartburn or an upset stomach in general (which might be mild heartburn, it's hard for me to tell exactly what heartburn is sometimes unless I actually feel funny in my throat or chest) I drink chocolate milk and it settles my stomach wonderfully. I don't know what I'd do without it! I'm already thinking that we'll have to stop by the store when we are over at the beach to buy some chocolate syrup so that I'll have it the next couple of days while we're there.

We're leaving this afternoon and will be back sometime on Saturday. It looks like the weather is going to be nice while we're there, I'm happy to see that the chance of precipitation tomorrow has dropped from 40% to 10% the past few days. I'm eager to show my mom the beach house and the gorgeous island that it's located on. I'm hoping that my shins are feeling okay so that I can do lots of walking on the beach. My favorite things to do while we're there are walking on the beach and riding bikes on the island's roads. I'm not sure that I'll attempt bike riding this year, we'll see! It might be a little difficult with this belly of mine and I know some doctors don't recommend it because of balance issues. I'm not used to riding bikes (It's been 2 years since I've been on one now!) and the roads are sandy which make them harder to ride on, especially if you have to move to the side for a passing car. But I really love riding them....so...we'll see. lol Probably Matt won't let me anyway.

This year my mom will be there though so we're planning on laying out (except I can't really lay down, so I'm going to have to buy a chair) and relaxing on the sand!! That's something that Matt can't do because of his fair skin. Nobody else in Matt's family does that either, probably for the same reason. So if I want to spend time relaxing by the ocean I have to do it alone, which is no fun! So I'm excited that this year I can spend the afternoons outside with my mom instead of cooped up in the house reading or watching TV. Maybe I'll actually go swimming this year too if I get hot enough. I haven't tried on my swim suits to see how ridiculous I look him them.... I am bringing tanks to put on top to cover up, no way am I walking around with my fat hairy belly exposed to the world.

I'll be sure to post pictures and tell y'all all about it when I return! Do you have special plans for this weekend? Have fun and be safe!

5th appointment!

We had our fifth prenatal appointment today at 22w5d! We met with our favorite midwife so far, Tina. Evan's heartbeat was strong and clear at 155 beats per minute. He was moving around when the midwife was using the doppler and it was funny to hear it and feel it at the same time. I've been feeling him move so much more lately, all throughout the day. I used to only feel him at about 7:00 in the evening and then sometimes again around 9:30. Now I feel him a lot and I can feel him move, not just kick. It's great!!! Next appointment is the blood sugar screening test on June 8.

I have a new symptom that started just before going to Boston. Shin splints. OOohhhh the pain! Thankfully it wasn't so bad in Boston except the first day. I iced them for about an hour and then the rest of the time we were there they were fine. However, after getting back home they've been bothering me every day. The past couple of days they've only been sore, not really painful, but today the pain is back. I talked to a friend of mine who is an athletic trainer and she told me how to do ice massages and how to wrap my shins in bandages. Shin splints can be really bad if you don't take care of yourself. The bones can chip or the muscles can tear away from the bone. So I'm trying to be careful, I carry bandages with me everywhere and I'm *trying* to wear supportive shoes. I absolutely hate wearing shoes and socks though, especially when it's so nice and warm outside. I love my flipflops!! I was looking forward to wearing them all summer, but now it looks like that won't be happening. I'll have to buy some nicer running shoes, the ones I have are 5 years old, ugly, and not in the best shape.

Anyway, I talked to the midwife about the shin splints today. I was hoping they'd go away, but she said don't be surprised if I have problems with them the rest of the pregnancy. It's due to weight gain and possibly walking differently. Obviously that's not something that's going to change before Evan comes. This is definitely the most frustrating thing that's happened so far, not even because of the pain, but because it means I have to wrap my shins and wear shoes during the summer. But hey, if this is the worst thing that happens, I'd be very happy. This isn't that bad at all! Anyone else have experience with this?

My back has also been bothering me a little bit lately, but I'm thinking it's just from the trip to Boston, all of the walking and then sitting in the uncomfortable plane seats. Maybe after going to the chiropractor on Thursday that will be "fixed." I know I should expect back pain, most women with healthy spines have back pain during pregnancy, a woman with scoliosis is definitely going to be feeling it. But so far so good!

Other symptoms... some round ligament pain, not too bad. I have indigestion in the evenings, but also not bad. I drink chocolate milk almost every night which helps a lot. It's fun to drink it. It satisfies my sweet tooth but is much healthier than dessert. My skin still isn't looking so great, but not as bad as it was. I'm also gaining weight and it's obvious. In Boston I had several strangers comment on my pregnancy, the first time that's happened! My belly is much bigger, my boobs have grown a lot the past couple of weeks, and I'm starting to see it around my face. My fingers swell at night so I take my rings off then and during the day my rings are definitely much snugger. I don't know if it's permanent swelling or if I've just gained weight in my fingers. So far I'm leaving my rings on all day, hopefully they'll keep coming off at night!

Matt's co-worker, K, (who gave us the glider and swing) gave us 2 garbage bags filled with baby boy clothes!!! They are all size 3-6 months too! There's also sleep sacks and swaddling blankets (which I have NO CLUE how to use) in there. A lot of the clothes are long sleeved, which should work perfectly for Evan at that size. There's a lot of socks, slippers, and hats in there as well. They are all so cute!! I can't wait for Evan to make his appearance so I can dress him all up. :-) Oh yeah, there's no way Evan will ever wear all of that stuff in the amount of time he's in those sizes. We're already planning on giving some of the outfits away. K and his wife have 2 boys, so I guess that's everything they've collected for 2 babies, plus I wouldn't be surprised if they received some hand me downs from people to add to their babies' wardrobes. We've been so blessed to receive all of that stuff, K is so nice. It amazes me how much he and his wife have helped us.


Me with the clothes from the first bag:


Matt with the clothes from the second bag, including his favorite item, overalls!

Vacation

On Friday we're going to Boston! I'm going to get to meet Nity in person! Yay! Matt and I leave Charlotte on Friday morning and will spend a couple of days in Boston, then travel up the coast just over the border into New Hampshire, then back down to Boston where we'll leave for Charlotte Tuesday night. I'm so excited!!!

I just realized yesterday that although I have all of the destinations planned out, I don't know exactly what we'll be doing at each place. I know what we'll do in downtown Boston the first two days, but I need to research the other places and see what we should do in each town. I like to have things planned, the trip will go much smoother that way. Otherwise I always get stressed and upset and Matt and I usually end up arguing. ;-)

I've been to Boston before, but it's been 7 years and I was with my family. I can't remember everything we did, I just remember that we went to Boston, Concord, and Salem. We also went up to Vermont and NH for day trips. It is beautiful up there and I'm hoping this trip will be as fun. I'm not sure about the weather, the forecast says it will drop in temperature to the lower 60s over the weekend up there. I was happy to see that the precipitation forecast has decreased. There's still a 50% chance of rain on Saturday though, we'll bring our umbrellas!! I can't remember what low 60s feels like since we've had all of this 85 degree weather the past couple of weeks...I'm thinking I'll wear jeans and t-shirts and bring a light jacket or cardigan in case I get chilly.

The past couple of days I've had really bad round ligament pain. I'm so glad that it's better now! It still hurts sometimes when I move, but it's more the textbook definition of ligament pain, "a brief, sharp pain." Sunday and yesterday it lasted all day and was almost constant. Very painful... I would get halfway through a movement and stop and not want to continue because I knew how much it was going to hurt. Thankfully it felt a lot better when I sat or laid down, but even then it was still uncomfortable. I called the midwife on call Sunday night just to make sure it was okay since I didn't expect round ligament pain to be so constant and painful.

I think I've been feeling Evan move the past couple of days, but I'm not positive. It isn't a fluttering, it feels more like a poking or thumping from inside. I've had similar sensations before, usually when I have an upset stomach, but it's more frequent, stronger, and I don't have an upset stomach now. So it just might be him playing soccer in there... ;-)

New symptom *UPDATE

Swollen fingers. :-( I had to take off my rings... I'm very upset about it. I don't even want to go out in public without them. I'm going to see if my mom will go to the mall with me later so that I can buy a fake engagement ring and wedding band. That's what my SIL did because she didn't like going out without hers on too. I look too young to be doing that and people around here can be very rude to young women who are pregnant, even with the wedding rings! I like to have the security of being able to hold my hand up with my glittering ring when I get rude stares. I've worn my rings non-stop since getting married. Some women take theirs off at night or when they cook or clean, but I never do. I went about a week without my engagement ring when I was in Indonesia because I didn't know what Jakarta was like, if it had as much pickpocketing as Mexico City, etc. Then I once took off both rings when I went rock climbing last summer. So that was half a day without them.

This morning hasn't been good. Not having my rings on for one thing. Matt left early to go to Florida for business, I have really bad allergies, my abs are really sore and sneezing doesn't help them at all, one of the smoke alarms randomly started going off so I had to climb up on the table to take out the battery, then my sister called at the last minute saying she won't be able to come to church with me and it was too late to make it to the church's other location to go with my friend, then I called my mom to see if she was coming and she answered the phone and then hung up without speaking and I could hear her pastor's voice so I know I called in the middle of her church's sermon and it must have been embarrassing for her to search around in her purse for her phone (she can never find it). Blah.

Okay, complaining over. I know it could be much, much worse. I'm just lonely and wishing Matt was here.

*UPDATE - whew! The swelling has gone down in the past hour! My rings are back on. They are still fitting a little snugger than normal, but at least they fit. I only wish they would stay that way, but now I'm afraid that this will happen again. I'm feeling much better now that they're back on!

20 Weeks - halfway there! *UPDATE*

Wow! I'm halfway through pregnancy!!! I'm still amazed at how far I've come and how fast it's flown by. I can only hope that the last half will go by as quickly as the first, but I know it doesn't work that way for most women. I am hopeful though because I know that May/June will go by pretty quickly because of all the traveling we'll be doing. In May we're going to Boston the first week, then to my brother's graduation, then to the beach. In June my grandparents are coming for about a week and staying for my sister's graduation. I'd also like to go to Charleston for a weekend sometime that month.

Evan is the size of a cantaloupe. I still haven't felt him move since 17 weeks. I'm getting anxious to feel him. It was great seeing the ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and knowing that he is indeed in there and moving around. Now that reassurance is wearing off and I want to be able to feel him move, a reminder that he's there and okay. I've been feeling pretty good lately. Many days I can go without a nap in the afternoon and still feel fine in the evening. Moving around is starting to get a little harder, my ab muscles hurt when I use them to sit or stand up or even roll over in bed. I don't really know what's up with that, but I guess they are stretched and strained now.

Several of the nursery accessories have come in and our crib should arrive any day now. I'm ready to set the nursery up! I'm not sure about painting. Right now the room is a light tan color. I'm thinking about just leaving it like that. The big pain is that right now there's a large entertainment center in the nursery. We want to keep it and eventually put it in our office and buy a small TV to put in there. Then it can be the gaming room and when Matt has friends over they can stay in there to play! However, there's not room in our office right now because there's a loveseat in there that we're keeping for my brother. So we need to get rid of that before moving the entertainment system, making room for all of the nursery furniture. I'm thinking about having my brother take it up to his apartment sometime this summer, but I feel bad because he'll be moving out in August. Our original plan was to keep it until then and then when he moves somewhere more permanent then he'll take it. But I really want to set up the nursery before then! I guess we'll see how it goes...

I bought my first maternity shirts yesterday. Two plain t-shirts and one tank top. I haven't worn them yet, but I'm already starting to stretch some of my regular t-shirts. They ride up over my bump and I have to keep tugging them down. So it looks like I'll be making the transition to maternity shirts soon. :-)


UPDATE: I keep forgetting to mention that Matt has started a blog! Go HERE to read it.

17 weeks

Now my baby is the size of a turnip or onion. I definitely have a baby bump now! Yesterday I saw my mom and sister and they were amazed at how much bigger I've become in just one week. And Matt saw me leaning over the sink after my shower this morning and said "Preggo Poo!!!" (Poo is his nickname for me....lol). He's so excited that I'm getting a belly (it is much more obvious when I bend over or sit down, it kind of poofs out even more). At this point I still feel like I'm just getting fat. I think I'll start feeling differently when I feel the baby move. I'm happy with my body so far though, it's felt weirder than I thought to start getting bigger, but I'm not unhappy or self conscious about it.

Speaking of feeling the baby move, I think I felt it the other night. It felt like there was a goldfish in there swimming around. Very weird!! I've never felt anything like it before. It was at night just after I laid down to go to sleep. The thing is though, at around 15 weeks I felt the same thing when I was laying down. But that seems awfully early to feel movement. That time I just figured it was something else, but those 2 instances are the only times I've ever felt anything like that. So I'm just not sure, maybe after feeling it some more I can look back and say that it was movement, but I'm not ready to claim that yet. I looked up baby movements yesterday in my book and one description of how it feels is a goldfish swimming inside you! It was funny because when Matt asked me what it felt like right after it happened I said that's the only way I could describe it. So I'm thinking both times may have been movement. I haven't felt anything since though.

I had an acne breakout last week and it's just now fading. I thought my skin was supposed to be clearer during pregnancy! I also haven't noticed a difference in my hair like the pregnancy books said happens during pregnancy. Of course, my hair is so short. Maybe that's why. But it doesn't seem thicker or softer so far. I'm growing it out, but it's going to take awhile. I'm ready for it to be long again though! As it grows out it starts looking like a mullet, so then I have to get the layers trimmed out of it. My hair stylist said that's the way it is, that eventually it will look good as it gets longer, but it's frustrating to be set back. I only get it trimmed every 2 months though to save money.

Remember what I said about having more energy last week? I take it back. I had a few days of feeling energetic and sleeping really well, but since then I'm back to normal. However, I've been sleeping decently (more than 5 hours a night), so I'm happy about that! But I still have to take naps in the afternoon and I still don't feel energized at all. I've been going to bed a little later though, so it isn't as bad as it was for awhile. I guess I'll tell my midwife about it next week just in case I have an iron deficiency or something.

I can't believe that we'll be finding out the gender in less than a week! Matt and I are thinking about making our parents wait until Thursday (the 9th) to find out. We'd like to tell them in person, but Matt has a soccer game the night that we find out. We're thinking that we'll go to my parents' house for supper and then his parents' house for dessert and tell them all in person. And I think my brother may be home on Thursday night so he could hear it too. Anyway, I'm just excited about finding out and telling everyone. :-) Did you do anything special to tell your families the gender or just call them up to tell? Originally I figured we'd give everyone a call, but now I think it would be fun to do it in person even though I know it will drive my mom and sister crazy to wait another day to find out!

Lemon vs Peach

I'm going to prove that lemons around here are smaller than peaches! I'm trying to decide if I should wait until peach season and then buy one of each and take a picture comparing or if I should just buy a lemon now to take a picture of since I think the lemons here are smaller instead of the peaches being bigger. lol! I asked Matt which is bigger, a lemon or a peach, and he said peach. I'm not the only one! Oh yeah, and I'm thinking of peaches that grow on peach farms, not the kind that grow on trees in our backyard. Those are a lot smaller.

I majorly threw up for the first time last night. That makes 3 times total since getting pregnant, and it was definitely the worst! The first two times weren't all that bad since I had an empty stomach. Yesterday I ate Mexican for lunch and dinner, stuffed myself at dinner, and then ate a lot of chocolate frosty. Yep...

I'm determined to do some organizing today. I want Matt and I to go buy some shelves and drawers and stuff and get to work! I'm ready for this house to be a HOME to me. I want it to be like our apartment that was so easy to keep clean. Our office at the apartment was always cluttered and the bedroom was sometimes cluttered (I had to go through and clean it every few weeks to get stuff off the dresser tops), but here the office, bedroom, and all the other rooms are super cluttered. I'm ready to just start throwing things away. If we haven't used it in the past couple of months it's going in the trash! That's a big step for this pack rat...

So anyway, I better stop procrastinating and get to work!

13 Weeks

Wow! I just read that my baby is the size of a peach!!! I'm absolutely amazed! I was also amazed to read that its ears are developed enough to hear me when I talk. So awesome! I don't know if I'm in the second trimester now or not. Some things I read say I am and some say it's 14 weeks. I've also heard that 13 and a half weeks is the official second trimester point. Oh well, either way, I'm really close! I have my next prenatal appointment in exactly a week. And then the appointment after that will probably be the big ultrasound! Wow, time has flown by so fast for me!

I think I seem pretty happy go lucky on here, but the truth is, I'm still so scared of something happening. Thankfully I haven't had any major scares so far, just a few times when I have sharp pains in my abdomen for a little while and it freaks me out. I still go and check for blood sometimes. It's kind of random, but suddenly I'll get this feeling of dread and run to the bathroom to see. So far nothing, no spotting or anything. I know that some spotting is normal, but I think it would freak me out so much, even if it was just a little. I think that's why God hasn't allowed that to happen to me, it would upset me and stress me out a lot. I still have a lot more to go, so hopefully everything will continue to go smoothly.

There aren't any new symptoms. I've been sleeping better the past couple of days, which feels amazing. A couple of days ago I was really moody. I think it was Monday. I couldn't help it, I would be sitting there thinking about how I sounded really stupid getting upset at the littlest things, but I would still say mean things and snap at Matt and the kittens. Everything annoyed me that day. I could barely stand the sight of Firefly during the day (I don't know why, she's the cutest thing..well it might have had something to do with the fact that I cleaned that day and there were cat hairs everywhere...mostly hers). Every time I saw her I had horrible urges to toss her out in the snow or shove her off of whatever she was sitting on at the time. Once she walked by me and I tried so hard not to get upset and ended up sighing really loud in exasperation. She stopped walking, turned around, and glared at me! I think she knew I was being mean to her the whole time. Poor baby! After we put her and Serenity in the office for the night my irritation turned to Matt. It was just the weirdest thing. I would apologize for getting annoyed at him and then he'd grin and say it was okay and I would find myself annoyed at him for forgiving me! lol All I can think is that it was hormones. Thankfully I haven't had much of a problem with that lately. No crying or anger or anything. Just that one day...

No bump progression. I still feel kind of tight and uncomfortable in there, but I don't think I've gotten any bigger since 2 weeks ago when I posted a picture. Matt tries to take a picture of me every night, he wants to put them all together in a video at the end. lol It doesn't always work that he gets one every night. I hate them all. I'm always in my pajamas by then. Most of the time I've already washed my face and put on my glasses. My hair is always ugly looking because I've messed it all up putting on my pajamas. Ugg! Once I get a bump I'm going to try to get the pictures in the evening when I'm still wearing nicer clothes although I have to admit that many days I stay in exercise/pajama pants and a sweatshirt all day. :-( So here's my 12w6d picture, I probably look better in this one than I will in tonight's, so I'll go ahead and post it. You can kinda sorta see a little belly sticking out if you look closely. It would help if I wore tighter shirts, but usually I wear baggier t-shirts when I'm not going out.

Are you excited?

I hear this stupid question every.single.time I announce my pregnancy. Seriously, what do people expect me to answer with? Yesterday Matt's adopted grandma asked me that question after we told her we are having a baby and I had to pause and force myself not to say (in a very sarcastic tone), "No. I'm not excited at all." Even if I wasn't excited, do people honestly think I would say so??? There's only one answer to that question, which makes it completely pointless to ask.

Why do people ask that? If you've asked a pregnant woman that recently, why do you ask it and what response do you expect? Maybe it's just me, but it really bothers me to be asked that. Maybe I'm completely not getting the point of it. Do I not seem at all excited while announcing the news? Do people expect me to bounce up and down and squeal every time we announce it? Do they think that I should ramble on and on about my pregnancy and how excited I am and nothing else? Do they think that this pregnancy wasn't planned? That bothers me the most. I'm young, I look even younger, I know I'll have a lot of people thinking that I'm a teen mother who doesn't know a thing about life, let alone pregnancy and raising babies. So that's hard enough, but I'd hate to think that anyone who even remotely knows me would think that our baby is unplanned. The past few times I've been asked this question I've had a strong urge to say, "We tried to get pregnant for over 10 months and planned when to get pregnant since we got married." But that's really nobody's business but ours, so I never say that, although it seems like that is the "right" answer. I feel like I act just like every woman I've known who has announced her pregnancy. I don't think I talk about it more or less than they do. So does every woman get this question or is it just me? :-(

Not much has been happening. I'm editing/proofreading a friend's novel. That takes up many hours of everyday. I love doing it though! I got together with some friends Thursday night, we're planning on making it a weekly event. I'm pretty happy about that, I'm finally starting to feel social again. Yesterday we visited Matt's grandparents' house. We haven't seen them in almost 2 years (and they only live 30 minutes away!!!!). I've seen both sets of my grandparents more than we've seen his the past couple of years, and one set lives over 18 hours away.

It was the first time I've ever been to their house. It was an interesting experience. It's very interesting because I can see a strong influence of his "grandma" on his mom (and even some on his sister). His mom wasn't really adopted by these people, she got to know them when she was in her early 20s and started working with the grandma. They used to spend more time together though, so I guess her personality and interests rubbed off on MIL. It's just weird, I kind of figured MIL had always had the same personality/hobbies/styles, but it would be too much of a coincidence for her to have always been this way and then happen to meet another lady who is almost the exact same.

It snowed again last night. This is the most it's ever snowed in a single year since I moved here almost 14 years ago. Usually it only snows once or twice, this year it's snowed 3 times. We got about 3 inches, but some places in this area got up to 8 inches. Matt is working from home today.

I've seen a direct correlation to the amount of sleep I get and how I feel as far as nausea goes. I'm still having problems with insomnia, but I'm trying to rest in the afternoons, which helps the sickness in the evenings. Last night I slept pretty well, in spite of getting up twice to go to the bathroom, once when the kitties started scratching on the office door wanting out, and then another time when there was some sort of explosion outside. It was the most bizarre thing. Something woke me up, I guess a noise from outside. Then there was a loud BANG and the house shook and a bright blue light flashed in one of the bedroom windows. Matt had woken up right before too and he looked out and didn't see anything. The power flickered right after it happened, but by the time he got up and tried out the lights it was back on. Weird, huh? This morning he went out and checked the power transmitter box thing in our backyard, but said it looked fine. lol

The car search is ongoing... I made the decision to go ahead and go along with Matt's plan. We'll have to buy another car in a few years anyway when mine starts going, so we can get a nice, long lasting car then that we can use for trips. We've been doing really well paying off loans and debts the past year. It would be great to be debt free by the time the baby gets here and paying off 2 of the 5 loans now will help us get there!

Enough about me, what is up with you!?

12 Weeks

The last full week of my first trimester! Amazing! The baby is now the size of a lime. Whoa! I haven't noticed any change in my "bump," not even when I look at it myself. It's still uncomfortable (all squished feeling) when I bend over or curl up in a ball to sleep or pull my legs up to my chest while sitting which is one of my computer sitting positions of course. ;-)

The past couple of weeks the nausea has been getting better. I was happy for that, although I've still had indigestion and an upset stomach. However, the past 3 or 4 days the nausea has come back! It's back to being almost constant with some times being worse than others. And eating doesn't help as much as it did (it only helps keep it away for a little while), so it's actually worse than it was several weeks ago! My newest symptom: burping. A lot. Eww! I don't know about you, but I don't like burping in public or even in front of Matt. Thankfully I'm at home alone most of the day so it's not that much of an issue. Earlier I burped so loud I scared Serenity. lol I'm not a big burper normally, so it's weird to hear myself burping so loud.

I haven't been sleeping well at all the past few weeks (basically since I found out I was pregnant). Last night was one of the worst nights too. I ended up laying in bed really late this morning, which was just a waste of time since I didn't sleep. Now I don't want to take a nap because I've already wasted half the day laying around. I haven't taken many naps since getting pregnant actually. I'm not a fan of naps, but I do take them if I'm incredibly tired or have a headache.

We received our tax returns and so now we're seriously looking at cars. Yay! The only debate we have going now is whether to buy a cheaper car that we know won't last as long and then use the other half of our savings to pay off one of our school loans (Matt's opinion) or to buy a nicer, more expensive car that we know will last longer (my opinion). And we won't even be going into debt for a nicer car, we can pay up front with cash. I understand Matt's preference and I'm seriously considering it, but it's hard for me to choose that option. I've always been taught that if you are going to do something, do it right. That it's wiser to invest money in something that will last longer and won't break in the meantime. Obviously, that option isn't always available to us, and we're already looking at "medium grade" cars (Mazd.as, Toy.otas...). So I feel like going down even lower (Matt's thinking about a Saturn) isn't the best thing to do. But I do understand that it would be nice to be that much closer to being debt free. If we can save all the money we put towards school loans, we'd save money in the long run. I'm just afraid that in the future we'll be saving money for things like a nicer house, school tuitions, etc, and that buying a nicer car then will be a problem. Whereas we have the money for a nicer car now when we aren't worrying about saving for other large expenses. *sigh* It's such a hard decision!!! What would you do?

11 Weeks

I can hardly believe it! I know I say that all the time, but this still doesn't feel real to me. I've made it to 11 weeks!! A few updates: I still feel sick to my stomach quite a bit (almost constantly). I'm actually getting used to it...there are only a few times when it really bothers me. I have to admit, those times I think of how nice it will be to not feel sick all the time. Much of the time I'm grateful to have a permanent symptom to remind me that I'm pregnant and all is well, but there are times I feel tired of that same symptom!

I'm definitely starting to get a belly (I'm going to post a picture below). Bending is getting harder and harder. It feels all squished in there. I was bending over to shave my legs earlier and was very uncomfortable. Imagine what it will be like when I'm even bigger! I don't know if I'll be able to do it. lol I may just have to go most of my pregnancy with hairy gorilla legs. Poor Matt! My stomach has been much firmer the past couple of weeks, which is how I know this isn't bloat, it's my uterus pushing all of my intestines out and up. And I imagine some of it is just my uterus starting to poke out! I think that it pushes past the pelvis around 12 weeks? So I'm getting close to a baby bump. :-)

My belly band is still working pretty well although I try to spend as little time as possible in jeans because it's still not as comfortable as it used to be. I suppose I should start looking at maternity clothes soon. I don't want to wake up one day and not be able to wear anything and have to go buy a bunch all at once. I feel very lost when it comes to buying maternity stuff.

Matt is out of town again and will be until Friday evening. I'll spend tomorrow night with my mom and sister, but tonight I went out and got Chinese and ate it while watching TV. I'm about to go watch a movie and enjoy the night by myself.

So here's my 10W6D picture (which is horrible, I look like I have a mullet, ugg! I'm trying to grow out my hair, btw). You can kind of see a little bump...sort of. I can tell! I suck in during my pictures. I figure when it's a real bump it will pop out even when I'm trying to suck it in. lol