Bumpdate Week 15

I am officially in the second trimester!

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How far along: 15 weeks
Sex of Baby W:
We found out we are having a boy! Also my hands are super dry now. Old wives tale coming true.
Weight gain:
I am at a 7 lb loss now from before we knew Baby W was coming along. I am sure this will change with my appetite coming back now.
Size of Baby W:
roughly 4 inches and about the size of an apple.
Maternity clothes:
I am in denial about maternity clothes. I am not big enough to wear them yet, but I am only down to 2 dress pants and 2 pairs of jeans that I can comfortably put on. And most of those I have to use a rubberband to hook them instead of the button. Luckily all of my shirts are fine because I have a pretty loose wardrobe. I should be able to wear most of them at least for the next couple months if not longer. With the warmer weather, I have been able to break out my dresses too, which allow for a little more stretch. So I haven‘t needed maternity clothes just yet. I am still little but definitely feel frumpy.
Baby items:
We are going thrift store hunting this weekend to find some furniture. We bought fabric for the bedding. My mom and I are going to make all the bedding, so it was exciting to get the print for it. I have also bugged some moms I know if what is on the “must have” lists are accurate.
Stretch marks:
Nope.
Belly button in or out:
Innie.
Sleep:
I gave up on trying to “train” myself to sleep on my side. I am sleeping on my back until I get a little bigger. At least, I can get some good sleep for the time being. My body will know when it is time. I am having some crazy dreams though.
Best moment the past few weeks:
Finding out our little nugget is going to be a little dude and being allowed to walk the dogs again!
Worst moment the past few weeks:
The doctor telling me that I have to stay on hormones meds still. My grandpa also had a pace maker put in this week, so that is always hard to not be able to be there for family in times of need.
Miss anything:
Last week at the conference I really missed coffee!
Cravings:
I am in this stage where if someone mentions a food item, I automatically start to crave it. I have to be careful of commercials…
Movement: I don’t feel little guy, but my stomach is constantly feeling like it is stretching. It is really uncomfortable.
Symptoms/how I am feeling:
I AM SO MUCH BETTER! I can actually eat real meals and don’t feel woozy all day. I still have spurts of it during the day, but I am so glad it is not constant. I also notice that I get sick a little more when I have a completely empty stomach, so I have been trying to keep healthy snacks with me at all times, which really isn’t much different than how I am not pregnant. I also have a lot more energy lately so I am trying to add my miles back with the dogs.
Looking forward to:
Finding pieces for the nursery.

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With this picture, I pulled the dress back a little so you can actually see the bump. It’s really there! In most clothes though, I still look normal.

Something We Have Been Waiting For

I am announcing for real this time. We are ecstatic to share our news with you!

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Our house will grow to 3 boys and 2 girls!

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We couldn’t get them to stop drooling on the chalkboards.

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So it turns out that many of the old wives tales are wrong, at least in my case. I guess our little guy is already stubborn.

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Grace apparently is not excited about being outnumbered.

We are excited to move forward with planning for our little boy!

We have settled on a name which we will be sharing at a later date.

It is so nice not to call him “it” anymore!

Now enjoy some of our out-takes of our doggy photo session.

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Grace was not happy about the chalkboard. She kept falling over like she was drunk.

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Of course we have to bribe them with treats to sit still.

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What Are You Having?

I am having a baby. Duh…

This is one of the most common questions behind “How are you feeling?”

First of all, sex and gender are two different things. Sex has to do with anatomy, gender has to do with the person’s decision of how they would like to be identified. Sex is biology, whereas gender is more focused on cultural norms and identity. Or at least this is how I have interpreted it; society seems to think differently than I do with all these “gender reveal parties.”

So yesterday we found out the sex of Baby W.

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I successfully didn’t open the envelope before I got home to open it with Tom. This was an intense couple hours of waiting!

 We wanted to find out for a few reasons. Finding out for us, makes the baby more real. We are still in a state of shock most days that this baby is actually happening. We could put a name to our ninja baby, instead of calling by “it” or various pet names. Finding out for us means that we can connect more to this little nugget. We aren’t really changing how we plan and what we buy for the baby since we are staying pretty neutral. But knowing something about our baby, allows us to come together more as a family. It may sound weird, but it was what worked for us. I know many people who are surprised during labor, and that works for them. I think this is a decision that is up to each couple, and we should respect why they decide to find out or not. As long as they are going to love that child no matter the outcome!

Plus finding out ends our name debate. We can finally focus on what we are going to call this little human. This is the hardest thing for Tom and I! (This topic is a post for another day.)

You will have to come back this Sunday for the big reveal on Baby W.

I know I am cruel.

I thought it would be fun to see how accurate some old wives tales are on predicting the sex of babies. (I stole this idea from Alex at Munchkins and the Military.)

I got these from this site. Some of them were kind of odd, so I didn’t use all of them.

  • Rumor has it that if you are carrying your baby high, it’s a girl. Carrying low? Stock up on blue. Similar tales say if you carry in front, you’ve got yourself a little boy, and if you expand horizontally, it’s a girl. I can’t really tell on this one. I have only filled out in front a little, so I am going to say BOY.
  • Legends say that if you are having a little girl, she’ll steal your beauty. So, if you’ve got acne and other not-so-pretty skin blemishes, you’ve got a little princess coming your way. Dry hands and cold feet are signs of a boy. So, if you’ve got these ailments, break out the baby blue. I have had acne really bad for me, and no changes in my hands or feet. GIRL.
  • Your baby’s heart rate might be an indicator of its gender. If your little one’s heart rate is under 140 beats per minute, you’re having a little boy. If it’s over, get ready for your little girl! The heartbeat has been in the 170s until yesterday when it was 156. GIRL.
  • Craving sweets? According to some, that means your going to have a little girl. Salty and sour cravings indicate a boy. I have really only craved meat and peanut butter. I guess the peanut butter puts me on the side of BOY. 
  • Chinese Predictor I have put it in by both conception date and due date, and they both come up GIRL.
  • The Mayans used a similar method. They looked at your age at conception and the year your baby was conceived. If both are even or odd, it’s a girl. If one is even and one is odd, oh baby — it’s a boy! At conception both Tom and I were 28, and it was 2013. BOY.
  • Morning sickness means pink. If you’re stricken with a queasy stomach during your first trimester, think ribbons and bows. If you sail through your pregnancy with nary an upset stomach, it’s blue all the way. As you all know, I have been so sick. GIRL.

So according to all of these “predictors” we are having a girl. Wouldn’t you like to know if it is correct?! Come back Sunday to see which of these are right!

What do you think we are having?  (Family and friends who already know keep quiet!)

 

Bumpdate Week 12

Baby Bump

From this angle, it looks like I have a much larger bump than I actually do. But this is what I see every day.

So here is where I sit with the pregnancy right now.

How far along: 12 weeks
Sex of Baby W: We may be finding out sooner than we thought, but we still are in the dark on this one.
Weight gain: I have actually lost 5 pounds. Thank you morning sickness.
Size of Baby W: 2 inches or the size of a lime
Maternity clothes: Not yet, but I have started the hairband through the button loop trick. My sister-in-law just gave me a whole bucket full of maternity clothes which will come in handy in the upcoming weeks. Right now I am sticking to my looser pants and dresses. Oh how I love that I can wear dresses again!
Baby items: I bought the first items this last weekend, but these clothes are it.We do have the nursery planned out though. It is just a matter of collecting/making the items.

Baby Clothes

I am a sucker for all thing Kansas City and elephants.
Also I am a sucker for cute baby things that are on ridiculous sales.


Stretch marks: I barely have a bump, so none yet.
Belly button in or out: Still in. This will weird me out…
Sleep: It is ok. I am a back sleeper, so I am trying to train myself to sleep on my left side now before I get too far along. Unfortunately, I keep waking up to my arm cramping or just being plain uncomfortable. Yippee. Anyone recommend a good pregnancy body pillow?
Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat for the first time and watching it’s ninja moves. This baby is long and likes to dance and kick a lot!
Worst moment this week: Oh the sickness…

Baby Bump

Ok, so it may not look like it, but there is a little bitty bump!


Miss anything: Walking the dogs. I hate being on semi-bedrest.
Cravings: Meat and Peanut Butter. (Peanut Butter is very abnormal for me because I generally detest the stuff.) Apparently this little ninja baby needs some protein.
Movement: I have only seen it during ultra sounds, but I haven’t felt anything yet.
Symptoms/how I am feeling: Still feeling pretty sickly, but I am able to eat a lot more than I was. Also, I am fairly crabby-Sorry Tom.
Looking forward to: Being out of this first trimester and getting through this ultra screening scan we are having done.

Baby Bump

Alright, so I may be the only one who can tell that my belly is expanding. Hopefully soon there will be a little to show.

Husband Bump

He was being supportive to help me get the camera settings correct.

We Won Valentine’s Day: Our Pregnancy Story

Thank you for all the well wishes! We are pretty stoked!

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Here is the story of how we found out. It really is the best story ever, but I could be biased.

I am going to talk about some bodily functions, nothing too graphic. Just know that before you keep reading, however the craziness of the story will be worth it.

Let’s start with my last real period was in the beginning of November.

We had at least 6 negative pregnancy tests from before Christmas to the first week of January since no period came. We also had two negative tests from the doctor around January 8th. There was something so devastating about each one of these because I just felt that this time was different. Something told me that this time we made it happen.

A few days later after the results from the doctor and feeling defeated, I started bleeding. You may remember me complaining about the worst period ever. And if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my seriously depleted diet and several sick days. Y’all, I don’t take sick days, so you know it was bad! It wasn’t like my most recent periods, but I continued to bleed for the next 3 weeks and was so sick to my stomach ALL DAY LONG. Because of the negative test results, I didn’t think anything of pregnancy spotting. I just thought that my awful periods pre-birth control were just coming back. (Before I took BC, I would pass out from feeling so sick, cramps were a nightmare, and I would bleed for more than a week, have a week off, then start the next one. Awful, I tell you.)

So again, we just consulted the doctor.

At the same time, we had already set up our first appointment with the fertility specialist. My doctor suggested to talk my period issues over with them, since hormone therapy will be one of the first things they try, and we would go from there.

Valentine’s Day happened to be when our first appointment was with the specialist. We don’t generally celebrate this holiday, but we did find it kind of funny that we had an appointment about baby making on this day.

We trekked it down to Nashville for this three hour appointment.

They poked and prodded me taking blood/urine and doing a pap smear. We then sat for an hour listening to the doctor talk about all the different routes we could go, all the while telling jokes and wise cracks. He is a super goofy guy. Then Tom had to sit through a financial briefing, as I was being briefed that the last thing they wanted to do was an ultra sound to check to make sure there was no cancer or abnormal growths.

Talk about swing of emotions here! Going from talking about infertility, money, then possible cancer?

Obviously a sane person, would have been a little less on edge, but I think both of us were wound up at that point that we just hung on to those trigger words.

So here I sit in this cold room half naked waiting for what seems like hours for them to stick a giant probe in my lady bits to see if I have cancer. I know dramatic, but it’s where I was.

Finally, Tom joins me, then the doctor and nurse follow in after.

Tom leaned over just before the doctor started the ultra sound and said, “Isn’t a chance she is pregnant is there?”

And then the world stopped.

“Yep, you knocked her up. Good job.”

WAIT. YOU. SAID. WHAT?!

“You are 8 weeks pregnant. You did it.”

I could not see the screen, so I sat up and said, “You are not joking are you? There really is a baby in there? There is no way!”

I thought it was a cruel prank the funny man doctor was playing on us. I probably said this 3 or 4 times before I believed that the little blob on the screen was our baby.

OUR BABY!

Then both Tom and I were crying from shock and joy. This is probably a moment that I will relive forever. So sweet for us.

I told the nurse and the doctor that they were the best fertility specialist facility ever since we just had to walk in the door.

We asked if this happened often, and they said no, and we have since become famous at the clinic with our story. Pretty crazy.

The next hour is kind of a blur. We watched our baby on the screen through tears and disbelief, and they told us that the heart beat was strong and healthy. Then once I got dressed and found a quarter in my pocket (luck was on my side apparently), we were rushed into the conference room to discuss how to get the bleeding under control and get my hormones in check. My body was reading as if it wasn’t pregnant because my hormone levels were so low. This baby is a trooper! They gave me several things to get my body with the pregnancy program, and we now have to go in every week to get checked out.

Because of my hormones being out of whack and the long period of bleeding, I am still considered at-risk, which is why I cannot do anything above a walk or lift anything above 10 lbs. The good news is though that I am no longer bleeding, and I am now reading positive for a pregnancy. Now if only the nausea would go away…

Baby 2

We are just a little over 10 weeks pregnant now, and we are still kind of in stunned mode. Besides the nausea for the past 2 months, you can’t tell that I am pregnant. However, every visit we have had the doctors have been positive about the growth. The last ultra sound we saw the little bugger doing the old man shuffle, and the heart beat has been great every time.

The whole thing is still mind boggling, and sometimes it feels like a dream. Like I said, we were preparing ourselves for the worst at this appointment. We even had the discussion on the way there of the possibility of one of us being infertile and how we would proceed with adoption. To go from that, to seeing a human in my belly, was absolutely nuts.

Prayers are answered in God’s time is all I can say.

We are over the moon excited. We told about every stranger we met that weekend because we were so excited. Tom has been showing the ultra sound picture to anyone who has eyes. We are just giddy with joy right now.

When we got in the car after the appointment, Tom went into prep mode as you all could expect. He claimed we needed to go get diapers, a stroller, and that I needed to sit in the back seat in a car seat for the rest of the pregnancy.

So that my friends, is how we found out that we are going to be parents!

Also this is how we came to win Valentine’s Day, which means we will probably celebrate now in the future.

Baby 3