15 Weeks

Well we are plugging right a long with this pregnancy! I thought I would continue to update my chalkboard every Saturday but that has gone out the window since I have been on summer break. I have been so much busier than I could ever imagine! Adam and I attended four graduations and one party over the weekend in addition to all the other fun stuff we typically cram into Saturday and Sunday. It was also Memorial day and we wanted to have a day off to get things done around the house. Any way, enough of the long winded recap of our last few days. Here is our week fifteen update!

How far along? 15 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: My weight has fluctuated all over the place. It still has only been 2-3 lbs. I am getting a little nervous that the baby isn't getting what it needs.

Maternity clothes? I caved in the heat this week and pleaded with Adam to take me clothes shopping. I got several tops, two dresses, and the best invention known to man kind...maternity leggings :) I officially transitioned into maternity clothes so that I have some room to be comfy.

Stretch marks? No, hoping my Palmer's Coco Butter continues to hold up its end of the bargain

Sleep: I have had a hard time sleeping but that is mostly due to the fact that I can't figure out how to be comfortable sleeping on my left side anymore. Being a lifelong stomach sleeper, this sleeping on my side thing is tough!

Best moment this week: Adam and I were driving home from the mall when all of a sudden I felt the strongest movement from the baby yet! There was nothing I could do but laugh. It was surprising and the most fun feeling ever!

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? I really want a ham sandwich. I miss that I cannot eat lunch meat. It really limits my lunch options! 

Movement: Besides the big kick I felt in the car, I have only continued to feel little flutters here and there. I think it largely depends on what position the baby is in to whether or not I can feel very much.

Food cravings: Chips and Salsa! Yummy!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Penelope rolling in possum poop almost daily. Adam and I have been at a loss as to why this is the summer she decided that she loved rolling in scat. Silly pup! The smell makes me sick.

Have you started to show yet: I have the littlest bump. I love it!

Gender prediction: Boy

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy/Thankful

Looking forward to: Going to our 16 week appointment. I can hardly wait!

In other news, Adam has been so anxious to get the pool up so that I can get swim and get some relief from the heat. Unfortunately, the pool has been completely uncooperative. Mostly it is the task of leveling the ground. Here's some pics as we try to get the pool going. (p.s. Adam is the best. husband. ever.) 

The culprit

Sweet husband

Trying to level out the ground! What a hard worker!

Shopping While Pregnant 101

So I had a little lesson in shopping while pregnant yesterday. It all started when I returned to the place where I first learned I was pregnant! (Yay David's Bridal) I finally broke down and decided that I NEEDED to get my dress for sissy's wedding. There are some bigger fish to fry before this baby comes and Karen's wedding is the absolute biggest! So with 13 weeks to go till the big day I figured I'd go get my dress.

Karen and I had been in conversation about what style dress would be most comfortable/practical/fit with the party etc. She gave me tons of leeway since I am the matron of honor and she knew I'd be 6 months pregnant. (By the way, my sister is the BEST) So I went armed with a couple of styles that I saw online plus the original style that she picked for her girls. When I got to the store, the consultant said that she believed that we could make the original dress work but we would try on some other styles just to make sure.

This is where everything got a little sketchy. She asked me my start size and we pulled dresses galore in 5 different sizes. Then she asked me my bra size. DUN DUN DUNNNNN. I know I have been walking around for at least 4 weeks now in an ill fitting bra. It's been something that I simply have not wanted to deal with. To give you a perspective on how bad the problem is, I had SEVERAL women in our church tell me that they knew weeks before we announced our pregnancy that I was pregnant because "I finally had developed a chest". Church ladies are tactful like that :) Any who, we got the bra thing figured out and then I was introduced to this:

This, is the belly pillow. HAHA. I did not even know what to do or say when this was handed to me. I just busted up. For 25 minutes at David's Bridal I got to pretend I had the most radiant baby belly ever. Downside, real baby felt squished and the bruising that I mentioned last post didn't get along so well with this pillow.

After the consultant and alterations lady humming and hawing about what size dress would be the best, I finally decided to go with Karen's original style. The girl trying on wedding gowns next me even gave me this compliment: "Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl, you got booty in that dress!" Um, yeah, not what were going for, but it needs some alterations. Lord knows, that my belly won't come close to how "enhanced" I was with the belly pillow.

TADA!!! We have a dress! And I don't look like a stuffed sausage. Karen's color is black :)

What the dress would look like in real life:

 Tiny, but you get the idea. Photo: davidsbridal.com 

14 Weeks

How far along? 14 weeks 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: Two pounds total weight gain for my pregnancy

Maternity clothes? Still wearing my regular clothes. My Bella Band has been my best friend! I bought a few more items this week. I am most excited about the jeans I found for $5 at Old Navy!

Stretch marks? Not yet, and hopefully not ever

Sleep: Sleep is great. I have been having some crazy dreams about delivering the baby. I think touring the hospital so early did me in ;)

Best moment this week: Visiting with my parents. I really was glad to be able to celebrate the baby in person with them. Plus I got to see Tim too which is always wonderful.

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Adam and I have gone to a couple of baseball games lately and I really miss hot dogs. The craziest thing is that I would not miss them if I were not pregnant.

Movement: One of the best moments of the week was feeling a little flutter. I know it is the baby even though everyone says it is to early to tell. Every once in a while there is this sensation like a goldfish swimming in my belly. I can only feel it when I laying really still. I love it so much!

Food cravings: The sign says it all!! Strawberries are the only thing I want to eat! :) I wish this section just said cravings in general because I am craving a vacation in a bad way. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Greasy food and rich food (i.e. ice-cream products)

Have you started to show yet: It is noticeable. The bag boy at the grocery store offered me assistance out to my car. But first he asked if I was pregnant! So exciting!

Gender prediction: Since we can't think of a name, I am going to say boy!

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: Starting to show more and feeling the baby really move!

In other news, the bruising with the injections is getting a little worse as my belly stretches and grows. I told my mom I'd post a picture so she could see. If you are a for fun reader, you don't have to look. It's not flattering and there will be minimal bare belly pictures, I promise!

13 Weeks

How far along? 13 weeks 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: Two pounds total weight gain for my pregnancy

Maternity clothes? Besides the dress I wore last week I am still wearing my regular clothes. My Bella Band has been my best friend!

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: I sleep well! The trouble is how fast fatigue will hit. I will be fine one minute and the next I have to lay down.

Best moment this week: Seeing the baby on the ultrasound. I am in awe that I am so blessed to have life living and growing inside me.

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? No, not really.

Movement: No movement yet. Given the size of baby and how much it moves both the ultrasound tech and the doctor thought that I'd be able to feel little flutters pretty soon.

Food cravings: Milk and fresh strawberries. The doctor was so proud of my milk consumption that she told me I didn't have to take a supplement! Yay for a positive craving!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Smells and meat.

Have you started to show yet: Yes. Dr. James said that my belly measured a week ahead as well and that I can expect my belly to really pop before my next appointment.

Gender prediction: Much to Adam's dismay, I am going to say boy. I had a dream the baby was a boy, I saw the most beautiful blue bird while I was driving to the appointment yesterday and the heart rate seemed to indicate boy. Like I said below, I am happy with whatever I have. 

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In, but it is huge and cave like :)

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: My parents coming in to town this week!

Maternity Fair

Adam and I went to the Maternity Fair at St. Joseph Hospital where little baby V will be born. We had a really great time meeting lots of pediatrician's, pediatric dentists, lactation consultants, etc. Seeing all the things offered to a first time mom was a little bit overwhelming. We were really excited to be able to go on a hospital tour. The facility is two years old and caters to mom's and babies. I am excited that the baby will be born at the Women's Hospital. We were on the tour with several other people and I have to say that Adam was the cutest. He asked the nurse lots of questions while I sat there shell shocked at how intimidating the labor and delivery bed looks when you are only 13 weeks pregnant. I am sure that the next time I am there I'll be delighted to see that table. My favorite part, imagining LEAVING with our sweet little blessing. :)

All my swag! This picture doesn't do it justice.

12 Week Appointment

Yesterday Adam and I had our twelve week appointment. This was rescheduled so that the ultrasound technician could better look at the back of the babies neck for it's Nuchal Translucency Scan. I had been looking forward to this appointment for awhile. I was also excited because this was going to be the first time that I saw the doctor during this pregnancy. Too be quite honest, I was scared out of my mind because every time I had seen her in the past nothing good has been going on.

We were scheduled for our ultrasound at 11 and our doctor's visit at 12:45. We got right in to our ultrasound. I LOVE the ultrasound technician, Carol. As a career professional, I wish everyone could take as much delight in there job as she does. It just so happened our doctor's office had hired a new office manager and she was wanting to see how an NT scan was done. The office manager was great and she was just as excited about seeing our baby as we were.

Little JB was looking pretty cute yesterday during his/her ultrasound. Unfortunately baby was STUBBORN so we were not able to get a cute profile shot of it's little face. Carol was able to get some other incredible pictures, though there is one funny one where the baby turned it's back to us right when she took the picture. :) Love that kid already! It was so fun to laugh with the ladies while Adam sat next to me beaming. Here's our ultrasound pics:

 Somebody was being silly and decided we didn't need to see their cute little face! (back of baby)

Best profile view we could get of JB

My absolute most favorite picture of the baby! It is having the time of it's life. [Insert Turtle Man Yell]

Baby was being way too cute and spent most of the ultrasound sucking it's thumb. This picture is really grainy but she wanted me to be able to be in awe of how sweet and wonderful this little one already is. LOVE IT!

**Adam and I had lunch at Panera after some test kit drama in between our ultrasound/bloodwork and doctor's appointment. Wahoo!**

Doctor's appointment was great. Adam had me cracking up in the room creating this totally ridiculous get-up for the doctor to wear using only materials found in the exam room. I could not pull together when she walked in. Hopefully she knows we will take this parenting thing seriously :)

Doctor was great! She laughed that we didn't have to do my surgery. She gave me the best news of all, baby is growing REALLY well. The baby already measured 13 weeks 6 days. I was only 12 weeks 7 days. She did say that wasn't enough to change my due date but proceeded to tell me that I will be scheduled delivery no matter what because of the blood thinners. This was relieving and terrifying all that same time. The relief comes in the fact that if I were to go in to labor on my own while on the Lovenox injections no anesthesiologist would touch me with a ten foot pole. Translation= No Epidural! I am bummed because I did want to try and deliver as naturally as possible. The good news is I know that my doctor will be present for my baby's birth. Hooray! 

Everything else was great news. Baby's NT scan was normal and it's heart rate is 142. Carol predicted on heart rate alone that baby will be a boy. All the color left Adam's face when she said it. You know me, I am happy as a clam as long as this baby is healthy. I want what I have :) 

12 Weeks

How far along? 12 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: Up another pound this week

Maternity clothes? Bought my first maternity dress! I am wearing it in the picture for today.

Stretch marks? Not on my belly

Sleep: My energy level is quickly improving.  

Best moment this week: Announcing we were pregnant!!! :) It seems a little more real now. I especially loved how happy my grandpa Collins is to be a great-grandpa.

Have you told family and friends: See above! 

Miss Anything? Not really

Movement: Nothing yet

Food cravings: A blimey limey smoothie from Tropical Smoothie. I am glad my friends agreed to go there for lunch after church!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Smells, especially the Palmers Cocoa Butter lotion, GAG!

Have you started to show yet: A little bit!

Gender prediction: Still not sure...I really just want healthy!

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In, but it hurts

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Hormones are everywhere. I cry at everything, especially happy things.

Looking forward to: Seeing the baby this week during our ultrasound! Friday seems too far away!

Pregnancy Announcement

Tomorrow we are announcing our pregnancy at church. We wanted to do something creative and out of the box. We'll probably use this if we decide to post on Facebook as well. We couldn't be happier with how our picture turned out. Thank goodness for the delayed timer on my camera!

Adam's 29th Birthday

Adam celebrated his 29th birthday on Wednesday. Adam, Chris, and Priscilla drove clear out to Nicholasville so that I could join them for lunch. Then Adam and I went to Outback for supper. After dinner, Adam wanted to go get something for the baby. We went to Target and looked at all the baby stuff. Adam picked out a pair of shoes for our pregnancy announcement at church. We had a hard time find gender neutral shoes, but they are cute. We went home and celebrated with cake and presents! Here are some pictures:

Opening his card! I wish he would have shown what was in the card. I put a scanned ultrasound pic in there with the baby wearing a party hat! :)

Express gift card. Obviously, he loves Express. Silly, silly Adam. Love this picture of him!

Opening his next present. Penelope was focused on it being hers!

I tied the bow to tight!

He got the book he wanted. Adam loves astronomy!

This is what happens when you ask for a cake to be decorated with OSU colors in UK country. It comes out black and red instead of red and gray.

Candles!

Adam and his baby shoes.

He's laughing cause I still sang to him

Make a wish!