full of thanks!!

this year i am especially grateful for the wonderful things in my life.

im thankful for a healthy, easy and enjoyable pregnancy. though i haven't felt perfect, and at times it is tiresome, i really have been blessed with a relatively easy past 7.5 months. there's not too much i can really complain about.

im thankful for my family and their endless supply of solicited (and unsolicited) advice...

im thankful for my friends (both new and old and now, both near and far)

im thankful for God who always takes care of me, never leaves me, never disappoints me, and loves me despite the many mistakes ive made and the many flaws i have.

im thankful for an easy and happy transition to west virginia (for the most part :) though i never wanted to move away, there are many good things that have come from it. i have learned that you have to carry your happiness with you wherever you are and it is always your own choice whether or not to be happy. i also learned that sometimes you cant get everything you want in life exactly like you want it (booooo!)

and lastly, i am thankful for david-- the most supportive, encouraging, hardworking, and funny partner. i never brag about him on the blog but he deserves credit. the boy works so hard and never complains. despite a crazy and demanding schedule, he still attends doctor appointments (some 6 hours away!) picks me up milkshakes when i have cravings, listens to me babble about registries and nursery decor, and sometimes even reads my baby blog : ) he is going to be the best dad!! i couldn't have picked a better father my child. that is what i am MOST grateful for this year.

oh, and im thankful for peppermint chocolate milkshakes from chick fil a.

i am not thankful i cant get them on sundays : (

bowling ball babies

some families pass down impressive genetic traits. like beautiful baby blue eyes or curly, shiny hair. what trait do the women in my family pass down? apparently, BIG babies. like, really big.

my mom said all four of us were well over 8 lbs, with julie being over 10 lbs at birth. my sisters, too, have set remarkable precedent for big babies with ethan at 10 lbs 8 ounces and zoe at 11 lbs 2 ounces. (no, that is not a typo!)

so, i shouldn't have been surprised at the doctor's yesterday when she said that i was "measuring ahead." "What does that mean," I asked her, as i thought we were very confident on the due date. she said it means that my due date is not in question, but rather, that he is measuring larger than typical for 28 weeks. well, great.

i mentioned to her that my family had large babies and this was all she needed to get the discussion rolling. while she's not concerned it will mean anything unhealthy for me or the baby, she said we will definitely have to take it into consideration as i try to have my natural, non c-section, no epidural delivery.

she said its one thing to not have an epidural... it's another to not have an epidural and vaginally deliver a 10 lb baby. in fact, she mentioned that after a certain weight we should probably consider a c-section, given that i have no precedent as a first time mom that i am...ummm... big enough down there.... to handle it. not exactly the news i wanted to hear, but at least i heard it now and can be considering it.

david was busy at work and wasn't able to come to the appointment. to add a cherry to the top he informed that his family too is prone to having larger babies. well, smuge.

still hoping to not have to go that route but staying flexible to whatever happens.

thanks mom for such "special" genes :)

Momma the mall walker....

I have hit a new level of sacrifice for this child growing inside me that I never thought i would. it was one thing to ease up on the diet cokes, add a little milk to my cereal in the mornings, and yet another to entirely lose the ability to wear any pants in my closet that aren't made of elastic. but this is a new kind of sacrifice.

momma is now an official mall walker. it is so sad. david laughed and said, "i always made fun of those people!" i did too. i feel like even my unborn child can feel the embarrassement of joining the mall walkers club. but my yoga instructor mentioned that woman who want to have an all natural birth should--as a prerequisite--be walking about 3 miles per day prior to delivery. so i am trying to get in at least 2 miles a few days a week.

originally i was walking outdoors like a normal person. but it has been cold here lately (we had snow on saturday!) and the hills outside were killing me. at least the mall is a flat walk.

i bought a pedometer that attaches to my sweatpants (cool!) so i actually wear it when i walk to measure my distance. i learned quickly that walking in the mall can be VERY dangerous.... here are some of my daily distractions:

i have learned to leave my wallet in the car and not to stop at any store for shopping. i strictly stick with my laps around the perimeter... if not, this could end up a very expensive hobby!

soon it will be getting very crowded with seasonal and holiday shoppers getting in the way of us "regulars." sigh... the things we do for love :)

26 and counting

when i jumped on the scale at the doctors office and saw i had gained 10 lbs since my last visit, i couldn't believe it... someone should have just shown me this picture! i feel like every morning that i wake up i have grown a little more.

new doctor:

on tuesday, we met with our new doc here in morgantown. we really liked her. her office is attached to where david works, so i think this will be a great benefit for us. it will be so much easier for us to both be at all of the appointments, as i start going to the doc every 2 weeks now. on Wednesday i met david for lunch before our appt in the infamous hospital cafeteria that i've heard so much about. all i can say is no wonder he eats whatever i cook at home : )

i liked the staff and doctor of our new place. she spent time to get to know us personally--why we were in wv, where we were from, how i was feeling, etc. I have been very sore the past couple weeks where my legs meet my belly. often it will hurt to just to stand, walk up stairs, or even lie in bed. so this was the main thing i wanted to talk with her about. the good news is that its "normal" and nothing to be concerned about. the bad news is it will go away, but not until after delivery : ( oh well, my little baby boy is totally worth it.

food and cravings:

it has definitely started. a few weeks ago, i was just hungry all the time. now i'm hungry all the time for SPECIFIC foods. david is awesome. the other night i asked him to bring home either oranges or grapes for me to snack on. he came home with blackberries, oranges, bananas, apples, strawberries, grapes, and fruit dip to dip it in. ha! i made a huge plate and ate it all. this boy loves fruit!!!!

birthing plan:

the planner in me is coming out. i researched online how to make a birthing plan and found good information and templates. we are going to sit down and do this before our next doc visit and go over it with her in details. i'm not going to be an anal or difficult patient, but i do want to try to have a plan and try to stick with it if possible.

here's the link for my preggie friends: http://www.babycenter.com/calculators-birthplan

etc:

nursery furniture is on its way. my mom is coming down in a few weeks to start painting. my patient and more baby knowledgeable sisters susan and julie were nice enough to go with me to register (the right way) so we can now check that off the to-do list. baby boy is moving like crazy all the time. he's a kicker, but i love him.

we can't wait to meet him!!!!!

24 week update

every day i feel more and more pregnant. at the end of this month, i will be in my 3rd trimester which is hard to believe!

my appetite is picking up tremendously. i mean, seriously, there have been a few days where i eat maybe 12 times a day. its usually healthy stuff... fruit, granola bars, oatmeal, etc... but it is all the time!! no more giving david my leftovers at dinner. momma eats it all!

i am in maternity clothes mostly, unless im wearing extra large pjs or something lose. i was having trouble finding maternity clothes so i ordered some online from gap and old navy. i was skeptical, b/c obviously you cant see it or try anything on first and you could only return by mail. but i was happy with almost everything i purchased. i recommend this to other pregnant people... shipping was very inexpensive and there was a lot on sale.

we have found a doc here in morgantown. our first appt with her is in a few weeks on the 26th. with her as our doctor, we will be delivering at ruby memorial (there's only one other hospital choice here!) we have heard good things about both hospitals so we feel comfortable with our decision.

names..... oh geez!! we discussed how nice it would be if the kid came with a name the same way it comes with a sex. "Surprise! You're having a... Billy!" But that is not how it works. David and I have been through this baby name book about a hundred times. David finally had the idea that he create a top ten list, I create a top ten list and we work from there. we have narrowed it down to 5 names. David said I could chose from there and he'd be happy with any of them. But I keep changing my mind!!

the baby loves to move! i feel him all the time. even when i'm trying to fall asleep : ) david can finally feel him too, so that is pretty cool. he is an active little boy.

we tried to register, but we didn't really know what we were doing!! it was overwhelming to say the least. i mean, i knew we would need a little kid's potty, but then you go to register for one and there are like 5 to chose from! What's the difference?! we don't know these things, so i've decided i'm going to go back with grandma cathy and let her help :)

we are traveling this weekend to a wedding. i will post some pics from it when we get back.

this blog could now be titled, "mommy's lil baby BOY blog." we are excited to have found out that we are having a precious little baby boy!! i am so relieved to know the sex. not only can i now plan better--thinking of names, planning for the nursery, shopping, etc--but i also feel more emotionally connected to the baby now that it is no longer an "it" but can be imagined as a little boy!

kind of a big deal...

so we kind of went over board in making the sex unveiling a really big deal. but it was fun! david and i took a trip to louisville for the doctor's appointment last week. david took his first two days of vacation since he started in june... so that itself was a treat. our trip to louisville was fun, but busy. there were lots of people we wanted to see and were thrilled to be able to do so!

after a weekend of anticipation, we went to the doctor on monday for the big ultrasound. we immediately told the ultrasound tech that we did want to know the sex, but not right away. we asked her to write down the baby's sex on a post it and put it in an envelope so we could open it later. lots of people apparently do this, so the u/s tech was familiar with the process.

we wanted to see the baby during the u/s though, and we were able to do so. omg, it was absolutely amazing!! it was so much different than seeing the baby at the last u/s at 8 weeks. at that point, we couldn't see much, but this time our baby was SO developed. it was incredible!

the first thing i saw on the ultrasound was his feet. i teared up. i mean, they were like REAL baby feet!! it looked just like a human foot, only tiny. i couldn't believe it. then we got to see how our baby is developing. we identified two kidneys, two arms, two legs, and a four chambered heart. it was so amazing! we also saw his spine. it's incredible how you can see bones. we were relieved and ecstatic to hear and see that he was healthy!! he was moving around and kicking a lot!

once the u/s tech was ready to identify the sex, she told us we might want to look away from the screen, which we did. neither one of us cheated or peeked!! david then asked her, "can you tell what it is?" and she said, "Yep, I got it." she then took some great pictures, put the sex in an envelope and let us meet with the doctor.

the big announcement...

my mom made a special dinner that night, and with our family, we opened the envelope and discovered the sex. the post it said "congrats! it's a boy!" and the ultrasound picture gave such evidence~~ i don't think either one of us were too surprised it was a boy. david is thrilled!!

my family made both pink and blue desserts and of course, the boy treats were served. it was a great night! after dinner, we drove from louisville to david's parents house to share the news with them. we talked about names in the car, but we still are not having much luck in that area : )

our favorite ultrasound pictures...

his profile...

his ADORABLE foot!!



one of his hands!!

planning...

i've now started to think about the nursery decor. we should be ordering nursery furniture this week, which is exciting! im trying not to go overboard with it, but its hard to do :) i told david that the baby's nursery is very important to its development!! i think a well designed nursery makes the baby feel loved and secured, and that's the best learning environment :) in other words, how cute the room is matters! im planning on grandma cathy and papa gary to come in town and help.

thanks to everyone for their excitement and congratulations. we are very excited to see that our baby is a boy and more importantly, HEALTHY!!

yay for half way!

whew. today i am officially half way!! the past 20 weeks have been quite the journey and i can only imagine what the next 20 will be like. in some ways i feel like i've been pregnant for a lot longer, and other days i feel like it was just yesterday we found out the news. 20 more weeks seems like a long way to go until we get to meet our precious little baby!!

i've enjoyed being pregnant, but what i will really enjoy is being a mom. i'm already getting impatient for that time! it is a very special feeling to have a human growing inside you. it's amazing how the body provides the baby and the mother everything they need naturally. it's really a miracle. but it still doesn't seem to compare to what comes after the pregnancy... meeting the baby, holding it, playing with it, and watching it grow (outside my belly!)

enough with the "its"!!

i am tired of calling our baby it. we cannot wait to find out the gender and give "it" a name. david and i will be making a trip to louisville next week for a doctor's appointment where we will receive such news. i did have a dream that it was a girl. if it is a boy we have a lot of work to do to come up with a name. i mean... a lot of work! (suggestions welcome!)

the search for day care:

at the advice of some of the mommies in my yoga class, i decided we better plan ahead and get on some waiting list for day cares. apparently, waiting until you are 20 weeks pregnant to get on waiting lists is NOT planning ahead! for part time care, here in lil ol morgantown, wv, we were told the waiting list was 1 to 1.5 years. geez!

there is a great day care which is actually attached to the hospital. this excited me! it made me feel good to know that daddy would just be around the corner if our little one needed anything. so, we went to go view it. as i stood outside of the day care center waiting on david to meet me, i started tearing up just thinking about leaving our baby with anyone but me. i don't want the baby to be in day care all day every day, but i also want it to get the social benefits of interacting with other kids and people besides me and david. so we are hoping to do some kind of part time day care 2 days a week or so. many of these placess don't have part time day care though, so we are not sure what our plan will be. im just praying and trusting that, like always, God will take care of me and figure it out : )

etc...

we are still enjoying morgantown. i joined a mom's group and met some really nice people that way. david and i went to our first WVU game (see evidence below.) it was a perfect day for football. however, we were a little disappointed by how tame the WVU fans were! we saw no burning couches or no one get arrested : ( not what i expected.

my mom came in town and we started painting the house. we finished a few rooms but still have a lot more to do. pictures to come soon!

i will post again as soon as we know the gender. 10 more days!