Baby Natalie's Arrival!

A little overview before I write out the longest birth story EVER!

I really tried my best at learning about the birthing process and and thinking about what I wanted it to be like. I decided against writing out a strict birth plan because I really wanted to keep my mind open until I was in the experience but I did try to learn as much as I could so I could make well-informed decisions. My doctor has been great with me and I really trusted her to give me options and tell me what was going on and she really did. That said, you probably know I never went into labor on my own so I went to be induced at 7am on Sunday, December 19th.

Seth and I had a big night before the induction and didn't get home and to bed until around 12:30 in the morning. I had a pretty hard time sleeping but woke up around 5:45am to shower and get ready. Even though I wasn't in labor, we still did a bit of rushing around last minute throwing things in the birthing bag! We got breakfast on the way and by the time we got to the hospital I could definitely tell I was a bit nervous.

My nurse was just starting her shift at 7 as well so she set up the room while I was getting checked in. She had to do a lot of preparation such as taking my blood pressure and temperature and all kinds of stuff before we started anything. There was a little scare with my blood pressure at first because it was extremely high but then it went down pretty quick. My doctor in and checked me but I was still only 2cm-- the same as the Monday before so we talked about things and she decided she was going to skip the meds to soften my cervix and go straight to Pitocin. That's about the only thing I wish I had done differently. Who knows if it would have helped. Around 9 I was started on the IV and Pitocin.

The rest of the day is a blurry mess! They brought in a birthing ball and and we talked out a plan. I was having tiny contractions but I wasn't feeling them so the idea was to psych the baby out by "pretending I was still home waiting for labor to progress". I bounced on the birthing ball and walked around the labor floor. Jeeze those halls were cold! I tried to do it about 30 minutes or so at a time. I would bounce 30 and walk 30 or until I got tired. Then for a while Seth, my mom and I played some Phase 10. We got to phase 7 and I'm pretty sure I was winning. Around 3pm my doctor checked me and I still hadn't really progressed so we decided to break my water. They told me if I could I should probably get some rest before I started feeling it hardcore. I may have slept a little bit but I don't think I was hurting very much yet. The next time they checked me after my water was broken my doctor said it was a bit green. Later they talked to me about the risks of meconium aspiration and let me know it would talk minute to clear out the baby's lungs and to not get scared if I didn't hear her as soon as she comes out.

Eventually, though the contractions started hurting and I don't even remember how I dealt with them. I walked a little through them and bounced on the ball a lot. I leaned over the bed and my mom rubbed my back and shoulders. I had no concept of time at all! It was around 7 or 8pm that I decided to get some meds in my IV. Seth was amazing, he didn't say much but he held my hand let me squeeze and it was so good just knowing he was there. I suppose my pain got a bit more intense but I really wanted to go as far as a could without an epidural. Mostly though, instead of getting stronger and closer together and causing me to dilate, my contractions just started to get closer together. SUPER CLOSE TOGETHER. My doctor said they were strong enough to start changing my cervix and causing me to dilate and push the baby down but it just wasn't happening.

By midnight, I had been in a lot of pain and was still only 5cm and my doctor mentioned Cesarean section and I knew it had been coming for a while. The meconium staining kept getting worse-- the last time they released more fluids I saw it and started bawling because I know how hard that can be on the baby and it looked BAD. It was bad. My doctor talked to me again and I decided to get the epidural. She said it looked like the only way I would have the baby without a c-section was if the epidural worked enough to take away my pain AND make my hips and pelvis relax enough so that the baby could move through because she had a super cone-shaped head. Of course I wanted to do everything I could to have the baby as naturally as possible but we were running out of time.

The epidural took a while to get in and was Seth's least favorite part. I was using him to put my head on his chest and stuff and he probably locked his knees, he was like "I don't feel good. I don't feel good." and almost passed out so the nurse switched him and he sat down. Poor babe! I was in pain before, but if it wasn't for them telling me pretty much you're getting an epidural or c-section I wouldn't have gotten one yet. BUT I did and after it was in place it AMAZING. It took absolutely no time to work too, as soon as I got it in and laid back in bed and was smiling and crackin jokes. It was awesome! Unfortunately, it didn't do anything for my progress except make it a bit faster when they took me for my surgery. :(


The meconium was SO bad and every time they moved me the baby's heart rate was dropping. My doctor talked to me again and explained she understood it wasn't what I wanted but that I was definitely off the labor curve and with the strength and frequency of my contractions I should have been to the point of pushing. So, they prepped for surgery.

I said I had read about all the aspects of labor and giving birth--but I lied. I know about c sections...it's major surgery, they cut you open, I didn't want one. I don't really think I was even scared when it came time. I just wanted my baby to be okay. I remember a few things about the surgery...It was FREEZING. Like thinking about it makes me want to die because I was shivering soooo hard. They told me I would because of all the anesthesia but it sucked! I couldn't stop crying either. Seth held my hand and I'm glad he got to be in there. I also remember my doctor saying, "This is the most meconium I've seen like this in a lonnnnnng time" and another doctor saying "I've never seen this much." I also remember the pressure and tugging when they were getting the baby out and my doctor saying something about her being unsure of how big she is or how big her head was but I could tell they were having a hard time getting her out even in c-section.

At 1:44am Natalie Marie Gebhard was born. She was 7lbs 4.5oz and 20.5in long and BLUE. I am not sure how long they worked on her but the poor babe was on that table getting the poo sucked out of her lungs FOREVER. All I could see was the top of her little cone head but I didn't know what was going on. She had swallowed a lot though and every time they got it sucked out and let her breathe her vitals would drop. Her apgar scores at 1, 5 and 10 minutes were 6, 6 and 7. Seth got some pictures while she was on the table and we got to say Hi and kiss her before they took to the NICU. We tried to be strong but it was so hard to see our baby be taken upstairs and we didn't even get to meet her really. I could tell Seth was upset but I had already been crying the entire time so I may have just cried harder.

Seth, Mom, my sister Kayla, and friend Melissa got to go meet her in the NICU while I was coming down from surgery. Around 5:45am they moved us upstairs to the mother baby unit and got us settled up there. We were asking when we could go up to see Natalie and the nurse said she would find out and bring a wheel chair for me but when she came back she said Natalie was on her way downstairs! She was in the room with us by about 6:10am and the rest is history! Here are a few pictures of my baby!

41w

So! I had an appointment Monday morning. It was the longest appointment ever! BUT It wasn't too bad. My weight and blood pressure were GREAT. Then they hooked me up to monitor the baby. I guess it didn't start out too good but then she said the baby was doing great and that she must have been sleeping at first. I got checked and I was at 2cm-- she didnt tell me how effaced. And the fluids were good.

The BIG NEWS is that my husband made it home Monday night!!! He's in the military and should get leave when/after I have the baby but I told him about my appointment and they got him leave THAT DAY! It was amazing! So now he is home and we are waiting for this babayyyyy together and I couldnt be happier that he is going to be here...however, he's getting really IMPATIENT waiting for this little one!

Anywho, I also had an NST at 41w1d. I did fine. The baby did fine. I didn't get checked but they monitored contractions and I didn't have any. The nurse said "that is one boring uterus". So, this baby has tomorrow to come on her own or it's eviction time!...which is looking highly likely. :(

40 weeks!

I cant believe its been so long since Ive updated this! I really just didnt want to do it from my phone-- my posts always end up consisting of so much more than I think I have to say!

This morning I had my 40week Drs appointment. I am 1 cm dilated and somewhat effaced but this baby is definitely going to be late!

Last Wednesday was supposed to be my last day of work. Well, Tuesday but at my appointment on Monday I had high blood pressure and my appointment went horrible! Its a longgggggg story but I ended up having to do a 24hr test to see if I was at all preeclamptic or anything else was wrong. They didnt call to let me know-but at my appointment today they said you have to be 300 to be mildly preE and I was 170. So it was not as bad as it could have been.

Scheduled induction for December 19th unless baby N comes before then -- which we are hoping she does, of course!

[almost] 34 weeks!

Tomorrow I will be 34 weeks! I just wanna say HOLYCOW time flies. I guess I wasn't really done with the blog post last time. I think I just get tired/bored with it and post a picture and peace out. Haha BTW The picture in this is for 33 weeks, since I didn't post one then.

Well, I suppose a lot has been going on since then. First off, I didn't update about our hospital tour-- but we did that a couple weeks ago. It was really good to go and see where I'm actually going to be. The building is kinda huge and we had no clue where we were going, but I think we do...NOW. 4th floor is labor and delivery and the labor suites are soooo nice. I am really happy with it, I think. It's in a new building(?) at OU Med so everything is updated. They room-in so there is baby bed and my bed and couch and tables and everything and they said you can have as many people in the room as you want. I just think it's nice to have enough space to have that option. So I learned a little bit there about the hospital and stuff.

In my last post I said there were just a few things we have left, but now the list is even shorter. I got my diaper bag -- love it! Got the bouncer Saturday and put it together Sunday. And I got my wetbags-- 1 medium, 1 large, 1xlarge. I read the measurements, but they are smaller than you'd think. I hope they hold some dipes!

Speaking of cloth. All my diapers are prepped. My stash consists of only prefolds/covers now, no All in Ones yet. I have 15 Indian unbleached prefolds, 24 bleached Chinese prefolds, 2 small Bummis SWW, 1 NB proraps, and 3 xsmall thirsties covers. I guess we will see how big she comes out and see if I have enough covers? Hahaha! I almost bought some seconds the other day but decided against it. I think next time I want some cloth I will check out the Green Bambino (like the only local store in OKC).

I have also washed all my newborn sized clothes and the REALLY small ones that she will be able to wear soonest. And all of the burp cloths, washrags, towels, etc.

I think my next tasks are really laying out my birth plan and packing our bags.

I'm going to a breastfeeding class Nov. 6 also. That should be good.

I got a call this morning from OU and when I called back the girl who verifies insurance told me that mine terms on Monday. When is my next appointment? MONDAY. WTF. BTW, it shouldn't term. I don't think...unless they are putting me on Tricare MOST AMAZING INSURANCE IN THE WORLD instead of Tricare Prime. But I dont think it exists. Seth is Active duty now, but REALLY active duty starting the 1st-- if you ask me. I don't get it! What's going on??!
Yeah, so that's the current dilemma. Will I be covered?

32weekish update!

Well, well well! WHAT IS NEW? :)

JEEZE. When I think about it I have a lot to update about! Since I last updated, we had our church shower. It was amazing. So many people came and we got a crazy amount of stuff. AWESOME stuff. That we NEEDED. All we really have left is a diaper bag (it's picked out, just gotta buy it! $$), breast pump and a few more supplies, bouncer and/or (I'm thinking and) swing, sleepy wrap and babyBjorn, and wetbags for the cloth diapers! WOOOOO!

We have put the bedding on the crib. Kinda. :)


Speaking of cloth diapers. I got the rest of my prefolds today! I may start washing them Wednesday or so. I had to wait like 30 minutes at the post office to get them. Pain in the butt. I hate shipping stuff USPS.

We had an appointment Wednesday. It went well. We were on time and she was on time so we actually went in early. Everything's looking good. My blood pressure was good and I had no weight gain. I forgot to ask about my fundal height but she didn't say anything so assuming baby is growing normally! I keep getting bigger!

29w5d UPDATE!

Wow, sorry it's been awhile! Lovely Heather reminded me I haven't updated-- I knew I should, I guess I just didn't have the time? Or energy. Well, it's been like two weeks so I guess now I have a few things to say.

First of all, I passed my 3hr glucose test. That is awesome because I did not really want to have gestational diabetes. Who does?!? So, good news there!

We got the crib and put it up. It's so cute! I have a couple pictures...really cute...but I want to wait until we get stuff more ready to post anything. My mom got our bedding (it may have been a surprise?!) and my aunt is going to alter it to fit our crib, because it's standard crib size and we got her a minicrib, but I'm REALLY excited to have it ready. Its perfect!

Friday I got paid and ordered diapers from cottonbabies.com. I have heard everyone's comments -- good and bad-- and I will just tell you...if you have been around me at all (or as much as my husband) you would understand how excited I am about doing this. He is sooooo tired of hearing about it, I know but who else am I going to talk to about it?! Yes, I know baby poo is nasty and I'm going to be doing more laundry but this is something I have done a lot of reading on and I am honestly really excited. Who knows how it will work out until we try? ANYWAY, I ordered my diapers and got a call because they didn't have one of the colors I ordered so I think that delayed them getting here. :( I still have to order 15 prefolds but the website is out of the ones I want in infant size. If they still are in a couple of weeks I have a backup site to order from. I cant wait for the ones I ordered to get here!

I think I have been getting sick over the weekend. I'm not really sure what it is. I guess a little cold. :( Sucks, because I can't take anything. Sore throat, stuffiness, sneezy, chills. Grossness. I went shopping with my mom Saturday afternoon and we got to the store and within about 15 minutes I was in a cold sweat, out of energy, and couldn't breathe. I felt really crappy and REALLY bad that I wasn't into shopping. I just started bawling in the middle of the baby bedding isle. I just told my mom I didn't really know why I was crying, I just hurt and was exhausted and felt nasty but she was asking if my stomach hurt and what was wrong. Hopefully I will get over it soon though.

On a better note, my mom and Aunt Sue felt Baby Natalie move yesterday! It was really exciting and I laughed when both of them felt her for the first time because their eyes got SO big! My Mom felt her first and she started yelling really high pitched and then she kicked like 800 times. :D

How's that for an update?!? I have an appointment Wednesday so I may have another one! :)

Glucose Test

Ewww ewww ewww. Soooo they told me to get here pretty early so that i could get out in time to get something for lunch. I really, really did not want to get up early though so it should be about 12:45 when I get out of here. Hopefully Mama can do lunch with me or something. We'll see. :)

So I am in between my second and third blood draw right now. When I got here they took my fasting blood but it took her like 2.5 sticks to draw any blood. The drink I had last time seemed cold and was orange flavored. This time, the drink was lemon-lime flavored, which I liked better, but overall it was much worse. Thinking about it makes me want to throwwwww up. So far she has poked me twice where they usually do-- in the crease of my arm-- twice in my forearm and once on the top of my hand!

I just wanna go to sleep.

OHHHH ALMOST FORGOT THE BIGGEST NEWS... Crib should be here tomorrow!!!! Because it doesnt look like it's coming today. Im good with that because tonight I have to work and tomorrow night I will be off!

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27weeks!

Oops! Guess I didn't have too much to update about last week. But I DID take a picture...I put it on FB and the forums, but I guess I forgot this? Doh! Well here are 2 pics for 26weeks and then I will put 27weeks up tomorrow!




Sooo I had my appointment today at 11:15. When I got there I signed in and they gave me the glucose drink. She said I had 3minutes to drink it but I totally could have chugged it and slammed it on the counter!! Anyways, Dr. Jones said I had the perfect weight gain and my blood pressure was good. Baby's hb was 148. So I drank the drink, then got blood drawn after visiting with my doctor and I also had to have the Rh factor shot today. Hurray! They were teasing about being extra mean to me today, but it wasnt SO bad.

After the appointment it was lunch time so we had Chili's then went to Seth's Nanas for a visit. It was soooo rainy and gloomy today I was really excited to get home and cuddle under blankets and watch movies. I fell asleep while Seth watched 2 movies (haha!) and then we played Monopoly (and Phase 10!) and I whooped Seth. :)

After Seth went to work I started cleaning the bedroom. The crib is being shipped so I did some organizing to make room and it feels really good!

Well, Seth is on his way home--weeee! I think he's been getting a little sickly. :(

Marvelous Things

25w2d now! Time flies. Natalie is getting stronger! She kicks every day now, but not always as hard. She might like Fall Out Boy, but her favorite should be Eisley for as much as I've been playing them for her. Definitely my fave thing to listen to at night and whenever I want to sing to her it's Marvelous Things. ::Dark night, hold tight, and sleep tight, My baby. Morning light shall burst bright, And keep us here safely::

I don't really have anything new to update. My sleeping pattern is totally messed up because I am really tired but can't fall asleep. I was seriously up until 6somethingam before work at 8 on Wednesday. Messed up. Right now its 4am and I guess I am just gonna sleep in with Seth--he's not even home from work yet. Hopefully any minute...

She likes Fall Out Boy...

Seth just felt Natalie move for the first time! Twice! And he played her Fall Out Boy after 2 other bands and she moved. Yay!

24weeks,3days!

That's all I got.

Shopping

Seth and I went to Souper!Salad! for lunch today. :) It was yummmmmyyyy. After lunch, I wanted to see if I could find a couple of maternity shirts because I feel like my bump is getting bigger and I dont have as much cute stuff to wear. SO, we walked to Old Navy and their maternity section SUCKED so we looked at baby stuff! I bought the cutest swimsuit with a little tutu and 5 shirts and 2 onesies for less than 30 dollars.



Then we went to Target, since I didn't find anything for me at Old Navy and we got two shirts and a gallon of milk. Yummm. When we were in line to check out the lady in front of me had 2 boys and they were bein loud and messing with each other and stuff...neither of us said anything but I guess she realized I was pregnant and turned to us and said, "Are you ready for this?", she asked if I know what I'm having and I told her and she said she has 4 boys! Ahhhhh! I know I wanted a boy but I would never dream of having four! Haha, anyways, just writing that here because that was the first time I have been out and someone asked me about being pregnant or something. I'm sure I'll get sick of it, but I reallllllly just feel FAT. Hahaha btw. Natalie is starting to move quite a bit at night. She kicks SOOOO low- it tickles!



Since, I posted the clothes we bought today I'm also gonna post a picture or some of the other super cute clothes we have for her. The red shirt is the favorite that Kris gave us...the jeans that go with it are there too but I put something over it :( One of the sleepers Seth's Nana got us and one my sis got us.

23wk Appointments

So we had 2 appointments yesterday. At 2:30 I went in and had another ultrasound. The doctor called me about a week and a half ago and scheduled it, when I asked why she said it was because the stomach was dilated and they needed to get more measurements to see why. WELL, I get to the ultrasound and the tech says something like, "Okay, so hopefully we'll get some more measurements and a better look at baby's brain and see that the cyst is gone." and I was like HOLD UP... my nurse DID NOT say anything about a cyst anywhere...THE BRAIN. So that totally freaked me out and I was PISSED and cried a bit. She kept asking me questions and I did NOT want to talk to her. Anyways, so I didn't really enojoy the ultrasound because I was freaking out about that; but then the doctor came in and said that there was nothing there and the stomach was also fine. I guess it was just a developmental thing that she grew out of. Everything looks great, they said, so that is a big relief.

Then I had an appointment at 3:30 with my doctor. It took a while for her to get in but everything was good there too. Natalie's heartbeat was a steady 153bpm. She weighs about 1.7lbs. I've gained a total of 10 lbs so far. My blood pressure was even better than last time. My doctor says everything looks great. She didn't even have any "lectures" for me. Haha, not that she usually does. I have the one hour glucose test next time. So that will be a longer appointment.

We also talked to the doctor, VERRRRY shortly, about elective induction. Not that it's close enough now to know anything, but Seth will be training the end of October, beginning of November and most of December, with some time off around Christmas, I think. With all of that going on he pretty much will be gone after October. It's hard to explain but pretty much unless the baby is born more than a week early on her own, he probably won't be here for it. Knowing this is my first, and if genetics have anything to do with it... we can hope she will be LATE. It sucks to hope that though because most women are totally ready for the baby to come before 40weeks -- if not way sooner. :] From what it looks like right now unless he takes leave or if I schedule an induction in the 40th week or so, he won't be here. Which REALLY sucks, the thought of going through that without him makes me cry every time, like even typing this out. But, it is what it is. We will just have to see. She's going to come when she's ready whether Daddy is there or not. I'm just glad that he will get to meet her before he goes to Afghanistan.

So, that's about it for now. Hopefully I will get a 23wk picture up tomorrow. But I work in the morning and we have to go set up TriCare Prime because it is already 90days before Seth starts active duty and I really need to get insurance situated right now because I could have like 3 and I need to make a Drs appointment for my leg.

Dreamyyyyy

So I had a dream last night that I had the baby... they didnt tell me anything about her or how she was doing and apparently I had her early. She was about 3 inches long-- but everyone acted like it was no big deal. They didn't bring her to me and I had to ask to see her. When I did, they told me it would be about 5-7 days until I could take her home, so I held her at the hospital and stuff. It was like she was a little animal or something because of what they were keeping her in, it had a door at the bottom but was completely covered and then she could go up to the top with the blankets. I guess I had a really easy labor, but I didn't know if I had any meds and I didn't remember ANYTHING. So weird. Anyway, I was holding her in the hospital and stuff and I had to leave her there. But, I checked out and got home and realized I was still holding her! There were people all over-- we went to my moms house. People from church and stuff and my mom kept telling me for the special occasion I was supposed to wear black. I was so confused! Then I had to take her back to the hospital and she was normal size! [End Dream]

WEIRD!

So, I have the ultrasound to see why Baby Natalie's stomach is big and then a regular checkup with my doctorrrrr. Weeee. It's gonna be a big day.

22 weeks!

I've been meaning to update for like, EVER. I suppose tomorrow I will post 21 & 22 week photos. Everything is going well I suppose. I wish I was feeling le baby a bit more. I definitely feel her, but I want Seth to be able to and to put my hand on my belly and feel her. I usually feel it when I am standing or sitting quietly; at my last appointment my doc said I should definitely feel her by the next appointment (which is MONDAY).

Also, my nurse called last Wednesday or Thursday and told me they had scheduled an ultrasound right before the appointment Monday because at my ultrasound July 15 the baby's stomach was dilated so they are going to take more measurements to see why. Did some research and from what I've found it could be gestational diabetes, baby's bowel problem or she could be really fat.

I've been having some weird sensations/pains in my leg. Seriously, only one area of it but it is so weird! When I cough or sneeze sometimes it gets really tingly and then feels like my muscle is tearing. It is the weirdest thing. Going to make an appointment for that with a regular doctor I suppose. Apparently that could be diabetes or spinal/nerve problems of some kind. Or just weird preggo shiz. We'll see.

Everything other than that has been ok. Went to Tallequah to float the river over the weekend and it was soooo much fun! Only got sunburned a tiny bit so that's great! Hope I have a great weekend this weekend too!

Preggo Dreams

So I know I just updated last night but I had my first pregnancy related dream last night. In my first trimester, there were a few nights in a row--about a weeks worth of weird dreams I could actually remember in the morning... but none realted to pregnancy. And if I woke up from a dream and fell back asleep, the dream would continue...before that it had never happened to me before.

Well, last night I had a dream about the first few days after giving birth-- I was a horrible Mom!!! Then I went to sleep and had another dream... When I woke up this time Natalie was all up in the front of my tummy again. Hard as a rock all in my left side. Im starting to think she's feeling squished in there and any minute she's going to get fed up and start whailing on me. hahahaha Daddy already calls her his agent on the inside. ;)

20 Weeks!!!

Well! We're 20 weeks today and I'm feelin' great! This past week there were like 3 mornings I woke up and felt my stomach had grown since the night before! Crazy. So there's my pic for today; can you tell a difference?

I realized I have developed an aversion to Taco Bell today. Still like the tacos, but I think that's it. I've only had it a couple times since finding out I was pregnant and that is fine!

Went to Nana's today and she bought us a super cute sleeper for le baby. We also decided on a crib, actually a mini crib. We are so thankful that Seth's Nana bought it for us! It's on back-order right now but we should be getting it mid-August.
Here's a picture of the crib we are definitely getting and the bedding I just found today but completely ADORE. :)

I know there are lots of people who we have told but I'm thinking we have decided on the name for our little one. We picked it years ago and feel it really fits. Especially the meaning: "from the Late Latin name Natalia, which meant 'Christmas Day' from Latin natale domini". Besides loving the name itself it seems right since she is due in December. :] Anyway, the name we have picked for her is...

Natalie Marie

So, I was super tired today after going to Nana's a furniture shopping (we need a dresser super bad!) and we got home and I took a long nap. When I woke up after my nap I think Natalie was completely stretched out or something in the front of my belly. It was soooo hard all the way across my tummy. Awesome!

Hope everyone is doing great! Thanks for reading!

It's a...

GIRL!!!We got some really awesome pictures of the anatomy scan.

Baby feets and face. :)

In the last one, where it looks like her mouth is blowing bubbles -- that's the umbilical cord.
But it's still sooooo super cute!

Well anyway, everything in the anatomy scan went fine I think. The actual results from it are given to my doctor so she can talk to us about it but, from what I can see the baby has 2 arms and 2 feet etc. :] It was SOOOO awesome seeing her again; those ultrasounds are freaking amazing. I was really hoping I could feel her while we were getting it done, that way I could see her moving and feel her at the same time. BUT, I was sooo hungry during the ultrasound that's all I could feel.

I worked like 7 hours today and everything was fine, but when I get done and sit down in my car to drive home I realize how bad my tailbone hurts. Ahhhh! Soooo now I'm just laying in bed giving an update and watching Leno.

Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton) from True Blood is on and I love his accent! He is from England!

So, here's the bump picture I promised! I'm out!

Weight & Quickening

Talked to my mom about it tonight, but I was/am kind of worried about my weight going into this appointment. Basically, I weigh about 4 lbs less than I did at the first appointment I had. The nurse seemed a little concerned at the last appointment that I hadn't gained any weight (actually lost weight) and I get a feeling since it's now been 2 months they will be more concerned. I have been reassured it won't be too big of an issue, I just don't want them to think I am not eating, etc. Lately, I have a much bigger appetite. Though, when I eat sometimes I eat a lot less... more often -- and I know that's a good thing. Anywho!

If you know me and have spent any time with me you probably know how I always lay on my stomach. I sleep on my stomach, watch tv on my stomach-- if I'm laying down, it's on my stomach. A couple weeks ago I started feeling this bump in my abdomen (the bebe!). It feels really weird and you could compare the feeling to a tumor I'm guessing, it's just a hard bump in the side of my tummy. I'm pretty sure I'm starting to feel the quickening (the first movements you feel of the baby, but it just feels like gas bubbles). It felt JUST like bubbles in my tummy at first, and in the last 2-3 days it has happening so much more frequently. I know anything is possible during pregnancy, but it's not possible for someone to have that much gas! Haha It is definitely baby...

Well, that's most of the update I have for now! Wednesday I should have a photo and Thursday we will know the sex! We seriously could not be more excited!!!!!

18 weeks.

Hello everyone!

I'm getting such a late start with this it seems, but we have been soooooo busy! I wanted to start this blog a while back because I know there are some people that want to be updated with the pregnancy that I don't get to talk to a whole lot and I don't feel very inclined to update everything via Facebook.

Well, for those of you who don't know... Today marks 18 weeks pregnant. So far, I have had a fairly easy pregnancy-- which is a pretty great thing. We found out we were expecting mid April and are due December 8. I think I was blessed in my first trimester (and so far, in the second) because my symptoms were so little. I have had the very normal/common stuff and besides that, I have only gotten sick a handful of times and my tailbone hurts every once in a while. I get the feeling my back pain will get a lot worse but it hasn't been unbearable yet.

I've been waiting to feel the baby in any way possible. I've read that it just feels like flutters or gas at first. At my genetics screening the u/s tech told me that the placenta is anterior, so it could be towards 20-22 weeks that I feel the real kicks. But this morning I was laying in bed and I think I felt like three little movements. It felt like bubbles in my tummy. It's really hard to tell if it was the baby though, so I don't know. Hopefully I feel something more discernible soon. It's still exciting though because I know it's coming!

I have my third doctors appointment July 14 and my anatomy ultrasound July 15. Can't wait!!! We are so excited to find out what we are having and I can't wait to let everyone know. For the record, we would like a boy but are expecting a girl. So, we'll see how it turns out. ;)

I'm going to include the picture Seth took of me last week and today.

17 weeks!


18 weeks!

Hahaha! Next week I will try a different pose.