Baby Dreams

As much as I wish this post was about me, it's not. It's actually about my amazing husband.

This morning when we woke up my husband informed me that he had a dream about our son. Instantly I was jealous because I cannot seem to have a dream where I am not pregnant! I would give anything to see him and hold my little boy.

In Michael's dream he kept stealing the baby from me so he could go off and spend time with him. The baby was just barely able to hold his head so I'm thinking about 4 months. Before I go any further I must inform you that this was super exciting because my husband is convinced that babies are insanely borning and doesn't have a whole lot of interest until they're about 2. Anyways. He said when he'd go off with him he'd just sit there holding him and watching him smile and wiggle around. As he held him he invisioned his future and all the wonderful things he was going to be able to teach him, all the adventures they'd share together, and how exciting it would be to watch his son grow and be successful in life.

This is what his facebook status read this morning:
"I'm excited for the birth of my son. I hope I can be a good supportive father that "raises a child in the way he should go. And when he is old he will not depart from it." it's a big responsibility but I have a wonderful wife and I was raised by wonderful parents so I am confident I can be the dad my son needs, so he can be successful! I'm SOO eager to meet him! Is it March 13th yet?!?"

Needless to say I have fallen in love all over again with the idea of my husband fathering our children.

Ultrasound

On December 23rd we went to have another ultrasound of our little man (there is no guessing, he's very obviously a boy).

I thought I'd share some of my favorite pictures from the CD

This first one is a picture of his lower face. I think we're going to have to wait until he's born to see if he has Michael's nose and my cleft chin.


This second one is just a cute profile shot of him. It's crazy how much he has grown


The third one is my favorite. He was holding his two big toes with two of his fingers. It's easier to see in video but this was the best still frame I could get. Michael thought it was so cute and started to giggle when baby boy started to kick me (while still holding his toes).


Baby boy is almost 18" and over 3 lbs now! At the ultrasound his measurements averaged about a week a head with his head being the biggest measurement (2 weeks ahead :/ ).
Today I felt him kick my ribs for the first time. He is moving so much and now that he's got less space I'm feeling less kicks and more elbows.

Mile Markers

So it's been a while since I have been on here and figured I was due for an update.
I missed a major mile marker I wanted to blog about (100 days until ETA) but this week I also finish my 6th month and start my second trimester so we'll blog about all 3. (The picture above is 2 weeks old, I'm 26 weeks now)

I can't believe it's less than 100 days away, 6 months completed and almost my 3rd trimester. They aren't lying when they say the second trimester goes by fast. It did for me with the exception of 20-24 weeks (emotional rollercoaster). In less than 14 (16 assuming I'll go 2 weeks over) weeks my little man will be here!!!

We started working on the nursery yesterday. Cleared about half the junk out of that room and now we just need to organize and store what's remaining. We set up the playpen/bassinet/changing table we got from Michael's sister last night and that got us all excited! We are slowly collecting clothes, baby toys, and other miscellaneous items from very generous friends and family.

I was starting to prepare for the possibility that we wouldn’t be having a baby shower and just when I was about to start purchasing things (they always say don’t buy anything until after the shower) I had a few wonderful friends/relatives offer to throw them! I will have a small open house where we live for our church/friends/co-workers, one for my family/friends and another for Michael’s family and friends due to distance and weather in January.
Baby is more active than ever now! He is constantly moving and kicking, often times to my discomfort. He has also had hiccups a few times.

My symptoms are:
Morning Sickness: Yep, morning sickness! Even with the Zofran I still get nauseas if I don’t eat every 2 hours.
Back pain: this is just increasing and I am scared what the next 3 months will bring
Sciatic pain: what a weird feeling!
Tired: just walking I can feel how weak I am getting… where is all that energy?
Insomnia: I am pretty sure this is caused by my growing belly and extreme back pain
HUNGRY: My stomach gets full on half a plate but sure enough 2 hours later I’m hungry again.
Swelling: I can’t see it in the mirror but we took pictures a few days ago and my face looked pretty… swollen. I actually changed wedding rings this morning in fear that I wouldn’t be able to get mine off again.
Frequent urination: with baby growing and using my bladder as a punching bag I find I take more trips to the ladies room.
Hot: now I know how those poor menopausal women feel, I just can’t seem to get cold enough even when it’s 7 degrees outside.
Weight gain: for a while there I was averaging 2 pounds a week but this week (after 2 Christmas parties) I only gained 1/2 a pound so I'm still on schedule for the 25-35.


That was a long update, hopefully I'll blog more often so it doesn't end up like this again.

Half Way There!

So yesterday was my 20 week belly birthday. I started off the morning with lots of celebrating kicks from the baby. It seemed that every time I laid down he just went at it. Hubby even got to feel him a few time so that was fun.

20 Week Updates
*I STILL HAVE MORNING SICKNESS
*My back pain is increasing
*My round ligament pains are increasing
*I’m feeling the baby move on a daily basis
*I can still comfortably sleep on my stomach
*I have purchased a few maternity clothes but I am still able to fit into a couple of regular jeans (usually with the help of a pony tail holder) and about half of my shirts
*Frequent urination has returned with a vengeance
*Husband says I walk really slow
*I’ve experience a few leg cramps
*It's rather uncomfortable to bend or lean over.

I thought I would show some pictures from when I first found out I was pregnant.
Here is our BFP (big fat positive) from the morning we found out we were expecting (I was 11 DPO [days past ovulation]).


And here is a picture of me to compare to the above belly picture. I was 3 weeks and 5 days in this picture.


Here are some random pregnancy stats I've been collecting.
4 weeks .... 20 weeks
Weight: 112 .... 120
Belly: 30" .... 33.5"
Basically all measurements not on my torso have stayed the same. Even though I've only gained 3.5" on my belly it feels like much, much more.
Even though I am 20 weeks the baby is measuring about 21 weeks. He's probably about 7" long from head-butt and weight 10-11 oz.

Baby's First Kick

On October 11 (18 weeks 1 day) I was cuddling (spooning) michael and started to feel the first tiney little kicks. I pushed my belly up against Michael's bum and let the little guy kick daddy's butt! There was one that was an unmistakable kick, however, I haven't felt them that intense since. I found out at my ultrasound that my placenta is at the front of my belly and suspect that is what is cushioning his blows. I can't wait until he starts to move more!!!

Spina Bifida Scare

Last week a got a call from the genetic counselor informing me that some of our blood work showed an increased risk for spina bifida, 1/310 to be exact. We weren't too worried because we know there are a lot of false positives however, we did pray a lot for strenth to except and be able to handle anything that might be special with our little boy. Because I had a positive test they scheduled an ultrasound. I went in today for my ultrasound and everything looked great! It was determind to be a false positive. Despite being on schedule for his first three ultrasounds he is now measuring 6 days ahead. He is about 10 oz and 6.5 inches long.

I am grateful to God that we have been blessed with this healthy baby and we pray that he will continue to grow and flurish!

It's a....

BOY! It has officially been confirmed that we're having a boy! We're yet to decide on a name but we're really excited. I had a little gender disappointment at first because I had invisioned a little girl but a few days later I feel much better and I couldn't be more excited for a mini-Michael.

We went on Tuesday (16+2) and paid $25 to have a private technician do the gender ultrasound. Not my favorite tech and and she did write 'BLOY' on the picture instead of boy but I was just so excited to have it confirmed I really didn't care. The pictures aren't the best but I am sure he's a boy because I saw the plumbing before she even pointed it out.