Tick Tock

Ok, so I lied and am super behind on my pictures. I don't know where the time has gone... I might have slept through the last 6 weeks because it has been a blur.

But I am back. This post will be quick but I plan on being back very soon. My nursery is half way there so atleast I haven't been completely slacking like I have been on my pictures and blog.

This whole pregnancy thing is definitely exhausting. Back pain is not nice and sciatica is it's ugly cousin. Both of which have the pleasure of joining my company.

Baby J is moving so much. She's growing so big and we can finally see her moving in my belly. It's so weird but very exciting at the same time. Can't wait to meet our baby girl!

Week 20 and Week 21... Half Way There!

This will probably be the last time I get to wear a bikini... Though I pray and wish that my body will bounce back after pregnancy, I highly doubt it will. I'm pretty sure stretch marks and abdominal flab will be right around the corner :(. I am awful at going to the gym, making any excuse not to go, even putting a freeze on my gym membership because I got pregnant. I have a feeling baby girl will be a big baby that will stretch my belly to no return.  Maybe I get a tummy tuck?... (note to self: start saving $$$ now!)

We had a great time at the beach! I love Topsail Island. I've been going there yearly since I've been with the hubby. It's one of his vacation spots and he practically grew up spending every summer there.  The puppies loved it as well. We stayed at a pet friendly ocean front beach house. I wonder how it will be next year with Baby King. It's hard to imagine traveling with 2 large dogs and a 8 month old... but I love these mutts and can't imagine being without them.

Another milestone... Over the hump and getting closer to meet my little girl. My hormones have been off the charts the past few days. Almost seems like I'm riding an emotional rollercoaster. Just wishing and praying my poor old husband will stick around for the ride ;)  

Baby King is a GIRL!!

My little bun in the oven is a girl, just like I expected! :) Heard from a friend that theres's 60% chance Mom is right about the gender and I guess I fell into that majority.

She was so active during the sonogram... very much awake and kicking up a storm. In this picture her hands are above her head, her legs straight up, and kicking me like CRAZY. Brad and I were so amused watching her move around. She is already displaying a lot of spunk and a crazy amount of energy in the womb. I am sure we will have our hands (and feet) full once she's out and about. Can't believe how much she tickles us already. I definitely teared up watching her... and Daddy was not too proud to shed a few tears as well.

Here's her little face, looking very much like Daddy. I love her so much already. I can't wait to meet her and hold her in my arms. I am truly blessed. 

Is Baby A Boy Or Girl???

I have extremely slacked with my baby bump pictures! From now on I promise to take weekly pictures.

Baby is definitely making his/her presence known now! Feeling lots of baby kicks, flips, somersaults, and whatever else baby can be doing. I LOVE my belly. Never knew how lovely it would be to feel my baby moving and belly growing. We will be going to the beach this weekend. Never thought I would be excited wearing a bikini with a big belly, for the first time in my life I won't have to be concious about sucking it in. Hehe...

Our third prenatal appointment is today, and our ultrasound should be sometime this week. I really hope they can squeeze me in before I leave for NC. This is a much anticipated appointment. Weeeeh!

First Milestone

Time is flying. I'm so happy to finally be deemed in the "safe zone" AKA the second trimester! Woohoo! Big milestone for little baby.

I weighed 118.7lbs this morning. Prepregnancy weight was 115.2lbs. I weighed 120lbs during my second prenatal visit but I don't think that was accurate (it was late in the day and I ate a ton before weighing). Either way, seems like I'm right on tract with my weight gain.

We also heard baby's heartbeat
for the first time. I couldn't stop laughing after seeing Brad's expression. He looked shocked and a little bit freaked out. He said he was not expecting it to sound so distorted and alienlike... Doctor had a little difficulty excluding baby's heartbeat from mine since mine was so loud, plus I was so giddy that I couldnt stop laughing until Brad hid behind the doctor. Baby's heart rate was 150 bpm. Doctor said everything looked great and we are exactly where we should be :) 5 more weeks until the next appointment. Then we will find out if baby is a boy or a girl!!!! *happy dance*

So what has happened recently... Well, this past Friday, a massive thunderstorm came from no where and hit the DMV area. It immediately left us with no power. It was kinda scary not having prepared for it. Earlier forecasts said slight passing thunderstorms... Not "hang-on-to-your-dear-life-this-is-a-big-one-thunderstorm"! Brad was worried the roof would fly off or a something would come flying in the window. He was urging us to move to the basement. I, however did not want to move out of bed (per usual). I tried to tune it out but was frequently startled by the loud thunder and huge of flashes lighting (and possibly a nearby tranformer blowing up). Early morning Saturday Brad hit the road to get a generator. He had to raise hell to get one but he did not want his dear ol' preggo wife without AC and didn't come home empty handed. We were expecting to be without power for well over a few days (we were without electricity for a whole week a few months ago because of Hurricane Irene). Our neighbor/friend had a portable AC window unit so we combined our resources and camped out in my loft Saturday night. We made the best of a bad situation and slept with two fans, humming AC unit, and
beeping smoke detectors (due to low battery). Sunday morning we headed to church and watched a Ted at a nearby theater afterwards. When we arrived home, lights were on and the central AC was back in action. It was such a blessing to have power so soon.

Nursery decorating will begin shortly. I am thinking about a woodland theme, I'm in love with the trees in nursery trend. Progress pictures will be posted shortly :)

Speaking of pictures... I love Annie's expression on this picture. It's somewhere in the middle of absolute happiness and incredibly insane. Silly girl.

Happy Father's Day

It's crazy to think that this time next year I will have a 6 month old. We dream about her all the time. Even though we don't know the sex yet, I refer to Baby as her because we've both had a dream of a baby girl (and so has his mom!), and the Chinese calendar says we're having a girl, but we won't know for another few weeks. My father predicts a boy, along with a few friends. Brad prefers a boy and I a girl but when it comes down to it we will both be extremely happy with a beautiful healthy baby, no matter the gender.
This week has been wonderful. I've been going to bed much earlier than normal. I'm trying to take advantage of it as much as possible... I know months of sleepless nights will be upon us in just a blink of an eye. Oh sleep... Precious sleep. How I cherish and will miss you.
Oh and look at baby bump!!!! Have I grown since week 10, or what?! I didn't get a chance to do week 11 since time slipped by me and my belly really didn't seem to be growing any bigger. But boy did it grow since last week! Hello baby! :)
Brad is very tickled by my growing baby bump. I know he's going to be a great father. He tries to make sure I am eating well, never complains about getting me water at bedtime for my prenatals, talks to "Barnabus" before going to sleep, reads me a few chapters of our read together book (currently Catching Fire) at bedtime, sings to me, takes such good care of me... And there's so many other adorable and amazing qualities about him but if I say anymore I'd sound like I was bragging ;) I am a lucky lucky girl...

Happy Anniversary

Happy 2nd Year Anniversary my Love! About six years ago you told me, "I hope the bumps in the road seem minuscule to the infinite scope of our love". And that they have been. Cheers to us.

Am I Pregnant?

This week has been a breeze. I read that the pregnancy hormones peak during week 10, so most pregnancy symptoms will start to subside. Besides the random disgusting smells that make me gag such as yucky trash and sealed lunch containers that are overdue for a good washing... I really don't feel pregnant. I cant tell if my stomach has gotten bigger from last week. My work scrubs are starting to get a bit snug and I haven't worn any jeans to gauge how tight they have gotten (frankly I'm a bit scared). My go-to clothes have been summer dresses and comfy elastic shorts. And I've only gained one pound but it seems like more because of my pot belly.
Food aversions? Hunks of meat... Such as steaks, pork chops, and whole pieces of chicken. Strange thing is ground meat doesn't bother me. Brad made this delicious fat juicy burger that I had no problem devouring.
Food cravings? Fruits, veggies and cheese. Most especially strawberries, watermelon, corn, cottage cheese, and caprese salad (drool). I balance all this healthy stuff with chocolate and gummy bears. :) I've also been downing fresh strawberry lemonade pitcher after pitcher.
So far this pregnancy stuff is not that bad. But let me not speak too soon.

When to Announce??

So we were definitely pregnant. How soon should we tell people? We had a little bit of trouble keeping it in. All sources out there say wait until the second trimester, as the likelihood of miscarriage dramatically decreases. But I wanted to think positive and share the great news with all my friends and family.

It took only four weeks after we had a positive pregnancy test for us to start posting pictures on Facebook.

My babies, Annie and Marley were the ones to break the news. Week after week they will continue to update the progress of my growing belly and growing baby :)

We're Having A Baby!!!

After being married a little over a year and a half, Brad and I started to get the "let's make a baby jitters". Month after month that darn pee stick only came up with one line. During the month of March, we talked about taking a break because if we were to conceive we would very likely have a Christmas baby. And did we really want our poor child to go through a lifetime of combined Christmas/Birthday presents??? Needless to say, our month of "not trying" became a "woohoo!!!"

How did I find out? I was feeling a little strange at work with dizzy spells and bouts nausea. So while heading home I decided to go to Rite Aid and pick up some tests. And lucky me they were having a buy one get one half off sale! Weeeh!

I got home and decided to take the test on my own. Brad and I have done the whole let's look together approach but the past months yielded disappointing results so I wanted to do it solo. And whaddayakno??? Holy crap there were two lines!!!

Without thinking I ran outside looking for him. I found him in the backyard, screamed his name and started waving the pee stick in the air. He looks up and realizes what I'm trying to tell him and he says in disbelief, "You tell me while I'm scooping dog poop?!"

It was followed by many hugs, kisses, and happy tears.

So yes World, we're having a baby!!