It's a.......

21 weeks!!

Ok, someone pull out the ruler and slap my wrists. I have been bad about posting blogs as of late. I’ve just been REALLY busy at work and when I’m not super busy I have been scouring every available source for baby names and nurseries.

Our “big” 20 week appointment was last Tuesday and we finally found out what we are having!! Ready???................IT’S A GIRL!!!  We are both very excited!! I will admit that I had my heart set on a boy buuuut….I do happen to think girl clothes are so much cuter and I thought girl names would be easier. Ha…was I wrong. I think I am having a hard time because my husband insists we name the baby after his best friend who past away 2 years ago. When I was still hoping upon hope that it was a boy I was fine with that because his friends name was Jack. I told my husband I don’t think jack would come back to haunt us if we didn’t name a girl after him but I have to say I do admire my husband’s loyalty to his lost friend.

 For a girl you turn it into Jacklyn and there’s where the trouble begins. I think that will be her middle name but I’m having a hard time finding something I like that flows with it. and to tell the truth I’m having a hard time finding names I like regardless of what the middle name is. I have a name in mind but won’t announce it until I’m positive of what her name will be. We still have awhile to go so for now the hunt continues!!

It’s now obvious that I’m pregnant although some people still miss it. I had three people tell me at work last week they didn’t know I was pregnant, but I feel like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Although to their credit, scrubs are not the most form fitting or flattering things to wear, however they are comfortable!! In my regular clothes I feel like I’m already 6 months plus!!

 She is pointing to her self in this one...like "yea, it's me!"

 This is a 4D image of her with her hand at her face (probably with thumb in her mouth)

She is stretching out in this one...oh what a hard life ;-)

         I’m still waiting to feel her kick. So far I can only feel her on the inside. I know it’s her because of how my tummy tightens. It’s sooo cute.

            In other news, my husband bought a new puppy!! I know, what the hell he was thinking!! I have learned to support him instead of nagging him about things and so I support him on this. He has wanted one for a long time and the opportunity presented itself. Her name is Jazelle and she is fitting right in! In a short amount of time Capone has opened up to her and I think he realizes that it’s his job to be big brother. It’s too stinking sweet. By the time the baby get’s here she will be potty trained and I think it will be good for Capone to have someone to spend his time with since we will have our hands full with baby.

 6wks old

Lazy Bones!!

            Other than that things are going extremely well. My doctors are happy with everything and are keeping a watchful eye on me.

            I do need to get better at taking pictures but it’s hard to get excited about someone taking your picture when you feel like a whale.

Maternity Wear!!

Last week after taking my mother-in-law’s car for an oil change, I decided to go shopping since I was already in West Ashley.  When I was looking up where the dealership was on Savannah hwy, I noticed the map said there was a maternity boutique right around the corner so I decided to stop into that one. I walked in and saw a CUTE pair of jean. I looked at the price tag and was ready to walk right back out!! The jeans were $195!!! I wouldn’t spend on pre pregnancy jeans!! There was no way I was going to pay that for a pair of jean I’m only going to wear for a few months!!! I kept browsing anway so I didn’t seem rude (and also hoping I might find something closer to my price range) but after seeing a onesie for $40 and a stroller set for $900 I decided this wasn’t the store for me.

Next I decided to try the Citadel mall. I knew there was a maternity store there and although I am not as familiar with that I was determined to find this store.

All day at work my scrub pants were digging into my stomach. Not because they are too tight but because to hold them up I had to tie them tight to keep them on my waist. This was causing me (and baby) major discomfort. If they weren’t tied tight then my bottom was hanging out the back everytime I sat down or bent over, not very attractive.  I decided I needed a new pair of work pants. This was my intentions upon walking into the store.

Immediately after walking in a sales woman approached me and asked if I needed any help. I told her I was just browsing but thank you, she said no problem she would come back and check on me a little later. I always brush the sales people off, usually I know what I want and would rather not have them help. I noticed right off that these prices where more in my range so I started looking around at black pants. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to find any maternity scrub pants but I knew I should be able to find a pair of pants not too dressy and at the right price. I found a few but didn’t grab any to try on yet so I kept looking around. When the sales lady came back to check on me I explained what I was looking for and things took off from there!

She probably grabbed every black pant in the store!! She also gave me a belly band to try. As I have mentioned before I have never tried one of these and wasn’t sure I was going to like it but after she explained how to use it and that it could be used to hold up the pants I already had… I was in love!!!

With Taylor I was already wearing big baggy jeans and was trying to hide that I was pregnant. There were no shows like “16 and Pregnant” and I didn’t want everyone to know I was pregnant until I couldn’t hide it anymore. The point is, I never even went into a maternity store when I was pregnant with Taylor. I really didn’t know what to expect.

The sales lady was so nice and helpful! Of course I have been to plenty of others stores before but this was a more one on one experience! There was only one other person in the store and a different sales lady was helping her, so I had my sales lady all to myself!! It was like having a girlfriend there to tell me what looked good!! I was actually kind of sad that I didn’t bring my mom with me because I know she would have enjoyed it too! I ended up buying about $100 worth of stuff, which really isn’t a lot, but I didn’t want to go overboard and I knew I wanted to bring my mom with me next time so she can join in the fun!

All in all it was a great experience, I got a few great outfits and I cant wait to do it again!!

            This week I am 16 weeks. I am enjoying the crazy bursts of emotions. A week or so ago Jason and I went to the store. When we got home I took his food (it was packaged in a box) and set it on top trash. I was cheesing the whole time he was asking me where his food was so he knew something was up. When he found it he laughed and told me how silly I was. I literally laughed until I cried. I don’t mean just a few tears either, I was crying so hard my whole face was red and I needed a tissue! I was crying crying!! I had to walk away just so I would stop. Then, of course, he had something new to make fun of me for!

            Also today is Taylor’s birthday!!! I can’t believe she is 11yrs old!! She’s not my little baby anymore!! She is such a beautiful young girl! Her party isn’t until this weekend but we are all going out for her dinner tonight. She picked Wasabi’s (yummy!!) I am really excited to go spend her birthday with her! I am trying to do more things with her lately so she doesn’t feel left out when the baby comes! She is at such a wonderful age (those teenage hormones haven’t kicked in yet!) and I know she is going to be such a great big sister!

        I have another appointment tomorrow and I'm really hoping we find out what we are having!! I’ll try to post pictures soon. Both of Taylor and the new ultrasound we get tomorrow!!! Til then!

15 Weeks

This week we are at 15 weeks!! Next week we'll be 4 months!! Now we are the size of an orange! Last week we were the size of a lemon! I am still amazed at how fast this little one grows! Next week I have another doctor’s appt and hope to find out what if we are decorating with pinks or blues!! It might still be too early to tell but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Not a lot has happened in the last two weeks. I can still hide the baby belly if I want to, but gone are the days of no weight gain. Some days I feel super big and other days I don’t feel pregnant at all.  I haven’t gained much but every pound I gain now is a pound that’s going to have to come off later!!! In the next few weeks I am going to have to start looking into some new clothes, mostly jeans. 

 I’m also really anxious to start to feel the baby move. That should be happening in the next few weeks. Sometimes when I’m running around at work I’ll feel my stomach tighten and I know it’s the baby or I’ll be at home and get a weird feeling in my stomach and I’m sure it the little one but I’m ready to actually FEEL the baby moving! You know, when you put your hand on your belly and you feel that little kick underneath! I can still remember what it was like with Taylor and have even been having dreams of feeling the baby move!! I can’t wait!!

Also at my next appointment they’ll be checking me again to make sure my cervix is not thinning out or shortening. Since I had two procedures, one of which was the LEEP that took out pieces of my cervix to try to remove any cancer that may have been present, it has left me with a much thinner cervix than I had to start with. Sometimes with pregnancy (and bc of the procedures) the cervix will start thinning out or shortening much sooner than it should. If it does this and goes untreated then my cervix may not be able to hold the baby in, not good. Thankfully I have an awesome team of doctors looking after me and they’re on top of things. If they see my cervix thinning more than it should then I’ll have a cerclage done. Basically this is where they go in and sew the cervix shut so that baby doesn’t come out until the right time. At my last appointment I was measuring fine and was nowhere near the danger zone so hopefully things will stay that way. If not I’m confident that the doctors taking care of me and the little one will do what’s best to keep us safe!

I hope to have more pictures to post next week!!

Inbetween

This week I am 13 weeks and we are the size of a peach or a nutter butter depending on what site you look at. That seems like a big difference, the peach seems so big and nutter butters just makes me hungry!!  Oh I also got another ultrasound right after Christmas!! It is SO amazing seeing the changes just from the last time!! My next appointment is right after Taylor’s birthday at the end of the month.

In this one it looks like the baby is sucking 'his' thumb!!! Too stinkin cute!!!

This one is a 3D image which is why the baby looks like a little alien!! 'He' has one hand up by his eye (which is how I sleep) and the other at his mouth!! Love it!!!

*Jason and I say 'he' until we know for sure. My oh so funny husband drew an arrow pointing to the umbilical cord and wrote "its a boy" on the ultrasound...I was about to strangle him but couldn't stop laughing*

I love the pregnancy sites and counters!! Its actually very comforting being able to read what other women in the same stage of their pregnancy are going through and most of the time I feel the same way! I'm not the only one who feels bloated and wants to be in sweats all day!!

I am sooo happy to be moving into my second trimester. The first one was filled with a constant sick feeling. I actually never got sick, except the one time I ate a bad brownie, but the constant nausea is almost worse! I would have rather gotten sick and been done with it than feel that way all day long. With Taylor I was only sick for the first hour after I woke up. If I ate anything in that first hour it would come back up but after that I was fine for the rest of the day. This time around I was just miserable ALL the time.

Some people lose weight due to morning sickness, that defiantly hasn’t happened to me but I’m still not really gaining yet either, I’m not sure how that’s even possible considering how big I feel!!

I was at an ugly Christmas sweater party a few weekends ago and when we told people everyone I was pregnant they all said I didn’t look it yet… I sure did feel it though especially that day since my sweater felt tight!! Most days I feel like I’m already six months instead of a measly 3. Thankfully my clothes still fit but I am defiantly in the in between stage!! Things are starting to feel tighter and my mom said she noticed I was starting to have a little pooch on Christmas.

On most sites people suggests the belly band but with Taylor I went the rubber band route, (you know where you put a rubber band around your pant button and loop it back around lol the cheap way), and then went with maternity clothes when I was big enough. I haven’t started maternity shopping yet but I did treat myself to a pair of express jeans that were a size big. I figure I can wear them now and then again afterwards before I get the weight off. I also got a few tops too!!

I have noticed I am short of breath doing simple tasks but that’s another thing I’ve read that other women are also experiencing.. I find myself out of breath at work more often. I keep telling myself I’m going to work out but other than playing Taylor’s Just Dance game she got for Christmas I haven’t really been sticking to that (although that game will kick your butt)

The girls are certainly enjoying this pregnancy so far!!!!!! I’m going to have to make a stop in to VS soon if we keep up this pace!!!! Normally this would be great but I was already right where I wanted to be in that department. However that’s defiantly not something worth complaining about!! I know my husband has no complaints!!!!  

My friends (and husband) thoroughly enjoyed having a designated driver for New Year’s Eve. It was fun watching all the drunkos being the only one sober, I didn’t even do the champagne toast, everyone tells me one glass of wine wont hurt but I really don’t see the point nor want to risk them being wrong. We had a good time New Year ’s Eve but I’m not going to lie, I will be happy when I can have a glass of red wine again!

Things are coming along great and I am super excited to see what 2011 is going to bring!! I know there will be a lot of changes this year and I welcome them all!!

Hope everyone had fun and safe holidays and HAPPY 2011!!

10 Down 30 more to go!!

This week in my pregnancy:

We are at week 10 and are officially at fetus status which means “little one”
Hooray!!! We are now starting to look like a little baby with eyes lids, ears, fingers and toes instead of like a tadpole!!

I found a cool site that tells me this week:

The roller coaster of nausea may almost be over, but the roller coaster of emotions (happy, sad, crying, mad; and that's all in the last 30 seconds) is just revving up. Also the Baby's brain will make an incredible 25,000 new neurons every minute this week

The site also tells me we are now the size of a mondo Brazil nut which I like better than the prune (what the heck) that the baby counter on the right is showing. lol!!

10 Weeks Pregnant

I haven’t been feeling anywhere near as sick as I have the last month and I do think I’m starting with the crazy emotions. Lately as I’ve been on the way to work on the bus that takes us in, every little thing other people do annoys the heck out of me. I’ve been riding the bus for almost 6 yrs now and never have people gotten on my nerves so much!! Little things like constantly bumping my arm THE WHOLE RIDE IN while I’ve squished myself as close to the window as I possible can, I’m not even that big yet, or how bout the guy who pulled out a bag of potato chips and insisted on switching hands with the crinkly crunchy bag every two seconds on top of all the munching smacking sounds as he ate with his mouth wide open right in my ear. UGH makes me want to turn around and SCREAM an ear full to some of these people!!! Lol thankfully I have been able to hold it together…..so far ;-)

I am enjoying seeing how the baby is progressing. 10 years ago when I had Taylor I was 16 years old and didn’t get to relish in this kind of stuff!! I’m not even sure we had a computer yet back then!! And I was too busy being a teenager trying to finish high school to pick up a baby book. By this time I hadn’t even told my mom and was keeping the fact that I was pregnant hush hush. Once I did tell everyone they gave me the “you ruined your life speech” but I guess I showed them (*turning my nose in the air here, j/k)

Now everyone I tell is super excited and I’m having a lot of fun with it!! I have already starting looking at nurseries, which is another luxury I wasn’t able to take with Taylor.  Don’t get me wrong. Once everyone got over the initial shock that I was pregnant at 16 we all got excited, epically my mom and we got to do fun stuff like shop!!!

Taylor told me last night at the dinner table she’s glad she doesn’t have an old mom ;-) it was too cute!! Oh she has also told me I could have been on the show 16 and Pregnant…I just laughed and told her I could have STARTED that show and be making a nice living off it by now. She is being awesome of course! She hasn’t shown a lot of excitement just yet, but when she was sick a few weeks ago she didn’t want to kiss me because she was afraid she would get me sick. I think once I start showing more and we start shopping for a boy or girl it will become more tangible for her.

I’m starting to look at baby names and am having a tough time with it. We already had a girl named picked out before I even got pregnant. But we both feel like we need to be looking at boy names (hopefully I didn’t just jinx us) Thankfully there is still a long time to think about it, although I'm plenty ready to get this pregnancy show on the road!! I’m ready to be fat with a big baby belly and feel all the little kicks and punches that come with it! Of course I say that now and in a couple months I might be eating those words but oh well!!

Next week is Christmas (MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE) and the week after that I have my next appointment and ultrasound scheduled so until then I hope everyone has a Blessed and Happy Holidays!!!

Yay!!

This is my last week of class!!! Needless to say I am UBER excited!!! It has been a LONG 2 years!!! And in less than a week I will be done with my Bachelor’s degree!!! This last semester I have been super busy and stressed. I have done nothing but focus on finishing. I unwisely waited till this last semester to do TWO CLEPS!! One in Marketing and one in Biology let me tell you they were no walk in the park!! My goal has been on finishing this semester and this degree. Everything else has been on the back burner. I haven’t read anything other than school books, I haven’t been on fb so much, and I haven’t been blogging…none of that! The only thing I have made time for these last few months was family and school!! It feels good to be able to get back into doing recreational things, like reading a good book!!!

This whole time I have been working on this degree I have been telling myself, ‘this is it, no more school ever after this’ I said the same thing when I was going for my Associates. Of course I may have spoken too soon. I’m already thinking about going back to school. I haven’t made up my mind yet but I have been thinking about it. We’ll see. If everything is set up like I want I may only be getting a month or so off of school. If I have learned anything it’s that no matter what I can do it. I might not like it, but I can do it.

            On another note, no new baby news yet. I’m not feeling as nauseous as I was so that’s good but that’s about the only change. I still don’t FEEL pregnant most of the time. My next appointment with the doctor is at the end of December and hopefully we will be getting another ultrasound. I can’t wait!!!

Holiday Mail for Heroes and Kid's Helping Kid's Holiday Cards!!

Holiday Mail for Heroes 2010 is here!!

Actually it started was Nov. 11th on Veteran's day. Unfortunately I just found out about it and only have 2 days to get my card in!!
This is the 4th year they have done this!
Cards can be sent to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD
20791-5456

Or you can go to their website  and make a donation and get one of their cards to send.

I think am going to send one of my own. I just bought a pack of the MUSC children's holiday cards that gives 100% of their proceeds to the children's hospital, and I can't wait to use them!!!

How awesome is that, to be able to touch a stranger's life for the holiday and hopefully make them smile!!  

Here is the info on the Children's Hospital Holiday cards.

They are too sweet!! They are part of the Children's hospital holiday card project Kid's Helping Kid's.

The pack of cards are only $15 for a pack of 16 and all of the pictures are awesome! There are two different packs you can purchase and each one has amazing drawings in it! The cards are on sale until Dec. 31st.