23 Weeks

I had a Dr's appointment today.  I love Dr. appointment days :)
I love to hear that little stinker's heartbeat.  It was 152 bpm today.  I got some good news too.  At my last appointment, he had a blood draw done to titer the Anti M in my blood.  It came back negative for it, so I guess it's such a low level, it's not even showing up.  So yay!  He told me the right thing to do is to continue to watch it but if it was going to be a problem, that number would probably be increasing, not decreasing.  So hopefully it continues to be almost non-existent.

He measured me to be 25 weeks, so I'm measuring a little big for my due date.  But I'm trying to take that with a grain of salt and not be hopeful that I'm any further along than what we planned.  I really believe the dates we have are correct.

I only gained 2 pounds over the last month so WOOT WOOT!  Proud of myself for that one.

We may have picked out a name. It's a name we both like and the more I think about it the more I like it.  Nate's not 100% sold but he does like it.  I told him that I am done looking for any other names but if he wants to suggest something else, I'd be open to hearing it.  But if he doesn't bring anything else up, well then, I know what our little boy will be named.  :)   :)

Also, I bought his going home from the hospital outfit today.  AAAWWWWWWW.  So cute.

22 Weeks

Baby boy's movements are getting much stronger.  I have felt him from the outside several times now.  A couple of days ago the girls were laying in bed with me were their hands on my bare belly trying to feel a kick.  As patient as they were being, it never did happen.  I explained to them that he can hear our voices now, so Alayna was yelling, "Kick on the right!" since her hand was on the right side of my belly.  Hopefully they will get to experience that very soon.  Movements are also getting higher though a lot of the squirmies are still low too.
*****************************************
Last week I had 2 strangers ask about my pregnancy so that made me feel very noticeably pregnant.
*****************************************
Still no name and we are no closer than we were 2 weeks ago.  WHY is it so hard to come up with boy names!?
*****************************************
I had the girls at the store the other day and we were randomly browsing down the toy aisle.  While they were oohing and aahing over the baby dolls, the little toy trucks caught my eye.  I stood there thinking about how I'm going to have those to pick up off my living room floor now too.  It's so crazy to think about.  It's fun though because it's all so new to me.  I've been browsing clearance racks whenever I get a chance so I can get some good deals with out-of-season clothing.  On Sunday I purchased this too cute orange shirt with a monster on it.  An orange shirt with a monster on it.   After 5 years of pinks, purples, princesses, leggings, skirts and dresses, let me tell you it feels SO strange to buy a shirt with a monster on it.

20 Weeks

Well I'm officially halfway through this pregnancy!  That's an important milestone in my book. 

Over the last week I have been thinking pretty much non-stop on what it will be like to have a little boy in our house.  I am just soooo excited!  I'm trying hard not to wish away the pregnancy because I enjoy being pregnant for the most part.  Also, Alayna will be starting kindergarten a couple of short weeks after the baby is born and I am most definitely not hoping for that time to get here any sooner than it has to.
*************************************
We are struggling big time on names.  We have officially started a list but I'm not 100% sold on any of the names.  Oddly, all of the names on the list so far are names that I have picked. Yet they are all just "okay" to me at this point.  They are all names I could be talked into if Nate was head over heels for one of them.  I feel like a name should just jump out at me.  One that I love right from the start but so far I'm falling short.  In fact, a few times I have really liked a name, sold Nate on it and then the more he likes it, I start back pedaling and change my mind.  It's such a hard decision.
**************************************
I'm still tired and wondering if I'll ever gain some energy back.  Alayna has pretty much outgrown her nap at this point. However during nap time, I let her watch a movie while I snooze on the couch.
**************************************
This 70-80 degree weather has been kind of a tease.  It's making me feel like I'm closer to my due date than I actually am.  Since my due date is August 5th, the dead of summer, it's making me feel like it could be at least June.  But nope - it's not even April.
**************************************
I felt the baby move from the outside the night of the ultrasound.  I was lying flat in bed on my back with my hand on my belly.  He was wriggling around and I felt a very soft movement on the outside.  It was real low, about bikini line area.  He's moving more and more but it doesn't feel like kicks so much yet, more just him squirming around.
**************************************
Tonight we tried to fit all 3 carseats in the back of the Subie.  But, just as I suspected, it's a big fat no go.  It's not even going to "kind of" work. So on to plan B.  Okay, we don't have a plan B.
I guess I try to find seats that are narrower than what we have  I don't know.  Otherwise we strap a kid to the top of the vehicle as Nate suggested.

Ultrasound Day

The much anticipated ultrasound day finally arrived today.  And what a wonderful day it has been.   Today we found out that we are being blessed with a baby boy!  We cannot believe that we are actually capable of making a baby boy.  Although I was hopeful for a boy, there was a part of me that believed I was just a girl mommy.  So we were absolutely thrilled when the ultrasound lady said, "this is a baby boy" with confidence.  WOW!  I'm sooo excited!  He measured perfectly and looks healthy which is so reassuring to hear as well. Right now the baby is breech but Dr. S says he has plenty of time to turn.  And if he doesn't then, "we'll just figure out a way to make him turn."  His heartbeat was 148 during the ultrasound.  I wish I could have an ultrasound at every visit.  It's so fun to watch the baby moving around.  He was really moving around the whole time.  The ultrasound tech joked that we'd have our hands full with this little mover.  I believe she said he weighed 10 ounces and is 6 inches long from the top of his head to the bottom of his behind (not including the legs).

All in all we had a wonderful day together. The four of us really enjoyed this beautiful day.  65 degrees outside and sunny, a perfect day! 

Celebratory lunch at Ruby Tuesdays

I wonder if he'll look like Daddy?

After lunch we went to Babies R Us to purchase our very first boy item.  It felt so foreign being in the boy section, but totally fun!!  I loved looking at everything.  We ended up picking out this onesie that came with camo pants of course!

And we couldn't stop there.  We went to Rural King to buy dog food but I, of course, had to browse through the kids clothing. I found this adorable onesie and had to buy it too.

OH  - THIS IS GOING TO  BE FUN!

18 Weeks

I'm feeling the baby move for sure at this point.  It turns out that I never had a defining moment where I knew for sure.  But rather it ended up being a lot of "I think that could have been it" moments that evolved into, "Yep that was definitely it!"  You would think that the third time around I would know for sure right away when I felt it, but I just didn't.  It just happens so fast and then it's over.  Right now during the day I may feel a little nudge once or twice.  That at night, after the girls go down for the night and I kick back in my recliner, that's when the baby seems to get the most active.  I love love love the feeling!  I even loved it last night at 1:30 in the morning when Clara got up out of bed and I walked her back to her room. Baby was very active when I got back in bed.

I had a surprise "extra" visit to the Dr. last week.  We had gone to a water park the weekend prior and I was having a lot of discomfort followed by what I would swear to be leaking amniotic fluid.  Turns out the leaking I experienced was because I either peed my pants a little or some leftover water from those water slides leaked out.  And the discomfort was more than likely overuse of muscles as I was climbing rope ladders and riding doubles with Clara down one of the slides.  So anyway, I did get to hear the heartbeat and it was 135.  The nurse practitioner predicted a boy.

Speaking of predictions - it's time to make your official prediction because next Tuesday, the 13th, is our ultrasound!!!!  I am sooooo excited.  A little anxious too.  I am #1 hopeful that the baby is healthy and all is well.  Then #2 I am hopeful the baby cooperates and shows us what it is.   I get so excited thinking about finding out that it's either one, boy or girl - I just want to know and cannot believe it's only a week away!

So be watching for the announcement coming soon!

16 weeks

Things have been going pretty good since the last time I wrote.  I feel like a little energy has returned but I say that with caution.  I actually had enough energy to walk on the treadmill a couple of times last week  BUT I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still taking regular naps.  My nausea is almost non-existent at this point. Last week I went to get my hair done and when I walked into the salon, there was a pot of coffee brewing and it smelled fabulous!!  That made me very happy to enjoy that smell once again.
But now onto the complaints.  I have so many headaches.  Looking back on my pregnancy journal for Clara, I complained about them at this time with her too.  So I guess this is normal for me.  Whatever normal is.
I'm still longing for that defining moment of knowing for sure that I have felt the baby move.  There have been a few instances that I thought maybe I felt a little something.  But nothing definite yet.  I'm trying to be patient and I keep telling myself that maybe tomorrow will be the day.  I would just love the reassurance of feeling that.
I change my mind daily on the gender of the baby.  I really cannot decide what I think we are having.  We also haven't talked about names too much.  Nate and I have a history of never agreeing on a boy name.  So to save any fights or headaches, we are waiting to start the discussions until after we find out what it is.  No sense in going there if we don't need too. 
Until next time!

14 weeks - Do you want a boy this time?

Let's be honest, if you haven't asked me this question personally, I know you are thinking it.  I get it it. It's a perfectly understandable question.  But it's not one that I can answer a simple yes or no to.  So I will try my best to explain.
Nate and I decided to start and family and one day were blessed with a baby girl.  Then there was never really a decision to be made about whether or not to have another after that.  It was more of a question of when. We always knew we wanted at least two.  Well then after having our second baby there was an actual decision to be made.  Do we or don't we?  We obviously love the thought of adding a son to our family. Something totally different and fun.  However when deciding to have a 3rd, we had to ask ourselves, would we be okay with having three girls?  No wait, not just would it be "okay" but would we love and embrace our lives having 3 daughters?  (insert some reservations when we are pondering our lives with 3 girls ages 16, 14, and 11)  However,  when we were both able to conclude yes, than that was our answer. I truly feel that children are a gift from God and I have faith in knowing that He chooses the perfect child for our family.  So I'm trying really hard to not get hung up on wanting one or the other but rather just waiting to see what the right fit for us is.
Now having said all of that.  I do hope that God feels a boy is what we need.  But if it's another girl - I will embrace without looking back because I know God knows best.  What is crazy exciting to think about is that it is already one or the other.  Well that was determined at conception.  But what I really mean is that I read in my pregnancy book that at 14 weeks the baby is fully formed, now things just have to mature and grow - lots!  So "the new littlest" has it's parts and hopefully it will reveal it's parts on ultrasound day.  Until then I will just keep trying to figure out the easiest way to answer that question, because I would bet my left hand that I will get asked again.  And again.
**********************************************
I had my 14 week Dr.s appointment today.  I got to hear the heartbeat only just briefly because the little bugger was apparently moving around a lot. So as soon as it would register on the Doppler, it would go away shortly thereafter. It was super sweet to hear, I could listen to that thumping all day long.  It was 146.  Dr. S reviewed with me that I have an unusual antibody in my blood - Anti M it's called.  It will require me to have more frequent blood draws to make sure I don't start producing a lot more or it could adversely affect the baby.  He didn't seemed overly concerned, so I will try not to be as well
I got to schedule my next appointment which will be ultrasound day - YAY!  It's slated for March 13th.
************************************************
I felt something in my lower abdomen that may have been more than gas.  I won't swear to it, but I felt that distinct feeling twice last night and then once on the way to the Dr. this morning.