Pregnancy Quiz...Stolen from Hillary! :)

How far along are you: 36 weeks 3 days (sorry for the poor photography skills...no husband to take the picture and everytime I tried to turn off the flash it would automatically turn itself back on...so I gave up..this is as good as it gets at this point people...haha)

Maternity Clothes? Well...yes however the shirt I have on in this picture is not maternity and while I know I am stretching it to the brim...it is still comfortable and that is what matters most to me right now. Although most of the other clothes I wear are all maternity.

Sleep? HAHAHAHAHAHA! What is that? I know that my body is preparing me for what lies ahead however...peeing 14 times in one night is a bit rediculous don't you think? At least I am getting used to not sleeping before little man arrives though!

Best Moment this week? Relaxing as much as possible. Although I am getting really bored with this moderate bed rest stuff...it has been nice to relax. I got so bored today that I printed color by numbers off the internet to try and entertain myself...HAHAHA...I suppose that is the teacher in me coming out...either that or the complete craziness of cabin fever!

Movement: Oh yes...he is having a party in my belly...it is a little scary looking sometimes!

Gender: OH BOY!

Labor Signs: Yep...as of Tuesday...3+ cm dilated and 80% effaced, intensifying contractions and well I wont go into anymore detail...Unfortunately for me...only being at 36 weeks does not allow me the fun of walking into the hospital and saying...TAKE HIM OUT! I am just going with the flow..he will come when he is ready! :)

Stretch Marks: NOPE! :)

Belly Button in or out: SIGH...Out...but it is better than the stretch marks!

Cravings/Aversions: My only two aversions left right now are steak and the smell of make-up. Cravings as of this week...still Icees and for the first time in a long time...Chic-Fil-A waffle fries (something not so healthy as opposed to my carrot, apple and eggplant craving the entire pregnancy)

What I miss: My pre-pregnancy jeans. I have never gone this long when the weather has turned without my fave pair of jeans...maybe before winter is over I will be able to squeeze into them for a day or two...here's to dreaming! Oh yeah and Advil liqui-gels...those things kill a headache in a minute and man what I would give for two to kill this headache I have now...haha!

What I am looking forward to: Well let's see...LITTLE MAN being HERE...I suppose he could come any day now but although his daddy and I cannot wait to meet him, we know he could stand a little more time inside...but patience is getting harder and harder to come by especially with nothing to do but sit around the house!

Weekly Wisdom: Blogging has helped me feel so much better about everything that is happening right now...why did I stop doing this for so long?? And also...I love my husband more than anything in this world...he has been the most supportive person throughout this entire pregnancy and just when I think he is going to crack...he steps up and does something even more amazing than he has before! He has been through just as much as I have these past months yet puts me first over everything else! LOVE HIM! :)

Milestones: Finishing the nursery. I will post pictures in my next blog...got to keep you coming back for something! :)

Week 32

This was at 32 weeks pregnant. Definitely getting bigger...

(excuse the nearly make-up less face, one of my pregnancy aversions was the smell of any type of make-up...SORRY)

Week 22

Here is a picture of my belly at 22 weeks pregnant...

Pictures from the past 8 months...

So I am finally uploading some pictures to this blog...lets face it...words without pictures are no fun! I am going to group the photos in a few different entries so that it doesnt get to be to much...and because well...I like them to be organized in categories...NESTING MUCH?? The following pictures are from our trip to Atlanta in September. We went down to visit Caleb's dad and to go to the Dolphins/Falcons game. We were supposed to win that game but well...haha!

The trip was great; however the Falcons fans are TERRIBLE! I guess they dont call it the dirty south for nothing...and by dirty I mean...trying to kick a pregnant woman down the stairs as we were exiting the stadium. Oh well...he and his alcohol induced stuper missed and there was no harm done...Never again will I attend a game in Atlanta though.

Outside the Stadium (This was our little man's first NFL game...he enjoyed himself but not the outcome...haha)

Unfortunately...this is what the Falcons did to the Fins...BOOO!

View from out seats

Finding Out: Boy or Girl??

At week 18, we had an appointment to find out the sex of our baby. Of course, our doctor was out on her own maternity leave so we started our rotation through the practice at that appointment (two weeks earlier than usual). I was a little nervous because I had grown to like Dr. Ross so much that I didnt really want to have a different doctor for such a big appointment. We sat in the waiting room with huge smiles on our faces anticipating what we would find out. I looked at my cell phone to see what time it was and noticed that I had missed a call from the doctor's office. I looked at Caleb as I listened to the voicemail and my heart sank. After all we had just been through with my sickness, we were told in the voicemail that the U/S tech was sick and we would have to reschedule the U/S part of the appointment. WHAT???? This cannot be happening! My poor husband was so excited to find out if he would get his wish for a boy and now we would have to reschedule for another time??
We were called back to see Dr. Horvath and I cracked while we were in the exam room. I told her how excited we were about finding out and begged her to see if there was something she could do to help us out. Although she was on call and had a lot on her schedule, she did take the time to "try" and do the u/s for us. Because of the baby's position, she was unable to give a definite answer and we were left with a 60% chance that it was a boy but no guarantees. We were so disappointed but knew that we would find out sooner or later. Luckily for us it was sooner...the doctor's office called us about an hour later and said that the U/S tech decided to come in for a half day and that they had put me first on her schedule! HOW NICE IS THAT! We were elated again and just a few short hours later we were viewing our second U/S and there across the screen we saw...OH BOY! We were both so excited and in the fashion of many first time parents to be...went immediately to the store to pick out our new baby boys wardrobe! Ok Ok so we went a little overboard but I am happy to say that 3/4 of the clothes that are in our baby boy's closet today have been gifts that we are very grateful for!! :)
I cannot upload pictures from my laptop because my camera cord is missing however I can upload from the card on our desktop. I will work on getting pictures of me and the nursery up in the next few days. :)

Let the Next Phase of Pregnancy Begin

I cannot even begin to explain to you how miserable I was during the next phase of pregnancy. When we found out we were pregnant we were so happy and all I kept hearing was about how wonderful being pregnant was. Umm...I dont know what planet these pregnant people were from but starting in week 7, I was MISERABLE. I had heard about morning sickness but why it is called that is beyond me. Sure I was sick in the morning, but I was also sick at noon and night. There was no such thing as relief. I would think I found something to help cure the constant nausea and vomiting but my body would quickly say..."GUESS AGAIN". I remember laying on the floor of the bathroom sobbing that I did not know how I would get through it. My sweet husband just sat there rubbing my head promising that I would get through it and to just think about the baby that would come from all this sickness. While that was comforting and I know once I am holding my son I will say those words, " I would do it all over again", in that moment on the bathroom floor, I wanted to curl up and die!
I spent two tours in the hospital with what they call hyperemesis of pregnancy. It can best be defined as HELL! Not only for me but my husband as well. He stayed with me each night in the hospital on the uncomfortable chair/bed with nurses in and out all night and then would get up at 5:30 am and go to work just to do it all over again the next night. My doctor assured me that once I got to week 12, things would get better but I reminded her that this was me and not most women. This nightmare continued all the way through week 17. I do not have many pictures to upload from this time in my pregnancy because most of it was spent horizontal in the bed or sitting with my head hanging over the toilet.
I can tell you that I did learn a few things from this experience that I will take with me forever...
1. My husband is the most amazing man in the world.
2. When people say "WE are pregnant" they truly mean it. For example, sure, I am carrying the baby in my belly but my husband is sticking by me every step of the way. He is gaining the weight that I am losing because I cannot stand the smell of ANY food in my house.
3. Whoever said being pregnant is pure bliss...LIED!
4. Even though I learned number 3 the hard way...and will probably give my body a long break before we even discuss having another baby, I know that everything we went through will pay off big time in just a few short weeks (or less at this point). :)

Remember Me?

Ok so I told myself that I would keep up with this blog and look where that got me. My last update was around 8 months ago and funny enough, I am 35 weeks (entering my ninth month) pregnant! I figure I will use this entry (and the next few following) to recap the past 8 months and then continue to update on the pregnancy from this point on (yes I am serious this time...haha).
So I suppose I should start at the beginning...enter Monday April 13th, 2009. I was home "sick" from work. We had just spent the weekend with friends and I thought that I had come down with the stomach flu. I felt crumby the entire weekend and then Sunday night started getting sick to my stomach. I had also been really emotional but thought that it was because I was so sick. Caleb thought otherwise. Mondays are Caleb's day off from work and he went out to get me some "ginger-ale and crackers". He did NOT come home with either but instead presented me with a pregnancy test. I laughed at him but took it just to make him happy. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the BFP! I called Caleb upstairs and he thought I was playing a trick on him for not getting me the ginger-ale and crackers I had asked for...umm negatory sweet husband...this is FOR REAL!
We were somewhat in shock as we had not been trying to get pregnant. Our "plan" was to wait at least another year to make sure that finances were secure however that went out the window immediately when we saw that positive. We were both so excited but cautious about it because we knew that it needed to be confirmed by a doctor.
Fast forward to April 23. We are sitting in the doctor's office waiting to meet our new OB. In walks Dr. Ross...I immediately knew we were in the right place. After going through the basic procedures, she called Caleb into the exam room and our first ultrasound took place. The exact words out of Dr. Ross' mouth were "And we have...a baby with a heartbeat". I looked over at the screen and while we did not hear the heartbeat we could see the flicker of our baby's heart right there on the screen! We were both so EXCITED. Dr. Ross spent a long time answering every question that you could ever imagine and we were on our way...complete with our baby's first picture! We both just smiled the entire drive to the hospital to visit Caleb's grandpa who had just had heart surgery. We decided we were going to wait to tell family for a few more weeks until the risk of miscarriage had decreased...guess again....we didnt make it an hour before we spilled the beans!
As we were walking into the hospital...Caleb's dad and aunt were walking out. We smiled at them both and when Caleb's dad gave me a hug...he said..."You are pregnant". Come again...did he really just say that to me...HOLY S*** how did he know that? I did not answer him until we got back to his grandpa's house later where both Caleb and I could tell him together. I called my parents on the way home to tell them. They were elated! We decided to wait to tell the rest of the family after a little more time had gone by but at that moment....
We were 6 weeks and 2 days pregnant and life was GOOD! :)