First baby kicks

Yesterday, at a few days shy of 19 weeks along, we had our check up. In our Centering Pregnancy class right afterwards, one topic we were talking about is how to know if what your feeling is baby kicks or just grumbles or gas. I have not felt anything yet and was starting to get worried. It was a real relief to hear the heartbeat and know baby is perfectly fine. Our NP (Nurse Practitioner) also measured the uterus for the first time and it was 20. And yep, I also asked if there was any way to get an ultrasound any sooner and as luck would have it, I get to be a Ginny Pig and let some hospital residents practice on doing ultrasounds and taking good photos. Since they are students, they get to use the really good machines and since figuring out genders is something they need to learn, I bet we can find out what we are having then. That is going to happen in the beginning of October. We have one more month to wait until our checkups and class will be every two weeks. I really look forward to them so I am super happy.

Later last night, as I was cooking dinner, I felt pressure like a gas bubble (with lack of better words) in my lower abdomen that quickly went away.  Then I felt the same pressure move a little ways from one side of my abdomen to the other, for a total of an inch or two. Nothing dramatic but gas has never felt that way. I think it was baby moving/kicks. I also felt the same sort of quick pressures today. I think I will know for sure in the next couple weeks of what I am feeling is indeed baby. But I am pretty sure it was and it put a huge smile on my face. I just stopped cooking right there and just focused on that feeling. It was so surreal.

Some not so good news I got at our check up is my one hour glucose test I took a few days earlier came back abnormal. So this morning, my wonderful husband sat with me at the hospital for four and a half hours while I got my blood drawn every hour. I had to fast since yesterday, and drink a glucose drink when I got there. Being pregnant and hungry while getting blood drawn every hour was not fun. It was all to test for gestational diabetes. But as soon as I was free, we went out to lunch and I have never ate so fast in my life. I needed food.. and now! I am going to call on Monday and see what the results were. Just hoping for the best and that's all you can do.
I have had hypoglycemia since I was 19. I started shaking real bad, sweating, getting a real hunger for food, and almost passed out while driving during my very first "episode" and when I went to the doctor, that's what they said it was without doing any tests. But I have blood sugar crashes all the time and now that I am pregnant, it was time to check for diabetes. I have to say I wasn't surprised when my one hour test came back abnormal.

8 month old, pooch!

Gunyr is 8 months old. Where did my little puppy go? He is huge but still has that baby face that I can't say no to. He knows so many words, phrases, and commands that its crazy. He loves his car rides, his nearly 5 days of the week at the dog park, his cookies (we get at Petco), and his walks. He has been such a blessing. Him and Bunker both. I can't imagine not having them in our family. Its so cute when Gunyr gets in trouble, Steve once told Gunyr to come and when he didn't, Steve started counting like he was talking to a child. By the time he got to three, he just stopped and said "uh, why in the heck am I counting?" We laughed about that for days. He is ready for daddy-hood.
Here are a few links of videos I put up on our YouTube of Gunyr. He has grown so much and, as you can see in the videos, loves his Frisbee.
Dog Park fun
Frisbee fun

There are more then this up as well as videos of sweet Tubbles and Bunker. I just don't have the patience to share each one on our blog as well so please go check out our home videos if you are interested.

 

Keeping Busy

I have been trying my best to stay busy these last few weeks. Time goes by so slow when my husband is at school. I took a knitting class at Joann Fabrics, and then decided that Sewing is something that I really want to get good at before the end of the year so I am taking a online class with Craftsy. If you don't know what Craftsy is all about and you want to learn to sew, knit or any sort of craft, you have to check it out. I did a class with the instructor Diana Rupp and between the class and her book, I have learned so much. Nothing has taught me more about sewing then the Sew Everything Workshop book. I love it. Its a beginners must have. My first project was a pillow with french seams for our recliner and I am now working on a skirt. yes! A SKIRT! I never thought I would be able to go past cat beds and other square easy to sew things.. but here I am constructing clothes. I am really excited and learning to sew has been such a goal of mine. I am feeling pretty accomplished.

Soon I will be making, and showing off, some baby things that I will have made. But first we have to find out if we are having a baby boy or girl. Its a real bummer because we could find out right now through an ultrasound but the soonest the ultrasound techs could get us in is middle of October. I will be about 25 weeks along. We really don't want to wait that long so I am going to ask my doctor during our monthly check up tomorrow if there is any way we could get a peek and see if she can see the gender. She may not be able to, but its worth it to ask.

I am now 18 weeks along and my energy has really picked back up. Thank the Lord. Can you believe I will be half way done with this pregnancy in two weeks?! Just crazy but amazing. I am fully back to maintaining my home without help from hubby. But he still tries to help out and I am so grateful for him. He is loving being a daddy-to-be. He talks to the belly bump and loves to touch it. He tells the baby stories at night and always makes sure every craving is fulfilled. Its so sweet. Being pregnant and having this experience is probably is most amazing thing that could happen to a women.

My cravings as of lately have included Dunkin Donuts, Quiznos, and anything Pumpkin flavored. I am really excited for the Fall season and starting to really get into the season's flavors. Starbucks makes the best Pumpkin latte, so I am eagerly waiting for that to come out.
We also took a photo of the belly at 18 weeks. Can you see any change? Hubby says he can but I was expecting more of a dramatic change then this in three weeks. But I know the growth starts to slow down right about this time so I bet its perfectly normal.. just paranoid and always want reassurance that baby is perfectly healthy.

More news and updates on baby soon.

Growing belly

Since I was so sick, I wasn't able to take any belly photos starting at 12 weeks (when I started showing) like I wanted to. I am now in my second trimester at 14 weeks (which seems absolutely crazy to me) and finally got around to taking one. I also took one at 5 weeks soon after we found out we were expecting so I am happy to have a "before" photo to compare to.

This last week I also started the Centering Pregnancy class at the hospital (where my doctors office is), and so instead of doing actual doctors visits, we go right in to the centering room (no need to check in) and have some healthy snacks layed out for us, do our appointment/check ups with a nurse practitioner, and a class about a new topic on pregnancy and/or being a new mom. Its with a group of women due in the same month as me along with their spouses or significant others. I loved the class. It was so informative. We even get a notebook where we record everything so the NP and I both have the same information. The book also has even more information for the topics we go over and is such a good resource.
It was the first class and we learned a lot about nutrition and some relaxation techniques. Its once a month for now, (until we all get in to our third trimesters and will be in much more often) right after our checkups. In one of the classes coming up, we are going to be taking a tour of Labor and Delivery and see where we will be having our babies. I am very excited for that.

Some highlights-

• I have lost weight instead of gained
• Baby's heart rate is 150 bpm

Now that I am in the second trimester, I have noticed a bit more energy (no more naps for me), and the gagging is rare too. I am very happy to say that I did not puke once. I hope all my pregnancies are the same way. I have cravings on a daily basis now but I try to stay as healthy as possible in my eating habits. Subway and Wawa subs have been a constant in our home since I have not had the energy to cook. But I do need to give my husband some credit and say he has picked up the slack. He has been cooking, cleaning and keeping me off my oh-so sore feet and back as much as possible. Just standing while doing a load of dishes will make my back really ache. I have read its from weak abs, and now a growing uterus. Steve has been wonderful and I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband. At the moment, he is on summer vacation from school and has been home 24/7 with me. He no longer works as a security guard because of an incident that happened where he was at the wrong place at the wrong time and got punished for protecting himself but that's all I can say about that.

Steve starts fall semester next week and I will be back to being by myself for most of the week since he goes full time. I am dreading it. I have been so needy. I no longer work from home either. We decided it was time to stop working and start transitioning to stay at home Mommy, but I love it and so excited to be just that for our baby. It was just too stressful on me and it was time to move on but it was such a good experience. I am so blessed and thankful to be able to stay home and just focus on Homemaking and being available to my husband and baby. Its a true gift from God.

Although it will be lonely again during the week, I am happy that he is excited for school. We just got him a new computer for school and did school supply shopping today. We took the photo above on our way out to go pick every thing up. It was such a fun beautiful day. Brings back memories of how excited I would get for back to school shopping as a kid. Although I don't remember it being this hot still so late in August. Mondays will be the worst since he has class all day.. literately- from 8 in the morning until 10 at night. His classes are spread out so he does have a few hours in between classes but since its a bit of a drive there, we decided to just have him stick around and catch up on homework or whatever at the school library. I sure will miss his constant presence, the way it feels it would make some people think he was leaving for a long time..like he was deploying again or something. ha. I feel like I will never see him anymore. But I will manage to keep busy. I actually just bought some books on the kindle store that I have been eagerly waiting to read. Two of them are The Good Wife's Guide by Darlene Schacht and Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert by Erin Odom. So, I have been spending a lot of time on my tablet since last night... but I have learned so much already. We are definitely doing cloth diapers for our baby. Once you see the price difference, the health benefits, and how easy they are to manage, its hard not to. Plus they are super cute.

I also got some cleaning to do so that will help Monday go by quicker too. My wonderful husband has pretty much taken over everything during the first trimester since I have been so exhausted and when he starts school, I am taking back over. I am cooking his breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time since he will be gone all day. He said he has missed his wife and you can't fully appreciate how much someone does for you until you have to do it yourself.. How sweet, right? He is ready to hand the reigns back over to me. He does not like to cook or clean at all. But I am excited to have more energy and get back to my homemaking duties. I love cleaning and making sure he has healthy meals. We have eaten out so much lately (since he didn't want to cook and I don't blame him at all) that I am starting to get sick of subway.. which I didn't even think was possible.

Well, we have our second ultrasound coming up soon and apparently, its with a new high-tech machine so expect some good pictures of Baby Cox soon.. and hopefully a gender reveal soon as well.
We both think its a boy. My mom had boys first as well as Steve's mom. We also think it could be a boy because Steve's mom didn't puke in any of her pregnancies with her boys but she did with her girls... but my mom didn't puke with any of her pregnancies at all so its really hard to tell. Oh, and sure its just for fun but it has known to be true, but the Chinese gender predictor says its a boy. Its going to be real interesting to find out. When I picture the baby, I see a boy.

First Appointment

I had our first appointment and it was not as easy as I thought. I was notified beforehand that I would have a pelvic exam and pap smear on the first appointment. I have never had either before and I really wasn't to worried about it since all I kept hearing is that all I would feel is discomfort. I can handle discomfort.. just not pain. I do not handle pain well.
They had me change in to a gown and I was really starting to feel nervous at that point. I wasn't going to have my husband stay in the room during the exam but when the doctors came in, they sort of went right in to it so he sort of sat back and had to listen to it all.
I thought it would be really quick but the doctor could not get these uncomfortable medal things in place. It was so painful. I tried my best to just relax and breath but it was unbearable. I started crying and she had the other doctor take over since she couldn't get it. Turns out my cervix is posterior (farther back then normal) so I had to bring my knees to my chest for him to get it in. After that, I couldn't even feel it. Sorry if this is TMI, but I am just trying to record all the memories.
I was planning on doing a home birth.. like, I was all for it. I was looking around for midwives and was 100% going to do a water birth at home. Water is my healing element. But after the pain I went through with just a pap smear, I know now that I don't have the pain tolerance for it. I really don't handle pain well so I have decided to just go with the traditional hospital delivery. It makes me sad to think about because I wanted a water birth so bad. I wish I was stronger.

After it was over, they did a few other things like feeling how big the uterus was and then we finally got to the ultrasound. My husband came to my side and tried to comfort me the best he could but I was still a bit in shock to how painful it really was. But when she flicked on the ultrasound and we got to see our bouncing little baby, everything else didn't matter. He or she was using its legs to jump off the uterus wall again and again. He/she looked happy and comfortable in there. He/she would turn like they were turning in bed to get comfortable. It was so cute. I just love this little baby so much. The baby has brought our little family so much joy. My Mom is so excited that she has the ultrasound picture as her phone's screen photo. Steve's family is really excited too. This is Steve's mom first grand baby and she loves getting all the new updates. Its awesome having people as excited as you.

We are so blessed to have such a supporting family.

Our sweet little baby

On the photo, you can see that they measured the baby to try and get the most accurate due date and what not. They did a few and all the dates are within a week. They decided to go with 12 weeks 2 days but I think that is a little bit off since I know my conception date and know I was 12 weeks 5 days. But the dates are super close so its not too big of a deal. I am just going to go with the due date they gave me which is February 19 2014.

Bed bound

It has been a few weeks since I have blogged at all. I have been so sick. Weeks of having a fever, swollen neck, sore throat, headaches and throbbing head. A few days ago, I went to the emergency room because I was getting worse and being pregnant, it really worried me. Turns out, whatever I have is viral and I just have to rest it out. But they did give me a prescription for liquid Tylenol for my fever. For days afterward, I had to take the medicine every six hours on the dot it seemed to keep the fever down.. it would not just go away. It was scary.
But, while at the emergency room, I got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. It was surreal and made this pregnancy completely real for me. I fell in love with that baby right at that moment. Its all I thought about for days afterwards. I went in to full mommy mode.

I am feeling better now and actually have my first appointment with my new Ob/Gyn tomorrow. First baby checkup and I am so excited. Steve is too. He was in the waiting room when I got to hear the heartbeat so he is excited to hear it tomorrow.

Pregnancy Exhaustion

Ive said it before, I have never been more exhausted in my life! I am now eight weeks. I don't take naps and there has been very few days so far where I haven't had a nap. If I don't take one, it usually involves coffee. Yesterday, my wonderful Husband offered to fold laundry since he knew I just didn't have the energy. I said I would help. I folded one towel and the next thing I knew was I was waking up to my husband showing me photos he took. He even sent them to my mother in law. Haha! wow.