Holy Moley....10 more weeks!

The fact that I have a little person in my belly that is growing, stretching and kicking; is still very surreal. He is very active these days, or should I say he is much stronger because I feel every move. I feel like he has NO room to be wallering around in there. This week P'nuts stats have him weighing 3lbs and 10oz (at last Dr. appt) and http://www.babycenter.com/ states that he is measuring 17in. Crazy to think about when a full term baby measures 19-21in. I am constantly amazed; right now he recognizes our voices, when Travis talks to him or puts his hand on my belly he starts showing out for his daddy. When someone else tries to feel him move he stops, almost like a button is pushed. He saves all his movements for us! Speaking of movements, his kicking and jabbing really hurt sometimes but all I do is smile, rub my belly to let him know I know he is in there. We have been going to Lamaze Childbirth Classes, they are nothing like TV shows or movies portray them. You think Lamaze and visualize women sitting on the floor, breathing heavily with their partners behind them or at least I did until I read the Lamaze book and attended these classes. I am really happy with our decision to learn about natural childbirth. It really doesn't have to be like an assembly line upon arriving at the hospital. I know many things can go wrong and a birth plan is just that a plan but we will try our hardest to keep it as natural as possible. Friends that have had babies are quick to discourage this notion because of their experience but every pregnancy and delivery is different. Our mindset going in, is that we can handle this, if it proves to be otherwise then we will adapt. I recently witnessed a real life labor and I must say it put things in perspective. I know what I want for our labor but I can just hope it works out that way. The important thing is to concentrate on the end result! Our baby boy!

Operation Baby Room

It seems like every weekend is planned out by the Monday before, this weekend not being any different we set out to get our baby's room ready. Friday morning while at work I noticed that the furniture we wanted was on SALE. I text Travis to tell him and we made a game plan for after work. When Travis got home from work that plan somehow was forgotten and talks about eating dinner and maybe watching a movie while in Asheville began. Friday night is usually our date night. We headed out...once at Target we find out they have only one crib and one dresser left but no changing table. We take the time to get a rain check for the changing table and then it came time to get the other furniture home. This is the first time we both realize that we drove our little car instead of the truck. I can't really explain the thoughts I had going on in my head but what I can tell you is that as fun as our plan seemed; it in fact was absolutely ridiculous..1)"how are we eating dinner and watching a movie with furniture in the back of the truck", 2) why would we get in the car and not the truck?" and most importantly 3)"are you kidding me? we are getting ready to have a child and we pull this!!!!!!!"

Travis suggests driving all the way home to get the truck but that sounds even more ridiculous in my head so I call my mom and ask if they could come bail us out of the predicament we were in. As we stand in the baby isles of Target looking at each other thinking we are idioits. I start mentally measuring our trunk, I suggest to Travis that they may fit once the seats are down, he looks at me like I've lost my mind. I tell him its worth a shot b/c if not we we"re eating dinner with my parents and heading home..no date night. He apparently was really looking forward to date night b/c against his better judgement he agreed and went to get the car. (I have to tell you guys this) We have had a giant bow and arrow thing that my father-in-law gave Travis in the back of the car, so I knew Travis was hating life right about then. 1) he hates looking dumb in front of people, 2) he already thinks the Target guy thinks we are stupid for even attempting to cram these huge boxes in a sports car, and 3) now the Target guy is going to see this bow, why would we ride around with a bow and arrow? Somehow Travis hides the bow between the seats,and with the help of the Target guy they start putting the boxes in.

By some sort of miracle both boxes fit, the trunk closes and we are on our way. I call my mom to tell her we figured it out. I wish I would have taken a picture of us in the car, our knees were touching the dashboard but the boxes were in and we were able to finish out our date night! Saturday morning Operation Baby Room continued.....I can't express how bad I wanted to help paint our little p'nuts room but it's frowned upon. The painting is complete minus a few touch ups and trim. Sunday Travis assembled the crib and the dresser. Our little guy's room is finally coming together. We are so excited! Here are a few pictures of our progress :)

Family Fotos

This past Saturday was a great day! For starters it was my brother's birthday & my sister-in-law's birthday and to top it off the sun was out and we were registering for our baby shower. My sister-in-law Tab is about to graduate from WCU in May. In preperation for this monumental event she had graduation pictures taken but was unhappy with them, so she scheduled a photo op for her and the rest of the clan. We were to wear our WCU shirts and meet in Asheville. After having breakfast with my love at Cracker Barrel we made our way over to the mall. Mind you I am not the biggest fan of pictures right now b/c of the extra weight I am packing but I am glad we did b/c we got great family portraits. That said, if you know me you know I don't go anywhere without my camera, I LOVE PICTURES! I love a hardcopy proof of a wonderful night out with friends or family, so there is no such thing as too many pictures. These pictures are special b/c the family is together, Tab is graduating and we are documenting the growth of our pregnancy. Travis and I have belly portraits with a local photographer later on this month; which I am really excited about, so I hadn't planned on having any belly shots taken this Saturday but the lady was a fan of the belly!

Belly on the Move!

WOW!

Our little man's movements have been very noticable these days (@ 27 weeks) but just now as I sit at work checking my e-mail, my belly did the coolest thing EVER! Allow me to paint the picture for you. I am facing my computer, feet propped on the harddrive (so I am leaning back some), keyboard is close to my belly and peripheral vision just caught the wildest thing! I stopped my typing and braced myself for what was to happen next......P'Nut made the left side of my belly completley move!!!! So here I sit staring at my belly barely breathing, it happened 2 more times, guess he finally got comfortable in there :)

26 Weeks

This morning we had our monthly checkup....P'Nut and I are doing just fine. According to my readings our little man is 2 lbs but he was 2 lbs 2 weeks ago so I can only assume he is weighing in at a little more than that. He is the length of a English Hothouse Cucumber! Mmmm I want a cucumber with lime and salt right now! Even though he has been constantly moving for months in there; I really feel him moving all the time now. He has also been hearing our voices for a while but I just recently told my mom that so she has been talking to him. It's so sweet to hear her refer to herself as Tita (that's what all the grand kids called our grandma, my moms mom) when talking to my belly. I had been really nervous about my blood glucose test because of my risk factors; PCOS and family history of diabetes so you better believe I was ecstatic when they told me my results were normal. I only gained 4 pounds since my last visit, right on track according to my Dr. I really feel like I have gained more but evidently it's all belly thus far. To celebrate our great check up we had banana splits for dessert!

Best of Friends

23 Weeks & some Change

It seems that as a general rule we are wishing time away. Months back it was seeing the baby bump, hearing the heartbeat, seeing his tiny little self during the ultrasound, feeling the first flutters to right now.....the day we meet our little boy, his first tooth, his first words, his first attempts at walking and so forth. Present day, all 3 of us are doing pretty good....yes I still have my weepy spells, my days of exhaustion from, well I really don't know from what considering I take it pretty easy these days, and planning for P'nut's room. According to babycenter.com, our little P'nut is weighing in at a pound and measures 11inches! We can't believe how fast our little boy is growing, this pregnancy is flying by! I always said that if we were blessed with the miracle of one baby I would be happy with that. Now that we have experienced this beautiful time in our my lives, I can't help but hope for P'nut to have a sibling!!!! I know what you all are thinking....wooooow pump the breaks lady, we will see what you think after delivering this baby! Honestly though, I have never felt more like a woman, a beautiful woman than I do right now..minus the sickness at the beginning this has been such a wonderful experience for me. (& for my Trav) I know in my heart that we will be great parents. I know we have lots of new experiences ahead, lots of mistakes when it comes to parenting but if we can be half the parents our parents are I think P'nut will be just fine. This little guy is going to be loved unconditionally, he will have a few obstacles as far as the culture differences between my family & Travis's family but hopefully this will shape him into a wonderful person! As I sit here typing our little boy is moving around in my belly (he knows I am talking about him), every time he moves he brings a smile to my face. My mom always told me I would never truly understand the love of a parent until I had my own and you know...surprise surprise she was right! It simply amazes me just how much I LOVE him already!