Bumpdate {18 weeks}

Thursday September 26

• How far along? 18 weeks 3 days
• Weight Gain/Loss: I won't know any changes until my 20 week appt
• Maternity Clothes: Rocking the maternity jeans in public, and yoga pants at home daily
• Sleep: I wonder if I'll ever sleep well again...
• Best moment this week: finding out that I get my military ID back along with other cards that guy stole!
• Movement: I'm pretty sure I feel the baby numerous times a day, but it's still not really noticeable. Those little feelings are easy to miss if I'm not paying attention. 
• Food Cravings: Sweets still. I'm thinking that's not going away. 
• Food Aversions: ground meat sounds awful. 
• Belly Button: Staying the same 
• Stretch Marks: Nope
• Symptoms: Still with the shooting pains but not as often. My ab muscles are really sore this week, and if I get up too fast it feels like a pulled muscle. I'm thinking it could be round ligament pain too. Oh and the heartburn continues. 
• What I miss: sleep
• What I’m looking forward to: that ultrasound that happens in two more weeks, and doing hospital tours hopefully in the next week or so too. I'm pretty sure I know which one I'm leaning towards but I figure it's good to check them out anyway. 

Things are starting to feel real! I've been researching strollers and car seats for a couple weeks now, and we are looking at dates for birth classes now. I'm planning on taking a class through either the midwife center or something similar, because I want unbiased information. Due to the anticoagulants I'm on, an epidural may not be an option, so I want to go into this mentally prepared for a natural birth. The hospital classes focus more on the interventions and using medicine to control pain - to get more info about "natural" birth, you have to take another class that they consider a "specialty" class. Weird, right? We shall see what we end up taking in the end!

Here's the 18 week picture!

Grateful

September 24, 2013

I'm feeling so lucky today! I think that life chooses moments in time to reveal just who or what it is you need, and it's almost always a surprise.  Today was one of those days. I met with a friend to reconnect a little, and ended up walking away with a sense of empowerment, much to my surprise. This friend is a new mom, and I shared my pregnancy with her today. She was thrilled for me, and her reaction was so sweet. We talked a lot about pregnancy and childbirth, babies and how many choices there are to make for these tiny humans. We have a lot of similar views and opinions but at the end of the day, we both feel that all of that goes out the window in order to do what feels best for your child and your family. Ideas and plans change, and nothing offers more surprises than parenthood. I left our wonderful visit feeling strong - strong in my choices and strong in my belief that it's okay to have a plan, but being open to changing your mind. 

Pregnancy is such an overwhelming time, especially if you are someone that likes to research and learn about all the options out there. I'm one of those people. Having access to so much information and so many opinions can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be paralyzing.  This wonderful gal helped me feel secure in my opinions, probably without knowing it. In Colorado, people tend to be very vocal about their choices, and the sides vary SO much. It was so nice to talk to someone who "rides the fence" on these hot topic issues as much as I do. There is no right side - it's all about what works best for you. What's more, it's okay to not know! Just because I haven't decided cloth vs. disposable, or Moby carrier vs. Ergo, etc. doesn't mean I don't know what's best. You don't have to have an opinion on everything! 

I'm glad to have had this day with her, just bouncing between different topics. I ended up feeling that no matter what we decide, my kiddo is going to be fine. Mom (and Dad) knows best! 

Bumpdate {17 weeks}

• Wednesday September 18, 2013
• 
  
• How far along? 17 weeks 2 days
• Weight Gain/Loss: I didn't lose anymore at last weeks appointment, so that's good. Still down a couple pounds from pre-pregnancy weight
• Maternity Clothes: I went to the only Gap in the area that carries maternity clothes last week and it was an epic fail. Apparently no one could make it to work because of the flooding so the store was closed. I was ticked! In the end, I tried on a pair of maternity jeans at H&M that seem to work for now. I bought two pairs, and they weren't too expensive so even if they don't last forever that's ok. 
• Sleep: not great again lately. Ugh. 
• Best moment this week: I think I felt a baby kick last night! 
• Movement: I have been questioning some odd feelings this week, but last night was the first time I felt fairly confident it was the baby. 
• Food Cravings: Sweets! It's killing me. I also wanted wings for dinner one night this weekend which is really weird for me, and I'm dying for some fresh gummy bears. 
• Food Aversions: meat in general still. 
• Belly Button: Staying the same 
• Stretch Marks: Nope
• Symptoms: lots of shooting pains, which my doctor says is the baby pinching a nerve. It's awful. Still heartburn and occasional vomiting but its less and less. 
• What I miss: my purse still. They caught the guy but I don't know if they found my whole purse or just my cards. 
• What I’m looking forward to: Finding out if this is a girl or a boy! We are really holding off on name discussions and nursery talk until we know for sure, which is making me feel a little stressed. I'm feeling time fly by! October will be here so soon, and the rest of the year is going to fly by with a wedding, birthdays and the holidays. 

Slightly scary photo this week, so just try to focus on anything but the face :)

Bumpdate {16 weeks}

• Wednesday September 11
• 
  
• How far along? 16 weeks 2 days
• Weight Gain/Loss: I'll find out at today's appt. hopefully I haven't lost more, it makes Luke worry. 
• Maternity Clothes: bought a belly band, and I am searching for a pair of jeans this week too
• Sleep: overall okay.  I'm loving the rainy weather this week and it definitely helps!
• Best moment this week: the Broncos winning the season opener against the Ravens! It was a great game, but I was terribly uncomfortable throughout the second half. It's worth it though!
• Movement: I dreamt last night I felt the baby :) hopefully that's a sign!
• Food Cravings: nothing specific
• Food Aversions: ground meat
• Belly Button: In
• Stretch Marks: Nope
• Symptoms: Heartburn, throwing up a couple times each week still, and more pains. Some shooting pains, some achy pains. Yay. Lots of lovenox bruising this last week too, I think it's just random though. 
• What I miss: my purse :( see below for that story. 
• What I’m looking forward to: A good doctor appt today, which is the last before our 20 week ultrasound. If everything goes well it'll definitely help my anxiety, and if this baby decides to make itself known soon that would be great too!  

This was a rough week for us. Pregnancy-wise, things have been fine but life has been really stressful. Our garage was accidentally left open again last Wednesday and once again, we had a burglary. Luke's bike was stolen again, and this time my purse was stolen as well. I kept EVERYTHING in my wallet, so I've been in serious crisis mode this week. Luckily I still have my SS card, passport with my maiden name, marriage certificate and birth certificate in our lock box. All credit cards and IDs are gone as well as a check book for our joint account. We had to open a new joint account and transfer all direct deposits and bill pay accounts to the new one, which has been a job in itself. Unfortunately my key ring was also in my purse with Luke's truck keys, our house key and mail key. That means rekeying everything, which is turning out to be REALLY expensive. I'm really sad about my favorite purse ever being gone now too, as well as my brand new "big girl" Kate Spade sunglasses that were a birthday gift. :(   

As if all that wasn't bad enough, we are pretty sure that this person came back to the house and tried to get into the garage again using the keypad. Luckily I wasn't staying at home alone (Luke was gone at drill again for the weekend) but I noticed as soon as I pulled up to the house with my mom. I called the cops again but there's obviously not much that can be done. We are going to look at our options for moving but since Luke and I have decided I'm not returning to work, we aren't sure what options we have. 

We will just have to be careful for now, and I won't be staying alone at night anymore. We will see what happens!

Go Broncos!

September 6, 2013

Just have to share baby's first Broncos game! :) 

Oh yes, we will be those parents during football season!

Bumpdate {15 weeks}

• Thursday September 5
• 
  
• How far along? 15 weeks 3 days
• Weight Gain/Loss: I was down another two pounds at last weeks appt, not sure of any changes this week
• Maternity Clothes: husband is practically begging me to buy some pants, as my jeans are painful when I wear them
• Sleep: some good, some bad 
• Best moment this week: sharing our news with the rest of Luke's family and seeing his mom get emotional twice about it - that doesn't happen often! We've also decided to do a small gender reveal party in October!
• Movement: I spend time every evening focused on trying to feel this kid! Nothing yet!
• Food Cravings: fondue sounded amazing this week so I've had it twice :)
• Food Aversions: meat
• Belly Button: In
• Stretch Marks: Nope
• Symptoms: Heartburn, throwing up a couple times each week still, and some sharp pains which I assume are growing pains 
• What I miss: my skinny jeans haha
• What I’m looking forward to: The Broncos season opener tonight against the Ravens! It's going to be a great game. Also can't wait to have Luke home from drill on Sunday and no more drill until the end of October! Two weeks almost back to back has been awful.

Bumpdate {14 weeks}

• August 29, 2013
• How far along? 14 weeks 3 days
• Weight Gain/Loss: -2, down 4 overall
• Maternity Clothes: Putting it off still!
• Sleep: some nights are better than others
• Best moment this week: seeing our Little! Dr said he/she has long legs - shocker :)
• Movement: Not that I'm feeling but he/she was moving all over, kicking, stretching, even a hiccup!
• Food Cravings: not really 
• Food Aversions: I can only eat a few bites of meat at a time 
• Belly Button: In
• Stretch Marks: Nope
• Symptoms: Some nausea still, and heartburn. 
• What I miss: nothing at the moment 
• What I’m looking forward to: having a great time with Luke's cousin who is visiting and hoping to move here, and nephew Brock's first birthday Saturday. We find out the gender in only 6 weeks!

I'm really starting to feel a little more confident about this pregnancy! Both Luke and I are starting to feel like its real and might really happen this time. This is the furthest we've made it in a pregnancy and I'm so grateful for our doctor. I'm thinking we need to start having conversations about names, the nursery and all the things that go along with having a baby! Here's a picture of our peanut :)