Tummy Tracker weeks 23-24

2/8/13

How far along?:  23 weeks   

Weight gain: 13 total

Cravings:  lemonade

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans and a few maternity tops.

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: braxton hicks contractions :(    heartburn

Miss anything?  non maternity pants

Movement:  lots!  The hubby can feel them all the time now. Can't wait for K to feel her move around.

Gender: ruffles and bows

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week: Had a stressful week with little sleep. K was up several nights with the "scaries" and I was up with our dog Raider, who needed constant care after his emergency surgery for bladder stones :( It was all made better though by getting to celebrate Valentines Day with my two loves.

How's daddy doing?:  seriously getting ready for this baby. He even made calendars with deadlines as to what we need to get done before she gets here!

 How's K doing?: Talking about his baby sister all the time. "when the baby sister comes..."

Looking forward to: getting around to painting her room!

K's card for me on Valentines Day.

Tulips from the hubby. K's valentines for his classmates.

My poor fur baby!

2/15/13

How far along?:  24 weeks   

Weight gain: 15 total

Cravings: waffles and french toast

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans/ pants and a few maternity tops.

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: braxton hicks contractions! braxton hicks contractions! braxton hicks contractions! heartburn. heartburn. heartburn.

Miss anything? not waking up 2-3 times at night to use the restroom, so much for that getting better in the second trimester!

Movement:  lots and lots! I don't remember feeling this much movement with K. Part of me prays that it's because she can hear and she's responding to all the noise.

Gender:GIRL!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week:  Little girl gave us some drama. I began having to many contractions despite resting and drinking plenty of water. Had to see the OB and get a Fetal Fibronectin test and a sonogram to measure the length of my cervix. Luckily my FTT came back negative and my cervix was at the proper length. OB thinks I may just have an irritable uterus,but  will continue to keep an eye on things because of my previous history of preterm labor. 

How's daddy doing?:  relieved that all is well with Little Miss

How's K doing?:  K keeps lifting my shirt to look at my belly button and asking " how are we gonna get her out?"

Looking forward to: The glider for her nursery comes in this week!

  Baby girl 24weeks 4 days, but measuring 25weeks 6 days (90% on growth chart).

I know for sure my dates are correct, so she's just a little big for her age. Her father was 10lb 2oz at birth and I was a little over 6lbs. So average we're looking at about 8lbs. K was 7 lbs 3oz but was 2 weeks early. I can't imagine how big he would have been if he had cooked for two more weeks!

Tummy Tracker weeks 21-22

1/25/12

How far along?:  21 weeks  

Weight gain: 13 total

Cravings:

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans and some old maternity shirts

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms:  heartburn,   Insomnia. Hip/pelvis pains while sleeping. Starting to feel pregnant which seems a little too early for me. I still have a long way to go!

Miss anything? sleeping comfortably. Busted out my old pregnancy pillow to help with the hip and pelvic pain.

Movement: She is a very active baby. I love to feel her move. I don't even mind when it wakes me up. I find it comforting. Started having a few braxton hicks, those suckers always make me nervous.

Gender: sugar and spice...

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week: Saw my OB, everything still looking good. Got my Thyroid level taken again. Heart beat 150

How's daddy doing?:  Being an awesome daddy and helping me with K as much as possible. They have started to become really close.

 How's K doing?: Poor baby is sick with the flu. He's miserable. He has been sleeping in our bed with his dad while I sleep in the guest room so that I can stay as far away from the cooties as possible.

Looking forward to:  buying all those girly things!!

 

2/1/13

How far along?:  22 weeks   

Weight gain: 13 total

Cravings:  lemonade

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans and a few maternity tops.

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: . Hip/lower back pains while sleeping.

Miss anything? getting around faster.

Movement: she dances around most when I am hungry. Still having Braxton hicks contractions on and off.

Gender:  Team pink!!!!!!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week: We celebrated my husband's birthday. K was so excited for him and insisted  going to the store after school to get  him cupcakes.   

 Got her crib and was able to get an awesome deal on it too! We also bought a glider recliner and ottoman. It's crazy how expensive they are but we decided to bite the bullet and get one. We didn't get one with K and regretted it forever. I also got her a few Christmas outfits. There is a fancy baby boutique next to the furniture store and they had a 60% of sale of Christmas clothing so I couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for smocked clothing!

How's daddy doing?:  still in the nesting mode but for random things, he just had to put up a hat rack in his closet. I think it took him a week to decide what rack he liked best.

 How's K doing?: I'm getting notes from his teacher saying that he's been talking about his "baby sister" to everyone.

Looking forward to: getting her room cleared out of all the junk so that we can start painting!!

Happy 38th!!

Christmas will be here before we know it, right?

Tummy Tracker 19-20 weeks

1/11/13

How far along?:  19 weeks

Weight gain: 8 total

Cravings:  salads I think mainly for the dressing. Love those vinegar based dressings! fried eggs.

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms:  heartburn,  headaches. Insomnia. Hip pains while sleeping. Short of breath.

Miss anything? bending over, I find myself leaving just things on the floor after I drop them.

Movement: If I get the slightest bit hungry she starts kicking away. My mom got to feel the first kick she was so happy. She always stops moving as soon as my husband puts his hand on my belly, I guess she's giving her dad a hard time already. :)

Gender prediction:  It's a GIRL!!!!!!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week:  Got a call from the OB telling me that my Thyroid levels continue to be low and that she would like me to go see an endocrinologist just to be on the safe side.  Hyperthyroid  is not as common in pregnancy like hypothyroid is.

How's daddy doing?:  Has about five million projects started, but yet to finish one. I think he has ADD nesting.

 How's K doing?:  Says that he wants to be Peter Pan for Halloween this year and the baby sister can be Tinker Bell.

Looking forward to:  getting the nursery started now that we know the sex.

1/18/13

How far along?:  20 weeks    half way there!!

Weight gain: 8 total

Cravings:  lemonade

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms:  heartburn,  headaches. Insomnia. Hip pains while sleeping. Short of breath.

Miss anything? eating sushi

Movement: more and more each day.

Gender:  Team pink!!!!!!

Belly Button in or out:  flat
This week: saw the endocrinologist about my thyroid levels. They are staying low but haven't gotten any lower. He plans to continue watching them and as long as I' symptom free we will not do anything.

How's daddy doing?:  getting a little nervous about how things are going to be as a family of four.

 How's K doing?: Keeps asking me  " is the baby sister coming tomorrow?"

Looking forward to:  buying all those girly things!!

PINK or BLUE??!!!!

Monday we had our full anatomy scan for the baby. Everything checked out great, growing as he/she should be. In fact there is a lot of growing going on because we are measuring 5 days ahead! I'm not surprised though because K had always measured ahead. Our doctor was also able find out the sex of the baby. We had her put the results in an envelope and seal them up. After the appointment I immediately took the envelope to my older sister so he could start working on the reveal.

We had originally planned to have all our family come over on Friday for dinner and reveal the gender but I couldn't wait. I called my sisters and told them to meet up at my parents house that night.

K and his cousin Nolan were so excited about our little party. Surprisingly both of them were saying/wanting a girl.

My older sister Maria was the only person to know the results ahead of time. She put colored confetti in a black balloon so that K could pop it and reveal the gender. Kemper was more than happy with the job he was assigned. He had his toothpick ready to pop that balloon.

Ready.

Set.

POP  !!

It's a GIRL!!!!!!

I absolutely love the look on their faces. They couldn't believe the confetti was PINK! just what they wanted.

So excited!! I'd had a feeling It was going to be a girl, but I still can't believe it is! I've gotten so use to being a boy momma so all this pink seems so unfamiliar!
My husbands response: " So I guess I have to pay for a wedding now?" typical guy fashion;)

My mom had to call her mom immediately. Apparently this past summer my grandmother had told her to expect a granddaughter soon. Guess she was right!!!
 My sweet Nephew Nolan wanted to save some of the confetti. He wants a sibling so bad. His teacher even mentioned that he was telling people that he was going to be a big brother. After the reveal was over we heard him say "Kemper, our sister is gonna love us." Bless his heart!! I told my sister that she needs to get on the ball!!

The potty shot as proof! ;)

This is my 12 week sonogram. I showed it to my girlfriend Katie and she immediately guessed it was a girl because the "nub" was parallel to the spine based on the "nub theory"   Guess she was right too!

All signs pointed to girl but yet it was still a surprise in the end.
We can't wait to meet her!!!!

Tummy Tracker 17-18 weeks

12/28/12

How far along?:  17 weeks

Weight gain: 8 total

Cravings:  salads, tomato juice, limes

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms: still peeing ALL. THE. TIME. heartburn, headaches every day :(

Movement: Starting to feel some movements, forgot how much I missed them!

Gender prediction:  team pink
This week:  Had appointment with OB, all checked out well. Heart beat 145

How's daddy doing?:  hasn't slowed down on the nesting, I love it ;)

 How's K doing?: Talks about the baby more. "when your belly gets bigger and bigger then we take it out!!"

01/11/12

How far along?:  18 weeks

Weight gain: 8 total

Cravings:  salads, tomato juice, pickles and Rocky Road ice cream

Maternity clothes:   maternity jeans, although I did get out my old maternity clothes and they seem a little smaller this time around :(

Stretch marks? : nope

Symptoms:  heartburn, still having headaches every day. Insomnia. Hip pains while sleeping.

Miss anything? sleeping on my stomach and flat on my back.

Movement: Felt some really good kicks, even a flip!

Gender prediction:  team pink, that was my dentists prediction!

Belly Button in or out: both!
This week:  didn't get much done these headaches are killing me. My blood pressure is fine, I've been drinking water and most days getting some rest. Must be the hormones.

How's daddy doing?:  being awesome and supportive, can't believe this pregnancy is going by so fast.

 How's K doing?:  I think he is getting us ready for the baby. He normally wakes up at least once a night and goes back to bed pretty quick. This week he was up 2-3 times a night and staying up for 2-3 hours. Ugh!! 

 He has also stared talking to my belly all on his own. Maybe he knows something we don't. Can she/he hear us?? You know what they say about children...  Praying for those ear hair cells!!!

Looking forward to: next sonogram, we find out the sex and make sure everything is growing just right. I'll admit I'm a little nervous too.

The Christmas Post

(For some reason this never posted until now)

Just a little recap of Christmas 2012 with just a few million pictures...

We made our annual trip to Santa's Village. Unfortunately it was so crowded that we didn't stay long. It was pretty cold and there was a 15-20 minute wait just to walk through the tiny houses. K wasn't really in the mood for the cold, crowds,and lines and neither was I. This little village has gained a lot of popularity since I was a kid. better luck next year!

Next stop: Visit with Santa!

We thought it would be a good idea to go see Santa on a Sunday afternoon as soon as the mall opened at noon. We arrived to Santa's station around 12:20 and the line was already at (what we based on previous years) the hour mark. We were fine with that, this is Dallas after all.

Well we were wrong. It took THREE hours of waiting to see Santa. Honestly the line wasn't too bad, it was he people running the show that delayed it all. They were allowing people to take as many pictures as as they wanted until they got one they really liked. Seriously?? take 5 pictures, pick one and move on. The family in front of us took 15 minutes to take their pictures. They honestly thought they could get their 6 moth old and 2 year old took both look and smile at the camera, while being terrified of Santa. I almost lost it.

Luckily K was in a fabulous mood. I think he was just delirious after waiting so long. He started rolling on the ground and pretending to be asleep. Normally I would never let him do that, but after three hours we just found it funny.

After all that waiting, a few days later I lost the pictures. I almost cried. What they say about pregnancy brain is true. I believe I threw them away while I was cleaning. Grrrrrr.

I couldn't stand not having a a picture of K with Santa this year, so back to the mall we went. This time we went to a less popular mall with a toned down Santa. The line was only 30 minutes and we got our picture with Santa!!  We celebrated later with giant cookies. K took the picture of my husband and I, pretty good  for a 3yr old!

  2012 Picture with Santa. We call this Kemper's Elvis smile.
Thank you, Thank you very much.

 Helping dad put out the outdoor Christmas decorations.

Final result.
They had so much fun doing this. I can just imagine years from now them making this a tradition and going crazy on the outdoor decorations together.

 This Holiday we had an Elf visitor from the North Pole, his name was Lucky.
I must admit this Elf on the Shelf is one of the best ideas ever. K was on his best behavior for the entire month of December in fear that Lucky would report back to Santa any bad behavior.
He got a kick out of waking up each morning to see what crazy and silly things Lucky had done while he was sleeping. On Christmas Eve he got in the refrigerator and was going to eat all the cookie dough that was for Santa!
 ( For all you serious Elf on the Shelf people, yes Kemper is touching him. At our house he could be touched ONLY to put him back on the shelf after we found him in the morning without losing his powers)

 Christmas Eve.
 K putting out the cookies & milk for Santa and the carrots for the reindeer. He was really sad knowing that Lucky would be going back with Santa that night, broke my heart. ;)




K was so worried about us starting a fire on Christmas Eve, he came up with this theory all on his own. We couldn't help but laugh and get the video recorder out.

Christmas morning.
This was the first year that Kemper really understood the concept of Christmas morning. Just watching him walk down the stairs  and seeing his expression after he saw all the presents was priceless.  He was so excited. He couldn't believe that Santa had visited and brought him everything he had asked for. His favorite gift was his "piano" His Meme has a keyboard at her house and he always loves to play with it. He really wanted one of his own. My husband was able to get a beyond awesome deal on one off of Craigslist. He was also thrilled with his new Cars Movie tricycle.

Looks like someone was good this year.
 I think this is just half his loot!

Later that afternoon we went to my parents house to open more gifts.We were very surprised to that we also got the gift of a white Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!

After all the snow cleared up my husbands parents came in town for a visit. K was in heaven. He loves it when they come over, and they came bearing gifts!! :)

And then it was all over,time to start a new year. I had to work and didn't get to celebrate the New Year with my boys, but I did get ring in it in with my other "family" at work :)



We had a wonderful Christmas and it was even more special this year because I could really see it through the eyes of my son this year. It made me so thankful for him and our family.

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.  In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.  ~Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas



Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

One week from today...

 We find out....

  OR

To say I can't wait is an understatement.  It's been driving me crazy not knowing. I'm definitely not the type of person that can wait till the day of the birth to find out. This girl has to plan and decorate!!;) In fact my sister wants us to have a small gender reveal with our family. She wants us to have the doctor put the results in an envelope and she will create something/some way  to announce the gender to us and the family at the same time. Only thing is I'm not sure I have the self control not to rip open that envelope before it gets to her. (Stay tuned to see how weak or strong I am.)

Now this is where I answer the "what are you hoping for?" question everyone has been asking me.

A Girl.

Why? because I have a boy and it would be great to experience both worlds. Simple as that. I'm not gonna give the "as long as it's healthy" blah blah blah. Hello that's a given. Does anyone else get annoyed when they hear that? For some reason when I hear that all I think is What if it's not? or it is healthy but has some kind of other issue, you don't want it then? Maybe I'm just over thinking it, but sometimes the PC talk drives me crazy. And why is it more acceptable for the father to say "I want a boy" than it is for the mother to say her preference? Ok, I'll get off my soap box now. In the end I think it's okay to have a preference as long as you are totally fine if you end up not getting it. I'll be absolutely content with another little boy. We already have his name picked out ( hers is still up in the air) and what his nursery will look like. I've even had visions of my two grown up boys towering over me in our Christmas pictures.It will be awesome either way. We are having another baby and I am grateful for that!

What do you think it is?