It's Belly Time!

an update on my belly status :) Enjoy!


16 weeks



22 weeks


26 weeks

Munchkin Face!

So on our visit to NJ during spring break, we were able to meet my new OBGYN. She's fabulous and I'm so happy! She ordered for me to get another anatomy scan so that SHE was comfortable with the scan, rather than what another practice said they did or didn't see (blah blah blah). In short...I got to see my baby girl again so I was thrilled either way! :) The scan was done at 23 weeks and the technician surprised me at the end by showing me a 3D view. OH MY GOD what a difference from 17 to 23 weeks!! I screamed out "she looks like a baby!!" and then felt ridiculous afterwards for having done so. lol

I really was amazed at how beautiful the sight of her face was to me. I was instantly in love again and it threw me for loop.

Girly Bedding Fun

I can't explain why but the moment I saw this bedding I fell in love. It's called Country Cottage from Baby Gap and I personally bought it because I didn't think anyone else would, plus there was a blowout sale and I couldn't pass that up :)





Her crib is Taylor by Baby Cache
This isn't my picture as I haven't received the crib yet, but it's the best photo I could find to show the beauty of the crib!

Catching up on SO much

So instead of doing one gigantic post, I'll just post this small one to let you know that more small ones are to follow!

I've got to cover:

appointments since my last

updated pictures of munchkin

her crib and bedding details that were chosen

and I want to post some of my favorite things that I'm most excited for her receiving soon

;) I'm working on it (and dinner) so be patient!

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GIRL!

We had the big ultrasound on 3/13 and enjoyed every minute of it. Here are some photos of our little lady. We can't wait to see her. I can't believe I'm already nearly 18 weeks along. Time flies and soon, she'll be here. We have a very busy next few months ahead of us with preparing to move, the actual big move, and then her arrival!

Blessed

So I woke up this morning feeling blessed and beautiful. Don't ask why, it was just a feeling and it felt wonderful if I may add.

I took a belly picture after getting dressed to go run some errands and have breakfast with Dane.

At breakfast we had a deep conversation, as we usually do when we go out to eat (another odd thing I have no explanation for) on parenting and raising the baby...our views and wants etc. It was quite overwhelming. I can't believe how much we think about this little one!! We are so excited for our big ultrasound so we can finally call the baby by his or her name rather than nicknames.

Here's today's photo!


You can tell I'm pregnant and that BLOWS MY MIND. I still can't believe it. I'm blessed to not have had any sickness whatsoever with this baby...it's been a joyous pregnancy and I am very thankful for that. I hope labor and delivery is as smooth as being pregnant is. :) ....wishful thinking, I know. I can always try, right?

HEART BEATS = LOVE

I am so in love. The more I get to hear the baby, the more I realize it IS a baby and that it is mine, and that he or she is growing in me.

I can't wait and every day I am so much more in love with this little baby that I don't even know yet. We can't wait to meet little one!

Enjoy a really good recording of the HB that I caught on the doppler I rented! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7clxQstJ08

Next appt: 3-11-09

2/13 Appointment

Everything was stupendous at the appointment. The baby's heartbeat, which I got to hear, was 170! It was so fast and so strong! I was so happy my little one has a strong heart and is in there having a good healthy time.

Our next appointment is scheduled for March 11th, where I'll be 17 weeks along. After that, it's the gender appt at the end of that same month!! We're SO excited!

Current stats: 14 weeks pregnant
Weight gain: 4 lbs
Illness: Bad sinus infection last week, and nausea/indigestion
Cravings: Salad with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, all day every day please :)

2nd Appointment was AWESOME!

By far the BEST appointment yet! The baby was dancing around and it was ADORABLE. He/she was measuring a week ahead of schedule so they changed my due date up a week! I happen to be 11 weeks pregnant, not 10 as previously thought. The baby is officially due on August 18th, 2009 and is measuring 3 inches! I can't believe the baby is about the size of a small plum!

The Heart rate measured at 179! Crazy high compared to last time, 146. Will post a pic in a few minutes! Wooohooo, we are so excited. The photo is awesome. You can see eyes and an open mouth and little arm buds too!

Stroller Update

And it is in transit! WOOOOHOOO! I am SO excited, it will be here Wednesday! Just wanted to share because I may jump out of my skin from excitement.

PROGRESS...

I can honestly say that it DOESN'T feel like "it was yesterday" that I found out we were expecting, but goodness...10 weeks! Where the heck has that gone? It SHOCKS me to know that I'm already approaching the 2nd trimester. Only 2 more weeks to go and from what I hear, the sleepiness wears off and you get your energy back...only for it to be taken away once you hit the 3rd trimester. haha

I'm honestly blessed though, I've had a great 10 weeks and couldn't ask for a better pregnancy, well...maybe I'd ask that I never wound up in Georgia, but the baby had nothing to do with that. :) Itty Bitty is being good to Momma and I appreciate that!

The hardest thing for me to do is care anymore about anything other than taking care of myself for the sake of the baby. I just want to do nothing but stay safe, stress free, well fed, warm, and rested. I'm pretty much done with being here, done with this school system, and completely ready to take on responsibility for the home front.

I'm upset that I can't do laundry, or don't have time to clean when I see things need to be cleaned, let alone have the energy after work to cook. I guess the "must do what you have to do" attitude is kicking in because I feel myself gravitating towards responsibilities at home easier and easier than longing to give 150% at work, like I used to.

I thank my lucky stars though that I do my job well and I plan to do that until May 22nd, when I close the door of my room with a smile, embarking on the new life experience God has given me. I'm ready and SO excited for it all! Only about 64 days of school left, but who's counting anyhow? :)

How AMAZING does this look?

A HUGE thank you to my very talented friend Jaime! She totally re-vamped my blog and it looks fabulous! The colors fit me perfectly and I'm so in love with it, I don't think I'm ever changing it. =)

You rock, Jaime!!

Baby's First Gift!

I think Momma is more excited about this one than the baby will ever be, but for good reason. I've been hunting down this stroller and giving it googly eyes since Jaime first told me about it ah, over a year ago! I liked to look into things and shortly after my stroller research, I came to the conclusion that this stroller IS literally one of the best out there. I continued to windowshop and got my hopes up once I saw the price tag. I pretty much imagined that NOBODY in my family was going to justify paying $800 for a stroller, no matter how badly I wanted it. I already had my rebuttal planned "Goodness, give me some credit...at least it isn't a Bugaboo, I'm not going after the 'name'!"

Now that I'm actually pregnant, I began to research it weekly, looking for stores that carried it and pricing it out. Well, in December it went down to $599. Major price cut in my opinion! I was extremely excited that I may be able to purchase this myself and not feel bad about it. Come Jan 1st or so, on my weekly research update I noticed that one store, and only one, reduced it to $419! I flew off my seat and was determined to buy it at the end of the month.

After telling my Mom about the stroller and the whole price ordeal, I showed her the color I was interested in etc. because I was in fact buying this stroller. LOL Fast forward to last night, on the phone with my Mom and I check on it....the color I want is SOLD OUT. I almost died. They only had one other color left and limited quantities of that to-boot. I liked the last color choice, but it wasn't my first pick. I realized that I wasn't about to pay $180 more just for a color. As a surprise, my Mom said "Buy it, and tell the baby Happy Baby Shower!" I was over the moon! THANK YOU MOM! The baby officially has a stroller! The stroller Momma wanted from day 1, and regardless of checkers, I love it! :) I can't wait for our I'Coo Targo to arrive in about a week.

Thank God!!

A pat on the back to me. After calling the old Dr's, which I LOVED (the facility is amazing, the midwives are wonderful, they use technology, and they're NICE to you) and they said that they are 100% IN NETWORK and that they're sorry for the misinformation I was given by United Healthcare. We triple checked with their financial rep and they ARE definitely IN network, so there should be NO reason why I can't see them.
After talking to my principal about the whole ordeal, she said "THAT'S MY DOCTOR, OF COURSE THEY'RE IN NETWORK!" She advised me to call United and give them a good ear full whenever I have the strength/mindset to do so because they really need a good one! What I went through with that other Dr. yesterday was hell. I told everyone what he had said and their mouths were on the floor. I even called my mother in law last night and told her about it and she was appalled. She also advised me to call United and complain about his practice and procedures and bedside manners because they DO NOT have to pay him if I was in any way offended by the services I received by him. They can even set up a case to question his entire practice! Good thing to have someone in the medical field in the family! haha

The Veranda immediately scheduled me for ASAP which for them was Tuesday for an ultrasound, bloodwork and full history. I will be exactly 10 weeks and we will then schedule the NTScan for 2 weeks after then :) Yay!! I am SO relieved. I swear I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

I think I HATE my new Dr.

first off, I'm switching Dr's due to "in network" issues. The ones I first started going to got pulled from my insurance.

So my 1st appt was today and I'm 9 weeks. I expected to get an u/s to date the pregnancy and measurements etc. NO, instead he does an internal exam and lectures me on how unnecessary ultrasounds are for pregnancies which seem completely normal.

Because I voiced concern with his lack of wanting to do them, he goes and asks me if I want a script for PROZAC! What!? You MUST be kidding me cowboy, I already don't like you and you just went and made it worse! He said honestly that he'd write me one bc it doesn't affect the baby whatsoever and he thinks I need it because I seemed anxious. F U!!! Yeah I'm anxious bc I don't like the way you do things, backwards! He can't even work a computer so he had a technician/nurse come help him with inputting my information in his laptop. No wonder he doesn't like u/s machines huh? He calls himself old fashioned.

He gave in and checked for a HB and found it so we were able to hear the baby's HB at least.

He told me that he doesn't do scans and tests until 17 weeks or so. Isn't the NT scan supposed to be done at 12??

Thankfully I passed his very medical and genius physical exam, where he poked me with his fingers and felt around my pelvis. LOL All is fine he said and it seems right on track. Still though, 17 weeks for an NT Scan? Is that pushing it?

I don't know what to do. Being in such a crappy small town with NO choices and such bad options...I really want to switch to a Dr. who does scans when they're supposed to be done now days, not when we feels fit because he doesn't own the u/s machine.
What to do, what to do...

Thought this was cool...

Make a pregnancy ticker

YAY! First U/S this morning!

Everything went perfectly at our first appointment. We got to see the baby's heart beating really fast and we watched it for a few minutes in awe on a big screen plasma. It was awesome to see it in Hi-Def mode! I was so excited all I did was giggle and smile and watched in complete amazement that I was actually carrying this little beating heart. Dane was all smiles and I swear that in the darkness of the room, I saw him get teary eyed. It was emotional but more exciting than anything.

The baby measured at 6 weeks 2 days which is perfectly on track. The heart rate was 146.

We go back on Jan. 19th to see the baby again and get a whole boat load of blood work and history done.

The official due date is August 25th, 2009.