The big ultrasound

So it looks like the masses thought it was a girl...

Well, you were wrong, it's a little boy!! We are so excited and thrilled and can't wait to meet him!

The entire ultrasound experience was so unbelievable. Best. Day. Ever. Better than the Eiffel Tower, better than Splash Mountain, better than any motorcycle ride I've ever been on. I can't believe how much you can love someone you have never met. It's just amazing what a miracle pregnancy is.

The ultrasound tech was great. Very nice. Completely confident and made me feel so at ease (because lets be honest, I was a nervous wreck going in there). She talked to us the entire time and commented on how active the baby was. She said she could barely get the shots she needed because the baby was moving so much!

It was fun to see the arms, and legs kicking and he even had the hiccups. She showed us all of his little organs, we got to watch his mouth moving, and even see each of his little fingers and toes. Just unbelievable.

I cried when she said it was a boy. It just became so real at that moment that there was a little person in there. Until this point, I almost couldn't believe it. After all we've been through and the wondering and waiting and worrying, it was the first time I really felt like a mom.

Today at my appointment the doctor told us that everything looks great. The risk of downs is 1 in almost 10,000. My blood work was great. She did say that my placenta is forming right in the front of my uterus, behind my belly button. This would explain why I'm not really feeling movement, but she said in a week or so I'll be able to feel him for sure.

Here's some photos of the little Peanut Em&M.



The money shot, so to speak.


Here he is sucking his thumb (or poking himself in the face, it's really hard to tell)



I'm just so happy!!

Food for thought...

A fellow blogger posted this on her sight right around Mother's Day. It's an article written by the actress from A Big, Fat, Greek Wedding about her difficulties with becoming pregnant and what an impact people's comments had on her life.

I just wanted to share it with all of you, because, even though my journey has not been nearly as tough or heart wrenching as hers or many of yours might be, I can relate to a lot of what she is talking about. And it was a lesson learned the hard way for me.

Just some food for thought.

Here's the link

Enjoy!

A funny school story

The other day at school I was administering a practice MCAS test, so I had some students with me that I don't usually see, J, M, and S. It is a colleague's birthday on Friday and the kids were commenting how it was on the calendar. The conversation proceeded like so:

J: How old is Miss M going to be?

Me: You never ask a lady her age, it's rude (in a joking manner)

J: Oh yeah, and you never ask them how much they weigh either, right?

Me: Not unless you want to get punched

::insert chuckles::

L: Isn't there something else that you're not supposed to ask a woman?

Me: I'm not sure... (totally trying to change the subject)

S: Yeah there is!! Something about kids.

Me: I don't remember that one...

J: You're not supposed to ask someone how many kids they have? That doesn't seem rude

L: No, it's something else. I remember, you should never ask a woman if she's pregnant, she might just be fat!!

Across the room, my colleague is laughing and I can barely keep it together. Mind you, this is what I look like now

(17 weeks 5 days Disclaimer: it is smaller in the morning, I just got back from dinner at my mother-in-law's and ate far too much):


At least I know they think I'm just fat, lol.

BIG ultrasound

Since the big ultrasound where we'll find out the sex of the baby is merely 13 days away, I thought it would be fun to add a poll. :::points to the right:::

Some information that may sway you one way or the other:

Carrying: It seems low (boy) but it's hard to tell because I'm tall and it's so early.
Heart Rate: Has been consistently in the 140's to 150's, the old wives say under 140 is boy
Cravings: mostly sweet stuff, again the old wives say girl
M's weight gain: Not sure, he lost a lot of weight right around the time I got pregnant, and now seems to have put some of it back on, if M gains weight during my pregnancy they say girl, but I don't know if this counts
Face shape: a few people have told me it looks like I've lost weight in my face, a not round face during pregnancy is a boy
Acne: my face has cleared up considerably since the 1st trimester, the old bags say boy
Age: age at conception 26, year of conception 2010, both even the Mayans say girl
Dry Hands: boy, but my hands are always dry...
Morning Sickness: I had some for about 6 weeks, I would say moderate, the old wives say bad m/s indicates a girl
Chinese Gender Predictor: Boy

There are also a couple that involve me mixing some of my urine with Drain-O or using it to water seeds to see which grow. I think I'm going to skip those ;) I will definitely post as soon as we get home on the 19th!

Here's the belly shot (don't laugh) - I don't often get to see myself from this perspective and it looks a lot bigger than I thought!
16 weeks 5 days

My New Obsession

Custom Crib set designing websites.

This one is great www.javisdavis.com

They let you take fabrics that are already grouped and mess around with how you use them. Too much fun. (They are a little pricey, but totally cute) It gives me a little more confidence about how to make my own. Here's some of the ones I came up with just now!







Like I said, my new obsession. There are a few others out there that let you do the same, but this one by far has my favorite fabric choices. If you're bored, check it out. It'll eat up a few hours of your time. ;) The sets on this site will run you close to 300 bucks - so another reason why I would make my own, I'm cheap.

Here's the weekly poll:

How far along? 16 weeks 2 days

Weight gain/loss: Holding steady at down 5 pounds. Remember, I don't own a scale, so I only weigh myself once a month ;)

Maternity clothes? All the time, depending on what I wear, I either don't look pregnant at all, completely pregnant, or a few cheeseburgers past skinny

Stretch marks? Not yet!

Sleep? I'm sleeping well this week, when I'm not passing a kidney stone

Best moment this week? Wearing my first maternity dress to a shower! Everyone said I looked so cute, I love the compliments. :)

Food cravings: I have a wicked sweet tooth right now, more so than usual. I have to be careful...

Gender: Still thinking boy, we'll see in a few weeks

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? I'm still trying to feel something, but I haven't yet. I'm hoping this week or next week somtime.

What I miss? Nothing

What I'm looking forward to: The BIG ultrasound and getting to register for all the baby stuff in a few weeks

Weekly wisdom: Today I am pregnant, and I love my baby.

Milestones: Blood work complete, unless there are more problems!

An Exciting Pregnancy Story

So, yesterday I started having pains "down there" and I assumed it was most likely a UTI. I've never had one before but what people have described was similar to what I was feeling. I called the Dr. and they told me to go for a urine analysis and if I felt like I needed meds to call the answering service over the weekend to get some.

I peed in the cup and went to class still feeling some discomfort. Results on Monday, great. When I got to class (with a gallon of cranberry juice) I started feeling a lot more uncomfortable. I was there for 2 1/2 hours and went to the bathroom at least 6 times. Still thinking it was a UTI, I figured I'd give it the night and call for meds in the morning if I needed to.

I went home and promptly fell asleep on the couch. I woke up, now with pain in my side, just a little, but still scary. I thought "great, I really have a kidney infection" but I still decided to wait until the next day to call the doctor.

Well, I woke up sometime after midnight with SEVERE pain in my left side. It felt like something was going to burst. I imagine that apendicitis would feel something like that, but it was the left side. I just thought that kidney infections suck, but I don't want to bother the doctor right now.

Well, 2 or 3 hours passed with me on the floor with cold sweats. The need to pee but not really the ability to pee. I couldn't lay down, stand up, or anything, it just hurt. I thought I was going to lose the baby - it was worse than the pain I felt with my miscarriage.

I called the doctor and they insisted it was most likely a UTI, that I should take some aspirin (yeah right) and they'd call in a prescription for antibiotics. About 10 minutes later I was puking in the bathroom. Figuring that was not a good sign, I called the doctor again and said I was going to the ER because something was wrong with me.

I couldn't wake M up, so I called my parents to drive me there. On the way, I laid down and started to feel better. When we got to the hospital, the pain was mostly gone. Great, they're going to think I'm a crazy pregnant lady with a UTI who was being big baby. I peed about 6 and a half drops into a cup and waited.

Apparently, I had passed a kidney stone. At least I'm not crazy. I was in severe pain and I wasn't being a baby. Luckily it only took a few hours to pass instead of a few days (I thank the half a gallon of cranberry juice for that). The doctor told me that many people think kidney stones are worse pain than child birth. I find that hard to believe (although I was screaming and crying on the floor in the bathroom), but we shall see.

Hopefully this is the last time I have to go through this!