Twenty-One Weeks

Week twenty-one has just about come to an end and boy what a week it has been! 

A lot has happened this week in regards to pregnancy "milestones"! As you can tell by my photo, it is about time to retire all of my pre-pregnancy t-shirts; they are a little on the short side now due to my expanding belly. My belly isn't the only thing that is expanding either; thanks to Georgia's heat and humidity, my fingers have become swollen to the point where I can no longer where my wedding rings.  I was completely devastated when I came to the conclusion that my rings just weren't going to be forced onto my fingers without cutting off circulation. Brian came home from work one day to find my in bed, bawling over not being able to wear my rings and him being the sweetheart that he is, pulled me into his arms and told me that these things happen and that we will find a chain that I can put my rings on to wear around my neck; closer to my heart. <3 

I have noticed my baby's flutters have turned into kicks! She is starting to move around more and more and on occasion I feel her kick me in the most uncomfortable spots; the other day one of her kicks actually made me cry out because it was rather a shock. I absolutely love feeling her move around and am actually starting to learn her schedule; she moves around a lot after I have eaten and when I lay or sit down to relax. She also responds to music and when I sing to her; I play some of my favorite music and sing along and sure enough she will start bouncing around. She really seems to enjoy when I sing Norah Jones. <3 

Brian is also starting to bond with our little one as well and it melts my heart when he leaves for work in the morning and kisses me goodbye and then rubs my belly or when he tells me he loves me and then looks down at my stomach and says, "I love you too!". It truly is an amazing feeling! I can't wait for him to be able to feel her move (for sure, since he wasn't sure about the last time)!

Earlier this week I thought I was experiencing Braxton Hicks; I know it is possible to feel them as early as 20 weeks so of course you can imagine how weirded out I was by the sensation of my abdomen tightening up at random times of the day at 21 weeks. I don't want to say it was B.H. because I won't know for sure until I talk to my doctor, but I most definitely had the symptoms! These "contractions" were painless and didn't occur at regular intervals, but definitely felt a little uncomfortable. Don't worry, I had no other signs of preterm labor and I didn't have more than four in an hour; I only had about two the entire day and haven't felt them since. I go to the doctor in a day so I will tell her what I experienced and she can determine what was going on. 

In the mean time, I can't believe how quickly the weeks are flying by! Only about 128 more days to go! 

How far along? 21 weeks and 5 days.

Total weight gain: 5+ pounds (as of the beginning of June); I will be finding out exact weight gain on Monday, July 2nd. 

Maternity clothes?  Yes. 

Stretch marks? Yes. 

Sleep: Some nights are better than others. 

Best moment of this week? Getting our new car and feeling baby kick!

Miss anything? Snow and cold weather. 

Movement: A lot of movement and some kicks!

Food cravings? Milk and ice-cream. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope.

Gender: Girl!

Labor signs: No.

Symptoms: Intense heartburn, sciatic nerve pain. 

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? Off. :'(

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy go lucky preggo! 

Looking forward to: Hopefully being able to see fireworks with Brian and going home in August! 

Twenty Weeks

Week twenty has almost come to an end! I can't believe that we have reached the half way point!! In less than twenty weeks my darling baby girl will be here! I can't wait to have her here with us!

With each passing week my love for her grows; I never thought that I could love another person as much as I love my husband. The two of them are going to be my whole world!

As many of you may have heard, I was put on "pelvic" restriction at the beginning of this week. The reason behind my doctor doing so is because I have a low-lying placenta (a form of placenta previa); which means it is too close to my cervix. I was told that this is common and that I have nothing to worry about; I just have to be on restriction for a month so as not to provoke any vaginal bleeding that could possibly occur with my placenta being where it is. I will be having an ultrasound done at the end of July to determine if my body corrected this issue on its own or if my placenta decided to be stubborn and stay where it is. If it has not moved, I could possibly be put on bed rest (this is also depending on where exactly my placenta is). I know many have asked what being on pelvic restriction truly means and what I was told was that I am not allowed to have sex or to put anything into the vagina and to just "take it easy". I did a little reading of my own and I concluded that taking it easy meant no strenuous cleaning or exercise and no heavy lifting or doing anything that could provoke vaginal bleeding (bike rides, etc). 

So, I am waiting anxiously for my next ultrasound to have an official diagnosis. 

Brian and I are already spoiling our baby girl to pieces! We were lucky enough to score an entire weekend with him home, so we took advantage of that time and went out and got her a few things...okay, more than a few things. I have noticed that I enjoy shopping for her more than I enjoyed shopping for myself! I don't even think about getting things for myself anymore, it is always about her. 

 We were lucky to score some adorable things on clearance at Target and Kohls! Some of my absolute favorites were:

Isn't the butt just the cutest!! 

Her first pair of shoes!

The end of this week has been pretty insane! 

We are in the process of trading in our beloved GMC Sierra for a more family oriented car and that has proven to be more work than I anticipated. On the bright side we have found the car that we love and are hopefully closing on it this coming week. It will be a very nice addition to our "family"! 

We also have been planning our trip home in August! We had to adjust our dates to the beginning of the month because somehow I had managed to miscalculate how many weeks along I would be at the end of the month; I must have been having a bad case of P.B (pregnancy brain!). So we decided on the dates of August 11th through the 25th. Now for all of you in Illinois, this means that we will be arriving in the Parks sometime on the 12th and heading out around the 23rd or 24th. I want to say that it is all official, but nothing is ever official until we reach that last step in getting Brian's leave approved; he is turning in his paperwork to his Team Leader who will pass it on to their higher ups. If we have everything planned correctly and everyone does their job in passing things along, his leave should be approved by the end of July. *fingers crossed* 

Now on to the questions in regards to a baby shower! 

Yes, I am planning on having one! I am in the pre-planning process with my mother-in-law and we are working as best we can while being 1,800 miles apart on it. I promise I will keep everyone posted as best I can! 

Brian and I have decided on our little one's name and have also decided not to announce her name until the day she arrives. Now, I will be honest, we have told our closest friends (five total) so as to get an opinion and all have approved! This may make family feel a little heated, but relax! We did it for your benefit! This way you all will have the opportunity to experience and share a surprise with us! 

But in the mean time, I will give you her initials so as to keep you on the edge of your seat. 

Her initials are going to be A.M.F. 

Any guesses?! I mean the last one is obviously a given. =P 

Well, there you have it! My twentieth week in a nutshell! 

How far along? 20 weeks and five days.

Total weight gain: 5+ pounds (as of the beginning of June); I will be finding out at my next appointment how much I have gained total. 

Maternity clothes?  Wearing maternity pants and shirts, but still occasionally rocking out some pre-pregnancy t-shirts. 

Stretch marks? Yes. 

Sleep: Sleep has gotten a little better, but occasionally I have a ruff night. 

Best moment of this week? Finishing one of our registries and shopping for our baby.

Miss anything? Margaritas! 

Movement: Her movements are starting to get a little crazy! Sometimes it feels like she is a little jumping bean. 

Food cravings? Pizza, chocolate, and milk. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing as of right now!

Gender: Girl!

Labor signs: No.

Symptoms: Get winded easier, itchy belly, achey legs. 

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? I can still wear my wedding set, but I only put them on when I go out of the house because they are difficult to take off. 

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy go lucky preggo! 

Looking forward to: Getting our new car and going home in August! 

 

Nineteen Weeks and Gender Reveal

Well, here we are!

Nineteen weeks and three days along with approximately 144 days left to go! I can't believe how quickly time is flying by! The next thing we know, Munchkin will be here with us! 

As many of you already know, today was the "BIG" day! That's right, the day that we find out what Baby Felda's gender is. The mix up with last week had me extremely bummed out about not finding out sooner, but I must say, time flew by and before I knew it I was laying in the doctor's office with ultrasound goo on my belly. 

Now I know many of you are anxious to know what Munchkin is going to be and I will get to that here in a minute; right now I want to talk about our decisions on changing how we are going to reveal the gender. I had initially wanted to wait until our trip home at the end of August, but when I told my mom this she made it very clear that she would much rather I tell her over the phone the moment we found out. So, Brian and I decided to call our parents and tell them immediately following the appointment and then take photos to announce it to everyone else. The photos are finished (again I will get to that in a minute) and I am working on announcements to send out to family and close friends; the photos will also be posted on all of my networking websites for the rest of the world to see. 

Believe me when I say it has been killing me not being able to announce it to the world! The second I heard what our baby was, I wanted to SCREAM IT! 

So, since you all have waited ever so patiently, I will tell you what happened. 

Walking into the room, the ultrasound technician asked us if we had found out the gender yet and when I said "no" I knew then that she was indeed going to make finding out happen for us. I lay there in anticipation on that bed, ultrasound gel warming my belly (thank goodness my doctor's office uses warmed gel!), and Brian standing at my side. We both had our eyes glued to that little screen! She showed us the profile, the spine, the arms and legs, the heartbeat...and finally, after what felt like forever, she paused and looked over at us. I asked her, "What do you see?" And she looks at me and then at Brian and says, "It's a girl!". I looked over at Brian and screamed, "HAAAA!" and Brian laughed and turned red in the face. We were both convinced she was indeed going to be a he! My mom was even convinced she was a boy! After taking my hand, Brian looked at the technician and asked, "About how sure are you?" She laughed and said, "Ooh, about 98% sure.". It was a very exciting moment for us! 

So, here she is! Our beautiful baby GIRL! 

It's a Girl! 

I know that we had initially decided to wait to announce her gender, but in the end, I am very glad that we decided to tell everyone. I know some of you were probably pretty annoyed with the "we will announce", "we won't announce", and "oh now we are announcing" business but that is ok. 

Also, I want to say that finding out our baby's gender has been one of the most exciting things to experience and share with Brian. We had a special moment right there in that little room, staring at our baby girl. I am sure if we would have waited until her birth, that moment would have gone by too quickly for us to even enjoy it; there is said to be so much chaos going on once the baby is delivered that you don't have but more than a second to share with your spouse the fact that you just found out what your baby is. Finding out was like receiving the best Christmas and birthday presents combined with getting married and finding out we were pregnant all over again; it was just one of the best moments I can ever imagine. I can't fully describe it, but it is definitely going down in the books as one of the best days of my life. 

So, how are we announcing it, you ask?

Well, here are the photos that Brian and I took this afternoon, thanks to my good friend, Magan! These photos would not have been possible to take today without her help. :) She knows why. 

All of these photos were taken by Brian and I; which was very difficult by the way! And they will be on our announcements that we send out in the mail. I can't wait to see them in person! I will definitely have to let everyone catch a glimpse of those as well! 

Now that our baby's gender has been determined, I would like to talk about pregnancy as of this week. :) The ultrasound technician wants me to go back for another ultrasound in six weeks to check on the position of my placenta; I guess it isn't quite where it needs to be as of right now. She said it isn't abnormal, just something that they need to watch. Well I guess I am alright with that as long as I get to see my little one and she is healthy. Other than that, there were no other concerns! 

My only concern is trying to get my left ear not feeling as if it were plugged up! My allergies are a billion times worse than they have ever been and I just can't seem to hear out of it. I am pretty sure it isn't infected because it doesn't hurt, it just feels plugged up with fluid. But other than that and the sciatic nerve pain, I feel pretty fantastic! 

How far along? 19 weeks, 3 days.

Total weight gain: 5+ pounds; I asked the nurse not to tell me how much weight I had gained in a month since I have been feeling extra glum about the way my body is looking these days. 

Maternity clothes?  Wearing maternity pants and shirts, but still occasionally rocking out some pre-pregnancy t-shirts. 

Stretch marks? Yes. 

Sleep: Sleep is 50/50, some nights are better than others.

Best moment of this week? Finding out the sex of our baby and being able to experience it with Brian. 

Miss anything? Missing my family and friends from home.

Movement: Her movements are starting to become more noticeable on a daily basis.

Food cravings? Chicken Salad sandwiches and Pizza. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing as of right now!

Gender: Girl!

Labor signs: No.

Symptoms: My allergies are worse, occasional heartburn, sciatic nerve pain, itchy belly, and fingers and feet are still a little swollen.

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? I can still wear my wedding set, but it is starting to become difficult to take off. 

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy, happy, happy!!

Looking forward to: Getting more of the nursery put together and going home at the end of August.   

Eighteen Weeks

We have made it through to the eighteenth week and boy has it been an emotional start to a week! If it hasn't been dealing with Brian's work schedule it is dealing with some other stress promoter. 

We were supposed to be finding out the gender of our baby today, or so we thought. I guess when I called to reschedule my appointment I didn't specify that I need not only the visit with the midwife rescheduled, but the ultrasound as well. So the office had assumed I wanted to keep my ultrasound for the date it was already scheduled for and if that were the case, I would have just left everything how it was. Not only did I feel like a complete idiot while sitting there on the table, I was freaking out about the possibility of Brian not being able to attend the ultrasound on Thursday. 

Thankfully he called work right away and informed them of the mix up and he is scheduled off for Thursday. I just really hope that the schedule doesn't change because this is the one appointment I do not want him to miss. I suppose if it comes down to it, I will reschedule the u/s for a Thursday (since we were informed today that they only do these specific sonograms on Thursdays because they bring someone up from the Women's Hospital in Jacksonville) that he is off. 

Of course I was frustrated and upset with my own mistake but hey, it happens to the best of us, right? And I have waited this long, so what is another two days? 

On the bright side the rest of the appointment went fairly well and I did get a few answers to some of my concerns. First of all, my ears being plugged/feeling clogged and my "cold" is due to allergies; so I was prescribed Claritin (yes, I know, you can get it over the counter, but come on, why do that when I can go onto base with a prescription and get it free of charge?!) and was told that it will help with my congestion and what not. I was told I can also take Sudafed as needed. I will also be continuing my Neti Pot treatments to help get all of that gunk out of my sinuses. If you have not tried a Neti Pot before, I would definitely recommend using one BEFORE you give in to those allergy pills! Before I was pregnant that was all I had to do to prevent these little colds; it is seriously the best at home remedy I have ever used! This mama-to-be will be feeling more like herself in no time!

I also learned that the slight swelling in my feet (and a little bit in my hands) will not go away completely until after pregnancy. My midwife said that unfortunately with my expanding belly and weight combined with Georgia's heat and humidity, the swelling will always be there. I guess that it just comes with being pregnant...yay...shoe shopping is going to be that much more difficult now. =/ Honestly, I would probably be much more content just walking around bare foot, but Brian seems to have an issue with that and I suppose I shouldn't argue with him. 

As far as my other little pregnancy conditions, I was told to stretch my legs before bed, get more calcium in my system (whether it be from Tums or milk, they don't care as long as I am getting it), eat Tomatoes for that extra potassium, and to use Miralax for any bathroom issues. That last bit of information made Brian and I laugh because we give our cat, Cody, Miralax for his bathroom issues! I guess it was just an inside joke. 

Goodness, I am going to be a walking pharmacy! 

We were able to hear baby's heart beat again and this time it was down to 141; which I believe is still within girl range because of it being above 140 bpm? Either way, it was wonderful to hear. It always reassures me that everything is ok in there. 

After we got home and I had my little breakdown from being upset over my mistake, Brian and I just laid in bed for a little while so I could calm down; I just needed to cry and then listen to the silence with him there next to me. As we were laying there, my little baby starting moving around as if to tell me, "Hey! I'm still in here and I'm not going anywhere any time soon, so cheer up and turn that frown upside down!". I couldn't believe how much I was feeling him or her move! Their little "kicks" have definitely gotten stronger since the last time I really felt them and it feels as if the "flutters" are turning into little tiny jabs; almost as if they were poking me from the inside. I can just imagine it being something along the lines of how I poke our cats, *poke* "HEY!" *poke, poke* "HEY!". Then I thought that because they felt so much stronger that just maybe Brian would be able to feel, so I placed his hand on my belly and we waited in silence; almost to the point of holding our breathes. A few seconds later I felt a little jab and the look on Brian's face was epic. I can't quite describe it, but I asked him if he felt that and he said "I don't know, maybe. I'm not sure. It could have been your heart beat though." I am pretty convinced he felt our baby and that is an incredible feeling. I told him not to worry because if he is unsure of what he felt we will just keep on trying until he is sure. 

So despite this roller coaster of emotions kind of day we have had, everything turned out to be ok. Yeah we have our struggles, but like Brian always tells me, "Everything will be ok." and he is right. No matter how crappy the situation may seem, whatever it is, we always get through it and everything is ok. We always get through it.

Everything will be ok. 

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain: 5+ pounds; I asked the nurse not to tell me how much weight I had gained in a month since I have been feeling extra glum about the way my body is looking these days. 

Maternity clothes?  Wearing some maternity clothes and a few things from my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. 

Stretch marks? Yes. 

Sleep: Still not sleeping very well due to allergies/cold/etc. 

Best moment of this week? Hearing baby's heart beat. 

Miss anything? Miss having certain stores within a 15 minute car ride away.

Movement: Every now and then I feel the occasional flutter-like jab. 

Food cravings? Angelo's Pizza, yum! Biscuits and Gravy.

Anything making you queasy or sick? The smell of eggs makes me a little nauseous. 

Gender: To be determined; but we are thinking boy!

Labor signs: None.

Symptoms: My fingers and feet are starting to swell up a little bit and my belly is starting to itch more and more. 

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? I can still wear all of them except my thumb ring, but they are starting to become difficult to take off. 

Happy or moody most of the time? Been kind of emotional; anxious, nervous, some irritation towards certain people, etc. 

Looking forward to: Determining baby's gender and the month of August when we can finally go home! 

Boy or Girl?

 I am sure most mommies-to-be have heard all of the various "Old Wives Tales" that have been thought to predict baby's gender, but do we really believe in them? I can't say that I do, but it is something fun to think about until the day comes to find out baby's gender. I mean, a lot of them are pretty crazy! 

I have been thinking a lot about these gender predicting tales and can't help but wonder how accurate they will be in predicting the sex of my baby. I mean if I end up with a girl because baby's heart beat was above 140 bpm every time then I will be more of a believer. ;)

I had to reschedule my doctor's appointment due to Brian's pending work schedule and was thankfully able to have it moved up to this Monday (June 4th); my excitement just sky rocketed because that is less than TWO DAYS AWAY!!! We both didn't want to run the risk of him missing such an important milestone due to him having to be the ammo truck driver for the three day range. 

After confirming the appointment I immediately made the post on Facebook and of course everyone is just as excited as we are to be finding out. But as the day progressed I couldn't help but think about the person who is most important to me (aside from Brian, of course) during this pregnancy; my mother. There was no way I could just reveal the baby's sex on Facebook because she wouldn't get to see it and calling her just wouldn't feel right. So after a long discussion, Brian and I have decided to wait to reveal our baby's gender until we are able to tell our family in person. After all I want to see everyone's face and see their reactions when we tell them because it will be that much more meaningful. I want our parents to feel like they had the opportunity to be a part of this pregnancy in person and not just from a distance. 

"But Chelsey, when are you coming home?", you ask? 

Well, Brian is in the process of putting in a request for leave at the end of August; we plan on being home the 23rd of August through the 2nd or 3rd of September. So as long as everything is approved, we are coming home. 

That is when we will make the announcement. 

Yes, I know, you were all looking forward to finding out pink or blue, but you have waited this long to find out, so what is another two months? It is going to kill me not being able to tell anyone when all I am going to want to do is scream it from the roof tops, but in the end I think it will be well worth the wait. 

So in the mean time, I have been asking everyone what they are predicting that I will have and I am keeping track of it on a piece of paper. I thought it would be fun to see how many people guessed correctly.