18 weeks tomorrow! How fabulous/amazing/crazy is that?!!
I honestly cannot believe how time is suddenly flying past, when in the beginning it felt like it was barely moving at all.
I'm still feeling really good & I'm so grateful for that. I see the doctor again tomorrow morning & I'll bring Stella with me to listen to the heartbeat for the first time, so that should be fun:) Its a real bummer that the hospital won't allow any kids under 7 into the perinatal testing center because she was reaaally excited to come with us for my 20 week ultrasound. So, I figured, bringing her to this was at least a little bit like a consolation prize;) I won't be seeing Dr. Heinzel tomorrow, as they wanted me to meet the new doctor at the practice since I never have...so hopefully I'll like her just (or almost) as much.
I've been feeling random flutters here & there the last week or 2 but there was one particular day last week, not long after I treated myself to a small Starbucks (non-decaf) iced coffee where (s)he went totally absolute bananas in there for a little while......lol. It was pretty hilarious & actually kind of awesome though because RJ was able to feel the movements too without much effort at all & that was a first for that this time around! It wasn't until much later with Stella that he was able to feel her but they told me that was because my placenta was "anterior" with her so it kind of served as a big cushion between her & me throughout the pregnancy. I'd have to check the other blog to be absolutely certain but I think I was about 23 weeks before we really felt her movements......so this, at 17 weeks, was kind of unexpected but totally awesome & welcome nevertheless:)
This was my 17-week photo. My plan is to start to have RJ snap one of me every Tuesday, to document the start of a new week of the pregnancy. I really should have started weeks ago.....but hey, better late than never, right? Plus I do have a handful of ones in the earlier weeks that Stella shot for me or that I shot myself:)
Dear Baby,
Well, love. Its official. Your Dad & I saw you move today! Both of us did.....for the first time! Well, I actually thought I saw my belly wiggling around earlier today but I wasn't sure...but when Dad got home from work, I laid on the couch & we both stared for awhile &....sure enough, there you were:)
We go to the hospital for our 20-week ultrasound on August 8th, where they will check on you & print more pictures for us & tell us the answer to the most magical question of all right now...........BOY or GIRL !?
{Anyone reading this.....
......if you have a feeling, please post as a comment:)
I kind of have a feeling of my own right now but I won't say anything yet, so as not to sway anyone.}
Anyhow, little one, thank you for making my time with you so great so far. Just like with your big sister, this pregnancy has been a joy. Dad & I have been busy, busy working on the house. I've been listening to Dave Matthews even more so than usual lately, so I think its safe to assume that you'll automatically be a fan, basically from your moment of birth, if you don't consider yourself one already;) We went to see him at the end of June & he was wonderful, as he always is. Hopefully you were able to hear some of it from in there:) I can't get enough of cranberry juice right now & my belly is definitely bigger than it was at 16.5 weeks with Stell Bee! My plan is to have Dad & Stella take some pictures this weekend; so I'll have to post a few once they do.
I hope you're comfy cozy in there. I can't wait to see you on 8/8! Dad took that day off from work, so we will probably leave the hospital after the ultrasound & go shopping for something cute for you:))))
Love you, little munchkin.
xoxo
Your Mama
Welp.....the proverbial cat's outta the bag for good now;) I posted our news on FaceBook earlier tonight & it actually feels GREAT, like some kind of serious weight has been lifted off my shoulders.....lol. I've gotten the chance to tell so many friends & family members in person but hitting 15 weeks (and realizing how my belly has clearly popped to the point of being pretttty obviously pregnant), I figured it was just time for the world to officially know. And I love that now, the world pretty much does! Thank you, magic of FB. The positivity & love that everyone has been showering us with tonight on there has been so welcome & lovely. I'll have to share this blog address on there soon, too. Again...its been fun keeping it all mostly to myself so far.......but its definitely time to start sharing the fun with anyone who's interested in being a part of it along with us:)
14 weeks + 6 days
Wowza; its been awhile. Not sure why I've been such a stranger to the blog except that we've been super busy working on the house, which has been drainingly exhausting but super crazy amazing in pretty much every other way. Its really starting to take shape & become our own.....and I'm loving the way that's making me feel. I don't know if Feng Shui is a real thing or not but if it is, its definitely coming into play because as we get more & more things done & finally "right", its really beginning to feel fantastic when I look all around me in here. Of course there are still paint cans & sandpaper in my field of view.....but we have come so far & done such a fab job & I'm just loving it all. Yay us for being such a great team:)
ANYhow.......I hit 14 weeks (+ "lemon" status) tomorrow! Can you believe it? I feel like I *just* peed on the stick....and now here I am, cruising right on into my second trimester already. Seriously.....whhhat an amazing feeling. We get to see Dr. Heinzel again on Wednesday morning, so that'll be fun since we should get to listen to baby's heartbeat again.
::insert warm fuzzy feeling here::
:) :) :) :) :)
I'm not really getting a huge vibe re: boy vs. girl yet though most people seem to think I'm having another girl so far from what they've told me;) I'll have to do a poll on here again like I did with Stella's blog once I get a little bit further along. The sad thing is that I can't be sure if baby was conceived at the end of March or on the first day or 2 of April....so I can't even consult the Chinese Gender Predictor chart this time. Boo! Ah well; I'll have to do that thing where you swing your wedding ring over your belly or whatever it is & see what the results of that turn out to be this time instead;)
I actually can't believe that I haven't told the whole world yet......but I've done really good & have just been telling people as I see and/or talk to them. Its been so much fun getting to do it this way rather than just totally informally all at once on FB. I have a few more people I'd like to see/tell in person & then I'll blurt it out for the rest of the world via some kind of a cute belly pic and/or "Big Sis" pic of Stell Bee. I still have yet to figure out the creative aspects of that but that's on the asap TO DO list....so, with a little luck, it should be accomplished before long:)
So I reached the ever-elusive 12-week mark yesterday & ooooooh how glorious it felt:) I remember taking my test & thinking that "June 11th" felt like it would take FORever to arrive.....but it was here before I knew it! The first tri has been flying past much more fluidly than I thought it would & I'm so grateful for that. Plus summertime always flies & my beloved fall never lasts as long as I'd like for it to & always gets interrupted with an overabundance of Christmas shopping .....so, really I'm thinking baby will be here in our arms basically before we know what hit us;)
Stella talks about baby regularly now & its the absolute greatest...
"When we get all of the baby stuff out, me & Mouse will teach the baby how to use it!"
"Mouse would like to share the changing table with the baby, if that's ok?"
"I want a baby sister but I'm thinking it must be a boy cause...you know, I'm a girl."
She's so flipping cute.
I really need to update this blog more regularly with all of the sweetness that comes out of her mouth:)
Oh! And I found out last weekend of yet ANOTHER dear friend (and family member, actually!) who will be birthing a little bitty friend for our peanut just about a month after ours gets here. That makes 5 of us now so far!! I can't even believe that baby is still in utero & already has this fabulous, built-in playgroup already in place!
:) :) :)
I feel like its especially important to document that yesterday was the first day that Stella started to incorporate the baby into her drawings.
:) :) :) :) :)
I feel like its finally started to sink in for her & she's genuinely starting to get really excited. And BOY....what a fantastic thing that is to witness.
She also told me that Christmas is "waaaay too long to wait".
I can't say that part of me doesn't agree with her;)
Oh & by the by.....
Today marks the start of Week 11 for me & baby has officially reached LIME status:)
These past few days have been super exciting & its been so much fun.
After we had heard the (gloriously beautiful & perfect) heartbeat, we told my parents our happy news. Mom looked so totally floored & it was so awesome. She couldn't believe how baby-like the lil bean already looks on the ultrasound picture. You can really make out so much; the head, the back, even the femur! Such totally amazing stuff. Of course she wanted a copy for her fridge;)
Then we fed the ducks down at the lake with Stella on Saturday morning & it just felt like such a happy moment & the perfect time to tell her. First she jumped up & down at the news, then ran all over the place, then proceeded to peek down my shirt in an effort to see the baby.
The logic of a 4-year old is seriously the cutest ever.
She's told us a couple of times that she's kind of hoping for a sister but that she "thinks it might be a boy cause, you know...I'm a girl." Hehe.
And now the hunt for the cutest BIG SISTER shirt ever officially begins. Or maybe I'll create an original one for her myself somehow. That could be fun.
I'll also need to figure some kind of a cool way to reveal the news on FB.......eventually.
:)
