Week 23: Get Plenty of Rest and Lots of Fluids (November 25)

Apparently the 2.3 Liters of water and 16 ounces of milk I was getting each day wasn't enough.  This week I managed to get sick and dehydrated enough to cause a handful of contractions and other various symptoms.  All is well now, after a long weekend of rest, gatorade, and pampering from my husband.  We have a regular appointment tomorrow morning (November 26).  This week Biscuit has been especially active.  He actually created waves in my stomach one morning big enough and for a long enough time for Michael to see. 

I recently discovered the best site ever, Zulily! I went slightly overboard on the ridiculous graphic onesies and other goodies and this is only the first shipment out of many.

We met with family this weekend in Charlotte and Mike and I got to meet his little cousins for the first time.  Michael finally got the hang of holding the baby...after I took him and calmed him down and handed him back.  To be fair, he was pretty fussy with everyone at one point or another, even with me.  I also learned that Michael has NEVER changed a diaper in his entire life which amazes me.  I changed my first diaper at 11 years old.  He has a lot of practicing to do so everyone with babies needs to bring them over for him to take care of.  

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  Don't get too cold out there.  Just bundle up like Little Buddy and I did today.

Week 22: Get Down With the Sickness (November 18)

Little Buddy was sick all week and I fought it off until Friday.  Today (Sunday) it crushed me with a fury.  I used my suddenly freed up time to order our Christmas cards and stamps.  (Harry Potter stamps!) Here are some previews for you.

And here is Molly just being cute. 

We chose a color for the nursery this week.  Princess Blue by Valspar.  

Saturday I supervised while Michael and his parents moved some furniture around in preparation of getting a new couch and a recliner!

One day we might have a dining room table to put here. Until then we have our lovely TV trays!

And they also helped rearrange the guest room so that our guests don't have to circumnavigate all of our junk.  It's tight, but let's just call it cozy.

In other nursery news, we picked up a few pieces to add to my white bookshelf to add some storage to Biscuit's room.

Also, I received my first pack of cloth diapers and flannel wipes and I couldn't be more pleased!  So cute and soft.  I can't wait to get more things from JustSimplyBaby .

No real baby news this week.  Biscuit has settled on my bladder and made my nights much busier.  He is also kicking up a storm and I can now regularly see his pokes and jabs.  As soon as I am finished with work I head upstairs for a warm bath and sit back and watch the show.  It is the best part of my day, aside from falling asleep next to Michael.  

Week 21: Bouncing Biscuit (November 11)

Our little future geek has been moving around more and more!  I even saw some rumblings in my tummy when I was soaking in the tub the other day!  He kicks hard! When he kicks forward it is exciting and funny feeling, but when he kicks down or backward it is surprisingly ouchy.  Not so bad now, but I am worried for when he gets bigger.  The strangest feeling, though, is when he kicks up and hits the diaphragm.  It's like inside hiccups.

Michael and I celebrated our 1st anniversary on the 10th and it was amazing.  We had Bojangles chicken biscuits for breakfast and headed to North Hills to see Thor: The Dark World.  After that we bought the perfect piece for under the window in the nursery at Target and then headed to Nantucket grill for a late lunch.  That is where we had our first date!

Week 20: Halfway Point (November 4)

We are halfway to being parents! Holy cow!  At first it couldn't go fast enough and now it won't slow down.  We registered this weekend.  It was exhausting but so much fun!  Biscuit is going to have a super hero nursery and I can't wait to start nesting.  One thing though.  Apparently you need to order your nursery furniture before you get pregnant.  It takes so long to get delivered.  Of course I'm exaggerating but it could take up to 16 weeks in extreme circumstances. In case you were wondering, here is a list of where we are registered.

The bulk of our registry is here:

buybuyBaby: Registry#13728897
http://www.buybuybaby.com/store/page/BabyRegistry

and buybuyBaby is awesome because they are owned by the same company as Bed Bath and Beyond, so you can use their gift cards and coupons there, and you can also order things from our registry there.  I also think if you ship it to us shipping is free!

Of course we couldn't help finding a few things we liked here:

BabiesRus: Registry#51506504
http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp?ab=TRU_Header:Utility2:Baby-Registry:Home-Page

We also have a handful of things here:

Pottery Barn Kids: Registry ID 3390806
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/registry/find-registry.html?cm_type=lnav

My belly bump really decided to pop out this week!

We also decided this week to ask a very special couple to become part of our family, and they said yes!  Meet Biscuit's godparents, Matthew and Jennifer Kendall!

Welcome to the family!

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Week 19: Biscuit's a Boy! (October 30)

YAY! The day is finally here.  This week we got to see Biscuit again and find out if we were having a boy or a girl.  The first half of the appointment was spent in the serious ultrasound room with the ultrasound tech.  She checked out all the body parts and declared the baby healthy aside from genitals and face.

Here is the healthy, four chambered heart beating at 150 beats per minute.

Here is a foot

Here is the body, but facing the wrong way.

Biscuit was not cooperating.  Biscuit moved everywhere and all over the place except for where we needed Biscuit to be.  Finally, Biscuit looked straight at us.

And we knew that Biscuit's face was forming normally. Still, no genitals.  The ultrasound tech actually took my belly and shook it, which is quite uncomfortable because you have to do this with a full bladder.  She told us we may have to come back if he didn't show us the goods. After what seemed like forever she showed us what apparently was what we were looking for.

Do you see it? I guess I might.  I'm not sure. But, Biscuit is a boy! Michael could not be happier.  I had no real preference, but I do have lots of practice with a baby boy now.  Yay!

The next half was with Dr. Gaines, who might be my favorite.  He, too, brought up my weight and we discussed my diet and exercise plan and he told me that I was the "picture of perfect pregnancy health" and that some people are just genetically predisposed to gain more weight than others.  He didn't think I needed to worry too much about gestational diabetes, but it isn't off the table.  He says that women who take as big of an interest in their health as I have tend to have very healthy outcomes, whether or not they gain a few extra pounds, and tend to spring back faster after delivery.  Did I mention I love him? He also answered my insane paranoia questions without referring me to a therapist.  He did tell me my questions were crazy (in more scientific terms) but he answered them and told me not to worry too much and that he looked forward to hearing my next outlandish question. I have come to the conclusion that male OBs are better than females.  One female called me crazy and the other called me fat.  I'm sure they were nicer and more PC than that, but that is what I heard in my crazy hormonal mind.

Week 18: Emerald Isle Girl's Weekend (October 21)

This weekend I headed to the beach with my mom, sister, and niece for a girls' weekend.  It is a sort of annual tradition for my mom's birthday.  Michael headed the opposite way to spend the weekend in Charlotte with our friends Matt and Jen.  Biscuit seemed to enjoy the beach and was VERY active.

We spent the weekend relaxing and shopping and fussing over everyone's ridiculous food restrictions.  It was wonderful. When I got back I had lovely presents from my even lovelier husband!

Who doesn't love jewelry and electronics? 

Week 17: Wiggly Biscuit (October 14)

Finally there was a flutter.  An absolute without a doubt flutter from Biscuit.  I had been thinking that maybe I was feeling something for the past few weeks, but I couldn't be sure. Now I know, Biscuit is in there!  So exciting!  Biscuit was active enough that even Michael got a chance to feel him moving around...after waiting with his hand on my belly for over 30 minutes.

Michael took me to the State Fair this weekend and I got to wear my new maternity jeans that Aunt Renda sent me!

Also, Mount Olive gives you a free pickle if you are pregnant.

Week 16: Biscuit Goes On a Diet and Starts Working Out (October 7)

I've done lower carb before and done ok, but I knew this was going to be harder. A normal person should get between 100-200 carbs and day and I needed to stay at the low end of that. But I couldn't go too low because that could harm the baby.  I cut out all sugary drinks and stuck with milk and water, aside from the occasional Sprite (which Biscuit loves! it makes him dance).  I need to get 65 grams of protein a day which is a lot of protein.  I cut my vanilla greek yogurt and started eating it plain and packed my lunch box with cheese and beef jerky and protein bars.  I got an app for my phone that created walking routes and found parks that were further away to take Little Buddy (that is what I call my baby I work with now) to and upped my daily walking average from about a mile to almost 3 miles a day. I made a conscious effort to make healthy eating decisions and move my butt more.  I was hoping and hoping this would make a difference.

Week 15: Doctor Huffman (September 30)

This week we met Dr. Huffman.  The appointment started off scary and ended up with me being relieved about one thing and stressed about another.  First off we listened to the heartbeat.  But she couldn't find it, she searched and searched and searched and finally found Biscuit hiding way at the bottom of my uterus. I couldn't listen to that wonderful sound long enough to make my heart rate go back down, but she took it away anyway.  Then she looked at my chart and brought it up.  My weight.  It had jumped up 7 pounds from the previous visit. (But remember that means I have gained 7 pounds my entire pregnancy.) We talked about my going off the metformin and she told me to watch my snacking and lower my carb intake and then the visit was over and I had to wait 4 more weeks to get any updates on my Biscuit.

Here is a picture of my belly from this week, finally starting to show a little.

Week 14: Hello Maternity Leggings (September 23)

Now I can button my pants in the morning, but by the end of the day I am miserably uncomfortable so I have moved on to the genius invention, maternity leggings.  I love them and will wear them forever and ever and ever.  So comfortable.  Until this week I had gained zero pounds in my pregnancy, but after going off the metformin the pounds were creeping up on me.  I was not looking forward to the conversation with the doctor next week, but I was looking forward to hearing the heart beat again.


Happy Birthday to Michael this week!

Week 13: No More Metformin (September 16)

So the first trimester is coming to an end, and that means I have to go off my metformin.  If you remember I take it for insulin resistance and for your reference that last time I went off it completely I weighed about 80 pounds more than I did right before I got pregnant.  A combination of the metformin, a change in diet, and an increase in activity helped me get down to a weight that was lower than I ever was in high school.  I was scared, not only of gaining all the weight back, but also of the very real chance of getting gestational diabetes.  But, I have to follow the doctor's orders and at the end of this week I went off my meds. My body took about a week to get used to it with several ups and downs in my blood sugar, but everything seemed ok after that.

Week 12: Biscuit's Movie Debut (September 7)

We decided we couldn't wait 8 weeks to make our announcement, but we wanted a better picture of Biscuit to introduce him to the world.  I found a company in Morrisville called Baby Bump 4D, and they do an early 3D ultrasound package for just 50 bucks so we decided to check them out.  I could not have been happier with what we got (especially now knowing what we would get at our next appointment).  BEHOLD! Our Biscuit's first performance on the internet!

I could watch that for hours.  We also got several nice still shots, and a non guaranteed professional guess that Biscuit was a boy.  

We spent the rest of that weekend informing all of our friends and family before unleashing our secret to Facebook via this lovely photo taken by Robert with the caption "The Dark Knight Rises in March 2014"

For your amusement, here are some outtakes.