Thursday, October 4, 2012

Baby Mitchell

Ever since I was little I have known I've wanted to be a mom and have kids. When Lance and I got married we decided to wait at least a year before we'd start a family. Well what do you know a year from the day we were married we found out that I was pregnant!
 (if you want to see the video of us finding out I'm pregnant click here, scroll down to the bottom of the post).

We were so excited to find out we were pregnant especially to find out on our 1 year anniversary. Even though we were both very excited to see that positive sign on the pregnancy test we were still a little unsure if it was for real or if we just got a false positive, so I took another test. What do you know, that one came back positive too!

At this point I was convinced I was pregnant. These things are pretty accurate, especially if you get two positive tests. However, Lance still wanted to make sure so I took a third pregnancy test and again it came back positive.

After confirming the pregnancy the third time, I set up my first pregnancy appointment!

I didn't see my doctor until I was around 10 weeks and the cute thing about my husband is when I went to that appointment he wanted me to get my blood drawn and check one last time to make sure I was really pregnant. :) And once again my results came back that I was in deed pregnant.

I had heard through family, friends, and classes I had taken in school about the dreaded morning sickness during pregnancy. When I first found out I was pregnant I was feeling fine, I even thought maybe I'll be one of those lucky women who go throughout pregnancy without morning sickness, man was that wishful thinking. When I was around 6-7 weeks pregnant everything went south. I have never felt so awful in my life! I'm not sure why they call it morning sickness because it lasts all day and sometimes night.

I had the combination of nausea and vomiting plus I had this stomach bacteria added to my misery. I lost around 10lbs during that time and honestly I was afraid this would last my whole pregnancy. But my wonderful friends and family reassured me that it gets better once you hit the second trimester, and thank goodness it did.

This second trimester has been great! I don't have any more nausea or vomiting and I have my energy back!

First pregnancy picture. I'm 16 weeks along and starting to get a little baby bump!
18 weeks pregnant. Baby bump is getting bigger!
This past week we were able to have our first ultrasound and find out what we were having!! We have been so excited for this day and couldn't wait to know if we were expecting a little boy or a little girl. Early on I had a good feeling that we were having a girl, Lance thought other wise, he thought it was a boy. Before we found out, I had a patient at my work tell me she can just look at a pregnant woman and know what she is having. She predicted I was for sure having a boy and said she is almost always right. Then my cousin does this thing where she looks at this vein in your eye and if it's a V then it's a boy and if it's a hook than it's a girl. She told me I had a dominate V with my vein so I was going to have a boy. She said she has been right about 83% of the time. Then both Lance and I had dreams that we were having a baby boy! 

After all these predictions and dreams pointing to a boy it made me even more anxious and excited to find out what we were having! I still stuck to my gut and said it was a girl and so did most of my family and friends. But in the end the patient from my work, my cousin, and our dreams were right the ultrasound showed we are having a BOY!!!

Our little guy is not shy at all showing off what he's got :)


Having that ultrasound done was one of the coolest things! It's amazing how far technology has come, that even though our baby is only 10oz we can see him so clearly in these pictures!! I didn't want the ultrasound to end I just wanted the lady there to keep the ultrasound head on my stomach so I could continue watching my baby boy wiggle around. I was so glad Lance was able to come with me to the ultrasound and experience that amazing event together!

She checked everything on the baby from his brain to the 4 chambers in his heart, to the toes on his feet to make sure everything looked good so far in the pregnancy. She said from what she could see everything looked good and normal. That was very comforting to hear. I realize that doesn't mean things can't happen, but I'll I can do is keep myself healthy and keep him in our prayers that he'll our come out healthy.

We decided to tell our families over Skype later that night when Lance got home from work. Both families were very excited and anxious to hear the news. It was hard on them to have to wait all day but I think it was harder on me keeping it in for so long! On my side of the family this will be the first grandkid and he is already getting spoiled by his Grandma Taylor. :)

We decided to tell our co-workers by bringing cupcakes with blue frosting on them to work.





It has been so cool seeing my belly grow, and I'm actually a little excited to see it get bigger (I realize that excitement will probably fade for the rest of the kids I have). 

Some things I've been noticing lately are:
  1. Jeans are starting to get a little snug. I prefer to wear my loose fitting, comfy pants
  2. I'm starting to be a little restricted with certain movements. Bending over whether sitting or standing is starting to get harder. Also trying to sit up without using something to help pull me up is becoming a challenge. 
  3. The doctor said around this time is when I should start noticing little movements from my baby. I've been told early on when the baby moves it feels like butterflies or gas bubbles in your stomach. I've noticed from time to time those feelings and thought thats probably my baby moving. That's a cool experience and thought to think about. I haven't reached the point where the baby is full on kicking to where I can definitely tell he's moving but I am anxiously waiting and excited for that day to come!
  4. Another thing I've noticed is my appetite has gone up. I don't eat a lot throughout the day or have big cravings I have to fulfill that moment, but when it comes time to sit down for a meal I can eat a lot more during that meal than I could before I was pregnant. 

All these changes I'm going throw have been such a great experience, and I'm excited for more changes to come. I realize some, maybe a lot, of changes I probably wont like but this being my first pregnancy things are so new and exciting. Sometimes I sit on the couch and put my hands over my belly and just think in amazement that I am carrying my baby right now. He is growing everyday and soon will be able to hear our voices and know that we are his parents. Am I nervous about having a baby and all the responsibilities and challenges that come with it, of course, but being a mother and loving my baby boy unconditionally will make all that seem so small.

I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant, and can't believe I'm past the half way mark! These next 19 weeks are going to be so fun watching my stomach grow and feeling my baby wiggling around inside. I hope these next 19 weeks go by fast because I am so excited to hold my little boy!