My Big Fat Belly - 13 Weeks

First off, I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to be able to keep up the weekly Won Ton posts.  I really really want to because I want to be able to look back at it later, but so much is going on and I’m having to scrounge to find time to write them :(

How far along:  13 weeks

Symptoms:  Still have the ligament pain every now and again, which I hear is expected during the second trimester.  Oh yeah, this week was my last week in the first trimester…I’m now 1/3 of the way through this craziness…wow!  Still can’t believe that.  I also forgot to mention in my 12 week post that I did have my 12 week appointment but didn’t see my actual doctor because he was working in the Anniston office that day, so I saw another doctor in that group at St. Vincent’s.  My normal doc said he wants me to see everyone in the group so that if he’s not able to deliver the baby, I’ll have at least met whoever is going to do the delivering.  I like this idea a lot!  Anyway, the other doctor asked me a few questions, did a urine test, checked my weight and then I finally got to hear the heartbeat on the doppler.  It’s nothing like seeing my baby on the screen, but it’s a close second.  Heart rate was about 160bpm (she was estimating because it wasn’t a doppler that had the heart rate shown).

Maternity Clothes:  Still rockin’ the belly band.  I got a lot of GREAT suggestions from you guys about bathing suits and have decided that I will go to Target to buy a larger size tankini.  There’s honestly no need for me to have a maternity suit because I’ll only be wearing a bathing suit for maybe 2 more months and I just won’t need one of the really big ones.  By the time I’m that big, it’ll be cold again.

Weight Gain:  Gained half a pound this week, so I’m up to 4 1/2.  I plan to talk to my doc at my 16 week appointment (July 15th) about the supposed one pound I’m told to gain every week because I would gain way more than the recommended 25 if I did that from here on out.  I’m very curious about that.  I’ve gotten back into a normal workout routine that I love.  I take a dance class two days a week that is my cardio for the week.  I typically burn about 500+ calories at each of those.  Then two other days I go to the gym and work on weights.  I’m loving my routine right now.

Sleep:  Sleep is pretty good minus the fact that I get up twice every night to pee.

Cravings/Aversions:  Eggs and Chocolate Milk….don’t know if those cravings will ever really go away.  I love them both so much!  And I found a new aversion….broccoli.  Which is such a shame.  I was so proud of myself that I learned to like broccoli and now I can’t eat it at all.  I’ve tried dipping it in dressings, gravy, all kinds of stuff.  But it’s just not doing it for me.

Baby Size:  Up to a peach!  I can’t believe Won Ton is this big!  Of course he/she was this big at the beginning of week 13.  I’m typing this 13 week post when I’m 13 weeks and 6 days so really, baby is bigger than this now.  He/she can now move around and suck their thumb!  I seriously really hope that at my next ultrasound I get a thumb sucking picture…it’s just so sweet!

Gender:  I have had one dream it was a boy, and then this past week, I had a dream it was a girl.  I’m so confused myself!!!  Part of me is still leaning towards boy, but there’s another part of me that is really getting more and more used to the idea of having a girl.  When Carina and I were in New York last week, we went to FAO toy store to pick out something for my niece's upcoming birthday.  She is the girliest of girls and so naturally I started looking for cute little dresses/tutu’s.  I got in the little girls dress up department and just went crazy.  I imagined having a little girl and her being in an adorable and bright purple tutu with a matching top and little princess crown.  Carina looked at me like I was crazy.  However, all this being said, I for some reason still have this feeling it’s a boy.

What I Miss:  I miss my brain.  Y’all….I’m literally getting dumber by the day.  I feel like Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels sometimes…for real.

What I’m Looking Forward To:  July 15th is the next appointment, but honestly, I’m looking forward to getting something in the mail.  I went on Amazon and found a fetal doppler that was super cheap and purchased it.  I love hearing Won Ton’s heart beating and I am sad I don’t get to hear it more often.  So I’m really looking forward to this thing coming in the mail so I can hear it whenever my heart desires (no pun intended).  My July 15th appointment is my 16 week appointment and we won’t have an ultrasound.  It’ll be like my 12 week appointment where I just give a urine sample, check weight, talk to the doc and then hear the heart.

Bump Pic for the Week:

So sorry, but there’s no bump picture this week!!  I just haven’t had the time to take one.  I’ll take one at 14 weeks.

Advice I Need:  Like I said, you guys were so helpful on the advice front, so I’m gonna have to make this a normal section of these posts, because I am always looking for advice in certain areas.  This week my advice needed relates to stretch marks.  I know I’m still early in my pregnancy and don’t have to deal with this now, but I’ve just always wondered about it so I wanted to ask.  Did you guys use anything to prevent stretch marks?  If so, what did you use, when in your pregnancy did you start using it and how often did you use it?

Rome, Italy

Can you tell I’m trying to catch up on some blog posts today???  I just now realized that I never even blogged about our trip to Rome and London.  We had such a blast…except for the part that I was 7 weeks pregnant and exhausted and all we did was walk around both cities.  I truly thought I was on the verge of a slow and painful death.  But hey…at least the scenery was awesome!

I picked a few of my fav pics of Rome.  See my facebook album for all of them:

I trust you guys know what this is.

This is the inside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican

This is a view from the bottom of the Spanish Steps.  Our hotel was at the top of the steps and to the right.

This is the view from the top of a bright white building called Emmanuel Vittorio.  The locals apparently  hate this building because of the color.  But man it had great views!!

The Pantheon.  We also took an Angels&Demons tour.  It’s the book by Dan Brown that followed The Da Vinci Code.  I love his books.  They’re so amazing!  Anyway, we went to all the main locations in the book.  This wasn’t one that we went to on the tour, but it was one of the locations in the book.

This, however, is one of the main locations and we went here with the tour group.  This is Piazza de Navona.  This is the scene in the book where the fourth cardinal dies of the water element (although in the movie he didn’t die, he went on to become the next pope).  This structure is called “Fountain of the Four Rivers”.

This was another location we went to on the tour.  This was in the Santa Maria del Vittoria Church and if you saw the movie, you recognize the sculpture.  It’s the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.  This church was where the third cardinal died of the fire element.

This is the Roman Forum.  It’s a very large park of old sculptures and buildings that are left of Ancient Rome.

     

This is what the inside of the Colosseum looks like , in case you were wondering.

Arc of Constantine outside of the Colosseum

Trevi Fountain by night.  BEAUTIFUL!

Me in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.  The weekend we were in Rome was a BUSY weekend!  It was the weekend that the late Pope John Paul had his beatification ceremony to become a saint.  Over a million people were in Rome that weekend.  We sure know good times to travel ;)

     

I’m not even kidding when I say that SO MANY of the churches in Rome look like this on the inside.  The architecture and paintings and sculptures are absolutely beautiful!!  Fun fact…there are over 700 churches in Rome and 400 of them have the name “Maria” in them.  Wow.

This is a picture of one of the hallways in the Vatican Museums.  I mean, they go big in Rome.  Just sayin.

Heaven is for Real

Ok guys….if you read any blog that I ever write, let it be this one. Because it’s a good one. A REALLY REALLY good one. I know it’s long, but try to make it through.

About a week ago, my father in law told me about this book Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo. He told me it was about a little boy that had a near death experience and actually went to Heaven for a brief period of time and the book is about after his experience when he began telling his family about the things he saw. It seemed really interesting to me because I read a similar book 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper about a few years back and I fell in love with it. So when I was in LaGuardia airport waiting on our flight back to Birmingham I saw it in a bookstore and bought it. I started reading it at 10am EST and finished it before we even landed in Birmingham at 1pm CST. It was THAT amazing.

I loved this book so much. There were two parts in particular that I got so emotional that I had to put the book down and think of something else because I was about to lose it and cry like a baby on a plane where everyone would have been looking at me. Let me give some background on the book in general. Colton Burpo was 3 years old at the time of his incident. He was horribly sick for 5 days straight and was throwing up like clockwork and when his parents took him to the doctor, they thought it was a flu and said he’d get over it, but he never did. After going to another doctor and have a CT scan, they found out that his appendix burst and was leaking poison into his body…for 5 days. The doctors even told the nurses not to give the family encouragement because they didn’t think Colton was going to make it through his emergency appendectomy. While in surgery was when Colton had his experience.

So on to the first part where I had to put the book down. When Colton got wheeled away for surgery, he was so confused and was screaming for his daddy. He kept saying “Daddy don’t let them take me…daddy I’m scared!”. Imagine being his dad (who by the way is a pastor). He had to watch his son throw up every 30 minutes for 5 days straight and now he’s being taken back for a scary surgery with people he’s never seen before. His dad wanted to go through all that pain for him but he couldn’t and to see it all happen to a helpless little three year old was too much for him. Since he’s a pastor, he is very careful about when he gets angry or loses it. He doesn’t want anyone to see him like that. So Todd literally went through the hospital and found a room that was completely empty and closed the door. He prayed, but prayed furiously. He was angry with God and was wondering what a 3 year old could have possibly done to deserve this and begged God to not take his son from him. Finally the nurse came to the Burpo’s to say that Colton made it through but that he was screaming for his dad and they couldn’t calm him down and wanted his dad to come back and see him.

Fast forward several months after the surgery happened. Colton was talking to his dad one day and he said to him “Daddy do you remember when I was screaming for you after the doctor was done working on me?”. His dad said that yes he remembered (at this time Colton had finally told his parents about his experience, but it was several months before he said anything about it at all). Then Colton said “Well, that was when Jesus came to get me in Heaven and said I had to go back because he was answering your prayers”.

WOW. That’s all I can say. Now keep in mind that I just summarized a whole lot into that one example. If you read the book you’ll get more details on the situation and it will be that more special. I seriously about lost it when I read that. It goes to show you that God hears us all the time. Even when we pray angry prayers. God hears us. It was such a special moment for me to read that because it just made me realize all the times I’ve prayed and not felt like anyone heard me. He always hears us. Always.

Now the second example, and probably MUCH more emotional one. One day Colton’s parents were sitting in the kitchen working on things and Colton comes in and says “Mommy I have two sisters”. Colton’s mom, Sonja, never even looked up. So he said it again “Mommy, I have two sisters”. Finally she looked at him and told him he was confused, he only had one sister, Cassie, and asked him if he was thinking of his cousin Traci. Colton replied “no mom, I have two sisters. You had one die in your tummy didn’t you?”. Sonja and Todd were both floored. See, before Colton was even born they got pregnant, but lost the baby in the second month. They were very selective of who they told this information to and there was no way Colton had been told. She grilled him for who it was that told him that information and his response was “she did mommy. I met her in Heaven.”.

Oh it gets better….but you may already be teary. I am and I’ve read it already. Just thinking about it makes me teary again.

His mom repeated what he said and Colton responded “Yes mommy, I met her. She came running up to me and gave me a really big hug" (Colton was giving that ‘girls have coodies vibe like he wasn’t happy about the hugging). “She looks a lot like Cassie, but has brown hair. Don’t worry mom, God adopted her and is taking care of her till you or Daddy get there. She can’t wait for y’all to get there so she can meet you.” His mom asked what her name was and he said “she doesn’t have one…you guys never named her”. His mom replied “that’s right Colton. We never named her. We didn’t even know she was a she.” Colton finally left the room and Sonja and Todd had a moment together and realized that their baby was ok and waiting for them. They immediately starting thinking of names for her so that she could have a name when God chooses to bring one of them to Heaven. At the time of all this, it was just Colton and Cassie, but afterwards, they got pregnant again and had Colby, however to this day, when people ask how many kids they have, they say four.

Y’all….there are so many moments like this in the book. You seriously must go read it. This kid knew things at age 3 that were impossible for him to know then. I absolutely believe that what this kid went through actually happened. I don’t believe he was lying and I don’t believe his family is using him for publicity. I 100% believe that this little boy went to Heaven and met Jesus and met family members he never knew existed. Remember back when I did my Bible Study on the book Plan B by Pete Wilson, my former pastor at my church in Nashville? Well, he went to Nebraska and interviewed the little boy and his dad (the little boy is now 12). See below for that interview. So intense. I highly suggest this book!!!

Heaven Is For Real from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.

My Big Fat Belly - 12 Weeks

My apologies!  This post is rather late given that I’m actually 13 weeks today.  I just got back from my trip to New York (yes…again) with my friend Carina so I was just now able to do this post.

How far along:  12 weeks

Symptoms:  So I think I jinxed myself last week when I said I was having the best pregnancy ever.  During my 11th week, I threw up for the first time.  I had some orange juice at my house along with a nutri-grain bar and drove to work.  On the way to work I started getting a little hot, which I thought was weird.  When I got to work, I managed to turn on my computer and respond to a few emails, but then it was all over.  I couldn’t even make it to the bathroom, I had to yak in my trash can.  Since I couldn’t make it out of my chair, I obviously couldn’t make it to close the door, which means the whole hallway heard me.  Three girls came rushing to my rescue to make sure I was ok, one of which is a senior manager that I never work with.  She brought me some wet paper towels and put them on my neck as I was throwing up.  Talk about support!!!  I haven’t gotten sick since that day and I find it strange that it happened in the 11th week only, but no complaints here.  I have a newfound respect for moms that literally threw up every day of their first trimester. 

Another symptom I’ve started having lately is cramping.  I’m told that this is ligament pain from the ligaments in my body stretching to make room for my growing uterus.  It’s not so much painful as it is a constant discomfort.  If I stand up too quickly, I feel it, if I sneeze, I feel it, if I laugh too hard, I feel it.  It wakes me up in the middle of the night sometimes too.

Maternity Clothes:  Zero….and I mean ZERO of my pants and shorts can be buttoned.  If I’m not wearing a dress or skirt, I have to wear the belly band.  I’m not ready to move into maternity clothes yet because I’m just not big enough and most maternity stuff will not fit me, so I’ll have to use the belly band for a bit longer until I start getting a more defined bump.  I am however about to purchase a maternity bathing suit.  Not the one piece ones, but a little tankini.  We have a couple of things coming up on our schedules that require swimwear and I’m just not comfortable in a two piece anymore because my body does not look like what it used to look like in a two piece. 

Weight Gain:  I’m up to four pounds now!  Yes, do the math, I gained two pounds in one week.  I’m blaming this on the throwing up and the ligament pains this week.  It was hard to do any exercise when I felt sick or when I was having constant cramps, so I literally did not work out at all last week.  I did have my 12 week appointment on Tuesday and discussed the weight with the doctor because I was afraid I was gaining too much too fast and she assured me that I was doing perfect.  She said that especially since I haven’t been best friends with the toilet in my first trimester, 4 pounds is actually great weight gain (otherwise I would have lost weight like those who have morning sickness usually do in the first trimester).  She could tell the weight gain upset me because, let’s be honest, I officially weigh the most I have ever weighed…EVER.  She told me it’s about to get a lot worse and instructed me to gain a pound a week in the 2nd trimester.  A pound a week???  Holy crap!

Sleep:  No complaints on the sleep front except that I have to pee more now that I used to.  I’m usually getting up two to three times a night these days, but I seem to fall right back to sleep so I’m good.

Cravings/Aversions:  For some reason, I continue to crave breakfast food at all times of the day.  I have eaten lunch at the Egg and I twice this week.  Also, for the times that I get up in the middle of the night, I tend to crave chocolate milk.  No idea why, but it’s just so good and it helps me fall back asleep.

Baby Size:  Plum!!  Also a fun side note - Won Ton can now curl his/her fingers and toes in reflex.  Reflexes in general developed last week to where anytime I touch where he/she is located, he/she instinctively moves away from that spot.  Unfortunately, I can’t feel this yet.  And I seriously hate typing “he/she” and “him/her”.  It’s annoying.  I’d rather say “it” but that seems kind of insensitive.

Gender:  Don’t know but I’m still thinking boy.  I had a dream last night that he was a he.  I will say, however, that my urge to want a girl spiked recently.  I really will be happy with either, but I just keep getting this feeling it’s a boy.  My next appointment is July 15th, which will be my 16 week appointment.  The doc told me I wouldn’t have to wait the 4 weeks to come back again to find out the gender (appointments usually happen once every 4 weeks).  They’ll let me find out at 18 weeks, so we plan to make the BIG APPOINTMENT for July 29th, if possible, since I’m off work that day. 

What I Miss:  Well, I talked to my doc about ab workouts and she was against it.  Even on a ball.  Bummer.  So I miss my ab workouts. 

What I’m Looking Forward To:  Since our gender appointment will be on the 29th (hopefully) we’ve planned to have a “gender reveal” party on July 31st to tell our family and close friends the sex.  It’s going to be at my in-law’s house since our house is too small to fit everyone and the new house won’t be ready yet.  I plan to get cupcakes, half with pink icing and half with blue icing.  When everyone shows up we’ll have them pick the cupcake of the gender they think it is and when everyone has picked what they think Won Ton is, Justin and I will announce which group is right.  I’ve gotten some comments asking if we plan to do a gender reveal, so the answer is obviously yes :)  I’m not usually big into making a big deal about stuff, but this is our first child and I do want to make it a big party when we find out boy or girl!

Bump Pic for the Week:

I’m getting bigger!  I will definitely say that week 12 and week 13 have been big growth spurt for me and Won Ton.  This picture was taken in Hoboken, New Jersey at a park that overlooks the financial district in New York. 

Advice I Need:  To all the pregnant people or previously pregnant people, where did you get your maternity bathing suit?  I’ve heard Motherhood, but I didn’t know if there was a cool online site that had a better selection.  HELP!

My Big Fat Belly - 11 Weeks

How far along:  11 weeks

Symptoms:  Haven’t really had any symptoms at all lately.  I honestly forget I’m pregnant sometimes because I just rarely ever experience a symptom.  I literally have been blessed with the best pregnancy ever so far!

Maternity Clothes:  Week 11 brought out a small bump that even other people have noticed on me (Yay for it not being just me that notices anymore).  I am not big enough for maternity clothes yet and assume I won’t be for a while, but I can officially not button up ANY of my pants.  Therefore, I am now sporting the oh so fabulous belly band whenever I wear pants/shorts.  I’m also a huge fan of dresses these days because they’re just so dang comfy!

Weight Gain:  Still only two pounds!!  I’m so happy about that!

Sleep:  Sleep is fabulous right now

Cravings/Aversions:  Haven’t really noticed anything major lately

Baby Size:  I still can’t believe it, but won ton is the size of a friggin lime this week!!!

We had quite the growth spurt this week ;)  I also took my first weekly picture which I will refer to on the blog as “my big fat belly” because, let’s face it, I’m only getting fatter these days.

I’m a huge non-fan of this picture.  Not sure why, but I’m just not a fan.  However it’s all I’ve got so we’re going with it.  The little bump is beginning to emerge, but I still think I’m in that awkward phase that I referred to earlier where people that don’t know you just think that you’re eating one too many donut holes.

Gender:  Still don’t know but I’m getting nervous.  Our house should be done in August and they told us the other day that they’ll paint the nursery whatever color we want at no charge (typically you pick two colors for the house and any additional colors you’re charged for, but they’re not charging us for the nursery color).  Problem with that is that we won’t know the sex until end of July/beginning of August, which I’m wondering if it’ll be too late then because the house will be pretty much done.  We may have to flip a coin on the color we picked out for boy and girl and hope for the best :)  Also, the gender poll has completely taken Justin and I by surprise because a boy is winning and most people have told us they think we’re having a girl.  I think people are finally seeing the other old wives tale.  Technically a HR of 185 indicates girl so that’s why a lot of people have been voting girl.  However, the fact that I haven’t thrown up once and not really even gotten to a point where I thought I was going to thrown up indicates boy.  We shall see soon enough, but I’m still thinking blue.  Other people’s opinions have begun to have a pull on my opinion and the more people that think it’s a girl makes me second guess my gut feeling, but overall, I’m still thinking he’s a he.

What I Miss:  I miss intense workouts.  Not being able to get my heart rate over 150 for a long period of time seriously limits what I can do.  I also greatly miss my ab workouts :(  I’m now at the phase of pregnancy where docs suggest not lying on your back because of increased blood pressure issues, so normal ab work is out of the question.  I’m going to go buy a ball to put behind my back soon and start doing reverse ab workouts because I’m losing every bit of muscle I had in my stomach and it is SO depressing!!!

What I’m Looking Forward To:  I’m looking forward to my next appointment on June 14th, which is my 12 week appointment.  Next week will be my last week in the first trimester.  I can’t believe it’s flown by so fast!!