Our Sweet Little Pumpkin Is A…..

Yesterday we had a fun little gender reveal party to reveal the gender of our sweet little baby.  Our ultrasound was on Friday at 9am and I was so anxious.  Not anxious about the gender though (Justin and I had the tech write the gender in an envelope and then seal it and we passed it off to a friend of ours) but about the overall health of the baby.  This is strange because with Carter, I was intently looking at the screen trying to sneak a peak at the goods, even though we did the same thing with him that we did with this baby in not finding out the gender until the reveal party (see the post to his reveal party here).  Even though we were going to wait until the reveal party with Carter, I tried to sneak a peak during the ultrasound anyway.  It was all I could think about during that 18 week appointment.  I wanted to know if Carter was a he or she.

This time was different though.  I think it was because of having a miscarriage, but I was WAY more concerned with making sure all the organs and bones and limbs were growing like normal.  She showed us all the body parts and I asked to see the spine to make sure it looked ok.  I also asked her if there was enough amniotic fluid and she said that the level and quality of fluid was great.  I was a happy girl!!!  With Carter, the tech printed all the pictures and put them in the sealed envelope along with the DVD so that our friend Jackie could bake a cake for us for the gender reveal party.  She did what I asked her to do, but deep down I was upset because all of the pictures were in the envelope and I didn’t get to see any pictures at all until after the party that was 2 days later. 

This time, the tech printed two pictures showing the sex separately to seal in the envelope and gave me the rest of the pictures so I got to look at all the pictures as much as I wanted and didn’t have to wait until the reveal party!  And on top of that, she didn’t do the gender on the DVD so I got to also have the DVD and watch it over and over without ruining anything for myself!  That made me super happy.  We showed Carter the pictures but of course he doesn’t see anything in them.  He won’t get it until he sees an actual baby.  On another note, the past three days he has woken up for the day and when I go to get him from his room, he sits straight up and says “open the box!!!” and I had to tell him that he wouldn’t open the box of balloons for another couple days. 

With Carter, Justin and I had our friend make a cake that was pink or blue on the inside and we cut into the cake in front of our friends and family.  This time, we used the same girl who made us another cake (pink or blue on inside) but she also filled a box for us with balloons that were pink or blue.  Midway through the party, we had Carter open up the box of balloons to find out if he was going to have a brother or sister.  So here’s how that went:

Yep….Sweet Carter is going to have a baby BROTHER!

We are so so excited!  Justin and Carter wore blue because they thought it was a boy (really Carter was about 50/50 when you asked him what he thought it was, but we don’t own a pink shirt for him-so blue it was!).  I wore pink because I really did think it was a girl.  Part of me feels like an awful mom for not having the right intuition about it, but honestly I don’t care.  I’m not the first mom to guess wrong.  I guessed Carter correctly so I got 50% of my kids gender right ;)

There was a big part of me that wanted a girl so that I could have something different.  Different challenges, different everything.  But I really am so so happy to have another sweet boy.  I get to raise two boys to love God and treat women the right way.  We need more men in the world that do those two things so I’ll take my responsibility for these two!  Also, I will be in a house full of boys that will protect their momma.  There’s just something special about being the only girl in the house!  And let’s not forget how friggin cheap it’s going to be to have another boy.  Recycling clothes, toys, bedding, etc.  I still have all of Carter’s clothes-never sold a single thing.  So basically all we need for this baby is diapers and a few monogrammed clothes (every kid needs something with their name on it). 

We have a name, but we’re making sure it’s the right name and I think it is because Carter is already calling the baby by that name, but I’ll wait to announce it until we are 100% certain, which probably won’t be long from now.  I’m so grateful for all of our friends and family that were able to come to the party and find out with us!  You guys are so awesome and thank you so much for caring about our family!  Here’s a few pictures that my sister took at the party.  Oh yeah, and special shout out to my sister who flew in from Tampa to be there.  I had NO idea she was coming!!!

This was before opening the box.  Me and a few girls were “analyzing” the ultrasound photos to see if we could see any indication of blue or pink in them :) 

Carter and Harper were very ready to open the box!

 

   

I love this picture of Harper and Carter together!!!  Maybe I’m crazy, but I think they look so much alike sometimes!

This was funny.  We were trying to get Carter to come stand with me and Justin by the box and he wouldn’t, but Harper did! 

 

After some pictures we went inside to cut the cake.  The girl that did the box also did the cake and we already knew it would be blue but it was still fun to cut into!

 

This was about the time that I said “so how funny would it be if the inside of this cake was pink??”

But it wasn’t….it was BLUE!

 

Carter was LOVING the cake! 

So we are excited to enter into “big brother/little brother” territory!  I guess it’s time for me to start looking for matching shirts ;)

My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 17 Weeks

How far along: 17 weeks

Symptoms:  No major symptoms that I’ve noticed…just getting fatter by the day :)  Oh, I am having some crazy sinus problems!  I went to my 16 week appointment and the doc prescribed me something that I was hoping would help.  It helped with the sneezing, but not so much with the congestion.  I still have massive congestion issues but it’s because the membranes in your sinus cavities swell during pregnancy.  This didn’t happen with Carter.   

Maternity Clothes:  Depends on the day really.  I can still wear the size 6 jeans with the rubber band tied around the button.  I hate being specific about the size, but because of the weight loss I had with Advocare I went from a size 8 to a size 4 so I have jeans from all sizes in that range.  So it’s not as simple as saying “normal jeans” vs. “maternity jeans” because I can’t wear my true normal jeans anymore (the 4’s) but I can wear the 6’s or 8’s with a rubber band tied around them.  I can also still wear most of my normal dresses.  If I wear shorts it’s usually maternity shorts.  Shirts are about 75% normal/25% maternity at this point.

Weight Gain:  Up 9 pounds….YIKES.  I’m not overly worried though.  It’s my fault…I had a bad couple of weeks of eating.  Justin and I had a date night one night, we had a few birthday parties Carter was invited to and then we went to an annual crawfish boil that had TONS of food and there’s several other things within the last 3 weeks that called for unhealthy eating.  I’m not 100% sure where I was with Carter at this point because I didn’t do a 17 week post with him, but I did a 16 week post and my weight was up 7 1/2 pounds with him at that time, and I also did an 18 week post and my weight with him was up 10 pounds.  So 9lbs at 17 weeks with this pregnancy is probably right about where I was with Carter too.

Sleep:  Normal minus the sinus infections that sometimes keep me awake.  Actually, I’m sleeping significantly longer than I was previously.  I’m probably clocking about 9 hours of sleep every night.  Waking up to workout before Carter gets up is starting to be a struggle.

Cravings/Aversions:  Man I love an egg.  That’s all.  I loved eggs when I was pregnant with Carter too.  I could eat them all day everyday.  These days I love eating eggs with strawberries and grapes.  Yummy!

Exercise Routine:  The past couple of  weeks was back to normal for me.  After numerous trips to the hospital for my dad and our trip to Vegas in the past three weeks, the exercise routine suffered!  But I got back on track about two weeks ago and am back to working out about 5-6 days a week.

Baby Size: At the beginning of week 17, baby was the size of an onion.  Limbs keep growing and now the neck is strong enough for the head to be upright instead of having his/her chin tucked into their chest.  This week starts when some first time moms begin feeling movements.  With Carter, I didn’t feel movements until about 21 weeks.  At our 18 week ultrasound with Carter, our doc told us that the placenta was in front of my uterus and when that happens, it takes most moms longer to feel the kicks.  With subsequent pregnancies, you supposedly feel kicks sooner (mainly because you’re experienced and know the difference between a kick and gas).  I’m fairly certain I’ve already felt baby move.  It’s only happened a handful of times and only when I’m laying completely still, but I will never forget that feeling and will never confuse it with any other bodily issues.  LOVE feeling a baby move inside you.

Gender: ONE WEEK!!!  Our appointment is Friday, May 30th and our gender reveal party is May 31st.  Justin and I won’t find out until until the party so even though the ultrasound is next Friday, we won’t find out until Saturday night.  CANNOT WAIT! 

What I’m Looking Forward To:  The ultrasound.  Not even just for the gender (since we won’t find out the gender until the next day) but just to make sure the spine looks good and that sweet boy/girl is growing on track.

Bump Pic for Week 15:

Bump Pic for Week 16 (technically this was 16 weeks 5 days):

 

I haven’t taken a 17 week picture yet so I may throw that it in with next post whenever that may be.  Also, can I just say that this pregnancy is FLYING by so fast?!?!!?  It goes so much faster when you have another child you’re busy chasing around!

My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 14 Weeks

How far along:  14 Weeks, 5 Days

Symptoms:  Nothing major other than I’m really starting to show now.  I did notice during our trip to Las Vegas that I do NOT do well flying in a plane.  Landing makes me extremely nauseous.  Justin was already in Vegas when I got there and was driving around the airport waiting to pick me up, but once I got off the plane, I had to go sit in the bathroom for a good 15 minutes before walking any further.  I just needed to be stationary.  We only have one more trip planned that involves me flying before baby gets here so I’m hoping it won’t be too bad.

Maternity Clothes:   I had a massive growth spurt in weeks 13 and 14.  I can no longer wear my size 4 jeans so if I wear jeans, I’m wearing my 6’s and I have to have the ponytail holder and/or belly band on to wear them.  Though if you live in Alabama, you know it’s starting to get HOT.  My shorts don’t fit the same way my jeans do so my normal shorts are just no good.  With Carter, I never owned maternity shorts because he was due in December.  I wasn’t big enough to need them when it was hot (I was also working at my job then and would wear dresses if I needed to-definitely not wearing dresses while hanging out at the house with Carter).  Before going on our trip to Vegas, I went out and bought several pairs of maternity shorts because the highs in Vegas were in the high 80’s/low 90’s.  So basically, as of now, if I wear shorts, it’s maternity shorts.  If I wear jeans, it’s my size 6’s with the ponytail holder or belly/band. 

Weight Gain:  I’m at a little over 6 pounds right now and I’m hoping that it will either go down a pound or so or at the very least not to gain any weight in the coming week.  I gained a little fast while I was in Vegas from all the fabulous eating :)  It’s actually right on track compared with Carter at 14 weeks, so if I keep going like this…my guess is that I will gain the same amount of weight as I did with him, 36 pounds.

Sleep:   Sleep is normal.

Cravings/Aversions:   None.

Gender:  Still thinking pink, but obviously will be thrilled for either.  Cannot believe it’s less than a month away before we find out.  I’ve already purchased the gender reveal party invitation, I just need to go print it and mail them out.  

Exercise Routine:   Week 13 and beginning of week 14 exercise was jacked up.  Between all the trips to Tuscaloosa when my dad was in the hospital followed by this trip to Vegas, I barely worked out (which contributed to the 2 pound weight gain).  But I’m at the end of week 14 now and I’m picking it back up and getting back to normal.

What I Miss:  Nothing right now!

What I’m Looking Forward To:   The next appointment is our 16 week appointment and that will be May 18th.  After that is the big ultrasound where we’ll find out the gender and that will be May 30th. 

Pictures:  Here I am at 14 Weeks (at the top of the Stratosphere in Vegas):

And for my own purposes, here’s week 13 (I had time to take a picture, just never did a blog for the week):