SPOILER ALERT (19 weeks 3 days)

If you aren't interested in knowing the sex of the baby then don't read any further!!!


IT'S A BOY!!! I knew it all along :) I'm so ecstatic because I really was starting to think of the baby as a "he" and I always referred to him as that from day one. I can't wait for him to start moving around in there a little more and to see if I can get a little glimpse of his personality. As my mom says, this makes it so much more real! I sort of felt like everything was on hold until we could find out the sex, now we can shop till our hearts content and decorate the room!

It came at great timing too since both sets of parents and my sister will be here this week for graduation. No one has seen me since I look somewhat pregnant now. I saw my family around when I was 12 weeks and we have not seen Ryan's family since we've been pregnant. Can't wait to celebrate with the family!

I will post belly pics and sono pics later (probably tomorrow!)

And now it's even more appropriate...GO BLUE!

Baby's first HIYA!

I know I just posted yesterday but I'm pretty sure I felt the baby move for the first time last night! Actually it was the wee hours of this morning I was lying awake in bed and felt two "flutters" as they say in my very lower belly. Everyone says that you can feel the baby as early as about 16 weeks but it's really hard to determine what is baby and what is just grumblings in your tummy. If you're me your stomach is pretty much always making some sort of noise or commotion, but this morning it was a distinct feeling only in my very lower stomach! Who knows if it really is baby but I like to think it is so that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Now I really can't wait for the sonogram on Monday!!

CHICAGOLAND! 18 weeks 3 days

This past weekend I was given an amazing opportunity to jet off to Chicago, very last minute, to visit some good friends! It was soooo much fun, but I can't believe how exhausted I am. I was happily surprised with how much I was able to keep up with my friends on very little sleep no less! This was the first time seeing a bunch of my friends since spreading the pregnancy news and it was so cute to see how excited they were. Everyone kept touching my belly and making sure I had a water or Shirley Temple at the bar.

Luckily, over the past few days I feel like I have actually grown a little belly that people can actually rub. It's still not the "baby belly" that I think of when I think of a pregnant person, but my stomach is definitely getting hard and I think within a couple of weeks I will look pregnant! I have finally gained a couple of pounds so I feel like things are finally headed in the right direction. I have a midwife appointment this week and then next Monday we find out the sex! We'll see if my new motherly intuition is on the mark or not...I'm seeing blue, so we'll see what the sonogram says!

Baby Fever! (16 weeks 2 days)

So I may not have a big baby bump yet but I definitely have baby fever! Today we went to home depot and tried to pick out some paint colors for baby's room! We picked out two blues and two pinks, one dark and one light in each color. I have some pictures of the swatches posted below...but here's the vision I have in mind. The bottom half of the wall will be painted a chocolate brown, then there will be a bright white chair rail across the middle with either the blue or the pink on top. I saw it on a home makeover show probably over a year ago and wrote the idea down and I still love it!

Of course, Ryan and I like different shades of both of the colors. I like the lighter colors, what I think of as classic baby boy and baby girl blues and pinks and Ryan likes the darker colors. I really liked the light pink in the can but it looks a lot more lavendar on the wall and in the photos, although I was painting on a cream-colored wall and not a nice white primed wall.

We certainly don't have to make any decisions yet (although we do find out the sex three weeks from tomorrow!) it was really fun to do some more baby-related things.

Other than painting and getting the baby's room ready I'm really looking forward to registering! I can't wait to go to the store and pick out all the cute things for our little bubs! It's so crazy, such a dream come true, I still can't believe I get to do it all now :)

If you have some time check out the pics and leave some comments/opinions/advice about the paint colors!

Fifteen weeks....feels like an eternity

For what it's worth, here is my latest "belly pic." A few qualifiers...(yes I'm qualifying my own belly pic...can you say high strung?).
#1 I didn't exactly start out pre-pregnancy at 120 lbs and a flat tummy
#2 Depending on the pair of pants or skirt that I'm wearing and where it hits me, this "bump" looks different every day...some days it's there some days it's not.

Ok so there were only 2 qualifiers, but I thought I'd at least try to put up a visual to go along with my frustration from my last post.

Meanwhile the nausea has started to come back in small bits, unfortunately. I'll be fine for 3 or 4 days and then I'll get home one night and just feel awful until the next morning. It's definitely linked to hunger mostly, but in order to avoid being nauseous sometimes I'd literally have to eat every second of every day! It's crazy. I'm used to trying to limit how much I eat not eat all the time!

I'm also still pretty tired, although I have been exercising a ton and that has helped with my energy level...or at least makes me feel that the occassional nap is more justified :)

Still haven't gained any weight so keep your fingers crossed for me that I will start gaining some weight and looking more pregnant while continuing to feel good!

Frustrated at 14 weeks!

So I've been feeling really frustrated lately...I'm not really showing yet but I don't exactly have my pre-baby body either. I just feel kind of chunky and it's super frustrating b/c I want to have a belly to show off, not just a shirt that is too tight! Ryan keeps wanting to take a belly pic, but there's not really anything to take a picture of. I think my fat is just kind of redistributing and so I have one kind of bump above the belly button and then one bump underneath....so unflattering! I still haven't gained any weight either. Never thought I'd be excited to gain weight but I'm just itching to look pregnant! I guess when I think of a pregnant woman in her 2nd trimester I just always assumed I'd be showing by now! I know one day I'm just gonna wake up with a belly and in a month or two when I'm huge I'm going to wonder why I ever was wishing this upon myself, but I just can't wait anymore! Guess there's not much else I can do, though....

1st trimester screening! (13 weeks)

We had our first trimester screening today and we got to see the baby in full form! He (again I assume it's a he) was sucking his thumb, had his legs crossed and moving around quite a bit! It was soooo incredible to see him acting like a baby when I don't even have a belly yet! I can't even imagine what the next six months will bring. I also think I saw a little pee pee! The technician said that female parts can be dilated at this time and this is why they don't give a 100% positive anatomy result at this time, but I was convinced from day 1 that I was having a boy and now I'm even more convinced!

I've been feeling better and better lately and yesterday I actually had no nausea at all, woohoo! I'm trying really hard to stay healthy but it's also really hard to turn down those ice cream cravings since I've not only not gained weight but I've lost since being pregnant.

I will post pics of the sonogram today, I was having some editing issues...need the hubby to come home and help me :)