Three Years

Three years ago today. 

I remember the excitement, the heat, and the joy. I remember that a lot of things went wrong and I didn't care one bit. I remember seeing so many people I love and wishing I had more time to spend with all of them. I have a hard time remembering life before Kory. 

We celebrated our first anniversary with a trip to Vancouver, Canada.

For our second, we spent the weekend at a nearby casino/resort.

This year, we had a quick getaway to Crater Lake.

It is one of the most beautiful places in Oregon and I love that it's only a couple hours away from us. I know this next year is going to bring a lot of changes to our lives, and I'm so thankful I get to experience them all with this guy. Happy third, Kory! :)

18 Weeks

 

How Far Along: 18 Weeks

Food Comparison: Bell Pepper

Weight Gain: 6 pounds

Maternity Clothes: I still have plenty of non-maternity shirts that fit fine, but pants are becoming more of a problem. I bought some maternity dress pants a while back, but they need to be hemmed before I can wear them. 

Stretch Marks: Nope.

Other Symptoms: Itchy skin, bleeding gums, and round ligament pain (all are minor, nothing terrible).

Sleep: Good. 

Best Moment of this week: I sat in the room which will be the baby's nursery, crocheting the other night while listening to some JJ Heller lullabies. It was such an awesome moment realizing I could be in this room rocking my baby in just a few months. 

Miss Anything: Nothing too much. I do love to take REALLY hot showers and baths and I can't do that anymore, but it's not that bad. 

Movement: I am 70% sure I felt movement this past week. It wasn't a flutter like everyone has described, but it sort of felt like bubbles. It was about 3:30 a.m. and I was laying in bed trying to fall back asleep so I didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom and I felt that movement, which jolted me awake. I haven't felt anything since, so I'm interested to see if I feel anything like that again. 

Food Cravings: I don't feel like I've really had cravings, per se. Sometimes a certain food sounds really good, but it's not much different than before I was pregnant. If I could eat what sounds good right at this moment, I would have pickles, Cheetos, string cheese and a baked potato. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.

Have you started to show yet: Still depends what I wear and who you ask. In the picture above, I felt like I was SO big and couldn't wait to see the picture Kory took. I look at it now and feel like I'm barely showing, so I guess the top perspective is different than the side.

Gender: Hoping to find out soon. My gut says boy, but we'll be thrilled either way (really, we will. I thought that was something pregnant women just said, but I honestly will be so happy with a boy or a girl.)

Labor signs: No.

Belly button in or out: In.

Wedding ring on or off: On.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy! My emotions seem to have a chilled out a bit in the past week and I'm sure no one is more grateful for that than Kory. 

Surprised by anything: I thought that people touching my stomach would really bother me, but, so far, it doesn't. Now, it has only been people I know and most have asked permission, so I can guess that it would be a little different if it were a total stranger in a store, but maybe not? I guess time will tell.


Looking forward to: My next appointment with the midwife. I've heard it a million times, but there really is nothing like hearing that heartbeat and being reassured that you have a human life inside of you!

Boy or Girl?

Since we're nearing the time when we hope to find out if this baby is a boy or girl, I thought I'd have some fun with a few of these old wives' tales that are supposed to help you determine the sex of your baby.


1. How does your skin feel?: Soft or Dry

2. What foods are you craving most? Salty or Sweet

3. Did you experience morning sickness? Yes or No

4. Have you had extra acne while pregnant? Yes or No

5. How fast is the baby's heartbeat? Under 130 or Over 140

6. How would you describe yourself during pregnancy? Clumsy or Graceful

7. What happened with the wedding ring test? Spinning or Swinging

8. Is Dad gaining any weight with you? Yes or No

9. Where are you carrying the baby? High or Low

10. Chinese Gender Predictor Test: Boy or Girl


As you can tell, these "tests" are certainly leaning towards a boy for us. What do you think it is?

17 Weeks

How Far Along: 17 Weeks

Food Comparison: Weight of an Onion; about 5 inches in length from head to bottom

Weight Gain: My midwife told me at my last appointment that I'd only gained one pound in 4 weeks and I could up my food intake to make sure baby and I were getting proper nutrition. I'm up a total of 6 pounds now.

Maternity Clothes: I am wearing more dresses and maxi skirts these days that aren't maternity but are very stretchy and loose-fitting. I have gained weight in my hips and thighs so that is making most pants uncomfortable, even if they could still technically fit with a rubber band around my belly.

Stretch Marks: My belly is still stretch-mark free. I can't say the same for my hips and thighs, but that's not necessarily just from pregnancy (thanks adolescence!). 

Sleep: Sleeping pretty well. My bathroom trips are still happening about once per night. Our mattress kind of sags in the middle (probably need to be looking at a new one) so it makes us both roll towards each other and I have noticed in the past week it's a little bit harder to roll myself out of bed to get up in the night.

Best Moment of the week: Starting to receive some fun baby gifts like a cute shirt, bib and burp rag and an awesome rocking chair for the nursery. 

Miss Anything: I miss the days when my body/weight gain/food intake weren't public record up for discussion (and advice/criticism) with just about everybody. It's a bad combination for people to get so personal with a pregnant lady who is overly emotional and highly volatile. 

Movement: Maybe? I don't really think so but there have been a couple times where I thought I might have felt something? I've been having some muscle spasms in my stomach the past couple days which feels weird, but isn't painful. 

Food Cravings: This was the week of burgers and fries. I bet I had that 4 times in the course of 7 days; it was bad. Thankfully I got it out of my system for now and fruit/veggies are sounding pretty good these days. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. It is more of a smell sensitivity issue. We have a problem with our bathroom towels smelling moldy after just one use and this morning, I could hardly walk into the bathroom because the smell was so bad. I kind of want to just burn them all and start over. 

Have you started to show yet: Yes, but still in that looking more chubby and not really pregnant phase. I saw a picture of myself the other day and noticed my belly sticking out, but not really in the sense that any stranger would be able to tell I'm pregnant. 

Gender: We still don't know at this point. I change my mind just about every day about what I think is going to be. 

Labor signs: Nope.

Belly button in or out: In; not too much change here lately.

Wedding ring on or off: On and still fitting well.

Happy or moody most of the time: Moody! That's not to say I don't feel happy also but I have been crazy emotional the past couple weeks. There have been a lot of tears. 

Looking forward to: Feeling the first real movements! 

Pregnancy brain moment of the week: I went into my bedroom and laid down on my bed, on my stomach. I had the thought, "Whoa. I haven't laid like this in a long time. This is so comfy." After a few minutes of playing on my phone, I realized my stomach was hurting. I couldn't figure out why. About 5 minutes later it dawned on me that "I'm pregnant!" and I quickly turned over and then went through a crazy process of wondering if my baby was ok, wishing I would quit forgetting that I'm growing a child and mostly just being frustrated with myself that I did that. I probably cried, but my brain is too mushy for me to remember if that really happened :) Oh the miracle of life, right?  

Week 15

I am officially 15 weeks today. According to my Baby Center app on my phone, my baby is about the size of an apple today. However, this app also says that my baby is about 4 inches from crown to rump and that would be a pretty big apple, so let's take that into consideration :)

I know the picture quality is not very good, but the lighting in our house is so bad, this is the one place where we have enough lights to make a decent picture. Maybe we'll find a better option before this pregnancy is over.

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Food Comparison: Large apple

Weight Gain: 5 pounds so far, which I feel really good about

Maternity Clothes: I did buy some work clothes this weekend, but I don't need to wear them yet. I am still in all non-maternity clothes, but I am using a rubber band on most of my pants and am using more of my flowy, loose-fitting tops. I've already got a box filling up of clothes that are too small for me, but it's stuff that already fit me pretty tight. They would probably still fit me, but it would just be uncomfortable.

Stretch Marks: Haven't seen any yet. I'm using a homemade concoction of vitamin E lotion, vaseline, and cocoa butter every day and it seems to be working so far. It helps a lot with my itchy skin too.

Sleep: Pretty good so far. I'm only waking up once per night to go to the bathroom, and sometimes not at all (usually when I don't drink enough water in the day). 

Best Moment of this week: My friend, Rynn, flew in and spent a long weekend with me. It was great to catch up with her after not seeing her for over a year. Part of me was sad she came before baby was born and she didn't get to meet him/her, but I am so glad she came when she did because we got a LOT of quality time together. 

Miss Anything: My brain :) I feel like I developed "pregnancy brain" right away and I am having a hard time remembering the words I want to say in any given conversation. My memory is significantly worse and I feel a little bit "out of it" sometimes, mainly at work when I really need to focus.

Movement: None. I've been trying to feel for any flutters when I'm laying down, but haven't got anything yet. 

Food Cravings: I don't know that I'd really call them "cravings", but salty food and carbs sound good to me just about all the time. I could eat chips and bread for every meal, if my pesky conscience and doctor didn't insist on fruits and vegetables. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: The sushi that got left in my work fridge for a few days was awful. The thought of it still makes me a bit queasy. I am not crazy about the smell of meat, but it's not so offensive that I have to leave the kitchen. 

Have you started to show yet: It depends who you ask. I say yes, I definitely am. Most of my friends say no way. It probably depends what I'm wearing that day, honestly. I have been able to see a little bump since about 6-8 weeks, but I know that wasn't visible to everyone. I don't think I'm obviously pregnant to a stranger yet, but I think they might notice my belly sticks out farther than is usually deemed "healthy" (for a non-pregnant person, of course).

Gender: Not sure! We *might* be able to find out in 4 weeks, but 8 weeks from now is more likely.

Labor signs: No way, Jose. 

Belly button in or out: It's still in, but I've noticed over the past two weeks that it's definitely more shallow than it used to be. 

Wedding ring on or off: Still on, thankfully, since I just got my wedding ring back last week from having a diamond replaced. The jeweler told me most women have to gain 20 pounds before they notice their rings not fitting, so I'm hopeful I can wear mine for a while longer.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy! I was more moody from about weeks 6-10 for sure, but that seems to have improved greatly.

Looking forward to: Kory's parents arriving this week and getting to spend Mother's Day weekend with them. I'm also looking forward to my next appointment with the midwife so I can hear the baby's heartbeat again. 

Things to remember: I don't actually feel pregnant most of the time. With no baby movement and not knowing the gender yet, it just feels like my clothes are getting tighter and I'm hungrier than usual. 

The First 6 Weeks

(So I wrote this post a couple months ago and just discovered it today. Oops! Let this be the first piece of evidence to show that pregnancy brain is real. )

The 1st half of this story can be found here. Kory left for Guatemala the day after we found out I was pregnant. The next 10 days were HARD. I came home almost every day after work and hung out by myself so I wasn't tempted to tell anyone about our secret. I even skipped our growth group because my friend, Katie, who was also trying to get pregnant at the time (and is now pregnant with me!) asked me pretty frequently if I was pregnant yet and I was nervous she was going to ask me that night.

When Kory got home from his trip, we spent the next week or two sharing the exciting news with friends and family. Kory bought me a really cool baby sling in Guatemala and we used it to tell our family about the baby via FaceTime. It was so fun to see their reactions. The conversation went something like this:

Mandy: "Oh, I'll have to show you my present Kory got me in Guatemala."
(Goes offscreen to put it on.)
Mandy: "It's kind of hard for you to tell, but it's a baby sling...to hold a baby...because we're having one of those."
*Silence*
Parents: "WHAT!?"

We told our co-workers in our staff meetings on the same day and then posted on Facebook that day at lunch and word was officially out.

The first dr. appointment was pretty uneventful. They asked a lot of questions about medical history and answered any questions we had. I was 6 weeks along at this point and I didn't meet my midwife for another several weeks as this appointment was just with a nurse. 

I spent the first 2-3 weeks feeling nauseous just about every day. I never threw up (thank goodness!), but I just felt queasy and like I could possibly pass out if I didn't eat soon. I also felt tired after work every evening. Several evenings, I took a nap right when I walked in the door, which allowed me to stay awake through dinner and for a few more hours.

The nauseousness has since passed and I've been feeling great lately! I am, of course, still really tired, and it doesn't take much to wear me out. A short walk with Sky (10 minutes or so) is enough to make me need to lay down when I get back home. 

This all brings us to today, when we got to see Baby M for the first time and hear his/her heartbeat at 10 weeks! I knew it was going to be an awesome experience, but I had no idea how fun it would be. I expected to see a fuzzy image on the screen. I had no idea we'd get a 3d view of the little babe. The detail in these pictures still amaze me!

Cute little teddy bear

Peek-a-boo is already a favorite game it seems

The ultrasound confirmed I was measuring to the day on my due date, which is October 27. It seems really far away now, but I'm sure time will fly by and it will be here before we know it!