2 months!

Hello out there! I've been MIA because you know I've been taking care of a baby! A baby that I had two months ago... say what?

It is completely mind-blowing to think this little man has only been in our lives two months. Two long, exhausting, fun, and crazy months. I meant to do a one month update (it's still sitting in drafts, but oh well!)

Height: I have a feeling when we go to the doctor tomorrow, he is going to be 21.5 inches. His newborn pants are pretty short.

Weight: As of Saturday, he was nine pounds six ounces. Homeboy has gained over four pounds since he was born. :)

Sleep: He will give us a decent four hour stretch when we first put him down. I discovered that he needs to be swaddle TIGHTLY so I went out and bought some swaddleme swaddles. Even though I think my technique is pretty good, the Aden and Anais blankets just weren't cutting it anymore. He did awesome last night woke up at 1, then 3:30 then 7. :)

Eating: Man to say breastfeeding has been a journey is an understatement. He's been able to get my milk, but man was it hurting. Made me dread feeding him that first month. We kept taking him to a lactation consultant at the hospital who helped. I finally decided to go with my gut and get him checked for a tongue and lip tie (google it if you don't know what they are!). Went to Dr. Myers out in the middle of nowhere aka Middleburg. Turns out he had one of the most severe lip ties he had ever seen (and this man is a guru!) It's been better since, but we are still working on exercises that show him he doesn't need to bunch his tongue anymore.

Mommy: I've been doing much better. The first few weeks were no joke. I've started to figure out his cues for sleeping and differentiate between the reasons for his crankiness, so that's helped me. I'm sad because time is winding down until I go back to work. I'll be back in my classroom the Monday before Thanksgiving.

Daddy: To say J has been a wonderful dad is an understatement too! He has been wonderful. It's cheesy to say, but I definitely fell more in love with him seeing him with Samuel and how supportive he's been of me. We've bumped heads a few times, but this has actually made our relationship stronger. He gives him a bottle in the morning so I can sleep, and takes him in the middle of the night on weekends so I can rest too.

Favorites: Samuel loves being on his changing table, (once he's changed of course!) He loves looking at us and makes the best cooing sounds. He loves his mobile and fans. He finally enjoys being on his play mat and he's that rare baby that doesn't fuss that much during tummy time. He also loves being out and about, he's always happy when we are running errands.

Dislikes: Being cold. When we had that freak cold snap, diaper changes and clothing changes became a pain. He hates the stretches I have to do for his tongue tie recovery. But other than that, I can't think of too many dislikes!

New things: He's able to coo like no one's business! We've seen a couple smiles here and there and he's holding his head up pretty well during tummy time. He follows me which is really sweet.

I am excited to see what the next few months continue to bring us! Being a mom isn't easy, but it's definitely been worth it.

23 week bumpdate

How far along are you? 23 weeks, 

How I'm feeling: Pretty good. The dry nose is really getting out of hand. It hurts to breathe in sometimes. Need to research remedies for this ASAP. 

Total weight gain:  Assuming it's still about 10 pounds. The people that keep telling me I'm small or I don't look pregnant can go shove it!

How big is baby? A grapefruit. Yea, okay, where?. 

Boy or girl?: boy!!! :)

Maternity clothes: Still rockin' some regular clothes, but with maternity pieces thrown in. My mom bought me a cute dress and jeans from Old Navy maternity. Once I find a cute maternity bathing suit, I should be set. 

Sleep: Eh. I've kind of accepted that I will not sleep through the night. It's all good!

Best moment this week: Hearing (and seeing) that baby is measuring great! And putting together the crib. Yay! OH! and J finally felt him! That was a fun moment. 

Worst moment: Cannot think of one. Good thing right?

Movement: More consistent. I feel him everyday at some point. He was going at it during rookie mini camp on Saturday. I can also see my belly move, which is very, very weird. 

Food cravings: Nothing really, is that odd? I feel like it's odd. I did want a KFC bowl for lunch today, but it wasn't this like burning desire. 

Food aversions: Still veggies. Trying to sneak them into various meals. 

Miss anything?: A good old Coke. I know you can drink a little bit of caffeine, but with his cord issue, I want to make sure he's getting as many good things as possible.

Belly button in or out:  Belly button is still in. 

What I am thankful for: That he is growing and had a healthy heartbeat. I measured 22 cm, which is slightly ahead. Hoping I get just as good news tomorrow!

What I'm looking forward to: We start our birthing classes next week. I'm really intrigued by the idea of being in a small group.

Maybe I will get around to updating more than just my bump. So many fun things to write about!

22 Weeks

I know, not being consistent with this thing, but at least I'm trying! I am more than half way done and that's just crazy to think about. We have 18 days (18 LONG days) of school left and I cannot wait. I know this summer will zoom, but I want to enjoy it as my last one before baby comes!

How far along are you? 22 Weeks

How I'm feeling: Pretty good. Besides the constant dry nose that irritates that crap outta me, I really have nothing else to complain about.

Total weight gain:  10 pounds. I weighed 130 at the doctor's office last week. I am pretty pleased with that. 

How big is baby? A papaya. Where in my belly there's something as long as a papaya, I don't know but we will see. We'll get more accurate measurements at our ultrasound tomorrow. 

Boy or girl?: boy!!! :) ( and we may or may not have a name...) :)

Maternity clothes: A week ago, I bought four shirts from Motherhood Maternity. All in the same style, because I'm really not a fan of baby doll shirts. They are super comfy. This paycheck I'm going to invest in a good pair of maternity jeans and khaki pants. I also tried on some regular maxi skirts and dresses at H&M that should do me pretty well too!

Sleep: Been decent. Weird dreams don't really help (like my principal leaving and my grandpa with dementia taking over our school! What the heck does that mean?)

Best moment this week: When we were at our appointment, my doctor checked baby's heartbeat with the Doppler. Right when she put it on my belly, we heard him kick the Doppler AND I felt it! So neat. 

Worst moment: Headaches. Yuck!

Movement: More consistent. Baby boy likes football because he was the most active whenever I was watching the NFL Draft. :)

Food cravings: Still nothing different or weird. I did crave a Philly roll so I ordered one on Saturday. It was divine!

Food aversions: Nothing that sticks out to me. 

Belly button in or out:  Belly button is still in. 

What I am thankful for: That he is growing and had a healthy heartbeat. I measured 22 cm, which is slightly ahead. Hoping I get just as good news tomorrow!

What I'm looking forward to: Setting up the crib! I cannot wait!!!!

19 (+3) week bumpdate

Look at that! It's a full fledged bump! The random substitute in my classroom last week questioned if I was pregnant or not. So it's official that it's a bump. Let's get to it shall we?

How far along are you? 19 weeks and 3 days.

How I'm feeling: Pretty good. A bit tired and I've definitely had some stretching pains this week. 

Total weight gain:  I'm up five pounds I think. Started at 120, dropped to 117 and have slowly made my way up. I've been doing a good job of watching what I eat. 

How big is baby? According to the Bump he's the size of a mango! He measured on time last week and weighed 8 oz.

Boy or girl?: boy!!! :)

Maternity clothes: I wear my belly bands almost daily. I wore a maternity top that I got from a consignment store two days. I love the ruffles on it and could totally rock it even if I wasn't pregnant. I'm rockin'  a pair of maternity leggings today under one of my old dresses. So comfy!

Sleep: On a good day, I wake up once to go to the restroom. I had great sleep this weekend but the last two nights have been rough. 

Best moment this week: Finally looking pregnant! Kind of crazy when I look down! The bump came out of nowhere. Oh and buying little man two cute outfits for 3 dollars at Baby Gap!

Worst moment: Last week at our scan, we found out baby has a marginal cord insertion. That's when the cord attaches near the edge of the placenta instead of the middle. Happens only to 7% of moms! A slight one (meaning if it was attached .25 cm the other way no one would be concerned.) Doctor didn't seem overly concerned, and it means I get more ultrasounds. So I guess it's a plus for getting to see the baby more!

Movement: On and off. I have an anterior placenta (found that out last week too!) so movements will be muffled for a bit. Last night I did feel some definite kicks!

Food cravings: Nothing distinct lately. Though now that I think about it, flautas from Tijuana Flats sound AMAZING!! Or the empanadas from the Race Trac down the street. Random I know!

Food aversions: I discovered in my first tri that my aversions are anything that was fairly new to me before pregnancy. The idea of quinoa and cucumber water makes me wanna hurl!

Belly button in or out:  Belly button is still in. But it's definitely not as deep anymore!

What I am thankful for: J. I lost it at our anatomy scan last week and he kept me calm. He's been absolutely great during this pregnancy and I can't wait to see him with our little boy!

What I'm looking forward to: Buying the crib. I think we've decided on the one we want. Plus hearing his heartbeat again in two weeks.

I wrote earlier this year that my word is TRUST. This pregnancy has taught me a lot about having faith and trust. I can't feel my baby but I trust that he's there. I trust that God is watching over me and him. It's a tough lesson for someone like me to take, but it's one that I definitely needed!

The first few weeks

I wrote this during my first trimester... just wanted to remember. I'll try posting some bumpdates, now that I actually have a bump! 

January 3
I do NFP, which means I chart my cycles. I've been doing this since last March, so I have a really good idea when my period will come. I figured it would come Monday, so I decided to take a pregnancy test.

J wanted to be there, but I honestly thought it would be negative. Imagine my surprise when the line turned pink! I felt AWFUL about taking it without him. I thought I could keep it a secret, but the minute he walked in the door, I couldn't hide my smile. We figured out I was about a month along and that my due date is around September 14th.

January 10
Since the office manager at my doctor is also a close family friend, I ended up getting blood taken at a local urgent care. The results were positive, so J called this group of Ob-gyns that got great reviews from friends to set up my appointment. My appointment? February 11. SO FAR AWAY! (Oh and I couldn't go to my regular gynecologist because she's not an OB).

5 weeks
We told our parents. I knew that no matter what happened, I'd want my mom to know. She bawled her eyes out, which made me cry! J's parents seem pumped as well. We are waiting on telling siblings until after our appointment. My only symptoms so far are achy breasts and cramps. I also got sick with a sinus infection. I joked with J that I wish I'd get some nausea just to know I'm really pregnant. Well be careful what you wish for....

6 weeks
Nausea hit! Luckily no vomiting, just a heck of a lot of dry heaving and it tends to go away after lunch. It's really annoying actually. My only aversions are to new things I recently took a liking too (like quinoa and cucumber water.) Literally, if I even think of quinoa for more than a minute, I start to dry heave!.

7 weeks
Still nauseous every morning. One day, I even threw up my breakfast (I think I ate it too fast). I've been sneaking saltines at work, trying to make sure my assistant doesn't notice. I've also been drinking water non-stop. When people question it (never much of a water drinker before!) I tell them it's to help my acne. Speaking of acne, I guess the constant high of the hormones has kept it in check. I also got a flu shot this week. I couldn't get it back in fall when they came to work, and just never got around to it (I know, I know). My arm's a bit sore, but it's worth it.

8 Weeks
Nausea dies down during the week, but I think it's because I just eat more during the day. I'm getting antsy to get to my first appointment. I just want to know if everything's progressing right. The only main bother this week was a bad leg cramp I got from wearing crappy shoes.

9 weeks
I threw up at the beginning of this week. It was the worst because I didn't have any food in my system. Plus, I've discovered the smells of cleaning supplies make me nauseous and my assistant cleaned my tables with Clorox wipes. Thought I was going to hurl right on top of my students!
But the best part of this week? Seeing that everything is progressing right! My first appointment was Tuesday, February 11. We had to wait FOREVER but it was worth it to see the ultrasound tech say the baby looked great and was measuring on time. Official due date: September 15th. J and I went and had a celebratory dinner/early Valentine's Day dinner. Went to Cantina Laredo... so yummy!

10 Weeks
Just still that typical morning dry heave. It's the worst! We told my brother this week. I think he was  a little perturbed we kept the secret, but he's excited (I think). I know J's sisters were very happy and excited for us! 

11 Weeks
Nothing new symptom wise. A no real bump to speak of. I'm nervous about next week's appointment. Never knew I could worry this much! Side note: we closed on our house this week! It was fun thinking about which room could be the nursery! I let my best friend in on the secret. Her wedding is a month after the baby will be born. Plus she's a nurse, so she helped calm down a lot of my fears!


12 weeks
We had our NT scan and everything looked great! The tech had a hard time finding the fluid because their wasn't much of anything! The doctor was Puerto Rican and claimed the baby has a Puerto Rican nose, so we'll see! It definitely looks like the baby has J's lips. :) 
I told my boss. He claims he already knew! I'll be teaching regular first grade next year and I found out, I may have enough leave saved up to take all of it paid. I also told my team, and they were so excited for me! I can't wait to let everyone in on this secret.

These first few weeks have taught me so much about having faith and just being positive. I just need to keep those negative thoughts away and fill them in with happy thoughts!

So I've been MIA for a really good reason!

I know, I haven't posted in like 3 weeks! But to my defense, I've been pretty busy. 3rd 9 weeks is ALWAYS a hectic time of year and J and I just closed on our first house! He's been there, pretty much everyday, painting and taking down ugly RED wall paper. But to say that's the only reason I've been gone, would be a total lie...

I'M PREGNANT! I've known since January, and it's been killing me not to say anything! So now you know my little secret. :) I don't know if I'll keep up with bumpdates but I will most definitely try!