Thursday, December 17, 2009

Monday, December 7, 2009

Some Early Christmas Celebrating

Yesterday our family headed to Whitsett, NC to visit our friends Drew and Jana. Not only were we getting to see their new home for the first time, but we were going to celebrate Christmas a little early with them. For the past four years (I think), we have been getting together each December to celebrate Christmas. Last year Jana was in Pittsburgh, but this year it was back to being the 5 of us :). The Rea family was kind enough to have us to their place and fix a delicious meal. Kudos to Jana!
Before we headed out, we had to bundle up our little bundle of joy. And, of course, we had the perfect cold weather gear for him. Here he is ready to hit the road.

Drew and Jana have a beautiful new home that I forgot to take a picture of. They just moved in a little over a month ago, but it was already very cozy. They had some lights up outside and the tree up inside. I was very envious of Jana's kitchen and master bath. I sure could use a huge island in the kitchen, but maybe not as much as the nice bathtub. They have a really nice gas fireplace, but since they're not sure what the switches on either side of it are for, they haven't enjoyed it yet. I thought that was funny, but I didn't exactly want them to experiment while we were there.
Anyway, after a nice meal we just hung out, talking and watching The Office. We also played some Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit. Not sure why I chose that game since last time we played Drew won. I at least came in second. Poor David didn't get a single pie piece :(. Harrison actually stayed up long enough after a feeding for everyone to enjoy him. We did some tummy time and passed him around for cuddles. The last time Drew and Jana saw him was the day after he was born, and he didn't exactly open his eyes for them. This time, though, his eyes were wide open and he was making lots of noises and doing cute things.


I also got the opportunity to have someone take a picture of me with my little man, and I think it turned out very well. I love him so much!

It was so nice visiting with our good friends, and it was even more special having our son with us this year. What a wonderful Christmas season this has been so far.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Giving Thanks


This past Thanksgiving our family had so much to be thankful for. First and foremost, David and I were thankful for being blessed with our beautiful son, Harrison. We were also blessed with David's family visiting us. David's mom came into town last Friday and stayed with us for a week. She was an immense help to us. I did not have to prepare one single meal, although I did help with the preparation for Thanksgiving. She gave me the opportunity to get out and about several times to do some errands, and gave David and me the chance to go spend some time together. What a wonderful gift that was. We just went to Barnes and Noble, but to sit and enjoy a hot cocoa and pick out some books was just what I needed. David even got the chance to read some comics :).
The rest of the Bunge family came in later in the week. Mike (David's dad) and Kevin (brother) arrived early Wednesday evening, and David's sister, Katie, drove down early Thursday morning. We had a great Thanksgiving meal and just relaxed most of the day. The weather was nice enough to enjoy a walk with Harrison and David's siblings. I even convinced David to watch a Christmas movie - Elf- on television.
Friday we were crazy enough to do some shopping. Since I had to be up early to feed Harrison anyway, we went ahead and took advantage of the sales. It honestly wasn't that bad anywhere. That's the advantage of living in a smaller town like Wake Forest, I guess. We were able to take care of some of our Christmas shopping and didn't stay out too long. Good thing Harrison will be too young for awhile for us to need to worry about the "it" toys. I think we can depend on grandparents and cardboard boxes for a few years.
It was such a nice week, and to have family here for Thanksgiving meant a lot. It's just the 4 of us for a few weeks until my brother, Scott, visits, and then we head home for Christmas. The holidays can be such a whirlwind sometimes. I hope that our family is able to take some time and slow down and enjoy each other and not be stressed by everything that comes along with this time of year. With that said, I'm off to stare at my beautiful, sleeping baby boy.
So that happened...

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Baby Love

By now, you probably know that Harrison David Bunge was born on November 9 at 5:35 pm, and I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience. Okay, maybe just slightly since pushing isn't exactly fun. However, the outcome was unbelievable and words truly cannot express how great my partner/husband, David, was. I thought I would want music or pictures from Harrison's 24 week ultrasound to focus me during contractions, but as it turned out, nothing helped me through them more than looking into David's eyes. He would count my contraction out for me and just look at me and smile. He didn't even have to say anything because his eyes let me know that he believed I was strong and could make it through. (But, honey, next time maybe you could not emphasize "15" so much when you're counting.) I was so blessed to be in labor for just 4 hours, but I know that David would've helped me through a longer labor. He kept telling me how amazing I was and how well I was doing getting us closer to meeting our son. I never felt more in love with him than during that time.
I couldn't have asked for a better support team, either. My nurse, Suzie, was awesome, and the nursing student from UNC worked so hard to make me comfortable. I can't thank her enough for helping me push and keeping me cool. It gets pretty warm with all that pushing. And I couldn't have been happier with my doctor. Dr. Chancellor insisted on delivering Harrison, and she coached me through the hardest contractions. When I didn't think I had more in me, she somehow helped me muster up the strength to push just a little harder and longer. Everyone in that room had great faith in me and helped me believe in myself. They are truly the reason I was able to go naturally. And believe me, there were a few times I wanted to ask for an epidural, but they all helped me through it.
I cannot explain my gratitude to everyone for helping David and me bring our birth plan to fruition. Our wishes were respected every step of the way and there wasn't one time when I didn't know what was going on. It was truly a beautiful day. So, that happened...

Monday, October 26, 2009

A Baby Shower

This past Saturday, my neighbor, Suzanne hosted a baby shower for me. It was a brunch featuring lots of yummy homemade food. We ate great food, played fun games, and then I got to open some awesome gifts from my friends. Thank you to everyone who came and shared in celebrating our upcoming arrival. Here are some pictures from the shower.


Delicious food that Suzanne made

Heidi and Lisa

Penny and Jamie

Katie and her mother-in-law

My sister-in-law, Katie, a little unsure of smelling the diaper

Some of my gifts waiting to be unwrapped

Just one of the cute onesies Heidi made for me

Cute booties Rockie made for our son

Heidi and Rockie

It was such a fun morning, and David and I are looking forward to putting all our gifts to use soon. So that happened...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Little Happenings

The funniest thing was said to me today, and I just had to share it. I was at a preschool I go to every week to see a little boy for speech therapy. While I was there, a little girl came up to me and told me, "Your belly is big". She tells me this every week the past few weeks. I said, "I know". She then asked me, "Why?". I told her it was because I had a baby in my belly. She then asked me, "Did you eat the baby?". The teachers started laughing and said, "I bet you haven't heard that one before". Indeed, I have not. I just told her that I did not eat the baby, but it was growing in my belly. That seemed to satisfy her. Then again, she'll probably say the same thing to me next week. So that happened...

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Sooner Rather Than Later...

I had my 36 week appointment yesterday, and that went much better than 2 weeks ago. I had to get my Group B Strep test so the doctor asked if I wanted her to go ahead and see if I was dilated at all. I figured, "What the heck, might as well". It was a good thing she did. She informed me I was already close to 3cm dilated and 50% effaced. Now, she can't tell me what that means in terms of how soon baby Bunge will be born, but she didn't feel like I will go to my due date.
David and I are so excited to meet our son, but I really wasn't expecting her to tell me I was dilated at all. When she did I think I released a bit of a nervous laughter and got a little anxious. I had no preconceptions about having our son early, so the possibility that that could happen and could happen literally anytime is a bit overwhelming. Needless to say, we realized that we need to make sure we are prepared. We went to Target and purchased whatever remaining items we needed for my labor and postpartum bag. It seemed like others had an inkling, too. We received two packages yesterday that will come in very handy for baby: a feeding gift set and our playard. We're feeling ready for baby now (as much as we can be), but we hope he waits at least another week or two.
So that happened...

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Our Little Man's Room

Our little man's room has come a long way from the office that it use to be. It all started with a vision and a little persuasion to get David to completely remove all traces of an office space. For those of you who don't know, this is what the room use to look like:

The tall bookcase went downstairs to the living room to create a reading nook, and the two small bookcases remained in the room to be re-purposed.


Our diplomas went to our respective offices at work. The vases went into the guest room for decoration.


The chair was sold (no use for it since David no longer had an office), and the exercise ball deflated (I wouldn't be able to really use it soon).

This is sans desk, but everything else is pretty much the way it was before. The only thing that had to stay was our Internet hook-ups since they have to be in this room. We came up with a clever idea to hide those away, though.
So, once everything was cleared away, all that remained were the 2 small bookcases. The first things in were the crib and an area rug. The floor tiles remained, but they were a bit rough for baby. The crib was a steal from Target and went perfectly with the bookcases.

Next, we got some baskets to use as storage in the bookcases. One bookcase holds the lamp next to the rocking chair, and the other one became the changing table and holds all the necessities for changing our little man and getting him ready for his day/night.



The awesome tree you're catching a glimpse of was painted by my co-worker's (Jamie) husband, Brennan. He basically donated his entire Sunday this past weekend to painting it. The following are a couple of different tree views:

Here's a picture of this frog organizer we spotted at Ikea. I have to say "thanks" to my co-worker, Michele, for her suggestion to put it behind the door. We're hoping to fill this up with stuffed animals and other toys.

Last, but certainly not least, is the closet. It's not quite completed yet, but I wanted to show just how much we do NOT need any more clothes for our boy. This just includes up to 1-year. There are three storage bins not pictured full of clothes to dress him until he is at least 2- 2 1/2.


One of the only things we have left to do is find a place for some alphabet cards I picked up. I have an idea of how to display them, but we'll see. And we're thinking of this wall because it's a bit bare in comparison to the rest of the room.

I think the transformation has been wonderful, and we couldn't have hoped for anything better. I know our son won't really care a whole lot as long as he's comfortable in his bed, but this room is really what I envisioned. We pretty much just need one more little thing to make it complete...

Friday, September 4, 2009

Surprise!

Before anyone gets in a tizzy, there is not another surprise, I just titled this post that because I am sharing the story of how I told David we were having a baby. Someone recently asked how I told him, and I realized I never did share that story with anyone outside of our family. So, without further ado...
First, this was all planned. I don't know why, but several people asked this, and so I feel the need to let it be known. So, when I say David was surprised, he wasn't surprised that we were going to be having a baby, just that it happened so quickly. I also want to say that we were both ecstatic.
I had a feeling that I was pregnant pretty early on. I don't know if a test would've confirmed it as early as I "knew", so I waited until 5 weeks. My first sign was the smell of coffee. I have come to have an affinity toward hazelnut coffee. I brewed myself a cup each morning to take to work. One morning, I didn't smell hazelnut; rather, I smelled bitterness and nothing else. When I took a drink, it just tasted bitter. I also started to find myself hungrier than usual. Now, I could've chalked this up to the fact that I'd gotten very sick a week earlier and hadn't eaten much in several days, but I knew it was more. It was hard to keep this to myself, but I didn't want to get David's hopes up. Mine were already high enough for both of us, and probably both sets of parents.
I decided to take a pregnancy test on a Wednesday. They say to wait a minute or two, but I saw that plus sign in maybe 10 secs or less. David was actually just down the hall, in the office, but I managed to keep it to myself. I wanted to take the opportunity to surprise him and make a big deal out of the fact he was going to be a dad. I decided I would let him know when he got home Friday evening from work, giving me enough time to plan and prep.
I printed out baby footprints and had them leading to the kitchen from the front door. The footprints stopped at the kitchen table where I had wrapped the pregnancy test and put a stuffed animal next to it. We had picked up this rabbit almost a month ago when we were doing some shopping. I wanted it for our baby that we would have one day, and David couldn't turn me down. Anyway, so I had that set-up and then I had Stevie Wonder's "Isn't she lovely" ready to play when he came in the door. I was getting excited just setting the whole thing up.
Well, finally David got home and I hit play on the music and went upstairs. I wanted him to be alone and hear his reaction. It sort of worked :). He saw the footprints and went into the kitchen, but then just kept asking Truman, "Where's Amy? Is she hiding?". Finally, I said, "No, I'm not hiding. I wanted to surprise you and have you open the gift alone.". Needless to say, David was very happy and excited about me being pregnant. He insisted we go out to dinner to celebrate. It was awesome. Now, here we are 25 weeks later, with our baby boy on the way soon. So, that happened...

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Sustainable Romance

First of all, I feel like I haven't blogged in a while. I guess there are two reasons for this: 1.) As I enter into these last few months of my pregnancy, I don't always have the motivation to blog about things. Lately, something has to be really important to blog about it. 2.) I can't say that something "blog worthy" has occurred until recently. Although, this is our blog, and as long as we deem it worthy, we can blog about it. So I guess the big reason is me being lazy as the pregnancy progresses.
To the main event: we went on a babymoon this past weekend. This was something I'd read about in my Fit Pregnancy magazine. I thought it sounded like a fun idea, but I didn't really do much more than glance over it. It was David, while reading through the magazine, who became intrigued. He noticed that one of the locations was nearby.


The Proximity Hotel, in Greensboro, NC is the only LEED Platinum certified hotel and restaurant in the United States. Pretty cool, huh? (The answer would be "yes".) Given that David works in solar, this was definitely a location he was interested in for our babymoon. The fact that they had a package called "Sustainable Romance" wasn't too shabby, either. In fact, once I looked at the website and saw pictures of the rooms and read they offered prenatal massages, I was ready to go. We decided that we would go in my third trimester, but not too late because I wanted to be comfortable and enjoy the weekend. We left mid-afternoon and arrived early enough to settle in our room before enjoying a fabulous dinner at the hotel's Print Works Bistro. The best part was dessert - I ordered the profiteroles that came with vanilla ice cream and "lots of hot chocolate". It was funny because when it came out, I was surprised by how much it was. There were three separate puff pastries with vanilla ice cream in the middle. Then came the coup de grace, the pot of hot chocolate, which the server proceeded to pour on top of the pastries. David laughed at me when I said, "That's a lot of chocolate. Was I supposed to say 'when'?". When I asked why he was laughing, he told me, "The description said, 'lots of hot chocolate' ". I was only able to eat one and David managed to eat one after eating his chocolate almond cake. We couldn't eat the third.
The entire weekend was so relaxing. Both nights, I got to enjoy a wonderful bath. Saturday morning, we enjoyed some room service for breakfast and then headed to the gym. I felt so proud of myself - almost 30 weeks pregnant and working out on the elliptical machine! After we were done in the gym, we went swimming. I loved being in the pool because I felt like I didn't have 20 extra pounds on me. I swam and swam while David mostly sat in the shade reading the paper. That was fine by me, though. I even managed to get a bit of sun on my baby belly. I got to cap it all off with an hour long prenatal massage. I tried really hard to stay awake so that I could remember techniques that David could use ;). The other great thing was finding comfortable positions for me to lay in when sleeping. I have slept better this week since being back, and that is a huge blessing.
Saturday night we had dinner at Ganache. My co-worker, Heidi, recommended it to me. She mentioned that it had great desserts and good food, so we decided to go there. Dinner was good, but we really enjoyed our slice of white raspberry cake. There was one that involved decadent chocolate cake, fudge, ganache, chocolate mousse and chocolate frosting. I considered it, but after the "lots of hot chocolate" I had the night before, I decided to pass, much to David's dismay. We'll just have to go back again so I can try that cake.
We headed back Sunday morning feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the week ahead. I realized once again what a wonderful husband I have and just how much he loves me (not that I need a babymoon to know that). This babymoon was a needed recharger for us. We were able to spend some key "couple" time together without worrying about anything else we had to do or take care of. We also talked a lot about our son and how excited we are to be parents soon. Taking this babymoon was definitely one of our better ideas. I would highly recommend it to any pregnant woman/couple who needs a little rejuvenation in the home stretch.
Here are some more pictures from our stay. They're all of the room.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Isn't he lovely...

Yes, I know it's "she", but I can't think of any songs about a baby boy, so I switched it up a bit. Anyway, David and I headed to Triangle Imaging Center in Cary today for our 4D ultrasound. This was the one we were going to have done at 18 weeks, but moved it to later after finding out WakeMed performed a 3D/4D ultrasound. We were glad that we waited because our little boy looked very different today. It's amazing what happens in 6 weeks. When we were flipping through an album of other ultrasounds in the waiting room, I informed David that our baby would not look like the babies in those pictures because he is not much over 24 weeks. Everything I've read had me thinking he would still look a bit skeletal but definitely more filled out than he was at 18 weeks.
One of the first comments the sonographer made was about how filled out his face was for 24 weeks. I will say that as soon as she made this comment my mind went to how big I've heard Bunge babies are (over 9 lbs, 22-23") and how our baby could very well be on track to that or more. At our doctor appointment yesterday the nurse made a comment that she thinks our baby will be 23 inches. The views we got of our son's legs today confirmed that they are definitely long. His "fullness" and length made me feel a little better about finding out I had gained 4 1/2 pounds since my last appointment.
This appointment got me the most emotional so far. I think if I had just been watching him with David and no commentary, I would have been fine. However, the sonographer started making comments about how healthy and cute he looked and how well mommy was taking care of him that I started to tear up. Then she played his heartbeat for us, and David was holding my hand, and well.... I'm sure those of you who have had children know what I mean. There's something so precious and indescribable about these moments with your baby. He's not available for holding, but you still feel so connected to him. At this point it's even better because not only are you watching him move, but you can feel him. I thought about how much I already love him, and I haven't even officially met him. I know that this love I feel for him now, while immense, is probably nothing compared to the love I'll have for him once he's actually in my arms.
I keep looking through the pictures we got today, just like I always look at the previous ultrasounds. I can't get enough of him. While I can't believe it's only 4 months until he arrives and how we still have a lot of preparing to do, I also don't think that time can go by fast enough. To know I don't have to wait 4, 6, 8 weeks between seeing him again will be awesome! If I want, I can just stand there and stare at him while he sleeps, and I already told David I will. I told him today that he'll probably tell me, "What were you doing? He settled down 20 minutes ago." And I'll tell him, "Oh, just looking at our baby". I digress. Here are some photos from today. I hope you enjoy them.


Friday, July 17, 2009

Funny Story, Actually

Yesterday afternoon one of the little boys I work with made me laugh. (Keep in mind this is a boy who just turned 3.) Our session was over and he was asking me to tackle him. This is something we use to do after each session because it makes him laugh and he likes to tackle me back. Well, this time when he asked, his mom told him that I couldn't, but soon I'd be able just to hover above him and my belly could tackle him. She has told him about my "baby belly", so he pointed at my stomach and said, "Baby in belly". He then proceeded to try and see the baby in my belly. He lifted up my shirt a little bit, thinking he could see it, and then started to try to pull my shorts down when he couldn't. I had to stop him there. His mom told him he can't actually see him because he's inside my belly. The little boy then went to get his little MagnaDoodle and placed it on top of my stomach. He tried to hand the baby the pen to doodle :). I took the pen and drew a baby and placed it back on my stomach. I told him, "There, you can see him now." He responded, "baby belly".
Things got even funnier when he went to give me a hug and attempted to look down my shirt to see the baby. He clearly did not understand that he wouldn't be able to see the baby by looking at my belly. I think his mom was embarrassed, but I just laughed. He then did something really sweet. I had given him a sticker for doing good work during our session, and he decided to give it to the baby. He took the sticker off and put it on my belly. It was very cute.
So that happened...

Monday, July 13, 2009

Visiting Friends

David and I had the opportunity to visit some good friends this past week while we were in Missouri. On Wednesday, we made a day trip to Columbia and spent the entire afternoon catching up with friends. After a fabulous lunch at Flat Branch, we headed over to Lindsey and Travis's house to meet Logan. Lindsey had Logan on May 29, so this was a big deal to me. I had to wait a few months before meeting Reese (Lindsey's first) and getting to meet Logan at 6 weeks was awesome.
Lindsey keeps telling me that Logan is fussy, but I don't know what she's talking about. He slept practically the entire time we were there.

It was so nice to talk to Lindsey and get good "mommy" advice and information. It's always nice to get insight from someone who's already been through the experience - twice. Plus, we got to see Reese again. She's so fun to watch. Lindsey and Travis have done a great job raising her (not that they need me to affirm that), and she entertained herself quite nicely while we talked. She's pretty impressive for a little girl who's not yet 3. She's such a cutie!

And what a beautiful family (Travis wasn't home yet).


After leaving the Bedford's we went over to have dinner with the Rouder family. I haven't had the opportunity to see them in a few years. I use to work with Ben when I was at MU, and he was one of our ring bearers at our wedding 3 years ago. Now, Ben is 10, Tomas is 7, and Emily is 5. They are each very bright, creative children. We brought some root beer over from Flat Branch and Emily told Tomas to try it. After he tried it, she told him, "It's good root beer isn't it, Tomas? First the flavor hits you and then the taste." Becky and I agreed Emily could be a sommelier for children, recommending the appropriate soda/juice/water to go with their meals.

Becky made a delicious dinner for us. I'm probably going to get this wrong, but I think we had Parmesan-encrusted chicken with capers, sesame noodles with pesto, and a mixed green salad with cranberries, strawberries, mandarin oranges, blackberries and pecans. Yummy!

After dinner we got to view one of Ben's videos on YouTube. I'd post one if I knew the link or title of the clip. He's very talented. Before we left, I made sure to get some pictures.

(Ben is on the left, then Emily and Tomas)

(Emily, Becky, and me)

It was a great day, and it made us long for the day we will be closer to our family and close friends. Now that we have a baby on the way, we think even more about going back to Missouri. Maybe someday soon. So, that happened...

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Showered With Surprises

Just this past Sunday, I was surprised with a baby shower for our little boy. Now, you may be thinking that it's odd for someone to receive a baby shower at just 5 1/2 months, but this was the only time David and I would be in Missouri before our son is born. (We don't get to visit very often.) Despite knowing this was the only time we'd be here until then, I still did not expect anything. Everyone, including David, did a great job of keeping this a secret.
Just two weeks ago I was literally crying to David about how I didn't think I would be getting a baby shower. Now, this had nothing to do with gifts and everything to do with thinking I wasn't going to get to enjoy the "experience" of a baby shower. The gifts are nice, but it's just like your wedding showers - it's part of the wedding experience and celebrating a momentous occasion with family and friends. To get to the point, I just planned on not having this experience. David and I were spending the 4th of July weekend at his mom and dad's cabin and wouldn't get into Mexico until later Sunday afternoon. We are leaving on Friday, so I figured there wouldn't be a shower since we weren't really here on a weekend and it's difficult for people to get away during the week.
Well Sunday morning David's parents started talking about how Nancy (David's mom) and I could head out early afternoon and maybe do some shopping, and David could stay around with his dad and help out in the yard and do some fishing. I went up to David and told him I wanted him to come with me and go to my parents' house. I was finally convinced to do otherwise. Nancy and I headed out and by 1:45 or so I told her I was getting really hungry so we stopped at Chipotle in Jeff City. I was starving, so I'm pretty much wolfing down my meal. Meanwhile, Nancy takes a few bites, goes to "use the bathroom" (actually making a phone call to remind someone to call her in 5-10 minutes), and then comes back saying how filling Chipotle is and she'll save the rest for later. We headed to Target and Nancy receives her phone call. I hear her saying, "It's okay", "No, I can come in". She gets off the phone and tells me Dr. Burke called her and some twins are being born prematurely so they need her assistance as well. I tell Nancy, "No problem. We'll just turn around and head to Mexico." Nancy did a great job of going along with this story. I started asking her all about the twins and saying how it would've been nice to go shopping, but of course this is a priority; I just hope things go well. Then I asked if I should drop her off at the hospital. She says to drop her off at the house and she'll get the car. This makes sense to me b/c otherwise someone would have to pick her up from the hospital later.
So, we pull into the driveway and Nancy tells me to park in front of the house. I needed to use the bathroom (I was just playing perfectly into the plan), and Nancy said that was great because she wanted to give me my birthday gift early. We walk in and she tells me it's in the living room. I turn the corner and there are David's aunts and grandma and my mom and grandma and family shouting, "Surprise!" I started smiling, then crying and just felt overwhelmed. My mom looked at me and told me I looked beautiful. I think she was jaded by my pregnant belly. Since I knew nothing about this, I was wearing khaki shorts and a gray t-shirt. I told everyone I felt like I needed to change.
It was such a wonderful shower. We went downstairs and there were decorations everywhere, food, a beautiful cake, games... I still can't believe this was all for me. Everyone wanted to know how I was feeling and asking all about the baby. Then we went upstairs and opened gifts. I felt like there should've been at least twice the number of people there with all the gifts we received. Our son will not be lacking in anything. Everyone was so generous. He received a bib set and one of the bibs said, "Grandma doesn't say 'no' ". Apparently, no one will be able to tell him "no". He will be the first grandchild on either side of the family. While we received many nice gifts, I think I was a bit partial to my mother's gifts. She gave me a hand-knitted yellow sweater that both of my brothers and I all wore, a bunting I wore, and a blanket and sleeper that my younger brother wore. We all laughed at the sleeper that Stephen apparently wore because he was such a big baby and this outfit seemed like he could've worn it for a day before he was too big for it.
I will post some pictures once people send them my way. Of course I didn't know to have my camera. What a wonderful surprise! So that happened...

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Boom, Boom, Pow...

Okay, it's cheesy (and an awful song - I mean, what is Fergie even talking about?), but our little boy is moving up a storm these past few days. It all started on Friday when we were headed to our 20 week appointment. I felt 2 distinguishable movements in my lower right abdomen. I got so excited, and then nothing for the rest of the day really. I was a bit bummed but knew that when you first start to feel your baby it's not always consistent. On Saturday, though, he started to move some more. I found that he was most active after meals when my belly was really tight. I kept trying to get David to feel it, but the baby would stop when David had his hands on my belly. He kept telling me it was okay, but I really wanted him to experience it, too. Well, Sunday, we went to the neighborhood pool, and after I did some laps and got out, I lay down for a while. The boy went crazy! I told David to put his hand and feel, and he felt it :). Then we could both see the movements when we looked at my belly. It was awesome! David didn't know what to expect and seemed taken aback at what he was feeling and seeing. I was so happy that he could finally share in the experience.
Now our little boy is moving a lot. I usually don't feel him until I sit or lay down, but it hasn't gotten old. I don't think it ever will. I get so excited every time I feel him, and I still gasp when he gets started. He's started moving during lunch and today he moved during a therapy session. I just smiled to myself because our little boy is there with me and I'm so aware of it. It's like mommy and baby are sharing a moment together. He's part of my session with me, and that makes it a little better. I love this part, and I'm so in love with our little boy!
So that happened...

Friday, June 26, 2009

Baby Body

A lot has seemed to change in just the past 2 weeks. Suddenly people are noticing I'm pregnant. By "people" I mean a whopping 3 who didn't know have asked me about my bump. The best so far was from a dad at The Aspen Center. He asked, "What's that bump there?". I told him, "A baby". Then he said he thought maybe a couple weeks ago, but didn't want to say anything. I asked him what he would've done if I hadn't said it was a baby. He replied, "Well, we've been coming here for a year now, and you're pretty trim, so I felt like it was a safe guess." I thought that was so sweet. He even thought I wasn't due until December maybe. Everyone has been so nice to me during this pregnancy, from making comments about my little baby bump to telling me that they don't know many women 5 months along who still have a silhouette. It makes my day when someone gives me a compliment about my baby body :).
I have finally purchased some maternity clothes, too. My tops still fit, but they are not as long as they use to be. I don't want to stretch out my tops to no return, either. I was actually able to find some tops that weren't maternity but they were my size in a tall. The shorts and pants were the main issue. My belly band is getting annoying to adjust because when I sit it doesn't always stay in place. I was able to find some cute pants and shorts today, and I even bought a nice little dress. All in all, it was a pretty successful outing. The swimsuit is an entirely different story...

The Big 2-0!

Obviously, I am not just turning 20. I am glad that is over with, although I'm sure there may come a day I wish I was turning 20 instead of another number. No, on Wednesday, I hit the 20 week mark in my pregnancy. That means I am halfway there to our baby boy. It seems that the time doesn't go by so quickly when I'm waiting for my next appointment, but when I think about when we found out we were pregnant, it doesn't seem like it's already been 5 months. It has been, though, and we had our 20 week appointment today. It was pretty "in and out". They did all the measurements 2 weeks ago at our big ultrasound and my uterus isn't much past my navel, so there's not anything to measure there. Our little boy was a lot more cooperative today, though, and the doctor found his heartbeat right away. A nice 140 bpm or so. He even moved a couple of times, which was cool to hear on the doppler. I couldn't feel him, though. I am feeling him move more, but still irregularly and nothing that David can feel when he puts his hands on my belly. Our next appointment is at the end of July. I'll be 24 weeks then! So that happened...

Friday, June 12, 2009

It came to me in a dream...

Today David and I found out that we are having a baby boy! The funny thing was that I had been thinking "girl" all along until last night. I woke up this morning and told David that I had several vivid dreams through the night and 2 of them involved me holding our baby. I have had several dreams where I am pregnant, but none about the gender. My older brother, Scott, and my mom both had dreams about us having a boy. Well, in my dreams last night I was holding our son. I told David not to get too excited since a dream may not mean much. In this instance, I was apparently having a psychic moment.
It was such a wonderful ultrasound. WakeMed has a 3D/4D lab at their main hospital, so we headed there this morning for our 8:45 appointment. For 30 blissful minutes, we were able to see our son! The technician began by showing us the brain and pointing out the fossa and developing lobes. Everything was normal (check). Then she moved onto the heart and pointed out the ventricles and the how the blood was pumping. Healthy and check. Then she pointed out the kidneys. I recognized everything else without much aid, but I had to take her word on the kidneys. They were healthy, too. After checking to make sure we had a healthy baby, she asked if we wanted to know the gender. We both said yes, and she moved down. Well, the baby was not shy, and he was more than happy to open his legs. There was no question our baby was a boy.
It was all so surreal. I was so happy to hear how healthy he was that I didn't really react much to finding out the gender. I could see how happy David was, and I was happy, but no tears. It didn't really hit me until we were waiting for the elevator to head back to the car. Then I looked at David and he smiled and we hugged, and all the happiness overcame me. We are going to have a baby boy! No more trying to say "he/she" or "the baby" to avoid an "it" slip. We can now say "he". We can even call him by his name (but only around each other b/c that's remaining a secret).
We had a gift card to Target that we had agreed we would use to get a couple of outfits once found out. Well, once we started looking, we ended up spending the entire gift card on clothing and a cute blanket. I loved how much David was a part of it. He didn't just say, "Whatever you like." He picked items out and enjoyed looking for baby things.
Here are some of the clearer pictures we got that you all will probably be most interested in. We also got pictures of the brain and facial cavities, but those are a bit creepy. I hope you guys enjoy. So, that happened...