Pictures

  I came across these two pictures while I was organizing and de-cluttering my house yesterday.  Both pictures feature my grandmothers with babies.

My sister looks over at the photographer while my Grandma Packwood sits serenely with her.  I love this picture.  I love the peace about my grandmother's face.  The world moves on, but here, my grandmother sits quietly, content with a baby.

Sorry these pictures aren't the best quality!  

My mother lies peacefully in my Nana's arms.  I love the mischievous smile on my grandmother's lips.  I love this picture! I love that even though she is a mother, she is still herself.  The world moves on, but here my grandmother laughs and giggles, content with a baby.

I also love my Nana's hair and glasses in this picture!

22 Weeks

    Last night was exciting for me... well in relation to my pregnancy things have been really exciting for me lately.

   Last Wednesday, I saw my midwife and had a prenatal class as a part of appointment.  I received my results back from my latest ultrasound as well as my IPS screening.  Baby looks great and everything looks normal.  I'm glad I don't have to worry about potential problems or concerns as far as tubal defects or down syndrome.  Once again baby was not very cooperative when my midwife went to search for the heartbeat!  He kept moving around for several minutes, but it was nice to know that he is very active.  The prenatal class just made me laugh a little bit for a couple reasons.  I mean, it was kind of ironic that we were all shy in our discussion of discomforts.  A woman came in and gave some really great demonstrations on exercise and relaxation tips for pregnant women, but her tips for sleeping comfortably weren't very practical to me.  Essentially, you surround yourself in a nest of four pillows.  I kept thinking, "How do you do that when you have a smaller bed?  Or what if you move around a lot?"  Anyway, I enjoyed meeting with my midwife, but not so much the class.  Hopefully the next class on emotional changes will be more interesting.

   Saturday was a big day for us because we got a lot of baby items.  In the morning, I went to the store Once Upon A Child with a good friend who is due with her second baby a week before me.  She was much better at rolling clothes and stuffing them in her clearance bag than I was!  But I was happy with everything I got, and I was okay with not getting as many items as she got because I knew I would be receiving things from family and friends later on.  I just feel blessed to know that I could buy clothes for my kiddo(s) for a really good price later on.
   Later on Saturday, Greg and I went to an accounting professor's house for more goodies.  When Greg told me that this professor had some baby items, I thought it was just clothes and a baby bath, and I was incredibly excited about this.  No, we received more than that from this lovely person we barely know!  The number of items we got filled our car to the brim!  I am so impressed by the generosity of this person, and I hope that some day I can learn to be more generous to people around me.

   So my last exciting item of this post took place last night as I mentioned before.  Greg went to bed late, and kind of woke me up, but it was fine, I guess, since I had to use the bathroom anyway.  When I crawled back into bed, I could feel the baby actively move around.  Previously, when I would go to feel my belly with my hands after I had felt him move around, he would kind of stop.  (Thanks a lot!) But last night, he was letting me feel him move.  So I grabbed Greg's hand even though he was so tired, and I got to share the baby with him for the first time in this way.  To me, the moment was special because I have felt baby move around for a few weeks, but the baby's movements were much stronger to finally share with Greg.      

 
 

Clothes and activity mat we received from the angel professor. 

Clothes I bought from the store.  I got 22 items, I believe!  

The car seat we received also came with strollers!

A bath tub with lots of soaps that we also given to us! We also received two exersaucers (we have multiple floors, so it'll be nice to put baby down somewhere), a nursing pillow, a few toys, and some bottles (I plan on breastfeeding, but I may need to pump as well later on).

Thoughts on having a boy

First of all, we are thrilled that we are having a boy!!  (Greg won't actually say anything about his 'feelings', but I know he's happy to at least play with boy toys.)

I mean, one of the cool things about having a boy first is that we're following the Richins' trend of having a boy first.

  Around the time I had removed my IUD, I had dreams of a little girl, and I was so excited for her, and then we first decided to try for a baby, I had thought that we would have a little girl first based on those dreams.  However, when we learned that I was pregnant, I felt a bit sad because I felt that I wouldn't be having a girl.  When people would ask if I thought I was having a boy or a girl, I initially would say, "Well, I want a girl, but I think I'm having a boy." And then as my pregnancy progressed, I kept having dreams and strong impressions that we are having a boy.  Of course, I didn't always feel positive about these feelings (I'm such a doubting Thomas!), so I didn't say things like, "I know we're having a boy," but rather, "I think we're having a boy."  As I kept getting these feelings that I was carrying a boy, I felt happier with the idea of having a little boy.

  The frustrating part was when I would ask Greg about his guess on the gender, he wouldn't answer!  I know he likes to be right (thus the note I received after the ultrasound!), and not having a definitive way of knowing really bothered him.  About a week before the ultrasound, Greg started teasing me about knowing the gender, and he would say,"Are you excited to finally catch up to me about the baby's gender at the ultrasound?"  Pft.  Then, of course, he wouldn't reveal his 'knowledge' on the baby's gender.
  After like an hour of waiting on the technologist to finish doing measurements the baby, cervix, etc., we finally got to see the baby on the monitor!  Poor Greg had been waiting on me for a long time in the waiting room, and it was just a joyous moment for both of us to see the baby on the monitor.  The technologist started from his head and worked her way down the baby's body, so when we finally got to the lower half of the body, we could see the baby as if he was sitting down on a chair and we were looking up from the chair.  She didn't even say anything until I exclaimed, "Oh it's a boy?!"  She then answered, "Yup, it looks like it's a boy: the scrotum is here and the penis here."  I kind of wish we had that ultrasound image just to have the "proof", but Greg teased me about being a pervert for wanting that picture...   (I would share the ultrasound pictures, but you know what a baby looks like.  Plus, I didn't admire a couple of the images I received.  I know that I sound ungrateful, but I felt like they were slapped together.)
  After the ultrasound, Greg asked me to get a piece of paper out of his pocket.  The note said, "It's a boy.  And, yes, it's tough knowing everything all the time."  At the time, I thought this was Greg's actual guess, but after intense interrogation later on, I learned that Greg had TWO pieces of paper written out the night before.  I'm not sure what he did with the other paper, but I was kind of upset at him for tricking me into believing this was his actual guess on the gender of the baby.  Now I've just laughed it off, and it's just a funny part of the story.

  In case you are wondering, of the two boy names we have picked out, I immediately knew which of them would fit more with this little guy, and I think Greg agrees with me for now.  Although, we'll wait to officially name him once he's born!

Pregnancy update- 20 weeks

   I figure I should occasionally update people with how things are going with my pregnancy partially to satisfy curiosity and partially to help me remember this pregnancy.

     First of all, I have enjoyed this second trimester so much more than the first trimester.  I love being able to eat normally again!  It has taken a while for me to want to eat certain foods that made me sick in the first trimester, but man, it tastes like sweet, sweet victory being able to enjoy food again.  I was worried initially when I got into the second trimester that I would continue to have morning sickness because I had a horrible migraine shortly after entering the second trimester that caused me to vomit five times within like a 12-hour period, but fortunately, my body and baby love me.  After taking Tylenol on a couple of separate occasions and having the same reaction (vomiting), I guess I've learned that I can't handle Tylenol while pregnant, though.  I haven't had impressive cravings for anything in particular although I feel like I could always return south and eat burritos for several days.  

      While eating habits have improved, I have tried to improve my exercising habits.  My first trimester got me out of the habit of exercising regularly because I was exhausted and or felt sick quite often. Winter is a difficult time to improve this havit with the lovely below freezing temperatures, though, so I've been trying to do some exercises inside.  It's a good thing my job requires me to be on my feet and walk around, so I at least get some exercise in.  I've also tried to keep a food diary just to help me see what I'm eating every day.  While I don't have calories tracked, I do get to see that I am getting the nutrients I need and that I am not eating excessively, etc.
     The pictures below were taken at the beginning of my fifth month of pregnancy, and I did have to try a little to make that belly show... now I don't have to try anymore. Haha! When I went to my midwife appointment last month, I learned that I haven't gained weight with this pregnancy, but since the holidays took place and I'm further a long, I'm sure I may have gained  a few pounds.  My belly has definitely rounded out lately, and now I desperately need to buy some pants that I can actually button up soon!

It was snowing when we took this picture!  Greg didn't want to smile after taking off his coat... 

 

I love my handsome husband. 

     Greg and I are definitely thrilled about this pregnancy now that we've gotten over some of the initial shock. Although, sometimes the emotions I experienced when I saw the pregnancy test read positive are still the same: happy for potentially having a cute newborn, excited to become a parent, and completely terrified at the prospect of becoming a parent.  While we look forward to parenthood, I sometimes ask myself, "Is this all really happening because I feel like things aren't really happening?"  If it weren't for the occasional movements I have felt from the baby for the past couple of weeks, I think I would still question whether we were becoming parents in May.

  Now that I know for sure we are having a boy, I just feel like I can prepare a little bit more.  I've definitely prayed for guidance for raising a boy and I can be a good mom for him.  Like lots of expectant parents, I have also thought quite a bit about what kind of man he'll grow up to be.  I have felt empowered becoming an expectant parent by the idea that I can always rely on Heavenly Father for help.

Anyway, I'm excited to be half way through pregnancy!  It has definitely flown by so quickly!