Halfway there!!

Hey all! So yes,I am at 20 weeks which is technically halfway, unless he decides to come early! I got my final test results back and everything is normal. I wish doctors didn't freak moms out like this. As if we need MORE stress on top of everything else that is going on. I get that they need to protect themselves as doctors, but what happened to protecting the mama? I mean come on! I get it, there are some select crazies out there that would freak out if everything wasn't completely out in the open for them but why not just say, "hey, we have to take a routine blood test, which we do at 18 weeks as part of normal procedure"? Maybe it would be lying because it wasn't routine but I don't have to know that. If they had done it my way and the test results came back negative, I think it would have been easier. I don't know, it didn't happen that way so I can't be the judge, but still...I had to add extra stress for a whole week that (thankfully) turned out to be unnecessary for nothing!

Whatever, we have a healthy baby boy and I'm excited to meet him in a few months! I have also had some other good news, I have started subbing! The day after I got all of my information I had a full-day job subbing 1st grade; so fun! And then on Friday I subbed 8th grade Earth Science. It's awesome. I don't even feel like I'm working, which is the BEST feeling ever!!! In both classes, I was able to actually do some teaching instead of just handing out worksheets or watching movies. Yes, I did both of those things with the 8th graders but I also made sure that I chatted with the class a little about what they were going to be studying and not just turn on the movie and be done. Not fun for me or for them. The sub orientation was actually really helpful too, they had some good advice like treat everyday like a  job interview and test the electronics before class starts just in case just to name a couple. I haven't felt super nervous at all, maybe just a little with 8th grade, but I wore my heels for an extra boost (haha) of confidence. I also felt bad because does that mean I'm forcing my son to wear heels?! Ok not really, but that thought totally crossed my mind and I laughed at myself.

Anyway, this is supposed to be about my pregnancy but since it has been SO easy and I'm still fairly small (I'm getting there though!) I thought I'd just give an update on a couple other things, hope you don't mind :) It's been nice hearing from some friends here and there checking in on me. I have yet to meet other younger pregnant moms to bond with and people in general so your support is very much appreciated, just thought you should know!


Here's a little snippet from a website that I get updates from every week:

How your baby's growing:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. (ours was roughly 11 ounces at the ultrasound!) He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

Congratulations! You've hit the halfway mark in your pregnancy. The top of your uterus is about level with your belly button, and you've likely gained around 10 pounds. Expect to gain another pound or so each week from now on. (If you started your pregnancy underweight, you may need to gain a bit more; if you were overweight, perhaps a bit less.) Make sure you're getting enough iron, a mineral that's used primarily to make hemoglobin (the part of your red blood cells that carries oxygen).


 Here's some progress pics!

                                 

Baby Registry

Hello!

I have had a few people ask about our baby registry so I figured I would just make it easy to find.

Amazon Registry

Target Registry

I have finally gotten around to starting a Target registry-I actually found some of their stuff is less expensive, yay!

Quick update!

Hi all!

Just some moose from our trip to Jackson.

So I posted this to Facebook already as well but thought I'd just elaborate a bit more on here. I got a call today from the doctor with my blood test results. They were early so obviously my mind was racing thinking this could go any direction. "Maybe they're calling early because it's negative. Or maybe it's because it was clearly normal...ugh!" So of course I called, shaking, feeling numb-ready to receive any results. After the initial shock from last week hearing there might be a chance that my baby boy was not going to be as healthy as we thought, I had accepted that no matter what, he was going to  be my little boy and I would love him forever. Surprisingly, I stayed away from the internet in order to not further freak myself out, only to look earlier today and actual found some really encouraging information about children with Downs. Like I said, i was prepared for anything at this point so I was happy that instead of freaking out, it had quite the adverse affect and I actually felt ok. But as it turns out my test results ARE NORMAL! No infections, the chance of Downs was 1 in 22,000, a couple of other things but I don't remember...sometimes doctors give too much information and I can only handle so much so fast, but all was well. I still have the genetic testing that I am waiting on and that will determine the chances of Cystic Fibrosis and whether I am a carrier or not. I will update again when we hear more about that, but for now, it was nice to have some good news, and the trip to Jackson we took over the weekend definitely helped us both decompress and come back with a more positive perspective.

It's a BOY!!

Yay! We just found out yesterday that we are going to be having a boy! We could not be more excited and honestly more surprised! We, and many other friends and family, have been convinced that it was going to be a girl. Funny enough, though, Brett and I had very recently started thinking that it might be a boy for whatever reason. Either way, we are delighted.

Thumbs up!

I haven't posted in a while because there really hasn't been anything to report. Things have been going really well, I'm still not showing a ton so unfortunately no progression pictures. Even though I'm at 18 weeks and not showing a ton, he is growing at a normal rate and just about everything looks good so far. It was so much fun watching the ultrasound yesterday since it was 3-D and we could really see everything so clearly. I am kind of bummed they didn't give us any more pictures than they did because it was so cool seeing the spine and his face. We did get some good pictures though. It took a while to get the profile because he was being stubborn and wouldn't move...hmm, wonder who he gets that trait from?! He was also very active at times though, moving around, putting his hands by his mouth, and when we first got a glimpse of the ultrasound, it was very definitely a boy before the technician even told us.
The whole appointment went really well, like I said, he's growing at a normal rate and weighs about 11 ounces right now. There was one thing at the end that kind of put a damper on everything which was definitely a bummer. In his bowels, there were some brightly colored spots that could mean a couple of things: possible downs syndrome, cystic fibrosis, or it could be nothing. It could just be a little blood on the outside, but just to be safe, I got a blood test and will find out the results from that and genetic testing in a week to 10 days. Now, the chances that there is something wrong is a 10-20% chance and since I am young, closer to 10%. Still, it was bit overwhelming to hear that something could be "wrong". We are OBVIOUSLY going to love and care for the baby no matter what...duh... and it really could be nothing, but it still felt like the relief I felt earlier was now gone and felt just as overwhelmed as ever. I kept my composure in front of the doctor but as soon as I went in to the other room to get my blood drawn, I lost it. I just felt like I had failed, even though she had said that there was nothing I had done or didn't do that caused this.  I am going to try my best and hope for the best and stay positive but it has been a super stressful month and staying positive has been quite hard.

Aside from that, Brett has been talking about how great this kid is going to be at fishing and I am just so excited to play with cars and trucks and trains again :) Now the trick is figuring out a boy's name...


More to come next week! Stay tuned :)