Sunday, September 30, 2012

Operation Nursery, Part 1

I like to call getting our nursery underway Operation Nursery.  Mainly because the nursery started off looking like this:




Don't judge please.  This room has stored our Christmas and all of my extra teaching supplies.  It also is where all of our goodies from Jessie got stored.

I was itching to get started, but Matt insisted we make a list.  Here's what we broke it down to:


So, we got started.  I went through my 5 (yes, 5) boxes of books from my classroom and I'm happy to say all but about 20 books are going to Goodwill.  I also went through my college textbooks and was able to sell back 4 to Amazon for a whopping $14!  Whoop whoop!  The rest will be donated to Goodwill as well.  

After last weekend, this is the progress we'd made:



Everything in the room is now baby related.  We have 
  • The swing & jumper from Jessie 
  • Our (yet to be installed) ceiling fan and light
  • The baby book we bought
  • A frame that was a gift from a long time ago (it's yellow and says Heaven Sent)
  • The rocking chair that was given to Matt's dad as a kid
  • The bib from Gareth and Ashley
  • The socks from my parents
  • Matt's stool from when he was a kid
  • A little storage thing we got from Goodwill several years ago
In case you're curious, the white washcloth on the floor is to hopefully absorb some Giz piss spots.  Yup...Giz has tried to mark this room as well.



Matt hasn't quite finished cleaning out the closet yet, but we did move his t-shirts and polo shirts out.  Baby Walton has quite the array of baby hangers (thanks Michele!) just waiting to be put to use.  I hung his 3 USC onsies in here.  No worries...we won't be using the pink hangers.  My friend Ashley is pregnant so if she has a girl, they're all hers!

Here's our To-Do list now.  I am actually totally done because the paint is bought!  Here's a peek :)


We also ordered our nursery furniture which is this set:
We did not order the tall dresser on the right.

We are super excited and ready to get Part 2 underway soon!






Wednesday, September 26, 2012

We Have Movement!

Like I mentioned before, our little man (or mister as we sometimes call him) was moving all over the place during our last ultrasound.

The tech said it could be 20-22 weeks before I felt him wiggling and moving around.  I knew that, but that definitely has not stopped me from anxiously waiting to feel him anytime I was still.  Poking and prodding ensued to but to no avail.

There were a few evenings last week that I thought I felt him when I was laying down to sleep.  I would rest my hand on my belly and I thought I would feel a little kick in there.  But wait...no, it couldn't be a kick right?   It's supposed to feel like "bubbles" or "flutters."

On Saturday, Matt and I were driving to pick up Thomas to head over to the Brownlee's to watch the Carolina game.  Matt kind of hit the brakes/swerved a bit (I'm sure he loves this part...HA!) and when we were waiting to turn, I swear I felt some movement.  But that seemed crazy...I thought you were supposed to feel your baby for the first time when you're sitting still.  I mean, granted I was sitting still, but we were in the car!

Needless to say I was curious whether or not I would feel the same movement over several days.  I can officially say YES!  Tuesday night I could really feel him when I was reading before bed.  I told Matt on Wednesday that I was 90-95% certain it was baby.  It almost felt like a roller coaster in my belly!

Then, last night we were watching the new Justin King video and in the beginning (when the music is loud and fast) I could feel him wiggling around.  SO cool.

Of course it's still too soon for Matt to feel on the outside, but it definitely makes this baby and pregnancy seem totally real.  I knew it was real, but I think because it all happened SO quickly it almost didn't seem real.

Now if only we could agree on a name for him...

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Baby's First Gifts

Matt and I have been trying to come up with a name for Baby Walton, but to no avail.  There are some names that we like, but it's just such a big decision.  He'll have a name eventually, but I'm not sure we'll ever come to a decision!

In other news, he has already gotten quite a few gifts!

The first gift came from Gareth and Ashley, before we knew he was a boy.  The picked up this super cute bib in Las Vegas!


We also were lucky enough to get some amazing gifts from my BFF Jessie!  In addition to a ton of awesome maternity clothes, she also gave us a jumper (at least that's what I think it's called) and a swing.  SO sweet!



Ignore all the mess in the background...that's worthy of a post of its own!

Then, after we found out it's a boy, my mom gave us these adorable USC onesies and boy socks.


I don't know why this picture won't rotate, but oh well.

Then yesterday, my mom gave the baby this cute little Carolina bear and blanket.  Baby Walton is already spoiled by his Nana!


Finally, I came home to a package on our doorstep on Monday from my college roomie Tristen.  She sent some late night cravings to us!  


I think my favorite are the mini ketchup packages!

Matt and I haven't bought anything for baby yet, except some things to start getting the nursery ready, which is a whole 'nother post.

Since I'm now 19 weeks, here we go...


How far along? 19 weeks 
Total weight gain/loss: Down 1 pound. I weighed yesterday and it looks like I might be up 2 pounds, but I'll go by the doctors scale.
Maternity clothes? I'm still wearing skirts and dresses to work.  I did wear a pair of white maternity capris to work this week (in picture although you can't see them).  I've been wearing maternity shorts the past 2 weekends and when I wear jeans it's maternity jeans.  They're SO comfy.
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: Good...I'm always tired! I started to fall asleep last night on the couch before 10, even though I wanted to watch the football games on TV.  I made the mistake of mentioning to Matt that I'm supposed to be sleeping on my side so he is waking me up to roll over which is frustrating.  I usually end up yelling at him to leave me alone!
Best moment this week: I thought I felt the baby move yesterday, although I'm still not sure.
Miss Anything? Same old same old.  I would've really liked a Strawberry Daquiri at Los Reyes Friday night...
Movement: I think :/  We were in the car on the way to picking Thomas up to go watch the Carolina game at my sister's house.  We were waiting to turn, and I thought I felt him.  
Food cravings: Nothing...although baby and I enjoyed some cinnamon rolls the past two mornings.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Lots of meat.  Matt made this one night this week and I thought I would hurl:

Have you started to show yet: A little.  People who didn't know I was pregnant at work have been able to tell.
Gender: BOY!
Labor Signs: No, although I have felt a few aches and cramps yesterday and today.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Working in the nursery and adding more things to our registry!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

It's A Boy!

We had our ultrasound appointment today.  This morning I was SO nervous.  I was really scared something would be wrong with the anatomy scan.

When I was teaching my kids, I was fine.  But, as soon as the last one left, I got that dreaded feeling again.

We got there 15 minutes early (as usual) and were told there would be a delay and the tech was backed up.

So, we sat and waited and waited.  A not so pleasant part of our wait was a girl that threw up all over herself in the waiting room.  I would say more, but just can't even think about going there!

To get away from it all, I went back to give the standard urine sample.

After a while we got called back, but by then, I had to go to the bathroom again!  I was SO glad I did because the ultrasound probe was pressing all up against my bladder.

Boy oh boy, was our baby moving around.  The ultrasound tech found and pointed out the thigh bones and butt and I thought I saw something between the legs, but wasn't sure.  Then we moved on to looking at the head and making sure all parts of baby's body looked good.  It was amazing seeing the heartbeat and we were even able to listen to it.  Baby's heartbeat was 133 which is normal (120-160).

After some exploring we were finally able to see we are having a boy!  Our predictions were right!

It was SO surreal to see him moving all around and not be able to feel it.  The ultrasound tech said it would probably be 20-22 weeks until I could feel movement.  I feel SO much better after seeing him today though. He was so cute moving his arms and legs all around.  At one point it looked like he was waving hi!  Here are some pictures from our ultrasound today.





How far along? 17 weeks (almost 18!)
Total weight gain/loss: Down 1 pound.  I have no idea how because I have not been exercising (due to the heat) and certainly haven't been really watching what I eat.
Maternity clothes? It still hot, so I'm pretty much living in skirts and dresses for work. If I wear shorts on the weekends my belly band is MUST!
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: Fine.  I do wake up with heartburn sometimes and it takes me a while to fall back asleep, but overall pretty good.
Best moment this week: Finding out it's a boy!
Miss Anything? Coke Zero & Diet Dr. Pepper.  A coworker of mine popped open a diet coke the other day and it smelled heavenly....
Movement: Nope.  The tech said it could be up to 22 weeks
Food cravings: None.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Aside from the lady barfing in the waiting room today, no.
Have you started to show yet: A little
Gender: BOY!
Labor Signs: Lord I hope not!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On, but I can't wear my right hand ring. I'm having lots of lovely skin issues (which I'm pretty sure is unrelated to pregnancy).
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but I definitely have my moments. I can get irritated quite easily :)
Looking forward to: Planning the nursery and starting our registry




Tuesday, September 4, 2012

2nd Trimester

Boy oh boy have I gotten bad at updating this blog!  SO much as happened since we told our parents!  A week later, we had my sister and her family over and we told them.  It was basically a replay of telling our parents.  We videoed as well.  Normally they sit on our couch, but this time they sat on the love seat so I had to maneuver the camera around to gauge their reactions!  Here is the video of them finding out!


Afterwards, I called my brother and told him the good news.  My mom was in Minnesota at the time and had managed to keep this secret so far!  She actually took a copy of the video to Minnesota and showed my Aunt and Grandmother on Saturday.  They were obviously very excited as well!

We got lots of questions of when we would announce on Facebook.  Matt and I decided to wait until our next doctors appointment on August 14.  I knew we would get to hear the heartbeat and wanted to wait before announcing to the world.  Meanwhile, word was slooowly making it's way to my extended family (Most of Matt's family knew from the prior week).  

August 14 came and we anxiously excitedly went to the doctor.  It took a while to find, but the doctor finally found our baby's heartbeat:  a strong 165.  According to Old Wives Tales, this means girl!  However, both Matt and I think it's a boy.  He thinks so because "boys are faster swimmers."  I think it might be a boy based on ovulation day (TMI?!).  We'll actually find out in 8 days!  

We came home and announced on Facebook.  I was shocked there were some members of my extended family who hadn't yet heard!  Clearly there was a break in the Fralix Family Communication Chain.

I went back to work the next day officially, even though I had been setting up my room for over a week.  I got lots of congratulations from all of my sweet coworkers.

I have been very lucky since I have had really no sickness and had very little food aversions (meat is the only one really).  I've been tired, but when I am ever not tired?!  Plus, starting school back = tired Bonnie.

Matt and I have called our little baby many different things from butterbean to M&M.  It's hard to always call baby the same thing and we have definitely said "it" several times when referring to baby.  It's so hard not knowing the sex!  It'll be nice to say he or she.

We've come up with a few names, but decided to hold off until we find out the sex.  For a girl, we both like Annelise or (Annaleise, Anneleise, Annalise).  For a boy, we've tossed around several names like Ethan, Elliot, Mason, and Bennett.  Since we can't decide on a boy's name, we'll probably have a boy!

I can definitely not fit into most of my regular pants and shorts.  My belly band is a lifesaver!  Luckily, my BFF Jessie is graciously lending me her maternity clothes.  I am living in skirts and dresses for now, which I normally would be doing anyways since it's SO dang hot!  I'll be totally honest, I don't think I'm "showing" that much...rather, I've just stopped sucking in!

We had a wedding this past weekend for my cousin Barbara Ellen and I won't lie...it was NICE to not have to suck in!  HA!  It did suck to not be able to drink.  Luckily, I got some cranberry, orange, & pineapple juice and it was mighty tasty!

Here's a fun little survey: GAH....the last time I did this I was 9 weeks!

How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: At my last appointment I hadn't gained anything.  That won't last for long...
Maternity clothes? No, but my belly band is a lifesaver!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: It has gotten MUCH better since I've started working again.  I sleep pretty well, but have been getting up very early on the weekends.
Best moment this week: Seeing family at the wedding
Miss Anything? Coke Zero & Diet Dr. Pepper...sooooo much
Movement: I keep waiting, but nothing yet.
Food cravings: None.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Large chunks of meat...no thank you!
Have you started to show yet: Other people are definitely noticing, including people that don't see me on a daily basis.  Like I said before though, I've just stopped sucking in ;)
Gender: Leaning more towards boy, but the pimples on my face make me think a little girl is trying to steal my beauty...ha!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On, but I can't wear my right hand ring.  I'm having lots of lovely skin issues (which I'm pretty sure is unrelated to pregnancy).
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but I definitely have my moments.  I can get irritated quite easily :)
Looking forward to: Finding out the sex!  I really hope baby cooperates :)

Toodles until next time (hopefully not another month away!).