6 months!

Seriously, I never have time to blog. Like, ever. But I'm bound and determined to get at least the next 6 months of little man's life documented SOMEHOW because Lord knows I'm not keeping up with his actual baby book!

Weight: Almost 17 lbs! Baby boy is finally chunking up! Especially in his thighs still. He looks a little like a baby sumo wrestler in this next pictures because of the way his thighs fall over his diaper.

 

Health: Thankfully, Reuben's been totally healthy this month! He's started going to the nursery at church, so I'm extra thankful for his continued health after passing around all those chewed-up toys!

Sleep: Still co-sleeping. It's just what works. Boy is NOT a fan of bottles and barely eats while I work. It's slowly getting better, but he still wakes up 2-3 times a night to eat to make up for the missing calories during the day. There's no way I could function if I was still getting up and walking into his room every time he woke up to eat. As he gets bigger and adds more solids to his diet, I'll feel more comfortable getting him to sleep longer without eating, but for now I'm enjoying the baby cuddles!

Social: Reuben went to his very first wedding this month. Somehow I totally didn't take a single picture. He had to be taken out a few times because he was just SO excited about Philip getting married, but overall, he did really well! Like I said earlier, he's started going to the nursery on Sundays while I serve in there. It's so cute to watch him watch the other babies and start trying to get their attention. It's like he realizes they're like him and gets really pumped about it!

Diet: 99.9% breastmilk. I've started giving him solids here and there when I think about it. He started eating some oatmeal when he's with my mom since he hates bottles so much. He's tried blueberries, yellow squash, sweet potatoes, and a couple different sorts of bread. He's not a huge fan of purees, but it's cute to see him try them. I love watching him shove food in his mouth with his itty bitty fists!

 

Clothes: All. Over. The. Place. The kid wore 0-3 month pants on Thursday (way too short, but fit in the waist) and 6-9 month pants today. I stick him in what fits and just go with it.

Baby Gear Love: Hmm... I don't know if this should be considered baby gear or not, but Reuben can finally sit in a grocery cart! I had to do a ton of shopping, he had just had a nap, and I REALLY didn't feel like strapping him in the Ergo. I tried to put him in the little baby seat attached to the carts (with a blanket and disinfecting wipes all over it because those things look nas-tay!) but he just tried to sit up in it so that wasn't working. I almost walked back out to my car for the Ergo, but figured I'd just try the cart seat... lo and behold...

Crying: Just when he's sleepy. Or if I take to long to get ready to feed him after we get home from work. He whines a little bit now when he wants to sit or stand up, but it's not full blown crying. He's a really laid back baby.

Likes: Just about everything! Seriously. He's the most alert little guy ever. Always looking around and taking stuff in. He really, really, really likes his dad right now. He gets so happy when he sees him walk into a room! I LOVE it! 

Postpartum: Hair loss is finally slowing down. Now I have these wonderful little baby hairs growing all around my hairline that stick straight up, no matter what! Awesome.
  
Milestones: He's a master at sitting up. He loves it. He'll pull himself up to standing while he holds onto fingers, too! 

He still doesn't show any interest in crawling, and I'm in no way rushing him because I enjoy an immobile baby, but he can hold himself up now!

His first tooth came in! He was a mess for a couple days but it finally poked all the way through. I'm thinking the second one isn't far behind. He can't get enough of his chilled teethers.

Annnnd his little personality is SO. DARN. CUTE!

Reuben,

You are looking less and less like an itty bitty baby and more and more like a little boy. You've got the best personality-full of joy and smiles! You give the best cuddles and your dad and I are soaking them up. Your life is flying by me and I know all too soon you're going to be too interested in other things to have as much time to just snuggle and play with us. And that's ok. It's normal. 

I realized the other day what a great responsibility you are--not in a burdensome way. God has given you to us as a great blessing and we're responsible for raising you in a godly home and always, always, always pointing you towards Him.

I wouldn't trade you for the whole world, little man. I love you more than you'll ever know!

Love, 
Mama

5 Months!

Already?!

Weight: At his 4 month check-up, he was 14 lbs. 6 oz. That means he's gained 8 lbs since he was born! That's a whole good sized newborn! I can't believe it. He's definitely gotten bigger since then so I'm guessing he's closer to the 15 lb mark now. I'd say a good pound of that is in his thighs. I mean look at them!

Health: Little man got his first cold this month. I'm pretty sure he caught it from his daddy. He was really, really pitiful a couple of days. Runny nose, coughing, sneezing, and a ton of congestion wiped him out and he slept a whole lot. He's mostly over it, but the congestion is kind of sticking around. I notice it when he eats every once in a while but he's not letting it get him down.

Sleep: Well, still sleeping with us. I don't really care since it makes it so easy, but I know Clint wants him out sooner rather than later. We tried to move him to his crib a couple nights ago and it did NOT go well. We figured we'd let him cry for 5 minute increments and then go in there and comfort him if he wasn't asleep yet. I laid him down at 7:00, he slept like a champ for 15 minutes and then it was a fight for almost 2 hours. By 9:00, I told Clint I needed him to go in there because I was frustrated so he went in and next thing I know, he brought a whimpering Reuben back into our room for the night. Poor guy was SO worn out. So we decided to start with naps and that's actually semi-working. Hooray!

One funny story- when Clint was out of town I planned to take a shower when I woke up before work so I knew I needed to get Reuben to where he wasn't touching me so I could get out of bed without waking him up so throughout the night I tried to move him after every feeding and I woke up to this...

Somehow a 5 month old almost pushed me out of a king sized bed! He's a bed hog. And please ignore our mess of a room... Our bedroom has hardly been touched since we moved in two years ago... oops!

Social: He's been out and about a lot this month. And he's pretty much a rockstar. He's so easy-going with everyone he meets and is seriously such a flirt with the ladies! And he got to meet his great-grandparents on the 4th of July! I'm so happy they got to meet him and he seemed equally as thrilled.

Diet: 100% breastmilk. I absolutely love nursing. I love the bond, the price (free!), and the health benefits for both of us. But I'm SO excited about introducing food next month! Not because I need a break, but I think babies eating food is absolutely adorable.

Clothes: Still all over the place. I've quit looking at sizes and just stick him in what fits. I'll say this though... I'm pretty sure he's out of 3 month Carter's pjs... *tear*...

Baby Gear Love: Now that he loves putting weight on his legs, we've broken out the Johnny Jump-up and he's loving it! He's learned to love toys that make sounds, too. My mom had this helicopter she bought for him to play with later on since it says it's for 12m+, but she got it out the other day and he was totally obsessed with it. 

  Crying: Still mostly just when he's tired. He was so exhausted after a long day on Sunday that on our ride home from downtown he cried so hard he threw up all over himself. Poor little guy. He's been crying more since we're trying the whole crib thing, but I'm starting to think once he gets crying so hard, it's not being effective. He just gets more and more worked up until he's screaming. He's a very, VERY stubborn little baby!

Likes: Standing up! As long as he's got a hold of some hands for balance, he'll stand up forever. He's also gotten to the point that he's enjoying watching us eat. There have been times where he'll just bust out in a giggle when we take a bite of something. It's so funny!

Postpartum: Hair is still falling out like crazy. It may've slowed down the tiniest bit, but I'm still shocked I have any hair left to lose. And I'm finally down to pre-pregnancy weight PLUS (or should I say minus?) 3 pounds! WOO HOO!!!!!!
  
Milestones: He's sitting up on his own more than with assistance now. Kind of hard to believe! We were over at our friends house and he was on the floor with my friend, Whitney, sitting behind him. She had to jump up to do something and I went to support him and before I got to him I realized he was sitting up all by himself!

Reuben,

You're growing up so fast, little man! You are SUCH a joy in our lives. The Lord knew what he was doing when he added you to our family. We both love watching you grow and learn new things every single day. Your personality is growing so fast and you are seriously just a little ball full of joy! You make everyone you meet smile with your infectious smile. I love you and I'm so proud to call you my son!

Love, 
Mama

I said this last month and I'll probably say it every month, but this age is so much fun!!!

What's your favorite memory from your 5 month old? 

Reuben's Birth Story (pt. 4)

Let me start this by saying Dr. McGuinn is a rockstar. If any of y'all are in the Nashville area and looking for an OBGYN, go to her. You won't regret it.

So we're wheeling down to the OR. Leaving Clint outside the door was kinda scary. I felt pretty alone for a couple seconds until I saw Dr. McGuinn already in there. Maybe it's just me but I was pretty shocked at how close I felt to her. I mean we're not BFF or anything, but having her in there was instantly comforting. She stood in front of me and held my hands while they were doing the spinal block, which I hear is pretty rare for a doctor to do. She made sure to tell me how great of a candidate I was for a VBAC because she knew how badly I wanted to avoid a c-section at all costs.

 The spinal didn't hurt a single bit. Apparently I have "a great spine." So they got me laid down and got Clint in there with me. They put up the curtain and started asking if I could feel anything and I couldn't. I'm tellin' ya- it's bizarre how quickly the medicine kicked in and I couldn't feel ANYTHING. The nurses and stuff in there were phenomenal. They were so encouraging and kept us calm and collected. They said my BP would probably drop a lot from the anesthesia and I'd start getting nauseous so I needed to let them know so they could fix it. Well lo and behold that happened so I told them and with the press of a button, they sent some medicine into my IV that took every bit of nausea away. Medicine is crazy to me!

Next then I know, I heard her say it was time to get him out. She said I'd feel a little bit of pressure while they got him out and they weren't kidding. It seriously felt like a sumo wrestler jumped on my chest. It took all the breath out of me. but I could care less because next thing I know I hear a baby screaming and she lifted him up over the curtain for me to see (I have a picture but it's pretty nasty so I'll save Reuben's dignity and keep it off here haha). I had always imagined this crazy emotional moment of meeting him for the first time... and it was nothing like that. I laughed. I was just so happy he was here that I was laughing with joy! They wrapped him up and put him on my chest and I got my first good look at him. It was seriously love at first sight.

It wasn't really a mutual love then, but that ok with me ;-)

I heard them say APGAR score of 9 and that was like music to my ears. He was full term, but I still was nervous something'd be wrong with him. Plus, after having a miscarriage, there's a part of me that thought there'd always be something wrong with my babies, like I'd never have a "normal" pregnancy.

They weighed him and called out his weight "6 pounds, 7 ounces" and I literally said "Excuse me?" I was SO sure we'd have a massive baby. I was 9.5 lbs and Clint was 8 lbs at 36 weeks. So we were not prepared for such a little guy.

They got him cleaned up and handed him back to me. Let me pause here and say how incredibly thankful I am that Baptist has that policy. They let us keep him, and even me hold him, the entire time they were closing me up. It was wonderful!

And of course we had to get our very first family portrait.

It was absolutely the craziest, scariest, happiest, best day of our lives.

Reuben's Birth Story (pt. 3)

Um... excuse me?

We're not going home without a baby?

I kinda started freaking out inside. I mean, I had prayed to get this baby out, but I didn't really think it'd happen! She told me I had severe pre-eclampisa and the only way to cure it was to deliver the baby. She said my shoulders hurting concerned her about my liver and they were going to draw some blood to check my levels, but everything should be ok. I'd made some good progress so they'd start me on pitocin and I'd have a baby either late that night or the next morning.

So off we went to the hospital. We called everyone who needed to know. My dad had to turn around and drive right home from North Carolina. The hardest person to call was my best friend, Miriam. She moved to Chicago last year and we had the perfect birth plan lined out to get her down for Reuben's birth, but it just couldn't work with a 3 week early induction.

We got checked in to the hospital around 11:45 and got our last family of two picture in!

Then I met our nurse, Bonnie. Bonnie was intense. I knew I was "sick" even though I felt great, but she kinda acted like I was a breath away from dying. My room was a phone, light, TV, talking, basically, fun-free zone. I had to lay on my left side with no one talking to me while they got stuff figured out. I had IVs started and my blood drawn and just hung out in my cold, dark room.

Dr. McGuinn came in pretty quick with my blood test results and said my platelets were low. Like really, really low. I don't know exactly what numbers mean but she said they were supposed to be in the 200s and mine were only 70. She had an anesthesiologist come in and they told me they'd only do an epidural if my platelets were 80 or higher. I asked Dr. McGuinn if there was really a chance they'd go up and she said maybe. So they checked my blood for the second time in an hour, while we prayed they'd go up!

In the meantime, we got moved to a real L&D room and they started me on pitocin. They figured they might as well start since nobody was really sure what was going to happen. My results came in soon after… my platelets were at 68. There was no going up. She told me the two scenarios she could think of:

1. Labor naturally. But odds of that were very, very slim because I still had 7.5 cm to go and if my BP got too high because of the pain there was a chance I could have a seizure or stroke. Then I'd have to have an emergency c-section and by that time they weren't sure if I'd have enough platelets to not bleed out during surgery.

2. C-section with general anesthesia. They'd knock me out so they could safely get him out, but it'd be hours and hours before I could see him. He'd be drowsy and I wouldn't remember anything. Not cool.

So Clint (who was secretly freaking out but hiding it well) went to see our parents in the waiting room and sent my mom in to be with me while they were figuring out what they wanted to do with me. My mom had pre-ecclampsia with me and my brother so she knew how sitting in a dark room alone felt. I was getting pretty upset because I didn't like either of my options and I didn't want to have to decide. I prayed that God would lead them in the right direction.

I said "amen" and the door opened and a guy I'd never seen walked in with Bonnie, my new nurse, Kirsten, the anesthesiologist and their helper, and my doctor. He sat down on my bed and told me he was a high risk maternal medicine dr that Dr. McGuinn had brought on my case to help her through. He went through the speel of how sick I was and all that jazz that I was so tired of hearing and then told me something I hadn't heard yet. He'd spoken with the anesthesiologists and they'd agreed to do a spinal block for a c-section, but only if we did it then.

 Like RIGHT then.

They were prepping me without me even realizing it because I was so zoned into what this new doctor was telling me. I bust into tears from being so overwhelmed and asked my mom to go get Clint. He needed to be there. As she was walking out the door, he was walking in. The nurse handed him some scrubs and told him to put them on. Talk about being shocked! Poor guy. He handled it like a champ though! He was so strong through all of it. God knew I wouldn't be able to make it through without him. We prayed that God would be with Dr. McGuinn and get Reuben here safely and then just kind of breathed and laughed at how crazy of a day it'd been!

Then it was off to the OR!

Reuben's Birth Story (pt. 2)

After Clint helped me gather myself, we got in the car to head to work. We headed to McDonalds to get a large diet coke (at this point I had thrown out the limited caffeine rule) and some breakfast. All I could stomach was a hash brown and a few sips of coke. Clint mentioned he thought I should call my doctor, but I brushed it off. What could she do besides tell me to take tylenol for sore muscles?

When I walked into work, my boss asked how I was feeling that day. Normally, in the South, you'd be polite and say, "Good, thanks. You?" I was way past that. I told him exactly how horrible I felt. His wife was pregnant with their second and due just a few weeks after me, so he had been researching some stuff the night before and asked me about swelling, headaches, and a few other things. I said I didn't have any of those, but he said he still thought it wouldn't hurt to call my doctor and just see what they thought. I figured I might as well. It couldn't hurt. So I called and left a message for my nurse, breaking down the last couple of days and how miserable they'd been. My nurse normally took a while to call back, so I sat down, on my exercise ball (gotta keep moving that baby down, people!), and started working. I was shocked when she called back 15 minutes later.

Her: Well, Stephanie, if I was a betting woman, I'd bet you're in labor and you're just laboring in your back.
Me: I really don't think so. I took tylenol about 30 minutes ago and I feel great right now. That wouldn't help contractions, would it?
Her: Probably not, but why don't you and Clint go ahead and pack your bags and come on in and we'll figure out what's going on.
Me: (laughing) Um... ok, I guess!

I called Clint and told him, let Eric know what was going on, and headed out. People in the office saw me leaving and asked if we were going to have the baby and I had to reply with, "I don't know. We're going to find out!"

So we got home around 9:30 and took our sweet time packing. When it came time to load the car up, we couldn't figure out if we should bring the carseat or not. It had just come in the day before and we hadn't had time to install it or anything. Clint said it wasn't worth trying to install it now since we wouldn't need it and I almost agreed, but then we decided to just throw it in the back just in case...

We got to the Dr. and did the whole pee in a cup and weigh yourself routine. This may be TMI, but I don't really care... I noticed my pee was a really funny color. I had been drinking water like a champ my whole pregnancy so it had always been clear. Not now. It was a weird brown color. I figured I hadn't had enough to drink in the last couple hours. I also noticed I had gained 5.5 lbs since my appointment 6 days ago, but I hadn't taken the time to take off my shoes and sweatshirt so I didn't think too much of that either.

I got called back and my nurse stuck that strip in my pee just like she had done every other check up. But this time she didn't just look at it and move on. She loooooooked at it. Stuck another test strip in the pee. Looked at that one. Stuck another strip in pee. Looked at that one. And then did it again! Then she took my blood pressure and went "hmmmmmm" as she listened for my heartbeat to start back up. She took the cuff off and said, "This may not be labor, but something's up. I'm gonna let Dr. McGuinn look at your chart." Then she moved us to the check-up room. Once we were in the room, I remember praying something along the lines of, "God, I don't care what you have to do as long as we're both healthy at the end of it, even if its preecclampsia and I have to be induced. I just want him OUT!"

A few minutes later my doctor walked in and asked which hospital I was delivering at. I told her and she shouted it down the hall. Then she closed the door and said

"Ok, they know you're coming. We're going over there and getting this sweet baby out of you. Today."

Reuben's Birth Story (pt. 1)

It may be 4 months after the fact but, honestly, I'm thankful it's taken me this long to sit down and write all of this out. It was sweet then, but it's extra sweet to look back on it and remember it all now. I want to remember as much detail as possible so instead of making it one super long post, I'm going to break it up across the next couple of weeks.

Ok. Here goes...

It all started Tuesday night. My upper back/shoulder area had been sore on and off since we took my maternity photos the week before. Amelia took awesome photos, but it was a lot of twisting, holding, stick-outing, and just straight-up moving for a 36 week pregnant lady.

I was pretty sure this photo alone was responsible for the discomfort, but I didn't really care too much because I love it so much.

Moving on...

Stretching had proven enough to make my muscles relax the first couple of days and then the pain died down. Tuesday at work it started up again and I figured my belly was just getting big enough to put serious strain on my shoulders. Stretching wasn't doing a lot, but the pain was bearable so I just lived with it. Somehow throughout my pregnancy, I bought and lost 5 bottles of tylenol and I was just too lazy to go buy more.

Fast forward to 1:00AM... the pain in my shoulders woke me up. It was constant, stabbing, so-bad-you-can't-breathe pain. I tried changing my sleep position. I tried on each side, flat on my back, on my stomach (as much as I could with a belly that big), with my head where my feet go, on the floor, on the couch, on the recliner-- nothing worked. So around 3:00AM I asked Clint to rub my shoulders and even his firmest grip wasn't doing much to relax the pain. Sweet, sweet husband that he is, he left to go buy our 6th bottle of tylenol. I got in the shower and turned the water as hot as I could handle and just stood there, praying that God would ease the pain. Clint got home with extra strength tylenol, I popped as many as were allowed, and I finally fell asleep around 4:00AM. I got up with Clint the next morning and decided I was staying home from work that day. I laid on the couch all. day. long. popping tylenol the second the four hour mark passed. The first half of the day wasn't too bad, but around dinnertime, I noticed the tylenol was wearing off closer to the three hour mark instead of four. By the middle of the night, I couldn't even tell I had taken anything about 1.5 hours after taking it.

Cue another night of trying absolutely any sleep position, no matter how ridiculous it felt, to no avail. By 5:00, I had just resigned myself to being up for the day. I got in another scalding hot shower and cried, still begging God would make the pain stop. I had already decided I was going to work for the day. I had to save my sick time for after Reuben got here, plus it was Valentines Day and I wanted to go on a date that night. When I was in school, if I stayed home sick, my parents wouldn't let me do anything that night. Their thinking was if I wasn't well enough to go to school, I wasn't well enough to do anything fun. So I still kind of stick to that mindset in grown-up life. I "got ready" by throwing on a man's undershirt, the biggest hoodie I could find, and throwing my sopping wet hair on top of my head. I didn't even put on makeup. Ain't nobody got time for that.

So basically, I was a hot mess.

I sat on our recliner, waiting for Clint to get ready (we work at the same church, so we ride together), and I bawled. I couldn't handle feeling like this for another three weeks. I told God right then that I needed this baby out of me.

And He said O.K.

Part 2   Part 3   Part 4

The "W" Word

Weight.

gasp

I know, I know. Nobody likes to talk about weight.

Unless you're pregnant or just had a baby. Then your weight is talked about like the weather. Everybody is always telling moms, "Oh you look SO good," "There's no way you just had a baby," "You're alllllll belly."  My favorite was, "You can't even tell you're pregnant from behind!" to which I wanted to reply, "Oh, really? You couldn't tell I was pregnant from the fact I was waddling like an overgrown penguin?!"

I was always sure I'd be the girl who blew up to whale-like proportions when I got pregnant. Thankfully, I didn't, but that doesn't mean I was happy about all the weight I gained. I was on track to only gain my goal of 30 lbs, but then nasty preeclampsia snuck up and I gained 8 lbs the last week I was pregnant.

36 weeks pregnant and NOT all belly

I had to be in the hospital 5 nights and by the time I left, I only had 18 lbs left to go. At my 6 week check up, I had lost another 13. I figured if I lost 33 lbs in 6 weeks, the other 5 would melt right off of me...

I was wrong.
Shocker.

Fast forward to last week. Our scale's battery has been dead since Reuben was about 7 weeks old and I haven't been to the doctor again, so I hadn't had a chance to weigh myself in about 10 weeks. I figured I had lost the 5 lbs plus some because a lot of my pre-pregnancy pants were fitting again. We went over to a friends house to hang out and I weighed myself on their scale, fully expecting to see my pre-Reuben weight smiling back at me. Nope. Those darn 5 lbs are still here!

Now, let's be real, I'm not exactly a poster child for health. I'm too much of a sucker for cheese dip and chocolate (not together, of course) for that. But I would've thought between carrying my chunky baby around, breastfeeding, and not totally gorging myself on food, those 5 lbs would be gone!

So that was my wake up call. I want them gone. Them plus another 15 of their friends or so. And to get them gone, I'm going to have to work. I started with the baby step of getting a grilled chicken wrap at Chickfila today. Gotta start somewhere, right?

Our wedding, 2.5 years ago. Goal weight!

Now it's out there in blog world. I've said it and I can't take it back. By this time next year, I WILL be 20 lbs lighter and a whole lot healthier.

What are some of your tips to make the whole eating healthy thing easier? Anybody got any victory stories about losing baby weight? Or maybe you can commiserate with me for a moment about those lbs that just won't get lost?!

Disclaimer: I'm being entered in a sweepstakes for writing this post. Check it out at schuelove!

16 weeks!

I literally feel like time is FLYING by. Like baby is going to be here tomorrow.

We had our check up on Thursday. All went well! There was about a minute of fear when she couldn't find the heartbeat, but baby was just a lot lower than she was looking. And apparently super active! She had a hard time getting a good listen because she had to keep chasing after it. Our next appointment is the 20 week ultrasound! I'm looking forward to having a good look at Baby L. I really can't get over how cute it is.

And ok. I've got to be honest...

WE FOUND OUT WHAT IT IS!

We went into the ultrasound being all secretive and hard core, telling the tech to not tell anybody we were there because they didn't know and we weren't going to tell them until we had a big reveal. Well, once I found out, I couldn't keep it in. I had called my parents before I even got off the table and we left the hospital and went straight to his parents to tell them. We're wimps. It was just so dang exciting we couldn't hold it in!!!

Ready???

Baby L

is

a

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A growing and healthy little boy! She said she knew within a few seconds of looking at him so I knew before she even told us or I could even see that it must be a boy. Just look at how cute his profile is!

So with that excitement out of the way, here's a 16 week update!

How far along? 16 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Back down to just 1. I really don't know what to do about that. I've been eating plenty of food and not restricting myself from anything. I mean, I'm thankful to still feel really good, but I just don't want to be underweight and risk things for my little man.

Maternity clothes? Yes. The full panel maternity jeans came in from Old Navy and they're magical.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Not too bad this week. Our dog's gotten in this really annoying habit of wanting in and out from under the covers that wakes me up probably once an hour. Let's just say that'll be changing tonight. I need some solid nights sleep, Capone!

Best moment this week: Finding out sweet baby L is a little man! And getting to share that with everyone we love. It was just so special!

Miss Anything? Being able to ride rides. I looked into prices for a Disney trip in January (bad mistake. Now it's all I can think about) and they were ridiculously cheap. But. Big ol' pregnant me wouldn't be able to enjoy it so it's not worth it. But again, a sacrifice I'm more than willing to make!

Movement: I'm going to go ahead and say YES! I found out at my ultrasound that my placenta is up towards my belly button so it'll take a while to feel him punching and stuff because he's punching into a pillow essentially. But after seeing how he was positioned in the ultrasound, I noticed I keep getting feelings on my left side where his feet are that feel like someone is thumping (thumping? Is that like a really country word? I can't think of another word to describe it. Flicking I guess) me from the inside. It's happened frequently the last three days and always in right around the same place so I'm pretty sure he's kicking me just to let me know he's there.

Food cravings: Not really. I'm actually kinda losing my appetite all over again. Nothing really sounds good, even chocolate milk.

Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of dog puke. I found that out the hard way this week.

Have you started to show yet: I'd say yes. Multiple people at church this week commented on my belly.

 
Gender: Bouncing baby BOY!

 
Labor Signs: Nope.

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Feeling more and more of his movement as he gets stronger!

15 weeks

How far along? 15 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 2 lbs! Moving on up!

Maternity clothes? Yep. Old Navy was having a ridiculous sale last week so I ordered some more jeans and a few tunics to wear with leggings. Can't wait til they get here!

Stretch marks? Nope. I'll cry the day this answer is yes. ;-)

Sleep: It's getting worse. I made the mistake of sleeping during the whole first half of the Titans game yesterday afternoon and then didn't sleep until 1 a.m. Plus, I've been having crazy dreams and a particular one about zombies (guess I'm getting ready for The Walking Dead to come back on?) kept me up a lot of the night Friday.

Best moment this week: I had the BEST dream about the sweetest baby girl. It was just us doing normal newborn stuff, but it was so fun that I was legitimately sad when I woke up and realized it was a dream. Now I'm just looking even more forward to March! Oh, and I found the perfect onesie for baby L to wear during March Madness! Clint was thrilled it came in 0-3 months!

Miss Anything? Still not thinking about what I'm eating. We went to Outback on a date this week and I hated that I couldn't get a good and juicy medium steak without feeling guilty. Blah. Just a little over 5 more months of that, though!

Movement: MAYBEEEEE. I was sitting on the couch all curled up last night and could've sworn I felt a little pop in my stomach that wasn't a gas bubble or anything, but I totally could've been just trying to convince myself. So probably not. :)

Food cravings: Chocolate milk still. And that's about it.

Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of garbage makes me a little queasy.

Have you started to show yet: More than I was last week! I'm excited that I've started taking pictures so I can really see how baby is growing each week!
 
Gender prediction: Still thinking girl, especially after that dream. Hopefully we'll find out a week from today!

Labor Signs: Nope, but round ligament pains are definitely hitting majorly. They're making me question how far I'm going to be able to take labor naturally! Haha

Belly Button in or out? In, but I can already notice it's shallower. Just a smidge.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, except last night. I had a mini-breakdown, but I blame it 100% on hormones and lack of sleep.

Looking forward to: Hearing the heartbeat at my check up on Thursday!

baby, what?!

Well, I haven't blogged in, um, forever. Life just got so busy and it was the last thing on my priority list. So I'm back. At least once a week. Because...

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!

And I want to remember this time in our lives.

I've been horrible about it so far. I think it's been hard to accept this is real. Not because I don't want it to be, but because it's just such a surreal experience.

So now that I'm 15 weeks, I'm finally ready to start living in the moment.

That was my belly a few days ago. Kinda nuts there's something INSIDE me making my body look different! I've seen this done on a ton of blogs and really like looking through it on theirs so I figured I'd do the same on mine...

(This is for last week. I'll probably do them on the last day of the week every week from now on!)

How far along? 14 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 1. I feel like I need to gain more, but I'm just letting my body do it's thang right now. I'm not restricting calories or eating any differently than I normally do so I figure it knows what it's doing!

Maternity clothes? Yep. I've been using the hairband trick on my jeans since probably about week 9. Buttons just dug in and made the already angry ligaments around baby that much angrier. I'm a lot happier in maternity jeans or a dress.

Stretch marks? Nope. Mom didn't get any so I'm praying what I hear about it being genetic is true. I mean, that won't stop me from getting some good cream. It can't hurt!

Sleep: Sleeping is pretty good. I get pretty uncomfortable at night which makes me wake up easily, but it's not horrible.

Best moment this week: Waking up and my bump still being there. Up until this week it was always totally flat in the morning and only came out to play at night after a days worth of food. Now I know it's really little baby making it pooch out and not just bloat!

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my back. I know technically I could still do it, but I figure it's better to break myself of the habit now rather than later when it actually matters. Oh, and not thinking about what I'm eating and if it's on the good or bad list during pregnancy.

Movement: Not yet. I'm looking forward to it though!

Food cravings: Milk. Chocolate, specifically. And orange juice sounds reeeeaaallllly good. No real food cravings though. Maybe sushi? But I'm a wimp and get chicken sushi so I can still fulfill that craving!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! I think I'm officially past that point.

Have you started to show yet: Just a small pooch. Nothing to write home about, but enough for me to notice.

Gender prediction: I honestly think girl, but I'm not totally sure. We'll go in a couple weeks to find out!

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Finding out what this little baby is! And then feeling it move around!