natural birth mondays: preparing your body

Real talk: I am not a health freak. At all. I eat what I want, when I want, and hardly ever exercise. God blessed me with good genes and an adequate metabolism.

I don't say that to glorify my life or say by any means that it's good to live like that. It's just what I've always done and it's hard to shake!

I just wanted to preface this post with that little nugget of info because I want you to know my frame of reference when I talk about ways to prepare your body for birth. I'm not going to be the 8 months pregnant woman hiking 5 miles every morning and eating a perfectly balanced diet. I'm just not. I'm looking for practical things I can easily fit into my life to prepare my body to get this baby out the old fashioned way!

When doing my research (which sounds way too offish for me haha), I found some things that I seriously loved!

One of which is sense association. The idea here is really basic. Choose some things that you think will help you relax during labor. "Practice" relaxing with them regularly through your pregnancy and when the time for labor comes, your body should naturally be more relaxed when your use the items because your brain associates them with relaxation. For me, that would be my playlist, full of worship music to keep my mind focused on God, and lavender oil. I've already been listening to my playlist a lot (actually, I am right now!) and use lavender oil in the evening to calm down. I'm hoping these will treat me well in the spring!

Another one that I used all the time when I was pregnant with Reuben was my exercise ball! The week before I had him, I even brought it to work and replaced my office chair with it because I was determined to get him locked, loaded, and ready to go! I might've looked ridiculous, but I bounced, wiggled, and swayed on that thing at least 8 hours a day and dilated another cm and effaced another 25% in 6 days. I don't think that was purely a coincidence! Sitting on an exercise ball forces you to sit up straight, spread your hips, and allows plenty of space for baby to get nice and cozy and positioned well.

Walking and squatting were two physical things I saw over and over again. Talk about manageable, especially in the spring. They both help baby work its way down and also help with the physical endurance and strength labor will demand. Both seem like something I could easily work into my daily routine. I may even do a squat challenge starting in March and try and make it fun!

I saved the best and craziest for last. Eating dates, y'all! Seriously, I can't make this stuff up. I read about it in a group I'm in on facebook and women were swearing by it so I had to check it out for myself. I found this study and was blown away by the facts! Now, I do understand it was a small sampling of women, but the results are enough to convince me it's worth a shot! The study showed women who ate 6 dates every day the last 4 weeks before their estimated due date had significantly shorter early stages of labor, were checked in further along in dilation, had stronger bags of water (kinda gross, but good!), lower use of pitocin, and a higher chance of going into spontaneous labor. I've got zero idea why they work and I don't entirely care. I may not even like the way they taste, but I can choke down 6 a day if it ups my chance of all those good things!

There were several others like teas, acupuncture, and oils/vitamin supplements that I probably won't really look into since I either don't like them or can't afford them.

But I seriously feel like the few things I did find will really help give me a head start on the birth I want!

What are some things you did before labor and delivery that you felt really helped? I'd love to check them out!

it's a...

We're a little over a week into knowing and I'm still having the hardest time believing it!

Finding out was actually hilarious. Clint and I went in convinced we were having another boy. He was sure his family only makes boys and I really wanted Reuben to have a brother. So we started the ultrasound and watched the baby practice breathing, wiggle all around, and even look like it was yelling at us face on. Finally, we told the tech we were ready to know. She got the screen centered on where we'd be able to see the goods, but baby was being proper and not showing anything. It stayed like that for a couple minutes and the tech decided to change the direction the wand was pointing.

When she did that, Clint said "What were we told at Reuben's gender scan? Something like a hamburger or three lines means a girl?" And right at that moment the tech went "Yea, that's what you look for. One. Two. Three." as she drew arrows to point to the three lines so clearly showing up on the screen. We both went "WHAT?!?!" and then immediately asked her to double check. We were in shock!

Since then, it's sunk in a little more. A name is picked out (I may put it on here eventually), a few outfits are bought, and we're just overall getting used to the idea of having a daughter. I'm honestly a bit freaked out, but I know the Lord intended this baby specifically for our family and I can't wait to meet her!

vbac thoughts

This baby was such a surprise that I think I'm still kind of in shock about it. I'm 3.5 weeks away from being halfway through (theoretically, of course) and I'm just now getting my head wrapped around the fact that this baby has to come out. And I am honestly oh-so-ready for that to happen based on how I've been feeling lately! 

Reuben's birth was nothing like I'd had planned. I had a whole birth plan that was full of naturally minded birth things and not many, if any, interventions. I ended up with a non-emergent but really, really needed to happen very quickly c-section and a 5 day hospital stay thanks to HELLP syndrome.

Almost two years later, I stand by the fact that I fully needed that to happen to save our lives and I'm so thankful for modern medicine.

BUT.

I do NOT want another csection. I felt miserable afterwards, couldn't get out of bed on my own for weeks or lay on anything but my back for months, and had a really hard time getting breastfeeding going. Not to mention we'd like the option to have four children and doctors frown upon having a 4th csection. I don't want a voluntary procedure to determine the number of children I can have. I've found a group of midwives here who I've heard wonderful things about and fully support an attempt at a VBAC and I'm so thankful for that and excited about that option. My OB in Nashville said that I have an 85-90% chance of being successful, which is super encouraging.

All that said, I'm absolutely terrified too! This time my plan is to have absolutely zero interventions because I know every intervention I have raises my chance to have another csection. That plan is fine and dandy and I totally get it mentally, but physically I'm terrified of the pain! I never felt a single contraction with Reuben and I have ZERO idea what to expect! 

As the time draws closer, I'll be researching more and more and plan on sharing what I'm finding and any sort of prep I'm doing. I look forward to sharing with you guys!

Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form look down on women who choose to have repeat csections! As a mama it is YOUR choice to do what is best for YOU and I would never shame that. These are just my personal opinions on VBACs. :)

boy or girl?

We find out if we're going to be having another rough and tumble boy or if we're going to be adding some pink and glitter to our house on Thursday! It feels like this pregnancy is flying by, but I'm for that because I'm ready to have baby here already. The anticipation is killing me!

Oh, just for fun, here's a little "bumpdate" from this weekend. 16 weeks and moving right along!

I figured it'd be fun to look at some old wive's tales to see what we could be having and then compare on Friday!

Carrying high or low?
Boy

Baby's heart rate?
Girl

Cravings?
Boy/Girl (It depends on the day. Sometimes I'd kill for cheese dip and chips and other times I MUST have a milkshake.)

Chinese birth chart?
Girl

Breakouts?
Boy

Ring on a string test?
Girl

Morning sickness?
Boy

50/50.

So basically these tests are about as sure of the gender as I am. One thing's for sure. There's a baby in the movin' and shakin' and in 48ish hours, we'll know what it is!

Did YOU just know what you were having or were you like me and only sure of the fact it was a baby? :)

clean house = happy stephanie.

On a normal Tuesday or Thursday, you'd find me sitting on my couch, avoiding doing some household chore like dishes, laundry, or even just pick up Reuben's toys. I've had ZERO energy this pregnancy and you could totally tell by the state of my house. I'm not the most organized/put together person ever to begin with, but it was magnified by about a million these last couple of months.

So last night I had a totally crazy and novel idea. Like, I'm not sure if anybody has ever thought of this before in the history of the world. If I got everything cleaned up and put away before I went to bed, the next day I could TOTALLY relax and not feel guilty about not getting house things done.

Cue the angels singing.

Seriously, this is life changing. I've sat on the couch reading blogs, cooked some biscuits (and already cleaned up after that... WHAT?!), and am now planning on taking a nice long shower and a nap after I get done doing this.

Call it nesting, call it a turn around from laziness, call it what I should've been doing all along, I don't care what you call it. I'm just going to enjoy it for now!

Because I know the second Reuben gets home, it's all going down the drain.

Updaaaaates

Wow. It's hard to believe I haven't written anything since August. It doesn't feel like it's been that long! It seems like not much has changed...

besides...

Lamberth baby #2 is on its way! It'll be here sometime in the spring, either April or May. We are beyond excited and thankful for this little guy/girl.

We find out what we're having in just 15 days! I can hardly believe it's almost that time already! I have absolutely zero idea what I think it is. I'd love a girl because pink, glitter, bows, ya know, girl stuff. Not to mention the mother-daughter relationship. BUT I so badly want Reuben to have a brother that I almost want this one to be a boy just so he's guaranteed to have one.

First trimester was a lot harder this time around. It was just so hard to not be able to rest like I wanted/needed to. Thankfully, I'm 14.5 weeks so I'm past that and feeling better already. We had a couple of scares with spotting, but thanks to God, everything is going perfect!


So besides adding to our family, things have been low key around these parts. Reuben and I spent a couple of weekends with my parents in Nashville while Clint had really busy weekends. I just wasn't up for being home alone with Reuben 24/7 for 3-4 days straight when I could hard pick him up I was so tired. We had a lot of fun while home and Reuben had some great times on the farm.

Halloween was a blast here, too! Reuben was finally old enough to trick or treat and have fun in a costume. We found a handmade puppy costume for only $5 at Goodwill and after a quick run through the washer and dryer, it was like new! We went to Boo at the Zoo at the Knoxville Zoo first, and that wasn't a hit. It was too late in the day and he was just too young to really have a ton of fun and it was CROWDED. We'll go again next year since it was only $5 for zoo members and he'll be older, but we probably could've skipped it this year.

On actual Halloween night, we went to a trunk or treat at a local church and it was PERFECT. It started at 5:30, All of the cars were in one parking lot, and we were in and out in about 20 minutes. He loved it and had "trick or treat" down by the end of it. Or should I say "tri treee" instead. ;-)

I miss this space. There's so much Reuben is doing and so many things going on in our lives I want to remember all in one place. I'll be back often :)

the Lord gives. the Lord takes away. Part 1.

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. I've been feeling prompted to share my (God's) story and I can't let this month pass by without doing it. It's a long story so I'm breaking it up in part one and part two. Here goes...



I can't for the life of me remember why I decided to take a test that Monday night. Clint was staying with our pastor's sons while he and his wife were out of town and I'd just left them for the evening at Buffalo Wild Wings. I wonder if something had tasted funny and got me to thinking, "When was I supposed to start again? Oh yea. Today."

Whatever it was, I decided to take a test when I got home. Just me and our dogs. I went to the bathroom and left the test to do it's thing while I let the dogs out. I came back 5 minutes later, just like the test told me to... and there was a second line. WHAT?!?!?! So obviously, I freak out. Like have a mini panic attack. I call Clint, trying to be calm...

Me: Um... I need you to come home.
Clint: Why?
Me: Because.
Clint: Because, why? I can't just leave Sam and Josh here.
Me: BECAUSE I'M PREGNANT AND FREAKING OUT IS WHY!!!
Clint: What?!
Me: I'm pregnant. Don't you dare tell Josh and Sam. Just get here. Now.

As I sat there and waited for him, I started to journal. We'd been trying for quite a few months by that point, and I wanted to remember every second of this moment. The only thing I could think of was Job 1:21.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

I knew how delicate new life is and I knew I wanted to love and celebrate this baby that God had given me for this moment because I wasn't guaranteed another.

Clint got home and we screamed and celebrated. Called our best friends, Jonathan and Miriam, and just tried to let it soak in. 

We were going to be parents.

I was about 5 weeks along and we started doing all of the exciting baby things we'd been talking about doing. We went to Target to find some cute stuff as gifts to tell our parents. We got Clint's parents a little onesie that said something about grandma and we got my parents a copy of "Go Dog Go" because it was my favorite book when I was little and wrote in there it was for them to read to their grandbaby. We recorded it all. They were and still are precious memories.

We had scheduled a Disney cruise for the end of the month and a couple of the excursions weren't pregnancy friendly so I went online and canceled them, joyfully.

We had some family pictures scheduled with our photographer, Amelia Moore, for that Friday. What perfect timing! We could take announcement pictures to use when we were in the safe zone AND capture our life before baby in one shoot. Plus, Amelia had shot our wedding. How cool that she was going to be able to capture this next step.

We wrote "Baby Lamberth December 2012" on that chalkboard heart for our announcement shots.

Clint was telling me in this picture he hoped the baby "had my brains."

We were so deliriously happy and in love.

Sunday morning I got up around 6:00 and had to pee. I wiped and saw the slightest tinge of pink and honestly didn't think much of it. Clint left to go to church and I went back to sleep since I didn't have to be there until 10:30. When I got up for the day and went to the bathroom, I saw more pink. I started to get uncomfortable seeing it, but I'd read it was normal. By the time it was time to go to church, it was a lot more than pink. I knew something wasn't right. I called Clint and told him. Told him I couldn't come to church. Told him I needed him to come home. I'd called the doctor on call at my OBGYN and she said to just stay in bed and come in the next day, but that if I was losing it, there was nothing they could do about it. 

I got off the phone with Clint and have never, ever felt so alone and desperate in my life. I sat in my bed literally crying out to God to save our baby. To make all of it go away. I was reminded so many times throughout the day that it wasn't going anywhere. Things were only looking more and more grim.

After some blood tests on Monday, it was confirmed that the baby had died. My levels were no where near where they should've been at 6 weeks. I'd had a miscarriage. I was no longer pregnant.

We weren't going to be parents.

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

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!