21 weeks

Man oh man is this an active baby. I guess I can’t really say he’s overly active since I have not had anything to compare to but s/he is always kicking and swirling and twitching or whatever goes on in there. All day long yesterday I felt the baby and so far today s/he’s been at it. I’m happy our baby is so active! Must take more after Max since I am a very inactive person ;)

I’ve been feeling really good and growing and growing. And I mean everywhere. I’ve never had boobs like this before. I’m used to my nice small ones. In fact I’m quite fond of my small boobs (sorry if this is TMI) but these things are not small anymore. Sheesh. I don’t know how women can WANT big boobs.

Yesterday I felt quite large in the stomach region but today I feel better. It’s funny how one day you feel huge and another day you feel really small.

We had our ultrasound last week and it was amazing, seeing our baby like that. It was so special. I think that is the cutest baby I’ve seen in 3D. Sorry mothers out there but I’m partial to my little bugger.

20 weeks

I can't believe we are halfway there. Time is going by so quickly that before I know it, I will have a little baby in my arms. I feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we need to get done but I know that we will have everything ready for Dex/Ayda.
Ultrasound is tomorrow (let's hope) after 3 or 4 reschedules. The last being the fault of some lady who stole my doctor away so she could give birth... sheesh, the nerve of some people :) I'm so excited to see how this little bugger looks and to hear how s/he is developing. I'm really hoping there is no slippage of the sex or that the baby doesn't give us the opportunity to see what the sex is. Max and I really want to keep this a surprise!

FYI

Pregnant people who:
-woke up on the wrong side of the bed,
-have had a very bad/cranky (dang hormones) day

DO NOT DO WELL with:
-waiting for the very exciting ultrasound for 40 min
-then being told it needs to be rescheduled because the doctor had to help a patient give birth
-then having it rescheduled for the next Friday to be re-rescheduled for Monday again.

Pregnant people just want to see their baby.
Without all the reschedules.

19 weeks

We had a pretty good week this week :) No big problems, not too many headaches. Bugger moves around all the time now! Or at least I can feel him/her moving around all the time now. Just a couple of days ago, s/he was playing kickball with my appendix or something and was moving around HARD and Max could feel the baby from the outside! It has happened a couple more times since then so that is very exciting :) I know how much Max has been looking forward to that. Even last night he slept with his hand on my belly which he hasn't really done. I think he wants to feel the baby more. Seems like the little bugger moves around the most in the evening. I feel him/her in the morning for just a little while but at night s/he goes wild! A good hour or so is spent kicking and swirling around. I love it!
We had our 18 week appointment on Friday. I am having such an ideal pregnancy so far (knock on wood) that we don't even have anything to discuss in our appointments! The baby's heartbeat was at 148 for that appointment. So they go like this so far: 155, 150 and 148. Mom freaked out right away and said "SEE, IT'S A GIRL". I know that I would be mighty surprised if this baby turned out to be a girl but I think mom will be just as surprised if bugger is a boy. So either way, someone is going to be very surprised.
Our ultrasound in on Thursday! I'm so excited to see my little bugger on that screen. I am still going back and forth with Max about the pictures. He is the only person I know who is slightly creeped out by ultrasounds so he doesn't want any pictures going on the internet. I told him that since he wants NONE on the internet and I want THEM ALL on the internet, a good compromise would be for me to put a couple up and just on my blog. I feel like a lot less people read my blog then facebook so that should satisfy him a little bit. He is still being a bear about it but I'll work on it. He has to compromise too! No worries, we are still not finding out the sex. Hopefully no one slips or we will be mighty upset.

Cousins :)

2 sisters-one due date-happy cousins :)

18 weeks

I felt the baby move!!!! Oh what an amazing feeling. Physical validation (other then my growing stomach) that there is a little baby in there :) I feel him/her daily now. Sometimes it's little "bubbles", almost like fizz rising to the top of your soda, sometimes its a "swish" where I imagine him/her kicking or stretching. Always I like to stop and pay attention. Even right now as I write this the baby is moving around... bugger knows we are talking about him/her! I LOVE it. Now I can't wait for Max to be able to feel the baby as well. I always stick his hand on my belly even though I know he can't feel it but just so his hand is so close to contact with our baby.
We have our 18 week appointment on Friday so we'll get to hear the heartbeat again as well as the ultrasound next week :):):) super excited for that! I will carry around those photos and show them to everyone! Max is really weird about the ultrasound pics though, he doesn't want me to put any on the internet. We are going to have to compromise on that one.
My sister-in-law had her ultrasound this past week and found out she was having a boy. I was gobsmacked. I was sure, SURE that she was having a girl and now it's a boy. Now my instincts feel all off and I'm not sure what I am having. I don't think I am having the same sex as Kennedy so now I have switched and am calling my belly Ayda more often (I was calling my belly Dexter all the time). Only 21 or so weeks until we see I guess! They will go fast enough, think of how fast the last 20 weeks have gone!

p.s. my 18 week pic was taken at 1030 at night while having one of my frequent vicious headaches... please excuse my extreme pleasure I'm showing here...

17 weeks

I always think of things to say during the week but when it comes to sitting down and actually typing it out, I can't remember a thing!
I am feeling more pregnant these days. I know I will get much bigger but my body is no longer doing what it usually can. Sitting on the couch has to be done in a special position since my stomach won't go "in" anymore... I doubt that I look like I'm doing the pregnant walk but it almost feels like I am having to move side to side when I walk long distances. I'm fitting into my "bigger" pregnant clothes. You get what I mean :) That little baby is growing in there!
I've been getting these headaches, holy moses, are they vicious. I don't usually get headaches too often so these buggers are coming almost every day. If I can, I have to go and sit in a spot where there is very little light and very little noise. Sheesh. They are NO FUN. Heartburn is becoming more frequent as well. Today I had a very bad episode after Dad took me out to Arby's for lunch. Yikes. I hate Tums too... that chalky texture. Gives me goosebumps every time I chew into one. Better get used to it I think!
Still waiting on the little baby to move... everyone says I will KNOW when I feel him/her. I think I might have today. I felt a little something moving around 2 but it didn't happen again so I don't know if I should count it. I'm probably just reading too much into it. I'm just so excited to feel him/her!
I'm happy to announce that my baby has names picked out :) Since some people know, some people don't, I don't feel like it needs to be a secret. The gender of the baby is secret enough I guess. Drumroll please........
If we have a girl, her name will be Ayda Lynn and if we have a boy, his name will be Dexter Lincoln. :):):):)
While we picked out the names together, I officially picked out Ayda's name and Max officially picked out Dexter's name. Both middle names are family names. We are very happy with our decision and are excited to see who comes out of there!

16 weeks

16 weeks. I really can’t get over how fast time flies.

Still feeling pretty good over all. Some minor discomforts that is fairly common among my fellow preggos so no need to dwell on it too much. I was hoping that the peeing in the middle of the night would calm down a bit but just last night I had to get up at 2, and then 4, and then almost peed my pants at 630. No slowing down there yet. Good thing I can fall right back asleep!

I’m just waiting and waiting on feeling the little bugger move J I know it is early yet and I could have the possibility of not feeling him/her move until up to 21 weeks but I sure hope that baby cooperates and starts dancing in there so I can feel it. I am just so excited for that moment. I try and sit/lay still at home all time trying to see if it’s there but nothing yet.

I got the nursery plan set in place. No theme for us… I’m not a fan of the animals or the teddy bears or sailboats or yellow/green stripes. I called Grandma to see how hard it would be to make the baby bedding and she offered to help me do it! I just need to find some fabric that I like and it will become a nice family project that will get used for all the Arco babies. Anyone know of a good fabric store that has some great fabric? I know Grandma will know of some as well with all her quilting she does but the more the merrier!

We will hopefully be starting with the gutting of the floors (currently the floor is uneven planks from back in the day) and put down some plywood so the floor is even in the middle of June. I suppose we will just get some carpet remnants to soften up the floor until we have the money to carpet the entire upstairs.

We are also starting to accumulate more neutral baby clothes, which is good. It’s very hard to find the neutral stuff that’s not slightly too girly. So far, I’ve been able to find the most at garage sales. A few weekends ago, my friends and I went to the 100 mile garage sale on Hwy 61 and I found the most awesome garage sale. I got 6 or 7 pristine neutral baby outfits for 36 cents. 36 CENTS! Can you believe it! I can’t. I told the lady that she was hands down going to be my favorite garage sale of the day.

My sister-in-law, who is due the SAME DAY as I am, is finding out the sex of her baby in a couple weeks. I don’t rethink my decision to not find out the sex at all but it is crazy to think that I could have that ability. To be able to call my baby by his or her name instead of bugger, pumpkin butt, stinker, etc. I think it will be just amazing though to find out after all that hard work of pushing out my baby. What a present.

(this thing is acting super screwy... sorry about the weird font/paragraph issues.)

15 weeks... a little late!

Sorry about being late... I just have not wanted to get on the computer after work these days. We will chalk it up to my laziness. I'm allowed that a little bit right?
As I am just going to put up my 16 week post tomorrow (sorry again!), I will save the talking for then :)
Baby is growing safe and sound in there! The 14 week appointment went well, baby's heartbeat was at 150. So first time was 155 and second time was 150. Many people have taken that mean we are having a boy. Mom is positive I am having a girl since I was her firstborn and I was a girl. I told her that doesn't make any sense but whatever. Let the woman dream :)

14weeks

14 weeks. I look like I deflated a little bit. This child can't decide if s/he wants to make mom bigger or smaller. A little trickster already :)
Lets see, what has been going on this week? Oh, I think I can narrow it down to one word. HORMONAL. I'm all over the place and man is it hard to control. I guess Max has learned not to laugh at me (which he did do at first, grrr) and just keeps that inside while trying to deal with me. I can understand why you are supposed to be married when you have babies because no one annoys you more then the man who got you pregnant. At least that is how it is working for me.
I don't seem to be as hungry this week but when I am hungry, it's for one very specific thing that we don't seem to have or takes way to long to cook. Example, today I am craving mom's cinnamon rolls like nothing else... but the dang things need to rise overnight before you cook them. Dang it. So I had to eat cinnamon life instead. dumb. I did make the cinnamon rolls though for tomorrow :)
I had to start wearing the granny panties recently. Always makes a girl feel sexy. Max enjoys them as well... ha. I don't feel bad telling you this because if you are around me, you've probably already seen them when I've bent over. What do you do?
I'm starting to freak out a little bit that we have nothing figured out yet. I know we are early in the pregnancy but I like to know ahead of time what I can figure out. Such as the nursery. We have a little more to do with it then just painting. We need to put down new floors and such and I don't know when we will be able to do that.
Also, no progress on the name front. We could be talking about it a bit more than we do.
But, all in all, I am so excited for our little stinker to grow and everytime I look at Axton or Stella or Sammie, I'm always amazed that I am growing one of those.

13 weeks

Oh boy are the hormones rushing in this week. I'm not generally a wishy-washy, emotion type but sheesh... I was watching Steal Magnolis and was just BALLING at Shelby's funeral. One minute I need to have Max right next to me and the next he is one of the most annoying humans alive. Poor guy sometimes doesn't know what hit him. I don't know what hit me! Mad, sad, hungry, angry, annoyed, needy, hungry, lovey, kissy, grumpy, hungry... you get the picture. This is a roller coaster right now :) It is cause for entertainment AFTER I get over whatever mood I'm in.

Energy is coming back. On Saturday I did yard work and woke up on Sunday and spent all day outside as well... once we had to come in to get ready to go to dads, I mopped all the floors (which haven't been done in an embarrassingly long time). Course once i got to dads it hit me and I might have been a bit grumpy. Whoops! It's hard to gauge what's over-doing it these days. I'm happy that things are getting better in that department.

I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again at a random trip to the doctor :) I'm pretty sure there is only one in there but the 14 week appointment is next friday so we will see. My instincts say there is only one in there and it's a boy. Who knows though!

12 weeks

Already a new line! Time does fly by quickly!
Let's see. First of all, thank the stars above that I am a photographer and that I have photoshop because my skin isn't doing too well with all these hormones running through my body. I look like a 12 year old boy. Ok, maybe not that bad but still. Grr. I don't know if pregnancy has anything to do with it or not but I am a bit itchy this week. On my stomach and my legs... could just be me. I do hate lotion and don't put it on very often.
I'm excited for the first trimester to be done :) I'm excited for this tired business to go away. According to some books and internet sites, my little bugger has genitalia this week! I have a little boy or girl floating around in there and they have their parts :) I don't know why but that makes me happy. Still not going to find out of course but it does make it a little different.
Still no sickness, no cravings, no wierd things. This has been very easy so far (please no jinx!!). No progress on the name front... in fact as soon as I finish this Max and I are going to sit down and discuss names again. His goal is to have the baby names set by week 20. We have a lot of work to do still. People are asking me more frequently now what we are doing for the nursery... I have no idea. Currently Kennedy is still living in our nursery so it's not like we could do anything anyway. I have been trying to think of fun neutral themes and have some good ideas but hey, if you have some options for me I'm all up for hearing them!

11 weeks

11 weeks. Things are going by pretty fast. Again, I’m having a very easy pregnancy so far. No sickness or severe cravings or anything. The prenatals don’t bother me, Mexican is about the only food that I can’t deal with right now but really that’s all. Well, Mexican and the smell in the kitchen that only I can detect. Seriously, I have to figure something out for that or I’ll never go in there.

Clothes are starting to get to be a problem. My pants are still working for now with the belly band (that thing is a pain the butt) but hopefully my mother-in-law can find me some maternity pants soon. Shirts are a problem though. I have a very long torso so it was hard enough finding shirts that were long enough BEFORE I got pregnant and now those are starting to ride up a bit to far. I can get by with regular clothes but work clothes are getting to be difficult. I didn’t think I would have to be worrying about clothes at 11 weeks that’s for sure.

I do feel kind of big for 11 weeks. I’m not saying I’m fat, I know I’m not but I just don’t recall anyone I know getting a belly like this so soon. The doc said at our appointment on Friday that we wouldn’t know until I was a little further along if it was twins or not or for sure until our 20 week ultrasound. That’s a long time away to find out. My instincts say that it is not twins so this must be one stinking large kid already. I’m scared for my lady parts!

My 11 week picture isn’t very pretty. Max was sitting too low taking it so I look like a monster :( That’s no fun.

I'm still amazed everyday though that there is something living and growing in there that is part Max and part me. It is an incredible thing.

powpowpowpowpowpow

Wow, there is a baby in that little bump of mine... I knew it I suppose. I took the tests, went to the doctor but sheesh. There is a living thing in there! That Max and I made! Holy buckets. He/she must have been floating around pretty good because it took the doc a little maneuvering to find it but wow. Really, what else can you say? Heart was beating at 165 a minute. My little bugger :) Growing safe and sound in my belly. Wow. Nothing like it. Puts a smile on my face just thinking of it. Thinking of my son or daughter growing in there.

10 Weeks

I seem to have poofed out pretty good it looks like... I think so anyway :) So far everything is still good! I'm still exhausted all the time but not as bad as before so hopefully that is going away. No super strong cravings or anything but I will get an idea in my head and ask for it for dinner. Then it's gone. Easy. Max got called back to work this week so I'll have to get used to sharing the cooking and the cleaning of the kitchen which I am NOT excited for. The only thing that seems to make me sick/gag is when I go into the kitchen at night. I think there is a smell in there that only I can detect but I can't handle it at night. Sick.

I've also noticed that my nails are freaking hard as rocks! Must be the prenatal pills. I'm seeing how long they grow before they break because I've never had them last so long before!

Our 10 week appointment is on Friday so we'll get to hear the little bugger's heartbeat :) I'm so excited to hear him/her. I'm looking forward to seeing Max's reaction to it as well since he's never heard a baby's heartbeat before where I have heard Axton's so I know what to expect.

I guess that's it for this week... Max and I are going to start tackling names. Yikes. Wish us luck!

watch it lady

While reading through my beloved Hollywood Gossip (it’s my thing, can’t help it), I found an interview where Gisele Bundchen was talking about pregnancy and her little boy. All was fine and dandy until I came upon this….

Says the model: "I think a lot of people get pregnant and decide they can turn into garbage disposals."

Kiss my food loving toosh GISELE… I am quite happy with my garbage disposal tendencies and I hope that I gain less weight then you did so I can shove that right in your face… in my head at least :)

9 weeks

9 weeks :) Sadly, I look smaller... oh well. The cute little belly will come in time!
So far so good. No morning sickness, still tired and I've gained about 3.4 pounds (I finally checked this morning). Not to bad. I guess all those carbs aren't really causing as much havoc as I though they would! Yay!

The Reason I Haven't Been Blogging :)

Baby Arco is on his/her way!!

Our little stinker is due October 24 :)

Doesn't look like much I tell you on here but from what I am used to, this is definitely something. I poofed out around 6 weeks I would say which is a bit early I'm told but perhaps my little bugger needs more room? We will see! Our ten week appointment is on April 2 so we will get to hear his/her little heartbeat :) Can't wait!

P.S. We WON'T be finding out the sex, we want it to be a surprise once stinker comes out!

P.P.S. It will take Max and I the ENTIRE time to find 2 names... we agree on NOTHING.

9 months

I can't believe that he is going to be here in less then a month! that is just so crazy to me! i can't wait to meet him! if this is the biggest month for growth, i have no idea where he is going to go because caitlin looks like she is going to pop. perhaps she will just split right down the middle and won't have to worry about giving birth or having a c-section... she will just have a giant hole in the middle. that will give him lots of room!

8 Months

I think Axton's growth spurt happened last month... he definitely seems to have simmered down in the growing department. He was head down at Caitlin's last doc appointment so he is getting ready to come out! Caitlin has his room just about ready and we are very very very ready to meet this little fella!