Maximum Capacity

So yesterday could have possibly been the most exciting day of my pregnancy thus far: the 4D Ultrasound!!!! Of course I have been super excited for Graham to get here, but seeing that sweet little man inside my tummy made everything so real! Since walking out of that ultrasound room yesterday, Eric and I have said to eachother over 50 times "I just cannot wait until he gets here". He was absolutely so precious, so perfect that it makes tears well up in my eyes! He loves his hands and had them balled up at his mouth for the first 30 minutes of the ulltrasound. His little fingers are extremely long and skinny, and everyone has said he has my nose. I have a honker, so I am not sure if the distortion from the 4D was making his nose look a bit large or if he really has a Looney nose, but I personally see some of Eric's features in his face. My heart melted when he grinned at us, and luckily we got that shot on one of the many photos the tech gave us as well as the DVD! As you can imagine, I have stared at these pictures all day today! Something as amazing as seeing your little baby overshadows any negativity that pregnancy brings, EVEN stretchmarks! Yes, it is true, I hit my maximum capacity this past weekend. I noticed a small patch of purple striations underneath the left side of my belly, and I was just sick! I don't mind being fat, swollen, and hungry for a certain amount of time but I just did not want to be permanently scarred from this. God definitely brought things into perspective yesterday; it was as if He was saying "Quit whining, look who is patiently waiting to meet you. A few stretch marks are a small price to pay for this beautiful baby". So now I will stop complaining about my pregnancy "badge" or whatever they call it!

I also had my glucose screening yesterday, or at least I was supposed to have it done. After peeing in the cup first thing yesterday, I was bombarded by all of the lab ladies. They demanded to know what exactly I had eaten for breakfast. I innocently replied, "Lucky Charms". They were like, "oh my gosh that is awful". Well EX-CUUUSEE me, but if I am not mistaken, I am pregnant, and pregnant ladies like weird and tasty things. Why is this so awful? Apparently, Lucky Charms are loaded with sugar and not very good for a glucose screening because my sugar levels were at 2+ which is supposedly very bad. How was I to know? They even gave me a diabetic diet to follow, which my Dr. told me to ignore until I actually failed the glucose test. So say prayers that the repeat glucose screening comes back normal, and don't worry, I will NOT eat Lucky Charms for breakfast this time! Have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the pictures!

Time is Flying!!!

Well it has been awhile since I have posted; I know I am slacking on my blog but things have really been busy! I am 27 weeks pregnant this week and about to begin my 3rd trimester! Graham is busy kicking as usual, and it feels as if he is getting stronger with each jab and kick. Eric and I love playing music and watching my stomach- he LOVES Kings of Leon! Seriously, you can actually see him kicking which is amazing! My symptoms haven't really changed- I still have awful heartburn and my swelling is out of control, but I feel fantastic for the most part! Still no sign of a stretch mark (knock on wood) but my belly does get itchy. I am counting down the days until our 4D Ultrasound which is scheduled for next Thursday! I also have to have my glucose screening test and my monthly prenatal checkup on that day, so it looks like I will be at the Dr's office all day but it is def. worth it!

This past weekend we went to Ikea in Atlanta with Eric's family and had a great time! We bought Graham's area rug, floor lamp and all of his shelf and drawer organizers for the nursery! I am getting very anxious to get the nursey finished- I feel like if I don't hurry, I won't get everything done before I get too big to function. I have ordered his glider and his crib and we are now just waiting for those to come in. I am having his mobile custom made by a lady from Etsy; she does adorable mobiles and is designing an owl/tree mobile to match his bedding. Mom and I are trying to order the crib bedding and as of now, it is still out of stock! I will drive to the Dwell Studio factory and manufacture my own bedding if I have to, but I WILL get the bedding I want! They surely don't want a crazy pregnant lady up at their factory! Although I am nervous about the bedding, I am so excited about my first shower coming up! Lesley picked out the cutest owl invitations for my Birmingham shower and I cannot wait to see everyone there!

Here are some pics of the stuff I have picked out for Baby Graham's nursery! Enjoy!

Mobile: (it will be the colors of my bedding rather than this: turquoise, brown, baby blue, green)

Bedding:

Crib:

New Year, New Baby

I am so excited about 2010! I am certain that this year will bring some of the best memories of my life. I did not make a New Year's Resolution this year- I didn't need to. I don't have to worry about losing weight or stopping habits that are bad for me, and I love that! Now don't get me wrong, I have set plenty of career goals for this next year! I also have some deadlines for finishing the nursery and financially preparing for Graham. I am just completely at peace with the way things are going in my life right now, and I am thankful that my anxiety levels are low! I have several exciting things going on right now: my baby showers are being planned, our preparing for parenthood class is coming up, and my 4D ultrasound is this month! Graham continues to kick and squirm around everyday and I am LOVING it. Eric has felt him kick once, and so now every night before bed I have to drink a coke so Eric can try and feel his little man! I still haven't developed any stretch marks but I have noticed a suspiscious vein on my stomach that looks as if it could become one. My belly button is still flat, but getting tighter everyday, and my swelling has gotten terrible but I got a great report from the doctor. My blood pressure has consistently been right on target and my protein levels are fine so Dr. Ingram is no longer worried about the possibility of toxemia. She says that I am likely just a "sweller" and unfortunately will swell throughout the duration of my pregnancy. Aside from the nasty cankles that I have, as well as the fact that none of my shoes fit anymore, the swelling doesn't bother me as long as Graham is healthy. Dr. Ingram also double checked me over after my little fender bender last week. To make a long story short, I was on my way to work and was yielding after getting off of the interstate. I thought that the Z4 BMW convertible in front of me had already gone during an excessively long break between cars, so I glanced left, and then took off! DONK! I slammed into that poor little convertible. I was absolutely terrified! I have never been in an accident and up until that moment had a perfect driving record. The sound of the collision exagerated the whole situation so I was shocked that I did not damage my car at all, and only damaged the BMW. I knew I was physically fine; I did not hit my stomach and Graham was moving around like crazy in my tummy, as if to say "its ok mommy Im fine! Dont worry!" Eric says he was saying "You dumba$$! You could have hurt me! Pay attention!" hahaha. In any case, we are perfectly fine, and now I am on high alert when behind the wheel!

My best friend Lesley's pregnancy is moving along perfectly, and I am just waiting on that tiny little flat tummy of hers to poke out. This weekend, we went shopping and went in Gap Maternity. It was hilarious watching her put on that strap on belly and try on clothes with me. She even got some maternity jeans that had a full panel, and since she is now 9 weeks pregnant, she will be wearing them in no time!!! She is doing great and is having minimal symptoms: tired, frequent peeing at night, but no morning sickness thank goodness! I wanted to update everyone on how she is doing, but I am encouraging her to start her own blog so you can hear it first hand!!

I will post some more belly pics soon! Have a great week everyone!

What a Wonderful Christmas!!

Christmas this year was fantastic! I enjoyed every second of spending time with family and friends but the holidays definitely flew by! I got to see Amber on Wednesday; she was in from New York and brought her super sweet boyfriend Kenny. Thursday morning we woke up and spent Christmas Eve with Eric's family. We got such awesome gifts and baby Graham racked up on some goodies. I woke up Christmas morning and drove to Florence at 4 am when Eric woke up for work. I just don't see how he does it every 3rd day! I was fighting sleep the entire time, and I had to pee about 20 minutes into the drive. I get to Cullman, and of course no gas stations are open. I get to Moulton, and of course no gas stations are open there. As I start to panic, I call Eric to ask if it would be inappropriate to go behind a building (he yelled at me for thinking that would be safe haha). I look in my rear view mirror, and I see blue lights behind me. GREAT! I am getting pulled over! This very country, overweight cop saunters up to my window and says, "sweetie, whatcha doing out this early?" I explain that my husband who is a firefighter had to work on Christmas Eve, so I was driving to Florence to spend the holiday with my family, and that I was pregnant and desperately needed to use the restroom. He said "honey, you aint goin anywhere here. Theys all closed. I can let you in City Hall if you need it or you can hold it 30 more miles." He told me I was going 70mph down through town and needed to keep that little baby safe and slow it down, and let me go. Thank the Lord! I have never been pulled over before this incident, and I definitely did not want to ruin my Christmas! I don;t know if it was the fact that I had a firefighter tag, was pregnant, was driving on Christmas, had to pee, or a combo of all of these things, but that sweet little Moulton cop made my day! I think he felt sorry for me. After safely arriving to Florence, I had another fantastic day of giving and receiving, and especially enjoyed spoiling Graham even more. Here are just a few of the many precious things he got from people, but Graham says thanks to all of his family for thinking of him!! He LOVED everything!!

Yesterday I got to go and see Robin and Jared's new angel, Reese. She is 2 weeks old and is absolutely precious! Eric, my mom, and I all got to hold her and she was so good- she basically just slept while we ooed and aahed at how beautiful she was. It made me even more ready to see my little tot! Krystal tried so hard to hear or feel him all weekend but he was being silly and would not cooperate. She even had her stethoscope out mashing all over my belly, but I think all she heard was all of my Christmas food sloshing around that I had eaten haha! He kicks all day long, so I know Eric and everyone else will feel him very soon! I also got to see my pregnant friend Beth Sunday at her baby shower! I love sharing these special moments with other pregnant friends. SPEAKING OF, I have always wanted to be pregnant at the same time as my best friend. After waiting rather impatiently for this to happen for 6 months, I can finally say that Lesley and I are pregnant together! I could not be more excited right now; every time I think about it I cannot stop smiling! She is probably about 8 weeks and got to see that precious little baby this morning on the ultrasound! So CONGRATS Les, I love you and wish you a very easy pregnancy with NO morning sickness!

Healthy little man!!

We had a fantastic day today!! We went to UAB this morning to the Dept. of Genetics to have our genetic counselling appt. This was a referral from our doctor due to Eric's brother having a rare form of dwarfism called Seckel's Syndrome. Eric and I had to watch an educational video on amniocentesis, which I had opted out of from the beginning of my pregnancy. No Thank you, I do not want a needle stuck in my stomach dangerously close to my sweet little baby to find out whether or not he has a birth defect and risk a miscarriage. I understand why some mothers to be would want this done, but personally, I am at peace with what God has created inside of me. He cannot be changed, so I am content without the amnio!! After the video, Eric and I met with our Genetic Counsellor. We discussed Matt's condition in detail and the likelihood of our baby having Seckel's. I have already done plenty of research on the syndrome so I pretty much knew that she would reassure us that the chances are slim to non of him having it. The syndrome is so rare, and therefore there are very few carriers of the dominant gene in this world. It is likely that Eric is a carrier, but the chances of me being a carrier is like one in millions (maybe even billions). After the meeting, we got to go get a targeted, or level 3 ultrasound. A more qualified ultrasound tech and a maternal fetal medicine doctor performed this, and it was awesome!!!!! We got to see every nook and cranny of that little boy! His head and brain development was perfect, as was his heart and all limbs. He was even above average (59th percentile) in weight at 1.1 pounds! We got a great view of his side profile and could even see his little ears! So precious! I could have stayed there for hours watching him. He was a little stubborn when it came to showing his privates. Although we knew he was a little boy, it took some prodding and shaking to get him to move and unclench his thighs haha! I will post pics of the little guy as soon as I ge ta chance. I have to run and do some last minute Christmas shopping, and I am hoping these swollen feet won't get any worse tonight because I need to be productive!

Kicking and Fluttering!!!

I have always thought that the most amazing feeling in the world was being in love with my wonderful husband, being able to help people hear better everyday, kisses from my pups, relaxing with friends and family, and being inside Jordan-Hare stadium during a big win. I am adding a big one to my list: feeling Graham move around in my tummy. For the past few weeks, I have been feeling some weird sensations at odd times in my stomach, but I haven't been able to say for sure if it was Graham or not until about a week ago. The feeling is so hard to describe; it is almost like gas bubbles, or light thumping and it occurs around 3 or 4 pm and again at night when I am going to sleep. For the past two days I have also felt him rumbling around in there throughout the day while I am sitting still. The sense of relief I have now that he is moving is huge! I have proof, everyday, that my baby is still alive and well in my tummy and I don't have to wait once a month to verify this using the Dr's doppler. My tummy is growing daily and getting rock hard- I guess my pre-pregnancy pudge has migrated to other areas on my body! One monumental change is the appearance of my belly button. I have always had an innie that you would get lost inside of- until now. Eric pointed out the fact that my belly button now is so shallow that you can barely get a fingertip in it. I forsee the outie making its appearance any day now!

On an exciting note, one of my good friends will be a mommy within a week! It has been such a blessing to be able to share being pregnant with her, and I get goosebumps everytime I think that she is about to be a mom! it reminds me of how fast being pregnant flies by! I love you Robin, and I am praying daily for a perfect delivery! I cannot wait to see that sweet little girl! Below are some pics of my growing belly from 16 weeks to 20 weeks

16 weeks:

17 weeks:
19 weeks:

20.5 weeks:

We're Halfway There!!!!

Today marks the halfway point in my pregnancy- I am 20 weeks!!!!! I woke up singing the Bon Jovi song "Living On A Prayer" as I was getting ready for work, determined to have a wonderful day, and an unfortunate event occured. Since I am running out of work clothes more frequently nowadays, I decided to throw on one of my jersey dresses with a pair of tights and be comfortable today. I have never had an issue with pantyhose because I always have bought them a few sizes too big so it isn't an act of God to get them on. On this day, I was in for a rude awakening. I got to about my knees with my tights and the "give" in my once roomy tights were not "giving" any more. I finally got them to my hips and thought, "ok, the worst is over". Boy was I wrong. After much yanking and attempted stretching, my belly was tucked snugly inside my tight tights. I then reached down to slide on my flats and BAM, they rolled all the way down under my belly. So here I sit at work, with my pantyhose maxed out and rolled up under my belly, afraid my legs are losing all circulation. My lunch hour will be spent shopping for maternity hose! It is amazing how rapidly your body changes to accommodate for a baby! I know it varies from person to person, and I also know that it will be worth it in the end when Graham makes his appearance into the world!
My friends and family have been fantastic to Eric and I! They have sat on the phone and responded to my emails about nursery design, have gone to baby boutiques with me to ooh and aah over baby gear, and have even started getting baby Graham some goodies. Mom, Dad, Donna, Leo, Krystal, Lesley, and Lena have already shopped for my little man, and I LOVED every gift he has received so Thank You!
I am going to post updated belly pics so you all can see just how much Graham is growing!