Ramblings . . .

This little girl in my belly likes to move it-move it, she likes to....MOVE IT!

I am feeling her all over the place and it is NUTSO, but 'nutso' in a fab way! Both of the ultrasound techs that saw me recently told me that my sweet little girl is a wild woman in the womb...my mom, obvi knowing me, said, "well, what did you expect??" I guess my mom is saying something along the lines that I was always busy and on the move...God help up all if this baby is just like me!!!

This was, by far, the best mother's day I have ever had, but I am certain it won't be the best ever.

A GIRL!!!! We are oh so very excited! We had an ultrasound today and it was confirmed, I have no penises growing inside of me. I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved watching that little girl on the us. We have a dvd of the whole thing so we can watch it whenever we want.

Well, I have officially felt the baby move. I was pretty sure I was feeling it for the past week or so, but yesterday I was sure.

I went to my 16 week check-up, which, turns out, everyone at the Dr.'s office says I am 16 1/2 weeks, not 16 weeks exactly (as I thought). This was a pretty routine meeting, heard the heartbeat (160!), talked with my Ob, asked some questions, etc.

However, when I was leaving, the ultrasound tech (who is a family friend) asked if I wanted to hurry back and "peek" to see if we could find out what the baby was. Did she need to ask?!?!? A FREE ultrasound?!?! OF COURSE! So, we hurried back into the room and turned out the lights and tried our hardest to get that baby to stay still. I realized I was feeling the kicks/hits/flutters or whatever when we saw him/her moving on the screen and the nurse said, did you feel that? It was a big one! So I have officially figured out what a baby kick feels like and let me tell you, it's phenomenal!

So, I bet you may be wondering just what it is aren't you? Well, I am not going to tell yet. And, if you know me IRL, don't tell either. I am going to another place today for an ultrasound and I am hoping I can get a definitive answer. We were in a hurry at my Dr.'s office so we couldn't say for absolute sure, but the tech was pretty sure it was one way and not the other...

I'll post answers as soon as I have a proof positive ultrasound pic...and until then, I am trying not to get too excited one way or the other!!!

I am embarrassed. That is basically all I can say right now. I am looking at my "before" pictures and they make me want to hurl something across the room. Let's look at the facts;

1. Hubs and I have never been the neatest people. When it comes to us, we are always well groomed -- showered, clean clothes, hair done, nice nails, etc. Our house is a different story.
   
2. We are also the exact same person split into two different bodies, so we are both basically the most stubborn person in the world at any given moment.
   
3. We would rather do whatever we wanted when we wanted to do it rather than clean any time of the day.
   
4. We are having a baby in October, I believe I have started this "nesting" thing.
   
5. My sister is cleaning her house following simplemom.net and I am not one to turn down a challenge.

So there you have some simple facts. Our "before" pictures have our living room/dining room looking the absolute worst it ever has, this is mainly because I decided to clean out what will be our baby's room which was chock full of crap. A lot, and I mean ALMOST 99% of the junk in the pictures was moved from our bedrooms to the living room over the weekend. But, as my sister pointed out, these pictures should "keep it real" so I didn't lift a S.I.N.G.L.E. thing, so trust me, while our house is seldom ever clean, it is always, always, ALWAYS better than my before pictures.
Hubs seems to think we would win a competition from worst to decent. After looking at my "after" pics I can't believe how much more I love my house when it's clean. It is so nice and relaxing to sit on the couch and not have anything to complain about (at least in terms of cleaning--), and what was even better was waking up and walking into a pristine living room and dining room. We even ate our breakfast at the dining room table together, something that we have never done.


Today is living room: part 2, so we may tackle our living area in our basement, but it is not a very pretty space...we will see.

Keep your eyes posted for a couple important posts coming up in the next couple of days!!!

Um. I can't stop thinking about what is growing in my belly.

Actually, I am currently obsessed with finding out what is inside.

Thing is, I won't have another ultrasound (the BIG ultrasound) until I am 20 weeks pregnant. That is exactly six weeks away. Now, I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but I am dying inside knowing that this munchkin's little genitalia is fully formed and I don't know what it is. My fire was only fueled by the fact that Blair posted this gem today...

So, in true "copy cat" form, I decided to try the methods listed on her blog...

Labor of Love: Girl

Just Mommies: Girl

Bump.com: Girl

Babyman: Girl

Sexratio: 55% Boy, 45% Girl

Tvoy Baby: Girl

And of course there are innumerable old wives tales that I could look at to determine, but I'm not really far enough into this to decide if I am carrying low or high and I am craving everything; sweets, sours, meats, cheeses, blah blah blah...so I can't find a pattern there either. Maybe I will try the wedding ring test sometime...

The thing is, I could technically find out the baby's sex tomorrow. There is this place in town that specializes in determining the sex of your baby. You lay back in a lazy boy and the ultrasound tech goes to town finding the goods. It is only open on Fridays and you have to call and schedule an appointment through the lady's cell phone. She is an ultrasound tech that has Fridays off so she bought an ultrasound machine and determines the sex for $50, a fair trade in my opinion.

The only thing stopping me; well, the only two things stopping me are the fact that I know and really like the ultrasound tech @ my obgyn's office. She is a family friend and I pictured her telling me what my baby would be. Secondly, even though I am pretty sure this wouldn't happen, I am nervous that they may tell me the wrong thing. What if they tell me girl and I invest in tons money in girly things, and then find out from my ultrasound with my obgyn that it is a boy!?!?! Or vice-versa!?!? My sister's sister-in-law reeeeeeally wants me to go find out, and I kinda want to too...oooooh, decisions, decisions!!!

My gut tells me that it's a girl, I have had girl dreams and as you can see, most of the tests online point to "girl"...which reeeeeally leads me to believe it is a boy because I am thinking I am just getting my hopes up for a girl and should be more realistic when I see that penis on the screen!!!

Don't get me wrong, we would love a boy oh so much; I love my nephews and I even like our boy name more than any girl name we have ever come up with. But a girl would be so much fun, unless she turns out like me in middle school, then, not so much-- but that is a different post entirely!

Ok, I am off to go home and get some rest before a date with hubs! I promise I'll post a belly pic later tonight...maybe after my belly is full of dinner and sticking out extra far!!!

Well, I still don't really know where I am in this whole pregnancy game, but I am thinking that I'm in the second trimester now...I am 13 weeks and 5 days (tomorrow) pregnant and I believe that means I am technically in the second tri, but who knows. . .

I am still loving being pregnant, even though I KNOW I am gaining weight too quickly, but I am really beginning to enjoy being pregnant. I spent so much time in the beginning worrying about what could possibly go wrong and now I think I am finally getting comfortable with the idea that I am only in control of what I can control; what I eat, if I exercise, etc...

My mom got me a couple pacifiers, some undershirts, and a bib for the baby for Easter but I just bought the first couple things for our baby yesterday...A few weeks back Hubs bought our stroller and car seat when he was out of town because we didn't have it in our town, but I hadn't bought anything for the munchkin...Well, yesterday I bought two pajama/lounge wear type outfits. They both have birds on them and very cute little hats. One is very definitely "girl" and the other one could be for a boy or a girl. I understand if we have a boy he will not be able to wear the pink one, but it was very inexpensive and I will find somebody to use it if I am not having a girl...but I still have a slight "gut" feeling that it may just be a girl, but who knows...I'd be totally psyched either way!!

And on the belly front, it definitely is getting bigger by the day and I can no longer "suck in" my belly anymore and my tummy is getting harder, it's strange, but I am loving it!!! And I promise, later this week I will post a belly pic, even though it's not so pretty in pictures!!!

Here I sit, 12 weeks and 6 days pregnant, watching my students watch a movie for indoor recess. Something happened this morning, something I couldn't really believe until one of my students pointed it out to me.

See, I teach an all girls class in an inner-city area...so they are pretty wise to the ways of the pregnant woman. When I finally "announced" my pregnancy to them, I got some mixed reviews;
"I thought you just gettin pudgy..."
"I can't believe you did what it takes to get pregnant"
"you could have just rolled over in the bed and said not tonight"
But all of them were very happy. I actually have some students who have relatives that I will share due dates with...I have, however, not become exempt from their pregnancy stories, scrutiny, and "what if" scenarios.

Today, when I was teaching a lesson on the interactive whiteboard (computer plugged into a digital projector) one of my girls raised her hand, I thought to answer a question, and when I called on her, she said, "You know what? Your belly is sticking out further than your boobs!" I pretended to cry and they pretended to console me, but it was a funny observation. Ever since I have had boobs, my belly has been much flatter than my boobies, so this is a welcome little change...remind me in 5 months about the day I enjoyed getting a baby bump, because I am sure it is going to be out of control one day soon!!!

No news from the appt. yet, but I did get to hear the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler again...


179 beats per minute....that little whooshing is seriously my new favorite sound. . .

I thought I would feel miraculously better once I hit the 12 week marker, but to tell you the truth, I can't really tell a difference. I still don't "feel" pregnant, except for the excessive hunger and sleepiness and now the protruding gut I am sporting...but other than that, it has been such "smooth sailing" I have no idea what to expect next.
Going to the Ob today for my 12 week check up, but I think its just a pap for cultures and stuff so I won't be able to see the baby...other than that, I can't wait for the weekend!!!

Well, I don't reeeeeally know how it happened, but I checked my other blog (just something where I write to the future little munchkin) and I realized that I am out of the 200's....then, I opened my google reader and realized that Danse shared the same revelation today! I have officially 199 days left to go in a full term pregnancy! We have the same due date.. weird right? I read her before I was even pregnant...hmmm...cosmic? I think so.

Anyway, I have recently decided that I just have to "let go". Actually, at the urging from some of the women in my Bible study, "let go and let God". It hasn't been easy, but I am trying and doing better. I used to worry about every strange feeling or any terrible thing I heard that could happen to our baby, but I am learning to let go. I am realizing that there really is nothing I can control any more. As long as I keep my end of the deal, eating right, sleeping, exercising, etc...it is totally out of my hands what happens to this sweet little baby. I am just trying my hardest to do everything "right" and we will just see what happens in October. . .