we're having a...

17 weeks

 Baby baby,

This week you're getting some body fat. It's the first thing we have in common!

Your cartilage is turning to bone, and you're now about the size of an onion, or five inches long. Your hair - eyelashes, eyebrows and hair on your head - is growing fast. You've got fingerprints now - officially able to be booked by police. Which will never happen because you're ours, so obviously perfectly behaved.

I thought I felt you move this week. We were in church and daddy's hands were on my belly during the prayer. I had just drank a cup of cold water. Then all of a sudden, three times in a row, little flutters like popcorn popping. It was different than the gas bubbles but I won't be sure til I feel you again.

I've had a bit more energy this week, and our friend Edie sent us a belly band which is a fabulous thing in the evenings. Still, barely a bump and most days, my pants fit just fine. Otherwise not much has changed this week.

We've got a big week ahead though - we get to see you! We're going to see all your parts, and we've been praying that everything is in its perfect place. That truly is all we care about, but seriously, if you don't want to wear green and yellow for the first months of your life, don't be shy. Show us the goods!

Love, love, LOVE you,

Mama

gender tales

Wednesday we'll find out the gender of little baby assuming it cooperates and doesn't play the shy game. The crazy old wives tales pretty much generate a consistent result.


Beating heart
According to this tale, 140+ beats per minute indicates a girl, and below 140 a boy.
At 12 weeks, we were at 160 beats per minute. GIRL

Sweet and Sour
Craving ice cream or citrus every single day? Some people believe this means it's a girl. If you have to have salty or sour stuff, then it's a boy. Hmm, tricky. I crave oranges, apples and peaches. But mmmm popcorn with sea salt. But oranges taste AMAZING, which is definitely a new craving instead of a continuation of one I have had for my entire life. GIRL

Even and Odd
Legend has it that the Mayans determined a baby's sex by looking at the mother's age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it's a girl. If one's even and one's odd, it's a boy.
28 and 2010. GIRL

Spot On
If you're breaking out like crazy, blame it on your girl babe. The belief goes that girls steal their mother's beauty, hence, those annoying zits.
Yeah..... GIRL

Queasy Does It
Sick as a dog during the first trimester - or still? Signs indicate you're having a girl. Little or no morning sickness points to a boy. Had a month of super intense nausea but no throwing up. Still sick enough to warrant lying daily in a empty dark office for an hour during work. GIRL

Carrying
If you carry high, then it's a girl; and if you carry low, it's a boy. If most of your weight is in front, then you are having a boy; if your most of your weight is in the middle, then you should plan for a girl.
Too small for this. UNKNOWN

Potty Time
Pee in a cup, mix a tablespoon of Drano in, and watch to see if it changes color. Green = girl, and blue = boy. I cannot justify buying a bottle of Drano for this. Though tempting... UNKNOWN

I've had zero instincts on gender except for one girl dream when I was holding the hand of my bonnet-wearing toddler. Hubs thinks it's a girl. I'm thinking that because the dreams, old wives tales and the fact we have free girl clothes available to us all point to girl, it's most definitely a boy.

What's your prediction?

16 weeks

Good morning little baby,

You probably can't hear for another two weeks or more but if you could, there would have been a lot of yelling last night. Happy yelling! It was your first big basketball game - a K-State win over KU! This means nothing to you now, but you'll realize soon enough that this family loves our sports. We already have plans for your big debut in September at your first K-State football game and no doubt first Twins game next spring.

You're about the size of a large avocado or 4.5 inches long. Your legs are now longer than your arms, making you look more like a human. You've got toenails, and you're holding your head erect. You're pumping a healthy 25 quarts of blood per day. Mama doesn't really know why that's significant except you've got a circulatory system - kudos!

Your mama is feeling fat. Still no bump but my pants are not only feeling tight in the evening but this morning was NOT fun buttoning the dress pants. To my dismay this weekend, I discovered that I have developed love handles. I know it's all for you, but feeling fat and greasy... well, let's just say I'm looking forward to that "glowing" stage.

My cravings and aversions have really died down. Most of my symptoms have. I get up to pee like clockwork at 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. And I have super crazy dreams - sometimes about you. Other times I think I feel you, just a slight flutter. But I'm guessing it's just the tacos I ate last night. Soon though!

Looks like you're about to double in weight and length in the next four weeks as you undergo a tremendous growth spurt. It'll be a wild month!

Love you little (soon to be bigger) one,

Mama

the day we don't celebrate

We don't do Valentines Day usually. It's so predictable. The crowded restaurants, the prix fixe menus, the mediocre-tasting chocolate hearts, the cheesy stuffed animals holding satin hearts.

We were at Hallmark buying cards this weekend (because cards are always acceptable) and witnessed a poor boyfriend desperately trying to buy some charms and connectors for a bracelet. As we walked out, I reminded Shea how awesome of a wife I am for expecting nothing especially jewelry.

We're very big into celebrating the overwhelming love of our marriage. We have fun traditions. There are notes on the mirror. Fun costumes. Random trips. Anniversary celebrations. But we celebrate it everyday. Not just on a manufactured holiday in February.

Today I'm working at my desk and look up to see my extremely handsome husband walking down the hall with this.

This weekend I was whining a lot about how I feel fat. And I've developed love handles that were never there before. And my pants don't always button. And I'm breaking out. And my hair is oily. And I burp like a high school boy. I know it's good for me and for the little baby. But right now it's not glowing or cute, it's just icky fat feeling.

So the card attached to this pretty plant showed a husband waiting in his car for his wife whose hair was in curlers as she trying to clasp her bra around her fat. And read: "I love you just the way you are." It made me cry (because everything does these days). 

I'm lucky to have a husband who loves my developing love handles, soft belly, zits and all. And he'll love me just as much when my body tends to resemble a whale. And then in eight months when the belly is gone but my runner's body is a distance memory.

I love, love, LOVE him. But not because it's Feb. 14. Because it's Monday.

hometown pride

we have a crib!

First baby item purchased - the Carters Sleep Haven Crib. Originally priced at $419, total we paid, $184. Read it and weep.

I wasn't planning on buying anything big until after our showers. And after we go to consignment sales. Because we're cheap. But one of the few things we cared that was new was a crib. And this is a STEAL.

Yippee!

spring? is that you?

Sweet relief! Considering KCMO does not plow. Ever. Especially parking lots. And I had to turn to avoid sliding through two stop lights this morning. And the 65 degrees we keep our apartment at feels a LOT colder when it's negative whatever outside. And my lips are chapped. 

Please, please stay this way.

15 weeks

What's up little baby!

This week you're the size of a navel orange, apple or beefsteak tomato. I'm going with orange, though, because this week they tasted soooooo good. You're moving all your joints and limbs, and your little bones are growing as you suck my calcium away. Don't worry, I gots some pills.

Your ears and eyes are now in the right place. Do you know your ears started out on your neck?! That's awkward. You're also moving around a lot in there though I can't feel it yet. Supposedly that will happen in the next month or so. I'm excited! Daddy is excited to feel you though it will be a lot longer for that to happen. Sometimes he lays his head on top of you to listen. But alas, all he hears is my rumbling belly.

I read this week that you'll be developing the food tastes of our culture while your living in me. I bet you're kind of confused. Mexican tacos, Florida oranges, Kansas City barbecue, Italian spaghetti, and I assure you some Pad Thai is in your future. It's a global womb!

This past week your friend Ryle was born. I hope you get to know him, well and our families are friends for a long time. If he's anything like his mom, you'll jump at any opportunity to play with him.

Your mama has suddenly, almost overnight, developed a bump though everyone claims it looks like a regular tummy, and I still can wear my regular pants. But we can tell. My skin is changing - all blotchy and breaking out. But overall, this part has been great. I can run, I'm awake most the day, full of energy (and quite often tears), and feeling more like my old self. Except for the zits and bulging tummy. But you and me babe, we're doing good.

Love you to the moon and back,

Mama

running pregnant

I swore when I got pregnant I'd be that girl out running on the streets with a little round belly. I mean, I knew I'd be tired but I used to run at 5 a.m. I could do it. These people did it, why couldn't I?

"You don't understand what tiredness is until you are pregnant." Amen.

I ran 5.3 miles and then 4 miles when I was about six weeks pregnant and didn't know it. Then I got sick as a dog at eight weeks and though I attempted to run/walk/elliptical a few times, Sunday was the first time I really ran. Three miles, though not like I used to.

In October, I ran somewhere between 9-10 minute miles on long runs. I could sprint a mile at much faster than that. Now? An 11-12 minute mile is enough of a challenge.

Running is completely possible during pregnancy but there's a lot of rules. I have to stop because I can tell my heart rate is climbing and sweat is starting to form on my temples. I get out of breath more quickly. But the benefits far outweigh the annoyance of my huffing and puffing.

Benefits of pregnancy running
Reduces complications during labor, leads to shorter labors, reduced chance of c-section (source)
Helps with constipation, backaches and insomnia (source)
Reduces chance of gestational diabetes (source)
Lower rates for pre-term labor and miscarriage (source)
Easier to lose weight and regain fitness level after birth (source)

Reducing labor time? I'll keep running.

random cat video

Our not so little anymore kitten gets into everything. Case and point.

14 weeks

Hello there little baby,

This week you're the size of a fist or lemon. Guess it depends whose fist we're talking about. This week you'll get some funny hair called lanugo all over your body. Have no fear, you will not be born this way. You'll get your own body fat to keep you warm instead. You're making your own urine - nice job! Even cuter, you can wiggle your little half-inch long feet.

Though my nausea is completely gone, sometimes I get a little dizzy. But right now the biggest change in my body is achy hips. My abdomen is growing to accommodate you, though no one can tell yet, and the growing pains can be more than a little uncomfortable. Two snow days this week (your first blizzard!) and plans to stay in my flannel pants are just what the doctor ordered for us.

All this ligament stretching is making me feel chunky, but I still don't have outside evidence that you're in there. Though the four pieces of pizza I just ate sorta resemble what I imagine you'll look like when you start pushing on my belly.


We are starting to get wedding invitations in the mail, and we calculate how old you'll be before we consider our RSVP. A summer is coming that will change our lives forever.


We love you. Keep growing, little one.


Love,
Mama