It's a Girl!!

From the very second Chris and I found out we were going to have a baby we would have bet that it was a baby girl. Chinese calendar, old wives tales about rate of the heart beat and how high I’m carrying confirmed what we thought so we joked that we knew all along.  Of course, even that is a 50/50 guess, so we’d spend hours thinking about what we would have, what we would name it, what color we would do the nursery, what sports it would play if it were a boy or a girl. Those hours talking about boys seemed so pointless when the technician only needed about 1.5 seconds to confirm what we have thought all along. We are having a little girl! I have no idea how she knew that so fast, she had barely even started, but she assured us that we could start shopping for pinks and ruffles instead of blues and trucks.  Oh man…here we go! This. Adventure. Just. Got. Real.

We got to see her sweet little face (I mean, as much as you can on an ultrasound), her functioning brain and stomach (she kept swallowing while we were watching her). She already seems a bit stubborn as she did not want to turn to face us because we had obviously woken her up from her nap. We were able to look at our sweet girl for a few minutes as the technician showed us her little face along with her arms, legs, hands and feet. I have been starting to feel her moving around from time to time. Feels just like a flutter right in the pit of my stomach, but it already feels so sweet!

What in the world are Chris and I going to do with a little girl? Before we even left the doctor’s office, Chris is mentally saving for our little girl’s wedding, worried about the teenage attitude that often comes with junior high and high school aged girls, forbidding her to date and worst of all concerned that she’ll one day have to give up the name ‘Mudge’ (come on, really?) But after all of that rushed through his head, he realized he was already completely wrapped around this little girl’s finger and that she would do no wrong. We left for a quick breakfast and talked about what it would be like to sit in dance recitals and cheerleader tryouts, both probably secretly hoping she takes after her mom and Aunt Melissa and likes sports instead of dancing like her Aunt Alli. She will be our kid, so chance that she has any grace and balance would be a long shot anyway.

We knew all grandparents would be ecstatic, but with a baby girl on the way, it confirms the first granddaughter on both sides of our family. My parents, Gamma and Poppy, already have my nephew, Barrett, that they have fallen head over heels in love with so I cannot wait to watch them love this girl the same way. Chris’ family will be welcoming their first grandchild and it will be fun to watch how much they love our baby girl. We know, without a shadow of a doubt that this baby girl will be so loved by her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and so many friends that we get to bring along on this journey.

In all of the excitement this weekend we forgot to take a picture, so it may be a 21 week picture instead! :) Baby Girl Mudge is about the length of a banana. We also confirmed during the ultrasound that she has all of her arms, legs, fingers and toes! 

Hellooooo Bump

Apparently at 18 weeks is when I will start showing. I went from wearing all of my normal pants, although a little tight, to full out maternity pants and the biggest shirts I can find. I am showing, however the picture is extremely misleading; maybe I should stand up straight, I'm not nearly as big as this looks like I am. My back really can straighten out just fine, I promise.

                          

This week, my app tells me that our baby is the size of a large Mango and now has fully proportional arms and legs. We will find out if this is true when we get to do the next sonogram at our next appointment. I'm definitely ready to stop calling our baby "Mudgekin" and for my mom to stop calling him/her "Midge". 9 out of 10 people in my life tell me it's a girl (including me and Chris) but I guess we will know for sure on Friday, Feb. 8th and hopefully can decide on a name or at least stop calling it, "it".

I've been feeling good, although if you ask my husband, he may say I've been a bit emotional. I'd like to blame in on the hormones, so we'll just go with that. I have gone a solid week without seeing him before, but recently when we leave for work in the morning it's like he's off to war and the waterworks come flying. Once I realize this I remind him that it's not him and I won't miss him THAT much, I'm just fine without him and I don't need him! :) I really didn't want to admit this, but in an effort to log and keep track of this process, I guess this is part of it.

I'll try to keep most of the crazy things that are going on with my body to a minimum because I know this is a dad-friendly blog. For those of you that are reading and have had babies, you are aware, for others, the less you know the better. I keep reading that my hair should be glossy, shiny and thick and my skin will look the best it ever has. ALL LIES. But who can be surprised, I'm not sure my hair lends itself to silky or shiny and my skin itches like crazy making it more red than a "glow". 

I find myself waking up in the middle of the night with my hand on my stomach, maybe I'm not used to having something there, or maybe my protective instincts are trying to protect it from the weird strangers that have been appearing in my crazy weird dreams. It probably doesn't help that we've been watching Breaking Bad before bed. I have dreams of me and Jesse cooking up some really good product and wake up thinking that I should tell Chris about my new hobby so he doesn't leave me and our new baby. I'm going to blame this craziness on the pregnancy.

There's not a lot else to report in between appointments, so next post will probably be about what the heck we are supposed to do with a sweet baby girl or boy! Also, if you actually want to know when there is an update to the blog, I think there is a Subscribe by email link that will send you an email when a new post has been made. They are pretty few and far between right now, but may pick up in frequency as there are more things that we won't want to forget.

I can hear you

This 12-16 week time period has been a little strange. I don't feel pregnant, I don't really look pregnant, I'm just waiting for the next step. I've been told not to wish to be big and showing yet, because I will regret that when I blow up here in the next few months. We had our 3rd doctor's appointment today and everything went well. We heard Mudgekin's good strong heartbeat and the doctor kicked me out, said there was nothing else to do.

On the handy-dandy app that tells you what size your baby is compared to a random fruit or vegetable, it says that Mudgekin is starting to be able to hear us speaking and singing. Scary thought considering I still feel like I'm alone in the car, probably scaring the poor thing. He/She's probably already hoping I'm not the one singing them to sleep every night. Sorry kid!

Our next appointment is February 8, and we will finally get to see our sweet baby again when they do the ultrasound. I'm hoping it looks more like a baby and less like a cheeto this time. We will also get to find out if we are having a baby girl or boy next time we go in. We're not quite sure if we will just find out at the doctor's office, or take the news to go and find out over a Valentine's dinner date the next week. I have a feeling once we get there, I'll be ready to know, but we shall see.

As for names, we have a very small list. So small that we're not even really discussing anything until we find out girl or boy because we are having a hard time deciding on anything. I do not want to focus on it to much until we know what we're having and start planning. I'm ready for the planning to begin.

Below is the 16 week picture, hard to see much, but it's there, as little as it may be:

Happy Birth Year Mudgekin

We don't have a lot to report, but wanted to update with our 14 week picture. Mudgekin is about the size of a lemon and my "What to Expect" app tells me that it is kicking up a storm as its little legs are growing fast. I'm still not really showing, it's hard to tell if it's a baby bump or if just my large appetite showing through around my stomach! We go back to see the doctor on January 14th for our 16 week appointment. It's just a check up to hear the heartbeat and check in to see how everything is going. I assume it's all going fine, I've been a little tired still, but nothing like the first few weeks! 

Chris and I just got back from our Christmas tour in Austin and College Station and celebrated this last Christmas until our little family gets a +1 next year. Ringing in the new year knowing this year will be the year our lives change forever was pretty exciting. Don't get me wrong, we're terrified....but excited. :)

We only have 6 more months before we'll get to meet our little one. It's pretty hard to believe, since our lives have not changed all that much yet. This year is going to be crazy! We find out in about 6 weeks whether we are having a little Lindsey or a little Christopher, then let the planning, painting, naming and shopping begin!

And the heartbeat says...

On December 13, we had our 12 week follow up appointment. The only thing interesting that happened was we got to hear little Mudgekin's heartbeat again. The doctor said it was in the low 160s, which was good and strong at this point. If you want to believe a) the Chinese gender calendar or b) the not so exact science of how fast the heartbeat is.....then we're having a girl!!!! Or if you want to believe the, you're not that sick with boys but could be with a girl not so exact science....then it's a boy!!

We only have to wait 2 months to find out for sure and in the meantime there's not a lot to report. The doctor asked me if I had any questions or concerns and I could not think of anything! Seriously, who grows a baby and has zero questions about it? She said that it seems I may have it figured out if I didn't have any questions, I think it's closer to, "I have no idea what's going on or what I'm going to do, so I'll just smile and nod for now"

Once I hit about 11 weeks, I started getting some energy back and stopped crying and/or yelling at Chris every day.  Those hormones are no joke. I think we're both happy to be in our second trimester and look forward to finally watching my belly grow. We missed the 12 week picture, but the food belly looks about the same, trust me. Maybe when I actually think I'm showing I'll take another picture!

We are excited to start our tour of Christmas-Texas style for the last time with just the two of us, and anticipate what our lives will be like at Christmas time next year

Merry Christmas!!

10 Weeks

This is a little late, but we were 10 weeks along on Nov. 30th. Hopefully we can read it a little better, if not I took a close up.

Still a food belly...no one get too excited.

He tried to take a close up of the sign, but I think he also just wanted to be in the picture. Those dads always get left out.

We have a heartbeat

As I'm sure is true with any new parent we are already learning so much at an incredibly fast rate.

The first thing we learned this week is that Mudgekin has a heartbeat! Last Monday we went to our first doctor's appointment and got to see our sweet little baby for the first time. Granted, it doesn't look much different than a cheeto, but it's there and it has a strong heartbeat. For the first 7 weeks or so, you start having the symptoms of pregnancy, you've had a positive test, but you don't really know that there is something actually in there until you see it with your own eyes. Everything at the doctor looked good, so we will go back in mid December for our 12 week appointment. We have a sonogram picture, but for some reason I find it a little uncomfortable to post on the blog for everyone to see inside me, maybe once it looks a little more like a baby and less like a cheeto it will make more sense to me. :)

Another thing we learned this week is to never complain about NOT being sick in the mornings. I guess in my mind, being sick means everything is working properly. I have mornings that are better than others, and on those bad days I remind myself that I kind of asked for it. Knowing that both my mom and sister were very sick with their little ones I keep waiting for the storm to come. Although I am not 100% in the mornings and sometimes feel a little uneasy, I will take it and count it as a blessing!

I have also been introduced to what the word "tired" really means. My whole life, I thought I had seen tired, I thought I had been tired before, and I'm sure this definition will change again when I am on a lack of sleep with a newborn. BUT for now, my "tired" has been taken to a whole new level. When it's time to sit down and watch tv after work and I'm asleep by 8 because my body has shut down...THAT's tired.

My last lesson for this week is that no matter how hard I try to be creative or follow something on Pinterest...there is a great chance that I will fail! I realize that no one can read what this sign says, so I promise my 12 week picture will be legible and much larger, but I decided to post anyway. This blog is a way for me and Chris to remember every step of this journey along with letting our family and friends see into a little bit of what is going on with Mudgekin. So....you get the big picture, the details are not important! It says that Mudgekin is as big as a green olive and is its limbs are starting to grow big and strong. (Trust me...that's what it says). :)



8 Weeks
Before anyone tells me they see a belly, any belly you see is food related due to my increased appetite over the last few weeks!