Halfway mark!

I'm 20 weeks and 3 days pregnant today :)
a little info...
I've gained 4.5 pounds and baby is estimated to be around 14 ounces. I switched to all maternity pants (besides my chef pants) and am quickly running out of tops that fit anymore. 
My belly button used to be a super deep "innie" and I can already see it starting to pop out!
Finally got finals out of the way, now on a 1.5 week break then right back to school for my last quarter.. I'm officially a senior! Looking forward to graduating in June :)
Ryan bought me a body pillow at the BX a week or so ago, which is very nice and comfy for when he's at work, now I get why so many Moms recommended I get one. 
I've been craving candy.. like shockers, red hots, blowpops, and war heads. I've found that when I do get a craving for a specific meal, if I get it, it feels like I've never ate better food in my life, and I enjoy 
.every .single. bite. 
Just had my halfway pregnancy check-up today, the ultrasound tech saw the sex but I looked away so I can find out next week with Ryan, my mom, and his mom on Friday the 30th with a 3D/4D ultrasound. My friends Franchesca and Debra are also finding out the sex of their babies the same day, it's been incredible to have a lil preggo friend group.. we all support each other and understand exactly what one another is going through. 

Babies heart rate is averaging 155 :)

When it spikes up or down, or you hear that loud bang- its because the baby kept kicking the doppler thingy and moving allaround.. lil rebel (just like Momma).

20 weeks 2 days

The baby is kicking so much and so hard now that it is visible! I saw it happen last week and Ryan didn't believe it until I caught it on camera two nights ago, as I was showing him the video, the baby started doing it again! He finally saw it for himself, then then he laid his head down on me and the baby kicked him in the ear! It was an amazing thing to witness, I'm so glad to share that with him. I can usually tell exactly where the baby is located in me now. It balls up sometimes on either side and its plainly visible. Extraordinary to watch.
I've gotten a burst of energy lately (compared to the dreadful first trimester) but all I wanna do is lay around and feel the baby kick all day!

On the right side mostly in this video, but moving all around constantly! 

I've been shopping for things to buy for the baby, even though I can't buy much without knowing the sex. It's so materialistic but I really can't wait to start buying things, that'll probably be my first form of "nesting" since I haven't started on the nursery yet. Daddy, on the other hand, has already bought a lil project he'll be fixing up for the baby. We saw an old, worn down trunk from the late 1800s to early 1900s, and Ryan is determined to fix it up and restore it for our baby. I didn't let him see it, but I cried after hearing him talk about what all he was going to do to it, and how he wants to do it right so that the baby can pass it on to to his/her baby, and so-on. I've been told by other Mothers that one day Ryan would come home with some ridiculous thing he bought for the baby, like their husbands had, and that I would think it was the most awesome thing ever... and well it's true. I never expected it to be something so cool though. I'm so happy that I can tell the baby one day that the first thing Daddy ever bought for it was that treasure chest.

 Here are the BEFORE pics, I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I love you Ryan. You and our sweet baby are my life. ♥

I'm assuming my next post will be about the sex of the baby, so stay posted :) Can't wait to see our families and find out the long-awaited news!

Grandma Tara

We had quite the rough week babe! These next couple weeks are finals week at school, so if you're feeling what I am - stress, then I'm sorry. I'm doing my very best for you not to get too worked up, but hormones are in full effect! (Not that finals aren't stressful enough anyways) Anyways, that's besides the point of this post. I woke up today to an email from you're Grandma Tara, and it made me cry, laugh, and smile A LOT! Which I certainly needed. The email contained a letter, for you! And I wanna share it with you now sweetie: 

Hello my beautiful little grandbabe!  

This is grandma Tara.  I just wanted to let you know a few things before you get here.You are one of the most wonderful, precious things that have came into my life (my babies being the others).  The day your mommy told me that she was pregnant was the best day I had had in a long time!!  It was definitely an answered prayer.  I had been truly hoping that I would have a grandbaby for a while. God, along with your mommy and daddy, answered my prayers.  I wish I could be around you a lot more, but no matter where I am, just know that I am with you all.  I love you all so much and I can't wait to see you. I get to come and see a cool 4d sonogram soon and I can't wait. Your mom and dad think that you are a boy and me and your meme think you are a girl.  So you get to prove someone wrong before you even get here.  If you are anything like your mom, you will love that.  Hehe.  I don't think it will matter though, because you are already loved by so many people, and it doesn't really matter what you are, you will always be loved so much!   

I think your mom and dad are going to be such good parents!  You and your parents have soooo much to look forward to.  Well, I guess we all do. Your mom seems to be a little nervous, which is completely normal. She just wants to be the best mommy in the world.  So make sure you don't give her too hard a time.  She is a wonderful daughter and I know she will be a wonderful mom.  She can be tough when she needs to be (like her aunt Kelly).  She is also very smart, loving and driven (like me).  She doesnt like to make mistakes either.  She wants to be the best at whatever she does.  (She gets that from me too.).  Your dad can also be tough when he needs to be, but sweet, caring and fun as well.  So you are going to be in great hands.   

You also have 2 uncles and an aunt that are going to love you like no- ones business. Your uncle Brandon is very protective, so he will always have your back. He can be tough, but also very sweet, when he wants to be.  Your uncle Patrick is a character. He can make you mad and make you laugh pretty much at the same time. He can be fun to play with.  Your aunt Ashley is only 10 right now, but she is very smart and sweet.  She will also be fun to play with. She is very imaginative like your mom. You and me are going to have some great times too. I can't wait to meet you and start spoiling you.  When you get here,  I will be the brown headed older one, crying and smiling and asking to hold you.  Like I said, we all have a lot to look forward to!  

Well I guess I will talk to you again soon. 

All my love, 

Grandma

Kicking!

March 7th 2012


Sweet Baybay,

You're 18 weeks and 1 day old today!

I felt you kick for the first time on February 25th :) I was laying on the couch with my hands on my belly talking to you and you kicked! It was so so gentle and light that I pretty much convinced myself it didn't happen. Then Daddy spent an hour with his hands and head on my belly trying to feel you or hear you, but had no luck. I felt kinda bad that he couldn't feel it happening too, it certainly wasn't for lack of trying on his part. 

I snapped this pic while he had his head turned ;)

A couple of days later while I was in class I decided to put my hands on my belly again and see if I could feel ya kick, and you kicked me like 5 times! It was incredible. I didn't expect to be able to feel you so soon because I read that it usually doesn't happen for most first time mothers until week 20 or later. We've got a lil kicker in there! I also read that you can hear us now too. We were already talking to you, but now we do it even more and it's so neat to know you can actually hear us and recognize our voices! I called your Grandma and she talked to you through the phone so that hopefully you'll recognize her voice when she comes to visit us in a couple of weeks. Daddy still hasn't been able to feel you kick, just me so far. I have to stand or lay just right, press my hands tight against my belly, and start talking to get ya moving enough for me to feel it. Its the most amazing feeling, its like a lil validation that you're in there and still doing good every time I feel ya.. and I love it! I've started to play music for you on our long drives to school and you seem to really like Aerosmith, which means you'll fit right in with my side of the family lol. You also start dancing to upbeat loud happy songs, hopefully you'll get your daddy's vocal cords and will be a talented singer too! I can definitely tell you take after me with all the dancing along you're doing in there :)

You're about 6 inches long and weigh about 7 ounces now. I measured out 7 oz of sugar the other day at school just to see just how heavy that felt lol. You're growing so fast baby, and as a result, so is Mommy. I can see a big increase in size since just last week. Most of my clothes no longer fit. I have plenty of jeans in plenty of sizes that I've collected over the years, and so far I've still been able to find pairs that fit in my own closet. However, shirts are an entirely different story. I only have 3 shirts out of my hundreds that still fit (and barely), and those 3 are shirts I never wore before because they looked too "maternal" lol. Thank goodness I kept them anyway. Most of the time I'm in my chef's clothes, and even those I can tell I'll soon outgrow. I think it's time to go maternity clothes shopping. It's tough to do though since I don't know just how big I'll get. I read yesterday that you are going to increase in size almost 7x's over in the next 4 weeks! That's so crazy to me, I can't believe it's already growth spurt time! This is all going by so fast, seems like just yesterday I was waiting on the doctors phone call to find out if we we're really pregnant.

You're lady parts or boy parts would clearly be visible on an ultrasound now. I hadn't been thinking too much about which you are until now, I guess because the appointment is coming up and anticipation is starting to build. Hopefully once we know what you are going to be coming up with names will be much easier. I have a feeling Daddy is going to be the one who comes up with the name that you'll get. I'm on the fence about which I prefer you to be, I see the exciting parts of either. Everyone in the family thinks you're a girl, and most of my friends think you're a boy. I still feel like you're a boy though. I'm excited to start buying stuff for you once we know. I think me, daddy, and your grandmas are going to have to go shopping right after we find out on March 30th.

I'm starting to eat a lot more now without getting sick. I'm hungry less often but when I do get hungry I get REALLY hungry, and then I eat.. a lot. I still crave fruits and veggies but I've been craving meat and taters a lot more. I had a craving for spaghetti the other day that took 4 days before I could satisfy it. I thought I'd stop wanting it after a day or two but once I realized I couldn't stop thinking about it I had to go and get some, and it was delicious :) One thing I'm gonna miss about being pregnant is that people give me food all the time, especially in culinary school. They always wanna take me out for lunch and feed me, and I have no problem letting them. It's sweet how protective and kind people are to you when your'e carrying a lil one around. I wonder if it's all to be nice, or if it could be a lil out of fear- like a "don't tick off the preggo lady." Speaking of that, I've definitely been feeling the full affect of the hormones lately. I'll be crying over something ridiculous one minute, then I'll burst out laughing the next, and then I'll want to strangle somebody not too long after that. I'm doing my best to control it and not go off on people, especially friends and family. But I'm not gonna lie, it's extremely difficult to control. I was crying a couple of nights ago because I don't like the attitude I've had lately with people, and I feel bad for lashing out at anyone. I noticed that listening to music through my headphones in class seems to help (by tuning people out, they can't annoy me), but of course it isn't ideal when the teacher is lecturing. I used to be so incredibly easy going, almost nothing bothered or annoyed me, and now it seems like something new is irritating me every 5 minutes. The fact that I am so easily annoyed now is ...well ...annoying lol.

I've been having a little bit of trouble sleeping through the night. I get hot and uncomfortable, and I have to get up and pee at least twice every night. My body must be prepping me for waking up all hours of the night with you when your a newborn. Speaking of which, you're grandma Tara is offering to stay for a week after you're born... and we plan on taking her up on that offer. I'm sure she'd stay longer if she could. I'm so glad she'll be able to stay that long. I really wish we lived closer to family. I want you to grow up with all your family around you like I did. I'm sure they will do their best to be a big part of your life even though we are so far away from all of them. 

Anywho, it's getting late and I gotta be up at 4am for class so I'm gonna go.. 

Can't wait to see you on the 30th! 

Love you sweetie! ♥