Not much happenin'

Well, there's not a whole lot of news on the baby front these days. We are currently 19 weeks, so we are almost halfway there. Though we will probably wait awhile to work on Carter's nursery, we did decide to go with a giraffe theme for his room. Finding bedding was so hard for me because I had my heart set on a really cute bed set from Pottery Barn Kids. It was for a little girl, of course, so I can't get it, but I was determined I could find the same thing except in green and orange instead of Pink and Green. I looked high and low, but never found anything close.

For some reason I have been dead set against blue, so I have looked through every green, brown and orange thing on overstock and amazon.com. I found a really cute set of animal print things in red and black...like zebra stripes, leopard print, etc. Jared said that's a "heck no" for a boy. I disagreed, but figured that would be the first of many battles I would just concede on because, quite frankly, I know nothing about boys! But we finally agreed on this. I love the browns and greens and I think it's super cute. So, we're gonna stick with it!

Other than that, there's not really a whole lot going on. Other than a flutter now and then, Carter still isn't moving in a way that I can really feel him. I haven't found any foods that I just don't want to eat other than corn chowder...but, let's be honest, I probably wouldn't eat that anyway! I am finally getting used to sleeping in weird ways which means I am feeling better overall.

I really haven't been sick except for one day this week when I got home from work, I was feeling really dizzy. I got so dizzy that I was finally so motion sick that I threw up. Sound familiar? This was exactly what happened when I got vertigo last December and was knocked off my feet for 7 days. So, being after hours (as it always seems to be when you are sick) we called the OBGYN on call for my doctor's practice to see if she could call me in a presricption for Meclizine. After an hour with no response, Jared loaded his very motion sick wife into the car for a trip to MaxCare. We arrived at Maxcare only to be rejected because I was pregnant. Isn't there some kind of discrimination law against that??? Seriously, you can't look in my ear because I'm pregnant?! Anyway...moving on. We finally got a call back from the OBGYN, got the prescription and by the next morning I was feeling well enough to work and within 2 days I was off the meds and feeling normal. Meclizine is definitely something I will always be keeping in my medicine cabinet! And, praise the Lord for his goodness to me! I was doing some serious praying that night because I don't think I could handle vertigo again!

Thanks for checking in!

It's a...

Well we got to see our little man again today...that's right...It's a boy! The Ultrasound Technician said that it was a definite male, no mistake about it. So, we no longer have to call our baby "it." We can officially call him Carter.

The Ultrasound itself went pretty well. The baby's heart rate was about 150 today which is right in the middle of the desired range. The body seems to be forming perfectly. Apparently the baby is really cozy in the womb. Today he was sleeping on his stomach all during the ultrasound (he gets that from me and Jared-we are both stomach sleepers!). She poked and prodded and tried everything to get him to roll over so she could get a better look at his heart, but he wouldn't budge. She was able to see all 4 Chambers, which is where they look for most birth defects, but she couldn't really see anything else concerning his heart. We will have another Ultrasound in about 6 weeks to double check everything. It was so sweet to see our little baby again. She said his head was resting near my aorta, which was why he was so comfy. The sound of the blood pumping is apparently very soothing. After she told me that, I felt bad that we were trying to wake him up and get him to roll over!

So far I am 17 weeks and 5 days along. Total pregnancy weight gain is 6 pounds. If you're wondering why I'm reporting my weight gain on our blog, it's because I am trying to hold myself accountable to keeping my weight healthy. So feel free to keep me in check if you see me eating a cheeseburger!

Our next appointment will be around the 2nd week of March. So, I will be busying myself with looking for cute boy stuff for our nursery. I had found a lot I liked for a little girl, but not much for boys. So, hopefully I will find what I'm looking for soon!

Here's his profile

And here you can see his anatomy. Hopefully he won't be scarred for life by me putting this on my blog!

Thanks for checking in on us!

Baby Bump Makes Its Debut

I have had some friends and family back in TN ask me to post a picture of the baby bump, so here it is. Now, I will admit that something about this angle and/or this shirt makes the bump appear to be larger than it actually is. The bump, however, is definitely present and growing.

Some people have asked me if I mind when people walk up to me and put their hands on my stomach. I have decided that no, I really don't, as long as I at least know the person. With that in mind, it kinda makes me laugh right now, because I can't even feel anything, so I know you won't. But, I guess people's touching is a show of affection.

Anyway, for those of you keeping up, we will be 17 weeks on Wednesday. One week from today on Monday, Feb 8, we will find out if we will be buying ribbons and lace or ...hmmm...what do you buy for boys? I guess I may have to figure that out soon!!!

Oh My, Maternity Clothes Already!

So, I am 15 weeks along in my pregnancy. So far I have only gained 2 pounds total (yay!). So, the thought that I am ready for maternity clothes seems strange to me, however, my pants and shirts are definitely getting tighter! As for the shirts, I understand the tightness. That is mostly thanks to what Jared lovingly calls the "Milk Bombs" (I'll let you figure out what he's referring to) and some growth in the belly. But it seems strange to me that my belly has grown enough to make my pants so tight, yet my baby is only the size of a softball.

Anyway, I've digressed! The whole point of this post is the transformation I went through this morning thanks to a cute maternity shirt Jared's aunt got me for Christmas. I decided to wear a pair of black dress pants that have elastic in the waste to work so that I would have a little more "give" when I sat down. I happened upon this really cute black and grey striped maternity shirt that Jared's Aunt Jan got for me. I put it on and all of the sudden, I actually looked pregnant. Oh the freedom it brings to "look" pregnant and not just "feel" bloated all of the time!

I had been really hesitant to put any maternity clothes on because I didn't want people think I was trying too hard to look pregnant. But while reading my pregnancy book last night, the tip for week 15 was to go ahead and start wearing maternity clothes now. They mentioned that a lot of women just wear baggy things or things that are too tight for the same reason I was just sucking it in as best I could. Their suggestion was to just go for it. That not only would you look better, but you would feel better because maternity clothes are made for the changes your body is experiencing. So, today, I bit the bullet. For awhile me and Jared just laughed at the suddenly pregnant woman I saw in the mirror. But I have to admit, I feel great. It really is nice to be able to breathe again...I highly recommend it! Looks like I need to do some shopping for more maternity clothes!

14 Weeks Today (It's Official!)

Well, we went to the doctor yesterday and got to hear the baby's heart beat. We thought that was so exciting, of course. But then, due to the fact that I am very irregular in my cycle, our doctor ordered an ultra sound for today to help us determine a more accurate due date. Apparentally, the month of our pregnancy was the one time my cycle was 28 days, because we are exactly 14 weeks today, as was originally predicted.

Our little one was quite active...we got to see him/her jump up and down a few times. The way it was squirming made me think that our baby may have my chlosterphobic tendancies and is not quite happy with its current living situation...thus all the jumping. I guess I'll be "in for it" once I can actually feel the baby wiggling.

Anyway, here are a few of the profile shots we got. So sweet! We will know the sex of the baby after our visit in February!

Body Pillow Wars!

Well, I will be 14 weeks this Wednesday and though I am not having a lot of "pregnancy symptoms," things are definitely changing around our house.

So, I always knew that when I got pregnant I wouldn't be able to sleep on my stomach. Being a stomach sleeper, this had always worried me, but I figured I would be SOOOO tired that it wouldn't matter. Well now, in all of the wonderful books I've read, I have learned that not only am I NOT allowed to sleep on my stomach, but I also CAN'T sleep on my back or my right side. Seriously? So, if you're good at math then you are realizing with me that that only leaves the Left side. So, I tried to sleep on my Left side and was waking up with terrible back pain and pain in my knees. Since the baby is only about the size of an apple right now, I thought it was doubtful the he/she was causing me the pain. So, upon the advise of some seasoned mothers, I purchased a body pillow. Now, Jared refused to switch sides of the bed with me, so that means we now sleep with a body pillow between us. This has caused a huge problem, but not for the reasons you are suspecting.

Only being married for 3 years, we are still major snugglers (awwww). So, I thought putting a pillow between us would be a hard adjustment because we can't snuggle anymore. But it turns out that the biggest adjustment has been sharing the body pillow. It seems that not only have we both gotten used to the pillow, but we both LOVE the body pillow. I woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago and Jared had the whole body pillow and was snuggled up like he was the one that had a medical reason for sleeping with it. We both agree that it's the perfect snuggler because it keeps you warm, but doesn't make you sweat. And, it doesn't breathe in your face. So, anyway, we are adjusting. Now I just jerk the pillow from his arms and reclaim it as my own :)

Doctor's appointment tomorrow...we get to hear the heartbeat and make sure there's actually something in there!!!

12 Weeks Today!

Well, I feel just awful that we haven't blogged since October! But, really, not a lot of excitement has happened in our lives...until recently!

Jared has pretty much been focused on school (he will be done this summer...yay!!!) and his job at the church. I have been enjoying my new position as the director of Adventure Club's After School and Summer Programs. So, needless to say, we've been busy. But, apparently not busy enough.

So, in case you haven't heard the news, there will be another Norris in this world come July! Hopefully I will get better about my blogging and post ultrasound pics, etc. as we go through our pregnancy. But, for now, this is all I have!

And to all of you wondering minds...we are celebrating 12 weeks today! As for morning sickness, there hasn't been much of it. I have been really blessed thus far with an easy pregnancy (except for getting Vertigo, but that didn't have anything to do with my sweet baby!). So, we are praying that the blessings will continue. But, let's be honest--even if I puke my guts out everyday for the next 6 months, it's still a blessing! Will I regret saying that?