It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I really have so much to be thankful for this holiday season...and blessings seem to keep growing daily (and so does my belly).

I am officially 32 weeks pregnant and ready to meet my daughter. I have been doing a lot of last minute preps just in case she arrives early. Now I know statistically there is no reason to believe she will enter this world early (or even on time for that matter), but as I meet random people who have welcomed their bundles of joy as early as 35 weeks, that makes me think I need to get my hiney in gear and make sure I am ready just in case. We just had our 4th and final baby shower and were so blessed to be "showered" with so much goodness for our little one.

So enough about me, let me tell you about a few recent happenings in my life and my family's lives that have been nothing short of blessing and miracles.

#1 (MIRACLE/BLESSING) My big brother, Liam is getting married. He proposed to the wonderful Lorrie the day after Thanksgiving in Austin on top of Mt Bonnell (my pregnant butt climbing that mountain was another story). They are getting married April 25th and we couldn't be more thrilled. We truly love her so much and I am so excited to have her as a sister!!!

#2 (BLESSING) My cousins Lee and Andrea just found out they are expecting their 2nd bundle of joy in July!

# 3 (MIRACLE...and surely a blessing) My cousin Jocelyn is pregnant after a very long time of trying to conceive and is due in August!!!

#4 (MIRACLE) It snowed in Houston!!!!

I mean really, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. (PS There is a little game of "I Spy" that goes along with this tree!!!)

Baby Showers Galore and 12 weeks to go

At what point during pregnancy do you switch from telling people how many weeks you are to how many weeks you have left?...I realized recently instead of telling people that I am 28 weeks, I now say...Just 12 weeks to go! All I can figure is at some point during the pregnancy you realize you are on the downhill slide toward home plate. 28 weeks doesn't sound near as close to the end as 12 weeks does.

Now that's enough for my random preggers thought for the day. Jamey and I just got back from North Carolina. We made our last official trip before I became land-locked to H-town for the remainder of the pregnancy. We had a great time visiting family & friends, had 2 wonderful baby showers, ate too much sausage and biscuits, and were able to relax just a little bit.

So listen, I have had 3 baby showers so far and they have all been a lot of fun. I will say this about all of the showers...baby Caroline will never be naked. In fact, whether or not the need arises, I will be forced to change her outfit 15 times a day just to put her little hiney in every single piece of clothing she now owns. I guess girls clothes are just too irresistible to pass up....so we are all set on clothes!!!

But then the question arises, even though clothes are too cute and seem like a great option as a gift for a baby...are they really? How do you really know how big or little the child will be? And then to properly determine the season of clothes...it is all baffling really. In the past I have pondered this, but it has come to the forefront of my mind more recently as every child born to my friends have been different shapes and sizes. What have I learned for my baby? Keep the tags on almost everything. Resist the urge to wash every item in her closet in Dreft 2 months before she arrives. Set aside a few washed onesies and pj's and cute outfits and worry about the rest after she is here!

On the doctor visit note: I am now officially seeing the Dr. every 2 weeks. The last appointment was complete with my blood work and glucose tolerance test. I am happy to say that I do not have gestational diabetes. However, my anemia did come back. Just a little more iron in my life and hopefully that will re-regulate itself soon. I am headed back for another appointment this Thursday where I will experience the joys of Rhogam shots!

Pregnancy & Halloween...Does it get any better?

We would now like to be refered to as the "King and Queen of Inappropriate". We search and searched for the perfect costumes for Halloween and found a good laugh out of the whole pregnant nun/drunk priest combo! We had a great time, got a lot of laughs. And man, wearing a robe around is very comfortable. I could do without the headpiece in my daily life, but if you see me walking down the street in my black robe....you'll no why!!!

23+ Weeks And Growing Fast...

OK first and foremost, she has a name....we will no longer refer to her as Baby Girl Tutor (although I was beginning to become quite fond of that name). However, she shall now and forever be called Caroline Elizabeth! It is funny really. That was the name I loved to begin with, but for some reason I started to doubt myself. After several weeks of staring at our dry erase board of names, we both decided (separately I might add) that Caroline was in fact our baby girl's name.

This week's appointment went well. We had a follow-up ultrasound and were able to see her spine this time. All looks good. In addition, we were able to see her sucking away in the womb, but she was still a little camera shy with her hand over her face...again! She certainly doesn't get that from me. Haha!

As a little update...after the last appointment where I met with a midwife instead of my normal doctor, Jamey and I officially decided to switch to the midwife. During the post hurricane appointment, I had to go with her instead of my doctor so they could fit me in. Well call it divine intervention or whatever you will, but it was the greatest thing that could have ever happened. Let me give you a little background on midwives. No they don't just deliver in birthing centers and no they are not a part of a drug free alternative to birthing...they actually do everything all the way from gyn care to family planning to birthing. The only thing they cannot do it surgery. So should I need a c-section, I would just be handed off to the doctor on call. In any case, the midwife is a part of the practice I am with. She will deliver me in the hospital, epidural and all..the biggest benefit is that she, unlike most doctors in a large practice, ensures that she will deliver me no matter what time of day or night I go into labor. In addition, she will stay and labor with me throughout the entire process...not just the occasional check-in like a typical large practice OB. I just found so many benefits. Not to mention, she is one of the most soothing people I have ever been around. I have really enjoyed meeting with her both times and can't wait to see her again!

But of course, no appointment of mine is complete without a little drama. During our 16 week appointment we clearly asked the doctor if it was OK to travel for Christmas (33-34 wks gestation). She said I wasn't high risk at all and it would be fine. So just a week ago we finally purchased our tickets for Christmas in NC. When I went in for my 23+ weeks appointment I talked to the midwife about my travel plans and she quickly said they allow no patients to travel past 28 weeks due to many increased risks of pre-term delivery, blood clots, etc. I think I must have looked dumbfounded, because she said she felt like she had just dropped a bomb on me...I thought I might go into pre-term labor right there with the thoughts of flight cancellations, etc. Well days later, I am happy to report that we were able to use our travel insurance (which we purchased knowing I would be very far along) and we have been issued a full refund for the flights. We have also rescheduled a trip to NC just before I am 28 weeks. Although we are bummed about not going for Christmas, we are certainly not willing to take any risks and it has worked out that we get to go for a pre-holiday visit!

Stay tuned for the next blog and pics after my 1st baby shower!!!!

PS I have decided to not include my weight on the blog anymore. It became very evident that I was obsessive about it and tried to be unwilling to falter from the "books"....it began to slowly creep into my levels of insanity...so I shall drop talking about it in efforts to remain calm and trust that my body knows what it is doing through the process of pregnancy. I am however, NOT eating McD's daily and still working out 4 days a week!...So I guess I am still on the right track.

Blue Or Pink...What do you think? (19/20 Wks)

Greetings to all from "Ike-land". For those of you anxiously awaiting this blog post, sorry for the delay. We originally had our ultrasound scheduled for Monday, Sept 15th. As many of you probably know, Hurricane Ike came blowing through our small town of Houston in the wee morning hours of Saturday, Sept 13th. Although we faired fine through the storm, we did lose power at our house for 5 days. At this point, our swim school is still without power and my brother and sister as still without power as well. My mom did get power back the same day, but I certainly wouldn't have traded her situation for the world. The hurricane did some roof damage that started as a minor leak and turned into the loss of the ceiling in her entire living room. Sheetrock came falling down a little over a day after the storm after another (totally unrelated) monsoon rain storm came in on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Thanks for the thoughts, prayers, emails, and attempted phone calls from all of you. We are doing fine and I actually became fond of days without power and the simplicity of it all believe it or not. That could be because God blessed us with some 70 degree days and low 60's nights for our days without power.

....Ok, OK So I know no one came onto the blog to read about the hurricane adventures. So back to Baby Tutor (the real star of the show). On Monday, Jamey and I ventured out of the house and gawked at the somewhat massive destruction in the area and braved our way to the doctor to see if they were open since we couldn't get through by phone....of course, they were not. So Tuesday morning, we tried again. I decided that I would go as a walk-in vs. calling in. I didn't want to have to leave a message, wait to be scheduled again, etc. I figured if I could walk in and show them my pathetic make-up-less face and unwashed hair they might take pity on me and give me something to glow about...I was right. To our delight, Jamey and I only had to wait 15 minutes before they called us back.

I immediately informed the ultrasound tech that we did want to know the sex. And she said she would do her best...(response in my head to follow: ) "What? You better find a way to find this baby's stuff and tell me what it is. I am a hurricane survivor after all." After what seemed like the longest scan ever looking to make sure Baby Tutor was developing properly, etc, we made it down to the nether regions. And the conversation went as follows:

Ultrasound Tech: "So what does your gut instinct tell you? Boy or Girl".
Me: "Well all along I have thought it was a girl. But over the past few weeks everyone has been telling me it is a boy and now I am just not so sure."
Ultrasound Tech: "Mothers gut instinct is normally right 90% of the time and well....yours was right. It's a GIRL!!!"

Jamey squeezed my hands and tears followed (from me for sure...not sure about Jamey because I was too busy staring at our baby girl on the screen). Everything else looked good and she weighs about 10 ozs right now. We do have to go in for another ultrasound on the next visit because she was movin & a shakin & a kickin away in there and they couldn't get a good look at her spine.

As far as a name...well that seems to be the question of the hour. We are just not sure yet. It thought I knew for a long time, but just not positive now. At this point, we have a list of 9 names hanging on a dry erase board in the kitchen that we walk by and stare at to try and narrow down the list. And for her room I have 2 different ideas so my sister and I went to the fabric store yesterday and got samples of both ideas (my grandmother is making everything) so I am going to look them over with mom today and figure out which one I want more.

And because we have been without power so long and my scanner is at the office which makes it tough to get new Whitney "bump" pictures and baby Girl Tutor pictures to you. I will update this blog with pics as soon as we get power back to the swim school. Now for the fun facts:

Weight gain to date: 14 lbs (OK so I am still within the range of the recommended weight gain for 19 weeks, but I am at the top of the range...ugh)
Cravings: None to speak of, I just love food!
Food Aversions: None
Smell Aversions: Still heavy perfume, cologne, & candles...not to mention everything smells dirty and in need of a good cleaning (could that be nesting already?)

15 (16) Week Check-Up

Let me start by saying, I just got back from the doctor and I am still in a good mood. According to the doctor's scale, I gained just 1lb since my last appt. According to my scale it was 1.6lbs, but our scales have been just slightly different. In any case, it was good news. I am feeling so much better and have been working out about 4 times a week. Swimming is currently my exercise drug of choice. When in the pool I don't notice fatigue or my belly as much, so that is good. And it keeps my heart rate at a nice good pace for the pregnancy! Watch out Torres, you might have some competition! Ha!

Baby Tutor's heart is still beating strong at 155bpm. I definitely have a little belly now and in the right clothes, it is starting to look like I might be pregnant and not just over eating! Haha! My clothes are too tight to button, but the belly bands have been a blessing. They cover up the waist band that I can't button and we are ready to move on. I have a feeling maternity clothes are just around the corner.

Stay tuned for the next post on September 15th! We find out if Baby Tutor is a boy or a girl that morning at 11AM!!!! Anyone care to guess at this point?

Weight Gain to Date: 8.1lbs
Cravings: None to speak of
Food Aversions: None-PTL!!!
Smell Aversions: Too much perfume or maybe perfume period just kills me!!!

12 Weeks and Counting

Well we had our 12 week appointment today. While I went skipping into the doctor, I did not leave feeling the same way. Before you get concerned, the baby is just fine. They used the Doppler for the 1st time. The heartbeat was 160 bpm. (The same at the 8 week ultrasound). PTL! Baby is strong in there. Go Baby Tutor Go!!!

However, now comes the depressing part...the weigh in. OK so in everything I have read, it says 5lbs is target weight gain for the 1st trimester. Sadly, going in, I knew I was just ahead of the curve at 6.5lbs. I figured it wasn't too bad, since I wasn't that far off.

But wait, when the doctor came it, she said, "Whitney, what happened since your last appointment 4 weeks ago?" I explained that I went from doing a triathlon a few months ago, to horrid nausea for 8 weeks. And the only thing I wanted to eat was carbs. She said not to worry, she was sure that it would taper off now that I was finally feeling better and back to normal eating. Still all I heard was "lay off the twinkies fatty!"

....And it is advisable not to try and convince me otherwise, as I will not listen.

But no worries, I am not crazy enough to be drastic. Just excited to be back to working out and eating healthy again. Hopefully that will work!

Weight gain to date: 6.5lbs :(

Current Cravings: Lots of Fruit! I love the stuff!

Food Aversions: Sweets (still hate cookies and donuts PTL)

Smell Aversions: Everything! Bland and scentless is good!

And a baby makes 3....

So we're pregnant! The world officially knows. We are just about 9 weeks and I cannot wait to be done with the 1st trimester. The joys of nausea have hit me hard. I have found everlasting hope in Zofran and sea bands that I have been rockin' like it's the 80's for the past few weeks. Whatever it takes to get me through right?

I have officially decided that while it is fun to talk with other moms about my pregnancy, when I become a veteran mom, I will under NO circumstance share with them if my nausea lasted more than the 1st trimester, how easy it is to gain 60 lbs, how the feeling of being tired may never go away, horror stories of labor, or any other such horrific news. I will lie to keep them hopeful!

I think I have read every pregnancy book known to man. Jamey is probably sick of my random questions, like "What if our baby is born with both genitals? We need to make a plan now as to what we will do, so we don't have to make tough decisions at the last minute." ....seriously, who thinks of crap like that? I know he thinks I am nuts, but he sure hides it well and does his best to seriously answer my erratic questions.

Speaking of my sweet husband, he is now the official family grocery shopper, as even thinking of going to the store makes me want to hurl. He really is incredible and helping and being supportive.

Weight gain to date: 1.3lbs (and don't be shocked if this little bit of information suddenly disappears from my blog)

Cravings: Mustard, hot pockets, ramen noodles (growing a healthy kid right?)

Food Aversions: Fish or anything with sugar. I currently hate sweets!

Smell Aversions: Everything! I must have all unscented products and no candles nearby!!!