Ballerina Baby-22wks

I LOVE holiday weekends. Any kind of holiday weekend. Really, any kind of holiday. This weekend was especially relaxing (despite the 107* heat) because a family friend had expiring Marriott points and gave them to us for a stay-cation! Yay for not making the bed & picking up! Yay for not worrying about dogs! Yay for not having to make breakfast! Yay for big fluffy beds & cable! Needless to say, even though we were still in Amarillo, it was a relaxing break for the two of us. We watched movies on tv, ran some fun errands around town, enjoyed breakfast outside, took luxurious naps, slept in and stayed up late talking. We had our weekly date night, enjoying dinner out & Pirates of the Carri bean in 3D. (totally worth it ps)

To make our weekend even more exciting....

These last few weeks I've been experiencing all sorts of weird and sometimes tingly, pressure and sensation. None of it painful, though sometimes uncomfortable. I haven't really been able to distinguish what's going on and one google search of my feelings even turned back "Braxton Hicks"...hmmm.... I was having similar sensations Monday morning and instinctively reached down and BOOM there was baby kicking (or something) at me! BOOM, BOOM! I quickly grabbed Adam's hand and put it on my belly-BOOM BOOM BOOM. I asked "That's definitely not my heartbeat is it?" (Sad that I needed clarification for something so obvious, but it seemed so impossible and unreal!) Then as suddenly as she started, she stopped. I spent the rest of yesterday hunting for her kicks and punches, but couldn't feel any. Although, in my bath last night she did two swift rolls which delivered the oddest sensation I've ever felt! Even today I've sat patiently, hoping to feel her, and an hour ago she made herself known...for about two minutes. Such excitement! One mother-friend of mine warned, "Soon you'll just wish she'd stop so you could get some rest!" In the meantime though I can't help but wish to feel her constantly, in love and amused by her tiny ballerina movements.

It occurred to me that I haven't posted a 'proper' baby bump picture in some time, so Adam took a few of me this weekend. (none of which I was crazy about, but oh well) Here are Baby 001 and Mama at 22wks (5.5mo)

I never got around to posting the outfits I got for 001 when my mom and I went shopping, and Adam and I snagged some jammies & two dresses this weekend as well. Out of their sheer cute factor, I feel compelled to post. I am sure this will just get worse as time goes on!

Two More Seersucker Dresses for 001

3-6mo Outfits for 001

(mostly purchased with my mom the day we found out the sex)

Sweet Lil' PJs

PS: I had to get the green long sleeved onesie out of amusement, "Peas on Earth, but NOT on my plate." No telling if her palate will be much like her Mama's but I've never been one for peas, and plan on being understanding! ;)

Spoiled Little Girl

As I previously mentioned, soon after we discovered that 001 was indeed a little lady, my mom & took to the stores to buy her sweet little things. My mother, 001's "G", is the perfect shopper & lucky for all of us, has wonderful taste. Her little granddaughter is sure to be spoiled, as evidenced by her expanding wardrobe by only 20.5wks in utero....

Little smocked dresses, skirted onsies, sweet hats, tea party's and fairies!!! Oh how I can't wait to meet the little girl who will wear these sweet things!

"G"s finds for 001

Wardrobe Addiction

Everyone knows that little baby things are cute, but little baby girl things? It's only been about two weeks, and I think I may have an addiction. My upfront disclaimer is that there are 18wks to go, and there is a good chance that the next 18wks will be peppered with plenty of pictures of clothes. (little tiny, adorable, sweet girl clothes...but still!) I am sorry, but I really can't help myself, and once I've made these adorable purchases, I feel the need to share them with you. Last Sunday Adam and I ventured through several kiddie stores assessing the sales racks and gaining our footing in the land of little people clothes. Our winning store this go round was GapKids, and my favorite find was a little Boston Terrier onsie, looking just like 001 and Adam's pup, Dutchess. (Adam is technically the one who found it, but who's checking)

A comparison for your viewing pleasure:

Our Little Lady

As promised, here are the pictures of our leading lady from her 20.5wk ultrasound. She was not in the mood to have her picture taken, so the only one we have of her face she's attempting to cover herself with her arm.

Little 001

This one got very fuzzy scanning, but it's her head, and her right arm raised.

Foot

(a little fuzzy here, but we could count five cute toes)

Doctor Says...

Today was our 21.5 wk appointment. According to our lab and ultrasound, Dr. Autry informed us that 001 is looking pretty good! Her risks for the genetic screening were low enough not to matter, and from the ultrasound all appeared as perfect as it could. I may have mentioned earlier that we could count her five little fingers and five little toes (at least on one hand and one foot).

The medical center we use is part of Texas Tech's teaching hospital, so there are often medical students coming in during our appointments. Today was no exception, and a sweet young lady was a part of our visit. What made today a little more unusual was that she came in ahead of

Dr. Autry to ask me questions, measure my pelvis to the top of my uterus and measure baby's heartbeat. All was well until she went hunting for the heartbeat. After several minutes of static and finding my heartbeat twice, Adam kindly told her where he had seen them successfully find baby's heartbeat at previous appointments. Me thinks he pointed it out more to end my panicked looks then to aid the medical student, after she left the room he said "the moment she said she was going to search for the heartbeat I was like 'oh great, and she has no idea what she's doing, Kaitlin's going to freak out'" (Have I mentioned how much I love that he can anticipate my emotions?) PS: Her little heartbeat was up from the ultrasound from 156 to 159.

In scale tipping news....while I will not disclose my weight gain thus far, it is not looking good so far as to how hard I'm going to have to work to get it all off. I've decided to believe my sweet husband who tells me I don't look nearly as big as the scale says, but oh! To go in today and see I've gained 8lbs in the last month!!! My thyroid was a problem we had gotten under control before getting pregnant, but my entire pregnancy every time we do a lab, it comes back that the medication I'm on is not keeping up with my thyroid dysfunction. Today was no exception, and I received a call from my nurse that we'd be increasing my thyroid medication again to try and get my thyroid working like it should. Thankfully he has told me he has no concerns at this point about my weight gain. In two weeks I get to go in for my RH shot--"YAY!" which I attempted to explain to Adam today only to read up on later and realize I had no idea what I was talking about. Woops. :)

Funny how doctor's visits, which are normally something to avoid, can become something you enjoy and look forward to. It's nice to have good news about our little sweet!

Family Visit

Before we knew 001 was a little lady, mom & dad came to Texas for the first time in two years and it was sooooo good to see them! Adam & I had last seen my mom in January, but it had been a whole year since we'd seen my dad!!! Ridiculous!

Obviously, since they are deeply deprived of good Tex-Mex in the DC area, we ate Mexican about....four times! (**Note** Mexican has made me sick just about all pregnancy lol, but sticking with taco salad seemed to be the answer this time) Besides visiting us and celebrating baby, my parents were also spending time with my mom's high school best friend who graduated with her in DC but happens to live in Amarillo. Yes, it really is a small world. The whole week went by way too fast, and while I always hate goodbyes my hormones had me crying more then even I expected this time! Hopefully we'll fit one more visit in with them before 001's arrival in October!

Me & Mom

Mom & Debbie

Adam, Me (little lady 20ish wks), Dad & Mom

A GIRL! A GIRL!

It's official! Baby 001 is a tiny, little lady! Measuring at 10oz and with a heartbeat at 156, our little girl is 19 weeks away! We scheduled our ultrasound for when my parents would be in town so we could treat Mom to joining us as a belated Mother's Day present. It was so much fun to have her in there with us!! Our ultrasound was very patient, and appreciated how badly we wanted to know which was lucky because little lady is a modest gal. The ultrasound tech jostled my tummy to try and urge baby to move around, then had me roll on my side for awhile, finally she had to ask me to go to the bathroom and try jumping up and down to "make baby angry enough to move." You see, our dear girl had delicately crossed her ankles and pulled up her knees as to make it impossible to tell if baby was a she or a he! (As Adam said, "Our baby is stubborn? Well there's a shock...") The jumping seemed to work and we were able to get a few snapshots of proof that we are indeed having a little lady!

I have admitted from the start that I would much rather our first baby be a little girl, I just don't fancy myself a good mother for boys and I was so overjoyed to hear that we'll have our little girl! I had teary eyes when she told us, "Look, that's definitely a little girl!" and could hear the smile in Adam's voice as he said just "Awesome" and laughed. My mom was excited too, and while we were still in the room started talking about Sak's Baby Burberry and Rothschild Coats! Obviously after a celebratory lunch Mom & I had to go shopping for little lady, and bought as much pink outfits and smocked dresses as our little basket could hold!

Weeks before baby's reveal, I had fallen in love with some VERY girly bedding and felt

compelled to buy it. I held off, even though I just had a feeling that baby was a lady. Sure enough, Tuesday night found Adam and I picking up the baby bedding I had been admiring for weeks and we set it up in little lady's crib last night.

Little Lady's Crib

Inside the Crib: Bumpers & Sheet

PS: For those of you we promised a video of the ultrasound, the tech told us that Texas Tech would no longer allow video in the ultrasound rooms but we promise to upload pictures of little lady later

Tiny One

Tiny One

How very often I have dreamed

A world of perfect bliss

To be the mother of a boy

Or of a tiny miss.

To hold its tiny hands in mine

To count its tiny toes

And then to place a tiny kiss

Upon its tiny nose.

To hold it very close to me

Warm against my breast

To gaze into its tiny face

Sleeping and at rest.

Oh, what could be more perfect

Or what could hold more bliss,

Than to be a mother of a boy

Or of a tiny miss.

By Elizabeth Anna Fetters (Pachella)

Paranoia

So, I know it's infrequent to feel the babe at this point, and I know I felt that kiddo on Friday. Since then? Nothing. Or, at least nothing I can tell for sure. Ofcourse this has me in a full blown panic that next Tuesday when we do our ultrasound, something will be wrong. How often did you other mamas feel baby at about 19.5wks?

Things I Learned This Weekend

Over the past few days we have been engaging in the ever popular "clean it, do it, organize it, fix it, throw it out, people are coming" spree. We have learned some things along the way:

1. Onions your husband cut months ago, stored in tupperware and hid in the back of refrigerator will not look bad, but they're baaaaaaad. So bad in fact, they will cause the tupperware lid to swell. Do not, I repeat, do not bother to try and clean your $1.47 tupperware and save it. Not worth the kitchen smell, especially when you toss it anyway.

2. Remember that fancy vacuum you registered for when you got married? The one that's been broken for 3 months? Fix your vacuum. Stop driving across town to borrow your mother-in-law's. You are a lazy lady.

3. Peaches and Cream Oatmeal is an acceptable dinner option for you. But when you promise your husband you'll cook dinner...this may be falling short of what he expected.

4. You are definitely a bonafied pregnant lady, you just told your husband you couldn't wait for Tuesday to come. Why? Well that's when your new maternity clothes arrive!

5. After going through your keepsake box you realize you were even more girly-girl then you thought and there is no hope of a gender neutral childhood treasure making it into the room. You must have a girl, there's no way around it.

6. In your 'special box' (see above) you will re-discover your pink kit-cat-clock, complete with a pearl necklace. How did you forget you owned this? This only re-affirms that you need to have a girl...but if you are boy-blessed you decide you will simply have to buy a blue one...maybe without the pearl necklace though.

7. Your husband knows all the words to 'Alejandro', and he's the worst dancer you've ever seen. You are reminded how much you love him when he serenades you & 'dances' while doing the dishes.

8. While comparing physical attributes between you and your partner, and what you hope and think your babe will inherit, the dancer in you makes in appearance with "I just hope if it's a girl she gets your feet. Your arches are BEAUTIFUL!"

9. Your husband will clean the backyard out in preparation for visitors and constantly refer to it as "Poop Smithing". And chuckle.

10. The book collection...ok, ok, your book collection is so out of control your husband will politely suggest that you put some of the ones you read less often away. AWAY! What is he? Nuts?!

11. While organizing 001's book collection, you will start to read the ones you're less familiar with. Conclusion---baby books are mostly terrible. TERRIBLE. There is a reason you bought the ones you loved as a child, they're the only good ones. (Which brings me to, how much do I LOVE "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" and "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel")

12. You have stopped re-laying news info to your husband, but rather scenarios from assorted mommy & daddy blogs.

13. Never say "And I haven't thrown up in WEEKS!" Congratulations, you will spend the next 5 hours running to the bathroom and throwing up. For absolutely no reason. Well, other then 001.

14. Yay! You bathed the dogs! You even thought to do it outside, so you wouldn't have to wash the bathroom. Did you consider the fact that grass doesn't seem to want to grown on the right side of your yard, and that you were leaving them out to dry in the sunshine? Yay! You have muddy dogs!

15. All you want is a dark beer. One good, cold, dark beer. Did I mention you're 19wks pregnant? And hate beer?

Bounce the Baby

An exchange between an older black woman and I today in the store:

Woman: "Excuse me sweets, but you look like you're expecting"

Me: "Actually, I am"

Woman: "Oh honey-child, that baby gonna be bouncin' all around like crazy the way you run everywhere! Ooo! Congratulations!"

Why can't all pregnancy stranger scenarios go like this? It definitely made me smile, and she was quite sweet.

**Note: for those of you who have never had the 'pleasure' of grocery shopping with me, a friend once told me that I shop like I drive...I think they meant very fast, all over the place, and with a hint of confusion.**

Baby Has a Room

This weekend, in our ever growing "hunt for 001", we were keeping our eyes open for furniture for the babe. Adam's parents sweetly gave us his beautiful baby crib, and we managed to find a matching changing table several months ago. This Sunday we lucked out and finally found a dresser! Being married to Adam, furniture hunting is more stressful then it should be. He and I had two different "must have" lists.

Mine went something like this:

1. Must not have odor (like cigarette smoke)

2. Must not break the bank

3. Must be tall, not wide

Adam's looked like this:

1. Must not have odor (like cigarette smoke)

2. Must not break the bank

3. Must be tall, not wide

4. Must be solid hard wood

5. Must have dove-tailed drawers, not stapled

6. Must have an interesting element to it

7. Must have drawer stops, or I must be able to put in drawer stops

8. Must have certain type of drawer tracks or be easily changed

**Several times in our search, he referenced how he would make it. This is totally legitimate, and he could. However, we don't have an abundance of time, and he is a total perfectionist. This was not something I was really keen on, and celebrated when we agreed on a dresser this weekend.**

001's room is starting to take on a little shape and personality. While we still don't have bedding (a whole different story) the crib is holding two of my favorite things so far; a pale green triceratops "lovie" I discovered at a baby boutique in Edmond, OK shortly after finding out we were pregnant, and "bah bah", a soft blanket from my frousin Shannon as a hope gift back in November. The top of the dresser holds a lamp from my childhood room, and a piece of shadow art that reminds me of my mother. Our changing table is covered in clothes I plan to wash and put away, children's books and empty baskets. The floor by the closet is littered with about 7 unusual stuffed animals I plan to wash and somehow incorporate into the room. Unusual because they consist of everything from elephant to buffalo to armadillo to Loch Ness monster. Aside from "Nessie", which my parents bought me on our first trip to Scotland as a child, the rest the stuffed animals Adam gave me throughout the first year we dated. In the corner of the room rests play things for baby, a bouncy chair, a walker, a scooter for when they've grown...Their closet has begun to collect things like wipes and space for the pack n play... Last night I kept walking into the nursery, flipping the light on and just looking around, thinking about how different the room will be in 22wks. Even a few weeks from now, when we find out the sex, I suspect more small changes will begin to show. I must confess I keep peeking into my keepsake box, hoping that I'll discover it's a girl, and be able to share some of my treasures with her. Falling in love with Adam as I discovered more and more of him was one of the most amazing things that's happened to me, but it's incredible to feel I'm already falling for someone whom I don't even know.