Takin' Care of Business!!

Memorial Day weekend was a much needed time to really knock some things off our To-Do list, and it felt so great to get them accomplished!

A few weekends ago, we bought the crib and dresser, so I worked on clearing out and organizing the nursery so we could get the furniture set up. Here's Daddy putting together the crib!!!

It turned out gorgeous...now I can't wait to get the bedding on it! I filled up the dresser drawers with a bunch of clothes my sister Anne lent me (THANK YOU!), and had fun laying out goodies from the shower in Gastonia on top of the dresser. It's so fun to look at it all and think of our baby boy getting here soon :)

Thank goodness we had an extra day this weekend, because we still had a ton to do! We went to Lowe's and got a dimmer switch for the baby's room, bags of mulch for the flower beds, and some herbs to pot. Mark spent a lot of time on the yard getting the flower beds looking good, pruning bushes, clearing out dead stuff from the winter, and it looked GREAT! I wish I had a Before-and-After picture!!

We also finally decided on a glider rocker, bought it and took it to the upholstery place. Mom had given me some beautiful fabric that matched the nursery perfectly, so we're going to have it recovered. Here's what it looks like in style, before new fabric...I really like that it looks more like a chair than a baby-specific piece of furniture.

We also cleaned the house completely (I say "we"....meaning my sweet husband did the lion's share of the work since I tire out in 8 seconds flat these days...), and went to the grocery store, too. Good thing I started the weekend off with an insane amount of sleep ~ 8:30 pm on Friday 'til 9:00 am on Saturday!!! I knew I was going to need it!

Finally, here's the latest belly shot collage with a few new ones - the latest being 33 weeks...I don't know how much more I can stretch!!

May Showers

Ok, this really bugs me to be so behind on my posts, so you may see a flurry of activity here in the next few days/weeks as I catch up on all the fun things happening as we wait for Baby Boy Williams :)

Lately, I have been overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness and generosity of my co-workers, friends, and family. Check out this cute "cake" and keepsake basket at a Going Away/You're Having a Baby! luncheon at work when I moved departments. I REALLY miss everyone and can't wait to get back over there when my rotation's over!!!

A few weeks later, it was time for my first baby shower! How exciting!!! We made the trip to Gastonia for a wonderful shower hosted by my sweet sisters :) Here we are ~ I love them so much!!

We had tons of yummy food - Anne's delicious cupcakes and Laura's ham biscuits were my favorite. I so enjoyed seeing all my aunts, cousins, and friends from my hometown.

Great aunts, cousins and more!

What a cute outfit from Aunt Liz!

Mom and Me :)

Laura and me, having so much fun!!!

I love the month of May!

My usual two reasons for loving May: 1) it finally starts to warm up and 2) my birthday. This year, add one to it ~ Mother's Day! This was my first semi-official Mother's Day as a real mommy :) How exciting!! I got two sweet cards (one from my awesome hubby!) and flowers, too. And, at church, I got a gift they had for all the moms. It sure felt good to be a part of it all!

I had a great birthday, too. Dinner out with the girls, with Mark as my handsome date (he's such a good sport!!) Here's our picture - this one actually involves me wearing "normal" clothes instead of "the belly picture" outfit :)

We ate a delicious dinner at Carraba's and then went to Jack's Grill for an ENORMOUS piece of chocolate cake ~ does it get any better?!!

Here we are ~ celebrating Jessica and my birthdays! Tracy and April, where were you guys when we were taking pics?!! ;)

Happy Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day, I'm very thankful to be so blessed! First, what a wonderful mother I have...she's an unbelievable, never-ending supply of love, support, advice and friendship :) Thanks, Mom!! And second, I'm on my way to being a Mommy, too! I know how lucky I am to have this opportunity and am treasuring every moment.

Last week, we got another little peek at our son on 3D/4D ultrasound. "Little" peek it was, literally...he was not very cooperative!! For 45 minutes, he either faced my back or put his arm over his face, so we only got a few shots and they were a bit blurry. BUT, it was amazing watching him wiggle around in there. We got to see him playing with his ear, opening his mouth, grabbing the umbilical cord (and pulling it where? In front of his face, of course!), and kicking his little feet around ~ so sweet!!

Here's my favorite photo...look at those chubby cheeks!!

Here he is sucking on his arm....he just wouldn't put it down!

And here are those cute feet...Wow! What long toes :) (It's not really a foot cut off hanging in mid-air. It just looks like that when they pick an area to zoom in on.)

He's actually starting to look like a "real" baby in there!! It's hard for me to believe sometimes ~ until my belly starts jumping all around like it literally has a life of its own. Lately, I've been able to see and feel his feet or hands through my skin! Only 9 more weeks and I'll be holding those little feet in my own hands ~ I can't wait!!

~ Nursery Time ~

I really cannot believe how busy Mark and I have been getting ready for this little one lately. Mostly it’s been none of the “fun” stuff….just making room in the house. Last week, we cleaned out SO MUCH stuff, you’d have thought we were moving! I’m talking about a garage full of extra bedding, blankets, lamps, a bedroom set of furniture, clothes (who knows why we didn’t ditch those ugly things at the last 3 yardsales we’ve had!), yards and yards of fabric from several abandoned sewing projects, toys…you name it – we’re getting rid of it!

So, we’re eyeing this enormous pile of yardsale items and reveling in how much extra room and storage we’re going to have ~ Yes, Closet Space Galore!!! ~ until we go back inside and see that it looks NO DIFFERENT. Except the closets are neater (vs. empty) and the baby’s room is now just full of random baby stuff, not our junk anymore. *SIGH*

One fun thing I’ve done, though, is pick out the fabrics and “theme” for baby’s room! Here are some pics of the fabrics ~ we’re doing green and brown for this little guy. After seeing all the tons of infant clothes in the past few months and how basically for boys, they’re all baby blue, I was already getting tired of blue, blue, blue :) So, here are the two main fabrics with the animal print for an accent:

The curtains and bumper will be the character fabric, called “Storytime”. I think it may be named after some Beatrix Potter stories? The crib skirt will be made from the stripe, and piping and ties, etc. will be the cheetah fabric. Had to spice it up some, you know?! The walls are already a nice shade of very neutral taupe that matches the browns perfectly, so no paint needed! (You're welcome, Daddy ;)

Well, tonight is the first night of our Prenatal Classes at the hospital. On the agenda for tonight….”the video” of a birth. Oh BOY. I’m not looking forward to this….more in the mindset of what I don’t know won’t hurt me ~ ha! Then tomorrow is our 3D ultrasound – I can’t wait to see my little guy’s face :) I just hope he’s not going to act shy or flip over towards my back. I might have a 20 minute video of his booty to show off, then!!! Stay tuned…

Third Trimester Already!

Wow! Today was officially the first day of our third trimester...only 84 more days to go! It seems like I've got a lot to do in 84 days, but when I say "July 14" in my head, that feels like FOREVER away. Other than a growing belly and "To-Do" list, not much is new in the Williams Household. Just for kicks, here's my latest belly shot (27 weeks) compared to my before-pregnancy body at just 5 weeks when nothing had changed a bit....despite what I thought at the time - Ha!! Did I REALLY think my belly was poking out a bit then? Please... ;)

I'll probably wish I hadn't posted these up here one day, but for now my excitement trumps my vanity...oh well! Boy, I need a tan, huh?!

We also got the nursery semi-cleaned out over the past few weekends. I've been working lately on our growing yardsale pile, and that's what's on Mark's agenda for this weekend: clean out the garage. We need more space to store the stuff that can no longer fit inside the house! So, something's gotta go since we're not moving to a larger dwelling :)

Other exciting happenings ~ our Prenatal Classes at the hospital start in May. I'm sure they will not be the most exciting thing content-wise, but it does mean we're getting closer and closer to meeting our little boy! We're also signed up for Lamaze classes after that. Oh, and another "milestone"...after the next doctor appointment on Friday, we go every 2 weeks!

Finally, I think we're making some progress on picking a name (whew!). We're not 100% set yet, but seem to be leaning toward a first name and probably a middle. BUT, don't get too excited ~ we've decided to wait until he's born to announce his name. (Plus, we're not committed in case we want to change our mind!!)

Belly Shots!

So, now that I look like I swallowed a basketball (or am smuggling a volleyball, as someone said today!), this is really getting interesting. Where's that baby going to grow for the next 14 weeks?? Here are three more shots added to the progression:

I'm not even going to post the shot taken from the front because it looks so entirely silly. :) I'm just so thankful that baby boy is growing so well!! I'm also relieved to say my GTT results came back "normal" - whew! I was afraid I had really overdone it on the sugar there for a while....ha!

Feed Me, Seymore!

Little Shop of Horrors it was at my last dr's appointment when I stepped on the scale and had gained three pounds in seven days!!! (Yes, according to the SAME scale at approximately the SAME time of day - no shoes the second time.) Yikes!! I've read everywhere that the going rate is one pound per week...HA! I feel like that bad "little" plant Audrey.....hungry, hungry, hungry all the time. Somebody stop me!!



So far this morning, I've had a bowl of cereal with blueberries, a large apple, pack of reduced-fat peanut butter crackers....and I'm STILL hungry. It's another hour until lunch :( This is how it is every day here lately, especially in the mornings. And snacking on grapes, apples, almonds and all that healthy stuff isn't cutting it - I want those "stick with you" foods like biscuits and donuts. (I just don't want them to stick to my butt!) Maybe the baby's having a growth spurt. I sure hope somebody is besides me and my thighs!!

Anyway, I got through the yucky GTT ~ Glucose Tolerance Test for gestational diabetes ~ fine, but won't find out my results for a few more days. So the next exciting thing: our 30-week 3D/4D ultrasound!! We are going on May 6 to see our little boy in utereo, and taking Mason and Chandler to "meet" him, too. I really hope he's kicking around a lot that day....usually afternoons are when he does start to get active. I can't wait!

Earning My Stripes

Well, really just "stripe" hopefully....one Linea Nigra is more than enough!! I just noticed this new arrival on my growing belly last week. It's super light, so really not too bad....but of course I Googled the heck out of it :) Several theories emerged as to what this is and WHY?

1. It's a symptom of hormones, just like the other skin pigmentation changes that commonly take place in pregnancy. Why it forms in such an orderly fashion is still a mystery.

2. It's where your abdomen muscles meet, or more accurately, at this point in pregnancy (second trimester usually)....where they fail to meet anymore. When your stomach muscles start being stretched that far, a line forms in the gap.

DARN. There goes my six-pack. ;)

3. It could indicate a folic acid deficiency or insulin issues. Hopefully this isn't the case! I'm taking folic acid with my prenatal every day, plus lots of extra from food. As for the insulin, I'll find out next week when I go for the dreaded Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT). Ick.

Really, unless it means something negative (which I really can't find much proof of) I'm excited about each new development like this! It means we're getting closer and closer to July 14 ~ I can't wait!!

Happy Baby!

Just a quick post...I've tried on all the computers to which I have access to convert the DVD we got at the ultrasound to a form I could post, but haven't had any luck (YET!) In the meantime, I did find a way to capture images from the DVD and just had to post our little man shooting us a smile!! It's only for a split second, but it was so funny I wanted to share:

Before:
After:

Oh, Happy Days!

It's a Boy!!!

And all boy he is, apparently. It took the ultrasound tech all of 2 seconds to determine the sex of the baby ~ he was ready to show it off! Thank goodness, everything looked great on our 20 Week ultrasound as far as scanning for birth defects, etc...Praise God! She checked him out from head to toe, and everything measured on target. He weighs 11 oz at this point ~ not even a pound yet! I, on the other hand, have gained 10 pounds in the past 20 weeks. Not too bad, but at the expected rate of 1 lb per week, that means I'll gain another 15 or 20 before the baby's born. That's quite a bit on short little me, especially since the baby only accounts for a small part of that!!

So here are the goods...hahahaha. There's an arrow pointing to the "turtle", and apparently, turtle = BOY!!! The thing that the arrow is on top of is the umbilical cord, according to the U/S tech.

In case you can't find the turtle, here's another view. (I hope he can forgive me one day for posting his parts for all to see!!!) Mommy's just so excited!!
Here's his little face in 2D:
And in 3D:

Kinda spooky!! :) The tech said it's a little early for the 3D/4D because they're not quite all filled out yet. In another 8-10 weeks, we'll go back and have one and you can really see how baby's features look! But, this was kinda neat for now.

Given how much he was moving around during the ultrasound, he was probably awake. His eyelids will stay closed for another 2 months or so, though.

They also gave us a video of the whole thing, and you can see the 3D part a bit more clearly, but whether or not I can get it in a format that will post on this blog...we'll see. Stay tuned!!

The Baby Bump

Well, I really didn't think I would be showing that much by now, and really depending on what I wear, you can't tell sometimes. But, I've grown out of all my pants except a select few pair that have been in the back of the closet because they were way too big (until now, of course)! So here's the progression since we first found out....

Coming up on Week 19, the baby is not growing so much in length these days, but instead putting on a little fat. It's also covered in fine hair called lanugo and that lovely vernix stuff. Only 8 more days until we find out if we're having a son or daughter!! Please pray for us that the baby will be in good health at this all-important ultrasound :)

A "Real" KICK!!

Today I finally felt this little baby kick!! The doctor said between 18-22 weeks is when you can begin to feel movement, and sure enough....right on time :) I've been feeling little twitches and thumps for about a week now, but just can't tell the difference between them and the usual tummy rumblings. Today, though, I felt this "poke" of pressure similar to something I felt Tuesday. Then, when I put my hand on my belly to feel, *THUMP*....there was another I could actually feel with my hand! Then a bit of what felt like rolling around in there, and baby must have gotten tired and settled down ~ how exciting!!

During Week 18, the baby is about 5 1/2 inches long. Or, the size of a soup can - ha!

Also, he/she is starting to develop the ability to hear and may be startled by loud noises outside the womb. Mark and I have to chatting with this little one...I read somewhere they will recognize familiar voices from inside the womb after being born!!

Only 11 more days until we find out 1) most importantly - if the baby looks healthy and has 10 fingers and 10 toes, etc. and 2) most anticipated: BOY OR GIRL!!!

(or as Chandler put it...."When do we find out if it's a boy or not?" Ya think he wants a brother?????)

This reminds me....why have only 4 people voted for Boy or Girl? Don't worry...your vote will not actually change the sex of the baby ~ it's just for fun! ;)

16 Weeks Today!

January 27
We got to hear baby's heartbeat at the doctor again today! We saw Nurse Melissa and she was super-nice....ususally as soon as they find the heartbeat and measure it, it's over. But, she let us listen for a really long time ~ I love that sound! I'd like to strap that Doppler to my belly and hook up a set of headphones and have continuous baby-feed into my ears :)

We also "heard" it kick, too, but I couldn't feel a thing. So, now I don't feel so bad - it is happening, but it's just too early to tell.

Today the heartbeat was 160 bpm, which is stil in the "girl" range if you put any stock into that wive's tale....we'll see in just a few weeks when we go for THE BIG ONE!!!! (20 week ultrasound where we find out the sex!)

Out of the "Baby Closet"!

January 13
Today we finally told our coworkers about the baby....whew! That was hard work slipping out to all those doctor appointments and wearing lots of swing coats and huge sweaters the past few weeks. To tell his folks, Mark printed off a picture of the 4 of us that we gave his family over the weekend. On the picture, it said:


Picture Frame: $7.99
Gift Bag & Tissue: $3.49
Photo Print: $1.29


Realizing there are 5 people in this picture.........PRICELESS!!



Mike "got it" right away and was even saying, "That's great, man!" etc....but all the rest were just puzzled, or saying what a nice picture it was! So, he got a good laugh out of that.

To tell my coworkers, Mark went to the Great American Cookie Co. and got a cookie that said "Someone in EA is Having a Baby!" and delivered it to the receptionist for my building. So, she called our secretary Sharon to pick it up, and I just laughed as I listed to the chatter over the cubicles as all the girls (and Keith!) mulled over who it could possibly be!!! They kept going over Sharon's only clue: the receptionist said some handsome man in a suit dropped it off....

(I'll have to agree with that!!)

Of course, they figured it out, being there aren't that many obvious answers to that question, in my department at least! So, 5 or 6 ladies come buzzing over wanting to know if I've got something to tell!!! YES, I DO!!!

Finally! It IS a "Real Baby"!!

January 6 ~ Today I'm 13 weeks and we got a test done called an NT Scan. It checks for Downs Syndrome and a few other conditions that result from chromosomal abnormalities. All these tests sure are nervewracking!! Thank goodness, things seem to be fine according to this one, though.

I hope today's not an indication of Little One's temperament...if it is, he/she is going to be one stubborn baby! We were there 2 HOURS for what should have been a 20 minute ultrasound!! the baby just wouldn't turn its head the right way, was flinging its arm up so they couldn't get a good view of the neck skin (that's what they have to measure). Three different people came in to try to get the measurements, in between which I walked, did side bends, used the bathroom, laid on my side, did squats....everything but cartwheels - ha!! Finally they got a good picture of it, but in the meantime while we waited for baby to change positions, they got loads of other great shots. These actually look like a little human's in there!

and our favorite...the "thumb's up"!

Time for the "real" stuff!!

December 19 - Our first visit to the OB for actual pregnancy stuff instead of just ultrasounds to see if the baby's OK. How exciting!! For me, at least....just the regular things like weight, blood pressure, all those questions they ask you about your history, etc. They did a second "dating" ultrasound to check the due date and it came back the same ~ July 14 (I CAN'T WAIT!!!)

At 10 weeks, the baby's supposed to be about the size of a kumquat (a what??)

The ultrasound machine was MUCH better this time, but I still think the baby looked more like a chicken or alien than human - ha! (But still VERY cute, of course :)

December 3: Graduation Day

Nine weeks today!! Congratulations, Baby! You are now officially a fetus instead of an embyro.


We had another appointment today and this was the first ultrasound that actually resembled a baby! Or, maybe more like a teddy bear, as the doctor called it. Here's the picture...you can see a great big body, and two blobs for arms and two blobs for legs. Of course, I was relieved again to see that little heartbeat.

At nine weeks, the baby is the size of a grape, or about 1 inch long and weighs as much as a paper clip.

So, we made it past scary week #8, but don't want to spill the beans yet. I mean, of course, we do! But, we've decided to tell everyone around 16 weeks...whew, that seems so far away!!

Fortune Telling

I was craving Chinese a few nights ago, and there's a great little place down the street from us. So, here I am worrying my head off between every doctor visit about the well-being of the baby...i.e. "Will there still be a baby next time we go?!" and here's my fortune I got to go along with my Sweet-n-Sour Chicken:




Of course, I immediately thought of the baby, but didn't say it because...how silly. It's just a fortune cookie, right? But then when Mark saw it, he grinned and said, "The Baby!!" Yay!! Yes, how silly, but at the same time, how FUN! :)

November 28, 2008

Nervous Ninny Mommy again! Our next appointment was supposed to be December 3, but they had us back a little early because of a little scare that, fortunately, ended up being nothing. I think Daddy was a little nervous, too, because when that little heartbeat showed up again on the screen, he JUMPED up to get a closer look, saying "There it is!!"

7 weeks, 2 days

My Little "Blueberry"-sized Baby!

I knew I was apprehensive about this visit, but I guess more so than I thought because when the doctor left the ultrasound room I just started Boo Hooing sobs of relief!! Whew! This pregnancy/baby business is hard work already...but so worth it :)

PS...Ok, I know these pictures aren't the greatest - they probably all look the same to you! I promise, the good stuff's coming!