For my teensy little boy.

So World Prematurity Day was this week. My newsfeed has been filled with pictures and stories of babies who arrived before they were expected. A lot of them were delivered at 35 weeks and even later. I see these babies, tiny, sick, undeveloped, and it amazes me that Charlie was as perfect as he was when he was born. I've questioned Doctor J so many times about whether or not his due date was accurate. Every time she tells me yes, it was right based on measurements and development.

My happy, curious, active little boy stuns me every day. He loves to learn and discover new things. He loves to watch the big kids play outside in our street. He loves Hank, and Hank loves him. One day soon, he'll love to walk!! I feel like he's within days of being upright!

Good with the bad.

Well, we've all survived Christmas. That's about all I have to say about that.

I am very happy to be back home. I actually slept last night, which I haven't really done since I left for Hometown. It was wonderful.

I don't have another doctors appointment until January 7, but I may end up going in before then. My back is catching with every move I make. It may be time to visit an orthopedic to see if they can do anything. I have 12 more weeks of having Boogie on board, and I need to be able to move without crying every time I move a muscle. Last night was brutal. It took Bob and I around 15 minutes to get me out of our bed. Tears were involved. It was rough. And then it took almost as long for me to lie back down. Horrendous.

I'm also having some issues with my stomach again. During Christmas, every time I ate any food or drank anything, I barfed. This isn't morning sickness; it's my gastroparesis flaring up. It's been interesting. Puking when your ribs and back hurt with every move is nearly unbearable.

I am so happy when I feel Boogie kick. However, that's about the only damn thing I enjoy about this pregnancy. It's been a long 7 months, and while I want him to stay in there and cook a little longer, I'm ready for him to be here for selfish reasons. I'm in pain and misery every day. But like I said, feeling him kick makes it worth it. And I know it'll be worth it when he gets here. I'm just ready to feel better!

22 weeks!

I had a doctors appointment today. I was a little disappointed, because I wanted to see my little boogie. But it was an appointment only. Insurance will only pay for "medically necessary" ultrasounds. Next time I go in, my doc is going to "need" to measure the baby to make sure its not overweight or underweight. So I'll get to see him three weeks! Once I get through 28 weeks, I'll be going in every two weeks for appointments. It's getting closer!!

I was able to get an audio recording of his heartbeat. It's so strong and perfect!!

IT'S A BOY!!

Well, it's been a roller coaster week in our house.

Let's start with Wednesday. We found out.... WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!! HE was super very proud to show us his junk. As I was lying on the table, the tech did all the measurements first. Then she started looking for gender clues. She had barely started looking when I saw IT and started crying. Immediately. Bob was so confused. The tech said, "Aw. Mama sees what's going on!" We clued Bob in. He cried. I kept crying. We made the tech cry.

We both wanted a boy, but Bob was convinced it was a girl. We took all the pictures and went to sit in the hallway to wait to see Doctor J. While out there, we started crying again. We dried it up and went into an exam room, where we started crying again. The Doc had seen us a couple of times by then, and made a pretty good amount of fun of us for crying for so long. 

Here's our boy!

Saying hi to us.

A sweet little profile.

After my appointment, I went on to work that afternoon. After work, I was in a car accident. My poor car... A lady failed to stop while leaving a parking lot and t-boned my passenger side. We were both okay, but I called my doc just in case. She advised me to go to the ER just make sure the baby was okay. So 4-5 hours later, we left the ER with a confirmation that baby boy was okay and that HE was definitely a boy.

It was so cute during that ultrasound. He was asleep. The tech kinda pushed on my belly, and he woke up, looked around, stretched out, rolled over, and went back to sleep. It. Was. Adorable. And I cried. Again.

Along with everything else this week, my gpa ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery, and we also found out his brother passed away. I wasn't close to my great uncle, but I know it's weighing heavily on my gpa, especially since he was in the hospital and unable to attend the funeral.

So we're hoping next week we will all be back to normal. Or as much as normal as possible! For now, I'm working on keeping baby BOY toasty and snuggly. 

Oh baby!

So. It's been a long week. I've puked all over town, fallen asleep at work, and heard the baby's heartbeat. HOLY CRAP.

I had my first official doctors appointment on Thursday. It took me approximately 45 minutes to pee in a cup. Yep. Talk about a shy bladder. Once I FINALLY squeezed out some urine, they immediately took me back to the room with a big CONGRATS! My doctor came in beaming, so excited, and ready to chat. We talked through all the, what I assume to be normal, things. Symptoms. Problems. Expectations.

They were able to squeeze us in with the sonographer too, so we were able to see and hear the baby that same day. Puking the last 5 weeks, being so tired I can't hold my head up, hearing the doc say congrats did not feel real. As soon as I heard the heartbeat, it was there. Real. Actual. And boy, did the tears start falling. Even sweet Bob teared up a little. The sonographer printed some pictures for us, and then I went out to do the pre-screening blood tests for genetic disorders. They haven't taken that much blood from me since the mysterious elbow incident of 2010.

So anyway. We have a baby. Growing and making it's Mama super crazy sick. Hank also seems to be aware of it's presence. He's now resting his head on my belly when we sit together, and it's super sweet.

For now, meet our March baby!

Salty lemons.

I've always been a fan of lemons. The saltier the better, in my opinion. And right now, I'm craving salty lemons. When I was a kid, my parents used to get so mad at me for eating them, citing harm to my teeth as the reason behind their aggravation. I think it was really because I was eating them and they wanted them. Anyway. I've been inhaling lemons and tomatoes, with salt, of course. I don't know what that means exactly, but I'm anticipating elevated blood pressure during this pregnancy. I've GOT to get my salt cravings under control. Asap.

So this week is our first doctors appointment. I would have already gone in, between Bob's work schedule and Dr. J's maternity leave, it's been a nightmare. Doc returns to work Monday and Bob comes home on Wednesday. So Thursday, we'll go in and check this little nugget out on an ultrasound. I'm pretty pumped about it! I'm ready. I think.

I'll just say- I adore my doctor. I've only seen her once before, last year at my check up, but she was so awesome. When I saw her last year, it was after a long summer of funerals, a wedding, a cross country move, and getting used to Bob being gone all the time. To say I was in a bad place mentally would be an understatement. During my appointment, she just talked to me. As a friend. As a person. We spent 20 minutes just chatting about anything and everything. She immediately made me feel comfortable. I'd never had a female gynecologist before, which I told her, so she made it all super easy and open. I'm excited to experience this with her!