Beau or Bow?

Well, tomorrow’s the big day!  The one you’ve all been waiting for!  Ok, maybe not the day you ALL have been waiting for, but definitely a day I’ve been waiting for since we found out we were pregnant on New Year’s Eve. 

Just like last time, JP and I both have our own feelings about the gender of this baby – I am 150% sure this is a boy, while he is going with girl.  I didn’t have much of a feeling either way with Becca, but because this pregnancy has been so very different, I have to think this is a boy.

Of course our main concern is that this baby is healthy – boy or girl really doesn’t matter.  Either way we’ll be very happy!

I’m not 20 weeks yet – I’m only 15 weeks – so many people are wondering how we’re finding out so early, and the answer is Wee See.  We used this ultrasound facility with Becca so we could find out early, and I had to do the same with this pregnancy. 

In the morning, we’ll go to Wee See at 8:30.  We are NOT finding out while we are there – instead we’re going to have the ultrasound tech put the ultrasound photos in an envelope, and our sweet Lauren will take the results home with her.  We are having the family over at 1:00 where we will do a balloon release to find out the gender of this sweet baby.  I’m very excited to find out with our family what our new addition is. 

Becca has her own ideas about the baby’s gender.  I’ve tried to convince her she’s wrong, but she won’t budge.  She is convinced I am having ‘2 babies’!  She has thought this from the moment we told her we were pregnant, so I’m hoping this doesn’t mean anything. 

(I have a really cute video of her talking about how SHE is going to have 2 babies, but I can’t get it to upload.)

I also let my students predict whether they think this baby is a girl or a boy – they love being a part of it.  Here is a picture of their results!

I didn’t share my thoughts ahead of time in order to keep them from choosing boy because I am, but they still are obviously for Team Blue!  I can’t wait to find out tomorrow!  Please make sure you check back tomorrow to find out what we’re having.

And PLEASE, comment on this blog post letting us know what you think we’re having!

You, Me, and Baby makes...4

So, this is my 1st baby post for this pregnancy.  With Becca, we shared the news with the world immediately.  With this baby, we chose to wait.  We waited because after a devastating miscarriage in August, and a rough start to this pregnancy, we wanted to make sure this was real.  And real it is.  We prayed for this, we waited for this, and now that's it here, there is no doubt.  No doubt because I have been miserably sick the ENTIRE time.  
Let me back up.  2012 proved to be a trying year.  I lost two people who were are very special to me.  In August, we lost our baby - a situation that hit me much harder than I could have imagined.  Don't get me wrong, 2012 wasn't all bad.  God certainly blessed me beyond what I deserved, but I was ready to say goodbye that year.  New Year's Eve came, and my period was a day late.  I didn't want to get my hopes up because this wasn't the first time this had happened.  We had plans to spend a quiet evening with a few close friends, but I couldn't stand it.  I had to take a pregnancy test.  So I did, and after the three minutes if you held it just the right way, under a bright light, there was a faint line.  Could it be?  I was scared to get my hopes up, but after texting a picture of it to Lauren, she confirmed that she too thought it was positive.  I was pregnant!  I waited until JP got home to share the news with him, and he was elated.  We chose not to tell Becca - just in case.  The next week 2 months was scary.  I had 3 hCg tests to watch my levels, and an ultrasound at 6 weeks where we were able to see a heartbeat and find out our due date is September 11th.  I've had a few more appointments since then, and so far everything looks great.  We were even able to hear the heartbeat last week.  There is nothing like a heart beating at 160 bpm to bring a smile to your face.
Now, this pregnancy has not been all bliss.  In fact, I have been pretty miserable.  It started with horrible heartburn, nausea, and vomiting, followed by horrible stomach pains that we believe could be my gallbladder.  I had some tests run last week that will hopefully give us some answers.  I basically go to work, and then come home and go to bed.  I don't know what I would do without my amazing husband who has taken on all of the housework, laundry, cooking, and taking care of our very busy 2 1/2 year old:)  I'm very thankful for this miracle of life growing inside of me, but I would totally be ok if all of this sickness went away!  I'm going to try and do a better job of updating our blog especially now that we have another one on the way.  
Here's a picture of me at 13 weeks.  I definitely began showing much faster with this one.  Other than being horribly sick, everything else about this pregnancy is different, too.  I'm going to try and do monthly stats, so here goes nothing:

How Far Along:  13 weeks (tomorrow)
Weight Gain/Loss:  Lost 13 pounds (the only positive part of being so sick)
Maternity Clothes?  No
Sleep:  Normal, other than not being able to sleep on my stomach
Best Moment This Week:  hearing a heartbeat
Cravings:  vegetables!!!  totally opposite of my cravings with Becca:)   
Gender Guess:  BOY!!!  I feel like this pregnancy is totally different, so I'm going with boy!  We'll find out on Saturday, March 23rd.
Size of Baby:  the size of an egg;  almost 3 inches long
Movement:  every website says you can't feel movement this early on, but I beg to differ.  I constantly feel flutters on my left side, and that's where they found the heartbeat last week!