Bumpdate: Week 21

Confession: week 21 left me exhausted. We're in the trenches of the "end of fiscal" crunch at work, and it has resulted in many long days and nights - which, when you already aren't sleeping well, compounds on itself to equal one very tired pregnant lady.

We're also down two (TWO!) brains at work at the moment (thanks to two very special, very loved little ones who've recently joined the world), so my already preggo-functional brain has been on overdrive. Just picture a lot of whirring and "spinning wheels of death." For example, I forgot the word for "nursery" the other day and ended up having to tell The Boy about an idea I had for the "room where the baby sleeps."  This kid better come out super smart since she's stealin' all my mojo. 

That said, a majority of my memory for last week is fuzzy as best, so, rather than try and give you half-details on what may or may not have happened, we'll just stick with a simple bumpdate for this week. 

We switched to a new measurement this week - head to toe length - which means baby's "size" shot up quite a bit! Finding the right length in a veggie was tricky (picture me walking around the produce section with a small, pink tape measure checking different options...I'm sure I looked as crazy as I felt). It's a memory, right?

My favorite part about this week, by far, has been feeling Tiny kick. For a while, it was a guessing game as to whether what I was feeling was baby or not, but there's no denying it at this point. It's been highly distracting, since, whenever I feel her, I just want to stop whatever I'm doing, sit still, and focus on her. I just keep telling myself that these moments go too fast - work and laundry can wait.

It's both reassuring and exciting to feel those regular little reminders that she's healthy and growing, even when I can't see her. Grow, little girl, grow! (But then stop promptly and stay a baby forever, okay? Thanks.)

So excited to meet our little wiggle worm. Baby Girl, you are so loved already.

Bumpdate: Week 20

We got a crash course in "sick kid" parenting this week, and let me tell you, I'm not a fan. The helpless, can't-explain-why-this-is-happening, scared feeling is not my favorite thing. The Boy didn't handle it much better (he dislikes when he can't fix stuff). We're gonna be a sad pair when Baby Girl gets sick. 

Thankfully this week it wasn't Tiny - it was one of our fur babies. Our youngest, Gallifrey, has a propensity (like most goldies) to eat things that aren't, well, edible. Eatable, sure. Edible, less so. She particularly likes wood chunks fresh off the fence, small pebbles, bright pieces of plastic, and her blanket (apparently). Add the elements of puppy energy and endless optimism, and you have a perfect storm for gastric obstructions. 

The little goat ate a chunk of her blanket, it got stuck in her tummy, and she couldn't keep food down. We finally decided to take her to the vet after she refused dinner one night (pretty much a sign of the impending apocalypse), and the vet confirmed our fears: she needed surgery. 

They were able to get her in that day, but had to keep her overnight. We were all sorts of pathetic that night, waiting impatiently for the next morning when we could pick her up. The vet said she came through the surgery fine and was doing great in initial recovery...and then we got her home and realized that "great" was a relative term. Poor baby couldn't find a comfortable spot to lay down so she just spent hours pacing and panting and standing and looking sad. She finally collapsed and slept for a bit, but getting her to bed that night was impossible. I don't think any of us slept. 

That was Saturday. She's much better today, but the weekend was rough and eye-opening. Sick babies are hard to care for when a) they can't tell you where it hurts, and b) you can't explain to them that it WILL get better. Thankfully Tiny will eventually speak English. 

Other than that traumatic event, the week was a good one. We had a fun little cookie gender reveal with our small group from church and we went to a movie for the first time in AGES - the new Avengers. Our daughter is destined to be a geek now - her first movie was a Joss Whedon Marvel. 

We have zero qualms about this. 

Speaking of Tiny, we've hit a slightly scary point of having fewer weeks to go than we have in the bank. We're 21 weeks this week...leaving 19 til her due date! Eeep! Thank goodness for the second trimester and the energy it brings - we still have ALL THE THINGS to do. 

In the mean time, here's a bumpdate!

We've loved using our baby banana's name this week - it makes it that much more real that we're going to get to meet her (an actual, tiny person) soon! So do the kicks, which I'm feeling a LOT more of these days - girl's a mover, and I'm not mad about it. 

I'm definitely looking forward to this long weekend - we need both the rest it will offer and the time to finish a few things around the house. Project updates to come!

Hope y'all enjoy your Memorial Day weekends, too! Til next time!

Gender Reveal: It's A...

GIRL!

Y'all! We're having a little girl!

We are so excited! Also, a little surprised. By the time we got to the actual reveal, both The Boy and I had pretty much convinced ourselves that we were having a boy. Clearly, our guts are not to be trusted. 

We didn't do a big reveal, just a small thing at home with our immediate family. Momma was in town, and we had everyone else join us via Google Hangout so we could all see the reveal live. I love that technology let me have all of my favorite people in the same room, even if we live hundreds of miles from each other. It made it all so much more fun. 

At the ultrasound appointment, we handed our tech two Ziploc baggies, one with a balloon labeled "Boy," and one with a balloon labeled "Girl," and once she knew, she swapped out the boy and girl cards for "Yes" and "No" cards. We had the "Yes" balloon filled on our way home and waited for the rest of the crew to join us via webcam. 

Once we'd taken a final vote on what we all thought, we counted to three and popped the giant balloon. I'd prepared myself for a loud noise, but not well enough (those things pack a punch!) The look of surprise on my face below changes from "Holy cow that was loud!" to "Wait, why is this blue confetti pink?" to "Oh! We're having a girl!"

My face in that last picture pretty much sums up my emotions for the next hour or so. It's weird to go so quickly from "We're having a baby!" to "We're having a little girl!" I don't know why it feels different to know who she is, but it does, and it's taken some time to wrap my brain around it.

There was pink confetti EVERYWHERE. In my hair, in Paul's hair, on the wall, on the cat, in between the blinds. We're still picking up confetti, but it's a nice reminder each time I clean up another piece of pink paper - WE'RE HAVING A LITTLE GIRL!!!

Baby Girl, we love you already more than you'll ever know. Your daddy and I simply cannot wait to meet you!!!

Bumpdate: Week 19

Y'all, we've had a crazy week!

It started out pretty normal - I spent a few days working in NWA, heading back to OKC on Wednesday afternoon. I knew we were expecting storms back home, so (thankfully) I left a bit early to try and beat the weather. About halfway there, I got a call from The Boy warning me there was a tornado threat in our area. It looked like I'd beat it to the house, so I kept driving. We may have underestimated the speed of the storm.

I hit our exit right as the rain started, and the weather took a terrifying turn for the worse over the next ten minutes. Those last few miles to our house were a nightmare - sheets of rain, trees bent over the road, flooded streets. I pulled into the driveway with the tornado sirens and emergency alerts blaring and scrambled into the storm shelter with The Boy and fur babies.

We spent the rest of the night in and out of the shelter, comforting pets, praying the house didn't flood, and watching the hot mess break out on the news: multiple tornadoes, city-wide flooding, oh and the storm hit a local safari, freeing multiple lions, and tigers, and bears. Yep. That happened.

On top of all of that, Momma was flying into town smack in the middle of everything. However, the airport flooded and her flight got cancelled, stranding her in Houston (where all the hotels were booked and no flights to OKC were available for the next 24 hours). Thanks to some pleading they were able to get her on a flight to Dallas and she rented a car (and drove through the aftermath) to get to us. We finally got some rest after 3AM.

The excitement continued the next day. Our ultrasound appointment was at 2, and after over half and hour of waiting, we finally got to see the tech. It wasn't that easy, though, as Tiny is breech and was sitting "criss-cross applesauce" (according to the tech). So, she flipped the table upside down and had me hang there for a bit, hoping gravity would help things shift. Then, after a few minutes of poking and prodding at Tiny, she was finally able to determine the gender! We met with the doctor afterwards and got a reassuring "everything looks perfect" report.

We had a small gender reveal with the family later that night (more on that later), and are SO excited to finally be able to call this little one by name! We'll be sharing the gender in a few days - stay tuned on that. In the mean time, here's the Week 19 recap!

Apparently at week 19, baby is the size of an "heirloom tomato" or 6 in long. Don't know about you, but I'm not accustomed to coming across 6 in tomatoes on a regular basis. And, since our last resort (Whole Foods) didn't have any either, we substituted this week.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying time with my mom. We shopped, bought a stroller (a gorgeous, red Bugaboo that I may be more excited about than Tiny ever will be), baked cookies, got pedicures, did a lot of resting, and avoided the continuing onslaught of additional tornadoes and flooding.

Despite the storms, it was a great weekend. Having both Mom and my Bump in the same place on Mother's Day this year was really special. I'm so glad she got to be here - we miss her already!

Gender reveal post on Wednesday! Stay tuned!

Gender Predictions: Old Wives Tales

We find out on THURSDAY if Tiny is a boy or a girl! THURSDAY, y'all! THERE ARE NOT MANY DAYS BETWEEN TODAY AND THURSDAY! *bounces up and down in excitement*

If you can't tell, we're a smidge excited. My Momma is coming to OKC for the ultrasound (she may be more excited than we are, if possible), and we have a fun little reveal planned for the family that evening. (Spoiler: it involves a HUGE balloon and confetti.) 

Once we've had some time to soak in the news as a family, we'll be sharing on social media (and here, of course). I'm so excited to let everyone know who our little one is! In the meantime, we'd love to hear what you all think! If you're curious, I've included some of the common Old Wives' Tales tests & results below. Take a look and cast your vote on Facebook or Instagram!

Old Wives Tales

1. How is Mom carrying/What shape is Mom's belly? 

Well, since it's still early, this one was tricky to answer. Tiny is still pretty low at the moment, but when I lay down, it kinda looks like I swallowed an entire cantaloupe, so that means BOY. 

2. How's Mom's skin - clear or broken out?

I'm broken out all over, one pregnancy symptom I'm NOT loving. That means GIRL. 

3. How's Mom's hair - shiny or dull?

LOVING my hair right now, at least it's playing nice. That means BOY.

4. Has Mom's face changed shape - gotten rounder or longer?

Not rounder (hooray!), so I guess longer? That means BOY.

5. How's Mom's balance - feeling clumsier or more graceful?

I tripped over air yesterday. And it wasn't the first time this week. That means BOY.

6. What has Mom been craving - salty or sweet things?

It kinda depends on the day, but seeing as I made myself a "brownie in a mug" several days in a row last week, I'm going to say sweet. That means GIRL.

7. What gender has Mom dreamed about?

I've had multiple dreams Tiny was not only a boy, but TWIN boys (yikes!). Not sure what the "twin" part means, but boy dreams mean GIRL. 

8. Has Mom been having mood swings?

Yes. Poor hubby. He's endlessly patient. And really good at finding emergency chocolate. That means GIRL.

9. Did Mom have morning sickness?

All. Day. Long. (Thank goodness it's better now.) That means GIRL.

10. What's Baby's heart rate?

A strong, steady 154 beats per minute! That means GIRL.

11. What does the Mayan Calendar predict?

GIRL.

12. How 'bout the Chinese Calendar?

(not sure how it's different, but...) GIRL.

13. If you hold a ring on a string over Mom's belly, how does it swing?

Back and forth pretty steadily. That means GIRL.

If you're keeping track, that's BOY: 4, GIRL: 9. 

The odds seem to be clearly stacked to one side! (which probably means it's definitely a boy, maybe).

Odds aside, what do y'all think? Let us know on social media and stay tuned for the big reveal!

Bumpdate: Week 18

Happy Monday, all! We've had a busy week at the Valentines' - three days in NWA, two + a weekend in OKC, and a drive back to NWA Sunday. On top of all the travel, we also attended a concert (Tour de Compadres: Colony House, Drew Holcomb, Ben Rector, & Need to Breathe) and met one of Baby V's future buddies - my sweet friend Holly's baby boy, Walker. 

In the process, I discovered that I'm no longer cut out to attend concerts like I used to - the loud music made me light headed and dizzy...and we didn't make it through the final set before bailing. We're officially old people. Also, since when did concerts stop coming with chairs? (again, old people)

Despite missing the final set and the minor dizzy spells, we had a great time. It's been a while since I've seen Drew Holcomb in concert, and though I missed Ellie's voice, the band was still phenomenal. Ben Rector was amazing, as always. He was one of the first concerts The Boy and I attended together, so I like that it was Tiny's "first concert," too. (We're apparently also sentimental people). 

We also spent several hours clearing out the nursery - we are nowhere near finished - and started a few other projects around the house. Nesting has officially kicked in!

Like I said: busy. So, without further ado, here's last week's recap Bumpdate!

Tiny is 6 inches long this week - getting so big! - and I love that I'm occasionally feeling teeny little flutters from him or her! Speaking of flutters, we find out if Tiny's a girl or boy this coming week - talk about butterflies! Can't wait to tell you all! Stay tuned.

Bonus Baby Pic!

Bumpdates: First Trimester

For those of you that are curious (but mostly for my Momma), here are the bump pics from the first few weeks!

I know all the books and blogs use fruits & veggies to track baby's growth...but as a baker, I found other items resonated a bit more with my lifestyle. For the first trimester, I used confection-inspired items to see how big our "sweet" little one was getting. It's different, but it was mostly for us anyway, and we had fun with it!

We're switching back to fruits & veggies for the second trimester on (now that Tiny is a big bigger), but here's one more bonus sweet-inspired size comparison from week 13. I'll upload the first few weeks of the second trimester soon. 

Til then!