Christmas Cranes

picture taken around 32/33 weeks along

Tomorrow I'm 35 weeks along in the pregnancy! Only 5-ish more to go! Feeling mostly good. More tired lately, more hungry, more heartburn, more big belly. But other than that, it really has been a great pregnancy so far. 
Hashtag blessed. 

We went to the beach around my birthday (a few weeks ago) and took fun pictures. This is one of my favorites.

Our midwife is so awesome at helping us be proactive in our pregnancy. I think a lot of people who are having hospital births expect that they don't need to do much for themselves or for baby during pregnancy because they expect to be medicated and everything will be fine. This experience has opened my eyes up even more to the medical aspect of everything. While I may not know what it's like to have an OB doctor for this pregnancy, I know that going to most doctors is a quick in and out appointment with most time spent with a nurse or nurse tech and very little time with the actual doctor. Having a midwife has been amazing because all of our time and appointments is with her, the actual person who will be delivering our child. She gives tips and suggestions on better eating and exercising. She is trained to know what to feel for to know what position the baby is in and what I should be doing to ensure he's in the right position for birth. Which, by the way, our little guy is posterior, meaning his back is aligned with my back. He needs to turn over so that his back is next to my stomach. His head is already down, so that's a good thing. While him being posterior is not exactly the worst thing, it does mean if he doesn't flip over the right way soon, he will have more room to get a lot bigger, making delivery worse. I've been doing certain yoga positions to get him to flip...hopefully it's helping! I feel some big movements but I can't really tell what part of him is where. I do think he's in the process of flipping though.




Ben and I went walking yesterday around our neighborhood. We have quite a few sandhill cranes that live in our neighborhood. I'm not really a bird person, but I really love these cranes. They're probably about 4 feet tall, maybe in between 4 and 5. They travel in pairs and small groups. They have a loud honking sound when flying overhead and kind of look like geese when they're flying. Their wingspan is huge. They seem to not have a care in the world, which is one reason I love them so much. They just do their thing and not much bothers them. I got some neat pictures of them yesterday while walking around. We have a few gorgeous trees that changed colors (dude, it's almost like it's fall in Florida or something! We don't get to experience the color change down here.... and now that I think about it, I think today marks the first day of winter. Guess it will get cold in a month or so.). 

CHRISTMAS IS IN 4 DAYS!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!

33 weeks!

32 weeks!

{I'm such a slacker on posting weekly pregnancy pictures! Coming soon...hopefully!}

At 32 weeks, still feeling great! Lots of movement. Lots of hiccups for the little man (they don't seem to last too long). 

We went to our birth class a week ago. Lots of good info for both parents...so glad Ben is just as excited and interested to learn about all of this as I am. I definitely wouldn't have the courage or faith to have a homebirth on the first go-around (or likely at all) if I didn't have him. And just so we're all clear, he never swayed my decision about where to give birth, he said it's my decision, he wants me to be as comfortable as I can be and he would support any decision. 

For all the people shaking their heads at me as I choose an unmedicated natural home birth (and because I just said he wants me to be comfortable, which by default, "unmedicated child birth" and "comfortable" do not go together), I am almost 100% certain I would be more uncomfortable in a hospital setting even with an epidural than I will be at home. I would literally have performance anxiety if I was in a hospital, with all of the different strangers coming in and out of the hospital room, checking all my lady parts, having all these fun beeps from all of the equipment, having wires and tubes in my arms, and then the strangers giving me all sorts of commands about when to push or when not to push. At home, I will have at most 1 stranger there (that is, if I'm not able to meet the midwife's birth assistant before the Big Day). At home, I can walk around, I can turn the lights down low (or have them all on and bright if I choose), I can EAT (they don't let you eat in a hospital!), I can take a bath or shower whenever I want, and the only people there will be the people who have been taking care of me since the early stages of the pregnancy. People who have seen lots of births and won't judge or care with how I end up dealing with the pain. 

Sorry to get off on that little tangent. 32 weeks and still going strong! After our birth class, we went downtown to take fun pictures. I wanted to play with the manual settings on the camera to understand better how to get crisp pictures at night with a tripod. It was a little difficult being both the photographer AND the subject....therefore some of the pictures are not quite in focus. After Ben and I started playing with the camera settings, we realized we could make "ghost" pictures. You'll see what I mean when you scroll down... one or both of us literally looks like ghosts. Kinda neat, eh?

Baby Bump comparison at 31 weeks

Ben and I are out of focus in this picture because we had the shutter speed very high and then we were not completely still. Anywho, you get the idea of whose bump is bigger.

Favorite "ghost" picture:

The shutter speed is at the highest setting here, which means while the shutter is capturing the image, you must be completely (I repeat, COMPLETELY) still. This is an example of me not understanding that and coming into the picture and moving while the shutter is still capturing what is going on.


More pictures to come! Sleep is calling my name at the moment...

Halloween costume

Old news, but here's a pic of my Halloween costume. Ben was determined to make it. Borderline creepy, it got a few good laughs at work. The legs weren't attached the whole time and I kept the arms in my pockets for professionalism. Hey, I can't help if Baby wanted to help mommy work! ;)

At 29 weeks this week, still feeling great. Getting bigger. Noticeably pregnant now. Sometimes when walking by someone or greeting someone, I notice their eyes wander down to my belly. It's a weird feeling. Eyes are up here! lol...most women say that for wandering eyes on other body parts. Anywho, baby is getting bigger and kicking/moving more. He's gotten the hiccups a couple times. They don't seem to last long. Some people want to complain and complain about their pregnancies, but I am so in love with this kid that at the moment everything that is happening is just so adorable. So what if he gives me a couple good jabs in the ribs. A moving/kicking baby is a healthy one (at least better than NOT moving or kicking). 

I feel like this baby is a pretty calm one. He doesn't kick ALL the time. He has days where it seems like he's moving all the time and then a day or so later, he takes a break and hardly moves at all. It scares me a little on those days, but as long as I feel a little tickle or kick a couple times, I just hope and pray that he's taking a break from working so hard the day before. He's allowed to be tired too!

Midwife appointment went well the other day. Still waiting to hear back how my glucose and iron levels are, but as she said, "no news is good news." Now we're on an every 2 week schedule with appointments. And then eventually she'll see us every week. Down to the nitty gritty. It's really flying by, and still so much to do.

In other news, a huge shout-out and CONGRATS to my best friend Tina!! It can't be easy moving across the country (I only did 600 miles compared to your vast 2000!!) and I wish you the best of luck! Such an adventure and so many exciting things in your future! We shall try our best to get out to visit you soon. There may be days and even weeks where you may be homesick. Just remember, everyone is only a phone call away! Check out all these people rooting for you!

Love ya girl! So happy for you!!

3rd trimester?

Some websites say the 3rd trimester starts at week 27, others say at week 28. Anywho, I'm in week 27 this week, so 3rd-ish trimester! WOO-HOO!! It has been flying by!! 

This weekend was car seat information overload. Since technically he can come at any time now and likely live through it (though hopefully he will wait a few more months to make an appearance), I want to have the car seat sooner rather than later. Though I suppose if I was to have him right now this second, he would likely be in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for a couple weeks, which I would have time to get all the necessary things. Anywho, looking up car seat information and price checking is mind-numbing. There are so many different kinds of car seats and brands. Should we go with an infant car seat that has the handle that is easy to carry (which means in about a year we will have to buy another car seat for a bigger child)? Should we go with the convertible car seat that does not have a handle to carry but will last the child for the first few years from infant to toddler? We've never done this before. Is it likely the baby will wake up every time we get him out of the carseat? I was under the impression babies sleep all the time...can we assume if we get the convertible car seat that he'll keep sleeping when we need to get him in and out of the car? 

Cravings: no weird food combination cravings. Mostly just crave chocolate (though in all honesty that was before pregnancy too). Lately I've really wanted a chicken in a biscuit like you might get for breakfast at a fast food place like Burger King or Hardees. But eating better means staying away from fast food. Breaded chicken in a biscuit might not be a healthy food but I do foresee this being cooked at home within the next month...

Appetite has increased two-fold. Anything that I would have eaten before now needs to be nearly doubled for me to feel full. Hello grocery store....we were becoming good friends, but now it seems we will be best friends since mama goes through the food supply so much faster now. On one note, our fridge is completely full right now! Can't say I've ever seen so many good things in there before! 

Ben's uncle Larry came and visited a couple times last week. We had a five-star chef in our house twice AND I'm pregnant.... how lucky are we! He made us breaded chicken with baked eggplant and mashed potatoes one night. The next visit was lasagna (with apple slices and carrots!!), and for dessert a puff pastry filled with apple slices and strawberries and topped with a cherry apple syrup that we made ourselves. We learned so many amazing cooking tips; we've been experimenting ever since we ran out of the leftovers. 

The lasagna might sound weird to have apples and carrots in it, but here's the thing: we have food restrictions in our household. AND we love Italian food. Some of the main restrictions (found in probably all Italian dishes) are no garlic, no onions, no mushrooms. Larry thought that he should replace the things that he would have used like onions and mushrooms and replace with things that would give the same consistency without taking away flavor. In place of onions, he put apples. In place of mushrooms, he put carrots. And we never would have known the difference if we didn't see him make it. Quite an amazing experiment (he had never made it like that either). One more recipe to add to his menu.

image from recipe website

And while on the topic of food, Chef Baby has done it again. Ben has been on an apple craze. We have so many apples in our house, yet they don't look like they're disappearing. On contrary, I think maybe they're multiplying. So I found some recipes with apples, and we tried one tonight. Super easy, not much mess, and so very yummy! They're called Apple Squares from the allrecipes.com website. We did not use nuts and we used one and a half apples. Also my pregnancy brain forgot to put in the baking powder, but it still cooked and tasted good.  

It tasted like the apple crisp a la mode from Applebees, minus the a la mode. It would be sooo very good with vanilla bean ice cream. Every time I make something new like this and it turns out good, Ben asks me what have I done with his wife. He says this is just me turning into a mom.

It's getting harder for me to get up and down from chairs now. I can tie my shoes/touch my toes but it must be done in an awkward bending way. If only my arms were a little longer. If you've ever wondered what it feels like to be pregnant, just imagine you've got your pants pulled up right under your breasts and can't bend over without discomfort.

Now for some funny pregnancy memes, courtesy of googling pregnancy memes.


Yep, definitely there now and can only assume it will get worse. 



I asked Ben this weekend, "can we make a chocolate cake? We have strawberries we can eat with it so it's healthy!" haha. We did not make a chocolate cake, by the way.



Oh, have I mentioned how out of whack my hormones are right now? I should probably take this sign with me to work. Working on sick patients every day definitely brings on the water works. Working with incompetent people brings on the anger. And all of this emotion just makes me need a York peppermint patty to get through it all.




Still not sure if Fred knows there's something different going on. This picture was just too cute to not include it.

Thanks internet for your funny memes. 

FOOOOOOD

Today I think I've eaten the most in one sitting than I have ever in my entire life. I made a one-dish meal that had potatoes (cut into about 1 inch cubes), chicken breast with Italian dressing, 1 whole carrot (sliced) and 1 whole zucchini (cut into 1 inch cubes also). I did have intentions of making this for both of us and possibly having leftovers....but instead I ate all of it.  :(   
...And still hungry...

I've been learning more about how to make homemade things with simple ingredients. {Side note: all of these recipes came from allrecipes.com} It started with homemade chocolate chip cookies. I got a craving for cookies but it was too late (or I was too lazy) to go buy some, so I searched online just to see if I would even have the right ingredients. Sure did! I started whipping everything out right away, and made some of the best cookies I have ever eaten. They were perfect and even soft a day later (truth is, I cannot make soft cookies. They always turn super hard within an hour after getting them from the oven, so I consider this to be a HUGE success since the cookies were still soooo yummy and soft the next day).

Ben and I experimented with the next batch of chocolate chip cookies. Keeping the recipe the same, we used a food injector (looks like a syringe) and injected the cookie dough balls with peanut butter right before we put it in the stove to bake. I think we even had a marshmallow or two that hadn't been eaten yet, so we cut that up and put into a couple of the cookie balls. The marshmallow didn't really do anything (it basically melted after you took the pan out of the oven), but the peanut butter spots were a nice surprise!

Some of the batter from this batch was left without chocolate chip cookies and I only put cinnamon in it to try to make snickerdoodle cookies. They were good, but overall I think just the plain chocolate chip was the best.

This weekend I experimented with making our very own tortillas. It didn't quite come out like I would have liked, and I'm not sure exactly if it was supposed to come out that way or if it's something I did. I think partly I cooked them too long, which made them a little tough (not very easy to roll up for a burrito). I also think I could have rolled them out a little more before cooking. Will definitely experiment with again sometime just to see if they will come out better. They weren't horrible but not great either. I did cut a couple of them up into triangles/odd shapes and put them in the oven for about 7 minutes to make chips. I feel like those tasted better, lol.

We also made homemade chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies. A couple little issues with those too, but the taste was still good, so of course we ate all of them.

One more thing we made homemade was peach cobbler (which honestly, I think this was what started all of the fun homemade cooking). We made this earlier on in the pregnancy and I don't remember where I got the recipe from. It was just exactly how I remember my grandmother's peach cobbler. Mmmmm!

Now, we have about 10 apples that need to be eaten, and I've already found a few yummy looking recipes for them. I'll try to remember to take pictures of our food adventures so that this is more interesting. :)


Also, we ARE trying to eat better, and yet these recipes are not exactly healthy. I will say that the peach cobbler and chocolate chip cookies did come before our breakdown of making it a priority to eat better and read the labels. We're not perfect and will end up eating "bad" food once in a while. The tortillas are supposed to be fairly healthy I would imagine just because they are whole wheat tortillas and don't need many ingredients. I just bought some spinach tortillas from the store and the ingredients list is a mile long, therefore they are probably not all that healthy either. However, I still feel that our homemade tortillas were more in the direction of being healthy. The no-bake oatmeal cookies were a little healthy in the aspect that oats are good for you, chocolate is good for you (in moderation), and peanut butter can be good for you if you get the right kind. We just looked at what our peanut butter is made of, and it's mostly sugar. Crazy concept, I thought peanut butter would have been made from peanuts. I bought a new kind today that actually IS made from peanuts, so we will see just how a "real" peanut butter is supposed to taste.

This week on the menu we've got chicken & cheese quesadillas, probably some sort of chicken and spinach/veggie wrap, tortilla rollup with cheese and green onions, chicken and veggie stir-fry (usual weekly meal, usually served with brown rice), and a couple meals with lean ground beef. For me, most of these come with a side salad of spinach leaves, cucumber, carrots, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Fruit smoothies or oatmeal for breakfast. Usually a scrambled egg with a piece of toast/cardboard for lunch with side of strawberries. Snacks include greek yogurt with granola and strawberries, Kind bars, fruit, and cheese & crackers (surprisingly enough, plain triscuits are only made with 1 or 2 ingredients!). Happy eating, y'all!

24 Weeks

Or, as my lovely niece reminded me, another way to think about it, 6 months! Wow! Where has the time gone? Feeling great lately, got lots of energy, eating and exercising more, feeling Baby kick more. 

We got one of those exercise balls. I always thought they were silly when I saw them before, but wow, you can get so sore just from sitting on it! It's really great for helping posture, and of course there's lots of other ways to use it to get a work out. For $10, I'd say it's a great investment for anyone! 

No weird cravings yet. I've had small cravings here and there, probably my biggest craving is chocolate. Right now I'm on a chocolate and caramel kick (had to have some Rolos). Earlier on in the pregnancy I craved my grandmother's southern peach cobbler so bad, we had to make another grocery run to get some fresh peaches and other ingredients (can't forget vanilla ice cream!). I was in peach cobbler heaven. Ben said he liked it the most on the first day but didn't really like the flavor of it reheated.... It was a sad day to know that I was going to have the rest of it all to myself! Haha it was soooooo good!

Nothing new in my world, really. Started washing and folding some of the baby clothes we have before I start taking inventory. The 0-3 month onesies are some of the cutest and smallest clothes I've ever held. It's a very interesting feeling to look at the clothes basket and see little boy clothes ready to be laundered. I'm loving this little guy more and more and really can't wait to hold him in a few months and shower him with kisses. 

Ben and I keep envisioning having this little boy and all the fun things we will get to do with him and teach him. I am super excited for all the baby stages, but I also keep envisioning the 2 & 3 year old stages where he's walking and we can take family walks around our neighborhood and look at lizards and ... well the list goes on and on with things to do. 

There's still so much to get done before his arrival. I started looking at baby shopping websites to get an idea of how much more we need and what it will cost. The good thing is that a lot of this stuff we only need to get once and then when it's time to plan for baby#2, we will already have a lot of what we need. The bad thing is that it's just soooo much to get at one time! And I am only talking about essentials and not things that are neat to have (i.e. a baby wipes warmer is an interesting idea but not an essential). 

And if you're worried about Mr Fred, he's still getting plenty of attention. He's been very sweet to me lately. Not sure if he has any idea what's going on or if he's able to sense it. He can see the new clothes and toys, but he's actually not that interested in them. He's not a fan of toys that make noises or sing songs, but I keep telling him that he's going to have to get used to it for a while. Some of the baby toys make some of the same sounds that his cat toys make...I believe that he does approve of those types of toys. 

Here's what babycenter says about what's going on with baby at 24 weeks:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at about 1 1/3 pounds. Since he's almost a foot long (about the size of an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!!

haha, Gender Reveal ice cream. from here

New stuff:
It's a boy! This week I'm 23 weeks along (5 months), which means I'm past the halfway point of pregnancy. Whoooo it has flown by! He weighs a little over a pound now and is probably around 11 or 12 inches long. Amazing! 

As for mama, I've been feeling great! Besides an ever-increasing belly and random kicks and jabs, I probably wouldn't think I was pregnant. I know this sweet period won't last, so I'm soaking it in! 

We bought our first clothes for Baby Boy last weekend at our community yard sale! We got some awesome finds; there was a nice woman selling her son's baby stuff and she kept everything in such good condition, it was like buying brand new! We stocked up with a few outfits for the whole first year and got a baby swing all for really cheap! Yay deals!

As new parents, we're going through some interesting changes too. Whenever that moment hits you that "this is real" and that you're having a baby together, you realize in that moment that you'd do anything for that little one. We've been working for years to eat better, to be healthier. We usually take a few steps forward, then maybe a step backwards to the junk food, and then forward again. A little at a time, but we've both come a long way in our eating habits.

Then we get the news that my iron is low. For me, working in the medical field, I see patients with low iron all the time and I know what is seriously/critically bad and what is borderline (in my opinion, I am borderline right now between "okay, not great" and "definitely room for improvement"). I'm right on the border for the state law to say it's ok for me to have a home birth or that I have to deliver in a hospital. I've been taking an iron supplement to help and came to the realization that I really need to step up my game if I want to have a healthy baby and a healthy labor. 

So, Ben and I spent a few hours at the store reading labels and getting healthier food choices. We're not perfect by any means in regards to "eating clean", but we've both decided this is what needs to be done to help our little family. We are eating things that when we read the ingredients section on the label, we know what most or all of them are. And shopping at the local farmer's markets for fruits and veggies (and OMG so much cheaper than at the grocery store!!).

We had an interesting discussion also about how vague most doctors are in regards to being healthier. Typically you may go to the doctor for something and they may tell you if something is wrong and give you a prescription to fix or mask the problem. Not too many go into depth explaining the different processes of the body or talk too much about how to fix the problem without prescriptions (guess that's why some people would rather go to a homeopathic physician). Anywho, our midwife is completely awesome and so helpful in giving us ways and ideas to help our baby get the optimum nutrients he needs and explaining how certain things will counteract other things (for instance, I can't take the iron supplement with a drink that is high in calcium because iron and calcium counteract each other). 

Apologies for the really long post with only one picture (and a borrowed one, at that). Here's you a random picture that's probably been seen in a previous post. 

Have a great week!

Baby is Kicking!

Baby started kicking (where you could actually feel it from the outside) on Sunday, August 31, and he or she kicked most of the day. 

The rest of this week has been pretty slow with the kicking, just off and on here and there. Yesterday, I was off work and sitting on the couch surfing the internet when he or she started kicking again. 

I asked Ben if he wanted to feel, so he came over and put his hand on my belly (which by the way, I'm getting a baby bump!), and Baby kicked good and hard for him to feel! Haha, it was the biggest kick I've felt yet (they're pretty weak at the moment and irregular, but they will soon get stronger). Pretty cool moment yesterday. 

Life

Things are going smoothly so far in the pregnancy. Today I'm 18 weeks along! Almost halfway there! We have an appointment with our midwife this week and she will give us a script to get an ultrasound done within the next couple of weeks, and that's when we'll find out if it's a little boy or a little girl! Exciting!!!

I'm not sure how teenage moms do it and first time moms with unplanned pregnancies. For me, everything just feels right and in place. I feel so ready for this. It's the weirdest thing and/or feeling. A few years ago, I couldn't stand the thought of having to change a diaper... but now, (and I haven't even changed any yet), now I feel like when the time comes to do that, it's just going to come natural, and the thought doesn't gross me out anymore. I'm sure there will be fun first-time parent struggles, but we'll get through it like anyone else. 

Next subject...
We have a spider that guards our house. He (?) has been at our house for months now, so we have named him Peter. Sometimes he hangs out in the back of our house (he is an outside spider, by the way. I'm sure if he ever gets inside, we will have to burn the house down). He never bothers us, so we just let him be since he's our natural little bug-repellent. Pictures of Peter to come soon.

pic from here

First Appointment

We met with a midwife last week, or, rather, she met with us. She owns a concierge home birth business, so all of the appointments happen in your own home. Some questions you may be asking us are:

"Why would you choose a midwife over a doctor?"
Many reasons:

1. Midwives are certified and trained (some even have nursing degrees). Some midwives (or all? not sure about that) can order lab tests, ultrasounds, offer prenatal and postpartum care, and do many other things just like a doctor would. 
2. Have you ever been to a doctor's office and seen the doctor longer than 10-20 minutes? Maybe 30 minutes tops? A midwife is more personal, you get to know them better (and likewise they get to know you better too). Definitely helps when you have tough questions to feel comfortable with the person you're asking.

"Why would you choose to have a homebirth instead of at a hospital?"

• Someone once told me, "You go to the hospital when you're sick. Childbirth is normal, you're not sick, so why go to the hospital?" Ever since I heard that, it's always made complete sense to me, even though I was raised to believe that you have to go the hospital when you're having a baby.
• Of course, in certain cases and conditions, it is imperative to go to the hospital to deliver (you would also be considered "sick", right?). 
• I am healthy (no major medical problems), so the chances of a problem are already starting slim

When you really stop to think about it, women's bodies are designed for childbirth. Childbirth is a completely natural and normal thing. There is no need for medical intervention unless there is a serious complication, and most times you will have a symptom before the due date that will point your caregiver to know whether you may have a problem at delivery.

It's very interesting the stigma that goes along with telling someone you're planning to have a natural homebirth. Why have we made this into something that sounds so foreign and wrong? Yet, going to a seemingly sterile place (full of sick people), getting injected with all kinds of medicines, being poked and prodded, having a TEAM of people seeing all parts of you, yet this is our "social norm". Again, I am all for it when there is a complication or something unnatural. And I read a comment on a forum where a woman who had 3 or more kids chose to do a hospital birth because it was the only place she might get a couple of days of rest, unlike if she had delivered at home....I might can understand that mindset too. 

Anywho, for whatever reason, homebirth is calling out to us, this just feels right. 

THIS JUST FEELS RIGHT. 

Overall, that is the statement that I keep coming back to. After weighing all of the pros and cons of homebirth, birthing centers, and hospitals, this decision just feels right. 

Overall, this is OUR birth plan, not anyone else's. So, while negative comments and things like "You can't do that! You have to go [here]!" are not welcome, any other comments and advices are very much welcome and appreciated. I'm open to any pros/cons on any side of the spectrum, maybe there are still things we have not considered yet. 

Then there is the final and worst possible outcome question (yes, we do have to be prepared for this just in case):

"What happens when you're at home and there is a complication?"

• Midwives are capable of controlling a situation to an extent. And we live in such a good area, there are about 7 different hospitals on all sides that deliver babies that we can turn to if needed. We have it narrowed to 2, and will narrow it more when we have the dreaded insurance talk ("do we go to the one covered by our insurance or do we go to the one that our midwife has connections with that is probably not covered by our insurance")

Those are the main questions I can think of at the moment. The first appointment with the midwife was basically a meet-and-greet. Hopefully at the next appointment we will get to hear the heartbeat! 

This week, he/she is the size of a kumquat!

Picture Source

He/she is starting to grow fingernails this week! Their organs are functioning, their fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and they can move their limbs. 

I've had morning sickness for weeks now. No throwing up, just tons of nausea.  And for me, it might be called morning sickness but it lasts ALL DAY. This past week, I had a few days without it, but it came back today. I'm hungry 98% of the time, so trying to eat more snacks throughout the day (which also helps with the nausea). I'm pretty sure I've already gained between 2-5 pounds. I'm so tired, too. I can sleep for 8 hours, wake up for an hour, and then I'm ready for another 2 hour nap. And typically at work, about an hour or two before my shift is up, I'm ready for another nap. Unfortunately, that's not allowed. I'm forced to do what Mr. Bean does to stay awake...

toothpicks to hold your eyes open

Also this method is helpful too...

stay awake!

Ahh, Mr. Bean. Such an interesting character.

source

Summer Vacation

Hey Y'all! Exciting things in my world. Ben has become self-employed (go Ben!!). He's very courageous to start this journey, and it's a great time to do so as we're in a great spot in our lives and because he has so much ambition and drive! So proud of him for following his dream!

We decided to take a quick summer vacay to my hometown 12 hours away. I was in need of a break from work and really missing the Tennessee summers (even though the time we went it wasn't summer yet and didn't really feel like what I remember), and of course missing family too! 

We also got some good news before the trip... we're expecting baby #1! Pretty exciting to get to share the good news while we were there.

And now for pictures!

My niece's puppy, Penny

Went to B.B. King's in Nashville, got to listen to The Stacy Mitchhart Band

bar at B.B. King's

The Stacy Mitchhart Band (they were awesome!)

The Parthenon in Nashville, TN

8 days on, 1 day off...story of my life

This is exactly how I've felt lately...



So much going on right now, I'm so interested to know the future to see how things are six months from now. 

Tonight I made s'mores in the oven. Delish! To counter that, we had chicken with carrots, zucchini, and mashed potatoes. 

And now for your funny bone. I love when Fred does this sideways jump at me with his tail all fluffy. Sometimes I try to imitate him but he doesn't care too much for that.