NEW CLOTHES!

Mommy and baby boy have some sweet new duds! I ordered a few items from Seraphine Maternity and I absolutely adore them! My favourite item this week has been my new Burgundy skinny jeans. They're the perfect shade for fall, super-duper comfy, surprisingly long enough (I'm 5'11) and perhaps best of all, they make the tush look cute! They have a narrow elastic waist band which means I can wear them throughout my pregnancy AND after baby is born! They're stylish and fun and I love the fact that I can still feel trendy and cute even as my waist expands on a daily basis! 

I decided I'm going to do a "Maternity Outfit of the Week" post each week so I remain motivated to dress myself acceptably (even when I feel like crap!), and so I remember to get a belly photo! I hope you enjoy the first one: Week 21!

Jeans: Seraphine 

Top: Old Navy

Necklace: Suzy Shier

Sandals: Gap

Since finding out the gender on Monday (and since I have some new clothes for myself!), I just had to go shopping for some baby boy clothes! I hit up H&M yesterday and bought some super cute outfits for our little man! I happened to have a gift card to the mall (that I got for my birthday in May) which MIRACULOUSLY had a remaining balance on it, so I got all of these clothes for only $12! SWEET! 

Look at the difference between 2-4 months and 9-12 months! 

For our little Rockstar! 

And who doesn't love the preppy look for little boys!?

Requisite hat and mitts for our January dude!

How far along? 20 weeks (August 27th 2012)

Size of baby: 10” from head to heel (about the size of a leek) and 10.5 oz.

What's baby up to?: Baby is gearing up for the next phase in his development—filling out. His organs are getting into their proper places. His kidneys are now in position with their familiar bean shape. His testes have reached their position. His brain continues to form and grow. His teeth are beginning to appear, and he can swallow. If you haven't been able to feel him move, chances are you'll be feeling him move more and more over the coming weeks. A whitish coat of a slick, fatty substance called vernix caseosa begins to cover your baby and protects the skin during its long immersion in amniotic fluid. It also eases delivery. The baby's swallowing more this week, good practice for the digestive system. After your baby takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel. 

Total weight gain: 15 lbs 

Pregnancy symptoms: Lots of heartburn this week! Ugggh!

Maternity clothes? Yep - pretty much everything I’m wearing is maternity now with the exception of 2 pairs of shorts (which will probably get packed away soon as the weather cools down). I received my order from Seraphine Maternity (seraphinematernity.com) late last week so I’ve been rocking my new blue jeans and burgundy skinny jeans lately and can’t wait to wear some new fall pieces when schools starts up again! I’ll be the most stylist pregnant supply teacher you know!  

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: 8 hours and the occasional mid-afternoon nap. I bought a body pillow to try to prevent me from rolling onto my back (which isn’t advisable during pregnancy), and I totally love it! Dan laughed at my the other day as he was leaving for work because I was apparently holding onto this thing for dear life! Whatever - I better enjoy my sleep while I still can! 

Best moment this past week: Having our 20 week anatomy scan/ultrasound and learning that we’ll be welcoming a beautiful baby boy into the world come January! (I might also mention again that my gender prediction was right! Call it mothers intuition!)

Have you told family and friends: We shared the news of our sons arrival pretty much as soon as I wiped the blue ultrasound gel off my belly! 

Miss Anything? Caffeine and being able to ACTUALLY exercise (I’m still going to the gym but all I can do without getting a massive cramp is walk on the treadmill at a snails pace and lift some light weights)

Movement: Yes! Within the last week or 2 I’ve started feeling lots of movement and little kicks. They started at the sides of my belly but now I can feel them right in the center, mostly before I fall asleep at night.

Food Cravings:  Butter chicken! But we had it last night for dinner and it gave me wicked heartburn :( 

Anything making you queasy or sick:  My sense of smell has become stronger since being pregnant and garbage just takes me over the edge. I have to hold my breath when I open the cupboard under the sink. 

Have you started to show yet: Yep - I think I’m finally starting to look pregnant as opposed to chubby! 

Gender predictions: Predict no more -  IT’S A BOY! 

Labor sigs: No

Belly Button in or out: In-betweeny 

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

Looking forward to: Starting to decorate the nursery and being able to buy cute little man outfits! 

It's a ......

Today was the day! We finally had our 20 week anatomy scan and were able to find out the gender of our little one! The ultrasound took about an hour and was the longest hour of my life since I wanted her to wait until the end, when Dan was able to come in, to tell us the gender. 

Before I get to that (sorry!), here's a picture of our dog Lucy that we posted on  Facebook to have our friends and family guess the gender... 7 people guessed girl, 7 guessed boy! 

Ok, back to the ultrasound story! I actually asked the sonographer if she could show us the screen so I could guess myself. As soon as she scanned between the legs, I knew and I said "ohhhh I think I see a little something there!" She laughed and said "Yes, you definitely do!" 

Dan and I (and big sister Lucy!) are so thrilled to be welcoming our little man into the world in a few short months! Let the decorating and shopping begin! 

The results of the diagnostic part of the ultrasound will be sent to my doctor and I will get the low-down on everything at my next appointment with her, which is Friday. Fingers crossed that everything looks good! 

Here are the ultrasound photos that we got to take home! (and the sonographer was sure to point out that yes, our son DOES have 5 fingers on both hands but because of the angle of the shot, the pinky got cut off).

I'll be posting again later this week! Thanks for reading :)

Half way there!

So we're starting week 20 today! I can't believe we're half way through this pregnancy. Time seriously flies!

This past week has been wonderful, symptoms-wise, with the exception of yesterday. I should preface this story with the fact that I decided it would be good idea to NOT take my Diclectin (for those of you who have been reading my blog, its the miracle pill that has kept me from hurling every 20 minutes for the last hmmm... lets see.... 14 weeks or so!) I'm running low on my prescription so I thought I would see how a day went without it.... I mean, I really shouldn't have morning sickness anymore!

Anyways, after church, my mother-in-law and aunt visiting from Edmonton asked if I wanted to tag along on their trip to Paris, ON (about 20 minutes from Waterloo) to go to this massive craft store. I had nothing to do until later in the afternoon (besides clean the fridge and/or under the sink, and lets be honest... anything is better than that!), so I said yes. 

We went for a lovely little lunch first and I had a chicken noodle soup and turkey sandwich.... then we hit the road. About 10 minutes into our drive, my M-I-L noticed in her rearview mirror that all the colour had drained from my face while I noticed I was breaking a serious sweat and my lunch had started its adventure back up my esophagus. I promptly requested a bag and... you know how it goes. So I felt better immediately afterwards! yay! Maybe I could enjoy this afternoon and the family BBQ we had planned, after all. HA HA - ya right. I'll save you the details but I was sick 3 or 4 more times that afternoon before calling it a night and going to bed at 6:30 pm.

Soooo, moral of the story - just take the stupid little pill, Devon, and stop trying to be a hero! 

Oh but I should add, while at said craft store, my mother-in-law did find an adorable pattern for a blanket she's going to knit for baby! And I found a stuffed sock monkey for his/her nursery :) Isn't he cute!? 

We also received some baby 'swag' since announcing our pregnancy! Check out our little starter wardrobe! So teensy-weensy and cute! (and gender-neutral for now - 1 MORE WEEK UNTIL ULTRASOUND DAY!)

Speaking of wardrobe, my maternity wardrobe will be growing soon! I've ordered a few items from this FABULOUS company called Seraphine Maternity  which is originally based in the UK, but has grown internationally and it's EASY to see why! Their clothing is so beautiful and current and the fabrics they use are of amazing quality! The maternity stores in and around Waterloo are seriously lacking in style and are so uninspiring. I'm extremely excited to receive my order (hopefully arriving this week!) and sharing some photos of my bump in its new duds! 

Stay tuned for another bloggie coming very soon! :) 

My 'normal' clothes are officially too small :(

How far along? 18 weeks (August 11th 2012)

Size of baby: 5 1/2 inches long (crown to rump) or approx. 8 1/2 inches long (top of head to feet) and weighs 7 ounces. 

What's baby up to? 

He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Total weight gain/loss: 13 lbs 

Pregnancy symptoms: I get extremely hungry if I don’t eat every few hours. I’m tired more than usual, and peeing often! 

Maternity clothes? Almost all of my bottoms are uncomfortable (the waist band digs in when I sit down) so I use either an elastic band or “belly band” to keep them up without doing them up! I bought a bunch of maternity tanks but most of my regular tops still fit alright. 

Stretch marks? nope

Sleep: 8 hours minimum plus an occasional 1hr nap in the afternoon

Best moment this past week: Hearing the heartbeat at my 17 week doctors appointment. I hadn’t heard it since the ultrasound at 9 weeks.

Have you told family and friends: Yes, we did so at 12 weeks. I think everyone knows now! 

Miss Anything? Caffeine! 

Movement: Not yet

Food Cravings:  Cranberry juice, grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, McDonalds fries (which I’m trying my hardest not to give in to!)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, a little bit! (see 18 week photo below!)

Gender predictions: No idea! I flip back and forth every day! 

Labor sigs: No

Belly Button in or out: Innie, but it’s starting to pop out a little bit and feels like a bubble.

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or Moody: Happy! 

Weekly Wisdom: Get things done while you can still move! (although, I really need to listen to my own advice!)

Looking forward to: August 27th - 2nd trimester ultrasound and finding out the sex! 

Yes, that is an elastic band holding my jeans up!

A 'Smorgasbord' update!

It's been a while! I've been super busy this past month with a course I'm taking for teaching, various photographic endeavors, and a cottage get-away, I just haven't found the time to post! Well fear not, dear friends, I'll be posting WEEKLY from now on!

I'll be 18 weeks pregnant on Sunday, which I just can't believe. Where did the last 4.5 months go?! We're almost half way done! I've got quite a few random updates for this post, so here we go...

First off, we bought our first "baby items" last week - a crib and change table for the nursery! They're due to arrive at the end of August, and I cant wait to set them up in the room and start planning/decorating the room!

That leads me to my next update... I had my 4 month pre-natal appointment last Friday and we got the requisition to book the comprehensive 2nd trimester ultrasound which typically happens between 18 and 20 weeks. I was hoping I could book it asap and get in during my 18th week but this particular clinic prefers to do it at 20 weeks since its more detailed and the sonographer is able to see more - so another 2 weeks to wait! We are both very IMpatiently waiting to find out the gender of this baby! I think it will make things that much more real since right now, it's still sometimes hard for me to believe I've got a life growing inside me! In addition to finding out the sex, though, the scan actually checks for some very important things. The sonographer will check that the baby is developing properly, and look at the position of the placenta in my uterus. The baby's organs, hands, feet, face, bones, etc will also be checked.

And what's new with me? This past month I've felt the most 'normal' I have so far. My nausea and morning sickness has subsided (I'm still taking 1 Diclectin before bed which helps me in the mornings) and as long as eat every couple of hours, I feel great! I'm hoping that by 20 weeks or so I wont have to take the Diclectin any longer, but I've also heard some women end up needing it for the entire pregnancy. I figure taking 1 per day is better than NOT taking it at all and not being able to keep down a single morsel of food.

I'm still not looking very pregnant, although I've gained 13 pounds already! I think my body needed the extra weight in the beginning since I packed on 10 pounds in the first three months without eating any differently. I'm actually supposed to gain 1-2 pounds per week until the end of the pregnancy but I've only gained 3lbs in the last 6 weeks. My doctor said my gain is on the low end, but she's not worried since some natually thin women just cant gain as easily as others. And believe me, I'm definitely eating! I have a feeling as the end draws closer and the baby starts to fatten up, I'll pack on a bunch of weight during the last month!

Anyways, I think thats about all for updates this week! I'm without my camera at the moment, so I'll post a bump photo in the next few days - I promise!