How does she know...?

Beau just started doing this 2 weeks ago...(we've had her a year and 3 months and she's never laid here)

...that's my belly she's snuggling on top of...

and then this...

that's a bin of baby clothes...but not just ANY bin of baby clothes...my sister gave me 3 of them back in March before we found out what we were having (2 filled with girl clothes, 1 of maternity clothes, and 1 of boy clothes) out of 4 bins, Beau chose to lay on the container of boy clothes 

It may all be a coincidence but I like to think she's intuitive :) 

That's my BOY!

20 Weeks

(sorry this picture is super light...and Beau is being nosey...)

Meet Baby BOY Adams!

Isaiah and I had our LONG awaited doctor's appointment Friday May 11th to hear the good news. I could hardly sit still in the lobby when we were waiting to be called in to our ultrasound. Isaiah and I had ourselves convinced that it was a girl so this was a wonderful surprise! 

Matter of fact Isaiah asked the ultrasound tech...and I quote...

"So where's his ding dong again!??" 

 So you're looking at the thigh on the far left, the tiny pee pee in the middle, and another blurred out thigh on the right. Isaiah thought his thigh (on the left) was his pee pee...lets not get ahead of ourselves...

We were also informed that he has VERY long legs 

hmmm... you think he gets it from his 5'7" mama? Or maybe his 6'5" daddy?

I have a theory that this is why I started feeling him kick at 16 weeks (which is very rare). 

Finding out the gender is actually just a bonus to this visit. This appointment was really all about checking on the health of the baby. He has a very strong heart beat (that has become my favorite sound in the whole universe), and Isaiah and I counted out all 10 fingers and toes :) 

and just because he's already inherited a bit of his parent's personalities...

He's throwing gang signs ;) 

(on the right)

These are slightly better views of his features...

He's kind of snuggling/smashing himself against my body and his umbilical chord so he's alright, don't freak out if he looks strange (these pictures portray him as an alien anyway)

We're still undecided on the name. We're taking that very seriously. It's something we won't be able to reveal for a while but you'll be the first to know once we've picked the one that gives us that ultra confident feeling :)

Isaiah and I registered at Target and Babies R Us this weekend, which was a BLAST. I gave Isaiah the scanner and told him to go to town while I stuck to a list I carefully organized with my sister 2 months ago for the essentials. I later went on the Target website to organize our registry and found a margarita maker on there...

Just for clarification, there's obviously no theme to our registry. We scanned everything from dinosaurs  to sports to guitars to zoo animals. That drives me crazy but it's hard to find everything you're looking for in one consistent theme when it comes to boy items. It's pretty much...you get what you find. 

I plan on going for this type of look in the nursery:

We'll see ;) That's still a ways away

Thank you for all of your prayers and continued encouragement for our healthy baby boy. We wouldn't be where we are today without God's blessing on our lives and without your love. 

Small Talk

After my last doctor's appointment, I went home and started working on crunching some numbers for our finances. I've never been great at math and the intense concentration must have been just the right motivation for the baby to go "hey! it's getting kinda tense in here!"because I felt the baby move for the first time :) 

At first I stopped and gave the look that I had just been crowned Miss America...

no wait thats labor...

here we go...

But I wrote it off because it could've been anything. Then once it kept happening (only sometimes stronger) I knew it was the real deal. The cool thing about it is that most women don't feel their babies move until around 20 weeks. I started feeling mine at 16 weeks. This can only mean one of two things...Olympic soccer player or break dancer...maybe a chef since it really likes to move around the time I'm eating (maybe it's just taking after it's father..."FOOD!? YEEES!!!")

Either way it's a really exciting feeling. I've always wondered what this would feel like and I can best describe it as a small goldfish wiggling every now and then...and when it's stronger it feels like a piece of popcorn popping. 

Every now and then I feel it from the outside when I place my hand on my stomach. After many attempts, Isaiah felt it with me last night. Before last night, I kept taking his hand and placing it on my stomach and going "feel!" when I think the baby's moving a lot. He'll place his hand on my stomach all excited, the baby will kick about 3 times, and he's still be looking at me like "tell it to kick, I'm ready". 

My pregnancy app told me this past week (17 weeks) that the baby was the size of a turnip (we definitely did not eat any turnips this week...I'd apologize to the baby but I think it's going "Lord bless you mother!") and at 16 weeks it said get ready for a growth spurt...

I've gained a new cup holder...I'd say that's pretty darn productive. 

p.s.) I seriously ate lunch like this today

Fun Fact of the Day: I keep getting asked if Isaiah and I have come up with any names for the baby yet...when we discuss it, this is what ends up happening...

Alex: "how about Andrew?"

Isaiah: "nah...Lebron?"

Alex: "hah! ok seriously, Erin?"

Isaiah: "Dwayne?"

Alex: "no really...Elizabeth?"

Isaiah: "I like Thurston" 

Alex: "Isaiah!!"

Isaiah: "no that's my name...Reginald!?"

Alex: "we're not naming our baby Reginald!"

Isaiah: "you're right, he'll get his butt kicked...G Money"

Alex: "THATS NOT EVEN A NAME!!"

Isaiah: "Knickerbocker!!!"

Alex: "...ok this isn't real" 

 

3rd Doctor's Appointment

16 Weeks

I've officially obtained my baby bump! It's small, but it's there! Isaiah and I had our 3rd doctor's appointment today and the doctor said everything looks wonderful and the baby was perfectly positioned in my belly :) That's always good to hear. I love my doctor because she makes everything sound like no big deal. It's amazing how much our minds naturally worry about things. When Isaiah and I ask her questions she just smiles and goes "oh thats no problem!" and then we look at each other and telepathically high-5 because we can put our minds at ease. 

I have a pregnancy app on my phone that lets me know each stage I'm going through. At 16 weeks, this was the update...

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

(it's not gender biased...next week they'll refer to the baby as a "she") 

Isaiah and I celebrate the baby each week by eating whatever food the baby's size is. Last week it was apples. This week I made guacamole :)

I know, I know...my example was a rather large avocado...

moving on...

Isaiah also took a video of the heartbeat at today's appointment so we could share it with you guys! When you hear the static sound, that means the baby's moving. I wish I could've gotten Isaiah's expression on the video the same time he was getting mine. 

We have an appointment to find out the sex of the baby at our next visit on May 11th. 

We also got a special treat today. Our great friends Ashleigh and PJ just had their baby girl Naima Simone Jefferson. She's 6.2 lbs and 18.5 inches long. After my appointment, we got to walk over to Baptist hospital to meet her. 

She's TINY! I've never seen a 6 lb baby before! She felt like I was holding a football! Her cry sounds like a baby kitten! Isaiah wouldn't hold her because he was scared he was going to break her. I asked him on the elevator when we left..."are you going to hold our baby?" and he goes "well yeah!"...of course our baby's going to be a Thanksgiving turkey so it won't be such a challenge...

 Stay tuned!

Hallelujah!

I'm in my 2nd trimester! Whooooo! I feel like I've waited a long time to get here. I'm 14 weeks this week, however, once I hit 12 weeks, I started feeling alive again. No more sickness and no more feeling like I have to take emergency naps (although I've kept my palate in tact in my car just in case). My cravings are Cuties oranges (I eat at least 3 or 4 a day) and green beans...mmmmm...

This week's big developments: The baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck it's thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, it's facial muscles are getting a workout as it's tiny features form one expression after another. The kidneys are producing urine, which the baby releases into the amniotic fluid around it — a process the baby will keep up until birth. He or she can grasp, too, and if I had an ultrasound now, I may even catch the baby sucking it's thumb.
In other news: The baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, it measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and weighs 1 1/2 ounces. The body's growing faster than the head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, the arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of it's body. (The baby's legs still have some lengthening to do...and boooy will they lengthen coming from his father) It's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. The baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and the spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though I can't feel the tiny punches and kicks yet, little lemon's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Next appointment is April 13th. I think I'm developing a little baby bump! I'll post pictures when I update from the next Dr's appointment.

Music with a hint of lime

Isaiah and I are huge Gavin DeGraw fans and last night we got the opportunity to go to his concert at a place we've never been to downtown called Marathon Music Works. It was standing room only but we got there early enough to stand 3rd row (which was a blast). I'm convinced the baby enjoyed it too :)

p.s. Just as the car mirrors read, these objects were closer than they appear. I could've reached out and touched him. Sorry the pictures are so blurry...if you've ever been to a concert, you understand.

...and surprise! Karina Smirnoff was there (Gavin's Dancing with the Stars partner) premiering Monday the 19th. 

In baby news:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. The baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, the toes will curl, the eye muscles will clench, and the mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if I prod my abdomen, the baby will squirm in response, although I won't be able to feel it. The baby's intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and the kidneys will begin excreting urine into the bladder. 

SWEET!

The baby's face looks unquestionably human: The eyes have moved from the sides to the front of the head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, the baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

Baby Fig Newton

10 weeks

I had my second check up Friday (the 2nd), which I rescheduled from what was previously March 16th because I was going to visit my sister in Missouri for a week and wanted to make sure everything was A-Ok before I left. This stage is rough because the baby is still so small that I can't feel it. I love my doctor's appointments because, although slightly invasive, they put my wandering mind at ease after my doctor says "everything looks wonderful!"

Isaiah and I got to hear the heartbeat at this visit which was a VERY pleasant surprise. I'm just lying there like a pencil and all of a sudden my doctor pulls out a tiny microphone and starts feeling around on my stomach. At first, my doctor said she couldn't hear anything (which completely freaked Isaiah and I out) but then, after instructions to bend my knees for a better position, there it was! I wanted to sit there and listen to it all afternoon. All day after that Isaiah and I looked at each other and went "whomp whomp whomp" mimicking the sound of the baby's heartbeat.

For celebration of a healthy heartbeat, Isaiah and I went to the Pancake Pantry in Nashville. This place is one of the historic "must see" spots in Nashville and, rain or shine, it always has a line out the door (which goes surprisingly fast). For this reason, Isaiah never wanted to go because he thought it wouldn't be worth it. After convincing him to go, we split blueberry pancakes and Isaiah said they were the best pancakes he's ever had...HA! Told ya so ;) Now I think we're going to have to go once a month to fulfill his goal of trying all the pancakes...maybe I created a monster...

I'm extremely grateful to my sister for lending me an extensive amount of baby knowledge during this week I've spent with her. It's also been super helpful to get lots of practice on my 5 month old nephew. Thank you Lindsay for all of your help!

So the update for this week:
At 11 weeks, our baby is now the size of a fig. He or she is just over 1 1/2 inches long and is now almost fully formed. The hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under the gums, and some of the bones are beginning to harden.
He or she is already busy kicking and stretching, and it's tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as the body grows and becomes more developed and functional. I won't feel my baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will I notice the hiccuping that may be happening now that the diaphragm is forming.

Until next time!