Sneak Peek...

My sister took some wonderful pictures of me while she was in town for my baby shower this past Saturday and (while they're not all done being edited) I thought I'd post a small sneak preview for you guys...

Punch, Pokes, and Pains

29 Weeks

I'm so happy to tell people I'm 7 months pregnant! I'm proud of that accomplishment and I'm SUPER proud of my sweet baby boy's growth. He loves to move and play inside my belly and I love feeling him party it up in there :) My biggest prayer for him is that he'll be joyful. I want him to be happy and to smile all the time...(and to be a snuggler)...and I think he's already demonstrating that. 

At my most recent doctor's visit, it was time for the longest, not so pleasant visit of the entire pregnancy. I had to be tested for diabetes, have my blood taken, get a shot in my rear, and have an additional ultrasound taken.

(I'm smiling because I don't know what I've just gotten myself in to)

We'll start with...

"Diabeetus"

(as Wilford Brimley would say)

Every doctor's office is employed with people who aren't perfect and myself, of all people, should know that because I've worked in a doctor's office since I was 15. My OBGYN office happens to be employed by a front desk woman who can't seem to get my name right...

Fast Forward: It's 12:00 in the afternoon, Isaiah and I have been at the doctor's office since 10. I've been poked, prodded, and shuffled back and forth from the doctor's office to the lab next door, back to the doctor's office, and back out to the front desk

Alex: "Hi we just need to check out please"

Front Desk Lady: taking my form- "Ok Alexandria it looks like we need to see you in 2 weeks"

Isaiah: coughing "AlexanDRA"

Alex: que eye roll

Front Desk Lady: "What day of the week works for you?"

Alex: "How about Wednesday morning?"

Front Desk Lady: "I've got you down Alexandria" repeats appointment date and time

Isaiah: "excuse me...for my own peace of mind, would you kindly repeat the name back to me that's on her chart in front of you? I just want to make sure you guys have it spelled correctly..."

Front Desk Lady: "A-l-e-x-a-n-d-r-a"

Isaiah: "thank you!" whips around and walks off briskly 

Alex: "Isaiah!" although secretly grateful

Now that you know what the front desk ladies are like, fast forward...

Isaiah and I check in at 10:00am and wait in the lobby for 30 minutes. Just as I'm about to walk up to the front to see if they forgot about me, the nurse calls me back. She goes through her routine...blood pressure, weight, pulse...and talks as if I had already been given my sugary drink for my diabetes test. I looked at her and said "no ma'am I haven't had my drink yet"...well apparently the front desk lady was supposed to give it to me when I signed in. Lucky me! I waited for 30 minutes in the lobby and NOW I have to drink this drink and wait another hour (because that's the rule...they want to give your body an hour to see how it responds to all the sugar and then test your blood for gestational diabetes). So I down the fruit punch flavored drink in .5 seconds (actually not that bad! It tasted like Kool-Aid made by a 4 year old after mom adds 1 cup of sugar and he comes in behind her to secretly add 3 more cups)

The Red Stuff

(blood that is...)

They call my name over in the lab where I've been transported to and I walk back to have my blood drawn. The most unpleasant woman tells me to sit down, stick my arm out, and shut up

Ok she didn't say shut up but her eyes said it! I'm not kidding, she looked JUST like this...

Isaiah and I walked out looking at each other like "what just happened?"

Rhogam Shot

This is a shot I have to have because Isaiah and I have different blood types, therefore my blood type could fight the baby's if his were O+ like Isaiah's. I asked my doctor at my last visit where they would be giving this shot (to prepare myself because I have a history of fainting when I'm given heavy duty shots in the rear). My doctor said "oh in the arm!"...wrong...I walk back after having my arm poked by Madea and two women are waiting for me outside of a room like "lets do this". So I get my hefty shot in the hind quarters...aaaaaand it felt like a bee stinging me in the butt cheek. I kept saying to myself..."don't pass out, bend your knees, think of babies, breathe deeply but not too deeply because then you'll surely pass out" ...and I did great! GO ME!

Additional Ultrasound

I've been having a sharp pain above my belly button for the past month that I brought up to my doctor. It comes and goes but when I feel it, it's intense. I've never had a hernia but I knew immediately when I felt it for the first time that this must be what a hernia feels like. Turns out, that's exactly what it is, only not full blown. As a pregnant woman's belly grows, her ab muscles have to separate to make room. As my ab muscles gradually separated, my stomach formed a weak spot in the middle that became susceptible to hernias. At this point, now that everything's in position, I won't get one, however, because it's still a weak spot in my stomach, it's going to hurt from time to time until he comes out. This is where the additional ultrasound came in so they could make sure nothing more serious was going on. To sum up...I'm fine, and the baby continues to be extremely healthy. All I ever need to hear is that my baby is healthy. I'll withstand a thousand pains as long as he's ok. 

So the bonus was, I got to see his cute face again on my ultrasound! He has the sweetest little nose and mouth! It's pathetic when I think his little bones are cute. They are though! He weighs 3 pounds and still measures a week ahead because his arms and legs are so long. 

P.S.) It's been hot here...not like "oh boy I can take my sweater off"...more like "Holy Crap! We live on the face of the freakin sun!!"

So i've been staying inside and my husband has been SO awesome to rub my feet every night before I go to sleep :) 

50 points for Isaiah!

I had the whole week of 4th of July off so naturally, I spent every day of that nesting. We rearranged the house, set up the nursery, picked out a name...

Oh that's right I still have to tell you guys his name! Silly me ;) 

Our baby boy is carefully, thoughtfully, and cleverly named

London Isaiah Adams

Rounding in to 3rd

25 Weeks

Well, the hair's shorter, and I'm getting bigger :) I'm rounding the final lap of the 2nd trimester! Only 3 more months to go! I'm ready. I really commend women that love pregnancy enough to do it 4 or 5 times. Little boy's moving 24/7 and it fun to feel his excitement. I've been feeling just fine. Of course my back hurts from time to time and I'm not sleeping well anymore but those things are a given. I'm actually glad I'm not sleeping very well so it's not such a rude awakening once the baby gets here. I totally believe it's God's way of preparing me. I'm a little late on this posting because our most recent  doctor's visit was last Friday and we left for a weekend trip to Louisville KY directly afterwards. 

First I'll cover the appointment...

(I love these pictures of Isaiah in our appointment room. He's been such a supportive spouse. So many women never get to experience this kind of encouragement, especially when they're pregnant.)

My doctor said the heartbeat sounds nice and healthy as always and she broke out the tape measure at this visit to start measuring my growing belly. I've gained 16 pounds overall (I thought it was WAY more) and I've already pre-registered at the hospital for when I go in to labor and I've signed Isaiah and I up for a Newborn Care class as well as a hospital tour of the birthing floor so we won't feel overwhelmed the day of. I'm definitely nesting. I'm bursting at the seems to prepare the house for the baby (especially the nursery). 

The baby is continuing to put on fat. He now weighs about 1 2/3 pounds and measures 14 inches (the size of an English hothouse cucumber) 

his sense of hearing has developed now more than ever and he may be able to hear both my voice and Isaiah and I chatting with each other. 

Now the Louisville Trip...

Isaiah coaches a team of 7th grade boys that travel around to play in tournaments in the area. This was our first out of town trip with the team and everyone had a blast!

...but you can't go on a trip without stopping at Cracker Barrel first!

We arrived on Friday, had a team dinner together, and played 3 games on Saturday

I was at all of the games but I'm starting to get sleepy in the middle of the day again...

We checked out some shops in the area 

And ate at Joe's Crab Shack after our 3 games on Saturday

                                     

We switched turns driving home because we were so sleepy!

                                                

 But overall we had a fantastic trip! So much fun to get away for a weekend!

Next exciting thing is the baby shower on July 28th!! I'll keep you guys updated!

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!