Week 25

And finally, my current week, week 25! I've told a few people that I'm definitely not the glowing pregnant lady and I'm not…  trust me… or ask Colt, I'm sure he will agree! Since I haven't been sick any though, I've had it pretty easy the last 25 weeks. Besides the horrible acne on my back, I haven't really had any bad "symptoms" to speak of. If that's all I have to complain about then I guess I'm doing pretty good. I am ready for that to go away though. We've tried everything and nothing makes it better. My doctor said there's not anything that can be done and that hopefully my hormones get back to normal, as well as my skin, post-pregnancy. Let's hope so… because as of right now I don't see myself wanting to wear any cute summer tops or dresses out in public any time soon! 

It seems kinda crazy that we're already 25 weeks in.  I'm getting closer and closer to the 3rd trimester and we will be meeting our girl before we know it… only 3 months away!!

Week 24

Week 24 was probably the week I started feeling the baby move around a LOT more. I feel her during the day a lot but she ALWAYS starts kicking when I lay down to go to bed. Colt can definitely feel the big kicks too now :)

Week 23

I had a doctor's appointment on March 9th. Colt was coming off of a shift and trying to get caught up on sleep so I went by myself. I didn't get to see baby girl that day, but we listened and her heartbeat was 145.  At that appointment, I weighed 132.8. At the appointment before I was at 127.8 so I was up 5 lbs. from my 19 week appointment.  My blood pressure was crazy high that day though. I should've asked what it was exactly but I overheard the nurse tell the doctor that it was 160 over something. She didn't say anything though and I didn't ask and I should've. Normally it's about 110/70 or so. Colt wasn't happy about my blood pressure when I came home and told him. My appointment was at 4:30 that day though, and right before my appointment I had been on the phone with a client and had to basically hang up on them to make it in time while staff were instant messaging me needing help on work. I litterally ran out the door and barely made it to the appointment on time. I'm hoping that's the reason it was so high and that it doesn't become an issue. We checked it today and it was in the 130s/80s, which is still pretty high for me. Colt has been lecturing me about needing to take care of myself better and telling me that I need to take more breaks during the work day, take walks and just chill out in general. I haven't been taking care of myself lately that's for sure. I haven't been working out at all hardly or eating that great. I've went to the gym a couple of times and got on the elliptical or rower and lifted light weights. The couple of times I have jogged the last few weeks, I've gotten a little of what I think is round ligament pain. I end up stopping and walking for 10 minutes or so and then I can jog for a little while…but by the time I start jogging again it's time to go to the bathroom! I think the initial pain is just because I sit pretty much all day, and it just takes a while to stretch out my muscles. My goal is to do at least a little activity each day and definitely up my water intake. When I got sick in December and quit working out for those couple of weeks, I went downhill and never got back in my routine really. Now it's a little late to maintain what I was used to doing so I at least need to do something! 

These were before my doctor's appointment that week. 

I'm in desperate need of a tan. Hopefully now that the weather is warming up I can start sitting outside more.

My sweater was so big, I retook some later in the week.

Week 21 & 22

I had good intentions about staying caught up on here. I always do! I was also going to blog in order about our vacation in February, etc., but time has definitely flew by! I am really enjoying and preferring sleep above anyting else these days. Here lately I may set my alarm for 5:30 and end up not getting up until 8:30. With tax season and working 55 hours a week, starting my day that late definitely makes it feel like there are not enough hours in the day. Plus, sometime (very soon) when I'm not doing other peoples taxes, I have to find time to do our personal taxes and my parents' taxes. After doing taxes all week, and weekends lately, the LAST thing that I want to do is sit down at my desk and do our personal taxes. I haven't ever extended our own taxes, but it's looking like it may be a good idea. Good thing I've already done both my brothers and my nephews taxes! 

Since I'm currently 25 weeks along, I figured I better get caught up on my belly pics! I've came a long ways since my week 20 pic. 

This is the end of February when I was 21 weeks... 

and the first of March at 22 weeks

Week 19 & 20

I feel like at week 20 my bump started to get a little more obvious. We also reached what most say is the halfway point in pregnancy! I know the second half, and especially the end, will probably seem super slow, but so far it seems like this pregnancy has flown by! 

We were getting ready to go to dinner with friends when I took this pic. I think this was the first time I had put on jeans in a week or so, and it didn't work so well. I had to break out the belly band that I got at Target for the first time. A few days later I wore a pair of jeans again without it, but I'm pretty sure it's the only pair of jeans I have that I can still button, and it definitely didn't hurt that they were stretchy.  I'm glad that I work from home now and can just wear leggings or shorts most days! 

And yes, as my mom pointed out, my sweater is a little raised in the front. 

We're Having a Baby Girl!

I can't believe I haven't already posted this! It's definitely not because of lack of excitement. Before our appointment the day that we found out, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning! Most of the predictions and feelings about what we were having were obviously wrong, because we are having a baby GIRL!

Here are a few pictures of our GIRL!!

After our appointment, I sent these pictures to our moms, and later I also sent them to a few other family members and friends. When I sent the picture to my mom, she said "she looks so cute." I do have her close up pic on our refrigerator so we can look at her everyday! 

At the first of our appointment, the ultrasound tech scanned everything to make sure everything looked ok. She isn't allowed to really say much though besides just telling you all the details you are looking at. Towards the end of the scan, she pointed out that we were having a little girl! Colt said he caught a glimpse a little before she said anything and thought it was a girl. When she initially told us it was a girl, I cried a little! I wasn't disappointed at all, of course, but I think I was just surprised because I had convinced myself we were probably having a boy. I kept mentioning it to Colt the rest of the day/night about how I just had everything pictured, like names, nursery, our life in general, in my head with a boy. He told me to get over it because we were having a girl :) He text a few of his close friends and immediately started talking about pink and painting the room. His best friend, Gerald, had just found out that he was having a girl as well within a few days or weeks of us, so I think he was excited. Then later that night, Colt was talking again about paint colors and designs on the wall, etc. He's definitely going to be a great daddy, and an overprotective one at that based on a few other funny comments he made!! Our poor daughter probably won't stand a chance when she gets in her teens, but I'm pretty sure Colt will be wrapped around her finger. 

After the gender was revealed, the actual doctor or specialist came in to discuss the scan. He ended up telling us that she had a choroid plexus cyst in her brain. He went on to inform us that it's really common and nothing to be concerned about because it usually goes away on its own. However, since  he is required to put it on the report, he had to tell us about it and also tell us what it could be associated with. Evidently it can be associated with trisomy18. He said if that was the case though, there would have been more indication or abnormalities when looking at the head, hands, heart, etc. He also said that he didn't think it was necessary but that we could go get a quad screen done to make sure there were no indicators or markers. All it was was a quick blood draw from my arm so we went ahead and went downstairs to have that done. The next day he called to let us know that everything was normal. Even though you are given all this reassurance, it's still scary to hear anything at all. Now we just have to follow up with him again for another ultrasound at 28 weeks. 

When we first left the hospital, Colt called his mom to tell her what we were having. She immediately answered and was like soo.. we're having a little boy. It took us telling her over and over before she was convinced we were telling her the truth and we were indeed having a girl! Once she got it, she squealed and started giggling. After that, I called my mom to share the news!! When I talked to her, I went ahead and told her about the cyst and all that too, so I got a little emotional while on the phone. Her and my dad are both excited of course and my dad got on the phone and started asking about names! Evidently my dad is still saying to my mom that he just can't imagine me being pregnant! 

A few days after we found out, that Friday, the 13th, Colt and I were doing our version of celebrating Valentine's Day by ordering pizza and watching a movie in bed! After the movie was over and we were laying there, we felt the baby really move for the first time. I had thought I had felt something a few times prior to that but I wasn't really sure. This was more obvious though and was a few times in a row. After the second or third time, I told Colt. He asked if I was smiling, and then put his hand on my belly and felt it too. He then rested his ear on my stomach and asked if it was weird having something move in my stomach and having a little alien in there! Since then, we haven't felt her like we did that night so it makes Colt wonder if it really was her moving or if we were imagining things! 

Now a few weeks later, it's definitely sunk in that we will be having a girl in a few months. I will say... I can see a girl being more expensive than a boy because it's hard not to go overboard and start buying all the cute girl stuff! I did breakdown and buy one outfit off of Etsy for newborn pictures, and we went ahead and ordered our crib this week too. It's definitely exciting, and I can't wait for her to be here!

Boy or girl? We should find out today!

I go for my normal monthly appointment today, and we also have our big ultrasound scheduled for today as well… so we should find out if Baby Smithson is a...

We are both ready and excited to find out! I don't know how people wait until the baby is born! I am ready to start planning more... start deciding on a name, start getting the nursery together, buying at least a few outfits and just start picturing our life with a baby boy or girl!  

We really don't care what we have and will be ecstatic either way! Of course, eventually I think Colt wants to have a boy, what guy doesn't. I would love to have both so as long as we have a healthy baby that's all that matters! 

In the first couple of weeks, I was kinda thinking that we might be having a girl. However, as time has went on I think I am leaning more and more towards a boy. I don't really know though! Colt is thinking a boy, and both of our parents are thinking a boy so we'll see. 

Colt said if Baby doesn't cooperate today, we are staying there until it does!

According to some of the old wives tales, which Colt thinks are crazy… it seems like more of them are leaning towards boy. 

Chinese Gender Chart: GIRL

Mayan Gender Test: BOY

String Test: GIRL

My mom did the pencil test with a string on me twice, and it said girl both times. However, it also said girl on Heath and one of her co-workers recently, and both ended up having boys. My mom said because it said GIRL it must really mean BOY! She used to always be right when she did it so she might be losing her touch!

Cravings: BOY

I would say BOY for the most part at least, although I do have a sweet tooth every once in a while. 

Acne: GIRL 

Morning Sickness: BOY

Baking soda test: BOY

Colt thought I was crazy when I told him that I peed in a cup with baking soda to see if it fizzed or not. He and Gerald got a good laugh out of it!

Carrying Low: BOY? 

I'm not really sure what carrying high vs. low looks like this early on but I would say I'm carrying more low than high. 

Heart Rate: ?

Not really sure on this one either… Colt said the heartrate all depends on how far along I am. At my 10 week, the heartbeat was 174. According to a website I looked at for that time period, that means GIRL. At 14 weeks, the heartbeat was 150, and the website said that meant BOY so who knows?!