Will it BEE a Boy or Girl?!

I did a little poll on Facebook to see what people thought regarding the gender of Baby J and when he/she would be here! The results are all over the place as far as when he/she will make the grand arrival! What do you think?!  

Boy: 32
Girl: 30

• March:
• 12th: Girl- Too bad this one won't happen!
• 14th: Boy- 
• 14th: Boy
• 15th: Boy
• 17th: Girl
• 17th: Girl
• 18th: Girl 
• 18th: Boy
• 20th: Boy 
• 20th: Boy
• 21st: Girl
• 21st: Girl
• 21st: Boy
• 22nd: Boy
• 22nd: Girl
• 23rd: Boy 
• 23rd: Boy
• 24th: Boy 
• 24th: Boy
• 24th: Girl
• 25th: Boy
• 25th: Boy
• 25th: Girl
• 25th: Girl 
• 26th: Girl
• 26th: Boy
• 27th: Boy
• 27th: Boy
• 27th: Girl
• 28th: Girl
• 28th: Girl
• 29th: Boy 
• 29th: Boy
• 30th: Boy 
• 30th: Boy (Mike)
• 30th: Girl
• 30th: Girl
• 31st: Girl
• 31st: Girl
• 31st: Girl
• 31st: Boy

• April:
• 1st: Boy
• 1st: Boy
• 1st: Boy
• 1st: Girl
• 1st: Girl
• 2nd: Boy 
• 2nd: Boy
• 2nd: Girl
• 2nd: Girl
• 3rd: Girl
• 3rd: Girl
• 4th: Girl
• 4th: Boy
• 5th: Boy
• 6th: Girl
• 7th: Boy
• 8th: Boy
• 8th: Girl
• 9th: Girl
• 10th: Boy
• 10th: Girl

37 Weeks... Last Weekly Post? Who knows!

How Far Along: 37 Weeks!

Size of Baby:  I laugh at the thought of the size of what our baby should be, knowing our baby is much bigger :) According to Babycenter, baby J is 19" long and 6.5 pounds, the size of a leek, but the truth of the matter is that our baby is about 8 pounds and I'm not sure how long. 

Sleep: I'm getting up about 3 times a night to go to the bathroom. Although it is annoying to move my pillows off the footrest of the recliner and then have to put them on again, I am thankful for a recliner which allows me to sleep!

Best Moment of the Week: We had some maternity photos taken by a parent of one of my students, so that was fun. We weren't going to have any photos done; however, I do want to document this experience, so we took a few of them with her and I am excited to see them. Honestly it didn't feel real that WE were actually taking maternity pictures for US! We haven't done the weekly bump photos, or anything like that, so it will be nice to have these photos. 

Oh, and another really neat thing is that my parents came down last weekend and helped us make freezer meals for after the baby is here. Not only did they help us make meals, but they also brought us meals they had made for us, so after a long day of cooking, we now have 38 meals in our freezer. We couldn't be more grateful for their time and love put into this to make our lives easier- my mom and Tom seriously rock!!  Seriously, take a look at all of this food!

Pure delicousness :)

Miss Anything: Nope :) Well, I suppose I miss not waddling, but oh well!
 
Movement: You know it! This little one keeps me active and I love watching my stomach roll from side to side. Thankfully, with all of this movement, baby J has flipped and is head down, so the likelihood of me having a c-section has been reduced! Thank you, GOD, for this gift!
 
Food Cravings/Aversions:  Nothing really
 
Unusual Symptoms:I did have a little scare at my appointment last night, so I am waiting to hear back from my doctor. For the first time in this pregnancy, my blood pressure was high, I had protein in my urine, and I had gained a substantial amount of weight since Friday. I've only gained 9 pounds this entire pregnancy, but since Friday, I've gained 4 pounds, which is a lot.  The nurses ran a preeclampsia panel and they said things look okay, so that is good. I am going to call my doctor to talk to him tonight thought because I want to pick his brain. We have come so far, so I am a little worried, but I know God is in control and watching over our little one.
 
Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: I've thrown up a few times this week, but nothing in particular set it off, so who knows.
 
Gender: I think it is a boy, but only God knows!
 
Labor Signs: I've had the fun Braxton Hicks contractions, extreme lower pelvic pain, and regular contractions, but nothing that is close to labor... at least not that I know of!

Looking Forward To: Hearing back from my doctor, seeing our maternity photos, and meeting our baby hopefully SOON!
   
Countdown: Technically 20 days, but I have a feeling it is right around the corner


Have a great week, friends!

Until next time, God bless!

Ba-BEE Showers!

To say we are blessed with the most incredible friends and family is a serious understatement. When we were going through some of the darkest moments we've ever experienced, these people stood by our sides, prayed for us, believed in the future, and hoped when we didn't feel like there was any hope left in this world.  They cried with us, cared for us, and believed in us and the future God had for us.  From the beginning of this pregnancy, they have been with us every step of the way and have prayed every. single. day. There is no doubt in my mind that this baby is so well-loved and s/he won't know what to do with all of the love! 

I never, ever, thought I would be on the other end of the spectrum where our friends/family would be hosting baby showers for us. I realized it could happen, but I just didn't think we could get to a place where that would actually happen for us. However, it did, and the love that went into these showers is simply unexplainable. Every single detail was planned so perfectly and I could truly feel the love for this baby, Cory, and me.  I am never one who is short on words, which I'm sure you can tell from my blog, but at my first shower, I couldn't even find the proper words to thank everyone for what they have done for us.  The minute I started talking about how thankful we were for them and for always being there, I lost it and started crying.  There is just no way for me to adequately explain how thankful I am for all of their love!

Without further adieu, here are some pictures from the baby showers!

My mom's side of the family hosted a shower on February 8th:

My cousin, Brittany, made this adorable bee hive diaper cake!

My cousins :)

The beautiful hostesses!

Decorations!

Decorations!

My friend's hosted a shower on February 15th:

Decorations!

Decorations!

The beautiful hostesses and my incredible friends!

Decorations!

I had 8 pregnant ladies at my shower!  From left to right: Brittany- due 2.26 with a girl (Aubrielle born on 3/1), Me- was supposed to have a c-section between 3.6-11, but that has been changed- Gender unknown, Jena- due 3.28 with a boy, Emily- due 4.18 with twins- genders unknown, Ashley- due 5.21 with a girl, Jen- due 6.15 with a girl, Laura- due 6.21 with twins- boy and girl, and Megan- due 7.4 with a boy! This is a picture I will treasure forever! Out of these 8 women, 6 went through infertility treatments to get to this point, and some have a much bigger story than I do, so this was EXTRA special for me!

My brother and his girlfriend hosted a diaper keg for the "Daddy-to-Bee" on the same day as my friend shower. It was a special day where Cory's buddies got together, brought him diapers/wipes, drank keg beer, and partied all night. I don't have any pictures of Cory with my brother, but I did get this picture.

We are ready to be parents!

Cory's family hosted a baby shower on February 16th:

The grandmas! Cory's step-mom Gail, Cory's mom Debbie, me, and my mom Brenda! Oh, and my adorable new niece, Elissa, in the background!

The wonderful hostesses!

A cute drawing by Cory's cousin, Emily!

My work also hosted a shower, but I don't have the pictures from that, so I'll have to add them later. 

As you can see, this baby is loved by so many people and everyone is anxiously awaiting his/her arrival! I was slightly embarrassed by how many baby showers we were given, but like someone told me, these people just want to honor you, your story, and show how excited they are for baby J, so don't be embarrassed! Thank you to those of you who have been there for us throughout this journey and who have supported us no matter what. We love you all so much and we can't wait until our baby is finally in our arms!

Until next time, God bless!

35 Weeks

How Far Along: 35 Weeks!

Size of Baby: A honeydew melon.  However, at our ultrasound yesterday, the doctor said baby J was 7 1/2 pounds, so obviously he/she is way bigger than a honeydew melon... we have ourselves a high achiever!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping in the recliner, which has been a Godsend, but I get up every 2 hours no matter what time I go to bed.  Although it is annoying to move my pillows every time I have to get up and back in to the recliner, I am thankful for sleep and the recliner!

Best Moment of the Week: We have had an amazing few weeks with family and friends. I will talk about the showers in another post because I am still in awe of the generosity and love put into all of the showers... simply incredible!  Also, I am in charge of the winter formal at my school and my husband does the music for it, so it is a huge job for us. Well, we survived it last week and it went really well! Although I love doing it, I am thankful it is over with :)
 
 Miss Anything: Nope!
 
 Movement: The movement has started to pick up again and I absolutely love it. Cory even felt it at 32 weeks and I think that made it more "real" for him. Every time I would try to have him feel the baby, the baby would stop moving, so he couldn't. Well, now the baby is cooperating and Cory feels him/her all the times!
 
 Food Cravings/Aversions: I could care less about meat, but I love fruit.
 
 Unusual Symptoms: Nothing really
 
Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: The last four days I have thrown up every. single. morning and it is gross. One time, I threw up all over my clothes on the way to work... ick!
 
Gender: I think it is a boy, but only God knows!
 
Labor Signs: I've started to have Braxton Hicks contractions and those have been fun. I did have a minor mishap on February 21st when I fell on the ice at work. My doctor made me come in to get monitored for five hours to make sure I didn't have any big contractions. I guess I had minor contractions, but nothing they were concerned about, so I was able to go home.

Looking Forward To: Hopefully hearing back from our doctor as far as when our c-section will be and getting our glider/ottoman in the mail this week!
   
Countdown: 32 days! However, it will be sooner than that due to the c-section.


Have a great week, friends!

Until next time, God bless!

32 Weeks and Some Interesting News...

 This has been an interesting week, following our 31 week appointment, so enjoy the post and prayers are appreciated.


How Far Along: 32 Weeks!

Size of Baby: A jicama, whatever that is.  However, at our 31 week appointment, we found out the baby and I are measuring way ahead of schedule (I am measuring 38 weeks and baby is measuring over 35 weeks) and the baby is 5 1/2 pounds already! Therefore, this baby is way bigger than a jicama!

Sleep: The recliner has been my best friend this week. Although I still get up in the night, the pain has declined, which is so nice!

Best Moment of the Week: Of course seeing our baby on the ultrasound machine and the fact that I am finally in less pain. I wish I would have slept in the recliner sooner.
 
Miss Anything: Sleep and all of the movement I was feeling with the baby.
 
Movement: The movement has slowed down this week, but my doctor said that's okay because the baby is so so so low in my abdomen. I have a home doppler, so thankfully, if I ever get worried, I can listen to the sweet sound of baby J's heartbeat on the doppler.
 
Food Cravings/Aversions: I am hungry for anything lately, but I don't eat too much. I still love my breakfast food and of course ice cream with mini chocolate chips.
 
Unusual Symptoms: Nothing really unusual right now
 
Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: It's rare when I throw up, so I feel like I have turned a big leaf here!
 
Gender: I think it is a boy, but only God knows!
 
Labor Signs: At our appointment last week, the doctor noted that the baby is sitting very low, breech, and measuring very far ahead. Due to the increase in size and the baby's position, I will probably be having a c-section and the baby will probably be here by the middle of March.  This appointment scared the crap out of me because I have always envisioned a regular birth and now we won't get to have it.  I am thankful we can plan and prepare for a c-section, but I am scare of the recovery process (due to my size) and just the overall process of a c-section. I was talking with a few of my coworkers about how sad I was that I wouldn't get to hold our baby right when he/she is born and two of them said that as long as I request this ahead of time, and everything is okay with the baby, I will still be able to. This made me feel a lot better, so that was nice. Although the c-section and new due date weren't part of the plan, I know I can't control things and God is in control.

Looking Forward To: Our first baby shower this weekend with my mom's side of the family! I know there is going to be so much love put into this shower that it brings tears to my eyes to think about it already. I can't believe this shower is for OUR baby because I never thought I would get to this point.  It feels very surreal and overwhelming to a certain extent.  I can't wait to see all of our family and friends this weekend!
   
Countdown: 54 Days! However, my doctor thinks March 11th is more like my due date, so around 33 days... yikes!


Have a great week, friends!

Until next time, God bless!

31 Weeks

Woah, woah, woah... I am 31 weeks today and it seems hard to believe! Sometimes it feels like I have been pregnant forever, especially when my pelvis is hurting, but other days seem to fly by and I can't believe I am 31 weeks.  Since I will be induced at 39 weeks, if the baby isn't here, that means I only have 8 weeks left! How is that possible?  We started a new semester with kids today, and when I told them about the long term sub coming in less than 8 weeks, none of them believed me.  Although I LOVE teaching, I am SO excited to have 8 weeks with just my little one and no students :)


How Far Along: 31 Weeks!

Size of Baby: A coconut or a bunch of asparagus.  Even though that is what it says online, our baby is a "high achiever" because at our 29 week appointment, the baby should have been around 2.5 pounds and our baby measured over 3.5 pounds... yikes!

Sleep: Between the recliner and bed, I am doing okay. I am up every 2-3 hours, but hey, that's what it will be like with the baby, right?
 
Best Moment of the Week: Cory painted the closet to match the room, so everything is yellow now. I got some of the storage cubes and bins put in the closet, so it looks even more real than before.  We also received our rainforest rocker in the mail from one of my mom's friends. She isn't able to come to the shower, so she sent it to our house.  Cory wanted to put it together right away, so we did :) I love it!
 
Miss Anything: Sleep, but I won't complain :)
 
Movement: Yes and I can finally feel a little bit of movement above my belly button.  Normally every bump and kick is below the bellow button, so this is cool.
 
Food Cravings/Aversions: Ice cream with mini dark chocolate chips, waffles, and cereal.
 
Unusual Symptoms: I HATE the Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction I have because it is SO painful.  I laid in the recliner all weekend and that helped, but it isn't fun at all.
 
Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: Nope... this is a HUGE change for me, which I love.
 
Gender: I think it is a boy, but only God knows!
 
Labor Signs: Not that I know of.
 
Looking Forward To: The entire month of February because there are so many exciting things happening!
   
Countdown: 63 Days! However, my doctor won't let me go past March 25th, so it's actually less :)


Have a great week, friends!

Until next time, God bless!

28 Weeks

Wow! Where in the world has the time gone? I had really planned on doing bi-weekly posts about our sweet baby J, but somehow life got so busy and there never seemed to be enough time to sit down and actually write.However, with that said, I think I should do my 28 week post (even though I'll be 29 weeks tomorrow) because many things have changed since the lovely 21 week post!

How Far Along: 28 Weeks!

Size of Baby: A Head of Lettuce... where do they come up with these sizes? We have our follow-up appointment with the MFM doctor on Wednesday, so hopefully I'll get some accurate measurements :)

Sleep: This has become more and more challenging.  Sleeping isn't the problem, but when I lay on my side, I get extreme pelvic and pubic pain which is almost unbearable. When that happens, I end up sleeping on my back at night, which isn't good. I've slept in the recliner the last two nights and that seems better, but then our cat sleeps on me the whole night.  I feel like the lack of sleep is just God preparing me for what is about to come!
 
Best Moment of the Week: We started our nursery on New Years Eve and I am so happy with the progress so far.  I have two current students, who are seniors, and they desperately wanted to be a part of the nursery, so they painted the walls a light yellow.  Once that was done, my mom came down and painted a tree in one of the corners of the room.  It is a white, whimsical looking tree with green leaves. I was pretty nervous to have her paint it, just because I have a little OCD, but it looks sweet. Then she painted a beehive from it and painted little bees to match the bedding.  Somehow, it all came together and I LOVE it! My dad and Kevin came down last Sunday and put the crib together, since they gave it to us for Christmas, and now that is ready, too.  We worked really hard New Years Eve week and I am thankful for that. Obviously we still have time and a ways to go, but the big stuff is done.
 
Miss Anything: Sleep, but I won't complain :)
 
Movement: YES, finally! I didn't actually believe I was feeling the baby until I was listening to the heartbeat on the doppler and I could hear the kicks.  Baby J is super super low though, so it startles me, but I love the little reminders.
 
Food Cravings/Aversions: Cravings- Waffles and any kind of waffles! Oh, and I am on a huge breakfast kick, so cereal, eggs, pancakes, oatmeal, etc- yummy! Aversions- I'm not a big fan of meat.
 
Unusual Symptoms: Like I said earlier, I have been having a lot of lower abdominal and pelvic pain. My doctor said it is because the baby is so low and it is causing Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (fun name, huh?). It gets really bad if I sit too long or keep my legs together, which is such a pleasant sight, so I have to keep moving and make sure to put large pillows between my legs.
 
Anything Making you Queasy or Sick: Besides a fluke vomit session after the glucose test and a vomit session from coughing so much, I haven't thrown up since week 25... I feel like a new woman!
 
Gender: I think it is a boy, but only God knows!
 
Labor Signs: When I was having that lower pain, I thought it could be labor, but my doctor assured me it was Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, so that is good!
 
Looking Forward To: I have a follow-up appointment with our MFM doctor in two weeks, so I am really excited to get a good look at the baby again!
   
Countdown: 78 Days! However, my doctor won't let me go past March 25th, so it's actually less :)


Have a great week, friends!

Until next time, God bless!