39 Weeks & Update on Baby's Progression

 

Well, can you believe Baby Owen decided to stay inside this long? I'm shocked, but am so so happy! So basically, that whole irritable uterus thing meant NOTHING, and all it did was cause lots of worry and concern.  But that's what women who have had an irritable uterus have said-that it's the most nerve-wracking thing ever b/c you have no idea whether you're going to go into preterm labor or if your baby will hang on for the long haul.  I'm so so thankful that I was able to carry Owen full term. God is so good!

And as for some exciting news, it looks like we MAY be meeting baby Owen within the next few days.  I say maybe with a grain of salt b/c you can NEVER really predict when your body is going to go into labor.  But I had a midwife appointment today and I was 3.5-4 cm/80% effaced, and she said that my water sac was bulging and she could feel Owen's head.  She asked if I wanted her to strip my membranes, which would speed up the onset of labor, but I was in so much pain from her checking me that I declined.  She also gave me a cocktail recipe that would make me go into labor if I wanted it to happen right now: a glass of champagne + 4 Tbsp. almond butter + 4 Tbsp. castor oil.  I won't be trying that either.  My body seems very well prepared to go into labor on its own time, which will probably be soon.  My midwife said she would be shocked if I didn't go into labor within the next 48 hours.  While I'm very excited about that possibility, again I'm not letting my mind go there completely, b/c like I said, nobody can predict exactly when your body will go into labor, and I don't want to get too excited for nothing.  Owen could stay inside another week for all we know, but I'm so glad that I'm progressing so much!  Hopefully this means that my labor will go a little quicker since all of this has already happened.  And we all know that my uterus sure does know how to contract! haha  Maybe all this irritable uterus stuff happened in the past so that my labor and delivery would go smoother?  I sure hope so! :)  The average length of labor for first time moms is 12-18 hours-really hoping mine isn't THAT long, but if it is, it will be okay b/c I'll get to meet my son at the end! Wow, that sounds crazy..."my son." I love it!  Well, right now I'm having contractions approximately 8-10 minutes apart, but they're not painful or intense or anything like that.  I had contractions all day this past Saturday that were 8 minutes apart, but they never turned into anything.  I've been told that I will KNOW when I'm in labor-the contractions will get more and more intense to the point where I'll have a hard time doing anything but breath through them.  Oh boy!  So there's the update on Baby Owen's progress.  Looks like I could be holding my baby boy this week! We will just have to wait and see!

37 Weeks & Nursery Pics

So thankful!

How far along: 37 weeks (Full Term :)
Size of baby: Watermelon

Movement: Loving my active baby boy. I can tell he's getting stronger b/c his bottom pushes out farther and his little feet kick a lot harder. Oh, how I love his movements!

Sleep: Thursday and Friday night I barely slept at all, but since I turned 37 weeks on Saturday and preterm labor is not a scare anymore, Eric and I went for a walk yesterday, which I think helped me to sleep better last night. SO GRATEFUL for decent sleep. Of course I still took multiple bathroom trips in the middle of the night, but at least I didn't struggle with insomnia last night.

Cravings: Nothing unusual.

Queasy or sick:  None.

Symptoms: Lots of Braxton Hicks (BH) and pelvic pressure if I'm up walking a lot but no labor yet. Lost the plug on Tuesday morning, so just waiting for Owen's big debut. Some ppl say they go into labor within 24 hours after losing the plug and for some women, it can be weeks. Obviously, there is no way in telling when he will come, but I have a feeling it will be within the next week. We'll see!

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, but the shirt in the picture above isn't maternity.  

Belly Button In or Out? Outie.

Wedding Ring On or Off? Off, because my fingers are swollen when I wake up in the morning, but luckily go down by the end of the day. My face is a little swollen in the mornings as well. 

Miss Anything? Walking without waddling? :)

High of the week: Owen and I made it to full term, and I am so so thankful! Praising God that Owen stayed in this long. I honestly feel so free now. Before, I felt like I was always trying to stay down on the couch anytime I wasn't at work, so he would stay inside, and I was always on edge about Owen being premature. Now that I'm full term, I feel this huge sense of relief! I walk around as much as I want now, and it doesn't matter if I'm on my feet too much, etc. SUCH A GREAT FEELING!

Low of the week: Last Sunday night & Tuesday night, I thought I was in labor b/c I was having very strong contractions, and lots of pain, but after multiple hot baths, I got them to calm down. I wasn't ready for him to come then b/c I was still 36 weeks.

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Meeting our precious baby boy anytime now!! I have another appointment on Tuesday, so unless Owen comes before, then I'll know if I've made more progress or not. I'm starting to get so excited!

Owen's Nursery Pictures

There will be a verse on the wall over the changing table

And So It Begins...

Well, Sunday night I was up all night with very painful contractions and cramps.  From 3am on, I could not go back to sleep because I was so uncomfortable. I truly thought I was probably in labor. At 6am, I called the on call midwife to see if I could come in right when they opened at 8am rather than my 11:40am appointment that I already had.  I took 3 hot baths from 10pm Sunday night to 7am Monday morning to try and stop the contractions. Finally, they slowed down some and the pain went away, so I decided to go to work as usual Monday morning and wait for my 11:40 appointment.  Mom drove down to go to the appointment with me where we found out that I was dilated to 2cm and 50% effaced.  Of course, we learned that I could go into labor soon or it could still be several weeks. However, with all the painful contractions from the previous night, my mom didn't seem to think I would last past this weekend. They did the group B strep test at my appointment yesterday and we won't get the results back for 3 days after the test. My midwife informed me that I would have to have IV antibiotics during labor if I went into labor before the test results were back just in case they happened to be positive. I really don't want to have antibiotics during labor, and I really want baby Owen to stay inside and grow a little while longer, so we're just praying that he waits a few more days. I'll be 37 weeks on saturday, which is considered "full-term." Of course, the longer he stays inside the better, but I'm just hoping & praying for nothing to happen until at least Saturday.

Then this morning I lost my "plug." Again, I know that some women lose it and still go a few days to weeks before labor begins; however, because of all the contractions I've been having, I'm not so sure it will be a few weeks. I honestly doubt it. Some people say that you go like your mom did, and my mom went into labor within 24 hours after she lost hers. Praying that's not the case for me! I've been on the couch all day today to try and prevent labor as much as possible. I know that I'm not the one in control, that ultimately it's up to the Lord when He decides to let this baby come into the world. As much as I want to try to control the situation, I'm trying my hardest to "Let Go & Let God." I spent some time praying today and was just reminded that everything is going to be okay. God loves this baby more than I do. Of course I think it's too early to have this baby since I'm only 36 weeks (3.5 weeks from my due date), but I'm choosing to trust the Lord with all of this. I honestly have to continually give the situation back to the Lord over and over again as I find myself wanting to take it back into my own hands. 

Precious Owen has just been kicking away inside my womb, and I cannot get enough of his movements. I love putting my hand on my stomach and feeling his little feet through my stomach. I can't wait to grab those feet and kiss them after he comes out. I'm in love with this baby boy, and I am so looking forward to meeting him when that time comes.

I would definitely appreciate all of your prayers for baby Owen.

Love to you all!
xoxoxo
Kristen

36 weeks

How far along: 36 weeks
Size of baby: Coconut

Movement: Everything I read said that the farther along I got, the less I would feel my baby move, but I find that the opposite is happening. He is getting more and more active, and I LOVE it. Yes, some jabs hurt, and sometimes he sticks his bottom out so far, I feel like my stomach is going to tear, but I am so thankful for every one of his painful movements. :)  Baby boy has flipped to the breech position a few times in the past week or two (all started with a prenatal yoga position that flipped him.) :(  I've been doing these inversion positions that I found online (and talked to my midwife about) that said would help to flip him back head down.  They've been very successful, but I still feel like he could be in an oblique position (head towards one of my hips) rather than straight head down.  I have a midwife appointment tomorrow and while they probably won't do an ultrasound, they'll be able to feel the baby through my uterus to find out what position he is in. I pray that he is head down in the right birthing position.

Sleep: Sleep? What sleep? Okay, I do get SOME sleep at night, but not much at all.  Part of it is due to how uncomfortable I am tossing and turning from my left side to my right side about 20 times a night. Part of it is just due to pregnancy insomnia. For some reason, I just can't stay asleep. I even try to come home and take naps after work, and I can't fall asleep for a nap either. Everyone tells pregnant women to sleep now b/c you won't get any when the baby comes-if only it were that easy. :) BUT, I'm not complaining, because baby Owen will be oh so worth the lack of sleep!

Cravings: More carbs unfortunately. And definitely ice cream this past week.

Queasy or sick:  The past 2 weeks, I've all of a sudden become nauseous at random times. One morning I woke up and the room was spinning and I just felt so nauseous for no reason. Other times it was after I had a large meal, so I've learned to eat smaller, more frequent meals for that reason. The nausea rarely happens though, so I feel good most of the time!

Symptoms:  Mild pain in my pelvic region from time to time. I'll still have a spell of contractions about 2-3 minutes apart about once a week. Otherwise, I feel pretty good.

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, but thankful that I still fit in some regular tops as well or else I wouldn't have much to wear.  

Belly Button In or Out? Outie but not far out.

Wedding Ring On or Off? My fingers just started swelling this past week, so I took my wedding ring off in fear that I wouldn't be able to get it off later. My fingers are only swollen when I wake up in the morning and then go down by the end of the day.

Miss Anything? Walking without waddling? :)

High of the week: I had my work baby shower this week which was a diaper and wipes shower, so we got lots of diapers for Owen! SO THANKFUL for these as I know babies go through diapers FAST! 

Also, every week I am just so thankful that I've made it another week. With all the previous scares of preterm labor, I'm praising Jesus that Owen is still growing inside of me!

Low of the week: Just being exhausted all the time, but I can handle that. 

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to:  I'll be considered full term in ONE week! (37 weeks) PRAISE THE LORD! I'm looking forward to meeting our precious baby boy, whether that's in 1 week or 4 weeks! I'm starting to get really excited to have him in my arms.  


Tomorrow (Feb. 27) is my next midwife appointment (I haven't had one in a month), so I'm really excited to find out if I'm dilated or not and any other information for labor and delivery. I also have my Group B strep test, which I'm not looking forward to as much. I won't have another appointment until 40 weeks (if I make it that far-kind of doubt it). Can't believe this is most likely my last midwife appointment. The end of this pregnancy has flown by!

34 Weeks

First of all, I have to say that I am so so thankful that I've made it this far!  With all the scares we've had, I'm so glad that we've made it to 34 weeks!  This is a huge milestone for babies as their lungs are developed now.  Thanks to everyone who has been praying!!

How far along: 34 weeks

Size of baby: Honeydew

Movement: Owen is one active little guy.  The other day Eric and I couldn't believe the shape of my stomach as my left side was flatter and my right side was protruding out. My stomach looked so deformed. We realized that Owen had moved his entire body all to the right.  He's keeping us entertained that's for sure!

Sleep: Not good.  Waking up a lot to pee & I've also been dealing with pregnancy insomnia.  I've been taking some B vitamins before bed to help me sleep better the past few nights, and they've definitely helped some.  Unfortunately, I find myself tired all day long though.  I know if I was working out that I would sleep better and have more energy during the day, but with my irritable uterus, working out is just out of the question at the moment. If I make it to 38 weeks (I hope I do), then I'll start walking then.

Cravings: Carbs unfortunately. :(  Eric and I enjoyed some gfree pancakes before church this morning, and they were amazing! I would rarely eat pancakes & waffles for breakfast before pregnancy (tried to stick w/higher protein options), but I've been enjoying them a lot lately!

Queasy or sick:  Nope.

Symptoms:  LOTS of pressure down low and lots of random sharp pains in my pelvic region.  The past few days I have had a ton of contractions and menstrual-like pain ever since my chiropractic adjustment on wednesday. (I had no idea that the adjustment would irritate my uterus-lesson learned.)  Today is Sunday, and I'm JUST now feeling like they are starting to calm down since the adjustment.  Hoping that I'm still not dilated yet. 

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, I feel like I wear the same few favorite maternity shirts on a regular basis.  Not too much longer!

Belly Button In or Out? Outie but not far out.

Wedding Ring On or Off? On-thankful for no swelling yet.

Miss Anything? Sleep, energy, being able to walk without pain. I feel like I have to hold my belly up when I walk b/c it just seems so heavy for my body.  The doctors/midwives/nurses all think that's why my uterus is so irritable-b/c my small framed body is having a hard time carrying the weight of my growing uterus.  I don't know-sounds like I must just be sensitive to things.

High of the week: Being at home with my hubby all weekend. We're realizing there's not much time left for just the 2 of us, so trying to savor these times as things are about to change. (for the better of course :)

Low of the week: Taxes-we were planning to use the refund to pay for some of the hospital's delivery bills, but unfortunately we found out that we'll be paying a lot of money to the IRS instead. Sad, sad day.

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Hanging up the wall art I got for Owen's nursery and hopefully getting the nursery done over the next 3 weeks.  I'm also praying that baby Owen stays inside for at least 3 more weeks (til I'm 37 weeks pregnant).  37 weeks is considered full term and safe to deliver, so I would like him to wait until then before he comes.  Please join me in praying that I make it to full term.  Thanks so much!

I realized that I hadn't posted the past few weeks baby bump pictures on here, so here are the few that I had left out:

33 Weeks

30 Weeks in this picture at my Illinois Baby Shower

Wow, I haven't posted in awhile on here.  Well as most of you probably know, it's been a rough month.  2 hospital visits this past month, and I'm praying that I won't have any more scares until baby Owen is born at full-term. :)  I could definitely use some calm before motherhood officially begins.

So, as you know I was hospitalized at 29 weeks with preterm contractions.  Praise the Lord that the contractions weren't doing anything to my cervix.  It's normal to have contractions during the third trimester, but doctors urge you to call them if you have more than 4-6 in an hour.  I was having about 50-60 an hour (not normal at all), so they definitely wanted me to come in to get checked and to monitor me.  I found out I have an irritable uterus.  All the doctors and nurses told me that an irritable uterus (IU) is more common in smaller framed women b/c our bodies have a hard time carrying the weight of the growing uterus.  Over the past month I've learned that if I overdo it, my contractions will get set off or if I have any caffeine (even that in dark chocolate..I know, sad right?), they will also start up again about 1 minute apart. So, I've been taking it easy so I don't start having 1 minute apart contractions again.  I'm still working, but as soon as I get off work, I come home and lay down on the couch.  Thankfully, I have a job where I'm not on my feet too much. 

Some of you may or may not know that I was in a car accident last week (January 25).  It was raining, and my car hydroplaned into another car, which deployed my air bag.  I was fine minus a burn on my hand from the airbag, but I was extremely concerned about Owen.  Eric came and picked me up from the site of the wreck and took me to the hospital.  We thought we would only be there for 4 hours of monitoring, but my contractions were absolutely crazy, and they did blood work that came back a little abnormal so they were concerned about placental abruption from the accident.  When I heard this, I about lost it (okay I really did lose it).  I haven't even had this baby yet, but the love I have for him is so great already, and the concern that something could be wrong was extremely scary.  At that point, Eric and I were told that we then needed to stay for 24 hours for more monitoring of the baby.  My sweet mom drove down from southern IL and the waiting began.  They wanted to make sure that my body didn't show any signs of the placenta separating from the uterus (bleeding, baby in distress, etc).  It was a long night in the hospital as you don't get any sleep with the nurses coming in multiple times.  Little Owen HATED all the monitors on my belly and he would constantly kick the monitor so hard that the nurse would have to come in and fix it so that his heart beat would register.  I didn't mind his hard kicks one bit; the constant reminder that he was doing well and moving around made me extremely thankful.  Eric was a trooper in the middle of the night, helping me with my IV pole every time I had to get up to go to the restroom.  We both got a little taste of what life would be like in the hospital when Owen really does come.  We called it our practice round.  We know we need to bring more pillows, a soft egg crate to make Eric's bed more comfortable, and definitely some chapstick.  :)  The next afternoon, the doctors finally released us to go home.  Baby Owen did GREAT throughout the night.  He never showed signs of distress.  His name means "Young Warrior," and he truly is such a little fighter.  Nothing seems to be phasing him.  The past month makes me appreciate this baby boy so much more.  When it's actually time for him to come into this world, I know I'll look back at the past month, and it'll all be worth it.  I can't get over how much I love him already.  It's such an amazing feeling.  I'll sing songs to him when I'm driving in the car, and he'll start moving around like crazy.  (I hope that means he likes my singing :)

Well, there is the past month in a nutshell.  I also had my baby showers all this past month too.  I'll write another post including some pictures from that.  Owen is a lucky guy to have so many people who love him.

And I wanted to thank all of you who have been praying for us during all of this.  You have no idea how much your prayers mean to me.  As we all know, prayer is so so powerful, and I ask that you continue to pray that baby Owen stays inside til full-term.  Some of the nurses and I laugh and say, watch him go past 40 weeks since we've been so concerned with him coming early.  Oh well, better late than early, but hopefully he'll come right on time. 

Love you all!
Kristen

28 Weeks

How far along: 28 weeks

Size of baby: Chinese Cabbage (2 1/4 pounds)

Movement: He is definitely a night mover. Owen likes to sleep most of the morning off and then wakes up very active in the evenings.

Sleep: It's getting a lot harder to get comfortable.

Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary. Since the holidays are over, I'm determined to eat even healthier and reduce the amount of sweets I eat. (Besides my baby shower days :)

Queasy or sick:  Nope.

Symptoms:  I have a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen when I exercise, but other than that I'm good. 

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, the dress I'm wearing above is from Rosie Pope Maternity in NYC. I loved getting to visit her store during our NYC trip last month.  She has her own show on Bravo called "Pregnant in Heels."

Belly Button In or Out? Half innie/half outie. :)

Wedding Ring On or Off? On

Miss Anything? My motivation.
High of the week: Eric and I had a great weekend at home. We had friends over Friday night and Saturday night was New Year's Eve. We had a great time with friends at Larry's party.  I was surprised that I stayed up til almost 2 am!

Low of the week: Taking down Christmas decorations is pretty depressing. My house looks so bare now.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: My baby showers this month! And I finally ordered Owen's crib, and it should be here any day now.  I can't wait to put it together and see it in the nursery. 

Wednesday is my gestational diabetes test, and I'm a little nervous! I've heard that the orange drink doesn't taste as bad as everyone says, so that's good. Praying I don't have GD!  

Eric and I had a great Christmas in Illinois-our last one as a family of 2!  I'm so excited that we'll have a 9 month old crawling around next Christmas. It's so hard to believe!  Here are a few pics from the Christmas weekend:

Eric & I w/ our twin niece & nephew, Caden & Chloe

Owen got a BOB jogging stroller for Christmas. Mommy is already looking forward to losing the baby weight w/ this gift.

Christmas Day 2011

27 Weeks

Eric & I went to Opryland Hotel last night for Dinner & to see Christmas Lights

How far along: 27 weeks

Size of baby: Head of cauliflower

Movement: He is getting stronger & starting to kick harder and harder. I absolutely love looking down at my stomach and seeing it pop out here and there.  My stomach will also roll around really slowly at times. I'm reminded of the miracle of life that is growing inside of me.  What an awesome creator we serve! He designed everything just perfectly!

Sleep:  I sleep better on nights that I do body pump, but the other nights are pretty rough with tossing and turning.  The past few nights I have woken up short of breath b/c I was flat on my back.  Oops again!! I have pillows all around me but still end up on my back.

Cravings: I crave oatmeal when I wake up in the morning. Today, I am craving all of the delicious food that my mom will be making on Christmas day! She is making every single item gluten free for me! (Thanks to Jules GFree AP flour...it's the best!) There's nothing like a mother's home cooking!

Queasy or sick:  Not since 1st trimester! yay!

Symptoms:  Very thankful that I haven't had any heartburn or acid reflux (at least not yet).  If I eat too much mexican or chili or something like that, I have a little indigestion, but nothing bad at all.  

Maternity Clothes:  Maternity leggings, jeans, few shirts.

Belly Button In or Out? Half innie/half outie. :)

Wedding Ring On or Off? On

Miss Anything? I miss being able to work out hard core.  These days, I'll go to the gym to walk on the treadmill, and I start hurting pretty badly that I have to stop and get on the stationary bike.  Most days of the week, I'm lucky to get enough energy to get to the gym. All my energy I had 2nd trimester is slowly decreasing. :(
High of the week: It's Christmas time!! We celebrated Christmas w/ Eric's family last weekend.  Abby, Eric's sister is 36 weeks pregnant with baby girl, Gracyn, and it was fun being pregnant with her. Here we are relaxing on the couch:

I can't wait to meet my newest niece in January! 

Tonight, we head out with my brother and his wife and their twin toddlers to Illinois for Christmas.  I'm so excited to relax, eat some good food, and hang out with my family!

Low of the week: Stress.  I guess with the holidays, finishing up shopping, working, and also getting ready for baby boy, I feel like I can't keep up this year.  But now that Christmas weekend is here, I can relax and not worry about a thing. So thankful!

Happy or Moody most of the time: A little of both this week to be honest.  Jesus and I have had some quality time discussing my emotions...so glad He can give us peace in the midst of chaos. 

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Christmas (aka Jesus' Birthday). I'm excited to celebrate Christmas with Owen next year and to start our own family traditions with him.

26 Weeks & Nursery Update

I'm 26w4d pregnant and definitely starting to feel it.  Owen is growing faster now and I feel like my stomach keeps getting bigger and bigger.  My body is also starting to hurt more. Car rides are the worst b/c I get so uncomfortable and my back starts hurting.  Can't wait to see my favorite chiropractors (Ryan & Allyson Kathalynas) this weekend for an adjustment.  :)  On a brighter note, I will officially be in my 3rd trimester next week!  I can't believe how fast it has gone by!  Being pregnant in the winter is great but the one negative thing about it is that I feel SO pale.  You're not allowed to tan or get a spray tan during pregnancy, so I guess I'll just have to be okay with being very white this pregnancy.  He's worth it. ;)

Nursery Update:
Owen's nursery is finally BLUE!  I absolutely love going into his room now because the blue color just makes it feel more "real."  My dad and Eric painted Tuesday morning while I was at work, but before they were able to paint, they spent hours taping off the accent wall where the crib will be.  See the pictures below:

Eric getting the lines just right

My dad working on this tedious task

The wall with the chalk lines

Eric (aka Daddy to be) hard at work

The wall all taped off, ready to be painted blue

The next step was to paint the wall blue over the tape (it turned darker after it dried)

My dad painting the rest of the walls blue

 

Here it is! I absolutely LOVE it!

My glider came in!

The fabric has the alphabet on it

A huge thanks to my wonderful husband & father for all their hard work on that accent wall & making sure the lines were straight, etc.  I am very happy that the nursery is starting to come together.  I still need to order a crib, curtains, & a rug, and figure out exactly what I'm going to do on the other walls in the nursery, but I know I still have plenty of time.  January will be a fun filled month of baby showers & nursery planning. Can't wait!

21 Weeks

 

How far along: 21 weeks

Size of baby: Large Banana

Movement: Owen is very active now. In fact, he absolutely loves to kick my bladder over and over again.  haha

Sleep:  Not too bad-love my pregnancy pillow.

Cravings: Sweets. I've been loving some organic dark chocolate to satisfy my sweet tooth in the afternoons.  I'll also drink some strawberry paraiso white tea in the afternoon to kick the sweets craving.  

Queasy or sick:  Not since 1st trimester! yay!

Showing Yet:  Definitely! Although, I had a nurse on the post partum unit where I work ask me the other day if I was eating enough because I didn't look 5 months pregnant.  I was thinking, "Are you serious? I look very pregnant, and I definitely LOVE to eat. :)"

Maternity Clothes:  Some, but still wearing mostly my regular clothes (with the belly band of course.)  Love wearing my leggings with tunics because they are so comfortable.

Belly Button In or Out? Still in and still getting more and more shallow.

Wedding Ring On or Off? On

Miss Anything? Sushi.
High of the week:  Mom and I went fabric shopping last weekend and found several options to choose from.  Unfortunately, if you know me, you know that I'm very indecisive, so I'm having a hard time deciding on the exact 2 fabrics I want to use.  The nursery will be light blue and white, with elephants as an accent. Eric went to Alabama and an elephant is their mascot.  And I think baby elephants are so cute! Here is a picture of one of the fabrics we are probably going to use. This one will be for the crib bumper that my mom will be making:

Another high is that Eric got to feel Owen kick for the first time Thursday night! He has tried feeling him kick many times, but every time Eric puts his hand on my stomach, Owen stops. Hoping Eric can catch Owen kicking again soon! 
We also started Round 1 of painting the nursery this weekend.  The nursery used to be the guest room, so Eric and I have had to go through all of our clothes, storage, office stuff, etc to decide what to keep, give to Goodwill, and organize. Who knew 2 people could accumulate so much "stuff."

Low of the week:  This morning was definitely a rough one.  It seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong.  And it's not that there was one big thing that went wrong; it was one of those times where every little thing kept going wrong, and then I just broke.  This was all before church, and I truly felt like satan was attacking me, and just trying to get me overwhelmed, full of worry and stress.  I continued to pray and ask the Lord for peace and protection over my mind from worry and fear.  I then went into the nursery where Eric was painting, and he told me there was only a tiny space left to paint in the nursery, but he ran out of paint.  All of a sudden, I just started crying. No, I wasn't crying b/c we ran out of the expensive zero-VOC paint that we bought. I was crying b/c it was that one last thing that I needed to push me over this morning.  Why is it that satan always seems to get to us on Sundays? I think he'll do anything to try and rob us of our joy and to distract us from worshiping our Savior.  Well, Eric had stayed up til 2 am painting the trim and woke up early to try to finish round 1, so he was pretty frustrated as well, but he just took me in his arms and let me cry.  He reassured me that everything was going to be okay, and reminded me of how blessed we are.  With all that happened this morning, we almost didn't make it to church (wouldn't satan have liked that), but we finally made it to the 12:00pm service, and guess what our pastor Pete's sermon was on: Fear. Coincidence? I think not. Today's sermon was EXACTLY what Eric and I needed to hear and apply to our lives. 

"Your fears establish the limits of your life. You don't have a fear problem. You have a faith problem." - Pete Wilson Very convicting statement.

"One of the most exciting things that could happen in your life today is to trust God in some area of your life that scares you to death." - Pete Wilson
"Are you letting your fears be the fuel that propels you forward or the limits that confine you?" - Pete Wilson

It's amazing how much better I felt when I left church today-the peace of the Lord truly filled my soul.  Looking back, I'm embarrassed at how overwhelmed/fearful/stressed I became this morning, but thankful that I could surrender it all to the Lord and leave it at His feet.  God is so good.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Round 2 of painting (Blue) and choosing the exact fabrics we're going to use for the nursery.

Gender Reveal Party

IT'S A BOY!!!!

We had our gender reveal party last week (Oct. 27, 2011), where we cut the cake and found out that baby Pardue is a boy!  The day started off with our ultrasound at 8:30 am.  Eric and my mom came with me, and we were all supposed to turn our head when the ultrasound tech told us to (she knew it was a surprise).  Well, as soon as that wand touched my stomach, she immediately said, "Don't look!"  The entire ultrasound, she was adamant about us not looking, so afterwards, all 3 of us had a feeling it was a boy just by the way she acted-Because boys are a bit more obvious on ultrasounds than little girls are. :)  The ultrasound was amazing-Eric and I loved seeing the baby move around and suck his thumb.  He was definitely stubborn though; the tech tried to get a good shot of his profile but he was all curled up facing away from the "camera."  She had me roll around on both sides to try to get him to roll over, but he still wouldn't.  Then she started jabbing my belly with the wand to try to get him to move, and he definitely did not like that.  It was pretty funny watching his reactions to her jabbing him.  Then, he started to suck his thumb-poor thing needed comfort from all that disruption. lol

Back to the party, when we found out it was a boy, I'm pretty sure we were all shocked!  Everyone had been telling us for so long that they just knew I was having a girl, and ALL the old wives tales pointed to girl as well.  (I don't believe in ANY of them anymore haha)  Since it was in our heads that it was a girl, it took awhile to get over the initial shock, but seeing how happy my husband was when it had sunk in that he was having a boy made everything absolutely perfect.  Eric's been excited about the baby this whole time, but something about having a boy made him just light up all weekend anytime we would talk about baby.  I'm so so happy that Eric is going to have a little buddy to watch football with.  And from what everyone has told me, it sounds like little boys like to snuggle with their momma, so I'm thrilled about having a little snuggler.  Here are some pics from the party & ultrasound.

The Cake with the Answer Inside-It was SO hard to wait all day!

We skyped with my brother & his wife & their twins, Eric's parents, brothers, sister & her husband & their 3 boys. It was so great to include everyone on the big reveal.

The voting at the beginning of the night-more were added later.

Eric & I with my Mom & Dad

Waving at us :)

Sucking his thumb

Eric and I are so thankful for a healthy baby boy! We love him so much already!