And the Gender is...

    Well, I have been really bad at posting frequently, tried to do better, but life is busy. So I will post what I can get. I still haven't thought a whole lot about baby, because I don't really have time. Between work, young womens, and life I am pretty swamped. It is nice though because I don't sit around thinking about being pregnant all the time.
      Paul and I decided that we wanted to know what the gender was earlier than we had originally planned. We were going to wait until Christmas, but thought it better to find out today. The great thing about us going with a midwife (mine is amazing by the way), is that we really get to choose when we have an ultrasound. Plus I don't have to get oodles of tests done that I don't feel like I need. Anyway, our midwife referred us to a great ultrasound studio.
     The package we paid for was supposed to be only 30 minutes of ultrasound footage with only a few pictures, but walked out of there with 124 pictures on a dvd and an hour long session of watching our cute little baby! No joke! I don't even know what to do with that many pictures.
      Well, from the beginning of time, Paul and I had it set in our minds that we would be having a baby girl first. We were dead set on it and pretty sure that was what we were having. Guess God had other plans for us because we get to have a cute little boy first!
     To be honest, I thought I was going to be really sad, like devastatingly sad. I wasn't that sad, but I wasn't bursting with excitement. I know that sounds bad, but I truly thought we were having a girl. On the long drive home, with a milkshake in hand, I got time to ponder and think about the new addition to our family. I am not to the point where I am dancing with excitement yet, but I know and feel in my heart that this family was set apart and chosen long before I had a say in it, and for that reason there is a purpose that we are blessed to have a little Mr. joining us.
     I am sure the more I think about it and plan on it the more excited I will get. And I sure hope so. I am truly grateful that we have a healthy baby, that is for sure. It took us seriously like 40 minutes just to get him to sit still enough for us to get a picture of the gender. Of the 124 pictures we have, bet ya only 2 of them are of him showing off for us! He will certainly be a frisbee player though. Even in de womb he knows how to lay out :)
     The pregnancy does seem more real to me know. I thought it might start to click after the ultrasound. It has to some degree. It really was breath taking seeing our cute little guy up on the screen. I can't believe I am almost half way there. 17 weeks tomorrow! The past 5 weeks have flown by! I sure hope the next 23 do the same!

Week 16 in both pictures, but I totally feel like two days later I totally popped. Except now that I am  17 weeks I feel like I am smaller. Hmm... Weird. But hey, I still fit my skinny jeans so life is peachy!

Liz our technician put in the weeks wrong. I am really 17 weeks, but other than that our pictures turned out great!

There he is giggling at us because he is such a stinker and thinks he is so funny! (prolly just yawning) but still, he was such a stinker the whole time!

The 3D pictures were a little bit harder to make out, but if you look at the picture right you can see his cute little face in the top left corner of the picture. 

Trimester #2

     I have been really bad about writing down my thoughts lately. I am nearly 14 weeks and only have three posts about the pregnancy. I thought that since I have a little bit of time, I might write a post about what has been running through my mind, and how I have been feeling.
     From week 7, I pretty much got morning sickness. Thankfully it wasn't bad, but it was definitely irritable. If I got too hot, or too hungry, or smelled anything that I didn't like, it would trigger the nausea. Thankfully being at school helped keep my mind off things, but at the same time, being at school the heater in my classroom is unpredictable, and you know how stinky kids fresh from P.E. smell. I tried to be positive and optimistic always, but feeling sick all the time certainly did not put me in the greatest of moods.
     I do feel that things have started to calm down a little. I do get nauseated if I stay up too late, or don't get enough sleep, and sometimes when I am hungry, but it is not as strong as it was before. I have also started to think that maybe I might feel skittles moving around. I can't tell for sure, but it sure makes me excited to think about.
     Paul and I were talking the other day about everything, and he asked me what I was constantly thinking about and feeling, being pregnant. Maybe I am not putting enough into it, because my response was, "nothing." Not really. I still feel like the whole thing is surreal. Hearing the heartbeat was amazing, but I still don't feel like being a mom has set in. And maybe it won't until I actually give birth. I want to be thoughtful and contemplative, but I guess it needs to sink in first.
      All I know, is that I am exceedingly grateful to my Heavenly Parents for the opportunity they have given me to be a mother, and Paul a father. And while I don't fully understand right now, I know that in time, I will understand.

Skittles Heart Beat

     Today was the first prenatal appointment Paul and I had with our midwife. I will be honest and say that I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I figured if we were going to the hospital they might try and get a heart beat and check other things, but I didn't really quite know how everything would work out with a midwife. 

     Lily came over with her assistant, who is one of my friends from planning stake girls camp, Sara Cram. They checked vitals, and pricked my finger to get some blood, and to my surprise they actually tried to get a heartbeat. I honestly didn't know that Lily would have access to the nifty contraption she has to check for heart beats. It was so crazy. Sara had to search around for a little bit to find it, but when she found it, Skittles heartbeat was strong. It was shocking to me, to actually have physical proof that there was something growing inside me! Paul knows I am emotional and even doubly so since being pregnant, so he just kept on watching, waiting for me to start crying. I didn't, but I thought it was funny that he would think I would though.

     It has been a challenge for me to stay happy and keep my dinner in my stomach. If any of you know me, I can handle almost ANY type of sickness and be a trooper about it, but when it comes to nausea and throwing up, I just don't handle it very well. So, with that being said, morning sickness has definitely been a trial of my faith. I am grateful though because it keeps me humble and helps me to remember the Savior and the important things in life. 

     We are officially at week 9 and super excited that everything keeps progressing smoothly. As far as my thoughts go, I am starting to get a little more excited. It is less surreal now that I have heard a heartbeat, but I still don't think it has fully sunk in yet. I am thinking that when I start to show, or when I actually have an ultra sound and see our lil' Skittles, then it will be quite real. My cravings thus far have been normal. Usually I don't crave something, but if I see an add, or start thinking about food, I think of something, (usually quite unhealthy), and fixate on it a little bit. Milkshakes, Arby's roast beef and cheddar, greek yogurt, and caramel ice cream are the huge cravings I have had lately. 

     My sense of smell has gotten quite a bit stronger as well. A lot of smells I used to like are horrible. Things I could handle are horrible, and good smells, are extra good and make me hungry if they are food related. The smelly kids after recess have been a hard smell to get used to. It never bothered me before, but with the super sniffer, I can smell EVERYTHING! The cleaning stuff a few of the teachers use makes me gag, The cafeteria always smells SO good. It makes me hungry every day. My house when I first walk in the door can sometimes set me off. Yeah, even the little things. 

     All in all, we are super excited. Each week that passes gives me hope that after the first trimester my nausea will get better. Nothing is for sure, but I can sure hope! 
     Paul was able to record our little skittles heartbeat. I thought it would be fun to post it in my blog that way we will always have it.