Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Week 24


It’s the 6 month mark!  Time sure does fly – in a little over 4 months she’ll be here!  Today was our 24 week appointment.  The doctor said that she is growing on target and I’m doing well as far as my weight, blood pressure, and all that jazz.  As of Saturday I have gained a total of 3.8 pounds.  The only thing that has bothered me thus far is the pollen.  Is has been ridiculous already this year!  The neti pot has been really helpful (as disgusting as it is) but the doctor said I could take Zyrtec if I need to.  I’ll hold off on taking anything unless it gets totally unbearable.  Steve has finished painting the ceiling and the green in the nursery – on to the brown soon!  Here are some other pictures we took today outside.
 

Friday, April 22, 2011

We have paint!!!

Steve has been working hard on getting the room ready to paint and has started!!  Yay!!  Can't wait for it to be finished.  The plan is green on top and brown on the bottom of the wall, separated by white chair rail.  The red trim is leftover from the previous decor so that will be gone - don't worry :)  The green matches the green that is in the bedding set that we picked out.


Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Week 23


Here’s my week 23 belly pic J I no longer look “fluffy” I finally look pregnant.  LOL!  Oh and as of Saturday I have officially gained ONE pound!  I really do eat, I swear!  I just tend to eat fruits and salads. 

This past weekend my mom and I went and completed the baby registry at Burlington Baby Depot.  So now we are registered at Babies R Us and Burlington Baby Depot (under Steve and Nichole).  I’m still debating on Target since most of the Burlington stuff is only available in the store L and for the out of town friends/family I’d like them to have more of a selection if they need/want to order online.  The funniest part about going to register is that my youngest niece, Sienna, was staying with my mom and when she told her they were going to go shopping with me on Saturday to look at baby stuff for Nikki’s baby; this was her reply “I don't want to walk around for hours looking for stuff for Nikki's baby” then she proceeds to ask Paw-paw if he will watcher her while Granny goes shopping.  Uh-ohhhhh someone’s a little jealous already!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Week 22


Here is week 22’s photo!  I think I look smaller but I’m pretty sure it’s the photographer J but he does a good job anyways.  This was a quick picture since I had to work tonight but it’s a belly picture so I’ll go with it.  Still no weight gain yet but my belly is sure growing. I have one pair of jeans that I can wear without having to use my be-band but all of my work pants are accompanied by that great invention!
I finally had to break down and buy a couple of maternity shirts and broke one out this past Friday.  It was the first day that I wore maternity clothes.  It wasn’t too bad.  I joked with co-workers and said that I spent many years hiding my fat and now the only clothes that I can find are ones that show off the big belly! LOL!  Oh well…it’s cute anyway.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Week 21...

This past Tuesday was the 21 week mark.  I try to get a picture every Tuesday but I was working at the sheriff's office this past Tuesday so we took the picture tonight.  I'm getting bigger! I actually look pregnant now :)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Rook this one’s for you!

…My prego friend…

A really good friend of mine is also pregnant and she’s due in June.  This is her first child and she too is having a little girl. J I must say that I realize how truly blessed I have been during this pregnancy when I see or talk to her.  Poor thing has been miserable this week with aches and pains.  Like me, she hasn’t been sick but she has had everything else I haven’t….she’s had cravings, her sense of smell is off the charts, and her little girl kicks and punches her really hard….most of the time.  I know my day is probably coming when I’m going to hate life for a few months because I can’t sleep or she’s kicking and punching me to no end but for now I’m really happy that the only thing I notice about being pregnant is the fact my belly is growing and my hair and nails look amazing (some days).  I really do feel for her though…I hope she feels better soon and in June, all the pain and agony will be well worth it J

Monday, April 4, 2011

Between then and now…

I gave the bulk of information from the time we found out we were pregnant until the time we found out we were having a girl in my first blog post so here are some of the tid-bits since…

…Appointments and movements…

                We’ve had two appointments since the great unveil. The first one was on 3/1/11 which was a normal check-up (weight check, listen to the baby’s heartbeat, and general stuff) and I must mention that there was no weight gain but my pants did feel a little tighter. J  I saw a different doctor at this appointment, Dr. Stadulis.  I really like her – maybe she’ll end up delivering Baby Girl Basham in August. I admit that for the first time in my life I was concerned about the lack of added pounds but the doctor assured me that I was fine and to be happy as I’ll most likely put it on in the 3rd trimester.  I am quite amazed that I’ve not been sick at all.  I am really happy about that.  I hear it’s horrible and some women are sick the entire time…soooo soooo glad that hasn’t been me.

                On 3/10/11 (yup, my Dad’s birthday) I was at work and felt this weird fluttering sensation in my lower abdomen.  I ignored it at first but then it happened again…and then again.  It was movement!  Other than seeing the first sonogram this is the first time it hit me that there is really a living person in there.  Luckily she’s not to the point that her kicking and punching me hurts or is keeping me up at night but I’m sure that’s soon to come.

Our next appointment was the BIG one!  This was on 3/26/11.  Our appointment was in the morning this time, thank goodness!  The sonogram technician did her routine, checking out the baby however she would move around and finally at the end she gave us the news – baby Basham was Baby Girl Basham!  The sonogram pictures on this blog are from that sonogram.  Our technician also rewarded us with the picture you see on the bottom left…a 3D image of her J  She said that since we were one of the few patients that can manage to get to the appointment on time she would give us a treat….and Steve wonders why I’m always early to appointments….good things can come of it!  We saw Dr. Stadulis again and just like the last appointment, no weight gain…just a growing bump.  I’m unable to button my work pants now but I can still wear a couple pair of my regular jeans.

We had decided to send flowers to the ‘rents to tell them the sex of the baby.  Once we left the appointment we ordered flowers for my dad and Steve’s parents and then picked up a bouquet for my mom.  We took mom’s flowers to her at her office.  She was excited and so were her co-workers…she was going to have another granddaughter!  Steve’s parents and my dad were also excited and enjoyed their flowers.

Our next appointment is 4/26/11.  This one will be a regular appointment and we are scheduled to see Dr. Kil again.

…The Name Game…
                Oh…the name game…everyone seems to be playing this…LOL.  I’m pretty sure every day someone asks what we are going to name our little girl and everyone has a suggestion, so keep ‘em coming, I’ll add them to the list…so far these are our ideas (I won’t say who came up with which) J We are keeping away from “family” names like Marie.
                Harper
                Aydan
                Sydney
                Cadence
                Brooke

…Registering for stuff…
                Everyone has been asking if we’ve registered anywhere or if we have a theme for her room.  Well, I think we’ve narrowed down the theme to this nursery collection we found at Burlington: http://www.cocalo.com/item.asp?id=1081&brand=1&g=1&coll=&cat=1 but we are still working on the paint scheme for the room.  We hope to have that decided sometime this week so we can get the nursery all painted and ready.

                We took a drive this past Sunday to Woodbridge to Babies R Us.  Our plan was to go and check out everything that they had.  I must say that walking into that place was a bit overwhelming.  I had looked through Burlington Baby Depot and Target just browsing at items but I wanted to put my hands on different things like strollers and portable play yards.  Burlington offers a lot of the small stuff but the selection at Babies R Us seemed larger when it came to cribs and strollers and items like that.  We ended up going ahead and registering at Babies R Us for the items we saw and liked (I mean since we were there and had some time – Steve was being a good sport especially since it was race day).  We plan to register at Burlington Baby Depot in the next week or so for some other items.  I know Babies R Us is a bit pricey but at least it’s a start.  I’ll leave it up to everyone to comparison shop amongst stores J  we just picked out what we liked and what we felt would be useful.

…Stay Tuned…

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Catching up...

I know I started this blog a little later in my pregnancy but it didn’t really strike me until today that some of our family isn’t on Facebook and probably won’t set up an account so I thought this would be a good way to provide updates about the baby bump progress J  It’s just the beginning of the blog so I hope to catch you up soon.  I’ll post updates and pictures and share with you our journey to parenthood.
…It all started when…
                Little did anyone know, Steve and I decided in January 2010 that we were ready to take the next step…becoming parents to a miniature version of one of us (we already had kids sorta speak – our furbabies).  We decided the best approach was no real approach at all.  I would stop birth control and let nature take its course.  Over the course of the year we just lived life as normal not really thinking about or planning a pregnancy. 

…Finding out…

                I need to point out that up until I took a home pregnancy test the only thing that clued me in that I may be pregnant was the fact that I missed my monthly cycle by a few days.  I was working my full time job, my part time job some days, and playing soccer once a week on an indoor league.  I was tired but attributed that to stress at work and my active lifestyle.  I had no sickness and had even lost weight.

So..on January 22, 2011 I decided it was time to take a home pregnancy test.  Steve and I were grocery shopping and I picked up a test and shoved it in the grocery bag without his knowledge.  As soon as we got home I ran upstairs to see if what I thought were true…and 2 positive tests later I confirmed my feeling…I was pregnant!  Excited and nervous, I went downstairs where Steve was putting away the groceries and told him that I figured out why I had been so tired lately.  I handed him the pregnancy test.  He looked at me in disbelief.  Then after a minute, he said “cool”….LOL.

…First appointment…

On February 1, 2011 we went for our first OB appointment.  I took a pregnancy test, got weighed, and gave some blood.  We saw Dr. Kil at Central Virginia OBGYN who talked to us and said based on the pregnancy test (which was a urine test) he felt that I was very early in my pregnancy.  He wanted us to come back in two-weeks for a sonogram to determine exactly how far along I was and when my exact due date would be.   

We left the appointment happy that the test confirmed we were pregnant but a little let down because we wanted to have a sonogram picture to use to tell our family we were expecting.  Over the next two weeks it was difficult to keep the secret but we managed, somehow. J

…Sonogram day…

                February 15, 2011…oh the anticipation!  For two weeks we semi-avoided friends…it was no secret that I like my wine and to go to dinner and not have a glass would have raised many questions.  I barely communicated with my mom and my best friend, Virginia, because I knew there would come a point when I just couldn’t hold it in any longer and I wanted to tell everyone in a unique way.  This brings me to the plan that was hatched about how to tell the ‘rents.  We decided that we would wait until we had the sonogram picture before we told the family.  This way we would have a picture and all of the details on the due date.  During the two weeks of waiting, I created three scrapbooks – one for my mom, one for my dad, and one for Steve’s parents.  The final touch was the sonogram picture.

                Our appointment was in the afternoon so the morning was a little nerve racking…I hate waiting and this just made me crazy.  Once we got to the doctor’s office and into the sonogram room we were a little nervous…was I about 8 or 9 weeks, were there twins, am I going to be able to make on the yearly group vacation to Nags Head??  We were about to find out….

                I hopped up on the table and the sonogram technician went to work.  Since there was question as to how far along I was the doctor ordered an internal sonogram.  Fully prepared to see a peanut like shape on the screen I was amazed at what appeared and will never forget the words that came out of her mouth “whoa, there’s a whole person in there!”  Yeah….we were quite surprised too….I was actually 14 weeks pregnant at that point.  Ummm…didn't the doctor say I was very early in my pregnancy??

                With sonogram picture in hand we rushed home so I could finish the scrapbooks, we could finally mail my dad’s and Steve’s parents book for delivery the next day, and we could go tell my mom in person.  I finished up the books and we headed out.  With two books in the mail we were Fairview bound with the third.

…Breaking the news…

                We stopped by my mom’s with the reason (if she asked why we randomly stopped) that Steve needed to look at her computer because one of his buddies had some parts for it.  I took the book in with me and tossed it across the counter at my mom and told her since I was finished with school I needed a hobby and I took up scrapbooking.  I told her to take a look at my first project and tell me what she thought of it.  The scrapbook was a progression of mine and Steve’s relationship…how we met, got married, had furkids, and had fun.  The next to last page had the big news and when my mom turned the page the look on her face was priceless (once she realized exactly was she was looking at).  She didn’t believe it at first…and was in shock.  I’m fairly certain that the news didn’t set in until later that night…but that was exactly what I wanted.  The scrapbook was a success.  Now we just had to wait until the next day to hear the responses from my dad and Steve’s parents.

                My phone rang around noon the next day and it was my dad….filled with joy and excitement, he had received his book.  He was just as excited as my mom.  It was great hearing the excitement in his voice.  Steve’s mom called that evening and they too were filled with joy.  The plan for the surprise unique announcement had worked out perfectly.

                I mentioned before that I had been avoiding friends for a couple of weeks….well….now it was time to let the cat out of the bag.  Throughout the next day I surprised a lot of people with the news.  I sent a picture of the sonogram to my brother and his family introducing them to the newest member of the Basham family, told long time besties Danielle and Bobbijo and made sure that Steve and mine’s best friend Drew knew he was going to an uncle.  The final in person notifications came later that evening when I met Virginia and Rachel for our monthly wine night outing ay Kybecca.  I went along with the plan to meet for wine as to not give anything away.  My mom was invited as was her friend Bridget.  I arrived a few minutes after mom, Bridget, and Virginia.  I had to avoid the waitress’ request to know what I wanted to fill m wine glass with….which was odd.  It was customary for Virginia and I to order a bottle of Jigsaw….uh-oh…red flag.  After a few minutes of conversation and finding out that Rachel was going to be about an hour late…I decided it was time to tell V.  I had bought her a cupcake cookbook because she had suddenly became Betty Crocker over the past couple of weeks.  I gave that to her first then told her I had something else for her….she looked a little worried…(I love it when a plan works)!  I told her that I realized she probably thought I had been blowing her off over the past couple of weeks but I had a really good reason…she was still looking really worried so I handed her the sonogram picture.  She was speechless….and excited….and in shock.  Score!  Another perfect surprise!  Mom brought her scrap book and shared it with V.  Rachel showed up and we went through the entire story again…another perfect surprise!!  It was great finally having the most important people in our lives know about our little secret and being able to share our excitement with them.

…More to come…