Our 6th Month....

I definitely should not quit my day job to become a blogger.  I haven’t figured out how people have to time to blog every day, or even every week J 
 
It’s hard to believe that over 6 months ago, Garrett and I received the phone call that has changed our lives.  Time is really flying by so quickly now. 

A recap of the last 4 weeks:

Baby Smith has a name…(drum roll please)… 

Graycen Elizabeth Smith

 

Weight Gain and Maternity Clothes - Over the last 4 weeks, I have gained an additional 5 lbs, which puts my total weight gain at 17 lbs.  My “baby bump” is getting bigger each week (pictures to come), and I spent last few weeks trying to fit into jeans and pants that DON’T WANT to button or zip.  I finally have given in and wearing mostly maternity jeans and pants, so much more comfortable than trying to squeeze into my other pants.  I did have a moment this weekend, trying to squeeze into an old pair of jeans, and Garrett had to nicely ask me to put on a different pair.  I was taking “skinny” jeans to a new level of tight.

Getting Ready for Graycen: Garrett and I spent a Sunday morning at Babies R Us starting our baby registry. 

Although we’re not quite finished with it, we have the important things.  I’m not sure how my parents were able to raise us without all of the cool gadgets and “necessities”? J 

I cannot directly link our registry list to the blog, but the list is searchable using the Babies R Us website (http://www.babiesrus.com/registry/)  and searching by “Robin Smith, Everett.”

Shopping with Garrett brought tears to my eyes – he is going to be an amazing dad.  He has already picked out several “daddy’s girl,”  “I love daddy,” and “Daddy’s princess” outfits for Gracyen.  Hopefully, she won’t develop a complex J

 Making Room: In addition to registering and buying maternity clothes, my parents come over for a long weekend in November to help us start getting the nursery ready.  My to-do list was longer than we had time for, but we were able to paint the bedroom and replace the light fixture and mirror in the bathroom.  Garrett and my dad have some extra work to do before Graycen get’s here.  

The crib has been ordered and should be delivered this week.  The crib bedding fabric has been selected and purchased and will become my mom’s next sewing/quilting project.  

Baby Movement:  Graycen will either be a ballerina, gymnast, swimmer or acrobat based on of her movements - she is one active little girl.  She is definitely more active during the day and after I eat a meal, but this last week I’ve been waking up around 2am and can feel her swimming around. 

Some of my students have claimed to see her moving across my stomach while I’m teaching.  Not sure if they can really see it yet, but at least they are paying more attention to me. 

Coming up:  As you can see, it’s been a busy month for the Smith household.  My to-do list continues to get bigger and bigger each week.  On the agenda for this week:

·         7 month check up and glucose test

·         set up daycare appointments

·         check in, again, with HR and Benefits center to make sure I understand my maternity leave

·         start making baby book

Confirmed: Baby Smith is a GIRL!!!

We are 22 weeks, a little over half way, which is hard to believe and accept.  40 weeks seems like forever, but now I’m worried that I won’t be able to finish everything on my before baby bucket list. 

According to my weekly pregnancy tracker updates, she weighs approximately 1 pound and is about 10 inches.  With a growing baby comes a growing mommy.  I’ve spent this week trying to fit into my “normal” pants.  I’m no longer able to button or zip (all the way) any of my pants and should probably stop squeezing into them  and start wearing maternity pants/jeans. J  I've also noticed a change to my belly button, not quite an “outie” yet, but close.

Another realization this week – be careful what you watch on TV before bedtime.  Garrett and I were getting caught up on the new show, “American Horror Show” and watched two back to back episodes, which caused my dreams to be filled with haunted houses and ghosts for 2 nights.  This could be an interesting week as Garrett continues to get ready for Halloween by watching his “scary” movies. 

Ballet recitals, hair bows and frilly dresses are in our future. We're having a GIRL!!!!

My mother's intuition is working!  We had our Anatomy Scan on Thursday and found out we're having a baby girl (well...we're pretty sure we're having a girl.)  Baby girl Smith was being a bit difficult and refusing to move from her very comfortable position.

She was curled up in a ball - legs crossed and at times hands behind head - for most of the 1.5 hour appointment.  Must take after Garrett....or her brother Halen who loves to snuggle up in a ball too.

We had to switch to an internal scan and hope for better pictures.  Although she kept her legs crossed (I love that she's modest), the tech was able to be sneaky.  She said that she didn't see any parts that would indicate a boy and was fairly confident that Baby Smith is a little girl.  We are SO excited and can't wait to start shopping for our little one, but will save our receipts just in case J

The tech was able to get some pictures of arms and legs.  She has both arms and legs and it looks like all 10 fingers and toes.



Because Baby Smith wasn't willing to move around, despite having to get up and walk around 3 times during the appointment, we'll be heading back in for another session in 2 weeks.  The tech is hoping to get some additional anatomy pictures and measurements.

Name to be announced soon...so stay tuned!

Baby Smith is 16 weeks :)

Baby Smith turns 16 weeks and goes to school! 

It is finally back to school time for me (and baby Smith).  I have a feeling that this little one is going to be very advanced.  Now that the baby's ears have developed and can recognize sound, "she'll" be able to listen to all of my reading and writing lessons and hopefully will be reading and writing out of the womb J

Other exciting happenings...
Garrett and I went to our four month appointment today.  Baby Smith is doing great, we didn’t get to have an ultrasound at this appointment, but we were able to hear the heartbeat.  This little one is quite active; it took the doctor several attempts to find the heartbeat because of all of the movement.  I've also been feeling little flutters/bubbles lately, which is an amazing feeling.  I can’t wait to feel kicks!

And..

We were also able to set our gender ultrasound appointment, which we're very excited about.  Baby Smith will officially be a baby girl or boy on September 29^th….just two weeks away. It’s going to be a long two weeks.  

We've been putting off shopping for baby stuff until we know gender, so I'm excited to start purchasing all of the cute things I'm finding during my "window shopping" trips.

A bump along the way…

I have made it to the 2nd trimester J  Which means no more morning/afternoon sickness.

Now that I am 14 weeks, Garrett has made a few observations – which I will only be taking as  compliments J

1.    My butt has gotten bigger

2.    He can feel my belly when he hugs me.

So, I guess both Baby Smith and I are growing!  Here’s an outside picture of Baby Smith.

Boy or Girl - the bet is on...

We won’t find out gender until our October appointment, but it has been fun trying to figure out what we think Baby Smith is.

 Garrett believes that Baby Smith is a boy – his logic…genetics???  He seems to think that because boys run in his family AND because everyone he knows has had a boy, we will be having a boy.  Not sure if his genetics theory is sound.  I have a “mothers intuition” that Baby Smith will be a girl.  My logic – just my gut feeling.

To help us figure it out, we went to the internet.  Based on 2 Chinese Calendars, using our conception date and my birthday, and Garrett’s birthday (I’m not sure why he thought his birthday had something to do with this), we will be having a girl.  This still did not convince Garrett, so we decided to try something more reliable and accurate – an internet quiz.   Based on our quiz results, we are 70% likely to have a girl. 

Hmmm….

12 weeks and growing...

We just had our 12 week appointment and our "dot" now looks like a baby with arms and legs. The ultrasound was the best part - the baby was so active, swimming, flipping, waving and kicking. It is hard for me to believe that something so small (the size of a lime) and look so much like a baby and be so active.  The doctor told us that everything looks great and we can hopefully find out the gender at our 5 month appointment in October. 

As my best friend pointed out, the baby is not smiling in the picture so it must be taking after Garrett already J

Our Journey Begins...

Our journey began in June when Garrett and I went through our first IVF cycle, hoping for the best, but very aware of the statistics.  The doctor was able to retrieve several eggs, but not many made it through the process.  Unfortunately, my egg quality is low and the lab could only fertilize 3 eggs. 

So three days later, the doctor transferred all three and reminded us that it only takes one.  Two weeks later (end of June) we found out that the doctor was correct, it does only take one.  We were pregnant with our little miracle. 

The doctors monitored the pregnancy closely for the first few weeks with ultrasounds...we were able to see our baby (more like a "dot" at the time) at 5 weeks and listened to the heartbeat at 6 weeks.  SO AMAZING!