22 weeks

2012. 06.04

Nothing too exciting this week. Just growing away!

What is going on your ask? Why, let me tell you! Week 22 in a nutshell

- baby is almost 10 inches long and weighs a WHOLE 14 ounces! 

- baby is the size of a small doll. (man terms: the size of an overinflated football. the description stays as an overinflated football through week 24. Funny... I feel like an overinflated hot air balloon!)

- I am starting to get tired from simple things that I used to do on a regular basis. shopping anyone? (this is my worst nightmare, and I am sure... C$'s best dream.)

21 weeks

2012.05.28

This week, I revealed the secret at work. I made everyone wait until Wednesday when I brought in pink cookies :) Lucky for them, because they all love some free food! My friend had sent out an email asking people to vote between one of three choices. 

     1. boy

     2. girl

     3. twins! (Believe it or not, some people were hoping that finding out the gender also meant that there would miraculously be twins. Miraculously, there were not.)     

Once people guessed, they had to wait until the next day for the email announcing free food! Oh yea, and the baby's gender. It is funny though, I mean, I feel like it is more real, but I think that everyone I work with feels like it is more real too!

What's happening in week 21?

- baby has grown to over 8 ½ inches long and weighs about 12 ounces. (man terms? the length of a beer bottle.)

- baby's eyelids have finished forming this week.

- baby is about the size of a papaya

And me? I really enjoy the "hand on my hip because I am so awkward in photos" pose.

the big reveal

2012. 05.25

Sorry! I know, I know... it's been awhile. Let's try to catch up shall we?

Last time we left you, we told you that IT'S A GIRL! However, we didn't tell you about telling our families!

Since my family is in Seattle, while C$'s fam-bam lives in town (like, 8 miles directly west of us!) we decided to virtually get everyone together. Chris's parents and youngest brother came over with the younger bro's gf for dinner. Meanwhile, I had set up a facetime date (gawd... I love apple) with my family. Once dinner was over, we called up my family and sat C's fam down on the couch. Following some explanation of how some people choose to do a reveal through a cake, but we wanted to do something slightly different (and the fact that C's mom makes a killer dessert that I was not about to pass up), we finally opened the giant box that had been taunting everyone in the living room all evening. Next thing you knew (after I realized that I hadn't cut all the tape on my side) balloons flew out making is very apparent that a little girl would be gracing us with her presence in October.

And just so you get to see our beaming mugs with my crafty-handiwork :)

And as a final note (and to know how amazing I am with my craftiness), AFTER we did this, I saw a picture on Pinterest (my current obsession) of a couple opening a box and colored balloons flying out. Just to give myself a little pat on my own back (not that I can reach it right now...), we did the box BEFORE I ever saw the Pinterest picture. BAM!

4th appointment: do you want to know???

2012. 05.24

Well.... do you? I mean, that's the first question people ask US lately. "Do you know what you are having?!" And as much as I want to respond with "Yes! A baby!" We can actually now answer people's questions with what they want to hear.

But let's back up to the appointment.

C met me at the Doctor's office. (And let me take a moment to point out how AMAZEBALLS my husband has been. He has only missed 1 appointment, and that was because he was out of town traveling for work. So he had a great excuse. Otherwise, he has been with me at every appointment and tries to schedule his meetings around the appointments if he knows when they are. He never ceases to amaze me! Now that we have all sufficiently vommed in our mouths a little bit, lets get on with this story.) He greeted me by asked how I was doing and I responded by telling him that I was nervous. No matter how many weeks into the pregnancy we are, I am always nervous to go to these appointments.

We got inside, and had a seat. Much to our surprise, we were quickly called to the back. (Seriously, how many times have we all gone to the Dr's office only to sit and wait at least 30 minutes before they even call you into the back??) The first part of our appointment was the good stuff; the sonogram! As we were walking in, I asked to use the bathroom. They ALWAYS make you pee in a cup when you are there, so I figured that I would just get it out of the way. That, and I never drink enough water on a regular basis, but I DO think that by loading up on water the morning before my appointment will somehow trick Dr. Long into thinking that I am TOTALLY drinking 90 ounces of water every.single.day. (Let me have live in my dream world) After I got myself situated, I met C$ in the sonogram room.

The technician had me lay on the table, uncover my growing belly, and then smeared some gel on it to get me ready for the big reveal. As she was getting ready to get started, she asked if we wanted to know the baby's gender. I am sure that they look of "duh" was written all over our faces when we told her yes. Next thing we knew she was moving the monitor over my belly.

The first thing that she did was pull up the sound so we could hear the heart beat. When you are listening to the most reassuring sound in the world, they also pull up a visual of the sound waves. For our sonogram, they looked something like this: "beat. beat. beat. BEAT. beat. beat. beat. BEAT. beat. beat. beat. BEAT". Well, the 2 different beats gave C a bit of a shock. He thought that the technician  was going to tell us that we were having twins! I laughed out loud when he told me after. Thankfully, the technician assured us that there was only one baby in there. (Sorry Grandmas). Then, the technician started taking pictures, measurements, and checking to ensure that everything was ok. Little did she know that by doing all of this, she was driving us CRAZY. At one point, she was getting ready to tell us the gender, but our little baby had it's hand between it's legs so the technician wasn't able to tell. So she just keep taking pictures and measuring. But then...... she was able to get a good look because our little babe was moving like crazy and moved its hand while doing the macarena. (Must share my love for a good dance party!)

IT'S A GIRL!

I am sure that there were other things said, but all I knew is that the technician still had more pictures to take, but I was ready to high tail it out of there and hole up in my house not telling anyone the gender until we told our families! The rest of the appointment was pretty standard. Finished the pictures. Met with Dr. Long. Had a couple of questions and made our next appointment. 

I actually left that afternoon feeling like I was pregnant, and not just like I was growing for nothing. It actually felt REAL. As C reminded me, it had always been real. But it hadn't really FELT real. But now it does. There is a little girl that we are preparing for! And now I feel a little more justified when I have to pull "the baby wants/needs/thinks..." card. ;) Also, C$ (and he may not admit it) appeared to me, feel like it was a little more real. He now talks about our "baby girl" and how he is stressed for 13 years down the road. I make sure to point out all of the men out there who have survived raising daughters, including my own dear ol' dad. 

Anyway, enough rambling for tonight. Check out some more pics!

baby's profile

baby's face. Can you see her wittle-bitty nose??

little baby feet!

20 weeks

2012.05.21


Brace yourself... this is the first belly pic!

Up to this point, I haven't "felt" pregnant. And truth be told, I didn't "feel" pregnant even after C$ took this pic and gave me a peek. Eh, I felt more like (and this is my sister's description so don't judge me; judge her.) "a sorority girl." The ones my sister saw at the gyms in college had skinny little legs with bellies from all of the beer that they had consumed 6.5 nights a week.


Anyway, take a look for yourself and see the growing bump! And for those of you that care...


What is happening in week 20?
- baby is about 7 ¾ inches long and weighs approximately 9 ounces. 
- the baby is about the size of a cantaloupe. (C follows a "man" blog that gives him comparisons men care about. This week? Compared to one nice sized boob. No Joke. Check it out.)
- I am starving. Pretty much all of the time. But much to my sister and father's dismay, no I am not on a "see food" diet. 


And yes, the big REVEAL is coming soon. Stay tuned!

snuggling the snoogle

2012.05.11

No, I am not struggling with my spelling.

I first heard about the Snoogle, or the "Snoogs" as C calls it, from a few of my girlfriends. The purpose of this bizarrely naming thing is to help preggers ladies like myself sleep on their sides instead of their backs. The recommended position is to sleep on your left side because it increases blood flow, and as you get bigger and bigger (oh geeze...) it keeps the weight of the growing baby from weighing down on your back and spinal column while you sleep. The girls claimed that it helped them sleep better and prevented a lot of back pain. I have not been sleeping great, and even though I have been sleeping with a pillow between my knees, my back is still a little sore. So last Saturday night (yep, REAL exciting night. I know. And poor Chris knows too.) I drug Chris with me to Babies R Us after an evening BBQ at our friend's one-year-old's birthday party.

We walked into Babies R Us with a mission and determination (mostly because I know that Chris will only go to this store a handful of times during the pregnancy, and this was not going to be a trip that was wasted). I followed the signs and next thing I knew we were in the land of pregnancy pillows, wedges, and Snoogles. We quickly picked out our only option and headed toward the checkout. A few minutes later, we were on our way and headed home.

Once we got home, I started to get really excited about going to bed. Just so I could test out the Snoogle. The 500 pillows that decorate our bed were put onto the floor to make room for my new friend. This thing takes up my whole side of the bed. And much to Chris' dismay, doesn't leave much room for him. The Snoogs is shaped similar to a candy candy cane with an extra tail. I wrap the hook around my shoulders for my pillow, and shove the tail between my knees to support my back. It is the most awkward looking pillow that you have ever seen, but is INSANELY comfortable.

 

It is kind of like sleeping in a nest. I am imagining that this must be what my sister felt like when she was growing up and had all of her stuffed animals surrounding her as she slept.

Thankfully, the girls were right and my sleeping has improved dramatically. I have been getting much more time sleeping, and much more restful sleep as well. Its kind of amazing. But don't kid yourself, I still partake in as many weekend naps as possible. Because really, the uninterrupted naps are only going to last for a few more months.... then I will be woken by a baby's cries, instead of TLC, Lifetime, or Brave on the TV blaring in the background. But, Chris will probably be happy at that point that the "Husband Replacer" (his words, not mine) will hopefully be gone by then.

4h appointment: the most reassuring sound in the world.

2012.04.26


I went in for the 4^th/16 week appointment yesterday. Even though I am almost halfway there, I still get really nervous when I go in. It did help that C-Tizzy was out of town yesterday and couldn’t make the appointment. He has been AMAZING about being available for every appointment, but work called, and he was on the other side of the country debating whether or not to sit in rush-hour traffic to try to visit ESPN before he flew home. (Sorry… squirrel.)

Anyway, back to the appointment. At this appointment, there was no sonogram, which I was actually relieved, because I didn’t want to be tempted to ask them if there was *any* way that they would be able to look and give me a hint at what the gender of the baby was. Seriously... I am impatient. The new few weeks might kill me. But instead then did some blood work and pulled out the Doppler sonar to listen for a heartbeat. This was the first time that they had used the sonar, so my anxiety was through the roof. But I listened to the nurse, laid back, and exposed my ever-growing belly to the harsh overhead lights. She put some gel on the end and started massaging my belly looking for the heartbeat. I swear, as she is searching, my heart stopped a little bit too because I tend to get worked up about things that I have no control over.

The next sound I hear was a quick little heartbeat fill the room. That was our bay bay and I think that he/she/it was saying hi to me J As I was sitting up, I told the nurse that the sound of the little babe’s heartbeat is the most reassuring sound in the world.

are you going to find out?

The answer to this question, yes, yes we are. If anyone know anything about C$ and myself, we are  on the list of the world’s most impatient people with DOMINATE type A personalities. Before we even spoke about it, we had already individually decided that each of us wanted to know if we would be welcoming a baby dude or baby chica into the Thompson household. Thankfully, we had the same thoughts.

So when we tell people that we are pregnant (Yes C-Tizzy, WE are pregnant. I may be the one carrying this growing babe, but you are forced to change your lifestyle a bit in terms of “happy wife, happy life” J ), the first question that they ask is “Are you going to find out?” This is also a good place to point out that C and I are both TERRIBLE liars. I mean, I won’t go around telling anyone I see your secret, but if someone asks me something in reference to your secret, there is a good chance that I will make up a terrible lie to cover it up with or turn bright red and appear to be super uncomfortable. So with that said, we truthfully answer that yes, we are going to find out.

For the most part, people have been super supportive and we have received a lot of “how fun!” or “that is wonderful” responses. But, there is always the other side too. And while I appreciate an environment where everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I also believe that you shouldn’t shove it down someone else’s throat. (Figuratively speaking, of course.) There have been a few people that have responded with something along the lines of “we waited, but that is really cool/neat/fun that you are finding out!” And we have also received tet “Why would you want to find out? This is the biggest surprise that you will ever get in your life?! And this is why we decided not to find out…” That’s great for these couple’s and C and I fully respect their decision. But that’s the thing, it is THEIR decision, just like this is OUR decision. And we are comfortable with our decision, so please, just let it be.

And while it is ONE of the biggest surprises of our lives (I was pretty darn shocked when mid-sobbing breakdown on the mountain in 14 inches of snow, my handsome devil of a boyfriend at the time decided to take that moment to kneel in front of me and pop a doozey of a question), we are choosing to get the surprise 20 weeks before the babe arrive so that we can prepare. We (I) like organization. And preparation. And planning. And decorating. And shopping. Oh and shopping… So we will be still be surprised, but want the surprise sooner. And as one of our friends pointed out to us, yes it WILL be a surprise, but it will always be a baby human. We already know that it is not going to be a zebra. :)

and the jig is up!

2012.04.08

The story it out.
The cat is out of the bag.
THE JIG IS UP.

At this point, we have made a point to call/email/text/speak to in person that people that we DON'T want to find out via facebook that we are going to be parents. (Still weird to see in writing...)

A few weeks after the tears and joy of telling our families, we began to tell our extended family and close friends. The conversations have been all over the board:
- (screaming) "I KNEW IT!"
- "Why does everyone wait until the middle of the phone call to break the news?!"
- "Wahoo!"
- "Oh my god, I'm going to cry!" (tears!)
- "Is there a little Thompson on the way?"
- "What?!"

There were more responses, and this is just a sampling, but they were all happy and encouraging. The never-ending support and love that we have been receiving is unbelievable. We knew that we had a strong support system, but the reminder is definitely humbling.

So to everyone that is still reading this crazy blog, know that C and I love you and appreciate you and can't wait for you to meet the bouncing bundle of joy this fall! And along the way, we will share other stories and adventures that may or may not have anything to do with being pregnant or soon-to-be parents :)

3rd appointment

2012.03.29

just a picture!

sucking his/her thumb :)