Our Baby Boy: One Month Old (7.17) & A Dr. Visit (7.19)!

On 7.17.16 our boy was officially one month old. I cannot believe how time has flown. Maybe it's the lack of sleep? ;)

Rhodie is more bright-eyed and playful these days.  He smiles in the mornings and after he nurses and has a full tummy! He still likes dancing in the kitchen with Daddy & usually Mommy's arms can fix a lot of problems.  He still loves Window and Ceiling Fan, car trips, and being carried and walked around, and around, and around. He still eats like a maniac but he seems to be getting a little better. I think the boy just likes to eat! :)

I tried to take some one month pictures, but Rhodes wasn't really feeling it. He was a little on the sleepy side.

We had our 1 month appointment today (7.19..16) and Rhodes surprised us!  We knew he had been gaining weight, you can really tell in his face and his little potbelly, but we didn't know how much weight he had gained! The other night, my mom brought out a scale she had an just set him down for just a second (he was a little bigger than the scale -ha!) it read 11lbs. We thought it might have been wrong, but we knew he had to be over 10 lbs! When I put him on the scale today, I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open. He weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs 0.8oz!!! That means he has nearly gained a full 3 bs in 1 month! I'm definitely not worried about him not getting enough to eat anymore! :) He's a BIG BOY. He's grown in weight, obviously, and his head has gotten a little bigger, which isn't surprising because his Mommy has a big head (lol!). As for the growth charts, he's 92.5% in weight, 53.48% in length, and 97.57% in head circumference. I am so proud of my big ol' boy!

 My mom came with us today because my husband was out of town with work. I'm so thankful to be close with my mom, both in relationship and in physical distance. We live about a minute away from each other in the same town and it has been SUCH a blessing. 

We also finally got to meet our new pediatrician today and she seems really nice! I think it will work out just fine! She was very sweet with Rhodes and easy to talk to. She is also a mom…so, she gets it and that's very comforting.

Our Rhodie also got his 2nd Hep B. shot today and he handled it like a champ! He only cried for a few seconds, but after some snuggles with Mommy, he was calm enough to fall asleep in the car on the way home. I, on the other hand, broke out on a sweat in the office because of nerves and because MY BABY WAS SAD. But he did get a pretty cool Spider Man bandaid to show off too, so I'm sure he thought that was pretty cool. ;)

Our morning consisted of some sweet baby smiles and our afternoon has consisted of sweet baby snuggles.  He deserved it after his big day :) It's been a good day for all…minus the whole shot thing…which I'm still sensitive about.

We love our big Rhodie man! 

I want to get back to snuggling my little guy!

'Tis the Season,
Holly

The Final Countdown & The Move

I'm in my final weeks of pregnancy. Everything feels big, I feel extra clumsy, and my 12 hour work days are getting harder and harder to get through.  I worked 3 in a row over Memorial Day weekend…not by choice…and I woke up on Tuesday feeling like I had been hit by a truck. Yee-uck. :(

My mind is starting to race at night too…I guess that's pretty normal when your nerves set in and the fact that you are about to bring a tiny human into this world to raise as your own starts to become more real. My husband has been sleeping like a rock LOL! Actually, he has worked SO hard for us the past few weeks, with the move and baby prep and with his own job, that he deserves a good nights sleep.

I had another weekly check-up yesterday. Still no progress. My mom said to expect that since it's my first.  I was just hoping for SOMETHING. Nothing huge. Just something! But apparently our little nugget is nice and snug with his momma and that's where he wants to stay for the time being :) Hubs said he was already showing his stubbornness that he obviously got from me…rude ;)

We moved about two weeks ago into a new house on the other side of town. I wouldn't suggest it at the end of your third trimester…but for as crazy as those couple days were, I'm so thankful that we did. We love our new house and we are slowly getting it unpacked and settled.  My husband actually walked over to me while I was laying on the couch (which I feel like I do a lot of these days) and kissed me on the head and told me how happy he was. 

Melt my heart :) :) :) :)

I am so thankful for all the family that came to help us move. My mom essentially spent two whole days painting the nursery and didn't even complain even though I knew her back was hurting. My dad, two of my brothers, and my SIL helped pack and load heavy furniture. 

My in-laws came and helped too. My father-in-law's "gift" is service. He wants to fix and hang and repair and put together and build…etc. and it's very good at it. He actually came over the weekend while I was working and put a doggy door in for our little furball. Marley is so pleased that he can come and go as he chooses :)

Hubs and I actually just celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary (time FLIES!) and the first official day of the move was how we celebrated. My husband did not complain one time…although I may have grumbled a bit. We actually took my in-laws to dinner after the longest day ever, so we haven't even had an official "anniversary dinner" yet. We should probably try to squeeze one in before baby boy makes his debut :)

I've spent the past few days I've had off doing baby laundry, hanging up baby clothes, and trying to get our house in somewhat of an order before total chaos begins :)

Side note:  Dreft is the best smelling detergent ever. 

That's pretty much all that is going on these days. It's just a waiting game!

And we are pretty excited about it!!!

'Tis the Season,

Holly

26 Weeks & a Glucose Test

I was supposed to have my glucose test when I was 25 weeks, but due to my OB being out of the office that week and my personal work schedule conflicts, we had to move it around last minute.  I was 26 weeks when I did the "dreaded" glucose test. 

That's one of the (many) things that my friends have said they disliked about this whole process.  I personally didn't think it was all that bad. :)

Back at 20 wks, they gave me the "glucola" drink to take home in preparation for my next visit. By the way, the whole "glucola" title is some BS…ain't no cola up in there! It tastes more like a syrup that you need to mix water with before making a picture of some disgusting punch.  I picked fruit punch as my flavor and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't immediately GAG while drinking it.

You have to drink this small bottle of glucose drink over 5 minutes. I chugged mine in about 2 minutes. Ain't nobody got time for dat. 

Then I went to the hospital and waited. They finally called me back, they drew some blood, and my OB came in my room to do a quick assessment. Thankfully we are measuring spot-on at 26 weeks! :) Praise the Lord!

After my appointment, I met up with my mom for some shopping and lunch.  I actually had not eaten all day because I was told to fast for my test.  Talk about cruel and unusual punishment for a preggo.

After we shopped around some, I was feeling a little on the weak side, so we finally got some grub.  We have been frequenting a place in town called Chuy's.  It's mexican and one of baby boy's favorites….. ;) Needless to say, I CHOWED down.  Mama & Baby Boy like!!!

I feel like my days revolve around when I'm going to sleep, pee, and eat food. LOL!

After a few days, the doctor's office didn't call, so I am assuming that means that I passed! Yippee!! That's just one more thing to check off the list before our sweet boy gets here. 

I can't wait :) 

'Tis the Season, 

Holly

It's A…..

At our last doctor's appointment, they told me that it was safe to schedule our gender ultrasound/anatomy scan. I got a little light-headed when they told me because it finally sunk in how fast time is actually flying!

We decided to surprise our families and let them think we weren't finding out until February at our 20 week appointment. 

We scheduled our ultrasound for 8:30 am on January 12th.  We arrived early and I was a bundle of nerves. 

At our previous appointment, according to my original due date by our 8 week measurement,  I was only 16 weeks and some odd days along.  But according to my LMP, the office had me at 17 weeks and a few days, which is why we went ahead and scheduled our big ultrasound.   They are normally done at 18-20 weeks. 

As we went in for the ultrasound, the ultrasound tech brought up the fact that I wasn't quite 18 weeks and they normally did them from 18-20 weeks. I was fighting the urge to cry because I just knew she was going to tell me to wait another week to get the ultrasound, but then she made the decision to go ahead and do it that day anyways.

I basically held my breathe the whole time we were in the office. 

I didn't really care what gender our baby was, as long as it was healthy. 

EVEN THOUGH, I had been thinking since day 1 that this baby was a girl.

Thankfully, the anatomy scan looked great and our baby actually measured a little further along than everyone thought, at 18 weeks and 2 days. Our due date may actually be bumped up a week, which is totally fine by me! Arkansas summers are no joke!

Oh, yeah, and our baby is a BOY!!! :)

Marley is so excited about his little buddy that's on the way!

I was shocked and it actually took me a few minutes to let it sink in after she told us. 

We got to have lots of cute pictures and he looks absolutely perfect, and not to mention, his  little side profile is very cute :) :) :)

Now we just have to decide of on a name…..no pressure….. lol!

'Tis the Season,

Holly

12 weeks & a tiny heart beat!

December 10th was our 12 week appointment.

I've been a nervous wreck because ever since I woke up at the start of week 11, my symptoms have decreased significantly. Most people would be rejoicing, but this little momma-to-be is a worrier and so I have fretted a bit. 

We showed up to our morning appointment and I just knew my BP would be high because for about a week and a half, I had been worrying and praying that everything was okay.

It wasn't high, it was perfect!

Our doctor popped in and basically said this would be one of the quicker appointments and that she would be using a doppler ultrasound to listen for the heartbeat.

I held my breath and she searched for what seemed like several minutes, when in reality it was probably just a few seconds.

We heard that precious, tiny, strong heartbeat and I about lost it on the exam table. :')

this was right after we got to hear the heartbeat

I even got the hubs to take a video on his phone, just so I can listen to our baby's heartbeat whenever I want. Best decision ever.

Baby had a heart rate of 150 and it was nice and strong. I'm feeling better than I have in weeks!

We are very blessed!

'Tis the Season, 

Holly

Our {little} Secret: Part 1

After we found out that we were expecting, we couldn't wait to tell our families.

Except we did wait.

I am a notorious "worrier" and I think it may be due to a recessive worrier gene on the Garland side.

I wanted to get through our first doctor appointment, just to make sure that we were 1) really pregnant, and 2) that everything up to that point was normal.

I scheduled our first appointment on November 12th, 2015. So that means from October 21st until the 12th of November, we had to keep our secret.

Talk about a hard couple of weeks.

Actually for me, it wasn't so bad. I am a pretty private person and this was a huge deal for me, for us, and so it was easier for me to remain tight-lipped.  My poor husband on the other hand, was "on the struggle bus."  I'm so proud of him for not slipping up ONCE.

What was really hard was hiding my "morning sickness" (just let me LOL at the fact that it's called morning sickness, when (for me) it's really 24/7, constant sickness, that comes and goes ALL DAY LONG) from my mom/family and from my coworkers. I stayed home a lot and visits with family were short and sweet. Work was a bit easier because I could just say I was tired (which I was) or that my stomach hurt a bit and most people left it alone because there's always something going around at the hospital.

I nibbled on Saltines and sipped Powerade for weeks and drank more Sprite and Ginger Ale than I probably have in all of my life. But I rarely complained (out loud) because I knew that in the end, it would be worth it.

I was a bundle of nerves before our appointment. I just knew my blood pressure was going to be through the roof (IT WASN'T) and that all my vitals were going to be out of whack. (THEY WEREN'T).

Aaron met me for lunch before and I gave him the run down of what I thought the first visit might entail. He doesn't "do" medical stuff.

Long story short, I think our doctor will be fantastic, Aaron handled the appointment like a champ even though he mentioned how he felt like he had germ crawling all over him (BLESS), and we got to see our little nugget on the ultrasound.  Aaron's face in that moment will be one of my other favorite memories. I wish I had videoed it. We saw the little heart just beating away and our baby even moved a tiny bit.

Also, I wish I had known about the ultrasound. I thought it would just be a regular US.

NOPE.

Here's how that little convo went…kind of...

"Okay, we will now walk down the hall so we can get an US of your baby!" said the doctor.

"Oh wonderful! How exciting! We can't wait!" said Holly and Aaron.

walk walk walk….

"Okay, I will need you to undress from the waist down and I'll be back in a minute to do the transvaginal ultrasound."- Dr.

(mental brakes screeching) -Holly & Aaron (mainly Aaron)

So while undressing, I told him the gist of what would happen and to just hang in there and not really watch anything but the screen.

He handled it like a champ.

Meanwhile, I was the one that had a wand stuck in my hoo-ha and was "undressed" from the waist down…. and then I got blood work done. Yay for being a woman! And a mommy! :)

 I think all women should get a reward for that…and after a PAP smear. I am just saying. Maybe like a gift card for free ice cream or something. I think we should make that a "thing."

I would have done way more/worse if it meant we got to see our baby.

WHICH WE DID AND IM STILL TICKLED ABOUT IT. That ultrasound picture will be one of my greatest treasures.

I tried to guess my due date, just so I could order ones of these super cute onesies that I found a few months prior on Etsy! I figured by our timeline, June was the month and we could figure out the actual date at the Dr.
Our doctor said baby Nicholson measured at 8 weeks during our appointment, so our due date is going to be June 20, 2016!

We can't wait to meet you!

Be blessed today,

Holly