Out of the (Breech) Woods!

Guess who decided to turn upside down and get his/her head in mommy's pelvis?  (Points thumbs at baby bump protuberance) This kid!

We went to the doc that works with our midwife on Tuesday, and he determined Baby Cakes is now head down!  He then went on to feel around and proclaimed the "tushie" is on my right side, and little feet and legs are having a hay day kicking my left side ribs and muscles.  Head and hands are pushing my hips around.  Which is a very odd feeling.  The oddest feeling of all has to be when my ribs and hips all get pushed apart simultaneously.  I know, it sounds like a form of medieval torture, but its just a baby getting used to its muscles.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and happy thoughts.  God is awesome and amazing.  Just keep us in the back of your mind and prayers that we stay head down until birthing time starts.  And with our due date approaching in just 36 MORE DAYS (geez!), that could be coming soon!

I am currently writing this update from our bed, as I seem to have come down with a slight cold.  Patrick has banned me to bed to rest the germs out of me, and brings me tea whenever I want it.  I don't say it often enough, I married an amazing man that I love with my entire being.  He is so good to me, and I could never wish for a better husband than he already is.  Baby Cakes, you are the luckiest baby in the world to have such a man for your daddy.  He loves you (almost) as much as I do.

Here's to not having a cold when I am pushing a baby out in the birthing pool!

Painted Trees

The nursery is coming together quite well.  So well, in fact, that sometimes I just go in there, recline on my finished T-Shirt Shag Rug, and just enjoy the space.  I hope our baby finds it as soothing as I do.

Recently, we completed our forest project.  We painted trees, leaves, and cardinals all over the baby's walls.  With one cardinal lighting upon a branch right above the crib.  It came out even better than we had hoped.

See why I just want to go in there and sit and enjoy?  It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun painting and drawing all over the walls.

Baby Cakes, don't get any ideas though...  not all walls are made to be drawn on.  

Stubborn Johnson Child

Sweet baby is currently in a breech position.  Frank breech, most likely.  Very frustrating.  If we stay in this position until November 27th, we may have to give up our home birth approach and go to the hospital.  I will be fighting against a Cesarean, tooth and nail.

We would love if everyone, people we know, people we don't know, would pray that our baby would turn head down before that day.  We want our baby to be born at home, naturally.  Although at the end of the day, all we want is a healthy, happy baby and a healthy, happy momma.

Techniques we are currently trying:

-Webster Technique
-Inversion
-Cold Ice Packs
-Hypnosis
-Massages
-Accupressure

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Belly Pic Updates

SO....

I know I promised belly picture updates more regular than we have been supplying them.  But real life gets in the way sometimes.

Here's a quick recap of my growing bump (it's no longer hard to believe there is a baby in there as he or she is beating against my ribs and trying to come out) from 25 weeks to 31 weeks.

That's right, 31 weeks now and only 9 weeks left until our due date.

Baby, we're ready for you.

25 weeks:

28 Weeks 2 Days:

31 Weeks:

When all this is said and done, I plan to take each week's picture, and put them side by side, or ascending or something... just so you can see the crazy progression of growing bump.

But seriously, look at that!  I definitely don't feel that big, but then I look at pictures and think, "Geez!"

So, 31 weeks.  Baby weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.5 pounds and is around 16 inches long.  From here until the day he/she makes the debut, 1/2 pound will be gained each week.  Which means I will gain at least 5 more pounds.  Awesome.  

FINALLY!!

For those of you who have seen previews of the nursery, you know I have been working diligently on a project since June.  A project I thought would take a couple of weeks at the most to finish.

Yeah... I kinda underestimated the amount of work I was going to have to do...

But, FINALLY, I have finished the T-Shirt Rug!!  My green shaggy rug is complete, beautiful, and gracing the middle of our nursery.

BEHOLD!!

Oh I am so proud... and I will not be starting a project like this again for awhile.  The rug is 5' x 5' and made from a green knit jersey material.  I used in total about 15 yards of fabric, all cut into 1" x 5" strips, tied to the underlying rug mat I purchased from Hobby Lobby.

Here is a picture of the rug in process:

When I started the rug, I went completely around the outside first, then filled in the middle.  I skipped every other little square, but you could definitely do every one.  The rug would just be a lot thicker (and take ages and ages to finish).

So now, hubby and I will be painting trees on the wall tonight.  And setting up a picture mobile.  More pictures to follow.

And please, feel free to congratulate me on this feat of amazingness.  I don't think I will feel this accomplished until I push little Baby Cakes out in a couple of months, or 64-ish days. 

Geez.  64 days.  Everybody better prepare themselves for cuteness overload when they meet our little baby.

Eggplant Baby

Who decided the corresponding fruits and veggies for the weeks of pregnancy?  A durian fruit is coming up.  What the heck is that, anyway?  Can I buy it at my local grocery store?  No, I cannot.

But this week, Baby Cakes is a little eggplant, somewhere between 13.5 and 14.8 inches and 1.5 to 2.2 pounds.  And he or she is kicking me like no other.  In the middle of the night, during the day, while I'm walking, while I'm sitting... pretty much all the time.  I love it.  And people can feel and SEE my stomach jerk and move.  Pretty trippy man.  Hubby and I decided to watch Prometheus and the Alien trilogy movies lately too... so familiar to me!

We are also officially in the third trimester.  With 84 days left until the due date.  Everything just seems to be flying by so quickly.  Every time I look at the calendar, it seems I have even less time to prepare for our little arrival.

And even with time flying by, it also seems to be crawling.  I visualize our birth at least once a day, and I just can't wait to see our baby, hold our baby, and just meet our baby.  I am so excited to be a mom.  And I can't believe I will be in three months or less.

95 Days and Counting...

Patrick and I both have countdown timers on our phones to Baby Cake's due date, January 4th.  As of today, we have 95 days left.  Basically three months before we get to meet our little boy or girl.

Last weekend, we went to Chattanooga for our Babymoon getaway.  The Chattanooga Choo Choo put us up in Hotel 3, with a beautiful outdoor pool that was colder than ice water, so we hit up the indoor pool at Hotel 1 when the mood hit us.

Chattanooga is one of our favorite places to getaway.  So much to do, all within trolley or walking distance.  We hit the zoo, the aquarium, Northshore shops, glass blowing, IMax, and sleeping.  I loved the sleeping in a big hotel bed with HGTV playing in the background.  We don't have cable at home, so watching television is almost a vacation in itself!  Plus, the food in Chattanooga is amazing.  Lupi's Pizza, Purple Daisy Barbecue, Good Dog Hot Dogs, Aretha Frankenstein's, Blue Plate...  the list goes on and on.  I don't recommend the food at the hotel, unless you are starving and in a pinch.

This Friday, the 6th, is the start of our 7th month and the third trimester.  Insane.  I can't believe how quickly this has all flown by.  Next week we start visiting our midwife every two weeks instead of once a month.

I really can't wait until our due date gets closer, and the baby gets here.  Then we can reveal names.  But two baby showers are coming up in a month, and that will hold me over for awhile!  Thanks to both sides of my loving family for throwing them for me.

In Which I Break Down... All The Time

Everything makes me cry.

I prided myself on my ability to hold in emotion in public.  Nothing made me cry.  I never had a heart of stone, but I was able to hold in my tears until I reached the privacy of my own home.

Now.  Pfft.

Sad movies, commercials (COMMERCIALS!), and kind words from others make my eyes leak worse than a sieve used as a roof in a hurricane.  At a wedding this past weekend, the vows the groom spoke to the bride had me sniffling and surreptitiously wiping my eyes.  It was an outside wedding so I could feign allergies.

How many other women do this during pregnancy?  Do you break down every time the old couple in the Cialis commercial smile at each other and embrace?  When the mom hugs her child after cleaning the toilet with Clorox, do you sniffle and feel your eyes get red?  

This is embarrassing.  So much so that I fear watching tv in group settings.  If you have me over soon and the television is on, don't think anything of it if I make an excuse to leave the room at each commercial break!

Things I Miss...

Picture taken at 22 Weeks, 1 Day by my lovely sister, Heather Johnson.  

I expected to miss certain things when I became pregnant.  And for the first 4 months of pregnancy, I was definitely not missing much.  Nausea and then complete excitement at being a mom kept me from thinking about sushi and bars and long nights with a glass of wine under the stars with friends.

In the last month, I have become increasingly aware of things I'm missing.  Fridays and Saturdays were once days and nights of hanging out on patios and by pools with wine or beer, talking with friends and laughing until the wee hours of the morning.  Summer was spent swimming in the lake, water skiing on the boat, traveling, and always enjoying an alcoholic beverage of some sort.

So, it's clear I miss alcohol.  And with the holidays coming up, I will be unable to drink the delectable sangria made by my mom-in-law, Sue.  Sangria so amazingly delicious, that it is usually consumed completely by everyone before dinner is even served, and we are left to suck and chew on the alcohol soaked fruit at the bottom of the jars.  But a healthy baby is more than worth giving up that buzz of contentment.

Ice cream is another treat I miss.  Too much sugar and fat to be of any use to my developing wee one.  I must admit, about once a month, Patrick does treat me to some fro-yo.  But as for the full fat, full sugar, creamy dreamy ice cream.  Nope.  None.  Sigh.

Sushi.  Oh God.  Now that is another treat entirely.  In fact, I have asked Patrick to get me sushi as soon as the baby exits my lady parts.  I want raw fish, tuna, salmon, all of it, in my mouth and in my tummy.  Speaking of raw, I also miss bloody rare steaks.  And runny eggs.  But again, food treats are nothing to give up to have a healthy baby.  

But I can still miss those things right?  I can dream about having a couple of drinks at the end of the day, enjoying a margarita with my quesadilla, eating sushi with my chopsticks, and having an ice cream sundae covered in chocolate to finish it all off.  And still be a good mama.

More Nursery Sneak Peak

The nursery is almost finished as we come up on the 22 week mark (this Friday.  Holy cow!)  Speaking of cows, ahem, I am starting to show quite a bit.  It's almost easy to see that I'm pregnant now, and not just a recent indulger of a large dinner.

Here is a picture that will be hanging in little Baby Cakes' bedroom.  I love it, the elephants, the phrasing, everything.  Just perfect.

I added my own unique touches, of course.  And I promise, once all the crafty projects and furniture is in place, I will be posting tons of pictures of the nursery.  So many that all of you will hate me.  

Just as long as you still love Baby Cakes.

20 Weeks Down, 20 Weeks To Go

It's finally here!  The halfway mark, people!  I have been pregnant for 20 weeks, 140 days (give or take), and there is only 20 weeks or 140 days left to our due date.  Of course, Baby Cakes could choose to completely ignore the due date, as most babies do.  I don't mind as long as he or she comes in the 37 to 42 week little window.  Are you listening to your mother, Baby Cakes?  You have from December 14th until January 17th to be born at home.  Otherwise, we have to go to the hospital.  So let's keep it within those dates, darling!

Yesterday, as I have mentioned already, was our 20 week anomaly screening.  The results were awesome.  Heart, stomach, brain, all major organs, legs, arms, head, everything is well formed.  The sex of the baby was determined by our midwife and the technician, but kept a mystery to hubby and myself.  Our midwife even put a folder over the monitor so I wouldn't be tempted to look while the technician got between baby's legs.  She is amazing.  I recommend her care to every pregnant woman in the middle Tennessee area.

What I found funny, was the technician commented on how active the baby is.  I told her I feel Baby Cakes moving all day long, until around 9:00 pm, then all is quiet on the western front.  Or uterus front.  Which is really lucky for me.  But baby made sure to put on a show for everyone viewing.  And, taking 70% after his or her father and 30% after his or her mother, was very stubborn and difficult in letting Beth get certain measurements and readings.  With a little twisting and turning on my part, she was able to measure everything, and got some amazing shots of our little one.

And we also got to see a healthily pulsating umbilical cord.  Honestly so amazing to think that is my baby's lifeline right now.  Good thing they said it looked really healthy and strong.  But I know you all did not come to the site to hear about a pulsating umbilical cord.  You came to see video.  Well, here you go people.  Enjoy the squirmings of our little Baby Cakes.  And if anyone is an expert-gender-deducer, just keep that info to yourself.  I want to be surprised by what is there (or isn't there!) upon our birthing time.

Family and friends, you will be seeing the extended version soon.

I honestly understand how every parent thinks their child is the cutest and most beautiful one in the world.  Because our baby still resembles Skeletor, and I think it is the most perfect and amazing and adorable child that has ever existed.  And I already love him or her more than I could ever love anything else on this world. Besides Patrick.

Do you think I'll give my child a complex when they look back on these writings and see that we referred to him/her as he/she??  Eh.  All parents mess up their kids in some way or other, right?

Hypnobabies

Class last night was AWESOME.  I am so so so happy I chose to go with Hypnobabies as our birthing method.  And that we are doing a water birth.  I know that some women prefer having their babies in the hospital and with epidurals, but that just never appealed to me.  With Hypnobabies, I can birth my baby at home, in a calm environment, all while being comfortable and relaxed.

Hypnobabies is a course that not only teaches you techniques in natural childbirth, prenatal exercises, pregnancy healthy diet rules, lactation practices, etc., but they also instruct mommies and their birth partners (Patrick) in learning medical grade anesthesia.  This class is not to be taken lightly though.  You can't randomly listen to your cds, scripts, or attend class with the hopes of great results.  You have to set aside around 40 minutes a day to study and practice the techniques.  You have to believe completely that you will have a pain-free birth, that your body and baby will know what to do.

We are also not allowed to watch reality birthing stories, movies, or other television shows that portray birth in any other way than the peaceful experience it can be.  Basically, we are deprogramming everything society has taught us from birth - that having a baby is scary and frightening and a disease needing to be cured.  This is far from true.  I am going to have to ask now though, very politely, that everyone refrain from telling me their birth horror stories, or even just rumors they have heard about childbirth.  Patrick also needs to be cut away from these stories.  We love all of you, and we respect your own experiences, but this is part of the method we have chosen.  And we are embracing the method completely, not halfheartedly.

It's funny to me.  If someone is going into a major surgery on their heart or to remove cancer, people give them uplifting stories of hope.  When a woman goes to give birth, people come crawling out of the woodwork to tell her EVERYTHING that could go wrong.  No one needs that kind of negativity.

Here's a breakdown of what we went over last night in class:

• Circle yourself with only positive visualization and imagery about your birth
• Construct and stay in your "Bubble of Peace"
• Focus on only what you want - The mind is not as capable of dealing with negatives, so don't think about what you DON'T WANT, only what you WANT
• Allow no negative birth stories from friends, family, strangers, tv, or movies

We were also given "homeplay" instead of homework... because it's so fun to do, you can't call it work... yes corny jokes are awesome.  I giggled in class when she said it.  Not even going to lie!  CDs to listen to, practice putting ourselves under deep hypnosis, reading scripts together, and reading informative articles and books.

Know what the best part of class is?  We get to bring pillows and blankets to lay on the floor and be as comfortable as possible.  There is even a part of class that the lights are dimmed, and we undergo hypnosis.  How many college classes encouraged pillows, blankets, and sleep???

Just a different kind of final exam!

If anyone has any further question about Hypnobabies, my instructor, or how to get in touch with 9 Months and Beyond, please feel free to contact me!  I don't know a lot right now, but I will help all I can.

143 Days to January 4th

We downloaded little countdown apps for our phones.  Today, 143 days remain until we hit our due date.  Which is just a guesstimate, of course, but it does give us a time frame in which our lives will change forever. Already are changing forever.

At this time, in years past, Patrick and I would be spending every weekend night out, hanging with friends, hitting bars and restaurants, going to the movies, staying up until dawn breaks.  No more.  Nope, we are lucky to be up at 11 PM nightly.  Normally, we are hitting the sack around 9 or 10.  And it is only once every few weeks that we make it out to hang with our friends, and never as late as in the past.  But, just between you and me (and the millions of other people on the internet), I am ok with this change in lifestyle.  Because I will be a MOM.  And my desire to see the little face that is half mine and half Patrick's, well, that's pretty doggone important.

I suppose I am starting to show a little bit more.  A couple of days ago, at Target, one of the associates asked when I was due.  After telling her my due date, she informed me that all four of her children were born around the times of the full moon, and perhaps I should check out when the full moon will be.  Which got me thinking, that is a viable suggestion.  It is a proven fact that birth rates increase around the fully waxed moon.  Hmm.  So I hit up the Farmer's Almanac.

A full moon is expected a week before my due date, on December 28th, 2012 at 5:21 AM.  The Full Cold Moon.

It's just a thought.

Plus, if this kid pops out before the new year, we get a tax deduction for 2012!  Woot woot!

Baby Cakes, I promise, that's not the only reason your dad and I decided to have you.  It's just a cherry on top.

19 Weeks - Almost Halfway There!

So when we first got pregnant, I had every intention of taking tummy pictures weekly, and monitoring my growth.  Well... in real life, sometimes we don't follow our exact plan.  Ahhh... the best laid plans of mice and men.

Anyway, today Patrick and I made sure I put on my Chive On getup and he started snapping pictures.  Here's an update on the belly growth.  Guys, I am carrying this kid super low...

Baby Cakes is 19 weeks old, 6 inches long, and aspires to be a kick boxer.

Patrick wanted a front tummy picture.  And for some reason I could not stop laughing.

June, on the other hand, was extremely bored with the picture taking.  Hopefully she'll be more excited once the baby comes.

First Kicks and Missing Dogs

The past couple of days have been ones of hectic concern in the Cakes household.  On Monday, August 6th, around 3:00 PM, our two pit mixes decided to make a break from our fenced-in backyard whilst being let out to relieve themselves.  Worry began to ensue when 7:00 PM came around, and we had no phone calls from their ID tags, no response from the craigslist ads (yes ADS, more than one), and no sightings of their little brown furry bodies while driving through our neighborhood and the surrounding subdivision.

Our fur kids.  Our ulcer causers.

Patrick and I spent Monday night "sleeping" in the living room (fitfully turning on the couch and staring out the windows doesn't really count as sleeping) with our blinds pulled open and the outside lights on, in case June and George decided to wander up to the front door.

Tuesday came, and Patrick reluctantly left the house to go to work.  I left the couch and immediately went to the computer, to report our puppies missing to all the surrounding counties' humane shelters and vet offices.  I then proceeded to print off about sixty fliers to post in our neighborhood, tape on mail boxes, and at local convenient stores.  Even the arrival of our new video camera (bought specifically for Baby Cakes purposes, more on that later) could not lift our spirits with the thought of our missing fur babies hanging about our heads.

I received a couple of calls throughout the day, after the fliers went up, but most were false alarms.  One lady called to report they had been sighted in her yard on Monday night around 6:00 PM.  Which at least gave me a direction they might have gone.  At 2:30, I decided to drive to Nashville's Animal Control Center, to look through the strays they had, praying they had June and George.  When I arrived, and started walking in, my phone rang.  A pest control guy had found June in Antioch, about 5 miles from our house.  I told him to keep her and I would meet him as soon as I walked through the shelter.  

I was falling apart.  This baby makes me weepy now, much more emotional than I am used to being, and couple that with our missing dogs (one now found, one still MIA), the relief and disappointment were overwhelming.  I managed to hold it together until I had walked all the way through cage after cage of sad eyed dog, none of them containing George, before I could no longer hold back the tears.  I gave them the flyer and asked if they would please call me if they found a dog even closely resembling our George.

I walked back to the truck, tears still obscuring my vision, called Patrick to let him know June was found but George was still missing, and drove to meet the man who found June.

I hugged him.  I couldn't stop myself.  He had carried my dog in his truck with him, not wanting to leave her at the other house he was at, alone, when she smelled heavily of skunk.  And he told me the exact address so I could go back and look for George.  He hugged me back and wished me good luck.  

Driving out to Twin Oaks Lane, a dead end street surrounded by woods, I screamed George's name at the top of my lungs for a full ten minutes, up and down the street.  I couldn't find him.  June needed food and water, so I took her home and waited for Patrick to arrive.  

Right before Patrick got home, my phone rang again.  An elderly gentleman was on the other end, and he had George.  Where?  On Twin Oaks Lane.  Our dogs came up to his house the night before, and he thought his grandsons had already called to let us know.  When he realized we hadn't been notified they were at his house, he called immediately, apologizing.  After realizing how badly George had hurt his feet, it's amazing now to see that he was desperate to get in my truck.  Once we got home, we couldn't get him to walk at all.

Just for reference, here is a diagram of our house (marked A), the dogs' final location (marked B), and the sighting Monday night (marked with a red star).

The red line represents my idea of their path through the woods.  I expect it was a little more divergent than that, though.  A few more twists, turns, and sniffing of dead things.

We deskunked the dogs (as best we could), bandaged their worn paw pads, and put them to bed with plenty of water and a little food.  Both are allergic to fleas and ticks, so they also had a good dose of cortisone.

Dogs get in your heart and stay there.  All I could think about was how our baby wouldn't get to meet their older brother and sister.  I know I speak for both myself and Patrick when I say that our lives without these two giant cuddle bugs would be sad and a little empty.

Even with all this going on, the baby is still growing and thriving.  Life doesn't stop because of tragedy (that thankfully ended in happiness).  Baby Cakes has been moving rapidly lately.  I have been feeling lots of turns and twists and little punches and kicks.  But all inside.  It wasn't until Sunday night that I finally felt a swift kick to the palm of my hand as it rested on my stomach.  Monday night, Patrick put his hand on my stomach for about five minutes before little Baby Cakes decided it was time dad felt his or her presence.  

I have to say it is the weirdest and most wonderful feeling in the world.

Man, we have quite a lot to be thankful for this week.  Don't let the prayer knees get rusty.

Next Thursday, ultrasound time!

18 Weeks - The Baby is How Big??

5.5 inches.  5.5 inches of another human floating about inside me.  The thought is insane to me.  Just to illustrate this 5 1/2 inches completely, here is an anatomically correct photo...

If you're like me, I saw this and just stared in disbelief.  I am not feeling a lot of movement yet, and I'm not really showing except for a poochy lower stomach, so pregnancy still feels unreal to me at times.  But Baby Cakes is really growing and rocking and rolling.  And speaking of rock and roll, little ears are completely formed and starting to hear the muffled sounds around him or her.  This baby will appreciate the joys of Metallica and Pantera.  

What else is 5.5 inches long?  I grabbed my tape measure and walked around the house, taking photos and finding out what else is the current size of our baby.

Baby Cakes is now the size of:

The mason jar of almonds and cashews that I carry around to fend off nausea and hunger pangs.

An okra picked from our garden last night.  Being a proper southern child, Baby Cakes will learn to love and savor all Southern delicacies, such as fried okra.

A dry erase marker.  I love dry erase boards and keep these around in various colors to leave notes on our fridge or in our dining room.

A bottle of Tums.  That I really hope that I don't need to ever use.  No indigestion or heart burn yet...

The bottle of Purell that Patrick forced me into buying.  I don't like the stuff, thinking germs introduced to the system are healthy... but I suppose with a newborn, we'll need to be careful for the first couple of months.

Two more weeks and we'll get to see our little Baby Cakes in ultrasound form.  We will be posting lots of pictures and maybe a video after August 16th!

Love Hearing that Little Heart Beat

Today was our second appointment with our midwife (who I love more and more every time I talk to her).  Everything is looking good, and we scheduled our 20 week ultrasound for August 16th.  No complications arising as of yet, although I have had a few headaches I thought were going to split my head wide open.  Perfectly normal, as I have been told.  Pregnancy means hormones floating in your body that can lead to headaches.  I need to drink more water.

I laid back on the bed, and she lubed up the probe to hear the baby's heart beat.  This child is difficult to find!  And he or she kicked at the probe pushing on my abdomen.  Our midwife says that from the sounds and the difficulty of finding baby's heartbeat (in the 150 to 160 range), means I most likely have an anterior placenta placement.  No big risks, but I may not feel the baby moving as early as other mothers.  But we'll know more after the 20 week ultrasound about the exact placement.

Either way, I love hearing that little heartbeat whooshing on the monitor.  And looking at Patrick while we listen, there is no greater joy, knowing this is the life created from ourselves.  I cannot praise and thank God enough for answered prayers, in this great gift to Patrick and myself.

Mommy and daddy love you Baby Cakes.

15 Weeks... 25 Weeks Left... Dear God

Get it... it's a "NAVAL" orange?  Navel, naval?  Get it?  Yeah, my puns are terrible...

Baby Cakes is an impressive 4 inches long now, with a weight of almost 2.5 oz.  Crazy to think that at the beginning of April I had no idea a sperm was meeting egg, cells were starting to divide, and "Patrick and Amanda" would become "Patrick and Amanda and Baby Cakes."  I honestly hadn't realized how much time had gone by, until Patrick and I were talking last night about our Hypnobabies course coming up in mid-August.  For some reason, I was under the delusion that we had months before the actual class began.  Nope, less than a month.  And since that class marks the halfway mark of our pregnancy... well... it's a bit daunting that this is flying by so quickly.  I feel like January will be arriving tomorrow, and we'll be blowing up the birthing pool before we know it.

In other development news, no kicks as of yet, but I have had a few moments when I was very aware of my stomach and an odd feeling inside it that I have never experienced it before.  Perhaps this is just the new mommy in me desperate to know my little baby is fine and dandy, growing away inside me.  

The nesting instinct has hit not only me, but my loving and adoring husband.  We've already started designing and decorating our nursery for wee one's arrival, but what many do not realize is that Patrick immediately began moving furniture around and out of the up-until-then office, to make room for a changing table and crib.

The changing table is the one my parents used for my brother and myself, with some snazzy new knobs and a little paint.  The crib was a great deal from craigslist, with a brand new, memory foam type mattress.  Never fear, readers and lovers of Baby Cakes, it is extra firm - specially designed for newborns.

In the above picture, you can see the lovely green elephant lamp that my mother-in-law, Angela, surprised me with.  LOVE it.  The rocker also pictured is the one from my teenage years, won in a writing contest.

Below is a little art project I put together from some wood pieces I found while on a shopping trip with my dear friend, Alicia.  The things in the shadow box, along with the elephant lamp, are a clue to the overall theme of the nursery.  

This is just a little taste of what is to come.  When the room is completely finished, I will  be posting full pictures, and maybe a video walk through.

14 weeks... Starting to Show

The 14 weeks mark has finally come.  Then passed, and we are halfway to week 15.  My baby belly is starting to show, but it still looks like I have been constantly overindulging in dinners and desserts.  Which can be a little frustrating.  I constantly want to scream out, "I'm not just fat!  I'm PREGNANT!  Please don't think I'm fat!!"

How many other women experienced those thoughts when their belly started to poke out?  

In other news, the nausea is finally starting to pass.  I'm not spending every day bent over the toilet, praying to God and begging the baby to give me just a little break.  My appetite has started to pick up a little bit.  And as for cravings... well I love pickles and mustard.  On everything.  Mustard covered eggs has been my favorite breakfast for the past few weeks.  And I try my best to incorporate pickles, mustard, and sometimes ketchup into every meal.  Salads have been treating me fairly as well.

I have been trying to eat extremely healthy for little Baby Cakes (which our friends have been calling everything from Chocolate Bacon to Radio).  And so far, my only vices have been the occasional stops at Taco Bell for a bean and rice burrito and once a week a little bit of ice cream.  My midwife has been stressing consequences of our choices, and every time something sugary or fried presents itself to my mind and appetite, I try to think about my little baby and how it will affect him or her.  Still, so not easy sometimes!

Last week, a friend of ours found out they were having a little boy.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a little girl.  But we won't know until the beginning of 2013.  Either way, this baby is going to be so loved, it will ooze out his or her ears!

Pictures of the nursery coming soon!

Baby Daddy here:

We decided to take some photos every few weeks to show the changes as she progressed through the pregnancy. I don't think either one of us realized until last night, as we were going through the photos taken thus far, how much change had already occurred.

The most beautiful woman in the world!

5 Weeks (05-05-2012)

7 weeks (05-20-2012)

11 weeks (06-15-2012)

13 weeks (07-05-2012)

Dreft

I bought a bottle of baby detergent.

It was the last item on my list of groceries.  Perhaps I saved it for last for a reason.  Cart full of milk, orange juice, eggs, bananas, etc, and I rolled down the laundry aisle.  There at the end, on the top shelf (why would they put it on the top shelf?!) was the white bottle with a pink top (also, why pink?  There are boy babies too...) that meant change.

I don't know why it changed.  But reaching for that bottle (on my tippiest of tip-toes) and putting in my buggy made my heart soar for a moment.  I smiled unconsciously and started humming as I made my way to the registers.

"Well aren't you all smiles today?" said the little cashier standing behind the counter.

"Yes.  Yes I am."

Amazing what a little container of baby laundry soap can do.

In Which Patrick Runs Amok

Last night, Patrick and I made our way to Babies R Us to start our baby registry.  We had already started an Amazon registry, one that we kept private until just recently when we made it available for public viewing.  You can find links to both registries in the box to the left right.

I initially started the Amazon registry a few weeks after we found out we were expecting, adding basic essentials.  Sunday, Patrick sat on the couch for a few hours, adding item upon item of things he'd researched or things that Amazon offered up as suggestions.  The same phenomena occurred when we were registering for our wedding.  He was nonchalant until he actually started looking at things.  Then he went hog wild.  With the gun in his hand, he disappears from me for minutes at a time, returning with a goofy grin on his face.

At Babies R Us, this was no different.  He claimed the gun for his own, showing me crib sets he liked, toys, clothes, car seats, and bouncy seats.  I love this.  I know what a wonderfully spectacular father he is going to be, just because of the way he talks about our baby and how involved he wants to be in EVERYTHING to do with our baby.

And then... he disappeared last night and came back with that grin.  He wouldn't tell me what he added, but later on, checking our registry, I found this:

I think I should get him a treat for being such an amazing provider, husband, friend, and father.  Flying helicopter will most likely do.

Two Ultrasounds in 3 Weeks

My periods have never been regular.  Well, regular in normal doctor speak.  Instead of 28 or so days in between cycles, I normally went about 70 days between periods.  This was the main reason we sought fertility testing when we'd only been trying for 7 months.  Doctors and websites all suggested something was most certainly wrong with a woman with that many days between periods, so being the nervous Nelly I am, i wanted to check everything before the one year mark.

Since my previous periods were in January and then in the beginning of March, our midwife wanted to check the fetal age with an ultrasound at what I assumed was my 5 weeks mark.  I started charting my basal temperature in June of 2010, so I knew I had ovulated around April 14th.  First ever ultrasound, and Patrick and I were both nervous, but mainly excited about what we would see on that screen.

Unfortunately, all we saw was the gestational sac and the yolk sac.  No fetal pole was detected.  Which, at 5 weeks, was perfectly normal.  But from my last period, they were counting me at 9 weeks.  We were sent home with talk of a blighted ovum and a rescheduled ultrasound in three weeks time.

I'm sure I don't have to tell any of you the distress this caused.  Even though I knew in my head I had to be only about 5 weeks, I was terrified that the fertility doctor's words were going to ring true.  That we had conceived a baby, but that I had lost it already.

The next three weeks were torture.  Each day consisted of praying and begging.  But, just like before when we were trying to conceive, a peace came over me.  And I felt that everything was going to be alright.  God's will would be done, and whatever He sent me, I would be strong enough to withstand.

The day of the ultrasound, I was so nauseated I could barely stand it.  Head between my knees, Patrick rubbing my back, I could barely walk to the back when they called us in.  Until she put the goop on my belly, pressed the probe against my abdomen, and we saw the little bean appear on the screen, tiny heart blinking wildly.

Nothing can ever prepare you for how wonderful that feels, knowing that you are carrying a baby, and that it is healthy and developing normally.  I think we both breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Baby Cakes was proclaimed 8 weeks and 4 days old on that day, Tuesday, May 29th.

13 Weeks - Baby Cakes is "Peach"-y Keen

Since I am just now starting this journal, bear with me as I catch up baby's development with our current journey.  Today is the 13 week mark for little Baby Cakes, about three inches of length, swimming about inside me.  It is incredibly exciting to think about.  I imagine often about what it will be like when my stomach really starts to poke out as baby grows, and being able to feel his or her little movements.  As I told my husband, and he has assured me, in a couple of months I will be wanting the baby to chill out for a bit so I can rest!
Another exciting thought is today is the first day of my 2nd trimester!  And, please dear God, I am hoping the nausea diminishes quite a bit.  I haven't had just morning sickness.  I have been ill from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep.  Eating, keeping that food down, and taking my vitamins has been torturous. Even as I type this, I am taking breaks as the need to run to the bathroom hits me.
Speaking of running to the bathroom, the constant peeing has begun.  I have never peed this many times in a day in my life.  And to realize this will only increase as the months go on... well... let's just say I REALLY want this baby.

Baby Cakes: Due January 4th, 2013

In March of 2012, Patrick, my husband, and I heard the words from our fertility doctor that we did not want to hear.

"You will never conceive naturally.  Your only option is IVF."

But this is not a tale of doctor offices, needles, hormones, and in-vitro fertilization.  Patrick and I walked out of his office, confident that if we were meant to have children naturally, God would provide.  If not, in a year we would begin the adoption process.
My heart had been broken by those words.  I cried as Patrick drove us home, feeling empty.  He did his very best to comfort me, as he always does, but I needed to mourn.  Mourn the fact that a doctor had told me I would not be able to carry a child that would be half Amanda and half Patrick.  Mourn the fact that I might never feel a baby turn and kick inside me.  I might never bring a life into this world.  If only I had Patrick's faith, I would not have needed to cry that day.
Fast forward, I started seeing a homeopathic hormone therapist to help balance my estrogen and testosterone.  The beginning of April was my first appointment, and I began taking the supplements that day. The next month, I was due for a check-up.  She called ahead and told me to take a pregnancy test the day before, to insure that I was not pregnant, as she could not do the test on me if I was.
I waited until the next morning.  I knew I wasn't pregnant and wanted to put off as long as possible seeing the negative sign on that little pee stick.  I woke up, made Patrick's breakfast, and as he was eating, excused myself to the bathroom.  I peed and placed the stick aside, ignoring it completely.  As I was washing my hands, I glanced down... and saw the plus sign.

My heart stopped.

Blood thudding in my ears, I put the test under the sink and went back in the kitchen, not saying a word.  As soon as Patrick drove away to work, I hopped in my car and went to the nearest drug store.  Soon I was back in the bathroom, drinking water and preparing to pee on three more tests.

All positive.

Needless to say, I did not take the hormone test that day.  When Patrick came home, I made him take me to dinner, where the waitress presented him with a stein I had dropped off earlier that said, "Patrick, you're going to be a daddy.  Love, Amanda."
We were both crying tears of joy that night.

We are having a baby.  And we couldn't be happier.