Happenings in the 2nd trimester

Since I know you are all dying to know, I thought I'd share some general thoughts from my second trimester so far. It does seem like time is passing a little more quickly during this trimester which I am abundantly thankful for. Don't kid yourself though, I NEVER forget how many weeks I am...I am always aware, always "counting down" in a sense although this obsession has seemed to improve.

Speaking of obsessions, I have a new obsession recently...baby bedding. Since we had our gender reveal party, I have "allowed" myself to begin thinking about/looking at baby stuff and now I can't stop! I'm not a huge fan of pastel pink, so I feel like it is this huge challenge/game to find bedding that does NOT include all forms of pink. It's really harder than you think. I am definitely open to suggestions of places to look because I feel like I'm running out of resources. I actually began looking on etsy.com and have been considering having my bedding made (something I vowed to never do...I'm sure this is the first of many broken vows when it comes to children). Kev said maybe I should just go ahead and order something, but I realized I'm not ready for that yet because I'm having too much fun just looking. I don't feel like I have truly conquered the challenge yet.

Ok, enough about bedding. I have still been able to squeeze into 2 pairs of jeans and 1 pair of dress pants, but they seem to be rapidly shrinking...funny how that happens. I actually wore my first pair of maternity, hand-me-down capris 2 days ago, and it was AMAZING! It was like wearing jean sweat pants. I don't know if I'll be able to go back to my jeans again. I have a work trip coming up in a couple weeks, so I'm not sure what I am going to do then. Two clothing items I have been exceedingly thankful for at work: scrubs (I usually wear them 3x per week for surgery) and my lab coat (so far it really hides me belly). So far, patients have not been able to tell I'm pregnant. I'm dreading the day when they can. I am already asked more questions than I can handle on a daily basis so I can only imagine how much worse it will get when they know.

Speaking of work, I've realized recently that surgery might get rough in the months to come. We had a 3 hour case a couple of days ago, and I felt like I hurt all over by the end of it...my low back was killing me, my legs were aching, my shoulders hurt. I felt totally exhausted that night and just wanted to lay on the couch all evening. I asked the doctor I work with if we could only schedule one hour cases in the third trimester...she laughed. :)

I feel like I'm able to eat whatever, but still have specific opinions about my food on a daily basis, no serious cravings, no heartburn (we must be having a bald baby), no real complaints. I've been able to feel Baby Girl move since about 18 weeks, which is so much fun! I love it! I still have moments/days of panic but it seems to be better. The Lord is so good!

This is probably way more detail than anyone really wanted to know, but now you do.

Another wedding and 20 weeks

A sweet couple from our church got married this weekend, so we made the drive to Ponca City to celebrate the fun occasion. Unfortunately, Kev had to work so I tagged along with some of our good friends. It was a fun trip even though it was short and sweet.

Ann and Omar's first dance as a married couple

Our sweet friends

Anna and Andrea-so thankful for you girls!

Also, I am now to the monumental halfway point of the pregnancy! I'd like to say the time has passed quickly, but it actually feels like I have been pregnant forever! I am excited to see my belly growing, but it definitely makes it difficult to find clothes to wear. It was an adventure to find a dress I felt cute in (key phrase) to wear to the wedding. I actually settled on a dress I bought at a garage sale last year for $1 that I had never worn before...I knew there was a reason I kept it. I'm so excited our sweet baby girl is growing!!

P.S. We tried to change locations today for the picture to get a clearer picture, but apparently we have no free walls that have good lighting in our house. Guess we'll have to settle for blurry pictures!

It's a...

Sorry it has taken me so long to write this post! My friend had some of our pictures on her camera, and I wanted to get them before I posted the pictures. I must say, Saturday was an incredible day. I think I was excited about the gender reveal party, but it definitely exceeded my expectations! It was amazing to have our family and friends together to celebrate the special news.

In retrospect, I also think it was the first day in this pregnancy I have allowed myself to feel completely joyful and celebrate without guarding my emotions. It was amazing! Here are some pictures of the joyous occasion!

Team girl...all dressed in pink.

Team blue...yes, I was wearing blue proudly and confidently.

Kev and I were the team captains, proudly wearing our opposing colors.

The cake. I was paranoid to open the box because I was afraid our surprise would be spoiled by a blue or pink crumb.

Do we cut the cake down the middle or cut a piece??

Middle it is.

IT'S A GIRL!!

Shocked and so excited!

I actually was surprisingly emotional...it made it more real to me. Maybe it's just all these crazy hormones.

So thankful for our friends the Edwards who threw a great party and who have taught us so much about what it means to be great parents!

And their adorable little boys!!

Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound yesterday, and it was so much fun!! These past several weeks were very weird because I was too early to feel the baby move, and yet far enough along that I haven't felt the nausea or extreme fatigue like I did in my first trimester. I began to wonder if this whole pregnancy thing was for real (except for the fact that many of my pants no longer fit and when I look down I can see my belly pooching out...new experience).

It was amazing to see the baby on the ultrasound!! I loved seeing Baby E moving, flipping over and moving his or her legs and arms. I also loved seeing all of the details...the brain, the kidneys, the stomach, the bladder, the femur, everything was amazing, but what I think I loved seeing the most was the little heart. I guess I love it so much because it represents life to me, that which we never saw with our first baby. This whole experience has reminded me life is such a miracle, to think that this baby is being knit together inside me is awe-inspiring. This new life is such a blessing and a miracle!

I know many are wondering whether or not we found out the sex. Yes and no. Yes because the ultrasound tech saw the sex, wrote it on a piece of paper, and gave it to us in an envelope. I have it in my possession, but we are having a gender reveal party on Saturday with family and friends. I'll post pictures afterwards!

Wedding weekend

We survived the wedding weekend...and it was lots of fun!

It all started with lunch at Chilis with the fam,

then pedicures and manicures with the girls (while the guys ran wedding errands).

We had Lacey's lingerie shower after the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner

then the bridal brunch the next morning (sans showers and makeup).

Lacey was a beautiful bride and these pictures do not do her justice. Unfortunately I only took pictures in the parlor where we were getting ready with terrible fluorescent lighting.

My dress fit (meaning we could zip it and it wasn't super tight), but it wasn't super comfortable. By the end of the night, I was desperate to get into my comfy clothes. I'm ashamed to say I threw a small fit because I was so ready to go home and had reached my breaking point. I felt a little bulky all weekend and like I was glowing white (especially next to Lacey's super tan), but I kept thinking, "This is not about me." Overall, it was a fabulous weekend!!

Update

So for those of you wondering what happened with my bridesmaid dress saga, after talking to my mom, I decided to just see if someone could take it out (is that the right expression) before the wedding. Kev took it to the seamstress on Monday (I had clinic), and she agreed to do it! I just picked it up today...I haven't tried it on yet, but I keep thinking, what would I do now even if it didn't fit since we're leaving tomorrow to go home. I'll let you know and take pictures.

Also, here are the long awaited belly pics. Excuse the blurriness...we got a new camera (like last summer), and we're still having a hard time with the settings. I blame the camera and not our lack of skills. Baby E's growing!

12 weeks

17 weeks

Oh the beautiful belly shot...gotta love it. Maybe now you can see why my dress was extremely tight.

I also thought I'd include a picture of our beautiful new Pottery Barn dishes. I love them! It was definitely a splurge, but I've always wanted them and this year for my birthday I decided it was now or never. Kev and I actually got our original "everyday" dishes from Walmart, assuming that we would just get new ones when we got tired of them. Here we were, 6 years later, Walmart dishes chipped which drove me crazy, and I thought now or never. I didn't figure we could justify new dishes once we have a new baby. They are significantly larger than our old dishes, but we still love them!

What to do...

So I'm kind of having a panic moment today. Each day I feel like my belly may be growing a little, but sometimes it's hard to tell. Actually, I still have days I wake up and I feel like I don't look as big as I think I should, and it makes me worried. I'm ashamed to admit it, because it's completely ridiculous to gauge if everything is alright based on the size of your belly.

Today was like any other day. I actually felt like maybe I had grown slightly (I mean, I am 17 weeks today). Where did my panic moment come in? Well, I am a bridesmaid in my youngest sister's wedding next Saturday. I was fitted for my dress BEFORE I found out I was pregnant. So I tried on the dress a couple months ago, and it was actually kind of loose in the bodice (it's strapless, fitted at the top, and then bells out). I figured, what a perfect dress to wear when you're pregnant because the fitted portion is above your belly. Little did I know.

I had my mom send me the dress last week because I thought I might need to have it altered because it was too big. I finally got around to trying it on today, and let's just say it was a bit of a struggle to get it zipped. The good news is we did get it zipped (finally). The bad news is it is a little bit difficult to breath. I can just imagine being at the front of the church, struggling to breath, in 3 inch heels. Can't wait. It has always been a huge fear of mine to pass out in a wedding...hopefully that fear will not be realized.