ch-ch-ch-changes

lots is changing around here… as you can see, the blog got an overhaul. i'm REALLY into gray and yellow right now, so when i saw this blog background, i couldn't resist!

another thing that is changing lots is my belly. we're at 23 weeks now, 17 (give-or-take) to go! here is a pic of me at 21(ish) weeks and then 23 weeks… it's crazy how fast my belly popped out! my belly button is still an innie, but we'll see how long it stays like that :)




















































also, one of ant's awesomely sweet classmates is giving us some baby stuff that she doesn't need anymore. how generous!! so, the other day ant came home from class with an awesome fisher price rainforest baby swing! it's VERY surreal having this thing sitting in our living room. every time i look at it, i'm reminded that it's not gonna be long until there is a baby hangin' out in our house every day. crazy!!

the baby is moving around more and more every day. sometimes i swear ant is going to be able to feel something, but so far he hasn't. i know it's just a matter of time, but i'm so anxious for him to be able to experience at least a little bit of what i'm feeling. until then, he continues to take care of me and talk to the baby, which usually comes out as yelling, but i know he means well!

i have a routine dr appt tomorrow and then off to orlando again this weekend for one of my bestie's (hazel's) engagement party luau! WOO HOO! we're gonna get to see lots of friends and hang out with the fam a little, so i'm pretty excited :)

nursery duds

After some extensive (and borderline obsessive) searching for the perfect baby bedding, I have finally found it! I had gotten to the point where I was going to pick material out and have mom make the bedding, but then I came across this set on Etsy and it was exactly what I had been looking for all along :)









































































And here is the crib/changing table I have picked out from Target:
















I am going to be decorating our whole room around this bedding since our room will be the nursery, too. I'm so excited and I can't wait to actually get it and see how it looks!

good news and bananas

I recently had my quadscreening test (just a simple blood test) last week and then the day after, we had our first appointment with our perinatologist (high risk doc) to have an ultrasound and make sure everything is going ok. I briefly talked about this visit in our last blog, but I didn't touch on the next topic because I didn't want to freak anyone out. So, while at the perinatologist, they ended up finding what they are calling a "hot spot" on the heart that could potentially be a sign of Down Syndrome. They also measured the length of all of our peanut's legs and arms and noticed that the femur was measuring a tad bit smaller than average, which could also be a sign of Downs. This definitely raised a red flag for us since Ant's little sister was born with Downs and a severe heart defect. She passed away at about a year and a half old and this is obviously in the forefront of our minds when they were giving us this news. Since we were still waiting for the results to the quadscreening (which would tell us if there is anything serious to worry about), the doctor assured us that they see many of these 'hot spots' multiple times a day and that, for the most part, we shouldn't be too worried. So, we waited a WEEK to get the results from the quadscreening! My intuition was telling me that all was ok, but there is always that reality of what could happen. Well, we got some good news yesterday… actually it was GREAT news! Our genetic counselor called with the results from our test and said everything looks 'phenomenal'!!! We couldn't have been more relieved to hear that. Praise God!!

So now, with that behind us, we're getting so excited about our little one. Only 19(ish) more weeks until he/she is here :) I have definitely been feeling the baby move a lot more… it's such an awesome feeling… I can't wait for Ant to be able to feel it also!

Here is our 21 week update from babycenter and thebump: (they are a little different, so i read both of them)
By week 21, your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces, and her length from head to rump is seven inches, about the length of a spoon. Ten and one-half ounces is also the size bear cubs are when they are born. Your baby has begun her main project for the rest of your pregnancy: putting on weight. She regularly drinks amniotic fluid for hydration and nutrition, urinates in the fluid and breathes in and out (fortunately, the fluid pool refreshes itself every three hours). Her eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. Taste buds are forming on her tongue. Her eyelids are still sealed, but her eyes are active.

















The baby is now the size of a banana. Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

So, there you have it. Just for kicks, here is a list of things that have been on my mind lately:

1>
i thought i was going to be lucky and not experience heartburn in this pregnancy, but i was sadly mistaken and it has definitely set in the past 2 days… not fun!
2>
my belly has now surpassed my boobs when i look down. not too sure how i feel about that.
3>
i highly enjoy being able to feel the baby move, but don't appreciate the fact that it is using my bladder as it's own personal trampoline.
4>
i got my first 'are you expecting?' from a perfect stranger! thank goodness i'm actually starting to look pregnant and not just fat anymore.
5>
i have the most loving, supportive husband in the world! (although, he finally just admitted to me yesterday that i actually look pregnant now and that before i just looked like i had a pudge. at least he didn't say that before, cause i just might have cried, even though i knew it was true!)

more belly pics to come shortly… :)

ramble, ramble

Busy, busy and busy is what I would use to describe myself lately. I feel like I've been moving a mile a minute and traveling like crazy (which I love!). I'm pretty sure I've spent the majority of my time in Florida these past couple months and it's been great! Ant and I got a chance to go to Orlando to visit (and work for me) and we had the pleasure of spending time with some very missed friends and family. It was so nice! I also got to spend some time with mom and dad, Lucie, Tad, Reagan and Quin (more on that soon), and my girlfriends from high school. The past 3 weeks Ant has been on a break from school, but Monday he goes back. It's been nice to actually spend some quality time together and just chill, even though I've still been working like crazy. At least my job allows me to play a little on the side!

Our little peanut is growing like crazy and if what we're told is correct, it is about the size of a large mango this week - next week we will graduate to a cantalope… woo hoo!! We're almost half way there (19 weeks to be exact) and we've been seeing doctors a lot lately. It seems like every time we turn around, we're going to another appointment. I found a great neurologist up here and I really like her! At my appointment, she increased my med dosage, reassured me that my meds are the best to be on compared to the others out there, told me that it's perfectly fine to breastfeed (YAY!!! I was pretty worried about that) and referred me to a perinatologist to do some high risk testing and such. It was a pretty productive appt. and she wants to see me once a month to make sure everything is on track. Success! Yesterday we went to our regular OBGYN and had a quad screening done which will tell us if there is any major abnormality or birth defect and we should get those results by the end of next week. Today we had our first appt with our new perinatologist. We spoke to a genetic counselor and had an ultrasound. It's always so exciting seeing the baby moving around and this time we were able to see it kicking and putting it's hands up near it's face and all. Although, we did turn our heads when the tech explored the netherregions (is that even a word??) so that we couldn't see what the sex of our little peanut is. She seemed to know right away what it was, but she was tight-lipped and didn't spill the beans! All I could think of was how jealous I was that she knew and I didn't! It's a pretty strange feeling now that it's actually possible to know what the sex is, but Anthony is REALLY excited about being surprised, so we're stickin' to it! So far we have a girl's name picked out, but we are still undecided on a boy's name. Any suggestions?!

profile… not really cooperating!
















strong heartbeat :)
















On another note, I'm feeling MUCH better these days! Once the 12-13 week mark hit, I started feeling like a normal human being again which was such a relief. I got most of my energy back and now I don't feel like I have to eat every second of the day… that was getting REALLY old! My clothes started getting tighter and tighter and just the other day I wore my first pair of maternity shorts (thank you, GiGi Ma!). We haven't been very good at taking pictures of the belly, but we have a recent one that I can share. I'm not really sure if I've felt the baby move yet. Last night we were watching a movie and right in the middle of a really intense part, I said, "I think I just felt the baby move!" Ant just looked at me and said, "really?!" Then I said, "I don't know, but it feels different and I can't really explain it" So, all-in-all, I might have felt it, but I'm still not too sure! I think within the next 2 weeks I will be having a growth spurt and start to feel the baby move more and more. All very exciting!

12 weeks:





















18 weeks:























Oh, one last thing: I have to show off my new nephew Quin (Albert Winchester V) - He was born on June 7 @ 3:19am (lonnnng night!), weighing 7 lbs 14 oz… perfectly healthy little boy and just as cute as can be! See?!! ----->


































Reagan just turned 2… so big and such a great big sister!

a story about a peanut…

well, what can i say? it's been a weird and awesome 3 weeks to say the least. and it kind of feels like we've been here for longer than that. maybe that's because i've been kind of cooped up in our house with tons of work! work is good these days, that's for sure. it's much needed even though it makes me a homebody.

savannah is a great city. we can pretty much ride our bikes or walk anywhere and it seems like there's always something to do (even though i haven't really partaken yet). it's beautiful here and we are growing to like it. anthony started school a few weeks ago and he's absolutely loving it! he tells me every day that his life couldn't get any better and that's an awesome thing to hear as a wife! he just celebrated his 32nd birthday and i failed miserably in that department this year. i definitely don't get the best wife award this year, but i plan on making it up in the future for sure!

which leads me to why i've been such a slacker lately... as most of you know, we are PREGNANT!!! no, i'm not kidding... no, it wasn't planned (well, by us at least!)... yes, we're scared... and yes, we're excited!! i'm about 9 weeks along and we are due on november 12. it's taken a while to sink in, but today we had an ultrasound and actually got to see the baby! it was amazing. we didn't really know what to expect going in there so we were blown away when we actually saw the heart pumping away! the ultrasound tech said that the heartrate is 160 and that was good, so we're trusting that everything is on track and healthy thus far! sorry for keeping such an awful secret from those of you who just found out, but we were trying to stay realistic. technically, we're not really in the clear for another 3 weeks, but we couldn't contain ourselves any longer! so, not to use this as an excuse, but... well... ok, i'm kind of using that as an excuse. i've had absolutely no desire to do much of anything beyond sitting on the couch, eating, sleeping and peeing lately. i'm actually not too fond of eating anymore these days because it's turned into a chore for me. i never really crave anything, but i'm always starving, so i'm constantly left in a dilema. i'm sure my whining isn't helping in the husband department, but i'm trying to keep it to a minimum! i'm so tired all the time and find myself 'accidently' falling asleep in the middle of the day until i'm rudely awoken (is that even a word) by my phone or someone on ichat who needs something from me at the church! i then find myself in a mild panic wondering how long i had been asleep and how much chaos i had caused from doing so. thus far, many have been pretty understanding, so thank you to those of you i've been slacking on... your patience is much appreciated!

just today we posted on facebook that we are going to be parents and the outpouring response of excitement is so overwhelming for us! i can say it a thousand times over and over, but i can never really express how blessed i am by the amazing friends and family that God has placed in our lives. the love just continues to pour out and even though this is a scary process for us (considering our current status), God continues to put the most amazing words into people's mouths for us to hear. and believe me... they are HEARD! we know that we have such an amazing support system and this baby is so loved already... i can't even imagine when he/she is actually here in our arms!

the only thing we can ask for right now is your continued prayers and support. this journey is going to be a little different for us because i am technically considered high risk because of my epilepsy. the meds that i'm on seem to be the least harmful of them all, but there are still risks of some birth defects, so they will be watching us a little more closely than normal. this also means that i won't be able to have the baby with a midwife and in a birth center like i had dreamed. it's just too risky for them. so, i am still on a quest to find a birth plan that i'm comfortable with and i know that God has His hand in it all! i just want everything to happen as naturally as it possibly can. again, thank you for your prayers and your support... we are truly blessed!

so, stay tuned as we will be updating you on our journey... hopefully more often than not :)

here are some pictures of our little peanut (with some captions from ant):