Blessed by the Pope

In March, Christine went to Rome on a school trip.  Before she left she told us to give her anything that we wanted blessed becasue she was going to the Vatican.  I went out and bought this cute cross for the baby's room.  While she was there she had the cross blessed by the Pope!  Christine, Dana, & I also bought matching cross necklaces that she had blessed as well.

If there is one thing I've learned throughout this whole process of being pregnant, is that there is a higher being involved.  I'm realizing that no matter how much we worry or try to make things happen that some things are just in God's hands.  I'm trying to enjoy the moment and not worry so much about every little thing.  I feel very blessed with all that I have and I know there will be ups and downs along the way but in the end it's all worth it. 

Doctor's Visit

On Friday I went to see the doctor for my 20 week check-up.  I met with Dr. Harden again.  I weighed in at 112 and my blood pressure was 108/68.  So far I have gained a total of 13 pounds!  My iron was low which he said is very common in pregnancy so I have to start taking iron supplements.  Other than that everything else looked good.  I heard the heartbeat again which is always great to hear!  He didn't measure my belly but said the top of my uterus is right above my belly botton, exactly where it should be.  I now feel the baby move at least once a day.  It's nice to get a little surprise kick here and there throughout the day.  I can't wait till he starts moving around more!    

20 Weeks

I'm half way there!!!

Nursery

On Saturday Todd and I put together the baby furniture. We got the crib, changing table and bookcase. We picked up the crib on Friday and we couldn't wait to set it up. Todd did most of the work and I tried to help as much as I could.

Here is the before picture:

Todd working hard on the changing table.

And here he is putting the crib together.

This is me supervising. I was also in charge of cleaning up the trash!

Todd did a great job putting the furniture together. Here it is all finished!

Afterwards Todd went to play golf and I decided to go with him. I've never been on the course before so we thought it would be fun for me to ride with him. He played 9 holes and I was the driver and scorer.

Feeling the baby move!

Last Saturday, I felt the baby move for the first time!  The past few weeks I have been feeling a few kicks here and there but this was different.  I had just laid down to go to sleep and I felt pressure on one side and I got scared.  It was also hard in that area and I thought something was wrong.  After a few seconds it went away and then it happened again.  We finally realized that it was the baby moving - he was probably just stretching out his legs!  Since then I have felt him move a lot more.  I'm sure I will feel him even more as he gets bigger!  What an amazing feeling!

Last weekend Todd and I also cleaned out the baby's closet and hung up all his new clothes.  I love how cute the clothes look in the closet.  They don't even make it half way down to the ground.

CPR Certified!

This past weekend Christine and I took a CPR/First Aid class.  It was on Saturday from 8:30am - 4:30pm.  It was a long day and we had to take FIVE tests.  :(  We both did great and are now certified in Adult/Child/Infant CPR and First Aid.  Now I am all set for when the baby arrives!

A Surprise in the Mail!

Todd's parents sent us a box full of baby clothes. What a surprise! It was so much fun to look through all the clothes. I can't wait to dress the baby up in all these cute outfits! I laid them all out on our kitchen table for Todd to see when he came home from work.


Thank you Barbara and Barry - we really appreciate it!

Baby Registry

Today I registered at Babies R Us.  Dana came with me to help pick out all the baby things I will need.    She was a lot of help because otherwise I would have no idea what to get. 

Leila had just as much fun as us looking at all the baby toys!

We also went to CVS because they had a good deal on diapers.  I figured I might as well start stocking up on them now!

My first diaper purchase!

   

Happy Easter

For Easter we went to church in the morning with my family and then we had a brunch at my parents house with my Aunt Debbie and cousin Chris.  It was great to see them!  Then Todd and I had everyone over our house for a BBQ later in the day.  It was another beautiful day (80 and sunny) so we wanted to spend as much time outside as we could.  My parents got us a little Easter basket for the baby with a bunch of outfits in it!

My mom and I wasted no time in going shopping after we found out it's a boy.  We went to the Carter's outlet on Friday and I picked out a bunch of outfits.  It so much fun looking at all the boy clothes!  I got Todd a cute little outfit for the baby that I left on his desk Easter morning.  It says Daddy's MVP on the front.

Todd and I also ordered the baby furniture on Saturday!  We ordered the crib, glider, changing table, and a bookcase for the baby's room.  We should get most of it in a week or two and since my dad and Andrew were over our house for Easter, they helped Todd move the workout equipment in the baby's room into the guest room.  Now we are all set for the furniture to arrive!

We ended the day watching the redsox/yankee opening day game.  I tried on one of my redsox shirts and as you can see it was a little snug.  Looks like I will have to get a bigger shirt for the season.  Haha!

IT'S A BOY!

Today we found out we're having a boy!  Todd and I could not be more excited!  It is such an amazing feeling knowing that there's a little baby boy coming! 

Our appt. was at 8:30 in the morning.  We got there extra early because we were so excited.  Of course I was also nervous because we were having the ultrasound where they do the anatomy scan.  When we got there, there was a little change in plans.  The doctor had requested a level two ultrasound (that we didn't know about) and that we would have to go to Wakemed to get the ultrasound.  Before we left to go to Wakemed we met with Dr. Mackenzie for a checkup.  I weighed in at 109.6 - I gained 5 pounds in one month! My blood pressure was good - 108/80.  We listened to the baby's heartbeat which the doctor said was really strong - 150 bpm.  Dr Mackenzie was really nice.  He measured my belly which was at 16weeks (I'm 17 weeks) but he said it was a little too early to measure and next month it would be more accurate.

We made it over to Wakemed and they were able to fit us in.  Everything looked great during the ultrasound.  It took awhile because he examained the head, heart, spine, and face.  Finally after all that he showed us it is a boy!

The first person we told was Barbara - Todd's mom!  We called her as soon as we left the doctors appt.  She was thrilled!  Then since we were at Wakemed we stopped by where Dana works to tell her the good news!  Todd called Bryan and his Dad on the way home.  They were both really happy and Bryan was excited for Ben to have a boy cousin to play with!

I wanted to surprise my mom and dad with the news.  I wasn't able to surprise them when we found out we were pregnant so I thought this would be a good surprise.  I told them that the ultrasound was at 2pm - I lied!  I planned to surprise my mom at work and bring in cupcakes with pink or blue icing.  I made 48 cupcakes last night because I also wanted to bring them into my work.  I don't think I've ever made this many cupcakes before. 

So after we found out I went home to put the BLUE frosting on the cupcakes.  I was a little behind in my plan because of the Wakemed trip so I had to rush.  I wanted to get to my mom's work during her lunch.

She had no idea I was coming.  I finally made it there by 12:30 - just in time.  My mom was getting ready to leave work but Jess (who knew I was coming) stalled her.  Boy was my mom surprised to see me! I think it took a good 15 mins for it to sink in that I was there and that we are having a boy!

After that I went to surprise my dad and Christine.  Christine was watching Leila at their house.  

Even Leila was surprised!

Finally I went to my work and brought in the rest of the cupcakes!  When I got home, Todd and I went for a walk around our neighborhood because it was so nice out. It was 80 degrees and beautiful.  I also brought some cupcakes over to our neighbors because everyone was outside and I had a bunch left over.  We ended the day with a BBQ and relaxed outside.  What a day!

The proud dad-to-be!