Week 21: Getting To Know My Baby.

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since we've had a decent prego picture. We've been super busy, not to mention the fact that we've forgotten our camera at the perfect times and now Ted has it with him in New Orleans! Bummer, I know. I'm sick of using our mac photo booth, but next week, hopefully we will have a real prego pic!


Baby: (Remember our baby is measuring big at least for the next few weeks of this info...) baby "now" weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. (OH GOLLY) You may soon feel like he or she is practicing martial arts as baby's initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges (I DO!) The baby can hear my voice, and I know it can because when I sing to him/her, SOMETIMES it kicks baby starts moving around. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Momma:
I've felt completely emotional in a very good way this week. I've begun to really connect with our baby. Talking with him/her, singing, lying down and just feeling the baby's movements. It's made me extremely excited, and this week I've felt more attatched and in love than I thought possible. I've never met our baby, obviously, but I can't even describe the way I feel about him/her. There was a commercial I saw this weekend at my grandparents place, and I'm now thankful we don't have tv... because I almost always teared up when I saw it. It is a commercial for Gerber baby, and it begins like a wedding vow, only it's for baby. It captures my attention each time. I saw it 3 times, and I just can't wait to meet our baby!

Changes lately... I look as though I've swallowed a basketball whole. No joke. I'm loving it, but due to the most recent growth spirts in baby, I get full faster, and hungry more often(if that makes sense). I also use the bathroom A LOT more. I can now tell where he/she sits in my tummy. Right now- baby is pushing against my left side with it's hand/head and kicking me at my right. i L O V E it. I can't say that enough.

Well, this is another novel of my baby & bump. Thanks for listening.
Love, Jami & Baby E (I am actually unsure for the first time about having a girl. I mean, I am no longer convinced which means I probably should stop calling baby, Baby E...!)

Week 20: Halfway.

taken with our mac photo booth application. Thankful for this cause we forgot our canon in CO! Check out my belly button stretching!! C R A Z Y!

Week 20 info:

I spent a few hours in Barnes & Noble here in Las Vegas researching more and more about our baby, what I am feeling, how to excersise to make labor easier, eating, things to avoid... so much information, it's was great. I wrote a lot of useful info down. I've been stuck with the same books for a while now, so it was nice having new reading materials. I tried to search for a boy's name, but that is SO hard for me. We may have a middle name, we'll see. I am going to post it next to our girl's name, that way I can look at it everyday and see if I like it. (Advice from the Russells- GREAT advice).

Baby: Our baby is measuring BIG - so this size applied to the baby 3 weeks ago - I'm unsure how big the baby actually is right now. Next appointment is March 3. Baby is around 10 1/2 oz & 10 inches from heel to head! Getting so big. Baby E is swallowing more, which is helping his digestive system. I have felt the baby moving since 13 weeks, and last week it was the strongest and most frequent. This week, since saturday, I've actually rarely felt the baby. I don't know what that means, I am trusting God with it, but sometimes when I do feel baby moving, I sigh in relief. Please pray for me to have peace and the baby is perfectly healthy.

Momma:
I am hungry ALL of the time, yet I recently dropped 4 pounds (didn't know that until today). I am bummed out because I was right on track, having gained 8-10 pounds, now 4 pounds less. Please pray I can put the weight on and keep it on for the baby's sake!! (I feel baby moving now! Btw). The weight loss might have to do with the fact that since saturday, I haven't been able to eat a lot, due to where we are in Vegas and lack of money. We are being fed by the base since today, so now I am eating good! Another change, I am already getting a VERY faint line on my tummy down the middle. I also have an enormous belly button, quite squishy too. I am sleepy often, almost always needing a nap throughout the day, still able to sleep a lot at night. I am a bit more achy than I am normally. Also, I bought lotion for fighting stretch marks and THEN read in 3 different prego magazines yesterday, that it is genetic whether or not I get stretch marks. So Mom... let me know. I realized a few days ago, that with as many kiddos as I want to have, and how close together... it really doesn't matter if I get them this pregnancy or the next!

I've gotta go to bed. Please be praying for my peace of mind. We still haven't heard of what the placenta thing I have is. It's NOT a hematoma and it's NOT placenta previa. They think I had a vanishing Twin. Read into it, it's weird and it would make me super sad. I hope to someday be blessed with twins!

Thanks for listening.
Love, Jami & Baby E.

The Prego Life of Jami.

You know your pregnant when (#2):

-20 minutes after eating a snack/meal you're hungry again
-.5 ounces in your bladder inside feels like 30 gallons, and you have to go NOW and often
-you wake up 1-2 times a night because your little one kicks ya, or you have to pee... again
-you begin to grow peach fuzz in the most unattractive places such as; the back of your neck (yep!) and your belly
-you're nails and hair grow at the speed of lightning - including leg & armpit hair, yikes.
-you wake up from the most vivid, colourful, even life-like dream and immediately forget it
-you find yourself exhausted but can't sleep when bedtime rolls around
-you feel the baby moving ALL of the time and stop as soon as you say the words "quick, come and feel!" to anyone
-your breasts feel like shot-put balls - each!
-you jog or run suddenly from one place to another, stop and feel like you ran with a bowling ball inside your uterus. OUCH!
-you suddenly stand, twist, or even sneeze and it feels like someone was yanking on the muscles from your lower abdomen to your chest
-your belly button begins to spread with each developing week, looking more and more like a crater with a foreign object inside
-peeing is the best feeling in the world, and you almost always have to sigh
-you go to tie your shoes and because of the pressure below you to tie your shoe laces on the side rather than on top
-every week you stand in from of the mirror thinking, there is no way my body can possibly stretch any farther... and it does, and you quickly realize this is only the beginning
-you feel something inside poke, kick, punch, squirm - recognize it's your baby, and almost sob with excitement and joy
-girly or tragic movies are out of the question because you'll just end up using an entire box of tissue & your man's shoulder
-you now can't watch the parts of the movies where the woman is giving birth - or even listen to it
-you sleep an entire afternoon and can still fall asleep by 8pm - unless the insomnia decides to kick in that night :)
-your husband find your belly button the most hysterical thing in the world is always saying, "Please, can i poke it?"
-even the little flutters or sudle movements from within never make you yawn or bored
-spelling words like subtle, take you 15 minutes to spell and spell check becomes more and more handy (look at above spelling of subtle, see what I mean?)


more to come, I am sleepy and out of things to write.

Week 19: Poking Love.

BEFORE you see these pictures...We decided to take pics of me trying to get the baby to kick. It doesn't usually kick on demand :) SO I poke it sometimes... not too hard though! I know, it's weird, but here are some pics. Also some of our 18 week ultrasound. We go back for another checkup March 3rd to check the placenta and the baby's anatomy. Hopefully next time baby will sit still!

Baby Name Sites.

Ted and I have our baby girl name set. I've been in love with it since I was 16, and he choose the middle name BUT we still do NOT have a boys name. Just in case we need that ;)

Anyways here are a few baby name sites I've had fun with, but let me know if you know of any that might share the most unique names. We are looking for a strong unique boys name with a really good meaning. (I'm actually not asking for NAMES from you but for a site or book).

http://www.babynamegenie.com/baby-first-names/index.php
http://www.nymbler.com
http://babynames.com
http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com

Please let me know if you know of a good website or book!
I am d e s p e r a t e!

Week 18 Belly

Week 18: Quite the Kicker.

Today we had an appointment with the clinic. (We are still in the process of transferring everything over to our midwife Judy, until then we get checkups with both). Our baby is quite a kicker! Monday when we first visited with our home birth midwife, she used a stethoscope type thing to hear our baby's heartbeat, and I could actually see the baby kicking her! Then today, during our clinic visit, our baby kicked up a storm while getting checked out, and the same thing happened when they went to hear the heartbeat. I find it super funny, and can't help but laugh when I see him/her kicking like that.

Anyways, our baby is measuring 4 oz & 3 cm bigger than the week that he/she is! It explains a lot with the movement I feel often. No wonder, he/she is already measuring big! Now, this doesn't mean I am farther along than I really am, because that is almost impossible.

My heart did sink at one point, when the lady doing our ultrasound asked me, "Have you had bleeding?" and "Are you sure you didn't have bleeding at any point?" I knew something wasn't quite right. She then went on to show me the placenta had an extra "something" on it. She said it could be one of a few things: another placenta, just an extra loop in the placenta, or a hematoma (only this doesn't make sense because I never bled)... So I left still clueless as to what this is!

Please pray for the baby to keep growing, and that this won't affect him/her, so far the baby is growing A TON! I am feeling peace right now, and I'm going to call my midwife Judy soon to see what she says. The doctor at the clinic didn't seem to be worried, that made me feel a bit better.

Baby:
Is measuring, well according to babycenter.com - 5 1/2 inches. Our baby is measuring bigger, like I shared above. That doesn't mean our due date is earlier than we thought, it just means it's growing faster right now. His/her blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born.

Mommy:
Hungry often, using the restroom way more that I ever have, sleepy, and growing. I've gained 7 pounds already. One day I was weighed immediately after eating Chipotle and about died when I read the scale. The biggest I've ever been, only to get bigger :) My breasts and tummy are where my weight is, at least for right now. Thankfully!

Thanks for caring, reading my ramblings, & praying for us.
Love,
Jami & Baby E.

Why a Home Birth?

Many ask me, why did you choose to do a home birth instead of a hospital birth? Well, today I will answer and hopefully thoroughly. (With my mind these days, that is a lot harder than it may sound).

*Now for a disclaimer, let me say this. Many women I know and love, choose hospital births. This is not a blog about bashing hospital births and medicines and all that jazz! This is what I have chosen personally! I know a ton of women who have had incredibly midwifes in hospitals, and have super healthy kiddos now. This is nothing against you, if you are or have done this! Seriously, I hope you all see my heart is what I'm about to share! *

A little bit of history... when I was around 12 or 13 I attended a home birth for my mom's dear friend. As much as I was shocked to actually see a birth, I remember really enjoying the calm atmosphere, and the fact that they wanted to bring this baby into their own home and most importantly, a home embellished with God. Until I was married (which ironically I swore I would never marry), I didn't think about this again.

When we found out we were pregnant after months of trying and trusting God, I immediately wanted to do a home birth, but knew it would be hard to share that with Ted, and with my extended family. I knew they would be hesitant, but only because they wanted a safe enviroment for the baby and I. I shared my heart for wanting a home birth, and Ted was worried.

We ended up deciding to head to the doctors, and went ahead and planned on having a hospital birth. I won't lie, I was bummed but I understood Ted's hesitation was out of love for me, and the fear of the unknown. Well, our first appointment bombed. We were treated terribly (and I'm not exaggerating). The lady that checked the baby and I out, was very impersonal and actually quite rude. We left the clinic that morning feeling discouraged, and we both didn't feel peace, but Ted still wasn't ready to commit to a home birth understandably.

The weeks in between our first appointment and our 10 week check up, we frequently discussed a home birth. I also spoke with other mothers, (which there are 2 at our base), who have done home births. I asked them a lot about it, and with their encouragement- Ted met with one of the fathers to see what he originally felt about them, and what the process involves. We were still very undecided by the time we went to our 10 week checkup.

We saw the baby for the first time. For Ted, this made the entire pregnancy more real. The weeks of sickness made it real enough for me. We were treated a lot better this time, and still both walked away feeling no peace. So we then prayed, and decided to pursue a home birth.

I have many reasons for doing a home birth, but here are my most important, and heartfelt reasons for why I chose a home birth.
- First, I want to set the tone and atmosphere. I want to bring our baby into this world in an atmosphere of praise and adoration to God. I want to be able to spend however long labor is, in prayer and worship. I want our baby to come into the prescence of God first and foremost.
- I want to be with my baby immediately after labor. I want to hold him/her, despite how exhausted I am. I don't want someone to wisk my baby away. I want the first precious moments.
- I want to give birth naturally. I am a weakling, I know this more than anyone, and I want to remain focused the entire process of delivery.
- I want to be with my loved ones, while going through labor. I want my friends and family to be the first ones who welcome our baby into the world.

Can you do this at a hospital? I am sure you can and go for it!! A home birth is what we feel peace in pursuing.

I met our midwife yesterday, fell in love, and had total peace.( She believes in God, and will let me set the tone for the day) Oh, and Ted liked her too. In fact when she asked, "Do you guys need more time to think about this.." I was surprised and overjoyed to hear Ted answer first, saying we are set on doing a home birth and having her deliver our baby!!

We have totally peace, and I personally can't even share with you how excited, thrilled, anxious... I am for the next months to pass and to meet our little one! Hope this made sense! :)

Love,
Jami & the kickin' baby E