We can do this!

Something I have never really said to anyone including myself, since Brad and I first started to discuss having children, is that I have no idea if we can have a child. First there is the making one part, well we know we can get pregnant so check that off our,” to do list” and I have loved the experience of being pregnant so far so that’s great. But here with a little over three months to go, I’ve started thinking more about that fact that Rourke is not going to magically teleport outside of my body and when he does grace us with his presence he will be helpless and completely dependent on two people who have little to no infant care experience. Luck for him my Mom is going to stay with us after his birth to make sure he survives the ordeal but again he has to come out first.

Labor sounds awful… there is no getting around that. Any action were you are in excruciating pain for hours on end and chances are you are going to poop in front of everyone in the room and not care, doesn’t sound like a good time to me. I have a real low pain tolerance but also a dream of having him naturally so we will see which part of me wins out. But as I saw this weekend when I went to meet Kaylee and Nick Hansen’s new baby boy Kasen, it is all worth it for the outcome.  I have avoided holding babies out of fear my entire life (if you drop someone’s baby they are super hard to replace) and holding Kasen was really the first time I had tried it. The first thing I learned as they are not as breakable as they seem and the second is to hold them is to love them, or at least I fell in love with Kasen. I know if I can love a friend’s baby that much after one hour with him in my arms; I will poop on a table happily for Rory. I also, felt better after leaving the Hansen house about bring Rourke home. Kaylee and Nick really made everything look so natural and easy. Kaylee did admit to only having 11 hours of sleep in in the last 4 days, but I had never seen her so calm and happy.

Brad and I have our first Baby Class on Wednesday and I think with a combination of knowledge, love, and support from our family, that we can do this!

22 weeks 4 days

How far along? 21 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss:  +12 pounds (eeekkk)

Maternity clothes? Yes, indeed but the warmer weather in coming so bring on the dresses

 Stretch marks? Not yet....

Sleep: I go to bed so beyond tired but wake up at 6 AM on the dot

Best moment this week: Realizing that we are already completely ready for her 

Miss Anything? Social drinking and being skinny, my good friend had a birthday party and I was the sober fat girl

Movement: All the time now, so much more than Rourke

Food cravings: Ice cream, chocolate, cookies, lemon bars.... you get the idea

Anything making you queasy or sick: Eating too much at once

Have you started to show yet: Yup, it is official at a little over half way you can tell I'm pregnant

Gender: Found out we are having a GIRL!!! So the prediction at 13 weeks was right again! Rowan Margaret Emily Venables!

Labor Signs: none. But I do get dizzy if I don't drink enough water
Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? Off my nickel allergy is back

Happy or Moody most of the time: I think Brad would say moody, his parents are coming to visit and I have been trying to clean, take care of a 1 year old, and grow this lil girl

Looking forward to: Visiting my Mom on Thursday! Rourke and I are going on a plane!

20 weeks 4 days

How far along? 20 weeks, 4 days
Total weight gain/loss: back to where I started... let the gaining begin
Maternity clothes? really only maternity pants so I can sit down
marks? Not as of yet
Sleep: I'm told to enjoy this wonderful time of blissful sleep while I can
Best moment this week: Getting to tell everyone that we are having a BOY!
Miss Anything? My friends just got a hot tub... sounds amazing
Movement: YES!!! After the 20 week appointment it is so much easier to feel him and know what I am feeling.
Food cravings: FOOD I want to eat everything
Anything making you queasy or sick: I wish
Have you started to show yet: people have started to notice that I'm pregnant with out me telling them!
Gender: He is all boy, Rourke Patrick Venables.
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In, but it is only a matter of time
Wedding rings on or off? On,
Happy or Moody most of the time: loving life!!!
Looking forward to: I'm selfish but my massage

Its a Boy!!!

Little known fact.... our ultra sound technician told/showed us we were having a boy at our 12 week appointment. The first above picture is from our 12 week appointment and the second one is from our 20 week appointment. We didn't want to tell anyone because everything we read (on the internet) told us that at 12 weeks there was no way to know for sure the baby’s gender (false as we are living proof). Plus how bad would I have felt if it the technician had been mistaken and my poor daughter had to find out later that for the first 5 months of her life she had been a boy? Can you imagine the teasing? Not that Brad or I was ever able to seriously think that there was a chance that the little monkey was a girl after she said that though. The room was painted blue and Brad bought the baby's first football, so thank goodness she was right. Plus my parents both tell such horror stories about raising me that both Brad and I will be happy to have our first child be a boy. We have however, come to terms with that fact that this means one or both of us might/will get peed on. We have had to try and hide this knowledge from friends and family members until we were certian, which is hard with a blue baby room. Just another secret about being pregnant that I no longer have to keep. I'm pretty sure that we have reached the end of the secret part of pregnancy, which I for one do not mind! We even did our gender announcement this Friday with a ballon realease!

 I can't seem to stop myself I have already started clothes shopping and the baby room is already. His name is all picked out Rourke Patrick Venables aka Rory. Now we just have to wait 4 more months to meet the little guy... So happy that its a boy!

Looking forward and looking back...

It is hard to believe that just 14 weeks ago I sat in my friend Kaylee’s living room and tried to force her to take bump pictures with me. I was just 6 weeks along and her at the enviable 19 weeks mark and about to find out the sex of her baby, which seemed like an unreachable goal at the time. Sadly those pictures turned out awful, so no one will ever to see them. It was fun however to see her this weekend, in honor of her impending 28^th Birthday, now with me at 19 weeks and her at 34 weeks. We have a lot more in common now with our bumps and pregnancy stories. It was really neat for me to get a glance into what will hopefully be my future and to get some much needed advice and reassurance that the fact I have NEVER changed a diaper will not make me the worst parent in the world (knock on wood).  While it is great to look forward, I also got a chance to look back last night. One of our really good friends let it slip that they too are expecting a new addition to their family (we are so excited for them). I had to laugh here I was again full circle, her being only 6 weeks and me at the knowledgeable 19 week mark and about to find out the sex of our baby. While every pregnancy is different all the fear and excitement are still the same and I do not envy her the next few weeks as she waits for that first appointment and the reassuring beat of a young heart.  I wish I could just let her know that it will all be alright and just to enjoy these new feelings, but of course there is no way to stop the constant fears and Google searches, which in turn cause more fear. Sadly just like all of us before her she will have to wait. I hope that I can be half as helpful as Kaylee has been to me in calming me down. It made me think back to those first weeks (torture) and all those happy and freak out moments. This is really the most amazing experience I have ever had and I wish I had the literary skills to express the depth of my feelings at each new step Brad and I take. After that first beautiful heartbeat, I feel like the time has just been flying by with no way for me to slow it down. So it was an amazing feeling to in just one day have the opportunity to not only see the future, but also to rejoice in someone else’s beginning , and looking back at my past.