the day before

***We’re going to pretend that this is Monday, November 5th, ok?!!!***

         my last belly pic :(

• How far along?  36 weeks and 6 days
• Total weight gain:  40 lbs…the last 6 lbs were put on in a week due to fluid gain! yikes!
• Maternity clothes? everything that I wear!
• Stretch marks? none
• Sleep: eh…
• Best moment this week: my doctors appointment (which I will elaborate on below)
• Miss Anything? being able to do anything without getting out of breath
• Movement: all of the time, more so at night. and sweet girl has daily hiccups
• Food cravings: still chicken strips from Whataburger
• Food aversions: none
• Gender: GIRL! :)
• Labor Signs: contractions everyday
• Belly Button in or out? in
• Wedding rings on or off? off. I’m wearing my Target cheap-o band.

random views of the bump for the last time

My last night of work was Halloween night and it was CRAZY busy. About 4 or 5 am I started feeling really bad. I had a horrible headache, was dizzy and just felt like crap. So I took my blood pressure and it was 160s/100s. and I took it multiple times. My coworkers tried to get me to go down to triage, but I had too much work to do still, so I just tried to sit as much as possible and chug water. I had my 36 week OB appointment later that morning so I knew that I would be checked out soon.

My BP was still extremely high and I had “cankles” up to my knees! Dr. D sent me to triage to be monitored for a few hours and if my BP didn’t come down, we were having a baby THAT day!!!! EEEEEEEK! I was so nervous! After working for 3 nights in a row and being sweaty and stinky, the last thing I wanted to do was labor a baby! Thankfully, my BP did come down after some rest and fluids. But Dr. D wanted me to come back on Monday night to  be induced!!!

belly comparisons

Well, I thought I had taken more belly pics than this, but these are all that I found. It’s kinda cool to see baby girl grow over the past few months though! (:

35 weeks

 

• How far along?  technically 35 weeks and 5 days
• Total weight gain:  + probably 30 lbs
• Maternity clothes? everything that I wear!
• Stretch marks? none
• Sleep: eh. every time I turn over I have a contraction, which of course wakes me up.
• Best moment this week: my mom finishing the bedding! my baby shower! getting our maternity pictures! washing tiny clothes and putting them away to be used SOON!
• Miss Anything? being able to do anything without getting out of breath
• Movement: all of the time, more so at night. and sweet girl has daily hiccups
• Food cravings: still chicken strips from Whataburger
• Food aversions: none
• Gender: GIRL! :)
• Labor Signs: contractions everyday. I mean everyday. 7 out of 10 of them are pretty painful. and sometimes they’re every couple of minutes. I do feel like maybe she dropped a little bit this past week because it’s been a little bit easier to breathe
• Belly Button in or out? in
• Wedding rings on or off? off. I’m wearing my Target cheap-o band.
• Looking forward to: my doctor’s appointment on Thursday morning to see if my contractions have made me dilate more. here’s hoping!

forgotten belly pics

I don’t know how I missed posting these. Guess I didn’t do a weekly update for these 2 weeks. Oh well, I just wanted to post them for my records.

32 weeks

• How far along?  technically 32 weeks and 4 days
• Total weight gain:  +20 lbs
• Maternity clothes? everything that I wear!
• Stretch marks? none
• Sleep: it’s been kinda restless lately….which stinks!
• Best moment this week: seeing baby girl on the ultrasound and finding out that she was bigger than we thought she would be
• Miss Anything? being able to do little things without getting out of breath
• Movement: she’s gotten to the point where she can kick my ribs and it’s fun…..NOT! but I do love feeling her move
• Food cravings: chicken strips, especially from McDonald’s or Whataburger. very weird!
• Food aversions: none
• Gender: GIRL! :)
• Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks contractions almost daily. they’re worse and more painful when I’m at work though
• Belly Button in or out? in
• Wedding rings on or off? on, but they’re getting more difficult to squeeze on. I just told Jeremiah the other day that I was glad that I bought a cheapo Target wedding band when I thought I had lost my real rings, because it’s become so handy when mine won’t fit! I can at least still feel married!
• Looking forward to: maternity pictures next Saturday and finishing her nursery!

You’ll have to excuse the dirty mirror and the quality of the cell phone pic! But at least you can see the belly!

look at her sweet little cheeks! I can’t wait to kiss them! (: I kind of hate ultrasounds at the regular OB’s office because they’re so grainy and have lots of shadows. which makes my medical mind go crazy with wild thoughts. the high-risk ultrasounds that we got with Presley were such better quality. but I guess it’s better not to have to be seen by high-risk!

28 weeks

• How far along?  28 weeks today
• Total weight gain:  +20 lbs, good grief!
• Maternity clothes? only a few are NOT maternity!
• Stretch marks? none
• Sleep: ok. I’m to the point where I’m soooo tired all the time. It kinda feels like 1st trimester all over. I’ll fall asleep by 9 pm, wake up at midnight or 1 am and be starving, so I’ll eat a snack, then go back to sleep!
• Best moment this week: moving to 3rd trimester!!! (which was technically last week!)
• Miss Anything? being able to do little things without getting out of breath
• Movement: oh yes! the baby is such a night owl!
• Food cravings: nothing in particular
• Food aversions: none
• Gender: GIRL! :) I need to separately post about this!
• Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks contractions at least a couple of times a week, mostly when I’m at work

• Belly Button in or out? in

• Wedding rings on or off? on, but they’re getting more difficult to squeeze on
• Looking forward to: this weekend! I’m going to clean out her room and move everything non-baby related to the shed outside. and finalize her nursery plans!

The belly looks a little rounder from different angles! (:

21 weeks

• How far along?  20 weeks and 6 days
• Total weight gain:  +11 lbs
• Maternity clothes? a few! the dress above is small maternity dress and it’s a little bit big. but it was free and in black, my favorite color, so I love it! (:
• Stretch marks? none
• Sleep: insomnia has been setting in lately and it stinks!
• Best moment this week: well, I’m looking forward to telling everyone the gender and seeing/hearing their reactions
• Miss Anything? being able to eat a lot of seafood! I don’t crave it, but we go out to eat I constantly think “am I eating too much mercury?”
• Movement: oh yes! the baby is such a night owl!
• Food cravings: nothing in particular
• Food aversions: this isn’t really an aversion, but if I wait too long to eat when I’m hungry I get super nauseous. like, dry heave nauseous…it’s lovely!
• Gender: We know! We know! (; The big reveal for everybody else is Friday!
• Labor Signs: none thank goodness
• Symptoms: still round ligament pains, and general cramping. and also killer heartburn.
• Belly Button in or out? in
• Wedding rings on or off? on
• Looking forward to: telling everyone whether it’s a baby girl or baby boy!

19 weeks

• How far along?  19 weeks today!
• Total weight gain:  +6 lbs as of 16 weeks, not sure now
• Maternity clothes? I’m rocking the bella band with my regular pants and a few maternity tops
• Stretch marks? none, yet! My stomach is getting itchy so they might be coming.
• Sleep: ok
• Best moment this week: cookout with my family, and fun kid-free shopping with Karri!
• Miss Anything? not having heartburn
• Movement: yes! (: not really strong yet, but I notice them more frequently.
• Food cravings: nothing in particular
• Food aversions: pretty much anything raw when I’m cooking. Raw chicken and uncooked ground beef grosses me out. I’m ok to eat it though once it’s cooked. It’s weird
• Gender: ???? We find out this week! (: Presley thinks it’s a boy and so does everyone else, so we’ll see!
• Labor Signs: none thank goodness
• Symptoms: round ligament pains, and general cramping. Dr. D says the cramping is worse with the second baby! Your uterus stretches faster the second time around….fun!
• Belly Button in or out? in
• Wedding rings on or off? on
• Looking forward to: finding out the gender this week! My anatomy ultrasound is scheduled for Thursday morning. We have decided to have the u/s tech just write down the gender for us and we will open it at our anniversary dinner on Saturday night. We found out alone with Presley (we were the only two in the delivery room) and we want to find out alone with this one too!

17 weeks

So this is my first post relating to the second Petty! I’m just going to clump this week’s update with the beginning info just to save time for myself.

We found out on Easter morning, April 8th. This was a HUGE surprise as we had been trying for the better part of a year. My OB had even gone as far as to refer us to a reproductive endocrinologist, who is a specialist in fertility. Pregnancy the first go around came pretty easily and although I knew at that time how lucky we were, I especially know now. My heart goes out to couples who have infertility for years. It’s very heart-breaking month after month to see a negative sign especially when everyone is asking over and over for a new baby! So anyways, we had made the appointment for mid—May; that was the first they could see us. The weekend of Easter I thought to myself “I probably should test soon because we have that trip to Disney planned and I should just know. I know it’s going to be negative, but I’ll test anyway.” Boy was I wrong! I figured that I was going to miscarry (positive thinker over here, huh?) because we had been trying for so long and Jeremiah’s on so many medications for his RA and fibromyalgia. I just knew that something was going to be wrong. So far Dr. D, my OB, has said that everything’s been right on track. And needless to say we canceled that appt with the specialist! Praise God!

We had our first ultrasound on Thursday, April 12th and the baby measured 7 weeks and 2 days and received the due date of November 27th. Almost everything with this pregnancy has been different than with Presley. Some people think that means a different gender; boy this time, but I think that every pregnancy is just different, period. We told our families around 12 weeks and announced it to the rest of the world, via facebook of course, at 16.5 weeks. My scrubs were starting to get a little tight to keep holding in the secret! Ha!

Below is how my family found out. I was taking the picture and said “everyone say Presley’s going to be a big sister”! Jaden and Kole repeated half of it then said “wait, what”! My dad didn’t hear what I said at all and Kameron was lost as to what was even going on! Typical Miller family stuff! (: We told Jeremiah’s mom and then dad and step-mom by having Presley wear a big sister shirt around them. She still doesn’t fully understand what it all means. Most of the time she’ll say yes, if someone asks her does she want a baby brother or sister. But she will be 3.5 by the time the baby gets here and I think she’ll be the greatest big sister. She’s already very into being a good helper.

• How far along?  technically 16 weeks and 5 days
• Total weight gain:  6 lbs so far
• Maternity clothes? some that I had left over from P, but mainly just my regular clothes
• Stretch marks? none 
• Sleep: it’s ok, getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom gets pretty old!
• Best moment this week: Presley’s 3rd birthday party!
• Miss Anything? being able to suck in my fat! Ha! (; Oh and not gagging while brushing my teeth!
• Movement: yes! I first felt him/her at 10 weeks. It’s very random though, no pattern of movement yet.
• Food cravings: at the beginning it was pickles, nothing at the moment
• Food aversions: oh! These were horrible at first. I would want something to eat, make it, then sit down to eat and be so nauseated at the sight/smell of it, I would have to fix something else. SO annoying!
• Gender: ???? I hope girl again because I would like to reuse ALL of the clothes/shoes/bows that I’ve spent a small fortune on and I would really like for P to have a sister!
• Labor Signs: none thank goodness
• Symptoms: horrible round ligament pains at times, being crazy sensitive to smells, gagging randomly, general abdominal cramping (aren’t you jealous!!!)
• Belly Button in or out? in
• Wedding rings on or off? on
• Looking forward to: finding out the gender so soon and having a more rounded baby belly

Full Term!

21 days left! Can you believe it? Because I can't! It seems like it was just October when we found out! Ah, time flew by so quickly. Well, here is the 37 week belly pic. It doesn't seem like I've grown outward any. Since Sweet Pea has been head down for the last few weeks, I think I've "dropped". Because it's a little easier to breathe and I have to pee every 5 minutes it seems like!

Oh my! =)

The breakdown of the 25-35 pounds gained during pregnancy:

-Baby: 7 to 8 pounds
-Larger breasts: 1 to 3 pounds
-Larger uterus: 2 pounds
-Placenta: 1 1/2 pounds
-Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds
-Increased blood volume: 3 to 4 pounds
-Increased fluid volume: 2 to 3 pounds
-Fat stores: 6 to 8 pounds

Goodness! I can see now why I'm so tired all of the time!! Look at what I'm carrying around! Ha ha!

Here is a picture from yesterday at 31 weeks. My belly keeps looking rounder and rounder each time I see it! Sometimes I look in the mirror and don't even recognize myself. Seriously!

Randomness

So this is a gift that my awesome friend Shelbie got for us! Isn't it sweet? The basket has just about everything a baby would need. It was so thoughtful of her and we really appreciate it (as does Sweet Pea)! It was just so darn cute that I had to take a picture of it and post it! =) THANKS SHELBIE!

And here is the latest picture of the Petty family taken yesterday, with Sweet Pea being 30 weeks and 3 days. Our nephew, Kameron was the photographer and he did an excellent job if I do say so myself.

Everything is going good! I'm still feeling great, well besides being kicked in the ribs a lot and not being able to sleep due to the one person dance-off in my belly! Seriously I wake up at least once a night to Sweet Pea dancing away in there. Again, at first it's quite cute and comical, but after an hour of entertainment, I'm ready to go to sleep! One of the latest things Mr/Ms Petty has been doing is following me to whichever side I'm on sleeping on. Example- I'm laying on my left side, s/he will come over to that side of my belly and start kicking over there. So I'll move over to my right side to not squish Sweet Pea. But NOOOOO...that little booger just comes over to my right side and starts kicking over there!!! I guess this kid is already giving me a run for my money!

Updates

We went to the OB yesterday and everything is still going well! I had the gestational diabetes test and we should get the results of that soon. I gained 3 more lbs this month, so my total weight gain up until 29 weeks is 18 lbs. Not bad considering "normal" weight gain is 25-35 lbs but majority of women gain way more than that.

We also had another ultrasound that showed Sweet Pea is weighing in at about 3 lbs and 1 oz. We saw s/he opening its little mouth and sticking a tongue out at us! It was precious...my heart just melted! The ultrasound tech said that the baby had hair and I asked how she could tell. She pointed out the tiny little lines coming off of the head and said that's the hair! Ha ha! So Sweet Pea will not be bald after all! Thank goodness! I think babies are so much cuter with a mop of hair on top.

I can't wait to meet this precious child! I feel like we are so close to seeing him/her but yet still so far away! 11 weeks seems like too long to wait. Granted I desperately want Sweet Pea to be healthy and NOT premature, I just really want to meet Mr or Ms Petty tomorrow! I never thought I could love someone so much that I haven't even met yet!

Here is a picture of us on Easter Sunday. My big belly kind of resembles an Easter egg, no?!

3rd Trimester!!

Yay! We made it to the homestretch....just a measly 13 weeks to go! The first trimester seemed to drag on, but the 2nd...ha! It flew by. I'm not really sure why either. Maybe it's because you are so worried that a miscarriage will occur before the first 13 weeks is over.

Anyway, it's strange to think that Sweet Pea now is only 7 days younger than my niece Kole was when she was born. I can remember how tiny she was at 2 lbs 5 oz and it's so crazy that my baby is about that size now! It's very comforting to know that if preterm labor were to occur now, the baby has a very good survival chance. And it's possible that s/he could have little side effects from being born premature...just look at Kole, unless you knew, you could never tell she was a preemie!

Here is a picture from today, at 27 weeks. I'm looking more like a pregnant mama-to-be! Just look at that round face! Not my best look...but if it goes with the territory of having a baby, bring it on!! Ha ha!

First belly pic post

So this is my 24 week belly shot. I started taking pictures when I was 13 weeks along, but honestly there was no baby to my belly at all. So I decided not to post any until I was farther along and other people were able to distinguish a round "bump". Since I've had 2 different strangers ask me if I am pregnant within the last couple of weeks, I guess that's enough of a sign to post a pic! So here it is in all its glory. And I personally think the stripes on the shirt make the belly look rounder too...but maybe I'm just justifying all of the ice cream intake! =)