24 Weeks

We had our 24 week appointment this week.  We met with Dr. Jones, who is another physician in the practice.  She was very nice and Scotty and I both liked her.  As I think I mentioned before, we have to see all the doctors in the practice in case my doctor is unavailable for some reason when I go into labor.
She used the Doppler on my belly and listened to little girl's heartbeat.  Her heart rate was 145 this time, which the doctor was very pleased with.  Doc also said my belly is measuring "spot on" so boo to all the haters who think I'm too big. 
I had a few questions this week and she answered all of those.  Some were silly - like using gel polish, not getting gel nails, just the polish.  She said that was fine.  I also asked about flying and she said you can fly internationally until 35 weeks and domestically until the end of 36, which is not what I read so that was good to get clarification.  I have some kind of "rash"  on my chest and arms.  It looks like little red, busted blood vessels to me and she said that is exactly what it is and it comes from having twice as much blood as a non-pregnant person.  I talked to her about the fainting and she was not concerned about that at all.  I did have to have a blood draw, which I was prepared for, but then the nurse told me I wasn't having one and I let my guard down and Doc came in and said I was going to have one!  Boo.  Then Doc forgot and I reminded her about the blood draw!  Can you believe it?  It is only because I have a baby in my belly and I am concerned for her, if it was just me I would have beat feet to the car as fast as I could before she realized.  Oh well, it was only one vial to test my thyroid and I did great.  I was glad to have my thyroid checked.  It hadn't been done since the end of my first trimester and they told me that I would have that checked every trimester.  I know that that can be harmful to baby if it is not under control and so I was happy to give up some blood for that.   

When we checked out we set up all the rest of the appointments for the rest of my pregnancy.  Yikes!  Next appointment I will do my glucose test (drinking a very sweet drink and having your blood sugar checked an hour later, sugar must not be 130 or higher)  I am very nervous for this.  Diabetes runs on my Mom's side and I am very worried that I will have it during my pregnancy.  This has been what I have worried about the most throughout this process.  I know how it will not be fun for me to learn how to manage it but I worry more about just how harmful it can be to baby girl and that scares me to death.  I know that the doctors will be very helpful in teaching me how to manage it if the test doesn't go well -  but lets hope it does!  Not to mention, if it does not go well, I will have to go back for a three hour test where I drink again and have 4 blood draws. UGH!  So pray for us on glucose day.

Another little tid bit  - when we planned the rest of my appointments we found out that my doctor is on-call September 9 (day before my due date) and will be unavailable to assist me.  Great.  But we hope to have a early (not too early) baby and that this will not be an issue.  I also would like to have my husband around for the delivery as well and he will be out of town September 6th and 7th for work.  Another yikes.  But I am not going to worry about things I cannot control at this point.  Doesn't do me or Charlotte any good.

Overall, we had a great appointment, which is good to hear since we were headed to Florida for a few days. 

We had a great time in Florida.  Scotty played in a golf tournament that his dad has every year and he ended up tying his dad for the win and he will get his name on the trophy.  I was very proud of him.  We hung out with friends and family and visited with them, I laid by the pool and got some sun, walked on the beach everyday, and shopped at the outlets.  I had joked that I passed up the Michael Kors outlet and so many others that I normally would not have missed to head to the maternity store and baby stores.  I got shorts and capris for myself for the rest of the summer and some dresses needed for weddings. I also got about 10 or 12 outfits for Charlotte Mae for about $100.  I was pleased with that. 

Well I had to call the doctor after hours while I was there because I drank tonic water.  Just tonic water mixed with cranberry juice - nothing else.  But when I picked up the bottle the second time to fix myself another wild drink I realized that the tonic water bottle said "with quinine."  I thought, "What the heck is that?  Isn't that a drug?"  Turns out it is.  It is a drug that was used to treat Malaria.  Great.  I just poisoned Charlotte.  I had about 2 shot glasses worth, if that, but I still wanted to call because my google research said that it was no good for baby.  The doctor called back and advised me not to have anymore.  She said as long as I didn't drink 3 bottles worth I would be fine.  She said what they worry about with the quinine is sending mom into preterm labor.  So the whole rest of the night I was worried that she wasn't moving enough (obviously because her mother had poisoned her trying to have a fancy drink) and then I worried that my stomach was tightening because I was going into labor 3 months early.  Ugh.  I eventually got over it and I am sure that she is fine. 

It was kind of interesting that she didn't move as much while we were at the beach.  I don't know if she could sense that I was worried about her or what.  When we got home last night and on the car ride home she was much more active.  I guess because I started to relax.  The majority of the time she was moving at the beach were her normal times of early morning and at night but it was not as much or as strong.  She also moved after I ate spicy food.  Its amazing how much you can worry about such a little person who isn't even here yet.  And I know that it is only going to get worse. 

Well here is the picture for this week.  Until next time.... 

Charlotte's first time at the beach!

Baby Girl weighs over 1 pound and is about a foot long, is sprouting hair on her head (please let that be true!), and her lungs are beginning to become more and more functional.

Videos and Pictures

I figured out how to post videos!  Good for me.  So here are a few.

 

This is a video of a laughing fit that I was having over the weekend while mom was here.  It is a loop so it keeps going over and over.  That Scotty filmed me and posted it to his friends. How sweet.   

https://vine.co/v/b9K5r6Qmjtv





Here is the video that Scotty and I took of us opening the box that had our gender onesie in it.  Please excuse my double chin.  The angle was not flattering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh-_Ibix9l0





Here are a couple of videos of my 20 week ultrasound.  Couldn't figure out how to "extract" the video from the DVD so I just videoed the ultrasound on the computer from my phone.  Very advance dtechnology (HA!)  Sorry if they are shaky!  Hope you don't get motion sickness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZw5kmEoC5w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALcSW5RQW5E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xJiis2lP98





And just for fun - check out the growth between visits!

Very first ultrasound - 8 weeks


 

12 Weeks

Baby's Face at 20 Weeks, It is hard to get a whole body shot anymore.  Very cool!





And here are her girl parts!

 

Week 23

 





This weekend my mom was able to fly down and help me register.  It took 8 hours.  My feet were killing me.  But now it is done.  Praise the Lord.  Ugh.  There were so many things to choose from and I have no idea what a baby needs or doesn't and one item had one thing I liked but another had another thing I liked and it was overwhelming.  But I picked out all the major things, except nursery furniture which I have picked out but that is a purchase Scotty and I are going to make. 

 

Here is the inspiration for our nursery:

 

 

I do not care for the items over the crib.  I think that I am going to put her name or her monogram there instead.  I also do not care for the butterflies and will come up with my own items for that.  But I absolutely love the paint, chair, crib, and bedding.  I am going to have something very similar to all of that.

 

Mom and I went to 3 stores: Babies R' Us, Buy Buy Baby, and Target.  Note to those places: Please place more chairs around your store for Mamas to sit in.  Sincerely, My aching feet and calves.  I was sitting on anything and everything I could.  However I almost fell out of one of the gliders and mom had to catch me.  So that wasn't so fun.  Needless to say - that deathtrap did not go on the registry.  Scotty gave me a great foot massage when I got home to sooth my tired feet and toes.  He can be quite helpful.  Side note - another helpful thing he has been doing is fixing me breakfast and dinner.  I don't think he has any idea how much I appreciate that.  I try and tell him but I don't think he will ever know how much I appreciate coming downstairs to a cooked breakfast.  It is a life saver.

 

I will say that the employees at Babies R' Us were very helpful and knowledgeable.  They asked often if we needed help and knew about every stroller and crib mattress and everything else.  It was great.  Mom knows a lot too but a lot of safety things have been changed since I was a baby and a lot of new items have come out as well so it was nice to have someone to answer both of our questions.

 

Charlotte is becoming stronger.  Her kicking, moving, jumping, overall acrobatics can now be seen through my clothes.  I took a video of it.  You can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-EnwlDLAj8 

Very cool stuff.  I have also been sharing her kicks at work to anyone who wants to feel.  It is such an awesome feeling and I want others to feel it too.  Mom and Scotty watched her for about 30 minutes on Sunday night.  Mom tried to listen for her heartbeat through a stethoscope but none of us could hear it.  I am going to ask the doctor to show us where to listen.  It is a "fact" that baby's heartbeats can be heard through a stethoscope at this point.  That is why you will see it on my sign this week but we haven't heard it yet.  : (

 

OK - so, in my baby books and apps it talks about people touching the belly and how that can be awkward.  That doesn't bother me at all and anyone may touch the belly if they wish (barring any weirdos).  The books also talk about those who give you advice.  Fine with that too.  I'll take what I think I can use and toss the rest.  It also talked about those who "judge" your belly.  This I cannot handle.  I have had 2 people tell me how big my belly is and that my baby is going to be huge and how they don't know how I am going to make it through the summer.  One went as far as to ask me if I was sure that I wasn't having twins.  She couldn't believe that I wasn't due until September and she thought much sooner.  That BS you can keep to yourself.  A friend of mine said that is like walking up to a person and saying "Look how much weight you have gained!"  Yep.  That's exactly what it feels like.  I am not afraid to share that I have gained 13.5 pounds so far.  Everything I am reading says that at this point I should have gained between 12-15 pounds.  Last time I checked 13.5 pounds is almost dead center of that.  So - point of the story - please! Do not go and tell a pregnant person how big she is or how large her baby will be or ask if she is having twins!  It is hurtful, asinine, and inconsiderate.  It goes the same way for telling a pregnant person that their belly is small.  This makes us think that our baby is not growing like it should be.  Please just tell us congratulations and how cute/pretty/glowing we look.  Thank you. Ok I am off my soapbox now. 

 

I said I wouldn't share this  - but I am.  I fainted this weekend.  Anyone who knows me knows that fainting is rather common for me.  I have fainted probably 10 times or so since I was 11.  My grandmother on my dad's side used to do it and my mom as well.  This time I was in the bathroom, using the restroom (embarrassing - can't believe I am typing this) and I fainted.  Luckily, it was early morning and Scotty was home.  He was still in bed but could hear me moaning (weird, never done that before) and found me.  He shook my hand until I woke up and immediately made me call the doctor.  The on-call doctor said it is common for pregnant people to faint and I explained to her that I am quite susceptible to it when I was not pregnant.  She said as long as I felt fine and didn't fall or hit my head or anything that she didn't see any reason for me to come in.  So I went about my day and I was fine.  My poor Scotty, he was scared to death.  He has seen me faint before but the moaning scared him.  He said my pupils were huge.  I asked him if I was white and he said, "No, am I?"  Ha!  He was very worried.  Anywho - I have a doctor's appointment this week and I will get everything all checked out. 

 

 

So here are the pictures from this week of my apparently "twin sized belly."  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 



Most of her fetal internal organs are in place and beginning to function well.  Yay!

 

Week 22

This week I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day.  I had asked Scotty a few weeks ago whether we wanted to celebrate Mother and Father's Day this year or wait until next year.  He said we were already parents and I agreed.  So for Mother's Day, Scotty and I met friends of ours, who are my co-workers (married and pregnant as well) and we had brunch with them at their favorite Sunday brunch spot.  I got some awesome hash browns with peppers and goat cheese and chorizo sausage gravy and biscuits (carb load much?) and Scotty got some sweet potato pancakes and fruit.  It was so good!

We then headed out to Lake Murray to set sail on our friend's boat.  It was so nice out.  At first, the lake was a little choppy but then calmed down.  The weather was wonderful!  It was warm but not hot and the water was cool but not freezing.  We kinda floated around all day and hung out.  Very relaxing! 

After that Scotty took me to Melting Pot which is my favorite and our go to place for anniversaries and birthdays, and now I guess Mother's Days.  It was so good.  He also had them put a little plant on the table when we got there.  He was very sweet all day and made sure that I had everything I needed or wanted.  It will be hard to provide him with such a great Father's Day but I will try!  My Mom and Dad also sent me a little baby bootie charm with a pink flower stone for my charm bracelet.  It is very sweet. 

So as I had mentioned before, Scotty and I wanted to pick a gender specific song for the baby to listen to everyday or so.  I have read they will recognize it after they are born and it can be soothing (I'll take all the soothing advice I can get!)  So after we found out she was a girl - I got to pick the song.  I picked Carrie Underwood's "All American Girl."  Which you can find the music video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m36xv75MJ4U

I have always liked this song and always said that it describes my life very well.   If you listen to the words, I think it describes not only mine and Scotty's relationship but my father and mother's as well when they found out they were blessed with me : ). Little girls have some sort of power.  I think that it is a very sweet song and I hope that Charlotte enjoys it - after all she had a great time at the Carrie Underwood concert!

That's all for now - here are the pictures for the week!

 

Baby girl is about a foot long from head to toe and weighs almost one pound!

 

Happy Mother's to be day to me!

 

 

 

 

 

21 Weeks

Scotty and I have established that this little girl LOVES concerts!  We have gone to 2 in the past month and she moves around like crazy the whole time - very strong and very active.  Maybe we have a rockstar on our hands!  Who knows - we say she loves it when in reality she is probably scared to death and trying to tell us, "turn that down!"  Ha! Oh well, I guess we will see if she is terrified of loud noises when she gets here. 

She also gets moving after I eat.  She is her mother's child - she loves food!  I am sure it has something to do with my stomach filling and her loosing some moving around space as well as changes in my blood sugar but she loves it when I eat. 

She is also pretty active in the mornings when I wake up and she is very active at night around 9:30 or so when I am in bed for the night.  I am still sleeping on my stomach (Doc says it's fine) and I can feel her when I lay that way as well as when I lay on my back. 

Scotty is still very interested in feeling her move but when I let him know that she's getting going he runs over, puts his hand where I tell him and she stops.  He is convinced she knows it's him and goes to sleep right away.  I told him it will be better when she gets bigger and we can feel her even stronger. 

So - from saying all of that - I became panicky pregnant mama again this week.  I prayed and waited for the day that I could feel the baby move to reassure me that everything was ok, but I knew when it got here I would freak out about less movements.  And I did.  As I said, I am starting to pick up on her active times, and when she is active, a lot of times it is hard enough for another person to feel on the outside.  But for 2 days this week she was kinda quiet.  So I freaked out and called the doctor and they said that was normal and that they are a human and they have active days and not so active days, just like we do.  And I got all in a fuss over nothing because the next day she was back to herself again.  Made me feel so much better.  Scotty and I said that she was tired those days.  Maybe the concert wore her out.

I forgot to talk more in the last post about our name choices.  Scotty and I have had our baby names picked for 2-3 years now.  I was very surprised that we could come up with something that we both agreed on so easily.  We both knew that we wanted family names, or names that weren't just willy nilly, "oh we think that's cute" names.  So Charlotte - Charlotte is a family name on my side (Fairfax side).  Charlotte was my great aunt (my dad's, father's, sister).  She was one of 18 children that my great-grand mother had.  Charlotte is also some what of a family name on Scotty's side because Charlotte, North Carolina is where some of the Spurrier family is from.  Plus, I will eat my words, we think it is a very pretty name.  Mae - Mae was my great-grandmother (on my mom's side) middle name.  She went by Mae instead of her first name Dorothy.  For those that know me, I was lucky enough to grow up very close to my great-grandmother, in the literal sense that she was my neighbor and in the figurative sense that I spent a great deal of time with her and my great-grandfather.  I loved the name Mae anyway and I knew that I wanted to honor her for all that she had done for me and my parents as well and Scotty knew how important she was to me and we agreed that Mae would be the middle name for a little girl.  So thus Charlotte Mae Spurrier was our girl name for whenever the Lord decided to give her to us. 

And when and if the Lord decides to give us a little boy he will be Robert Eugene Spurrier.  Robert - Robert is Scotty's middle name.  It was Scotty's grandfather (mom's side) name.  Robert also was my great-grandfather (husband to Mae) first name, another very special person in my life so that was a pretty easy pick for us.  It honored a lot of important people.  Eugene - Eugene is my father's middle name.  When Scotty and I had first started to discuss boy names he mentioned Eugene.  He had a friend growing up who's name was Eugene and Scotty always liked the name.  Then when I told him it was my dad's middle name Scotty really wanted to use it as a middle name and I agreed.  My dad has never been a fan of Eugene.  When I was growing up my mom would call my dad Eug (you-ge) and he did not care for it but I think that he likes the fact that we have chosen to use his name for our future son. 

I like that we have chosen names that mean a lot to both of us and I wanted to share the meanings behind them.  We have some what talked about other names in case we have another little girl but those are still in the works.  It may not be as easy the second time around. 

So I have begun to register.  I feel overwhelmed.  There are so many types, of so many things, that your child may or may not need and ugh - Overwhelmed.  Plus I am picking everything in pink so if we do have a boy next we will either be in debt re-buying everything or he maybe a confused little thing with his pink stroller.  I just figured with the first one I should pick what I want right?  And the girl stuff is so cute and there is so much more to pick from.  I am still working on crib choice and bedding.  I was all set on pink and grey chevron but I'm not loving the chevron any more and I'm liking pink and grey polkadots or pink and grey damask. 

I also was having a hard time deciding on a crib color.  I was dead against white and wanted very dark wood.  I know I want pink and grey as the colors and most of the designs that have those have white and a white crib looks so clean with those colors.  So I think that I have settled on a white crib, but still don't know what design.  I am looking for sets that come with a dresser and changing table as well but I need to make sure we have the room first.  Her room in our new house is rather large so I think we should be fine but I am trying to fit a glider in there too.  So who knows what the final outcome will look like but I'm working on it. 

Well that's all for now.  Here are the pictures for this week.  Thanks!!

 

Baby sleeps 12-14 hours a day.  The amniotic fluid tastes different to her based on what I eat now. 

Daddy Scotty

I'm fairly certain this will be my husband in about 6 years or so...



After we opened the gender reval box from the doctor.

20 Weeks: It's a Girl!

Well, looks like my mother's intuition kicked in early!  I told y'all I thought it was a girl from week 8 and I was right!  We are so excited and so very blessed that Charlotte Mae Spurrier will be joining us in September!  Scotty and I get more and more excited as time passes and it is so nice to not call her an "it" anymore.  We also have a hard time wrapping our minds around the fact that we are halfway through this pregnancy!  Little girl will be here so soon! 

 

So first - the doctor.  We went on April 24th.  We had the ultrasound first and Charlotte was not cooperating.  The ultrasound person was having a hard time getting measurements of the things the doctor needed but eventually she got them all.  I was getting kind of panicked when she couldn't get a clear shot of her private area.  I was thinking "Come on Baby we have 40 people coming over on Sunday, we need you to cooperate!"  But eventually she did.  I asked the ultrasound lady how sure she was and she said, "I don't print pictures of things I'm not pretty sure about."  So that was reassuring.  

 

It was a little difficult because Scotty and I did not find out at the doctor.  So we were watching the other parts of the ultrasound being done and the lady would tell us to close our eyes so that we did not see anything important.  She was kind enough to put our onesie in the box with the pictures of her privates and we opened those when we got home.  Our doctor made sure not to find out since we saw her after the ultrasound.  She said she did not want to know and spill the beans.

 

Some of the things that we did get to see in the ultrasound were Baby's upper lip, kidneys, bladder, bent up legs, hands and fingers, eye sockets, nose profile, brain, and spine.  We also got to see the diaphragm.  My sweet Scotty after the appointment told me that when the lady was typing diaphragm on the screen that he was thinking,"diaphragm - isn't that something that girls have?"  HA!  I almost died laughing.  I told him everyone has one of those.  The "women only kind of diaphragm" comes later in life... 

It is pretty neat because baby is now so big that she can't be measured from head to toe since she is so crunched in there. 

 

Anywho, the doctor said that everything looks great!  Baby Charlotte, at that time, was actually measuring 3 days ahead of schedule at 20 weeks 4 days.  She is about 12 ounces, so almost a pound, and everything they measure/look at was on track and normal.  Praise the Lord!  Such a relief to hear that!  My blood pressure was good and my weight is on track, although I am starting to gain weekly now.  Yikes!  Her heartrate was 149 which is high and normal.  Normal is 120-160 at this stage.  Her little head is down low and her behind is right under my belly button (which is why the ultrasound lady had such a hard time checking gender). 

 

After the doctor, Scotty and I went to a child care facility that we are considering.  It is a church based center very close to our house.  It was a cool place.  Lots of sweet babies.  The front door is secured, you have to fingerprint yourself in where the kids are, there are only 10 kids to a class, they have an after school program as your child moves up the chain, they have one teacher who "moves" with 5 kids at a time from one classsroom stage to the next, they teach them things starting at 2-3 years.  They are very strict on who they hire and those that run the place are very experienced in child care.  Overall we were very pleased.  But it was so hard to walk around there and listen to what they were saying when that box with the pink or blue onesie was sitting in my car begging me to open it! 

 

We then went home and videoed ourselves opening the onesie box.  We were both so excited and happy!  It was such a cool feeling to finally know that we have a daughter on the way! I am working on getting that video and the pictures on here.  I am also working on getting the ultrasound DVD on here as well.  I am technology challenged so it may be a while. 

 

Mom, Dad, and Steph came down on Friday and we worked on getting things ready around the house.  Then Saturday, Mom, Steph, and I bought all the food and cleaned up around the house.  It was nice to see the house so clean.  Mom and dad brought a stethoscope with them and were listening to my belly.  I would tell them when she would start to move a lot and the would listen.  They said it sounded like a faint knock.  It was neat.  I was glad that they could share in this too.  It was really hard not to slip up and tell my family that we were having a girl.  Scotty and I knew for 4 days what we were having and we could not tell anyone.  I think we did pretty good.  People tried to trick us but it didn't work.

 

Scotty and I went to a baby class that the hospital puts on for free.  It was explaining what to expect right after delivery as well as for the first 6 weeks at home.  We learned things like how to cut/file the baby's nails, what temperature the baby's room should be at, how to take care of your lady parts when you go home, the bleeding that you can expect, and other fun things that I don't like to think about yet.  Overall, I think that Scotty and I both learned a lot.  I am thankful that he went with me - I think there are a lot of husbands out there that wouldn't.  He was just as interested and paying as much attention as I was.  I also think it was important because the nurse kept reiterating how important it was for mamas to be off their feet for the first week or so and how important it is for husbands to be mentally supportive during the first few weeks after birth.  She tried explaining how men would never understand what women's bodies and minds go through during pregnancy and birth.  She said "don't come home and ask what is for dinner - just make it."  Amen.  I think it is important for them to hear from someone else. 

 

So - I will work on uploading the videos.  Until then, enjoy the pictures!

 

Weekly picture
 

Dad poking his belly out.  He though Baby S would be a boy.

Side views of the growing belly.

 

Here are some pictures from the party!

We took the same picture in the frame later with the correct gender shoes.  But we used this one for the party.

OLd WIves Tales to help peole decide how they would "vote."  The winner got a Her"she"y bar.

Food table - it was some of the things that I have craved throughout my pregnancy.

Our first pctures of our baby boo.

Petit fours

 

Liz and I.  She is the one who draws on the chalkboard every week.

Dad and I

 

Mom and I

Aunt Steph got to make the trip.  I was excited!

Scotty's Parents

 

My Parents

The big reveal!

Passing out cake

Scotty looking at his baby mama lovingly  : )

It's a girl!

Her first pair of shoes  : )

Charlotte Mae is on the way!