These have been somewhat disapointing. I say this because I am not dilated AT ALL. Zero. Zilch. Nada. There are no signs of this baby coming any time soon. I'm not miserable or anything. I feel fine. My back hurts at some point in the day on most days but it is always in the same spot and that has been going on since February or March.
One thing I don't understand is that people keep telling me "get as much sleep now as you can because you will never get to sleep again" for 2 reasons. First of all, sleeping is the worst part of every day. It is nothing but uncomfortable and painful. My back hurts, my leg goes numb, it hurts really bad just moving my legs when I am lying down, and every time I move positions I wake up and have to move extremely slow to try and avoid it being extremely painful. I think the only reason I get any sleep at all is because my doctor told me to take Tylenol PM to help me sleep. The Tylenol doesn't do anything for the pain I am in each night but the PM part helps me sleep somewhat. I'm guessing other people don't have this problem or they forget how bad trying to sleep when you are pregnant is.
Another reason I don't understand this advice of sleeping all you can now is that you can't build up a sleep reserve in your body. It seems like if I did sleep all the time now, when the baby gets here, adjusting would be even harder b/c I will be use to sleeping all the time.
I'm not all about sleeping anyways so maybe that makes me look at this differently. I hate napping and I don't need a lot of sleep to function.
So anyways, back to the topic at hand. Weekly doctor appointments. They have been disapointing but I'm hoping tomorrow will bring better news even though I haven't felt any braxton hicks, cramping, contractions, or nesting urges. NOTHING.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
My Baby Showers
Through the kindness and generosity of friends and family, I was given 2 baby showers.
Janae and Scarlett gave me my first one on Thursday, August 20th. It was at Janae's and it was great! They did a great job with the food and decorations and the turnout was great also, especially since it was a week night! We don't have any pictures from the shower but I loved it. It was a lot of fun. I am so grateful for the generosity of Janae and Scarlett for hosting a shower and for all the ladies that came.
My second shower was on Saturday, August 22nd. This one was at our house and it fabulous hostesses: Scarlett (yes she did both showers!!!! She is pretty awesome), Krystin (my sister), Emily, Jenn, and Deena. They did a wonderful job on this shower. It was seriously the best shower I had ever been to and I am not the only one who felt this way. They had good food, fun games, and great people in attendance.
I was totally surprised by the gifts I was given. We got a lot of really cute clothes, 2 bedding sets (I was hoping to just get enough gift cards to be able to buy one myself since Mark didn't agree with spending $80 on crib bedding), 3 whale baby baths (2 of these were from the 1st shower), the stroller frame that fits our carseat (this is different from a travel system. This was also something I was really hoping for because Mark thinks they are dumb and I would have had a hard time convincing him it was a necessity since we already had the travel system), and tons of other little things that we needed.
The number one surprise of the day was that Nate and Scarlett had finished refinishing our crib and they brought it over. They stained it dark brown, added dental molding, and casters! It looked like a totally different crib. I was amazed. They also got one of the sheets to match the bedding, a really cute fuzzy blanket that matched the bedding, and some curtains and additional fabric to add to the curtains so that they would look how I wanted them!! I could not believe it when I walked into the room. I was blown away at how hard Scarlett and Nate had worked. Like I said, Scarlett is awesome!!) They came over a little after 10 the morning of the shower and I was banished to our bedroom until the start of the shower at 12. During this time they (the other hostesses included) set up the crib, hung curtains, and set up and decorated for the shower.
Another big surprise was the diaper cake that my sister made. I could not believe she made it! I'm not normally a fan of diaper cakes but this one was so cute!!! I never want to take it apart. I hope I can get the shelf I want for the nursery and at least leave the diaper cake on display until I need the diapers. She also made a tag blanket. I didn't even know she could sew!! I love it!
I am so grateful for the kindness of my friends and sister. I could not believe all the hard work and time they put into the shower. I was truly amazed. I am actually still amazed. It really was the best shower ever!!! Seriously.
Here are some pictures of the day
The best diaper cake ever!!!!
Deena and I in the nursery
Emily and I
Jenn and I
Krystin, Arden, and I
Mark's mom under the crib and Janae. This was hilarious watching them put the bedding on!!
I still have to find a picture of Scarlett to include from this day.
Janae and Scarlett gave me my first one on Thursday, August 20th. It was at Janae's and it was great! They did a great job with the food and decorations and the turnout was great also, especially since it was a week night! We don't have any pictures from the shower but I loved it. It was a lot of fun. I am so grateful for the generosity of Janae and Scarlett for hosting a shower and for all the ladies that came.
My second shower was on Saturday, August 22nd. This one was at our house and it fabulous hostesses: Scarlett (yes she did both showers!!!! She is pretty awesome), Krystin (my sister), Emily, Jenn, and Deena. They did a wonderful job on this shower. It was seriously the best shower I had ever been to and I am not the only one who felt this way. They had good food, fun games, and great people in attendance.
I was totally surprised by the gifts I was given. We got a lot of really cute clothes, 2 bedding sets (I was hoping to just get enough gift cards to be able to buy one myself since Mark didn't agree with spending $80 on crib bedding), 3 whale baby baths (2 of these were from the 1st shower), the stroller frame that fits our carseat (this is different from a travel system. This was also something I was really hoping for because Mark thinks they are dumb and I would have had a hard time convincing him it was a necessity since we already had the travel system), and tons of other little things that we needed.
The number one surprise of the day was that Nate and Scarlett had finished refinishing our crib and they brought it over. They stained it dark brown, added dental molding, and casters! It looked like a totally different crib. I was amazed. They also got one of the sheets to match the bedding, a really cute fuzzy blanket that matched the bedding, and some curtains and additional fabric to add to the curtains so that they would look how I wanted them!! I could not believe it when I walked into the room. I was blown away at how hard Scarlett and Nate had worked. Like I said, Scarlett is awesome!!) They came over a little after 10 the morning of the shower and I was banished to our bedroom until the start of the shower at 12. During this time they (the other hostesses included) set up the crib, hung curtains, and set up and decorated for the shower.
Another big surprise was the diaper cake that my sister made. I could not believe she made it! I'm not normally a fan of diaper cakes but this one was so cute!!! I never want to take it apart. I hope I can get the shelf I want for the nursery and at least leave the diaper cake on display until I need the diapers. She also made a tag blanket. I didn't even know she could sew!! I love it!
I am so grateful for the kindness of my friends and sister. I could not believe all the hard work and time they put into the shower. I was truly amazed. I am actually still amazed. It really was the best shower ever!!! Seriously.
Here are some pictures of the day
The best diaper cake ever!!!!
Deena and I in the nursery
Emily and I
Jenn and I
Krystin, Arden, and I
Mark's mom under the crib and Janae. This was hilarious watching them put the bedding on!!
I still have to find a picture of Scarlett to include from this day.
Nauvoo
Mark, his mom, Albert (her husband), Reagan (a.k.a. Little White Dog) and I drove to Nauvoo at the end of July for the last weekend of the pageant. I had always wanted to go to Nauvoo and since Mark is my own personal Aladdin, he once again granted my wish.
We left July 30th at midnight. Mark drove the whole 15 hours there. He is really is the best. Anyways, we arrived at our hotel just after 2 in the afternoon and we all took a nap. We headed into Nauvoo around 4. We spent our evening seeing some of the shows and the 2nd half of the pageant (in case it was rained out on Saturday night).
On Saturday we spent the entire day in Nauvoo and we had Reagan with us. We started out on the carriage tour at 9am and then did the wagon tour. It was raining so it was a good time to be on a covered tour. Reagan wasn't allowed on the wagon and carriage tours so we had to leave her in the car for those. She was able to spend the rest of the day with us as long as we held her whenever we were inside any buildings. We spent the day touring homes and shops and eating in downtown Nauvoo. Then we rushed up to Carthage so we could tour the jail there. I think that was my favorite part of the trip. It was a great day. The rain cleared up around 1pm and it turned into a beautiful day. We were able to reserve great seats for the pageant that night and it was so beautiful. I'm so glad we were able to see at least half of the pageant twice.
We got back to our hotel at almost midnight and we all crashed. We got up Sunday morning and started our trip home. We had so many laughs on this trip and I am so glad we were able to go with Lynn and Albert.
Our traveling buddies
Outside Carthage Jail
Where the pioneers crossed the Mississippi to leave Nauvoo
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Here's What's New
I don't have gestational diabetes which is good. I didn't think I had it until I drank the glucose and during the hour I had to wait to get tested, I began to feel awful. I thought I surely must have gestational diabetes since I felt so extremely bad but my blood sugar at the end of that dreadful hour was 128 so I was in the clear.
On June 27th I painted Grady's room while Mark was spending the next 27 hours driving to Chicago, IL and back. It was a very long day but it turned out great! It actually wasn't what I had in my mind but I loved it all the same. Since painting the room, I changed the baby bedding I wanted so that I could have orange in the bedding. Originally, I wanted a blue and brown room. So I registered for some bedding that was blue, brown, and what I was thinking was orange. When I went back to look at the bedding, it was yellow and I already fell in love with the blue, brown, and orange color scheme so I changed the bedding to jungle bedding that has lots of orange but it should look good with the walls. I still have to decide what I will put on the walls. I know I want to make curtains that are thick (to help keep the sun out during the day, it is a very bright room) brown canvas type material with a wide orange stripe 6-9 inches from the top. I want them to be floor length, I think. We'll see how this goes. I have never made anything besides 3 quilts. Curtains seem simple enough. I really want to take sewing lessons and also the Wilton cake decorating class but who knows if I ever will. Anyways, I also want to put crown molding in Grady's room but that may never happen either.
On June 27th I painted Grady's room while Mark was spending the next 27 hours driving to Chicago, IL and back. It was a very long day but it turned out great! It actually wasn't what I had in my mind but I loved it all the same. Since painting the room, I changed the baby bedding I wanted so that I could have orange in the bedding. Originally, I wanted a blue and brown room. So I registered for some bedding that was blue, brown, and what I was thinking was orange. When I went back to look at the bedding, it was yellow and I already fell in love with the blue, brown, and orange color scheme so I changed the bedding to jungle bedding that has lots of orange but it should look good with the walls. I still have to decide what I will put on the walls. I know I want to make curtains that are thick (to help keep the sun out during the day, it is a very bright room) brown canvas type material with a wide orange stripe 6-9 inches from the top. I want them to be floor length, I think. We'll see how this goes. I have never made anything besides 3 quilts. Curtains seem simple enough. I really want to take sewing lessons and also the Wilton cake decorating class but who knows if I ever will. Anyways, I also want to put crown molding in Grady's room but that may never happen either.
Monday, June 15, 2009
25 Week Check-up
Today at the doctor's office they checked my iron, blood pressure, Grady's heartbeat, and measured my ever growing belly.
My iron was great! the doctor said I must be doing a great job at taking my vitamins. Yeah, not so much. I've probably taken them 5 times in the last month. I never got the prescription filled for the vitamins I guess I'm supposed to be taking and so when I do take the prenatals, they are the Wal-Mart ones we got the day we found out about Grady! I guess this mean I am already a bad mom since I am already a slacker when it comes to the health of our unborn child! On the up side, I think it also means that I am super healthy since my iron levels are apparently fabulous!
My blood pressure has gone up to a more normal level which is great. I can tell since I don't feel faint very often anymore.
Grady's heartbeat is at 140 and my belly is still measuring ahead one week (26 weeks). I really hope this means he comes before the official September 26th due date. Mark just bought tickets to his 10 year class reunion which is October 17th. So, I'm not going to have much time to pull myself together by then! I told him I will just wear a girdle if I have to.
I've also given up on my goal of only gaining 25 pounds but I'm still hoping I don't go over 35 pounds. I've gained 19 so far and it's all in the belly so either he is quite the fatty or there is a lot of fluid flowing around in there.
UPDATE:
Just thought I'd clarify that I'm not obsessed about gaining weight, I just have to be sure I can fit into my old clothes by January because that is when I start student teaching. I eat when I am hungry and sometimes when I'm not. Not gaining a lot of weight is something I am more hoping for than actively pursuing. I love food too much and I also want a healthy baby :)
My iron was great! the doctor said I must be doing a great job at taking my vitamins. Yeah, not so much. I've probably taken them 5 times in the last month. I never got the prescription filled for the vitamins I guess I'm supposed to be taking and so when I do take the prenatals, they are the Wal-Mart ones we got the day we found out about Grady! I guess this mean I am already a bad mom since I am already a slacker when it comes to the health of our unborn child! On the up side, I think it also means that I am super healthy since my iron levels are apparently fabulous!
My blood pressure has gone up to a more normal level which is great. I can tell since I don't feel faint very often anymore.
Grady's heartbeat is at 140 and my belly is still measuring ahead one week (26 weeks). I really hope this means he comes before the official September 26th due date. Mark just bought tickets to his 10 year class reunion which is October 17th. So, I'm not going to have much time to pull myself together by then! I told him I will just wear a girdle if I have to.
I've also given up on my goal of only gaining 25 pounds but I'm still hoping I don't go over 35 pounds. I've gained 19 so far and it's all in the belly so either he is quite the fatty or there is a lot of fluid flowing around in there.
UPDATE:
Just thought I'd clarify that I'm not obsessed about gaining weight, I just have to be sure I can fit into my old clothes by January because that is when I start student teaching. I eat when I am hungry and sometimes when I'm not. Not gaining a lot of weight is something I am more hoping for than actively pursuing. I love food too much and I also want a healthy baby :)
Friday, June 12, 2009
An UPDATE is here!!!!
Where to start.....A lot has happened since January. I'll try listing it all in order.
-January 19th- Mark finally got his new Toyota Tundra! He bought it in December and had to have some repairs done to it which ended up taking almost a month to complete. At 5:42pm we found out that we are going to become parents! This was a bit of a surprise since we weren't planning on having kids quite yet. Mark was excited from the beginning. Me-not so much. I wasn't excited mostly because of school. I was supposed to student teach this fall and graduate in December! It was so close. I was able to say that I will graduate this year for a whopping 17 days. Graduation was so close and student teaching in the fall is way better than doing it in the spring. And, student teaching next spring with a baby at home is going to be tough. Oh well. Obviously heavenly father did not like our plan at all and for some reason we needed to have a baby in September instead of anytime after December 10th.
The reason I know the time that this new addition was discovered is because we were supposed to be at Nate and Scarlett's at 5:30 for FHE but we were still driving home from picking up Mark's truck and I had to throw together some kind of dessert in about 5 minutes so we could get to their house ASAP. I also had to pee really really bad since I had been holding it for a couple hours since Mark wanted to be home when I took the pregnancy test. We ran in the house and I headed straight to the bathroom. I took the test and laid it on the floor for Mark to watch for the results as I threw something together for our FHE dessert. A minute later Mark called my name. His voice sounded different but I couldn't decide if it sounded like the test was positive or negative. All month I had this feeling that I was pregnant but I thought it was just me and that there was no way I was and that the test was going to be a negative. Mark held it up for me when I got to him and I said "oh, no baby." He said, "No, look again" and held up the instructions that had a picture of what a positive test looks like and I then realized that our test matched that one! it was a strange feeling. I laughed a weird nervous sounding laugh and we embraced. I then finished putting together some magic cookies bars and we went to Nate and Scarlett's for FHE. Mark wanted us to wait until the end of the first trimester to tell anyone. I agreed to try and wait.
-January 29th- I got laid off from my job. This wasn't really a big deal. I worked 6 hours a week and I cold now work more at 20/20 Research which is the job that I love but couldn't work at because of my school schedule and salon schedule.
-February 3rd- Mark's company decided to close the Charlotte office. This came as a total surprise because they had just had the best January sales wise EVER. He found this information out from his last customer of the day. She asked why this was their last day open. He responded with "it's not." She said "when I called to schedule they told me I had to have it done today because it was the last day you were going to be open." Mark called the Raleigh office and the secretary said they weren't closing. He then called the owner a few times and he eventually answered and confirmed that ZEROREZ Charlotte was not going to be open after that day and that he was coming down to get the truck and clean out the office. This news was quite a blow to us. After the shock wore off, we were ok. We had savings and stocks that we could sell if necessary and we had food storage. Mark has been able to collect unemployment and it is enough to cover our bills. He is also receiving money each month from the V.A. He looked for a job for a little while but we have since decided that he is going to be going to UNCC starting this fall and he will get his masters in computer science. It is going to take 3 years and it will be 100%paid for by the ARMY! We will also receive about $1200 a month to cover living expenses! So the news of mark being out of work and a child coming into the world in September is a lot more exciting now! Mark should be able to collect unemployment until July or August of 2010 and by then I will have a real job bringing in real money! We will both be able to finish school without having to worry about working and going to school. Heavenly father has really blessed us! If heavenly father hadn't surprised us with this baby when he did, we probably would have put our baby plans on hold until at least one of us had steady employment and who knows how long that would take. It has all been so great and we are so grateful for all we've been blessed with.
-February- we went to a Bobcats game with Shannon and Justin. We knew they were trying to get pregnant in January and Mark was trying to get Justin to tell him they were during the game and Justin became suspicious that I was pregnant through Mark's comments. We went to Cookout after the game and Justin and Shannon asked if we had heard the latest gossip. We said no. Justin said "Shannon's pregnant" Mark said "so is Ashley". It was kind of funny. we made plans to get the rest of the old FHE group together and tell them all at the same time. Justin and Shannon made a cake that we brought out and it said 2 ppl here are knocked up (except it wasn't the word up, it was an arrow pointing up). There was screaming, laughter, talk of baby names, and the string test. The results of the string test: Ashley is having a boy, Shannon is having a girl.
-February 19th- I tell my dad that he is getting another grandchild! I bought Valentines Day cards for him and my grandmother (I was planning on going over there on V-Day but that didn't work out). I brought brownies over with the cards and we chatted for a while. I stayed for about an hour and then had to leave to meet Krystin at IKEA. They ate brownies while I was there but didn't open their cards. I left and a couple minutes later got a phone call from my dad. He and my grandmother were excited and they didn't say anything about being sure I finished school so that was good! I also told my mom and sister. I couldn't wait any longer without slipping up and accidently telling my family.
-March- I had my first Doctor's appt. I was hoping we would be able to hear the heartbeat but they made us wait 2 more weeks to hear it.
-March 27th-30th- I went to Dallas, Texas to visit a friend! It was the first time Mark and I were apart since we started dating! It was a fun trip and it was great to see an old friend and her kids!
-April 20th- I am 17 weeks pregnant and we get to find out the sex of the baby! This was so exciting! As soon as the baby was brought up on the ultrasound screen, the technician said "well there you go dad." I immediately knew what we were looking at. It seemed very obvious but it wasn't so obvious to Mark. He had NO idea what the picture on the screen was! The technician then pointed to the screen and said "see this right here, it's a BOY!" We were so excited! We got tons of pictures and even a DVD where you can see him rolling over! There are even a couple of 4D pictures where he looks like an alien but his mouth looks like Mark's! It is so cute! We also found out that he is a week ahead of schedule so our due date isn't going to be changed officially but he is track to be due September 18th instead of the 26th! Hopefully we can hit on one of many family member's birthdays in September :) I am also hoping he decides he would like to come maybe around 36 weeks or pretty much anytime before 40 weeks, just as long as he is healthy enough to hack it in the real world!
After the appointment Mark asked if I was excited. Of course I was excited! I want all boys and my family was really hoping this was going to be a boy since my brother and sister both have girls. My dad said he needed someone to give all his train sets to. Mark then confessed that he always wanted a million girls and only girls but that he had gotten his hopes set on a boy ever since we did the string test and that he thought he probably would have been disappointed if it had been a girl. Before finding out the sex, we had agreed on 1 girl name and 1 boy name so our baby had a name right away which was kind of cool because everyone else I know didn't have a definite name for their baby until after the baby was born. Our girl name was Aubree Elisabeth and our boy name is Grady William Lee or Grady Lee William. I want William Lee and Mark wants lee William. We'll see who wins.
I had to go to work later and that is where I felt my little man kicking for the first time! mark didn't believe me and said I must just have gas and just think I am feeling Grady!
A few weeks later we found out that Shannon and Justin were having a girl. The string test is 2 for 2 so far. Interesting.
-May2nd- Mark feels Grady moving!
-May 6th- My last day of exams EVER!
-May 10th- Mark and I leave at 12am to drive to Miami to embark on our 8 day cruise! It was an 11 hour drive. Mark drove most of the way and it wasn't a bad drive at all. We arrived at the ship at about 12 and began our babymoon! Monday was a day at sea. We then went to Grand Cayman where we rented a scooter and drove around the island. The next day we went to Honduras where we got a taxi ride to the beach and then around the island. Then the next day we went to Belize where we went cave tubing and enjoyed some local food. We spent another day at sea and then our last day of our babymoon in Key West. We rented a car and drove up the keys. We enjoyed our day and ended it with the best key lime pie ever!
Sometime around the end of May or beginning of June, I can see my belly move when Grady moves! It's my favorite thing to watch. I also realize that I really like being pregnant and look forward to doing it again and again and again. I haven't been sick or had heartburn at all and feel great! We go to the gym 3ish times a week and I hope I can keep going up until the end!
-June 7th- I decide that I am definitely going to go the all natural route for labor and delivery. No epidurals here! I hope this makes the labor and delivery go much faster, I feel it will better for Grady, and also myself since I will be able to better push and I will also be able to move/walk around during labor. We'll see how this goes. It makes labor and delivery a little scary but I always said I'd go all natural anyways.
-June 12th- I want to paint our living room, dining room, and hall. Mark said I can do whatever I want but he's not helping because it will be the 3rd time it is painted in 2 years. OOPS! ha ha. This time it will last. I've never liked how it turned when we painted it a year and a half ago and I just can't take it anymore. I want a light beigy color. I am also ready to paint Grady's room so hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks.
Grady is always moving around now and it is great! It truly is one of the best feelings ever!
-January 19th- Mark finally got his new Toyota Tundra! He bought it in December and had to have some repairs done to it which ended up taking almost a month to complete. At 5:42pm we found out that we are going to become parents! This was a bit of a surprise since we weren't planning on having kids quite yet. Mark was excited from the beginning. Me-not so much. I wasn't excited mostly because of school. I was supposed to student teach this fall and graduate in December! It was so close. I was able to say that I will graduate this year for a whopping 17 days. Graduation was so close and student teaching in the fall is way better than doing it in the spring. And, student teaching next spring with a baby at home is going to be tough. Oh well. Obviously heavenly father did not like our plan at all and for some reason we needed to have a baby in September instead of anytime after December 10th.
The reason I know the time that this new addition was discovered is because we were supposed to be at Nate and Scarlett's at 5:30 for FHE but we were still driving home from picking up Mark's truck and I had to throw together some kind of dessert in about 5 minutes so we could get to their house ASAP. I also had to pee really really bad since I had been holding it for a couple hours since Mark wanted to be home when I took the pregnancy test. We ran in the house and I headed straight to the bathroom. I took the test and laid it on the floor for Mark to watch for the results as I threw something together for our FHE dessert. A minute later Mark called my name. His voice sounded different but I couldn't decide if it sounded like the test was positive or negative. All month I had this feeling that I was pregnant but I thought it was just me and that there was no way I was and that the test was going to be a negative. Mark held it up for me when I got to him and I said "oh, no baby." He said, "No, look again" and held up the instructions that had a picture of what a positive test looks like and I then realized that our test matched that one! it was a strange feeling. I laughed a weird nervous sounding laugh and we embraced. I then finished putting together some magic cookies bars and we went to Nate and Scarlett's for FHE. Mark wanted us to wait until the end of the first trimester to tell anyone. I agreed to try and wait.
-January 29th- I got laid off from my job. This wasn't really a big deal. I worked 6 hours a week and I cold now work more at 20/20 Research which is the job that I love but couldn't work at because of my school schedule and salon schedule.
-February 3rd- Mark's company decided to close the Charlotte office. This came as a total surprise because they had just had the best January sales wise EVER. He found this information out from his last customer of the day. She asked why this was their last day open. He responded with "it's not." She said "when I called to schedule they told me I had to have it done today because it was the last day you were going to be open." Mark called the Raleigh office and the secretary said they weren't closing. He then called the owner a few times and he eventually answered and confirmed that ZEROREZ Charlotte was not going to be open after that day and that he was coming down to get the truck and clean out the office. This news was quite a blow to us. After the shock wore off, we were ok. We had savings and stocks that we could sell if necessary and we had food storage. Mark has been able to collect unemployment and it is enough to cover our bills. He is also receiving money each month from the V.A. He looked for a job for a little while but we have since decided that he is going to be going to UNCC starting this fall and he will get his masters in computer science. It is going to take 3 years and it will be 100%paid for by the ARMY! We will also receive about $1200 a month to cover living expenses! So the news of mark being out of work and a child coming into the world in September is a lot more exciting now! Mark should be able to collect unemployment until July or August of 2010 and by then I will have a real job bringing in real money! We will both be able to finish school without having to worry about working and going to school. Heavenly father has really blessed us! If heavenly father hadn't surprised us with this baby when he did, we probably would have put our baby plans on hold until at least one of us had steady employment and who knows how long that would take. It has all been so great and we are so grateful for all we've been blessed with.
-February- we went to a Bobcats game with Shannon and Justin. We knew they were trying to get pregnant in January and Mark was trying to get Justin to tell him they were during the game and Justin became suspicious that I was pregnant through Mark's comments. We went to Cookout after the game and Justin and Shannon asked if we had heard the latest gossip. We said no. Justin said "Shannon's pregnant" Mark said "so is Ashley". It was kind of funny. we made plans to get the rest of the old FHE group together and tell them all at the same time. Justin and Shannon made a cake that we brought out and it said 2 ppl here are knocked up (except it wasn't the word up, it was an arrow pointing up). There was screaming, laughter, talk of baby names, and the string test. The results of the string test: Ashley is having a boy, Shannon is having a girl.
-February 19th- I tell my dad that he is getting another grandchild! I bought Valentines Day cards for him and my grandmother (I was planning on going over there on V-Day but that didn't work out). I brought brownies over with the cards and we chatted for a while. I stayed for about an hour and then had to leave to meet Krystin at IKEA. They ate brownies while I was there but didn't open their cards. I left and a couple minutes later got a phone call from my dad. He and my grandmother were excited and they didn't say anything about being sure I finished school so that was good! I also told my mom and sister. I couldn't wait any longer without slipping up and accidently telling my family.
-March- I had my first Doctor's appt. I was hoping we would be able to hear the heartbeat but they made us wait 2 more weeks to hear it.
-March 27th-30th- I went to Dallas, Texas to visit a friend! It was the first time Mark and I were apart since we started dating! It was a fun trip and it was great to see an old friend and her kids!
-April 20th- I am 17 weeks pregnant and we get to find out the sex of the baby! This was so exciting! As soon as the baby was brought up on the ultrasound screen, the technician said "well there you go dad." I immediately knew what we were looking at. It seemed very obvious but it wasn't so obvious to Mark. He had NO idea what the picture on the screen was! The technician then pointed to the screen and said "see this right here, it's a BOY!" We were so excited! We got tons of pictures and even a DVD where you can see him rolling over! There are even a couple of 4D pictures where he looks like an alien but his mouth looks like Mark's! It is so cute! We also found out that he is a week ahead of schedule so our due date isn't going to be changed officially but he is track to be due September 18th instead of the 26th! Hopefully we can hit on one of many family member's birthdays in September :) I am also hoping he decides he would like to come maybe around 36 weeks or pretty much anytime before 40 weeks, just as long as he is healthy enough to hack it in the real world!
After the appointment Mark asked if I was excited. Of course I was excited! I want all boys and my family was really hoping this was going to be a boy since my brother and sister both have girls. My dad said he needed someone to give all his train sets to. Mark then confessed that he always wanted a million girls and only girls but that he had gotten his hopes set on a boy ever since we did the string test and that he thought he probably would have been disappointed if it had been a girl. Before finding out the sex, we had agreed on 1 girl name and 1 boy name so our baby had a name right away which was kind of cool because everyone else I know didn't have a definite name for their baby until after the baby was born. Our girl name was Aubree Elisabeth and our boy name is Grady William Lee or Grady Lee William. I want William Lee and Mark wants lee William. We'll see who wins.
I had to go to work later and that is where I felt my little man kicking for the first time! mark didn't believe me and said I must just have gas and just think I am feeling Grady!
A few weeks later we found out that Shannon and Justin were having a girl. The string test is 2 for 2 so far. Interesting.
-May2nd- Mark feels Grady moving!
-May 6th- My last day of exams EVER!
-May 10th- Mark and I leave at 12am to drive to Miami to embark on our 8 day cruise! It was an 11 hour drive. Mark drove most of the way and it wasn't a bad drive at all. We arrived at the ship at about 12 and began our babymoon! Monday was a day at sea. We then went to Grand Cayman where we rented a scooter and drove around the island. The next day we went to Honduras where we got a taxi ride to the beach and then around the island. Then the next day we went to Belize where we went cave tubing and enjoyed some local food. We spent another day at sea and then our last day of our babymoon in Key West. We rented a car and drove up the keys. We enjoyed our day and ended it with the best key lime pie ever!
Sometime around the end of May or beginning of June, I can see my belly move when Grady moves! It's my favorite thing to watch. I also realize that I really like being pregnant and look forward to doing it again and again and again. I haven't been sick or had heartburn at all and feel great! We go to the gym 3ish times a week and I hope I can keep going up until the end!
-June 7th- I decide that I am definitely going to go the all natural route for labor and delivery. No epidurals here! I hope this makes the labor and delivery go much faster, I feel it will better for Grady, and also myself since I will be able to better push and I will also be able to move/walk around during labor. We'll see how this goes. It makes labor and delivery a little scary but I always said I'd go all natural anyways.
-June 12th- I want to paint our living room, dining room, and hall. Mark said I can do whatever I want but he's not helping because it will be the 3rd time it is painted in 2 years. OOPS! ha ha. This time it will last. I've never liked how it turned when we painted it a year and a half ago and I just can't take it anymore. I want a light beigy color. I am also ready to paint Grady's room so hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks.
Grady is always moving around now and it is great! It truly is one of the best feelings ever!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Few and Far Between...
That is what my posts have become. There really isn't much to update. We still have both dogs. We live in the same house, have the same jobs and are still in school. The exciting part is that on Monday I will begin my last semester of classes. After that, it's student teaching and then graduation!!!! After that will come the babies. That is the scary part.
Mark and I both want kids and feel ready but we are still scared about that whole thing. I mean you are in charge of an actual human for the rest of your life.
As I write this post, I am thinking of ways to make posts more often since we don't have kids to make it interesting. Maybe I will post my favorite thing that happens each day. I guess we'll see what happens.
Mark and I both want kids and feel ready but we are still scared about that whole thing. I mean you are in charge of an actual human for the rest of your life.
As I write this post, I am thinking of ways to make posts more often since we don't have kids to make it interesting. Maybe I will post my favorite thing that happens each day. I guess we'll see what happens.
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