It's a boy!

We have been crazy busy over the weekend since finding out our exciting news!

It seemed like Friday took FOREVER to get here, and so did 3:30 for our appointment. We got to the doctor's office a few minutes early, but didn't wait too long. Urine, blood pressure, weight (finally catching up!) and then drawing some blood. They needed to test my blood because of my Rh factor.

A little background for you. Blood is a big deal for babies. Basically because I have an Rh negative type and Jay has an Rh positive type, this is a potential problem that is easily corrected with a few injections. Since we don't know what the baby's blood type is until birth, they take precautions with mothers who have a negative Rh factor. It doesn't matter very much for the first child, but can have serious ramifications for subsequent babies. My body basically builds up antibodies to "foreign blood" and if our next baby has Rh positive blood, my body would attack it. So one shot at 28 weeks and then one shot after the birth and we're good to go. It's a tiny inconvenience, because I hate needles, but I tried to be a big girl.

Then came the fun part! Up on the table for the ultrasound, and we saw a little abdomen and a femur and all the other stuff that's supposed to be growing normally (it was). Then my doctor asked, "Did we find out the sex last time?" I told him no, and then he asked if we wanted to know, and of course it was a resounding "YES!". Almost instantly he snapped a picture and said, "There is a leg, and there is a little penis, so it is most definitely a boy." Jay was right! He's taken some good-natured teasing from most of our friends here that were sure it was girl, so he was quick to let them know that Baby Rogers is A BOY.

We went immediately to buy some baby clothes in blue, and have been busy ever since! We talked to our friends and families and it's so nice to be able to call our baby a "he" instead of an "it". Jay definitely wanted a boy, and I've always said I wanted a boy first, but mainly it's just so exciting to know what he IS! We picked up a mattress for our crib, and finally decided on a stroller and a nursery theme. I've recently become slightly obsessed with baby dinosaurs, and our first purchase the other day was a "Baby Dino" set of pajamas. We got it in 3 months, after much debate, and luckily Dandy had ALSO purchased it for us in newborn, so we can have our little baby dinosaur a little longer! We found a terribly cute nursery set in dinosaurs from Babies R Us, but it's temporarily not available online. So I'm waiting anxiously for 9am, eastern standard time, so I can call the store in Greensboro and see if they have it in stock. It's so much MORE fun shopping for a little person whose sex is no longer unknown!

We may have settled on a name, but we're letting it sink in for a bit before we go public with it. Not to worry, we won't be able to keep it to ourselves for long!

Two days before our appointment, Jay got to feel the baby kick for the first time! We had been unsuccessful since he got home. It seemed like everytime the baby was kicking, I'd put Jay's hand on my belly and he would stop. But on Wednesday my belly looked like it had a little jumping bean in there, and Jay got to see it AND feel it. This whole thing is amazing. I love it!

Baby Rogers...

Is a boy!! We're having a boy and we're SO excited about it! Longer update later!

Jay's back!

What a week it's been! Jay got home from Afghanistan Tuesday evening, and it was a wonderful ending to our 14 months of separation. Since then we've been getting back to our normal life and getting Jay adjusted to the new eating patterns, sleeping positions and constant burping that come along with my pregnancy! Oscar is smitten with Jay being home, and cannot get enough of him!

It's been a productive week for baby though! My friends Val and Lauren dropped off a TON of maternity clothes for me to borrow, which has been great! It's nice to have stuff to wear that's comfortable and supports my little belly. Val also let us borrow her bassinet, a swing, a Bumbo seat (my personal fave and source of much debate in our house) and also had some extra size 1 diapers. We are racking up on the diapers, and are super excited about it! We purchased a crib yesterday as well! It will probably stay in the box until we move, because as of now we may be leaving Germany as early as February! The baby will still be in the bassinet, and we can ship the crib in the box to avoid any lost or damaged parts. I also got in my diaper bag (thanks Mom!) and maternity clothes I ordered from Old Navy.

Baby is also doing lots of moving around, sometimes I can even see it! Jay hasn't felt it yet, but it's nice to have someone else here to rub my belly besides me! It's fun to feel these tiny little somersaults in my belly, usually more after I eat. Belly is slowly growing, and we can't wait for our doctor's appointment on Friday!

Halfway there!

Today I'm 20 weeks, which makes me halfway done with my pregnancy! So exciting and amazing. I still have a long way to go, and the baby has a lot of growing to do before November 30th!

Things you forget

It's funny how easy it is to overdo it at this point! My back hurts tonight, so I was trying to think of what I'd done in the last 24 hours. I remembered that yesterday I went up and down stairs and hallways, finishing up the barracks and figured that must be it. Then I remembered, oh yeah! I vacuumed and mopped all the floors downstairs at 10pm last night too. I also recalled cleaning my bathroom and scrubbing the tub this afternoon, before I vacuumed out the car later today as well. No wonder!

I forget that I can't do the things I used to do so easily. Even though I haven't gained much weight, there's a lot going on in my body and a lot of extra strain on my muscles. This week in my Pregnancy Journal, there's a tip every day to reduce lower back stress, so I should start paying attention!

It's so awesome to feel the baby moving around. It makes this a little more real, and definitely more UNreal! Amazing!

Some constants...

Well once I felt the first movement, our baby seems determined to remind me that he or she is in there! Lots of little movements throughout the day, it feels so funny! It still surprises me every time, but hopefully soon I'll get used to it. This part of my pregnancy has been pretty much consistent with lower back pain, a sore tummy (thanks to everything stretching out) and heartburn. Pregnancy isn't as glamourous as the celebs make it look! I'm quickly approaching the end of my wearable wardrobe, so let's hope that the maternity clothes I ordered get here soon.

What an exciting week!

I felt the baby move for the first time this week! I was on the phone with Jay, and felt a tiny little movement that I wasn't sure was the baby or not. Everyone always says, "you'll know it when it happens", but how will I know?? I told Jay I thought it moved, but I couldn't tell. Then a few minutes later, it happened again! So not only did I feel our baby move for the first time, but at least I could tell him right away!

Since then I've felt a few little movements here and there, and it's amazing! Jay is halfway home in the in-transit phase of this deployment, so my fingers are crossed that he'll be home soon to share all of this with me!

My belly is starting to look a little more like a baby bump, but we still have a long way to go!