27 weeks!

Third trimester baby!!! Whoo-hoo! I've got 13 weeks left and Amelia is right on track! According to thebump.com miss thing now weighs between 1.5 - 2.5 lb (is it just me, or is that a huge range?) and is somewhere between 13.6 - 14.8 inches long. And apparently she is the size of a cauliflower. Grow baby grow!

This past week held some super fun activities like an impromptu maternity photo shoot and our 3D ultrasound and some not so fun things like an emotional breakdown at the OB's after my glucose test.

- glucose test - 

First of all, it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be. All I had to do was drink a syrupy sweet fruit punch drink and then get some blood drawn an hour later. Not bad at all.
However, I still don't know what my results are because apparently despite the fact that I asked no less than four times what I needed to do to sign in/let them know I was there (remember this is only my second visit to this doctor's office) I was told incorrectly. I would ask, So, I still need to see the doctor. Should I just wait in the waiting room? and the response all four times was a non chalant, Yep, just wait to be called. So I waited and waited and when it got to the point that I had been waiting for 45 minutes I asked again, (the 5th time) and this time I was scolded for 'not signing in'. I'm already emotional at this point because it was 11:45 and I had been there since 10:00 and I had to be out of the office at 12:30 to make our 3D ultrasound at 1:00. So, yeah when the lady gave me the stink eye and then continued to talk about me to the other ladies there like I wasn't standing right in front of her, I teared up. It was incredibly embarrassing, like being in middle school again where the cool girls inform you that perms are definitely out. Only this time my stomach is bulging with baby and hormones are raging... Yeah, not exactly my day. Call me hormonal, but I'm thinking of switching OB's.

20 minutes into the 30 minute ride to the ultrasound place I finally quit blubbering when my incredibly sweet husband stopped to console me with Bojangle's and Mountain Dew. Yum :)

- 3D Ultrasound -

The ultrasound was a complete turn of events. Thank the Lord. We got to see our sweet baby's face and it was magical and mind blowing and every kind of 'wow' expression you can think of. She was wiping her little eyes with her tiny hand and we could see her kicking and moving and twisting all over the place! (Thanks to that delicious glucose and my sinfully delicious mountain dew I sipped throughout). Of course I already think she's the most gorgeous little girl to ever be conceived... but I'm just a little biased. So, without further ado here is our sweet and precious little girl.

I text the picture to my Mom, who informed me she couldn't figure out what it was, so I drew a little diagram to help out. Miss Amelia is much less alien looking than even 7 weeks ago and we asked, she's stil a little girl. Another Whew, thank you Jesus because I did not even want to think about having to take back all those sassy little outfits!

- Maternity Shoot - 

And finally, some shots from our self directed photo shoot just down the road from the NC Aquarium. Enjoy!

 Have a great week!

Week 22! Holy cow!!!

Yesterday I was lying in bed and I could literally watch her kick her little foot (or elbow, who knows) into different spots on my belly. It was crazy! Then she stuck her back into the front of my belly and just wiggled and stretched there for awhile. Luke put his hand on her and he could feel her little wiggly body going everywhere. She amazes me already!

I also have an interview on Monday in Myrtle Beach! I'm not posting this one on the book of face because it seems like I get all excited when I do that only to be very let down afterwards. This is a retail-ish job, I think, not really sure but it's with a company that I think I would very much enjoy working for. We'll see how it goes. On the bright side, the manager that called me seemed extremely nice and really peppy so that always helps with any job. 

We've got today and tomorrow left in Asheville and then it's "Sianara sucka!" I am thrilled to be moving on and starting over. Like, beyond thrilled. Of course there are some emo parts, like leaving behind family but we're moving to the beach, the beach. It's not like we won't be visited.  In the meantime I am looking forward to seeing my long lost best sisteriend (best friend/sister), spending half a day at Ikea, and our very first baby shower! SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO! 

I will leave you with this quote on pregnancy from my new favorite blog in the entire world (I literally sat in my bed and laughed until I cried reading this thing!)

The Pregnant Chicken

(the following is from an article written for new Dads)

4. Don't ask "What's for Dinner" If everyone in the house is alive when you get home that's a successful day. My friend's husband asked her why dinner wasn't ready because "she'd been sitting at home all day doing nothing". If you ask "What's for dinner?" the answer will be "Your left testicle". Eat cereal, order take-out or drink pumped breastmilk. Your choice.

 Bahahaha, now glean what you will from this and go enjoy the day!

Train of thought... derailed.

Week 20. Whoa.

I've been thinking back on the amount of time I've been pregnant so far, and how it has absolutely flown by and I know that the next 20 weeks will probably go by even faster.

In the past 20 weeks I have discovered a little life growing inside me. I have seen pictures of her developing body, I have learned that it is a her, I have felt her kick and squirm on the inside, and I have watched my own body make room for her to grow. It's been nothing short of miraculous. I have also left the security of a steady job. Said goodbye to friends and teachers, people that I have looked up to and others that have looked up to me. I have found that as much as I want to love Asheville I just can't seem to find a place to fit in. I have learned that my husband is reliable, that he really is my best friend. I've learned that it's ok to enjoy reading blogs and not have to keep up with my own. I've learned that sometimes growing requires painful changes.

This week my Mom got a job. A fabulous knock-your-socks-off job. And she deserves it. My Dad also decided to retire from his, a job he has held for 26 years. Talk about some inspiration. They both took a step of faith and decided he would retire and she would put out her resume. They prayed about it and here they are in a very short time with her new knock-your-socks-off job. I'm impressed and so very proud.

I'm still searching for a job. After giving up on the Asheville jobs and moving on to Myrtle Beach, the prospects looked good. I've had two fabulous interviews, one is "still searching" and the other turned out to be a scam. A very pretty, well packaged scam, but a scam none the less. And when said "scam" didn't call me back for the second part of the package? Well, I should have counted my blessings and moved on but instead I sobbed over how I can't even get a scam to call me back. Dumb, I know. But when you've been looking for a job for awhile it starts to get personal. I feel like no one wants me. Throw in some pregnancy hormones and you've got a full fledged sobbing fest. Poor Luke.

So this is a new week. Week 21! Amelia's got some growing to do and so do I. Here's to new opportunities and big adventures coming up!

Week 14!

Well in the past 8 weeks we have gone through A LOT!!! We announced our pregnancy to the world... Yay Baby Braswell! With this adorable picture (ok so maybe adorable is stretching it, but I would bet anything this little one will be less alien and more adorable looking one day very soon)

We moved from little college town to huge hippie town... not sure about my feelings on that one yet but the house is gorgeous (albeit a little grimy still from no one living here in 6 years) and we are slowly... slooooowwwwwllllyyy getting moved in. Internet got installed yesterday so I am VERY excited to be back in the 21st century.

My bump is now big enough for maternity clothes! (This was on Christmas Eve eve at the mall... that was a super bad idea btw) I went for the internet at Barnes & Noble, spilled coffee all over my white shirt and had to go to Motherhood Maternity for a new shirt... and then the pants were half off... and well, nothing is quite worse than your jeans digging into your newly acquired baby bump... but on the other hand I now have about a dozen combined maternity items (thanks to my parents taking me on an awesome Target shopping trip) and I feel much much more comfortable.

We also kept my younger siblings right after the holidays so my parents could take my sister, Elizabeth, to school in Oklahoma (so sad!). We had a blast but boy oh boy am I glad that this kid will come out not knowing how to talk or walk or run around for little while haha. Here they are the Biltmore House, aren't they cute?

Oh! And I cut all my hair off! Here is a pic of me and cutesy missy Annie.

As for the pregnancy, I am officially out of the first trimester! Yay!!! And morning sickness has finally gone away almost completely! Unfortunately it has been replaced by headaches and heartburn but honestly I think that's a pretty fair trade for not being nauseas all the time. BTW taking 1/2 a unisom before bed every night really did help a TON with night/early morning morning sickness (which should really be called all day sickness, ugh). I am still on the job search but I have a couple pretty awesome openings that I've applied for this week and I should hear something back by the end of this week or early next week. 

All in all, life is pretty good and I've still got the best hubby around that goes to get me teddy graham's at 11:00 at night... I'd say I'm pretty blessed :)

Week 6!

Baby is now the size of a sweet pea! 

While baby is growing away in there my hormones are starting to catch up with me. Let me just tell you that morning sickness is no joke. At first it was just this kinda gross feeling that made me extremely tired and not very hungry. Now I can't keep anything down beyond saltines and small sips of ginger ale. I did have thanksgiving dinner with my family but it was followed directly by feeling absolutely disgusting and having to lay down for an hour. Not fun. We traveled home last night and I had saltines for dinner. I woke up this morning and had saltines for breakfast. It's 2:00pm, I'm at work, and I cant even fathom eating anything besides saltines for lunch.This is miserable.

I know that once the baby is born I'll barely remember all of this but right now I can't seem to focus on anything besides my churning tummy. In addition to feeling gross I've begun having these crazy mood swings where I just feel like crying at the craziest stuff! Really the only kind of mood swing I've had has been in the direction of crying so I guess it could be worse (like getting stressed or angry) but is it too much to ask to get a deliriously happy swing?

We told pretty much all of our family this week. The reactions were all very good but no one was as excited as we expected them to be. Luke thinks it's because everyone has been expecting this for awhile (I think he's just trying to make me feel better). I'm also (big surprise) a little moody so maybe it's just all in my head. My parents already bought themselves "World's best grandparents" shirts, ha ha, at least their excited! 

Monday is our first doctor's appointment so that's exciting (and scary). I definitely plan on asking about remedies and/or medicine for this nausea so maybe I can feel a little more normal. At this moment I would love to go home, take a nap, and maybe have a baked potato. I could handle that, I think.

I hope you all had a fabulous thanksgiving and I'll be back soon with reports on the doctor's visit!

Just call me Johnny Appleseed

Tomorrow marks the beginning of week 5 and according to The Bump.com baby is now the size of an appleseed!

Baby Braswell will DOUBLE in size this week, although that's still teeny tiny. According to The Bump.com "The embryo doesn't look like much more than a tadpole right now, but at five weeks, she's already starting to form major organs (heart, stomach, liver, kidney) and systems (digestive, circulatory, nervous)."

I am still amazed that all this is happening in my body! As far as symptoms go I'm still having a pretty easy time of it. (knock on wood!) I have been pretty exhausted (but then again we did just have a whirlwind weekend with the marching band), I still have minor cramps and lower back pain but they're happening less frequently now, my feet were incredibly swollen at the end of Saturday (after an entire day at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World). Normally I could spend an entire day plus some at Disney and just be regularly tired but on Saturday I was tired to the point of tears (and I was super emotional that we had to leave my favorite place in the world). Yesterday I tried to drink a lot of water to get the swelling down (which was harder than it sounds because I was also on a bus for over 12 hours and bathroom stops were limited). I am definitely having to run to the bathroom more often, but not obnoxiously more just noticeably more. Also, according to all the books and websites I've been reading, the next couple of weeks is when morning sickness has a tendency to show up. Let's hope I miss out on that boat.

The most noticeable change has been my eating habits. Let me just say that cravings are real and so are food aversions. I cannot stand chocolate now, pretty much anything sweet (other than french toast) grosses me out :( and at Disney I had mini corn dogs with RELISH from Casey's Corner, TWICE! (I normally hate relish!) I'm still paying close attention that I get enough iron in my diet, and I do try to eat somewhat healthy. There is a lot of spinach and hummus in my fridge now, and pita bread is my friend too.

I'm not showing yet, just some gross bloating that makes me feel as big as the side of a barn and has forced me into the flowy shirt section of my wardrobe. Before I eat I feel fine, but as soon as my belly is full it's like there's no room for it to go so I get this oh so attractive pouch that makes me want to do about 1,000 sit ups. 

(See no cutesy baby bump, yet!)

We also told more people this week, including my parents who just sent us the most adorable basket of flowers with a stuffed Mickey Mouse in it :) We also bought Baby a couple things from Disney World, but those pictures will have to come later because I have to get ready for work now.

I hope you all have a "magical" day! :)

Speechless

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

I can hardly believe I am typing this post! This was our second month trying and I had a gut feeling that I was pregnant but I didn't want to get my hopes up! I decided to test tonight on a whim and I got my POSITIVE result!!! I'm still in shock!

I had a rough day, I wasn't feeling well and I had my first newborn photoshoot which was so much fun but also more challenging than I anticipated. I didn't get as many "perfect" shots as I wanted and I came home with a whole lot of self pity. Luke got home from his flight shortly after and he fixed me supper and said that maybe I would feel better after I ate (my iron has been low lately, so if I don't eat I get really tired). After watching "Gnomeo and Juliet" on Netflix I decided that I would go ahead and test since I hadn't this morning and I had all those internet cheapie tests left. I'm 12 dpo (days post ovulation) today and it's still early... but apparently not too early! I had laid the test on the counter and after I washed my hands I was staring at it waiting for it to get completely clear, hoping that I would see something. When I say staring, I really mean boring a hole into it with my retina's, at first I thought I was imagining it (the line was very faint), then it started to get white around the line... I took it into the "princess room (office)" where Luke was working on homework (aka facebook-ing) and all I could say was "I swear there's a line. There is a line. I swear. I swear." and he looked at it and smiled from ear to ear and agreed he saw a line too. I was crying. I couldn't help it, there is a baby growing in my belly! We hugged and kissed and just stared at the test in disbelief!

After awhile Luke had to finish his homework (for real this time) and I went to call my best friend since I was 13, Sarah. She was just as excited as us! We gushed and talked about the future and made plans to meet up very soon. She's the only one we're telling until this weekend. We're going to Disney World with the marching band I work with (that my sister is in) and we're going to tell her then. I hope I can wait that long! We're going to tell the rest of our family over Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see what their reactions will be!

As far as symptoms go I really don't have too many. I've had some minor cramping, similar to menstrual cramps but not as intense. I've also been getting short of breath over the stupidest stuff like drying my hair or switching the laundry over. Weird. I've also been very tired lately, but I thought it was just because I wasn't eating right and my iron was low. Other than those few symptoms I've been feeling fine though. I'll definitely keep you updated on other symptoms as they appear!

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!!