13 weeks, hello second trimester!

Wow time is starting to go a bit faster now. So happy to have made it to the second trimester! C and I love hearing out baby's heartbeat on the doppler, louder and louder as time goes by. 

We got back from Florida Tuesday night on C's birthday. We had so much fun, it was beautiful weather and so relaxing! I convinced C to fly there and back :)! So the baby made it through it's first and second plane ride with no issues lol. I was a tad worried about that but the heartbeat was nice and strong on the doppler when we got home :)! It was so hard coming back to reality/work. But at least I can say I am happy to be on day shift for the month of June. This means a more normal schedule for me and more time with my wife and family. 

I am so excited for the gender reveal US on June 8th! I am dying to know what this bean is! Also, I am excited to see my family's reaction. We are revealing the gender as a surprise at my mom's surprise 50th birthday party on June 15th. So the news will not be posted until then because C and I want to keep a secret until then. Especially since my wonderful sister follows our blog lol. 

Well I hope all is well in blog land. Baby dust to all!

How far along? 13 weeks 

How big is baby? Lemon

Total weight gain/loss: Back down to my before preggo weight 

Maternity Clothes: I am already wearing them! Crazy, but my non-maternity pants don't fit!

Have you started to show yet? Safe to say yes... more when I wear tight clothes

Sleep: Okay... still peeing frequently at night

Best moment this week: Going to Florida for a mini getaway

Miss Anything? Hotdogs

Movement: Not that I can feel.

Food Cravings: Nothing in particular

Anything make you queasy or sick? Nausea is going away :)

Gender prediction:  Well, I always said boy but I think that was because I didn't want to get my hopes up for a girl.... but I am starting to think this baby is a girl. 

Symptoms: Not much these days

Major purchases this week? Nothing

Looking forward to: Gender US June 8th!

Change is good

Well a lot has happened in a week's time here!

Since both C and I did not have a good feeling about our OB/GYN office we researched and asked around for advice. We both decided that the best fit for us would be a New Certified Nurse Midwife. I have heard amazing things about the woman we are going to see, and I am very excited. So I cancelled our next appointment with our OB/GYN and told them we will be going elsewhere. Our first appointment with our new CNM Patricia McCalley Sunday is on June 5th! She delivers at a catholic health system fairly local to us which I was a bit nervous about. But I did ask if there would be any issues since C and I are a same sex couple and they said not at all. C and I are both very outspoken and strong so I have no doubt in my mind that we will be just fine. Plus this is the hospital that C was born in! So now Momma and baby will both be born there :)! I also am excited to know that this CNM will push as hard as she can for a vaginal delivery with or without an epidural! All of this was a HUGE relief for me.

C's birthday is coming up on May 28th and she'll be 31! So since this we be her last baby free birthday I thought maybe we could do something special. My grandparents have a house in Vero Beach, FL so since C and I have off a few days next week (May 25th - 28th) we are going for a quick getaway. I am trying to get her to cave and fly there but she wants to drive in order to save money. The drive is 16 hours! And my preggo ass won't be much help taking turns driving because I am ALWAYS tired especially in the car and coming off nightshift. But flights are super pricey, so we shall see. But I am excited to get away to a warm beachy climate :)!

I am also so happy to announce that we scheduled our 3D/4D ultrasound with Bellyssimo, a cute place in Egg Harbor, NJ. We heard about this place through a fellow blogger (Here We Go Again). Our appointment is June 8th, I will be 14 weeks and 1 day. Which means we can get this package, "Angle of the Dangle: Just dying to know if baby is a Boy or Girl…. Come in for this 2 visit 2D/3D/4D Ultrasound Package that includes a Gender Prediction at 14/15 weeks, then come back again for a visit at 17 weeks for our Gender Determination. Recieve a 15 min Ultrasound Session and Black & White photos at each visit." It is $139 and I think so worth it! I can't wait to know what we are having! Here is how they determine if the baby is a he or she at 14 weeks, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16493625/

After this ultrasound we will keep it a surprise until my mother's surprise 50th birthday party which is June 15th. We plan on getting a cake for her to cut open and reveal the gender to the rest of the family. She can't wait to know so I am sure she will love this! 

Well until next time, baby dust to all!

10 weeks 4 days

So C and I got a doppler and every now and then we listen to the baby's heartbeat together. I love hearing it and I love that each week it gets louder and louder. It's a nice replacement to the weekly US's. Baby's heart rate is still 170's this week :).

As you know Sunday was Mother's Day, I came home after working nightshift to a wonderful gift from my wife. She is so sweet. This will come in handy very soon. I already can't lay on my belly, it feels like I have a baseball in my belly lol. And I am starting to show.... It feels weird because it's still so early.

I got C and I these shirts for Mother's Day:

Yesterday we had our first OB/GYN visit with the doctor. And it was a little better than the nurse visit but we still aren't happy. The fact that we may only meet our delivering doctor one time before delivery boggles my mind. There are 11 doctors in the practice. I think that is great, however it's too much for me. I wanted this to be a much more personal journey. I kind of feel like it's a factory at this point. C wants to looks elsewhere but the only other hospital near us is catholic and well.... you know. Apparently there are two other practices at the hospital we are with now, maybe we should check them out? UGH it's just too stressful to try and schedule appointments so C and I can both make it. Our schedules are crazy and they want you make appointments 4 weeks ahead... that's crazy to me!

How far along? 10 weeks 4 days 

How big is baby? Lime

Total weight gain/loss: Two pounds up

Maternity Clothes: I am already wearing them! Crazy, but my non-maternity pants don't fit!

Have you started to show yet? I have a little bump now

Sleep: Getting better... still peeing every two hours lol

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat on the doppler :)

Miss Anything? Well, not anymore because I caved and had a sandwich!

Movement: Not that I can feel.

Food Cravings: A little bit of everything.

Anything make you queasy or sick? Nausea is going away :)

Gender prediction:  Well, I always said boy but I think that was because I didn't want to get my hopes up for a girl.... but I am starting to think this baby is a girl. 

Symptoms: All symptoms are getting better :)

Major purchases this week? Nothing

Looking forward to: Next US which isn't for another 7 and a half weeks!

Bittersweet farewell

Well today was a very bittersweet visit to our RE's office. We took a peak at our gummy bear, which was the last time in that office. The doctor has his bets on a girl (I hope he is right). The heartbeat was 174 beats per minute, baby was measuring right on track and today we got to see our baby MOVE! He/she was dancing up a storm it was so amazing to see!  C and I are filled with joy, we are so happy we have gotten the chance to see our baby progress each week so far. I know I will miss the weekly visits/US's but I need to get out of spoiled mode I suppose. Today marks 9 weeks 5 days, hoping that the wait to gender reveal goes quickly! I am so antsy lol!

Monday is our second OB/GYN visit. Our first appointment with a doctor. I really hope that it goes much better than the nurse consult did. I don't like the feeling I have been left with since then.

SEX & Our first OB/GYN visit

Well, I bet that grabbed your attention. There are a few reasons I bring up this topic.

For one, C and I have decided that we will both be finding out the sex of our baby. I felt terrible for speaking up but I couldn't help it. I explained to C that I feel like I need to know for our first baby. Because I want to be able to plan and I want the baby shower to be gender themed etc. I did promise her that when we have our second we will make that baby a surprise. I also explained that no matter what the birth will be special even if we do know the gender of our baby. I feel like I kind of let C down, but I know deep down she will be so happy that we found out.

So, now I am trying to think of cool ways to find out. We don't want to find out on our US, we want the tech to write it down on an envelope and then do something with it. That being said I don't want to do a gender reveal party because I feel like I can't ask for that and a baby shower and I don't want to wait too long before knowing lol. Plus I want people to know before the shower. C mentioned maybe taking the envelope to Lowe's and handing it to the guy in the paint department. We would explain that we wanted a certain color for a girl and a certain color for a boy. And then after it was done we would take it home to the nursery and open it together. I like that idea actually. Any other ideas?

Also, I have compromised with C about not having the expensive Martenit21 test and waiting until our gender reveal US which feels like FOREVER away! About 9 more weeks. I suppose patience is a virtue :)!

Off to another topic of sex.... C and I have been lacking in that department. And it is all because of me, I know this. My poor poor wife. I am just never in the mood anymore. And it feels different (physically that is). C even said my cervix feels lower. I don't know but I need to make more of an effort because I do miss it lol. I never thought sex or rather lack of sex would be an issue during pregnancy. Hopefully my second trimester will magically fix this lol.

ANYWAY, we had our first OB/GYN appointment and I must say I was not at all happy with it. It feels so far from what I expected. The nurse doing the intake seemed annoyed that she was working. She started asking me all of these health questions and I had to stop her and remind her of how we conceived.  Most of the genetic questions needed to be directed towards C and they weren't. Frustrating to say the least. Then she says that we will basically have two US's the whole pregnancy. Which shocked the shit out of me because C and I have been getting weekly US's at our RE's office. I guess we are SUPER spoiled. Then we found at that it basically didn't matter who we picked for our OB because it sounds like we will never see him since the practice is so big. UGH we are just going to go with the flow but I am already feeling like we should have went elsewhere. Maybe next pregnancy we can explore home birth and midwives.

Well until next time, baby dust to all!

8 weeks 6 days

Wow, it's been a whole week! Well as you can see our little blob is looking more and more like a human baby every week. C and I love seeing the progress!! New this week, he/she has a visible umbilical cord!! That makes me happy for many reasons but mostly because that brings me closer to being able to stop the estrogen patches and the progesterone injections, WOO - HOO! The heart beat was a whopping 180 beats per minute! I can not believe that I will be 9 weeks tomorrow!! Tomorrow is also a big day because it will be our first OB appointment. Which is bittersweet because that means next week we will be saying our farewells to our RE office.

Now to the GENDER debacle. I know myself... I NEED TO KNOW! But C wants it to be a surprise (even though I think she is still on the fence with that). I can totally respect that decision for her and keep it a surprise (for her). But this also means I will be the only person to know the gender of our baby. That is going to be tough lol. I feel like we should just both find out for the first baby and make the second baby a surprise. What is everyone's thought's on this???

How far along? 8 weeks 6 days 

How big is baby? Green Olive

Total weight gain/loss: One pound up 

Maternity Clothes: Not wearing them yet.

Have you started to show yet? Starting to but it is mostly bloating.

Sleep: I could sleep ALL day!

Best moment this week: Seeing my baby grow :)

Miss Anything? Lunch meat sandwiches!

Movement: None.

Food Cravings: Nothing much.

Anything make you queasy or sick? Nothing specific just a sense of nausea mostly in the morning or when my belly is empty.

Gender prediction:  Boy

Symptoms: Same as last week, but not bad... I can't complain.

Major purchases this week? Nada

Looking forward to: First OB appt tomorrow, and last RE appt weds.