• Total weight gained: +3.6lbs total (+.6lbs this week)
• Workouts:  Not enough. Zero swims and 11.5 miles on foot
• Cravings:  Sour, chewy, fruity candy! Think gushers and sour ropes! omnomnom
• Goal for Next Week:  More veggies. More protein. Less sugar
• Movement: I feel him a few times every day. Hes taken to dancing on my bladder lately. Rude.
  Have you started to show yet: 2 strangers asked me if I was pregnant/commented on the belly this week! It made me day
  Looking forward to: Meeting our son

This pregnancy is moving right along!!

• Total weight gained: +3lbs total from lowest pregnancy weight. Bags and bags of oreos helped
• Workouts:  SEVEN. 2 swims, 5 walk/hikes and a 30 min prenatal DVD. Total distance covered: 2300 m in pool, 18.11 on land
• Cravings:  Oreos. And popcorn.
• Goal for Next Week:  Keep up the exercise, eat more veggies!!! <— HOLD ME TO THIS! No more Oreos! More protein too!
• Movement: I feel him a few times every day. Hes taken to dancing on my bladder lately. Rude.
  Have you started to show yet: I’m bigger but it still doesn’t really look like a preggo belly to me (though while passing a car window on our walk this morning I was surprised by how pregnant I looked)
  Looking forward to: Meeting our son

And then I heard of the old wive’s tales.  I was told at just 8 weeks how the constant nausea and morning sickness usually meant a boy. I read how with girls you tend to crave sugar, with boys salt.  Pregnancy made my sweet teeth disappear and replaced them with a new undying affinity for salt and SPICY. I just had this guttural feeling that baby might in fact be a boy. 

As time went on the feeling became stronger. Most of it was unconscious. I’d find myself absentmindedly referring to baby as “he” and “him”.

At 16 weeks we peeked at the gender and with 80% certainly Baby Parks became a He. I cried because I felt the bond. I felt the truth in it all. I knew before they told us.

At 18 weeks we had our official anatomy u/s and confirmed that we are expecting our first son.

We confirmed what we already had known. We’d be expecting Jackson Wyatt Parks in August 2012

I could not be more ecstatic! But I have to be 100% honest. There’s a part of me that wonders if it’s real. I felt so certain for the past few weeks and then I heard of so many other people having incorrect gender screens.  Being told they’re have one gender and ending up with the other. I will love all of our children no matter what, but a part of me wonders if in a few weeks we might get that same shocking news. That they made a mistake. I still have that gut feeling that it’s a little boy bouncing around on my bladder and playing hockey with my kidneys but there’s still that little part that thinks about those vivid dreams and wonders. We won’t have another sonogram until 28 weeks (10 weeks from now!). So until proven otherwise we’ll continue expecting Jax, singing to him and referring to him as our “little guy” and “baby boy”. I will say though that if we are right and this is our first son, I KNOW, despite the lack of females on Bry’s side of the family, that we will one day have that beautiful little girl I’ve dreampt about.

Week 16 was the most difficult emotionally so far. Bry got a new job, and some less than ideal offers for other jobs, I spent 4 lovely hours sitting on a hard metal bench at the DMV, etc. etc. Despite all the tears (I probably cried AT LEAST once a day this week) exercise was up and revving.  Instead of taking my frustrations out by eating my emotions, I worked them out.  Monday I topped my longest pregnant swim (1300 meters). I had the energy to keep going and the drive but Baby Boy kept kicking me “No mas, Mama. No mas” so I submitted and listening to my wiser half. The weather has been so stunning lately that I stayed away from the indoor pool and opted for lots of walking with Lily face. She’s adored it! She’s gotten significantly better walking on a leash too. Now I need to train her not to go ballistic every time a biker goes by (or our future use of the stroller). She’s a giant wimp.

Bry has today off so I actually have a swimming partner for the day. I’m excited! It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to exercise together. We did walk 5.5 miles on Tuesday exploring the zoo. It was fun! I love days where “exercise” is masked as fun.

Week 16: The Breakdown

• Total weight gained: +.75 lbs from last week. This probably has a great deal to do with the bag of Reese’s eggs I managed to devour in the span of 30 hours
• Workouts:  Five. 2 swims, 3 walk/hikes. Total distance covered: 2000m in the pool, 9.38mi on land
• Cravings:  Chocolate. Hence the Reese’s egg episode above
• Maternity Items Purchased:  2 tops, 1 pair of capris leggings and 1 pair of SHORTS! LOVE LOVE LOVE! All courtesy of my mommy. She’s a lifesaver!
• Goal for Next Week:  Keep up the exercise, eat more veggies!!! <— HOLD ME TO THIS! No more Reese’s.
• Movement: I feel him more almost once a day!
  Have you started to show yet: Everyone else says yes. I think I’m in that awkward stage between looking  like I overate on Reese’s eggs and actually being preggo.
  Looking forward to: Confirming it’s a baby boy swimming around in there

Week 15 already?! Holy time’s beginning to fly! And I couldn’t be happier about being that much closer to meeting the peanut

This is the last week I can be lazy and use fingers to mark weeks. Next week it’s back to using the white board (gotta dig it out of our moving stuff) since I don’t have 6 fingers on one hand

• Total weight gained:  -1.5 lbs from last week? Still +1 total lbs from lowest pre-preg weight.
  
• Workouts:  Four again. Swam 3 days and went on 2 long walks/hikes with the Lileroni. It’s been gorgeous here lately!
• Cravings:  Anything greek. Namely for the yogurt sauce. Also french fries. Baby wants them, don’t judge! Fruit fruit, lots and lots o’ fruit
• Aversions: Meat. Get away from me with that chicken! And mushrooms still. Blech. Fungi. And this is coming from a former mushroom lover. Now just the look makes me want to vomit into the nearest wastebin
• Maternity Items Purchased:  2 more tops. That bump is a growin’! I’m gonna have to up my supply. Even my bigger pre-preg shirts don’t fit *sniff*
• Goal for Next Week:  Keep up the exercise, eat more veggies! <— I’m keeping this one

Baby and I still love the pool. We’ve been little fish lately! Swooooooooooosh

Don’t let the form fitting suit fool you, there’s a bump there!

Seeeeee! Even black can’t hide that bump-a-lump

We had another OB appt this week. Started out sitting on a table getting gooked up with gel so the doc could find baby’s ticker. Apparently my placenta was being rather noisy and it was hard to heard the thumps over the whooshing noise but finally there was that strong, beautiful beat of our baby’s heart thumping away. Ahhh what a miracle. I replaced my gigantic belly band from my maternity pants over my belly and readjusted my shirt to find out WE GOT TO GET ANOTHER SONOGRAM! I was getting nervous when we didn’t do that first. The upside to having had surgery down yonder once upon a time is that the docs are more caution about my cervical lining which = more sonograms. Sign me up! And before you think I’m an irresponsible mama-to-be there really are no concerns since if there was going to be a problemo it’d have surfaced by now (plus I’m young as a horse! I mean, young and strong as a horse)

Say hi baby! (Excuse the blurriness. In an interest to watch baby wiggle & jiggle I ate a brownie before our appt.)

Thump thump. Thump.

Baby footsie

And then the tech asked “Are you going to find out the gender?” YES! We both exclaimed. “Well, want me to tell you what I think it is? Don’t quote me on it!”

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Meet our beautiful [80% sure] baby BOY!

She looked around a bit more and you could definitely see the little somethin’, somethin’ in between baby’s legs! No wonder the past few weeks I’ve kept referring to baby as “him” and “he”. We go back in 2 weeks for our official anatomy scan but I’m bankin’ on the fact that baby Parks is in fact a boy.

Highlights of this week:

Wearing my “running for two” tank to sport the bump

This shirt is INCREDIBLE! If I was a millionaire I’d buy at least 2 more just like it (except plain colors since I’d wear them even when not exercising). It’s so comfortable and stays in place without riding up.

Wearing it was exciting not just because I got to sport the bump and because it showed the bump off nicely (and that the bump is visible enough to be seen!) but because it was baby and I’s first run since week 7. It wasn’t a pretty run by any standards and I cramped up during the 2nd mile and promptly stopped. Baby prefers swimming to say the least. Running might take a hiatus until after baby comes.  Thirdly it was exciting because it meant it was warm enough (65!) to wear a tank top outside. Yippee! I’ve been waiting for you, Spring.

I’ve been back in the kitchen whipping up recipes. First up, Spinach Quiche

And last night I whipped up some Cranberry Banana Nut Bread

This week we also: Legally changed my name at the Social Security office, went on 4 walks with Lily to get her sillies out, ate sushi once (yum!), bought Nalgene bottles at REI using gift cards from Christmas (they make drinking water throughout the day SO much easier), did 3 loads of laundry and 2 loads of dishes, watched 4 episodes of Bones, finished the series finale of Lie to Me, finished a book and got 1/3 way through the 3rd, swam 3 times and ran once and showed off the bump to take my mommy out to a belated birthday dinner

Before we ever found out we were pregnant, and even before we were engaged! Bry and I booked a cruise as a graduation present to each other and an escape before the realities of the working “real” world began.  In early October, shortly before we decided to embark on this journey of parenthood by going off BC, Bry went to a GIS seminar on his college campus. I tagged along since we were leaving directly afterward for a weekend in the Guadalupe Mountains. While Bry learned about GIS, I researched cruises. I knew I wanted to go on Royal Caribbean. I’d only ever been on one cruise before, my senior year of HS with my mommy, and we absolutely loved Royal Caribbean. It also suited Bry and I better than the other cruiselines because it catered to an older crowd. Despite being in our early 20′s we are both old souls and find it easier to befriend older people rather than their younger counterparts. We’re more mature than most our age

We decided January would be the perfect month. Right after gradation and the holidays and before our move to Maryland scheduled for February.  I looked at our options for leaving from Galveston since it was the closest port of call to us, only a 4 hour drive. Some of our options included destinations in St. Thomas, the Bahamas and Grand Caymens.  The first 2 I’d already been to and the latter Bry went to last Christmas. We wanted a 7 night getaway that would be firsts for both of us.  I found a cruise leaving from Galveston in mid January with stops in Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico (we’d both been to Mexico previously but never Cozumel). Bry agreed it sounded perfect and with the click of a few buttons I purchased and confirmed our caribbean cruise.

Before we knew it cruise week was upon us. We’d just found out I was pregnant 2 weeks beforehand and I was enjoying the loveliness of morning sickness and it’s 24/7 presence.  We left as scheduled with a few new goodies in hand: seabands, nausea meds, saltine crackers and peppermints that my father in law recommended.

Our first port of call was Honduras where we enjoyed a taxi ride around the island by a native guide. It was the only port where we got to learn the history and truly experience, first-hand, the life of the people of Honduras. It was eye-opening and humbling to learn that most never leave the small island, even to see the mainland of Honduras.

We had a wonderful day exploring the island and became even more thankful for all the places we’ve been lucky enough to see around the world.

Our second port of call was Belize City, Belize. We had tickets for snorkeling which luckily, I was still able to participate in despite carrying a baby (it was one of my mom’s Christmas presents to us. Thanks mom!). One of the things I really wanted to do in Belize was scuba dive but alas, you are not allowed to when you’re pregnant. So at the very least I wanted to snorkel the reef off the coast since it’s the largest in the western hemisphere!

Bry & I had a blast snorkeling! It was absolutely gorgeous. I still have to say diving in St. Lucia yielded much better views but the company couldn’t be beat in Belize. Husband and baby on board. What more could a girl ask for? As soon as we finished snorkeling the skies opened up. Bry and I just sat on the boat and talked to another couple who had actually lived in DC for awhile and both worked for homeland security (my dream job!).

Third port of call was Cozumel. We got off only for about a half hour or so since in Belize I was feeling the affects of the heat and started to feel a bit faint before the boat arrived.  We wanted to take it easy in Mexico and take advantage of some of the things the ship had to offer while it was docked (such a putt-putt!).

Despite our short outing we managed to find a gorgeous turquoise pendant for me to wear at our big wedding in October. It’s perfect!

The rest of our cruise consisted of a lot of lounging in our room. I was sick most of the time thanks to a never before experienced sea sickness (and I grew up sailing ever summer) thanks to pregnancy and a new knowledge of trying to hightail it to the bathroom before regurgitating meals.  We only went to formal dinner three times, both formal nights and the first night on board.

We had 8:30pm seating and being pregnant I didn’t last that long most nights. Despite big lunches and snacks of pizza and sandwiches with green apples scattered about I was still ravenous by 6pm so most nights we went to the buffet dinner so we could eat at a more reasonable 6:30. Even then I’d feel sick and often couldn’t eat more than some rice with soy sauce or pasta. I tried though! After dinner we spent a lot of time in our room watching CNN and Fox News following the primary. We don’t have TV in our house so it was a luxury we utilized.We also played a lot of UNO and surprisingly I didn’t read much since the rocking of the ship made me sick without adding reading to the mix.

Overall we had a great time though we’d never travel during the first trimester again. Lesson learned

It’s still hard to believe that the next time we travel internationally we’ll be a family of 3!

13 weeks 5 days

The doctor completely understood. First time parents often freak out over little things.  He calmed us a lot reminding us that I wasn’t having any cramping, spotting or other pains that would precede a miscarriage.  He drew my blood and sent us home to continue our wait.

Instead of spending New Years like most young 20s, we spent it like parents-to-be.  We ate dinner at Mama Fu’s a delicious Asian restaurant with fresh food and delicious choices followed by a movie.  “We bought a zoo” was actually one of the best movies either of us had ever seen. I laughed. I cried. I showed my true pregnant colors. We got out at 9pm and ate some Amy’s ice cream then went home to crash.  No worries, we set our alarms for 11:59pm so we could still get in our New Years kiss

The next morning we went to Bry’s parent’s house to spend New Years day.  The entire day was overshadowed by trying to keep the biggest secret of our lives and wait for the results of the blood test. Around noon, it came.  My results had nearly tripled! A fantastic sign that despite all our worries baby was growing just fine. We had originally agreed to wait until our first u/s the following Friday to spill the beans to our family but couldn’t contain it any longer once the good results came back.

Instead, as we sat around the kitchen table eating black-eyed peas and cabbage Bry started a conversation. “So dad, what are your New Year’s Resolutions?” I kept my head down with a smile knowing where it was going. I’m terrible at secret keeping. Everyone went around the table and then his mom asked him “Well Bry, what are yours?”

“Well, obviously I want to be the best husband possible and I also want to be the best father possible…”

A few seconds passed and his mom responded, voice slightly shaking “…wait?…” Bry: “We’re pregnant!”

The entire table tears up, Bry’s parents and his brother.  It was a moment we’d all been waiting a long time for. Next, we called my mom. She’d known we were going to the doctor about my hair loss and seeing as we’re extremely close, I had to avoid her for the 3 days between breaking the news and finding out. “Well mom, the results came back…”, Mom: “yeah? What is it?”, “I’m pregnant!” She was thrilled.

We waited until Friday, our first ultrasound to tell the rest of our families. The appointment was amazing! Everything looked great and baby was growing perfectly with a steady and strong heartbeat at just about 7 weeks. We were given a due date at the end of August. Another August birthday for the Parks’ clan (Lily: August 1, Bry: August 13, Me: August 14, My dad: August 15) and now baby.

And mama:

After months of dating, already purchasing an engagement ring and planning a wedding before Bry officially popped the question and living together for months Bry and I had a serious baby talk in November 2011.  I’d had problems with infertility in the past and we knew that there was a good chance it would take us a very long time to get  pregnant on our own, if it was possible at all without fertility meds/procedures.  We were both ready to start trying with the knowledge that it could take well over a year, or it could happen right away.

We decided to go off BC. On November 13, I had my first period off BC.  In the past I’d gone off the pill and never ovulated on my own or had a period without meds. So when 4 weeks passed without Aunt Flo, we didn’t think anything of it.  We kept on living our lives as usual. We celebrating Bry’s graduation with burgers and beer, celebrated our engagement with margaritas and enjoyed our fair share of raw sushi when visiting my mommy over Christmas.

Before going to visit my mom I’d noticed I was getting up at night a lot more frequently to use the bano despite the fact that I wasn’t drinking very much during the day at all (I know, bad!).  I also woke up one morning to horrible swollen gums with we attributed to eating chips the day before. In Maryland, I’d sleep 12 hours a night and still be tired for a nap in the middle of the day which was very uncharacteristic of me. I figured I was just stressed from traveling and everything going on or that I was coming down with a cold. But the entire stay in MD my mom kept making pregnancy references.  “Are you craving pickles?” she’d constantly ask. Bry and I would look at each other but we were certain I wasn’t actually pregnant. We’d just gone off BC…

We flew home Dec 28th and awoke bright and early the morning of the 29th for a doctor’s appt. I’d scheduled it because I’d been losing a lot of hair lately. The comments my mom made over the past week rang loudly in my head. We’d bought a pack of cheap pregnancy tests when we first decided to get off BC and I decided to use one.  What could it hurt? Bry was about to start brushing his teeth and I told him I wanted to test with first morning urine. I asked if he wanted to stay in the bathroom or leave until I was finished. He said he wanted to wait.

I took the test and watched as the moisture moved across the test and a line appeared. I remember thinking “that line is way too close to the testing mark to be a control..” and then a second line appeared.  I stared at it stunned, mouth agape and then “I’m freaking pregnant!” came out of my mouth. Bry dropped his toothbrush in the sink and embraced me as I stared at myself in the mirror repeating over and over “I’m pregnant! OMG I’m pregnant!”

I took 4 tests before believing it. Bry even took one (the one on the left) to be a control. We went out to Walgreens to buy the fancy ones that stated “pregnant” or “not pregnant”. Sure enough, within seconds it blared back PREGNANT!

We went to the doctor’s as planned where they drew blood and confirmed I was indeed knocked up My doctor assured me that the hormonal changes of pregnancy could be attributed to the hair loss and the frequent trips to the bathroom were a common symptom of early pregnancy.

In just a few hours our lives had changed forever. What I thought might not ever be attainable, was. The one dream I’d always had, to become a mother, had already come true.  In the blink of an eye our world changed in the best possible way.