Pregnancy Update

I believe it is about time I start updating my blog regularly. One day after I have Baby Bristol, I will wish I had kept record of how my pregnancy had gone. I will have to back track a little and hopefully remember (which I have a hard time doing these days) the highlights of a few weeks back, so here goes.

At 16 weeks I went in for my monthly visit. Josh was unable to go because work had been pretty crazy. I had gained 4 pounds, since my last visit which made a total of 5. I met with Dr. Wells and was able to hear the heartbeat. The last time we had went to the doctor, I was 12 weeks and it took the doctor a few minutes to find her heartbeat, which was making me really nervous. It was finally found and I was relieved. Well at 16 weeks, when Dr. Wells placed the monitor on my growing belly, it was loud and clear. I wanted Josh to be there so badly because I knew he would have been amazed at how loud it was. Dr. Wells also asked if I had felt the baby move. Of course I hadn't and he told me not to worry that I would probably feel some movement in a next couple of weeks.

As the weeks past, I was beginning to feel better. At the start of my pregnancy, I was put on Prometrium which was progesterone because my levels were low. I believe this was making me feel pretty yucky in the mornings along with the normal pregnancy symptoms. Eating toast for breakfast was getting old and finally when I was taken off the Prometrium, the yuckiness began to fade. On the other hand, being tired was part of my daily routine. If you knew me prior to being pregnant, you knew I was never a night owl, well now it is even worse. My bedtime usually ranges from about 8:30-9:30. I would say it is closer to 8:30 the majority of the time. I lay in Josh's lap on the couch while he plays with my hair and then I am usually asleep within about 5 minutes.

During the 18th week, Josh and I were laying in bed. While on my back, I felt a "thump" and a thought crossed my mind, "Is that the baby?". Then a couple seconds later another "thump" and I immediately knew. When I told Josh what I had felt he said, "It wasn't the baby, it was probably gas." I knew he was joking and that the "thump" I had felt was most definitely the little baby growing inside of me. After that night I began to feel more and more "thumps". It was such an amazing feeling. As I sit here and type our precious baby girl is kicking away inside my belly. Wow, what a great God we serve!

At the 20 week appointment we went in for the second ultrasound. I had waited for this day since I found out I was pregnant. I wanted to know the gender of our baby. Those people who don't find out what their having...more power to you because I could not do it. I went in to be weighed and I had gained 4 more pounds, which made a total of 9 pounds. During the ultrasound, the tech said everything looked wonderful and that the baby seemed healthy. She was showing us the monitor and she tried for probably 15 minutes to find the baby's gender. Well "little one" didn't want to cooperate. It was sitting in the breech position and on its feet. So basically we were unable to know the baby's gender and they said it would cost us $200 to have another ultrasound. Josh was SO upset and I was too of course. We were elated that the baby was healthy, but disappointed that he still didn't know the sex of our baby. We had to tell our parents and friends that we didn't know the gender and they didn't believe us, but soon realized we weren't lying.

My friend Christen told me about a place called Sneak Peek Studios. They do ultrasounds for really cheap and will look for the baby's gender for an hour if need be. So I called and got the next available appointment. Within three minutes of the tech, placing the monitor on my belly, she announced that we were having a girl! I was so excited. Bows, dresses and frill filled my mind. I think Josh was a little nervous knowing he would have a girl, but was glad to know what she was.

Since that appointment, we finally agreed on a name. Josh said that if it was girl he wanted to name her Bristol and I wanted to name her Claire after my great grandmother. Well the I caved and her name will be Bristol Claire. It has really grown on me and because I hear so many names at school, her name really stands out as being different. How do I feel? I have been feeling really good thus far. I will get occasional cramps in my legs, my syactic nerve will catch sometimes, and my back has begin to hurt after standing for long periods of time. I haven't had any particular food cravings. In the beginning, I craved tomatoes or anything with red sauce, but now I eat just about anything. I think I would get the refrigerator if I could. All in all, I have had a wonderful 22 weeks of pregnancy. I will continue to keep you updated on the latest news. Continue to pray that Bristol stays healthy and that we will have a great delivery. I can't wait until April to see our precious baby girl that God has blessed us with!

Here are few picture of the last several weeks.