32 Weeks

So this past week has been a pretty busy one. My mom flew into Charleston last Saturday and we went to NC for my baby shower that was re-scheduled from Christmas. It was a quick trip because we were back in Charleston on Monday, but it was a lot of fun and I got to see some of my relatives from my dad's side of the family that we didn't see at Christmas. My aunt Rose had the shower at her house so I would like to thank her for letting us take over for a few hours. I would also like to thank everyone else, like Alicea, who put a lot into making it happen. And, of course, thanks again to everyone for all the wonderful gifts!

We all sat around after opening gifts and everyone told stories about themselves being pregnant or someone they knew. Everyone has such different experiences and all I have to say is that I am nervous about whats to come and I hope that it's a quick process. For one, I don't like pain and two, I don't want to think about the recovery. The two dreams I've had about going through labor have had it go by extremely fast and William is born before anyone has time to do anything. That's what I'm telling myself it will be like :) None the less, I know women have babies everyday and if they're like our grandmothers, they have at least 5 and they make it through it so I suppose I will.

Here are some pictures from the shower and yes, I did make my own cake :) :

On Monday, after we got back we went to the doctor's appointment I had and my mom was able to meet our doctor. She really liked her and obviously hopes that she is the one on call when I deliver. The appointment was just a check-up, but as I mentioned in the previous blog about measuring small, well, I still am....I am 32 weeks along now so I should be measuring 32 cm, but I am still only at 29 cm. Next Monday, we go back for an ultrasound to make sure everything is ok. Dr. Gregory isn't concerned about anything since everything has gone smoothly so far with the pregnancy, but she just wants to check everything out and make sure William is ok. I am not too concerned about it yet because he seems to be on the same schedule of boxing and kicking in my stomach and I haven't been feeling any different. The other thing that didn't change between the two visits was my weight - I was actually a pound less this time. I've been told, though, that William can be gaining weight while I do not. Who knows. I am extremely excited to get to see him again and probably won't be able to sleep on Sunday night! I'll be sure to post new pics from the ultrasound next week!

We go to our first baby class this week and we get to start off with Breastfeeding. It will be a 2 hour class so, I'm sure we'll get all the information we need and see a few too many boobs in the process. Our friends Amber and Justin told us about the video that gets played over and over again and about how they got cracked up over it. I still have yet to get a breast pump or even any bottle equipment or "breast equipment" (like nursing bras, etc.) so, hopefully, we'll have more of an idea of what to get after this class.

Well, that's it for now. It's time to actually start work this morning...I've got some red velvet to bake off. No weddings this week, but some other specialty cakes. Hope everyone is well!

31 Weeks

We made it out to the beach today!! It was a sunny 65 degrees out and was a beautiful day. Zoe actually agreed to be in the picture with me since she's been hiding from the camera in all my other pictures. She was also glad to get out of the neighborhood and go somewhere different for a change with her walk.

Since my last blog, we've been to another doctor's appointment and I'm continuing to do great. The only thing that did come up with this visit was the measurement of my uterus was a little off. They measure my belly everytime I go and I've been the same amount of centimeters as the current week I'm in, which is what you're supposed to be. Well, I measured 29 cm this time and I was turning 31 weeks the next day. The doctor said that she wasn't concerned at this point because she gives a 2cm gap either way on the measurement. At the next appointment, which is next Monday, she will measure me again to see if I'm still off and then probably do an ultrasound to make sure everything is ok with myself and William. He certainly lets me know that he's ok with all his moving around, but I would love to get to see him again if we needed to! I am curious to see how much bigger he is compared to the last ultrasound, which was at 20 weeks. We'll see what happens, though.

This week with work is looking to be a little more busy than we have been the last couple of weeks. We have a wedding and some other specialty cakes to do. Here is a cake that we did last week, though, that was a lot of fun to make:

The little boy actually specifically asked for the American flag to be added- how funny is that?! All the parts were completely edible and I'll be adding this one to our website with all the others I've posted on previous blogs.

Til next week! Hope everyone is doing well!

30 Weeks

Can anyone tell I'm trying to suck in?

Just kidding - it's not at all possible at this point!

We've realized that my belly can look so different just with the angle that we take the pictures and it never fails - everytime we see someone who hasn't seen me yet this far along, they always say I look smaller in person. All I have to say is that the camera does add at least 10lbs no matter if it's a tv or real camera!

Anyway, I was a slacker last week and didn't post anything. I've been feeling fine, just the usual tired and BIG. I've now got an "outie" belly button instead of an "innie" and when I look down, all I see is belly. William (what I'll call him now since we're still not telling the nickname) is getting stronger with his movements and I've had another "first" with him this past week : he's been getting the hiccups! I thought it was really strange at first because I was wondering what in the world he was doing in there that was so consistent with his moving. I later read and remembered hearing from previous preggies that he can get the hiccups. I almost feel bad for him when he has them because sometimes they can last a while, but who would've thought?!

It's also really weird when I can look down and see him moving so much that it looks like he's going to come through my stomach. Or when he's positioned in a way that makes my stomach look like it's sticking out more on one side than the other. Being pregnant is such an experience and our time is getting closer for when he'll arrive and I just can't wait to see what he looks like!

We've continued to work more on his room and had a problem with one of the pieces of furniture

that we're still waiting on the replacements for. After we get those, which is supposed to come this week, we can finally get all the furniture set and start putting away clothes and get the bedding on the crib.

We also received our wall decals that we ordered and put those up this weekend. Since we're not doing the typical themed nursery, we went really different with the decorations. The wall decals are different sized squares that we started out small with in one corner and gradually went out across the walls with the squares getting larger. The description probably isn't very good, but we'll try to take pictures of everything when we get it all done.

On Saturday night we went and saw our friends Amber and Justin, who have a 5 month old little boy named Jackson. We saw them in the hospital when he was first born so it was amazing to see how much he's changed and grown (and them as parents, too!). It was definitely eye-opening while we were there, to say the least. We had a great time with them, though, and would just like to be closer to friends like that.

Well, this week we have another doctor's appointment. I start going every 2 weeks now so on Thursday we'll see how we're progressing.

Til next week!

28 Weeks

So, here I am now 25 lbs heavier than when I first found out I was pregnant. I feel like it's more weight than that sometimes, but Will keeps reminding me that I'm supposed to gain the weight and that it's ok. I'm guessing I'll gain about 35-40lbs before it's all over with.

I had my glucola test today and I can thankfully say that I passed! I was shocked after all the sweets that I've not only been eating this entire pregnancy, but especially after Christmas. I checked out ok with everything else today, as well, and our little boy seems to be doing just fine, too. We heard the heartbeat today and also the movements he was making, which was almost funny because he was moving around so much a couple of times that you couldn't really hear his heart. Oh, and the orange drink I had to have before the test wasn't that bad either - I was really worried about how bad the taste was going to be so, it was a nice surprise when I took the first sip.

Well, we enjoyed our Christmas break and we were able to get out of town for a week! Our plans did get a little screwed up due to the big snow storm that came through, but we still got to see most everyone. We started the vacation by going to one of my grandmother's house first in North Carolina (my mom's mom) and stayed there until Wednesday. My parents and brother came to meet us on Monday, which we were thankful for because we didn't know if they were going to be able to come at all. We left Wed. and headed up to Maryland to see Will's family. We stayed with them until Monday and we were able to have a white Christmas! They originally got about 20 in. of snow so, as you can imagine, they still had some by the time we got up there. It was all gone by the time we left due to rain so Will never got to sled with Brienna, but we still enjoyed seeing it.

We did get a few baby items including the stroller/infant carrier I wanted and a nice video camera, which was a surprise. We were supposed to have a baby shower while in North Carolina, but it was cancelled due to the weather and other family members being snowed in. I am going to go back in the next couple of weeks for it, though, so, it will be nice to see everyone again and see the others we missed.

While we were away, we had a delivery of the furniture for the nursery come to the house. It was supposed to be delivered this week after we got back, but it wasn't. We've been putting it together tonight and last night and figuring out how we're going to set up the room - it's been fun, but also a BIG eye opener of what's to come!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year to come!

Here are some cakes we made before we left: We loved the grill!

26 Weeks

As my belly gets bigger, my face now gets bigger! Diana, one of the ladies from the alteration shop next to our shop, even said earlier this week when she saw me: "Your face is showing it now!" She is an older, Italian woman who will just tell you how it is, but she's hilarious. You have to appreciate the honesty from people.

This week has been busy for us...we've been getting ready for our trip, which means making sure we have everyone's gifts ready to go, working (of course), and we've completed a couple of things for the nursery. Will has really been the one working on the nursery with cleaning it up and putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls. We also had Stanley Steamer come and clean the carpet in that room so, we're ready for the furniture now! And speaking of furniture, I did order that earlier this week and it's scheduled to be here on the 30th. We got the crib, a larger dresser, a stand-up chest, and a nightstand and we can't wait to see it all! Once we get everything set up, I'll post some pictures.

Our little boy has continued to make his presence known by moving around so much, it seems like he never sleeps. I love it, though, and Will can feel him a lot more now, too! I'm continuing to do great with the pregnancy and am so thankful. Everyone pray that it stays on this path to the end!

Here is a picture of a groom's cake we did last week: It's a stack of law books, which were all half-sheet sized cakes (extremely heavy!) and fed 150 for the rehearsal dinner... who knows how big the wedding was! This week we have a Dr. Seuss book and a grill to make.

We look forward to seeing everyone at Christmas and hope everyone is doing well! Love to all!

25 Weeks

I have officially gained 20 pounds! We went to a dr.'s appointment on Monday and when I stepped on the scale the bottom of my mouth fell. I think I am starting to show it in my face now, which I'm not happy about. Despite this, the doc. said that I and our little boy are doing great and that my belly looks good. We got to hear the heartbeat and his movements are getting stronger and stronger - it feels like he's going to push through my stomach sometimes.

Also at our visit, we got our doc. back after her maternity leave, which we were very happy about. We told her we missed her and that the other doc. we saw was VERY different. She laughed and said that he had a totally different personality than she does.

It really makes a difference on who you see and how comfortable you feel so, we're hoping that when we actually go to the hospital to deliver we get either our doc. or someone like her. It will be the luck of the draw, though, because they all rotate who takes call.

At our next appointment, I will have the glucose test that will tell me if I have gestational diabetes. This will be right after Christmas so, hopefully, with all the sweets I'm sure I'll be eating, I won't test positive! I've continued to feel fine - I just get tired and my feet hurt at the end of the day. I've also been feeling pressure below my belly, which I think is due to all my standing (and growing). We mentioned it to the doc. and she said it was normal. I usually come home and sit for a while and I feel better.

In other news, we've been getting our Christmas shopping done. We are going to North Carolina this year so we will see everyone in my family, including both of my parents' sides of the family - and then we'll be heading up to Maryland to see Will's family. While we're in North Carolina, we will have our first baby shower, which we're sooo excited about!

This past weekend we went and registered at Target and Babies R'Us. While it was a lot of fun being able to "shoot" everything with the label gun, it was also very overwhelming trying to figure out what all we are going to need. Who knew that there were so many varieties of pasifiers (not sure if I spelled that right) and bottles and diaper bags and bath stuff and.....the list goes on. We did the best we could and the only two things we didn't put on the registry were diapers and clothes. We figured we're going to need those no matter what so, if anyone wants to get that, feel free to pick out whatever you'd like.

Well, it's almost time for bed so, I hope everyone is well! Can't wait to see everyone in a couple of weeks!

Oh, here is the fire truck cake we did last weekend:

24 Weeks

As you can see, we have our Christmas tree up! Will started everything and I just finished putting the ornaments on it earlier tonight. Next year, we'll be adding "baby's 1st Christmas" ornaments to it and I'm already excited!

We had a great Thanksgiving at my parents house in Tennessee - lots of food and baby goodies! And now that they know what the sex is, I can finally announce it on the blog: IT'S A BOY!!!!!

We can also finally stop referring to him as "the baby" or "it." I tried to upload the video that I took when my mom was cutting into the cake, but I'm not too good with computer technology so, I couldn't figure it out. The minute we got to my parent's house, my mom was asking for the cake - there was no waiting for dessert later that night. We asked them to guess what they thought it was before they cut into the cake and my mom and brother actually guessed a boy. My dad didn't guess because he said he really didn't care as long as we were both healthy.

Since it is a boy, though, we got all the hand-me-downs from my brother's son. We came home with a car seat, rocking chair, so many clothes, and a high chair. The high chair was a surprise gift my parents got us and it's not a typical high chair...all of our chairs at our house are the higher "bar" height chairs so, my mom found a high chair that doesn't have legs and you can use it on any chair you already have. Not sure if I made sense, but it will be nice to use and take with us on vacations if we need to. Thanks for everything mom and dad!

Also, now that everyone knows we're having a boy, we will going to register this weekend. We will be going to Babies R' Us and Target, most likely. It's getting to be crunch time and we are also trying to get the nursery started. As I mentioned last week, we got the bedding for the crib so we will be ordering the bed and bedroom furniture within the next week or so, hopefully.

It's all so overwhelming and exciting at the same time! AHHH! :)

I've been feeling great now that I'm over the horrible cold I had. I still get tired, but that's to be expected. And my mom actually told me I look smaller in person than I do in my pictures so that was good to hear! Other people that have seen me, as well, can't believe how far along I am because they thing I still look so small - I certainly don't feel like it, though! It's almost time to go shopping again!

Well, that's it for now. Hope everyone else had a good Thanksgiving!

Here are a couple of pics of cakes we've done. The cake with the anchor was done before we left and the turquoise cake was done today for a big 'event planners luncheon' we went to.