25 Weeks and Strange Occurences at the Gym

On Friday I hit the 25 week mark.  Every day this whole thing gets a little more real, especially as I'm starting to move slower and feel a lot bigger.  A couple of interesting/not fun incidents happened this week after I worked out.  To give a little background, I work out over lunch on most week days, usually for 30 minutes or so on a cardio machine.  Well, on Tuesday, I went as usual, and worked out on the elliptical machine.  As I was doing my usual workout, I felt much more tired than usual and a lot more hot as well.  So, I slowed way down and decided to call it a day.  I walked back to work feeling really yucky, just very worn out, unsteady, and shaky.  I sat down and ate lunch and started to feel better within about 20 minutes. 

So, in true Amy fashion, I was determined to go again to work out on Wednesday.  I was sure that whatever ailed me on Tuesday was a fluke and I'd be fine on the next try.  Not so.  Again, I work out on the elliptical, and even with lessening the resistance and slowing down, I still feel super run down and tired.  Yet again, I call it a day and walk back to work.  On the walk in, I run into 2 coworkers and talk to them as we're about to get on the elevator.  As I get ready to get on the elevator, I feel like I'm about to fall over.  I never feel like that, other than maybe the time I ran 8 miles in super hot weather.  I think I scared my coworkers a lot, so they helped me back upstairs to my office.  The feeling again passed after sitting down for a while and eating lunch. 

I called my doctor's office and they didn't seem too worried.  They said I was fine to keep going, just to bring water with me and drink it while working out and to take breaks when I needed.  Ok, point taken.  So, on Thursday, it's attempt #3 to work out without feeling like I'm going to pass out.  I come armed with lots of water, a protein bar, and an orange.  I drank water throughout the workout, kept the resistance low, and ate the protein bar immediately afterwards.  Success!  I didn't feel sick this time afterwards.  I was really glad to know that I can still work out, just maybe not at the same intensity I'm used to.  We'll see how I hold up in the remaining months!  By the end, I may have to be ok with just walking from point A to point B. 

Other than the work out incidents, though, I'm feeling great, which I'm very thankful for.  I've been so blessed to be in good health. 

And, finally, here's an updated picture of me.  Here I'm at 25 weeks, 2 days (on 5/23). 

Roshambeaux Smith?

We're fervently trying to settle on a name, but thus far, we haven't made any decisions.  Thankfully, we have similar taste.  We both like traditional names, and we agree that because of how common our last name is, we're trying to go for a less common name.  This is no small feat!  So many traditional names that we love are super common, and it's been hard to find a less common traditional name that we both really like.  So, we'll see where we get, but we definitely haven't made a decision yet.

I don't know what the procedures are now, but when I used to work in my dad's office over the summers, multiple times I came across charts where the patient's first name was listed as "Baby Boy."  Not kidding.  I thought it couldn't be real back then, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't make something like that up and put it in someone's medical record.  Apparently "baby boy" or "baby girl" were the names given by default when parents hadn't decided on a name in time to leave the hospital with the baby. 

For now, this baby will continued to be called Roshambeaux. Hopefully we'll finalize a name soon, because I'm pretty sure he won't appreciate it if he ends up with Roshambeaux or "baby boy" as his permanent name by default.

Like a vintage (I mean rhinestone) cowboy...

We started planning the nursery just about the minute we found out it was a boy.  Since all the time leading up to the 20 week ultrasound I'd assured myself it was a girl, I hadn't thought much about themes for a boy's nursery.  But, now that we know it's a boy, there's no turning back, and I know as much as I love pink, there's no way it's going to make it into this boy's nursery. 

So we started by picking out furniture.  We went to baby's first furniture and were able to settle on something pretty quickly.  Here's what we ordered:

This is the crib, and we ordered it in the color pictured (an antique black).

Here's the hutch and dresser: 

We love the classic look of the furniture, and we hope/plan that this furniture will last for a long, long time.  The crib converts all the way to a full bed, so this boy is going to get many years of sleep time in this bed.  We ordered the furniture in mid-April, and it was supposed to be ready in 5-6 weeks, so we should be getting it very soon. 

The theme we're going for is vintage cowboy, and the colors I'd like to use are shades of aqua blue, rusty orange/red, and chocolate brown.  I would have loved to find crib bedding already done in this theme and colors, but I've yet to find something that fits the vision in my head, so it looks like we'll be having the bedding made.  I come from a long line of champion shoppers, so I'm hoping that with my mom and sister's help, we'll be able to settle on something very soon.   

I've found a few pictures of nurseries that I like.  Here's a color scheme I love:

Here are some super cute cowboy themed nurseries, just not quite in the color scheme I want:

Here are a few of the fabrics I'm considering:

And here's a lamp and chandelier that I'd love to find a way to make:

I'll keep you posted once I finally decide on fabrics and get the bedding ordered.  Hopefully it won't be long now!  And if anyone has input on good websites for fabric or baby bedding, please let me know. 

Week 24

Yesterday I had my 24 week appointment.  This was another very quick appointment.  They checked my blood pressure, weight, and listened to the baby's heart beat.  I was really glad about my weight.  Let's just say I went a bit food crazy at the beginning of my pregnancy, so now I'm focusing on making sure I stay within the recommended weight gain allowances for the remaining weeks.  I did really well this past month, so I'm glad my hard work and restraint paid off. 

One new thing they did was measure my belly from top to bottom.  I'm not completely sure the significance of this, but I'm pretty sure the number of centimeters your belly measures is supposed to be about the same as the number of weeks along you are.  For me, it was right on par.  My belly measured 24 centimeters, and I was exactly 24 weeks along on the day of the appointment.  I guess this means that at the end of the pregnancy, my belly should be measuing about 40 centimeters...  Yikes! 

Overall, everything looked great.  Next appointment, I'll take the glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes.  I've heard the glucose drink is not very tasty, so that will be an interesting experience.  I'm praying hard I don't have gestational diabetes- mainly because I know it's not good for me or the baby, but also because I am NOT a happy camper if I am not allowed free reign to eat lots and lots of carbs.  Carbs and I are good friends. 

I'm still working out 5-6 times a week, and in general, enjoying it. Using the elliptical machine feels just about normal to me, but running became a lot more difficult right about when I hit 20 weeks. If I go slow enough, it's fine, but if I go anywhere above a really slow jog, it's not pleasant at all. So, if you see a pregnant lady jogging really really really slowly, possibly also with an impatient dog, it's probably me! I'm going to keep it up for as long as I can; hopefully it will be for many more weeks. 

To sum it up, at 24 weeks, I'm defintiely feeling large, but overall, doing great.  I need to post a new belly picture soon, so hopefully I'll get that done this weekend.

And it's a....

BOY! 

We went to have the 20 week ultrasound on April 13th.  As advised by my friend Katy, I made sure to drink something sugary beforehand.  My beverage of choice was orange Fanta, and wow, this baby didn't know what to make of it.  I don't usually drink soda unless it's diet, and haven't been drinking even diet soda throughout the pregnancy (ok, fine, maybe I did have 1 diet coke in a moment of weakness).  So I think baby Smith was a little surprised by the all sugar and carbonation.  He was moving around like crazy right at the time of the appointment.  I got a little worried that the sugar was going to wear off; they were running over an hour behind on their schedule.  But, come ultrasound time, thankfully, baby was still very active. 

The first part of the ultrasound, I was with the ultrasound technician by myself.  She took all of the needed measurements, and it was so fun getting to see baby for so long.  The technician did check the anatomy to determine if it was a boy or a girl, but since Wyatt wasn't in the room with me yet, I opted to wait until he joined me to find out. 

At this point, Wyatt was allowed into the room.  The radiologist came in and did a detailed scan of the heart.  He said that at this point in the pregnancy, the baby's heart is the size of your pinky fingernail.  Amazing!  He zoomed in on the heart and was able to show us how the blood was flowing into the different chambers of the heart and in different directions.  It's so amazing how intricate the human body is, even at this stage, and how we as humans have absolutely no control over or part in it.  God is definitely a god of creation and details!

After the radiologist gave us the thumbs up and said everything looked good, it was time for the big reveal.  The ultrasound technician gave Wyatt a look at the baby and showed him hands, feet and head.  During this part, the technician caught baby pulling on the umbilical cord, and we were able to see it too.  I'm pretty sure baby was yanking in an effort to get more orange Fanta, but I'd run out of my supply by that point.  Sorry baby!

Finally, the moment arrived, and the ultrasound technician showed us that it was definitely a boy!  I was pretty shocked.  I told myself beforehand that I didn't know what it was and I was happy either way, and while the latter was and still is true, I think I was expecting a girl more than I'd admitted to myself.  I don't know why, but I'd convinced myself that it was a girl, so when she said it was definitely a boy, I asked "are you sure?"  Almost all of our friends and family have boys, so I guess in my mind, assuming the odds amongst our circle of friends and family are collective, it was likely to be a girl.  But, not so!  It's a boy, and although it took me a while to get used to the idea, we are definitely excited and beyond blessed. 

Wyatt is excited to have a future hunting, fishing, and general man-activity partner, and I'm so excited just to get to know this baby boy and to figure out what boys are all about. 

Here are some pictures from the ultrasound:

The feet...

Hands...

3d profile...looks a little funny, but it's fun to see his face...

Profile...

And another profile.  It looks like he's either sucking his thumb here or ready to punch something.

 After the ultrasound, we went for our regular appointment with the doctor, and it was very quick.  They took my blood pressure, listened to the baby's heart beat, and checked my weight (my least favorite part).  My doctor reviewed the ultrasound report and said everything looked great! 

We then sent out mass text messages to let people know the news, which was a lot of fun.  We called my parents who were still in Israel on a trip, and they were very excited. 

Now it's on to picking out names, nursery themes, furniture, and all that other fun stuff.  Lots of decisions to be made!  We are excited and so thankful.