Well here is a belly picture from 24 weeks 3 days. Please excuse the old bleach-stained (not maternity) shirt. I cleaned house today.
Would you believe that's the first belly picture we've gotten? Sad.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
A Picture of the Baby Belly
Well here is a belly picture from 24 weeks 3 days. Please excuse the old bleach-stained (not maternity) shirt. I cleaned house today.
Would you believe that's the first belly picture we've gotten? Sad.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
We're having a baby
Well, we started this blog several months ago, and for whatever reason (Ie: Dena is a procrastinator) we still have not made a post. Until today. *Que music* Dun, dun, dun.....
The reason for starting this blog was because we found out we were having a baby (yay!).
So although most all of you are very aware...we're having a baby! Rather, we have a baby, he is growing inside of me, but he isn't born into the open air yet. Expected 5/15/09. On 12/22/08 we found out he is most definitely a boy. Here is his pic from that day.
His name is Oliver Abraham Barnes. We plan to call him Oliver (everyone here in the South keeps asking us what we plan to call him). He is not named after anyone (another Southern question we get asked a lot). We just like the name. :) Everyone seems to either love or hate the name Oliver. And for the ones who don't like it, the name seems to grow on them (ie: my parents :) ). My dad seems to think he'll be called "Abe," for some reason. Some people think he will be called "Ollie" which Andrew has vehemently vetoed (oooh...ten points for alliteration!), much in the same way he refuses to be called "Andy." :) Other than that, yes, we've already heard every Oliver Twist/Abe Lincoln joke out there.
Allow me to back up a little. We found out we were expecting on 9/3/08, when I was just around 4 weeks along. It was a very exciting day. I took a test in the Walmart bathroom (too much information???? ;) )and then surprised Andrew with the blaring positive results.
I'm 23 and a half weeks (a "normal" pregnancy is 40 weeks long) along, now (just past the 5 month mark, if you're counting to 9 months).
I've had a fairly uneventful pregnancy with only the normal/average pregnancy-type things you'd expect. I was sick from about week 6 to 11 or so. That was awful - not because I was so horribly sick (I was plenty sick, but I could have been sicker) - but because I felt so debilitated. I couldn't cook (I thought Andrew was going to starve to death - he is no Bobby Flay), but some of the church members here saved the day by providing food a few times. - I couldn't really do much of anything except try to sleep it off or lay around because I was so sick/nauseated around the clock. - It was hard to eat anything during those weeks, too. I am thankful I wasn't one of the women who get so sick they have to go into the hospital or something, but I felt pretty bad. Life felt kind of on hold during those weeks. And then one day, I felt better, and it was glorious.
I've had a great pregnancy, overall, thus far. Sometimes I am more tired than usual for me. And sometimes if I "over do it" or am on the move for too long or don't eat when I should, I can get dizzy/lightheaded/faintish feeling. Which can be normal for pregnant women, so it is really not a concern. I just try to drink some water or eat something or sit down or lie down for a while once I start to feel that way, and then I'm OK.
We've gotten to have 3 sonograms already, I believe. And we're scheduled to have another one this Friday (because baby boy was belly down during the entire last one, and the sonographer couldn't finish getting all the measurements she needed). Most women only get 2 during the entire pregnancy, and If we stay on course, I will end up having a total of 5. So that has been fun. We got to see Oliver for the first time just before the 7 week mark (here is the pic)
, when he was the size of a fluffy grain of rice. That's just what he looked like, too. He didn't look like a baby at all. The next ultrasound, he was just over 10 weeks old (shown here)
, so we were shocked to see on the screen, a perfectly formed little babe with a distinctive head/body/limbs and even toes (and umbilical cord floating atop him)! That was the first time we even got to see him wiggle (before I could even feel him move, myself.)
I started feeling Oliver "flutter" just after the 13 week mark (which is earlier than most first-time moms report feeling their baby) so I felt pretty blessed. A couple/few weeks later or so, we could start to even see my belly move and Andrew could feel him move. Now that I feel him move every day now (does he ever!) it is such a good feeling, because I at least know hes still in there alive and kickin' (literally)! He seems to love to do flips. We haven't gotten to the point yet where we can determine what body part he is kicking/jabbing out, but that will be fun. When he gets really crazy and starts really jumping around, I laugh a lot because my belly pokes out in the funniest ways. In the last week or two, he has been able to hear sounds outside the womb. That is fun to think about. We try to talk to him and read to him and such, but so far, he doesn't seem to respond in any particular way to any particular sounds. Sometimes I wonder if me singing or laughing or sneezing or me yelling at our dog, Bruce, will make him wiggle, but he seems to be pretty laid back about it all. Sometimes I poke at my belly to see if he pokes back, but he doesn't.
I seem to be a slow belly grower. Or maybe I just had a slow start. I didn't really start to show as early as most people were thinking I should be showing. Maybe I'm catching up now. Sometimes I still think my belly looks smaller than most women at this same mark in pregnancy. Who knows. I had all these good intentions to take belly pictures along the weeks, but that hasn't happened. This is the only decent pregnancy shot we have had so far, taken just before the 19 week mark.
Anyway, now I am feeling the pregnancy stretch quite well. Its not even so much my skin that feels stretchy (although it is), but all of my insides feel like they're being pulled very tight. I know this is normal. It is just a weird experience. It can be quite uncomfortable at times. One time Andrew and I were in Walmart (there sure is a lot about Walmart in this post! That's our go-to place here for groceries and all sundry items) when I was having bad round ligament pains/stretching, and he told me I was waddling. Waddling at about 4 months, nonetheless! Ha!
Maternity clothes have been fun. Not too bad, actually. Most of them are quite nice and comfortable. I love having an excuse to wear pants with elastic waists every day! It's like I'm three all over again! :) I still wear some of my non-maternity shirts, but I definitely have to wear maternity pants exclusively.
I miss sleeping on my belly. But its a good trade-off, don't you think? ;)
Lately, I/we have been researching/trying to figure out everything about baby gear and what to buy/register for, etc. If you don't already know this about me, I am a researcher when it comes to buying new things, so this has been kind of an undertaking for me. (I did the same thing when we got married - I bought an online subscription to Consumer Reports so I could learn about kitchen gadgets and vacuums and whatnot to make sure we were choosing the most bang for our (or other people's) bucks.) So to prepare for baby, I have this (wonderful) book called Baby Bargains that is over 600 pages long, and it is very helpful, although time-consuming. I am trying to make educated decisions about what we need vs. what we don't need (we're practical people), and the quality, safety, and value of products we do need/want. I can't imagine blindly choosing a crib or a car seat. That would set me off into a fit. I need to research. So that's what I've been doing.
I think that is all for now. I will try to be a good updater!
The reason for starting this blog was because we found out we were having a baby (yay!).
So although most all of you are very aware...we're having a baby! Rather, we have a baby, he is growing inside of me, but he isn't born into the open air yet. Expected 5/15/09. On 12/22/08 we found out he is most definitely a boy. Here is his pic from that day.
His name is Oliver Abraham Barnes. We plan to call him Oliver (everyone here in the South keeps asking us what we plan to call him). He is not named after anyone (another Southern question we get asked a lot). We just like the name. :) Everyone seems to either love or hate the name Oliver. And for the ones who don't like it, the name seems to grow on them (ie: my parents :) ). My dad seems to think he'll be called "Abe," for some reason. Some people think he will be called "Ollie" which Andrew has vehemently vetoed (oooh...ten points for alliteration!), much in the same way he refuses to be called "Andy." :) Other than that, yes, we've already heard every Oliver Twist/Abe Lincoln joke out there.Allow me to back up a little. We found out we were expecting on 9/3/08, when I was just around 4 weeks along. It was a very exciting day. I took a test in the Walmart bathroom (too much information???? ;) )and then surprised Andrew with the blaring positive results.
I'm 23 and a half weeks (a "normal" pregnancy is 40 weeks long) along, now (just past the 5 month mark, if you're counting to 9 months).
I've had a fairly uneventful pregnancy with only the normal/average pregnancy-type things you'd expect. I was sick from about week 6 to 11 or so. That was awful - not because I was so horribly sick (I was plenty sick, but I could have been sicker) - but because I felt so debilitated. I couldn't cook (I thought Andrew was going to starve to death - he is no Bobby Flay), but some of the church members here saved the day by providing food a few times. - I couldn't really do much of anything except try to sleep it off or lay around because I was so sick/nauseated around the clock. - It was hard to eat anything during those weeks, too. I am thankful I wasn't one of the women who get so sick they have to go into the hospital or something, but I felt pretty bad. Life felt kind of on hold during those weeks. And then one day, I felt better, and it was glorious.
I've had a great pregnancy, overall, thus far. Sometimes I am more tired than usual for me. And sometimes if I "over do it" or am on the move for too long or don't eat when I should, I can get dizzy/lightheaded/faintish feeling. Which can be normal for pregnant women, so it is really not a concern. I just try to drink some water or eat something or sit down or lie down for a while once I start to feel that way, and then I'm OK.
We've gotten to have 3 sonograms already, I believe. And we're scheduled to have another one this Friday (because baby boy was belly down during the entire last one, and the sonographer couldn't finish getting all the measurements she needed). Most women only get 2 during the entire pregnancy, and If we stay on course, I will end up having a total of 5. So that has been fun. We got to see Oliver for the first time just before the 7 week mark (here is the pic)
, when he was the size of a fluffy grain of rice. That's just what he looked like, too. He didn't look like a baby at all. The next ultrasound, he was just over 10 weeks old (shown here)
, so we were shocked to see on the screen, a perfectly formed little babe with a distinctive head/body/limbs and even toes (and umbilical cord floating atop him)! That was the first time we even got to see him wiggle (before I could even feel him move, myself.)I started feeling Oliver "flutter" just after the 13 week mark (which is earlier than most first-time moms report feeling their baby) so I felt pretty blessed. A couple/few weeks later or so, we could start to even see my belly move and Andrew could feel him move. Now that I feel him move every day now (does he ever!) it is such a good feeling, because I at least know hes still in there alive and kickin' (literally)! He seems to love to do flips. We haven't gotten to the point yet where we can determine what body part he is kicking/jabbing out, but that will be fun. When he gets really crazy and starts really jumping around, I laugh a lot because my belly pokes out in the funniest ways. In the last week or two, he has been able to hear sounds outside the womb. That is fun to think about. We try to talk to him and read to him and such, but so far, he doesn't seem to respond in any particular way to any particular sounds. Sometimes I wonder if me singing or laughing or sneezing or me yelling at our dog, Bruce, will make him wiggle, but he seems to be pretty laid back about it all. Sometimes I poke at my belly to see if he pokes back, but he doesn't.
I seem to be a slow belly grower. Or maybe I just had a slow start. I didn't really start to show as early as most people were thinking I should be showing. Maybe I'm catching up now. Sometimes I still think my belly looks smaller than most women at this same mark in pregnancy. Who knows. I had all these good intentions to take belly pictures along the weeks, but that hasn't happened. This is the only decent pregnancy shot we have had so far, taken just before the 19 week mark.
Anyway, now I am feeling the pregnancy stretch quite well. Its not even so much my skin that feels stretchy (although it is), but all of my insides feel like they're being pulled very tight. I know this is normal. It is just a weird experience. It can be quite uncomfortable at times. One time Andrew and I were in Walmart (there sure is a lot about Walmart in this post! That's our go-to place here for groceries and all sundry items) when I was having bad round ligament pains/stretching, and he told me I was waddling. Waddling at about 4 months, nonetheless! Ha!Maternity clothes have been fun. Not too bad, actually. Most of them are quite nice and comfortable. I love having an excuse to wear pants with elastic waists every day! It's like I'm three all over again! :) I still wear some of my non-maternity shirts, but I definitely have to wear maternity pants exclusively.
I miss sleeping on my belly. But its a good trade-off, don't you think? ;)
Lately, I/we have been researching/trying to figure out everything about baby gear and what to buy/register for, etc. If you don't already know this about me, I am a researcher when it comes to buying new things, so this has been kind of an undertaking for me. (I did the same thing when we got married - I bought an online subscription to Consumer Reports so I could learn about kitchen gadgets and vacuums and whatnot to make sure we were choosing the most bang for our (or other people's) bucks.) So to prepare for baby, I have this (wonderful) book called Baby Bargains that is over 600 pages long, and it is very helpful, although time-consuming. I am trying to make educated decisions about what we need vs. what we don't need (we're practical people), and the quality, safety, and value of products we do need/want. I can't imagine blindly choosing a crib or a car seat. That would set me off into a fit. I need to research. So that's what I've been doing.
I think that is all for now. I will try to be a good updater!
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