38 Weeks

ALMOST THERE!!!!  This will officially be my last post before my sweet Parker arrives.  I can hardly wait.

I told myself as long as I made it to 36/37 weeks, he would come early.  Just like all the other people I knew who were pregnant.  All of their babies came early.  Not my sweet Parker...He must be hard headed, like his Daddy.

If you know me, you know I am a planner/organizer.  I have to have a plan for everything.  SO, the nursery has been ready for over a month.  Hospital bags are packed, car seat is in the car, we are pre-registered at the hospital and there is even a little last minute list for Darrell sitting by the hospital bags for things for him to do when labor starts.   Arrangements have been made for Cameron and my Mom will be coming to stay for a while when Parker arrives to help us adjust.  Daycare is picked out, maternity leave is set up...groceries are purchased and frozen for the first few weeks after labor...  

...and here we are at the start of 38 weeks, with no little boy.  Every day feels like it lasts a month.  Parker dropped around 36 weeks and is officially head down ready for birth.  That brings on a lot of pressure on my pelvis and a LOT more peeing.  I get up every 20 minutes during the night to pee.  Everyone keeps saying "You better sleep while you can..."  Well, trust me, I would if I could.  The dropping of Parker also brought on some major back pain.  I was very proud to not have gotten any stretch marks this entire pregnancy...until Parker dropped.  Now my lower belly is filled with them from all the pressure.  Since Parker is getting larger, when he moves, it is almost a little painful.  My feet are officially swollen.  My hands are swollen and I still wear my braces at night on my wrists. Actually, everything is swollen...

I try to tell Parker every day that there is more room out than there is in, and that if he comes on out he will finally get to see Mommy...My doctor said sometimes you just build such a good home in your belly that babies don't want to come out.  So, I promise him that his home outside of my belly will be better.  He just hasn't made up his mind yet to come out.  And I know, at the perfect time he will.  It is all up to God, and I trust his timing a lot more than I trust mine.

...With all of this, I wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything in the world. I am so very thankful to be given the opportunity to carry a child. 

My final pregnancy photo, and the next post, I will be introducing the world to our Son!  Keep us in your prayers!!!

33 Weeks

I just realized I haven't posted a blog for 6 weeks!  I had sweet intentions to, we have just been getting so organized for the baby that I have completely let it slip my mind.  (Also a side effect of being pregnant)

And, I no longer have to refer to the baby in my belly as "the baby"...we officially decided that our son's name will be Parker!!!  I am so excited.  We don't have a middle name picked out yet but I am thrilled to have a first name picked out!  We were originally going to name the baby a first name that began with "D" and a middle name that began with "A," just like his Daddy, but we searched for 6 months and couldn't find anything that we loved.  Darrell found the name Parker and I fell in love with it. I wanted to name him Parker McCrea, because my Daddy's middle name is McCrea.  BUT, his initials would be PMS.  I just couldn't do it.  Now we are leaning towards a Bible name.  Darrell likes James, because that is his favorite book in the Bible.  My choice is Thomas, but I like James too.

My doctors appointments have now increased to every other week.  We had an appointment this past Wednesday and Parker was estimated to be weighing in around 4 lbs.  We were both healthy!  Thank God for that and thank all of you guys for your prayers!

Major changes in my pregnancy include MAJOR heartburn.  Heartburn that keeps me up at night.  Heartburn that makes me sleep sitting straight up.  My doctor told me last week I can take Zantac to help and it has been a tremendous help.  I am finally getting some good sleep!  I also have some carpal tunnel that has flared due to the swelling in my hands/feet.  I have to wear a wrist brace for both hands while I am at work and while sleeping.  I look a little crippled, but I really don't care because it provides a little comfort.

I have been much much more hungry since my third trimester started.  I feel like there is a hole in my stomach that is never full.  I have also been SO emotional.  I can cry for any reason at anytime...just try me!

My belly looks like I have swallowed a watermelon.  This last few weeks are when the baby is supposed to do all the growing, so if you can imagine it, my belly is going to only get BIGGER!

  

Parker is very active with me!  He seems to be a little shy with others.  He will move all day/night but as soon as someone wants to feel him, he stops.  Imagine that.  I was extremely shy when I was little, so maybe he will be like Mommy.  =)

We have read to Parker a few nights.  His favorite book right now seems to be Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  =) (Special thanks to Carine!)

Parker also gets the hiccups on a daily basis.  It is the most amazing thing in the world to watch your little boy hiccup inside your belly.  There is no way you can see something like that and not believe that there is a God.

The past 6 weeks have included 2 baby showers!  We thank each and every one of you for the gifts you bestowed on Parker.  He is already so loved!  Not to take anything away from anyone who gave us a gift, or attended a shower, but my brother and his wife drove from Ashburn, VA to attend the baby shower our church threw us.  That was a 5.5 hour drive!  As if the drive wasn't a gift in itself, they also showered little man with gifts, including this perfect little name monogram.  One of my favorite gifts!  Parker is going to love his uncle Josh and Aunt Katie so much!!

We also have one more shower this week that my work is giving!  They just told me about it last week and to say we are more than blessed is an understatement. 

The past 6 weeks have also included some major working/organizing on the nursery.  

Cameron loves to go in the nursery and attempts to eat all of Parker's toys.  Especially the stuffed animals.  He can climb onto the glider and into the crib to try to get the stuffed animals...he is going to have some major adjusting to do.  I did not pose him for the below photo...Cameron thinks the baby room is his room and refuses to move when I try to take a photo.

We are so so so excited for Parker to arrive.  I am already dreading taking him to daycare, but, very thankful that we found a good daycare.  It's at a very small church and they have devotional time and teach about Jesus.  The people are very very sweet, and it of course came highly recommended. 

Hopefully it won't be another 6 weeks before I post again.  If it is, hopefully Parker will have made his appearance by then!  Please continue to pray for Parker and I!  Love you all!

27 Weeks

It has been forever.....I know! The heat has taken its toll on this pregnant lady. Otherwise there has been no real different news in the last few weeks.


My quality of sleep really stinks...I spend most nights aching with leg cramps, peeing, and being woke up by a kicking baby... I wouldn't change the kicking part for the world!!! The rest of it, I just keep telling myself we are getting a little bit closer everyday!


Baby Southern is VERY active!! Not only can you feel him move...anytime he moves you can see it, because my whole belly moves. I have been talking to people and suddenly my belly starts jerking around and they are like WHOA, was that your baby?! So he doesn't seem to be bashful!


I feel him mostly when I am still. When I am up and about I think I am too distracted to pay attention. And I especially feel him when I get hungry, he kicks me too death!


My feet occasionally swell when I am out in the heat or on them longer than normal, unless I am wearing tennis shoes.


It's getting a little harder to maneuver this belly. My sweet sweet Mama painted my toe nails for me this past weekend because it's hard for me to get to my toes. =)


We finally got all of the baby furniture put together! Actually, my husband and my daddy did! Thank God for them!


We bought a TON of clothes from a girl at work, Sara, and Baby Southern is now clothed for the first year of his life! I hardly have room to store all of the clothes. We also bought a nice car seat and stroller from Darrell's cousins Kevin and Margaret. Everything is slowly coming together. We even have a small list of names that we are deciding on.


Cameron loves the baby right now. He constantly lays, sniffs, and licks my belly. He's not used to Mama having this big ole belly, so I'm not so sure he's got it all figured out yet. Hopefully he won't have too much trouble adjusting when the baby comes...


It's hard to believe that we are already at the 7 month mark...this pregnancy is flying by...our little bundle of joy will be here before we know it...thank you so much for all of the prayers and continue to pray for us!!

Weeks 22 & 23

These last two weeks have been my favorite 2 by far!

There has been so much movement from the baby!  It is so amazing to watch my stomach bulge when he moves and he moves A LOT!  The most special part was that Darrell was finally able to feel the baby too!  We had a check up 3 weeks ago and I asked the Dr. when  Darrell would be able to feel the baby too, he seemed to think it would be another month.  Then 2 days later I was laying in bed reading and the baby was moving like he was doing flips!  I got Darrell to feel and of course he stops and then suddenly WHAM, he kicked us both!  Darrell was so cute!  He couldn't believe that I get to feel this all the time.  And, it was SO nice to be able to share it with him because it's harder for the Dad to relate since his body isn't going through any changes.

Since then, he moves all the time!  But if you try to catch him doing it, and feel it yourself, he will of course stop.  The minute you take your hand off of my belly, he goes right back at it.  He's already sneaky.  =)

I have felt the best the last 2 weeks that I have the whole pregnancy.  My dad even came over and spent the whole Saturday with Darrell unloading the spare room and turning into a nursery.  It is still a work in progress, but here is a before and after.  We have one more dresser to put together.

And as promised, here is an ultrasound picture.  One of our favorites.  Little guy decided to put his finger up over his face - I am hoping that is not his middle finger!  SO CUTE!

Heres a picture from this week.  Can't believe we are already 6 months along.  Where has the time went?
Thank you for all of your prayers!

Weeks 20 & 21

I don't know why I find it hard to find time to write in the blog lately.  I even have an app on my phone so I can do it anywhere and any time, but I never find the time.  AND, I just realized this week that I never blogged about the ultra sound appointment when we found out we were having a baby BOY!


Darrell's mom and my parents accompanied us on the appt. for the ultrasound.  It was very sweet to be able to share it with everyone.  Darrell and I found out by ourselves first and then brought the parents in to share the news.


I was surprised how quickly the technician knew it was a boy!  As soon as she placed her little wand on my belly, she knew.  Darrell let out a loud "YEAH!" while I cried sweet tears of joy.  Boy or Girl, it honestly did not matter to us.  We got to see him move his hand up by his head and even pointed a finger up to his mouth.  It was absolutely precious.  I am going to post the photos of the ultrasound, as soon as I find time to scan them into my computer.


Last weekend Darrell and I spent Memorial Day picking out Lil Man's baby furniture and registering for baby gifts.  I don't think I have ever felt so overwhelmed when we registered.  We started on one aisle and went down each and every aisle until we made it to the end.  By the end of that day, Mommy was EXHAUSTED.  No more sleeping through the night though.  I sleep for about an hour at a time then I have to pee or switch sides, because my hips are throbbing.


The last two weeks I have noticed a major increase in my appetite!  I can't get enough food!  That is honestly the only change I have felt, besides the hip pain, and a growing belly and the flutters!  I get to feel our sweet boy move around all day.  He usually moves right after I eat, or if I have been sitting straight up for a little while, he moves around. Every night, Darrell and I get into bed and read and he always moves around then.  Hopefully he will be a reader like Mommy.  I have always wondered what it would feel like to feel your baby moving inside of you, and I have no words to describe it!  It is surreal - every woman should be able to experience it!

Thank you so much for all the prayers!!!

Weeks 18 & 19

These 2 weeks have brought with it the pregnancy belly...there is absolutely no denying that we are having a baby now! I look like I am carrying around a basketball...Hopefully that is some indication of the mad basketball skills I hope our little boy has.


The hardest thing for us right now is picking out a name... Not so much picking it out but finding time to sit down and talk about a name...for all of you who are eagerly waiting, I can promise you that we will have a name before Oct 8th. That's the best I can do =)


Besides that this week I woke up to round ligament pains. They are not fun and pretty painful. The only positive thing I can say about them is that thankfully I only have them after I sleep and when I cough or sneeze. And they do mean that my body is preparing for a growing baby!


I made my first baby purchase today. I went to Carter's to pick up some onesies, I really wanted one that said I love mommy, and was about to check out when I seen an I love dad one in Duke blue, so I had to get it... Baby boy stuff is always baby blue so I considered this to be one heck of a find. I put the mommy one back and surprised Darrell with the daddy one when he got home from work. I must say, I am really impressed that it took me over 4 months to make a baby purchase though.


Pictures below, and please continue to pray!

Weeks 16 & 17

Weeks 16 & 17 have proved to be much harder!


Last week, I started getting sick...some sort of cough/cold/chest congestion.  Of course, being pregnant, as if you don't have enough to worry about, this scared me to death.  I called my doctor 3 times last week and they advised me to continue taking Mucinex and wait 7 days to see if it went away.  On the 8th day, they agreed to see me, only because I sounded so awful, they were worried about my lungs.  Once I got to the doctor they checked my temperature and my oxygen level and said I was fine...I was miserable.  They said to wait 7 more days and if it didn't go away they would give me some medication.  That same day my sweet Mama came over to clean and cook for me.  That seemed to be the best medication of all!  I started getting better after that.  Amazing what Mama's can do!  =)

Week 16

Other than that, my pregnancy has been so good.  Once I got out of my first trimester I started sleeping SO much better.  I have a renewed energy.  I even told my doctor, that I probably shouldn't complain, but I don't even feel pregnant.  She told me..."Just wait..." haha!  I am sure I will start to feel very pregnant, but I have been so so so so so very blessed.  I am sure it has to do with all the prayers you guys are putting up for me.  The main difference in my sleep is that I no longer get up 10-12 times to pee pee.  Now, it's more like 1-2 times, but the pee pees last FOREVER.  Sometimes, I fall asleep on the toilet!  I haven't really had any cravings, besides fruit and veggies, which is good for Mommy and Baby.  

Week 17

Continue to pray for us, Lord knows we need it!