Cheerio, ol' chap/ol' girl!!

Today is the BIG day!! Right now we're in the process of doing laundry to have plenty of clean clothes for our trip and I'm also doing some house work so that when we come back I won't have to do anything but rest. I think the cats know we're leaving b/c they're begging for attention, but they'll have plenty of company since my brother and step-mom are taking care of the house while we're gone. Thank you sooooooooo much Bradley and Lori!!!

I just can't wait to get to England!! This is going to be a great trip meeting Gene's aunts, uncles and cousins, and Mum will get to see her family after being away for 11 years. 11 years!! WOW! What a trip this will be for all of us!! AND. . . . my SWEET, SWEET and ADORABLE husband bought me a super nice camera for our trip. I spent hours playing with it last night and I simply can't wait to use it!!! Hope all is well for everyone and we'll be in touch with plenty of stories and pictures when we come back.

See ya!!!

We're having a girl!

So, if you haven't guessed it by now, we are having a GIRL! We had our ultrasound on Wednesday and the technician said it with certainty. Of course, there's always that chance, but she was pretty confident. AND we have the pictures to prove it. ; )

She was in a pretty good spot and made it very easy for the tech to tell. Of course, when it came to getting her profile, she got all camera shy and covered her face the entire time. It was adorable.

And as Gene and I sat there watching the tech show us all the little parts: hands, feet, legs, face and heart (with the 4 chambers) I got a sense of pride watching my little girl on the screen who only weighs 13 ounces. I had tears streaming down my face thinking about this little baby that my husband and I created. By the next morning, reality set in and it scared me to death. I started to panic about being a mother. I hope I don't disappoint her. I hope I can teach her everything she needs to know to live a life of her own. I hope we get along and that she knows I love her and hope that she loves me back. I already had her graduating from college and walking down the aisle and then it freaked me out. Gene reminded me that she's not even born yet and that brings me back to earth. I've been told that this is normal to feel this way for first time mothers and that I'm being too hard on myself. Would I still feel this way if we were having a boy? Probably not as much. I was raised by my Dad for most of my life and the oldest of 3 brothers. I kind of have an edge where that's concerned so I know what to expect. I just remember what it was like growing up and girls in junior high and high school can be so mean. I know how hard it was for me and I guess I already felt nervous for her. Thank God for Gene because he will be the logical one in the family and remind me that I'm getting ahead of myself. One step at a time. . . one day at a time. I just pray for a happy healthy little girl and let God take care of everything else along the way.

Pretty in Pink

I bet you can't guess what we're having!?!??!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!

We're half way there!

Just a quick post for tonight. I meant to post this picture last week, but I've been busy studying for my biology final and our friends Dan & Christine have been in town since Friday visiting from Colorado. Dan worked with Gene at West Coast Furniture in California. He was also in our wedding and he married a sweet gal with the patience of a Saint. Gotta love that Christine!! So we've been busy going to Derby, showing them the sites (what little we have here in Southern Indiana) and catching up on our lives. Needless to say this posting is a little late.


So, this is me at the half way mark - 5 months pregnant, which brings me to the most exciting part of this posting - we're finding out the sex of the baby tomorrow!!!!! Bright & early at 7:30 in the morning, as long as the little bean cooperates, we'll know whether we're having a BOY or a GIRL! I'll keep you all posted!!!!!!!!

The size of a mango.

We're 19 weeks pregnant and the baby is the size of a mango. It's hard to believe that the baby started out to be the size of a poppy seed (maybe even smaller) and now it's the size of a mango. By week 21 it'll be the length of a large banana measuring 10 inches long. I'll definitely be feeling those kicks by then! Right now I'm not experiencing that little feather lightly tickling the inside of my stomach anymore, but I am feeling more of a solid movement sort of rolling around very slowly. Gene can't quite feel the movement from the outside of my belly just yet, but here soon enough he'll be able to see the baby kicking a mile away. And now the baby is sitting lodged right under my right boob. It doesn't hurt, but I can't really bend over as easily as I once could and don't suspect it'll get any easier! ; )

Also, in a couple of weeks, May 6th to be exact, we're going to find out (hopefully) the sex of the baby. If he/she is in the right spot we'll know for sure. BUT I am literally dying with anticipation!! It doesn't matter to us what we have and we're not going to start decorating the baby's room until we get back from England anyways, but still!!! These next 2 weeks are going to be SUPER, SUPER slow and I'm going to be up alllll night the night before just because that's the way I am. More importantly I want to see the ultrasound and have them tell me that it's a healthy baby. Boy or girl it doesn't matter. . . I just want a healthy, healthy happy baby.

Happy Birthday to Gene!!

I am truly blessed to be married to this sweet, affectionate, caring, ambitious, loving, hard-working, and the best cuddly honey's in the whole world!!! I couldn't imagine being with anyone else, and I couldn't be happier!! Gene, sweetheart, I love you and hope you have an awesome birthday!!!

Thank God for Chiropractors!

For the past 3 weeks I have had excruciating pain in my pelvic area. I wake up in the middle of the night in tears because I can't roll over to my other side because it feels like somebody's making a wish as they pull (or should I say rip) my legs apart. When I get out of bed I can barely walk. One night I had a nightmare that I was miscarrying (is this normal??) and I jolted myself awake crying in pain. Thinking my dream was reality I hobbled myself to the bathroom praying everything was okay. And of course it was, but as I sat there in so much pain I immediately grabbed the bible of pregnancies What to Expect When You're Expecting to see what was happening to me. I was NOT expecting this symptom - for sure! Symphsis Pubic Dysfunction. That's me, that's what I have.

This picture above is what our pelvic bone looks like normally.

This is what is looks like during pregnancy.

And this is me. Misaligned and in alot of pain - me.

It's rare, like 1 out of 300 women get it, but it's starting to become more common, especially in pregnancy. In a normal pregnancy a hormone 'relaxin' softens and relaxes your muscles, ligaments, and pelvis so they can spread open to make room for the baby to pass through the birth canal, but for women with SPD that gap can cause severe misalignment, which is why there's so much pain. It feels like someone took a hammer and hit me really hard on my pubic bone. I can't roll over in bed without tucking my legs under me and rolling them together at the same time. I also have to sit flat and put on or take off pants or shoes (no more standing on one leg and leaning). It hurts WAAAAYYY toooo much! And I understand that pregnancy does things to your body that just is. You're making room for a baby to grow and that can really alter everything about you, but to be in this much pain just isn't normal.

So, after calling my OB and not getting the answer I wanted (they told me to take ADVIL and put a heating pad on my pubic bone) I called my friend April Simmons who happens to be a Chiropractor and she immediately knew how to treat my problem. She had a patient with the same symptoms and while she was doing her internship she witnessed alot of pregnant women in the same situation. Luckily April (or should I say Dr. Simmons) is in my network so she adjusted me and gave me some stretches that I can do to help alleviate the pain. Unfortunately, nothing can cure SPD except to wait until after the delivery once the hormone is out of my system and let everything sort of shift back into place. So in the meantime, I hobble around like a funny pregnant lady except I'm not nearly big enough to look like I'm pregnant and I need to keep up on my adjustments. I'm still very surprised at how well I'm taking this. As I've said before I'm the biggest baby I know when it comes to pain or anything being out of place. So, maybe I'm just growing up. ; )