24 Week Bump

I'm 26 weeks today (who believes that?!) but I'm, again, a little behind on the bump photos. 


Check out 24 weeks:

Nursery: Officially IN PROGRESS!

Happy Monday. Hope you all had great weekends...as for Shane and I, we are exhausted. My hands hurt, my feet hurt, my back hurts, I'm sleepy...BUUUUTTTT we kicked some arse in the nursery this weekend so it's worth it. 


Let me remind you of what this space looked like before:

And then this weekend, we decided to get moving and did the following:

• Sanded all of the puttied holes
• Vacuumed the walls and corners - because painting over spiderwebs is gross.
• Spent eight hours painting the trim white. Five coats, people. Five coats. 
• Spent another three hours painting the top Glidden's Pebble Grey. It's a true grey and I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
• Then we cleaned the floors again because I got a little slaphappy with the trim paint after about the third coat and got it on the floor. Gasp. 
• And then put the crib and dresser together and voila...THE AFTER:

 The bedding is a custom design from Carousel Designs and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it too! It is so well made and, for a custom order, was reasonably priced and was on my doorstep five days after I ordered it. 

And this is the other side of the room with the always popular IKEA Hemnes dresser. 

And, unfortunately, these are the only pictures I have on my phone - better ones to come soon!

While we still have a lot left to do (e.g., curtains, rug, art, chair, etc.), I'm feeling good that this was SOLID progress. And, it's crazy, I keep just going in this room and looking at the crib...partly because I just so love that bedding and then because I can't believe that in three months a little human is going to be sleeping in there! Is it going to be a boy or a girl? What are they going to look like? Will they have my lips and cheeks? And Shane's eyelashes and toes? Crazy! 

Our Life: Random Picture Post

I was looking through my camera this week and realized we've done a good bit over the past few weeks. And since I'm too lazy to create an actual post...please decipher the photos below. 

Happy Friday!

 Beau and Brother turned 4 this year! These were their birthday prezzies...

 Beau waiting patiently for his new ball. 

 And Brother refusing to wait for his new rope.

 The best boys ever...and this totally captures their personalities. Beau is alert and attentive while Brother is smiling, as we like to call it, and really just here for the party. 

 Aerial shot of Shane with his boys. 

On the field at the Georgia Dome scoping out the facility for a potential work event.  

 Bark for Life with the Martins

 Such an awesome pic of Brother - thanks, Kel!

 Shane's first trip to the Georgia Aquarium...he and this penguin were checking each other out.

 Father's Day at the Bowling Alley

Father's Day - The Guys

Pretty flowers from the hubs.

The orchid my mom got me for Mother's Day...that is STILL kickin'. Thankyouverymuch.

Nursery Progress

I'm excited to announce that we've made some pretty solid progress on Baby Wilson's nursery! 


Here is the nursery before (old picture (holy tube TV to the right) but you get the point):

And here it is after our recent clean out:

 The desk has been moved out, all the shelves and memorabilia taken down and holes patched.

 This is all of Baby Wilson's stuff, so far! (Except the beach chairs that are for an upcoming vacay...but everything else is strictly baby.)

And this is the stuff that we just aren't sure where it's going to go yet...hmmm.

And the boxes that you see in the second picture are actually the crib and dresser! 

 

Serious.Headway. 

Next up, painting! 

I'm Behind...23 Weeks

I'm behind...story of my life these days. Below is the 23 week bump and 24 weeks is coming soon! 

Still emotional, burpy, indigestion-y and getting bigger!


That's all for now. 

22 Week Bump and Progress

The bump seems to be pretty consistent with the last few weeks...check it out: 

At almost a pound, Baby Wilson is starting to actually look like a newborn now! His/her lips, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and it's even developing tooth buds beneath the gums. And according to BabyCenter, this is what he/she looks like!

Only 17 more weeks left to go!

Bedding IN ROUTE and First Piece of Equipment!

We've made some pretty big progress on the 'Prepare for Baby' plan! While we still haven't made any progress on the nursery, we are making some small steps on getting somewhere for this little guy/girl to sleep. 

First, we ordered the baby bedding this past weekend! I changed it up a little bit from the nursery inspiration board but here is the final product:

I love it and can't wait to get it so we can start matching paint colors! (I just want to be really sure that the gray in the bedding will match the shade of gray on the walls - you know how gray can look bluish sometimes...)

Second, we purchased our first piece of baby equipment from a friend at work! She had only used it like 10 times, so it was practically brand new and she was selling it for super cheap. We didn't register for one of these but once I saw all that it could do and that it was gender neutral, I was sold. And factor in the iPod connection and Shane was sold for sure. 

This weekend, we started trying to figure out how it worked and plugged in the iPod to see how it sounded (you know, because it's important to us for our child to only hear Bose-quality music). As we're changing the volume and making it vibrate and all that jazz, we realized that we were listening to Nelly's '#1.'...Through the baby swing. Oh my, how things are changing...

Still a lot left to do but we are making progress!!

21 Week Bump and Progress

I'm actually 22 weeks as of yesterday but we can get caught up on last week. Here's the bump:

And 21 weeks marked the following progress:

• Baby Wilson is about 10.5 inches long (the length of a carrot).
• I think I'm starting to feel the kicks...every once in a while. Sometimes it feels like the fluttering that everyone talks about but other times it's like a grazing feeling...you know when you watch movies about the 70s and LSD and they show everything with those trails behind it...yeah, that's what I envision the baby is doing. High on life and trailing in my belly. 
• Eyebrows and eyelids are now present. 

And here are my woes for the week:

• Still crazy emotional. I cried during an episode of the new singing show Duets. Partially because it was Robin Thicke's 'Lost Without You' and I LOOOOOVVVVEEEE that song. And then Shane called me out for tearing up and it was full on crying from there on. But, seriously, watch this clip and tell me it isn't tear-worthy!
• Indigestion from hell! Wow - it's so uncomfortable...but it doesn't stop me from eating. I'll endure that pain to feed my face. 

It's all worth it, though...

Okay, I'm starting to tear up. Peace out. 

20 Week Bump Shot

I'm getting caught up on the baby bump shots! Below is the 20 week shot:

I have to tell on myself that I'm not wearing the same clothes as normal but I was just too lazy to change. And it's all black, so samesies. 

Hope you all have a great long weekend!

19 Weeks and Nursery Inspiration

Shocker, but I'm a little behind on my posting...below is my 19 week shot, even though I'll be 21 weeks this Thursday. Oops! 

Now that I'm at my 'half way mark,' I'm feeling some urgency to get started on the nursery, create a registry (which we did a couple of weekends ago), prepare for the arrival of our child, etc. So, some urgency but not too terribly much. 


So, without further ado, below is our inspiration board for Baby Wilson's gender neutral nursery!

click to make larger

It is very colorful but the walls will be white wainscoting on bottom with light gray paint on the top so I think it will balance well. And, if it's a girl, we'll bring in a little more pink, and, if it's a boy, we'll bring in some more yellow and greens. And, to clarify, the baby picture will be a framed picture of Baby Wilson - not some other random baby. 

So, you like?

Mother's Day and 18 Week Bump!

Hope that all the moms out there had a great Mother's Day yesterday! We had a pretty relaxing weekend, which included making a 'pallet' in the living room floor and having movie night on Friday and then DVR day on Saturday. So relaxing!

We also met up with my mom for an early dinner on Saturday to celebrate Mother's Day but baby brother, Patrick, had to work:

Someone needs a tan. Um, that would be me. 

My mom actually got me gifts this year which was really sweet. I got said gifts and read a card and then cried. That's another addition to the side effect list - I'm EXTREMELY emotional. Below is the short list of things that will make me cry at the drop of a hat:

• Anything that talks about the bond of family, being a mother, the love for babies, etc. This one is pretty normal, I get it. 
• Anyone who I think looks lonely or sad. This spirals into questions of 'Do they have a family?' 'Does someone love them?' 'Why does God bring people into this world to make them sad?'
• Baby clothes.
• Hearing about stories of disease, death, etc. This is normal too, I suppose. 

What gets me is the intensity of the crying. I can't just tear up anymore...I pretty much all-out cry - chest shaking, puckered lip, the whole shabang. Just another joy of pregnancy, I guess!

Also, another weekend accomplishment, we finally created our baby registry! It was pretty intense going through each aisle and seeing ALL of the stuff we need to be fully functional...and we even questioned some things - do we really need a bassinet and a Pack 'n Play? Probably not. And we obviously had to register for everything gender neutral, which wasn't really that hard! There were actually a lot of things that were cream with both pink and blue - which I'm a fan of. I know everyone says to just do yellow, but I have to confess that I am not a fan of that practice. A boy can deal with a little bit of pink, if that's the case, and a girl can deal with some blue. Easy enough. 

And, finally, here is the 18 week bump shot:

Until next time!

Weeks 16 and 17

Got sidetracked on the 'ole blog posting - oops! Anyway, that just means there is more progress to share!


Week 16 Pic:

Week 17 Pic:

Quite a difference from week 16 to 17!


I'm feeling pretty good for the most part! I'm very thankful to not feel exhausted anymore but holy back pain. It has come out of no where and even hurts when I lay down! 


Also, we could have found out the sex last week, but we are going to let that be a surprise! However, we did get a shot that makes me think this baby could be a girl! Check it out:

No idea why this is showing up upside down...

But as you can see, those are two legs and a random arm...and there doesn't appear to be any appendages between the legs. But, I'm no doctor so I guess we'll see in October!

Weeks 5-8

February 4: My first experience out, in front of friends, in a drinking environment. We went to a friend’s birthday dinner at a restaurant that I use to frequent A LOT in college. On our way there, we were told they were sitting in the smoking section. Our friend Jason was in the car with us so we couldn’t verbally freak out but we were freaked out. Luckily, we got there and it wasn’t bad…I didn’t even smell smoke. I order water and immediately get the stink eye from a few people. Their first response is ‘Why aren’t you drinking?’ My response ‘Well, I have a lot of work to do tomorrow. And I can never just have one beer…I don’t know that speed.’ Our friend, Branden, straight up called me out by saying ‘You are so pregnant. That’s why you aren’t smoking or drinking.’ Nice. 

After dinner, everyone went out (including Shane) to a bar but this girl went home and watched The Davinci Code on TV and was asleep by 10:30. Shane didn’t have a key to get in so I was up and down all night, until he arrived home at 4 a.m., because I was nervous about him not getting in, someone trying to break in, etc. Conversations about said partying happened the next morning. Naturally.

February 10: Doctor appointment. Same jig as the other times, same room…start the ultrasound and we can actually see something! It is just the gestational sac but at least it’s something! AND we can see the tiny little heart fluttering! He estimates that I’m about 6 weeks and 1 day along. 

Then more blood work – but, it’s cool, I’m a pro. Errrrrr – not so fast. This time, when she goes to take blood from my perfect vein, it starts to clot (she said because it wasn’t completely healed from the last time). So, she has to stop and start with the other arm…but it is good too so it’s quick and painless!

We make another appointment for two weeks later.

February 24: And, again, same jig…we start the ultrasound and what we see is SO much bigger! It still looks like a little tadpole but it is SO much bigger than the last time! And the best part was getting to HEAR the heartbeat – it was so fast but Doc said that it was right on point. As he was digging around (sounds inappropriate) he quickly says ‘Oh, looks like we’ve got a little septum there.’ But then he gets done and says everything looks good, I’m about 8 weeks, great job (not really, that’s what I told myself).

After he leaves the room, I ask Shane what he thinks and he is immediately concerned about the septum comment. We both have no idea what it is or what it looks like or what it means…and I think that Shane is more freaked than I am. We go to talk to the doctor and I immediately ask about the septum. He explains it by drawing it (which I find so helpful – I’m much more visual) and says that it is a part of the uterus that bulges out and isn’t quite as soft as the rest. Sometimes if the baby latches on to that part, it can cause a miscarriage because they can’t get the nutrients they need. And he said that it can sometimes cause early labor around the 30-ish week mark. But he doesn’t seem concerned by my situation. He says that based on what we’ve seen, the chance for miscarriage is now significantly decreased. He also mentions that I can’t travel after 28 weeks…okay, thanks Doc, I’ll take the next 20 weeks to think about that.

We thank him and head out the door. The second we hit the sidewalk I say ‘So, who’s going to spend all day on Google looking at what septums are? Besides me…’ I head to work and immediately do this. It’s scary…did you know that sometimes septums can create double vaginas? I definitely don’t have that (swears) but it was pretty scary. You can check out more information here. 

It Just Appeared...

The baby bump is starting to arrive! This pregnancy is for real!

I noticed something a little different last Friday and then I swear it just popped out and the middle of my stomach is really hard. This whole thing is so weird. And I think it freaked Shane out a little bit...

I also bought my first pieces of maternity clothes this weekend. Super cute dresses that are also comfortable - and I'm 99% sure i'll wear these even when I'm not pregnant:

And as far as the Braves game and tailgating with drunk people, it wasn't really that fun - as I suspected. Add to that that I also sneezed at least 75 times whilst at the game, then had a runny nose like nobody's business and the stadium was 'out of napkins' (per Shane). So, that was fun. 


And, if I'm not a glutton for punishment, we are going to a beer festival this Saturday. I think this will be a little better since some girlfriends are going but we'll see!

14 Weeks

I don't want to speak too soon, but I think that I'm getting some energy back! I thought this a few weeks ago but it was a total fake out...Overall, I'm feeling good but my pants are definitely ti-iii-ght so I think I'm at a crossroads - maternity pants or dresses everyday. 

In terms of a bump, nothing yet - still looks like last week: 

According to BabyCenter.com, the baby is about the size of a lemon and can pee and make facial expressions - possibly even at the same time. 


We are heading to the Braves home opener on Friday where there will be tailgating for many hours...I'm interested to see how I do. I have found a favorite non-alcoholic beer, Clausthaler, but I'm nervous that that won't be able to carry me through a day with drunk people. We shall see!

13 Weeks and a Belly Pic

We are trucking right along on this whole pregnancy thing. I feel like I should be way farther along than I am right now...but I guess that is the deal when you find out so early. 

Still feeling kind of tired, as big as a house and, a new one, pretty irrationally emotional. Shane has experienced that one first hand and I'm not sure that he's a fan. As far as foods, pancakes and macaroni and cheese (the powder kind) are my favorite. We've also made some progress on the nursery - well, really just cleaning it out but that was a job. Pictures to come soon!

Here is what I'm looking like at 13 weeks, which is no different than last week:

I really wish that something would just happen with this baby bump so that I can just buy maternity clothes already. The pants I have are pretty tight in the waist and I'm running out of flowy dresses to sport. 

How We Found Out

January 30: I woke up early – around 6 a.m. (and, yes, that is considered early…at least for now) – with horrible stomach pains. I was certain that ole’ Flo was about to make her way into town. I put a heating pad on my stomach, emailed work that I wasn’t coming in and tried to get some sleep. But then I started thinking…maybe this isn’t period issues? My stomach had been really upset (such an awesome detail) the past Saturday, I felt SO bloated, my boobs were SO sore…could I be pregnant? Enter Google. I believe my exact search term was ‘upset stomach + pregnancy symptoms.’ 

According to the almighty Internet, upset stomach for some women is a symptom due to the surge in hormones. I am immediately wide awake. I need to take a test. I need to take it without Shane seeing so that in case it is positive I can surprise him. And then I should go buy more tests, the digital ones, so that I can take a picture of it and it will be more impactful – I prefer to see the word ‘Pregnant’ rather than just two lame lines.

Fast forward a couple of hours, I take a test. It is immediately positive. I will admit that every other time I’ve taken a test, I've always been on the fence about the results…as in, I’ll be OK if it is negative and I’ll be OK if it is positive. This time I was a little more invested – I really wanted it to be positive. Then the two pink lines appear. I then high tail it to CVS to get the digital version. I take the test and it’s positive too. I cannot stop smiling and I’m really nervous. What do I do? When’s the last time I drank? How far along am I? I think I sat and stared at the test for at least 15 minutes.

So, then I had to figure out how to surprise Shane. Best thing I can think of is to wrap up these tests in tissue paper and throw it in a bag with hearts on it…an early Valentine’s Day gift? Shane has guitar lessons on Monday night so he didn’t get home until after 8 p.m. When he walked in the door, I told him I had an early V-day gift for him…he said he didn’t know we were doing gifts that early. Such a stickler for details. 

The infamous bag

When he opened it, and unwrapped it, the look on his face was truly that of surprise and happiness. And, for those that know him, he doesn’t show emotion or get excited easily. He looked at it, looked at me, and yelled ‘What?!?’ And I said ‘Yep!’ and that was about the extent of the conversation. A few minutes later, we came back to reality and discussed going to the doctor, when to tell our families, where we would put it, etc. I think we were both in utter shock.

January 31: I made a doctor appointment for that Friday. And I officially stopped drinking and smoking, duh.

February 3: First gynecologist appointment. It starts out as normal – pee in the cup, when was your last period, take blood pressure, etc. But after that, I get to go in a different room…one with the ultrasound machine. Shane was with me and he got to go in too, which made me feel way more comfortable. 

The Dr. came in and shook hands (he is kind of a weirdo) and then said we were going to do a transvaginal ultrasound to see about how far along I am (due to the fact that my periods are VERY irregular and I couldn’t even guesstimate when my last period was). We go through the awkward ‘Put your feet in the stirrups…now scoot down…scoot down a little more.’ We get going on the ultrasound and can’t see anything – other than ‘echos’ which I don’t what that is and it reminds me of whale watching (because I do that often…). Based on this, he guesses that I’m about 4-5 weeks along, and they add two weeks to that, so I literally got pregnant two weeks prior. So in tune with my body.

As we leave the room, he mentions that we need to do some blood work. I am absolutely petrified of needles, as in I hyperventilate when I even see them…I’ve had several cavities filled without Novocain simply because I can’t have needles anywhere around me. When I hear him say this, I immediately break a sweat, black out for a second and start crying. Maybe that is an exaggeration but I definitely started sweating and crying. Again, so glad Shane was there. 

They tell me that I can lay down to have my blood taken so that I don’t see the needle, so I do. The girl gets everything ready and then it’s go time…I’m expecting for this to be the worst pain of my life. I am imagining the needle going through my arm, blood squirting everywhere, etc. Well, she puts the needle in and I barely even feel it. I immediately dry it up and ask ‘That’s it?’ I am officially a drama queen. She then compliments my veins – it’s the Carlisle genes – they’re perfect.

Meltdown complete. We schedule another appointment to come back in a week.

The Sitch with Belly Pics

I want to take belly pics to document my progress over this pregnancy but after my first ‘photo shoot’ I’m feeling a little hesitant. I must explain and say that my tummy has always been my problem area so taking pictures that are solely dedicated to this area seems insane to me. Couple that with the fact that I feel as big as a house already…my psyche is dying.

But, in the interest of good documentation, here is the first headless belly pic:

Definitely not showing yet but definitely have a food baby going on!

Like Baby, Baby, Baby Oooooo….

That title has two purposes…it’s a Justin Bieber reference (yeah, I’m a fan) and it’s to announce our big news – WE ARE HAVING A BABY!

I’m 13 weeks tomorrow and everything is going good! Here is a pic of the little guy/lady that was taken at the doctor this morning:

When we went in this morning, this was the first time I had the sonogram done on my belly. Others were a little less ‘comfortable.’ He/she was moving all around, kicking, moving its arms, tossing and turning…it was crazy to see it actually acting like a baby! And, of course, this would be the picture that is snapped of our child…naturally! I imagine it is singing 'Throw yer hands in the ayer!'

I’ve been keeping a pregnancy journal to detail all of the fun details, thus far, and I’ll share some of that, along with pictures, over the coming months! So, for those looking for renovation updates, I doubt there will be many of those. As if there were any over the past two months, anyway. J

We are so excited! It still feels surreal…

My Next Project

Next project...ha! That includes at least 236 things...but, for reals, I hope to tackle this bad boy next:

Please note: this is the picture from Craigslist.

I plan to change the 'function' of this table and make it something more useful and a little softer. 

Stay tuned!