…I get even sicker than before, apparently! Today has been a looooong day, as I (still) cannot breathe out of my nose…due to that, I barely slept last night and have been SO tired today on top of it all. It sucks to be sick no matter where you are, but for some reason it feels worse when you’re out of town. With that being said, I love it here in Rome (Georgia), the people here are all so nice, and (surprisingly) the food is actually really good here (those of you who travel a lot know how important this is when you’re out of town)!!

Speaking of traveling, unless something changes with my schedule, I think this is my last, possibly ever, week out of town for work (I have two weeks in Charlotte in a couple of weeks but I don’t really count that as being out of town). Crazy… But I can’t say it doesn’t make me breathe a small sigh of relief. I love my co-workers and always end up having a great time with them when I’m gone, but I’d definitely much rather be at home, sleeping in my own bed, than in a hotel.

Now for some big news!!! MY BESTIE IS HAVING A GIRL TOO!!! That’s right, Sarah and Dan had their big gender ultrasound today and the result was that Prince Danny will be seeing a LOT of pink in his future. I am still a little bit in shock that it’s a girl….I was convinced it was going to be a boy, really only based on the fact that her pregnancy has been the opposite of mine—she’s had no puking, sickness, or strong aversions like I had for the first few months. I guess it just goes to show that I’m just very unlucky it’s different for everyone!! I could not be more thrilled that it’s a girl, and I cannot wait for them to grow up together! I’m not sure when (or if) the excitement that we’re both having girls is going to wear off…I’m already trying to figure out if we can figure out a date to do some outlet shopping. Maybe on a Sunday while Jon and Dan are watching football? They won’t even notice we’re gone…and by the time they see it on the bank statement, it’ll be too late! ;)

Well, I officially cannot hold my eyes open any longer, my cold medicine is kicking in. Hoping I can get some sleep tonight and that I wake up feeling much better! :) Happy hump day everyone… Just 2 days til the weekend!

-S

Before we found out that Baby A was a baby GIRL, we agreed that the day we found out, we would go to the mall and just buy one outfit. So we went Tuesday night, and just about as soon as we walked into Baby Gap, we found the perfect outfit…

Perfect, right?! Ralph loves it! ;)

-S

Week 16 is almost over, wow! I am 16 weeks, 6 days today. As you know…this was a BIG WEEK for us, as we can now refer to Baby A as not an “it” but a “SHE”!!!!!! It’s a sweet little girl! We both cried, and we could not be more excited. As you know, we were not scheduled to have an ultrasound at this doctor appointment. So…the way it happened went like this:

We got called back by the nurse, and they put us in a room without an ultrasound machine, and I very nonchalantly asked the nurse if we were going to have an ultrasound at this appointment. She replied that no, they don’t usually do them at the 16 week appointment (which of course I already knew, because they gave me a schedule of when to expect to have them). Well, Dr. Brannon just happened to be walking by and I guess he overheard me ask the nurse, but he didn’t say anything, he just kept walking and went into another room with a patient.  

A few minutes later, he stuck his head in our room and said sarcastically, “Soooo needy, can I have an ultrasound? Can I have an ultrasound?” mocking me! I said, “I didn’t ask for one, I just asked if we were going to have one today!” He smiled and said “Of course you are, get over here!” and led us to the ultrasound room. I was SOOOOO excited! I explained that I am possibly the most impatient person on the face of the planet and that we were dying to know the gender. He put the wand on my belly and we were both shocked—the baby had changed SO much since our last ultrasound! Finally Baby A looked like a BABY instead of like a blob/peanut! :) Looked a little something like this:

After only maybe 30 seconds, Dr. Brannon changed the angle of the ultrasound and we saw this:

In case that’s hard to see…that is a direct crotch shot (Jon said she should have been a little more lady like and had her legs crossed! haha) and as you can see—no boy parts there! Dr. Brannon’s exact words were “Well…I’m 99.9% sure it’s a CHICK!”

I immediately looked at Jon and asked him if he was excited… he has mentioned several times that he would love to have a boy…but when I looked at the tears in his eyes and smile on his face, I knew the answer before he even said it… he was SO excited. He said he can’t wait to walk his daughter down the aisle one day (sigh). He says he already know he’s going to be such a pushover… I know it’s true, too!

After asking Dr. B the few questions I had, we scheduled our next appointment and headed out to the parking lot. We knew we wanted to make the phone calls together so we could hear everyone’s reactions, so first we called my mom, who I heard cry for only like the 2nd time in my whole life! She has been really hoping for a girl (she says that’s all she knows how to deal with! haha), so she could not have been happier. Then we called Jon’s mom, who also cried and said she couldn’t wait to go shopping! We then called my Dad, and Jon’s Dad, and they both said how happy they were and also something to the effect of how spoiled this little girl is going to be. :)

We also called both of Jon’s sets of grandparents, and talked to Grandma Aldridge & Grandpa Kluttz. They were so excited to know that their first great grandchild will be a great granddaughter!! Grandma Aldridge said that she was going to go out to the shop to tell Grandpa the news, but Jon told his Grandpa Kluttz to have his Grandma K call him when she got home. He says that when she called him and he told her, she just kept saying “It’s a girl?! It’s a girl!!!!!” 

I then had a special phone call to make, to my Granny. She has been sick lately, losing blood and really not feeling well, so I first asked her how she was feeling, and she said it had been a rough day.  I told her that I had some good news that would hopefully make her feel better, and that her 16th great grandchild was going to be a GIRL, and not only that, but that she would be named after her, with the middle name Jo! (Side note: Jo is my Granny’s middle name, and is also mine…along with 2 cousins and my niece.) She cried and told me I had made her whole week. :)

Believe it or not, there were even more phone calls to make! We then called our siblings! We talked to them all right away, with the exception of Bekah, who even though I told to keep her phone close by that day, was not responding to texts, calls or emails. The general consensus was that everyone was thrilled! My sister-in-law Kelley told me that she had already started gathering baby things for me but now she would start getting together a bag of girl clothes (hand-me-downs?! YES PLEASE!!). Miki basically said “I knew it!!” and it’s true—she called it a looooong time ago, sometime around week 7 or 8 when I was throwing up all the time, she said she just knew it was a girl. Heather was in class, but she said it looked like she’d be leaving class to go buy some girly clothes! 

At this point, we realized we both had to go to work… though we were pretty sure that there was no way we were getting any work done. I have done really well the last few months to not shop online for clothes, etc. until we knew the gender…but now that we know, Lord help our bank account us!

I ended up FINALLY talking to Bekah a short while after I got to work. She was also very happy, but she didn’t seem surprised at all— she has said she thought it was a girl from day one. She is going to spoil this little girl like crazy (especially with her new MUCH higher paying job! haha). 

Later that morning, we sent some texts to some other friends/family, and of course posted the news to facebook…and the congratulations we got were innumerable. We are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends who are genuinely so excited for us during this exciting time.

Ok, now for some stats:

Size of Baby A: Avocado

Weight Gain So Far: 1.3 lbs (down from what I thought was 3…the 1.3 is based on the doctor’s scale from our appointment this week). I was a little worried that I might not be gaining enough, but Dr. Brannon assured me at our appointment that it is fine, and said I will laugh at the next appointment because I ever even asked that!

Cravings: Anything cold. It has been SO hot (over 100 degrees today!), so fruit, ice cream, pickles, you name it…as long as it’s cold!

Aversions: Nothing that I can think of…

Symptoms: Just when I thought it was gone forever….I had a small bout with morning sickness (again) 2 days this week. I thought it was just nerves about finding out the gender, but it happened the day after as well. The good news is that it didn’t happen today so hopefully it was just those isolated incidences. I have been feeling slight cramps the last few days, which I’m wondering if this could be the first signs of feeling some movement, but I’m just not sure!!!!

What I Miss: I’ll switch it up a little this week… beer! On Saturday, Jon’s parents, my Mom, and Bekah & Kyle were in town, and I took Bek, Kyle, Jon and his dad to the brewery tour at Carolina Brewing Company up the street from us. I was so sad to not get to go!!!

Things I am Thankful For: Family! Like I said, we had my Mom, both of Jon’s parents, and Bekah & Kyle in town last weekend.  They came to bring us our china cabinet and help move it in, arrange it, etc. We had so much fun, and I appreciate all of their help more than they know! They are all so excited about Baby A, and they all offered to come back another weekend to help move in nursery furniture/paint/organize the nursery. Can’t wait for that!

Signs of a Bump: Just when I said there were signs of one… I am just not sure if there really is or not! Sometimes (ok, mostly just after I eat, haha), I feel like you can really tell…but other times, I look down and see nothing! Dr. Brannon told me that he doesn’t expect me to really start showing until around 20 weeks… so it won’t be long.

Next Doctor Appointment: August 15 (my mom’s birthday!)

This was the best, most exciting week since we found out I was pregnant. We cannot wait to meet you, hold you, kiss you, Baby Girl! Your Mommy and Daddy are so in love with you already. 

-S