Cannot sit still for Five Minutes!

Nesting Season has begun! ... This means that I constantly have the urge to clean and organize every corner of the apartment, but the nursery more than anywhere else. I will sit down for maybe five minutes before thinking of something else that I just MUST do at that very moment. It is an exciting feeling and also cool in the sense that I am getting stuff done before I become too uncomfortable to move.




The Bassinet will be moved into our room either before James arrives or when we have a crib (which ever comes first), but for now it looks lovely in the baby room. The chest of drawers will contain all of Jame's little clothes and don't you just love the lamp?! I think it's awesome! It's flexible and has multiple settings.


Gifts from my registry at Babies R Us started to arrive today (thank you!) and that gave me even more motivation to get stuff ready. So I have been unpacking things to make room for more baby stuff and have been putting items, such as clothes, in the chest or drawers.

I have organized the towels, wash cloths and burping cloths on top of the chest of drawers for now, but I plan on moving those into the hallway closet before James arrives. For now, I just like seeing everything out in the nursery where I can look at it. It makes me feel very excited :)

I love the little bassinet. At the moment I do have a blanket on the side and teddy bears sitting inside the crib, but that is just for me again. Once James is sleeping in the crib, all of that will be removed for safety. But seeing the little crib with the little teddies makes everything so much more real (just incase my bulging stomach didnt!) and is just another step that I think every mother-to-be has to go through.

We all go through our moments of anxiety and disbelief and feeling like it's a dream. But I believe the nesting period is almost like a period of acceptance. It is the time where we stop pinching ourselves and truley realize that we are about to become parents. There are still moments when I get those excited butterflies and find myself thinking, "Oh My Goodness, I'm having a baby." But that is because I am now less than three months away and realizing how much time has just flown until now, I cannot imagine that time would slow down ... and I most certainly don't want it to.

It feels good to be getting things done in preparation for the arrival of our son. I feel like a little girl waiting and preparing for the arrival of Christmas ... which until the birth of my son will have been my favorite time of year. :)

My favorite time of the year.

I love the Christmas season. For me Christmas is about quality family time. I look forward to it every year because my parents, Josh and I take a few days off work and Laura has a few weeks off school so those few days are the ultimate stress-free, just take time for each other, quality family time. Sadly it doesn't happen much more than once a year, so I cherish Christmas for that reason :)

I cannot believe that James will be here next Christmas. Not only will he be here, but he will be 8 months old already! There is nothing like Christmas morning through the eyes of a child ... but more than that, you're own child. I know that he wont quite understand the whole Santa thing and all, but at 8 months we can still get him some cool stuff, where as if he were younger, toys wouldn't really come into the equation until the following year.

The plan is to have Christmas at our apartment next year and have everyone come down (my parents and sister as well as Josh's mom and hopefully his sister too). It will be fun to decorate our own place and plan dinner in our own kitchen. I, myself, have never hosted Christmas or anything more than a BBQ ... so it will be a whole new experience. And I must be honest, it makes me feel quite grown up, not to mention excited  :)

One of the coolest James related things that happened this past weekend was that everyone finally got to feel and SEE him move  :)  One of the days he was very active almost all day long. I have also noticed the sensations are changing. They are no longer just kicks. I can feel him rolling and stretching. So the movements are slower and can sometimes move from end of my stomach to the other. It sometimes also feels like he is poking me. I love it! The only thing I could do without is the nub of a belly button hahaha. Or as Josh calls it, my nubbin ... its not attractive! Good thing it's not bathing suit season lol.

So over all it was a wonderful weekend, though it is always nice to be back home. Roll on 2012 ... I love even numbers AND it is the year my son will be born.



Dec 27, 2011 (24 weeks). --- My love and I at Dargans in Santa Barbara for my dad's birthday :)



It's a Boy!

Today we went to our ultrasound and it was awesome! The technician, Nicki, took all the measurements and said that everything looks great and also annoucned that we will be having a baby boy  :)  As soon as she said it, I looked at Josh and we both smiled. We cant wait! He will be James Thomas Epps.

We chose the name by putting both of our dad's first names together and I think it forms quite a solid name. It sounds strong :)

Nicki had pointed out James' penis to us but then decided to add some arrows and a title just incase we forgot what we were looking at. Josh gets a laugh everytime he sees this picture.  :)

I cannot wait to welcome baby James into the world in April  :)  He is our little boy and boy are we lucky that he is coming into our lives. Sometimes I still cannot believe that we created something so wonderful. I cannot wait to meet you my little Peanut ... but in the meantime, you stay where you are in the warmth and grow and thrive as you have been already. I love you xoxox



A little knock from inside.

Today I am 17 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Yesterday I felt my little peanut kick for the first time. It was an amazing moment. I was driving home from work and felt 3 little pops. I was confused at first, wondering what it was. I thought, "Those were weird gas bubbles." Then I realized that they were very different and had to be my peanut. I was so excited and just smiled the rest of the way home. I couldn't wait to get home and tell Josh.

I had always wondered how I would know the difference between gas bubbles moving through my intestines, muscle spasms and baby kicks. But it is true what they say ... you just know. I immediately put my hand on my stomach and started rubbing it, saying out loud, "I feel you baby, I feel you ... you say hello anytime you want, momma feels you." It was pretty amazing.

For me it felt like three little popcorn popping. 'They' say that at first it feels like butterflies in your stomach or like little butterfly kisses ... but here is why I think I may have missed that part. When I don't get enough vitamin b-12, I get heart flutters. And because I have lowered a lot of my vitamins (except the prenatals and folic acid), I get heart flutters on a regular basis. They are not dangerous, they are just a part of my daily life now. But the heart flutters vary from being low by my diaphragm and high by my throat ... so I can see how I could have easily missed the early movements.

I know I say this with everything, but I cant wait until Josh can feel the movement too. I sometimes feel that it is unfair that I get to experience it all first ... I want him to experience just as much as me so that he can feel that 'first time' excitement with me. It will be a happy day when Josh can put his hand on my stomach and feel the little acrobat inside me  :)    Our little peanut, letting us know that he/she is growing and thriving  :)  Happy Days!

First official pictures!

Yesterday morning Josh and I made our way to our first official ultrasound appointment. I know I got one at the ER, but they wouldn't let me watch and they use older monitors making the whole thing not as clear. The place we went yesterday morning had state of the art sonogram machines.

One thing that was really excited for me was that Josh had not yet seen the baby in motion or heard the heartbeat. He is so stoked about becoming a dad, that I knew it would be a special moment for him too. And it was awesome! At first the baby wouldn't lie still, so the technician was having trouble getting the measurements. But after a few minutes he/she found a comfortable spot so that we could all see exactly how he/she is doing.

The baby is beautiful. 'Little Peanut' is definitely an appropriate nickname. In fact, I thought the baby looked perfect, the most beautiful baby I've ever seen on sonogram :)  And the heartbeat was so strong. Josh and I were pretty quiet through out the screening as we just stared at the monitor. We were both very happy leaving that appointment.

Here is a picture of our little peanut at 12 weeks and 6 days  :)  During this appointment we also found out that the screening for Down Syndrome and other related diseases came back negative. So our little peanut is growing strong :)

I cannot wait for our next sonogram in 5 weeks, because then we will find out the gender. Aaah, I am still glowing. I can now see why expectant mothers glow ... it's watching the miracle progress, the miracle that will become your beautiful child.

There you are little Peanut.

Some days I find myself stopping to look in the mirror. I lift up my shirt and turn sideways for some physical proof that my little baby is growing inside me. So far it's really only been hip widening and bloating (I am only 12 weeks and 1 day), but today was the day.

I went to the doctors office this afternoon for my follow-up exam following Tuesday's car accident. I peed in a cup (again), the doctor checked my cervix (not my favorite exam) to make sure it was still completely closed and we did an ultrasound. We did do some ultrasounds in the ER on Tuesday, but I wasn't allowed to really watch at that time and they didnt explain anything that was on the screen. Today the screen was pointed straight at me.

There was my little peanut on the monitor, looking right at us. The doctor pointed out the little face and dark areas where the eye are. It was as if he/she was saying, "What?! Would you just let me rest already???"  ... or .... "Hi mom, I told you I would be fine." - I also got to see the little flicker that is the heartbeat. And then the doctor turned on the sound so I got hear the heartbeat and wow is it strong! The doctor even said, "That is a pretty perfect heartbeat." .... That's my little peanut  :)

It put my mind as ease. Just a few days ago the thoughts of losing my child was unbearable, but he/she is much stronger than I gave him/her credit for. The doctor did give me some print outs of my little peanut and I cannot wait to share them with you. But first, Josh must see his little baby. I really can't wait to show Josh tomorrow when he gets home. And I cannot wait until the Tuesday when Josh gets to hear the little heartbeat too.

I find myself rubbing my tummy and looking at my stomach in the mirror more now. I still can't believe that there is a little person in there ... one little person that can make me feel so much love. --- I just cant wait to meet you, my little peanut  :)

First little bump in the road (Part Two).

So when I got home after the accident my gut was telling me to go to the ER and just get checked out. Even if everything was perfectly fine, it would put my mind at ease, allowing me to relax and just recover from the accident myself. So off to the ER I went, crying almost the entire way there. Terrified of what the outcome could be.

The waiting room was thankfully pretty empty. So I checked in and was in the back for my vitals within 10 minutes. They spent 10 minutes doing blood pressure, heart rate and questions before taking me straight to my assigned bed in the ER. Almost right away a nurse came by to see me. She took the time to tell me what was going to happen, who was going to come see me and how long this was all going to take. She was awesome and very friendly, taking the time to tell me about her 5 month old baby girl and how her pregnancy was. She made me feel very comfortable.

The first doctor came in with a mini ultra sound machine just to have a quick look at the baby. As excited as I was to see the baby, I was really wishing that Josh was there so we could see the baby together. I was also nervous that she would find something wrong. But nope, there he or she was, moving his or her arms and legs, just hanging out. We could also see the flicker of the little heartbeat. But even though that all looked okay, they wanted to send me to radiology for a more in depth look just to be sure.

Nicole (the nurse from earlier) came back to draw some blood and put me on some IV fluids. She said they like to do that when they have a pregnant lady to make sure I don't get dehydrated with all the excitement. It was weird, I could taste it for the first few seconds, but after that it just made me really cold. I also had to pee like 10 times once the drip was finished.

Then thankfully, my friend Bekki came to keep me company. I was so happy to have someone there especially with Josh being out of town. It made time go faster and she kept my mind of off everything. Having her there even made the guy across the way throwing up not seem so bad. Thank you again Bekki!

They then took me downstairs for the in-depth ultrasound. I wasn't allowed to see the screen or hear the heartbeat (which is good, cause I want Josh there for that) because they only do ultra sounds for trauma patients. She took a ton of pictures, but then couldn't help herself by showing me one of them. She said, "Do you want to see something really cute?"  ... ummmm duh! When she turned the screen, it was my baby holding/rubbing his or her nose with his or her little hand. I loved it, because I used to do that as a baby  :)  It made me smile. Taking after his or her mommy already!

After waiting in my ER bed for another hour, the doctor came by to tell me what they had found. Everything looked okay except for the little spot of blood around where the placenta is attached to the uterus. While this is normal for some women, they found it on me after trauma and so they didn't want to assume it was there before. So they put me on bed rest for at least 3 days or until my regular ob-gym clears me.

It was quite a day and things could most definitely have been a lot worse. I am very thankful for whomever was looking over me and my little unborn baby during the accident and in the following hours. We are both very lucky. 5 hours in the ER was well worth it. Now I am just resting and healing with the help Bekki and Kyle who live right across the street. I look forward to telling our child about our first little adventure together.  :)

First little bump in the road (Part One).

And may I say, hopefully the only bump in the road! Yesterday was quite a day for me and baby, here is what happened:

I was driving back home from LAX after dropping Josh off for his Ebar days in Cabo San Lucas. Traffic was pretty awful on the 405 south. It was stop and go all the way ... mostly stop. I was just relaxing, listening to the radio and looking forward to getting home. About half way home, we had picked up speed a little bit but seeing red lights ahead of me I put my foot back on the break. I came to a full and complete stop behind the Toyota. I always glance in my rear view mirror to see that the person behind me has also slowed down and stopped, but that wasn't the case in this situation.

What I saw in my mirror was a little Honda coming up behind me at around 35-40mph and a lady sitting behind the wheel with a panicked look on her face. I braced myself. When she hit me it felt like everything went into slow motion. I stepped on the break extra hard as my head and shoulders rocked forward and the seat belt hugged me tight. But she hit me hard enough to move me a few feet into the car in front of me, rocking me back and forth for what felt like forever.

Once that part was over, all 3 of us pulled over to exchange information. The lady from the Honda behind me was very apologetic, admitting fault to the two of us. She said her flip flip got caught under the break peddle stopping her from breaking. Last time I heard, it's illegal to drive in flip flops for this exact reason. So she will be paying for damages on both cars.

We all then got back into our cars and moved on. I had planned to go home and just rest until work. But I found myself talking to the baby, telling him or her that it was going to be okay. I was feeling a little discomfort where the seat belt had hugged my hips (where the baby is), so I knew my day was far from over.

Could it be a sign???

I was putting away my clean laundry today and found this sock in among mine. Because we live in an apartment complex we share the laundry room with other people. So it's not a rarity to find random socks with your laundry when someone else might have dropped it.

But look at this sock! Its a baby sock with the age 0-6 months written on it. AND it has a pink elephant on it! Anyone who knows me, knows that I own like 12 elephant statues and stuffed animals. Elephants are my animal! I am and ele-friend  :)

So far today, more than one person has said that it's a sign. The pink for a girl and the elephant for happiness. I just about melted when I saw the sock ... I am sure the whole complex heard me awe-ing hahaha!

Of course this could all just be a happy coincedence. But really ... why this sock and why my laundry? Whatever the explanation, it made my day. Not because I necessarily want a girl, just because it's a baby sock and I'm growing a baby  :)

I've lost my arm and leg!

I recently read that once you are in the 2nd trimester, that it is dangerous to lie flat on your back because the weight of the uterus cuts off the circulation of oxygen and blood to the baby. This kind of sucks, because I primarily sleep on my back. So I decided to start practising.

In the same book they also said that putting a pillow between your legs helps you to stay on your side at night, so I decided to give that a try. Surprisingly, it works pretty well. Though last night I think I woke up on my back twice, though the night before I didn't at all. When I am not waking up on my back, I am waking up without an arm or a leg. My hips and shoulders aren't used to being crushed all night and so they are going numb. It is quite annoying because I hate the feeling of pins and needles in my entire arm or leg and I keep having to turn over because apparently my body cannot figure that part out without waking me up.

I am glad that I started practising now, because come the 2nd trimester I don't want to be waking up on my back or without limbs. All this practice will be worth it for my baby  :)