Feeling Positive

Hello :)  Two exciting things this week ... Christmas of course, so quality time with the family and entering the 6th month of pregnancy. I don't know why, but the 6th month has always felt like a milestone of some kind. So I am almost there  :)

I went to urgent care at the end of last week to ask about my chronic fatigue and acid indigestion. The doctor told that I can take pepsid ac rather than tums and that we will only resort to prilosec if the pepsid doesn't work. Well, the pepsid works wonderfully! I take one with breakfast every morning and that one little pill lasts me the whole 24 hours with not a single acid burp  :)  It started working from the very first pill too. So I am very very happy with that. I can now finally eat more than just rice and veggies!
This also means that I am now sleeping through the whole night with the odd bathroom trip around 6am. So guess what ... the fatigue has also gone away. Now I just deal with the regular tiredness of pregnancy. It feels fantastic to be sleeping  :)  It puts me in a better mood for work and with people around me in general and has lessened the stress caused by exhaustion .... so I haven't cried in days!  :)

I am also sleeping better because it seems my body has gotten used to spending the whole night on my left side. I no longer wake up with numb legs and arms. I have also stopped stressing about sleeping on my back because the doctor told me that if its uncomfortable for James, it will also be uncomfortable for me and so I will either roll over or just wake up and change position.

I have a morning routine now that I quite enjoy. I don't really sleep in anymore, so when Josh wakes up around 630am or 7am for work I usually turn on the bedroom TV to watch GMA (Good Morning America) while I slowly wake up. Once I feel alert enough, I start doing my physical therapy stretches which are done lying down. I do those for about 15-20 minutes and then slowly sit up. Once that feels good I get out of bed and do a few rounds of pigeon pose (squat position pushing my hips outwards) and forward fold. All of these stretches are to loosen my hips and strengthen my pelvis floor for birth. By the time I am done with all of that I feel ready to start my day!

I am feeling ready and able to start a little workout routine too, so Josh and I are going to start going to our apartment complexes gym where he will probably jog and I will walk. It will be nice to get moving again ... heck, it feels nice just to have the energy and motivation to want to workout again!

Anyway, I am starting to ramble. I will try to remember to post my 6 months belly picture on here on Thursday so you can see the progress! Have a great day!

Some of the coaches at South Coast Gymnastics here in Irvine, CA on December 17th for the Christmas Party. Pam and I are sitting on the blue block front and center. Can you believe that we are both 6 months along?!?! Pam is just two weeks ahead of me and we are both having boys  :)

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



Busy Times!

There is so much going on right now! Firstly, my tummy has started growing quite a bit (which you will see evidence of on Tuesday). It has only started really growing  in the past few weeks. So I finally look pregnant and less like I ate too many Cheetos.

Can you believe that I will be 20 weeks pregnant on Tuesday! That's 5 months!!! I cannot believe how fast this is all going. I guess time has been flying more now that I have been feeling so much better physically etc. So I have been working more and getting more done as far as chores and errands go. I am also sleeping less during the day and eating more :)  Finally enjoying the perks of pregnancy.

So besides us hitting the 5 month mark on Tuesday, we also have our ultrasound appointment. This is the ultrasound where they tell us if we are carrying little girl Epps or little boy Epps. I cannot wait! As far as people guessing at work etc, it has been split 50/50, so only time will tell! After the appointment Josh and I will be calling the grandparents and aunts ... but after that, keep an eye out for that exciting announcement on facebook  :)

In two weeks, we are moving our little family to a bigger apartment. It's only 15 minutes from where we are now, but it's a nicer area (no college students), has an extra bedroom for our little Peanut, has a washer/dryer IN the apartment (no more lugging laundry around) and a gas stove (the electrical stoves suck!). All those pluses and it isnt that much more expensive. Our apartment is also at the very end of the complex ... so that means less traffic outside our windows aaaaaand a mountain view because it's a newly developing area  :) 
These apartments were only built in 2009, so they have all the latest safety features in the buildings and because they are solid concrete we will hear our neighbors a lot less (thank goodness for that!). Our upstairs neighbors here are nice, but oh my goodness, sometimes it sounds like a family of elephants are living above us ... and they arent even overweight! So I am very excited about the move and so is Josh. I think we will be alot happier there, and I can see our little growing family being a lot happier there. Especially since we wont be surrounded by drunken students, pot smoke and never ending techno music.

So all in all, everything is going great! Besides having to pack of course, but luckily we dont have too much stuff and we're not going very far. So I guess I will talk to you all again (on here) on Tuesday! Feel free to take some last minute guesses  ;)

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.

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  :)