33 wks

So as you can see my bellybutton is starting to poke out and I'm not lovin' that! I'm at 31 lbs weight gain, and not lovin' that either but it's for my sweet baby and I AM lovin' that!!! She is so active that it kind of scares me because she'll probably be that way after she comes out. I've started swelling the past few days so I put myself on a low sodium diet. It's REALLY hard to do a low sodium diet because it's in everything!!! I plan to work up until the due date so I really, really need this swelling to go away!!! I've scheduled in time to sit and put my feet up but I always seem to find something that needs to be done and don't really get to rest as much as I want. I guess the swelling is going to make me sit because it hurts to swell and continue to stand on your feet. It's been weird because I can notice a difference almost everyday with how big my belly is getting. She's really putting on the weight just like her mommy! We got her dresser in recently and I thought it was coming in put together and it wasn't. It didn't hurt my feelings but I did tell Nick he was going to be happy because he didn't have to put it together and well, now he does. LOL Oh well, just another occasion I get to take pictures of him slaving for his baby. Her bedding should be in soon and I'll post pictures of that. I also had a work shower this past weekend and got money and gift cards to buy her monitor with as well as some really cute clothes and vintage burp cloths. It was so much fun, we went to Log Cabin and ate and had cake...lots and lots of cake. Angela picked out the cake and it was white with a pink M and roses around it for Madalyn Rose! I thought that was so sweet! White cake with white icing is my fav!!! We were there for like 3 hours just laughing and eating, and eating, and eating! I am looking forward to the rest of the showers!!!

Madalyn's Bed!!!

First I want to thank my wonderful mother-in-law, Debbie Williams and her best friend, Debbie Long for this beautiful bed! I absolutely LOVE it! The pictures just don't do it justice. It's espresso in color and will convert to a toddler day bed and then to a full size bed. Nick and my dad had fun putting it together. I was cooking dinner, since the room wasn't big enough for all of us and all of the parts laid out, so every few minutes I'd come and check on them and snap a picture. This one is my wonderful husband actually reading the instructions. I threatened him if he messed up her bed because she can get hurt if it's not put together properly. Oh, and that's dad laying on the floor fixing to screw the sides in.

Looks like dad might be reading the instructions now but I think Nick's got it figured out, maybe. The only thing I had to make them redo was how high the bottom spring thing goes. When I came in Nick was putting it on the lowest setting, where it goes when they learn to stand. Now, to defend him that is the way they showed it in the picture so he was using the directions. I had to explain it went higher because I was too short to reach all the way down to put Madalyn down. He was skeptical at first because the directions showed it all the way down but after I explained he agreed.

And........this is her bed all put together. Thanks Nick and Daddy for doing such a great job! Next step, get her mattress and bedding put in! I really think Nick's excited because the next day I couldn't find him and I went in her room and he was just standing there looking at her bed smiling!

30 week belly

Just when I think I can't possibly get any bigger, I DO! It's been pretty hectic around here so that's why I haven't posted any sooner. I was sick with a cold, which I have now given to Nick, this week and that's rough when you're pregnant. I never knew how hard it was to cough with a big belly. I'd try to take a big breath in to cough and couldn't because my lungs can't seem to expand like they used to. I don't think Madalyn liked me being sick either! I actually missed my doctor's appointment because I couldn't get out of the bed. Anyway, enough of my pity party. I do go back to the doc on Thursday and then I start my every two weeks appointments. This is all going by so fast!

26 week belly

As you can see we're steady growing! She's started kicking so hard I think her foot might come through my stomach. I have a doctor's appointment this Thursday and will have my glucose test that morning before my appt with Dr. Harper. We all know what happened last time I had to have blood drawn, so hopefully I can be a big girl and not faint!!! It's my sister's 30th birthday that day so my present to her is making her go with me and NOT take any pictures this time! Speaking of birthday's, Nick's is Friday and he'll be 30 too! My baby's growing up! I started getting that dark line down my belly a week or so ago and it's not too pretty. No stretch marks yet but i've still got 13 more weeks to go! My wonderful mother-in-law and her good friend Debbie Long bought Madalyn's bed and it'll be in tomorrow. I can't wait!!! As soon as we get it put together I'm going to post pictures of it.

She has a name!!!

MADALYN ROSE HOWARD

Nick and I finally found a name we love!!! We've been looking ever since we found out we were having a girl. After compiling a list of maybe names we narrowed it down to one. We decided to use Rose for her middle name after my great-grandmother, and Madalyn was just a name we both liked. I feel better now that I can call her by name and not "her or she"!

23 wk belly

We're steadily growing! I'm around 15 pounds weight gain now but still getting my 2 or more miles in everyday on the treadmill and watching (for the most part) what I'm eating. Nick and I still can't decide on a name but as soon as we do I'll let everyone know! We're going to his mom's this weekend because he has a continuing education class near by and She and I are going shopping for a crib! I'm so excited!!! She's still on my bladder and doesn't seem to be getting off of it any time soon. She was kicking so much the other day that I thought I was going to be sick! It's still hard to feel her from the outside but I have a few times. She's so low that her kicks are kicking straight down and not out so it's making it hard for anyone else to feel her move.

Her going home outfit my mom bought

My mom was in New Orleans and found a shop that had these little dresses. The lace is from 1972 and was hand made by a lady who is no longer living. The store my mom bought this from was able to purchase some of this hand stitched lace and paired it with linen from Italy. These pictures don't do the dress justice, it's absolutely beautiful. Nick and I will bring her home in it and she'll have some pictures made in it and then I'm going to have it framed and hang it in her room so she can have it when she gets older.

This is the front view of the dress.

Close up of the lace around the neck area on the front.

Front bottom of dress

Full back view of dress


Back of dress, it splits open with a button or two holding it shut at the top


Sorry this one is sideways! I wanted to show the detail of the lace going down the back of the dress.

Matching bloomers (back view)

She's already getting spoiled!

Here are her first two pairs of shoes along with the back of her swimsuit. It has cute little ruffles on the booty! I love ruffles!
This is her extra large passy clip with a rhinestone in the center and some little tiny hair barrettes. The barrettes have zebra stripes on them. It's kind of hard to see that in this picture.

she's going to be so cute in this!

This just one of her dresses and her swimsuit for next year.

A onesie with a pink bear on it and another dress for next summer.

This is going to be her 4th of July outfit next year.

This is her 2 piece swimsuit for next year. I have the bottoms up under the top but it is 2 pieces.

21 week belly

Sorry i'm so late getting this up. I'll post a recent picture later today.

It's a Girl!

This is the 4D picture of our baby girl! She's sucking her thumb, isn't she cute?!! The sonogramist said everything looked to be developing great!

This is a side view of her laying on her back with her arm up by her face. It looks like she's going to have my pug nose too. She stays sitting on my bladder and kicking it ALL day long! She's 11 oz's and growing! We're not sure about a name yet but I'll post when we choose one. I just had it in my head the whole time that I was having a boy so I'm in a little bit of shock but VERY happy and excited! Now comes the hard part, choosing the bed, bedding, room colors, and of course a name.

18 week belly pic

So here's the latest pic of the baby belly. I go back to the doctor in two weeks for my next appt and should find out what I'm having then. I'm at 12 lbs weight gain and not too happy about it but I'll just pretend it's less for mental reasons, LOL! We're going to start cleaning out the baby's room this coming weekend so that when we find out what we're having we can start fixing it up! YAY!!! I've been feeling the baby move for about two weeks now and Nick should be able to feel it in the next few weeks. It seems to like to play on my left side a whole lot! And, of course, when I lay down to go to sleep it goes crazy moving. I had my first set of cankles (swollen ankles) last weekend and it was awful! I got really sunburned at the beach (everywhere but belly) and my ankles started swelling. They did off and on for a couple of days and haven't been back. It was heartbreaking looking at my feet! I'm so glad to have them back to normal, for now.

15 weeks

Sorry I haven't been able to update this lately. The power cord to my laptop gave out on me and I had to order a new one. Well as you can see my belly has been plenty busy growing!!! I go to the doctor Thursday and will set up my appointment for the ultrasound then to find out what we're having. Now that i'm in my second trimester I'm finally starting to get a little energy back. I had a set back with my energy level last week when my heart decided to go a little crazy on me but seems to be doing much better now. My OB doc said I have supraventricle tachacardia (spelling???) but it's nothing to worry about. It just means when my heart starts racing I need to sit down for a minute. I will go to the cardiologist on May 11th to see what he thinks so I'll let you know how that goes. It's an adjustment to get used to not being able to do the same amount of stuff from before I was pregnant. I also want to mention that one of my friends whom was around 6 months pregnant lost her baby a little over a week ago, so please keep her in your prayers. She is a very strong person both mentally and spiritually but this is a huge thing to overcome! I'll be posting much more often than this last time so check back for more picts!

Go ahead...LAUGH!!!

I can't believe I'm actually putting this picture up! I figure my sister will have it circulated around by the end of the weekend if I don't. As you can see I fainted 3 times at my first doctor's appointment when i had to have my blood drawn. If you look close you'll see that my arm is already wrapped up which means I fainted AFTER they were don't taking my blood! I pretty much faint every time I have my blood taken so I knew this was going to happen and apparently Kellie did too since she's the one snapping pictures of me. Anyway, back to the visit, I went on Tuesday to Doctor Harper at Green Clinic. They took all my info, all my blood, and all my modesty at this appointment. I didn't get to have an ultrasound because it has to be scheduled with the lab so I'll go back in a week or so for that. My visit lasted about 3 1/2 hours because of my fainting spell and then the doc got called out to deliver a baby. I was so wore out after that appointment that I couldn't even drive home. Now back to the fainting mess...Kellie said I told them I was going to faint and then my eyes rolled back into my head, my face turned green and my lips white and I started sliding out of the chair. See, I can be a drama queen even when I'm not conscious! LOL I just remember thinking I was waking up from a nap but everything was black and people were pushing me down. It took about 30 seconds for my vision to come back and I didn't remember where I was so needless to say I was a little freaked out. Poor Nick!!! He has no idea what's coming for him. He just kept laughing at me that afternoon because I fainted over three little viles of blood. The good news is that I don't have to do that again until 28 weeks and then at delivery!!! Well that's pretty much all we accomplished at the first visit.

baby stuff

Thank you to my sister for buying me this lotion so just maybe i won't get any stretch marks. I've already started using it even if it's too early. I'm trying to take every precaution out there to keep the stretch marks at bay!

This is my proof that there really is a baby and I'm not just having hot flashes for nothing!

My sister and mother couldn't stand not to buy something for the baby!

first belly picture

This is at the end of my 6th week. It's pretty much what I look like all the time! LOL I'm going to just get over the modestness and post week-by-week pictures so y'all can see me and the baby grow. Tomorrow is my first doctor's visit and i'll upload the ultrasound pictures.

accepting donations of energy!

Well, yesterday i got a little dose of what i'll be going through in 7 1/2 months. I went to the hospital to see my friend, Jamie, that had her baby. I started realizing my time is coming and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm so scared and just hope I'll be so miserably pregnant that the scary thoughts leave and the "get this baby out of me" thoughts come in. I must have been thinking about that when i went to sleep last night because I woke up at 3 am having a panic attack. Why do I have to be so over the top about everything??? I've gained 2 1/2 pounds so far. I'm half way through my first trimester and half way to the amount of weight i'm supposed to gain during that time. I weigh myself everyday to make sure I keep a close eye on it. I want to gain enough but not too much. I also started the lotion on my stomach just in case it helps with getting stretch marks. I want to have my skin ready to stretch in a few months. This is off the subject but my sister's dog is in labor and she thinks I need to come over and help when they come since i'm pregnant!!!??? I don't think so. As you can see from the title I'm all out of energy these days and it SUCKS!!! I look at everyone else and wish I had half the energy they do. I hear it gets better in the second trimester so if anyone wants to donate some to me until then i'll be forever greatful!

blogging and blabbing

Ok, so I think I might have this down thanks to a few calls to Jana. LOL So I have less than a week until my first doctor's appointment. Kellie and I went to wal-mart the other day and she couldn't stand it, she bought some stuff for the baby already! It's just necessities where the sex doesn't matter. So yesterday was my first full day back to work since Angela's had the flu and it was good. I was worried I would be so tired but I did just fine! I'm so excited about tomorrow because Jamie, Jana's sister, is having her baby!!! I have to work but will be at that hospital ASAP after work! Back to me...I've been having lots of back pain everyday and some cramping but I'm kind of glad because at least I know I'm still pregnant! I'm sure all of you know me well enough to know that I'll have every ache and pain known to pregnant ladies! I'm looking forward to each and every pain I get! I'm going to try to update my blog as often as I can so y'all can keep up with all of this with me. Hope everyone has a great day and if you're lucky I MIGHT post a picture of my belly before it starts to grow! Remember, I said MIGHT!!!

Announcement!!!

Well Nick and I have recently discovered our family is expanding! We're having a baby!!! I know it's unbelievable to pretty much everyone, but it's true. Baby Howard will be here some time in late October or early November. My friend Jana inspired me to create this blogspot to keep everyone informed of how we're doing. I go March 10th for my first doctor's appointment. The only thing I'm scared about is the ultrasound. I just want to see ONE baby and I'll be great, oh and the gallon on blood I have to give. LOL All of you who know me know blood makes me faint! Guess this is my chance to get over that one. Nick is so excited about the baby and that makes me even more excited! It's scary to think we have a baby on the way but so sweet at the same time. I've already started looking at baby bedding and everything else. That would be the OCD coming out in me. I always think I have to have everything in order asap. I bet baby Howard puts a little kink in that one day!