Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Bumpdate~ Weeks 15 & 16

Snow day for me today!! That means I get to catch up on pregnancy weeks 15 & 16! :) I decided to title the posts "Bumpdate" as a baby bump update in case that doesn't make sense. ;) 

Week 15: (February 3-9)
Me this week-
For the most part, Week 15 was another great one! I've been feeling great and extremely lucky. Sometimes I even forget that I'm pregnant because other than my growing belly I don't typically feel any different. I hate to admit this but one day at school I had to get something from the top shelf of a cabinet in my classroom. I stood on a perfectly stable adult-sized chair and got it easily but a coworker caught me standing there and gave me a mini-lecture about how others can help with stuff like that because I shouldn't be on the chair. Big oops. And she's totally right; but it honestly didn't even occur to me. I understand that now and know I need to be cautious always, and even more so moving forward.

I've always had a difficult time accepting help from others, especially if it's 100% help. I have a hard time asking for help and a hard time accepting it. But that has to change and I realize that now. I am SLOWWWWLY accepting help and learning to say yes when people offer things, even if reluctantly. I can be stubborn sometimes. ;) One of my coworkers had a baby last year and always tells me to live it up because it's the only time it's totally okay to get special treatment like this. A few others have said the same and I know they're right but it's hard to get used to! Even when it comes to finding clothes for school (which is SOOO hard many mornings because I just wanna wear sweatpants every day), a bunch of coworkers have said it's fine to dress down a bit and just be comfortable (I only wore sweatpants on pajama day recently but I'm definitely not in dress pants and nice shoes either). I always say thank goodness leggings are in style because they are  Godsend and so damn comfortable! I often wear those or jeans with acceptable tops for school. I have a good number of maternity pants and tops now, but it's still a struggle some mornings to coordinate it all together and still feel cute. I'm starting to try and show off my baby bump more often. It's sometimes a fine line of looking pregnant or looking fat and I obv want to stick on the pregnant side. I can't wait til the majority of the public can tell I'm pregnant and not think I'm just overweight or question if mayyyybe I'm expecting. It's definitely something funny I think of often and laugh to myself about.

The weekend of Week 15 was fun because it marked 17 years of Scott & I being together. We were HS sophomores in 1999 and went to a semi-formal dance at West Point on 2/6/99. That night changed our lives (although little did we know at the time). We spent a lot of time hanging out and dancing together that night, and Scott called to ask me out the next night, 2/7/99. That was a Sunday and I always love 2/7 a little more when it lands on a Sunday. We actually saw and placed an offer on our current house on Sunday 2/7 in 2010 too (also Super Bowl Sunday). I said when it falls on a Sunday, that weekend seems to have extra good luck for us, and we have Bee with us now. <3


I had a realization this week of everything we've gone through. I will NEVER forget our journey or take a single second of it for granted. It's molded and changed us in so many ways and even though it was 4 years of hell in some ways, I also am oddly thankful for it all. I have a few new followers on Instagram (and you never know who's reading our blog posts) and I didn't want people to think I was/am slapping all our of excitement in their faces. I know it's painful to see others pregnant when that's all you want in life. But at the same time I always found inspiration and strength through some of the girls I followed in the TTC stages who became mamas. I celebrated that with them and it only helped drive me forward more. I hope others don't think I/We have forgotten what it feels like because I don't and never will. My heart breaks for others still trying and every time they get a negative on their test or have a miscarriage, it digs at me too and brings me right back to those same feelings too. I will never forget the hurt we've been through and the ugly cries that have poured out of me, or the sadness of it all. So I created this as a little recap of our journey to get where we are today.


We got come cute gifts this week, too!! My cousin, Jenn, crochets and does an amazing job with it! She makes crochet stuffed animals and sent us the cardinal and bluebird. Both have really cool symbolism as well and she included a paper about that. They're so cute and soft and handmade gifts are so fun. We also got an adorable valentine card from my long-time friend Chrissy. She drew a bee on the back and wrote "Parents-to-Bee" which I just loved. :) Thanks so much, ladies!!



Showing off my bump!! I kept singing "My bump, my bump, my lovely baby bump!!" to the tune of Black Eyed Peas "My Humps". HAHA :) 


Flashback to us from 2005... it's the oldest pic I could find of us. I tried to get a pic from 1999 but those are all packed away. When we put our house on the market last year, I packed up a bunch of stuff we didn't need for a while and those were the first to go and they're not exactly easily acceptable, so this will have to do! This was actually at our engagement party in 2005, in my childhood house. Happy 17 years, Scooter! <3


 15 week official bump shot :)


I'll leave you with this quote from Disney... I just love it. Happiness, like a lot of things, are often all about perspective. You always have the power to make a crummy situation even the tiniest bit better in some small way or another. 


Bee this week-
At 15 weeks, Bee is the size of an orange! Our little cutie is 4 inches and 2.5 ounces. 
According to my fav baby apps...
-  Baby is squirming a lot, even though I likely can't feel it yet (*I think I do from time to time but it's been inconsistent and every so often, or always feels different)
- Joints and limbs can all move now!
- Bee's body is becoming more proportional
- Bee's ears have migrated to the sides of the head & eyes are moving to the front of the face.
- Can wiggle fingers and toes :)
- Mama got her energy back (*Mostly true!)


The excitement of my kiddos at school is starting to calm down a bit, and understandably so since they are 5 and 6. We are measuring my belly every week and this week it grew just over an inch in circumference.... WOA! One of the boys asked how big it would be in June. I laughed and gave a guess, way bigger than I am now. Some of their eyes bugged out a little and we all giggled. Even though we aren't talking about it as much any more, they still bring it up in conversation every so often. Bee even popped up in a homework assignment this week too!

The assignment was to draw some things that were longer or shorter than a provided piece of string (which was maybe about 6 inches long). This one little girl drew "Mrs. Ricci's baby" as being shorter than the string! I love it! :) And she's right! At this point, Bee is little. :)


 The wall of staff baby votes for blue or pink is definitely growing!! This one was sweet because this particular coworker has nicknamed me Tink for the last few years. So I had to post. :)


Just something cute I came across. Loved the Pooh AND Bee theme. 







Week 16: (February 10-16)
Me this week- 
I happily called this week "Sweet 16" and we are thrilled to make it this far! I am STILL in SHOCK that this is our reality. I feel like it's been a 3 month- long dream still. We got our positive pregnancy test results from the fertility clinic on November 18th, so it's literally almost 3 months to the date since we have known and it's been so completely surreal each day. 

At exactly 16 weeks was our 16-week checkup with our OB. Scott has been at every single appointment with me so far and plans to do so as long as he can. This appointment was pretty quick since there was no ultrasound. The nurse took my vitals and I was bummed to hear I had gone up about 5 pounds since our 13-week appointment... Ooops. I cringed. Time to lay off the weekly McDonald's cravings. I'm officially up about 10 pounds, but when I think about being just over 1/3 of the way and they suggested about 30 pounds, it's not terrible. I just have to be smart about giving in to cravings even though it's so easy to want to be like "whatever, I'll eat what I want". Mini wakeup call. When the Dr came in, we got to hear Bee's heartbeat with the doppler device they use just to check that. It was around 137-140bmp. *(The last one a few weeks ago was around 155, so I can't even go by the wive's tales to tell if we've got a boy or a girl. Each heartbeat read shows a different sex, so we shall see what happens!) 

I was SO relieved to hear the heartbeat because I can't help but totally freak out and let my nerves get the best of me before each appointment. I wonder if Bee is okay in there or if I'm miscarrying with no symptoms. It's crazy but it's reality. I still am in doubt sometimes that we are in this and it's our reality. I know I will have this worry for the rest of our lives now, being parents, but holy moly. I can't wait for Bee to start kicking soon so I can be reassured he/she is in there. 

We also talked to the OB about the Zika Virus, my latest extreme fear. I'll try not to go into too much detail in this post about all my fears but it just seems so unfair and ironic that something like this is targeting pregnant women. And the fact that it's surfacing when it's finally our turn to shine. As if you don't have enough to worry about in a regular pregnancy, throw in fertility struggles, dealing with a miscarriage, and now a virus that affects fetuses? No way. Basically I keep saying I want to just stay in a bubble until August. We had originally planned a Babymoon (new spin on a honemoon- a mini getaway before baby arrives) and we were set to spend a relaxing weekend in Disney in April. Just us and the Polynesian Resort (where we've always wanted to stay). Sunshine, palm trees, a pool... pure happy. Then the ugly Zika monster popped up and I can't take that risk. Even though FL isn't totally affected yet, it's targeted to... and Disney is like THE go-to spot for tourists worldwide. I couldn't live with myself if we went and I got (or even thought I got) the virus. It's not worth putting Bee in that risky situation and our OB strongly agreed. So cancel we did and I just would like a bubble with a massage and a relaxing sunny weekend with Scott, inside the bubble. Anywhere with no mosquitos of any kind.

After the appointment, I met my BFF for lunch and then did some shopping. It was a great day off from work! :)


When I got back to school on Thursday, my substitute from the day before had left me a wrapped gift and a card. I opened the gift to see a frame for an ultrasound pic. How cool, I thought. I then looked closer and thought to myself "WOW, that looks JUST like Bee!"... I turned around to where I kept my pic of Bee on my wall, and it was gone. So I knew this pic was indeed my pic of Bee. So sweet. :) My sub knew the pic was there and had planned it. So now Bee sits on my desk in a place of honor.


Valentine's Day was in the middle of Week 16. Admittedly I don't always look cute or presentable so I took full advantage of being dressed up for Scott to take my Week 16 pic (which I now realize I didn't label and have to on my phone later.) :) 


We ventured to the mall for a Valentine's Day lunch and a little bit of shopping. We thought lunch was a good idea so it wouldn't be as busy as dinner, but we were proved wrong. The entire mall was a zoo, you would have thought it was perhaps Christmas Eve. Another reason we don't typically shop and why we kind of hate weekend chaos. haha. But we made the best of it and had a nice day. :)





Bee this week-
Our sweet Baby Bee is the size of an avocado this week! Woaaaa baby! 
This week, Bee is 4.6 inches and 3.5 ounces. Also...
- Bones are now in place in the ears, which means Bee can probably hear our voices as we talk and sing. *(I've totally been talking to Bee, mostly when we are alone at home or in the car. I can't wait for him/her to really hear more of us and begin to recognize our voices.) <3
- Beginning to make facial expressions.
- Eyes are finally working, making small side-to-side movements and perceiving light, although eyelids are still closed.
- Bee is growing hair, lashes, and eyebrows.
- Bee is forming taste buds.
- Fluttering sensations/movements may soon be felt by Mama :)


Even though we will wait to pick out baby shower decorations and a theme until after we know the sex, I can't help but look at all the adorable Bee themed baby stuff!! Lots of gender reveals and gender neutral things are being focused on the "What will it bee?" theme and "Mama to Bee" and "Parents-to-Bee". It's all so cute and so fun!! Even though I will likely go with a fully girly girl or totally boy theme, I want to somehow incorporate some aspect of a Bee somewhere. Whether a few balloons, or something on a cake, or something like these adorable cookies, how can you resist?


Today is the last day of Week Sweet 16 and it'll be fun to see what's happening in there tomorrow at the start of week 17. Every Wednesday we wake up and look to see what the apps say for the new week. Reaching a new milestone each week has been so much fun. I'm still feeling great but realizing how important it is to stay active. Yesterday I laid on the couch pretty much all day and my tailbone hurt all night. We read that since everything is getting moved around and squished in there, this is common. Mostly in the 3rd trimester, but it can happen now too. So it motivated me to want to just walk around and stretch/do yoga, etc. I plan to go to the gym and just walk on the treadmill to hopefully loosen some muscles a bit. I can't wait for spring weather to arrive so I can walk outside every day in warm, fresh air, and not have to be cooped up in the gym. Happily, headaches seem to be less and less too. I only had 1 this week and I think they're sometimes helped by eating more and drinking more water. It's easier to drink more at home than at school but I'm trying to stay super hydrated and constantly am filling my water bottle cup. 

Almost halfway there! Our next appt is during Week 18, where we will HOPEFULLY find out if Bee is a boy or a girl. We have our anatomy scan and now I'm nervous he/she won't cooperate for the big reveal picture. We plan on finding out for sure and can't wait to go all out team blue or team pink. We plan to have a small gender reveal party with our immediate fam & a few close friends and then after I announce at school, I'll post on here and on IG. Can't wait to find out, although either way we are thrilled! As I always tell my kindergarten kiddos, "You get what you get, and you don't get upset!". A baby is all we want and we are thrilled with either result. I have no idea what Bee is, just that it's a baby who's already loved so much. 

Sorry this was so long! I need to get in the habit of posting weekly but it just hasn't happened yet. 

Hugs,

Stace & Bee
XOXO
#TeamRicci 

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