21 Week Update - Baby Moon

Hey family! 

ba·by·moon

ˈbābēˌmo͞on/

noun

informal

1. a relaxing or romantic vacation taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born.

   "on the eve of my third trimester, we boarded a plane for a week-long babymoon among the quiet canals of Amsterdam"

   • a period of time following the birth of a baby during which the new parents can focus on establishing a bond with their child.

     "a babymoon is regarded as a crucial time for a family to establish itself"

     
     

     
     

     
     

B and I just got back from our Baby Moon!

I am so lucky to be married to a man who is always finding new ways of making me feel special and loved. He planned the entire trip from start to finish without asking for any help. We left from our current home town and traveled North towards Oregon. We stopped at our parents house to drop off the pups and then we were off. 

The first night, B had planned for us to go to a community play in Weaverville, but I wanted to spend time with our family instead, so we stayed in Redding for dinner. Brandon has grown so much, two years ago he might have had a conniption with me changing the plans. After dinner, we left around 9 p.m. and B drove on one of the windiest roads I've ever been on. I was supposed to keep him awake, but my body was busy making a baby all day and I couldn't keep my eyes open. Poor B had to drive, trying to keep himself awake until midnight -- He told me the next day that he almost killed 7 deer on the 3.5 hour drive. AHHHHHHHH. 

The next day we had breakfast at the hotel and set off towards our destination. Let me tell you, planning a road trip while pregnant was not our brightest moment. Poor B had to pull over multiple times so I could use the restroom. I'm pretty sure baby is using my bladder as a pillow (or punching bag).  We met our friends in Bandon, OR and after a quick lunch drove to our resort. Brandon booked us a stay at Bandon Dunes -- I guess it's a super fantastic golf resort that everyone who knows how to golf should golf at or should want to golf at or something like that....  Here is a picture of B golfing! He was able to check that off his bucket list. 

The first night we walked to the beach. I tried to run. I almost passed out. Seriously, I saw stars. Brandon wouldn't let go of my hand after that. But we made it to the beach and back without serious incident. I CANNOT wait to be able to run and over-exert myself (when I want). Let's be honest, that will probably only be a few times after Baby Smith comes, but just having the ability back will be soooo awesome!

The next leg of the trip was to Bend, OR. I'm not sure if I've ever been to a more magical place (Disneyland aside). A few hours after we arrived, a snow storm hit and Brandon and I had to leave our Kia in the shopping district parking lot. Yes, we were at a shopping district. I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised. 

Even with the snow, we were able to go to a few breweries and we were even able to go on the Deschutes Brewery tour (Baby Smith is going to be a beer expert). Before arriving, I was hoping to go on a hike or explore the outdoors. However, the snow storm added to perfect romantic element to our time there. We barely got to explore the town, but I had so much fun with B. 

Updates: 

 Stretch Marks? I still don't have any stretchies. My mom told me that she didn't get any on her belly, so maybe I won't either. Here's to hoping. 

Sleep? I have been sleeping through the night. Growing a human is hard work. 

Movement? I finally felt Little!!!  Little has been moving so much and I can now see movement on my belly. I absolutely love feeling the movements and it helps my crazy anxiety. 

Cravings? Anything that someone else is eating. I still haven't had any crazy pickles and ice-cream cravings though. 

Gender? I still can't say... One last set of parents to tell. 

Belly Button In or Out? It's popping out! Not all the way, but it's getting there. 

Symptoms: I am back to being exhausted...which I am sort of bummed about. I thought that would be in the third trimester. 

Best moment of the week? 4.5 months pregnant and I have not felt beautiful once. Brandon was starting to sense that my self esteem has been plummeting and has also noticed that he rarely sees me out of yoga pants and sweatshirts.  When we were on our vacation, he took me to a store called Maurices and told me to pick out a new outfit for our date. 

The sales associate helping me was so kind and brought me 10 different outfits, because it's hard to dress yourself when your body is constantly changing. It took an hour, all the while B was waiting patiently in the store full of girly things. It's hard to explain the sense of relief I felt when, for the fist time in months, I felt beautiful. 

What I am looking forward to: I am looking forward to telling our last set of parents the gender, so I can stop feeling like I have a giant secret and so I can post things about Little! :)

XO - Megs

18 Week Update

Well ladies and gents,

We found out the gender! WE FOUND OUT! WE FOUND OUT and I want to scream it from the rooftops, but I can't post about it until we are able to tell our family!

Luck has it that my side of the family is visiting this Wednesday, so I am able to tell a few of them. :)


I  have to brag about Brandon. I have been really struggling with my weight gain, nothing fits me! Ack! I was crying to myself and B asked what was wrong. I told him about my struggle and he looked at me with the sweetest eyes and said, "Honey, you are the most gorgeous I have ever seen you; you are carrying our child." What a perfect husband.

Updates: 

 Stretch Marks? Still no stretchies on my belly! I am using Vitamin E oil and Burt's Bees Mama Butter. My pregnancy brain won't allow me to remember my pre-pregnancy weight...I think I have only gained 10-25 pounds. So we will see what happens! 

Sleep? The pregnancy pillow I bought has been wonderful. I bought it on Amazon. It is called the Snoogle and is absolutely perfect. It helps me keep on my left side while I sleep, although I keep waking up on my back. I'm trying. :/ Last night was the first time that I turned onto my stomach in my sleep. I woke up immediately due to extreme discomfort. I guess I can no longer lay on my tummy. 

Movement? I think I have felt little. I can see little from the surface (tiny waves across my belly), but I'm not sure if I have felt movement yet. It feels like butterfly wings, which I read is what fetal movement feels like at first. I can't wait to know for sure if it's little. 

Cravings? My cravings are silly. It's anything I see someone else eating. The other day at school I saw a little girl eating Doritos and I had to have them! I almost took some from one of my students during lunch....I mean if she offers, it's ok right?

Gender? I can't say yet!!! 

Belly Button In or Out? It's in, but it's starting to get shallow (if that's makes sense). It will most likely pop out. 

Symptoms: I am no longer nauseous. Just anxious, but getting better. Weight is adding fast and I no longer have any food aversions. :)

Best moment of the week? The best moment was finding out the gender! We went to a 3D/4D ultrasound place for an early reveal and I let the technician know that I did NOT want to know. (I didn't want to find out there. I wanted to find out from Brandon in the comfort of my own home). The technician was super nice and thought it was awesome to be included in our little plot to keep the gender secret from me. 

She turned the monitor away from me while they were checking the gender. It was the most exciting time of my life. I was shaking with anticipation the whole time. After what seems like FOREVER, she says they had found out the gender and now I could see little on the big screen without finding out-- she was going to stay away from the "revealing area". 

She turned on a large screen TV and showed us our precious baby. Little was moving so much, little fists were moving and legs too. The head was moving a lot and I watched Brandon stare up at the screen in amazement. His eyes were tearing up while he watched our little baby moving around. He kept squeezing my hand every time little would make a big movement. He couldn't take his eyes away from the screen. After a few minutes, B turned to me with an amazed look and asked how I couldn't feel all the movement in there. 

I would say the best moment was watching our little move, but honestly, it was seeing the look in Brandon's eyes while he was watching our baby. I have never seen Brandon look at something with such love and it was so overwhelming. EEK, ok now I am crying again...

After our appointment we drove home. It was so fun trying to grill Brandon to tell me what little was! B was so excited that he knew and I couldn't wait to find out. 

Finding out at home was so much better than having a stranger tell me. Brandon had purchased both a boy outfit and a girl outfit for the appointment and after he found out the gender, he wrapped the outfit in the cutest little box for me to open. After the 15 hour drive -- just kidding, it just felt like it-- we set up the camera and he gave me the gift. I got to unwrap little's first outfit and find out that little was a __________!!!!! YAY!!!!!!! 

I will post the video of our gender reveal once we tell our families. :)

What I am looking forward to: I am looking forward to our move! We found a lovely 2 bedroom townhouse in a better area. My family is coming down on Wednesday to help us move! I am so excited to have a place for Little's nursery! 

I am also looking forward to telling our parents if Little is a boy or a girl! 

EEEEEEEE!!!!

XO - Megs