18 Weeks

Well week 18 has also come & gone so quickly!  I scheduled myself to work the beginning of last week & the end of this coming week which has given me eight whole days off...it has been amazing so far and I'm only half way through it!!  I really needed a break from the hospital, it has been quite the stressor for me lately.  


During my days off I have: loved the cooler weather, gone on a baby shopping trip with my mom & sister only to be bombarded by the not so nicest sales people & almost have a melt down in the store, I've then had the best hot chocolate ever with my mom and sis & did a couple woosahs & remembered that this is exciting more than overwhelming (right?), Chase & I had a blast at our co-worker's halloween party, & last night had a great evening with some friends we haven't seen in awhile!


Today is filled with pajamas, yummy brunch foods, internet time, & of course...
Texans Football! :) 


Now on to the goods...

Size of baby: Bell Pepper, 51/2 inches long & almost 7oz.  
Total Weight Gain: Just a couple pounds since 2 weeks ago when I looked, but man that number is getting high...
Gender: I'll tell you what I've been telling others...It's going to be a boy because I want a girl & Husband wants a boy, and well, Husband always gets what he wants.  Spoiled boy.  I've accepted it & moved on.
What I miss: Still missing my old clothes...So much that I've still be wearing some of my jeans & just leaving them unbuttoned & using the B band, but you can totally see that the aren't closed.  I just pretend like no one else can see that...they can't right, right??
Cravings: Oh carbs you haunt me!  I have been trying desperately to squeeze in as much fruit & veggies in there as possible.  I am also still loving my chicken & spinach salads with catalina dressing.  I'm pretty sure that I'd like to meet the person who came up with catalina dressing and kiss them on the forehead.  I honestly have no idea if it's healthy or not, but it's like heavy in my mouth.  Sour candy has also been a predator of mine.  A perk of eating it as my after dinner movie treat is that laying there after eating a few baby starts treating my uterus like a bouncy house!  I just picture the peanut in there bouncing all over the place saying "Weeeeee" :)
Symptoms: Nausea hasn't reared it's ugly head, which makes me smile the biggest smile.  But it seems it might have been replaced by night time acid reflux.  Which makes me say, Um..yay.  Last night was the first night it was pretty intense.  I feel sorry for all those GERD babies I take care of because that reflux does a number on your throat!  Feeling pretty good these days, but then again these days are days spent doing fun things with my fam, friends, & husband so how can you complain??  When work comes again at the end of the week I'm hoping to continue to have this positive outlook ;)
What I'm reading: Still trucking through Babywise.  Not my favorite read.
Best Moment this week: Just being off in general has been so amazing & needed.  But if I had to pick it would be enjoying the cool weather on a cloudy day in Rice Village with my mom and sister having yummy soup & salad at La Madeline & then later enjoying some Hot Chocolate outside of Starbucks.  Why can't every day be like that {{sigh}}

I didn't take a belly pic this week but here is a picture of Chase & me before we headed to a Halloween party.

Officer & Detective Culpepper!

XO-The Culpeppers

17 Weeks

Not too much to report this week.  Quick survey!
Size of the Baby: Size of a turnip.  This week baby is 5oz & 5 inches.  Can feel baby every now & then moving.  I can feel it now without having to really concentrate on if it's really baby.
Total Weight Gain: I'm avoiding the scale currently.  I have a feeling that my expanding waist line is telling me the numbers on the scale have changed a bit...
Gender: It's a........................??
What I miss: Definitely really missing fitting into my old clothes right now.  That and a strawberry margarita was really calling my name the other night.  
Cravings: Sour candy, green apples, baked potatoes, grape snow cones, yogurt, water, spinach salad with dried red peppers-cucumbers-feta cheese-& catalina dressing...Mmm
Symptoms: Nausea is getting better, thankfully.  I've discovered that after eating if I lay down it's worse, so I'm trying to avoid that.  Other than that my skin has decided to strike against the hormones that are flaring up again & my face looks like a teenager's.  Not to mention my neck...Not really sure who these people are that think pregnancy is sexy.  Pretty sure it must be other people who have that mystical "glow".  I'm glowing alright...my acne glows a nice pinkish-red all over my face!
What I'm Reading: Still trucking through babywise....It's like reading a book for school.  They are telling me everything not to do first rather than just skipping to the secrets they claim to have to training your baby to sleep through the night and become a happy genius.  sigh...
Best Moment of the Week: This is my best and a little bit scariest moment; seeing my belly pop out even more.  I really think it took this whole week to just continually grow outward.  I would get used to seeing myself with a pooch, then a bit of a bump, and now it's like "hello world, this girl is knocked up".  None of my old clothes fit anymore. I can't get away with wearing my old jeans unbuttoned with a hair tie to clasp them.  My old shirts that I always thought, "I can totally wear this when I'm prego", yeah not so much...Guess the 5 things I bought from the mommy to be store will have to some how be re-accessorized multiple times to keep me looking cute through out the next...oh, 23 weeks!


And to prove my case...my belly in all it's glory.

Wowza

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend, see you all next week! 
XO- The Knocked Up One

16 Weeks

So this week has brought the dreaded maternity clothes.  I've heard plenty of women say, "one night you go to bed and in the morning you've popped".  They could not have been more right!  Although for me I came home from work where I wear my baggiest scrub tops to hide my pudge & after showering and putting on my pjs I noticed that I looked a bit...rounder.  Chase even commented & poked at my belly saying "what'd ya got going on there".  I told him what I truly believed and that was that it was just water weight & it would go down by the morning.  Well the next morning brought a surprise...while laying on the couch eating breakfast & watching my dvr'd shows before my hubs woke up I looked down and just stared.  I didn't quite know what to make of the hump that I had going on.  Later when I decided to get up & get dressed I went through my closet several times before giving in and putting on some maternity shorts I picked up last weekend.  I'm not going to lie....they were the most comfortable thing I've worn in a very, very long time!  I went to my 16 week appointment with my OB, which was super short & easy.  When the doc wanted me to lift my shirt to use the doppler & listen to baby's heart rate I pulled up my shirt and shamefully showed her the shorts that came up to my bra line.  She probably told the nurses about this & laughed but I asked her, very seriously, "is it normal to be wearing these already??".  She smiled and nicely said that my uterus was mid way between my belly button and pubic bone at this point so it was quite normal to be out growing my normal pants.  I still think that this belly needs to take it easy & maybe stay this size until oh say...6 months?  :) 

Here is proof:

Here is what the future holds for me:



Trying on the belly at the maternity store
...yikes!



(Sorry for the poor quality of the pics...this is from my phone & for some reason this is how they turn out)

Survey:

Size of the Baby: Avacado, 4.5 inches & 3.5oz

Total Weight Gain: No weight gain

Gender: Heart rate was 140-150, so...boy...girl?

What I miss: Fitting into my regular clothes

Cravings: Chase got me another snow cone yesterday for our movie marathon :)

Symptoms: Just the nausea :(

What I'm Reading: Still going through the Baby Wise book.

Best Moment of the Week: Probably snow cone & movie time with the hubs

See you next week! XO



15 Weeks

Made it with just at the end of this week.  This week hasn't brought too many new changes that I haven't already blogged about and for those of you who also know me on facebook you know that this picture below marks one of my happiest times last week :)

Mmm

Chase gave in to me batting my eye lashes & my pretty pleases and he took me to find the nearest snow cone place.  On our way there it turns out my fearless leader was hungry as well, mmhmm.  He tells me that a bbq sandwhich sounds good and of course headed into Rosenberg there is a really good family bbq place.  So we stopped there for a real meal before having the best dessert ever.  We had some delicious bbq for the cheapest price, seriously, fast food cheap!  I think we have found our new spot.  So after the yummy bbq, that I made sure not to fill up on too much because let's be honest...I had bigger fish to fry, we headed searching for this snow cone place.  Turns out the place is pretty popular & also in front of a night club...in the middle on this random country looking road.  Either way we parked and went in.  I of course already knew the answer to "what flavor would you like", I mean at that point I had probably turned purple in anticipation.  But it turns out that there was the longest, most creative, menu ever.  There were choices such as pickle & spicy dog...and then to top it off you could mix these.  The girl working there said that people really like pickle mixed with strawberry....I mean, whaa??  I pretty much just watched Chase and her talk about all of these crazy sounding flavors & thought to myself, "that's amazing...but seriously GRAPE SNOW CONE!"  Chase decided on strawberry cheesecake which was pretty good as well, but my grape was like heaven in a cold icy cup.  I'm pretty sure that my husband has made the worst choice in agreeing to bring me there because I see many trips in the coming months.  Even as I'm typing I am drooling staring at the magnificent purple ice cold cup of greatness above this.  Poor, poor Chase.  


So that afternoon turned out to be one of the best I've had lately.  I had only mild amounts of nausea and I got to spend the day being lazy with the hubs and then a surprise random date afternoon/evening with bbq & heaven in a cup.  Afternoons like that remind me of how lucky Chase & I are to have such awesome schedules that we are able to do that on a Tuesday and even more so that we, after almost 10 years together, still love just being around each other & doing little things together.  


So enough with the mushy stuff...on to the survey!


Size of the Baby: He/she is the size of an apple this week & 4 inches long!
Total Weight Gain: I am the same as last week, but according to my sources I will now be expecting to put on about a pound a week.  I hope that pound is made entirely of grape snow cones....
Gender: ??? Probably going to pop out a purple people eater as much as I'm dreaming over this grape snow cone
What I miss: We went out to dinner with some friends and had yummy tex mex and my urge for a frozen strawberry margarita returned.  Other than that still the occasional urge to have a soda that I am trying to fight off.
Cravings: I'm pretty sure I don't need to fill this section out.  I'm sure my readers would like me to give up the purple passion I have continuously blogged about... ;)
Symptoms: Still nauseous....I think we're stuck together.
What I'm Reading: Still going through the Baby Wise book.  It's "eh".
Best Moment of the Week: Please see the above paragraph about my blissful afternoon with my hubs and my new icy love.  That pretty well sums it up :)


See you next week!
XO- Grape Snow Cone-aholic

Two Exciting Things

Quick update:

1. I made said pigs in a blanket yesterday for me & the hubs while watching the Texans dominate the Steelers & they were every bit as amazing as I had hoped they would be!  I took a picture of my beautiful creation but apparently my camera ate it because it continues to tell me that it no longer exists...

Chase also made me the happiest lady on earth by taking me to the Fort Bend County Fair to watch a friend bull ride and to, of course, consume lots of fair food.  Now I am very disappointed to say that we filled up on tea and lemonade watching the rodeo and when we went to begin our fair food consumption we kicked it off by splitting nachos.  We had seen some people eating these awesome looking nachos and had to try, so of course we split so as to not waste too much valuable stomach space on just that.  Well, we did.  The nachos were not the same, and the walk we did around the fair did us in.  I wanted a grape sno cone and a funnel cake soo badly and yet I could not bring myself to get one into my stuffed belly.  I kept saying, "do you think I can take it to go?".  

We did pass some amazing looking sno cone places just down the road from our house, and seeing as how I'm off for the next 3 days I'm thinking that grape sno cone craving is going to become my next hunt.  We'll see if I can make it through today without getting in the car to go get one...

2.  This update is so exciting I just can't handle it & I hope you will feel the same.  It's so exciting that I will ask you to please forgive the next few seconds of all caps.  Last night I...

TOTALLY FELT THE BABY MOVE!!!

Now I've been pondering this quite a bit lately & asking friends when they remember first feeling the baby move.  A lot were saying that they thought they remembered feeling flutters after 14 weeks.  One friend told me when she would lay on her side she could feel flutters pretty often early on.  Which left me laying on my side all the time wondering why my baby didn't like to make his/her presence known.  So last night I was watching more dvr'd bad reality TV when right in the middle of a Real Housewives of New Jersey fight I thought for a second I felt some pops in my belly.  Like maybe bubbles popping.  I stopped paying attention to the housewives and focused on my chub and sure enough...it happened again, and again, and again!  Crazy right??  Apparently my baby is a night owl and enjoys bad reality TV as much as I do.  Or it really hates it and is karate kicking me from inside to change the channel.  Either way I am so, so psyched to have felt something and now that I know what it feels like it will be my nightly game to lay on my side and taunt him/her with reality tv.  :)

That's all folks.  I hope you all enjoy your Monday.  I will keep you updated on the gripping hunt for the grape snow cone.

XO-One Excited Mama

Traded One Bump for Another/Week 13 &14

So, so sorry everyone for being MIA for my last week...and almost this week's post.  The last couple of weeks have been a bit busy and time consuming.  Time consuming in that I kicked off my 13th week with surgery on my neck.  Um, not so fun!  I haven't blogged about it yet, but many of your know that I had a swollen lymph node on the right side of my neck that refused to retreat.  My doc tested for everything known to man and when all that came back negative, even after one very uncomfortable biopsy, she sent me to a specialist.  He took one look at my neck, which had gotten bigger in the week that it took me to get the appointment, and said "wow, that thing needs to come out"...yes, he totally said that while standing back staring at it. So after nearly 2 months of hearing, "whoa that thing is huge" the date was finally set to take out the lymph node.  It was decided, not by me, that since I was very early in my pregnancy that it'd be safer for baby pepper to keep mommy awake.  To that my reaction was....AWAKE! While you hack into my neck...oh yeah sure, that sounds super pleasant.  Would you like to be paid in cash, check, or credit for the mutilation that I'll be able to hear and feel.  That of course was all in my head and in reality I just smiled, gulped back those thoughts, and said "okay, if that's what you think is best".  


So after a lot of stress and anxiety building up to that day...most of which I internalized and then let it explode out of my mouth while on the phone with my horrible insurance company the day before the surgery...but we wont go into that, the day had come.  Chase took off work, even though I tried to tell him I'd be ok, and we woke up early and went to have my annoying node removed.  Thank goodness he didn't listen to me...


I'll spare you the details, but the procedure went well.  They were able to give me some happy drugs, as I like to call them, to put me in sort of a twilight state.  Propofol is the way to go if you need a procedure done while awake...just keep yourself out of a Michael Jackson situation, people.  That milky white substance was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever seen while laying uncomfortably on that table.


Here are some super gorgeous pics of me that Chase said we had to have.  

Bump before

Frankenstein scar after

So pretty right?  I mean, everyone's doing it this season...
Doc says all the tests have come back negative, so they still have no clue what in the heck it was.  Guess that's good?  Hoping so!


So on to happier news.  Baby pepper is growing, or at least I hope so because my belly sure is!  I don't go back to the doctor until 16 weeks, and that'll just be for a quick check in.  Then we go back for another ultrasound at 20 weeks (aka 5 months...aka half way mark....caarazy!) where we'll get to see all of pep's organs.  So look out for pics sometime in early November.


So here is the new bump I'm beginning to rock.  At this point I just look like I ate a really big meal all the time.  I hear from friends who have done this whole shabang that they started to look pregnant at about 16 weeks, so that would mean in a week and a half things will be a changin'.  Guess we'll see!

Pic I took at about 9-10 weeks
Just starting to look pouchy in the afternoon/evening

 Man I miss that little bit of a waist I had....it's going to come back, right??

14 weeks and change.
Full on chub...in the morning.
Night time it goes on to a whole other level.

Last, but not least, survey!  I'll try recap for both weeks since I was so lame & didn't post.

Size of baby:  13 weeks= medium shrimp size (ew..?).  Baby's fingerprints have formed, and his/her body size is catching up to his/her big noggin.

14 weeks=lemon size.  This week baby can: squint, grimace, frown, pee, and possibly suck his/her thumb.  I'm pretty sure my baby isn't making any of those sad faces though...he/she has got to be smiling, laughing, and making silly faces.
Total Weight Gain: 13 weeks-baby weighs almost an ounce, 14 weeks-baby weighs about 1.5 ounces.  Me I've gained back a pound...boo
Gender: I keep having these epiphanies like, it's going to be a boy I just know it.  Then the next day I think, it's going to be a girl...I can tell.  So yeah, still no clue.
What I miss: Walking in to my closet and being able to pick out anything that will A. look good on and B. will be comfortable.
Cravings: The 13th week there wasn't a lot of eating so gatorade was my best friend.  This last week I have made up for the not eating.  My gotta have its week were, McDonalds, kolaches, donuts, chicken salad with ranch (weird right?), and something I haven't yet fulfilled...but so have plans to...pigs in a blanket *drooling*  If you're worrying that baby isn't getting maybe the best nutrition, this is definitely spread over about a week and a half and I have been mixing in much healthier snacks and meals.  But let's face it...the good tasting stuff is the important things to focus on.
Symptoms: I'm convinced that nausea loves me.  And no, it doesn't seem to make a difference whether I eat super light and healthy or pig out all day.  That nausea beast follows me where ever I go.
What I'm reading: Just started reading Baby Wise.  Not sure how to take it yet, I've only made it a little way in and it's pretty opinionated.  I'm going to keep on though since I've heard a lot of good things from it too.
Best Moment this week: Week 13- When the pain from my neck finally stopped...

Week 14- Kind of mixed with a very unhappy moment; at work yesterday I had a patient who I was told "just gets dizzy when standing".  So I went in to help her, with her mom, go to the bedside commode.  She asked for some privacy after we sat her down & mom said she had her so I left and told mom I'd crack the door and just be outside so just holler when she's finished.  Next thing I know I hear "HELLO?!" I ran in and mom had her standing up and the girl was clearly passed out in her arms.  Mom who is, supposedly also a nurse, and a good 5'10" throws her daughter's dead weight completely on to me when I was trying to help relieve some weight.  Now me being 5'1" and pregnant trying to hold a 17 year old 5'7" girl's dead weight was not happening.  I yelled for help from a tech and when she made it in the room I was practically to the floor with this girl in my arms.  So we got her back in bed and all was well, but I was incredibly unhappy about the situation and I will never again go in to a patient's room to help by myself.  But in the split second while holding this dead weight and sinking to the floor all I could think was..."Oh my goodness what is this doing to my poor baby...this is so not worth hurting or losing my baby over".  And while I'm sure it wasn't that big of a deal on my body or baby's it was all I could think about and it was the first time I've felt motherly.  So out of  bad comes good :)  Cheesy but whatev.  

Hope you all enjoyed my catch up!  So sorry for the sabbatical.  I hope to be back before week 15 ends ;)

12 Weeks

Here we are at a pivotal week.  It's the end of the first trimester this week and the beginning of the maturing & maintenance phase for baby Pepper.  I am excited to have made it this far & ready to feel some relief from this nausea!  

We kicked off week 12 with a full day of doctors appointments.  First to the OB where they had me empty my bladder that I had been working on getting as full as could be for the ultrascreen (as ordered...not just for fun).  So all that drinking even though I felt like I would burst and walking like I was holding in niagra to my appointment meant nothing because in the first 5 seconds they uttered the words..."we need a small urine sample".  Small?!  Are they joking??  So anyway, I wont take you on the journey in to the bathroom, but I definitely had mixed feelings about it.  Chase laughed the whole time, so at least someone enjoyed it.  After the sample was over with they weighed me (another favorite of mine) and then we waited for the doc to come in and give me a one over.  We got to hear little boo's heart beat for the first time, which was pretty crazy/amazing.  The heart rate was a strong 168.  Chase is now fearful his plans for a boy have been destroyed after I told him that some people believe a faster heart rate equals a girl.  I am secretly super psyched that there is hope for  bows, tutus, and lots of pink!...okay, maybe not so secret.

After this appointment we headed to the med tower to the floor where we will one day be meeting our new Culpepper.  So far I am loving the floor and it has a very lovely waiting room; a little fyi for all of those who will be making that your living space until our little boy or girl makes their arrival.  The ultrascreen was a success this time.  Baby was big enough and the tech said that the measurement was way under what they are worried about for  Down's and other birth deffects/disorders.  So doing a little mental dance about that we will have to wait to hear the official word some time next week.  

So now on to the part you guys really want....PICTURES!  Here are the pics we got from the ultrascreen.  Again, not the best because apparently these techs don't have a photographic eye, but pics of our adorableness none the less.

Looks like me...?

Looks like Chase...?

I told the lady no pictures with this measuring tape!
Ugh!

Still adorbs tho

So picture baby laying on his/her back.
These are the legs and feet in the air.
Pretty flippin' cute, right??

Okay so I wont make fun of you if you can't tell what this is.
Because honestly I only know because I was there...& even then...?
So you're looking at the top of baby's head.  The squiggly thing on it's right side is it's hand.
See it?? It's protecting it's face like a boxer.  We have a Rocky on our hands!

So this is the left arm.  You are looking at the baby from the side again
and the arm is bent at the elbow and the hand is up near his/her face.

Hopefully I painted you a perfect picture & you are all pros at reading ultrasounds now ;)

Now on to your second favorite part...Survey!

Size of baby: Baby has graduated to the size of a plum!  He/She is now over 2" long!...so why do I feel like I've got a half dozen plums in there??
Total Weight Gain: Losing weight again!  Woohoo....I'm enjoying it while it lasts :)
Gender: Heart rate at 11wks-147 (boy?)  Heart rate at 12wks-168 (girl?)
What I miss: Still craving a strawberry margarita like mad...& it only gets worse when Chase drinks things like this in front of me-

Thanks honey... 

Cravings: As I've mentioned, I just basically get something in my mind and then have to have it.  This week it was Kolaches...

Oh & baked potatos have made a come back.  I'm pretty sure my baby is going to love carbs.  Oops!
Symptoms: Do I even have to type it.....nausea! Oh how I cannot wait for this to end.
What I'm reading: I've slacked at reading this week.  I am in the process of hunting down the Baby Bargains book because it was recommended to me by my girlfriend who is prego right now as well and says it's her bible.  So to that I said "um, yes please".  Of course in true Culpepper fashion I am looking for the cheapest copy I can find used ;)  What?...gotta start the bargaining off right!
Best Moment this week: Hearing Poppy's heart beat and then seeing him/her move again.  A big wake up that, oh yeah...there is definitely something in there!