21 Weeks

How far along? 21 weeks

Weight gain? Haven't stepped on a scale in two weeks

Baby is the size of - a pomegranate in size and a large banana in length

Maternity clothes? two words = LOVE THEM.  I find it to be pretty amusing to put on my pre pregnancy t-shirts now, they definitely show off the bump!

Stretch marks? Still in the clear when it comes to stretch marks…now if only the noticeable cellulite would pump the breaks.  Not very appealing at all!

Sleep?  Sleep was harder this past week.  I've been waking up nightly between 4 & 5am to get up to go to the bathroom.  Rolling over is also quite the task, even more so when you are between a sleeping husband and dog!  I try not to disrupt John's sleep; but there's no hope with Okie, I'll just say he's not a fan of the restless nights and leave it at that!

Miss anything? Being able to move around a lot without getting light headed or winded!

Cravings? We were on our way to Asheville yesterday and on the way I had a huge craving for Chili's Spicy Shrimp Tacos.  Yummy!!!  And berries are high on the desired list as well.

Anything make you queasy or sick? Negative

Symptoms?  It's getting harder to breath daily.  I knew this would probably hit sooner than later with my past problems but shesh, I would love to walk upstairs without feeling like I've just finished a gym workout!

Belly button - in or out? It's flattening more and more out by the day!

Wedding rings - on or off? ON!

Any movement? Oh yes, this week Jaxon has decided he's going to start training to be a ninja fighter and he was nonstop working on his kicks!  (I'm seriously going to miss this feeling once he's here)

Happy or moody? Happy with a side of moodiness…. Hey, everyone is entitled to those moments, pregnant or not!

Looking forward to -  Our appointment next week.  We find out if my placenta has moved up to where it should be.  Praying that it has but not wasting time with worrying over it.  If it does, wonderful; if it doesn't, there's nothing that can be done to change the fact!

Interesting week 21 fact -  Jaxon now swallows several ounces of amniotic fluid each day (sounds delightful doesn't it?) -not only for hydration and nutrition, but also to practicing swallowing and digesting.  His taste buds are well developed by now and he's actually able to get a taste of the foods I've been eating.  I hope he enjoyed those spicy shrimp tacos and chocolate lava cake!  


This week has been pretty laid back, thank goodness.  The headaches have eased off drastically, although I have pains from time to time but nothing like the ones in the past.  On Saturday we took a little road trip to Knoxville.  I was admittedly a nervous wreck leaving out of here because the snow was coming down but I'm glad we went.  We saw some absolutely breathtaking walls of icicles on the way.  We ate at my favorite, Calhoun's, and then we went to the mall.  All I can say is Lord help us, our boy is going to be S-P-O-I-L-E-D!  I don't think I've ever spent as much on myself in one mall trip as I did on him.  Can't wait to dress him up in all his adorable duds!  

Just a few of the things we couldn't resist buying 

We started filling the holes and sanding and repairing the walls in Jaxon's room in preparation for new paint on Sunday.  We made a trip to Babies R Us as well to make a final decision on the crib bedding.  There's so many choices, but since we had a theme it was pretty much narrowed down to a slim few.  I'm so excited to see how his room will look once we have it complete!  

The date for the baby shower has been set for April 19th.  It's so much fun to see how excited my family and lifelong bestfriend are getting over the planning!  They have so many great ideas and it's going to be an absolute blast!  

What a snowing week we had!  It really did look like a winter wonderland around here!

Okie liked the snow until the ground was completely covered

20 Weeks

How far along? 20 weeks

Weight gain? 15 lbs as of last week, but I haven't stepped on the scales this week

Baby is the size of - a banana

Maternity clothes? two words = LOVE THEM

Stretch marks? Still in the clear when it comes to stretch marks…now if only the noticeable cellulite would pump the breaks.  Not very appealing at all!

Sleep?  I've still been sleeping pretty well this week.  Even though, Okie has decided his spot in bed in under the covers is wedged between me and my pregnancy pillow!

Miss anything? Being able to move around a lot without getting light headed or winded!

Cravings? No new cravings this week

Anything make you queasy or sick? Negative

Symptoms?  Headaches, I'm accepting the fact that this will be a nonstop part of pregnancy.

Belly button - in or out? In and wonky

Wedding rings - on or off? ON!

Any movement? Yes!! I feel him quite often and for the first time, John got to feel him kick this week! So exciting and fun to be able to feel out little mister!

Happy or moody? Happy with a side of moodiness…. Hey everyone is entitled to those moments, pregnant or not!

Looking forward to -  Getting started on the nursery, we are going with an all sports theme!  Also, I'm looking forward to the next doctor's appointment so I can stop worrying.  At the last ultrasound, I was told that my placenta hadn't moved up like it was supposed to.  Although, I was told that it is somewhat common, it's still a worry in the back of my mind.

Interesting week 20 fact -  Your baby has established sleep patterns akin to a newborn now.  Many babies even have a favorite sleep position already.  Taste buds have also formed.

We've been working on the baby registry a lot the past few days.  I've really enjoyed picking out things that we'd love to have for Jaxon!  As first time parents it's hard not to get all wrapped up in the "newborn" aspect of it all but I've tried to be smart about our registry and pick some things through the stages beyond newborn.  We are registered at Amazon (click to see our registry) and also Babies-R-Us (click to see registry) if anyone would like to check it out!  If you have any suggestions for things we should add, please let us know!  We are hoping that people actually buy from our registry as we've put a lot of time into creating it!

It's been another week of unpacking and organizing at the house.  We finally have more empty boxes in the garage than we have full boxes.  Getting things settled in and organized feels so good!  I still find it hard to believe that we have a house and a yard and real back porch!  For those that know what we just moved from, you understand why we are so thrilled about a porch and yard!  Heck, we are excited about the fact we have a driveway as well!  The past two weekends we've had an electrician out and we've made some big changes to the house.  We now have lighting in all the bedrooms as well as lighting on both sides of the garage, working motion lights and an above range microwave.  We updated the outdoor fixtures and we updated the two ceiling fans that were in the house when we bought it.  We have some other big changes we plan on soon, such as getting rid of the carpet on the stairs and in the hallway, but we are happy that the major electrical work is behind us now!  Also this week we were able to get satellite and internet setup!

19 Weeks

IT'S A BOY!!!!

We had an appointment on Wednesday, January 8th and found out that we are having a little mister!  We are absolutely thrilled.  John must've prayed harder than anyone else in the family (most were praying for pink), he was over the moon to know that he has a son on the way.  As for me, I wasn't leaning towards either gender as long as our baby was growing and healthy.  Everything looked great on the ultrasound for the baby and the heartbeat was steady at 153bpm.  The only time I ever dreamed about our baby, it was a boy so I should've took that as a sign! 

Weeks ago, we had names already picked out for a boy or a girl.  We chose Jaxon because John has always wanted a son named Jaxon, but he never thought of the spelling other than Jackson.  I'm not a huge fan of "Jack" so we compromised and he will be called Jaxon, "Jax" for short.  Many outside of the family has asked if Miles is a family name and the answer to that is no.  We chose Miles because the word itself has so much meaning for John and I.  We had always known of each other growing up, he moved to NC and right down the road from me when he was in the eighth grade.  If there were anymore opposite of people, it was the two of us! A few years after high school, he found me online and we would occasionally catch up with each other's lives.  He made several attempts to take me out, but I declined them all.  I had a change of heart though, to make a very long story somewhat short, he was on the other side of the earth literally when I had my change of heart.  There were several miles that separated us for years while he was in Afghanistan, but it drew us to one another.  We learned who each other was in ways that most spouses never get to.  We are thankful in that sense for the miles.  They drew us so close to each other and we proved that distance means nothing when someone means so much.  One day, we hope that our Jaxon Miles will keep in mind just what the Miles means and know that there was a lot of love behind the meaning of his name, it wasn't just a name we saw and liked.

How far along? 19 weeks

Weight gain? 15 lbs

Baby is the size of - a mango

Maternity clothes? I'm beginning to wonder why so many women are opposed to maternity clothes, they are so comfy. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy wearing them!

Stretch marks? Still in the clear when it come to stretch marks!

Sleep?  This week I was able to get a lot more sleep.  My stress level is starting to decrease now that we've closed on the house and have most everything organized.  I'm definitely not keeping myself up at night anymore making "Things to Do" lists in my mind like I was before.

Miss anything? Only the previous mentioned misses

Cravings? No new cravings this week

Anything make you queasy or sick? Negative

Symptoms?  My belly has surpassed my chest now...hehe.  During our last visit at the doctor I mentioned the headaches once again.  This time, she said it sounded like migraines that I've been having.  I left the office with a prescription for phenergran and a referral to a headache specialist.  From what I've read, Tylenol and phenergran are the only things I can take so I'm not so sure how I feel about paying extra money to tell me that yes, the headaches I'm having are really bad.

Belly button - in or out? In and wonky

Wedding rings - on or off? ON!

Any movement? Yes!!!  Finally I can feel Jaxon kicking!  Some days he's VERY active!

Happy or moody? Happy :)   How could I not be though?!  I have a healthy growing baby boy in me, I have a wonderful and supportive husband and we have a new house that we are looking forward to starting our family in.

Looking forward to -  Decorating the nursery!!! 

Interesting week 19 fact -  Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells, now coats the baby's skin, shielding him from the amniotic fluid.  Nerve cells for his sense of taste, hearing, sight and smell are developing in the brain.

18 Weeks

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

How far along? 18 weeks

Weight gain? 14 lbs

Baby is the size of - a sweet potato

Maternity clothes? I'm beginning to wonder why so many women are opposed to maternity clothes, they are so comfy.  I'm going to throughly enjoy wearing them!

Stretch marks? Still in the clear when it come to stretch marks!

Sleep?  Sleep?  What is that?

Miss anything? Only the previous mentioned misses

Cravings? Last night, I think I could've cleared out all the food in our kitchen!  I wanted everything I looked at!

Anything make you queasy or sick? Negative

Symptoms?  With moving and being on my feet and up and down stairs over the past two weekends with the move I've noticed some swelling in my legs and feet. And headaches, lets not forget those headaches.

Belly button - in or out? In and wonky

Wedding rings - on or off? ON!

Any movement? I've felt a lot more movement this past week!  The baby definitely kicked in the New Year!  :-)

Happy or moody? Happy :) and absolutely exhausted

Looking forward to - Wednesday, Wednesday, WEDNESDAY…  We are so excited to be able to answer the question of "what are you having" with something other than the response of "a baby"

Interesting week 18 fact  - A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around the baby's nerves, a process that will continue for a year after birth.  If you're having a girl, the uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place.  If you are having a boy, the genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during the ultrasound.

The past two weeks have been so eventful it's nice to finally take a breath and realize that it is finally beginning to slow down a bit.  We closed on the townhouse Thursday and signed for our new house on Friday.  It was a nice few hours to be mortgage free…haha!  We are slowly but surely getting our things settled in.  We have already started a list of changes that will be making to make  it more "our home."  Our first night there was so different than what we were used to.  We turned out the light laid down and SILENCE.  It was so quite we could hear each other breathing.  I know most wouldn't think nothing of that but when you come a place that there is no silence, whether it be the neighbors or the traffic on the road, it was very different for us!  So different that last night we ended up hooking up the tv and digging out a movie to turn on in the bedroom.  

Okie, our fur baby, is adjusting to the house fairly well.  He's still not so sure about venturing far away from us in the house, but I'm sure that will be changing soon.  I'm still not so sure about leaving him alone in the house just yet but come Wednesday we will have no choice, we find out the sex of the baby and obviously, he can't go with us to that appointment! Hopefully he'll settle in at the window and just watch the donkey and cows while we are gone (hey, one can hope)! 

 Tabitha enjoyed meeting our ass of a neighbor…hehe.  He's a very friendly donkey and loves to be petted.  He's so friendly that when you walk away he motions with his head for you to come back.  I have a feeling everyone that visits is going to fall in love with our new neighbor.  We will have to start keeping some apples and carrots handy to feed him!