Baby Blues

Ugh I am so icky this week. I have been so depressed all week! I think part of it is not sleeping well. I have also been fighting tiredness as I try to get some baby stuff taken care of, as well as get some Christmas cooking going. I am just so unmotivated. Then I found out this morning that the doula that I decided I wanted as the last minute is not taking clients in March. Even though I just decided on having a doula, I was SO counting on this particular one. Ahhhhh! I think I am just stressing, but I am too tired to stress, so I just have the blues. I have cried nearly every day this week. The funny thing is, I am having a fabulous Christmas! I am excited about my gift giving, my new stockings, the food, my plans, etc.! Stupid third trimester.

On another note, I found the CUTEST consignment shop yesterday!!! Well to be completely truthful, the place is kind of a mess, but they have cute stuff. I got an Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper for $90.

Thank goodness. Called Christie. She's coming over to help me keep my sanity. She also cheered me up when I was down in the dumps Tuesday. Wonderful, wonderful friend :)

First Baby Shower!!!!

I had my first baby shower on December 4th. It was AMAZINGLY adorable. My wonderful friends did such an awesome job planning the shower. The best part was recieving books in leiu of cards. What a great start to Roman's library!!!

Ashley practicing

My baby and Christie's food baby (as if she has one!!!)

Our cheesy photo that actually turned out quite cute!


Aunt Jenna and Grandma

Double Grandma

Adorable banner from Etsy!!

Mmmmm!!!

Cake from Stellar Sweets

Lovely Besties

So I have been bad about my belly photos. Eh, oh well. Month 6 got bypassed, but I managed to get Month 7 in on my snow day today!!!

December 16, 2010
Month 7

That is about all the news I have. I guess no news is good news though!

Oooooh a video...

After my earlier post I decided to clean off my point and shoot camera. On there was this video of us announcing my pregnancy to Warren's parents. I gave them the photo frame that is photographed in an earlier post. So here for your viewing pleasure....

Every time I watch this, it still puts a smile on my face.

Well Hey There Little Fella

The past two weeks I have been completely freaked out because I have not been feeling the baby move all that much. However, the past two days that little sucker is acting like he just signed up for a kickboxing class. Then, last night, we were laying on the couch watching tv and....Warren felt his first kick!!!! Which he of course was so thrilled about! I was excited to tell people this, however, Roman is hanging out really low, so I am not really welcoming others to start feeling him kick if you know what I mean :)

Today I am going to a cloth diapering class. I am pretty sure I am cloth diapering, but ugh, every time I even try to read anything about it, they use all this terminology that I have no idea what it means. So I am going to go check it out.

Also, I think it is high time for some photos. I know I am due for a belly photo, and I also think I should share some very cute gifts I have gotten! I will see what I can do!

My Darling Husband

Lately I have been thinking about how wonderful my husband is. Warren gets an A+ for his job supporting his pregnant wife. Not that he sucked before or anything, but prior to upcoming parenthood Warren definitely was the guy who had to be asked to do something, then did it after about the third time something was said about it. Warren is really easygoing, and I have a type A personality, so I usually took care of stuff. And not to be mean, but if something was important I typically did not trust him to take care of it. However, in recent months things have changed. Warren takes care of everything.
EVERYTHING.
Warren has turned into this organized, proactive, agreeable, helpful, wonderful person. He is completely on top of things in a way that I have never seen before. Then on top of all of life's worries and stresses being more evenly distributed, I also am being pampered with foot rubs and back rubs.
Warren and I have always been crazy about each other. I mean duh, we fell obsessively in love when we were 20 and 22. And though we have "grown up" by getting married, getting through school, starting careers, buying a house, etc., this is the first time I have really taken notice of Warren truly becoming a man. In the old fashioned, take care of your family, provider sort of way. And it's pretty sexy too :)

When Roman Thomas peels an onion, he doesn't cry. The onion does.

Whew, this week has been a whirlwind! I have become absolutely obsessed with my baby registry. I am so crazy because I am just not satisfied with big box store stuff so I have been scouting items on etsy and through other smaller companies' websites. And I would like to say that the greatest children's store on earth is The Land of Nod. It is the Crate and Barrel children's store and it is phenomenal. They have their Christmas stuff out right now and I must say I know where I am going to be shopping for toys for the next several years!

I also wanted to back up and talk a little more about finding out that we are having a little boy. It was so crazy that night and I didn't go into any detail. When we got to the doctor's office, Warren knew right away. Like the second they turned the machine on. I can't tell your head from your butt on an ultrasound, so needless to say, I could not tell. The nurse did not confirm Warren's statement though. So she goes through checking organs and bones FOREVER! I mean it was like torture. Then, she says "Well, you all haven't said anything about wanting to know....". I almost punched her. Like, listen lady, I am trying to sit here and be nice and let you do your job, but you need to tell me right this second. Instead of punching her or going off, (sorry I'm hormonal), I just said, politely, yes we would like to know. THEN, she said "Well, you couldn't tell? He could!" AGHHH! NO I CAN"T TELL!!! But I wasn't actually upset because I knew then that it was a boy. She gave us like 10 ultrasound photos (coming soon) and told us that Roman has big feet! He yawned during all this too and it was the cutest thing ever! I told Ashley this weekend that mom's always tell you that becoming a mother is the most wonderful thing in the world. It wasn't like I didn't believe these people, it was just I had no concept of that. When he yawned and it was like the entire world stopped I started to realize just the beginning of what the other moms were trying to tell me. That incredible feeling got topped off by a dream Thursday night where all I was interested in was laying around with my baby. I was just so mesmerized. (Baby dream #3 by the way!) Anyways, back to Tuesday, my mom was there and when her and Warren were waiting for me, Warren said she started to tear up. My dad wanted to be told in person, and when we told him he jumped up and punched the sky. Followed by a lovely dinner at North End. Then, all night turned Chuck Norris jokes into Roman Thomas jokes (hence the title of this post). Which you have to admit, Roman Thomas is a pretty tough sounding name. I loved getting to tell all of our family and friends and am so grateful to have so many supportive, caring people in my life.

In other news, the quilt for the baby's room came in Saturday and it is so awesome. I LOVE it!!! And Christie got Roman the most adorable baby shoes. They are black Chucks with a little skull and crossbones on them. Swoon! Speaking of Christie, her and Kerry have been so hard at work on my shower and it is going to be the cutest thing ever. I can not wait, both to attend and to post pictures!!

It's a Boy!!!

Today the doctor confirmed-it's a beautiful baby boy. With big feet :)

20 weeks!!!

Well I am 20 weeks! Halfway there! Tomorrow is the big day-we are finding out if our baby is a boy or a girl. However, in the meantime, I was a little late on my month four photo. I am actually pretty sure I am in month 5. Oh well-it is kind of cool to have a photo the day before we find out the gender. And yes-I know I am starting to get big :)

October 18, 2010

Month Four/Five

I'm Not Fat, I'm Pregnant

Last week I had my monthly checkup. Nothing interesting to report, but I did finally meet Dr. Hannigan who will be delivering the baby. She just joined the practice, and I was her first patient on her first day. I LOVED her! Plus, after seeing Dr. Thompson, and knowing she was not REALLY my doctor, it was nice to meet the real deal. Also, the not gaining weight during my first trimester was fabulous. However, those times have passed. I have now gained 7 pounds. Ugh. But......
Yesterday Christie and I went to Hobby Lobby. Before we left she was saying that I still wasn't really that big and it could still be a beer belly ;) However, we went to Hobby Lobby and I got asked when I was due! This is the first time it has happened. So glad to know you can now tell that I am not fat, I am pregnant! But as Christie pointed out, and I agree, that lady has BALLS!!! Because it is true, I am not THAT big yet.
Oh and Warren had a dream it's a girl.

Maternity Clothes, Psychics, and Gifts

My last post was of my belly photos and I was telling everyone how my belly had grown so much in two weeks. The very next day I drug Christie to help me shop for maternity clothes. The experience was surprisingly not so bad! At Motherhood, I got 2 pairs of SUPER comfy skinny jeans and black work pants. The jeans were from the new Heidi Klum maternity line. They were so not maternity looking and so comfortable that I told Christie that she needed to get in there and try some on! I am not kidding. I do believe that these jeans might still be in my life post-partum. Then I just snagged some other non maternity clothes in a few sizes up.

Friday, my friend Casey happened to be in Louisville. She is soooo sweet and brought Baby Thomas a few gifts like washcloths, passies, and bottles. She also brought mama and papa champagne and sparkling cider. We are going to save it for when we find out the sex in two weeks. Then the next morning books for mama and baby showed up from Warren's aunt, Anglea.
Speaking of gifts, we went to register yesterday. Let me just tell you, I hate Babies R Us. However, it is the only place to register in these parts. They don't even carry most of what I want in the store and then registering is totally awful because the stuff I do need, bottles, passies, etc. I have no idea what the difference in all of those things are. They have a million choices and I do not have a clue what the difference is. So I just freaked out and didn't register for it. I am much more fond of my wishpot.com registry, which is a delightful website that allows you to shop at any website and create your own registry list from across the internet. I especially love it for my etsy finds.

My last little story today is about Kyle. Kyle is my mom's friend who is a psychic. Saturday night we went to my parents house for Jay's 50th birthday party. Ashley was in town so Jeremiah and her tagged along as well. Later in the evening, Kyle read Ashley's palm. She has done mine before and it is really neat and eerie. As she is drawing to a close with Ashley, she stops and turns to me and says that she is sorry but she has to stop because the baby just won't stop interrupting her. She said that my baby is going to be a comedian! She said that the baby will have us stunned at the things that come out of its mouth and laughing our heads off about it. She told my parents right then and there to go buy a video camera because they are not going to want to miss anything that this baby says! She said the baby is going to be creative and whimsical (a favorite adjective of mine by the way) and so so hilarious.
She also went on to say that Zeus and Baby Thomas are going to be best friends. But that Zeus is aging and he would need a place to go and rest his bones away from baby. Awwww!

Oh and one last thing for today. Warren started talking to the baby about two weeks ago. It couldn't hear then and its questionable if it can now, but it is still the most heart melting thing ever. Even though he is usually using the talking to be funny, it makes me laugh and its sweet.

Oh Baby (Belly)!

I have now reached the point in pregnancy where my belly can be see, commented upon, and
touched constantly. It is not big, but the past two weeks it just popped right on out there. The first picture below was taken almost two weeks ago. Since then my bump has changed dramatically! The month four photo should be really interesting!

September 8, 2010

Month Three

August 15, 2010

Month Two

July 9, 2010

Month One

Doctor, Doctor

The doctor visit was pretty uneventful. We listened to the heartbeat and I got weighed. That's about it. I have lost one pound. Dr. Thompson asked if I have been sick. I said no, and that I had taken up having dessert nightly with a tall glass of milk (and if you know me you know there is no glass)! Keep this up and there might be something to this pregnancy stuff :) I know, I know, I'll start gaining soon. So a normal heartbeat is between 120-160. When Dr. Thompson listened to the heartbeat, she told us that it's an old wives tale that if the heartbeat is closer to 120 it is a boy, and if it is closer to 160 it is a girl. Ours was 140. REALLY?!?! On the topic of gender, my next appointment is on October 4th. I will be 18 weeks. My doctor's office seriously makes you wait until 20 weeks for your ultrasound. Lame. Sooooooo October 19 is my ultrasound-let the countdown begin!!!

Baby Dreams

Well, I am now 14 weeks and 1 day. Today is Warren's 29th birthday and we just finished a lovely breakfast and then are heading to the doctor. After a relaxed morning, heading to work sounds TERRIBLE, but I'll cope. At least I have his birthday dinner and german chocolate cake to look forward to!

Last week I had my second baby dream. Again, it was a boy. Hmmm...
In the dream my baby was about the size of my friend's three year old. Thank goodness the birth wasn't in the dream! My little giant baby was fine with me, I was crazy about him! He looked like me, or my dad, depending on how you want to look at it. Which is funny because rationally I have always imagined our children taking after Warren. Anyways, me and my giant baby played and snuggled. It was only weird when strangers would come up to me and say, "Oh what an adorable little boy! How old is he?" Then I would reply, "Oh he's 5 months old." That is when the strangers would look at me as if I were on crack. The weirdest thing about the dream is the aftermath. So far I have just been going along, excited to buy clothes, excited to decorate a nursery, etc. Somehow in that weird little dream everything changed. I LOVED that baby. Now ever since I am dying to meet this little person. On a side note, I have also been dreaming about my bf's pets. Weird.

We are off to the doctor!

12 weeks!

Today I am 12 weeks! One more, and this dreaded first trimester will be over!!! School started this week and was topped off by a series of unfortunate events around our house. So I just yesterday finally got the chance to tell my Nana! She of course was happy and kept the lack of sugar-coating to a minimum. Phone calls and facebook messages have been pouring in from my friends which has been just lovely. I am slowly, but surely working on returning these.
In other news, my friend Elizabeth had her baby Sunday. I cannot wait to see her and baby David! I have also found out that two of my dear friends from growing up are pregnant. I have kind of lost touch with both of them and I am trying to get in touch with one, and another got in touch with me!
This afternoon I am going to go check out the Babyology baby shower rental room. My besties are ever so gently reminding me that my shower will be in the midst of the holidays and that we need to book soon. Both of my besties are getting married in the next year and with that and my baby it is going to be a exciting, party filled year!!
My belly keeps growing and growing, though I have yet to gain any weight. The nausea has subsided and just rears it head for around an hour 1-2 days a week. I have been eating really weirdly throughout the pregnancy, but not really from cravings. That has not really begun yet. On a last note, the baby is the size of a plum!

Only one more secret!

Last Thursday night, Warren and I facebooked the baby! The same evening he told his sister. Then Friday morning, I shared at work, for anyone who is not on facebook that is! Most of my coworkers seemed to already know...and my friends and work did tell me that there were rumors going around! The best part about work is that my friend Sarah is also pregnant. She facebooked it about a week ago. Of course at that point we hadn't told everyone, so I messaged her and told her. We are less that three weeks apart, with her due date being February 9th. I am just so excited that we are going to get to go through this together!!! It has already been a lot of fun!
So who is the only secret left? My nana. God love her, I just haven't been able to tell her yet. My nana is one of the most important people in my life. She took care of me (not as in I have a deadbeat mom, as in childcare!) until I was in middle school and even then I still hung out with my nana on the weekends. We have always been super close and actually if this baby is a girl she is getting named after my nana. However, in recent years nana has spent a lot of time telling me not to have kids, that the world is too ornery, and so on. Like, a lot of time. So that is where my hesitation comes from. I think today might be the day though, so if I get the nerve, wish me luck!

Photos!

This is the onesie I made my parents and sister.

This is the picture frame we gave to Warren's parents.

Hello!

So when I found out I was pregnant, I decided to start keeping a journal of the experience. Great idea, right? Unfortunately, I don't really like writing very much. I realized I am a 21st century kind of girl and that I desperately needed to change my method. Right now I am 10 1/2 weeks pregnant. I found out I was pregnant on July 3rd. Since I am abandoning my journal here's what is going to happen in this post. I am going to go on a little trip down (recent) memory lane. I am going to blog the journal entries I had so far, that way all my memories will be in one place. And if my journal gets lost, I won't cry about it :)

August 10, 2010

Well I haven't written in awhile, but not much has happened. I spend most afternoons sleepy and nauseous, but it's improving. Here are a few noteworthy events...

The last time Katie did my hair, when we finished up Kruze had just gotten up from a nap. He was playing with a book and we were talking to him. Katie said, "Kruze, Kristen has a baby in her belly." He looked straight up and said, "It's going to be a boy." Then went right back to playing. It was soooo cute and also crazy! I mean this kid is 2 1/2 and when I had seen him 2 months before he didn't even speak in sentences. Now he is predicting baby gender like a serene little monk!!! We'll see if he's right! Later that night Katie texted me to tell me that he was still talking about it when he was taking a bath that night. He told her "that the baby boy in Kristen's belly is going to be on the baseball team with him." Aaaadorable!

Since my last update I told Casey. I told her on July 30th, the day of Matt's wedding. At the wedding, I realized that all the rest of our friends knew, cause it wasn't news to anyone! Warren told his brother August 6th, who then proceeded to give him ornery advice for 20 minutes! This past Saturday, Dad and I went to Babies R Us and the baby got it's first two gifts, a Sleep Sheep and some weird little singing monster. Also the day of Matt's wedding I got a package in the mail which contained the most special gift of all. It was a scrapbook written like a letter to the baby from Annie. I cried, when my mom saw it she cried. Oh and so far I have had two baby dreams. In both the baby was a boy.

Anywho, why write today after about a month? Because today I had my first ultrasound!!! The baby is healthy and we could see it and hear its heart beat. It was really neat and Warren was really excited. They changed my due date by one day, to March 8th.

July 14, 2010

Today I had lunch with Elizabeth, who was my instructional assistant the 08-09 school year. She is 35 weeks so I particularly couldn't wait to tell her. After I did, she said her husband, David, had wondered if I was pregnant. It was good to see her and I can't wait to go over there after the baby is born.

Also, more updates on people who know! Ashley has told Kat, Katie, Amy, and Milada and my mom has told Kathy, Melissa, Aunt Pam, and Shelly.

July 13, 2010

Tonight the girls took me out to Havana Rumba to celebrate. I love love love my girlfriends so much and I am so amazingly blessed to have them in my life. I of course had a blast and with my nap beforehand I even managed to make it to a post dinner show at DCE to see Kerry's friend play. Then later, I had to leave to get Warren from Christie's house because he sprained his ankle playing soccer with Ian. Ugh, aren't I the one that needs to be taken care of? :)

Oh and on gender, the Chinese gender predictor, the string test, and Ashley's dream all say it's a girl. (Ashley had a dream she was at a girl's birthday party.) Jeremiah said boy, no reason.

July 12, 2010

Today is Nana's 87th birthday. I haven't told her yet, and I'm not planning on it! I did tell my boss today, which went much better than I had expected. She was excited and hugged me. I think I am going to get to do the U of L program still, just not the 2nd student teacher in the spring. Today I also told Katie. I told her I needed my hair done, but that I needed her to be careful because it was the hair of an expecting mom! She was really excited. She had cut Warren's hair earlier today and had asked him when we were going to have kids.

My appetite is fading but I am still eating.

July 11, 2010

Today we told my dad. We also gave him a onesie. He cried. (Shhhh!) We went to dinner at Jack Fry's and all through dinner he kept almost crying. At one point he just jumped in his seat and punched the air out of nowhere. So cute! After dinner, before I went to bed he had already started facebooking me strollers.

Over the weekend I started buying regular person, but good for maternity clothes. I got some leggings, tunics, and tank tops. I also researched and picked out all the baby gear I want. Type A? Me? No way!

July 9, 2010

Today Warren's parents came in from out of town. Warren was still at work when they got here. I had made Joy magnets and I gave them to her and videotaped her opening them so when I gave the real gift it wouldn't be noticeable I was videotaping. For them I had made a photo frame with three openings. In one was a picture of Bella, in one a picture of Cole, and the the middle I put scrapbook paper and wrote "? March 2011" When Warren got home we gave it to them. It took them a minute to get it and Joy screamed "You're pregnant?!?!" and everybody hugged and some (hint-not me and Warren) cried. We went to dinner at Uptown and I was a bottomless pit!

Oh and also this morning we took Month 1 Belly Photo!

July 8, 2010

Today was the day we told my parents. I made onesies that said "Meet Baby March 2011". I played it off by acting like I had gotten them something silly from the dollar spot at Target. We nonchalantly said we wanted to videotape them because "it would be toooo funny". We counted to three and they opened the bags. Woah, were they surprised. Mom and Jay both teared up a little, but overall were pretty calm. Jenna just seemed in shock. Then Beth came over and Mom said "Look what Kristen got me." She handed her the bag and she and Erica were both so sweet and excited. Both of their jaws just hung open.

On another note, I cannot get through the day without a nap! It's very nice to not be working right now. Tomorrow Jenna is helping me clean because I can't manage it without falling asleep!

July 7, 2010

This morning was my first doctors appointment. Everyone there was of course in awe of how adorable Warren and I are :) The nurse confirmed my pregnancy then gave me fun free goodies like a pregnancy organizer/planner and several magazines. The only other eventful thing is that I decided to use a doula with my doctor, but no midwife. (duh-I guess, but I didn't know!) The nurse and the doctor both wanted to tell me my due date was early February, but I kept telling them they were wrong. I told the doctor how far apart my cycle is AND that I knew the conception date AND that the first positive of several pregnancy tests was July 3rd. She finally believed me and changed it to March 9th. She will be my doctor until October, then the practice's new doctor will take me. I made an appointment for an ultrasound in August to confirm the due date. Warren by the way kept his cool during the exam. He kept patting my shoulder, like it hurt. I later explained to him that it doesn't hurt, it is just awkward as crap. When we left there we went to Clark for my blood work. They took 6 tubes of blood and then when we were finished we toured labor and delivery. The charge nurse showed us around. The L & D rooms are SWEET, but the recovery room, eh. I will definitely be enjoying the whirlpool tub later on! They are so into keeping mother and baby together. It was awesome. So after making a decision about Clark years ago, I know now that I made the right choice.

Later in the day, just to keep up with my log :), Warren told Chris and Jimmie. Neither telling was an exciting story.

July 6, 2010

Woo, today has been busy. I scheduled a doctor and dentist appointments, figured out that the baby would be on my health insurance, looked at shower decor (love parties!) and diaper services, and hired and scheduled a housecleaner. I also met with Anglea, my photography job boss, to tell her exactly how unavailable I am! She was super excited and supportive and I can't wait to get the baby photographed! I also told Nikki today. She loves babies and was super excited. Later in the evening, Warren called his best friend Matt to tell him. So lame-here goes. Warren said, "Guess what." Matt said, "What?" Warren said, "Guess." Matt did. Ashley also told her mom who was really excited and asked her if she would move back to Louisville now. We went to dinner at our friends Lee and Tricia's for dinner. They are newlyweds and live on our same street. So when we cheers-ed we said, "To Fountain Ave." and Warren said, "Yeah, you all live so close you'll be able to babysit." Their eyes darted back and forth and their jaws dropped. Best telling so far!

July 5, 2010

Warren and I came home from the cabin last night to get a head start on the day today. Our house was in disarray, not to mention the rest of ourselves. We worked all day, organizing, throwing away, fixing, etc. Then we did our first big organic grocery shop. I also spoke to my good friend Stephanie to tell her the news. I also did my first venture into the baby aisles at Target. Ahhhhh I can't wait to shop!!! The cutest this was tonight after we got home, Warren found out there was a dad section of "What to Expect.." and sat and read the entire thing. Adorable!

July 3, 2010

This morning I took a positive pregnancy test! It was my fourth test and I definitely did not expect it to be positive. My cycle has long been irregular so taking a pregnancy test was not new to me. And I really didn't think I was pregnant! Warren had already left for work. He knew I was going to take the test, but it was just a precaution for a weekend of celebrating our great country's birthday. I called Warren and just said, "I'm pregnant." He was surprised, and excited, and happy. He said he just paced around the door outside work. I was so glad he was so excited because I needed it! No offense to the baby, but this was not the gameplan! When we got off the phone I immediately called Ashley and Christie. Neither answered, but Christie called right back. I just started crying. We were getting ready to go to Ian's parents cabin. After talking to Christie I felt much better. I then talked to Ashley. ugh. This meant not just telling her that I was pregnant, but that I would be pregnant. At her shower. At her bachelorette party. And very, very pregnant as her Matron of Honor in her wedding. Not that SHE made me feel bad, but it just sucked. There was more crying, but again by the time I got off the phone I felt better. I also called Kerry cause I had to talk to someone with kids-she of course was super excited. Christie and I later went to the bookstore and she bought me What to Expect When You're Expecting. We also bought another pregnancy test, just to be sure. When Warren got home he just held me, put his head against mine, and teared up a little. Then, since I was too in shock to consider an alternative, we headed to the cabin. I drank my first O Douls (not much to write home about), and just kept thinking Oh My God!!!!!