Bump Report: 19 Weeks

Today is the day! Finally we found out the flavor of our little baby and it's a GIRL. She is 10 ounces and is right on track as far as measurements go.  Quite the lady, the technician had to jiggle my belly so she would uncross her legs.  Her hands were near her face and she was very active.  We had a solid boy name but could never agree on a girl name, so that will be the main topic of conversation in Punta Cana.  We are soooooo very excited that it's a girl! We took a final vote before the ultrasound Ashby stuck to boy and I switched my vote to a girl.  I just got a feeling earlier this week that it was a girl.  

Tonight we had Ashby's family over for my birthday celebration/gender reveal.  We had a great time! Tatum helped take everyones vote down, and I got pink ballons which the kids revealed.  It was an even 7 to 7 on the votes.  Everyone was so excited to find out it was a girl. Let the shopping begin! 

This week I'm just picking questions that apply, since so of them haven't changed.

How far along? 19 Weeks

Total weight gain:  5 lbs. My doctor told me I've been doing great on the weight so far but it is bound to catch up to me

Best moment this week: Seeing our cute little baby on the ultrasound screen and finding out she was a girl!

Food cravings: Americana oreos have been delish this week.

Gender: Girl

Symptoms: On Monday, I finally started to feel her move around a lot more.  I had vinegar on Monday (which I don't typically eat), she went crazy.  Just feels like butterflies in your stomach. 

Looking forward to:  Punta Cana on Saturday. I plan to sit in a chair on the beach under a palm tree for 5 days.  

This girl is tired and checking out for the night. Have a great Friday!

Bump Report: 18 Weeks

Hello! I'm writing to you from Tampa, FL. Traveled here on Tuesday for work and we are leaving today.  So I'll keep this short, since I have to check out in 15 mins!

How far along? 18 Weeks

Total weight gain:  5 lbs. I haven't embraced the scale going up yet!

Maternity clothes?  Bella bands, may have to invest in some maternity work pants. 

Stretch marks? None yet.

Sleep: Tired. Traveling definitely makes me more tired. 

Best moment this week: Watching someone fall of a bike. I know I'm going to hell, but I can't help but laugh when people fall. Who's with me?!?

Miss Anything? Not looking like I have massive muffin top in work out clothes. Not a cute look. 

Food cravings: Popcorn. Cookies. Doubletree has the best cookies.

Anything making you queasy or sick: My prenatal vitamins. yuck.

Gender: One more week until we know, I can hardly stand it. 

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: The need to pee. This kid has positioned itself over my bladder. It seems like every 30 minutes I'm in the bathroom. 

Belly Button in or out? In and I hope it stays that way.

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and excited!

Looking forward to:  Monday (my birthday), Thursday (gender reveal), Saturday (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic).

The baby is the size of: Bell Pepper

So that's all I have today. Check back next week to find out what this baby is! 

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Happy Monday! Those words shouldn't even be allowed in the same sentence.  We had a pretty uneventful weekend, I shopped quickly through Target and finally found some curtains that would work for the house. Also strolled the baby aisle and found a glider that I could like versus a real chair. It's really a gray color in person. I wanted to sit in but that little sign says no climbing on the furniture and there was a target employee near me giving me the stink eye!

 Sunday consisted of brunch at Marty's and sewing.

Chocolate Chip pancakes the size of my head (x2). I took half of one home for leftovers and reheated it this morning for breakfast. It was just as good.

Lloyd decided he'd like to help me measuring the fabric. He is not a good a helper.  Is it just me, or does every sewing project end up being way more involved than you originally thought? To think that I was considering making long panels myself, clearly I lost my mind for a minute.  I made good progress and the project will be done before the party next Thursday! I'll post pictures once everything is complete.  It's looking good so far.

I'll be back on Thursday with another bump report. See ya later lovelies!

Bump Report: 17 Weeks

Hi friends! We are back from Kentucky and ready for the weekend already.  Catching up with my family was great! As much as I liked my parents living close to us here in Virginia, it's also nice to go and visit them.  No matter what state they are in, or what house holds their things, it always feels like home. Alright, enough sentimental shenanigans, let me just tell you I have had one pregnant brain day.  I decided to check out TJ Maxx on my lunch break for some curtains.  No big deal right? Except for when I am ready to leave and my car won't start. I call Ashby in a panic (FYI he is 60 miles away, what was he going to do? I don't know), then I call my boss.  Long story short, he had to disconnect the battery in order to restart the computer in the car, so that the car would turn on.  In the end our theory is, once I parked the car, I just got out and went inside the store (clearly I was excited to get my shopping on), without turning off the car or locking it.  While I was inside, we think someone probably tried to steal Stella, and she went into lock down mode and wouldn't let me start her when I came back out to leave. What can I say, Ashby and I have a pretty smart car, either that or I need to go back to driver's education and learn the proper way to exit a car.  I would like to give myself a pat on the back for not crying in the middle of the parking lot.

For those that are interested, I did secure some cute curtains while on the shopping trip. I'm hoping to doctor them up this weekend and will post about them next week. I'm getting pretty ambitious, but maybe if I write it down, I'll actually do it?

Here is a very blurry picture from this morning.  Sometimes, when you ask your husband to take a picture of you they cooperate, and other times they huff and puff.  You can guess which kind of morning we had....

How far along? 17 Weeks

Total weight gain:  4 lbs

Maternity clothes? Still using the bella bands.  What an amazing invention is all I have to say about that.

Stretch marks? None yet. I ran out of my really good smelling cream and bought some Burt's Bees Mamma  Bee lotion. It smells, terrible. I think I need to put some scented oil in it or something. 

Sleep: I've had more energy this week. I've actually stayed up to watch tv past 9:30 at least twice this week. Living the crazy life!

Best moment this week: Beginning to plan the gender reveal par-tay

Miss Anything? No not really. 

Food cravings: Popcorn. The good kind you make in the pot on the stove. Sprinkle a little popcorn crack on it and I've got my dinner. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Coffee : ( This breaks my heart, because I want it. I really think it's the coffee creamer in our fridge, it's brand new but maybe the flavor is making me sick. Several times this week I thought I was going to have to pull the car over on 95 and take care of business.  

Gender: Don’t know yet. We find out August 30^th! I think it’s a boy!

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: Super gassy this week. Ashby can't stand it. He doesn't even want to sit on the couch with me. TMI? sorry!

Belly Button in or out? In and I hope it stays that way.

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm switching this to happy. I have my moments, but generally I'm just so excited to find out what this baby is. 

Looking forward to: August 30th! We are having a birthday/gender reveal party at my house with Ashby's family. Then a day later we leave for Punta Cana.  I've been practicing my spanish. El  Bano= Bathroom. I'm set!

The baby is the size of: An onion or an apple depending on the website you read. 


See ya'll next week! 

Bump Report: 16 Weeks

Hello from Kentucky! Ashby and I flew to Kentucky last night to celebrate my Dad's promotion and change of command ceremony.  I'm amazed at how much unpacking they have done since they got here two weeks ago.  The house they now have is the largest they have ever lived in, well worth it after 30 years of service.  It's also located across a parade field, real life cannons included.  As I was writing this post, the cannons started going off, I thought we were under attack.  Slight heart palpatations, no biggie.

Here is the weekly pic...

Sometimes it looks like a bump, and sometimes it looks like I let myself go!

How far along? 16 Weeks

Total weight gain: 3 lbs

Maternity clothes? None yet.  My gracious mom bought me some bella bands that I've been using to hold my pants up.  Dresses are a girls best friend these days.

Stretch marks? None yet. I’ve been using shea butter cream twice a day.

Sleep: Tired, the 10:15 flight here left me super exhaused. I'm still recovering.

Best moment this week: Seeing family and sharing the news with those who don't know yet!

Miss Anything? Still alcohol.  My parents stocked their bar, miniature skinny girl margaritas included.  Breaks my heart  :  (

Food cravings: fruit and bread

Anything making you queasy or sick: I'm adding cream cheese to the list.  I had a bad encounter last Friday.

Gender: Don’t know yet. We find out August 30^th! I think it’s a boy!

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: General bloating.   

Belly Button in or out? In and I hope it stays that way.

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody : X

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender of the baby and deciding on a name. My birthday and going to Punta Cana.

The baby is also the size of an avacado this week. I like avacados. That's all I have, so I'll end on that awkward note!

Bump Report: 15 Weeks

Every Thursday I'm going to try and give you all a Bump Report, and if I'm lucky and organized enough a picture of the bump, like the one below.  This morning I was in a rush but had Ashby take this super quick awesome shot of me before I went downstairs for breakfast.  Not much to see here folks!

15 weeks

And now onto the good stuff....



How far along? 15 Weeks

Total weight gain: 3 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes and no. I can still fit into my tops and bottoms. Bottoms have sometimes been a little tricky to button, so I’ve just been using the hair tie method for now.  Trying to hold out for as long as possible on buying maternity clothes.

Stretch marks? None yet. I’ve been using shea butter cream twice a day.

Sleep: Anyone who knows me knows that I have no issues falling asleep! I do sometimes get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom.

Best moment this week: Going to the Doctor and listening to baby’s heartbeat. It was 152 beats/per min. Still over 140, which again according to the old wives tale means girl. We shall see about that. 

Miss Anything? Alcohol. No I’m not an alcoholic, thanks for asking! Oh yes and acne free skin. This baby has done a number on mama’s skin. Luckily the Doctor gave me a prescription that's safe to use while pregnant, and since using it last night there has been a drastic positive change! Winning.

Food cravings: fruit, chocolate, melted cheese

Anything making you queasy or sick: Raw veggies, I’ll eat ‘em but I don’t like it. Basil and balsamic vinegar, I’m not sure they will ever make an appearance in my diet again.   

Gender: Don’t know yet. We find out August 30^th! I think it’s a boy!   

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: None really. Occasional bloating and moodiness. Ashby would tell you heavy on the moodiness, he likes to call it “prangry”.

Belly Button in or out? In and I hope it stays that way.

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody : X

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender of the baby and deciding on a name.  Visiting with my family in Kentucky next week. My birthday and going to Punta Cana.


Just a fun fact for you, this week the baby is the size of an orange-

(www.thebump.com)

I'll be back next week with another update. I know you can hardly wait, it's probably going to be the highlight of your week, don't lie. 

A recap

Good Morning! It's almost Friday and that's the only thing getting me through today.  So in an effort to remember how everything went down I wanted to give you the short story of how we found out we were expecting and some general highlights of the baby's progress and how I've been feeling these past 15 weeks, so here it goes:  


Week 6: It was Memorial Day (May 28th, 2012) we had friends in town that weekend hanging out and lots of adult beverages had been flowing.  All weekend I had felt a little off, but didn't think that much of it.  In preparation for a family cook out I was making potato salad and had just cracked open a Bud Light Lime.  I said to Ashby "you know maybe I should go take test, I'd feel better knowing if I was pregnant before hanging out with family", he agreed and so we went upstairs and took the test.  Since you have to wait an ungodly 3 minutes I left the bathroom to wait it out, while Ashby chose to stare at the stick.  About a minute later he had a huge grin on his face, it was positive, I was teary eyed.  I then handed him my beer since I wouldn't be needing it anymore. About an hour later we headed to my mother-in-law's house for the cookout, with the strategic plan that I would drink sparkling water in my tervis tumbler to make everyone think I was drinking for the night! All night long I had a cheesy grin on my face and was sort of day dreaming the entire time we were there. I still didn't believe I was pregnant, so on the way home we stopped for another pregnancy test and ice cream, round two of the test confirmed once again I was pregnant.  


The next day I went to work, and at lunch went to Patient First for a blood test, just to confirm what the other two pregnancy tests suggested.  The doctor kindly informed me that yes, I in fact was pregnant.  I made an appointment to see my OBGYN for the following two weeks.  They don't see you until you are 8 weeks along. 

Cinco de Mayo- We believe right around the time of conception. TMI is the name of the game my friends.

Weeks 7 and 8: These weeks were long, just waiting to see the doctor and to finally confirm for the 4th time that it was true, I was pregnant.  Ashby was out of town one of these weekends for a bachelor party and I took full advantage by eating caprese salad, so much that an aversion formed for basil and balsamic vinegar. These two weeks I felt super bloated and sometimes nauseous but never got sick, thank god! 

On June 14, 2012 we finally had our first appointment where we got to see the little baby.  It was hilarious to see all the men in the doctors office, sort of looking lost and just following their baby mama's lead and where to go, what to do and what to say, Ashby included.  As we entered the ultra sound room, the technician holds up a rather large wand and explains that since the baby is so little this won't be a typical ultra sound, in my head I'm thinking "fantastic, this should be fun".  We looked at the screen, she told us our due date was January 24th, 2013,and she explained, where the head was, and the little circles where the baby's limbs, and that the flickering dot was the heartbeat.  I had tears in my eyes, I think Ashby probably did too.  As I was readjusting myself to go see the actual doctor, Ashby and I decided that the baby looked like a squirrel and so that is what we decided to call it from then on out! We ended up seeing a nurse practitioner who was my Aunt Marfi re-incarnated, she went through everything- no deli meat, no soft cheeses, all the do's and don'ts for working out and medicine, when we left our brains were very tired.  

Baby Walton aka Squirrel

That weekend was father's day weekend (June 17th) and we had traveled to Northern Virginia for the wedding of Ashby's fraternity big brother.  We had devised a plan to tell our families the news that weekend, and throughout the entire wedding festivities all I could think about was surprising everybody.  We got to my parents house bright and early on Sunday for breakfast.  I walked in and immediately gave my dad his Father's day present, a white polo shirt. He gave me the obligatory hug, "thanks Lindsey, you're the best daughter ever", then I handed him a card, it read something along the lines of "Dad, we know you have everything, and we finally found the one thing you don't have. Congratulations you're going to be a Grandad".  Tears ensued, my Mom had no idea what the card said and started yelling "Oh My God, are you pregnant", we all shook our heads and then she started crying.  It was a cry fest for a minute.  We later called my sister, who I non-nonchalantly told and then she lost it in another crying session for a hot second.  Everyone was so excited, but we weren't finished telling everyone.

Dancing at the wedding. (Photograph by Marirosa)

We had arranged to have a Father's Day shin dig out our house that night in Richmond.  We cleared everything off the refrigerator and  placed the ultra sound pictures of squirrel front and center.  My father-in-law arrived first, we chatted for a minute, he asked what I had been up to and I simply pointed to the fridge.  He said "are you serious?" and gave us both generous bear hugs! Then the crazy train came, aka the rest of the family, in typical fashion my sister-in-law noticed the pictures first and said "Oh I love the pictures of the baby on the fridge", my mother-in-law turned to me so confused and I shook my head yes, and another crying fest ensued! Needless to say everyone was super surprised but super excited for us! 


Weeks 10 and 11: The Friday we left for the beach (July 6th) we had another doctors appointment where we were able to listen to the baby's heartbeat.  It took a couple minutes for the technician to hear it, apparently Squirrel was higher up that day.  Once we heard it, it was an amazing sound! The baby's heart beat was 173 beats/min.  The old wives tale is that if the heartbeat is above 140 it's a girl.  At the time, I had convinced myself we were having a girl. 


We were at Sunset Beach with Ashby's family for the week. It was so great to see everyone, and share our news with extended family.  I didn't miss alcohol until this point, all I wanted was a cold beer.  Don't worry I restrained myself and sipped mocktails all week.  I also ate copious amounts of ice cream from Calabash Creamery while were. 

On the deck at the beach house

So if you're still reading then you must really love me, that or you're just super bored and procrastinating, either way thanks for reading. We are so grateful for the wonderful love and support our family and friends have given us, Baby Walton is going to be one lucky kid with you fine people in his/her life! 

A place for us to share

Hi Friends! After following multiple blogs I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and start my own.  As most of our friends and family know, I'm pregnant with our first child (due January 24,2013).  Seeing as I'm already in my second semester and haven't taken one bump picture, I'm feeling like a super procrastinator.  This is an amazing time and so many things are happening, so much that I'm finding a hard time remembering it all (baby brain).  My hope is to use this blog as a real-time scrapbook of our day to day life, tracking the pregnancy and life after Baby Walton is here.  Hope you'll stick around for all my shenanigans!