People always say that once you have a child, everything changes. Your life, your priorities, your perspective – everything. I’ve quickly learned that even being pregnant, knowing there’s a life growing inside of me, changes everything. My life has already changed, my priorities, my perspective… and I know that this is only a fraction of the way my life will be turned upside down in October. And I can’t wait. J
One example of how things have changed is that I really, honest to God, kept forgetting that my birthday was coming up. I think I come from the most birthdays-are-the-biggest-deal-ever family that exists. Growing up, birthdays were always a big deal, so I’ve carried that tradition into my adulthood. However, this year, I was much more excited about our 16 week checkup that happened to fall on my birthday rather than turning the big 2-8. I could’ve cared less – All I wanted was to hear our sweet one’s heartbeat. And boy did we get more than that!
I had to spend the day Friday at an all-day meeting, but left a couple hours in for our appointment. The checkup went great, heartbeat at a strong 160 (the best sound ever!), and I had to get the final bloodwork done for my genetic screening. As I was getting a needle jabbed into my vein by a nurse who later revealed to me I was only her fifth attempt at drawing blood (the regular phlebotomist was on vacation), my awesome doctor and nurse stuck their head in the room and said, “Hey, grab your husband, and go back into room 45.” I think they saw the immediate panic dance across my face – What in the world could’ve gone wrong in the last ten minutes?! So the nurse then said, “It’s your birthday… You should get to see your baby.” And then I received the best birthday present I’ve ever had in 28 years – A surprise ultrasound.
Look at those little feet and toes!!
This one was done by our actual doctor, who took the time to point out various parts of our beautiful baby, including his/her inch-long foot, four-chamber heart, aorta, diaphragm, etc. WOW! I am so in love. And now we only have to wait two weeks until our Anatomy Scan on the 13th – Even though we won’t be finding out the sex of our baby, I am very anxious about checking in on every little part of our peanut to make sure everything is healthy.
I think I spent the rest of the afternoon in my work meeting staring at the ultrasound pictures with an ear-to-ear grin on my face. Driving home from the meeting, I was in the best mood, only to find my dear husband in the kitchen baking me my FAVORITE cupcakes for my birthday – Funfetti!! He also got me an awesome camera that has a quick shutter speed (advice from the mamas I know who are always trying to snap quick pics of their little ones!). It also takes incredible pictures AND video. I LOVE IT and can’t wait to have our son/daughter here to take tons of pictures!!! Have I ever mentioned that I am married to the most extraordinary man? Yeah, be jealous, it’s okay.
Yes, that is a "2" candle - it's all we could find in the cabinets, and I had to make a wish!
That evening we had my school’s Spring Fling, so we spent the night running the dunking booth. We continued the birthday festivities on Saturday by taking a picnic, our pup, and our new camera to the park.
Our sweet pup, Bailey! She's gonna be a big sister!
She's having a blast!
:)
That night we headed out to a birthday dinner at my fav – Bonefish. And as if the weekend weren't awesome enough, on the way to church this morning, I swear I felt the little kicks of our baby. It happened right where the doctor pointed out his/her feet to be, and it was very distinct. I quickly grabbed my hub’s hand, hoping it would happen again, but it’s probably not strong enough yet to be felt from the outside. I absolutely cannot wait to feel it all the time.
Headed out for a delicious birthday dinner!
All of this awesomeness will help me trudge through the crazy, stressful times that promise to smack me in the face throughout the next month of work. While I’m nervous about what is to come in terms of the work load with my job and grad school, I will definitely stay focused on this miracle happening inside of me and will try to do a much better job of not sweating the small stuff. J
16 Weeks - Not much change!
16 Weeks Covered Up!
No comments:
Post a Comment