Monday, March 24, 2014

24 Week Bump Update!




Pregnancy Stats
Baby Size: Cucumber- 12 inches
Total Weight Gain: about 18lbs and it feels like a TON more.
Maternity Clothes: Pretty much exclusively! Bought a really cute mint green t-shirt...wore it once when the sun came out and realized it won't fit much longer. Yikes! Good thing it was cheap.
Food Cravings: Nothing in particular...just hungry.
Food Aversions: Coffee is still the only thing I find revolting.
New Symptoms: Sore back, more and more trouble bending at the waist, starting to feel like I'm waddling a bit as I walk.
Movement: TONS!  Still enjoying the fluttering and twitching. Sometimes it feels like she is blowing bubbles inside of me. It has been fun to let both grandmas and Auntie Serin get a chance to feel her movements!
Belly Button: In
Gender: GIRL!
Best Moment of the Week: Having everyone over for March Madness. Not pregnancy related, but nice to celebrate what has become an annual Compton household tradition.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Going to Florida tomorrow to see my grandparents and Aunt Peggy/Uncle Frank! Not pregnancy related- but I am so excited for some fun and relaxation!
What I Miss: MIMOSAS! It was hard not to go on the champagne campaign with Serin during March Madness.
What Else: Can't believe that Winter Quarter is over and I'm headed on Spring Break. The quarters ALWAYS go by so quickly, and at the end of this one it will be almost time to welcome Baby Compton into the world!

 
And here is our little cucumber bump up close!

Gender Reveal

***SPOLIER ALERT*** You will find out Baby Compton's gender when you read this post!

Although I'm sure most of you know already....since we announced it officially a few weeks ago. :) Also, I know that gender is a social construct and what we are actually revealing is the baby's biological sex, but "sex reveal" doesn't have the same ring to it, so I am making the choice to call it what everybody else does.



Milan and I had an ultra sound on February 19, 2014. Since we were leaving town later that day and wanted some time to process our news we didn't tell anyone about our appointment. We did know that at some point we wanted to have a small gathering with immediately family to let them all in on the surprise at the same time, and an important part of that would be having everyone cast a vote. To be fair, Milan and I wrote and signed a dated piece of paper with our votes (Milan voted boy and I voted girl) so we couldn't change them by the time we got to the reveal.

At the appointment everyone from the receptionist to the sonographer made us feel super comfortable! Each new person we encountered asked if we were going to find out the sex- which made us guess that they've made some mistakes by oversharing inadvertently before. The sonographer was SO amazing. She made us right at ease letting us know what to expect for the appointment (e.g. the doctor might not come in right away, the doctor might want to look at a few things with her own eyes, so don't be worried if she picks up the wand and wants to see more, etc.). She decided to "get right to the good part" so we wouldn't be in suspense any longer. She fired up the machine, waved the wand around, and right away we could see little Baby Compton's legs...with nothing in between them! She told us to think of the view as if she was sitting on top of a copy machine and snapped the following picture:

 
As you can see...LEG, LEG, GIRL! All I could think about the rest of the day was this picture of her cute little butt on top of the copy machine. :)
 
Of course, I immediately burst into tears because I was so surprised! I felt in my heart that it could go either way, but since I really wanted a girl I didn't quite expect to get one. Milan squeezed my hand as we went through the rest of the appointment. Measuring everything from head to toe, taking tons of pictures, examining every organ, etc. It was so amazing to see the blood flow through the umbilical cord, her tiny heart beating, and her stomach expand into a little black bubble as she swallowed amniotic fluid! The sonographer kept trying to get a clear profile shot, but baby girl was stubbornly sucking her thumb. The sonographer poked pretty hard, had me flip over, and finally inverted the table in an effort to get the thumb out of baby's mouth. Milan just kept laughing and saying, "If she's anything like her mom, she won't move if we want her to." As if he's not equally as stubborn as me!
 
When the doctor came in she said that everything looked absolutely healthy and wonderful. Baby girl weighed 13 ounces and everything appeared great. Getting a clean bill of health was such a relief- that was what we were both waiting and praying for! As I sit here a few weeks later I just remember thinking that I wanted to bottle up that joyful feeling and open it back up again later. It was truly the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. I'll never forget sitting with Milan later that night in our hotel in DC and him asking me what qualities and traits of mine I hope she'll end up with. We are still having so many fun conversations and I have loved sharing all of our dreams for her.
 
 
The Friday after we got back in town we invited over our parents and siblings for our little gathering. We knew we wanted everyone to cast a vote, so we asked each person to pick out a pink or blue pin to wear while we made dinner and ate appetizers. We also provided everyone with a little help guessing if need be based on a number of Old Wives Tales.
 
 
 
Here is a photo of all those that guessed boy:
 
 
 
And here is team girl:
 
 

 
 
When the time came for the big reveal, we gave a balloon to each of the grandmas...
 

On the count of three the balloons were popped and out poured the pink confetti!

We got a pretty cute video of this in action....mostly consisted of some loud screams, jumps, and surprise on the part of the grandmas!



 Here is Grammy with her blue pin (her vote) and four pink pins (representing votes from our close family friends- the Nienows and McEachrans).
 
 
And finally a picture of proud Mom and Dad. We can't wait to meet you, Baby Girl!
 


Friday, February 28, 2014

20 Week Bump Update!

 
Sorry for the delay in posting- I know I promised to post every two weeks at the very least for a two week bump update- but we missed week 18. It has been a crazy busy time with school, data collection, and preparing to present at my NASP conference in Washington DC.  Between all of that I have not felt much like taking a picture. Unfortunately there was a TON of growth between 16 and 20...so you'll just have to imagine a nice little in between belly photo for week 18.


Pregnancy Stats
Baby Size: Banana- 10 inches
Total Weight Gain: about 12lbs- Dr. still says I'm on track for the halfway mark...but it piled on quickly this past month or so and that belly feels like it just popped out of nowhere!
Maternity Clothes: Rocking the maternity jeans I splurged on- hopefully they will make it through a few pregnancies.
Food Cravings: Salty and sweet but nothing in particular.
Food Aversions: Coffee
New Symptoms: I've been having a ton of bloody noses. I've only had one before in my life, but since I've been pregnant I have had somewhere around 8. Two happened the week I found out and I've had a few since, but this week I had four in a period of 24 hours- and each one happened in a different state! One in a pizzeria in NYC, the next at our friends' house in Bethesda, MD, the next at the airport in Washington DC (not officially a state- I know), and the final one in our kitchen in Redmond, WA.
Movement: TONS! At 17 weeks, 2 days (Friday January 31) I felt what seemed like a twitch in my lower belly. It kept happening over and over again as I was lying down so I called Milan to come and feel! He confirmed that it was so faint and rhythmic that it was probably just a twitch. However...over the next few days the "twitch" began to move to different locations. The baby was really going crazy fluttering around during the Super Bowl and the Victory parade a few days later! Go Hawks! Since then the movements have become stronger and more consistent. The sonographer told me my placenta is located towards the back so I should be lucky enough to feel Baby C's every movement as he or she gets bigger! Mixed feelings about that...but for now I'm loving feeling the flutters and twitches. It feels like a private joke that nobody knows about. I feel the baby a lot when I lay down on my back and when I sit- just a few times while I've been standing.
Belly Button: In
Gender: We had an ultra sound on February 19, 2014 (exactly 20 weeks) to find out- but we're not sharing yet! Stay tuned for our family gender reveal photos. :)
Best Moment of the Week: Besides the ultra sound (finding out that Baby C looks very healthy) I would have to say having Milan feel all the little movements! It's very exciting to share them with him.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Sharing the gender
What I Miss: My old skin. It has been incredibly dry and there is not much I can do about it!
What Else: Not much- this was a lengthy update. Stay tuned for a story about our ultra sound, pictures, and the big news!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

16 Week Bump Update!

 
 
 
Pregnancy Stats
Baby Size: Avocado - 4.5 inches
Total Weight Gain: 4.5 lbs at the doctor last week- she assures me that this is right on track and it's definitely less than I feel as if I've gained!
Maternity Clothes: Still pushing it in my regular clothes for the most part! Rocking the leggings and some old sweaters.
Food Cravings: I totally crave something sweet after dinner- but Milan is convinced that this is nothing new for me :)
Food Aversions: Coffee
New Symptoms: My lower back is starting to ache a little bit and I'm much more aware of how many times I'm awake at night. I think this is just because I feel it every time I change sides since it is already harder to get comfortable
Movement: not yet!
Belly Button: In
Gender: We don't know- but our next appointment is on Valentine's Day and we will have an ultrasound the following week.
Best Moment of the Week: Starting to make some decisions about a car seat and stroller! Milan and I went to Merry Go Round in Bellevue to demo a few and I think we've settled on the Britax-B-Ready and Britax-B-Safe- now just waiting for them to go on sale!
What I'm Looking Forward To: Fitting into maternity clothes a little better. This awkward in between is difficult some days!
What I Miss: Clear skin!!!
What Else: So glad to be feeling so much better. The doctor found a strong heartbeat right away at the last appointment- which was fun because we got to record it! Click on the video below and listen carefully for the "whomp whomp whomp" at the beginning if you'd like to hear it!



And here are the obligatory avocado pictures!



Wednesday, January 22, 2014

New Habits

So as my pre-pregnancy pants are getting tighter and tighter I have taken to unbuttoning them in the evenings, either as I walk in the door or before I eat dinner. Tonight I was sitting at my desk working on stuff for school and I felt some uncomfortable pressure so I went to undo the pants button....when I realized I had already unbuttoned them hours ago when I got home. Yikes!



#preggoproblems

Saturday, January 11, 2014

14 Week Bump Update!


 
 
Pregnancy Stats
Baby Size: Lemon - 3.5 inches
Total Weight Gain: I'm afraid to find out at my appointment next week...
Maternity Clothes: Indeed, the black top is a maternity top- but it is still a little big.
Food Cravings: Nothing specific- just hungry :)
Food Aversions: the coffee smell is still my worst aversion!
New Symptoms: Less nausea- yay! Still waiting for that energy boost...
Movement: not yet!
Belly Button: In
Gender: We don't know- but Milan agreed to find out!!!
Best Moment of the Week: Starting to tell people/talk about baby. Also shopping at Babies R' Us for Libby's shower made me really excited to have an infant of my very own!
What I'm Looking Forward To: Our next doctors appointment (1/18)
What I Miss: feeling like myself
What Else: The house projects are in full swing around here once again- Milan has been working like CRAZY to get his office done so that we can start clearing out his old office for the baby's room.


 


Here's our little baby lemon!















Saturday, December 28, 2013

12 Week Bump Update!



Pregnancy Stats
Baby Size: Lime - 2 inches
Total Weight Gain: I don't know but my clothes were feeling awfully tight on Christmas!
Maternity Clothes: Not yet
Food Cravings: Nothing specific- just hungry :)
Food Aversions: Coffee has been absolutely disgusting to me.
New Symptoms: Tummy has started to bump out just a little bit.
Movement: not yet!
Belly Button: In
Gender: We don't know
Best Moment of the Week: Getting to tell our extended family that I was 12 weeks pregnant on Christmas day!
What I'm Looking Forward To: The second trimester perk of less nausea!
What I Miss: My clear skin
What Else: The whole family was sick over Christmas and I was no exception. Low fever, sore throat, stuffy nose, nasty cough- that sure isn't fun when you can't take any cold/flu medicine!