Awkward

Some awkward things that people have said to me thus far in my pregnancy:

"Oh my God, you're like a ball with legs!" -Anthony A.

"I just want to make sure your eyes aren't bigger than your stomach... Although that's admittedly pretty hard right now." -Matt

"If you were to do a pencil dive into the pool right now, would it still be considered a belly flop?" -Matt

"Smile, it's not like you're carrying an extra *hesitates* 50 pounds right now or anything!" - a coworker, when I had gained not even half that at that point...

Nursery

I designed Elise's bedroom specifically with the intent that it could be changed if needed. The wall color and the trees are neutral, while just the accessories in the room would need to be changed if Elise ever has to share her room with a brother. Also, the trees are decals, so if (when) she decides that she wants to change her room to reflect whomever she turns out to be, they can be removed fairly easily.

An Explosion of Pink!

On April 17h, Matt and I received the wonderful news that we were expecting a baby girl! And thats when it happened. No matter my drive to keep the pink in check, all of a sudden everything pink just seemed irresistible to both me and everyone who wanted to shower our baby girl with gifts!

After MUCH deliberation, Matt and I decided on the name Elise Marie (in the end, I left it up to Matt.) We both liked the name Elise just from the way it sounds, but here were some other reasons we love the name Elise:

• Meaning: God is my oath
• It is a shortened version of the name Elisabeth, which was Matt's Nana's name.
• Marie is a family name on my side, my Great Aunt is Marie, my grandmother is Louise Marie, my Aunt is Lynn Marie, and my mother's confirmation name was Susan Marie
• Elise, while not an unusual name, is not overly popular (at least as of 2013!)

 Other names we considered:

• Caroline (This was the second choice, possibly Caroline Grace)
• Grace (I would have loved the name Grace, but ultimately it is a very popular name and my friend Heather's son (Born in July) is named Grayson)
• Eden (My ultimate favorite, except - Eden Stevens. Say it out loud, I dare you.)

My morning sickness finally subsided around week 16 of pregnancy, and since then this pregnancy has been pretty easy-going. I still have all the usual symptoms: heartburn, back pain, insomnia, etc. but nothing compares to the morning sickness! I actually think if I didn't have such bad nausea in the beginning, I would probably be a lot more pathetic about my current woes!

To close: A funny conversation between Matt and I regarding my stretch marks:

Me: I have more belly scars than you now.

Matt: Yeah, but mine is a cooler story.

Me: Cooler than creating a new human life?

Matt: I hate you.

 

 

Baby Kicks

We first felt Baby Stevens move on:

Laura - March 23rd, 15w 6d gestation
Matt - April 8, 18w 2d gestation

I had been feeling the baby move on the outside (with my hand) for about a week and was trying to get Matt in on the fun... Whenever I would feel kicking I would have Matt rush over and wait, since the kicks usually came in clumps. However, the baby would either kick somewhere other than Matt's hand, too lightly for him to feel, or just stop moving altogether.

The other night, Matt put his hand on my stomach without prompting -- I wasn't very hopeful since the baby wasn't moving at the time anyway, but he started talking to the baby and got one strong kick in the middle of his hand. And that was it. :-)

New Addition

For the sake of chronicling important life events (even though everyone already knows at this point) Matt and I are happy to announce....

Baby Stevens at 8w 5d gestation. Baby is now 14w 4d gestation and approximately the size of a nectarine. We have our next ultrasound April 17th when we find out the gender (providing we can get the offspring of Matt to cooperate, of course)

A co-worker also suggested I keep a journal of all the interesting pregnancy things that happen so that I can laugh at myself later, so here goes:

Pregnancy Dreams:

• I had one dream where I was told I was having twin girls. Except I wasn't pregnant with babies, I was pregnant with clams. Of course dream me was justifiably upset.
• I had another dream where I actually had the baby and was taking care of it. Labor was surprisingly easy and for some reason the baby never cried or seemed hungry. I was a little concerned, but mostly just kept sleeping. Until someone informed me 5-6 months later that I was never pregnant, never had a baby, but rather had an emotional breakdown and I had made it all up in my mind and had instead been trying to nurse a tonka truck for the past 5-6 months.
• My co-worker (who just got a bunch of pet ducks in real life) had adopted a bunch of kangaroos, but had worked out a contract with them that they couldn't leave the dining room unless they all got a bag of chocolate coins and the door was left open. I gave them all chocolate coins but didn't make it to close the door before all hell broke loose and the house was overrun with kangaroos. I tried to contain them but could not because all the doors in the house were sticking and wouldn't close/lock properly. My dad, in real life, came and fixed all the doors in my house that were sticking the evening after this dream took place.

Pregnancy Brain Moments:

• I called myself "Laurie." Whoops.
• I could not locate where I kept the pot holders in my own home. It took 3 half-minded and 2 well thought out attempts to find them, and even then I was only 70% sure I was opening the correct drawer.
• I made myself hot chocolate with a single serve coffee pot at work. I put the mug in the machine upside down so all the liquid just flowed all over the counter/floor.

I would also like to point out that while I have been completely miserable with morning sickness for the past 2.5 months, Matt has totally stepped up to the plate. He has been taking 5 classes this semester (to get his degree before baby), working 20-30hrs/week, doing all the housework, taking care of me and making me food (within his cooking limitations, of course. Although he did make some mean pancakes all on his own!) I never expected I would ever be this helpless, and I never expected Matt could do everything that he has been doing. He has grown so much since we've gotten married and I love him more everyday.