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.

Family Photo Christmas 2012

Valentines Day 2011

To me, Valentine's Day is just... Silly. I'm supposed to love Matt (and show it) every day, not just on special occasions. Society has picked a day and told me that I am supposed to show my love more on this day than on any other.

But let me tell you -- When I think of the times my husband has truly shown his love for me and been extra thoughtful, I don't think of the time he surprised me with roses(2008) or set up a romantic display (2010) like every significant other in America...

I think of the day, out of the blue, when he found my favorite donut (that most DD's don't carry any more) and bought it for me. I think of the time, when I had worked hard all week, when he said "sit down, I'll clean."

I know my husband loves me not because of the effort that gets put into a holiday that requires a show of affection, but by the affection he shows when it isn't expected of him, and he does it anyway.

Flat Tires

Well, it seems that flat tires follow me. I've gotten 3 in the past few months... This is what happened today:

We were driving up to my parent's house to visit my mom for her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM) when Matt sped up and the car started making a funky noise.

Me: your car needs to shift
Matt: no it doesn't
Me: Look at your RPM's, you almost at 4. It needs to shift.
-- at this point, the car shifts, but funky sound continues --
Matt: something's wrong.

So we pull over, and there's a flat. I say, no big deal, there's a donut in the trunk.

Matt's trunk doesnt open. There's half a key broken off in the lock, and the button to open it from the front doesn't work.

So I squeeze into what has to be a 2x2 whole in the backseat and manage, after a few awkward minutes, to force the latch open from the inside.

And when I say awkward, I mean, I could fit through this whole up to my hips. So my bottom half is stuck in the backseat and my head and arms are in the trunk.

Next is getting the tire off.... One of the nuts is stripped. I really have to use the bathroom. So I leave Matt to wait for help to walk to the hotel about a mile ahead. A lady stopped and offered me a ride, but I refused. It ended up being further than I thought, but I made it in time. The lady at the front desk was SUPER nice and let me use the bathroom and even take some ice back for the cheese that was getting warm awful quick in the car. She offered me coffee and water and said I could stay as long as I liked to wait for help to arrive. But the cheese was getting warm. So I headed back --

And as it turns out the Maine Turnpike has tow trucks that just drive around and look for stranded people! And this guy managed to get the stripped nut off of the car and put the donut on, but the tire is ruined.

So we go to a local VIP to see if we can get a new tire real quick and still manage to make it up to see my mom. This guy says he had NO TIRES that were the right size, and that he would have to special order a nut -- odd for a tire store, to me.

Saco to Summersworth, we finally get 2 new tires (keep the treads even) and a rim to put the tire that wasn't ruined on for the future.

$200 later, we have a fun story, but we missed my mom's birthday and my friend's baby shower ...

Interesting day, to say the least.