It's a GIRL!

Even if it doesn't seem real yet, it's happening! We are having a baby girl and she is coming in October.

So far it's been a great journey. Steven and I decided when we got married that we were looking forward to starting a family sooner rather than later. By January we changed our minds and we decided we would wait to start a family until we moved to California and were more "settled". Since we hadn't gotten pregnant yet, we figured we would move forward with that plan. Shortly after that conversation mother nature did not deliver my monthly gift, and I began to wonder, "Oh geez, what if I am pregnant this time"? I took a pregnancy test a few days later, and indeed it was positive. I was not surprised, but at the same time we did have to shift our minds a little, because we had just decided that we would wait! Another reminder that the lord always has different things planned for me than I have for myself, and his plans are always far better than the ones I could have ever arranged.

I tried to keep my news to myself until we made it passed the 1st trimester, but mothers are psychics. I swear that they have a 6th sense for these things, and my mom called me around week 9 to tell me that she had a dream that I was pregnant and that I didn't tell her. I've never been a good liar, and so I shared with her the news. "I can't believe you didn't tell me!" was all I heard for weeks :)

After that my head swarmed a bit. I've never incubated a human before... and I began hearing advice from my OB/GYN father, nurse practitioner mother, my doctor, my family and friends, and the internet. At a time like this, all of these opinions were confusing. We were also trying to figure out the best insurance plan to use between my parents (which I am still on until August) and the insurance I am eligible for through my work. We ended up switching insurance carriers and doctors around week 17, but I'm glad, because I LOVE the clinic I have been going to in American Fork, UT. If anyone in Utah County is prego, Valley OB/GYN is a wonderful place to go!

Initially we were convinced that our girl was a boy. I read the wives tales, and my symptoms were consistent with those who were pregnant with boys. The perinatologist at 12 weeks also mentioned that he may have seen a teeny tiny "thing", but that he couldn't be too sure. I went home for a week over my spring break at 13 weeks. The perks of being the daughter of an OB/GYN and nurse practitioner are that your parents are up to date on the latest and greatest. There is a blood test that can be taken as early as 10 weeks now that separates a mothers DNA from the baby's DNA. In other words, if you want to know the gender of a baby as early as 10 weeks now... you can! The test also screens for many other chromosomal abnormalities. My parents wanted me to have the test done, so I went to have my blood drawn at Dr. Klein's office. Two weeks later, we got a letter in the mail to let us know that the perinatologist did not in fact find any "thing". It was official, we were having a girl! And it's going to be extra fun because two of Steven's sisters are also pregnant this year with girls, and Mercer (my niece) will only be about a year older than our daughter.

I'm now about 21 weeks. How am I feeling? I only threw up once around week 6. Since then I have waves of nausea here and there, but I have been able to work out (at least 3 times a week) and function at work and at school relatively normally (with the exception of my wonderful hormones, which make me prone to tears far more easily than before... and considering I am a bleeding Blue personality... I can't help it... I'm emotional... I have a lot of feelings). I've been particularly emotional about my thesis lately, because all I want to do is graduate and every time I think I'm done I get a new email in my box: more revisions necessary. It's feeling painful.

How do I FEEL? I feel so blessed and so excited. I started to feel her move a couple of weeks ago, and with each kick this wave of happiness comes over me that I have never experienced before. I can't wait to meet my sweet girl. I also know that life for Steven and I will change forever. Come October we won't be able to just drop everything to go to the gym or go to a movie at our own convenience. We will probably be really tired, and at times we will have no idea what we're doing. I'm terrified of giving birth... Steven was a 10 pound baby, I've already gained 14 lbs, and she has been measuring a week big. Come October, I pray all goes well at labor and delivery. I'm a small person, and I'm just not sure a 10 pound baby would fit out of me. But despite my fears, I am very excited and so is Steven. If there is one thing that I have always known with certainty, it is that I have always wanted to be a mother. I feel so blessed that heavenly father has given me this gift, and I love her so much already.

Do we have a name? Yes and no. There are names that we like, but I'm still reading baby naming books so I may change my mind. I also want to wait until she is born to share the news of her name. It was a fun announcement when I opened text messages from my brother and Christel when they had their babies to let us know their names. I also think this would be fun to do, although I've had mixed reviews from everyone else who is dying to know her name. So I say 19 weeks will fly by, and you will find out then!

Our plans from here: Steven's business has been taking off here and I have been hired to work part time for Alpine District again next year. The baby is coming in October, and so moving to California this summer (like we had planned) doesn't seem to be in the cards for us right now. In terms of when and if we will move back... time will tell, but I do know that California has my heart. I hope to move back someday, but for now I am just grateful that I have been blessed beyond measure over the last year and a half, and that my family is a plane ride and a phone call away. What we do in the future depends on a lot of things, and I will continue to pray to be guided and open minded to what the lord has in store for our family.

Here are some pictures from the pregnancy so far:

Our 1st ultrasound (9 weeks):

12 week Ultrasound

Bumpin' at 17 weeks

20 week bump

Anatomy Scan (Today... about 21 weeks)