Trevin's Birth Story

Little Trevin James is here! And when I say "Little" I mean "LITTLE!"  Our boy came to us weighing only a mere 5 pounds which shocked us all!  We knew from the looks of my little tummy that he was going to be small but we didn't expect him to be THAT small.  BUT he's here and healthy, and we're super happy to have him as a new little addition to our family!

Trevin's little story begins really about 2 years ago with Dustin often saying how he was ready to have kids.  Me on the other hand...I wanted to wait until I was "ready"...(although now after having Trevin I realize you really can never be READY for kids, haha.)  So we waited.  And then, a brilliant plan sparked.  I could graduate with my Bachelors degree, AND have a baby, AND quit my job to stay home with the baby ALL AT THE SAME TIME.  Holy genius right? ;) So we "planned" it just right you might say.

Saturday, May 4th I graduated with my Bachelors of Science degree in Human Services.

Friday, May 30th my team at the University of Phoenix had a surprise baby shower/going away party for me.  It was awesome. They got me a cake, a baby swing, and had baby shower games all ready to go :). I was already dialated to a 4 at that point (confirmed at my appt the day before) and everyone thought for sure Trevin was going to come over the weekend.  Yeah... THOUGHT. ha.  I was super nervous because I KNEW he was coming soon!  I said my goodbyes to my team just KNOWING I would never see them again (they all knew my plan was not to come back after going on maternity leave).  Saturday comes...nothin.  Sunday comes....nothin.  So Monday morning I go in to work with a silly little smile on my face... "hey guys. yeah....still here.."  haha.  I got a lot of student applications and work done that day if any students out there care ;)

Tues morning, June 4th.
I had pretty heavy cramp-like feelings (contractions obviously) that woke me up a few times during the night.  I got up around 6am to get ready so I could leave for work around 6:45. As I start getting ready, the contractions get stronger and closer together.  I decide I'm having way too many not to be timing these.

k, there goes one.....
and another at 5 minutes....
another 6 min later....
another 4 min later.....
umm....
kind freaking out here.....
(but I'm still in denial.)
So I continue getting ready.

 I tell Dustin (who was still in bed since it was his day off) after 35 min has gone by with consistent contractions, "Dustin, I don't think I'm going to work today....."  Boy did that wake him up!

"Are you seroious? Are we going?!"

"No....not yet. The doctor said they have to be 5 min. apart for an hour...""  So...still in denial I continue getting ready insisting that we have to wait for an hour!

..... ok...it's been 45 min.... annnnd HOLY HECK THAT ONE HURT.
"Ok, DUSTIN! I am NOT going to work.  Grab the hospital bags! We'd better go!"  Contractions get stronger....(dude...total understatement.)   I call my manager and tell her I'm not coming in, as I'm fighting my way through the strongest cramp-like feelings of my life.  All I could think was "oh my gosh, it's time. He's coming."  I was nervous because I didn't feel like I'd read enough about what to expect and plan for, even though I'd read a ton.

We jump in the truck and Dustin is smiling ear to ear with excitement.

We get to the hospital and luckily know where we are going this time. (We went for a hospital tour a few weeks back and got lost...ended up in a completely different building even. I told Dustin "It's a good thing I'm not in labor right now or I might not be so nice about us having no idea where we're going." hahaha)

The lady that checked us in was nice but...holy cow, super slow.  I couldn't believe there was not a faster process to HAVE A BABY!! haha.

They get me all set up...IV in and stuff, and I'm dilated to an 8!  They start freaking out a little which made me freak out a little.  They said we had to hurry.  I was wheeled down the hall on a stretcher (SO like the movies) and asked if I wanted an epidural. The pain was tolerable at this point so I naively asked,  "Is the pain going to get worse?"  The nurse looked at me "oh yes."  ....gulp. ......"ok, I want one then." haha
The epidural felt WEIRD.  I always thought an epidural was a shot with a huge needle....but nope.  They literally had to stick this stiff string thing up my spine/back area, and I could feel it going in!  I had to tell the anesthesiologist if he was going too far to the right or left.  He kept going left and I felt a tingly sort of pain that I reeeeallly did not like.  BUT once it was in I was good to go, and all the pain slowly faded.  Even after the epidural was completely in effect, I could still move my toes, which I actually was quite thankful for. It meant my body wasn't dead. hahaha.

The nurse helping with the entire delivery, Ann, was really great and kept things humorous.  I kept getting cold and my body would violently shake.  A blanket helped but she said the reason I was shaking was because my body was basically going through shock and preparing itself.  She said my water should be breaking any time and quite frankly she was surprised it had not already.  She explained it was like a huge balloon filled with water and when it pops I would know. Annnnnnnddd a few minutes after she said that, yep, gushy water everywhere.  It just kept coming....and coming.... and as she ran for more and more towels I kept thinking that I was SO glad that that had not happened at work!!

She got me on patosin (spelled?) to help me dilate faster.  When she left the room, it was just Dustin and I. .....Dustin asked with an excited expression, "So, are you ready for this?"  "Well," I said, "is it too late to back out if I'm not?"   hahaha.

Ann came back and toher surprise and ALL our surprises really, said, "OH! you're ready!" .........uhhhhhhh..... wait what?  As she ran around the room getting towels and things, she said I had just won a bet. A few other ladies were also in labor down the hall and Ann had bet all the nurses that I would dilate and start pushing first.  And she was right. haha.  She gave me "pushing" instructions: when I "felt" a contraction (pressure) I should look up on the monitor to see if the lines were spiking.  If so, that meant I was having a contraction and I was to push kind of like I was constipated."  hahaha, oh heavens.  After a few pushes the doctor arrived. ...It was almost unreal.  I didn't FEEL like I was in labor...like any moment my son would come into the world.... clearly I had seen WAY too many movies where everyone is screaming and freaking out and the woman is dying with pain.  And I might have been that way but thank heavens for that epidural!  It made the experience sooo much more calm.  Between contractions/pushes we literally just sat there for a few moments in silence.  It was kind of funny really. 

A few more pushes and they could see his head.  I asked Dustin if he could see Trevin's head and he excitedly said he could.  I'm glad he didn't freak out like he had when we had watched the live birth on the internet.  We had wanted to get a feel for what labor would be like so we watched a live birth video.  When that baby's head popped out of that lady, Dustin FREAKED!  He literally grabbed his mouth with his hands and started saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh." hahhaha.  I laughed soooo hard I almost peed my pants.  I admit it was VERY interesting to see a purple-ish/blue-ish human head pop out.  ....anyway...back to MY story.

The doctor told me he could see Trevin's head but that he would have to do a little snip so his head could come out.  Episiotomy, yep.  I of course was completely numb and didn't feel a thing but Dustin later said that it LOOKED like it hurt since he basically just cut me with scissors!!  (Oh yes, later when the epidural wore off it did indeed hurt quite badly but...here we are 3 months later and it's like nothin ever happened right? ;))

After the snip, I felt a release of pressure and the doctor said, "His head is out.  One more push."  ...And one push later our little man was here.  The doctor held him up...what a long and stringy little guy he was.  The doctor instructed Dustin on cutting the umbilical cord, and then the nurse wiped the white goo off him a bit and placed him on a towel on my chest.  I could not believe it. Nothing could have prepared me for that moment even though I had imagined that exact moment a thousand times.  He was here.  Our little Trevin James.  The tears came and I could only say "hi baby" over and over. The other nurses in the room helped with pictures which are pretty neat now to look back on:  (don't you just love my little edit to the pic below? hahaha)

 

But that's not the end.  They weighed our little guy....and little he was!   4 lbs and 15.7oz

 

The next little bit was kind of a blurr.  They cleaned Trevin up a little better and tried to get his temperature...but they couldn't.  Ann thought maybe the thermometer she was using wasn't working or something so she got another one.  But that one wouldn't read his temperature either.  They explained that his blood sugars were low and since they couldn't get his temperature they would need to take him down to the nursery in the NICU.  Ann had Dustin follow her to the nursery so we'd know where it was. ........They took Trevin and left and..... I was all alone.

annnnnnnnd..........WAAAA!!!  yeah, I totally BAWLED! (hormones, hormones, haha)

I was so sad though, for Trevin...feeling a little bit like I had failed to do a good job carrying him....and felt so alone in that moment.   Luckily a few minutes later Ann came back and kind of explained things to me which helped calm me down.  We moved over to the postpartum room where our "roller coaster" ride of both awesome and crazy continued.

Weeks 35- 39

Week 35:

Baby Center: Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon).  (crazy huh!?!) Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress.

My Thoughts:  In my last school Bachelor's degree class, my classmates threw a surprise baby shower for me. (left to right:  Shelaine Viex-Wright and Ellen Bravo got me gifts, Ryan Landis decorated, and Claudia and the teacher and everyone brought food :)  It was super thoughtful and quite the surprise. :) I just love my little class! 

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Week 36:

Baby Center: Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long.  At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are more frequent now. As a general rule, if you're full-term, your pregnancy is uncomplicated, and your water hasn't broken, your healthcare provider will probably have you wait to come in until you've been having contractions that last for about a minute each, coming every five minutes for an hour.For first-time moms, labor takes an average of 15 hours, though it's not uncommon to last more than 20.

My Thoughts:  Sometimes Trevin REALLY stretches out and it makes me tummy bulge all weird to one side like this.  Man, he is clearly running out of room in there! ;)

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Week 37:

Baby Center:  Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long.

My Thoughts: So.... I love it when I walk by ppl, they don’t just move out of the way…..they move WAYYY out of the way…like I’m 6 feet wider or something…. ;) hahahha.  I am feeling sorta fat, BUT pregnancy is SO a good excuse for everything right now ;)

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Week 38:

Baby Center: Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he is over 19 1/2 inches long. He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

My Thoughts:  So here I am at 38 weeks and I would honestly say that I haven’t had that “I’m DONE being pregnant” feeling….until today.  Haha.  My back hurts, I’m having Braxton Hicks contractions (about 1 or two an hour. Man those hurt!  Yes yes, I know it’s only the beginning….haha.) … I’m tired, I’m kinda feeling nauseous and don’t want to eat anything but an apple or carrot sticks….neither of which I have. Hahaha. Random.  I feel like I’m not as prepared for the baby as I’d like to be…  I still have to finish packing the hospital bag….and we are STILL waiting on the crib mattress to come in at which point I have to cutesify the crib :) ... and there’s still a few last minute things on my shopping list like nursing bras, a baby monitor, and lanolin. ……..   I know all these things CAN be done within the next few days if I put my mind to it and perhaps skip my naps but …I feel like we’re cutting it close!!  I mean, 38 weeks…Trevin could technically come any time! Crazy!!

……….ALMOST THERE!!!  2 MORE WEEKS!!! 

This picture below cracked me up . We don't have to prepare for the introduction of a new sibling...yet.  THAT should be interesting eh? :)

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Week 39:

Baby Center: Your baby's waiting to greet the world! (eeeekkkkk!!! :)) He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, about the size of a mini-watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.)

My Thoughts: He could come any day!!!!  Game face ON! :)

Week 34

Baby Center:  

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 

18 inches long.

How your life's changing: By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable.

 

Trev, 

You’re gettin big! I can feel you trying to “prison break” out of my tummy all the time! Hahaha.  I often touch my tummy and wonder if that bulge is your foot or your little hand… it makes me excited that soon I won’t have to sit around and wonder.  Your dad, oh my gosh, he is SO excited.  He’s ready for you to come like, right now.  :)  I feel like I’m still in preparation mode so….just wait at least 2 more weeks ok? Haha. I’m wanting to get your nursery all set up and perfect and ready for you, even though your dad says that YOU really don’t care, haha.  That’s true of course, but mom cares and she wants it to be perfect for you.  Your dad and I washed all the cute clothes and blankets you got from the baby shower.  (Dad does quite a lot of laundry and cleaning these days – so helpful!)   Last night we sorted all your clothes and blankets out and put them away in the dresser I painted for you, and the cute bins I got.  Everything in your room has its place.  I had to give your dad a little tour telling him where things belonged – “onsies and socks in this drawer, burp cloths and receiving blankets in the gray boxes, blankets in the big basket….etc.”  We’ll see if your dad can remember all that. haha. ;) 

A few days ago we took a hospital tour.  And it’s a GOOD THING cuz your dad and I had no idea where we were going, hahaha.  We ended up circling the entire hospital, and even parking over by the rehabilitation center and went inside (which is WAY far away from where we were supposed to be), before driving right back up to where we started.  And when we did, there was the sign: “Mothers and Infants” with a big ol’ arrow. Haha.  NOW we know and are prepared right? I told him it’s a good thing I wasn’t in labor or I may not have been so patient and PROBABLY not laughing about us being lost. ;)  So we get in there with a room full of pregnant women with their husbands, and your dad looked around and decided there were WAY too many hormones in the room!  Haha.  The tour was nice.  My favorite is the garden area right outside the doors of the hospital which is for mothers and their families.  It’s really pretty with trees and a little waterfall….it made me wish they had birthing tables out THERE instead of in a tiny room that will quickly be crammed with people.  I don’t like tight spaces….I’m not claustrophobic but I really like wide open spaces and greenery!

I read that it’s impossible to spoil a newborn.  OH GOOD!  Cuz you are going to be SO loved.  Your Grandma Teresa Boren will be a new grandma.  She’s excited for that title!  She’s always poking at my tummy when I see her and squealing that she’s so excited and can’t wait! :) Grandpa Darvil Boren is excited too, I just know it ;) 

You’re going to be the first little grandchild and the first great grandchild on my parent’s side. On your dad’s side you’ll be grandchild #23 or 24 I think…but Grandma Parris is still excited for you to come.  Whenever your dad and I are traveling to/from Thatcher, Grandpa Parris always tells your dad NOT to speed, and to drive careful because he’s got her grandbaby in the car with him. Haha.

Grandma and Grandpa Jerry and Linda Boren are excited to be OFFICIALLY dubbed the title “GREAT.”  :)  

Grandma Susan Belliston came down for your baby shower and planned and prepared all the food.  She did awesome and I wanted to just eat it ALL!  Cream cheese-filled strawberries, mini cinnamon rolls, lemon bars, yogurt parfaits, blue Hawaiian punch with sprite…. Yep, it was quite a feast which I’m sure you got a taste of, haha  ;)Grandma Linda Boren decorated.  She is QUITE the decorator—her house is so cool.  She made a big paper pennant banner and ordered you a little statue of a little boy fishing that’s sitting on your shelf in your room right now. :)

I’m getting more and more excited as it hits me when we’re out shopping for socks or a little bathtub and miscellaneous things, that you really are coming very soon.  I know you’re gonna change the lives of your dad and I, and I know you’re just going to make our little family that much more AWESOME!  (Cuz your dad and I are a pretty awesome team :)).  So excited to see you in roughly 6 weeks!  Love you already!

Love, Mom

A few sneak peek pics of the baby shower.  I'll post more when I get them from my mom. :)

Coming Soon...

I was reading a blog on my lunch and laughed so hard at this:

I painted this mirror we've had for forever and hung it in our mudroom.  I have to check myself before I head out the door.  Never know if there is going to be a dried cheerio on your bum or chocolate on your teeth.  Those things happen when you are a mom.

Dried cheerio on your bum eh?  ….I guess I’ll learn exactly what she’s talking about here in a few months ;) haha.

Weeks 27 - 33

 It's getting crazy trying to keep up with everything!  I'm getting more and more tired but seem to have more and more to do. Hence the sorta slacking on keeping up each week with pregnancy photos and updates.  Hence the 7 week compilation below. ;)

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27 Weeks

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29 Weeks 

I've been following a website called BabyCenter.com that shows how my pregnancy is progressing. It gives details on how the baby is developing each week and compares your baby's size to a fruit/veggie. :)

From BabyCenter.com:  
Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash—picture below)  and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain.

What’s currently going on with you:  Some of your old friends — heartburn and constipation — may take center stage now. (awesome huh?? hahahha)

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30 Weeks
Thoughts:  I swear this kid has no room to move around in my stomach.  He just gave me the hardest kick ever….so far.  His head is down low in my stomach and his feet are up by my ribs so whenever he moves I feel it in two places.  He’s getting stronger…bigger I guess is the right word.  Crazy to think that he’s just barely HALF as big as he will be when he comes out………. I don’t think he has much more room in there. 

 Dustin thought it was hilarious that I had a little "built-in table" while
I was doing taxes, so he just had to snap a pic :)

      
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31 Weeks

From BabyCenter.com

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. (ahhh!! Haha) He's probably moving a lot so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is 
active and healthy.  

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32 Weeks
 
From BabyCenter.com 

 By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus.  You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb.  He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

How your life's changing:

To accommodate you and your baby's growing needs, your blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since you got pregnant. With your uterus pushing up near your diaphragm and crowding your stomach, the consequences may be shortness of breath and heartburn. 

Is your expanding belly becoming a pain in your back? Pregnancy can be a pain in the butt, and your lower back!  Growing a brand-new person is hard work huh?  ( hahaha. I love how they worded that.  This week was the first week I started having back pain.)

 

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 33 Weeks

From BabyCenter.com

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening.

How your life's changing: As your baby fills out even more of your belly, lots of things might start to change: Whereas before you were sashaying, you may find yourself waddling.  (yep, starting to feel the waddling coming on...mostly a need to because of the back pain)

Dustin Quotes

My favorite Dustin quotes of the week:

“Trevin must get bored in there.  He’s just sitting and floating around doing nothing.”

“Trevin, you need to be nice to mommy and stop kicking her.”

After seeing and feeling Trevin poking out of my tummy pretty good:  “Hey little buddy.”

Putting his face down to my tummy and singing, “Treeeeeeevinnnnnnnnn, can you hear me?”

“You need to hurry up and pop outta there.”

“I’ll bet he’s just kicking because he’s trying to stretch out the little room that there is in there. Either that or he’s trying to get out.”

27 Weeks Pregnant

 

HE KICKED!

So on the morning I was 21 weeks along....I’m sittin there at work doin my thing and…………..

HE KICKED!!!  I felt Trevin kick!!!  (5 distinct kicks to be exact.)  

It was a very weird feeling.  And NOW I understand what the lady in the doctor’s office meant when she had said “sometimes with your first baby it’s hard to tell if it’s gas or if he’s kicking.” Hahaha.  It felt like little air bubbles but I knew it wasn’t when I had 5 distinct “bubbles”  ;)  

I have to say I teared up a little… not cuz it hurt, oh gosh no. haha.  But just because at that moment, it hit me more than ever that someone very small and special is coming very soon to join our little family… :)

Later that day I read a line in my pregnancy book:  “You may notice your baby’s movements have a pattern to them. For instance, your baby hasn’t been in movement for 30 minutes, then all the sudden he is kicking wildly. Unfortunately your baby may like to sleep when you’re awake, and then as soon as you go to bed, start his gymnastic routine.”   Hahaha, LOL.  That cracked me up. :)   Oh so many adventures pregnancy brings.

IT'S A............... :)

Two Sundays ago, Dustin and I went and took maternity/gender announcement pictures.  We stopped at the only place in Arizona where I KNEW the grass would be green: the golf course. haha.  :)  It has been raining all weekend but cleared up just long enough for us to take all the pictures we wanted.  

Dustin’s currently taking a photography class and loving experimenting with the manual camera settings.  He brought the tripod along and took all our pictures.  

And they turned out awesome :).  

 I then got onto a free photo editing website, picmonkey.com, and edited the pictures, grouped some into a cute collage, and emailed it out to our family members.  I also posted the collage on Facebook and within 15 minutes had 30 “likes” and/or comments.  People and their Facebook…tsk tsk ;)

Here’s our awesomeness :)

  

Week 20-21

This week we found out our little baby’s gender………

And……………drumroll please……………

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IT’S A BOY!!! :)

 

:) Wahoo!  We are excited! :)  We both KNEW it was a boy… it was a funny sort of feeling… Before we went into the doctor’s office, I told Dustin “It COULD be a girl…” but even while saying that….I didn’t feel that it was or even could be and told Dustin, “no…it’s definitely a boy.”  Hard to explain I guess.  Call it a mother’s intuition ;) haha.

This week, our baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana!  We saw him wriggling around and kicking in my tummy during the ultrasound so… I should start to feel him kick here pretty soon.

So this week , week 20, we are half way through! :)  woo!  …Only 20 more weeks to go………… which feels like forever but…I know it will fly by and little Trevin James will be here before we know it.  Yep, Trevin James Parris is the name.  Dustin tried to throw out the name “Tiancum” yesterday – just one last time to try to convince me that that’s not a hideous name but……….it didn’t work…….at all. ha.   

Right after we left the doctor’s office and confirmed our baby was a boy, we went SHOPPING! :)  We spent ahum….2 hours…. “In a store called Once Upon a Child” which is SUCH a cool store.  It’s kind of like a high end Goodwill – everything is in super good condition, and the focus is all kids/baby/maternity stuff.  We bought a pack-n-play aka den for ½ off what it costs at a normal store, and of COURSE we had to find little Trevin some super cute outfits.  Little little clothes.  I was holding them up and showing Dustin going, “Are they SURE this will fit a newborn baby?! It looks sooo small.”  Dustin, in his infinite wisdom ;) said, “well babies are small when they’re born so it should.” …………..(hahaha, thanks dear.)  haha. I quickly found out that I like the little man outfits.  NOT the clothes with weird prints or big animals all over them… but I like little button up shirts and vests.  I DO like elephants though so we got a couple outfits with elephants on them :)  I have never really looked at boy clothes before… with girls there is so much VARIETY! Headbands, bows, leggings, flowers, skirts, dresses…  and I had to keep myself from glancing over at the girl stuff as we were shopping, haha.  Dustin said that we would go broke if we were having a girl first, cuz I’d want to buy everything!! Haha.  Yeah….he’s right ;)  I mean, we already had to box up TWO whole tubs of girl stuff…clothes and room décor and store it out in our shed.  Perhaps we’ll pull it out in 2 years or so ;)  So for now… little man stuff it is :)  And I am perfectly happy with that :) 

Week 19

(Almost caught up to schedule)

On January 13th I was 19 weeks!

Thoughts from that week.

January 15th:

This week our baby is the size of an apple. He is between 5-6 inches long right now…  I keep saying HE cuz that’s what I’m thinking it is…  Just every time I picture the baby and a little one coming to join the family, I picture a boy.  So……….we’ll see if that “gut feeling” is right or not ;)  We officially find out at our doctor’s appointment on Monday though. Dustin thinks it’s a boy too.  Well, he’s been HOPING one so of course. Haha.  …Dustin and I both have Monday off work for the Martin Luther King holiday so the plan is to go to the doctor appt to find out the gender and then go SHOPPING!!! :)   Dustin is on board too (and he HATES shopping so I am very surprised! :))

I feel that knowing the gender will make it more real to me.  It will also help me get better prepared with room décor and cute fun stuff to add to my registry :)

The pregnancy book says that this week I may start having shooting pains if the baby sits on one of my nerves, and may also have back pain. Well…. check, check, double check.  Last night (week 19 on the DOT!) I started having back pain… I had to get up and get a pillow to put between my legs and a big blanket to lean against. Still didn’t work.  Coincidently this morning as Dustin was informing me it was time to get up and get to work, I rolled over to the most comfortable position I had been in all night and really didn’t want to get up cuz I was FINALLY comfortable. Ha

I had a shooting pain in my lower stomach last night as well..kinda felt some pressure and wasn’t sure if I should be concerned.  According to my book though, it’s normal so… great. Haha.  I talked to my co-worker who said from here on out it only gets worse………….. yay? haha.  Aw, but it will all be worth it in a few months so… :)

I’ve been feeling kinda nauseous this week too…I thought that only happened in the first trimester but twice I’ve had to tell Dustin to grab me a bowl just incase I threw up.  ….I never did, thank goodness.  But sometimes I wish I would so I could just get the yucky feeling outta there! Haha. Dustin keeps telling little baby to stop making me sick. Ha.

We are both excited.  Sometimes I get a little nervous… just realizing how big of a change this is.  Dustin on the other hand has never been anything but super excited…. Well yeah, that’s cuz he doesn’t have to go through this work! Haha. jk.  nah, we are both excited to start our own little family…  So bring on the adventure! :)

Week 16

On 12/26/2012 I was  

16 weeks!

Awhile back I read a blog where a pregnant woman wrote a letter to her baby in her tummy. I thought it was a cool idea to capture those beforehand thoughts -- ya know, the mother soon-to-be.....and everything she's thinking or is wanting to tell her child-soon-to-be :)  So...I did. I wrote a letter. :)  I'll let you read it, but know it's not really meant for you ;) haha.
 

Dear baby of ours, :)

You’re growing!  It’s SO crazy that you are growing inside me right now.  Crazy in a good way of course :)  Sometimes it doesn’t seem real that your dad and I will be having a baby in 5.5 months.  Our first little baby.  We are SO excited for you to come join our little family.  You will love it.  Your dad is such a great guy.  He takes SUCH good care of me…better than I deserve quite honestly, all the time, so I KNOW he will take such good care of you too.  Watching him play with our nieces and nephews, I have no doubt that he will be a good dad who is involved in your life.  Plus he will love you even more and you will be extra special because you’re ours  :). He talks about teaching you to play soccer, taking you out for ice cream, and (if you’re a boy) teaching you to be a man. Haha.  I’m also really excited to meet you.  I really want to stay home with you and raise you, teach you about things secular and spiritual, and just be there as you grow.  I have all sorts of fun activities and crafts planned for us to do so hurry up and come hang out with me!! :)  I hope they will be fun and make for fun childhood memories :)  I want to teach you to play the piano and sing because music is SUCH a huge part of life and can truly bring peace, hope, and happiness into your life.  Your dad even knows how to play a few songs on the piano (I am proud to say I taught him the one or two hymns he knows, haha).  Yesterday your dad and I were talking about you and your dad said that he hopes you don’t die during the first few months of being born.  I looked at him and before I could say what an awful thought that was, he quickly finished his sentence: “because you’re probably going to smother him with kisses and love.”  Hahaha.  Ok, well he could have said that a little sooner…  ;)  I promise not to smother you…  :)

Seeing you for the FIRST time on the ultrasound screen last month – I was in love.  I was also a bit in shock because I could not believe you were really in my tummy and that your dad and I were seeing you!  There you were – just so tiny!   We saw your little hands and the funnest part is that you were moving around like crazy!!  Doctor Beck said that you were waiving at us. haha.   Doctor Beck gave us the ultrasound pics and we went around proudly showing everyone :).  I took the pictures to your Aunt Bre’s work and she was soooo excited.  She’s began Googling picture poses that I MUST take of you when you are born and growing up, and I swear she has already put dates on the calendar for when we are going to go shopping for clothes. Haha.

  I also thought you should know that your dad was pointing out how your second ultrasound picture looked like an alien, to which I replied “well, it IS your kid.”  Haha.  I also reminded him that he once looked like that too, haha.

Last week, when your dad and I went to the doctor’s office for the 2^nd time, it was AWESOME to see how much bigger you had gotten than the last ultrasound a month ago. You are 16 weeks and the size of an avocado!  About 4 ½ inches!  On the ultrasound screen I could see your little spine and I could not stop smiling.  You were upside down inside me facing my belly button, and because of the way you were positioned the doctor could not tell if you are a boy or girl.  Your dad said that he thinks he saw signs of BOY.  But that is because from day one he has said you are going to be a boy.  I think it would be fun to have a girl first BUT I will love you to death if you are a boy :)  Honestly we are going to love you to death no matter what, because you’re ours :)

I’ll try to give you all the time in the world so that you know you can come to me whenever you want to tell me anything, or hang out, or need someone to confide in and love you no matter what. You may have to tell me, when you’re a little older of course, to slow down and not do a million things.  I’m just like my mom – you’ll see. Haha.  I will try to have a listening ear which I’m better at than giving advice (maybe I’ll learn?) for all your stories and adventures, no matter how big or small they may be. I will try to be really patient when things get crazy.  I definitely can’t promise I’ll be perfect but I will surely try to be the best mom for you.  Your dad, I have no worries about quite honestly. Haha.  Other than he might just want to play and play and play with you through your dinner time and nap time….In those cases I may feel like I’m raising two kids! Haha.  Nah, but he will be fun for you, a reliable friend, and loving parent. 
We love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and definitely have seen the blessings that have come into our lives from living the gospel. We are TRULY happier when we live the gospel and will try to teach you that so that when you grow up and get old enough to start making big life decisions, you’ll have a strong foundation and will know how to get revelation for answers you seek. We will teach you to serve others because in serving you learn to love others and see them as the Lord sees them.  At home, with your grandparents, is where your dad and I first learned how important service is.  All four of your grandparents served and still continue to serve. Your dad is so wonderful when it comes to serving.  If he gets a phone call to help, he’s there.  He’s definitely not a slacker or one of those guys who makes excuses, which is definitely something I admire and love about him.  And people know that they can count on him. When he was the Elders Quorum president (for the first 2 years we were married) upon learning that someone needed help moving, he would drop everything and take his truck to go help.  More than once he was the only person or one of 2 or 3 who showed up to move an entire family.  And he would spend hours there moving boxes and things, until the job was done.  He will be a great example and teacher to you.

We love you already.  And we have begun preparing for you to come.  Grandma and Grandpa Boren bought you a car seat and stroller, and Great Grandma and Grandpa Boren even gave you a Christmas present which was a blanket and wall hanging.  This week your dad wants to move all my craft stuff out of YOUR room and into our back room.  That way Uncle Jared won’t have any obstacles in the way when he comes to paint your room (that’s his Christmas present to us) after we find out if you’re a boy or girl.

See you in a few months :)

Love, Mom

Week 15

On December 16th I was 15 weeks along.. 
(PS.. Now I'm 20 weeks but I'm gettin there....haha)

The official BUMP. wahoo! Kinda exciting...and kinda weird at the same time ;) 

Thoughts from Week 15: 

Feeling Sick? Yep. Even more over the past 3 weeks which is weird cuz I THOUGHT I was supposed to start feeling better now that I’m in my 2^nd trimester. ha. My co-worker Jill Borton and I were talking and she asked if I was sick.  I told her it’s like a constant stomach ache feeling…and so I eat and it feels better for about 5 minutes, then hurts again. So I eat again. Haha.  Hope my little baby is not fat because of my “awesome” eating habits!!   ;)  The book I’m reading says to eat whenever I’m hungry…which is quite often so….I’m just obeying here ;)  Jill asked me how many kids Dustin and I want and then said, “Or should I not ask you right now since you’re not feeling well?” haha.  I told her even though I was a little sick, it's not as bad when I think about some of my friends who got SO sick that they threw up for like 15 weeks.  Yuck! Some of them got so sick during their pregnancy that they are seriously considering whether they want more kids or not.   I told Jill we’re planning for 4 or 5 kids.  We’ll see how it goes though. :) Dustin looked and pointed at my tummy yesterday and said, “Now, little baby, you need to stop making your mommy’s tummy hurt.”  Hahaha.  Sure Dustin, cuz he totally knows how to obey at 15 weeks old ;) hahaha.  ..............................I just said “he.”  Crap.  Dustin totally wants it to be a boy.  I’ll be perfectly happy with a boy or girl of course.  I think a girl would be fun to have first.  Plus I have a little stash of girl clothes and stuff. hahaha. Ridiculous I know.  But when you find good cheap stuff, you GOTTA hang onto it right?  Boy or girl I'll be happy :) We’ll see what the Lord has in store :)

Things that bug me: Everything this past week :(  Dustin is like, “WHOA THERE” cuz I get irritated at everything.  I don’t know WHY but I’m short-fused and I’m bored of everything.  I’ve been reading that it’s sorta normal if I’m cranky and tired (yep and yep) so…it just HAS to be the pregnancy cuz I’m not usually so irritated with things.

Things I crave:  Pasta. Holy cow do I crave pasta.  Spaghetti, ramen, macaroni salad, cheesy penne noodles…mmmm.

Over the past few weeks: corn, green beans, pasta. 

On my Walmart shopping trip last week: frozen yogurt, frozen fruit bars, frozen yogurt bars, frozen flavored ice.  ?!? …what was with the frozen thing? ....I have no idea…

Used to crave: Fruit and blue powerade.  My “sweet cravings” have totally gone out the window and I’m wanting GOOD healthy food. Not even on purpose either. ha. I have all these snacks just sitting in my drawer at work: dried mangos, teddy grahams, apple sauce, cashews….and I don’t want any of it.  I’m thinking about the spaghetti that’s in the fridge right now and it’s only 9am… haha.

Still do NOT crave nor want: shredded meat.  Even the THOUGHT of shredded meat made me feel sick a few weeks ago. Like, REALLY sick. Now, it’s sometimes the smell that gets to me but it’s not as bad as it was.  I still don’t want it though.  I was always ok with Arby’s roast beef sandwiches,or ham, or hamburger…but shredded pork, holy throw-up. Haha. 

 
Emotional?  Nope. Thank goodness. Well……..if you count the few times at work…. One when the fire alarm went off, and it scared me so bad I started like…crying. Hahaha.  The other time when I was talking to my work buddies, Dalton White and Shane Anderson, and I was telling them that I needed the blinds closed cuz it hurt my eyes and was starting to give me a headache.  Well they LOVE when the blinds are open and started teasing me about it saying they needed vitamin D and how I was going to take that away from them….and then I started crying a little bit, hahahaha.  I had to walk away so they wouldn’t see.  But holy..what the?!  Crying over blinds?!  Ok, so maybe I AM a little touchy on SOME subjects ;) hahaha.

Week 12

I hit Week 12 on Nov. 25th:
So this morning my stomach was HURTING!!  I was seriously going to throw up.  Then I realized the waist line of my pants were not helping. They were putting pressure on my stomach…so I undid the top button………AND had to zip my pants down…............all the way, as I'm sitting at my desk at work. haha.   Phew! I can breathe now!  Luckily my shirt is really long but man, this is awkward, especially when I walk around.  Looks like these pants are already retired and we’re only 3 months into this pregnancy!  Why did no one ever warn me this would happen so soon? Like um....Mother?? hahaha. jk. :)

Week 9

On November 4th, I was 9 weeks along!   

My little bump in this picture is totally water weight.  I was kinda freaked at first thinking I might be having twins cuz or something because I thought you didn't start showing til later.... haha.

Thoughts from Nov 6th, 2012:
As I look back over the last few weeks I realize that I’m WEIRD but not AS weird as I’ve heard other people are during their pregnancies so….really (Dustin) I’m somewhat normal. ;)

Feeling Sick? Just a “stomach ache” kind of feeling and lots of headaches.  The good thing is that up to this point I have not thrown up so…I’m not sure if I should be worried or just count myself lucky.  Our first doctor's appointment is 2 weeks away so we’ll see.

Things that bug me:

·         Being hot/cold.  
·         Scrounging around in my pathetic food drawer at work because I forgot to pack “snacks.”
·         Trying to get ready for my huge craft boutique event in 4 weeks but at the same time only wanting to sleep
·         Holy fatness. Hahaha.  I keep reading that I’m not supposed to be “showing” until like 20 weeks….and I’m ALMOST halfway to 20 weeks but I feel like a balloon!  Every time I feel sick, I eat.  And so far it’s worked out pretty good with soothing my stomach…ahum…except it’s damaging my “figure” WAY too early on. Haha.  I can’t even ANNOUNCE that I’m pregnant yet (I don’t want to until I’m 12 weeks) and already I look like I am like 4 months along. Haha.  oh boy…. 

Things I crave: Arby’s roast beef sandwiches, bean burros, blue powerade, spaghetti

Emotional? Not really.  Then again, ask Dustin ;) 

Funny things: 

·         Just stating the facts here:  I’m really gassy. Dustin hates it.  hahahha. So do I.  It’s really gross but the book says that’s “normal.”  I think it makes Dustin re-think this pregnancy thing ;) hahaha jk.
·         Water does not taste good to me all the time.
·         I DO NOT want sweets. I had my ice cream kick…now it’s gone.
·         The smell of barbecue or smoke makes me feel sick.
·         I don’t want chicken/pork.  Not shredded/cubed or anything.  Seeing pictures of it on menus makes me feel sick.