The Big 20 Week Ultrasound

Man was I getting nervous getting ready for this appointment. Cathleen was with me and we had gotten back from the pool and lunch at Jason's Deli and we were meeting Brad at the office at 3:30...I forgot to have a full bladder so I was literally chugging water on the way to the appointment hoping that the little baby would wake up and cooperate for the ultrasound.

We were probably 1 of 5 people in the office for once so it was quiet and I was talking up a storm as my nerves were getting to me. Cathleen had a fun time documenting our emotions before the ultrasound.

We went into the ultrasound room. And it was time to find out what we're having. After showing us every other body part and bone in the body, she finally showed what determines the sex of the baby. She paused the screen and pointed out the baby's 2 legs and the tush. She then took the cursor and pointed at this protrusion in between the legs...yeap...IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!! Healthy boy weighing 14 ounces.

Brad got a little bit emotional when the sonographer told us it's a boy. Here's a pic that Cathleen took to prove it.

Here is an adorable looking 4-D pic. He is laid back with his arms behind his head. He's gonna be cool like his dad!

20 Weeks

*How far along? 20 weeks

*Total weight gain? 9 pounds

*How big is the baby? banana (7 inches; 11 ounces)

*Maternity clothes? The only maternity clothes I have worn are my work black pants and my bella band that I wear so I don't have to button all the buttons on my other pants.

*Sleep? Sleep has been much better this past week and I have only been getting up to go to the bathroom once!

*Best moment this week? finding out that my baby was healthy!!!!!

*Movement? finally the past couple of weeks I have felt the small flutters although it is still a very dull movement and I only feel it for about 15-30 seconds at a time

*Food cravings? I ate Nature Valley oats n honey granola bars every day this past week so I guess that would be a craving. Finally craving cereal and much healthier options at breakfast time. fruits were not as appealing to me this week so I hope this will pass.

*Belly button? no changes

*What I miss? I know I am not missing my weekly sickness and for one whole week of feeling well I am very very thankful

*What I am looking forward to? oh my goodness shopping, planning the nursery, picking out names (that should probably be on the what I am not looking forward to list since Brad and I do not seem to agree on these very much)

*Milestones? The baby weighed in at 14 ounces at my doctor's appointment and I couldn't be more grateful to hear that baby Redd is as far as we know healthy as can be!

*Is working out harder? I finally decided to give my body some rest from my daily workouts. I took 2 days off last week and 2 days off this week and I think it is probably a good thing for my body. The most annoying part about going to all of my favorite body combat and step classes is that the whole time I am jumping and moving around I feel like I have to pee..but when I go to the bathroom and come back I still feel the same way..soo annoying..so I have taken up spinning and am actually pretty obsessed right now...If only I could convince Brad to go on walks with me on my "off" days from the gym (but that is like pulling a tooth from a child I mean who hates taking walk? I am scared to go by myself I know I am a baby)

*What has been unexpected? The weirdest thing was this sickness that passed over me once a week on a Sunday/Monday/Monday/Sunday in that order since the end of June. I was tested twice for UTIs, had my blood drawn, was hooked up to a contraction monitor and the same thing...they just weren't sure...so call it indigestion, round ligament pain who knows but as long as it doesn't return I will be thankful. I am still mad that my OB sent me to a family Dr. all for him to tell me I was having back pain (I mean hello I stand on my feet 10 hours a day and I believe I know what severe back pain is...this pain was so much different and so much worse) so thanks to the doctor he sent me home with an Rx for Lortab for pain...wow

*Names Oh my goodness what are we going to do? I am the girl who is soo obsessed with monogramming and now I will probably have to endure months of not being able to put the adorable initials on anything because Brad and I cannot agree! Ah! It's become pretty humorous

*Nursery? Well I have had the bedding picked out for months and then my friend Alexis sent us some pictures of a nursery that was painted in a "lattice work" ..hmm I dont' know how to describe it but it started making me second guess my choice..but I am back to my original bedding choice however now I can't decide where to go with the espresso furniture (first original choice) or the white furniture (which both girl and boy bedding sets are paired with and look great even though white furniture is not my favorite...soo many decisions..but so much fun). I also have to decide on curtains (I think I have curtain anxiety as I have not put up a single set in my whole house but the baby's room will be the first room to officially have nice matching curtains so now I need to find someone to make me some!)

Well the next post will officially announce the sex of baby Redd and we will be able to fully disclose all the fun details from our doctor's visit on Monday (We have been keeping it a secret since then because we wanted to tell Brad's parents in person and man it's about time to be able to share the exciting news!)

Shana's Wedding

Christen was afraid she would have another bout of her "weekly" pregnancy sickness so she decided to stay home and try to get some much needed rest instead of going to Shane and Dana's wedding in Garden City. Her sister, Cathleen, came to stay with her while I was gone to the wedding. They did went to a new Hibachi restaurant (Sakura and were diappointed), visited the market in downtown Greenville, had dinner outside at Larkins (where we got married)and anjoyed a lot of relaxing.
I on the other hand did a lot of partying and not so much relaxing. Cory was my "date" for the weekend. We stayed with Joe and Jess at Jess's uncle's condo. We had a great time. The reception was great..they had it in the backyard of Shane's uncle's house (apparently a lot of uncle's have places in Garden City). He lives right on the water. They had a hibachi buffet which I've never seen before...it was delicious! The DJ was great. It turned into a pretty wild party. There was break dancing, flips, and worms being busted out all over the dance floor. It was very entertaining. Here are a few pics from the weekend. Congratulations to Shane and Dana!


Shane and Dana's First Dance

Me and Cory

Joe with the funny face

The Big Ultrasound Day!!

I can't believe it's finally here....I'm officially 20 weeks prego and I have my ultrasound today at 3:45. I feel so many emotions today it's crazy...I remember being 8 weeks pregnant and having my first doctor's appointment and not believing I was pregnant yet because all I knew was that I had received a positive pregnancy test...then came the 10 week ultrasound..finally then I believed I was pregnant because I saw the baby and knew that something was growing inside of me...since then I have battled nausea, unexplained abdominal and back pain. weird food aversions, and knocks in my overall energy but at least I finally have felt pregnant...it will be after today that I feel so connected to the baby because I will hopefully know if he/she is healthy and that will give me soooo much relief! I have felt the first couple of "flutters" over the past few weeks. I can't really explain what I "think" is the baby moving but I usually wake up to the feeling when I'm flat on my stomach (which I still somehow can't help). I feel these really really fast flicks/little tiny movements hitting my lower stomach....of course I immediately am wide awake and turn over in the bed and try to be as still as possible to feel the baby move some more but usually after that 15 seconds of this feeling it has passed...so not sure if it is the baby I am feeling but it is always in the morning and just feels different than any other intestinal/stomach movements I have felt before. I can't wait to feel the baby grow some more over the next couple of weeks.

Back to the appointment Brad and I really think the little munchkin is a boy. I can't explain why I feel this way. It it because it has been in my head to begin with and now I subconsciously feel this way? I don't know? I truly expect news of a boy today and I am getting so excited. I get to have my sister (Cathleen) and Brad at the appointment today (and although I am sad that Corinne and Brad's mom won't be with us, I can't wait to share the news with them later). I can't wait to see each of their expressions and reactions. Brad tends to be the more emotional one and I truly can't wait to see his face when they let us know that we have a healthy little boy/girl. I am trying to find things to do today to pass the time. Cathleen and I have already scoped out a bunch of baby stores and are ready to go shop for baby's clothes after the appointment. I have already picked out the crib/furniture and baby bedding and can't wait to see if I will be purchasing blue or pink baby gear!

I will probably not be posting the results until Saturday because Brad's parents are on vacation and it just wouldn't be the same if we told them the news over the phone. We will see how we are feeling after the appointment but we really hope to hold out the news until the get home and we can tell them about their new little grandson/grandaughter.

Fun Time w/ Family

My sister, Corinne and her two kids, Ryan and Hayden, came to visit on Wednesday. We had the best time. Brad cooked homemade lasagna for us Wed night, it was great. Ryan and Hayden were just as precious as could be. On Thursday, I took Ryan to see a movie and we shared movie theater popcorn, which is the best!! All of us then went to the mall and Brad met us there when he got off work. Ryan played on the playground while my sister and I shopped at Gymboree. After the mall, we went to eat at Corona's, our favorite mexican restaurant. We then came home and relaxed the rest of the night. On Friday, we woke up a little later than usual. We had lunch at Chili's, went to some more baby stores, then when Brad got off, we went to his parents house to see his dad, who had a catheritization. The reports came back great from it and Doug is feeling good. We spent a couple of hours there. It was getting close to Hayden's bed time so we came home. Brad went to pick up Zaxby's for everyone so we ate, then went to bed. On Saturday, we all went to Otter Creek waterpark in Taylors. It was awesome! Ryan loved playing in the water and going down the slides. Brad looked like a little kid going down all 4 slides. He took both Ryan and Hayden down one of the slides with him. We then came home and Brad cooked homemade pizzas, one buffalo chicken and one chicken pesto. I skipped the pizza and ate lasagna. It was not a good idea as I was up half the night throwing up. Before all the rough night, I got to put Hayden to sleep. It made me so excited about having my own that I can rock to sleep every night. The fam left this morning since I was so sick. I hope tonight goes better than last night.

Here are some pics from the weekend:

18 Weeks

So I had last Monday off and I went to get a prenatal massage at Urban Nirvana. The massage was great but I kept having cramps. I had a doctor appt that afternoon so I asked the doctor what to do about the cramps and she told me that it might be a UTI, but I tested negative for that. She said it could be kidney stones so she wanted me to buy a urine strainer to see if any sediment comes out when I pee. They hooked me up to a machine to see if I had contractions but I wasn't. They told me I was anemic so I have to restart prenatal vitamin to increase iron intake.

It's now Sunday and it's been, by far, the worst day of my pregnancy. I woke up around 2:30am and vomited an insane amount of lasagna. I fell back asleep for about 2 hours and woke up again around 5:00am to resume vomiting. My back has been killing me today. I hope everything is OK with the baby. I have pretty much slept off and on all day. This has the been the worst moment of my pregnancy. I'm hoping this is just a 24 hour stomach bug. We'll find out in the morning.

How far along? 18 weeks
Total weight gain? 9 lbs
How big is the baby? mango
Maternity clothes? just pants to work
Sleep? gotten better (except for last night)
Best moment of the week? having my nieces come visit and Ryan telling us for certain it's a girl and wanting to name her Ryan
Movement? couple of times in the morning but still not certain it's the baby
Food Cravings? cornbread, not lasagna
What I am looking forward to? one week, we get to find out the sex of the baby
Milestone? nothing
Is working out harder? No, it's gotten easier. I've been able to run on the treadmill this week.
What has been unexpected? throwing up in my 2nd trimester
Names? the introduction of Stone (by Brad of course)
Nursery? my sister got to help me pick out some things

My sister Corinne and her two kids, Ryan and Hayden, came to visit on Wed but I'll get to that on the next post.

Golf, Anyone?

So the British Open is less than 48 hours away. I am so pumped. Broadcast coverage begins at 4:00am Thursday morning on ESPN. My alarm will be set for 3:59am. My buddy, Joe Mathias, is doing the same. Yes, I know, we are not normal. The most historical golf tournament at the most historical course, the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, with the best trophy, the Claret Jug...it doesn't get much better than this!

http://www.opengolf.com/en/TheCourse.aspx

http://www.opengolf.com/en/History/ClaretJug.aspx

Week 17

*How far along? 17 weeks

*Total weight gain? 8 pounds
*How big is the baby? sweet potato (about 5 inches and 5 ounces)

*Maternity Clothes? finally made the maternity step. Went to Old Navy and found a pair of jeans for the fall soo comfy...then went to the mall and the only maternity store I could find was called Destination Maternity (seemed expensive for what it was) but I did buy a pair of work pants that I actually wore today...very comfortable but the waist band made me quite hot.

*Sleep? seem to be sleeping a little better maybe only getting up once at night to go to the bathroom now so a little improvement but I STILL cannot master sleeping on my side I wake up flat on my stomach

*Best moment this week? having Brad at the Dr. with me to hear the baby's heart beat and making the next appointment in 3 week to find out baby's sex!

*Movement? not yet...I sure hope I can distinguish the first movement from all of the intestinal problems I have been having

*Food Cravings? I have been back to almost my regular diet this week which makes me so happy. Can tolerate healthy foods at most meals without thinking they are going to "make me feel sick" probably just my body's excuse to opt for something unhealthy. I have eaten a lot of chips and salsa this week (we know if this baby is a Redd he/she is bound to love Mexican)

*Belly Button? no changes

*What I miss? I still miss not feeling 100% me...

*What I am looking forward to? 20 week sonogram...sooo much excitement building...what will the baby be a he/she healthy (please Dear Lord!) and I feel like I am counting down the days as if it was the 3 weeks leading up to Christmas

*Milestone? I wore my first pair of maternity pants

*Is working out harder? I like to document this to look back on. Seems like sometimes at my morning workouts I can't do the elliptical on my normal setting and have to take it down a couple of notches...my legs seem to get more sore from the same exercises I have been doing for months...started back at bootcamp at the gym and it feels amazing...loooove my workouts

*What has been unexpected? Wow who knew gas pain could be so debilitating. I must have spent 3 hours at work pacing back and forth and hurling over into hunched positions to try to relieve this "unknown" pain. Thanks to my sis and a little gasX I started feeling a little better...my poor insides have seen better days

*Names? Oh the name saga continues..thanks to my girls on the boat they loosened Brad up a bit and I think made him come to the good side on some of my favorite names..(hopefully Brad realized that some of his favorite names were not soo cool) --thanks Britt and A-lex...we shall see although we know Brad has 100% turned down my favorite boy name..so onto finding a new fav.

*Nursery? Well since I think it's a boy I am on the lookout for some canoe paddles that I can hang on the wall..so if anyone knows where to find some cute canoe paddles please let me know!

At Dr. appointment this week -Dr. Alt said I was measuring between 17-18 which is right on target for now. She seemed to think the baby was moving around a lot when she was trying to find the heartbeat. Baby's heartbeat was between 159-161 and sounded perfect. She has told me to stop taking my prenatal vitamin for 3 weeks to try to help with some of my stomach problems...of course I was a little apprehensive but that just means I will have to up the intake of all my healthy vitamins via my diet.

We also went on our OB Tour of the Hospital St. Francis Eastside tonight and it was fun to see all those other pregnant ladies out there. Most of the preggos were much further along than me but still was neat to walk around and see everything. It is a really small hospital and the whole 4th floor is dedicated to labor/delivery. After delivery you will be moved to the other side of the semi circle hospital to a mother/infant room (which is new to me because both my sister and sister-in-law both delivered and remained in the same room so I did not realize that this had changed). Apparently the beds are different and so they move you after delivery (sure doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me). There is also a neonatal care unit (NCU) but no neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) so I will pray that the baby does not need any additional care. We saw where to check in and learned about the different procedures for a vaginal birth versus a c-section. It was exciting and a fun end to a Thursday work day.

4th of July at Lake Norman

So one of Christen's best friends Brittany and her husband David bought a lake house on Lake Norman, just north of Charlotte. They decided to have some people up for the 4th so us and a few other couples decided to go up for the weekend. We had an awesome time. We went out on the boat during the day, we took the boat to lunch every day which was pretty cool. We floated in the Relaxation Station. We played games at night, one night until 3:30am. We couldn't get enough of Catch Phrase, even though our team, Late Night Shenanigans, won most of the matches. Haha! It was a very relaxing weekend and we can't wait to go back!

Vacation Part II - Cruise to Mexico

We boarded the Carnival Triumph around 1:00pm. The ship left the port at 4:00...Bon Voyage! The ship was awesome! Doung, Janet, Christen and I all walked around the ship checking out all the bars, lounges, activity areas, dining rooms, pools, etc. We hung out at the Lido deck where the main pool was for the Sail Away party. There was live music, dancing, kids sliding down the 3-story water slide...it was great! There was also a huge movie screen above the main deck. They had movies playing every night. There is just something about watching a movie under the stars, especially while cruising on a huge ship. We had the 6:00pm seating in the London Dining Room. Both our waiter and assistant waiter were from Indonesia, Wis and Bambang. They were awesome. Every night, we would go to dinner, hit up the casino for a little gambling, then head to the shows in the Rome Lounge. Other activities we did were: play bingo, play trivia (Dad and I even won one of the Sports trivia), listen to karaoke, go to the Newlywed game which was hilarious, layout at the pool, attend the Captain's reception. These are just a few of the things we did. There was always something going on. We had out first stop on Wednesday, Progresso. There was not much here. Mom, Dad and I got off the ship but did not go into town. We just looked around the shops at the port. Christen stayed on the boat to catch some rays. The next stop we had was Thursday, Cozumel. Mom and Dad signed up for an excursion to learn the history of the island. Christen and I decided last minute to rent a Jeep and explore the island. We had the best time. We drove to a couple of beaches, we drove around to the far side of the island and stopped at the cliffs, where the waves crashed. It was so peaceful. We went to a bar on one of the cliffs called Coconuts. We then drove downtown Cozumel and went to Carlos and Charlie's for a drink. It was wild in there. About 3:00, we headed back to the ship. After dinner, we (as usual) went to the casino before the show. Well tonight was a little different. My mom and dad were playing the quarter Wheel of Fortune Slot machine. If you land on the "SPIN" reel, then you get to "Spin the Wheel." It's rare that you land on the "SPIN" reel but my dad hit it and got to spin the wheel. The lowest you could win was 25 quarters and the jackpot number was 1000 quarters. Well, he spun the wheel and the pointer went round and round and started to slow down with the 1000 in site. It ends up landing on the 1000. Just like that, they won $250.00. It was a very happy night for the Redd's. Friday, we spent most of the day at the pool, getting in some activities here and there. We got back to New Orleans about 4:00am the following morning. We got off the ship around 7:15am, hopped back in the car and headed home. It was a great vacation. Christen did so well and didn't complain once about being pregnant. We couldn't have asked for a better time! Here are some pics of our cruise:

Vacation Part I - New Orleans

So Brad's dad, Doug, is attempting to visit all 50 states (his mom, Janet, too but she has more states to cover than his dad). He has been to 43 states. Louisiana is one of the states he is missing so we decided to take a vacation to visit New Orleans and take a cruise out of the New Orleans port. So on June 20, we hopped in the car and headed southwest. After a 10 hour drive, we arrived in the Big Easy! It was H-O-T!!!!!!!!! We got down there around 3:00pm that Saturday. We checked into the Westin on the Mississippi River (the views were beautiful). Then we decided to walk around the city and show my parents the sites and sounds of NoLa. We got the "world famous" beignets from Cafe Du Monde...they were phenomenal. We had some great Jambalya and Gumbo. And we finished the night with a walk down Bourbon St. And you can't walk down Bourbon St without a drink in hand so I (Brad) got a Hurricane, a popular New Orleans drink. Mom had the video camera out getting some great footage of the crazies that roam Bourbon St. We called it a night around 10:00 as we were pretty tired from the long day. Sunday - We went to have lunch with Christen's godfather, Terry. His wife Marion and other family members cooked up some great food: gumbo, shrimp creole, crawfish, crab, roast beef. It was all so good! After spending some time with them, we came back to downtown and walked around some more, we rode a street car up Canal St. We grabbed dinner and then walked down Bourbon St once again. Monday - we bumbed around in the morning and then went to R&O's for lunch. This place has the best sandwich in the world, a roast beef po boy. We all got the roast beef except for mom who got a hamburger. It was great. After lunch we went to one of the local shops downtown and Christen bought her first two baby books, Goodnight NOLA and The Beignet That Almost Got Away. Can't wait to read these to the little munchkin! It was then time for us to head to the cruise terminal to board the ship. Viva La Mexico!