17 weeks!

Today I am 17 weeks, 4 days. I am 22 weeks, 3 days away from my due date.




How Far Along: 17 weeks!

Baby is now the size of an onion!


Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. His umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes now feature one-of-a-kind prints.

Size of baby: 
5.1 in, 5.9 oz

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I have gained about 7 lbs so far. Just hit the 130's this morning. 


Gender: We go for the "big ultrasound" 2 weeks from today! :)


Movement: I'm still unsure if what I am feeling is gas/normal stomach movement or the little one moving around. I'm sure it will get easier to determine in the next few weeks. 


What I miss: Being able to button ALL of my jeans. I have one pair that I can still button but normally don't!!


Sleep: Sleeping good for the most part. I get up to pee several times during the night. I know Shane is not resting at all, poor thing!


Symptoms: The last week my belly has really started to pop out and I am feeling the muscles pulling to help support such a growing bulge.


Notes: Last doctor's appt went really well. Just routine checks; urine, fetal heart tones (150s). Next appt Feb 7.


"To-do" items:
- Clean out & repaint the guest bedroom in preparation for the little munchkin :)

Cravings: Kool-aid, strawberry jello and strawberry popcicles, peaches.


Best Moments this week: Lying in bed first thing in the morning and having Shane rub my belly to see how much the baby has grown since the previous morning.


What we are looking forward to: Our upcoming doctor's appt on Feb 7.


And here is how I'm looking:

Baby Braxton is on his/her way :)

How ironic that my last post was on how we were unsure about how soon babies would be in our future. Well, it has happened. We are expecting our little munchkin late June/early July (hopefully sooner than later.) Counting back, it seems that we got pregnant around the same time as I posted my last blog. How funny!! We are both looking forward to this new chapter in our lives and cannot wait to meet our little baby.

For the past few years we have had a Halloween party at our house where friends and family come dressed up in all sorts of hilarious outfits and this year was going to be no different. We hang out, socialize, eat lots of yummy snacks and indulge in several adult beverages ;) Except for this year, 2 days before our shindig I found out I was pregnant. Not that I had decided on what costume I was going to wear for our party, now that I was pregnant, it made my decision a little harder. Knowing that I was not going to be drinking at this event was going to lead everyone to question my state of pregnancy. Because we all know that "I just don't feel good" isn't an excuse not to partake. So, I figured that I could be clever and use my costume as a way to tell everyone I was expecting. I spent several hours google-ing pregnant halloween constumes but none were exactly what I had in mind. Until I stumbled across a costume of Juno. A movie about a young girl in high school who becomes pregnant. It was a WINNER! I had clothes in the closet that I could use that resembled her attire perfectly. And it was a hilarious way to announce our soon to be baby. It was a hit!!

 

So far, this has been an AMAZING pregnancy!! Very little morning sickness, few mood swings (so far!) and no odd cravings. But it has come with an overwhelming since of fatigue. I can easily sleep 12+ hours, only getting up to pee. Shane tells me all the time, "I cannot believe someone can sleep as long as you do. It must be a record or something." Haha! I am sure its no record but it sure feels good. He also worries that "the baby isn't getting anything to eat when you sleep that long. Is that healthy?" But I make sure to eat enough during the hours that I am awake to cover the multiple hours I spend sleeping. So far my weight gain has been very minimal. I think that is in part to the fact that I am no longer running like I use to and so I am replacing muscle mass with fat. I can definitely tell that my face is a little different and hearing, "aww, Jordan, your face is filling right on out" from people reassures that. I am still as of right now, 15 weeks, wearing my same jeans, with the exception of a few of them having to be unbuttoned and covered with a Bella Band. Which was a wonderful invention!

We have a doctors appointment this upcoming Tuesday to check normal things and then in 1 month we will go for the "big ultrasound." We are planning on finding out the sex of the baby much to the dismay of most all of our family members. We (yes, Shane too) feel that it is going to be easier to plan and decorate if we know what we are having. I have a feeling that it is a little boy but we will see. I may feel that way because all I am surrounded with is boys. Shane, Mas (our boy dog), Josh and Alex (my brothers), Gavin (the baby in the last blog that lives across the street) and 4 boy cousins (only 1 girl cousin.) So, whether its just what is familiar to me or ESP, we will find out shortly. I have been thinking of having some sort of "sex party" once we find out what we are having to tell all of our friends and family. As of right now, I am planning on asking the ultrasound tech to not tell us (and hopefully we will not see) what the sex of the baby is and have her write it down on a sheet of paper. Shane and I will not look at the paper and carry it straight to someone to make a cake, either pink or blue cake batter covered with white icing, and at our "sex party" Shane and I can cut the cake and we all will find out at one time the baby's gender. I think it will be a fun way of announcing what we are having and still give us a little surprise since we aren't waiting 6 more months to find out. Now, just to find someone to make the cake!

I am looking forward to sharing my pregnancy progress with you all and filling you in on the good, bad and ugly that is to come :)

--Jordan & baby Braxton

Babies

Well, to answer the question we keep hearing, "so, when are ya'll going to have a baby?"

The answer is, we aren't sure. We are living/enjoying life one day at a time and when it happens, it happens. So, right now our only "babies" are our adorable Pit Bull, Mas & our friends' precious baby, Gavin.

Mas, at 7 years old, is a baby himself. Spoiled rotten but sweet as sugar :)

This was his wedding attire.

Lazy dog!!



Our other baby is Justin & Nicola's little man, Gavin. Gavin and Shane share the same birthday, Jan 3. He is the most precious little thing EVER!! He sure does love his "auntie jorjor" ;)

Gavin (a couple of months ago) laughing sooooo hard at Shane.

We were able to record some of it

on the camcorder on Shane's cell phone so Justin & Nicola could see.

Gav & Aunt JorJor

The big boy with Uncle Shane.

(Aren't his little tennis shoes so cute?!)



So, right now we are enjoying our babies, Mas and Gavin.

Life as a married couple

Well, it has been almost 4 months of life as Mrs. Shane Braxton and honestly, I feel no different than I did years ago. The biggest reasoning for this is more than likely our years of cohabitating. Living together prior to marriage helped us learn how each other really act. We learned to work out the "kinks" of living together years before we were ever married. So, now we are able to just enjoy married life without the frustrations that many newly married couples have; such as, adjusting to no longer living alone, no longer having an entire bed to yourself, and learning to share the same bathroom. Learning to feel for the toilet seat in the dark, picking up a never ending pile of dirty clothes (and clean ones that were never hung up or put away in dressers and somehow managed to make it to the floor), cooking for a bottom-less pit, and keeping enough Red Bull to ensure a "caffine headache" doesn't ensue are things I have become accustomed to over the past few years. But, other than these mild adjustments, life is as simple as ever!

Shane and I are continuing to keep up the exercise routine we started prior to our wedding with some new towering priorities, such as football games and now hunting. We try to run 2-3 miles several days a week. I am hoping now that the weather is getting cooler we will be running more often. During the summer we were having to run late at night when it wasn't as blistering hot and the humidity wasn't as severe. Now, we will be able to go for a run before I go to work or as soon as Shane gets home from work. Late at night, after sitting on the couch watching tv for hours, makes it a little more difficult to actually get up and go. Laziness I suppose ;) We are hoping to run in a few more 5K's coming up this fall.

Work for both of us is going great. Shane is now working later in the afternoon now that it is "prime farming season." And we are staying busier than ever at the hospital. We are both so blessed to have such great jobs that we both love!

So, to sum it up, life is going great so far as a married couple :)

Post wedding

Well, the wedding is now over. I told myself that I would blog the preparation of the wedding planning and never ended up doing it. So, I am now vowing to update my blog more frequently. The wedding was amazing and we had such great help and support from so many, many people! We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends and family.

We got married at my home church, William & Mary Presbyterian Hart Church and had our reception at Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Gene's house. Their house is known and "The Homeplace" to my family as it was built long ago on the family farm and my grandfather lived in it. It was such a special place to have such a special event. I know he was there with me.. smiling! He was also doing a little shagging in heaven I'm sure. Months ago while spreading PaPa's ashes over the farm, Shane and I made sure to spread some around the tree next to where our reception was going to be held. It was a very emotional day for everyone, especially myself, not having him there. Although we know he was there in spirit. In his honor, we had Madris' available at the bar. Anyone who knews my PaPa knows that a Madris was his all-time favorite drink! Also at the bar were a pair of his old work boots, filled with beautiful pink flowers. Such a special touch to our beautiful wedding. I now have the boots on my front porch and am reminded daily of how precious life is.

Its so hard to believe that it has already been 2 months since the wedding. Time sure gets away with you. I am still in the process of writing thank you notes. I dont know if I will EVER get them finished. Michael and Robbie Rogers www.michaelrogersphoto.com  were our photographers and they did an amazing job!! I highly recommend them :) I am having trouble deciding which pictures I want. I want them all! Thankfully, Uncle Rob, Aunt Lellie, and Tucker handled the camcorder at the reception so we were able to watch all of the well wishes from friends and family. They were very sweet and got funnier as the night progressed and alcohol levels increased! May 22, 2010 was the greatest day of my life!

Shane and I went to Charleston, SC for our honeymoon and had a blast! We spend all of our money on food & alcohol..but it was WELL worth it. I honestly believe Charleston has the best food in the South. We both came home a few pounds heavier ;) We used our camcorder and recorded each morning of our trip with updates from the night before and plans for the coming day. We went to the aquarium, did lots of shopping, and sightseeing. We went on a dinner cruise that was given to us by my awesome co-workers! It was so cool seeing The Battery, including all the the enormous houses and yachts, from the water. Our waiter showed us a yacht that was for sale... for 10 MILLION DOLLARS!!!! I cannot even fathom the amount of money you must have to own a 10 million dollar yacht. Our honeymoon was absolutely perfect and such a nice break after a stressful few weeks prior to the wedding.

As I said before, May 22 was the absolute best day of my life. I married my best friend, my love!

it's official

Well, it's official. I have a blog!