Almost 27 weeks!

It has been almost 7 weeks since I last posted. I have had one busy summer and just haven't had time to sit down and type a blog...plus my internet went down for a few days...technical difficulties is a huge pet peeve of mine, especially when I am taking internet classes!

Since the last time I posted a lot has went on! I had another ultrasound to measure our little man's heart. Things looked well and as of July 9th he weighed two pounds and was 14 inches long...needless to say he is going to be a very BIG boy!!! I was able to see him yawn and stick his tongue out and I even watched him put his left foot in his mouth. He is a very active little one. He seemed very happy and healthy creating havoc in my belly.

I don't have another appointment until August 6th when I get to take my glucose test and get my last rhogam shot. After that I get to start seeing Dr. Turley every two weeks. I can't believe that I am getting ready to start my third trimester! It won't be long before he is here and I can not wait.

Also since my last post softball season got into full swing. Tournament will be here soon and then it will be time for fall ball ( just another sign that October is really on it's way!!!!) It has been good to go to the games and enjoy watching my husband's team lose, LOL! I guess next summer season I will have a son to take to the games! That seems so strange!

This summer I have been trying to finish up my Masters thesis frantically so I will not have to worry about it when I have a newborn to take care of...this is the biggest reason I have not posted. I have been doing a research paper on music therapy and it effects on communication skills in individuals with autism...and lets just say it's about to kill me. I have finished 48 pages and I still have a ton to do. If all goes well I will be able to get my masters by Christmas but i doubt it will seem as important once we have Jonathan Bennett here to spend our time with!

On top of all of that I have been trying to get ready for the new school year. I've had tons of trainings and other fun things to do. I amon site base this year so I went to my first site base meeting Tuesday. I really want to stay involved as much as possible but a part of me would like to take the rest of the year off once the baby gets here. I am really torn as to what I want to do. I have the money saved up that I could take off but then again I think a part of me would be missing without the kids at school. We had jumpstart today for the incoming kindergarteners and I was able to see a couple of my students. It made me realize how badly I have missed them this summer! I guess I have a lot of thinking to do before October!

Saturday I am having a small baby shower thrown by one of my bestest friends so I should have pictures to post after that! Plus, I want to post pictures of my cute little fuzzy bun cloth diapers that finally came in! (and if I hear one more person tell me I am crazy for using cloth diapers I may scream!!!)

I feel like I am rambling and should probably be doing something more constructuve with my time so I guess I will end this for now. Now that school is starting perhaps I will get back into a routine and it won't be another 7 weeks before I post again!

20 week ultrasound!

Today was definitely the happiest day of my life. Kevin and I spent almost a full hour watching our little one swim around on a huge ultrasound screen...better yet everything looked perfect and our pumpkin is weighing in at a whopping 13 ounces!!!!

The technician said this was the most active baby she had ever seen and that she's pretty sure it will need medication someday to control all of that energy! LOL! I knew our baby was active quite a bit but once I saw it on the screen I said "wow, it looks like it's doing kung fu!".

Of course, since it is like it's daddy it was very stubborn and tried very hard to hide any part that would be of interest to me or the technician but in the end it just couldn't control itself and had to do a dance....so now we know what this little ball of energy is..........

It's a boy!

Jonathan Bennett Parkest

We plan to call him by his middle name so he will either be a Bennett, Ben, or Benny...but for now we are still calling him Jackie chan due to all of the kicks and karate chops he likes to inflict on my poor bladder. I am so excited!!!! This is definitely a dream come true!

16, 17, and 18 weeks..Oh my!

I could blame my lack of posts on my busy schedule. I am taking a pretty demanding research class, we are busy at school with end of the year activities, and softball is about to really gear up. I've been busy preparing the house for our new little one, and of course with warm weather finally here I have been trying to cram in some much needed time in the sun, but really I haven't blogged because I am lazy. By the end of my day I just don't feel like uploading pictures and typing about the things that are making me so tired. This week I've actually gotten emails and phone calls from a few friends wondering where my blogs have gone...they were worried that something awful had happened and there would be no more baby blogs...nothing terrible has happened like I said I'm just slacking!

So here is a run down of the past three weeks!

My 16th week went by pretty uneventful, I ended up shopping for lots of cute baby accessories and added the last few touches to my nursery. I now have my pack-n-play, a high chair, a travel system, a swing, bouncer, and a bath tub (all winnie the pooh themed of course). I feel like we have gotten a real good start getting ready for October. I spent a good deal of time reading books on pregnancy, labor, and of course babies. Like I said it was a pretty quiet week!

My 17th week was a good week because I had another doctor's appointment and this was a special one because I was able to schedule that long awaited ultrasound. We will get to find out who this little pumpkin is June 9th! We are very excited! I feel like as soon as we find out if we are having a boy or a girl we can really start getting ready! I am so eager to buy some new outfits and buy the letters to hang on the nursery wall. It will be so nice to be able to call this little one by name. Also at our last appointment on May19th I heard the heartbeat again, it was 157, still pretty high. Lots of people are telling me that definitely means girl. I am sure it is an old wives tale but, it is fun to hear everyone's theories.

Now we are in our 18th week, and I don't know about everyone else, but I think we are having a heat wave! It is so hot outside and it makes me think I am not going to enjoy summer weather. It's the last week of school and I am so excited about having time off to perhaps blog more, work on my scrapbook, and of course SHOP!

Things have been really great and this has definitely been one of the happiest times of my life. Still a part of me is very sad that I can not share this blessing with my dad. I know he would have been so happy to know he was getting a new grandbaby, his grand children were his life! I can now see why he was so crazy about his grand daughters, it is such an amazing feeling to know that we have made this little being, so I can only imagine the pride it must cause to know that you are going to be a grand parent. I feel like I am missing out on a lot right now. I've had people come up to me and say they have talked to my mother and that they are shocked that she is not excited about this baby. I guess in the beginning I was kidding myself and lying to myself for thinking she would actually want to be a part of this. I guess it was hopeful thinking since she didn't jump down my throat like she did my sister when she was expecting. I know it is silly to be upset at such a wonderful time like this but, it would be nice to go baby shopping with my mom or to hear her say she can't wait to see this baby...she hasn't even guessed what gender the baby will be, and just now came to see the nursery (which she wasn't too impressed with, she told me she didn't like my carpet, a low blow since Kevin installed it himself). She makes me almost feel like I am too stupid to raise a child and that I am insane for being so excited. I know I shouldn't feel this way but, it makes me miss my dad even more and I just really need to let it out.

All in all this has been a good experience and I could not ask for a better life. I am so blessed and I thank god for everything that I have. I just can't believe that this is finally happening! I love this baby so much already and I can not believe we are almost half way there!!!

15 weeks!!!!!!

There has been a lot happening since my last post. First off I had another doctor's visit and it went surprisingly well. The doppler said our little pumpkin has a heartbeat of 160. I was very pleased with that!

Also my aunt did the wedding ring and pencil tests on me (because these are very scientific) and they both said I was having a girl. We shall see very soon!

Then, I had a very bad scare...still having one actually. I woke up this morning and went to the bathroom to find 4 little drops of red blood on my toilet paper. I never had cramps and never saw any more blood and the nurse at the women's center did not seem very concerned. I was told things are fine but I won't feel safe again until I hear that little heartbeat on the 19th. Needless to say worry does not change anything so I am going to try to enjoy myself and go on with life as usual.

The nursery is complete and Kevin is buying me my first mother's day present...I am getting a glider! I am very excited!

Not much more to say, and I am exhausted so that's about it for now. I will post my 15 week picture.

Second Trimester!!!!!

This is terribly late. In the past three weeks i have battled an upper respiratory infection, IEP progress reports, ARC meetings, state testing, and finals in my graduate classes!!! It has been one busy month! Luckily in between all of those unpleasantries I have had the chance to do some fun stuff!

My twelth week I went shopping at motherhood and got lots of cute tank tops for summer. I am so ready for warm weather! I also went to gymboree and bought the few neutral outfits that they had. My child will be wearing neutrals for the first two years! I can't help myself, I love shopping for baby clothes! I also spent a lot of time in bed with a very bad infection. I let a cold go without taking any medication and it almost turned into pneumonia. I was so determined not to taking in medications...oh well, so much for my good intentions!

My thirteenth week was spent with Kevin in the nursery! Kevin decided to go ahead and paint the nursery hoping it would make me feel better ( I was still sort of sick) and before long he had gotten excited and painted, bordered, hung curtains, and decorated the walls! Our nursery is almost finished! Kevin has decided instead of our hardwood he wants carpet in the nursery, that way we can get in the floor with the baby. So this week he is laying carpet. I have never seen him so motivated! :)

I also went to see an elvis impersonator this past weekend which was loads of fun! I have to start this baby off right and expose it to the music of the king as much as possible. He or she already has loads of souvenirs from Memphis that I bought last summer! ;)

So now I am 14 weeks and very excited. My next doctor visit is Wednesday...maybe the next visit will be the one where we find out who is in my belly. I am getting so impatient, I just really need to know what we are having. It really doesn't matter either way. We just feel blessed to be having a child but, it would make it easier to shop if I knew whether to buy pink or blue!

I have also been suffering through some rough round ligament pains (or I suppose that is what it is) I really didn't think it would feel like this but I can deal with it. At this point I try not to worry about things, I realize their is a human in there and things are going to feel weird.

I am posting my 12 and 13 week pictures, I have not taken my 14 week picture yet. Not much has changed with the belly lately. I will post it soon and I promise to try to keep up with the blog better!!!

Easter- 11 Weeks!

The weeks seem to be just rolling by now. Sunday was Easter and my whole family came down to hunt eggs in our yard...I even hunted eggs (and me running trying to snatch eggs was not pretty!) Mom came in to "look at Kevin's newest deer mount in the family room" but as soon as she got in the house she said "Where's the baby's room?" I took her to the pumpkin's future nursery and showed her all of the goodies I had already bought. I almost have the room fully furnished, early I know, but I am just so excited and want it to be perfect! Mom seems excited and that's a big deal for me, she is never really excited about much and I really didn't know how she would take the news of yet another grandbaby being on the way. I think for once in my life my mother and I might be slightly bonding and it's a really weird experience. I am hoping that maybe this baby will bring the family closer together since I feel we really lost the glue that held our family together when dad passed away. Easter was a good day and it really got me excited about the holidays to come. Especially Halloween (my all time favorite) and who knows we may have our little one by then!

I am on spring break this week and I started it off right by going shopping in Evansville with my very close friend Mary. I went to practically every baby store in town and ended up spending an enormous amount of money but I got some really cute baby clothes and found the perfect diaper bag. It was a good shopping trip! I made a new friend, Erica, who has been in the same boat as I. She has had trouble getting her family started as well and now we are due within a week of each other. It was great to have someone to talk to that understands what the wait has been like! I am hoping this is the start fo a friendship that will last for a very long time! Going out with Mary and Erica did my mind a lot of good. It made this pregnancy official, i went out and spent a fortune on this baby and it just made me feel like this is definitely happening to me!

I am posting my 11 week picture, I look like a huge plum in my Easter dress but I love this baby bump all the same. Everyone tells me I am huge, I just wonder what I will look like this fall!!!!!

Long Over Due!!!!

So, I finally figured out how to get my scanner to work properly! This means my 9..or is it 10...9 week but really 10 week picture and my ultrasound shots can now be posted!!!! You can admire my camera shy baby that seemed to be very,very active but even more stubborn. If only i could have gotten a shot of that sweet little face! Hope this is not a foreshadowing of what's to come or I know a scrapbooker who will have some pretty bare pages!!!!!

by the way, I have an online babypool on expectnet.com and if you put in the game name parkestpumpkin2010 you can bet on the baby's gender, weight, length, birthdate, and birth time...who knows, I may give out a prize to the lucky person who is closest!

Here are my pics, enjoy!

10 weeks!

If anyone is counting...yes this is early for my 10 weeks post. I had my ultrasound today and i was a week further than originally thought! I feel like I am getting a freebie or something, I am just that much closer to that 2nd trimester!!!! I am so excited!
Not much to update since I just posted a few days ago, I am still eating pickles with orange juice, my hips are coming unhinged, and my hair is still a WRECK!
What is new is the fact that I have seen my little one! During the ultrasound they found the baby first and it was facing the screen kicking it's little arms and legs! It look like it was treading water and it had the biggest eyes ever!!!! I was amazed! The technician decided to go ahead and measue my ovaries and cervix and we lost sight of the baby. When it came time to take the still shots of our little pumpkin we found it on it's back facing up on the screen. It had the sweetest profile ever. I could make out forehead, nose, and chin. It quickly flipped to it's stomach and tucked it's little arms and legs under itself. It looked like it was doing an earthquake drill!!!! After much poking and prodding, I got 4 terrible shots! Just a curled up blob, no cute profile, no waving arms and legs, no big round eyes....just a blob. After my pictures were printed it resumed it's swimming routine as if it hid from the probe on purpose. Being the scrapbooker I am, I am disappointed that this little darling is apparently camera shy :)
The heartbeat was 167! Iwas very excited about that. Things just keep getting better!!!!

I will post my weekly picture and my scans of THE BLOB when i get my scanner hooked up, hopefully tomorrow. I love technical difficulties!

9 Weeks!

This week has been very chaotic due to work! I have had parent teacher conferences, meetings, and lots of tests in my graduate classes. I am exhausted! This week has also marked the beginning of a new phase, freaky hair. My hair will not part where it should, it is growing like crazy, and it seems to be changing color! I am going to blame this one on hormones. I am also having trouble with a hip that won't stay in socket!!!! It keeps popping out when I am walking or when I lay on my right side. I am going to blame this symptom on our little pumpkin and try not to complain too much.
I bought a body pillow, and i have decided that anyone expecting should have one of these great inventions! It has helped my back so much!!! I sleep much better with it (when Kevin hasn't stolen it and used it for himself). Speaking of my dear husband, he constantly complains about heart burn which I think is ridiculous, but pretty funny! He is still pretending that there is no baby, he's trying to ignore things until we are out of the first trimester, I am assuming he is still very nervous. He did go to babies r us and pick a crib out though! I was impressed, he didn't pick out anything hideous or ungodly expensive!!! I plan on starting on the nursery soon just so I don't have to worry about it later.
This Wednesday is when I go back for another sonogram and I am too excited! I can hardly wait. Strangely enough I'm not too nervous and most worries that I have had lately are pretty much gone. I am feeling good and I am getting quite a bit bigger so I am taking that as good signs and just trying to enjoy this as much as I can!
I don't have a 9 week picture to post yet, I will post one on Wednesday when I post everything I learned at my appointment. I can't wait to see this little one on the screen again!

8 weeks!

Time seems to be speeding up a little bit! Just a little over a week and it will be time for my second ultrasound! I am so excited! This past weekend we finally announced to our parents that they will be grandparents again. I fixed "I love my grandma" and "I love my grandpa" picture frames with baby clip art in them that said "picture due October 31st 2010"...i put the picture frame in little Easter baskets and we passed them out. Kevin's mom is ecstatic! She probably hugged me a dozen times. She is wanting another granddaughter very badly! Grandpa Parkest seems pretty excited himself. My mom took the news fairly well. She just wanted to know if this was an accident or something planned...It is hard to believe that we have been trying for this baby for three years! I can not wait to hold this little one in my arms!!!!

St Patrick's Day!!!

St. Patrick's Day was a really exciting day for me...besides the festivities at school I received my first shipment from Babies r Us. I know it is early but it has really made me feel less worrysome and a little more confident to buy things for our little pumpkin. I bought my bedding, a lamp, a night light, a toy box, and a diaper stacker. I decided to go with the Winnie the Pooh Soft and Fuzzy line...it's mainly pastels and I think it would be cute for either a boy or a girl. It really got me excited about fixing up my nursery.

Also on St. Patrick's day Kevin bought four baby ducks to put in our pond, unfortunately they are too small to go outside so they have to live in our breezeway. I told Kevin this will be a perfect opportunity to practice taking care of a living, breathing being....we will see how he does!

7 Weeks!!!!!

This week has been a long one. It's hard to bellieve that I am almost 2 months along. I have been more tired than ever before! I've also been having some pretty strong and crazy cravings. I've learned a lot of new things this week, like under no circumstance should I eat chicken and that green and yellow skittles (my favorites) taste like window cleaner. I am not complaining though! I am just glad i still have not thrown up!

It is still a bit unreal to me right now that I could be a mommy by next Halloween. The thought that I will never have another childless Thanksgiving or that I will have someone for Santa to visit on Christmas Night seems pretty impossible at the moment but I think with time and with more of these crazy symptoms I might just start believing.

I go back to the doctor on the 31st and that seems like an eternity from now. I just can't wait to go and see my baby on the screen. What I really can't wait for is a couple of months away when I find out WHO I have in here. I also can't wait to announce our good news to our families! There is jut so much to wait for!!!! I am so impatient and I know it will only get worse!

Here is my 7 weeks picture, not very impressive but I don't care!

Love,

Jamie

1st Doctor's Appointment!!!!

March 10th was a very exciting day for us! I had been so worried about this pregnancy and very anxious to get to the doctor but the morning of my appointment I dreaded going to the office because I just knew I was going to get bad news.
The appointment started like any other; urine sample, conference with the doctor, checking dates, and discussing prenatal vitamins...but then Dr. Turley said it was time to take a look and see if we could see the infamous sack that should be visible by the 6th week. The first attempt was with the belly ultrasound and unfortunately she could not see anything (of course not, I had just emptied my bladder) so she said we would have to "go in from the bottom".
By that time I was so nervous that I could have had a stroke right there on the table. I couldn't see the screen as she searched around, all I could see was her face and the look that spread across it was alarming as she stopped moving the probe around. "Wow, there's a baby with a heart beat!" she exclaimed. She turned the monitor toward me and there on the screen was the sweetest little flicker of a heart beat!!!! I was so shocked and needless to say a bit mesmerized!!!
She told me I was measuring a bit large for my dates and that I would have to come in again to get a sonogram on the big and better machine...and then hopefully we will have a better idea of how far along I actually am.
The good news is that she said it was great to see sucha big healthy baby this early. Things looked great! AND better news is that March 31st I will get to see my little one again, and hopefully this time around maybe I will recognize something that resembles a baby. LOL!

6 Weeks!

Three more days and it will be time for my first doctor's appointment. This week has been so long. I am just so ready to see Dr. Turley and get reassurance that everything is moving along well. I have had some back pain and nausea this week but it is just very hard for me to accept that this pregnancy could be healthy and in just over 8 months we could have a son or daughter. I am just keeping my faith that eventually our prayers will be answered and we will be blessed with a little one. I am sure most women worry some, but with the loss that we have experienced it is so hard for me to imagine that this little miracle could actually happen for us. I want to be excited and make plans for this little one but I don't feel like I can until we see or hear a heartbeat. I think then I will actually have to believe that possibly that our little pumpkin will arrive in October.

I am posting my 6 week picture. I know it is bloating or something but people at work are already starting to ask if we are expecting and my close friend Mary commented that my child will surely be the size of a horse since I am already getting a belly! That kind of makes me smile, surely an increasing waistline is a good sign!

I will be sure to update after my appointment on the 10th!

Love,
Jamie

5 weeks!

Boy, I can't imagine being anymore impatient than I am now and I am sure it will only get worse as the weeks and months progress. This past week went by so slowly and the wait for my first doctor's appointment seems like it is at a stand still. I am anxiously awaiting Easter so I can make my announcement to my family. It's funny just days ago I was panicing because I thought April testing would be just around the corner at school and my students weren't ready...now it seems April will never come!

This week I have experienced a few headaches ( something really I have never had) and some strange pains in my abdomen. Seems that this is pretty common among expecting moms so I am trying not to worry about it too much. I know worry and negativity can't be good for anybody!

Not much else going on so I will post my week 4 and 5 pictures (not much to look at either, and kind of pointless but it will be fun to look at later).

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. Hope to post more next week!

Love,

Jamie

We're Expecting!!!!!

After heartache and loss we are pregnant again, and this time it just seems right. This Saturday I took a test (at 5:30 in the morning, I just couldn't wait!) and it was positive within seconds! I was shocked! I really didn't feel like we would be lucky enough to get pregnant again so quickly. I went back to bed but couldn't sleep because was too busy doubting the test that i had just took! So...being the obsessive person I am, I opened a digital test (although the package said I needed first morning urine) and I was sure it would say "not pregnant' due to either me not being pregnant or due to the fact that I had just used the bathroom. To my surprise it came out positive very quickly as well! I had to wake Kevin up and let him know that we got our positive that we have wanted so badly.
We are both greatly excited and it is hard to think or talk about anything other than our hopes for this little one.As I speak I am in my fourth week and I am very nervous. I have all of these odd feelings in my stomach and I am so paranoid that it is a sign of something wrong although I know it is normal to be a little crampy and have weird feelings. We are so paranoid that I am not telling anyone that we are expecting until Easter. No one will even see this blog until April but, I am just so happy I can't help but write about this event!
We are just all a buzz about this little one! We have wanted a baby so long and it has been so hard to deal with the fact that we couldn't have one. It has been hard to talk about and as far as anyone on the outside knows, I have not wanted kids of my own. It is a horrible feeling when your body works against you. Maybe finally our prayers have been answered.
According to the due date calculator and timing my due date is Halloween. Couldn't have planned that better! I think the date is very fitting for me! So here is the start to the countdown for the arrival of our little pumpkin! I'll have my fingers crossed and my breath held! And sending baby dust to the ladies out there who are still trying!!!

Love,
Jamie

All About Us

Kevin and I have known each other for twenty one years. We met when I was five years old, and I must admit, I fell in love with him right then and there. After my first encounter with him my Barbie's always dated Kevin's, my magic nursery babies were named Kevin or some "K" name, and of course my imaginary husbands were named Kevin. I guess you can say I do believe in love at first sight. But we weren't always together. It actually took us until I was in high school before we started to date. The relationship grew quickly and by my junior year of high school we were planning a wedding and a life together. We discussed staying in Slaughters, and what kind of degree I could get without leaving him behind, we discussed houses, and whether or not to get pets, but most of all we discussed children. It has been Kevin's life long dream to have a family. It has taken us eight years of marriage but we are finally here, at the point where we will do anything to get this family started!We have really enjoyed our first decade together. We have gotten to know each other so well. We are best friends. We spend so much time together doing things that for the most part are fun and exciting, it is hard to imagine anyone thinking marriage is hard or work. Being together and happy has come naturally to us and I am so glad that we have had this time together by ourselves just to enjoy "us".Right now while it is just the two of us we spend our time bowling, riding four wheelers, fishing, playing softball, and playing board games. We spend a lot of time surfing the internet together, and playing video games. We like to ride around on backroads. We like to landscape our yard, and rennovate our new house. We spend an insane amount of time watching scary movies and ghost hunters episdoes.
We feel like now is the time to start a family. We have so many blessings already and we are just so ready to share our love with a new bundle of joy!