Old wives tales and those "tests"

I guess it's never really to early to guess if we will have a boy or a girl. After all you have a 50/50 shot and plenty of time to change your mind. We have had a few people guess already. Two have said girl and one has said boy. The two that said girl put me through those old wives tale tests... you know like hanging a silver spoon over your belly, a needle over your wrist, or picking up a key. (Yeah I had never heard of the key one either)

We did the "key" test a few weeks ago at Liz's house. Her neighbor said he was 100% accurate to date. He threw a key on the ground and told me to pick it up. Then based on how I picked up the key he said I was having a girl. Now I don't remember any other details so we may have to Google for more understanding....

My mom did the needle over the wrist test. Now this goes beyond telling you the sex of the baby. It also tells you how many kids you will have (and the sex of each). You hand a needle over your wrist and if it swings in a circle it will be a girl and if it swings side to side it will be a boy. It will pause between swinging and then when it starts again that is your next kid....then it stops.. So according to this "test" we will have 2 kids. The first will be a girl and the second is a boy.

I just bring these up because Clay and I recently read the "Wives Tales" section of the pregnancy book and some of them were just too much. I thought I would share some of our "favorites."

• Refusing to eat the heel on a loaf of bread means you're going to have a girl.
  
• Your baby will be born with a hairy birthmark if you see a mouse while pregnant.
  
• Eating berries causes red splotches on your baby's skin.
  
• If you perspire a lot, it's a girl.
  
• It's a girl if you crave orange juice (which I do.)
• Stretching your arms over your head can cause the umbilical cord to wrap around the baby's neck.
  
• If you carry high, it's a boy: low, it's a girl.
  

Those were just a few. We really liked the arms above the head one and the mouse causing birthmarks. Hmm...

Well feel free to share any others that you have heard. When we get closer to baby's arrival (like maybe Nov) I will do a poll to see what you think it will be.

16 weeks

As promised I have done 16 week belly pics. (Maybe one of these Wednesdays I'll get up early enough so that I can dry my hair before my photographer leaves for work.... MAYBE) I did my weekly weigh-in and I'm up to 177lbs and sorta on track. My overall goal is to stay at 200 or below and gain about 1lb a week. I have 24 weeks left (approx) and 23lbs to work with. However, if I gain more, I gain more. Anyways, as I mentioned the other day, I think I'm starting to show. Now if you didn't know me or didn't know I was pregnant then I really just look "thick" but the belly is getting there. Most of it is just the abdominal fat getting pushed up and out of the way for baby but its getting rounder and sticks out just as far as the "oversized girls" if not a bit further late at night when I'm tired and full. The pants help keep it in a bit but even the bigger pants I have are getting snug. It will soon be time to go to the maternity clothes. I'll have to see what I have and I may even have to go shopping. Looking this week on BabyCenter, the baby is approximately 4 1/2 inches from crown to rump. This is roughly the size of an avocado. I should start to feel the baby move in the next few weeks. I guess anywhere between 16-20 weeks. I have heard with your first you need a little time to figure out that is indeed what you are feeling, so I am analyzing each thing I feel these days. We go to the doctor on Friday for our 16 week appointment so I'll keep you all posted. I decided that I would put the bare belly pics at the bottom of each belly post and have the one from the week before as comparison. So, here is the week 12 vs week 16 belly pics. Stay tuned for 20 weeks!

Our first bigger baby purchase and more

So far I haven't really bought much for the baby and really we haven't made many baby decisions yet other than not to find out the sex of the baby and what room we will be using for the nursery. It is our philosophy that we still have plenty of time to make all of these decisions and in reality, we do. However, I have been looking around for baby bedding. I know that I don't need the whole set but I fell victim to another "first baby" trap. I was able to get free shipping so I went ahead and ordered it just to see it in person. If I don't like it I can take it back and return it to the store. There aren't many places in Bloomington Normal for baby stuff. We will see if I like it as much in person as I did online. Really online, its one of the only ones I like that are indeed gender neutral. Now I just have to decide how many of the "accessories" we are going to buy or if I should take my chances and register for them. Hmmm... Well, I know I am being very vague about the bedding but I don't want to show it to everyone until I know it is what we are keeping and maybe even until the nursery is done and ready for baby's arrival, so just hold tight.
Clay and I also started our list of needs and wants and things we thought we would register for. We think we will register in Sept since I'll be past the halfway point. We also started a list of names but those too are TOP SECRET so really I have given you no useful information in this post whatsoever. Sorry ;o) You will just have to wait and see what comes of it all.

Baby Belly vs Baby Bump

So we all have heard or seen those cute celebrity "baby bumps." Well I don't have one of those. Instead I am going straight to a BABY BELLY. It appeared sometime within this last week. It was just apparent one day that I was getting round and thick and could no longer suck it in. The last two days I have really been noticing it and so has Clay at night. Tonight I can really tell. You won't get new pictures until next week (16 weeks) but I think that it is official to say the Baby Belly is here at 15 weeks. It isn't super round or obvious to a stranger on the street but to me it is there for sure. Stay tuned for pics next week to see the difference.

Does PCOS go away?

Today I got an email with a question Clay and I have thought about a few times but we aren't quite sure of the answer. The question was "Since you and Clay got preg 'on your own', does that mean the PCOS is all cleared up or is that something you will always have?"

This is how I answered:
"PCOS is an endocrine disorder… meaning it’s a hormone imbalance that results in the under-development of follicles… I didn’t have the right “mix” of hormones to promote proper and full mature growth of a follicle (egg) to get to ovulation. (therefore no ovulation and no period and no chance for baby)It is hard to say what my body will do after baby Brockman arrives. It will all depend on the function of my ovaries and other organs that produce the hormones to the “normal” mix… if they have it all figured out then I could be “normal” and ovulate on a regular cycle (thus essentially being fixed) or I could still need medical assistance (medication) to help regulate my hormones correctly and promote ovulation. Only time will tell after delivery and b-feeding ;o)"

In short it's one of those only time will tell questions. I hope that my body will have it all figured out.

Our blank slate

Two weekends ago, I got busy around the house. We had finally decided which room we were going to use for the nursery. Then it was time to empty it and empty it we did. I cleaned out the closet and sold the big items we had in the room that we didn't want to keep. We sold the weights and rack, the weight bench, the desk, the dresser, and technically I sold the DVD player back to Liz. Then we gave away the TV and tossed the VCR. The treadmill we kept and it got moved to the office in place of the futon which was also sold. We made a few dollars and cleared out the space. Now the room is empty and ready to be filled with all things baby. We borrowed the bassinet from Liz and we have a few baby things in the closet. Now I just have to decide what bedding I want and what colors I am going to do. Then its moving on to decorating. Let the fun begin!