18 Weeks!

Hello There!

If you haven't heard, Sweet P is a little boy! I still can not believe it and frequently say to Matt, "Can you believe we are having a boy?" "Yes." Is always his response to my neurotic rambling. For whatever reason, I just could not imagine having a little boy in the mix, especially being raised with all girls and having all nieces. I can tell you one thing; every day is going to be an adventure. 

I kind of rushed through the exciting noise and didn't do my normal week-to-week post, so I will catch you up on growth and new happenings now. 

This week has been great. And by great, I mean awesome. As you know, I have been counting down the day when Matt would return home and Baby P would be revealed. Well, this was the week! Matt (as I always say) is the best husband and surprised me by coming home early! He got home Monday morning and slept all day after driving 48 hours straight. I worked while he rested and then Tuesday came along and the opportunity presented itself for us to be able to learn baby's gender one day early! Of course, we took it. 

So, I'll give you my best representation of how excited we were to find out he is a he. I told you about the OJ and how I chugged a bottle of it before we went in for the ultrasound. We sat through the routine checkup. Weight. Blood Pressure. Bla bla bla. And then the ultrasound technician (Laurie) told us that everything was moving in the right direction (obviously out for me, but also in a healthy direction for baby). Yay. This was of course all good news, however I could hardly concentrate (and I think Matt was feeling the same) because what we were waiting for was Girl or Boy?! Laurie finally paused the ultrasound in a position that a trained professional could examine baby's gender. She asked, "Okay! Do you have any guesses?" Do we have guesses? What do you mean? How are we suppose to tell when we of course want to yell what we think, but looking at the screen we wouldn't know if we were looking at a baby or a tunnel of shadows? We sat there in silence as she placed an arrow at baby's parts and then began to type 

"It's A B...o...y!"

You can probably imagine my surprise! I screamed at the top of my lungs and then started hysterically crying. Matt and I sat there, surrounded by laugher and tears, in disbelief that we could possibly be having a little man. A little nugget who will wear cowboy boots, watch football with dad, and tell mom that she's beautiful. One that will get in trouble, dig in the dirt, and love to listen to dad's band. A boy who will give me a run for my money, make Matt and me laugh, and give us the satisfaction that we are living life as we have always wanted, as a family with children. 

I am beyond thankful, I am beyond excited, and I am beyond speechless. What am I counting down to now? Well, I want to feel little guy move. I want to dress him in the footed pjs that my mom, sisters and Kirsten gave us this weekend, and I want to walk in to his room in the morning and see his smiling face and messy bed head hair. We are so blessed. I can not imagine how I will feel when he is actually here, in our arms! 

As we sat there, Laurie says, "Are these tears of joy?" We exclaimed, "YES!" and she said, "good because I have NO DOUBT that he is a little boy. He is not hiding anything!"

This is no surprise. If you know Matt... he is not shy.

If you look close, in both pictures he has his legs spread wide... 

showing us exactly who he is!

SO FUNNY!

Hello from BabyCenter! Head to rump, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long(about the length of a bell pepper) and weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, although he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.>> Read more about this week Quick Clicks • Are you feeling the baby kick yet? • When is it too late to travel by airplane? • What's the safe way to wear a seat belt now? • Inspired baby names Overheard in your birth club "I just found out that I'm having a girl — finally, after two miscarriages. I think I felt her move today. I had my ultrasound and everything was fine, at last!" — Nicky >> See what others are saying at 18 weeks Your baby at 18 weeks Your baby's ears now stand out from his head.

Your Baby:

• Is about the size of a baked potato — five-and-a-half inches long.
• Has actual cute little ears and working ear bones and can hear sounds through the amniotic fluid — similar to how things sound to you underwater.
• Is moving, moving, moving. The baby is still small enough that you may not feel every kick and punch yet, but the movements will start getting less “bubble-like” and more “holy crap, that was totally a foot” pretty soon, if they aren’t already.

You:

• May notice some dizziness from time to time, especially if you stand up too quickly or go too many hours without a good snack. Try to stay hydrated and remember to eat every few hours — good stuff like yogurt, nuts, fruits, veggies and cheese. Empty calories like chips and junk food will just make the dizziness worse, not better.
• Might be getting a little uncomfortable at night. The best sleeping position for pregnancy is on your side (when you lie on your back you compress the blood flow to your uterus), but as your pelvis changes and your abdomen gets heavier this can get awfully hard on your hips and legs. Try sleeping with a small pillow between your knees or lower thighs — I finally grabbed a small decorative pillow from our bed and found it made all the difference in the world without taking up too much room or making me feel too hot at night like regular pillows or those full-body maternity pillows did last time. (While very comfortable, trying to roll over with one of those big things was just a giant exercise in AWK-WARD.)
• Oh, and let’s discuss our bladders too. You might soon find yourself at that lovely stage when you just can’t seem to fully empty your bladder in a single bathroom run. I don’t know whether there’s just something baby-related blocking the exit or what, but I pee and then stand up and realize that I STILL have to pee. I remember hitting this point last time and using a trick Heather Armstrong described at Dooce — lean allllll the way forward while peeing, with your torso as parallel to the floor as you can manage. It really works, and now every time I pee I wonder how any woman ever managed to make it through pregnancy without the Internet.

Excuse the wet hair. We were rushing to leave Tallahassee for Thanksgiving.

How far along?: 18 Weeks; 6 Days

Total weight gain/loss: +12 Lbs. (LOL)

Maternity clothes?: NO! Not yet. I am trying to 
avoid them like the plague. I wear a lot of leggings 
and baggy sweaters, belted. 

Stretch marks?: No... Matt is so sweet. He is 
my "put your lotion on your belly" reminder, every 
night.

Sleep: Awesome! Hubby is back so I am not 
sleeping alone and the pee awakenings have subsided.

Best moment this week: Matt and I found out our 
Sweet P is a BOY!

Miss Anything?: BEER! Bloody Marys! Red Wine. 
Especially since this is holiday time!

Movement: Who knows?! Gas bubbles? Baby 
Dancing? I don't know. I am waiting for the punch!

Food cravings: They have definitely relaxed a 

little. Cheese is still up there.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope :)

Have you started to show yet: Yes, absolutely... 

from the front only though. 

Gender: A PROUD LITTLE BOY!

Labor Signs: No

Wedding rings on or off?: On, hands are getting 

a little smaller?

Belly Button in or out?: In... but not for much 

longer. It is definitely flattening. Haha.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! So Happy. 
We are blessed; we all (3) are healthy!

Looking forward to: Feeling that little guy kick! 
Shopping.. shopping.. shopping!

Until Next Time,

LP

Holy Hell! Let's Give Thanks.

Stats:

Lauren:

1 of 3 Sisters

Matt:

Has 2 Sisters

We:

Have 4 Nieces

Walking in to the OBGYN, 

we knew what we were having....

AND THEN WE WERE WRONG!!!

THE POULOS NAME LIVES ON! 

WATCH OUT WORLD....

THIS IS GOING TO BE AN INTERESTING RIDE!!!!

From Our Crazy Household to Yours!!! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE LITTLE POULOS TURKEY!!!!

LOVE,

Matt and Lauren P.

Knock, Knock... Who's In There?

I have not blogged all week. Let me catch you up.    Of course, I was counting down the days until Matt arrived home from tour. Tuesday was the original arrival date for husband to reunite with wife. But... my husband, being the amazing man that he is, surprised me two days early! Then, as you know, today is the day we were suppose to find out if Baby P is a he or a she. Well, we did. Only, we hit a stroke of luck and were offered a chance to find out one day early! Man. I don't know what kind of things I have done to deserve everything going in the right direction.                                                                                                   You hear all of these horror stories about not being able to determine the gender due to baby's positioning or maybe its asleep and covering its goods. Then the waiting is another agonizing couple of weeks until the next appointment when baby has the second opportunity to cooperate. Both my sister-in-law and best friend offered up a piece of advice before strutting into the OB's office and walking out disappointed that baby had a different plan. "Drink some orange juice before you go, that way the baby will be awake from the sugar... hopefully." So upon arriving at the Dr.'s office, Matt and I stopped by the gas station and bought a single serving OJ, chocked full of sugar. I chugged the whole thing, nervously, while I silently prayed that bay would give us the amazing news we had been waiting for. 

Finally, they called us back. The nurses did the routine checkups and then we floated back to the Ultrasound Tech's office. Explaining to us that the boring stuff comes first and then we would get to the good stuff... the gender.

10 Fingers, 10 Toes... Check

Healthy Heart... Check

Healthy Kidneys... Check

Head Size... Normal

Belly Size... Normal

Spine... Normal

You sit there and listen to some professional woman tell you everything looks great, but somehow you still can not wrap your mind around the fact that there is a human... growing inside of you. Obviously thankful for everything moving in the normal direction, you sit there and stare at a screen of baby shadows and dark holes. "That right ventricle looks great," means absolutely nothing. Okay... okay, just get to the point, we both thought. Tell us. Is it a lad or a lassie? 

Of course, you didn't think I was going to tell you yet. Did you?

My family does not even know yet, so of course I can't go spilling the beans to the world. 

Matt and I are celebrating Thanksgiving in Plant City this year. 

We headed down south this afternoon and my mom and I went through some of my old baby stuff. Yay! I found all of my old Dr. Seuss books and some baby must haves, such as this old "I'm a Lil' Pedro..." plastic bib. I love going through old stuff of mine and finding treasures I had forgotten about. 

Apparently I liked this one. Cover dismantled.

Well. I hate to leave you hanging.

I promise to announce first thing tomorrow, after I catch up on hours of sleep. Baking pies and cakes for all of Tallahassee's Thanksgiving Day festivities has occupied my time since the beginning of this week. Baby and I need some R&R next to dad and the dogs. Accompanied by a large dose of family and a lot of baby chatter, we are really excited about everything that is going on. 

Hold tight. 

I'll tell you in the morning.

Until Next Time,

LP

17 Weeks!

FUTURE NOLE!

Again, I'm late posting this. At the beginning of the week, I wanted it to be (today) Saturday and Sunday so badly. If you follow our family blog then you will know Matt gets home this Tuesday. When I get to the last two weeks of a tour, I count down every second until he is home. This is one thing that annoys both him and me about myself. I can not help it though. I thought this week was going to crawl by, when in fact it has done just the opposite. I am not sitting in my bed, 10:45 PM, trying desperately to keep my eyes open. 

Today's chalk board "Week Drawing" and progress picture are a little awkward, as I had to rig my Mac Book on top of a laundry basket, on top of kitchen bar stools to get the shot. Normally Krysta patiently takes about 30 pictures on my iPhone and they look relatively normal. 

Well, it is true. I am 17 weeks. One week away from knowing whether sweet little fatty is a boy or a girl. I CAN NOT WAIT TO FIND OUT!!!! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, as it would be my luck that the little nugget would be asleep or covering his/her private parts so we can't find out until later! Whaaa. Please baby, don't do that to us. 

New This Week:

Hello from BabyCenter! Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.>> Read more about this week Quick Clicks • Can music make your baby smarter? • Why an ultrasound may not reveal your baby's sex • Delicious pregnancy recipes Overheard in your birth club "I get tired of everyone saying pregnant women are beautiful. I've never felt less attractive! I hear about women who love being pregnant, and I'm just puzzled by them." — Laura >> See what others are saying at 17 weeks Your baby at 17 weeks Your baby's bones are hardening. >> See the big picture: 17 weeks VIDEO Watch a natural birth

    Week 17

14

by Amalah

Your Baby:

• Is about five inches long from head to rump, which is the EXACT height of the jar of salsa I am currently quadruple dipping into. Bowls are for suckers.
• Has begun to develop the all-importantadipose tissue — more affectionately known as baby fat.
• Is hard at working transforming its skeleton from soft cartilage into solid bone. Get this baby a part on Heroes.

You:

• Possibly feel immensely huge and very pregnant, but your bump probably isn’t as noticeable as you think it is. People may hesitate to comment or miss it completely, like the woman last night who came up and handed me an alcoholic cocktail and seemed genuinely shocked when I politely refused it, despite the fact that I feel like my belly eclipses my shoes at this point.
• “Normal” weight gain at this point can be anything between five and 13 pounds, although y’all know how I feel about the word “normal.” One book I read this week advised any woman who has gained more than 13 pounds to see a nutritionist and “be more careful”, while my doctor COMPLIMENTED me last Wednesday on not managing to gain a single blessed pound yet. I want to stab the world in the eyeballs with a fork right now, a little bit.

How far along?: 17 Weeks; 5 Days

Total weight gain/loss: +6 Lbs.

Maternity clothes?: NOPE! YAY! Pullin' the 'ol hairband 

on the jeans trick and stillsporting my stretchy pants. 

Laughing a lot now, regular shirts are getting tight! 

Stretch marks?: No

Sleep: Awesome! Thank you snoogle and husband! 

Best moment this week: I THINK I felt baby... Can not 
be positive. But, I did play babysome Lucero's 
"Sweet Little Thing."

Miss Anything?: My Husband!! x 100,000,000; COLD BEER

Movement: Possibly! It's so hard to tell!!

Food cravings: Lo Mein and Hot Chocolate. 
Still LOTS of grapefruit juice.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope :)

Have you started to show yet: Ha!

Gender: 4 DAYS UNTIL WE FIND OUT!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out?: In... but stretching ;)

Wedding rings on or off?: On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Anxious... want to be 
with Hub and find out the sex.

Looking forward to: Finding out if baby is a 
"he" or a "she"!

Until Next Time,

LP