We're Ready For You Baby Walters!!

     Well today is the big day!! We are headed to the hospital in about an hour to begin the induction process. The doctors assure me that he is both big enough and mature enough to enter the world in the next 24-48 hours...so here goes nothing!! My next post will probably take me a while, and I promise to be sharing all the nursery details as soon as possible.

Baby Walters:

We have been praying for your safe arrival for many months now, and pretty soon we will go from a family of 2 to a family of 3.  I have never been so proud to complete any "job" more than carrying you safely for the past 9 months. Your daddy and I can't wait to meet you and know you. We already love you so much, that it's hard to imagine how much more joy and love we will feel in just few short hours. You are so worth all the not-so-fun pregnancy stuff, little man. Your daddy and I are ready for you to turn our world upside down!! 

Love your Mommy and Daddy!! 

And here's one more look at you inside mamma's belly...

36 Weeks

37 Weeks

Pregnancy Update: 36 Weeks

I wish I could say this has been a normal past few weeks and I have just been too tired/busy to blog, but unfortunately things haven't gone as planned. I have been diagnosed with mild preeclampsia, excess fluid around the baby, and placed on modified bed rest for the past 3 weeks. As of right now, my condition is stable, and baby Walters is responding wonderfully to all of his biophysical profile tests...but still all a little bit scary. I have been admitted as an out patient work-up 3 times at this point and am having to go to the doctor 2x a week for ultrasounds, blood pressure testing, and urine analysis. They have scheduled an induction for next Wednesday, October 12th at 37 weeks pregnant. I am, of course, uneasy about the whole process, as I would love for him to come when he is ready, but I am trusting the doctors and trusting that God has a plan in all of this. 

With all that being said, here is the preggo update thus far!!

 

How Far Along: I'm 36 weeks along

Due Date: November 2nd, 2011 Turns out baby Walters will be joining the world on October 12th or 13th!!

Size of Baby: Baby Walt is almost 6 pounds and about 18 inches long. We should find out more details tomorrow.

Maternity Clothes: I've been placed on bed rest for the past 3 weeks, so I basically live in night gowns and pj pants, but maternity clothes are definitely the way to go out in public.

 

Gender: It's a boy!! He is DEFINITELY still a boy. I get to see him twice a week via ultrasound now, and he is never shy about showing his boy parts!!

Movement: He is a full on alien in the belly these days. He kicks and wiggles incessantly, so much so that he "runs" from the doppler machine which tries to locate his heart beat. I have learned to love this feeling since it lets me know he is alive and well.

 

Sleep: Well, when I actually do sleep, it's pretty deep slumber thanks to the wonderful invention of a pregnancy wedge pillow..like wake up in a coma kind of sleep. I have been told by a certain someone that I have developed a little snore these last few days, but I deny it to the death!!

 

What I miss: I miss having a "normal" pregnancy. It's amazing what you take for granted before things go wrong. I used to get annoyed having to go in for an appointment that lasted 5 minutes and they said everything is fine after I had waited an hour...but now I long for those days.

 

Cravings: Cinnamon flavored things...toast, rolls, candy, etc.

 

Symptoms: still having carple tunnel, elevated blood pressure, ginormous legs due to swelling and increased fluid, and a general inability to use my stomach muscles at all. I hope they still exist after all of this :)

 

Best moment: getting to attend my twin sister's wedding this past weekend!! Even though I looked like a giant blueberry. Isn't she beautiful...

 

 The wonderful Abbey Lindsay of Dylan Blue Photography (also my wedding photographer) captured the big day. We can't wait to see more photos!!

Pregnancy Update: 31 Weeks

I'm officially in countdown stage which is code for miserable stage.  31 weeks pregnant + a 26th, I'm officially closer to 30 than 20 birthday = not such a happy mama..but here goes nothing:
 

How Far Along: I'm 31 weeks along (about 7 months)

Due Date: November 2nd, 2011

Size of Baby: Baby Kizziah is about 16 inces long and he weights about 3.3 pound now, and he now has eye lashes on eyes he can blink. He is adding to his (and mama's) baby fat every day...just not in the cheeks please ;)

Maternity Clothes: I'm back to teaching, so living in dresses that are still not too scandalous to wear to work. Unfortunately we aren't allowed to wear sleeveless tops/dresses which has resulted in my portable becoming Antarctic during the day. Poor kiddos...nah, they'll survive.

 

Gender: It's a boy!!

Movement: Still going strong in the kicking department! He has gotten the hiccups several times which is quite strange to feel (and may or may not have resulted in a frantic call to my OB insisting that something must be wrong with my child).

 

Sleep: What's sleep?!? It's not all that terrible...I can even sometimes make it 2 WHOLE hours without having to get up!! Finding a comfortable position has become the biggest challenge, and I am still finding that I wake up on my belly...a miracle to my OB.

 

What I miss: being able to stand for long periods of time without elephantitis sinking in on my ankles, aka. effective teaching. I have already begun the teaching from my desk business and I have certainly used the fat, waddling, pregnant lady card on my students multiple times. I also, unfortunately have developed carpal tunnel in my right hand, making typing, writing, and teaching in general a little bit painful.

 

Cravings: Orange juice!! I can't seem to get enough of it...maybe I need some vitamin c?

 

Symptoms: miserably swollen legs and ankles, full-on waddle walk, an always present need to clarify that I am indeed pregnant and not just fat to all my oh-so-politically correct high school students.

Best moment: the reaction of my students when I showed them Walt's ultrasound picture on my "Welcome to Mrs. Kizziah's Class" powerpoint. Priceless!! See below for examples...

"Holy crap what is that?"

"Eww...why are you showing us that?"

"I'm just not sure that's normal for us to be seeing!"

"I feel like we're violating you somehow!!" 

Oh how I love high school!!!

And here is the latest edition of the growing belly. It's certainly getting large and in charge, and I am beginning to dread these weekly photos more and more. All for memories sake I guess/ motivation to hit the gym post-delivery...

 

Walters in 3D!!!

Today was one of the most exciting days of pregnancy thus far...our 3D/4D ultrasound!! We went to an amazing place called Discovery Ultrasound in Jacksonville. Allison, the owner and technician, was wonderful and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone! My mom and grandmother were even able to watch live from their computers at home.

I was first of all simply amazed at modern technology, and also beyond excited to have a glimpse at what our son will look like in a few months. Not to mention the fact that it was super exciting to have a mental picture of him in my mind in a non-alien form. Makes those side-splitting kicks worth while for sure!! We think he is just perfect and we can't wait to meet him more than ever!

Here's what we found out about our little man today...

{1} He is in a head-down position!! His feet are up under my right rib cage and head down and to the left. 

{2} He is no doubt Adam's child! Take a look at the face below...all his daddy! Especially those cheeks!!  Kind of unfair considering I'm doing all the work here people!

{3} He has a really strong heart beat...168 beats per minute!

{4} He's still a boy...once again no shyness from Walt!!

{5} He stays awake, ALOT!! The technician was amazed at how much he kept his eyes open. Hard to tell in the pictures below, but the little black slits on his eyes are actually them open. 

And here are some of the best shot of the day...

Here he is yawning!!

Look at those cheeks...just like Daddy!

Here is a front shot of his chest/sternum. He's still a little scrawny (except for the cheeks), but we're hoping he'll get a little meat on his bones in the next 3 months!

Sweet little sleepy face :)

 We can't wait to meet you baby Walters!! Your mommy and daddy love you very much!!

Pregnancy Update - 26 Weeks

Here's the next installment of pregnancy updates for those of you keeping up with this belly-growing journey...

How Far Along: I'm 26 weeks along (about 6 months)

Due Date: November 2nd, 2011

Size of Baby: Baby Kizziah is about the length of a Cucumber, or 14 inches. He weights about 1 3/4 pound now, and has fully developed ears. Supposedly he will recognize Adam and my voice when he is born. His boy parts are "developing too!"

Maternity Clothes: Definitely more comfortable in maternity clothes. Living in dresses and skirts these days. I am beginning to worry about the appropriateness of some of my wardrobe for work though :) It's all either too low on the growing chest, or too short due to the baby bump!!

 

Gender: It's a boy!!

Movement: He is kicking hard and seems to be totally spread out from right on top of my bladder to the very top of my rib cage. I actually saw my shirt move for the first time the other day. The "alien in my belly syndrome" has officially begun.

 

Sleep: Sleep is definitely a challenge when you have to use the restroom every 2 hours, on the dot! Still no major complaints, though I do wish he would get his kicks out during the daytime...doesn't he know mama needs her beauty rest?

 

What I miss: the use of ab muscles. Watching me get up from lying position is beyond hysterical. It's like they just disappeared all together.

 

Cravings: Nothing too much these days, just super thirsty. I still don't love eating dinner...sporadic nausea at night time.

 

Symptoms: Definitely feeling achy and moving slower. I am having pretty intense sciatic nerve pain in both hips which is quite debilitating at times. Also a little bit of ankle swelling after long days of standing. Bring on the cankles when I go back to work.

Best moment: Reaching the crucial "25 week mark" where Walters could technically be born at any moment and live!! Sounds crazy to think about, but very relieving at the same time.

Here's a growing belly shot for ya...

Rome wasn't built in a day...

 But Walt's crib sure was. Well actually in one night, with one screw driver, one admiring wife, one super excited cousin, 2 annoying pups,  and one set of  working hands :) I heard horror stories about the crib building process; how long it takes, how complicated they are, how hard to maneuver, etc. However, we Adam had no trouble at all and it was completed in a matter of hours. 

Putting up the crib for some reason really made this whole pregnancy sink in. Even more than the ever-growing baby bump, strange appetite, and my ability to cry at the sight of a Pamper's commercial. We can't wait for baby Walt to get here and have a built-by-daddy crib to sleep in :) Here is our new crib with the proud hubs. It turned out to be really nice, and I am very happy with the choice even having bought it sight unseen. Diapers.com is such a great sight...they offer free shipping, and it arrived in 2 days!!

 Notice there is a little "practice" nestled snug in the new bed...

 That's Maggie! And she belongs to this adorable little helper who is more excited about baby Walt's arrival than any other family member! Love you Porgie!! Thanks for helping with the nursery!!

A Nursery Design Plan...

 Unlike my typical haphazard, see if this looks alright style, I decided it might be nice to have an actual plan for baby Walt's room. I definitely wanted a room that "fit" with the rest of our house while still being a nursery. I also DID NOT want a theme. No offense to any of you teddy bear, Dora the Explorer, John Deere loving people out there (uh hum...Adam), but I just can't get on board with choosing an entire obsession for my child before I have even met him. The other issue I came across was that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING for boys is baby blue. Don't get me wrong, I love the color, and even think it is adorable for a boy nursery...it just doesn't go with our design style at all. I think secretly because I have a more "gender neutral-I don't want to re-do this room for baby #2 one day" mentality as well. 

So here's what I came up with in the form of  "mood board" to help me stay on track. Please excuse my oh-so-amateur computer skills...I only have Microsoft Word to work with:) All the details are listed below in case you are interested. 

{1} The "Emily Crib" by Davinci in Espresso brown. I ordered it from diapers.com. It is a 4 in 1 convertible bed which will eventually convert from crib, to toddler bed with rail, to bed without rail, to full size head board and foot board.  Plus there is free shipping from this website, so you can't beat that.

{2} The wall color: Sherwin Williams "Comfort Gray." It's sort of a greenish gray that changes colors in different light. It's the color match to Restoration Hardware's "Silver Sage" which matches our bedding. So excited that my dad is coming this weekend to help paint the room for this paint fume avoiding/lazy mamma.

{3- 5} Accent Colors: Sherwin Williams "Over Joy" (yellow), "Quench Blue," and "French Roast." Not your typical color combination, but I just love it together.

{6} Restoration Hardware "Cuddle Plush" crib bedding in Silver Sage. I love the soft velveteen texture of the bumpers and the simple crib skirt. I recently just found nearly the identical bedding from Target as well.

{7} Newco Serenity Classic Non-Swivel Glider from Babies-R-Us in chocolate brown. This is on the registry wish list. It is so comfortable and cute, but I am still looking for a Craig's List alternative in case no loving family member decides to purchase this for us.

{8} White dresser/Changing table. I bought an old antique off of Craig's List and will be re-finishing it with a gloss white paint for wipe-ability. It's not this exact picture, but very similar. Our room isn't big enough for a dresser and changing table, so this will double as both with the addition of a changing pad.

{9} Accent Pillow Fabric: "Bicycles" in Haze by Michael Miller ordered from one of my favorite fabric stores, Hawthorne Threads. I will be attempting to make my first pillows with this adorable fabric.

{10} Curtain Fabric: "Peeps Pearl Bracelet" in brown by Lizzy House, ordered from Hawthorne Threads again. It's really nice and thick and will be great for creating a dark sleeping environment for baby Walt.

{11} DIY artwork: I'll be painting a verse for Walt's from Micah 6:8 on some old Pallet boards for a rustic look. We'll see how it turns out!!

So what do you all think? Am I totally designed challenged? Wait...don't answer that. Some of it's a done deal already!!

The Name Game...

 After finding out that our baby is officially a B.O.Y., Adam and I decided that it was probably a good idea to start referring to him as something other than Nugget! Bringing us to the naming game. The whole process has been more than overwhelming to me and the hubs, and I never quite understood just how difficult it is to pick a name that you and your child will love For-EVER!! I hadn't let myself get attached to a name before finding out the sex of our baby, for fear I would get attached to one name, only to not be able to use it, so we definitely felt like we were starting from square one at 18 weeks. 

We had a few naming requirements going in...

{1} No calling him by his middle name- both Adam and I are called by our middle names, and it has caused lots of paper work problems, not to mention the ever embarrassing first day of class where the teacher calls out "Daniel" or "Frances"

{2} His name had to sound good with Kizziah- not an easy task to say the least. I am slightly relieved that he is not a girl because I have yet to put a girl first name with our last name that doesn't sound slightly inappropriate (as in street walker, etc. Go ahead- try it? Carly Kizziah anyone?)

{3} His initials couldn't spell a word or sound crazy - we ran into a few cases of ELK, WAK, BIK...you get the point. 

{4} It couldn't be the name of any of my past students, our exes, obnoxious people in our pasts - this is quite difficult when you are a teacher having taught approximately 200 + students in the past 3 years.

So after a few weeks of debate, we finally revealed the name for our little boy...

Walters James Kizziah 

We went the traditional southern route, using a family name. We will call him Walt, and I just love the older more traditional name. Walters is my grandparent's last name and James is my grandfather's first name (affectionately known as "Big Jim"). We definitely wanted to honor one of the most important men in my life by naming the first boy in the entire family after him. He will have BIG shoes to fill as my Papa is one of the most generous, intelligent, fair, and steady men I have ever known. We shared the news with him on Father's Day, and we are so thrilled to have chosen the name for our little boy. I love you Papa...thanks for all you have done for me and my sisters, and for instilling in me so many important lessons that have helped shape me into who I am today. I am honored to name our little boy after you!

Me and Papa!

Grandmother and Papa

We can't wait to meet you, Walt! It really is true that once you know the sex of the baby and have decided on a name, you can really start to bond with him. I can picture taking him to t-ball games, being a soccer mom, and having my melt down the first time he brings some creepy crawly into my house.  I can also now address him personally as he kicks the crap out of me :) Gotta start early with the parenting...ha ha!!