Pregnancy Milestones- 75 days until Oliver's estimated date of arrival!

 I was on Baby Center and they have an option to note when you hit certain milestones in your pregnancy and since most of you have no reason to visit that site I figured I would share these dates to remember with YOU!

Picked a name: Don't remember exactly, we had started talking about names way back before we were engaged as Anita and Michael were contemplating names for a baby they were thinking of having before little Mikey came to be. We had picked 2 boys names and 2 girls names and while so far we have changed these names a little we have kept most of the options and are all set for one more after Oliver!

Positive pregnancy test: 1/15 I believe, I know we were house/dog sitting for my parents while they were in NY with my sister and that Dusty and I were getting ready for work and Noah wasn't there so it couldn't have been a Friday. 3 positive tests and our world was turned upside down. Did I cry? Yes, I thought I wouldn't fit into my dress for the wedding as I had JUST had it altered!! As luck would have it I lost so much weight that it was loose!

Told partner: Same as the positive tests.

Told friends and family: 1/19 we told our immediate family as we are terrible at keeping secrets when we we are so excited. Friends/Facebook 1/24 via the following post:

 First ultrasound: 3/02- The day after our bridal shower I woke up bleeding and while very upset and scared ended up going to the ER where we had some tests and an ultrasound. Dusty had to take Noah out of the room since it was an internal ultrasound and it wouldn't have been appropriate for him to stay in there and they wouldn't say anything or print me a picture but I got my first view of our little guy growing inside me! I cried a bit.

Heard heartbeat: 3/10- We had one of our regular pre-natal visits a month before the wedding and the doctor hear Oliver's hearbeat nice and strong at only 11 weeks. She said she was impressed and that it was a very good sign because hearing a strong heartbeat usually means you are less likely to miscarry from that point on! Such a good visit!

Started second trimester: 3/21

Felt my baby move: 4/13- we were in the car on the way to Anita and Michael's house after little Mikey's dedication at church and I was falling asleep a little in the car when I felt like a popcorn kernel popped in my stomach. It was weird and I didn't feel it again for a little which made me think it wasn't him but I believe it was!

Found out my baby's sex: 5/4- Heather was adamant on throwing us a gender reveal party so she could reveal her niece to our friends and family. Unfortunately for Heather her niece and potential flower girl ended up being a nephew!

Halfway through my pregnancy: 5/9- 20 weeks down, 20 to go!

Found out about some Complications: 6/24- During this visit to the OB the doctor we were seeing was listening to Oliver's heart and heard that it beat an extra time every 10th beat or so. She felt it was probably just an arrhythmia that would go away by birth but sent us for another ultrasound and a fetal echo which showed that a. yes he was a boy, that he had all the right parts of his heart, and that the issue was caused by PAC's which pretty much meant that his heart should be fine but he needs some extra monitoring. We also found out that my placenta might be slightly abnormal but that is just something else to monitor a little more closely.

Started third trimester: 6/27 I hear this is when I am supposed to be begging the baby to go ahead and come out. I am impatient to meet him but he needs to bake a little longer before I would like him to come out and this mommy and daddy still need time to get ready and save money before that happens. I told Oliver that he can come September 8th or after as I will be full term and Noah's birthday party will have passed!

Started childbirth class: 7/8 - We signed up for Childbirth classes through the Forsyth County Health Department for 4 Tuesdays in July. Apparently they teach us about the stages of labor, ways to deal with the pain of labor and delivery, and try their best to convince you to not let anyone induce you until 42 weeks pregnant, not to accept any pain medication at all and that you need to breast feed or you are the devil. Ok, maybe not to that extreme but they do their best to drive home the point. The first class was ok, I found that I was not one for guided imagry as it just made me sleepy and left my mind to wander to other things like if Property Brothers was on HGTV that night, Dusty enjoyed it though and found himself very relaxed. We watched a video of some lady going through the stages of labor with her all natural birth and I found that, while informative, all it left me was scared to death of the pain. There is just something about watching this confident person break down crying because she doesn't understand how the pain could possibly get any worse and yet somehow was that just made me very VERY terrified of labor. I am semi-looking forward to the rest of our classes and am excited to report that we won the first week's raffle for outlet covers to start baby proofing our apartment!

These next few haven't passed yet but we know when they will be!

Went on a babymoon: 8/7-8/11 Well...we went on our honeymoon while pregnant in April but in August Beverly and Lyle want to take the family on a beach weekend where they, Heather and her family and Dusty Noah and I will go to the beach and relax and spend time together. This will be our last vacation before Oliver is here and we are very much looking forward to it. I know it is going to be very hot which will be difficult for me but hopefully the relaxing aspect will make it worthwhile! Plus, Noah is going to the beach the NEXT week as well and we will miss out on a couple of days more than we usually miss him PLUS he won't be able to come to the baby shower because he will be having too much fun at the Beach with his Mawmaw and PawPaw to care about baby stuff. I am kind of bummed that he will be missing it but I am doing my best not to be selfish and remember that he will have a much better time there.

Baby shower: 8/17 is the date set for the baby shower. I have MY invitation and I must say they came out awesome. I am so excited for the opportunity to see so many wonderful people and to get the items we need to take care of our new addition. I am very thankful to my mom, my mother in law and my sister in law for all the hard work they are doing to plan and prepare for this fun event!

These last few have also not passed yet but they will come in the next 75 days or so!

Finished the nursery: After the baby shower we will work on this. I will probably be employing assistance in setting up baby furniture so Dusty doesn't have to do it alone since I wont be super helpful at 8 months pregnant even though I love putting things together. We aren't painting since we live in an apartment and would just have to paint it back but hopefully we will get some decorations to hang to make the baby side of our room all set for the little guy!

This isn't our actual nursery but this is the bedding we picked!

Baby dropped: I worry about this because I have always carried Oliver very low so if he plans on dropping, he may do so in a much more literal sense than expected.

Went into labor: As discussed, Oliver knows not to start any such business until at least 5 or 6pm on September 7th if not after so that he doesn't interfere with Noah's birthday celebration! Of course I say that now but as most people know, kids rarely listen to reason...

Went on maternity leave: I plan to work as long as I possibly can. I already told my supervisor that if labor starts at work I am staying as long as possible. The plan is that when I am in early labor and have contractions but am still ok in between I will stay off the phones and focus on e-mail, letters, special projects, etc to ensure I am still getting work done. I will also begin delegating any open things I have left to do so that they can be taken care of while I am out. I promised that once I got to a point where I knew I wasn't able to be productive and do my job that is when Dusty and I would head out to continue on our labor path.