Baby "Bruno"!

As I mentioned in my last post, on February 13th Michael and I found out that we were having a baby! We are super excited and can't wait to invite this new little member into our family!! Even before we were pregnant Michael would joke that we were only going to have boys. No girls for him. From day one Michael has nicknamed the baby "Bruno" (luckily for Michael the baby ended up being a boy, and not a girl). t sounds like a dog's name to me, but unfortunately it stuck. It works as a "womb name" though since I don't want to settle on a name until we get to meet the baby.

We are super excited for this new stage of our life and are amazed at how fast the pregnancy has gone by. Just for my own sake, here is a little very wordy timeline of some of the highlights of this pregnancy, with a few pictures in between :D

February 13th- found out we were having a baby!

March 4th- first appointment at 8 weeks Unfortunately, Michael just barely missed this appointment (although it turns out it was just "technical stuff"- nothing he would have enjoyed) since he had left for Texas on the 1st. But they confirmed that I was indeed pregnant, and informed me that in the next couple weeks I would have to go get the "dreaded" blood work done. Oh, and at this point the morning sickness had kicked in. It was probably around 7 weeks that it started, so Michael was lucky enough to be around for a few days of it. Nothing terrible at first, no throwing up, just extreme aversions to smells.

March 18th- lab work By now morning sickness was in full swing. I had only thrown up a handful of times but I had no desire to eat. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if Michael had been around to make me food so I didn't have to smell it. The worst was opening the fridge. Just thinking about it makes me cringe. I lived off of crackers, noodles with butter and cheese, cheese, lots of bagels, bananas, occasionally a yogurt, apple sauce, pretzels, granola bars and fruit snacks. Pretty much lots of carbs with a little fruit. All I have to say is thank goodness for prenatal vitamins! Anyway, I had to go get my blood work done at the health center on campus. I had never had any blood work done before, I hadn't even ever given blood, so I was a bit nervous about it. It went better than I expected...at first! I told the girl it was my first time and I was nervous. She was great, found my vein right away, I hardly felt the needle, and she talked to me the whole time to distract me. But then at the very end I caught sight of the little vials of blood. There was much more than I had expected and it just hit me. I was able to walk back to the waiting area, but after a minute of sitting there I was feeling  really queasy, clammy and I started to black out. I staggered to the front desk, they thankfully got the gist that I felt I was going to pass out, and got me to a comfy reclining chair and handed me the trash can for me to throw up in. After a few minutes of laying there I was feeling much better and able to make it to work just a couple minutes late. I swear it would have gone much better if I hadn't been so sick and eating normally. But it still makes me nervous to have my blood drawn again.

March 25th- 11 week appt This was my first appointment with my actual doctor. I was really impressed with her. We got to listen to the baby's heart beat which was so amazing and a huge relief! Everything was looking good, and not terribly concerned that I hadn't gained any weight yet. This is the appointment I really wish Michael could have come to. But I called him as soon as I got out and told him all about it. I remember being on cloud 9 that afternoon and couldn't stop smiling! We were going to wait to tell our family until graduation when we could do it in person, but I just couldn't wait to share the news. I called my mom after I got off work that night, and she was slightly surprised, but super excited. Michael told his family a day or so later, and over the next few weeks it was all about telling our closest friends. We decided until after my next appointment to make it public knowledge. Just to make sure that we were really out of the riskiest time and everything was ok.

April 25th- 15 week apt This appointment was the day before graduation, and right in the middle of moving and my parent's visit. But Michael was able to be at this one!! Plus, my doctor wanted to squeeze in one last appointment before we moved. We got to hear the baby's heart beat again- nice and healthy! Although, they were a little concerned that I had gone down a pound. But morning sickness was getting lots better, and I hadn't thrown up in a couple weeks, so my eating habits were slowly getting back to normal. I bet I would have been a little faster at getting back to normal if I hadn't been so stressed with moving, finals, and graduation. When I am stressed I don't eat much.

My first belly shot! Taken at 15 weeks 6 days in Huntsville the day before we left for Texas. I was totally sticking out my stomach in this picture...so it's a bit deceiving. 

May 7th- 1st Appt in SA @ 17 weeks This was my first appointment with my new doctor. Once we moved here I started asking around and lots of women had gone to doctors at this particular practice. When I called to make the appointment my first choice doctor was booked out a couple months, so I went with my second choice. I wasn't too disappointed since they all have similar qualifications and I had heard multiple good reviews about a few different doctors. The people at the office were all very friendly, I really liked the doctor's nursing assistant, and my doctor was pretty nice. Not quite as talkative as my last doctor, but still nice, and I am confident she will knows what she is doing. Everything was still looking great and in just two short weeks I had gained 5 pounds! I am convinced it was because the stress of moving was over and I had gotten into a new routine.

Oh, and over these last couple weeks, since moving to San Antonio I thought I had started feeling some little flutters.

17 Weeks 6 Days

May 15th- 18 week Ultrasound At my last appointment they were surprised that I had not had an ultrasound done with my previous doctor, so they made sure to get me in for an appointment right away. I was so excited the night before our appointment that I could hardly sleep. And of course it was early...7:30 am early, and I had to be up around 6 in order to drink 16 oz of water an hour before the appt. By the time we were on our way to the appointment I had to go pee really bad. And of course the song playing in the car was the Les Mis one that Fantine sings with the rain in the background and of course they had to have a beautiful fish tank in the waiting room- nothing worse for a pregnant girl that has to go pee!
This appointment was by far the most memorable! It was amazing to see our little baby moving around on the screen. And of course we got to find out the gender. As soon as the ultra sound tech said that it was a boy I had such a peaceful feeling come over me. This was right. This little guy was meant to come to our family at this time. I glanced over at Michael and he had the biggest smile on his face. He was getting his little boy! Of course I would have loved to have a girl, but now that I know its a boy I wouldn't have it any other way. The ultra sound tech went through and checked every little part of his tiny body. I really appreciated that the tech would describe what we were saying and then say something along the lines of "that's normal" or "that looks great". It was so reassuring!

Of course I loved the whole 30 minutes, but I especially loved seeing his little arms and legs and his 10 fingers and toes. And throughout the whole ultrasound our little guy had his arm up by his face- a very Jenkins trait!

My favorite ultrasound picture! I have this as the lock screen on my phone- sometimes I just love to stare at it! 

In the couple of weeks following the ultrasound our little guys kicks were getting much stronger. Not enough for others to feel yet, but I sure knew what I was feeling!

19 Weeks 6 Days

Sunday June 2nd Just one day shy of being 21 weeks Michael was able to feel our little guy kick for the first time. It was such a fun moment. I had been trying to have him feel it for a while, but none of the kicks had been strong enough. And I was so excited that he got to feel him before I left on my vacation.

June 7th- 21 week Appt Nothing too significant about this appointment. I had gained 4 more pounds. A total of 9 for the whole pregnancy thus far. They did tell me that my next appointment would also be my glucose test. I guess I never realized that this involved getting my blood drawn again, so of course I was thinking about it periodically over the next 4 weeks. Oh, and they did measure my stomach for the first time. I measured 22 cm. Don't really know what that means, but just wanted to document it.

June 28th- While we were in Utah (near the end of our 3 week girls trip) my friend Courtney threw me such a fun baby shower. The baby's room is going to be a nautical theme, so she used that as the theme for the shower. The decor was adorable, and everything she made she let me keep so I have some fun additions for his room decor. It was a small, intimate group, of mostly family, but it was perfect! This little boy was so spoiled and it is easy to tell how loved he already is! Some highlights of the gifts- the diaper bag I had been eyeing from Lindsay, Corinne, Anie, and Brittany; a boppy pillow from my MIL; and an adorable handmade nautical carseat cover, blanket, bibs, and burp cloths from Courtney and Mama Hansen. And of course lots of other fun baby things!

Some shots from the shower

The hosts and some of my favorite friends!
Courtney did an amazing job on the decor and food. And Jess hosted some fun games. 

July 8th- 26 week Appt/Glucose Test When I first got there I had to go up to the lab to drink the delicious orange drink ;) It wasn't terrible tasting, kind of soda-ish, but it left a weird after taste. Then I went down to my regular appointment. I met with the nurse practitioner since my doctor was out of town. She was a hilarious black lady. Things were still looking good, but she was a bit concerned that I had gained a whopping 9 pounds in just 4 weeks. Supposedly they suggest 1 pound a week- oops! No one had ever told me that before. I blame it on my 3 week vacation/road trip with the girls in my family. But overall I have only gained 18 pounds, which is not bad. I have started walking with some friends a couple mornings each week so hopefully my next appointment will be a little better for the scale. Oh, and the blood test went a lot better than my last one. I just made sure to sit for a few minutes before getting up and sipped some water and ate some fruit snacks. I never felt a bit queasy- Success! 

26 weeks 6 days

Phew! That was a lot of catch up. Sorry for being so wordy. There are so many things that I just don't want to forget! We are coming up on the 3rd trimester in just a few days which means my appointments will increase to every 2 weeks. Time is going by so fast! Pretty soon it will be once a week and before we know it October 14th will be here! Sometimes I wonder how we will ever be ready for our little guys arrival.