House Update

It is amazing how quickly our house is taking shape. Our builder says it isn't going up as quickly as he would like, but I have no complaints.We go out about once a week and take a look at what has been done. Here are a few pictures:

Step 1: 03/11/12

Step 2: 03/24/12

I love the difference in the trees, compared to the above picture. 

Step 3: 03/28/12

Only four days later! 

We went tonight to look, but I didn't get a picture. Most of the stud walls were already up (2 days after the above picture). I think if the rain would have held off today, all the stud walls would have been completed.

Damon has been working at the house site duing his off time. He is helping the builders, going alone to clean up the lot, and has also cut some trees.

Me? I supervise! Lol!

 

Here are pictures of our floorplan and front elevation. I do not have the blueprints in an electronic version, so I had to take pictures of the hardcopies. Maybe you will be able to discern some of the layout. Clicking the picture should make it larger. Ignore all the squiggly lines- those show the electrical wiring.



Well, I suppose that is about all for the house updates. I will post more pictures soon!

Oh, I forgot to mention on my last post.... 23 days until we find out if we are having a Baby Girl McGough, or a Baby Boy McGough!



Baby Update 16wks, 5days

Let me see... I am not sure I have much to say as far as a baby update, so I will just mention a bunch of random stuff. Try to stay with me on my tangents.

I am finally showing! This is very exciting for me. It seems just in the last week or week and a half that I have noticed a rounder tummy. For some reason, you can tell best when I wear t-shirts. I promise to get a tummy picture up soon. I have been lazy when it comes to taking those. Also, I like for Damon to take my pics. I am not a stand-in-front-of-the-mirror photographer. Of course, because of that, the fact that it is hard to catch me in nice clothes (my lounging/pj wear comes on as soon as I make it through the door in the afternoons), and the fact that Damon has been working a lot lately (he's my photographer), pictures are scarce to say the least.

I still haven't had any real cravings, but the other night I saw something I just had to have. We were out, eating Mexican, and a waiter kept coming by us with margaritas. They looked sooooo good. Lol! I am far from a regular drinker, but I do like a margarita when I eat Mexican food. So, after drooling over them as they continuously passed by, Damon finally stopped our waiter and ordered a virgin margarita for me. Who knew you could make such? Well... you really can't. It was icy and refreshing, but it was basically just a lime slushy. It was definitely missing the tangy flavor that only Tequila can provide.

I took a picture of my non-alcoholic refreshment:

I have started sleeping on my sides now. No more back-sleeping for me. I always thought that this would be an easy pregnancy adjustment, but I was wrong. I have always been a side-sleeper and hardly ever slept on my back. That all changed with this pregnancy. I have loved sleeping on my back! Now, side-sleeping is not what I desire. The first few nights I tossed back and forth, from side to side, all night- about every 45 minutes. I would wake up and feel like my hips should have been bruised- my muscles were so sore. It has gotten better, but I still haven't been sleeping too well. I am still unsure of why that is. Yesterday evening I decided to take a nap on the couch while Damon was at his fireman's meeting. I fell asleep about 6:30. When I awoke I thought, "It must be about 8:00. I need to get a few things done before bedtime." I looked over at the clock in our kitchen and it read 10:01! I guess I needed to catch up on my sleep. I got up, brushed my teeth and went straight to bed. I had no problem going right back to sleep.

Here is a quick list of things to note so far in my pregnancy:
- I love things that are cold- Icees, popsicles, snowcones, drinks with lots of ice, etc.
- I am yet to have any sickness- however brushing my teeth has made me gag fairly often.
- No heartburn yet- this is fabulous since I love spicy food.
- I have had no food aversions.
- We have a definite girl name, but no boy names (I always thought it would be the other way around. Girl names have always been hard for me to pick).
- Picking a daycare has been, and still is, an impossible task- We are on a few waiting lists. Maybe one day I can make a decision.

15 Week Appointment

I finally had my appointment. They took me back as soon as I arrived. That was nice. I was in and out in about 45 minutes!

I have gained 3 pounds since my last appointment- 5 weeks ago (when I had lost a little). So I am now 1 pound heavier than I was when I went for my first appointment at 4 weeks. Apparently that is fine, but I'll admit it bugs me just a little. I can thank my husband for that. He has told me that I am not eating enough and that our baby is probably malnourished. He was joking, of course (I promise), but I'll admit I had a dream the night before my appointment where my doctor told me that exact thing. Joking or not, his comment kinda stuck in my head. But, let me tell you, the comment he made has been far from the worst thing I have heard from people so far. I'll spare you all that comment. Anyway, I guess my little Love-Bug is just burning all my calories. I eat when I am hungry and I suppose that is all a girl can do.

I got to hear my baby's heartbeat again. Damon did not go to this appointment. He was working. I decided I would record the heartbeat on my phone to play back to him later, but he called right as we were about to take a listen, so I put him on speaker-phone and he was able to listen in. I am so glad he was able to hear the live version.

My baby's heart rate caught me by surprise. At our ultrasound appointment (10 weeks) the heart rate was 176bpm. I was expecting it to be in the 160's this time. Apparently I was anticipating the high 160's too, because when she said that the heart rate was 154bpm I was truly shocked. I had to ask her twice, because Damon and I have both had it in our heads that this baby is going to be a girl, and 154bpm flashed a bold BOY in my head.

I know you can't predict a baby's gender based on wives' tales, but it is fun to just see what they "predict". At 176bpm we predicted girl- even the doctor. I think that is how the seed was planted in my mind. Damon has always predicted girl, but when I saw my ultrasound, I was thinking boy the whole time. Somewhere between that appointment and this one I changed my mind to girl. Tammy, the nurse at my doctor's office, said she still feels it's a girl, despite the much lower heart rate, because the heartbeat sounded like a washing machine. This one I have never heard, but she clarified that wives' tales predict that washing machine heartbeats are girls and hoof beats are boys. Who knew? It was funny because about that time my little washing machine turned into a galloping horse. I couldn't hold in my laughter. It was just too funny. Dr. Bolton says that all babies have both heart rhythms, just that each gender tends to have one more often. So, if we are going on wives' tales I guess I am still predicting a girl, but I am really excited to find out what we are having because I think it could be a toss-up. I mean, as I have said before, how can a heart rate or heart rhythm predict the sex of a baby? I guess we will just have to wait and see.

We go back on April 23rd to find out what we are having! Let the countdown begin.
Okay- I already have a countdown- it's 33 days away!

No appointment!

I have posted several times about looking forward to my appointment, which was scheduled for the other day (Tuesday). I was very excited about hearing my baby's heartbeat again. It is so hard to wait when you can't feel your baby yet. I just want some reassurance that all is well.

Well, I got to my doctor's office, for my appointment, and I noticed the receptionist was giving me a funny look as I was walking up. I told her I was there for my 3:00 appointment. She just kinda looked at me a second and then said, "Dr. Bolton isn't in the office this week. You must be mistaken." That was not something I wanted to hear. I promptly told her that I did have an appointment that day and she then turned to check her computer. My appointment wasn't there. Interesting. She said, "Is there anything I can do for you? Do you need your pills refilled or anything?" Pills!?!?! I told her I was there for a prenatal appointment (it is true that I still do not look like I am pregnant- at all). Then she got a bit haughty. I could see all over her face what she was thinking- That I was a pregnant idiot whose brain had taken a vacation. She irritatedly replied, "Well, you must have gotten your dates mixed up. I think you are mistaken." Oh my! That flew all over me. I know I gave her a not-so-nice look as I grabbed my appointment card out of my purse and handed it to her. I said, "I think you must be the one who was mistaken." Clear as day, on my appointment card, it said 3/13/2012 @ 3:00. She quickly changed her attitude. She said, "Oh no, how could this have possibly happened? I am so sorry. I will work you in ASAP next week. When is good for you? You just tell me a time and I will make it work."

So, now my appointment will be this next Tuesday, the 20th. I am still looking forward to it, but I wish this mix up had not occurred. I was ready to cry by the time I got back to my car. Thank goodness I was already in town doing other things that day. If I had gotten ready, make-up and all, on a Spring Break day, and driven all the way into town for just that appointment, I would have been very angry.

Mary Evelyn

My friends, Brittani and Devin, welcomed their little girl, Mary Evelyn, into the world on February 26th! She was so prompt that she arrived 4 weeks early! She wasn't expected until later in March, but, like most women, she didn't need anyone telling her when to arrive. She made her own rules! I just got to meet her this past week, so I waited to post until I had pictures. She is such a cutie!

Here is a picture of Mary Evelyn in the hospital- I stole this from her mommy's Facebook ;-)

Here I am with Miss Mary Evelyn!



Such a beautiful little girl!

House Update

Our house is moving along. Last week, although the weather wasn't the most ideal, our builder got out there and had part of our land cleared for the house. It looks very different- in a good way. The cleared spot made it easier to picture our house, which was exciting. This week they will start digging for the footings. Next week, during Spring Break (I LOVE SPRING BREAK!), I will be picking out the exterior colors, including the brick, siding, shutters, and shingles. I will also start picking out cabinets, flooring, etc. I am so glad this project is now off the ground and moving along.

Here is a picture of our cleared house spot:

Second Trimester!!!

Goodness! It has been a while since I have posted. I guess there isn't too much going on, but really I think it is that I have been too lazy.

My first post this evening is about moving into my second trimester of pregnancy!!! I am very excited about this, and the idea that I am now 1/3 of the way to getting to meet our baby! I find it interesting that my three baby sources are giving me different days for the beginning of this trimester. My pregnancy book tells me it was last week (12 weeks). My blog tells me it is this week (13 weeks) and my iPhone app tells me it is next week (14 weeks). I decided to go with 13, since that is basically 1/3 of the way to 40 weeks.

Lately I have been more tired than in the past weeks. I thought my fatigue was getting better, but I suppose that was just a short break, because it has been back on a daily basis as of late. I have also been having a lot of headaches. I refuse to take any medication, so I have been waiting them out. Usually sleep will provide relief. Luckily they haven't been too bad. I know if it was bad enough I would probably break down and take a Tylenol, but.... not yet. Still no sickness. At this point I am assuming it is never going to come... a huge blessing!

My next appointment will be in one week, March 13th. I will be 14 weeks and 2 days. I can't wait to hear the heartbeat again. It is difficult waiting this period out. I can't feel my baby, so I just have to have faith that all is well.