Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The little Akin we're bakin is a....

On Christmas morning, I woke up at 6:00 to make my usual bathroom run and couldn't go back to sleep. I remembered that that morning we would find out how our lives would change and I was nervous and thrilled. I promised myself that I would let Nick sleep until at LEAST 9:30. I dozed on and off and when 9:30 finally rolled around, Icouldn't take it anymore. I woke Nick up and we went to sit by the tree and exchange presents. After opening all of our great gifts, we came to the best one. I knew that I wouldn't be able to look at what was in the envelope. Nick opened it, looked at it and looked at me with tears in his eyes. At that point, I HAD to look. I have to admit, for whatever reason, I was SURE that we were having a boy, not that I cared one way or the other, but I just knew that we would have a son. So, when I looked at the piece of paper and saw... I was SHOCKED! And that was a wonderful feeling! It was the BEST surprise ever. I am so excited about our little girl and I can't wait to meet her! Nick and I are thrilled to have a little girl to take to Disney World and dress up like a Princess. I can't wait to play Barbie's with her and watch The Sound of Music with her. Most of all, I can't WAIT to read with her. My mom read with me every night before bed until I was 15 and I hope to do that with all of our kids, but especially our little girl. I'm sitting in the nursery as I type this, daydreaming about rocking her in the rocking chair that I'm sitting in now and thinking about all the other wonderful memories that we will make together as mother and daughter. It's going to be a blast!

We kept the secret to ourselves until December 27th (last night). We ate with our parents, brothers and sisters-in-law and after dinner, the waitress brought the cake that we made to the table. After much anticipation, Nick cut the cake and everyone saw pink. It's now one of my favorite memories. I loved having our family there to share with us in the excitement! They are all just as excited as we are, if that's even possible.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

20 weeks down, 20 (ish) to go!

Week 20 is here! I thought that time would slow down while waiting on our little one to get here, but I'm amazed at how fast it is going.

I'm so thankful that the further along I get, the better I feel. I'm either hungry or tired ALL the time and I love it. Especially since I'm on Christmas break and can fall asleep whenever I can't keep my eyes open. Even the not-so pleasant things I'm coping with I find humorous. I can't get off the floor without help and after a big meal I can't breathe, ha. We are visiting my family in Arkansas and Mama's homemade cooking has made me and the baby two VERY happy people. Nothing hits the spot better than her roast and mashed potatoes.

I started feeling an occasional flutter at around 15 weeks, but last Monday when I was almost 19 weeks, I felt the first kick. It was the most amazing and weird feeling ever. I can't believe that there is actually a person inside my stomach kicking me. I feel like a character from Alien. Two days after I felt the first kick, Nick was able to feel it and now he has felt it 4-5 times. My mom and even my little brother (the other Nick) got to feel it. I'm still surprised when I walk past a mirror and see my belly. It's getting noticeably bigger every day. I was woken up in the middle of the night this week because my "growing pains" hurt so badly. Sure enough, the next day I had grown!

We had our anatomy scan on Thursday and it couldn't have gone any better. Our baby is perfect! The ultrasound tech did have a difficult time getting a shot of what was (or wasn't) between its legs. The baby was in the 3 worst possible positions to get a view. It was breech, it was facing my spine and it was hunched over with its body was between its knees. I guess that the third time really is a charm because when she looked for the third time, she was able to see what was there. We are sticking to the plan and had her seal the gender in an envelope and we are going to open it on Christmas morning. Nick took the envelope home, wrapped it and put it under the tree (after being tempted to hold the envelope up to the light, which he resisted). We are going to share the news with our families on Monday night, the 27th. We are all going to dinner and are getting a cake made, with the inside dyed either pink or blue. We'll make them suffer through dinner until we eat dessert. It will be a fun night!

I hope that you have a VERY Merry Christmas and that we all remember what it is we should be celebrating! Thank you God for Jesus!

"For God so loved the world that He gave is only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not die but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Monday, December 6, 2010

18 weeks and a bigger belly...

I’m so excited to announce that…I can’t see my feet! One morning, I woke up and thought “huh, I’m bigger today than I was yesterday.” And sure enough, I had gained two pounds. After Thanksgiving, I gained 3 more pounds. I should be ashamed, but since I’m just now starting to gain weight, I’m excited about it. I CAN'T stop eating. It was so wonderful to be able to enjoy all of our Thanksgivings and not be queasy. We ordered a pizza the other night and I ate more than Nick. Eeek! But, I love it. With my first pregnancy, I always told people that I loved to eat because it felt like I was doing a good deed by feeding someone else too. I haven't felt that way with this pregnancy until now. I feel like my over-eating is serving a purpose because I'm keeping my baby alive. (If you know me, you know that I can justify just about anything. Pizza is healthy because Tomatoes give you Vitamin C and you get Calcium and Vitamin D from the cheese. And if you look at the food pyramid, grains and breads should take up most of our daily diet, so there's where the healthy crust comes in. See how good I am at justifying things? ha)

Our BIG ultrasound is getting closer and closer and we are SO excited. I can hardly contain myself. I’ve had fun experimenting with all the old wives tales that supposedly predict a baby’s gender. Obviously, I know that they aren't true and that I should take them with an entire shaker of salt, rather than with just a grain, but it will be fun to see which ones are accurate. Well, as accurate as anything can be when there is a 50/50 chance in the first place. Here are some of the results, just for fun...

The Ring Trick: GIRL (you hang a ring on a string above your wrist and if it rocks back and forth it’s one gender and if it moves in a circular motion, it’s the other gender)

Chinese Gender Chart: BOY

Heart Rate: GIRL

I'm carrying low- BOY

Cravings: BOY- My Chick-Fil-A Lemonade and the occasional milkshake are really the only sweet things that I have wanted. And they say that if you crave sweet things, it’s a girl. Lately, I can hardly finish dessert. Sweet things taste 10x sweeter than normal. That deeply saddens me. They say that if you crave meat, you are having a boy and one day we drove past Ingles and their sign was advertising the London Broil that was on sale and my mouth immediately started watering. I ate an entire T-Bone steak that night for dinner.

And last but not least, the poll you’ve so sweetly voted on says that it’s a GIRL.

People ask us what we would rather have, a boy or a girl, and I can honestly say that we would be equally excited over both. Boys seem to be a little easier, from what I've witnessed. And since I have a little brother, excuse me, younger brother, (I can't call him "little" anymore) I have an advantage because I know boys. A girl would be a blast because I need someone to share my love of Audrey Hepburn and Disney Princesses with. I had the best time being a little girl and I love the relationship that I have with my mom and I think it would be awesome to have that same relationship with my daughter. So, all that to say, we are so glad that God chose our baby's gender and we didn't have to, because we would have NEVER been able to choose! We know that He has a special purpose for this child and he or she will be who they are because He made them that way.

Now, here is the picture that I have been promising my mom. There is definitely no hiding it! Not that I would want to, of course.