The BIG Reveal

The outside of the card I made to hold the gender sonogram

 This child is a blessing.  It is not just another pregnancy.  This baby was not owed to us and we certainly are not worthy to be another baby's parent, but God saw fit.  For that we are thankful and we celebrate!  We cannot wait to meet this baby and introduce to the friends and family waiting to love and celebrate this new life. 

To my husband, thanks for going along with my crazy ideas (this one and the many more that are sure to follow) and waiting an extra 3 weeks to find out what we are having. I love you.

 

To Kendra, Barney, KT and Cassandra, thanks for being part of our private celebration and reveal and for making it so incredibly unique and special for us. 

So, without further ado....

The inside of the card I made.  Kendra filled it in and attached the sonogram. 
 

I can't lie!  Mark and I always hoped for a son and a daughter...and in that order, no less! (darn the planner...dare I say...Emerald in us...I wonder if those that know what the heck I am referring to are even reading this!)  A baby is pure love no matter the gender so while in one moment our family became something we had not imagined, it will still be something spectacular and we count down the days until we meet this little guy.

Curious about the name?  If you remember blog posts and FB posts from the Garrett days when he was noted always as Baby G, we shall call this little one, Baby B, short for Blake Cash King.  Fitting for the second prince of our family, don't you think!

I feel like he must know that we found out he is a boy.  He has been kicking me hard since last night :)  That's okay though, I like knowing he is in there growing and getting strong.  

If you have a moment, watch our reveal video.  Barney worked really hard to video the reveal for us.  Zooming ain't easy folks :)  I kid, I kid!

More pictures will be added once we receive our flash drive from the photographer, but the one below will have to suffice for now.  I will be stalking her FB page for a sneak peak and frequenting my mailbox until it arrives.  I'm not impatient...nope, not me...just in love with the thought of the memories that will be held on that flash drive and all the cool artwork that will be adorning our walls!

 

NOW TO BEGIN SHOPPING AND DECORATING!  FINALLY WE KNOW WHAT DIRECTION TO TAKE :)

*Mark just reminded me that with the addition of boys, it means additional cars to be bought.  Oh dear!!!!  I'm going to need a much larger garage.   

 

1ST SONOGRAM

IT IS STILL A BABY!!!! 

 

I had the fetal development scan yesterday. It was quick, too quick. All he told me is that the baby weighs exactly what it should at 17 w, 6 days (1/2 lb). It literally lasted 5 minutes, which is how long he told me it would take. My scan at this stage with Garrett took close to 30 minutes. She measured every single bone and made sure all the important innards were accounted for (stomach, heart, kidneys, brain, etc). Not this guy. I am getting more and more disappointed at the thought, but I am with midwives for a reason I guess. Minimal intervention is the name of the game here. My next appointment is in 2 weeks so we'll see what the midwife says about the baby.

So, clearly I am not making any huge announcements regarding gender today or I would have said it by now. I had the sonographer print out a picture of the revealing body parts and write girl or boy on a piece of paper and enclose in an envelope. A special helper will be getting this envelope soon so we can do a special gender reveal with our photographer. I can't wait! Watch for pics (and hopefully a video) coming soon.

In the meantime, here is the only picture I have of this little one.

Looking straight at the sweet face!
 

Here is me at 18 wks.

The magical gender envelope.


Dying to know what is in here!  Have to give to secret agent fast before we peak :)



 

Gender Reveals: Yes or No?

cute invite from Zazzle
see it here

I am planning to have photos taken when we find out what we are having but I want to do it in a fun way. I don't have any pictures of our sonogram with my family from when we found out we were having our first child, a son. I loved sharing that experience with them, but I wish I had that look on their face captured forever or at least a picture that shows we were all there together.

So as I'm making plans and googling ideas I have come across some hate filled blogs on the subject of gender reveal parties. I have read things like self absorbed, self indulgent, continues our me, me, me society, just another boring party for your friends and family to make time for, children have been born forever why get all excited now, and the list of negativity goes on.

At first I thought, well, maybe they are right. Being a culture of social media our society has maybe become a bit oversharing. But, you know what? I think it is okay to share our excitement with those we love and if they love us back then they should be just as excited as we are. I waited a long time to have kids. Long after my friends had finished that part of life, but I was still excited for them. Why wouldn't you be excited for your family or friend as she starts this new adventure in life?

We are not planning a party, but instead a gender reveal photoshoot so that me, my husband and our toddler son can find out in a fun way what we are having and have the looks on our faces captured. Sure I could have just had the memory of the sonographer telling me, do you see that extra leg right there? Well, it isn't an extra leg. It's a boy. Yes, that is great, but there is nothing wrong with making a celebration out of it and having fun pictures to look at forever. Sure, I will post a collage of these pics and maybe a sample of the video I am hoping to have made at the same time on social media, but the intent is to capture this for our joy and memories and for those that love us, to be able to share in our joy no matter how far away they may live.

So if you are out there annoyed and horrified by these so called self indulgent parties and photos, just remember, someone shared in your joy too. Even if you thought no one cared that you had gotten pregnant like billions of women past, someone did care and was excited for you. I bet you even counted down the days until your sonogram so you could find out if your house was going to be filled with pink or blue onesies. Why pretend this is not a joyous occasion? I can't imagine such a boring world where no one celebrated or found joy in simple things such as the gender of your child. Life is worth celebrating, so party it up!

If you don't mind sharing in our joy, please come back later in August when our pics are up.

Tell me your thoughts?

Growing Baby #2 has begun!

Well, it looks like we are doing this parenting thing again.  About 7 weeks ago I found out we are expecting.  I actually thought it didn't happen that month but apparently my normal sign was just a fake out....A good fake out.  We are all thrilled.  Well, G doesn't understand at all.  I try to tell him to rub my belly and kiss his brother or sister and he wants to bang on my belly instead.  All boy that child.  If we were having a dog, he would be extra gentle I bet, but a kid growing in my belly does not seem to interest him.  29 more weeks for him to get used to the notion I guess.

We told my family and Mark's brother, Matt, and his wife and kids while we were in Ohio last week.  Everyone apparently already knew my incredible news they say.  I guess telling Facebook that you are napping in your car at lunch and have a sudden disgust for bananas makes you instantly prego in their book.  Since then we have just been telling people here and there. 

I had my first "real" appointment with the midwives this morning.  Honestly, we were a little nervous.  I have continued to bleed almost weekly since I first took that test, but took the intense morning sickness, food repulsion and a case of the sleepies as a good sign.  After 5 billion questions Midwife Amy finally did the long awaited for Doppler and a strong 160 beats was heard.  Such an amazing sound.   No ultrasound until at least 17 weeks...boo.  I can't wait to get a little peak.

Mark told me I need to be fair to baby #2 and give him/her the same fanfare I gave G so I guess it is weekly/monthly bump picks and a blog for this one too :)  Hope you are ready for my weekly "why does everyone tell me I'm huge" posts on FB.  Amy told me that the more pregnancies you have the bigger the baby.  G was 9 lbs, 4 oz.  All I could say was OH DEAR!  Now there is something to look forward to...not!  Another natural, unmedicated birth coming up. 

Oh, I left out the best part!  This little one will arrive sometime near December 26.  Poor thing, but we'll make it right.  That's my promise.