Now we play the waiting game

I had a fabulous time at my appointment today! I got a few new pictures of Andersen that are not the greatest because he is so squished, but they will do until next time (Sept 8th!). His heart rate is still in the 150s (153 to be exact!) and definitely makes his presence known by squirming about. He tends to favor my right rib cage and kicks it with all of his might to say hello. I went to radiology a few weeks ago for a follow up "big screen" ultrasound to check Andersen's kidneys. At 20 weeks, his left kidney was measuring ever so slightly larger than normal and a follow up at 32 weeks is standard. I am glad to say that his kidney is within the normal range, no longer a cause for concern, and looking good. Phew! Andersen has been head down for several months and will remain so until delivery.  Everything is still going well, now we play the waiting game. Here is the latest video from today's appointment. Between 24 and 30 seconds you can see details of his face, if you look closely. Does anyone else see a BIG forehead, small nose, chubby cheeks, and pointy chin? Enjoy!

[Just in case anyone was wondering, my next 4 appointments are scheduled and they are NOT weeks from now :) I set them straight today! I will return on the 8th, 13th, 22nd, and just in case... the 27th.]

Where has the time gone?

Tomorrow (Tuesday - the 30th), I will be 36 weeks pregnant.

It seems as though only days ago Jared and I found out we were expecting! We had just gotten home from the commissary, I had a "stomach ache" and couldn't put away groceries. This is highly unusual for me since I have a system to how groceries are put away and even though I know Jared is fully capable, it isn't MY way. The stomach ache I feigned only lasted about three minutes- the amount of time it took for the test to show me the results. PREGNANT. I didn't know whether to run downstairs with excitement or hide the secret until I really knew FOR SURE. No important "appointments" had been missed, it should have been a few more days until a real positive came up, but for some reason I couldn't get it out of my head and heart that I needed to test that day. Looking over the test again and it still saying "pregnant" in it's big ol' you can't mess reading this up digital letters, I decided I had to tell Jared right then. As he was putting away groceries (like the awesome husband he is), I nervously walked up to him and showed him the upside down test. I then threw my arms around him and wouldn't let go. He seemed a little confused/shocked/mildly excited, but he hugged me right back with a strength that let me know THIS TIME was going to be OKAY. The day we found out was already a special day - January 16th is my dad's birthday- but it became even more special when we received a call a few hours later letting us know good friends of ours had just delivered their new baby boy. It was meant to be...

This journey through pregnancy has had its many ups and downs for me. I have shed many tears and expressed many fears, but overall it has been amazing. My expectations were completely tossed in the garbage when nothing went according to the "this is how you should feel book." I was mildly nauseous a few hours out of every day the first couple of months, but by week 14 it was gone. Wasn't I supposed to be throwing up all the time? It's an old wives tale that the sicker you are, the healthier your baby is. I WANTED to be sick!! I thought my stomach was going to grow into this cute little half soccer ball bump, but all I had from the very beginning was a wide load waist. The chubby lasted longer than I wanted and the "bump" finally poked out, but not in the soccer ball look I was hoping for. My cravings have been little to none, except for the filet mignon and baked potatoes I could have eaten EVERY NIGHT! Chicken looked, sounded, and tasted gross... unless it came from Chik-Fil-A or McDonald's. Mmmmmm. I wasn't THAT tired and found it really hard to nap during the day. Wasn't I supposed to be so exhausted I couldn't do anything? The Lifetime movies always made it seem that way! I jumped from small maternity pants to large- completely skipping the mediums- and stayed pretty consistent with Sm/Med tops. I really hate pears... both as a fruit and as a body shape. Grrr. If I do say so myself, I have not been a terrible, hormonal crazy person and have acted quite "normally" through this all. But then again I am comparing myself to Lifetime movies. Despite all of my "opposites of what I am SUPPOSED to be feeling/looking," everything has been going well and Andersen has been healthy (and hopefully happy) at every appointment.

Thinking back over the time that has passed there have been many things I wished I had done differently. I find myself to be in an almost constant state of worry. I have been able to go days, maybe even a week, without checking on Andersen with my stereoscope and think it is such a great accomplishment. When in reality, normal people don't check on their baby with a stethoscope or get worked up about their appointments not being on the consistent timeline as other people that are also pregnant that they know. I have microwaved many steaks thinking they weren't dead enough (oh they were dead all right!) and have stayed away from lunch meats (my favorite thing is to have a smoooshed sandwich) because of the possibility of contamination. I wish I could have and would have relaxed more... I think that is my goal for the next four weeks... well, once I get that dag-on room finished! (Thursday!! It WILL be finished Thursday!!) I wish Jared could have been here to feel Andersen's first hard kick and squirm as he switched sides in my belly. I am happy though that he has gotten to see the "alien movement" over Skype. I wish Jared was here to take maternity pictures with so we would have the cute couple and a baby bump photo. I would have wished for a lot of things, but we are a military family. If we waited for a plan to be given to us, we would still be waiting. I should put my wishing away and be happy I am still doing so well ... I know it is not over just yet- I think I have been cut some slack because someone knew I couldn't take too much this go around...

I really hope Andersen knows already how much he is loved and how wonderful it has been to carry him thus far. I have enjoyed feeling his kicks, punches, and hiccups even when he has hurt my ribs, taken my breath away, and made my tummy feel funny. I hope he also knows that I am not as crazy as I sound and that even though his dad has missed out on his in-utero development, he will be there when it really matters. Here's to the last four weeks and delivering this baby as best I can!

I hope my belly button goes back to normal... that's how babies get out, RiGhT???

Whose nose will he have?

... Sorry if this post's theme seems stolen from a few people. I was just inspired and it got me thinking, I wonder whose nose Andersen will have? ...

I hadn't really seen baby pictures of Jared. I had heard he was an all-right mildly cute ADORABLE troublemaker child, but there were really no pictures to prove this. I, on the other hand, was the cutest, smartest, most brilliant, beautiful baby anyone had every seen. (cough cough cough - no one has actually said this, but I know it's true!)

Here to debut for the first time, Baby Jared and Baby Megan. (Don't laugh, we are children of the 80s. Okay, laugh a little... they are kind of funny!)

That IS Jared in a pink blanket.

Jared was a premie? Something like that.

He still walks around carrying his food like that!

And yes, he still eats cake like this too!
Some habits you just can 't get rid of :)

Me!

Who can resist this face??

While Jared eats ANYTHING,
this is how I spent most of every mealtime.
Gotta love the clean your plate club.
You can't get up unless you finish.
I never finished, I just fell asleep. 

Could I be ANY Cuter???
I think I have a black eye too. I was a tough kid.

So the big question is going to be, who will Andersen look like? Ears- Jared and I both have pretty good ears, so it could go either way and that is okay. Forehead- well... about the same size, BIG. The kid has no chance! Eyes- Jared's are brown and mine are green/blue... I think brown wins this one. Nose- we both have one, so he is in luck! Andersen will have one too :) Chin- from the ultrasounds it seems like mine, pretty pointy! I may win this one. Arms/Legs- He is gonna be a short one, I already know this! But short guys get married too!! Hair color- Jared born with bright blond, me with dark dark brown... despite the usual thinking of the Stolle blond, I am betting Andersen will come out with some red hair from the Francis side. (Even the Wasian's that my sister has have red tinted hair... have you ever seen a wasian with red hair? I have!)
No matter what he looks like he is going to be AMAZINGLY CUTE!!! :) :) Megan + Jared = ADORABLE :)

[I have made some progress on my to-do list! 2 loads of laundry done, just have to sort and put it ALL away. Have organized and put away a few other piles of things. I still haven't packed yet, maybe this weekend?]

... it's getting... closer...

As time has gone by my main focus point has been Jared's arrival home after deployment. This is supposed to happen before the holidays, but I seemed to have forgotten pushed to the back of my mind this other important date that comes before Jared's arrival home. I know it's coming, I see IT every day. How could I forget this special date? The extra 37 pound (I think... I stopped getting on the scale because it is so depressing so I am just taking a guess here!) basketball that sits on my belly is a daily reminder, but it just hasn't REALLY sunk in...

...UNTIL NOW!

I am a worrier. I am a list person. I list so I don't worry that I will forget something. The listing has started! This morning I packed my bathroom kit for the hospital because it would be the easiest to pack - sure enough it was! Took me all of five minutes. That could also be because I had a list that I needed to get of the things I wanted in the bag and I went to the store and got them a few days ago. Putting everything in the bag was the easiest part; making the list which made THIS feel so much more real was the hard part. It's done. That's all that matters.

With one bag packed I started the list for the second bag - my bag. My bag? HOLY COW! I need to pack my bag!!!!!! FOR... THE... BABY.... FOR... WHEN... HE .... COMES..... INNNNNN.... 5.... WEEEEEEEKKKKKKSSSS!!!

oH CRAP. It's very apparent I am having a baby. In my head I guess I thought he would just stay in my belly forever... But now... As the ticker counts down the number of days, it feels real. As of this coming Tuesday there will only be 5 weeks left. A week over a month. 37 or so days.

I feel unprepared. I feel scared of what is to come. I feel like the plan is I have no plan because of the Navy. Andersen's room isn't ready. My bag isn't packed... I can't decide what I want to wear to the hospital, let alone from the hospital. (I will be rocking my Gownie so I don't look like a hot mess in pictures while in the hospital though:) ) I haven't washed/put away/organized the majority of Andersen's blankets, clothes, sheets... everything! That means Andersen's bag isn't packed either! And I am supposed to know what to do when I bring him home with me?! Oh. Crap.

I think... I need... I have no idea. NO IDEA!!!  My only thought that makes me feel a little better is this: I have kept a dog alive for 4 years, she does eat her doodies (gross I know, but we can't get her to stop!), but she hasn't run away or died yet. That's good, right? Just tell me it is. Lie to me and tell me it will all work out and be okay.

I HATE FRIDAY APPOINTMENTS!

I really do hate Friday appointments. They are the worst! I've waited all week to check up on my sweet boy and thankfully my Friday afternoon appointment finally got here. Andersen is doing well. He was being a wee bit shy, but also because of his positioning (placenta was in the way) we didn't get a good shot of his face. He sure was happy to show off his "boy parts"! We didn't really get any good pictures of him, except well... his boy parts. I will not be posting those because I don't want the future president's in-utero pictures to come back and haunt him. I couldn't avoid posting them in his video because I have no idea how to cut segments out... oh well. Here is the video of Andersen hanging out and jumping around at our 32.5 week appointment. From here I will have another appointment in 3 weeks (BOOO!! but my doctor will be on vacation at 2 weeks) and then 2 weeks and then go every week starting at 37 weeks. I am getting so very excited! I also hope to post pictures of the nursery setup by the first week in September... don't hold me to it though. I hope you enjoy Andersen's video as much as I do! :)