Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Here it is...

my FIRST pregnant picture!!! Eeek!
18 Weeks and 2 Days




And, for your entertainment, here is another one that I took right after this one...

The last few days, I have really started to show and FEEL pregnant! Holy Moly! It is so great though. I am loving being pregnant. I started feeling little flutters about 2 weeks ago - at first I wasn't sure if it was the baby moving or just my lunch...but I have decided that it is the baby! It is so wOnDeRfUl!!!

We get to find out the sex of the baby NEXT THURSDAY April 14...any guesses on the gender??? When I was first pregnant, several of my friends gave me their opinions on whether or not to find out the gender. One girl from work didn't find out until the day her son was born. She said it was like Christmas time in the delivery room. She loved every second of it. Another friend told me that she HAD to know because she wanted to know what she needed to buy! 

I talked with Carl about both of these options (since there are only two...haha) and I was really leaning towards having the sex be a surprise! I thought it would be just like the movies - delivering the baby and having the doctor say "It's A ______!!!" But Carl wanted just the opposite. I find that I have to be careful with how I think. It would be really easy to say, "I'm carrying this baby, so we should do it my way," but that wouldn't be fair to Carl. So, we talked about it, and decided that as we have more children, we will leave some to be a surprise. 

Carl is convinced that this baby is a BOY. So is my mom. I secretly think it's a boy too, but I'm hoping it will be a girl. I hope I don't offend anyone, but I think that those women who get really depressed about having a boy instead of a girl, or the other way around, are ridiculous! The way I see it, is you go into pregnancy with a 50/50 chance of a boy or a girl. So, when I see women saying that they cried when it was a boy and they really wanted a girl, it kind of makes me a little frustrated. (Hormones, anyone?) Would you love your baby any less? I realize that these women go on to LOVE their babies no matter what, and they eventually forget that they were disappointed in the first place. I guess that is just my rant for the day. :)

So far, this pregnancy has been great. I don't have anything to compare it to, so that makes it easy I guess. I haven't really had any weird cravings - just a LOT of citrus! Oranges and GRAPEFRUIT are the two things I can't get enough of. The only thing that has really changed, besides my energy level, is that I can't brush my teeth without gagging. I have to brush right when I wake up, or I risk losing my breakfast. It's horrible because I am a freak about brushing my teeth! Hopefully this will pass too.

I hope you all are ready for lots of baby themed posts, because they will be coming!

5 comments:

MAH said...

So exciting! We decided to find out the gender, mostly so that we could be a little more prepared. Though with our first the Dr was 99% it was a girl, so the baby shower was thrown, and girly things were bought. (I couldn't actually force myself to buy any girl things, the outfit that I bought to bring baby home, was gender neutral.) We did end up with a big surprise, as she was really a he. It doesn't really matter the gender, just that baby is healthy and that everything else goes well. Good luck with everything Ashley. And congrats once again!

Renee said...

You are looking so cute and I love that you are so wonderful and are going to be a terrific mother (whether it be to a daughter or a son). I don't think I have a preference one way or the other on the gender, I'm just excited to be Aunt Nae! Although I do like Phineas more than Phjuanita! Love ya!

Natalia said...

I had no idea you were pregnant, congratulations! My husband and I were convinced we were having a boy, but the ultrasound showed a girl. I was thrilled. My husband was a little disappointed, but I know our little princess will be a daddy's girl through and through when she gets here.

Good luck with these next months!

Ashley said...

Natalia! I bet she will be a daddy's girl in no time! She will be adorable! Congratulations to you too!

Renee, Phineas is actually starting to grow on me. I think we'll have a Phineas and a Phoebe.

Thanks Meghan!!! :)

The Burk Family said...

Oh Ash you are so cute!! I am so excited to see your cute little tummy in July! I sure love you.... and I think its a girl! Love ya