37 weeks

I'm a little behind in updating, but there's really no news to share. I apologize if this post is scattered. On my 36 week appt, I was dilated 1 cm and 70% effaced... there was no change in that on my 37 week appt. Mostly, I am just really tired from not sleeping well these days - either due to discomfort or my mind racing. I feel very anxious and nervous and worried and excited. The swelling from my knees down is unlike I could've ever imagined. But for that matter, almost everything about pregnancy has been unlike I could've ever imagined, haha. I remember finding out I was pregnant... how surreal those moments were... and how 40 weeks seemed lightyears away. And here we are, waiting for this tiny life to finally be in our arms - any day now. It's hard to wrap my head around it sometimes. It's funny how unfocused I am at times lately... I found my phone in the work refrigerator, topped off my glass of milk with tea, and on several occassions have driven past my destination without realizing,. I turned 30 a couple weeks ago, but I guess it didn't really phase me.

Christmas Eve we went to movies to see Little Fockers and then had friends over for cocktails that night. We woke up Christmas morning to 3 inches of snow!!! It was beautiful! We enjoyed spending the day with my mom and family. I couldn't believe that the snow lasted and even accumulated overnight, so Tim had a snowy birthday which was really special! We had a really nice day and evening, ending with Christmas with my dad and family. And the ground is still covered in snow this morning! It's been so wonderful to see the ground and houses covered in this white powder snow for 3 whole days... what a treat!

These pics are @ 35 weeks. Yes, I feel as uncomfortable as I look!

33 Weeks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had a wonderful and very busy last few weeks! Our first baby shower was at my Aunt Shirley's house (Summer Williams, Stephanie Crawley, and Emily Spencer helped in hosting) on 11-11 after work. The next morning on 11-12, we had our LG baby shower (hosted by Heather Thatcher, Emily Owens, and Vanessa Stacks). And our last shower was this past Saturday 11-20 at Chad and Miranda's home (hosted by Chad & Miranda Matthews and Dorsey & Jennifer Pumphrey). We had a wonderful turnout of friends and family at every shower; we are so blessed with the people in our lives!! Everyone was so kind to shower us with gifts and wonderful food!! I have posted a few pics from each shower below (more to come later).

I have been to the doctor 2 weeks in a row, one a regular visit and the next due to a virus but am feeling much better this week. Carson is doing great and everything seems to be right on schedule.

Tim's mom, Gay, arrived Saturday in time for the shower and has spent the week with us. We all got to Tennessee last night along with Bill, Josh, Hope, and Madison for a long Thanksgiving weekend, and cannot wait for the rest & relaxation ahead!

11-11 Shower

A preview to the baby book Granny is making!


The blanket Franny knitted for Carson!


Indeed!


11-12 Shower

We love this diaper cake! RTR!


Ugh... I guess it will be a while before I'm thrilled about any photo of myself...


Adorable cake to match the nursery!!

11-20 Shower

Everyone just loves to feel my belly!


Big Al to welcome Baby Carson :)


Chad, Miranda, Tim, Me, Jennifer, Dorsey


And here's a pic of me today at 33 weeks...

30 weeks!

And so the final 10 week countdown begins!
Here are a couple of pics we had taken at Tate Farms 2 weeks ago... I am growing bigger (all over, ugh!) everyday!





Thank you Miranda for taking the pictures!

28 weeks!

Time has started to fly by like I could've never imagined. 10-12 more weeks and our baby boy will be HERE! This week's appointment was very exciting! Thank you Dad and Jen for the 4-D ultrasound! Now we know what Carson really looks like! This ultrasound was so amazing! I had some caffeine and sugar before the appointment and he was on the move! We could see every facial expression from laughing to pouting! He put his hands in his mouth, rubbed his eyes, and played with his toes! His feet were over his head and he was so scrunched up, but we got some great pics! He should be about 16" long and 2.5lbs by now. His heart rate was 136. I had my glucose screening also to determine if I have gestational diabetes and should have the results this week. I'll be posting more belly and nursery pics soon!

Who do you think he looks like??

Sweet boy!

Grinning!

See my tongue!

Fingers grabbing toes! SO cute!

24 weeks!

I'm 24 weeks today, wow! 6 mths! I don't even know what to say...I am stunned with the reality of this! We did decide on a name in the last few weeks, Carson Bryant Hicks. So it's been fun to start referring to him by name! My appointment last week went well. His heartrate was 149. No news which is good news! Carson has been moving a good bit and getting stronger, but Tim still hasn't been able to feel him. Soon we hope. I feel like a blimp - there's no hiding it these days! We've done a lot of work in the nursery in the last couple of months and it's really coming together! Thank you Gramma Gay for the bedding! It looks so good and is so perfect for our little one!! Hope you like the pics!

It's a BOY!!

Our 20wk appointment was Friday where they did a Fetal Assessment Ultrasound. Basically, just taking pictures and measurements of the baby's brain, heart, spine, organs, etc. And at the end of all that, they revealed the gender! We (me, Tim, my mom, Emily, and Gay on speakerphone) were all in shock when she said boy! Everyone had psyched themselves up to believe there would be a girl in my belly! We are so happy though! He looks to be growing and developing just as he should! Now if we could only pick a name! Wow, it's so tough!! To realize I am now more than half way seems crazy to me. It still feels like I'm dreaming! I have been feeling some movement... which is not at all what I had expected it to be like, and is easily missed. Everyone told me it would feel like butterfly flutters - to me, it feels like bubbles. I usually only notice it when I'm at home - I guess because I can be still, so the nights & weekends are a good time to pay attention for them. I guess the last half will start to go by pretty fast since we're now into football season and then the holidays... January will be here before we know it!


Definitely all boy!


Lovely profile :)


The yawn was so adorable to watch in slow motion!


Kicking feet!

18 weeks...

I'm feeling so much better these days!! I started a new job last week, and am loving it! I know it was the right thing for me to do for so many reasons. I'm rarely sick anymore, and the tiredness as starting to ease up. Last week's doctor visit went well, no news really. Baby's heartrate was 152 and doctor said based on that she's guessing it's a girl! We find out for sure in 2 weeks, can't wait!!

I'm posting the first pic of my pooch...

15 weeks (almost)!!

I had my last doctor appointment on July 9 (13w 1d), and everything seems great! Baby's heartrate was 140, and she said 120-160 is the range for that size. I've been experiencing a lot of back pain, but the ultrasound didn't show any cause... so she said it's most likely just from being on my feet all day at work. I'll be 15 weeks this Thursday, and am feeling much better overall. I am rarely sick anymore, but I don't have the energy yet that I've heard the second trimester brings. I am hungry and eating every 3 hours, though I have lost 2.5 lbs. I imagine that will soon change.

We are off to the beach this week for some much needed relaxation!!

Baby!!


This is a down angle on the face...


And top left, a little hand!

Can't wait to be a dad!

So... Amanda sends me a text saying "Ummm.. Hmm" and it's like I knew right away! I called and made her tell me and I could hardly stay in my chair the rest of the day at work. I know I couldn't keep it a secret long!

Seeing the little heart beat (after going crazy in the waiting room for 30 minutes!) is the most amazing thing. I think I showed the ultrasound pics to anyone who would look at work that afternoon.

Now that it's settled in for a few weeks, I can't believe the work to do! Furniture, daycare, books, articles, strollers, car seats; start stocking diapers now?!? And my poor, sick wife. ;-(

Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts and wishes for us. After 3 years of marriage fun, the real journey has begun! Look out 2011! There's another Hicks comin!

Tim aka Dad!

Our BIG News!

Surprise! Surprise! We're expecting!

Here's how it all came to the surface for us...

Wednesday, May 12, I left work early because I was so sick. I went to the doctor the next morning, and blood work confirmed that I had a bacteria infection. And they were also concerned about a possible appendectomy (All results came back negative for that). I went through the next week still so sick I could barely function. Something just didn't seem right since I had been on very strong antibiotics and I seemed to be getting worse.

Thursday, May 20, I woke up knowing I was pregnant. I had never had that feeling before, and it was so strange. I had sent Tim a text message asking his opinion, but we both just didn't think it could be true. It took everything I had to make myself go buy a pregnancy test (first ever in 29 years). So I got an entire basket of things I didn't need, in hopes of the cashier passing the pregnancy test through without noticing. I couldn't tell you if that worked... or why I was so weird about the ordeal. Within minutes, there were 2 pink lines showing. I could not believe my eyes. Over the next half hour, I rechecked it many times to see if one line might have faded or disapppeared... it never did. My exact text message to Tim was at 1:23pm reading "Ummmmmm. Hmm.". So he called and we talked about it... both in shock, but equally excited. I immediately went back to the doctor to have this confirmed (which she did) as well as taking me off of the antibiotics I had been taking.

And I continued to be sick... very sick... all day, everyday.

Friday, June 11, my first OB appointment. I was so nervous. I had no idea what to expect, no idea if I would like the doctor, no idea if there would be good or bad news. Tim met me there with a dozen yellow roses and a chocolate chip cookie... my heart melted, so sweet! The appointment went great, much to my surprise, I was unbelievably relieved. Through the ultrasound, we were able to see little Baby Hicks and even hear a heartbeat!! The baby measured to be 9 weeks, 1 day - 1 inch long - 178 heartrate (which she said was good!).