Alot to update!!

Well hello there!! I cannot believe that it has been so long since I posted something! There's been a lot that's happened since the last post, and I definitely don't want to try and put it all down right now. So here's a quick, detail-lacking look at the past few months (with the ups and the downs): 1. An old friend from high-school was shot and killed for basically unknown reasons 2. A couple of weeks later, a precious precious family lost thier daddy, who was a State Trooper responding to an accident, leaving behind an absolutely beautiful 7 month old little girl and her amazing mommy along with the rest of thier families. 3. Dad's treatment is going well and the doctor's feel he is responding well to what they are doing so far. He is undergoing round 2 of chemo and radiation, and there is not a whole lot else to report on that so far. 4. We had great holidays in Lubbock!! We spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas in Lubbock with our families and enjoyed getting to see everyone!

5. We are expecting a baby boy to arrive somewhere around May 18, 2011!!! This is what I really can't believe I haven't posted about! This is huge and exciting news, and though I have posted about it on facebook occasionally, we haven't shared ANY of the details! So I will try and recap the past 21 weeks!!

September 7th: I took 3 pregnancy tests--all of which were positive!! I have always wanted to find some creative way to tell David when the time came, but when it really happened, emotions took over and I just wanted him to know!! So, I ran to target, bought some plain white onesies and wrote the most ridiculous poem ever on one of them! In my defense, I wrote in about 5 minutes after I told David I was going to take a quick bath! It was so fun to see his face when he pulled back the covers and saw it lying on his side of the bed!

September 8th: *Note* this is less than 24 hours after finding out we're pregnant. I was working on jumping with a 3 year old that I work with and she decided to rocket-launch herself off of the mini-trampoline into my stomach. I said, "Hey!! You just jumped into my belly!" to which she responded, "You got a baby in that belly?". I had no idea what to say!! It caught me completely off gaurd! I hope she was just asking b/c her mom had recently had another baby, and not because I was already showing at 4 weeks!

September 17th: First time that I straight up lie to a friend's face when she asks me if I have anything that I need to tell her, "like that you guys are having a baby?". Sorry Shannon!

September 30th: One of the mom's of a little boy I see says to her son, "Look how cute! She has a baby in her tummy." I don't know if she was talking to me or what, but I completely ignored the comment!! We hadn't told anyone, and I really don't think I was showing yet!

October 8th: First Dr. Appointment with Dr. New at 8 weeks. We hear the heart beat and it's 172 bpm. We also get to see our little gummy bear for the first time!

October 15th: We tell our families that baby Forbess #1 is on the way. Everyone was very excited for us! Especially since David's sister and her husband are expecting too, and are exactly 10 weeks to the day ahead of us!

November 5th: Second Dr. Appointment at 12 weeks. Baby's heart reat was 167-168 ish. We also realize that Dr. New does sonograms at every appointment!! What a blessing to be able to see the baby at EVERY visit!

December 3rd: Third Dr. Appointment at 16 weeks. Dr. New tells us that he is pretty sure he sees a "turtle" sticking out even though the umbilical cord keep getting in the way. We hear for the first time that IT'S A BOY!!!!!

December 23rd: At 19 weeks, I feel the baby move "for sure" for the first time! I had heard that it would feel like butterflies or fluttering, but it didn't! That's probably why it took me so long to figure out that's what it was. It felt more like a "thump" in my belly. David is anxiously awaiting the time where he can feel him move from the outside!

December 30th: Fourth Dr. Appointment at 20 weeks. Dr. New says "Did I say it was a boy last time? Because unless that thing falls off, it's a boy!" So it's officially a BOY!!! Heart rate continues to be in 160s and the Dr. says the baby is growing just like he should and everything is measuring right on target!!

That brings us to the present! I am a little over 21 weeks right now. I plan on updating ever 2-4 weeks so that I have something to look back on and see what was going on at each stage in the pregnancy! Here are a few things I will keep updating:

Baby Size: He is about 8 inches long and somewhere around 12-16 ounces. He's a SPAGHETTI SQUASH!!!

Baby Development: We are already beyond the point where all of the baby's systems are in place. He now has arms and legs that are proportional to his body size! At first his little legs looked like cricket legs!! He is able to grip things now (noteably the umblical cord), and can perceive light and dark through his fused little eyelids. His eyelashes and eyebrows are formed now, and hopefully hair is growing in on that head of his!!

Weight Gain: That's right, I'm going to try and keep this updated unless it becomes too embarrassing! So if I suddently stop posting about this, you'll know why. As of now, I've gained between 7-8 pounds.

Pregnancy Symptoms: I spent the first 4 months completely unable to breath through my nose! I had to take a lot of sudafed just to make it through. Then I got a nasty sinus infection and Dr. New said I was far enough along to take an antibiotic. I have a whole new nose now and I am loving being able to breathe now!! Lately, I've been having a LOT of SI joint pain (right side only) and pain in my upper back (left side only). Weird, I know!

Cravings: Hmm...the only thing I have really CRAVED is Lemongrass Chicken from Saigon Cafe in Lubbock. So when I was in town for Thanksgiving, I ate it 3 times in a week!! And I ate it again over Christmas. I have also eaten more cheeseburgers in the past 4 months than I have in the previous 4 years!! I have also wanted to eat a lot of fruit lately!

Maternity clothes: I bought my first pair of maternity jeans last week. YIKESIES---maternity jeans are NOT cute unless you want to spend $150+ on designer jeans. Fortunately, I can still button my american eagle jeans so that's mostly what I wear. They just started getting uncomfortable when I sit down a few days ago. Other than that, I've only bought one maternity shirt and I LOVE IT!!! Anyone with some tips on where to buy CUTE but CHEAP maternity clothes, please do share.

Nursery and Name: NOTHING. We've got NOTHING!!! Ugh, this is the only part of this that has stressed me out at all. We still haven't been able to decide on anything! It's a lot harder than I thought! We will definitely update this part as we go along. Well, I guess we actually do have something. We know his middle name will be Porter. That is David's dad's middle name and the last few generations of Forbess men have been named after their granddads.

Belly Button: Still in, but it is BARELY hanging on. I have always had a little outtie inside my innie! It never showed before, so I didn't think much about it. As my belly button is getting stretched out, my outtie is getting closer and closer to the surface. It shouldn't be long now!

I will leave you with a picture of the belly at 20 weeks.