Week 13 . . . and Some Rambling

Isn’t it funny how, when comparing the size of one’s unborn baby, most “experts” use fruits. Fruits and oh yeah, “medium size shrimp.” LOL. Baby Bisonet is the size of a shrimp this week. What an odd comparison. I read a hilarious article in American B@by magazine not too long ago and much prefer to compare our baby to the following: (again, this info is 100% from the magazine article)

Week 8: “Your baby is about as big a Hershey Kiss . . . you know, like the one your husband is feeding you as he tenderly rubs your feet.”
Week 10: (For the dads) “Your baby is the size of a golf tee.”
Week 13: “Your baby is as large as the Hostess Cup Cake you devour while crying over a car commercial.” (Forget the shrimp!)

Now, those are more like it, aren’t they? Speaking of cup cakes , candy and food in general, I am (knock on wood) starting to feel almost human again and not totally repulsed by food. I thought the nausea had passed at 10 weeks, but it came back with a vengeance. Riding in the car was especially hard, so that made all the travelling back and forth to Concord and Parma around the holidays tough. What makes it all worthwhile is listening to our baby’s heartbeat on the Doppler. Those things are a Godsend!

I am developing quite the gut. Yes, I’m pregnant, but if you didn’t know, you’d just think I ate a few too many sugar cookies this Christmas! My pants are definitely getting snug and I love my Bella B@nds – another Godsend!

Just about everyone I work with at the plant knows I’m pregnant. Since I work with mostly middle age men (who are engineers), I thought no one would really care. But what I’ve found is that 1) men do not gossip (everyone I tell is surprised and hasn’t heard it from someone else) and 2) each is genuinely excited for me. They stop by my office now and then to check in on me and sometimes bring me little gifts. Right now, I am sipping some ginger tea someone brought me. It has been a pleasant surprise!

I have also been surprised at how much some people have to say about certain things; mainly, finding out the gender and having pain-killer during labor and deliver. Yes, we are finding out our baby’s gender (but keeping it a secret) and I haven’t ruled anything out during L&D. I would love to have a completely natural birth, BUT I have no idea how it will go. So, I am going to do some research of my own and keep my options open for now.

Well, it’s a beautiful sunny day here on the lakeshore, so I’m going to attempt to go for a walk. You know, keep the “baby bump” to just that and not a “sugar cookie gut!” :-)

Week 13 shot, as requested by Lisa and Priscilla. Love you girls!

Cookie Making

Wes and Brook went to a Lions' game on December 12th, so my sisters and I (minus Hannah) got together to make Christmas cookies with the kids. Put a 4 1/2, almost 3 year-old and 2-23 month olds together to make cookies and you're bound to have a mess - it was a riot! Between Sophie eating the flour to Julia eating the sprinkles out of the container (I didn't take those home!) to Maria yelling at Sophie to quit eating her frosting - it was an adventure and something I hope we can continue each year.

Yup, we had a huge mess to clean up!

Notice the cookie he is holding -

that is his finished product! Haha!

Why is Sophie's finger in her mouth?

B/c she just licked the frosting off Ria's cookie!

Thanksgiving 2010

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's this year. The day was full of wonderful food and even better people. It was the usual bunch - Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Jeff & Aunt Cheryl & fam and the Stevens' clan. Between my mom and her brother, there are 29 (plus 2 in utero) of us - I love it! Being part of a big family is so much fun! And growing up so close to each other, we are all like brothers and sisters. Such a blessing!

Checking out the Black Friday ads

Stevens Family Christmas Picture

All of us!

Baby Zack

The newest member of the Stevens family arrived November 6th . . . Zakarian (Zak-air-ian) Robert Stevens. He was a big boy, weighing 10lbs, 3oz and was 23 inches long! According to my grandma (who also had a 10 pound baby), I should have one, b/c "10 pound babies are really good." LOL! He IS a good baby and we love him so much.

Zack was Baptised on December 19th and we were honored to be his Godparents. He was a little fussy right before, but as soon as Father poured the (cold) water over his head, he settled down - just the opposite of what most other babies do!

A Little Visitor

While Veronica and Brandon were working on their house, we volunteered to take Sophie for the weekend. My dad brought her up to Grand Rapids Friday morning and I took her to the John Ball Zoo Boo. Since she loves animals, she was in heaven! Since she is a girl on the go, we kept her busy all weekend . . . took her to the park and shopping Saturday and then to Anna's gymnastics meet Saturday night. I was a tad nervous about this, since . . . well, Sophie likes to be involved in everything around her. She did really well (thanks to the coloring book, crayons and suckers) and Brook only had to take her out into the lobby at the end. Sunday, we went to Mass and then met my parents in Kalamazoo to drop her off. It was a lot of fun having her visit, but very tiring! Just a taste of what's to come! ;-)

What a character!

I love my Sophie Mae!

Out in the lobby with Uncle Brook.

"Let me in there, Aunt Chrystal!"

Kid Stuff

We spent a lot of time in the fall with our nieces and nephew. Soccer games, a gymnastics meet, and an apple orchard . . . it was a fun and busy time, but we wouldn't miss spending time with them for anything!

Maria's Soccer Game . . .

All bundled up for the apple orchard.

It was freezing that day!

"Hi pig!!!" (Sophie LOVES animals!)

"Hi chicken!"

(She ran back and forth between the chickens and pigs, saying this.)

What a motley crue!

Livia's Soccer Game . . .

Coach Trent (AKA Daddy) in the background

Anna's Gymnatics Meet . . .

October 25th

Monday, October 25th changed our life forever. After having Miss Sophie Mae for the weekend, I took the day off to recover. (Just kidding, Veronica!) I decided to take a pregnancy test, even though I “knew” it didn’t happen this month. After 11 months of negatives, I wasn’t expecting any great news. But, what the heck, why not waste one more test? So, I got out the last Dollar Tree pregnancy test in the bathroom cabinet and . . . within a minute a second line appeared! I didn’t even have to hold up to the light or turn in 10 different directions to see that line! LOL. I was in shock! Complete shock!

I knew Brook had to be in court that morning, but I called him anyway and asked him to come home. I didn’t tell him why and he was pretty worried when he got there. I showed him the test and asked if he could see a second line. He was in shock, too . . . for the first time in the 3 years I’ve known him, he was speechless! Ha! We just stared at each, both of us not believing I was pregnant. Later that day, I went to Walgreens to pick up a couple more tests . . . just to be sure, of course! Both came back positive – each one stronger than the last. I was 4 weeks pregnant at that point.

I would say I was in shock for the 1st week. I really had no emotions and was living in a fog-like status. Could this really be happening? We told our parents and siblings right away. They were so, so excited for us; especially, with knowing the struggle we had gone through to get to this point. Over the next few weeks, we told aunts and uncles, grandparents and close friends. Each of their reactions, with the genuine joy in their voices, is forever etched in my mind. My 87 year-old grandma, who constantly told us she was praying for us every time we saw her for the last year, said, “Now, I have something to live for. I have to see that little baby.” There are no words for that reaction and I pray she will be able to meet our child.

The nausea set in about week 6. It slowly got worse and I am not a good sick person. Not. At. All. It’s all I can do to make it through work every day. Plus, I don’t sleep well on nights I have to go to work – ugh, the mind is a powerful thing! So, intense nausea + lack of sleep = very bad combination. Once I get home (from work), I am pretty useless. Luckily, I have the most amazing husband who has pretty much taken control of everything around the house. He cooks (or gets take-out), cleans and pretty much everything else.

I am repulsed by most food, except grapes, bananas, oranges and peanut butter toast w/ hot cocoa. I do force myself to eat other things, though. The great irony in all of this is that eating makes me feel better. All I have to say about food is – YUCK!

We decided not to go one the cruise we booked for the week after Thanksgiving. I was feeling so crappy that I didn’t feel like going anywhere, especially on a boat with tons of food. So, we stayed home, with the intention of going somewhere in spring. Thankfully, Brook was incredibly understanding about cancelling the trip.

At 10 weeks, the nausea began to slowly subside – I am *mostly* ok as long as I don’t get too hungry. (I am so tired of eating!) We also got to hear the heartbeat at our 2nd appt (December 8th, which is also the feast of the Immaculate Conception). It was super-strong at 180 bpm. (I hope this doesn’t mean the baby is going to be high strung like its mother!) Miraculous. That is the only way to describe hearing my child’s heartbeat.

And so, here we are at “magic” 12 week mark. I remember when I first got pregnant, thinking 12 weeks would never get here. I lived in weeks and time crawled by. But here we are. Being a mom is something I have dreamt about for years and it is amazing to think I have become one. We continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy and can’t wait to meet our 4th of July baby!