Anatomy Ultrasound--Team Green

***For those who do not know what being 'team green' means....it simply means that we do not want to know the sex of our baby until delivery.

When I got pregnant the first time, I knew that I wanted to find out the sex. Nick did not want to find out. But our anatomy ultrasound was the day before my birthday and I batted my eyelashes and got a pretty awesome birthday gift--we found out we were having a little girl.

When I got pregnant again, Nick, of course did not want to find out the sex. But my reasoning behind finding out was, what if we have a boy? And all we have is girl stuff? So I won out and we found out that we were, in fact, having a little boy.

At our ultrasound (at 9:45am) for our third baby, we will tell the tech that we do not want to know the sex of our baby...and that will be incredibly hard for me to do.

I am a planner.

I loved being able to refer to 'our baby' by the name we had chosen for them. I loved being able to buy those first few special outfits, blankets, and little gifts. I loved planning a nursery and making things for the baby.

But, I feel it is only fair to give Nick the one thing he wanted in both previous pregnancies. He is excited to come out of that delivery room and announce to everyone what the baby is. And I am excited to find out on the day of delivery...after all...it is one of the last big surprises we can give ourselves.

That doesn't mean, I won't be sad after the ultrasound. Obviously, all I want is for our baby to be healthy, but it would also be nice if we walked out knowing whether this baby was a boy or a girl.

I have politely asked Nick a few times if he has changed his mind...but I know that he wants this. So, I want this too.

He deserves to have this!

Hopefully, after the ultrasound is over it will be easier. But I don't think the temptation will go away. Most people have the one ultrasound but with Colson I had quite a few ultrasounds at the end to monitor the growth of the baby because of my high blood pressure. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened with this pregnancy as well since over the weekend I had a dizziness/blurred vision episode (more on that later). It is going to be very hard to not sneak a peak at each one!

But I can do this. I WILL do this. In the end, it will all be worth it!

Maternity Clothes

I am not a super huge fan of maternity clothes. Sure, I like the pants...who doesn't like stretchy waisted comfy pants??? But the tops...a lot leave something to be desired. Maybe it's my larger boobs and the tops just don't fit right? Maybe I'm too picky? I don't know.

Either way though, that doesn't exclude the fact that I desperately need some new summer maternity tops. The ones I have from when I was pregnant with Hannah no longer fit. (Thanks extra 8 pounds a larger boobs!) So I am going to have to go out and find some tops that will fit over the ever-growing bump because I can't live in my Old Navy Hoodie all summer.

Here are some things that I have found that are mostly budget friendly. After all, I will only be wearing them for this summer so it doesn't make sense to spend tons of money.

These are all from Old Navy (click on photo to go to the webpage).

$19.94 

$19.94 

$24.94 

$16.94 

$16.94

Not bad. Still quite a bit of money for only 5 shirts but I think Old Navy is about as cheap as they come. Plus, they always have sales so hopefully one comes along and I can get a few of these. Sadly, none of these shirts are at the closest store that carries maternity (go figure) so that's kind of a pain. Although I shouldn't be surprised...the store only has a super small maternity section...and really, it shouldn't event be called a 'section' because it consists of 2 racks. :o/

Where have you found cute and affordable maternity clothes?

Bump Comparison

Today, I am 19 weeks pregnant...which more than likely means I am halfway through with this pregnancy (if I am induced 2 weeks early like the other two).

So, I thought it would be fun to do a bump comparison between all of my pregnancies.

So, there they are. Thoughts? My thoughts are that I would love to go back to my skinnier days when I was pregnant with Hannah! Haha! :oP But no, seriously, I am not seeing any strong indications as to whether I am carrying a boy or a girl this time because I felt like my bumps pretty much looked the same with Hannah and Colson.

Boobs and Bras--Yeah, I'm Going There!

I am not one too get too too personal on my blog, but I am having some real issues right now in the boob and bra department so I thought writing about it might help--either myself or someone else...

So here it goes. I hope you can follow me.


I have always been decently 'endowed' in the chest department. A 34C in high school has only gotten bigger with some weight gain, two pregnancies and now current third pregnancy.

Before this pregnancy, I was sporting a 36DD bra. That size seemed fine. I didn't really have too many issues with it--just some slight band ride up in the back. But as I progressed with this pregnancy, my boobs got a bit bigger but more importantly, quite a bit heavier. The 36DD was no longer comfortable or supportive so I attempted to find some new bras.

My thinking was to go up to a 36DDD (gasp!) to fit the girls a bit better, so I tried a few on at the store. Nothing was really fitting comfortably so I tried on a few 38DD bras. Those seemed to be a bit better so I got those. However, after a few hours in my new 38DD bras, I knew that they were not what I needed. The underwire was poking into my armpit and the back was riding up. What the heck!?

I was frustrated, mad, sad, and annoyed. I felt uncomfortable and I dreaded every time I had to get dressed. It put me into a crappy depressed mood and I hated it.

So I did some research online about bra fitting only to find out that I had it all wrong. Even in my pre-pregnancy 36DD, I was wearing the wrong size. The band was still too big. So I definitely did not want to go up a band size AND a cup size for my new bras.

I learned that 80% of women are wearing the wrong size bra. The 'common' 36C size most women were wearing was wrong and most of those women should be wearing a 32-34D-F. What??? An F cup?

So I measured myself like the website said to (there are tons of websites out there and honestly I can't remember the one I used as it was a few weeks ago--but most use the bust measurement minus the under bust measurement to get the size) and I measured a 34G. Whoa! But then it all started to make sense. My band size was just too big and it wasn't staying put--it was riding up in the back and making the front sage. Ew!

I learned that for every band size you go down, you go up a cup size. So to go down a band size from my 36DD would be a 34DDD. Perfect! Now maybe just add a bit more for cup space and that takes me to the G cup size. We're getting somewhere--I think. Well, at least this gives me a better starting point.

But have you ever seen those sizes in the stores??? Yeah, not so much. So now we come to my current problem. (As if i wasn't having enough problems already!)

Where the heck do I find a bra that size???

Online. :o/

Shopping for bras in the store is hard enough, how the heck do you find a bra online? I can't buy 4-5 bras at one time to see if maybe one of them actually fits. Not all bras are created equal either. So, right now I am doing them one at a time. Highly annoying and not how bra shopping should be done, but that's all I can do right now.

I am frustrated and sad and have definitely had breakdown moments. Between my current 36DD bra that I am wearing and being uncomfortable, to now trying to find a bra in the size that I actually need... I just want to be done. :o(

Right now I am getting ready to exchange my second bra that I ordered online for another one. Maybe this one will work. Maybe it won't. We'll see. I have to find one eventually, right!?


So there you have it. I'm not really sure what the purpose of this post was, other then to vent. But maybe in doing so, I have helped someone. ???

18 Week Baby Update

Due Date? October 2nd

How far along? 18 weeks today

How big is baby? the size of a sweet potato--5.5 inches long

Weight gain? +8-9

Maternity clothes? Pretty much all the time unless I'm in pjs or yoga pants. With the warmer weather, I am finding that I have no tops that fit. Everything maternity that I wore with Hannah is too small because I weigh more now than when I was pregnant with her. That and my boobs are bigger. I hate to spend money on maternity tops but I think I have to. :o/

Stretchmarks? nope 

Sleep? Eh, it's okay.

Best moment this week? Scheduled our big ultrasound! Tuesday, May 14th!!! A post is coming about how I feel about not finding out what we're having, so stay tuned!

Movement? Definitely feeling the thumps now which is very exciting! :o)

Food cravings? I'm just hungry all the time!

Gender? Team Green! How will I ever make it through our ultrasound??? My hunch is girl though.

Labor signs? no! 

Belly button in or out? in

What I miss? Being able to fit into a bra comfortably/finding a bra that actually fits. I hate resorted to ordering bras online because they carry the bigger sizes. Very frustrating! But more about this in a later post!

What I am looking forward to? Our ultrasound and seeing our peanut.

Milestones? Feeling baby move. I'm almost halfway done.

Next doctor's appointment? May 14th. My blood pressure wasn't too bad at my appointment on Monday. 140/76. So my doctor wasn't overly concerned. Although I do have chronic hypertension circled on my chart again. :o( What does that mean for later in the pregnancy? I'm not sure. I haven't asked him if that means Non-Stress Tests and ultrasounds again like last time.

Here is my 18 week bump photo.