32/33 weeks.

Well - here we are.  33 weeks and baby Keith could be here "safely" in 4-8 weeks.  (4 weeks means I'll be 37 weeks which is considered full-term... 8 weeks means I'll be 41 weeks and not a happy camper since I'll be overdue!)  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone... it literally feels like it was last month when I was announcing we were having a baby, and February seemed soooo far away at the time!  Then January came around and Tyler and I had a conversation that went like this:

T: Holy Crap!  It's January!
M: Yeah...?
T: That means we're having a baby next month.
::: deep, long, scared-to-death stare-down takes place and a small dose of hyperventilating occurs :::

Anyway, baby is doing good and measuring just a little ahead of our original due date.  They are now saying he could be born as early as February 14 due to his size.  At my last appt we had an ultrasound to follow-up on my "thin placenta" issue, but thank God, we're in the clear.  They think I was most likely having a contraction at the time they thought my placenta was measuring thin.  But we're fine... which is a good thing. Our ultrasound was amazing... baby is getting so big that it was hard to get a good picture of him because he took up most of the screen.  They did a complete ultrasound (like they did at 20 weeks) and he looked great!  And got a definite confirmation that baby is all BOY!)  2 weeks ago he was already measuring in at almost 4 1/2 pounds.  4 1/2 pounds people!!  That is a huge baby... and still have 4-8 weeks to go.  I thought it was unusual since Tyler and I were both average size babies, but that night when I told my Mom that, she said "Average size??!!  You were 9 lbs 9 oz!!!"  My jaw dropped and I am officially scared.  I would really prefer to have a normal birth and avoid a c-section at all costs, but whatever it takes to get baby here safe & sound is fine with me. 

At 33 weeks, here's what the baby is up to...although its off because my baby weighed over 4 pounds 2 weeks ago!: (from babycenter.com)
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

And here's a couple belly pics! 


I can't believe I'm doing this... but here's my belly in all it's glory!


Have a great rest of the week!!!

The post you've been waiting for!

First off, a belly pic.

This is 28 weeks, 3 days.

Here's our christmas card picture... (isn't my hubby hot?!  I love him!)

And the baby's name?  Ohh yes...

Jaxon Daniel Keith

"Jaxon" came from an email that I got from my Grandma!  She loved sending me lots of different baby boy names after we found out the sex, and as I was reading the list outloud to Tyler one day, Tyler loved it and never gave up on it.  It wasn't my first choice, but I figure since he's probably gonna end up being so much like his daddy and looking so much like his daddy, that I don't mind letting him choose.  :)  I do really like it and of course it's growing on me the more I associate this little guy with the name.  Tyler's middle name is Jackson - so obviously that had a part in the decision too... even though we're spelling it differently.  And "Daniel" (middle name) is my Dad's name, and it was also Tyler's Dad's name before he passed away.  So that worked out - almost too perfectly.  :)

So that's it!  Our little Jaxon Daniel!  Hope you like it! ... and if it's not your fav or you don't like the middle name or don't like how we're spelling it, don't tell me!  Cuz seriously - I don't care. ;)

Baby shower pictures.

Both of our baby showers that we were given this weekend were beyond incredible.  We were spoiled rotten by friends and family and have an incredible start on all of the things we need for the baby. 

Here's some pictures from the first shower!


Ashley putting my corsage on


The yummy cake! 


Me and my SIL Kaela, me at 27 weeks, Kaela at 25 weeks

 
Opening gifts


The diaper cake :)


Some highschool friends


With the Keith ladies


With the beautiful ladies who threw the shower! ;) Kaela, my Mom, and my sister.

And here's some pics from the second shower!

 
The awesome decorations... diaper cake and an airplane made out of diapers!!


Tyler and I in front of the cake/food

 
Playing games... (gotta love the game that everyone guesses how huge you are! lol)

As you can see I didn't get as many pics at the second shower as we did at the first... somehow Ty's family snuck out of getting group pictures taken because I completely forgot about it!  Ugh! 

Thanks to all of our friends and family who were able to come to either of the showers... we felt very blessed and appreciated everything.  :)

I am addicted...

to registry stalking.  I can't help it.  It is way too easy to go to target.com or babiesrus.com and check to see what friends and family have got for our baby boy.  We have 2 baby showers coming up this weekend in Iowa that I can't wait for. 

I haven't been sleeping very good, and last night I was up from about 11:15 to 1:30 AM, and thought to myself... "maybe someone went and got something from the time I checked it at 8:00 until now."  So there I was, at 11:30 last night checking both registries.

I'm ridiculous.  Someone stop me.

My view looking down...

Can't see my feet!

Nursery progress.

Our little man is now 25 weeks along, and because I'm only 2 weeks away from being in my 3rd AND FINAL trimester of this pregnancy, Tyler and I have started digging deep into our plans for the nursery and we've finally started making some progress.

Most of you know that my husband is an Avionics Technician, so he works on planes for a living.  We decided that our theme would be Vintage Airplanes... how fitting, right? ;)  Not those cutesy little cartoon airplanes you see, but vintage.  Meaning more realistic.  I found bedding that I fell in love with on Pottery Barn Kids' website, and for a mere $212.00, I could have had the complete bedding set.  But seriously - $212 was way out of our budget, and so I started stalking Craigslist.  Just as I was leaving work one day, I decided I'd check Craigslist one more time for the day to make sure no one had posted any bedding from the last time I had checked.  Sure enough - a local lady was selling her sons vintage airplane bedding set from Pottery Barn for a whoppin' $60 bucks!  Not only that, but she threw in a PBK airplane lamp that retails for $199.  Score!!  So in the end, I paid $60 for a set of crib bedding from Pottery Barn Kids AND a lamp, when I would have paid $411 if I would have bought the same exact thing online.  God is good... All the time!!  :) 
Here's some pics...
   

Next up... the crib.  We received a crib from my father-in-law that used to be Tyler's little brothers crib, but it wasn't my fav.  Absolutely nothing wrong with it, and somehow even though Tyler was bound and determined that we were keeping it, I was able to convince him to let me sell it on Craigslist and in exchange, buy another one on Craigslist.  (Seems fair, right?)  I found a beautiful convertible crib for $150, and the lady selling it lived 3 minutes away from our house, so we went and picked it up one day and I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer hoping I'd be able to sell the old one.  Sure enough - I posted it on Craigslist and a lady from Olathe came and picked it up yesterday for $75.  She was buying it for her first grandbaby, and awww... you could just tell how incredibly excited she was for her grandbaby to arrive.  (Due 3 days before me!)  She was happy - and I was happier, because in the end after selling the old crib, I ended up only paying $75 for a crib that costed the original owners $408 (she gave me the original receipt!)  I am always so amazed at the many ways God is providing for us!  Here's a pic of our beautiful new crib that we're in love with! 

 

We also decided to paint one of the walls in the nursery in a "block" pattern.  We spent our Saturday afternoon/evening taping the wall off, and Sunday afternoon/evening painting - and here's the finished result.

    

That's just on one wall of the room... we are working on installing a chair rail on the other walls this week, and painting the lower half of the chair rail the red color from the blocks.  We thought if we did the other 3 walls ALL red (or any color for that matter!) that it would be too much going on.  Here's a picture of a chair rail, similar to how ours will look once it's completed. 

 

Last but not least... here's some random things that I'd love to get for the room: (click on thumbnail for larger view)

- Prints from Ebay seller "This Little Piggy Prints" (it matches the crib bedding perfectly!!)
 

- Large vintage airplanes to hang from the ceiling:
  

- An airplane mobile, of course! ;)


- I'll be ordering a few things from my SIL who sells Uppercase Living... they have some cute airplane wall transfers, and I plan on making a custom piece for above his crib.

- And of course, a few other ideas I have that I want to be a surprise.  :)

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So that's it, my friends!  Just a few random thoughts and ideas I have for our little guy's nursery.  :)  Hope you enjoy it!

Because I am pregnant...

• I cry over anything and usually will every single day, sometimes over the dumbest things like a commercial. 


• I am paying much more attention to a political race than I ever have before.


• I am also paying much more attention to things that I know will affect my child someday.


• I see the value in spending hours of research on a product for our little guy that I haven't even met yet.


• I am obsessed with boy names.


• I am constantly trying to dig up old childhood songs from my memory bank and sing them aloud at will.


• I touch and rub my belly and smile.


• I smile and nod at other pregnant women and revel in this kinship I have with these complete strangers.


• Tyler and I love talking about deep issues and conversations that we'll have with our little guy in the future... or even silly things, such as if our kids will trick-or-treat or not. 


• If it's even possible, I think I love my husband a little bit more.


• I am trying to strengthen my relationship with others.


• I am finally becoming aware of all of my gifts and am gathering them up to share with him.


• I forget a lot, and have 'slippery' hands (constantly dropping things)


• I pee A LOT.


• I am thankful that God has His hands over Tyler and I and our boy.


• I am still married to control, but am having an affair with flexibility…and plan to leave control for flexibility one day.


• I am striving to be a better person.

And just for kicks and giggles (and because it's been a while...) here's a new belly pic for you.

23 weeks.

Ladies and gentlemen...

Wow, how exciting.  The ultrasound this morning was amazing - the last time we had one was at 9 weeks so you can imagine how much has changed since then.  At 9 weeks his legs & arms were just forming, but enough that I could see them moving around, and now at almost 19 weeks we were able to see everything about our little guy... his kidneys, organs, heart, bones, fingers, toes, heart, brain, spine, etc.  I have heard it said a million times how having a baby is such a miracle, but that is definitely something you never understand until you're there and experiencing it.  It is truly a miracle.  God is soooo good!

Baby is doing good and measuring right on track, a few days early but nothing huge.  My new due date is February 18, but that seems to change everytime I go in.  :)  My placenta is measuring thin so I have to go get an ultrasound every 4 weeks to monitor that and make sure it doesn't get too thin.  If it does, I'd be put on bed rest.  It is supposed to measure over 2 inches thick and mine is measuring at 1.25 inches, so they are watching it and we'll see how I am at the next appointment.  Other than that - all is well!  Baby is great and did so well while we were there, he laid still so we could get all of his measurements and then once she tried getting a profile shot, he was being a little booger and running from her.  Taking after his daddy already... hehe ;)  Just kidding.

Here's a few pics!
Profile, from the side

Looking at us! 

The money shot!  (He is going to kill me someday for posting this online!  Oh well.)


My first baby purchase!  I can't wait to wrap my little guy in this... it is sooo soft!  It says "Thank Heaven for little boys".

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Thanks for all the prayers and support!  We are super excited and feeling so blessed.

4 days! and a 18 week belly.

Don't hate me cuz I'm still sportin' my pre-pregnancy jeans.  Oh yeah.  ;)  They are so low and button right below my belly so I'm still able to wear them for now even though my belly is sticking out way over the top of them.  Anything to not have to buy maternity clothes and I'm happy.  :)

Have a great weekend!

The countdown begins...7 days and counting!

Long time no see, fellow blog readers! (anyone out there?)  Where to even begin.  I have so much on my mind, and my heart is so heavy, yet I am going to play it safe by not talking about it.  Let's just leave it at that.  Just say a little prayer for me if you can.

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On a happier note... the countdown begins to the time when Ty & I find out whether the little baby inside my tummy is a boy or girl.  1 week from today we will (hopefully, assuming baby isn't shy!) know whether to start buying pink and saving for a wedding 18+ years from now, or to start buying blue and start praying that our little guy does not take after his Grandpa Larry and love snakes.  (We all may need to pray about that one!)

So take a gander and leave a comment... are you on TEAM PINK or TEAM BLUE?

  OR 

I am trying to think of a way to reward all those who guess correctly, so maybe you'll get lucky and I'll come up with something!  (I said "maybe"... don't get your hopes up!)  

For you belly lovers.

Belly lovers?  Is that weird?  Oh well.

Here's my 16 wk picture.  Sorry 'bout the stupid face.



Side note:  If you have maternity clothes and don't plan on getting pregnant in the next 4 1/2 months I will gladly accept your donation. 

P.S- If you can tell me what store this picture was taken in, you win a gold star for the day.

I caved.

Today I'm (finally) wearing maternity pants.  My work pants are officially unbearable to wear - unbearable meaning by the end of the work day I am cramping and suffering because they are so uncomfortable.  I don't know why I was so hesitant and almost cried this morning putting them on... maybe the fear of people thinking I'm just too fat to fit into my regular clothes?  Maybe the idea of my regular pants just not fitting anymore?  Or maybe just my crazy hormones.  Yeah, probably my hormones.

Anyways, just gotta say... maternity pants = heaven on earth.  Ask me 5 months from now when I'm 41 weeks and overdue and I'll probably be saying the exact opposite, but going from pain yesterday to comfort today has made my Wednesday much more enjoyable and bearable. 

PS - last week at my OB appt my dr told me I deserve a gold medal for making it this far in regular clothes.  He said "you'd be surprised at the women who come in here 6 weeks along in maternity pants."  HA!

For you, Leah. :)

Here's a not so recent picture of the belly, this was taken at almost 13 weeks which was 2 weeks ago.  So it's a little bigger now, but not by much.  One morning I woke up and it was just there, it was the most random thing ever.  Tyler said "holy crap... YOUR BELLY!"  :)

Ignore the stupid face.  I was trying to cut it out, but no such luck.

Just wondering...

Why do people feel like it's necessary to tell me horror pregnancy stories? 

Here's a few things people have said to me, most of them being complete strangers, after finding out that I'm pregnant.

• My friend from church has a mentally retarded baby.  She was breastfeeding and her appendix exploded and didn't know it - she assumed it was just pain from giving labor a few days earlier.  She poisoned her baby while she continued to breastfeed for two more days.


• Did you hear about the lady this past weekend that was delivering her baby and something happened during labor where either the baby or the mom was going to die.  The dad had to actually choose which one to keep.


• How far along are you?  ::insert my response here::  Oh, I miscarried 1 week later than you are right now.  Not to freak you out or anything....


• I'm a nurse at ___ hospital here in town and helped deliver a still-born baby yesterday.  It was terrible.


• You're pregnant?  Wow, good luck with that.


• You're gonna get soooooooo huge!!!

Do me a favor and try to be sensitive to pregnant people - I really don't want to hear you're horror stories about how you were in labor for 38 hours or how bad it's going to hurt while recovering from labor or how I can "look forward" to the cracking and bleeding brought on from breastfeeding.  Thanks peeps.  

I just want someone to tell me that it's not going to hurt.  I'd love you forever if you did.

11 weeks.

I'm 11 weeks today which means...
Our baby is the size of a lime!  2 weeks ago was a green olive, last week was a plum, and this week is a lime already!  It is so amazing how fast it is growing.  (Poor thing, I feel so bad calling it "it")

We were at the grocery store yesterday and saw a lime so Tyler threw it in the cart.  Our conversation went like this:

T: We're getting this. ::throws lime into cart::
M: ::mimics a panicky voice:: You just threw our baby!! 
T: Oh, my, word Megan.
M: What are you going to do with a lime?
T: You're taking a picture with it.
M: You're smokin' crack.
T: If you take a picture with it each week then people can see how big our little peanut is.
M: You're smokin' crack.

He won, so here's the picture.

Megan's baby.

I have a friend who is not just a friend.  She has been the most incredible friend I could ask for.  She is talented, beautiful, funny, witty, and smart.  She loves Jesus and loves to tell others about Him through her actions.  She is caring.  She loves people and would do anything for anyone.  Her name is Laura Cameron and I met her in college.  The first few months of my college life were hard... I missed home, missed my best friend, missed my life.  I was now in Colorado Springs by myself... I knew no one.  Laura befriended me.  We were at a retreat and we were getting ready to close out our first module (aka: semester) and I was ready to quit.  I couldn't handle being that far from home and not having any friends.  I was sitting on a bench when Laura came up, sat by me, and said... So, Megan Carmichael, what's your story.  We've been friends ever since.  No, we don't talk daily, or sometimes even weekly, but there is no doubt in my mind that she cares for me and loves me and would do anything for me.  I love people like her.  Authentic - and so genuine. 

Laura is not only all those things listed above, but she is an amazing singer & songwriter.  She traveled to Iowa for my wedding and sang.  She hardly sang the song because she cried through most of it, but the parts she did sing were gorgeous.  :)  She lives in Denver now and has been putting together a CD of songs she has written and sent me one a couple days ago to listen to.  She originally told me it was about me, but that could have meant a series of things so once I received it I couldn't wait to listen to it.

As soon as I heard the first line the tears started flowing.  I cried and cried through the entire thing.  Part of it has to do with her writing a song about me & our baby, part of it has to do with the fact that I haven't heard her voice for so long, but most of it had to do with the lyrics and the words behind the music.  Tyler also listened to it and just smiled from ear to ear through the entire thing.  It is absolutely perfect.

So here it is... entitled "Megan's baby."

[audio <embed src="http://static.boomp3.com/player.swf?song=bzffkhyza_3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="200" height="20" allowScriptAccess="always" align="middle"></embed><a style="font-size: 9px; color: #ccc; letter-spacing: -1px; text-decoration: none" target="_blank" href="http://boomp3.com/listen/bzffkhyza_3/megans-baby">boomp3.com</a>]

PS:  Please let me know if the link to play the song doesn't work.  It works for me but you just never know.

A little wake-up call.

So today I went to get my prescription filled for my prenatal vitamins.  $57 dollars later (WITH insurance) I walked out with a 30 day supply. 

I'm going to be placing a call to my OB to ask if I can take over the counter meds instead.  Wowzers.

I sincerely hope everything baby-related won't be this expensive.  *big sigh*

And baby makes three.

We're having a baby!!!!

Can you believe it?  No?  Me either.  :) I'm still in shock and am very slowly starting to get excited.  I am almost 8 weeks and feeling really sick, but am being reminded daily that this sickness will be all worth it about 9 months from now.  :)  Tyler has been incredible and has been more excited and open-minded than I ever imagined he would be which has definitely made this big transition a little easier.  The first day when I was sobbing and scared out of my mind, I was reminded that "even though I don't think I'm ready to be a Mom, obviously God does."  Wow - funny how He works sometimes.  

We had our first doctors appt this past week and had an ultrasound and got to hear the heartbeat.  What an absolutely amazing experience.  What an incredible miracle this is.  The doctor joked that it was "definitely a boy" because of the strong heartbeat, but when I asked him if he was serious, he chuckled and said "No, but they do say that the stronger heartbeat does mean a boy.  So we'll see."  :)

Wow, how surreal.  I am feeling over a million emotions right now, so hold on tight as you go through these next 9 months with me.