Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Don't be jealous of my stretchy pants...

It's been a while since my last post, but really nothing too exciting has been going on around here. David was gone for a week on business, so the puppies and I had some nice quality time together. I don't think they are looking forward to sharing my lap with a new baby.

Baby H is doing great, and if my waistline is any indication of things, seems to be hitting a growth spurt! The past couple of weeks I have definitely put on a few pounds and began to notice my clothes getting a bit snug. Most of my "normal" clothes still fit, but were getting just a tad tight. I decided it was time bite the bullet and go maternity shopping.

Mom and I made a girls day of it and met in OKC to see what we could find. My main objective for the day was to find a "belly band". I had heard of these terrific things on several websites and blogs and thought I just had to have one for myself. For anyone who is not familiar, a belly band (also known as a tummy sleeve or bella band) is a stretchy band of fabric that you can wear during and after pregnancy to make your clothes fit. When your pants aren't too little yet, but they just don't quite button, you wear the belly band over the unbuttoned pants to cover up the buttons and help keep the pants up. Well, I found a belly band and I wore it for the first time yesterday. It was fantastic! Some of my work slacks were definitely too little, but with the belly band...perfect! And so comfortable! I didn't realize before how uncomfortable and restrictive my pants had become.


Belly band unfolded and folded.

Along with the belly band, we found several shirts that can transition into maternity shirts as well as two pairs of work pants and a skirt with the full on tummy panel built in. Previously, I may have made fun of the huge tummy panel, but they are so comfortable I may just keep them after baby. :) Plus, look at this cute stuff, dressy maternity Bermuda shorts...who knew such a thing existed?!


The pictures aren't that great, but they are really cute! Although, I've never had a pair of pants that required instructions.


We definitely had a successful shopping trip (thanks mom for all the great clothes!) and had a great afternoon just hanging out looking at baby stuff. A trip to Babies R Us made me realize there is still much to do before Baby H arrives! Considering we haven't bought a thing yet, our list of needs is still pretty long. We find out the gender next week, so we will be in full planning/preparing mode after we know if Baby H is a boy or girl!

Monday, February 1, 2010

The Beat of My Heart...

Today was another important mile marker on our journey towards parenthood. Today was our 15 week appointment and we got to hear Baby Hodson's heartbeat for the first time. It was simply amazing and perfectly wonderful. Even though we only listened for a short minute, I was completely in awe and will remember that beautiful sound forever.

Baby H's heart rate was 150 beats per minute and strong. Take that for what you will...some say that means girl, some say that means boy. But, we don't have too much longer to wait until we find out the gender. We have our 18 week appointment set for Monday, February 22 to find out if Baby H is a boy or girl!!! I don't have a preference either way, but I am so excited to find out. Any guesses?