25/26 Weeks!!

Things have been pretty much the usual around here. We are both working hard and our baby is healthy and active!! I have not taken a picture for a month so I have changed quite a bit. I now officially look pregnant! I look smaller with a shirt on (rather than just an undershirt) but I am really showing now. Also, my belly button is slowly starting to pop out, I think it will take another month at least though!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

25 weeks

I also got some new pants, shirts, and a dress! I LOVE the pants! I want to wear them everyday!!

26 weeks (does anyone else NEVER know what to do with their arms/hands in pictures?)

We went to Rick's Eagle court of honor! GO Rick!! Time seems to be flying by, it is so crazy to think I only have 2 months of working left before I'll be getting ready to be a stay at home mom!!

Watch us grow!!

We finally had our 20 week ultrasound! I can't believe we are now over half way!! They took a ton of measurements, watched the blood flowing in and out of his heart, and took a look at his kidneys! We are so grateful that everything looked great! They were also able to tell me that I am not at risk for pre-term labor, although I wouldn't mind if he came a little bit early! Just a little bit!

Unlike some of my fiends doctors, the ultrasound tech did not give us statistics on how big or small he is. I was disappointed because even though I know you should not compare to know how healthy/strong your baby is, it is fun to see how different each baby is! They did tell us that he is 13oz which she said is a good size for his gestational age! Also, his heart rate has been continually between 145-148 which is healthy and strong! I am hoping that my doctor gives me more details when I see him in a few weeks.

This appointment confirmed that our baby is still a boy! I was very relieved because I have been planning for a boy! Our family has been very busy growing lately so here are some photo documentations:

9 weeks

11 weeks

16 weeks

18 weeks

21 weeks

It is incredible to think that something which started out SO tiny can grow so quickly into a little human! Our poppy seed sized 7 week old now weighs 13oz and is about the length of an old fashioned coke bottle! In just 3 more weeks, our baby could survive birth with intensive care in the NICU!  (Of course we do not want that to happen!) He also went from an embryo looking more like a tadpole than a human to now having organs, cartilage, arteries, a spine, and forward facing eyes!!! I am also feeling him kick several times a day. Most of the kicks are still quite soft but occasionally he will kick hard enough to make my kindle bounce if sitting on my belly!

8 weeks old

13 weeks old

13 weeks. Tech says boy, I say... are you sure its not his tail still hanging around?

20 weeks old and looking right at the camera! (he wouldn't turn around and give us a profile shot!)

20 weeks. Okay, that looks more like a boy than a tail that hasn't quite disappeared!

 Somehow, Brandon didn't get the "our family is growing" memo!

Brandon and I had a VERY difficult time deciding on a name and still reserve the right to change our minds; however, at this point our oldest child will be named Seth Brandon Hatch.

We have felt so loved through the past few months and appreciate all the sweet comments and VERY much appreciated hand-me-downs!!

Can't believe its been this long...

Lately I only have one thing on my mind... BUT I really want to share some highlights from our 2 week vacation in August!

We started the trip by flying to Florida to spend a week with Brandon's extended family. All of Christine's siblings + their families were able to make it except one so we had a huge group of people!

Winters Family 2012. Don't you just love the color scheme? P.S. behind us is a swamp where a wild boar (among possible other wild animals) lives!!

 We got to hold lots of crazy animals...

After doing this, I remember reading that your not supposed to hold snakes while pregnant... I washed my hands so hopefully that was enough!

We watched lots of Olympics and had a great time being together! We also got to go to the beach! I LOVED the beach there! It was warm, clean (clear water, no seaweed, soft sand...), and just a wonderful day!

It was so nice to spend time together and spend time in a different state. Florida really is a whole other world! We never did get our fill of wild alligators in swamps off the side of the road, or the crazy amount of plant life! I don't think I even got a single mosquito bite so I'd say it was a great trip!

Our next stop for me was Utah, Brandon went back to work in California and met me there for the weekend! The big Utah event was Camree's wedding. It's so weird to think she is married. It was so normal (at least for me) when I got married, but seeing your little sister get married is so surreal! Like its another childhood game of "pretend"! She was a stunning bride and she and Cody brought not only happiness to themselves, but to everyone who saw them!

Brandon, Taylor, Mckenzie, and Brittney got to go on my favorite hike through a slot canyon! Unfortunately I was not feeling up to going but doesn't it look fun?

Another highlight of our trip to Utah was seeing my family, grandparents and lots of cousins included, don't you love weddings? I also got to see Nikki and Whitney! We never remember to take pictures but here is the three of us the last time we were able to get together in December (Whitney was 6-7 months pregnant with the cutest baby girl, Stella).

Since being back its been life as usual but we did get to spend a fun weekend in Agoura for Labor Day with the Hatch's!!!

The beginning of a new adventure!!

Brandon and I have always known we wanted kids. We have had discussions about how many, when, parenting styles and every other kid related topic there is, but whether or not to have them was never a question!! That being said...

I knew I could not be pregnant in school! School is so important to me that I couldn't take the risk of getting sick and possibly not finishing. I also really wanted to finish now rather than the possibility of taking time off. BUT once I was totally done in October and found out I could not teach in California, I was ready to start that next phase of life! Brandon on the other hand was not so ready. We decided to wait until May to discuss our finances and readiness as far as starting a family goes!!

So April comes and I convince myself he is not ready. Having a baby was not something I wanted to do unless he was not only ok with it, but WANTED it!  SURPRISE!!!!! May came and husband was ready!!!! AAAHHHHHHHHHH

Heading off on a new journey... wish us luck!

My monthly friend is EXTREMELY regular. I can tell you the day, and 4 hour time period in which she will make her appearance! SO when I woke up on June first with no cramps, no headache, no... anything else :) I bought a test as soon as Right Aid opened!! Here is a picture of the positive test! Unfortunately there was also a negative one...

Soo... I got a blood test and the doctor confirmed that we are officially on the road to parenthood!!! Here is how I told Brandon, he went upstairs to find this laying on the bed:

For those who don't know, Brandon LOVES knives! He has TONS of them and keeps getting more!

At our first appointment we were able to get an ultrasound and found out that our little one has a strong heartbeat and everything looks great! The doctor also gave us a due date based on the size of our baby which is February 9, 2013. (Which also happens to be Nikki Bindrup's brithday :)

For those of you who have never looked closely at one of these, the dark black in the middle is my uterus. Inside that are two white blobs. The larger of the two is baby!!

Our families are so happy and excited to have a little baby around!

They all look great, then there is awkward me!! Oh, well.. you get the point, they are excited!!

McKenzie is CONVINCED its a girl and wants to start buying pink before we even find out for sure!! I, on the other hand, have nooo "motherly intuition" as far as that debate goes!!

At our second ultrasound (13 weeks & 2 days along) they measured our baby's neck to check for any genetic problems, the tech said everything looked good but we are still waiting on the official results. Typically you don't find out the sex of your baby until 20 weeks. 16-18 if your lucky... WELL our baby already loves me and knowing I was going crazy not knowing what I was having... he gave the tech a clear shot of his genitals!!! I showed the picture to my cousin who is also an ultrasound tech and although she could not confirm it just from a picture, she said it is possible to find out this early if the baby gives you a clear shot and that it looks like a boy to her also!!

AHHH, now for finding a name!! Girls names are easy. We were naming our little girl Addison. Now that we know he's a HE... yea wish us luck in the name department! Boys names are so hard to decide on and we are both pretty picky!!

P.S. for those who saw my last post about the Camp Pendleton 10K mud run, yea... I was totally pregnant and STILL finished the race!!!! I could have used about 5 more sports bras and a little less nausea (the only day I have felt really sick, by the way! My "morning sickness" comes at night!)