Click any picture to enlarge | An update over the past month!

Easter! A candid Patrick took of Kelci seeing my belly

Excited Uncle Chad!

17 week workouts

Easter! 17+ weeks!

18 Weeks ^

  

Gender reveal night!

 

19 weeks and Bennett’s first beach trip

 

More pregnant workouts!

19 weeks 6 days! Where’d the belly go?!? 😉 Gotta love big tanks.

Symptoms?

Where has the time gone? During my last post, I was expressing my love for Diclegis. I STILL have a very fond love and affection for the little white pills. I take two at night and BAM! No more nausea or vomiting. I think I mentioned this before though, they knock.me.out! I’m usually an early morning lover (5am, NO prob!) but these pills keep me sedated until 8. Since they are sleep aids that are delayed, they start working around 4-5 am which is GREAT for not waking up nauseous BUT  the waking up problem is challenging. It got to the point where I could wake up and hear Patrick kissing me and saying goodbye in the morning but I just couldn’t open my eyes and respond which worries Patrick a little.

Two stories. ONE – Diclegis ain’t cheap.  My OB gave me a manufacturer coupon which is suppose to make a 30 day supply (60 pills) only 30 dollars. Well, after my samples ran out at Easter and I was without any medicine that Monday, a trip to Walmart turned into a nightmare and I became a hysterical, sick, pregnant woman. I’m talking absolutely distraught. There are very few times during this pregnancy that I’ve really become horomonally upset. Well, this was one of those times. My sweet husband was able to coach me through the process of transferring the prescription to CVS and all seemed well…. until they also gave me a hard time about the coupon and I ended up paying $30 for 30 pills (a 15 day supply).

So, we went to Patrick’s grandma’s this past weekend for family reunion and decided to stay the night and go to the beach the next day. Halfway through the day I realized I left my Diclegis at home. It almost brought me into anxiety mode thinking that if I got sick, I still have a 2.5 hour car drive home.  Well, if Diclegis makes me feel perfectly normal at a 10, the next day I felt at a 7. Nauseous but functioning which is do-able. Coming back home and only having a few days left of the medicine, I decided to only take the pills when I have something where I HAVE to feel top notch the next day such as a newborn session or something like that. I’m writing this the day before 20 weeks and I’ve been diclegis free for 2 days and I teeter between a 6 and 10 BUT  it does feel good to not be on medicine.

Back to symptoms now that you’ve read all the wonderful world of Diclegis, nausea and vomiting. Hey, at least I’ll have some funny vomiting stories to tell at group gatherings. 😉

So, week 19! I can really feel everything stretching. My hip and lower back are aggravated but I think that’s due to the fact that I’ve had 2 newborn sessions within a 7 day period. Newborn sessions are HARD and then add being pregnant and they can be grueling. From here on out, I’ll have to have an assistant so I don’t compromise the baby’s safety and not throw out my own back.

Cravings? Aversions?

Fruit, Fruit, Fruit, Fruit. Strawberries and now big plump green grapes. Spicy mexican food always sounds good too. 🙂 OH. So last week I went to the grocery store hungry and somehow a can of whip cream (I think it’s called redi-whip??) ended up in my cart. Originally I bought it for the strawberries I had been eating but I found myself just squirting it into my mouth. Gross, I know…. Patrick laughs because at random times he will just hear that aerosol squirting sound and see me standing at the fridge. Luckily I think it was a one time purchased out of hunger thing because after a few days, it is still sitting on the top shelf of my fridge.

Still loving asparagus.

Still not feeling chicken which is sad. We use to eat a ton of chicken pre-pregnancy and now I think I’ve eaten it maybe 3-4 times.

Sleep?

Oh sleep. Week 18/19 have been interesting. I find myself waking up to pee all the time… which could be because I drink water all.the.time. I’ve started using a pillow in between my knees which helps my hips. I’m struggling to NOT sleep on my back. My most comfortable sleeping position is on my back, legs crossed and arms above my head. When you’re pregnant, they tell you NOT to sleep on your back so that you don’t squish the blood vessels that carry important stuff to the baby. I’m really trying but I wake up throughout the night on my back. 😦

Weight?

I am up 2ish lbs from pre pregnancy weight. It is a little crazy to think I’ll be gaining roughly 1 lb a week from here on out.

Clothes?

Non of my pre-pregnancy jeans or shorts button anything on my lower half has to be maternity or worn open with a maternity band. Sometimes I get disappointed when I go to put on an outfit expecting it to fit one way and once it’s actually on it looks NOTHING like I remember it looking like. I think my staples this summer will be shorts and a tank top.

Belly button? In or out?

In but definitely stretching. I’m not sure if it will ever pop out but I can foresee it getting flat.

Random pregnancy stuff from the past month:

– SO week 16, I’m sitting at the mechanic’s watching Good Morning America and all of the sudden, wiggle wiggle wiggle. pause. wigglewigglewigglewiggle.pause.thumpwiggle.thumpthumpthump. At 16 week 3 days I KNEW I was feeling the baby move. I texted Patrick and then kept waiting for more. I felt like a crazy woman though trying to contain my excitement in a room full of mechanics who obviously don’t know the importance of what was happening.

From then on out, I feel baby every single day. 🙂

Probably the biggest thing was finding out at 18 weeks 3 days…… IT’S A BOY!!!!!!! We had the worst sonogram lady though. If you know Patrick and I, you know we love small talk and will crack jokes at anything. Well this lady was NOT amused by our personalities. I drank a huge glass of orange juice prior to the sonogram in hopes that the sugar would get him moving. Well, the sugar didn’t kick in and so the sonogram lady had a tough time seeing everything. While she is scanning, she goes, ” There is the leg, let’s try and find the kidney’s, that’s a penis and oh look there’s an ankle. I immediately looked at Patrick like, “Did she just say what I think she said?!?!! WE’RE HAVING A BOY!!!!” I couldn’t stop smiling. 🙂 Bennett Journey Tobler, I love you already.

Will he have my toes or Patricks?!?

My sweet little boy ❤

The name:

We both love Bennett and we wanted a cool middle name that was a little different than the norm. We originally wanted Ace but could just imagine a 2 year old saying, “My name is Bennett ass Tobler”. So we nixed Ace and continued on our search. We were at PDQ at the begining of the pregnancy and you know how they call out the names when the order is ready? Well, talk about the perfect way to pick out a name for a kid! hahah “David, your order is ready, David.” OHHHH we both like David! So, Bennett David was going to be the name until a week before the ultrasound, Patrick started ancestry.com (the free 2 week trial) and we found out his great grandpa’s name was George Journey. From the moment we heard Journey, we fell in love. We loved that it was unique and a family name. SO, Bennett Journey was decided. 🙂

Gender Reveal Festivities:

After we found out the gender, we had decided from the start that we would go buy the bringing home outfit right after. We went to Babies R Us where I had started our registry online (talk about overwhelming!!) and started browsing. Talk about disappointed. We found some onsies we liked and got them but decided to head to the mall to try and find something we really loved. I’m obsessed with baby Gap, I mean how can you not be?!? Well, talk about perfect timing. Their clearance was also 40% off. We ended up buying 5 outfits for $20 bucks!!! Love love love.

H is for Handsome

Love my mommy and Love my daddy baby gap onsies

We then had to wait until Wednesday to get all the family members together. We went out to chili’s and had everyone wear what color they thought Baby Relbot would be. Both Patrick and I’s mom’s wore pink. Both our brothers wore blue and our sister in laws wore pink and blue. The oldest niece was decked out in pink and the nephew sported blue and the youngest niece didn’t want to participate ;).  I had bought a cake with Bennett’s name on it and made cards with letters to each relative and signed Bennett’s name. The hostess and waitresses were SO sweet and super helpful. I had called ahead and they were just as excited as my family! Hahah they were making bets on the gender and asked when they could find out! What a perfect night full of great food and my loved ones! AND it was Bennett’s first, “Let’s celebrate your life” events. 🙂

Other things:

Bennett went to the beach for the first time. 🙂 Patrick and I are beach lovers and we are SO excited to take him next year when he is actually here 🙂

At the end of week 19, Patrick saw Bennett kick for the first time. I feel him ALL the time and so I’ve been trying to grab Patricks hand so he can feel it. He hasn’t been able to yet. 😦 Well, we were sitting on the couch after dinner and I could feel him kicking so I lifted my shirt and saw a kick! Then Patrick rushed over and HE saw him kick!!!! THUMP! So stinking cool. We love being able to call him by name and pray for him using his actual name. I can’t wait to meet him ❤

So, when you get pregnant, it is AMAZING how much your world revolves around baby talk. Nursery ideas. Imagining the future. I feel like it’s all we talk about. The excitement is bursting from the seams in this household!!

We will be combining offices in the near future and starting the nursery transformation. Here is my “Bennett’s Nursery” pinterest board in case you want to see what direction we are going in.

http://www.pinterest.com/ann_tobler/bennetts-nursery/

I’m halfway done and it is AMAZING how quickly we got here. I can only imagine how fast the next 20 weeks will go. SO much to do! I’m so thankful though. I’m thankful for a healthy baby, an amazing husband, wonderful family and friends. Thanks for following along!

OH! We also hired our birth photographer! For all who have asked if I’m photographing my own, I thought I would pass along the honor 😉 Check her out, she’s pretty awesome!

http://www.mandasphotos.com/

Baby gap goodwill find! $1.19

What’s going on with baby Relbot:

Your baby’s sensory development is exploding! His brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that he may be able to hear your voice now, so don’t be shy about reading aloud, talking to him, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces (Bennett weighed 8 ounces at the 18 week ultrasound so he probably weighs more) and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of an heirloom tomato. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on his skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.