99 days and counting!!

Only 99 days till the due date!!! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going!! We have a lot done and I feel confident that we will get everything e want done before baby Nathan gets here!

What the hell was that?!

Was pretty much all I could say when I woke up at 430 am with this unusual tight feeling in my lower stomach...I tried to relax and it went away and I went back to sleep. Around 930am I felt it again..yup my Braxton Hicks contractions have started! Guess its just one more sign we are getting closer to having a new baby Nichols with us!

Half Baked!

Our little bun in the oven is half way done baking!! I cant believe that we are already at the half way mark! I am going to upload the pics from this week and the lost ones from when I did my posts from my phone. We have decided for sure that we are going to use blues and browns for the nursery and add some guitar and music stuff in there here and there.

Atlanta Medical Center

Last night I went to tour Atlanta Medical Center and go to the meet and greet for the midwives. It was a wonderful place! Ryan ended up having to work since a client came in and need his attention. My mom said thought that she would go with me. In the end I am very glad that  my mom went because when we left she had a better idea of the birth that I want and that I am not crazy in some of the things I have told her about (i.e. laboring at home, water birth, delay cord clamping etc...)

The Delivery Room at AMC

Birthing Tub

I think Ryan and I are going to very happy that we have decided to go with Intown Midwifery and to deliver at Atlanta Medical.

**The Father and Son Bond Begins**

**Lost Post**
((Orignianlly should have came out right after I wrote the Pink Blue or maybe Two post))

Ryan and I decieded to go to a 3D Ultrasound place to find out the gender bc we were in the middle of finding a doctor and were a little unsure when we would be able to find one and then schedule the actaul u/s..plus niether one of us could wait knowing we have could just simply go right down the street and find out.


We were told, or should I say I was told to drink orange juice 30 mins before coming to help wake up the baby and get him moving around in there. Ryan took this very literally and we got into a tiff about when I could drink my mcdonalds orange juice haha. We arrived at the place and the set up was very nice they had to large(maybe 42') flat screens on the walls to see the ultrasound on. One was on my left and the other directly in front on me. It is always a blessing and a little bit of a suprise when we get to see our little baby on the screen. Ryan I could tell at this point started to get very anxious! He was walking back and forth between the two screens looking at everything and trying so hard to tell what the baby was going to be. And since we are talking about a Nichols here the little one of course took his sweet time to show what was between the legs...and as everyone knows all the sudden we saw it and learned that we were going to be proud parents of a baby BOY! What happend next though is what made my eyes tear up. Ryans face was priceles and I wish I had all this on video. He looked amazed and happy and just in what I guess was disbelief. He actaully walked out of the room and I continued to talk to the u/s tech and looked at our little baby boy. When he did come back in, I asked him where he went and he told me that he went to pray and thank God for the blessing of a son and to call his dad and tell him that it was indeed a BOY!

I cant wait for our son to be here and to watch my two boys interact. I know Ryan is going to be an amazing father!


**EDIT** Ryan got to feel Nathan's first kick!! I have felt some flutters and such but no strong kicks yet. The other morning we were laying in bed before getting up for work and Ryan had his hand on my tummy hoping to feel our son. Somewhere between Ryan talking and the morning news I feel back to sleep. Well I soon heard Ryan repeating over and over again did you feel that?! I was half a sleep and was a little confused then I realized Ryan had felt a kick and I slept through it...well looks like the bond between the boys in the house is growing stronger :)

15-17 Weeks

The past few weeks have been crazy!!! Our very close friends, Sam and Dylan Driskell just moved to Washington state so most of my week 15 was taken up with helping them load up everything and say goodbye not only to them but to my godson Bentley. Hopefully him and his mama will be back soon and Ryan and I will get to celebrate his first birthday with him.

I was going to go see a midwife last during week 16, however she had 2 or 3 moms in labor and had to reschedule my appt for this coming up friday. So no real update on my dr situation yet. Ryan and I will be going to check out Intown Midwifery at thier open house this wed!! I am starting to get very excited about it since word is around the birthing community that they are the ones to go to for a natural drug free birth!

We are on week four of our Bradley Method class and it is starting to really pay off. The first 2 classes were things that I already knew either from my own reschearch or from reading Husband coached birthing. We have learned a few excrecises and habits that I need to be working on. Ryan and I are walking together in the evenings but other than that I have not been very good about sticking to a excercise routine. I did start working on my birthplan. I plan on doing a more detailed post about my bradley class but thought I would inculde a little bit of an overview on what I am trying to do right now. It is a 10 week class so we are almost half way!!! Next I will have to decide if I am going to do a waterbirth and if I am I will have to take the hospitals water birth class.

The List is Done!

I have finished my registry...well at least for now. I decided to go with Babies R Us and Walmart. I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted for the nursery and what I would actually use and need. I do wish though there were more options for boys...I found a bunch of girl stuff that I LOVED! All the disney princess stuff is just to cute!!! I went with colors instead of a theme with the nursery but I am doing nemo in the bathroom so I got my disney fixed in with that ((Ryan was not happy with a  mickey  themed nursery lol)

Lost posts

So evidently 3 out of my last 5 post have got stuck in this "posting" place where I can't save them or actually post them....I will try to fix it all later and get some new photos and updates up!

The Finger Roll

I know that everyone is just as much in love with Matthew McConaughey as I am so I am sure you have seen the movie Failure to Launch with him and Sarah Jessica Parker right? and you remember the paintball scene where he tells her to do the "finger roll"(its like moving your first two fingers back and forth) when shooting the paintball gun  right?  Of you course you do but I'm sure by now you are thinking why the hell I am going on about some random movie scene well its because I just felt baby Nathan and that is how it feels.    I know most people say it feels lie butterfly flutters but what can I say I watch to many movies I guess haha.

On to news that is not "finger roll" related I am going to my first midwife apt tomorrow and I am getting a little nervous. It is sorta making all this seem real. I will actually meet the person that will deliver my baby and get to tour the hospital hopefully next week...between my schedule and Ryan's schedule its pretty hard to find time when we both have free time. I have heard wonderful things about the midwife that I am going to so I am sure I will love her and the Dr that she shares the office with. I am going to talk to her about a waterbirth since she does them at the hospital I will be delivering at I figured it would be nice to know our options.

Making a List..

checking it twice..gonna find out whos naughty or nice..haha ok so its a little early to sing christmas songs but I just cant stop for two reasons...One I'm super excited about the holidays coming up and two I went to register,well start to register, this week and it made me think of when I was little and writing down a chirstmas list. :)  
My main thing with making my registery is I have just dont feel like I have done enough research yet. Even with some of the stuff that I have done my research I feel like I am just unsure...now before you roll your eyes and tell me that I am way over thinking some of this, I KNOW! I am way over thinking somethings but like every other first time mom I just want my child to have the best.
Some of my main things that I am going to have to look at before I put them on my registry is car seats, baby moniter, baby products, and DIAPERS!!!! Ok so I know most people are thinking I am now way over thinking things. But hear me out, there is a lot to think about, cloth or disposable, and then even after that there is what brand and what type from that brand. I like the idea of cloth but Ryan thinks I am out of my mind. I'm sure I will do a whole post later on my diaper choices and because right now I cant even begin to sort it out.

I have though decided that I am going to register at Baby's R Us and Target. ((well at least I think so)) :)

First Impressions

Since we are looking for a midwife right now and unsure about when our next ultrasound would be we decided to go to a place called First Impressions to check on the baby and as I just posted find out that we are for sure having a baby boy!! We got to preview the 3d ultrasounds which are just crazy to me and go to see him moving around and here the heartbeat! I still cant believe that this spring Ryan and I will be parents. Anyways here are some of the first pic of baby Nathan!

These pictures were done at 14 weeks 3 days

Pink or Blue or Maybe Two??

When you are pregnant the first question is when are you due and then comes the gender question...Boy or Girl? Ryan and I had always said we wanted boys first, we loved the idea of older brother being there for the little sister. Of course we just want a healthy and happy baby, the gender question still gets tossed around a bunch. Ryan wants a boy and has it in his that it will be a boy. I keep going back and forth of what I think it will be...a girl would be great since the cousins closest in age are girls but all the kids around us are boys...I have a strong feeling though that it will be a boy. During all this though my hcg levels had been charted and were higher than expected and for a bit we thought it might be because we were going to have twins...but at our ultrasound at 8 weeks we got to see the flicker of one little heart. So as it goes we decided to do some fun gender predicition test.

The first one we did was the Chinese Gender Prediction....BOY!

The second one we did was the baking soda test...BOY!

We didn't take a pic of this test but the idea of it was you mix pee and baking soda. If it foams its a boy if it doesn't its a girl...mine looked like the first beer out of a keg haha

The Third one we did was the Inteligender Test from walgreens...BOY!

 

So the question is now are we having a boy or girl??????

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!

 

14 Weeks

 

 

I am now 14 weeks and feeling much better! My stomach isnt has sensitve and I am starting to get my energy back. I do have a few headaches a week but overall everything is going great. I am now looking pregnant no matter what I wear.

 

Ryan and I took our first bradely method class saturday and actually enjoyed it much more then I thought we would. It was very informative and with only 3 other couples in the class we get a lot of personal adivce. One thing the class led us to decide is to get a doula. I think it will help a lot with both of us being more comfortable come day of delivery. I am still looking for a midwife but I have decided that I want to deliver at North Fulton. I have one appt thursday and two more to call to schedule appts with so hopefully out of those I will find one. We have also decided that we are going to look further into a waterbirth.

Wraps, Carriers, and Slings...OH MY!

One thing that I am very interested in right now is baby wearing. I have been obessesing over different wraps, types of carriers, diy slings and anything else you can think of. When I took care of a newborn-infant this past year I hated toting her around in her carseat and wanted to use a sling but would always forget to borrow one or what not bc I was just used to it. But I knew that I wanted to research all this and figure out a different method for me and little baby Nic.

The carrier I kept hearing so much about was the Ergo carrier. I heard it was well made and easy to use. It also was structured for a baby to be able to sit in for a long period of time. I love this one since its adjustable and Ryan might even be able to use it also if he choose to.  This will for sure be the carrier I look into getting. Another carrier that I like is the Beco Gemini. The beco is very similar to the ergo and I have only heard good things about it but it is even more pricey than the Ergo.  I still haven't done all my research for the sling and wrap part but one that I am looking at is the Baby K'tan. It seems simple and light weight.  The other wrap that I have been looking at is the Moby wrap and luckily enough my best friend, Bli, had a moby that she didnt want and gave it to me!!I was so excited about it that when I got home last night I decided to youtube different ways to use the Moby. Well instead of that helping me calm down and satisfying my need to use this wonderful new wrap it made it worst. So are you ready for a laugh......

 I decided to try it out using my dog haha...So I know its not the same but hey it worked and made me happy! Now I just cant wait for march to get here so I can use it with baby Nic!

(sorry for how rough the photos are my flash is crazy and it was pretty late at night lol)

The Business of Being Born

The Business of Being Born is an awesome movie! It made me and Ryan both very excited about our choice to use a midwife and to go with a drug free birth plan. I was so suprised about some of the statisics that are in the film and how eye opening it was. I truly believe that my body was made for this and that I am beyond blessed to have the chance of experiencing it. Hopefully will go well and my birth will be very similar to my birth plan but only time will tell.  It got me researching some of the different aspects of it.

The c-section rate is beyond high in our country and I found out that the state of ga is actually a little higher than the national average. This is the chart for 2011.

 This made me really want to look in to my hospital choices...I have three hospitals around me that are easy enough to get to. My main reason for looking up all theses percentages is bc I don't want to worry about a hospital that is use to pushing a woman to speed up her delivery or to have a c section if not absolutely necessary. The main hospital around me is Northside Forsyth(nicknamed the baby factory) I knew I didn't want to go there as I have heard many times how unfriendly they are with natural and drug free birth plans. And after watching that movie I decided to look up their c-section rate.....37.1%  My other two options are Emory Johns Creek and North Fulton Regional right now I am currently having my prenatal care with Modern Ob/GYN and would deliver at Emory...I haven't really found to much wrong with them and the hospital but I have a better choice and now my choice. Alpharetta women's specialist and deliver at North Fulton. I have decided to go with a midwife and very excited to actually meet my midwife, well hopefully my midwife, lets all pray I like her so I don't have to hunt one down all over Atlanta haha. Oh by the way North Fulton c section rate is 10.4%

I am though going to start looking into water birth since north fulton does offer birthing tubs.

The First Trimester

I didn't really start this at the VERY beginning so I am going to play catch up and sum up the first trimester here.  I decided that I want a natural and drug free birth, well thats the plan atleast, and to do that Bradley Method classes were going to be the way to go. I still want to deliver in a hospital so if something does go wrong or if me or the baby needs in medical attention it wont be a problem. Ryan is being very supportive in all this and has gladly decided to give up his one day off of work for 12 weeks to come to birthing classes with me! (Love him for it!!!) We had found a doctor we thought we liked but realized we had a better option so we decided to go with a midwife and deliver at North Fulton(still making some final descisions on provider)..I have a bunch of decsion and ideas to work out and go over with my birthing plan but more on that later ...The morning sickness or in my case the all the day sickness wasn't to horrible. I had to make sure that I had something to eat almost every hour and I drank a bunch of water and poweraid but I never really got 'sick'(that lasted till about 9weeks or so). Around 10 weeks I started feeling pretty good but I still get really tired in the afternoon or really anytime I do to much of anything. Each day though I am feeling better and getting more energy so hopefully I will be able to start getting some things around the house done to prepare for our little one.

 Week 10 we got to go to the doctor to see our baby! It was a truly amazing thing, Ryan and I both got a little emotional being able to see for the first time a postive test turn into a hand that could wave at us! We got to see the little gummybear bouncing all around and even saw a little hand waving. When we heard the heartbeat I cried. Ryan and I are truly blessed and can not wait to welcome this bundle of joy in to our home!



Hopefully now that I am started every weekend I will be able to update this and add my pictures and such but here are a two that I have already taken.

How a Little Blue Cross Started it All

On July 1st 2012 I decided that since my friend had left an extra pregnancy test at my house I would take it for and then text here the pic of our two negative test and say wine and pizza night is still on..however after I peed on that little white and blue stick instead of sending a funny text to my friend, I made a very excited and emotional call to Ryan! That little blue cross is the begging of our biggest blessing!

Ryan and I had decided to keep it a secret till we could see the ultrasound, talk to the doctor and make it over our 10week hump (our miscarriage in 2009 was at 9w4d)...or so I thought we were going to keep it a secret. Evidently before Ryan could hang up the phone at work from me telling him that I was pregnant one of his coworkers came up to him and said "I know that face, Katie is pregnant" so by the end of the day everyone at his work knew. My parents and sister found out that day also since my mom heard I was going to to the drs the next day and figured it out. We then went to Ryan's parents to tell them since Ryan couldn't wait till that weekend when we would see them(I was also a little worried that the brothers that work with him would let it slip). Ryan's aunt was in town from California so she found out and so did the cousins. Well since it was looking like most the people we knew had already found out I figured we would go public with it since I didn't want someone to accidentally put something on my facebook before I did. That brings us to July 4th, I knew I wanted to do something fun or creative to let everyone in facebook world know I was preggers...This is what I came up with, every 4th of july I do the peachtree road race with my mom and some friends of ours so I posted a pic of my race number with the caption...

Registration....$55

New Shoes....$75

Doing my Tenth Peachtree Pregnant...PRICELESS