When you're pregnant, there is really only one thing that will make you feel better about being in your current fragile state. Having as many other people as possible in the same boat as you!

In the past when friends have told me of their baby news, I, of course, was so excited for them, but it's just not the same until you have experienced it for yourself and are able to relate to all of the changes that they are experiencing. 

I have quite a few friends that are currently trying for a baby or soon will be and I AM DYING for them to join me in this non-alcoholic, fast food craving, poochy stomach stage of life. Someone to talk baby names, nursery decorating, and giant boobs with me! PUH-LEASE someone put me out of my misery and get knocked up ASAP! And tell me early on! I promise I won't tell and that I will be the most excited phone call that you make!! 

While I wait for others to join me in my journey to motherhood, I silently stalk my daily emails from US Weekly letting me know the scoop on all the prego ladies of Hollywood! Luckily there are a ton right now!

Just to name a few. 

Thank you ladies, I appreciate the company. 

As for the rest of you.... hurry the eff up!  Mmmk thanks! :)  

Somehow in the last week Baby jumped in size from a prune to a lime. Maybe that explains why I've been so hungry!

What's Baby Up To?

• Tooth buds, hair follicles, and nail beds are forming!
  
• Fingers and toes aren't webbed anymore.
  
• Moving around a lot and starting to kick! (Not that I can tell....)
  
• Testes or ovaries are developing (Can't wait to find out which!)
  

How's Mama?
STARVING! I still haven't gained any weight, but I am definitely always hungry. I read in a book that that means it's a boy, but who knows...

Also, each morning my stomach still looks pretty flat, but by the evening I have a full blown pooch. Then it's flat again by the next morning. Someone told me it's from excess oxygen I'm inhaling for baby. Not sure about that either...

Special shout out to the best Baby Daddy everrr who helps Mama with her every craving whim. After posting last week about Cafe Max my love brought it home for me for dinner the very next evening! 

Dang... now I'm craving it again! 

29 more weeks to go!! :)

Dear sweet Baby G, 

When you are reading this in... oh about 20 years from now... I hope that you have no knowledge of what the Ebola virus even is.  Right now, it is the most talked about and fear inducing topic in our country. You see... a guy traveling from Africa, brought this very deadly disease to the United States with him. Guess where - out of all the cities in all 50 states he brought it to? 

Guess which hospital he was treated in, died at, and where several of the medical staff have now become infected!!?

Guess where Mama's OB GYN practice delivers at?!?

Guess where I have my first hospital appointment at in 19 days!?

Guess what the incubation period for this disease is??? 21 days!!!

Oh and a young nurse who became infected at this hospital lives 12 streets away from Mommy and Daddy. It has been a true media circus and Dallas has been in the national spotlight for many, many weeks now. 

I know we will be fine though. I am not a worrier. But oh what a coincidence that the deadliest disease to ever reach our shores makes it's way to the very same location that we will be spending so much time at in the upcoming months. Hopefully, I won't have to wear a hazmat suit during delivery! 

Always wash your hands (and don't swap bodily fluids with anyone EVER),
Mommy

Woohoo! I'm 1/4 of the way through pregnancy! Hopefully the other 75% will fly by... 

Our baby is a precious prune this week. I mean really - were there NO other cute fruit options available??

What's Baby Up to? 

• Vital organs are fully developed and starting to function.
  
• Fingernails and hair are starting to appear. 
  
• Cartilage and bones are forming. 
  
• Arm joints are working. 
  
• Swallowing and kicking. 

Here is a visual of what baby looks like right now! 

Umm for real??? That's like a real baby! Unbelievable. 

How's Mama? 

• Symptoms: Occasional very, very slight nausea in the evenings. But nothing to really complain about. 
  
• Weight Gain: Lost a pound! :) This not boozing is a pretty good diet! But at yoga yesterday, I definitely noticed a tiny little stomach pooch that I couldn't really suck in. I'm beginning the stage where people will think I should cut back on my carbs.
  
• Cravings: Cafe Max ( Richardson peeps will know what I'm talking about). 
  
• Mood: Happy! :) 

Other newsworthy events: Baby G received their very first gift in the mail from Mom-mo (Mason's grandmother)!

So sweet! I look forward to story time with our little one. One of my favorite things to do as a teacher is to read from a novel to my class  for 20 minutes before lunch. That's one thing I can't wait to do as a mommy! Thank you so much Mom-mo, great gift! :)

Welp, that's all I got for now... 30 more weeks to go! 

Hooray week 9! Baby is no longer an embryo any longer, they have made it to fetus status! We're so proud! ;) 

With my Mom, Kim and Chuck all aware of their grand baby - to -be ...there was still one last set  of grandparents to be notified! My Dad and Saleta live in San Antonio, so when Mason and I  decided to go to the TEXAS/BAYLOR football game in Austin on October 4th  we decided it would be the perfect opportunity to meet them halfway in San Marcos to break the news!

On Sunday morning, we picked up Connor and headed down South to meet them for lunch at a restaurant called Grin's, which is apparently a local Texas State watering hole, and a place that holds many memories for my Dad (and even more now).  Connor did not know about the baby at this point either and we looked forward to letting him in on his new role as Uncle, as well!

Once we made it to Grin's and were seated, we placed our drink orders. Connor was eyeing the Bloody Mary and asked me if I was going to get one - sadly I declined. Once we ordered our meals, I told Mason to go out to the car to go get a gift I had "accidentally" forgotten in the car. 

Saleta's birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I told her that we had an early birthday present for her. She had pinned a Bread Pan from Anthropologie on her Pinterest board a while back and I had purchased it for her months ago. It made for the perfect gift to share our news!

I took video footage of their reaction upon learning the news, but sadly I discovered on the car ride home that it did not record. I was heart broken! They had such a good reaction too! Saleta took about a minute to catch on to what she was reading and Connor was so surprised! Sometimes sneaky surprises and technology just don't mix! :( 

Thankfully, Saleta sent a few photos of her  posing with her gift and a shot of the new parents at lunch! 

It was a very special day and I'm so glad that we were able to share the news with them in person! I'm also happy that our Baby has five extremely loving and overjoyed grandparents (and one great-grandparent) to share their life with! Sadly, when Mason and I were each born we had even fewer grandparents than that combined between the two of us. 

I'm beyond excited to share this blessing with them and very thankful for their love and support! Baby Guinn is truly lucky and so are we! 

Today was the day of our highly anticipated first Doctor's appointment. It's hard to put all of your faith into a $25 plastic pregnancy test that says you're pregnant. Without confirmation from a professional, you just can't be 100%. 

Mason left work early today and came to pick me up to take me to the doctor's office. Upon arrival I had to answer a brief questionnaire, get my blood pressure taken, give a urine sample and weigh in. After all that we headed into an examination room for an ultrasound and to hear the baby's heartbeat. 

With it still being pretty early on in my pregnancy, I wasn't really sure what to expect as far as seeing the baby or even being able to hear a heartbeat. But a baby was clearly visible - I can make out the head, body and even little arms and legs! (You have to tilt your head to the left a little!) 

PS: Don't worry - the head is supposed to be huge in relation to it's body at this point, as it takes the longest to develop! 

The doctor also confirmed that there was only one baby cooking in there! Thank goodness! I'm good with just one baby at a time. Sorry Kim - I know you were hoping for twins...Keisha, it's all  you! ;) 

We also got to hear the heartbeat, which was extremely loud and strong. Such a relief! Mason and I held back tears at this point. It is totally surreal to see and hear your baby in real time. Before it just seemed so hypothetical...

{Another shot of the baby and the baby's heart beat on the monitor.}

The doctor confirmed that Baby Guinn is 8 weeks 5 days and that our due date is May 12! 
We will be able to find out the sex at 18 weeks (right before Christmas)! I'm looking forward to that more than any other gift EVERRR... Well, besides my engagement ring... but that was a long drawn out ordeal (another story for another time...) ;) 

{Baby kinda looks like a cat in this shot! MEOW!}

After, we were finished meeting with our Doctor - I headed across the hallway to give not ONE, not TWO, not THREE.... but FOUR viles of blood!!! And I didn't pass out - success. 
 
We had a celebratory lunch at Breadwinner's afterward, and then spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls to share our news with the rest of the family - Claire, Cameron, Keisha and Mom-mo! 

Our next appointment will be on November 4th! Yay- already ready to go again! We will have appointments about once a month until we are 28 weeks and then we will start having them every 2 weeks until about 37 weeks at which point we'll start going every week! 

I'm kinda glad they'll be so frequent! Something else to look forward to and help the next 7 months go by more quickly!

We are just so happy that our baby is healthy and growing right on schedule right now! Baby G, you are already loved so much! We can't wait to meet you! XOXO!

Happy 8 weeks (and one day) Baby G! Mama was too busy binge watching Walking Dead to whip up a  blog post on the actual day....sorry! One day I'll teach you to slay zombies the correct way - which is sure to come in handy! ;) 

What's Baby Up To?
Moving their arms and legs around like crazy!
Fingers and toes are only slightly webbed.
Taste buds are now forming.
Growing about a millimeter each day!
Eyelid folds are forming.
Nerve cells in the retina are forming.
Ears are forming.
Elbows are present.
Arms are growing longer.

How's Mama? 
Strangely, no symptoms. I keep waiting for nausea to strike, but I feel almost completely normal with the exception of some stomach cramping. No complaints though! I do miss wine (all of you people who told me I wouldn't are LIARS)! I'm looking forward to our reunion in 31 weeks and 6 days!  I was craving pimiento cheese this past week! In fact that still sounds good, damn... Mason!!! ;)

Mama's also been busy trying not to blow her cover. Which is proving to be very difficult as of late, with lots of nosy friends poking around to find out if we're pregnant yet! I would like to get past the first doctor's appointment at least, but will probably have to share the news with Lauren and Adrian who are very persistent with their suspicions! :)

Other than that, not much to report this week! We will be going to our first doctor's appointment on Monday and we are eagerly awaiting it!

32 more weeks to go! 

Mason's parents were next on our list to share our baby news with, but we wanted to be able to tell them in person. A few week's ago we casually told them we'd be coming in town for a relaxing weekend to watch a Longhorn game, drink wine (I wish!) and soak up what was left of the late summer sun (this Mama is already far too pasty)!

We excitedly made the drive down to Houston after work this past Friday, with a belated "birthday gift" to give. 

When we finally made it to to their house, it was extremely difficult to set up my camera to capture the moment without them catching on! I was dead set on getting their reaction on film, however. Luckily they didn't catch on to my sneaky antics. I had planned to try to set up in the kitchen right when we arrived, but they had ordered us some chinese food and there was no good time to inconspicuously set up the filming. We were forced to endure, what seemed like a very long meal, while we were dying to have them open their gift! 

I even had to fake drink a glass of wine that Kim poured for me on my arrival - I took a few mini sips to play along (sorry bebe...just helping expand your palette)! :) 

Finally we dragged them into the living room to have them open their present! Below is the film of their reaction: 

They didn't quite believe us at first! But were so excited once we convinced them that we really are pregnant! :)

And just so you know... Kim's grandmother name is not actually "Big Mama"! Just a joke for now! She's still working on what the baby will actual call her! ;) 

I must say... it has been so exciting slowly telling our family members the most exciting news of our lives! We can not wait to share with the entire world!