Update: Anatomy Scan - Spine Views. I've reached 22 weeks!!!!!

Our Little "Thinker!"

 

 

--Hand under chin thinking about how super it's gonna be to have two mommies! ;-)

 

On Friday Feb. 7th, 2014 my wife & I went in for the much anticipated anatomy scan. I was hella nervous. I mean, THIS is the biggie. The scan where things not caught on earlier prenatal imaging & genetic testing can be detected. Before heading into the imaging center we just said a little prayer for our son. That's really all you can do.

 

Baby Boy "N" was rolled up into a complete ball! BUT with his legs crossed. At a certain point the tech told me to get up and move around in hopes to get him to stretch out a bit. Needless to say I did jumping-jacks, fake yoga etc in an attempt to get him to cooperate. Nadda! I'm so glad we weren't banking on the anatomy scan to find out the sex because we would have been disappointed. lol She did see "the money shot" at some point but it was for a quick few seconds. lol I was more concerned with his health. I prayed everything would be okay with him in terms of his organs, heart & overall health. That's all I really cared about forreal.

 

With the exception of his complete spine shots she did manage to get all the pictures & measurements she needed {Thank God}. So, we had to go back on Tuesday 02-27 for follow-up scans of his spine. Due to his position the first time the tech was unable to get all the structures of the spine she needed. The tech we had Tuesday seemed more seasoned and she was thorough! The follow-up appointment took longer than I expected. I consumed a bag of skittles and some sweet tea and praaaayed this little boy would cooperate! Laying sooo flat, WITH a full bladder, WITH aching HIPS, WITH her probing was painful! But...in the end she did manage to get every image she needed and afterwards congratulated us on our baby. Whewww! Thank God...again! It was wonderful to get another look at Sprouty! I could actually feel his kicks this time as she was scanning...it was kinda cool. He is measuring TWO WEEKS AHEAD! Yikes! I had the first scan full anatomy scan done at 19 weeks 1 day and he was measuring at 21 weeks! She didn't do dating measurments this time..she only focused on his spine, my fluid levels and my cervical length.

 

 

Here are some other cool pics of our little Sir:

 

 

FEET! lol

Halloween Frontal View! Boooooooo

Super Serious...Leave me alone Profile. lol

 

While my belly isn't that big yet....{At least I don't think so...lol} I feel so blessed to have made it to 22 weeks. I mean 22 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God is so GREAT! I do have to mention that I feel like I'm starting to slow down a bit. I take a little longer to do things I used to fly thru. It's an adjustment. My wife always tells me how great I'm doing...to be 6 months. -sidebar- The 6 months thingy depends on what calculation you use. lol Somedays I do feel like I'm doing well...other days I just take a deep sigh and say, "Lord give me STRENGTH!" lol We went thru all of Baby C's clothes and picked out all the gender neutral items for Sprouty. We have a nice little stash of sleepers, onesies, socks, bibs & equipment. My wife has also made a few cloth diapers for him too. YAY! We plan on doing our Babyshower registry in about 2 weeks. I want to wait until I'm 24 weeks to do that.

 

Update: My wife felt Baby N kick for the first time the morning I turned 21 weeks. It was so awesome for her to finally get to experience him from the outside. I think it becomes more real to everyone once you start feeling those kicks. I feel him all the time now and it does ease my mind. Some of his kicks are really low. Ouch! I don't think he likes when I prop up on my back or lay on my back...he kicks like crazy until I change positions. lol I just pray over my belly and tell him to stay PUT at least until the end of June.

 

That's all for now. I hope everyone is doing well & I'm still praying for those BFP's!

 

Meditation

 

God knows the end...just focus on being healthy.

Don't let worry steal your joy. Instead, Pray.

Don't get so caught up in the end result that you lose sight of the daily journey.

Raising a SON in Baltimore....The City That Bleeds.

 

(This will not be my usual blog entry...I just need to write down my thoughts)

So, last night while watching the local news something internally registered that shook me up a bit. I mean, it hit me all of a sudden that once this baby comes out, he will be a male raised in one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S.

Once he is released from my safe & secure womb he will be born in a city where young black males are killing each other daily. This is a scary thought. I not only have to protect him from the obvious pitfalls of being a kid growing up during this crazy time BUT I have to also be mindful that young black men account for most of our prison population, they are killing each other over their pride, they don't know how to deal with conflict in a healthy way & they are also the targets for stereotyping, hate crimes and many other ills.

 

Now, announcing... "It's A BOY" takes on a whole different meaning to me. I feel like our charge to raise young black men is something that goes far beyond the blue onesies and toy trucks. It's real!

 

So that leaves me to ponder: I was listening to the DL Hughley show and he uttered, "Your focus as a parent should be to protect your children at any and all costs." I agree. So, knowing that I live in a city where the odds are already stacked against my son does that give me the charge to move someplace where senseless violence isn't as prevalent? That "as" is so subjective. But crime happens everywhere, right? Is considering moving to the South (Atlanta, GA) opening up a whole new can of worry in terms of now having to protect my son from racist idiots & homophobic bigots? It's crazy man.....

 

I just want to give my kids the best life I can and protect them as best I can. I know shyt is gonna happen but I just want to minimize it. That may sound delusional but it's my truth. My wife stays home with our daughter. When our son is born he will follow....I just keep thinking about life after I give birth and everything has gone back to our normal. Once I no longer have this protruding belly and I'm back to my fitted-shirts, swim-trunks, wife-beaters & baseball caps.... internally I will feel like "me" again.

 

-Sidebar- No, I don't feel like "me" anymore on the inside or the outside because I'm not. This is new for me and with each week that goes by I have to re-adjust to a new me as the baby inside me grows. I'm a pregnant "not-so-femme" female. This has been a real adjustment for me.

...Wanna know how I know?

Because I went to my first women's college basketball game a few weeks ago and I felt self-conscious having a belly. I'm used to running up those College Park Rocky steps in my Ralph Lauren boots, loose fitted jeans, military style jacket & my baseball cap. But this time I had on the only real pair of black slacks that fit my belly comfortably, a sweater (with the belly protruding) and I was HELLA WINDED by the time I reached the top of those damn steps! Smh lol I felt kinda out of place. Especially since my female bestfriend was all "dommed out" makin' me feel like a preggo Beeioytch! lol

 

That's all I can do is laugh at this point. It's been a journey so far but I know I need to document it every step of the way & I wouldn't change it for the world. I also know after this experience I will never be the same. Something about carrying a child changes you and I already feel it. I'm thankful for this experience. But I'm also curious to see who I will become once I've given birth to a real life HUMAN.

 

Back on Topic:

So, I guess having a boy is really starting to sink-in mentally & emotionally for me. Will we end up moving? Will private schools be our only option? Will we raise sheltered kids that know nothing of what goes on in the city? ---We do live far enough from the main crust of the city where I can make that happen dammit! <Humor> In this day and age is minimizing the stuff your kids are exposed to with technology, other parents NOT parenting, youtub.e and social media even possible?! Just things I think about. I guess all we can do is pray. In the end that's all you really can do; Pray for them & cover them.

Gender Reveal *LOTS of pictures* IT'S A ...........!!!!

 

 

 

 

(This will be a picture heavy Post so I hope you enjoy!)........ 

 

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

 

 

 

I'm so excited and thankful! We are blessed to finally have a SON! As you all know, I've said from the very beginning that I felt this was a little boy. While I was unsure at times based on some of my cravings (oranges) I just kinda internally knew this was a boy. My wife & I are just so thankful and excited about welcoming our little Prince into the family. We know just how blessed we are to have one of each. This is a picture from our elective gender ultrasound.

 

For those of you who have followed my blog...the u/s did in fact MATCH the results of the Maternit21 genetics test done at 11 weeks 1 day. lol So my results were indeed accurate. I'm still happy we decided to have the u/s anyway..........

 

-SideBar- My aunt thought the HUGE looking leg was his "weeter." lol MA'AM!!!!!............Needless to say I told her his "weeter" is actually the little thingy underneath with the word "boy" under it. lol Forgive her ya'll she hasn't seen an ultrasound in moons so she gets a pass. Smh

 

 

 

So, in July we will welcome Baby Boy "N" and our family will be complete. Four will indeed complete our set. We love him so much already and can't wait to meet him. Here are a few other pics from the elective gender scan we had 3 days before the party.....

 

 

Baby Boy "N" (Formerly known as Sprouty) with the cord hanging on the side of his face and his legs up.

 

 

Sprouty with his hand covering his face......Awwwww! lol

Now for our Gender Reveal Party!

 

We cut up two bags of confetti..one pink & one blue. We sent both bags along with a sealed envelop that contained the genetics test results (which indicated the sex of the baby) and the potty shot from the elective ultrasound. We instructed the "balloon lady" (Ms. Liz) at Party City to open the envelope and fill our balloon with the confetti that matched the sex.... and to throw the other bag away. I could tell she was excited. She told me that her sister had recently did a gender reveal via youtub.e for their family.

Confetti & Gender Reveal Balloons! (Sorry this is so grainy) My wife and I each had pins in our hands ready to POP the all black balloon which contained the confetti. My wife is actually holding Baby C in her arms and I'm on the other side in the black sweater and white shirt. Again...sorry this pic is so blurry. It was taken from a screen shot of a video. But at least you get the visual....

 

 

 

"He or She...What Will It BEE!?" We used the chalkboard from our daycare room and put this decorative poster on it. We simply cut out polka-dot paper squares & little bees, attached some ribbon and 'BOOM' Cool Gender Reveal sign.

Then, at our home, in front of about 40+ family members and close friends we shared our very special moment after dinner. We POPPED the ballon & the floor was covered with BLUE confetti!!!!!! Everyone began to scream and cheer SO LOUDLY I could hear my ears ringing! Needless to say, I LOST it! I started jumping up & down and crying with my hands covering my face!!

In that moment, I was positive of one thing, God really does give us the desires of our hearts when it is according to His Will. In that moment, I felt like I had given my wife something that no one else ever could, a son. In that moment, I felt joy, love and full of gratitude. I am making my daughter a big sister! I will be blessed to raise a daughter and a son. I'm just so thankful.............

 

Here are a few other pictures from our reveal.

 

 My wife made these AHMAZING Cupcakes (from scratch) with cream cheese icing. They were EVERYTHING! Damn I married well! ;-)
We cut out little circles from poster board and glued little "bees" on them as our cupcake accents. Thanks to Pinterest, we were able to make all of our decorations! It came together really nicely I think. I know my wife was impressed with my crafting skilllzzz! Ha!

 

<----We made these little bags & filled them with Life Saver mints for our guests. They each read, "What Will It Bee?" & "Thank you?"

 

<--------We also made this little center-piece (which is actually a picture holder)...it listed my symptoms, cravings & a picture of Baby Boy N. It was really kinda cool how it all came together with such little money spent on the decorations. We just used our creative minds & put our crafting to work! It's funny because I hardly had any real symptoms per se. So, I think once we started looking at the stmptoms & "old wives tales" - How I was carying, low....no morning sickness, good mood, dreams and chinese lunar chart...I think we all kinda knew it would be a boy.

 

                                            

 

 

 

This picture is the recap. As you can see we had a blast! I'm so thankful we didn't find out sprouty's se.x until the party. There were a couple of "close calls" where the beans were almost spilled before our party but I'm so glad everything turned out perfect!

 

In the end #TEAMBOY came out victorious. I think only 3-4 people pegged me to be carrying a girl. EVERYONE at the party was #TEAMBOY except 2 oddballs. Teeeheee.

 

About Me Update:

 

 I started feeling Sprouty move around at 17 weeks 3 days and I'm feeling him more now. No real kicks, just rolling & flutters. That was exactly THREE days after my post about "movement." lol....I also started to suffer from extreme nasal congestion at 18 weeks 3 days and it lasted for about 3 days. Come to find out I had rhinitis of pregnancy, which is common, and I was miserable! One of my wonderful FCL group members told me about a product that was literally a miracle! I was so thankful to be able to breathe thru my nose again, I actually told her, " I LOVE YOU!" Hahahaha! I was SUFFERING ya'll! I'm so appreciative when folks share valuable information so I feel I MUST do the same for someone else.....So if you're reading this and you're also suffering from unbearable congestion due to pregnancy hormones...go get some Vicks 'Sinex' 12 hour decongestant ultra fine mist! You will be so glad you did!!!  It saved me and I could finally breathe thru my nose and SLEEP again!

 

We go in for my anatomy scan tomorrow...I will be 19 weeks 1 day. I cannot wait!! My wife & I are just so excited to see him again! So, I would really appreciate LOTS of prayers, love, light & positive energy for our little guy that he passes with flying colors.

 

Thanks so much for following my journey thus far. It does mean a lot.

 

Be Peace.