19 weeks

How Far Along: 19 weeks, almost half way!

Size of baby: baby is the size of a mango. Average: 6 in. from head to hiney, 10 in. from head to toe! Good day! and 8.5 oz

Total Weight Gain/Loss: According to scale at home, I am still down 3.  Apppointment on Wednesday!

Maternity Clothes: Mix and match. It really depends on the day. I can still wear most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, but some are a little uncomfortable.

Gender:  Bouncing Baby Boy!!
Stretch marks: None

Movement: Little man is moving up a storm some days. He is really active when I am exhausted.

Sleep:  Sleep is still so much better, other than potty breaks every few hours. :)

What I miss: Nothing!

Cravings: None. Still been wanting to drink lots of milk!

Symptoms: Holy heartburn! I was up ALL night Friday night! I know sweet hubby didn't get any sleep, but  he didn't complain. :) I tried everything...I walked laps around my kitchen island, I tossed and turned. Nothing helped! I bought Tums on Saturday! (and haven't had heartburn since! ha!)

 Best Moments this week: Feeling my polar bear move. Oh, how I love him. Also, we have been working on finishing our basement and we had most of the floors installed this weekend! Yay! Not much more and it will be done!

19w1d pic wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans. :)

18 Weeks

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: baby is the size of a sweet potato. Average: 5-6 in. and 6.7 oz

He is busy being busy!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: At my doctor's appointment on Monday, I was still down 3 pounds. Hard to believe looking at my bump. haha! I feel like I am up about 1-2 pounds this week and know that within the next week or so I will hopefully be up to my pre-pregnancy weight or more. :)

Maternity Clothes: None since the beach trip. However, I start back to work for the school year in 2 weeks, so I will be wearing my maternity dress pants then.  I can't wait!

Gender: Baby Boy!!! My. Heart. Melts.

Stretch marks: None

Movement: The last few days, my little polar bear has been very active at night! If I lay on my stomach he kicks away! (Gotta practice that kick to start his dirt bikes) 

Sleep:  Sleep is still so/so.  Waking up right much to roll over to get comfortable.  Ok, so I haven't gained any weight.  What is sleet going to be like in a few months? NOT looking forward to that!

What I miss: Nothing!

Cravings: None. Been wanting to drink lots of milk though!

Symptoms: Morning sickness, I believe is gone. :)

 Best Moments this week:  Finding out that my precious little miracle is a son! The emotions and happiness my husband and I felt were indescribable.  Of course, we would have been delighted with a daughter as well. <3 Also, spending the day with my mom on Friday window shopping getting ideas for my sweet little boy!

Pic is of 18w1d.  Today was my first working day back at school. I work 3 days this week. :) So pic is after my first day of working in 3 months and battling rain at the grocery store.  Don't look too close. lol.

It's a.......

Oh the wait! I went in for my routine doctor's visit on Monday knowing I would be making my next appointment for my anatomy scan where I would find out my precious baby's gender! Little did I know, it happened to be one of those "don't call me, I'll call you" things and I had to wait for the phone call from the hospital to make my appointment.  Naturally, I thought the hospital would call within the next hour...Riiiiiiight! haha! I waited "patiently" all day and...nothing.  Tuesday rolled around and....nothing.  On Wednesday, my sweet hubby was off of work so we rode to Danville to Home Depot and Babies-R-Us to look around.  The whole time in Babies-R-Us I was thinking "I wish they would call so I would know what I was looking at, blue or pink!" When we got back to town, I realized I had a voicemail.  My phone never rang! My sweet hubby was excited "It may be the hospital" he said.  Well, it was. :) This was 4:00 on Wednesday evening, they had an appointment for 8:00 Thursday morning.  They were hesitant.  "It is early, would you like another day where I can get you in later?" Ummmm. No, this one is perfect!  I had to drink 16 oz of water at 7am and be at the hospital by 7:30. Luckily they were able to take me back right then!  I was a ball of nerves. Praying everything was developing correctly and on track.  The ultrasound tech was so sweet.  She had to chase baby Deal everywhere! He/she was so active. She laughed at how active the baby was.  Surely it had nothing to do with the cinnamon rolls I ate last night! Ha!  After all was said and done, she turned the screen and started showing us precious little fingers and toes. Baby's mouth was opening and closing. So precious!  Then I saw a flash on the screen and I said "it's a girl", now granted my intuition has said boy all along.  Was I correct or was I wrong?

:)

:)

I was wrong! We are having a precious, very active, rambunctious little BOY! 

Hubby and I could not be happier! We are so blessed with Aly and Macy, two beautiful little girls, and this little bundle of joy completes our Deal family puzzle.  We are so blessed and give God all the glory for this precious miracle! Here are a few more pics from today.  We were not able to get great profile and face pictures. At 17 weeks, the face is not very clear, at 20 weeks it would be. :0) Hopefully my doctor will give me more pictures then. :)

17 weeks

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Size of baby: baby is the size of an onion. Average: 5.1 in. and 5.9 oz

He/She is busy making bone and now has tiny precious fingerprints

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Unsure, went on vacation....not always a good sign. ha!  Weighing at home yesterday, I weighed the same as before I left (still loss of 3), but I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and will go by his scales. I am sure I should be back up to my original weight by now. (See cravings. lol)

Maternity Clothes: I wore one maternity shirt while on vacation at the beach.  It was the only black shirt I packed (vacay post).  Who only packs one black shirt? haha. It was very comfy :) although my beloved white capris were fairly uncomfortable by the end of the evening. May have had something to do with the japanese grill dinner we ate prior to pictures! 

Gender: Not yet, I will make my appointment for my gender scan at my appointment tomorrow!!

Stretch marks: None

Movement: I am CERTAIN I felt 2 little flutters while at the beach. <3 Each time, I was laying on my stomach at the ocean and I think butter bean didn't like getting squished. lol. I love the feeling already!

Sleep:  Sleep is so so.  I have to turn constantly.  If I lay on one side too long, my hip and shoulder begins to hurt. :/  

What I miss: Nothing!

Cravings: None this week.  Although towards the end of my beach trip, all I wanted was fried oysters.  I do believe I ate my weight in fried oysters while there! Plug: Bimini's by far has THE BEST fried oysters in Myrtle Beach. :) We only ate dinner there twice in a 4 days. lol!

Symptoms: Morning sickness thankfully did not make an appearance at all this week! 

 Best Moments this week:  Spending the whole week with my little family and having hubby all to myself! :) I enjoy nothing more than being around my girls and my hubby. The girls wanted to go into the baby stores at the outlet mall.  It was so sweet to see their eyes light up when they saw a onesie or little booties that they loved.  I can not wait for them to become big sisters. <3

I just looked at my 12 week picture and then this one.  Gooood day! What a difference 5 weeks can make! Vacation was mighty good to me! Haha!

Beach trip!

*warning* picture overload! :)

This past week my little family went on our annual beach vacation to Myrtle Beach! We of course look forward to this trip every year, but this year was undoubtedly one of the most memorable.  It was bittersweet due to the fact that this is our last trip as a family of four.  I can honestly say I totally took advantage of the rest and relaxation knowing next summer will be another story! ha! I was so proud of the girls, they were not afraid of the ocean at all this year and was able to play and truly enjoy it!  Aly's 12th birthday was on Thursday, so we were able to celebrate for the day with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and niece.  Aly really enjoyed her day. <3  Every year, we dress the girls up and take them to the ocean in the evening and take pictures.  I love these pictures and the girls always have so much fun!

The man of my dreams <3

My sweet angels and I at dinner

Daddy and his girls

Sisterly laughter! Melts my heart.

Daddy will always hold your hand.

Keep off! Ha!

Showing off our bumps! 

Brothers :) lol

Aly, Blake, and Macy 

The girls with their hermit crabs: Crabby, Crackly, Shelly, and Hermy

I love my little family! 

16 weeks

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: baby is the size of an avacado avg. 4.6 in and 3.5 oz

He/She is busy growing eyebrows and listening to mommy's voice! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still loss of 3 lbs. I think...

Maternity Clothes: None yet. But soon. I purchased the ca-utest skirt from Old Navy and I declare I will wear it now, during, and waaay after pregnancy. Don't judge. :) It doesn't even look like a maternity skirt! Will take a pic soon!

Gender: Not yet, hopefully 2 more weeks!

Stretch marks: None

Movement: Nothing yet, Can't wait! I thought I felt a quickening on Friday, but completely unsure.  It may have just been a bubble because it only happened once.  I am patiently (ha!) waiting!

Sleep:  Still sleeping great  

What I miss: Nothing!

Cravings: None this week, not even spicy!

Symptoms: Morning sickness stayed away all but 3 days this week! Praying the next week there is none. :)

 Best Moments this week:  Listening to my sweet baby's heartbeat on the doppler.  My stepdaughters came today and was able to hear it as well.  Such a sweet memorable moment.  I told them the baby could hear us as well now and he/she will learn our voices.  Both girls decided it was important to introduce themselves to our sweet angel. Oh how I love my family. 

Picture this week is a little blurry. :)

Just for fun...

Ok, this post is just for fun. :) I decided to do some "old-wives tales" about gender prediction and a few others just to see what result I may come across.  I know all of these have a 50% accuracy rate, but what fun it was to do them! I must add here, I of course will be happy with either gender.  We are only praying for a healthy baby. :) These are just for fun and curiosity.

1) The FIRST gender prediction "test" I have is straight intuition. My intuition points towards boy.  I can truly only think of everything boy.  I am having a hard time thinking of me with a girl. I only find myself looking at boy nurseries, boy clothes, and boy registry items. They say that a mother's intuition is 70% accurate. If I have a girl, I would be ecstatic, I love my girls! Poor Tony, the house will be full of tutus and hairbows!  If I have a boy, poor me, they will always be gone fishing and hiking!  Hmmm. We shall see.

2)  The first "real" test I did was the Chinese Gender Predictor Test. According to the calculator, my lunar age at the time of conception was 31.  What it says exactly:  You are 31 years old in the 3rd lunar month (Mar. 22 ~ Apr. 20) Therefore, if you look at the chart I posted below, age 31 in the 3rd lunar month says a BOY.

Lunar Month
Mother's Age	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45

girl    boy

3)  I then did the wedding band on the hair test.  This is when you place a piece of the mother's hair through her wedding band and hold the strand with the band 'dangling' over the mother's palm.  Hold it very still.  If the band swings in a circle, you are having a girl, if it swings back and forth you are having a boy.  Result:  It went back and forth, so...BOY.

4) The last test I did was the IntelliGender Test from Walgreens.  This says 70% accurate, but we all know, it's 50% just like the rest of the tests. However, I wanted to take it to see if it contradicted the other tests I took.

The test is obviously dark green which clearly states that the result is: BOY.

According to my gender poll, 85% of you think Butter Bean will be a boy and all of these say boy. There is still time to vote if you haven't yet. :)  We will find out "for sure" hopefully in 2 weeks!  If we have a beautiful princess, I will be overjoyed! If we have a little prince, I will be ecstatic.  Either way, I am so excited to bring this little bundle of joy into the world and can not wait until December!