Movement for Daddy!

Well, after about 4 weeks of me being able to feel Cooper moving, kicking, hitting, and whatever else he's doing in there, Brad was FINALLY able to feel a little bit of what I've been feeling.  For the past several weeks, I have been able to sit on the couch after we eat supper and feel tons of movement from our little guy.  I always thought I could feel it with my own hand, but whenever Brad would try, he didn't feel a thing.  That all changed last Saturday (November 13th) when we got in bed, and I told Brad to try to feel again.  I guess laying flat on my back helped because he was finally able to feel him about 4 or 5 times in a matter of a couple of minutes.  They were some of the hardest kicks I've felt so far.  I'm so glad that Brad can finally feel him now.  :)  It's so hard to explain the feeling of having little baby movements in my belly, but now Brad actually has a little better understanding of what I've been talking about.  I've noticed that Cooper moves around the most when I'm hungry or right after I eat.  I guess he gets his eating habits and love for food from me!!!  If that's the case, Brad might be in trouble!  haha

23 WEEKS

Halfway there...20 weeks!!!

We went back to the doctor on Monday for our 20 week appointment, and Cooper got an A+ for all of his stats, but he's hovering around a C for his ultrasound etiquette. During the ultrasound, the lady did confirm that he was a boy which was definitely a good thing. She also got MOST of the measurements she needed except she was unable to get a profile shot and a shot of his spine. It's looking like Cooper is either stubborn or camera shy. He better get over this camera shy thing before he's born considering I plan on taking a million pictures in the first year of his life! :) The good news is that we get to have another ultrasound when we go back in 4 weeks! So that means we'll get to see our little guy again at 24 weeks at the doctor and then again at 28 weeks when we go back to Precious View for our last 3D/4D ultrasound. We did get to watch him for a few minutes on the screen, and he was moving around a lot (just not in the right ways she needed him too). I can already tell he's going to get his eating habits from me. The past few times we've seen him, he's been munching away.


As of Monday, he's weighing in at 13 ounces which is in the 50th percentile. We were also told that based on my lab work from last month, there is only a 1 in 10,000 chance that Cooper will have down syndrome or spinal bifida. Those are the best chances you can have, which was great news to hear! It looks like our little guy is healthy and growing like a weed. The 2 ultrasound pictures we got weren't the best, but I keep telling myself that in 4 weeks we'll have a couple more pictures.

I must admit that this frontal view of his face does look kind of creepy.  You can see his eye sockets, and if you look closely, you can see the lense of his left eye.

This is another view of the front of his face.  This was pretty much the only shot he would let us get.

Decisions

Brad and I took the first step in deciding on nursery decor today.  Besides picking out a name for our baby, I guess you could say we made our first decision.  If you know Brad and I, you know how indecisive we both are, so this was a major step for us.  HAHA!  We spent the afternoon at USA Baby in Franklin today, and we bought a crib and a dresser.  We were kind of disappointed when they told us they'd have to order it and it could be 8 weeks or so before it came in.  I was hoping it would be in stock and we could get started on the room in the next couple of weeks, but it looks like 8 weeks will give us more time to do other little projects around the house. 

I copied this picture from the website, but this is the crib we got (same color and everything), and the dresser we got is like the one shown in the picture too except it only has 3 drawers and it's the height of a normal dresser (not tall like the chest that's shown here).

The next decision we make will have to be bedding so we can also pick out the paint color for the room too.  I've searched and searched and searched for the PERFECT non-themed bedding, but it seems like everything is either animals, sports, or just plain blue. I want something with more colors in it, and I think I've narrowed it down to 2 sets. 

Ashley found this one at Babys R Us, and it looks really cute. I wish I could see it in person, but the Babys R Us in Evansville didn't have it when my mom and I went shopping last weekend. It does have a "safari" theme, but the animals are only on the quilt, which I don't think anyone really uses anyway....do you? The quilt actually turns into a little play-gym thing which I think is cute too!  This bedding is full of different colors, which will make it easier to add other decorations to the room.

My second choice for bedding actually just got added to my list today while we were looking at furniture.  I've seen this one before, but I've never looked twice at it because the giraffes always threw me off.  Remember...I'm looking for something that doesn't have a theme.  Look past the room decorations in this picture.  I would  leave out the wall art, clothes hamper, rug, and curtains...that might be a few too many giraffes!  :)  The model in the store had the bumper pad facing the other way.  The other side has colorful stripes to match the crib skirt.  I love the colors in this...blue, red, orange, yellow, green, brown...pretty much every color.  I think I could look past the one set of giraffes on the bumper pad and, and I think the small set of giraffes on the crib skirt will be covered by the wood on the crib (that's how it was in the store anyway). The quilt is also reversible with the colorful stripes on the other side.

Bubbles, Butterflies, BABY!!!!

Right before we found out Baby Waltrip was a boy (Week 15), I had a very strange feeling in my stomach.  I just felt it once, and it was like a big bubble that went from the far left side of my stomach all the way across to the right side.  I hadn't felt that before so I knew it had to be our baby.  The doctor and the ladies at the 3D/4D ultrasound place said that it was definitely the baby that I was feeling.  I waited a couple of more weeks, and didn't feel anything else until Week 18.  Now, it seems like just about every day (after I eat and sit down) Baby Waltrip...which we now know is Cooper...is doing a lot of moving around.  Before school the other day I drank a big glass of orange juice, and during the whole 20 minute drive to school, Cooper was constantly moving.  It felt like little butterflies dancing around in my whole stomach.  I must say, this is such an AMAZING feeling!  :)  I can't wait for the next several weeks when I can feel these movements more often.  Brad has been trying to feel them too, but he still hasn't been able to.  I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks that he'll get to experience this too.  I'm at the half-way point of my pregnancy (20 weeks), and we are getting so excited to start working on Cooper's room.  We have our 20-week doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, and we can't wait to see our little guy again!  I'll be sure to make another post tomorrow night with an update on Cooper and hopefully a few more pictures!

Belly Pictures



13 weeks

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks 3 days

17 weeks (wearing my first maternity shirt)

17 weeks 3 days

Toes in the sand...

The past 2 weeks I've been on Fall Break, which has been a much needed break from work.  Last week Brad and I (along with Bailey) took our last trip to Destin without a baby.  We spent most of our time on the beach, relaxing, shopping, and eating.  We had such a great week, and I can't wait to go back with our baby boy!  :)  Brad and I also celebrated our third anniversary on this trip.  Where has the time gone??  It seems like yesterday we were taking these pictures...

Three years later, here are several pictures from our vacation...

I wish I had this view every evening!

Brad and I

Bailey LOVES vacation!

Our nightly walk

Brad and Bailey

My favorite place!

It's a BOY!!!!!

We had our appointment at Precious View on Tuesday, September 28th to find out the sex of Baby Waltrip.  Well...Baby Waltrip is a BOY!!!!!!!  If you had talked to me since we found out we were pregnant, I was 99% sure it was going to be a girl.  I even caught myself looking at girl things online and in stores because I was just so sure it would be a girl.  The majority of my family is girls and Brad's family is all boys, and everyone I know has either recently had a boy or is expecting a boy, and I just knew we'd have a girl.  I must say, when I saw those boy parts on the screen (before the ultrasound lady actually said boy) I was MORE than excited!  And yes, Baby BOY Waltrip already has a name---COOPER EVANS WALTRIP!  We can't wait to meet our little man is March.  Here are a few pictures to enjoy....

Cooper at 15 weeks 5 days

BOY!!!!

I think he got a little tired of being poked around so he huddled up and covered his ears!

We got to go back to Precious View on Thursday, September 30th because they didn't get all of the pictures they wanted, and he wouldn't cooperate has much as they hoped.  The more pictures the better! 

 Relaxing

 Still a boy!

 I love that profile!

Sucking his thumb