Let's rewind...

This week I am 23 weeks along in this pregnancy.  It has been an interesting ride so far.  Let's rewind and play catch up from the beginning.

For a couple of years we have had two dates in mind while planning for this baby.  One being KP's deployment and the other being my mom's retirement.  These dates were pretty influential in our planning.  My mom has graciously offered to be our full time day care so her retirement date was very important to us.  On the other hand, we made an attempt to plan this pregnancy around a deployment... a failed attempt.  We got pregnant much faster than we thought it would happen... yes I know all the birds and the bees business so I'm not dumb when it comes to how we got pregnant faster than we thought.  However, it is what it is and I have come to embrace our NEW plan!

We found out that we were pregnant the first week in October.  It was a total shock!  I can't even remember why I decided to take a test in the first place. For whatever reason, I did and it was positive.  My immediate reaction was that KP needed to run out and get me another brand of test because I didn't believe it.  It was in fact true.  We had every intention of waiting until Thanksgiving to tell our families until my Nanny got sick.  I couldn't live with the idea of her passing away with out knowing about this baby so we spilled the beans in week ONE.  Wouldn't you know... she pulled through long enough to find out at week 20 that this baby is a BOY!

After telling the family, we immediately started having some complications and things got very scary.  I ended up at the doctor being tested every two weeks until they felt this baby was in it for the long haul.  The upside to that is that before week 20, I had already had 7 ultrasounds... can't complain about seeing my little boy flourish and grow!  I would say that things started to feel "safe" around week 10.  I started to show more, which made me feel good because that meant my baby was growing. In the mean time, KP was in and out of town for work ups before deployment and I was not only terrified about this baby but also learning to adjust to my new role of full time military wife.

At 16 weeks, I had a regular check up with out and ultrasound.  Fortunately, KP was actually able to go to this appointment.  When the doctor found out that he would be leaving for deployment before the big gender reveal, he gave us a freebie ultrasound.  The ultrasound was "inconclusive" with their best guess being a boy.  There was no doubt in my mind.  I saw the picture and this baby was with out a doubt a boy.  Even still, we waited until our big appointment at 20 weeks to confirm the gender before telling many people.  There was never any other option for me.  From the day that I found out I was pregnant, I said this baby was a boy and I was right.  I just had a feeling.  So Clayton James he shall be!

At 17 weeks, KP left for his overseas deployment.  He will be back "sometime" after the baby is born.  It has been quite a range of emotions. It has gone from confident, to terrified, back to some level of content.  We have gotten into a really good routine with communication.  After about the 2nd week, we have been able to communicate in some way almost every single day.  One of the things that really scared me was not being able to reach him if something bad were to happen.  Fortunately, all of those times that I have come across that I felt were really important to reach him right away, I have been able to just by chance.

So here we are, 23 weeks along.  It has been an adventure of emotions and pregnancy symptoms.  All in all it has been an easy pregnancy.  I haven't had any symptom more severe than another and nothing unbearable.  Some just annoying more than anything.  Clayton is growing fast and strong!  I can feel him kicking and moving almost all day every day. The nursery is almost ready (more to come on that) and the baby laundry is being done (more to come as well).  So join us for the other adventures that are sure to pop up along the way!

Sarah, KP and Clayton