"As the Baby Grows" Part II

Ok, where did I leave off last post?....oh yeah, October and the New Orleans trip.

The next big event that we experienced was going to find out what the sex was!!! We went on November 24th ...here is a pic of Lee and I about to leave and head to the Dr's office:

We also had both Zan & Greg and Cynde & Mike show up at the Doctors office. We wanted them to find out after we did! I'm sure all the waiting room and nurses were wondering what the heck was going on!!! Lee and I went in first with the sweet tech Beverly (next time we go to have the 4-D I will take her pic and post it for you all to see). She measured the heartbeat, the diameter of the scull, and all kinds of other measurements, then she started to move that wand all around my belly. After a little while, she stayed put on one particular area and said, "well...." and pointed with her cursor right to the goods, then said "its a boy!" All Lee and I kept saying was "Wow" and "This is so cool!" He was moving all around and at one point he yawned for a really long time! You can see all of this on the video I am working on posting next time...(Keep in mind there are 2 sections...the break in the video is when Zan and Greg left and Cynde and Mike came in the room. The yawning part is the most amazing thing to see! Keep watching and wait for it!):

Here are some ultrasound pics:

Dad was so generous and gave Lee and I 2 tickets to the Iron Bowl, so that was our next adventure! Before the game we went to Gallette's and I has a cranberry and sprite. It was fun to go back there! I told Lee "I'm sure I am the only pregnany girl here in this nasty old bar!" During the game, it was misty the whole time and I ended up having to sit in Lee's lap most of the time because our row was super crowded. Of course the preggers ended up without a seat! But we still had such a great time and got to see lots of old friends!

We had a blast at our "Pappas Christmas" get together at Lake Martin! We played lots of pool with Will, Hunt & Tiff....

Starting to show pretty good by this point!!!!

Bathed the princess....

The lovely Isabella!

I enjoyed a glass of wine that took me ALL NIGHT to finish (it was even a 1/2 glass :)....

and watched Isabella open gifts...

After all the food at Thanskgiving and the lake, I looked like a butterball ham!!! By December 20th, at about 21 weeks along, I looked like this....

At this week, http://www.i-am-pregnant.com/ said: "Your baby will be getting much larger during the second half of your pregnancy. Your baby's crown-to-rump length at this time is 7.2 inches and she weighs approximately 10.5 ounces. Your growing baby is about the size of a large banana."

Finally, Christmas rolled around and we had THE FINAL (and Zan says "I mean it, this is the last one!") Christmas Eve party at the Pappas household! It was so fun, until I crashed and had to go lay down in the back because I was sooooo tired and couldn't hang. But up until that point, it was fun....

Of course, by Christmas night, both Rebecca and I were exhausted, as you can see in our pictures! :)....

The next big adventure was Tiffany's suprise party in Birmingham! Here is the reaction....

Here is the proud Daddy (Hunt) and Daddy-to-be (Lee)....

Of course, I couldn't hang again and made Lee take me home from the Karaoke bar before I even go to see Tiff sing on stage :(

This was one of the first times I really felt the pregnancy frustration. It is hard when everyone around you is having a great old time, drinking cocktails, and has all kinds of energy, and you are just feeling the total opposite! :)

Nursery time!!!

Nesting has begun in full force! I got on a rampage around the middle of January and the house had to be cleaned out or I couldn't stay there anymore! :) So the room we originally had as our office/day bed guest room was cleaned out....

and Lee started painting...

Mags helped (of course)....

To catch everyone up....

So here it goes, I am going to try and update everyone from what I can remember. It all started back in August of 2008. We were ready to start trying to increase our family by one! I took a home pregnancy test on August 20th, and within seconds, it was positive!

We decided it would be best to wait and tell family after our first Dr's appt, but that just took too long! So, on August 24th we told. The reactions were exactly as expected- Zan saw the picture and wispered "Are you PREGNANT?!!!", Cynde screamed and laughed at the same time, and Greg and Mike just kept smiling :)

We didn't want to tell friends until further along, but Hunter got a little tipsy and spilled the beans at the beach to our close friend Jason Smoker. Jason then went to Auburn with Lee for a weekend and all the secrets were revealed. The news spreads pretty fast!!!! It was actually such a relief to have friends know! When we went out for dinner, they would know why I wasn't having wine or beer! :)

I was extremely tired the first trimester (I remember Lee bringing me dinner in bed while I watched the John and Kate plus 8 marathon), but once that second trimester hit, all was great!

On September 10th, at around 7 weeks along, I looked like this...

At this week, http://www.i-am-pregnant.com/ said:"This week your baby has an amazing growth spurt. At the beginning of this
week, your baby is approximately 4 to 5 mm and by the end of the week it has
more than doubled to 11 to 13 mm! Your baby weights approximately 0.03
ounces."

On September 14th, I went out with the girls to a ball, but not being able to have cocktails put a little damper on the night (we still had a great time though dancing up front by the band!:) My energy drained fast and the girls had to take ole preggers home!

On September 28th, Lee and I attended our 10 year high school reunion...it was so much fun to see all of our classmates with their families! Here we are at the school... we also attended the party (where I enjoyed cranberry and sprite drinks all night!)...

Then I got a little practice time in

with my absolutely beautiful neice Isabella....

She is the best practice, although she is such a good baby that Michael has a lot to live up to! She is always happy!!! Even with an ear infection, she was smiling and laughing all the time! Such a cutie pie!

I have learned a good bit about bath time, feedings, and tummy time from Tiffany! She is also helping me with all this registry business...of which I had no clue how many baby items were out there now! It is so nice to have a list of tried and true things you really need from her. One item that she said is a "must" is the miracle blanket. Hopefully that will be one of Michael's favorite things.

Lee got a little practice time in too!...

By October 22nd, at around 13 weeks along, I looked like this...

Mags just loves to make her way into the photograph...this is just one of many she makes her way into!

At this week, http://www.i-am-pregnant.com/ said:

"This is the last week of your first trimester and your baby weighs 14 to 20 grams. The crown-to-rump length of your growing baby is 2.6 to 3.1 inches. Your baby is now about the size of a peach."

Since I was at the end of the first trimester, and feeling pretty good

I must say, we headed to New Orleans!!!!

Everyone thought I was crazy to go to New Orleans "in my condition", but it was such a fun trip (I even had a virgin hurricane type drink at Pat O's!)...

Will and Jack kept rubbing my belly the whole weekend (maybe for good luck because we sure needed it with those 2 being together down in New Orleans, both for the first time!!!) It was so nice to have Rebecca there with us though, she was my sober partner for most of the trip (key word here is most :) Just kidding Becca!)

Well, that is enough for tonight! I will post the second half of the "As the baby grows" soap opera tomorrow...check back in soon! Love to all, La

Better late than never!

So, I'm starting this blog a little late, but I figured it is better late than never! To be honest, I am very new to the whole "blog" thing. I wanted to start a documentation of our upcoming addition to our little family. Since I am already 27 weeks pregnant (about 88 days to go until the due date and 7 months along) I will have to backtrack a bit before I can catch everyone up to the present.

We are having a little boy, and naming him Michael Lee Hassell, III (after his daddy,aka ML2, and Grandpa Mike, aka ML1). We are going to call him Michael! This pregnancy has been a very easy one! I luckily have not had to experience any sickness (thank the lord because I don't do well when I am nauseous, and couldn't imagine having to head to work feeling bad!) I haven't had any complications, other than a little back pain that just recently started, but I can handle that! :) Really, it has been an all around pleasant and fun experience thus far (talk to me in a few weeks and it may be a different story!)

My sweet hubby, who is cleaning the dishes as I type this, has been wonderful through this whole experience. He is constantly helping me around the house, moved tons of stuff out of the baby's room and painted it, always asks me how I'm doing and feeling, and just is so helpful and amazing! I couldn't imagine going through something like this with anyone else!

Of course, Zan, Greg, Cynde, and Mike are all so excited about being Grandparents!

And Miss Mags...well, we have been telling her about her baby brother who is on his way, but she is in for a rude awakening...