It's a....

GIRL!

Today I had 20 week appointment and my first ultrasound, and the three little lines were very prominent indicating Baby Garcia is now Girl Garcia. James's first reaction was, "Looks like I better go buy her some baby Uggs." We are so excited!

The main point of the ultrasound was of course to make sure that all of her organs and stuff are developing correctly, and everything was perfect except for a possible abnormality in her intestines. Dr. Moss says we shouldn't be worried, that it usually clears up on its own and the technician was not overly concerned, but that they're going to have a radiologist look at the pictures just to make sure and see if we need a follow-up ultrasound.

Although I'm only 21 weeks along, she is measuring at about 22 weeks and some odd days (except for her head which is at 23 weeks!). Dr. Moss said it's not surprising she's big given her parental units!

We stopped by Sweet Cece's to get some frozen yogurt with our sweet little one before heading back to school, and phoned our family members to let them know. I'm making some "gender reveal" cupcakes for dinner tonight to let our Webb family know the news, and I know there are several students who will be very excited!

Here are some pictures of our little Poppy:

20 week questionnaire

How far along? 20+ weeks

Total weight gain? 12 pounds

Maternity clothes? pretty much exclusively, although the belly band helps me keep using some of my old clothes. Big thanks to the timely arrival of a batch of clothes from my friend Megan though--just in time!

Stretch marks? not that I can really tell...

Sleep: Sleeping well most nights, although if I wake up in the middle of the night I usually have to pee and then switch positions.

Best moment this week: All the kicks! This baby's a strong one!

Miss Anything? Being able to run long distances, and I miss being able to have conversations with people that don't start with "How are you feeling?" I know they just care...but it's not like I'm dying!

Movement: YES! It feels great every time. James has even been able to feel it a couple of times.

Food cravings: Steak.

Gender: I think boy, but really have no clue.

Labor Signs: dear God, no.

Symptoms: occasional nausea these days, headache, indigestion perhaps, fatigue exhaustion

Belly Button in or out? Slowly sneaking out!

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: I feel like I've been pretty irritable this week...I've had about 15 kids in extra help every day this week, and I can't handle all of their "Mrs. Garcia"s!

January update

I just realized it's been awhile since I've written a post, so here's a little recap of what's been happening chez Garcia.

Pregnancy:

I've been doing better about exercising since the new year started, and although I can't do everything I used to, it still feels good to go for a run. Baby Garcia has really started moving and grooving over the past few days, and last night I felt for the first time some really strong kicks--James has been able to feel the baby kick twice now, and it's always really exciting for both of us. Today is the official halfway point of the pregnancy, which feels so good. Only 9 days until we find out little Poppy's gender!

Work:

I informed all my bosses about a week ago that I will not be working next year. Although one is still encouraging me to think of a way that I can continue to work and stay at home with the baby, I know that trying to split my time between home and the classroom would really just stress me out, because I don't like to do anything halfway. It will be sad to not teach next year, but it's not like I won't see the kids on campus. I also will be traveling to Minneapolis next weekend for a day-long conference--free transportation and accommodations, so why not?

Home:

Nothing's official yet, but it appears very likely that James and I will be moving into a really nice house on campus this summer. Not the best timing, but it's really too great of a house to pass up--a nice big open floor plan, plenty of room around the house for the dogs and kids to run, and a little more secluded from campus which is sometimes exactly what we need. I've been in the house before, but it was a long time ago, so I'm not exactly sure of all the details, but I'm looking forward to decorating a new space again.

I think that's all the big stuff...I'm officially fitting into maternity clothes now, so here goes my figure!

16 week check-up

Tuesday we had our 16 week check-up with Dr. Moss. It was a really quick appointment, just going over the results from my extensive bloodwork and hearing about how much this little tyke's prenatal care/birth/postnatal care are going to cost us.

For some reason, maybe because I'm crazy, I was worried that we weren't going to hear the baby's heartbeat again. I know that we are supposedly out of the danger zone, but knowing someone who had a miscarriage at 14 weeks, it still haunted me. Luckily we heard a strong and steady heartbeat, still slow, so Dr. Moss is still holding to her guess that it's a boy--James is elated.

Our next appointment is the "big one"--ultrasound, sex, getting to see how well our baby is developing. I feel pretty confident that I felt the baby move yesterday while I was teaching, so I'm sure that those flutterings will become more frequent and stronger soon. So much to look forward to!

goals/resolutions for 2012

2012 will bring a lot of changes for me personally and for my family, and although I don't always make New Year's resolutions, I know there are certain things I want to remember to do this year.

1. Not worry about money. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm pretty frugal. Spending large amounts of money gives me anxiety, and to be honest, I get nervous anytime I'm afraid our checking account will go below $1,000. Is this ridiculous? Yes. Do I know it? Yes. This will be especially important once I stop teaching in the fall, because I know that our financial situation will change. I need to try to be responsible, not crazy.

2. Exercise. That first trimester really zapped my energy, but with 2 new prenatal workout DVDs, I'm hoping to get back on the exercise train by doing something 6 days a week. I have no idea how my body will respond post-partum, but I would like to run another half-marathon in 2013--hopefully with my dear husband!

3. Go out with a bang. I really want my last semester of teaching to be one where I am great. One of my reasons for stopping teaching is that I don't want to shortchange my students or my child--I feel like if I had to balance both of those responsibilities, someone would not get my best. I just really want to end this school year knowing that I gave it my best, and that my students are better off for having had me as their teacher this year.

holiday wrap-up

The past three weeks have been pretty action-packed, but also gave me a chance to sleep a lot and relax.

Tuesday, December 13 I gave my exams, and the next two days were spent grading and writing comments so that I could fly out on Thursday to Madison, Wisconsin to present my final master's portfolio to finish my degree. I'm glad I got there a day early to have one last chance to experience all my favorite things about Madison, and to get some extra time to hang out with my friend Karen. We stayed at our friend Amanda's house, and the three of us spent most of Friday stressing out, practicing, eating, then presenting (!), and finally celebrating. It had been over a year since I had last seen Amanda, and she informed us that she and her husband were going through a divorce. Quite different news than mine, but we still all managed to have one last good time together. My defense itself went very well, I was surprisingly confident, witty, and the 30 minutes I was "up" flew by. So happy and proud to be a Wisconsin alum!

After my Wisconsin experience, it was time to head to Iowa, unfortunately without my lovely husband for another four days :(. My uncle Willard moved in with my parents the week prior, so everyone seemed to be going through an adjustment period as he got settled in. It was nice to have him around though, since I was the only one home for awhile while Katrina helped out at school.

James and Jason Lee arrived Wednesday night, and from that point on it felt pretty "go, go, go". We went to an Iowa basketball game on Thursday night, Saturday was Christmas Eve, Sunday we went to Sumner for the Piehl family Christmas, Tuesday we went to see the Sherlock Holmes movie and I went to visit my Grandma, and Wednesday we left for Bell Buckle.

Once we were back in Bell Buckle James and I celebrated our Christmas--I got a camcorder, a sewing machine (my mom got me one, too, so I had to return one of them), a sweatshirt, a $50 gift card to Hancock Fabrics, a Prenatal Yoga DVD, and a yoga mat. I shocked James by getting him a pair of Lucky Brand Jeans, which he wears about every other day :). I also got him some cologne that has yet to arrive (grr!), running gloves, compression shorts, a Browns t-shirt, and Sam's Club sized packs of razors, deodorant, and body wash.

For New Year's Eve we went to Nashville to an engagement party for James's friend Trey. Trey and his fiancee live out in San Francisco now, so it had been awhile since James had seen him. Everyone was very excited about our pending new addition, and I pledged my desire to go to their wedding, even if I am 38 weeks pregnant!

Now we're slowing getting ready for school again...it starts tomorrow, but before then we have a doctor's appointment this afternoon...can't wait to hear that little heartbeat again!