Hi everyone!! My name is Julia and I'm expecting a little girl in June and I can't wait!! I have the best family... they were a little shocked at first but have warmed up to the idea. My dad suddenly passed away July 1st of last year and he and I were VERY close... we were buddies, so it's been kind of hard going through the grief process AND being pregnant with all the emotional horomones. I'm so happy to be having a little girl because he loved little girls (not in a pervy way!!) and I know that he is happy for me. In a way, I think this pregnancy was a blessing that arrived just in time... to kind of give me something else to think about and focus on besides missing my dad. And my boyfriend is so supportive (after we got through the "oh my gosh!" phase) and his family is super happy. He'll be 28 soon so it's about time he had a little one!! He is a police officer and I always get a little scared when he's at work because you never know what could happen. A lot of their job is goofing off, writing tickets and stuff but they do deal with dangerous situations on a regular basis. We live in Tennessee where people still live old school style and kind of look down on having a child without being married. I understand the reason behind those thoughts but sometimes things just happen and you have to make the best of it. Jeremy and I do plan on getting married and after the baby is here, we will start planning for that big day.

I've pretty much had the dream pregnancy and I thank God everyday that I'm so lucky. I never suffered morning sickness. I only had some fatigue early on but it disappeared around 11 weeks. No foods really gross me out and I haven't had any crazy cravings yet. My only complaint in the second trimester is the occasional back and hip pain. It's to be expected though since I only weighed 100 lbs before and have only gained about 5 lbs. My pre-pregnancy weight is thanks to genes and high metabolism :-) My mom only weighed 98 lbs when she got pregnant with me and gained about 20 lbs and had no stretch marks and went back to previous size quickly so hopefully I will have the same fate.

Anyway, enough about me right now... I will add more later.

I wish everyone the best of luck during their pregnancies!!!

Pregnancy Survey
About You
Name?:	Julia
Age?:	20
Height?:	5'4
Pre-pregnancy weight?:	100
About The Father
Name?:	Jeremy
Age?:	27
Height?:	5'10"
Are you still together?:	YES!! We can't wait to experience this together!
About Your Pregnancy
Is this your first pregnancy?:	Yes
When did you find out you were pregnant?:	October 10th
Was it planned?:	Well not exactly by us... but God has his own timing for everything.
What was your first reaction?:	Excited, scared, freaked out, happy.. all at once
Who was with you when you found out?:	no one, I was by myself
Who was the first person you told?:	My friend Pruitte... only so he could give me a good idea of how to tell Jeremy... lol
How did your parents react?:	My mom acted like I had just told her I was addicted to drugs... but she calmed down after a while. My dad would have been shocked but happy. (he's in heaven)
How far along are you?:	21 weeks
What was your first symptom?:	boob pains!! Then the infamous missed period!
What is your due date?:	June 8th
Do you know the sex of the baby?:	Yes
If so, what is it?:	A Little Girl
Have you picked out names?:	Yes
If so, what are they?:	Camri (1st name for sure) middle name is still open to discussion but we like Camri Gabrielle
How much weight have you gained?:	only 4 lbs as of Jan 9th. I'm sure thats hopped up a little since...
Do you have stretch marks?:	not yet, and hopefully none at all
Have you felt the baby move?:	Yep, she's an active little bump!
Have you heard the heartbeat?:	Yes
About the birth
Will you keep the baby?:	of course!!!
Home or hospital birth?:	Hospital
Natural or medicated birth?:	Medicated
Who will be in the delivery room with you?:	Jeremy... hopefully that's it. My family will be too wild!
Will you breastfeed?:	I'm going to give it a shot
Do you think you'll need a c-section?:	...hope not
Will you cry when you hold the baby for the first time?:	Probably, I get emotional when major things happen.
What's the first thing you might say to him/her?:	Probably just "I love you, Camri" will all I'll be able to get out... lol
Would you let someone videotape the birth?:	MAYBE... if they keep it from the waist-up. No downtown lady shots!
Are you excited about the birth, or scared?:	Both 1/29/08 GROSS!! Ok, I have a miniature chihuahua (named Lola) who is trained to use the bathroom outside. She even has a little raincoat for when it's raining and she has to go out. Well, it has rained all day but it kinda slowed down so I decided to let her run out real quick without her coat... Bad idea. I look outside to check on her and she is 20 feet from this HUGE cow that has been loose since yesterday. Yeah, we have lazy farmers on our road! So, she's barking at it and tripping it out but I finally manage to get her in. I was on the phone with Jeremy at the time and was getting her a treat for going out to use the bathroom when I looked down at her and saw she was all wet down her back. Hmm, thats funny since it wasn't even really raining... then I smelled it. Horrible, nasty smell. It wasn't poop but it was something almost as bad...i just don't know what. So we had an emergency bath. A marathon bath. She got soaped up 3 times in a row to fully get off the nastiness. Anyway, I guess it helped me get ready for emergency diaper changes and baths when the baby gets here. Jeremy heard everything that was going on and he's like, "That's why Lola probably won't be joining us in our new house when the baby gets here..." Ugh! He thinks that indoor dogs are filthy and shouldn't be around a newborn. Yeah, she has her unclean moments but she's not a dirty dog. I think he's kinda OCD when it comes to cleanliness... lol So maybe the problem is him, not my sweet little Lola Bean. 2/13/08 (23 weeks) Everything is still going good with me and the baby... Jeremy and I went to my doctor appointment last week and they told us that the doctor wasn't in and I was the only person they couldn't get ahold of because they didn't have any numbers to reach me at...? Yeah, I was confused cuz that's like a main thing you tell them and I know I did. BUT since this was just a routine visit, they just let me back to have weight and blood pressure checked and pee in the cup and the nurse was going to check the heartbeat until we remembered that there was an issue with the ultrasound report... The u/s tech had told us at our 18-19 week u/s that she thought the baby might have a two vessel cord but she was still small and not moving in the proper directions for her to get a good look at it so I was supposed to come back for another u/s around 22-23 weeks. Well one part of the report said "2 vessel cord suspected" and another part said "3 vessel cord confirmed"... so we were all confused and they let us go back over for another ultrasound. Well it turns out she DOES have a 2 vessel umbilical cord, which means she has one less artery in the cord than other babies. Other than that, she's perfect!! The tech told us not to stress over it or look it up on the internet bacause it always gives worse case scenarios. (I'll admit, I couldn't help myself... I looked it up and I was sorry I did!! She was right... it does tell everything possible that could be wrong with your baby. I think I'll just trust her from now on!) She said the only thing it really does is it could slow the baby's growth later in pregnancy and she may have to come out a few weeks earlier (which, if she's healthy, I'm not complaining!!) They also have to do regular ultrasounds to check on her growth which is fine with us too!! Then she said, sometimes 2 vessel babies are born just as big and healthy as a 3 vessel baby so that was good to hear also. As of right now, she is right on track with weight and measurements and is the cutest little thing on 4D u/s with her little button nose that we can already tell looks just like daddy's and we can't wait for our next ultrasound in March so we can see our little girl again!! I'm just not looking forward to that glucose testing at my next appointment... :-/ Jeremy has been feeling her kick a lot more and since her kicks are getting stronger, it's more fun for us to play with her. When he gets that first kick, his eyes just light up and he gets so excited. He thinks it's just so amazing that something he helped create is growing inside me and is able to interact with us now. He's so funny. His mom bought our little girl the cutest baby bracelet to wear to church (or wherever). It's silver and has pretty colored beads on it with a tiny cross charm. It's too precious!! I'm really starting to stretch out more and it's getting a little harder to bend over and shave my legs and do other stuff that you have to bend over for. I was really hoping that wouldn't start until around 30 weeks!! I guess where I'm so small framed, it gets difficult, sooner. I can finally hear her heartbeat with my Bebe Sounds monitor. It's not a thump-thump, but more like a whoosh-whoosh sound :-) I listen to it everynight before I go to sleep. Well enough about me today!! Updates later!! 3/8/08... 27 weeks tomorrow! Soooo.... had my glucose test Thursday. The nurse said no news is good news, so I'm hoping I don't get a phone call from her!! I had the orange drink and it wasn't bad UNTIL the last few sips... ugghhh!! My doctor and his nurse weren't there for the first part of my appt. so the other obgyn in the office took my vitals and stuff and when she weighed me, she said, "113 pounds and pregnant... that should be illegal!" Umm...ok? I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult! I've been having problems with my left hand going numb and my doctor said it was carpel tunnel, caused by nerves getting compressed as a by-product of swelling in the wrist and hand. Greeeaaaat :-l Also, my blood type is A- so I have to get a Rhogam shot next time, right in the booty... lol... BUT there is one exciting part... my next visit in about 2 weeks, I get another ultrasound to check her growth, and Jeremy and I are excited to see our little girl again! I've FINALLY decided on nursery furniture and her bedding and I'm going to order it soon... even though Jeremy and I STILL don't have our own place because I still haven't received insurance and retirement money and from my dad's death because our lawyer has been dragging his feet with paperwork :-( That's getting kind of stressful because she could be here as early as May if she has to come out early because of growth issues. Of course, I'd take my dad over the money ANY DAY, but since I'm in this situation, it's kind of a necessity because we need a house together and I need a new car... SOON! But I don't know of anyone who has has a pregnancy that wasn't stressful at some point, so I guess I'm just in the same boat as everyone else. My problems could be a whole lot worse and I'm thankful that they aren't!! 4/15/08 32 weeks days Update... We FINALLY got a house! It's new construction and is built and all we are waiting on is flooring and the rest of the walls to be painted. I'm so excited to actually have a nursery to decorate sometime soon! We had another ultrasound at 29 weeks and the baby we thought was going to measure small ended up measuring a week ahead and weighed 3 lbs 7 oz!! I was like, "THAT'S why I've popped out all of a sudden!". The bad news is since she's measuring good, we don't get anymore growth ultrasounds :( BUT we're happy she is healthy! My baby shower is April 29th and it's turning out to be kind of a big deal for people. I'm most comfortable with small groups of people, like 20-25 but like 75 people are planning on attending!! That's mostly because our church is invited and my future MIL invited tons of people that SHE knows... no one I know but who cares as long as they bring gifts, food, or well-wishes! =D 5/30/08 almost 39 weeks! Ok, so I never update!! But we have been SOOOOO busy! Finally got moved into our house and got the nursery set up. It's beautiful!! I bought a Charger, aka, the "Mommy Mobile". The baby shower went great. Got tons of stuff... and a bunch of frilly dresses that she'll never wear but the other stuff is useful at least. Been slowly dilating every week... I'm up to a 2 as of this week's doctor appointment. If baby doesn't come willingly, then I'm being induced on June 9th at 7:30 am. I was kinda mad about that because I am not an early morning person! I'm kinda scared about being induced but since I'm already dilated, my doctor said that just breaking my water could be enough to start my labor... we'll see. I can't believe this journey is almost over... I'm closer and closer to having my body back to myself ! STILL no stretch marks on the belly but I have been getting several little bitty ones on my butt!! I don't understand it. Oh well, I'm not stressing it too much because I'll get them zapped with a laser soon and maybe they won't be as noticable once my booty downsizes from it's pregnant state!