Twenty Week Update: Anatomy Scan, Gender Reveal, and Life Update

Helllooo second half of pregnancy!I’m currently in my twenty-first week of pregnancy and excited to share this twenty week update! A lot of life changes have happened since I last blogged, both preggo and non-preggo related, so I’ll give you a quick recap below. It’s has been a roller coaster of emotions and, working through all the highs and lows while pregnant has been…a challenge. It has never been more apparent to me how important it is to surround yourself with people that lift you up and provide unwavering love and support. So, let’s just get into it.

WE MOVED!

Remember my changing of the seasons blog? Welp, in true Christina fashion, I don’t attempt to tackle one major life change at a time; I like to do it all at once. Shortly after our BFP, Matt and I had the “moving” discussion, for about the 1,000,000 time. Do we move now? Do we wait a few years until our child/children are school age? What makes the most sense for our growing family? We, once again, came to the decision that we’d “casually look” at houses. In Matt/Christina language, that means Matt will placate his pregnant wife by attending open houses with her. To make a very long story short, I tricked Matt into looking at a house that was a little farther out than he expected. After we saw this house, it was literally perfect.

It checked all of our boxes:

1. About 1-1.5 acres of land (Primarily a request from Charlie the dog)
2. 4 bedrooms (Must have room for our out-of-towners and less than sober friends who want to spend the night)
3. An open concept kitchen (Because, parties)
4. A unique design (My friends are easily confused, so we needed a unique identifier)
5. A front porch (A Christina request)
6. A great school system (A Pistachio request)
7. Easy access to the highway (Because #commuterlife)

And..it was turnkey. The owner, a builder himself, did a ton of work to the house before putting it on the market. There aren’t THAT many things that we want to change.  Major plus.

If you’re familiar with the Western Howard County area in Maryland, you probably know that houses move FAST. So, we followed suit. Let me know below if you’d be interested in a “Things I didn’t know about buying and selling a house” blog. Because man, it’s been a very stressful, emotional process. From dealing with small issues, like a minor house fire, to putting our treasured Baltimore townhouse on the market..nothing has been simple and emotionless. But, such is life. It’s worth it.  

This city girl is saying “adios” to her urban lifestyle and heading out to the ‘burbs. Actually…the country. Complete with crickets in lieu of ambulances, land in lieu of alleyways, and friendly neighbors that leave you flowers on your doorstep instead of remnants of a late-night, 711 drunken feast. To be fair, the latter issue was never a result of my neighbors. We had great neighbors in Baltimore and I wouldn’t have changed that for the world. I digress.

WE EXPERIENCED LOSS

I don’t want to get too deep into this, but amidst all the chaos going on in life, my grandmother passed away. Sylvia (Nonna to me)  was a beautiful, strong, independent woman and her legacy will live in through her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. This loss is still very fresh and something that we, as a family, are working through, so I’m going to avoid getting too much into this at the moment. I would like to take this opportunity, however, to thank all of the wonderful friends, family, and followers I have out there that reached out to offer condolences, prayers, and a shoulder to cry on through this difficult time. Amidst these times of sorrow, I find a silver lining in the graciousness and genuine kindness of others that shines through during the darkest of days. There are good, kind people in this world.

Now onto some happy news…

WE HAD OUR ANATOMY SCAN!

With a month full of highs and lows, knowing that we had our anatomy scan coming up was even more exciting. For those that don’t know, an Anatomy scan is really the first time the doctors can look at all of the different organs and structure of the baby to make sure that everything is developing appropriately and there aren’t any red flags that may need to be monitored. It’s ALSO (typically) the first time you are able to detect the gender! Let me tell you, they provide you with multiple, very clear pictures confirming that gender. For the sake of Pistcahio’s privacy, I won’t be sharing that “proof” on the blog, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. My Nonna is probably up there arguing that point, as it’s pretty hard finding a picture of me prior to two years old wearing clothes. No joke. 

I’m happy to report that everything is looking great for Pistachio. 

There’s a minor issue with where the umbilical cord enters my placenta; much like my life, it’s a little off-center. They’re going to monitor via monthly ultrasounds because it potentially can cause some issues with nutrients getting to the baby, but it’s highly unlikely. It clearly hasn’t been a problem thus far, as Pistachio is measuring a week ahead. Taking bets now on whether or not I’ll have a 2018 or 2019 baby. Regardless, I’m now mentally preparing myself for birthing a large child. 

Now, of course, the moment everyone has been waiting for…or maybe just me? The GENDER REVEAL! After polling all of you on Facebook and Instagram, and taking into account the verbal votes of my family and friends, “girl” seemed to be the front runner. So..without further adieu…

Matt and I are having a BABY BOY! Honestly, we would have been thrilled either way.  We were consistently asked which we’d prefer and neither of us could say one gender over the other. Bringing  a child into this world is a blessing, regardless of the sex. After a very emotional week, I did shed a few tears (which would have happened either way). Matt was all smiles, and also very inquisitive into the issue with the umbilical cord. My mom proclaimed through her hugs and tears “I FINALLY GET MY BOY!” So, take that for what it’s worth. Coming from a family of girls, I’m excited for this VERY new adventure! Boy moms, let me know if you have any tips, recommendations, or pearls of wisdom. 

And the next question we get…what’s Pistachio’s name?! Geeze. Doesn’t anyone like a good, ol’ fashioned surprise these days!? We will NOT be sharing Pistachio’s name prior to his arrival. To be completely honest, we have no clue yet. I have a list a mile long of names. My husband felt as though thinking of names prior to finding out the gender wasn’t an “efficient use of his time.” So, we have some work to do.  I will be writing  a “Baby Names we Love, but won’t be Using” post soon, perhaps accompanied by a video featuring Matt and I. So be on the lookout for that one. 

As far as everything else goes..

I’m getting LARGE.  I will say, it’s mainly in the belly area and chest, which apparently I can be thankful for? At this rate though, I don’t know how I’m possibly going to be able to support this belly. I guess that’s just the beauty of a woman’s body. Other than that, nothing major to report. I’ve been so preoccupied with everything else going on that I haven’t really noticed any new symptoms. We booked our maternity photos and we’re all signed up for child birth classes, so those are two things I can check off the list!  I’m now entering full nursery-planning mode, in the process of completing the registries, and Pintrest is re-emerging as my BFF. And yes, I’m still unsure if it’s baby or gas.

Until next time,

Christina