I’m officially 20 weeks along and halfway to my due date! It’s certainly been a crazy couple of weeks around here. This baby is full of surprises already!
from my pregnancy journal…
19 Weeks
Well, we found out yesterday (July l9th) that this baby I’m carrying is not a little girl! That’s right- I’ve been completely wrong for the last several months. We’re having a little boy!
Before the ultrasound was even over, I was sure of this baby’s name. I realized that even though a different name was ahead for me between the two boy names we’d picked out, this baby was clearly Jack Everett. Benj completely agreed. He was favoring that name anyway.
Jack means “God is gracious”, and I couldn’t think of a more fitting name meaning for this sweet baby. God has been so good and gracious to us the past year of our marriage (and our entire lives, for that matter), guiding us and giving us strength.
I could not stop smiling and laughing through the entire ultrasound. It was just so magical!
Watching Jack up on the screen made my heart sing. The tech we got was the same one from our first ultrasound at 7 weeks, 1 day, and he was just as awesome as the first time.
Jack was totally cooperative the entire time, and the tech said it had been a while since he’d had a baby cooperate so nicely! I’m hoping that Jack will have our personalities and be kind of chill. Of course, he’d take even more after Benj than me with a calm, relaxed personality.
Benj and I kept giving each other giant smiles as we watched the tech take measurements and photos. The tech got a super clear view of Jack’s little boy parts and asked, “Are you ready to find out what you’re having?!”
Benj and I nodded and said “Yeah!” as he typed “It’s….. a……..boy!” up on the screen.
Surprise
Our response was total shock, huge smiles, and laughs! I initially thought it would take me a while to adjust mentally if we found out we were having a boy instead of a girl. But by the time the ultrasound was finished, I was feeling overwhelming peace and joy and excitement about having a mini Benj.
In fact, I was probably even more excited because of how surprised I felt! I hadn’t been thinking about boy things at all, so it felt like everything was brand new. It was almost like I’d just found out we were expecting all over again.
The tech “unofficially” told us that Jack’s heartbeat was 144, which he said is perfect. All of his measurements put him in the 46th percentile. He weighs 3/4 of a pound. As far as the tech could see, everything looked perfect!
Afterward, we hopped back into the car and laughed and kissed and reveled in how special these moments are! The whole rest of the day I was giddy and excited about knowing for sure that I’m carrying little Jack around with me.
Benj dropped me off at JoAnn’s and I took my time (almost 2 hours!) wandering around the store. I picked out materials to use on the bunting we’re creating for Jack’s announcement! Speaking of which, I should probably go work on cutting out the panels we’ll be painting the letters onto…
20 Weeks
This week started out with our 20 week prenatal appointment. Everything looked and sounded great. We heard Jack’s heartbeat and movement on the doppler again!
This visit, we saw Carissa, our other midwife, instead of Catherine. We also met 2 sweet girls who are training to become midwives. One of them along with Carissa will likely be at our birth, so it was good to get to know them all a little better.
I felt much better all week, except for a couple of down days, but there seems to be slow and steady improvement overall. Praise the Lord for that!
We made our first baby boy buy. I bought 5 adorable cloth diaper covers and a cloth diaper wet bag from Bambino Mio! I was just itching to buy something for Jack, and was able to get a good deal on them.
Birthday Happenings
This week I also turned 28! On the Saturday before my birthday, Benj treated me to a visit to and flowers from the Portland Nursery, a lovely English afternoon tea lunch, seeing Finding Dory in the theater, Arawan Thai food for dinner, and the gift of TJ’s Just Mango, chocolate, and Big Boggle (which we played before bed)!
It was an amazing day, and I have the best husband. The next evening, we FaceTimed Mom, Dad, and Joseph and opened the wonderful box of maternity clothes Mom found and sent me! We also ate a delicious dinner at The Country Cat on the day before my birthday (after an appointment with Satya).
Brielle’s baby shower was on my actual birthday, so I drove up early with Sarah M and helped her set up and arrange the flowers. I even had 2 kinds of cake and survived quite nicely.
Mom and Dad B gave me interchangeable knitting needles and some nice yarn (which have been amazing to knit on), and J+C, C+R, and D+G all pitched in and gave me an Instant Pot pressure cooker!
Once we returned home, Benj gave me his second gift— TJ’s Sour Gummies, a chocolate truffle bar, and Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges (that we’ll read together before bed)— complete with the sweetest card that made me cry. It was a beautiful day, all in all, and I felt very spoiled and loved.
In other news, it looks like we’ll be moving on October 10 to a nicer, quieter 2 bedroom apartment in the same complex. We submitted our application, so hopefully everything goes smoothly.
God is so gracious. hmmmm… That sounds familiar!
My weekly “Checklist Before Baby” is proving to be a lifesaver. It really helps to keep me on track, and is one of the best decisions I made so far this pregnancy.
I can hardly believe that tomorrow, as week 21 begins, we’re definitely halfway to December 8! It’s crazy how time flies, but I can’t wait to meet this little mister in just over 4 months.
