The Bumpdate - It's a BOY!

Although I'm not keeping up with the weekly blogs and answering all those redundant questions I answered week-after-week with Bryleigh, I still had every intention of keeping up with details from week to week and posting this blog in a timely fashion.  I guess one week late is pretty timely for the second born while chasing toddler #1 around!  So here are the highlights (or lowlights) from weeks 13 through 24, on day 1 of week 25! ;)

The next 12 weeks...
Obviously a lot of life can happen in 12 weeks (especially when it's 12 weeks of SUMMER)...and a whole lot of growth for baby!!  Weeks 13 to 24 included family time, some getting ready for Baby time, and a whole lot of watching the Big-Sister-to-be grow up a little more every day.

Mommy's belly isn't the only thing growing!!

Our sweet little girl got strep throat RIGHT before we left for family vacation to San Antonio (sort of like she got the flu RIGHT before we left for family vacation to New York last fall...all the luck!), but she was such a trooper and we had a great time!  She and her daddy did miss out on our surprise party for Pappy's 60th birthday, though.

We had a GREAT time celebrating the 4th with all of our families and Daddy being home for a whole week!  The week included celebrating Pappy's 60th birthday, Aunt Erin and Uncle Luke's ENGAGEMENT, going out to the Arlington parade, and a lot of time with Daddy, including B-girl's very first movie!

I'd been looking forward to the middle of this pregnancy before I was even pregnant ;)  Weeks 20 and 21 were big around our house - The Gilliland/Clay wedding was something I had been so blessed to help plan since Christmas, and I was so excited for the big day to finally be here!  The wedding weekend was followed by a trip back to Washington DC for me and Brad.  Since we had  seen a lot of the sites last summer, we took advantage of the "way-to-hot" afternoons and took LOTS of naps! It was so nice to explore *OUR* favorite city together, but also spend some serious time relaxing.

We've wrapped up these last 12 weeks with our 7th anniversary and some fun time as a family of three.  We are definitely cherishing this season of life God has us in before we welcome our 4th Hammons to this crazy crew and life changes for the better!

It's a BOY...

I had big plans.  Bryleigh got a big blow-out gender reveal, so I really felt like we needed to do SOMETHING for this little love, but honestly, I've learned a lot my second (technically third) go-around with hyperemesis...SURVIVE.  Don't do more than you need to.  Enjoy the time.  (And don't make yourself go broke!!)  Things just weren't working out with dates to have a party, I didn't have the energy to be full-time mom and plan the cute "How we wonder what you are" gender reveal party, and we are trying so hard to not spend extra money as we anticipate adding to our family in four short months.

We decided to still do a surprise for ourselves instead of just finding out at the doctor, with PLANS of doing a small gender reveal photo shoot on our anniversary, but even that just wasn't making sense in our budget, so we went a whole different route and created a super cute little video of when WE found out!

The BumpDates...

The number one question I get about hyperemesis: "OH, is that like morning sickness?"  No, not at all.  Not even close.  It's morning, noon, night, middle of the night sickness that last for a full 40 weeks.  And it's more than just nausea and throwing up, for me, my body just completely changes.  I have had nose bleeds that have lasted days since I was 6 weeks pregnant.  Taking showers is one of the hardest things I do these days (and I remember it being the same way during my pregnancy with Bryleigh), and some days, just lifting my arms or reading a book to Bryleigh is sometimes more than I can manage.

I am SO very, very thankful for the number of manageable-to-good days I've had this go around.  I've still had to miss out on things, call and cancel plans at the last minute, or ask for help a little more than I'd like, but overall, this pregnancy has been easier than Miss B's was!  (Maybe because after you give birth to a 9 and a half pound baby, you realize you can do a lot more than you thought you could!)

Some of the other pregnancy things that have happened over the past 12 weeks have included those good old Braxton Hicks contractions starting around week 14, which was also the week I was FINALLY able to drink coffee again (and I moved from biscuits to pop-tarts...)

Oh, how I missed you, Coffee!!

One of my very favorite things about carrying these babies is those *flutters* you get to feel.  I always knew I'd be a momma, but I never knew if I'd get to feel them moving and growing from inside, so every little flutter and kick is deeply cherished, and this one started early at 15 weeks.  Big Sister Bryleigh felt Baby kick her during week 17, and Daddy finally got his feel during week 20!  Bryleigh loves to rest her hand on my belly, even if she isn't really sure what's going on ;).

One of Bryleigh's favorite things is listening to the heartbeat.  She knows when she goes with us to the doctor, she's going to get to hear it, so we videoed it for her so she can play it any time she wants (which is a lot!).  We all got to hear that sweet little heartbeat at 13, 17, and 21 weeks, and we're headed back tomorrow for a quick listen and my glucose test.

Week 20 introduced some interesting feelings that I had not had with Bryleigh and left me paranoid for a good little bit.  They've continued weekly, sometimes daily, since they started, but I now know that they are okay, just VERY uncomfortable...imagine a feeling of being shocked or electrocuted.  It has taken my breath away, made me yell out loud, and even once I shot up out of my seat.  Very weird, but thankfully our doctor said it's all okay!

It was FAIRLY easy getting ready for Bryleigh Girl.  We had kept the "nursery-to-be" fairly empty after moving in because we had already been trying for a baby for about 6 months when we moved in.  THIS go-around, on the other hand, has called for major planning and major clean-out.  We got moving during week 16 when I got the smallest area of the house ready for the new baby...the linen closet!!  I also spent some time cleaning Bryleigh's room out of all the baby toys and separated her things in to two piles - baby girl and gender neutral.  It was definitely fun to get started!!

Since we are having to move rooms around before we even start setting up the nursery, we are trying to get as much done as we can, as early as possible (and taking advantage of my "good days").  So while Brad was home, we started the big transition!  We are emptying his office :( (...don't talk to him about it!) and making it our "guest room," which meant moving our coffee table BACK to the living room...which meant rearranging our entire living room.  Once it was all done, we LOVED the way it turned out, and Bryleigh has been flipping and dancing around ever since!!

I loved tracking my bumps and making the cute boards each week with Miss B, but I knew it just would not be possible this time, but I still wanted to document my growing bump from week to week, so I chose an easier option (and a different shirt...that didn't work out to well!).  But when I decided to compare my 20 week pictures between pregnancies, I was SHOCKED to see how different I'm carrying this little one...even though it has definitely felt different, too.

Baby H on the left and Baby Silver on the right, both at 20 weeks!

The next 12 weeks will be packed with Miss Bryleigh's first day of SCHOOL, our first day back with our BSF friends, getting ready for the holidays, and getting ready for our little brother, WILLIAM BRADLEY!  Can't wait to see all that we'll have to share with you in the next bump date!