Wow, it really has been a while since I've written anything on here.

So, I'm over halfway done and I'm stressed about anything and everything. I try so hard to stay calm and let things roll off my back, but it's difficult for me because I care so much.

I'm so so sad we weren't able to go to Texas to visit my grandparents for Thanksgiving... but, like my grandma told me, God does everything for a reason... even though it sucks, and we can't see the reason right away, there is a reason and it's okay.

I have just under 3 months left of this really really fast pregnancy, and Archer is growing sooo much so fast. I call him my "Michigan J. Frog" (I posted a video below this post so you know what I'm talking about) because he moves so much, all the time, but anytime anyone comes and puts a hand on my belly, he stops moving immediately! No fair, but that's okay, haha, I don't mind feeling him move and dance with me :)

Mike is doing an amazing job at being there for me and listening to me when I need him. He cares, I know he does, even if I don't always recognize it. I love him more than anything, and I'm still so happy to be married to him and starting a family with him. I really got lucky with this guy :P

I guess I'm done now, not a whole lot to update with other than I have a big belly, my feet hurt, and I move a lot slower than I used to! I really wanna meet this baby, and even though the pregnancy is moving fast, I want warp-speed to meet my son! <3

I just got done (well, more like 4 hours ago) with my 20 week ultrasound. I am 21w1d, but this was the only time i could get in, a week late, oh well. ANYWAYS, it went REALLY well! We had it done at Hoag Imaging Center in Newport Beach, CA, just down the street from Hoag Hospital. It was sooooo amazingly nice, and if you're in the OC beach area, I strongly suggest this place. The UT doing my sono. was amazingly nice, she went over EVERYTHING with me, explained everything... I had my hubby, my mom, my MIL and SIL in the room, and she was talking with all of us, laughing and whatnot (we're all kinda goofy and silly, haha)... she got quite a few good shots, printed them off for me in various sizes, and even burned me a CD of the images. She wasn't supposed to do that, but figured I'd want it, so she did it anyways... how nice is that? Also, thought my EDD is 3/1/10, she said based on the size and strength of everything, she (theoretically) moved my EDD to 2/25/10, though she said my doc probably wouldn't move the date up. Either way that means he's healthy and doing well! It was SO AWESOME feeling him move and seeing him move on screen at the same time, such a trip!! I really got some great pics, check them out in the Photos area!!

All in all, it was a really good experience, and it was SO GOOD seeing my baby again after a month! He has changed sooo much, he's such a little human now! soo cute. I'm so in love! lol, i can't wait to get my 3D in December...

other random stuff... today is the first day I was woken up from him kicking... SO, the fun begins. now i really do need to get sleep whenever i can! not to mention i have been wickedly tired, ALL DAY... ugh, i didn't even want to go to the ultrasound today, i was just THAT tired, BUT i'm so glad i did! hehe

HAHA!! I did this random "Predict your Birth Experience" online. I answered really random questions that you wouldn't think have anything to do with the baby... like, do I paint my nails, what smell do I like better, what time was i born, what's my favorite color... just a bunch of random questions. It gave me a prediction of this:

The day you deliver, outside will be rainy. Your baby will arrive in the early evening. After a labor lasting approximately 9 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and will be 17-1/2 inches long. This child will have medium green eyes and fluffy auburn hair.

This is the link for it: Pregnancy&Baby

How funny is that?! I love it. :) Hopefully the only thing wrong will be the 9 our labor! Holy cow!! But everything else sounds wonderful to me :)


Love,
Melody

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday... I got to hear Archer's heartbeat for the first time! It was SO LOUD but so steady and strong... the doctor said it was great, that he's got a very healthy heart, which is SUCH a relief, knowing how much heart problems run in both sides of our family.

Every night before bed I spend some time holding my belly and feeling for his movements. I felt him move for the first time from the outside last night. I only felt it because I could feel it on the inside as well as the outside, but it was still very light. I tried to get Mike to feel it, but he couldn't. :( Still, soon! If I can already feel him moving from the outside, Mike will feel him soon :)

The weather is finally cooling down, which is definitely helping my comfort level. I always do better in chilly weather... those are my thriving days, so I like to get things done while it's chilly outside. Maybe I'll be ready to take care of some necessities around here finally!

I can't believe I'm almost halfway done with the pregnancy. It's ridiculous. It happened SO FAST (like everyone tells me) but I'm not looking forward to the last month, I heard that's the most uncomfortable. I just am soooo looking forward to having our baby here in the world to love and care for. We're both so excited. I can't wait to meet my baby!!!

Love,
Melody

I have a baby boy growing in me more and more every day. Our son. Archer James Calvert... it's such an interesting and fun realization. I know, we knew it was a boy a couple weeks ago, but the more we talk about it, the more it hits. We're getting ready for our SON to get here! We can put a name to him. We can prepare for him. I know it is this little boy who kicks me when I'm trying to fall asleep, or when he hears music. It's such an awesome realization.

So, Archie... I have a feeling he's gonna be an ornery little adorable punk, and he's gonna look just like his daddy :) But of course, he gets the ornery from both of us :) I'm so glad Connor is going to have a cousin to play with and be friends with and grow up with... I just hope they'll get to grow up close to each other!

I've been thinking... as much as a girl would have been cute, boys are what I've been trained for over the last few years. I think a girl would be a new direction for me at this point. I'm so happy we're having a baby in less than 5 months. Gosh dang, there is so much we still have to do. That's going to be the hard part. I'm finding more and more things that I absolutely NEED to do, and I only have like 4 months to get it done. It was different when I had things to do with basically an unlimited amount of time, but this is, HAVE TO because you wont want to do it ever again once the baby is here.

I'm 18 weeks and Archie is the size of a bell pepper... I can feel him flutter and kick, and he's really good at sitting on my bladder. He likes music and definitely moves when he hears it, I just wish Mike could feel it! I keep telling myself, soon, he'll feel his son move soon, but it's not soon enough! I'm feeling so much and experiencing so much, it's weird to not be able to share it with Mike. I tell him when Archer moves and all that, but it's not the same as him feeling it too. I can't wait for that.... I can't wait for the look on his face when he feels his little boy move for the first time! It's gonna be AWESOME.

Love,
Melody

IT'S A BOY!!!
I am so excited!!!!

Archer James Calvert will be here around March 1, 2010, and it can't come too soon!!! I can't wait to see and hold and kiss and love on my baby boy... how crazy!! I'm so so so excited!!

Not gonna lie... I'm a little upset we couldn't find the gender of our baby at the ultrasound on Tuesday. I'm also a little upset that I paid extra for a CD of images, and the woman burned me a CD of only 3 very blurry pictures. But everyone got to see the baby move around and all that. The baby was cooperating, it was the umbilical cord that was smack-dab right in the middle of all the business the whole time.

***People at the Ultrasound:
Me, Mike, Mom (Kerrie), Dad (Mike), Michael, Michelle, Connor, Bonnie, and Sarah.

I'm doing really good... The baby is getting bigger and I'm starting to feel it move. We learned from the ultrasound that it is already responding to noise, so I need to get some big headphones to play some music in there.

I feel like I've been doing sit-ups like crazy, I'm getting stretched from the inside out! And unfortunately, I have the marks to prove it.

We are going to try to go in within the next two weeks to see if we can find out the gender, otherwise, I guess we'll just wait for the 20 week mark (not that far away now). This really is just me being bored wanting to find more out about the baby!

I've also noticed that I'm pretty lucky to be getting ultrasounds every time I go to the doctor... my sister only had 2 ultrasounds her whole pregnancy! And my SIL only had a few during her 3 pregnancies also... I'll point out, there is NOTHING wrong with my baby. My doctor likes to check on the baby every time I'm in there, along with checking me out of course, and we're both pretty darn healthy! It also gives me an opportunity to see how the baby is progressing! I love seeing it, it makes everything so much more real..

Now then, that's all I suppose.


Love,
Melody

I know it's been a while since I've updated anything, but I've been super busy! I'm 14 weeks and 4 days today, and I'm now in the second trimester! yay, 1/3 down, 2/3 to go!

I swear, this baby doubled in size over night last night. I'm bigger and totally sore... I feel like I did sit-ups all day yesterday! It's okay, at least I know the baby is healthy!

Mike went with me to the doctor's on Tuesday (9/1) and got to meet the doctor, staff, and see our baby! It was the first time he's seen an ultra-sound, and the baby was definitely showing off for Daddy! It was dancing and wiggling, and I'm convinced it did the moonwalk... it was so absolutely adorable, I was laughing the whole time. The baby is big and healthy and has great movement, the doctor is very happy with the progression. I also lost 8 lbs from the last time I was in there (4 weeks ago), and since the baby is doing well, my doctor is fine with the weight-loss.

My next doctor's appt is on October 6 and I will be 19 weeks and 1 day. BUT! Next Tuesday (9/8) we will be going to UltrasoundMe (www.ultrasoundme.com) to hopefully find out the gender of our baby!! ...provided the baby is in an agreeable position! Our immediate family will be there with us, My parents, Mike's parents, and our brother and sisters will be there.... and for Mike's mom and sister out of state, they will be on the phone with us :)

So, so far, so good with everything! I don't know when my next update will be, hopefully sooner than this one was, but we'll see!

Love,
Melody

Last night before I went to bed, my back started killing me... upper middle back, just was no good and I could only sit in one position. I was up until almost 3am because of the stupid back pain, but I was hoping once I had a 'good' sleep, that it would make my back better... NOPE! I woke up this morning worse than I was last night, which I thought to be impossible. So I called my lovely chiropractor (who I will recommend to everyone, she is the best. Dr. Carol Wintermute) and she took me in this afternoon. Granted, I didn't expect her to fix it in 10 mins or anything, but she did wonders and now I can move! Yay for that!!

So, after my fun day of back aches and all, we went to Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant (HELL YES) with Sarah and the Mommy... there was a strange phenomenon that happened.... (actually, it was announced like that "Excuse me, I'd like to have the attention of everyone in the dining room here... there is a strange phenomenon occuring right here--" cue the confusion of EVERYONE eating there) It was a couple's 65th wedding anniversary. How sweet! Too bad the guy had to announce it as a strange phenomenon.

The dinner was fantastic, although I really think I ate too much again. Curse me and my wonderful dinners... I didn't even eat the chicken! Just the stuff that came with it. I'm definitely full, but hopefully I ate it early enough to where it wont effect me tonight. I hope I hope I hope!!!

BUT, nothing new otherwise. Baby is good :) Mommy is good :)

Love,
Melody

OH MY GOD last night was terrrrrribble!!!!!!!!! I got the worst chest pains I've ever had, woke up at 2 and didn't get back to bed til 6!! ugh. I am so tired! And to top it off, nothing sounds good to eat, at ALL. But, I did make me some chicken noodle soup, because I know I have to feed myself and baby something.

On a lighter note, I went and picked out the paint colors I'm going to paint the baby's room when we figure out what it is. They're cute, I'll see if I can scan them! I also decided on my theme for baby and baby shower-- OWLS! Not the realistic kind, the kitchy 70s retro-style owls. There is some AMAZING stuff on etsy.com... I made a favorites list and everything. It's amazing amazing and I am completely smitten with it, ready to go bankrupt :P SO, when it comes time to shop for my shower or you're not sure what to get or make me or whatever you decide (you don't have to do anything, haha) OWLS! :D

Other than that, nothing new. This is going to be a LONG DAY and I currently can't wait for it to be over. UGH.

Love,
Melody