Gender Reveal Party!

I had a lot of mixed feelings about having this party in the days leading up to it. Family stresses the living daylights out of me, and both of our families in the same room- instant stress/anxiety for me! BUT- I felt really strongly about celebrating with our family. I wanted them to feel part of it, to feel that this baby was their family member too. I have a really hard time feeling connected to my nieces and nephews on Dan's side of the family. No one has ever said, "Congratulations your an aunt!" when new babies have been born or when pregnancies have come out. It's just not a a big deal in the Wouden family, or maybe just never crossed their minds. Somebody was just having another baby, and I never felt sure how involved I was supposed to be in its life. 

So I sort of took an opposite end of the spectrum approach. I made sure every person in both our families got an individual card saying, "Congratulations! You're going to be a ______! Baby Wouden coming March 2017!" I wanted to have a party where THEY found out what THEIR grandchild, niece or nephew was going to be. I wanted the party to celebrate this new baby in THEIR lives! 

Even though it was stressful at some points, I am glad we did it. It helped time pass SO quickly for me in the days leading up to our big ultrasound appointment! It got both our families united in a common love/cause at the same time, in the same room (big feat!) Plus, we have some great pictures, gender predictions cards, and footage to show this little boy how excited his family was for him to be born! I think it'll be fun to pull this stuff out and reminisce at his 1st Birthday!

But enough about my soapbox feelings, here's how the party turned out!

 Our awesome mothers and grandmas helping with all the food!

 This is the little table we had for people to fill out their gender predictions! They were hilarious!

 We bought everything from the Dollar Store, and found fall leaves for center pieces, turned out really cute I thought! I can't thank the twins enough for helping decorate!!!

Having family parties in the church gym is the best idea we've ever had! Messes are so easy to clean up, and there is plenty of room for people to spread out and kids to run around!

 Dan was a genius in helping create our gender reveal box for everything to fall out of!

 Blue for Boy!

 Dan's long time friend Mike! Pretty much our double dating buddy when we were first dating!

 Woody + Suzanne, the famous in-laws!

Twin #1: Amy! She was SO nice and came to help us set up early! Can pretty much thank her for the backdrop in all these pictures.

Twin #2: Joni! Joni also came early and helped with all the decorations! SUCH A LIFESAVER!

Baby Sister: Laura! We felt honored she could spare an hour of her busy 19 year old social life to celebrate with us!

 Oldest Sister: Emily! and all our baby's cousins + baby Logan not in the picture! She brought AMAZING Italian Peasant soup and hauled all her kids there- she's super woman!

Oma: AKA Grandma Wouden! She was the MOST EXCITED that it was a boy so the Wouden name would live on...

 Grandma Anderson: She has been our cheerleader from the beginning and brought the best salad for the party! Our sweet Grandpa Anderson also came and it meant the world to us.

 The Hanselman/DeVries Family: If my dang mom and grandma would have gotten in the picture, it would have been my whole family. But it was really great to have my Grandpa Don and Brothers, and Sister-in-law support us!

 Brothers: Garet + Gavin! They thought it would be hilarious to take a picture with their hands on my belly. And it actually was!

 My Mother: Diana! She was in charge of the carmel apple bar. She brought enough toppings, carmel, and nutella that we could have skipped all the soup and salad!

Grandma Anne: I really lucked out in the grandma department! She has been so excited and said "FINALLY!" when we told her we were expecting.

 Grandma Karen: She had a crazy day this day. She came and supported us at the party and when she got home, found out my grandpa had a heart attack! I felt terrible, but was very thankful to have her there.

Week 19: IT'S A..... !!!!!

Sleep: Like McDonald's, I be lovin' it!!! Give me all the naps!

Symptoms: Overwhelming desire to sell everything I own and by my own ultrasound machine so I can see this little baby every day!

Food cravings: I'm trying not to have any. I went to my nutrition consult last week and told the lady I wanted her to put FEAR into me about eating healthy. We talked for about 45 minutes and I've been doing a pretty dang good job of following her recommendations this week! Did lots of meal prep, eating more fresh, green food and being aware of what I'm eating. Go me!

Food aversions: I've gotten back to being able to eat pretty much everything! Banana's were my final test this week and the passed! There are definitely things that I won't make again for a VERY long time, like taco soup. But otherwise all is well. 

Gender: IT'S A BOY!!!! Haha I SOOOOOOOO called it. I guess I have this mother's intuition thing more than I thought... We're both so excited! When we were on our way to the ultrasound, Dan told me he had two confirmations that morning we were having a girl... I called BS! Dan is SO excited to have a little buddy! The Wouden name will live on...

What I miss: I'm on Cloud Nine this week after finding out we're having a boy and seeing him up close and personal. There's nothing I miss after seeing that! 

What I'm loving: MATERNITY PANTS. They have been such a game changer. I literally spent 2.5 hours last Saturday driving all over Cache Valley looking for maternity clothes. It was somewhat of a joke. I ended up finding the best deals and cutest tops at Playdough's Closet and maternity pants at Ross! I when I tried on my first pair of maternity jeans in the Ross dressing room, I legitimately started crying because it was the last place I went and I was convinced I'd never find clothes that fit again. But those jeans fit like butter. I am actually convinced they are the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants jeans... 

What I'm looking forward to: PLANNING! Now that we know it's a boy, I feel like I just shifted into full blown nesting mode! I don't want to go to work or do anything productive. Just get ready and bargain hunt to my hearts content for baby boy gear! Also, I guess we are excited to tell our families this weekend ;)

Best Moment this Week: Of course the BIG ultrasound! I LOVED IT. Our baby boy is 11 ounces now, and is a legit little person. The major highlights were watching him yawn, live in the moment, on the screen! Mouth stretching open, mouth closing! It made me want to bawl my eyes out! The little guy did a great job of keeping his legs uncrossed, but hands all up in his face. Which was fine by me, I just wanted to know his gender and that he was healthy! We also got to see his little foot kicking directly at the ultrasound tool and it was adorable/hilarious! 

Words of Wisdom: Don't put off getting maternity pants! I'm not sure I'll stop wearing them after pregnancy, they are that comfortable! I also chugged a ton of water and ate a little clementine before our the ultrasound which I heard helps the baby be awake and the ultrasound tech have an easier time seeing things with a full bladder. Worked for us!

Third Appointment: 19.5 weeks

Wednesday, November 19th @ 11:00am

Well today was the big day! I seriously can't believe how calm I was leading up the appointment. I was definitely excited!!! But not overly consumed and unable to focus at work or anything. I just felt so sure I already knew the gender, and was slightly anxious to know that there were no physical problems with the baby's development. Again, I think being so busy planning this gender reveal party with our families has helped keep my mind stay busy and focused on other things than worrying about things I have no control over. So that's been really nice and I'm really proud of myself!

Before our appointment, I started Googling everything I could about how to have a successful ultrasound and find out a baby's gender. The only consistent things I read were for the mom to have a full bladder, and drink orange juice to make the baby active and moving! You can bet I chugged as much water as I could handle and had one of those little cutie oranges (close enough to OJ right?!). We have this big gender reveal party planned with our family on Saturday, we HAVE to find out today!

Dan picked me up from work right on time, which is a huge indicator that he was really anxious for our appointment! I can never get him to pick me up on time haha! On the way to the hospital, Dan told me that he'd had two confirmations it was a girl this morning. I laughed, rolled my eyes, and said okay what were exactly were these "confirmations"? He said he heard a country song about a dad singing about a little girl, and that when he was donating Plasma- the girl who stuck him with the needle said something about how whatever you think you're having, it's the opposite. I said that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard and I knew it was a boy. Dan replied sadly, "Nope it's a girl... it'll be fine." Oh geez!

We checked in at the doctor's office at about 10:52am, a little early for our appointment. We literally sat down for less than 60 seconds and got called back. A cute Weber State radiology student was the one who took us back to the ultrasound room and told us she would be observing the actual radiology tech. They had me lay down straightaway on the table, jellied my belly up and started right into it! I couldn't believe how fast I was on that table and we were seeing the baby! I didn't feel like I was processing what was happening.

Our ultrasound tech was cute, I felt like she took a second to warm up to us, but was great after that. She asked us twice if we were sure we wanted to find out the gender right then in the room and we said we were sure! She asked us if we had any guesses as to what the gender was. I told her I thought it was a boy, and Dan that it was a girl. She asked if we had any bets going. Dan wanted to bet that who ever was right didn't have to do diapers for a year, I said that was way to big of a risk! She just laughed and said okay, we'll see if baby cooperates!

She started by showing us the brain, which was probably the least exciting part of the ultrasound haha! But I guess it's good to know it had a brain! We went through and looked at the heart, the spine, kidneys, stomach, etc. Baby had its hands in its face almost the whole time, but did a great job of having its legs uncrossed! She was showing us the thigh and shin bones, and I was looking like crazy to see if I could see anything else down there! Then out of now where, she was like, "Well you should have bet on the diapers... (little pause) IT'S A BOY!" Dan was in absolute shock I think, and I yelled out, "CALLED IT!"

She tried tapping on baby a few times to get it to move its hands so we could get a shot of its face. It worked once! We were looking at the side profile of the baby, and she said "He's yawning!" Sure enough, baby boy's mouth open slowly like a yawn, paused for a second, and then closed! It was the most amazing thing to see him moving like that in real time, not just a picture! Those 3D ultrasound pictures can be cool, but most of the time, made the baby look really creepy! There was one awesome picture of baby smiling with a little #1 being made with his left hand, that was probably the funnest 3D picture we got. The others, kinda too weird.

They printed out of few of the best pictures, and said they'd get us a CD with the rest of the pictures when we met with the doctor after. We headed back out to the waiting room, I RAN to the bathroom to let all the water out of my bladder I'd been holding in, and then immediately got called back to meet with the doctor! I tell you what, that office is quick!

We met with the doctor, pretty briefly and he said everything looks good! We asked him a few quick questions and were on our way. We went to Tandoori oven afterwards for the buffet lunch- best. thing. ever. Our kids will not be picky eaters, they will like ethnic food if we have anything so say about it!

Dan's big smile in this picture makes me tear up every time I look at it! Proud father of a son! PS- I've always wanted kids with brown eyes... prob not happening eh?

ALL THE FEELINGS

Today was such a good day. I feel extremely humbled to be trusted enough to handle a boy first... I always felt like the mothers who had boys were the strongest, and the idea of having a boy has terrified me my whole life. And I've wanted ALL girls my whole life because motherhood has been extremely daunting for me, give me the girls! However, I feel more reassurance about handling a boy with Dan by my side. DAN IS SO EXCITED! He kept saying, "Please just give me a boy! I have had sisters my whole life and I want a little buddy to do projects with and play football!" But he was sure it was a girl, and that would have been okay too. Seeing Dan so happy and excited makes me feel more and more happy and excited to have a boy.

I am really glad I had a heads up (at least within myself) that this was a boy for quite sometime. I have a nursery theme all picked out which I thought would be impossible for a boy! We even have a few boy names we're going to chew on for the next 20 weeks. So I feel like so far I'm in good shape, I can be a mom to a boy! I can do sports events, bikes, cars, boats.... right?! I told Dan that if our first kid is a boy, we were immediately opening a separate savings account for all the stupid, reckless things this kid would do in its life. Haha! Better head to the bank now!

Week 18: The Blur

Sleep: Not bad. Still trying to figure out this sleeping on my side thing. Got some naps in this week which always makes me a happy camper :)

Symptoms: Heartburn is still hanging out.

Food cravings: I haven't had food cravings so much this week, as I've had Harry Potter cravings... haha! All I do every day at work is listen to all the movie soundtracks on a giant 10 hour playlist, and then try to catch like 20 minutes of a Harry Potter movie every night! 

Food aversions: Taco soup. One of my fav's, but I can't stand the smell. Too bad I just made a whole crock-pot and ate one bowl... good luck finishing it off Dan!

Gender: We will know in about a week! Stay tuned! 

What I miss: My clothes fitting. I haven't bought one maternity item. And I just can't bring myself to do it. I just keep thinking, meh, I'll wait till Christmas and hopefully tough it out till then. I can already tell it's not going to work. If anyone has maternity clothes they're not using and feel like lending out, I promise to take care of them!

What I'm loving: Going on walks! And it's the prettiest time of the year to go on them! 

What I'm looking forward to: I'm getting a nutrition consult through my work pretty soon, so I'm excited to hear just how crappy my eating habits are and their recommendations... Part of me laughs inside thinking about it because I know how disastrous it's going to be, but I am actually excited to see what good advice they have!

Best Moment this Week: This week is such a blur for me. I can't remember anything that happened! But I did make a slide show of baby pictures of Dan and I, which is is hilarious! We are going to show it to our families at our gender reveal party before we all find out if it's a boy or girl and I'm pretty excited. Dan had the biggest noggin (still does) when he was little! It just looks massive on his tiny little body! Let's pray that gene doesn't pass on to this baby... This is my fav pic of little Dan, even though it's not a baby picture! Seriously, that HEAD!

Words of Wisdom: Have great girlfriends! I am so thankful for all my amazing friends who have sent text messages with words of wisdom, let me ask them a million questions, and just been excited for me! It's made the biggest difference. My mom had her last baby 22 years ago... so I am very thankful to have amazing women who can share some more recent insight into how to eat the elephant of motherhood one bite at a time!

Week 17: Hormones Took the Wheel

Sleep: Apparently I've got to start trying to sleep on my side more... it's going pretty well! But I can already tell I'll hate it by probably the end of October! Need to get me one of those giant pregnancy pillows!

Symptoms: I've felt more dramatic this week... like my emotions (hormones) were a little on edge. I had serious full out melt down this week after some unexpected bad news came our way. And I haven't acted like that in years (Dan may say differently), but the point is- MOODY!

Food cravings: Pumpkin! But I'm pretty sure that's just me + fall doing our thang... not really baby related... Also, been wanting a Jamba Juice ever since Quentin and Becca told me they got one this week...

Food aversions: This week I had a hard time with dinner. Nothing sounded good around dinner time, and I tried actually making dinner last night, and now after smelling it cook-- I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to eat it... Thankfully Jazz season has started again and the Jazz won a game this week, so XL pizza from Papa John's for 50% saved my life and will all season (they better win!) :)

Gender: We're both calling the baby a him now! Dan wants a boy SO bad! If it's a girl we are both going to be FLOORED.

What I miss: I've never had this, so I don't know how I can miss it, but I could go for about $10,000 right now so I stop panicking about how in the world we can afford all the medical bills, baby gear, maternity clothes, and everything else in our lives going on. But as everyone always says, it'll work out-- it'll be fine!

What I'm loving: This weather! It's so much easier to get away with not having maternity clothes yet with wearing layers and scarves!

What I'm looking forward to: Getting our next ultrasound in 2 weeks and being able to tell everyone I was so right and we're having boy! 

Best Moment this Week: Feeling more baby flicks and finding out my dearest friend Becca is due 2 days before me!!! I was totally shocked and SO HAPPY!

Words of Wisdom: Can some one give me words of wisdom this week? Cause I am taking this whole Black Friday shopping very serious this year when it come to getting baby gear... and there are 10,000 brand of strollers and car seats and baby bottles, and of everything else! And I want good quality stuff, because I have this theory that if I have the right mom tools, this won't be as hard as I think it is... SO comment below, text me, call me, send me an owl and let me know what your fav mom/baby gear is that you can't live without!

Week 16: Wiggles and Flicks

Sleep: After my dreams getting so out of control the last week and a half, I just pray every night to either have good dreams or no dreams because it was bothering me so much! Thankfully, they've subsided and I didn't wake up wanting to strangle Dan for something he didn't actually do...

Symptoms: Little bit of heartburn came back this week, hello old friend-- your absence wasn't long enough. I've been getting a couple of minor headaches a week which is new. I feel really really lucky that I'm able to make it through 8 hours a day of work and seriously can't complain.

Food cravings: Chips and all things salty...

Food aversions: There isn't much that I've been avoiding this week. My father-in-law Woody made me the best steak of my life over the weekend and that was AMAZING. It took our relationship to the next level.

Gender: I'm sure more than ever it's a boy. Dan is sure more than ever it's a girl!

What I miss: I feel so full and blessed this week, there's nothing I want for. 

What I'm loving: That our friends and family have been so supportive as we've told the world. I don't know why, but it was so scary to tell people for me. Any message I sent, or family member we told, I worried they wouldn't be happy for us. And with as much as I freak out about how things are going to work out, I need all the positivity I can get. We have the best support and I'm grateful every day for that.

What I'm looking forward to: General Conference!!! I need some serious "you can do this" talks in my life.

Best Moment this Week: WE FELT THE BABY! People had kept saying, oh you'll feel it anytime now! I was like, uh-huh- sure. I didn't think for at least 2 more weeks I'd be able to feel it. But this past Tuesday, I was sitting in a chair really still and felt this flick against the inside of my stomach, not like my normal digesting movements. I thought, nah... can't be. Another minute later, another even harder flick and I told Dan, I can feel the baby! I don't think he believed me totally but was like oh that's cool! Then Wednesday night we were laying in bed and sure enough, some major flicking. Dan put his hand on my belly and the baby gave the hardest flick yet. I was so excited, Dan was freaked out! haha! I thought he'd be so excited to feel it, but turns out- the idea of something alive in me wasn't as sweet and amazing as he thought it would be... more creepy and a little too foreign!

Words of Wisdom: I haven't had the energy to exercise or eat right like I thought I would. But doing what you can is enough. I go on walks every day for my lunch break and it helps me SOOO MUCH! I always thought that if I wasn't running or out of breath and dying, it didn't count as exercise. But turns out I love walks. Fresh air, change of scenery and moving around is the highlight of my day. And I can feel a difference in my body when I walk. So just walk it out!

Week 15: Pregnancy Dreams

Sleep: The vivid dreams during pregnancy I've heard about kicked in this week. Nightmares about telling my in-laws we're pregnant, nightmares about Dan wanting to name our kids ugly names like Larry-Doug or Trixie, nightmares about having triplets (not the nightmare part) and carrying them in three car seats while trying to run and escape the zombie apocalypse, nightmares about my old co-worker becoming a polygamist and recruiting me to his colony-- and Dan LETTING ME! ... other that than, I'm sleeping well haha! Poor Dan gets chewed out a few times a week depending on what he did in my dream that night before, haha. 

Symptoms: See above :)

Food cravings: CHOCOLATE. and Cheddar + Sour Cream chips... I'm doing really well on my healthy pregnancy plan... NOT!

Food aversions: Still not doing too hot with dairy... ice cream and cottage cheese make me sick every time which is so sad!

Gender: 4 weeks till we find out!

What I miss: I've just wanted a freaking sandwich with lunch meat for like ever. So whatever.

What I'm loving: Naps. And Dan. The further along I get, the more I love that man. I am so thankful that we are each others best friends. And I know that sounds cliche, but it is so true and the best part of my life.

What I'm looking forward to: Finally letting the cat out of the bag this weekend and telling our family!

Best Moment this Week: Our second ultrasound! Our doctor was so great and he spent so much time answering my questions this appointment, which meant the world to me. It was so good to hear our little baby's heartbeat, I still worry every time, but so far so good! Moving forward!

Words of Wisdom: Don't get your pregnancy announcements from Walgreens. I literally almost killed a woman with my glares this week when they screwed up my order and didn't even care or try to help me. But it all worked out and I'm blaming the hormones on my lack of being able to realize this wasn't a big deal and my inability to be nice.