I’m not quite sure that I expected I would feel this way, but I truly am happy with a healthy Baby Brickner – whatever the gender may be.  Sure, when I was younger I certainly had visions of what my future family would look like … as my husband could attest to.  In fact, during my junior year of high school, I had a specific plan to raise twin girls named “Whitney & Brittney.”  (Seriously … What was I thinking?!!)  Now that I am older, wiser, and the situation has gone from fantasy to reality – I can honestly say that I am already in love with the baby bean growing inside of me.  Boy or girl.

But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t anxious to know our fate.  The suspense is really hard to handle.  There have been many times (at Target, H & M, and Macy’s, specifically) … that I have wanted to buy one outfit for each gender and then take the other back once we knew the final verdict.  But in the meantime, in an effort to make the days go by faster, we decided to try out some of the “gender prediction” tests out there in cyberspace.  The baking soda test was our first experiment.

Yesterday, it’s true … I urinated in a cup filled with one teaspoon of baking soda.  The test reads: if it fizzes = boy, does nothing = girl.  Well …

There was certainly no fizz.  So looks like TEST #1 = girl. 

Now just five weeks to patiently wait to find out how accurate the baking soda test really is.

Oh, and by the way … my husband is having a boy.  His pee definitely brought on some fizz.



Even though my “baby center weekly update” informed me this morning (as it has every other recent Monday) that I am now officially 14 weeks pregnant, additionally –  my belly seems to be expanding nearly daily, and I still have a certain everlasting nauseaus feeling … I still sometimes can hardly believe that I am pregnant.  Even with my monthly doctor appointments (which, by the way, are quite the highlight of my days), it is those weeks in between that make me question whether I could really be that lucky to be expecting a little bundle of joy.

So when, on this past Saturday morning, I felt what I truly am convinced was Baby Brickner moving about … I pretty much could have jumped on my rooftop to share my enthusiasm with the neighborhood.  My sister-in-law had told me a couple of weeks ago that a “butterfly-type” motion was the first hint she had of her future kin, but I had no idea I would have that same feeling in my own tummy so soon.  I thought I had perhaps felt those butterflies at about the same time last Saturday AM, but it was this time that I just knew.

Apparently, our baby bean is a morning person already … just like mom. 🙂

This “belly blogging” adventure hasn’t turned out to be quite as easy as my first experience as a blogger was.  At first thought, it would seem that attempting to journal daily while planning a wedding would be the bigger challenge of the two.  For those 18 months – I was tasked with finding the time to sit down at my computer in between catering appointments, DJ lists, and endless DIY projects.  Currently, in my new state of mind, sitting down isn’t the problem.  In fact, I don’t know that I have spent this much time sitting in one place since my days as a college student at Radford University.  But with the new recent physical demands that my precious little baby bean have placed on my body … I have found it slightly difficult to use my limited energy to update my blog as often as I previously did.

However, I have personally vowed to myself to make a bigger effort to visit Mrs. BB’s Belly Blog.  I know how much I value having my wedding journey blogged and therefore know how invaluable this written record would be, too.  And this particularly rainy Saturday afternoon seemed like the ideal opportunity to start – especially since I was not jolted out of bed at 5 this morning by the sound of my screeching alarm clock – and therefore have a little extra pep in my step.

So as of now, the update on Baby Brickner is certainly a positive one.  I had my second appointment, which was a success as we heard a strong heartbeat and got a thumbs up from the doctor.  And as previously stated, I still am yet to feel my complete 100% self, which my baby books all say is a good sign.  As time progresses (and my belly does, too) – I find myself getting more and more anxious for July.

In a previous blog entry, I referred to the fact that this is not my first experience in the “blogosphere.”  In fact, throughout the 18 months of planning my 2011 June wedding, I blogged about my experience most days of the week.  Throughout the process, I realized how therapeutic journaling online can be, and since, have been lucky to have a record of my innermost thoughts during the months of 2010-2011.

So as I look forward to what is sure to be another eventful & memorable year ahead, I once again can’t help but to think of a resolution to keep for the months to come.  And because of my blogging history, I was able to look back to my “2011 Resolution” in the Burgundy Bride Book gifted to me by my husband on my wedding day.  According to the entry written on Sat., Jan. 1st … I made a promise to myself to:  Savor each moment & to appreciate all of the things that so many special people in my life are doing to make my day perfect.

And as I look at that now almost exactly one year later, it seems rather fitting to this year ahead as well.  Obviously, it is important to cherish this time with my husband, family, & friends … since it will be the last time I can before my little peanut arrives.  But furthermore, and more importantly, I hope to have a healthy & safe pregancy that I can look back on fondly … one that I was able to thouroughly enjoy. 

Oh yea … not to mention my second resolution:  To get my growing body on the treadmill each day to reduce the amount of fitness/dieting I will need beginning this August. 🙂

Happy New Year!