Beach at 18 Weeks

This past weekend my Dad, the in-laws, Laurin and I all went to Kiawah Island for a restful little vacation! Boy, I didn't realize how much I needed it! I didn't sleep well all last week and apparently I was more sleep-deprived than I thought. I practically slept the whole way down on friday, napped on saturday and slept half the way back on Sunday. It was WONDERFUL to have a few days where I didn't have a care in the world and I could, sleep, relax, read and spend time with the family. We all had a great time together. Another nice thing is that I can eat seafood again and actually enjoy it! During my first trimester the thought of it made me sick...I'm definitely over that! Thank goodness. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Another thing that has been pretty cool is that I've been feeling more and more movement from the little lady. No big kicks yet but some definite flutters and bouncing! I can't wait to see her again next week when we have the big 2nd trimester ultrasound where they do measurements from head to toe to make sure everything is progressing properly. This is also when they would have told us the sex had we not gotten so lucky a couple weeks ago! But I am glad that they will be able to confirm one more time that our little princess hasn't sprouted any extra extremities (if you know what I mean)! I will update the blog after our appointment on tuesday!

It's a GIRL!!!

So today was very serendipitous! Baby Nocks is a baby girl! I went in to the OBGYN today to get my blood drawn for my AFP test. I was talking to the nurses about the dream I had last night that I was found out I was having a girl. The ultrasound technician, Beth, was sitting there and was like, "I have a break right now, do you want to find out?" I was like, SURE, so I called Laurin to make sure he was ok with that and he was so excited we could find out early that he didn't care at all! So I called him again right before Beth told me what it was so Laurin and we did find out together even if it was over the phone. So I found out 3 weeks before I was supposed to...hooray! I will still have my 19-week ultrasound to do all the rest of the measurements because all she did today was find out the sex. I can't believe I'm having girl...I couldn't be more excited! I was convinced I was having a boy because everyone else thought I was...but surprise! I truly feel like my mom has everything to do with this...that she sent me this little gift because she wants me to have what she and I had. What a blessing!

Laurin is really happy...I was worried at first because I knew he wanted a boy really badly. But he's so excited albeit a bit overwhelmed! I can't help but think he's going to be the cutest daddy in the world...can you guys not see how precious he will be with a little girl!?

Can't wait to meet the little lady in about 5 months!