He's here!!!

Our amazing and beautiful blessing has finally arrived! Well...arrived a week ago on Tuesday, December 6th at 10:29pm. Chance Tegan Tristan weighed 8.88lbs and was 21 inches long. Both Al and I are wondering whose child this is because he is just way to adorable to be ours.
    So as the story goes... I originally went into the hospital Sunday night to start inducing. My doctor started pitocin Monday morning and by 6pm that night I was no further dilated (1 cm) than what I was 3 weeks prior. So they sent us home. Al and I were both completely mentally drained, you think you are going to leave the hospital with a newborn in your arms and the complete opposite happens. The doctor did say that we will try inducing again on Friday and if it failed again they would do a C-section, that was if he did not come before.
    Sure enough that next morning, I woke up around 10am and felt a slight trickle. I ran to the bathroom and then felt a slight gush....HOLY CRAP! Did my water just break or did I just have an accident???? Al came in to check on me and I sat in silence for a second then told him what just happened and called the doctors office. They told me it sounds like my water did break and I needed to get into the car, lay in the back seat, make sure I was wheel chaired to Labor and Delivery but get to the hospital quickly. Well I felt great so I told Al I was going to get a cup of coffee, he asked if he had time to take a shower and I said, "Sure!". I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while he was doing that because I was craving one the day prior and while on pitocin you can not eat, so I made sure I did this time around before going back in. While headed to the hospital I told Al that he needed to get something to eat because it could be a while before he got another meal and we both knew that the hospital food wasn't the greatest. So Burger King it was! I believe it was noon by the time we actually got to the hospital and if you are wondering if I had been wheel chaired to Labor and Delivery...uh no!
    Pitocin was started right away, but of course nothing happened until about 2:30pm,  and finally started dilating and having contractions. Those lasted till about 5pm the pain was tolerable but I was just getting exhausted going through them. Epidural time!!! This was probably the worst time for me throughout my labor only for my fear that they would miss and I had a fear I was going to be paralyzed from the waist down. All went well and I FINALLY dilated to 10cm at 10pm. My doctor was so amazing since she knew I wanted no one but her to deliver Chance, she took a nap at the hospital and said she would wait until he came. I started pushing at 10pm and out he came at 10:29pm. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times, but thank God it was loose, so he did not have to go to NICU. He is absolutely perfect! Al was so amazing through all of it, he definitely kept calm, didn't pass out, did everything perfectly especially telling me when I needed to breathe.
    After spending two nights in the hospital we are now back home with Chance in tow this time. Adjusting to this new change has been great so far and running very smoothly. The first couple of nights were a little hard trying to get use to waking up every two hours to feed him, but after the 2nd night I quit setting my alarm to wake him up since he woke me up just fine without it. Every two hours almost to the minute, just like clockwork. Al and I have also been inducted into the Chance clan, by both officially being peed on while changing diapers, but that was after changing his first diaper in the hospital. Al and I were so caucious about being peed on that when Chance did pee he shot it right into his own little face and the screaming began... poor little traumatize guy. I though must admit have dodged being drenched more than Al has. We did newborn photos today and our last sitting was of the three of us. We were able to get a couple of shots in and when asked to change our position I handed a naked Chance to Al, who was immediately shot in the chest with pee, but took it like a complete champ and just sat there and took the full emptying of the bladder.
   I will definitely try to keep posting new blogs as I sink more and more into mommihood. I am so looking forward to this amazing new adventure in my life!

24 hours and counting

Well my doctor told me that we will be inducing Monday, December 5th if he is not here prior. Well, it's Sunday afternoon and Chance is still not here and Al is going to take me into Labor and Delivery in about 4 hours. I'll check in this evening to St. Paul and they will start the inducing process tomorrow morning. It is crazy that we will be holding our little baby boy tomorrow. I think that I am as prepared as I can be at this point. It has been so funny receiving so many phone calls from friends and family asking me if I have gone into labor yet, so I have just started answering the phone "I'm still pregnant." I have compiled all the photos that I took with my phone throughout my pregnancy and typically would never post pictures of myself but I figure why not. I never got around to taking maternity photos so these will just have to do. I just hope that I am able to take off this weight faster than I put it on.

15 Weeks

19 Weeks

22 Weeks

25 Weeks

30 Weeks

 

35 Weeks

40 Weeks

 So I apologize in advance for the scatter of my belly all over this blog (what a sight to see) but this blog would not allow me to post them right and make it look pretty. I am hoping that I can get one last photo tomorrow morning at 41 weeks and add that one soon.
I have been feeling pretty good  about everything as far as delivery until the other night, started having slight anxiety about it. Not about anything going wrong but just what all is going to happen with inducing. I have heard once the pitocin is injected everything goes by really quickly, but for my sister and nephew it was (if I remember correctly) an emergency c-section right after because Jack's heart rate dropped. Other the other end, my neighbor across the street said she delivered 15 hours later after receiving the pitocin. I guess all is up in the air from here. Regardless of it all I am so over the moon about finally meeting our son, he is truly already such a blessing in my heart! I am so thrilled and excited about being a mother, and I know Al feels and has said he is ready and excited to be a father.

Wish us luck!

I guess the Turkey is not done cooking?!

Everyone I know and plus some have told me that Chance is not going to make it to his due date, that he will be coming before Thanksgiving! Well, this little guy is proving everyone wrong so far, today is his estimated due date.. November 28th and he is still in his mommy's belly. I have a doctors appointment later today and am anxious to find out what she will say. Forty weeks and counting! So far this little turkey in me is showing everyone who is really running the show around here, and it isn't anyone on the outside world. I will say it has definitely helped me a little bit more to get packed for the hospital and get a few things done around the house, including Christmas decorating. Maybe Chance just knows how his mother is already, such a planner, if its in my appointment book that is the date I am going to go by. He would have really thrown me off if he came earlier than today... yes I do know that having a child there is never an expected moment. Always be as prepared as you can be for the unexpected...right?? Well the waiting game continues....until then!

To my little blessing

Dear Chance,
I can not believe that the time is almost here for you to come into this world. It's been 39 weeks today that you have been in my tummy. Time has certainly flown by. I have noticed that the closer you get to being in my arms the more I think about you, while I'm awake and while I am sleeping. I think about what you are going to look like, how big you are going to be (the doctor said you were 8.1 lbs last Friday), how much hair you are going to have on your head, and what color it will be. I wonder if you are going to sleep easily during the night or keep your dad and I up a lot :), what your first word is going to be, so many things run through my head.
I have also been thinking about what kind of mom I am going to be to you, how many things I can teach you, how I am going to act when you get sick, or fall on your knees. How overbearing I am going to be at times, and how I can wait to just give you the biggest hugs in the world.
I hope you grow up having equal parts of your dad and I, his strength, courage, honor, confidence and loyalty to friends and my compassion, love, patience and understanding. However you turn out you are going to be one extraordinary son who will be loved by so many people around you.
There are times that I feel like I am going to wake up from a dream because it is still hard for me to think that within the next week or so you are going to be coming into this world. You have given me so many blessings so far and you are not even here yet! Chance you have given me a warmth in my heart from a void that I thought would never be filled. You have given me strength to stand on my own feet and be more confident. You have shown me more patience in my life, more than what I have ever had in the past. You also have given me a smile back on my face every time I feel you wiggle in my tummy, knowing you are going to be here soon. You are such a true blessing to me and the wait is almost over until I get to meet you. I love you so much already and can not wait to hold you in my arms.
Love,
Mom

The time is drawing near

I can not believe it is almost D-Day! Where did these past 8 1/2 months go? Time sure has flown by, Al and I had our last baby shower last night that Katie, Jessica and Allison hosted here at our house. It was so nice and relaxed. The girls made sure that I did not do anything, which is easier said than done. But I think with enough yelling and hair pulling (kidding) they finally got me to sit down on the couch and relax while I watched them take over and clean the house and decorate for the shower. It was a lot smaller shower than the first two which was nice, I think the bigger my belly gets the less entertaining I become.  Chance's nursery is basically complete the only thing I would like to get is a baby monitor and a diaper stacker oh and of course I do need to still purchase a lovely breast pump...yay!!
   Al and I drove out to Arlington today to have lunch with my best friend Jessica, her fiance Jay and their daughter (my god daughter) Gwendolyn. There was a few times I looked over at Al and saw him just starring and Gwen. It was so sweet, I asked if he was studying her patterns and he just laughed and shook his head no, and said he was just watching her. He told me later in the car that he has a good feeling that we are going to have a great kid that is not going to cry much and just be really laid back and cool. I laughed and told him that I am recording this moment in my memory bank so when things are chaotic I can find humor in the moment of chaos.
   Overall I am feeling great, there have been moments here and there that my feet are super swollen, and times were I get winded easier but I honest can not complain. I feel really good and still have a lot of energy for the most part. I will say that it has been frustrating trying to find pants that fit, especially going into the colder season on the year, so yoga pants have been my best friend for the most part. Poor Al really does not see a very attractive Shauna anymore around the house. I am all about comfort these days, I have my moments of trying to dress up but even those times there is definitely not a 100% effort and they are few and far in between. Hopefully, soon enough I will get somewhat of a figure back after Chance is born. Just need to make sure I am laying off all the amazing chocolate chip cookies that I have been baking.

The Turkey is Cooking!

I feel as though time has flown by in the past couple of months and time is ticking away and there is still so much to do. To do a little updating the nursery is pretty much complete. I have had the hardest time getting the letters to his name up on the wall. They either don't stick or my new way of getting them up on the wall is using picture mounts... well when nailing the mounts on to the letters the wood snaps in half. So off to JoAnn's again to buy more letters for Chance's name. I am hoping that this last round will work and the final product will look like this one here, which was right before the A dropped and broken into pieces on the floor.
Earlier this month Albets' mom, aunt and cousin hosted a family baby shower for us. It was a wonderful shower with tons of his family and family friends. My sister and family were the only people that I invited to this shower, which was nice, since I was able to be introduced to new family members and friends that I had not met yet. Al is truly blessed with such an amazing large and warm family, they were all extremely open and wonderful towards me. Chance received tons of clothes, snuggle buddies and Al got the awesome diaper bag that he registered for!
A highlight since the last entry on my journey of pregnancy is I was diagnosed with PUPPP/PEPS aka the Rash of Pregnancy. Oh my goodness was it miserable!!! I thought it was heat rash initially but when it spread half way down my stomach overnight then started covering my entire belly and moving towards my back the following night I knew something was not right. I went in to my doctor and she told me I had PEPS. She said that it is common with women in the first pregnancy in the 3rd trimester and those women who are expecting a boy. Oh how I always love my chances of these things!! She also told me that the cure would be giving birth!!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!! EXCUSE ME!!!!! Oh and that the rash would just continue to spread until he was born....but don't worry, there is no harm to you or the baby. Well wasn't that just great... I almost started crying on the way back to work from my appointment, realizing that I had not taken my maternity photos yet, the rash was going to get worse and oh did I mention how horribly miserable I felt because my whole entire belly was one big itch! When I got home that night I was determined to find a cure because if there wasn't one I was ready to make a scheduled C-Section ASAP. I found to my surprise on babycenter.com (which by the way I love this website, it has helped me with so much stuff throughout my entire pregnancy...highly recommend it.) There was a mom forum about PEPS and all the women having the same symptoms and being just as miserable as I was. They said there was this great product called Grandpa's Pine Tar soap that helped a lot of them and took away the rash entirely for some. As I said I was determined and desperate. I picked up a bar for $3 at Whole Foods and guess what, my PEPS what gone in less than a week. Nothing..poof, disappeared!!!! I think I am going to become a spokes person for this product, I was so so happy!!! Also, loved the doctors appointment I had last week to tell my doctor all about it. Use Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap!! It's a miracle!
Al and I have one more shower next weekend that Katie, Jessica and Allison are throwing for us. It is suppose to be very laid back and they tell me that I am not to do anything but relax and enjoy myself. So much easier said than done, but I will try my hardest! But all of this is coming down to the end. Monday I will be 35 weeks and counting. Nine months seems like a long time but to me it has felt like it has flown by. So much to do still, find a pediatrician, which I have as a goal to do by the first week of November, assemble and install the car seat and buy the second base, wash all of Chances clothes before he arrives, set up a savings account. I know there is tons more, but as I keep telling myself, one day at a time.

Nursery Update.....Baby Shower time!!

Wow so much happens in such a small amount of time. The nursery is coming along more and more! Painting is done, the crib and changing table are put together and decorating started today. Slowly but surely it is looking more and more like a nursery, a lot of love has already been put into it, and a lot more to come.

Today, I had my first baby shower! Had so much fun, this one was held at Subie's (my mother at work) house. Which she, my sister Michelle, my "other" sister Kristin and my dear friend Mariah hosted. There was a good amount of dear friends from the Y that attended, and a few of my close friends from church. Opening all the shower gifts was overwhelming for me, I hate being the center of attention and I always feel like I don't express how appreciative I am of all the gifts and everything my friends have given by just a thank you.... the gratitude goes so far beyond just those two words. There was a moment today when I looked around and saw all the people that were around me and realized how blessed I am to have each one of these individuals in my life. Each person has touched my heart and my life in one way or another and has helped me through this pregnancy is one way or another. Either by personal advise, having a listening ear, making me laugh and just wanting to get a good belly rub in. I feel so blessed. I must say too though that I did give some amazing hand made gifts to my wonderful hosts.... I have absolutely no creative stitch in me so I have no idea how I was capable of thinking of this idea or actually putting them together and having them turn out so cute. My little treasure boxes to those I treasure.
Our little man did give Al and I a scare last week... I called my doctor on Thursday to let her know that I had not felt any movements or kicks for the past 2 days. Which led me to be asked to go to Labor and Delivery, I had a heart rate monitor placed on my belly to hear his heart beat. All checked out great, his heartbeat was strong and healthy, thank God!!! When my doctor called me the next day to ask if I had felt anything yet I still had not. Which led to going to her office for a sonogram to check his heart beat, breathing, movement and amniotic fluid. Mr. Chance passed with flying colors in all 4 areas, but he was breach and that may have been a reason I could not feel anything. Luckily though he finally decided to start kicking and moving around again a day later. Little stinker is being stubborn and giving us a hard time already and he is not even born yet.... what is this mommy in for??!!!!

                                                                Here is a picture of the wonderful hostesses from the shower, each one I am so blessed to have in my life!

Slowly but surely

I am so excited that the nursery is slowly starting to look like a nursery. There is still a lot of work to be done, but finally the walls were taped off, the drop clothes were laid and 1 coat of paint has been put up on the wall. I love the color that Al and I decided on..Tropical Breeze, it is so calming and beautiful. There are a few holes that need to be patched in the wall where we had anchors that held up some old shelving. So hopefully by this weekend we can have the another coat painted and be done with that phase. I am so excited to start putting together the crib and changing table. Of course they came in flat boxes that I am sure have 150 pieces inside of them, but even still I am excited to have us putting it all together.
    I had a doctor's appointment last Wednesday my doctor told me she was putting my pregnancy at 28 weeks and 3 days. Which now means that my due date would be November 28th verses the 24th. Getting closer and closer to having a December baby like I am hoping for. Not sure why exactly maybe just for the fact that I love the month of December and absolutely everything about the Christmas season. This would be just one more reason to love the month and look forward to a birthday at the end of the year. I told Al the other day that it would be very fitting since his birthday is January 9th, mine is February 3 so of course we should have back to back to back birthdays.... it only makes complete sense. Haha. Other than the date changing everything has been going really well, Chance has been kicking, poking and jabbing me but as long as he is comfortable and making room for himself, I will just stand aside and suck it up. My Glucose Tolerance Screening came back good, I was really happy about that because I have been craving sweets like crazy in my 3rd trimester and cutting back on those just would throw me into a hormonal outrage. And I know nobody wants to see or deal with that.

Wanted to attach a few pictures of the in progress nursery and will update you on what it looks like next week!

Third Trimester...already!

   I can not believe that I am already in my third trimester, it seems as though the last 6 months have just flown by. One of my our baby showers is coming up on the 24th of this month and it felt like it was yesterday when I thought our first shower was so far away. So much to do in so little time.... still needing to put the nursery together, Al and I have a prenatal class to attend which I am excited about next Saturday at UTSouthwestern. I am not for sure how much he is looking forward to it, but I really can't blame him. Hopefully they will make it a little interesting and not just a classroom set up.
   I have to share a funny story from about 2 weeks ago... Al and I went to Buy Buy Baby to register for a few items that we need, he was not able to go with me when I registered at Babies R' Us and Target, and I really wanted him to be apart of the registering experience so I held off registering for the car seat, the stroller and a few other items. We spent a total of 2 hours in Buy Buy Baby., 30 minutes going through the majority of the store and an hour and a half in the stroller/car seat section!! We had this very nice lady talk to us about all the differences between the car seats and strollers and safety regulations on each of them. She was disconnecting the car seat from the base and showing us if it was a metal clip or plastic clip that keeps them together. She also was showing us all the different strollers and how to connect the car seat to them and how to collapse and open the strollers back up. Overall, a very nice and educated sales associate but she was talking both of our ears off, so we were happy when she finally left us alone. Here is where the fun began..... we went back to the car seats to figure out which one we wanted to register for, we could not for the life of us figure out how to disconnect one dang car seat from its base. I think we tried to disconnect at least 5 or 6 and failed on all. With that frustration we gave up and moved to the strollers. To start we had one car seat that was already connected to the stroller so we decided to give it a shot and disconnect it from the stroller so we could figure out how to collapse the stroller.... of course no luck. Al was lifting the whole stroller up in the air while trying to pop off the car seat... no luck there either. Finally, we gave up there are just went to a stroller to collapse and open it. We pulled handles, pushed buttons, pushed levers, kicked with our feet bars and knobs towards the bottom of the stroller.... it wasn't budging. We with success finally got one stroller to collapse then could not get it to open back up...of course. But I think the Big Guy above was done laughing at us and finally we got a car seat disconnected from the base (high fives on Aisle 3) and we finally picked a stroller that was one push collapse and one pull to open (Happy Dance on Aisle 2)!!! Of course we had been there so long that our registry scanner decided to time out and we had to reactivate it again at the front desk to scan both items. HELP US!!!! 
   My third trimester has been going good so far, still have good energy but there have been days where it is a little harder to move around. I definitely am struggling to tie my shoe laces before I work out, my belly is definitely popping out more and more every day, maybe I should just think in investing in some grandpa Velcro shoes to make it easier. Overall though I really do not have any complaints, although, most if not all my mommy friends tell me is just forget about moving around my last 2 weeks of pregnancy, all I am going to be is big and miserable. I am really glad that this pregnancy has fallen in the time frame it has so hopefully when I do get pretty big at least it will be semi cooler outside and I can start walking in the morning. I'm trying my hardest to stay active as long as I can.
   Another thing that I am waiting on is seeing a hand or foot pop up through my stomach. Chance has definitely been kicking, turning and doing somersaults a lot in the past 2 weeks. Some days I feel like he is about to kick me out of my chair at work, while others it feels like when I first felt him move, just a little flutter here and there throughout the day.
   I am so excited and ready to put this nursery together, I put together the cube organizer yesterday, it looks so cute. But first thing is first we have got to paint that room!! Al and I went to Best Buy a 2 weeks ago and got 3 samples of paint, 2 light brown and a baby blue. I think both of us fell in love with the baby blue (called Tropical Blue). So hopefully this week he and I can start putting painters tape down and have the room painted by the end of this week. I feel like a little school girl and really happy and excited to start this project.

Last Pre-Mommy Vacation/Pregnancy so far/Registering

    It has now been almost a week since returning from my last Pre-Mommy vacation and I feel like I am still catching up to the real world pace. My sisters Michelle, Kristin and I went to Port Aransas for 4 days last week and took my 3 nephews Jack, Renny and Paul. I must say it was probably the best vacation that I have had in a really long time. We rented a condo a 1/2 mile from the beach, had absolutely no plans the entire time, soaked up the sun, enjoyed the ocean breeze and had amazing sister bonding time. I picked both Michelle and Kristin's brains a lot about their pregnancy, childbirth and being a mom. Many of them are things that you never know what the answer is depending on which baby/motherhood book you pick up. It was also so nice to have those conversations that I would normally have with my mom and will never have the opportunity to, but this was a perfect replacement.
    I was able to buy a few things for the Chance's nursery while I was down there. A welcome sign for his door made out of sand and sea shells, 2 glass sea horses, a wooden sail boat, and 5 starfish which I plan on putting up around his name on the wall.
     The trip definitely gave me some experience in learning what it will be like raising a son. There was a lot of tears on this trip between my nephews, all ranging from accidents while jumping off the couch to not sharing, not getting their way with wanting to watch a certain movie, and a little of just being so tired from the day. Another little boy moment that I had was when I was in the living room sitting on the floor watching TV waiting for my turn in the shower after coming back from the beach. Jack and Renny just got out of the shower and decided to run around naked and use their privates as laser pointing guns (I believe is what they called them). So many fun little times and surprises to look forward too!!
    One of the things I noticed on the trip that was different was I did not feel Chance kick much at all while I was down there, or at least not as much as he normally does while at home or at work. It must have been the calm ocean breeze. Yesterday, I was at my eye doctors office waiting to be seen and he was kicking like crazy, I looked down and saw my belly move for the first time while he was kicking, it was so weird but amazing at the same time. It wasn't anything much but definitely enough to notice. One of those amazing milestones in pregnancy that you look forward to.
   I must say that I feel so blessed by my pregnancy so far, I have had only one day of morning sickness, a couple of days were the food that I ate just did not agree with me, and my energy level throughout my pregnancy hasn't been anything to complain about. The only thing that has been a little rough are my hormones. I have had more moments of sadness than normal in the past few weeks. Feeling lonely and just down right sad. I think a lot of it is not having my parents here to share this experience with me, but I must say hormones stink! I hope that they will start leveling out soon like women who have bad morning sickness in their first trimester and get over it once their second trimester is in full swing.
    An exciting time I had was last Saturday I met my sister at Babies R' Us and registered!!! I was so much fun but it definitely worked up an appetite. So of course we had to finish up there and have some great Mi Cocina then hit Target afterward for more registering. I went back later online to look at my registry and could not believe how much stuff was on there! Majority of it though was necessities but had to throw in a few fun items! Here is a picture of the crib that I registered for, I feel in love with it!!

First Purchase!

After a long morning of walking in the sun with my friend Allison at the Y. I decided to make a stop at Home Depot to pick up a rod for the closet in the nursery. I needed to browse and look at lawn mowers and see what the rough cost is....but before I made it to the end of the isle I found the shelving that I was looking for in the nursery. Little cubbies to put baskets in some of the shelves and books in the others. I have officially made my first purchase for the nursery, and I am so excited. The small things in life that bring a smile to our faces. Here is a picture of the one I bought, the shelving is white as well, but I bought green and brown storage bins.

Nursery Ideas

 So we have finally decided a few weeks ago on how we want to decorate the nursery. Since I lived on the ocean sailing growing up and Al was in the Navy we thought it fitting to do a Nautical/Under the Sea theme. Here are a few ideas that I would like to incorporate.

I loved this idea of this room, it was very sleek and simple yet super cute. Above the crib they have cute picture frames which I am wanting to do, I have included a couple of the pictures that I would like to use at the bottom. I also really like on the wall how there are sea shells on either side of the babies name. Hoping I can find some somewhere in the area that will work.

So I really love the bookshelf here but I may do the ones that have the cubby holes and use some with baskets in them to out the toys in and the others use as book shelves. I am really excited on building his library and reading to him at night. I have a feeling that it will definitely turn into one of my favorite past times.  
I also want to try to find a boat that will sit on a shelf like the one here, just a small tid-but that I know my dad would love being added to the room.

                                                                              Here is one of the pictures that I would like to hang on the wall. This little sea turtle acutally sold me on doing an Under the Sea theme, he is just too darn cute. I found this awesome website bellababyart.com that has all kinds of fun wall art and decorations. 

                                                                                                    Finally, one of the other wall art pieces that I found that was cute for Chance's nursery. I just hope that all of this gets put together before he gets here!

New Chapter and a New Beginning

New Chapter and a New Beginning is exactly what is running through my head right now. I found out on St. Patrick's Day this year that I was pregnant. My emotions were mixed when I took my first pregnancy test, and my second, third, then finally fourth. I definitely had the "oh sh*t" moment but was also filled with a lot of peace at the same time. Once things settled it was hard to tell Albert, the father, and it took him a little time for things to settle in but we are both extremely thrilled and both feel blessed knowing that we have an amazing blessing on the way.
  We found out last month that we are having a beautiful baby boy, which of course Al thought the entire time that is what he would be. I had my moments of thinking it was a boy, but a few days before we found out my gut was telling me it was a girl. I of course did not care either way and neither did hem we both just want a happy and healthy baby, but deep down I was hoping for a boy.
  The first name that was ever suggested between the two of us was Chance. Al thought it was very fitting considering the chances between us. It worked either way for a boy or girl and at first I was thrown off by it but soon after I fell in love with his name. The middle we are still debating on but currently it is Teagan.
   Our little blessing is due on Thanksgiving Day which is something completely thankful in itself. This has been a journey emtionally for me so far not only because this is my first child but also because I will have a family again. My parents were both taken from me at a young age and it has been a struggle for me to know what a sense of family feels like. Yes, friends are amazing and they have been nothing but a blessing to me, but nothing can replace a mother and fathers love for a their child. I am starting to have that love fill my heart again and it is such a wonderful feeling.
  Now the fun will begin hunting through baby stores to put a nursery together, find a pediatrician, so much to think about and do before our little one arrives. I hope that I will be able to keep posting and get in the habit of it. I have always wanted to have an online blog, so hopfully now that I have something exciting to post they will keep on coming.