Team PINK or Team GREEN

So yesterday I was scheduled to have an ultrasound to determine whether Deuce was a girl or a boy. Let me say this beforehand.......the experience was an interesting one but the outcome in the end made it worth it.

First and foremost, I got lost. I was told that I was to go to the hospital to have an ultrasound. Well I am scheduled to have my baby at Wellington Regional Medical Center. If you've ever been there, you know that the property is HUGE! Not only is there a hospital, there are various centers located around the hospital. I went to the actual hospital and was sent up to Labor and Delivery. OFFTOPIC: why was I sweating bullets while on the Labor & Delivery floor? I was so nervous. But at least I know HOW to get there when its time for Deuce to arrive.

Anyhoo I was sent to two different places before I arrived at the actual spot. I had drunk a lot of water and was ready to explode. But ultrasound was behind. Needless to say I was in a lot of pain. I waited for an hour and was doing everything that I could to make it through what seemed like an unbearable time. At one point I almost just left....bump an ultrasound! 


Finally I was called back. The lady informed me when I got back there that the doctor ordered a set of tests....length of my baby, my baby's head, lips, heart, yada yada yada. Lady do whatever you have to. Just let me know if I'm batting for team pink or team green. So she starts doing here tests. OFFTOPIC: I so loved the fact that their ultrasound gel was in  warmer!!!! The warm gel felt great on my belly :)

Anyhoo while doing her tests the lady kept shaking her head. I was already nervous and this was not making it any better. Was there something wrong with Deuce? God forbid there be two of them? Are there two of them??? Finally after what seemed like an endless amount of time, the lady sighed and said "Ma'am you're going to have to come back. I cant complete my test and I'm not 100% sure of the gender".

She then says "Your baby just wont stop moving. This is a very active child!" She turns the screen so that I can see it and what I saw had me laughing so hard. When I looked at the screen there my baby was doing a choreographed Michael Jackson routine. LOL! No lie, she was going to work. Deuce was moving and moving and moving. Her little arms were beating my uterus as if it was a drum. I've never laughed that hard in my life. The lady did NOT find this funny at ALL! I had to explain that I was not surprised at all...this kid is an active kid and she stays electric sliding in my uterus. OFFTOPIC: I always say Deuce is doing a Beyonce routine or the wobble in my belly BUT seriously it looked as if she was dancing yesterday.

The lady still was not pleased because this means that I'm going to have to come back so that she can finish her test. She was about 75% sure that Deuce is a girl but I'm basically going to have to come back and be tortured again.

After all of that bad news, it was time to take pictures of Deuce. Deuce did NOT disappoint. The lady got adorable shots. This kid is going to be like his/her mother! A natural poser lol

Is this not the cutest little hand ever? I dont know if she/he is waving or what but knowing Deuce, she/he is saying LEAVE ME ALONE AND TALK TO THE HAND

Deuce was actually beating the drums(my uterus) Michael Jackson style on this one. SMH

This was precious because Deuce turned around and faced the camera and thats how the technician got this shot. So adorable!!!!!

Two little feet put together!!!! Aren't they adorable!!!

I cant wait to kiss this little foot!!!

Tomorrow is the day *bites nails*

So tomorrow is my BIG day. I find out of Deuce is a girl or a boy.

When I first got the call at the beginning of the week I was pretty nonchalant. I couldnt wait for Friday to get here. That was on Monday...I think. By Tuesday nerves started getting at me. I know I'm going to cry whether Deuce is a boy or a girl. I all of a sudden got super emotional and didnt want anyone there with me. I mean seriously I wasnt trying to look like this

and have people in the room with me. Talk about embarrassing. Of course my family ignored me and said they would be there. By Wednesday I was told that my mom would not be there due to a funeral, my sister would not be there due to work and Deuce's father would not be there due to.....well we're just going to leave it at due to. So that just left me. By Wednesday my nerves were shot to hell. I had been so adamant about being by myself and now that I was forced with that option, I didnt want it. Yeah I'm such a woman. Sue me. By the time Thursday (today) got here I was an emotional wreck. I'm super duper excited....super duper worried.....super duper anxious.....super duper happy......super duper sad. I'm super duper errthang! Whether I'm ready or not I find out tomorrow. I hope Deuce is in position. You know how she/he acts at times. Shadddeeeeee central occurs within my belly. Either way after tomorrow I'll either be

or

Water is the motto!

Before I found out I was pregnant I was on a serious health kick. I drunk water and water and more water. I was trying to lose weight and I did. After I got pregnant I pretty much stayed with the water until my summer vacation came along. Then I started throwing back Sierra Mists, tea, juice and gatorade like nobody's business. I was like.....

With all of this additional sugar, came headaches. Now I do not know if I am getting headaches because of my hormones as the pregnancy books and blogs suggest or if it's because of the additional sugar that Im' pumping in my body. I DO know that additional sugar is NOT good...especially for someone who is trying to avoid gestational diabetes like some men avoid child support. So I woke up this morning and I promised myself that water would be my motto for the rest of my pregnancy. The first cup was badddddddd!!!! I wanted juice!!!!!! Cup two was better. Now I'm on cup four and it's tasting pretty good. As I sipped I read and found out that water helps to alleviate many side effects of pregnancy. I'on know about that one but it's worth the try. So for the next 23 weeks

I'll be 'bout that water life! :) 

What makes a great mother?

I was reading one of my other blogs, AScorpioSpeaks, when I came across this blog post. 


Yesterday I was talking to my son's teacher when she got a glossy look in her eyes, paused and said "Ms Johnson, I want you to know that you are a great mother. You are truly a role model for other young mothers. I am impressed and you should be very proud of yourself" It took me a minute to say anything and when I did all that could escape was a thank you. I've been told before that I am a great mom and every time someone says that it makes me choke up. I'm honored. Really I am.

I worry ALL of the time about my son. I worry if I'm doing everything right. I worry if I have done something wrong. I worry about what type of man he will grow up to be. I worry about if something that I said or didnt say, something that I did or didnt do will affect him later on in life. Child let me tell you, being a parent is a full time job and when you are trying to be a GOOD one its even harder. The fact that I do it all by myself makes being a mom one of the hardest jobs on this planet. My son is the most important person in my life. He has been that way since I found out that I was having a baby. I never wanted kids and its amazing that 9 months later this little person changed my mind and my life. All that I do, I do for him. 

I had my son when I was 19 years old. You know, the age where you think you know everything but in retrospect how much do you really know? Being a mom or a parent in general does not come with a rule book. There are no "help" sections when you cant figure something out. Basically you have to wing it. That's all I've been doing for the past 10 years ... winging it. I've tried my best and given my all to be the type of mother that I would want. I've listened to my kid whenever he has something to say(which is always), I've put in my quality time with him, I've helped with homework and yada yada yada. I've sacrificed everything for that little boy and I've done it without ever wanting recognition for it. I've done it because hell HE IS MINE, I'm responsible for him and I love him. But I cant lie....on those rare moments when someone is looking and they comment on how great I am it makes me proud. For that brief moment all of the worrying goes away and I think to myself "Maybe I am doing this right" .... dont worry, 10 minutes later the worrying comes back lol.

What makes a great mom? I dont know. The criteria varies depending on the child. But I do know that I'm going to continue to do my very best and if you see something that you like let me know. Your encouragement will save me 10 minutes of worrying time and place a huge smile on my face :)


It's funny that I wrote this months ago but yet it still applies. My worrying has been DOUBLED since I found out that  I was pregnant. I worry about everything when it comes to Deuce. Will she/he be healthy? Will I breastfeed right?  Will I know what to do? Can I do it? This blog post made me feel so much better because I look at my son Jalen and I breathe a sigh of relief. I dont know what is heading my way but I'm sure I'll do a GREAT job! 

Oh really Deuce?!?

The moment that my family has been waiting for finally happened tonight. For the past two weeks I have been the only person capable of feeling Deuce. Whenever I tell my family that he/she is moving the looks on their face screams Jealllousssyyy!!!!

So tonight Deuce was moving and if your hands were on my belly, you could feel the kicks. I felt them via my hands and yelled "YOU CAN FEEL DEUCE! YOU CAN FEEL DEUCE!"  My family was ecstatic and I found myself with 6 hands on my lower abdomen waiting to feel her/his kicks.  But then something strange happened. As soon as they placed their hands on my belly, Deuce stopped kicking. My family yelled at my belly, poked it and even shook it. Deuce kept right on chilling. As soon as they got fed up and left, Deuce started kicking and tap dancing again. 

The first time this happened I thought it was a coincidence. Then a couple of days later she was doing her Beyonce Crazy In Love routine again. My family placed their hands on my belly and nothing.  But as soon as they went about their business **Smoky voice** she was dancing again lol. I'm convinced that this little one is going to be a hot mess! He/she is going to have a personality and attitude that none of us are ready for. I'm letting her/him know right now that if she/he comes with the shade on December 1st, this will be my expression all day

Color Patterns!!!!

When it comes to this baby I swear I think and think and plan and plan and think some more about EVERYTHING! It was NOT like this with my first pregnancy. I was young and my biggest worry was letting down my parents. I didnt think about decorating a room or color patterns or anything that I worry about with this child. Seriously for the past 3-4 weeks I've been thinking about decorating Deuce's room. I've window shopped at various sites until I was satisfied and I think I am. If Deuce is a girl, I've settled on pink and brown. I definitely know that I'm going to do pink although many say it is cliche. I LOVE pink and nothing says a little girl like pink if you ask me. If Deuce is a boy, I've settled on mint green and brown. Let me say this .... when I was pregnant with my son, I did everything in shades of blue. Baby blue, navy blue, this blue and that blue. Now if you ask me I think blue is very cliche and I just do not want to be cliche if Deuce is a boy. I love green and it's also my son's favorite color so green and brown it is.  Samples below:

What it looks like if Deuce is a boy:

What it looks like if Deuce is a girl:

17 weeks!

Gooooddddd morning!!!! I am officially 17 weeks today. Woo hoo! *throws confetti* I dont know if its just me but this pregnancy is going by fast. It seems like just yesterday I was peeing(Sorry if I sound gross) on a stick and finding out that I was pregnant. Now my kid is kicking and moving everyday and I'm getting ready to go to an ultrasound to find out if its a little he or a little she within me. It's moving fast. In the blink of an eye I'll be in my third trimester and preparing for Deuce's arrival. I'm trying to slow down time(yeah right). A part of me cant wait to hold Deuce but 99.9999% of me needs all of the time PLUS some to get ready for Deuce's arrival. Yesterday I realized that the life that I have will forever be changed when Deuce makes her/his arrival. I'm scared and excited at the same time.

Till next week, I'll be chucking up the DEUCES :)

Why am I so sleepy?

For the past four days I have been sleeping a good 17-19 hours! Yes you read this right...17 hours a day!!!! I dont know what's been going on but I've been in a fog. All I wanna do is sleep. Sleeping is even taking precedence over eating....YES you read that right. *stop laughing, this is serious* Some days my mom has had to wake me up so that I could feed her grandchild. I just have zero energy at all. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Not only am I sleeping, Deuce is sleeping too. Her movements have been limited. What is going on with us?

My mom said that my body is just tired. I am coming off of a 3 day road trip where I got very little sleep. Partially because I was on the road all night and partially because someone *I shall call no names but it begins with a D* was busy tapdancing ALL night long. No lie...this little girl danced all night. I begged and begged her to chill out and go to sleep and she was like WHAT MOM? *dance dance dance* Finally at around 11 pm I was like:

And Deuce was like:

Long story made short, Deuce won that battle.

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday I turned 16 weeks! *throws confetti* What an emotional week it has been. I was almost in tears yesterday from back pain. I ended up going to Brookstone for a massage. It nearly drove the sale associate crazy because she didnt realize that I was pregnant. Now look at my 16 weeks preggo shot down below....how can you NOT tell I'm pregnant? O_o Anyhoo their policy is to not put pregnant women in the machine because it induces labor. I really didnt care. The machine took my back pain away and that's all that mattered at that moment. So I was all smiles this morning as I woke up to celebrate Father's Day...no back pain!!! What an amazing feeling. Me and Deuce slept like a log last night...first time in a minute. Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers who are involved especially mine!

Let's listen to Deuce's heartbeat

So today was my doctor's appointment. I was nervous for so many reasons. 1. this was my first time going to the doctor alone. I felt as if all eyes were on me until I noticed that every pregnant woman in there was there alone. 2. I was nervous because I knew I'd hear little Deuce-Y's heartbeat for the first time. I had no idea how I would react. I didn't know if I should expect tears or what. and 3. I was nervous about my weigh in. My weight has been a constant issue for me (and apparently only me) since I became pregnant. Not to get off topic but according to my doctor I gained 2 lbs which puts me at 194. I got highly upset and even started crying. She tried her best to console me because she said 2 lbs was good but I was not having it. I weigh myself DAILY and it never goes over 193. So to let you know my mindset prior to the heartbeat, I was PISSED!

Ok so now it's time to listen to my baby's heart. Prior to the gel on my belly and etc, I told my doctor that Deuce was on my left chilling. Listen, me and Deuce go together like ham and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies.....we're tight! I know my child and my child knows me. She had been tap dancing across my uterus as if I was playing Hammer's You Cant Touch This all day. She finally had settled down at around 1 pm in the left side of my uterus. My doctor's appointment was at 2. So anyhoo the moral of the story is I told my doctor WHERE my child was and what does she do. She heads for the middle....no Deuce. She then moves to the right .... no Deuce. Meanwhile I'm recording all of this. I had to cut the video for the sake of time. Finally she goes to the left and what do we hear? Boom boom boom! Little Deuce!!!! What a feeling!!! I've listened to that heartbeat at least 10 times. She's in there and she's strong.

So at the very end you can hear the doctor say that Deuce's heartbeat was at 155. Once my sister heard this she further went into her chants of

 lol

You're naming me WHAT?!?

I call Deuce, Deuce-Y because I have no idea what I'm having. However once I find out, I am going to start calling him/her by their name. So I've been brainstorming names.

A child's name is very important to me. I thought long and hard before I named my son. His name by the way is Jalen. Jalen means one who comes from James. His paternal deceased grandfather's name is James and his father's name use to be James. Get it...One who comes from James?!?!? Not only did Jalen have a great meaning but it was also unique(or so I thought) and it wasn't something difficult. His middle name began with a K in honor of me and my father.

So with Deuce I wanted the same. I wanted his/her name to have a special meaning and I also wanted it to be unique and fairly simple. I must've gone through a thousand names. I spoke each one to my belly and waited for something to "spark". Finally it did.

So if Deuce is a girl her name will be Paige! I love the name. I think it's beautiful and it means the youngest which is what  Deuce will be. Today while talking to my son I learned that Jalen consists of 5 letters and so does Paige! Neato! So if it's a girl the name is Paige MacKenzee.

If Deuce is a boy, it was a little more complicated. I loved three names; Chandler, Tristan and Ethan. I spoke each three over and over again until Tristan won. So if Deuce is a boy his name will be Tristan Khalil.

Boy or Girl?

All I think about is Deuce. I wonder 24-7 if Deuce is a he or she. I really don't care either way. I simply want a healthy baby. Everyone says that I am having a girl. I have a boy already and since Deuce will be my last child, it would be nice to have one of each. However like I said earlier, my main wish is that he/she is HEALTHY!

Today I was playing around and I came across a gender test. The test consisted of 10 old wives tales that are suppose to tell you the gender of your baby. I was bored so I played along and did it. Here is what I got:

1. Highs and Lows:  They say if you're carrying high its a girl. If you're carrying low, its a boy. Everyone swears I'm carrying high so one check for girl, zero checks for boy. 


2. Be Still My Beating Heart: My sister has said from the first time that we saw Deuce that she was girl because of her heartbeat. Her little heart was beating so fast! So two checks for girl, zero checks for boy. 


3. Sweet and Sour: The myth says that if you crave sweets its a girl. If you crave sour and salty, its a boy. Well I've been craving cake, cookies and ice cream sooooooo three checks for girl, zero checks for boy lol


4. Chinese Birth Chart: So for this you input your age(30) and your conception month(March) an they tell you the gender of the baby. I now have four checks for girl and zero checks for boy. 


5. Potty Time: So this myth says if you pee in a cup and mix a tablespoon of Drano in, and watch to see if it changes color. Green = girl, and blue = boy. Well I didn't do this only because my mom didn't have Drano. So we're going to continue with four checks for a girl and zero check for boy. 


6. Even and Odd: Legend has it that the Mayans determined a baby's sex by looking at the mother's age at conception(30) and the year of conception(2012). If both are even or odd, it's a girl. If one's even and one's odd, it's a boy. Both are even so five checks for a girl and zero checks for a boy. 


7. Unlocking the Mystery: This one was dumb. Moving on. 


8. Spot On: The myth says that if you break out, its a girl. I have hives everywhere! Does this count as five checks for a girl? 


9. Nice Ring to It: My ring swung back and forth. Six checks for a girl


10. Queasy Does It: I have talked about this on this blog quite a few times. The first time I was pregnant with my son, I had little morning sickness. I can count the amount of times that I had nausea on one hand. With THIS kid....whew! I'm always sick! Morning sickness? Try ALL DAY sickness! I've tried every morning sickness remedy out here: crackers, salt, preggo pops, ginger ale. The legend says no morning sickness equals a boy, lots of sickness equals a girl. Ummm seven checks for a girl. 


Like  I said I was playing around. I'm not rushing out tomorrow to purchase anything pink lol. It would be just my luck to do the and receive an ultrasound that says 

Is that a kick?

So today I was laying on my mom's couch when I felt a movement in my belly. At first I thought it was gas and shrugged it off but then it happened again. It didn't hurt...it just felt funny. So I paused the television and sat up to pay attention. There it was again. Could it be? Could my little Deuce possibly be kicking/moving? Nahhhh! I mean I'm only 14 weeks! It's too early right?

The first thing that I did was pull up all four of my pregnancy apps on my phone to research fetal movement. All four said that a mom should feel movement at 16 weeks but some women(a small amount) feel it before then. 16 weeks! I still have another two weeks to go. I pulled up a couple of articles off of the internet and then I shrugged it off.

A couple of hours later and my sister was visiting. As soon as my sister and I started talking I felt the movement again. We sat and truly paid attention to it and I felt the movement five more times. My sister couldn't feel the movements but I certainly did. Was I losing my mind?

So now it's 8:53 and I'm sitting here watching the Heat vs Celtics. I'm just minding my business and flutter, flutter, flutter. I feel it again. Now I'm gushing! It feels like there is a goldfish in my tummy. I have the biggest smile on my face.  The past few weeks have been crazy and I feel as if feeling Deuce moving around is her way of saying "Hey mom! I'm still here! I'm here!" I feel you kiddo :)

14 Weeks!

I'm in my second trimester!!!!! Yeahhhh!!!! This is suppose to be the best trimester. We shall see.

By the way, I LOVE this dress! It was so comfortable and I felt so cute and sexy. Deuce was definitely shining. There was no denying that I was pregnant