17 weeks

Wow, 17 weeks! Here I am for my weekly update!

I am finally really starting to show! I'm super stoked about this fact! WOOHOO!!

The shirt is from Forever 21, a few people have asked. I like to buy most of my "maternity" clothes there because it's cheap, cute, and they actually have LONG shirts (maybe they're meant to be dresses, but they work great as maternity shirts haha!)

Most days, I'm loving the hair aspect of pregnancy. It has actually grown quite a bit, it looks and feels healthy, and it's thick for the first time since I started coloring it! I don't think it's the prenatal vitamins as much as Viv. I took the vitamins for several months before I got pregnant and they didn't have much of an effect on my hair. 

Today was the first day that I didn't button my jeans. I used the old hair-tie through the button hole trick, then just wore a long undershirt so people couldn't even tell. I'm pretty happy that I've been able to go this long wearing normal pants. I'm super stoked for leggings and maternity pants though, they are way comfy!

Chris and I have a pretty good idea of what we want to do for the nursery, but we've decided to keep it a secret until it's finished. I haven't been so good at announcing things in a fun way (people always say, "Did you tell your parents that you were pregnant in a fun way?" ummm no, was I supposed to?!), so maybe this can be something we present in a fun and surprising way. 

I have been feeling Vivien move around just a little bit, it's not too constant yet, but I always get so happy when I feel a little push or bump from inside. My belly is always biggest in the morning, I'm always so shocked when I wake up and fell it, it always feels HUGE. I think it's because my stomach is empty and my bladder is full. AH I just love her. 

It was so cute, last night, my parents were talking about how excited they are for her to come. My mom said that it's a completely different feeling from when she had her own kids, and that she just loves her so much already. My dad said he can't remember the last time he was this excited for anything (and this is coming from the guy who does some pretty exciting things.) They'll be great little first time grandparents.

16 weeks

Belly is getting bigger! Yay!

16 weeks

Sorry, I always take the pic right before or after I go to the gym, hence the nice hair and no make up, whatever, we're focusing on the belly here :)

It's been another good week! When I lay down you can definitely see my belly poking out like crazy. Chris is cute, when he wakes up, he reaches over and puts his hand on my stomach to feel her everyday, what a cute little daddy! People at work have finally been commenting on being able to finally see it poking out! 

I can not BELIEVE how much hair I have. It's kind of ridiculous. I'm really grateful because it's looking really healthy for the first time in years, but DANG it's hard to do anything with! When I put it in a ponytail, it only wraps around 2 TIMES, WHAT?! It used to go around 4 times! And these boobs...wow, I'm so ready for them to slooow down (sorry, TMI again). 

One thing I am NOT loving about being pregnant is what it's doing to my skin. It really REALLY sucks. I look like a teenage boy going through puberty. I guess it's from all the hormones and crazy things going on in my body :( but ONCE AGAIN, anything for our little Viv. 

My mom and I went on a baby shopping spree the other day! We got her some cute jammies, some outfits, and my ma made 2 SUPER SOFT blankets; 1 receiving blanket, and 1 carseat blanket. I'll post pics soon, they are adorable!

I need some advise.

Now is the time when they say you need to start sleeping on your side (preferably the left side.) So, every night, I fall asleep on my left side with a pillow between my legs, BUT every morning I wake up on my back. It's starting to hurt my lower back. I have tried a couple things: last night I put a pillow behind me to keep me propped up, no good. A couple times I have put a bun or ponytail in before bed, so it'd be really uncomfortable to roll over to my back, but I wake up and my pony is out...tricky sleeper I am. 

So, if anyone has any advise on sleeping, please let me know!

15.5 weeks

Thank you EVERYONE for all your love, support, kind words, calls, texts, and messages! HOLY COW! It seems like everyone else is ALMOST as excited as us about baby Vivien, but not quite haha :)

Well, I'm about 15.5 weeks along by now. I'm not nearly as tired as I was a few weeks ago, I don't get sick when I'm hungry anymore, but I'm definitely feeling chubby. I hope this belly will just suddenly poke out one of these days. But for now, I think it just looks like I need to lay off the sauce and cookies. I thought my belly was looking round the other day, I ran upstairs to show my mom..."LOOK, I'm getting a belly!" She looks and says, "Umm I'm still not seeing anything..." DANG IT haha! Everyone says that it will literally happen overnight and to enjoy being able to move around without a basketball in front of me. I'm so impatient.

15 weeks

I mayyy or may not be pushing it out a bit to make it seem bigger (once again, so impatient)

Most people have gotten it right so far, but I already feel like that mean mom who spells her kids name's all weird and no one will ever spell their names right for the rest of their lives... The most common way is VIVIAN. Ugh, don't like it!

The 2nd most common is VIVIENNE. Pretty but excessive.

We just love VIVIEN, I think it's prefect!

So far, I have loved being pregnant, I really don't understand why some people hate it. Well, I guess it could have to do with the weight gain and barfing, but whatever, it's so worth it for a BABY! A couple weeks ago, I said I felt flutters, Dr. England said it could have been, he never argues with moms. But after that week, they kind of just stopped (I wasn't worried though). They are starting up again, which is a much more common time, most moms start feeling their baby anywhere from 16-20 weeks, and I'm almost to 16! AH it's such an awesome feeling. I can't wait to hold Viv and see her cute little feet and hands and arms...okay I'm just excited to see everything about her!

Allyssa went in for her anatomy ultrasound the other day (she is just a couple weeks ahead of me), it's so crazy because although the profile picture of Finn and the profile pic of Viv look a lot alike (like an ultrasound picture haha), you can already tell little differences in their faces. Babies are AMAZING little miracles, our bodies sure do incredible things!

Anyway, I could talk about babies forever, especially since SO many of my friends are pregnant. I just love the bond that it creates with other expecting mothers, because who doesn't want to talk about their growing baby?! Once again, thank you everyone for all your kind words and support. We love you all. I'll be checking in again soon.

Best day!

Yesterday, we had the AMAZING opportunity to go into Fetal Foto to see our baby and find out the gender. Ah I can't tell you how perfect it was, I HIGHLY recommend every single expecting mom and dad to go there!

So, through my whole pregnancy I just kept thinking that our baby was a girl. I would have dreams, always a girl. For some reason I could never picture it being a boy (not that a boy would be bad, not at all!) It was just this feeling from the very beginning. 

My mom, Chris, and I got to Fetal Foto, went into the little ultrasound room, the technician girl rubbed the warm goo on my belly, and there was our baby! SO much bigger than just 5 short weeks before! At this point, my mind totally switched and I was sure the baby was a BOY. She showed us the head, the arms, spine, legs, and bum. SO PRECIOUS! 

Already the CUTEST little profile I have ever seen! Look at that nose!

Our baby was being SO stubborn, for 45 full minutes those little legs were crossed! We poked, rubbed, moved, changed positions, but those little things would NOT uncross (it sure was cute though). The girl (I wish I could remember her name ah!) said that she had a pretty good idea what the gender was but she wanted to be sure. So, she went and got me a bottle of ice water, she said that usually does the trick. WALLA, she was right! For about 1 minute those legs stretched out, she snapped a few pictures and said... "It is definitely....a girl!"She said that there are 3 lines that indicate girl parts, and there was nothing dangling down. It was so funny, right after she took the pictures, those little legs went riiight back to being crossed. Must be HER favorite position. 

Here are her little crossed legs. SO CUTE HUH!?

IT'S A GIRL! My motherly intuition was right! I didn't think that she was going to let us have a peek, and that we'd just have to wait another month for our next ultrasound at the doctor to find out. But, I'm so grateful that the technician girl was so patient with us. We got to see a full hour of our baby! I think appointments are usually only 30 minutes there, so I feel extra lucky! We got a DVD of the whole ultrasound and cute pictures with descriptions. I think the whole thing was SUCH a good deal, once again, I HIGHLY recommend it!

We wanted to announce it in a fun way. So before the appointment, my mom and I wrapped this big box and planned on filling it with either pink or blue balloons. Then, to announce we would open the box and take pics of the balloons! I think it turned out pretty cute!

 

We are SO excited! We already have room colors picked out, I'm sure my grandma has already gone on a shopping spree. Yesterday just made everything so much more real! We don't have to call her "it" anymore, we can finally just call her Vivien! We love her so much already, I can't even explain. 

It was Chris' job to pick the middle name, we had 2 that we liked, but since I was so adamant about the name Vivien, I told Chris that he was in charge of picking from the 2 we had come up with. We walked out of Fetal Foto and he said, "Vivien Abigail!" So, it's pretty much official. VIVIEN ABIGAIL HIGLEY. She's so perfect!

2nd appointment

Yesterday, we were able to go in for our 2nd appointment, already! See, I told you time has been flying! It was much quicker and a billion times less stressful than the 1st time around. My blood pressure was pretty normal (even though I was still a bit nervous right when our nurse called my name). Dr. England came in, he told me that all of my blood work came back just fine, I have O+ blood (never knew!), all my iron, hemoglobin, etc levels are perfectly normal, no nasty diseases! Woohoo! He shook my hand and congratulated me for making it through the 1st trimester, "Isn't it great to not be sick anymore?!"...welllll "I haven't actually even been sick haha!" he told me I was one of the very few lucky ones! Then, he pulled out the Doppler. He rubbed the goo on my belly and said, "Usually it takes a minute to find the heart beat, so don't panic." he put it on my belly and immediately we heard the little heart, phew what a relief! Heavenly Father knows that I can't handle scares like that haha! The heart was beating at either 158 or 155, I keep forgetting which! But it was so awesome to go in and hear the heart, the closer I get to my appointments, the more worried I get that something is wrong, so it is very nice to be reassured that everything is going well!

4 days until we find out what we are having!!! Well, as long as our bean cooperates with us :) we can't wait! Every single person had guessed that it is a girl, not one boy guess, wow! We are going to be so happy either way, how could anyone be sad or disappointed about their baby?!

Hello 2nd trimester!

We made it! I'm officially into my 2nd trimester. From what other ladies say, this is the best trimester! I don't think the 1st was bad at all, so I can't imagine it being too different, but I'm still so happy! My chance of miscarriage has decreased dramatically at this point, such a relief! My baby is growing like crazy, we'll find out if we are having a Vivien or Jack soon (even though Allyssa and everyone else is sure it is a girl haha)!

What a great week, it's Thanksgiving, I'm so grateful for my health, our baby, for everyones overwhelming support with our bean, and most importantly-my Chris, obviously none of this would be happening without him, he is going to be the cutest and best dad in the world, I sure love him!

Wow!

My boobs are the size of Jupiter. I haven't talked much about this lovely fact, but it is by far my biggest change since I have been pregnant. They are huge, they hurt, and they get in the way. It is a personal choice but dannnggg I don't know why anyone gets boob jobs, the only way I'll get one is STRICTLY for the lift, but NOT bigger. Yikes!!

Please note: Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system (I remember that from Blue's Clues haha)

12 weeks

WOW, time is flying, I know I say that all the time, but GEEZE it's so true!

I have less than 1 week until I'm into my 2nd trimester, holy cow! Most people are so happy to get out of the 1st trimester because they have been sick and 2nd tri brings some relief to that, since I haven't really been sick, I'm just excited for my belly to grow!

So, I have been feeling little "flutters" ALL the time. I looked it up online, some people say that it's just gas or it's imagined, but then even more people say that it's your baby moving. I don't think it's gas OR that I'm imagining it. It feels like a little twitch or little butterflies, and I feel it ALL the time, more and more each day! I like to think that it's our baby moving around, SO AMAZING, Chris says that he is a bit jealous. I'm feeling it as I type!!

Here is a picture at 11.5 weeks, mostly it just looks like I'm fat...but I said I was gonna do the picture thing, so don't judge too harshly haha! And I avoided my face/hair since it was first thing in the morning, lovely. 

We are going to the Fetal Photo studio in 2 1/2 weeks!! EEEK! What's our little bean going to BE!? We both kind of think it's a girl, and so does everyone else. BUT of course we will be thrilled either way! YAY!

6.5 month diet countdown

I'm so ready to go on a diet!
As fun as it is to eat carbs, it's not the greatest feeling.
But of course I am happy to do anything for our baby, even get chubby for 9 months :)
6.5 months till we meet our baby!! It's going sooo fast!! Only a week and a half until we say goodbye to the 1st trimester! Wow!!

Today is 11/11/11!! All I could ever wish for is a healthy baby, that's my huge 11 wish!

The world

Last night Chris and I were laying in bed talking about our baby and the future. We got to the topic of sleep-overs and I really started getting nervous! Growing up, I had a sleep-over almost every single Friday night, I didn't know anyone who COULDN'T have sleep-overs. Nowadays, there are lots of kids whose parents don't allow it, and I can 100% see why not. You don't know what's going on all night when your kids are at someone elses home. This really started stressing me out. I want to do everything I can to protect my kids from the world. There are SO many bad things out there, it terrifies me!! We will try our very hardest to teach our kids right from wrong, good from bad, but what else can you do, when it comes down to it, they will make their own choices. AHHH! This is one of the things that scares me most about being a parent. I will put my full effort into teaching my little beans, protecting them as best as I can, and will be a big part of their lives. 


The Lord has directed, “Bring up your children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40). To me, there is nothing more important.


“Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything, and never can. They always lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts, cease when doubt and fear creep in. … He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.” —James Allen, As a Man Thinketh


The lord won't give us any challenge that we can't handle, the same goes for our kids. Even with our big, bad, scary world, as long as we can put our full effort into raising our kids in the Gospel, teaching them what is right, and actively being a part in their lives, I think everything will be okay!

Our bean!

Here is our little Jack or Viv! AH! Yes, we went in for our first appointment today! Dr. England said that everything is looking great, he/she was wiggling around like crazy, and it was awesome to hear the quick heart beat! 

We got to the doctor and I was soooo dang nervous (doctor's offices scare me). I got my blood work done, which was by FAR the most of my own blood I'd ever seen. I was shaking and my heart was racing like crazy. So, then we did my blood pressure and it was ridiculously HIGH, and I was like, "Umm...would the fact that my heart is beating faster than a drum have anything to do with this?" and she said, "Definitely, we'll check it later when you're more calm".....we did it later and it went down over 20 (whatever that means), so you could definitely tell that I was scared haha!

Ah what a great feeling actually seeing our baby and knowing that he or she is growing at a good rate and everything is looking perfect. Such a relief! My parents left for a 2 week cruise in Europe today, so I haven't even been able to talk to my momma, I bet she is dying. 

9 weeks...tomorrow

Tomorrow I will be 9 WEEKS already! Holy cow, this is going by FAST! After 9 weeks, your chance of miscarriage drops a lot, so that's a great feeling!

I'm getting used to being pregnant, I know when I need to eat so I won't get sick. I get a little nauseous mayyybe once a week, but nothing too bad at all. Once again, I have to eat quite a lot of carbs, which was scary to me at first, but now I have just accepted that it's what my body and baby need.

I think I have been really LUCKY so far. I have dodged 3 big pregnancy downers...

1. I'm not sick
2. I'm not emotional
3. I'm not constipated (TMI? Sorry!)

Chris loves that I haven't been crying every other second like we hear about many other pregnant ladies! The only time I have cried this whole pregnancy is when I found out that I was pregnant, which is SO surprising for ME! I can't complain. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm trying to be stronger and thinking less about myself, and getting ready to be a mom. That's the best feeling. And the scariest!

Well, here is the latest picture update...please excuse the lovely background, they gym seemed like a great place to take my 9-week photos....haha!

9 WEEKS!

Not a huge change, but I can definitely tell a difference in my body. We are SO excited for me to get a big ol' round belly. Chris has never felt a baby kick or anything, so we're really looking forward to that!

I go in for my first appointment in 10 days [I have a countdown for it on my iPhone!] I'm pretty dang stoked! Should I be nervous? Because I'm not...

Here is something I find interesting...

When someone tells me they're pregnant, I tell them congrats and then almost always ask them if they have thought of names yet, I have always loved hearing names since I was little.

So...out of all of the people we have told, only ONE person has asked me about names. ONE! Every other person has asked me how I'm feeling, which is fine and nice of them of course, maybe since I haven't been sick, that's why I think it's weird that 239048 people have asked me how I'm feeling. BUT thank you everyone for being concerned about how I'm feeling :)

8 weeks

I'm 8 weeks today! It's going by so fast already.

We started telling people that I'm pregnant, everyone is really excited! Beth said, "I'M GONNA BE AN AUNT!" Shawna downloaded an app to follow along weekly with me. Braelee and Whitney were screaming. Caitlyn almost passed out. So we had some good reactions haha! I told Tina, but I think I'm going to wait until after my first doctor appointment to tell everyone else at work.

I'm feeling good. Just FAT. It's probably from my CONSTANT need to eat. Here is how it works... I don't eat for about an hour, I get sick. I eat throughout the day, I feel fine. So, I guess I can't complain because I haven't thrown up and I feel good the majority of the time. It's just my body feeling like a chub that isn't so great.

I'm still feeling really tired too. Every night at 7:30 I say, "Chris, is it bed time yet?" Never thought I'd say that. You couldn't PAY me to stay up past midnight anymore. We like to think back and laugh about how late we stayed up while we were dating and engaged. OHHH GEEZE, I don't know how we did it.

Chris is going to be such a cute little dad. He always gets down and talks to my belly (even though baby can't hear yet, of course) "Daddy loves you more" "Mommy is hot", sometimes he gets a swat on the arm for it haha! He is so sweet with little ones and I know that he is going to be the greatest dad in the world.

My parents are really excited to have their first grandchild. My dad even said that he will take our bean to Disneyland! I think that really shows how excited he is, he never even wanted to take us when we were little. My dad says that this will be the most spoiled child in all of the world, I don't think I can argue with that haha!

We are actually moving back in with my parents in a week or two. We love having our own place and privacy, but with me only working for a few more months and Chris not working for 2.5 more years, we need to save as much as we can. After May, every dollar we spend will be from a Grad Plus student loan. Basically, for every $1 we spend on a student loan, we will be paying back $2. So we have to be extra careful.

Food

Baby doesn't really care for pizza, pork, or sugar! WHAT?! I am all about the salty nowadays. Sometimes I feel sick and the only thing I can eat is toast, hello carbs! I can tell I'm gaining some weight, which I guess is normal according to all my apps and my mom.


So, last week I got really scared and cancelled my Birth Center appointment and decided to go with Dr. England at Riverton Hospital. First appointment is on Thursday, November 3rd, I will almost be through my 1st trimester. I feel a little sad about straying from my original birth plan but I want to make sure I can have vaginal births before I just go for it. My main concern is that my mom was too small for us to fit, so I don't want that same thing happening to me. To the hospital I go!


Not much else has changed. Just tired, kinda sick occasionally, been working out a lot, and getting really excited for baby Vivien or Jack!!!! We are telling Andy and Cammi this weekend!! We will be down on St. George for Chris' birthday, so we thought it would be fun to tell them in person! Our parents, Ry, and Ty are the only ones who know. We will be announcing it on October 18th to close friends and family, I will be 8 weeks at that point, then we will possibly wait one more month to tell the whole world!! We are so excited!!

Mmm

Last night, I had my first craving. It was pretty late, like 8:30 (well...late for US) and I just got this super huge craving for a Frosty. I said, "Chris, ya know what I REEEALLY want?! A frosty." and he said, "Okay! Let's go!" Aww so sweet! 

BUT, I have decided, even IF I do crave icecream and stuff, I can't just always have it or I'll turn into an Oompa Loompa. I just gave in last night because it was the first one and we had to do it to say we did it!

So, other than last night, I haven't had any cravings, food aversions, or any weird new food loves. Weird!

EXHAUSTED!

All of the baby website and apps say that you get super tired during the 1st trimester, I think I'm fully starting to understand what they're talking about. OH MY GOSH, I am always EXHAUSTED! It almost feels like I have mono...either that or I'm growing a baby :)

Last night was Travis and Shawna's wedding. SO many people were asking me when we were going to have a baby and if I'm still on birth control, etc. It was so hard not to say anything. Allyssa is due at the end of April so we were talking all about her baby, I wanted to tell her about our baby SOOO BAD, just a few more weeks and we will be able to announce it. 

I made my first appointment! October 18th at the Birth Center, I will be 8 weeks exactly! I'm 4 weeks and 5 days today, our baby is the size of an orange seed...aww!


Also, I got kicked off my parent's gym pass at Lifetime because I am too old, DANG IT, so tomorrow I'm going to sign up for a year pass at the South Jordan Rec Center. I want to swim and do yoga classes. 

Baby's first gift

My momma bought our baby his or her first gift!

We got a few cute little outfits! YAY so exciting!

There is 1 more, but for some reason it wouldn't upload. What's up with me being picture/computer stupid lately?! They are all way cute! I laughed because we're pretty far off from knowing what our little one is, that's why she had to buy boy AND girl outfits hahah.

THANKS MOM!

Baby Higley is 4 weeks old today, well technically only 2 weeks, but I'm 4 weeks into my pregnancy. Super weird concept. Only 36 more to go! Today was supposed to be the day when my period started, SO tomorrow I will be calling The Birth Center to schedule my blood test, so that we know that it's official! I wanted to make sure my period didn't start before I called for my first appointment! Yahoo, I'm REALLY pregnant! Peace OUT periods [for a while]!!!

Symptoms

I have definitely been feeling many of the "early signs of pregnancy" symptoms! Sometimes I randomly get super nauseous, no throwing up yet (unless you count the time today when I threw up in my mouth, YUCK!) I haven't thrown up since the day after I turned 14...so I'm not looking forward to it. I have been peeing like a race horse. I am pretty dang tired lately. I have been feeling light cramps. My boobs are tender and already getting bigger. I can smell everything around me when no one else can!

We are just SO dang excited! We told both of our parents, but we've decided to wait and tell the rest of our family and good friends until I'm 8 weeks. It won't be too hard, it's only one month away! I'm already almost 4 weeks (3 weeks and 5 days to be exact). Then, we'll announce it to the rest of the world a couple weeks later.

My period is due on Tueday, so when my period doesn't come (or so I hope, ah!) I'm going to call The Birth Center and get an appointment for a blood test. At that point we'll be able to discuss pricing, classes, and appointments! 

It still hasn't sunk in for either of us. I think it will start feeling more real when we start telling more people, taking classes, and going to appointments! AH I can't wait to start telling people so that we can start celebrating and talking about it openly with friends and family!

We can't wait to meet little Vivien or Jack, being a parent is going to be the greatest ever!

Oh baby!

Our baby is 3 weeks and 3 days, I have 36 weeks and 4 days until my due date.

According to my iPhone apps, my due date is May 29, 2012! What a perfect day!

Our baby is the size of a poppyseed, aww so mini!

Oh my HECK!

I have about 4 or 5 days until my period is due. The 1st Response home pregnancy tests claim that they can detect pregnancy up to 5 days before your missed period. I told myself that I wouldn't test until I actually missed my period. BUT, being the impatient person that I am, I decided I wanted to try one today, nothing bad could come of it. I got home from work, peed in a cup, dipped the stick for 5 seconds, put it on the counter, and walked away. It says to wait 5 minutes for it to register, but (once again) I was impatient, so I ran to the bathroom with high hopes but low expectations.

And this is what I found...

NO WAY!!!

I started to laugh, then I started to cry, and then I ran out of the house, I knew I had to break the news in an exciting way to Chris! I am SOOO happy and SOOO excited! I can't believe how FAST it happened! We only started trying 2 weeks ago! It really hasn't sunk in at all yet. Maybe when I tell Chris it will feel more real (yeah he's still at school, I'm DYING to tell him!)

I went and bought some onesies, 1 blue and 1 pink. A bag of Hershey's Kisses. A blue gift bag and pink tissue paper.

For some reason, this picture would not upload to blog in the right direction, whatever! 

Oh my gosh, there is a tiny cell ball baby inside of me right now! I can't believe it! I want to tell everybody! There is no way I'll be able to wait 3 whole months to tell anyone! Of course I'll tell my mom and Chris, but that's probably it until I'm farther along and it's more certain. AH I'M GONNA BE A MOMMA!!!

1 more week...this time around

1 more week until we find out if there's a baby to be or not to be.

3 words: longest cycle ever

If I'm not pregnant, my body has been totally tricking me, I'm probably just imagining the signs and symptoms. I feel bloated, sometimes I feel twinges in my ovary areas, I have been smelling weird things lately that no one else can smell, and sometimes my belly feels nausious. But, again, I think it's just my body really wanting to be pregnant, so it's probably imagining it all and I'm just being very in-tune with everything that's going on in my bod. 1 more week. We've got this!

The beginning

This is the beginning of my baby blog!

While Chris and I were dating and engaged, we had our whole lives planned out...I would work while he went to law school. We wouldn't start trying to get pregnant until he was finished with school. I could keep the money coming in, and then we could travel a bit before we had kiddies. It was the perfect plan....until we got married. We had been married for about 2 weeks when I started having VERY VERY strong feelings that we should NOT wait that long to have kids. Having these thoughts made me really grouchy...after about a week of being a brat, I finally just decided to talk to Chris about it, "Chris, what if we didn't wait as long as we had planned to have kids?" And, to my surprise, he said that he liked that idea! I guess he had been having the same feelings as me.

Change of plan:

Law school is very time consuming and expensive! Which means Chris isn't able to work and we are racking up the student loans. I'm completely fine with both of these things! We don't want Chris to have to miss any class, as long as we can prevent it. So, our plan changed to try to plan a baby to come in the summer while he isn't in school. That means that the best months to get pregnant are September, October, or November.

I went off birth control for the month of August to get it all out of my system by the time September came around. Worst month ever! I didn't have any side-effects of going ON birth contol, but coming OFF of it was miserable! It made my skin break-out like crazy, I had light cramps for the whole cycle, I had a constant headache for 2 staight weeks, and when my period came, it was the worst one I had ever had. I blacked out, I had a fever, I was pale as a ghost, and I couldn't even stand up. EWW! Finally, it seems like my "hormone withdrawl" is over, my skin is healing, my headache is gone, and we're hoping for a baby in the near future.

I'm on day 17 of my cycle, I had my last period on August 23rd. I have googled EVERYTHING there is to know about getting pregnant, the best days to get pregnant, everything about ovulation, periods, vaginal fluid, sperm, and anything else you can dream of. I could basically be a doctor on the subject by now. So, we tried our very hardest from day 9 to 15 to make a baby. Now we're just in that long 2 week waiting period. I really hope that I'm a fertile myrtle like my momma, she got pregnant the very 1st month they were trying, and she didn't know a single thing about ovulation or anything (how did people live without the internet!?) I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I went to the doctor for my yearly girl check-up 2 days ago, everything went really well. My cute doctor said that everything seems perfectly in order for me to make a baby! Perfect age, perfect health! Let's keep our fingers crossed and our prayers constant!

Here is me with no baby on board, I definitely want to take pictures of myself with a growing belly!

I am a hippie and I want to try my absolute hardest to have a natural birth. We have toured 2 birthing centers in Salt Lake. The first one is called The Birth Center, the other is called Better Birth. I definitely like The Birth Center more. They have more experience, it seems cleaner, more organized, and they require that you take a natural birthing class of your choice to birth there. I probably want to either do a Hypnobirthing or Briobirthing program. It is so much healthier for mother and baby, it is a more intimate experience, and this is what a woman's body is made to do. They did it for thousands of years without medication, I don't understand why more people don't do what our bodies are naturally made to do. Hippie Cami. Chris is all about my natural plans too, he is so supportive and I appreciate him SO much.

For my whole entire life, I have LOVED planning out my future children's names. So, of course, Chris and I (well mostly me) talk about names all the time. We already have 2 full names picked out for girls and 1 full boy name.

• Vivien Lila Higley
• Nora Brooklyn Higley
• Jack Christopher Higley
• Max ____ Higley

We love them all! I like Max Tucker, but I think Chris needs some more warming up on that one haha! Well that's about it for this week. I probably won't update until either I start my period or get a + pregnancy test (please please please).