pregnant

11 Comments Posted on marriage, parenting, Pregnancy, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Cast Your Final Official Vote for Whether It’s a Girl or a Boy! Team Holly or Team Logan?

Cast Your Final Official Vote for Whether It’s a Girl or a Boy! Team Holly or Team Logan?

On Wednesday morning at 8:00 AM, our family will be finding out whether we’re having a boy or a girl. I will reveal the results on Thursday; which is Thanksgiving.

By leaving your prediction in the form of a comment, your guess can be forever preserved. If you’re right, everyone will know it!

Before you make your prediction official, I’ll give you some things to consider…

I have said from the beginning that I think it’s a girl. I base this on the fact that my wife is carrying this baby much differently than our first.

This baby is positioned differently; plus my wife has symptoms she didn’t have last time; like nausea in the first trimester.

So I think it’s a girl. And most other people I’ve talked to believe that as well.

To that degree, that would make Logan the underdog, as so many people, like me, have been long assuming it’s a girl.

But… my wife thinks it’s a boy.

And now, I admit, that has got me second-guessing this.

As it stands, I am the final Shell man in my family to pass on the name; other than my son, Jack.  My dad has 3 sisters and just one brother, who himself had 3 girls.

So it would make sense that we would have another boy. It would help strengthen the chances of the Shell name living on beyond just my son; in case that matters.

Plus, people say if the mother is carrying the baby low, then it’s a boy; but if it’s high, it’s a girl. But I’m confused on what a “low” or “high” baby looks like…

Here’s your chance. Vote for either Team Holly or Team Logan, then came back to Family Friendly Daddy Blog on Thursday morning (Thanksgiving) to find out if your prediction was correct.

Who’s right? Me- the dad, who thinks it’s a girl?

Or my wife, the mommy, who thinks it’s a boy?

Team Holly and Team Logan. This is the final countdown!

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Holly or Logan: We’ll Know in 13 Days Whether You’re a Girl or Boy

Week 17.

Dear Holly or Logan: We’ll Know in 13 Days Whether You’re a Girl or Boy

Dear Holly or Logan,

Yesterday Mommy went to the doctor for her newest check-in. The doctor confirmed you sound great. And to our surprise, she slid up the date in which Mommy and me and your brother Jack will find out whether you are a boy or a girl.

That is great, because that’s about 2 weeks earlier than we were expecting. That visit will take place on November 25th, just about a week after Jack’s 5th birthday.

Your heart rate is about the same as your brother Jack’s was; which may be an indication that you just might actually be a boy; despite my heart still telling me you’re a girl.

Apparently, typically it’s girls’ heartbeats that are faster than boys’.

I’m excited to find out, but more than anything, I think I’ll be relieved just knowing either way.

Are you Holly or are you Logan?

By the way, I didn’t even realize it until Mommy brought it up last night, but just like clockwork, her nausea has finally went away now that she is in her 2nd trimester with you.

I am so happy for her that she doesn’t have to constantly suffer in that way, like she had to do for the entire 1st trimester.

This week Mommy found a good deal online on Huggies diapers and some wipes. So Tuesday evening, I brought in a big box from the front porch.

Your brother Jack help haul the contents of the package piece by piece.

Therefore, your fairly empty bedroom is beginning to fill up.

I assume that by default, we’ll be more prepared for your arrival that we were Jack’s. For me especially, I feel that even though it was 5 years ago when Jack was born, I’ve now got the basics down of “what to do with a brand-new baby.”

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on Health, parenting, Pregnancy, Storytelling

Signs of Life from the Womb: Family Friendly (Mommy) Blog

Guest Blogger: Jill Shell

Let me just start by saying, pregnancy truly is an amazing thing.  The act of taking cells, that individually by themselves would just be cells and combining them to make another human life, is undeniably a miraculous thing.  But along with the beauty of the creation of life, comes the sometimes unforgiving and relentless attacks and changes to the body, mind and life of the new mommy.

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Now, I don’t want to complain, but you know that since I just started a sentence with those words, that I am about to complain, right?

What is with the nausea, the hunger, the tossing and turning at night, the pains that start turning up in random places in your body, the clothes that don’t fit right, the leg cramps, and some of the other strange occurrences that you barely want to share with your closest friends?

It seems appropriate that you should expect to endure one or two of those things, but how you get chosen to experience all of those is beyond me.

Forgive me because I know I do not have the worst of it and each pregnancy is different for every woman.  And despite their annoyances, I do consider it a good sign that these signs are present because often times in pregnancy you fear the worst and sometimes these little nuances can be the confirmation you need to know that all is okay.

Again, I don’t mean to sound like the Debbie Downer of pregnancy, but it’s just a reminder of the labor of love that we get to experience (and let’s give some credit to our significant others, family members and friends who support us through it all) as we take this journey.

On a slightly heavier note, this little blog entry here is just a forum to share these light-hearted thoughts (and maybe, just maybe, get a little empathy from those around me).  I recently read in a magazine that 1 in 8 couples struggle with infertility and I know far too many people who have been affected by this news.  I can only imagine what they must go through, and I certainly do not take that lightly.

Okay, sorry, I can’t end on a heavy note.  Want to hear a funny story?  Okay, so do I.  Please add a comment with your funny story and make us all laugh.

2 Comments Posted on Health, parenting, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

Family Friendly (Mommy) Blog: Jill Shell on Pregnancy Hunger Cravings

Family Friendly (Mommy) Blog: Pregnancy Hunger Cravings

People often ask me what type of cravings I am having now that I am pregnant.

This used to be a funny question to me because when I was pregnant with Jack, I felt like I had virtually no cravings at all.

Actually, aside from the horrendous leg cramps that crept up in the middle of the night throughout the second trimester, I felt like I had very few “normal” pregnancy symptoms throughout the duration of it.

Well, I can tell you for a fact, I have cravings now!

It’s not the old fashioned “pickles with ice cream in the middle of the night” cravings; it’s the “you name it, I want it” type of cravings.  For example, I was talking to a co-worker one day (who also happens to be preggers, too) and she mentioned how she stopped at Panera to grab a breakfast sandwich on the way to work.

Now, I am vegetarian not a vegan (because I don’t have the will power to say no to ice cream and things of that nature at all times), but because Nick is vegan, I often eat more of the vegan fare, which means we stay away from foods with animal products (no beef, no chicken, no fish, no dairy and definitely, no eggs).

Just a few months ago, I think I had even convinced myself that I was allergic to eggs.  But wouldn’t you know, as soon as my friend began talking about that breakfast sandwich, the brain in my stomach started churning and demanding some eggs.

When I got home that night, nothing sounded good to me, but an egg and cheese sandwich, and I barely ate my dinner.  Hours later as I laid myself down to sleep, I made my plan to get up just a few minutes early to make it into the Panera closest to work.

When my alarm rang, I got up without even so much as a hitch in my step and was out the door 10 minutes sooner than I had been in weeks.  I was second in line in Panera and couldn’t wait to get my hands on that egg and cheese sandwich.  And, even though my mouth suffered a few burns from eating it so quickly, it was just as every bit of delicious that I had needed it to be.

Please do not ask me how many times I have been back to Panera to get this same sandwich . . . it’s a little embarrassing just how much this little baby wonder in me is causing me to crave things I wouldn’t normally care about.

And, don’t even get me started on meat (blackened salmon and steak have never sounded so tempting) . . .

https://familyfriendlydaddyblog.com/2015/10/26/family-friendly-mommy-blog-meet-jill-shell/

2 Comments Posted on parenting, People, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

Dear Holly or Logan: Your First Family Pictures, in the Womb

14 weeks.

Dear Holly or Logan: Your First Family Pictures, in the Womb

Dear Holly or Logan,

Last October, our family started a new family tradition. For about two months of each year, our family has matching ages.

Mommy and I were born within a year of each other, as were your Aunt Dana and Uncle Andrew, as were your brother Jack and your cousin Calla; and now, most recently, as will be you and your cousin Darla.

So the tradition is that during that 2 months of each calendar year, we take a picture together in Alabama where everyone else lives, to recognize this.

As you can see, your Aunt Dana is 8 months pregnant with your cousin Darla. Mommy is 14 weeks pregnant with you right now; nearly 3 months pregnant.

Dear Holly or Logan: Your First Family Pictures, in the Womb

The next time we’re all planning on being together is Thanksgiving weekend, which is about 2 weeks after your brother Jack’s 5th birthday.

But as for right now, Mommy and I are 34 years old, your Aunt Dana and Uncle Andrew are 31, your brother Jack and cousin Calla are 4, and you and your cousin Darla are still in the womb; which I labelled as “0” years old.

Your Aunt Dana is due with your cousin Darla on Thanksgiving Day. There’s a very good chance your cousin will have just been born by the time we arrive there for the holiday.

But at the same time, there’s even a chance we may not even meet Darla at all during Thanksgiving weekend; that is, if she is born a week past her due date, like your brother Jack was.

This week Mommy officially bought maternity clothes to accompany her body changing, as you grow inside the womb.

Hopefully, some of her nausea will cease as we enter the 2nd trimester.

As for you, you are having a party in there; rocking the boat for Mommy inside.

Love,

Daddy

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