Happy Valentine's Day

Stephen and I celebrated Valentine's Day this year by going to dinner and then driving around in the canyon for a little while. I woke up to find some beautiful red roses and the most perfect card for our situation in life right now. We still have a long road ahead of us in medical school and there are sadly going to be more than a few holidays we won't be together but those are just a few days out of the year. We are just lucky with any of the time we have together. 

Baby Boy Peirce - Second Trimester

Baby Belly So Far

4, 9, 14, 18, 23, & 27 Weeks

November 14 - 21, 2014: I am now 14 weeks and officially in my second trimester. Yay! Poppy is the size of a peach this week and is starting to make mommy show a little bit. In my first trimester I lost 4 pounds. Since starting my second I have gained 2 of them back and a peach sized baby bump. I can sum up how I've felt this week in 1 word...Exhausted! I am so tired. I go to bed early and sleep in. If I have to leave the house it can't be for very long or else I am completely drained. Second trimester is starting off pretty exhausting. Hopefully my energy levels pick up. I still have to survive 5 more weeks living on this super hot island with no car.

14 Weeks - Baby is starting to make an appearance.

December 3, 2014: Today we got to listen to the baby on the doppler again! This time the doctor was able to find the heartbeat right away. It was very exciting. Baby Peirce had a really fast heartbeat in the upper 160's bpm right at first. Once I started talking it went down to the 150's bpm range. I am now 16 weeks and our little avocado sized baby can supposedly hear mommy and daddy's voices. The doppler was so exciting finding the heart rate so fast and noticing the change in it by me relaxing and talking. We are loving our little baby more and more each week and are starting to get anxious about knowing the gender. 

December 5 - 12, 2014: I am 17 weeks now. I can't believe how fast the time is going. When we go back to the states I will almost be to my half way point. Our little one is big enough to fit in the palm of our hands this week, about 5 and a half inches long. It seems like just yesterday that our little one was the size of a peanut. We were really looking forward to finding out the gender this week in Portsmouth at one of the clinics. Our appointment fell through last minute though because the Doctor in Roseau decided not to come up. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I got really excited knowing we would find out the gender sooner than expected. Along with the gender disappointment I either had horrible allergies this week or a minor cold. Either way it was no fun for a couple days sneezing all day long. People are starting to notice my baby bump now which gives me mixed feelings. I'm not sure I'm ready to have a big belly yet. But by far the most exciting thing that happened this week is that I have started feeling baby kicks! I have been noticing it for a couple weeks now but this week I am more sure that it is in fact the baby. Our little one is sure active. 

18 Weeks

December 12 - 19, 2014: ITS A BOY!!! This week we found out the gender of our little baby and he is all boy! We are very excited to have a little baby boy be a part of our family in May. By this point of pregnancy I feel like I have my energy back and I am feeling amazing. Just in the last few days my appetite has gotten crazy though. Even when I'm not hungry I want to eat more food. I've caved this week, mostly because a new frozen yogurt shop opened up and it is legit American frozen yogurt. So I may have just gone and got frozen yogurt every day this week. I've also been loving nachos. I've eaten them about 4 or 5 times a week for lunch the last two weeks. Partly because its all the food we have in the house since we are moving home in just a few days! Either from the baby or eating way to much food this week I am feeling very big. Everyone who already knows I am pregnant and even a few who didn't know can now very easily see my bump. Whether I'm ready or not for a big belly its coming. Because this is our last week living in Dominica, it won't be long before we start buying fun things for our little boy and I can't wait. I've already bought a couple things for his nursery and a couple gender neutral outfits. Our biggest concern right now is coming up with the best name for our baby. That I have a feeling is going to be tough. Besides finding out the gender of our little one I am feeling more and more kicks every day. Every time I am sitting now or laying down I feel tiny little ones. What is even more fun is that Stephen has felt a kick. We were laying in bed and I mentioned that I felt a kick. So Stephen put his hand on my belly and then he gave the biggest kick I have felt so far just for daddy! It was pretty amazing.

January 9, 2015: Today is my 22 week mark. It's crazy already being past my half way point being pregnant. We had our 21 week ultrasound a few days ago and got to see our little man. The ultrasound was incredible. We got to see him in amazing detail and got some really special first pictures of him to bring home and a DVD. He is doing great and everything looks perfect! He is going to be such a beautiful baby. After the ultrasound was one of the first times I got really anxious and just wanted him here right now. It's a little late but I'm glad to finally have been able to start all of my prenatal care. So far I am healthy and everything looks great for me and baby. I never got super sick on the island but I think the heat, humidity, and walking everywhere effected me more than I realized. Since being home I feel amazing. I haven't been sick at all (besides getting a cold for a week). I've just been enjoying every minute of being pregnant. Our little boy has continued kicking like crazy and the bigger he gets the harder he kicks. He is already one strong little one. It won't be long before Stephen can feel all of his kicks. He is always wiggling around in there and I love it.

23 Weeks

January 20, 2015: Our little man should now weigh just about a pound, maybe a little more. He is continuing to kick every day and Stephen is able to feel almost all of them. I am now in my 23rd week and getting quite the belly. Sleeping is starting to get a little uncomfortable. I am also starting to get to the point where standing for to long gets me tired and sitting for to long hurts my upper back. Besides that though I have no complaints. I still don't have food cravings or anything out of the ordinary that I have noticed. My mom and I have done quite a bit of baby shopping. I now have a stroller, car seat, and a few other baby things that I can't wait to use. Stephen joked that we should set up the car seat right away and put a bag of potatoes in it or something. We just can't wait to meet our little man in May! We are still struggling coming up with baby names though. Our next step is making a big list of names and then crossing some off each week until its narrowed down enough to just pick one. Or we will just end up being one of those couples that brings a baby name book with them to the hospital or naming the baby after our Doctor. Probably the funniest thing about being this pregnant now is that I am constantly hitting my belly against things. I bump it in to chairs, furniture, people, and even the car door all the time not remembering how big its getting.

27 Weeks

February 13, 2015: I am now 27 weeks and at the end of my second trimester! I cannot believe it. Baby boy is still doing really well as far as we can tell. He is measuring almost a week ahead of schedule at every appointment and is now about two pounds and over 14 inches long! He is the most active throughout the night, mid morning, and then every few hours or so throughout the day. He is starting to get big enough that a few times he has really tickled me like crazy. I will take the tickles for now because I have a feeling the bigger he gets those tickles are going to turn into punches and not feel so good. My absolute favorite thing is watching my belly when he kicks. It is so much fun seeing it move all over the place as he moves. We, well I have continued buying more baby things for the little guy and am so excited about all of his fun clothes. Newborn onesies I have decided are just about the cutest things in the world. Stephen and I have also started taking some pre-natal classes. It is exciting learning about what to expect as we get ready. Because baby is getting bigger my back is not having the greatest of days. I started with just upper back pain when I would sit for to long but now my lower back has started hurting as well as this leg ache just on the right leg. By far my favorite part of the day now is when I get to lay down and sleep. That so far hasn't been to bad now that I know the most comfortable positions to sleep in. So far I will be starting my third trimester having gained 11 pounds. All from the second trimester because I lost weight in my first. Let's hope it doesn't get to crazy in the third trimester. As for now we have decided on a baby name which is so exciting! It is hard to believe that there are only 13 weeks until we meet our little boy. There is still lots to happen before this little guy can come though. Stephen will be taking the most important exam of his career, then sadly leaving us for 6 long weeks to go to Florida, then the baby shower which I am so excited for, then moving across the country to Atlanta at 7 1/2 months pregnant, settling into a new home, and then Stephen joining us with about a month left before baby comes. Luckily we have found a doctor in Atlanta. That is a big relief having that figured out. It's going to be a busy 13 weeks. 

Peirce's are moving to Atlanta

Being back home in Utah has been really nice for Stephen and I. The excitement of the holidays and being home has pretty much worn off now and Stephen is back to studying and I am back to doing my regular hanging out routine. Stephen's new studying home has been the library at the University. He takes his first board exam (Step 1) on Feb 27th. Then he has a full week off to relax and for us to spend some time together before he leaves for Florida to do a 6 week rotation that his school requires before he starts his core rotations. He has been pushing himself really hard this last few weeks to finish strong for this exam. It's going to be really nice when it is all done.
I have mostly been filling my time babysitting my parents house everyday while looking at tons of baby stuff online. It has been so much fun seeing all of my friends again and spending lots of time with my mom. With Stephen studying on campus, I don't get to see him nearly as much as I did being on the island. I am beginning to understand what other medical school wives deal with whose husband went to a school in the states. I actually feel really blessed that we were so close to everything on the island and that if I wanted to see Stephen it was only a 5 minute walk and we lived so close to where he studied that he was able to come home every night for dinner. Its pretty amazing the blessings you don't realize you have everyday living somewhere until your away from that environment. Stephen and I were very blessed with the time we had together on the island and I am so grateful that we had it.
It has been super amazing being home though. Stephen and I try to have one date night a week and I've forgotten how wonderful date nights in America are. Mostly all we have been doing is going out to dinner and then renting a movie and watching it at home but we have been having so much fun. I have felt just as giddy and happy as I was when we were first dating. I laugh so much with Stephen and I just love every second I get to be with him. It's impossible to explain the love I have for him, especially now watching him get ready to be a daddy. We are both getting so excited to meet our little boy. And now we know where our little boy is going to be born!

Besides the stress of Stephen's Step 1 exam, finding out where we will be living for the next two years has pretty much been the only thing on our minds. We really haven't been waiting that long but its good to now officially know that we will be living in Atlanta, Georgia for at least the next two years! Stephen will be doing his rotations at the Atlanta Medical Center. We are so excited to be moving there. So for now just lots of studying for Stephen and then we will be headed to Atlanta at the end of March!

Stephen decided to cut his hair again after ten months. It is always a little bittersweet.

Face mask time. Mine was clear so I put some of Stephens on for the pic.

Not much of a winter this year but we got a little snow.

Peirce/Robbins cousin party

Baby Peirce is a...

Bouncy Baby BOY!!!

Stephen and I weren't super anxious to know the gender of our little one but when we got the idea of surprising our families on Christmas with the gender we started trying our hardest to find someone on the island who could do an ultrasound for us. We absolutely loved Anne who did our first ultrasounds at the clinic but when we asked her if she could do a gender one she said the clinic would no longer let her in to do ultrasounds because she wasn't technically employed there. So then we went to the clinic to see who there could do the ultrasound. None of the capable doctors there would do it. They said we needed to go to the clinic in Portsmouth on a Saturday when the ultrasound tech would be there. So we set up an appointment with the Ultrasound doctor who comes up a couple times a month from Roseau when I was 17 weeks along. About 20 minutes before the appointment they called and said she decided last minute she didn't want to come. Disappointment was an understatement to how I felt. I actually thought I would be finding out the gender that day and when it didn't happen I got really upset. I called back a few days later when they got around to asking the doctor when she would come up again and it wasn't until the day we were leaving the island. Figures. At that point I was so discouraged that I was fine just waiting until the second week in January to find out the gender when we were originally going to find out. I had heard of a clinic in Salt Lake that would do the ultrasound for us for 60$ so a couple days later after I had time to cool down a bit I made an appointment with them the Tuesday before Christmas in case we changed our minds and wanted to know the gender early still. After all that mess and disappointment of not getting an ultrasound done Stephen was telling one of our friends here who is also in his last semester about our situation and how bummed we were that we couldn't just go to the clinic on campus when there are capable doctors and an ultrasound machine all ready to go. Our friend Adam who Stephen was telling our situation to said he could do it. He knew how to do ultrasounds and had been shadowing a Doctor in Roseau and felt pretty confident that he could figure out the gender for us.
So on our last Sunday (the 14th of December) in Dominica after church we met up with Adam at the clinic. He and Stephen do EMS for the University and know how to get into the clinic off hours so we just helped ourselves to the ultrasound machine. Of course the more the merrier so our good friend Tai and two of her daughters came to watch as well. I was so impressed with how much Adam knew what he was doing. Our little one looked healthy and perfect in every way! After getting a few good shots of the baby's bum Adam was 90% sure our little one was a boy. We kept looking around for about 15 minutes and then on our last glimpse of him we were all 100% sure that our first baby is all boy! It was pretty amazing seeing his little heart, spine, hands, and feet. At one point Adam said he was sucking on his thumb but I couldn't see it. It was all a blur to me. He sure was a wiggle worm the entire time. It was a pretty amazing experience finding out our little one will be a mini Stephen! We are very excited to have a baby boy.
Because we were pretty certain of the gender I canceled my ultrasound in Salt Lake and Stephen and I bought a pair of baby shoes that were blue and wrapped them up and gave them to our moms for Christmas surprising our families with the gender! It was a perfect way to announce our little one. Then today (January 6th) we had our 21 week ultrasound and check up. It was amazing how well we could see him. He is already perfect in every way and so cute. The ultrasound nurse agreed that our little man is in fact a boy! She showed us that he is doing good in every way and gave us our official due date which is May 15 like we thought. Now its just 4 and a half more months until we get to meet our little man.

2014 year in review

What a year! All but a few weeks of it were spent living in Dominica which made it all the more interesting and a year that we will never forget. Stephen and I celebrated quite a bit this year. We celebrated our first year being married, survived the first two years of Medical School, are expecting our first baby, and were able to have a white Christmas home with family! Overall we had a great year full of fun, hard work, and very long days.
The last week of the year we spent in Logan with my family. We had our own mini Carman Christmas one night with a delicious lasagna dinner and then opened some presents. Stephen and I's favorite and really only gift we gave this year was surprising our families with the gender our little one that is coming in May. Everyone was so surprised and it was a lot of fun surprising them.
On New Years Eve Stephen and I were able to attend a very special sealing in the Salt Lake Temple. One of his best friends and his wife and baby girl were sealed together for all time and eternity. It was such a special sealing, one that I will never forget. Afterwards we headed back home and spent the evening by going to a movie and then visiting with friends. We made it home right at midnight, had a new years kiss, and then went to bed. It was a perfect way for us ring in the new year. It's hard to believe that this year has come and gone but I am so excited for all of the many adventures awaiting us next year!

We all got fun finger lights for Christmas

New Years Eve!

A Peirce Christmas

After a long two days of traveling Stephen and I made it home from Dominica. Our final time leaving the island that we called home for 16 months. Our first flight was only delayed by an hour but that was just enough to miss the rest of our connections home. So we spent the night in Charlotte and then made it home the next day. We are so happy to be home. We were welcomed our first night home with a wonderful dinner that Karyn made for us with Stephen's family and my parents. The next day my mom drove up to Kaysville and came shopping with us, Stephen's mom and Natalie. We had a delicious soup and salad for lunch and then did a little maternity shopping. It was so much fun shopping again and being with family. We spent the rest of Christmas week at the Peirce's. We went to the Hobbit, played lots of games, enjoyed the fireplace every day and night, and loved having a relaxing week away from school and studying.
Christmas morning was very special because we woke up to a white snowy wonderland. We opened presents and got some very special gifts. It was a perfect Christmas morning. After having a wonderful breakfast Stephen and I went for a drive to enjoy all of the beautiful snow. Then Aloha and I relaxed while everyone else played one of the new games that Karyn got for Christmas. It was a pretty intense game so we were glad to sit out. Marilee and Colby surprised us all Christmas night by coming a day early to visit. They were a bit delayed by all the snow but made it safe.
After Christmas the relaxing and fun continued. The boys and kids went sledding, then decided to build a snow crocodile. Stephen and Colby made it quite the project and it turned out pretty awesome. One of my favorite things we did during the week was go to Temple Square to see the lights. They were of course beautiful like always. It was such a wonderful first week being back home. We are looking forward to spending time with family and friends for the next few months before our next adventure begins.

Christmas Eve in Kaysville

Waking up to a white Christmas!

Baby Peirce

Just a few days from 20 weeks, my half way point!

My contribution to Christmas Eve dinner.

My hot Bacon Man!

Loving our White Christmas!