36 weeks

Only four weeks until our due date!  My whole plan all along was to be vague about the due date because I didn't want people bugging me when the date came around if baby still wasn't here, but our date is about as "late January" as it gets, so I gave up.  I'm hoping she comes right on time or a little early.  And if I could pick, I'd say not while Trevor is in class in Mankato.  Or at drill.  A Friday would be good.  In the evening.  Maybe if I schedule it on my Google calendar she'll understand.  Of course, I realize we don't get to pick.  And truly, I don't think we'll care.  Except for the weather since we have an hour drive to the hospital (thanks, insurance, for making us doctor an hour away), so a non-blizzard would be nice. 

I used our registry completion coupon at Target yesterday.  I got the rest of the things we figure we'll really need (well, we honestly don't need much at all, but we'll call them pretty basic convenience items with a few necessities) so we're all set!  Thankfully, we actually had enough in gift cards to cover it all.  I could say this a hundred times and it wouldn't be enough.  We are SO blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who have offered support, guidance, and many thoughtful gifts and hand-me-downs.  We're so appreciative of all of it!  The best part is, our baby isn't even here yet, so we know she'll be very loved upon arrival.  We'll be installing the car seat base this weekend and I'll probably start packing my hospital bag, too.  Then I think we'll be 100% as ready as future parents can be. Well, I suppose 95% since our hospital tour isn't until Monday.

I'm still feeling really good and sleeping fairly well.  My lips are still unbelievably chapped, but the lanolin (Lansinoh HPA lanolin meant for breastfeeding nipples, to be exact) has been working like a charm as long as I keep using it.  I toss and turn quite a bit and wake up to go to the bathroom once, sometimes twice, but better than I thought I'd be doing at this stage.  Every so often I wake up wide awake in the middle of the night.  Sunday night I was wide awake from 1am-4am, but luckily it didn't ruin my day at all.  I frequently get asked if I'm waking up because I'm worried or anxious about the baby.  Nope.  I literally just wake up wide awake, nothing on my mind, as if it were 9am.

Speaking of things I frequently hear...  Let me answer/respond to some common questions/statements.  I'm partially being funny about it and partially answering these questions because it seems everyone I see asks :)

How are you feeling? Really good! No majorly annoying symptoms, not terribly uncomfortable, starting to get more tired but all things considered, really good.
You're so tiny! If that's meant to be a compliment, I appreciate it, but my weight gain and belly measurements are exactly how they're supposed to be.  My doctor even pointed out if you start out with a small frame, that's not really going to change and you'll look small in comparison.  PS-I've always been a healthy eater and I walk Rowdy regularly, my spot-on weight gain isn't an accident.
Wow! You really look pregnant today/in that shirt. Well, that's because I am.  Still.
Only a few weeks left, huh? That went fast! We've wanted this for almost two years and we're still waiting.  Just like a deployment, it seems to go quickly for those who aren't directly experiencing it.  Baby isn't here yet; once she is I'm sure we'll eventually say it went fast, but not yet.

OK, enough of that fun :)  I know everyone means well and is just excited and I really do appreciate it.  We are very excited, too!  In fact, I got a little mushy thinking about the past year (or two) over Christmas.  On our regular blog, I wrote about how Trevor and I have never exchanged Christmas gifts, we just make sure to enjoy the time together.  That said, he still gave me the best gift of all this year just by being home.  I got to thinking about where we were in life last Christmas: six months post-miscarriage, I had just sent him back to Kuwait after having him home for two weeks, and in those two weeks we had tried with no luck to get pregnant again.  Let me preface what I'm about to say with this: I'm a big believer in everything happening for a reason, but I will never ever say that our, or anyone's, miscarriage happened for a reason (and I would advise against anyone else saying that to someone in that situation-it's not helpful).  Some things in life just don't have explanations and there is no bigger picture.  It just doesn't make sense other than some fluke thing led to something being so seriously wrong with our baby/babies the pregnancy couldn't continue-completely medical and random.  It was terribly sad, always will be, but it does get easier (I've repeated that to myself a  million times and it really has helped-you know who you are who told me that) and I knew our time would come.  That said, the second best gift I got this year was patience.  I am in no way thankful our first pregnancy ended the way it did.  I am, however, very thankful I learned to be patient and appreciate when life happens on its own time sometimes.  I would have loved those babies to pieces, but if that pregnancy had continued we surely wouldn't be having this baby right now and that makes her pretty special, too.  Patience this year was a solid combination of waiting for Trevor to come home and waiting to try for a baby again...and waiting for this baby to arrive!  (Luckily that patience lesson didn't include waiting for a positive pregnancy test since this baby came as soon as humanly possible.)  Trevor has been to every single doctor's appointment and ultrasound with me this time.  He was with me when I felt kicks for the first time and felt them for himself five days later.  It's been amazing having him here to help clean/cook when I was feeling awful, shovel, play with Rowdy, put together the crib/dresser, etc.  And, of course, it's a huge relief knowing he'll for sure be around for labor/delivery/the weeks and months to follow.  Every so often I get pretty worked up about how much our finances have changed/will change (income is obviously a bit different now than it was while he was deployed, we just got his last unemployment check and my paychecks aren't big at all, especially not after daycare costs), but Trevor just says it'll work out, we'll always put our family first and be able to provide for our children, he's not scared, etc.  I know that's all true, I'm just really struggling to fully wrap my head around it all.  What would I do without him?  In addition to all of that, I have always been an organized planner, and still am for the most part, but I have learned to be much more flexible and much less particular.  I may not exactly be thankful for everything that's happened in life, but I'm truly thankful for the way everything has worked out and the lessons I've learned.

I'm going to do my best to hold on to my patience wisdom throughout the next year-I imagine I'll need it :)

 Flickr

-A

35 weeks

All is still well! We had a doctor's appointment on Monday. My weight is perfect (up about 27 pounds), I'm measuring perfect and baby's heart rate sounds great (145).

I'm still feeling pretty darn good. Lots of mucous in my throat still, hips are starting to hurt at night again so I had to change pillows for my legs, but the lanolin has really helped my awful chapped lips (as long as I use it regularly). I'm still getting tired and love days when I can sneak in a nap-definitely looking forward to the extra days off in the next couple weeks! It probably doesn't help that I still wake up wide awake in the middle of the night sometimes (hormone bursts, I hear).  I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions every day or two.  Earlier this week I had about 4 in a row, but they weren't regular or too close together, enough to time them just to be sure though!

Our next appointment is Dec 31 then we'll start with weekly visits.

The photos were at bedtime last night - hence the reason I look exhausted.

34 weeks

6 weeks to go! I looked at some of the early posts and "belly" photos and it's crazy how far we've come! Back at 5-8 weeks I felt SO bloated but looking at those photos now just makes me giggle.

I made major progress on baby's room this week. Like I've said, we had the dresser and crib set up a while ago, but we still had a disaster all over the floor and some reorganizing of the closet to do yet. We can finally see the floor completely! I can even vacuum! Haha. We're getting rid of the old, empty dresser this weekend then we should be able to truly finish everything.

Everyone's asking-honestly I'm feeling really good! I've been experimenting and finally found a pillow to put between my knees when I sleep (thanks, Brenna!). I've been getting up in the middle of the night to pee just once each night so no complaints there. I started using lanolin nipple ointment on my insanely chapped lips and after a couple days it's really helping which is awesome!

I've started putting a couple things in a bag that will be our hospital bag-I probably won't actually pack for a few weeks yet, don't really need much I guess.

Not sure what else to say! All is well, watching the weeks go by and I'm sure time will fly! I still get lots of comments about being small for 34 weeks, I'll take it :)

Oh-and everyone who warned us about pregnancy being like having a "give me advice I don't want" sign on my forehead was right. I don't know how many times a day (yes, daily) I/we hear advice we didn't ask for, judgements about decisions (yes, before our baby is even here), or people telling us what we'll want to do in certain situations. It gets interesting! Bottom line: we have very good communication with each other and lots of experience that will help in parenting, along with very open minds that we will do what's best for our family and take everything as it comes. We have ideas about how we'd like to do a lot of things but we're flexible and will adjust fire as needed. There, rant over :)

Doctor's appointment Monday then one more in two weeks til we start going weekly!

Vivid Dreams

A big pregnancy symptom is vivid dreams. I guess I haven't continued to blog about having them, but I definitely still am. Another symptom I've had lately is waking up wide awake in the middle of the night, not necessarily to pee, just because. Since I've been wide awake for an hour now I figured I should just get up (it's now 5:20am).

Tonight's vivid dream was particularly hilarious, so I thought I would share. All kinds of goofy stuff was happening, but getting to the part I remember... A friend of mine was looking for a new apartment and decided to have a party where she was currently living. I went and while I was there I was on the phone with apartment places and friends trying to find her a new place. Everyone at the party was getting obnoxious and my friend was getting tired so she decided to go to bed. Somehow (because it was a dream) I just knew that someone kept dumping blue Gatorade powder on her when she was in bed. I was on the phone with another friend still doing the whole apartment search for her, but crawled into bed anyway thinking that would stop this person. I was still on the phone, the phone was actually between my head and the pillow. Surprise, surprise, the Gatorade powder dumper didn't quit and (this is where it gets good) I was very annoyed. He dumped blue Gatorade powder all over us and it was gross. I think he thought we were both sleeping. So, IN REAL LIFE, I woke up, opened my eyes, saw this guy dumping blue Gatorade powder on my bed and actually yelled (yes, actually yelled) out a very awkward sounding "BLAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Then quickly realized it was all a dream and I was an idiot. I'm not sure how Trevor slept through that, maybe he didn't, but I spent the next half hour trying not to burst into laughter, probably not helping my falling back asleep problem.

So, here I am, doing laundry, typing this blog and about to get into the shower to start my day extra early. Hope someone else got a good laugh out of that, too!

33 weeks

Another week down!  I imagine every parent-to-be thinks this no matter what, but especially after a miscarriage, I can't help but being thankful for every week that passes and baby still seems healthy and continues to stay put.  Of course, once she's full term I think I'll be ready for her to come meet us any time, but for now I'm glad she's safe, [seemingly] healthy and growing as she should.  Only 4 weeks til full term and 7 until the due date!  We're under 50 days to go now.

We had an appointment on Monday.  Trevor and I got our Tdap (whooping cough/tetanus) shots, ouch.  Baby's heartbeat was 130 and I measured at 31 which is in the normal range.  (fundal height chart here)  We went over my 3-hour glucose screen/gestational diabetes test.  Like I said in my last post, they draw blood at the beginning of the test and every hour for the three hours.  Thankfully, I passed the test with flying colors, passing at each blood draw.  Our doctor said women who fail the 1 hour then pass the 3 hour tend to have bigger babies, but with how I've been growing/measuring she's not very concerned about that.  My mom had me 2 weeks early and I asked the doctor if that was at all hereditary and she said it can be, so let's hope for that; although, I'm certainly not counting on it.

I'm still feeling pretty darn good.  I'm starting to feel like I'm getting bigger, but don't feel huge at all so no complaints.  I think I've just gotten used to my extra mucous/snot.  My lips are so dry-they're bright red, flaky (as in big chunks flaky) and burn.  I've tried Carmex, Vaseline, A&D and regular chap stick.  Someone in a pregnancy forum suggested Aquaphor ointment so I think that's my next purchase.  I'm still getting up 1-2 times per night to go to the bathroom, but I guess some pregnant women have it much worse, so again I can't really complain about that.

Question of the week: hospital bag packing tips? I don't want to go with nothing, especially since I'll be delivering an hour from home, but I don't want a bunch of crap I don't need either.  So, what did you have that you were so glad you had?  What did you really wish you had but didn't bring?  For you? Dad? Baby?  I'm thinking more on the minimalist side.  There are some things the hospital provides (gown) that may be nice to have your own, but let's be realistic, I'm not bringing my own.

32 weeks

So.. it's been a few weeks since my last post and even longer since my last photo.  I had this all written out yesterday, but when I went to add the photo last night the whole post got deleted.  I'm going to try this again...

I'm not sure if I mentioned in the last post or not, but we finished baby classes (minus the breastfeeding class we'll be attending in a few weeks).  I know no one is ever fully prepared for labor/delivery/parenthood, but I think we're as ready as we can be!

We had a doctor's appointment a couple weeks ago (every 2 weeks now).  My fundal height (belly size, basically) is measuring perfect.  They have my weight gain at 24 pounds although I think it's a tad more than that (I think I gained a few before my first visit)-either way the doctor says that's just right, too.  I really don't feel like I've gained weight anywhere but my belly, maybe a little in the love handles/butt, but no complaints.  Baby's heartbeat was 140 which is exactly what it's been the last few visits.  The bad news was...I actually didn't pass my 1 hour glucose test.  The clinic was supposed to call and tell me, but they didn't even though they did call about my iron.  So, this past Monday I went in to take the 3 hour glucose test.  For the first one (1 hour) I just went to the lab whenever, chugged a very sugary drink (it wasn't nearly as bad as what I had heard-I had orange flavor), waited an hour and got my blood drawn.  They want your level to be 140 or under and mine was 141, so I barely "failed."  For the 3 hour test, it's a bit different.  I had to fast, so I went right away in the morning.  They did a finger prick to check my baseline level (81, I believe), did a blood draw, then I drank a sugary drink again (more sugar, though-1 can of Mt. Dew=47 grams of sugar, 1 hour drink=50 grams of sugar, 3 hour drink=100 grams of sugar).  They drew my blood every hour until for 3 hours and I couldn't eat or drink anything until the whole test was over.  Like I said, the first test wasn't so bad, but I really thought this test was awful.  Double the sugar on an empty stomach this time and waiting to eat or drink anything for three hours instead of one-gross.  The first hour I had a very upset stomach and awful gut rot, the second hour I started to get very tired (lack of food and water+sugar crash?) and the last hour I was just desperately antsy, hungry and thirsty.  Oh, and the icing on the cake? I couldn't leave the clinic and was stuck in the waiting room with a guy puking into a bag (poor fella).  Anyway, I survived and took Trevor out to eat at Pita Pit afterwards.  They haven't called me so I'm hoping I did ok this time and it's not another screw up.  We'll find out on Monday, I guess.  As for symptoms, I still seem to have plenty of mucous and my lips have been horribly chapped to the point they're all kinds of flaky.  I was sick last week (as in actually sick), threw up at work and again at home, which is never fun.  It's even less fun when you have a living being inside your belly who just wants to dance.  I think the lack of food/water after vomiting hit me harder than usual, but I seem to be okay now.

Enough complaining.  Good news is I had my second baby shower last weekend.  It was a great day and Trevor and I definitely feel very loved!  We're so excited to bring a baby into this world knowing how many people already care about her.  We have very few things left to get before she arrives (I mean 2 or 3) which I suppose is good since my due date is only 8 weeks away and I'll be full term (37 weeks) in only 5 weeks!  With Christmas and Trevor's birthday in the mix, I imagine those weeks will go quickly.

I think that was all I had in the other post, but who really knows.  More next week!

29 weeks

No picture this week, but I've got quite a few updates.

Last Sunday was my first baby shower.  Everything went very well!  The next day we had a follow-up ultrasound and the first of my bi-weekly doctor visits including the glucose screen (to check for gestational diabetes).  Honestly, the whole day was a bit of a mess.  To start off, Rowdy ate some cocoa powder.  We got that situation under control then headed to Mankato for my 2:30 ultrasound appointment at the pathology center.  I had a 3:30 doctor's appointment with a 3:15 check in time (to drink my sugary drink for the glucose screen).  We didn't get seen at the ultrasound place until 3:40.  Trevor had class at 4:00 so he was barely able to see the scan and get to class on time.  I rushed over to the clinic, ran down to drink my sugar drink then realized I forgot my urine sample in the car.  (I have to bring a urine sample to every doctor's appointment.)  So, I ran out to the car quickly only to find out that the sample had spilled all over the cooler.  I went upstairs to check in at the OB desk and finally caught a break.  All that running behind and waiting would have been annoying enough, but knowing I had to sit for an hour after drinking that stuff so they could take my blood (it didn't taste nearly as bad as what I've heard, by the way) made it worse.  After all that appointment craziness, we rushed home, scarfed down some food and headed to our first night of baby class to learn about labor and delivery.  I've never thought I'd go through child birth without pain meds, but after hearing more about them I'm a tad overwhelmed with the options.  I've had an epidural/spinal block before with surgery so I'm familiar with side effects, just for different pain.  I've come to the conclusion that I'll see how it all goes and decide on pain management as needed.  Anyway, that's all the "bad" news.  The good news is baby girl still looks healthy at 2 lbs 12 oz, she's still a girl and the choroid plexus cysts on her brain have disappeared just as we were told they probably would.  My glucose screen went just fine so I seem to be in the clear for gestational diabetes.  Normal iron levels are 12-16 and in pregnancy it typically drops a little but they don't like to see it below an 11; I'm at a 10.5, so just barely anemic.  Baby is getting what she needs, but that leaves me a little short, so I started taking iron.  No big deal, just have to be sure to be proactive against constipation (side effect of iron supplements).   

I think that's all for this week!

Question of the week: What are your diaper bag must haves?  Diapers and wipes are an obvious, but what other things have you found very helpful to have in your diaper bag?  For example, someone suggested a clean shirt for mom, never thought of that, but what a good idea.

28 weeks

Ok now we're definitely in the third trimester! And we made it to viability time-if baby girl were born now she'd have a good chance of survival (with medical assistance, of course). I'll drink to that! Oh wait...

No new symptoms really. I've felt round ligament pain a few times when going to the bathroom, but felt it for the first time while turning to look while parking my car last week. I'm starting to feel more fatigue again, but not too bad yet. I still have mucous in my throat-I'm guessing that won't go away anytime soon.

As most of you know, I'm not good at asking for (or even accepting) help...at all...not even a little bit. Tonight I asked Trevor to get something off a shelf for me-stretching/reaching up is getting a little tricky. This was a big deal!

I'm officially into my all-maternity clothes wardrobe. I wonder what it will be like to zip my pants again someday...

This weeks picture was taken after a big supper, so I'm about as stretched as I get. I forgot to weigh myself today, but we have a double appointment on Monday so we'll see then. Ultrasound (to check on those Choroid Plexus cysts the radiologist called "likely insignificant") then a regular appointment with my glucose test/gestational diabetes screen. Oh, and my blood pressure has been good all along, too. I generally have very good blood pressure. The Red Cross people always ask if I'm an athlete when I donate blood-ha!

Baby shower #1 is Sunday, looking forward to seeing lots of my pals!

27 weeks

It's getting hard to remember what even happen in the last week...or two. As of today I'm up 20 pounds so far and I can honestly say I don't even feel like I've gained that much. I realize I have some time to go yet though!

We had an appointment about a week ago and got the report on our follow up ultrasound-baby's heart looks good. We're getting another one in a week to check on the cysts but there have been no other markers for anything concerning. The radiologist from the ultrasounds described them as "likely insignificant" because of that and their size (only 2mm). It seems they're fairly common and typically insignificant.

The throat mucous is coming back and now I have diaper rash haha, not sure what else to call it. It comes and goes and I can definitely deal with it. I'm starting to get tired again, taking naps on my days off.

27-28 weeks is the start of the third trimester, varies depending on what book you read. I guess that means baby time will be here before we know it! I'm making progress on cleaning out baby's room-I should probably get moving since shower #1 is next weekend! Then right after that is my glucose screen and the beginning of our every other week doctor appointments.

Question for the week: I'm a big fan of generics (food, household products, whatever) but there are certain things that really aren't the same. Any baby specific things that you would/would not recommend using generic? (I've heard a lot of praise for target and wal mart brand diapers, for example)

25 weeks

Trevor is at drill so you all get another self portrait for this week. Yes, I could use the timer on our camera, but it's so much easier to use my phone and type this/upload the photo with the Blogger app than mess around with getting the photo from the camera. Lazy, I know.

These weeks seem fairly uneventful. I'm feeling great, minimal pregnancy symptoms (maybe I'm just getting used to it by now), and slow and steady belly growth/weight gain. I'm up about 17 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight which is basically right on track.  I've been back on the treadmill regularly, walking with Rowdy (yep, he walks with me on the treadmill!).  Oh, and I think nesting is setting in.  I went cleaning crazy last weekend, scrubbed the shower/tub for over an hour, vacuumed the whole house (got out the attachments for up against the walls/corners) right before Rowdy had a puppy friend come stay the night.  I hear it'll only get worse!

The biggest change in the last week is that I now have to sit down to put on my socks and shoes. I know, this is jut the beginning, but it's different! Oh, and I got asked when I'm due by a stranger, another first.

I suppose I should start looking at the baby name book again. We have a name in mind, and a list, but I'm not completely sold on anything just yet. And, yes, Trevor is very involved in the name stuff, it just seems he prefers to pick from my list rather than a book of 100,000+ names!

24 weeks

Another week down, hard to believe it's October! No big news this week. I'm still feeling good, thankfully. I quit taking my Zyrtec a couple days ago so hopefully I don't get a bunch of throat mucous. I had been slacking on walking, but I'm making it a point to keep doing that regularly. Rowdy and I walked on the treadmill together yesterday and today. It's nice to be able to watch a TV show and stay out of the chilly wind while we walk. Spoiled, I know.

Honestly, that's about all the excitement for the week. I've got some big urges to clean our house top to bottom, but I'm only actually doing it in baby steps.

My photographer is at the farm again this weekend so here's the 24 week self portrait.

23 weeks

Whoops! Missed a couple weeks. We've been busy and my photographer has been gone a lot helping at the farm. I'm feeling great and getting bigger but I don't feel huge yet. Some things are starting to get more difficult (bending to tie shoes, rolling over while sleeping-which I do a lot), but I know it'll only get worse!

I've been walking a lot, but I get winded easier than I used to. My appetite is normal. I even ate cheesecake with maple syrup and it was delicious. I'm up 15 lbs from pre pregnancy weight which is right on track.

Since I last posted we had a doctor's appointment and a follow up ultrasound. The doctor's appointment went well, they're all fairly quick. We went over the first ultrasound (they're done at a pathology center) and the only thing she had to say was that baby had choroid plexus cysts on her brain. She told us not to worry and they're quite common, especially on a scan before 20 weeks which ours was. She said they form when the brain is developing. (I even googled them which one should never do and I couldn't find anything too scary.) She said baby was a little too active to get all the shots of the heart they needed, so at 22 weeks we went back for another scan. Our doctor said the cysts themselves wouldn't be reason for a second scan, it was just to get a better view of the heart. The tech showed us the cysts and said she sees them a lot. She got much better views of the heart. And she double checked and said it still looks like a girl. Baby is 1 pound, 1 ounce and her heart is about the size of a dime right now, so tiny!  Also, we got to see her kick on the screen and I, of course, felt it at the same time.  Pretty neat!

We're making progress in the baby room. The closet is mostly cleaned out and filled with baby stuff now. There is plenty left to do though!

I think people who are subscribed to this get it by email and may not come to the actual website to read it.  I'm adding this part after the fact, so hopefully someone reads it and responds.  We already have a stroller (standard Graco stroller that will fit with our car seat), but I'd still like to register for one since we don't have much for bigger items on the registry.  I was thinking either a single jogging stroller or a standard double stroller (since it won't be too many years between baby #1 and #2, ideally).  Any input on how to decide?  Or, a suggestion other than those two?

That's all for now. More next week!

21 weeks

Woah. So I skipped a week, the big halfway mark! I was out of town and Trevor had drill, that week turned into two and here we are.

In general, all is well. I'm feeling kicks (punches? Who knows what really, but something) and seeing them now, too. Trevor hasn't seen it yet, but he felt it a month ago. Last weekend when he was at drill I caught a kick on video so he has seen that, pretty cool. We both got to feel some pretty strong kicks tonight. I'm feeling good, still have mucous in my throat but it doesn't seem as bad. I gag occasionally, but not often. For the most part, I have plenty of energy. I get winded a little easier but I'm back into walking as usual. I've been suffering through diarrhea all day, but Trevor has, too, so I'm not sure I can call that a pregnancy symptom. He has, at some point, had every pregnancy symptom I have though so maybe!

The nursery is coming along well. Since we moved here it's been a giant storage closet, but the clutter and junk is slowly finding its way out. And just as soon as we clear a spot, baby stuff filters in. The crib is put together, looks good! The dresser is set up and quickly filling with clothes. It's all starting to feel more real now that the room is coming together and my belly is actually looking pregnant.

This week's pregnancy question: registry item tips? Must haves? Over-rated stuff?

-A

19 weeks

This was a big week for us! I'm a couple days late in posting but Trevor's been pretty busy on the computer and I keep forgetting to take the weekly photo.

Let's see...feeling really good! The throat mucous is still there but not as bad. I get winded and back pain fairly quickly these days. I'm still feeling kicks, actually saw one today. My appetite is improving. According to my records I'm up about 8 pounds right now which is okay but I've got some room to gain. We've made some progress in cleaning out baby's room and Trevor started putting together the dresser tonight. I'm back to walking regularly which feels great. I tried to walk at least a couple times a week when I was feeling crappy but now it's much easier.

And for the excitement of the week...we had the big ultrasound Friday. We weren't planning on funding out the sex, but Trevor changed his mind and I figured he could win this one. He said knowing the sex would help him picture/plan for baby better; he wanted to know if this is his son or daughter. Coming from my very medical and scientific husband who has always just used the word "fetus" until now, I couldn't say no. We didn't actually get confirmation at the ultrasound that everything is okay, the techs can't really tell you that, but it was pretty cool to see baby in there! Trevor got to see it all, she only turned the screen for me every so often. Side note: my instructions were to arrive with a very full bladder. I had to pee so badly I peed half an hour before my appointment and slammed more water to fill it back up. When they called my name and asked how I was doing I said, "good but I really have to pee!" Then she told me I didn't need a full bladder and the clinic should have known that, so I got to use the bathroom, phew! Baby was moving all over during the ultrasound so it took a little effort to get all the shots she needed. She told us she would tell us the sex as soon as she could tell but baby wasn't making it easy. She even showed us the 3D image - wasn't expecting that. Honestly I think it's a bit weird, but it was kind of cool to see a real face...and a cute little Gibbs nose (I was hoping for that). Anyway, the photos below are the 3D image, a thumb sucking shot, and, for those of you who are familiar, the "three lines" money shot showing IT'S A GIRL!

After the appointment we almost forgot we planned to do our registry, so we headed to Target. I had done some research online, talked to friends and come up with a pretty good list of what we needed. Luckily we've been blessed with some wonderful friends and family who have gotten us some things already, and some friends who have been thrilled to get rid of no longer needed baby items. Even having a lot of stuff already and a list and lots of experience with babies, registering was a bit of a headache. I know how easy it can be to go overboard with cute baby things or stuff you think you'll need but actually never use. Plus I'm not very girly, thus, so far baby girl is getting lots of gender neutral type things. Which is fine anyway because someday there will be a Baby Gibbs #2.

I think that covers the highlights of the week! That and I'm on my phone and sick of typing this out, time to relax!

-A

18 weeks

I'm a day late, but I wasted most of yesterday napping...and cleaning...and napping.

Life is good! Starting to get the hang of this pregnancy stuff I think. I'm finally starting to feel really good, the worst symptom I've had this week is constant mucous in my throat. I'm sleeping through the night most nights and only having occasional back pain. My frequent poor posture is probably just as much to blame as pregnancy.

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday. Most of these appointments are quick and easy, but as far as we can tell all is well. We got to hear baby's heartbeat (150-it's normal for it to go down as the baby grows). Remember how I said I've been feeling kicks (17 weeks post)? We heard them when the doctor was using the Doppler to listen to the heart beat. She commented that we've got an active baby since she had to keep moving the Doppler around to follow the heart beat. I'm pretty sure they tell everyone their baby is active, but it was all still fun.

Not only am I/we feeling kicks, there have been a couple times baby has shoved his/her butt (or something?) up against me and I can feel the pressure (like a balloon expanding or something) then if we touch from the outside it's really hard. Trevor even played a little game of tag or something with baby last night. Baby was kicking so I had Trevor feel. He pushed, baby pushed back, then again a couple more times.

I think that's all for this week! Maybe not. Who knows. My brain frequently fails me. Pregnancy brain is a real thing, people.

Oh, and the photo. I just took this at bedtime so of course I look a little bigger, but you get the point.

-A

17 weeks

Or roughly the equivalent of 4 months. This has been a great week! It appears my belly has decided to just round out completely, as you can see. Baby isn't anywhere to be found in there though, he/she is still pretty darn low and about 5 inches long from head to rump.

We've been in Hawaii for a week which has helped make this an awesome week. To top that off, I've felt movements for the first time! It was hard to admit that's what it was at first, but as it continued to happen throughout the week I know that's what it was. I can see how people say it feels like gas, but it is different. The first few times I only felt it while sitting. Then, last night, I felt it while lying down...and so did Trevor! I didn't think he'd feel it for a few weeks but I kept trying and he actually felt it last night. Very cool! I'm excited to feel other movements, so far it's just been the little jabs.

Our next appointment is Monday and it's just a quick check in and hearing the heartbeat. Then in a few weeks we'll have the big anatomy scan (the one where we're not finding out the sex).

Here's this week's photo. No numbers but hopefully the ocean makes up for it. See the rounding out? I feel like I just look Thanksgiving full all the time.

16 weeks

This is my first post using the Blogger iPhone app so hopefully it turns out fine. It's been a good week! Still gagging some but much less. I'm starting to have more energy which is really exciting! I'm taking half a Unisom at night just until we get back from vacation then I'll try quitting it again.

My belly seems about the same size, still bloating like crazy by the end of each day. We had Trevor's unit formal last weekend and I was up, at the bar and feeling okay until 1:30 am - unreal!

For the past week or so I have been feeling twinges in my uterus area. From what I've read it could be my muscles stretching or it could be baby. Twinges is the best way I can describe it. It's not painful, not a twitch like when your eye twitches, just a twinge. I've been trying to find a pattern but I don't think there really is one.

I think that's all the updates for now. Time to board our flight to Maui!

15 weeks.

This past week has been pretty good, I must say.  My appetite has been improving and there are foods that actually sound good to me.  No issues with constipation, gas or fatigue.  I think I only gagged a couple times in the last week, very exciting!  And no barfing!  I'm still taking 1/2 a Unisom at night after the barf scare I had last week, but I'm not feeling like I desperately need it each night.  I think I only had to get up in the middle of the night to pee three times which is a record so far.  The most exciting news of the week is I think I have a legitimate baby bump now.  It's pretty small and only noticeable when I wear tight clothing, but it's there.  I still get bloated and by the end of the day my belly feels huge, but this is the photo I took right when I woke up this morning, before eating anything.  Trevor took the picture, I should give credit where credit is due since he was less than thrilled to have a camera thrown at him the second he opened his eyes.

It looks like I'm slouching, but I'm really not, just the belly starting to stick out.  Cheese still tastes particularly good...and sweet corn, I could eat that all day.  I guess it's been a pretty uneventful week, but I'm perfectly fine with that.

Trevor and I are going to Hawaii next week.  I'm really looking forward to the vacation, just not the journey there.  We have a layover on our way there and back and I am not a fan of those at all.  I have to get up and walk around every hour and a half to prevent blood clots because of all the extra blood pregnancy creates.  Better yet, our flight home departs at 10pm so I'll be up all night walking around the plane, pretty exciting, eh?  Anyway, this leads me to this week's pregnancy question: What are your best tips for travel during pregnancy?  Oh, and thanks to everyone for the answers to the weekly questions both on the blog and in private.  It's been fun to get the input from all of you!

-A

14 weeks

For the most part, this has been a good week.  I've discovered two favorites, can't say I'd call them cravings, but I now really love eating slices of mild cheddar cheese and salad (specifically the kind you get at a salad bar with shredded carrots and cabbage, right? that's cabbage?) with French dressing.  Those are some pretty good favorites if I do say so myself.

I've been getting lightheaded at times, usually in the morning, so I try to make it a point to get plenty of fluids.  I let myself have one big glass of the Lipton sweetened iced tea a day (ok occasionally 2 glasses) then the rest is usually water.  I drink that sparkling water like nobody's business; the burps make me feel better if I need it, too.  My appetite in general seems to be getting better, thankfully, now I just try to stay on top of making healthy choices.  Some days I would love a nice, big sandwich piled with cold deli ham, but I'm following the no lunch meat rule.  Some people say it's fine, but I think I'll survive without it.

Overall I've been feeling pretty good, less tired, less nauseous.  In fact, Sunday night I stopped taking my Unisom.  Monday afternoon I started to feel kind of crummy and as soon as I got home from work I threw up, and it was a doozy.  First time I threw up from actually feeling crappy and not from gagging.  So, that night I was back on the Unisom, but I think the combination of food/fluid loss and having been off the meds, I still wasn't feeling right on Tuesday.  I went into work Tuesday morning at 8, left at 8:30 and threw up by 8:45.  I have been taking the 1/2 Unisom every night and have been feeling just fine, so I figure I'll give it another couple weeks.  I don't want to jinx it, but my gagging problem seems to be improving a bit, not a lot, just a bit.  Speaking of jinxing, I haven't wanted to mention this either, but here it goes.  My acne has been at its worst in recent years.  I was even given a few different medications for it (that I had to stop when trying to conceive).  I assumed it would go hog wild after stopping the prescriptions, especially getting pregnant right away, but by some miracle my skin has been clearer than it's been in a long time.  I realize I have a long way to go yet and that could change at any time, but I'll take it for now!

They say frequent urination typically goes away in your second trimester then comes back in the third.  I'm excited to announce I only had to get up in the middle of the night to pee 4/7 nights the past week!  Such a big accomplishment.  And I think that's all the excitement I've got for now.  I took two pictures this week because I've been getting a few comments here and there about my "bump."  I'm certainly not offended, but I wanted to prove that my "bump" is actually bloat.  I'm rounding out just a tad, but anything noticeable to others at this point is bloating.  The first photo I took right when I woke up and the second I took around 5pm after eating a couple meals and snacking.  See the difference? :)

P.S. anyone else who's documented a pregnancy in photos find it very difficult not to suck your belly in? 

This week's first time mom question: I'm almost positive we'll skip the crib bumpers, but just out of curiosity what are your thoughts on them?

-A

13 weeks

Call it what you want: 13 weeks, 3 months, 2nd trimester-we've made it.  It's actually kind of weird not having this pregnancy be a secret anymore.  I think we both got so used to it being a secret it started to feel normal.  We're certainly very appreciative of all the congratulations and excitement though.  And what a relief to even make it this far (a long way to go yet, I know!). 

Symptoms have been about the same this week as last week.  No gag barfing in the last week though.  Gagging, absolutely, just not causing me to throw up.  I've actually started to occasionally gag on nothing, just randomly happens.  I'm finding it difficult to drink plain water, so I drink carbonated water (the non sugary kind, just plain sparkling water-the burping makes me feel better, too) or water with sliced cucumbers in it.  I'm still needing the half a Unisom at night and still getting up to pee in the middle of the night, but it's tolerable.  In general I haven't felt quite as tired as I did a few weeks ago, but it still hits me every so often.  Yesterday I could hardly keep my eyes open all afternoon.  The weather today was much nicer than it's been so I was able to get out for a walk.  My appetite comes and goes.  I can eat snacks all day (I try to keep it healthy with apples, bagels, cucumbers) but actual meals, especially supper, just don't sound good.  I'm hoping that goes away soon.

Now that we're past the 1st trimester, this is all starting to feel more real.  We've discussed names (don't even ask! and while you're whining about that we're not finding out the sex either) and have decided on a "theme" for the nursery (ocean).  Right now what will be the nursery is more like one giant storage closet, something we'll need to tackle in the coming months.  Things I'm irrationally worried about: where and when to have a baby shower and what if Trevor is at class in Mankato and I need to get to the hospital (also in Mankato).

That's about all I've got for this week.  Oh, and for those of you reading this who can answer some first time mom questions for me...here's number one: What's your best pregnancy tip/advice?

  I should stop taking these after I eat.  It may appear there's a bump, but I think it's just post-eating bloat.  Correct me if you think I'm wrong.

-A

Second OB Appointment, 12.5 weeks

Hooray!!  OK, so we're a few days shy of the official 2nd trimester, but we're calling it good.  We just had our second OB appointment today and all is well!

For those of you just finding this out, obviously, we're pregnant.  Click here to read from the beginning.  If you skip that part, let me just tell you I won't be posting these to Facebook (to spare everyone the pregnancy details if they're not interested) but you can type your email address in the "Follow by Email" box to get updates when there's a new post.  I've been taking "belly" photos, but really there's nothing to see yet.  I was pretty bloated for a while, it went down, now I think it's back, but I'm not sure I can call it a baby bump yet.

Baby Gibbs is due January 25, 2013.  If you do the math, it will appear I got pregnant before Trevor got home.  For those of you who haven't been down this road yet, they start counting pregnancy with the first day of your period, not when you actually got pregnant.  But, again if you do the math, we really didn't waste any time!

Here is the post about our first appointment.  As for today's appointment, it was a quick one.  Well, after almost an hour and a half of waiting it was quick, gotta love the doctor's office!  The doctor came in, asked a few questions, then got out the doppler.  She assured us sometimes it takes a little bit to find the heartbeat, but it really didn't take long at all, phew!  A solid 160 beats per minute and we were happy :) As for symptoms, they've been gradually getting better the last couple weeks...for the most part.  I'm off the Zofran completely and surviving on half a Unisom in the evening.  Luckily, my "morning sickness" is actually "evening sickness" and Unisom helps with nausea and happens to be a sleep aid-works very well.  My boobs are sore, especially when I wake up, but I can deal with that.  My gag reflex is as bad as ever.  That's the only thing that's caused me to actually throw up...6 times now.  I gag on pills or food quite a bit, but if I gag twice-bad news!  Fatigue is getting better, but I'm getting the occasional headache and lightheaded at times, usually after a shower.  All in all, much more manageable than a few weeks ago!

We quickly started making phone calls and it's been so fun to share the news!  For those of you who continue reading, I'll be posting some first time mom questions-I'm sure I'll have plenty-I'd love some input in the comments.

-A

10 weeks, 4 days

No photo with this post.  I've been procrastinating the post because I've been waiting to take a photo, but that's just not happening.  No worries, there's really nothing to see yet aside from varying levels of bloating.  The good news is that by varying levels of bloating I mean it's actually gone down some.  Let me back up a bit...

A couple days after that first appointment we headed to visit family in Wisconsin.  I had been feeling pretty good minus the constipation issue.  I was still in need of nausea relief so I was taking Zofran, but the side effects of that were no good.  I decided to give it a shot without Zofran and have now been off it for about 10 days.  Throughout the day I feel good enough without it (at least to make it worth getting rid of that yucky side effect), but evenings are no fun.  Evening sickness is probably better than morning sickness because I can be lazy and just go to bed.  Also, I've started taking Unisom to help with that which is a sleep aide, much better to be taking that at night than in the morning.  All in all I've been feeling pretty darn good, relatively speaking.  I have to really make an effort to drink plenty of fluids and my appetite isn't completely normal, but I don't feel like death all day.  Oh, one more fun tidbit:  my gag reflex is awful.  I gag on my pills, supper, yogurt, when flossing my teeth, you name it.  Twice I've thrown up from gagging, not nausea, gagging. 

Less than two weeks til our next appointment.  I'm feeling pretty good about things, but still anxious to make sure there's still a solid heartbeat!  I'm sure I'll be nervous in one way or another the whole time, but I'm hoping my mind will be at ease to know we made it to 12.5 weeks and all is well.  And, bonus, that's when all of this stops being a secret.  CAN'T WAIT.  We have a couple get togethers/parties coming up that are going to be very tricky to hide.  I can come up with excuses not to drink, but no hot tubs, no slip n slides, no water skiing/tubing and no drinking get a little obvious.

I'll do better on an 11 week photo this Friday.

-A

First Ultrasound - 8 weeks, 5 days

Holy cow!  Waiting for that first ultrasound will fill anyone up with anxiety.  Waiting for it after having a previous miscarriage, one that came with no symptoms, seemed impossible!  But today finally came and here's how it went.

I went with Trevor to Mankato this morning and while he was in class I got to hang out with Angie and her girls.  I was pretty nervous and ended up spilling the beans.  Trevor and I had lunch at Noodles when he was done with class.  The first appointment for our last pregnancy was exactly one year ago and I ate at Noodles then, too.  I was hoping it would bring us some good "come full circle" luck.  We still had 2 hours to kill after lunch, so we went to the mall for a little bit.  After one hour we decided to just go to the clinic early and wait there, maybe we could even get seen early.  

I knew the drill at the clinic, and that the ultrasound part comes at the very end of this ridiculously long appointment.  First, the Medical Assistant called me in for some basic vitals.  My blood pressure was 122/64 and my pulse was 78, both of those are actually fairly high for me.  I wonder why...

The Medical Assistant sent me back to the waiting room for what felt like an eternity.  I'm sure it wasn't.  The next step was both of us meeting with the OB Nurse Educator.  She went over prenatal health and took a thorough medical history for Trevor, me and our families.  She answered a few questions about pregnancy "rules" then we were sent back to the waiting room.  Funny side note: I had to go to the bathroom pretty badly at this point, so she showed me the bathroom on the way back to the waiting room.  After I went to the bathroom, my doctor's nurse stopped me on the way out.  Typically the lab is the last stop, but I think they were filling time and wanted to send me down there now, before seeing the doctor.  We went down to the lab for blood work and, you guessed it, a urine sample.  Luckily, a pregnancy symptom is frequent urination so there was no problem.

We came back up to the waiting room...again...and we both were getting really anxious.  Trevor was focusing all of his energy on random cell phone games.  I couldn't focus on anything.  I was freezing when we arrived and was wearing a sweatshirt, but quickly started sweating and took it off.  

Finally...we were called in to see the doctor.  But, of course, doctors' time is more valuable than ours so once in the exam room, we still had to sit and wait.  Between big gaps of silence, we both expressed how we were anxious and nervous, but excited to finally be at this part of the exam.  Our OB came in and immediately said congratulations-something we've both been hesitant to accept thus far.  She asked how we were doing and I may have jumped down her throat with my, "NERVOUS."  She had read the medical history from the previous pregnancy and was very understanding.  She said she'd try to do the first part (talking part) as quickly as possible so we could get to the next part.  And she did just that.  Honestly, I don't even remember what we discussed, some brief medical history stuff, the last pregnancy, probably something else.  Then she brought in the ultrasound machine and it was time to change into my "paper towel" as Trevor called it.

First she did all the basics of a regular pelvic exam.  Then, first exciting thing, she confirmed my uterus has expanded (this is good!).  And finally, time for the big show!  The doctor got the ultrasound machine all set up, had Trevor stand by my side where he could see the screen and it was go-time.  She had to move around quite a bit at first (probably checking for quantity since I expressed that as one of my questions) then there we saw it, heartbeat and all.  I knew I saw the heartbeat before she said anything, but I kept it to myself.  I was afraid she'd correct me or something so I just waited.  At last, she said "I saw the heartbeat," and I said "me too" and the tears started flowing.  I still needed to know what the heart rate was and how baby was measuring, but this was huge hurdle number one.  Moving right along, she pointed out baby's head and arm while taking measurements.  Then she turned on the audio so we could hear the precious 172 beats per minute for ourselves.  Enter more tears.  She printed a few photos for us, honestly don't look like much to me on the photos (was much clearer on her moving screen), but I can pick out the head and arm.  But we know what we saw and we couldn't be more relieved.  A few noteworthy phrases from Dr. Carlson today were that baby looked "awesome," we "couldn't have had a more reassuring scan," and I don't remember the exact wording but we both know she said the word "perfect" a few times.  One of the photos says baby is measuring 8 weeks 4 days (one day off, no biggie at all), and the other says 8 weeks 5 days (right on schedule).  I can't express the excitement and relief, so instead I just want to keep typing about it, but I think you all get the point (reading this a few weeks after the fact).  Just for funzies-here's a close up of on of the photos we got:

The two plus signs indicate where the doctor is measuring, head to rump.  Left side is the head, and you can see an arm sticking up on top in the middle.  

Now we're both exhausted after such a long, emotionally draining (exciting!) day, so it's bedtime!

8 weeks, 1 day

I was home all day yesterday, but just too tired to write anything.  This week started out awful.  I had just started the Zofran which was helping, but I think my "morning" sickness was getting worse at the same time.  I was in a vicious cycle of needing the Zofran to be able to function at all, but I forgot how quickly that stuff made me constipated.  Let's just say it was a long weekend.  Luckily, the last couple of days I've been able to reduce the Zofran to three 4mg pills per day (instead of 4) and I actually feel decent.  Not great, decent.  I still take a nap whenever possible and get tired about 8pm, but this I can actually handle...with the help of Zofran that is.  My chest seems to keep growing and getting more sore, but I can handle that, too.  The feeling awful is the only thing really bringing me down right now.

I wore maternity pants for the first time on Thursday because I am SO BLOATED.  I truly think it's way too early for any type of baby bump, this is all the result of a high-carb diet (to settle my stomach) and some bloating/water retention.  

I had totally been slacking on household stuff, so today I was very pleased to be able to vacuum, do laundry, and empty the dishwasher.  That's about all the excitement I've got for this week.  We've graduated from an embryo to a fetus for those wondering what's actually happening.  I think we're both just getting really anxious for our first appointment (and ultrasound) on Wednesday!  All I want to hear is that everything looks okay.

7 weeks

My how things can change in a week.  The symptoms seem to be kicking in a bit more this week.  I feel more bloated-almost broke down and started wearing some of the maternity pants I've got stashed away, but instead I've gotten away with fastening my regular pants with a hair tie.  My chest has grown and gotten more sore.  I feel like I need naps even more.  And, the worst of all, my nausea has really kicked in, so much that I broke down and started taking the Zofran I have left from last time.  I haven't actually thrown up, but in some ways I feel like it's worse than having the flu.  At least with the flu you feel awful, throw up and have some relief, even if it doesn't last long.  With this, I just feel lousy all the time.  Oh, and I have a yeast infection-more common during pregnancy.  (I wasn't lying when I said this is where I'll put all the fun pregnancy stuff)

Trevor's been great-trying to keep anything that might smell bad away from me and not complaining that I'm too lazy to put laundry away.  He also spent all day today doing yardwork (fertilizing and weed killing) while I napped inside because I can't be around anything that kills weeds.  

Speaking of symptoms, it's getting to be my bedtime.  Here's this weeks picture...still nothing to see.

6 weeks

Apparently baby is the size of a blueberry today.  No major changes in the last week, but some legitimate pregnancy symptoms are slowly but surely creeping up on me.  I've started to get a little heartburn after eating and a tad nauseous (aka morning sickness) on a really empty stomach, at bedtime and when waking up.  So, I have been having a small bedtime snack and eating something right when I wake up to help with that.  I'm glad it's the weekend because I should be able to take a nap for the next three days-so much excitement ;)

Speaking of excitement, I'm still very excited about this and, honestly, feeling really good about everything.  However, I am starting to get a little more anxious for our first ultrasound since we're approaching the same time frame as our miscarriage.  Actually, our first appointment is one year exactly after our first appointment last time.  I went in at just shy of 8 weeks last time and heart the heartbeats (2) but then 8 days later went back and there were no heartbeats.  Our ultrasound this time will be at just shy of 9 weeks and I'm hoping she'll do another one a week or two after that to help reassure me the same thing won't happen again.

I imagine I'll say something to this effect with each post until we can announce everything, but to those of you I've avoided/spoken to recently, I'm so sorry I/we haven't told you.  Trust me, it's killing me, but at least until the first ultra sound I just want to keep it a secret.  We both do.  It's hard to explain unless you've been there, but even our very closest friends and family don't know.  I had a discussion with a friend about pregnancy after miscarriage and it's not even that we'd keep it a secret if we miscarried again, but we want to be able to tell people when we're ready to tell them.  We don't want to be obligated to keep telling everyone to make sure everyone gets the message.  We don't want to miss telling someone and, later, have them ask about the pregnancy (it happened last time very shortly after the fact and again near the due date).  And we don't want to have to comfort others about the news when we should be comforting each other.  I know, I hope it doesn't happen and like I said I truly am feeling really good about it, but we just want to be cautious.  So, there's my big pre-apology.  Sorry we lied, but we know you can forgive us :)

Anyway, that's about all for now!  Oh, and the picture, even though there won't be anything to see for a while...besides some bloating/water retention.

5 weeks

Not much to update this week, and I guess it hasn't even been a week since my last post anyway.  My symptoms are very slowly increasing and pretty different from last time.  I'm starting to get tired every afternoon (ok, that's about the only part that isn't different) and I take a nap on my days off work.  I get teary-eyed really easily.  I've started to feel just a tiny bit nauseous around bedtime and have had some really mild heartburn a couple times.  Very unlike last time, it takes a lot for me to feel full.  I just want to keep eating!  The biggest thing about all of this so far is just that it's really hard not to tell people!  

Apparently this baby is about the size of a small pea now and growing quickly.  Even though there's no baby bump yet (and probably won't be for quite a while), here's the 5 week photo.  Yes, there is a bump, but that's just a whole lot of bloating!

  

Oh, one more thing.  Those of you who have been pregnant (more specifically, those of you who have tried to get pregnant) are probably familiar with desperately searching for that second line on the pregnancy test.  Although I thought there was no way possible I'd get pregnant this cycle, I still got the positive pretty darn early.  Luckily, it doesn't matter and a line is a line, no matter how faint!  This was the first test I took last week.

And, just for fun, I took a different (and less sensitive) test yesterday.

That's all for now!

-A

4 weeks, 2 days

Holy cow.  We successfully hid my pregnancy at Jaqua's wedding and our big party.  There were some awesome hosted drinks at the wedding, and it would be pretty strange for me to turn that down.  So, I got a few drinks and would pretend to drink (backwash, basically) and when John and Mari weren't looking Trevor would take a big swig.  It appeared no one noticed, phew!

As for the party, that was going to be a little more difficult.  I drank water for the first few hours, telling everyone I overdid it at the wedding and needed to hydrate a bit.  I truly was tired so pulling off the sluggish hungover thing wasn't too difficult.  After a while, I started drinking.  The master plan was that I had a cooler of NA beer in our bedroom closet, and when I would go to the bathroom, I would also go into our bedroom and refill my own cup.  

Luckily, no one suspected.  At least I don't think anyone did.  I didn't get offered any shots, played beer pong with my NA beer and even switched to water at the end of the night so I "wouldn't get the spins."  In some ways I may be a bit paranoid about people figuring it out, but everyone's always on the lookout.  Rhya looked at me funny twice throughout the night thinking something I had said meant baby on the way.  Both times I just held up my beer and said something to the effect of "ahh... no!"  But, if any of you felt neglected or ignored at the welcome home party, my apologies.  The more I ignored you, the harder it was to keep it a secret from you.  Consider it a compliment.

I look like I have about a 4 month pregnant belly thanks to being bloated (pregnancy+eating all the awesome food people brought).  I'm tired, but we've been on the go since Thursday afternoon so that could explain it, too.  I'm pretty gassy, but I have eaten a lot of food and did have some NA beers so that could explain it.  My sense of smell is pretty fierce and after a big party like this I wish that weren't the case.  I feel like our whole house smells like a rotten, moldy, beer-soaked foot.  All in all my symptoms aren't too bad yet, but I'm just getting started.  It's interesting how different these pregnancies are already.  Last time this time (or even earlier, I got a positive test at 3.5 weeks) I was so miserably sick feeling, exhausted and had no appetite.  This time I'm already having to really watch what I eat because I just don't want to stop!

I'm procrastinating taking a belly photo because I'm so bloated, but I don't think that will be going away anytime soon.  There won't actually be any baby belly to see for a while, but I'm interested to see how it grows.  I may eat my words once I start getting bigger!

Got the first doctor appointment scheduled for June 20 and I'm pretty darn excited Trevor will be able to come along.  I'm very anxious to see our doctor and make sure everything is okay.  I'm almost positive June 20 was the exact day of our appointment last year where we found out we were pregnant with twins.  My gut tells me it's just one, but I'm also anxious to ask her "so, how many?" 

-A 

Here we go again! (4 weeks)

I don't think it's any secret that Trevor and I miscarried last June (2011).  I was carrying twins and to those of you who didn't know, sorry you're reading it here.  It's sad, always will be, but we're doing okay.  Actually...we're doing great!  We're already onto round two!

Here's how it's gone so far... Oh, and I might add, we'll be putting all the mushy gushy pregnancy stuff here, so proceed at your own risk :)  I realize not everyone thinks that stuff is cool so I'll mostly be keeping it off my Facebook and the other blog.

Trevor got home on May 4, 2012, a couple days too late to give this baby stuff a try...or so we thought.  We literally got pregnant the day he got home.  This past week, my period wasn't coming, but I didn't feel any different and took a test (Dollar Tree tests are the best by the way-seriously, plus they're cheap!) and it was negative.  Still no period, took another test-negative.  Yesterday Trevor and I went to Jon & Moe's for their groom's dinner.  Trevor stayed up there and is golfing with Jon right now.  On the way home I thought to myself, just take another test, who cares they're only $1.  So I did.  Now I've gotten pretty good at creating lines where they aren't, but this was no hallucination.  I am pregnant.  I called Trevor and told him I had a question and I didn't want Jon or Moe to hear his answer so he moved to another room.  Then I just told him.  This is all very surreal because we thought we had missed the chance this month.  So I took a photo of the test which makes the faint line even harder to see and sent it to him.  Three photos to be exact.  No response.  I'm in panic mode.  So, I text it to Tosha who has become a pretty good line inspector herself.  She confirmed it-two lines!  Then Trevor responded and agreed (I thought for sure he would say he didn't see it).  Trevor even asked Jon (a pretty logical dude and an OB-GYN at that) and he saw two lines, too.  WOW.  This is happening.

So, for fun, I took another one this morning and it was just a tad darker.  For those of you who have never tried to get pregnant, peeing on a stick may become a hobby (especially at only $1 a pop) when your time comes.  I did the math and I'm exactly 4 weeks today.  I never knew how pregnancy was actually calculated until I was pregnant myself.  Mini lesson: day 1=the first day of your period, approx day 14 or 2 weeks=ovulation and by the time you can actually take a test and find out you're pregnant you're about 4 weeks along.

Naturally, with everything we've been through, I'm nervous!  But I already feel different this time around (which may or may not mean a darn thing), so I'm just letting myself be excited about it all.  No symptoms so far (in the 10 hours I've known haha) other than some very minor cramping.  And, yes, that's normal.  I already called to get a referral to the OB we had last time because she was super amazing all around.  My next big pregnancy task is figuring out how to hide not drinking at Jon and Moe's wedding tonight and Trevor's welcome home party tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

-A