Babies First Picture

We FINALLY got to see and hear our little bambino yesterday. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. We of course had to wait forever at the doctor and I had to fill out a ton more paperwork, but then it was time for our ultrasound. I love the lady who does the ultrasounds because she is so peppy and happy. She remembered me from the first time I had an ultrasound which wasn't as happy as this visit. She was able to get a great picture from the belly ultrasound and we know it is definitely my child because bebe was moving around like crazy and waving its arms. The heartbeat was nice and strong at 162 bpm. I FINALLY feel better and I feel like we are closer to being in the clear and nothing going wrong, but I think instead of feeling relief Brent finally felt like this was all real. I have known it is real because I can feel it everyday, but it wasn't really real for him until he saw it. So here (she/ Joan says he) is.

Christmas Surprise

Week 9

I have been feeling much better this week. My nausea seems to have finally gone away I am horridly bored being stuck at home for Christmas break, but it is really nice to be able to rest whenever I want to. This week I got to spill the beans to Cary, Brett, and Laura Finally. I was supposed to go to lunch with Nicole, but she couldn't leave work so I haven't had a chance to tell her yet. 1 more day and the family will know and then 1 more week until the secret isn't a secret anymore. I just hope our appointment goes well next week. I hope everything is still in there and everything is ok.

Stash

I started my cloth diaper stash this weekend. I found 11 practically new tiny gpants on ebay and bid on those (crossing my fingers I win them). I bought 1 white and 1 green pain of small little g pants and I just bought 1 cute pair of Best Bottom cloth diapers with an overnight insert. I am getting really excited about using cloth diapers. It is cheaper then disposable diapers, I believe it is better for the baby because it doesn't have all of the chemicals disposable diapers have, and we won't be throwing away thousand of diapers over our child's lifetime. I am still not sure how I talked Brent into it (I didn't really give him a choice). When we start looking into child care this is something we will have to talk about because most daycares won't use cloth diapers, but I am hoping if I show them how easy they are then it won't be a problem. I am also thinking about finding someone to keep our baby at their home so maybe that will be easier. We have a while to decide all of that though. I keep obsessively checking my ebay to make sure noone has outbid me on my diapers! I want my tiny gpants!

Week 8

Yesterday was the beginning of week 8. Somehow being this far makes me feel better. I will feel even better once I get to see and hear my peanut. Nothing new to report. I am still feeling like shi~ and I am super tired. I fell asleep nauseous and with a headache last night around 8:30. Poor B slept on the couch (and will be there all week) because he is on call. I think I am going to let Cathy in on the secret today. I feel bad making her keep my secret, but I want her to know why I have been eating really weird food and been grumpy some days. The biggest change in my life as of right now is eating. I used to be a VERY healthy eater, I am slowly moving back to fruits and veggies, but all I can seem to eat right now is carbs. Bread, pasta, chips, ughhhhhhh! I am actually going to take a belly picture today since I skipped last week. I definitely have a pooch, but I think it is more bloating and from eating crap. I am trying to cover up my sea bands under a sweater today. I thought they might help me feel better throughout the day. I actually slept with them on last night and slept great! Hopefully this morning sickness starts getting better very soon. I think there might actually be a baby in there!!! That is either a baby, bloating, or eating too much crap! How You Doing Sick Sick Sick Tired All Day Bloated Cravings Nothing sounds good at the moment Weight 126.0 At Dr. last week (me thinks that was bloat and I normally weigh myself in the am, naked, after peeing so this is not an accurate description of my weight ; )

7 Weeks

Nothing too exciting this week. I had my Dr. appt. Wed., but it was kind of boring. They confirmed the pregnancy (thank you for waisting my money on that I think the nausea and being exhausted was a huge giveaway) No ultrasound yet. They scheduled me to come back Dec. 29 for the picture of le bebe. I need to take another picture to keep up with my weekly updates. We still haven't told anyone except for our parents, my sister, and my best friend Lis. We will start telling select people these next few weeks and then work after Christmas.

And so it begins!

I knew it was coming I just wasn't sure when, but it is here! Week 6 and morning sickness has set in! I started feeling bad Monday evening and then when I woke up. That has been the pattern ever since. I feel really bad in the mornings, crud in the afternoon, and complete shi& in the evenings. I finally called my Dr. yesterday after having a really bad night Wed. night and feeling horrible yesterday and they wrote me pass out on the couch and sleep all night. I have been taking a 1/2 a pill, but today it isn't working as well as it seemed too yesterday. I am going to hide my sea bands under sweaters for the next 2 weeks. I just feel sick all day long, but like I tell B it is a good thing because I feel like everything is still there. I just hope it passes quickly. How You Doin SICK!!! TIRED!!! Cravings Nothing sounds good at the moment. I am eating to live right now. Weight 123

Spilling the Beans Part Deux

I had it planned out since we starting trying to get pregnant how we would tell B's parents. I knew it would involve the dogs and shirts that said Big Brother and Big Sister. A few days before we told them I made the dog's shirts and shirts for B and I to wear when we told the rest of the family. We had called B's parents the day before and asked them if we could bring our dogs over to play with their dogs (we do the a lot). They said we could cook out and the dogs could wear each other out. I was getting ready to go over there and all of a sudden FIL called saying MIL wasn't feeling well so we weren't going to hang out, but we should come over and get some food to take home and cook. I went ahead and decided that we would go ahead and take the dogs and surprise them. We put the shirts on the dogs loaded them up and headed over. I went in first so I could tape her reaction. I kept waiting for B to bring the dogs back to the bedroom, but he had taken them outside for some reason so I had to go get them and bring them back. MIL was lying in bed and it took her a second to notice the dogs and how weird it was that they were wearing shirts. I had to pull Stella's shirt down so she could read what it said and then I had to tell her they said Big Brother and Big Sister! It was hilarious because her reaction was "What The Hell!!" Mind you she hardly ever cusses so hearing her say that and then instantly start crying was priceless. She was so mad at us for telling her when she was sick. I told her we were originally waiting to tell everyone after I had gone to the Dr., but since I had to push back my appt. twice and wasn't going to get to go until my birthday that we decided to go ahead and tell them. Now we will see how long my mom and MIL can keep the secret = ). We aren't telling anyone else (except a few of my friends) until Christmas and I won't tell work until after Christmas break. I can't wait for everyone to know, but I especially can't wait to hear and see my little bean.

Spilling the Beans

Before I tell the story of how we told everyone let me preface it with how long I have been thinking about telling everyone we were pregnant. Since we started trying I have had some idea of how I wanted to tell our parents, but that of course changed since then. I knew I wanted to use the dogs somewhere in this scenario and they will definitely play a role later on. We finally decided to tell our parents this weekend. I would be a little over 5 weeks and I knew we would all be together to decorate my parents tree because we always buy our trees the day after Thanksgiving. I had it all planned our I had made an ornament I was going to give to my parents when we were all done decorating. We met up with mom, dad, and Jen at Lowe's to pick out our trees and I kept trying to find out when we would decorate. At first my dad said something about not decorating that day, but then we decided we would head out to their house and decorate and hang out. Brent and I headed home to drop off out tree (we didn't do a very good job tying the tree down and were afraid it would fly off). I of course forgot the ornament so we had to stop to try to find the perfect ornament. We hit up Hallmark which had nothing, but we finally found a cute baby ornament in a purple outfit and a cute bag. We decorated the tree, put out Christmas lights, ate and just hung out. I wanted to wait until we were done decorating and everyone was together admiring the tree when I pulled out the ornament. I grabbed the ornament and handed it to my mom and told her I found an ornament for her. It didn't register at first until she opened the bag. She looked at the ornament, looked at me and said "It's a baby." I said "yes it's a baby." My mom said "We're having a baby!?" The best part was right as I handed my mom the bag my dad had just walked outside so when he walked back in we showed him the ornament. He said "What is it?" I said "It's a baby" My dad replied "A baby???" I finally had to tell him "We're having a baby!" It went even better then I thought it would go! We all sat around talking about everything. It was so surreal telling them. Now all we had to do was tell B's parents the next night.

5 Weeks

I was supposed to have my first Dr. appointment today, but now I need to call as soon as they open and reschedule. I am actually quite excited my assistant isn't coming in today because now I am going to try and schedule it on the 17 when we have a 1/2 day and I will be 8 weeks. I love how they try to get you to come in more then you really need to. They wanted to do a pregnancy confirmation appointment where I would do blood work, chlamydia testing (awesome!), pap, etc. but I would be too early for an ultrasound so it kind of seems pointless to go in at week 5 and then again a few weeks later at week 8 so hopefully I can get it all done at once. Trust me I know I am still pregnant. If I am not then there is something terribly wrong with my boobs and my uterus! We are still telling the parents this weekend. For my parents I am going to decorate a Christmas ornament that says Baby D Due July 2011. For his parents t-shirts for the dogs that say Big Brother and Big Sister. For the rest of the families we will tell them on Christmas with t-shirts that say "Does This Baby Make Me Look Fat?" and "She's Eating For 2. I'm Drinking For 3!" Now we are just waiting for the morning sickness monster to rear it's ugly head! I know it is coming because there is no way it's not going to happen. My motion sensitivity and how easily I get sick when non impregnated has to go one way or the other. 1). If you already suffer from this is must get worse 2). If you already suffer from this it shall get better with pregnancy. So once again we are just waiting. Waiting for morning sickness, waiting to see the Dr. so they can tell me everything is fine, waiting to tell the world, waiting to meet Baby D! Symptoms Boobies (enough said) Super Tired Super Hungry Slight Nausea Cravings Salad Chocolate Milk Weight 121.0

If You'r Going To Spew, Spew Into This

No one should be feeling nauseous when they are 4 weeks and 2 days pregnant! This is ridiculous. Mom wanted to go do some Birthday/Christmas shopping (which means I get to pick out my gifts ::score::). We hit Ross and Old Navy (my home away from home) and I got a bunch of stuff for my birthday. We checked out Charming Charlies next where I got a super cute dress. Before anymore shopping we ran to her house to eat some dinner. She offered me some deli meat which I think I tactfully turned down. I did ok at dinner and then found the mother load my mom was stashing away MINT SKINNY COW SANDWICHES! I found what I shall be craving for the next 9 months. After we ate we hit up Target and Marshall's (where I found an awesome black jacket for Christmas). While we were walking through Marshall's I got dizzy and nauseous. It's too soon! What does this mean for the future? The weird thing is (and you shall probably think me sick) I am kind of glad to be feeling these things because it makes it more real and makes me feel better that everything is ok. My stomach feels like I have been doing sit ups all day and I am already super tired, but like I said it makes it all feel real and it makes me feel like things are ok. I go in for my confirmation appointment Monday. I changed it from Friday because Cathy will be out that day and I panicked because I couldn't leave a substitute with all of my babies and make her deal with the craziness of a Friday dismissal. I am just DYING to tell someone! I want to tell my mom, dad, and sister this weekend since we will all be together and maybe tell his parents this weekend, but Brent wants to wait. I am definitely telling them before my parents leave for Aruba the week of my birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! What an amazing present God has given me for my 29 birthday.

4 weeks

I am officially 4 weeks today. I am still having cramping, but nothing too serious. It still doesn't feel real. I called my Dr. this morning and instead of having to tell them I needed the clomid I got to say "I am pregnant!" The lady was so nice and went ahead and scheduled me for this Friday since next Friday will be Thanksgiving break and she knew I couldn't wait that long. I am not sure if they will just do blood work or if they will so my first ultrasound. Either way it is exciting! Just to know everything is ok and progressing normally will be a huge weight off of my shoulders. I feel like I have the HUGE secret! I feel like everyone knows and that I am going to slip up and say something that gives me away. I almost told Cathy today that I had bought B a daddy to be book for Christmas. It is going to be the biggest relief when we feel sure enough to tell everyone. I think we are going to tell our parents and my sister around Thanksgiving or after Thanksgiving (6-8 weeks). We are going to put a picture on our Christmas cards to tell them. Then we will probably tell the rest of our families at Christmas (10 weeks). I think I might get some cute shirt that says Due on or around 07/25/2011. I know for sure I will wait until after we come back from Christmas Break to tell everyone at school (I will have to tell Cathy before that for sure). I am panicking right now just thinking about it. I will probably let it rip at our first Faculty meeting (That should cause quite a ruckus). I can't wait to tell Darlene that her dream about me being pregnant was dead on because I found out 2 weeks after she had the dream (freaky)! No Baby Bump Just Yet Symptoms Tired Super Hungry Cramping Slight Nausea Cravings Milk (preferably chocolate) Weight 121.0

Big News

I don't think I will ever be sure why I tested this Saturday (11/13/2010). We weren't even supposed to be home. We should have been in Nashville celebrating Kevin and Susan's baby shower, but thank goodness the shower was canceled. Saturday morning I woke up early just like I always do, made my coffee, ate some breakfast and got my lazy Saturday started. After a while Brent finally woke up and we decided to finally get up and get moving to do our errands. I was supposed to be getting in the shower and I don't know what I was thinking, but for some reason I just had this urge to take a pregnancy test. I wasn't late and I didn't even know if my timing was even close enough to take a test. I used one of my internet cheapies and I guess since I had never seen anything before, but stark whiteness when the second line popped up I kind of freaked out. Now I had this whole plan in my mind of how I was going to tell B. I was going to surprise him with Memphis onesies, a congratulations card, and the test, but that idea flew out the window right away. I opened the door and said "Baby I think I am pregnant!" Brent got up and said "What are you talking about?" "I think I am pregnant. Come look at the test!" He came and looked and I had to put the test down on the counter because my hands were shaking so bad. Brent of course couldn't see the line at first and my shaky fingers couldn't really point it out. I finally pulled out a different type oftest and tried that one. You could definitely see the line on that one. I think B was still in disbelief then because he kept telling me we should wait until this week and test again to which I told him he was crazy because I couldn't wait that long! Brent went and sat on the bed and I kept walking around like a goofy idiot. Finally I decided to get ready, but I couldn't even shower because I was still in such disbelief. After that I cried and we hugged and decided to go get a digital test to make sure. We ran our errands and our last stop was Target. I believe we made the most awkward purchase in Target history that day. 1 green and 1 red turtleneck for our Christmas Pictures and Pregnancy tests. I of course took it right when I got home and it took forever! Finally the word PREGNANT popped up. I think it finally started sinking in for Brent that this was really happening. There was more hugging and oh my gods! After that we just layed around in disbelief trying to wrap our heads around this new development in our lives. We had already made plans with our friends Jill and Ben and couldn't cancel. I wasn't even sure if I could act normal around other people, but I feel like I did ok. I felt really awkward when they first arrived at dinner because I felt like everyone knew my dirty little secret. I swear J kept looking at my belly, but that is just me being a nervous freak. The funny thing about us making plans with them is J and I have been hoping we could be pregnant together. Now I am just waiting for them to announce they are pregnant too so we can all celebrate. We of course haven't told anyone yet since I am still only a little over 3 weeks. I think we are both scared that this might not be a sticky baby for us. I am praying this is it and everything turns out ok. B is still being very cautious and it is so cute because every noise I make he keeps asking me if I am ok. I am feeling good just a little cramping. I am just waiting for all of the fun times to kick in (nausea, food aversion, sleeplessness, being super tired, and so on and so forth). And so it begins! We shall see what the future has in store for us! Test #1 IC and #2 FRER Test 3 (Seeing this made it feel real)

And Then There Were 3

The Good Life is going to be my way of cataloging the trials and tribulations of expanding our little family. Since this is our first time I am sure we are in for a few surprises. No going back now.