I almost forgot!

Last night I felt some flutters!  I haven't felt any since then.  Today is my 17 week mark.  Hoping for more flutters or some big kicks sometime soon!

Happy New Year! (Almost)

It's New Year's Eve today.  Paul has a stomach bug and I have a cold.  We are kind of camping out and watching movies.  I ordered pizza and he's just trying to keep water down.  Poor guy!

It has been a great year!  It was fun visiting all of our family and extended family periodically throughout the year.  The Alaska trip was a once in a lifetime trip that I will never forget.  Graduating with the MBA in December was perfect timing with the baby on the way in June.  Lots to be thankful for as usual.

I had a Dr. appt this week and they said my blood pressure is perfect, 115/75 and my iron went up because I changed my diet!  Woohoo, no iron supplements for me!  I haven't had many side effects.  I remember when all of my sickness disappeared around 9 weeks and I was like, that is strange!  It was off and on before then.  Every time it disappeared I would freak out.  Now I'm happy to not be sick.  I hope I don't catch Paul's bug!  I can't imagine having a cold AND a stomach bug, eeek.

So now, all I have is itchy skin and I'm tired all the time.  Time to go reapply moisturizer!  Happy New Year - sparking grape juice, here I come!

Christmas Break!

It was nice to have a few weeks off of work.  I went on a cruise to the Bahamas with my mom.  That was a good time.  Then we spend Christmas at our house in Raleigh and we had a huge snow storm.   We ended up with 8" of snow and mom was stranded for a few days.  All flights were canceled.  Oooh well!

Today I had a prenatal appointment with the OB (Dr. Gunter).  Everything was fine!  Heart rate was around 144.  I gave them a little blood sample for some screening test and was on my way.  I made the gender determination appointment for the 21st of Jan!  Can't wait for that appointment!!!!! I had to negotiate with him on the date... :)

Today is 16 weeks and 5 days.  I'm feeling pretty good!  I've been a little tired and I can't sleep well at night.  Also, I'm starting to get itchy.  I have gained almost 7 pounds so far, so I need to watch what I eat!

Last week appointment and announcements!

On 07 Dec 2010, I had my next prenatal appointment.  Dr. Placide was very nice!  We have met him in the past.   He listened to the baby's heart beat and said everything sounded perfect.  The only downer was that my iron is low.  I have to eat more meats and beans and broccoli and less dairy.  I was eating cereal for almost every meal and I think it was inhibiting iron absorption.

Anyway, this past weekend, we announced to family, friends, work, and facebook!  Extended family was first, of course, then work.  I made my announcement at The Pit for our holiday party.  It was fun!  Then I put it on facebook over the weekend.  The comments and notes were flying in!  I loved it.  :)  In 24 hours I had 47 messages!  Crazy!!!!

Anyway, I'm pretty tuckered and I have to finish a final exam.  THEN NO MORE SCHOOL!!!  WOOHOOOOOOO!!!  That's all for now!

Neato dream!

I had a cute dream last night that I had a nice big baby boy with big chubby cheeks!!!  hahahaha.  Loved it!

It's been awhile!

I thought I would start an update!  I feel like my immune system is shot!  I have a horrible sinus infection.  I left work early today and went to the minute clinic.  The nurse told me that half of my face is swollen and this is above her level of care.  She told me to go to urgent care and not risk anything while pregnant.

Shortly after, Paul called Suzanne and she said that it wasn't necessary unless I have a high fever, blurry vision, or dizziness.  Thus, I just went home, popped some Tylenol, drank lots of water, and I'll be going to bed soon.

Other than this illness, I've been having lots of headaches and my first migraine at 10 weeks.  Paul was so sweet! He made me ice packs and gave me a massage.  I haven't had a second one, so that is good!!!

I'm going to get to bed and try to work a full day tomorrow.

2nd Ultrasound 9w3d

Today was my second ultrasound.  Paul was able to come today (very exciting).  When we were waiting in the waiting room and Paul was snooping through all the drawers and playing with the equipment.  I couldn't get him to sit in his corner and wait! AHH!


So the Dr. came into the exam room (Dr. Gaines).  He did a full body exam and then started the u/s.  The little baby only measured 8w5d.  MORE STRESS.  What the heck?  Over 1w6d, the baby only grew only 1w1d.  The doctor wasn't concerned but obviously I am.  I asked him to measure the heart rate and he said, "I don't know how to do that.  I'm the oldest Dr. here."  I was like, okay grandpa, maybe it's time to retire if you can't fulfill the proper OB exam requirements?  Ugh, anyway, he was a very nice guy, but geesh.  He also took the time to explain things to us and draw us pictures of how the baby was oriented in the u/s.  That was also nice of him.  Anyway, my next appointment won't be until next month.  Pray for healthy times!

Freak out!

I had my first freak out experience on Tuesday.  I realized that all of my symptoms were gone in the morning.  Something didn't seem right because I didn't feel the need to puke.  SO, I got a bit stressed out, took another pregnancy test, and the line turned a FAINT positive.  I have taken a million tests to know it wasn't supposed to be faint!  I called the OB and they were able to fit me in during the day for a checkup.  Unfortunately, Paul was not able to come because he was working in WV.  My FIRST ultrasound was alone but it was WORTH IT.

The doctor (Dr. Anderson) started the ultrasound and said, "awww, look at the little baby!"   I said, "REALLY?  WHERE?"  haha I had no idea what I was looking for.  He wrote on the ultrasound, "Head" and "Feet".  It was SO COOL!!! The baby measured perfectly with where he/she was supposed to be.  ALSO, I could hear the heartbeat.  It was 160 BPM, so I've heard that could mean that we're having a girl.  :)  I guess only time will tell!

So I left the doctor's office and scheduled my next ultrasound for November  5th.  Paul will hopefully come to that one.  As soon as I got into the parking lot, I felt sick again!  Nausea is back!

The latest :)

Time to catch up from the last week...  Tuesday we had our midterm (our very last midterm!)  I was one of the first ones done.  I was way stressed about it and didn't need to be because I studied a ton.  Glad that is over. 

On Thursday after work, Paul and I went to the Fair.  The food smell made my tummy turn upside down.  Normally I would be all about eating some junk food.  All week I was REALLY wanting some deep fried pumpkin pie.  When we got to the fair, the thought of eating anything fried made me sick.  We ate a bit of food and then got a caricature.  I can't wait to show it to everyone.  I told the artist that I am early in pregnancy and I would love to announce to my family that I'm pregnant with a caricature cartoon picture.  She thought it was a great idea and she did a really nice job!  Maybe we'll put it on a Christmas card.  hahaha  Everyone at the Fair was watching her as she drew her picture and painted the color.  They saw the big picture of my tummy and a lot of jaws dropped.  One lady said, "YOU'RE USING THAT TO ANNOUNCE?  THAT IS SUCH A CUTE IDEA!"   I'm very excited!!!

Next we went into the barns to look at animals.  Not a good idea when you're sensitive to smell.  I had to plug my nose and run out the door to breath, otherwise I would have tossed my cookies.    I can't wait to not feel sick!

That's all for now... :)

Studied all day

Paul and I had a busy day today.  The alarm went off at 6AM for mass, then we planned to study all day! FUN!  We studied until 5PM, then it was dinner time.  Paul wanted Applebees, which was fine with me.  First I wanted a fried chicken salad... then I saw it - the provolone stuffed meatballs caught my eye!  Mmmm sounded really good!  I ordered it, then 2 minutes later the thought of eating that made me feel sick.  Poor Paul... He'll always end up eating all of the food that I can't eat.  :)  I promise it sounded REALLY good to me at one point!

First day of week 6! Started out with a "pop"...

I made some hard boiled eggs this morning.  I haven't made hard boiled eggs in years but I love them!  After I boiled them for ~20 minutes I put them on ice to cool them (and make them easy to peel!)  After I peeled an egg and was about to eat it, I got paranoid that it might not be cooked all the way.  I threw it in the microwave for 15 seconds, just to be safe.  When I cut into it, it exploded!  EGG EVERYWHERE!  Live and learn...

End of Week 5, Starting week 6!

Tomorrow starts week 6 for me!  How exciting.  So far I have been super tired and had a bit of sickness during the afternoons.  The sickness has not been bad, and maybe lasts for 15 minutes.  I've heard that the sickness really kicks in at 6 weeks, so we'll see how tomorrow goes!

I met with the OB coordinator yesterday.  I filled out a bunch of paperwork and talked about some genetic testing.  I declined pretty much all 'additional' birth defect tests.  I have LOADS of stuff to read, 'baby talk' magazines, pregnancy magazines, etc...  Oh, the nurse told me that diet drinks are fine in moderation, so I guess now I have conflicting info.  I'll talk to the doctor about it at my first ultrasound on October 28th!

Denali has been VERY attentive lately.  I wonder if she can sense that something is coming?  :)

Visiting the Family

Paul and I traveled to Cinci over the weekend for the family reunion.  It was a great time except I was SUPER DUPER tired all the time.  Oh, also, I had to go to the bathroom every 2 hours (day and night!)  I was thinking people were getting suspicious! :) 

Saturday evening my sister-in-law asked me if I was pregnant. hahahaha.  She said, "You had a look in your eye!"  Basically, she could read it on my face.  I hated to fib and say that I wasn't pregnant, but I promised hubs that I'd keep the secret until Thanksgiving!

Oh, not only that, she mentioned that Mexican cheese is bad to eat when you're pregnant! JUST LAST FRIDAY, I ate Mexican Queso and it was soooo goood.  But I freaked out.  I had to Google it to see what the risk is.  It is a pretty low risk for anything to go wrong, so I felt better.  I won't eat that again though.  I googled all of the foods that I can't eat when I'm pregnant.  I didn't know that I couldn't have diet drinks!  I'm going to get so fat haha.  I guess I'll just have water from now on.  I've been craving OJ too, and that is safe. :)

Cravings = OJ, extra sharp cheddar cheese, spicy foods!  Everything else tastes bland to me now.

My first visit with the OB coordinator is on Thursday - I can't wait!

Movies and Other Stories

Funny story!  Paul and I had a date night last weekend.  We went to go see "The Social Network".  Before the movie, I asked him, "So, what do you think our kids will look like."  He responded with a funny grin, "BIG GERMAN HEADS!"  Hilarious!  We both have big German heads!


 Oh, I also told my manager at work the other day.  The look on his face was priceless!  He was NOT expecting that at all.  I went into his office, closed the door and popped out a picture of a positive pregnancy test.  I didn't say a word, I just watched his face as he studied it.  He said, "So this means positive I'm guessing?"  He was very happy for us!  I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL EVERYONE!!!!! :) :) :)

Oh, also this week, I got my first two blood tests (HCG).  #1 was 362, #2 was 717 == going up!  That's a good thing.

That's all for now.  :)  Mama is sleepy!

Another day - super tired!

Yesterday I took another test - it looks like the line is getting darker:)  I think that is a good sign!

I'm SOOOO tired.  I have to study for this certification exam on Saturday and I have zero energy.  I'm really not going to like getting up at 5AM on Saturday to drive to take that exam!!

Oh, also... I got the flu shot today.  I called my doctor's office to make sure it is okay and she said she recommends it.

I joined babycenter.com today.  There is a ton of good information on there, and I joined a 'focus group' for all moms who are due in June 2011.  Woohoo!

It's true!

Yesterday I decided to take a pregnancy test (5 days early) and there was a very faint line!  So yes, we are going to have a baby!  Last night when I was waiting for Paul to come home, I made some cinnamon buns!  When he walked in the door, I told him, "The bun is in the oven!"  He thought it was cute (and yummy).  We are very excited!!!