Update.

So much to update on!

Friday was my first OB appointment (so Brad came with me). We met our doctor for the first time and loved him. He was so friendly and seemed so on top of everything. Told me there is absolutely no reason that I should gain more than 20-25 pounds, so he wants me to keep an eye on that. Difficult during the holidays, but otherwise I'm totally on board.

We did a standard checkup, family history, etc, and then he casually mentioned that because I was on medication and my ovulation was a little delayed, we might want to schedule an ultrasound. Inside my head, I'm thinking "YES. Sign me up for that immediately! I was going to beg for one if you didn't offer it first" but externally I played it cool and said "yeah, I mean, if you think that's a good idea I think we might be interested". SCORE.

So Brad and I went next-door to the hospital and got set up for an ultrasound. Let me tell you - I was SO NERVOUS. But our doctor came over with us to make sure everything was okay (seriously. I really like this guy) and as soon as we saw the little jellybean (only one!) and a flicker of a heartbeat (such a relief!) he took off.
So without further ado, here is a picture of our beautiful growing baby!

They did some measurements and determined that I was 7 weeks along at that appointment. That puts me with an estimated due date around August 8th.

The doctor also eased my fears greatly when, after we saw the heartbeat, he said that our chance of first trimester miscarriage had just dropped from 1 in 4 to 1 in 100.
Yeah. I like those odds much better.
We're still not out of the woods, but I think that's what being a parent is all about. There's always going to be a little bit of worry, and it's just a matter of embracing the joy while you can. And right now we are *so* joyful.


After the appointment, we went to grab the cheeseburger I'd been craving all week (yum!) before hitting the road and heading to Richmond. We relaxed with my parents for a bit, and broke the news to my sister the following morning. Her reaction was priceless. A little bit of shock, then joy, then "I'm going to be such a bad influence". Not a surprise for anyone who's met her.

Saturday afternoon we drove to Chesapeake to hang out with Brad's family for Christmas. We made a quick stop at the Williamsburg Outlets (note - trying on clothes is significantly less fun when you're bloated and nauseous). On Sunday Brad's sister got into town and we spilled the beans with the "bun in the oven" t-shirt I had ordered. It took them a while to catch on, but once Brad's mom had figured it out, there was lots of shouting and hugging and happiness. It was fantastic!
Christmas overall was great. I slept a lot and ate a lot of crackers, but otherwise felt pretty good most of the weekend/week. It was really great to spend so much time with his family, especially with so much joy in our hearts.

It's finally starting to feel real (all of Brad's Christmas gifts to me were pregnancy-related, which was pretty awesome) and I just can't imagine being any happier (despite the constant queasiness). It is so so worth it.

Still not showing much besides bloat, 7 1/2 weeks in.

xoxo.

Tommorrow tomorrow tomorrow!

Y'all. I'm too excited.

My first appointment is TOMORROW (in case you missed the title of this post).

Yesterday I was having a minor panic attack. I've been really worried that something is going to be wrong when we go in tomorrow and there won't be a baby. I've read too many horror stories (seriously, someone keep me off the internet please), and so I've just had this crazy fear of miscarriage dominating my thoughts and preventing me from being super excited.

Then Brad emailed me this... "Also, don't be nervous about Friday, it will be a lot of fun. You've been waiting for this appointment for months now. There's like a 5-7% chance you have a blighted ovum [i.e. no baby], so that is also nothing to get upset about. We've got a better chance of having twins [!!!!]. Everything will be fine and great, just wait"

Hold me while I melt over here. Isn't he the best?

So now I've entered full excitement mode. I'm really hoping for some type of ultrasound or heartbeat doppler check (and will request one if it's not offered) to ease my fears about a healthy baby growing inside me. I just.can't.wait.

And then we get to tell everyone the great news! I'm so excited to tell my sister (though she'll be mad that she's the last one to know), and Brad's family is going to go NUTS. His dad and sister in particular are (I think) going to be the most fun to tell :)

Until tomorrow!

xoxo

Spreading Joy

I've been terrible about writing.

Thing is, there doesn't seem like much to write about until I actually sit down and think about it. 

Here I am, 6-7 weeks pregnant, feeling like crap most of the time (utterly exhausted and yet unable to sleep, with nausea off and on throughout the day).

I was so worried that nausea without throwing up wasn't actually morning sickness, but was relieved to hear that lots of women don't actually throw up, so that made me much happier with my perpetually unhappy stomach.

We told my parents this weekend! Eep! My parents and my two brothers (my sister didn't come home, so she has to wait until next week to find out.) They were all SO excited. It made me so happy to share the joy :) It's killing them not to tell anyone else though (which I totally understand - I've been dealing with it for weeks!). We told them by giving them a new ornament for their tree. 

It was so funny to see it slowly sink in as to what was going on. It took my dad a while to catch on. Then there was lots of hugging and tears (mostly me)... it just feels so much more real now that I can actually smile and be excited about it with the people I love the most!

Besides that, here's this week's belly pic. I'm hoping to replace it later this afternoon with a nicer one, but this will do for now. Still no bump, but lots of bloat (ugh). Doctors appointment is on Friday, and then we're heading home for the holidays. It should be a nice fun, exciting, joyful vacation. I'm so excited to tell Brad's family!

6 Week Check In

So I'm still pregnant... but that's about it. Nothing too exciting. Still no real morning sickness, though I do feel nauseous off and on throughout the day. I am exhausted all the time and yet have been having a terrible time falling asleep, which is pretty unfortunate.

I will admit that I'm terrified of something happening and losing this baby. I know I'm doing everything I possibly could and anything else is out of my control, but every little cramp or twinge terrifies the sh*t out of me. I think once I see our baby on an ultrasound or hear his/her heartbeat, that fear will go away (somewhat). We'll see though.

And here's a 6 week "bump" picture (which is really just a "look how bloated I am" picture)

Let's just pretend that I look cute...


Anxiously counting down the days until our first doctors appointment on the 20th! 10 days! Can't wait!!

A very happy Christmas indeed

Today was a great day. Brad and I picked out our tree (what a stud - he cut it down himself!) and did some holiday errands around town picking up goods to donate to a food drive and cookies to bake for the homeless men being housed in our church this month (FYI - $20 worth of chocolate chips is a LOT of chocolate chips!)

Tomorrow the weather is supposed I be pretty gross, so we'll hang inside and decorate the tree and bake cookies. I can't wait!

I always love Christmas - it's just such a happy time of year - but this one will be extra special. I just feel so blessed to be carrying this child. Nothing could possibly make this season any better!

And I will close with a picture of my handsome fella cutting down our perfect tree!

And so it begins...

I'm not going to make any promises about being a great blogger. Honestly, the only reason I'm doing this is that I heard keeping a pregnancy journal is a good thing to do... and I'm too cheap/lazy to actually go buy one.
Plus with a blog, I can include pictures!


So yes. I'm pregnant! Brad and I have been trying for a while now, and when I finally saw those two pink lines pop up I was ecstatic.
And then slightly terrified.
You see, we spent all this time trying to get pregnant and researching all the best supplements to help with that - I never really thought ahead to what happens next.

I found out I was pregnant the morning of November 30. Brad was out on his first-ever hunting trip and didn't get home until 7pm that night. We were at my parents house, so I had this *huge* secret to keep all day! Brad met me out at a friend's party (where I was drinking ginger ale) and when we finally were alone in the car, he asked me why I was so smiley. I said "what do you mean?" and he said "You're pregnant, aren't you? I knew it!". Then we got really mushy and excited and I cried (because that's what I do).

We haven't told our parents yet. My first doctors appointment is the morning of Dec 20. After that, we'll head to Richmond to see my parents for a day or two, then down to Chesapeake to visit with his family for the holidays. We figured that was the perfect time to tell our families - in person, close together, and after a doctors appointment to confirm everything is going smoothly. The problem is, it's killing me to wait! These next two weeks cannot go fast enough :)

My estimated due date is between August 2-12 (depending on what date you choose to calculate it from) Either way, it's looking like an August baby is on the way :)

So without further ado, here is the picture I took when I found out I was pregnant. I'll try and post weekly belly pictures on this blog. Too crazy!

So for now, I'm just praying everything keeps going smoothly. We want this so badly :)