Week 22

This week has been a little rough.  I feel more like I did in the first trimester and I'm not really loving that.  Also, like I mentioned yesterday, I had an incredibly rough night over the weekend with terrible abdominal pain and cramping (all GI related- which I knew) and I'm getting more and more frustrated trying to manage my chronic illness while pregnant.

Symptoms?

Like I said, lots of unpleasant symptoms this week.  Holy heartburn!  Omg, TUMS are my best friend. I've had nausea and fatigue all week too.  The belly is growing, but so slowly.  Even though it isn't big, I feel so much more limited in all the ways I can bend and move.  Whatever hasn't expanded out to the front has definitely filled up all of the room in my abdomen- its rock hard!

Stretch marks?

No!  Still oiling up every day though. 

Food cravings?

Nothing really this week.  I'm having hard time eating enough because I eat a normal sized meal and then stay SO FULL for hours on end. I can barely eat at all by dinner time :( 

Movement?

Definitely more movement!  Mark was able to feel a couple kicks too! 

Workouts?

Still doing some prenatal yoga, some barre, some walking the dog, and some elliptical at the gym. I am loving being able to walk outside after dinner!

Sleep?
It's funny, I'm really not that big yet at all but I feel like I need at least 2 pillows to keep me in a comfortable position while I sleep.  Lying flat on my back is definitely not comfortable anymore, but I keep waking up like that!

Gender?

GIRL!!! 

Maternity clothes? 

I LOVE that I can finally wear some of my summer stuff!  I can't wait for sundress weather!  I did find my running shorts to be a little tight in the waist though, anyone have any suggestions for athletic shorts?? 

what I miss? 

I momentarily missed a mimosa at brunch on Sunday, but my plain orange juice was just as satisfying.  

Baby H is a….

Before I get started here, I just want to mention that a friend of mine found out that she had a miscarriage this weekend.  I've been really heartbroken for her and torn about how to proceed with my own happy news.  I know she's the gracious type of person who would tell me to continue to celebrate my own healthy pregnancy, especially after all of the ovulation tests, charting, negative pregnancy tests…etc.  But I can't in good consciousness pretend like this didn't happen.  So before you proceed with reading this, please say a prayer for my friends healing.

And now….here is some GOOD news:

We are having a baby GIRL!!  Of course we would have been happy either way, but we both had a pretty strong feeling that it was a girl. Well, I guess Mark had a strong feeling.  I did have that feeling for all of the first trimester and up until a few weeks ago, but then I totally changed my mind, so I was thinking boy going into the ultrasound.  

We told Mark's parents the news via Skype, and they were really happy since his family has pretty much all boys.  We told my parents at my dad's birthday dinner- I baked cupcakes with PINK filling.

Bring on the tutus and headbands!! And give me ALL OF THE PINK!

Boy or Girl

Thank you SO much if you responded to my post about having anxiety over the gender.  It makes me feel so much better to know I'm not alone.  We are finding out the gender of our little dumpling TODAY!  In fact, we might already know depending on when you read this because we have a morning appointment!  Just for fun though, lets go through the old wives tales and make a prediction.  I have my prediction already but I will save that for later.  Like I mentioned yesterday, I can't say anything on here until next week because I'm telling family and friends over the weekend!  This is going to be a hard secret to keep!

Morning sickness

Supposedly having morning sickness means you're having a girl.  No morning sickness means a boy.  I did have morning sickness, though it wasn't terrible.

 GIRL.

Ring Test

Hang a ring from a string and hold it over your belly.  If it goes in a circle, its a boy.  If it goes back and  forth, its a girl.  

GIRL

Skin

If you break out like crazy, its a girl.  If you're skin is clear, its a boy!  My skin broke out right away when I found out I was pregnant, then it cleared up.  It has broken out several more times though, which is unusual.

GIRL

The Mayans

If the year of conception and the mothers age are BOTH even or odd, its a girl.  If one is even, and one is odd, its a boy.

BOY

Baking Soda Test

Put a little baking soda into a cup and then pee in it.  If it does nothing, its a girl.  If it fizzes, its a boy.  I did this…yes, I peed into baking soda.  I think there's a test like this with drano, but we didn't have any drano!

GIRL

Chinese Birth Chart

Try it HERE.

BOY

Cravings

Craving sweets means a girl, craving salty/sour stuff means a boy!  I have craved a lot of sour stuff, but mostly stuff that is sour AND sweet, like sour patch kids or orange juice.   Plus, I want ice cream and oreos a lot!

GIRL

Heart Beat

If the baby's heart beat is over 140, its a girl.  Under 140 is a boy.  The heart beat has always been between 155-175.

GIRL

Well as you can see, the wives tales point towards girl on everything except those birth charts.  Only one test will really tell though and I. CAN'T. WAIT.  What is your guess??

Week 19

Please excuse the puppy stuffed animal in this picture, we had just gone to Ikea and this little guy was so cute, he looks just like our puppy looked.  We bought it for the nursery, but our dog has already taken a liking to it, I guess we might need to get two.

Symptoms?

I spent a day last week with a horrible pain in my left lower back.  I freaked out that I had kidney stones or something, but the pain went away the next morning and hasn't returned.  Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.  I've had round ligament pains on and off too, but overall I am feeling pretty good.

Stretch marks?

No!

Food cravings?

I am back to NOTHING sounding good.  It has made meal planning a real mess because whatever I plan on Sunday sounds terrible by Wednesday.  We're just going to go day by day this week and see if thats better for now.

Movement?

Still not quite sure, but I think I feel little flutters/bubbles starting.  It mostly happens in the evening after dinner, but it really hasn't been too consistent.

Workouts?

I went to the gym 3 times and walked the dog twice again.  I'm finding running to be kind of hard because I constantly feel like I have to pee.  The elliptical machine has been awesome though, I never use it normally but I feel that I will be spending a lot of time on it this month!

Gender?

We find out TOMORROW!!! OMG! I won't say anything until next week though…we are telling my family on Friday and I'm seeing my friends on Sunday night to tell them.

Maternity clothes? 

I still feel like I don't really NEED to wear maternity clothes, but they are sooo much comfier.  I can't wait to wear  dresses this summer!

what I miss? 

Not much right now!  I feel pretty content :)

I'm linking up today with Kristin for Baby Talk!

Week 18

Symptoms?

I feel like I have more energy to stay up later, but am still pretty tired in the afternoon.  No new symptoms though, just the same old stuff!

Stretch marks?

No!

Food cravings?

I craved a bagel and cream cheese all week and finally caved and got one on Friday.  It was glorious.  I went to Panera for lunch on Sunday and had a terrible time deciding on something, NOTHING sounded good at all. 

Movement?

I still don't think so. Its really hard to tell though because I have so much going on in that area due to my GI disorder.  I wish I could tell for sure what I am feeling.  

Workouts?

I went to the gym 3 times and walked the dog twice, so I feel pretty good about it.  I sort of beat myself up for not working out on Sunday, but I knew I was getting sick and didn't want to over work my body. 

Gender?

We have an appointment on April 2nd to find out! 

Maternity clothes? 

I'm mostly wearing maternity with a few exceptions.  Please get warm soon, I don't want to have to buy winter clothing!! 

what I miss? 

Cold medication.  Seriously, taking some Nyquil would be awesome.


I'm linking up today with Kristin for Baby Talk!

Week 17

This past week has been great!  The weather is sooo much nicer and I can actually get out and about without dreading going outside.  I'm just praying it stays nice out.  This weekend Mark and I started a baby registry just for some basic stuff.  It may be early, but I'm going nuts trying to keep track of the products that I know I want, so it made sense to just start putting it on a registry. 

Symptoms?

If you go back to my post from last week, you'll notice my belly seems to have shrunk.  I guess it really was just a food baby after all last week.  I feel pretty good this week, I've had more energy, but I get tired in the afternoon if I push it.  My nails are growing like crazy and my hair, oh my gosh.  How can my highlights already be so grown out, I just had them done! (Yes, I'm one of those people who still gets their hair done while pregnant, my doctor assured me that its fine, so thats good enough for me.)

Stretch marks?

Nada.  Last week seems to have been a false alarm.  Only time will tell.

Food cravings?

I still crave sweet things, like my jellybeans, but I did have one fairly intense craving over the weekend for mozzarella sticks.  Kind of embarrassing, but its true.  I have been SUPER healthy most days for 90% of the day, but will indulge in dessert or yes, mozzarella sticks, when the moment hits. 

Movement?

I don't think so.  I'm used to having lots of weird cramping in my abdomen thanks to my lovely colon, so I'm really having a hard time distinguishing between that and the baby.  

Workouts?

I worked out 5 days this week, but I was very active getting other things done on my "rest" days still.  I have been running some, walking some, using the elliptical, and lifting weights.  I taught yoga on Sunday, which was active, but I'm counting it as a rest day because I didn't demonstrate that much.  To be honest, teaching is getting a bit tricky.  A lot of poses don't feel right at all so I have to skip those. 

Gender?

We have an appointment on April 2nd to find out!  Anyone find any of the old wives tales to be true??

Maternity clothes? 

I'm mostly wearing maternity with a few exceptions.  I just hope it gets warm quickly this spring so I don't need to buy any long sleeved stuff.  I have a few already and I don't want to buy more!  Even though I have a ton of clothes from when I bought my co-worker's old stuff, I still browse Zulily.com and I bought I cute summer top from there this week.  I don't really NEED anything, but its so fun to look. 

what I miss? 

Not too much.  It was St. Paddy's Day weekend and I thought I would miss my favorite Irish beverages, Harp and Bulmers Cider, but I really didn't.  I had the BEST prenatal massage this week, and although it was sooo great, I missed being able to lay on my belly.  Very small complaints though.


I'm linking up today with Kristin for Baby Talk!

Week 16

I know I keep saying this, but I just can't believe how fast this is going.  The snow outside is starting to melt (!!!!!!) which makes it feel like summer is just around the corner!  I had a doctors appointment last week and he said everything looks great.  I had a couple questions (related to labor/delivery with my Interstim implant, which has never been studied in a pregnant woman) that he wasn't really able to answer though, so I'll keep asking each doctor I see.  

Symptoms?

Mostly back pain and headaches.  I have noticed that my belly is finally growing though!  To be fair though, I had just gotten home from getting dessert with a friend when we took this picture, so theres a food baby in there too.  The back pain has been really hard for me.  I got the BEST gift from my aunt though- she got me a package of 6 prenatal massages! OMG!  I am getting one this week and I can't wait!

Stretch marks?

Ahh! I think I might have spotted some on my chest.  I am hoping it was just a weird mark from how I was sleeping, but to be honest, I haven't checked it out since.  I am using body oil, but I know I can't really control this and stretch marks are a small price to pay. 

Food cravings?

Jellybeans!  Or maybe thats just because they are all over the place at Target now that Easter is approaching.  I have days when everything sounds good and days when nothing sounds good.  I may or may not have had a small breakdown at dinner time on Sunday because NOTHING sounded good! 

Movement?

Not yet…I guess it should be happening in the next few weeks though!

Workouts?

Since I wrote the 15 week update just before the weekend, and I worked all weekend, I don't have much to report.  I did go to the gym on Monday and ran/walked about 3 miles and did some light weightlifting.  I'm planning to get in some exercise most days this week. 

Gender?

Ok, I sort of have a guess but I don't want to say it.  We get to find out the first week of April!

Maternity clothes? 

I'm wearing a lot of maternity tops and bottoms, but I did wear 2 completely non-maternity outfits to work this weekend, but they were things that normally fit me pretty loosely.  I am loving wearing all this maternity stuff though, I totally don't understand why anyone would wait to start wearing it! So comfy!

what I miss? 

Not too much.  I had lunch with Kelly last week from Jimmy Johns and a good ole Turkey Tom would have been awesome, but my veggie sub was a pretty good substitute!


I'm linking up today with Kristin for Baby Talk!

Week15

It feels like August is right around the corner now that its March!  I just can't wait for it to get warm out, then August will feel even sooner.  I finished my 15th week a few days ago and am finally caught up to real time with these bump dates.  

Symptoms?

Ok ladies- can anyone tell me what round ligament pain actually feels like?  Would I already be feeling that?  I keep getting weird stretching feelings low in my pelvic area.  To be honest, it feels a little like my Interstim does when its turned on- and it keeps freaking me out that it has turned itself back on so I keep checking it!  I am also getting BAD headaches and I had a migraine that lasted for 3 days!  No!

Stretch marks?

Nope.  My body hasn't changed enough for these yet, but hopefully I don't get any!

Food cravings?

Mostly sweets.  I feel like I MUST eat something sweet, even a tiny piece of candy, after I finish every meal.  I'm trying to keep it in check, but I probably indulged too much over the weekend. 

Movement?

Not yet…I guess it should be happening in the next few weeks though!

Workouts?

Meh.  I went to the gym once and did my DVD twice.  I also taught 2 yoga classes, so that sort of counts.  I also took my first prenatal yoga class! It was by no means a "workout" but I loved it! Hopefully I can keep going!

Gender?

No clue.  Mark has a guess, and I sort of do…but I am not going to say what that is!  One of my best friends just found out she's having a boy in July though, and I am more and more excited to find out- no matter the outcome!

Maternity clothes? 

Same as last week- I'm wearing maternity pants for the most part, I wore a belly band last week with a pair of black pants too, and that worked well.  I don't need maternity tops but I'm still wearing some of them.

what I miss? 

My co-workers all did this really fun event over the weekend which involved "sledding" on a mattress down a ski hill.  I went to cheer them on, but I was sad to not be able to actually participate!  

Week 14

Week 14! (Posting a little late!)

Wow, week 14 already! I can't believe I'm already in the 2nd trimester, how crazy is that?  We spent this week in San Diego and it was great to be out of the cold weather.  Going on vacation while pregnant was a little different, but definitely still appreciated.

I got all caught up last week with the 1st trimester, so now I am posting this on the last day of my 15th week.  I'll have to knock out one more of these to get all caught up!

Symptoms?

Mostly fatigue.  I do feel somewhat better now that I'm in the 2nd trimester, but I get really tired mid-afternoon still.  I also go to bed really early, which has been even more pathetic being 2 hours behind while we're on Pacific time. I still have sporadic tail bone pain, which makes me look like I can barely walk!

Weight gain/loss?

I've been thinking about this, and I don't feel that its appropriate for me to write weekly about my weight, given my job in the world of eating disorders.  However, weight gain is a real subject for pregnant women, so I will write about it occasionally- I just won't focus on it week after week.  For now, I'll just say this- I am supposed to gain 25-35 lbs, and in the 1st trimester, I lost 3.  My doctor says its fine though so I am not worried.  I will probably do a full post on weight/body image a little later once I actually know how I feel about it. 

Stretch marks?

Nope.  I decided to use Mama Mio oil for this since Kelly had such great success with it.  I'm hoping that I won't get any stretch marks, but of course, I will learn to accept them if they come.

Food cravings?

I'm finally wanting healthier things.  I LOVE all kinds of fruit right now!  Well, I always do, so this is no surprise.  I actually WANT to eat salads too.  It all balances out though with my constant sweet-tooth.  Cookies, ice cream, brownies….yep, give me all of the desserts.  Oh, and anything with coconut, majorly craving that this week!

Movement?

Not yet.  I had an ultrasound at the 1st trimester screening and the baby was literally JUMPING up and down, like it was on a spring board on something.  I am so shocked that I can't feel that!

Workouts?

I've been way more active this week on vacation than I was all of the 1st trimester.  I actually started running again- in very short spurts mixed with walking.  I have run/walked 3 miles every day here, and did some hiking and kayaking too!

Gender?

No clue.  We find out in April though!  I don't have much of a feeling on this yet. 

Maternity clothes? 

I'm wearing maternity jeans now.  I don't really need them yet, but they are so comfy.  I have been wearing maternity tops too, but thats mostly because I already swapped my non-maternity stuff out of my closet to make room for the HUGE pile of stuff I got from my co-worker. 

what I miss? 

I've got to be honest, I do miss being able to have a glass of wine or beer while on vacation.  I did not even think twice about this at home- it did not appeal to me and I didn't miss it.  On vacation though, yeah- its hard.  It's not so much that I miss the actual drinking- I miss the social aspect of being with Mark and just going to a bar for a mid-afternoon drink on vacation.  Oh, the sacrifice.

Weeks 11-13

Week 11- Oh no, I forgot to take a picture again.  It seems sort of silly to pose for a picture when I really have no bump to show at all, but I do feel like I look a little like I just ate a big meal, so I will start trying harder.  This week is a lot of the same.  Nausea is almost gone, mostly I am just really tired.  My boobs are ginormous, or as Mark says, they are "monstrous."  One awesome thing that happened this week is that my co-worked brought in ALL of her old maternity clothes for me.  She was about to sell them to a consignment shop, but I told her I would buy them from her if they fit.  Pretty much everything did fit with the exception of a few items.  I got SO many tops, dresses, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of office appropriate pants, a skirt, and a bathing suit, all priced between 2-6$.  ALL of this only cost me 100$, and I don't think I'll have to buy anything else for everyday wear.  I still will need a few tops for yoga and a dress for a wedding, but still…this saved me SO much money! This pile is only about half of the clothes!  Is it bad if I already want to wear all of it? I can fit into most of my clothes still, but these are way comfier!

Week 12:  I do feel that my tummy is protruding out a little bit now, buts its definitely that awkward "did she just have a burrito?" stage.  Then again, some days I don't notice it there at all…so maybe I did just eat a burrito.  I had my first baby dream, actually I think I had 3 separate baby dreams in one night because I kept waking up and falling asleep again.  I don't remember much, but I do know that the first dream was about having twins, which we are NOT having! I am craving sweets like crazy, and have been giving in to most cravings.  Confession- I bought 5 boxes of Girl Scout cookies yesterday.  I am really trying to keep it in check though, plus I workout in some capacity most days.  I still do not want chicken/meat, hot food/beverages like soup, hot chocolate, tea..etc.  Some types of breads are grossing me out too. 

Week 13:  Wow!  I can't believe how fast this is all going!  I had the first trimester screening done at 13w1d, which included the nuchal translucency test, looking for the nasal bone, and some blood work. The labs will come back in about 10 days, but everything on the ultrasound looked great and the doctor does not feel that there will be any abnormalities with the labs.  We are leaving for San Diego soon and I will be spending week 14 in the sun!  I am still very exhausted.  Sometimes I feel like I have more energy in the morning, but by about 2-3pm, I am totally wiped out.  I'm still walking at the gym and doing my workout dvd.  Eating is ok, a lot of stuff just doesn't sound that good, but as soon as I see a commercial for a food item or hear someone talking about it, I instantly crave it!  As long as it isn't chicken, soup, warm beverages, or certain breads.  By certain breads I mean stuff along the lines of crescent rolls, or anything that comes in one of those pressurized canisters.  Just can't do it.  I am a total freak right now about cheddar cheese rice cakes though…omg yum. 

Weeks 8-10

Week 8: This week has been quite scary.  I had bad cramping going on for a few days, and then on Friday afternoon, I started bleeding. Of course this happened about an hour before my yoga class that I teach, so I had to cancel it, which made me feel terrible.  To make the situation more stressful, I was supposed to leave for California the next day.  I got ahold of the doctor, who assured me that some women experience this and end up being fine.  Of course, it can also be a sign of miscarriage.  She said that unless I was bleeding a certain amount (she gave me all the details but its kind of gross to post about) that it was probably breakthrough bleeding.  She told me that if it did not get any worse that night, I should go on my trip but not to do anything too physical.  I didn't want to scare my mom by canceling the trip, and I figured she would be there anyway if things got worse.  I had no more bleeding the next few days, but it started again on Tuesday after I decided to go for a short walk (see the picture below.)  It was gone by Wednesday though, and has not returned, fingers crossed.  The whole time I was just praying that I would make it home by the time anything worse happened.  Obviously, it kind of killed the mood of the trip.  I am hoping this doesn't happen every time I try to do some form of exercise, that would to be really tough for me.

Week 8

Week 9:  Apparently I forgot to take a picture this week.  I had another instance of bleeding while I was at work on Tuesday.  I called the doctor, who had me come in for an ultrasound and appointment the next day, so I was seen Wednesday morning.  Everything checked out just fine, the heartbeat is strong at 175 and the growth seems normal, except that they pushed my due date up 2 days, so now its 8/18.  Other than the bleeding, this week has been pretty ok.  I am still sooooo tired, I can barely stay awake past 8:30.  I do feel like eating more though, but now I'm craving mostly sweets like ice cream, cookies, candy, and pudding…not that I'm complaining.  The best part of this week has been telling more people.  I finally told my boss and co-workers, who were all very nice and excited about it.  Ideally, I could have waiting longer to tell people at work, but since my job does include eating/cooking with patients, I wanted my boss to be aware of my food aversions/things I can't have anymore.  I told a few more of my girlfriends too.  I'm trying to tell all of my friends in person, and next week I will be able to tell even more of them.  One of my good friends is finally moving back to MN from NJ, so we are ALL getting together for happy hour…perfect timing to tell them all!

Week 10: Wow, this picture really demonstrates how much I need to get my hair highlighted, yikes.  I know its not the easiest to see with what I'm wearing, but I still have no bump at all.  I kind of wish it would just happen!  I was able to tell more friends this week, which has been fun, but also difficult knowing that one of them is really struggling with endometriosis.  I have had some nausea this week, but mostly fatigue.  I have had some AWFUL colon spasms/cramping at night.  Let me tell you, having a chronic illness on top of pregnancy is not a fun experience.  Especially when I can't manage my symptoms with the medications I was on, or use my implanted device any longer. I knew this would be an issue though, and its something I thought a ton about before trying to get pregnant.  I have not had any more bleeding, thank the Lord!  I have been walking a little at the gym and got a prenatal workout DVD to do at home, its nice to be up and moving a little bit more now.  My appetite is much better, still having a hard time finding things that sound good though.  My aversions are chicken, pork, seafood, anything warm/hot like soup, tea, hot chocolate…and some other random stuff. It really depends on the moment.

Week 10

Weeks 5-7.

I guess as a blogger, I'm supposed to do these "bump dates" now, right?!  I think I'll just write about my symptoms so far.  Thinking about pea sized baby growing a tiny heart and circulatory system freaks me out at the moment. Also, I think I'll take a cue from the other ladies who write these things and combine the first couple weeks.

Week 5:  I've mostly been freaked out that I already did something wrong to screw this whole thing up.    I'm researching what I can/can't do & eat like crazy.  I have had pretty bad cramping ever since finding out, so I called my doctor and she had me come in to make sure it wasn't an ectopic pregnancy.  I had an ultrasound with that wand thing which showed a small "fluid filled sac" with no yolk or heartbeat.  Umm, hearing the words "no heartbeat" was pretty terrifying.  They should probably let you know ahead of time that they don't expect to see one that early on.  They also told me that they could neither confirm nor deny that there was a baby in there. Anyway, I have to go back next week for another ultrasound to see if there is anything in there.  I also had labs done, which have to be done every other day until they can confirm that my hormones are rising appropriately.  I definitely feel like they are though, because I have been exhausted, nauseous, hungry and then suddenly NOT hungry.  The other symptom I am having is severe tailbone pain. It's all going to be ok though, I'm sure I will find all of these complaints completely worth it.  The only thing I've had a craving for is cinnamon toast, so random.  So delicious.

Week 5

Week 6:  This week was not fun, and unfortunately it was the week of Christmas.  Getting through 2 Christmas parties sans-alcohol with friends was tough because I had to keep making excuses.  I had to skip my work party altogether because it was at a brewery and I didn't see any way out of that one.  I was really sick all week, so nauseous and fatigued.  Plus the tailbone pain.  The doctor wanted me back for another US since they really couldn't confirm anything last week.  This week, again, showed no heartbeat.  The doctor was really good though and assured me that everything was fine, she just thinks I'm up to a week earlier than we originally though.  I go back in 2 week for my first real appointment.  We told our families at Christmas, which we were really torn about given the whole no heartbeat thing.  We decided to tell them because 1. there is no way my family would not notice me abstaining from the wine, and 2. my mom left for California for the  rest of the winter the day after Christmas and we wanted to tell everyone at the same time.  We found cheesy ornaments that said BABY on them, and gave them to our parents to open up after everything else had been opened.  Except that my sister was still opening a present, which turned out to be a spoon rest of all things.  It was pretty comical because we're all "we're having a baby!" and she's like "hey, I got a spoon rest!"  It was good comic relief though, because I get very uncomfortable being the center of attention and was kind of dreading this moment because I just hate being in the spotlight.  As far as symptoms go, its just feeling gross all the time and NOTHING sounds good to eat.  I can basically eat different types of bread and thats it.  Hoping this goes away soon.

Week 6

Week 7: A new week AND a new year!  Celebrating NYE's sure is different when your 7 weeks pregnant.   We did nothing to celebrate other than going to Fuddruckers because I was craving a chocolate shake and a burger.  This week I've expanded my food intake from only bread to bread plus junk food.  I feel terrible about this and I always thought I'd eat super healthy while pregnant, because I already eat really healthy- but I just can't stomach anything remotely resembling a vegetable or a lean protein, eww.  The weird symptom I have this week is that I seem to have a smell "stuck" in my nose or in my nose's memory.  I smell chicken soup everywhere.  Everywhere!  It is completely grossing me out.  First of all, I strongly dislike 99% of chicken and always have.  Gross.  Secondly, I once got very sick from chicken soup in Guatemala and that memory is not helping!  I am doing everything I can to stop smelling this- lighting candles, smelling essential oils, avoiding the cafeteria at work, etc.  This will all be comical at some point I'm sure, but OMG please go away.

Week 7

P.S. I know these pictures are terrible.  The problem is that I keep changing into my pjs before Mark gets home, and then I don't want to take a picture…so I'm left using the timer setting on my phone.  I will do better in the future.

Finding Out // Telling Mark

First of all, THANK YOU so much to everyone who congratulated us on the pregnancy!  I am blown away by the support!

I have several baby-posts already written and ready to go.  I am SO glad that I can finally hit publish and stop worrying that I will accidentally publish them and give away the secret!  I'll try to get caught up to current time quickly, so here we go:

(Written Dec 13)
Finding Out:
Whaaaaaat?!  I don't even know where to begin.  Here's a little known secret: Mark and I have been trying to get pregnant for awhile now.  My doctor diagnosed me with unspecified infertility in November.  I had a hysterosalpingogram about a month ago which showed that my "lady parts" were working fine.  I was supposed to go on clomid when I got my next period (should have started today.)  Instead, I work up at took 3 POSITIVE pregnancy tests!  I literally could. not. believe. my. eyes.  I found out almost 3 hours ago, now I am writing this.  I haven't even told Mark yet.  I plan on doing that tonight…so don't worry, by the time you read this in 7-ish weeks, he will be in the know.   I just got off the phone with my Ob/Gyn and scheduled a 1st trimester "pregnancy class" and an 8 week appointment.  I also just got off the phone with my Gastroenterologist who instructed me to tell her right away if I became pregnant since she will need to follow me more closely for the next 9 months.  WTF? How is this happening?  I know was I trying to make it happen…but still, how?!



Telling Mark:
After the initial shock wore off (haha, right) I headed to Target in a daze and wandered around there trying to think about all of the cute ways I've heard that other people let their husband in on this kind of news.   I was blanking.  Should I buy a onesie?  Some tiny baby shoes?  No…I decided that I wanted our first baby purchase to be made together.  I finally ended up in the Christmas isle and had an epiphany to get an ornament to write the news on.  I chose this one, mostly because its a relatively flat surface so that my handwriting won't look like the impending fetus wrote it.

Not only did I have to wait for Mark to get home from work, but I was teaching yoga that evening.  My class starts around the time Mark is done with work, so I had to delay a bit more.  As I drove home from the yoga studio, my heart was pounding!  I got home, saw his car in the garage, grabbed my ornament (that I took with me so he wouldn't find it) and headed inside.  Mark was just getting ready to take Shay for a run, but I couldn't wait any longer.  I told him that I got a new ornament that day and asked if he wanted to see it.  At first he just looked at the front, so I had to tell him to look at the back of it.  He flipped it over and found this:

He paused, looked at me and said "you're pregnant?" in a very nonchalant way that is his typical way of responding to anything that I flip out over.  I think I said something like…"umm, yeah I guess so…apparently."  Then he just says "sweet!" and takes the dog for a run anyway.  Not before I made him look at the 3 sticks I peed on though, which he insisted was unsanitary.  Anyway, he now has the "pregnant dad" app on his phone and is reading the chapter for dads in the book I bought.  Mark never has big responses to anything, so this is exactly what I expected.  He is very excited though and the next morning when we woke up, his first words were "you're going to be good mom" which made me feel terrified and all warm and squishy too.