15 weeks

Ok. Two things. Well, maybe three.

One: My belly is officially getting bigger. My abs have hurt like heck lately (and I KNOW I haven't done anything CLOSE to a workout), and when I poke around my belly button, that whole area is hard as a rock. I was pointing at my belly button and telling my husband, "Hey...poke me right here. Feel how hard that is? Weird!" He just kinda looked at me like, "Yeah....so?" He didn't get my excitement.

But yes, the belly is definitely bigger. I stand in the bathroom looking into my full length mirror, and can't believe my belly. It looks like I have pre-period bloating times 100. Things are 'rounding out' a little, belly-wise. Thank goodness no other places are growing along with the belly, if you know what I mean! My jeans still fit everywhere but in the belly, but they aren't going to last much longer... this girl NEEDS to get to a maternity clothing store. My mother-in-law got me a gift card to Motherhood Maternity, so after this weekend (work 3 in a row) I'll have to go hit the mall and get some jeans. My parents got me maternity dress clothes, but no jeans. My dad goes, "You're picky with jeans, so we'll let you pick those." hehe...

Number 2: I stepped on the scale yesterday and was DOWN a pound. I keep dropping a pound on my scale here at home. But I keep telling myself that last week was a BAD week for me... flu and everything, which took my appetite away. I'd eat food and it'd come right back up... not fun. That lasted almost the whole week. I didn't get my appetite back until right around Christmas Eve, and so I've been trying to eat at least every few hours, if not more than that. I've kept up with my vitamins and iron through all the sickness, so that's a good thing. Hopefully I put on a few pounds here soon. (Gee, never thought I'd be saying THAT!)

Number 3: The hubby is requesting "bedroom time" alot more lately, and I've found that I'm much more into it lately. Before, I had no desire at all. I had that "Don't touch me, don't grab anything,don't feel anything... just.....don't" kinda attitude before. But I'm actually getting that spark back again. I'm likin' it! Maybe what they say about sex drive increasing in the 2nd trimester is true afterall! Yay! I was starting to think there was something wrong with me!

So, there are my updates for now. Ahh, the joys of pregnancy.

14w2d

Well, it's officially Christmas Day in 3 hours. Hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season so far with friends and family!

My husband and I went to church at 4pm today, thinking that it wouldn't be THAT crowded. WRONG! It was standing room only by the time we got there. A view standing in the back of the church with tons of other people just isn't the same as being in the pews with everyone else. Oh well... I was there, that's what counts.

Standing in the back, I got to see everything that always goes on BEHIND my back during church. I saw all the mothers carrying their babies around, trying to keep them from crying and what not... all the cute little baby girls and boys dressed in their adorable Christmas outfits. I couldn't help but get a smile on my face, thinking, "That'll be ME next year, carrying around a little 6 month-old baby!" I can't wait.

After church, we went to my Grandma's house with the rest of my mom's side of the family. It was crazy (in a good way!) as usual! My cousin had her new baby there... she is absolutely adorable. I got to hold her for awhile... everyone was saying, "Practice up...it's your turn next year!" Again, I can't wait.

I THINK I've been feeling the 'quickening' lately... it feels like gas bubbles sometimes, and then other times it's just a weird feeling I can't describe... a NEW feeling that I just know is my little baby moving around. It is the neatest thing knowing that there is a little baby, only 4 inches long so far, moving all around in there.

Oh, and another update... my appetite is finally returning from the short attack of the flu earlier in the week. No more dry heaving 24-7. THANK GOODNESS. I was dreading the thought that possibly my morning sickness had come back with a vengeance. Instead, it's been replaced with several episodes of heartburn at night. I was reluctant to take TUMS at first, but after reading that it was safe during pregnancy (wasn't on my doc's list of meds I can take), I popped a couple and it worked wonders. I have a feeling TUMS are going to be my best friend in the coming months.

That's all for now. To anyone reading this--- have a GREAT Christmas! Be safe if you're out traveling!

13w6d

Well, lastnight I had my first dream about a baby BOY. Now, I don't know if this is just because of the ultrasound and all the wondering I'm doing now... all the "is it a boy, is it NOT a boy?" thoughts going through my head.

In my dream lastnight I was at my parents' house getting all dressed up for halloween (don't ask me, crazy dreams...) and there were THREE babies sitting on the floor side by side. (And YES I know for a fact I'm only having ONE.) The first was a little boy, and the other two were girls. I was dressing all of them up for halloween too... but for some reason I felt like the little boy was MINE. So who knows. This is the first dream I've EVER had about a baby boy that was mine. All my dreams thus far have only been about having baby girls. Now I'm REALLY wondering.

13w4d

Well, things went well at the ultrasound this morning. As well as can be expected I guess. The good news is that everything is fine and dandy with the baby. He/she wasn't moving as much as last time though, just the hands and occasionally the feet were dancing around.

The sonographer said that the baby is growing normally and is right up to date for how far along I am. She said the fluid was fine, and that she just wanted to look around to see why I had been bleeding. She checked my ovaries and they were fine, then checked the cervix and said it was fine too. She said there wasn't as much fluid around the cervix as with my first ultrasound, so that was probably the cause of last week's brownish spotting.

She then looked at the placenta and said it was more than likely the culprit of my current spotting. She pointed at the edge of the placenta and said that a tiny little bit was close to the cervix. She said it will heal itself and that it won't turn into placenta previa or anything, so that was a big relief.

Once the ultrasound was over, she gave me 8 pictures of the little one... lots of pics of the now-more-proportional face and side views. My husband was excited and asked, "So can you tell what the baby is yet??" and the lady said, "Well, not really since things are so small, but we'll take a look here..." She got to where we could see the baby's behind and feet, and said, "Well... there MIGHT be something..." and enlarged a section of the picture to show what MIGHT be little boy parts. But it's so blurry you really can't tell much yet. That got my husband soooooooooo excited. I'm still secretly hoping for a girl, but with all I've gone through so far, I'll take a boy OR girl as long as it's healthy.

Since this morning I was slightly cramping and still spotting (though faint brown now),along with having even more of those sharp twinges, the doc wants me to rest until they see me next, which is December 27. So now I'm on yet another leave of absence from work til then.

I just want all the drama to be over so I can truly start to enjoy this pregnancy rather than worrying 24-7.

13w3d

Monday morning around 9:30am, I woke up to a bad surprise. Red spotting. Not bright red, and not alot though. It was maroonish in color and just reminded me of the very start of a period. I wasn't having any cramping at the time. I held back tears and dialed the number of my OB doctor. I knew they had office hours in the morning, but they didn't answer. I left a voicemail explaining my situation, hopped in the shower, and received a call back from them not even 10 minutes later. They told me they could get me in for an appointment, but let me know that they see the last patient at 10:30am. I let them know that I'd be there asap. I hurried up and got dressed, dried my hair, and my husband and I left around 10:10. Thankfully it doesn't even take 15 minutes to get to the hospital.

Once I got there, the nurse checked my BP and my weight... my weight didn't change any (so only 1 pound gained so far) and my BP was good... 118/70. She then listened to fetal heart tones and heard them right away... thumping away, strong as ever. She said they sounded really good. WHAT A RELIEF. I told her, "You always find them right away." Thank goodness for her, because I would have freaked out if it took her awhile to find the heartbeat today.

The doc examined me and said things looked ok.... he sent me downstairs to lab to do a urine culture. I downed a bottle of water on my way down there since it was sprung on me and I wasn't exactly ready enough to pee in a cup! Before I left the office, he said, "No work tonight." (I was scheduled night turn 12 hours at the hospital)then said, "I want you to come back tomorrow (Tues.) for a sonogram. If things are ok, you will be able to go back to work." He wrote a note that said, "Due to pregnancy complications, no work for Betsy until further notice."

Russ and I went to the hospital and took the note to Human Resources... as I already knew she'd say, the lady there said "Well, we can't really do anything with this yet... since this is the first day, it can't be considered a leave of absence." (You have to report off for 3 days in order for it to be a leave, so I'd have to be off Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights this week in order for it to be a leave. If not, it's just a report off...) I told her I just wanted her to have a copy of the note on file just incase it turns into a leave.

I then went up to my clinical manager's office but she wasn't there. I left her a copy of the note also, and explained what went on, and that so far the "no work until further notice" only means Monday unless (heaven forbid) something goes wrong.
Last thing was calling staffing to let them know I wouldn't be in... they were really understanding and said just to let them know tomorrow if things change.

I just want these scares to stop. I already had to have a leave of absence a few weekends ago due to cramping...then last Thursday was the brown spotting, and now this. All day long today I've just rested. I've been having occasional sharp pains in the middle of my pelvis, pretty much the center of my uterus... they come and go, but some of them make me stop in my tracks if I'm up. Now, I know the feeling of the "round ligament" pains, but this is different. These pains are just sharp and mostly situated in the middle, not the sides. Oh, and also I've had a lot of the "pulling, stretching" feelings in my belly... probably just all due to stretching but who knows. I just hope I don't have a tear in my placenta or something. THe good thing is that the spotting let up by mid morning and as of now, it's faint faint brown at times, other times there's nothing at all.

So this starting my day, topped off by the fact that the hubby and I ordered pizza last evening that totally didn't agree with me... and it makes for a wonderful night. Hence why I'm still awake. My stomach is in knots, I'm dry heaving and worshiping the toilet, and I have chills. No fever though...98.6. Oh, how much fun this is.

I'll update on what happens with the ultrasound later in the morning. All prayers would be GREATLY GREATLY appreciated.

13 weeks

Well, I've finally entered the "I'm too big for my own pants" phase. I decided awhile back that right after Christmas I would go bite the bullet and buy some maternity pants, but I might have to do that a little sooner than I thought.

Tonight my husband and I had plans to go out to dinner. Now, it's probably only been almost a week since I've been in my jeans... I wear scrubs at work, and my other days off last week I pretty much stayed in my pj pants, cleaning the house and what not. So tonight, I went down in the laundry room to get my jeans, and was surprised at what I found when I got upstairs.

They didn't fit. They didn't even BUTTON. At least last week I could button them and just leave the zipper undone for some added room. No such luck today. I tried to tell myself, "Well, they WERE just washed and dried in the dryer"... but they've been washed and dried in the dryer EVERY time I put them on, and they've always fit.

I pulled at the buttons to see if maybe, JUST MAYBE, they would be reunited.... but no. They refused to come any closer than 2 inches from eachother. So I had no choice but to resort to..... THE RUBBER BAND.

I can't remember where online I read this little trick, but I thank the dear Lord that I found it.

You get a rubber band (preferably a nice thick one!) and loop it around the button of your jeans... take it through your button hole and then back around your button again. And VOILA! JEANS THAT STAY UP! (Just remember to carry an extra just incase the other breaks so you don't have to walk around pulling your jeans up all day!)

So, I guess it's time for this girl to make a little visit to Motherhood Maternity....

12w4d

Been awhile since I posted... I need to get caught up on this blog.

After the weekend, I didn't have any more cramping. However, Thursday night at work I had a little scare and had to go to the ER. Luckily I work in a hospital, so all I had to do was go right downstairs. I had gone to the bathroom and noticed I was spotting dark brown and also had alot of it when I wiped. (Sorry if TMI...) I got freaked out so I went to the ER just to be safe. Thank goodness we only live 10 minutes away, so it didn't take my husband long to get there and be by my side.

They checked for fetal heart tones and found them after a few minutes, nice and strong in the 160's. I was SO RELIEVED. All I kept thinking when this was happening was, "Oh my God, this is it... something bad is going to happen." (I know, I should be optimistic.) They then did a urinalysis just to make sure I didn't have an infection, because that can cause cramping/bleeding...but that came back fine. I went home a little after midnight and just rested. WHAT A SCARE.

I spotted real light brown all through the day Friday, but none since then. I called my OB doc that morning and they said that brown is normally ok and that since it wasn't bad and I wasn't cramping, they would get me in the office first thing Monday (yesterday) morning.

The weekend went well....no problems. Thank goodness.

Yesterday I went to my appointment bright and early at 8:45am. The nurse checked my BP (which was surprisingly good at 110/70! YAY!) and did my weight. I asked her if I've gained any weight yet and she goes, "One pound...not bad." She then took me in the exam room and listened for fetal heart tones. She found them right away.... I was just smiling and smiling and smiling. I told her, "That is the best sound in the world to me right now!" She held the doppler on me for about a minute and the little baby heart was just beating away, nice and fast. Sounded to me like it was still around 160.

When doc came in, he checked me out and said he didn't see any more signs of brown or anything, and that everything looked good. They were thinking of doing another US in a few weeks, but the nurse said that since my first one was fine, they weren't going to do it. The doc just wants me to come back in 2 weeks, just to keep and eye on me. I go back December 27... I'm now feeling optimistic that, yes, things are going to be ok.

Everyone at work keeps asking, "Are you ok? How are you feeling? Everything alright?" It's good to have the support of your coworkers. They called me at home while I was off for a few days just to check on me and make sure I was ok... I really appreciated that.

Well, that's my update for now. As for today, I'm feeling so-so. I still get queasy if I don't eat every few hours or so, but that's about it. OH...and this morning--- I got home and evidentally the hubby had taken food out of the fridge lastnight and thrown it in the garbage. He took it to the dumpster THIS MORNING, but also that meant he let it marinate overnight. The house smelled like something died in here thismorning, which automatically had me dry heaving as soon as I unlocked the front door and walked in the house this morning. I seriously had to call him and make sure some strange animal didn't get in the house and die underneath something. Yes, it was that bad. And YES, the smell is better now. It couldn't even classify as a smell. It was more of a STANK. Ugh.

Alright, more another time.

11w2d

A little update on the past few days...

Thursday the 30th I had my first ultrasound. Baby was moving around like a little acrobat in there at first, then decided to take a break. The heartbeat was very strong at 171 BPM. We didn't get to hear it yet, but just seeing it was the most amazing thing ever. To see the little life growing inside me... words can't describe. Here is a picture.





As for the weekend, I've been feeling, well... just ok. I've been pretty crampy so I've been taking it easy. It scared me there for awhile, but things are getting better. I just noticed that when I overdo it on the cleaning/decorating, I start getting crampy. Must be baby's way of telling me, "Mommy, take a break, will ya?!"

My appetite is much better... I'm still a little gaggy here and there. I quit taking the Premesis vitamins and started taking the stronger Prenate Elite vitamins along with an extra iron supplement. So far, my stomach is adjusting ok to them. I just make sure I feel fine when I take them... because if I'm feeling even the least bit queasy and take them, it's all over from there.... hehe.

As for the insomnia, it's better too. However, I am just SO WORN OUT ALL THE TIME. I fall asleep early therefore I wake up early, and it's just a vicious cycle. Take lastnight... I fell asleep on the couch about 8:30pm and woke up this morning at 7:30am. I haven't been taking naps during the day or anything, so the cycle just repeats itself over and over. But you know, I don't even think I woke up once during the night to pee. That's the part I'm loving now that my first trimester is coming to an end. I used to wake up at least 3 or 4 times during the night (usually every few hours) and so I still felt SO TIRED when I woke up due to the interrupted sleep. And every time I had to pee, I felt like I was going to BUST! Now the trips to the bathroom are few and far between... thank you Lord. LOL

That's it for now... I'm off to rest some more. I'm starting to go stir-crazy being stuck in this house.... (sigh) However, gotta do what you gotta do...

10w4d

I've noticed since I last posted that my appetite has come back, pretty much almost completely. The only this is, I can't eat a whole lot at one time. Take Thanksgiving dinner-- I was SO looking forward to it and just wanted to shovel in as much as I could, but 3/4 through my dinner plate, my stomach told me NO MORE! I had that gaggy feeling and just couldn't eat anymore. That's how it's been... I can't eat to the point where I'm button-busting full, or my stomach will let me know.

It's great having my appetite back, because I'm not surviving on cereal and toast anymore... but take that, combined with the fact that the queasiness has subsided and my boobs don't hurt much, and this girl is worried.

I know I'm probably worried over nothing, but it still bothers me. I mean, I only get queasy now if I don't eat for long periods of time, and I still have that gagging dry-heaving stuff occasionally with certain smells or with brushing my teeth. But the boob thing gets to me. The girls have hurt since even before I found out I was pregnant, and now hardly nothing. Hardly tender at all.

I know everyone is different and their bodies react differently to pregnancy... so maybe it's just "my time" for all this stuff to decrease. I'm just happy that I'm scheduled for an ultrasound on Thursday morning. I can't wait to see my little one....

All prayers would be appreciated!

9w4d

Well, I think my morning (er, ALL DAY) sickness is starting to decrease. I still get a little queasy at times, mostly if I let myself get too hungry and don't eat practically every 2 hours. Also, 'the girls' are still sore, though not as bad.

My appetite has come back a little too (which I don't know if that's a good or BAD thing....hehe!) With it came the craving for sweets, which I'm trying to curb. This baby MUST be a girl, cause I'm fiending for chocolate.

Now, I'm just counting down the days til my sonogram. Once I see my baby and the heartbeat and I know everything's ok, things will seem so much more real and exciting. Right now I'm just in the anxious nervous phase, so I can't just relax and enjoy being pregnant. Can't wait til the nervousness and the worrying is all behind me.

9 weeks

I had my second prenatal visit yesterday. Everything went well... all my bloodwork from 11/7 came back great, except I don't have immunity to chicken pox like I thought I did. (I'm an only child and never had chicken pox.)Also, my blood type is A positive, not O positive like I've been told my whole life. How reassuring, huh?!

I go back on 11/30 for my FIRST ULTRASOUND!! I'm so excited... I can't wait. I just want to see the little heartbeat and know everything is ok.

Next follow-up appointment is 12/14.

8 weeks 4 days

Things might be getting better... I fell asleep at 9pm lastnight and didn't wake up til this morning at 6:15. There were interruptions every 3 hours or so, mostly just b/c I had to go to the bathroom, but it's a start!! :-)

8 weeks 3 days

Yes, it's 4:15am and yes, I'm still having insomnia. I just feel like......crap.

All I want to do is SLEEP. Nothing else.

Yesterday, I felt so bad because it was supposed to be a day for my husband and I to spend together. I wanted to go to Pittsburgh and go out to dinner...just spend time away from home. Instead, the vicious cycle of sleep during the day and not at night just continued.... I woke up butt-crack-of-dawn early. I took the opportunity to make my husband and I some breakfast. I made homemade homefries, french toast and also made some scrambled eggs just for him. We got to enjoy breakfast together, which was nice. I managed to eat homefries (which were AWESOME! I was proud of myself) and 1 piece of french toast, along with a glass of apple juice.

After breakfast, Russ went in the hot tub, and then it hit me.... nausea. I laid down on the couch and just felt TERRIBLE, like my breakfast was going to come right back up. I watched some tv, then went back in the bedroom and figured I'd try laying down for awhile.

The dogs had been in and out, and had tracked their dirty paws ALL OVER the place.... the kitchen tile was covered. The hallway and living room had paw prints scattered everywhere. I felt so bad, because Russ goes, "Honey, can you clean that up?" and I just knew that if I ran the carpet cleaner I would just start hurling. I told him I was going to wait a little while and then do it. Well, he got impatient (he hates when the dogs mess stuff up) so he started cleaning the carpets. He poked his head in the bedroom a little bit later, and I told him how terrible I was feeling. He ended up cleaning the carpets AND the entire kitchen while I napped. When I came out of the bedroom later on, the place looked SO good. I could tell he was a little miffed at having to do it all himself, but I'm so thankful that he did.

All through the day, I was just a lazy piece of crap. I couldn't get up and do ANYTHING. I just laid on the couch, dozed off, got up and peed, laid on the couch, dozed off some more,got up and got a drink, and laid on the couch some more. That was how the day went until about 3pm. Finally I decided I needed to force myself to get up and take a shower. The shower did wonders for me. I made us dinner and spent some time with Russ, though he was downstairs watching football for most of the evening.

I felt bad lastnight though... he told me, "Come to bed with me" about 10pm. We're laying there and he said, "Honey, let's talk."

"About what?" I asked.

"About anything. We don't talk anymore. It's just "hi, bye, love you"... we haven't spent much time together lately. You're always tired and sleeping."

That made me feel about a half-inch tall. I realized that no, we hadn't talked much lately, and that we need to make more time for US before this little baby comes. I guess I've been a little selfish lately,for lack of better words... focusing on this baby and sleeping and everything, and forgetting that my husband is needing attention to. And it's not even that we're having problems in our marriage or anything...we haven't been arguing or anything like that. We just haven't been making enough time for eachother, and we're both realizing that now. (sigh)

7 weeks 5 days

As evidenced by my posting at 3:40am, yes I'm still suffering from insomnia. I haven't slept a full night in about a week and a half, and I HATE IT! I'm soooooo tired but I just lay in bed and stare at the ceiling, then I can't quit thinking about how hungry I am. In turn, I can't sleep because my stomach is saying, "GIVE ME FOOOOOOOOOD!"

Ugh.

Anyway, I might as well write about how my day went. I had my first prenatal appointment. Since it's my first visit with this doctor, today just consisted of an interview with the nurse. Russ went with me to my appointment... how sweet of him, huh? :-) The nurse just asked about family history and all that good stuff... THEN after all the million and one questions, she goes, "Ok, I'm going to take you across the hall and weigh you and get your blood pressure.

WELL.

Knowing my ass was about to be stepping on a scale made me nervous as it was... as any girl can attest to, right? (Well, probably 95% of ladies out there... to the other 5% I say "You suck." J/k)

Anyway, after the big weigh in, I was already a little upset knowing I'll be tacking on 20-25 pounds to that number in the next 9 months. So then she sits me down in the chair to get my pressure. I told her, "I just checked my pressure at work about a week and a half ago, and it was 120/72." She then proceeds to check it, and raises her eyebrows when she was done.

"What did you get?" I asked.


"Well, 138/100. Let's try the other arm." (it didn't help that she took my pressure over my sweater, either)

I slipped my arm out of my sweater, and she checked my pressure again. "138/80," she said.

That's still high for me. It made me even more upset. I'm already worried about developing preeclampsia (high BP caused by pregnancy, for anyone who doesn't know that) and gestational diabetes. My dad has high BP and his side of the family (all except for him) are bad diabetics... all his siblings and his parents.

The nurse told me that they take it very seriously when their patients have high BP, so she just told me to rest up for the remainder of the day. Which I did, considering I had about 3 hours of sleep the night before and had no energy at all. I'm just going to keep an eye on my BP at work... I hate to have to go on a leave early in my pregnancy, you know? (Breathe, Betsy.... breathe.... it'll be ok.) lol

After the appointment, Russ goes, "Honey, you know how worried you've been lately. Just try to relax..." He's been so sweet... I'm so lucky to have him. We walked downstairs and registered for me to get bloodwork done. I got all the birth-defect labwork done (cystic fibrosis, spina bifida), a recheck on my blood type, HIV testing, and all that good stuff. The lady took EIGHT tubes of blood. Thank goodness needles don't bother me. I took home a nasty bruise on my left forearm though. The needle blew my vein, so my bruise is now about 1" wide and 2" long on my arm. Thank goodness we're into long-sleeved shirt weather!

After the labwork, we went to the pharmacy and filled my prescriptions. The nurse told me not to take the prenatal vitamins right now, because they'll just increase my morning sickness. She gave me a prescription for "Premesis", which is a form of prenatal vitamin that contains the most important stuff, like folic acid and B vitamins, etc. She said for me to take that until after the first trimester, or until I start noticing the queasy feeling go away. After that, I take the stronger Prenatal vitamin and an iron supplement. Then it's (probably) HELLO CONSTIPATION! Oh, how I'm looking forward to that...

It'll all be worth it in 9 months though... :-)

Have a great day... wish me luck, that I can get some sleep tonight!

7w3d

I'm actually feeling better, morning-sickness wise. (Knock on wood.)

All lastnight at work, I didn't have that much of an upset stomach, and I was actually able to eat a sandwich and fruit and a bunch of other crap! It didn't even come back up. Imagine that. Yes, I was excited.

I'm just TIRED AS HECK now. There are some changes going on at work, so there's a big meeting today at 1pm at the hospital. I'm trying to force myself to stay up and go to it, but I dunno... my eyes are getting heavy......... zzzzzzzzzz.

I'll write more later.

7 weeks

All through the day I've been sick to my stomach, from the moment I woke up. I felt bad because my husband went to ask me something when I woke up and I just put my finger up to say "wait a minute" and had to run to the bathroom because I thought I was going to puke. Luckily nothing happened.

I've just had NO appetite. At every meal, it takes me forever to decide what I want to eat. I made marinated turkey, baked potatoes and corn for us at dinner, and when the smell of turkey came wafting to my nose, I almost got the dry heaves. I couldn't even eat the dinner I cooked. I had bites of a baked potato, then ended up heating up a can of Spaghetti-O's. Spaghetti O's! (Another impulsive pregnancy craving while grocery shopping the other day.) Tonight I made a bagel with PB&J on it and managed to keep that down, along with a big glass of milk. I feel like it's kind of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation... if I eat TOO much, I'm sick. If I don't eat enough and let myself get too hungry, I'm sick. Therefore, I have to eat little bits at a time, so I feel like I'm having to eat fifty times a day. Ugh.... I just LOVE this!

To get off the subject of dry heaves and hurling...

My parents came over to visit us this evening. My mom was all excited looking at my pregnancy books. She goes, "Ohhhhhh! The baby looks like THIS!" and pointed to the picture of a 7 week embryo. I showed her some other pictures at 7 weeks along, which got her even more excited. According to the books, my baby is around 1/2" long, about the size of a raspberry, and is starting to look like a little human. I love it.

I just can't wait until my first prenatal appointment, which is Tuesday morning. I hope and pray every day that our little one is healthy and that everything is going as planned. I just want to see that little heartbeat and know everything is ok. Please keep us all in your prayers.

6w6d part 2

My dreams have been SO crazy lately! I've heard that pregnancy can bring on some vivid dreams, and boy has it!

I've been having lots of baby dreams... in all the dreams lately, I know the baby is a girl. Lastnight I had a dream where I was holding my baby girl, and it was so much more detailed. She had lots of dark brown hair and big brown eyes... I just remember looking at her and thinking, "She's perfect."

Tonight I was talking with my mom on the phone and she said she had a baby dream too. She was holding my baby but couldn't tell in the dream whether it was a boy or girl. She said my Pap Pap (who passed away in '93) was holding my baby's hand and gave it's hand a kiss.

I don't know what to make of my mom's dream. I told her, "I hope that doesn't mean I lost the baby." I've been feeling ok and have had no signs of miscarriage, so it's probably just my Pap Pap's way of saying hello. (I'm a big believer in the fact that when you dream of deceased friends/family, that is their way of communicating with you...but that's another topic in itself!)

Well I'm off to do some house cleaning... I'm really looking forward to it. (Yeah right....)

6 weeks 6 days

Well, my appetite has come back a little. Not all the way, but a little. I'm realizing that the cravings are starting. One of my coworkers brought apples and caramel dip to work the other night, so naturally I had to go buy some at the grocery store today!

I haven't had much morning sickness today... I've been munching on little stuff throughout the day so I don't get TOO hungry, so that's helped. One thing I've noticed is that I get the dry heaves VERY easily. Earlier in the evening, I was heading down the steps to the basement and started dry heaving walking to the laundry room. Our basement smells just fine, so I don't know what that's all about. Also, as I was tidying up the dogs' bed, I got nauseous just at the smell of their dog blanket. Ugh... gotta love it.

That's about it for now...

6 weeks 3 days

A few nights ago at work, I had my first pregnancy yack. Lovely, huh? I thought I was going to get by with just the queasy stomach and get spared from bowing to the porcelain god. No such luck.

Hopefully this doesn't last TOO long, cause it sucks.

5 weeks 6 days

Today I've had mild cramping on and off alllllll day. Along with some occasional sharp twinges on the right side of my pelvis. It just worries me... I hope it's nothing. :-(

5 weeks 5 days

I'm not sure, but I think I've entered the VERY beginning stages of morning sickness. Lastnight at work, it's as if it flipped on like a lightswitch. I was just sitting there and it hit me... this queasy upset stomach, like I was going to puke any minute. I got some gingerale and it seemed to subside. Also, after drinking gingerale (a little styrofoam cup full) and the same size cup of caffeine free hot tea, I literally peed every 10-15 minutes for the next 3 hours. It was such a pain.

I've noticed I'm peeing more often... didn't know that happened this soon! It seems like when I drink the smallest thing, BOOM I'm in the bathroom within the next 5-10 minutes.

This morning I met up with my husband for breakfast... I still wasn't feeling so well but figured I needed to eat. I ordered 2 pancakes, and was hardly able to finish one of them. My stomach was just telling me "No more!" I thought if I took one more bite I was gonna be running to the bathroom.... oh, fun stuff. This is what I have to look forward to in the coming months????

Oh, and one more thing...

Yesterday before working night turn, I took a little nap since I woke up so early in the morning. I had a dream that I was sitting on the living room couch holding a baby--- my little girl! I remember looking at her, thinking how beautiful she was and counting her little fingers. Someone in my dream ( I think my mom) asked me "How much did she weigh?" and I said "6 pounds 3 ounces."

We'll have to see if that comes true!!! I'm convinced I'm having a girl... every dream I've ever had, it's been a girl. I've never had a dream of having a boy! Hopefully I have a little Alyson Elizabeth in there! :-)

5 weeks 3 days

Today I called the doctor and made my first prenatal appointment... it's for November 7th at 9:30am. The lady I talked to said that it will be an "interview with the nurses" since it's my first appointment. She said she'll be sending me a bunch of paperwork to fill out and bring back in with me on the 7th. I should have asked her if they'll be doing an Ultrasound... she asked me how far along I am and I told her a little over 5 weeks. I'm just wondering if they will do an US since they know how far along I am?? Who knows. I just don't know whether to have my husband go with me, or whether he'll just be sitting there bored. I want him to be with me though, if they do an ultrasound. Just for moral support. :-)

Dealing with the pregnancy s/s...."The girls" still hurt and occasionally I get some cramping, but that's about it. I do feel like I have to pee 50 times after drinking the smallest thing, though! Still no nausea or anything, and my appetite is just so-so. I've been trying to eat a lot of fruit and have been drinking a lot of milk and water.

That's about it for today, can't think of anything else to write. Keep me and my little one in your prayers please!! :-)

5 weeks 2 days

I think I'm psyching myself out too much lately. The thing is, I feel like my pregnancy symptoms have all decreased. For one, my boobs don't hurt as much as they did before. They're just a little bit tender. I'm not getting any cramping at all. I'm not nauseated (never have been, so far), and the 'decreased appetite' thing seems to have lessened too.

I just don't know what to think about all of this. Maybe I'm just worrying too much. I'm just so scared something is going to go wrong. On the plus side though, my temps have still been up, and I haven't had any spotting/crampign either. I just spotted a little bit last night which scared the heck out of me... it was after sex though. (Sorry if that's TMI, but it just freaked me right the heck out.) I've read online that spotting after sex is normal because the cervix is sensitive and full of blood vessels now.... so that was a little reassuring.

I'm going to be calling the doctor in the morning to schedule my first prenatal appointment, so I'll find out then. I just can't wait til I have my first appointment, just so I know everything is ok. Please keep me and my little one in your prayers :-)

5 weeks 1 day

Hello again :-)

Well, my cramping has subsided... thank goodness. Once in a blue moon I'll get a little cramping, but that's about it. This morning I have an upset stomach, but nothing more than that. Could be that I had a bunch of people over lastnight and ate junk food for the first time in forever, but who knows.

Lastnight I slept for 12 hours and I NEEDED IT! Like I said, I had people over yesterday. I finished up work yesterday morning, went grocery shopping at Walmart, then had to clean my whole house when I got home. I just wore myself out. I took about an hour and a half nap before everyone came over. By the time 9pm rolled around, this girl was OUT. All the way until 9am.

Other than that, nothing else to write today. No exciting pregnancy things to report. I've just been reading up on my books (all my links to the right)and showing an occasional picture to my husband so he knows what's going on with the little one.

4 weeks 6 days

Me again. Not much to write about, but I figured I would anyway. I just got home from working my 2nd night turn in a row... only one more to go.

Let me just say that I WAS SO TIRED LAST NIGHT! Usually I get really tired around 2-3am or so, then get my 2nd wind after drinking a nice big cup of hot tea. OH, how I was missing that hot tea lastnight. I was falling asleep and there was nothing I could do about it but get up and take a walk. No coffee...no tea... no chocolate...no nothing. Hell,I even nodded off in the bathroom! IN THE BATHROOM! I was just sitting there and thought, "Hmm... I'll just rest my eyes a minute." I only fell asleep for a few minutes, but jeez... the bathroom?! LOL

Dealing with the cramps, they're few and far between now. Every once in awhile I'll get one that makes me feel all lightheaded (I have a very low pain tolerance!)but other than that it's been fine. 'The girls' still really hurt though, but that's about it. I haven't been getting sick to my stomach. That's the first question everyone seems to ask me... "Are you feeling sick yet?"

I've found that I'm being such a worrywort about all of this though. Hearing how many people have had miscarriages, and knowing that my cousin and my mom both had one... it just stresses me out to no end. I don't want that to happen to me.

Being that this all new to me, I have no idea what to expect... what is normal, what's not-so-normal. I just keep stressing myself out, probably over nothing. Every little twinge, every little cramp makes me cringe and think something's wrong. Until my doctor's appointment, I feel like I should take a pregnancy test everyday just to make sure I'm still pregnant. I haven't, but I feel like I should. I know it's early and that the morning sickness will be starting soon if it's going to, but part of me wishes that I'd feel nauseated or start throwing up... just so I know things are ok. Man, does that sound weird... (sigh) I just find myself praying to God everyday that He watches over me and the little life growing inside me. Prayer is what is giving me strength right now.

4 weeks 5 days

This morning I'm having more cramping... kinda feels like period cramps. Occasionally I'll get a bad twinge on either side, but it goes away as quickly as it comes. I'm not spotting or anything, so that's a good sign. These damn cramps just get me so worried!! I just don't want anything to go wrong with the little one growing inside me. I'm eating right and doing everything I'm supposed to, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

My boobs hurt a lot more today, I've noticed. Some days they won't hurt so much, then there are days like today. OUCH! And they're so sensitive... even my shirt rubbing on me bugs the heck out of me.

No other s/s to report... I just got done working night turn so I'm tired as heck. I'm off to bed!

4 weeks 4 days

I got my on Friday 10-13-06. Friday the 13th turned out not to be such a bad day afterall. As of today, I am officially 4 weeks and 4 days pregnant.

I'm not experiencing morning sickness yet.... hopefully that just passes on by. However, I just don't have much of an appetite. It's not exactly food aversions though; I'm not totally disgusted by certain foods or anything. I just don't feel like eating, and have to force myself to eat. I've had a thing for Corn Pops over the past few days, but that's about it.

Other symptoms I have right now: I'm thirsty all the time, I'm peeing all the time, my boobs really hurt and tingle every once in awhile, and every once in awhile I'll get an upset stomach but not nauseated. Oh, and I'm still getting faint period-like cramps every now and then. At first it scared the crap out of me, but people I've talked to have experienced it also. It's just the uterus stretching to make room for baby. What a relief to know that. I haven't experienced any spotting or anything of the sort, thank goodness. And the BIG thing is that I'm already feeling worn out much earlier in the day. By the time 8-9 pm comes, I'm ready for bed and have to force myself to stay up sometimes.

The other day, I had to laugh, because I started noticing changes in "the girls." I was staring into the full-length bathroom mirror after my bath, and I called my husband in. When he walked in, I'm standing there holding my boob, saying, "Look honey! You see that?"

"See what?" he said.

"Those!" I said, pointing to the newfound bumps on my areolas. "Those weren't there before! My girls are getting ready for the baby!"

He just laughed and jokingly called me "Pimple tits." Gotta love my husband.

LOL...That's about it for now.

Have a great day!

Intro :-)

Good morning :-) This is the first post in my new blog... I wanted to create this blog so I could share some of the joys (and the not-so-joyous things) about pregnancy. I'm so excited about the next 9 months... just to know that there's a life growing inside me is SUCH an awesome feeling.

I also plan to post the signs and symptoms I'm experiencing along the way, and it would be great to meet other people who are going through the same thing! Also, if I come across some great websites, books, or other info, I'll be sure to post links to them on here :-)