11 Weeks 6 Days

We have another show this weekend, so I'll be 12 weeks 3 days on Monday when I'll be a real person again to update.

I am hoping to get a belly shot and do a video blog today yet.  But to get most of it in writing I'll update this way for now.

To sum up this week - I'd say - roller coaster

*I have felt pretty good, but man when I'm tired, I am TIRED.  LONG naps when I can get one, and my body just says - "Ok, time to take a break"

*Not a whole lot of nausea.  Which has been a blessing.  I did have a some at my fashion show this past Saturday, but I also want to blame it on stress, it was HOT, and being hungry

*Weird cravings: cottage cheese, bananas, orange juice (everyday), french onion dip, pickles

I have had cottage cheese or pickles every night before bed this week

*Not so pleasant dr. appointment experience, but got to schedule my ultrasound, which is only a week away!

*As far as work and house work goes, I feel a lot more productive.  A lot more has gotten done around the house.  I haven't had many good work days, but I do feel like I can work longer stretches at a time so I'm able to get more done.

I've heard, that the 2nd trimester starts on your 13th week, and I am SO EXCITED about that!  So only 1 week left of this crazy 1st trimester.  Everything up to this point has be unexpected and nothing like my 1st pregnancy.  Lets hope the 2nd trimester is like the books say (Get your energy back, no more morning sickness, the "good" trimester)

I'll post pics and video later if I can get around to doing that.  If not today, Monday!

1st Doctor's Appointment

To day was good and in a lot of ways, not so good.

 

Being that I'd rather forget about all the bad, I'm not going to type it all out here for me to have to look back on.  So I'll just stick with the good.

 

I was able to get a lot of things taken care of today.  All my bloodwork was done in the office.  I had an exam, which everything was fine there.  The doctors were very nice.  There was a student who did a lot of the preliminary questioning, which was no big deal.

 

The best part of the whole day, I got to schedule my first ultrasound and it's only about a week and a half away!  It won't be "the big" gender ultrasound, but I am just so excited to see this baby so early.  With Alyssa, she was about 16 weeks when I got that first ultrasound.  This baby will be 12ish weeks.  We should find out exactly where we are in this pregnancy.  I am fairly certain the day of the ultrasound we will be 12 weeks 6 days give or take a day or two.  But we will have to wait and see.

 

The other news, we may be trying to change doctors offices, hints the part I want to forget.  Fingers crossed something will work out in our favor to get it taken care of.

 

They did do a doppler of the heartbeat, which sounded good!

 

Next scheduled doctors appointment is October 23rd, where I'm guessing I'll get my bloodwork and test results back.

Getting harder to hide "the bump"

So today I had an event with my business.  I did have to MC the event and being that it is something that is business related, I wanted to HIDE my belly.  It is just not something I'm ready to share with my clients till I'm ready, and at 11 weeks... I'm not ready.

So today I wore a more baggy type shirt.  It was elastic around the bottom, but was a balloon style top so it was loose in the midsection.  I thought being up in front of a bunch of people it would do the job.

Till I saw the photos...

Ummm... yeah....

All I can say is, I hope people didn't think I was just fat.  Luckily at my normal shows I do wear an apron, so that should help keep my belly covered for... a little while longer.  I know at some point it won't be something I can hide, but until I get an okay ultrasound - I don't want to sound the alarm with the whole world quiet yet.

11 WEEKS!

11 Weeks Today!

The baby is the size of a LIME - that is HUGE.  To me is sounds huge anyway.

The baby is also proportional now, meaning it's head is no longer bigger then it's body.  And it no longer has webbed fingers and toes!  So basically, it looks like a little baby now <3

I got to meet my friend's 3 week old baby today.  A little boy.  Lately everyone has had little girls, and being that Alyssa is, of course, a girl - I just didn't know how it would feel having/holding a little boy.  After meeting him and snuggling him... I would LOVE to have a baby boy!!!!!

I know I've said, either one (boy or girl) I would be happy, but at this point I really know I would be happy either way.  I would be kidding myself had I said I was not leaning more towards a girl, just because I'm used to girls and girls are FUN to accessorize.  However, after today, I kind of change my mind.  A sweet "mama's boy" would be lovely.  And I know Steve would love to have a son.

As far as symptoms this week:

-Still very tired.  Napped almost everyday (or tried)

-Breasts HURT

-Belly is really showing now, but I can wear baggy clothes to help hide it still

-Super dry nose

-HOT all the time because we turned the AC off with the nice fall weather

-Heartburn/reflux at night BLAH

And my FAVORITE non symptom now.... very little nausea!

I may not have had a super productive week, but I feel like I had a great week!  I felt pretty good!

I plan to do my next progression baby bump photo next week when I'm 12 weeks.  That would put me at one a month for the last 3 months.  Being that things don't change a lot in the first trimester, as far as belly growth goes, I didn't feel the need to take a photo every week.  Maybe closer to my due date...

Fingers crossed for a great 11th week!

Panic Attack

Okay, so not to that extreme, but I am worried all of a sudden.

I am 10 weeks 6 days, and I realize how early that is.  At the same time I realize that I'm also more then 1/4 of the way there too.

So, between being exhausted from being pregnant, napping all the time, having more sick days then feeling good days, and using all my productive time play catch up on work/orders/laundry/house work.

With all that going on, I couldn't feel more unprepared to be having a baby at this point.

Right now I'm thinking about that mile long to-do list that needs to be done before we bring a baby into this house.  Some of which is stuff that needs to be done before it gets cold outside.

Here's what I'm worried about:

-Christmas shopping

-Cleaning out the garage

-Cleaning the carpets

-Putting away the tower garden

-Getting Alyssa's room cleaned (it is bad)

-Going through Alyssa's clothes she's grown out of and putting away summer clothes

-Cleaning out our closet

-Cleaning under our bed

-Organizing my coupons

-Moving the mirror out of our room and adding in the rocker

-Buying a new dining room set

-Going through Alyssa's last TWO YEARS of school papers to save for keepsakes

-Printing off photos from the last year and getting those in albums

And that's enough for now.  My head will explode if I keep adding to that list.  Mind you, none of this has to even do with the baby, it is just stuff I need to accomplish BEFORE I can even start on baby stuff.

Breath in.... Breath out...

TMI Warning

This is a total TMI (too much information) post, so stop reading if that is not your thing...

First up, breasts.

Oh heavens... both my whole breasts.  Sensative is all I can use to describe them.  Putting on my bar hurts, putting on my night shirt hurts, taking off my bar and shirt hurts, showers hurt, sleeping hurts.  On the other hand, the extra sensativity has helped in the labido area of our lives.  I honestly believe, after being off NuvaRing for the last few months, that birth control really effected my sex drive.  Ever since going off it, I have felt much much better... hints why we have a baby on the way!

Size has difineatly increase, and I think sports bras are in my near future.

Next, nipples.

I understand this falls in the breast category; however, I feel like they are almost their own body part at this point.  They are extra large and protrude a lot.  I really am looking forward to breast feeding again.  It is something I missed after stopping with Alyssa.  But now that my nipples are so tender and sensative I almost can't imagine having a baby attached to them around the clock at this point.  I don't look forward to those first couple of weeks where my nipples have to get used to breastfeeding.  But I still look forward to being able to have that bond with the baby.

And last... hair growth.

I shave every single day, and then not even look like I did the following day.  My hair and nails seem like they are just growing like crazy.  To some people that might be a good thing, to me, it is not.

Ring Gender Test

It was FREE to try, so I thought why not.

Hang a ring from a chain and hold it over your belly or hand.

Circles = Girl

Back and Forth = Boy

Well - mine was undetermined!  It didn't really move at all!  Not sure what that means, so maybe I'll try another day.

Weekly Questions

How far along? 10 Weeks 3 Days
Maternity clothes? Nope! My dear friend Sarah bought me some pant extenders so I hopefully won't have to do maternity clothes for while!  Thanks girl!
Stretch marks? None
Best moment this week: Hearing the baby's heartbeat for the 1st time! <3 <3 <3

Miss Anything? COFFEE
Movement: Not yet.  I was about 14 weeks, if I remember right, when I first felt Alyssa fluttering around in there.  So about a month yet to go.
Food cravings: Fruit and Asparagus
Anything making you queasy or sick:  Hamburgers and Chicken
Have you started to show yet:  Yes, and I'm not sure I'm proud of it yet since I know it just looks like I hate too much for dinner.  But I have had plenty of people who know we are expecting comment on that fact that I've already got "a little bump"
Gender:  Hoping to find out in 6-8 Weeks!
Labor Signs: I'm a looooong way from that yet
Belly Button in or out?  In
Wedding rings on or off? On, but I did have to take a ring that I always wear off my right hand
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!
Looking forward to: 1st doctors appointment is in one week!

Made it to 10 Weeks

What a way to start off the double digits.

We began a 3 day expo Friday, on my 10 week milestone.  Just as we were finished setting up and were wired for lights and electricity, open for business with shoppers... our booth was asked to move.  Thank goodness for Steve and another man and women who were able to get it readjusted.  But to be honest, it was about the death of me.  I was shaking from the nerves and from being overly hungry.  Not a good combo at all.

But it was smooth sailing after that.  Besides to constant exhaustion, we made it through.  It was a good weekend for sales as well.  Couldn't be happier to be relaxing in bed right now though as I'm typing this.

10 Week Update:

Nausea seems a little better.  It's not gone, but a little better so far.  Still tired to the point of wanting to fall over.  I do hope that gets a little better soon too.

I was able to find the babies heartbeat again, right away, today.  Still ran high into the 170's... girl?  Maybe?  If I had to pick one way or the other right now - I'm leaning towards it being a girl.

My stomach is growing and growing.  I have been sleeping on my side more because of it too.  Along with my swelling breasts and tender nipples, stomach sleeping is just getting harder and harder.

What am I looking forward to?

Doctor's appointment is one week from today.  Although I've heard the heartbeat, I want that first check up NOW.  It's for piece of mind and really signals that things are finally rolling along here.

Heard the Heartbeat for the 1st time!

My fetal doppler arrived a lot faster then I thought!  Even though I'm only a little over a week away from my 1st doctor's appointments I am SO GLAD I bought this machine!  It has made me feel so so SOOOO much better!

After feeling sick all day, it has opened my eyes to WHY this is all happening and makes me so grateful.

Alyssa and I found the heartbeat after she got home from school together.  It was AMAZING.  I was almost in tears after about 5-10 minutes of searching.  What a GLORIOUS sounds :)  It feel so much more real now.

We were able to get the heartbeat at the beginning and loose it towards the end.  But it is was a fast strong heartbeat and that is all that matters.

We called my mom at work and put my phone on speaker so she could hear it live.  Also called Steve and let him hear it live.  You could hear my mom telling her co-workers all about it over the phone.  She said "aww, I think I'm going to cry!"

It's pretty special hearing the life that you are carrying inside of you.

Side Pains

More then just a few times today I'd had what I call "side pain," but it's not in my side.  It's more above my pelvic bone towards the inside of my stomach.

It makes me wonder if it is ligaments stretching already.

I was curious to see how much my gigantic belly really has grown, I measured my wait around and it's already grown 2" in 5 weeks.  33" (at 4 weeks) to 35" (at 9 weeks).  So I'm not crazy, and this belly really is gaining size.

As far as the ligament pain, it's only been on my right side.  And it's bursts of pain, not a constant pain.  So I'm not worried, but it is a crazy feeling.

Latest Baby Buy

Just today, I decided to buy a Fetal Doppler so we can listen to the babies heartbeat!

Here it is:

 

Listing says you can listen to the heartbeat as early at 12 weeks; however, I've heard you can hear it as early as 9-10 weeks.

It does say it will take 5-7 days to arrive, so I'll be about 10 1/2 weeks by the time it gets here.  But I'd be surprised if it took that long.  It is coming from Chicago, so if they get it in the mail quick enough, I should have it by the weekend I'd think.

I CAN'T WAIT TO USE THIS THING!!!!

Although I have a lot of morning sickness, and already the start of a baby bump - it never seems real till you hear that heartbeat.  With my doctor's appointment still a couple weeks away, it seems like forever.

It will be so nice to be able to share this is Alyssa and hear the heartbeat as a family, in a non medical environment, and WHENEVER WE WANT.

9 Week Update

Week 9 started out great!  

I started the day early, helping to set up the hall for my friend's wedding.  We all had a great lunch together, friend time is always the best.  I went to Walmart to run errands and headed home to pick Alyssa up from school.  We did homework and got cleaned up.  At 6pm we had rehearsal at the church for the wedding.  We drove about 15 miles to the rehearsal dinner where we were able to finally eat dinner at 8pm.

It was a great day and besides being hungry, I felt great!

Me and Alyssa goofing off at the rehearsal dinner

Saturday was the wedding.  Alyssa's hair stylist arrived at 8am.  We had 3 hours to do hair, nails, and get dressed before we headed up to the church for lunch and makeup.  Pictures started at 11am.  Ceremony started at 2pm.  We were at the church till almost 4pm.  Luckily we had a little bit of time to come home and rest before the doors to the hall were opened for the reception.  We stayed till 12pm (Alyssa went home with Gramma and Papa at 10pm).  Another great day, and although I was very tired by the end of the night, I felt great all day long.

Our little flower girl at the ceremony

Sunday was another story...

Alyssa came home about 8:15am and as soon as she got there, I went back to bed.  I was in bed ALL DAY.  And it wasn't just exhaustion, it was that I just felt horrible.  Sick feeling.  I didn't get dressed, I didn't take a shower, I got up to make a quick dinner and I went right back to bed.

Yesterday, Monday, I had many plans to get my work rolling and caught up....

Really didn't happen.  I was okay till about 11am then got very very tired.  So I took a nap, and was in bed till 2pm when I had to get up and get a shower to get Alyssa from school.  I did however, have a productive night and was able to get some work done.

Here is a photo of my belly I just happened to notice last night as I was working...

This this thing for real?

9 week 3 day belly

Today is 9 weeks and 4 days, and I'm bound and determined to be productive.  I'm honestly not feeling 100%.  But I have a customer coming over this evening and HAVE to get the house presentable.  I also have a show this weekend that I've got a million things to do and prep for.

That's all for now!

OH!  Count down to my 1st prenatal appointment:
12 DAYS!

I got "the look"

As we were at Babies R Us the other day (looking for morning sickness remedies), we of course, made a trip around the store to look around too.  The whole time I'm kind of shuffling around and carrying/sipping my bottle of water.  It was HOT that day and I wasn't feeling all that great.  So I wanted to keep hydrated as much as i could.

In my previous post I mentioned that I wasn't sure about our current crib, so we were checking out cribs and seeing what the options are.  We found a couple we really liked, and one was a smaller version of a regular crib, but had a changing table attached to the side.  I said how the mattress we had wouldn't work for it, so we were up and down a couple aisle looking for the "right size" mattress for this funky crib.

As I'm standing there sipping my water, a lady walks by us and very obviously looked down to my stomach.  I am only 9 weeks today and know I'm showing a little, but not enough to get "the look" yet.... or maybe she was just sizing me up.

Not sure, but I guess I'll be getting more of those looks as time goes on.  Right now, I just look like a fatty fat and need to buy some t-shirts to live in for awhile.  I am NOT wearing maternity stuff yet, I'm not.

Crib Dilemma

We have a crib.  A very nice crib.  And it's always been our intention to have our second baby use it.

We even decided to not turn it into the full size bed that it was meant to be turned into for our daughter.  Mainly because we didn't want to give her the "big girl bed" and take it away when we needed it to be a crib again.  So she used it as a crib and a toddler bed, and when we moved into our new house we bought her new mattresses and a new headboard in a twin size instead of a full size.

Here is the crib we have:

 

Now the dilemma.  The colors...

I thought I really really wanted a white crib, now I'm thinking I want a dark crib.  Either way, I don't like the color of this crib anymore.

Is it really that big a deal, that we need to go out and spent a few hundred more dollars on a new crib.  That's what I'm trying to justify.  

So do we:

-Deal with what we have

-Paint what we have

-Get rid of what we have for new

Guess we will deal with it once we find out the gender.  That's the plan for now.

Getting in some practice

It has been 6+ years since holding and caring for a newborn.  My friend came by with her, not yet 2 week old, daughter this weekend.  She was so tiny, even smaller then when Alyssa was a newborn.  I did my fair share of snuggling.  Of course I had to make sure Steve got his turn too.  He needs some practice too!  And I am not real sure he's even held a baby since Alyssa.  (that I can think off the top of my head anyway)

Had to get that moment on camera!

He doesn't look "too" nervous!  Ha!

Soon enough, he'll be holding our own little bundle of joy

In other news...

Our own "baby" lost her 3rd tooth last night!

And by "lost" I mean "I had to pull it 45 min. past her bedtime."

She was put to bed, and then next thing we know she's in the bathroom.  Come to find out she is trying to pull her own tooth out.  (It needed to come out BADLY).  Daddy said his fingers were too big... ugh... as if I'm not queezy enough.  Yep, I had to yank that sucker out.

Before this little beauty queen was born, we divided up jobs.  And tooth pulling was clearly one that was on Steve's list.  I've had to pull 2 out of the 3 she's lost now.  My work is done here.

This new baby, is all Steve's in the tooth pulling department.

Trying this first

Morning Sickness...

My least favorite thing right now.

I've taken some different steps this week, in hopes I can avoid taking a prescription for it.  I'm really really trying to not take anything this pregnancy - not tylenol, no caffeine, nothing.

So we went to Babies R Us yesterday in search of a miracle.  I picked up two different things.

First: Psi Bands

 

They stay on your pressure points on your wrists in hopes of stopping your morning sickness.

2nd I got: Preggie Drops

I have the Preggie Pops and I used one and it really did help yesterday.  These looked a little more user friendly since I won't have a giant stick hanging out of my mouth while I'm eating these.

I did have to drag them out today and I actually don't feel too bad now.  Not sure what to chalk it up to, but even if it makes me feel a little bit better, I feel like it's worth the money.

Pregnancy Progression Begins

I love the chalkboard idea, of keeping track of your pregnancy as you photograph your growing belly... but I've seen it a lot.  A LOT.  I wanted to do my own type of pregnancy progression/record keeping.  So this is how I've chosen to document...

 

And I've left plenty of room for weeks to come.

Here's this weeks photo, in larger size:

 

And instead of the chalkboard idea - I'm sticking with this...

 

Next Belly Shot scheduled for 12 weeks <3

Pregnancy: Week 8

I remembered the belly shot!  Yay!