I'm PREGNANT!!

I'm sure most of you already know by now that I'm pregnant, but here is the official report with pics....

I found a pregnancy test that my cousin had given me (she was pregnant and didn't need it anymore) when we were packing to move to Florida. On Friday, July 21st at 5:30pm Craig suggested that I take the test because we were going out to dinner with friends that night (for the last time before moving) and might consume margaritas or some other tasty alcoholic beverage. I took the test and was SO surprised to see that it turned out positive that I screamed. I hadn't had any symptoms yet, except a few days here and there where I was unexpectedly tired (I had just chocked those up to working all day and then packing and preparing for the big move every evening).

I took another test the next morning (don't we all?) and then scheduled an appointment with my doctor ASAP. On Tuesday, the nurse confirmed my pregnancy with a urine test and told me I was already 9 weeks along based on the menstrual & basal temperature charts of mine that I had shown her. I was in disbelief. She told me to take prenatal vitamins, rest a lot, get plenty of calcium and not to lift heavy objects. I gave blood at the lab for tests (HIV and other diseases) and that was it. I didn't see the doctor since I was moving in 2 days and my new doctor would want to do the complete exam and history visit.

So, that Thursday and Friday we drove to Florida. I drove my car the whole way and Craig drove the Jeep with Minga in the passenger seat. My parents drove their van pulling a U-Haul trailer (both were full of our things that weren't allowed on the moving truck, such as our little gas grill and propane camping stove). My mom ended up riding with me most of the time to help keep me awake. I couldn't have driven the whole 941 miles (15 1/2 hours + stops) without her. My parents and I stopped at a motel for the night but Craig kept driving with Minga. He was anxious to get to the house and we had to be sure someone got there before the ABF moving truck arrived with our things on Friday. To make a long story short, we had no trouble during our travels and we got everything unloaded from our cars, the van and the large truck by 8:30pm Friday night. We were exhausted and rested while eating pizza (delivery) for dinner.

My parents stayed with us a week to help unpack and settle in, which included using their van to haul the large items we bought for the house. During the week, I noticed some more pregnancy symptoms (fuller & sore breasts, had to urinate a lot, felt sick if waited too long to eat and had more days where I was extremely tired). The Sunday after they left my nausea began. I was nauseated 24/7 and it sucked. I was constantly eating crackers and mints to tame it. I never threw up though (thank God). I don't handle nausea well so by Saturday I broke down crying. I didn't know when it would ease up and I didn't think I could handle any more. Craig saw my distress and immediately comforted me and did all the chores I was trying to do (clean the bathrooms, etc). Thankfully, the nausea eased up during the next day. It was sporatic for a bit and then came faithfully every evening (before and after dinner, lasting until bedtime). I hated bedtime because lying down made me feel worse. But, I always managed to drift off to sleep and didn't usually wake until morning (and I always felt fine in the morning).

I finally made an appointment with a doctor in Florida on August 24th. They asked me questions about my health history, took blood for more tests and gave me a packet of information about pregnancy (what foods to eat, what drugs I can and can't take, etc) and the hospital here. They also gave me a book called "Your Pregnancy and Birth" which is a good one covering all the basics and a couple of magazines (one has really incredible and amazing photos of a baby in the womb during each month of pregnancy). They scheduled my next appointment and sent me on my way. I was pleased not to even have to pay a co-pay for the visit.

I had my first ultrasound at my next appointment on September 8th. I met the doctor for the first time then and was pleased by my random choice (the nurses told me during my first visit that he's a favorite around there). The doctor said that according to the size of the baby I was only 11 weeks and not 16. We were shocked and had to adjust to that news. So, that meant that the last bleeding I had in June was not the implantation bleeding like I had thought but must have been an early and light period. Weird. My body played some tricks on me! The setback turned out to be good because it meant I had more time to do things right (food and exercise) and that traveling at Christmas would be a bit easier because I'd be a month less far along than originally thought. Oh, my new due date is March 29th, which is Craig's birthday!

The ultrasound was great because we could see the baby's heart beating and limbs moving. They gave us 3 pictures (which we promptly put on our fridge) and scheduled my next appointment for a month later. At the next appointment we got to hear the baby's heartbeat and ask the doctor questions.

We had a little scare in between appointments because I tested positive for being a carrier of cystic fibrosis (blood test). That means I have a defective gene on chromosome 7. They had to test Craig to see if he is a carrier too. If he wasn't then we'd have nothing to worry about. If he was though, there is a 25% chance that our baby would have cystic fibrosis (and a 50% chance that our baby wouldn't have the disease but would be a carrier). I had to read up about it on the internet. It's an awful, life-threatening disease. It affects the lungs and pancreas mostly (mucus clogs them and causes problems). Not a fun way to live! Praise God he tested negative! Case closed.

At the beginning of the 2nd trimester my nausea went away completely. Wahoooo! I also had more energy and actually felt hungry before mealtimes instead of just sick. I've only thrown up once so far and it seemed really random to me. We were getting ready to go out to eat dinner and I suddenly didn't feel well but thought it was just because I was hungry. I asked Craig to hurry and get his shoes on while I started munching on carrots. Suddenly, I rushed over to the kitchen sink and threw up several times. It was hard puking while standing like that (I had never done it before)! I had eaten lunch (leftover crockpot meal of carrots, potatoes, onions and chicken) about 5 hours earlier and let me just say that it didn't look digested. I was upset that I threw up that night because it was the one night we actually had plans to go downtown with our only Tallahassee friends. Needless to say, we didn't go out to dinner. I ate soup and tried to figure out if I felt well enough to still go out later. An hour and a half later I decided that I felt totally fine and we did go downtown and then to a late movie with our friends. Yeah!

So here I am now...19 weeks pregnant and feeling good. I still get hungry every 2-3 hours so I eat 6-7 times a day. I think my stomach has shrunk because I can't eat big meals anymore. It's better to eat 6 small meals a day rather than 3 normal/large ones anyway. I eat oatmeal every morning (for my first breakfast) and have not tired of it yet (amazing). My snacks are mostly cereal (the healthy ones), fruit (I crave fruit a lot), cheese & crackers, yogurt (need that calcium!) and granola or breakfast bars. I was surprised to discover that I don't crave sweets (other than ice cream) anymore. They still taste good when I do eat them, but I don't eat them as much because I don't strongly desire them (and if you don't strongly desire sweets, then why eat them because they aren't good for you). I get winded easily (due to hormonal changes) and have a harder time breathing when lying down because my nose feels a bit stuffed up even though it's clear (I've read that it's because the mucus membranes in my nose are a bit swollen from all the extra blood coursing through me). I've also felt a few sharp pains here and there which is due to my expanding uterus (the round ligaments that support it are stretching). It sounds funny but I rejoice at every bowel movement I have because I've heard/read so much about constipation during pregnancy (and constipation can lead to awful hemorrhoids!).

I just had my 2nd ultrasound on October 30th. They said come with a full bladder but I had to pee so badly when I woke up that I decided to get relief instead of holding it until the appointment, which was an hour later. I then drank my usual 8 oz of orange juice with breakfast, but also drank 8 oz of water (all I could get down before the appointment). By the time I was shown back to the ultrasound room (20 minutes after my scheduled appointment) I really really had to go pee again. I told the ultrasound tech that I had a full bladder as requested and she said it didn't have to be uncomfortably full, just needed a little something in it. She started the ultrasound and saw that my bladder was so full that it was cramping the baby's space (I didn't know it would do that!). She took a picture of my cervix and then had me empty my bladder so the baby could stretch out and she'd be able to get good pictures. So, a full bladder is not necessary for a baby-viewing ultrasound after all! It was good for viewing the cervix though. This ultrasound was a long one (so great!) done by an ultrasound tech (rather than the doctor) who checks every part of the baby's body to be sure everything looks good. She was really nice and explained what she was looking at (kidneys, heart, liver, spine, lips, thigh bones, etc) so we knew what was going on. When she showed us the baby's privates and said it's a girl, I cried because that's what Craig and I really wanted to have first. She tooks lots of pics (one of every major part) and gave us 9. I've posted the best 3 here.

Baby girl's belly, hand and face:



Baby girl's body with feet up over her head:



Baby's head and spine:



And here are those current belly pics some of you have requested:







I used to be able to wear this shirt without my belly showing!

I'll keep you posted on the pregnancy and provide you with more pics as my belly grows.