While I don't plan to blog my entire pregnancy, here's what ya'll missed during the first 12 weeks. It's not always pretty.. but it's blunt and honest.
December 23, 2012 - Big Fat Negative. Ok... we'll try again in January. I can drink today!! (Grandma is at my house for family Christmas, drink drink drink.)
December 28, 2012. Where is my period? It's always on time and 26 days. Ok.. maybe I've been under too much stress? Maybe it's going back to 28-day cycles?
December 30, 2012. Here goes nothing. Give it a try, just to be sure. BAM! BFP!!! Excited, nervous. Explains why I felt "flu-like" symptoms My back had really hurt, I was having some cramping (thought it might be period related), was very tired.
*BFP = Big Fat Positive
December 31, 2012 - Make doctor appointment for Thursday at 1pm. Need to talk to them about my "arm thing" too. My arm has been acting weird for a couple months. I probably should have gone to the doctor sooner, but was hoping it was just muscle and would go away. Sometimes it's a sharp stabbing pain as I move it, sometimes I don't have the muscle control to lift my arm. Such like when I'm laying bed... I have to use my other arm to reach other and lift my arm. It could be nerve related.
January 1, 2013. So much to learn about babies! I want to tell everyone! But I'm only 4 weeks, so there's still a lot of time for things to go wrong. Oh, and my due date is September 7 and my brother's wedding is September 14. Hmm.. (Note, we told Grandma my due date is "end of September".)
January 2, 2013. Only Wednesday... dang, this is going to last forever... Took another test this morning to just be sure. Much darker 2nd line. It's for realz people.
Had a (safe) sushi dinner last night with friends L&K. At one point L asked me what will I do about family wanting to stay when the baby is born. Deer. In. Headlights. I needed a moment and shoved some sushi in my mouth. Then was like "What do you mean?" Turns out L's sister is having a baby and his mom will be there for 2 weeks. It did lead to a lot of baby talk about the crazy Labor and Delivery (L&D) stories I've read on Babycenter and we talked about of things I currently like talking about -- without telling them I am pregnant. Now, are L&K pregnant? Hmmm...
Today I talked to my mom on the way home from one of my job sites. Note, 15 degrees is bitter cold. Luckily no wind. Mom is saving her Personal Days for baby time. She said she wouldn't be there during L&D unless I wanted her too. And that she could take a week off. So maybe she'll be around the 2nd week of the baby? Jason can stay home the first week and give us lots of bonding time. I think we will be ok with no crazy story to tell. I'll make it up.
January 4, 2013 - Doctor appointment yesterday went well. She confirmed my due date of September 7, gave me lots of things to read, and I did my blood work. She also confirmed that I have tennis elbow. The nerve near my elbow is damaged/bruised/swollen and I need to rest it for 30 days. My next appointment is Feb 1. That's my mom's birthday. We'll probably tell her that day too.
January 5, 2013 - Happy Birthday to Me!! Decided to tell Mom & Dad today at lunch. Mom cried. It was awesome. :)
January 6, 2013 - Decided to tell siblings. We were going to wait, but couldn't since Kelci & Bill wanted us to play a role in their wedding. Too many Ifs to commit to their wedding day.
January 7, 2013 - In Springfield for work. Man does my back hurt! I'm drinking a lot of water and having no trouble staying hydrated. I forgot my heating pad and am going to need to pick one up. I got two braces for my elbow. One for sleeping and one for day time. They seem to be helping.
January 9, 2013 - Didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I had an upset stomach and it was after midnight when I fell asleep. I'm already tired, it's going to be an even longer day. Tonight - Panera for dinner and early to bed. I plan to leave around lunch time tomorrow.
January 12, 2013 - Not a lot going on. Just baking a baby. It's exhausting! I like napping.
January 16, 2013 - Snagged some girl time with my friend E and her daughters. Was much needed. Eventually got some Pregnancy Tea from E. Very good stuff. Get Maternal by Republic of Teas. Helps calm my tummy and is nice and warm. I seem to always be cold.
January 18, 2013 - Told my BFF (again) that I was pregnant. She didn't believe me, thought I was kidding. Almost had to re-pee to prove it.
January 23, 2013 - Been sick most of the week. Very nauseous. Totally not cool since we leave for San Francisco on Friday!! Am very excited about the trip. The tea really helps. I'm drinking 2-3 glasses a day. I'm able to eat Animal Crackers, Saltines, Pasta.... Milk doesn't agree with me, yogurt and string cheese are iffy too. Ice cream is ok! When I wind up eating lunch and dinner everything seems better, I am mostly sick in the morning.
January 23, 2013 - Sickest day yet AND we're traveling all day. I had Sea Bands, tea, and Dramamine to get me through it, but I was miserable most of the day. However, once we arrived in San Francisco and I got a cheeseburger in me, I was much better! Sometimes food helps the most with the sickness.
The San Francisco trip was great! I posted about that separately.
At the St. Louis airport, I picked the security line that didn't have a Body Image Scanner/XRay Machine/See my private parts machine. In San Francisco, there wasn't a choice... so I had to Opt Out. It wasn't bad, a lady felt me up, felt me down, then scanned her gloves. I'm pregnant, not a terrorist.
January 31, 2013 - Back from San Francisco. Back in the groove of work and working out. And eating normal things like eggs for breakfast, not crepes. :( Still nauseous and exhausted all of the time.
February 1, 2013 - Had a doctor appointment today. I had a substitute doctor and didn't like her. We just didn't mesh. She also doesn't do internal ultrasounds and the external ultrasound only was able to see that my uterus is a big black blob. Which she said is a good thing. It doesn't sound like a good thing to me. She didn't even try to show us the heartbeat. All these people on BabyCenter post about ultrasounds and hearing the Heartbeat and I've still got nada. I hate her.
February 2, 2013 - Water has started tasting weird. Turns out my Zero Filter Pitcher is not filtering to 000 - it's at like 025. My tap water measures at 300 TDS, so while the filter is still doing good, it's still tasting weird. I ordered more filters and switched to bottled water. I am drinking less water because of this. (Looking back, it was the "metallic" taste that some women have, I just didn't realize it.)
And wow could I be anymore tired? I get up at 6:30am, shower, get into the office. Take a nap at lunch, stuff food in my face, back to work, work until 5:30pm, take a nap until 6:15, up for an hour or so, back to bed at 8:30pm. And repeat. All the books say this will over after the first trimester. I can't wait because I feel lazy and grumpy like 24/7. And I forgot to mention the 3am feedings. I wake up in the middle of the night STARVING. I usually eat some fruit and a string cheese. And at 6am, crackers. I'm just so f'n hungry now.
February 2 - 15, 2013. Same ole same ole. I'm gaining some weight, still feeling sick most days, tired as all hell, and having weird food aversions. I don't really like being pregnant. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I hope it's twins because I'm not sure I can go through this again if we *really* want a second child. Another puppy is looking pretty good right now. I don't have to gain weight or throw up to have a puppy.
February 16, 2013 - I borrowed a Doppler from a friend (mine is on back order and should be in soon). We were able to hear the heartbeat. It's a bit hard to find because of my extra cushioning I have in my stomach region, but reassuring that something is going on down there. I finally found a great website to help a girl out with the Doppler unit. It comes with instructions on how to use the item, but not on how to actually find your baby in your uterus or where you should look. The website linked above directs you to many you tube videos that are helpful in finding your baby's heartbeat - and most importantly, distinguishing which rhythm you should be listening too.
February 19, 2013 - Spent today and the end of yesterday in the very very bitter cold. And sometimes dark, and windy, and dusty, very old building. My Springfield coworker was up in St. Louis doing an asbestos and lead inspection of a property. She was running way behind on the time to complete the job. It was a large 5 story building, in the shape of an "H". The 2nd-5th stories are missing ALL the windows. And in it's prime, there was a window every 5 feet or so. The good news is that there was plenty of light - bad news is it was cold as hell frozen over and both me and Cory froze to death. The basement is also flooded and filled with Zombies*. The big issue? You can only wear so many layers, and when you have to pee as much as me, it's a pain to peel all those layers off. I was wise and took rations and ate often to keep me filled up. I also didn't drink as much water so I didn't have to pee as often.
*No Zombies were actually observed, but I know they were lurking behind the boiler and ASTs.
Jason really is awesome. I called him on my way home and told him to heat up the bedroom and turn on the electric blanket. He also peeled an orange for me so when I got home I could crawl into a warm bed and eat something. Then he cuddled with me to try and warm me up. He's been awesome all around. Since I've been exhausted, he helps with my laundry, dishwasher, and peeling oranges. Honestly, I just hate peeling oranges but love eating them. There haven't been any midnight Taco runs, but I'm sure one or two are coming soon.
February 19, 2013 - A Terracon coworker is due around the same time I am! It's exciting to share this with someone, and hopefully she'll act way crazier then me and Jason will observe and think I am just normal. A girl can dream, right?
February 21, 2013 - I'm actually starting to feel better. I'm 11 weeks and 5 days. I'll be 12 weeks on Saturday the 23rd. I have my next doctor appointment on March 5. If she doesn't do an ultrasound or show me the heartbeat, I'm walking out. Now that Grandma Jean knows, we can make it facebook official. So it's official. We're expecting!
Snow is *really* distracting. I'm glad I'm having the baby in the summer when I know I won't have to worry about a snow storm to get to the hospital.
Here's our big facebook announcement. We took our steel toed boots, a Monday, and some baby boots. I want a boy, but if it's a girl she'll probably be an engineer like her parents and need her own pair of boots.
