Things I'm Excited About

Good morning! I am so excited for tomorrow I can hardly stand it, so I thought I'd distract myself for a little with a post. (Although, I don't know how distracting blogging about life and the baby will be!)

First- how stinkin' cute is this?!

I have been looking at it for a couple of weeks and may have to give in and just get it so I'll (or we'll) be prepared for football season this Fall!

Second, it has been a beautiful week here and D and I have gone to the gym, on a jog, or both everyday. I am feeling so good, it is literally like night and day. The first 12 weeks of this adventure I was kind of disappointed at how extremely "off" I was feeling. I seriously wondered how women with other children could go through being pregnant and caring for other people, because simply getting a bowl of cereal or letting the dog out seemed like a huge effort. Now, its a 180- I think I feel better this week than before when I wasn't preggers. So weird.

Third, one of my best friends, Kara (hi, if you're reading!), is getting married November 6th and I'm already looking forward to my first trip home post-baby, being one of her bridesmaids, and having a fun night being unpregnant. Wine, here I come! Mmm...how I miss you...

Fourth, ok, I know I was trying to distract myself from the topic, but can we talk sonogram?! Tomorrow we will get to see our little sweetie for the first time and hopefully get a better idea of when we are due. Right now the date is October 9th, but that is based on the first day of my last period...which may have been a guess on my part. I stopped taking B.C. in December after seeing one too many infomercials on Yaz and Yasmin and planned on switching to something else when we got back from Christmas block leave. Well, clearly that didn't happen, and my last period was a little off from stopped B.C. so suddenly. The ultrasound will be really helpful, because based on the baby's size they will be able to firm up our dates. (So tomorrow, those of you who are betting on the birthday might want to adjust your dates! Haha...I know you're out there!)

Speaking of the ultra sound, our appointment is at 1pm tomorrow, so I'll post later in the day with the news and mayyybeee a picture. :)

xo,
H

Pregnancy Week 12

It's that time of week again...update time! I feel super boring because as you will read/see, there has been little to no change between this week and last. I'm kind of hoping it stays like this for a little while. With my height and body type, I don't see why I can't go several more weeks without starting to show. In fact, I'm hoping that my new found energy can really help me get back into the gym regularly and tone back up. I'm really not trying to be a psychotic, exercise-crazed pregnant lady, but I know that I feel my best when I am active and from what I've been reading, that should really help later on when I do have extra weight to carry around. So let's get to Week 12...

How far along?: 12 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +5

Maternity clothes?: Not yet, but I have started looking for some cute stuff to order so that I don't wake up one morning and have nothing to wear...it could happen!

Sleep: Sleeping like a baby...haha.

Best moment this week: Waking up Sunday and not feeling like the living dead. Seriously! I feel great. Hopefully I have a better moment come Thursday. (Can't.Wait.)

Movement: Still several weeks too early for that.

Food cravings: Mexican- but I always crave that. So nothing too crazy right now.

Gender: T- minus 8 weeks...

Belly Button in or out?: In

Stretchmarks?: Ha, just those preexisting ones...already starting to lotion obsessively, just in case it helps at all!

What I am looking forward to: Our first sonogram this week :)

Weekly Wisdom: Hmm...I feel so new to this I don't think I have much "wisdom" to bring to the table. Maybe something about making sure to appreciate your helpful, doting husband. Sometimes it is easy to forget that he is dealing with my crazy mood swings, complaining of gas and bloating, crying for no reason, etc. Still- make sure you don't give in to any terrible name ideas...aka Rocky. What an idiot. (I say lovingly.)
Milestones: 2nd Trimester, here we come!

Please excuse the post jog look...and notice the huge shadows behind me. Foreshadowing? Also excuse the terrible photo quality. My iPhone and amateur photographer are to blame. :)

xo,
H

Lions, Tigers, and Bears?

Happy Monday! (Such an oxymoron...haha...)

Hope everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend. I know we did!

We took a nice little trip to Alexandria on Saturday to check out the zoo...and like you might expect in Louisiana, it was not the sort of establishment that comes to mind when you think "zoo". Lions, and tigers, and bears? More like alligators, birds, and snakes. So pathetic! D and I of course thought it was hilarious and spent a good hour walking around the little park and taking in all of the luscious wildlife of our great state. ;) I will say that they did have a Bengal Tiger, which was impressive, considering the exhibit prior was an empty otter tank. (Surrreee you have Otters...) There was also a panther, but he was facing away from the crowds looking towards the corner of his enclosure, and we are pretty certain that he was just a stuffed animal, meant to look real. Can't get anything past us!

Aside from our exciting zoo adventure we took a few leisurely walks with Molly throughout the weekend and grilled out, rented a movie, and went to bed by about 9:30 both nights. Let me tell you, we are wild. I think after my first week of working full-time again I was in need of some serious sleep. By Sunday I felt like new- and I really think that the end of my first trimester has a lot to do with it. I am wayyy less exhausted than I was before and not really nauseous anymore at all. It's funny though, I had a headache on Friday afternoon (which I rarely ever get) and then on Saturday my Bump.com update email said that headaches and dizziness are symptoms that people experience during Trimester 2. I guess that means I'm right on track...

In other news, we sold D's car! We/I decided that if we are going to have a baby and a dog and occasionally travel by car to visit our families and friends in Virginia- having two small vehicles would not cut it. Can you imagine us driving back for the holidays this year with D and Molly in the front and the babe and I in the back...with all of our luggage in the little trunk...plus new toys like strollers and baby gadgets? For 20 hours? Nightmare. So this week we decided to try being a "one car family" to see how long we could go before having to pour money into another car. So far it has gone like this:

5:45 am: Drive D to PT, come home, get ready for the day
7:20 am: Drive to work, leave key in strategically placed key holder under car
8:00 am: D finishes PT with a run to my office to drive home and shower before work....and decides that we will only be a one car fam for this week

New car shopping begins this weekend! Yay! :)

Hope everyone's weeks are off to a great start. I promise I will post Week 12 by tonight or tomorrow at the latest!

xo,
H

Pregnancy Week 11

I've seen other mommy blogs with this weekly survey and I thought I'd start doing it too! My week changes on Saturday, so I'll try to post this list by every Sunday or Monday with belly pics for that week included. This week is already halfway over, but I'm really excited to start so here is week 11, several days late.

Pregnancy Highlights:

Date: March 25, 2010
How Far Along: 11 Weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +5ish
Maternity Clothes: Not even close, but my pants are all getting very snug. I have several pairs of dress pants that can no longer button. I feel like a marshmallow. :(

Best Moment this week: Having D surprise me with a treat because I was sad for no reason yesterday. Loveee hormones...

Gender: We won't find out until late May...and I can hardly wait!
Movement: Too early for that still.

Food Craving: Nothing particular, but when I am hungry I've gotten really picky...a lot sounds verrryyy unappetizing.

What I miss: Wine, coffee, Diet Coke

Sleep: Still exhausted from time to time, so I'm sleeping great minus getting up an average of twice a night to pee. Ugh.

What I am looking forward to: Having our first ultrasound next week. I can't wait to see what's going on in there!
Symptoms: Exhaustion- but it's getting better. No nausea anymore, but I am always hungry. I've had it pretty easy so far!

And now, for the 11 Week picture:

So there you have it. I had to include the first pic of our furbaby, Molly. We're pretty sure she's going to be an awesome big sister. As for my belly pics, I just look like a chubster. My stomach has never been flat, even at my smallest, but it has gotten increasingly "thick" lately. I think it will be easier to accept getting larger when I have something to show for it. Until then I'm just trying to stay healthy and not get too big, too fast. We are known for 9+ pounders in both my and D's families. Hurray.

xo,

H

Things lately

It's been awhile since my first post so let's begin with updates...

Last week my mom came to town and was our very first visitor! She flew in on Wednesday and stayed through Sunday. It was SO nice to have her around! We got to take a few nice walk/runs, I gave her a tour of our post, and we even got visit a couple local places I had yet to explore. D was in the field, so we caught up on girly movies and relaxed. Side note: If you haven't seen The Time Traveler's Wife, go rent it. And buy a box of tissues.

For those of you who have been asking for pictures- get excited. We took a few that I will post after they get emailed to me. I shouldn't let you get too excited...there's not too much going on to see. But it will be our starting point right?!

That brings us to baby things...

Earlier last week we had our first baby related appointment other than the initial OB Registration at the hospital that just consisted of paperwork, bloodwork, and finding out that I've gained a solid 6 pounds. (But who's counting? Ugh.)

Anyways, this appointment was pretty cool because aside from the pelvic exam (voms in mouth) we got to hear a heart beat! That actually came first. The doctor started to listen around and we heard static-like noise as he tried find the little sucker. D heard it first. I was anxious that we weren't going to hear anything, but sure enough after a minute of moving around he found the baby and it was loud and clear! It's heartrate was around 140-150, which the doctor said was great. I'm not going to lie, I was a crier. Shocker, right!? D got really excited and said, "I wasn't sure you were really pregnant before, but now I know! I can't wait to call my dad!" Seriously??? I think that was an exaggeration, but you never know with that one...

The rest of the appointment just went over expectations for the next few weeks and questions that I had. We love our doctor, but unfortunately he's leaving before the baby is born. I guess it doesn't matter though, because in a military hospital when you go into labor you'll get the doctor that is working at that time. Kinda scary to think that you may have never seen your doctor prior to delivery, but hey, we know that nurses do all the work anyways. ;)

That brings us up to date! Next week we have our first ultrasound on the 1st and then our next appointment won't be until 16-20 weeks. There should be a lot of changes between now and then, but at this point we're just trying to stay healthy and enjoy it. :)

xo,
H

First comes love, then comes marriage...

The last 9 months have been a whirlwind.

In June my future hubster "D" and I got engaged. In July he went of to Ranger School, an intense Army training course that left us with limited communication for what should have been about 60 days. I kept busy planning our upcoming nuptuals as the time passed. Then 60 days became 90 and 90 became even longer...and finally, on November 12th, 16 days before our wedding, I went down to Georgia to see his graduation ceremony and pin the Ranger tab onto his uniform. Two weeks later we were back in Virginia for Thanksgiving and our Wedding. The following day we packed up a uhaul, hitched up my car, and drove 20 hours to Louisiana to start our new life together. Considering we completed the trip without threatening divorce or causing bodily harm, we agreed that we were off to a good start.

Did I mention we picked up our 7 week old puppy in southern Virginia and shared the rest of the trip with her? Just thought I'd throw that out there to further complicate things for those of you who made it through that first paragraph unfazed! ;)

We quickly settled in to life in Louisiana. Everything seemed to be falling into place with our home, D's career, new friends, and even jobs for me. Then on February 8th we got the surprise of a lifetime...

Since then our schedules have been filled with Dr. appointments, calls to family and friends, and lengthy discussions on the names we love and love to hate. Now that you are up to date, feel free to hang around for the next 7 months! Our due date is tentatively October 9th and it should be a pretty interesting time getting from here to there!

Stay tuned for pictures and our first doctor appointment story!

xo, H