Pregnancy Update: Week 17

Yep, Baby Obie is a BOY!!!  If you missed my last post, (you can find it here), we decided to find out the sex of our baby, but we did so privately, just the two of us.  And it was perfect.
This update is a little late (I guess that's my theme with them all) but we wanted to personally share the news with our family and best friends before making it public.  So while I just hopped into my 18th week, you're just now getting my 17th week update.

How far along?  17 weeks

Baby size?  The size of an onion, about 5.1 inches long and 6 ounces (we know the exact weight since we were at the doctor this week). 

Baby progress?  Baby Obie's cartilage is now turning to bone and getting more fat on those bones!  The umbilical cord is getting stronger and thicker as well.  Baby Obie's senses are perfecting themselves and he his brain is beginning to control his heartbeat rather than beating at random intervals.  His arms and legs have reached their normal proportions and will continue to grow at a constant rate.  

Weight gain?  Two maybe three pounds. 

Stretch marks?  Not yet!

Sleep?  Sleep is good, other than getting up a lot to pee.  

Symptoms?
Morning sickness?  No.  Going 17 weeks strong without it!
Food aversions?  None.
Urination? All the time!
Acid reflux?  Bad but not worse than last week.  
Fatigue?  Still fatigued.  I'm doubting my energy will ever come back.  Well, I'm sure it will, you know, when my last child enters kindergarten and I get a break.
Pregnancy brain?  Still forgetting everything
Emotional:   Yep, but we all knew there was no hope for me.
Itchy skin:  Still the legs. 


Cravings?  Still my same frat boy cravings:  corn dogs, pizza, wings, fries, beer, and rootbeer.  Obviously I don't give in to the beer one.

Movement?  Maybe??  I can't really tell!  Sometimes I think I feel it but then I think I'm just wishing I feel something and thus making up that I felt a tiny movement.  So I'm going to say no or maybe.  Definitely not a yes yet.

Workouts & Activity?  No way.  I feel like I'm going to pass out from just walking to the bathroom.  Which really, really sucks but I'm told is normal.  

Others?  

How are you feeling?  Frustrated with my energy and racing heart.  I just want to be active.  I'm feeling gross because I'm getting bigger.  I know it's normal but for a girl that has been the same size since she was 14 (that's 16 years, y'all), it's difficult to adjust to.  But I'm also anxious and excited to meet this little guy!!!!  So it's not all bad!!!

Best moment this week?  While Nick was unsure if he wanted to know the sex, I'm happy we found out.  His excitement has noticeably increased over his little son.

Worst moment this week?  Becoming sick of leggings.  Yep, you heard that correctly.  I'm so over leggings.  I cannot wear anything else during the day so that's all I'm wearing.  (At home at night, I'm cozy in Nick's big baggy pants).

What do you miss?  Not feeling guilty if I have an unhealthy day. 

Things that suck?  Constipation.  Look, I'm just being real.  Pooping HURTS!!!  Thankfully I don't have that insane cramping I had back in weeks 5-7.  This is just painful pooping or finding it difficult to go and it sucks!

Things that don't suck?   Having Nick rub my belly and talk to Baby Obie all the time.  It's pretty freaking adorable.  

I don't think my belly changed much between last week and this week!

Boy or Girl? The Question Has Been Answered!

Thursday, November 18th rolled around and we headed to the doctor to take another peek at Baby Obie and make sure he/she was still doing well (we go every 4 weeks).  We were also going to find out the sex!!!! 

 In one of my previous posts, I had mentioned that we weren't sure what we were going to do.  It really didn't matter to me what sex is growing inside of me, and Nick had a preference of a boy, but ultimately, what we truly cared about was a healthy baby.  But in the end, Nick decided he wanted to know what we were having.  The day before the appointment, we finally looked at all the old wives tales to see what they predicted.

It appeared if the wives tales were correct, we'd be having a baby boy.  However, in my defense, I don't feel the 'balance' and 'feeling' is that accurate because I'm always clumsy, even before pregnancy.  And I've always been a moody person, crying over everything.  So I wouldn't say those are fair questions.  But alas, the wives tales said boy.

So off we went to the doctor, hoping and praying for a healthy baby.  And we got just that!!!  Baby Obie was as perfect as could be!  He/she was measuring right on track at 16 weeks 5 days, which is perfect for our May 30th due date.  They took a look at all of Baby's organs, measurements of bones, head, brain, heart, etc and things could not have been more perfect.
We were loving watching our sweet baby on the screen.  This was the first appointment were he/she truly looked like a human!  In the previous appointment, Baby wouldn't turn to profile view so this was the first time we saw our child's profile.  And it was perfect.  I seriously have been staring at this photo, whether the paper one or on my phone, every day, multiple times a day, just smiling, thanking God for blessing us with him/her and keeping us both healthy and giving me a fairly easy pregnancy thus far.

The sonographer waited until the end of the appointment to figure out the sex so we looked away.  I drank orange juice beforehand (a recommendation from two women I work with who said it made their baby squirm all over so they could get a good view) and it worked!  During the entire ultrasound, baby was all over place!  Kicking those feet, flailing those hands about, wiggling all over.  However, when it came time to take a peek between the legs, Baby wouldn't uncross his or her legs.  She was finally able to get a good picture and determine the sex.  But we didn't find out just then.  We decided to find out privately together over dinner.  I brought a card and had her circle boy or girl and put the photo in the card.

It was so hard to wait until that evening but over dinner, we opened the envelope.

We're having a SON!!!!!!!!!

 Of course I cried and like usual, Nick made fun of me for it.  But we were both so happy.  Nick was obviously very happy since he wanted a boy and I was just happy to know since I truly didn't care one way or another.  We were all smiles throughout dinner, talking about raising a boy, our hopes and dreams for him (arguing over whether he will go to Mizzou or USNA), and deciding how we wanted to decorate the nursery.

We decided to keep the news to just us for the evening and have this moment.  The next evening, on our drive to St. Louis, we called our immediate family and best friends and shared the news with them.  This past weekend, we shared the news on social media and let the world know we were ecstatic to be welcoming a baby BOY into this world in May!

(No, we have not decided on name yet and when we do, we aren't even sure we'll share it with anyone or wait until he's born to announce it.)

Words cannot express how happy we are to have a baby boy but more importantly how happy we are to know he's perfectly healthy and we're both doing really well!!!!  Pregnancy has been great thus far and I have zero complaints!!!  To all of those that shared our joy on our Facebook and Instagram announcement, THANK YOU!!!!  We are overwhelmed with how loved this baby is and how loved Nicholas and I are by our friends and family.  Thank you :)

Pregnancy Update: Week 16

I know what you're thinking.  'Didn't you just put up a 15 week update yesterday?'

I sure did.  But I was behind.  However, I'm currently in my 16th week, so that means I'm caught up (minus weeks 4-12).  

Saturdays is when my new week begins, so I usually take my photos on either Saturday or Sunday but for some reason, it's hard for me to get around to publishing these.  If a post requires taking photos off my camera, editing them (resizing, cropping, and adding my website), then it usually gets put off.  I'm going to try harder to get these posts up on Monday or Tuesday of each week so you are't overwhelmed with them.  

Anyway, here we are, at 16 weeks, in my current state!

How far along?  16 weeks

Baby size?  The size of an avocado.  Baby is about 4.6 inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces.  

Baby progress?  Baby Obie can now hear!!!  I'm sure he/she is now wishing that Mama wasn't so loud and obnoxious.  Sorry kid, get used to hearing my voice because I talk a lot.  Just ask your daddy, he gets rather annoyed.  But I bet he has tips for tuning me out while still making it seem like he's listening ;).  That other loud noise you hear all the time over and over?  That's your big(gest) sister, Yadi.  She's a very vocal, very sassy Weimaraner but she's anxious for you get here so she can have another person to play ball with.  I hope you like books because we're going to start reading to you each night.  That'll probably be the only time you hear daddy (other than his snoring at night) because he's not like and doesn't talk often.  But I've begun buying my favorite baby books (that's the teacher in me) because reading is very important to me so now that you can hear, you're going to get to hear your books before you even enter this world!
Baby Obie is also growing hair, eye lashes, and eyebrows.  (I bet before now you resembled Mommy circa 2006 when I was also lacking all hair everywhere on my body.)  
Baby is also getting other senses like sight (he/she can detect light through my belly!), touch, and smell.  

Weight gain?  Nope.  Or at least if I have, it's not noticeable.  

Stretch marks?  No and let's hope it stays that way.  

Sleep?  Sleep is okay, but it's not pregnancy related.  Just my usual work stress keeping my mind from settling and making it hard to go back to sleep after I wake up to pee.  

Symptoms?
Morning sickness?  No.  I'd hate to say I won't get it since I'm in my 16th week and haven't had it yet, but I hear it's rare to get it after this point (I said rare, I know anything can happen.)
Food aversions?  None.
Urination? Lots of it.  I pee at least every 2 hours.  I'm averaging about 4 restroom trips a night, but have had SEVEN once before!  (I drank an entire glass of water before bed but that's because I am so freaking thirsty all the time!)
Acid reflux?  Bad.  But I'm used to it.  It's worse than it's been the past 8 years but I'm able to deal with it.  
Boobs?  Holding steady as a D cup and not sore anymore!  Embracing this while it lasts!
Fatigue?  It's still strong.  But I do get some days where I feel good.  Usually one day a week and maybe two hours here and there on a give day. The other day I came home from work and while I still was breathing like I had ran a marathon after walking up the stairs, I had the energy to do laundry, fold and hang clothes, clean the kitchen and bathroom.  But for the most part, I'm always tired and always out of breathe.  Even just standing for more than 10 minutes has my heart racing.  
Pregnancy brain?  I stop mid-sentence and have no idea what I'm talking about.  I still ask Nick the same questions multiple times a day.
Others? 
Emotional:  still an emotional mess.  While I'm driving, I listen to Christmas music and 6 out of 10 songs will make me tear up.  I'm ridiculous.
Headaches:  None this week!
Back-ne:  No more!
Itchy skin:  These legs.  Ugh.  So itchy, so badly, all the time.  
Cloudy vision:  Hasn't happened in a while.  

Cravings?  Corn dogs, pizza, and root beer still but add wings and chili to the list.  I'm actually pregnant with a frat boy so that's fun.

Movement?  No.  I keep reading that this is the week for the "quickening", which is the name of the movement.  But I haven't felt it and it makes me sad. Maybe I'm missing it because people says it's faint but I don't feel flutters or anything like it :(

Workouts & Activity?  Nope.  I think I'm going to ease back into them after Christmas, whether my body has the energy or not.  I really can't handle feeling like a waste of space.

Others?  

How are you feeling?  Stressed and irritable.  Most of that is my job and the fact that it doesn't allow me any time to relax.

Best moment this week?  Realizing I am slowly, very slowly, getting energy back.

Worst moment this week?  My favorite sweater dress being out of commission until I'm back to pre-pregnancy size.

What do you miss?  Not having to pee 4+ times a night.

Things that suck?  My teeth have become sensitive.  Ouchie!  They were like this after chemotherapy but switching to old people senitive toothpaste has helped. Until now.

Things that don't suck?   Having an excuse to buy new clothes.  I'm not buying maternity tops, just things a size bigger or a little looser.

Pregnancy Update: Week 15

How far along?  15 weeks

Baby size?  The size of an orange.  About 4 inches long and weighs roughly 2.5 ounces.

Baby progress?  All of baby's joints and limbs can move now and the body's proportions are becoming normal.  Although the heart is still under construction, it's pumping plenty of blood now and baby is still practicing breathing.  The genitalia is complete so we could now be able to tell if we're having a boy or girl.  

Weight gain?  None.

Stretch marks?  Nope.  Same routine every day to prevent it.

Sleep?  Not sleeping great, but not horribly either.  

Symptoms?
Morning sickness?  Still none.  
Food aversions?  None.
Urination? All.The.Time.
Acid reflux?  Same as last week.  Worse but still manageable most days.
Boobs?  Barely sore at all!  Growing has stopped for now.  (at least I think so).
Fatigue?  Still out of breath all the time and beyond exhausted after a day of work but don't feel the strong need for a nap anymore so I guess I'm slowly getting energy back.  
Pregnancy brain?  Forgetful and clumsy.  All the time.
Others? 
Emotional:  Overly emotional.
Headaches:  None this week!
Back-ne:  No more!
Itchy skin:  Still my damn legs.
Cloudy vision:  Nope!

Cravings?  Corn dogs, pizza, and root beer.

Movement?  No :(

Workouts & Activity?  Not yet.  If I didn't work, I think I'd have the energy for them but after a 10-12 hour day, I'm just ready for bed.

Others?  Occasional fluttery heart.  Is that normal?  I'm going to talk to my doctor about it at my next appointment.
I'm also so thirsty all the time.  Which means I'm peeing even more frequently.  

How are you feeling?  Aside from crazy super stressed at work, I'm great!!!!  No big complaints.

Best moment this week?  Finally feeling like I look pregnant with a human baby (to those that know me) other than a questionable food baby or FUPA.

Worst moment this week?  Realizing all my leggings are so tight that while they surprisingly aren't uncomfortable, they are creating two separate bellies and noticeably squeezing me in half.  

What do you miss?  My pre-pregnancy body. Call me vain but it's true.

Things that suck?  My sweaters are all so tight in the armpits and boobs.  My chest is SMASHED in them and the armpits are causing chaffing they're so tight.  Time to buy new clothes.

Things that don't suck?   Not being judged by Nick for eating corn dogs...in bed...at midnight because I have a legit excuse.  Or at least I tell myself I have a legit excuse

Pregnancy Update: Week 14

I am so behind on these posts.  I promised you all I'd get caught up and not only did I not do that, I failed to post my 14 week update last week.  Last week I was preparing for an out of town conference for work so I didn't blog at all (as you can see it's been 8 days since my last post).  But I'm here today to give you my 14 week update even though I'm now into Week 15.

How far along?  14 weeks

Baby size?  The size of a lemon, about 3.4 inches long and weighing just 1.5 ounces.

Baby progress?  Baby is now more fluid in his/her movements instead of the jerky movements we saw in our 12 week ultrasound.  His/Her intestines are now producing meconium which is the waste that will make up it's first poop (yay?) and producing urine now.   Baby can also squint, frown, and suck it's thumb.  His/her liver, kidney, and spleen are functioning better every day!  Baby is using all the protein I'm eating to build muscle and he/she is adding fat to their tiny frame and has doubled in weight since last week!  He/She is also producing white blood cells to help fight off infections once their debut into this world is made.  

Weight gain?  None.

Stretch marks?  Nope.  Still using Bio Oil every night Burt's Bees Mama Butter in the morning.  

Sleep?  I'm not sleeping as well as I was, but I don't think that's anything to do with pregnancy.  I just think I'm not as dead tired exhausted as I was and thus I'm back to my old ways of not sleeping well anymore.  

Symptoms?
Morning sickness?  Still none.  I'm told, and thus I'm hoping, that since I haven't had any yet, I won't.  I know some people don't have it in the beginning and get it later, but I'm hoping I'm not one of those rare ones that it happens to.
Food aversions?  None.
Urination?  I'm definitely peeing more.  Not volume, just frequency.  I feel like I have to go more frequently but when I do, there's not much coming out of me.  I guess this baby is making my bladder smaller and thus I'm peeing less volume but more frequently.  
Acid reflux?  It's getting worse, but definitely still manageable.  Thankfully I have my normal medication to help with that.  
Boobs?  Not as sore as they were.  I think they took a break in growing and soreness but I'm told they'll begin to grow again.  I'm a D cup now, which is a large change from my As but now that they aren't sore, I'm not complaining!
Fatigue?  It's not as bad as it was, but definitely still there.  Stairs are still a huge task.  Standing or walking for too long has me wanting to pass out.  Apparently most people get their energy back in their second trimester and w few don't.  I am one of those that hasn't.  At least not yet.
Pregnancy brain?  I haven't done anything super stupid this week.  I do ask Nick the same question about 10 times in an hour still.
Others? 
Emotional:  I was emotional before but wow!  I cry and tear up over EVERYTHING!!!!!  And I'm super bitchy at times.  My poor husband has to deal with this more frequently than he'd like.
Headaches:  They aren't as frequent as they were but I do get them from time to time.  
Back-ne:  The back-ne is better, but the acne on my face is making up for the back-ne's disappearance :(
Itchy skin:  Yep, my legs are still so incredibly itchy!!
Cloudy vision:  Hasn't come back this week, but I've been wearing my glasses a lot lately.

Cravings?  Nothing really.  People keep asking if I crave salty or sweet and I crave both.  

Movement?  Still not feeling anything.  I'm really anxious to feel it!!  

Workouts & Activity?  No, but I'm hoping maybe next week I can begin to do some sort of activity.  Praying my energy comes back.  

How are you feeling?  I'm feeling great!  I'm less anxious now.  There are times I think about this mass/ovary and it gets me worried, but for the most part, I'm able to forget about it.  When I do, I just focus on the high-risk specialists confidence that it's an ovary.  But other than occasional anxiety, I cannot complain.  Pregnancy has been treating me really well!

Best moment this week?  Finally feeling like I look more pregnant with a human baby than a food baby.

Worst moment this week?  When I got my baby drunk.  Before you judge me, hear me out.  We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends on Thursday.  One of our friends brought some non-alcoholic champagne for me.  I hate opening them so I asked someone else to open it.  I forgot about it and just before we sat down to dinner, someone (I don't even remember who!) handed me my glass of champagne.  I sat down to dinner and drank my champagne.  At one point, I said to the friend who brought the non-alcoholic champagne, "This is really good!!".  When I finished the glass, I went to pour myself another glass.  In the kitchen, I saw the two champagne bottles on the counter.  I picked them both up, read them, located the non-alcoholic one and poured a second glass. "Hm, this looks different.  My glass before was more a peach color." I went back into the dining room not thinking much of it and sat down.  I took a sip.  'Oh shit!' I thought.  This not only looks differently, but it tastes differently.  I looked at everyone's glasses of champagne, you know, the alcoholic kind.  Theirs was peach.  Mine was your typical true champagne color.  Awesome.  I just downed an entire glass of champagne and have officially won the worst mother award and my child isn't even here yet!  So many people told me that one glass won't hurt the baby and some OBs say an occasional glass of champagne or red wine is okay.  I don't know if this is true but damn do I feel like a horrible mother :/

What do you miss?  Having pants that fit me well.  Right now, they're still being buttoned with a pony-tail holder and that means they aren't very tight.  Which means when I sit, they sag and if my shirts aren't long enough, I show major crack to anyone behind me.

Things that suck?  Playing a drinking game with friends but not actually being able to drink but still having to smell their beer 

Things that don't suck?  Having a justification for all the random cravings I have.  One day I'm wanting corn dogs, the next Oreo's, the next Cap'n Crunch, etc.  

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

Monday...ugh!

Monday after four days off for the holiday...there aren't enough ughs in the world. 

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and holiday weekend!!!
I'm here to give you a Thanksgiving weekend recap.  Because I know you haven't read enough of those!

This was our first Thanksgiving away from family. Every year since I've been married and moved away from home, we've been able to go home for the holidays. This year, however, we decided to stay in Florida. After traveling home for my sister's wedding at the beginning of November and going home for Christmas (plus a baby on the way), we decided to save our money and stay put. 

I'll admit, it did suck not seeing family and it was strange, but we gathered together with a few other friends that didn't travel for Thanksgiving and we had a blast!! We ate, (they drank), we played games, we napped, we laughed. It was perfect!
We did some of my family's normal Thanksgiving traditions, like watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that morning while eating breakfast.  Let me also note that my husband, who very rarely drinks, poured himself a nice large glass of strawberry MOONSHINE to go with his pancakes!  Being with child, I had milk to accompany my M&M pancakes ;)

{We decided to snap this quick photo of our last Thanksgiving as a family of two! (Well, four if we don't want to hurt the fur babies feelings)}

The rest of the weekend was busy.  Friday we woke up and just lounged around the house. Somewhere around 12pm we decided we'd go check out the Black Friday sales. We went to the NEX (Navy Exchange, which is like a giant department store on base) and spent way too much time and possibly too much money. But we got Christmas gifts and some things we've been wanting for a while (ie. a Roomba. Yay!!) 

I'm sure it would have been a great day to snag some great deals on baby gear, but being only 14 weeks along, I haven't even begun thinking about, researching, or talking to others about what the heck a baby needs and likes. Thus we didn't pick up anything for little Baby Obie. 

Later that afternoon, we went to the Northeast Florida Mizzou Alumni Chapter's Tiger Watch Party to watch our boys beat Arkansas to win the SEC East title, which sends them to the SEC Championship for the second year in a row (and only their third in the SEC after all the haters said (and still say) that we can't hang with the big boys).

Saturday we decided to hit up the furniture store. We have a two story house with a loft right as you come up the stairs. That loft is empty (and by empty I mean no furniture but a few unpacked boxes...from moving in 14 months ago). We said that once we had a baby, we'd make the loft baby central. You know, all the toys and baby gadgets and gear and whatnot. It makes sense so we don't junk up our main living area and the nursery is upstairs too. Our plan is to add a television (and small entertainment center) and a couch. So off we went to find a couch. We were going to hold off until much closer to Baby Obie's due date, but when we saw the sales this weekend, we decided to go look. And I'm glad we did.  We saw a couch we loved at Ashley Furniture, but ended up buying it yesterday at the NEX because it was literally 56% of the cost of Ashley's and no tax. So we now have a couch on the way. It'll be the new couch for our main living room and the current couch will go upstairs in the loft. 

That night we headed back over to our friends house and played Donkey.  If you haven't ever played, find your nearest friend with a pool table, YouTube videos of how to play, and go play!  You will not regret it.  You can also make it a drinking game if you so desire (you have to drink between your turns).  I thought I'd pass out from exhaustion after seeing how winded everyone else was getting, but I was able to play!  While I still feel sleepy a lot and stairs still kick my ass, playing Donkey made me realize I'm slowly getting my energy back so I think I'm going to ease back into my workouts and runs!  I'm pretty stoked about that!
After Donkey had us pretty worn out and hot, we decided to transition to Settlers of Catan, a game I just learned this weekend and love!

And now here I am, on my way to work (well about to be). Yuck. I love long weekends but hate that I really had zero time to rest and relax this entire weekend. We were gone from our house for the majority of it. When we were home, we were sleeping or cooking. I just want a day to lay on my couch and do nothing. Or decorate for Christmas. That's my Thanksgiving weekend tradition and it didn't even happen :( I wish I could say it would happen this weekend, but it won't because I'll be out of town for work. I need life to slow down!!!

How was your Thanksgiving?  
Did you get to spend it with family?
What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions?
Or do you go completely untraditional when it comes to the meal and other things?
Did you brave the crowds for Black Friday?

My Husband Knew I Was Pregnant Before I Did

Yes, you heard that correctly, my husband knew I was pregnant before I did.

When you announce your pregnancy, you're usually hit with a ton of questions.  The most common and obvious, 'When are you due?', 'Are you finding out the sex?' 'Are you sharing the name?', etc.  I expected those.
I also realized that people are very curious as to how you knew you were pregnant.  (I'm assuming they mean what lead you to take a pregnancy test because clearly I knew I was pregnant when I saw "PREGNANT" on the pregnancy test.)

Because I find our situation pretty comical and was asked quite a few times, I thought I'd share.

It was Thursday, September 18, 2014 and this conversation was had:
Nick:  "Are you pregnant?  Your boobs feel differently."
Me:  "No, they don't."
Nick:  "Yes they do."
Me:  "No, they don't."
Nick:  "I'm pretty sure I would notice."

...fair enough.  {Because I have no problem being TMI}, it's fair to say that Nick feels my boobs more than I do.  I don't think it's odd that I don't feel myself up often so it made me wonder, 'do they feel differently?'  They were sore, but I was supposed to start my period in a few days and it's normal for a little tenderness during my period.  But we had been trying so I thought, "Oh my gosh, what if it's finally happened and I'm pregnant?"

The next day, I decided to take a pregnancy test and sure as shit, I was pregnant!!

Clearly my husband knows my body better than I do.


Do you have a unique or funny story as to how you knew you were pregnant?

To see how I actually told him, click HERE

How I Told My Husband I Was Pregnant

Now that Baby Obie is public knowledge, I can begin sharing things that have happened since then.

I've dreamed of being a mother for as long as I can remember.  I think most women tell you they think about becoming a mom one day, but it's something I'd spend hours and hours daydreaming about.  Maybe almost to an unhealthy level (and this is also something no one really knows, as I kept this obsession with being a mother to myself).  Maybe this obsession stemmed from the fact that I had an amazing upbringing.  My family is so close and my mother is my best friend.  She's honestly been the most amazing mother anyone could ask for, and I've always thought if I could be just HALF the mother she was and is, I would consider it a great success.  I always envisioned having children and having the same close bond my mother had with my siblings and myself.

After meeting Nick, and knowing he would be the father of my future children, I began envisioning our life together as parents.  One of the things I always thought about was how I would tell him the news of being pregnant.  Nick wanted to start a family long before I did.  I was the one wanting to wait a little bit longer to start trying and Nick was all about starting our family quickly.  Because he wanted a child so badly, and because I love to do things a little bigger than necessary and creative, I wanted to tell him in a very special way.

I thought about it for years.  (Yes, years).  And I never truly came up with an idea.  I just figured when the time came, I'd know what to do.  And that couldn't have been further from the truth.

On September 19, 2014, I decided to take a pregnancy test because the day before Nick had me questioning if I was pregnant.  So into the bathroom I went, and I pulled the last pregnancy test out of the box.  I peed on it, set it on the back of the toilet, stood up (after wiping obviously), pulled my pants up, and turned around to flush the toilet and that's when I saw it.  "PREGNANT".

I was shocked.  I didn't expect it to say pregnant, because I wasn't even supposed to start my period for another few days.  But this showed up right away.  I was pregnant.  Suddenly I was flooded with a million emotions.  My heart was racing.  I was sick to my stomach.  I was crying.  I was filled with immense joy, but at the same time, scared shitless.  This was real.

Just then, my phone rang.  It was Nick calling to tell me he was leaving base and heading home.  I knew I needed to tell him when he got home.  There was absolutely no way I could hide it from him.  Not only would I just want to blurt it out, but he'd sense that something was very off with me.  But I had NO idea what I was going to do.

A long while ago, I bought two onesies in anticipation of maybe using them to tell Nick we were pregnant.  I had also bought a "Expectant Father" book.  Lastly, I had a Cardinals t-shirt that said "Future Fan" on the belly.  I had no idea what to do, but I needed to figure it out asap because Nick was on the way home.

I was still racking my brain when Nick pulled up in the driveway.  I was so nervous but also so upset because I had always imagined I'd do something so special to tell him and here I was with NOTHING to do.

He walked in and we talked a little bit about our days.  I tried my hardest to act normal and I'm not sure if he could tell something was up.  I stood up and said, "I bought a new shirt and I want you to tell me what you think of it."  I went into the bedroom, changed into the Cardinals shirt, and wrapped the pregnancy test, two onesies, and book in a tissue paper then walked back into the living room.  I walked over to him sitting at the couch and said, "What do you think of my shirt."

He looked at it, then up at me with a confused face, and asked, "Are you pregnant?"  My eyes welled up with tears as I handed him the tissue paper wrapped gift.  He opened it and I said, "In nine months we'll know which one we'll be using."

Things after this are kind of blurred for me.  There was lots of hugging and kissing.  I know that the rest of the evening, we sat around talking about the future.  What our hopes and dreams are for Baby Obie.  How far along we thought I was (going off my last period, I was only three and a half weeks.  Which was confirmed at my first OB appointment at 5 weeks).  We talked about the traits and features we hope the baby gets from each of us.  We talked about our fears and apprehensions over raising a baby.  Sharing the news with Nick just made it so much more real for me, and from then on, this little precious miracle was on my mind every second of the day and consumed more than half of my conversations with Nicholas.

Looking back, I'm still disappointed I didn't pull off a super special announcement for Nick, but there was no way I could wait.  But that's how life happens.  Things happen unexpectedly and you have to just go with it and make the most of it.  I like to look at this as preparing me for motherhood.  Lord knows the planner in me is going to have many situations like this with my child; things will go far differently than I hoped and planned for.  But I'm confident that in the end, it won't matter because just like this day, we'll be filled with love and smiles.

First Trimester Screening

On November 20th, I had my first trimester screening at both my OB's office as well as my high-risk specialists doctor.  (If you missed why I'm high-risk, you can check out this post).

That morning, I visited the high-risk specialists.  The appointment was easy on my part because I just had to lay there while they took measurements of the baby.  Unfortunately, because of my severely tilted uterus, at this point in my pregnancy, transvaginal ultrasounds are better than abdominal ultrasounds.  (Yes, that's exactly as it sounds.  Instead of the flat transducer on my belly, they stick a very long transducer, a wand, up my lady bits and into me to get a better image.  Lucky me).

During this appointment, they want to measure the baby from head to rump as well as measuring the nasal bone and the neck membrane.  These measurements can give them an indication if there might be chromosomal issues in the baby.  But it's just an indication.  Sometimes the baby's measurements indicate higher risk for the chromosomal disorders and end up being born perfectly fine.  Essentially, they take the measurements of the baby along with the blood work and figure out your risk factor for various things such as Trisomy 13 or 18 among other things.

It was easy to get the head to rump measurement and that was perfect!  Baby Obie was measuring right on track for 12 weeks and 5 days.  Unfortunately (and fortunately), baby was staring straight at us and wouldn't move.  The sonographer needed Baby Obie to turn to profile view so she could measure the nasal bone and neck membrane.  The unfortunate part was that I had to lay there with this transducer up my vagina for a good 25 minutes as she pushed all over my uterus to try to get Baby to move, had my cough, etc.  The fortunate part was that we got to look at our baby for 25 minutes.  He/She just stared at us, occasionally rubbing his/her eyes, and wiggling about.  But never turning.
She then took back to the abdominal transducer and was finally able to get the measurements she needed.

Below are two of the photos we received.  I will admit, these photos are always hard for me to tell what I'm looking at.  It's actually really easy to distinguish everything in real time as you're watching the baby wiggle all over the screen, but even seeing that and getting these still shots, I was like, "Um, what am I looking at again."  So I pointed things out for you in the hopes you can possibly tell what you're looking at.  If you don't, no worries.  I don't blame you one bit!

The high-risk OB then came into the room and we really liked him (as opposed to the last doctor that we had and were less than pleased with).  He said everything looked great with baby and then moved on to looking for the mass.  As I mentioned in this post, they found the mass again.  However, this doctor felt fairly confident that it is just the ovary.  It is within the size of an ovary (the mass is 2cm), it's perfectly round, and it's smooth.  He isn't too concerned but does understand my concern and worry.  He did tell us that we can do surgery and testing if we feel we need to.  Our game plan is to come back in four weeks for our anatomy ultrasound (fingers crossed I can convince Nick to find out the sex.  As of now, he's not sure if he wants to know the sex and I do want to know).  When we come back for this appointment, they'll again look for the mass.  If it's still there and they aren't 100% certain it's an ovary, they might send me for an MRI.  It is the safest test to get a clearer answer during pregnancy.  While they don't like to do surgery or testing during pregnancy, sometimes they feel it's necessary.  If you have something toxic and harmful growing in your body, the risks of keeping it in are greater than the risks of removing it.  No decisions have been made and we won't decide until we know that's a bridge we have to cross.  We could come back and not even have to worry about it.  That's what I'm hoping for!
After the ultrasound, I got my finger pricked for the blood test to check for more risk factors for chromosomal disorders.
Then we scheduled our next appointment for December 18th and left.

That afternoon, I visited Dr. F, my regular OB's nurse practitioner.  Because I met with my OB back in St. Louis this summer, I didn't need to get the full pap smear, just the cervical check.  We then talked to her about a lot of our concerns, which included this mass, my stressful job, traveling, etc.  She helped ease our mind about a lot of the concerns and we left feeling much better.
After meeting with the nurse practitioner, I had my blood drawn to check for various things like HIV, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, etc.

I got the call just before Thanksgiving that both blood tests came back great.  My high-risk doctor called first saying the risk for Down's Syndrome and Trisomy 13 & 18 is very, very low, which was great!  (They reach this number by combining the measurements with the blood work to get your risk factor number).  Just a few hours later I received a call from my OB's office telling me that my blood work came back showing negatives for all diseases and that my CBC (complete blood count) came back perfect.  I didn't mention it to anyone but I was worried about this because if my WBC (white blood count) was off, it could indicate something (cancer) and I'd be freaked out.  The only negative to my visit was my urine specimen came back with bacteria, indicating I had a UTI.  I was shocked and she told me it's in the early stages and thus I wasn't symptomatic yet.  Thankfully by catching it early and starting the antibiotics immediately, I never did experience symptoms.  Win!

I'm thankful to have a positive visit with both doctors.  Sure, the "mass" is still there but hearing the high-risk specialist's confidence that it's an ovary has really helped to ease my mind.  Since this appointment on November 20th, I've felt great.  I have a few very rare moments where I get anxious, but for the most part, I feel good about it all.  Stressing out would only harm myself and the baby so I'm doing my best to not let it get to me.  And I've dedicated myself to doing what's best for Baby Obie and Mama. So here's to a healthy pregnancy, with minimal stress!!!!

I'll be back with another pregnancy doctor update after December 18th.  And hopefully I'll have a sex reveal for you ;)  (that all depends on Nick deciding what he'd like to do and baby cooperating, since I'll be in the middle of my 17th week).