Saturday, January 19, 2008

9w2d

It's amazing how fast a week flies by. A quick recap of last weekend is in order: We enjoyed the remainder of our anniversary with a nice dinner at Rosalie's. Gregg let me pick which restaurant we went to, and I was having a hankering for good Italian food. Warm bread and salad, followed by Chicken Marsala with a large bowl of angel hair pasta... it was a pregnant girl's dream. The next day we went grocery shopping and among other things I got some high fiber cereal and a large crate of clementines to keep me, ahem, regular. I feel like an eighty-five year old woman! Maybe I should have bought prune juice too, ha ha. I guess I should be grateful it's not morning sickness. On Sunday, Gregg's parents drove down from NJ to visit. They attended church with us and then took us out to eat. After lunch we went back to our place and opened our first set of baby outfits they got for us, a pack of cute onesies.

I can't believe I'm already in my third month, two-thirds of the way through my first trimester! Baby B is now the size of a green olive and starting to develop sex organs. Most evenings I can barely stay awake past 8 o'clock anymore. I'm so tired at night and have to drag myself out of bed in the morning. I've been having all kinds of crazy dreams lately, too. The "girls" are still pretty sore and have firmed up quite a bit. I've also noticed that my lower abdomen is starting to protrude slightly and my waistline is expanding. You can't tell when I'm fully clothed, but I know it won't be long before I'll need to make my first trip to Pea in a Pod for some maternity pants!

I've gone through a period of anxiety this week, thinking about the reality of it all. I'm entering completely unfamiliar territory and it's kind of nerve-wracking. I keep thinking I'm going to do something wrong, like not eat enough of the right foods or gain too much weight... or something. This baby's growth and development is all on me essentially. It's not a bad thing, it's just sometimes a bit overwhelming.

Most of my thoughts about this tiny life inside of me are filled with great joy. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I think of the newborn I'll hold someday, seeing both our features in him or her, witnessing all the milestones to come. It seems like there's so much we should be doing right now to prepare for the baby's arrival, but it's still relatively early yet. Sometimes I think wow, August is only seven months away, and start to get a little anxious. It blows me away that in that amount of time, our little bean will be here! :)

Friday, January 11, 2008

You Know What They Say...


... a picture's worth a thousand words. "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." Psalm 139:13-14.

There's Really A Baby In There!

This morning was my first prenatal visit. We got to the doctor's office right at 8:15, the scheduled time. Shortly after filling out some information about the pregnancy, I was called back to give a urine sample in essentially, a Dixie cup. Gregg and I waited a little while in the exam room for the nurse to come in and take my weight & blood pressure. My BP was good and I've gained a couple of pounds since I saw our PCP three weeks ago. The nurse confirmed the date of my last period, then told me to strip from the waist down so the doctor could do an internal exam.

Dr. Myers came in a short while later and briefly went over my current medical history. Then she said she was going to do an ultrasound! I was really surprised. I thought I wouldn't have one until my next visit. The doctor did a quick pelvic exam first and asked Gregg to stand by my side so that he could see the screen. Baby B appeared right away! It was kind of hard to tell what we were looking at, but the doctor said everything looked great and that he or she is measuring at eight weeks so my due date of August 21 is right on schedule.

Then she pointed out the tiny flutter of the heart. It was incredible. Gregg said out loud, "That's amazing." The doctor told us we'd have our first baby album picture! She printed out the first photo she took and gave it to me. She continued viewing... I guess the uterus from several different angles to look for different things, like if there was another baby somewhere in there (there isn't!) When she was finished, she said I should come back in three weeks for a complete medical history and physical exam. I will be having visits every four weeks from now on, until my third trimester when they'll become more frequent.

The doctor answered some questions for me next, such as to how to get rid of constipation (yes I know, TMI!), before leaving. I made another appointment for February 1, which will put me at 11 weeks. Gregg and I left the medical center in a daze. It was so wonderful to actually see our baby, but surreal at the same time. It was very reassuring seeing the heartbeat and knowing that Baby B is developing properly. Wow! I'm still amazed.

We're going out for dinner tonight to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and also our little miracle! Five years of livin' our love song- I can't believe we've been married that long already. It's been both a wonderful and difficult journey. God has truly blessed us abundantly.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Don't Blink

Wow, 2008! Where did 2007 go?? It seems the older I get, the faster the years go by. 2007 held a lot of changes for me and Gregg- we up and moved from Florida to Pennsylvania, started new jobs and made new friends.

In 2008, even bigger changes are in store for us. We'll celebrate five years of marriage and become parents! It seems like only yesterday I got my BFP, and now I'm approaching seven weeks. I know that's still very, very early in pregnancy and I have 7 1/2 more months to go. But I also know these next several months will fly by, too. I want to enjoy every moment of them.

When we were leaving Dr. Peterson's office two weeks ago, the receptionist said to us "Don't blink. Before you know it, your baby will look like this", and showed a picture of her two grown, twenty-something children. I've heard my mother say many times over the years, "Oh, it seems like just yesterday, you were in diapers", and I'd usually roll my eyes. I have a feeling I'll understand exactly what she was talking about very soon.

It's hard to imagine while it's cold outside and my tummy is still flat that I'll be as big as a house in the hot, summer humidity. The dress I picked to wear for my sister's wedding in July that was designed to make me look stunning will now make me look like a beached whale. It's time to choose a flattering maternity gown, if there exists such a thing. Yup, '08 will definitely bring more than its fair share of changes.

I am amazed at how our little Baby B is growing each week. At 6w 5 d, it's tiny heart is already beating and the central nervous system is coming together. Facial features are beginning to develop. I wonder if he/she will look more like Gregg, or more like me. Right now baby is the size of a small lima bean and will grow to the size of a pea by next week.

I'm still feeling relatively good. The last couple of days, though, right before and during breakfast I've felt like I was going to blow chunks (sorry, TMI) but the morning passed by without event. My lower back is achy on and off, and I'm still pretty tired throughout the day. Last night, I fell asleep around 8pm! What a party pooper. No staying up 'til midnight to ring in the new year for me.

I've also been having an aversion to beef lately. I am a lover of all things beefy: hamburgers, steak, meatloaf, pot roast. But now the thought or smell of a beef product makes me want to... you get the picture. I feel grateful that I'm not spending each morning hugging the toilet, which oddly, makes me feel less pregnant but I know not all women actually experience morning/afternoon/evening sickness. It's kinda strange writing about all the little nuances of my newly pregnant body, too, which will become an open book to my OB in the months to come. Yay.

I'm looking forward to all of it. :)

Don't blink,
cause just like that you're six years old and you take a nap.
Then you wake up when you're 25, and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife.
Don't blink, you just might miss your babies growing like mine did, turning into moms and dads. Next thing you know, your better half
is there in bed and you're praying God takes you instead.
Trust me friend, 100 years goes faster than you think.
So don't blink.

- Kenny Chesney