It's Baby Time!

Woo hoo! On January 17th I took a pregnancy test. It was about 4 days before my hopefully missed period. All the packaging on the pregnancy tests stated they could detect it 6 days before your missed period so I thought I was good. The reason I wanted to take one so early was because I went to a book signing the next day for an author Dan and I really like. Since Dan couldn't actually go to the signing, I thought it would be cool if he could write, 'PS - you're going to be a dad' at the bottom. How cool would that be! The test was negative and I was let down and instantly started researching ways to make sure I knew exactly when I was ovulating. I told Dan about my foiled plan and we laughed about how cool that would have been.

Wednesday I feel the cramping and the soreness kicking in. Alright here we go, shark week (my affectionate nick name aunt flo). I was taking acetaminophen religiously and I woke up in the middle of the night with sharp cramping pains. It was highly unusual that my cramps lasted until Friday and sometimes were debilitating for 15 seconds. With no period and lasting cramps Dan was convinced I was pregnant. I didn't want to get my hopes up but I took another test Friday night and it had a clear answer.

POSITIVE!

We are so excited! I seriously can't believe it and I don't think it'll sink in until I see that little bean at our appointment during week 8. We can't wait for this exciting journey and are ready to take it head on! This also explains tiny moments of random nausea/motion sickness and thirst.

Oh my gosh could these implantation cramps be any more painful? I know what you're thinking, just wait until labor honey, I understand that. I'm just surprised to hear most people experience mild cramps, like menstrual cramps or don't feel anything at all and I'm over here doubled over in pain when I'm not on acetaminophen. Everyone's body is different though so hopefully that blastocyst is implanted dang good!

This week was pretty normal. I don't look pregnant or feel pregnant really. One day I did feel pretty tuckered out. I started a more consistent work out plan so I can be strong through carrying this baby and delivery so that's been going good. I've had a lot of thirst and extremely dry lips?

I think some of my closest coworkers may have a small idea that I MIGHT be pregnant or maybe I'm just paranoid? Sometimes girls just have those senses. And my dad, MY DAD has those senses. On facetime he's suddenly like, 'You have a smirk on your face... why are you smirking? Are you hiding something from us?' I wasn't even thinking about pregnancy but HOW DOES HE KNOW!? I'm telling you, parents know everything. We haven't told anyone, that is except for the walmart pharmacist. I haven't had any nausea yet but I want to be prepared. I was looking for some type of relief or ginger chews so I quietly ask the pharmacist who turns around and shouts it to two other coworkers. Turns out they didn't have any but one of them came over and congratulated me. It felt good, I can't wait to tell people!

7 Weeks 

I am STARVING! Somebody get this girl some food. I've been so grateful I haven't had morning sickness yet but if I don't eat or snack every hour I get nauseous and light headed very quickly. It the threw me off the first day because I didn't feel hungry just sick. But when I smelled food all the sudden realized that's what I wanted. Once I figured that out I've been okay. I just want to eat all the carbs.  Mainly bread and cheese. Whole wheat saltines have been a life saver at work because I can't always go to the breakroom to get a snack if it's busy. I am also exhausted. Growing a human is hard work! I feel lazy because I'm only doing my normal things but my body must be running a marathon on the inside. Some days I have the energy to work out, other days I fall asleep getting dressed.  You win some, you lose some.

I believe I told my parents around this time because 1. I'm bad at keeping secrets and 2. Every life should be celebrated no matter how young and new!

Don't be fooled by my Dad's face. He LOVE babies and has been patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for grandbabies. He was so excited but had to make sure I wasn't pulling his leg first. I think he didn't want to get his hopes up if I was pulling a mean joke. They both were thrilled!

8 Weeks

I hate food and this is a struggle for me. I'm the girl that believes in trying all foods, at least once (unless it's spicy then I'm OUT) but now there are only like 5 foods that sometimes sound good to me and I'm getting bored. I am expressing so much gratitude for everyday that I don't have morning sickness, but I am struggling with waves of nausea and food aversions. I have ran to the bathroom to throw up but it's mostly just been dry heaving thankfully. I'm still starving all the time but now nothing sounds good. Except pizza. Pizza always sounds good. Along with; saltine crackers (getting kind of sick of them but they help!), hard boiled eggs, apples, popcorn, flour tortillas, bread, sometimes sandwiches, salads are okay. and cheese (like quesadillas, yum!). I made potato soup one night, nice and bland right, with lots of good veggies. It takes good but it makes me feel weird? I can always eat chocolate unfortunately ha! I just wish I had more options. Also I hate chili and I never want to see it again. I've been very exhausted and it's hard to cope with when no one knows. Work has been a battle between exhaustion and waves of nausea but I've been handling it so far. Can't wait for our first appointment and looking forward to feeling better!

We were video chatting with my family and we found out this week that my brother and his wife are expecting too! So exciting right! At this point I hadn't told my brother yet because our appointment was the next day and thought we'd just wait until after that. So they told us and we congratulated them and let them have their moment then later in the conversation I let them in on our good news too. Surprise!

She's due the day after me! WHAT ARE THE ODDS! It's crazy exciting and all of our parents are just over the moon. Babies everywhere!

Just before I was officially 9 weeks we had our first appointment! All I wanted to know was that our little baby had a heartbeat and was healthy. I felt so much peace driving to the hospital that I knew everything was going to be okay and it was! The sonogram was awesome, "oh my gosh we're going to be parents! And THAT'S our BABY" just kept running through my mind. Everything is normal, I'm right on track where I should be, baby has a healthy heart beat and I'm due Sept 28th.

Okay as for me this has probably been the roughest week yet. However I am still grateful everyday because I know I could be even sicker, I have friends who are so I'm reminded to take it with grace and smile. Waves of nausea still, serious food aversion/pickiness and (stop reading if you're squeamish) vomit. So far I've tossed my cookies twice in the morning. I get nauseous because I'm hungry, I eat then I'm nauseous because I ate and throw it all up. It's a vicious cycle. Both times I've eaten Cherrios. Maybe baby doesn't like Cherrios? I'm getting so bored with my food because everyday I eat cereal, quesadilla then mashed potatoes and corn. Literally the only things that sound remotely good to me. I just need to go to the store and buy anything that sounds good. I've been to a restaurant twice this week and almost barfed at the sight of hamburgers. Although pizza and chocolate always sound good to me.. hmm.. I've still been very tired, I get easily exhausted from getting dressed, showering, getting ready etc. I always want to take a nap and go to bed early. I have told two of my closest coworkers because I was struggling and they were getting worried. Now I have a secret support group. And they bring me snacks so it's a win for everyone :)

I finally was regaining some energy so I went grocery shopping... by myself. I made sure I was nicely fed but I still had some small impulse buys. My favorite buy? Salt & Vinegar almonds. TO. DIE. FOR.

Hopefully this is the peek of morning sickness and nausea because I'm soooo done with it! I've had a mild case of morning sickness but a strong case of fatigue and nausea. I tried to eat a hamburger the other night....an hour later I discovered that was the worst decision of my life. I'm yelling to Dan from the bathroom, "DONT EVER LET ME EAT BEEF AGAIN!" After that I've stuck with my boring bland foods. Oh and sandwiches! I love them. I've been able to keep my food down in the mornings because I set an alarm 45 minutes before I have to get up to open my eyes and force feed myself half a piece of bread. It's not pleasant because I am not hungry at 5am. I usually fall asleep mid chew and frequently offer to share with Dan in my sleepiness. Although I'm still nauseous and I take slow bites and a lot of deep breaths to eat cereal in the mornings, I've kept it down. Some people have guessed because I've been sneaking crackers at church. But what can I say it's a NECESSITY. Speaking of Sunday, that was particularly rough for me. Very nauseous, raging headache, came home and passed out for 2 hours, ate dinner then fell asleep at 8:30. It's all a blur to me now.

However I believe it can only go up from here right! My food aversions are getting a little better and I cooked dinner for the first time in...weeks! It even involved chicken! Dan and I both have been particularly stressed this week from different work things and our callings but he is such a hard worker. I am so proud of him and so unbelievably lucky! He works hard for his family!

I can see the light at the end of the nausea but I'm not there yet. The fatigue hasn't been as bad either. Last week at work I would do one task, then have to sit down. Do another task, then sit down. Eventually I drug a chair over to my task so I could sit down while doing it ha! But my point is I don't have to do that anymore! Well at work at least... I made Dan bring a chair into the bathroom because I get so worn out standing while getting ready in the mornings... still working on that! While food aversion have gone down they are still there. Hamburger, beef, sausage, tacos, Mexican BARF. They make my stomach turn just typing them. And dishes. I can't do the dishes without throwing up, I've tried on multiple occasions. I made dinner TWO more times (okay one was just pancakes...) but the other one was teriyaki chicken and I liked that! Mostly the rice was my favorite. I struggle to find food I like because baby is eating ALL the things I eat. Save some for me please :( I have not gained any weight but I do feel bloated. I was in desperate need of some new snacks and my current favorite is avocado on toast. Always sounds good and always stays down. I did have to leave work sick one day. I had a headache the night before and woke up with it. It was making me super nauseous!

I think I've finally learned the trick with this large amount of progesterone in my body (thank you anatomy class). Progesterone relaxes your smooth muscles (ie. GI system) so it therefore works sllloooowwwwllllyyy now. If I eat too fast I get nauseous because it's too much food at once, totally makes sense now. It also takes longer to belch and pass gas hence the bloated feeling after eating. Slow, steady and small meals have helped. It's hard though because sometimes I'm so hungry! We took announcement pictures this week and can't wait to tell the world!

I feel like I'm finally getting better. I can definitely feel an improvement everyday. My aversions to food are slowly going away. The thought of certain foods don't affect me anymore. I'm feeling more normal with less frequent waves of nausea. I've eaten pork and chicken and I've made dinner a couple times. I went out to sushi with a friend (don't freak, I got fully cooked, no mercury fish) and it was delicious! I'm still careful with food but I'm so relieved I don't have to eat as often. I still felt tired and exhausted earlier in the week but I could definitely do more than last week. I have slowly stopped eating food in the EARLY early morning (and sharing with Dan) and although I'm a little shaky in the mornings, I'm not sick like I used to be. My weight has been very consistent and I was even down a pound this week.

We told family and close friends this week and it felt so good to tell everyone! I'm bad at keeping secrets anyways. Especially at work! They're the ones who see me the most and they could tell something was off. Unfortunately I'm one of those people that never leaves work, so went I went home sick it was a big red flag for everyone. A majority of them didn't put it together but when I told them, they're like, "OH! It all makes sense now," the exhaustion, falling asleep at work, fatigue, crackers all the days etc. Everyone has been so supportive and excited with us! I can't wait until my next appointment, then I'll feel good about making an announcement on social media.

(We've now had the appointment and everything went great! Hence now everyone knows. Thank you for all the love and support! We are so excited!)

This is when I told Dan, "Now don't look like you're GRABBING me"

At work they call me Spud because I moved from Idaho so we took a couple of photographs with a potato to announce Baby Spud was on it's way. They thought it was pretty funny.

It was super windy that day but they turned out perfect! Thank you to Alyssa, my coworker for doing them! And fun fact all those eggs were raw because I forgot to boil them...oops!