19 weeks!! /Spilling the Beans

I changed my top for this picture 'cause I was looking a HOT mess!

I am soooo excited today because I can (sort of) breathe! I've been using these babies

everyday for the past few weeks and I haven't relied on them as much in the past few days...at least not during the day. Maybe my nose is officially spreading!!! Oh happy day!!

This past week on EH's birthday (Feb 19th), we trekked over to see David's mom and dad with the good news. We presented them with a cute little card, which I wish I had taken a picture of now, that said something about " a new granddaughter to love" and included one of the whelp's sonogram pictures. The response was epic!! E-PIC!

My mother-in-law screamed "Mi Nieta!! Mi Nieta!!"(which means my granddaughter)  for like 10 minutes straight. The rest of the night was spent plying me with food. Go figure. My father-in-law physically interacted with me for the first time ever. He cut me like 20 pieces of mango after dinner and I dutifully ate every piece..even though I was stuffed to the gills. We had already broke the news to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law so they were in on the surprise.

I'm super thankful that I got such a great, loving, excited reaction from my in-laws because, with the exception of my brother, the reaction from my side of the family was pretty muted. I invited my brother and my father over for dinner to break the news. My brother was super excited and happy for us. My dad's reaction was a bit more solemn. I believe his response was, "That's great! You got what you wanted." My dad has always been a bit subdued but the response was still a little weird to me.

Whomp, Whomp!

I told my mother via email because I didn't want to deal with her in person. I got a phone call from her two days later scolding me for sending the news to her email address because , "I don't check it that often so it's lucky I saw it." Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Now, this response I expected so it didn't affect me as much. Unfortunately, my mother has a knack for making anything that isn't about her....about her.

She said congratulations but there wasn't any real excitement or happiness in her voice. She extended an invitation for me to contact her in a week, when she's off work, or so if I wanted to meet up with her and chat. I probably won't be doing that because I could tell she didn't really mean it. Anyway, I can't imagine what parenting advice she could possibly give me. EH and I have decided that we're going to leave any further contact/involvement up to her.

In the meantime, I'm getting ready to tell my gargantuan extended family and our friends about the baby. I'm doing it via facebook/email because I can't see myself calling everyone individually. I searched all over Etsy to find some options and was surprised that there were a bunch of announcements to say the baby was born...but not much to say, "I'm pregnant."

Option #1

Source: LCODesignandPaperie

Option #2:

Source: EverburgPhotography

I'm leaning towards option #1....but I like that we would be able to include an ultrasound photo in Option #2. I think EH is gonna be the tie-breaker here.

Blueprint Marriage Retreat

taken during a break in the marathon weekend...

On Valentine's weekend, EH and I went off to the marriage retreat put on by our marriage group. We were pretty excited to see everyone again, especially since we haven't been able to meet for the past month due to the crazy snowstorms we've been getting up here in the north.

Our retreat took place in Bloomington, New Jersey at the Star Lake camp. I really wish we could have walked the grounds and get a feel for the place but it was pretty cold so we spent most of our time indoors. We arrived at the camp at about 9PM and got settled before we plunged headfirst into the first introductory session. It didn't last too long, thank goodness, because I was pretty beat at 9PM! We did end up having a pretty heavy one-on-one session with another married couple that turned out to be a real blessing.

We shared a little about what we've been going through the past few years and some issues we want to keep working on. They shared some hard things that they've gotten through in their marriage and prayed the most awesome power prayer for us at the end of our session. It really was a balm because at the end of the weekend we were feeling much more secure that our little one was a gift that we would ,indeed, get to open. We also made some really good friends!

Back in our room, a little gift bag was waiting for us that included this gem, 101 Conversation Starters for Couples. We haven't cracked it open yet but I'm really looking forward to it because I loooooveeeee talking. I don't know if I should keep it in the car or keep it in the bedroom. Did I mention there was no television in our room?? I was sooooo happy that we would truly get to spend some quality time together without the darn television. I've become increasingly concerned we spend entirely too much time on media. EH and I have already agreed that we want to severely limit our television/social media usage when the whelp is born.

The next morning we started our first session at 9AM right after breakfast. We reviewed the chapters we'd read so far and had some nice discussions about hardships in marriage. There were a few cool couples' team-building activities as well. In one, we had to write about something we found difficult to live up to in our marriage...using our non-dominant hand. In another, we had to make a play-dough sculpture together with one hand behind our backs.

We had a discussion about sex and intimacy, which I thought could have been a little more in depth, but for the time that we had it was pretty good. I really would have liked to talk about how social media, internet and television serve to inhibit intimacy, but maybe I'll get to bring it up another time.

Since Saturday was our only full day, we went until 7pm. After, we found a cool spot and played a guys vs girls game of Taboo. My favorite part of the trip by far was getting to know everyone better and feeling more connected to our new church family

We look warm, don't we!?

18 weeks!!

18 Weeks

I underwent some sort of mutant transformation this week, ya'll! I took that pic and then compared it to my 17 week pic and was amazed at the difference. I really haven't been eating all that extra. In fact, I've only gained a pound since my last Ob/Gyn appointment. I'm shaking my head at the wonders of the human body.

I've been watching the scale like a hawk hoping to GAIN weight but so far no dice. This week we had an appointment with the Ob/Gyn and we asked if we should be worried about my lack of weight gain. She said as long as I was healthy, the amount of pounds I put on didn't really matter. That put my mind at ease.

I've been reading these baby books that are telling me I should be gaining 1-2 pounds a week and it just ain't happening for me. I have to keep reminding myself that every woman's body reacts differently in pregnancy and also that I wasn't exactly a toothpick before I got pregnant so minimum weight gain might be best for me in the long run.

Now I'm concerned about where exactly this child will go when she gets bigger! She was only 6 inches and 6 ounces last week and I've barely crossed the mile marker of my pregnancy. I'm not the tallest tree in the forest, ya'll! So far, breathing is a little more difficult, my sinuses are kicking my butt, my ribs hurt when I cough and I'm having some back pain. I'm pretty sure there's no more room to grow upwards so I guess it'll have to be outwards.

In other cool news....I'm feeling some movement! Or at least what I think is movement... It mostly happens at night when I'm laying in bed. I've felt some sharp pains, which could be kicks, and some rolls. I like the rolls better than the kicks. :-)

17 weeks!

I'm feeling so grateful these days! So many wonderful things have happened that I've lapsed in writing about them. Does that ever happen to you? I'm so focused on enjoying these experiences that I've neglected to document them. Which is not great because I'm definitely one of those people that needs to be reminded of my blessings on a regular basis. Bear with me as I upload a few posts that are long overdue!

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The whelp at 17 weeks! This is my favorite pic so far...

 

 

17 Weeks

 

EH and I visited with the Perinatologist  to complete the AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) test, which turned out perfectly normal, thank God! All other testing has turned out normal as well, so far. The tech asked if we would like to find out the sex and we were excited like a kid at Christmas to find out who would be joining our family.

 

Yep! It's a GIRL!!! SCREAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

I am beyond excited because I've always harbored dreams of raising a little girl but it was so nice to see that EH was just as excited and emotional as I was when the news was revealed. It seemed that we said the name we had chosen for a girl at least 50 times during that appointment. It sounded so good to have that name leave our lips. At first glance I swore she looked like me but the longer I look, the more I see EH.

The whelp was hungry again during this appointment because I didn't get a chance to eat as much food as I would have liked. We watched as she repeatedly hit herself on the head trying to find her mouth with her little fist. And once again, mama felt bad. :-(  I gotta get better at feeding myself.

17 weeks...note my chic head scarf

I popped at 17 weeks. It was so weird because one day I was fat and the next day I was pregnant. Ha! We have held off on taking weekly pictures out of fear but I'm happy to say that we're coming out of that fog. We continue to listen to her with our doppler everyday and so far have had no problem finding her each time. I've limited myself to twice a day--once in the morning when I wake up and once before bed. I can't say enough how much it puts me at ease to hear that heartbeat thumping away. 

On the way home, EH and I daydreamed aloud about what we thought the whelp would be like; what would she look like? what would her personality be? What would her voice sound like? So many things to look forward to.

Wings and Thangs!

Hello Folks!

I'm currently enthralled by Top Chef episodes....I really love watching shows about food and imagining how the dishes taste. Last night I ate a whole lobster and it was delicious. And then a few days before that I had some spicy buffalo wings....Lord, those were sooooo good!!! I've discovered that if I'm craving a certain food, I can eat the whole plate with no problem but if I'm not really feeling it, I can eat a couple of forkfuls.

Lots has been going on in our neck of the woods even though it's been just the two of us. We've been hiding out since the beginning of our pregnancy, waiting for the right time to tell friends and family. We're a little paranoid, given our history, so we wanted to wait until we were safely ensconced in the 2nd trimester before spilling the beans. We're like in our 4th month now. My due date is between July 22-25, 2014. I'm pretty confused about the whole thing because they go by the baby's measurement and I'm going by my LMP because it makes me feel like I've gotten further along. Next month, on EH's birthday, is when we'll be telling friends and family.

We're meeting up with some friends from our old church next weekend for dinner and fellowship which prompted a trip to the mall to buy something that would hide my new, ahem, girth. I'm really looking forward to being with people other than EH but anxious about hiding the bump...which is really bloat that looks like a bump. I also hate lying...even if by omission. How do I explain the weight gain....my gigantic tatas...and round, cone-shaped stomach? I dunno.  And these are women that have had babies so it's not like they don't know what a pregnant woman looks like. God bless EH because he trekked with me to the big girl store that I love at the mall so that I can find something sufficiently camouflaging. Now I'm worried that I'll get bigger by the time dinner rolls around and it will have all been for naught. I may have to get myself one of those belly wrap things just to calm things down a bit.  But the top is super cute....

While we were out looking for camouflage I bought two pairs of maternity jeans which were on sale (score!) at Old Navy. They feel so lovely and soft. I wish I could wear maternity pants all the time. I still haven't bought many maternity tops. I probably won't be hitting up the usual suspects, like motherhood maternity, etc. because I just don't think it's necessary.  I'd rather just hit up the plus size section at Conway, a discount store here in NY, so I can get some flowy things that can be belted if necessary.

EH took the week off from work so we've been hanging out and having a good time. He doesn't do this often because every time he does, his staff acts the fool, and he ends up having to check in anyway. I surprised him with tickets to see the Knicks at Madison Square Garden this past Monday and it was a great gift. He kept looking at the tickets and rubbing them fondly when I brought them out Sunday night. The actual game was great. He got to yell and scream at the players and our seats weren't bad for the price.

I obviously took a bad, eyes closed, pic here but he was supposed to be giving an angry face because they had missed some shots...or something like that

 

 

Now, I'm not that big of a sports fan. Although I've been watching a lot of football and basketball lately because EH has been hoggin' the TV a lot these days. He's a little OCD and tends to fixate on things for periods of time and then he discards them for a new interest. Right now he's fixated on sports and sports talk radio, which he wasn't nearly as interested in when we first met. So, of course, with my luck the game drifted into double overtime and I hadn't had my nap that day so, yeah, I was miserable and tired and hungry. But I sucked it up and took one for the team! It was a great night and it was so nice to see EH so happy :-) His only complaint was that the cheerleaders were a) too skinny and b) didn't dance......- _____  -......this from a man who said Beyonce was looking real "loose" when we watched the Drunk in Love video, which I love by the way.

A couple of days ago we went for our NT scan at the Perinatologist and got new pictures of "the Whelp" or "Whelpie", formerly known as "Fish." We were calling the baby "Fish" and then EH started calling it the Whelp and it stuck. We were both reading the Game of Thrones books a while ago and we loved the way children were referred to as whelps....but I digress.

Whelpie wasn't moving around as much as he/she did at our last appt because I hadn't had a chance to eat before the appt. The ultrasound tech kindly informed me that I needed to eat before the appt and I instantly felt like a bad mom even though she totally didn't mean it that way.

That's an arm at the top of the picture. It took a while to get a good picture because Whelpie was hungry and wasn't really feelin' it.

That's a foot! Isn't it the cutest foot you've ever seen, like in your LIFE???!! LOL

Speaking of Whelpie, we've decided that we're going to find out if the baby is a boy or girl. We figure we've waited this long to have a viable baby, why keep ourselves in that much suspense?? I feel totally weird about posting these pictures because my crazy mind thinks I'll jinx it but I took a deep breath and did it anyway! My best friend keeps telling me I have to celebrate the little things and I'm taking her advice.

12 weeks!!! YAY!!

 

Let's pop some champagne ya'll!!! We made it to 12 weeks by the grace of God!!!

EH and I are anxiously awaiting our 13 week ultrasound early next week and I think I'm actually starting to believe this pregnancy is real. I'm still having my uncomfortable symptoms. Nausea still kicks in for me as soon as the sun goes down. My stomach has shrunk, or something like it, because I can only eat about a fistful of food at a time. This doesn't make me happy because I gets HUNGRY!!! and HANGRY!!
I don't need as many naps during the day but I usually don't leave the bed in the morning till about 11am. I feel really bad about that for some reason....

In other news....It was a balmy 32 degrees in NY yesterday so I ventured out to the local TJ Maxx to pick up some things. I picked up a bathmat for our shower, some hand soap (EH gets very excited about hand soap... is that weird??), a marked down down alternative comforter (something I've been wanting for ages but have been too cheap to buy) and new toothbrushes (I always buy new toothbrushes after we've been sick).

While I was browsing the aisles I came across some cloth napkins that I thought would make great pillow covers. They are standard size ,12 x 12. I loved the gold/mustard color (which of course doesn't come across well in this picture) which goes great with my icky brown couch. I got basic beige contrasting colors to balance it out.

 

So last night, while I still had the energy and motivation, I got out my needle and thread and stitched up some pillow covers--all the while wishing I had a sewing machine! Maybe someday soon.

Arrggghh...look at that thigh! Feeling very whalish these days even though I've lost weight...whomp whomp

I lay two napkins on top of each other and stitched up three sides, leaving one side open to stuff in my pillow. Napkins make great pillow covers because they're washable, removable and already hemmed. This is the finished product. I love it!!

I may end up sewing on some buttons along the side to close it up a bit but I'm not in a rush so who knows when I'll get to that.

I'm getting an attack of the queasies so I'm off to stuff my face with a fistful of food.

Auld Lang---Sick

Happy New Year Everyone!! 

Brrrrrrrrr....it's cold outside ya'll!!!

It feels so good to rejoin the land of the living. EH brought home some sort of flu/cold hybrid situation into the house a couple of days before New Year's so we both spent the days leading up to 2014 as sick as dogs. It was truly, truly horrible. We didn't even get to smooch at midnight because we were both pretty much passed out. For us, the worst of it lasted only three days and we owe that to copious amounts of Vitamin D and C, chicken soup and SLEEP.

I broke down and sent EH out to get me some doctor approved cold medicine and vacillated all night on whether or not I should take it. I was terrified I was gonna cause some irreversible damage to Fish but in the end I only ended up taking it once and that dose ended being good enough for me. I was a mess all the days I was sick. I was convinced I was gonna cough and dislodge the baby. I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous but these are the thoughts of a woman whose never ever made it this far...I'll be 12 weeks next Tuesday.

When I was feeling a little better I called my Ob/Gyn's office, which I'm still considering switching from, to get a prescription for more of my progesterone supplement. What I thought should have been a simple exercise turned into verbal sparring with my Ob/Gyn, WHO I HAVEN'T EVEN MET YET, over the necessity of the medication. This led to her having consultations with my RE and my Perinatologist before I finally got the prescription.

I can imagine that conversation:  "Oh yeah her. Yeah, she's totally irrational. Really believes that staying on the medication is gonna prevent another miscarriage. Yep. Well, she's a little nutty but it can't hurt so just give it to her."

I realized a very important thing during that whole conversation. I'm perfectly OK with being perceived as the crazy lady who wants to stay on the Crinone a little longer, who wants to come to the office every two weeks instead of every month, who argues with the doctor. Perfectly OK!

I'm not a big fan of the New Year's hullabaloo myself but I do like the idea of setting your intentions for the year. At this point I only have three intentions for 2014: 1) have a healthy baby 2) get that damn social work license already 3) continue to value experiences over things and 4) grow in my marriage and faith.

I wish success, joy, love and WARMTH for you as we enter the New Year!!