So Very Thankful!

Jacob and I have a LOT to be thankful for! We both have great jobs, a beautiful house, wonderful friends and family who we care about a great deal and who care about us, a God who always provides for us...even when it's not in the ways or at the time we're expecting. And this year we get to add to that the amazing little life growing inside of me as we speak! It's hard to imagine a life more wonderful or fulfilling! We are truly blessed!!

I know I've been slacking on the posts lately, but it's been pretty uneventful...no funny stories or boring talk of my ailments :o) We have received a few more presents...a beautiful picture frame with a poem about the miracle of our little one, a swaddling blanket, and a little stuffed animal with soothing sounds to lull the baby to sleep. Speaking of lulling the baby to sleep...I read recently that our little June bug should be able to hear my voice now...so because I love to sing and plan to sing him or her many a lullaby, I've been trying to sing more often so he can get used to my voice...I know there is plenty of time for that, but might as well start now!

In other news...I have bought a few maternity clothes. I haven't started wearing the pants yet although I feel like it will probably only be a few more weeks. My stomach is definitely starting to protrude and although the belle band is nice, it's just not all that comfortable. I'm hoping the full up maternity pants will be better!

So as I continue to count our blessings...here's wishing you all a wonderfully Happy Thanksgivng! I hope you have many, many blessing to be thankful for this year!!

Countdown to 2nd Trimester: 10 days!!

Countdown to the 2nd Trimester!

Ok, ok…I may be jumping the gun a little bit since we still have like two and a half weeks until we are officially in the second trimester, but I can't help myself! If seems like it's a huge milestone that I've just been wishing and waiting for for SOOOOO long that I can't help but try to find the fast forward button to it! I'll try and contain myself though! But there's no harm in starting the "countdown clock" right? We all know I love to countdown to things, so consider it started now…:o)

In other good news I did make it through last week without being sick…well almost. I wasn't actually sick, but I did have a pinched nerve in my back/shoulder that made it nearly impossible to turn my head to the left. It was quite fun, especially while driving when really you just have to look left sometimes…to ensure you are not about to plow in to the car next to you…haha! It is almost back to normal now though…so yeah!!

Now on to my second OB appointment!! Jacob did not come with me to this one because the nurse told me at the end of the last appointment that we would not have an U/S. Plus with his new job I didn't want him to have to worry about taking off work. So when Dr. Chen comes in, he's like, "where's Jacob"…I laughed and said, "Oh, he only comes to the fun appointments." Dr. Chen says, "Oh, well we are going to scan you today." Oops…sorry Jacob…luckily I got a few pics to take home to him. But he did miss a great ultrasound!! First off…this one was on my belly…I gratuated from the lovely internal ultrasounds…woohoo!! And second…we heard June Bug's heartbeat…around 140 bpm this time…significantly slower than the 173 two weeks ago…which Dr. Chen said is perfectly normal for it to change a lot…guess that throws Jacob's Mom's guess that it's a girl based on the high heartbeat out the window :o) And third…we saw the baby move!! Soooo amazing!! I guess according to the books he is moving around quite a bit in there, but since he's currently only the size of a lemon I don't feel it yet…hopefully soon though! I can't wait! Dr. Chen said everything looked perfect and that I didn't need to come back for another month! He did confirm that we will NOT be having another U/S until the big one…i.e., finding out if our little June bug is going to be a Noah or an Autumn!! That will likely come the first week of January! Far away I know, but thankfully I have all the fun holidays to look forward to, so I'm sure it will be here before I know it!!

Countdown to 2nd Trimester: 18 days!

It's always something…

I am so thankful that so far, this pregnancy has been very easy as far as pregnancy symptoms go…besides a twinge of naseau (not even enough to have me headed for the toilet) and some slight indegestion...I really haven't had much of anything. The little one is being very kind to me so far…and I'm so very grateful. I haven't been feeling exactly great though over the past 10 weeks…you all heard about my lovely allergic reaction…well the rash is almost completely gone now and I've been able to ween myself off the claritin that my dr. prescribed, but just when I thought I could feel normal for a little bit…my body had other plans! Last Tuesday night right before bed I had a slight sore throat…nothing major…but enough to be noticed…and then...I woke up Wednesday morning feeling like utter and total crap! My throat hurt so bad I avoided swallowing as much as I possibly could! My whole body ached and the thought of getting out of bed made me cringe! I notified my boss that I would not be coming in and went back to bed until the doctors office opened. I was able to get an appointment that afternoon. I was sure it was strep…I wasn't stuffy or coughing or anything…it was just a straight sore throat, but the test that afternoon confirmed it wasn't. My doctor said there was nothing she could do for me, but to tell me I was going to feel like crap for 7-10 days and that is was probably going to get worse before it was going to get better! Great! So I have spent the past 5 days almost completely horizontal! Horrible body aches, sore throat, cough, stuffy nose…you get the picture. It was miserable!! And probably the worst part was it was absolutely gorgeous outside!! And today I'm starting to feel slightly like a human being again and wouldn't you know it…it's a cloudy, grey day :o( Oh well…I'm just so thankful to be out of the house and off the couch for awhile! Hopefully NOW I can start to feel normal and just enjoy being pregnant…we shall see…haha :o)

One thing my doctor and I talked about quite a bit while I was there (even though I could barely hold my head up and really just wanted to be home on the couch) was some information about labor and delivery and breastfeeding. She had come to my infertility support group at one time and really has a passion around informing women about their options for childbirth and trying to make it an enjoyable experience (well as enjoyable as possible that is…haha). She told me to check out Ina May's book Guide to Childbirth and said that Jacob and I should both watch the video The Business of Being Born. She also gave me information on some Doula's that she recommends. I don't know a lot about Doula's at this point, but she said for only a couple hundred dollars they are a wonderful addition to the childbirth experience…they will help you labor at home and will come with you to the hospital and help you throughout the entire labor and delivery…and even with breastfeeding if needed. So although I have a lot of information to read and review…I am actually considering trying to have this baby the old fashioned way…i.e., no drugs! We'll see how I feel in about 7 months, but it's definitely a possibility!

The other story I have to tell before I go…I woke up the other morning and realized I had my first dream about whether we are having a girl or a boy…I've been thinking it's a boy all along…not really sure why…just my feeling…so the other night I had a dream that we were at the 20 week ultrasound appointment and the tech announed…"it's a boy!!" I blurted out "yeah, Noah Daniel"…not sure where Daniel came from, but Jacob and I both kinda like it…so if it is a boy Noah Daniel might just be his name :o) Well then yesterday Jacob tells me he also had a dream with the ultrasound tech announcing to us that it's a boy! Crazy huh? Jacob's sure that means we're haivng a girl…haha!! Guess we'll find out in a few short months!!

I go back to the OB on Thursday for an appointment…don't think I'll get an u/s at this one, but my sister said they will likely do the doppler to hear the heartbeat…so that gives me something to look forward to…yeah!! That and hopefully a week with out being sick!!

9 weeks & we've gone public!

For Halloween I decided that I was going to use my costume as an announcement to everyone at work that we were pregnant...so I ordered a lovely "bun in the oven" costume online and proudly wore it in to the office on Friday! It was pretty funny watching everyone try and first of all figure out what I was...and then catch on that it was more than just a costume. I think the whole "bun in the oven" thing is kinda old school as some people just couldn't figure it out...when asked "what is Maureen", they would respond "an oven"...and when pushed to say "what is in the oven" I get many responses like "a pizza" or "a cookie"...haha! So I would give in and help them out by saying "it's a bun in the oven...and in real life too...wink/wink...nudge/nudge" Haha...it was fun...and especially fun to get all the hugs and congratulations! I've been waiting for this day for a LONG time!!! It's a little nerve-wracking now that the news is out there...that there is no more hiding...and that if something does go wrong now the pain will be known to all. But I'm thinking happy thoughts and just trying to enjoy the journey because it is amazing that we've made it...that it finally really does seem to be our turn!!