Monday, October 29, 2012

16 weeks!


I'm currently in week 16 with the due date being April 17th. This means I'm in the 2nd trimester officially. I keep hearing that this is the time when you feel the best, but I am waiting patiently to be able to say that. I do feel better during the days, but I still do not have much of an appetite in the evenings. I can rarely find something that looks or sounds appetizing. I also still get tired pretty easily. Of course, as tired as I am, sleeping is difficult. I recently learned that I am not permitted to sleep on my stomach or my back, so I am trying to get used to sleeping on my side. I wake up now with constant headaches and neck pains from this new position, so I ordered a body pillow. I cannot wait for it to get here so I can see if it helps!

Several people seem interested in my current cravings. So far, they have been limited to salads, strawberries, and cranberry limeades from Sonic. One evening I craved KFC and for about 3-4 days I craved chicken nuggets, fries, and a frosty from Wendy's. That's really it. 


I am really looking forward to feeling the baby move. Apparently, it can happen at any time now. The baby is the length of an avocado (4-5 inches)! He or she can also hear my voice. How neat! We should also be able to find out the gender soon. Our next check-up is November 9th, which is about 19 weeks, and our doctor says she usually does the ultrasound around week 20. Hopefully this will allow us to find out right before Thanksgiving as my sister, Jamie, wants to do a revealing cake for us while we are in town. I do not know how I will hold myself back from purchasing baby items once I know the gender! If you're reading this, make a guess in the comment section. I'd love to see everyone's thoughts!

Baby!

I cannot believe that I am going to have a baby! Since this is my first blog, let me begin somewhat from the beginning. We found out on a Thursday evening in August that I was pregnant. I had been really tired (and I mean, come home at 5:00, fall asleep on the couch all evening, then go to bed easily and sleep through the night, tired!) and I had not been feeling well either. I suspected I could be pregnant, but we had taken a couple of tests in the past and were always disappointed when they were negative, even though we were not really trying. This time around I was determined to wait until the weekend was over to test again. I could not make it. Thursday evening I secretly took the test. It seemed like forever (when in reality it was only a few seconds) before the blue positive sign appeared. I could not believe it and then I could not think of how to tell Z and make it special. I am not kidding when I say that I wondered if I could order a baby Redskins item from Ebay and keep it a secret from him until it arrived. I knew I could not wait that long. So, I just went upstairs and handed the test to him. He asked, "is this for real?" We were both so excited, yet weary of the results; however, I was about to make dinner and he suggested we go out for dinner to celebrate. Since it was 9:00 already, we decided that we would go to one of the only places open - Applebee's. Unfortunately, it was karaoke night there and we could barely hear each other talk. So much for a nice celebration. :) I took another test the next morning just to make sure and sure enough, it was positive again!

I was so glad that my family was visiting that following weekend so we could tell them right away. We wrapped up Mercer Mayer's "Grandpa and Me" and Bernstein Bears "Week at Grandmas" to provide them as clues. (Jamie- I cannot remember what book I gave you, but I think it was "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What do you See?" Correct me if I'm wrong!) Unfortunately, I confused my dad by accidentally giving him the "Week at Grandmas" book. He found out on Thursday and then mom and Jamie found out on Sunday when they arrived for their visit. Everyone thought were joking at first, but were then ecstatic! We told Z's family the following weekend and they were all just as excited!

We waited until after our first ultrasound to make the announcement to the rest of our family. We wanted to tell them in person and to have a picture to show them. We showed them as part of a picture slideshow of Jamie's wedding pictures, but everyone was just quiet when we made the announcement. We found out after what seemed like 20 minutes of just silence that everyone was just in shock and thought maybe we were joking. They are clearly excited now!

Without going into all of the details, let me sum up my first trimester in saying that I was constantly tired, nauseous every evening, and had a cold/allergies that would not go away! Thankfully, my husband is understanding and even helped make dinners on evenings when I could barely move. Fortunately, I did not throw up much, with the exception of a few times while brushing my teeth. My gag reflexes are very sensitive. I did get to start my maternity wardrobe, which was surprisingly fun. At first, I was a little freaked out because I did not know how to choose the correct sizes. Mom and Jamie helped in this process and for that I was very thankful! I still need to find a few items, but thankfully we have some great consignment shops in our area that sell maternity clothing. 

I already love this child more than I could have ever imagined!