Whoa baby!

Now that I've gotten all the drama out of delivery, let's discuss the fruits of my labor! I briefly got to hold Nina before I went to surgery, but only for a few minutes. It wasn't until I was back in my room for a bit, did they bring her to my room. Lee says that he's never seen someone completely change as I did once they wheeled that tiny bundle in. Because I was in surgery/recovery for so long, they had to give Nina a bottle of formula (anyone who knows how obsessed I am about breastfeeding knows that Lee was scared to tell me this piece of information. It was the first thing I said to him when I got to see him after surgery "They had to give her a bottle, didn't they?" haha). Due to my fluid loss, all of my colostrum dried up, so we had to supplement with formula until my milk came in (9 days later). I would nurse for 20-30 minutes and then she would get a small amount of formula.

Having a newborn was easy as pie in the hospital; when I wanted to sleep, the nursery came to get her. They would bathe her, clean her belly button, change her diaper, whatever we needed! I totally thought I was set to roll with this newborn thing. I mean, whoever said that it was hard, was completely crazy, right?! ;) haha Then we came home. The first night I thought, "Um, baby, I don't know if you know what I went through to get you, but I'm tired and need sleep. So, please just be quiet and we'll be fine!" Oh my word was that first week's sleep (or lack thereof) completely crazy! She slept fine during the day, but we were doing great to get 90 minutes uninterrupted sleep. The second night, I called mom at 4:00am to see what in the world I was doing wrong. Who knew that this was normal?! At this point, I had to take a minute to regroup and figure out how in the world to get this child on a schedule so we could sleep. Babywise: an incredible book on sleep patterns and schedules that guarantees a full night's sleep between 7-9 weeks. Here we are at 5 weeks, and she's doing great! It isn't recommended that a newborn sleep for longer than 5 hours without eating and she's currently sleeping for 4 1/2 hours.

I've been asked if being a mom was surreal and the answer is simple: yes! At her first appointment at the pediatrician, they called for "Nina's mom" and I giggled like I did the first time Lee was referred to as "your husband".

After we were home for 2 days, we noticed Nina was getting irritated in the diaper area. At this point, we decided to make the switch to our cloth diapers. We are so excited about our decision to use these diapers. Everyone's cautioning has proven to be false.

1) Our house doesn't smell like poop. The only time we smell anything is the few times we've used disposables

2) No folding required. A little stuffing, but, it honestly takes 20 minutes every 3 days

3) It will save between $2,000-$3,000 a kid

4) Lee and I both have crazy sensitive skin and this takes away the issues of diaper rash which also saves time and money with creams.

We basically love them!

More details on the growing baby to come soon!!

The day they said "let's have a baby!"

I woke up on Monday, August 30, to get ready for another ultrasound and doctor's visit. Lee had a particular amount of energy this morning and I found him unloading the dishwasher and checking the car seat (again) to be sure it was installed right. We had been told to come to every doctor's appointment with bags packed to be ready in case induction was going to happen. The ultrasound showed a healthy baby girl who was breathing up a storm. sOnce we got checked into the doctor, my bp was up to 151/110 and protein was showing in my routine urinalysis. My preeclampsia had gone from "mild" to "severe" and we were off to the hospital to be induced. They checked me at the office and I was dilated to 2 cm! We went straight to the hospital and got checked in. We were so excited to see Rhonda (my nurse from the preeclampsia stay) working and got to meet Shauna, my nurse for the day shift. The midwife came in to check me and I was already to 3 cm. I had dilated a centimeter in 45 minutes! (We're convinced I was on my way to going into labor on my own anyway) They broke my water, started pitocin, and we were off! Debbie Crowder (the midwife) informed me that they would need to start magnesium to keep my preeclampsia in check and to fight off possible seizures. I knew that mag wasn't a good thing. I knew it would make me loopy and probably make me throw up. I asked her how low my bp needed to be to avoid it. She said my bottom number needed to be in the 80's. The 80's?! Was she nuts?? I hadn't seen it that low since June! We get on the horn and start calling people to pray for that very specific need. I told Debbie to give me 20 minutes and if it wasn't down, I'd let her start the mag. Praise Jesus, it instantly started to go down and never again went above 88. Crisis avoided! Shauna left the bag of magnesium beside my bed so that we could continue to have a prayer point.

Labor continued like it should. Contractions on pitocin made me nuts (as I had heard they would) and I got my epidural when I dilated to 6 cm. I was able to start to get some rest, as did mom, and I let Lee cuddle with me while I enjoyed being pain free. At this point, I had met my night nurse (soon to be a friend), Misty, who was with us every second of the delivery process. When I got to a 9, I started to feel the contractions again and quickly went to a 10. I had been told that the urge to push was one of the strongest urges you'll ever feel, and man, were they right. But finally! Something could be done with the pain! With Lee, mom, and Misty with me, I started pushing at 3:15. What a surreal feeling! I remember thinking, "holy cow! I'm having a baby!" The midwife, Zion, was brought in and at 5:21, Nina Claire Boso was born weighing 6 lb 11.6 oz and measuring 19 inches long. She was perfect. The look on Lee's face when she was born was something I will never forget. I was still in shock as to how easily I could breathe and that I had just had a baby!

After we had all admired this new little wonder, Zion brought in Dr. Wolfe to help finish up with things. This is when things started to go downhill. About 40 minutes after delivery, my ears started ringing and I started seeing spots. At this point, a massive hemorrhage started from my uterus. I was an idiot who knew no better (heck, I'd never had a baby before!) and I laughed it off and apologized to everyone. I began to feel a tad more normal again and then a few minutes later, more hemorrhaging. At this point, I feel like I'm on an episode of ER. Nurses are buzzing everywhere, they call for O- blood stat, my blood pressure keeps falling (it was as low as 40/20), Nina is taken out of the room, I was in and out of consciousness, and I continued to ask Shauna (who was coming back on shift) if I was dying. (Typing about it just feels so weird that it was happening to me.) They apparently stuck me to draw blood and no blood came. The blood and fluids were started and I was wheeled down to the OR for immediate surgery. I have been told that I was a gray'ish green color and I continued to ask my OR nurse (I think her name was Cindy) if I was going to die. (Why did I harass these poor women and make them answer a question that they weren't sure of themselves??) There were anesthesiologists, nurses, and doctors everywhere. I knew I was dying, but was too sick to care.

The next thing I know, I'm in recovery. After being there for a while, I am taken to my room that has been turned into an ICU room in Labor and Delivery. Shauna was my nurse all day and I was hooked up to so many machines! I found out later that I had a condition called "placenta accreta". This is where the placenta adheres to the uterine wall and causes trauma after delivery. Most of these cases are in post-C-Section cases. Unfortunately, there is no way of diagnosing or predicting it. The accreta had left part of the placenta in my uterus that they were able to remove during surgery. After they determined they were able to save my life, a hysterectomy was considered, but luckily avoided. After surgery, I was considered "stable but not out the woods yet". I had been given 4 units of blood during surgery and 2 more the next day. By Friday, I was able to surprise my doctors and was sent home, on medicine, but home nonetheless.

I delivered when I was 37 weeks and 3 days. Who knows if the accreta would have caused more problems if I had gone the full 40 weeks. Also, I was told that magnesium could have increased my bleeding and made things much worse (could they have gotten worse??). Lucky for me, my hemoglobin was already at a 12 (12-14 is considered normal) before I went into labor giving me as much blood to work with as I could. I swear there are no coincidences in this world. God put every nurse, midwife, and doctor where He did in that 18 hours because they would be instrumental in saving my life. It has been 3 1/2 weeks and I still find myself washed with emotion to God's faithfulness. I can't sing "Great is Thy Faithfulness" without sobbing on the line "Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me".

When we were driving home from the hospital, I realized I had been given a new lease on life. I saw the horizon differently. Things that used to upset me seemed so small in the joy of new life for me and my tiny bundle of joy (did I mention that she was perfect??). God's faithfulness to me and my family can't be expressed. and the faces that were with me (Dr. Rainey, Dr. Wolfe, Misty, Shauna, and Rhonda) will never be forgotten. Instead of looking on that week with horror, I look at it gratefully for the deliverance that we experienced and the love I was given.

3rd trimester

Well, I have no excuse for my lack of posting since I was on bedrest... or maybe that WAS my excuse since I did absolutely nothing! For most of July and the first part of August, I was on "activity restriction" due to my blood pressure being up. I really missed walking and doing some of the basic things, but took it in stride. I think I've seen every episode of every show TLC has ever made. I had 2 awesome baby showers (one at Summersville Baptist and one at Breckenridge Baptist), we went to the beach (what a fiasco with me!), and I watched other people remodel my bedroom. The beach trip was awesome with the family, but I wasn't allowed to do much and my body let me know if I did too much. Generally, I woke up, laid by the pool, sat in the pool, took a nap, went to dinner, went to bed. One day, we went to the outlets and after 45 minutes, my feet wouldn't fit in my shoes. Such a bummer!

I started to notice something might be more than "a little high blood pressure" after I saw pics from my shower at BMBC. My nose had swollen so much that I barely recognized myself. Having a close friend who had had preeclampsia, I knew that was a symptom. I continued to be on weekly doctor's visits and they kept a close eye on everything, but there still was no protein in my urine. (I totally hate that word). I spent one day not on my butt all day, and that was the day Sarah Beth and Matt got hitched; what an awesome weekend! But by the end of it, I was pooped and had a rather bad headache. I took my blood pressure regularly for the next 2 days and it continued to stay up, really up. I went to teacher's first day of school and awaited a phone call back from my OB. When I heard from him, he wanted me to be seen the next morning and he told me to bring clothes for a possible hospital stay (ugh). He was right, they checked me in for monitoring and to do a 24 hour urine (eww) collection. That was such an awkward test! I had to pee in a hat, and then pour it into this container and store it in a cooler in my bathroom (a tailgating nightmare). After 24 hours, they tested all that had been collected for protein and voila! protein. I had a case of mild preeclampsia and was officially on real bedrest. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm not good at being still. I looked forward to my biweekly doctor's visits where I had monitoring once a week and an ultrasound once a week. I would shave my legs, straighten my hair, do anything that made me feel like a human again. Just awaiting the words "lets have this baby!".

The bedrest helped with some of my swelling (eventhough I didn't recognize myself and I laughed when Lee told me I was beautiful). Lee brought as much of his work home to help me out as he could. He was a champion who never said "Do you really need another glass of water??". I took Benadryl at night to try to get some sleep between my 6 pee breaks a night. But still, being pregnant wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. The worst part, for me, was being concerned for Nina's safety if my bp went up and they wanted to take her before shew as ready. Just a waiting game at this point...

Long time, no post...

So, I was recently informed that it had been forever since I had posted on the blog (Sorry Caitilin and Allie). There has been so much going on! Since my last post, school let out, we got settled into a summer routine, had to take my Spanish praxis exam, a Busch Gardens trip was planned, VBS happened, and camp happened. whew!!

I was really excited to get to summer. By the end of school, I was pooped and knew that my body was ready for a summer of resting some. It was really weird closing out school. I was trying to get as organized as possible so that whenever August comes around, me or my sub will have everything squared away. I just had way too much fun with my label maker.

My Praxis exam was the Saturday after I finished out school and I was one stressed-out chica about it all. I had to get up and be on the road by 5:15 on that morning to drive to WV Wesleyan. Once I got there, there were only 2 of us taking the exam and we started at exactly 7:30... which wouldn't have been a problem other than that's when Nina wakes up every morning. She started rolling, hiccupping, kicking my bladder, and just generally making herself very well known. I had to take time out to go the bathroom just to get relief enough to finish the test. Lucky for her, I passed the test, so I won't hold it against her!

Lee had scheduled a trip to an amusement park with the youth as we do every year. This year's trip was planned to go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. My original plan was to go and hang out while the group was riding. As the trip approached and we got a definite forcast, we decided that it probably wasn't in mine or the group's best interest for me to go with them. After hearing that it definitely was in the upper 90's, lower 100's while they were there, I was happy with my decision to hang in the AC.

The next week was VBS which I was assigned to do preschool music. Sunday evening (the first night of VBS), I wasn't feeling well. I was rather swollen and felt cruddy. Monday, I felt better, but we couldn't go to VBS because of our childbirth classes. Tuesday, I had my glucose test and my doctor decided to see me while I was there. I was scared of the glucose test because I had heard so many horror stories. It was honestly no big deal at all!! I passed it with flying colors. While I was meeting with my doctor, we found that my blood pressure was running a good bit higher than he was comfortable with. He told me that he wanted me to rest as much as possible. Since preschool music involved lots of dancing and motions, we decided it probably wasn't the best idea for me to finish the week. So, I was planted firmly on my couch. After my appointment, I stopped by mom's office to say hi to her as I was leaving town. While I was there, she got a phone call from dad saying that he had fallen off of a ladder at the church and he was pretty sure he had broken his shoulder. Many x-rays, CT scans, and a 3 hour surgery later, he had busted his left humerus into at least 5 large pieces, and shattered the joint connecting to the shoulder. He also ripped off his rotator cuff. What a mess we were!!

All of that drama was on Tuesday and camp started on Sunday. Dad is a co-director, and typically I have my nose in the middle of everything. When I woke up on Tuesday, the plan was for me to lead girls' Bible study and campfire. After my bp started to be wonky, I wasn't allowed to do either. Due to my need to nap everyday and my frequent night-time peeing, we had already decided that I wouldn't counsel a cabin. After another doctor's appointment on Tuesday revealed that my bp wasn't showing much improvement and my swelling was increasing, I wasn't released of my "take it easy" status, so I resumed making sure dad was resting well and I kept the rocking chairs on the dining hall porch quite busy. As as the week progressed, so did my swelling and my bp continued to be problematic. So, I left before breakfast this morning to come home and put myself back on the couch as much as possible.

Our house is under massive reconstruction (Lee has been nesting this whole pregnancy and it has hit an all-time high). Our bedroom is being completely redone and the nursery is almost finished. I will blog pics about all of that super soon!

Full of Grace

Well, I realize that I have slacked a lot on posting. 2 reasons can justify my tardiness: 1) things have been crazy with the end of school and 2) nothing exciting has been happening! Both of us continue to grow at an astronomical rate. My bellybutton is starting to pop out and is 3/4 of the way flat with the rest of my stomach. She kicks what seems like nonstop and has the hiccups at least twice a day.

The nursery construction is fully underway. Lee is spending today framing in a new closet for her and my diaper stacker (that matches the pattern) is in and I am so excited to see the finished product (Check Lee's facebook for nursery progress pictues).

This week is graduation week. The seniors have taken their finals and the teachers are all getting ready for the graduation ceremony tomorrow. My job has been to stuff the diplomas (put the actual diploma in the fancy leather case and put the plastic sheet over it and put into an envelope with their name on it). As I sat there and read each diploma, I was struck with the realization that every student who is graduating, that has their name written on that diploma, spelled a certain way, is that way because when their mom's were pregnant with them, they loved that name. As we are in the final stages of selecting a name for our daughter, I have realized why so many of my friends have chosen to not say the name they have chosen until he/she arrives. It has amazed me how opinionated people can be about a name (especially a name that the mom and dad think is perfect). Lee is also afraid of meeting her for the first time and deciding that she doesn't look at all like that name. Maybe we'll have one solidified by then and maybe not. But I have decided that, from now on, to not criticize anyone's selection for a name for their child (whether publically or privately) because those parents adored that name. My current favorite name, in Russian, means "full of grace". That is our prayer for this little one; that as she approaches a life outside of my belly, that whatever life hands her, she will be full of God's grace.

And now we know the rest of the story...

So, on my last post, I expressed my concern over my ginormous size at this stage of the game. Many of my students were predicting that my ultrasound would find two babies, instead of just one. People's eyes would bug out of their head when I told them how far along I was. It was as if they were saying "Wow! You're going to be a hippo by the time this baby arrives!"

So, on Tuesday, the ultrasound came and we found out that we are having a girl! You could have knocked us over with a feather at that news! Her sweet little face was just so precious. As you can see above, she enjoys sucking her thumb (which is what I did until I saw in 2nd grade). Near the end of the ultrasound, I mentioned that many people thought that there were 2 babies in my belly. She said that she was sure there was only 1, but that she was quite a big girl. She went on to say that she's currently weighing 15.2 ounces. At 20 weeks, most babies weigh 10.5 ounces. She's in the 94th percentile for weight. No wonder I'm huge!!

Now that we have a gender, we're ready to start the balls rolling! The registries have started and we're trying to change our pronoun usage from "it" or "he/him" to "she/her". Such an exciting time right now!!

I mean, seriously??

One of the hardest things for me this pregnancy has been that I honestly don't believe how big I am until I see these update pics. Like clockwork, Lee takes the picture, shows me in the review window and then I say "I don't look like that, do I??" To which he tries to be sensitive and typically says something like "The baby is growing nicely" or "You look beautifully pregnant".

All day Saturday, the Little One was preparing for prom. It started dancing promptly when I opened my eyes and put on a show for the rest of the day. At the After-Prom, the kids could sit around me and watch the kicks and jabs.

Tomorrow is the "Big" ultrasound. I am so excited for the baby to finally have a pronoun and soon, a name. Our last ultrasound was at 8 weeks, and I think we're in for a shock to see how much it has grown!

"Not enough time..."

One of mine and my brother's favorite lines from the show "Saved by the Bell" is when Jessie is trying to get into college and she's on caffeine pills and says "No time! There's never any time. I don't have time to study, I'll never get into Stanford...". My nesting instinct sings this almost daily about something new. This week it has been the fact that I don't have a diaper bag chosen yet and yesterday was that we don't have a crib picked out yet. It's like in my head, I know that we still have 20 (0r 22 or 23 weeks) left until the baby is here, but my hormones are saying "it all has to be done right now!". I spent over 5 hours the other day looking at diaper bags and trying to decide what style, color, size, etc that I want. Yestereday, I sobbed over not having a crib and then once I found one, they were "currently unavailable". Don't these people know that I have things I need to do for this baby and being "unavailable" just isn't gonna work for me! Come on Babies-R-Us! Get your production lines in gear!

week 18!

I think I'm in shock as to how far along Sven is! We are into our 18th week (for those of you who count by months, we have started our 5th month). My appointment with Dr. Rainey went very well last week; strong heartbeat, good blood pressure, and only 3 pounds total of a weight gain! The day before my appointment, I had a severly dizzy day. I was having problems walking and had to have Lee come pick me up from work. Light and sound made it much worse which prompted us to think that I was possibly experiencing pregnancy migraines. After discussing this with my doctor, we decided that I hadn't been resting enough, and definitely hadn't been drinking enough water (which I find ridiculous when I think about how much water I drink on a daily basis.). So, luckily, taking a few rest periods and refilling my water bottle as often as possible, has proven good for my dizziness. We got our referral for the "BIG" ultrasound and have scheduled it for May 4. The last time we had an ultrasound done, I was barely 8 weeks along and the baby didn't even have fully grown limbs. It should be rather amazing to see how much he/she has grown. (I remember being able to button my pants after my last ultrasound, so I'm sure that he's not the only one that has grown!)

My nesting instincts are becoming rather strong. I am feeling panicked about not knowing everything there is to know about nursing, about the nursery not being complete, and Lee never changing a poopy diaper. Last week, I ordered 5 books on amazon to try to calm this anxiety. I think if time permitted, I would have already had my shower just to ensure time to put everything away and to wash all of the clothes.

My friend Amanda, (see post from week 16) and I have decided to use cloth diapers with our little ones that are coming in July and September. A Beckley owned and run company makes all-in-one diapers that you launder yourself. Total, using cloth diapers, will save us over $800 dollars. (and that's just for the initial purchase) You can also use them for every subsequent child, so the savings continue to add up. If we go for 3 children, our savings would be several thousand dollars. (kind of a big deal to me!) Check our their site at www.drybees.com . I personally was stoked that they had bright orange diapers. So, as Lee and I put on our gameday shirts, the baby can put on his/her gameday booty!

We keep getting excited as my classes only have 3 weeks left and Lee is nearing the end of his paper marathon. We hope to dig up the foundation to our house in the next few weeks and then start the drywall mess in the house. Much still to do in the next 22 weeks!

Sannu Sannu (hello in Hausa)

I started this blog in January when Lee was heading to Africa for a class in Nigeria. As many of you know, the trip was full of turmoil and fighting and scared most of us in the states half-t0-death. When we go through these kind of experiences, we are forever bonded to the people with whom we experience them. This is the bond that Lee experienced with his mission team and his professor.

For months, I have heard stories of the people from his trip and his beloved "Kawu" (Which is a Hausa term of endearment meaning "Uncle"). This past weekend, most of his team made the trip from Philadelphia and Kawu came from Cincinnati to see Lee, to meet me, and to meet our church family. I am not going to lie, I was very nervous about them coming, but wow, what an experience!!

This new family came into our home and surrounded us with love and excitement as they shared stories from their children and grandchildren, did a gender test using string and Lee's wedding band, (which predicted a boy both times we did it) and had many more surprises up their sleeves. After a very cold cookout, these wonderful people gave us our first baby shower. They flooded this child with clothes, diapers, blankets, organizers, soap, lotion, baskets, and so much more.

People that were once faces in pictures and names in stories became family in less than 24 hours. I wish all of us could love as much as they did. Pictures to come when Jennie emails them to us!

Easter and friends

My friends are very fertile. I have often made fun of them for their ability to recreate at a very rapid rate. Now, I have joined forces. So, on Easter, my amazing frined, Amanda came to visit me at my mom's and we took this picture:

I feel so blessed to be able to go through this experience with so many of my awesome friends. (This picture is me at 16 weeks and Amanda at 23 weeks.) My friend, Samantha had her baby last Friday. This is making this baby thing so much more real. More details to come from a very action packed week!

movements!

So, last week, I was taking my normal after-school nap and as I was dozing off, I was awakened by a sudden jolt inside of my abdomen. It scared me to death! I jumped, grabbed my side, and then realized that it must have been a kick! I know it's earlier than most people feel a kick, but I seem to be showing earlier than I should be too. A week later, Lee and I were getting ready for our afternoon nap on Sunday and I felt like a butterfly got turned loose and was fighting to get out of my stomach. I have felt it everyday since Sunday and it's just the best. Yesterday, while teaching my Spanish I class, I found it hard to concentrate enough to teach because I didn't want to miss a single motion. (It seriously felt like a propellar in my stomach)

My appointment last week was great! It was so good to see my OB (who is a great friend of ours) and everything looked great! I have only gained 1 pound (which according to my scales this morning, has since been lost again) and the heartrate was solid between 150-160. I go back the week after Spring Break for my next checkup and then I'll get my orders for my next ultrasound (the gender one!!)

I'm feeling especially ginormous. I have friends that are due before me that can still button their pants and I've been in maternity clothes for 3 weeks now. (Makes me feel especially huge) My acne is still holding on, but I have a good feeling that it's about to turn a corner. My need to nap still hasn't let up, but I had that need before I got pregnant, so maybe it's just me!

Week 12

Finally!! We are in the last week of the first trimester! I was starting to wonder if this day would ever come! (And am secretly hoping that the need to nap will not leave, because it's very reminescent of my college days) However starting at the middle/endish of week 9, I started this dry-heave, horrible stuff that really has made me look forward to being done with this trimester! It hits me usually during first block. There's typically no nausea with it, just running for the bathroom where I hack, gag, and heave, but nothing ever happens. It is starting to drive me plain batty!

On a less gross note, the belly (as you can see above) is starting to grow. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror while getting ready the other morning and honestly didn't recognize that body! There are a few times I look at myself and forget that I'm growing a life and think I need to start dieting like never before. Then, I remember, oh yea! I'm supposed to look that way! The growing belly seems to be accompanied by a lot of bloating and gas which has caused me to move mostly to maternity pants to avoid any extra pressure on my belly; man those things are comfy! Due to the fact that I am definitely vertically challenged, I was really excited to find petite jeans at Motherhood. (Speaking of being short, did I tell you that when I went to my first doctor's appointment, they told me I am actually 5'2"?? I've always thought I was 5'1". I nearly jumped out of my skin with excitement!)

Otherwise, I'm feeling great. Still trying to fit in aerobics 2-3 times a week. (Eventhough I have to stop a few times to go pee) I do feel like my energy is slowly returning. My cravings have been limited to my best friend, Katie's mom's chicken salad recipe (Which has been made and devoured) and milk. I'm not sure if milk is because I can finally have it, or if it's a real craving, but I completely forgot how good it was!!

Next doctor's appointment is Tuesday, stay tuned!

10 weeks

Week 10!! What an eventful week! First, my bump is becoming rather undeniable (Especially after a meal). No clothes work for me: maternity clothes are too big and my pre-pregnancy clothes don't even come close to fitting. Also, my intense hunger that I used to find cute, I just find annoying now. There's no "I'm kinda hungry and maybe should think about eating soon". It's "I feel fine" straight to holding my mouth and running out of my classroom to get sick. Fortunately, there's rarely nausea associated with it, just a hunger that is deeper than I've ever experienced! I know, you're thinking "Well, Carmen, just eat more often". That is easier said than done. I am typically eating every hour and a half and am still staying htat hungry. This was an ability I would have loved to have had normally, however now, I am just tired of eating! Luckily with the snow days, I am staying more rested and grazing most of the day and am feeling better. I think that God had a lot of mercy to schedule my first trimester around snow days!

Since February 2005, I have been lactose intolerant. However, I have had a few friends that were also L. I. and were able to have dairy products again while pregnant! Lee and I decided to give it a try last week (Something I was very nervous to do). And voila! Ice cream here I come!! I couldn't believe it! (And I just finished an awesome bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream)

Tomorrow, I turn 11 weeks... just 2 more weeks until I can let myself relax a little... eventhough I'm told that my worry-free days are officially over with being a mom. My Auntie is in from Seattle and I get to see her tomorrow and it'll be her first glimpse of my bump!

Follow up visit

Last week, I had my follow-up appointment from my ultrasound. It was on a Tuesday and Lee was out of town at seminary and he had our only 4-wheel drive. Surprise surprise, another huge snow storm hit and my car wouldn't go in the snow; Bigga (my dad) to the rescue!! Dad brought his truck and picked me up and took me to my appointment in Beckley. This time, they were able to find a heartbeat with the doppler!

We also recalculated my new due date which turns out to be on my birthday, September 18. We have a home soccer game scheduled for that day... which totally could give me free reign to yell at the refs!

Some of the best news she could have given me was that I am allowed to go back on my Proactiv. Pregnancy acne is worse than puberty (or in my case, grad school). I've been back on it for a week now and it is starting to clear up again.

Love at first sight

So, we've had our first doctor's appointment which went great. (This was on 2/4 Sorry Allie, I'm a slacker) We met with the midwife for our initial appointment where they asked 1,000 questions and did a basic exam. She tried to find a heartbeat, but I was too early to be heard from the doppler. This got us a straight trip for an ultrasound! (Which you can see above) We were kind of nervous but we got there and the little one's heart was just beating a way. We were both amazed. I knew that I'd been feeling kinda blah and that a whole bunch of tests said that I was pregnant, but I don't think we completely believed it until this moment. Lee grabbed my foot and his mouth fell wide open. Most people think that we would have cried, however we just giggled like school girls. However, the ultrasound did show the baby measuring a week smaller than our original calculation. We now have the pictures posted on our fridge like it was a kindergarten school picture! So excited!

Why did I not know this??

So, I felt that when I went into this pregnancy thing, that I had had enough pregnant friends that there couldn't be anything I didn't already know about. Therefore, when I thought my nose was getting congested and when I had a nosebleed last week, that it was just something that happened. During the weekend, I was going to various pregnancy websites to tell Lee about what was going on with the little one this week. Who knew that congestion and nosebleeds were pregnancy symptoms?! Luckily, I am a champion at the neti pot and am able to get relief twice a day (A fact that hopefully will keep me off of antibiotics for ANOTHER sinus infection).

When I walked into work this morning, people started rubbing my belly randomly; I hadn't realized that my bump grew over the weekend! One of my students said "Look! You're pregnant!" haha With the entrance of my BellaBands, I now have a much larger selection of pants to wear.

The question often occurs: "How do you feel?" Compared to a few of my unfortunate friends, I feel fine. I am tired pretty much nonstop, am very hungry, and have a mild nausea most of the day. (Nothing to say that I'm sick, just enough to feel blah)

My first appointment is this Thursday. According to one website, I'm 8 1/2 weeks pregnant, one, I am 9 weeks, and another I'm 9 1/2. (All which have me at the same due date... so weird) I'm anxious just to talk a professional and figure out exactly how far along I am. Stay tuned for more details!!

Aversions

So, when I got pregnant, I was prepared for some things to gross me out: raw meat, smells, etc. However, I totally didn't expect my favorite things to have no appeal at all to me. I no longer find any interest in sweets or coffee. (Students used to buy me coffee by the pound because they knew it was my favorite) I mean, Lee and I used to brew a whole twelve-cup pot of coffee every day: half a pot for each of us. Part of me is grateful for this due to the caffeine intake, however part of me misses my old friend! I have a large hope that as soon as delivery is over, someone is standing over me with a big Starbucks black coffee!

Another problem came today at lunch. I packed a lunch that I thought sounded great when I bought it at the store, but after I got it ready to eat today, one bite and I knew I wouldn't finish it. It just smelled and tasted horrible! I'm so upset that the time in my life that I'm most hungry, I can't eat my favorites.

Speaking of hungry, my pants are getting tight. I had 2-3 pair of pants in my closet that I reserved for those days when I felt bloated or anticipated a large meal that day. Those 2-3 pair are now leaving button indentions on my slowly-rounding belly. I ordered BellaBands last night and might just have to hope for snow days and pants where I can do the rubberband trick until then. I'm really excited because I think Lee will be able to tell a difference when he comes home from Africa... until then, I'll be finding ways to avoid buying new clothes for a while!

To bump or not to bump...

So, this morning I was drying off in the shower and thought that my stomach looked a tad swollen. Can't tell if it's gas, or I'm starting to get a bump!! (I would love to have a tiny bump for Lee to see when he gets home from Africa.) I think I'm going to buy or order some belly bands this weekend to prepare for the upcoming bulge.

My hormones seem to be taking over. I cry very easily and feel paranoid that everyone is upset at me. haha Luckily, my mom has been teaching me "keeping the hormones in check" self-talk.

Yesterday, Lee left at 3:30 am for his trip to Nigeria and I got up to say goodbye, but didn't eat and went back to sleep. With that, and being upset about him leaving, I had my first bout of morning sickness. I never actually got sick and it was gone after I ate lunch. Lesson learned though: keep pretzels handy. Today, I feel great again. The wonderful cooks in our cafeteria sent me a sausage biscuit this morning! The baby definitely enjoyed that!

Here is a pic of what the baby should look like right now!! Looks kind of like a baby!

Let's start at the very beginning...

So, here we are! Pregnant!! I still can hardly believe it! I'm 6 weeks pregnant and teeter between "Wow! I am really starting to feel pregnant!" and "Hmm, I don't feel anything!" haha So far, I'm feeling pretty decent. A few waves of nausea that don't last long, quite tired, sore in some certain areas, and feeling some crazy stretching pains in my stomach. (Oh, and I pee a lot!)

Our estimated due date (from various websites) is September 10. I am a September birthday and always LOVED it! So, hopefully he or she will also enjoy it. Our first appointment is February 4.

Currently, I'm experiencing a lot of 1st trimester jitters. I'll just be really excited to get to week 14 safely. I've never blogged before, so I totally welcome input on this!!

Lee leaves for Nigeria tomorrow, so I thought this would be an easier way to keep him and everyone else updated on my feelings for the current time!