New Years?? really?

I can't believe it's almost 2010??? December flew by, as did 2009. Dave and I were all over the place this year.

2009 Travel recap:

We made a trip to New Jersey for Dave’s Grandmother’s funeral , she was 93 and spoke her mind completely. I think when you hit 80 you no longer have use for a word filter. I have some very funny stories about things she said to me about other people....who were in the same room as us.

In April we hooked up with Dave’s best friend Ryan and his wife Tara in Florida for Spring Training. The Phillies practice there and we got to catch a few of their games. It was pretty cool to be in a small stadium and see them play.

May was all about Dr. Natalie! Mom, Dad, Liv, Dave and I all flew to Boston to see Natalie official become a doctor. (Doctor Natalie...sounds so cool) It was amazing to see her in her funny little hat. I was very proud of her. (still am) We also traveled to North Carolina for Sol’s (my cousin) Bar Mitzvah.

Back to Philly in June for Dave’s friend Ken's wedding. The wedding was amazing. The food, the band, the food. Dave and I were in heaven with all that food. Dave’s brother Tim and his son Joey drove back with us to Charleston and they stayed with us for a week and a half. It was pretty sweet because Tim cooked dinner almost every night AND cleaned up the kitchen after. He is officially on my "visit whenever you want" list.

In August we went to Chicago for a Baseball Bingo game. Besides the fact i was sick when we left and VERY sick when we came back, it was a sweet trip.

September we went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for my friend Dominic’s wedding. It was pretty sweet they got married on this coast! We bunked with their San Diago friends and now have about a dozen new friends in CA....yes we'll make it out there at some point, I promise.

In October we drove to Amelia Island Plantation in Northern Florida for a long weekend. We did the spa and played a full round of golf...well Dave played, I drove the cart.

WOW. For a "let's take it easy this year" we did a lot. We'll see how 2010 shapes up. Hopefully we'll still get some vacations in, though my maternity is going to suck up all my vacation time.

I still can't believe we're having a baby. It's still surreal. My belly is getting so big, and every time I change I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and just stop dead in my tracks.

We're working on the nursery this weekend a little and should have it ready to paint by the first weekend in Jan. Dave's parents bought us the crib, and it was delivered (i might have mentioned that already) last week. Once that room is painted we'll be able to move a bunch of stuff in that room and start to create a little space in the guest bedroom, garage and game room. (which are all just storage for baby stuff right now)

I'll be 24 weeks on Friday! WOW. My Virginia Shower is Jan 16 and I can't wait. I'm so exited!!

Christmas 2009

Well I passed the 23 week mark, but i've been off the computer for 4 days (glorious). So here's the update on the past few days.

Thursday I had quite a scare. Day was going normal until about 11:00. I went to the bathroom and when I got up there was blood in the toilet, a lot of blood. I tried to stay clam and figure out where it was coming from. I couldn't tell so I went back to my desk and called my doctor. They told me to come right in. Of all the days to have left my charger at home, my cell phone was dead. I tried Dave but got voice mail. I made it all the day to the waiting room before I started to loose it. They didn't even have me sit down, they took me right back and did an ultrasound. There she was heart beating away, she was fine. At this point I'm not sure if my tears were of relief or if i was still in panic mood. They checked my cervix to make sure it was ok and everything was fine. The doctor on call saw me and checked everything. No blood in my urine, no blood in my vagina. From what I can tell a blood vessel popped in the back. The doc said to keep up with my stool softens (which i now take everyday with my vitiams) and drink plenty of water. (which i already do).

They told me to try and lay down as much as possible and not sit for too long. I think I need one of those donuts pillows.

Thursday night was Christmas eve dinner, and everyone came over to our house. We did the seven fishes and I had a little of each. Everythign was really good and I even have some of the pasta from that night with me today for lunch.

Friday: Christmas!
We headed over to my parents house around 10ish. Everything just hung out in PJ's all day. we opened presents and took our time. I got a ton of cool stuff. I got black boots, a sweet water bottle, a massage at the Mom Spa and beautiful earnings and a necklace. The biggest surprise was a Wii! Dave got us a Wii, and on the present it said to Melyssa and Dave, from Dave. We played bowling and golf for the rest of the day. Dave and I played Saturday and Sunday too, and we'll most likely play again tonight. I love it, but i suck at baseball.

Saturday everyone slept in and we didn't get moving till around 2:00. We headed downtown and walked around the battery and took some photos (I'll add them when i upload them). Then went to dinner on King street and went to the lights at James Island. We even stopped for hot choc. at Santas Village.

Sunday we did a little shopping and just hung out. Natalie's flight left at 8 and Carole and Enzo left early this morning. so everyone just wanted to lay low and be together.

Last night I got sick. Not sure what caused it, but i threw up for quite some time. Felt fine about 20 minutets later. And today i feel pretty good.

Heartburn

What's with this heartburn?? I was totally under the impression this didn't start until the 3 trimester. Other then that and some fatigue I feel pretty good. I can't believe it's almost Christmas. I lost the entire month. I have no idea what happened to December.

This past weekend Dave and I saw Avator in IMAX 3D. It was amazing. Dave and Dad worked on the nursery and i can't believe how cool it's looking.

22 weeks

Wow 22 weeks! Are you kidding me. I was looking at a calendar yesterday and noticed that the middle of January is my 3rd Trimester!! WOW I can't believe this.

I feel pretty good. I'm starting to feel a lot of stretching in my stomach. It's like that feeling where you ate too much and you think your stomach is going to pop. Except for me I get that feeling, then the next day I'm bigger. I had some lower stomach cramp/pain last night. So I'm guessing that part is only going to get worse. I'm going to try and up my Yoga and hopefully get the treadmill this weekend if it's not raining.

We don't have anything on the board this weekend except for working on the house and the baby's room. So nice. We are going to get the white couch from my sister and bring her the flower chair. (which should be a pretty good trade) The office/sitting area is getting there, the closets are an entirely different story. So I'm sure i'm going to have to tackle that at some point.

22 weeks! (took it this morning)

Big

I'm getting Big. No other way to describe it. It's bazaar. You see women every day that are pregnant, I've seen a lot of tummy's too. But when it's on you, it's an entirely different story. It's so strange. I keep staring at myself in the mirror without my shirt on. I do love it though.

I have felt her move a little hear and there. At least few times a day. Nothing Dave can feel yet, though i keep trying. I did my Yoga tape last night and it went well. I was much more aware of my belly this time. I'm trying to find my other prego work out tapes but I seemed to have lost them. Considering our entire upstairs is in shambles it's understandable. Hopefully this weekend and tomorrow night I'll be able to work on it.

The baby's room has been primed and the trim goes up this weekend. We should be done by February at the latest. It will be nice to get the room going and have somewhere to put all the baby stuff. I really want to re-do the closets in both out room and the baby's room to create more space. There is very little storage in our house.

Dave hanging the window trim:


Dad/River after he primed the room:

21 weeks!

I have crossed over the half way mark! But i'm enjoying being pregnant and I'm not in a rush.

Again, i learned the hard way that taking my strong vitamins 2 hours after I eat does not count as "taking them with a meal". Last night we went to dinner with Mike, Melissa, and Stella. It was really good....unfortunately I took my vitamins when we got home, around 10PM, and we ate about 8:15 or so. So that takes us to midnight last night when I found myself in the bathroom violently throwing up. Can't say I ever remember throwing up like that in my life. So I went back to my Publix brand of vitamins this morning. I was going to try and alternate publix brand one day, "Prenatal Complex Mega Formula" the next. but the PCMF is 4 pills a day. So I was going to do two in the morning and two at night. It's a better pill, but not if it doesn't stay down. So I won't be buying that again.

My friend Monica welcomed baby Reid into the world late Tuesday night. He arrived at 2:00AM on Wednesday. We are so excited to meet him! I can't believe Baby X will has 6 friends already...and she's not even here yet! There is Margot & Caleb who were both born in May (not related to each other), Stella in June, Noah in August, Ava in September, and Reid in December. Not to mention we are awaiting the arrival of baby Hatcher next month, and baby Herndon in May. CRAZY!

Before Dave and I left for dinner last night Cyndi and little miss Savannah came over from next door and brought Baby X her first gift. Talk about cute! I can't wait to see her wear it!

On a high

little dresses....barbies....I can't wait!

It's like the rest of the world just floated away. Dave and I both shared our small panic attack stories. I saw a toy for an older kid and it hit me, this isn't just a baby. She's going to be 3 then 5 then 13...oh my! So hard to think about that when you're getting a nursery ready. Dave (ahhh i love him) was thinking more along a different line....dance lessons, horse back riding lessons, money for the movies....oh how our lives will change. We are so excited though that all these little worries keep going by the waste side. Parents, we're going to be parents!

I was talking to my dad today about Disneyworld. I mean come on, it's 6 hours away! It was 18 when I was a kid. This is a freaking day trip! I can see it now....me and Dave, baby 1 and possibly baby 2, my parents, and both my sisters and their boyfriends. That's 8 adults to 2 kids. No matter what they want to do SOMEONE will go with them. AHH I can't wait! Liv and I were talking about how much more fun Christmas will be from now on.

i'm so excited!

It's a GIRL!

Yesterday at 2:20 Dave and I met in the parking lot at the doctor's office. We were both smiling ear to ear. Dave even changed into nice shoes and put a sweater on for our big appointment. I can't even explain how I felt. I had stopped by McDonald's to get a coke to get the baby moving, but i wasn't sure when to drink it so i just brought it in with me. (ok i took one sip) We walk in and wait in the waiting room. We are joined by a women and her 4 year old son, who is pretty cute and shows us his age on his fingers.

We're up! They call our name and we go right into the ultrasound room. Dave is sitting on my left and the tech is on my right. I told her I brought the coke just in case, she said don't worry about it. She seemed very confident that she'd be able to see the sex. She puts on the jelly (from the warmed tube, NICE) and puts the ultrasound wand on my belly. Right away this little spine pops up on the screen. I couldn't believe it. It was so clear!! She moved around the baby and showed us the heart, the head, an arm and a leg. Well the baby did a tumble and the tech got a clear shot, and she says almost under her breath "looks like a girl to me"...I was like excess me?? She said yea it's a girl. I said are you sure. She said yes. So I asked how offend they get the sex wrong. She said she's never been wrong...ok well how long have you been doing this....10 years. OK got it. IT's a girl!!! We continued to watch her take all 50 photos that she needed to take. Little baby girl was moving all over and kept grabbing her feet. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I could have sat there for hours and watched her. Both Dave and I were in aw.

After the photos were done we waiting for Nurse Stone. We did the normal blood pressure and weight and went into a separate room. Nurse Stone said everything looks good and the tech was able to get all the photos she needed. She even said it was a perfect ultrasound. Looks like little baby girl cooperated. We had a few questions and just chatted for a bit. Dave and I went back to the house to let the puppies out (we're pet sitting for mom/dad) and left for babies r us.

We got some great news there as well. The car seat from Reena fits with the stroller I got a while back at the consignment shop! So we now have a make shift travel system! They don't match but hey, the price was right. We also were able to registrar for the pieces we needed for the breast pump the Kit gave me! Only possible mistake of the evening...letting Dave has the scan gun :) I checked this morning to go over what we registered for and there were a few items from the toy department I don't remember picking. We were pretty hungry after that so we grabbed some Mexican near by and headed home. We took turns calling people and everyone was so excited!

I just can't believe I'm going to have a daughter.

Today

Today is the big day. It's the first thing i thought about this morning...well the second. The first was "oh my god shut that dog up". The dog next door barks every morning about 6:15AM, and of course Wrigley and Shea are staying with us and have to react to that.

ok so back to the good stuff. We go in today at 2:30 and will be there until about 4:30 or 5:00. We are going to pick of the dogs from day camp and take them home and we're off to Babies R Us. Can't wait!! We have a conference video call with my parents, Olivia, Natalie, and Erin tonight to tell them!!

I did make a mistake today. I went on babycenter.com where i'm a member of the April 2010 babies. Well of course the first post is birth announcements...what? So I opened it thinking, we're just half way there. And of course it's not good news. Very sad stuff and for some reason they all got the H1N1 shot and made sure they mentioned it. So I had to look at the numbers. 3-5 lost babies out of 5,000+ people in the group. I'm pretty positive, but it's still scary.

Back to good news, we are going to start a pool to see when the baby comes. Mike and Melissa did it with football squares and i think we're gona do the same thing. 1/2 the winnings go to baby college account, the rest goes to the winner!

Ok I just went to have a friend at work take a photo of me with my iphone:

20 weeks!

Are you serious?? I'm 20 weeks pregnant! Hard to believe considering sometimes I think it's all in my head. I feel great besides the pains in my behind. I just received my new book "You Having a baby" and i'm super pumped about it. I really don't like "what to expect when you're expecting" I mean come on it starts with questions like "is it ok to drink"?? What kind of moron women needs to ask that. So this book is much more my speed. It's a fun read so far and I love Dr. Oz.

So we weren't to thrilled at the choices in bedding we found at babies r us, so we have been looking at babysupermall.com too. I found an amazing set that is an all underwater set. Of course Dave loved it! (as he would fish every day if he had the option) So that might be out pick if it's a boy. We are still up in the air on the girl pattern but we both do like the babies r us one. We will know the sex on Tuesday and will pick the final winner in bedding that night. We are going straight from the Dr to babies r us. I can't wait!! So next Wednesday I'll post the ultrasound photos! We have some names picked out but we're not sharing them until the baby comes. We aren't set on anything right now anyway.

I have getting to the point where I feel i look pregnant enough for strangers to start to tell. I was out last night for an event for Dave's work. It was a vendor of theirs. There were a few people there I knew. One of them said to me "you don't even look pregnant". Now this is a strange comment. A) you're saying i look like this all the time?? B) How is that a good thing?? I know people stay weird (mostly inappropriate) things to pregnant women so I'm actually looking forward to studying this from the other side. My friend Melissa was 8 months pregnant when a women said to her "you have a balloon under your dress" Thinking about it now, I have no idea how Melissa restrained herself from punching the women. I think I would have liked to say "no you idiot it's a baby" or "well a balloon is better then the cottage cheese under your dress" I mean seriously who says that to a pregnant chick. The only people who have touched my stomach so far have been friends, and it's mostly in a joking or loving manor so it's been fine. I will be sure to keep an update on those who are not friends touching me and what I might say or do in return. Who knows maybe I'll rub their belly. We'll see who likes that. haha I do plan on having some fun with it.

that's all for now. If i don't feel the earge to blog again before Tuesday my next post should be a good one!

Less then ONE week

We find out the sex on Tuesday...therefore I can't focus on anything. I'll all over the place this morning. I'm so excited! My parents and Liv will be in Indy for work and Nat will, of course, be in Boston so we have a 9:00PM webcam conference so we can tell them all at once.

I had some extreme pains the other day, and low and behold i'm bigger today. ahh growing pains.

Long weekend & Photos

Happy Thanksgiving! (yes i realize I'm a few days late, but come up who wants to be on the computer on the weekend?!)

Wednesday night Dave stayed up late cleaning the house for our guests for Thanksgiving. I wasn't feeling that great so I went to bed early.

Thursday we were full steam ahead. I finished the mashed potatoes and the pumpkin bars and Dave prepped and cooked TWO turkeys. One baked, one Fried. He did an amazing job. Everything came off without a hitch. Everyone was there by around 3:00 so we all got to spend time hanging out. It was a really great group and so nice to be around such cool people. My apple pie turned out great! I can't wait to do another one! (look at me!)

Dave with one of the Turkeys

Frying the Turkey

My Apple Pie

Everyone!

Me-19 weeks, Monica-38 1/2 weeks



Friday Dave was sick and we were both tired....ahh exhausted. I went shopping with my mom for about an hour before I caved and came back home. We layed low and went to the movies that night to see "The Blind Side". Great movie.

Saturday I went to see my friend Reena who is leaving for Chicago today. Very sad to see her go, I was just starting to really get to know her. After seeing her and baby Margot, I went to early dinner with Prisha to get some pizza. Then we went to toys r Us to buy coloring books and crayons to cheer Dave up. He just laughed at me. (and yes I bought myself one and colored on sunday.)

Sunday we helped Liv move into her new place. Mark came over to get the big couch downstairs and he brought his HUGE truck. It was great. We even fit the table and couch from my parents house in it and took it downtown to Liv. After that I went to see my friend Rachelle who was in town from MD. It was soo good to see her.

I felt a kick last night. I'm pretty sure it was a kick at least. It was right to my belly button! It was so strange. I still can't believe we find out the baby's sex in 8
days!! I'm so excited.

Nov. 23 (just over 18 weeks)

Tuesday - 2 days to Thanksgiving

I'm very excited for Thanksgiving this year! Dave and I are hosting, and there will be nine of us there! (and possibly 4 dogs) I will set up the tripod and get a photo. Dave is making 2 turkey's, one in the fryer and one in the oven. I'm making 2 apple pies, pumpkin bars and mashed potatoes. Everything else is coming from others. I think we'll finally get to meet Olivia's new "friend" this weekend. I have been looking forward to this for a while.

Health: My back hurts. I'm going to try and do my yoga tonight. In between making the pies and cleaning the kitchen floor of course. We have to hang the picture in the dining room tonight and do a couple other small things. I think we're pretty ready.

Movement

Sunday evening Dave and I were at the book store in Mount Pleasant. He was in the process of giving me a hard time because I hate to read yet I love book stores...which is true but I had never pondering this on my own. So I'm standing there and I feel something. Yes I just had ice cream but still i felt something odd in my stomach. It was movement, back and froth. I was so excited. It was very faint but it was there. Of course I tried to get Dave to feel it but he couldn't feel anything.

This weekend was nice, Friday night Dave and I ordered Chinese food and watched The Proposal. Saturday I had the girls over for a "ladies night" and it was so nice being around a bunch of girls that I'm going to try and start a monthly girls night. Maybe game night or a pot luck thing. Something. Sunday Dave and I hung out all day, and went to a going away party for some friends. Sad to see them go, but VERY excited for there new life.

18 weeks!

So I didn't take my constipation medicine today and now my stomach hurts. It's just over the counter stuff and I try to take it every other day. But for some reason today is not my day. I'm hoping this pain will pass. Other then that I feel great. I did lose 2 lbs from yesterday so I'm trying to eat a lot today. I just had a bagel and cream cheese and i have cheese and crackers for later. I'm going to meet a girl tonight that has a bunch of small maternity clothes. She lives in N. Charleston but she's headed to Mount Pleasant tonight so we're meeting in the parking lot at Publix. Which means i have to stop at the bank on the way home to get some cash. Then i'm meeting a second girl with maternity clothes over in Park West. Hopefully I'll like most of the stuff. I found them both on craigslist. (i love craigslist)

Dave and I are meeting with Tiffany tomorrow does home daycare out of her house in Park West. We were originally going to meet a second women Sunday but we moved it out b/c this weekend was getting to packed. We have a going away party Sunday, and I'm having my girls night tomorrow night.

18 days till we find out what's inside me! I even talked Dave into going to Babies R Us that night after we find out!!! Hopefully we can meet up with my family for dinner to tell them in person!

By Request

As requested: Here is me at 17 weeks in the green, and 16 weeks in brown

Weekend Report

It's very funny because there are a lot of times right now that I either forget I'm pregnant or can't stop rubbing my stomach. It's one or the other. I don't know what it is about rubbing your stomach but I can't seem to stop. Like I'm waiting to feel something, or just infatuated with the size, shape, and firmness of this whole strange thing. When I have clothes one is one thing, but when I'm getting dressed in the morning or undressed at night and I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror..it's weird. My body is totally changing. I do love it though.

Saturday Dave and I were yard saleing fools. We hit ION for their yard sale then drove around Mount Pleasant looking for more. We only spent $3 the entire day. We were really searching for a dresser and changing table...what we bought was a infant car seat head rest, a book, and a baby holder that you strap to your body by Kozy Carrier. I looked up how to use this thing http://kozycarrier.homestead.com/instructions.html there are about 5 different positions. I'll let you know how i do. I will practice with a baby doll. I am babysitting Stella in Dec so once I have it down we'll put her in it.

Sunday I went to a neighborhood block party with my parents in their neck of the woods. All their neighbors are so sweet, and there were kids everywhere! It was great. One of their neighbors, Kristy, gave me a high chair! So excited! It's really nice. She has two kids, one of each, and is pulling together all their baby clothes for me. She is too sweet!

Fuzzy

I'm a little off today. Not feeling bad or anything, just off. Tired I guess and my stomach doesn't seem right. Might have been the cookie i had before trying to eat Healthy Choice pasta out of a plastic container. (gross)

I am having some trouble focusing on work sometimes. I keep thinking about the nursery and wanted to just lay around and watch TV with Dave. There are days when I actually miss him. (yes that's so lame and i know it)

I have a networking event tonight but I forgot my business cards, bummer! Now I have to go home first. But the event is close to my house so it's not that bad.

Apt

My appointment went well. Nothing much to report. The heartbeat sounds good and I was able to hear it! I put Dave on speaker phone so he could hear it too. I have been having some trouble with my stomach so Nurse Stone told me to take stool softer. So we'll see how this plays out. I went to Kit's Social event last night in honor of her friend Richie. I was in charge of the raffle tickets and giving people numbers for the silent auction. Tonight I am going over to my friend Sara's house for a Mary Kay party, then going home to change into my sweats and watch TV. It's so nasty out today that's all i want to do!

Kirk (my co-worker) and I went to get my new office chair today! I'm very excited about it and hopefully it will help my back. We went to get lunch after and Dave met up with us. It was nice.

Baby's Room

Our original idea for the baby's room was do a chair rail with trim pices from the chair rail to the base board. The trim would have been something like this, but different colors:

To do this we would have had to change out the baseboards. So we decided to go a different route. We are going to do crown molding and a chair rail still. Under the chair rail we're doing to do large squares in a checker board pattern. The squares would look something like this:

We're thinking two colors only for the squares, but we're still talking about that. We are going to do all white furniture and the top of the chair rail will be a cream color. It's a very dark room so we're trying to make it as light as possible. Once we know the sex i'm going to bring in the blanket from the bedding we want and have them match the paint color to it. Dave's co-worker Brooks said he'd help with the trim and crown molding and my dad is going to help with the paint. Dave wanted to do hard wood floors in there, but i don't think we're gona do that. At some point we might do hardwood floors in the entire upstairs, but i think we'll wait to we an afford to do all of it, rather then room by room.

The guest room will stay the same, and is the temporary holding place for all the baby stuff we have so far. I will admit i went a little overboard. But i'm done now. No more baby stuff until after the shower, I promised Dave.

BIG

I officially can't see my feet. I stood up straight and looked directly down and...nothing. I bought a new pair of maternity pants from E-bay. I need to stay away from that site. That an Amazon.com are killing me. I most recently bought a new yoga mat and I ordered a pregnancy yoga tape. Very exciting.

Over the weekend Dave and I went to Lowes for a HUGE shop. We bought all the paint and trim for the baby's room, mulch for the house, new plants, storage bins and some odds and ends that we needed. We planted the plants last night and only have one left. Dave picks up the mulch tonight and the trim tomorrow. We couldn't fit everything in the truck. I'll put up photos soon.

Tomorrow is our 16 week appointment. Just a normal one, nothing big.

Feeling Great, you?

It's Wednesday. I feel really good right now, might be the hot chocolate I just drank....so good. Erin (BFF from Denver) has a web cam now! So her and I got to chat last night on cam! it was so cool. It's going to be great when the baby comes, b/c she won't miss anything.

I even have a list of people to give my sister so they will get a text with a photo of the baby as soon as s/he comes. I'm so excited.

Mom and I are going to the sale together this weekend with Dave's truck. Oh, we're ready!

Update

I really don't have to much to report. Last weekend was great, we had two parties Friday night and cleaned the house Saturday day. Baby Stella and her parents came over Sunday to watch football and hang out. It was a good weekend. I didn't get much sleep b/c the baseball games have been SOOO late and we've been watching every inning. They don't play tonight so i'll be going to bed early.

I'm feeling pretty good, tired right now and my back hurts, but other than that feeling good. We have our next apt a week from today. Dave and I are gona be working on the nursery next month and get it all going. I've been on the hunt for used baby furniture. I found 6 different consignment shops in the area. So my goal is a dresser and changing table. There is a Jr. League sale this weekend and a yard sale in ION next weekend so hopefully i can find something there.

wish me luck!

15 weeks

I'll add a photo to this post tomorrow. Dave will take one tonight when I get home.

The baby is the size of an apple according to babycenter.com. I ate too much for lunch and now feel very full and i'm kinda regretting Qdoba's (not not entirely it was good). Tonight we have two parties. One in North Charleston, one in Mount Pleasant. We're going to try and go to both. I was going to be a nun, but the outfit looked like it swallowed me. Not attractive at all, and i'm not big enough yet to where you can see my bump in it. I have to be wearing a tight shirt for it to show. I decided to copy Natalie and be a 1920's gangster. An outfit that, with a little help from my friend Sara and a guy at my work named Jerry, will be easy and cost me nothing. I'll post photos of tonight at some point soon.

We were invited to a sweet party Saturday night and had every intention of going...until we realized Game 3 is tomorrow night. Phillies v.s Yankees. Yea right like Dave will leave the house during THAT game. So my parents are coming over so Dad and Dave can watch the game and mom and I will give out candy on the porch. Tomorrow night I'll wear my wedding dress as gangster isn't child appropriate.

Health: I'm feeling pretty good. General stomach issues but nothing to bad. I had to go to the dentist yesterday b/c my top teeth are being pushed together by my mouth guard, yes i wear one. Stop laughing. I got yelled at for not flossing...again. So last night i flossed and bleed like crazy. gota love all this extra blood flow. I have gained a few pounds and am tracking my weight every morning when i get up. I get excited b/c i lost a few lbs in the first trimester and it started to scare me. But no fear we're putting on the lbs now!

Babymoon

Friday morning around 7:00AM Dave and I packed up the car and headed south. Our destination Amelia Island Plantation. We arrived around 1:00, we stopped for breakfast on the way down and stopped at Target for some goodies. We checked in to our room at the Sea Dunes on the other side of the resort from the main check in. There is one main hotel and a bunch of other hotel/condo complexes. The resort also has a ton of private homes. After check in we went to grab some lunch and then went to the golf cart rental place and got a cart for the rest of the weekend. We went a got our suites on and sat by the pool for a bit. Friday night's dinner was amazing, we ate at the Verandah. It was pricey was totally worth it. I drove the golf cart home after dinner due to Dave's rum and cokes. On our way back we saw a possum. It was about 50 feet in front of us on the side of the road....as we got closer it started to cross the street headed right for us. In a car this would be scary, in a golf cart..different story. So I did what anyone would have done. I screamed. It heard me and took off in the other direction. It was pretty funny.

The next morning we woke up to the ocean, our room was on the 2nd floor with an AMAZING view of the ocean. We got in our golf cart and headed to breakfast at the Amelia Inn. We both go the buffet... and when the bill came dave took one look at it and turns to me and says "yeah, i'm going back for more". It was a VERY expensive meal. I'm recommend going to breakfast off the resort. After breakfast we went to the Spa. I got a wrap and Dave got a massage. It was glorious. We headed to the pool afterwards to sit and hang out. We garbed lunch at the Inn's pool side food stand....$12 for a cheeseburger and it was the worst cheeseburger ever. Dave's hotdog was $8. It was humorous how much everything is on the resort. Very much like Disneyworld. But we were sitting by the pool with a view of the ocean. Doesn't get much better than that.

That night we went off property to an Italian place for dinner. It was nice to see normal prices for stuff. It was an amazing meal. Right in the middle of this little downtown area.

Sunday morning we woke up and packed up our stuff. We went to a smaller place for a quick breakfast and dropped off our golf cart. Dave had a 10:50 tee time on the Ocean Links course. I was the driver, score keeper, and photographer. We played with a cool guy from philly. His name was Hilton. The course was really pretty and I got to drive the cart like it was a game. Almost tossed Dave out a few times.

We left the resort around 4:00 and headed for Charleston. We were going to stop at this place called Down Under Restaurant but it looked like a dump so we didn't even get out of the car. The road it was on was not paved well and I started to feel sick. I threw up about 20 minutes later. Dave pulled over on the side of the highway. After I took a nap I felt much better.

We got back to Charleston around 8PM. It was a great weekend!

Count down....

....to Vacation!! Dave and I leave tomorrow morning for Amelia island plantation! We are there for 2 nights. I get to go to the spa, Dave is playing a round of golf on the ocean course, we're both very excited. I am bringing my camera so I'll have plenty of photos when we come back.

I feel good today. I downed 2 pieces of pizza around 11 and i think i'm going back for 2 more in an hour or so. I'm going straight home today to pack and clean the house. I like coming back from vacation to a clean house. We're taking my car now, so I'm gona clean that out too. (this counts as a work out right?) I'm totally counting it.

Got Sick

I felt great yesterday...until about 6:00pm. At that point I got sick, very sick. Pretty much all of lunch came back up. SO GROSS! straight food. It's like getting sick and thinking the entire time, oh my God this is so gross i'm gona puke. After a few rounds I was able to sit still for a bit.

I still made it to class last night. I felt much better by the time we got there. The class was really nice. Very small group and we were the only ones with a cannon. But the teacher was good and we learned some stuff..so that's good. Our next class is next Tuesday.

I talked to Beth this morning about my VA shower to pick a date that worked for everyone. Her and Sarah had broken it down to a few weekends so I picked one and they are gona discuses it and get back to me. I'm super pumped. Liv is gona drive me up so that will be pretty sweet! It'd be sweet if Natalie can make it to both showers, we'll see. I have to get my list over to Beth for the invites! AND we're totally going to RIO while I'm there! I'll be there for 3 full days which will be nice. I'm taking off Friday and we have that Monday off from work. so we'll drive up Friday and back Monday. Should get in on Friday around 2:00 or so.

Camera Class

I got to see Dave for lunch today! I love seeing him in the middle of the day. It's so nice.

I went the entire day yesterday with a decent amount of energy. I made it to the 4th inning last night for the Phillie's game. They WON! Go phils!

Tonight Dave and I have our first camera class! I'm very excited. It's at 7:15. I'm gona head home and eat and change....ahh sweats! Erin (my BFF) got me the best hoodie ever and it's all I wear on the weekends. I'll report back on how class went tomorrow.

I'm feeling great today. 2nd tri starts Friday! My energy is good today!

Fishing, Pink, and Sleepy - The Weekend Review

Friday night Dave had a captain's meeting for his fishing tournament. This particular tournament was for disabled veterans. Getting them out on kayaks fishing. It's a very cool organization. The meeting was at Dog and Duck in Mount pleasant so we both went. I sat at the bar and made a friend, Kelly (a labor and delivery nurse), and Dave had his meeting and met the other kayakers. We ended up eating at the bar and then went home. We both had to get up early.

Saturday Dave was out the door by 5:45AM and I left around 7:15AM for the Race for the Cure. Prisha made us these amazing shirts in memory of her mom. She was 49 when she passed away. My dad and Wrigley walked with us too.

After the race Prisha and I had lunch with my parents and went back to my house. We hung out for a few hours and then she had to go home to feed her puppy Sadie. Dave was fishing most of the day. After he came home we went out to dinner in Mount Pleasant.

Sunday we slept in! It was glorious. We did some filing in the office and met up with my parents at the Mount pleasant Pier. It was so flipping cold we only stayed for 20 minutes and we all decided it was a good idea to go somewhere warm and get lunch. After lunch Dave and I did some running around and ended up at lowes. We picked all the trim for the nursery and bought a new fan for in there as well. About an hour into lowes I started to hit a wall, just got so tired I could barely walk. So we wrapped up and went home. I feel asleep on the ride home, manage to get my shoes off before crashing on the couch. I was out for 2 hours. When i woke up I was still unbelievably tired. To the point I couldn't get myself up to get a glass of water. So Dave, who had gone upstairs to watch TV, came and brought me water and made me dinner and brought it over to the couch. I can't remember ever being that tired. We watched the Philles spank the dodgers and I went to bed in the 5th.

Woke up ready to go this morning....a ton of energy. We'll see how long it sticks around.

Week 13!

This is the first day of week 13! By next Friday I will be official out of my first trimester! OH yeah! I feel good today. I have learned a trick. A double fiber whole wheat English muffin with my life cereal in the morning and I can make it to almost 11:00AM before I become starving. Go me.

Tomorrow is the Race for the Cure, I'm meeting Prisha at my parents house at 7:45AM. Hopefully we'll get to hang out for most of the day together. My mom is going to drop us off and pick us up at the race so we don't have to mess with parking. Go mom.

At some point this weekend I'm going to list half my house for sale on craigslist and ebay. I have 3 George Foreman's. (come on seriously!) So hopefully this weekend will be productive. Selling stuff online, getting the Halloween stuff out and organizing the upstairs, mainly the office and game room AKA "where the hell does this go" room. (we will see how much I actually do) I talk a big game.

Tired...again

Not sure why but i'm really tired today, I was really tired yesterday too. I was planning on going to Yoga tonight, but i'm going home, putting on sweats and watching TV. I'm gona stop on the way home and get some dinner. Something VERY simple, like the publix chicken and rice. We also need breakfast stuff and milk. So it should be a quick shop.

I have a very sharp pain in the left side of my lower stomach, right above my hip bone. I'm pretty sure it's gas, my God does gas hurt when you're pregnant!

I had WAY to much time on my hands at work today. I picked out my birth announcements, made a list of all the people I'm going to send them to (with addresses) and found these nice envelopes on Amazon. WAY to much time. I also ordered a tripod so I can start taking photos of my bump by myself. I always seem to remember when I'm by myself so now I should be fine. My bad ass camera needs to start getting a work out! I'm really hoping there is something good on tonight, I think I have a smallville on the DVR! That will be my back up.

Not sure if I mentioned this already, we find out the sex on Dec 8. We have a boy's name picked out (first and middle). We're totally set on it, but we're not sharing yet. Still up in the air on girls names. Dave won't go with my pics, I really wanted Zena, but he said i'd then have to name our next kid Hercules. Although I agreed to that, he still said no.

I told him I wanted 3 kids, he said 2. So we made a deal, if we go for number 3, we have to name the child after someone that is in the room when they arrive. So the nurse, doctor, janitor...something like that. (you can imagine who's great idea this was)

Heartbeat!

Yesterday Dave and I had a doctors appointment at 4:00PM. We actually didn't see the midwife until about 4:45, they were very busy. It didn't take but a few seconds and there it was, this super fast little heartbeat. In the background you could hear my heartbeat, much like the back base in music. Much slower then the baby's heartbeat, coming in at 160! So exciting and very real!! When I texted my best friend Erin, she wrote back "Holy Shit you're having a baby....on purpose". :) I don't think anyone has completely wrapped their head around all of this.

After the doctor Dave and I went and grabbed a drink at Red's on shemcreek and then met up with my parents and my sister for dinner at Mustard Seed for Dave's birthday.

I have lost a little weight so my maturity pants don't quite fit, but none of my normal clothes fit either. Which is why I look nice today. The only thing that fit was a skirt I have so i went with it.

Not to much other stuff going on right now. I was really tired last night and the night before. I think the baby is growing, and it's tiring me out.

This weekend is the Race for the Cure for Daniel Island. I'm walking with my friend Prisha in memory of her mother. I'm looking forward to it! It's gona be 65, nice a cool for our walk!

Happy Birthday Dave

Yesterday was Dave's birthday. We were both a little off most of the day, but pulled ourselves together by late afternoon and went and saw a movie and went out to dinner. It was nice. Saturday was a busy day, I took the dogs to the beach in the morning(we had them all weekend), met up with Prisha for lunch and babies r us, then had dinner over at Melissa/Mike's house.

I found out some sad news today. I joined a member website called babycenter.com. I found this friend on there that was also married on 10/4/08. We were due a few days apart. Well I found out today that when she went in for her 10 week ultrasound/heartbeat doppler they couldn't find a heartbeat. The baby stopped growing at 8 weeks. I wish them the best and KNOW they will have better luck with the next one.

I have to admit it freaked me out a bit, we go tomorrow at hear the baby's heartbeat and now I'm scared it won't be there. I'm trying to convince myself everything is fine. I have had a decrease in hunger though and even lost some weight in the past few weeks. Though my stomach is larger and so are my boobs. So that's a clear preggo sign. Still pretty uneasy.

12 weeks!

Last night was my first prenatal yoga class. I really liked it, and think I'm going to go every week. It was very cool being in a room with all pregnant ladies.

Today I am 12 weeks. I feel pretty good. I have continued to ask every mom i know to give me all the advice they can. It's very helpful and eye opening. I just added "the business of being born" to my netflix queue. I was told it's a must watch.

Dave's 30th birthday is this weekend! I'm still not sure what we're doing. But hopefully something. He's yet to tell me what he wants.

Last night we watched Sunshine Cleaning. I liked it.

Trip Planning

I have an overall feeling of "yuck" this morning. Not sure why, but it's starting to go away as the day goes on. I think it was what I ate yesterday.

Dave and I are planning our baby-moon/30th birthday trip/anniversary trip today. We are going to Amelia Island for a long weekend. They have four golf courses, are right on the beach and have a full spa. Making both of us very happy. We go in two weeks!

I met with the Birth Educator nurse yesterday at the doctors. She was so sweet, it's too bad she's leaving their practice. She's moving to the "high-risk" practice down at MUSC. She gave me some tips on what I should be doing/eating. It was nice to talk to her. Next Tuesday we have our official check up and get to hear the baby's heartbeat!

I have been meaning to pull out the Halloween stuff for 3 days now and just haven't gotten to it. I need Dave to do it, and we can't seem to pull ourselves together. Everything is in the attic. But hopefully it will happen to night. I'm going straight home after work and hopefully he won't be far behind me.

I bought a new camera book last night to go with my Rebel Xsi! I'm very excited about it, and the guy that wrote it is very funny. I like the way he writes so there is a much higher chance I'll actually read it.

Advice

Today I have the patient educator today at 4:00. From what I understand they go through the upcoming classes and answer any questions you might have. They also go over what you need for the hospital and stuff like that.

I have been asking everyone i know for their advice on new baby stuff. What they bought that they never used, what they wish they had earlier, what is the ultimate lifesaver. It's so helpful to hear the feedback. I have a list going of all the stuff everyone mentions. I even started a registry to use it as a saving page for the things i like. My friend Kit's husband Joe said "don't buy anything! we have so much stuff". They are going to loan me their travel system! She said they didn't use it after 6 months, so even if they do baby number 2 soon it will work out perfectly. I do know I want the organic mattress. But i'm up in the air on bedding. My friend Prisha and I are going to babies r us on Saturday to see if things look like they do online.

This coming weekend is Dave's 30th Birthday! Still not sure what he wants to do, but it will be fun no matter what!

Boy? Girl?

Did you know there is a camera so small that it goes on the end of a needle? I have a magazine that has these AMAZING photos of what the baby looks like at each stage, all taken by this special camera. Pretty cool.

I get asked every day what I think I'm having. I have had seven people tell me I'm having a boy. But on Saturday I had a 2 1/2 year old tell me it was a girl. Dave said we should go with her guess b/c she's closes in age to the baby. :) I do like this theory. So all and all...i have no freaking clue. I have picked out bedding for both. We have a boy named picked out that we love, though we're not sharing it yet. We're still up in the air on the girl name, but we have some leading candidates. (again, not sharing that either) I'm found that when you share your name you sometimes get "oh I knew a Chris in college and he was a jerk". So let's just avoid that all together.

There is so much to learn and experience when you're pregnant. For example my nose bled this morning for no particular reason and bathroom breaks are twice as long with 1/2 the results. All fun stuff. Though I consider myself VERY lucky. Every time I read anything pregnant wise they all talk about morning sickness and severe fatigue. I was tired and took a nap a few days, and i did get sick 3 times. But that's it. To be quite honest I have had such trouble with my stomach over the years that getting sick doesn't faze me that much.

This week will be my first week of all maternity bottoms (i can still fit into normal tops just fine). I actually have lost weight, but have a bump that doesn't seem to like non-stretchy pants/shirts. Last week Melissa gave me clothes this week Kit gave me clothes, so i'm sitting pretty. I might buy a new dress for my shower but that's it. (then again, I might just wear the black dress that Melissa gave me or the one Rachelle gave me) Now i'm rambling, but than again this is MY blog.

11 weeks!

Mom took me and Dave out to lunch today. It was really nice. My boss has been out this week, so it's been pretty quite at work. Balancedbride is getting very close so that's really exciting.

I am totally wearing maternity jeans today. My normal jeans fit.....but are not all the comfortable. So big stretching jeans it is. I actually lost 4lbs since the start of my pregnancy, but i have a definitive bump working.

I go to Dr. hunter (family doc) next week to get my Flu shot, then i get my H1N1 when they come in. There was a ton of comments on the topic on my babycenter group about it. But both my doctors said to get it, so I'm getting it. If you can't trust your doctor, you need a new doc right? So shots it is.

11 weeks today from baby center: baby is just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, and is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden. She's already kicking and stretching, and hiccupping because her diaphragm is forming.

Food

It started about 3 days ago. I'm not hungry...at all. However if i don't eat, I crash. It's a fun little game. Nothing sounds appetizing. I love egg and cheese sandwiches. But when i tried to eat one, I could have sworn the cheese was bad, it wasn't. I am fighting to finish a meal, it's very strange for someone who loves food. This morning I actually had my "normal" stomach hunger pains. Fist time in a few days. I keep forgetting to pick up for watermelon, but i can eat that all day long.

Other then the food thing, I'm doing great. Melissa gave me an entire bag full of maternity clothes!! I'm having dinner with Kit tonight to talk about Balanced Bride and catch up. This weekend I have some BB stuff I gota get done and hopefully some house stuff.

Bad news, I didn't win the lottery. I bought a bunch of tickets the other day....and nothing! ok well one i had the power ball, a whopping $3. So I was very disappointed because I was going to use my winnings to buy a new car.

Ok back to facebook...ah I mean work.

Tired

So my whole plan to catch up on sleep and relax this weekend didn't really pan out. Thought it was a really nice weekend. My friend Kym came over to watch Grey's Friday night and we stayed up chatting until almost midnight. Saturday morning we went to Monica/Mark's baby shower. It was fun. Dave and I and my parents went to Mike and Melissa's for dinner Saturday night. Both sets of their parents were there. It was good to see everyone. Sunday Prisha and I went downtown to the green fair then just walked around downtown. I got home and was thinking about a nap, but Dave had just pulled himself together and wanted to get out of the house for a bit, so we went out to dinner and to the MP pier. It was nice. I got to have ice cream as long as I walked down and back on the pier. Totally worth it.

Besides being tired my back hurts a little. Oh and my car decided to die on the way to work this morning. So i called Dave and he told me to pull over and not get on the bridge. He was afraid i wouldn't make it over the bridge. So I pulled into his office which was very close to where I was when I called him and he came and picked me up and took me to work. My mom is coming to pick me up today. I have been looking at cars online most of the day. (sucks) But...i could get a 2009 or 2010 Honda Fit for pretty cheap and it might be perfect for what we need right now. I'll keep ya posted.

Back

My back hurts today. I didn't make it to yoga last night. (so it serves me right that my back hurts) I just wanted to go home and sit on the couch. It was glorious. Dave and I made raviolis and watched psych.

Grey's is tonight. I watched the season finale from last season twice last week, so i'm ready. I'm not watching it live though. I have dinner with Kit tonight. So I'm hoping to watch it tomorrow night if i can wait that long. There is a very good chance I'll start watching it 45 minutes it so i can fly through the commercials.

Other then my back, I feel pretty good today. I cut up my apple and have it sitting next to me. Just meet chopping at it all day. I'm looking forward to Monica's shower this weekend, and dinner with M&M.

Storm

There was one heck of a storm last night. Around 2:30AM thunder shook the entire house and woke me up. (Practically gave me a heart attack) I spent the next hour trying to slow down my heart beat and fall back asleep. The lighting kept coming, followed by thunder. This went on for a while. Between that and the coughing every 30 minutes I didn't sleep that well last night. My back hurts today, but i have prenatal yoga this afternoon. So that's exciting. Hopefully that will help.

CAMERA

Last night I got my Big Birthday Present! Dave bought me a Cannon Rebel XSI. He even bought me an orange backpack case for it. Complete with lens holders! I'm very excited. I charged the battery last night and can't wait to play with it tonight.

I'm feeling pretty good today. I found a whole box of decaf green tea in the office kitchen so I've been drinking that. I went on a walk with dad last night, 30 minutes around Daniel Island. It was nice. Tonight is mom's night to walk with me, tomorrow is pre-natal yoga, then dad walk then mom. Dave has the weekends. I have to walk/exercise for 30 minutes a day.

Birthday

Today is my birthday. I'm 30. People react pretty different to 30. One of my friends isn't 30 for another 6 months and she's already dreading it. One of my other friends said 30 has been the best year so far. To tell you the truth I haven't given it much thought. Now my list of "things to do before I turn 30" has gone by the waste side, but then again I wrote it when I was 13. I think back up dancer for Madonna was on the list, so you can see where that was headed. But when I looked in the mirror this morning, I thought, hey I look pretty good. Mostly because I just got my eyebrows waxed and a hair cut, but hey still looking good!

Last night was my party down at Brewers on East Bay. We had about 30 people and a cake for about 75. Wow what a cake; two tiers! My dad did a slide show, that was very fun/funny. I got to meet one of my friend's daughters last night for the first time. What a cute baby. The best part of that was to hear her parents talk about how excited they are, how happy. It was so nice to hear. So many people keep telling Dave and I about how much it sucks, how you never sleep, how awful everything is. It gets OLD FAST! So here were our friends, parents of a 4 month old just happy. Saying that even the bad moments are great and joyful. It really made Dave and I happy. We can't wait to see them again.



It is funny what people tell you when they find out your pregnant. Most people are excited for you, some show pity on you. Some tell you all about their birth experience, which is good or bad. Some give you some really good and helpful advice. I was given the names of two books that I should read about sleeping and schedules for babies. Both sound like a good read. I'm interested to hear how the advice/comments continue and increase as I start to show.

I do know one thing for sure. I am so excited about being a mom, and Dave is just as (if not more) excited about being a dad. We have always talked about having kids. Always smile when we see families together.

Tonight for my birthday, Dave is giving me my BIG present and we're getting Japanese food to go. We're going to eat it in front of the TV and watch a movie together. I couldn't ask for a better evening.

Health Update: I am tired. Very tired. I feel dizzy a lot during the day. Today all i want to do is sleep. I went to bed way to late last night. I am scheduled to go work out with my dad after work, so we'll see how i feel. But no morning sickness and I'm staying somewhat focused today.

Clothes

The Clothes Exchange last night went very well. We had over 14 tables and 10 racks full! We got a good showing and some ladies made out very well. I picked up some pants, a skirt, 2 shirts and a few kids outfits. All our volunteers were amazing! We are really hoping to have it at the same location next year.

I got home about 9:45PM last night and saw a Target package on the table. My first thought was "oh crap, the wedding gifts we sent to our friends in Jersey got sent here" but the bag wasn't the right size for that gift. So i opened it to find 6 items inside. three maturity shirts, 2 pants and a little black maturity dress. There was a note attached that said "hope you enjoy" sender: my amazing friend Rachelle from DC!

Health update: I am tired today, mainly due to getting in at almost 10 and waking up at 3:00AM because I didn't know where Dave was. (he got home really late and just stayed downstairs to watch some TV) Overall doing good today. The nausea that comes directly after taking my morning vitamins is decreasing. Now it only lasts a few minutes. I can easily fit into most of my jeans which is nice, I haven't gained that much weight yet. But most of my dress pants don't fit, a problem that started before the pregnancy. (serves me right for shopping at back when I was my lowest weight in 4 years)

Feeling Good Today

Over the last few weeks I haven't been sleeping well. Dave hasn't been sleeping well either. So last night I cranked the air up to 69, nice and cold. I slept great! I got up around 4:45 with my standard hunger pains but wasn't all that tired. So I got up and came to work. This really works out b/c I have the Clothes Exchange tonight so I have to leave at 2:00. I got in at 6:00AM, hoping that would soften the blow of me leaving early (it did not).

But..for the first time in a few weeks, I feel good! I've been trying to eat every 2 hours or so and that's really helping. My birthday party is Sunday and there will be three babies there, all under 6 months old! (not to mention 3 preggers chicks including me) We're surrounded, and i love it.

Everyone's Good

The short and long of it is everyone is fine. Baby X's heart beat is 170. I didn't know they were going to do an ultrasound, but that's the only way they can read the heartbeat this early on. Mom was with me b/c we were going to pick up my car at one shop and bring it to another. She was out in the waiting room, once they told me they were going to do an ultrasound I went and got her so she could see it. I figure technology has changed a bit since she last saw on. Mom looks at the photo and says she can see everything....Dave and I see a blur with a dark spot in the middle.

As for my health, she gave me a perspiration for everything under the sun digestive system wise. I'll spare you the details but I have a long list of things I need to pick up from Publix, including a fiber mix. She told me lay low on dairy so no ice cream...boooo. So we'll see.

Nat and Livvy (my sisters) get back from their 2 weeks in Italy this Friday! I can't wait to see them. Our clothes Drive for My Sister's House is this Thursday night, and my birthday party is Sunday. (actual birthday is Monday)

Doctor today

Yesterday I had this very funny pain in the bottom of my stomach. It started out uncomfortable and moved into very uncomfortable. I called the nurse at 4:45 yesterday. To tell you the truth I through there was no way I'd hear back because they close at 5:00. At 5:10 the nurse called me back. I explained everything to her and she asked if I had previous GI problems. When I said I've always had stomach issues she said to come in. Apparently pregnancy makes some things better (hair, nails, that glow they talk about...) and some things worse (your entire digestive system). So I have an apt at 3:50 today. I feel better today, but I'm glad I'm going in.

Yard Sale

Mom and I went Yard Saleing yesterday, yes that is a real term. Daniel Island had their bi-annual yard sale. All the houses in the area with red balloons were selling their stuff. Mom and I went out on a hunt for things for Baby X. Mom bought a pack and play and a stroller for her house. We bought them from a neo-natal nurse that is a germ freak! Mom was pumped, she even had all the proper manuals for each item. I got two little changing blankets and 3 toys. One is a walker type thing. Very cute.

So i'm assuming by Christmas you won't be able to move through our house due to the amount of crap I'll purchase. I was really out there looking for a crib, but no luck. There is a guy at my work that things he might still have one from his daughters, so he's gona look this weekend.

Today Mike/Melissa/Stella are coming over so Mike and Dave can watch football with someone else who is paying attention. I think us girls might go to the pool for a bit.

Health update: I feel better overall. The coughing has subsided and i don't feel as "yucky" as i did last week. The hunger is very annoying. I wake up at 4:30ish every morning starving. Then can't really get back to sleep b/c of the hunger pains. But all and all I feel good. Thanks for asking. :)

Shopping

My friend Monica heard about a HUGE consignment sale and signed up to attend. She was allowed to bring one guest and I got to go with her! It was at the Omar shrine center. Last night was for volunteers and first time mom's. I made out big time. I got four pairs of maternity pants (all for work), three baby outfits for gifts, 6 oneies for and 2 outfits for Baby X, a black sweater for myself, a boppie pillow, stroller, and a vibrating little bouncy chair. Grand total $109. CRAZY! Plus Monica gave me a pair of jeans that are too short for her. I'm very excited.

In other news, I got sick last night. Apparently Life cereal at 10PM was a bad idea. I must say I haven't thrown up that much in a very long time. I feel much better now...12 hours later. I'm officially 8 weeks today. So I'm guessing that was a marker.

I'm looking forward to seeing Melissa/Mike/Stella this weekend, we have dinner with them Sunday. We havn't seen them in forever.

Better Photos

VERY REAL!

I must admit there was a part of me that thought they would do an ultrasound and tell me it was all in my head and there was no baby. (I think Dave thought the same thing) When they put the ultrasound up on the screen and pointed out this little flicker, she said "That's the heart". CRAZY! It was 150bpm. A quick little heart. I measured at 1/2" which puts my due date at April 23. I'm 7 weeks 4 days pregnant. I couldn't get my scanner to work last night so i took a photo with my camera. Yes that' ghetto but that's all I could come up with. The 20 week photos will be on a CD for us.

Long Weekend

This past weekend we went to Corolla, NC (otter banks) for Dom and Beth's wedding, it was amazing! It was so good to see them and the entire family. We stayed with the San Diego crew, and couldn't have asked for better people.

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/melyssaferber/DomBethSWedding#

I'm starting to feel better. Still coughing a lot, but the antibiotic is done now. Today is the BIG DAY. We have our ultrasound at 2:30 this afternoon. We should have photos of Baby X later today. I'll post them.

Back to work

It's my first day back to work this week, and it's Friday. Can't beat that....well besides the 157 emails. I told my boss today. He said "You're killing me" and smiled.

One of my friends at work got me subway today so I wouldn't have to leave, sooo nice. So this is the only non-work thing I can do all day. And it's between bites of my sandwich.

We have Dom & Beth's wedding this weekend! We're gona take our time getting up there tomorrow. We have a cool route to go that takes us through a bunch of little towns. To bad I don't have my mac-daddy camera yet..but soon. Wedding is Sunday and Monday we'll leave as early as possible so we don't hit traffic. Last thing we need is to turn a 8 hour drive into a 12 hour one.

Still Sick

On the flight back from Chicago my ears pretty much exploded. They hurt on the way down into Charlotte, out lay over, but it wasn't that bad. I was at Starbucks getting myself some tea, and i yawned. My ear crackled and I just started to cry. A combination of the pain, 3 hours sleep, being sick, and oh yes pregnant caused the crying to continue for the next 30 minutes. Dave felt so bad for be but there was nothing he could do, except keep handing me tissues. I called Dr. Hunter's office from the airport and they said they could get me in. I have a bad sinus infection and minor bronchitis. I am on antibiotics and feel SOOOO much better today.

I will be on day 3 tomorrow and should be fine to go back to work. I'm hanging with the puppies today. I have some energy but it comes in waves.

Chicago was great! Baseball Bingo went amazing, they loved it. We got great feedback from the fans, and the cards were on national television.

Sick

I woke up Sunday morning and knew I was sick. Itchy throat, stuffed up nose, over all achy feeling, all the signs. I told Dave to go pick up mom/dad to bring them to the airport and called the restaurant to tell them I wasn't coming. I spent most of the day in bed. To top it off I switched prenatal vitamins and they were a bit to harsh for my stomach, so I threw them up along with all the water I drank and my breakfast.

My Monday morning I wasn't feeling much better and stayed home from work. About 3:00 in the afternoon, after what felt like the best shower EVER, I was starting to feel my energy come back. Dave and I left Monday at 5:50PM on a plane to Chicago (with a stop of course, b/c we do live in the land of no direct flights). We got in about 9:30 C-time. We're staying at the Belden-Stratford, which used to be an apartment building. Our room is a one bedroom apartment. Full kitchen and all. Pretty cool actually.

I went through an entire box of tissues last night, and I wonder how on earth there is that much crap in my nose. I have been drinking as much water as possible, and hoping none of this effects Baby X. We have our first ultrasound a week from today. I'm so nervous, and VERY excited. I have been reading FitPregnancy and American Baby magazines, so i have learned a little.

We have the Cubs game today, it's Baseball Bingo Day. I'll be in charge of getting the events to the booth for the announcer and score board.

Even though we ate at 11:00PM last night. I still found a way to wake up hungry. So sad. :)

AH HA!

I have figured out why I have had trouble sleeping. I'm hungry; but not just normal "I could go for a bit" more of a stomach pain that won't got away unless attended to. So this is what's causing me to wake up AND keeping me from falling back asleep. Good news is, I'm adapting. I don't feel all that tired today...yet. We'll see how I feel after lunch.

Sleep

Last night I slept better. Not great but better. Not sure why I haven't been sleeping as well but I'm assuming it's exercise and diet. I'm going to go on a walk today with my sister and dad and hopefully eat better then I did yesterday. I have to start bringing fruit to work. I just get so hungry that I'll eat pretty much whatever is quickest.

Not to much new news. Just a lot of excitement. I'm sure I'll know a ton more after our first ultrasound. If all goes well, we'll find out the sex of the baby shortly after Thanksgiving.

Midwife

Monday night Dave and I watched the Soloist. It reminded me how much I enjoy music. I went to Pandora today and did a station on Dario Marianelli. Very clam music for sure. I love it.

Yesterday was crazy. I had a morning breakfast for our "Day of Caring" event, and my cell phone died on the way, so I didn't know where I was going. Had a lunch event and then the doctor.

We met with a midwife yesterday at Lowcountry OBGYN. Both Dave and I like her and as of now, we're going to stick with her. We have our first ultrasound on Tuesday September 8th at 2:00PM. She gave us the option of doing it earlier but we wouldn't get as much information and our insurance only covers 2 ultrasounds in the pregnancy. It's killing Dave, but we did decide to wait. She answered a lot of our questions, including my clearance to continue karate. (YES!) She told us to spend time as a couple and enjoy ourselves. After we left we went home and changed and went to the new Pier under the bridge in Mount Pleasant. We sat on the pier at one of the tables and read over some of the literature the midwife gave us.

I have weighed myself every day this week and have been exactly the same weight....which begs the question why don't my clothes fit? Almost all my pants are too tight. (can't say they all fit perfect 2 months ago but still) So it's dresses for now.

Kite-surfers

Yesterday we went to the beach, me/dave/mom/dad. It was beautiful out, and there were kite-surfers everywhere! A sport I could totally see myself doing....but not pregnant. After the beach Melissa and Mike and Stella met us at Mom/Dad's for a cookout. Dave made steak and it was SOOO GOOD. I got to feed Stella and so did Dave. She threw up on both of us. :) She's just getting us ready.

My dad got to hold her for the first time, he was telling her all about the history of the baseball. I think they moved into how to make french toast later in the conversation. (all very important thinks for a 6 week old to know)

The only thing that's going on with me is the back pain. I kinda feel like i got hit in the back of the kidney on my left side. I'm assuming it's mostly from sleeping funny. I've had a hard time sleeping the last week or so. It's also been really hot in our room so that might have something to do with it. Other than that, i'm good. No sickness.....yet. And so far my mood has been ok (but you'd have to ask Dave on that one)

Are you Sure?

Last night I went to the restaurant (my night job) and told the boss about the bun in the oven and that I have to quit. I really like working there, but I'd rather spend the extra 45 hours a month with Dave. I really want to get on a healthy schedule, cooking better meals v.s eating dinner at 10PM when I get home from work.

I also told one of the girls that works there who is also pregnant, she was pumped. We even had a preggo's unite moment and shared a cheeseburger. Tracie (boss lady) asked me if I was for sure on being prego, I said i took two tests. As soon as I got home last night I took another test...yup still pregnant.

I was looking forward to the beach today, but it's raining. So maybe tomorrow.

I did spend some time today looking at crib sets online..:)

Bump

My Dad says we have "bumps" throughout the day. Some big, some small. I had a bump yesterday due to an issue at work. The short of it, someone found my personality to be somewhat abrupt and overpowering in a company training session. BUT after an hour of venting to Dave (while getting him worked up too) I felt much better. I bounced into work this morning thinking, life is pretty damn good. No need to worry about what one person thinks of me.

I started off eating right...then it went very wrong. I had some grapes and a pepper for an afternoon snack. Then on our way back from picking up my shoes at the shoe repair guy, we stopped at McDonalds. Yes, it was good, but i'll pay for it. I actually had someone (the security officer at my work) ask me if I was expecting yesterday b/c she said i was showing. That's not baby, that's fat. :) haha. I'm sure had i not been pregnant that would have ruined my day. There is no way i'm showing, but i am bloated like a mother! So who knows.

I talked to my friend this morning on my ride in (one of the few close friends that knows). I can't stop smiling. I want to decorate the nursery, pick out all the little clothes, and all that stuff. I'm so excited! I have always had this picture in my mind of me and Dave walking around downtown with a kid on his shoulders and one in a stroller. I told him he HAS to be faster then them! This is key. I've seen some crazy fast kids take off at the beach. Man, little legs can really move.

All and all, really looking forward to tomorrow, a full day with nothing planned but reading up in our new book and hanging with Dave. (maybe the beach!)

time

I think I came to the realization last night that my second job, might have to get the boot. I really want to get myself on a schedule, both with food and sleep (and hopefully exercise). To do that I'm going to have to give up the night job. I really do love it there, but I also want to enjoy being pregnant, and having time with Dave pre-baby. So I'm pretty sure I've made my decision.

I'm trying to stay focused at work, but it's hard. I'm anticipating next week will be a little easier.

Excited

So yesterday I couldn't concentrate at all. I spend the entire day signing up for baby sites and reading as much as I could. I joined babycenter.com and ended up joining a group for April 2010 babies. The due date calculator says' i'm due April 18th. We'll see how close it gets.

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with BlueCross trying to get a lay of the land. I think i got it down, but i do admit I wasn't 100% paying attention when she side tracked and started telling me about her pregnancy. Turns out our "year" starts in November which is good. That means our deductible starts over Nov 1, so most of the visits will all be grouped together.

I also learned about midwifes v.s doctors. Most people I talked to leaned towards Midwifes. So we have an apt to meet one next week. We'll see if we like her. I hear they are much more supportive, and spend more time with you. But again, we'll see.

Today I have actually gotten some work done...some. I think I'm going to just set aside a hour a day to do research. If i don't cap myself I could be on babycenter and pregnancyweekly for 8 hours straight.

I also went out yesterday and bought some prenatal vitamins. My regular girl at publix checked me out so I said shhhhh she rang them up. She gave me a big smile and said, this is a good thing right? I gave her a big smile and nodded.

Lack of Information

I called the OBGYN yesterday to make my appointment. Turns out they don't want to see you until your 6-8 weeks. Ok, but what do i do till then? I had to ask to leave a message for the nurse. When she didn't call me back a few hours later, I called my family doctor Dr. Hunter. Dr. Hunter's nurse Shelby called me right back. She was amazing, gave me all kinds of info on what not to eat. She told me some things to look for and look out for. She even explained to me why they don't see you until your 8 weeks pregnant. That's all I wanted, someone to talk to.

Finally at 4:30 the OBGYN nurse called back. She said we'd talk about everything when i came in, i'm thinking but i'm pregnant NOW, I want to know more. In this day everyone has email. All she had to do was say, what's your email, let me send you some information right now and some common questions. How hard could that be. I understand they do this every day, but i don't. She didn't seem very educated either. She didn't mention half the things Shelby told me.

Dave and I talked about it last night and he was very unhappy with the lack of information as well.

We went to southend last night to see the 3rd floor where my birthday party will be next month. Then we all (mom/dad/liv/me/dave) went to Social for dinner. Mom went to the book store yesterday and got me the new edition of "What to expect when you're expecting". We read a little when we got home about the different options in child birth. We still have no idea what we're doing, but we have some time to get on our feet.

August 16...

August 16, 2009 will be one of those dates I'll just always remember.

Last week I got on G-chat and sent an identical message to five of my girlfriends, including one of my sisters. The question, how long is your cycle? Most of them said 4-5 weeks. I did some research on the net, average women is 28 days. The range is 24-35 days. That said, Saturday (8/15) was day 35 with no period. So on day 36 I took a pregnancy test at 8:30AM in the morning. I was actually pretty positive i wasn't pregnant. Most women come off the pill and it takes 6 months to a year to even get on a normal period cycle. So here I am half asleep, Dave is already downstairs when the second blue line starts to peek through. Somewhere between panic, excitement, and disbelief I ran to the stairs and told Dave he needed to come back upstairs. He rounded the corner into the bathroom, saw me standing over the test looking intently down at it. With a few words I'm not really going to repeat he said Holy S, are you pregnant! I looked up and said I think so. He looked like someone just gave him a cupcake, he lifted me up and and kissed me. We're having a baby.




First Test at 8:30AM

Second Test at 3:30PM