The past few weeks were full of medical appointments and continuing to rejoice in the fact that we will soon be a family of three. Unfortunately, I have been having a horrible time with allergies (it's been so dry here, like a lot of other places, so with harvest time and lack of rain, my allergies are not liking this environment). It's been pretty annoying since early September, but about 2 weeks ago, I started having severe sinus pressure and was having an upset stomach on and off. Thankfully, I only had to deal with morning sickness when I was 7-8 weeks pregnant and we were on vacation in D.C. (I attribute the sickness to all of the traveling we did-- my stomach did not agree with the metro rides, taxis, airplanes and car rides), so it was a big time bummer to have an upset stomach again. I saw a doctor and was prescribed a Z-pack and hope of relief. After a week, nothing changed, so back I went and got a prescription for Omnicef. It's a little complicated being allergic to amoxicillin and sulfa and then to be pregnant on top of things, so my choices in medications are limited. While I do feel a little better now, I'm still not 100%.
But, I completely forgot about feeling cruddy when we went to our 12-week appointment last Tuesday. I don't think we will ever get sick of hearing our baby's heart beat! We had our first appointment with the doctor and then headed to get labs and an ultrasound for genetic testing. For those of you who know me, getting stuck with needles is not my idea of a good time, so to have a lot of vials drawn (in addition to getting a flu shot!) was a big thing for me. Bless Phil for keeping me occupied and keeping my mind off of those horrible needles.
The first set of pictures is from our first doctor's appointment at 8 weeks showing the little baby bear. Then the second round of pictures is from this past week's appointment at 12 weeks (it looks like a true baby now).
Everything continues to look great with the baby! During the doctor's appointment, she listened for the heart beat and we heard it going strong with a 168 HR. A little bit later, we saw Baby T at the ultrasound and s/he continued to have a strong heart beat with 173. It was so stinking adorable to see him/her moving around... we have a busy baby! It looked like Baby T had the hiccups and was just discovering that s/he had legs and arms, as the limbs would move at sporatic times. We walked out of the appointment with more pictures for the baby book and more joy in our hearts!
On 9/27, I hit 13 weeks. My clothes are definitely fitting a little more snuggly, so I know the first maternity shopping experience will happen in the next few weeks :) The 13-week photo states that we are '13 weeks on 9/27/12. Size is 3 inches (about the size of a peach) and weight is 0.8 ounces (about the size of 4 quarters).' Cravings/wants/things I truly enjoy (since Phil states that a craving is something that I have to have at this very moment and I haven't experienced that just yet) this week have been cheeseburgers, Welch's fruit snacks (yes, that specific brand) and Goldfish snacks.
Happy first week of October!
If you followed my previous blog, sorry, it's been over 2 years since I updated things. Obviously life wasn't that exciting for us :)
In a nutshell, in early 2011, we moved from Texas and settled into life in Brookings, South Dakota. Phil is the airport manager in Brookings and I am the head coach of the Brookings Swim Club as well as a graduate student at South Dakota State University. We bought our first house in Aurora, SD in January and life has been rolling every since! Especially since we found out we are expecting our first child in April!
While we are closer to some family, we are still away from others. This will hopefully be a chance to keep all family members and friends updated in this most amazing and wonderful journey.
As the song goes 'let's start at the very beginning...'
Phil and I have been trying to have a baby for awhile. A few months after we moved to South Dakota, the process of starting to have a baby began. I had heard that it takes a few months, so the wait game began. And continued. In December, we were elated to find out we were pregnant (it was the best Christmas present)! We shared the news with immediate family members and started picturing our new life with an addition to our family. Sadly, at almost 9 weeks, I had a miscarriage. We were devastated and I think the only thing that kept us going was that we were closing on our first home that week. We are so blessed to have such a supportive family, friends and employers that helped get us through that time. It's one of those things that people don't talk a lot about, but once you find another person who has been through it, you begin to find other people who have been through that experience. I used to be embarrassed and ashamed to talk about the miscarriage, but now I realize that's part of the journey. And I know other people's stories helped me, so maybe mine will help someone.
So, the wish and wait game started all over again. I used to get upset when I read something on facebook that someone was expecting or frustrated when I heard someone say, 'we've been trying to get pregnant for three whole months,' or a short period of time. But, God has a plan, so it was just a time for us to reflect on the fact that God's in control and I needed to put my trust in Him. Every month had high hopes and then great disappointment when there was only one line. Then, a day before I left for the state swim meet, a faint line appeared. Phil and I didn't want to get too optimistic, so we kept hold of that glimmer of hope. Three days later, I got back from state and tried again. And again, there was a faint line, but it was there! And yes, I am one of those girls that took three tests just to make sure :) There was a lot of emotions, but we were really excited! We told our parents and then tried to stay optimistic as the days got closer to the ultrasound. For the first appointment, we both walked into the ultrasound room and held our breath. It was the most amazing and wonderful thing to see our precious baby. We both got teary-eyed when we heard the beautiful rhythm of a heart beat. Walking out of that appointment, we had joy in our heart and more love for this little human life than anything I can describe.
Our first picture is from the 12-week mark. I didn't want to copy what everyone else is doing with the chalkboard, so we tried to do a print out, which wasn't too successful. It states '12 weeks on 9/20/12. Size of baby: 2 inches (about the size of a plum). Weight of baby: 0.5 ounces (about the weight of an empty soda can).' Someone mentioned that I should document what I was craving each week, and I think that week was oatmeal cream pies, peanut butter and honey toast and apples with peanut butter (so nothing out of the ordinary).
Each week is a new wonderful adventure and I'll keep everyone up to date with our exciting and fantastic journey!
The first set of pictures is from our first doctor's appointment at 8 weeks showing the little baby bear. Then the second round of pictures is from this past week's appointment at 12 weeks (it looks like a true baby now).
