Note to Self

Avoid double-mirrored dressing rooms from now until baby Evie arrives. Or better yet, until I've returned to pre-pregnancy weight.
I was shocked to discover this afternoon that my hips have clearly received the message that a baby will be coming through soon... it was an unpleasant Target shopping trip.

24 Weeks: Viability Day

24 weeks is an exciting and reassuring milestone in the world of pregnancy- it is the "official" time when a baby born prematurely has a good chance of surviving. Not that we want Evie to make an appearance ANY time soon (stay put baby girl- we've got lots to do for you still!), but IF something were to happen after this point, we can breathe a little easier that the odds are with us.
Things are going well here for Eric and I, we're planning where we'll be moving to within the next couple months- should we buy a house right away or do an apartment for another year? It's a big decision! We're weighing our options and are hoping to have everything ironed out by the end of January. I go through various stages of sheer panic, mild anxiety, and ignorant ambivalence about our upcoming move. Hey, what do you expect from a pregnant girl with her emotions on a constant roller coaster? ;)
I'm feeling pretty good, although I've noticed activities like getting dressed, putting boots on, and general bending over are becoming more difficult. Tights/nylons are my nemesis, and it's only going to get worse as winter wears on! I'm still riding high on the 2nd trimester "ease" though, so I'm enjoying it while I can.
Baby shower planning is in full swing, and we're going to register at Babies R Us this Friday- I'm so excited!! I thought maybe Eric wouldn't care, but he actually wants to come and is excited too. We'll register at Target as well, but I'm scared to go there this soon after the holidays, so we'll wait at least another week. AND, I made a little cloth diaper registry at an online store. I don't know if anyone will be interested in buying us cloth diapers, but since we're using them, I at least wanted to put it out there. Then people can see how cute they are if nothing else. :)
Click here to check it out- the event name is Eric & Liane Roy and the password is "babyroy." Have a great last week of December!

23 Weeks: So Tired!!!

Ack- I'm getting big. :)
A little bit of a stressful week this past week with my co-worker giving birth to her baby girl 6 weeks early (thankfully she's doing great and should be going home in 3ish weeks), and then my boss being put on strict bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy. It's been NUTS at work because of this, so needless to say I'm pretty exhausted. I'm so looking forward to this weekend for a break!
Went to the doctor today- everything looks great! Evie's heartrate was 140, and my doctor said the sonogram looked perfect and she's right on track. My weight gain is also right on track (yay!)- she said I'm more than half way, and haven't yet gained half of what she thinks I'll gain total- so good news. Also we talked more about the natural birth thing since I decided not to commit to the midwives at my practice- she said everyone's very open and no one will try and push me one way or the other. I've decided to just educate myself as much as possible on going naturally, then give it my best shot when I get there. :) If I end up changing my mind, it's okay, but I want to at least try.
I've been doing a TON of reading- first Baby Bargains, on baby items to prepare for our registry (yay again!), which we'll be doing over the next 2 weeks. Also I've started The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, which was recommended for natural childbirth. So far, it's a bit biased, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised- it's informational anyway. Also, I started The Happiest Baby on the Block, but I have a lot of time to finish that so I just lent it to my boss today so she has something to read on bedrest. :) And I was reading too much at once, I need to focus! You know I love to read though- does anyone have any pregnancy/baby-related book recommendations?
Okay, I'm off to bed now, 5:30 am comes way too early these days. ;)

Baby Girls

Next in the baby parade is the first of MANY babies to come within our circle of friends. Joe and Sarah welcomed Claire Elizabeth on December 15th- and she is gorgeous!! So many of our friends are having girls, it's so exciting! The arrival of Claire makes everything very real for so many of us pregnant girls- time is flying! We can't wait to meet all of our little ones! :)

22 Weeks: Houston, We Have Movement!!

Yes, I know she's moved before, but it's for REAL now. I wasn't so sure it was really her because it was so faint and so infrequent, but ever since I wrote about the day at work when I felt her- she's been bumping all over down there! And it makes me feel so much better to feel her at least once everyday. :) It's about time Evie!
We're doing well this week, aside from getting tired out easily I feel great. I just need to be careful not to do too much, because then I get achey and sore and exhausted. But if I pace myself, all is well. Current food cravings include hearty winter dishes like goulash and chili. And I'd like to add that I have now made home-cooked, from scratch meals TWO nights in a ROW. That hasn't happened in quite a while, so it's a big deal. ;) I made goulash tonight and it was pretty great. Oh, and I'm still on a pretty big breakfast food kick.
Also, I wanted to show you the cute little hat that I won from a contest from Baby Diva. She held a contest to "name" the hat, and my suggestion was chosen, so I won the hat!! The name I chose was Roxie. I can't wait to put this adorable hat on Evie's adorable head. ;)

Bring on the Babies!

Let the baby parade begin!! I have so many friends who are pregnant right now- we are going to be flooded with adorable babies around here. Evie's going to have so many little friends. :) Meet Piper Mae June, born Thursday, December 2, 2010.

isn't she perfect!?! This is Eric's cousin Amanda's second baby, and I can't wait to meet her! They live in Canada, so hopefully we can make the trip up there soon.

I'll be posting my weekly update later tonight. And next up on baby watch, we're waiting for the little Morgan girl to arrive- I'm thinking of you Sarah! :)

A Mini Pregnancy Hormone Vent

Oh man- I have been kind of a wreck lately. I've been super emotional and teary and exhausted and anxious... poor Eric. :) I've been worried about not feeling Evie move very much, I keep hearing other people talk about feeling their baby move sooner/more often than me, and I keep getting nervous that something's wrong. This of course makes me nervous about a million other things.
I've been crying over the silliest things, and feeling generally emotional and I've been working more which is making me SO tired I don't want to do anything when I get home.
Anyway, today at work I bent over to make a face at a cute baby- and Evie started thumping away in there!! :) I know that I've felt her before, but it was so light and it hardly ever happened that I was worried it wasn't really her. But THIS was her- letting me know I was squishing her I think. ;) It made me feel so happy, and now I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about it. Hormones!!!!! :P

21 Weeks: It's all downhill from here...

... in a good way though. :) I'm terribly tired this evening, so I'm just going to copy/paste my "weekly survey" answers from a pregnancy message board that I frequent. It'll give you all the highlights of our week!
How Far Along: 21w0d

Size of Baby: I gave up on the fruit- it was becoming really inaccurate in my mind. She's about 7" from crown to rump and weighs around 9ish oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don't really keep track in between doctor's appointments, so as of 19w I was +9 lbs.

Maternity Clothes?: Yes, I wear them all the time! Thanks to my cousin Julie for the top in this photo (the pattern looks funny, but I like it in person), and about 75% of the maternity tops I have. ;)

Movement: Still just little pokes and bumps, and not every day yet. I'm hoping this means she'll be a very laid-back and calm baby!!

Symptoms: Hip pain, fatigue (like from the 1st trimester- boo!), and all of the sudden indigestion like I've never had in my life! Fun times.

What I Miss: Some of my clothes, having more energy, and tequila- I really wanted a marguerita when Eric took me out for Mexican on Saturday

Girl, Boy, or Team Green: Girl!!

Belly button In or Out: Still in, amazingly.

Cravings: Doritos! Also cereal and all breakfast food in general. I could eat eggs, french toast, pancakes, etc. for every meal right now.

Best Moment This Week: Getting our first batch of cloth diapers for Evie- they are SO CUTE!! I'll have to take some pics soon to show them off.

What Are You Thankful For This Week?: I know I say my husband every week- but he really is amazing!! He is so excited to be a dad, and he's so sweet always taking care of me and looking out for me. We had a great weekend spending time together (he even took me to a chick flick after the Mexican!) and we're really enjoying this time just the two of us before Evie gets here. Of course we can't wait to meet her though!

20 Weeks: The Glass is Half-Full!

We're half-way there friends! :) I can't believe it's half-way over already. I'm almost a little sad (although the day that we meet our baby girl can't come soon enough). But I am really enjoying being pregnant so far. I know that once I'm 3x this size and have to pee every 5 minutes that I'll be dying to have her out, but for now, being pregnant is a fun experience. But of course- I want to meet baby Evelyn!!
Oh yes, by the way, that's the name we've chosen! We're still not set on a middle name (front runner right now is Clara), but Evelyn is set. We're calling her Evie for short. :) And we love it!
In other news, for our "half-way" milestone, mom, dad, Allison, and Matt threw us a little surprise party! It was really sweet and fun- the menu was all "half" themed, even the cake was in half!! And we got some little girl gifts- it's so nice to know she's a girl so we can buy things. It makes things very real.

I've been feeling pretty good lately- still hungry all the time, and still having hip pain, but nothing too difficult to deal with. For some reason, some nausea has come back in the evenings before bedtime, which is wierd. Also, my belly button is rapidly disappearing, which is freaking Eric out. :)

Okay, that's enough for boring pregnancy details. Here's my official 20 week photo. I finally picked out the stuff for Evie's baby book and I'm so excited to start working on it! I'm going to put a bump photo for each month- I think 40 weeks worth of photos is a bit much in a book. ;) Have a great week everyone!

19 Weeks: Almost Half Way!!

I can't believe I'm almost half done. :) Time is just flying by- and some days I feel like it can't go fast enough. That's mostly because I can't wait to have our little girl here with us. We are SO excited!!
I've been feeling alright lately- I'm getting tired again (I have no stamina anymore- not even for shopping!) and I seriously feel like I could eat 24/7. I try to pace myself everyday, some days that goes better than others. ;) Other than that I feel pretty normal, nothing terribly exciting to report. I have a doctor's appt. this Wednesday, and I'm hoping they say I've gained some weight. Never in my life have I hoped that I gain weight- crazy!! Also, I'm meeting with the midwife for the first time, and I have a million questions to ask to see if that's the route I want to take for the birth. I haven't decided yet... but I'm thinking I want to try and go med-free. Eek! We'll see.
Mom and Ally and I have started talking about baby showers and I'm really looking forward to them. We will do two (one family and one friends) and they will both be in late February/early March. Allison is doing a Storybook theme for the friends shower- it will be soo cute!
That's all for this week- enjoy my stripe-y 19 week bump- this shirt makes me look huge!!!

Drumroll Please....

I'm so surprised!!! I REALLY felt like it was a boy- but the tech said it's most definitely a girl. And we are thrilled. :) She looks great, measuring right on track and all the parts are where they should be. The ultrasound was incredible- to see her moving around like that in there, it was amazing! You can see the chambers of the heart, the spinal cord- even organs inside of her! I am in awe of the technology today.

SO, we've been wavering on girl names (of course- we had settled for a boy, but it's a girl), so I'll let you know when we make up our minds. It will probably be soon. :) I'm so excited for pink and ruffles and tea parties!!

18 Weeks: Sweet Child of Mine

18 weeks- time is flying by!!! It's funny because every day feels so long and I feel like time is moving horribly slowly (particularly when I'm waiting for Wednesday to get here so we can SEE THE BABY), but when I really stop and think about it, time flies.
I am feeling quite well generally speaking. I feel like I'm hungry ALL the time, and that icky nauseous feeling I used to get in the beginning from not eating- that's sort of back now if I don't eat often enough. So- I just eat a lot. :) Which is good, because from what I can tell I'm gaining weight at a snail's pace, and I need to pick it up a little! I swear I never thought I'd seriously have an issue gaining weight.
In other news, my hips must be preparing for childbirth already or something because oh my WORD they hurt! I'm having sciatic nerve pain randomly throughout the day, especially when I'm at the daycare getting down on the floor and then back up again 800 hundred times a day. Sometimes it's bad when I'm in bed too, which makes sleeping on my side an issue. But, generally I am sleeping better, which is helpful.

Well, that's all for tonight, but of course I'll be back on Wednesday to do the big gender reveal!!!! I am ridiculously excited. Oh yes, and my cheesy title this week? Baby Roy is the size of a swet potato for week 18. ;)

I think I felt it!!

I'm not sure, but I think I felt the baby move tonight!!! I had a terrible day at work, and I came home exhausted and crabby and emotional. I went to lay down for a nap, and I'm pretty sure before I fell asleep, I felt a swishing movement in my belly. Some ppl describe the feeling like a fish swimming- so was the swishing across my belly our baby?!?!? I asked my mom- she says yes. ;) I will continue to over-analyze every stomach feeling I have until I'm sure... I'll let you know!
Also, I saw this video somewhere, and it's too cute. Watch it for a laugh!

17 Weeks: Babies are like Onions...

... they have layers! ;) Baby Roy is the size of a yellow onion this week and I should be feeling movement soon!!! Nothing yet, but I'm so excited to feel our little guy/gal in there. Sometimes I sit really still and try to focus on my belly, wondering if the gurgles I feel are movements. I don't think I've felt it yet, but the doctor said it should be soon!

Nothing terribly exciting to report this week- I've been having a lot of hip pain, which I thought it was too early for, but asking around I guess it's not. Also, my sleep problems have returned. I was having issues in first tri, then I was sleeping like a baby for a while, but now I'm having trouble again. I'm SO restless and I toss and turn a lot. I wish I could hope that it will get better- but I don't think that's very reasonable. :) I know I'll just be getting up more and more as things progress!

And can I just say, I look so ROUND in my photo this week! I don't know if that's my dinner showing, or if that's how my belly's going to grow. I guess we'll see!

Eight more days until our anatomy scan!!!

Decorating Excitedness

So as we get closer and closer to finding out whether our lives will become filled with pink or blue, I've begun thinking about how I want to decorate our little one's future nursery. I say "future" because we don't know exactly where we'll be living in a few months when the baby gets here- we're working on that. ;) All we know for now is that our one-bedroom apartment isn't going to cut it, so we're on the hunt for a house!! I am SO excited to have a place to decorate again, I miss picking paint colors and drooling over Pottery Barn catalogs like you wouldn't believe. And I am ESPECIALLY excited to have a cute little baby room to go crazy decorating. :)

So, want to know what I like? Well let's start with a little baby girl's room, because I've decided for sure on that. I decided that, although I have nothing against pink, I wanted something different. So I came up with black and white with red accents and ladybugs- which I totally made up in my head and couldn't find anything in real life that matched it. Until this morning that is. :) Picture this, although a little toned down, because I don't feel the need to accessorize quite as much as this room is...

I LOVE the black and white gingham, with the ladybugs all around- it's perfect!! It's on Amazon, here's a link.

For boys, I have two sets that I like, and I haven't decided yet which one I'll go with. I think if we find out it's a boy, then I'll worry about picking. :) So, here are my two choices...

I like how both of these are more toned down representations of animals- I'm not personally fond of the really cartoony, very busy nursery sets. I think the deer one is going to win out, I like it more and more everytime I look at it. Here's a link to the frogs, and one to the deer.

Hope you're having a good weekend, Eric sold his truck so we're going out to celebrate!! :)

16 Weeks

Funny story about my bump photo this week: I've been having Eric take my picture every week, and in the beginning he was doing it begrudgingly, but I think he's really getting into it now. Today, he made me change the top that I had on, because he said the first one I was wearing "didn't show off the bumpage enough." Adorable!! So you can thank Eric for this week's excellently displayed "bumpage." ;)
Anywho, I am in love with 2nd trimester. I feel like myself again- it's amazing!!! I don't think I even realized how hormonal I was for the last couple months. I knew I was tired and nauseous, but the emotional side of it was more sneaky- and now that I feel like ME again, I realize how much it had affected me. So, my energy is back full force, and so is my usual self! I am cooking again and able to do more than one thing in a day. ;)
I can't believe we're at four months already, time is flying by!! I can't wait to find out whether our first baby will be a girl or boy- 16 more days! I guess that's all for this week, I'm off to watch Dancing With the Stars and have my 2nd dinner. ;) Yes, I pretty much eat 2 of every meal now, they are just smaller. No judging!!

I guess I really look pregnant!

I got my first "are you expecting?" from a (pretty much) complete stranger today! Such a dangerous question when you're not sure- no one wants to hear that if they're not pregnant!! But since I am, it made me pretty happy. :)
One of the moms of a baby in the room where I work at the daycare asked today. She doesn't see me too often, so it's close to having a total stranger ask you. Anyway, just had to share. T minus 20 days to the big ultrasound!!

15 Weeks: Back on Track

My cold is gone- yay!! I am feeling so much better, and I think I'm finally feeling the real benefits of the 2nd trimester. I feel a lot more like myself lately, which is a nice feeling.
Big news this week- we heard the heartbeat for the first time!!! It was... well, pretty much amazing. :) I don't even know if I can describe how incredible it was to hear that little heart beating away in my belly- definitely one of the coolest days of my life! It made everything feel so real to know our little guy/gal is down there swimming around and we got to hear his/her little heartbeat. And looking over and seeing the grin on Eric's face as he heard our little baby- well it brings tears to my eyes right now as I'm typing. :) What a blessing to have a child, we truly are so grateful and excited. The heartbeat was 158 bpm, which the doctor said is within the normal range for 15 weeks.
And side point- if you can believe it, I've only gained a pound since the beginning! I was shocked at this- I feel a lot bigger- but the doc said this is just fine, and now I have a little wiggle room with weight gain in the 2nd trimester. I've been reading a couple books, one of which is What to Expect When You're Expecting, and it has a chapter on pregnancy nutrition that is super interesting. It's also really overwhelming- you need to get SO many vitamins and nutrients from so many foods when you're growing a baby!! I feel like I could never eat all of that in one day, and I'd spend a fortune on produce every week. But, I'm doing my best to give this baby everything it needs everyday.
Also big news- mark your calendars friends, we've scheduled our 18 week ultrasound!!! This will be our "anatomy scan" and we'll find out the gender- I can't wait! :) It's scheduled for November 17th at 11:30 am.
And finally, I leave you with the 15 week bump- baby Roy is the size of a navel orange this week.

14 Weeks: First Cold of the Year

Boo! I am sick, and I miss DayQuil/NyQuil like crazy. :( I have a terrible head cold, today is day two- hopefully I start to feel better tomorrow. Last winter I took echinacea like crazy, and it really helped me not get sick, even from the kids at the daycare. But the NP at my last doctor's visit told me not to take it (or pretty much any other preventative aside from Vitamin C), and now I am sick. Of course, I don't want to risk anything so I won't take anything they tell me not to- but my immune system is suffering!
In other news, I definitely think my bump is shrinking (did I say that last week too?), and it's getting firmer, which means it's really a baby bump- yay!! I haven't taken a bump photo yet this week because of being horribly sick and not feeling like having my photo taken. I will get one up soon though- maybe tomorrow. I have no more gagging issues thank goodness, however I don't really feel like my energy is getting any better. Although I suppose it's hard to tell this week with being sick.
I go to the doctor next week on Monday, and we'll FINALLY be able to hear the heartbeat- I can't wait!!! I know I have no reason to worry, but not having had an ultrasound or doppler I'm just feeling like I need the doctor to tell me everything's fine in there. AND, when I go for this visit- we'll be scheduling the next appointment for our ultrasound to find out the baby's gender. :) That's even more exciting!!! Probably, my appointment will be the week before or the week of Thanksgiving, I will let you all know when it's scheduled.
I will tell you though- I've seriously been feeling like it's a boy lately. ;) We'll see!

13 Weeks: Goodbye 1st Trimester!!

Well, according to some calculations 1st Tri is over. :) I'm going to go with it- I'm feeling so much better this week!! My energy is back, and I haven't really had nausea at all in a few days. Yay!!! Also, as you can see, my bump is a little smaller this week than last week. I think this means the bloat is receding, and now we're left with actual baby bump. Double yay!!! Eric has taken to poking my belly and telling me it's getting harder everyday. He also talks to my belly, which is pretty adorable. :) He's so excited to be a dad!
So we've been talking names, and I realized I haven't put any of them on the blog yet. Although I realize most ppl who read this already know our name choices, there's a couple who haven't heard them yet. And I'm a full-disclosure kind of girl. :) I've never been good with keeping things to myself, so here ya go!
Girl Name: Charlotte Anne. This is pretty much set in stone, we've been looking and talking and haven't seen anything we love more. And we really love Charlotte. :)
Boy Name: Middle name will definitely be James. First name considerations include Emerson (my fav), Elliott (Eric's fav), and Oliver. We're still working on a boy name, but I think I'm going to win. ;)
For fun, here's a site that explains the various ways to calculate trimesters, as well as a calculator to figure out the date of each trimester. It's funny that the medical field doesn't have just one system with this- they're just trying to confuse all us pregnant girls!!

Edit: My lovely friend Shaunna brought to my attention that I had said 2nd trimester in my title- obviously I meant 1st. Thanks Shaunna- I blame pregnancy brain!!

12 Weeks Part 2

Okay, so 12 weeks wasn't the magic switch I was hoping for- but things are getting better!! I definitely notice that my energy is slowly returning, as in I'm not about to fall over asleep by 4 pm everyday. :) And although my food issues are not completely gone (I tried to get some veggies down Tuesday night- it was a no go), I am feeling like it's improving. I feel like I'm hungry all the time- that's a change! And I just keep telling myself that feeling yucky is supposed to be a good sign.
Nothing much else to report for this week- last week we had a blast in WV, and I did pretty well considering. I definitely crashed Sunday and Monday, but it wasn't too bad. I can't wait to keep moving along and have more to share- I feel like this is kind of boring in the beginning!!

12 Week Photo

I am quite honestly too tired to write about this week tonight- so much for the magic 12 week energy boost! :P So, enjoy my bump photo (isn't it getting cute!?! This is the first week I had Eric take the photo with me wearing real clothes instead of pjs, nice!) and I shall return tomorrow to tell you about week 12.

11 Weeks: It's Marguerita Week!

Our baby is the size of a lime this week- all I can think of is a delicious marguerita. :) Especially because my mom drank one in front of me the other night- I wanted some so bad!! Oh the sacrifices we make little baby- but you're worth it!
Week 11 is a busy one, we are spending the week in Charleston, WV on a trip with a few friends helping out the local congregation. We get to drive all over the West Virginia mountains talking to people, it's been pretty fun so far! I am still pretty exhausted most of the time, so it's been demanding for me to be out and about all day, but I think I'm being reasonable and not pushing myself too much. The only difficult part is that it's only Tuesday and I'm already kind of sick of eating out all the time! We'll be heading home on Saturday.
My food issues are slowly improving, and even when I'm not feeling well I'm able to deal with it. I'm still having a hard time eating veggies, but I had some corn last night at Cracker Barrel and that was alright, so I'm going to keep trying. Oh, and salad is starting to sound good, so I should probably eat that whenever I have a chance. :)
Here's my photo for week 11 (forgive me for not wearing make-up, I almost forgot to take one since we're on vaca!). I took another one today, wanting a photo with makeup on, but it was after dinner and oh my WORD you ought to see the difference. The food bloat was out of control, so I didn't think it was a very accurate portrayal. ;) So, this'll do- yay for week 11!!

10 Weeks: Emotional Roller Coaster

Today was my 10 week appointment. Everything went well- my bloodwork was fine and everything's going well. I'm disappointed though, I thought they were going to use the doppler today to hear the heartbeat, but she said it was too early. :( When I was at the doctor's in August she said we would hear the heartbeat at 10 weeks- but I guess not! I was really hoping to hear it today, I thought it would reassure me and help me worry less. I know I shouldn't be worrying so much, there's nothing to indicate that anything is wrong. But, I just keep hearing these terribly sad horrible stories about missed miscarriages and I was just hoping for some reassurance.
Honestly, people really should know better than to tell scary stories to pregnant women- I don't know why people think that's okay!! As if we're not worried enough...
In happy news, I decided to start taking bump photos- so here I am at 10 weeks. :)

9 Weeks: The Week of the Olive

Yes, Baby Roy is the size of an olive this week! And Mama Roy is so exhausted it's not even funny. :P I get tired SO easily right now, I am counting the days until the magical 12 weeks when everyone tells me my energy will return and I will feel like myself again. But until then, it's lots of naps for me.
In other news, food remains my best friend and mortal enemy- you never know which one it will be when! Sometimes I feel completely fine and eat like it's nothing, then suddenly I feel like I'm going to hurl at the thought of food and can't touch it with a ten foot pole. Again, counting down to the magical 12 weeks for this to go away as well.
I go for my bloodwork this week- I've been hearing rumors that they take 4-6 vials of blood- gah! If this is true, I'm going to need to lie down and have a serious snack or I'm not making it out of there upright. I'm already dizzy 50% of the time, taking that much blood is not going to help. I'm thinking of asking someone to drive me there and home actually... it might be safer seeing as how I'm prone to fainting.
That means NEXT week I go back to the doctors and we get to hear the heartbeat- I am SOOO excited!!! :) I can't wait, it will be so cool and really make things real. My appt. is the 21st, a week from tomorrow. Yay!

8 Weeks

I am 8 weeks pregnant today- 2 months seems like a mini milestone within the 1st trimester to me. I'm excited to be 8 weeks. :) I feel okay, nausea comes and goes but it's rarely incapacitating. I had a few dizzy spells where I thought I was going to faint this past week, but I called the doctor and they said I wasn't eating enough protein, so I've upped my peanut butter intake (among other things) and I've been better. I think it didn't help that it was in the 90's last week!! Thankfully, it feels like fall has arrived with September, so we should be done with temps that high. The 1st trimester exhaustion is hitting me hard- it's 8:45 pm and I'm considering being in bed by 9 right now! Everyone keeps telling me it'll go away as soon as I hit 12 weeks, so I'm looking forward to getting my energy back.
Other than that I've been pretty good. I have a few food aversions (potato chips is the worst- the thought of them makes me gag instantly!), and sometimes I'm hungry but nothing sounds appetizing to me. I try to eat anyway- eating as often as possible is helping to keep the nausea away. I just try to eat healthy snacks all day long, and it usually works. Today grapes made me feel sick- that was really strange! Babies do the wierdest things to our bodies.
Baby Roy has grown to the size of a raspberry- we're headed towards an olive! :)

Spilling the Beans: Part III

Also known as "The Final Bean Spilling." Yes, we told early. Of course we told early!!! I told you I'm terrible at keeping secrets. :) We were at an assembly in Rochester this weekend, with SO many of our good friends, some of whom we only see every couple months. On Saturday some friends of ours announced that they are pregnant- and she's due the same week in April as me! We just couldn't hold it in any longer- so today we spilled the baby beans. It was really really fun. :) Everyone was super excited, and my mom and sister are so relieved that they can finally talk freely about the baby.
Including myself, I now know EIGHT girls that are pregnant, due from December through April. It's Babyville!!!

Baby News

Ah, but not my baby. Not yet. First, you must drool over how ADORABLE my cousin Julie's new baby is. This is Kayla Jane:

And yes, she is the cutest little girt ever. LOVE that little hat! :) I'm going to meet her tomorrow, I'm very excited. I'm also excited b/c Julie said I can have her Bella Bands, and boy do I need them! The baby bloat has severely taken hold of me, and I'm having a hard time getting my clothes to fit right now.

So I guess that takes us to news about our baby then. :) Well, I'm 7 weeks today and the baby is the size of a blueberry. Which is a little funny to me because I'm actually allergic to blueberries. But not deathly or anything, so no worries. I think morning sickness has finally arrived, although for me it's more like afternoon/evening sickness. I start to feel nauseous around 2-3 pm, and it usually carries on until bedtime. Generally, the afternoons are the worst right now. But I'm kind of glad to be having this symptom, because it reminds me that the baby is there. :)

In other symptom news, I am EXHAUSTED at all times. This has made my life a little more difficult lately, but Eric is really helping out and I love him for it. They say your energy comes back by the 2nd tri and I can't wait! Another thing I can't wait for is our 10 week appointment- we'll get to hear the heartbeat!!! 3 more weeks to go. :)

We are thinking of telling a few more of our friends next weekend since we'll be seeing some at the assembly that we don't see often... we'll be 8 weeks then and 2 months seems pretty comfortable to me to tell a few more people. But, we haven't decided if we'll go through with it yet. I wish time would go by faster!!

First Official Baby Purchase

Well, aside from the baby books I bought when we first started trying to get pregnant. But those are more for me anyway, to give me horrible nightmares about all of the terrible things that could possibly go wrong during pregnancy. I've decided I need to stop reading all books, blogs, message boards, forums, etc. that are related to being pregnant and bearing children.

But, I digress. Eric and I have decided we're going to cloth diaper our baby!! I am SO excited, and needless to say, a little obsessed with cloth diapers. :) They are stinkin' adorable, will save us tons of money, are better for the planet, and again- stinkin' adorable. But I'll gush all about how awesome cloth diapers are later. I've been doing tons of research online, on all of the different types and prices, and I've made up my list of the ones I want to try. But I've never actually seen a cloth diaper in person. So I went on craigslist, and a girl was selling a BumGenius 3.0 All-in-One One Size Diaper brand new for $10. Score!! I bought it. :) This is what it looks like:

And it's pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen. I'm in love, and I am holding myself back from opening the floodgates and buying a million cute little cloth diapers. I really want to wait until we find out the gender to get most of them, so that I can get gender appropriate colors. Although, part of the point is to use them for more than one child, so I should probably go mostly gender neutral. Which means I can buy right now right??? ;)

Spilling the Beans: Part II

Last night I went for dinner with my mom and sis at my aunt's house. She had all of the girls over (aunts and cousins) in honor of my cousin Julie, who is due this week to have her baby girl Kayla!!! Well, it was baby talk all night long- which I knew it would be- and I knew I had to tell them. They are my family after all, and even though it's early I wanted to share the good news with them. I honestly want to tell absolutely EVERYONE, but we really should wait. But of course everyone was so happy and excited, and it was really nice. My aunt Pat told my mom it's great to be a grandma, and my mom said "Oh no, Liane's going to be a mom, but I'm not going to be a grandma!" Haha, I have a feeling she'll be changing her tune pretty quick. ;) Dad's totally ready to be a grandpa though!!
Next on the list to tell are two, maybe three, of my close friends (I haven't told any friends yet, just family) and then we're going to wait to tell everyone else until after our 10 week appt. I think. ;) We'll see!

Spilling the Beans: Part I

So this evening we told my parents, my sister and BIL, and BIL's brother and wife (who are our honorary in-laws!). We were all together for our anniversary dinner, and they had gotten us some presents, so after we finished opening them I said "We have a present for all of you too- I'm pregnant!" My mom looked liked she was was going to fall off of her chair- it was priceless!! She was so surprised that it happened so fast, and she was so happy and started to cry. :) My sister immediately said she wished she'd known so she could have bought us baby things, and I think her and Tabitha are planning a shopping trip as I type. ;)
It was SO nice to be able to tell people we love about this exciting time, and now I have people to talk to!! I may or may not tell my aunts and cousin (who is ready to give birth at any moment herself), on Wednesday evening. We're not all together very often, and with Julie 9 months pregnant, I'm sure babies will be a big topic of conversation! I just don't know if I'll be able to keep quiet about it. :)
Tomorrow I'll officially be 5 weeks along- the baby is the size of an appleseed.

We are Officially Pregnant!

But don't tell anyone yet okay?
Eric and I found out that we're expecting on Tuesday, August 10th, and we haven't told a soul yet!! We're telling my parents, my sister Allison and her husband Matt, and Eric's mom tomorrow- I can't wait! After that, I'm going to play it by ear with spilling the beans, but let me just say- I'm not very good with secrets. ;) But, I wanted a place where I could document this journey from the beginning, so hence the blog.
So first, how did we find out? Well, we decided to start trying last month, and I went to the ob/gyn for my annual exam on Tuesday. It had been about a month, so I knew it was possible for me to pregnant, but I thought it would be too soon to test. The nurse asked if I wanted to take one anyway, so I did. She came back to the conference room 10 minutes later looking very surprised and said "It's positive!" I was shocked!!! I couldn't believe that we'd been blessed with a baby so quickly, I really didn't think it would happen that fast. I was totally caught off-guard and was kind of distracted for the rest of the visit, but I really like my new OB. She's really sweet and fun. I go back September 21st when I'm 10 weeks to hear the heartbeat and have my long appt.
Yesterday was our anniversary, and I considered waiting until then to tell Eric, but there was no WAY I could wait that long!! So, I put the pregnancy test (the nurse put it in a bag and gave it to me) in a little gift bag and told Eric I was giving him an early anniversary present when he got home from work Tuesday night. It took him a second to figure out what he was looking at- and then he looked at me and said "Are you pregnant?" Smiles, laughter, and hugging ensued. :) We are SO excited to be expecting our first child, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to do so.
I am currently 4 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Our estimated due date is April 18, 2011. I'm feeling pretty good- a little more tired, and some mild cramping, but thankfully no morning sickness yet!! They say it sometimes doesn't kick in until 6 weeks, so we'll see. ;) I can't wait to tell my mom and sister tomorrow!