10 Weeks & Chinese Gender Predictor

Not much new to report! The baby is now the size of a kumquat or prune both of which are very odd examples but that's what my baby email tells me. Not to ruin the surprise, but next is a fig. I don't think I've seen a fig outside of a fig newton. I digress...

I found out about this Chinese Gender Predictor. You calculate your Chinese age when you conceived (the Chinese calendar is different than ours) and then you figure out the date on the Chinese calendar when you conceived and it will predict if it's a boy or girl. This website makes it really easy - http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/PredictSex.htm.

Supposedly, it is 90% accurate. I was told it was a girl. But for all of you rooting for a girl, I'm not convinced! I still feel very strongly it's a boy. Katie took the test with Charlie and he was supposed to be a girl as well! Maybe it's just our family haha. What is everyone else thinking now, boy or girl? For those that are mamas, see if you can take the test and if it was accurate or not. I'm tempted to ask my mom but I don't know if I want to know when she conceived me ;)

9 Weeks

9 weeks as of Tuesday! The past few nights I have slept better than I have in weeks and it is GLORIOUS! Haha. Now that I work from home, I mostly set my own schedule. Typically, I start my day around 8 or 8:30 and by start my day I mean I roll out of bed and walk 10 feet to my computer. I know, you're jealous. Working from home has its downsides but sleeping in is not one of them! I have even let myself sleep in to close to 9. I kept thinking I should get up and then I'd think I have plenty of time to be sleep deprived and woken up at the crack of dawn so the hell with it! That extra time has paid off! I have more energy during the day and just overall in a better mood. My naseau has gotten much better. I still have a lot of food aversions and my appetite isn't quite "normal" but I don't find myself holding my breath as much going into the fridge. My new trick is to take a small sniff of whatever it is I think I want to eat and if it passes that test on to my belly!

I have been exercising every few days. As I feel better I hope to increase that even if it's just a relaxing 30 minute walk. Feels good to stretch out and get some fresh air. At the gym it feels good to do some light weights and feel some muscle tone. The baby is now the size of a green olive (mmm olives mmm). No bump for me yet but I got some nice bloat by the end of the day, sexy right? That digestion is still sluggish at best. I've definitely learned to eat smaller portions more often and that helps quite a bit. I haven't gotten that scale yet but when I weighed myself at the grocery store (on the giant scale in the vestibule after making sure the coast was clear) I seem to be about the same each time so that's good enough for me! My doctor's appointment is 1 week from this coming Tuesday and I cannot wait! Heartbeat here we come :)

Lots of exciting things to look forward to. My 29th birthday (well that number I'm not excited about haha) is tomorrow & Chris is taking me out to a fancy pants dinner where I plan on having a refreshing shirley temple haha, then Chris's cousin & her family come Sunday, Katie comes next Friday and Chris's sister comes the following Sunday. So excited to have all this family come down to visit. It's such a great feeling to see everyone. I especially can't wait to see my big sister and give her a hug! I have many fun things planned for us and I'm glad my energy is starting to return so hopefully I can keep up with everything! I'm going to be hunting for a one piece bathing suit soon as the bikini is seeming less and less appealing to me. I don't feel like sucking it in all day haha. I want to eat my fried pickles at the snack stand in comfort thank you very much!

No St. Patty's Day celebrations for us. Chris has work and well I'm not really in St. Patty's Day form. I wouldn't mind some green coffee and some irish potatoes though, hmmm...

p.s. i think starting after my doctor's appointment & week 12 I will start taking belly shots!

8 Weeks

8 weeks as of Tuesday! Nothing too different to report. Still tired and still slighlty naseous. Monday morning was a rough one! I went downstairs to get some breakfast and there were dishes in the sink from dinner the night before and something apparently rubbed my nose the wrong way because it had me sprinting to the bathroom, ugh. I had a real dose of morning sickness right there. Nothing "slightly queasy" about it. Although if I had morning sickness that severe day in and day out I'd be singing a different tune, the level I have is just a nice reminder that everything is progressing the way it should be. Fingers crossed I just stay the course of a "normal" pregnancy and symptoms get better in a few weeks. Looking forward to not feeling like such a zombie all the time and not having to get up to pee a million times in the middle of the night! Surprisingly, the 2nd trimester (which apparently is easier for a multitude of reasons) is easier with that after your uterus rises out of your pelvic bone. Crazy! Then gets bad again during the end of 3rd trimester - no surprise there. Mood swings are a little better or maybe I'm just used to them by now! Appetite is very odd. Never know quite what I'm in the mood for. I'll be starving but not in the mood for anything in particular (no cravings) and then eat half of what I normally would and be stuffed to the gills. My digestion seems to be awfully slow. I thought it would be a fun treat to have a small little milkshake and little ole burger from McDonald's yesterday, a little splurge if you will, and I was in misery for hours! It felt like I had eaten Thanksgiving dinner for 3-4 hours afterards! Lesson learned. Small meals only and nothing over-indulgent. I'll save that for when I get the real belly I guess haha.

I had my routine bloodwork done today. Wasn't too bad. The people there were actually very friendly. The guy taking my blood asked if I knew I was having a boy or girl and if I'd find out. He had 4 kids and found out with 2 and was surprised by other 2. And when I asked how many kids he had he said "4... for now." Haha wow I can't imagine keeping up after everybody! I think Chris and I ideally would like to have 2 kids. That could change after this little one (more or less i guess) but I think probably 2 is where we see ourselves. Of course, having 1 boy and 1 girl would be just right if I'm putting requests in!

I'm going to buy a scale and weigh myself once a week. I'd like to really keep tabs on my weight, especially in the first trimester. My goal is 4lbs. Last I had checked I was somewhere between 1 and 2 (I honestly don't know exactly what my weight was before I got pregnant). If I can stick to 4 in the first trimester I'm hoping that will give me some wiggle room (pardon the pun) in the other trimesters. Why do I have a feeling I'll want to throw that scale out the window by the 3rd trimester? I've been eating pretty healthy (save for the milkshake and burger) but have been eating more carbs than normal because they seem to calm my tummy more. And I have to have a decent sized snack before bed or I wake up with hunger pains in the middle of the night and I am too damn lazy to walk downstairs to feed myself at 2am!!!

Looking forward to the coming weeks. The baby's heart should be beating nice and strong and the arms and legs are developing more. I get excited thinking about the different ideas I have for the nursery and all the baby stuff there is out there. Obviously, I'm obsessing over maternity clothing but I won't lie I'm happy I still fit into my skinny jeans for now!

First Doctor's Appointment

Yesterday marked 7 weeks & our first doctor's appointment! It's funny how much of a relief it is to have the doctor's office officially declare you pregnant. Not that we doubted it haha but it's now official, official. They even print out that little receipt for you!!! A tangible piece of evidence for you take home. First baby book memorabalia!

Chris went with me to the appointment and of course we were late. I made the appointment at 9am which wasn't a smart move since the doctor's office is downtown but it also happened to be a rainy morning causing even more delays. Bless Chris for driving because I would have had a meltdown. We called the office and they were able to push our appointment back to 9:30. Did the paperwork and they called my insurance to verify everything (that might have been the first relief of the appointment actually).

The first appointment we just met with the nurse and she went over a TON of information with us and gave us a bunch of take home info and she asked us questions and we asked her questions and in typical Liz fashion I had a typewritten list of questions ready to go. I ran through all my questions, found out some surprising things (Boar's Head lunchmeat from Publix -okay; Tuna - not okay as of 2 weeks ago!) and answers I expected but it was nice to have a human giving me a response rather than scary internet stories. I think the only disappointing thing I heard was my weight goal is 25lbs haha. Now, I don't expect to go pack on 50lbs but yowza 25 ain't a lot. Well, I guess it's a good goal to have. I'm a pretty healthy eater and I have been trying to exercise when I feel good so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and see how it goes. I need to stock up on the healthy snacks. I seem to be getting hungrier and hungrier between meals and even the middle of the night!

We made our next appointment with the doctor in April. That will be the one we get to listen to the heartbeat!!! I am beyond excited for that. I remember listening to Katie & Charlie's heartbeats and it was such an amazing thing to hear that I imagine with my own child it will be nearly overwhelming. I have a feeling the next 4 weeks will drag until then!!!

After our appointment we went to a nice brunch at TooJay's (for those of you unfamiliar with TooJay's it's a diner-like restaurant which is rare in Orlando or probably Florida in general). I had the yummiest omelette ever and I was one happy camper!!!

I think my worst symptom now is being tired. My sleep is just terrible. And it's not the anxiety. That, thankfully for now anyways, has subsided. It's the getting up to pee, finding a comfortable position (which is scary considering I don't even have a belly), and I'm guessing the hormones in general from what I've read. I am sleepy during the day and can't get good sleep at night, argh!!! I've been resting when I can and Chris has been a huge help with stuff around the house and getting dinner together and I am very thankful for him.

I have had some nausea over the past few days but still very mild. It would come in waves and feel like car sickness. No cravings but plenty of food aversions! The mere thought of lots of foods make me feel ill haha which is not normal for me! And smells. Smells are grossing me out!!! The fridge is not a happy place for me let me tell you. It looks like I'm taking after my mom for the most part. She said she didn't get/feel sick at all and I was mild & her biggest challenges were tiredness & food aversions & smells. I feel blessed I am not getting horrible sickness that's for sure!!

All in all, week 7 is bringing some great things. Tiredness aside, I am just so happy. We are starting to tell people and it's so exciting to start spreading the news (cue the music). Chris & I are such private people for the most part so it's fun taking a step out of our little bubble and sharing such exciting news. I am accepting the unknown of everything and it's a really, really great feeling.

How I'm Feeling

Forgot to mention this part! I have been pretty tired the past few days but other than that (knocking on wood) I am feeling pretty darn good. The past day or two I got a couple waves of very mild naseau but definitely nothing to complain about knowing what some women go through. My mom said she wasn't sick with either my sister or me (which we always wondered if she was sugar coating) so I am praying that I follow suit! The only downside with that is it would be nice to have such a sure fire sign the baby is doing well. I know I'd be a nutcase to wish for barfing haha. I have the fatigue, the crazy ole hormones and still some of that stretching in my abdomen so I will rely on those are good indicators. My doctor's appointment is a week from tomorrow (tomorrow is actually the start of week 6) and I CANNOT WAIT! It will be such a relief to have the doctor confirm everything, give us accurate info not from the internet, answer questions, just everything. I am really praying we get to listen to the heartbeat. Fingers crossed!!!

Weeks 5 & 6

The theme of weeks 4 and 5 - adjustment! While being extremely happy about being pregnant, I wasn't quite prepared for some of the adjustments. Some were no-brainers and expected (i.e. bye bye red wine); some were not so expected. Let me preface this by saying the internet is an evil, evil place. You can surely drive yourself right over the brink of sanity with the internet. I wanted to research what to expect but also ways to keep myself healthy and what was safe. I am mostly a healthy eater and mostly a healthy person. I work out on a fairly regular basis. Certainly not every day but here and there. So, I had a good start right there. What became tough were the little things I didn't know about - no soft cheeses, no lunchmeat, no caffeine, no advil, no mahi mahi, no herbal tea, no alfalfa sprouts. Ironically, the alfalfa sprouts are what did me in. I may have had a slight meltdown over alfalfa sprouts. I want to be the healthiest I possibly can for my baby but I won't lie, it was hard to have a list of things I enjoy be taken away. I don't want to sound selfish or ungrateful for being blessed with this baby, but hey I'm human! And dammit, I like alfalfa sprouts!!!

These limiations + pregnancy hormones causing fatigue + allergies making me feel miserable (I had stopped taking my allergy meds) + anxiety over well pretty much everything = cranky mama. The anxiety kicked in around week 5. It wasn't so much the health of the baby as it was the what-if's that lie ahead. Will I be a good mom? What is going to happen when the baby is born? What is going to happen to my body? What's it going to be like with Chris & me after the baby? I have a good & happy feeling about the baby and about the baby's health. I was scared about the rest of it. I'm a planner. I like to know what is ahead of me. I like to plan it down to the last detail. I have a tough time with the unknown and great changes. I always have. Even when I was young, I would have a tough time with any type of change in routine. Thank God I always had such a stable home life or I probably would have fallen apart at the seams! Being pregnant and becoming a mom have more what-ifs and unknowns than I have ever experienced in my life. I have wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember but the reality of it weighed heavily on me.

As week 5 started rolling into week 6, I started to feel the weight lifted. Maybe the hormones abated a bit or maybe I'm just accepting the unknown. I am literally training myself to take a deep breath and just be in the moment. A line from our wedding song (which Chris has engraved on his wedding band and I plan on having tattooed in the future), is "Stay in this Moment." A mantra I try to remind myself of. I am going to be a great mom. Life will be different and wonderful. Chris & I will love each other even more than we love each other now. All positive and wonderful things. I still don't know the breakdown of every detail and I am learning to be okay with that. I am now able to just focus on one day or one week at a time.

I am learning to adjust & adapt. I called the doctor's office and found out coffee in moderation is okay. So half decaf/half regular is what I have. I found out I can take Claritin and Tylenol for my allergies and headache. Score! Decaf regular tea is okay. Most cheeses are just fine if they are pasteurized. I am enjoying more creative lunches than a plain ole sammie everyday. This adapting thing is working out fantastically well!

I am just so, so, so happy and fortunate to be IN this moment and I want to treasure it. I will get to the other stuff when I get to it. I will be open to everything that lies ahead of me. I am meant to be a mama and a great one at that.

p.s. Now I'm going back & forth on boy or girl. Before I felt very strongly it was a boy. Now... not so sure!!!

My Eggo is Preggo!!!

It's (mostly) official - I'm pregnant! I don't have my first doctor's appointment until March 1st, but all (4) of the pregnancy tests came back positive. Crazy. Absolutely crazy. This really appeals to the non-patient side of me! First month and it worked. I guess our timing was right on haha.

To backtrack... Friday morning I woke up at 6:30am (which is WAY before my wakeup time) from some really crazy dreams and what I thought was just heartburn. I sat up and felt extremely naseous. And not in the "oh I feel a little pukey" sense; more like the "holy crap I'm going to be sick" sense. I went downstairs as to not wake Chris and sat on the couch trying to talk myself out of being sick. After about 20 minutes, I felt a little better. I didn't have a fever. I hadn't eaten anything weird the night before. Although I though this was way too early for morning sickness, I couldn't think of any other reason for feeling that sick that suddenly. I'm going to CVS and I'm buying the stupid tests is what I thought to myself. Off I went.

It's funny how buying a pregnancy test, even when you're married, still seems a little shameful. I was pissed I forgot to put on my wedding rings before I left and I have no idea why I felt that way. Like the 18 year old kid behind the counter really gives a crap whether I'm married or not. I still felt like I needed to grab some other stuff as to not appear as though I solely went in for a pregnanc test. Milk & alka seltzer it was. So weird. I got home and took the test. Attempted to wait a full 3 minutes. Went in and there it was - a stupid faint line. And when I say faint, I mean am I even awake yet or am I making things up in my head? I walked out of the bathroom and back in the bathroom. Faint line. WTF?? Chris woke up a couple hours later and I told him of the faint line and he (of course) calmly stated, just try it again tomorrow.

Saturday morning. Couldn't sleep. Kept thinking about the stupid faint line. Got out of bed around 8:30am, went downstairs since Chris was still sleeping (meanie). Took the test again. Faint line. But not as faint! There was a line. A most definite line. I needed a second opinion. I ran with the pee stick in my hand up the stairs and fell running up. 1) I hate doing that anyways because it's embarassing and 2) way to start your pregnancy off by falling on the stairs! I woke Chris up and made him look at the line. "That's a line," he replied. Thanks Chris. But it's still faint, argghhhh. I called Katie. She says what I already knew from google research - any line is a line. But, like me, she was still nervous to really confirm anything. Katie tells me to get a digital test. They straight up tell you "pregnant" or "not pregnant." Chris & I did errands and stopped by CVS and (less shamefully) picked up the digital tests (2 pack). I had said I wasn't going to take the test until Sunday morning. I snuck off and took it late Saturday afternoon (see: patient post). Little hourglass flashed...thinking, thinking... "Pregnant." SHUT UP! I walked out of the bathroom and say to Chris - "I'm pregnant." Haha. There it is. No denying it. Plain language. Crazy! At this point, we told our immediate families who obviously flipped out. I think everyone was a little surprised (except Katie who predicted this) that we got pregnant so fast. I even took another digital test Sunday morning just for fun and "Pregnant" came up in under a minute. I'm (un)officially pregnant! I know the doctor tests you again so that's why I saw unofficial, but for all intents and purposes - I'm pregs.

Chris & I are still wrapping our heads around it I think. Chris is calm. He is happy but calm. I am happy but nervous. I have had a tough time sleeping the past few nights. It's more difficult because I don't feel all that different and I wish I could feel more as I think it would help me believe it a little more. I still get nervous that it's for real. The only thing I have felt has been some cramping and some stretching of muscles in my abdomen. Nothing painful, but pretty noticeable. It's just a crazy notion, the whole thing. I am just delighted. As I now am trying to cut things out of my diet (like coffee, for now, which hurts my feelings), I tend to get even more nervous with the responsibility of being healthy for this little one. Being healthy for me was easy. And when I didn't want to be healthy, I only had myself to worry about (or a couple extra pounds to gain). Now, I found myself at the grocery store looking for more organic food and watching more what is going into my body and wanting to be a healthy mama for a healthy little one. It's such an amazing but nerve wracking job! I really can't wait until I see a bump growing and can feel my little one. I'm just so excited for the journey. And this time, I'm going to try to be a little patient and enjoy the ride.

Oh one last thing - early prediction - it's a boy :)

p.s that is a picture of the test from Saturday morning and that 2nd line was darker than the first test. I guess a line really is a line haha.