A photo trip down pregnancy memory lane: 1st Trimester

FIRST TRIMESTER:

Found out we were preggers on 6/10/11:  Super duper excited.  

First belly pic (also 6/10/11): Hubby used his cell phone to take this picture.  This is later that morning we found out we were preggers.  I was not having any nausea yet.  We went hiking with the dogs.  Was bursting with excitement and wanted to announce it to the world but we stuck with our plan to wait until after the first trimester.  Was still running regularly.

The following week we told our good friends C and D.  Well we tried to announce it in a creative way but D popped our bubbles and guessed it even before we said anything.  We were leaving MS and although we said we wouldn’t tell anyone until after the first trimester we really wanted them to know before we left (especially since we talked babies with them so many times in the past)

Shortly after, I got my first pregnancy gift from D which included crackers, sour patch kids because the nausea (and vomiting) had kicked in.  She also got us a book (What to Expect When You’re Expecting).  That same week I went into work then had to leave because of a combination of headache and intolerable nausea.  While in Walmart I projectile vomited in their bathroom (barely made it).

About 1-2 weeks later I told another friend (B and C) who also live in MS.  C was so excited too and started brainstorming about baby shower although I was still in the first trimester. LOL.  That same week I told a friend and co-worker (S and her husband B).  We had always joked about being pregnant and having kids.  I just could not leave MS without telling her in person.

All these people were awesome and kept our secret so well.  We chose to not make the BIG announcement until after the first trimester because of the risks of first trimester miscarriages, etc.  We wanted to get past that critical period.

Graduation for hubby and I 6/24 and 6/25

Hubby’s parents were in town and went to both our graduations.  They also helped us with the big move to NC.  It was so hard holding back such exciting news.  Of course, as usual the talk about kids would come up and we (hubby and I) would make a funny comment.  We didn’t lie, we were just creative with our answers.  I remember his mother asking us directly and we completely avoided answering by using humor.  It was so hard trying to move AND hide a pregnancy (not only was I nauseated I also could not lift certain objects).

Cousin’s wedding on 7/2 in VA:

So, no one in my family knew about our news.  I have a HUGE family and a lot of them were at my cousin’s wedding.  It wasn’t so tough hiding it because I wasn’t showing and I had already committed to taking anti-nausea medication (if I was going to be able to function at all).  We had a great time and no one had a clue.  It was actually fun keeping that secret mainly between hubby and I.

Belly pic in NC (taken by hubby): 7/21

Maybe showing a little bit.  I don’t know.  Anyway, I went through work orientation and no one suspected.  The first month I had to tell one of the girls I work with because I wanted her to switch calls with me (because one of my calls fell during the time when I would be on maternity leave).

Ignore the disorganization in the room.  We were still in the middle of moving.

 Not long after that I told my program director who was very excited for me.  She even encouraged me to take at least 12 weeks or as long as I need on maternity leave.  My training program was so supportive so all the worrying I had before hand was for no reason.

We had our first OB appointment at 10 weeks.  We had to see the ob nurse which we felt was somewhat of a waste.  We decided we wanted to work with an OB Gyn for this pregnancy and not the midwives in the practice.  The next week we saw the doctor for the first time.  We were almost 12 weeks when we got our first ultrasound.  It was so exciting seeing that there was a real baby in there.  I had been nauseated and vomiting for weeks and my body had been changing but seeing the baby brought it home to us.  Hubby was with me.  He was a teeny-tiny bit disappointed that there was only one baby (and not 2 or 3) but I was jumping for joy.  I can't imagine having multiples.

We had labs done (which were all normal) and opted to not have the First Screen or the Triple Screen.  We figured it wouldn’t make a difference in our approach to the pregnancy so we decided not to have it.  Also knowing that they were screening tools and NOT diagnostic and that I was healthy we didn’t see the need. 

After our Ob appt we called my mother on the same day.  She was so excited about having her first grandchild.  I had my husband announce it to her in patois (over the phone, as she lives in Jamaica). 

A part of the package we sent to my husband's parents to make the announcement.  They were ecstatic too.  We then told his siblings in order of age.  That part was exciting too.  We tried to have one of his sister's kid (4 yo) announce it to her but we were on speakerphone so hubby's sister heard us prepping his niece and she started screaming with excitement.

We then announced it to the rest of my family and went in age order too when it came to my extended family so that no one felt left out or that we had preferences.  I know, we are such crazy planners when it comes to certain things.

Anyway, bottom line is that everyone was surprised and excited and basically said it was about time. LOL.  No one was upset that we waited that long to tell them.  

OK, so more to come in future post about the second trimester (which I'm more than half way through).  I'm documenting all the details so I can refer back to how it all unfolded some day.  Oh and by the way, I am so ready for Baby K to get here, although we haven't bought anything or prepared much.  I'm just excited to meet our little one.

Mrs. K

It's Official

I need to only use the oven for baking main dishes and NOT desserts.  I am really bad at making desserts (especially in the oven) and I am officially giving up (for now).  Tonight, I tried to surprise my husband by making cinnamon rolls (of course courtesy of Pillsbury) and I failed miserable.  I misread and placed the oven on 425 for 25 minutes instead of 325.  You can only imagine how bad they looked.  Hubby said that they didn't taste too bad but I think he was trying to be nice OR maybe he's not very picky.  I say they tasted terrible (like cardboard with icing on top).

Anyway, we are going on a road trip from North Carolina to New York next week.  We plan to stop in DC for about 3 days, stop in Philly for a day then go up to NY and spend 3 days in the city.  On our way back to NC we plan to rent a cabin for about 2-3 days to chill out before going back to work.  We've never done the DC tour before so we need your help.  Do you have any recommendations about where to visit/eat?  What to do?  The only part of our trip that is planned so far is that we are seeing Wicked on Broadway.  We would appreciate any tips.  Thanks!

Mrs. K

Today I'm thankful for my husband

Hubby has made dinner two nights in a row and I'm very grateful.  Both meals were so yummy.  Obviously he doesn't cook all the time or else I wouldn't be dedicating a special post about it but neither do I. LOL.  If he blogged he could also post about all the times I cook (not frequent enough but we are working on it).  The past two weeks we've been eating more at home.  We go throught spurts of this, just like exercising (lately).

What are you thankful for today?

Mrs. K

My Pregnancy Scoop

So I'll fill you ladies in about all that has transpired over the past 20 weeks.  First of all thank you for your sweet and hilarious comments.  And yes we are really excited about our first kiddo being on the way.  I must say that I thought I would be documenting the whole process as it happens but a combination of not feeling my best (nauseated and tired) AND wanting to keep it private for a while prevented me from doing so.

Before hubby and I even started trying to conceive we talked about when we will address certain milestones including when to let our families know (and even the order of who to tell and how), when to tell our friends and when to reveal it on this  blog, etc.  You may not believe this but we waited until after the first trimester to tell our family (at around 12 weeks).  My mother was the first in our family to know then Jon's parents and siblings, then my grandparents and so on.  I'll probably blog about the details of all that in the future.

Just to summarize our TTC journey.  I took my last OCP in early January but not with the intent to try to get pregnant.  We just wanted to "get it out of my system" although truthfully there's no such thing because it varies depending on the woman.  Anyway, I wasn't ready to get pregnant yet so we used other forms of contraception and I also used the time to "study" my cycle (basically charting my cycle on my iPhone app).  In February we decided to NPC (not prevent contraception) and see what happens, knowing that we would be comfortable if we did get pregnant.  In March we decided to start TTC and was not successful until May.  So we became pregnant after the 3rd month.  It was awful getting negative pregnancy test 2 months in row, but looking back I am very grateful that it only took 3 months.  I've talked with a lot of other woman (many who are now pregnant or who have had kids) and realized that the process can take a VERY long time.  I always thought it was simple: MAN + WOMAN = BABY.  But that is not always the case.   During those 2 months of frustration I remembered thinking about how I spent the past 3 years of marriage trying to prevent pregnancy and now that I wanted to get pregnant it wasn't as easy as I thought.

Anyway, looking back it wasn't so bad.  As I said, I am very grateful that it only took 3 months.  I regularly think about and pray for the women I know who are trying to conceive.

Ok so moving on.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, so we found out right after my first missed period but I did not see an Ob gyn until about 11 weeks (because of moving to a new state and getting a new job).  We then told family and friends and job.  All were excited (including job--yeah awesome! I know right!).

So it's been 20 going on 21 weeks and I'm still nauseated and having occasional vomiting (gross!).  Nausea and vomiting started around week 4 I think and has persisted but has gotten a lot better.  I'm tired a lot but not as bad as other women describe.  My body has morphed into something completely different (but I'm liking the new look for now, lol).  My nails and hair (I think) looks healthier.  Baby K's kicking up a storm (started feeling it around week 16 0r 17) which is strange and feels like nothing I've felt before but it's a sweet reminder that the baby is fine.  I'm a bit moody but not much more than my usual self...lol (right hubby?).

Overall I'm content and thankful!  Still more to come.  Also, I promise I wont only blog about my pregnancy but this blog is about my life in general and this is a huge part of it right now :)

Mrs. K

Celebrated two important things not too long ago...

Hey blog buddies!!!  I hope you all are doing well.  Once again I've been lazy with the blogging but my plan STILL is to do better.  I've been enjoying reading some of your blogs although I haven't commented much.  Someone thought I gave up on blogging...but I haven't, not yet.  I've even missed by blog-o-versary about one month ago.  So happy belated 1 year blog-o-versary to me.  LOL.  Anyway, that's not what I'm celebrating.

Today (well Sunday...I started this post on Sunday and didn't finish it) I'm celebrating my honey's 30th birthday.  Yippee!!!  We are celebrating low key.  Just treating him EXTRA special today.

The second thing that we are celebrating is also important.  Sunday marks the halfway point to one of the most important events in our life (if that makes sense...)  Anyway, you may have guessed it already but WE ARE HAVING A BABY! No, it's not April fool's, it's actually true.  We are very excited.  That's also partly the reason why I haven't blogged much--I wanted to wait to make the announcement and it's hard to blog and not mention something so important.  Also, I've been ridiculously tired lately so it wasn't just laziness ;).

I will post more about this later with possibly some preggo pix

Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Mrs. K

iLike: fun-filled family weekends

Last weekend my dad and my nephew visited us and we had a great time.  My husband and I love visitors (so much that we constantly invite random strange people into our home).  OK, just kidding.  We are not that bad but we do like it when people visit (especially family).  Growing up, my dad and I weren't very close and our conversations have always been very brief.  I think that was because we didn't know what to say to each other.  Anyway, last weekend was different.  We all (hubby, my nephew, dad and I) were kind of  locked inside due to bad weather.  My husband was busy with work stuff for part of the time and my nephew was exploring the house, playing with the cat and doing other random things.  My dad and I talked for a looooong time about eeeeverything and it was great.  Hubby even commented about how glad he was that my dad and I got to really chat.  Another highlight of the weekend was when my dad cooked curry chicken for us for dinner.  It was so good (especially with the dumplin' and banana to compliment it).

This past weekend (labor day weekend) my husband's parents came to visit us.  They drove 11 hours from Florida.  (I know we felt really special).  His parents are awesome.  They are hilarious and very down to earth people.  We did so much with them in so little time.  Because they are in such great shape we took them hiking (with the dogs too) and I think they liked it.  They had to do some climbing on rocks and hopping over water but they were troopers and didn't complain.  Every time I visit with my husband's family, I learn so much more about him and it helps me understand him better.  His mom really adores him (his dad too, but you know how moms are).  I enjoyed hearing about some of the stories from his childhood and hearing them made me love and value him even more.

Overall, I think the past 2 weekends have been very refreshing for both of us (hubby and I).  I hope you have had a great weekend too :)

Mrs. K

Being deconditioned stinks

OK, so after moving and all the various transitions and changes over the past few months, I've finally started back exercising.  I know, it's about time.  It's been over 2 months since I last exercised, actually maybe 3 months (I stopped counting).   Anyway, I'm just excited to have started back.  The first few weeks will be tough since I'm so out of shape but I know I have to stay encouraged.  I can do it.  Yes, I can.  

Anyway, I thought I hated the gym after my last few gym experiences but I realized that all I needed was a break.  It actually felt good going to the gym again.  I felt so accomplished.

If you've neglected exercising (as I have) I encourage you to start up again and if you've maintained, I say keep at it.  We can do it!

Mrs. K