We're Expecting!

While it wasn't planned, it was exactly the way we wanted it to happen.......we're going to have a baby!! The little one is expected to arrive on October 24 and we are ecstatic!!! So....here's the story (warning, this is long! I have been keeping a record of basically everything up to this point since we found out were were expecting, in hopes to not forget a thing):

I was a few days "late" and happened to mention this to Johnny while he was in Tampa, Florida on a business trip on February 10. He suggested that I take a test, but I told him that since I had just gotten off of my birth control in September (due to some issues I was having with it) I was probably still regulating and I should at least wait until the weekend. Well, Saturday February 12th came and while I was getting ready to welcome Johnny home and head to a birthday party at our friends' Todd and Revkah, I decided that I should probably take a test. That test was positive! I couldn't believe it.....I sat in shock for at least a couple of minutes and then proceeded on with showering, etc. When Johnny called to say his plane had landed, I could not WAIT for him to get home. When he did, I told him to put his things down that I had a surprise for him. I made him close his eyes and hold out his hand. Well, if you know Johnny, he's not good with surprises so as I went to lay the test in his hands, his eyes were already wide open. He asked if I was pregnant, and with excitement I said yes!! He got a huge grin on his face and then proceeded to fall on the bed. After making sure that he was ok, I asked him if he was excited and he said he was absolutely excited!! See, whenever we talked about having children, we knew that we never wanted to go through the "trying" phase. We just wanted to not prevent it......and it happened just the way we wanted it to--it was just really hard for us to believe that it could be so easy!

Needless to say, we headed to the birthday party, agreeing not to tell anyone until I could get in to the doctor. It was so hard not to say anything....especially since we were at a little girl's birthday party! We headed to walmart after that, just to make sure that we had all the right foods in our pantry then headed home. When we got home, Johnny asked how many tests I had left and I told him 2. He suggested that I take another one just to be sure, so I did....and it was positive too! When I told him it was positive he replied with "Oh Crap!" This isn't quite the reaction that any woman expects, but he reassured me that it came out completely wrong, and I believe him. With the 2nd test, a little more of the shock wore off.

When we woke up Sunday morning, Johnny suggested that we take advantage of the 3rd test that came in the box. I told him that it didn't matter, that it would come out positive, and he said that we should just use it anyway.....so I did and it was positive as well. With this came an overwhelming excitement about becoming parents. I decided that first thing monday morning I would call the doctor.

While on my break at work monday morning, I called the doctor to let them know that I had taken 3 pregnancy tests and all were positive. When they transferred me to the scheduling nurse, they let me know that they like to wait until I reach somewhere between 8 & 10 weeks to come in. For me, this was not ok. While I believed that I was truly pregnant, I needed doctor confirmation. When I asked if there was any way to come in that day and get a blood or urine test or something, they said that they did have that option and I happily accepted a 2:45 appointment. I also accepted a March 14 appointment for 3:15.

When I called Johnny to let him know about the appointments, he said that he couldn't wait and had already spilled the beans to his mom. I could tell over the phone that he was just glowing with excitement.....and here I was, extremely happy, but pretty apprehensive at the same time.

After school, I headed to the doctor's office, checked in and of course waited. When I was finally called back I sat in the chair and was dreading getting poked.....no matter how often you give blood, it always sucks getting that needle put in your arm.....but for piece of mind, it was worth it to me, and, I figured I better get used to it. The nurse was not that nice of a lady, but it was what it was. I was in and out in about 5 minutes. The nurse told me that they would call me with the results the next morning. And when I received that phone call, they confirmed that I was indeed pregnant and gave me my first "Congratulations". I was then transferred to another lady where they took all of my insurance information and confirmed my next appointment. At this point, I was beaming, but.....teaching child development and knowing what can happen, was still very cautious. I let Johnny know that it was confirmed, and if possible, he was even more ecstatic.

Later that night, we decided that we would head back to Kansas City to tell our families over the weekend, then let our friends know. I decided that we needed some kind of "grandparent" gift to give our parents to tell them. I went to trusty old Hallmark and found the cutest little photo albums with grandparent sayings on them. While on the phone with Johnny's sister Amy about mid-week, we decided that we should just go ahead and tell her over the phone......and she was ecstatic!! She is also pregnant (due on our anniversary!) and said she was excited to go through the process with me. (Which by the way, we cannot wait to welcome our little nephew, Daxton, into the world!!) We also decided to call my brother Brad and sister-in-law Amiee since we didn't think that we would get to see them together over the weekend, and their response was priceless! They were screaming, saying they had no idea we were even trying, etc. etc. So, needless to say, our baby is going to have the best aunts and uncles!

We made the trip home to KC that weekend and on that Friday, the tiredness hit and Johnny ended up driving the entire way home (so thankful my husband is so great!). We stayed at his mom's Friday night then I got up Saturday morning to get my hair cut. That afternoon we went to Olive Garden to celebrate Johnny's mom Virginia's birthday. That night, we met my dad for dinner and gave him his gift. He was completely shocked and ended up convinced that we were having twin boys. That night, we stayed at my mom's. I couldn't wait, so we gave her the photo album gift and upon opening, I saw the most shocked look on my mom's face that I have ever seen. She was really happy! The weekend was a success. We called our aunts and uncles on the way home to Evansville as well as some friends and all had the same excited response!

As for symptoms, I've had them all! Initially, like I said, I missed my period. When I found out I was pregnant, I was at week 4.  Thursday of that same week, I went into coma (hence the reason there haven't been many blog posts). During week 5/6 I had some slight spotting and nausea. (I think that some of the nausea was due to our trip to Portland, Oregon and the change in altitude.) Around week 7 I had some breast tenderness and growth and I even vomited and I started having a hard time sleeping (in result my sweet husband bought me a snoogle--which is a body pillow and has helped tremendously). (Have vomited four times now....not a fan.) I was also pretty clumsy in the beginning....spilling water all over myself while on the treadmill, spilling food down my shirt at lunch, dropping things at work, and even pulling in to park the car at Johnny's office and turning off the car, attempting to get out, but forgetting to put the car in park! I've also been dizzy and had a runny nose. But really, the only major thing was the exhaustion. I could hardly make it through the day without closing my eyes. As soon as school was out, I headed home and went straight to bed. It's a good thing that my husband is so great, because I wasn't able to do hardly anything for weeks. Johnny had taken care of Bo, cleaning, meals, etc. He's so amazing! (And the exhaustion just recently went away; I was able to go back to the gym to start walking around week 9-which also helped with sleeping better.) The hardest thing out of all this is not having control over my body anymore. I've been so tired and nauseas at times, I have been banned to the couch--and that has been very hard for this OCD woman. Not being able to workout after work or shop for groceries, among other things, has been really difficult for me. But, I also understand that I need to do what my body is telling me.

Funny story: I haven't really had a whole lot of cravings yet, which some women say is one of their first symptoms, but I have been able to eat quite a bit of food. For example, when we were in Portland, I really wanted some Taco Bell tacos. So, my sweet husband told me he would drive to the nearest taco bell and get some for me. When he asked how many I wanted and responded with "6!", he was kinda taken back, but got them for me anyway. After I ate all 6 (yes, all 6!!!) that's when he said he really knew that I was pregnant. Normally, I am so full after 3 that I can hardly move. His face was just priceless! But since then, I haven't had too many instances where I have eaten that much food in one sitting.....thank goodness....otherwise I don't think the doctor would be too happy with me!

8 Week Dr. Visit
At our March 14 doctor appointment (I was 8 weeks along at this point), I was beyond excited to finally get additional confirmation that everything was going as planned. When I planned the appointment I made sure that it was during a time that Johnny would be able to be there with me. And I'm so glad he was! We were taken back by a nurse who took my weight and blood pressure. Then the nurse practitioner came in to discuss our family history, jot down my pregnancy symptoms, my general diet and exercise, hygiene, testing options (we've decided to do a sequential testing that tests for disorders that the baby might have), etc. She also answered any questions that we had and then told us that they normally don't do an ultrasound at this time, but since I had some spotting, they wanted to do one as a precautionary measure. After giving a urine sample, we were taken in to the ultrasound room where I was told to change and then lay down on the table. After doing so, the tech told us that she would be doing a vaginal ultrasound....to which my response was "Um, what?" lol.....I hadn't put 2 and 2 together, but it makes sense, because the baby is so small, that they would have to do an internal exam. And, let me tell you, this was not my most comfortable experience. I believe that had the exam been different, my reaction to seeing the baby would have been different. So as I laid there, Johnny stood up for a "front row seat" as he called it and we saw our baby for the first time! Words can't even describe the calm that fell over me when I saw that little kidney bean. And to watch Johnny's face as he saw it was even more amazing; I will never forget the look he had. It was a look of one proud daddy. Then the tech did one even better, she turned on the sound and we heard our baby's heartbeat! It was the best sound I've ever heard! Now, there is a funny story with this because as I was uncomfortably laying there, smiling, looking at our little bearn on a screen hanging on a wall in front of me, Johnny did not realize that there was another screen other than the one right next to my head that he was looking at. So while the tech continued her exam, Johnny asked "Aren't you going to look at this, it's awesome?!" lol.....and all I did was point at the screen in front of me. His response was a hysterical laugh and "Oh!!". I was very thankful for this because it helped me to relax a little more as the tech finished the exam looking for any sign as to why I would be spotting. She couldn't find any problem, which was another relief. The tech finished up and I was able to dress. She printed off our pictures and sent me in to the lab room to get some more blood drawn. After I had my blood drawn (in a much better experience this time) we were sent to check out with many "congratulations" along the way. While we were standing there, I began to get lightheaded and hot, but decided to brush it off. We checked out and the woman told us what we would owe for the entire "process" (thank goodness for health insurance!). This is great for us, since we can start paying now on the bill. When we left the doctor's office, I even got some nausea, but felt better once we got outside in the cool air. While driving home, I decided to call my mom and even had to cut the conversation short because I felt like throwing up. Once we got home, I headed straight to the couch and began sucking on a preggie pop which helps with nausea and felt great relief! We were pretty much on cloud nine the rest of the time. The next appointment was set for April 5 where they planned to take more blood (note to self: take a snack), do another ultrasound and we would get to meet with our doctor, who came highly recommended from our friends Russ and Selena.

Our first ultrasound picture.....looks like a kidney bean

11 Week Dr Visit

We visited the dr on April 5 where I received blood work for a sequential screening test, an ultrasound and a full exam by the doctor. The sequential screening consists of a blood test and ultrasound that tests for baby's risk of having down syndrome, trisomy 18 and neural tube defects. It is not invasive at all, so we opted to go ahead with the test. At this appointment the ultrasound was by far the best event that took place. Baby B was moving around like crazy and we had huge smiles on our faces from watching it. I think we were just in shock at seeing how much the baby can move around already.....we were in awe the entire time and I really think we could have sat there for hours. Watching the movements that it was making and not feeling anything was incredible to me too. And, it makes me kinda anxious to feel those little kicks. I was laughing so hard at times because I was just so amazed, that I think the tech was getting frustrated with me, but oh well. It was just awesome!! The tech said that everything looks great which is a huge relief. Baby's heartbeat was 167 bpm, which is good too. I was very nervous going into this appointment, but everything went away and I was reassured when I heard the heartbeat and saw our little bean moving around. The blood work went well at this visit too and I did bring a snack with me just in case. (I happened to get the mean lady again, but she was nicer this time.) After the blood work we were taken back to meet with the doctor. The nurse told me to get ready for the exam and then the doctor would be in. As I mentioned before, we were recommended to this doctor by our friends Russ and Selena and we are so glad that they recommended her. We are seeing Dr. Harpole at St. Mary's Hospital in Evansville and we absolutely loved her. She has a dry sense of humor (which we loved), is very down to earth and is full of information that made us felt very comfortable. She answered each and every question we had for her and didn't once make us feel like we were asking a stupid question. She performed my exam very well and explained everything that she was doing. She even included Johnny in the appointment by asking him what his profession was and wanted him to describe exactly what he did, then she proceeded to ask me what I did, and she even discussed her 3 children and how long she had been in the profession. It was a great experience and I can't wait for the next appointment (weird as it may sound). Our next appointment is set for May 3. I don't believe we will be doing an ultrasound at this appointment but I do think we will get to hear the heartbeat and we'll visit with the dr again. (No blood work!)

Baby B is really growing!  (The pictures show up on the screen at the dr office so much better than when they print them out.)

Since we were planning to have a little more time just the two of us, we are soaking up as much "us" time as possible now. We are also very lucky that we had already started saving a good majority of our income trying to live only off of Johnny's checks; we've become pretty accustomed to it. This will be nice once the baby is born, because we have agreed that I will be staying home with the baby. And I am SO EXCITED about this decision! So, come May, I will be a stay-at-home mom. :-)
I thought I would include a few pictures that we have taken so far:

The first pregnancy test....I took a picture for Johnny just in case it faded off over time

4 Weeks 3 days (and the 3 positive pregnancy tests)--Our original due date was set at Oct 20 which is the reason for the odd picture days.

9 Weeks 3 Days....a little pudgy, but mostly bloat because at this point I had lost 6 pounds....oh and you can disregard the nasty hair and face; I was on spring break. 

Our first baby purchase while in Portland, Oregon. We were initially not going to find out what were were having, so we thought these were very neutral for either a boy or girl and I got a huge deal on them since there is no sales tax in OR. 

My mom's first baby purchase

Virginia's first baby Barrett purchase (The yellow bib says "Daddy's Hugs are the Best", the middle one says "I love you", and the white one says "Grandma makes me Smile") And of course, Bo has already gotten a hold of the cute little dog once. I immediately cleaned it up. It is so funny because that dog just loves stuffed animals! It is now sitting on a much higher shelf in the baby's future room.

Our gift from Amy :-) 

As you can probably tell, we're excited beyond belief. Our lives have changed so much already and we are very anxious for Baby B's arrival. Although, at the same time, we are very thankful for the 9/10 months to prepare!

More baby happenings to come soon!