Gender Reveal - Where having a what...

During the entire pregnancy I had been having dreams about what we were having.  I just knew that we were having a boy.  Every time I talk about the baby, it came out as "him".  It was natural and I knew that my body had to be telling me what we were having.  Every dream was about a boy, only once was there a girl.  My husband felt the same way as I did, we were going to be a having a boy.

We were so certain that we went out and bought a few boy outfits.  We tried to tell ourselves that they were unisex, but they were blue!  The ultrasound was schedule at 17 weeks.  I was so excited to find out for sure what we were having....even though deep down I already knew.

The morning of the doctors appointment I made sure to drink a glass of orange juice.  I wanted to make sure that they baby was active and not being bashful.  As I laid there anticipating the news, I was excited, but felt like I already knew and this was just a confirmation.   The ultrasound tech looks at us and ask if we wanted to know what we were having.  I told her, "it's a boy"!?  She looked at me and said, "No, it's a girl!"  My husband asked if she was sure.  She assured us that it was girl.  We were in complete shock.  The doctor came in to look over everything and make sure the baby looked healthy.  We ask him to tell us what he thought the baby was, he confirmed it was a girl. 

When the visit was over it hit me, I was having a baby girl!  

Housewife/Mommy/Community Involvement

I just wanted to share something with all the wives/mommies.  It's completely okay to be a stay at home wife/mom.  I get so tired of people making women feel bad if that's the life they choose.  It was something that we talked about in my marriage.  We decided that if we were hurting for money I would work of course.  But, we are lucky enough that I don't have to do that.  I hate when people try to down play being "only a house wife and mom".  It's a very respectful thing to do and who else is better to raise your children than you!  I get up every morning with my husband and fix him breakfast before work.  I make sure that our house is clean everyday, laundry done and supper is always ready when my husband comes home from work.  I don't want my husband to have to come home and do any of this.  His job is to provide and mine is to take care of the home.  This might not work for everyone, but it works for us! 

Since I don't have children just yet, I like to try and find something to do outside the home.  But, I also think it's important to make sure it doesn't take away from your family.  I have recently decided to get involved with a nonprofit here.  I have discovered that this Air Force base doesn't really offer a lot of things for the spouses.  So I went outside of that box and joined a group called Chicktime.  

We just officially had our first outing and went to a children's shelter that we will be working with.  It was such a wonderful experience.  We through the girls a tea party/princess party and they absolutely love it.  I feel like our society takes for granted the simple things that we can do that will make a huge difference.  I had such a wonderful time with this, I really hope that I can do it a few more times before the baby comes. 

Flutters!

My first trimester is officially over!  I can't believe the relief I feel knowing that the chances of miscarriage have dropped so drastically.  I can actually start to enjoy my pregnancy more too.  My symptoms have subsided and I am starting to get my energy back.  I actually feel normal again.  My doctors appointment went well and the baby is developing normally. 

I had been reading about feeling those first movements.  That it will occur sometime during the 2nd trimester.  But, with me just starting week 14, I just knew it would be a while before that would happen.  Plus, with this being my first pregnancy the chances of me knowing what those movements were was very slim.  

One evening I was laying on the couch watching T.V.  Then all of a sudden I felt something weird in my belly.  Could it be the baby?  A few minutes later I felt it again.  It was the most magical feeling in the world.  To me it felt like someone tickling me, but from the inside.  As the week goes by I only feel the baby every few days.  I began to worry about the lack of movement.  But, then I read that it was normal to feel the baby only a few times and then go days without feeling it again.  Every time I was able to feel the baby it was wonderful.  I can't wait for those first kicks!  

14 weeks

1st Trimester - Signs/Symptoms

Before I knew I was pregnant I had symptoms and didn't even know it.  One night I went to bed and began cramping.  I believed that I was getting ready to start my period since it had been days past when I should have started.  But, I never did.  The next night around the same time, cramping again, but still no period.  On the third night it was getting ridiculous and I took some ibuprofen.  After that I had no more cramping.  Later on I discovered that this was implantation.

My second sign was the increase sense of smell.  I was walking my dog around the neighborhood and all of sudden I got a scent of something that was awful.  I thought it was going to make me sick.  I had no idea where the smell was coming from, but it was out there.  I learned later that this sense is extremely heightened during pregnancy.

After we found out we were having a baby, around 7 weeks, the normal symptoms began to kick in.  My breast were so sore and enlarged.  I never had this problem with my periods, so I had no idea how bad it got until I became pregnant.  This lasted for around 3 months.

I have never thrown up.  But, I did have nausea everyday for a month straight.  I believe a lot of the reason for this was my increased smell.  I would go to the grocery and it was torture!  All the different foods mixed with the odor of different people.  My husband also made some homemade salsa with fresh cilantro. It still makes me cringe thinking about it. 

I did have my bouts of being emotional I'm sure, but I don't believe it was to bad.  My husband may differ on that, but in my opinion I wasn't horrible.  Overall, my first trimester has been a pretty easy one compared to others.  My total weight gain was 4lbs.

Traveling While Pregnant/Husband Graduates

Even though my husband just a few days prior had his fainting episode, he still wanted to travel back to see family.  He also had recently learned that he was going to be graduating with his Bachelors degree.   So, it was really important for him to walk across that stage.  Graduating from college is such an honor and it would have been horrible for him to miss this experience.  So we set off on our 1,000 mile trip.

At the time I was in my third month.  I didn't really know how I would hold up traveling for that distance.  But, it had to be done and I would just have to rough it out.  I made sure to bring plenty of snacks, since I was still having some trouble with nausea.  I also took a pillow and blanket in case I could sleep some, but usually that never happens.  All together this trip would take us 15 hours to drive.  When we reached around 10 hours into the trip I started to become pretty uncomfortable.  Between the backache and swollen feet, I wasn't a happy camper.  In a normal circumstance I wouldn't recommend traveling this long of a distance for someone who is pregnant.

We arrived at a my brother's house later that night and I was never so happy to get out of the car.  That following Saturday was my husbands graduation.  I can say one thing, even though I was miserable during most of the drive, it was well worth it to see the smile on my husbands face.  We got to see family for two weeks before we had to head back.  Unfortunately, we only had 2 weeks leave saved up and that used up all our vacation.  But, we wouldn't be able to see family again until the next year, so it was worth it.  All together in those two weeks between driving back and forth, we drove 2,500 miles.  I really don't think I would have been able to do it if I would have been further along in the pregnancy.

Health Concerns For My Husband

After everything we had been through together it was all looking up from here.  Our first trimester was almost over, the risk of miscarrying was going to drop drastically when we reached this milestone.  We had just decided to announce to the world, aka Facebook, that we were having baby!  We had planned a trip to go back to Kentucky/Ohio to visit family.

It was a Sunday afternoon and we were laying on the couch.  My husband had been having dizzy spells for almost a year now, daily.  But, after a while you get us to it and don't pay much mind to it anymore.  My husband got up to get something to drink.  When he stood up I seen out of the corner of my eye him bracing himself against the wall.  I knew he was dizzy and it would pass in a few seconds.  The split second I looked away I heard him hit the floor.

I jumped up running to him.  When I reached him he convulsed so hard, hitting his head and arm against our french doors.  I didn't know what to do, so I grabbed him holding him for dear life.  I didn't wanting him hurting himself anymore than what he already had.  After fighting me for a minute he began to calm down and come to again.  He had no idea what had happened, completely blacked out.  What do you do when you see someone you love in this situation?  Panic!

I began running around, not knowing what to do.  So I called the one person I knew that would know, my mom.  She got me to calm down and take breath.  It wasn't good for me to be panicked, Eric needed me to be strong.  Plus, it wasn't good for the baby.  I took him to the ER and after running test we didn't get any real answers, only bruises and a pump knot on his head.  They told him that he might have hypostatic hypertension.  Which basically means his blood pressure drops suddenly if he gets up to fast.  He was told to eat healthy and no more alcohol. 

Needless to say, I worry about him even now. 

Seeing the High Risk Doctor

It was time to go see the high risk doctor.  We had been waiting two weeks and it was finally time.  We were hoping that everything looked okay, but we wouldn't know until they did another ultrasound to see how my cervix was looking.  I really don't know if we could take any more bad news.  We first met with the ultrasound tech and she took some pictures for the doctor to look at.  It was so amazing to see how much the baby had developed in such a short amount of time.  We were only 10 weeks and the baby had changed dramatically.  It's so amazing to see how a life develops in the womb.  

When the doctor came in he began to explain to us that we were seeing him only for a precautionary reason.  According to him everything looked perfect.  My cervix was a good size and there was no concern for thinning at that moment.  It was such a relief that we finally went to the doctor with nothing to worry about.  He wanted to see me monthly just to keep an eye on everything, but for once no bad news!