Merry Christmas!

So it's a few days after Christmas and I am just starting to feel back to normal. I had a very bad cold for the days leading up to Christmas. In fact, it wasn't until Christmas day that I felt better. But it was a wonderful Christmas, even if we had no power! We think a transformer blew out because the sky turned pink, purple, blue and green. We had everyone over here - my mom and brother, Chris's parents and his brother's family (including my adorable niece and nephew!). The power went out completely right after we ate (it had flickered all night) and we had a 6 year old who NEEDED to open presents, so we built a fire in the fireplace, broke out the flashlight and that was that! :)

I'm very much looking forward to next Christmas and have already started thinking about the things we will have and do for Baby Jackson. When Stephen and I were little, mom had these wonderful stocking made for us, so of course, I want one made for Jackson. I keep seeing all these adorable outfits for Baby's First Christmas, but just in case he's not true to size, I refrain...that doesn't necessarily mean I refrain from buying other things. ;)

It's a BOY!

From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I knew it was a boy. I just knew. And I was right! :) Baby Neighbours is now Baby Jackson! Yesterday, we went for our big ultrasound and, after a little poking, he showed us the "goods"! There was no mistaken it! Chris should be proud! :)

Last night, I had dinner with some of my closest friends at Buca di Beppo and (stealing Lisa's sister's idea), I asked them all to wear a pink shirt if they thought it was a girl and a blue shirt if they thought it was a boy. Turns out Heather, Lori, Anne Marie and April were right and Lisa was half right since she wore a pink sweater with a blue jacket! :)

So, now the fun begins - the shopping, decorating the nursery, a baby shower, and then of course, the main event - little Jackson's arrival! :) I can't wait!!!

I pretty much think 2010 is going to rock!

Honestly, I don't normally care much about the new year. I do love Christmas and the holidays in general, but the fact that another year is approaching doesn't really do much for me. People look at the new year as a fresh start, but I've always thought if you really need a fresh start, you don't need a year to pass to get it. A year passing is just another year; however, my opinion has definitely changed because I am really looking forward to 2010...for much more than the obvious reason! :)

There are so many things going on for myself, my family and my friends that makes me so excited! First of all - I turn 30. And for the first time, I'm not really scared of it. I'm really happy where my life is - a great husband, a beautiful home, a wonderful group of family and friends and an awesome job! PLUS A BABY! That rocks! My BFF's Jessica and Lori also turn 30! So you know what that means - TONS of AWESOME birthday parties! My BFF Anne Marie is getting MARRIED! I am so very happy for her and cannot wait to see her walk down the aisle! I know she is going to be beautiful bride! That means there's also bridal showers and a bachelorette party coming up! WOO HOO! I also know that there will be many other celebrations, as friends find new jobs, graduate school, buy homes and start their families. And that's just what I know about - think of the great surprises to come!

The main event (at least in my life) will be the birth of our baby. But there are also so many family and friends that are also expecting right now - including my cousin, a couple of my sorority sisters, and several of my friends - that 2010 will be the year of the babies!

I feel we have all been so blessed in our lives, even though there have been hardships and trying times. When I think about all the good going on right, I just feel so much happiness and joy. I cannot wait for Baby Neighbours' arrival and I know, for me and Chris, that is the biggest blessing of all.

My first craving

I haven't had any real cravings in this pregnancy. Oh, occasionally, I'd see something on TV and want it for a bit. And there are definitely foods I prefer to eat. But there hasn't been anything that I just really WANT - until now. In the past four days, I've drank two gallons of orange juice and ate maybe 10 oranges (probably more). So, it seems that that my first real pregnancy craving are oranges. I finished off the OJ this morning and ate my last two oranges for breakfast, so now I'm kind of bummed. :( But that's okay - Chris will be up soon and I think his first stop of the day will be Publix! :)

And the countdown is on...

I am 17 weeks today - at 18 weeks and 3 days, we are finding out what we are having. So, naturally, the next week and a half is going to go by incredibly slowly. But the good news is that there are things going on that create milestones towards that day. For example, this Sunday, Jess and Em and I are going to see a movie. Next Tuesday, my mom is coming into town. Next Wednesday is our holiday office party. See, small steps...

But I totally think it's a boy. We'll see, though! :)

The List

When people find out I'm pregnant, they often ask me what I'm craving and really, it hasn't been too much. Fruit, especially berries and watermelon, occasionally something crazy (like the night I had to have a cheeseburger and an orange Fanta), but all and all, it's been pretty mild.

There is, however, a list of foods that I cannot eat. This list makes me sad because it's some of my favorite foods, however, I'll take not eating them over not being sick, thank you very much. The most updated list is as follows:

Peanut Butter: Okay, I love peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and banana sandwiches. But peanut butter, hands down, the nastiest thing I have ever thrown up, therefore, until this baby is born, I am not risking it again.

Pumpkin: This one just makes me sad. It's FALL! My favorite time of year! Time for pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes and chocolate chip pumpkin cookies! But nope, anytime I try even a bite or sip of something with pumpkin, Baby Neighbours says, "No way, mom. No way." Sigh. Maybe next year.

Milk: Drinking plain white milk was never my favorite, but now, it's downright nasty. I can still do it in cereal, but that's it.

Yogurt: Every morning, I used to take a yogurt and chocolate milk to work. Now, the thought of yogurt and it's creamy, thick texture is just too much. Chocolate milk was on the bad list for a while, too, but I have overcome that one!

Mexican: See previous posts. :(

Rice: Anything with rice, in general, makes me sick. This includes Chinese food, chicken and rice, broccoli casserole, Tin Drum, etc. Again, don't know why, exactly, but it just does.

Chicken from Chick-fil-A or Zaxby's: Something about the smell...however a chicken sandwich from Wendy's is a-okay.

Time Flies...

I’m now into my 14th week of pregnancy and so far, everything with the baby looks great! About three weeks ago, I stopped throwing up, which is the best thing ever! I still get tired easily and nap quite a bit, but other than that, my symptoms are pretty mild. I have been having back and butt pain, which apparently is caused by the baby being close to a nerve. Who knew something the size of a lemon could cause back pain?

We had the NT scan about two weeks ago and the results from that came back great for the baby! I got some not-so-great news, but we’re handling that well. The bottom line is the baby will be okay and so will I. I’m being treated at the Perinatal Center and with my OB…the sad news is I won’t be able to see Kerianne as much for the rest of the pregnancy and I don’t know what I will do without her! But Dr. Nix is amazing and I feel very lucky to have a team of great medical professionals looking out for me and our baby!

The next big thing is the gender ultrasound, which is scheduled for 12/18. That seems like forever away! Every time I go to the doctor, I hope they tell us, but they always say it’s “too soon”. But it will be a great Christmas present to find out if we are having a little boy or a little girl! What do I think? I think we’re having a boy – but we’ll find out pretty soon!

A confirmation

I have said this before, but last night proved it to be true. Baby Neighbours does not like Mexican food. I thought, well, it’s been a few weeks, so maybe it will be okay. So we went to Chepe’s (the only place I’m sure uses pasteurized cheese) and from the minute I started in on the cheese dip and chips, I knew this wasn’t going to end well. By the time the food came out, I thought I was going to lose it. I tried a few bites, but then I asked for a to-go box. Chris offered to wrap his up, too, but I told him to keep eating. Then, they brought out some fajitas to the table next to us and I literally had to run out of the restaurant.

So, there will be no more Mexican restaurants during this pregnancy. Because Baby Neighbours does not like Mexican food.

Down with the sickness

I am sick. A lot. In fact, last week, I missed two days of work because I was so sick. I don’t like being sick. I realize that this sickness is for the greater good, but man, I will be happy when this passes. They say it should get better after 12 weeks. I hope so. I am on progesterone supplements, too, so once I stop taking those, I think I will feel a lot better. I have 12 more days of those pills, 12 more days until the first trimester is over.

We had the 10 week check up on Wednesday and we’re lucky enough to get another ultrasound! This time, when we saw the baby, it looked like a baby! And oh boy, was it moving! In fact, we got three new pictures, but the baby was moving so much they were blurry. But watching that baby on the screen was so amazing. The heartbeat was strong and Kerianne said she thinks everything looks perfect! We have an NT scan on Nov. 6 and apparently you get some really good pictures there. We have another appointment on Nov. 13 (Friday the 13th!) and then five weeks after than, we’ll have the gender ultrasound! So right before Christmas, we should know if Baby Neighbours is a he or she! And then the fun (i.e., shopping) begins!

Telling your mom that you're going to be a mom is...strange

I wanted to call my mom the day we found out. I wanted to call her at 6:45 in the morning (which would have been 5:45 her time). But I didn’t. Because I was scared to get her hopes up. I was worried (am worried) that something will happen. So Chris and I decided to wait to tell our parents until after we saw the heartbeat. The change for miscarriage drops to below 2%, so we thought at that point, it would be a little more “real”. That’s not to say if something happened between the pee test and the ultrasound we wouldn’t have told people, but, I don’t know. It made sense to us.

The first real challenge for me came on Grandparents Day – Sept. 12. I wanted so badly to call my mom and tell her she was going to be a Nana. I talked to her that day and it took everything in me not to tell her. Then there were the days were I was so sick and she would call and I would put on my telemarketer voice (learned from a summer of selling magazine subscriptions over the phone) and act completely cheerful and normal, even though I thought I was going to throw up at any second.

The day that we had the ultrasound, we took the pictures and had copies made. I immediately mailed them to my mom, with a card and an “Expectant Grandma” pin that I bought in Savannah (I told my girlfriends it was for a lady in my office that just found out she was going to be a grandma – they bought it!). I knew she would get the package on Saturday morning, but then I got worried that someone else would open it. So late Friday night, I called my brother. I told him he had to make sure that mom was the one to open the package. He asked why. I told him he’d have to keep it a secret, to which he asked, “Are you pregnant?” Yuppers – my brother’s a smart one. But he came through for me, making sure mom was the one who opened the package (which she thought was my brother’s birthday card from me and could not understand why Stephen wanted her to open his birthday card.)

Obviously, my mom is super excited. She’s wanted this for years and she is dying to tell people, but she has to keep it quiet for a few more weeks. Of course, her idea of keeping it quiet is telling people that don’t have Facebook pages. God bless her.

That's our baby

We have a heartbeat! A strong, healthy, amazingly awesome heartbeat! The ultrasound was truly the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. But before I tell you how amazing it was, let me tell you how it happens (and yes, this is TMI):

This isn’t the pretty “squirt some jelly on your belly” ultrasound like in the movies. This is a “stick a rod up your hoo-haa” ultrasound. It’s called a transvaginal and they stick this long skinny rod with like an eye thing on the end up inside and move it around. It doesn’t hurt, but it sure doesn’t feel good either. I knew this when I went in, but I don’t think I was prepared for it, really. I mean, the ultrasound tech was so friendly and reassuring, but then all the sudden – wham! She stick in this rod and we’re off. She could have at least bought me lunch first…

But what happened next was the most amazing thing – we saw our baby. There he/she was. Just sitting there, being a baby. And I cried. I cried so hard with our ultrasound tech showed us the heartbeat, I missed it. I could not stop crying and then I looked at Chris. I could see tears in his eyes, which made me cry even more. There was our baby. Our baby. It was magical.

The tech took some measurements and pictures, but then started to pull the rod out. “Wait!” I cried. ”Please show me the heartbeat again! One more time, please!” I made myself stop crying and wiped my eyes. And I saw it. That little flicker going a mile a minute. It was so strong and fast. It was beautiful. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

That’s our baby.

Glory! Glory!

It would have been really bad if we had to tell our kiddo that the Dawgs lost at technically his/her Georgia football game. Luckily, they did not lose (they won with a field goal with 2 seconds left!) and now we can tell Baby Neighbours that his/her first football game was a win! I was able to make it through the whole game, which surprised me considering I had a busy day.

First, I woke up sick (what’s new), then I went to Lindsey’s bridal shower. It was so much fun and the food was amazing. That would normally be enough to wear me out, but I put my game face on and we made it to the game. It was pouring rain, but the poncho helped and it did lighten up half way into the 1st quarter. We met up with Anne Marie and Michael, which made it that much more fun. I had a few times where I had to sit down, but I didn’t eat anything because I was really scared I’d throw up on someone!

Over all, the day was fantastic and Chris and I are making a little frame with the ticket stubs and pictures for Baby Neighbours first Georgia football game to hang in the nursery!

Morning Sickness, well, sucks.

I have been sick since last night about six o’clock. Mostly just nausea, but then, when Chris started making sausage for our brinner (breakfast for dinner) last night, I lost it. Totally threw up and have felt sick since then. I actually left work today because I was feeling so bad. I slept from 2 until 5:30 and I am just now feeling like I could eat. Blah blah blah. Chris thinks it’s funny. I think I will puke on him and see if he still thinks it’s funny.

Girls Weekend!

This past weekend we had a mini-girls weekend in Savannah. We had a great time and I think I successfully kept the pregnancy secret! It was hard, because I felt sick several times, and man, I got tired a lot! Also, all the walking coupled with the bloating caused my feet to really, really hurt! At one point, my hands swelled up so big I couldn’t take my wedding band off! YIKES! But, like I said, it was a lot of fun. We ate a ton (hey, not a problem for me!) and we shopped and did a ghost tour. I love Savannah – it’s such a fun city. It’s even better with your girlfriends!

This can't be our baby...

The baby does not like Mexican food. This is the third time in a week that I’ve had Mexican food and this is the third time that I have gotten really sick after eating it. That makes me sad. It also makes me think this can’t be our baby. Chris and I LOVE Mexican food. It’s a staple for us. Seriously, we eat it at least twice a week (sometimes more). So either, I’m having an alien or this baby is already a troublemaker.

Nap time

I was always good at nap time. I love to sleep. That’s why pregnancy suits me. I have to sleep every day after work for at least a 1/2 hour. More if I can. So here’s what I am thinking – babies like to sleep. Amanda likes to sleep. Therefore, Amanda likes babies. This is a good equation (as I am a studying to be a Math teacher).

I turn 29 in one week. By the time I turn 30, I will (God willing) have a four month old. That is messed up! I am really excited about the ultrasound. Kerianne describes the size of the baby at the time I’ll have the ultrasound as a Teddy Graham. Now I can’t eat Teddy Grahams because I think I’m eating a baby.

Speaking of eating, I go from completely stuffed to absolutely starving in like, twenty minutes. I actually think I’m eating less than I did before I was pregnant, but I think that’s okay. I need to drink more water. I am always thirsty. No real cravings yet – I do see some things on TV and really want it for like five minutes. Today I did want cinnamon twists from Taco Bell and I got them. They weren’t as good as I wanted them to be.

Sometimes, reading is a bad thing.

I have to stop reading the BabyCenter message boards. Every other one is like “I had a miscarriage last night” or “We had the ultrasound, but there was no heartbeat”. That is scary stuff. And it makes me worry. Kerianne told me not to read them. She said I’d be scared. But of course, I did it anyway. Now I’m scared. The only thing I want in the entire world is for this baby to be healthy. The next few months are going to take forever…

On a positive side note – I did not throw up today! WOO HOO! My boobs hurt, though.

Whoever decided women should wear bras was an evil man.

5 down, 35 to go!

Today I am 5 weeks pregnant. Chris says it’s only 3 weeks because technically, for the first two weeks of your pregnancy, you’re not really pregnant. Whatever. I am 5 weeks according to my doctor, so that’s what I am going with. In about 17 days (but who’s counting?), we get to go for the ultrasound. That’s just crazy! I can’t wait to see it! I’ve kind of forgotten that my birthday is in a week or so. All I really care about is October 1st.

According to the websites, my baby is the size of an appleseed today. An appleseed. So tiny. Even though I know it can’t hear me, I talk to the baby everyday. I ask it how it’s feeling, tell it how excited Daddy and I are, how we can’t wait to meet him or her. This is the week that the heart, brain and lungs start to form, so it’s a very important week! I have had some morning sickness (Friday was awful – I spent most of the morning in the bathroom) and I do get tired out easily. This week, I’m going to try walking around the block with the dogs in add in some exercise. I think the appleseed needs some fresh air and it’s beautiful out today!

The Sofa Wins

I had every intention of going outside today for a nice long walk with the husband and dogs. That didn’t happen. About noon, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I fell asleep on the sofa while Chris watched TV. I woke up long enough to eat and watch a show we had DVR’ed, but then, I fell right back to sleep. I’ll tell you right now, if it wasn’t for True Blood being on at 9 tonight, I’d be in bed right now. They say this only last a few weeks, so we’ll see. I feel like I wasted my Sunday and I hate that. :(

Next weekend, I go to Savannah with my friends Jess and Emily. I really hope I have more energy! It would not be a good thing to waste a weekend crashed out in a hotel while they are enjoying awesome food and a cool ghost tour!

Football: Fumbles and Touchdowns

Georgia Football cannot be good for pregnant fans. The emotions that I go through watching this game range from anger, joy, fear, excitement and probably about 50 others. The whole game, all I can think is “This can’t be good for the baby.” Especially right now. It’s too close. And I’m nervous. I want them to win. I need them to win. This has been a 4 hour game. I need us to win it. My heart is beating like crazy. I don’t like this at all. I guess, though, I am training the kiddo to be a Georgia fan. It’s all about being really into the game and stressing and loving it all at the same time.

Thankfully, we won. I can’t wait for Baby Neighbours to get here so we can watch the games with him/her. This time next year, Baby Neighbours will be here and we will be watching the games together. Holy crap.

All I wanna do is...sleep

I’m tired. Chris is tired. Last night, we took turns napping. He watched the dogs while I slept and I cooked dinner while he slept. After we ate and watched Glee (OMG – what a fun show!), I went upstairs to work on school stuff. Except I didn’t. All I could do was read The Bump and Babycenter. This is not a good thing. I’m already an easily distracted person as it is…

Today at work, I’ve been really cold. And tired. I think if I slept for three days straight, I’d still be tired. We have a lot going on at work right now, so it’s hard to stay focused when all you want to do is crawl under your desk and get a few minutes of sleep. There are snuggies in my office and I could easily wrap up in one and doze off. I probably wouldn’t have a job tomorrow, though.

Tonight’s activities include going to Macy’s to pick up Lori’s birthday gift, trying to get the assignments done for at least one of my two classes, and eating dinner at some point. The crazy thing so far with my pregnancy is that I don’t want to eat. I’ll start eating lunch and then two bites in, I am stuffed. Given the present size of my ass, this is probably a good thing. But as long the baby is getting what he or she needs, I am okay with eating less. Kerianne, my FANTASTIC Nurse Practitioner, told me that in the first few months, it’s okay not to gain anything, so that’s what I am doing (hopefully). She also said that if I don’t eat, she doesn’t care. She said drink a lot of water and take the prenatal vitamin. That I can handle.

Officially Official!

We had our first doctor’s appointment today! It was too early to do the ultrasound, but we confirmed that we are, in fact, pregnant and got lots and lots of information. I absolutely love my nurse practitioner, Kerianne, as anyone who knows me is well aware. I think I’m the only person in the world who likes going to my annual gyno appointments because I get to see Kerianne! I cried pretty much the whole appointment. When we checked in, we were asked if we wanted to sign up for Similac coupons, and as I filled out the information, I cried. Then, when we back getting my blood pressure checked and the nurse told me that the urine test was positive and I lost it. I just sobbed and sobbed for like ten minutes. Thank God Chris was there. He’s just the best husband ever. He knew everything to say and do. :)

We got into the appointment with Kerianne. She was so happy and comforting. She answered all our questions, even the stupid ones. (Oh man, we had some stupid ones!) And of course, I cried. Seriously, I couldn’t help it! They were definitely tears of joy. Like I said, the next appointment is the ultrasound – Oct. 1, which is my brother’s birthday. Three weeks…

I bought the first thing for our baby today. A pair of Georgia baby booties. Oh yeah, our kid is going to be decked out! I have no problem being “that” parent that dresses their kid in head-to-toe Georgia.

The First Day

After the initial shock wore off, Chris and I went back to bed. I slept about another hour and then took a shower. Chris was still asleep, so I let the dogs out and spent the next two hours reading everything I could possible find on the web about pregnancy. Might I just say that this is not necessarily a good idea. There are A LOT of crazy people out there.

Once Chris woke up and showered, we headed out to lunch. We went to Longhorn. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but of course, I didn’t. We then headed, as all new parents-to-be do, to Babies-R-Us. We looked, but didn’t buy (ummm, hello – we’ve only know we were preggo for like five hours!) and then we headed on to Barnes and Noble. We check out some baby books (Chris was excited by all the pictures of boobs) and then came home. I was exhausted. Damn, shopping is tiring.

Chris and I trying to figure out how and when to tell our parents. I want to soon – like now – but Chris says wait. Yeah, I will probably win this go around. I am thinking that, since Saturday is Grandparent’s Day, that would be a perfect time to tell them. Chris says wait a few more weeks. Whatever. I’m sending my mom a Grandparent’s Day card. We’ll see if she gets the hint.

Just the two of us?

At about 6:45 this morning, I found out I was pregnant. Is it fitting that today is Labor Day? They say it’s best to pee first thing in the morning, so I knew as soon as I’d wake up today, I’d take the test. It’s not that I was sure I was, but I wasn’t sure I wasn’t. Does that make any sense? As soon as I took the test, the line appeared. It was really interesting to watch it appear. First of all, it’s really early in the morning, so I thought, “Am I awake? Am I seeing things?” But, no, I wasn’t seeing things and yes, I was awake. In fact, I woke up real quick! I sat on the bench in my bathroom just looking at the test for a few minutes before I woke up Chris. Chris, poor Chris, was up late playing video games. I don’t think he came to bed until well after 4AM and there I go waking him up with a pee stick in hand waving it in his face less than three hours later. But in usual Chris fashion, he was awesome. I thought, just knowing us, that I’d be the calm one and he’d be the nervous one, but nope. It was totally the other way around. I just kept saying, “Oh my God, we’re going to have a baby!” over and over again. I felt sick. I think it was more nerves than anything. And Chris just kept rubbing my head and kissing my cheek. He’s the best husband ever.

So, I’m pregnant. And sometime in May (according to TheBump.com’s due date estimater), we will have a baby. Wow. That’s crazy, huh?

Now it’s a little after 8AM and Chris has run out to grab us some breakfast and I decided I needed to write. I’m not a journal-keeping kind of girl and everyone I know has a blog, so why shouldn’t I? I haven’t decided how to tell my mom. Or Chris’s folks. I don’t think we will for a few days. My best friend Emily is coming over a little later today. My other best friend Lori just had her darling daughter on Thursday. In three weeks, Emily, my other best friend Jessica and I are taking a trip to Savannah. Chris wants me to wait eight weeks to tell them. Man, that is going to be HARD. I am not good at not telling things I am excited about. Although, we didn’t tell many people about our house until the week before we moved. Eight weeks isn’t too long, right?