But I wanted to start blogging again because we have lots of things going on right now! We are pregnant!!!
For the past couple months (OK, probably more like the past year) I have been reading other blogs by pregnant women and loved the weekly posts with the belly shot and little facts about the pregnancy. I thought I would jump back into blogging as a way to keep our family and friends informed about the pregnancy... and eventually about our new baby!
I realize I have some catching up to do... here it goes.
Ryan and I found out we were pregnant the morning of July 7. I had felt a little "off" the whole week, but didn't think much of it. To be honest, I was trying NOT to think about it. I had gone a little crazy over-analyzing every possible pregnancy symptom the couple months before and it was stressful and exhausting. But that week I just felt different. After an incredibly long day at work (and an unusually emotional one), we decided to grab a late dinner with some friends. I didn't feel like having a cocktail with dinner (who doesn't order a margarita or cerveza at a Mexican restaurant?!?) or at the bar later that night. Alcohol just didn't sound good. The next morning I woke up to go to yoga and decided to take a pregnancy test just to see.
Well, I didn't have to wait very long after peeing on the stick to see this:
I was SO excited! I yelled to Ryan and ran into our bedroom with the stick to show him! I rushed off to yoga a few minutes later, but couldn't think about anything except the little baby we had created! We decided to keep it a secret until we were past the 12th week, which was really hard because my parents came to visit us the very next weekend!
We had an appointment 2 weeks later with a nurse to go over what to expect at our prenatal appointments and she gave us a ton of paperwork and pamphlets to read over. To be honest, it was a little overwhelming considering we hadn't even heard the baby's heartbeat or seen him/her on an ultrasound yet.
First trimester symptoms weren't that great. I would wake up nauseous and would stay that way until I was able to eat something. Then I was OK for a few hours, but right around 2-3pm everyday I would get nauseous again and it would only get worse as the day went on. I was also really tired in the afternoons and had to leave work early a few times to take a nap.
One morning at work (July 23), I was feeling more nauseous than usual and thought I was definitely going to be sick. Not only was I nauseous, but I started to get really light headed and sweaty/clammy. I laid down on the ground just before almost passing out. A coworker called Ryan and he took me to the hospital. The nurses/doctors ran a bunch of tests but found nothing. I had a low heart rate, but after an EKG they decided it was probably low because I was an active runner. The doctor said that dizziness is a common pregnancy symptom and that I was most likely dehydrated as well. I was told to drink at least 64-80 ounces of water a day. Then they asked if we would like an ultrasound so we could see our baby. Of course, I said YES! As soon as I saw our little baby on the screen, tears immediately started flowing. I could not believe it. The baby measured 6 weeks 6 days and had a strong heartbeat. We were in love!
We had our first prenatal appointment on July 31 and got to see our little baby again! It was amazing to see how much the baby grew in just 2 weeks! Everything looked great!
That weekend we drove home to visit my parents (and share our exciting news!). We bought a dog shirt for Gunner to wear that said "I'm Going To Be a Big Brother" and had him run into the kitchen where my parents and I were hanging out. My dad first thought we were getting another dog (ha!), but my mom knew right away that I was pregnant! We also gave them a framed ultrasound and the book "Guess How Much I Love You" with a little note from Baby King. They were so excited!
We also told Ryan's sister's family and his parents that week. We went over to Nicole's house for dinner (my SIL). Ryan went upstairs to play with our nieces and I stayed in the kitchen talking to Nicole and Jason. A few minutes later our nieces (ages 4 and 2) ran into the kitchen wearing shirts that said "I'm Going To Be a Big Cousin". They, too, were so excited! Ryan's parents came over an hour or two later and we had our nieces open the door so they could show them their new shirts. We asked both of our families to not tell anyone until we were at 12 weeks and could share the news ourselves with more family and friends. I think it was harder for them to keep the secret than it was for us!
We had another appointment a few weeks later (August 21) to follow up about my low heart rate and check my thyroid levels (I have a hypothyroid). The specialist said everything looked great and she had no concerns. Then she asked if we wanted to see our baby on an ultrasound (Ryan can't imagine any expectant mother would say no, and I have to agree!). So here is our little "gummybear" at 11 weeks!
The following week my mom flew to Sacramento to come to our 12 week appointment with us (August 28). After the routine questions, we were able to listen to the heart beat using the Doppler (that was the first time we did that!) and then she did an ultrasound. I absolutely loved our nurse practitioner because she let us watch our baby on the ultrasound for probably 20 minutes! It was the first time we were able to see the baby moving around. I cried again (I cried every time we saw our baby). It was amazing to see our baby move his/her arms and legs...he/she even turned his/her head to look at us! He/she was sucking her thumb and even jumped! And I mean literally jumped with arms and legs extended! It was so incredible to see. After the appointment, we had dinner with Ryan's parents to tell them about the appointment and show them all of the ultrasound pictures we were given.
The appointments are now scheduled every 4 weeks during the 2nd trimester. We were in Boston and New York at 16 weeks, so we just had another appointment yesterday. We met with a new OBGYN (our nurse practitioner moved to postnatal care). We did not get an ultrasound, but we did get to listen to the baby's heart beat. Everything sounded great! We also scheduled our 20 week ultrasound where we will find out how the baby is growing and learn the sex! We cannot wait!
So there you have it...an update on the pregnancy! I will try to post a weekly belly picture and updates about the pregnancy from now on. I will also gather the belly pictures we have taken thus far and post about those so you can see the progression of the belly up to this point (it's still small, but it's definitely showing!).
I will also post about other random stuff here and there (starting with our trip to Boston and New York)...so it won't all be baby stuff!
YAY!!! SO EXCITED! BABY KING, I CAN'T WAIT TO ME YOU!!!
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