The Cutest Guinea Pig

Well, hello cutie!! 

Hi, I'm adorable.

Yesterday, Jason and I got to see our little peanut again!! My first appointment and ultrasound was two weeks ago, and needless to say theres been a HUGE change! At my first appointment I was measuring at 6 weeks 2 days, and this appointment I was measured at 8 weeks 6 days, making my temporary due date August 30th! Peanut has grown tremendously, and we were able to HEAR the heartbeat!! Our doctor joked with us saying that it must be a girl, since she's posed so perfectly. "Girls are always more photogenic!" Even if it was just a joke, I'm going to take it and run. I'm calling her a girl until she proves me wrong at 20 weeks. 

Our doctor said that she looks to be in perfect health, with a strong heart beat, two little arms and two little legs. Right now she resembles a lima bean sized guinea pig, and we just adore her. <3 

Catching Up

I started this blog a little late, and I feel like so much has happened in the past few weeks that its hard to catch up! Here’s a few quick bullet points of what’s happened till now:

-          We found out we’re pregnant!

(Yes I'm crying - don't judge me)

-          I have become addicted to pregnancy blogs Alpha Mom and Pregnant Chicken. They're hilarious while educational, and make me happier than a bird with a french fry. 

-          Went to the doctor for our first sonogram! According to my calendar, I was 7 weeks 1 day when we saw him. But his initial measurements only read 6 weeks 2 days, so he wanted me to come back in two weeks so I could cook a little more. It was an emotional visit; very overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. So excited to see this little peanut and see the quick quick heartbeat on the screen, but so underwhelming that I was a week behind where I thought I was, and feeling like I had to come back for a ‘re-do.’ But I've gotten over it – I’m scoring another ultrasound! Booya! And just for the record, I'm sticking with my calendar predictions. In the words of Amalah: "Take THAT science! You can't make me believe things I don't want to believe!"

Peanut's First Sonogram
(Peanut is the little grey oval thing inside the big black eggplant shaped thing...top right)

-          My symptoms started off as decently mild, just super sleepy and irritable. Then I started getting nauseous (without getting sick) in just the mornings. Then I finally bridged that gap into full blown hurling in the mornings. Now I’m sleepy, the queen of naps, burp like a 16 year old boy, and get sick just about every morning. My nausea tends to stay with me through the day until about noon, at which point I’ll get a 5 hour break until I start feeling nauseous again at night. Weee! So far I've only had to apologize to one co-worker while puking in the office bathroom.

-          We've told our families, our friends, and our employers. We've been starting the house hunt for a 2 bedroom apartment/house since our lease is up in April, and we can’t stay in our itty bitty one bedroom anymore. 

-         I purchased two different pregnancy workout DVDs with good intentions, and one day I’ll do something with them besides use the cases as drink coasters.

-          I've been itching to buy maternity clothes, but I’m trying to save up as much money as possible. (Aka baby. New place to live. Wallet is crying.) However I have been really good at resisting buying baby stuff so far. I've only purchased two crib sheets that were on clearance at Target for $4 each. How could I not – those things are expensive! Everything else baby-related has been gifts from friends and family. 

So that brings us till now!

Week NINE! (holy crap!)

Baby is the Size of: A grape! About one inch long, and weighs the fraction of an ounce.

Baby’s New Developments (According to Baby Center): Baby’s heart finished dividing into four chambers, heart valves starting to form! Baby has organs, muscles and nerves. Baby’s eyes are fully formed, but eyelids are fused shut and won’t open for another 18 weeks!

Food Cravings: The only craving I've gotten so far has been chocolate milk. Otherwise, raspberries are delicious! Also strawberry Fruttare bars. (They’re basically fruit popsicles that makes all the bad things go away). And oh my god french fries.

Food Aversions: Water in the morning. I’m a huge wuss now when it comes to spicy food. I despise the smell of mustard, and the smell of cigarette smoke. Both will make me hurl in an instant. Anything tart, or too sweet. Basically, I really like potatoes.

Most Common Symptoms: I still can’t take a shower and not get nauseous. However, I think I've almost mastered the art of showering without the thumping water stream hitting my bump or my stomach (Yes they’re different. Bump is uterus/baby, stomach is where my food sometimes stays. One is low and full, one is high and empty). Otherwise my nausea is still hanging out through the morning into the afternoon, and then comes back at night. And sleeping is getting more difficult to do; hard to stay asleep, having to pee, too hot too cold, you name it. Also, pregnancy makes me run late to things. Want to come over for dinner in 30? Sure, I’ll be there in an hour.

What’s New: This pooch! My work pants are officially can no longer be buttoned, and I have to wear a belly band over them to keep them up! I received a big bag of maternity clothes from Tanya, so I’m trying to wear maternity pants as often as possible. Seriously, so comfortable. Better than yoga pants.

Hopes: I’m hoping my nausea dies down soon. I've picked up prescription nausea relief, but I don’t want to become dependent on it. I’m also hoping that our doctor visit on Friday goes well!! Peanut will have his/her second sonogram, and we’ll be scheduling the upcoming appointments as well.

Intuitions: I think I have a happy baby! As nauseous as I've been, I haven’t been too terribly hormonal. (My husband is probably laughing somewhere) I know my energy has been really low from being tired and sick, but attitude wise I haven’t been overly sad or upset. I've been mostly happy, and just chugging along. I think this happy peanut is making me happy too.

Best Moment of the Week: Best moment was definitely going to my mom and dad’s house for dinner. I missed dinner the past few weeks, so I haven’t seen them in about two weeks. I love walking in the door and having them both SO excited to see me and talk bump! And I love that I finally have a true bump to show them :) OH WAIT I HAVE ANOTHER ONE! I got to Skype with my cousin Sarah! She lives in Boston, is fantastic, was my bridesmaid at my wedding, and is due with her little girl in May! Pretty much love her to pieces. We got to talk pregnancy, compare bumps, and laugh at everything wonderful :) 

Everybody Loves Peanuts

The weekend before Christmas, Jason & I found out that we’re expecting! We’ve nicknamed our little one “Peanut” so far, so don’t get confused that I’m craving peanuts all the time. Peanut will be the first grandbaby on both sides of the family, so everyone is obviously very excited. I mean, come on. My father-in-law (who works for the same company I do) printed out the picture of a peanut and wrote “good morning! :)” and left it on my desk. Everyone is very, very excited. And I love it!!

Yes – I’ve already told work. And so many people were shocked that I told my work at the bright and shining progression of 7 weeks. But let’s be honest here. 1) My father-in-law works for the same company I do. He was literally twitching walking through the halls not being able to say anything to anyone. 2) Nausea. Nausea. Heart burn. Nausea. Breaking out like a 15 year old. Juuuuuuust getting into work on time because like I said, nausea. Oh and nausea.

I know it was risky telling them soon, because (like my doctor scared the bejesus out of me with) one third of pregnancies don’t make it to the second trimester. (THANKS DOC). Also, I’ve only been with this company since November, putting me at about 2 and a half months in when I told them. Hell, my 90 day review could come up and they’ll come up with an excuse that they don’t need me anymore. I mean who really wants to keep a hormonal, bloated, burping, irritated baby-maker roaming around their hallways? If you think I’m painting a terrible picture, I am. No one ever said that pregnancy is glamorous. (And if they did, they were being sarcastic.)

The game plan is for me to track the months, maybe weeks depending on how I’m able to keep up. I won’t have the fancy blackboard like most pinterest preggos have, decorated with the type of fruit their baby is that week. And I’ll try to throw some facts in there from books that I’ve read, websites I keep up with, and things my Baby Center App notify me of on a daily basis. I’ll try to keep it light and funny, and not let my nausea get the best of me. 

Barefoot and Running

Have you ever been in such a hurry to get somewhere that you find yourself sprinting to your car, throwing on chapstick in lieu of actual makeup, pulling the fly up on your jeans, slamming your purse in the car and when you’re half way down the street, you realize you don’t have shoes on?

Or, have you ever been having so much fun that you completely forget the stresses of your work day, the laundry waiting for you at home, the dinner that you burnt on the stove the night before, and you’ve come to find that the best feeling in the entire world is running through the grass, no shoes on, and giggling to no end?

Welcome to barefoot and running.

Life has become a whirlwind for me. For us. Well, what feels like for everyone in my life. I’m pretty sure that years don’t get harder or more complicated as time passes by, but the years simply go by faster. I turned 26 this year – which is really weird. I know it’s not “old,” I know it’s a perfectly normal age to be, I’m just not sure how I got here. I guess a quite a few things have happened that hurled my life into warp speed.

I was ho-humming along in my own stagnant little world until ..you guessed it.. I met a guy. (And yes, most of the things that are written in this blog will be blamed on him. In a loving, tender way – of course.) Very long story short, I was renting a room from my best friend (Tanya) and her husband, who convinced me to try online dating. Hesitant, I finally agreed. The worst thing that could happen is if Tanya and I ran out of wine while scrolling through guys. First blame of the blog – Jason ruined my fun only three days into it.

He was adorable. He was covered in tattoos. He had a million dollar smile. He wrote with correct grammar and spelling that made this journalism student swoon. He was interesting and insightful and funny and mysterious. Everything that made me weak in the knees. So it was damn near impossible to turn him down when he invited me for pizza and beer – my other weakness. Ever since then, there hasn’t been more than a handful of days that we haven’t seen each other. Keep in mind, this all started in late September 2012.

Fast forward six weeks later – we got engaged.

After an 11 month engagement – we got married.

After being married for 3 months – we got pregnant.

Once again, welcome to barefoot and running.

This amazing, hilarious, goofy, whirlwind life of mine needs to be documented before I forget to slow down and love every moment of it. I’m 26, I’m married to man that makes my heart smile, and we’re about to have a baby. And yes, I’m mildly terrified but wildly excited. Here we go!!!