8 Weeks!!

I hit the 8 week mark today, so I thought it was about time to start posting weekly belly pics.  There's not much right now, although you might think there is.  I am unbelievably bloated, which is quite uncomfortable.  But from what I hear and read, the bloat will go away in the next few weeks and then my belly will start to grow.  

Other then the bloat, I am getting a lot of other symptoms this week....the exhaustion is almost incapacitating at times.  Yesterday, I had all these plans to get my long list of errands done.  I woke up early, went for an eyebrow wax, got my nails done, took some family pictures for a friend of mine and then came home to check in on Scott and his brother, who were doing some electrical work at the house.  Within 5 minutes, I was passed out on the couch...for the next 3-4 hours!!  I was groggy the rest of the day, until about 9:30pm when I got a second wind.  And then, of course, I kept waking up throughout the night, either to use the bathroom or with a nausea spell.

Next topic to keep a lookout for....road rage...but for now, I leave you with my first belly pics...

First Ultrasound!

We had our first ultrasound today!!  So far, everything looks great.  We're measuring at about 7 weeks, just as we thought.  Counting from my last period, my EDD (Estimated Due Date) is April 12, 2011 and the measurements from the ultrasound put me at an EDD of April 10, 2011. 

Though we didn't hear the heartbeat, Scott was able to see it!  It really put our minds at ease.  

Not much else to report today, so I will just leave you with this...

The round circle all the way to the right is the yolk sac (an early food supply for the baby).  In the middle (the thickest part) is the head and all the way to the left is the baby's little butt!

Starting to tell!!

It's so nice to finally start telling people that we're pregnant!!  Last night, we had dinner with my parents and youngest sister.  She left today to begin college in Indiana, so we gave her a "going away present."  It was an "I Love My Aunt" frame that said "Coming Soon" where the picture goes.  It took her a minute to get it, but the tears started flowing once she did!  I think everyone was in a bit of shock, but VERY excited!  

And I just got the phone call from Indiana...my parents gave my other sister her "gift."  Apparently, she didn't quite get it and her response was "what the hell is this?"  HAHA.  Of course, until my dad put me on the phone to confirm the news.  I do wish my sisters were going to be here through my pregnancy, but I'll keep them updated through pictures and skype.

We are still keeping our news quiet, until after Labor Day weekend when we go out to Ohio to visit Scott's parents and meet our new nephew! I think the only other people we will tell before then is Scott's youngest brother and his wife.  We plan to have dinner with them this weekend.

In other news, we have our first ultrasound tomorrow.  We can't wait!!  We will finally find out exactly how far along I am and our estimated due date! 

First Appointment

We had our first appointment yesterday!  Even though I knew it was a bit too early for an ultrasound, I did think we would be doing more then we did. First, we met with the nurse and gave her all the important information (i.e., the first day of my last period), weight, blood pressure, urine test and went over the basic medical information.  

Once the doctor came in, it was time for the physical exam.  Scott stayed in the room and, even though he is extremely curious, I made him stand up by my head while the doctor performed the exam.  She said it feels like I'm about 6 weeks, but did not give me an estimated due date.  We were told that the ultrasound technician can measure the baby and tell me exactly how far along I am!

We then met with the doctor in her office and went over the basics...things I should stay away from (i.e. cat litter, lunch meat, etc.), what medications I can take, what types of tests are coming up, our upcoming travel plans, etc.  

O, I almost forgot...I feel like I've been abnormally hungry over the last couple weeks and all but one of my work pants are uncomfortable on me now (not good at 6 weeks!).  The doctor said this is normal...some women lose weight their first trimester because they are so nauseous and other women have an increased appetite.  I have been getting mild nausea pretty much every day, but I almost have the triggers figured out (being overly hungry and being overly full).  The doctor said it could ramp up over the next couple weeks and, if it does, my appetite will likely go down.

I have to go to the lab and get some blood tests done over the next week or so and our first ultrasound is scheduled for next Wednesday, August 25...we can't wait!!  I can't wait to hear my baby's heartbeat and see him/her fluttering around in there.  Once the ultrasound has been completed, we will be scheduling our First Trimester Prenatal Screening.  This isn't a required test, but it will tell us if there is an increased chance of having a baby with down syndrome trisomy 18.  This test has to be done at a very specific time in the pregnancy (a span of 2-3 weeks), so we need to wait until we have our EDD (Estimated Due Date) before we can schedule the test.  We have also scheduled our "nurse's appointment," where we review our medical history and the history of our families, and our next check-up with the doctor.  

This is so hard!

As I mentioned in my first post, we have decided to wait until after our first prenatal appointment before telling anyone we are pregnant.  Initially, Scott was adamant that we wait until a full 3 months before telling anyone, but the excitement has won over.  

Unfortunately, this is a very difficult month to keep such exciting news a secret.  Last weekend, we had my youngest sister's high school graduation party.  Yesterday, we saw almost all of my extended family at my cousin's college graduation party.  Next Saturday, we will see a good portion of our closest friends at the annual pig roast and the following weekend, we will see most of Scott's extended family at his cousin's son's first birthday party.  Craziness!

While my entire family pushed me to drink yesterday, Scott was having an increasingly difficult time not telling everyone.  How can you blame him?  We're so excited and we want to share that excitement with the people who mean the most to us!  But in the end, my dad wasn't there yesterday and we still haven't had our first prenatal appointment yet.

We have planned to tell my parents and youngest sister the night before she leaves for college--a week from tomorrow.  Unfortunately, my other sister left to go back to Indiana today and we weren't ready to tell anyone yet, so I will have to come up with an inventive way to tell her over the phone.  

We won't be seeing Scott's parents until Labor Day weekend, when we go out to Ohio to see our new nephew, so telling our extended family and friends will need to wait until after that.  It's getting much more difficult to keep our news a secret.  

Fortunately, we only have 3 more days to wait until our first prenatal appointment.  I think the only reason I am hesitant to tell anyone before then is in the rare event that something goes wrong and we don't find out until our appointment.  I know things can still go wrong even after our first appointment and the chances of miscarriage are highest during the first trimester, but I will feel much more comfortable after the doctor confirms my estimated due date and tells us that, as of right now, everything looks good!

Exercise

My weight has always fluctuated...I've gone from a size 10 to a size 8 when I was doing kickboxing to a size 14 by my second year of law school.  I finally had enough....I quit smoking after 10 years in October 2005 and joined Weight Watchers in March 2006.  It did wonders!  I was down to a size 2/4 in 6 months.  

While I was able to get my eating under control, exercise was a whole other story.  I've always had a hard time working out...I get bored easily or push myself too hard too quick and hurt myself.  Then, in January 2008, I joined Planet Fitness and my friend (now my husband) set me up with a great workout plan.  By March 2008, I really felt the difference in my body and could tell I was getting firmer.  But then life went haywire and got way too busy to make it to the gym every day.  So I've struggled on and off for the last couple of years to get back into that mode...going through spurts of working out for a few months at a time.  

Now that I'm pregnant, I really want to make sure I don't blow up like a balloon!  I've also heard being in shape does wonders for your pregnancy, labor and recovery.  So, I started using the workout room in our development this week...so far I've worked out three days this week.  I'm still a little nervous about pushing myself too hard; at least until I have my first prenatal appointment next week.  As a result, I've been doing 30 minutes of cardio and some light strength training.  Starting next week, I will also be adding one night of yoga and two nights of pilates.  My weekly workout plan will consist of yoga, pilates, and 2-3 days of cardio/strength training.  I really think diversity in my workouts will keep me coming back!

The only problem I've noticed so far is shortness of breath.  I read that shortness of breath can begin very early in a pregnancy, but I never imagined it would be this early!  I almost feel like I'm a smoker again!  I'm hoping that slowly lengthening my cardio workouts will help with that.  

Wish me luck!

I'm pregnant!!

I can't believe it!

Ok...let me back up...

I went off the pill at the end of April, after much discussion about starting to try for kids. We followed the doctor's instructions and used a second form of birth control for a month before we actively started TTC (trying to conceive). After a couple months of actively TTC and our lives getting progressively more busy, we decided to hold off for a little bit.

About a month went by when we discussed it again and decided (last Sunday, August 1) that we would start trying again...that there was never going to be a time in our lives when we wouldn't be busy. It's how we are...we pack our schedules and run ourselves ragged and we thrive on it.

It just so happened that I had one last dollar store pregnancy test left and, for some unknown reason, I decided to take it that night...maybe it was the fact that my skin had started breaking out like never before or the fact that I hadn't started spotting a few days before my period was due like I usually did or maybe it was just me being neurotic (also a usual occurrence).

Anyway, I took the test...and low and behold, there was a VERY faint second line. I called Scott upstairs and asked him to look at it, so that I knew I wasn't crazy and the faint line actually was there. I had never seen that before. All of a sudden, my heart sped up and my mind starting going a mile a minute.

Unfortunately, I decided to take this test at 11:30 on a Sunday night, when I had to be up for work at 5:30 am. Needless to say, we didn't sleep at all! Well, I didn't sleep at all...Scott was able to fall asleep around 3am and I continued to poke him to stop his snoring for the rest of the night.

I made it through the next day at work without sleeping one minute and ran to the first CVS I passed on my drive home, buying two more tests. I took them as soon as I get home and low and behold...

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

By my calculations, I will be 5 weeks tomorrow and am due April 12, 2011. Of course, that could all change after our first prenatal appointment on August 18. Of course, I will keep you all updated!

I still can't believe it! We're going to have a baby!!

Along with this excitement comes a lot of questions, concerns and fears. I currently live in Connecticut and work in New York as an associate for a firm specializing in the defense of insurance agents and brokers. Heavy litigation...not exactly the kind of place that a pregnant woman thrives...so my mind continues to wander...

How will the partners at my firm react? How will my nearly one hour commute (one-way) feel when I'm 8 months pregnant? What happens if I get a nausea spell in the middle of Court? I know this is all natural, but at the same time it's very daunting.

For right now, we're taking one step at a time. We haven't told anyone about our life-changing news yet. We are waiting until after our appointment next week, at which time we will tell our parents and, subsequently, our extended families and friends.

Even with all the uncertainty, I can't help but be giddy! I can't wait to get a big belly and, eventually, hold my child's hand and teach them all about the world.