Dear Little Love

Well, Little Love, we had our 3rd ultrasound yesterday, April 26th.  I think your Daddy and I would both say that it was our most favorite ultrasound to date :).  When we got to Dr. Strebel's office, we checked in and we were taken to a lady's office where we ran through our family history.  Then we were escorted to the ultrasound room.

Both Dr. Strebel and her nurse came in, and first used a Doppler to try and find your heartbeat.  She had to press pretty hard on my belly to find anything, because as she said, you are a "little fish in a big pond" right now :).  Also, it took awhile to find your heartbeat because you were so busy moving and wriggling around in there!  We kept hearing swishes and my heartbeat, but the few times you were still long enough to where we were able to hear your little heartbeat, it was the best sound I've ever heard in my life.

Then, she pulled the ultrasound screen around and we were able to WATCH you PLAY on the screen!  You were moving your arms and flopping/bouncing up and down in there!  Your daddy and I burst out laughing, you just seemed so happy!  This ultrasound definitely made things much more "real", being able to see your precious profile and your joyful spirit at just 12 weeks old.  Dr. Strebel told us that we would be coming back in 4 weeks (May 22nd, our 2nd wedding anniversary) for our routine checkup, but if the ultrasound room/machine was free that she would take us in to try and see if you are a boy or a girl!  If we aren't able to get a scan done, she will set us up for an official gender scan 2 weeks later, when you are 18 weeks.  And of course, your Dad thinks you are a boy since you were so active in my belly :), but we shall see!  I am still trying to decide if I want to have your gender be kept a secret from us until we have a party for our family and friends so everyone can find out at the same time, or if we want to know right when the doctor finds out what you are. I honestly do not have a preference for boy or girl, I always thought I would have a definite thought of one or the other, but I don't.  All I care about is that you are safe, happy, and healthy, and from this week's appointment, I think you are :).  We love you so much already, sweet Little Love.  xoxo.

Here you are at 12 weeks:

11 weeks

My belly is definitely larger this week.  We go in this Thursday (2 days from now) for our 3rd dr's appointment, and I am hoping to get new pictures of our little love and to hear the heartbeat.  I might resort to going to one of those independent 3d ultrasound places if we don't get to hear it.  I am very anxious (once again) before our appointment.  This is also the financial planning appointment and complete OB workup (since the baby is officially a fetus. . . . even though it has always been official to us).

11 weeks
- still emotional over silly things.  Ward told me last Sunday that we should probably just eat lunch at home instead of going out and I burst into tears.  It did not go over well.  But I ended up eating some lunch and taking a 2 hour nap, then felt much better (emotionally) after that.
- Allergies have been crazy this week.  But it is also the week before my birthday and I always end up getting sick around this time.  I have a sinus infection and have been waiting on a call from Dr. Strebel to see if there is anything I can take besides mucinex and benadryl. (got the call from the nurse, said she called in a Zpack for me.  Ward picked it up on his way home from work, but I still haven't taken it.  Even though my Dr. prescribed it for me, I'm still nervous to be taking so much medicine with little love inside of me.  Thinking I'm going to wait until I'm practically dying before I resort to taking it.  But at least now we have it in the house!)
- Still loving spicy things and red meat.  Haven't been craving sour things as much this week.
- Trying to drink more water.  When I am at school I always forget to drink consistently, so I am trying to be much more conscious of my intake.
- Trying to not eat as much at one time, even if I am starving.  There's just not a lot of room in there for everything!
- Trying to make myself nap after school.  I feel so much better when I do.
- started to have sharp pains whenever I stand up really quickly or sneeze/cough while lying down.  Read that it is just your ligaments stretching to accommodate everything growing down there.  

Here is the belly at 11 weeks 4 days

10 Weeks

I am actually almost 11 weeks but thought I needed an update.  The past 2 weeks have been a little hit or miss with the nausea.  I've been late to school twice because of morning sickness, so I am ready for this phase to be done with, but very thankful I have not been as sick as some women (and thankful for my wonderful teacher aides at school, they have definitely taken over for me the past 5-6 weeks).  Last Friday night (the beginning of Tornado season in Oklahoma) my body broke out in hives all over.  It really freaked me out at first (I thought I had been bitten by about 40 mosquitoes), but my mom and Ward calmed me down, gave me some Benadryl and cortisone, and I was asleep by 6:45.  Thankfully, OKC/Deer Creek missed most of the tornadoes/storms this weekend, so we weren't forced into the closet/storm shelter. 

Week 10
-morning sickness reared it's ugly head. (but it's all for a good reason :)
-craving red meat, like whoa.  I don't think our bank account will survive if I keep wanting steak like this.
-Still loving sour and spicy things.
-tummy is definitely larger. still can't tell if it is bloat or baby.
-my mom made a prediction at breakfast one morning that with the hives and lack of constant sickness, Baby Wulf might be a boy.  I have never seen Ward smile so big ;).
-tiredness is starting to go away.  Now only really tired around 2:00 - 2:45.  Which is good, because the kids get on the bust at 2:50, so it is towards the end of the school day.  

9 weeks and counting. . .

Today is Easter Sunday, aaaand the day we get to tell the rest of the family/the world that we are expecting our little peanut! So excited for this day :). (and really excited I don't have to suck in my stomach at work anymore. Because it is getting larger week by week.)
This week has definitely been interesting. Without going into too much detail, I have had some stomach issues that are not too fun. Thank goodness for my mom (Peanut's "Nana"), she had to help me all day Friday with my issues. Needless to say, I will be changing my diet and adding extra fiber to EVERYTHING now. :)
-I now can not eat more than 4-5 bites of a meal before feeling sick. Which results in me being hungry 30-40 min later, but then only being able to eat a couple more bites again. Pregnancy is SO weird.
-Really loving red beans and rice.
-Really loving salad.
-Still loving my sleep.
-Really loving Ward. He has been so sweet throughout this entire process, and keeps reassuring me that he doesn't think I'm "gross". (because I definitely do. Pregnancy makes all kinds of etiquette fly out the window in place of comfort.)

Dates so far

March 14th - 1st Ultrasound, saw the yolk sac at 5 weeks 6 days!

March 29 -
2nd ultrasound- Little Baby Peanut & saw the heartbeat! 8 weeks along, official due date is November 8th. Had to go maternity shopping with my mom, my jeans were starting to make me extremely grouchy and nauseated! (I chalk this up to the fact I have a high waist and absolutely no torso and that I am 5'5". . . . No where to go but out!)

8 weeks -
cravings: sour and salty things (sweet-tarts are my new favorite). Loving water and ginger ale. Reeeeally wishing it was watermelon season (Mexico spoiled me).
-Can't eat large meals in one sitting without feeling very sick.
-I belch/burp more than Ward now.
-I would love to be able to take 2 hour naps everyday!
-Walks after dinner on the golf course make me feel a lot better.
-Blaise is now sleeping in his kennel, not in the bed. He's not sure what to think about this. . .

The Beginning. . . .

Tuesday, February 28th
I kept thinking there had to be a reason I was so incredibly tired all of the time (I had started taking naps, that sometimes lasted for 2-3 hours. I never take naps). When I got home from school I decided to take a test. I saw the line developing, and honestly could not believe it. It kept getting darker and darker, and I kept getting more and more giddy/terrified (not terrified of you, baby, but just scared that I wouldn't be enough for you.). Once I finally realized that yes, this was really happening, I decided to find the journal I had bought for Ward at Affair of the Heart. I thought I could tape the test to the inside of it, then wait until Saturday (and after i took a few more tests to confirm)to show him. Flash forward a couple of hours to Ward coming home from work and telling me he would have to leave within the next couple of days to go to Australia for work. . . . Whhhhhat?? Well, I don't do surprises/change very well, so all I could do to keep myself from bursting into tears was to walk into the bedroom as he was chattering away, take the journal out of my nightstand, and just hand it to him. He looked extremely confused (he's not much of a journalist haha) so I said, "I got this for you at Affair of the Heart, but I didn't know when I should give it to you. . . . You can open it". He kind of just looked at me, opened it, grinned, and said, "you're pregnant?" to which I replied, "maybe?" haha he just started laughing and saying, "well, that was unexpected". And that, dearest one, is the night we found out you were on your way!