February 28, 2008

Pregnancy is not as glamorous as I originally thought...

So I can't make it more than 3-4 hours without wanting to take a nap, I'm making constant pee breaks, my face is breaking out like back when I was a teenager, I feel bloated and lethargic all the time and I want to eat constantly!! Poor Ryan doesn't understand any of this and thinks that I can just "shake it off." I'm already ready for this 1st trimester to be over already...at least I haven't started throwing up yet! :)

February 25, 2008

1st OB appointment

My first OB appointment is scheduled for March 13th at 9am. As a general rule, doctors want to wait and see you until after you're 8 weeks along. I'll be almost 9 at this point! We can't wait for our first ultrasound so we can be sure everything is going smoothly in there and we may even get to hear the baby's heartbeat!!

More awesome news!


Later Sunday night I got a message from our friend Stefania telling us congratulations and that she is also pregnant with their first baby and she's only a week ahead of me! Stefania and her husband Charley went to law school with Ryan and now live and work here in Greenville. We are so thrilled for them and excited that our little one will have a new friend down the road who's almost the exact same age!
--Ryan and I at our wedding reception with some of the law school friends, the Bondurants are to the left of us.

February 24, 2008

The news is out!

Last week and this weekend we finally told each of our parents the baby news and found them be even more excited that we could have ever imagined! I have to admit that my mom's reaction was by far the best one I've seen yet! :) Ryan and I drove down to Columbia Friday night and met my mom and dad and Catherine out for dinner at a new Mexican restaurant down the street. After ordering a large margarita I handed them a card which said "Grandparents-to-be!" They were both so excited and bordered upon making quite a scene in the restaurant! (Of course Ryan ended up drinking the margarita I ordered, I just wanted to throw off any suspicion.)

Today we sent an e-mail to several other friends and family members also announcing that we were pregnant. I've gotten so many wonderful responses and feel so blessed that we have such great friends and family who care for us and who will love this baby almost and much as we will!!

February 18, 2008

Some early pregnancy symptoms...


DISCLAIMER: Any guys reading may want to skip this post!
Today I am officially 4 weeks pregnant and 2 days late. I read that this is the time when most early pregnancy symptoms start to surface and boy have they ever!! My first indication was that my breasts were extremely sore! This actually started several days ago and has so far been one of the worst symptoms I've encountered. They are so sore that I wear a support bra from the moment I wake up until I lay down in bed. Another thing I've experienced are these odd sensations in my stomach. I talked to Tonya about this over the weekend because I was concered there might be something wrong. She assured me this was common and told me she went through the same thing. The sensations are almost painful, like mini cramps in different spots all over my lower belly. These pelvic twinges can often be caused by implantation or the pressure of a growing uterus. Gas and constipation in early pregnancy are quite normal as well and can cause this kind of discomfort. I do know that severe pain or cramping can be a serious problem, but I'm not concerned just yet. The next symptom I've experienced is not painful, but terribly annoying. I can't even count how many times a day I have to use the bathroom now. It's pretty much every time I get up. If I walk by a bathroom I generally make a pee stop. Unfortunately, this one is something I'll probably have to live with for the next 9 months!! Finally, the most recent symptom I'm experiencing is fatigue. I imagine it's going to get worse in this 1st trimester, but right now I'm at a point where 2 naps a day are almost necessary to make it until bedtime. Some other symptoms I've experienced that haven't been that bad yet are: gas pains, lower back aches, nauseous feeling after eating and a little dizziness.

I had no idea that I would start feeling like this so early on in the pregnancy. It's definately going to be no vacation, but will be all worth it in the end!
UPDATE: I had my first pregnancy mood swing last night and unfortunately Ryan was the one to suffer through it! I think he'll learn quickly that he will be walking on egg shells for the next 9 months!

Ski Trip


We got back today from Mars Hill, NC where we had our 2nd annual ski trip with some of Ryan's chemical engineering friends from Clemson and their wives. There were 5 married couples total and we shared a great little cabin only about 5 minutes away from Wolf Ridge Ski Resort. Ryan and I had talked about keeping the baby news quiet during the trip and since I'm not a great skier anyway, we didn't think anyone would suspect anything if I stayed away from the slopes this weekend since skiing if very dangerous for pregnant women. Ben, Ryan's best man, and his wife Tonya are pregnant and due at the end of April. They were coming on the trip as well so we couldn't help but spill the news to them after the basketball game on the 14th. Tonya and I had planned to talk "baby talk" all weekend while the rest of the group was out skiing.

We arrived at the mountain house around 7pm on the 15th and it wasn't 20 minutes after we got there that 2 other couples showed up and the announcement was made that Kerri & Stephen were expecting as well! I couldn't control myself at that point and told Kerri that I too had just found out I was pregnant. Of course that didn't stay quiet for long and before the night was over everyone knew our great news as well!! I pretty much knew I couldn't keep it a secret all weekend and was glad to share my excitement with 3 other expecting couples and close friends. The 3 'preggars' talked about pregnancy so much over the weekend that I think the rest of the couples will have some news of their own by the next trip! :)

(FYI- The pictures posted are from another Feb. ski trip to Showshoe, WV)

February 15, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

Tonight Ryan made dinner reservations for us at Seasons by the Lake in Clemson since we were planning on going to the basketball game that night at 9pm. He came home from work at 6pm with some beautiful flowers, a card, and an engraved Valentine's figurine that was too cute!! In the flowers he stuck a little balloon that said "It's a Girl!" I questioned him about this and he said that he got a feeling today that we were going to have a girl and happened to see the balloon while at Bi-Lo. I'm so glad Ryan wants a girl because I always thought he would want a boy first. I want one of both eventually, but I do think I am a little partial to girls. :)

February 14, 2008

When and how to share the news

Tonight we briefly discussed how we should go about telling everyone since I took the test a few days before my missed period and chemical pregnancies aren't all that uncommon. I think we've decided to wait until a week after my missed period to release the news to everyone just in case. We look forward to accouncing our baby news on the 25th , but of course special considerations will be made for our parents and maybe a few others with some pregnancy experience. I don't want anyone to feel left out, but we feel it's better to be as sure as possible before we say anything

Breaking the good news...



I just couldn't wait to share the news with Ryan, so on the 13th I went to Target and bought a digital pregnancy test (the ones that say Pregnant or Not Pregnant) along with a cute onesie saying "50% Mommy, 50% Daddy, 100% Cute!" I came home and immediately took the digital test and within a minute got another positive result!! By this time I had taken 4 tests and was pretty certain it was for real! I put the test and onesie in a bag along with a little card exclaiming "We're Expecting!" and put it aside to give to Ryan later in the evening.

That night we went over to my mother-in-law's house for dinner like we do once every week and since the next day was Valentine's Day she greeted us with a bottle of pink champagne. I politely said I didn't care for any, which was a shock to them both since the next words out of Ryan and Jo Ann's mouths were "Are you pregnant or something?" It's not like I normally jump at the chance for a taste of alcohol, but I do like champagne! It was so hard not to say "YES, I actually AM pregnant!" but I kept down my urge to announce the good news and said to pour me a small glass and I'd just have a little. Of course I put the glass to my lips as to not draw too much suspicion and took the tiniest sip possible. I then left the rest of the glass on the table and was glad no one was paying too much attention.

That night after we got home I asked Ryan to sit down and turn off the TV because I had an early Valentine's surprise for him. I came out of the bedroom with a little gift bag and my camera, but I had decided to take out the pregnancy test and hide it behind my back. Ryan was immediately suspiciuos since our friend Tonya broke the news to her husband by putting her pregnancy test in a bag and giving it to him as a gift. Ryan said "There's not a pregnancy test in here is there?" and since I had actually just taken it out, I truthfully replied, "No!" Ryan opened the gift and was very confused at the onesie. I told him to open the card and once he read it he was in total disbelief. I belive his words were "Is this a joke?" Keep in mind we were not trying to conceive, but had discussed it several times and knew that it was something we both really wanted after we had been married a little longer. So, I pulled out the pregnancy test and showed it to him and his expression went from confused to happy to confused again. All Ryan could say was, "How is this possible?" "How did this happen?" "Are you sure you did the test right?" I went to the bathroom and pulled out the other tests I had taken to show him that it was for real. I think the shock that initially overcame him started to dissipate and he gave me a big hug and patted my stomach.

Of course we talked all night about our baby news and went through too many emotions to name and had so many questions. "How will we afford this?" How are we going to tell our parents?" "What will we name it?" "Can we still make it to all the Clemson football games?" :)

All in all, we are both thrilled about our new little surprise and can't wait to share the good news!!

February 13, 2008

Test #1 is positive!


After suspecting I was pregnant for about a week, I finally decided to take a test this morning after Ryan left for work. I figured on the off chance it was positive, it would make a really special Valentine's Day surprise!! Now, for those who know me well, you probably realize that I've kind of thought I was pregnant about every month since Ryan and I got married....but this month we had 2 "accidents" that actually gave me a good reason to take a test. I've still got about 3 days before my period is due, but the tests nowadays say they can detect pregnancy up to 5 days before a missed period. I would have liked to have waited longer, but #1, I'm just plain impatient, and #2, I really wanted to surprise Ryan on Valentine's Day!!

I took the First Response test this morning at around 9:30 a.m. and after about 30 seconds saw only 1 dark pink line. I hadn't built myself up too much into believing I was actually pregnant this month, but I was still a little discouraged. Well, I left the test on the counter and went to get something from the kitchen when something told me to go back and look at the test one more time. Walking up to it again, that 1 dark pink line was prominent and I kind of sighed and thought to myself how silly it was to think that some "greater power" was telling me to look one more time....but when I got closer to the test I noticed something else, a faint pink line in addition to the darker one! About 3 minutes had elapsed since I originally took the test, which is the actual time you're supposed to wait before reading the results, so I figured it couldn't be an evaporation line. I read the instructions again and sure enough it states "One line may be lighter." Still in disbelief, I ran to my computer and started googling away! I found a consensus among articles that read if there is any hint of a second line, the test is in fact positive! STILL in shock, I decided to quickly take another test, a digital one that I had been saving for just such an occasion. Of course I did this out of sheer excitment and it wasn't until I tried the test out that I realized that I really didn't have to pee and the test didn't work.

I knew that when i got pregnant I wanted to document everything and be able to share many of the details with friends and family, so I started this blog today, the day I got my first positive pregnancy test. Of course, there's still a possibility of early miscarriage so I'm holding off releasing the news until I know more and can go out and buy another digital test that's much easier to read. I plan on taking another one tomorrow morning around the same time and hopefully breaking the great news to Ryan on Valentine's night!

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