My pimples have pimples!!

I feel like a bloated teenager with bad acne! Actually, when I was a teenager, I had great skin...hardly ever had acne. So maybe I should say I feel like a bloated pregnant lady with bad acne. About a week ago they all cleared up and I was SO excited...then they all came back and brought friends too!! I'm starting to get more and more not so great side effects. I still haven't thrown up (knock on wood), but I am still nauseous all day every day, in fact I think each day it gets progressively worse as the days go by. Hopefully I'll see some relief from that in 3 weeks or so. My lady parts have started itching really bad, I called the doctor yesterday to make sure I hadn't picked up crabs somehow (remember all that blood they took last week? She said I didn't have crabs and actually everything looked great.) She laughed and said your PH balance changes when your pregnant so it can cause irritation. She told me to keep an eye on it though, sometimes it can turn into a yeast infection.

I wouldn't really consider myself constipated, but I can tell I'm #2-ing a lot less than normal. I'm congested 24/7. In fact the only side that's comfortable for me to sleep on, plugs up one of my nostrils and I feel like I'm suffocating. For the time being, I've been sleeping on my back. I know after awhile I won't have that luxury so I'll have to find a solution.

Baby got it's first present last night. A very pretty sun catcher with a stork and a baby on it. I'll have to get pictures next time I think of it. 11 weeks tomorrow and so far everything's going great!

Happy baby, happy mommy

Or in my case NOT so happy baby, MISERABLE mommy! I had to work an extra long day yesterday (I hate you, Black Friday). I was supposed to work overtime today but I thought my doctor's note said I couldn't work any more than 40 hours a week...turns out it actually said I'm not supposed to work more than 8 hour days...oops! I'm pretty sure my baby has bad work ethic (I'm sure it got it from Troy! Haha). I am miserable today. I was in a world of hurt yesterday, I think I over did it the first part of the day. The last half of the day though I sat and entered orders into the computer. Needless to say, I'm thankful Black Friday is over...at least for one more year.

So much to be thankful for

The title says it all, I have so much to be thankful for this year I don't even know where to begin. First and foremost, of course I am incredibly thankful for the little miracle I have growing in my uterus. I am thankful for modern medicine and ultrasound machines that allow me to hear my babies heart beat. I am thankful for my incredibly amazing husband, I honestly could not have asked for a better man. He's dealt with my ups and downs and has loved me unconditionally through it all. I am thankful for my friends and family who have also dealt with my ups and downs and even though not all of them understood what I was going through, have proven to be an INCREDIBLE support team (I could not have done this without all of you!) I am thankful for my strong, kick ass sister who fought cancer and won...and my coworker who is also battling cancer (she's been through more this year than any person should be and continues to fight.) And finally, I'm thankful for my Grandma. We lost her this year, and I still miss her like crazy, but I am thankful for all that she taught me.

I could go on and on, but I'm starting to get a little emotional, and I don't want Troy to make fun of me! :) In conclusion, thanks again to everyone for all your love and support this year. I am truly blessed.

You know you're pregnant, when...

...you're up at 3 AM eatting! I woke up starving, like I hadn't eatten in weeks. And now I'm really not tired so I'll post about our appointment. We went back to Dr. Sposato yesterday (YAY!) First thing I had to do was give a urine sample (thank God I'm pregnant and can pretty much pee on demand). They said any appointment where I don't have an ultrasound done I will have to give a sample, so at least now I'm prepared. The nurse was able to find the baby's heartbeat with the little handheld machine they have, it was hard to find at first and she kept losing it, but she did finally get it long enough to record how fast it was. It was up to 180. (Honestly, hearing that little heartbeat never gets old!) The doctor said it was great they were able to find it because sometimes it's not detected with that machine until 12 weeks! She said at this point 94% of pregnancies go full term. It was reassuring to hear how much of a fighting chance my baby has now, Dr. Young was always very vague when I would ask how good/bad our chances were.

They also did a pelvic exam and a PAP. I was a little embarrassed I didn't shave, fortunately it had been less than a week since I shaved so it really wasn't too bad. The doctor warned me I would probably spot a little because your cervix has more blood flow to it so it's a lot more sensitive. It's a good thing she warned me of that because I've been spotting all day!

It's just SO great to be back at Iowa health. Now that I'm pregnant I won't always see Dr. Sposato (she's not actually a doctor but she's higher than a regular nurse. Pretty much she can do everything but deliver the baby). Since she doesn't deliver the babies, they want to introduce me to the doctors who might be there. She said I could see as many or as few of them as I want. They gave me a binder of information which I skimmed over. It all seems to be very helpful, especially the list of medications I can take! (Another thing Dr. Young was very vague about.)

We're spending today getting ready for Thanksgiving. I have pies to make, then we have to go over to my in laws to help get the turkey started. And at some point in the day I'm hoping to get Christmas decorations up. Oh yeah, our next appointment is December 21, so we get a short break. It's about the only one we're going to get! Dr. Sposato said in the first trimester they like to see you once a month (so much for THAT!), in the second trimester it's every two weeks, and in the third it's every week. I might as well set up a cot at the doctors office.

Poor Bailey

We've had some problems with Bailey barking when we go to bed. Usually about 5-10 minutes and she's done though. We also noticed she started barking when we would leave to go somewhere (except in the mornings for work, for some reason.) But we assumed she would stop. I was backing out of the garage today and noticed a not on our garage entry door. It said "Not trying to be rude but your dog barks all the time when you're gone disrupting my evening. Could you find a solution, please." I know exactly who did, he's a member of the board. And he's actually been a pretty good neighbor, when we went to Florida we even gave him our phone numbers in case Bailey did bark alot. So we really can't be offended by the note, and I'm not. I'm just upset. Troy came and got me for lunch so we could talk about what we're going to do. We talked about giving her away, but technically since we got her at the ARL we're supposed to take her back there...NOT something I want to do. So then we talk about a shock collar. Typically I'm against them, but I think it's just because I hear about people abusing them and using them incorrectly. So I bought one...we just put it on her, except for today I only plan to use it when she's in her kennel but today I want to test it out. I took her potty, she barked at a dog across the street and then immediately shut up and sat down right by me. She didn't whimper or yelp, so I know it's not hurting her. Right now she's sitting on the couch pouting, I think she's mad at us. :(

Adios Mid Iowa Fertility!

Had our 9 week appointment today. I must admit, I was still very nervous they'd tell us something was wrong. Everything looked great though, we have a perfect, healthy baby. It's SO much bigger, and the nurse said it's going to start growing even faster now. It's starting to look more and more like a baby. We were even able to see it's tiny little finger buds but she wasn't able to capture it in the picture. She said it was in there moving like crazy, but I really couldn't see it. All that matters is it's healthy! We have an appointment with Dr. Sposato on Tuesday. No ultrasound then...I guess I'm not real sure what they're going to do, maybe bloodwork or something. Anyway, here's our little one! In this picture, the head is facing down.

9 weeks tomorrow

Another week down...almost. In latest news, I have not vomited yet but I am nauseous all day! What I love is people trying to tell me what they think I'm having based on my symptoms. I know alot of people who had no morning sickness with a girl...and then my sister-in-law was sick all day every day with her youngest boy. I think the old wives tales are interesting, but I don't believe there's any real fact to them. There's a 50% chance they're going to be right, so obviously it's going to be true for some people.

This whole pregnancy I've done everything I said I'd never do. I told people I was pregnant before I had planned, and this weekend I started a registry! Nothing major...mostly shampoos and soaps. I wish we could find out right away what we're having. I've never been good with surprises.

Thursday is our ultrasound. Hopefully the last time I'll have to go to Mid-Iowa Fertility.

I came, I saw, I conquered

I have officially conquered a department that used to render me helpless. I used to avoid the baby department like the plague. The past month, Troy can hardly keep me out of it! Every time we go to Target, I insist on going into the baby aisles and "Ohh" and "Aww" over everything. Tonight, I bought a few things for a friends shower. At first I was a little worried I'd come out with the entire department, for her AND myself, but I did very well. I can't wait to start shopping for my little one. In exactly a week I have my last ultrasound with Dr. Young and then on the 22nd I get to go back to Sposato...Hooray!!

8 weeks (Almost)

Tomorrow (or Wednesday according to my doctor) I will be 8 weeks. I can't even believe it! These last 4 weeks have flown by...I hope the next 4 weeks will fly by as well. This morning I woke up really dizzy. Went to the doctor, said it was an ear infection with fluid in one of my ears. He thinks it was worse this morning because I laid on that side last night. There really wasn't anything he could do for me except tell me to lay on the other side and hope it drains. The doctor also told me I have GOT to calm down or my babies going to come out with gray hair! LOL (A humorous way of telling me I'm a spaz) Tonight I seem to be better. My stomach's been upset all day though. Still no vomiting though.

I felt like I was starting to get at least some of my energy back...today I have been completely exhausted!! Only 10 more days until my next ultrasound, I'm so excited.

It's official

We finally announced on Facebook that we're pregnant...so it must be official, right? Haha. It was a little sooner than I had wanted to, but at work yesterday someone let it slip and then someone else over heard the conversation and it just turned into a whole big mess. My thinking is I'd rather have everyone hear it from me and Troy than from word of mouth ("Did you hear Courtney's pregnant?!"). I had wanted to wait until my appointment on the 17th, but I guess this will have to do. Surprisingly, a lot of people said they already had an idea that I was.

I had a talk with the jelly bean last night...I told it that it was a celebrity now so it had no choice but to stick around! I almost had a nervous breakdown yesterday because I was so afraid that by announcing our pregnancy, I was jinxing it or something.

7 week ultrasound

My baby's first appearance! The ultrasound went great, the nurse and doctor said everything looked exactly like it should. The top picture is when they measured the baby. Came in at an amazing .803 cm which puts me at 6 weeks 6 days, right around where I thought I was. The middle one is just a regular picture without all the lines. The last one is the magical one. We got to see and hear the heartbeat, I cried a little. She pointed to the heartbeat, it was just a tiny flicker on the screen...but it was beautiful. And then we got to hear it, and that's when I lost it. It was the most amazing thing I've ever heard. The rises and peaks at the bottom of the picture is the heartbeat pattern. The heartbeat is 137 beats per minute, which is exactly where we want to be. In fact, if what I read online is true, it's actually alittle faster. The baby website I joined said that between weeks 6-7 the heartbeat should be between 90-110. I told Troy it's already trending to be a girl! LOL

We have another ultrasound on the 17th and as long as everything checks out they will release me to my regular OB...so excited! I'm not getting my hopes up quite yet, but the nurse did say once a strong heartbeat is detected the chance of miscarriage drops dramatically. Hang in there my little jelly bean! You own my heart already.