30 in 30

So we have approximately 30 weeks before due date...which is really a LONG time. But when I think about our "to-do" list and try to get realistic about how much we will get done in the first couple of years after baby, suddenly we don't have much time! most of the things we would like to do involve our house, but not all of them; there are a few items that are easy to check off we just need a little reminder to complete them. 

With this said, I decided to put together our own little version of ESPN's 30 for 30.  For ESPN's 30th anniversary, they developed a series of 30 different sports documentaries, directed by 30 different directors.  Well, the Spearman version is just a bit different...our 30 in 30 will be a list of 30 "to-dos" in the next 30 weeks.

I have added a tab at the top of the blog labeled "30 in 30", and that is where the list will live.  Once we mark something off, I will update the list on this tab...hopefully we can complete most, if not all of these things before we lose all motivation.   And here is the list...

1. decorate the nursery
2. buy office furniture and finish the office
3. unpack/furnish the bonus room / "in law" suite
4. improve my "green thumb" and lay a border around our flowerbed
5. travel - antigua, san diego, and destin
6. eat at Pasta Italia...again
7. start the basement remodel
8. keep up with my pregnancy journal
9. host a holiday for the WHOLE family (this will most likely be Christmas)
10. go to a braves game
11. visit Huntsville, at least 3 times
12. sell the lake house
13. buy new master bedroom bedding
14. enlarge/frame at least one wedding picture
15. paint master bathroom
16. fondue at home
17. eat at foodworks
18. cut the dead tree beside our driveway
19. read a book about baby routines/schedules
20. recycle the stack of boxes in our garage
21. go to the driving range
22. watch a UAH softball fall game
23. extend our driveway
24. host a party for friends
25. learn to brew beer (this will be all chuck)
26. watch a movie at the theater and get popcorn
27. teach Rigsby to "meerkat"
28. buy window treatments and blinds
29. organize digital pictures and computer files
30. cook a meal that takes all day

9 weeks

How far along? 9 weeks!!!

Total weight gain: at least a pound...maybe 2.  my book says i should only gain 3-4 in the first 13 weeks...I better get CONTROL!

Maternity clothes? not yet, i bought a belly band at target this week, but I haven't opened it yet.... this is just a glorified elastic "belt" that allows me to wear my pants unbuttoned..HELL YES!

Stretch marks? no and me and Cocoa butter are spending lots of time together.

Sleep: Waking up more now, several times a night.  Chuck notices I don't sleep good.  I am sure tired ALL the time.

Best moment this week:  hanging out with Mawonia and the Browns and letting her convince me I am SUPPOSED to eat chocolate cake, runts, and dark chocolate raisenettes!

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
.
Miss Anything? margaritas, and I'm sure the frozen drink cravings will multiply after vacation...

Movement: no

Food cravings:  JUNK! sour candy mostly, but this shouldn't surprise anyone.  I traveled this week and ate both taco bell and chick-fil-a...

Anything making you queasy or sick: this is getting much better

Gender: Doctor said we could probably find out as soon as 14-16 weeks, so we will see

Labor Signs: Nope.

Symptoms: tired all the time and starting to feel "fat"

Belly Button in or out? deep in, like always

Looking forward to: vacation and then the next doctors appointment

Other:  by this time next week, I will be in New York and then Antigua! I am soooo looking forward to getting away, i'm hoping for good weather!  we have started taking weekly pictures, but they really aren't worth posting yet seeing as how I am not "showing" yet....i just look bloated!

i'm tired...

8 weeks, 6 days.  the doctor told me that this week would be the "peak" of my symptoms.  let's hope he is right and that I am on the downward slope.  In all honesty, it hasn't been sooo bad.  I hear stories and witness facebook friends who literally PUKE all day everyday for 9 straight months, and I haven't even thrown up yet.  But that doesn't mean it has been easy.  I feel like I need to sleep constantly, I find myself asleep on the couch every night.  Today, I didn't even go to work until 9, becaus I just NEEDED sleep.  When I am awake I'm either nauseous or hungry.  I eat constantly to avoid the nausea, then I am miserable becuase I get full quickly...

The bright side: I FEEL PREGNANT! and there is nothing more comforting than knowing everything is still going on in there, even if it takes DRY HEAVING to remind me.  I'm excited to continue! I even have started looking pregnant (or fat, whichever view you choose to take).  My waste is non-existant, and I can even see a tiny little pooch.

Chuck and I went to see "What to Expect when you are Expecting" this weekend (DUH!).  It was pretty funny, Chuck related to many of the characters already.  I think they could have made it more funny and really exagerated the torture that is pregnancy! I'm glad we watched, we have SO much to learn!

Pray for me to end up like Brooklyn Decker's character

8 weeks today

an update...

How far along? 8 weeks

Total weight gain: Maybe a pound

Maternity clothes? None yet (although I spent all day at work yesterday with my pants unbuttoned...they were small to start with though, I'm buttoned today)

Stretch marks? no, and I have already bought Palmer's Cocoa Butter to try to stay ahead of this game.

Sleep: Waking up more now, several times a night, but I still sleep HARD..and I am tired constantly.

Best moment this week:  realizing that I am starting to look pregnant (it may have just been bloating, but I had a pooch for at least 2 days).  it makes it seem more "real".

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, but with bouts of extreme irrationality
.
Miss Anything? nothing too bad.  maybe deli sandwiches, but I don't think it would hurt me to eat one of those every now and then.

Movement: no

Food cravings:  mostly JUNK, and that is probably just because Chuck won't let me have it.  I did force him into chicken wings one night this week, because they sounded so damn good.

Anything making you queasy or sick: pretty much everything.  the smell of bananas is really bad.

Gender: Doctor said we could probably find out as soon as 14-16 weeks, so we will see

Labor Signs: Nope.

Symptoms: sickness, tired

Belly Button in or out? deep in, like always

Looking forward to: our vacation in Antigua in 2 weeks.

Other:

The first prenatal visit

On May 7, at 2:45 pm we made our way to Parkridge hospital to meet perhaps one of the more important people in my life during the next 9 months.  Having just moved to Chattanooga and no one knowing that we were expecting made finding a good OB a tad tricky.  This is not one of those time where you just roll the "Yellow Pages" dice, so to speak. 

After some prodding and crafty conversations I made an appointment with a doctor and didn't look back, looking back, I'm thinking we have made a good decision. 

Chuck and I sat in the waiting room together for a few short minutes before being called back (well actually they didn't call me, but some other chick with a similar name...causing a minor room placement issue for Chuck --that the nurses found highly entertaining--clearly I was anxious...sue me!).  The appointment was quick and painless and I highly expected the opposite.  Within the first 10 minutes we were looking at an ultrasound image of what would become our baby...I say it that way, because honestly, it was so small it did not even resemble a baby, or a peanut, or even a gummy bear.  None of that mattered, because what did matter was the flickering we saw on the screen in the vicinity of what he was calling baby! That's right...A HEALTHY HEARTBEAT!  All of my worrying and nervousness from the last several weeks just vanished and I just stared a that little blinking white blob...happy. 

Chuck didn't have a clue what he was looking at (and how can you blame him), he was convinced the baby was the entire blank mass that I'm pretty sure is my whole damn uterus.  After a few questions though, the doc had him straightened out and he proudly proclaimed.."i guess it is all heart right now, because that is all I see!".  And here is our baby / giant heart!



that blob in between the two crosses...that's my child :)

After the ultrasound, we spent several minutes asking questions and discussing the logistics of vitamins, diets, do's and don'ts.  Next appointment, 4 more weeks.  Right after we return from vacation...

2 more weeks...

and our vacation will finally be here! Cocobay resort in Antiqua...here we come! Granted, we booked this all inclusive vacation before we found out we were pregnant, but I'm still super excited.  No one ever said you couldn't drink virgin pina coladas ALL DAY LONG! 

I can't wait until this is the view from our private seafront cottage:

and from the beach:

and from the pool: 

to say I am excited, just does not do it justice!

going backwards a bit.

so i think i jumped the gun a bit.  i started at 7 weeks; i should explain what happened for the first 6.  for the first 3 weeks and 5 days, i was in the dark (the first 2 weeks don't even count, it is weird how they time these things...).  

3 weeks, 5 days: May 17.  I had a hunch...not sure why.  this was not expected, something just told me to pee on a stick.  so i did...twice.  and this is what i saw

tricky huh...?

those things are hard to figure out, but with google on my side i started feeling comfortable with that fact that if you can see ANYTHING at all for a second line...it is POSITIVE.  Save your money, you don't need to buy more (all though i did, i bought 2 more and they were digital, and they were fool proof).  

I texted chuck the infamous..."CALL ME ASAP". I desperately wanted to wait and tell him when he got home (he was in Austin, for work), I even wanted to wait and tell him on our first anniversary...but that was a WHOLE week.  I couldn't even wait an hour...he called, i spilled it within the first 30 seconds.  Chuck was excited, i was nervous....what the heck do I do now?  Google research consumed all of the 3rd and 4th week. I booked my first appointment for May 7 (6 weeks 4 days..i didn't know that then).   I'll save the first appointment for another post...it needs one all on its own.

By week 5 i was starting to have symptoms, nothing extreme, but i felt different (bloated, sore, hormonal), at this point it was starting to sink in that the next 9 months were going to be very different from the last 10 years of my life.  (this still hasn't fully hit me, 2 weeks later).  

Once week 6 rolled around, i was the poster child for pregnancy symptoms.  everything you read, i had.  We were traveling to Gallatin to see most of the immediate family (including Chuck's parents) and I wanted to tell them so bad, but we hadn't even seen the doctor yet (and wouldn't until the Monday after...what if something had gone wrong, or what if this was all in my imagination (unlikely).  We told them anyways, and I am glad I got to see everyone's reaction.  I made personalized Christmas cards telling each couple about their special present that would be arriving near Christmas this year...it didn't take too long for them to catch on, in fact I think mom screamed within 2 seconds of opening the card. 

after the weekend in Gallatin, we were anxiously awaiting meeting our doctor and our little gummy bear for the first time!

7 weeks today...

I want to start this early...I won't be telling anyone about this blog for at least several weeks, but I don't want to miss out on the posting.  There is sooo much going on with me right now, I will surely forget if I don't write them down.

I stole this from another blog, so I will use it for now unless I find something I like better.

How far along? 7 weeks

Total weight gain: None so far, maybe a pound, but who knows

Maternity clothes? Nope.  I can tell my clothes, especially my work pants are starting to get tighter, but I still have lots of time before they don't fit.  I have been reading about belly bands, I think I will go that route as long as possilbe.

Stretch marks? no

Sleep: I'm sleeping like a rock. Very enjoyable sleep.  I don't have to get up to use the bathroom or anything

Best moment this week:  We went to the doctor for the first visit on Monday.  Very exciting! We got to see the little blob and hear the heartbeat.  The heartbeat was much more clear than the U/S picture...I would have had no idea that was a BABY!

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, but with bouts of extreme irrationality
.
Miss Anything? I would like a nice cold beer with lime, maybe a Dos XX..but nothing too bad.

Movement: no

Food cravings:  I tend to be craving lots of things, fleetingly.  They come and go quickly.  So far friut has been the biggest craving (oranges).  Right now I want a BACON and grilled CHEESE sandwich. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: pretty much everything between the hours of 8 and noon...I stay sick unless I'm stuffing food down my throat, which is hard to do becuase nothing sounds good at that point

Gender: Doctor said we could probably find out as soon as 14-16 weeks, so we will see

Labor Signs: Nope.

Symptoms: sickness (not nessecarily morning), sore boobs, mood swings

Belly Button in or out? deep in, like always

Looking forward to: our vacation in Antigua in 3 weeks, and the next appointment right after we get back...and telling our friends...it is HARD!


Other: we told our parents, grandparents,  and siblings this weekend and everyone was SOO excited. It was a little nervewracking making the claim even before the first appointment but we were all going to be together and I wasn't going to be able to hide it from dad much longer since he lives with us