And then there were 3!

Once again, I'm back! It's been a LONG time since I blogged, although over the past year I've worked on a number of entries "in secret," if you will. I just never published any of them.... until now!

When I started this blog, it was (more or less) all about planning my upcoming wedding. While that adventure has come and gone, and the intent of documenting all the details along the way never truly came to fruition, I enjoy blogging and would like to continue (and do more of it) in the future.

As our first anniversary approaches (that went by FAST!), I'm happy to say that the last year of our life has truly been both amazing and BUSY! After the wedding and 12-day honeymoon/break from reality, one of my best friends (and bridesmaids) got engaged and started planning her wedding (which I am so honored & thrilled to be a part of next summer!), we started and completed our search for a house, bought that house (after nearly 3 months of trials & tribulations, another story for another time), and approximately 4 months and 1 week ago (3 weeks to the day after we moved into our house!) found out we are expecting our first baby! Two of my other close girlfriends (both bridesmaids in the wedding, as well) also had/are having babes this year!

As you can see, with all of this, work, and other general life happenings, it has really been a crazy, busy, non-stop, but rewarding year, and I can't even begin to put into words how happy I am to be sharing it with my amazing husband. We are very, very fortunate - to have all that we do and everything coming together the way that it has - from our perfect wedding day & night, to our perfect little first home, and starting our sweet little family in it! ♥

The photo we used to announce Baby Sargent on Facebook

I have a few entries from early in my pregnancy, which I will be publishing (back-dated to when I actually wrote them), and hopefully will document some other thoughts & milestones in the coming months (only 4 to go!) Our baby GIRL is due on December 27th, and we have A LOT going on between now & then, including a potential renovation to the upstairs of our house and my transition at work as I prepare for maternity leave, and my future with the business as a working mom.

Thanks for reading and I hope to connect more with you, the blog community, especially other wives, moms, and women just doing their thing - for better or worse - in the coming months & years!  ツ

Sara

7-8 Weeks and then things get fun!

The nausea started around 6 weeks, the vomiting right around 7.

I think the first morning I threw up was 7 weeks on the nose. While unpleasant, this "vomiting" was actually not bad compared to what I was in for down the road. For the first couple weeks, it was limited to 5-10 minute dry heaving sessions first thing in the morning. This is uncomfortable, and in no way enjoyable, but it is nothing compared to 1) throwing up actual food (in my opinion) and 2) needing to throw up/dry heaving multiple times and at unfortunate times throughout the day (work) or at night (say, right after you eat a nice, thoughtfully prepared dinner either cooked yourself or by your husband... that SUCKS. What a waste of good food, for starters...)

I have never been one of those people who could "puke and rally," as we referred to it in college. When I get sick, it is gross. In the early weeks of morning sickness, I actually wanted to throw up. I have since changed my mind. Yes, it is miserable to be nauseous all the time and unable to do much about it, but it is equally as miserable, physically painful at times, and significantly more inconvenient to actually be throwing up/dry heaving on a (fairly) regular basis, sometimes sudden or unexpectedly.

It is even more of a problem when you get to the point where you can't keep food or fluids down, and in my case that is when I had to start taking medication. I was reluctant to do so for a variety of reasons, but it turned out to be the best thing [minus a few uncomfortable side effects, more on that later].

After probably pushing a little too hard on my annual business trip to Vegas, I got home this week and was unable to keep anything down except plain egg noodles between Wednesday and Saturday. I left work early on both Wednesday & Friday, and didn't go in at all on Thursday. I knew I couldn't go on missing work, or feeling this bad, so I called my doctor's office and got a prescription for Zofran. [which I would end up continuing to take 1-2x/day for the next 2 months, when FINALLY my morning sickness would wear off and I started to feel pretty good (read: somewhere in the realm of close to normal) again.]

Anyway, at 7 weeks, we told my parents that I was pregnant. I kind of botched the whole telling my dad thing, because I work with him, and was feeling so bad, I just went to his office and told him. It was kind of funny, actually. I was a crying mess (hello, hormones!), and he had pretty much figured it out already, because we had three dinners/events (work-related) that I did not drink at all (even though I'm working, I would normally have had a glass of wine at least). We decided to tell my mom on Mother's Day, which was fun, and lifted the weight of trying to keep it a secret, since I had already told my dad, and I do see my parents a fair amount. Though quite surprised, my parents were (are) very happy & excited. I am an only child, so this will be their first grand-baby!

We decided not to tell my in-laws until a little later [which ended up being much later] as we didn't have any planned gatherings, and initially did not want to tell people until the end of the first trimester, as that is when you are more "in the clear" of certain complications, and the likelihood of miscarriage goes way down.

We had our first appointment with a nurse practitioner on May 24th (9 weeks) where I had the oh-so-fun annual pap (I was about 6 months overdue), got the whole spiel on do's and don't's, and the packet from the hospital, as well as a surprise ultrasound when she was unable to find baby's heartbeat with the doppler (not uncommon this early on).

Here is a photo of our little gummy bear baby, who waved "hello!" and wiggled around quite a bit. He/she measured about 1 inch long (so tiny!) and perfectly on schedule for my estimated due date of 1-2 days after Christmas, with a heartbeat of 175 beats per minute (BPM).
 

 

Yup, that's a baby!

My first appointment with my OB was supposed to be yesterday (11 weeks), but got bumped as she was called into emergency surgery. I will be able to schedule what they call "Early Risk Assessment" screening - the nuchal translucency scan and blood test - that checks for Downs and other trisomies, chromosomal abnormalities that would influence our baby's health and baby's & our future quality of life. We are pretty much planning on doing any testing they offer us, as we didn't do so prior to getting pregnant, and want to know as much as we can - even though I really can't imagine terminating for any reason. It would really depend on the results, and doctor's recommendations, but at this point we just hope & pray for the best!

I want to vomit.

No, really.

I'm 6 weeks and 2 days pregnant, and the nausea/morning sickness has hit in full force. I know this is just an old wives' tale, but I secretly hope the fact that I feel this awful means it's a girl. Not that I wouldn't love a boy (we definitely want both), but I always imagined having a girl first.

Anyway, I have woken up and fallen asleep feeling quite nauseous the past few days. Thursday & Friday I had some rough bouts of nausea at work, but I persevered. Yesterday wasn't horrible, although after dinner it got pretty bad again. Today, it is just not going away. J made me scrambled eggs & toast earlier, which I choked down. I then took my vitamins with some juice and that was a mistake. I should have waited until I was feeling better, or for night/nap time. I have been nimbling saltines and sipping gingerale ever since. Roughly 2 hours later... I kind of want to die. (and throw up. please.)

So this is not pleasant. You are lucky I love you so much already, little baby, because this is really, really miserable and I'm supposed to get my hair done in an hour. I was really looking forward to that, as it's been almost 6 months, but now... not so much.

In case you have never experienced it, let me tell you what morning sickness feels like. It feels like one of those really bad hangovers where you are sick as a dog the next day. The fun part, though, is (in my case) you haven't had anything to drink in 2 weeks (or more)! Waves of nausea, perhaps actually getting sick soon, feeling weak, dehydrated, and with a dull headache, but somehow also craving greasy food. Yup, being pregnant is like being hungover, all the time, minus the fun the night before. If that hangover made me feel "old" that last time I experienced one, now I REALLY feel old.

So I'm going to go hang out by the toilet now. Wish me luck on making it to that hair appointment.

5 weeks, 5 days (or so)

Today I am starting my version of a pregnancy blog. It won't really be "published" for quite some time, as right now this little baby is a big secret, but I wanted to keep track of all the ups & downs of being a mom-to-be, hopefully with a little more regularity than I did as a bride-to-be. I guess we'll see!

PSA: This blog is about to get real, so proceed with caution. Moms and other moms-to-be, you'll probably be fine. Everyone else, read at your own risk. Pregnancy has some pretty interesting side effects and uh, adventures, if you will. (from what I've heard, anyway)

That being said...

I found out I was pregnant on April 20, 2013. I had been exhausted-with-a-capital-E for about a week, and a few other little symptoms (hello, sore boobs!) tipped me off to the teeny tiny possibility that I might, in fact, be "with child." I use an app to keep track of my cycles and thought my "dot", as the husband likes to call it, was still a day away. I double checked, though, and my cycle has been consistently shorter lately, so I decided okay, I'm taking a test. I have to know. Less than two minutes later... the word PREGNANT flashed loud and clear at me from that little digital window. Tears flowed down my checks, and from that moment on, I knew my life would never, ever be the same.

I went downstairs, apprehensive to show my husband... I mean, we just bought a house, moved in 3 weeks ago, and while we have always planned to start a family, we hadn't exactly planned to right. this. second. He was probably more shocked than I was, even though we had discussed my potential "symptoms" a day or two before, but he hugged me and we cried together - a mixture of happiness, shock, and just not knowing what else to do at that point, I think!

I immediately "felt pregnant." I suddenly "knew" what my body had been telling me, and as soon as I crossed that line, there was no going back. We went off to Target that very afternoon for prenatal vitamins, another test (just to be sure), and some reading materials. Of course, as soon as I got home & started reading, I suddenly felt completely unprepared, incompetent, and behind. As we weren't "trying", I didn't know anything I was supposed to know, I wasn't already taking the vitamins, I'd been drinking, I'd been eating, I'd been doing all kinds of crazy things! Oh no! I've screwed up my kid already!!!

As it turns out, "my kid" was still just a ball of cells, most likely, so I calmed myself of these fears, and vowed to change my ways, immediately. Which, of course, I did. It's funny that your body starts telling you what to do and what not to do almost immediately. I knew I had to cut back on caffeine, but within 3 days I literally didn't want it anymore. Like, at all. I tried decaf and it disgusted me. I got a hazelnut macchiato from Starbucks (currently, or I should say formerly now, my absolute favorite drink) and could not drink more than half of it (it was only a tall). I didn't even miss wine that much! (that would eventually change, of course.)

I was and am so excited to finally embark on this "journey" (I know, I'm cheesy). Terrified, but really and truly ecstatic. I have always known I wanted and dreamed of having children, of becoming and being a mother. It is the one thing in this life I feel so strongly about; the only thing I have ever known for sure that I wanted to do. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to create life, and that we were able to easily get pregnant. So many suffer through miscarriages and infertility, and though I know we are in no way out of the woods, I just feel there is a healthy, strong little baby in there, and that this is meant to be right now.