Happy Halloween!

Today is a spooooooooooky day!  Well, not really.  Today is the first holiday I get to experience being pregnant.  I don't really have a fancy costume, Arthur and I are going to wear our bowling shirts from the eBay Bowl for Kids Sake event.  I'm really busy at work today and I hope I continue feeling good.

I have been battling a small cough for the past few days and this morning I can feel it moving down lower.  That's a good thing.  I really don't want to get sick, especially now that I'm working so hard to be more healthy.

Yesterday at work, I was really hungry.  I ate 4 small meals on to top of breakfast and dinner.  Arthur and I went to Walmart last night after work and we got a bunch of groceries.  I appreciated waking up this morning and having so many options for food.  I enjoyed an open-faced peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast, as well as an apple.  I'm trying to eat as much fruit as I eat in vegetables.  Thank goodness it's not my night to cook tonight.  :)

So far when I'm waking up in the morning, I'm not getting sick.  However, yesterday when I arrived at work, the smell of the breakroom made me really nauseous.  I always imagined morning sickness as waking up sick and having to run to the bathroom before even peeing.  That isn't the case.  I feel the same regardless, every morning.  I'm sure that will change in the coming weeks.

I read a blog of someone who I work with who is also pregnant, and she had a good idea to check for changes in how things are going, while documenting them.  I don't want to record my weight or anything like that, but I would like to record my symptoms and how I'm feeling every day if I can write every day.

How far along:  3 weeks, 6 days
How much time left:  36 weeks, 1 day
Top two symptoms:  Leg pain and bloating

Mood:  Generally happy most of the time, but when something get stuck in my mind that is upsetting, I can't let it go until I address the emotions.  It's like my "bottling up" emotional thing is speeding up from days to minutes.  I guess that means my patience is going away and my emotions are getting stronger.

Worried about:  I worry every day that my period will come and I will miscarry.  Even though I know I'm doing everything I can to keep this thing inside of me, I still stress that something will mess up and I will have to start all over.

Excited for:  Telling my family and friends we're pregnant.  The top two ideas are to get a picture frame with 4 squares in it and put pictures of all 3 grandkids and leave a square blank with "Coming July 11" or something like that.  I would put an ultrasound picture in square 4, but I won't be able to have one until I have my appointment on December 14.  We want to tell the families on Thanksgiving.  This will work for both sides because there are 3 grandkids on both sides, so our baby will be the 4th.  :)
The other idea is to get everyone together for a picture and have Arthur take it and he will say "Ok, everyone say CHEESE!"  and then say "Oh, it didn't take.  One more."  and then say "Ok, everyone say 'GENEVIEVE'S PREGNANT!'" and capture the reactions on film.  :)  Both fun ideas, but I like the 4 picture frame one better because it's not so obtrusive and surprising.

I'm not sure if I'll keep this "fill in the blank" stuff going, but I liked thinking through these things.  Then, there can be a bit more structure to my blog.  :)

Ok, time for work.  Bye for now, and Happy Halloween!

Tuesday and More Aches

Today is Tuesday, and I can definitely tell my body is changing.  My legs and my lower back/hips are hurting pretty much all of the time now.  The ache is dulled this morning, so that is good.  Last night I took my first bath as a pregnant lady.  It was really nice.  However, I did psyche myself out before my bath by googling what bad things can happen.  I couldn't find a solid answer, so I figured it was not a big deal.

I am still pregnant this morning.  Every time I go to the bathroom, I'm afraid that this will be over and that I have to start over.  It feels too good to be true. 

Today is a fairly slow day, it's busy in the afternoon which no one likes.  I am going to try to stay as positive as possible today and go on a few walks so my body doesn't hurt so bad.

I am glad that this feels like a miracle and that I am having a good experience so far.  What am I excited for today?  I'm excited to tell my friends and family and see how happy they are when we tell them.  I've got a creative way to do it, but something tells me that Pinterest will do an even better job at telling me what I can do to communicate.

Well, it's time to wake Arthur up and it's time to get ready for my day!

Breakfast as a Pregnant Lady

Good morning!

Here we are, day 2 waking up as a pregnant lady.  Today I woke up and wasn't extra hungry, and didn't feel sick.  I hear that morning sickness starts at about 6 weeks.  I'm only considered 3 weeks and 4 days.  So, I know that I need to take advantage of good breakfast while I still can.  :)

I made an open-faced breakfast sandwich with 2 eggs over hard, cheese, and fake sausage.  The fake sausage is Morningstar, it's made from soy.  I think they taste better than real sausage and they're healthier too.

 

Yesterday was ok, I am finding that I am extra grumpy and in a fog after 9 PM (or so).  We tried to watch Dexter, but I fell asleep after about 10 minutes into it.  I kept telling Arthur and my brother not to delete it because I didn't want to miss the episode.  I'll have to watch it tonight.

Today I am going to tell my boss that I'm pregnant so I can move my sabbatical to next year.  I originally moved it forward to happen in December.  I was looking forward to having a month and two weeks off (with all of the holidays).  But, I'm willing to sacrifice the time and hold onto the extra month to happen after my maternity leave.  That way, I'll get an extra month to extend it and I'll get 3 months off instead of 2.  I'm sure that's what I'd prefer to do instead of coming back to work right after maternity leave.

I think before I close each entry, I write something that I'm excited for.  I'm excited to be able to have my own kid for Halloween, and dress them up in ridiculous costumes.  :)

I think that's all for today.  I'll write more later, or tomorrow.  Adios!

More Symptoms on Day 2!

Today is the day after I found out that I'm expecting.  Today, I am in a good mood, which is nice.  I am a little tired, but mostly I am crampy and my back hurts.  I was really hungry earlier in the day but now I'm less hungry.

I talked to two of my close friends today about my pregnancy.  The only reason I felt comfortable telling them is because I have been discussing the whole trying to conceive thing with them for like a year.  I need to be able to talk to someone aside from Arthur so I feel less insane when something comes up that I need to talk about.  So far the response has been very positive and excited for me.  I feel somewhat sad because they are both still trying, but I wish I could communicate to them that their time will come.  What doesn't change about their situations is that both of them are ready and willing to love a baby, whether it comes from inside of them or not.  That is what is constant and unchanging.  I tried to reaffirm that to them multiple times while we were discussing earlier in the year and hopefully they still understand that.

In other news, we're going to my family's house today to celebrate Halloween.  I'm excited to see the costumes of the kids.  I want to take a million pictures.

I am still not ready to tell anyone outside of the select few because I'm not ready to deal with telling everyone if the pregnancy doesn't work out.

Lastly, I took one more test this morning just to triple-check (literally) that I really am pregnant.  And, it came out positive.  So, 3 out of 3 must be good, right?  :)

Tomorrow will be my first day back to work knowing that I'm definitely pregnant.  We'll see how I do...  More again tomorrow.

First Night, Second Test

It's the first night to sleep since I've found out that I'm pregnant.  I'm really tired tonight and my abdomen is cramping like I'm in the middle of my period.  I'm also very tired.  I will be going to bed after I finish this entry.

I ended up taking two tests today.  The first test picture was in my post earlier today.  The second test that I took was a Clear Blue + Digital.  I needed to see it in black in white, and in words that it was true, and that I was actually pregnant.

When Arthur came home, I asked him if he wanted to wait while I took the digital test.  I went in and peed on the stick and when I came out, it was in the "wait for results" mode.  We both watched it together.  After about 3 minutes, it flashed "Pregnant" on the screen and it stayed there.  I showed it to him and he was happy.

Here's a picture of the digital test with the word "Pregnant" on it:

I haven't told many people yet, mainly just Arthur and Mike, since he was here.  I have a few friends who are also trying (or getting ready to try) and I don't want them to be sad that I got pregnant first.  But, it would be nice to have some additional support from the friend perspective when my husband is tired of my crazy pregnancy ways.

I'm thinking about going to bed, because I'm really tired.  I had a really bad headache today and so I took Tylenol.  I think I'll take some Tylenol again and go to bed.

I'll try to blog every day so I have a record of how this thing goes.  I am excited to be a mom.  I am excited to have something in my life that is mine and Arthur's.  I'm excited to always have someone who is there with me who I can love and who will need me as much as I need them.

Arthur and I talked about names today, and we both like "Finn" for a boy, and it reminds me of my Grandpa's middle name, which is Fennemore.  I would probably change his name to Finnemore.  For a girl, we like Cora/Coral or Oceana.  I really like the idea of a family name for a middle name.  Well, this is all for now.  I'll blog tomorrow if I'm feeling up to it.  :)  Today was a great day!

New Beginnings

Hi everyone!  This is our first post on our new blog.  I am excited to start this blog, as there is a reason for it.  :)  Arthur and I have been trying to conceive for the past 8 months.  I took a preliminary pregnancy test (before the day my period is due) to see if I might be pregnant.

I haven't had too many crazy symptoms, but this was the first cycle that a few things were different.  I spent way too much time on www.countdowntopregnancy.com to figure out whether or not my symptoms were normal.

I'm not 100% positive on whether or not this is it, but the first test I took had a positive result.  I have always been afraid to take a pregnancy test because I was always to worried about the disappointment that would come if it was negative.  Based on the little insert that came with the test, it looks promising:

I have 3 tests left of the 4 I purchased.  I am looking forward to taking the digital test later when Arthur is here so we can share the digital results together.  We will see!

More to come on our journey to becoming the Miner 3!