First Baby Shower

I love my job and the people I work with.  I have one of the most close-knit teams ever.  I have been working on the Quality Team since September of 2010, about 2 and a half years.  There are 6 girls and 1 guy on my team, plus my boss.  Since both my boss and I are pregnant at the same time, my team decided to throw us a joint baby shower at work.

One day I came back to my desk and there was a cute little envelope on my desk with a bubble gum cigar next to it.  I opened it up and it was the invitation!

The big day came this past Thursday, May 2.  My team scheduled a hour in a meeting room and we all gathered in there.  The decorations were so cute! 

 Here's the door to the meeting room and some of the decorations on the wall:

 

Here is the table with the party favors and the plates.  The party favors had little blue candy in it like suckers and butter mints.  For snacks, we had peanut butter Cheerios balls and Cinnamon Roll cake.  So delicious!  I'm glad I have someone on my team who knows how to bake so well!

 

Here is the banner and the white board where they wrote congratulations on it.

Here are some of the members of my team and some of the gifts at the end of the table. 

I got a lot of really great stuff.  My boss got me my diaper bag on my registry, which was pretty amazing.  I love my diaper bag!!  I know it looks a little boring in this picture, but really it's not.  I picked it because it's brown (my favorite color), and it has a million pockets for stuff.  It also has a long strap that I can wear over my shoulder so I can be hands free.  Arthur also won't feel weird carrying it.  :)

I also got this pretty sweet Baby Donald outfit.  I will have to explain the Baby Donald story in another blog entry. 

Overall, it was an awesome first baby shower.  I still have 3 more to go.  :)

Good Sunday Morning!

I love that it is a 3 day weekend.  I always feel like the weekends are too short.  I think it's because I don't usually do too much, and am pretty lazy.  I like it that way, though... so don't judge me.  :)

Yesterday, Arthur and I slept in until around 11:30 or so.  We played Wii with Mike and hung out for a little bit.  Around 3, we left and went to Buy Buy Baby.  It was pretty cool, but I didn't really see a whole lot I liked.  I think it's because we have a very specific theme in mind for our baby boy.

We are probably going to do his nursery in an "Under the Sea" theme.  I previously joined Pinterest but didn't really use it.  I went back on Thursday night (after we found out that he's a boy) and looked up some fun ideas.

Arthur's favorite theme is a dark brown crib and some cute ocean accessories:

He also likes the wall decoration of these schooling fish:

I'm not too picky, but I'm leaning towards liking the lighter colored wood because to me, it looks less cagey.  :)

I've been pinning some other things, not just room stuff.  I found some cute knit things that would be fun for pictures when he is born.  I just need to learn to knit.  :)

After Buy Buy Baby, we met up with my parents at the mall for a minute so they could pick up Arthur's grill saw.  My dad is redoing his bathroom with one of those walk-in tubs.  I think it's great that he's making an effort to make their house nicer.  He's doing it all himself, but he has asked Arthur to help one weekend when he's free.

At the Mall, Arthur and I went to Gap Kids and I found a really cute hat that was on sale.  I think it's  Christmas hat, but it looks like the 4th of July to me.  Because my due date is July 11th, it will be a perfect little hat for him to wear:

Then, we went to Cheesecake Factory with some friends and my brother.  There was a mixup on the reservation for how many, so Mike and his girlfriend waited for nearly 2 hours for a seat for 2 after we had left.  They still got seated just before 9, so it worked out.   

I ordered the Chicken Bellagio and the Godiva Cheesecake.  Sooooo good!

Arthur and I went to a friends house after dinner and played games.  I was feeling pretty good, so that was appreciated.  Overall, it was a good day.

How far along:  15 Weeks, 3 days
How much time left:  24 Weeks, 4 Days
 
Top two symptoms:  Yesterday my symptoms were slight nausea and a headache later on in the day.  Nothing too bad.  I think they're slowly getting better, which tells me that the 16 week timeframe for my headache going away may be true.  I sure hope so.

Favorite thing I ate today:  I didn't eat much of my dinner because I had Gastric Bypass 10 years ago... so I don't have a lot of room.  So I took it with me and ate some at our friend's house and it was just delicious.  I love that it includes Prosciutto on top, and pesto... two of my favorite things. 

Mood:  My mood yesterday was really good.  Since I found out that I'm having a boy, everything has become happier for me.  I love that.  :)  I did have a few minutes yesterday where I was worried about Mike and his girlfriend getting to eat, and I did have a bit of trouble processing those emotions.  That's one thing about being pregnant that I struggle with, which is not being able to let some things not get to me.  Pregnancy hormones win!

Worried about:  I chatted with a girl last night who was in the group I was with, and she's also pregnant.  She's much farther along that me, 30 weeks or so.  We were talking about different birth methods and whether or not we were going to go natural.  I worry about my pain tolerance, and I struggle to make a solid decision about how I'm going to handle it when the time comes.  I know that I'm going to have intentions of going natural, but I have absolutely no idea how bad it's going to be.  I do plan on pushing myself to stay strong and breathe through the pain... but every time I say that to someone who's been through it, they laugh at me because the know I have no idea how bad it can get.  It doesn't scare me, it feels more like a challenge, which I like.  I am probably over thinking it because I'm not even close to that time yet.  I will have to figure things out soon, I'm sure.  I'm open to advice here!

Excited for:  This might sound weird, but I'm very excited for dinner tonight.  Arthur is making squash and Salmon for dinner from Costco.  There is nothing I love more than salmon!  *drool*

Need to Get Moving!

Today is Sunday.  I have done practically nothing.  I've just finished up an hour long nap, and I'm about ready to get started on cleaning up.  I'm doing the kitchen today, and Arthur is doing the bathrooms.  He already cleaned the majority of the house this week when he put the Christmas away.

Yesterday and today I didn't do much of anything.  I relaxed and had naps, which was so nice after feeling so gross last week.  I am looking forward to a normal week next week.

I spent some time today looking up YouTube movies of people who were able to find out the sex of their baby at their 14 week ultrasound appointment.  I don't expect that I will be able to, but it's nice to hope, right?

I still want to go to the external ultrasound place so I can find out for sure at 15 weeks.  I just want to know if I'm having a boy or a girl!

Let's see... another thing I wanted to blog about was a friend of mine who is also trying for a baby.  She's gone through a lot in her quest to get pregnant.  We've been going through this journey together in a way.  Earlier in the year, she seemed to be more on track to get pregnant than me.  There were a few times that we both were sure she was pregnant, and so I was hopeful for her.  About 2 months before I got pregnant (I think) she wasn't ovulating and so she was worried about being able to get pregnant.  For those of you who don't know what that means, if you're not ovulating, then it means you're not having a period.

She was really worried, and so was I.  She went to the doctor and I think they pointed at a few things, possibly being on birth control for awhile and possibly PCOS (Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome).  PCOS is when you have cysts in your ovaries and so it prevents you from ovulating.  The doctor was able to confirm that she did have cysts.  She went on a medication (I think it's Metformin) and it took away all of the cysts.  It is normally for people who are diabetic, or people who have insulin resistance... but it regulated her blood sugar and helped her get ready to start ovulating again.

Once she got the green light that her cysts had shrunk, she took Provera.  Provera brings on a false (or forced) period since she hadn't had one in so long.  After the jumpstart, she had one cycle that was weird,  after not having a period for so long.  Her second cycle, she ovulated!  The Metformin and Provera worked!  She is now 11 days past ovulation.  If you're pregnant, you can get a positive test starting around this time if you're body starts producing a lot of HCG.

For me, I had a positive test at 13 days past ovulation, but that was a personal choice because I was so nervous about getting a negative test.  I may have gotten one earlier if I had wanted to test sooner.

Anyways, we aren't sure if she's pregnant yet.  She knows her period hasn't come yet, which tells me that she may be pregnant.  She's had a few of the symptoms of pregnancy, like light cramping and exhaustion.  I want it so bad for her, so she can experience this.  It has completely changed my life.  It's like I was going down one road, and when I found out I was pregnant, I turned right and walked in a completely different direction.  Everything is different, and better.  Yes, I am sick a lot and may complain a lot on here, but the hope I feel is incredible.

The reason I talked about her is because I am really impressed by her story.  Even if she doesn't get pregnant this round, she is on her way to getting what she's always wanted and talked about for as long as I've known her.  I do wish I had someone else to come along on this journey with me that I was close with.  Even though I have friends and family members who have been pregnant before, it's different when it's someone who has wanted it as badly as I wanted it.

How far along:  13 Weeks, 3 Days
How much time left:  26 Weeks, 4 Days
 
Top two symptoms:  Today I have been really tired and been moving really slow.  Arthur says it's because I've been in bed most of the day.  Truth or not, I haven't had much energy today.  I'm up and moving now, so I anticipate the nausea will follow. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  Last night it was my night to cook.  Mike and I combined forces and we made Lemon Pepper Panko Crusted Chicken, tortellinis with Alfredo sauce and beans with almonds.  It was so good!  I had some leftover chicken today and it was just as delicious as it was last night.  :)

Mood:  Because I've been really lazy today, my mood has been normal.  I haven't felt too sad or too happy, and so I've appreciated the lack of ups and downs.  Now that I'm up and moving, I think I had better eat something so I don't get crabby.  ;)

Worried about:  I'm a little worried about work this week.  I've had a lot time off to relax and get re-charged... so I'm worried that I won't be used to the pace that this week is going to bring.  I'm just going to stay really positive and focus on getting through each day.  I just need to make sure I'm eating and getting enough sleep.

Excited for:  I do have some exciting news about job-related stuff.  I got an interview for a position I've really wanted for a long time.  It's on Tuesday, so I'll be sure to blog about how it goes.  I'm very excited to have a chance to show what I can do, and to talk about my passion behind this particular type of work.  Oh, I hope, I hope!!

Thank Goodness It's.....

FRIDAY!!!

Finally.  The week is over.  This has been a very long week.  I had a couple of really bad days and a couple of ok days.  I think I would classify today as an ok day. 

I got to work around 8:30 and I started working as soon as I sat down.  I was busy the entire day!  I had to prepare a bunch of stuff because I was going to be out of the office all next week for California.  Hurrayyyyyy!

I had lunch with two really great friends, Terri and Chet.  We went to Thai food and I had the lunch special.  Terri was kind enough to pay, which was so nice. 

I learned that the Social Media position that I'm interested in is going to be posted next week, and I'm excited to apply. 

Tonight I'm craving mashed potatoes so Arthur is making some.  Also, a pizza.  He got a weird frozen pizza in the mail from a survey company.  He's supposed to try cooking and tell them what he thinks.  I'm excited for the potatoes.  ;)

Tomorrow is get ready for trip day.  I will, however, be sleeping in.  I don't think I can deal with another 5:00 AM wakeup day.  Ugh!

How far along:  8 weeks, 1 day
How much time left:  31 weeks, 6 days
Top two symptoms:  Headache and Exhaustion.  My nausea was under control today because I really tried to keep my stomach half-full.  The headache was really bad before lunch, so I tried to eat some chocolate before I headed out.  It seemed to help. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  Tom Ka soup from the Thai restaurant.  It is a coconut milk soup, and I had it with some Jasmine rice.  Soo good!

Mood:  My mood today was good to great.  There were a few times during the day that I was super exhausted, but I tried to stay as happy as I could.

Worried about:  A few things.  The workload when I get back from vacation and being comfortable on the ride to and back from California.  I hope I can have a chance to get out and walk on the drive.  My legs will go crazy!!

Excited for:  Not thinking about work for a whole week.  :)

2 days late and a meal short

I haven't blogged in 3 days.  I feel terrible.  Sunday and Monday were such busy days for me, I didn't have a chance to sit down and blog. 

I think I'll give the Campbells Soup version of my past two days so I can get caught up.  

On Sunday, I spent the day doing chores and preparing for an interview I had on Monday.  The job is for an Instructional Designer on the training team.

On Monday, I had the interview.  It went ok.  Afterwards, I didn't feel super excited about how it went, or super bad.  I feel like it went the way it should have gone, and that gave me peace.  If I make it through to the next round, I will have an interview next week. 

After work, Arthur and I went to Shane Co. to get my ring.  We dropped it off on Saturday to have it cleaned.  It was so sparkly!  I've never had it cleaned before, and I've had it for 4 1/2 years. 

Today has been good, not too busy.  I've appreciated the extra time to get some stuff done.  I only had a few meetings and a couple of interviews for people who were applying for our team. 

How far along:  5 Weeks, 5 days
How much time left:  34 Weeks, 2 days
Top two symptoms:  Nausea and Exhaustion.  Today my nausea has been over the top.  I have been getting hungry every 10 minutes or so after I eat.  And it isn't like how I normally feel, where I'm just munchy... it's like a pit in my stomach that makes me want to eat as many things as I can get my hands on.  I thought for sure that cravings and hunger were a myth, but they're not.  I kept telling myself that I was grateful to have these pregnancy symptoms because it means that everything is still ok down there.  :)  Exhaustion has been ridiculous today...  I had to take a nap at lunchtime in my car to feel normal the rest of the day.  :(

Favorite thing I ate today:  Apple slices that my friend Ashley gave me.  They saved the nauseous day!

Mood:  Today my mood was slightly annoyed and frustrated with how I was feeling.  I almost feel like my head is nailed to a piece of wood and I can feel this constant, dull pressure.  That led how I felt the whole day.  I tried to be really positive though, because I know that this is what I've been wanting for so long. 

Worried about:   I'm telling my family in a week that I'm pregnant.  Although I'm excited, I realized that it's coming very fast.  I need to prepare for it.  I also worry about the way I'm feeling physically.  I know that it's normal, but I wish that I had some reassurance from a doctor that I'm ok.  *sigh*

Excited for:  I'm also excited to tell my family.  I am looking forward to the happy tears and the questions about when, and how far along.  Not a lot of people know right now, and the more people that know, the better.  I like to talk about it, and it's helpful to get the additional hope from others.  I want to talk to others who have been through this first part who can reassure me that it's normal.  I'm not really talking about my symptoms with anyone who has felt this way, so I hope I'm normal.  But, I do appreciate more than anything the support that I have had so far.  Without the few that I have shared this with, I wouldn't have been able to get through it with such positivity.  :)

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!