Morning Sickness

Well, I am 11 weeks pregnant today! I'm not sure, but I think I'm at the point where most people start to wind down from their morning sickness. I, on the other hand, never really had it! I always had this picture in my mind of feeling the need to make friends with the toilet bowl and realizing that I might be pregnant because of it. Instead, I haven't felt the urge to "spill my guts" even one time! The symptoms I have had are sore "chest", bloating, fatigue, a need to pee every five seconds (or so it feels), and every once in a while a little bit of bad nausea. There have maybe been a handful of days where I just felt too yucky to do anything. Everyone keeps telling me how blessed I am that I didn't have bad morning sickness. But from my perspective, even though throwing up is the worst, the lack of morning sickness has made me "feel" less pregnant. I feel like I won't ever get to commiserate with my friends about that tough first trimester that gave way to a pleasant second trimester. Like I am missing out on part of what it means to "be pregnant." Well, maybe next time! ;-)

The First Appointment

I remember when I first found out that I was pregnant and I made the phone call to schedule an appointment with a completely new OB/GYN. The earliest they had available was August 10th and I remember thinking how incredibly far away that was. I even asked while I made the appointment if that was normal to wait until 9 weeks along to come in for the first time. It felt like when you make that call they should be rushing you in to confirm the pregnancy and make sure everything is going well.

I have to admit, waiting for those 5 weeks to see the doctor was difficult for me. I found myself going back and forth having complete faith that everything was going to be ok and then to having fears that there may be something wrong and I was just waiting to find out what it was. The two vacations that we took between finding out I was pregnant and going to the doctor helped a little bit to keep my mind off of things. While I had some symptoms, I was not having any "morning sickness" like it seemed like every other pregnant woman on the face of the Earth had. I wondered if my lack of sickness was a bad sign.

Whenever I felt overwhelmed I remembered Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I remembered that no matter what was happening with our sweet little baby inside of me that God is always in control and that He is there for us through every circumstance, good or bad.

Finally the day arrived. I had so many emotions! I was excited, nervous, and anxious. All I could focus on was the ultrasound that we would have. I wanted to see that there was really a baby in there and that it had a beautiful little heartbeat.

Jared picked me up and we headed to the doctors office. I signed in and then they had their financial counselor go over our insurance with us to let us know what to expect. Thankfully we have wonderful insurance so there is no extra stress with what we will owe for this pregnancy. After that was all over Jared decided he needed to use the restroom and I went back into the waiting room. Not 30 seconds later did they call my name to come back. I ran back to where the bathroom was and yelled at Jared to hurry up they were calling me! I thought that I was just going to be doing my bloodwork first but as we headed towards the end of the hallway and she directed me to the room I read the sign that said Ultrasound on it and got nervous! This was it! It was happening now! I was trying to take it all in and not miss a moment!

As we entered the dark room I set my purse down and laid on the table. Jared sat down in a chair against the wall haha! I told him to come stand by me! I think he was overwhelmed that this was all happening so quickly! She put the gel on my stomach and immediately I could see our baby on the screen :-) I didn't know that i would be able to tell the parts so clearly this early but we could clearly see the head, body, arm and leg buds! What an amazing sight. I started to cry but tried to hold my belly still at the same time. I remember smiling so big it hurt. She pointed out the heart beat to us and there it was just flickering away. She even switched over so that we could hear it for a few seconds. It was the best sound I have ever heard in my entire life. The baby was about one inch long and the heartbeat was 176 bpm! I could not tear my eyes away from the screen for the whole time, I didn't want to miss a moment! I could feel Jared watching me and I hear a little sniffle coming from him. What an amazing moment holding his hand knowing that this little miracle was half me, half him. Every time I think about it I feel like I'm going to cry with pure joy!

After we were done with the ultrasound they had us wait in the waiting room again for what felt like forever. We really just wanted to get out of there and celebrate! :-) They called me back and I made Jared stay in the waiting for while I had my exam with the doctor. All through the exam my phone was vibrating from texts that Jared was sending me from the waiting room. He was saying "Should I come back there?? I don't want to miss anything!!" haha I asked the nurse if she would go ahead and get him and he finally got to come back with me. He was so relieved he didn't miss anything (well anything he would want to be a part of that is haha). We talked to the doctor a little and I just love her. I am so glad to have switched and have her as my doctor. After that was my blood work which always makes me nervous but I tried to be tough! What helped was that while I was talking to the nurse taking my blood I told her that we had gotten pregnant pretty quickly. She said "Well that's good right" and Jared very quickly said "Yep!" That really tickled her and she started joking with him, saying "Well he sure is proud of himself! He thinks he's Superman over here! Bless his heart!" haha She was just teasing but it helped the blood work so quicker for me so I was thankful for the distraction.

Finally we were done with the appointment! We left there with a little bag full of goodies to take home. We could not stop looking at our baby's first pictures. What a little sweet pea he/she already is! We headed out to, where else?, Abuelos for dinner to celebrate! After that we took the pictures over to show Mom, Dad, Kell, Clint, and Tatum at Mom and Dad's house. Everyone was so excited although I don't think Tater Tot could really tell what the picture was! :-) After leaving there Jared and I decided to get a dessert from Publix to celebrate the day with. We picked up a mini chocolate cake and headed home. Jared's parents came over then and saw the pictures and were excited for us too! I texted the baby's picture to Brandy and to Josh so that they could see their niece/nephew too!

It was such a long day but honestly seeing the baby and being there with Jared, it was one of the best days of my entire life.

I am thanking and praising God for this little life inside of me what feels like every minute of every day. Now that we have seen our baby everything just feels real! We can't wait to find out boy or girl and get to work on the nursery and thinking about names! :-) I just want to cherish every minute.

To my sweet baby:

I have loved you every second since I found out that you were growing inside of me. You are the most special blessing that Daddy and I could ever ask for. I am praying for you every single day. I pray for you to be healthy and grow strong. I pray for the day that you arrive and we meet you for the first time. I pray for your future that you would love the Lord with all your heart and that Daddy and I will take wonderful care of you.

Baby, you are SO blessed to have the Daddy that you do. He is one of the sweetest men on this planet and he is taking such good care of me (and you) already! I look forward to the day that I will see him holding you in his arms for the first time. You are going to love him so much, he will always be there to love and take care of you!

The moment I saw you for the first time on the ultrasound I knew I would never be the same. You are the most precious thing I have every seen in my life and I am so thankful that God has trusted us with you. Hearing your little heartbeat and how fast it was, was the best sound I have ever heard in my life. I pray that Daddy and I always look to the Lord to guide us as we make decisions as your parents.

We can't wait to meet you Baby!

Love with all my heart,

Mommy

Daddy's Thoughts: The First Appointment

Today is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life! Mommy and I had our first appointment with the doctor and we were so nervous for the unexpected. We got to the doctors office at 1:30 PM and immediately after we went over the paperwork they called us back. Little did we know that we would be seeing you for the first time a few minutes later. We were expecting the ultrasound to take place at the end of the appointment, but it was the first thing they did.

When they began the ultrasound, you popped up so quickly on the screen. You were only an inch long but you were one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! I could not hold back the tears as I saw my tiny beautiful baby growing inside the woman I love. I loved watching mommy watch you on the screen, she was so excited to see you for the first time. We saw your little heart beating so fast, the doctor said it was beating 176 beats per minute. She even let us hear the heart beating. It was an amazing moment to actually hear the life (you) inside mommy. It was a beautiful sound! We were so happy to see you for the first time and we can't wait for the next appointment.

I love you so much already and I am praying for you and mommy every day. You are the greatest gift God could ever give me and mommy as a couple! I can't wait to see you again, but until that time I will continue to take care of mommy and love on her.

I love you!

Daddy