Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

15 weeks

So other than feeling much better this week, not much else has changed in week 15. I am still craving HPM's chicken salad, but thanks to a sweet Mrs. Pat I will be getting that pretty soon! :) 

Here are some bump pictures from this week. 








goodbye "morning" sickness?

Last Tuesday I felt wonderful! I didn't get nauseous once and I had so much energy. I hadn't realized how lethargic I had been feeling until I actually had energy. It was wonderful- I thought I had passed the "morning" sickness phase for sure!

Until Wednesday. I felt nauseous during the day- multiple times and I got sick. I was so bummed, I really wanted to feel more like myself again (as much as possible) and Tuesday gave me hope that I was there!

BUT... I started to feel better Thursday around noon- and I have felt great since!! I finally believe that I may truly be past this part! I still have random nauseous moments, but they pass quickly and I don't get sick so I will take them!

I think I am back in the game- as much as a pregnant lady can be! I could literally do flips with excitement. But I probably should refrain on account of the baby and my previous middle school back flip injury. I guess I shouldn't get carried away. But in any event- I am beyond thrilled. :)

Monday, January 21, 2013

week 14 recap

I don't feel like a whole lot has changed in the past few weeks, but I thought I would add a quick food recap and a few baby bump photos.

I still don't think I have strong cravings for specific foods, however there are certain foods that I seem to have a strong appreciation for and wouldn't mind eating once a day. If I don't get them though, I am ok too. Here is a list of those foods: tomato and mozzarella panini from Panera, chicken salad, and a multigrain bagel from Starbucks (I won't eat any other kind of bagel, from any other place). I started really wanting chicken salad maybe a week or two ago? I have always loved the chicken salad sandwiches from Highland Park Market, which unfortunately for me is in CT. I asked my parents if they wanted to come for the weekend last week (dead serious) and if they could make the trip, if they could also kindly bring me a few chicken salad sandwiches. :) They weren't able to come, but luckily for me I found a local fresh food cafe that has a really good chicken salad too. Thank the Lord! (Ok maybe that qualifies as a legit craving?)

Food aversions that I find surprising: potato chips, cheez its, and french fries. Like I said before, ice cream doesn't really do it for me either. These four food aversions in particular really surprise me because they have always been my biggest weakness! While I wish I was eating more vegetables (they are not appealing AT ALL), I am grateful these foods don't appeal to me either.



These pictures are not stellar- I will work on taking better ones. Sarah requested that I send her a picture of baby G everyday, so some of these are from what I have sent her. Since I am sending them daily to my sister, I am not too concerned about taking the best quality photos. I will work on it for the blog though so the bathroom selfies can come to an end.



13.5 weeks:



14.5 weeks:





end of week 14: (photo taken by 4 year old Ella at work)


(my comfy pre-pregnacy t shirts keep riding up, and I don't realize it when they do. luckily I always wear a longer tank underneath. but those are also riding up. sad news for my comfy t shirt collection.)

Sunday, January 20, 2013

the flutter

My mom told me a few weeks ago that when the baby moves, it is a different kind of feeling- that it would feel like a flutter, almost like a butterfly, and that at first I wouldn't know that it was the baby. But once I realized that it was the baby moving I would also realize that I had been feeling it for a short time- unaware of what it was.

Today, was that day. I was skyping with my mom and I felt this feeling in my lower abdomen. It felt like a pulse almost, and I realized I had been feeling it for about a week or so. Remembering what my mom had told me, I interrupted her, and I explained what I felt and asked if that was the baby. She said it was. I got so excited! It was the first time I felt the baby move and realized that it was the baby! It really does feel like something is fluttering inside of you. I can't wait to feel it again- the movement of our sweet miracle inside of me. It is such a special feeling- I can't even fully describe what it is like and what emotions it causes. But just like the little life itself, it feels miraculous. And I am so thrilled. And I miss feeling it. And I wish I knew it was the baby sooner so I could have thoroughly enjoyed each time I felt it up until now.

I think it is also important to note that I felt the baby flutter after I ate a cup of chocolate pudding. That must mean that the baby already likes chocolate just like his/her momma, and Nana, and Aunts...and the list goes on.  :)




As for how I have been feeling lately- my "morning" sickness has stayed the same, unfortunately. I am still repulsed by most foods and find carbs to be the easiest to eat/the only food I can really stand the thought of. I had a brutal stomach bug last week that lasted 3+ days. I felt absolutely awful, wasn't sleeping, and at first I wasn't sure if it was a new pregnancy symptom or a virus. I called the doctor and they advised me, after 24+ hours, that I should go to my primary care doctor as it was probably a virus. So I did and learned that it was a virus and not an infection, and that most importantly the baby was healthy. Today is Sunday, and I am just starting to feel close to 100% better.

I appreciate all the prayers that were sent our way this week, I know a lot of our family and friends knew I wasn't well and I felt the prayers on Thursday night for sure. I am so grateful for such a loving support system- no matter how far away we may live!


Love you all!
T, Lee, and baby G

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Baby G

Our story:


Lee and I moved to Charlotte, NC on July 1, 2012.  Lee got a new job as a financial advisor, which had always been his dream job. I, being a teacher, could find a job anywhere there were schools. So when the opportunity came up for Lee- we took it.

It was incredibly hard driving away from our family and friends- and everything that we had known our whole lives. I begged Lee to turn the moving truck around as we drove down my parents street because I didn't feel strong enough- I couldn't handle how heart-wrenching it was. It took everything inside of Lee not to turn around for me (he just told me that part a few weeks ago). But, it turns out I guess I am a bit stronger than I thought and we made it to Charlotte. It has been very hard at times missing our CT people, but we really like it here

We have found an amazing church that we absolutely love. Lee is the happiest that I have ever seen him, doing a job that he thoroughly enjoys. I found a job as a nanny, while I am not teaching in a classroom, I do sometimes still feel like a teacher. Except I don't have to administer standardized tests, I can play and do crafts all day long, and I have to change dirty diapers (pros and cons I guess). I work for the most generous, kind family I have ever met with the three sweetest children. 

We rented an apartment, and my brother ended up moving down here and is living with us. We talked often of houses and where in Charlotte we'd like to buy, and when we thought would be a good time for us to buy. We came up with a pretty good plan, I thought. We'd buy a house within the next 8-10 months, get a puppy, and then start a family by the end of 2013. That gave us enough time to finish settling in here, and get fully adjusted. 

The Lord, however, had different plans for us. One Tuesday night I got home from work and I took a pregnancy test on a whim- not thinking much about it. After a few minutes passed, I looked and saw a + sign. I could not believe my eyes. A  +?? Really?? I went out of the bathroom to find Lee immediately. I am not sure exactly what I said but all I know is my jaw was dropped, and I must have said "come here" because he followed me back into the bathroom. He looked at the test and looked back at me and was really surprised as well. The next few moments- I can not remember for the life of me. I wish I could since it is such a big moment in our lives- but I got nothing. I know we hugged and then I quickly said, "we need to go to Target to buy more tests." So we did. We went home and took a few more tests and they all came back positive. 

I could not believe it. This was not our plan. This didn't seem like a good time- we were still transitioning from being away from life in Connecticut. Over the next few days Lee and I discussed a lot of things. We talked about how our plans were now, obviously, going to change, and what we were going to do about it all. Lee was 100% excited all of the time. He went out the very next day and bought me a pregnancy book and he went to the Harley Davidson store and bought a onsie set. I went from being excited to shocked to anxious and back to excited. I am such a planner at heart that not having planned this was a bit hard for me to swallow. I was excited, and so thankful for the little miracle growing inside of me, but it took me a few days to calm my anxiety and just fully bask in the excitement of it all. Over the next few weeks, I read as much as I could, researched to find a good doctor in our new city, asked a lot of questions, prayed a ton, and continued to discuss our future plans with Lee.

On January 3, 2013 we went to the doctor and saw our sweet baby and heard the heartbeat. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen or heard. After that appointment, it started to feel very real. Seeing that little life inside of me was the most beautiful moment in my entire life. It's been about 5 days since my appointment and I miss seeing our baby- I wish I could go every day for an ultrasound. :) 




How I have been feeling:

I started to get pretty sick in my 8th week. It started out as strictly in the morning that first week, I would wake up really nauseous but never got sick. After that week, it went from true morning sickness to all day/randomly throughout the day sickness. I am in my thirteenth week today and I am still experiencing that. I was told I have about a week and a half left of this, and I really hope that's accurate because I am ready to stop getting sick all the time and I really want to be able to eat more than just pasta.

As much as I'm fed up with not feeling well, I must say hearing that heartbeat made it all worth it. And that is only a glimpse of how much it will all be worth it in the end.



Food I eat:

I haven't had any significant cravings yet but I have had many aversions. Like all food except carbs. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I used to mostly eat cereal, bread, and pasta. But lately (within the past few days) it is really only just pasta. Cereal was my go to snack for a while, but lately I can't stand the thought of it. In fact, that is how it is with most food that I normally enjoy- I don't even want to eat ice cream any more! (who am I??) 



Baby bump:

I am just getting out of that awkward stage where I mostly just looked bloated and like I need to buy a new pair of pants- a size up. My belly seems to have grown in the past week and my pants are now too tight- even my yoga pants. I bought maternity leggings last week and I am so grateful for them because they are so comfortable and I can dress them up a bit so I am not wearing yoga pants everywhere. I bought maternity jeans too, but I absolutely hate them. I am not sure if it's just that my belly isn't big enough to fill them enough yet or what but I hate wearing them. 



week 8 (I think):


week 12:





week 13:










This is such a long first post! But since I am 13 weeks along, I had a lot to say I guess. My posts from this point forward won't be this long I promise.