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.