Friends: Round 2

We hosted a small cookout with more of our close friends to spread the news - again, it’s so nice to have people happy and excited for us, spreading their love. I’m also thankful for friends who’ve been down this road before that I can look to for advice and knowledge!

I had been up since 7:30 nonstop with cleaning and getting ready for the day, so by 11:30 I was toast.

We laughed that 2-3 years ago our party would have been “just getting started” - but I’m happy. I can truly say my 20s were for me and having fun and now in my 30s I don’t feel like staying up late and I enjoy waking up early : )

I feel like after our 12-week check-up, the news can now be “public” and I don’t have to hide this gut anymore... well, maybe a few more days at work - ??

Work will be a whole ‘nuther ballgame to deal with!

Popcorn Dinner

5/26/2011: 12 Weeks

It’s my own fault - I think. I had a huge helping of Dairy Queen ice cream cake yesterday for a coworker’s birthday. Any other non-pregnant day, I would have had half the serving or none at all because it’s just that unnatural to me. But dang, it hit the spot.

So last night I made a healthy pasta/veggie dish and as we sat down to eat I could only look at it - I felt nauseous! I had like two bites and said “I can’t eat this!” I think it was my first “morning” sickness - only in the evening.

Eventually around 8:45 I thought popcorn sounded good, so I made up a batch and felt fine.

As I sat in the over-stuffed chair with my large bowl of popcorn in my lap and my 12-week pooch, I was reminded of a photo my Dad took of my Mom, pregnant with Stephanie, eating a huge bowl of popcorn and me laying in her lap!

Friends: Round 1

5/21/2011: 11 Weeks

We wound up going to a concert this past Friday with a handful of our close friends and while I am still nervous about the development of the baby, if anything bad were to happen, these would be the friends I would tell and lean on, so I felt okay spilling.

I don’t know why I was nervous - good friends will obviously be very happy for you and they didn’t disappoint. Although everyone pretty much already guessed since I didn’t run the Half Pig and haven’t been drinking : D Dead give away when you like your beer!

The Last Sip

5/13/2011: 10 Weeks

My sisters enjoyed this tale and it makes me laugh too:

My last drink of alcohol before the discovery? Two glasses of white wine while watching The Jersey Shore. Classy.

Knives & Cheerleading Jumps

5/15/2011: 10 Weeks

My sisters were onto me! Suspicions started when I wasn’t drinking at the My Morning Jacket concert - of course. Katherine was very observant; noticing Tim’s attentiveness and my second cookie [“you never have seconds on cookies!”].

They were both so so happy and excited to be Aunts and help watching “The Boot” when we need it. And it makes me happy that they are so exited : )

Saturday a few girls had lunch for another friend who is 5 months along. She looks great and is just glowing. I kept mum, but was storing every bit of information and advice that was given during lunch!

Saturday evening we had dinner at the Krons - once all the adults were in the kitchen I told Dottie & Amy I was waiting until the last minute for a dress - because I was 10 week pregnant. Amy screamed “WHAT??!!,” leapt out of her chair in what I’m pretty sure was a cheerleading split. I should have paid attention because Dottie had a huge knife in her hand, but luckily when she yelped in excitement she didn’t cut herself!

Tim went ahead and told Kathy and Molly over the phone so now we've taken care of immediate family!

The Cat is Inching Out of the Bag...

5/9/2011: 9 Weeks

Nothing much to report - still feeling very good. Been enjoying quiet weekends at home. We tag-teamed re-painting the bathroom this past Saturday - I did as much as I could without painting to stay away from any dangerous chemicals, even though I did purchase No-VOC paint. I've also made sure all my household cleaners are as natural as can be - which I already am - but taking extra precautions now.

My Doctor told me I can tell anyone whenever I want but a good rule of thumb is whoever you tell early, you would share any painful news, too. So of course the first person on the list is my parents! Even better - I told my Mom on Mother’s Day. I made her a card that said “You have a Mother’s Day secret to keep for 3 more weeks...” on the cover and on the inside said, “Grandma!!! [& Grandpa].” As expected, my Mom - and Dad - were overjoyed! I couldn’t stop shaking since it was the first person we've told!

It was fun being able to talk to my Mom about this personal experience - I’m sure I'll be asking her [and my friends] lots of questions. It was interesting to hear that she had all THREE of us naturally; I popped out in 4 hours, Stephanie came out in 5 hours and Katherine the wonder baby was out within twenty-eight minutes of arriving at the hospital! Man, I hope those genes pass down!

Next up: telling sisters on Thursday!!

Heartbeat!

4/27/2011: 8 Weeks

Monday was our first OB visit - I think I’m going to stick with my ObGyn group; they have midwives on staff which interests me...

Anyway, Tim joined me and we sat down with my current doctor who did a lot of talking and answered any questions we had.

We received a bag full of information and booklets which was slightly overwhelming.

Then it was time for the ultrasound! They found the little sucker and we saw the super-fast fluttering heart - whoa! We were also able to hear the heartbeat! It was just surreal - that little bugger is inside me?? Crazy!

Good visit, lots to read through and decisions to make about delivery, hospital and verify I want to stay with my practice - needless to say, it’s been hard to fall asleep lately with all the What-Ifs flying through my head!

Deep In the Heearrrrt of Texas!

4/27/2011: 8 Weeks

Major trips for my first trimester are over! Dallas was challenging as I expected. Of course I lied and said I was not pregnant, just cutting back with “all my running,” etc. Not sure if it’s believable, whatever.

If we were in a bar, I would not order from the waitress, but leave for the restroom and come back with a [virgin] cocktail.

Dallas was very fun overall - great weather, good friends and laughs, even a day at a pool! I did freak out a bit on our 3rd night - smoking is allowed indoors in Ft. Worth [gross] and I did not want to miss out on the night to Billy Bob’s Honky Tonk. I did a search on my phone and it seems just one night won’t cause any major problems. So I dealt as best I could but by 1am, I physically could not take the smoke anymore and I worked myself up that I was harming the baby. Thankfully we left around 1am.

Additionally, I’d started to get a scratchy throat on the plane over [gross recycled air] and it grew to a sore throat, then morphed into runny/stuffy nose and sneezing. I’m somewhat use to a few days of seasonal allergies. Or was it pollen in Texas? Or is it the pregnancy?

Either way, Saturday was a FULL day of lunch out, then roaming the Historic Stockyards, then dinner with Kathy, Jaimie, Izzie and Alex - all super fun. On the car ride home, I crashed hard. I tried to nap when we got back around 7:30. Woke at 8:45 and some were still asleep. My allergies were awful and I did NOT feel like being up again until 2am at the clubs.

I was honest and said I didn’t feel good and just could not rally for another night and my friends respected that and we all did our separate things. Tim was a fantastic husband and stayed back with me and we hunkered down and watched TV until midnight while our pals rolled in at 3:30am - whew! Good call on my part!

I Miss You.

I like beer. I like the flavor. It’s a lovely thing after a long week. And I never thought I’d say I get bored of water. Mixing cranberry juice and soda water has been okay - refreshing. So while at Whole Foods, we found Kaliber - Guinness’ Non-Alcoholic beer. Guinness makes it so it has to taste pretty good, right?

Well I’ve found out why beer tastes good: the hops. And there are no hops in non-alcoholic beer and I could tell right away - this stuff is strange. It looks like a lager, fizzes like a lager, but that simple ingredient really makes a difference.

I drank it, it was ok. I also bought Buckler by Heineken - we’ll see if it performs any better.

London

4/8/2011: 5 Weeks

It's been doable... but dodgey. Not being able to drink a pint in London is torture for me. And no pub serves non-alcoholic options, so I've been resorting to cranberry juice & soda water - not too bad.

I've been asked if I'm pregnant and just saying “I’m taking it easy this trip for my health.” Which IS true. Hopefully I can use that in Dallas as well.

Other than early jet lag, I've felt great, just the normal Week 5 symptoms. I feel bad ducking out on my girlfriends because we'd normally be out at a pub right now, but I just want to hide away until I'm in the 'safe' zone around Week 12.