Bloat or Uterus?...You Decide.

I am now 9 weeks 4 days pregnant. I cannot help but be excited that I will be in double digits in three days. AND, only three more weeks until my second trimester. Well, three weeks and three days...but who's counting?

So, above you see my belly. What do you think, bloat or uterus? I have been bloated for weeks now but my belly is starting to feel different. Maybe a little harder? I don't know. I don't even know if it's at all possible that I'm starting to "show" yet. Eh, either way, it's kind of fun.

This week, I'm feeling a little better than last week. The nausea is still here but not quite as fierce as the last couple of weeks. I'm hardly ever hungry still and I'm eating a little less right now, mostly because I feel so sick after a "meal", so snacks are where its at for me right now. The fatigue is still pretty bad but that, I can handle. Please don't ask about my boobs.

The newest feeling is what I now know is "round ligament pain". Oh yes, yet another pregnancy plus! This is basically the ligaments surrounding my uterus, stretching and making room for the kid. It.hurts. It can be a sharp pain on either side of my lower abdomen or dull ache. Either way, it feels weird. However, it is just another one of those sweet reminders that the baby is thriving and doing well. Truth be told, I would rather feel all of these slight oddities rather than nothing at all. It's somewhat comforting in a way. I think that any previously pregnant woman would agree with me. Ask me in about 25 weeks how I feel about all of this though...

The baby has arms, hands and even fingers this week. The eyes are well developed and it's moving around a lot, as it's muscles are growing! It's the size of a "medium green olive", as I'm told. It's still unreal to me that this is going on inside of my body. It's like some weird science project to read about but truly, a miracle.

Although I've been very good about not buying anything (and I mean, I have not bought one thing, which is some sort of record for me) I began looking online for Florida State gear for the little one. I'm unbelievably excited about it. Weird, I know. I found all kinds of fun things that I will be buying within the next couple of months. I'm still making myself wait another month though. Self control. I has it.

Our next doctor's appointment is one week from Thursday and we're counting the minutes. I just want to hear the heartbeat, not just see it. That will give me a healthy dose of reality and definite reassurance that the little one is just fine. Plus, that means just a little over a months until we find out if it's a boy or a girl!

Oh, and, the Asheville cabin plans...scraped. Dustin made a good point to me that in February, its going to be pretty ugly up there, and possible rainy. That would make for a miserable me (and a bored husband). So, the new plan is to take a few days and explore more of Florida. Probably St. Augustine and Crystal River. We're going to do the Asheville thing in late October or early November of next year with the baby and maybe the families too. It will be a perfect first trip with the baby =)

Finding Nemo...

Last weekend I said that Dustin and my dad would be starting on the reef tank this week...well, its done! All we need are the fish!

I guess I should explain why this is a "project"...

For those of you that aren't aware (like I wasn't), reef tanks are A LOT of work. Tons of maintenance and preparation. I won't even begin to bore you with the details because not even I care, to be honest, but I should mention that the boys cut a hole into our house for this project, which is why this was such a process. In our living room, there is a huge wall that did have a beautiful painting, done by my husband, of where we got married. He decided about a year ago that he would rather have a reef tank there. Fine. Your project. Good luck.


Here it is in the works:

In our garage, cutting holes...

He is so excited about this...

Me being very skeptical about this...

Just watching...

aaaaand, done!

So, now we just need the fish, which is easier said than done. I guess we won't have them in there for about a month because of having to regulate the water or some craziness! Anyway, I'll post more pictures when there are some living things in there.

They did a great job and its going to look pretty cool. The baby will love it =)

I have a slight addiction to planning things.

Confession: I am a planning addict. I always have to be planning something, whether it be for me or someone else. When I grow up, I want to be an event planner. I'm just too chicken shit to take the risk of doing so.
The reason why this all occurred to me is because last night I was on an obsessive mission to plan a winter vacation.

I should back up a little though...
As soon as we returned from Costa Rica...no, strike that, before we even left for Costa Rica, I was planning our 2009 vacation. These were the ideas before we got pregnant:

• We were going to go to some new (to us) exotic country like Brazil or Bocas Del Tora in Panama.
• California and do a 10 day trip from San Fran to L.A.
• Back to Costa Rica for a week (which was not in consideration until after we returned from our August trip).
• Lake Tahoe with our friends Derek and Tiff.

As usual, I began going on tripadvisor.com almost everyday and researching all of the above mentioned possibilities. We were closest to being set with Lake Tahoe. Derek had a place for us to stay and I have never been on a "cold" vacation. Plus, the first two were way out of budget and we really should see some other places besides Costa Rica.

Then, we found out I'm pregnant. We immediately scratched the idea of traveling internationally. I'm just not comfortable doing so pregnant. I looked back into the California trip but still could not really come up with an affordable trip.

So, that left Tahoe. We would be going in January and to be honest, as much as I would LOVE to see Tahoe, I want to be able to try things like skiing and snowboarding while I'm there, which I wouldn't be able to do. Plus, I'm a big baby and the elevation is concerning me because of the pregnancy. (Go ahead, laugh).

Our new possiblity, on Dustin's suggestion: North Carolina, maybe the Asheville area. Someone suggested Maggie Valley. A cute little cabin with a fire place sounds perfect.
If you have other suggestions, let me know!

So this begins the research. We're looking to go In late February so I have some time!

Anyway, the weather here is so pretty today. Dry and breezy. Still hot but beautiful. It makes me very happy that I did not get pregnant in the dead of summer. Hormones make me crazy and hot anyway, I don't need the weather to do that!

I never thought I'd be a "blogger"...

As a matter of a fact, I just found out what a "blog" was not too long ago. I mean, I've heard the term a lot but I guess I never cared what it was. I will go ahead and credit my online "knottie" friends for gracing me with the knowledge of what a "blog" actually is. A lot of those girls have blogs so I decided to check them out. It's very voyeuristic in some ways. I feel like I'm being nosy, which I tend to be anyway, so it's fun for me!

So, despite the title of my blog (which was just a lack of creativity), I'm going to attempt to make this about more than just my pregnancy. My goal is to make it about our life in general. But who am I kidding? My whole life is about pregnancy right now, whether I want to admit it or not. It's very mind consuming. I will try, however, to add some general life info!

In a way, I view this whole blogging thing as narcissism. Its basically getting people in your life to read all about YOU, right? It's shallow and self serving, in my opinion. Well, yes, call it what you want but I am also using this to journal. I have always been a big fan of writing and journaling. It has always been a good outlet for me and I'll be honest, pregnancy has caused me to need an outlet, for the bad and the good. So now I can just type instead of getting a hand cramp, AND people who want to read about my life, can. So, enjoy....





I won't bore anyone with what has happened in last few months. I think everyone is familiar with the facts: we got married August 9th in Costa Rica, had the most AMAZING trip of our lives, we got back to Florida and, well...got pregnant!

We were so excited to find out the news. Neither Dustin or I thought it was possible that it could happen so fast! (Yes, I paid attention in sex ed class but let's face it, my eggs are getting a little, um, seasoned.) We just feel very blessed and terribly excited for this baby. I found out super early and we told everyone, even though that is supposed to be taboo, but, we didn't care. We were too excited not to tell. Dustin announced it at our Florida reception on September 27th, so those that didn't know before that, knew then!

I am now 8 weeks and 3 days pregnant. This is the way you gauge pregnancy when you're actually pregnant. Its not "I'm 2 months pregnant", its "I'm 8 weeks". I never understood why the weeks were so important before...now I DEFINITELY do. In my opinion, its all about milestones. At 7 weeks I had my first appointment and we saw the heartbeat via ultrasound (and I think its worth mentioning that I felt like Rachel from "Friends" when she couldn't see the baby on the ultrasound screen). 12 weeks means I'll be in the second trimester, or "out of the miscarrying woods", sort of speak. At 18 weeks, we can find out the sex (which we will). At 27 weeks I'll be in my third trimester and of course, at 40 weeks, I'll be having the baby. My estimated due date is May 28, 2009...which happens to be Dustin's birthday! Oh, and there are all kinds of tests, ultrasounds and appointments in between all of those weeks too! So much mom never told me...

I'm not going to sugar coat it, pregnancy is draining, scary, strange, wonderful, exciting, hopeful, weird, and amazing...all wrapped into one. The question of most days is, "How are you feeling???". The answer: "Like shit", most days. Here are the facts, from my perspective:

• The term "morning sickness" is bullshit. I'm nauseated every.single.day.all.day.long.
  
• I eat every two hours, even in the middle of the night.
• Nothing ever looks or sounds good to me. Food television commercials are the devil.
• The world smells way worse than I ever thought.
• I'm so bloated that I already look 7 months pregnant. Hardly any of my clothes fit me anymore.
• My boobs are absolutely enormous and they hurt like hell (sorry if I'm making anyone uncomfortable).
• I could stay on the couch and nap all day (and night) long.
• I am very emotional.

Everyone keeps saying, "It will get so much better. One day you will wake up and feel GREAT!". Ok. Get me there now, please. I pray that I get mommy Alzheimers so I will have another child. At this point, I don't know how anyone goes through this more than once. Hey, I said I wasn't going to sugar coat. All of my friends have been amazingly wonderful and are probably so sick of hearing me bitch. Jaime, Annie, Jody, Shannon....thank you for reassuring me that this is all worth it. I look at all of your kids and think to myself, "how can this NOT be worth it?".

I know, I know, I'm making it sound horrible. It isn't. It's the furthest thing from horrible. It is truly amazing. Especially when I see what's happening inside of my body.

This is an image inside the womb at 8 weeks:



It's the size of a raspberry! How crazy is that??

Here is what I look like on the outside:



This is what I signed up for: sacrificing my body (temporarily) for this baby. More importantly, our whole lives are changing and its going to be the best adventure we've even been on. Parenthood is just around the corner! Holy shit, that's scary!

The last thing I'm going to talk about regarding pregnany in this entry is my amazing husband. Obviously, God knew that I needed a patient, sweet, energetic, loving, understanding man in my life. That is exactly what I have. He has been running to the store for me, anytime I want anything, he has watched me cry for no reason at all and been very supportive, he has cooked all of his own meals since I cannot stomach it, and he has sacrificed his own social life since I never have the energy to go out at night. Amazing. He'll never know how much I appreciate him. I recommend that every woman marries someone like Dustin.

Needless to say, married life is great so far! We've done some house projects and are planning a small vacation for late winter or early spring. Dustin's next project is a salt water reef tank in our living room. He's been working on it and researching for MONTHS. It will soon become a reality. Probably within the next week or so.

So, there it is. My first blog entry. I apologize if I suck at this. I'm sure I'll get better. Please check back often...or don't and just tell me you do to boost my ego =)