One step closer

That's right...today is 11 weeks down, and I'm one step closer to the land of the living. This week has had its ups and downs with my first A.M. barfs (up to 25 for those keeping track...oh wait, that's just me), but there was also a day or two that I started to see a light at the end of the toilet bowl. I'm not drinking nearly enough water because all that fluid doesn't really settle well, but I've had my fair share of Del Taco bean and cheese burritos with red sauce (yum-o) and I can't even start on the boxes of cereal and gallons of milk I've consumed, not to mention the pizzas, oyster crackers, granola bars, and fruit. It's certainly enough to feed a small army, but I guess that's what a baby with a 170 heart rate needs for now (or at least what its mom needs). I'm really just waiting for the day that I don't feel hungry thirty minutes after eating a pizza. Currently, hunger=nausea so it's just food, food, food all the time. It's funny, at one point I would have LOVED to have had a free ticket to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it, and now that I kind of have it I just don't want to be hungry anymore.

Next week is going to be super fun. We're going to tell the youth group on Tuesday night and I'll tell the elder board on Thursday night. After that it's basically common knowledge. Right now we're working on the video that we're going to use to tell the youth group and all the leaders...it's going to be awesome. There's still so much to do before Little One's arrival, but we're not stressing and are just taking one day at a time. I'm just waiting for that burst of energy the doctor told me I'd get around week 14. With all that we have to do around here my house doesn't stand a chance.

10 weeks down

Well, tomorrow is 10 weeks pregnant and the barf count is up to 17. I'm not really sure why I'm compelled to keep track (or to share it), but someday I'll want our little one to know that he/she was worth all of it. We had another doctor's appointment on Monday and I was just expecting to meet with the doctor but because we had to wait a little longer she gave us a free ultrasound. It was so awesome because I was still expecting a little round, unidentifiable thing, but me-oh-my was I amazed when I actually saw a head, two legs, and two arms, and heard a heart beat of 170 beats per minute (that's pretty fast).

Here's what we saw on April 24 at our first appointment. The baby was 4 millimeters long and had a heart rate of 120 beats per minute.

On Monday, May 18, this is what we saw. It's like the little one is just chillin' (I guess there's not much else for him/her to do. But, you can clearly see the head and two little legs (we saw the arms in another picture). So, baby is about 1 1/2 inches long with that fast 170 bpm heart rate AND we even got to see it move during the ultrasound. Super cool.

So, we'll keep everybody posted and once I start showing I'll do my best to post those obnoxious belly shots so you can all guess which part is baby and which part is all the food I've been eating to help the nausea.

How time flies!

Well, I can tell already that this baby will be here in no time because I can't believe that I'm already more than 8 weeks pregnant. Some days it feels like it's been longer, and other days it seems like it might never end (being sick all the time), but I know that December will be here before we know it and a new little Sumner will enter the world.

We had our first doctor's appointment on April 24 and as of that date the little one was four millimeters long, had a heartbeat of 121 beats per minute (they say it will get faster once it gets a little older), and the estimated due date is December 18, 2009. So, not only will we get the tax credit for this year, but I've already met my deductible so the pre-natal care and birth will practically be free. This baby is already following in my frugal footsteps...way to go kid.

We also got our first pictures which I'll post shortly even though it just looks like a little blob. How amazing that a whole person comes out of that?!?!?

I've been feeling nauseous all the time and so far the barf count is up to 12 or so, but I have a new best friend whose name is Zofran. It's actually medicine that keeps me from throwing up all the time (because it would be ALL the time) and helps a little bit with the nausea, although I still definitely feel icky all day and have to eat something small consistently because food basically evaporates as soon as it goes in my mouth. Seriously, I never thought I'd be feeling so sick and eating so much all at the same time. The worst is waking up at 2:30 in the morning because you need to eat some crackers so you can fall back asleep. I'm getting a sense for what a baby feels like when it wakes up for a nightly feeding. Your body doesn't give you any choice...you have to eat to go back to sleep.

Dan is already Super Dad because he's essentially been a bachelor for the past couple weeks. He's been making all his own dinners, helping me all the time even if it's less convenient for him, doing laundry and dishes, he even organized MY side of the closet (an astounding feat if you've ever seen my closet). He is banking some serious points for when I'm feeling better even though he says that he wishes he could even do more. Dan, if you're reading this, I couldn't be pregnant without you (and not just in the obvious way). I feel so loved and cared for by you and I can't even tell you how much I appreciate all the little things you do for me to show me, especially when I'm puking in the bathroom (or in the car, or on the couch, or at my desk, or in bed at 1:22am...yes it's that bad). You're a one of a kind Super Husband and you'll be a Super Dad, which overall makes you Super Man!


My next appointment is May 18, so I'll meet with the doctor and make sure things are on track. I'll be about 9 1/2 weeks at that point, so still relatively early. We'll probably wait a little longer to tell EVERYBODY, but so far the people we have told have been so happy for us. It reminds me how blessed we are to have people who love us and support us because I know that not everybody is so lucky.

At this point I'm just looking forward to waking up one day and not feeling sick, but I know it's all for a noble cause. Don't worry Baby, I know you're worth it!!

All-day sickness

Wow!! For as much as I want to be pregnant, it sure doesn't feel all that great right now. For the past few days from when I wake up in the morning to when I go to sleep at night I find myself wanting to puke. I haven't (yet) and hopefully I won't because I want to keep all the nutrients inside of me so the little one can grow big and strong, but, my goodness, growing a person really takes it out of you. I know that the sickness means that hormones are working right and that the baby is growing (they say that the start of sickness coincides with the start of the heart beating), so I am thankful. I also know that it's all for a good cause and that it won't last forever. In the meantime, though, it's like I'm walking around with a constant lump in my throat and chewing my crackers way longer than necessary until my reflexes cooperate and allow me to swallow.

A couple things that seem to help are eating cereal first thing in the morning to get something in this roiling tummy of mine. Also, I keep crackers by my bed so when I wake up in the middle of the night or early morning I can pop a few to help take the edge off so I can go back to sleep. I've still been going to the gym because the moving and deeper breathing actually helps a lot, and I've been eating like a picky pig...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, crackers, bananas, oatmeal, cheese, ginger ale, but the thought of just about anything else makes me pukey (last night's chicken parmagiana from Pomodoro sounded like a good idea until it came to the table). Always having something in my stomach is a big help, but even then the relief just lasts for a few minutes before I try to find another way to soothe this pukey beast. Now I just hope and pray that what I put in actually stays down. I've heard that B6 helps a lot with the sickness and some people have said that the motion sickness bracelets take a bit of the edge off. Our first appointment is this Friday so you can bet I'll be asking questions about what I can do to feel better.

I know I don't have it as bad as some other people in prego-land, but if it could just subside for part of the day I would be so happy. It's hard to not tell anybody that you're pregnant when you feel like a pile of icky. You want to keep up the same energy level so nobody knows that anything is going on, but when all you want to do is lay on the couch and go to sleep it's hard. Dan and I have been going to sleep before 10pm every night for the past week or so and it's so nice getting a lot of sleep, but it's even nicer because when I'm sleeping I don't feel sick.

Lord, do what you need to do so we have a healthy baby, but if any part of that includes settling my stomach I'm definitely up for it.

Easter surprise

This whole week has been so fun. I've been feeling great and actually went to the gym every day (well, at least Mon-Fri...even I take the weekends off). It's amazing what you're motivated to do when you realize that a whole other person is 110% dependent on you. I made my first doctor's appointment for April 24 and signed up for all sorts of baby related web sites. It was so fun knowing that for the time being Dan and I were the only ones who knew I was pregnant. It was like this fun little secret that we were keeping from EVERYBODY and it was so fun. There were a couple times that it was super hard, like when we were talking to Matt and Jenna Gruber at church about a possible summer vacation to Hawaii and Matt said jokingly that we better not get pregnant before then because it would ruin the whole trip (totally joking). Dan and I just had to laugh because it's going to be even funnier when the time comes that we actually tell them. There were a couple other funny moments, but today was the day we decided to share our secret with a few other special people. We went to my parents' house for Easter lunch and asked them ahead of time if Dan's parents could join us as well. We had a great lunch and an even greater Easter egg hunt.

After lunch and the hunt we took a few family pics and then the moment came. We had decided ahead of time that we wanted to keep the distribution of info very limited to avoid any issues down the road if there are any problems with the pregnancy. So, it was just my parents, Dan's parents, Becky, John, Pamela, and Sara (practically an adopted sister). We had gotten a couple Easter lilies yesterday and I wrote out two identical cards that said, "Just like a flower that blossoms with time, we're due to bloom December '09." Both pairs of parents were sitting in the same place and I knew if we didn't act fast we would lose the moment. The guys were going to get fitted for tux's for John's wedding and I knew that Larry and Carolyn wouldn't stick around until they got back. So, Dan got the cards out of his jacket (we didn't want anybody unintentionally opening one early), and gave one to each mom along with a flower.

Well, this is what happened...

It was totally AWESOME!! Both sets of parents were so surprised, as was everybody else. We filled them in on why we are being so specific on who we're telling and that it's still super early to be spreading the news outside of our immediate family. They all totally understand where we are coming from, but it was so fun to be able to share the news with them. I know it's hard to not tell anybody and I told them that we certainly know that it's hard having kept it from them for over a week. It's almost like a burden of information because you so want to share the good news, but you know that it's not time yet. Still, we were so happy to share the news with all of our parents at once and especially have such an awesome response on such a great day.

To our moms and dads, and our baby's grandmas and grandpas, thank you so much for your love and support and all of your prayers. Our little one is SO lucky to have grandparents like you and we can't wait for him or her to meet you all. I think that we'll probably have the harder time being patient, but time will definitely fly.

What an AWESOME day!