Just another crazy day.....

Today went from crummy, to bad, to GREAT!  We had our second doctor's appointment today.  It was great to go to the OB again - each time we are there makes this feel slightly more real.  The appointment started with me finding out how much weight I've gained..... let's just say that I was NOT happy.  We're not going to be discussing the specific number, but I was just heartbroken.  I guess it wasn't even enough for the doctor to be worried with it because she called me skinny and asked me where I was going to keep the baby.  That made me feel a little better... that and Chris promising me that I looked beautiful this morning when I just felt fat.  Ahhhh...... Oh well.  In the end, I have no problem sacrificing my body for our perfect miracle.

After finding out the number behind my pants no longer fitting me, the doctor began looking for Olive's heartbeat with the doppler.  As soon as she put it on my belly, I knew she wasn't going to find it, and she didn't.  Again, I was pretty disappointed, but she made it better when she said that she would send us for an ultrasound to check on the fetal heartbeat to keep me from worrying, which, of course I would have.  She also told me that it was very likely that the baby was still sitting so low that the heart would be hard to pick up.  Lucky for us, the hospital was able to squeeze us in right after my appointment, so I chugged about 20 ounces of water and over to the hospital we went.  To my relief and joy, here's what we saw the second the tech put the ultrasound wand on my belly:

 And with a great heartbeat of 163bpm!  I was so happy to see that, and look!  Olive looks so much more like a baby than our first ultrasound!  It was amazing.  At one point, Olive rolled around and I could see the tiny little arms and legs dots, which was the sweetest thing to see.  Had it not been for trouble finding the heartbeat, we wouldn't have gotten another ultrasound until between 18-22 weeks, for the anatomy scan.  So I guess the half hour of stress I had to go through was worth getting to see our sweet little baby again.

We don't go back now until the end of October for our next check-up.  We also found out today that the doctor's office had given us the wrong due date.  Our official due date is April 10, not April 7, so that slides us back a few days, which means we won't be 13 weeks until Sunday instead of Thursday, but no big deal.  We have made it past 12 weeks with a wonderful heartbeat, which has us over the moon!  I kept looking at the ultrasound pictures from today thinking, okay, there really IS a person in my belly!  Now that I am feeling extra great, it kind of makes pregnancy feel less real right now.  I think its just because I haven't gone through that nasty morning sickness.  I haven't been exhausted and I haven't had heartburn for almost a week.  I still really have to eat something every 2-3 hours, but otherwise, I'm doing great!

The icing on the cake came after we got home and I opened up my email.  I am so excited to have been asked to do some dessert CATERING for something at the Embassy next week on Thursday!!  The woman who runs the Community Liaison Office there knows that I love to bake and asked me how much would I charge for a small catering gig!!  I only have to make about 4 dozen pastries, but that was just the perfect end to our day.  I'm so excited, and just hoping that everyone enjoys my treats.  So even though the day was a little rocky at first, it ended on a wonderful note.

We're home!

Chris, Bailie, Olive, and I made it home from DC around 12:30 this morning.  Who knew it could feel so good to come back to Canada of all places!  And, we actually had a FRIENDLY border agent when we crossed (usually late on the weekends, you get someone who tries to give you as hard a time as he can, especially because he knows he can't do anything to us, or question us about what we have in the car).  We think that Bailie enjoyed her exposure to all things American, and we loved getting to go to all our favorite restaurants and malls.

One thing that we did not enjoy was the TRAFFIC.  I had definitely forgotten what it was like to be in the hustle and bustle of that area.  Granted, when I lived in the DC area, I took the metro everywhere, but you are still aware of the awful traffic.  Chris had to drive almost an hour, sometimes longer, each way to his class.  His usual commute here in Ottawa is about 15 minutes, so quite a change!

Today we are just enjoying being home.  It is a typical fall Sunday as Chris watches football all day long.  While its not my favorite thing, it is the familiarity that makes it enjoyable for me.  We are home, and this is what our house is like on Sundays in the fall.  Its about 50 degrees here, so it feels like its freezing compared to the 90 degree temps we had just yesterday in DC!  Its also a bit rainy, but that makes it so much nicer to stay in.

We have an appointment with our OB on Tuesday, just one of our "every 4-week appointments."  I'll post sometime that evening and let everyone know how it went.

The first belly photo for all to see....

We took this right before we left to go to dinner at the Melting Pot, which was DELICIOUS.  This is usually how I look by the end of the day.  In the mornings I start out with a tiny little bump - it really just looks like I need to do some core work, but by evening.... yeah, it's looking more bump-like.  Anyway, it is late and we have a long drive home tomorrow, so until another post.... enjoy the 12-week photo.

12 Weeks Today!!!

Today we are 12 weeks, and our baby is about the size of a plum!  I don't think I've ever eaten a plum, but one of my other baby readings compared Olive's size to that of an egg, so that is a better visualization for me.  I'm so excited to be 12 weeks.  It doesn't seem like its been 8 weeks since we found out.  If we were to have an ultrasound now, Olive would actually look like a baby, instead of a rotisserie chicken, which is what I think our ultrasound picture looks like that everyone got to see.

Each week now when we hit a milestone, I'm going to post some pregnancy highlights as suggested by someone on a forum that I read for pregnancy.  So here goes for the 12-week post:

Size of baby: plum
Total weight gain/loss: about 3 pounds according to the gym scale here in the last 2 days (if I go to the doctor next week and have gained 5 pounds or less, I will be happy with that)
Maternity clothes: I now have a lot of what I will call "transition" clothing... though I do have a pair of maternity jeans which I will be wearing once we get back to Canada, where it will be a cold 50 degrees
Movement: just gas bubbles for now, still several weeks for that
Food cravings: nothing major lately, just food in general
What I miss: not having to pee 4 times a night, my flat stomach, and eating raw cookie dough, medium-rare steaks, and over-easy eggs
Sleep: in between peeing a TON, I'm at least sleeping deeply now (up until about 8 weeks, it was rough)
Symptoms: extreme hunger, moodiness (brought on by hunger), bloat, occasional back aches, heartburn
Best moment this week: last night when Chris and I got dressed for dinner, and I didn't look fat in my dress, I looked pregnant!  And Chris said he noticed it, and it was very cute.  Its the first time I've felt pretty in a long time.
What I am looking forward to: hearing Olive's heartbeat, which I'm hoping will happen with a doppler at our doctor's appointment next week.  Fingers crossed!

I'm really hoping that yesterday was a turning point for my energy level.  I didn't need a nap and felt pretty great all day, not that I have much to complain about, but the exhaustion that usually hits around 2 or 3 can be pretty debilitating, and I was fine all day yesterday.  It was very hot (90s) yesterday, and even with running around with Bailie AND going to the gym, I was fine.  And right now, I feel pretty good.  I'm hoping it sticks!

Last night we went to dinner at Gadsby's Tavern, which I can only describe as a very cute, quaint restaurant.  Its a place that was frequented by many presidents, with George Washington probably being the most frequent visitor.  It was something different to experience and we really enjoyed it.  Afterward we went to an ice cream shop and I had a cone of my absolute favorite - peppermint - and it was awesome!  I said that I went to the gym yesterday, which is the second time I've been since being here in DC, and it was again awesome.  Don't worry all, I'm the queen of caution right now, and I was very sad when my 20 minutes on the elliptical was up.  I did some very light lifting afterward and it made me feel like my old gym-rat self, which made me miss it so much.  That may also be what has helped my energy these past couple of days.  I wish I could run more, but I've definitely learned that running, I'm guessing because of the impact, is what usually aggravates my lower back aches.  They are never bad, just a minor dull ache, but I notice them more if I've been running around the dog park with Bailie.

Today I read something beautiful about what a minister had to say about babies: "When God wants an important thing done in this world or a wrong righted, he goes about it in a very singular way. He doesn't release thunderbolts or stir up earthquakes. God simply has a tiny baby born, perhaps of a very humble home, perhaps of a very humble mother. And God puts the idea or purpose into the mother's heart, and puts it in the baby's mind, and then God waits. The great events of this world are not battles and elections and earthquakes and thunderbolts. The great events are babies. For each child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged with humanity, but is still expecting good will to become incarnate in each human life."  I think this is really beautiful, and it just makes me want to be the best mommy I can be.

I think that's about it for today.  I said that I would start posting belly pictures once we hit 12 weeks.  I'll take a picture before we go to the Melting Pot tomorrow and then post that.  I can't believe tomorrow is our last day here!  It has gone by very quickly, but I know Chris is ready to get home on Saturday night.  Bailie is ready to be done with elevator rides.  I'm ready to start baking again after a much-needed break.  It will be good to be home.

How hot dogs can change your life.....

Last night the hunger attacked me in full force when I should have been fine.  Chris got back early yesterday so we decided to make a Costco run since we're leaving here Saturday.  I had just eaten a snack before he got back, so I thought I should be fine to make it a couple of hours until dinner.  NOPE. Yesterday I had eaten 2 breakfast burritos, yogurt, a banana, an English muffin, some watermelon, and probably a couple of other things I can't remember right now.  I probably would have been okay if it would have only taken the 20 minutes it should have taken to get there as opposed to over an hour due to traffic.  We got to Costco and I was getting that hunger/nausea feeling.  I thought I was going to cry.  Thank God Costco sells hot dogs, because that hot dog saved my life last night.  It was possibly the best hot dog I've ever eaten in my life.  Fast forward 2 hours and we're eating our dinner from Noodles and Co.  I got a small order of my usual whole-grain tuscan linguine with chicken because I figured, well I ate that huge hot dog, so I think a small will be enough.  Again, NOPE.  By 2 hours later, my stomach was literally HURTING because I was so hungry.  One big bowl of cheerios later, I was fine and off to bed.  Eating is definitely getting to be less fun.  Chris must feel like he is getting practice with a toddler right now, because when I get SO hungry like that, I get SO irritable, and then as soon as I'm eating, I'm perfectly happy and the world is at peace once again.

We'll see how I fare today.  I had 2 English muffins this morning for breakfast with some egg, cheese, and sausage.  I always grab a plateful of food for throughout the day, and since I didn't know what I would want, I've got raisin bran, 2 slices of bread either for toast or a PB&J, an English muffin, and a cinnamon raisin bagel to pick from.  Plus, I still have leftover pizza from Sunday, and I have yogurt and an apple in the fridge.  I'm really hoping my appetite levels out in the next week or so, once we're officially in the second trimester.  I love food more than the next person, but ALL I'm doing is EATING.  Of course yesterday when we got back, Chris sweetly says, just tell me when you need to eat, it's fine.  But I feel bad because I try so hard to plan so that all our outings don't become centered around me eating, but I always fail!  I'm thinking that our baby already has the appetite of Mom+Dad, which will only be detrimental to our grocery budget.....

On the bright side, we hit 12 weeks tomorrow!  12 WEEKS!  It will be the last count before the teens, which is CRAZY!  Wow.

Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat........

....and sleep some more!  That's about all I'm up to lately!  As I type this, it's about 10:45am EST, and I am yawning.  This is after breakfast and a little coffee, and I'm ready for a nap.  They say you get more energy in the second trimester, and I am hoping that's true as we approach the end of this first trimester, because I could really use it.  I've said this many times, but I feel even more tired than those days before the wedding when I was working out around 3 hours a day between biking, elliptical/running, and strength training.

We have had a great first week in the DC area, though it is strange to be back here.  We've gotten to visit some of our favorite restaurants, including a life-saving (yes LIFE-SAVING) trip to Chick-fil-A on Saturday which was heavenly, and the weather has been great.  On Friday night we went to Texas de Brazil, which was great, except it was a little sad to have to ask for well-done meat.... such a crummy thing to do to such wonderful cuts of meat!  The staff there was SO great about accommodating me, though I would have much preferred to eat the still-moving pieces of meat on Chris's plate.  Oh well, small sacrifice.

We did one "tourist-y" thing on Saturday - we went to the Washington Monument and went inside to the top.  It was on our list of things to do before we left DC last year, but tickets were always sold out.  It was cool to see the different views of DC from 550 feet in the air.  Here are a few pictures:

The White House

Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool

Jefferson Memorial

Capitol Building and National Mall

It was very cool to look down from the Monument on the spot where we watched the fireworks a year before getting married.  Very cool.

We spent the rest of Saturday down at the outlets in Potomac Mills where we both picked up a few clothing items.  I got a few more "transition" pieces, which was great because almost none of my bottoms fit!  I was telling both of our moms last night that I weighed myself on the scale in the gym here last night, completely terrified, but then so happy to see that I have barely gained a pound!  But, HOW is it that I have gained little to nothing, yet my clothes don't fit?!  I realize there is a person growing in my belly, but this person only weighs an ounce right now!  My honest best guess is that I am losing a lot of muscle tone.  Before the wedding, I was definitely doing intense strength training a few times a week.  Thank you, LIZA, for taking me to 24-Hour Fitness while we were in Texas and taking me to the 24 S.E.T. class there.  It completely changed the way I did my strength training, and I was incredibly proud of the results I got from it.  And I was not ashamed of this pride.  Right around the wedding is the ONLY time in my life where I could say that I was TRULY happy with my body.  I wasn't concerned with losing or gaining, I was just very satisfied.  I could put on a bikini and feel confident.  So when I went to the gym for the first time in almost 8 weeks yesterday and got on the elliptical for 20 minutes at loser pace, I realized how much I miss that gym time.  While I would pick our baby over my body any day, I can't help but be a little sad to watch certain parts of my body change, but as I told our moms last night, its all worth it, and I know I would and will do it many times over.

Overall, I'm still feeling pretty good, just very tired and very hungry.  Most days I sleep in until 8:30 or 9 since we've been here, and I still need a nap around 3!  I have also figured out that I have my own version of morning sickness, but I'm not nauseous really ever.  Later in the afternoons, I don't feel my best, but its a feeling that I usually describe as "icky-ness."  Its the feeling you get when a cold is coming on.  Your throat feels lousy, your head hurts almost like a sinus headache is coming, and you're tired.  I think part of this is my struggle lately to be extra hydrated.  The tap water here tastes less than wonderful, which may be due to my "off" taste buds (or its just the gross Potomac River), but I can tell I haven't been quite getting the fluids I usually get, so I've been trying extra hard, and started including some V8 VFusion juice, which also has servings of fruits and veggies in a glass, and no added sugar or high fructose corn syrup, so its not bad, and its goes down easily.

Chris of course is handling everything like a champ, even though he is so tired at the end of the day when he gets back from his class.  He gets back, and then we immediately leave for dinner.  He is so very good to me, always willing to drop whatever we're doing if we're out and I get a hunger attack, or offers to walk Bailie if I'm not feeling well at night.  At least for now (he always laughingly says to remember that we still have a long way to go), he is the pregnant woman's dream husband!  And Bailie is doing well too.  We got her a toy squirrel yesterday since real squirrels are the one thing that she tries to chase at home.  So we found one that squeaks at Petsmart.  Here are some pictures of her with her new love/hate, Mr. Squirrel:

And then there was the other day when I didn't see Bailie in her usual spots, either on her bed, or beside my side of the bed, and I found her here, IN our bed:

You can't get mad at her because she just looks at you as if to say, "what? I was just taking a nap, no big deal, aren't I cute?"  I usually laugh and then tell her to get down and she does it.

Well, we're almost through the 11-week count.... can't believe it.  Before we know it we'll be in the teens.  Everyday I am so in awe of how blessed we are, and no matter how I am feeling, I am SO thankful for every day and every little symptom.

We have a lime!

Today we are 11 weeks, and according to my baby reading, little Olive is about the size of a lime, and about 2 inches in length.  We only have 2 weeks until we hit the teens, and I just can't believe it.  I will say it in nearly every post, but already, time is flying.

I am not proud to say that I had quite the hormonal meltdown yesterday.  Thank you, little baby, for being there for me to blame for this.  For those of you who have had the great pleasure of witnessing a Harley meltdown, this was my version of that, minus flailing limbs and screaming.  Yesterday the power went out at the hotel for maybe an hour.  MAYBE that long.  Probably closer to 30-40 minutes.  This was at about 4:30 in the afternoon.  I hadn't taken a shower yet because I'd been taking Bailie to the dog park off and on and running around with her.  I called down to the front desk to tell them my lights weren't working, and that's how I found out.  This was also after I had so carefully planned a time to take a nap because I was overly tired yesterday and that plan got thrown out because the cleaning staff didn't come at their scheduled time.  I stayed outside for an hour beginning just before 2 because that's when they said they would come (we scheduled the time because of their policy regarding dogs being in the room when they are trying to clean).  I got back to the room and saw that no one had been there.  The person at the front desk was less than sympathetic when I called down.  So then I had to wait for them to come and trade me towels and take the trash from me.

What sent me over the edge was when I learned that the water pressure was so low that I couldn't take a shower.  I managed to take a super fast bath before the faucet dried up in the tub.  So here I am in the tub, crying because I can't wash my hair.  Then poor Chris comes home from a super long day and I'm bawling saying, what if they don't fix it, how can we wash our hands, how can we get cleaned up, there's no a/c, it's going to get hot in here, didn't they just have a week-long power outage in Virginia or DC somewhere not long ago?  What will we do?  I can't sit around this hotel with no power all day!  ..... About 15 minutes later while Chris was out walking Bailie, the power came back on, which made me cry even more because I felt like such a jerk for getting so worked up about something so ridiculous!  I've been feeling all over the place with emotions these past few days, and I think part of me just wanted to be mad about something.

I should take this moment to commend my very sweet and loving husband on how well he deals with these hormones.  I think we've always balanced each other out in that he is more laid back, and I can be more high-strung, but I am really tipping the scale on my end lately, and he is wonderful.  If he can deal with me until Olive gets here and not lose it, he will deserve the husband of the year award.

Once I calmed down, we went to dinner as planned, and it was delicious.  Today I spent part of the day at the Pentagon City mall and I am now the proud owner of.... maternity jeans!  I was hoping I wouldn't need them this soon, but they are SO comfy, and I only have a couple of pairs that fit, and they only fit because they used to be too big for me.  I also had to break out my tummy sleeve for the first time last night, as I could not comfortably button my shorts.  That really didn't help with my mood at the time, but oh well.... I'm pretty sure I will only keep getting bigger from here, not smaller!

Tonight we are going to a Salvadorean restaurant in Del Ray that we love, Los Tios.  Though, I won't be indulging in my favorite thing there, a mango margarita.  Maybe a virgin one could still be tasty.... probably not.  We're also excited to visit a custard place very close to the restaurant because we found out that their featured flavor tonight is chocolate peanut butter!  Yum!

I can't believe....

...that we are on the last day of our 10-week count.  Tomorrow we will be 11 weeks - time is already flying by!!  Thinking of myself as 11 weeks pregnant seemed SO far away when we found out around 4.5 weeks.  I can only imagine how the rest of the time is going to fly, and while I can't wait for Olive (for anyone who doesn't know, that's what we call the baby) to get here, I want to enjoy and remember EVERYthing, even the times I don't feel so great, or the days that I wake up exhausted, like today.  I was having the strangest dream though.  I was dreaming that we were having an ultrasound, and Olive finally looked like a baby!  All of our family was there, and it was really weird.  I've definitely had ultrasounds on the brain because a friend of mine from back home in Illinois recently found out that she's pregnant, and her first appointment is today.  She is about 6 weeks, and should see a little heartbeat, and as I can understand, she is so excited!  So I've been thinking a lot about her.

Last night after Chris got back from his long day of class, we went to Outback for dinner.  The best part - Chris got carded when he ordered a beer!!  I personally like getting ID'd, but that's just me.  It was funny.  My coconut shrimp and sweet potato were DELICIOUS.  As I type this, I wish I was eating that meal all over again!  And the hotel had free ice cream last night, so we got to enjoy that, and Bailie even got to have a little vanilla, which she REALLY liked.  We don't give her extras like that very often, but once in a while I think she deserves it.  She has been LOVING her trips to the dog park, and its so cute to see her running around and wrestling with other dogs.  Yesterday I spent most of the day out, so I promised her I would stay with her today, so we'll be at the park frequently, running around it.  On the bright side, I got a few cute pieces of "transition" clothing, since I'm starting to get a little chubby in the tummy.  It used to just be bloat, but I think over the next couple of weeks, a little bump will be forming, because I don't really feel bloated anymore, and the little pooch is still there in the mornings.  Walking to and from the metro, and to and from the mall that is by the metro really exhausted me though!  I didn't make time for a nap yesterday, which really left me tired, so there will probably be some afternoon sleepy time today.

Tonight we are going to one of my favorite pizza places here, a restaurant called Piola, which is right across the street from my very first job that I had here (pre government).  We'll take the metro over and it will be fun to be in that area again and remember my first year living in Virginia.  Some months later, I met Chris, and the rest is history.........

The world knows!

Yesterday we had such a great day sharing our news with our families.  This has definitely been THE HARDEST secret to keep, and honestly I can't believe I was actually able to keep it.  Even Chris said once or twice that he found himself having to be careful not to slip up at different times.  We are so thrilled that EACH person we talked to was just as thrilled as we are!

Now we are just going to enjoy our time in DC.  It's definitely strange to be here a year after leaving.  When we first arrived, we kept saying that it was like nothing had changed, except for a few construction areas that are a bit more cleaned up.  Chris has to leave around 7 each morning to drive to class, and then Bailie and I are just going to hang out during the day.  She is such a good girl.  She has a lot of separation anxiety, but I probably would too if I had been in and out of 4 or 5 homes in the last 6 months.  Here's a picture I took last night.  We had just gotten her a new bed and Chris was laying with her on it to get her used to it:

Yesterday we did a little shopping, but after telling everyone how great I had been feeling, I started feeling not so great when we got out, so we're going to do a little more tonight.  We're also going to a Chinese place for dinner that I used to order take out from a LOT when we lived here.  But for now, its time to take Bailie for a walk, and then figure out what to do with the rest of the day!

Today we are 10 weeks and.....

....baby is about the size of a prune!  Definitely doesn't sound as cute as being an olive, which is what Baby graduated from.  We liked referring to our little olive.  But, he/she will only be a prune for a week, and then we'll move on to another fruit..... I am so excited that we have hit double digits today!  It feels crazy that we are now one quarter of the way through this pregnancy!  It doesn't feel like its been SIX weeks since we found out.  Wow.

I've still been feeling pretty good, though I definitely went to bed last night with an upset stomach.  I don't really "feel" pregnant most days, except when I look at the ultrasound photo.  For now, I just feel chubby.  I count myself lucky each day that I have no true morning sickness, though the exhaustion hit me HARD yesterday!  I went through and cleaned all of the surfaces in our house and then took Bailie for a walk.  Before we were halfway to our turn-around, I just wanted to lay down on the sidewalk and take a nap.  That, plus a mild backache, and a massive hunger wave that hit me out of nowhere, sent me to the couch once we got back.  I ate my PBJ sandwich and stretched out for a nap, which happens a lot lately.  I was such a workout fiend prior to the wedding and now.... Bailie and I manage a total of about 4 miles in walking each day, but not much more.  But thats enough to make me feel like I'm back to my days of running 8-10 miles!  Its amazing how tired this tiny little baby can make me already!  Sometimes I have to "nap" from about 7-8 in the evening just to make it through the rest of the evening!

Also yesterday, Baby got a major craving for a donut.  Yep, BABY had the craving.  I'd like to thank my wonderful husband for telling me that its not ME who wants these things, its the baby.  Whatever it takes to make me feel less guilty about eating it, haha..... probably the reason I'm going to be in maternity clothes soon.  Some things are getting super snug, and by the end of the day, I'm looking pretty bump-y in the belly.  Soon enough it will be a real bump though!

Those of you in our family are reading this after the fact, but we are so excited to share our news with you this Sunday!  I can't wait and am counting down the days!

We couldn't have planned it better......

We are officially sharing our wonderful news with the world that we are expecting our first baby in April 2011!!!

We could not be more thrilled.  And for those of you who believed us when we said that we were planning to wait on children until we'd been married for a while..... YES, this was absolutely planned!  Chris and I have always known that there would be no waiting, but you know us, we like to keep secrets sometimes!  Since August 1, the day the first test came up positive, we have been completely elated at the thought of our first baby.  We have each wanted to be a mommy and daddy so badly for a long time.  We just had to find each other first!

At about 4:30am on August 1, I took  my first pregnancy test.  I was terrified.  Long before our wedding, I began praying that shortly after we would find out that we were pregnant.... little did either of us know that it would actually happen immediately!  I had been feeling certain things here and there that made me think I might be.... but I was trying not to get my hopes up.  There were too many other logical explanations.  The few days before finding out REALLY made me think something was up.  I was incredibly exhausted, and just not feeling myself.  I felt like I was back to running 10 miles a day, when I hadn't been doing much of anything!  On Friday, July 30, I was a wreck.  I started crying because the hair stylist cut my hair too short, I bit the head off the poor salesman in the Verizon store (still feel guilty about that one), the oil change for the car took 1.5 hours, and the doctor for Chris took way longer than usual.  I was extra crabby and nearly in tears most of the day.  I don't think we got home until 2 in the morning to top things off.

I was too scared to test that first morning after buying our tests.  I told myself I would do it the next day.  I woke up at 4am, and kept arguing with myself in my head, telling myself that I was certainly pregnant, so just go take the test and see for yourself for sure.  I was shaking, and trying to prepare myself for certain disappointment.  When the positive line didn't immediately come up, I was heartbroken.  Fast forward about 30 seconds, and a light pink line was showing.  I started shaking even more.  I woke Chris up to show him, to make sure I wasn't wanting a positive so badly that I was imagining it.  Nope - it was positive.  We were so excited!  The next day, I confirmed with a digital test that immediately came up with "pregnant."  I called my OB that day, and on August 20, we had our first prenatal appointment, which made this pregnancy a little more real.  We didn't do much else than a physical exam for me, and family history on both of us.  The best take away from the appointment was when I told the doctor that I was feeling mostly fine, but that I was starving ALL the time, she said "good!  You need to eat!".  She did try to listen for a heartbeat with a doppler, but as I was about 7 weeks then, it was far too early with that method.

All of this REALLY became real on August 31, when we had our first ultrasound.  Before I go into those details, I'd like to just say that making a pregnant woman hold 32 ounces of water for an hour is incredibly cruel!  I didn't think I would make it.  But I did, and as I lay on the table looking at our little peanut on the screen, I couldn't help but start tearing up, especially when I saw the little heart flicker.  It is the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life.  The whole rest of the afternoon, I just kept staring at our ultrasound picture.  He/she didn't look like much right then, but it is a crazy feeling that there is a second heart beating in my body!

How have I been feeling?  Pretty good really!  My 2 toughest symptoms are extreme fatigue and extreme hunger!  It could be so much worse.  My OB thinks that at this point, I am going to miss the morning sickness, which is fine with me!  I do get extremely tired, and try to take naps during the day.  And my appetite is through the roof!  Probably anyone reading this already knows that I could eat more than a lot of men, but this is extreme even for me.  It feels like I do nothing but EAT!  When I told the OB this, she said, "Good!  You need to!"  So far, my cravings have been sweet potato fries, saltine crackers, and cheeseburgers (not the best choice, I know).  Right now, I'm really into eggs, scrambled of course for now (I'm really missing over-easy).  I have had a few food aversions though - for a while, I was barely drinking coffee anymore, not because of the caffeine, but because it just didn't smell good to me anymore.  Here's the craziest aversion - CHOCOLATE!!!  I've eaten so little of it since about a week after finding out.  It just doesn't sound good.  And don't even show me red velvet cake, or beef stroganoff.... YUCK.  2 of my favorite things in the world are now my enemies.  That goes for banana-flavored anything too.  Gross.

All in all, we are doing great!  Chris is excited, I'm excited.... we even think Bailie knows!  They say that animals have an intuition about pregnancy, so maybe that's true.

Just to clear up a couple of things....
1) We are not going to find out the gender.  We both have discussed very strong feelings about whether we might be having a little boy or a little girl, but have decided to keep this between us until Baby gets here, and then we'll let you know if our intuition was right.
2) We will not be sharing our name choices.  We have both been in agreement for quite awhile on our boy and girl names.  They are very special to us, and once Baby gets here, we will share the appropriate one with everyone.