Pregnancy Journal

  

Week 23: July 5 - July 11
 
  • We had our sonogram on Tuesday and found out that we are having a BOY!!!!  And there’s no question about it this time – we have lots of pictures with arrows pointing to ‘the goods’!!  We are super excited – would have been either way but it’s just really nice to know.  Now we can really start thinking about names and the nursery, etc!

  • And baby is VERY active these days.  I can feel him moving around a lot – sometimes he punches or kicks and sometimes he’s just doing summersaults.  He did kick me VERY hard the other day and it almost made me have to catch my breath!  I hope those don’t get more frequent!
  • We had the condo inspected last week and got the results back on Monday.  Fortunately there were no major issues and their list of things for us to fix was very reasonable.  In fact, Chris is going to tackle three out of the four things so that’s good.  But then on Tuesday, our agent called to say that the buyer was probably not going to be able to get an FHA loan due to the high number of renters versus owners in the complex.  Our agent said that the buyer’s agent didn’t seem worried about it so I guess we shouldn’t be worried either???  Plus, I read an article indicating that due to the economy and housing market, lenders aren’t as likely to fund a loan that is 100% financed – which is what our buyer is doing!  The article says the lenders want at least 5% down.  So basically, there’s no use thinking the sale will actually happen until the day of closing because it can always fall apart at any moment!!
  • If we didn’t have enough going on already, Riley decided to pull a Houdini act on Monday.  Chris took him to our friend Tim’s house and left him in the backyard while they ran errands and he was gone when they got back.  Chris looked around for a few hours and then came home to make fliers.  When I got home from work, we went back out there and looked around some more and put up fliers in Tim’s neighborhood.  It really made the situation worse that this did not happen at our house – Riley wasn't familiar with the area and we had to drive about 45 min each way every time we went out there to look for him.  So nothing on Monday or Tuesday.  I was a complete wreck - being 6 months pregnant can wreak havoc on your emotions!  On Wednesday, we spent most of the afternoon taking fliers to and looking at all the dogs at all the surrounding shelters.  We tried to look for him some more but it seemed hopeless because he could have been miles away by that point.  On our way home, we stopped by the nearby Sonic and got slushes because it was so hot.  On a whim, Chris asked the server if she could post Riley’s flier at the drive through window.  She didn’t know if her manager would let her but she took the flier just in case.  So we went home very sad but feeling better that we were doing what we could to find him.  Then on Thursday morning, Chris got a call from a woman that had seen one of our fliers and had just spotted Riley in a creek bed behind her house.  That was such good news because we knew he was at least ok and knew his general vicinity.  So Chris drove out there again and had to do quite a bit of walking and navigating fences (some apparently electrified!!) through some semi-farm land but he finally found Riley!  And he was completely unhurt and surprisingly clean.  Come to find out, the lady that spotted Riley and called Chris, saw the flier at SONIC!!!!  Talk about getting chills!  It was just a whim that Chris asked the server to post it and we didn’t even know if Sonic would do it.  But where Riley wound up was not that close to Tim’s neighborhood so the people who were seeing him would not have seen those fliers that we put up.  So it was really a miracle that Chris thought to ask them put the flier on the drive through, that they wound up actually doing it, that a lady that had seen Riley went to Sonic that night and saw the flier, that she spotted Riley the next morning and was nice enough to go back to the Sonic and hold up the drive through line Thursday morning to get the phone number and call Chris with Riley’s location!!!  We’re going to send her the reward $$ and also send her some Sonic gift cards!!  And Chris called the Sonic and asked for their owner’s name so he could send him a nice note thanking them for helping us find our dog.  So it’s so great to have him back home!!  I wish he could talk and tell us all about his adventure but for now, he's grounded! 
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    Week 22: June 28 - July 4
     
  • Another thing about this buyer (which was like our first buyer!) is that her dad is helping her with the loan.  So fortunately, the dad came by to see the place himself before we finalized the contract so that was good.  Apparently he was OK with it.  BUT now they want us to throw in the washer and dryer AND have raised the closing costs to $4,200.  Plus, we are now going to lease back our place from her until August 8th which is fantastic since we don’t have to get a hotel and move twice, but they want $50 per day, which is what we are getting for our lease back on the Savannah house, which is like three times as big.  But it’s still less than getting a hotel.  Plus they want a $750 deposit!!!  I was floored when I heard that.  That’s more than you would pay as a deposit for an apartment!  I have no idea where they got that figure and why it is so high – our agent thought it had to do with wanting to ensure they got the lease money but she said that was silly because we have to pay that on the day of closing.  Plus, we would have no idea what would constitute getting the deposit refunded – she could arbitrarily decide she didn’t like how we cleaned the refrigerator and take off $150 or something.  So that makes me very uncomfortable. 
  • So far this buyer has been somewhat difficult to work with, so it’s tempting to just walk away and try to get a better deal but now that we’re buying the other house we don’t really have that option.  The good thing is that our agent was able to talk them out of the deposit – big relief there.  So while gritting our teeth, we agreed to the deal and finalized the contract on the 1st.   YAY!  The inspector is coming on the 3rd.
  • Also, we’re going to close on the house in Savannah on the 3rd!  It will be weird to have closed on a house and not be able to move into it!  We were joking that since we officially owned the house we could go up there on the weekends and hang out at the pool and club house!  Doubt that’s going to happen though!
  • So I guess I should get back to what this journal is really about!!  So the neatest thing lately is that I can really feel the baby moving around and kicking now.  It’s most prevalent after I eat.  And I think it won’t be too long before Chris will be able to feel it with his hand on my belly.  I can feel it like that now, but I can also feel it on the inside so that probably makes it easier.  And we have our next appointment next week and will hopefully get that free sonogram and will finally know if it’s a boy or a girl!
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    Week 21: June 21 - 27
     
  • Well, we got another offer on the condo!!!  I was pretty shocked and relieved to have received another one in such a short period of time.  It was a pretty low offer so we countered and will hopefully hear back soon.  They want to close on the 25th which now means that we have a gap since we agreed to lease our new house back to the owners until August 7th.  So I guess we’re looking at getting a hotel for about two weeks.  I actually have a training class in Atlanta for the last week of July so if Chris came with me (which we were talking about doing anyway) and we put Riley somewhere, we wouldn't have to pay for a hotel that whole week. 
  • So like I said before, we countered hoping they would come back with something in the middle - which would have been perfect.  They countered with only like $800 more and then asked us to pay $4,000 in closing costs!  By us paying their closing costs, it raises the sale price of the house so it's really a wash for us, but we were expecting them to come up a little more than $800.  So we're having our agent talk to their agent to see if they can work anything out.  Again, it's a really young girl buying her first house and she's doing 100% financing on an FHA loan so it's apparent that she's having to budget.  But we don't want to just give it away either.  So we'll see how this pans out - it's kind of hard to know whether we should take a pretty low offer in order to just sell it or wait it out and see if we can get a better offer.  With this offer, she wants to close on July 25th so we'd be 'homeless' for two weeks so that makes this even less appealing. 

    • Week 20: June 14 - 20
     
  • So the inspection on the Savannah house went well.  No big issues were found, just your typical repairs that needed to be done on a house that is four years old.  
  • Also, Chris went up there for the inspection and the seller was there as well and he learned that they have not found a new house yet so they were kind of in a bind with moving out in early July.  So since we are now in a bind with not having a buyer for our condo, we offered to lease the house back to them until early August to give them more time to find a house and to give us more time to find another buyer.  So they agreed to that deal so now we’re going to move in on August 8th.  It was kind of disappointing to have to wait another month to move in but this arrangement is really good for all involved.  In addition to having extra time to find another buyer, we will also be living in the condo so it won’t be empty for showings. 

    • Week 19: June 7 - 13
     
  • We went house hunting all day on Saturday and saw upwards of 15 houses.  It was petty exhausting and at some point all the houses ran together.  There was only one that really stood out so we made an offer on Saturday.  It’s Monday afternoon now and we still haven't heard anything from their agent so we are getting a little frustrated/worried.  Our agent has called him SEVERAL times to at least make sure he received the offer and we've had no response.  So Monday, with it being a work day, our agent called their office and actually spoke to someone who said they would track down the other agent.  Other then a medical emergency, I can’t imagine a realtor not responding to phone calls, especially one mentioning an offer for their client!!  It was the only house we REALLY liked so we're hoping there's not another offer on the table.  But we're on pins and needles now waiting to hear at least something!!
  • Our house is progressing nicely on the sale.  Our buyer is supposed to be setting up an appointment for the inspection on Tuesday.  And I think our option period ends on Sunday so it will be nice to get over that milestone.
  • Well, I completely spoke too soon.  So there's never an end to the drama when buying/selling a house.  On Friday, our agent called to say that our buyers were terminating the contract.  The buyer was a girl in her mid-20s we’re guessing and after she made the offer, her dad got involved and decided that he would prefer that she got into a place that was new in terms of upkeep and repairs.  Well, our place is 25+ years old so that certainly wouldn't qualify.  So we're back to square one with selling our place but we decided to go ahead and buy the house in Savannah.  So hopefully ours will sell soon - we can't easily afford two mortgage payments for long!  But the other house is too good to give up so we're willing to take the chance.  But it's about time some good real estate fortune comes our way!!! 
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    Week 18: May 31 - June 6
     
  • We got an offer on the house!!!!!!!  I can’t believe we got one so soon!  Last Friday, Chris was walking Riley around while someone was viewing the condo and after they came out, the potential buyer asked him a lot of questions.  So that was a perfect chance meeting!  How often do you get to talk to the owners about their property to find out more about it?  So once we received her offer on Tuesday, we negotiated the contract for a couple of days and then finalized it on Thursday night.  The original closing date was June 25th, which was in three weeks.  Now the closing date is July 3rd which gives us some extra time.  Either way, we still need to start looking for a house ASAP!  If we aren’t able to find something and get the same closing date as ours, then we’ll be in a hotel for a week or two. 
  • We also had our 18 week sonogram on Friday!  So this has been a great week overall.   We got to see a lot of the baby…except the parts that could confirm if it’s a boy or a girl!!!  The sonogram technician was really nice and really tried to figure it out but she couldn’t see the one boy part that would have made it definitive.  But luckily she said she'd do another sono for us for free just to find out the gender because she felt bad that she couldn't call it.  So hopefully we'll find out in another month – July 8th.  But it was GREAT to see the baby though and to hear that everything still looks good.   One thing that was really neat is that the technician showed us that the baby’s stomach was full so she could tell I that I had eaten recently.  I never thought about the baby basically eating when I eat. 
  • Click here to see a video of the sonogram.  It’s about five minutes long.  It's hard to tell what some things are but the video will occasionally stop and you can see the technician typing something that will explain what you're looking at.
  • I think I’m officially ‘showing’ now.  I was sitting down at my desk and someone at work happened to look at my belly and asked if I was pregnant.  So that was kind of cool!
  • AND I think I can feel the baby moving now!  They say it feels like gas or tiny bubbles.  It’s pretty subtle, but I’m pretty sure I’m feeling what they are talking about.  It’s mostly when I’m still – sitting on the couch after work for example.  But the doctor said that will pick up quite a bit over the next few weeks.
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    Week 17: May 24 - May 30
     
  • We had a very nice Memorial Day weekend.  We didn’t have huge plans which made it even nicer.  We did drive up to Savannah to look at the houses up there and to see if we liked the area.  The entire community is very nice…except that it is way out of town.  It’s practically in the country!  It’s about 4-5 miles west of the Tollway which is further than I remembered.  The nearest shopping area is down a little two-lane farm-to-market road that fortunately takes us to Frisco where there is a Super Wal-Mart, Lowes, fast food joints and lots of other convenient stores.  It’s really not THAT far, but it seems like it because of where we live now where EVERYTHING is extremely close.  So we didn’t rule it out, but we will really have to consider if we want to live that far out.
  • We had about four showings this weekend, which I thought was good considering it was a holiday weekend.  The feedback has been very good so far – saying that it shows well and is priced well – but then they say their clients aren’t ready to buy, want to look in another area, etc.  So no biters yet but I’m not worried….yet.  Ask me again in August or September!!
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    Week 16: May17 - May 23

    		  
     
  • The condo is finally listed and officially on the market!!! Click here to check out the listing on-line. There are 3 other units in our complex that are the same size as ours that are also on the market so we do have quite a bit of competition. And that doesn’t even include other surrounding condos! I think our place is in pretty good shape – thanks to new flooring in the living room and kitchen and the touch-up paint that my parents did. But I do need to do some more decorating – the pictures of our bedrooms are pretty lame as I really don’t have anything on the walls or any decorations at all. So I need to do a little sprucing up and take some more pictures to represent it better on-line.
  • We may have found where we might buy a house once ours sells. I was watching a show that highlights new home development areas in the DFW area (Hot on Homes) and they showcased a community called Savannah. I have seen it before but I always thought it was too far out - it’s almost out in the boonies (north of Frisco). But the way north Dallas has been growing lately, it will be very developed (in terms of shopping and restaurants) in no time. And since I work at Dr Pepper now the drive wouldn’t be bad at all. It’s a master planned community that is supposed to be like a resort – they have a club house with HOA sponsored events (including a monthly Texas Hold ‘Em game for Chris!), on-site gym, a big water park, hiking and walking trails, baseball field, soccer field, lots of parks, etc. Another nice thing is that the elementary school is on-site. And the houses don’t have the usual Texas subdivision look – they probably look like a home that you might see in Georgia. Most of them have huge front porches – something that I’ve always wanted! Anyway, it seems almost too ‘Stepford-like’ but we are looking forward to at least checking it out.
  • Dr Pepper is partnering with the new Indiana Jones movie so we got free passes to an ADVANCED SCREENING on Tuesday night! It was really cool to get to see the movie early – don’t know if I’ve ever done that before. And it was pretty good to boot – not great – but pretty good. You can’t go wrong with Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas anyway! So it’s definitely worth seeing, but don’t expect it to top The Last Crusade!

    • Week 15: May10 - May 16

    		  
     
  • Still doing last-minute work to put the house on the market.  I can’t believe the sheer amount of clutter we had!!  And considering that the house has to be EXTREMELY tidy to show to prospective buyers means that you can basically never de-clutter enough. 
  • Work has been getting quite a bit less stressful than it was when I first started.  So I volunteered for more work….what was I thinking?  Well, our team leader is completely swamped because she has her regular work plus her team lead work and has been sucked into working on a project as well.  So I volunteered to take over the lead responsibilities of keeping track of the tickets.  So there are lots of follow ups and updates that I have to stay on top of but I think overall it won’t add too much to my plate.
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    Week 14: May 3 - May 9

    		  
     
  • I had my second tummy check on the 8th.  Everything was routine – just heard the heartbeat.  I really didn’t have any questions for the doctor – everything is going so smoothly that I haven’t had any!!
  • Chris officially owns his own company now!!!  We received the papers for Color Up Interactive on Friday and were super excited!  Please check out the website!  So if you or anyone you know needs help with video or web design, you know where to look!

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    Week 13: April 26 - May 2

    		  
     
  • My sister and I gave our mom a ‘girl’s weekend’ to Brenham, TX for her birthday back in January and we just finally took our trip!  It took a while to get everyone’s calendars clear and we also wanted wait for it to warm up a bit.  The whole weekend was just perfect.  On Thursday night, I drove down from Dallas to Belton and my sister drove up from Austin so we could leave first thing in the morning on Friday.  We got on the road around 9:00 and made it into Brenham around 10:30, just in time for the 11:00 tour at the Blue Bell Ice Cream Plant!!  It was a pretty cool tour and we got to sample the ice cream afterwards!  Then we went to lunch in the historic downtown area and just walked around peeking in the different shops until around the time to check into our B&B.  The B&B was actually in Chapell Hill, which is about 10 minutes outside of Brenham.  That whole area is just gorgeous and was perfect in early spring with lots of green grass and wild flowers.  The B&B – Southern Rose Ranch – was more than perfect (link below).

    http://www.southernroseranch.com/pages/bedandbreakfast.htm

    It only had two suites so it certainly did not feel crowded.  What caught our attention when we first pulled in was the pasture that was right up against the house that had horses, cows, chickens, guinea hens and turkeys.  It was really nice to just lean on the fence post and watch all that was going on with them.  Surprisingly enough, the male turkey provided the most entertainment as he primped and preened and chased the only female.  She did a good job of staying one step ahead of him!  The ranch also had some domesticated animals for us to play with – an Australian Shepherd, a Papillon and two cats.  The breakfast provided in the mornings was fantastic…both breakfasts we had included farm fresh eggs!  Something I don’t know if I’ve ever had before!  Saturday was spent going to the spa, the Antique Rose Emporium and then mostly sitting on the porch in the rocking chair talking and reading.  We also just had Blue Bell ice cream for dinner!  Not sure if my OB would approve, but it at least had calcium!  Then we got up Sunday morning, had a wonderful breakfast, and went to Ellison’s Greenhouse and picked fresh tomatoes and then drove home!  It was really a perfect, relaxing weekend!

  • The only downside to the weekend was when we got back to Belton, we discovered that my car had been badly damaged in a hail storm that hit Belton on Friday night.  The back windshield had actual holes in it from the hail, not just cracks!!  It was cracked almost all around the edges and was barely holding on.  The rest of the car had huge dents, especially on the hood, roof and trunk.  So we duct taped it up and I drove home fully expecting the whole windshield to come crashing down at every bump.  When I stopped to get gas I re-taped most of it and miraculously it held for the whole trip.  Now the car is at Herb’s #3 waiting for the State Farm adjuster to assess the damage.  The guy at Herb’s already told me that they will have to replace the hood, roof and trunk as the dents cannot be repaired.  As luck would have it, the parts of the car that already had scratches were not damaged at all!!  ;-)
  • I went to get the genetic testing (Downs syndrome, etc) done this morning and everything they saw in the ultrasound looked great.  They did take some blood so those results won't be back for another week.  But I got to see A LOT of the baby – I really wish I had asked Chris to come.  I just didn't think it would be that revealing.  I got to see the head, body and spine, and hands and feet.  And it was moving around...A LOT!!!  I guess it liked the yogurt and milk I had for breakfast this morning!  It was so cool to see it moving!  It is 77 millimeters now which is just about three inches.  So it's come a long way from the last measurement of .33 centimeters!!  This has been the most definitive moment of the pregnancy so far.  The last time we had an ultrasound, baby was the size of a peanut and even though we could see the heart beat, it’s just not the same as seeing the whole baby move around!  And since I’ve not had any morning sickness, the pregnancy has somewhat been uneventful (thankfully though) so this kind of solidified it somehow. Here are the latest pictures:
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    Week 12: April 19 - April 25

    		  
     
  • So speaking of needing a lot of rest on the weekends in the previous week’s post, I didn’t get out of bed until 3:00 on Saturday!  I woke up pretty early at 7:30 but decided to see if I could go back to sleep and sure enough, I didn’t get up again until around 11:00!  I think all that extra sleep made me groggy.  I was so sluggish!  Chris made me some lunch and we both ate lunch in bed and watched TV until around 3:00!! 
  • But we did actually wind up getting a lot done the rest of the day.  We tackled my desk and really cleaned it up.  I had a box of old Arthur Andersen travel receipts and pay stubs dating back to the late 90’s!!  How crazy is that?  I guess I had just moved that box with me from place to place and never really looked in it or I could have thrown that stuff away a long time ago!  So anyway, the desk area is totally cleaned up and looking neat and tidy now.  And Chris has made a couple of trips to storage so we’ve pretty much finished de-cluttering!!  So really, the only other big task to complete is to repair and paint the front door.  Then I think we’ll be ready to put the condo on the market!
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    Week 11: April 12 - April 18

    		  
     
  • We went to Austin this weekend to visit Chris’s brother Andy who flew in from Austin.  We had a great time as usual, but quick trips like that really wipe out your weekend!  Riley of course had a great time playing with his cousins.  His newest cousin Liam, an Irish Wolfhound, is starting to get quite a bit bigger and more confident.  The last time we were down, Liam couldn’t quite keep up with the ‘big kids’ and tired out quickly but this time, he ruled the yard and he and Roxy had fun ganging up on Riley.  Riley had a blast and was asleep in the back seat before we even left the neighborhood on the way home!  And…I did get to have a dipped cone from Dairy Queen on the way home so that made the trip perfect!
  • I still feel pretty great – considering.  I can’t believe that I haven’t really had morning sickness.  I’ve had times where I felt a little queasy but I honestly don’t think it was any different than times when I had the same and was not pregnant.  I just need to remember to eat little snacks so I always have some food in my tummy.  That seems to help a lot.  And I am still tired, but luckily I don’t have a problem making it through the work week.  But then it does seem to hit me all at once on the weekends.  I definitely need naps to get some concentrated rest on the weekends.
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    Week 10: April 5 - April 11

    		  
     
  • Mom and dad stayed until Sunday afternoon and got SOOOO much done!  The really bad nicks on the corners look fabulous now!  I think we will just have to do some more de-cluttering and make one or two more trips to the storage unit and do some final cleaning and we’ll be able to put it on the market! 
  • Chris and I went to the doctor on Friday the 11th for a ‘belly check’.  They basically just weigh you, take a urine sample, and the doctor listened for the heart beat and asked if we had any questions.  Hearing the heart beat was really amazing.  The doctor did a good job of setting expectations by telling us that I was JUST far along enough to try to find the HB but that it wouldn’t be unusual or cause for alarm if she was not able to find it.  But sure enough, she found it after only a few seconds!  I was pretty relieved because since I have not really ‘felt pregnant’ at all, I was of course worried that something had happened.  The HB was really fast but she didn’t say anything about it sounding like a girl or boy HB.  I’ve heard that boys’ hearts beat a little bit faster.  But she did tell us that it would be about another eight weeks until we could find out the gender.
  • The biggest decision we had to make that day was whether we wanted to do the nuchal translucency test for Down syndrome and some other chromosomal abnormalities as well as major congenital heart problems.  We decided to have the test, not because we would do anything based on the results but because it would be better to know beforehand if we know there will be serious health issues.  So I have to go back in two weeks for that test and then two weeks after that for another ‘belly check’.  Then I guess I’ll have another appointment a month after that ‘belly check’ with a sonogram and maybe we can find out the gender!
  • One thing that was interesting and shows how much you learn during this process is that they have recalculated how far along I am based on the sonogram I had at 6 weeks as opposed to the first day of my last cycle.  So I’m now 5 days behind where I was before, but she also said that there’s up to a 5 day error either way (forward or back).  If I go 5 days forward, I’ll be as far along as I would have been if calculating by the first day of my last cycle.  So just to keep things easy I’m going to stick with that info!!

    • Week 9: March 29 - April 4

    		  
     

    • So after Friday’s big night out, I wound up sleeping and resting a lot on Saturday. I’m finding that overall I’m most tired and worn out on Saturdays, girls’ night out not withstanding!
    • This week was pretty rough at work. Still trying to get the hang of things – new company and new SAP module to learn - Payroll. It seems like it takes me twice as long to figure things out and I still lean on my predecessor to help me quite a bit – more than I would like. I know it will get better over time…I’m just hoping that it’s sooner rather than later!!
    • My mom and dad came up Thursday night to help fix some things around the condo and do some touch up painting. This is such a huge help to us as we’re not that handy around the house yet and I can’t help with the painting! I had to go to work on Friday but Chris stayed home and apparently learned some painting tricks from my mom!

    Week 8: March 22 - March 28

    		  
     

    • We spent several hours Saturday de-cluttering the downstairs bedroom – we’re trying to get the condo ready to sell. We made piles of things to throw away, things to give to Goodwill, things to keep but move to storage and things to keep in the house but that need a better permanent ‘home’. Then we met Beth and David at Winstar Casino that night as they were driving down from Chicago. So on Sunday I was really exhausted. So exhausted that Chris had to bring me breakfast in bed because I didn't even have the energy to get up without some food (thanks sweetie!). It's been pretty interesting how my life revolves around food these days. I'm generally starving all the time. On Saturday after we did all the cleaning, Chris went out to take the things to Goodwill and grabbed Quizno's on the way back. He got me a regular size sandwich which is like the foot-long at Subway. After I ate it, it was like I hadn't even had anything to eat I was that hungry. Crazy!
    • Mom and Dad had flowers delivered to work on Monday. The card said “Happy Week 8 Day 3! We love you, Mom and Dad.” How sweet! So everyone at the office is asking who sent them and what the occasion was and I just said they were for a Happy Monday from my parents.
    • To celebrate my friend Gina’s upcoming birthday, Gina, Jenny and I went for a ‘night on the town’ in Big D. We stayed at a hotel in downtown Dallas Friday night, got all dressed up and went out to dinner at a super swank new Italian restaurant in Victory Park – Nove Italiano.

    http://www.n9negroup.com/#/novedallas/main/

    Eating at this restaurant was quite an experience. They had LCD screens framed like art and had quite a few Italian ‘paintings’ cycle through so you weren’t just looking at one piece of art. We first had cocktails before dinner and since I can’t drink, the waitress said she would bring me something special which was really nice. She brought back a drink that tasted like mango and maybe a little bit of grapefruit in a martini glass – it tasted fantastic and felt like I was having a ‘real’ drink without the alcohol. Then we dined on penne alla vodka, the chef’s special mushroom risotto and then I had saltimbocca that literally melted in my mouth. I don’t think I’ve ever had pork that good before. Gina and Jenny split the chicken marsala and said it was really good as well. Then came dessert…Gina got the cannoli, which was ‘make your own’. So it came with cannoli shells, a pastry bag filled with the cannoli filling and then a tray with 12 or so little pots filled with sprinkles, chocolate chips, raspberry sauce, chocolate sauce, etc to create your own cannoli. Gina LOVED it as cannoli’s are her favorite dessert! The other highlight of the night was having a soap opera star take our picture and then take a picture with us. Daniel Goddard, who plays Cane, a mysterious Australian bartender who arrived in Genoa City to search for his birth mother on The Young and the Restless, was very charming and good looking. It was a truly fun night!!!

    Week 7: March 15 - March 21

    		  
      • We visited both sets of parents over the weekend of March 14-16 to share the news, which was a lot of fun. We visited my parents first since they are the first stop on I-35! We were supposed to have had dinner on the way down but wound up leaving a bit early so when we called to say we were early, mom and dad wanted to take us out for dinner. So we had to wait until AFTER dinner before sharing the news which was really hard – I just wanted to burst and spill it during dinner! So once we got home, mom showed me a pile of things that she had saved for me (magazines, etc) so I said “Oh yeah, I have a picture to show you” and pulled the sonogram out of my purse and handed it to them. It took them a while to figure it out but they were super excited once they did. So then of course the rest of our visit revolved around pregnancy and baby discussions, mom even gave me a magazine article about baby names! My sister Trisha happened to call on Saturday so I told her on the phone and she started crying she was so happy! And then mom and I went to visit Nana and I asked if she was ready to have another great-grandchild (my cousin just had their first baby). On Saturday afternoon, we headed down to Cedar Park to visit Chris’s parents and Mike and Maureen. We were only there about five minutes when Cathy said something about grandkids and I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I think I made a face at Chris like “Let’s tell them now” and Maureen saw it and immediately asked if we were pregnant. So since they had their suspicions already that that was what our visit was for, they had a bottle of champagne ready to celebrate.
    • I turned in my notice to AspireHR on Thursday and will be starting full-time with Cadbury on the 31st. It was really hard to leave Aspire, but I know that consulting is not the business I want to be in once the baby comes.
    • Chris sent out a Happy Easter card (with a pathetic picture of Riley with bunny ears) and announced that we are expecting. I purposefully didn’t send it to some specific people because I still want to tell them in person but at any event, it’s more common knowledge now…at least to friends and family. I haven’t officially announced it at work yet.

    • We went shopping for maternity clothes on Friday…notice the ‘we’ in that sentence. Yes, my dear, sweet husband went maternity clothes shopping with me! My regular clothes aren’t that tight yet but I don’t have that much extra room to spare! My one pair of jeans that is somewhat baggy is starting to feel tight. Not crazy tight, but uncomfortable. We went to Old Navy but the one by us did not have a maternity section. Then we went to The Gap and got some khaki pants on sale and a really cute dark brown button-up shirt dress. Then we went to Destination Maternity, a shop that carries 3-4 different brands and got some white pants and black pants. I didn’t find any shirts that didn’t look TOO maternity so it’s definitely too soon to be buying that stuff. So I’m going to try to pair my regular shirts with some of the maternity pants for a while and see how that works.

    Week 6: March 8 - March 14

    		  
      • I had my first OB appointment on the 13th and it was GREAT! Chris came along and we got to see the little booger (.33 centimeters right now)! We even got to see the flutter of the heart beat! HB was in the 170's I think which she said was low but totally normal for it being so early. And it was a vaginal sonogram so the funniest thing was Chris asked - is that uncomfortable? DUH?!?!?! No, I enjoy taking my pants off and having a total stranger poke around down there! Men are so clueless sometimes. It was just a little unnerving at first because it took the technician a little bit to find it so I was scared something was wrong but once she got it up it was great. She took lots of measurements and looked at it in different angles. She took about 5 or 6 pictures for the doctor but we only got one.


    • After the sonogram, I sent Chris back to work and I went over my medical history with the nurse and got a ton of pamphlets and papers to read. So we have a lot to think about…testing for Downs Syndrome, circumcision if it's a boy, etc. I went ahead and had them do the screening to see if I'm a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis because my ENT doctors have always asked if I might have a very mild form of it due to my nasal polyps. So that one seemed like a no-brainer.
    • Then, I had an exam with my doctor - who I really like a lot. She was so excited that I was pregnant! After the exam, I went downstairs to have my blood drawn. I have really lousy veins so it's never a pleasant experience but today, I hadn't had enough water so my veins actually stopped letting out blood! The tech was not very happy with me. So she got as much as she could but said I may have to come back because she didn't get as much as she was supposed to. Ugh!!! So just another reminder that I need to drink a lot of water!
    • So that was it!! I go back in four weeks!
    • Still no morning sickness but my OB said that it will probably start in weeks 8-10.

    Week 5: March 1 - March 7

    		  
      • I went ahead and called the doctor’s office to see when they wanted me to come in. My first appointment is scheduled for Thursday, March 13 at 1:00. I’m so excited – they said they would do a sonogram!!
    • I have already started to think about eating better. When we went to the grocery store, I got lots of healthy snacks. So now my breakfast consists of strawberry yogurt, a fruit cup and string cheese. Then if I snack during the day, I have nuts, dried fruit, Kashi fruit and nut bars and crackers. Actually, I don’t even eat a true lunch anymore…I just basically snack during the day!
    • I already know it’s going to be a struggle to drink enough water during the day. Working for a beverages company is helping because they have free bottled/canned water so I keep several by my desk. It’s just a matter of remembering to drink it during the day!
    • We went to dinner at a bar with Beth and she figured it out right away since I didn’t order a drink. But she’s sworn to secrecy since no one really knows yet!
    • EXCEPT….some more people at work (Cadbury). We were about to head out to lunch and Mick asked in front of some people if I was allowed to eat sushi. I tried to play it off but they were on to me. Bless his heart, he truly thought it was common knowledge.
    • And now I know that feeling tired all the time is definitely pregnancy related. It really comes and goes but when it hits, it really hits!

    Week 4: February 23 - February 29

    		  
      • I took the second pregnancy test the very next day (on the 23rd) and saw a slightly darker line so I went ahead and told Chris later that afternoon. He was really excited – but I think we were both a bit nervous about getting too excited this early on.
    • I took yet another pregnancy test on the 26th and this one was definitely positive. The line was VERY dark and it appeared almost immediately. YAY!!!!! Needless to say, I took SEVERAL more pregnancy tests over the next few weeks just to make sure.
    • So of course I started to read the “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” (WTEWYE) book that my friend Val got me a long time ago. Wow, it’s a really big book with a lot of info – great reading!!
    • And I had to first tell my best friend Jennifer who has been rooting for me to get PG for a long time.
    • I don’t really feel pregnant yet – so I don’t have any of the typical signs like morning sickness or anything (trust me, I’m not complaining). I seem to feel more tired, but not sure if it is pregnancy related. I thought I felt a bit nauseous the other day but I think it was just a one-day thing as it went away the next day. It’s funny to read the WTEWYE book and read about all the symptoms because you start to think you have them when you really don’t!
    • I broke down crying in Mick’s (my Cadbury project manager) office about the whole issue of trying to get my company to let me switch to working at Cadbury full time, which has hit some snags recently. So I totally spilled that I was pregnant – had to have some sort of excuse for crying at work! He was really great about it – it says a lot about a man who can handle a female co-worker crying in his office! He was really excited for me.

    Weeks 1-4: January 26 - February 22
      • Clomid did the trick!!! First day of last period was January 26th so the counting starts there!
    • I took the first pregnancy test on Friday, February 22. This was the ‘first possible day’ to test according to when I had my last period. At first, I didn’t see anything and then a really faint pink vertical line appeared. I just kept staring at it – wondering and hoping that it was what I thought it was! So I didn’t tell Chris yet just in case it was a fluke.