God's Little Conger

2006-09-28T09:43:00.000-05:00

A WEEKEND TO REMEMBER: OUR LABOR STORY

During the night last Wednesday, September 20th, I began having what I assumed were very mild contractions. Then, throughout the course of Thursday, they became a bit stronger and more frequent. Because my blood pressure was a bit high, the doctor had put me on brief bedrest until I delivered, so I spent the majority of Thursday in bed with hubby waiting on me hand and foot. Let me just say - I’m very thankful that I ended up being on bedrest for pretty much only one day; it wasn’t easy staying down and out! Women who are on bedrest for much of their pregnancies have my utmost sympathy. Anyway….that afternoon I decided to take a bath, mainly because I wanted to shave my hairy legs before going to the hospital! That evening, we were watching TV and I began noticing that the contractions were getting significantly closer together. For the next hour or so, we timed them and by 7:30 PM, they were about five minutes apart - and stronger, but not really painful. At that point, we packed up our last-minute things and headed to a hotel that was five minutes down the road from the hospital. We wanted to be able to get there quickly in the middle of the night if we had to, so opted for the hotel since it takes a good forty minutes to get from our house to the hospital. Got to the hotel around 9:00 PM and watched a movie on TV. After that, we fell asleep. At 3:00 AM, I got up to use the bathroom and when I came back to bed Scott asked me how I was feeling. I told him I couldn’t really tell yet, so we timed the contractions again. Two to three minutes apart! So off we went to the hospital!When we got there, they put us in a triage room where they monitored my contractions, my blood pressure, and the baby’s heart rate from 4:00 AM til almost 11:00 AM! Seemed like we were in that tiny room forEVER. After checking my cervix and finding that I was still only one cm dilated, they were debating on whether to admit me or let us go home. I would have screamed if they had let me go home, especially with all those contractions that had been going on already! Because my blood pressure readings were consistently high all morning, they did admit me and we moved into the labor and delivery room (room 285). They decided it would be necessary to induce me because I wasn’t dilating very quickly on my own. (My cervix, however, was 50% effaced at this point.) So as soon as they got us in the room they started me on Pitocin. The room was pretty nice - a long pull-out couch for Scott to rest on, nice curtains on the window, a big wood cabinet with a TV in it. I think the floor may have even been wood, but don’t quote me on that. Well, by about 1:30 PM Friday afternoon, the contractions were getting to be too strong to handle so I asked for an epidural. A few minutes later, Dr. Hoochiepootie (I’m not kidding!!) came in and administered the epidural, which was uncomfortable but not terrible. The next two hours were delightfully pain-free and I was a happy girl, thinking this was gonna be a piece o’ cake. WOWWWWW, I would soon find out that I was wrong!!!At about 2:45 PM, Doctor Strohmayer came in and broke my water and apparently that REALLY got things moving! By about 3:30 PM, the epidural appeared to be wearing off or something; my lower back contractions became excruciating - and increasingly so as time went on. Whenever a contraction came (about every two minutes with very, very little relief inbetween), I literally pulled at chunks of my hair to try to distract myself from the pain even a tiny bit. Finally I just started crying. I was absolutely beside myself with agony. I told the nurse that I honestly didn’t know how much longer I could handle it and she said she’d send in the anesthesiologist to see if I could get the epidural medicine increased. After what seemed like an eternity, the anesthesiologist finally came in (not Dr. Hoochiepootie this time…it was a new lady) and said she would give me a little more epidural medication, but couldn’t give me much more because the level was already very high. I wanted to kiss her feet. However, at this time I also told the nurse that when the contractions hit, I had a TREMENDOUS urge to PUSH. In fact, pushing was the only way I could get through them. So she said, “Okay, on your next contraction, go ahead and push and I’ll try to feel what’s going on in there.” So I did. And much to my surprise, she said that I was fully 100% effaced and was, indeed, very ready to start pushing! They had told me that we probably wouldn’t be seeing the baby until Saturday (ya know, til after midnight). Here it was only 7:00 PM Friday night and she would be born soon!! The nurse called in the troops and we went to town.With Scott holding my left leg, a nurse holding my right, and my own hands pulling my thighs up toward my chest, I pushed for three intervals of ten seconds for each contraction. Took my glasses off because my face was too sweaty for them to stay on and I had an oxygen mask on for most of the time. Kept sweating really bad underneath that too, though, so eventually Doctor S. told me I could ditch it and I did. Well, I pushed and pushed and pushed. I had quite the cheering section, too. There were five nurses and my doctor in there yelling for me to give it all I had and to “Come on, make this one count!!” It was the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done, as I knew it would be. At one point, they said that the baby’s head had shifted to the side and we needed to get it straightened back out in the birth canal, so they had me lay on my side and push that way. That was NOT easy! I held on for dear life to the rail on the side of the bed while I pushed. Finally they said her head was straightened out so I got on my back again and continued to push…and push…and push! The pain was huge as her head tried to make its way out. At about this point, Doctor S. said that there was green fluid present which meant that the baby had pooped in utero. That can be dangerous if it gets into their nose, mouth, lungs, and stomach. Her head finally came out and (though I didn’t see it), she did indeed have the green fluid in her mouth and nose. Before she was even the rest of the way out, they were siphoning her nose and mouth like crazy. The rest of her came out at exactly 9:00 PM, Friday September 22nd. Scotty actually cut the cord, which surprised me since he's verrrry squeamish! I was SO proud of him!! They rushed her to the other side of the room and continued to get the miconium out of her nose and mouth. I got to see her about twenty minutes later. When they handed her to me - all bundled up and with a little hat on - I could not BELIEVE how GORGEOUS she was!!!! I mean, she was BREATHTAKING! Perfect little features - beautiful blue eyes, a button nose, and a little rosebud mouth that looks exactly like her daddy’s. And dark brown hair!! I’m sure that will lighten up gradually! Both our families visited. Soon they took Alyssa to the nursery and performed some tests and procedures to fully remove ALL the miconium from her lungs and stomach. Late that night they moved us to a postnatal room and the rest of our hospital stay is kind of a blur! Family visited again, Scott and I had a filet mignon meal, and I got about three total hours of sleep in two days. I was running on pure adrenaline and could not take my eyes off of our new baby girl!! I am ADDICTED to her!! On Sunday afternoon we came home. Alyssa Belle is the hugest blessing I have ever received. She is my little angel girl and I look forward to every second with her. Our lives will never be the same, and I would not have it ANY other way.

2006-09-06T21:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm dilated! Just a tiny bit - 1 cm. But hey, it's something!!
She said there's no way to know when the baby will come but that it's pretty common to be slightly dilated at 37 weeks. And during the exam, she said, "WOW! This baby is LOW! Can you feel that she's really low?" I said, "Oh believe me, yes I can!" But part of her is also very high, and doc said she's probably gonna be a long baby! Not too surprising, since Scotty and I are both so stinkin' tall!
Made an appt. for a week from today. I'm just gonna hang in there til she's ready to make her way into the world!

2006-09-04T17:01:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm at that point where I'm willing to try going over some REALLY bumpy railroad tracks.

2006-08-28T16:43:00.000-05:00

Here's me belly at 36 weeks! I hope this picture actually shows up, for crying out loud! Not having good luck with posting pictures here lately.

2006-08-25T12:29:00.000-05:00

It seemed SO real.
Today I took a nap for about an hour. Right before I woke up, I was dreaming that my baby was sleeping next to me and I had my hand on her perfect little round head. And I was smiling hugely when I woke up. For all the world, I thought she really was right next to me!
I must have dreamed that because of how very, very much I long to finally hold her. I can feel parts of her in my belly when I rub it, but I can't tell if I'm feeling her knee, her head, her back, her buns...I just can't wait til I can hold her in my arms!! It won't be long.

2006-08-15T18:23:00.000-05:00

Nursing bras make me giggle. You unsnap the flap and PEEK - there's your boob!

2006-08-12T12:10:00.000-05:00

It's Saturday. I planned to take a shower right after breakfast and maybe get a few little things done this morning.
But instead, I plopped down in the recliner after breakfast and picked up the book I was halfway through - "The Stork Reality" by Malena Lott. Four hours later, I've finished the book. It's about a lady who gets pregnant while she's on the Pill (oops). She and her husband are rather terrified at first. But during those nine crazy months, they both slowly morph into Mommy and Daddy and, because of the beautiful way the author writes about it, I could not put that darn book down! A couple times it even brought me to tears.
Taylor, the main character, decides to keep a journal of letters to her baby. I love this part of this particular entry:
"Wow! Next week I'll learn if you're a boy or a girl. My prediction? A boy. Must be all the meat I'm eating. But I don't have a preference, really. I think if you are a boy it might be easier for Jake to bond with you, but you know what they say about daddy's girls, too. I know. I was one. I can't wait to meet you. I hope you're doing okay in there. Cozy? I skipped the coffee so as not to give you the jitters on our flight home. Let's sleep now, shall we?
Mom"

One of the best parts of reading this wonderful book for four hours this morning: My girl was kicking and rolling and punching like crazy almost the whole time. It's like she knew I was reading about babies. I think she's getting really excited to be born and finally be with us as our baby daughter. My anticipation increases with every passing moment. She's almost here! Here's a picture of my 34-weeks roooound belly! (Is the pic showing up for you? It's not for me! Grrrrr!!!)

2006-08-10T08:19:00.000-05:00

WOW! This baby girl's movements are getting stronger and "bigger" these last few days!! This morning she kicked (or elbowed) six times in a row - lol! I loooooove her stronger kicks and punches!!! They assure me that she's getting big and getting ready to come into the world!
All this growing has also made it somewhat difficult for me to eat much. I have to eat smaller bits at a time rather than whole meals most of the time. So often I can feel part of her (probably her head or her little butt) up real high, inbetween my ribs....and it's when she's way up there that I can't fit much food in my tummy!
I absolutely cannot believe that I'm 33 weeks along and that she will be here so soon!!! Between DYING to SEE and HOLD her, and being very tired of being pregnant - I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!
I would like to say a special "BEST WISHES" to my friend, Bambi today. Her baby boy, Xander, is due literally any minute now and I'm sooooooo excited for her!!!! Praying for you, Bambi girl!!

2006-08-02T18:54:00.000-05:00

So over this past weekend, I noticed that I wasn't feeling as much fetal movement as usual. Was definitely feeling some, but not as much and not as strong as usual. So I called the doc and they told me to do a "kick count test": eat something sugary, then lay on my left side for one hour and count the kicks. If there were less than six, it may be cause for concern. So I ate a big piece of rhubarb pie with a little scoop of ice cream and laid on the couch. By twenty minutes, she had already given me six good wallops....and by the time the hour was over, I had counted thirteen. That made me feel much better!
Had a doc checkup yesterday, and since she passed the "kick test" with flying colors Monday night and moved a lot yesterday morning, doc didn't seem worried at all. We heard the heartbeat and she took a belly measurement, and both were great. She said I probably have nothing to worry about but that if I ever do a kick test and there are less than six kicks, to let them know. Also told me that as babies get bigger there is less room to kick and punch in there, which I knew (and it makes sense!).
So my next appt is in two weeks and OH my gosh I can't believe how close it's getting to her due date!!!!

Steph came over with boxes and boxes of Kenzie's old baby clothes today! LOTS of really cute stuff. So now I have my work cut out for me with laundry - gotta wash all that clothes, as well as her onesies and jammies. She is gonna be one well-dressed little girl! : D (Here's a pic of what the family room looks like right now with all those boxes of clothes in it!)

2006-07-27T19:07:00.000-05:00

I'm quickly reaching that point that all pregnant women come to where I'm getting very tired of being pregnant. I'm tired, lethargic, and huge. My legs are stretchy all the time, my acid reflux is horrible and nothing helps and because of that, my stomach just feels really sour. My hands are constantly numb and tingly from carpal tunnel. It's hard to take a deep breath cuz she's probably pushing up on my diaphragm.
I actually cried tonight cuz I feel sorry for myself. What a putz!

2006-07-20T14:17:00.000-05:00

I can't believe things have been SO busy around here that I literally haven't had ten minutes to write in this blog! And that's no exaggeration - it has been NONSTOP activity ever since about the 4th of July!
Nutshell version of the shower at Mom's this past Saturday: It was terrific! Wonderful guests, good food, and lots of fantastic gifts. I am floored at people's generosity. Some people gave me huge gifts bag FULL of baby things. Mom gave me the stroller I wanted, Steph gave me the matching carseat, Rachel gave me the space-saver high chair seat and the BOPPY! (Don't know why I'm SO excited about the Boppy...they just look so cool and so useful!) Tons of adorable clothes and jammies, little tiny sockies, toys, books....I am so very blessed and this baby girl already is too!
I worked on her room all day Monday...putting away onesies and jammies in her dresser drawers, hanging clothes in the closet, organizing things on shelves....Was a lot of work, but FUN work! Feels awesome to be getting so organized ahead of time!
Had another doctor checkup this morning that went very well. Got a Rho-gam shot (in the rump!) that will protect from Rh incompatiblity. Belly measurement's perfect, blood pressure's perfect, and her heart rate was 153 bpm today. The doctor called her a "little engine" when she heard the heart rate again today and I thought that was cute! After the appt, I treated myself to a double cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate chip cookie at McDonald's. Yum!
Now I'm ever so tired and gonna try to take a nap. Will come back and post some pics of the nursery soon! I hope!
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

2006-07-10T20:59:00.000-05:00

I've been able to "do" more lately, despite the watermelon-belly. Over the weekend, we massively re-organized the garage - shuffled through every single box in there and pitched a bunch of junk, then organized the boxes and bins on a shelving unit. Scott did the vast majority of it, but I did what I could.
And today I managed to work for about four hours (with frequent breaks!) in the room that will be the nursery - sorting through everything in there and clearing almost everything out so it can be painted. I made two "piles" of stuff in the hallway - a trash pile, which is surprisingly large, and a store-in-the-garage pile. So tomorrow I hope to move some of that stuff down into the garage. Some of the boxes are pretty heavy, though, so I'll just deal with the lighter ones.
Our friend Jennifer is coming to visit on Wednesday and is gonna help Scotty paint the nursery!! Dude! Once it's painted, the sky's the limit! It will be SO much fun to start putting stuff in there and making it begin to look like a baby's room! I can't wait to put her little clothes in the drawers and on hangers (mental note: Buy those bitty hangers I've always thought were so cute), and just get things looking all cute in there! OH and I even lined her dresser drawers with contact paper today too!
I hope I have enough energy to do a few more things around here tomorrow like I had today. If I take plenty of breaks and drink lots of water, I do pretty darn well. Gonna try to post a couple pictures with this entry, but Blogger hasn't let me do that lately, so we'll see. HEY, it worked! That's one of the two dressers that Scott did a very nice painting job on. Tried to post a couple more pics but it will only let me post one. Grrr.
She has been moving, moving, moving lately! 'Course, most of the time I only feel her when I'm sitting or laying quite still. Today I felt her off and on but since I was moving so much, she wasn't...lol! BUT - this afternoon my belly looked all lopsided, kinda bigger on the left than the right, so I think she may have had her butt sticking up or something. It was way funny! I still am just totally obsessed with feeling her move. I love it soooooooo much!!!!

2006-07-07T15:47:00.000-05:00

"Fit Pregnancy" is a REALLY cool magazine.

2006-07-06T14:21:00.000-05:00

This drawing shows about how big Alyssa is now! She weighs about 2-1/2 pounds and is about 11 inches long from the crown of her head to her little butt. :D

Well, this morning I had the refreshing treat of the massively-sugar-filled orange drink for the glucose test. LoL! Honestly the stuff isn't that bad....I'd had it before and didn't mind it. It is very sugary but I think my body's pretty used to sugar so it didn't faze me much! I drank it right before I left for the doctor's office and they took my blood exactly an hour later. So everything's fine so far. They'll call me tomorrow to let me know the results. I am reeeeally praying the results are fine because if they're not - then I have to go back and have a 3-hour glucose tolerance test. And that's a fasting test which means I'd be really hungry and weak and it would suck hugely. I had the 3-hour test several years ago and it was no picnic, and that was when I wasn't pregnant. I would LOVE to avoid that if I can!!

Other details from today's doc visit: Belly measurement was good.....I gained 4 pounds since the last visit which is better than 9 (from the visit before) and she didn't say anything about it, but I still wanna watch my sweets and stuff cuz yikes!....Her heartbeat sounded great (153 bpm) and it was kinda amusing because she was moving so much while the doctor was trying to get her heart rate that we kept hearing "thump, bang, boom..." LOL! Oh, and she recommended Liquid Mylanta for my bad acid problem. She said liquid antacids tend to work better than chewables. So I bought some on my way home and sincerely hope it helps!
From now til Alyssa's born, I'll be seeing the doctor every two weeks instead of once a month!

Scott and I are going to a "Taking Care of Baby" class next month. It's just one class on a Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to that. We both need to learn the basics so that when we get her home we aren't clueless!

I really think the next 2-1/2 months are gonna go pretty quickly. I sure hope so!!

2006-07-06T07:45:00.000-05:00

Alyssa's favorite hobby: Doing jumping jacks on mommy's bladder!

2006-07-05T18:47:00.000-05:00

WOW - what a fantastic 4th of July we had!!

The ice cream mix-in contest was cool (pun intended). I got voted "Most Outrageous" for my ice-cream-belly-with-pickle-belly-button idea. Hee! And my niece, Betsy (16 yrs old) loves pickles SO much that she took the pickle belly button out and ate it, with ice cream on it and everything! She's a really shy girl, but when it comes to doing nutty things like that she's always up for it! We actually got some video footage of her eating it - lol! And LOTS of other video footage too - Scotty was having a ball with the camcorder!
My mom and dad got there at about 1:00 and we all had lunch (sloppy joes and a bunch of other stuff) and then just relaxed and chatted. The weather was PICTURE PERFECT on their lake. About 77* and a beautiful breeze - and NO humidity!! They had this lawn game called "Blongo Ball" set up and lots of us took turns playing that. It's a pretty cool game!
Then....at about 6:00, Kathy (mom-in-law) and Koreena (sis-in-law) brought out a bunch of food for dinner and started moving tables and chairs around. I was sitting across the yard with my mom and some others and was completely oblivious as to what they were up to. Finally, I casually turned around and they had this huge bunch of balloons and decorations up, and a big ol' pile of gifts under the tree!! As soon as I glanced over there they all yelled "Surprise!" Everybody sat in a half-circle (there were about 25 of us there altogether I think - maybe more) and watched as Scott and I opened the gifts. There were even a couple of shower games, with prizes for the winners and stuff. It was really, really cool and I was so touched that I started crying a little but stopped myself cuz I didn't wanna look like a complete dork in front of everybody! The gifts were just amazing! So much *wonderful* baby stuff - clothes, booties, a tiny white fuzzy bathrobe, the infant bathtub I registered for, the giraffe swing, books, and best of all -- this AWESOME burley/jog stroller from Scott's parents!!! I wanted one SO bad for Alyssa but thought we'd eventually just buy one ourselves cuz those things are not cheap and we didn't expect to get one as a gift!! You can attach it to the back of a bike OR add a third wheel to the front and it becomes a jog stroller! In my non-pregnancy days, I do a lot of "power walking", so this thing will be sooooo great to have!! Up there is a picture of what it looks like. Cannot wait to use it!!
....By the time the shower was over and the food was all cleaned up, it was getting dark and my BIL, Corey, did his annual fireworks display. It was beautiful. By 10:45 I was totally beat and went in to bed. It was so cool to have my mom and dad there again - they had a terrific time. This morning, Scott and I and our parents went out for breakfast before we headed home. Traffic was great both to and from, so that was nice!
And during our little trip, my little stinker moved a lot. It was too funny - she was really boogying in there during the fireworks. No doubt she could hear them and probably wondered what in the world was going on! Scott's afraid that now she'll be born deaf cuz of all that noise last night! I think not! ; )

Tomorrow I have the doctor appointment where they'll do the glucose test. I have to drink that really sugary orange stuff an hour before the appointment. I pray that I don't have any gestational diabetes issues!!

We're hoping to work on Alyssa's room next week. We have lots of stuff to clear out of there before Scotty can start painting and we can move some of her things in there. I hope we manage to get a lot done - it will be SO great when that room starts looking like a nursery!!

2006-07-02T19:34:00.000-05:00

Reflux. Maaaaaajor acid reflux. Soooo uncomfortable.
I pray that it won't be bad on the 4th. That would really stink!

2006-06-26T12:18:00.000-05:00

Just got back from my first exercise class. It was pretty cool! Mondays are step classes. It was a little more fast-paced and strenuous than I thought it would be but at no point did I really feel like it was too much. Also, you control the intensity by deciding how many levels to use (today I didn't use any - just used the step itself) and she modified some of the moves to make them easier, so I did the easier ones!
There were five of us in the class - three moms who brought their babies with them, and two of us preggo's. One of the girls who had an absolutely adorable baby girl made a point to chat with me after the class, which I thought was very cool. Her name is Kristen and her baby's name is Kate. That baby has a LOT of dark hair!! I also talked to the instructor for a bit. Very nice people.
Right now I feel great. Maybe that workout did some good! Wonder what Alyssa was thinking about all that bouncing around! LOL!

2006-06-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure, but I think I may have had my first Braxton-Hicks contraction tonight! It didn't hurt at all - but for about a half a minute or so, my lower abdomen got ROCK hard and really tight. Then it relaxed again. When are those funky contractions supposed to start? I'm 27 weeks today!!!

2006-06-22T14:22:00.000-05:00

She had her first hiccups!
Yesterday morning I was laying on the bed watching the News and I suddenly felt rhythmic thumps right by my belly button. I had no doubt in my mind that it was hiccups, cuz the thumps weren't random like they usually are. They lasted about 3-4 minutes. I couldn't stop giggling - it just cracked me up for some reason! The thought of a little person in there with the hiccups - oh my gosh! LOL!

2006-06-19T14:31:00.000-05:00

I'm super-excited! Today I signed up for a pre/post natal exercise class!
I've been wishing for and looking for something like this - but never thought to look to the hospital I'll be delivering at for a class. Well, I called them this morning and they offer one that sounds great. YAY! It meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10:30 a.m. The class goes for about 45 minutes. The class is not actually *at* the hospital...it's at a health/fitness club that's actually a little closer to my house. I was really impressed with the facility when I went there to register this morning. And the membership dude that helped me was really helpful - he showed me the room the class is held in, the location of the locker room, and everything. I signed up for ten classes and can't wait to go!! He said most of the women who take that class are post-natal (they take their little ones to the class too!), but that I'm smart for starting before the baby's born. Hopefully I won't be the *only* prenatal woman there, but we shall see! ; )
Oh, that reminds me - I have to call my OB cuz I have to have written permission from them before I can take the class!

Oh my. Today in the mail there was an ABC Distributing catalog that says "Harvest 2006" on the cover! They're reeeally ahead o' the game, but seeing that made my tummy do a little flip....cuz when FALL is here, ALYSSA is here!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

2006-06-14T11:16:00.000-05:00

It's getting a bit difficult to shave my legs - lol! This belly doesn't allow for much "bendage" in the shower. ;)
And guess what I noticed for the first time this morning? That line that starts below the belly button! It's light but it's very obvious. I bet it'll get darker as my belly grows. I love my belly! : D

2006-06-12T17:16:00.000-05:00

So I had another OB visit today! Our baby girl's heartbeat was great - 158 bpm - and she said my belly measurement was right where it should be. I did ask her about childbirth classes and she said it's a personal decision, but that many first-time parents learn a lot from them and that the "caring for your newborn" part is quite helpful. Our only thing is we don't know how much the classes cost (I'll find that out very soon) and if our insurance pays for it or not. We're not wanting to spend a lot on the classes! We'll think about it and decide soon. The only part I know I wouldn't like is the video of some woman giving birth. And Scott - he would leave the room at that point, I'm 100% sure!
My doctors do a glucose test routinely and I will have it done at my next appointment. At today's appt they gave me a bottle of orange glucose-filled juice (yum, yum) that I have to drink an hour before my next appt. Then they take my blood and test for possible gestational diabetes. My sister had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant and I have tendencies toward goofy blood-sugar stuff, so I wouldn't be surprised if I am prone to gest. diabetes, but I'm definitely hoping I'm not! We shall see....
And get this - I've gained NINE pounds in the last month! She told me to go easy on the desserts and I KNOW I have to! My sweet tooth is OFF THE CHARTS lately and I don't hold back....I just eat whatever I want. This past weekend, I ate almost an entire caramel-pecan coffee cake. Not good! So I have to cut down on sweets, which will not be easy for me - lol! But I will do it! I'm also walking more (did really well last week) and will do my darndest to keep that up.
Also, after my next appointment I will start going every two weeks instead of my usual once a month. That means we're gettin' close!!!!

2006-06-12T13:33:00.000-05:00

Had another OB check-up today and it went well!
Her heart rate was 158 bmp today and my belly measurement was just right. However, I gained nine pounds since my last appointment (one month ago)! Egads! The doctor told me to just "go easy on the desserts" - lol. And I'm not surprised. My sweet tooth is insatiable...just THRU the ROOF! And I have been eating too many sweets. So I'm gonna really cut down on them, which will probably help me to have more energy too....sometimes I just feel SO sluggish, and it probably has a lot do to with the sugar and fat I eat. So I will be a better girl about that, I promise - lol!
They also gave me a bottle of orange glucose-filled stuff to drink before my next appointment, which is in three weeks. Yum. (Yes, that was sarcasm!) At my next appt they'll do a routine glucose tolerance test to see if I have gestational diabetes. I know it's not uncommon and my sister had it when she was pregnant...but hopefully I won't have it.
And guess what? After this next appointment, I'll be going every two weeks instead of every month! That makes me realize how close it's getting! WooHoo!!

2006-06-09T09:21:00.000-05:00

This morning she's kicking so hard that my belly's visibly going up and down!!!

2006-06-04T21:06:00.000-05:00

People are starting to touch my belly. Lol! I don't mind it a bit as long as I know the person. If a stranger came up to me in the grocery store and started touchin' all over my belly (like my friend Rebecca said happened to her) - not cool!
We had a great afternoon with Mom and Dad today. The weather was picture-perfect and the burgers were deeeelicious! Dad can really grill those burgers! After lunch we went to downtown Wheaton and got ice cream and then the Popcorn Shop. I can't believe that itty-bitty penny candy store is STILL there after all these years! It will be a sad, sad day when the Popcorn Shop closes its doors. And yes, I got a bag of candy and have eaten far too much of it today!
Although my appetite is quite good lately, I've been trying not to eat too much at a time. If I do, I just feel so uncomfortable and HUGE! My belly isn't THAT big yet, but it already feels like there's not a whole lotta room in there. I know, I ain't seen nothin' yet! Mercy!

2006-06-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

Look at this picture! I found it online last night. It gives you an idea of how big Alyssa is right now, at 23 weeks. Isn't that cool?!?! She's already bigger than my hand! And from how much I've still been feeling those thumps in there, it's not hard to believe! : ) ....And the other picture is my Safari laying with his paw on my belly. Sometimes he lays on me and kneads my belly a little. I think he finally somehow knows there's something pretty cool in there! I love it!!

Been feeling pretty okay lately - my main thing is still major tiredness. It's not as bad as it was a couple months ago but it still doesn't take much to get me really exhausted.

Gosh, I CANNOT WAIT to meet this little girl!!!!!!!! Only 3-1/2 more months!!!!

2006-05-24T21:07:00.000-05:00

Right now Alyssa Belle weighs about one pound. My pregnancy journal says to hold a pound of butter (four sticks) in your hand to get an idea of how much the baby weighs. So I did that the other day and even though it's not much, it is cool to think that she weighs that much already.
Haven't been writing in my blog as often as usual lately....I think it's cuz I'm in that blessed state of pregnancy where not much is changing from day to day. I'm still feeling her move a LOT!! I think she likes it when I lay really still on the bed, cuz that's when she tends to kick the most. And she almost always boogies around in there for about an hour or so after I first wake up in the morning. Sometimes I talk to her, call her by her name, etc. - and she often responds by moving even more! Can I just say - that is AMMMMAZING!!! I honestly have to say that feeling this little growing person inside me is THE most awesome thing I have experienced in my entire life. In a way, I'm actually very much looking forward to the next four months because I know the kicking and rolling will just increase and get easier and easier to feel....and eventually we'll be able to see those kicks and jabs too! I can't wait!!
I also love the fact that you can clearly tell I'm pregnant now. People in stores and stuff look at my belly and smile. It is so fun!
I got a CD yesterday that has lullabies on it, and it's a personalized CD so all of the songs have the name "Alyssa" in them! I love it so much - I listened to it last night in bed before I fell asleep. The songs are sung by two sisters and their voices are so pretty. The songs definitely make ME sleepy, so hopefully they'll make my baby sleepy too, when the time comes! My favorite song on the CD goes, "Sleep, my sweet Alyssa...." It is sooooo neat hearing her name in the songs!! And things like that make me glad we chose a non-bizarre name for her cuz finding personalized things probably won't be too difficult. As a little girl, I *loved* getting things that had my name on them - pencils, notepads, keychains, buttons.....
I'm getting serious stretch marks on my upper legs, dude. None on my belly yet, but the hip area - yikes! But ya know what? I don't mind one little teeny-tiny bit!!

2006-05-18T09:11:00.000-05:00

Here's what my little Alyssa-bump is looking like these days! : )

.....Okay, coming back to this entry to write a little more. Lol
I am really liking this stage of my pregnancy! Very seldom now do I have a day where I just want to lay around and do absolutely nothing. This week I've been straightening up the house, shopping, and I'm even baking an apple cake today! I'm tellin' ya - even as recently as a month ago, I truly thought I wouldn't be able to live like a normal person until I popped this little girlie out! It is SO refreshing and such a relief to have a little more energy back and to be able to do "normal" things like I used to again! Plus, I totally love watching my belly grow!! People in the grocery store and restaurants, etc., look at me and my belly a lot now - it cracks me up! I'm proud of my baby bump! : )

2006-05-16T15:21:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how much our little girl has grown in the past few months - this picture puts it in really good perspective!
My appetite is so crazy right now! I'm usually REALLY hungry for breakfast, kinda hungry for lunch, and not real hungry at all for dinner. I guess that's okay -- they say one of the keys of weight maintenance is "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper." LoL!
This morning I went to Dunkin' Donuts and had myself quite the little feast: A lemon-filled donut, a ham/egg/cheese bagel sandwich and apple juice. But was that enough? Oh no. After that I went to Panera to get an iced coffee. It was SO good! *OINK*
Still feeling this little peanut tumbling and wiggling around; I SO love it! Last week, I could only feel her first thing in the morning, right after I woke up. But now it's any time of the day or night!
I have my monthly check-up tomorrow morning. I always look very forward to those - it's fun hearing the heartbeat and stuff!
Today I bought Alyssa a little book at Kohl's. It's about colors and it's so cute. And we're getting quite the collection of adorable baby clothes already - it is SO much fun!! Only about four months til she makes her arrival - I can't believe it. I hope the next four months go really fast!!

2006-05-14T13:33:00.000-05:00

This kid is a MOVER!! Just this past week, I have been able to really feel her kicking and punching and doing summersaults and cartwheels! LoL! She IS an active one!
I absolutely LOVE feeling her move around in there. I know that as she grows, she'll start kicking harder and it will get annoying - but for now, I totally love it!!! : )

2006-05-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I decided this nasty "anonymous" person can bite me. I changed the settings here so she won't be able to post anymore.
So without further ado......Thought I'd log in to make a quick entry. We just got back from a long weekend trip to Green Bay to visit with Scotty's family and to see some good friends we hadn't seen in far too long. We had the FUNNEST weekend!! Before the trip, I was very nervous about whether or not I would feel good enough to do everything we were planning to do. But God gave me four days in a row of feeling fine and having plenty of energy! It was GREAT!! I drove Scott's mom's new convertible Volkswagon Beetle, we had nachos at Max & Erma's, dinner at Ross and Koreena's on Friday, a BBQ at Jennifer's on Saturday with Brent and Melissa and their two precious little boys, visited Scott's grandparents, had dinner at Old Chicago Pizza last night and then went to part of our niece, Jensen's, soccer game! PHEW! Got home late last night and slept sooo well in my own bed!
I got lots of really cute summer maternity clothes from Melissa! I think that between all that, and the clothes I'm getting from the ebay auction, I'll be set! And Kathy taught me how to do those Sudoku puzzles - http://websudoku.com/ - and I am so addicted. They're so fun!
Also got a glider chair for Alyssa's room from Kathy. Now I need to take that off my registry!
During the trip, I felt her kick a couple times! And this morning - wow! I think she was playing soccer in there! : ) I looooove feeling her moving around in there!!
I could go on and on today, but I must go.
Long live my baby blog!!

2006-05-03T16:22:00.000-05:00

Well, to the "anonymous" person who's been causing trouble on here, thanks a ton. Because of you, I'm probably gonna be taking my blog offline very soon. It's people like you who make this world a sad, sad place.
I have not given that much "personal information" on my blog. I talk about pregnancy stuff and my feelings about it, etc. Big deal. Isn't that what blogs are for?
Anyway, thanks loads, whoever you are. And I hope I never hear from you again.
And to my dear friends who have been reading my blog and commenting and all that fun stuff - I love you! And I'll miss this place. A lot.

2006-05-02T14:20:00.000-05:00

I love baby girl clothes!!
LOOK at this stuff! Those are newborn slippers - sooo tiny and about the cutest things I've ever laid eyes on! This all came in a package today from my online friend, Becky. Thank you again, Becky!!! I can't wait to put her in this adorable stuff!!!!

2006-05-02T10:28:00.000-05:00

I really wish I could figure out why some days I feel okay, and some days I feel really lousy.
Yesterday I felt pretty good all day. Today I feel icky. I'm kinda struggling with this, because I really thought that by 20 weeks I'd be feeling consistently good. I hate to sound like such a constant whiner, but I have to say - it is really frustrating.

2006-05-01T13:56:00.000-05:00

God actually gave me a little bit o' energy this morning. :)
Scotty has a couple weeks off of work (vacation time that he has accrued), which is so great - I love having him home! So this morning we went out to Gurnee to Home Depot, Target, the grocery store, and even TGI Friday's for lunch (it was soooo good)! Only bad thing is that I got another bloody nose at the restaurant! :( But other than that, it was so nice to be out getting stuff done with my hubby!
Had Diet Coke with lunch and then a 100 Grand candy bar, so Alyssa's probably doin' the Macarena in there! ;)

2006-04-29T19:59:00.000-05:00

Dude.
Two bizzare things going on here lately: For the last two days, I can feel my belly strrrretching! It feels soooo weird!!!
And just a little while ago, I got a bloody nose! My nose has been bleeding a tiny bit for a couple months now, but this was the first one where I actually had to stuff a kleenex up there to stop the bleeding. Didn't last long at all, but it was weird too!
Pregnancy is weeeeird! LOL!

2006-04-28T13:33:00.000-05:00

Tricia, I know you'll read this so please accept this as my heartfelt THANK YOU for the absolutely beautiful Willow Tree Angel! I LOVE IT and I cannot wait to put it in Alyssa's room!!! I have never seen this one before and I just absolutely love it. I will think of you every time I look at it. Thank you, dear friend!!

2006-04-27T15:55:00.000-05:00

How could I ever have not wanted a kid??!
One year ago, I would've laughed in your face if you told me that a year from then I would be pregnant. I was so opposed to having a kid. I thought all they were was trouble, inconvenience, and work work work. I liked our freedom to come and go as we pleased and to not have to worry about someone else. I couldn't imagine getting up six times a night to feed and change a baby, and didn't even want to think about all the rigamaroll you have to bring along every time you go somewhere with a baby. I didn't want the hassle.
TOTAL 180. I know it'll be hard. I know it'll be a huge challenge, especially at first. I know it'll take some major getting-used-to. But now that I'm pregnant, I am LIVING for the day that this little girl is born. She's not even here yet and my life revolves around her. She's the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about at night. I just ache to hold her and hug her and kiss her cheek. She's already my precious little Alyssa and I love her more than I can ever say.

2006-04-26T12:34:00.000-05:00

Well, we chose a name!! Our baby girl's name will be Alyssa Belle Conger. Isn't that cute? I love it! Her initials will be ABC- lol
And I spent a couple hours registering online this morning for baby stuff. It was so much fun! If you feel like taking a gander at all the cute stuff I registered for, the websites are:

Bedding/Nursery:
http://www.babybeddingtown.com/babybedding-viewregistry.htm?registry-name=Wendy%20Conger,46277

Good ol' Target:
http://www.target.com/gp/registry/babyreg.html/602-1790004-6427045
(just input my name. This one might not show up right away - I guess they have to process it or something before it shows up.)

2006-04-26T08:09:00.000-05:00

I found the crib bedding set that I want!!! I absolutely love it!!!
It's called Secret Garden. Isn't it beauty-full?!! Gonna order it soon!

2006-04-24T20:05:00.000-05:00

God's little Conger is a GIRL!!!!!!!!!

(It won't let me upload the ultrasound pics for some reason! Hopefully I'll figure it out and be able to post them soon!)
So I was SUPER-nervous all day til the appointment. I was SO glad when we finally got there...I just wanted to get the show on the road! First, a young lady doctor did a u/s and pointed out basic body parts. She said, "You're positive you want to know the gender?" I said, "OH yes, very much so." When she got down to the little legs, Baby C cooperated beautifully and spread 'em. The doctor immediately said, "Congratulations, it's a girl!" You could have heard a pin drop. We were both SO SHOCKED! The dr. must've noticed our silence cuz she asked, "Were you guessing it was a boy?" I said, "Oh my gosh, we completely thought it was a boy!" It was so funny!

Then she left and about 20 minutes later, a different doctor came in - an older-ish man. He was sooo nice and sooo informative. He basically did another u/s and easily confirmed that it is a girl! Then he went on to show us and measure almost every organ in her little body - the heart, the brain, the stomach, the diaphram - as well as pointed out that her arms, hands, legs, and feet looked perfect. Those are all things they check closely to see if there are any abnormal growth patterns. Every SINGLE thing he checked looked perfect. He even showed us the left and right ventricles of the heart. It was very, very detailed and very, very fascinating! After he determined that everything looked great, he said that IF we wanted to we could have an amniocentesis. I am definitely not having one. There is a slight risk of harming the baby with an amnio...and seeing our perfect little girl on that screen today was all the assurance we need!

I have to say, I am truly TICKLED PINK to be having a girl (pun fully intended)!!!! I have to change my whole mindset after four months of "just knowing" it was a boy! But holy cow - it'll be so fun to have a little girl!! The adorable clothes and then makeup and then school dances with beautiful dresses, and then a wedding and then HER baby....I know, I'm getting SO way ahead of myself here! But it's SOOOO FUN to think about!!!! I couldn't be happier!! Steph (my sister) kept all of Mackenzie's baby clothes so we'll have lots of really cute clothes right off the bat. Mackenzie was also a Fall baby, so they'll be the right size and everything! And ya know what I am so excited to do? Go garage-saleing and buy cute little girl clothes!!! It is WAAAAY cool to know the gender now!!!!!!!

Once again, I thank our ever-faithful Father for His answers to prayer, for protecting this little sweetheart whom I already love SOOO much, and for easing our fears today. He is my everything and the works of His hands are absolutely miraculous.

2006-04-22T15:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I pretty much got the scare of a lifetime yesterday.
At my last appointment they took blood for a "quad panel" test, which tests for fetal abnormalities. My OB called yesterday around noon and told me that my test came back with abnormalities in the downs syndrome blood count. Women my age are supposed to have a 1 in 500 chance of having a baby with downs, and my blood test indicated that our baby has a 1 in 160 chance. When she first told me that, you could've knocked me over with a feather. My heart was in my stomach.
Then she said, "Please don't panic - there's still less than a one per cent chance of your baby having downs syndrome." Then she told me to cancel my 20-week ultrasound appointment at their hospital and schedule it at Evanston Hospital instead, because they have level two ultrasounds available at their High Risk Fetal Evaluation Center. High risk. That term sent my heart rate skyrocketing too.
She kept saying, "It's really nothing to worry much about. We send a lot of our patients there. It's just a precaution...."
So I got off the phone and sat down on my bed and bawled. I could not stop crying. She had just told me that our baby has a higher-than-average risk of downs syndrome. I was beside myself with absolute terror. I got my sister on MSN instant messenger and told her about it. She had a lot of comforting things to say, including the fact that she has a friend whose doctor told her the exact same thing while she was pregnant. She, too, completely freaked out. But her child was born absolutely perfect. Then I called Scott, still bawling my head off, and he left work right then and there and came home to me. I am SO glad he came home - he got here so fast and I needed him more than ever. We spent the afternoon together and he was just so wonderful. At one point he grabbed this double deck of cards that we have. It has 104 cards in it. He made a mark with a pen on one of the cards and then shuffled them really well. Then he had me randomly pick a card, so I did. I didn't pick the one he had made the mark on. Then he said, "The odds of you picking the card I wrote on are *greater* than the odds of us having an unhealthy baby." 'Course, then I cried all over again. He is such a gem.
While I was waiting for him to get home, I posted on the message board about it and my dear friends there were so wonderful too. Devon said she didn't have that particular test taken - and she was smart not to. I wish I hadn't. I think it's causing a lot of unnecessary stress and worry. Her doctor told her that a lot of the time, those tests come back with false positives. It's just not a reliable test, and a friend of my mom's said the same thing. She said there are SO many factors that can affect the outcome of it, so much so that it's almost useless. And Patti - good ol' Patti, one of my favorite voices of reason ever - said, "That's a 159 in 160 chance of normal, dude." She rocks.
I also called my mom, of course.
In hindsight, now that I'm feeling much, much better about it, I think I freaked out too much. But hearing those words she told me struck MAJOR fear in my heart. I want my baby to be perfect and healthy and happy - nothing less.

But now - let me tell you the GOOD part of this: I scheduled the ultrasound at the high-risk center, and it's happening this coming Monday, the 24th!! I'll only be 18 weeks but she said that's plenty far along to be able to determine the gender. The ultrasound they do at this place is more detailed than the regular 20-week one - more measurements and stuff, I guess. But this means that we will know the gender in TWO DAYS instead of THREE WEEKS!!! I am so NOT complaining about that! Of course, that depends on if the baby's camera shy or not and whether or not s/he shows us the goods, but as wiggly as this peanut is, I have a feeling that won't be a problem! So if all goes well I will have an exciting update on here in a couple days - boy or girl!!

On another note - my nose has been soooooooo stuffed up for the past few weeks and yesterday I got a prescription for Rhinocort Aqua nasal spray. You use it once a day and it's for chronic congestion. I've used it twice so far and it already seems to be starting to help a bit! It will feel SO GOOD to be able to breathe again!!

And one last thing - we went to Motherhood Maternity today and I got a pair of jean capri's and a pair of jean shorts. They fit me now, but with room to grow! :)

And with that, I'm signing off for now. Bless your heart if you read this whole entry. Yikes!

2006-04-19T13:26:00.000-05:00

I think I heard our gummi bear moving!
I was shopping at K-Mart today and decided to go to the baby section, thinking maybe they'd have fetal heartbeat monitors. I doubted it, but wanted to check. To my great delight, the very first thing I saw in that aisle was BebeSounds Prenatal Heart Listeners!! There were only two left on the shelf and they were only $19.99, so I grabbed one. I was so excited!
http://bebesounds.com/products_prenatalheartlistener_description.asp
So I got it home, put a battery in it and read the manual that came with it. It says that the heartbeat can be heard starting early in the third trimester. Well, I tried it anyway, of course....and I can only hear my own heartbeat, can't hear the baby's yet. However, I think I could hear the baby moving around. The manual says you should be able to hear not only the heartbeat, but kicks, movements, and hiccups too!
This thing will be so fun to have. You can record and email the sounds but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. I will, though, no doubt!

I have a headache again today. Gonna try to sleep it off in a little while but that doesn't usually work!

I am still infinitely fascinated at how God creates people. Ya know what I mean? You have a sperm and an egg and as soon as they meet, BOOM - a tiny person starts forming! It grows arms and legs and eyebrows and right about now, Gummi Bear is developing the swirls that become fingerprints! Utterly awesome. God is soooooooo amazing!! As my pregnancy progresses, I'm getting more and more excited about having a baby. As my belly pops out more and more, I'm getting so psyched that there's a BABY in there! I can't wait to find out the gender in three weeks, and then to see what this little peanut looks like when s/he is finally here!!!!

2006-04-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

My O.B. checkup went very well today!

Heard the heartbeat again - woosh, woosh, woosh! That is the most reassuring sound I've heard in my entire life! Today the rate was 156 bpm. I asked my doctor if the fast heart rate means a girl and she said, "Well, let me put it this way: There's a 50/50 chance that that's true!" In other words, that's pretty much a myth.
Oh, and while we were listening to the heartbeat, we heard some rustling around going on, and doc said, "The baby's definitely moving around in there right now!" Yep, this is a MAJOR wiggleworm!!

I asked if it was normal for me to still be SO tired and exhausted all the time, and she said yes and that it's nothing to worry about. She double-checked my iron levels, etc, and said they look "fabulous".
Made the appointment for my 20-week ultrasound - it will be on Tuesday, May 9 at 9:00 a.m.! I cannot wait!!!!!!!!!! Scotty's taking a couple vacation weeks off of work at that time and will definitely be able to come with me for it. Woo Hooooooooo!!

So everything's going very smoothly with this little gummi. I praise God from the bottom of my heart for that!

2006-04-14T16:30:00.000-05:00

WHERE'S THE BEEF?! I need beef. I love beef. I adore beef.

2006-04-13T15:36:00.000-05:00

Tricia reminded me that I needed to post on my blog! Jeez, I think six days is the longest I've gone without writing on here. Sorry 'bout it!
I guess part of the reason I haven't written much lately is because I've been sooooooooo tired. Just absolutely exhausted. I thought the tiredness was supposed to let up a little bit by 16 weeks, but apparently not! Therefore, I haven't been real busy. Still just relaxing around the house most of the time. BOOOORING. My next OB checkup is next Tuesday, the 18th, so when I'm there I'll ask my doc why she thinks I still have absolutely no energy. No need to tell me possible reasons....I know what the possible reasons could be. It'll be good to talk to my doctor about it.
...Still haven't felt Gummi Bear move since that one time a few weeks ago. I cannot to wait to feel him (or her) move again!! I'll probably scream - even it's in the middle of the night....LoL!
The appetite is getting better. Up until the past week or so I haven't been hungry for dinner at all. Lately I finally am hungry for dinner again. In fact, usually I'm so hungry that I end up eating before my hubby even gets home from work! Poor guy! He's getting used to it though.
Ya know, part of me wonders if life will ever be the same again. The baby's not even here yet, and my life is sooo different. LOL!
My belly continues to pooch more and more. Only a few weeks til the 20-week ultrasound and then *hopefully* we'll know if it's a boy or a girl!!
Tonight we have to go to Jackson-Hewitt to sit and go over our taxes. UGH. Can I just say - I abhore (did I spell that right?) financial crap. Scotty said he'd do most of the question-answering and stuff, thank goodness. So most of the time I'll be sitting there wishing we weren't there. Yuck.
So let me go see if I can find a picture of what the baby looks like at this point - 16-1/2 weeks. I'll definitely past after my appointment on Tuesday. Do you think I'll hear the heartbeat again? I hope so!!
...Okay, found a picture. I can't believe the baby's about 4-1/2 inches long already!

2006-04-07T08:44:00.000-05:00

Every now and then I lay really still and see if I can feel the baby move at all. So far, I haven't felt anything. As I get closer to 18-20 weeks, I'm hoping to feel some wiggles!
Only about a month til I have the ultrasound that will tell us the gender!! I cannot wait!!
Check out this little drawing....I can't believe Gummi Bear is that big in there already! And my belly is definitely reflecting it. Getting rounder all the time!

2006-04-05T09:36:00.000-05:00

Last night at bedtime, all I could think about was KFC. A big chicken breast, baked beans, mashed potatoes, and a biscuit. Maybe some ice cold Diet Coke. I asked Scotty how late KFC is open and he was like, "Oh man, that sounds SO good right now." But it was 10:30 and we figured it was probably closed. I settled for a can of Bush's baked beans, some CheezIts and a big glass of milk. My tummy was happy - and I'm sure Gummi Bear's was too. Hee!

2006-04-03T07:15:00.000-05:00

Still feeling pretty darn crappy with this sinus infection, which is disappointing because I thought the antibiotics would have knocked it out by now. And I think the antibiotics might be making me feel weird on top of everything else. Very hard to explain but....I feel like I have "medicine head" all over my entire body. I don't have the energy to do laundry or grocery shop, both of which desperately need doing. I wish SO much that I had good friends around here that I could call and ask for a little help but I wouldn't feel comfortable at all asking somebody for help around here. I feel very alone. I'm tired of my pity party though, so I'll stop right here.

Yesterday morning in church I was looking at the babies in the "parent seating" section. Oh my gosh, SO cute! I think it's neat that church has that section. It's close to an exit so parents can get up and leave the auditorium without causing much disruption. Makes a lot of sense to me.

Well, I am really starting to POP out! Sometimes Scotty catches me holding my growing belly and looks at me like I've completely lost my marbles, but I just tell him I'm proud of my big belly! And wow, I am definitely at the peeing-every-15-minutes stage. Last night I got up to go potty and by the time I was back in bed I had to go again! Unbelievable! I think Baby C enjoys pushing on my bladder...lol!

Well, I should get some breakfast. Have a good day!

2006-03-30T12:13:00.000-06:00

Haven't posted a belly picture in awhile....here's my 14-weeks pic. Sorry about the jammies...I don't feel like getting dressed today!

So, this bites really bad. I have a sinus infection. Finally went to the doctor yesterday...again! And he prescribed antibiotics for me (I think it's called Keflex). Two a day for ten days. I hope they kick in SOON! Last night I had a coughing fit and felt so bad for my hubby, who's a very light sleeper anyway. And today my nose is horribly stuffed up and I'm just so uncomfortable. Ya know, in the past three months, there has not been one single day that I have felt good. If it's not one thing it's another. UGGGGH. But I think things will be better soon.
It is soooooooo gorgeous out today - sunny and 64 degrees! Spring has definitely sprung! Wish I felt good enough to go out and enjoy the weather!
I was looking at my belly a little while ago. Oh my gosh! I am really starting to look pregnant, kids! I love it! Still haven't felt Gummi Bear move since that one night a couple weeks ago....but absolutely cannot wait to feel him again!
Is it September yet?

Listen to this:
"Your baby can now turn its head, open its mouth, and press its lips together. Not bad for somebody who only weighs 1 ounce and stands only 3-1/2 inches tall!"

2006-03-27T18:51:00.000-06:00

Baby C is making mommy hungry! Today for lunch I ate a piece of pizza, a big orange, a bag (small, but still a whole bag) of low-carb chocolate covered peanuts, a banana, and apple juice. Oink. And I was actually hungry for dinner tonight - something that doesn't happen often.
I think Scotty gave me his cold. I've been waking up in the morning with a terrible sore throat that, thankfully, mostly goes away after I eat breakfast. My mouth and throat are SO dry first thing in the morning. And my nose is super stuffy. Got some nasal spray and some Sudafed at the store today. I asked the pharmacist if Sudafed is okay for pregnancy and she said there haven't been enough tests done to know if it's safe or not. However, my OB, as well as several web sites, says it's fine. I'm gonna take it only if I absolutely have to. Hopefully I won't have to take it at all.
So yeah, between the cold and the continued acid reflux, my throat is in bad shape.
I can't wait til I can feel the baby move again!! It hasn't happened since that one night last week. I wish I could fast-forward to September cuz I so wanna meet this little peanut!

2006-03-26T11:36:00.000-06:00

Not a whole lot to report right now, except that I am 14 WEEKS today!! This is what a 14-weeks fetus looks like - VERY much like a tiny baby!

2006-03-22T14:53:00.000-06:00

PHEW!
I was a little worried this morning because when I got up, I started having weird cramps in my very low, right abdomen. It was kind-of a quick, shooting pain that would last about three seconds and then be gone...and it would come and go. After almost three hours of the on-and-off cramps, I called my OB because I just didn't want to take any chances. They told me to come in so I went in at noon and saw my doctor.
She asked me if it hurt when she pressed on the area where the cramps are. I said no. Then she did a quick exam and said everything looked fine - cervix is closed and firm like it should be, etc. Then she listened around for the heartbeat and that little heart was beating strong! Hallelujah!! 154 bpm. She said that was great.
So...the conclusion she came to was that it is, indeed, ligaments stretching to support my growing uterus. In fact, she said now that it's the second trimester - to expect more cramps similar to the ones I had today. The only other thing she said is that my appendix is in the area where the cramps were, but she said if it were my appendix, the pain would be much worse and more constant.
My next scheduled appointment was supposed to be this coming Monday, but we did everything at today's visit that we would've done then, so I gave her a urine specimen and just rescheduled my next appt for April 18. I gotta say - it was a treat to hear that heartbeat today!!! It sounded so cute and SO fast!! It was like "woosh, woosh, woosh...." SO cool!

2006-03-21T16:16:00.000-06:00

I know this is gonna sound crazy, but -- last night, I woke up out of a very sound sleep because I FELT something in my belly!! I kid you not - only 13 weeks along, but I KNOW I felt the baby!! It felt very subtle, like a butterfly in my gut or something. But it was unmistakable, and apparently was enough to wake me up. My hand automatically flew to my belly cuz it was the funkiest feeling! All day I've been hoping to feel that again but nothing so far. See, now comes the FUN part of being pregnant, eh? 'Bout time I get to start kinda enjoying this whole crazy being-pregnant thing!

I read this on a week-by-week pregnancy website:
It may feel like butterflies or it may feel like gas. Some mothers may feel fetal movement (quickening) around week 14, though others may not be able to identify movement until around week 20. Soon, though, you’ll be playing footsie with a fetus who insists on poking you in the ribs and dancing the rumba—just when you settle in for a good night’s rest.

Lol - the rumba! Whenever I drink a little caffeine, I say that the baby is probably in there doin' the "YMCA." Hee!

2006-03-20T11:15:00.000-06:00

Now that I'm past the first trimester, I'm gonna try going back on the prenatal vitamins. I'm assuming they won't bother my tummy. I hope. Got the prescription filled today and broke all of the pills in half so I can take half in the morning and half at night. I think Gummi Bear and I might need the extra iron that's in the prenatals so figured it would be wise to start taking them again.
I've really been craving FRUIT!! Fresh fruit, fruit juice, fruit-flavored stuff....Today at the grocery store I bought a little cup of fresh tropical fruit (mango, guava, pineapple, etc.) and ate it as soon as I got home. It was soooo good and really hit the spot! Also drank a bottle of iced tea with lemon so I'm gonna have to pee every ten minutes here pretty soon!
The cashier at the grocery store was so nice. She tends to call me by my first name and today she laughed at me cuz I had her ring up a package of little cinnamon donuts that I had opened and eated a couple of already. Told her I'm three months pregnant and my appetite is pretty crazy. She thought this was my second or third pregnancy but I told her it was my first. She offered to get me help with putting my groceries in the car but I told her I'd be fine. She's a really nice lady.
Scotty goes to the doctor tomorrow - a new doctor that's close to us in Round Lake. He's been having heart pain off and on for the past few days and that's something I do not want to mess with. I wonder if it is just stress - with me being pregnant and stuff. I pray that it's nothing serious but I don't think it is. I'm very glad he's willing to see a doctor.

2006-03-19T07:24:00.000-06:00

Hallelujah! I made it to the second trimester!!!!!

2006-03-17T14:38:00.000-06:00

Not much to report today.....
I'm not quite as acidy as usual today and am actually feeling pretty okay. The extreme tiredness, however, is definitely not going away yet. I took a nap this morning and am just about to try to take another one! This little gummi bear is knocking me out, man!
Went to Panera for lunch today cuz I really wanted a chicken salad sandwich on multigrain. It was so good. And instead of potato chips, I had an apple on the side. Good girl, I know. Hee! And I loooooooooove their iced green tea. I could drink that stuff by the gallon. I'm not a real tea fan but am starting to like iced teas. I still can't figure out if green tea has caffeine in it or not; maybe some does and some doesn't? I don't think Panera's does, cuz if it did I would be all buzzy right now and I'm not.
It's the weekend and I'm glad. Scotty and I are going to Mom and Dad's tomorrow for good ol' Gianorio's pizza! We haven't had Gianorio's in aaaages. It's our favorite pizza ever. We used to live right across the street from it. Oh there are so very many reasons I would love to live back there.
Devon's baby girl is three months old today. Happy three-month birthday, sweet Gracie-girl! I cannot wait to meet you, precious. I hope Devon doesn't mind but I wanna post a picture of Gracie here in honor of her three months in this great big world. Auntie Wendy loves you!

2006-03-15T07:07:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, despite feeling awful, I was laughing so hard I couldn't see straight.
Quite a few people claim, when they see the ultrasound picture to the left, that it's a boy. I, personally, think that what's between the legs is simply the umbilical cord. Well, I posted a blown-up version of this picture on the forum I'm a part of and asked the ladies what they think. Most of them said you just can't tell this early and don't think they see a weenie there. Patti said - and I quote - "I hate to break it to you, but it looks to me like you're having a gummi bear." OH my gosh. I was ROLLING!!! Cuz how right is she?! Baby C DOES look like a gummi bear in that picture!!! It felt good to laugh that hard.

2006-03-14T08:12:00.000-06:00

Baby C is about 2-1/2 inches from head to rump already!

Last night I was sooooo acidy. I called my OB yesterday to ask if there was anything I could do to relieve it, but the nurse said I pretty much just have to grin and bear it. Ugh! She said everything I've used so far is fine - Tums, Rolaids, Maalox. She even said that a lot of pregnant women "pop Tums like they're candy" and that that's okay too. Rolaids chewables give me a little relief if I chew three of them at a time...so I guess that'll be my lifeline til this subsides!
How exciting, huh? A whole entry about acid. Oh, pregnancy is so.....interesting.

Oh, guess what? I've got a cleaning company coming to CLEAN MY HOUSE today!!! Merry Maids quoted me $330. HA!!!!!! Are they senile?!?! In the local paper, I found a much smaller, independent company that said they could do it for about $80. MUCH better! When I think about cleaning this whole house, it is overwhelming right now. I think that once it's nice and clean, I'll be able to maintain it pretty easily. So I'm very glad that's happening today!!

It's hubby's birthday today! 35 years old....and almost a new dad! He's gonna be a good dad. He's scared of the possiblity of having a little girl because he doesn't think he'd know how to raise a girl. He thinks he'd be a better dad for a boy. I, however, know without a doubt that he will be a fantastic daddy to a boy or a girl. All it'll take is for him to see that little face after the baby's born - and he'll be whipped. I just know it.

2006-03-12T16:26:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm 12 weeks today! Feeling extremely acidy still...hopefully it will subside and I'll start feeling really good!
I can't believe the baby looks like this already!!

2006-03-09T19:47:00.000-06:00

I think I may have already found my first stretch mark!

2006-03-07T21:38:00.000-06:00

Warm fuzzies!
I used to work for a ob-gyn before we moved - Dr. Stough. He was a sweetheart....still practicing gynecology at age 70. Anyway, today I emailed him and his wife (whom I also love dearly) to tell them the news of my pregnancy. Dr. Stough emailed me back and I just love everything he says. I hope he wouldn't mind - I have to share his email here!

"Wendy,
Congratulations! I know how exciting it is to see a little one on the ultrasound screen. I do them at CareNet pregnancy center on Fridays and occasionally on Wednesday as well. It helps the girls who are considering an abortion to change their minds when they see a heart beat or see the baby moving around. I kmow you will be feeling better in a couple or three weeks. Keep the faith. We will be waiting to hear all about it in late September.
Jim"

I just wanna hug him!

2006-03-07T03:50:00.000-06:00

This truly is a journey like no other.

Middle-of-the-night meals are becoming a bit of a norm. For example, last night there was absolutely nothing I had a taste for at dinner time. So I had a piece of Scotty's (early)birthday cake and that was it. Woke up at 3 a.m. starving hungry. So I got up and had peach yogurt, a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich (hello, childhood revisited), and a glass of milk. And now I feel much better and so, I am certain, does my wiggleworm.
So here I sit at 3:52 in the morning.

Now let me tell you why I was eating Scott's birthday cake on March 6 when his birthday is not until March 14. I knew in my mind that his birthday is on a Tuesday. So yesterday morning (Monday), I got myself ready and was out the door by 8:30 to get his birthday gift. I found his new self-cleaning shaver at Walmart, after which I made a quick trip to the grocery store to get a small cake and some candles. Got home, put the cake in the fridge, wrapped his gift, wrote out the card, and eagerly anticipated surprising him when he got home from work with a little "birthday eve" celebration. Um. His birthday is next Tuesday. This is a fact it took a casual phone conversation with my mom to reveal. When I told her what I got him for his birthday and mentioned that I was kinda proud of myself for being ahead of the game since his birthday wasn't until tomorrow, she said, "His birthday is tomorrow?!" No, no it's not. How very assured I was to read in What to Expect When You're Expecting that absentmindedness is quite common at this stage. It did my heart good to be reminded by my friend Rachel last night that during her first pregnancy, she made lasagna with only one layer of noodles. Yum. By the way, the cake was very tasty and he likes his shaver.

One last thing for now: So far I have only revealed to my closest of buddies but I figure it can't hurt to disclose it here too. I want to eat plastic water bottles. For the last couple days, whenever I drink water, I want to chew on the bottle. A quote from that same conversation with Rachel last night: "Hm. I definitely don't remember the urge to eat recyclables."
And something comforting that another friend told me: During both her pregnancies she went through phases where she had to constantly chew on straws. Sweet, sweet reassurance.

So like I said - this is truly a journey like no other.

2006-03-06T21:04:00.000-06:00

*cough, cough, gasp, gasp*
Acid reflux sucks.

2006-03-06T07:10:00.000-06:00

Holy cow! Listen to what my pregnancy journal says today:
"Every baby shows a distinct individuality in behavior by the end of the third month. This is because the actual structure of the muscles varies slightly from baby to baby. The alignment of the muscles in the face, for example, follows an inherited pattern. The facial expressions of the baby are already similar to the facial expressions of the parents."
Isn't that wild?!?! Picturing our tiny baby making facial expressions like the ones Scotty and I make is hilarious!
I also read online that by 11 weeks, "All vital organs are formed and, for the most part, function normally. From now on, they will grow in size and efficiency."
Baby C is now about the size of my pinky finger.

2006-03-05T13:05:00.000-06:00

I so wish there was a little window in my belly so I could watch my baby wiggle any time I wanted!!!

2006-03-04T14:45:00.000-06:00

I cried like a baby yesterday. Tony Evans was on the radio talking about how close God wants to be to us, and at one point he said, "Absolutely nothing happens in your life without God either causing it or allowing it." It's not like I didn't know that, but hearing him say it like that - it just hit me like a ton o' bricks! I, of course, started thinking about how staggeringly amazing it is that God chose to create this little wiggleworm of ours!! So I'm in the car on my way to walk Gracie the dog, and there are tears running down my face. It's a good thing I was by myself! That was just a really, REALLY awesome thought and it hit home SO much.
The other day I heard a song on the radio that really touched me, too. I forget who sings it but some of the words are "I couldn't live one day without You; You are like water to me." And it made me think of how very, very much I need and depend on God to get me through every minute of every day - and to protect and nurture my growing baby. He IS like water to me. I could not live without Him.

2006-03-01T16:54:00.000-06:00

Happy March!
Wow, am I TIRED right now!! Mom came to hang out with me today and I'm so glad! She has a really sore knee and has trouble getting around, so I'm really happy that she still came. We went out for lunch and then to Walgreen's. Not a huge deal, I know - but now I'm totally pooped! Phew! It'll be nice to get some energy back! ...It felt so good to be able to sit in a restaurant without wanting to gag - and the chicken quesadillas (which we both had) were sooo yummy.
And the nausea has continued to gradually decrease (thank you, Lord!!!), but now my main problem is acid reflux. Big-time! Tums don't help much. In fact, nothing helps much. Well, eating does, but very temporarily. So yeah, that's pretty uncomfortable. But I'm trying not to complain much; I think about that ultrasound and I look over and over at the pictures from it, and I think about those wiggly, squirmy, teeny-tiny arms and legs and it all becomes more and more worth it. I am SO in love with my baby!!! I mean, completely enamored!!
I posted one more ultrasound picture cuz it's so priceless. In this one, it looks like he's waving! See his little hand sticking up?! Oh my gosh! SOOOO stinkin' cute!!!! (Once again, if you click on the picture you'll see a bigger version.)
Thank you for reading my blog and sharing this amazing experience with me!

2006-02-28T07:10:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's possible to love an unborn child this much. But I do!!!!!!

2006-02-27T17:21:00.000-06:00

Other than having to wait almost two hours for the vagi-scope thingie-dingie, it went AWESOME!!!!!!! OH my gosh, I can't EVEN
believe it!!!!!! The regular abdominal U/S didn't work so well. Doc said my uterus is tipped a little bit, and that made it really hard to find the baby. So alas....she had to do the transvaginal scope. It wasn't bad at all. She gave me a little portable screen to hold so hubby and I could see the baby and all of a sudden - BOOM! There was Baby C!!!!!!!!! My mouth must've been hanging down to my knees!!! My friends, we have a WIGGLY baby!!!!

He (or she) was wiggling and squirming like crazy!!!! Those itty-bitty arms and legs were moving SO much!!!! The doctor said, "OH, look how much it's moving! That looks fantastic!" Then we saw the little heart fluttering!!!!! It was PHENOMENAL. I will never, ever forget it as long as I live!!!! Even though I had a very good feeling about today's doctor visit, I am soooooooo reassured and relieved to have finally SEEN our BABY, and seen him just thriving in there!!!

They didn't have a video-taping option (bummer - cuz I would love to watch all that WIGGLING over and over again!) but I got some great pictures. You can see his little arms sticking out if you look real hard!! *If you click on the pictures, you can see them bigger!

My dear friends, MEET BABY C!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-02-26T15:48:00.000-06:00

Jeez - three days without a post here. I'm slackin'!
Today Baby C could fit in the bowl of a tablespoon. I can't believe just a few weeks ago s/he was the size of a sesame seed!
Been feeling a bit better the last couple days. Yesterday Scotty and I went to buy maternity jeans (!), out for lunch, and it felt so good to just be OUT that I suggested a matinee movie. Around dinner time I felt awful again but for the majority of the day I felt pretty good, so I should not complain! This morning I felt good enough to go to church! We went to a different church today - a much smaller one that's right across the street. The people there were very friendly and welcoming and we're pretty sure we'll go back!
After church we went to the grocery store real quick and got stuff for lunch - a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and yogurt. Oh my gosh, I ate so much!! It was sooooo good. And so far (4:00 pm) I still feel okay! YES!!! What a HUGE relief!!!
The only thing that's plaguing me today is a headache. Extra-strengh Tylenol seems to do the trick....and I'll take headaches over terrible nausea a bazillion times over, baby!!
TOMORROW is our 10-week ultrasound! It's finally almost here. Scotty's taking the day off and the appointment's at 2:00. I'm so excited!!
One more thing. Can I just say - maternity jeans are SO comfortable!! And it feels GOOD to be wearing jeans again!

2006-02-23T13:30:00.000-06:00

I had to post my 9-weeks belly picture that I took today (sorry, Mom)! My belly's growing!!

2006-02-22T13:12:00.000-06:00

Guess what? I received my first piece of baby clothing today!! My dear online friend, Kat, sent me an absolutely adorable little pair of dark blue Old Navy overalls - and a journal called "Eat Your Peas"! It felt so wild to get baby clothes - and it made me cry a little. It's so cool!! I feel like tacking the overalls up on the wall so I can look at them all the time! (But I won't....lol.)

I actually felt okay enough to go out for a little while today! I'm still in shock! Went to walk Dilly the greyhound, then to Panera. I had a chicken salad sandwich, a fresh fruit cup and raspberry iced tea. It was delicious! Then I went to Kohl's, which is right by Panera, and got something I've been wanting to get for awhile now - something I'm gonna use to make a little gift for Devon's precious little Gracie. Gracie is a little over two months old (born Dec. 17) and she is something else! Devon's got a million pictures of Gracie smiling HUGELY and laughing - at TWO months old!! I cannot wait to meet her in person, hopefully in the not-too-far future!! I have GOT to squeeze her and kiss her perfect little chubby cheeks!
Anyway...it felt great to get out for a little while. Hopefully that will be happening more often from now on. Maybe, must maybe this marks a turning point in my pregnancy. I pray it does!!

2006-02-21T16:13:00.000-06:00

Ever heard of chewable papaya tablets? I was reading a brochure from the doctor today and it said that chewing three papaya tablets after meals can help prevent indigestion. So guess what I ordered a bottle of today? I pray they really do help!

2006-02-21T08:58:00.000-06:00

This week, Baby C measures .87-.94 inches from crown to rump - about as wide as the face of an American quarter. Also, by this time the critical period for the baby's heart development has ended. The heart will continue to grow and develop, but not at such a fast pace. So...here's hoping Baby C has a healthy little heart!
Well, over the long weekend (President's Day was yesterday), I felt a wee bit better than I have been. However, I still get really queasy and my throat feels "gaggy" at night after dinner. Blech.
I read that a bloody nose is not uncommon for this stage of pregnancy, and sure enough - my nose has been bleeding a little. Nothing major...just when I blow it, there's a little blood on the kleenex. I'm not sure of the reason for it, but I'm assuming it's because everything kinda seems to "dry up". I think Baby C is stealing all my moisture for him/herself!
I'm really hoping that today and tomorrow I feel okay cuz I wanna get out to a couple stores and get some things I've been needing.
Only six days til my 10-week O.B. appointment. They're doing an ultrasound and we should be able to see the heartbeat!!!! I sooooo cannot wait for that!!

2006-02-19T15:38:00.000-06:00

I've got that bizarre "tightening" feeling in my abdomen again. That is so weird! I suppose it's to be expected since my uterus is growing.
Oh, today the baby's arm is about the size of this number 1. That's one TINY little arm!
I'm in a horrible mood right now. Our next door neighbor has a Mustang and the stupid thing sounds like a flippin' army tank. I'd like to kick him where the sun don't shine.

2006-02-18T15:38:00.000-06:00

Two amazing things happened today:
1. I went to Subway
2. I went to Subway with not a lick of makeup on

Number one is amazing because for the last four weeks, going within ten feet of a restaurant made me wanna gag.
Number two is amazing because - well, I went to a public place looking like a very scary freak.

Even thought it's like zero degrees today, Scotty and I bundled up and went to Home Depot. I stayed in the warm car, and he went in and bought a couple of those filters that go in the heater thing (do you love how technical my home-maintenance lingo is?). Then we went to Subway. Well, I went to Subway and he went next door to Smokehouse to get a gyro. I stood in line, looked at all the food, ordered my Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwich with cheese, tomatoes, pickles, green peppers and lettuce - and didn't gag! And I ate the whole thing - plus a little bag of sour cream and onion Baked Lays. And a Diet Coke. Yowza.

And here it is three hours later, and I don't feel absolutely disgusting.

Must be a good day. Now if only it would last...but I don't think it will.

2006-02-16T13:04:00.000-06:00

Last night I had a really short dream that was incredibly cool. We were at the doctor's office and they did an ultrasound and the picture we saw of the baby was super-clear and detailed (and I definitely dream in color). The baby was gorgeous and perfect, even at only eight weeks! Sometimes I can't help but think God gives us dreams like this to let us know that everything's gonna be okay.

2006-02-14T18:09:00.000-06:00

8 weeks along. The baby has graduated from being an embryo to being a fetus! This picture is what Baby C looks like right now!
Still feeling terrible. But only a few more weeks til the second trimester!! I think I can, I think I can.....
I've been rubbing my belly and talking to the baby a little bit. My cats think I'm nuts.

2006-02-12T09:46:00.000-06:00

My baby is the size of a peanut shell today!

2006-02-11T14:15:00.000-06:00

Okay, maybe within a few weeks my blog posts will be about something OTHER THAN FOOD!
But not yet....! *oink oink*
This morning I HAD to have a donut. Scotty needed to get a haircut and - how convenient - Dunkin' Donuts is just two buildings away from the barber shop! So I dropped him off and went on my merry way to get a donut. I ended up having half of a ham, egg, and cheese bagel (for protein, ya know), a vanilla cream donut and a bottle of OJ. It was all SOOO good!! And what's up with vanilla? They did have chocolate cream ones, but those vanilla ones just looked perfect, and it tasted absolutely heavenly!
Been feeling a tiny bit better lately.....the queasiness isn't quite as bad (still here, just not as bad). However, I am still just as tired as I have been. Yesterday and today I took naps and slept so hard that I woke up sweating and breathing heavy. That's some serious sleep, eh?!
For lunch today I had plain mashed potatoes. Country Crock makes those now and I love them. Could've used some nice turkey breast and maybe some green beans and cranberry sauce with them, but beggars can't be choosers!

2006-02-10T10:51:00.000-06:00

Well, got my buns out to Walmart this morning and bought two pairs of nice, comfy sweatpants - one in blue and one in yellow (big surprise there!). Sweats and workout pants are by far the most comfortable thing to wear now.
Mom and Dad spent part of the day here yesterday and it was SO great having their company! And it felt good to not lay in bed all day. I helped Mom tear some fabric strips for crocheting and we just chatted all afternoon long. I really needed that. Then when Scotty got home from work we ordered in from the Italian restaurant down the road and dinner was so yummy. I was really hungry and ate a little too much, I think - felt HUGELY bloated after dinner!
Now I'm relaxing and watching huge snowflakes fall outside the window. Oh, I also stopped by the video store and rented three movies for us to watch this weekend.
Did you know that baby's intestines develop in the umbilical cord?! Baby C's little abdomen is full of kidneys and a big liver, so since there's no room for the intestines in there, they develop in the umbilical cord and eventually move into the abdomen. I am continually amazed at how God grows a baby. He is awesome!

2006-02-08T09:45:00.000-06:00

I swear, my cravings change almost every day!
So far, I've craved:

chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles
Spring Mix salad from Wendy's
McDonald's hamburger
Wendy's hamburger
mac and cheese
Dunkin Donuts (still haven't satisfied that craving, though)
my mom's mashed potatoes and gravy (haven't satisfied that one either!)
Starburst candy
really salty potato chips
...And today it's macaroni salad!

Weird, eh? This feeling of being nauseous and hungry at the same time is something I just can't get used to. Right now my nightstand has about eight different kinds of food on it.

2006-02-07T07:56:00.000-06:00

That was a little scary!
As soon as I woke up this morning, I noticed a "pulling"-type pain on the far right side of my abdomen. It lasted about ten minutes and, thankfully, has gone away completely. Phew! I'm thinking maybe I pulled a weird muscle or something while I was sleeping. I'm SO glad the pain didn't last long!

2006-02-05T13:48:00.000-06:00

No energy. Short blog entry today.
Feeling awful. Can't wear favorite pair of jeans anymore. Still have a trace of an appetite, though, so am still eating pretty okay. Soooooooooooooooo tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired. I don't like being pregnant.

On a positive note, yay for PEAPOD! It's a service that delivers groceries to your house. I am soooooo glad it's available here! I "shopped" online this morning and the groceries will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. I don't think I could face the grocery store. .....It's times like this that I really miss living 3 minutes from Mom. Hey Mom -- the townhome right next door is STILL vacant.....! Come o-o-o-n....pleeeease? ; )

2006-02-02T14:34:00.000-06:00

I can't stop eating today! Spinach lasagna for lunch (SO yummy), a 6-pack of peanut butter sandwich crackers, a piece of cheese, and I just made myself a bag of microwave popcorn. It's like non-stop eating goin' on here. As strange as it sounds, the only time I feel okay is when I'm eating! I don't know if it's cuz it takes my mind off everything else or what....but I better slow down or my little coffee bean is gonna be fat and so is his mommy - lol!!

2006-02-01T12:48:00.000-06:00

There MUST be a little alien taking over my body. I had a McDonald's hamburger and fries for lunch. "Miss Anti-McDonald's" had to have a burger from there. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a hambuger more. I inhaled that puppy.
At the same time, I am so queasy and SOOO tired again today. I'm getting really tired of feeling like this, but I constantly remind myself of why I feel like this, and that it'll only last a few more weeks.
Doctor's office hasn't called so far....hopefully that means all my bloodwork is good. We shall see.
Well, I think I'm gonna veg and watch stupid soap operas. I am so thankful that my schedule allows me to get a lot of rest!!
Baby C is the size of a coffee bean this week, which is 15,000 times bigger than s/he was at conception! No WONDER I'm so tired!!

2006-01-31T16:27:00.000-06:00

I thank the good Lord (very literally) for Rolaids Softchews and very salty potato chips.

2006-01-30T16:51:00.000-06:00

OB Visit Number One

My friend Tricia made a good point to me today - it's the "OB" now, not the "gynee". HeeHee!
I seriously barely have the energy to type this. If I didn't know I was pregnant, I would think I was dying of fatigue!!
So my appointment went well today. For some reason I got really nervous as soon as Mom and I walked into the doctor's office! Had to pee like a racehorse when we got there, so asked the receptionist if I could use the bathroom and ended up doing the urine sample then. About fifteen minutes later I got called in and the nurse asked me a bazillion questions. She took my blood pressure and I told her, "It's probably through the roof right now 'cause I'm so nervous"! But it was perfectly normal.
Then about 20 minutes later, Dr. Nakanishi came in. She is THE sweetest lady - so easy to talk to. She did a full exam and everything looked peachy-keeno (my words, not hers!). Then she asked more questions and answered mine. I asked her if Tylenol-PM is safe and she said it absolutely is. She said that Tylenol-PM is actually Tylenol with Benadryl in it. I never knew that! Both of those drugs are safe for pregnancy. That was GOOD news cuz sometimes I need a PM to help me get to sleep. I also told her that my mom had three miscarriages and that she had to have hormone injections once a week for several months in order to carry me. She asked if I wanted them to test my progesterone levels and I said definitely. So if I have the same problem my mom did, they'll find out and let me know and we'll go from there.
She wants me to switch from Paxil to Zoloft. I'm a little scared about that cuz Paxil has been my wonder drug for like four years now. I'm currently on a super-low dose (10mg/day) but she said Zoloft has a longer "track record" and is proven safer for pregnancy. So I shall give that a try.
She said major fatigue is very normal. Wow. I can't wait til this trimester is oveeeeeer!!
She gave me three weeks worth of prenatal vitamins and a Rx for more. They are horse pills, man. HUGE! I might take half in the morning and half at night.
If they find anything goofy in any of the blood tests they will let me know in the next couple days and we'll figure out what to do (i.e. low hormone levels or something)....
Oh, and my official due date is September 23. The online due date calculator was only one day off. Not bad!
They sent me home with a binder full of pregnancy info, including a list of medications that are safe, etc.
My next OB visit is in one month (Feb. 27) and they'll do an ultrasound at that one already!! THAT will be COOL!!! I am really excited for that!
So there ya go - my first visit in a nutshell. A big nutshell. : )

Around this time of the afternoon (4:00ish) I start feeling reeeeally crappy. Neaueous, completely exhausted....and this weird feeling that's kinda hard to explain but many of you who have been pregnant probably understand -- my abdomen feels kinda "tight", for lack of a better term. And my throat is extra-acidy. Blech. Very uncomfortable. Lately I cannot eat dinner. I don't get hungry until about 9:00 and then I eat a little cheese or cereal or fruit with some peanut butter. ......But this too shall pass. The sooner, the better!!

2006-01-29T16:48:00.000-06:00

I cannot even believe how tired I am! WOW. I recently read somewhere that sometimes pregnant women feel like they ran a marathon, cleaned the whole house, and participated in a dance contest all in one day. SO true! I guess it takes a LOT outta ya to grow a baby! Is it the second trimester yet.....? ; )

2006-01-28T10:52:00.000-06:00

Today, Baby C could fit on the end of a pencil eraser! S/he is growing little arm buds and instead of being straight, the baby is curved and you could easily identify the head.
Yesterday afternoon and evening I felt pretty nasty. And wooooah, maaaajorly tired again! Last night I slept ten hours and am feeling much better this morning. Had a hankerin' for French toast so made some for breakfast. What I really wanted to do for breakfast was go to Dunkin' Donuts, but my hubby put the kabosh on that idea by reminding me that I need to eat healthy. Good hubby. Kinda. HeeHee!
Just two more days til my gynee visit! This is the first time I've ever been excited to go to the gynecologist. It will just feel good to have her confirm everything and tell me that everything looks good and give me an official due date and answer my questions. I am praying that it goes very well.
Tomorrow will be six weeks!! I kinda wish I could fast-forward a few weeks to get past the "icky" stage!
Oh, we told Scotty's family last night. They're all really excited! Koreena (Scotty's sister) said, "I have to see you in stages, so you better plan to come up here a lot!" LoL! Anyway...it was happy news in the midst of a sad time -- Grandpa Conger had another stroke and is in the hospital again, not doing well at all.

2006-01-27T13:11:00.000-06:00

The coolest thing happened today!
I found out my good friend, Amy, is pregnant (baby number two for her) and she's due -- get this -- September 25th!! I'm due September 24th!! I talked to her this morning and we just could not believe it! What are the chances?! I am so floored!!

2006-01-26T20:34:00.000-06:00

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
The tiredness is setting in! Is it bedtime yet??
Up until yesterday my energy level was very normal. But yesterday my friend Luisa and I were hanging out and I felt so bad cuz I could not stop YAWNING!
Spent most of today with Mom and Steph. We went to Mackenzie's school to surprise her with a visit (SO cute!), out for a super-delicious lunch (I had an egg-white/veggie omelet, fruit, and an English muffin and ate every crumb!), and then to Hobby Lobby. By the time we got home I crocheted a little bit and then was SO tired that I plopped down on the couch. Dad turned on a really nice CD and I was OUT like a light. It's probably good that I slept for awhile before I made the hour-long drive home. I was pooped.
Oh, I'm really happy cuz Mom said she'd come to my gynee appointment with me on Monday! I'd be totally fine going by myself...I just think it'll be more fun if she's with me (not for the exam, o' course, but for everything else). I'm looking forward to that appointment. I have some questions I want to ask the doctor; I think I'll make a list so I don't forget any of them!
My tummy's been feeling pretty okay the last couple days. Still on-and-off nausea...crackers do help quite a bit. I've been eating one before I even get out of bed in the morning. My appetite is different. I'm usually kinda hungry for breakfast, very hungry for lunch, and I have to choke down dinner.
Ya know what? I haven't thrown away my + pregnancy test yet. I look at it every day. Can't bring myself to toss it. How sad is that?

2006-01-25T09:23:00.000-06:00

What my journal says today is pretty amazing! "By the end of this month, your baby will have completed a period of growth that involves the greatest size and physical changes of its lifetime. In five days, it will be 10,000 times larger than the fertilized egg though, in actuality, not much bigger than a grain of rice!"
Yesterday I felt great almost all day - had no problems at the grocery store or anything. And so far today I feel really good, too. My friend Luisa is visiting today and bringing me a bunch of back issues of Martha Stewart Living magazine. She is the sweetest lady. I'm glad she's coming today!
OH - pregnancy dreams really ARE the most bizarre dreams EVER!! Last night I dreamed that I was at a new college or something...and was making a group of really nice new friends. Within a short period of time, though, I discovered that they were part of a terrible cult. (YIKES!) They wanted me to be a part of their cult and I was trying desperately to get away from them. They had me trapped in this huge, really old house and I was "playing along" with their craziness in hopes that I could escape quickly at some point. Mom and Dad were there for part of it, trying to help me get away. Oh, and at the beginning of the dream I was driving Dad's Rolls Royce and I was doing a terrible driving job. I banged up his car and he was not happy! Soooo bizarre. When I woke up from that one, I was sweating and breathing fast. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of the over-the-top dreams for the next eight months! So much to look forward to.....
*note dripping sarcasm here*

A few days ago my boobs started hurting. WOW are they SENSITIVE now. Ouch!!

2006-01-24T09:14:00.000-06:00

Guess what happens today? My pregnancy journal says "the tiny muscles of the heart start beating today"!! Blows my MIND!!
Yesterday was a rough day - major nausea on and off. It's only 9:15 in the morning but so far today I feel great. I was starving for breakfast so I suppose that's a good sign. I'm gonna go grocery shopping today. Yikes. LoL!

2006-01-23T11:44:00.000-06:00

Gag.
I am so nauseous today.
But my stomach's growling at the same time. Weirdness.

2006-01-22T10:29:00.000-06:00

How to Guarantee Healthy Eating

Be pregnant.
I have never been so motivated to eat healthy in my life.
I had my second craving yesterday. All day long, I kept saying "Cake. Cake. Cake." Finally at about 6:00, we went to the grocery store and got a big piece of three-layer triple chocolate cake. It was so rich that I could only eat about 1/3 of it, but considering it had probably about 5000 calories, that's a good thing. (Disclaimer: For dinner I had a Spring Mix Salad from Wendy's. LOTS of veggies!)
But anyway...so there's a good portion of this piece of chocolate cake left on the kitchen counter this morning and if I wasn't preggers, that would have been my breakfast. But, to my utter astonishment, it was SO easy to pass it up and eat my usual banana and bowl of healthy cereal.
And I've been eating vegetables like there's no tomorrow. Good thing I love vegetables in the first place.
So yeah, my advice to guarantee that you eat healthy: be pregnant. Works like a charm.

...Oh, and I read today that by this time, the baby's amniotic sac is the size of a grape! How cute is that?! That picture up there is what s/he will look like in about a week!!!

2006-01-21T10:40:00.000-06:00

I'm pregnaaaaaant!!!!

Me at 4 weeks (for future comparison purposes!)

I'm with child.

There is a tiny bun in my oven.

I'm PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's what happened less than a week ago, on the morning of Monday, January 16:

I had ordered a set of five pg tests from babyhopes.com (way cheaper than the store). Since I had plenty of 'em, I decided I would test this morning, even though my period's not due til the 20th. So I wake up this morning, go potty, and test. I watch it like a hawk and within about a minute I see that there's only a purple line in the control window but the test window is blank. I'm not surprised. But I keep watching it....and within about one more minute, I see a faint line in the test window! It gets a tiny bit darker - is still pretty light - but is unmistakably THERE! I blink about a thousand times but it's still there! My eyes start watering and I whisper to myself, "I'm pregnant." Thank heavens Scotty's home today cuz it's a bank holiday!!! I go into the loft where he's on his computer and stand next to him but say nothing. He looks up at me and says, "What?" I say, very matter-of-factly, "I'm pregnant." He gets a big smile on his face, stands up and puts his arms around me and says, "Are you serious?" I say, "Yep!" He says, "Wow, it only took us two tries!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

....Well, it's been six days since that blessed event, and I still can't believe it. I am PREGNANT. After six years of frequent discussions about how we thought maybe we would avoid having children, we succumbed. A few months ago, I picked Scotty up from work on his lunch hour and we went to Red Robin for lunch. Our conversation turned yet again to the topic of children. Babies. Being parents. And everything - yes, everything - that goes along with it. It was during that very meal that we decided that YES, we would try for a baby. ONE baby. And because my cycle is kinda goofy and unpredictable and because I have anxiety disorder and a rather "colorful" health history, we came to the mutual agreement that it might take us awhile to conceive, IF we could conceive at all. We wouldn't hold our breath. But we would try, and we would leave it in God's hands.

Who knew that God's hands would create a teeny-tiny beginnings-of-a-baby after just two months of trying?! Oh! Let me back up just a couple weeks at this point so I can share our mildly-amusing conception story. (If it's TMI, then please feel free to scroll on down!) Man, ya gotta love blogs.

January 3, 2006

11:00 pm - Wendy goes potty and decides, 'Eh, what the hay...I'll do an ovulation test.' Wendy doesn't feel like waiting for the results so she sets the test on her nightstand and figures she'll check it in the morning, since it's probably gonna be negative anyway.

11:02 pm - Wendy and Scott go to bed.

11:30 pm - Wendy's still tossing and turning...tossing and turning...wide awake....

11:45 pm - Wendy takes her earplugs out and listens to Scotty snoring like a grizzly bear.

11:55 pm - Wendy gets tired of laying there awake and gets outta bed. Scotty looks at her all confused-like and she tells him she can't sleep so she's gonna get up for awhile. She grabs the test off the nightstand and goes into the loft. She doesn't turn a light on, but by the light of her computer screen she can see that both lines on the test are very dark.

11:57 pm - Wendy freaks out a little. Scotty's probably back asleep already. Should she wake him up or not? Wendy tries to IM Brenda and gets impatient. She decides to wake him up.

11:59 pm - Wendy walks down the hallway toward the bedroom. Before she gets there, Scotty opens the bedroom door in his robe and looks at her all confused-like again. She says, "Hub, I'm ovulating." He says, "How do you know?" She says, "I took a test an hour ago and it has two dark lines on it." He says, "Oh man. I'm so tired." She says, "So am I. I so don't feel like doing it right now."

12:00 am - At the stroke of midnight, the deed gets done - begrudgingly, but quickly.

12:03 am to 12:20 am - (Yes, it was fast.) Wendy lays on the bed like a dork with many pillows under her butt and her feet up on the wall.

....I bet not too many women can pinpoint the exact date of conception. I'm freaky that way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So that's that.

As of the writing of this entry, I am almost 5 weeks along. It's SO early, and I wonder if I should even be keeping this blog. Anything could happen. I'm rather terrified of that fact. But every single day, several times a day, I bring my request to God to please, please protect this tiny being that He has created and to bring it to full-term, and to please keep the baby and me very healthy throughout every second of the pregnancy. I know He hears me. My family's praying this for us too. I have a good feeling about it. And His peace really is beyond all understanding.

So with that said, I shall now get down to the nitty-gritty. I'm gonna make two lists - one that describes the emotional things I've been feeling this week, and one that describes the physical things.

EMOTIONAL:

1) UTTER amazement. The whole concept of two people making another person has always been amazing to me, but now that we are the two people who made another person it is nothing short of unbelievable. God is using US to create a new little person! WOAH!!!!! I've been doing a lot of reading about exactly what happens - how the sperm compete to plug into the egg, how the timing of ovulation is so precise, how the cells divide and then burrow into the uterine lining.... The mind of God is completely and totally AWESOME. He designed us so that our bodies would know exactly what to do and when to do it, in order to produce and grow a baby. Mind-boggling. And I praise Him with my whole heart for allowing me to experience this.

2) Weird LOVE. Right this very moment, our baby is so small that two of him or her could fit into the period at the end of this sentence (but it has the beginnings of a SPINE already!). How can I already feel so much love for and protection of this microscopic being?! I do! I do totally do! Yesterday I was walking out of the grocery store and it was cold and just starting to snow. I pulled my coat tight around my lower belly and kept my hand there til I was in the car. As IF that did any good - LOL! I guess it was this really early version of motherly instinct kicking in or something.

3) Fear. SO much fear. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm terrified of possible miscarriage. Mom had some, Steph had one. But I really don't think it's gonna happen.

4) JOY and excitement!!! Just think - me, a mommy. ME! God did not have me ready til now. Not so long ago, the thought of being a mommy was not an attractive one in my mind. It meant stress and annoyance and inconvenience and misery. But now - especially now that I'm pregnant - I see it as exciting and precious and so, so special. And personal. This child will be one of a kind, with parts of Scott and parts of me (hopefully lots of parts of Scott - we'd love a boy)! Our lives will revolve around this tiny person. And I can't wait!!

5) Dreams. Now, I am known for having VERY bizarre dreams on a VERY regular basis anyway. But pregnancy dreams, so they say, are usually about as bizarre as you can get. I have had some extremely over-the-top ones the last few nights but can't remember the specifics anymore. However, one very brief, very vivid dream that will stick in my head during this whole nine months is one that I had yesterday afternoon during a nap: All it was was a brief, bright (almost sparkling) image of a widely-smiling, beautiful perfect little baby boy.

PHYSICAL:

I haven't experienced many physical changes yet, but the ones I have have been interesting and fascinating!

1) Mild nausea. It comes and goes...in waves. I keep Saltines very close at all times (I even keep some in my car) and they seem to help. I eat one first thing after I wake up in the morning, before I even get out of bed. I also have those things called Sea Bands that you wear around both wrists. They have little balls that press into the inner part of your wrist and having pressure there is supposed to ease nausea. They're made to prevent motion sickness but I've heard that they help in morning sickness too....so we shall see.

2) Cravings. So far, my only craving has been very cold skim milk. Yesterday I had two big glasses with lunch and another glass and a half with dinner. I am curious to see what other cravings will develop. I know my friend Devon craved milk like crazy, too. My friend Rachel craved chips and salsa from one specific restaurant! My mom ate fresh carrots like they were goin' outta style. Pregnancy cravings amuse me.

3) Tingly nippies. Just a few days after conception, my nippies tingled so much that I scratched them to the point of drawing blood! I decided to forego the bra and had to put Bandaids on them so that I wouldn't get blood on my shirt. I'm a bright one.

4) Sore boobies. They weren't all that sore until two days ago. When I trot down our 15-step staircase, they hurt!!

5) Extra-sensitive gums. While I was having my teeth cleaned the other day at the dentist, my gums hurt something AWFUL when she was squirting them with water.

And now, as I close this very long entry (I promise they won't all be this long. I had to catch up on the last six days!), I must mention that last night I finished the book "Belly Laughs" by Jenny McCarthy. Not a good book to read at this point. Though I was absorbed in it and found it entertaining, this woman had a TERRIBLE, AWFUL, NO-GOOD, VERY BAD pregnancy. I keep repeating to myself, "Every pregnancy is different. Every pregnancy is different...." This chick had every symptom in the book, to the utmost degree. If I had read that book before finding out about my pregnancy, I would seriously probably have reconsidered. Some people tend to be overly dramatic, and sensationalize things for dramatic effect. I am thinking that's what this poor Jenny did for this book. I know many, many women who have been pregnant and none of their pregnancies were anywhere NEAR what hers was. I'm surprised she survived.

And with that I will end this entry. Finally, eh?

*Wenzee shuffles off to brush her sensitive gums and read her Pregnancy Journal page for today