Week 6- Belly Shot!

Week 5 Update

I'm am nearing the end of my 5th week, and boy has it been a big one! We officially told our family this past weekend! We took each set out separately (not intentionally) and told them the big news. Our moms reacted the same way, tears. Craig had the idea of making "invitations" to our baby's birth. It was so cute and a great idea that he had. Also, a few of our close friends know. It's nice to finally be able to talk to people about it! We are getting more and more excited as each day comes. It's still so unreal. We have our first prenatal next week and we can't wait! Another big thing that just started being more prominent was nausea. There have been several days in the past week where I have just been laying around and not able to eat much of anything. It's been horrible. I mustered up the energy to go to the grocery store (which I normally love doing) and was disgusted by just about everything I walked by. With each day, it becomes more and more present. I'm anxious to see how long this actually lasts. I pray I am not one of those women who has it through her entire pregnancy. We'll see... I'm still continuing to eat better. I've lost about 10 pounds actually in the last month... Not intentionally, I just stopped eating things with empty calories and loaded with sugar and replaced them with fruit and low fat/whole grain items. I'm sure not being able to eat much has added to it. That's really all I have for this week. Maybe I won't have as much nausea next week?
Probably not...
On to week 6!

SYMPTOMS THIS WEEK:
-Nausea
-Exhaustion

Week 5- Belly Shot!

Week 4 Update!

Welcome to week 4! I'm trying to get in the habit of writing these every Wednesday. My weeks change over on Fridays, so I figured Wednesday would be a great day to recap the week and take a belly shot (not that I have much of a belly). On Monday, I officially missed my period! Yay! Overall, it's been a pretty stressful week. We've just been trying to plan out everything. There's so much to think about in the beginning. It's starts out as pure excitement and then jumps to worry and then to "Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?" Again, we did plan this... but once the initial shock sets in, you begin to think, "Can we really do this?" In all reality, we will be just fine. They say you're never ready for a baby.
I've also been obsessing over everything I put in my mouth. Every thing I would normally eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner I'm googling to make sure it will in no way affect the growing baby. I started eating really healthy about 3 weeks about, just because. So, I'm not eating unhealthy things... but I still worry about everything. My husband read that parsley can induce a miscarriage, so I've been terrified to eat parsley. Honestly, I think it can only be fatal or even affect the baby if you eat it in mass quantities... sprinkled on top of pasta shouldn't do any damage at all. But, still... I'm trying to read through different books and search online to make sure of the things I definitely cannot eat.
Also this week, I made my first prenatal appointment! I originally wanted to go to the OB I've had for a couple years now, even though she is back in Indy. I called yesterday to change my yearly checkup on February 25 to a prenatal but was informed that the earliest they'll see me is once I'm at least 10-12 weeks! I just can't wait that long. So, I called and OB here that I've read good reviews about and they'll see me as early as 6 weeks! I scheduled my first prenatal for February 25! I don't think we'll get an ultrasound that day but we'll get to hear the heartbeat! I'm so excited/nervous! We are praying that everything goes well that day!
So that's all for week 4! See you next week.

SYMPTOMS THIS WEEK:
-Mild Nausea
-Still some PMS-like cramping
-Feeling pretty bloated

Week 4- Belly Shot!

                          

  

                      

It may look like I have a tiny belly, but I'm just bloated. :)

Week 3 Update

Hello all! I am officially done with week 3! According to pregnology.com I am now 4 weeks and 1 day pregnant! Until I go to my OB on the 25th of this month I am going by what several websites have said my due date is which is October 15, 2011. Some say later, but if you also add in your average cycle length (31 days for me) it's a little more accurate. We still can't believe we're pregnant. This last week has been a whirlwind of a week. There's so much that has happened and so much more to think about. I'm trying really hard not to stress out too much about anything, I know that's not good for the baby. My husband has been amazing. He's really taken over the worrying and constantly makes sure that I'm doing ok. He's been so sweet and I can't wait to see what kind of dad he will be!
I'm not sure if all women go through this in early stages of pregnancy but we are very nervous about everything! We have not told any family yet (only 2 very close friends) because we are waiting on our first appointment. We are pretty apprehensive about talking too much about the future or getting too excited... like we don't want to jinx anything. I guess that's normal, I'm just anxious to go to my doctor and get some feedback. So we are living day by day, excited for each new symptom I experience. I think today we are going to go to the mall and look at baby clothes and just all things baby! It should be a fun day!


SYMPTOMS THIS PAST WEEK: 
-Nausea
-Increased heart rate 
-PMS-like cramping
-Exhaustion

-Nausea- comes and goes and it's at random times during the day. It hasn't been too bad so far. Fingers crossed!
-Increased Heart Rate- I get out of breath doing the littlest things. I read that my heart is pumping extra blood to my uterus. :)
-PMS-like cramping- My uterus is all ready expanding and preparing itself for the growing baby.
-Exhaustion- It has been a little better in the last few days, but I'm still more tired than I have ever been.

Week 3- Belly Shot!

My POSITIVE Pregnancy Tests!

The cheap dollar store brand (3rd one) and OPK with first morning urine. CD 28

The first two pictured: one was 2nd morning urine, one was taken in afternoon. CD 28

The digital was around 4:30pm. CD 28

The last pictured: Today 6:30pm. CD 29

Drumroll please...

Well, I didn't think I'd be posting a blog like this so soon after creating my "trying to conceive/journey to motherhood" website. I find it quite ironic actually. I feel so blessed and thankful right now... As well as overwhelmed, nervous, anxious, excited all wrapped in one. What could I be talking about...?

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!
Yes, it's true. It's very early on... Too early to even tell our families. I am about 3 weeks and 6 days (according to an online tool I found). In the past several months, I imagined all these different symptoms of pregnancy. Only to find out I wasn't, with the start of my monthly. So when this month rolled around and I was stuck in the two week wait... I really didn't obsess about every little symptom. I had slight cramps on and off for several days after I ovulated, but just attributed it to early cramping due to the soon arrival of my period. I have read that your uterus contracts the week or two before you start, to get your body ready for your cycle. I also would get super exhausted VERY easily. I took our dog on a walk, not really a very long one, and when we returned I was EXHAUSTED! Like I had just ran a marathon. I wasn't really sure what that was about so I didn't give a second thought to it. So jump to yesterday morning (February 2nd-Groundhog Day)... I woke up and just had an urge to take the one pregnancy test I had left from last month. It was a cheap dollar store test so I figured if it was negative, at least I wasn't wasting money.
I took the test at around 7:30am. I am usually too nervous and will walk away, then come back to check the results. This time I stayed. I sat next to the test and watched my urine go across the test. Almost immediately, there was a line. I brushed it off as maybe a shadow or a faulty test. But the more it dried... there was definitely a line! I got a positive! I started shaking, crying, freaking out and saying "Is this real?" (Note: I was home alone) I double checked and used an OPK (Ovulation Predictor Kit) and tested my urine again. The OPK was super positive.
I ran to Target to buy 4 more tests, just to make sure. I took two more when I got home. Both positive. I couldn't believe it! Was this really happening? Am I really pregnant? I started to look up cute ways to tell my husband. When he got home from work I sat him down on the couch and gave him a card I had made. It consisted of sweet words, a poem as if written from the baby, and big bold letters saying "You're going to be a dad! I'm Pregnant!" His reaction was priceless. He was just as excited and shocked as I was! We both were just stunned. We have been trying, but I wasn't sure if our timing was "on" this month. I assumed it would take us a couple cycles of using OPK's to get the hang of it. Boy were we wrong. First cycle, boom... I'm preggo.
So there you have it. I haven't missed my period yet. I'm supposed to start between the 5th-7th of February. I was surprised I even got a positive this early... 3-5 days before my missed period. My symptoms now are just period-like cramping and utter exhaustion, both which are normal. My estimated due date (again, according to an online due date calculator) is either October 14 or October 17. Craig's birthday is October 20, so we're both hoping I go over my due date a little bit. But that's up to God and the baby.
I haven't yet scheduled a prenatal appointment with my OB. I do coincidentally, have my yearly check up with my OB on February 25. At that point I will be 6 1/2 weeks. So, once I miss my period I will try to change that appointment to our first prenatal! Sorry this is so long. But I included every detail! There will be more news to come. I will post a picture of my positive pregnancy tests and a week 3 belly shot!

An Introduction

Hello all! For those of you who aren't family or friends, my name is Brittney! I'm 23 years old and am married to an amazing man named Craig. We met September 27, 2006 through a mutual friend and have adored each other everyday since! We were married on April 17, 2009 in a beautiful, intimate ceremony with only our closest friends and family in attendance. Our first year of marriage was a hard one. We were either separated months at a time, due to my Craig's training in the military, or we were moving all over the country! A majority of our first year was in Texas. It was a cute, small town but was way too far away from our hometown of Indianapolis, IN. After training we moved back to Indy for a brief time until my husband got a job in St. Louis, Missouri. So, Missouri is where we currently live. By the looks of it, we should be here for a while if not forever (until retirement). I'm content with our life at the moment. We are not too far from family and this city is a lot like Indianapolis. When we first talked about marriage, up until maybe six months into our marriage, I wanted to wait four to five years before even thinking about kids. But around the 1 year and 8 month mark... I had babies on the brain! It's funny how you think you know your plan for life and then one day God completely switches it up! I love how that works out because ultimately His way is the best way.
So here we are. We're coming up on our 2 year wedding anniversary and are doing everything we can to conceive. I wouldn't say we've been actively trying for 3 months (which was our 1 year/8month mark), but definitely not preventing it! In January 2011 I started using OPK's (Ovulation Prediction Kits). A little confusing at first but I think I'm starting to see my pattern. More to come on that!
Thanks for stopping by! Please join us on our TTC journey!
-b