Where Our Story Begins...

This is my first post.  Well, obviously... :)  I'm excited to start this blog to document what's going on during this pregnancy. I'm not really sure what to expect, even though I've already read a lot and have had a number of close friends have babies.  I'm hoping that I stay in the moment and really take in everything while still looking toward the future.  I want to be present during this time, very aware of what's going on, and not take anything for granted!

We found out we were pregnant the night of Carl's 30th birthday.  What a present!  Early in our relationship, we said we would have children by the time he turned 30.  30 always sounded so far away.  But it snuck up on us... and I guess baby Larson wanted to hold us accountable to our word.  

It was so wonderful finding this out, but then we had that big secret to keep as we went over to Carl's parents to celebrate his birthday that night.  We wanted to go to the doctor before we got too excited and started telling everyone.  We kept the news to ourselves for a couple weeks, then decided we wanted to share the good news with the people we loved the most.  

We told our parents when I was 7 weeks along.  We were getting ready to leave for Florida on vacation.  We had to drop Chief off at Carl & Joyce's the night before we left.  So we told them we had a gift for them for watching Chief.  They opened the gift bag and pulled out a picture album.  Joyce asked "Ooh, is it filled with pictures of Chief?!"  We told her to open it and find out.  Then she saw a note in one of the picture sleeves that said "Insert picture of grandchild here".  Then she finally got it.  They were really excited to say the least!  The next day, we arrived in Florida at the condo.  My parents had some workers in the condo fixing the HVAC.  We held off as long as we could, then we couldn't wait!  We presented them with a similar gift "for letting us stay there on vacation".  They opened the "brag book" and saw our note inside.  Mom just kept saying "Oh my gosh!"  They were so happy!!  I was really nervous to tell our parents, but it felt so good once we told them!  I was scared to tell anyone else fearing that something might happen to change our situation.  But we knew that if something did happen, we would want the support from our parents so we wanted to tell them first and early on.  

This is the first grandchild on both sides of the family.  This baby is going to be spoiled!!!  

We held off on telling our sisters for about a week after we told our parents.  Real nice of us, right? Tell our parents then tell them not to tell anyone.  We skyped with Amber and Ashley separately and told them that they were going to be aunts.  How fun it was to tell them!!!  Ashley of course cried and made me cry too!  Then, Jennifer came over to our house the next night so we could tell her the good news.  She had this great surprised look on her face and then high-fived Carl. 

Today, I am 8 weeks and 5 days!  

We had our first ultrasound on Wednesday where we got to see our baby for the first time and hear his/her heartbeat.  CRAZY!  I couldn't believe that we could see and hear the baby already.  Can you see the little guy/girl in the ultrasound?  So tiny!  This was definitely the highlight of the pregnancy thus far.  During our appointment, we first met with the nurse practitioner to talk about my medical history and any potential risks.  I was pretty nervous so I was "Gabby Abby".  :)  Our medical history and gene pool looks pretty good, so hopefully this will be smooth sailing.  The only thing that I need to make sure all the doctors and hospital is aware of is that my blood type is A- so they can give me a shot of Rhogam before I deliver.  The nervous chattiness continued even with the ultrasound tech... until we heard the baby's heartbeat.  At which time I couldn't talk because I was going to burst into tears.  My eyes filled up with tears and I knew they would spill over if I said anything.  What an incredible sound.  And to be able to see the flicker of the heartbeat on the monitor, it just blew my mind.  Eventually, I said to the tech, "I can't believe that is our baby!  Especially because I don't feel or look any different!"  And the tech confirmed there is only one baby.  (I was concerned about this.)  One healthy baby whose heart was beating strong at 170bpm.  Incredible.  What a true miracle this is!

That statement to the tech wasn't exactly true... I do feel different.  First, ever since we found out we were pregnant (exactly 1 month ago today!), my boobs have been killing me.  They already have grown so much. I'm going to have to go shopping for bras pretty soon.  And I hear they don't really stop growing until the baby is here.  Oh man.  Also, my pants are getting pretty tight.  I can't tell if it's from "vacation weight" from eating out and eating like crap for over a week straight, or if it really is the baby and my uterus growing.  I occasionally feel a little nauseous.  Usually, it's first thing in the morning before I've eaten anything.  This week has been the worst for the morning.  But sometimes in the evening, I get a little queasy too.  Not physically sick, just a little queasy.  The first couple weeks of the pregnancy, I could feel pulling and some pain down in my abdomen.  I was still trying to keep my normal workout routine, and I was just finishing up a weight session with personal trainers at work.  We were lifting legs and abs and I was really hesitant to move too much or to strain myself too much.  I was squatting with 12.5 pound weights in each hand.  Ha - so light!  I was just trying to protect myself.  It was really strange.  I don't feel the pain in my abdomen anymore.  Some fluttering, but I'm sure that's not the baby yet.  I've been able to continue exercising, although I'm not exercising as often as I would like.  When we were on vacation, I did yoga a couple times and we took long walks along the beach.  I was in fairly good shape prior to getting pregnant, so my body is responding pretty well to the exercising.  But believe me, I haven't really been pushing myself hard.  Since we've gotten back, we've taken a couple walks outside (it's been so nice this week!) and I've been to the gym to do the elliptical and do some weight lifting.  I really want to get in the routine where I can do the elliptical or go for a long walk every day.  And I need to keep up my weight lifting routine so I can carry that baby when he/she arrives! 

Oh, I also have to mention that I have been extra tired ever since the beginning of this pregnancy.  Don't get me wrong, I've always been a good sleeper.  Always needed at least 7 hours of sleep a night.  Consistently would fall asleep on the couch before Carl moves me to bed.  So it's not unusual for me to be tired.  But with this pregnancy... holy cow.  I would fall asleep on the couch between 8-9 at night.  I would hit a wall at work in the afternoon and want to go home and just crash.  During our vacation, I really was able to get a lot of rest!  So I've felt pretty rested this past week.  But still pretty tired.  When is it I'll start nesting and get the burst of energy?  I'm looking forward to it.  And I think Carl is too!  :)

So I think that's all that's happened thus far in the pregnancy.  Whew!  That is a lot.  For the rest of my blog entries, I hope to give a shorter update each week following the format below.  I've borrowed this journal format from a couple other blogs, and I will try and post every week.  Here goes for week 8!  

Pregnancy Highlights:  
How Far Along: 8 weeks

Size of baby:  Kidney bean (or cashew as the ultrasound tech told us); about 1 inch

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  ~1.5 pounds (like I said above, not really sure if this is due to the pregnancy or "vacation weight")

Maternity Clothes:  Not yet.  I think I may purchase some wrap dresses to wear to work so I don't have to deal with pants before I buy maternity clothes.  I'm going to hold off as long as I can.  We'll see how long that is.  :)

Gender:  We have decided that we are going to find out the gender of the baby, and we will of course share that with everyone.  But we won't know for another 10 weeks or so.  

Movement:  I feel some fluttering occasionally, but I think I can attribute that to my diet and digestion.  Not the baby unfortunately yet.  I hear I won't start feeling the baby for awhile.

Sleep:  I'm a stomach sleeper normally.  So it's been an adjustment to switch to sleeping on my side.  I have a pillow that I place between my knees and that's been pretty comfortable and reliable in keeping me on my side at night.  I'm adjusting.  And we just purchased a new mattress, so hopefully I'll be sleeping even better in a few days!  :)

What I miss:  Sleeping on my stomach!!!  And deli meat. When we were in Florida, all I wanted for lunch was a bologna sandwich with Miracle Whip.  Weird.  I think it's because we used to eat bologna sandwiches all the time for lunch down at the condo growing up.

Cravings:  Cheese anything!  Mac n cheese, Cheetos, Mexican food smothered with cheese.  And while we're at it... McDonald's.  I have officially given up french fries and I'm going to stick to it!  I hope.  Really anything fried, cheesy, or and/or high in carbs.  I really haven't felt like fresh produce.  I've been trying to make myself eat vegetables and fruit so I can get those nutrients, but I've become really picky which is strange!

Symptoms:  Some queasiness, but overall feeling okay this week.

Best Moment this week:  Seeing the baby and hearing the heartbeat during the ultrasound.

Best husband quote of the week:  After we heard the baby's heartbeat and saw the baby on the ultrasound, Carl and I were alone in the room for a few minutes.  I said that it just didn't seem real, and Carl replied with "Oh, it seems pretty real now!"

*I'll also try to post a picture pretty regularly, but since I don't look any different than normal I've decided it's not necessary for this week.