The Second Trimester... (14 wks, 3 days)

We had our third visit to the OB ... And I finally gained a pound! Yay! Now I'm only minus 11 from pre-pregnancy. I'm still getting sick in the mornings, but I have noticed a huge improvement throughout the rest of the day. I've also started to have some cravings... Red meat, candy (occasionally chocolate, but mostly just sweet sugary type candy), and butter. I don't know if that's even normal, but butter is so delicious. Oooh, and bacon, mmmm.

I also am the proud new owner of a small baby bump, although it seems huge to me. Mark told me to stop sticking my stomach out, but i wasn't even trying to! And that's how you know you are officially beginning to look whalish ;) I don't really think my face has changed all that much from pre-pregnancy, although my nose was looking quite swollen there for a while. And while maternity clothes are not yet a must, they are certainly much more comfortable for me, especially at work and during meals.

Our next appointment will be after we've had the anatomy sonogram, so it will be right after Christmas and before New Years. Hopefully our moms will be able to come with us during the holiday break to meet Baby H!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I know I certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year. :-D especially my awesome husband who puts up with all my crap!

Telling the world...(12wks)

Yesterday we went to our niece, Abbie's, baptism. At the after party, Mark and I agreed to let everyone in on our little secret. We both knew it wouldn't be long before people started noticing my growing midsection, and Thanksgiving seemed like too long to wait to tell my extended family. It's weird to not have to pretend to not be pregnant, but I like it!
We went and looked at car seats and stroller systems this weekend. We like the chicco key fit, but if you have any advice or suggestions, we'd love to hear it. Mark has done most of the research on this stuff, but it seems like it has all of the features I'd want... Except I'm not totally sure what will/wont work until I have to use it everyday.
It seemed like it would last forever, but I am almost out of the first trimester... The morning sickness is getting better, and I'm finally starting to not lose weight. Hard to believe we are 30% of the way there already! And since we've gotten this question a lot, No, we are not finding out the gender before the baby's birth. Maybe it's old fashioned, but you get so few good surprises in life, I'd like to let this one last. ;)

Finally starting to show! (11 wks, 2days)

Mark and I went to our second appointment last week. Everything was good! I've definitely lost weight, but they weren't concerned about it, so neither am I! They also said the blood work all came back great - no HIV, no CF gene, immune to MMR, I'm O positive (so no worries about RH factor cross reaction at birth), etc, etc. We got to hear the heartbeat, again, which is still soo cool! They said my size is perfect for how far along I am, and I'm even starting to show. My belly is really starting to pop out, and there is definitely a little bump there.

The morning sickness is starting to get better. I have had a few days with no nausea, and a few days where I haven't thrown up at all. Seems so weird to celebrate something like that, but right now that's my biggest "little pleasure." yesterday, I had a huge craving for pot roast and mashed potatoes, so I made a huge dinner, even though Mark was at work and I was the only one to enjoy it. Afterwards, I had this major urge to clean the whole house. I started throwing things away, doing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry...until I started to cramp up and I had to lay down. Baby Susque didn't want me to over do it, apparently.

Speaking of Baby H, Mark and I think its a girl. Everyone else says boy, but I'm pretty sure it's a girl. I haven't had any pregnancy dreams or visions of pink, it's just a feeling I've had. Right now, she's already the size of a large lime! Fully formed, just now going through the development stage as everything gets bigger and better defined. Crazy, huh?

Pictures from our Halloween/6th Anniversary Celebration:

And so it continues... (8 wks, 2 days)

Well, if you're tracking the date and the days, you'd notice that it's been a few weeks, but I've only "advanced" a week in the pregnancy. :( When we went for the sonogram, they dated me back 8-9 days. The new due date is now May 23, 2011. It's not really bad news, except for the fact that it means a full 9 more days of morning sickness!
At the sonogram, everything went really well. The baby was super tiny, and at the time, they dated little Susque to be 6 weeks and 2 days (we thought I was 7 wks, 3 days). I was super disappointed with that news - who doesn't want their pregnancy to fly by so they can meet their new little one? - but at the same time, hearing the strong, little, fast heart beat and seeing the little valves open and close was super amazing. The baby was smaller than the size of a short rice grain, yet the heart was already beating and blood was pumping through it's body! The ultrasound technician also told me I won't have to have a completely full bladder for future sonograms because of the position of my uterus. There was my silver lining!

Since my last post, the morning sickness has gotten much worse. I've had an "episode" at work, after eating an APPLE of all things! I'm now down to 138 - which is probably the least that I've weighed in 10 years, with the exception of the time I had mononucleosis. It's amazing how much my taste buds have changed. I no longer drink tea, which is really sad for me - since it used to be almost the only thing I would drink. Instead, I drink a lot of water, grape koolaid, and a variety of sodas. This morning, I even tried ginger ale - and I liked it! I've always thought ginger ale was kind of nasty, but after having a few sips, I actually started to feel better. Weird, right? I am officially sick of eating chicken noodle soup, chicken nuggets, pretzels, crackers, and other crunchy items. I can't wait to just be the "pregnant lady" who enjoys eating things again. Mark simply mentioned the word "onions" and it made me lose my breakfast. Again, those wonderful "joys" of pregnancy that no one tells you about beforehand. :)

And for those of you who ask, or feel inclined to do so, I'm not very excited about anything right now. I feel like I've been hit by a Mac truck most of the time. Between constantly wanting to run to the bathroom to upchuck, to not being able to eat more than a small bit of food at a time, to being so tired that all I want to do is sleep... there is simply no energy to have excitement. Four more weeks, and I should start to see an improvement - maybe then I'll be excited. In the meantime, I'm still feeling pretty anxious about everything that's changing in our lives. By no means am I complaining - for I am the one who wanted this more than anything - but I'm just not quite there yet.

And so it begins... (7 wks, 2 days)

Well, I've been gloating all along about having not truly suffered from morning sickness. Yes, I've been nauseous constantly, and yes, I've even lost several pounds (I was 142-143 this morning). This morning, however, one bite of my cereal, and oh no! At least I had time to run to the bathroom before it really came back up. Then I suffered through the rest of my cereal, knowing it would only get better if I continued to choke it down. The "joys" of pregnancy!

(picture at 6 weeks)

I was feeling so bad, I almost called out of work. But as I continued throughout the day, I made sure I had a little bit of something in my stomach at all times - even if it was just some soda or water - and I seemed to do much better as the day went on.

Oh, and much love to the staff at Abingdon Walgreen's for helping me out today :) I think mostly the reason I felt better was because of the support I received from each and every one of you - so thanks, girls!

Tomorrow we go for the first sonogram. I'm super nervous. A bazillion things could go wrong. Or it could be twins. Or it could be a tumor. Oh geez, please just let everything be healthy, normal, and happy. And I have to have a full bladder. I know the reasoning - so the position of the uterus is in a better spot for visualization of the baby - but it's like pure torture to a pregnant lady.



(picture at 7 weeks)

One last thing, I've been super hormonal (obviously). I apologize if I've suddenly started crying or bawling. I truly can't help it. Most times, I don't even know why I'm crying...it just happens. I think I've only had this happen in front of Mark, but if you see me get teary eyed, you've been warned. :-p

First Appointment (6 weeks, 5 days)

And I'm freaking out! Ahhh! I'll fill in more afterward.

...

So the appointment went well. Mark came back with me, which really helped to make me feel more comfortable and at ease - even if it was only because it made him more uncomfortable. Thanks for taking one for the team, Mark :)
We talked to Dr. Aziz for a while about our family histories, twins in the family, diseases, etc, and then we went back for the exam. It was no different than any other doctor visit, except for the part where she felt my uterus and exclaimed, "you are definitely pregnant! Six to eight weeks along - perfect size." I was (as the title says) 6 weeks and 5 days, so that's a relief. I'm still a little anxious about having multiples, but I seriously doubt it's happening now. Phew. She also weighed me, and with all my clothes on and having downed a bunch of water to be able to go to the bathroom - I was at 147. I've been 145 at home, so with all my clothes on, I figured that wasn't too bad. :)


After the appointment, we went to get the bloodwork done - and boy did they take a LOT of blood! I was really unprepared for it... all NINE vials! At least I didn't have to look, I didn't pass out, and I got to eat an awesome lunch at Red Robin afterward :) Well, I sort of ate... that's been a bit of a problem these days, but we're working on it. I'm learning that I can no longer eat the way I used to - 2-3 big meals/day with relatively no snacking. That just isn't going to cut it anymore. I definitely have come to realize I need to be constantly eating, or else the nausea takes over and I can't eat at all. Not good.

I have a sonogram scheduled for next Tuesday. Here's hoping all turns out okay!

Telling the Parental Units... (6 weeks)

So, after long debates between Mark and I, we finally decided we would go ahead and tell our parents early. My sister already knew (see previous post), and I was dying to share the news with the most important people in our lives! Grandparents' Day was September 12th, so we made plans to see both sets of our parents over the weekend.

I bought cards for Grandparents' Day to give to each set of our parents. We went to the Hannas' House on Saturday night for dinner. After a delicious dinner, I went and got the card for them. I asked them if they knew what holiday Sunday was - they had no clue. I told them to go ahead and open the card, letting them know it was a day early for the holiday the next day. Mom H opened the card; confused, she said, "I think you meant to give this card to the Grandparents..." then her eyes opened really wide as she read, "Happy 1st Grandparents' Day, with love, Baby Hanna!" She got really excited and came over to feel the belly - of course there was nothing to actually feel yet, but who doesn't love touching a pregnant woman's belly? Dad H told us how proud he was and happy for us. A great reaction for the first time grandparents. :)

My parents, on the other hand, seemed a little more expectant of the news. We stopped by their house on our way home from Kings Dominion on Sunday with a similar Grandparents' Day card. My parents already have 5 grandkids, so it took them a little while to read through all the names before they got to "Baby Hanna." My mom smiled, handed the card to my dad, and let him read it before reacting. My dad said, "Well, thanks for telling us - we've known since last Sunday. When did you find out?" I have no idea how they had known for that long - Mark and I didn't even know until the previous Tuesday! I guess parents just know these things :) My mom had a dream that I was pregnant with a baby boy. I have no desire to find out before the baby is born. As long as little Susque is healthy, that is all that matters to me. Mark has always said he wanted to know as soon as possible, but I may just have him convinced that we are waiting! :-D

This past Thursday, we went to visit Mark's Grandparents - to share dinner and the big news! Mark's grandma, "Gah-gah" already seemed to know - she was very excited to hear the news, but her first words were "Really? I was hoping that's why you came over!" It will be their first great-grandchild! Very exciting night for all of us.

Today is 6 weeks. I can't believe I have 34 to go! I still somewhat feel like a "fake" pregnant lady, although today I had my first mini bought of nausea, and I think I'm starting to really show. Scary to think that most people don't start showing until 12 weeks or so, and I'm already bulging! My mom said that she was showing at 6 weeks with her first pregnancy, so maybe it's in my genes.... or maybe it's twins! :) haha, let's not go scaring Mark too much, now. Fraternal twins runs on both sides of my family (multiple sets, including my grandfather's brother and sister on my dad's side, and my great-grandmother on my mom's side), and the freakish coincidence that almost everyone in my row of townhouses has twin boys! I suppose we'll find out soon enough! If we have twins, I will slightly reconsider finding out the gender ahead of time. It's a lot of unknowns with twins not to be better prepared. We'll see!

We're Expanding!

On September 7, 2010, Mark and I found out our family would be growing by two little feet :) That's right - we're expecting! Baby "Susque" Hanna is due in May 2011.



I found out first thing on Tuesday morning. After getting Mark out of bed, I contemplated taking a pregnancy test. I went back and forth several times, convincing myself it would be negative...but just taking it to get it over with. I thought he was downstairs, so I went to go get him while waiting for the test results. Much to my surprise, Mark had already left for work! So I went to look at the test, and it was POSITIVE! So there I was, sitting there, brimming with all kinds of emotions - and I had to share with someone. I definitely did not want to tell Mark over the phone, so I called my sister. I barely got two words out, probably something like, "uh, Kate?" and she knew. I didn't even have to tell her. Then I went to her house for the day, stealing all her pregnancy and baby names books, so I would have something to keep myself occupied until Mark came home. I also made a trip to BabiesRUs, picked up some bibs that said "Daddy's Hugs are the Best" and some plain white onesies.




I carefully wrapped all of these things up in a gift bag, pregnancy test on the bottom, onesies (decorated with "Will you be my Daddy?") and bibs next, and the book "How to be a Pregnant Father" on top. I let Mark open this gift when he came home from disc golf (yes, not only did I have to wait all day for work to be over, but then I had to wait for him to finish playing disc golf! and I am not a patient person!). As he opened each thing, the expression on his face went from - "do you have something to tell me?"



- to - "are you serious?"



- to - "are you SURE? how do you KNOW?" :-D



We are both VERY excited, shocked, surprised, nervous, etc. :)

As of tomorrow, I am six weeks pregnant. We go for our first OB appointment on the 23rd. Can't wait to see little Susque for the first time!!