9 Weeks

This week has been so emotionally intense. We are gearing up for a funeral (tomorrow), cancer has made it's way back into our family, and so many other things. I just feel way to hormonal to be dealing with these types of things. I guess you can't really plan for death, sickness, or pain.

In the midst of these sad times we are over the moon about this baby and I am so thankful to have something happy to focus on when I am feeling down.

Not much other news, just trying to keep on keeping on and get through this week.

How far along? 9 Weeks, 0 Days 

Total weight gain/loss: -11 Because of morning sickness. :-(

Maternity clothes? Lots of sweats and loose cumphy tops.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Too much on my mind to sleep week this past week.

Best moment this week: Getting to stay at my grandparents home for some time. I just wish it was under better circumstances.

Have you told family and friends: That's old news! ;-)

Miss Anything? Hot bubble baths to help me de-stress.

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings: I am lucky if I want to eat at all. I wouldn't so much call it cravings.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat! 

Have you started to show yet: No. Just really bloated.

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Lots of tears this week.

Weekly Wisdom: There is always something to be happy about even if you have to dig to find it.

Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound!

8 Weeks

This week we got to see our little gummy bear sized baby again. I get so excited for our ultrasounds (mostly because I just like to know that everything is A-OK.) Sean was working midnights this week (10PM-6:30AM) and our appointment wasn't until 11 so he decided to stay over at work until 10 so that he could come with me to see the baby. My OBGYN has an ultrasound company that works with her within the building so we were going to knock out two birds with one stone.

Well, we got ready to walk out the door to the car to be on our merry way and then got a phone call informing us that our ultrasound technician was "violently ill" and would not be able to see us this morning. So they cancelled both of our appointments and re-scheduled me for Monday. (4 days later).

At first, I felt sad for the ultrasound technician that she was so sick, but then I felt bad for Sean that he would not be able to come to the ultrasound because he was working days that week. So, me being be got back on the phone with the secretary and asked her to please have the doctor order me an ultrasound through the hospital (where we had our first one) so that I could at least bring Sean with me to part one of the appointments and he could see the baby.

Not even 15 minutes later and we were on our way. They accommodated us so quickly.

When we saw the baby an instant sigh of relief swept over me and I was just so happy. Tears were flowing and they were the happiest tears I have ever cried. This ultrasound was a different from the last because baby McGuire actually looked like a baby and we could see his/her heartbeat flashing on the screen. It was just incredible. We also got a new surprise, our due date jumped 2 days earlier to March 5, 2014.

Here are some pics of our little babe!!

Regular:

Close Up:

I was so sick when I needed to get to my next appointment with my OBGYN that Monday, so my dad took me. The doctor had nothing but good things to say and again, I was relieved. We were informed that because the pregnancy is very high risk (because of my diseases and previous miscarriage) we will be seen every 2 weeks on a rotation. So in two weeks we will see a nurse and have another ultrasound. Then 2 weeks after that, we will see a doctor to go over everything. Over and over until the end of the pregnancy.

It seems like a lot of visits, but I am so thankful for a doctor that understands me and how I function both mentally and physically. She truly is the perfect person for me to go through this process with.

My next appointment is August 16th, and at that time we will see a nurse and have an ultrasound to see the baby. I can hardly wait.

How far along? 8 Weeks, 0 Days 

Total weight gain/loss: -11 lbs because of morning sickness. :-(

Maternity clothes? Yes, just because my abdomen is so dang uncomfortable with waste bands.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: I wake up 4-6 times ever night to go to the bathroom. Then I usually fall back to sleep pretty quick.

Best moment this week: Seeing my little bitty baby's heartbeat.

Have you told family and friends: That's old news! ;-)

Miss Anything? Subway Sandwiches

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings: Actually little by little my hunger is coming back. Not craving anything, but tolerating food a little bit better.

Anything making you queasy or sick: It's all hit or miss, but meat makes me especially queasy.

Have you started to show yet: No. Just really bloated.

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: 50/50

Weekly Wisdom: Be kind to your ultrasound tech, they give you more pictures when you are. ;-)

Looking forward to: My morning sickness easing off (Hopefully!)

7 Weeks and a Cruise

So we went on a cruise. And that was awesome IDEA. 

We traveled 16 hours from Northwest Indiana to South Carolina. We then went on a 5 night 6 day cruise through the Bahamas. Then we traveled home the 16 hours. 

We planned this trip 6 months ago when we had no idea that I was pregnant. Moral of the story, if you are me don't go on a cruise when you are in your first trimester. 

I left our cabin probably six times throughout our whole duration of the trip. I was so so so so sick.

It's hard to even write about because I am gagging even thinking about it. Hopefully you can paint the nasty picture it your mind and fill in the blanks.

So here is the good stuff-

No bump but a cute as can be sign.

How far along? 7 Weeks, 0 Days 

Total weight gain/loss: Not yet!

Maternity clothes? Wearin' them but not buying them!

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Exhausted and sleeping terribly.

Best moment this week: Discovering Zofran. My new best friend.

Have you told family and friends: That's old news! ;-)

Miss Anything? Soft serve ice cream!

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings: Absolutely not. So sick I hate even thinking about food.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat! Pizza!

Have you started to show yet: No. Just really bloated.

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Lots of tears this week.

Weekly Wisdom: Zofran. That is all.

Looking forward to: Seeing the baby's heartbeat at our next ultrasound!!

6 Weeks! (And a Vacation!)

Today Sean and I leave for our road trip/cruise. We are SO excited. We will be driving from Indiana to South Carolina (roughly 16 hours with the 100 pee stops.) We planned this cruise through the Bahamas before I knew I was pregnant and were not planning on having morning sickness. Hopefully I can focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and the beautiful water and sandy warm beaches awaiting me.

Before I was even pregnant long drives were hard for me. My A.D.H.D. and motion sickness makes me despise the road trips. Who wants to sit still that long and throw up. Not me, that is for sure. On the bright side Sean has agreed to give me 5 bucks every time I puke on the drive. So I guess that's spending money right?!

In happy news on Friday (while we are cruising) we reach 6 weeks with our wittle baby. So I thought I would gift you all with a new picture before we depart.

How far along? 6 Weeks, 0 Days (on Friday)

Total weight gain/loss: Not yet!

Maternity clothes? I actually got a pair of eternity jeans (the ones in the pic above) because they were on sale and I want to wear them for each picture. And Lord knows i'm about to get a lot bigger really fast. Why do people not wear these on an everyday basis? So much more comfortable than regular jeans!

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Can't sleep through the night. I usually take 2 or 3 naps through the day when I can lay down for 30 minutes. Sick all night. Ugh. 

Best moment this week: Meeting my OBGYN. I love her already. Such a relief because she is such a big piece of this beautiful puzzle.

Have you told family and friends: Yes, and it's Facebook official. ;-)

Miss Anything? I really miss hot dogs. Gross right?

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings: All I can think about as I am typing is Cici's Pizza. Preferably the buffalo chicken pizza. Yumm.

Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of my cats :-( I didn't even know they had a smell.

Have you started to show yet: No. Just really bloated.

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Really happy!

Weekly Wisdom: Why wear high heals if your body is already so uncomfortable. Invest in some cute flats. :-)

Looking forward to: Hearing the baby's heartbeat at our next ultrasound when we get home on the 24th!!

Until next time..

I'M SAILING AWAY!!

Pap Smear Time. Yippee. Not.

I had my first OB apt. this morning. Sean was working so I brought my BFF Melissa. She just graduated as an RN and wants to be a Doula so this is an exciting time for her as well. I was excited to meet my doctor but had no idea what was in store. Let me break it down for you..

1. You get weighed right away. They don't waste any time. Also there is a lovely chart in front of your face the whole time you watch the scale go up that lets you know how overweight or underweight you are for your height. I had to giggle because if I am "overweight" this early (after I have lost 30 pounds) I wonder what I will look like at the end. Awesome.

2. Then there were questions. Lots and lots of questions from the nurse. I'm talking like 20 minutes straight. Boring.

3. When the RN was done she handed me a lovely paper vest and a piece of paper about the size of a small bathroom rug. Don't worry Melissa got to see my whole naked but because there is no way in hell to keep those things covering you. I probably should have just gone without them. Just kidding. But seriously can we get them any bigger?

4. As soon as my OBGYN came in she got right to the point. (The point inside my legs where she does a pap smear.) Again, so much fun. Raise your hand if you love getting a pap smear!!

Then, I found out I get to see my baby (and hopefully hear his or her heartbeat!!) on July 24th after we return from our cruise. I think she was bribing me because after the ultrasound I get to see my OB again.

For as uncomfortable as these things are, she was fantastic. I really really really like her.

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage, Then Comes...

People like to talk about babies so we had to spill the beans...

Officially Knocked Up

Let me get you caught up:

WED. JULY 3rd PM- 

I was 6 days late for my period, I had vomited 10+ times in the last week after a sniff of my favorite foods, and I had really really really sore larger than life boobs. Pretty obvious right? 

I decided to take a test on a whim just for peace of mind because although I want to be a mother, this seemed like the most impractical timing. 

My sister Carrie was supposed to stay the night so my hubby and I picked her up and headed to the dollar store so I could sneak in and grab a few tests. I was in and out in less than 60 seconds with 3 tests.

I headed home and hurried up the stairs because I had been holding my pee inside of me for way to long and thought I might actually pee my pants. 

I ran to the bathroom with my "bag-o-tests" and quickly realized that these were the tests that you needed a clean cup to pee in rather than pee on the stick. There was no way in hell I could hold it any longer so- no worries I grabbed my deodorant cap. (What the hell, right?) In less than 20 Seconds, I had a big bold second line and I was in complete shock.

I didn't want to tell my husband Sean unless I was 100% sure so I frantically screamed for my sister to come to the bathroom to see if I was reading it right. She's 16 so she knew nothing of pregnancy tests (thank God) but she read the directions and she said, "Yeah, I mean you're totally pregnant." *One test down.*

I called Sean to the bathroom and showed him the test and he said, "This is so exciting!" Which was good considering the nervous breakdown that I thought was on it's way out of me any second. 

I still didn't believe it so I thought I should ask my RN sister Jaime. I drove over to her house with one test taken and two tests left. She wasn't home and when I got her on the phone she talked me though what it would look like and after much discussion said, "Well I don't know what you want me to tell you, it sounds like you are pregnant." 

My little sister grabbed the phone and asked if the deodorant cap could have given a false positive and Jaime quickly replied, "No, deodorant caps don't produce pregnancy hormones." We all laughed for five minutes.

I headed home to take another test. It was about an hour after the first test. No, I did not pee into a deodorant lid, but I did pee into a shot glass. Is that any better? Just as the first test had read, I had a quick result. POSITIVE. *Two tests down.*

Still in shock I was thinking of all the things that could give me a false positive test. Nothing related to me but I still didn't believe it. 

My older sister came over and took me to the bathroom to do the third test for me and once again I peed in the shot glass. Classy right? Whatever. Anyways SURPRISE IT WAS POSITIVE! *Three tests down.*

At that moment I confirmed that I was officially knocked up.

Suddenly my fear turned to excitement and began to make a list of all of the stuff that I needed to do before I left for my cruise in 7 days! I had 3 appointments scheduled by the time I went to sleep and my mind raced as I thought about our situation. 

I was sick all night and between vomit and tears and a husband on midnights, I decided that I had to get over this fear and see that we are so blessed with this tiny little miracle. 

I woke up the next morning with a great positive perspective and have been so excited ever since. 

THURSDAY JULY 4th-

Sean was on midnights so he came home at 6:45 AM and I headed out for a day of fun festivities. The weather was warm with a breeze and it was a perfect day. I only gagged 3 times and didn't throw up even once! 

We had originally planned on telling our parents at the end of the week (because I have health problems this was going to be a high risk pregnancy and we wanted everyone close to us praying) but once we realized we had a parent on each  side going our of town we had to react quickly. 

I called my sister Jaime and asked her to help me think of a creative way to tell my parents. I have the cutest nephew in the world and we had him wear a sign that said: "I'm the big cousin!" while he carried in balloons. He was so proud.

Everyone was so excited and it lifted my spirits even more. 

Sean's parents were at a 4th of July party and we wanted to wait until we had one on one time with them so we decided we would tell them Friday night.

We watched the fireworks and all I could do was focus on the fact that the next fourth of July we would have a 4 month old. What a feeling.

FRIDAY JULY 5th (Today)-

This morning we had our first ultrasound just to make sure that things were progressing like they should and for a due date. I was originally nervous because the last time that I had an ultrasound it was to find out that I was having a miscarriage. All I wanted was for this baby to be healthy. 

The ultrasound technician took me back first and got me all set up. As soon as the started, my body cooperated very well. She confirmed that I was indeed pregnant and from her measurements exactly 5 weeks along. The baby is the size of a sesame seed. Isn't that incredible? The joy that I felt looking at that screen and hearing her words is indescribable. Then she brought Sean in and his face brought tears to my eyes. He is so excited. Which makes me even more excited.

Later in the evening we told Sean's parents and brother and sister. They were all excited too. I think that the whole situation is completely surreal for all of us. It will take some adjusting but we are all in it for the long haul. We are so blessed to have the family that we do and they will adore this tiny little miracle.

How far along? 5 Weeks, 0 Days
Total weight gain/loss: I will get officially weighed on Monday at my first OBGYN appointment.
Maternity clothes? Rocking maxi dressed and spandex shorts and capris. Not because I am showing, just because I am so dang uncomfortable.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Can't sleep through the night. I usually take 2 or 3 naps through the day when I can lay down for 30 minutes. 
Best moment this week: Our 5 week ultrasound. It was magical seeing the baby on the screen. It made it so real. And telling our family of course!!
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? Beer, hot dogs, and steamy hot bubble baths!!! Would love to have a few of each right meow.
Movement: Not yet
Food cravings: Jalepeno anything!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Every smell that catches me off guard. If I can see it then it's not as bad. But if I can only smell it, watch out!
Have you started to show yet: No. Just really bloated.
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Weekly Wisdom: Be so kind to your husband even if you are sick and moody. He's more in your corner than anyone else.
Looking forward to: Getting a bump so I don't just look fat & finding out the gender! :)

WEEK FIVE: BABY MCGUIRE IS THE SIZE OF A SESEME SEED!