16 weeks!

I'm still feeling great, which of course has me freaking out...I did have another bout of gagging sickness this morning, but if sickness = healthy baby, then of course I'll take it! I definitely think this time off of work is the hardest time to be pregnant in that I am enjoying the summer so much, but at the same time I find myself living for the next appointment, inadvertently wishing my summer away! We've got tons to keep us busy, which will (fortunately or unfortunately) make the time go super-fast!

We're camping this week, then next Thursday, we'll leave for 6 days at the shore to spend the 4th of July there (ugh! I can't believe G is still in school and the 4th of July is not far away!). The week we come back, I have another OB appointment & the following week is our BIG ULTRASOUND and then my east coast infertility-girls GTG! Things will settle down slightly after that, then we're going camping the first week of August & then to the shore again the week after that!

A highlight of the week was the "Dinner with the Phillies" last night to benefit the Jamie Moyer (pitcher for the Phillies) Foundation. Before the dinner, I went over and met the Philly Phanatic (mascot). He gave me a huge hug & then G told him to be careful because there was a baby in there! He got all dramatic, compared belly sizes with me, blew his party-blower nose on my belly & then gave it a big kiss! It was great! The baby is destined to be a Phillies fan now! I also got my picture taken with Cole Hamels! For you baseball fans, we also had Shane Victorino, Kyle Kendrick, Chase Utley, Wilson Valdez & a few others at our table! It was a ton of fun! My only disappointment was that my favorite, Ryan Howard, never made it to our table! I have pics posted on FB, but I'll try to post a couple of pics here when I can :)

Until then, here's my 16 week "ghetto-mama" pic! :) And what's that old wives tale about gender prediction based on the mama's butt? I think that just might apply here (though I've always had a booty for my stature).

15 weeks!

15 weeks and not much new to report around here. Morning sickness reared its ugly head again this morning, which was rather strange since I hadn't been sick (outside of tooth-brushing incidents) in a month! I was nauseous all morning & finally decided to force myself to eat (read: BAD IDEA) and then promptly lost my lunch! I felt better afterwards, however & have been back to my normal eating habits.

Otherwise, I can't complain! I feel pretty good & seem to be OK energy-wise (nothing different from my usual midday tiredness).

In other news, I got together with some real-life IF girls (2 whom I knew & 2 whom I just met) who are all Christians. We all came together because we're attempting to organize a couples IF retreat sometime in early 2012. It will be set up like a conference w/ meals, break-out sessions & a keynote speaker, focusing on how God speaks to us through IF. It's overwhelming but exciting at the same time...

Finally, since a few of you asked, the get-together w/ my online IF girls that I referenced in my last post is coming up in mid-July. 7-8 girls from all over the place (mostly the east coast: NY, CT, PA & OH, but also one from WY!). I'm so excited to finally meet these women whom I feel like I've known forever! We're going to spend the weekend doing girly things like shopping & talking & lots of eating, I'm sure! I CAN NOT WAIT! :)

14 (and a half) weeks!

SECOND TRIMESTER!!! Um WOW!

So far, things continue to be good...and honestly, I had to ask Gregg the other day if this was really happening or if it was just some crazy dream that I was going to eventually wake up from. I honestly still don't believe we're here and that this is happening to us!

I had an appointment yesterday & all is well. They did a urine sample & listened to the heartbeat with the doppler...of course I was silently freaking out because it took her (the NP) more than 5 seconds to find it, but all was well. I got nicely reprimanded for not drinking enough water, so I've been trying to be better about upping my intake (though most of it hasn't been water, but juice or milk since I hate water).

Otherwise, things are going well. I have the 2nd half of my sequential scheduled for the 26th of June, my next OB appt. on the 8th of July & the "BIG" ultrasound on the 19th of July (which the online girls are begging me to get bumped up so that I can know the gender before our big get-together on the 16th-18th)...I also called today to schedule 3 classes in August: childbirth, baby care & breast feeding. G & I are taking them with friends of ours (a coworker/friend/co-coach of G's and his wife). We're really excited to take that next big step...and knowing how quickly our summers always go by, those ultrasounds, appointments & classes will be here before we know it!

I'm still feeling great, only sick a few mornings a week (and it's all tooth-brushing related or drinking water on an empty stomach), though still pretty tired in the afternoons. Work is almost finished, though (2 more days), so I think once I get the chance to actually sleep in every morning, that will go away, too!

13 weeks!

I never did get around to my official 12 week post, but the 13 week post will be more than enough, I'm sure! We had our NT scan at the Maternal Fetal Medicine office on Friday. It went great. The ultrasound tech got all the measurements (which the doctor said looked normal, putting us at low risk for Downs or Trisomy 18) and she printed out about 15 pictures for us to keep! It was great, as we didn't know that we would get to have any pics from this ultrasound. The tech was great and did some awesome 3-D pics, too! I'll post the link to them at the end! And by the way, if those pics don't scream "boy" to you, I don't know what will...especially the 3-D frontal view.

The sickness has faded for the most part, except on the occasional morning while brushing my teeth. I've been eating more regularly again & I'm still loving the dill pickles and pickle juice.

That's about all for this update! I go for my follow-up bloodwork on the 28th of June, my next OB appointment is on the 8th and our "BIG" ultrasound is on the 19th of July!

Click here to view our baby's pics!

11w5d

I suppose an 11 week update would be appropriate before I hit 12 weeks, huh? I am doing well - still getting sick here and there, a couple times a week, however I've noticed that the whole toothbrush-gag thing is become more prominent this week (therefore my evening sickness is definitely becoming morning sickness). One of the moms of my preschoolers called "girl" yesterday when she heard I was throwing up bile, but then I told her about the whole drinking pickle juice straight from the jar thing...she was sooooo grossed out - LOL! She's the only mom of my students to know & I only told her because she was feeling so much remorse (and thinking I would take it personally) that she's most likely moving her younger son to her own church's preschool next year. She was literally bawling to me about it because she thought I would be upset with her - so I told her about me not being here the whole year next year so that she wouldn't feel so bad. I trust her - most moms I wouldn't! And I love her - she's so sweet!

My pastor came down to my classroom yesterday to see me (I had written him a note after I had gone to see him twice and he wasn't there) - I told him that we were expecting and his first question was, "An adopted baby?" He was in complete shock but so happy for us! He sat and prayed with me and asked lots of questions & told me that he would have to congratulate G on Sunday when/if he saw him at the church softball game...I just hope I'm not being over-zealous in telling people now - It's so exciting!

I'm starting to show just a little bit now & I love, love, love it! I just bought a bella band (lace trimmed, black) on ebay for $10.45 including shipping! Yay! Pic of my belly coming soon!

We're going to a wedding in North Carolina this weekend (college roommate of G's) - I still have to decide tonight which dress to wear. The one I had planned on wearing definitely gives me a baby bump, so I'm afraid it might not be the most comfortable throughout the day/night. The other is less formal, but since it is an outdoor, afternoon wedding, I don't think it will be inappropriate either.

10 week update!

I had a great appointment on Tuesday! I'm still measuring 2 days ahead and they confirmed my due date at 12/3/10! The HB was great at 170bpm & the little sucker was in there moving all over the place - it even looked like it was waving at us!!!! Best feeling in the world!

We told G's parents over the weekend and his mom was a little confused at first (or we were just confused at what she was asking us)! G's dad is a radiologist, so he looked at the date at the top & saw my name & knew right away what was going on & hugged me immediately. His mom started sobbing and couldn't figure out how we'd been keeping it a secret for so long! We told G's 2 younger sisters and they FLIPPED, then he called his oldest sister and her kids told her that she said Oh My God 21 times! LOL! We emailed the rest of G's brothers and sisters to tell them & we heard back from every single one of them within 12 hours!

I go back in about 2.5 weeks for my sequential screen & then again on the 8th for my 2nd regular OB appt. The doctor said everything looks GREAT! We couldn't be more excited!


As for me, eating has slowly been getting better. I haven't thrown up since Sunday (after I had a huge breakfast out to eat for Mother's Day - and they even gave me a flower at the restaurant for my first Mother's Day ever!!). I had a big (for me lately) supper last night & I'm always starving at lunch time. My pants are starting to get a bit snug (mostly in the afternoon/evening) and I'm still really tired (can't wait for that to go away!). Overall, everything is great!

(almost) 10 week update!

Things are so-far, so-good. I have another u/s on Tuesday and I'm really anxious for it since I haven't had one since the 26th.

We told my parents the good news last weekend and it was CRAZY. Oh MY GOSH - it was the best reaction ever! My mom & dad were busy getting things ready for the picnic that they were having for my bday. They were both finally in the house at the same time and I told my mom that I wanted her to open her Mother's Day gift before she was up to her elbows in something else...my dad almost left but I told him he had to stay. Mom opened the card and started crying (nothing in the card but a sappy little verse) and then she opened the frame and SCREAMED, CRIED & she and my dad made a Teri-Sandwich out of me. My dad cried (this is only the 3rd time in my life I ever saw him cry) and my mom sobbed, "This is the BEST MOTHER'S DAY PRESENT EVER"...it was awesome
Then we told my little cousin Jenna (19) because she's our bud - she and Gregg always "pretend" they are Ron & Hermione from Harry Potter when we go camping (mainly just finding sticks & pretending they are stupifying each other, or quoting the movie, etc). Gregg asked Jenna if she wanted to be Aunt Jenna or Aunt Hermione - and her eyes got wide and she looked at me & I smiled and she got SO excited & screamed - she had to compose herself before we went back to the rest of the family.

Then, after we were done eating, my mom took the frame & gave it to my Grammy saying she wanted to show her what we gave her for mother's day. My Grammy opened it and just stared at it for what seemed like an hour - my cousin Michelle was sitting right beside me (she's studying to be an u/s tech, so she knew exactly what she was looking at) turned to me and said, "Nuh-uh, seriously?" so she got it before everyone else did. Then of course the frame was passed around and the congratulations came out & everyone said how I was glowing, etc.

My evening sickness has turned into morning sickness, at least for Saturday/Sunday. I've been feeling fine since! I went for my last b/w (progesterone check) at the RE on Thursday & I went to the OB yesterday - I really wish I were getting an u/s before we told G's parents this weekend....although I have no reason to worry - no spotting, just normal stretching-cramping (probably from dehydration, too, since I'm still always thirsty).

And I'm putting it all out there to show you my 9w belly shot (all bloat, once again, although G said I have a hard belly today)...this was after a long day of partying for my 30th!