Sunday, November 1, 2009

Heartbeat!

WE HEARD THE HEARTBEAT!!

We went to our second Ultrasound appointment on Friday, October 23rd. We were whisked right in to see the doctor this time! Ryan stood by my side squeezing my hand in anticipation as she searched for the hearbeat...within seconds there it was!! I gasped and broke into giggles and she lost it for a second, but I laid there as still as possible and we heard the most glorious healthy heartbeat. It was beating at about 170 beats per second - strong and healthy as can be!!! She measured baby from head to rump to reveal how far along I am - 7 weeks & 4 days the day of the ultrasound!! We got to see the baby too - and MY GOODNESS has the little peanut grown! The first ultrasound showed as a tiny speck of wonder and curiosity, but this one showed our beloved baby in all its glory :) It is really amazing how much the images have changed in a few short weeks. The doctor showed us the head, the brain, two arms, and two little legs!! My heart swells with excitement for the process that has begun...I can't wait for the months to follow! With this heartbeat, I really feel it now - the journey has begun <3




SHHH!

AHHH It has been SO hard not to tell our friends the wonderful news. Ryan and I have always planned on waiting until the second trimester to reveal the good news. We never though about how hard that would be!!

We decided there was no possible way we could wait that long. We made the ultimate decision that we would tell our closest friends the good news after October 23rd. That will hopefully be the first day we hear our baby's heartbeat!

We have been dying to tell everyone! We have basically been in hiding for the last three weeks. Some of our friends (APRIL!) are getting a bit suspicious of our unusual behavior and lack of play. Every time I tell her we can't make it somewhere she tells me "you know we all think you are pregnant right?" I have somehow managed to have actual reasons to not hang out and not lie to her without telling her she is right! It has been tough!

We decided how we are going to tell everyone! We wanted to do something fun instead of just standing up and making the announcement. We brainstormed for the perfect place and scenario. Our friends Scott & Devan are having a Halloween party which subsequently will be after our big doctor's appointment! A big portion of our close friends will be there, including our two favorite out of town guests which will be perfect!

I was looking at costumes when I just broke into giggles! I showed Ryan ad he thought it was perfect. I am going to dress up as "Bun in the Oven" and Ryan will be "The Bun Maker!" It is an actual costume too! Its a soft silver oven with burners and dials with a working door revealing a bun. We got Ryan a chef's coat and a toque (the big white floppy chef's hat) and I am going to iron on letters that say the bun maker on his lapel. We are hoping to show up and surprise the crowd!

I just hope we can make it a few more weeks without a peep!
Wish us luck :)


Telling Our Parents <3

For the first few weeks, we decided the only people we would tell would be Ryan's parents, and my Mom and Grandma. We avoided talking to our parents for a whole week so we wouldn't spill the beans before we got to tell them in person. My Mom and I took my Grandma out to a showing of Charlotte's Web at the Performing Arts Center on October 2nd. We all met at my Grandma's house and we were running a little late (as usual). They were waiting outside when I arrived. I asked if we could go inside for a few minutes, and after a little hesitation they decided to oblige. They were in the kitchen while I set up the video camera, hidden on the fireplace mantle. I called them in the living room and told them I had made them both a surprise. I handed them a shadow box with a lid on it and told them to open it together. My mom opened the box revealing all 5 positive pregnancy tests and screamed "ARE YOU PREGNANT??" She burst into sobs and pulled me into a big hug. My Grandma just kept saying "Oh my gosh!! OH MY GOSH!!" It was perfect. We went to Kilkinney's for dinner and then the show, and we talked about how much fun it is going to be!

We told Ryan's parents the next evening. Ryan's Dad had always offered me a beer in the past, and we had a running joke that just once he wanted to offer me a beer and me tell him I couldn't drink alcohol for the next nine months!! We went over there for dinner and to watch the OU game - perfect situation for that offer right? Nope! Haha he wasn't drinking on this particular evening. We waited and waited for him to ask and it never happened. Ryan and I dilly dallied waiting for the perfect lull in the game to share the good news, but it just wasn't working. Sherry and Bob both have new iPhones and I was showing Sherry how to do something fun on her phone when all the sudden a picture message came through. Ryan sent her a picture of me holding the positive test. It was tiny and Sherry asked "What is that??" I showed her if you tap the picture it makes it bigger. She screamed "HOLY SH**!" (haha so unlike her!!) and ran to Bob to show him the good news. They were simply ecstatic! Bob kept sending us messages after we left about all the super fun things the new Grandparents are going to get to do with baby :) Both of our parents will be first time Grandparents - what a WONDERFUL honor <3>

Our First Appointment!

When we found out I was pregnant, we made our first doctor's appointment. It was set for October 23rd - a MONTH away. Talk about suspense?? I started having pretty severe cramping, and just out of new baby jitters we decided to see if we could get in early. They made my appointment for the following day.

We were at the doctor's office for three hours. We met our nurse practitioner (who was SO cute!) and she had me do a urinalysis and a blood test. Based on my possible conception date she thought we might be able to see something with an ultrasound! She told us there was even a possibility we could hear the heartbeat - I immediately was choking back tears!! Well...I ended up not being quite as far along as assumed. We met the err, ultrasound-ologist? and we got to see the (maybe?) baby! It was the size of a peppercorn. But she also said that this early on you may not even be able to see the baby yet. She said "this is either your baby or a bloodclot. Geeez. She explained that usually women don't find out they are pregnant until a few weeks later than we had, and there is usually a bit more to see. I was a teeny bit disappointed, but still full of excitement!

It was so early in the pregnancy that no one could really give us any solid information. I said to the nurse, "I just want someone to say the words 'you are pregnant'!" She told me she would call me with the blood test results. Still didn't get to hear the words! Ryan took me back to work and called me about a half hour later and told me she said I was "DEFINITELY PREGNANT!"

When you are pregnant, the hormone HCG doubles in your body every 48 hours. They asked me to come back on Monday to check my hormone level. They called with the results and it had more than doubled!! Everything is going just as it is supposed to! So now we wait for our original appointment on the 23rd - where if everything goes perfectly, we will get to hear our baby's first heartbeat <3

I'm Pregnant!

Ryan and I have known for many years that we wanted more than anything to start a family. We were married last year and naturally felt that our next (and greatest) big leap in life was to start having children. We talked, laughed, and got ourselves so excited to start our plan. We wanted to live this summer to its fullest. We went on the most amazing vacation with our closest friends to Cozumel Mexico. The trip, to us, was going to be the celebration of our past and the welcoming of our future.
We returned home from our trip and were ready for the next step! Over the next few weeks we began the waiting game with much excitement. I was over a week late so we decided to do a few pregnancy tests. From the 17th to the 23rd of September I took four pregnancy tests, all negative! We weren't super disappointed, just curious of why I hadn't started yet. The morning of the 25th my wonder was put to rest when I started what I thought was my (decimal). However on the 26th it was done! One day? Wish it was always like that!! We just assumed my body was simply getting used to not being on Birth Control.
Tuesday September 29th rolled around and I went to work as normal. All day I felt so funny! The best way to explain it was that I had butterflies - constant butterflies. I wasn't nervous or anxious feeling, just different! My back and feet were achy and I was exhausted. I didn't think much of it, but I told a few co-workers who immediately told me to take a pregnancy test. I called Ryan on my way home and told him I wanted to take a test. He didn't think I needed to, but asked me to wait until he got home from work.
He came home and we went to the bathroom together to take the test. Having taken several of the same exact kind, I knew to expect the single pink line on the right, results appearing lmost immediately. I looked at the test and in shock I pulled it close to make sure I was seeing what I though that I was. Ryan kept asking "what?" getting more anxious each time. I started saying "no! NO WAY!!" I was in so much shock - no way did we get this lucky!!! Two pink lines. TWO! I handed it to Ryan and just sat there speechless with a ear to ear grin on my face. "HUG ME!" he exclaimed! We embraced then ran to the bed and laid there and giggled in astonishment together. I took another test not 15 minutes later and it mirrored the first! Tears, laughter, and shock oozed out of us all night long. This is really happening...
We are having a baby!