Giving the Goodyear Blimp a Run for It's Money!

Wow, It's been a few days.   I haven't written because all I've done is go to work and then sleep!  SERIOUSLY!  Yesterday I was freaking out because I SWORE all my symptoms were gone (except for being tired of course) but they're all back today.  I keep crossing my arms and squeezing my chest to make sure it's still sore.  Yep, it is!  I love it!  Not much else is going on.  I noticed I got really queasy if I didn't eat today, but nothing sounded good.  I feel like I ate NON-STOP today.  If I went 15-20 minutes without eating, I got that queasy feeling.  I didn't so much enjoy that, so I just kept shoving food in my mouth.  This is not good.  I'm going to look like the Goodyear blimp by the time the baby gets here!  

Good news though...Rigsby is home!!!  James went and got him yesterday!  I'm so excited to have him back I can't stand it!!!  Poor little thing!  They shaved his front leg and you can see where the IV's were.  I just pray he's all better and will never have to be that sick again!!!  I'm very thankful he made it home in time for the first Georgia football game of the season!!!  He'll be sporting his Dawg's jersey along with the rest of us!!!  GO DAWGS!

Who Slipped Me a Roofie?!?!

Could I BE anymore tired???

I feel like all I want to do is SLEEP!  And I can't get enough of it!  I'm going to bed around 9:30 every night (of course I'm getting up at least once if not twice to go to the bathroom!).  Then I have to DRAG myself out of bed at 7:00am (even though my alarm starts going off at 6:30).  I'm tired for most of the morning, but it's really not too bad.  I can manage.  But after I get done eating lunch, I'm done.  I'm worthless.  I just sit there trying to keep my eyes open until I can go home!  Once I get home, I nap for at least an hour, if not longer.  James will wake me up to eat dinner, so I eat, take my progesterone, watch about an hour of tv and then back to bed!  SERIOUSLY?!?!?!  ALL I DO IS SLEEP!  I can only imagine this is how people feel after their drink has been drugged.  KIDDING!  I shouldn't compare this to those poor victims.  Please don't leave me bad/mean comments.

Anyway, on another note my poor, poor Rigsby is in the doggy hospital with pancreatitis.  Poor baby was so dehydrated when I got him there he needed an IV for fluids and one for antibiotics. I took him in Monday afternoon and they won't let me pick him up until at least Thursday afternoon.  I feel so bad for him!!!  I just want to give him a BIG hug and let him know everything is going to be ok!

6 Weeks!! Picture Time!

Well, it's a little late but since I couldn't resist Sandy's wonderful chanting in her comment, here it is; my 6 week (and 2 days) belly pic!!  Of course I posted the 5 week pic (left) for comparison. I'm pretty sure I'm getting smaller :)  Actually I think my body is just getting used to the extra progesterone and the bloating is finally going down!  

I finally broke down and scheduled my first OB appointment!  Because everything with my cycle has been crazy since losing the last baby, they wanted to see me early, so I am going in at 8 weeks instead of the usual 10 weeks!  That's SO exciting!  Hopefully (and God willing!) I will be able to post the first picture of Baby Brinkley on September 9!!!  Only two weeks away!  Anyone want to take guesses on what the heart rate will be!?!?!?

One day down!

Ok, we actually have 44 days down, but we lost our last baby on cycle day 43 last time so I have been pregnant for one more day than last time.  I was very relieved to get through the day yesterday.  I was petrified all day.  I didn't want to go the bathroom for fear of seeing what I didn't want to see.  But we made it through the day with no surprises.  It was nice having an uneventful day!  Until we got home from dinner to come home to two sick puppies.  Bless their hearts!  I'll spare everyone the details, but it made me gag!  I'm not sure that was due to pregnancy though...it was just that bad!!!!

Well, tomorrow (I guess technically it's today since it's midnight) I'll be 6 weeks according to my ticker, not according to my LMP.  That's exciting!   I plan on calling the doctor's office Monday to set up my first appointment.  Unfortunately the appointment probably won't be until around September 19...but I'll at least have an appointment.  I hate they won't see me until 10 weeks.  I feel like after losing one baby, they should see me sooner.  Ah well, this world would be a better place if people would just listen to my opinions/advice!  LOL!!!  6 week belly pic tomorrow!  I'm not looking forward to this one!  I've eaten WAY too much this week!   I've been STARVING all the time!!!

NO pink OR blue!!!

Oops! I missed a day! Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I really didn't have any symptoms which made me worry most of the day. I wasn't able to get my nap in after work because Rigsby had Doggie Boot Camp last night, so I think I went to bed around 9:30! I'm pretty sure I didn't fall asleep until 10:00, but that's pretty much a record for me. I usually don't get in the bed until almost midnight! So being EXHAUSTED and going to bed at an unusually early time was my only symptom. Boo! I'm praying for the morning sickness to come so I can FEEL pregnant!!!

Today has been a little better symptom wise. I'm still exhausted even though I got a LOT of sleep last night and I've been having little dizzy spells here and there. Nothing huge, but enough to notice. Which makes me happy. Funny how feeling like poo makes me happy these days! I was trying to run some of my favorite boy names by James last night and he wasn't having any of it. First he said it was too early to look at names. Then he hated EVERY name I liked. This is going to take FOREVER!!! So then he asked what color I was going to paint the nursery?!?!?!? Um...it will be different for either gender so I'm not sure! Maybe we should have a name first?!?!? I guess men and women think differently! Funny thing is, the nursery will probably have a lot of green in it either way. There will be NO pink and NO blue walls for my baby!

I swear I'm done after this one.....

Done with tests that is...not babies! At this point I still want my litter! LOL

Anyway, just because I can and had one readily available, I tested again this morning. I wanted to make sure the lines were getting consistently darker like they should be. I can't even begin to tell you how nervous I was. I was so afraid there wasn't going to be a line at all. BOY WAS I WRONG!! The line was so dark immediately that there was hardly enough dye for the control line! See the total progression below...to me it definitely looks like the lines are getting darker just the way they are supposed to!

Not much going on with my body today...just the same ole stuff. I did share the good news with my boss today. I was going to wait until next Monday for the 6 week mark to tell, but since the fainting spell on Friday I got worried that might happen at work. I thought it would be better if someone knew what was going on if that happened. I'm actually starting to get scared about the pregnancy. After being so confident last week, this week I'm completely opposite. There have been no symptoms to make me feel this way, I just think it's the week. Hopefully my nerves will calm down tomorrow and I can start enjoying the pregnancy again!!!

5 WEEKS!!!

So I'm 5 weeks today!  Time for another belly pic!!  Ugh!  I look so bloated...must be the medicine!  I've included the 4 week pic for comparison.

Well, everyone in our immediate family now knows!  It's going to be sooo hard to keep it a secret!  I want to shout it at everyone I see, but the goal is to wait until after the first ultrasound.  If we can make it August 25th, I think we'll be doing good!  Nothing really to report for yesterday and today.  Pretty boring symptom wise; just the same dull cramping.  The dizziness has either subsided or I'm just used to it because I haven't noticed it since Friday.  James and I went to pick up our new dresser yesterday.  I'm so excited!  AND we finally bought our anniversary present to each other; A NEW TV for the bedroom!!!  I know it's not baby related, but it was still exciting!!!

And down she goes!

Whew!  Where to start today!  Because I'm crazy (and lets face it still a little scared all of this will be taken away from me at any moment!) I tested again this morning.  But was it when my alarm went off? Nooooooooo!  Around 5:00am I couldn't hold it ANY longer!  I miss sleeping through the night, but I guess I need to get used to that too!  Anyway the line on this mornings test was WAY darker so I'm feeling a bit more confident.  But then I get back in bed and the pain kicks in.  HEARTBURN!  What the crap???  At 5:00 in the morning?  I was paralyzed with it.  Every time I would move it felt like I was being stabbed and the pain would travel down my abdomen until if felt like someone was ripping my stomach out.  Ugh....Anyway, the pain finally subsided about 30 minutes later and I was able to fall back asleep.  

When I came home from work today I was EXHAUSTED!  I told James that I just wanted to take a little nap and then I would clean out my car.  I fell asleep on the couch for about 30-45 minutes.  I heard James asking me a question, but it sounded like he was so far away.  When I opened my eyes, everything was REALLY blurry and looked like it was spinning around me.  I sat up and immediately got up and tried to run to the bathroom, but as soon as I stood up things went black and down I went.  I hit the floor and yelled for James to get me a bucket!  It only lasted a few minutes, but it was definitely a preggo symptom!  Once I ate something I felt much better.  But the whole thing was CRAZY and it certainly helped me realize this is really real!  This pregnancy is so much different than the last and I just feel a lot better every time I have a symptom like this!   YAY!

Who shrank my pants???

Ok, so I started to notice last week that all my pants, even the ones I just bought a month ago, are too tight. I'm pretty sure that they shrunk in the move. But then I was reading my friend Stacey's blog and found this:

"It almost seems that your jeans start to feel snug as soon as the pregnancy test comes back positive and you can thank the hormone progesterone for that puffy phenomenon. While progesterone is essential for maintaining a healthy pregnancy (it is, after all, the pro-gestation hormone), it also triggers that oh-so-delightful trio: bloating, burping, and farting. Why? Progesterone causes the smooth muscle tissue in your body (including the gastrointestinal tract) to relax. This slows down digestion, giving the nutrients from food you eat more time to enter your bloodstream and reach your baby. That's the good news. The bad news is this slower metabolism can cause bloating. "


So I guess I'm not crazy and my pants didn't shrink. That's the good news! The bad news is that since I'm taking a progesterone supplement, I'm pretty sure I can go ahead and plan to start buying maternity pants by the end of next week. LOL. Check out my ticker at the bottom! It has now moved to the next box! That's SO exciting!


I've also noticed a small increase in symptoms today. I got very worried early this morning before getting out of bed because I didn't have any of the minor cramping that I've become used to. Luckily once I got up and started getting ready for work...they started back up again! Funny how I can worry that I have them and worry when I don't! I usually don't eat breakfast until I get to work, but this morning my stomach felt like it was eating itself right after I got up. WEIRD! Then I stopped at the BP on my way into work because I was DYING for some chocolate milk (Yum!) but after I started drinking it....I didn't want it anymore. Boo. I also have had a horrible aversion to smells today. The lotion that I have been using for MONTHS now has to be thrown in the back of a drawer somewhere because the thought of the smell....blah! I tried to borrow some lotion from a coworker...but the smell of that made me ill too! YAY!!! Oh....and I'm still constantly dizzy. I only REALLY notice it though when I move my head or stand up too quickly. I'm sure there will come a point in time when all of these will be more of an annoyance than an exciting thing; but for right now they make me so happy because they are constant reminders that I'm actually pregnant!!!

The First One!

I did it!  I decided to also document the growth of my expanding belly.  I'm not really comfortable with how "big" I am...and I had actually decided to start a strict diet but got the good news before I lost any weight.  LOL!  BUT I figured it's something that would be fascinating to have in pictures because the growth would be so gradual that we wouldn't be able to notice it until BAM!  I'm 8 months!  Ok, without further ado......Here is my belly at 4 weeks 3 days.

Progress

It's WEDNESDAY and time for another PEE STICK!!!  I have put all my lines in order (with labels :) to document the progression of the lines!  It's definitely darker!!!!

Is the room spinning???

I love where I work!  I really do!  I love the building, I love my office, I love the people there.  What I don't love is the bathrooms.  YUCK!!!  I had my first symptom Tuesday afternoon.  Other than having to go to the potty every half-hour and the constant pulling and cramping in my "baby area", I had nothing.  No symptoms at all, until after lunch Tuesday.  I had to make ANOTHER potty run and nearly fainted when I stood up from the john.  I had to brace myself with my hands and lean my head against the walls of the stall.  Ewwwwwwww!  That was disgusting!!!  Does anyone ever clean those???  However, I was THRILLED!  My first major symptom!  I was loving it and hating it all at the same time!  I was very dizzy all the way back to my office and then it came in waves for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I never felt any nausea, but the dizziness was enough to make it feel real to me!  I'm sure the dizziness so early on is due to the progesterone I'm taking...BUT why am I taking the progesterone?  BECAUSE I'M PREGNANT!!!!  And in my book that makes it a bone-fide symptom!!!

I told myself that I wasn't going to test again until Wednesday so I wouldn't freak out about the darkness of lines....but I have no willpower (remember?).  I bought a Clear Blue digital test and took it Tuesday evening.  GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?  Yep, it said "PREGNANT"!!!!!  

                                          

We've got two lines!!

Welcome to my baby blog! I've decided I wanted to document every step of this wonderful journey!!! Here it goes......I'm having a BABY!!! OMG! I've wanted to say that MY WHOLE LIFE! I've never wanted anything more than to be a mommy! And not just to my wonderful puppies...but a REAL mommy! I still can't believe there is a little being growing inside me. That's CRAZY!!!

James and I found out last June that we were expecting, but unfortunately that little baby wanted to go to heaven instead of coming to meet us. It was hard. It was really hard. I'm not sure I'll ever fully "get over it", but I'm thrilled to be "making" another one!

I suspected I might be pregnant the first week of August, so on the morning of August 7, 2008 I took a test. It was COMPLETELY NEGATIVE! No line in sight! Not even a HINT of a line! So I pretty much gave up. I figured Aunt Flow (or AF from here on out) would arrive by the weekend, or at the latest by Monday.
Sunday night came and still no AF. I was so upset because I thought I was going to have a normal cycle (the first "normal" cycle since losing the first baby). I was fully prepared to wake up to come face to face with AF. However, when I got up Monday (August 11, 2008) that darn First Responce test was staring at me. I figured I would use it since I didn't want it to expire before I had a chance to even use it. I mean...wouldn't want to waste a good pregnancy test, right?
So I did what any good POAS-a-holic would do and took it. Imagine my surprise when somthing started to appear. It was so faint, I thought I was imagining it. And at 6:30 in the morning, that's not hard to do. My eyes were still so sleepy! After I rubbed my eyes and shook my head a few times it was still there. That's when I started screaming for James. I screamed, "Jaaaaaaaaames! Get in here and tell me if this is a line!!!" Of course he didn't come right away...why would he, it's 6:30 in the morning!!! I went running into the bedroom, grabbed his hand and literally pulled him out of bed (screaming the whole time!). He looked at it and the first thing out of his mouth was..."There is no line." He never gets emotional over anything! He's a booger! But then he held it a little closer to his face, wiped his eyes again and said "Wait, no, it's there. I see it!"
I grabbed it from him and stared. I was shaking so hard I couldn't see it! I then took a picture of the test and sent it to my sister (Aunt Kirsten) to see if she could see the line in a picture....SHE DID!!! OMG! It's real!

James and I decided after losing the last baby we were going to wait for a while before we told anyone. OMG! It was so hard not to tell anyone on Monday. I was SO excited, that I had to leave work early because my tummy was upset!

Because my hormones are very much out of whack, I called the doctor right away to get started on a progesterone supplement to help my body build the placenta. From what I understand, progesterone is the hormone that is most crucial to pregnancy before the placenta takes over. Who knew? Anyway, I was able to get that prescription right away and I took my first pill Monday night. Ugh! Those side effects came on fast!!!

I have NO willpower! I decided to test again Monday night JUST TO MAKE SURE, plus I wanted to see the line get darker! I picked up a few Answer brand tests when I got my prescription filled and took one at 8:00pm. The line was there...no doubt about that, but it wasn't as dark as I had hoped at first. I FREAKED out! I was in MAJOR panic mode for a good 30 minutes! Then it dried. LOL! It was a LOT darker than Monday morning's test. Whew! What a relief! I vowed not to test again until Wednesday morning, as a woman's hCG level should double every 48 hours. Till then......JAMES AND I ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!