12 weeks! December 2

We were scheduled to have a nurse's visit at the doctor's office on December 2.  This visit was supposed to only inlude things like family history, basic blood tests, and going over our insurance coverage.  Well, I had been having a bad stomachache for a week and it was making me nervous.  So the doctor agreed that I should have another ultrasound just to make sure everything was ok.  I assumed the ultrasound would look like the first one - I was totally wrong!  This ultrasound was connected to a huge TV which was nice.  As soon as the sonographer turned it on we saw the baby, which actully looked like a baby, flipping and turning all over the place.  It was incredible!  First the baby's head was on the left, then it was on the right....first Mincy was on her/his stomach and then on its back.  The baby didn't stop moving the entire time!  Also, the baby really looked like a baby.  During the first ultrasound Mincy looked like a peanut but now we could clearly see a face, arms, feet, legs - crazy!  From head to "rump" Mincy is 2 inches long which is ideal.  Mincy measured in the 50th percentile for size!  Yay Mincy!  The heartbeat was 164 this time so again everything looked great.  It turned out I was just suffering from terrible heartburn which although painful was wonderful news.  Some of the other pain I had was round ligament pain which was aggravated by all the coughing I was doing from my Thanksgiving cold.  I was so relieved that everything was ok I decided to tell everyone at work I was pregnant.  Everybody was so excited, especially my class.  A few people said they thought I was pregnant because of all the times they've seen me slumped over in a chair falling asleep.  I'm glad I could put all the rumors to rest and share my good news with everyone!

11 Weeks - Thanksgiving

Thankgsiving and a much needed break from work finally arrived.  It is exhausting going through the first trimester, especially as a teacher.  I was looking forward to going home, going to the beach, relaxing, and eating good food.  Well....things don't always turn out as planned.  For the 6 weeks before Thanksgiving I had been going to bed by 9:00 every night due to pregnancy fatigue.  At home for Thanksgiving we had a full house - a noisy house.  Every night I found myself staying up until at least 12:00 which was making me feel sick.  On top of this I got a cold accompanied by full-on laryngitis.  I felt like crap.  On Thanksgiving I ate dinner and then Becca, Ross, Jessica, and Stacey decided we should watch the Beyonce concert that was on TV.  I quickly fell asleep on the couch and was woken by a hot flash.  For those of you that know this is not a good feeling, not good at all.  So, I asked my "loving family" to turn the volume down on the TV as I also had a pounding headache.  They refused.  Bad move.  They received the full wrath of my pregnancy hormones which included me throwing the remote control and cursing them out.  I then went to the bathroom and threw up for the first time in my pregnancy.  My dad found me in bed hysterical crying and tried to calm me down.  That didn't work so he ran for help - mom.  The hot flash finally passed and I instantly felt better.  I went back out to watch more of the concert and everyone was freaked out.  I can't wait for them to be pregnant - they have no idea what it's like and they were not helpful!  Needless to say I was not too sad to return to North Carolina.  During this first trimester I think it's best to stay away from houses that are overcrowded and noisy.  I really appreciate my nice quiet space with Marc and Suki.  Thanksgiving made me realize just how amazing Marc has been in taking care of me.  There have been many times that I've felt so sick that I can barely take care of myself and he is there to do whatever he can.  I love you Marc!
***And - I never went to the beach :(  It was cloudy every day.

Pregnancy Pillow and Queen Suki

At 10 weeks I bought a pregnancy pillow.  I figured I should get it early and get my money's worth.  I like the pillow - it's very comfortable.  Suki however LOVES the pillow and believes it is hers.  I sleep better with the pillow but now I'm constantly battling Suki for control of it!  She really thinks it belongs to her and she likes to sleep inside the "u" in between me and the pillow.  Oh Suki - you really think you are the boss!  I used to love coming home from work or running errands because Suki would always run to the door to greet me and play.  Now, I have to go upstairs and pick her up because she won't get off the pillow!

8 1/2 weeks ultrasound - November 8

Click here for : Mincy's Heartbeat

On November 8 we finally had our first prenatal visit.  We brought a 3 pages long typed list of questions for the doctor!  Before our visit we watched the documentary "The Business of Being Born" which I highly recommend - this gave us questions for the doctor that I wouldn't have thought of normally.
Our ultrasound was amazing - everything was perfect.  The baby's heartbeat was 178 beats per minute and hearing it truly took my breath away.  The baby measured in the 49.5th percentile in terms of size so he/she (I think she - Marc thinks he) is perfect!  We were given our official due date, June 16, and told to keep doing what we were doing because everything looked great!

October 28 - 7 weeks - New York Trip

At 7 weeks I went to New York for the weekend.  My mom also went and we stayed with Becca.  One night we went to dinner with Rachel and I told her I was pregnant - Wow!  What a reaction!   Oh Rachel - I love her so much!  As soon as I told her she screamed and then started crying, so I started crying, and then Becca started crying.  What a subtle entrance to the restaurant we made!  That weekend I also had breakfast with Paris, Linds, and Jocelyn.  I somehow managed to tell Paris without the other 2 girls hearing!  I of course wanted to tell all of them but just wasn't ready yet.  On Sunday morning we went to brunch at Dori's.  Aunt Laine was also there visiting and I decided to tell them the news which was fun.  I then called Arlene and told her.  It's so hard to keep an exciting secret!  I felt better knowing that my close family knew.  Uncle Steven was actually the first to know because I had an urgent question - could I highlight my hair?! 
Although telling people was fun and seeing Becca, Ross, and my mom was great, the part of the trip that stands out the most has nothing to do with people.  Ross and I were watching a TV show about food and they did a spotlight on corned beef sandwiches.  That was it - I was done - I needed one!  So, after not eating any meat at all for 2 years I took the plunge and omg was it good!  My New York trip officially ended my vegetarianism but if the baby wants it then I should eat it, right?!
***Side note - Jessica has decided we should all call the baby Mincy for now so we will - In future posts I will refer to our baby as Mincy :)

The Good News

On October 7, 2010 I decided to take another pregnancy test before I went to work (I had taken 1 earlier in the week and it was negative).  There was a very faint positive line - so faint I wasn't sure if it was there!   When  I got home from school I took 2 more - one was definitely negative and the other had a faint positive line again.  By this point I was going crazy - was I or wasn't I?!  I started believing I was because I had taken tests in August and September and had never seen any form of positive result before.  Also, about 10 days earlier Marc said he thought I was pregnant.  If Marc said it then it had to be true, right?!  Until this point Marc had been very careful to be a realist in regards to getting pregnant - the last thing he wanted to do was encourage me to be even more impatient!  So, there we were, 2 kinda positive tests, 1 negative test, and Marc's intuition.
There was 1 more piece of evidence that was really convincing me I was indeed pregnant - I had to pee all the time!  Normally I am like a camel but during the month of September I was waking up during the night to go and I had to take a couple of bathroom breaks at work each day which was very unusual.  That was it - I was either pregnant or I had a UTI.  I made an appointment to see the doctor on Friday to get a "definitive" answer as to what was going on.
As soon as I got to the doctor they collected my urine.  A few minutes later the nurse took me back to a room and said - you don't have a UTI, and you are not pregnant.  Now I was disappointed and confused.  I waited for the doctor to come in while I ferociously text messaged Becca.  Becca and Marc were the only people who knew what was going on.  As I typed my messages to Becca, knowing they didn't make sense because I didn't really understand what was going on, I decided the doctor's office was wrong.  I knew I was pregnant.
Finally, after what felt like hours, the doctor came into my room.  She said that she checked my pregnancy test again just to see, and that it had turned positive!  The tests are supposed to be read within a couple of minutes for the most accurate result.  Mine didn't turn positive until after 10 minutes so she said she couldn't officially tell me I was pregnant, but that tests don't usually turn positive so she thought I was pregnant - just too early to have an official positive result.
Now my heart was racing.  I called Becca freaking out - "I'm kind of pregnant!"  After I requested/demanded it, the doctor took blood to test my hCG levels (pregnancy hormones).  These results would be back on Monday - anything above 50 means you are pregnant.  Now what was I to do?  Becca and I agreed I shouldn't tell anyone until I got the blood results on Monday to be sure I was in fact pregnant.  So I went home and let everything sink in.  By the time Marc got home and I told him everything, I convinced myself that I was 100% pregnant and we would tell our parents the next day.  I couldn't wait 2 whole days to tell my mom and dad!  The next morning Marc and I called my parents very early - it's not often that Marc and I are both home at the same time as my mom and dad.  I told my mom to wake my dad because Marc needed to show him something on Skype.  So once we had them both on camera, Marc, Suki, and I shared the good news.  I started crying as I think that was the first time it really sunk in -we were having a baby!  After our Skype conversation I composed myself and we called Estee and Bob, Jessica, Jared, and Keli.  Our families knew they were all going to be grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles.
Monday afternoon finally came and I spoke to the doctor.  My hCG levels were around 100 so they could "officially" tell me I was pregnant.  I was only 4 1/2 weeks along but I could already feel changes in my body.  Marc and I were so excited we went out and bought 10 books!  The beginning of pregnancy is very strange because you can't really talk about it with anyone and nobody tells you what to do.  The only thing the doctor says is take prenatal vitamins and don't drink/smoke.  It seemed like some sort of instructions should have been given but there was nothing!  It's up to you to figure out what you need to do to make yourself feel good.  As soon as I knew I was pregnant I became much calmer and more laid back - everything now is about the baby and making sure it is safe and comfortable.  All the things that usually stress me out don't matter anymore....I want to stay relaxed and happy throughout pregnancy because I'm sure once the baby comes and the sleep goes the stress returns!