15 weeks!

Can you believe I'm 15 weeks today? I can't! This is crazy. And, as you can see from the picture above, I am growing like crazy. This is the week I originally had wanted to wait until to break the news. Ha!

I can say that I'm feeling GREAT these days, better than I have in ... oh, I don't know, the past year? I have energy, optimism, and a libido on the level that I haven't seen since I was about 15 years old.

I got Mr. Rhody to measure me for a new bra this morning, since nothing is really fitting well. I clocked in at ... are you sitting down ... a 32H. Oh, yeah. So, needless to say, my selection is really limited, and I'm a bit afraid that I'm going to grow even more when baby comes! Everything I read says to wait until 8 months to buy nursing bras because that's when you'll finally stabilize. Seriously?

I am finally embracing all things pregnancy. I borrowed the book Baby Bargains from the library this weekend and used that and Consumer Reports to build our baby budget. I still need to go out to Babies R Us to pick out the exact models of things, but at least I know what I'm looking for. Also this weekend, Mr. Rhody and I made a good dent in cleaning out the office / future nursery. I need to register for Daycare this week (we know the place, I just need to return the paperwork) and really get started on a Pediatrician. I have another check-up this week, and hopefully I'll get to schedule our "big" ultrasound then!

14 weeks!

What do you think? I think I look about the same this week, maybe a little bigger. I am feeling pretty good, though I managed to catch a cold and had a pretty miserable weekend. Of course, I was just well enough today that it didn't make sense to stay home from work.

Remember how we all looked at the 13w picture and laughed that everyone at work MUST already know? Well, someone today admitted to me that she thought I looked pregnant last Thursday (the day before the announcement), but was hesitant to say anything in case she was wrong. Maybe I wasn't hiding it as well as I thought. Ha.

A few people at work have been joking about starting a betting pool for the birth. I already have one vote for girl and one for boy. I am really getting a kick out of this all. I love being able to talk about it.

Other than that, nothing much new to report. I am excited to see my family for Thanksgiving so that I can show off my growing belly! I still can't believe that I've made it this far, but I am loving every day of it.

The secret's out!

My pregnancy was finally announced at work yesterday. My department head--upon hearing about our first pregnancy--was so excited to announce it then and so genuinely sad for us when we had our loss. I was so excited to be able to tell him a few weeks ago and let him announce finally ... one year later.

We were supposed to have a meeting in the afternoon where my pregnancy was the last item on the agenda, but the department head ended up getting sick yesterday, so he was working from home! He sent me an email in the morning asking if it would be ok if he announced in an email instead. At this point, I was just ready to have the secret out, though I seemed unable to tell people myself, so I told him to go for it.

I think it actually worked out better being announced in an email than in a meeting. Had it been in a meeting, everyone would have looked at me at the same time, and I probably would have felt very overwhelmed. With it announced in an email, everyone read the email at slightly different times, and I had people coming over to congratulate me for the rest of the day. It was very nice, and it allowed me to have multiple smaller conversations. Oh, and can you believe only one person swore that they "knew"? Everyone else must have just thought I've been putting on weight!

So that's it. Pretty much everyone important knows now, and the rest should find out through word of mouth. I should alert my mom that it's okay to send the news through the family gossip chain if she hasn't already.

I really love having people know. I'm already excited about all of the clothes I can now wear again that don't specifically hide my bump. After a year of being pregnant off and on, it feels really great to actually be able to talk about it out loud.

13 weeks! - now with a belly pic!!

13 weeks today, and I am over the moon. This is officially the most pregnant I have ever been. With the second trimester only days away and being able to hear Baby Rhody daily on the Doppler, I am feeling pretty darn good.

Physically, I'm feeling great. My main symptom is still exhaustion, which I thought would slow down when I stopped taking the progesterone last week, but no dice. Mr. Rhody finally told me this weekend to stop expecting the exhaustion to go away so I would not have to get disappointed when it didn't. Other than that, I do seem to have a small bump. I need to get Mr. Rhody to take a picture when we gets home. (Edit: I did it!) Between my boobs any my belly, it's getting harder and harder to find shirts that still look decent.

This weekend, I had a bit of a breakdown because I was tired of being tired, prompting Mr. Rhody's comment above. I was upset because it's just starting to hit me all of the things that need to be done before Baby Rhody gets here--things I had been too scared to let myself consider up until recently. In the end, Mr. Rhody and I went out to a nice, relaxing dinner where I stopped worrying about the state of the house and, instead, we brainstormed baby names. It was just wonderful to relax and reconnect with him.

I told my siblings last week, and it is really nice to hear some congratulations. Work is going to find out this coming Friday, and I can't wait! Right now I just want to shout it from the rooftops. We're going to have a baby!!

Tagged!

Apparently Peetie thinks I'm Over the Top, so she tagged me for the survey!

Rules

1. You Can Only Use One Word!
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. Have Fun!

The Survey~

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your hair? short
3. Your mother? strong
4. Your father? not
5. Your favorite food? Mexican
6. Your dream last night? forgot
7. Your favorite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? complete
9. What room are you in? parlor
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? solitude
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? closer
13. Where were you last night? here
14. Something that you aren't? timid
15. Muffins? yes
16. Wish list item? faith
17. Where did you grow up? Jersey
18. Last thing you did? eat
19. What are you wearing? fleece
20. Your TV? commercial
21. Your pets? wary
22. Friends? scattered
23. Your life? good
24. Your mood? happy
25. Missing someone? always
26. Vehicle? love
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? construction
29. Your favorite color? bright
30. When was the last time you laughed? now
31. Last time you cried? Thursday
32. Your best friend? husband
33. One place that I go to over and over? supermarket
34. One person who emails me regularly? husband
35. Favorite place to eat? home

So I'm tagging whomever hasn't done this already! Ready ... go!

A "normal" appointment

I just got back from another midwife appointment. Normal stuff, pee in a cup, check my weight, listen to the baby. The fact that it was a normal appointment was the most amazing part of it though! I think this is the first "normal" appointment I've ever had!

Somehow, even though I ate half a cheesecake for dessert last night, I managed to lose 5 pounds in the past week. I'm sure it's normal fluctuation, but I'm amazed that I lost anything!

More importantly, the midwife found Baby Rhody right away this time, and said Baby's heartbeat was in the 160s, which is right where I was finding it at home. I didn't share that we'd been listening at home, but I was very happy to know what we were hearing was right on!

I am just feeling so good right now! I can't believe we've made it this far!

12 weeks ... and 12 months

12 weeks today, and I'm feeling great! Things are going so well that, at Mr. Rhody's urging, I have decided to let the cat out of the bag this week. I had originally planned to wait for Thanksgiving and the week after, but my body seems to have other ideas. I'll have to start posting pictures soon, but, when I wear maternity pants, I have a serious baby belly these days! I'm so surprised, and I had thought I wouldn't get anything like that for a few more weeks. I'm not complaining though, I am enjoying every minute of this.

Some people might even say I'm in the second trimester as of this morning. In fact, Mr. Rhody and my mother have already said so. Mr. Rhody and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat this morning, so I am feeling very optimistic. Physically, I'm still feeling very tired and a bit sore, but great other than that. I told my mother this weekend that I was tired all of the time recently, to which she replied, "Just wait until you have to go home to nap in the middle of the day!" Thanks, mom. It's good to know that she's thinking of me though.

On the other side of things, 12 months ago today I got my first positive pregnancy test. I can't believe it's only been a year; so much has happened in the past 12 months. When we started this journey, I expected it to take a few months to get me pregnant, but I never expected to lose a baby--and most certainly not two of them! One of the saddest things that's happened in this past year is that I lost a very good friend, someone that I'd considered one of my best friends, because she had a hard time dealing with my losses. I miss her every day, but I know she had to do what she needed to do for herself. Instead, I've met and surrounded myself with so many wonderful, supportive women. I love that I have this group to share my every day with; I love that they seem to "get" me.

Today, I know so much more about my body than I did 12 months ago, from reading cervical fluid to the smallest genetic details. While I'm sad that two lives were lost on our journey to get here, I see this as a journey of discovery, and I know that each of those two babies contributed in their little way. I love and appreciate my body more every day. I love and appreciate this baby growing within me more than I ever knew that was possible. While I miss the two that I've lost, I am looking forward to meeting this child in 6 more months. Baby Rhody is my constant reminder that we can both respect the past and continue moving forward.

I love Saturdays

I've been so bad about updating. Everything has just kicked my butt this week, and I'm blaming it on the time change messing with my internal clock. My car has also been out of service this week, so Mr. Rhody has been driving me to and from work, which means I've been at work later than usual.

Anyway, I had an interesting afternoon on Tuesday. I got a call Tuesday morning that they'd gotten in a bunch of H1N1 shots, first come, first serve. I already had my neurologist appointment scheduled for 3:20, so I said I'd come in at 3. Of course, I got to the office right at 3, and, at 3:20, I was still waiting in the waiting room with the receptionist promising me every 5 minutes the nurse was "just" about to take me in. Finally, they gave me a different nurse who did the shot quickly. Sheesh! At least it's done, and I am all immunized.

So we showed up to the neurologist's office about 15 minutes late, but he didn't seem to mind as much as his receptionist did. He was a really nice guy, especially notable for the fact that he didn't talk down to us. After talking for about an hour over my symptoms, he said, based on the MRI and the accompanying headaches, he thinks it's just migraines from the increase in hormones from pregnancy. He said that the numbness should get better over time, which it has. I'd say it peaked around week 9, so this seems to go with his theory well. He said to call him if it gets suddenly worse or changes.

Overall, it's been a good week. Except for being tired most of the time, I've been feeling pretty good. In fact, I felt well enough last night to go to the Melting Pot with Mr. Rhody and gorge myself on 4 courses. All that and I even woke up early this morning with a growling stomach!

11 weeks!

11 weeks! I can't believe it! I have to admit, though, after I made the comment last week about how this pregnancy was going so quickly, this last week just dragged. I don't know if it's because work was less busy or because I had been looking forward to 10 weeks to use the Doppler, with not-so-great results.

Most of my feeling ick from last week is gone. I'm still mildly nauseated and picky about foods, but I don't really feel like I'm going to throw up much. My worst symptom these days is heartburn, and EVERYTHING gives me heartburn: chocolate chip cookies, leftover Halloween candy, the smell of DH cooking Swiss chard (yes, really). Tums are my new best friend.

This weekend, DH and I went shopping, and I bought a bunch of maternity clothes. It felt so good to have this outward feeling of, "I am pregnant, and this is really going to work." I got a great pair of secondhand wool pants (which I hemmed) for $20, and a pair of jeans (which I need to bring to get hemmed) and 2 sweaters from Old Navy. I also got 2 empire-waisted sweaters for Macy's, one of which I wore today and got tons of compliments! If people only knew!

After we got home from work today, Mr. Rhody asked if we could try the Doppler again. He admitted to me he was getting a bit worried and disappointed we hadn't really heard the baby yet--maybe quickly here and there, but never a real, constant heartbeat. And, today, at 11 weeks on the mark, WE HEARD THE HEARTBEAT. WOOGA WOOGA WOOGA WOOGA WOOGA WOOG. It was the best sound ever. I wanted to lay there forever and listen to it, but Mr. Rhody said I had to stop harassing the baby. YAY! I'm so excited!!!