Friday, January 30, 2015

Lunch Belly

The boys (Z & Cole) and I went to Perry's for lunch.


On Fridays they have a pork chop lunch special that is to die for. It's also pretty much the only thing we can afford to eat there, talk about swanky. I only came home with a tiny piece of leftover pork chop, so I think it's safe to say I've now entered the stage of pregnancy where I'll eat everything in sight.

When we got home I had Zack snap a few pictures because my belly was nice and round from eating a big meal. It's nice to see my belly this way, makes me feel much cuter. :)




My mom said I look like I'm about 20 weeks......THANKS MOM. :p My inner anatomy causes me to look this way though. I don't mind, it's fun to be showing this much already!

Our plans for the weekend are to just chill and maybe make it back to Old Navy to try again for maternity jeans. Fingers crossed!!!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Prepared School

So I got to my school today and I'm setting up to teach and what do I see!? A MyPlate poster! So awesome! That explains why all the kids said they'd seen MyPlate before. Smart, healthy kids ftw!


My set-up :)

Monday, January 26, 2015

15 Weeks!

Today marks 15 weeks for little blob! I'm carrying so low! All of the "bump" is below my belly button. Perhaps that is why I look so large, because baby is crammed in a tight spot? I'm not sure, but I'm ok with it for now because I can breathe freely. :)
((You love my terrible cell phone photos))
((&& am I giant or what!?!?!))

 I think I'm finally getting over feeling so dang tired all the time. I have my energy back to cook and clean! I know it sounds silly, but when you finally are able to pack your Christmas decorations away just in time for Valentine's Day you feel accomplished and relieved, ha! The last two Mondays I got back in the swing of planning our meals and stopping at HEB on the way home. 


Today I made spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and a chopped salad with strawberries, poppyseed, and bacon. I highly recommend the salad! It was a nice lighter meal to go along with our beautiful sunny day. I had also made fresh lemonade Sunday night and it was chilled and ready to drink. Living in the south makes me want to sit on a porch and drink lemonade all day.



After dinner I jumped right into doing the dishes. I am just possessed with energy today! It's so nice to feel normal for a bit! When I was done I looked at my clean dishes and had to laugh. I think the only non red items in the sink were wooden spoons and my pot.


I LOVE red in the kitchen. Whenever Z buys me a new kitchen item he always gets red. He knows the quickest way to my heart. <3

Take a look around.

((I made the cookie bars last night, so tasty))


((Of course my Kitchenaid is red!))

I'm feeling so happy and grateful today! I've been so blessed to be married to my wonderful husband, be expecting our first child, and that both of us are working jobs we love. And while I am NOT a fan of apartment living, we've really taken the time to make ours feel like a home. I am looking forward to the next couple years and can barely wait to soak it all in! Sorry to get all sappy. It was sunny today, the sun does things to me.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Sundays

We love lazy Sundays. That's probably why we're always late to church. We'd just lay in bed and cuddle till 2pm if we could. What we also love is having a lavish breakfast (lavish meaning something other than toast or cereal, we're so fancy). Last night after getting the kitchen all cleaned up after our taco dinner (Zack makes the best tacos this side of the Rio Grande) I decided I needed to whip out the bread machine so we could have French Toast in the morning. There's nothing better than waking up to the smell of fresh baked bread! When we finally got up I pulled out the loaf and got started on our French Toast. We really should do this more often, it's one of our favorite breakfast foods and is incredibly easy! :)

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

13 Weeks and Belly Progress

We've now graduated from the fertility clinic and met my new OB/GYN yesterday. I'm not picky when it comes to doctors, but she's great! We talked about shots, genetic tests, blood tests, and all kinds of stuff! We also got to hear the heartbeat again! The next appointment isn't until mid February! So far away! We've been spoiled going every two weeks at the fertility clinic and having an ultrasound each time! 

I also went to craft night yesterday with some ladies from church. We made garland with cards. I was exhausted, but glad I went. :)


Our Christmas decorations are (very) slowly coming down, so hopefully I can put up my cards soon. ;)

And now.......belly pictures!!!
6 Weeks

8 Weeks

13 Weeks

I know I don't look that big, but I AM! Monday night we went out to dinner and went shopping for maternity pants! It was actually incredibly frustrating and upsetting, but I did find a pair of pants in the end. I was almost in tears with frustration at the lack of selection. I kind of get that way shopping for regular clothes, so this was even worse. Hopefully I'll find some more stuff to wear soon. I don't think one pair of maternity work pants and a belly band is going to cut it. I love my changing body though, it's such a miracle!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

It's a.....BABY!

The word is finally out! Our IUI was successful! Our little Baldwin blob will be here in July 2015! My last update was on the IUI itself, so I'm going to attempt to catch up on the last 2&1/2 months in one post, because that's easier and momma's tired!

A week after the IUI I went in to have my blood drawn for hormone levels. Everything was perfect for sustaining life, great news! It was at this point I had my first pregnancy 'symptom' - horribly tender breasts. A change was definitely underway whether we were ready to believe it or not! A week after the hormone testing I returned for THE test. I waited all day for the phone to ring and at the very end of the day after my class I had a message from the nurse asking me to call back. I was DYING. How could they not tell me!?! Zack and I checked the patient portal a million times that night hoping it would miraculously be updated. We were pretty crushed we didn't find out that day since Zack left first thing the next morning to visit Oregon. I called the doctor as soon as I got to work and left a message. And WAITED. Zack was constantly messaging me asking if I'd heard anything. Then Zack messaged me again and said "at 14 days it should be like 129 for 1 baby, 235 for 2" and I'm like......."ok, AND!?!" "You have...you want to skype?" "I'm at work." "You have 226." So now I'm not only pregnant, I may have twins!!! Holy cow! I was shaking. Shortly after that the nurse FINALLY called me at a normal time when I could answer the phone and said I needed to come in the next day for another hCG test which would show them if my levels were doubling properly. They were and so I scheduled a 6 week ultrasound!

Since Zack was in Oregon he was able to share the news with everyone. It was so special! We made photo albums for our parents and added this photo on the last page.



We still didn't know if it was one or two in there, but two sets of socks photographed much better than one. While Zack enjoyed his time in Oregon I kept busy with work and impatiently waited for this:



Uno!!! Everything with our little Baldwin blob was perfect! I also had more blood work and a urine test. At this point my arms looked like I was a drug addict, but I didn't care! I scheduled my 8 week appointment and started the wait again! I must add that I find ultrasound pictures a little odd and am only sharing for those who care to see. I love seeing baby at the doctor's office, but these photos are most definitely not hanging on my fridge or anything of the sort.

I've gotten to share every step of the process with my co-workers. We are definitely a family at AgriLife! It was a blessing for me with Zack being out of town to still get some support from loved ones. I also got extremely lucky this was Thanksgiving week because school wasn't in session and I was SICK. I don't know where I caught the cold from, but I was pretty miserable. Along with the cold came some bad nausea. The last couple days of the week I crawled around in the kitchen trying to get dinner together for when Z got back. I was afraid the nausea would never go away. Luckily, once I was over the cold the nausea passed as well.

I picked Zack up the Friday after Thanksgiving and we went out to eat a big juicy burger. It was so needed. I may have felt like crap, but I was forever hungry. Eating was the only thing that held back the nausea. By the end of the week I was GIANT. I was convinced I was going to be a blimp early on and I could forget about having a cute bump. It sort of shows in our Christmas photos. I LOVE how they turned out even though I was a sick, puffed up mess. We really lucked out Christine was in town and could take them for us. She won't be able to do newborn pictures for us, but we'll hopefully catch her a couple months later for some family photos. We used her beautiful photos in our Christmas cards!



Halfway through the week after Thanksgiving I was finally feeling better. Having Zack home to help me out made a world of difference too. Before we knew it my 8 week ultrasound was upon us!



Blob now had a defined head and body. Still so tiny!!! I was taking 2 hour long naps when I could swing them at this point. I felt silly being so tired, but that kidney bean sized baby really takes the energy out of you (truthfully it's the hormones, but it's baby's fault :p). I also had some lower back pain and was going to the bathroom ALL THE TIME, but that's normal! :) This was also the week I went to College Station for work training. Thankfully I was feeling well given my 'condition.' I slept like crazy once I was home though!

At our 10 week ultrasound our little blob was swimming like crazy!!!


It weirded Zack out and it was adorable! You can really see the head, body, and arms in the photo. We had our next ultrasound just a week later since it was the last time we could be seen at the fertility clinic. We received more photos, AND a video! Baby wasn't feeling like moving, but after some encouraging (and not too comfortable) taps from the nurse we got some movement! My mom was able to be there as well, which was super special since it was the only time she'll be around for a prenatal check-up. We also heard the heartbeat for the first time rather than just watching it flicker on the screen! Video can be found here: 11 Week Ultrasound


We have now graduated to a regular OB/GYN and our next appointment is on the 13th!

Some silly pregnancy things that have happened to me so far include almost peeing my pants, throwing up at work because the cleaning products stink, being constipated on a work trip, and sitting through an awesome concert with some horrendously stinky people around me. It's been new and fun! We're just so happy and excited! I may or may not have our Amazon registry all ready to go because I can't stop thinking about our baby...haha!