Wednesday, May 12, 2010

11 weeks!

In a way it seems like these weeks are flying by, and in a way it seems that they aren't.

Our little one is about one and a half inches long and is the size of a fig! He or she is starting to grow teeth and will be opening and closing its hands soon. I'm not supposed to start feeling any movement for about another month or two but I'm very anxious for it!

Not too much to report about me that is different from last week. I'm still feeling great. The great thing about this week is that everyone now knows I'm pregnant so it's been nice to have it out in the open and talk about it! And I apologize if you see me or talk to me on a daily basis and the baby is the only thing I talk about. When you have something this big and exciting going on in your life then it is all you want to talk about. Besides, it's better than the stories about how Maggie threw up all across the living room carpet last night.

Now, I must give a little ode to my husband in this 11th week of pregnancy. Though he doesn't have much experience with babies, he is very excited for this little one to be born. He has also been pretty awesome at taking care of me. It's the little things he does that I really appreciate. For example, the other night he brought home some cheeseburgers from McDonalds for me for dinner. (Sidenote: yes I realize that this isn't the healthiest dinner option, but I have quite the craving for a cheeseburger about everyday and this day I gave in; I don't eat them in abundance.) I told him on the phone to ask for them without pickles. I believe my exact words were, "If there is a hint of a pickle on either of those cheeseburgers then I will puke all over you." The threat was well-taken for him. He walked in the door and said, "Don't look in that bag. They gave me those cheeseburgers way too fast and I need to check to see if there are pickles on them." He then proceeded to unwrap the cheeseburgers out of my sight and check for pickles. They were pickle-free and safe for me to eat. He's a doll, isn't he? And yes, he does much more for me than just pickle-checking, but it was an act that I really appreciated!

On another note about Justin, there is one big thing that he doesn't like about this pregnancy. And it's my fault. It's my uncontrollable habit of Googling EVERYTHING. Last night I was talking about how I have insomnia lately and can't stay asleep and about how I Googled it and it is a symptom of pregnancy. He just looked at me and said something like, "To you and Google, everything is a symptom of pregnancy." Oops.

Now time for me to be a thief. I am stealing the following survey from my friend Ashley. I thought it might be nice to do it once in the first trimester and a few more times throughout the pregnancy. I took out a few questions for now (like if I'm having signs of labor...duh) but most of them pertain to me so it should be fun. Here we go!

How far along? 11 weeks

Total weight gain: We don't own one of those evil weighing devices. Based on my doctor's appointment last week, a couple of pounds.

Sleep: This is a sore subject. Sleep isn't my friend lately even though I'm more tired each day than I have ever been in my life. I'm a stomach sleeper and for now that still isn't a problem. However, I can't stay asleep at night. I can fall asleep just fine, but I wake up every couple of hours and sometimes every hour. I'm not sure why. Also, I've been sleeping in some weird position with my right arm because the past few mornings I've woken up and my right shoulder has been very sore. And don't forget that I'm already getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Fabulous. Can't a girl just get a solid eight hours?

Best moment this week: Telling people! While it has been fun telling everyone, the best moment could have been when I told my cheerleaders. I spend a lot of time with those girls (and guy), especially during competition season. Some weeks I see them more than I see Justin. The head coach, Stacy, sat them down and explained to them that each year that Mt. Vernon has won a state championship in cheerleading, there's been a pregnant coach (in 2006 Stacy was pregnant and in 2009 another assistant was pregnant) so that they probably have a good chance this year. Then she just looked at me and smiled and they figured it out. And then FREAKED OUT. More than half of them ran and hugged me at the same time and screamed and squealed in ways that only teenage girls can.

Movement: The only thing that I feel moving is all those cheeseburgers going through the digestive system.

Gender: This makes me sad because I have no idea. I haven't had any dreams about the baby yet and I'm sad about it! Early on I was much more concerned with boy names and kind of had a boy feeling, but lately a lot of people around me think it is a girl and I'm getting more convinced. The heartbeat was 170 at our appointment and some say that girl heartrates are higher so my dad's fiance Lea and my cousin Amber are convinced it's a girl. Justin's stepdad also has a pretty strong girl feeling. Now if only I would have a strong intuition!

Cravings: Duh, cheeseburgers. I don't think that I've had strong cravings quite yet. It's more like I know what I want when I want it but no one has had to drive a crazy distance at a crazy time to get a food that I can't live without.

What I miss: My one true love...diet coke.

What I am looking forward to: For my body to actually start looking pregnant. Right now I just look like I'm carrying about 40 extra pounds...oh wait...I am.

That's all!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Changes

Ah, that's better.

Yes, I realize that I changed the color scheme/layout of this blog a few weeks ago, but I must have been very depressed when I did it, because, well, it was very depressing.

So I changed it again. And I made it myself.

Now I feel it looks like a nice summer picnic and it's much more cheerful.

Yes, we are disgustingly happy right now with life. You'll just have to get used to it.

Enjoy!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Little Leavell

Remember some time ago when I predicted that 2010 would be a big year for me and Justin? Well, we are definitely on our way to making that prediction come true.

You've read that we bought a house. Now you can read about one very big (but yet very small) reason that we bought a house.

One of those three bedrooms in that house will be occupied by a little Leavell with an estimated arrival date of December 1, 2010.

Yep, the cat's out of the bag and I'm 10 and 1/2 weeks pregnant!

I've been writing about this awesome time in our lives for about six weeks now, so to read all the posts about the baby, click on "Little Leavell" under Labels on the right.

We look forward to sharing with you about our growing family and our new house! And don't worry for all you Maggie lovers, there will still be plenty of pictures of her!

10 weeks!

We have pictures of our little gummy bear!

We had our first ultrasound on Thursday and it went great. We heard a strong little heartbeat saw our little baby for the first time. Here are his or her first photos.

A profile shot.

We think that the baby might be facing us in this photo so that could be a really blurry image of its face. You can see its arms on both sides of the body.

Shows a strong heartbeat at 170.

So if you ask me, this just looks like a bunch of parts. But the focus is on the legs at the bottom.

Another shot of the baby maybe looking at us.

And another possible one of the face.

It was a pretty amazing experience. Our doctor, Dr. Ertel, was great. After she took some pictures, we just got to watch the little one move about for awhile and he/she was a mover and a shaker! We saw the legs crossed and a lot of movement in its arms.

The baby measured at about 9 and 1/2 weeks, so my due date of December 1st will stay the same. We can't wait for our early Christmas present!

And no, I don't love calling my child an it, but we will all have to get used to it. We will not know the sex of this baby until we meet him or her in about seven months!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Good Riddance!

It may be 40 degrees outside and feel like the middle of October as I write this, but it is a beautiful day here in McCordsville because the McStompers (aka our EXTREMELY loud upstairs neighbors) are moving out right at this moment!

Hallelujah!

To the McStompers: We will not miss the running races that you hold everyone evening to see which member of your family can run the fastest and stomp the hardest. We will not miss the fights that you have that always end up with one of you stomping (again) through the house and down the stairs. We will not miss the numerous shoes and toys that land on our patio from your balcony because your children think its funny to throw all of their belongings down our way. We will not miss your weird smelling food that comes into our apartment via our bathroom. And we will especially not miss your children, whom you must make scream at the top of their lungs for about 23 of the 24 hours in a day.

See ya, McStompers!