Week 12

Just got home from our first trimester screening visit and everything looks good so far :) They did another ultrasound to look at the back of baby's neck and ours measured perfectly.  They also took some blood to check a couple hormone levels and we'll hear back from that next week sometime... unless I decide to go to school and look up the results ;)

We had a wonderful Christmas in Etown - we were able to hang out and relax for a couple days with the fam which is always nice!  We played many, many games of Rook which Andy loved!  Our little tournament on Christmas day took at least 5 hours but I'm happy to report that Olivia and I were the champions of the day.  We did Christmas with the King family on Cmas Eve at my grandparents then went to midnight mass where Mom sang.  Our priest sang everything.  And unfortunately I feel most vomitus in the evenings... 1.5 hour of chanting scrolls and incense burning was enough to about push me over the edge... but I survived :)  The Hamilton grandparents came over the next morning for brunch and stayed for a few hours while we opened presents and played rook.  We got so many awesome things! Cam made us this picture that is 7 individual pictures of letters from important places in our lives that spell out Reynolds.  It was such a neat gift and something I know we'll treasure for many years!  Davo is making us a toybox so we got a sneakpeek picture of that :)  Mom and Dad got me an awesome watch and purse, tons of maternity clothes and some of the cutest little baby clothes!! Olivia also had some cute baby stuff for us plus a few other things... including my new favorite nail polish :)  We were spoiled for sure but so thankful for everything.  I've got all my little baby clothes hung up in the guest closet for now.  I've bought a few things that are not gender neutral but have kept my receipts so I'll just be making some returns in February :)

Speaking of February, we scheduled the appointment for the anatomy scan! Feb 22nd... a Wednesday afternoon.  And I tentatively am planning the gender reveal party for Feb 25th, the Saturday following.  We're planning on doing it during the UK game... I'm working on my basketball themed Pink vs. Blue invites now! 

Andy's parents came down Christmas evening and were exposed to some Rook hostility from my family.  After they left, I mentioned we should've gone to Dad's office for an ultrasound when they were there... Dad said he'd do it so Andy called them and they turned around to come back for it!  The whole fam minus Cam came along with Andy's parents so that was pretty neat.  The baby kept jumping up and down... and David swears it's going to be a boy ;)  we will see though!

Although I know we really have one more week until the first trimester is over, we decided to go ahead and share the news with the rest of the world :)  It's been pretty exciting!  I wish I had pics of my baby clothes but we took them on my Mom's new camera so I'll have to show them off another time.  Here's a couple more pics and an update for the week!

Olivia's first pic with baby

week 12 bump pic

 

How far along: 12

Total Weight Gain: 3lbs
Stretchmarks: None 

Sleep: wide awake at 5 am this morning??
Best Moment This Week: opening all the sweet little baby clothes and a good ultrasound today
Movement: Can't feel it 

Gender: Feb 25th is the official day!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button: In... Olivia told me she's going to Band-aid my belly button in whenever it becomes an outtie :(
What I Miss: No ice skating and skiing this winter
What I am Looking Forward to: End of first trimester
Milestones: Size of a plum

Week 11

Christmas is right around the corner and before we know it we'll be completely through the first trimester!  Week 11 has been great :)  Finished up school last Friday, saw Olivia in the nutcracker this past weekend and then just hung out in Lexington with OJ and Cam during the days while Andrew's working.

Last Friday we met Dr. Marcum for the first time.  She was not exactly what we expected but seems pretty awesome :)  For some reason we had pictured her as a quiet lady but she's pretty outgoing and very nice! She spent plenty of time with us asking if we had questions, preparing us for the first trimester screening on the 28th, etc.  We joked that she's probably not excited to have a patient like me... a hypochondriac med student with an OB/GYN dad!  Fortunately, I just call Dad with my questions though and save them the trouble :)  We didn't really have any more questions at this point so we just chatted with her a minute then she ran and got the doppler so we could listen to the heart.  She said sometimes it's difficult to hear the heart with the doppler this early and if she couldn't find it, she would just grab an ultrasound machine and we could peek.  Fortunately though for my nerves, she found the heartbeat almost immediately and she said it was about 170! Faster than last time!!  We're scheduled to see her again in January :)  We also have the screening ultrasound on the 28th - next Wednesday.  They use an ultrasound to look for Trisomy 21 and 18 as well as a couple of hormone levels in my blood.  It's not definitive one way or the other but will spit out a percentage chance of having a baby affected with either of these chromosome abnormalities.  Hoping baby is happy and healthy at the next appointment!

Even cooler than meeting our doctor this past week was an ultrasound we did at Dad's office over the weekend!! It was just on a mobile ultrasound machine so not super fancy but it was amazing how different the baby looked from the 8 week ultrasound!  It had little arms and legs and the coolest thing was when it jumped around a couple of times!! It's amazing to think that there's such a tiny little thing moving inside of me when I can't feel it at all.  Andy also thought this ultrasound was way cooler than the last... we weren't able to hear the heartbeat but we could see it and could also see the blood flowing through the umbilical cord.  Dad printed off a bunch of the pictures and somehow I didn't end up with any of them! Olivia quickly grabbed her three favorites and Cam took the one he snapped when he was driving the ultrasound wand... haha  Andy said, I think we should do an ultrasound every time we go to Etown! haha... I said maybe we could just ask dad to bring home the machine for the next 7 months ;)

We had sibs dinner in Lexington on Monday since OJ was here then went to pick out suits for David and Carrie's wedding! They picked out some pretty charcoal suits.  I took OJ to try on bridesmaid dresses the next day at Twirl and to get fitted.  All the dresses looked so cute on her!  The rest of her girls are going Thurs to try on so we'll see what everyone picks out!  We've had fun having Olivia up here.  Lots of shopping, FroJoe's and being bums ;)  As my family is about the most competitive family ever, Andrew and OJ are already working on baby's first word.  They like to stand in front my stomach and Andy says "Dad Dad Dad Dad...." while OJ says "Goal Goal Goal Goal.." lol We figured Olivia likely would not be the first word out of baby's mouth so OJ chose another word... she's thinking about changing it to "O O O O O" as that may stumble out of the baby's mouth before "Dad."  I think Andy's got a good chance on this one though :)

Here's my picture and update for the week.  I don't really have much of a bump yet but Andy believes he can see it ;)  Merry Christmas to all!!! Hope it is wonderful :)

How far along: 11
Total Weight Gain: 2lbs
Stretchmarks: None :)
Sleep: pretttty good
Best Moment This Week: seeing the baby jumping around during the ultrasound!
Movement: Can't feel it though we've seen in
Gender: ?? I do have invitations picked out for the gender reveal party though.. haha
Labor Signs: Too early for that!
Belly Button: In
What I Miss: nothing :) feeling pretty thankful these days
What I am Looking Forward to: Next ultrasound on the 28th
Milestones: Size of a lime

Week 10

Happy Week 10!! :)  It's exciting to see double digits up there!  Andy and I were trying to figure out when we'd find out boy/girl and I think most OBs do the ultrasound at 18 or 20 weeks for that... only 8 or 10 weeks away ;)  Seems like a pretty short time but when you think about the fact that we've only known we were pregnant for 6 it makes it seem a lot longer!

Baby and I are doing pretty well.  I'm still feeling nauseous throughout the day but no more vomiting :)  I've also noticed that I'll load up my normal dinner plate and just feel so full before I can even make it halfway through the plate.  Unfortunately I'm still snacking all the time as an empty belly = serious vomitus feelings for me!  Otherwise, no other real symptoms.  I am pretty tired when bedtime rolls around but I haven't been dying for an afternoon nap anymore.

Andy and I have decided to walk through neighborhoods we may want to live in to entertain us at night :)  It's fun but kind of weird to be up the air about whether or not we'll be moving?  I am such a planner so it will be pretty weird to have to wait April'ish to think about furniture and whatnot.  We did go to this super cute store last night called Baby's Room.  They have tons and tons of baby furniture, bedding, etc.  Since David is making us a baby bed, I'm not sure what to do about the color of the rest of the furniture in the room.  Part of me just wants to pick up random pieces from everywhere rather than trying to make it all matchy matchy.  Baby's Room did have a ton of gliders, which I am currently obsessed with, that came in tons of fabric choices! I have already decided we are doing a creamy white color or a pale green.  If it's a girl, it's getting a pink/green room and a boy will get blue/green.  I want to be able to reuse stuff for all the future babies!

I think I'm going to focus on ideas for a gender reveal party for the next month or so :) We're trying to decide who should be invited which then influences where we do it - our house is so small so it would have to be a limited get-together here.  We could do it in Etown (if Jackie says it's okay ;)) but then you hate to ask friends to make that trip as well.  Alls I know is that it is going to be HARD to know that I could know the gender but that I can't! haha.  I'm hoping to schedule that ultrasound on a Friday and have the party the next day so there's minimal waiting!

Grand Rounds this morning was given by the OB that saw us at our ultrasound and it discussed all the benefits of breast feeding!  I paid more attention for that hour than I probably have at all other grand rounds combined.  All the benefits of breastfeeding are amazing and I'm always shocked when patients don't at least hope to breastfeed some.  I understand that it can be frustrating and ends up not working out for everyone but it's just too beneficial to baby to not at least try.  UK is making a ton of changes in the next 2 months to become a "Baby Friendly Hospital."  Immediately after birth they want to put the baby on the moms bare chest for the "kangaroo cuddle," and allow Mom to warm them... rather than setting them for a second on the chest then taking off to the warmer for their Vit K and eye drops.  They also want every mom to attempt to breastfeed in the first 1 hr after birth.  They're attempting to keep babies in rooms with Mom as much as possible rather than keeping them in the nursery... good for mom, sad for LA when she's on her newborn nursery rotation in January.  And, who knew they're not supposed to get a paci for the first 4-6 weeks of life or until they are great little breastfeeders?  I have to admit if I had a squalling baby, I'd probably pop the paci in their mouth.  Anyhoo, 'nuff said about all my learning this morning - amazing how much more interesting things can be when you relate to them.  I have been spying all the peds attendings pumps and have scouted out my choice.  I hear it's super speedy and great for the hospital so that's definitely on the to buy list :)

Okay, enough updates for this week!  Here's a pic (please excuse my poor posture this week!) and our little quiz.  We have our first appointment with Dr. Marcum tomorrow so we are pretttty excited!


How far along: 10
Total Weight Gain: we will find out the legit number tomorrow morning :)
Stretchmarks: None :)
Sleep: pretttty good
Best Moment This Week: loving on all the little babies in the peds clinic cause we're actually going to have our own before we know it!!
Movement: None yet
Gender: We'll see :)
Labor Signs: Too early for that!
Belly Button: In
What I Miss: nothing :) feeling pretty thankful these days
What I am Looking Forward to: Doctors appt this friday!!
Milestones: Size of a lime -  getting little hair follicles and fingernails! how crazy is that?!

Week 9

A few days late on my week 9 post! We're good at taking the "bump pic" on Wednesday but then I'm struggling to get them uploaded so I can blog them :)  Everything has been going pretty great - I've only gotten sick one evening though am still feeling vomitus a few times a day.  I did have some weird migraine before my parents Christmas party last weekend but it only lasted a little bit fortunately.  The Christmas party was great! tons and tons of amazing food and so great to see so much family and friends! We also shared with news with the Hamilton Grandparents... they were pretty excited for us and happy for a 2nd great-grandbaby!! :)

We just got back from Indiana today where we were celebrating Christmas with Andy's family.  We had a good time visiting with them though Andy and I have now vowed to eat healthy food only at least until Christmas!  Fortunately for me, one of my current food aversions is cake balls so that kept me away from those goodies :)  We got some of our first baby stuff! A super cute car seat, some sweet little gender neutral outfits, ornaments and other goodies :) Our guest bedroom is going to be overrun with baby stuff until we decide this spring whether or not we'll be moving. 

This friday we have our first appointment with the doctor!  I'm excited to finally meet her! We've heard great things so it will be nice to put a face with the name.  We'll be going home next weekend for Olivia's nutcracker and are hoping to get a little ultrasound done while there :) Olivia will think it's so cool to see the little heart beating!  It's amazing to look through books and see how much the baby has grown - we are now the size of a prune with totally developed organs :) pretty neat!

Here's our weekly update and a picture!

How far along: 9
Total Weight Gain: 1 lbs... Andy's agreed to be my walking buddy to keep me out of the gym classes
Stretchmarks: None :)
Sleep: not so hot for some reason? been fighting a cold so hopefully that's all
Best Moment This Week: having a cute little carseat sitting in our house just waiting for a baby to be in it :)
Movement: None yet
Gender: We'll see :)
Labor Signs: Too early for that!
Belly Button: In
What I Miss: nothing :) feeling pretty thankful these days
What I am Looking Forward to: Doctors appt this friday!!
Milestones: Size of a prune - has little elbows and knees and is moving around in there supposedly!

Week 8

Happy week 8!  It's been an awesome week :) had our first ultrasound this past Tuesday and got to see our little baby!  It was so exciting just cause it finally makes this all feel so real. We were able to see the little heart flickering as it beat, saw the umbilical cord, the head and tail and heard the heartbeat... it was pretty amazing :)  we were both so nervous for this visit, myself more openly nervous than Andy. We got 3 little pictures of the baby though the pictures didn't turn out as well as we could see on the screen.  The heart rate was 154 and it was so cool to hear it beating so quickly.  I was 7w6d but the baby was measuring at 8w2d.  They said that was no big deal and since it was in a 3 day window, they didn't change my due date... which is apparently July 11th! Although I could've sworn they told me July 13th originally... 

We've told a couple more people but are still planning on waiting until Christmas time to tell everyone else.  It's pretty hard to keep my mouth shut.  My parents Christmas party is coming up this weekend and we're celebrating Carrie and David's engagement so it's more incentive to keep quiet for longer :)

Here's our little update - I'll attempt to upload the ultrasound pictures sometime next week!

How far along:8
Total Weight Gain: 2 lbs... still blaming that on Thanksgiving
Stretchmarks: None :)
Sleep: like a rock!
Best Moment This Week: seeing our little baby on the ultrasound
Movement: None yet
Gender: We'll see :)
Labor Signs: Too early for that!
Belly Button: In
What I Miss: my facewash!
What I am Looking Forward to: Christmas time so we can tell everyone else! And I'm finally ready to buy something that says we have a baby coming!
Milestones: Size of a big green olive

You'll have to excuse this picture - I have been exhausted this week and haven't been getting my daily naps in ;)

Week 7

Week 7 has nearly come and gone!  We took our week 7 bump pic the day before Thanksgiving and then we both got out of work, we headed to Etown for the break... thus little time for updating the blog!  Though I do have lots of updates to give :)  We have told both our immediate families in the past couple weekends!!

We told my family on the 19th over dinner at home.  Cam had previously found out and somehow coerced David into coming home for Olivia's academic team meet that weekend so the whole fam was there which was awesome.  I asked Mom to order Chinese food for dinner and we were planning on using the rest of the fortune cookies that I originally used to tell Andy.  I assumed everyone would eat and then open their cookie but while we were icing glasses before dinner, Olivia cracked hers open.  We watched her read it over and over again to herself and then she comes up to me and asks if I'm pregnant! The rest of the fam took a minute to catch on but they were all pretty excited :) David officially thinks he's going to be the coolest uncle ever and Olivia is super concerned with it being a girl :)  I had found a cute little poem online to break the new baby news so gave that to my parents along with a sweet little ornament that said "Best Grandparents - David and Jackie."

We decided to tell Andy's parents over Thanksgiving since his brother would be home.  We kept it a secret throughout dinner and afterwards, we gave them our Christmas card which also had the little poem inside.  His mom was completely shocked and apparently was not expecting this until after I was finished with school... nonetheless very excited though :)  They also loved their little Christmas ornament!

I've been feeling pretty "vomitus" off and on throughout the days though I am yet to actually get sick... though I've thought I was going to have to run out of patients rooms a couple of times to be sick.  I'm also still pretty sleepy :) Slept for 9.5 hrs Saturday night, took a two hour nap on Sunday and was still ready for bed around 9 that night!  It's a struggle not to be a slug whenever I get home from the hospital and it's so cold outside :)

Tomorrow is our first big ultrasound so we are very excited for that! They typically scan around 8 weeks and I guess it's just to date the pregnancy and count the healthy babies ;)  We are excited to hear a heartbeat and feel comfortable enough to tell a few more people!

How far along: 7
Total Weight Gain: 2 lbs but I'm blaming that on 3 Thanksgiving meals in one day
Stretchmarks: None :)
Sleep: like a rock!
Best Moment This Week: telling both our families!
Movement: None yet
Gender: We'll see :)
Labor Signs: Too early for that!
Belly Button: In
What I Miss: my facewash!
What I am Looking Forward to: Ultrasound tomorrow!!
Milestones: Size of a raspberry

Week 6

Hello, hello week 6!  Everything is going along swimmingly and I'm gearing up for a couple final exams tomorrow as I finish my neuro and psych blocks.  We had our first doctors appt this past Monday!  It wasn't the most exciting but they did warn of us that :) It was just a screening appointment really... they checked my urine, drew blood, and took an extremely long history of both of us.  I checked all my labs when I got back to the hospital and they all look good :)  Most excitingly though, we got to schedule our first ultrasound as well as our first appt w/ the doctor we chose!! She was a med student when Dad was a resident.  I had wonderful recommendations from a friend and a client of Andy's also told him that she's great.  We're looking forward to meeting her Dec 19th!  We are so pumped for our first ultrasound Nov 29th :) I will be 7w7d then so we should be able to see a tiny little body and hear a fast little heartbeat.

We are planning on telling my family this weekend when we go home! Hopefully Friday night because I might bust if not.  The gameplan is to convince the fam to order chinese food and use the remaining fortune cookies.  If everyone is not amenable to that, I do have a cute Christmas ornament that I purchased the Grandparents (yes, david and jackie :)) as well as this super sweet poem that I found online.  Hopefully the fortune cookies work out but if not, no big deal :)  I am just SO excited for them to all know.  It is impossible for me to keep a secret and I feel like I am lying to everyone.  I have been exhausted and everytime my Mom calls she asks if she woke me up... which she usually has but I deny it cause I'm not one to usually nap during the afternoone :)

One person in my family has already found out... Cam! He texted me on Sunday asking if a pregnancy test wrapper he had found in my bathroom was mine... oops! haha, I told him indeed it was and to please keep his lips sealed :) Christie knows, as well as her Mom, plus some of Cam's friends.  We plan on telling Andy's family over Thanksgiving whenever we go up there.  As far as my extended family, I think I would prefer to keep it under wraps til Christmas time but I have a feeling my Mom will struggle with that :)  It is my Granddad Hamilton's bday this weekend though so if we see him, we may go ahead and share the big news.

Here's our little questionnaire and a new "bump" picture :)

How far along: 6
Total Weight Gain: None
Stretchmarks: None :)
Sleep: like a rock, been enjoying about an hr nap when I get home too :)
Best Moment This Week: Doctor's appt!
Movement: None yet
Gender: We'll see :)
Labor Signs: Too early for that!
Belly Button: In
What I Miss: my facewash
What I am Looking Forward to: Telling the fam this weekend!!!!
Milestones: Size of a sweet pea- getting some eyes, ears and nose this week :) and tripling in size :)

Week 5

Today is the beginning of week 5!  Everything is going smoothly - hard to believe there's a little person growing inside!  I think we are actually starting to believe this is real and are getting so excited.  I spend way too much time already thinking about this baby, worrying about everything and making lists of future preparation!  Paige sent me an awesome coupon site so I might've printed off my first of many diaper coupons today :)

Nothing too new to update on except I found the most amazing baby bedding website EVER - Carousel Designs.  You can customize the bedding from a selection of fabrics and it is amazing - cute boy and girl bedding!  I immediately told Andy I didn't want anything for Christmas and wanted to spend my Christmas present money on beautiful bedding :) Don't know if that would happen but it would be just fine with me :)

Here's this weeks questionnaire and a new "bump" pic!  I'm going to try to wear the same thing every week at least until it stops fitting :)  Doctor appt is next Tuesday so I should have some happy updates for Week 6!  Also the week we finally start telling family!!!

How far along: 5
Total Weight Gain: None
Stretchmarks: None :)
Sleep: Good! Paranoid about how people can avoid sleeping on their backs
Best Moment This Week: Perusing the baby aisle at Target with Andy :)
Movement: None yet
Gender: We'll see :)
Labor Signs: Too early for that!
Belly Button: In
What I Miss: Nothing :) Pretty thankful... though a diet coke is pretty tempting at times!
What I am Looking Forward to: Growing  a real baby bump!
Milestones: Size of an apple seed now - so tiny!

Week 4

It's been an exciting past few days for us!  For those that don't know the full story, I took a pregnancy test last Thursday on a whim.  It was early but somehow I made out the faintest line though I wasn't sure if it was hopeful imagination or something real! After consulting with Paige and Rachel I decided to retest the next morning.  I felt really positive I could see an extremely faint line Friday morning and was in shock but beyond excited.  We had hoped that a baby was in our near future but were definitely not expecting this quite so soon - fortunately though, I had planned the week before how I was going to tell Andy!  It involved a Chinese food date so I asked him to meet me for lunch that day.  I was hoping to get out of the hospital early, run get a digital test and meet him for lunch.  Unfortunately, the slowest day of my life did not end until 3PM and Andy was already in a client meeting.

I had planned to go to Etown that weekend and had to be there by 5 to pick up Olivia.  I still ran by Rite Aid and bought a digital test which solidified what I was hoping for :)  Which also meant I had to have the longest weekend of secrecy in my life.  It was my Dad's birthday and I totally wanted to spill the beans... not to mention we drove all the way from Bowling Green together and my brain was overflowing with the typical OB/GYN questions that I was dying to ask.  Somehow, I made it until Sunday when I was set to meet Andy in Louisville to pick out our wedding photo album.

I was hoping we'd have Chinese for lunch but through some miscommunication, we didn't get lunch together and I had to wait until date night.  We drove all the way from Louisville together and it was killing me to keep my mouth shut - everyone knows I have issues keeping a secret... it's genetic :)  We finally get to PF Changs and my plan was underway.  While we waited I ran to the bathroom and took another digital test (gross, I know) but I wanted him to see and believe :)  After the slowest dinner ever, I somehow snuck two fortune cookies on the table... when Andy opened his, he looked over at me with the funniest face - he could not believe the coincidence of getting a fortune that said, "Expect a bundle of joy in 9 months! We love you!!"  and I could not believe that he didn't immediately get it! haha  Fortunately, after about 5 seconds, he understood and I showed him the test.  I was so, so happy to tell him and he was totally shocked and surprised!! In a good way, of course. 

Although we had hoped to tell our parents over Christmas, I knew there was no way I could hold out that long.  We decided to call and schedule our first dr appt and then tell our parents soon after!

We thought this blog would be a good way to keep the fam in the loop and update everyone as baby grows!  Here's the first "bump" pic and a little pregnancy questionnaire for each week :)

How far along: 4
Total Weight Gain: None
Stretchmarks: None
Sleep: Good :)
Best Moment This Week: Looking at all the awesome baby stuff - exciting!
Movement: None
Gender: ? We will see!
Labor Signs: Too early for that!
Belly Button: In :)
What I Miss: Flag football... had to quit without giving any good excuses as we're not telling everyone yet
What I am Looking Forward to: First doctors appt!
Milestones: None yet :) limb buds have popped! :)