12/13 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 12 and a half weeks

Size of Baby: A plum!

Appointment Updates: Today we had our second appointment. The baby cooperated and I got to hear the heartbeat immediately. It's heartbeat is a healthy 165 beats per minute. I am also doing great in the weight area which is a relief for me. Josh left work early just to make the appointment but we caught each other in the stairwell walking out. Poor Daddy was bummed he didn't get to hear our little one!

Symptoms: The lovely symptom of constipation has not subsided. What used to work in the past (i.e. fast food, chocoloate milk, hot chocolate) doesn't seem to work anymore so I am trying some pills. Over the past month I have started to get more headaches or head pressure. The pressure will even wake me up in the middle of the night which is frustrating. I am going to see a chiropractor tomorrow to see if they can relieve any of the pressure. Something I did not realize would happen is the shift in my hormones which means lack of patience and irritability. A good friend told me "Make every moment with someone a divine appointment not as an annoyance." I really hope to be able to remember this saying everyday at school and home. I am also slowly losing my mind which people told me only gets worse. Great!

What I Miss: Nothing at this point as I am feeling very blessed

Cravings: I feel like I crave something new or different everyday. One item that I am really loving is ice cream but particularly a vanilla cone from Dairy Queen with crunch.

Gross: For some reason chicken is hard for me to eat but it all depends on how it is cooked. Who knows, I might love chicken next week.

Week Highlights: On Saturday, I went shopping to Babies R Us with my Mom, Dad, and Grandma P. Surprisingly we did not even spend a penny but just had a great time looking forward to the future. It was great to look at strollers and cribs in person rather than the internet.

Drum Roll Please.....12 Week Belly Picture (Please remember that it may look like this today but tomorrow might look completely different depending on my lovely "symptom").

10+ Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 10 and a half weeks

Size of Baby: A prune!

Appointment Updates: Our next appointment is on the 28th where we will hear the heartbeat again!! What a great feeling!

Symptoms: I am starting to hit a good point in my pregnancy. Nausea has almost subsided and queasiness to any type of food. It is interesting how one minute I want one type of food and then next it doesn’t even look or sound good. I am still enjoying my sleeping but getting through a full day of school is not as painful.

My newest symptom did pop up on Monday and was horrible. I have had stomach issues in the past but did not associate these symptoms with being pregnant. The pain began in my back during the early school hours and got worse. Of course, me the worry wart, started to get panicked when the pain came around the front. Relief came around 3 a.m. when I finally remembered having these lovely problems in high school. I am still working on daily relief and hope to find a remedy soon.

What I Miss: Josh and I went to a Valentine’s lunch at Olive Garden and I really missed not having a glass of wine. A sip of wine would probably not hurt but I would not be able to stop at a sip. Cravings: I am still really enjoying salty items! One item I have been eating a lot of is macaroni and cheese or any other type of pasta. Gross: Can’t think of anything right now

We have gotten the question a lot lately if we will find out the sex of the baby and the answer is . . . No! We can’t wait to hear the doctor announce the sex upon arrival! The only downfall/positive is that we can’t find any unisex outfits for the baby because most are boys/girls. If we knew the sex I would go crazy shopping so I think it is a positive!

I hope to post a picture of my slowly growing baby bump this week!!!!

An Emotional Rollercoaster

To say last week was an emotional rollercoaster is a small statement. On Thursday, I found out I was getting a new student whose diagnosis is EBD. I was definitely anxious having to change my schedule once again and nervous as to what behaviors we might see. It is now Wednesday and I have already "fallen in love" with the student even if he has some "large" behaviors. My poor life group from church had to deal with my pregnancy hormones as I cried through most of our teaching.

On Saturday we ended up staying at my parents house so we could go to the funeral of my great uncle on Sunday. Poor Grandma and Grandpa took us out to dinner with Jess. I almost blew it a few times thanks to the reuben sanwhich that made me lose my entire appetite. Seven hours after we arrived there we finally got all four family members in the same room (Alys on Skype) and was able to share our great news. My family was so excited, even if Dad did fell asleep within ten minutes. (The baby is going to have a great sleeping buddy!) On Sunday, we got to share the news with Gram and Grandpa and they were thrilled to hear they were going to be Great Grandparents.

Josh got to share the news with Kelsey Sunday night while I was in and out of sleep after a long weekend. On Monday we skipped the Bachelor so we could tell Josh's parents. They both had an idea what the big news was because we tried so hard to get ahold of Kelsey on Sunday. The baby's only uncle was also told Sunday night. Josh's grandparents were told on Tuesday so we are now trying to cross all of the other close family and friends off the list.


Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: Currently 9 weeks

Size of Baby: A green olive!

Appointment Updates: We had our first appointment yesterday and it went a lot better than expected. Many friends from work warned me that we might not get to hear the baby this early but they were wrong....we got to SEE and HEAR the baby. The feeling of seeing our baby for the first time was breathtaking. The baby is only a cm long but looks so big already.

Symptoms: Other than a lot of sleep, I am actually beginning to feel a lot better.

What I Miss: I really enjoy frozen drinks so it makes me sad not having any.

Gross: Completely dependent on the day and time
Planning dinner ahead of time has been very difficult.

Seven Weeks

To say this has been a long week is a complete understatement. Two of my students have had really rough weeks which makes it more draining on me. I am struggling with how to handle these students while not putting myself or the baby in harm. I really can't wait til I can share the news with my co-workers so I don't have to continue to hide it. Another hard time for me this week was that a student of mine had surgery to remove two different tumors. Yesterday was a very emotional day in that the diagnosis was not looking positive. Not being able to spend time with this student, if she had to undergo chemo, was all I could think about last night. The angels were definitely looking out for her as the tumor was benign.

Another close call with spilling the beans: I must not have seen some of my close work friends lately so they admired my new body. hehe They obviously asked if I was pregnant because they never noticed some of my features. haha Ahhhhh, I can't wait to announce this!!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 7 weeks

Size of Baby: A blueberry!

Appointment Updates: Our first appointment is on the 30th and can't come any sooner!

Symptoms: Poor Josh is barely getting to spend any time with me as I am sleeping so much. By the time he gets home and we start to watch one of our shows, I am asleep in five minutes. My average length of sleep right now is about ten hours.

What I Miss: After a long week of school I definitely wanted to join my co-workers for frozen margaritas tonight.

Cravings: My cravings change from day to day but are mostly salty items. The other item that I REALLY wanted the other night were cupcakes but we did not have liners. Boo

Gross: Ring Bologna or other types of meat

WE ARE EXPECTING....

During the week of Christmas I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my period or lack thereof. The whole week I felt unusual period symptoms or possible pregnancy symptoms but tried to not get my hopes up. The Tuesday after going back to school (January 3rd) I decided to take a test and to my surprise the test was IMMEDIATELY POSITIVE!!! I was in complete shock and awe. My next thought was can I keep the news from Josh so I could surprise him on Wednesday. I slept great on Tuesday from such great excitement plus I went to yoga for the first time. While Josh was in the shower on Wednesday and I was straightening my hair he randomly shouts, "You are pregnant, aren't you?" so I could not hold it in any longer and told him the great news! We are blessed beyond words on what God is providing for our lives!!


After using a few sites it looks like the baby will be due right around Labor Day, my birthday!!!

Way Too Many Close Calls

-A few days after realizing the great news I went shopping to try and find a neutral "I love my Daddy" gift and who is also in the baby aisle Grandma TeBeest. Luckily, I turned the corner without being spotted.
-The Saturday after finding out, Josh and I met my parents and Alyssa for dinner. Within a few minutes of sitting down to dinner my Dad told me how much I was glowing and seemed so happy. (Only if he knew why)
- A few of my co-workers and I are deciding to take one more class to get certified as an online teacher.The question right now is when to take the class this summer. Again, I have to keep my lips sealed.
- 01/11 I ended up having to tell two co-workers of our pregnancy due to my own safety. I definitely was not ready to tell anyone at work but need to make sure that the baby and myself are safe.