Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Week 7

WEEK 7


Here we are! Week 7! (as of last Saturday)



Baby Development
At the point of making this blog post I am officially 7 weeks 4 days. There is a bunch going on development wise in baby McCabe. This week is the week where everything seems to be sprouting. Last week the "alien baby" (as the hubby fondly refers to it) was tadpole like and had a tail. This week, its growing arm, leg, hand, and feet buds. Its also starting to develop eyelids and a nose! Its doubled in size from last week and is now roughly half an inch around; about the size of a blueberry. 

How am I changing?
I think I actually have the start of a baby bump! (see above pic and tell me what you think!) I'm convinced its the baby and not a food baby because with food I can usually suck in the chub and go back to having the flat stomach. Now when I suck in, nothing happens and the bump is consistently hard.  I haven't gained any weight yet either so in my mind this just confirms my thoughts :) 

My clothes are starting to fit a little tighter too... (TMI moment so if you don't want to know skip to the next paragraph!) Most of my pants are a little tighter and a struggle to wear. I can put them on in the morning but by afternoon it hurts my midsection to have them buckled. Confession: I wear long undershirts so I can go unzipped and unbuckled when the pants get too tight. hehe I've also come to the conclusion that sometime in the VERY NEAR future, I need to buy some new bras. I was going to try to wait to see how big the ladies were gonna get, but at this point there's no place for them to go but out. My whole bra life I've been 30-31 around (32 band size) and my cup size has just gone up as I've gotten older. For the first time, I'm pretty sure my band size is getting bigger because it physically hurts to breath by the end of the day. Some people suggested I wear my sports bras, but the band size problem is still the same. (So mom, if you are reading this, you know what we will be doing next week when I come up!) 

Symptom Check!
Morning sickness: this week hasn't been too bad... in the sense that I haven't felt nauseous all day.. I'll feel fine and then all of a sudden I'm running to the bathroom and then I feel fine again. I've also had this problem connected to my allergies. For all that know me, you all know my allergy list is a long one and that I've been seeing an allergist for the past few years. I've been getting allergy shots and they have made a HUGE difference. However, since we found out we were expecting the allergist said I should check with my OB to make sure she was on board with me continuing them. The allergist said he would cut my dosage in half of what I am at now (I'm on a maintenance dose as of now) for the pregnancy and bring me back up when the baby is born. But.. my OB wasn't having it. She didn't necessarily say no, but she didn't say yes either, she said she would research it and let me know next time... 4 weeks later... and by that time I would be two months overdue for shots. So basically I have to start over anyway :( But any who, this connected to morning sickness: with my allergies comes horrible continuous nasal drainage into the back of my throat, and with that come a really bad gag reflex. When I wasn't pregnant I could hawk a loogie with the best of 'em, now.. I just end up puking. (fail) 

Chest soreness: I know a couple weeks ago I said my chest has been really sore, this kind still true. It hasn't been as bad, but I have been super sore at the end of the day, then again this could be in conjunction with the current bra problem.... 

Food aversions: Baby still doesn't like Mexican food of any kind, (yes I keep trying every week) not even my own! But other then that I haven't really been brave enough to try new things. I hate wasting food and keep feeling like I'm wasting food when it comes back up. 

Cravings?!?: So I don't know if this part is as much of cravings as much as it is defiance. For those who know me, you know how much I hate being told what I can and can't do. Well the OB said to lay off the carbs and eat high protein. And protein in the form of no lunch meats or hot dogs... So this lady wants me to starve.... No hotdogs!??! really!?!? ANNNDDD you are telling an Italian to lay of the carbs?! Really!!?? so Naturally the fist thing I want is pasta (carbs)... and a cheddar worst (Forbidden food). Not together. I have also been wanting PB&Js in any form: tortilla wrap, biscuit, bread, cracker (Carbs, Don't judge me). Chips and dip (carbs), pizza (carbs with forbidden meats!). It not all bad cravings though, I have been liking salads (COLD salad) and super cold beverages (mainly water and ginger ale right now). So I've been trying to start all my meals with a salad, that way when I want the bad stuff I'm a little full already. And I'll also admit.. I bought a jar of sweet baby pickles... yep pickles.. but not with Ice Cream.. that still sounds gross to me. 

Exhaustion: I'm still super tired, ALL THE TIME. Naps have become a must, when I try to skip naps (like the last couple days) I get really grumpy and short with the hubby. This was especially hard on Saturday when we went to a friend's wedding. I was super tired by the end and nauseous. And then we had an hour drive home... I was able to keep it together until we got home, then I lost my cookies, brushed my teeth and passed out. I have been trying to get out each day and keep up some of my previous stamina. This is one thing I look forward to getting back in my second trimester!

Me right before we left for the wedding Saturday


Home Life
Home life has been really good, I'm kind of nesting in the sense that I've decided while the hubby is gone for his five week training, I'm going to try and get some painting done in the house. I also have a list of things I'm going to try and clean and organize as well. (It's so much easier to clean a space when your spouse isn't there to constantly make a new mess!) 

Baby Room?
One of the rooms I'm going to start on is the baby room. For the past two years, the room that we designated as a future baby room has been a guest room, then in the last year converted into a child guest room. I was given my old crib from my mom and a toddler bed from my friends who's child out grew it. It also has a super long dresser from our original bedroom set. So we kind of already have most of the furniture for the room! While the hubby is gone, I'm going to clean out the closet of all his extra guitar cases and move them into the other guest room (yes we have/ had two guest rooms.. big house for only two people). I also hope to in list some of my friends to help me paint the room. Some may be thinking already? But sure why not is what I say, I've always had a vision for that room and its been a gender neutral pallet so it will work whatever I go with. When I actually work on that room I'll be sure to make a special post with before and after pics!

My Shadow:

Bruno

Meet Bruno. Some of you may know him as my second pup. He's such a sweat tempered puppy, and ever since we found out I'm expecting, he has been stalking me. When I'm puking, he's right there licking my arm. When I'm napping, he's napping with me, when I'm at the table, he's at my feet. Mitzi is still Mitzi and is just as loving, but recently I think she's having sympathy morning sickness, because she's been getting sick in the morning and is fine the rest of the day! 

Hubby is leaving 
By this time next week, my hubby will have left for his five week training. I'll be eight weeks when he leaves and when he gets back I'll be right around 13. It's gonna be tough without him here as far as household chores go. I'll have to take over his jobs of trash and picking up after the pets (this one is tough because of the kitty litter and the fact that my allergist AND the pregnancy books say no to doing this). When he gets back I should have a definite baby bump by then too! He'll have missed a Dr's appointment, maybe two where I'll hear the heartbeat. He's super bummed about this but we are also really proud of the opportunities this job training will give him! So please keep him in your prayers over the next month! 



I know its a lot for one week, but that's what I've been up to! 
Until next time, 
Bre and the bump!

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Weeks 5 and 6

Wow two weeks went by super quick!

So here's an update :)


Like I said I would, I called and made an appointment with my OB to figure out how far along I was. I also spoke with the hubby and we decided to find a new OB after this visit. This wasn't because I don't  like my OB, it's because it's over an hour from my house. (we used to live on the east side of town before we bought our house and I never switched doctors after we moved) At this appointment she measured me at 5 weeks 1 day. The heart hadn't formed yet so it wasn't considered a viable pregnancy yet. The OB encouraged me to make an appointment for this week so we could make sure the heart had formed. Below is my fist baby pic.. its hard to tell, but the baby is the little white dot in the middle of the black blob outlined by the two plus signs:



So naturally when I got home I took advantage of my chalkboard and made this sign in hopes of doing one each week: 5 weeks 1 day, Baby McCabe Due November 2015 Apx size: sesame seed. (The hubby thought I was saying the baby is the hamburger lol) 




Why announce so soon?

After this my husband and I talked about how soon to tell our families. Some people would wait until they know the pregnancy is viable (visible heartbeat and limbs) or until the first trimester and risk of miscarriage is out of the way, but we believe differently. We believe that life is created at conception and if we get to find out and be excited then so should the rest of our families! So we made plans to tell our families last weekend. 

How we told our families: 

First up was my mom and dad. This last weekend was NASCAR so knowing this I purchased baby items with my parents favorite drivers on them. I got my mom a Jimmy Johnson bib and a couple other bibs and I got my dad a Tony Stewart 3 piece onesie set. The morning of the Sunday race we went up to PIR and gave my parents the presents and they were super excited for us :) First grand baby for both of them and I'm the first of my cousins to have a baby. :) Then I called my sister and told her. :) It took some convincing, she thought i was messing with her, but once I convinced her she too was super excited. And the cool part is she is coming to AZ from CA for Easter so I get to see her soon!! 

Next was the hubby's parents. I have grandma and grandpa bibs for them too, but I left them on the table at home in my haste to go up to Phoenix (oops). (We'll give them to them the next time we drive up). Anywho, the shirt I'm wearing in the above picture have the numbers 1-40: the amount of weeks in a pregnancy. I crossed out 1-4 and left the rest blank and wore the shirt to their house earlier this week. Unfortunately my plan didn't work too well. With each of my husband's family members I had to point my shirt out to them and then kind of spell it out for them. (haha, I should have brought the bibs, I'm really kicking myself for that one) I can honestly say they were not as excited as my parents, not in a bad way though. They already have a granddaughter on my husband's side and most of his cousins already have babies, so ours is a happy addition. :) 

How we told our friends:

We told our friends through pretty much all the social media aspects I have: Facebook messaging, email, snapchat, text, and I called a few too. Needless to say all our friends are super excited for us. 

Fast forward to this week!

Then came my second OB appointment at the new dr.'s office. I found a Dr only 20 min from the house and they took the sonogram and measured me at 6 weeks 6 days. I went in thinking I was right at 6 weeks and lost 6 days! So this is why I don't have a 6 week "bump pic" by the time I do laundry and get my chalkboard set up I'll be 7 weeks!



So this last week my baby doubled to the size of a pomegranate seed. Its heart has formed as has the start of the brain and spinal chord. For this sonogram my husband was able to come and said the baby looks like one of those creepy wormy aliens from horror movies that always birth from some character and reeks havoc on the spaceship.... thanks hubby, but as my dad says its going to be like this for a little while longer haha. The husband did like seeing the heartbeat and was awed by how quickly the heart pumped -122 beats per min.

Symptoms:

The major symptom that showed up last week was morning sickness... or as I like to better phrase it: all day sickness. As a food lover this is breaking my heart. I hate seeing good food go to waste! So far these are the foods that the baby does not let me keep down:

  • any kind of Mexican food (does it not know we live in Arizona?!!?)
  • captain crunch (WWHHHYYYY!?!?!?!)
  • any kind of cereal really.. cold or hot
  • BBQ food
  • bananas (this one burns coming back up)
  • Arby's sandwich..... with cheddar 
I'm sure there are more but these are the most heartbreaking ones :'( I have been working on eating smaller meals more frequently and having saltines and ginger ale near me. Someone had suggested candied ginger... yeah that was a horrible fail. Lol, if it continues I'm going to start trying extra B12. 

Another one would be tiredness: I'm always tired, if I sit for too long, I tend to end up taking a nap. I also have seldom made it past 9PM.... (even when I took a nap yesterday that I woke up from at 7pm) 

Frequent trips to the bathroom: Now this one is a catch 22, now that I know I'm expecting I'm trying to drink more water... and that leads to more frequent trips to the bathroom. But I've also on average woken up 2-3 times at night to relieve myself. 

Aversion to Prenatal vitamins: this one is tough because I need to have the extra boost for the baby. but it doesn't matter what time of day I take them, morning with food, evening before bed.... it still comes right back up about 30 min later. This however I've been working on. My sister in law suggested gummy prenatal vitamins and those seem to be sitting better in my stomach. 

Gifts!

One of my really good friends I told is moving to Texas next week and gave us our first official baby gift! She also went with me last week to my first sonogram (she lives on the east side of town). I now have a set of newborn onesies and a baby kit with things like clippers, brush, nose sucker and toothbrush. :) Although from the picture you can tell CJ thinks its all for him haha. 




So this is it for this week, in a few short days we will be entering our seventh week and I'll get back on track with my chalkboard and baby bump pics. My next appointment is in 4 weeks and I'll be almost 11 weeks by then and hopefully exiting the morning sickness phase and maybe even have a real baby bump! Also my husband is leaving in a week for a 5 week training for his job so keep him in your prayers as this training is high stress and pretty intense. when he gets back I'll be almost 13 weeks along! 

Any suggestions from knowing moms out there would be much appreciated! ALSO!! I'm starting to compile a list of baby must haves so if you have some leave them in the comments below!! 

Until next time,
Bre and the bump 

Friday, March 6, 2015

And so it begins....

So today we went to the urgent care center because I was having problems with my hand and a cold that just wouldn't go away. The Dr suggested a chest X-ray but made me take a test before hand. And low and behold after 6 months of trying, we got a positive! Crazy way to find out right? So much for any plans I had for finding out and surprising my hubby, we both found out the same time. You wouldn't believe the amount of negative home home tests I've taken. Why you ask, well because I'm super irregular and have a really hard time tracking my cycles. (TMI? well this is how this blog is gonna be, so forewarning the TMI parts freak you out then, go back to my frufrulala blog.)

Anywho, so heres something I hope to do weekly: updates w/symptoms and other things baby wise we are working towards.

So for starters:
How far along: I have no idea, come monday I'll make an appointment with my OB to get a better idea
Symtoms: the only thing I now know for sure is I have had a lot of breast and nipple tenderness (see told you this would have TMI) and I've noticed my chest seems a lot bigger. Other then that I still am battling a cold so I've got the stuffy nose and sore throat.

Future things I plan to work on: I want to make new tabs to start defining what our parenting plan is and registries. Also for those who have followed my other blog you know I'm a deal searcher and hope to have another tab to all the great deals I find in the baby world.

Well thats it for now, I'll update next week when I have more info! Maybe even do weekly update pics!


Bre