17 Weeks

The big ultrasound

I called to schedule my anatomy scan, a detailed ultrasound at the hospital where they take measurements of the baby to make sure everything is growing at the correct rate. This ultrasound is also where they try to determine the gender of the baby. We were originally trying to schedule it for the week before Christmas but the lady at the maternal and fetal medicine department said that it was too early. So, we scheduled the sonogram for DECEMBER 24 (yes, that's CHRISTMAS EVE!) What a great Christmas present! Hopefully our baby will cooperate so we will actually find out the gender. I honestly don't care what we have and neither does Kip. A lot of people think we are having a boy but others (including my mom) think it will be a girl. I guess we will know soon! I can't wait to tell everyone on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Charlotte Shopping Trip

Mom and i finally made it to Charlotte to do some shopping both for Christmas and for the baby! My good friend Katie had told me about a store called Buy Buy Baby and I realized there was one in Charlotte. I forgot to bring the address but knew the road it was on so we drove and drove down that road until we found a strip mall that I would love to pick up and place somewhere in Roanoke or Christiansburg. There were so many store...Target, Old Navy, Nordstrom on the rack, Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, a 2 store Kohl's, World Market, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. I will definitely be shopping in Pineville, NC again.

Buy Buy Baby was amazing, there were so many things to look at and try out. Thankfully, they had the stroller I had been looking at and I realized after seeing it in person that I didn't like the material. Instead, I found a cheaper one (I'm a thrifty girl) that is very easy to fold and we had a coupon (gotta love coupons). Mom bought the stroller for baby G! I can't wait to use it!! (Thanks mom)

After a trip to Chili's  (our favorite) and some more shopping at Kohl's etc. we went to IKEA! I had picked out a crib I loved there so we went ahead and got that too. It still needs to be put together and dad is going to get the matching dresser for me sometime when he is in Charlotte for work. I can't wait until the nursery is cleaned out and I can decorate it!

Thanksgiving and the weekend after

I apologize upfront for this post. No one wants to read about how someone has been sick, however, my pregnancy journal would not be complete without this post...

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We enjoyed catching up with family and eating good food. Unfortunately I had been having headaches for several days leading up to Thanksgiving and by that evening my head was once again pounding. The next day mom and I got up and headed out Black Friday shopping... anyone who knows us knows that we are a little obsessed with shopping. We didn't see many things we needed to get up super early for so we slept in and headed out at around 10 a.m. We had breakfast at Panera Bread and went to the mall and Kohl's. I have had a little bit of dizziness from time to time during my pregnancy and it was pretty bad on Black Friday (in addition to my head and my neck hurting). I have been REALLY lucky during my pregnancy since I have not had to deal with morning sickness or any major symptoms besides a little bit of tiredness and dizziness.

After a few hours of shopping I told mom I just couldn't keep up and needed to get some lunch and head home to my couch. By the time I got home I was feeling really bad. I will spare you from all of the details but that evening I got very sick and ended up in the Emergency Room. I had called the on call OB and he said as long as I was keeping liquids down I would be ok but I couldn't keep anything down so I was worried about getting dehydrated. Mom followed Kip and I to Lewis Gale and after a short wait they started me on an IV. At 2 a.m. after 3 bags of fluids and some prescriptions I went to mom's house.

The next day I felt a little better. Stephanie brought over some food and I thought the food poisoning or stomach bug was over. Unfortunately that night I got sick again and mom and I ended up back in the ER at 3 a.m. After 2 more bags of fluid they sent me home and I was fine. Apparently there was a 48 hour GI bug going around and it was hitting pregnant women hard. I have never had a bad stomach bug in 29 years and I had only been to the ER once before this weekend. It was definitely not how I planned to spend my weekend after Thanksgiving (mom and I were going to go shopping in Charlotte). I really feel for the people who have to deal with morning sickness because my 2 days of being sick was enough to make me crazy.

Some pictures

Mandi's Shower - We tried to recreate a picture of Barbara and Lenore when they were pregnant with Kip and Ben but my shirt didn't show off my belly well. 

Heartbeat!

I went back to the doctor on November 2. They made it seem like it was just going to be a check up for me so I told Kip he didn't need to be there. But when I got there the doctor didn't really do much at all except listen to the heartbeat! It was amazing to hear and the doctor said the baby was very cooperative because she immediately found the heartbeat when she put the doppler on my belly. I was sad that Kip didn't get to hear it with me though!

Finally Facebook Official!

Prego as in PregNANT?

After Martinsville I couldn't wait to tell my dad and stepmom but I had to wait until Kip was home from work which wouldn't be until Thursday. I wasn't sure I could handle sitting at work all day on Thursday thinking about telling them that night. Luckily, Kip came home from work early on Wednesday night. I told him we should go on over to dad's that night so we could tell them. We did the same thing to dad and Steph as we did to mom (hid the pictures in the stack of cheerleading pictures). Dad got to it and said "Prego like pregNANT?" They were very excited... we called Stephanie's mom and their good friends David and Connie to tell them the big news! So exciting!

The next night we went to my MeeMaw's house, Kip's aunt Lenore's house, and my dad's aunt Jackie's house to share our news. We continued sharing the news with our family and close friends throughout that weekend. We were invited to a party at Kip's step-sister's house the following week and I sent her a text that said "Me, Kip, and the bean will be there." She of course wanted to know who the bean was and Kip told her it was in my belly. I hated to tell people by phone but I was getting impatient and we unfortunately didn't have enough time in the day to visit everyone.

My mom's aunt and uncle were on a cruise (unfortunately there was also a hurricane happening at the same time) and we had to tell them before we could make it Facebook official! Because of the hurricane, they were a day late getting back in town. We waited until Kip was home from work and they were back from their cruise and headed to Vinton to tell them. Once they knew it was time to post it online!

Needless to say we didn't make it until 12 weeks...I was 10 (almost 11) weeks when we shared the news with everyone.

Martinsville Weekend

On October 19 I headed out for my favorite weekend of the year...the Martinsville late model race aka the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300. I was rooming with my good friend Anita and spending almost 24 hours a day with my dad and Stephanie so I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret. I would have told them before going to the race but I knew we would end up telling all of the officials and our friends at Martinsville and I didn't want to tell everyone before we told the rest of our family. Luckily, I didn't have any morning sickness so it wasn't hard to hide it.

We worked hard all weekend (dad and I were up until 2 a.m. doing paperwork one night and had to get up a couple of hours later). I didn't slow down just because I was preggo, I stayed just as busy as I always am at Martinsville, making numerous laps around the infield, running papers down from the scoring tower to the infield, etc. I think I was living on adrenalin but it all hit me on Monday when I went back to work. I slept in my care at lunch for 2 days in a row! After that I realized that pregnancy made me very tired (at least during my first trimester). 

We are Prego!

On October 18, Kip's birthday, we went over to my mom's house so we could go to dinner. I was off from work that day so Kip and I had gone to get him a new smart phone. We waited until I was 9 weeks along to tell my mom because I didn't want her to have the pressure of keeping it a secret for very long. I saw an idea online to take a picture with one person holding a sign that says "we are" and the other holding a jar of "Prego" spaghetti sauce. I thought it was funny and a clever way to announce our big news so we took some pictures using the smile detector on my camera (which captured some really funny expressions).

Anyway, back to Kip's birthday... we went to mom's house and I had a stack of photos of my cheerleaders but had stuck the "we are Prego" pictures in the middle of the stack, along with a picture of my 9 week belly. As soon as we got there I told her to look at the pictures and Kip pretended to play with his new phone (really he was videoing her reaction). She flipped through the stack for what seemed like forever, asking questions about the different cheerleaders along the way. Finally, she got to the first picture of me and Kip and said, "What is this?" I said "I don't know, what does it say?" She read it again and I wish I could describe the expression on her face (I would post the video but I don't think she would appreciate that). She sort of looked like one of those funny animal pictures on greeting cards that have huge eyes! I told her to keep flipping through the stack. She got to the 9 week picture, was shocked, and ran out of the room to collect herself.

It was a priceless reaction!

Hi Mom and Dad!

October 17 finally came...those were the longest 9 weeks ever. It's weird to know you are pregnant but not have "official" confirmation or know that everything is ok with the baby. Kip and I went to the doctor that morning at 8 a.m. I am not sure why I decided to schedule the appointment at that time since I had a huge event at work the night before and didn't get home until very late. But, I got up and met Kip at the doctor's office after he got off from work. I was so nervous, the nurse even commented about how high my heart rate was. They did a pregnancy test and Dr. Cobb walked in the room and said "congratulations!" Kip was so funny, his reaction was "so that means it's true?" She said yes, that's what the test said!

We weren't really sure what would be done at the first appointment. We thought they may wait to do a sonogram or any additional tests but we were wrong. They did a lot of blood work and a sonogram! We thought it would be too early to see much and normally I can't make out other people's sonogram pictures but our little bean was so clear on the screen! We could see arms and legs and Dr. Cobb said the baby was waving at us. It was AMAZING! I (of course) started crying but tried to pretend I wasn't. Kip asked a lot of questions because I was just staring at the screen. We saw the little heart beating and it was official...there is a baby!!!

Ahh...I have failed at blogging!

I am so upset that I have been a slacker and haven't updated the blog for more than 2 months! So, I apologize for all of the posts that are being posted on 12-12-12 when they are about things than happened over the past 2 months. I am determined to do better and keep my blog updated!

28 Days

Yes, 28 LONG days until I am officially 12 weeks pregnant and can tell people. Will I make it that long?? Who knows! I have already made it 28 days since I found out but 28 more days? I may go crazy!!! I have such a hard time being around my family and not telling them. My mom and I were together at the Extraordinary Women Conference this weekend (which was AMAZING). I kept asking what we were eating for lunch or if we could go get a smoothie or something icy once the conference was over. She was laughing at me because food was definitely my priority. If only I could tell her why!! But, I know I need to wait. It is so hard for me not to tell anyone, I know it will be even harder for my parents to keep it in.

The first doctor's visit is 9 days away... at least then I will have confirmation from the doctor that I am indeed preggo. I think the appointment will just be a blood test and some talking... they will probably set me up for an ultrasound a few weeks later. Hopefully I can hold off on telling people until after the ultrasound. However, the girls at work keep talking about having margaritas to celebrate the completion of an event we are doing next Tuesday. How long can I stall on the margaritas? Hopefully until I am 12 weeks along and can tell them my secret!!

What a Beautiful Wedding

This past weekend was Jeanne and Allen's wedding. It was an amazing wedding and an awesome weekend. I was so excited to hang out with the bridal party and celebrate the big day with a wonderful couple. The wedding festivities started on Friday morning with manicures and pedicures at Polished. It was a lot of fun. We had yummy food and mimosas (ahh...the dreaded fake drinking begins!) I asked for orange juice instead of a mimosa and made a joke about how I drank too much at Jeanne's shower. Then, a couple of times I went to the table and filled my glass up with more OJ.

Following the rehearsal, we headed to the Red Sox Stadium for the rehearsal dinner. It was very nice...the weather was perfect. Because this blog is about our baby journey I am of course going to continue talking about avoiding drinks and trying not to give my secret away. I promise my friends don't drink 24/7... the wedding weekend just happened to involve several opportunities for drinks! At the rehearsal dinner Kip was enjoying some beers and I grabbed some punch. Of course I had several people ask why I wasn't drinking. I had Kip pick me up some airplane bottles of vodka to mix with Sprite at the wedding so I showed my friend those and said "Don't worry, I will drink tomorrow."

The next morning I arrived at the hotel to get my hair and makeup done and guess what...there were mimosas being served (we had to drink the rest of the champagne). I took a couple small sips of mine and Jeanne told me to come with her to the bathroom where I poured the majority of it into her glass (thank you friend!) If anyone was suspecting anything then the fact that I suddenly appeared to have downed a cup of mimosa when I had been sipping on it for an hour probably gave it way. But, hopefully no one noticed.

Saturday afternoon was the wedding!! Finally! Jeanne and I had been planning the wedding for 9 months and it was finally here. I couldn't have gone any smoother!! At the reception there was a cocktail hour and the bridal party was in a separate room for about 30 minutes prior to being announced to the guests. This is the first time that I really didn't know what to do about drinking because that's what we were doing... eating some snacks and drinking. Luckily, one of my friends from the Chamber, Ginger, works at the Sheraton and was the catering person in charge of Jeanne's wedding. She happens to be 7-8 months pregnant. So, I told her my secret and asked for ginger ale in a wine glass. It looked like wine and seemed to work perfectly to help my fake drinking. I am sure my friends will read this and say "I knew she wasn't drinking," but, overall I think I got through the weekend pretty well without giving away the secret.

Unfortunately I got a bad head cold... I guess the pregnancy is affecting my immune system. Hopefully the cold will be gone soon... I don't want to take any meds even though the nurse at the OB's office said I could take a select list of drugs.

3 more weeks until the doctor's appointment...HURRY UP October 17!!!

My Red Face

My friend Jeanne is getting married this weekend and I have been helping her do wedding stuff. This past Sunday I went to her house to help her stuff favors, make welcome bags, and do some other last minute items on her to-do list. Jeanne knew that Kip and I have been talking about kids for awhile. The whole time I was sitting there helping her with wedding tasks I kept asking questions about what kind of alcohol we will have at the wedding and who we are sitting with, etc. I kept thinking I was going to have to tell her because I still haven't figured out how to "fake drink" at the wedding so that no one knows my secret!

Before I got ready to leave we were sitting around chatting and Jeanne looked at me and said "So, are you pregnant yet? Will you be drinking at my wedding?" I was so caught off guard...she was totally joking because we talk about babies all the time and joke about things. While we were in Nashville I joked with her that her Bachelorette weekend was messing up my baby making. Apparently my face turned BRIGHT RED when Jeanne asked her question about whether I was pregnant. So, I caved...I said "well...I won't be drinking!" We started hugging and crying and doing all those things girls do when they find out one of their BFF's is going to be a mommy. Kip says I am not strong because he still hasn't told anyone but I cave very easily. So, Jeanne and Cassidy are the only 2 people who know at this point...I hope I can keep it that way until at least October 17. Jeanne is going to help me sneak around at the wedding with "fake drinks"...hopefully it works. 

The Secret is Out (to 2 people)

Well of course I couldn't keep the secret very long. I actually told my best friend, Cassidy, before taking the test on Monday night. We have known each other for 28 years and I can still remember searching the internet for pregnancy symptoms when she thought she was pregnant with her first child 8 years ago. Telling her took some of the pressure off because I have someone I can email or text to ask questions and talk about everything going on. Kip works Sunday-Tuesday nights so I knew I would have a hard time on Wednesday when he was home. I was VERY tired Wednesday and he needed me to cut his hair, which is fine but he made several comments about how thrilled I looked to be doing it. So, I thought it would be a good idea to show him why I was tired.

I had hoped to give him a book called "My Boys Can Swim," anyone who knows Kip knows that he is always joking and he has often said he didn't think his boys could swim so I may never get pregnant. Well, I guess pregnancy brain has already set in because I left my cell phone at work on Wednesday night and instead of driving to Barnes and Noble at Valley View to buy the book I ended up leaving Wal-Mart in Christiansburg and heading BACK to work to get my phone. On my way, I noticed there is a Goodwill Bookstore near the Goodwill in Christiansburg... I had never seen it before but thought I would stop in. Good thing I did...books are only $1 there and I found one called "What to Expect When Your Wife is Expanding." I bought that book along with a couple for me and figured it would do the trick even if it isn't a funny as "My Boys Can Swim."

After finishing Kip's hair he headed upstairs to take a shower. I ran to my car and got the book out and followed him with it. When I handed him the book he didn't really understand. He looked at it for a minute and then said "Nuh Uh?" So, I pulled out the three tests I had been hiding under my sink in the bathroom and showed him the proof. I am pretty sure he was in shock. He didn't know what to say and kept making jokes (in typical Kip fashion). Later he admitted he was shocked and made jokes because he didn't know what to do. I don't think it has really hit him yet. Yesterday I told him I made a doctor's appointment for Oct. 17 and he asked what it was for...duh...the pregnancy! I think it will probably take a sonogram picture for it to really sink in for either of us...unfortunately that appears to be another 4 1/2 weeks away. Ahhh.... I hate waiting!

Could it be?

Kip and I have been married for 4 years. It's funny how you plan your life in your head as you are growing up. I remember my plans...graduate college at 22, get married and start a family by 23 or 24. I just thought that's what you did after college. Well, I ended up getting married at 24 but having a child right away just didn't fit into my plans. I was busy working, hanging out with my friends, and enjoying time with my hubby. 

Now that I am 29 years old I think it's about time to have a baby. We tried some last year and then I panicked and decided I wasn't ready so we stopped trying. I was asked to be a bridesmaid in my good friend, Jeanne's, wedding and one of the rules was no pregnant girls :). Plus, I am an event planner so I PLAN (too much sometimes) and I knew which month would be best for work to dodge our many events. Kip said we were never going to have a child because I was always scheduling everything. 

In the spring, Kip's cousin, Ben, and his wife, Mandi, shared the news of their pregnancy. She is due on Jan. 11. Kip and Ben's moms were twin sisters and were pregnant with the boys at the same time. Mandi and I always thought it would be fun to be pregnant together because our husbands are basically like brothers and we are like sisters. I was so excited to hear that she was pregnant!! We went shopping at Target the night she told me and of course I am helping with her shower...I can't wait to meet her little girl. Although I was extremely happy for them, I wasn't sure we would actually get to be pregnant at the same time like we had planned. 

Our summer was completely packed this year...Kip took several trips to shoot at ASA Archery Tournaments...he went to Kentucky, Illinois, and Alabama (to name a few). We also went to the beach together and I went to Nashville twice (once with mom and once for Jeanne's Bachelorette Party). So, needless to say, we had a busy summer...but, that's how we planned it. We knew this could be our last summer as just a married couple with no children. 

I knew exactly when I wanted to start trying to have a baby. I wouldn't be so far along if it happened that I would be showing at Jeanne's wedding on Sept. 22 and I could do an event at work I had always wanted to do in April. I believe God has a plan for your life and everything happens in his timing. Last summer we tried for 3 months with ovulation predictors and everything. This summer, we tried for 1 month. I had a calendar to help me pinpoint the days we needed to try but didn't use any tests or anything. 

This past Saturday I worked all day (a giving society event followed by a football game). I knew it was a few days before I could be sure I was pregnant but once I got home I thought I would take a test just to see. My back had been hurting and I had a few other small symptoms but they are usually monthly symptoms as well. I took a test and WOW it looked like a light blue plus sign!! I kept calm, I didn't tell Kip...I would take another one in the morning and see what it showed. The next morning...an even darker plus sign! Am I really pregnant? Did it really happen this fast? I couldn't believe it. I still didn't tell anyone. Then, after cheerleading practice on Monday night (the night before this blog post) I took another one (you have to be absolutely sure) and this time there was nothing "faint" or "light" about the plus sign. I think it finally hit me...I was going to be a mom. 

I laid in bed last night thinking about the timeline and when I should tell people. I am TERRIBLE at hiding things about my life. According to all of the calculators online my due date is May 20, 2013. So, I am 4 weeks along. I want so bad to just tell Kip and my parents but I am also terrified of miscarrying after telling everyone and I don't want to put pressure on anyone else to keep the secret for another 4-8 weeks. So, I decided to start blogging and eventually I will share this blog with others. It is a nice outlet to share what is going on and hopefully one day our child can look back on it and learn about their birth story.

I don't know when I will tell people... Jeanne's wedding is next week and somehow I have to pretend to drink all weekend or everyone will suspect that something is up. Maybe I will tell Kip before that so that he can help me order fake drinks but he will be with mom and he is terrible at hiding things too so I don't want anything to slip out. Ahhh.... so much to think about. How can I keep this secret!? I don't know if I can...all I know is....

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!

My first blog

For years I have visited blogs that belong to my friends from high school. I love seeing what's going on in their lives and watching their children grow through pictures. I always thought that I should have my own  blog but never seemed to find the time to actually sit down and create one...until now. It's not that I actually have free time right now because anyone who knows me knows that I thrive off of being extremely busy so I fill my free time with numerous responsibilities and projects-- full time work as an event planner at Virginia Tech, cheerleading coach for 6-8 year olds along with my friend of 28 years, Cassidy, volunteering with The Community Christmas Store, and in my "spare" time I make and sell diaper cakes, cut hair, do graphic design, and help plan weddings. I hope that I can keep up with this blog like my friends from high school do but we'll just have to wait and see. I love the idea of having an online journal to share whats happening in the world of the Good family and think it will be a great to look back through the blog in the future. Welcome to my blog!