Pregnancy - Weeks 6 & 7

Sunday, October 30, I was 6 weeks pregnant. I made Nik take a picture of me so I could start documenting the physical changes of my body. So here is my first pregnancy picture:

No 'baby belly' yet. Just my normal fluffy-self. (By the way, 'fluffy' is a nicer word for over-weight / fat).

So far in the pregnancy I was feeling great. I was not experiencing too many pregnancy symptoms - Just some mild cramping and tenderness in the chest. Oh and bloating. Major.

Then week 7 hit (November 6)! Wowza - I was tired! And queasy. I was eating often (trying to eat healthy snacks) through out the day. And I was burping. Seriously, I was grossing out my husband. I kept telling him to be grateful that I was only burping and that he was not having to hold my hair as I puked in the potty! I am very grateful I have not been sick so far.

This week I started exercising at night and going to bed a little earlier to make sure my body is getting proper rest.

So far, no weight gain (plus or minus a few ounces).

And I was surprised at how not-very-moody or emotional I have been.
We started talking baby names this week, and then we stopped. Too hard.

At the beginning of Week 7, we told our families about the pregnancy. Story to come...

The Pregnancy Story Part 2

The Friday after we found out I was pregnant, we had an appointment at the hospital with someone to go over our insurance and see how much this pregnancy was going to cost. Holy Cow! Do you know how much birthing a baby costs? It's a lot. Talk about stealing the joy of pregnancy...this lady almost stole all of my baby joy! That's all I have to say about that...Oh, one more thing - why do they talk money with you before a doctor will ever even see you? Enough....

However, while we were there, she calculated my due date for me! Baby D's due date is June 24, 2012!

After insurance lady stole my joy, I made Nik Nik kindly took me to the store to buy this:

What to Expect When You're Expecting! It still was feeling a little surreal to me that I was pregnant, especially since I had no clue what was going on with my body or my baby. This book was the key (or so I told Nik) to me actually feeling pregnant! 

Talk about information overload....wow! There is so much to learn and know - it was kind of overwheling at first. Then I adopted the frame of mind that I use often. (Examples - there will always be someone whiter, smarter, skinner, fatter...etc than me). So in this case my frame of mind went something like this - There are people in the world who are dumber than me and still have/raise babies every day. It will not be the end of the world if I don't know everything there is to know. 

That said, I have skimmed the book. I kinda know what's going on in my body (and that's another story....) and I kinda know how my baby is growing/developing. One word: AMAZING!

I finally got an appointment with an actual doctor for Thursday, November 17. More to come.... 

The Pregnancy Story

I hope this post is not too much information... I just want to share with you the story of our pregnancy. It's a little long...but I wanted to make sure that I did not forget anything about this special time. So here is our story, from the beginning....

When Nik and I got married back in 2002, everyone began to ask us when we were going to have kids. Our reply was always, "in five years". Five years later, our reply was still "in five years!" For most of our marriage we knew we wanted to have kids...some day. But we never really felt a peace about trying to start. Then, in the last two years or so, something started stirring in us that we wanted to try to start a family soon. First (and more) in me than Nik, but he was on board for sometime in the near future (this was about two years ago)!

During that time I really started praying about this decision. Because we want to always seek God's direction in our life, I started praying for His timing and His will to be done. Nik and I didn't discuss trying to start a family a whole lot, we just mentioned it every now and then, and it was always decided...not yet.

Then, back in July we stopped trying to prevent a pregnancy. We never really had a big discussion about it, it just happened. Finally, after about a month I asked Nik "So, are we now trying to have a baby?" I think the thought scared him a bit because his reply was "Well, we're not, not trying." And that was basically our discussion! However, if you are not, not trying...then technically, your trying!

Side note - during the time of us trying to start a family, I was not stressed over whether we were going to get pregnant or not. I wanted to fully trust God's timing in this area. And at this time in my life (not saying I would always feel that way) it was okay if we did not get pregnant for awhile. Besides...I really had no desire to get pregnant until late spring/early summer....after the summer we just had, I think you can understand why! But back to my story...

Fast forward to October... I was supposed to start my monthly cycle the weekend of October 15 (same weekend as my bike crash). But I never started (being late is not typical of me). But I wasn't too concerned because at the time I was dealing with a broken hand. I remember telling Nik right before I left town the following week (to go to Anna's Wedding Showers), that he could pick up a pregnancy test if he wanted while he was out running errands that weekend. He never did! When I got back home, I asked about it, and he suggested we give me a few more days. I laughed about it and told him he was in denial, and that we could only put it off so long. We both kinda thought that I had not started yet due to the trauma/stress of my fall.

However, Tuesday, October 25 I wanted to know. One way or another. I called Nik, and he told me he was going to be running errands soon. So I asked if he could pick up a test (inserting..."don't let anyone we know see you...!"). He thought we were waiting a few more days.... but I told him I couldn't wait any longer, but that he could keep waiting if he wanted...I would take the test and just not tell him the answer! Ha!

So when I got off of work that evening I took a test. I set a timer and we did not look at the test until the timer went off. What we saw when we looked...was a really dark pink line and a very light pink line. I knew that two lines = positive and one line = negative. But what in the world did a dark line and a light line mean?! Seriously, this is supposed to be one of the top moments in our lives...and I was confused!

So, we pulled out all the instructions to read what they said. It did state that a dark and light line were still a positive result. But our line was really light - in fact I had to keep looking to see if there really was a line or not! I ended up taking another test that night...same result. So I woke up the next morning and took it again...same result. By this time Nik and I did think I was pregnant....even with a very light line. We decided a second light line, is still a line! So I called the doctors office and they told me to come in for a test to make sure.

I went in about noon on Wednesday and by 3 pm I had not heard back. So I called. The lady said, "The test result is positive." I held my breath for a minute and then said, "That's a good thing!" She laughed. I had to ask what I do now...because I'm new to all this. After we talked a few more minutes I hung up the phone, then called Nik and told him YES! Then I started crying! (This was probably not the wisest decision for me to find out while I was at work). I remember Nik saying "Good" a couple of times. I told him I was really excited, and he said he was too!

I honestly did not know how Nik was going to react...I knew he would not be upset, but I did not know how excited he would actually be! Turns out - he is pretty stinking excited! We are both extremely happy!

Over the next few days we talked about all kinds of important things....like where to put Nik's weight set and my sewing machine now that the weight/sewing room was turning into a nursery! By the way, Nik's first suggestion was to leave it in the nursery...ummm...No! We also talked about when/how to share the news with our families. There was a lot we did not discuss - just because we had not yet talked to the doctor, and we didn't quite know our due date.

Nik started calling me 'Preggo' every chance he got, so I started refering to him as my "Baby-Daddy!"

Over the next few days we started trying to get used to the idea that we were going to be parents. Crazy. It was kinda surreal.

More of the Pregnancy Story to come - including how we told our families and the first pregnancy shot of my (non-existent) baby-belly!

Three Things

What a wonderful Thanksgivivg we had! We were able to spend a few days at my grandmas with most of my family. There were 11 of us total. And oh my, we laughed a lot!

The last couple of days really consisted of three things:

1 - Eating - oh yes we did! There was great food as always, but the highlight of the food this year was the pies. Guess how many pies we had? 10. 10 stinkin delicious pies! Remember how many people were there - 11. You do the math. Some of us ate our quota (Nik) and some did not (me - and it was a good thing!). A run down of the pies: Apple, Pecan, Apple-Pecan, 2 Chocolate, Coconut, Lemon, 2 Cherry O Cheese and Peanut Butter.

2 - Shopping - We survived another Black Friday (and Gray Thursday, according to my cousin)! We shopped at Wal-Mart Thursday. Left the house at 9:20pm for a Sonic run on the way. Got back home by 1am, in bed by 1:30. Out the door Friday morning at 3:30. Hit 4 more stores, breakfast in between and home by 8:30am. Back in bed by 9am. Later that evening Nik and I went out again to shop a little more.

3 - Sleeping - That is basically what I did if I was not eating or shopping. It was kind of sad, how much I slept. But I'm pregnant and that is what pregnant girls do, so I hear.

I will leave you with one picture. Only because that is the only picture I took. Sad, I know. But remember I ate and slept the whole time.

This is the women checking out all the ads before leaving Thursday night:

Yes, I Am!

I'm Pregnant!

Yes, you read that right (for those of you - mom - 

who thought this would never happen)!

Nik and I are super excited about this news.

We even made shirts to help spread the word!

I have lots to share from the past 9 weeks - so stay tuned!

Upheavel

Our home is in a bit of upheavel right now. We decided to re-do all of our flooring - replacing all the carpet with laminate, and all the linolium with tile. BIG project. For Nik. Not me. I'm pretty useless still.

Phase 1 - rip up all carpet and prep for flooring. I came home to Nik, in the middle of this on Tuesday  night. I had no idea he was going to start the project, but he did! So far, our 2 spare rooms, hallway and living room are just about ready. He promised to leave our bedroom alone until Sunday.

We have a plan of what flooring we are purchasing and will do so on Saturday. Unless we find a better deal elsewhere on Black Friday...you never know!

Phase 2 - Monday starts the phase of actually laying the floor. Thankfully, Nik will have some help from our Pastor!

Phase 3 - Put everything back in order!

Phase 4 - Tile. Wait until we save more money.

My husband is awesome and I'm so thankful he can and is willing to do all the work by himself!

Ding Dong Ditch

Sunday night after PM service, the Youth Group participated in Ding Dong Ditch.

Ding Dong Ditch is just what it sounds like - the teens ring the doorbell (or knock loudly) and then run away and hide. But the catch is that they leave a basket full of food in front of their door!

This is an event that Nik puts together every year at the church. Weeks in advance he asks our church members to begin bringing food to fill a number of Thanksgiving baskets (this year he did 11). These baskets are put together by the teens with food items to make a Thanksgiving meal.

Nik asks around to other church members and people in the community to find families that are in need of such a basket.

The teens have the best time together running around in the dark through neighborhoods and apartment complexes planning their ding-dong and ditch strategies. Many of them find a hiding place so they can see the people open their door and find the food.

This is a very humbling and touching time for our teens. It is a pretty easy thing for our church to do, but the impact of this small gift is great. And the lesson of how to be the hands and feet of Jesus that our teens take away with them is most important.

Every year memories are made at this event and we had the best turn out yet, with 15 teens! They only got chased by a dog once, and fell down a couple of times!

The local paper found out about this event and even did a short write-up on it!

I hope your Thanksgiving is good. I hope that you are grateful. Each year, I know that I become more thankful and aware of the blessings I have.

What I Have Learned

The following are some lessons that I have learned on my broken-hand-journey:

*  I am grateful for every single one of my body parts.

*  It is okay to ask for help.

*  People can surprise you with how competent they really are when you don't automatically do everything!

*  It is alright to say "No" when being asked to do more than you can handle.

*  Your body works in amazing ways - especially how it compensates for limbs that don't do their job.

*  How to drive (and work) pretty well one-handed.

*  That if you are really slow doing something - your husband will probably help you do it.

*  That it is ok to do things a little slower and on your own - just to know that you can.

So are you tired of reading about my broken hand yet? I'm sure you are. Maybe I can try to come up with some better blog material...

Have you been wondering about Nik lately and what he is up to? Well, he has been busy taking care of me. And Upward. And sick for about 24 hours after having a tooth pulled. It was bad. He was helpless and pathetic. Thankfully, he is better now.

Here's to hoping for better blog posts....!

My New Cast

Well, my cast is off! I thank God for the healing that has taken place in my hand. But I still have a ways to go. I have to be in an air cast for at least 4 more weeks. I can (thankfully) take it off about 4 times a day (including shower time) to work on some exercises. The goal is to be able to make a full fist by the time I go back to the doctor. Currently, I can barely move any fingers!

Here's a new pic of my cast since I know you are just dying to see it!

My hand is feeling pretty good, although the first day it really hurt. I have been trying to do more things - I washed about 10 dishes (I'm slow and made a mess), I fixed a Salad with stuff in it (again, super slow cutting with my left hand), and I cooked Red Beans and Rice (I was trying to stir and hold the lid - apparently too much for me, because I dropped the spoon and it splattered everywhere) and it turned out good.

Even through the frustrations...I am grateful my hand is healing and that it was not a whole lot worse!

My Mother-in-Law

Today is Kay's Birthday!

Happy birthday to a wonderful lady! Hope that your day is filled with many good things - you deserve it!

In other News...

Nik was asked to give the invocation Friday at a city gathering. The gathering was put on by Keep Temple Beautiful. The director and Nik have a great relationship - Nik and our church have helped them many times in the past. But the most important thing about this is what I got out of it: A new bag filled with goodies! Nik knows how to please his woman!

I am seriously considering making my own Laundry Detergent. I have found a really great recipe for this and I can make a batch for around $10.00. The great thing about it is though... that batch will last me about a year! Once I find the time to do it, I'll let you know!

I finally go back to the ortho doctor about my hand Tuesday. Pray with me for complete healing. Besides, if the doctor tells me he has to cast it again - me and him are going to have to have words. Not nice words! I have even been dreaming about using my right again. Seriously, I dreamed Thursday night about washing my hair with two hands! If that is not a sign that it is time for the cast to come off, I'm not sure what is!

We have cleaned out closets to see what we can give to a local clothing place that is in need of clothes. Especially men's dress clothes. Check - we have those!

As we were cleaning out closets, I came across these:

Bags and bags, and bags in bags! Seriously, how many bags can, should a person have? Well, we also made a trip to goodwill with some clothes and bags!

That's all the news for now...!

Wedding Weekend

The (long-time-coming) wedding of Ryan and Anna finally happened - and what a weekend it was!

Nik and I pulled into Texarkana about 1am Thursday morning. Nik got to rest for a few hours, then he and Ryan drove to Dallas to meet up with Chris for a man-day. Their man-day included Twisted Root, and Top Golf (what else?!).

Nik, Ryan and Chris

Kay, Anna and I ran errands and helped get the church ready for the Rehearsal and the Wedding.

Friday was much the same as Thursday....errands and finishing up last minute details! Friday night we attended the Rehearsal Dinner and then rehearsed the wedding. Here are a few pics from that night:

Ryan and Anna

Groom's Men - Jordan, Nathan and Nik

Rehearsal Dinner

Anna and her dad

The Groom's Party

Side note - funny story: When Nik's family showed up to the rehearsal dinner they came over to me and handed me a gift. I was a little nervous about it because of the looks on their faces... Guess what it was? A pair of Training Wheels for my bike! Ha! They said they thought of me when they saw them and had to get them for me so I wouldn't fall off my bike anymore! Thanks!

Aunt Melody and I

After the rehearsal a few of us went bowling with Ryan, Anna and their kiddos. It was really fun, especially with me, trying to bowl left handed! Just for the record - I bowl just about as good left handed as I do right handed!

Anna and Ryan

Nik and I

Saturday was the big day!

Ryan, the morning of the big day! 

Caleb wanted to take a picture of me - so this is the 'before' pic
Hair a mess and no make up

Nik and I met up with our good friends, Chris and Kylee for lunch before we went to the church to start getting ready. We like to take every chance we get to see them!

Here's some pics of us before the wedding:

Anna, getting her hair done. 

 Kylee and I (the after picture)
Thanks so much, Kylee for helping me get ready!

Helping Anna with her dress and veil

In the Brides room, waiting for the ceremony to begin 

Nik and I all spruced up

 

The Wedding Ceremony!

This is what you get when you let Chris and Kylee have your camera (plus a few others)!

The Wedding and Reception was beautiful! We had a great time and I am so excited for Ryan and Anna! After the Wedding, we went back to the house to unwind and crash - we were all exhausted.

Sunday, we attended Nik's parents church. Then we went out to eat and napped the afternoon away. Well, I did anyways. I think Nik and his dad dozed through a special on TV about snakes....good thing Nik did not have any nightmares that night!

Monday we headed home and on the way, met up with my mom, Scotty, Jennifer and Christian for lunch in Dallas. It was really nice to get to see them. We will see them in a few weeks for Thanksgiving, but any little visits we can fit in are always great!

What a wonderful weekend we had celebrating Ryan and Anna's new life together!

Golden Anniversary

Today is Nik and I's Anniversary! And not just any Anniversary...but our Golden Anniversary! Guess what we are doing today? Nothing out of the ordinary - work and church, our typical Wednesday.

I do have to give credit to Nik - he did invite me out to lunch today, but I declined. I told him I would rather go out Saturday when we could take our time and enjoy each others company. Besides, he is super swamped today putting together all the Upward Basketball teams, practice times/nights, and game times. It is a lot of work to pull it all together and it has to be done by tomorrow....so probably after church tonight...that is what we will be working on!

We typically do not give gifts on our anniversary, sometimes we do cards (most years we don't), I do receive flowers sometimes (although they also come for no occasion at all), and we are not normally 'fancy' or 'romantic'. And I love our anniversary and my cutie husband even more with each passing year.

It is not the 'stuff' that makes me still get butterflies in my tummy, it is the way Nik loves me. The way he pulls me in for a tight bear-hug. The way he knows how to calm me down when I get upset or stressed. And the way he tolerates (and helps me complete) my lists of to-do's on the day we are supposed to be lazy and do nothing. It's the way he tucks me in each night at bed time, and knows how I like everything arranged before I can go to sleep. How he forgives me time and time again when I'm being too bossy, but also how he accepts and loves me, even though I am bossy. There are many reasons I love Nik and I can honestly say that the list grows each year!

And he has been super-duper-cutie-husband these last 4 weeks helping me with all the household chores and doing way more than I ever expected or needed while I have my cast on!

Happy Anniversary, honey. I wouldn't trade our nine years of marriage for anything - and I can't wait for the next nine!

Terrible Blogger!

I know...I have been a terrible blogger! Along with my broken hand, we were out of town for 5 days and now that I'm back, I have not been feeling real well. So - those are my excuses for being a bad blogger.

I do have many things to blog about....so hopefully, before the week is over I will get caught back up!