11 weeks!

I truely hope the rest of this pregnancy goes as fast as the 1st trimester has gone. When I first got my BFP at around 4-ish weeks it seemed like forever until then end of my first trimester, and here I am, nearing the end of it. Sunshine is now the size of a lime! We made the big announcement this week. A lot of people, that we see face to face often, already knew. But we made it "Facebook official" this week. It was weird doing it earlier that we had planned,  I always said I would wait until 12 weeks but I knew we were going to be ratted out before then! And I really wanted to be the one to share our news that we have waited so long to share.

So Sunday we did our announcement pics and I could not be any happier with how they turned out! I may have cried while looking through them.. This is what we put together for our announcement. Though I am not an overly religious person the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel really stuck with me throughout the last year or so of our journey. So I decided to use the slightly cliche' verse because so say that I did not pray every night for  this baby would be a total lie. 

I continue to pray for this baby to grow and develop and make a safe entrance (and natural entrance) into this world in about 29 weeks. I pray that somehow this little being knows how much it is loved and wanted already.

How far along? 11 weeks - 11 weeks 2 days. Somewhere in that range!

How big is baby? size of a lime
How I'm feeling? Okay, not great. But not bad either. Except for a few reenactments of the 'pea soup' scene of The Excorist a times this week! 
Weight Gain? still at about 4 or 5 lbs.
How I'm changing? not much. i notice a difference, but it's probably all bloat.
Symptoms? Emotional, Nauseated, & Tired   
Cravings?Mashed Potatoes 
Highlights from the past week: see our Sunshine on u/s and making the big announcement! :)

In awe.

We got to see our little sunshine today! I am in awe of the entire day, it definitely ranks in the top 3 best days of my life!

To start the day off I had a meeting with a potential client about a birth session, I love these meetings because each mom has a unique story and I just love meeting these mommas-to-be! This mom had a story that hit close to home for me. She was young, only in her early 30s but her and her husband had been trying TTC for the better part of 14 years! After doing everything possible, including IVF, they got a surprise BFP (naturally)! I was choking back tears through the entire meeting and left in awe of this woman's strength! I know 2 years what hard enough, but compared to 14 it seems like a cake walk!

After that I came home and did some work while I waited on Eric to get home (not before making a scene by throwing up in the flower bed in my front yard! lol). Eric made it home about lunch time and fixed him some left overs, I was still a little nauseated from my episode in the front yard, plus my nerves were starting to kick in so I decided not to eat, a decision that I would later regret.  Anyway, We left the house a little before one so that we could run a few errands before the appointment.  I stopped at Sonic and waited 15 mins for a route 44 ice water so that I could have a full bladder for the ultrasound. I was told to drink 32oz but I end up drinking the entire drink, which is when I started to regret not eating, an empty belly full of water, no bueno.

 We arrived at the office a little before two, I filled out my paperwork and tried to wait patiently but by 2:10 i'm pretty sure all 44 oz of water had made it's way to my bladder so I looked like a squirmy 2 year old doing a potty dance, i'm sure. Finally I got called back and warned the super nice tech that I A) hate people pressing on my stomach and B) was going to try my best not to pee on her table... I don't think she took me seriously. But she quickly discovered that I wasn't lying and that I was a difficult patient. She was having a hard time getting the angle she needed between me tensing up from being uncomfortable and also being tickled by the u/s wand. Finally she decided it would be best to call Becca to get and order for a vaginal u/s. After getting the OK from Becca, she managed to get a few measurements and the heartbeat  off the normal u/s before pulling out the "vagina-cam".  We didn't get to hear the heartbeat, though she didn't say why, but she said it was a strong 179 bpm! Once she started the vag u/s we could see the baby right away. We got to see his or her little face, arms, legs and even some fingers and toes. Then we saw the heartbeat, it was the most amazing (and comforting) thing that I have ever seen, a perfect little heartbeat just flickering away. It was a complete surreal moment seeing 'sunshine' squirming around on the monitor, and knowing that he(or she) is growing inside of me. Though it was an amazing moment for me seeing the baby that we have hoped and prayed for for two years, Eric had never seen a live u/s before and I could tell that he was completely amazed by it. Also I am measuring at about 10 weeks 3 days, which puts my "Guess date" October 8th.

Oh and if you are wondering, I have been referring to the baby as 'sunshine' because since I found out I was pregnant the song "Here Comes the Sun" has been stuck in my head and I find the lyrics applicable, so until we can actually call the baby by a gender specific name, I will call the baby Sunshine.. it sounds so much better that "the baby" or "it".

So introducing our little Sunshine :) "Due" October 8th. I am in complete awe of this tiny person inside me.

After the u/s Eric and I had a late lunch and did some maternity pants shopping. My pants are starting to severely cut in to me, so I decided some nice comfy maternity pants to stretch over my bloat would be good! :) Also, since all went well we decided that we are going to announce sometime with in the next few days after we can get our announcement pic done. It's about a week earlier than what we had planned but I think if we don't some one is going to blab our news before we get to. 

You are my sunshine :)

My sweet little sunshine,

I still can't believe you are on your way. I think it is finally starting to sink in that I have a little life growing in me, it's a weird feeling. It's a feeling that is completely impossible to explain, it's amazing and odd, weird and fascinating all at the same time. A feeling that, if you are a girl, I pray that you will get to experience one day. I just want you to know how much your daddy and I already love you,  your grandparents, aunties, uncles, and nanny do too! I can't wait to see you on the ultrasound tomorrow afternoon, I am excited to see and hear your little heart beat. It's a moment that I have been waiting for a very long time, so I will probably cry. I know you are just a little "prune" right now but I hope you somehow already know how much you are loved, cherished, and wanted. Your daddy is still trying to play it cool and not show how excited he is, but you will learn that he is really a big softy, he is OVER THE MOON with excitement.

I just can't stop thinking about you and having so many hopes and dreams for you. 

I hope that you always always feel loved and know that we loved you and sacrificed for you before you were even conceived.

I hope you always do what makes you happy.

I hope you know that you can always come home, no matter what, we will love you and take care of you. 

I hope you learn to stand up for what is right and defend those who cannot defend themselves.

I hope you have a soft heart, like me, and feel obligated to help every homeless person that you can (in safe ways)

I hope you aren't scared by set backs and hurdles, never give up on your dreams, ever!,

I hope I can teach you to love the earth & protect it. Do what you can to make the earth a better and cleaner place.

and most of all I pray that you learn to know and love God, I don't care what label you put on it.. but I hope you can look at the beauty in the world around you and see that there is something bigger and greater than yourself. Something amazing that created this world around us, that put the starts in the sky and the birds in the trees and that in one of the hardest times in my life, gave you to me.

Know that every night for the last 2 years, I have been praying for you and every day since I found out you were on your way, I have be praising and thanking God for you and I though I'm sure in 2 or so years you will be testing my patience, I will not stop thanking God for you until the day that  I die.

I can't wait to meet you sunshine, but  you have to stay put for 30 more weeks :). 

Love, Momee <3

1/4 done!

Wow! I am now officially 10(ish) weeks pregnant! 30 more weeks to but on a positive note that means I'm 1/4 done!! lol!(got to celebrate the little victories, right!?) Week 9 seemed to go by very quickly, that could be because between my hormone-induced fatigue and a pretty wicked sinus infection/ cold something-or-another that I had.. I think I slept 90% of the week away. I stayed nauseated throughout the week but I don't know how much of that was pregnancy and how much was sinus drainage (i know, ew!) and I will say this week I has a borderline stereotypical  weepy pregnant lady. So many things made me tear up and a few things actually made me cry, silly things like heartwarming stories or pictures and the end of the movie Gran Torino.

So this week is looking busy busy, but exciting too! I have a few photo shoots to do along with a meeting with a possible birth session client!!and somewhere in there I have a BIRTHday session momma that is due to go into labor anytime now! I have a few other sessions I'm trying to put off so I don't exhaust myself! Also Thursday I have my first ultrasound!! I'm so excited but ridiculously nervous too! I'm so excited to see our little one growing and see and her his or hear little heart beating! I know, more than likely everything will be fine, and I'm trying to be positive and not worry about the "what ifs", I know if I focus on every "what if" possible i'm not going to be able to enjoy this pregnancy at all.

So let's do some weekly stats for funsies! (thanks to my friend over at A New Journey, who I totally stole these from)
How far along? 10 weeks
How big is baby? The size of a prune (about 1.2 inches)
How I'm feeling? Still a little sick, also excited to see our bebe on u/s Thursday!
Weight Gain? YoYo-ing up and down 5lbs, I'm guessing due to bloat.
How I'm changing?Pants are getting tighter, and that's about it. 
Symptoms? Emotional, Nauseated (possibly not PG related though)  , & Tired   
Cravings?Nothing really this week
Highlights from the past week: rediscovering my love of peppermint tea. :) 

So Peace and Love for now y'all! I'll try to remember/ find time to update after our u/s!

Week 8 in review.

Today I am 9 weeks and for the most part last week was pretty uneventful. Our baby was the size of a raspberry, I had pretty constant nausea,extreme fatigue, and a craving for toast and jelly. But overall things were fine. All my 'symptoms' are manageable and I'm very thankful to be having them, it's a nice reassurance that our little one is growing and after 2 years of infertility and wishing for nothing more than to be pregnant, I am thankful to be experiencing something that many women will never get to.

While most of the week was uneventful, I did have my first prenatal appointment with my midwife yesterday. I am so thrilled to have found a midwife that both Eric and I LOVE and that is confident in my ability to give birth the way we want. I am also in love with the fact that Eric completely trusts my judgement and desire to have a natural birth. Most of the visit was just boring paperwork/ medical history etc. But then she checked to see if we could hear a heartbeat with her Doppler. She assured me before we started that she may not be able to find it, sometimes it can't be pick up on a Doppler this early (which i knew from extensive Googleing the night before). Well she didn't pick up much, but she heard about 4 beats before she lost it and couldn't find it again. I was bummed that I wasn't able to hear it, but knowing that she heard one made me relax just a  little. But I will be going for an ultrasound soon, either late this week or probably early next week so that they can get more accurate dating, since i'm not entirely sure when I Oed. I can't wait to see our little "olive" and Becca (our midwife) told me that the u/s tech should let me hear the heartbeat then, since it will be picked up better with the u/s. If not or if I just wanted to hear it again, she told me to stop by in 2 weeks because we should be able to hear it clearly by then. :)

So now I am 9 weeks and the baby is the size of a medium olive, and according to my Fertility Friend updates is no longer an embryo but has 'graduated' to being a fetus!! 4 weeks left until my second trimester!!

I'll update after we get to see the little "olive" next week!!