Excited For Our Little Nugget!

As many of you may already know, Dan and I are expecting a baby come November 15!  We're pretty excited about this amazing adventure and we are both equally excited and terrified to be parents.  We found out in February that we were expecting and soon after we told our mommies who promptly squealed (yes squealed is the appropriate word for the sound that came out of their mouths) with delight.  We then swore them to secrecy which practically killed them.

Then began the 3+ month long battle with Morning Sickness and a bunch of other "wonderful" symptoms that can be found in the First Trimester of Pregnancy.  During this time, Dan was my rock.  I have no idea how I survived this period in my life because there were days that I could not even feed myself or get out of bed.  Also during this time, I was still a full-time Graduate student who had to attend classes, do group projects, homework, tests, papers, and my practicum at a local middle school.  Needless to say, I had to skip a few classes and make arrangements with my professors to make up work that I had missed.  I don't mean to sound super depressing about the first trimester (and some) but it was not as glamorous and stress-free as I originally thought it would be.  I lost ~20 pounds and even had to make a trip to the Emergency Room for some fluids.  The only thing that really helped me has been time.  We just started Week 18 and we believe that I'm finally starting to turn a corner.  Wohoo!

I would have started this blog sooner but my postings would have been primarily negative and graphic and I know that you wouldn't have liked that.  Also, since I lost ~20 pounds, I haven't been looking "pregnant" enough to justify putting up pictures of my belly.  So please be patient with me as I figure out this whole blog thing and work up enough courage to post my sad belly pics.  There are many benefits to being tall, but developing a nice-looking pregnancy belly early on isn't one of them.  Because I am tall, there is more room available for the baby to fill up which has caused my early pregnancy belly to look more like a pooch than an adorable belly.  Terrified that I wasn't developing correctly (every pregnant woman's nightmare) I asked my doctor if there is in fact a child in there and if I'm looking normal.  She assured me that yes, there is a baby in there and that the nugget and I are both developing on track and "normally".  What I really like about my doctor is the fact that she told me that I can feel free to add butter to whatever I want to!  Gah!!  She must have known about my love for dairy products because she said that I'm more than fine to eat milkshakes, butter, cheese, etc. in order to help put some poundage on me.  I think she and I will become close friends.  I already thought this because she is my normal gyno so on our first visit we got to be really close.  I think I might have made an awkward joke about her going to 3rd base with me....gyno humor obviously.

Anyways, I thought I would start this blog as a way to document Dan and my first child experiences.  I will include the good, bad, and the ugly. Well, I'll try to hold back most of the ugly.  This blog thing is easier to read than my handwriting so documenting my journey on paper wasn't really an option for me.  I'll try to put as many pictures up as I can.  So come and join Dan and I on our journey towards parenting.  We know it's not going to be easy but we're determined to have some fun while figuring this whole thing out.  We're so blessed to have such amazing friends and family who are so supportive and loving especially during this time.  I've seen God work in amazing ways during the first part of our pregnancy and I've been blown away by his love and grace everyday.  I cannot imagine what else He has in store not only for the remainder of this pregnancy but for the rest of Dan and my life together...all I know is that it will be nothing short of spectacular.  Thank you everyone for all your love, support, and prayers and we're excited to share our journey with you.