"C" is for Child

After months of waiting, John and I are happy to announce that Baby "C" is on the way!  He/she is set to make his/her debut in April.  Since I haven't written anything on the blog about expecting until I could tell my bosses, I thought I would fill you in on what's really been going on since August.

Week 4 (Aug 1-7)
I found out I was pregnant on August 6!  The standard "40 week" calendar you hear about for pregnancy doesn't start when you conceive or when you figure out you're pregnant, so I was pleasantly surprised that I already had 4 weeks down the day I found out.  I used this online calculator to get an estimate of how many weeks pregnant I was and when I would be due.  (The doctor confirmed my guesstimate during week 7.)

So the day I found out my friend, Lara, was coming to Tulsa for a wedding.  We were planning to go out that weekend starting with happy hour on Friday afternoon.  I had a small suspicion that I might be pregnant, so I did a quick at home test before heading out to meet Lara for drinks.  I was on the phone with my mom when I took the first test, and I almost came unglued when the result was positive.  I wanted to tell my mom in person, so I listened to her talk about who-knows-what while I took two more tests.  As soon as I finished talking to my mom, I called John and asked if he'd like to meet me for lunch.  He agreed, so it was a date.  I quickly got ready and realized I wasn't going to make it until noon with my little (big!) secret, so I moved our lunch date up to 11:30.  I took a quick pic of the positive test result, printed the pic, and found a cute card at the store.  I picked up John from the office and drove to Great Harvest Bread Company for lunch.  Before we went inside, I told him I had something for him.  He opened the card and immediately started rubbing his forehead like he was in deep thought.  Not the reaction I was looking for, but I guess it was pretty big news to break via card/photo.  He later told me that he'll never forget the look on my face when I confirmed that we were going to be parents.  Apparently I looked pretty happy.  It was an exciting moment, even if it was overwhelming.

We broke the news to our parents over the weekend.   It was quite an ordeal getting both of mine in the kitchen, but after an hour or so waiting for my dad to get back from the golf course and a trip in town with my mom, I finally managed to get them at the same place at the same time.  John and I bought a few baby things and gave them the bag to open.

Mom's first reaction

Second reaction

My dad was happy too!

Congratulations, Grams and Pops!

Next we called John's parents.  We asked them to setup their Skype account, so we could chat online.  We showed them the picture of the positive tests, and they were really excited to hear that their second grandchild was on the way! (John's sister, Lisa, gave birth to Rebekah Jane on Aug 28.)

Week 5 (Aug 8-14)
I left for Connecticut for work the week after we found out I was pregnant.  I was on my feet the entire time, so one night I went to bed at 6:30 and slept for 12 hours.  It was a loooooong week, but other than feeling tired, I felt great.

Week 6 (Aug 15-21)
A little online research told me morning sickness sets in as early as week 6.  Mine hit six weeks to the day, but it was more like afternoon sickness.  Ugh.  I was on the road again for work--this time in Texas.  Luckily we got out of training fairly early each day, and I was able to sneak in an evening nap before dinnertime.  Also, we were seated for the class, so I wasn't nearly as tired as the previous week.  The morning (afternoon) sickness was awful, but I made it through the week.

That weekend we met up with our good friends, Ben, Abby, Mike, Maria, and Chris for a little grilling, drinking, and Rock Band at Ben and Abby's house in Dallas.  I managed to fake drink cranberry vodkas the entire night, since no one was really paying attention to me in the kitchen mixing juice with ice.  I was really nervous about getting busted this weekend, but I wasn't showing, so I don't think anyone thought anything.

Week 7 (Aug 22-28)
We got to see the baby and hear the heartbeat!  What an exciting time.  The doctor said everything looked good and would see us again in four weeks.  She confirmed my April 11 due date too.

Week 8 (Aug 29 - Sept 4)
We met with a Bradley Method instructor here in Tulsa to discuss natural childbirth classes.  I was really interested in knowing more about the entire pregnancy and birthing process, but my pain tolerance on a scale of 1 to 10 is a -5.  I had this gut feeling (no pun intended) that I was setting myself up for failure thinking I could give birth with absolutely no pain medication, but I couldn't find any other comprehensive childbirth classes in Tulsa.  We'll see what happens when January rolls around and classes begin.

Week 9 (Sept 5-11)
We spent Labor Day weekend at Lake LBJ with John's parents and Aggie friends.  (See "C" is for Capsized.)  My nausea was touch and go, so I spent every minute I could relaxing on the couch or patio.

Kickball also started this week, so it was fun to see our Tulsa friends.  It was not fun to not drink and not say anything about Baby C.

Week 10 (Sept 12 - 18)

9 weeks

The little pooch that I thought was the result caving into my cravings has turned out to be the start of Baby C.  Eeeeeek!  Speaking of cravings, I had a few cravings during weeks 6 and 7 for lemon--lemon water, lemon chills, lemon anything.  Now the thought of lemon totally grosses me out, and chocolate sounds delicious again.   Yum.  Aside from the occasional Twix and Sonic burger, my diet was still pretty much the same: fruits and veggies, lean protein, and anything I could get my hands on that has fiber.

At this point, I was really starting to look forward to week 12 for two reasons:
1) We get to tell more family and friends the good news!
2)  The "morning" sickness is supposed to go away.
(Hurry up week 12!)

Week 11 (Sept 19-25)
We had our second doctor appointment and got to hear Baby C's healthy heartbeat again.  I only cried once during the appointment, and it was because the nurse got snippy with me.  Tip: Don't get snippy with a pregnant lady.  She will bite your head off or cry.  Neither option is pleasant.  This was strike two at the doctor's office.  The first strike was due to the fact that the doctor I use contracts with a lab that doesn't take my insurance.  I got a $250 lesson in how to demand where your lab specimens are processed.  Let's hope that doesn't happen again.  (Update: insurance did cover this under maternity, but it was still a mess figuring out the system.)  I'm considering changing physcians, mainly so I can have the baby at St. Francis instead of St. John's.  I just hate to rock the boat, so the plan for now is to stick it out with my current physician, especially since she's known me for more than 10 years and has done absolutely nothing wrong.

Week 12 (Sept 26 - Oct 2)
I felt normal again!! Okay, well...as normal as I get.  The nausea became a thing of the past, my diet was totally back to normal (craving healthy foods!), and I actually did a little jogging.  And by a little I mean like 10 minutes, but the fact that I even felt like jogging was invigorating.  Our dog, Zach, has become my little walking/jogging buddy, and I really enjoyed taking him out because he doesn't need a leash.  We knocked out 2 miles in the gorgeous 70-degree weather.

This week was also nice because we told the rest of our family and friends the good news, and somehow Baby C seemed more real.  (As if the nausea wasn't enough to convince me...)  Next stop was to tell the bosses, but I didn't have travel plans to DC until later in October.  I figured the only way they'd find out would be through co-workers on Facebook or reading my blog, so Baby C's arrival announcement was scheduled to debut on the interwebz during week 15.  Hurry up week 15!

Week 13 (Oct 3 - 9)

This past weekend was a lot of fun.  We went to a shower for Ben and Abby and got to hang out with our Dallas friends.  They were really excited to hear our good news, especially the part where I volunteered to be the designated driver for the shower and two upcoming weddings.

Enjoying Ben and Abby's shower

Week 14 (Oct 10-16)

13 weeks

I've been crazy busy with work gearing up for a big public meeting in DC next week, so my brain is done, and it's only Wednesday.  I'll leave you with last week's belly bump picture.

Week 15 (Oct 17-23)
I just told my boss this morning and posted the announcement to Facebook.  It's so exciting to be able to share our good news with the world!

Stay tuned for more Baby "C" updates!

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