Happy Birthday... to me!

Today is my 26th birthday and it hasn't been all that bad. Fatigue has decided to stick around for awhile and it is getting harder and harder to get up in the mornings... let alone stay up all day long! It makes the work and school schedule I've got going on a bit difficult.

I also found out yesterday that my short term disability request was denied based off of information found on my medical record. I am beyond furious! I will be calling to get more information and trying to appeal their decision. That is money that we are going to need with this pregnancy! I'm hoping that there was some erroneous information on my medical record that I can get updated and go for an appeal that way. It's just frustrating because it is extra work that I have to do and potential not-so-good news.

In good news... everything seems to still be going well with the pregnancy. We have started telling friends, but it is so hard to do in person with some people. I'm thinking I might have to break down and call them to tell them over the phone. It hasn't leaked on facebook yet, but I have a feeling it is just a matter of time. I still have no morning sickness... and that makes me one happy girl.

Well, after working for 1/2 a day, I now need to go write two papers before class tonight from 6-9pm. Ugh. Happy birthday?

P.S. My birthday gifts? A baby (hehe) and tickets to see the Wizard of Oz at the Orpheum. How sweet is that?

First (of many) doctor appointments!

So today was our first doctor appointment and it was full of family history and social environment questions. It sounds like we shouldn't (knock on wood) have much to worry about! We were informed that today we would have an ultrasound and that we will only have one more ultrasound throughout the pregnancy which will be between 18-20 weeks.

In our ultrasound we were able to see our baby. It kind of looks like a blob shape, but Mitch swears that if you look closely you can see the head and the arm and leg buds. We were also able to see the heart beating... just fluttering away. It was very exciting to see and it really made everything seem a bit more real.

We had a small scare during the ultrasound in which our nurse practitioner thought that she saw two heartbeats in the same sac. This is not a good thing as yes, it does mean twins, but it means that they are having to share nutrients and that typically one of them will not make it. So, she had Mitch take over the ultrasound while she went to go get an ultrasound technician to take a closer look. Thankfully, it was found that it is not another heartbeat, but the umblical cord pulsating with my heartbeat. We were very much relieved! (And now Mitch has a new skill to add to his resume-- ultrasound technician.)

When our nurse practitioner was doing the ultrasound she also measured the size of everything to give us a better idea of what age our baby is and it looks like it might be about a week behind what we were going off of. Instead of being 8 weeks, 2 days our baby is measuring at 7 weeks, 1 day. This would push our estimated delivery date to Nov. 4 instead of Oct. 27. However, it will not be changed officially until the 18-20 week ultrasound by actual radiology technicians that specialize in reading ultrasounds. Because we are measuring a week later, we changed our next appointment. Instead of going in on Apr. 16, we will be meeting with Dr. Cheng on Apr. 30 (where I will be 13-14 weeks along). At that appointment we will be able to actually hear the heartbeat (but not see our little one). Needless to say... we are quite excited!

So we have begun the process of informing extended family. Due to the technology era that we find ourselves in, we will probably be telling our friends sooner than we had previously planned. We are worried that a well-intentioned family member will post something on facebook and the news will be out before we have let our friends know. Obviously we would prefer to be the ones to tell them in our own way and we want to avoid any hurt feelings. When? We haven't quite gotten that one figured out, but probably within the next week.

Lutsen, MN

Apparently I experienced pregnancy brain on my last post as I completely forgot to mention my wonderfully relaxing mini-vacation to Lutsen, MN last weekend! It was breathtakingly beautiful and just what we needed.

The North Shore is a sight to see. It was my first time up there and I couldn't believe the scenary and the view of Lake Superior along the whole North Shore drive (about a two hour drive from Duluth to Lutsen). Once we got to our destination, Lutsen Resort, we checked in at the main lodge and then drove on over to our cabin where we were staying. Right behind our cabin was the Poplar River that flowed into Lake Superior which we could see from our cabin as well. The room had a huge king size bed with a fireplace right there. There is nothing more relaxing than falling asleep with the gas fireplace flickering away. Though we found the perfect temperature for ideal sleeping was to have the heat on low, fan on, one window open, and the fireplace going. Talk about something you would never do at home!

The massage was very relaxing for the both of us also. We were in the same room and it was a well-spent 90 minutes of massage. Afterwards we got to sit in a room together that overlooked Lake Superior.

The food there was fantastic. Expensive, but delicious as can be. I was also relatively able to make sure I was getting my fruits, vegetables, water, and milk intake each day also! However, I will say that there is nothing odder than to have your husband order a classic martini and then order chocolate milk for yourself!

All in all, the weekend came to a close much too quickly for us. On the drive back to the Twin Cities, we stopped in Two Harbors at Split Rock Lighthouse to see the sights and visit the museum. And I will say this about vacations: vacations are great, but it is also sure nice to get home also.

McNugget, McNugget what?

Well, I am 7 weeks pregnant today.

And still very, very excited about this new chapter in my life! Apparently Baby H. is now the size of a blueberry (yes, I do get those weekly emails) and growing in leaps and bounds. Luckily for me, pregnancy has been very easy as of yet. I haven't had any nausea and while I have been tired (more so this week then before), it hasn't been too invasive into my life so far. These are all good things to not experience!

What I have had are food aversions and cravings. My food aversions right now include sweets and candies... particularly chocolate. For some reason it doesn't taste good and I want nothing to do with sweets right now. I guess this is a healthy food aversion that will help me in the long run to not gain too much non-baby weight. Cravings though? We're talking bell peppers, savory foods, and... chicken mcnuggets. Yes, that is right. Chicken. McNuggets. From McDonalds. Seriously?

So Mitch enjoys singing the McNugget song to me. It goes something like this:

I'm into nuggets ya'll, I'm into nuggets ya'll
McNugget, McNugget what? McNugget, McNugget what?
Ketchup and Mayo, Ketchup and Mayo

Complete with hand motions also. I have a feeling that I am never going to live that craving down!

All in all though... it has been a fantastic pregnancy. I'm really looking forward to our first appointment at the doctors office in just 9 days. We'll be able to get an ultrasound and be able to see and hear our baby which I'm sure will be just absolutely amazing. We haven't quite decided the timelines of when we are going to let a lot of people know of our news, but I think after the first appointment we will be letting extended family know. We will probably wait to tell our friends until after the 2nd appointment when the 1st trimester is almost over. I will say that it is getting more and more difficult to keep such a wonderful thing a secret!

**Added note on 3/11/2010. So last night (on 3-10) I had a huge craving for Ro-Tel Cheese dip and Fritos. So today Mitch went and got ro-tel cheese dip for me and Fritos... except he got the itty bitty Frito chips instead of the scoops. So what did my hormonal pregnant self do? I had him run out to Cub to get the right Fritos. My-oh-my... hormones are weird. Of course I told him how much I loved him and how much I appreciate everything... and how I knew that I was being hormonal. How I do love that man.