and then there were 3

our lives are about to change in the best way next april (the 1st to be exact). today as i write this i am 12 weeks, 4 days pregnant with our first little one and finally ready to share the news with the blog world. i could not be happier. can we back up a bit? below are some posts i have written since finding out about our baby back in july. enjoy...

thursday, july 22

i awoke this morning at 6:20 am to get ready for work and finish packing for my friend dani’s wedding in duluth. although i wasn't feeling any symptoms and almost decided to just skip taking a pregnancy test all together, i decided i probably should before this weekend of celebration…just in case. i peed on the stick (you're welcome for that visual), set it on the counter, and went to the kitchen to put away some dishes in an attempt to distract myself for 3 (long!) minutes. i glanced at the clock...6:27 am...and decided to go back in and take a peek, expecting to see what i’ve seen countless times before: one lonely little line. then i'd quickly throw that expensive stick in the garbage, try my hardest to not feel discouraged, and move on.i couldn’t believe my eyes when i saw two lines staring back at me. i immediately placed my hand on my stomach. could it be? this whole process finally worked and there is a tiny life growing inside of me? i immediately felt overwhelmed and my mind started racing. there is no way to prepare yourself for that first feeling, that first knowing that you are going to have a baby. i think i stood there for about 5 minutes, just staring at the tests. 

 i heard thatcher come down the stairs…he sees my expression and says, “what?” (let me just say, i have NO idea how any woman can possibly keep it a secret from her husband for more than 5 minutes and come up with a fun way to tell him – impossible, I tell you!) my version went more like this: “holy crap! I think it actually worked...look!” shoving the test in his face. he verifies that I’m not seeing things and gives me a huge hug. i can tell from his face he is feeling the exact same way I did about 5 minutes ago. excited, but scared! thoughts started racing through my mind: have i made healthy choices in the last few weeks? how am I going to get through a wedding this weekend without being captain obvious by not drinking?! when will this baby be born? (march? april?) so many thoughts! but one thought overpowered the rest...thankfulness. thatcher and i made a baby, our baby, and although this baby has hardly made its presence known, I’m already head over heels in love with our child.

i must be excited if i'm posting a 6:30 am sans shower, sans make up pic on the internet!

tuesday, july 27th

well, it's been 5 days since i learned i'm going to be a mom and i still don't think it has really hit me yet. part of the reason is that i'm feeling almost no symptoms. well, the day i found out, i started to feel some cramping, but that's about it. i know, i know, i should be thankful that i'm not running to the toilet (yet?), but it would be nice to actually feel pregnant. ya know? i made it through the wedding weekend without letting on my current state :) (as far as i know!) i'll admit it was hard not to drink anything all weekend, not because i'm that obsessed with alcohol, but because it's a wedding and people give you funny looks if you aren't drinking, especially if you are in the wedding. lets just say i got a lot of funny looks, which stressed me out. but alas, i survived! the other strange thing about this pregnancy is...i don't know exactly how far along i am. 5 weeks? 6 weeks? i can thank my body and it's irregular cycles for making it more complicated than just counting the weeks since my last period. i guess i'll have to wait until my first appointment on august 20th to find out. little baby, i know you are no bigger than a grain of rice right now, but i hope and pray you are growing strong and healthy in there. we love you!

friday, july 30th

we've made it a week (and a day!) since finding out. i swear, if my whole pregnancy goes this slowly, it's going to be torture. last night i finally started feeling a little funny. not pukey or anything, but just generally uncomfortable. who knew feeling uncomfortable would be so comforting? :) i took my friend liz out for dinner for her birthday (hey, baby? liz is going to be like an aunt to you! you'll love her, i promise!) and it was so hard not to tell her. for now we are sticking to our plan of waiting at least until after our first doctor appointment to tell people (including our parents), so we can make sure everything is going okay in there. let me tell you, i can't wait until it's out in the open! i feel like i've known for a year. in other news, i noticed liz's sister had some facebook status updates about feeling tired and "ishy." i just knew she had to be pregnant (what can i say? it's on my radar these days). liz confirmed, saying she's 5 weeks along, but they aren't telling people yet. how crazy would it be if we were due the same week? it's very possible! also - it's my nephew jack's 3rd birthday today! i'm excited for him to have a new cousin next spring!

tuesday, august 3rd

i swear i'm not trying to be whiny or over dramatic, but can we talk for a second about the fact that my clothes are already getting too tight?! i mean, i can barely button many of my pants and most of my shirts are showing off this new found gut that i can't seem to suck in. i'm sort of afraid that people are starting to notice. the way i see it is that, either a.) i'm a lot farther along than i thought? although i would be shocked if i was more than 6 or 7 weeks, considering i got a negative test a week and a half before the positive one. or b.) i'm going to give birth to a 15 lb baby this spring. um, i'm sort of hoping for a! we've already started thinking of some fun ways to share the news with our parents...but you'll just have to wait to hear about that. i'm off to find the most "flowy" shirt in my closet to wear to our neighborhood block party this evening. (aka not this one) wish me luck!

a pic of me at 5ish weeks

sunday, august 8th

it's official...the nausea has arrived! thank god for tums and saltines! i should have known i wouldn't be one of the lucky few to escape it. i shouldn't complain, it hasn't been too bad so far. i feel yucky, but no puking or anything like that. i have to admit right now, it's comforting to have some normal symptoms. ask me in a few weeks if i still feel that way :) in other news, i made it through another wedding this weekend. (seriously this 1st trimester is bad timing for events that include alcohol). again, i don't mean to make such a big deal out of not drinking, but it's hard when you are someone who normally enjoys a couple drinks (especially at an event like a wedding) and all of a sudden you have to come up with with excuses for why you aren't drinking. (yesterday i "had a sore throat"). creative, huh? :) only 12 more days til i go to the doctor!

 a pic of me at 6ish weeks

wednesday, august 11th

today i peed every hour on the hour. i'm not joking. i could have actually gone more often than that, but i forced myself to wait 60 minutes between bathroom trips. welcome to the next 7 months of my life, right? :) 

monday, august 16th

just recording more symptoms, so i'll always remember this happy time in my life. no, i'm serious! :) let's see...i get up once every night around 3am to pee. which is manageable, but rumor has it i might be doing this 3-4 times a night in the coming months? i might as well just sleep in the bathtub! nausea hits me about an hour after waking up in the morning, lasts til about lunch. then i get a break for most of the afternoon, but it seems to return in the evening. still haven't come close to throwing up. thank god! that was one of my biggest fears about getting pregnant, especially throwing up at work. i'm tired pretty much all the time. last night i slept from 9:30pm - 6:45 am. felt like i had been hit by a bus when my alarm went off this morning. lovely. hung out with the bodells twice this weekend. it's getting harder and harder to keep this a secret. hopefully we'll feel confident enough to share the news next weekend. 4 more days til the 1st appointment! can't wait to find out how far along i am and if my baby still has a tail or paddles for arms. i'm not making either of those up :) 

a pic of me at 7ish weeks

thursday, august 19th

this morning i ate a bowl of cereal, a banana and a glass of orange juice around 7:30 like usual (hello 1st breakfast). by 9:00 at work, i was starving, so i ate my morning snack of yogurt that i usually try to reserve for later in the morning (hello 2nd breakfast). i'm not kidding, by 9:45 i was starving again!! we're talkin' stomach-growling-out-of-control-hunger. what the heck?! so i caved, went downstairs to the cafe/bakery in my building and got a chocolate chip scone (hello 3rd breakfast). it was so. good. i swear, if i can't make it til lunch after all that food, i have a serious problem. how can something so small inside me make me so hungry?! little baby, you are awesome! also, last night i was laying on the couch in all my nauseas glory and thatcher came home with a bouquet of sunflowers for me. he's such a good husband. and he's going to be such a great dad! can't wait for the appointment tomorrow!

are you still here? stay tuned tomorrow for the posts about our first appointment and telling our families the news!