The Birthday Suprise(s)

So moving backwards a bit, before that nasty hospital adventure, we revealed to San Diego friends that I was pregnant by having them over for my birthday celebration/to watch the Chargers game.  I wore the tshirt that said "Future Charger" on the belly (see previous blog) and people picked up on it fairly quickly, some walked right by and I had to point it out to them.  Since I thought it would be fun to play a game and tell everybody the date and how I was feeling all togetherer and not the same story 20 times over, as people arrived I handed them little cards to have them fill out their best guess of our EDD (estimated due date).  For the most part everybody was within a few weeks and two people were within a day, so that called for a tie-breaker :)  CONGRATS to Ben who won a Chargers blanket as his prize (although he is a die hard Steelers fan so that might end up as a Christmas white elephant gift, haha) and Mike who was runner up!

It was lots of fun FINALLY sharing the news with everybody and getting LOTS of advice!

So that was the first surprise of the day, next surprise was on me!  Tim handed me a gift and it was the case to the Lion King (I did actually ask for the movie for my birthday) and inside the case was the CD manual for a new Jeep Cherokee that was waiting outside for me!!!  It felt like I was in the middle of a Christmas commercial, there was even balloons on it but they blew off right before I got outside .  So we are all set with our "family mobile" - YAY!!! Here is a pic of the purty new car...

Back in action!

Phew...I am thankful to have my health back and able to enjoy this pregnancy journey once again!  As most of you know after a week of pain I was diagnosed with appendicitis and admitted the the hospital on October 20th where I stayed for 8 LONG days as they brought down the inflammation of my appendix.  Since it did not rupture and was only VERY inflamed they decided to treat it by bringing down the inflammation and go in and remove it following delivery to avoid complications during pregnancy.  My last MRI showed significant reduction in the size of the appendix inflammation and doc says that there is such a small percent of chance that it will inflame again before I give birth and I am confident in what he says, so I will follow doctors orders.

I will spare all the gruesome details of the most expensive impromptu stay-cation I have ever had ;) But I will say it was not fun and I certainly hope giving birth is easier than that (a girl can dream right??).  Blood draws every day, different meds until they find the right cocombination, close to non-existent sleep on an uncomfortable bed, hospital food, MRI's, nurses every 4 hours taking BP and temp., IV meds for two weeks at home following my departure from the hospital, feeling like I lost 3 weeks of my life, and everything else I am trying to forget about = NOT FUN! Thankfully they did take the baby's heartbeat everyday to make sure everything was normal and not causing any stress on the baby, those were the best parts of the day.

What I do want to say is a HUGE thank you to all my friends and family who came to visit, sent flowers, sent their love, thoughts, and prayers my way...you all helped get me on the road to recovery and get me through all those long and painful days.  And to my amazing Tim who was there everyday and juggled work, meetings, events, taking care of our little Zara to make sure that I was taken care of and held my hand through it all without skipping a beat - THANK YOU ALL, I love you!!!

Now onto the fun baby updates!!! :)

MIA

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently, as most of you know I've been in a bit of pain. After a week of right side ab pain I was admitted to the hospital Thursday for appendicitis. Always been very healthy and I guess I didn't "knock on wood enough" when I said that.

Baby's heartbeat is monitored daily and is strong and consistent. I'm hooked up to IV meds to hopefully bring the inflammation around appendix down before they decide next plan of attack.

Will be back soon for more fun uplifting posts, I promise!! XO

BPM

To Tim this means how fast a songs beats are :)  BUT it has another meaning too...On 9/30/11 we went for the Nucheal Translucency screening to determine the risks of Downs Syndrome.  They compare the measurements of the baby with my blood results and plug it into some geometry formula to come up with my risk.  I have a 1 in 2,000 chance, which according to the doctor compares to a teenager so we are in good shape!    Baby's heart was beating at 150 bpm, which is right on target!  The baby jumped a few times and rolled over twice, so crazy that so much is developed and measuring at only 2.5 inches so far (the length of my thumb)!

We got to take some of the pictures home, this is the baby's 2nd photo shoot already ;) According to the first picture baby may be getting moms long legs haha;

The Reveal

My birthday falls a few day after I start my 2nd tri-mester, so it seemed like the perfect timing to combine my birthday celebration with the "I'm pregnant" reveal. I'm shocked I was able to hold it in thus far and am anxiously awaiting telling our friends!!!

I sent my friends back east a card noting this on the inside;

That should lead them to this blog and get all the surprising news :) For our local friends that are able to stop by on Sunday for my "birthday get together"/ Sunday Funday to watch the Charger game, I purchased this shirt to wear;

EXCEPT this shirt was SUPPOSED to read the same thing as the "coordinating" onesie that comes with it ...Future Chargers FAN!  Idiots!  They didn't send it wrong just ONCE this is the 2nd one I received.  So the online picture shows exactly the same logo as the onesie and the description of what your ordering matches the picture, so what is the problem??  Both times the maternity t-shirt only says Future Charger (AS IF WE KNOW IF WE ARE HAVING A BOY OR A GIRL YET AND IF HE/SHE WILL EVEN WANT TO PLAY FOOTBALL?! Girls don't even play football so that doesn't make any sense!) Of course I receive it two days later than I was supposed to (it was supposed to go 3 day UPS and obviously was sent ground) and at the last possible hour and the correct one cannot be sent overnight since they are on the east coast and get here on time for this weekend!  WAAAAAAHHHHHH!  They got MORE than an earful from me and after hearing all we can do is refund you about 7-10 times and they are sorry and me telling them how ridiculous and careless their company and employees are, the conversation ended with some not so nice words on my part and CLICK! Don't mess with a pregnant lady from NY (via San Diego)- GEESH!

As if it wasn't already going to be a kind of inconspicuous reveal, it will probably make even less sense now!!We'll see how many people even notice what it says :) I can't wait until Sunday!!!!

Bump?

Not so much yet...just a little bloated belly and you can disregard the back fat :(

10 weeks along, I plan to take progress pics every 5 weeks. BTW..I just finally inserted this picture and am now 28 weeks along, and I thought I had a fat stomach then!?!?

The Nose Knows

If there is one pregnancy symptom I have had above all it is my sense of smell!!  I have come across very few things in the last three months that make me go, "oh that smells nice"...Even if it smells nice about 10 minutes later I will think it's gross and I can't get the smell out of my nose :(  GROSS!! 

Very few foods seem appetizing to me due to this "symptom".  I thankfully have not had the oh so dreaded "morning" sickness (fingers crossed I am in the clear) - I only had one morning of visiting the porcelain god, again - GROSS, but if that's all I get, I'll take it!!!  I am so thankful as I know so many friends that spend their first trimester in the bathroom! :(  I have had alot of watery mouth feeling but once I eat I feel much better. 

So what am I eating?? BLAND BLAND AND MORE BLAND....toast, sandwiches, pasta, bagels, bagels, oh and more bagels with peanut butter, butter or cream cheese, in fact had a melt down at the grocery store with Tim the other day because he asked me if all I was going to eat for the next few months was bagels - through my tears I rationalized that if that is what tastes good to me then I should be able to eat it!! I have always been known to like my carbs but we (I) have been going through a lot over here.  On a good note, I haven't gained more than a pound so far!

Anything Asian or with spice I have not even wanted to go near, the sound of it has made my stomach turn.  Today was the first day I was able to go for Thai food with Tim and I had lettuce wraps (probably the blandest thing on the menu :)).

The other symptom that has literally put me down during the first tri-mester is fatigue.  I have never been one to take naps and for a few weeks I couldn't make it past 3:00 PM without needing a break, Zara LOVED these afternoon naps with me.  I also used to be the one to stay up until 11 or 12 watching my "crap" (as Tim calls them) reality TV recorded shows and I'm lucky to see 10 PM on the clock nowadays!

As I come to the end of my 12th week, I am starting to feel all symptoms ease up and I am looking forward to heading into the 2nd tri-mester!