Easter Weekend Pregnant!

Well, for some reason, last Monday feels like ages ago! I can't even remember typing that last post! I had a couple days of reprieve last week from the pregnancy symptoms, however, they have returned. More tired than ever! Hoping this subsides in about 3 weeks when I reach the second trimester! I won't get my hopes up quite yet!
So here I am, at 9 weeks 3 days pregnant and this little baby is the size of, take your pick: A grape or a medium sized olive. It cracks me up that every size graduation of the fetus is related to food! Speaking of food- I am doing a pretty good job eating lately if I do say so myself! This weekend was a FEAST for me! It all started on Saturday night when we went to downtown Roswell at a spot called Roux. AMAZING food. I had half of a flatbread appetizer. Then I moved on to a veggie burger (topped with a fried green tomato) and sauteed veggies. After dinner, we stopped by Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt where I got a mix of cake batter and peanut butter yogurt topped with blueberries and pretzels. For those of you who have heard you aren't supposed to eat soft serve frozen yogurt while pregnant- you are right. I justify this by the fact that I have eliminated all coffee, sodas, and chocolate from my diet! Questions? Didn't think so. Sunday morning came early, and we had a wonderful Easter Brunch with family at Oak Street Cafe. My stomach was yelling at me for not eating before Church so I scarfed down a bowl of yogurt and granola. Can I just say you have NEVER experienced granola until you've experienced it as Oak Street. WOW. It was amazing. Then I ordered a half order of blueberry pancakes. Also amazing! Scarfed them. Later in the afternoon I ate about 12 cups of popcorn (maybe more to be honest). Dad's popcorn machine is the best. No competition. Finally, time for dinner, and I enjoyed a long craved burger ON A BUN! With mom's pasta salad and fresh cooked beets. Oh how my love of food has changed/returned! I NEVER craved/desired burgers before this baby. Now- a hamburger sounds like bliss to me! Yes, I majored in exercise science.
 Moving on from food tales ... I have started to develop a little baby bump. Looks more like a bloated bump or gained 5 pounds bump, but its there! Could be a result of all the food I ate, or it could be baby! Not sure! I stepped on the scale today and I have finally gained weight! I was losing at first, which was kind of odd, but we are up 2 pounds! Its fun now. Seeing this little belly (and yes, its little) but seeing that its not going away like bloating does. Giving people hugs and having a hard time "squeezing" them due to enlarged areas of my body. Yeah- its all fun now.
OH- let me tell you a terrible idea I had this weekend. A WALK. Oh, its so nice outside, I'll go for a walk instead of going to the gym. I walked about 25-30 minutes. No extreme hills, but our neighborhood is hilly nonetheless. My butt and my shins are STILL sore. That was Saturday. It hurts to walk. To move really. Crazy how different your walking muscles are from your running muscles!
All around, it was a good week. A good 8th week pregnant. We were able to share the holiday with EVERYONE on both sides of the family. Good Friday we spent at Verizon for Passion City Church's service. AWESOME. Worship was awesome. Saturday we were able to do an Easter Egg Hunt with ROC (Reach One Church) with ALL of our neices nephews, brothers, sisters, parents. It was great! Later on Saturday we went to see Olivia, our oldest niece, play softball. She did awesome and they won! Then Saturday night started the food activities you read about above!
Easter truly is the best holiday for Christians. So much joy around the events of Easter Sunday. Being with family is truly the best way I can think of to celebrate such an occasion! I wouldn't trade the weekend I had for anything! It was the best. Full of fun memories. Full of worship to the Savior who is still alive and still reigning and still moving in our hearts today! Praise the Lord! This Savior who is alive is knitting this baby together in my womb. I am so thankful for that!
That's all for now! See you at the 10 week mark!

My Baby is the Size of a Raspberry!

Well, today we are 8 weeks along, and change. 3 days of change to be exact! Our little baby is the size of a raspberry. While still small, it's neat to imagine that the baby is actually holdable! I mean, a raspberry is big enough to see, touch, notice fine detail. I guess... what I'm trying to say.. is we have upgraded from a seed! It just seems more real as I start to see "actual size" relations. Limbs have started to emerge from the fetus and there is already webbing between the fingers and toes. Not only that, but this little baby is already MOVING those limbs! I wish I could feel that!
As far as my body goes- I am basically permanently bloated looking/feeling. Stomach isn't flat, but its not looking pregnant either. Just uncomfortably making pants tighter, shirts tighter, everything that would cause a girl to go shopping! However, I am trying to restrain until I truly need maternity clothes! I do enjoy this time of being pregnant. Although the fatigue is EXTREME and I constantly crave bed, sleep, rest, and lazy days, I know its because my body is using all the energy to create this new life inside of me. I like to still look and feel my normal self, but know that there is a baby in me, as little as it may show on the outside! I know there will be a day when I get sick of having a huge belly- so right now- I am valuing the "normalness" of bending over, shaving, laying on my back or my stomach while sleeping, etc. Sometimes I find myself so anxious to be to the NEXT week.. or 12 weeks.. or 20 weeks so I can find out the gender. But these early weeks are precious too. The most vital parts of development are happening inside of my baby right now, and I want to do whatever it takes to make sure this baby has the best chance I can give it to develop in a healthy way. Why rush?
I am also learning that getting pregnant isn't just about the end result. Well, it is, and I want to meet this baby more than anything else.. but its also about the journey! I only have 7 more months to carry this baby inside of me and then it is out in this world. A world that is uncontrollable. A world that is cruel, sinful, and selfish. I can protect my baby from the world only 7 more months! But in those months, it will learn my voice, my smell. We will be connected in such a unique way that I've never known with anyone else before.
All this rambling to say. I enjoy being pregnant. Yes I have my hard days, tired days, frustrated days. But I enjoy this. And I look forward to experiencing each and every day, week, month of pregnancy!

And We've Got a Heartbeat!

Well, after an eternity (also known as 3 weeks), we finally made it to our first prenatal appointment! Fenwick's heart is beating FAST. From what I understand, that is a good thing and a normal thing! Not only could we see it fluttering all over the monitor, but we got to hear it! That was the most beautiful noise I think I've heard in a long time! I still can't get over the fact that there is something alive inside of me! I knew I was pregnant. But now...  I don't know. Now I know I am pregnant with a baby whose heart is pounding away! It feels like I'm 100 steps closer to meeting this little baby just by having this appointment!
And, as expected, I am about 7 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Our little baby will be making an entrance right around Thanksgiving. Not my ideal birth date of choice, but thats okay! I guess I'll just be EXTRA thankful for this new bundle! November 25th is the exact date for the moment. Right now, Fenwick measures 1.18cm. Crazy, isn't it? Oh but I love this child. I was so glad that Nick was able to be there with me today to witness this miracle. My next appointment is on May 16th and while that sounds so far away, it doesn't seem long at all. To know that I'll be 12 weeks along at that point and we'll be able to get some good ultrasound pictures! Oh I just cannot wait. The first wait was the longest, but from this point forward, now that I've seen that heart, I will cherish each and every day I have with this little baby inside of me. I will not wish it away as I did the last 3 weeks. There was just so much relief in knowing that everything was okay and fine with Fenwick, just as I had prayed for all along. I woke up at 5:15 am this morning. Why? To go to the gym. Well, since I've had a nasty head cold, I hit the OFF button and decided I would sleep in. That DID NOT happen, so instead, I had a sweet time of prayer for a good 30 minutes to pray over this appointment and our baby. I am so thankful for that time. The house was silent. I was alone. I wasn't tired, but I wasn't ready to get up for the day. If I could have that time every morning, I think I'd be a different person!
Well, my thoughts feel so jumbled today. I am just so elated. I've been waiting for this day for so long so I could shout to the world (the facebook world, that is) that we are pregnant! But the one thought that prevails is HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD? This could never happen by evolution or by chance. That a couple of cells could merge and form a baby. A baby with a heartbeat already? A baby that will soon be growing faster than my stomach will appreciate? I am so thankful. I am so blessed. And I am still in awe as I hold this picture in my hand of the baby I will meet in only 33 weeks!

Thats all for now! More to come Week 8!

Officially Known As Fenwick the Fetus!

One may wonder, why such a strange name for the title of this blog post? Believe me, this was no acclaimed nickname I dreamed up as a child and thought to myself, I will name my child Fenwick one day! It just so happened, that when I asked my 2 year old nephew, Jackson, what I should name my baby, he nonchalantly replied, FENWICK. And then kept playing stickers while at the dinner table. At first, I thought he said Frederick, but apparently, there is a story he reads or a show he watches with a character named Fenwick. Well, it kind of stuck. Fenwick the fetus. And quite honestly, I prefer to refer to our baby as Fenwick over "it." I hate the thought of knowing that my baby is either a boy or a girl at this point, but I don't know what "it" is. Let me assure you, having to call your own child "it" is disheartening. So, Fenwick works. At least until the 20 week mark or so! Just goes to show you how nicknames really come about. They may or may not have to do with your actual name, but rather the crazy people (usually family) in your life at that time.
I was actually discussing this fact with my cousins as we sat on the beach trying to think of baby names that have good nicknames. Then, while walking to the house, we listed off all of our family nicknames and 99% of them have no relation to our real names whatsoever!
On another note, I think I have started to see a little growth in the belly. Nothing major, and nothing that a passerby would point out and say- "HOW FAR ALONG ARE YOU?" But, for me, looking down is a completely different view than it was 2 weeks ago! People closest to me would probably argue, but I have something to say. When its your own body, you notice. Unfortunately, this is a blurry line to draw as I happened to eat QUITE well this weekend at my brother's wedding! Perhaps it truly was a food baby rather than a baby.
All kidding aside, I have since come to a peace about this baby. Maybe its the verses I have surrounded myself with at my office. Or maybe it is an answer to my prayers that God just give me peace that He is truly in control of making this baby and growing this baby, and keeping this baby healthy. Yes, there are foods I can eat, and things I can do to help, but there is absolutely NOTHING that I can do to change the fate of this baby's life. God has numbered Fenwick's days. Either way, it is so nice to feel emotionally normal again. Especially since the morning sickness has started up. And let me also say- why the heck is it called Morning Sickness? It should be DAILY sickness. It lasts all day! The only time it stops is if I am running on a treadmill, or in the process of eating. And let me tell you something- I care to do NEITHER of those 24 hours a day. Well, thats not true. I'd love to eat 24 hours a day, but that would be ridiculous.
So, here I am, a week away from my first appointment and I am SO READY. I want to get in there and see this baby! Even if Fenwick looks like a little black blur on a machine print out. I WANT THAT PICTURE! And I want to see that heartbeat. And I want to know that everything is progressing. And I want to know when to expect this baby! All I know is Fenwick will arrive in November. The rest is a mystery!
*I must note, that Fenwick was given a blanket that will be more memorable than any other gift that could be given. My grandmother once bought all of her grandchildren the same type of blanket. All of us girls (Age 22 and older) still sleep with our blankets! Since my grandmother is no longer living, my Aunt gave us a blanket that has the same feel (no silk border, however, I may consider having my mom sew one on!) for Fenwick. I cannot wait to see if our baby loves the blanket as much as I still love my own!*