Eight Weeks - "Morning" Sickness

It seems like the past two weeks have slooooowly crept by. I owe it all to my new friend, "morning sickness." I've heard the horror stories about how it lasts all day long, but it is hard to imagine until you have experienced it yourself. I won't complain much, because I know compared to many women, I have it easy. The main problems for me are: 1) my job - I don't have the type of job that I can come in late because I was sick; I can't sit in my cubicle and try to relax until it goes away - last week (the first week of school) I sat at my desk gagging while giving oral baseline assessments to 21 eight year olds; 2) It seems to last almost all day. The only way I can keep it at bay is to keep my tummy full. I measured my waist and lower abdomen area at 4 weeks (the day we found out) and I have grown almost an inch. I know that my uterus is expanding (now the size of a large grapefruit), therefore so is my belly, but I am sure the snacking all day every day isn't helping either. I usually feel better by lunch time, but here lately I'm not feeling too hot after dinner.

Cravings/Aversions

• Milk: My longtime BFF, drink of choice, chocolate, regular, in cereal or with cookies - we are no longer friends. The things you do to me now are not very nice. I hope we can be friends again in a few weeks.
  
• Greasy Foods: They look so good, but almost immediately after finishing my meal, I feel sick. Just looking at that greasiness makes me weak in the stomach.
• I usually love cakes and cookies, but I suddenly have no interest in them - at all. Rusty brought me a heavenly treat - a Dreamcakes wedding cake cupcake and it was all I could do to finish it. STRANGE. What has taken over my body? The cutest little Peanut around. ; )
  
• I'm not really having any cravings. The only thing I crave is something to make that constant stomach virus feeling go away - crackers, Tums, Gatorade, fruit, hard candy - whatever I can get my hands on.
  

Sleep

You hear of those exhausting 1st and 3rd trimesters, women sleeping every spare moment, etc. My family joked that I would be asleep 24/7 while pregnant. Before being pregnant, I have been known to fall asleep anytime, anywhere, in any position, but I have done well until the past few days. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I said I was going to "lie down for a minute." I was up three hours later, and one of those times was only because Rusty woke me up.

Bringing Home the Bacon

Rusty is working on a major project at his office, which has required him to be out of town most of the work week the whole month of August. So let me recap: August: school starting, morning sickness starting, and Rusty is out of town. Pity Party, I know. Luckily my sweet mother has volunteered to keep me company and be there to bring me crackers in bed to fight off morning sickness. We have enjoyed eating out, being lazy, and discussing plans for Peanut. Tuesday after lunch, I walked in to my classroom to find flowers and the most thoughtful, sweetest card EVER from Hubby. It totally made my day. I am one lucky girl.

Preparing for Peanut

Even before I was pregnant, I loved to look for baby stuff. If I was ever near Buy Buy Baby and had time to kill, I would take a nice stroll and gaze around at all the gadgets, clothes, furniture, etc. I even conned Rusty into going once or twice, but he was always concerned that someone would see us and wonder why we were hanging out in the baby store. Well this time, Daddy was excited to go and learn a few things. We looked at nursery furniture, the "wall of pacifiers" - seriously, so unnecessary - and braved the stroller/car seat section. It was fun to see Rusty so interested in all of the contraptions his Peanut will be needing in just 32 weeks.

Belly Pic

Peanut is now the size of a kidney bean! My uterus has grown from the size of a peach to the size of a large grapefruit.

I am really looking forward to my 10 week appointment. They are going to do another ultrasound. I CAN'T WAIT to see how much Peanut has grown!

Six Weeks

It seemed like this day would never get here. I was under the impression that my doctor's office would have me come in for a blood test to confirm my pregnancy when I called them at four weeks. They said it was not necessary and that they do not typically see patients until six weeks. I was very anxious to hear the doctor's reassuring words, and on August 8th, I finally did..."Congratulations!" I was just as excited all over again.

I had the whole appointment planned out in my mind based on stories of my friends' first time appointments, but mine was totally different. After the basic weigh/blood pressure/pee in a cup routine, I went straight back to get my ultrasound. I had my eyes glued to the screen as she mashed on my lower abdomen, and then I HEARD IT! This caught me off guard because I didn't think we would be able to hear (just see) the heartbeat this early. But there was Peanut in all his/her glory. That heartbeat was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. Just to make sure, I had the tech confirm that it was the baby's heartbeat and not mine. All of my worrying for the past two weeks melted away as I fell in love with the 4 cm blob on the screen.

Right after the ultrasound... SO EXCITED!!!

Our little Peanut!

Six Weeks:

• not feeling as bloated
  



• queasy feeling almost all day long




• loving Whole Fruit Frozen Strawberry Bars and chocolate milk

What a wonderful husband! I was dying for 1 chocolate covered doughnut, but he bought a dozen!

6 Weeks and 2 days
(looking rough - eeeeearly on my first day back at work)

We are so happy that we could finally share the news with everyone! We are really looking forward to preparing for our little one for the next 34 weeks!

Ashworth, Party of 3!

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting our first baby! Baby Ashworth is due April 2, 2012!

Surprise?

So how did this all happen? First of all, it was no surprise to us. I have been charting my cycles since December with the plan to start trying in July. We were thrilled to learn that we conceived on our first try! I will have 4 months at home with our little angel before I have to go back to work in the fall, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

This was, however, a surprise to our families. We thought it would be fun to have "our little secret". It was really hard not to let it slip sometimes, and we were nervous that the constant talk of babies, baby names, etc. would be a sign that we were planning one soon. Our parents could not have been more surprised. Everyone is ready to have a little baby around to love and spoil!

THE test...

We had planned to take the first test on a Sunday morning (it is recommended that you test first thing in the morning), but we just couldn't wait. We attended the wedding of one of Rusty's friends, where I was "holding it" the whole time so that we could run home and take a test. The packaging said it would take 1-3 minutes, so I went to put on my pajamas. Rusty said "Is it ready yet?" - he was just as ready to know as I was. I didn't think that it would be, but I couldn't help casually glance at it as I went to put my dirty clothes in the hamper. "OH MY GOSH!!! IT SAYS PREGNANT!!!" I screamed as I turned around and jumped on Rusty. I just stood there in the bathroom screaming/clapping/jumping for the next few minutes. I really just couldn't believe it. I looked and looked and LOOKED at that test all night. I think I was in disbelief that all my planning had worked and we had been blessed to conceive on the first try. It seems like we have heard of many people - even young, healthy people - having difficulty getting pregnant. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a constant worry in the back of our minds. We truly feel like God heard our prayers. Even though I know this was "our plan", the timing was ultimately His, and His plans are always perfect.

Still in shock!

Daddy and Momma!

Spreading the news...

Even though I was only four weeks along, we just couldn't wait to share the news. We knew it was early, but we thought our parents/family could keep it to themselves, at least until my first doctor's appointment. We took another test Sunday morning, just to make sure. (Hey, it came in a 2 pack...why not?) My mind had been racing all night, so I made Rusty go look at it. His smile said it all. We rushed to church and praised the Lord for our new blessing. After the service, we went straight to the lake to give my mom her "birthday present". We were going to be out of town on her birthday, so we told her we would celebrate early. She unwrapped her present and just stared at it for a while. She has recently started a program with a nutritionist and personal trainer, so she thought it was some kind of weight loss gadget. She asked me if it was a diabetic test and I said no. She just stared at it for a little while longer and finally looked up at me. "Is this a pregnancy test?" she asked. "Are you pregnant?" I just nodded and grinned as she sat in shock. We all teared up and shared lots of hugs. We stayed to hang out and chat about names, plans, etc. Then off to Homewood! We told Rusty's parents, brother, and sister-in-law that we wanted to grab some dinner and go see Lauren and Brett's new home site - which was the truth. We were just going to throw a little surprise in there. When everyone was getting in the car to go to dinner, Rusty asked his parents to come look at something in the back seat of his truck. He had recently purchased a new truck and he acted like he had a question about something. He finally said, "So, which side do you think the carseat should go on?" This was followed by ramblings about tags, instructions, etc. then it finally clicked. His mom looked at me, and I was holding up the two tests. She screamed and ran around to the other side of the car to give me a hug. We all stood in the driveway and shared hugs and laughs.

The wait...

I called my doctor and was informed that they don't see patients for the first visit until they are 6 weeks along. I was going to have to wait two weeks to hear from the doctor that I was pregnant, something that I thought would ease my mind. So while we didn't feel comfortable sharing our wonderful news with the world, we did celebrate a little in private!


I will be documenting our journey through this blog. I hope that one day it will provide wonderful memories for us to look back on and allow our little Peanut to know all about how excited we were about him/her!