15-Week Belly Shots

Ok, I figured I needed to go ahead and put some belly shots of me on here so those of you out of town can see how I'm developing - now that I'm starting to show pretty good. Here are a couple that Grant took the other day of me. I initially lost 3-4 pounds with the morning sickness, but as of today I am back to my initial wieght. Here they are:

Grant's Surgery

Hey everyone! I wanted to give you an update on how Grant's surgery went yesterday. Ok, so we had to be at the hospital by 5:30 for an 8:30 surgery. We were there on time and were the first ones in line for Dr. Wyker. We got called back to the pre-op room by 6am and grant got to dress up in this great outfit!



Then he had a bunch of different nurses and such coming and going asking him questions, doing his IV and getting him prepped. He was taken back into surgery just before 8:30 and I was sent to the waiting room. Not 40 minutes later, Dr. Wyker came out to talk with me. The surgery went well. He removed 3 foreign bodies (cartilage) from his knee and said that would help him not feel like he had gravel loose in his knee. He had a small tear in his meniscus cartilage and Dr. Wyker smoothed that out. The biggie is that he did have to do the micro-fracture surgery on his knee which will put him non-weightbearing and on crutches for 6 weeks!!! The means out of work and sitting home bored to death for 6 WEEKS! I got to come back and see him about 30 mnutes later and we were on the road home by a little after 10am. He did really well, didn't get sick coming off the anaesthesia or at all. A little light headed here and there and occasionally a bit sick feeling, but all in all, the best post-op he's ever had! So, now he's just got to hang back and wait for the cartilage to grow back and take effect.

Here is a picture of him from today sitting on the couch watching basketball.




Well, as for me, other than being completely wiped out after waking up at 4 in the morning and taking care of my honey all day I am doing well. I think the morning sickness is definately gone!!! YEAH! AND, I think the headache/migraine phase is on its way out. I am not getting them everyday anymore and they are easing up in intensity. So until the next fun sympton, I'll be taking care of Grant.

Updates

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been so long since my last entry. Not much has been going on worth reporting. I think (fingers crossed) that I am FINALLY out of the morning sickness phase . . . but have no fear I still have the indegestion (though the Zantac is working wonderfully) but I have now entered the headache/migraine phase! Ugh! I hear this will last a month or so and then we'll move onto the next "phase." I have several perscriptions to try but haven't quite mastered how to get rid of them all the time. I've had about 4 migraines in the last 2-3 weeks and a headache just about every day. This too shall pass . . . I hope! :)

On a lighter note, we had a pretty busy weekend this past weekend. One of Grant's old classmates is moving to New Zealand for a PhD program so we went to a going away party for her on Friday night and got to see a bunch of their old classmates and spread our news to them! They are all very nice! Then Saturday night was Grant's company holiday party and it was pretty fun! I actually won a couple things in their raffle - a massage and a private pilates lesson. Not sure if I'll use the pilates lesson anytime in the next year or so, but I'll definately be enjoying the massage later on when my back aches and I need some relief!

Other than that, we have finally finished our X-mas shopping and have been having a lot of holiday get-togethers with friends - so we are staying quite busy! We are trying to get everything for the holidays worked out and some stuff done around here beforehand since Grant is having his knee surgery right after christmas (the 28th!) and most likely he'll be non-weightbearing for 6 weeks. Fun! Anyway, that's really all for now. My next doctor's appt isn't until the week after christmas, but I'll keep you all updated on Grant's surgery! Have a wonderful christmas if I'm not back beforehand! :)

Tidbits

Ok, so it has been a little while since my last entry, let me update everyone on what's been going on:

Told the boss about being "with child" and he said he was expecting this to happen so he wasn't really surprised. He was very nice about it all and told me to take as much time off as I needed for Maternity leave. So . . . although it will mess up some of our projects that we have planned out for this coming year, he is very happy for us and very understanding! :)

I scheduled my next couple of doctor's appointments. The quad screening (bloodwork for down's syndrome etc) will be on January 4th. The next sonogram - to find out if it is a little baby boy or girl - will be on January 14th. Yeah! I'm really excited about that one!

We also went and looked at some daycares this past Thursday. We looked at 3 of them. We have narrowed it down to 2 of them. There is one really close and cheaper than the other, however we REALLY like the other one! I'm sure both of them will be fine and give good care to our little one. So, now I need to decide between the one we love that is more expensive and further away, or the one that is very convenient and costs less. I think I'll need to visit the closer one again sometime because we went at a bad time (nap time for the kids and during the lunch hour for the teachers), so I can get a better feel for it before I make a decision. Oh-well, still have plenty of time to decide! Wish us luck!

Other than that, we had Becca's baby Shower (Grant & My sister-in-law) this past weekend and it went really well. It was nice to see all of the family and everything! Not much more than that going on other than dealing with morning sickness, STILL!! I am hoping that it will be over VERY soon! I will be 12 weeks on thursday, so hopefully that will be the end of it! Other than that, I am starting to show a little and have developed a little baby bump! It is cute and I am enjoying showing it off!

Out in the Open. . . almost!

Ok, so we told my parents yesterday on Thanksgiving. My mom's birthday is Sunday so we gave her a card with one of the sonograms in it that read "Happy Birthday Grandma! Love, Baby Nelson" She did really good with keeping a straight face then handing the card to my dad and telling him that he would also enjoy it. Once he got his glasses on and opened it (unsuspecting!) he just had this "WOW" expression and was pretty excited. I wasn't feeling to great all day yesterday, so it was good to be able to explain why.

Shortly after that we called my family in Rhode Island one by one to tell them. They were all very excited. The only ones we didn't get to speak with early on was Aunt Darlene and Uncle Darryl. Grandma Betty had them call back when they got over there without telling them what was going on (since we always talk to everyone on the holidays). They had the best reaction! Uncle Darryl kept yelling "NO" and "Really" and then Aunt Darlene started yelling in the background. That was fun!

Now I have a couple friends to tell here in huntersville/charlotte area before we head back home and then to tell the boss! He'll be happy for me, but it will also cause a bit of a kink in a big project that I am supposed to do that just got moved back to start in April (instead of January) and it will be about a 5-month project. I guess that's not going to work too well with me in labor! We'll figure that out next week.

Next Appt: Ok, I have to schedule my next 2 doctor appts. at the end of the month when they get their January calender out. One will be the very beginning of January (maybe the 4th) for my Quad Screening. This is just bloodwork that will check for down syndrome and some other things. Then . . . a couple weeks later (probably the 18th) we'll get to have another sonogram and find out if it will be a boy or a girl! You'd better cast your votes on here before then! We'll see .. . . . .

Big Day

Ok, so yesterday was a big day. We had a SURPRISE shower for my friend Sara at my house (Grant's best buddy, Randy's wife) and there were a lot of things that I needed to finish up for it before everyone arrived. But . . . . of course, yesterday turned out to be one of my worst morning sickness days so I was looking quite green for most of the day. Could barely get myself going that morning. Grant's parents wanted to come for the shower since they have known Randy for so long so we decided to go ahead and spill our good news with them before the shower since we wouldn't be seeing them thanksgiving weekend. Let's just say they were excited! Grant's brother, Chad and his wife Becca are expecting their first in February so now Alan and Susan not only get their first grandbaby but a 2nd one shortly after! They just about didn't believe us - good thing the sonograms have my name on them! ha ha

Anyway, the shower was a big hit and we REALLY surprised Sara. It took her a minute to realize what was going on when she got there, but then she started to cry a little. It was cute! The beauty of it was that most all of the people that came I had never met before so she was REALLY shocked to see them in my family room! (Thanks Randy for helping me out with contact info!) I'm glad it all turned out so well . . . and I'm glad it's over!

Now that we've told Grant's parents, we just have to tell mine . . . that will be on Thursday when we get into town for Thanksgiving. We wanted to tell both parents on thanksgiving but since we won't be seeing the Nelsons, we decided to go ahead and tell them and just wait to see my parents in person to tell them. I do know that dad is going to scream "It's about time!!!" and I'm not sure what my mom's reaction will be. I'm excited to finally tell everyone and be out in the open. The only big hurdle I'll have after that is telling my boss. We'll deal with that after thanksgiving!

Well aside from all of that, I'm still trying to get a handle on this morning (all day) sickness and actually sleep all the way through the night. I usually wake up for an hour or two in the middle of the night and can go back to sleep eventually . . . not last night. I woke up at 2:30 and NEVER got back to sleep - and to top it all off, I was feeling REALLY sick this morning. But I'm here at work (it's a big week for my project) let's just hope I can make it through the day. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I'll be ok by thanksgiving so I can eat lots of turkey!!! :)

We had our 1st Sonogram!!!

So we had our first sonogram this afternoon and WOW! He/She's a wiggler! The little one was wiggling around the entire time. He/She looked like one of those dancing santas wiggling back and forth moving his arms!! It was VERY COOL and now maybe it is sinking in a little bit more!! Of course, Grant was there and thought it was very cool, also! We left there grinning like little kids at a carnival.

The sonogram determined that we are exactly 9 weeks today and our due date is still June 19, 2008!

Well, I guess we're REALLY having a little one and now there is proof! Here are all the pictures below. The best ones are the ones where he/she is looking right at the camera showing off her little fingers! Check them out!

Official Due Date: June 19, 2008

Ok, so we had our first "doctor's" appt on Thursday (even though it was just with the OB Coordinator - no doctor). Anyway, we got some information from them and a little goodie bag of stuff. But the big news is: 1) our official due date is June 19th!!! AND 2) our first ultrasound will be on November 15th!! I can't wait! Then we'll find out if it is 1 or 2 babies! ha ha It's probably 1 baby, but I just like teasing Grant that it might be two!

Still dealing with the morning sickness and indigestion stuff, but I'm working on trying to get a handle on all of that. Anyway, that's really all for now.

Morning Sickness SUCKS!!!

Ok, so for the past week and a half I have been having morning sickness - only it's not JUST the mornings - is all freaking day! ugh! I constantly have this ache in the pit of my stomach, sometimes eating helps and sometimes it makes it worse! I keep feeling like I'm going to toss my cookies at any moment! Apparently you are supposed to not let your stomach get empty or FULL! I have not mastered this yet. The problem is, when you need to eat is when you feel icky and you don't want to eat! Then when you force yourself to eat, if you eat too much - it is worse! Ok, so a lot of ranting in this one, sorry, but I'm feeling icky. I hope this doesn't last too long - only another 3-4 weeks of this crap . . . I hope!

Well, our first doctor's appt (actually only with the OB Coordinator) is this thursday so they'll probably just take half of my blood and give me some info. We'll get to schedule our first ultrasound, though! I'll keep ya posted on that one! :) til then, wish me luck figuring out all this "morning" sickness stuff!

I'm Pregnant!!!

Hey there everyone! Ok, you may not be reading this until I have been a prego for a little while, but I've created this blog so you'll know what I/we went through along the way.

Ok, so here's the scoop:

We started "trying" right after our trip to Grand Cayman back in April for our anniversary (we've had this planned for some time now) and it took us 5 months to conceive our little baby bean. We'd been having some ups and downs with the whole "trying" thing - it's a pretty stressful rollercoaster! By the time I was due for my "friend" in the beginning of October I was sure my "friend" was coming but I decided to go ahead and take a test that morning (Oct 9th) just in case. The line, BOTH lines, immediately appeared!! Oh My God! I didn't believe it . . . no . . . can't be. I showered thinking I was seeing things but when I got out - it was still sitting there with both lines clear as day! Wow! Ok, hasn't sunk in yet. Grant had left early for work so he wasn't around to shout the news to so I wrapped the test in a little box with a bow and hid it to give to him later that night. When I got home, he was on the phone with his brother and I patiently (ok, not so patiently) waited for him to get off the phone to give him his "gift." When he FINALLY got off the phone I handed him his present and, though he was confused, he opened it . . . looked at it . . . turned it right side up . . . looked at it some more and said - "Is this for real???" YES! So, we went out to dinner to celebrate. That was 2 weeks ago.

This week I will turn 6 weeks prego and I am getting the first fun days of morning sickness. UGH! This part is not fun! Other than the morning sickness and a few other little symptoms, it sometimes slips my mind that I have a little baby bean growning in my belly. (the little heart is supposed to start beating this week!)

According to the online predictors, we will be due June 17th or 18th. We have our first doctors appt on Nov 1st (just to talk to the OB Nurse) then our first ultra sound will be 2 weeks later (~ Nov 15th). We are planning on telling our families over Thanksgiving so they'll all be together and we can tell them in person. Unil then, it is our little secret and I am bursting at the seams! :)