Who knew?!

I've always known I wanted to be a mom and that I'd love all the things that go with it - good and not so great. Right now it's the nausea, acne, and countless other "blessings" that come with early pregnancy. In a little more than 7 months it will be sleepless nights, dirty diapers, and of course the joy of a tiny new life. But if anyone had told me I'd be so obsessed with the first photo of that itty bitty baby growing inside me, I'd have said they were crazy. After all, at .98cm, you can't even tell which end is which. But seriously, who knew I'd be so proud of that strong little heartbeat?!?!

Since finding out we were pregnant, I couldn't help but worry from time to time. Am I eating the right things? Drinking enough fluids? Washing my hands and guarding against the flu to the best of my ability? What if something goes wrong ... even something I have no control over? It has felt like an eternity since the positive test until today - my first prenatal appointment. The nausea has really been the only reminder that I'm pregnant. But it all became so real when we saw our little one on that sonogram screen today. I could've sat there all day and watched the heart flicker. It's such a relief to know that, at least at this point, everything is just as it should be.

Here he or she is in all of his or her 7 week 2 day glory!

Calling all dream interpreters

I’ve heard that pregnant women tend to have some pretty vivid and interesting dreams, but I find it kind of hard to believe that only a few weeks into this I’m already experiencing it. I usually never remember my dreams, but now the stand out more than ever.

Most recently, I was loading our child into the car (yes, we already had a kid and SHE was about 4 years old), and there was a spider on the car door that I insisted on removing before putting my daughter in the car. She inquired why I wanted it gone, and I explained that if I left it there, it might get into the car while she was getting in her seat and end up biting her. I was trying to protect her, right?! Oh, and did I mention it was a black widow??? Hello! Why would I knowingly let a black widow anywhere near my child?

My daughter, being the sweet little angel that she is (in my dream), didn’t want me to hurt the spider, but I knew the better option was to go ahead and smash it to smithereens. So I did for the most part. The only section remaining unsquished was the back end where the distinctive hour-glass shape is found. This was no ordinary black widow, however. No. It had a huge stinger on that end much like a wasp.

The next thing I knew, I had picked up that part of the spider and handed it to my daughter to look at. What in the world was I thinking?!?!?!?! How it went from threatening spider to child’s new toy I don’t really recall. But, seriously, I just gave it to her with no qualms after putting up such a fight about needing to kill it before putting her in the car? Wow. What kind of mother am I? *sigh*

In addition to that dream, I’ve been in Nebraska witnessing my boss’s research get approved in a record 64 minutes, been mad at Cory I can’t tell you how many times (and usually for something dumb, I’ll admit), and bottle-fed a goat. Talk about beddy-bye variety, huh!

I’ll do my best to keep entertaining you with my adventures in slumber land.

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

Ok, so I didn’t just wake up one day and think, “I want to start blogging again.” Well, maybe that’s sort of how it happened, but there were underlying reasons for my sudden desire to rejoin the blogging world. You might be asking yourself, “Self, what is she talking about?” I’ll tell you …

Cory and I are expecting our first precious child! We are elated to say the least and blessed that it did not take long to be successful after making the decision to expand our current family of two.

This adventure began back at the beginning of August when signs from nature, or lack thereof rather (she says with a wink), seemed to point to the fact that we might be in for a surprise. But a few home tests and an eventual doctor’s visit revealed the contrary. Looking back, that was an extremely long week in our house. Hopes were high with thoughts of pitter-pattering little feet. After getting the negative result from the doctor, though, we departed cloud nine for an abrupt landing back on Earth.

We spent that weekend discussing how we felt about the ordeal. Were we ready, could we afford it, etc., etc., etc.???? We gave ourselves a little time to recover from the emotional rollercoaster we’d just exited, and ultimately decided that we were indeed really ready to have a baby. The very next day, almost as if “she” had never missed a beat, my body was back on track. Talk about some serious confirmation!

Not all that surprising, our first attempt was more or less practice. But who can really complain about that, right?! :o) The timing for the next go 'round was interesting because I was going to Houston for my best friend's baby shower (of all things!!) just days before I would get "the sign" of success or failure. Note: I use the word failure loosely, because after all ... "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Anyway, so the weekend was spent talking about all things BABY. Tisha and I giggled about the idea of taking a pregnancy test while I was there and then getting to show it to Cory once I got home. But, alas, I managed to overcome the temptation to test early for the simple fact of not losing hope unnecessarily.

A few more days went by and it was FINALLY time. Was I or wasn't I??? I couldn't wait to find out. On Tuesday evening I told myself, "If there's no sign of 'being broken' (as Cory refers to it) in the morning, I'll do a test." Morning came ... no signs. So, I tested! I was barely awake, my contacts were glued to my eyes, I couldn't find my eye drops, and I was trying to brush my teeth. It didn't seem to take long for the two minutes to pass, and I just barely glanced down and had to do a double-take. "Is that a blue plus sign?!?!?!?!?!" Holy blue plus sign, Batman! I'M PREGNANT!!!

It was super early, but of course I woke Cory up to give him the news. Needless to say, he was pumped!!! I can just imagine how manly he felt at that very moment. :o) It was all very surreal and unexpected. Just days before, I had felt the same as every month in the past right about the time the curse shows up, so I didn't have my hopes up about a positive result. But that just goes to show that everything I've read about pregnancy symptoms being almost identical to menstrual symptoms is true! At least for me, that is.