18 weeks, 6 days: A big weekend

A lot of stuff took place over the weekend. Michael, his dad and brother painted the nursery. It turned out exactly like I pictured it. I've been trying to stay away from the smell, so I'll post pictures when it's a little more complete. My brother dropped off the furniture for the nursery and the crib is now set up. And, most importantly, Michael was able to feel the baby move yesterday. It felt like she did a complete flip! It was pretty fun to share with him what I've been feeling for the past couple of days. I can't wait to have more "first's". They're fun to experience...well most of them.

-Erika

18 weeks, 3 days: Our baby girl!

Here she is! Legs spread open for the world to see that she isn't a boy (and you would be able to tell). Isn't her bottom cute...

Profile pic. I love how you can see her spine.
Her little foot...

Another profile picture. That's the cutest nose I've ever seen!

I'm going to work on getting the video transferred to digital so hopefully I can post a link soon. I've already watched it about 5 times so I'm worried I may wear out the tape!

Love ya!
Erika

18 weeks, 2 days: A special note...

Hi all! It's me...the baby! Today was a big day for me. Mom and dad got to see what I looked like today and I was a show off. I was flipping and turning all over the place, but did take a moment to strike a pose for one of my first still photos. And...what did it reveal? I'm sure you all want to know. Okay, okay. Here goes...

I'm a healthy little GIRL and mom and dad are so excited! They were able to see my heart beating, see me take a few breaths, and my feet were kicking all over the place. They have several pictures to post and share, but mom is still working on the formatting. She'll post them as soon as she can (or I'll kick her until she does). As for now, I'll continue to grow bigger and stronger everyday. I can't wait to meet everyone in April!

I better go. It's getting late and I'm sure I need a nap. Hope to talk to everyone soon!

Love,
Me...the little bean!

(P.S. My cousin Hannah helped decorate mom's belly.)

17 weeks, 6 days: Something new!

That something new is some of the worst pain I have experienced in my entire life...a charlie horse! We had our client dinner on Thursday the 9th. I was on my feet all day helping to get ready for the event and really didn't sit down until bed. And that night I woke up, screaming in pain. Who knows what Michael thought. I've only had a charlie horse twice in my entire life so I remembered to pull my toes back and the pain stopped within a minute or two. WOW!!! If I never have another one of those I will be very happy. Saturday my calf was still so sore that I could barely walk. It's feeling better today after doing some stretching exercises over the weekend. Now I'm back on the bananas (only half at a time) hoping that will help.

Thursday is the big day and I can't wait! Michael and I did a lot of prepping this weekend. We took a bunch of clothes to Goodwill, he primered the walls to get ready for the pink or blue paint, and we painted some of the closet doors around the house. We're going to get the chair rail this week and have that and the trim in the room painted by Thursday. Since Michael's parents and siblings will be here this weekend and they're willing to help, we hope to have the entire nursery painted. It feels a little early, but this will keep me from having to be around the paint fumes. Hopefully the baby will cooperate with us on Thursday so we can find out what S/He is. More on that to come.

I'm still feeling good. I have a few head pains here and there (like today), but nothing too major. I love eating the spicy, mexican type food, but I think the heartburn is starting to get to me. Who knows how much longer I'll be able to endulge in my favorites!!!

Better go. I'll post the good news later this week.

-Erika

16 weeks, 2 days: Another picture!

I'm running a day behind, but here's the monthly picture taken last night:

After getting over the initial shock regarding what the doc said about the weight gain, I've taken some of it to heart. I'm trying to tame my appetite a little by eating smaller snacks and drinking more water. It seems to be working. For the past fews days I didn't have the major urge to stuff my face every four hours like I'm used to. And I ate a bigger, healthier breakfast which seems to stick with me a lot longer. I also read up on a few things and the hunger does seem to get better about this time. Exercise? Started last night and did a mile and a half on the treadmill and some other strengthening stuff that I found on the internet. Let's just hope that I can keep it up! With the nausea behind me, the only thing that will get in my way are the headaches...which still sneak up on me. I got one Thursday afternoon (probably from being upset about what the doc told me) and it didn't go away until Sunday. Pure misery!!! I'm hanging in there though.

Everything else is still good. I plan on going to get my blood drawn again today for the neuro test they run on the baby. I wasn't nervous that much the first time, but I'm scared to death now!!! I just hope the same guy is working since he did a good job last time of not hurting me too much. I'm off to eat lunch so I don't pass out at the lab. Be back soon!

-Erika

15 weeks, 3 days: One of the best sounds EVER!

I went to the doctor yesterday and got to hear the heartbeat again. This time, I recorded it!!! I've been working on formatting it so I can post it to the site and here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgsJHhUDqKI

I love it! I've only listened to it about a 50 times so far. It makes me smile everytime I hear it. The appt went well...most of it. I met with the other doc in the office (they like you to go once just to meet him) and he scolded me for putting on 15 pounds so far. I can't wait to see my doctor again. I was so upset and a little confused on what I was supposed to do since I'm still always hungry. He said I could still eat, I just had to eat better. And for the record, I don't think I eat that bad. And I have to exercise!...(I know this). It's just hard. I mean to walk on the treadmill I have, but I'm now getting about 3 to 4 headaches a week and they're not fun. They vary on the pain scale with the one I have now being up there. When are they going to pass?!

Back to the good stuff. I scheduled my big ultrasound for Thursday, November 16th! They'll make sure things are progressing like they should and we'll find out if we are having a boy or a girl! Either one is fine with us. We just want a healthy baby! I'm kind of leaning towards a girl though. New belly pics next week since I'll be 16 weeks. Can't wait to show you that 15 pounds!

Few other notes (for my reference): I ate some sauerkraut today at lunch and loved it! It was so good. And it wasn't on a hotdog or Reuben sandwich. It was all by itself. I think that's a first for me. Who knows? Before this is all over I could be a vegetable lover. That's a bold statement.

Big game this weekend. Go Gators!

Love ya!

Erika

(P.S. - Love you mom! I know you're strong and you'll be even stronger when all is said and done.)

15 weeks: Quick update...

It's been awhile, but nothing is really new so I guess that's why I haven't posted. This month between doc appt's has gone by a lot slower than the last. But it's almost here. Heartbeat and weigh in on Thursday morning so I'll have more to talk about then. I haven't thrown up in a while and I'm feeling a lot better. I'm still hungry all the time. I think I eat about every 4 hours, if I can make it that long! It will be interesting to see how much I weigh. I finally broke down and bought some clothes over the past week. I'm heading to Gainesville this weekend and may do some shopping while I'm there. That's always fun. The headaches are okay. I had another bad spell about a week ago, but it only lasted about two days. The small ones come here and there, but the tylenol knocks them out if I take it early enough. We're going to start cleaning out closets and reorganizing things over the next couple of weeks. I'd like to have everything ready to be painted when we find out what the sex of the baby is sometime around Thanksgiving. I can't wait!!!

I'll update more on Thursday after my appointment! -Erika

13 weeks, 2 days: Pain in the what?

At the request of my doc, I made a Neurologist appt which was yesterday. It went well considering she couldn't do much. I've been having a lot of neck pain lately so she checked that out for me. Nothing out of the ordinary. I was told to continue using my corn bag (homemade heating pad) and ice packs for the neck pain and the headaches. She also told me to start taking vitamin B2 a.k.a Riboflavin. Studies have shown that it helps with the headaches. What do I have to lose? After telling her that I've been okay since my last 5 day headache episode, I got a headache late last night and woke up with it this morning. I took some Fiorcet and it's not too bad. I'm a little tired today so that may have something to do with it.

I think I'm almost out of the woods when it comes to the morning sickness. I've had a good past week, only feeling nauseous a few times. I'll take it! I'm still eating ALL THE TIME! Yesterday I had a ham sandwich...as my 3:00 snack! "That's a meal", I was told by someone at work. At least it's better than a candy bar or ice cream, right? Hunger is one pregnancy symptom I can deal with.

Better go for now. Talk to everyone soon!

- Erika

12 weeks, 1 day: Picture time!

It's been another month and time sure does fly. I can't believe it! So, it's time for the monthly belly pic. I'm posting 2 pictures today...just because.

This was at 10 weeks. Now for the big reveal...

Well, there you have it. 12 weeks. Granted, it was at night so I'm a little bigger than in the mornings . But, it's official now. I can't fit into any of my normal pants with a zipper and button. I'm done. I can only wear my normal dresses and skirts and probably not for much longer. The elastic waistband is a pregnant girl's best friend! I want to try and make it a little longer before having to completely change my wardrobe.

The morning sickness still comes and goes with some days being better than others. I haven't had a major headache in almost 2 weeks (knock on wood). Everything is really going good so I'll just leave it at that. Talk to you soon!
-Erika

11 weeks, 2 days: We heard it!

It took a minute or two, but Dawn was able to find it...The HEARTBEAT! It was about 173 beats. It's the most exciting thing I've heard in a really long time! I think Michael was able to pick it up before me b/c I kept hearing my heartbeat. Once you make it past all of the background noise it's there, loud and clear! I thought I was sure I was going to cry, but it's too exciting. I think I had a smile that could have been seen from space. Everything else was good. I've gained 6 pounds since my appt a month ago. My bloodwork all came back clean except that I'm RH negative. At this point it's no issue, but they are going to monitor me. I will need to have some more blood drawn in about 5 weeks to test for antibodies and if they show up then I'll be put on meds. Dr. Christian assured me that there is no need to worry so I'm really not going to think about it. The less thinking the better.

He did advice me to make an appt with the neurologist for a checkup. They don't want me to take the normal migraine meds unless I absolutely have to b/c of the lack of research. I'm going to do everything I can to tough it out. They're predicting that the nausea and headaches should get better once I hit the second trimester. I did get the okay to see the massage therapist for my neck and head. Hopefully that will help with the headaches. I'm looking foward to that!

Just a few other notes (mostly for my reference): I'm craving Coke and cheetos! I have cheetos when I get home for work and a small glass of coke every other night after dinner. It's something about the sugar. Sometimes I think I could drink a two litter at a time. And the Carnation Instant Breakfast in the morning with the cereal is still not a good idea. It still doesn't stay down.

Thanks to all for reading!
-Erika