Hello, Baby D

Oh my gosh, what a day! Seriously, one of the best in a LONG time. I'm exhausted :)

Started out the day with a huge snowstorm. Not out of sorts for Minnesotans, that's for sure, but we haven't really had a ton of snow in the last month, and people seem to forget how to manage their days with the snow. So, when 3-4 inches dropped before 8 a.m. this morning, it was enough to mess up the roads and delay everything.

Got to work, got some things situated for the week, and took off around noon. Mr. D picked me up, and it was off to grab some lunch before our big appointment.

So - got to the ultrasound about 20 minutes early for my 2:15 appointment. Our Realtor called my phone at about 2:05. He received my e-mail from last night. Basically, Mr. D and I have been house-hunting since we sold our house last September. Of the over 400 that we've seen online (literally, 400), we narrowed down to 4 being our favorites. One of these houses had an open house on Sunday that we stopped by. Fell in love with the house, e-mailed our Realtor, and he was calling to let us know that not only would we need to act fast, but this was indeed the deal we thought it was and we needed to get into the house today if we wanted to place an offer.

Snap back to reality. It's now 2:10. I told our Realtor we'd call him back. Waited another 15 minutes for my appointment. This whole time, Mr. D and I are going back and forth between, "are you as excited as I am to see the baby?!" to "holy crap, are we really going to go look at the house again... what would we do if we like it?"

2:40. Mr. D and I went back to Ultrasound Room #2 and Jenna, our very efficient ultrasound tech, told me to keep my clothes on and lay on the table. I thought for sure that it would be another trans-vaginal ultrasound, but nope! She squirted the gel on my tummy and within a second of placing the wand on my abdomen, there he/she was :)

Mr. D and I gazed up at the TV screen, watching our little baby breathe. The heart was beating, the baby was moving... the baby was alive! A huge weight was lifted from my chest. Our little baby bounced around the screen as Jenna took some measurements. I measured at 12 weeks, 4 days... 2 days ahead of schedule. The heartbeat was 162 bpm. Jenna looked in between his/her legs, but she said she would just be guessing at the gender at this point... so, we'll wait till mid-March to find out for sure. The baby lifted his/her hand to its forehead a couple times... so cute :) Jenna got this super-adorable picture of the baby smiling... seriously, it's like the biggest grin I've ever seen. My heart melted and it's official... I love this baby so much. It's so crazy... one month ago, the baby was barely a gray spot on the screen, and now he/she looks like a baby... arms, legs, tummy, head, lips, nose, eyes, ears... it's amazing. I will try to post scans of my u/s pictures soon :)

So... another post for another time... but, we then ended up going through a private showing and writing an offer on the house that we love. Mr. D and I were in shock from this whole day, and we are waiting to hear back from the owners on whether or not they are going to accept or counter our offer.

I am exhausted and going to bed, but wanted to post quickly. Not that it wasn't already official that I am pregnant, but it is SO real now. Hello there, Baby D, we can't wait for you to join us... we've waited a long time for you, and we love you already :)

12 Weeks!

Wow - I made it to 12 weeks! Another milestone accomplished, and I couldn't be more happy. We are so blessed.

Mr. D and I promised that we would wait on a couple of things until we met the 12-week mark: weekly belly pictures, telling others about our pregnancy, and looking at/purchasing anything "baby" or maternity. I also decided to wait to track my pregnancy progress until now. I just didn't want to be disappointed if we suffered another loss, and although the wait from 3 weeks to 12 weeks has been incredibly long and agonizing, it's been SO worth it to hold off! :)

We are so excited for our NT ultrasound on Monday afternoon... this weekend just can't go fast enough and I can't wait to see our little bean! After the ultrasound, Mr. D and I are planning to share our news with friends and family... so far, the only people who know are two of my co-workers (including my boss), three friends, our parents, and my sister. I can't wait to share the news with Mr. D's sister and others in our lives who will share our excitement!

Without further ado, here is my first attempt at documenting my pregnancy:

Best Moment of the Week: After mumbling "Good Morning" to Mr. D this morning as I rolled over half-asleep, hearing him say, "Happy 12 weeks, my babies" just about melted my heart.

Entertaining Question/Comment of the Week: "So, how's the baby-making coming along?" This question came from my friend (who knows a lot about our TTC struggles over the years) over lunch yesterday, right before I told her that I am pregnant.

Obsessions: Pickles. But I don't think it's a craving. I love pickles anyway, and I feel like I crave dill pickles all the time, even when not pregnant. I won't share how many baby dills I've had in the last week... :(

Oh, and rubbing my hand over my lower-belly... there's definitely a small baby bulge there, and I love it!

What I am Most Looking Forward to This Week: Ultrasound!! I am so excited to see the baby again, and I am hoping it will help me relax a bit to know that we've seen our baby alive past the 12-week mark.

What I Miss the Most: Wine, hands down. It's not tough to not drink alcohol, per say, but sipping on wine is a daily relaxing activity Mr. D and I always do after work. I've had to alter my routine a bit and not walk directly to the wine glass after work. I've started sipping apple cider out of a wine glass, and that seems to help my craving... I think a piece of it is just holding on to the wine glass and sipping on something.

Symptoms: I've written about all of this before, but from about weeks 4-10, my boobs hurt so bad, I was almost in tears. They are huge now, but not hurt nearly as much. I also was peeing constantly during those same weeks, which seems to have calmed down a bit now (I've read this is normal... as you approach 12 weeks, your uterus moves up your abdomen, and applies less pressure to your bladder). Also during those weeks, I was sleeping a ton... asleep by 7:30, 8:00 each night. I am still a bit tired, but can stay up and not be completely exhausted. I am so thankful that I did not experience nausea... I had a few moments here and there, but never threw up and never had morning sickness. I am blessed!

ICLW Follow Up & Being In Style

Wow, it's been a good week. A busy week, but a good one.

First of all, there are some AMAZING blogs out there. This is the first month I've fully participated in ICLW and linked up to several new blogs... this depth of this community is just amazing. I can't believe how many of us have struggled with IF, in one way or another, and turned to our computers in an effort to just let it all out. It's inspiring. It doesn't matter if you are a great writer, an okay writer, or a horrible writer of blog posts... we all associate with each other because of the common thread that we've all experienced and will always be a part of us. The support from the community is overwhelming and heartwarming.

Second of all, I was nominated for my very first blog award: The Stylish Blogger Award! Katie awarded me, and I am so honored :) Katie and her husband recently made the wonderful decision to adopt, and she is awaiting her little miracle. Go check out her blog!

Here are rules of award acceptance:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you the award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 15 other bloggers (I am going to break this rule... I am going to come up with a list of three)

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

So, here's 7 random things about me (I'll try to make them interesting and something you wouldn't know about me):

1. I love cheerleading and dance - I coached high school varsity comp teams for 5 years.

2. I have never loved watching football, but have started watching NFL games this year... I think I like it now!

3. I love pens... if I go to a restaurant or store and like the pen I am given to sign a receipt, I will "borrow" it and leave them one of my old ones from my purse.

4. I only like tissue boxes that have cool patterns on them.

5. I am addicted to Burt's Bees lip balm.

6. I really like trail mix as an afternoon snack.

7. I love being woken up every morning before work by Mr. D. and not an alarm clock.

I am awarding The Stylish Blogger Award to:

1. All I Ever Wished For

2. My Dusty Uterus

3. Pinkadots

On a sad note, our friend AP over at My Dusty Uterus lost a very good friend this week. Please stop over to her blog and offer your support.

Only 5 days until our next ultrasound, and I can not wait. I keep praying Baby D is doing well!

XOXO
Mrs. D

Happy ICLW & 11 Weeks!

Happy ICLW! If you're new to my site - welcome! So glad you found my blog. If you've been here before, welcome back, my friend! If you're interested in our whole, long TTC story, check out our timeline on the right-hand side. Here's a quick overview:

Been actively TTC for two years. Miscarried once. Been through months and months of HPTs, rounds of prometrium, Clomid, vitamins, herbs, progesterone, etc. I've had an HSG and lapraoscopy surgery. Mr. D (my wonderful husband) is not the problem - it was all me and my blocked tube... maybe tubes... never really did learn the whole story because my RE wasn't really sure post-surgery. Mr. D and I were shocked and over-the-moon to find out we are pregnant on 12/2/10, right before starting our RE's recommended procedures. God is good!

Speaking of being pregnant, I am 11 weeks today. CRAZY. The timeframe between when we found out we were pregnant and now seriously feels like a year... WAY worse than the infamous 2WW. I think it's because we have only told a few people that we are expecting... given my previous miscarriage and emotional aftermath of dealing with the age-old questions we IFers love ("why isn't this working???" and "what's wrong with me/us?"), we vowed to keep this as secret as possible. I think about miscarriage all the time, although I have to admit that as I get closer to passing the 1st trimester, those thoughts are thankfully becoming less and less frequent. I think I was scared to get too close to this pregnancy in fear that I would end up being an emotional mess again. But as my pregnancy symptoms ramped up (extreme tiredness, amazingly-aching boobs, constant peeing) and my tummy has started to fill out a bit, I've realized that we've wanted nothing else but this baby for a LONG time and he/she deserves all of the attention in the world.

So, hello, Week 11! We've made it another week and I can't believe it. My tummy is definitely filled out - nobody else can tell, but Mr. D and I both can see the mini-raised-bump. It's amazing. I think pregnancy pants will be needed in a few weeks.

This week, I really turned the corner with regards to symptoms. I can now stay awake past 8:30 p.m. (for the past 6-7 weeks, I've literally been sleeping by 7:30 p.m.), only get up to pee 1-2 times per night (as compared to 3-5 times), and although my boobs have grown a whole size already, the don't ache nearly as much. So, here's to hoping I am turning the corner as I round out the first trimester!

Next Dr. Appointment is January 31 for our NT scan and we can't wait to see the little bean again :)

Have a great week, everyone... and happy ICLW commenting!

I Joined the Cool Kids Club Today

Mr. D and I bought iPhone 4's. I think we now qualify for the Cool Kids Club.

This is really quite interesting for many reasons.

1. We are both completely technologically-delayed. This is actually quite surprising. We both work for Fortune 50 companies, where being up-and-with-it is important. Not just for the "cool factor," but because our jobs require it. We are constantly interacting with clients and supporting initiatives that are up-and-coming, including many that have to do with future technological enhancements.

2. We are not social-networkers. Since the beginning, I've avoided Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. This avoidance definitely stems from my job - I work in HR, and the last thing I need is for one of my clients to find out about my personal life somehow. I know, I know... there are ways to make everything private. But, really - there are ways around all of it. We don't know anything about iTunes, Kindles, or Nook Colors, and I am not sure we ever will.

3. We're kind of tight-wads. As I've shared, we are saving like MAD. First and most importantly - hello! - we are having a baby and already, we are saving for our pregnancy, my maternity leave, and the baby's college education. Second - we sold our house last year and are buying another one this spring. So, there's some upcoming costs involved that require saving.

But, all of these things were placed aside when Mr. D came home with a $500 perk from his work for years of service with his company. There were tons of things we could have bought, but we decided to go big or go home. That's kind of our style... if we're going to make a decision, we're going all in.

So, iPhones, here we are. This, coming from the girl who has owned a flip-Nokia phone her whole life with no internet connection and limited texting capability.

But, life will be easier with our incredibly-fancy phones. No longer will I need to cringe every time I get a text message because it takes so long to respond. No longer will I need to make sure I print out Mapquest directions prior to driving somewhere... now I can look it up on my phone!

I am kind of scared of my new treasure... it's so pretty that I barely want to touch it. We had protective covers installed tonight, and were told not to put a case on each phone for 24 hours. So, now, Mr. D and I are longingly-gazing at our beautiful prizes sitting on our kitchen table. My phone seems to be calling to me: "Welcome to the 21st century, Mrs. D. You have arrived."

This is also a "check" off my Start, Stop, Continue list from the beginning of January... whoo-hoo!

10 Weeks!

Double digits! Yet another milestone accomplished, and it is still so surreal, yet incredibly exciting. We've got a long way to go and many more milestones to reach, but we are so excited for where we are at. We've prayed and wanted this for so long.

I went to the Dr. this week, and they quoted my due date as 8/13/11, which means I am 10 weeks today. I was originally counting based on my last ultrasound in December, but once the Dr. re-measured the embryo size, it put me a day ahead. I'll gladly take another day!

The embryo graduates to a fetus this week, and it's so neat to read about the development of the baby at this stage. The whole process is such a miracle. We are so blessed. :)

Two weeks and one day until our 12-week NT scan, and time can't go fast enough! I can't wait to see our little bean again.

Anybody Else Want a Crystal Ball?

I wish I could see into the future. Wouldn't that solve a lot of worry? Think about it. If you could see one year into the future to see what your life would be like, would you? I would - no question. I am a planner and I want to know how I can best prepare every aspect of my life to the circumstances I have.

If I would have had a crystal ball two years ago when we first tried to conceive, boy, would things have been managed differently. I would never had let a year pass by with no medical help, and I would have taken more vacations without the mind-set of, "well, I might be pregnant, so let's think about that....". And I wouldn't have stressed every damn month over cycles, pee sticks, timed sex, you name it.

I know things happen for a reason and I trust that everything that is meant to be will happen and is ultimately out of my hands. I trust that my baby is safe and healthy, but it would sure be nice to know if everything is okay next August when I am scheduled to have this baby.

This is why I would like a crystal ball.