Morning Sickness
We found out we were going to have a baby when I was about 4 weeks along, and let me tell you, morning sickness is a real thing! For about three weeks straight my schedule was pretty much sleep, eat, throw up, sleep, eat, throw up... You get the picture. Luckily I had about 2 weeks of sick leave saved up from my job at the health department, and my boss was fine with me working from home and/or using the sick leave for those last two weeks. It was such a blessing not to have to take the train 1.5 hours each way to Salt Lake every day.
Matt was such a trooper through the whole thing--holding my hair back when I threw up, taking me out to eat so I didn't have to cook, doing the dishes (which I totally milked for all it was worth, I admit it), making sure I always had a plate with assorted crackers and cookies and Ginger Ale by my bed. Seriously, he was wonderful. The sickness lasted about three weeks, but I continued to throw up about once a week until I was 15 weeks along. Fun stuff.
I sent this picture to Matt when he texted me one day (probably around noon) and asked what I was up to...
Diet and Exercise
I was determined to eat healthy every day and exercise... yeah, that lasted like three days. It was all pizza, mac and cheese, and steak from there! Seriously, I've eaten more steak in the last few months than I've eaten in my entire life! Matt, of course, hasn't complained. I've tried to continue eating the way I had before, which wasn't health nut status, but not bad either. I've been trying to go walking in the mornings, and I'm not perfect at that, but I really haven't gained too much weight (the doctors aren't worried, so I'm not going to worry!), so it's all good.
First Ultrasound
This was one of the best highlights from these first 12 weeks. Because we didn't see the doctor for the first time until I was 12 weeks along (issues with switching insurances with the new job), we were able to do an ultrasound at our first appointment! I'm so grateful that Matt has been able to come to all of my doctor's appointments with me, especially that first one. We were so excited, and nervous! It felt like we were being initiated into a new club.
The nurse was the sweetest lady. She pointed Matt to the room saying, “Over here, Dad” and my heart flipped. Dad!! Matt!! DAD!! I loved it, absolutely loved it. Matt though, was confused and admitted he looked around for his dad hah!
The nurse took my vitals- blood pressure, weight, height, etc. and then gave me a gown to change into and said the doctor would be there shortly. We there in the room, and it was all so surreal. We were at an ObGyn clinic about to have our first baby check-up! Our baby! Was this real life!?
The doctor came in and started with her routine check up. She was very funny and helped us feel at ease. Why were we so nervous!? She started feeling my stomach and said, “Oh, there is your uterus right there!” What the heck? How can she feel it!? I couldn’t feel anything different haha. Everything seemed to be in order. Then she said, “Well, should we have a look at him?” YES!!! OH PLEASE!!! She told us that if it is a baby, we should be able to see it on the ultrasound. Panic... wait, what if we can’t see anything. As she left I started to worry-- ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, yeah, all of it. What if our baby wasn’t perfect like I’d been imagining? Would I be able to handle that? She came back in a few minutes later with the most archaic piece of equipment that I had seen in real life in 10 years, but I guess if it works, why fix it? Then Matt said, “I was a little worried when you said ‘If it’s a baby, we should be able to see it’ I was thinking, ‘So, if it isn’t a baby, what will we see?’” Then the doctor said, “A puppy!” We all started laughing and the tension that I had been feeling was calmed a little. Matt is so good at helping me feel that way.
We sat in anticipation as the doctor rubbed the jelly on my stomach and moved the probe around. All of a sudden, on the screen we saw our little one. I have never experienced anything like that in my whole life. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and I was so overcome with emotion as I looked at the screen and watched our perfect little baby! It was actually inside me! It all became so much more real. We created a tiny human, and it was alive and moving inside me. The doctor pointed out the different body parts to us. Then she said, “Let’s see if we can get him to move around a little bit” and she started wiggling my stomach and the baby started moving around! It’s arms went up and down and it completely flipped around! WHAT!? It was so incredible!! She let us watch for a few more minutes, took some pictures, and then left to get the measurements to check my due date. I got dressed again as Matt and I looked at each other in total wonder. We really were parents...already! Wow. The doctor came back and said that Baby is right on track for its length and that I was due on March 18, 2015.
Then there was the blood test... yeah, we all know how much I love those. But, I was determined to make Matt's first blood-drawing experience with me an uneventful one. He was so encouraging as we waited again for our name to be called, knowing that anything blood and needles is my biggest fear. I was shaking and panicking, but he reassured me that I could do it! And I did. It look three tries with two different nurses to find a vein (very typical-- see why I hate it so much?!), but I didn’t pass out! I cried, of course, that is just a natural side effect, but over all, I’d say it went quite well!
My favorite part of this whole first-time-to-the-clinic experience was watching Matt as he watched the ultrasound. He lit up like I have never before seen. I was so happy to see how excited and in awe he was! I sure do love that guy, and am so excited knowing that through this whole journey, it will be him by my side every step of the way.
Parenthood: here we come!
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