Maternity Monday- 11 weeks

Alright, if you haven't heard already, we are expecting our 4th bundle of joy around October 29th! We are very excited and can't wait to find out what this little nugget is. I am going to attempt to do a post every/close to every Monday about the pregnancy. I am going to document how I am feeling,  how baby is doing, weight gain, ect. WARNING: there will be some semi-graphic info, but it is for my record, so if you don't like it, don't read it. ; ) This first one will be long since it is catching up from the very beginning. Here we go:

How did you know you were pregnant?

We had just started trying and a few weeks later while I was teaching a bootcamp class at church, I couldn't do one of the exercises without peeing my pants. Gross! I thought that was kind of weird though because I have never really had "that" problem post-babies. I also started getting really, really, realllllllly tired like I usually get when I am first pregnant. I feel like I am drugged up on tylenol pm like there is no tomorrow. It is very hard to get up and going until around noon. The HORRIBLE fatigue- that was hint number two. I am such an eager beaver and since I love the dollar store pregnancy tests (because they work!!!) I had some stored away. I took one and it was negative. I figured I was just too excited and we probably wouldn't get pregnant for a while. One Sunday after church, I had realized I had to go pee non-stop that day. I figured I might as well take a pregnancy test just for the heck of it. I honestly didn't think I was pregnant though, so I was completely surprised when it came back positive!! I was kind of in shock! Thus, I took 3 more tests within the next 24 hours. Ryan had just left out of town for work that morning, so he wasn't there to find out with me. I didn't want to tell him over the phone, so I waited 3 more days until he got home to tell him. Those were the hardest days of my life, let me tell ya. : ) He was ecstatic to find out we were going to have a baby! We both came from bigger families, 7 kids in his family, 5 in mine, so we know we want a handful of little ones running around. He however, wants them close in age. I do too, but I just know what I can handle, and what I can't. : ) Heck, he was ready for another baby when Mackenzie was like 6 months old!

How accurate is your due date?

-Well, after I started having kids, my cycles started going crazy. Anywhere from 22-44 days long. So I always had a hard time knowing when I ovulated. Once I find out I am pregnant, it always takes the ultrasound to know for sure. According to just the traditional due date calculator that doctors offices use, I am due October 29th. At my first doctor's appointment, they did an ultrasound and it said the 28th, so they will just keep the 29th due date.

First doctor's visit?

-I recently switched OBGYN doctor since the last one did not want to help me when I was struggling with post-partum depression and anxiety after I had Mackenzie. She was only 3 or 4 months old and they said it was not possible to be PPD because it didn't fit in the "timeframe" and that I needed to seek help elsewhere. They wouldn't even let me talk to my doctor. Did they not know how hard it was to ask for help in the first place? It was very saddening and frustrating because I got to a very scary place in my life. Anyway, I am so thankful I switched to my new doctor because they take PPD seriously and have already talked to me about it. They take a very proactive approach since you have a 50% chance of having PPD again if you have it once.

My first appointment was actually just with the financial person and then a nurse. Just getting all the information taken care of. That night I went to the gym and ran 4.5 miles. I felt completely normal during and after the run. On the drive home though, I felt a gush of liquid, so I tried  not to speed to get home. I bled off and on for the rest of the night and morning. It was never a ton, but it was enough to scare me because I never bleed during pregnancy. I called the after-hours nurse and she talked me through everything. Since it started to taper off later that first night, I felt comfortable with just waiting till morning to see how everything was. When I woke up, it started doing little gushes again. I was scared at that point. That morning, I set up an appointment for them to do some blood work to check my hormone levels. By the time my appointment was over, I was completely done bleeding. Everything came back normal, if not great. They told me it was maybe just from working out hard and that my doctor said to be on pelvic rest until my next appointment. They moved it up a week and so I went into the office to meet with the doctor 4 days later. A good sign for me was that I was still nauseous and tired over the next several days, meaning, I still felt pregnant.

I had an ultrasound the first appointment, which is always exciting. : ) I love seeing the little bean baby. I love knowing that it is in there and that it's little heart is beating. It makes it more real. During the ultrasound I saw something I don't remember seeing with the other babies, but the ultrasound tech didn't say anything, other than that the baby looks great and the heart rate was great, everything was great! I shadowed an ultrasound tech once though, so I know they can't give details.

When I finally met with the doctor, I was even more excited that I switched doctors. I feel very confident with her as my doctor. I think she is very intelligent and very personable and caring. When she talked to us about the ultrasound, she started off, "the baby looks great! but, i just need to show you this." I was like, oh crap, what is it! She explained that there was one very healthy looking baby in it's sac, but then another sac that was empty. She went on to tell Ryan and I that there was probably another baby (TWINS!!!) that started off in that empty sac, but that it was not growing properly and miscarried. That explains the bleeding! We were both surprised, but I shouldn't be since my awesome little sisters are twinners. : ) It is called vanishing twin syndrome. It has been interesting to learn more about it. We were both very thankful we still had one healthy baby in there. I wasn't super sad that we lost the other one, which actually surprised me. I think because it was so early in the pregnancy and that I didn't know that there were two in there, so I couldn't get attached to it. I also think I wasn't super sad because miscarriages happen for a reason. The baby wasn't thriving for whatever genetic reason, and so it just ceased to live.

Our little beany baby at (9 weeks and 1 day)
That ultrasound pic cracks me up, I don't know why. I just kind of think it looks like it is dancing!
You can see the membrane/barrier (the white line) at the top of the picture, which separated the two sacs.

I still find myself wondering though, how it would have been to have twins! That would have been CRAZY! From 3 to 5 kids- BAM! But I know for a fact, it would have been a crazy that we would have loved! Either way, I am thankful for God's plan, and we have a beautiful, healthy baby living and growing in my belly right now. : )

Cravings?

So.... I am craving meat like no other. And more specific, red meat. It makes me think this will be a thick, muscular little man like Cole. That is what I craved with him. I want cheeseburgers, sausage, bacon, meat sandwiches, ect. I also want salty things like salt and vinegar chips, pretzels, and tortilla chips. I am usually wayyyyyyy into sweets, but that is like the most disgusting thing to me right now! I do not know who I am anymore. I usually eat hardly any meat, and probably too many sweets. Cookies, cake, brownies, and candy all sound so yucky, when normally I have one of those usually every day. Obviously, I still eat them if they are around because in my head I KNOW I love them! : ) But, I won't bake anything, or buy cookies, and I even had a hard time buying candy for Easter for the kids. Cooked veggies are kind of gross right now too. And super sweet fruit, like bananas, are hard to eat as well. I want more of the water-dense fruits like grapes and oranges.

I really don't like preparing meals right now. It makes me dislike food even more, which I know is not good since I am already having a hard time anyway. Ryan has been helping cook a lot more recently, and I hate to admit it, but we have done the pizza or fast food route more than usual as well.

I am usually really into making a lot of dinner and using leftovers for later that week, but the smell of reheating food, makes me want to barf! It is so WEIRD! That and then if I have food in the crockpot, the smell of food lingering in the house all day makes me SOOOO nauseous. I currently have to eat like every 2-3 hours or I get sick. Food actually doesn't sound good at all when I feel sick, but I know if I eat, I will feel better.

Sickness?

Super-duper tired. Again. : ) And I get sick if I don't eat often enough. I have only thrown up once though, and it was horrible. I don't know what is worse, actually throwing up and feeling a little better afterwards, or just always feeling like you are on the verge of throwing up. I get really bad headaches now and again, but if I just make sure to eat, and drink more water, then lay down, the headache usually stops.

Emotional much?

Can we say "stereotypical pregnant lady"? Holy. Cow. I have had such dramatic mood swings. Little things that normally don't bug me much, they are bugging me and I get super sassy, emotional, and cranky. Thankfully, I think that part is easing up a little. Um, I teared up twice watching Home Alone tonight with the boys? That was weird. With this pregnancy, I totally have cried watching commercials, and boy oh boy, this General Conference killed me. : ) My anxiety was getting a little worse, but I think it is leveled off again at this point.

Weight gain?

I am 11 weeks, and I have gained 4 pounds up to this point. I always gain the most weight the fastest at the beginning because keeping a full tummy does keep me from feeling sick. But being on pelvic rest for 2 weeks was hard because I wasn't able to workout. I usually don't mind the eating-every-2-hours-so-i-don't-barf deal because I know I will burn some of those extra calories working out. I am not gonna lie though, I was thrilled to get off the pelvic rest and get back to teaching bootcamp and working out! I don't think I can comprehend how emotionally strong women on bedrest must be! I wasn't even on bedrest! I just couldn't lift heavy things, workout, and have you-know-what-makes-babies. So, I give props to all the bedridden mommas out there! You are awesome! I also have a hard time at the beginning of pregnancy with how I look. So superficial of me, but it is true. I hate not looking pregnant, and just looking tubby. I know it will just be for a few short weeks, but it is still hard, especially with all the bloating and gas that adds to my non-baby filled baby buldge. I will probably start doing belly pictures next week? We will see about that. : )

Gender predictions?

Ryan and all three of the kiddos are saying it is a boy. I kind of feel like it is a boy, but honestly, I don't know. All my pregnancies have been pretty much the same, so who knows! : )

Any extras?

Gassy. I am one flatulent pregnant lady, and it is horrible. Not that I am not normally, but it is so bad right now. And it not just the toots that are bad, but it is the actual abdominal pain from the gas cramps that is horrible! It makes me so sick to my stomach.

When I am pregnant, the vasodilation in my feet at night gets so bad making it hard to sleep. They are so itchy and hot! Speaking of hot, I get hot flashes randomly, especially if someone talks to me and I get embarrassed. Like at the grocery store. When I am by myself. When a random old guy started talking to me. He was so nice, but I felt my entire body get a rush of adrenaline, and literally I felt the steam coming off of my body. And that my friends, was a weird experience.

I cannot wait to feel this baby move! I cannot wait to find out what it is! I cannot wait to meet it at the end of October! I cannot wait to get to know who this little person is! I am so thankful that God has blessed our family with another little spirit.