Slow week....

So the time between now and my last post has been pretty slow. No new pregnancy news or symptoms. I am still having back spasms on a semi-regular basis, but they now can say for certain that it was not caused by a bladder infection, which basically means that they have no valid reason for the pains I experienced for 2 days straight except to say that I "may just be one of those weird pregnancies". LOL. Which, for the record, is SOOOO not helpful!! haha. Anyway, we are doing well, trying to stay busy. I am throwing a bridal shower with my mom for a friend in a week so I can't stop thinking and planning for that! I'm hoping that Mitchell and I will be able to sit down this weekend and go over some themes for the baby's room and make some decisions on other things as well (like strollers, baby names, etc.) But there's no telling! When there's more to tell, I'll post again!

A weekend to forget...

So it seems that all of my bad weekends are starting on Thursdays and this one was no different! Thursday after I got off of work my mom came over and helped me clean the bathrooms and do some laundry. I cooked dinner for her, Mitch and I but right before Mitch got home (about 8:00) I started having pains in my back. It moved to my stomach area which got me concerned because I never cramp in my stomach. Anyways, it would hurt for about an hour and then not hurt at all for about 20-30 minutes, then it would start all over, going from my back to front, front to back and get more or less severe each time. By 11:00, it was hurting so badly that I got out of bed (for the third time) and went to the living room. By 11:25, Mitch had woken up because I was crying so loudly. We went to the emergency room and they tested my blood and urine, said they didn't know what was causing the pain and sent me home with some pain killers. They didn't check the baby or do a pelvic exam, but at the time I didn't argue because I knew I would go see my OBGYN the next day...of course I had forgotten that it was Good Friday.

I took the medication when we got home, and again when I woke up. I tried to say on my butt or back as much as possible. My mom came up here with some food for me around 1 and we ate. Not long after we finished though, she got a call from her next door neighbor, telling her that my dad was putting our family dog in the back of his car. We had made the family decision to have her put down a few days before, but we were sure he wouldn't do it without letting us say goodbye. I called the vet and sure enough he was there to have her put down. I made my mom take me and called my brother to meet us up there. We told her goodbye and gave her kisses to tell her how much we love her. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. She was almost 18 years old, and I can't even remember not having her around. She played in the lake with us, swam after us when we got into a paddle boat or john boat. I can't even count the number of times we have flipped or almost flipped a boat because we had to pull her inside, because if we didn't she would just swim around in circles around the boat until she almost drowned herself! She slept in my room all through middle and high school, and for a while after she stopped sleeping in my room it was hard to sleep without her snoring! lol. She would go up to the ball park with us when Josh and I played baseball/softball. Everyone knew her and fed her, and more than once we had to stop a game because she would get on the field and go run around in the outfield trying to catch/play with the ball! She was a wonderful dog and will be greatly missed. My dad buried her in the backyard when we got back home.

Mom brought me home, still having pains and made dinner for me and Mitch. It was very good and she worked way too hard on it, but it was delicious! Saturday I tried to rest but Mitch's car had died Friday night, up in Brunswick, so we had to drive up there and take care of it on Saturday. Just going up there and back wore me out. I laid down/slept most of the afternoon and then Mitchell took me to the Millhouse because I was craving some of their honey butter and strawberry vinaigrette.

Sunday morning we got up and my pains had finally gone away! I was so happy but still feeling pretty achy. We got dressed and got halfway to my inlaws house to pick up our nieces for church when Mitch had to pull over on the side of the road for me to throw up. Let me explain what a big deal this is...

1. I don't throw up...ever
2. I was in my church clothes
3. I always have hair ties on my wrist except for that day bc it looked tacky on Easter
4. Did I mention I don't throw up?
5. also... couldn't stop feeling like I was going to throw up again or smelling it, until today (Monday).

Anyway, we got to church and enjoyed the services. Had lunch with the family and once again came home and laid down/slept the rest of the day.

This morning I got up and my pain was back randomly. I went to my mom's so that I could take my pain medicine but still get to my dr appt. (I can't drive while on the pain meds they gave me at the er). Paula was able to see me at 1:45 and she did a sonogram and the baby was fine. He or she is quite defined, and we even got a shot of his or her hand! It was very cool! I'll scan and post those pictures soon. They sent away for a test and gave me an antibiotic. They are still not 100% sure what's wrong but have narrowed it down to ligament spasms or bladder spasms, neither of which should have lasted as long as they did, but are nothing that can harm the baby. So that we are grateful for. I will go back to work tomorrow with a strict warning to take it as easy as possible. As for now, I am once again laying down, and trying not to strain. :)

Long time, no post...

Its been a week or so since I have posted. Its been a long week and I've looked at the blog almost everyday but just haven't felt like posting. As of this week I am 12 weeks pregnant. Yay! Pretty much every day this week I have been exhausted and can't wait until this first trimester is over! lol. They keep telling me that I'm going to be less tired for the next three months. Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment and we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat again. It was nice and strong at 160 beats per minutes. We also set the appointment to find out the sex of the baby. We'll find out if its a boy or girl on May 6th at 8:30. We're really excited. Mom and I picked out the fabric for the shopping cart cover she's making for the baby! Today we are trying to just take it easy and relax! :) Hopefully I'll be nice and rested by Monday!

Rough week....

Last Thursday, Mitch and I were running errands and picking things up for Kris and Marie's wedding. When we went to the mall to get Mitch's Tux, I realized I had some bleeding. I went to the bathroom and there was a large membrane in the blood. We spent the next several hours in the emergency room. They did a sonogram and found that the baby still had a heartbeat. It appears that I lost a blood vessel that wraps around my cervix. The doctor said that it was not unheard of in pregnancies of young women. Needless to say it was really scary.

Friday we rested and then went to the wedding rehearsal. It was a long day. Saturday we got up early and I met with Marie to get our hair done with the other bridesmaids. We went back to her parent's house to eat and get dressed and then we headed to the Hilltop, limo and all. The wedding was beautiful as was the reception and we had a wonderful time. It was great to be part of Kris and Marie's day. When we got on the road, I checked my messages. I called Sasha back to find out that Starr had died earlier in the day at 2 pm. I couldn't believe that I hadn't been there for her.

The rest of the week since then has been like a blur. So many things to do and no time or energy to do them. I have had the opportunity to make a slideshow for the viewing and funeral. (which are tonight and tomorrow night). I think I've been a help to her parents, and really hope that I have. Please pray for her family as they deal with this difficult situation.

For those who haven't heard...

Since my last post, a lot has happened. Very little of it has been good. Thursday, one of my best friends from high school, Starr, had a collapsed lung and cardiac arrest. She was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gerick's disease a year ago and has progressed much more quickly than expected. They revived her but she has yet to regain consciousness. Its been a long weekend. Please keep her in your prayers, as well as her parents who are dealing with this difficult situations and may have some difficult decisions to make.

By Friday night I was exhausted mentally and physically. Saturday morning came too quickly and we had too many errands to run. Before we finished we realized we were losing air in one of the tires really quickly. We ended up at the tire place getting two new tires for my mom's expedition. While we were there my mom called and told me that it looks like my Uncle Alvin has skin cancer. They are removing multiple spots from all over his body in the next three weeks. Please pray with me that they will get all of it and that if it is cancer that its only stage one.

Sunday morning it was hard to get out of bed. lol. We made it to church and really enjoyed the message. After lunch, Mitch, Josh and I went to see Starr. Josh took it really hard. Her condition hadn't changed. We went back to church and had dinner with Jennifer and Jason Allen. They were kind enough to have us over.

Today took it out of me, not because we were busy at work, but because we were soooo slow and I couldn't get out of there early. GRR. One good thing that happened, was that 2 of my regulars, Matt and RV, came in and I told them about Starr, and not only did they agree to pray for her, they prayed with me for her. It is so nice to have Christian friends. :) After work I went back to see Starr, and got to see Sasha too, (my other best friend from high school.) Still no change. Hopefully tomorrow will bring better news.

Wild week...

I officially had my first "had to have it craving" this week. Monday I went to get my blood work done in Fernandina. There was a Publix down the street and for some reason I thought about those Easter themed sweetarts. I all of a sudden HAD to have them. I went to the Publix and then I went to the CVS until I found them. They were on sale! I ate several of them on the way home and felt much better!

Then my new phone came in yesterday, which is awesome! I'm so excited to start getting all of my phone numbers put in there and take pics of my puppies! lol. I'm still trying to figure it out.

I'm feeling very scatter brained these days. So that's why this post seems that way too! lol.

The pictures....

Yesterday I had my first doctor's appointment, and it went really well. They checked everything, ya know all those things that make you really uncomfortable, yeah, all that! lol. They originally calculated my due date as Oct 13th, but then asked if I wanted to see the baby and hear the heartbeat. I said yes! And when they measured the baby on the sonogram, they measured the pregnancy at exactly 8 week (instead of 7) and changed my due date to October 8th. The picture to the right is little baby Pearson. If you look close, there is a little plus sign at each end of the light spot. The left one is the head and the right one is the booty! It wasn't moving much, but at one point it started to wiggling on the screen which was really cool. My mom was with me and she was all giggly and teary eyed and I was totally thinking that she was this huge dork, but then I got to see this next picture. This one is the heartbeat picture. They turned the sound on and I was able to hear the little 'thump, thump, thump' of my babies heart and then I started crying! :) If you look at the bottom of the picture, you can actually see the baby's heartbeat, and they said that it was really good, because it was strong and consistent. As you can see the beats are all about the same intensity and distance from each other. Little baby Pearson as a heartbeat of 175 beats per minute, even this early! :) Needless to say that I was really excited. I called Mitch when we left the doctor's office and he was really happy that I got to see the baby, neither of us thought we would be able to so early. Thankfully we live in a wonderful time of technology that has allowed us this blessing! I have my next appointment in 4 weeks (March 27th) and then the appointment after that we'll get to find out the sex of the baby. (Maybe then, Mitch and I might be able to agree a baby name or two!) I still have to do some lab work in the next week or so, but I doubt that that will be even half as exciting as the sonogram.

Stop reading now, if you don't want to know the intimate details of how they were able to see the baby so early....lol

So I had read about this in my pregnancy book and was seriously dreading it. Its called a vaginal sonogram, because they actually insert the end of the machine up the vaginal canal to the uterine wall. Apparently the uterus is still down in the pelvis area this early in pregnancy, so an abdominal sonogram cannot see anything. But against the uterine wall, they can see the baby. So here I was thinking that they were going to attempt to stuff this rectangular hand piece that they normally use on abdomens up there. But thankfully it isn't that at all. Its this long cylinder, about the diameter of a tampon, so it wasn't bad at all. Just so that everyone understands. haha.