We are very excited! I found out that I was pregnant on November 10, 2014. We had been trying for a little while and I had one pregnancy test left in the cupboard and I was three days late on my period. The weekend was killing me just waiting, so on Monday morning I decided to just go for it, and it was positive. I felt excited and scared, but mostly like it wasn't real. After work I went to Locker 42 and bought this cute little Aggie onesie to give to Matt. I put the pregnancy test in the bag with the onesie and left it on the counter for my snoopy husband to look at when he got home from work. When he came inside, he glanced in the bag and didn't say anything. I asked him if he saw what was in the bag, and he said, "Yes, a onesie for Jenni and Nate's baby." I said, "It's not for them..." and slowly he made the connection and I showed him the test! It was pretty funny to see him put the pieces together. He felt the same way that I did: excited, scared, and mostly just like it wasn't real.
Matt and I have talked long and hard about when it would be good to tell our families. We wanted to wait as long as possible just to make sure everything was good with the baby. During the time that we were waiting, a TON of people asked me if I was pregnant! Two of my close friends at work are pregnant, and everyone was waiting for me too. The funniest story was on Claire's birthday. I stayed home sick in the afternoon, and everyone asked where I was. Matt told them I was sick, and Randy asked Matt if I was pregnant. Matt said yes, and everyone just laughed it off! I guess being honest is just as good as trying to keep a secret if no one believes you!
It was ridiculously hard for me to keep the secret! I'm a terrible secret-keeper! Finally, I convinced Matt that Christmas would be fun. He wanted to wait but I just couldn't! On Christmas Eve we were with Matt's family. A few years ago, we made a deal with Matt's dad that he would play the accordion for our baby when we had one. So on Christmas Eve, we hoped to bring up the accordion somehow, but Brad did it for us! He told everyone about how his principal played the accordion, so I asked Diet if he knew where his accordion was and if he had been practicing. He said that he hadn't, so I asked if he remembered our deal. He didn't so I had to remind him. I said, "Do you remember you said you would play for our baby?" He said, "And I will." And I said, "Well you better start practicing!" Slowly, he put the pieces together! His surprise was classic! Slowly everyone else in the room figured out what was going on. It was super loud while we were having this conversation and no one really heard it, which apparently wasn't that big of a deal because everyone had started to figure it out on their own! For the rest of the night, Diet told every person who came by the house! It was so fun to finally share our news!
On Christmas morning, I was just going crazy waiting to tell my family. Alex came over late, so we decided to eat breakfast first. I was STARVING and if I don't eat then I get really nauseous so I had to have some breakfast while waiting for family breakfast to be ready. Finally we started opening presents, and I had a special one for everyone to open. I wrapped all the presents together and told them they had to open them at the same time because they all went together. I really just didn't want one present to ruin it for everyone else! My mom got hers open first, but she thought it was an Aggie tee shirt and covered it so no one else could see. Jeff got his open pretty quick, but had it covered too. When Alex and Cassie pulled their shirts out, Alex and my mom were looking back and forth at each other, like they were confused, until my mom finally looked at the Aggie onesie again and Alex realized what it was! Then everyone started putting the pieces together! When they realized what was going on, everyone started crying, even Jeff, and then screaming and then hugging! It was really funny to watch! I wish I had found a way to video their reactions, because they were hilarious! My mom took this picture with everyone's shirts and posted it on Facebook later that night. Jeff's shirt says, "Grandpa Jeff," Cassie and Alex's shirts say, "Great Sisters Get Promoted to Aunt," and my mom has the Aggie onesie!
Matt and I sent this picture to some of our other close friends that day too.
Matt and I also got the chance to tell my mom's family on Christmas night. My mom hung the little onesie on the wall with her Christmas cards and figured someone would see it and ask what it was. Well everyone came, and no one saw. My mom was going crazy! She finally grabbed my grandma and grandpa and took them over and showed them the onesie. Finally everyone in the room figured out what was going on. The best part was that everyone was congratulating me and Matt, when Alex shouts out, "What about congratulations to me? I'm going to be an AUNT!" It was hilarious! My aunt Sue called on Skype and it was fun to tell her the news too! She started crying! So much fun! Of course I had to call my grandma and grandpa Norton, and Matt called his grandpa and Ramona too. Definitely the best Christmas ever!
This week we had our first ultrasound appointment. I made Matt go with me. He was a trooper. Dr. Blackett had to do a quick check for infections before the ultrasound and he didn't even act grossed out! When she started showing us the baby, it was crazy. I think I said, "Wow, it's really in there." This whole process hasn't seemed too real for me, and I always had a thought in my mind that it wasn't really happening. It was great to have confirmation that baby was in fact there and growing and moving around! Baby was upsidedown and moving a little, moving arms and legs around while we watched. I couldn't believe that we could see the little fingers and toes. It was fun to see all the bones that are already forming and watch the pulsing of the little heartbeat. She said everything was looking great, about 7 cm and the heartbeat was 158 bpm. The pictures didn't turn out great because every time she tried to pause the picture, the baby would move and it would be blurry, but oh well.
Baby's head is bottom left. Baby is facing the front, so you can kind of see the arms folded up and the legs crossed.
Baby's head is in the bottom middle, and body is toward the left. Can't really see legs, but can kind of see folded arms.
Heartbeat and picture showing where the heart is in the body.
This one is the worst. The top of the head is at the bottom of the little arrow, and bottom of the bum is near the top left. This is when she measured baby, you can see at the bottom 6.94 cm.
As far as my pregnancy has been going, I've been okay. Tomorrow will be my official 13 week date. I am realizing how lucky I was to have such good health now that everything in my system is going crazy! I have had sore breasts, a lot of nausea but I've only thrown up a handful of times (some days I can keep it manageable and other days nothing seems to work- I've lost ten pounds already), I've had a hard time sleeping at night, I'm EXHAUSTED all the time, and had back pain and constipation. The joys of pregnancy! Thankfully Kamie shared some Zofran with me for the nausea and that has been helping. Cute Jeff suggested to me a few days ago that I try the Zofran too. Although the Zofran makes me more constipated so I have to take a stool softener, and I get headaches, so I have to take Tylenol, so I am just a bit of a mess! I'm not really showing yet, but my pants are starting to get tight and uncomfortable in the waist. Whew. Sorry for the information overload!
To sum it all up, we are very happy and we hope that everything continues to progress naturally and that baby grows safe and sound until it's time to come out around July 17. Thanks to everyone for all your support, and to all my friends who have been answering millions of questions from me! We are excited for this new adventure!