So... I'm pregnant.

Recently, a friend made me feel very guilty about not keeping my blog updated. Honestly, it is something I enjoy doing, I just forget that other people sometimes enjoy it, too!

I also started feeling guilty lately that I haven't documented a single thing about my pregnancy. The first picture I even took of myself was last week! And I'm already more than halfway done cooking this little one :)

So I thought I would kick off my non-menu plan posts with a baby post. I don't have very many (if any) pictures to go along with this post, so hopefully just the little tidbits of info will be enough!

July 10 - A positive pregnancy test! I had no idea how far along I was, Chris and I were just excited to be expecting :)
July 15 - We began telling family and friends that we were pregnant. After some research and paying attention to a timeline of symptoms, I gathered that at this point we were probably around 8 or 9 weeks pregnant. (Just remember folks, though I was only 6 weeks in to marriage, 2 weeks of that is not gestation. Women are already 2 weeks pregnant at the point of conception, based on when their last period occured.)
July 19 - Called Birth and Women's Center to schedule my first prenatal appointment. Based on my account of my last period, they agreed I was probably around 9 or 10 weeks pregnant and scheduled me for my first visit at 12 weeks.
July 28 - After being nauseous for nearly 10 days, I decided to cave in and call for a script. Those little 4mg tabs of Zofran are like gold!
August 5 - First appointment. Got a tour of the Birth Center, drew some blood for labwork, weighed myself (up 2 lbs!), and then got started with the appointment with the midwife. I met with Norla and she went over a few health history questions and other wonderings me and the hubby had. She used her magic "wheel of conception" to calculate my due date of February 20, 2011. Then she tried to hear the heartbeat using the doppler. She said the baby must be a stinker, because at first she couldn't find the baby (I'm sure that will be true!). But, alas, we got to hear the little heart pounding away! Heart rate was in the 170's. It was a beautiful sound :)
August 9 - The nausea left just as quick as it came! I continued (and still continue) taking about 4-5 Zofran per week, down significantly from my 3 per day. Though I never actually tossed my cookies, it made work quite impossible.
September 2 - Had my second appointment at Birth and Womens. This one was sure interesting! She measured me and said I was measuring 4 weeks ahead. I told her that I was wondering if it was twins, because of all the family history, and my bulging belly bump (I had added 9 inches to my waist already). She said she couldn't say definitively, and went on with my appointment. She listened for the heartbeat and heard it pretty high up in my belly. Then when she moved the doppler to the other side of my belly button (about 5 inches away) she could hear a heartbeat again. I told her that my baby moved A LOT and I had been feeling it kick for about two weeks. She said that with everything she had observed through my appointment, combined with my severely increased appetite and family history of twins, that she thought we were having twins, too. Needless to say she talked me in to an ultrasound!
*The month of September included a lot of anxious waiting!*
October 5 - After much confusion, many tears, and lots of grief, my sonogram appointment finally arrived. The office it was scheduled in was a Perinatologist's office in order to get a 4D ultrasound. We wanted to check for pyloric stenosis because of Chris's strong family history of being predisposed. But much to our surprise, there was one baby only :) And it's a baby girl! Because girls don't usually have pyloric stenosis, we are looking forward to a gastrointestinally healthy little one. However, once they had completed all the measurements, she was too itty-bitty for February 20 to be the correct due date. Instead, they moved it back to March 13, 2011. We'll have to wait a little longer, but a spring break baby is okay with me! At this point, I have gained 12 pounds, and am 17 weeks pregnant.
October 23 - Got the nursery completely empty. It's so exciting to start preparing for a little one. Especially after we got to see pictures of her. We picked up the crib and cradle from Chris's parents so I can start refinishing them. Pictures will be up soon!
October 29 - Today, I am 20 weeks, 5 days pregnant. I feel the baby kick all the time! She gets especially aggressive if something is pressing against her (i.e. if my pants are a little snug or I have to go to the bathroom). My eating has slowed down, but I still snack in between meals. I haven't craved anything specific over an extended period of time. The only thing that always sounds good is lots of condiments! I load everything up with butter, salad dressing, sour cream, soy sauce -- anything to season what I'm eating! We do have her name picked out. We'll share it when she's born! Until then it's a surprise. So for right now Chris and I are just enjoying living life as DINKs :) Only 135 days left until baby girl Young is scheduled to arrive.

Menu Plan..

Well, I just got around to pressing the "post" button on the last menu plan, but I refrained from editing to reveal what we ACTUALLY ate those nights. It wasn't too different, but things always get rearranged for some reason. I'm trying really hard to find meals that sound good after 12 some odd hours of work, and that are already ready when I get home! This is a challenge. And so are Chris's and my conflicting schedules... My plan for this week is to try to double or triple most of the dinners to freeze -- that way it's available for lunches/weekends/lazy evenings! Hopefully this will be a lifesaver :)

Thursday: Chicken and Noodles and Mashed Potatos
Friday: Blueberry Pancakes and Cheesy scrambled eggs
Saturday: Chili and Cornbread
Sunday lunch: BBQ Chicken pizza
Sunday dinner: at the Nienhuis's! for some SPADES
Monday: Fettuccini Alfredo and Honey mustard carrots
Tuesday: Biscuits and Gravy and eggs
Wednesday: French Dip sandies and chips
Thursday: Eat out? KU v KSU
Friday-Sunday: Vacation!
Monday: Leftovers/Eat on the road
Tuesday: Potato Soup and homemade bread
Wednesday: Stuffed pasta shells
Thursday: Nachos
Friday: Baked Potatos
Saturday: Eat out for family birthday

Whew! That's a relief to be planned. Now I just have to be adventurous enough to make all these things!