13 weeks

On Monday, I'll officially be out of the first trimester, no matter which calendar you use. You'd think after ten thousand years of humanity there would be some set standard, but no...apparently every site and doctor calculates it differently. Some sites say 12 weeks, some say 13, some say 13 weeks 3 days, and some say the end of 13 weeks. One even says 14 weeks 5 days, but I'm ignoring that entirely. The standard seems to be 13 weeks 3 days, so I'm going with that calculation. So MONDAY! Monday is also a huge day for us because it's the day of our first official ultrasound. Obviously I had one at 6 weeks for the ER visit, but Chris wasn't there, and let's be honest....it was essentially a jelly bean. A jelly bean with a heartbeat, yes, but still a jelly bean. Assuming all goes well, this time we should see a baby! A miniature, three inch baby. I could not be more excited...and nervous. This ultrasound checks for chromosomal abnormalities like Down's Syndrome. While we have no history of anything like that on either side of our families (well, Chris's cousin, but that might be more of a twin complication than anything else), it's still completely nerve wracking to wait for the results. Chris and I haven't really talked too much about what we'd do if there were abnormal results. I think if the results strongly indicated that there could be an issue, we'd move forward with an amnio. And if that also indicated a problem? God forbid...but I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when (hopefully never) we come to it.

What else? I'm DEFINITELY showing. Before, I could write it off as bloat. But now...well, the top of my stomach under my chest is starting to pop out a big. There's a hard little area just above my belly button - I know it's not the baby yet, but I'm assuming that some organ has decided to come vacation under my ribs.

Lastly, on Tuesday I got to hear the heartbeat at the doctor's. I had bright red spotting (this kid is really gunning for the pony) over the weekend, and while I was initially able to reassure myself by finding the heartbeat with the doppler, on Monday night I could no longer find it. Obviously, I panicked. I'd just been able to find it that morning...what could possibly have changed in less than 12 hours that would suddenly make me not be able to hear it? The last three or four times I'd tried, I'd been able to locate it in less than five minutes. On Monday night I tried for 30 or 40 minutes and couldn't find it. I won't go into detail about the crying fits I went through that day and the next day, but needless to say there were quite a bit. I called the doctor Tuesday morning, honestly expecting to hear them reassure me that the home doppler might not be as sensitive or that the baby might have moved, but instead the nurse asked me to come in as soon as possible. Honestly, that was not the response I expected at all and it absolutely terrified me. You'd think after the pain at 6 weeks and the spotting at 8 and being reassured that everything was okay despite those issues that I'd start to be less nervous, but no. Apparently you start to get attached to the little tumor growing inside you as the days go on...who knew?

I got to the appointment and met another of the midwives, who was supposed to be Pam, but in retrospect I don't think that's what her nametag said. If only there was a way I could use my computer to look it up....too bad no one has invented a way to keep information accessible, say over a global system of networked computers, via just a few keystokes. I'll just have to use my Jedi mind power instead. A ha! Her name was Heather. I really liked her a lot. Neither Chris nor my mom could go to the appointment, so I called Carol and she was able to meet me. Thank god, because if it had been bad news, I don't think I would have been able to be by myself. Pam Heather put the doppler on my belly and after a few minutes, the room filled up with the amazing, wonderful sound of the baby's heartbeat. Holy cow, I was so relieved.

So now, I just wait until Monday to hopefully see that all is well with the little one. Keep growing, baby!

Chris's side - check!

After brunch at my parents, it was time to tell Margi and Ana.

We took dinner (Olive Garden) over for Valentine's Day dinner. I bought a cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory for dessert, and they have these chocolate plaques that you can get inscriptions written on, so I had them write "We're Pregnant!" It was really cute - everyone at the restaurant was so excited! The girl who did it even picked out all blue and pink sprinkles from their multicolor sprinkles to decorate it.


We got to Margi's and ate dinner, but everyone was too full to have cheesecake right away, so we played a couple games instead. Finally, a few hours after we got there, we decided we were ready for cheesecake, so Margi went to get it out of the fridge. She opened the box and immediately started screaming. Here's the video - watch your ears!


AND THEN!!! She reached behind the counter and brought out a little bag - she had suspected and bought us baby socks!!! Chris and I were shocked - we have no idea how she knew. We've only seen her once since we found out and there was definitely know way to tell at that point. Mother's intuition, I guess? Apparently, before we got there, her and Ana were dancing around in anticipation of the big reveal. (How Margi knew there'd be a big reveal, again - no idea!! We take dinner/dessert over there every once in a while, and definitely on a holiday it shouldn't have given anything away.) I didn't notice, but throughout dinner Margi kept asking, "So...what now? Anything you want to talk about? Huh? Huh??" By the time we finally had the cheesecake, she'd started to get nervous she was wrong since we'd been there for a while without saying anything.

She was soooo thrilled. She immediately started talking about The Bassinet - the one her dad had made and that she, Mike, and Nancy had all used, and after them Chris, Ana, their two cousins all used it as well. Apparently there is also a huge giraffe and a little child-sized swing. It's totally overwhelming to be even thinking about that kind of stuff at this point, but so exciting. I think I'll have to pry her away from the nursery, though...she already started talking about big plans for it and I think I'm going to want to go a little more simple than she has in mind.

I still can't believe she bought a baby gift. How did everyone KNOW??

My side - check!

Today we told my side of the family about the baby! My mom and dad already knew, of course, but Jared*, Jenna (and Chris), Kimberly (and John), Grandma and Grandpa Nussrallah [which spellcheck is trying to correct to Tallahassee], and Grandma Adkins all came over for brunch and they had no idea. After we finished eating a delicious breakfast of pancakes and we were all just sitting around talking, I brought out a cake that I'd made and decorated that said, "We're pregnant!" Because it was heart-shaped and this was on Valentine's Day, everyone just assumed that it said "Happy Valentine's Day" without reading it...until Chris K. read it out loud. "We're....pregnant??"

And at that point there was pandemonium - Jenna squealed, Kimberly kept shouting "WHAT? WHAT? FOR REAL?," and Grandma N had a huge smile on her face. It was completely amazing to finally share the news with everyone. I also called the aunts - Mary Jo (squealed so loudly you could hear it across the room), Theresa (ditto MJ), Carol (who pretty much already knew), Leslie, and LeAnn.

*Jared wasn't actually there for the big reveal - he was still at work. So when he arrived, I brought out the cake again, and he just said "Oh. That's cool." WHAT? We expected far more out of our usually over-the-top brother. So we made him do it over again. The second time he came in with his hands over his mouth and started screaming. Dork. He says it was because he already suspected after I didn't feel well last Tuesday and I was so eager to make sure he was there, and claims he even told his coworker, "I have to go to breakfast with my family so my sister can tell us she's pregnant." The intuitive jerkface.

We're telling Margi and Ana tonight. I expect more screaming!

11w! ?

I'd been doing so good the last two weeks about worrying - of course it was always in the back of my head, but then suddenly today it came back full force. Slammed into me head on and knocked me flat on my back. I tried to find the heartbeat on the doppler to reassure me, but I couldn't. I know that shouldn't worry me - it's still fairly early to find it consistently - but it does. It really does.

So bean, Koopa, Bowser, Skeletor, Megatron....keep on keepin' on, okay? We're telling your family about you this weekend and they're all going to be SO thrilled to meet you and SO excited. You'll be really spoiled! You will have amazing grandmothers and aunts and uncle. Oh, sad! You only have one uncle! :( I'll yell at my parents for that. Once some of the girls get married you'll have some more, though, so don't let that stop you!

Spoiled. Rotten. I promise. So just...just keep on growing and be healthy. Ok?

UPDATE: Apparently the promise of being spoiled rotten works for this little one, because I've been able to find it consistently the past few days. Yay!

Aaaaaand we have a heartbeat!

Yesterday was our first appointment, and it was AWESOME. Or maybe it was super boring and I'm just so stoked about everything it seems awesome. That's entirely possible. Especially because looking back now, nothing too crazy happened. They took my blood pressure, weight, some family history, checked the placement of the uterus, and heard the heartbeat via doppler. We also decided to get screen for Cystic Fibrosis and get an NT Scan (aka 1st Trimester Screening). I'm pretty certain our risks for birth defects are low considering we have eight million children in our family with no issues (knock on wood) (no, I literally just knocked on wood) (like, for real). But if there is something, we'd both need time to figure out what to do and how to adjust. And. Um. The NT scan is done by ultrasound. So yeah. It's a chance to see Koopa* again. And possibly looking more baby and less bean like! And if I'm being perfectly honest, that's why I want to get it.

After we were able to hear the hearbeat on the doppler at the doctor's, I immediately went and bought one of the home ones. It arrived today, and to my delight, I was able to find it! I am pretty excited to get to listen to it whenever I want. In fact, I'm even [blush] thinking about taking it to work tomorrow, just because I can. If I get proficient at it, maybe I'll take it to the parents' when we made the big announcements. Although...it's pretty, um, low. I'd ahve to cover up with a blanket or something, unless they all want a show. Which, you know, with the Hanlon philosophy of keeping it in the family, they might enjoy. No! Ewww!

What? You want to see for yourself? Okay!

Wait, what do you want to see? The show? Or the heartbeat? Because if it's the hearbeat, fine, but if it's the show....I charge.

Presenting...our baby's hearbeat at an awesome 165 bpm.



Four more days until the big reveal and nine more days until 12 weeks! Can't wait!

* Does Koopa work? Like the turtle things from Mario? I hate using Bean. And I think they kind of look like those turtles sometimes. I've been experimenting but nothing sounds right. Including Koopa.

10 weeks!

Hey! Megatron! Skeletor! Bean! Bowser! You're 10 weeks! This week, for some reason, I really started to relax. Our first appointment is tomorrow, and I'm still really nervous, but more than that I've just been SO excited to finally get to tell everyone this weekend! We're taking your Grandma Hanlon and Aunt Ana dinner on Valentine's Day, and I'm going to get a cheesecake that announces the news. I think. I was also brainstorming a few other ideas, but I think that's going to be the best one. Your Grandma and Grandpa Adkins already know [Um, okay. Now that's just weird. Grandma and Grandpa Adkins are MY grandparents. We might have to rethink this...Maybe Nona and Poppa or something for my mom and dad.] from my trip to the ER, but your aunts and uncle don't. We're telling them over brunch on Valentine's Day. And I think I'm going to work it into a game of Balderdash.

Chris has been DYING to tell his friends - it's actually really, really sweet. We just found out two of our friends (Joe and Rachel) are pregnant and due at the end of September! So they're a few weeks behind us, but told already - which has been killing Chris. Poor guy! It was also pretty sweet because we got invited to a wine tasting (the same one we did last year with Becky and Matt) and he asked, "Would you even want to go if you can't drink?" I told him that a few sips here and there - even a glass - is totally fine. His response? "What?? NO! You're not doing that! Don't take the chance!" He said the same thing when I was telling him about deli meat being "bad" but that I'd probably continue to eat it. I thought he'd be the opposite and think all the "rules" were silly and pointless, but no - he's already protective and careful.

I'll post an update tomorrow after our WAY TOO EARLY doctor's appointment. Fingers crossed!