Meeting our little peanut!

13 weeks has arrived along with the 2nd trimester! (Ok, so it's debated whether 13 or 14 weeks is the start, but the calendar I'm using says 13 so that's what I'm going with!) This week our baby is the size of a lemon and is starting to be able to hear! What an exciting week it's been! Since I was sick last week I had my 12 week appointment this week. Everything is looking great and I got to hear the heartbeat for the first time! I definitely teared up! It was so neat hearing the proof that there really is a living baby growing in me. The heartbeat was strong at 170 BPM. Also this week we decided to have an ultrasound at Bridgehaven. I was really thankful that Jake was able to get off work early to join and since Jenna works there she was able to come see too! Our little peanut was swimming all around and having fun moving their arms and legs around! They measured perfectly at 12 weeks and 6 days (exactly what I am today) confirming our due date of February 27th.

In other exciting news, our house should be breaking ground soon! The builder is just waiting on a form from their bank and then they should be ready to start. Woohoo!

Information about peanut:
EDD: Feb 27th (190 days)

How mom's feeling: really hungry! So excited about our babies continued growth!

How dad's feeling: It was really neat seeing the baby!

^Introducing our little peanut!

^Peanut says "Hi everyone!"

Pregnancy and the flu don't mix

12 weeks! Woohoo!  Last week of the first trimester! Currently our baby is the size of a lime and weighs a whole half an ounce! It's surprising how big they get in such a short time! Morning sickness has been mostly gone for a few weeks now besides feeling a little 'off' in the evenings still. However a new pregnancy symptom has come about the past few days. I can't go more than 1-2 hours between eating before feeling like I'm starving again. I'm talking hands shaking, feel sick, starving. It's really frustrating! Especially when it wakes you up in the middle of the night!
In other news, pregnancy and the flu don't mix. Earlier last week Jake had a stomach bug. We did our best to not touch or spread germs but Wednesday night when I started feeling kind of sick I started to wonder... then I woke up in the middle of the night puking and knew I had caught the bug too. Puking 6 times in one day isn't fun in any situation, but it's especially not fun when you're pregnant and worried about the little life inside you too! Don't worry, I definitely called my doctor first thing in the morning and they assured me that besides getting dehydrated I didn't need to worry. However to keep the bug from spreading we did have to reschedule our appointment so we won't get to hear the heartbeat until this week. As disappointed as I was about having to wait another week, Jake want going to be able to go and this week he will, God knows what He's doing (although, I'll make a plea to Him that the doctor just needs to reschedule instead of getting the flu!)

Information about our little peanut:
EDD: Feb 27th (193 days)

How mom's feeling: hungry (and annoyed by that), excited to hear the heartbeat! Also thankful that we may have found an excellent replacement for me at my job!

How dad's feeling: enjoying the last week before school starts, excited about our growing baby!

The size of a plum

11 weeks is here! That means our baby is the size of a plum! Isn't that crazy??? And my belly can tell, I couldn't button a pair of jeans this past weekend! This week our baby is learning to swallow and to smell! I wonder what the womb smells like... on second thought, I'm not sure I want to know! There really isn't much news on the baby front this week, however at our appointment next week we will get to hear our little peanuts heart beat for the first time! We're super excited for that! We're also excited that our house should be getting moving soon! The state is finally done with their part so our builder should be getting the deed! Hurray!

Information about peanut:
EDD: Feb 27th (201 days)

How mom's feeling: tired, not to sick (haven't had to spend any time with the toilet for over a week!), really looking forward hearing the heartbeat!

How dad's feeling: stressed for the upcoming school year but excited to be a dad.

And the winner is...

We're into the double digits! 10 weeks! Hurray! Jake and I really enjoyed being able to go on vacation and relax this past week. For the most part I felt decent for the majority of the trip, the nausea is mostly the worst in the evening so we just spent the evenings relaxing. While we were in Kentucky we went to the creation museum which was really interesting and a lot of fun. We also went to the Cincinnati zoo which was a blast (I love zoos!)! Also in Cincinnati we found the cutest little restaurant ever! I would classify it as a burger joint and it just had a fun friendly vibe. The burgers were homemade and DELICIOUS! If you're ever in the area I highly recommend 'Terry's Turf'.
On Monday we were back in cedar rapids and we had a big day ahead of us, hospital touring! Since we both had the day off we decided to go ahead and get this done now. Both hospitals (mercy and St. Lukes) were excellent hospitals. Jake and I agreed that whatever decision we made we definitely couldn't go wrong. In the end though we had to pick one and the winner was... St. Lukes! Like I said, they both are excellent hospitals so the deciding factors were preferential more than anything. I liked the way that St. Lukes does their food better, it'll be closer to home, and the biggest reason was I just felt more comfortable there. So anyone that has chose or does choose mercy, no judgement here! It's a great choice as well, St. Lukes was just the best choice for us :)

Information about peanut:
EDD : Feb 27th (209 days)

How mom's feeling : pretty good! Mostly sick in the evenings and for a little bit when I wake up. Looking forward to the end of the first trimester :)

How dad's feeling: fantastic, super excited, a little anxious about the upcoming school year :)

Fetal stage is here!

Here we are in week 9, welcoming our little peanut into the fetal stage! I really don't have a whole lot to report this week. It's been another week of some days feeling sick and others feeling mostly fine. On Monday we had our first prenatal appointment with a nurse. It was fun to see how things are finally getting moving with appointments and what not. The appointment went well, we basically just talked about how things have been going and what to expect from here forward. My next appointment is mid August and we'll get to hear a heart beat then! Monday night we had our first prenatal class at bridgehaven. It was a lot of fun getting to see pictures of babies in the womb and just being around other expecting moms. This weekend we're on vacation! We decided to go to the Kentucky/Ohio border and go to the creation museum and an aviation museum. Our bed and breakfast is a beautiful farm house with lots of cute kitties and horses to play with! Lastly, I wanted to apologize for not putting up a picture last week, after writing the post I had meant to get a picture taken and then post it but I kept being either too sick or too busy to get the picture taken so finally I just decided to post it and wait to put up a picture this week.

Information about peanut
EDD: Feb 27th (216 days)

How mom's feeling: sick in the morning and at night but usually fine during the day.

How dad's feeling: enjoying reading a couple of parenting books!

I am blessed

(Written on 7/18. Will update with photo later)

 I told you 8 weeks would be here in a flash! Week 7 was filled with more nausea and vomiting, but I also had some good days too where I wasn't feeling too bad! I've also stated noticing a little bit of a baby bump recently! Hurray! This week our little peanut is a whole inch long and continuing to grow bigger everyday! Also exciting, no more tail! This is also its last week as an embryo!  We're very excited for our first prenatal appointment on Monday and our first prenatal class at bridgehaven Monday night!
Now as promised, I'm going to spend some time doting on Jake :) He has been SO amazingly supportive! Being so sick, it's been really hard to cook or clean or do much of anything. He has been so helpful with making dinner, helping me out and all the while without making me feel bad. He's been fetching me water and blankets while I'm camped out at the toilet and making sure I'm taking my prenatal every day. That's not even to mention how interested and involved he's been with our peanut. It's so sweet to watch him talk to our little one and ask about how he or she is growing this week! And I can't forget to mention how hard he's been working and will be working to provide for us! This hardworking man of mine is hoping to work full time and do school full time this next school year! I really am just so blessed with this wonderful husband of mine. He's going to make such a great daddy!

Information about little peanut:
EDD: Feb 27th (224 days)

How mom's feeling: tired, sick, tired of being sick, looking forward to everything!

How dad's feeling: still very excited!

Finding Hope

7 weeks is here (and will be gone in a flash)! Week 6 was filled with lots and lots of nausea. I was nauseated every moment of every day. It was really difficult, both physically and emotionally. I was really starting to feel very hopeless about ever feeling more than 'ok' for a while. But today has brought with it a little bit of a respite. There have still been some moments of nausea, but on the whole, so far, I've felt more than OK today. It's encouraging to know that even if I'm sick again tomorrow there's at least hope that I could have another good day soon!
On a more exciting note, in the past week our little peanut has doubled in size and is now the size of a blueberry! It's just so neat how quickly our little one is growing! This week the major developments are hands and feet as well as continuing to grow major organs. It's so cool to think about everything God is doing to create this tiny human!

Information about peanut:
EDD: February 27th (230 days)

How mom's feeling: usually pretty nauseated, learning to just not think about food (it's quite a task!), so thankful for Jake's awesome support (I imagine that there will be a post doting on him very soon :) )

How dad's feeling: a little stressed thinking about school and work, but still very excited!