Just in case you missed our recent announcement last week, we are expecting our first baby in May! We have been overwhelmed with congratulations and well wishes from so many :) At the same time, everyone has been asking all about our "story" and all the fun details that come with starting a family. So, here is all the nitty gritty details that facebook just can't handle! I warn you it is a long read, but this is more for my journaling and memory purposes that I can look back on.
We had a pretty "set" plan of when we wanted to start a family and I was absolutely certain that with the intense Lewiston heat, I DID NOT want to be pregnant during the Summer!
A month after we started trying, I started having "un-pregnancy" like symptoms and was a bit disappointed. I gave Jordan a hard time that he had no room to flaunt his ego the way he does after that and he brushed it off like no big deal.
4 days after that disappointing conversation, I took a test anyways and got in the shower. After I got out, I glanced at the test not expecting to see anything... BUT I surely saw a faint vertical line across the horizontal line. I stared and stared at the test while holding it all different ways and squinting. It was faint, but it was surely there! I was not expecting that after the previous conversation, but nevertheless I was so happy! Then the challenge came... How to tell Jordan.
I waited a few days and took another test to be sure and there was no denying that one! I decided to make Jordan a poster to tell him in a cute way.
I put it out on the coffee table in a frame along with {several} positive tests of all kinds. He got up for work and had to take a double take, but was thrilled!
It took a few days of asking each other "is this real" and "are we really having a baby?!!". We waited a week or so and called told our families. They were all super excited especially the soon-to-be grandmas. I have a slight feeling that the first grandchild on both sides will be super spoiled! I made my first appointment for 8 weeks with Dr. Urquhart's nurse. We couldn't wait!
For the first couple of weeks, I didn't really have any major symptoms. Gratefully I didn't have any morning sickness and still don't so far. The only thing I was having was painful cramping. I read all kinds of things about it and talked to my dr's nurse and she assured me that mild cramping was normal. As time progressed, the cramping got quite a bit worse, and became very worry some! After an episode of severe cramping one night, I called the doctor in the morning and they said they wanted to see me to make sure everything was ok. Jordan was busy at work as usual and in a teleconference, but left to come with me and make sure everything was ok.
By this time, I was almost 7 weeks along which was a little over a week from when my 1st appointment was scheduled for. We saw the doctor first and he didn't find much abnormal. He then sent us down for bloodwork in the lab and later an ultrasound. Due to Jordan's medical history and chest surgery, he is not a fan of doctor's offices, and was very lightheaded the whole time. I told him to get used to it and he had no problem sucking it up seeing that I was the one getting poked and prodded by EVERYONE :) We went down and the nurse had issues finding a vein to take my blood from. The first try she did, my vein kept rolling and was unsuccessful. I do not do well with needles, so I was a little mad that she didn't get in in the first try! She then found a juicy vein on my wrist and was able to take a crapload of blood from that. Jordan watched and kept me focused on looking at him instead of the viles and viles of blood they were taking. He was super grossed out the whole time, but stuck it out for me. Ouch it hurt, especially when she removed the huge needle. She finished it off with a pink bandage wrap around my wrist and away we went.
Our ultrasound wasn't scheduled for a few more hours, so in between that, Jordan took me on a lunch date. When we were leaving the Dr's office, I had to laugh at Jordan's comments about my blood being taken. They went something like this:
"Babe that was like really really bad. You can even pick where we go to lunch because that was really really bad. I might even go get you icecream later too. That was bad. At least your bandage matches your shirt right?!"
He always seems to lighten the mood in any hard situation. We enjoyed a yummy lunch at Applebee's and later headed back for the ultrasound. I was very anxious to see the ultrasound and make sure everything was ok because of the odd symptoms I had been having!
The tech did 2 types of ultrasounds and did a ton of measurements. The first ultrasound showed everything normal and we were able to see Baby Martitz in the distance. At this stage, it looked like a super small jelly bean, but nevertheless we were thrilled to see that we weren't imaging things and we were really expecting a baby!! Right before she was about to move to the 2nd type of ultrasound, we saw a very fast beating flutter that was the heartbeat. It is usually hard to see the heartbeat on the first type of ultrasound, so we were very surprised!
She moved on and did the 2nd type of ultrasound, where we got a much closer look at baby and the heartbeat. It was beating rapidly at 115 beats per minute. It was very visible! We were so relieved as the tech took measurements and confirmed that everything looked normal and couldn't find anything wrong. We left with some pretty cool ultrasound pictures that set in the fact that we were in fact pregnant with a healthy baby and everything was ok!
After the ultrasound, we saw the Doctor again and he confirmed that my blood test was normal and my HCG pregnancy hormone levels were good. What a relief! Long day, but happy everything was ok. Our next ultrasound won't be until the middle of December at 20 weeks to find out the gender.
Baby Martitz has already made fridge status which is pretty dang official!
After getting home from the doctor and confirming that we were indeed pregnant, we decided to announce it a little early. I had been having such a hard time keeping it quiet and finally we just decided to tell everyone a little early. It makes it so much more fun to be able to chat with friends and family about what is going on! We were overwhelmed with congratulations and kind words. What great friends and family we have!
I also did a fun announcement at work. I work at a small dental office with a tight knit group, so I wanted to do something cute! I brought in a tray of cinnamon buns and put a sign on the top of it that said "we have a bun in the oven!" It took a while for everyone to catch on, but once they did, everyone was so excited and wanted to know all about our baby plans. We also let our awesome landlords know of the exciting news and they decided to replace our outdated carpet and floors before I become "immobile". YAY!! That definitely was GREAT news!
I am still incredibly grateful that I haven't been sick yet or overly nauseas. I have my moments, but hardly any. The biggest symptom that I have had the past week or so is being SOOOOOOO TIRED!! I definitely underestimated that aspect of pregnancy. I have never been this tired in my life! It isn't even tired... It's at the exhaustion point. I slept about 17 hours recently between going to bed early, sleeping through the whole night, AND taking a nap a couple hours after waking up. WHEW! Jordan thought it was very weird at first, but has been super supportive and helpful! Another big adjustment has been trying to reteach myself to sleep on my side. I knew it would take a while since I am a dedicated stomach sleeper. It has been a rough transition and I am not thrilled about it, which is why I am starting now before I really can't!
I have been reading up SO much on EVERYTHING pregnancy and I have to admit, I have googled more in the last couple weeks than I have probably ever. Thank goodness for technology!
I have downloaded a pretty nifty pregnancy app on my phone and it has so many cool things! Everything from what happens that week, to forums to ask questions, and all sorts of other helpful tools. I lOVE it! This week, we have graduated to the size of a blueberry :)
A few days ago I found a few good deals on some baby items. Yay! I'm not ready to full on baby shop until we know the gender in Decemeber, but I did score a cute baby bath tub and a Bumbo. Must haves for a baby! We are planning to purchase the baby bedroom set on Black Friday. Hopefully we can find a good deal!
In the meantime, my pinterest baby and pregnancy boards are blowing up and ideas are going crazy in my mind! We have thrown around a few names, but nothing big. The real fun will begin when we finally know the gender! Winters in Lewiston are incredibly boring so this will make it pass quickly as I plan and carry out several baby projects! I pretty much need my own personal sewer that can sew all my cool ideas from pinterest and exactly what I want. Wouldn't that be nice?! Wishful thinking I guess.... After being so involved with kids for so many years, I have become very familiar with baby things and definitely have some serious preferences. I am very picky after trying out so many baby items, so that part will make decisions a bit easier when it comes time to shop!
Love, Jordan & Elise
