The Baby Story…And 13 Week Update

Holy moly! You all absolutely know how to make a girl feel loved…first of all, thanks to each and every single one of my friends {blogging and personal} that reached out, emailed, commented, texted, and sent their well wishes regarding our happy news. It means so much to be surrounded by such a positive network of people and my heart is overflowing with thankfulness. It just feels good to be able to talk publicly about our little “bun in the oven”. Alright, so enough about that–I know, I know, you want the details, right? Here is some info from how we found out to random questions people have already been asking:

How did it all go down? How did you find out you were pregnant?
Here is a little play-by-play: It was the week of July 4th and I had been feeling a little how do you say, “under the weather”…I hadn’t thought too much about it, but I was overcome with tiredness, backaches, and I was simply not feeling like “me”. All I wanted to do was be at home lounging on the couch, and for people that know me, that totally does not fit my character—I am in no sense of the word a “homebody”. I told Jeff and at some point the thought of ‘maybe I’m pregnant’ crossed my mind, but then I assured myself I was crazy and went on about my business. Later that week, the BFF Meg texted me while on her family beach vacation. All it said was: “OMG I had a dream last night you were pregnant”. Right then and there, I knew I had to take a test because that was just all too strange.
That afternoon, I stopped by Walgreens to pick up a test. DIGITAL no doubt, for I wasn’t taking any chances with those crazy lines on this one. I got home and instantly went into the guest bathroom. We were supposed to be leaving to go out of town so I knew I had to make it quick. Jeff came up to the door and said “babe, what are you doing in there?” For one, I NEVER use that bathroom, and two, I had the door locked. So, I did my deed and sure enough, almost immediately the word PREGNANT appeared in the window. Immediately, I opened the door and told Jeff to come in because I wanted to show him something. He stood there for a minute, laughed to himself, and said “I knew it”. Not the most glamorous way to tell your husband by any means, but still the best feeling in the world to be able to share that moment together, just the two of us.

So this is where it gets funny…this is when I have to spend 3 hours in the car with my husband trying to stay calm, while googling anything and everything I need to know about early signs of pregnancy—call me cuckoo! Once we arrived to our destination, I made Jeff take me to another Walgreens to pick up more tests just because we had to be sure this wasn’t a false positive (FYI: I now know false positives are very rare). 5 positive tests later {this time opting for the lines and the plus sign, and yes I took 6 tests}, it was official… a baby was on the way!
So to put it nicely, I have had to keep this secret for a LONG time…we found out we were expecting when I was exactly 4 weeks pregnant, so we knew we would be telling only our families and close friends until the first trimester was over. Hallelujah we made it!

Is this new addition a honeymoon baby?
I’m sure there were some of you doing calculations over this one because yes, June wasn’t that far away, however, Baby S is actually a”week-after-the-honeymoon” blessing 😉

How have you been feeling so far? Are you starting to show?
I feel extremely fortunate in the fact that morning sickness for me wasn’t nearly as bad as some of my friends have experienced. Sure, I had bouts of nausea and upset stomach not to mention being tired all the time, but the key to keeping me feeling OK was eating small meals and snacking throughout the day, and having a stash of ginger ale and crackers with me at all times.
The bump is there, or so I think. Jeff told me the other day I was actualy starting to look pregnant, although I think he is trying to watch his words a lot more carefully these days…when I ask how I look, “fine” doesn’t cut it anymore with clothes that are getting tight and a belly that is growing!

How did you tell your parents?
Mom was out of the country traveling for work for a week when we found out we were pregnant, and I knew telling her over the phone just wasn’t going to cut it, so we waited. She flew home on a Friday afternoon so Jeff and I brought dinner to my parent’s house. After we were done eating, I told Mom and Dad I had gotten them a little something that made me think of them and then they opened the bag to find a painted picture frame that said “Best Grandparents” with a picture of the positive pregnancy test in it. Immediately they started jumping up and were just so excited. Mom said she just had a feelings I was going to get pregnant soon.

Are you going to find out the gender of the baby? How will you share the news?
Props to anyone and everyone who can go this long without finding out the sex of their baby, though Jeff and I are not “surprise/secret” people, so yes, we will absolutely be finding out if we’re to have a little boy or a little girl. With two Type-A personalities, there is just too much to plan for: the nursery, baby gear, outfits, etc…we cannot wait to find out in mid-October.
And because I assume by now you all know we love any reason to throw a party, yes, we will be having a Gender Reveal Party! We think these are just too much fun, and love the idea of being able to share this occasion with those closest to us. I am currently working with a designer on invitations and hope to be able to share those with you soon!

Baby names…do you have them picked out and will you be telling?
What’s in a name? I’ve been doing countless hours of research on baby names for the past weeks, putting ideas into an Excel spreadsheet, and listing out monograms for potential ideas {as a southerner, your monogram is extremely important because we cant help but love anything and everything monogrammed}. As of now, we have a boy name picked out and we have two girls’ names selected…we’re making progress. And yes, we will be sharing the little peanut’s name once we know if blue or pink is in our future.

Have you bought anything for the baby yet?
Baby S is one lucky little nugget. My sweet friends and family were so thoughtful and already purchased some fun little gifts for the wee one…here are the goodies:

And to kick-off baby weekly updates {to come each Tuesday}, here we go:

How far along? 13 weeks, 3 days…186 days to go!
Size of the baby? A peach—While at the grocery store the other night, I picked up a peach and couldn’t believe the little one is already this big
Maternity Clothes? I used the old rubberband trick last weekend on my jeans…my how that is going to help me stay in my “normal” bottoms for awhile. I did break down and order my first pair of maternity jeans from Gap and P.S. but, was I the only one to not know maternity jeans don’t have zippers? Weird! 
Weight Gain: From the doctor’s office yesterday, I have gained 3 pounds.
Stretch Marks? I invested in Palmer’s body oils and lotion, though I have to admit–I have been horrible about using them this week…I need to step it up.
Gender? Everyone around me {Mom, BFFs, Jeff} all say girl, but I think it’s a boy. And yes, I have checked the Chinese Baby Calendar…it says boy, too.
Movement? Not yet…cannot wait to feel those little kicks, though.
Sleep? Last night was the best rest I have had in weeks. I bought a Boppy pregnancy pillow and that has made sleeping so much better…we call him Benny 😉
Food Cravings? Chicken tender salads, fruit, and random cereals–we’re talking Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Captain Crunch just to name a few. Jeff is loving what’s inside our pantry now, for he knows I would never have this stuff in our house if I wasn’t pregnant.
What I Miss: Last weekend’s first football game was a hard one for me. Not going to lie, but I really missed being able to tailgate normally with everyone else, and have a drink. As much as I am elated about having a little bambino, it sure made it hard to “cut loose” with my Crystal Light Lemonade.
Symptoms? Tired all the time…weekend naps are a godsend
Best Moment of the Week? Reaching the 2nd trimester, FINALLY and being able to hear the baby’s heartbeat yesterday at the doctor.

OK, so that is it for baby talk this week…I need to balance my posts and had to remind myself I need to occupy my time with other important things, like the craziness that happened on the Bachelor Pad finale last night, how the ladies of RH of Beverly Hills went on a trip together and actually got along, and how I wasn’t that impressed when I hopped into Target this morning to check out the Missoni racks… I walked out empty handed.
Back to work–only 2 more days until we’re headed to the beach for vacation…thank heavens! Hope you all have a fabulous day.