Pawleys Island 2012

I LOVE vacation! We packed the car Friday, the 13th and headed East on 26! I love the beach and I love Pawleys! We had a wonderful time with family and friends! I took my good camera hoping to get some good pictures but I never took it out of the bag. Enjoy my iPhone pictures of our week! 

 This was our first day...so peaceful!

 John Thomas's cousin, Steth. He is so funny- our Merman!

 This is Lauren and me on the beach one day! She is 10 weeks ahead of me...here, I am 10 weeks and she is 20 weeks!

 Nothing beats a good burn!

 Dinner at my favorite restaurant at the beach- Sara J's!

This is Alex- I was his babysitter from the time he was in the 5th grade until he was a licensed driver! He is attending Coastal Carolina on a baseball scholarship and met us for dinner. I am thankful he still loves his babysitter!

Pregnancy is going well and getting better with my "All-Day Sickness". I would like to punch whoever named it "Morning Sickness". I will update soon and post a picture of my bitty bump!

love-

8 Weeks + 2 Days

July 4th marked 8 weeks of being pregnant and yesterday was a month since we found out!

What a busy busy month it has been! When I first found out we were expecting, I downloaded the "What to Expect Pregnancy" App on my phone. It gives daily and weekly updates on how you might be feeling and what is exactly baking inside. One thing that I really like about it is that it tells you about what size your baby is. In the past month we have gone from an orange seed to a green olive and it is about an 1 inch long! What a miracle! Just last week at the doctor it wasn't even close to an inch! 

I have bad all day sickness...morning my butt! I was going to try my best and not take any medicine the whole time. Well...after about two nights of not being able to sleep because of headaches (I quit drinking Mountain Dew the second I found out...my doctor told me I could ease back into this and I might. I still drink tea or a coke once a day because of the headaches) I took some Tylenol. 

At about 6 weeks the sickness came full force! I could not function- it was awful! I tried everything and finally I called my doctor and she called me in Zofran. That little white pill is a miracle pill! It stays in my pocketbook and with me all the time. The past few days I have gone and only had to take it once instead of twice of day. I feel most sick in the early morning, most of the time before I even get out of bed and then late at night. If I don't eat by 7- it's over and Zofran can't even help me. 

We go back August 2 and get to see the baby again...I am hoping on at least a guess on what it could be! I have some friends and their doctor was able to tell at this point, fingers crossed! I think I am pretty sure about a girl name and we keep going back and forth on boy names...decisions, decisions.

This is a kind of boring post- nothing exciting to report...I just want to remember things for myself! 

love-

Doctor Visit. Good Experience

Thursday, June 28 we had our first ultrasound scheduled. I had many emotions going into this appointment. I was only 7 weeks and knew things could happen. I hate being negative, but I wanted to be real with myself. We get there and my so very impatient husband is going crazy having to wait. We are finally called back to the little room. She put the jelly-like stuff over my stomach and started searching around. There it was. 

Oh. My. Gosh.

Words can't describe. She pointed to the baby and then zoomed in and we watched the heart beat. She then recorded the heartbeat and we were able to faintly listen to it. I didn't burst into tears but I had a steady stream running down the sides of my face. I don't think I will ever forget that feeling. 

The whole being pregnant concept was already real to me thanks to extreme fatigue and all-day sickness but seeing and hearing our baby made it super real. I was finally one of those people that had the tiny little picture of our baby! 

And another set of great news- ONE heartbeat! Twins run both sides of our family so I had a few dreams the nights leading up to the appointment we were having twins.

The doctor came in and said everything looked perfect! So I would like to introduce you to our baby-

We are overwhelmed with the "Congratulations" we have received over the past two days! We know we are extremely lucky to have got pregnant so quick and everything look great now and onto the "safe-zone."

I have friends and some family that have struggled in the past and continue with infertility today and those that have lost their babies. I can't imagine- but know I am in deep prayer for you all. More now than ever.

love-

Doctor Visit- Bad Experience.

I have been blessed my entire life with great health! Very rare do I have to go to the doctor. I go for my first prenatal appointment to determine my due date, sign some papers, get some blood drawn, and talk with a nurse. When they called to schedule I was told you won't see a doctor and there won't be an ultrasound because it is too early. We just need to get some health history and blood work. I told John Thomas not to take off work for that and told my mom I would be fine and I would go on by myself. I have never had to have blood taken and I was a wee-bit freaked about that. 

I get to the office and tell the nurse from the get go that I am scared of needles and was very nervous about having blood drawn. She told me no worries, just don't watch and we would talk throughout it. So I sipped on my Chick-Fil-A Tea, had my head opposite direction and tried not to think about what was going on. She couldn't get any blood out of my left arm and was going to try the right arm. I will admit, it did not hurt at all- but in my mind, I was dying. I begin to break out into an embarrassing sweat and she told me to put my head down because it looked as though I was about to pass out. Lovely. She put some nasty smelling thing under my nose so I wouldn't "go-out." 

She then took me to a little room so I could lay down and she could do it. It didn't hurt and I kept talking to her throughout the whole thing. When she was finished I was thankful I had made it through. As soon as I sat up, here it came. I jumped from the table/bed thing and ran to the restroom and just lost it. (TMI, I know, but I want to mark down all things- good, bad, ugly.) She was so sweet though and got a wet cloth and patted me down. I then burst into tears because I was so embarrassed of myself. Her comforting words- "No worries, you are the second one this morning!" haha- it was only 10:30sh. 

The rest of the appointment went well- confirmed my due date was February 13 and signed a lot of papers. 

When leaving, I called John Thomas and both of our moms. All three were very persistent that I would no longer attend appointments on my own.  :) 

I have no pictures to document this visit- thank goodness! I was a hot and sweaty mess by the time I left there!

love-

June 5, 2012

John Thomas and I have always said after a year or two of being married we would start to think about growing our family. I had NO idea how quick those first two years would fly by! I hear it only goes faster with time. After much conversation and prayer together, we decided that I would go off my medicine in April of this year. By the grace of the good Lord- June 5 was a day our lives were forever changed.

I had not one clue I might be pregnant. I thought my body was adjusting being off my medicine and my days were thrown off. I took a test just in case (convincing myself it wouldn't be positive). After a test at home and quick test at my doctor's remote office in Duncan- it was confirmed I was indeed pregnant! I quickly called John Thomas at work and he did not answer. I proceeded to call every minute until he answered. He finally answered and said, "I am super busy- what's up?" I exclaimed, "YOU'RE GOING TO BE A DADDY!" His next response was my favorite. He said, "Okay, let me call you back in a minute."  Haha- He did call me back and he couldn't contain his excitement much more than me. He was in an office with people though and had to keep it together. Thank goodness I was by myself in my car!

I could not contain my emotions. I sat in the parking lot and cried and prayed. I prayed this baby from that time on be dedicated to the Lord. I prayed that I would be a Godly mother who always makes the best choice for this child. I prayed this child would be healthy. I prayed for John Thomas and how he was now a daddy. I prayed for our marriage that it would continue to grow stronger each day. 

I just prayed and prayed for so many things.

I had ordered Wally a T-Shirt a few months prior that said, "I the BIG BROTHER!" We scammed up some lies to tell our moms for them to come over that night so we could tell them. My dad travels and I would not see him for at least another week and I couldn't wait that long. Our moms came over and Wally was sporting his shirt! They were SO EXCITED! That is an understatement to be honest. This will be the first grandchild on either side of our families- yes, I know, it will be spoiled. John Thomas and I took a picture with Wally and his shirt and then sent it to my dad. He wanted to know if we were going to be getting another dog? Very funny- he was actually the one hinting around that he needed a grandbaby :) 

That night we told just our family. I actually did call one of my good friends who is pregnant to tell her- I couldn't help it.

June 5 will be a special day forever in our hearts.

Welcome to our journey to parenthood- I hope you follow along!

love-