doctor's appointment #1!

I had my first doctor's appointment today! I didn't expect this, but it made it all feel really REAL. not that it wasn't before, but now I am officially on paperwork in my file pregnant! because I went in for a checkup/preconception visit in december, there really wasn't a whole lot to do during this appointment. mostly I just updated all of my paperwork, and filled out all the additional 'you're pregnant!' paperwork, peed in a cup, and got to meet my doctor and ask her all my questions. she is seriously the most laid back person I have ever met, which I forsee being really helpful about 9 months from now.

speaking of that! one thing she did give me was my for reals due date: January 21, 2010. of course, that could still change, and the chances of me delivering on that day are really slim, but for now, that's the target day!

I also got to schedule our first ultrasound and my next appointment. they don't do an ultrasound until at least 7 weeks so that you can actually see something (and hear the heartbeat!!), which I appreciate! if I am remembering correctly, the ultrasound appointment is Wednesday, June 17th and my next appointment with the doctor is Tuesday, June 30th. crazy!

let's see, what questions did I get answered? I asked about travel in July and October, and she said I should be absolutely fine. I asked about exercise restrictions (although I have been WAY too exhausted to go to the gym for all but 2 days since I got the positive test) and I just have to keep everything to a moderate intensity level. she gave me some stuff to read and a gift bag full of samples (good thing I have a whole bottle of infant formula now. I'm sure that will really come in handy in the very near future... or not) -- the coolest thing was that the gift bag was in a real diaper bag! the funniest part of the appointment was after we had already talked about how I'm a youth pastor and how Brian and I met and got married... she said: "it's routine procedure to do an HIV test on pregnant women, so we'll do that whenever we need to do blood work for something else... I assume you're pretty low risk for that?" yeah, that's probably a safe assumption. :)

so things are progressing normally! I usually feel a little icky after having breakfast, and last night we went out to eat and I overate a little bit and felt GROSS, but I haven't puked yet and here's hoping I don't! on that front, if you feel like praying that my morning sickness definitely stays away in June, I would really appreciate it -- I have both Confirmation camp for 4 days and our high school summer trip for 8 days, and it would be really hard/frustrating/not very easy to hide if I have to go throw up every day on those trips. thanks in advance and have a GREAT 3-day weekend!!

things I didn't know about being pregnant, part 1

I DIDN’T KNOW MY TEMPERATURE WOULD RISE TO TWELVE THOUSAND DEGREES.

Apparently the hormones that make for a healthy pregnancy also make me become a furnace. Literally, Brian has hugged me and jumped away for fear of being burned. However,, he is not complaining, because our annual summer what-temperature-do-we-set-the-air-conditioning-at debate and negotiation has been postponed indefinitely… I’M asking HIM to turn it down. Trust me, this has never happened before. In fact, I have always been the girl who is constantly cold. My family used to make fun of me for using a blanket in the summertime. I live in Arizona and I still wear a cardigan almost every day, just in case I get cold. I don’t even know how to handle this new-found heat, because it’s always been a non-issue in my life! Let’s just say… I’m a little less excited about the 100+++ degree summer this year. On a positive note, it has forced me to become resourceful. In our office building, the air conditioning controls are in one office way down the hall from mine. And the air has to travel through about 5 offices before it comes to me, so my office is usually pretty warm. Generally? Not a problem. This year? I feel like I’m melting. But I just found this clip-on fan that I clipped to my keyboard shelf/drawer/thing and it is pointed right at me whenever I’m sitting at my desk. Jesus has had mercy on me, and his mercy came in the form of a 9 dollar clip fan.

This is definitely something I did NOT know about pregnancy before I experienced it—and I’m sure there will be many more fun surprises to come! But I’ll take them all and more – I’m pretty sure the end result will be worth it!

happy mother's day!

today i got the craziest, most amazing gift for mother's day.

i found out i'm going to be a mom.

can you believe it? it's crazy! we literally just found out today... mostly. i took a test on friday that had a faint positive line... and then we went away for the weekend with 80 high school kids. good timing, right? we got home today and i took a digital test (no questions there!) and it said YES! it's so early that normally, we probably wouldn't have told anyone today-- but it's mother's day for goodness sakes, so we had to call our moms to tell them they'd be grandmas! it was a really wonderful day, and so fun to see their reactions. luckily, we used screen capture software and called them using the webcam, so maybe one day YOU will get to see their reactions too! :)

even though we had been praying and trying for this, it still seems like such a surprise. even more than that-- it is a miracle. literally. i have been thinking so much about that this weekend. God has worked in so many different ways in my life; He has pulled together circumstances in ways that don't make sense unless you know He's been working behind the scenes. but this-- this is something ONLY God could accomplish. when i think about the amazing things that have been happening without us even knowing about it, i am so overwhelmed with gratitude. i am really looking forward to taking this journey and seeing what is yet to come! and most of all, i can't wait to meet this little person in january.

thank you in advance for being excited for us, for praying for us, and supporting us in countless big and little ways. we know that our baby will be SO blessed to have tons of people to show him/her (oh believe me, we've already picked sides on THAT front!) love.

it's going to be a crazy year!!!