Category / pregnancy

by Bethe

Sigh of relief

Thanks to my prayer warrior friends and family for so faithfully praying for us. We had our 11-week appointment tonight (my first after this latest round of complications hit) and we got WONDERFUL news. The problems I was having, which were so frightening, are virtually undetectable now on the ultrasound. Problem fixed. My doctor said I can slowly resume normal activities, praise the Lord. God is good.

This is me breathing a huge sigh of relief. I may or may not have cried with happiness at dinner. And when I got home. But whatever, I get a pass this time.

And, we found out that we’ll get to know our baby’s gender by the end of January. I’m convinced it’s a girl. Mr. Right’s convinced it’s a boy. I’m thinking we may need to make a friendly wager.

by Bethe

A slightly pitiful Christmas wrap-up

Christmas this year was both wonderful and awful. Wonderful because I got to spend quality time with both sides of the family. Awful because I ended up spending Christmas day alone on my couch, sicker than I’ve been at any other point in this pregnancy. It was the pits.

But back to the good parts. It was a huge treat to see all members of both sides of our immediate families (including two new nephews and our adorable niece with her pink cowboy hat and new pony), plus our aunt from England (we sure missed my uncle, who wasn’t able to make the trip). We were blessed with great conversation and gifts more generous than we deserved. Plus it was fun to give some of the presents Mr. Right and I made ourselves, and a relief to not have to keep those as secrets anymore. Neither of us is good at keeping secrets, so it was a small miracle that we didn’t tell each other what our gifts were.

Which for the record: Mr. Right gave me something I had been asking for… a family recipe book. He’s an amazing cook, but never works off of recipes (and I only cook off of recipes) so I had been asking him to write down our favorites so I could make them too. He did, and I love my new book. I, in turn, gave him a custom Texas Lovely print featuring a quote he had asked me to make something with months ago.

The actual Christmas day involved me crying four different times – hello pregnancy hormones. I cried when Mr. Right gave me my Christmas presents, I cried when he said something sentimental. I cried at an episode of How I Met Your Mother (which is how I know it was hormones), and I cried in bed that night in frustration that this nausea thing continues to drag on, and not just serve as an annoyance but hinder me from doing just about anything. Sweet Mr. Right was there to listen and reassure me that this season will pass, even though in the moment it feels like a forever kind of thing.

In God’s infinite grace, the next day I felt significantly better, I got a good night’s sleep (after waking up at 4:00 a.m. on Christmas morning), and my spirits were raised. I continue to look like a total wreck, but I’m thankful for good days sprinkled in the midst of the crummy ones.

If you can, please say a little prayer for our doctor’s appointment today. We have another ultrasound to see our little kumquat, and while I’m confident everything is okay, those words (high risk) still haunt me, and I’ll feel better after I know things are still on track. I’ll be 11 weeks along on Saturday, so I’m very, very close to being out of the woods. I know my God is in complete control and won’t be the least bit surprised by our appointment later today – please pray that my mind will find peace.

by Bethe

I’m still here

First off – I want to say thank you to everyone who has been so faithful to pray for us these past few weeks. I have some great news – my nausea is improving quite a bit! I still have my moments (and am still fully reliant on some heavy-duty nausea medication) but my appetite is returning and most days I’m feeling much better. I went from living on Saltines to expanding my diet to include Pei Wei (crazy, right?), a burger from In-N-Out, and chicken fried steak. I won’t be winning any awards for healthy eating but I’m just so happy that I can eat normal food with protein. It’s amazing how much better I feel after a good meal.

Tonight Mr. Right is bringing me Indian food (chicken tikka masala). Apparently this baby loves ethnic food. However, this baby still HATES sweets. So strange.

I also faithfully continue my mega-resting on nights and weekends. It broke my heart to miss my ESL end-of-semester banquet, along with more Christmas parties than I’d care to count, but I’m determined to do my part to keep this bun in the oven. Thanks to some wonderful family, though, I’ve been able to squeeze in a little fun while keeping my feet up.

Like, when my sister brought me dinner last week, and stayed for awhile to chat. It was good for my lonely soul, and even better because she brought that cute nephew of mine – I got my cuddling quota in for the week.

My aunt from England came in this week to spend Christmas with us. She stayed with us Friday night, and Mr. Right loaded us up in the car and took us on a tour of Fort Worth’s best Christmas lights. Then Saturday she spent the day sitting around with me, chatting and catching up in front of a fire in the fire place.

Saturday night, my sweet in-laws hosted my side of the family at their house for a big dinner. We wanted to let my aunt ride their horses and enjoy some “country” time. It was so nice to be surrounded by my favorite people, enjoy some fresh air (while relaxing in a lawn chair), and not be cooped up in the house.

Of course, we had to take a few pics of a baby on a pony. I think my nephew Luke is a natural.

Today it was back on the couch for some good resting (and napping) and movie watching. I managed to wrap our Christmas presents (first productive thing I’ve done in ages), and now I’m back on the couch, giving Freaks & Geeks a try thanks to my blog readers’ recommendations.

Please keep those prayers coming. Three more weeks ’til I’m off the high risk list and back to normal.

by Bethe

Some favorites… and a shop update

I don’t want this blog to be all baby talk, all the time, so here’s a little bit of Friday Favorites… on a Monday. I’m either really late, or really early. I’m choosing the latter.

You can click on the picture to be taken to the original source.

I remember back when pink was the new black. And then it was gray. And brown. This year, Tangerine Tango is the new black.

Actually, it’s just the 2012 Color of the Year. You can read more about what’s hot for 2013 here. My first print of 2013 may need to incorporate some of these colors – a girl’s gotta stay hip.

If you’re an Instagram addict like me, you probably need something to do with the million photos in your account. Here’s a way to put those pics to good use, by creating a calendar – a new picture to enjoy every day.

As soon as I’m off this couch and back at my sewing machine, this is going to be one of the first quilts I tackle. I love the simplicity, and the scale of the pattern. I think I could whip this out in one or two Saturdays.

And speaking of sewing – if we end up with a little girl, these skirts will be one of the first clothing items I tackle. The cuteness is overwhelming.

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And a little shop update – If you’d like to purchase anything for Christmas, you’re about to run out of time. At this point it’s too late to order a custom print unless you’re willing to print it yourself. If that’s the case, we can still work something out.

If you want your print mailed before Christmas, Wednesday (two days from now) is the deadline to order. If you’re willing to print yourself (or if you’re a local friend and can pick it up in person) then you’ve got until next Tuesday, December 18.

Here’s a link to the shop… Thanks to everyone who has supported us. And thanks also to everybody who is praying for us. We are very grateful.

by Bethe

Calling all prayer warriors

My friends, this morning we had a bit of a scare. The good news is that I got a third ultrasound in as many weeks and our little blueberry seems to be fine. However, I’m having some complications that now bump me into the high risk category. My doctor says if I can make it another four weeks, then I’m out of the woods. In the meantime, I’m on more meds and got a stern lecture about not overdoing it, which I totally needed, not because I’ve actually done anything besides go to work and then lay on the couch all evening/weekend/anytime I’m not working (heck, I’m the girl who wore the same shirt last Friday night through Monday morning… I’m such a trophy wife), but because I was starting to feel a bit guilty about it. I hear motherhood comes with all sorts of unnecessary guilt, and I guess that happens when your baby is in utero.

I’ll admit, I’m kind of terrified. And yet I am fully confident that I serve a God who saw this coming, who knows the outcome, who loves me and my baby (and Mr. Right) and who has the ability to work miracles. And so I will pray with reassurance that my God can handle this. I ask you to join along with me.

by Bethe

Being pregnant is like being a supermodel

Your first trimeter is a lot like living the life of a supermodel.

I eat very small meals every two hours. And I only eat a few strange foods.

Okay, that’s where the similarities end. My first trimester is the exact opposite of glamorous. But I’m trying to maintain a sense of humor as I lie on the couch and stare at the TV, sometimes closing my eyes when the nausea gets too bad to keep them open.

Go hormones. Go!

This weekend I lived off of a tomato pizza, croissants, and Special K cereal. Basically, I’m carb loading – the idea of meat absolutely grosses me out. And I’m drinking gallons of water, because the minute I get the least bit dehydrated I feel horrible.

In the meantime, my TV and I are best friends. It’s the only thing I have the energy to do after surviving the work day. After finishing How I Met Your Mother, I’m now hooked on Law & Order SVU and Arrested Development.

Any suggestions of new TV series I should watch on Netflix? Or new/current shows I can watch on Hulu? I’m running out of ideas and I have several more weeks before I’m due to get my second wind.

by Bethe

Oh my word, I’m tired

I’m so glad I don’t have to keep that big secret again! If you know me, you know I stink at secrets, which is why we decided to go ahead and tell everybody. That, and we wanted to rally the prayer warriors.

So here’s the lowdown:

The basics

Turns out we’re seven weeks along. I thought I was a week further (boo) but after our second ultrasound today, the doctor has decided to push my due date back a week to July 23. I wouldn’t mind so much, except that means I’m one week further from finishing this first trimester (boo again). The good news is that the baby looked great on the ultrasound and we got to see that precious little heart beat. I’m in love with that tiny little baby.

How we told our parents

We told both sets of families on Thanksgiving day, which also happened to be my birthday. Both families responded with delicious squeals and cheering and it was so much fun.

By the way, I hate food now

That’s right. Food and I are no longer friends. It’s amazing how a baby the size of a blueberry can make you so very sick. I’m currently surviving on crackers, chicken noodle soup, and spaghetti (random, but I eat spaghetti at least twice a day, every day). I’ve been on nausea meds for almost a week now, but they’re not working very well so we just upped the dose. Fingers crossed that this time it will work. Anybody have any other secrets for me?

I’d write more, but I’m worn out (seems to be a trend these days). I’ll see you all in January when I find all that energy I seem to have misplaced!

by Bethe

Yea! Yea! Yea! A baby announcement!

We are so, SO excited! More details to come, but it’s 9:00 p.m. and that’s an hour past my bedtime these days. Gotta love that first trimester…

PS–We chose to announce it now because we would love your prayers for our baby. We’re just under eight weeks along, and due around July 15. I still can’t believe it… my heart is so happy! (and my stomach is so nauseous!)