Cravings

I think it's safe to say that the cravings that most pregnant women experience has finally hit me. How do I know this you ask...the list below is what was purchased last night at the grocery. Please do not judge me, remember "what the baby wants, the baby gets."

• Regular Pringles
• Sour cream and onion pringles, which are sadly already gone.
• Microwave popcorn, extra butter
• Brownie mix
• Reese's minis to put in the brownie mix
• The ingredients needed to make Skyline dip, recipe will be shared on my food blog.
• Chocolate pop-tarts, the big box!
• 2 cans of vegetable beef soup, Campbell's edition
• Tortilla chips for the Skyline dip
• 2 slices of cheesecake
• The latest People magazine to read while stuffing my face full of these very unhealthy foods.
• I also bought some bananas so I wasn't completely bad.

The worse part of this list is that what is listed is all that was purchased. This trip to the store was purely to indulge the junk food cravings that I have been having. What isn't shown is the big box of Lucky Charms and Trix that was bought about two weeks ago.

The funny part about all of these cravings is that my hubby has also started to have them, please see below conversation.

Daniel: "Are you bringing home anything for lunch?"

Katie: " I hadn't planned on it, why?"

Daniel: " Just wondering"

Long Pause

Katie: "Would you like for me to bring home lunch?"

Daniel: "If you want...McDonald's sounds good."

Katie: "You want your usual?"

Daniel: "Yeah"

Daniel: " Man, last night I was cravings Wendy's so bad."

Katie: " Well there isn't really a Wendy's on my way home or else I would get you some."

Daniel: "Yeah, I know, McDonald's is fine."

Daniel: "The night before then I was craving Taco Bell, and then the other night I was craving me some fried chicken. I think I have your pregnancy cravings."

Katie: " Sounds like!" (Insert giggles)

I wonder which one of us is going to gain the most weight during these next 6 1/2 months?

Pregnancy Symptoms so far...

The symptoms that I have experienced so far, and please keep in mind we are only ten weeks in to this almost ten month journey, are listed below.

• Nausea/vomiting
• Headaches
• Indigestion/heartburn-the kind where you think you are breathing fire
• Frequent need to go "poddy"
• Loss of appetite
• Cravings of either fruits such as pears or junk food such as potato chips
• The need to cry at every T.V. show or commercial ever as well as all of the Mommy blogs I am now following.
• Hormonal...I will apologize now to my Husband because sadly, it's probably only going to get worse.
• Fatigue
• Laziness, similar to fatigue but now quite.

Now as I said we are only ten weeks into this journey and I must admit, no one ever warned me of these "issues" before hand. I was vaguely familiar with the nausea/vomiting thanks to my sister but stupid inexperienced Katie just assumed that the need to pee every hour on the hour didn't come until later in the pregnancy, and don't get me started on the laziness part. I swear people, if I didn't have to shower and occasionally feed myself or do laundry/dishes, I probably wouldn't do it. I have absolutely no motivation to do anything and the real kicker is that I don't give a hoot.

Now on to the emotions; I knew I was in trouble the other day when I made the mistake of turning on TLC. During the day is when TLC plays all of the baby shows, A Baby Story, etc. Please take my advice ladies, if you are expecting please do not turn on any of these shows!! You will cry and cry, and cry some more. You will blow snot all over your sleeves, it will run down and out of your nose, you will use up all of your Subway napkins that you require to eat the sub you are attempting to get down. It is not a pretty scene and another piece of advice, if you must watch these shows, please do so while your husband is either napping or not home. Husbands find crying over "stupid" T.V. shows the most hilarious thing ever.

The one symptom though that seems to be bothering me the most this week is the heartburn. Nothing helps this heartburn and I am seriously afraid to start a conversation with anyone at work for fear of toasting their eyebrows right off their foreheads, it's bad, real bad. What scares me the most is that I have around six and a half months left of this and something tells me these symptoms are only going to get worse and that I will probably have to expand my list to cover the new ones yet to be experienced.

Motherhood, it is just lovely and I have a pretty little ultrasound picture that I can't quit starting at that proves to me that at the end of these next six and a half months I will have the most beautiful baby in my arms and all of these miserable symptoms will have been worth every second.

Introducing...

for the very first time, my little peanut. We finally got to see our little sprout on the big screen today, proof that there really is something growing in my belly. They have moved our due date up to February 11th due to the fact that at nine weeks and 5 days our little miracle baby is measuring in at ten weeks and 4 days. The moment the words viable, healthy baby came out of the ultrasounds techs mouth, I lost it. My little baby who then waved for their audience and then proceeded to hiccup on several different occasions causing it's tiny little body to fling upwards is healthy, active and ready to make their mark on the world. The tech informed us that its pretty unusual for the baby to be this active this early on...does this mean I am going to have my hands full or what? The heart rate was 160, which according to the old wives tale means we're having our little princess. My sister though, being the party pooper that she is, casually informed me that the heart beat for her baby was 160 as well and he has an extra limb if you know what I mean. I am going to pretend that she is crazy and believe what I want. She also informed me as did our lovely cousin Heather, that they have both had a dream now that it was a girl, so I am thinking since I have also had the "it's a little girl" dream, that maybe I am having a girl. I just have this gut feeling that it's a little princess and for now that is enough for me.

I finally broke down and bought our first baby items on Friday. I had to buy myself a new pair of tennis shoes thanks to a Great Dane named Lennon, or a Lab named Bandit, or heck it was probably both of them so I stopped at Kohl's and of course the baby section is right across the aisle from the shoe department. I bought the baby several different neutral outfits and I had to fight the urge to not buy any of the cute little pink and purple sundresses that are currently available. Lord I can't wait to find out what we're having so that I can either start buying the dresses or hold out hope for the next little one. I can picture it now...our little lady dressed in her Sunday best with her frilly little headband on holding down all of her light colored fuzz, those big blue eyes that I hope my child gets after my Dad and I, followed by those chunky cheeks and fat rolls for thighs. I can't wait to chew on those cheeks and rub baby lotion on the rolls. It's not quite time though, someone has to continue baking for several more months. On another note, we have just over two weeks left during the first trimester, I am confident in the fact the baby and I will make it through these next few weeks and next several months for that matter, healthy and ready to go. It will be a relief though to know that we have made it through the most crucial time and that our chance of miscarriage is so low it's almost non-existent. I will continue talking to the baby and rubbing my belly, willing this baby to stay strong and to stay healthy. Mommy and Grammy are ready for you little one, Grammy wants a boy though so here's a $100 smackers if you come out being a little lady.

Morning sickness and everything else that goes with being pregnant

When my sister was in her first trimester back towards the beginning of the year, she had morning sickness bad. Take for instance when I had my first Remicade treatment in February and she went with me for moral support, the nurse got a kick out of Nikki flying out of the room to throw up on several different occasions. Another priceless morning sickness moment for Nikki was when Uncle Dan was admitted to the hospital, we had all stopped by after work and she along with her hubby and me decided we would head to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. I promise you, two bites into her hamburger she took off like a bat out of hell for the bathroom only to come back saying that she didn't make it. Now let me tell you, it's one thing to throw up in public, but its a whole nother ball game when you throw up in the hallway of a hospital surrounded by nurses. Their first thought is that you are seriously ill and need to be seen stat. Poor Nikki had to explain she was just pregnant and her dinner hadn't gone down well. The situation didn't become funny until we had finished our dinner and were headed back to the room when Nikki about lost it because the nurses were still in the hallway cleaning up her mess. She was mortified that we were going to have to walk past them. We pulled ourselves together and she walked by with her head held high, while Kevin and I tried desperately to contain our ever growing giggles. As her older sister I should have taken that little bit of information to my grave but as the elevator doors opened to a crowd of our family chilling in the waiting room I couldn't help but shout "Guess what Nikki just did?", to which I had I to tell everyone the wonderful story. If I only knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have giggled so much or been desperate to tell her horrid tale. Now Nikki is the one giggling and while I don't yet have a public humiliation story I think she takes satisfaction in knowing I am just as miserable as she was and my time may still be coming. Morning sickness, isn't it just grand?

She's having my baby...

I have always loved babies, the smell, the chubby legs, everything about them. Well almost everything, I could do without the poopy diapers and throwing up but I guess it comes with the territory. I was always fascinated with the thought of becoming a mommy yet was never able to picture myself as one. Today as I sit here typing this I realize I am becoming one. I have a tiny little being growing within me created by two people who had been trying for more years than I care to remember. I had finally reached the point of "if it happens, it happens", and if Nicole Kidman can do it at 40 then by golly so can I. Everyone always says "quit trying and then it will happen". I never clearly understood how you can just "quit trying" when you want something so desperately. I also don't know that we actually quit trying, I guess I just wasn't pouring over the idea quite so much.


This past year has been a struggle for me. My Crohn's or so the Doctor thought was going haywire and no medicine was helping, I was miserable and sick almost everyday. After almost a year with no relief I was really starting to lose my sanity. For a year I questioned whether it was my Crohn's causing my sickness and for a year my doctor ignored me. That was until about a month ago when he finally admitted that my gallbladder might be the culprit, something I had been screaming at the top of my lungs about for a year.

I was a week away from finding out whether or not my gall bladder needed to come out when the unexpected happened...I found out I was pregnant. I had been questioning it for a week and for a week I refused to take the test for fear it would be another negative. Imagine my surprise when instead of one line I got two...pregnant. My only reaction was too cry and to walk out into the living room waving the stick in my hand to show my Husband who had been saying all along...you're not pregnant, you have been late and queasy before. Not pregnant huh, well here's your proof Daddy. His only word was "cool". I still don't think the shock of becoming parents has hit us and I don't think it truly will until we see the baby on the monitor for the first time and know for sure something is growing inside of me. I am two months into this pregnancy which means that we have seven more to go. I look forward to the end when after years of trying to have a child I will finally get to hold one in my arms.

Plans for my gall bladder are on hold for now although it will be addressed once I have successfully hit my second trimester. There is a digestive specialist in my OB's office who has operated on pregnant women for this same issue before and she feels that he will be my best bet. I of course would love to be able to hold off until after the baby arrives but sadly I have been sick now for over a year and am desperate for some sort of relief. I also worry what these symptoms are doing to by unborn child? That doctor and the nurse have both reassured us that the baby is fine as long as the problem doesn't worsen. If it does I am to contact them immediately. I pray I make it another four weeks when I will be officially in my second trimester. Fours week is so short when compared to the seven more months until February 18th is upon us. In February my entire life will change...I will be responsible for another little human being and while I look forward to the challenge I am also sad for the fact I will more than likely not be able to sleep in again until the child is 18 and even then as a Mother will I ever be able to stop worrying about this child of mine?

I look forward to sharing the rest of this pregnancy with you and I can't wait for the moment when I get to start sharing the milestones of this baby. Please sit back and join us for this wild ride into parenthood.

Love,
Katie