Year In Review: 2010

2010 has been a wonderful year! I have been so blessed with everything that has happened and sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am.

Back in March, Jeff and I went to Vegas. It was the longest plane ride I've ever been on, and I survived it with the help of some "airplane meds" (I have a serious fear of flying). I had never been before, and we had a blast and even got to spend some time with Jeff's Best Man and his friends who happened to be there the same time as us! In August we went on a cruise with my MIL and SIL. Jeff and I planned that trip as our last one before we had a baby. We might do a small "babymoon" trip, but other than that, we won't be going on an actual vacation for quite some time.

In July, Jeff and I celebrated 1 year of marriage. The first year of marriage was amazing and I was shocked at how fast it went! We celebrated with a couples' massage and dinner at a nice restaurant.

I started my 5th year teaching in late August, and I am truly so lucky that I love what I do. I have a wonderful group of kids to teach this year, and I really enjoy working with the rest of the faculty. Everyone is so nice and helpful and I just love that. Last year, I really felt like I "got it" with teaching, and I feel that even more now, but I still learn new things every day.

Of course, the biggest thing that happened this year was the fact that I got pregnant and Jeff and I are expecting out little one in early June 2011. I went off the pill in March to prepare my body for getting pregnant. We really started trying in July, and I got pregnant mid-September. I was so worried that we were going to have trouble, but we didn't and I am so grateful for that! There are 5 other teachers currently pregnant where I work and one who had her baby in October, so I have a lot of support and have made some new mommy friends at work because of all the pregnancies. It's also been nice having a female head of school who gets how sick pregnancy can make you and is understanding and supportive of all of us.

I don't think I ever shared this pic. I took this before Jeff even knew I was pregnant because he was still at work. This is me with the first positive test I took on September 30th when I got home from work. I had a gut feeling I was pregnant and my period was due that day and never showed up, so I tested. Seeing those 2 lines was the most amazing thing in the world (until we saw the baby on an ultrasound of course). Gotta love Photo Booth for this pic haha.

In October, we got to see our baby for the first time on an ultrasound and got these sweet, adorable pictures:

This was the most incredible thing I have ever seen in my life. You could see the heartbeat and it was just amazing to think that this little speck would become our child. I am shocked at how much the baby has grown since this ultrasound when I was 7 weeks. Now the baby actually looks like a human!

I am so looking forward to 2011, but it is going to be a year of HUGE changes. Jeff and I will welcome a baby into our lives which will be a lot of responsibility, we will celebrate 2 years of marriage soon after the baby comes, and I will no longer be working as a teacher or doing summer camp. I am going to miss EHS and everything about it so much, but it's always been a dream of mine to be a stay-at-home-mom and I am so blessed that Jeff has a job that allows me to do that. I am so excited for what 2011 is going to bring, and while it seems like some of it is so far away, everything goes by so fast and I know the baby and everything else will be here before we know it!

I hope everyone has a wonderful time ringing in the New Year! We will be on LI hanging out with my SIL and some of her friends. We are going to do hibachi for dinner and then just play games at the house. I can't drink or anything, and I get tired easily, so I am thankful for a low-key celebration this year! I hope all of you have an amazing 2011 and that you get everything you want!

Heartbeat

Just a quick post so I can document everything since that's a big part of why I blog.

Today we heard our child's heartbeat for the first time and it was the most amazing thing ever. The Dr. was able to find it really fast and it was just the sweetest sound in the world! Everything is going perfectly according to my Dr. and I couldn't be more grateful.

Now we just have to wait 2.5 weeks to find out if we heard a little girl or little boy heart beating in there! :)

17 Weeks!

I'm 17 weeks today! Baby K is the size of an onion and everything is going well! I got the results of my blood work that I did last week back and found out that our chances of having a baby with chromosomal abnormalities (Downs Syndrome, Trisomy 18, etc) are extremely low, which was great to hear! I'm also happy to report that I haven't had any nausea since Christmas Day and am starting to get more energy back! I'm cautiously optimistic that I am getting into the nice part of the second trimester! I am getting a lot of headaches, but nothing so bad that I can't deal with it. I'd rather have a headache than nausea anyway!

We have a Dr. appointment tomorrow, and if I get an ultrasound, I will ask them if they can tell me the gender. If I don't have an ultrasound, then I will have to wait for my anatomy scan on January 17th. I am DYING to know and really hope they can tell me tomorrow! We'll see, but I still have a gut feeling that the baby is a girl. I kind of wish I didn't have a strong feeling either way because if this baby is a boy, it's going to take some readjusting to my thinking since I'm convinced that it's a girl. I will be thrilled either way and it's not that I necessarily want a girl first, I just think the baby is a girl. I do want one of each gender, but as long as the baby is healthy, then I'm happy!

Here is my belly pic for this week! Don't mind my hair, I just took a shower. I am loving this vacation and wearing PJ's almost non-stop. I'm sad to go back to work on Monday :(

Birthday and Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful time celebrating with our families! Can you believe I didn't take a single picture? I'm so mad I forgot that we had Jeff's camera!

My birthday was really nice! We went to my parents' house to have my fav dinner, which was awesome! We also exchanged Christmas gifts along with my b-day gifts that night. I got gift cards to Coach and Old Navy, as well as a Pandora bracelet and some charms for it!

Christmas Eve was spent on LI with my in-laws. We went to my husband's Aunt and Uncle's house and had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and eating! Jeff's cousin is a professional chef, so the food is always amazing! I spent some time with the other girl whose about 3 weeks ahead of me in pregnancy, and it was nice to have someone to talk to who is going through the same things as me! Once we got back to my MIL's house, we did stocking presents and I got some great stuff!

Christmas morning, we did more presents. I got Sephora, Coach, and Old Navy gift cards, which are exactly what I asked for. I also got more charms for my Pandora bracelet too, so now it's about half full! Some of these gifts were for my b-day too, but I will say that both families were extremely generous with us this Christmas and my b-day! That afternoon, we went to my parents' house again and got to see my aunt, uncle, and cousin as well as my immediate family. We had a great dinner and it was nice to see everyone.

I already ordered some cute maternity pants and dresses with my Old Navy gift cards, and the Coach Dafney boots in black. They're so cute and I needed boots other than Uggs to wear with all the sweater dresses and leggings that I just bought. The boots were on sale, and I still have lots of Coach gift cards left if I decide to get a diaper bag from there as well.

Yesterday we didn't go to church because we were hit with a big blizzard! I wish this happened next Sunday because I would have for sure gotten a snow day today if I had work! We got at least a foot of snow, if not more.

I hope everyone else had a great holiday too!

26 Years Old

Today is my birthday and I'm 26! I remember being in my teens thinking that 26 was SO OLD! It's really not, but the fact that I will have a 6 month old baby at this time next year makes me feel old haha!

Jeff gave me my diamond earrings that we picked out weeks ago and I love them! Later we are going to my parents' house for my favorite dinner, presents, and cake! I will be sure to post pics! :)

Last year at this time, I kept telling Jeff that I really hoped that I was pregnant by this time next year, and God granted me that wish! I feel so incredibly lucky and blessed!

16 Weeks!

Today marks my 16th week of pregnancy! I am on vacation till January 3rd and I'm loving it! I'm still so tired, so it's been nice to sleep as late as I want! Baby K is the size of an avocado (which is one of the foods I have a really serious aversion to this entire pregnancy so far).

As far as morning sickness goes.... I spoke too soon! Last week, I posted how I hadn't gotten sick in a week, but then I got sick that night. I also got sick on Saturday and I've been feeling really nauseous the past few days. My mom said she was sick with me until 20 weeks, so I might have some more time dealing with this, but it's OK!

*UPDATE* I have felt little flutters and gurgles the past few days, which I forgot to write in before. I wonder if this if me feeling the baby move or gas lol. I guess in a few weeks I'll be able to feel him/her more! I also discovered 2 slightly varicose veins on my left leg! I didn't realize that happened so soon, but according to my mom friends on Twitter (I love all of you and you've all been so incredibly helpful) it's normal at this stage and some women get more or the ones they have get worse :( So sexy...

Here are my belly pics this week. I got brave and did one with my shirt up. Don't mind the PJ's, I plan on staying in them all day hahaha. Also, don't mind the messy bed, I don't always make it when I'm on vacation! I think I look chubby (but I can't suck it in), not pregnant yet and it's starting to annoy me! I wish I had a well defined baby bump instead of looking like I hit the donuts too hard (which, let's be honest, I have lol). Hopefully in the next few weeks I "pop out!"

15 Weeks!

Technically I was 15 weeks yesterday, but I wasn't feeling well and stayed home from work. I didn't want to post a belly picture of myself in PJ's with no makeup on because I would scare everyone hahaha! Baby K is the size of a navel orange and the legs are finally longer than the arms! The baby is also inhaling amniotic fluid which I guess helps the lungs develop. It's really cool how fast the baby grows and develops everything!

I'm feeling a lot better. Still nauseous at times, but significantly better. I haven't had a random vomit attack in about a week. The biggest thing right now is that everything is pulling and stretching, and if I don't move slowly, it really hurts!

Just an amusing side story. I teach health, and we are getting into the sex ed. portion of the class. One of the girls asked me if it hurts to have sex the first time and another girl looked at her and said, "How would she know? It's not like she's done it before!" The girls don't know I'm pregnant yet and they obviously don't know that married people have sex haha!

Anyway, here's my 15 week belly. It's not terribly different than my 14 week belly.

OMG!!!!!

Guess who I'm going to see in concert for the 4th time this March?!

ELTON JOHN!!!!!!! I LOVE him! 

Jeff saw that tickets were on sale for his show at Madison Square Garden, so he asked me if I wanted him to get tickets! Of course I did, so he bought them this morning! I will be on spring break then and I'm so happy! The thing I'm most excited about is that the baby will be able to hear at that point and can enjoy it too haha!

Seasick?

This is just an amusing story that I wanted to share.

I've been wearing Sea Bands every day to help with my morning sickness. I don't know if they actually help, but they don't hurt, so I've worn them this entire pregnancy so far. It totally tipped off a lot of people at work, but everyone had the decency to wait several weeks before asking me about them. By the time they asked, I was announcing my pregnancy to people anyway so it was all good.

Today at parent-teacher conferences, I had my Sea Bands on and I totally forgot to take them off before everything started. At the end of one of my conferences, the mother noticed my Sea Bands and asked me if I was seasick! I told her no and that I was pregnant! We had a nice chat about that at the end and it was nice to tell one of the parents! I know it will be very obvious at March conferences and I won't have to tell anyone anything! :P

14 Weeks!

The Dr. bumped my due date up a whole day lol, which also bumps my weekly change date up a day too, so I am 14 weeks today, but the baby was still measuring a little bit ahead at my last appointment! Baby K is the size of a lemon now and can make facial expressions and pee! The peeing part is kind of gross, but it's part of life and the baby's development, so it's all good!

I am still feeling a lot better. My energy is coming back during the day, but I still need a lot of sleep at night. However, the past few days I have been having one sudden vomit attack each day. I will be feeling great, going about my business, when all of a sudden, I get really nauseous and have to run to the bathroom! Thankfully I've been home each time and once I get done being sick, I feel great and want to eat hahaha. I will take this over feeling nauseous and dry heaving all day long like I was a few weeks ago, but I'm kind of ready for the vomiting to totally stop. My mom did this with me which further strengthens my feeling that this baby is a girl! We have an anatomy scan on January 17th and hope to find out the gender for sure then if Baby K cooperates! I am DYING to know and I will honestly be shocked if they tell me the baby is a boy! I'd be thrilled either way though!

I bought maternity pants last week and they are so comfortable! I love them and should have went for them sooner! I still kind of look like I just ate too much, but I can't suck my stomach in at all and even my larger sized pants were just too uncomfy. None of my students have figured it out yet and probably just think I'm fat lol. I really want one of them to figure it out and ask me (they're not too polite to not ask) because I want to see their reactions. Here's my 14 week belly pic. I just realized I wear black pretty much every time I take a belly pic, maybe next week I will remember not to!

13 Weeks!

I cannot believe I'm already 13 weeks pregnant and Baby K is the size of a peach! This is flying by! Some sites say today marks the start of my second trimester, some say 14 weeks does. I plan on asking my Dr. today what she thinks when I go in for my appointment this afternoon. I'm also hoping to hear the heartbeat today! I've seen it several times, but have yet to hear it.

I am feeling MUCH better, but not 100% yet! I really thought I was done with the whole morning/all day sickness thing, then water made me sick Monday morning when I was trying to make breakfast. Who gets sick from water? It was not pleasant, but I've felt a lot better ever since. Hopefully I'm at least done with the puking! I'm starting to feel round ligament pain too which is interesting :P

The Dr. called the other day with the results of my NT scan and everything looks normal! I wasn't terribly concerned because I'm young and know my chances of having a baby with Down's Syndrome is low, but it was still great to hear that everything is moving along as it should be. Regardless of the results, we wouldn't do anything about the pregnancy, but I'm the type of person who had to know if there was a chance of anything being wrong (this is an optional scan). I like to be prepared.

I feel like my stomach has popped out a bit in the past few days and I'm starting to look a bit more pregnant than chubby. My "fat pants" that are a size too big are starting to get too tight in the tummy and uncomfortable, so I might be looking for maternity pants this weekend. I have the Belly Belt for my jeans, but I want to see what maternity pants are like too. Here's my 13 week belly pic:

Also, don't forget to vote on whether you think Baby K is a boy or a girl! :)