The weeks roll on...

I found this post that I never published from last year. It is really fun to look back and see how I was feeling in the first trimester. This was also before we found out that our baby was coming sooner than we thought! Now I have a baby girl that is almost 3 months old. How did that happen?!

*originally written 6/4/12*

The weeks go by as our little secret grows and grows. I am getting more used to the fact that I am actually pregnant and there will be a little one we need to take care of by the end of the year...Still, its pretty wild. On Friday we went to our first doctors appointment with our new OBGYN. I had to switch since my doc was in Philly and I don't work in the city anymore. :( I called a few places and this office was sooo nice and accommodating that I decided to go with them. Tim and I went all excited since I was just about 10 weeks and we were ready to get a chance to hear the heartbeat. Well, after what seemed like an eternity, she gave up. No heartbeat. My heart sank. She didn't seem worried at all and said that I the little one was nestled pretty far back so it would be tricky. Still- it was pretty hard to hear that empty doppler as it traveled across my stomach. I felt so guilty especially since Tim was soo excited to hear the baby. But what can you do?

We have our 1st ultrasound in less than two weeks...right before our 12 week mark and fathers day! I hope I can make this fathers day memorable for Tim and we are able to see our "Little M" in all their glory.

As for how I'm feeling?

Night sickness has become the new "morning sickness." Basically from week 7-10 I was getting up at least once a night feeling sick to my stomach. I got physically sick once and the rest of the time I just ate some crackers, drank some water, hit the loo (can Americans say loo?) and stayed up until it subsided. Lately I have been able to sleep through the night so hopefully that means it is ending soon.

My clothes are getting tighter but its just because I am eating pretty much whatever makes me feel better. That happens to be starches; especially pasta. An Italian just like its Momma ;) No real other symptoms besides being tired more easily by the end of the work day and maybe having to pee a little more than usual. The doc said I might not show until later since the little one is tucked in the back but who knows.

Now I need to concentrate on another goal...a 5K! Yup, I registered for a 5K months ago and it is coming up quick. I haven't ran in a few weeks so I need to take my time. My goal is to just finish in a somewhat decent time. We will see how it goes. I am having a hard time catching my breath while working out lately. I'll let you know how it goes. :)


ps: The race was hot but it went well. Nothing like running while 16 weeks pregnant in 90+ degree weather. 

Priorities

Well I'm sure you have guessed it. I fell off the blog wagon again but this time I had a good reason.

Meet Hannah Caroline Matthews. She was born on Wednesday, December 5th at 3:55PM. She was 6 lbs. 13 oz and pretty adorable if I do say so myself. :) We have had time to adjust. Things were not always easy for us first time parents but Tim has been a pretty amazing father.

Anyways I have lots to update on here but I'm not sure how fast I will be working on that. However I wanted to document Hannah coming into our lives. She is pretty adorable and is already growing so fast.

(hopefully) more to come later...

Bump Out Progress: Operation beat the Hurricane

It's been awhile since I have posted. Mostly because of Hurricane Sandy. She took a toll on all of us in the northeast but NJ and NY took the biggest hits. Still, the impending storm forced us to buckle down and get a lot of the bump out built and water proof. So here is a bump out picture dump on the flooring, framing, roof and enclosure. I can't speak much about the details since Tim and his dad did most of the work but I tried to document it as best as I can.

Here is where we left off. Framing the floor after the drainage is put in.

After the floor was down and the frame measured out, we moved onto to securing the structure to the house.

Next we brought the roof and sides (that were already built by Tim and his dad) to the house to be attached.

Can you see it yet? :)

After the plywood and waterproofing went up on the extension we wrapped it in Tyvek to keep it safe from the hurricane.

Update: All went well and no water got in during the Hurricane! The guys did a great job and we were really excited to see so much progress. We lost power for 48 hours but we made out pretty well compared to others we knew.

Next up: siding, windows and electric.

Ohh and did I mention when this was going on we were also prepping for all of our floors to be refinished and all with 4 weeks to go until my due date? Yeah... we are nuts.

Did everyone make out okay in Hurricane Sandy? Anyone else decide to do multiple large projects right before their baby comes? We are hoping we aren't the only ones.

A Little Getaway

Also known as a babymoon. Never heard of it? Its apparently a "newer" trend. It is one last honeymoon of sorts that a couple takes before they become a family of three. Usually women like to go in the second trimester when they are feeling better but not too big. I was really looking forward to taking a babymoon because I knew we were going to be busy in the fall with work and all the house projects. So when Tim's Aunt and Uncle offered us their downstairs apartment in Ocean City, NJ anytime after labor day- I jumped on it.

Breathe in the salt water air with me. Ahhhh

We decided to just do a long weekend. Just enough time to get away and relax but not too long to fall behind on work and house projects. Unfortunately I didn't take a ton of pictures since we were just trying to get away from it all but we did snap a few to remember the occasion.

Although we had a rainy first day, we still managed to get in some time to walk the boardwalk and go to Brown's donuts. If you are in Ocean City, NJ, you need to get a donut there. I couldn't even take pictures because our hands were covered in delicious, fresh goodness. I justified eating 3 donuts by walking a mile there to get them. That burns it all off, right? :)

The next day the sun came out and we hit the beach to do what I was looking forward to for the whole trip- relaxing on the beach and soaking some sun in (with suntan lotion of course).

 It was amazing. We had a great location not to far from the boardwalk for bathroom and food breaks and we had a great umbrella we borrowed from my parents for my handsome fair skinned husband.

After a perfect day at the beach we decided to try a great seafood place. Although my seafood consumption was limited to certain dishes I still wanted some delicious seafood. We were at the beach after all. We headed to Smitty's Clam Bar. It's a tucked away location off the 9th Street Bridge. Its a BYOB and the wait is long but worth it. We had a 30-45 minute wait but it flew by hanging out by the pier with other patrons as they drank and met up with friends and family.

The food was delicious. We got big cups of clam chowder and while Tim had a seafood medley, I got delicious crab cakes. Totally worth it. Again, I failed at taking pictures.

Saturday was our last day. We had a childbirth class on Sunday that we needed to get back to but when we woke up it was raining. I was so sad because most of the trip was rainy but we decided to make the best of it. We rode bikes in the morning along the boardwalk and then decided that we might as well pack up and head back early. As we were packing, we looked up and the sun broke through the clouds. Needless to say, I was excited and ready to squeeze one last beach day. This is my "take the picture so we can get dressed for the beach" face.

We spent a few hours on the beach and the boardwalk. While we were there we enjoyed a car show on the boardwalk and I got one last ice cream trip in.

Overall, it was a great and affordable little getaway for both of us. Of course we couldn't really stop talking about Little M and reading our baby books but it was nice to just get away from everything else we had going on and enjoy the end of summer.

So has anyone else taken a babymoon? Where did you go?

The Big Reveal

We are so excited to announce we are having a...

 

We are welcoming a baby GIRL to our little family!

Our ultrasound technician guessed a girl a few weeks ago but now it is official. We are so excited to have a baby girl to even out the gender in our little family. Now our minds are wrapped around cribs, nursery designs and most importantly, NAMES! We will make sure we share the good news as we go along since it is new for us and hopefully this can help someone later down the road.

As for now things are hectic with an excited upcoming wedding in the family. My brother in law is marrying an awesome girl and I couldn't be more excited to have her officially become a Matthews. There will be more this week on the shower that Tim's mom and I threw. Here is a sneak peak of the fun we had creating it. Think Camping!

Whew...It feel like this little girl has already taken over this blog. :) Any other fun gender revealing stories to share? Did anyone see the cute gender announcement on Katie B.'s blog? It was too cute!

I'm How Far Along!?!

*originally posted on 6/19/12. This is the last one of these before we are caught up to speed and I can move on to fun projects I have been working on.*

Our first ultrasound appointment was on Friday (6/15). I drank my 32 oz. of water like a champ and walked into the doctors office feeling full but not in too much pain. Then we waited....and waited ...and waited. Apparently they were running late. No one told us and I was starting to lose it. I was cranky because I was anxious to finally see Little M and because I really really had to pee. 20 minutes later she called our names. I laid down and she got to work. Bless this woman for not bothering to talk to me and then do the ultrasound. She must have seen the desperation in my face.

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First, I have to comment about a movie myth. That gel they put on your stomach is not cold at all. In fact, she had a warmer for hers. Not sure if that is common but it was appreciated. We sat there waiting for her to find the baby and there it was.

I still wasn't convinced everything was okay so I didn't fall in love until she said, the heart rate looks good. *Cue Huge Sigh of Relief* Then she said another magical line-" let me check that the bladder is okay so you can go to the bathroom and come back and enjoy the ultrasound."

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Hallelujah! It's like she read my mind. I ran to the bathroom, had a "League of their Own Moment" and then headed back in.

Ready for my next shocker....She was asking me how far along they thought I was. I came in for a screening ultrasound so I was right around 12 weeks. Or so I thought.

"Have you had any spotting?" Not that I knew of. "Well, it turns out you did."

Immediately my mind went to the worst place. I was picturing seeing that little baby and then finding out that I messed it up somehow and something terrible happened. I know- dramatic- but I am not always a positive person. As my mind was racing she exclaimed, "You are actually farther along than you thought."

WHAT?

"Yeah by the looks of it, you look like you are about 15 weeks, 3 days." Wow- many thoughts went through my head. First I looked over and Tim is stunned but beaming. I then try to figure out when my new due date is. She says December 4th. I get excited that I avoided having to possibly be in labor at Christmas. Then I get nervous because things will be moving faster than planned. My darling husband came to the rescue and said, "Think of it this way. You basically skipped a month ahead of being pregnant."

Yeah...I guess I did.

Overall, it was a great appointment. She even had a guess at the sex but that will be confirmed on July 20th so we will keep it off here for now.

*So now you are all caught up! We go in tomorrow for our anatomy ultrasound. So excited to finally confirm the gender so we can avoid calling the baby it. We will definitely share the good news and plans for the nursery. So far feeling good. Getting bigger and overall really excited for the coming months!

What was your first ultrasound like? Anyone else have a delay that made you want to tear apart the waiting room?*

60 minutes

*written April 19th* 

That is how long I have before this "baby" became a reality. All week I had been DYING to tell Tim. DYING. It was so hard. I felt like it almost wasn't real...until I took another test last night that screamed "pregnant". Now I have 60 minutes until work is out and I drive home where hubby is waiting for me. He got back early from his work trip and has no idea. NONE. Its making me nervous. Here is my plan.

I took all my tests in a plastic bag with me so he didn't see them. I also got James a dog bone while I was shopping this week. I have a plan to tell him but I might just see him and blurt it out. haha That is more my style. I want it to be memorable but not over the top. I just cant wait to see his reaction. He is going to be impressed that I kept it in from EVERYONE. Especially because I hung out with one of my best friends this week and didn't spill the beans even though I wanted to.

Either way this is the only place I can say what I'm feeling and what I'm feeling is anxiety. Time to head home. Wish me luck...

Update: It was one of the best reactions I will ever get from Tim. I walked in and he was on the couch. James came to greet me and I whipped out a plastic bag. I said " I brought presents for my boys. A bone for the pup. *gave the bone to James so he would go away and give us a minute* and this is for you!" *handed him my positive pregnancy test

The reaction was priceless. He immediately jumped off the couch and hugged me so hard. He just kept repeating.. "Really!? Really?!" He was beaming! Beaming, people. Here I was freaking out and he was so sweet and excited. I couldn't help but shed a tear and I'm not really a crier. All the weight of the secret was off my shoulders and to see how happy it made him was amazing. I'm so glad I waited. He wasn't mad I didn't tell him over the phone or skype. He just couldn't believe it.

Little M- our little nickname for now- decided now was the time, whether mom was ready or not...

Missed this announcement? See the reveal on the blog here and how I found out here.

I had this funny feeling...

*written on April 17th. Go easy on me. I just found out*

On Sunday we spent the whole day gardening. It was back breaking. I was digging, weeding and planting with the hubby. I was really exhausted but I thought to myself that it was all the manual garden labor and I needed to get in better shape. Then that night when it came time to eat I was so excited about dinner but when Tim brought in the grilled veggies that I adore, I couldn't eat them. In fact, I felt nauseous. Shouldn't that have been a sign?! I brushed it aside but still...I had this funny feeling.

Monday rolls around and Tim left for another business trip. (he has been gone every week that month) I was really tired at work and still kinda off so that night I looked at James and thought to myself "maybe I should just take the last test in the box. Just so I don't think about it all week." So I did. Then I left the bathroom. I casually walked back in a few minutes later and looked at the test....

"HOLY S*&T!"- I said that out loud btw

I couldn't believe it. I mean really. I left it and walked back to look at it like 5 more times. Each time I left the bathroom I looked at the pup like he would have an explanation for this. (He didn't)

I was freaking out to say the least. It couldn't be. First off, Tim was traveling soo much this month. (I guess not that much)  Last month my supposed "window" was much later (Guess I was wrong about that too). Plus, I still had a week before my little friend flow was coming. *you will see in later stories that this gets explained* Yet there it was...and it was just me and the pup and whatever reality show I was watching at the time.

At this point I was thinking- I need to call Tim.

But he was traveling and I really wanted to see his expression in person. Plus, if I was him I wouldn't want to find out when I am hundreds of miles away in a hotel room. I grappled with this back and forth for a little bit a long time. I even picked up the phone at one point but I resisted.

I can keep this secret...even if its for 3 more days. I didn't want to call any of my close friends yet because Tim didn't know and I wanted him to be the first...besides the pup and I. So that was it. I freaked out in our living room the rest of the night. I started calculating when I was due, what "it" was doing right now in my stomach and what was I going to do about all the things we had planned. That is kinda where I am right now. It's almost like a dream because its just my little secret. No one knows so it almost doesn't seem real. And it all started because I had this funny little feeling...

Side Project :)

It's time to come clean. I have been keeping this to myself for awhile but now that I have started to withhold information on our latest projects, its time I come clean....Tim and I have been working on a little project of our own that we are really excited about.


(Sorry this picture is dark)

That's right. Tim and I are expecting our first baby this winter! I'm pretty excited and now that the cat is out of the bag to family, friends and work, it was time to spill the beans on here. This is not an excuse but it is a factor as to why I have been a bit quiet on here. Everything we are working on lately has been surrounding our newest addition. I actually wrote a few posts when I found out (it was just me and the pup!), telling Tim, going to my first few appointments, our changing due date and so on so I will share those over the next few days.

As for some details, currently I am 19 weeks and 2 days. I feel great and am finally starting to show. It's pretty surreal but we are pretty excited. I hope to take you guys on our journey as we find out whether its a boy or a girl (next Friday!), replace rugs upstairs, make our office into our nursery, change our guest room into an office/guest room and try to even squeeze in our bump out plans! Whew! Tiring just thinking about it.

Hope your ready for some fun!