15 Weeks

Baby’s Size: Naval Orange

Baby’s Milestones: Tiny bones in baby’s ears are in place this week, making it likely that baby can hear my voice when I talk. Baby has both eyebrows and eyelashes and keeps growing bigger and bigger! Baby is between four and five inches long and weighs about three ounces!

My Weight: 149.2 (-1)

Symptoms: I’m still having round ligament pain, but not as bad as last week. I get dizzy when I stand up to fast and get headaches here and there. I don’t think this counts as a symptom, but I have had a disappearing belly this week. At night, I’m looking slightly pregnant. My belly looks hard and rounded, but every morning, it disappears again.

Cravings: Fruit, but not as much as a few weeks ago. Milk. I craved Top Ramen the few days I was at home either not feeling well, resting, or emotionallay upset. It must be a comfort food for me, but I always feel so guilty eating it because I know it is not nutritious. Cereal. I haven’t really had any strong cravings the entire pregnancy, and especially not this week. I just prefer certain foods over other foods. One thing I have wanted a lot this pregnancy is sushi! I think about it all the time, probably because I know I can’t have it. Every once and a while a hot dog sounds good to me too and tuna sandwiches, which I am supposed to eat infrequently. I think I just want things I know I can’t have.

TP: 9

Measurements: Waist: 29 Below Belly Button: 34 1/2

Emotions: I have still cried or almost cried quite a bit this week, but overall, I did not feel as emotional this week.

Fun with Vivian and Leah

On Tuesday, February 28th, I went to Matt and Vivian's house after work to catch up with them and to meet Leah. She is so tiny even though she is already three months old (we joked that my baby could be Leah's size when its born! eek!). We ordered the most delicious thai food and sat in the kitchen eating and chatting. It was so much fun to spend some time with Vivian hearing all about what it is like being a first time mommy and it was especially great to spend some time with Leah. She is such a beautiful and sweet little girl who looks just like Vivian.

Happy Birthday Oreo Brownies

Have you seen the new 100th Birthday Oreos? They have cake batter flavored frosting in the center and are delicious! I am a huge oreo lover and I must admit that I wasn't as obsessed with these as Rachelle and Nic at first, but then I discovered this recipe on Bake at 350 and I am in love. If you like these new oreos, or even if you just like regular oreos, you HAVE to try this recipe (especially you Rachelle, I think you are going to LOVE it!). It is like having frosting and oreos dab smack in the middle of a chocolaty brownie. I halved the recipe and used 9 oreos, which worked out to be one oreo per brownie slice. Once these are topped with vanilla ice cream and sprinkles they are the perfect treat to celebrate 100 years of my favorite cookie.

Breakfast with Lauren

On Sunday, February 26th, I met Lauren in Northridge for breakfast. We went to this place called Elme that is apparently famous for their french toast. We both decided we needed something substantial, but didn't want to miss out on the famous french toast, so we decided to share a half order. Thank goodness because not only was it HUGE, but it was more like a funnel cake (dessert) than french toast. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious, but I definitely would have felt sick if that had been my entire breakfast. It was so fun spending time with Lauren. I'm getting spoiled getting to see her so often. I'm so happy that we have remained friends and I hope we can continue to plan little get togethers because I always have the best time.

After breakfast, I decided to check out the Northridge Mall. I knew they had a maternity section in their Old Navy so I figured it was as good a time as any to try on some things. To my surprise, I also discovered an H&M with a maternity section and I bought my first pair of maternity pants. :) They are so comfy and really cute. I also bought a few things from Old Navy, so all in all it was a pretty successful Sunday.

Clippers vs. Nuggets Game

On Wednesday, February 22nd, Nic, Rachelle, Brandon and I went to the Clippers vs. Nuggets game. We had a really fun night watching some amazing dunks by Blake Griffin and were excited to see the Clippers win. I know this is so unlike me, but we didn't take any photos...oops.

14 Weeks

Baby’s Size: Lemon

Baby’s Milestones: Baby is practicing breathing, sucking, and swallowing. Baby is also kicking, curling its toes, and moving those little arms and legs. The ears are now properly positioned and the eyes are moving from the side of the head to the front of the face.

My Weight: 149.6 (at night-I'm still below my starting weight, especially when I weigh myself in the morning)

Symptoms: I have had a lot more energy this week. It was the first week I felt motivated to make and attempt to complete a to-do list. I went grocery shopping for the first time in weeks and went to Dream Dinners by myself. I’ve been having a lot of round ligament pain so hopefully that means baby is growing, moving up and I will get a belly soon. I’ve also had a few headaches including a really bad one on Sunday that forced me to spend the afternoon on the couch in pain. I did have a little scare on Monday and spent Monday and Tuesday taking it easy/on bed-rest. We went to the Dr. on Tuesday and she said the baby’s heartbeat sounded great, so just to continue to take it easy.

Cravings: Fruit! Especially chocolate covered strawberries, yum! I’m still enjoying my kiwis, blueberries in my oatmeal, milk, and cereal.

TP: 9

Measurements: Waist: 29 Below Belly Button: 33

Emotions: My emotions were much better this week until Monday and Tuesday. I became very emotional and freaked out when I thought something was wrong with “little baby” as we call him or her. I call Nic baby a lot still so until we know the gender I think I say little baby so Nic knows which baby I am talking about.

Amy's Baby Shower

On Saturday, February 18th, my mom and I went to my friend Amy's baby shower. It was at a really pretty restaurant in Pasadena. We had food, played a few games, I caught up with a few friends from Canyon High School Cheer, and we watched her open her gifts. It was really fun and made me a bit excited for my own shower.

My mom and I at the shower

Amy wanted a picture with all the mommies~to~be. Can you believe the other two girls in the photo with us are only about 3 weeks ahead of me? I'm so jealous of their bellies. I was even trying to stick mine out in the photo, but I just look like I ate a big meal.

Mommies~to~be

13 Weeks

Baby’s Size: Peach

Baby’s Milestones: Baby is on the move constantly and the movements have now become smooth, fluid and more ballet-like. Baby isn’t slouched anymore and it’s neck is getting longer and it’s head is standing more erect. Baby could also be sprouting some hair and the eyebrows are filling in too.

My Weight: 147.8 (-2)

Symptoms: This past week, my face has broken out really bad. I still have had pretty bad naseua. It seems like if I don’t eat every hour, I start to feel sick. I’m hoping this one goes away soon because the past couple of weeks have been really bad. I have also been so tired! I keep seeing how much bigger the fruit gets every week so baby is growing a ton and I’m thinking that must be what is doing it because I am so tired all the time. I’ve started having round ligament pain, one night I sneezed and the pain was so bad I started crying. I’ve also started getting occasional dizziness when I stand up and I’ve started getting headaches. I’m hoping the 1^st trimester symptoms (mainly the naseua) go away because now that the 2^nd trimester symptoms have started (headaches and dizziness) I am not too thrilled with having both at the same time.

Cravings: I have been craving more starchy foods this week. I’ve mainly wanted pasta, but last week I wanted rice and mashed potatoes. I think I see these as comfort foods (since I haven’t been feeling as well, comfort is what I’ve been seeking) and my brain is telling me they will help with morning sickness. I read an entire post on my WTE app about cereals and afterwards had to have some, so I have been pigging out on Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms. On Monday, I went grocery shopping for the first time in weeks, I came home with strawberries, blueberries, pears and kiwis so apparently the fruit craving is still in effect.

TP: 8 1/2

Measurements: Waist: 29 Below Belly Button: 33

Emotions: I’m still tearing-up quite a bit more than normal.

Going Public

This is what I posted on facebook on Valentine's Day to announce that we are expecting:

Nic and I have a new LOVE in our lives this Valentine's Day!!

Nic posted this on his facebook page:

Crystal is baking a bun for Valentine's Day. It should be ready sometime in August...

When I got home from work we sat on the couch side by side and got our posts ready. We were both really nervous, but also excited. I finally had to count to three so we would actually post. It was so fun spending the evening reading all the wonderful messages of love, support and excitement from all of our friends and family.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day started off with Nic bringing me breakfast in bed. I have been craving a sausage mcmuffin from McDonalds and it did not disappoint.

This is apparently what I look like when I'm still half asleep first thing in the morning. Scary, huh?

That night, we enjoyed a delicious dinner made by yours truly: We had heart shaped pasta with homemade sauce, peas and mushrooms, garlic bread, heart shaped oreo and mint oreo truffles, and chocolate covered strawberries.

After dinner, I plopped down on my favorite spot on the couch and enjoyed the chocolate covered strawberries that I had been craving for days.

1st Trimester

Here are photos of me on weeks 4-13 just for comparison's sake. I think it is funny that you can see how bloated I was on a few of the earlier weeks and a little later on I actually look thinner.

NT Scan

On February 10th, Nic and I went to Dr. DeVore for our 12 week neural translucency scan. Our little baby looked so amazing and the doctor said everything looked perfect! He did admit that his 3D/4D machine wasn't working as well as normal, which was kind of a bummer, but we still got some great pictures of our little one and we got a DVD of the entire ultrasound. I left feeling like I was on cloud 9.

12 Weeks

Baby’s size: Large Plum

Baby’s Milestones: Most of baby’s bodily structures are fully formed. The fetal digestive system is starting to flex its muscles. The pituitary gland is starting to produce hormones. Bone marrow is making white blood cells. The baby is also starting to have reflexes. As soon as Nic heard that he started testing baby’s reflexes my gently pushing on my belly. Poor kid!

My Weight: 149.4 (somewhat down again)

Symptoms: Naseau has still been bad pretty bad. I think the last 2 weeks have been worse than they were the month before. It seems weird to be getting worse symptoms towards the end of my 1^st trimester, but I looked it up and symptoms apparently peak during 8-12 weeks. I have been really tired! Every night I can’t wait to plop down on the couch and I especially love crawling into bed. In fact, I was almost falling asleep during this week’s photo I was so tired! I’m still getting up once a night to pee. I still have really greasy hair. I had a few weeks where I didn’t feel as bloated, but lately the bloat is back.

Cravings: Fruit! Still eating mandarins, kiwis, strawberries, and started eating grapes. Yum! At Lindsay’s superbowl party I wolfed down about 8 chocolate covered strawberries. If I hadn’t gotten a tummy ache, I probably would have eaten 8 more. I also read a blog post about sugar cereals and just had to have some. So I made Nic buy me Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms and have been having a bowl of cereal almost every afternoon as a snack. I still crave milk at times too, especially in the mornings. Most mornings, I have been having a glass with breakfast.

TP: 81/2

Actual Measurements: Waist: 29in Below Belly Button: 33in

Emotions: I’m still crying all the time. I watched Beauty and the Beast Friday night and cried like a big baby at the end. The next night Nic and I watched a really stupid movie and at one point they played some sad music and the guy was all depressed and it made me get really emotional. After the movie was over, Nic asked me what was wrong because he could tell I was upset. I said I have no idea, then I of course started crying, for no reason at all, except the lame scene in the movie somehow got to me. How embarrassing. 

11 Weeks

Baby’s Size: Lime

Baby's Milestones: Baby is slightly more than 2 inches long and weighing about a third of an ounce. Hair follicles are forming along with fignernail and toenail beds. Baby is straightening out and can now do stretches, somersaults, and forward rolls.

My Weight: Morning 147.8 Night 149.4 (-1)

Symptoms: This past week was the first week I started having some cramping. I have had slight pains in my hip flexors now and again most of the pregnancy, but this is the first I’ve felt actual cramping. Luckily, at my visit my dr. told me this is normal, otherwise I would have been nervous. On Sunday night, I got really naseuos, probably the worst it has been the entire time so far. I was up until midnight while my mouth watered and I thought any minute I will have to run to the toilet to throw up. I stayed home from work Monday and spent most of the day feeling naseuos. I was even nauseous for about half the day Tuesday before is started to go away. I’ve still been really tired. I even took my first nap on Sunday. I still have really greasy hair (I’ll wash it in the morning and by that night it is already greasy). My fingernails are the longest they have ever been. I also still get up about once a night to pee.

Cravings: Mandarins. Nic bought a bag of them and I have eaten tons! On the way home from homecoming I had 2 and would have eaten more if we had brought more with us. In fact, I have had 2 most days since we bought them. I have also been wanting orange juice, but since the whole pesticide scare I am trying to limit how much oj I drink. I’m also obsessed with frozen yogurt. I still cover it in oreos like I did pre-pregnancy, but now I also pile tons of fruit on top. Depending on where I go I get strawberries and kiwis, yum! I think fruit in general has been my biggest craving.

Emotions: I was pretty emotional on Monday. I teared up pretty easily most of the day. Its usually triggered by something I read on the WTE boards, thanking Nic for being such a wonderful husband, or when I’m really tired at night.

TP: still 81/2. I can’t believe I haven’t gained any weight and have no belly yet! I feel like I have a belly and I swear I am starting to see one too, but the toilet paper and scale tell a different story.

10 Weeks

Baby’s Size: Prune

Baby's Milestones: Baby is nearly an inch a half long and taking more of a human shape now. Teeth are forming under the gums. Baby's stomach is producing digestive juices and the kidney's and producing large quantities of urine.

This was the easiest week because my due date changed an entire week, so I didn’t really have to do week 10. So week 9’s update also goes for this week as well.

9 Weeks

Baby’s Size: Medium Green Olive

Baby's Milestones: According to What to Expect, baby has graduated from being an embryo and is now considered a fetus. Baby is about an inch long. The head has straightened out and is more developed and new organs such as the liver, spleen and gallbladder are forming.

My Weight: 147 Morning 150.6 Night (0)

Symptoms: I still have some naseua. I am still really tired. I am not as bloated. I still get the weird night time contraction things when I stretch out. I haven’t been quite as hungry. I still get up about once a night to pee. In previous weeks I forgot to mention my long nails. I have always had short brittle nails that split and peel the second they get long. Now my nails have been growing quickly and are longer and stronger than I’ve ever seen. I clipped them about a week or two ago and they are all long again!

Cravings: I’ve been craving oranges and orange juice the most, but strawberries, kiwis, and frozen yogurt with oreos and fresh fruit also always sound good.

TP: 81/2. Same result as last week. Nic has decided that toilet paper is not scientific enough, so he wants me to use measuring tape.

Emotions: I was really emotional on Tuesday. Something did trigger it that I won’t get into, but I cried at work and then was extremely grumpy the whole day. I even snapped a bunch at Nic when I got home even though he had nothing to do with it, then felt so bad about it that I started crying again!

Sharing the News with our Grandparents

My sister, dad and I went to Oma and Opa’s for lunch on January 16th and told them the good news. Oma said its about time and immediately started referring to it as a girl. Opa decided since Oma thinks it’s a girl, he will go boy. Oma also said, its about time and asked what names we have picked out. I showed them the ultrasound picture, but they didn’t really look at it. They weren’t overly excited, but they are getting pretty old and have a hard time taking in new information. I have a feeling by next week Opa will understand more, but Oma will have already forgotten. It was still nice to tell them though and I truly hope that they stick around long enough to meet their 1^st great grandchild.

On January 18th, my mom and I went to see Papa. He was going on about how much heartache everyone is experiencing at the moment. I said that I have some good news and he asked if I was pregnant. He is the first person to have guessed. He said he was really happy for me and then told me I better take it easy and not let anything bad happen to the baby.

Then we went to Grandma’s and gave her all her Christmas presents. After she was done, I sat down next to her and said, I have one more present, you are going to be a great-grandma. She was so excited and started crying and hugged me. I got a bit teary-eyed too because she was genuinely so excited and happy. She said it was the best Christmas present.

We told Nic's grandma on skype and she said she was very excited for us. She guessed we were having a boy at first, but as soon as she heard one of our girl names (part of it is after her) she changed her vote to girl. We told Nan on skype the next day and she was thrilled as well. She also guessed girl. It will be fun to see who guesses right. (Unfortunately, we didn't take any photos of Nic's grandmas getting the news).

1st Official Doctor Appointment

So we had our 1st "official" doctor appointment today back with my OB. We got to do another ultrasound since Dr. Nelson hadn't seen the baby yet and she wanted to officially pick a due date. The baby is so much bigger than the little gummy bear it was in the last ultrasound! We could see it had little crossed legs and it was dancing all around. We could even see one hand with all 5 fingers, but Dr. Nelson wasn't able to get a good hand picture for us. She also turned on the doppler and we were able to hear the baby's heart beating. It was the BEST sound in the world!! I totally teared up listening to it. I just love getting to see (and now hear) our little baby.

So now for the interesting news....at our last ultrasound the baby's measurements put our due date at 08/21/12. Today's measurements put our estimated due date at 08/23/12, but Dr. Nelson has decided to make 08/21 our "official" medical due date. So, we went from at one point being told 08/30 (although I never believed that one) to it now being 08/21. I had been using 08/28, so we just shaved an entire week off of the pregnancy!! So tomorrow, after I get my 9 week update, I am going to change my due date and I should hopefully get a 10 weeks e-mail too. Crazy, huh? I think tomorrow we will also have to do a 9/10 week photo since my photos are a week off. That means the baby is closer to the size of a prune than a green olive...pretty big huh?! Now Nic is all excited that the baby could be born on his birthday and he is more determined than ever for the baby to be a leo. (Leo ends Aug. 22 and Virgo starts Aug. 23). I guess we will just have to wait and see what sign baby wants to be.....

8 Weeks

Baby's Size: Raspberry

Baby's Milestones: Upper lip, nose and thin eyelids are forming. Baby's webbed fingers and toes are differentiating now. Heart is beating at approximately 150 times per minute.

Weight: 149 (back up 1 pound, but still down a pound from my starting weight)

Symptoms: I still have watery mouth, I still get nauseous, I have started having headaches, I am still tired, I still crash early at night, I don’t feel as bloated, but my back has been sore. I have been really hungry and eating a TON! I have no idea how I have not gained weight. Last Thursday I ate 2 in n out burgers and half a shake at 9pm and wasn’t full after. On Sunday, we went to Islands. I wolfed down my entire burger, and all my sweet potato fries, I ate a bunch of the second serving of fries and more sweet potato fries and when we left Sabrina and Nic said they both felt so full, but I honestly felt fine about 20 minutes later.

Cravings: kiwis, burgers, sweet potatoes and milk. I also love orange juice although I don’t think I actually crave it and I have been really liking these crispy apple slices Nic buys that I normally don’t eat because I am allergic to apples. Fruit in general always sounds good to me.

Toilet paper: On my August 2012 message board they have started this thing called TP Tuesdays, where everyone says how many squares of toilet paper it takes to go around their belly to measure the increase. I did it last week, but didn’t write it down, so I will have to start this week. It was 8 ½ squares.

Emotions: I was getting stressed out a little this weekend over our house being such a mess and I still feel like I cry easily over silly things. The last few days are the first couple of days that I have felt angry and irritated since I got pregnant.

2nd Ultrasound

We went in for our second appointment. I was nervous, just like the first time, but right away, we could see our little baby with its little heart beating. It was a lot bigger than last time and just the best thing to see ever! My doctor said it looked like a gummy bear and had Nic video while she pointed out where everything was. Nic was really good at seeing exactly where the baby’s head was along with its little arm buds. The doctor said everything looked great including the baby's length and width (Nic says good width means the baby is fat. ;) ) The baby’s head was really big and had some extra bright white spots, which are parts that are hardening to form the skull. It is so amazing to be able to see the baby like that. We took a few pictures and the video, but none of them do it justice. None of them compare to how clear the image of our little baby was. It is honestly the very best feeling and I was on such a high after leaving the appointment. *On a side note, I just looked more closely at the ultrasound and based on the baby’s measurement the machine calculated 08/21/12 as my due date.

Brunch with Lindsay and Beena

Sabrina came into town for the weekend, and unfortunately I wasn't feeling that great, so we spent most of the day Saturday on the couch watching movies. (Luckily, it was a bit of a rainy day, so I didn't have to feel too guilty). On Sunday, February 12th, Sabrina and I met Lindsay, Brooke and Gracie at Mimi's for brunch. We had a great time catching up, especially Beena who doesn't get to see the girls very often. After brunch, Sabrina and I went shopping then came home and made Valentine's oreo truffles. It was really nice having Sabrina in town for the weekend.

7 Weeks

Baby's size: Blueberry.

Baby's Milestones: Baby is 10,000 times bigger than at conception a month ago. Baby's head grows the most this week as new brain cells are generated at a rate of 100 cells per minute. Baby's arm and leg buds begin to sprout and grow longer, dividing into hand, arm, and shoulder segments- and leg, knee, and foot segments. Baby's mouth and tongue also form this week. Baby has also already gone through 3 sets of kidneys. The ones in place now are the permanent set and will start producing urine in about a week.

My weight: 149 (-1)

My Symptoms: One night this past week, I was having some cramps and I was anticipating these weird contraction things I’ve been getting at night. Needless to say, I got very little sleep. The next morning, I felt like I would throw up if I got out of bed. I was somewhat relieved by this symptom, but I also was still not feeling well from my other issues. My back was really sore and I was still really crampy. I was all emotional and crying and Nic decided that I needed to stay home and get some more sleep. So I did. And I definitely needed it. I love my husband so much for making me feel like it was ok to take the day off work to sleep and relax. I am so lucky to have him. I slept until about 9:30 and slept really well, I even accidentally cracked my back, which I have been too afraid to do, so when I woke up my naseua felt better, my back felt better and my stomach felt better. I spent the rest of the day in bed, watching tv shows and just taking it easy. It was exactly what I needed. I felt a million times better.

Emotions: I will admit, I did spend most of the day very emotional (meaning teary) and kept tearing up every time I told Nic how wonderful he was, or when I would tell the baby how lucky it is to have such an amazing father who loves us both so much. I also teared up over less emotional things like the bachelor and bride wars, lol. I guess it is just another good sign that my hormone levels are continuing to increase. Also, during the emotional period, I kept saying to Nic what a rollercoaster this experience has been so far. One moment I can be so happy and excited and the next I can be so worried and scared that something bad will happen.

Cravings: On a side note, I would just like to say how proud of myself I am. I have been eating so healthy. In addition to our normal dinners of chicken, fish, beef, and pasta from dream dinners (and the occasional leftover for lunch), I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast (sometimes with blueberries), sandwiches or salads for lunch (with the occasional soup and dinner leftovers) and have been having the following snacks: kiwi (one almost every day-they are my latest obsession), raisins, string cheese and crackers, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, orange juice, and last night I even ate some apples without having an allergic reaction. Besides having a small bowl of ice cream once or twice I have completely stopped eating desserts. Maybe that is why I am craving fruit (I need my sugar fix somehow), but I have honestly been completely ok without dessert, in fact desserts haven’t sounded overly enticing. I am really proud of myself, and hope I can keep it going the entire pregnancy.

1st Ultrasound

Both Aunt Susannah and my mom insisted that I tell my dr. right away about my spotting over the weekend, so I called during my 10am break. They said they could get me in right away, so Nic and I went at noon. I was a bit nervous. I have read all these scary things about blighted ovums, molar pregnancies, no heartbeat, ectopic pregnancies, etc. so I was a bit worried about everything looking ok. The first thing the dr. said was, “well its in your uterus, its in the right place so that’s a good start.” Then she said, “there is your baby, well, actually pre-baby, actually more like pre-pre-baby.” She showed us my uterine lining, the placenta, the sac, the baby and best of all, this little white flickering dot…the baby’s heartbeat. It was the best moment! I was so relieved and so happy and so in love with our flickering little heartbeat baby. She also talked to us for a little bit and said she was willing to do whatever I needed to feel comfortable at this point. We increased my dosage of progesterone to twice a day, they took blood to test my levels, and we scheduled another appointment for next Thursday. I am so happy they were able to get me in so quickly and were so willing to help me feel re-assured. She also said the baby looked just under 6 weeks and she put my EDD (estimated due date) at August 30^th.

6 Weeks

Baby's Size: Sweet Pea.

Baby's Milestones: Bumps on the head will develop into baby's jaw, cheeks and chin. Little indentations on both sides of the head are ear canals in the making. Small bumps on the face will form the eyes and nose. Also taking shape are baby's kidneys, liver and lungs.
Weight: 149.6 (No weight gain for me so far, shockingly!).

Symptoms:

Frequent Urination. I'm still peeing frequently, although, I have had a few nights where I didn’t have to get up, so either I am drinking less or not peeing quite as much.

Nausea. The nausea has gotten worse. I get really bad watery mouth and feel like those first moments before you throw up, but then it never escalates. It just stays at that point for 20 minutes to an hour.

I am pretty gasy and bloated. Sweatpants and stretchy pants are my best friends. I burp all the time, which Nic finds hilarious because I have never really been able to burp before. I have been farting all the time too (I know, tmi, sorry), but it is the truth. If I am somewhere I don’t feel comfortable farting and I hold it in, I get really bad stomach aches, so now, in addition to going to the bathroom all the time to pee, I also find myself going to the bathroom to let out some air.

I am still a bit funny about what I eat. One second something sounds good, another second the thought of it disgusts me. I wasn’t super hungry yesterday, but last night I felt starving! I ate a salad, then had two chicken breasts, with this delicious sauce, filled with huge tomatoes, and rice. I even had watery mouth throughout the whole meal, which usually kills my appetite pretty quickly, but it didn’t stop me from pigging out last night.

Exhaustion! Exhaustion hit really hard yesterday. I was tired all afternoon at work. Then crashed on the couch at 8:30pm. When Nic woke me up, I went straight upstairs and into bed. He had to wake me up again to force me to brush my teeth, take my progesterone, take my pre-natal vitamin, and remove my make-up. As soon as my head hit the pillow again I was out! I woke up once at 2am to pee, but was so tired I didn’t get up to go (I must not have had to go too bad). Then when the alarms started going off, I still felt SOOO tired. I had to pee so bad at this point, but didn’t care. All I could think was sleep as long as possible. I finally crawled out of bed at 7:10 because my bladder was about to explode, but man was I still tired. I have been tired all day. It hit hard around 10am and is hitting again even harder at 2:30pm. Along with the exhaustion comes yawning. I yawn all the time!

Dark circles. On top of feeling exhausted and sleeping for 11 plus hours last night, I looked like death this morning. I have been having horrible dark circles under my eyes. We looked it up over the weekend and it could be caused by an iron deficiency, so I guess I will try to eat more iron, but man do I look bad! I used to get puffy eyes from my allergies, but I don’t think I have ever had dark circles and to be honest, I don’t really know how to hide them, plus I have been crawling out of bed so late, I haven’t had much time to put on make-up in general, so I’m sure I look awful.

Greasy hair. My hair has been getting greasy quicker than normal. I read all this stuff about how pregnant women have amazing full, thick, healthy hair during pregnancy, but so far, I have had bad pregnancy hair.

Dreams. Most nights I have very vivid dreams.

Headaches. I don’t know if I can really call this a symptom, but I have had a few minor headaches here and there and have one this afternoon, it feels like an I haven’t had enough sleep headache, so maybe it should just go under a side effect of the exhausted symptom!

Congestion. I have been congested since day one. I am still congested and also sneeze a lot. I have felt like I’ve had a cold since I first got pregnant. I also sneeze all the time and cough on occasion too. It is like a never ending cold. I also wake up with a sore throat in the mornings and have to blow my nose a bunch, especially in the morning.

My first cravings have been: sweet potatoes and burgers. My first food aversion was chicken tortilla soup. It sounded so good, but one sip and I started gagging.

5 Weeks

Baby's Size: One site says the embryo is the size of a sesame seed, one says it's the size of an apple seed, and one says it's the size of an orange seed. I think an apple seed is the cutest so that is what I took my photo with. :)

Baby's Milestones: The blood system and heart should be working this week and the brain and spinal cord should begin to form.

My Weight: 149.6 (I would have bet money that this number went up because I have been eating a ton of food, but lo and behold it is slightly down)

Symptoms: My symptoms are actually a lot less noticeable than they were week 3. The few days before I took the pregnancy tests they were the worst and have gotten progressively better, except the peeing. That has pretty much remained constant so far. I seem to get up once every night between 4-6am. I got up twice one night, but I drank a lot of water late and went to bed pretty early. My boobs are still sore and seem pretty big. My bra was hurting on Sunday, so for the last few days I have been wearing sports bras. I am definitely feeling tired today. I slept in until 11am yesterday and was exhausted by 10pm last night. I have been tired all day and craving a nap, so the fatigue symptom is really starting to be more visible. Other than that I feel fine. I get the watery mouth thing every once in a while, but way less and I am still really thirsty and pretty hungry too.

Sharing the News with My BFF

On December 26th, we told Rachelle and Brandon. I gave Rachelle a mini cupcake stand with a paper attached that said BABY cupcake stand. Rachelle looked at it for a second and then said, wait, does this mean you’re pregnant? I said yes, then she went into shock and sat there stunned for a few minutes before hugging me and tearing up.

Sharing the News with Nic's Family

On Christmas night we skyped Nic's parents to tell them. We were going over presents we had gotten and the presents they had opened from us. Nic said, we have one more gift for you, Crystal do you want to go get it. I stood up (I had the bow on again) and said, "We got you a gift, but it won’t be here until August." Susan immediately gasped and started crying. Rob teared up a bit too. They said It was the best Christmas present.

A few weeks later, while we were up in Mammoth, we shared the news with Nic's siblings. In the middle of a conversation, Nic non-chalantly said, "Crystal's pregnant." Everyone looked a bit caught off guard, probably because he had shared the news so casually, then they all smiled and congratulated us.

Sharing the News with Crystal's Family

On Christmas night, I went out to the car just before dinner to put my bow around my belly, while Nic got the camera ready to video. I walked in while everyone was serving dinner and said I had one more present for everyone. Nic got everyone’s reactions on video. It was pretty awesome! We all hugged, took some pictures, and then my mom opened the bag of gifts. We gave my parents a picture frame that said grandparents on it with “Photo coming August 2012” where the picture would be. I also made my mom a scrapbook page that said Congrats Grandma on it. Then said, Pick one: and listed the following options: Grandma, Nonna, Oma, Grammie, and Other. She has a list of potential names in the notes section of her iphone and has been telling me that she will announce her name when I announce I’m pregnant so that was the reason behind the page. I also bought her a few grandma scrapbook stickers.

For Sabrina, Tyler and Justin I decorated onesies. Sabrina’s said, “Auntie Beena <heart’s> me” Tyler’s said, “Uncle Ty Rocks” and Justin’s said, “I <heart> Uncle Jus. They loved the onesies and I think it made them feel really special since they will all be first time aunts and uncles.

4 Weeks

Baby's Size: the baby is the size of a poppy seed.

Baby's Milestones: Baby has made its home in my uterus. Once firmly in place, the ball of cells start to divide-half will become baby and the other half will become the placenta.

My weight: 150 pounds

Symptoms:

Increased Appetite- This was the first symptom. Last Monday when we went out to dinner at Granville I ate an entire order of Mac and Cheese (I usually can only eat half) and sweet potato fries and didn’t even feel full. I even made a comment about how much I had eaten. On Thursday around 10am, I suddenly felt starving hungry. On Thursday night, after pigging my dinner, I made a comment to Nic that I still felt really hungry. He just suggested that I go to bed because I had already eaten a ton. Over the weekend I would feel so hungry, then eat a bunch of food, then feel bloated and full, then get the watery mouth /nauseous thing, then 15 minutes later feel starving hungry again.

Sore breasts

Watery mouth after meals. This is usually accompanied with nausea.

Thirsty-I have been so thirsty. Like I can never get enough water and even after I drink tons more than I normally do, I feel dehydrated.

Frequent urination (this has slowly become a more obvious symptom over the weekend and 5 minutes after I peed today I had to pee again).

Fatigue- this one is weird because I have been getting tired, especially at night, which means I have been going to bed earlier, but I haven’t actually been sleeping more and for the most part I have felt very energized. First of all, I think I am super excited so that is making me feel more energized and making it harder for me to sleep, but even yesterday, I tried to take a nap and couldn’t fall asleep. I did enjoy lying on the couch watching a movie though. I guess the verdict is still out on this one.

Cramps-I have been having slight cramping really low down in my abdomen. Nowhere near as strong ads period cramps and not as consistent.

Headaches-I have been getting mild headaches.

Emotions: I have been crying quite a bit the last week. I only had one moment where I felt moody, which is usually pretty common before my period and instead have been very sensitive. I teared-up pretty much every time I imagine telling me family the good news. I teared-up reading the grandma, grandpa, great-grandma, great-grandpa, aunt and uncle poems. I teared-up every time I thought about how incredible it is that God has blessed Nic and me with this baby.

2011 Ornament

Every year Nic and I purchase an ornament for our tree. Check out this post to see our past ornaments. All year I was hoping that this year's ornament would include a baby bump. I had even seen one last year that I wanted to buy, but Nic told me I was crazy and needed to wait until I was actually pregnant. Once I started having my fertility problems the dream of the baby bump ornament seemed to slip away. When I had my surgery and realized that by the time I had my post-op appointment and started my next cycle of Clomid it would be the new year, I completely gave up on my baby bump ornament.

I was pretty sad and had no idea what ornament I was going to pick out instead.

The few days before I took a pregnancy test, when I had some strange symptoms and was getting my hopes up, all I kept thinking about was getting a positive result, going to the mall to get a baby bump ornament, buying special presents for my family for Christmas and the way I would share my news.
I couldn't beleive my eyes when we actually found out we were pregnant that weekend! We went to the mall that afternoon and got the baby bump ornament!