Big eyes

The first thing people tend to notice when seeing Jake in person, is his eyes. It is not at all uncommon for us to get stopped in the grocery store for comments on "oh, his big brown eyes!" Well, that, and he'll say "HI!!" to anyone that passes him. Sometimes those big brown eyes are extra, extra big. He is a baby of many expressions, but this post is dedicated to ol' big eyes. Therefore, the following pictures are of...

(cue the loud infomercial voice)

BIG EYES!

not really huge here, but very expressive!

He has huge eyes when he first wakes up.

This was the first time he pushed all the way up onto all fours.... I think it might have freaked him out a little!

Today, I am thankful for this ridiculous stick. I am not sure what the obsession is with the drumsticks, but if I need to calm him down... I just grab a drumstick. Weird, right? I'll do whatever it takes!

Just J

Today is simple. 

It's just a Jake post. Which reiterates the fact that I'm one of those moms. :)

Today, I am thankful for the blankie and the bottle. We are cutting 4 top teeth at the moment and that blankie and bottle were such a life saver today!

played outside for a little bit

We take a walk with "Nena" (my mom) every time we can. She walks in the morning, before work, and when she gets home from work. Jake has an umbrella stroller that I tried using for a while. Well, he prefers the heavy 27 pound stroller. He makes that abundantly clear any time we try to use that umbrella one. He loves walks when we use the "big" stroller. In all reality, it's probably because I put cheerios on the tray in front of him in the big stroller. He's all about food.

he crosses his feet when he sits in his eat-seat

Below is a video from last night. Derick was feeding him his dinner (that's why he's an awful mess) and making funny noises. Jake thought it was hilarious.

The best day of my entire life.

This is rather lengthy, my apologies ahead of time.

Being an L&D nurse, you know too much about having a baby. You know too much about pregnancy, too much about laboring… It’s just better to not know, I’m almost positive. I drove myself nuts for 9 months thinking of things that could happen. I’m a pessimist, remember? The smallest things would happen and I’d jump to crazy conclusions. I mean, come on, I saw WAY too much high-risk stuff to not think crazy thoughts!! It was really hard to put it out of my mind. Seeing all I saw, I can tell you this: every woman that makes it to 37 weeks without any complications for mom or baby, or BOTH… is nothing short of a miracle. Do you even know what the odds are of getting pregnant in the first place? Then there are the odds of not miscarrying in the first trimester. It is said that 25% of pregnancies are miscarried by the sixth week. I mean, really, the whole thing is a complete miracle.

Working where I worked, I didn’t just think about my own labor experience for the 9 months prior to it. No, I thought about my own labor and what I would and wouldn’t do if it were me, for the 3 years that I’d been a nurse. However, even though I had plans for the big day, I did NOT make a birth plan. We L&D nurses believe in several curses you can put on yourself and a written birth plan is one of them. I won’t go into detail, but I sure as HECK wasn’t about to walk through those doors with a written birth plan if I wanted to have a smooth delivery.

Another wonderful blessing in working where I did, was that I got to hand pick my labor nurse. I chose my close friend and confidant, Kinsey. We had worked together on the weekends and been through some crazy, crazy stuff in the previous 2 years. She is an amazing nurse. I’d personally witnessed her in pretty much every scenario possible in the field of L&D. My decision was a no-brainer; she was the nurse for us. She knew exactly what to do in every situation, and she knew me… inside and out, and upside-down…  She knew exactly what I wanted, what I wanted done, she even knew how to know what I wanted without saying it. I consider myself so very blessed to be able to have had that for our labor and delivery exprience. Not everyone gets to have their close friend take care of them and their soon-to-be-born tiny baby. So, even though my birth plan was not actually written, my nurse knew exactly what I wanted and I didn’t have the written birth plan curse hanging over my head. :)

Again, knowing way too much stuff, I knew that I did not want to go OVER my due date. Again, I won’t include details because to each his own. I knew too much and it just starts getting a little too risky for my liking when you go post-dates. Also, Derick’s school schedule was INSANE. He was taking a total of 19 hours and it was his final semester. Our doctor, thankfully, let us schedule our induction for a Saturday when Derick was not in school, and Kinsey could easily be there. We scheduled my induction for 0600 on February 6^th. I was 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Funny story, I knew what time and all that I wanted my induction, so I penciled it in while I was at work. The next day, I happened to answer the phone when the nurse called to schedule my induction. So, I scheduled my own induction with her. (For those out there wondering, no I did not take the orders for my own induction!! I passed that on to someone else.)

February 6^th, 2010- I arrived at the hospital fashionably late, 0700. I had already filled out all my paperwork and signed all my stuff, so I skipped the waiting room and headed right to my labor room. Room 18. Kinsey picked it out. It’s bigger and it was close to everything we/she might need. When we arrived in the room there were gifts everywhere! My sweet, sweet weekend co-workers had brought Jake birthday presents!! That was way, way sweet. I’ll never, ever forget it and how special it was to me. I went out to the desk to thank everyone before I went to put my lovely gown on. The ladies at the desk all made their last guesses as to what this little guy would weigh. Most guesses were in the mid to low seven pound range. There was one guess that was over 8 pounds. Rochelle guessed 8 pounds 2 ounces. We all looked at her like she was nuts. Anyway, back to room 18. I knew this drill all too well. But, I must say, it is much different being the patient. Much, much different. Gown on, jelly and belts on the belly, IV in. The IV was probably the most dramatic part of my day. It was my first IV!! That’s right. I started a handful of IV’s on an almost daily basis, yet had managed to never suffer through one. Well, when that was over, I decided I wanted to try an amniotomy only. This is when the doctor artificially ruptures membranes or, breaks water, to see if your body will go into labor on its own. My body did not, so we got pitocin started too. Oh, man. At first it was just light cramping. I knew to expect light cramps like menstrual cramps that gradually got stronger. I already knew I would be participating in the amazing and wonderful epidural. However, knowing what I knew, I wanted to really appreciate that epidural. You see, if you get your epidural too early, you can experience some pretty painful and unwanted pressure sensations at the end of labor. I wanted to avoid this, thanks. So, I waited. I kept waiting. I knew what that needle that was gonna go in my back looked like. I’d seen them… a LOT. People, they are HUGE. If you’ve never seen one; well, let me just tell you… you don’t wanna see it. It. Is. Huge. Knowing that, I wanted to be desperate before I got it. One thing was certain; I WOULD be getting it. Everyone kept trying to encourage me to get it. I just didn’t feel like I was hurting “enough” to get it just yet. Don’t get me wrong, I was hurting! But I wanted to be unable to speak during a contraction before I gave in. I bounced on the birthing ball. I made trips around the room. I rocked in the rocking chair. Oh, by the way, having ruptured membranes and walking around is SICKENING. I mean it. It feels repulsive!!!!! Every time you have a contraction it gushes out. Ick. Anyway, around noon, I started to get really uncomfortable. I’d cry, but I didn’t want people seeing me cry so I covered my face with a washrag. I had my iPod going with the “hospital playlist” playing. I made everyone in the room be silent during contractions. Shortly after this, I asked everyone to leave to room, excluding Derick, of course. I was in a LOT of pain. Kinsey checked me, and I was dilated to 4cms. I couldn’t stand it any longer and she knew it. Even though I wouldn’t out and out ask for that epidural, she knew it and she began preparing me for one anyway. It’s a good thing, because when I did finally accept, I’m not sure I could have waited the 30 minutes to prepare for one. See how awesome it was to have someone taking care of me that knew me so well?!

Now, as a hospital employee, we get certain privileges and I’d arranged for my favorite anesthesiologist to come and start my epidural. She was not on call that weekend, but agreed to come up to “special” me. They said she’d been calling all morning seeing when she might be needed. Just about the time she decided it was ok for her husband to leave to get some pizza, Kinsey called. She had her daughter with her and I was just short of dying from pain. She had to bring her poor, precious little girl with her. She didn’t want to sit out at the nurse’s station, so she came in the room with her mommy. That sweet little girl kept me from screaming my head off. I knew that I would certainly freak her out if I screamed. So, instead, I proceeded to pinch a plug out of my sweet, equally freaked out, husband’s shoulder. Just as I had always told my patients, you don’t feel that epidural when you’re really hurting.  Even if I did feel it a little, it was NOTHING compared to what was going on in my uterus. Nothing.

After I got my epidural, I wondered why I waited so long. I was a new woman. It was wonderful. Thank you, Lord, for the amazing gift called epidural. I labored, and I labored. I changed sooooo, slowly. I was stuck at 6 cm’s from shortly after my epidural until about 5pm. I finally started making change, still extremely slowly. By 6pm, another nurse, Kelli came in to help Kinsey (she was the nurse that taught me how to be an L&D nurse, my preceptor) whom I am extremely grateful to for helping us. By this point, I was a nervous wreck. Complete disaster is more like it. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the monitor. The heart tones didn’t look amazing, which is not a good thing for an L&D nurse to be watching when it’s herself. They were not bad, they just were not amazing. I only wanted amazing. :) Needless to say, my freaking out was not helping anyone involved. Again, I made all family leave the room. I know I was freaking Kinsey out. And Derick, poor Derick. Somewhere around 6pm, I asked Dee Ann, a scrub tech and close friend who was also “specialing” me, to come in the room. I was crying and couldn’t catch my breath to tell her what I wanted. I didn’t have to say a word to her. She knew exactly what I needed. She came up to me, put her arms around me and began calling on the name of Lord. When she finished praying I had an unexplainable peace come over me. Around that time, Kelli and Kinsey began changing my position every 20 minutes on the nose. Man, they had me in some positions I’d never even seen! It was awesome. Next thing I knew it was 8pm, I was complete, and we were waiting on the doctor. We waited a little while. I’m glad we had that time of waiting, though. Some of my favorite pictures were taken during that time. We started pushing around 8:45 pm.

Ok, I’ve coached hundreds of women through labor. Epidurals, no epidurals… I have coached them all. Pushing. Is. HARD!!!!!! Oh, man. It’s really hard. I am pretty sure I had a heads up because I knew what to do, but I only pushed thirty minutes. That’s not bad for a first time mom who had a good-sized kiddo on board. We pushed and joked. Happy times were had. In the room I had the staff- Kinsey, my sweet friend; Dee Ann, also a sweet friend; Dr. “Optimistic”. Then I also had Derick (of course) on one side, my mom on the other, Chelsea, my little sister, at the head of the bed filming (yes, filming… it’s probably the most awesome video I have) and Tana, my best friend, taking the amazing pictures you’re about to see, and may have already seen on fb. :) It was an awesome 30 minutes.

Then I became a mom.

You know, people tell you, “it is amazing” “there is nothing like it” “words cannot describe” “it’s the most amazing feeling in the world”. Ok, people. It is beyond any explanation that anyone can explain. It’s kinda like how we can’t comprehend how beautiful heaven is. Well, until you see that face for the first time, you absolutely CANNOT comprehend the overwhelming love and power of that first moment. I pictured it being happy. It was not JUST happy; happy is pretty mellow in comparison to how I felt. It is wild. There are no words. It is not just amazing. It is blow-your-mind-beyond-your-wildest-imagination amazing. And let me tell you, everyone in that room felt the amazing-ness. There was not a dry eye in the room. Every one of us cried. Some more than others, uh, like me. I do not, I repeat DO NOT, cry in front of people. Well, that all went out the window. I didn’t just cry… I boo-hooed. Sobbed and sobbed. It was that incredible. If you are about to have a baby for the first time and are reading this, well, prepare to have your mind blown at the amount of love you will feel for that precious baby when it gets here. You think you couldn’t love it anymore than you do now while it’s inside of you? Oh, you just wait. Trust me. :) It’s gonna be amazing.

Last pregnant picture. Well, in normal clothes, anyhow.

One of just a handful of pictures captured after epidural and before I was complete.

The only picture I have with Kelli in it, she helped make it the best day ever.

While we were waiting on the doctor to arrive.

Again, waiting. It was a good time.

Pushing is HARD! Kinsey is standing by my mom, who is next to Chelsea-holding the camera.

Our first glimpse of the baby boy. Notice the expressions on our faces.

The most amazing moment in my entire life caught on camera.

My dad, holding Jake, as Dee Ann and I ooh and aah over him.

Jake Ryan Pickle
born February 6th, 2010 at 9:14pm
8lbs 2oz, 21.5 inches long

Forgot to mention that I also had my friend, Keirsten, "special" Jake in the nursery!! Here she is giving him his first bath in our labor room.

Me, Kinsey, and Jake

Holding daddy's finger

The most amazing love.

The joys of pregnancy

Shortly after we found out we were expecting, the joys of pregnancy began.

I could get really long and in detail, but I won’t bore you that much. Let’s just say, for as much I wanted to be pregnant, I definitely did not relish the “joys” of pregnancy. Some women have wonderful pregnancies. Some women will say, “Oh, I just loved being pregnant”. These women make the other 95% of women who do not enjoy being pregnant feel like total losers and terrible mothers for hating it. I wanted to punch them in the face, to be quite honest. Don’t get me wrong; I wanted the tiny baby inside my belly more than anything I have ever wanted in my entire life. I do not take one second for granted. I realize that I am incredibly blessed for being able to carry him to term without any complications. I, if anyone, fully and totally realize this. I worked in an environment where, on an almost daily basis, I dealt with high-risk women and their pregnancies, which were not as fortunate and had complicated pregnancies in one way, or another. Trust me when I say that I fully realized my blessing, then and now. Fully. That does not; however, mean that I felt like I was in a bed of daisies day in and day out!!! No, much the opposite, to be completely honest. From the nausea, to the sciatic pain; the heartburn to the rib crushing. I remember, on more than one occasion, during my 12-hour shifts, having to just stop walking, in the middle of the hallway, because I could not move my leg without feeling like someone was taking a sledgehammer to my leg. The daily aches and ridiculous pains that no one tells you about… holy cow! Then the kid gets big enough and it feels like there is some kind of alien trying to escape from your insides! Oh, how I miss that sometimes. Truly, there is nothing more awesome than feeling your baby move inside of you. I used to sit with the remote control on my belly just watching him kick it. Then he got big enough and I didn’t need a remote to see him kicking. You could see parts moving… elbows, knees, and butt. Very entertaining, it was.

I was blessed not to have morning sickness that involved puking. I did, however, have terrible nausea. A couple stories stick out in my mind that had to do with my bouts of nausea. Now, during the first trimester, it is recommended to lay off of caffeine as much as possible. So, I quit the caffeine, but I could not quit the carbonation! Oh, sweet stingy bubbly. Mmm… I had stopped at Sonic on my way to work one evening. Prior to pregnancy, I didn’t really have too big of a problem drinking a diet drink. When ordering my drink that day, I thought about all that sugar that was in a soda, so I ordered a diet cherry limeade. No big deal, right? Well, apparently pregnancy did not like diet. I took a few sips out of it, it was gross, but I figured it was the gum making it taste weird. I got rid of the gum, got to the unit and was getting report. I was taking report and sipping on my limeade (Route 44, mind you) I was not hearing a single word that the nurse, Tracy, was saying during report. All of the sudden, Tracy said, “Are you ok?” The room was spinning as I tried to focus in on her and what she was saying. “You’re really pale, are you ok?” she said. Somehow I got some crackers. I’m not sure if she got them, or someone else. But after a few saltines, and no more diet soda, the nausea spell had passed. Afterwards, we were both laughing about it. I gave my Route 44 away, and to this day I cannot drink a diet soda without being repulsed.

Another funny was when I was around 20 weeks pregnant. Now, I did not start obviously showing until I was around 28 weeks pregnant, especially not in scrubs. While I was at work, I did not discuss my pregnancy with my patients because I wanted the experience to be about them. There are several things that are almost always asked about you when you spend 12 hours with a laboring woman and her family. They will usually ask if you’re married, if you have ever been pregnant or have kids, and where you’re from. I didn’t lie to them if they asked if I had ever been pregnant before. If they brought it up, I’d talk about it. But I didn’t go into the room ready to talk about me. I’d answer the question and quickly direct it back to them. After all, this was their time, not mine. Well, I guess I didn’t discuss it in front of a lot of physicians when they were on the unit, either. That and, they have way more on their minds to keep up with than the lowly nurses on the unit, and especially not a night nurse. J Well, one night, around my 20-week mark, I was pushing with a patient (if that isn’t spelled out enough, she was fully dilated and I was coaching her while she was pushing, it is referred to as “pushing with the patient”). Now, up until pregnancy, I had no problem with any smells or sights the human body provided. No problem, at all. Pregnancy makes you do weird things you’ve never done. That being said, certain smells occur during the second-stage of labor, aka: the pushing part. Ok, come on, sometimes women have a BM during pushing, don’t be surprised… it happens… a lot, actually. It’s very normal. Part of the nurse’s job is to keep that area clean. Well, up until this pregnancy I never… EVER… had an issue with it. Ok, so I had been pushing with the patient and this had been occurring. The doctor decided to come in and check the progress, when she entered the room I was taking said cleaned up smell to the bathroom. I felt it coming on, so I closed the door behind me and dry heaved. (This happened a lot in 9 months, this certain situation just sticks out in my mind). The doctor was pleased with the progress and left the room shortly thereafter. She returned about 15 minutes later to check our progress again. She was “pushing with the patient” and I was coaching, when between pushes she nonchalantly leaned over and said, “congratulations”. I said, “for what?” She said, “I didn’t know you were pregnant, but all the commotion in the bathroom was a dead give-away. When I left the room, I asked the girls at the nurse’s station if you were expecting because you’d just dry heaved in the bathroom after cleaning up”. We all laughed about it and I apologized profusely. I didn’t think it was that audible, but apparently it was. K

Again, I was at work. I cannot remember how far along I was. Not past 30 weeks, because the patient could not tell that I was pregnant. The sweet patient had vomited after an epidural. It’s not uncommon, due to blood pressure changes and all, to vomit after the epidural. Well, she vomited all over the place; I mean ALL OVER herself. I was going to need to change the sheets and everything. I knew, due to past experiences that I would not be able to handle it alone, so I asked another nurse to come help me. The sweet girl was completely numb, so changing the sheets was no simple task. Combine that with puke that makes me dry heave… eh, I’ll take a little assistance, please. My dear sweet nurse-friend, Alyssa, came in to help me. She voluntarily took the “bad” side with all the yucky. Sweet, huh? J Well, we went to roll the patient toward me so we could get the sheets out from underneath her, so she and I were pretty much face-to-face. Alyssa was moving the sheets around on her side when I caught a huuuuuge whiff of puke-smell. If you don’t already know, pregnant women have super-human smelling abilities. As soon as it hit my face I tried to stop it, I tried so hard. The patient was just precious and I didn’t wanna humiliate her by making her think she was gross. L I tried to stifle it, I really tried. But BAM, there it was. Right in her face, I started to dry heave. I apologized profusely again. She smiled and said, “are you pregnant?” We all got a kick out of it. She kept telling me the rest of the night that she couldn’t believe I never told her and that she completely understood. After that, I began to “show”. Since it was obvious to everyone that I didn’t have a basketball in my shirt, I’d just start off each possible encounter with an apology ahead of time, telling them that I have been unable to control my gagging and dry-heaving and it has shown up in some terribly humiliating for everyone situations, so forgive me if it happened. All pregnant women (which were all my patients) completely understood, and as far as I know, never took offense to any of my incredibly embarrassing gagging events.

I was pregnant for 278 days. You know how when you were a kid and you were going on a long trip, it seemed like it took FOREVER to get there? But going back home it seemed like the same trip was just cut in half! Is it that when we are really looking forward to something that time practically stands still until we get to that awesome place we were headed, then time FLIES. Well, as a grown up, that eternal trip that I thought would NEVER end was pregnancy. And that awesome destination I looked forward to getting to, was life with my baby. Which absolutely seems to fly by. The most awesome part though, is that the awesome destination (life with a child) is permanent!! It’s like going on vacation as a kid and getting to stay forever. Okay, maybe not as awesome as vacation, but you get the point!

On February 6^th, after having been pregnant for 278 days, the most beautiful thing I’d ever laid eyes upon was born into this world. All the annoyances, all the aches, the pains, the nausea, and heartburn… all of it was so, so worth it. I’d do it all again, ten-fold, just to receive such a blessing.

Late at night at work on Friday, August 14th, we found out that we were expecting a BOY! I was 14 weeks and 4 days pregnant.

27 weeks pregnant, just before I "popped"

29 weeks in the doctor's office. My belly had finally "popped".

36 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Would you believe, 3 weeks after this photo was taken, I delivered an 8lb 2oz child?! I wouldn't have believed you if you told me I was carrying that much around.

My favorite maternity portrait. I love pregnant bellies!

Tomorrow, my friends, the best day of my life… our labor story. I can’t wait!!

Another diagnosis.... and the best day!

*Warning, this article may contain content that could be deemed inappropriate, but since I'm a nurse, not much is inappropriate to me... so read on, but know you were warned if you are grossed out by anything I say. (really, it's not that bad, but some people think mentioning the word "cycle" or "birth control" or "ovulate" or "OBGYN" are just inappropriate.)

Diagnosis: Ruptured ovarian cyst. 

We discussed with our doctor that we would be ready to start trying in May. Dr. Optimistic said that he felt really strongly that I would have a normal cycle after this. If I had a normal cycle (you need the hormones involved in a normal cycle in order to ovulate) I could start taking clomid- to induce ovulation.

He was right, I had a normal cycle. (Yes, he's that good) 

Now, let me throw some details out there for you. We had originally decided that we would wait until Derick was finished with his semester so that we could concentrate all summer on TTC (trying to conceive). I jumped the gun in April. God put a stop to it with a ruptured cyst BUT the ruptured cyst allowed me to have my FIRST normal cycle since I quit OCP's in August the year before. Ok, so on May 3rd, 2009 I started my first normal cycle since I quit OCP's. I was instructed to start my 5 days of clomid on my CD 5 (cycle day 5). CD 5 was May 7th--the day Derick took his last final of the semester. How's that for timing?!?

CD 5 through 9, I took my clomid faithfully. Can I just say how incredibly impatient I am, and the month of May was probably the most patience-trying time of my life!!

CD 12 I was supposed to go back to the doctor's office for a check-up. I like to call this the "ovary check-up". Once again, the dang probe. By this time, I was becoming a pro at that darn thing. No more instructions, I knew the drill, gown, stirrups, bottom to the end of the table. Ovaries on the screen... his exact words were, "things aren't perfect, but they're not 100% bad either." What it boiled down to was that the optimal follicle measurement by CD 12 was supposed to be 19-22mm. My biggest follicle measured only 17. I didn't know what to think because Dr. Optimistic wasn't being optimistic. Thankfully though, he was being real.

I think it kind of helped my stress level to know that it probably wouldn't work this time. You know, pessimistic me decided that since Dr. Optimistic said things "weren't perfect" that it just wasn't in the cards for me that first month. I mean, who gets pregnant in their first month of trying, after all? So, I figured we'd just try again the next month. I still continued on with process. I figured it would get me prepared for the months ahead of trying. There was a lot of praying and my car was like my worship sanctuary. I spent soooo much time with God that month trying to figure out why I was on such a roller-coaster. I started an OPK (ovulation predictor kit) and did one every day. On the 18th of May (CD 16) I got a +. Which meant that in less than 36 hours I would ovulate. I could NOT believe my eyes.

Ok, now, I'm not lying when I say this part... the next 10 days were the loooooooooongest 10 days of my entire life. I started taking pregnancy tests like crazy. Those things are expensive too!! I couldn't help myself, they're addicting in a weird way!! When a woman decides to embark on the journey of motherhood, there is NOTHING in the world that can stop her. I was determined and crazy at this point. I didn't even care that I already knew I wouldn't get a positive for almost 2 weeks after ovulation. I took those dang tests, anyway! Of course, they were negative, negative, negative. When I woke up on May 28th, 2009 (this was at 4pm, mind you, due to night shifter sleep schedules) and took my first pee of the "morning" pregnancy test, I swore I saw two lines. The second one was just incredibly faint. But was I just seeing things? Was  it just wishful thinking after taking so many of those tests? I didn't wanna seem crazy, so I took my skeptical little, pj-wearing self, and my freshly-peed-on pregnancy test over to my friend and neighbor's house. Alicia took the test from me, took one look at it, and started screaming. AHHHH!! I wasn't crazy, it was real!! All the praying, all the pain from the ruptured cyst, all the everything!!! It worked!!! The very first MONTH!

I told very few people that day. Pessimistic me began doubting that test. I knew I'd taken a First Response (fyi, the best tests, if you're on the market for pregnancy tests and are TTC) they are the most sensitive. I had told a friend at work that weekend, that I was really doubting the tests I'd taken. Yes, tests. Because when you find out you're pregnant... you don't just take one. You take tons. Julie suggested that we ask the lab if they'd run a blood test for me.

They did.

10pm on May 30th, 2009 I got a phone call thirty minutes after the lab drew my blood for a quantitative hcg. The lady on the other end said, "Your level is 59.8, that is within the 3-5 week range, congratulations, you're pregnant!" That lady had NO idea what those words meant to me and how long I will remember them. I was in complete shock. I was smiling from ear to ear with my mouth wide open and tears streaming down my face. The happiest tears up until that point of my life (because the happiest tears would come in 36 weeks). I could not believe what I'd heard. It was true, there was no more doubt to be had. I was pregnant with the baby I (along everyone else) had been praying so hard far.

I was 3 weeks and 5 days pregnant.

one of many tests I took

I told me parents "officially" the very next day. They came up to visit us and my mom and dad both came into my bedroom and woke me up when they got there. They were sitting on my bed and I turned over and told them they were going to be grandparents. I'm not sure I've ever seen them happier. We went out to eat, at Billy Sims BBQ to be exact, when I called my sister, Chelsea, and my best friend, Tana to tell them the news. I told a few other close friends at work, and that was about it.

I called my doctor and told him I was pregnant and that I'd had some blood work drawn at the hospital. I told him what my levels were then. He said I could come in on Monday (June 1st) if I wanted, and have my blood drawn again to make sure my levels were rising appropriately. Apparently if they double within 48 hours, then things are looking good. If they sky-rocket in 48 hours... there's likely more than one in there. My blood was drawn 42 hours after the first draw and the serum hcg went from the 59.8 to 150. Which meant just one (phew!!) and the level rose appropriately!!

I waited as long as I possibly could before I announced it to everyone. That was like torture!! And I couldn't wait very long, either. I wanted to scream it from the rooftops!!!! I believe I was around 7 weeks when I told my work friends and I was 10 weeks when I made it, you know... "facebook official". I will tell you this, knowing that early on that you are pregnant makes for the LONGEST first trimester on the planet! I felt like I was in my first trimester for 3 years!

My first prenatal appointment was June 23, 2009. I was 7 weeks pregnant. And if I remember right, I announced it at work after I heard the heart beat at that first appointment.

10 week 3d ultrasound. An awesome picture.