Creepy Dream

It wasn't a nightmare because I didn't wake up in a panic with beads of sweat dripping down my face, but as I am starting to remember it, it was quite creepy. I dreamt that my child had been replaced with a demonic entity that was pretending to be my child- how is that for a creepy halloween weekend dream? Are my hormones in the spirit or what?

Not much has changed in the last few weeks. Still taking my B6 and Unisom every evening, went one day without it and learned my lesson. Not feeling any bigger or any different, some days I even still wonder if there is something really in there. Everyone says that the changes will come quicker than I expect but they really aren't. I don't have a bump yet, I don't even feel like my clothes fit differently, I guess I have a tiny little itty bitty bump but it is not significant at all. I have started to get more regular cramps as the uterus is expanding and getting ready for a rapidly growing baby, but other than that I don't really feel any different than I normally do.

This weekend is moving weekend, I have been packing as I can all week, and today will be the big push- cleaning the current apartment, then driving to logan to clean the new place- I also need to do laundry, get all the linens packed up, finish loading my car with kitchen stuff since I am taking up a load of all those loose awkward appliances that never pack well, and am also taking up all the fridge food so I can get that out of here and clean the fridge.

I wish I had excited news or better things to say, but this is what it is. Have a safe and happy halloween, I am sure I will enjoy the holiday more next year!

Our baby the golfer

My dad has always loved golfing. I used to go play Caddy for my dad and grandpa when I was a child and loved putting around the course. I even took a golf class in high school, and enjoy going to the range to hit a bucket of balls.

In the last year my in-laws have really gotten into golfing too. They bought a net that they set up in their garage and bought a turf mat to drive from, and practice all the time. My father in law is even going to refurbish an old set of clubs for my husband, as he has started practicing with his dad and really enjoys the sport. So, because of the many wonderful ties to golf in our family, and because I think baby golf clothes are the cutest, Scott and I decided our baby will be on the golf course from a young age. Scott and I still think the baby is a boy so when we told Rod, my father-in-law that this was the plan, his response was, "If its a girl she will be a golfer too."

So that settles it. Baby Kirby, the cutest thing to ever hit the green.

First Trimester Check-up and Ultrasound

I went to my first appointment yesterday afternoon with Scott. I was nervous, but only for the blood draw, which would come at the very end of the appointment, and I ended up being just fine (last time I had a blood draw I had to do a 24 hr fast and I get sick when I don't eat, so I threw up and practically fainted- not fun) this time I told Scott I wasn't going to look, he just needed to hold my hand and talk to me and it wasn't the worst. I still prefer a finger prick any day.

My doctor, Kristen F. Craig (Initials KFC, I got a chuckle out of that) was so nice, very laidback and down to earth, she even told me that I could eat sushi if I wanted and so Scott and I went to Takara right after for Dinner and I had a little tuna roll.

We got to see our baby for the first time, and it was amazing how clear the ultrasound was. The photos below really don't do it justice, we could see things so clearly, it really looked like a tiny little baby- and it was moving up a storm! Kicking and rubbing its eyes, its funny that I probably won't feel any of those kicks until the baby is almost one foot long! Right now the baby measures 4.2 cm and is very healthy. Everything looked to be just fine so we were really pleased with the appointment.

The first picture baby is kicking at the "cramp" in its space, and the second picture, the 4D image, baby is rubbing its eyes- so cute!

Birthday Designs- got bored :)

10 down...30 to go.

Okay so officially ten weeks in, which is exciting, only four weeks or so more to go until they say things are supposed to feel much better. I am looking forward to trimester 2, not that trimester 1 has been awful, but I want to feel like myself again and I just don't quite have that right now, but I think I am coping quite well.

Spent Conference Sunday at my Grandparents in Bountiful and I have really discovered that I want to be anywhere but my current apartment. I just hate it here, we live in the worst complex (okay that is an exageration, but I really don't like my apartment complex). I never feel like my apartment is clean, I have pretty much given up on trying to make it spotless because even when I get things clean the house smells like smoke so I don't feel like it is clean. I am terrified of my neighbors, seriously, the cops are at my apartment on a daily basis, and as Scott so kindly mentioned to me when he came home this weekend, "We made the news."

Turns out some lady asked her neighbor to watch her newborn while she ran some errands, and the neighbor, irritated by the crying baby ends up shaking it to death. I swear, these apartments are beautiful brand new apartments, I thought that we would have decent neighbors, albeit that none of them would understand me, but they would still be good people, and I am sure there are still some good people, but they probably hide out in their apartment like me, scared to view the latest freak show that is going on in the parking lot. I am counting down the days til we get to move back to Logan, I can't wait to live in a nice new place with normal neighbors, and not the creepy tattoo earring guy who lived on the first floor and sits on his porch all day watching people come and go from the parking lot. Seriously, his view is the parking lot and he sits there for HOURS.

So while I have 30 weeks left I also have 30 days living in this terrible apartment, so count down with me and wish me luck that they will fly by.

I think it's a boy.

I have had lots of comments that we are having a boy, but when you look at the cold hard facts it is hard to argue that it is a girl.

1. Morning sickness is generally worse if you are having a girl. Since you also typically seem to have a pregnancy similar to that which your mother had, and because she had all girls and bad morning sickness it leads me to deduce that I am having what she didn't have, and thus did not experience- symptoms of a woman growing an Adam, not an Eve. Now don't get me wrong, I am still sick and hate the idea of food in general, but I have heard horror stories about morning sickness, and I won't even begin to pretend that my sickness even holds a match to those tales.

2. Hello Carnivore- I am not a big meat eater, typically, but lately meat seems to be one of the best things to eat, since it is one of the few things that sounds good, on the rare occasion that food sounds good at all. I know that this is not a cold hard scientific fact, but it just made sense. Boys=Meat.

3. Dry Skin- my mother got acne when she was pregnant, but I have been experiencing very dry skin. I went and purchased a very nice Olay moisturizer and have been applying it regularly and my skin is doing much better. I am just applying the opposites rule here.

Basically we won't really know til around Thanksgiving, or a few weeks after, whether we are having a boy or girl, but right now I am placing my bet on boy.

SUPRISE

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!! BABY KIRBY DUE THE END OF APRIL!

Alright, so it is general knowledge now that we are having a baby. Please read on to discover how the last few weeks have been for us. We are so excited that everyone will know now, and I hope that you enjoy a little bit of participation and feel included in the journey that have embarked on!

Lil bit sicker

And here I thought I was going to beat the battle with my stomach. I still think I am putting up a winning fight, because even though I feel like I am going to lose it, while even the idea of food is unappealing, I still have not had any repeat incidences of succumbing to the porcelain throne. My Harmon's charade is still the only one on my list. I attribute my ability to handle my wits due to years of living with a sensitive stomach that is prone to become upset if not carefully handled.

I still hope that this passes soon because I certainly don't feel like myself, and I am always hot. Sickness and Hotness are a terrible combination.

Scott comes home tonight, still waiting for him to show up, will probably be a little while still, but man I wish he would hurry up. Having him home can make all the difference sometimes.

Parents are on board

Well our parents all know now, my mom got her package, and because Scott wasn't able to come down this weekend to collect the grandma decoration he just told his parents. I guess they weren't surprised, my father-in-law, AKA Inspector Clouseau, said he already knew because I didn't want to eat sushi the other night. I still think that is a far reach to guess that I was pregnant since there could have been a variety of reasons why I wasn't interested in going to Happy Sushi or Takara for dinner (like, A. I don't want to see my old employer Mama Lee, B. It is expensive, or C. Cafe Rio just sounded better), but he was right, so I can't say too much about it. 

My mom is very excited and can't wait for me to tell other people. My employer Jenny knows, and she and my mom are good friends, so for now I suspect my mom will confide in her. I did mail out our Sisters' Ant Mail today, so they should know soon, and I told Scott he should go ahead and tell his brothers and my sister-in-law Olivia. Grandparents are next in line, and then I plan to launch this blog to inform the rest of the world.

I must admit that I like having a secret of this magnitude, it is going to be a little sad to let it out, but I know that there are many people who will be glad to share in our joy, and that will be much more gratifying than a secret.

Waiting on our world to change.

I sent that package off to my mother on Thursday, it has now had three days of travel and could probably get to her any day now. Last night I had a missed call from her. I looked at my phone, and then I looked at Mandy and said, "My mom called..." I hurried and listened to the message and it didn't sound like anything out of the ordinary, so my best guess is she still hasn't gotten our package, but waiting is certainly giving me butterfly's, I am just so nervous and excited I can barely contain myself.

Names

Mandy and I were looking at a baby name book last night. (PS- Yes, Mandy knows before my parents, my Mom would kill me, but kind of hard to keep a secret like this from your roommate, especially when you have morning sickness and are bringing home baby cribs) Okay, I feel I need to diverge for a minute on why it has taken me up til the 8 week point to tell important people in our lives. I know some people like to tell right away and then if something happens have a support group, but I am the opposite, I would rather not dissapoint everyone if something goes wrong. I realize that the greatest window to miscarry can last up to 13 weeks, but I felt if we could make it to the 8 week mark that I would be comfortable telling everyone, so I mailed off my Grandma Subway Art to my Mom, and Scott will be taking his to Logan next week to give to his Mom. We figured out a cute way to tell our sisters they were going to be Aunts- I kind of want them to have to figure it out, so I am going to make Pink and Blue Ants, a bunch, in little confetti size, and put them in envelopes for each of them to open. I told Scott to just tell Brett and Tyler since they won't really care if they get a cute craft, ha ha.

Okay, so back to Mandy and I looking at names. Scott and I have decided that we both love our parents very much and want to, in some form, honor them in the baby names. So we decided to use their initials. Our first two children will have each of our parents initials. Girl names were super easy to come up with and we figured those out right away. For Anona and Rod we would name the girl Aspen Rose and for Lesa and Jeff we would name her Lorelai Jay (please note the second name is the middle name of the child). Boys....I am not so good at picking out boy names, which brings me to Mandy and I browsing at midnight through the most ridiculous baby name book ever created: 60001 Baby Names, the majority being severely ridiculous (rambo, amadeus? who would be cruel enough to use these?). Let me tell you, I have a VERY hard time choosing names. So, we found a couple that were good: I liked Grayson Rhet and or Rhet Aden, and then for my parents Joel Bryan- I know, there is no L in there, but to be honest, we love Lorelai Jay so much that we would probably use that at some point for my Mom. Bryan is actually my dad's middle name and it sounds so good with Joel, and I just dont like any boy L names.

Anywho, Mandy has a friend who just had a baby in the Spring and names her daughter Scarlet, so I told her this morning that if we have a boy named Rhet that she will have two friends with babys named after "Gone with the Wind" characters. How special ha ha.

Free Crib

We got a call today from a very nice sister in the ward who let me know that her friend was moving and was getting rid of a beautiful crib. I was so glad she asked us if we would be needing one, I was so glad to take it, and it really is a beautiful crib! Lucky day!

This photo below shows what our crib looks like, minus the bedding of course ;)

I figured out how to surprise our important people

I made this subway art, and am going to send it to both of our mothers in the mail, framed. I am also going to give one to each of our grandmas, it is modified to say "Great Grandma" and then I made one for my Great Grandma Anderson that says "Great Great Grandma."

I just love subway art, so I thought, heck, I will give it a shot. I think it turned out pretty dang cute.

Dreams...I have dreams....when I'm awake...when I'm asleep.

So ever since I can remember, whenever I had a dream about having a baby it always involved a little boy. I had another baby dream last night, and once again it was a boy. I distinctly remember checking and making sure that it was a boy. Also, often times this boy is a blonde, which with Scott's coloring as a childhood could be quite a possibility. For those of you who know me, and my girl dominated family, you will know that whenever I pictured myself having kids, I have always pictured girls, but my dreams are telling me otherwise.

Now, I know that I will be happy with whatever I get, and that is something that I will come to terms with, but a part of me can't get over the idea of not having a little girl. For one thing, I really just don't know what to do with little boys, I never really had to deal with them. For some reason my mind keeps wandering to scouts and I think, "I have no clue what goes on in scouts, how would I deal with this?!" I know, silly, but little things like that, I would feel extremely inadept to cope with.

On the other side, people always say, "Girls are so much harder." Whenever someone says this I always think of examples around me. I look at me and my sisters and compare them to Scott and his brothers and I just don't feel that there is that big of a difference, I think we all, as children, have caused our parents equal amounts of grief, but in the same breath, probably brought just as much joy. I don't think it much matters what sex your child is, it is all about your parenting technique, so whenever I hear this argument I always think "poo poo" in the back of my head (think of the Madeline books, I am not thinking about fecal matter, but am rather dismissing something  as irrelevant and unimportant).

I know that at some point I want some boys and some girls, so you may be thinking, who cares what the first one is, and I know that my thought process is somewhat irrational because of this, but deep down I just can't stop wishing that this is a girl, so I guess until we find out my dreams and my daydreams will both be thinking of contrasting genders. I promise I will love my baby no matter what, but I may have a few moments that resemble those of gloria from Modern Family:

http://www.hark.com/clips/qtgjfkndpb-manny-girl  (click for sound clip)
"For the first year of his life, I made up Manny like a girl and told everybody that he was a my daugher. I just did it a few times, I didn't want to mess with his head. When he found the pictures, I told him it was his twin sister who died."

TOMATO SOUP and GOURMET GRILLED CHEESE

MmmmMmmmMmmm! Today Mandy and I made the best lunch. We made the following two recipes, and links are below:

 

http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com/2011/01/recipes-tomato-basil-soup-best-grilled.html

and

http://sites.google.com/site/ediblesymphonyprintablerecipe/tyler-s-mozzarella-grilled-cheese-sandwiches

It took us about 45 minutes to make everything, but that included stewing the tomatoes we got from my Grandma Marilyn, we decided to use fresh instead of canned, I am not sure what difference that makes because fresh are obviously better than canned tomatoes, but it was awesome, that is all I have to say.

SUCCESS

So after yesterday's little charade I decided to put all of the theories for battling morning sickness to the test. This was my routine, and IT WORKED, I felt a teensy bit nauseous but not for long and it wasn't anything I couldn't handle normally.

SO..drum roll please...without further ado here are

Lindsay's Proven Methods 

for Battling Morning Sickness

1. Wake up 10 minutes earlier than you need to and eat 5 whole wheat saltine crackers. Stay in bed for those ten minutes to digest and wake up, and then proceed to rise from your sleeping station.

2. Drink apple juice as you get ready for the day, when you have a few gulps left, take a ginger pill.

3. Start snacking immediate, but take it easy, snack on crackers and fruits or veggies, and work your way up to something more substantial, and drink plenty of water.

That was it. I felt awesome, so good I ate an In and Out Protein Style burger for lunch. Can I just say, that I have a feeling that Hamburger is going to be my pregnancy food, or maybe it is just In and Out burgers but MAN that hit my sweet spot:

ALSO, the website I stole this delightful picture from says that this is only 330 calories- score!

http://paulaleen.blogspot.com/2008/11/bestworst-burgers-in-america.html

Also, lesson I learned today: Do not take your stinky fish smelling prenatals with your ginger pills, as ginger pills make you burp and the combination makes you burp nasty fish smell. Note to self, take all pre-natals at bed time, and ginger pills in the morning.

We're Preg-o and Blech-o

By the time anyone reads this the posts that I post between now and October they will be much much older. We have decided not to tell anyone that we are having a baby until that time when we can surprise our parentals. BUT I wanted to document weekly happenings, so all readers will have a little bit of catching up to do. First off we found out we were pregnant on August 27th, 2011,  and to date are about six weeks along. Today  I had my first bought of morning sickness, and it was a doozey. Never been so embarrassed in my life:

WARNING, if you are easily sickened, this is not a story for you

So I woke up not feeling the best today, sent my boss a text letting her know I wasn't feeling too good and that I would be in later. Slept in, woke up a few hours feeling much better and proceeded to get ready for work and then ate reheated macaroni that I had for dinner last night. Head out the door, jump into my little Camry, get on the highway, and progressively start to feel sick again. By the time I get to the Bangerter exit I am to bursting point. I try to focus on my breathing and stay calm, I have been sick before, I handle myself very well, and I can wait until I get to work. Not so. It is coming. I pull into the Harmon's parking lot that is about a block from Auto-Owners Insurance and rush inside, the vomit is sitting in my throat at this point, just begging to come out. I rush to the nearest employee, proceed to frantically ask for directions to the bathroom, and start to lose it. I cup almost all of what is ensuing into my hands as the now desperate employee is screaming for someone to get her a trash can. She locates one from the man behind the Gelato counter, rushes over to me and I continue to hurl up the half digested mac and cheese (side note: I really don't remember eating as much mac and cheese as what came out). After I seem to finish up the store clerk pats me on the back and asks me if I am okay. I proceed to tell her that I am having morning sickness and she adequately sympathizes with me and recommends ginger pills. She walks me to the bathroom where I finish up my sickness for the day. I smelled less than awesome, so afterword I bought Listerine along with my ginger pills and whole wheat crackers, which have now been my entire sustenance for the day.

I have now whipped up a light rice dish that I hope won't upset my stomach, but only a few hours time will tell. 

Update: the rice did very well, thank you.