Finding out

My first trimester of pregnancy was really uneventful and I really enjoyed it being that way. I got sick no more than 4 or 5 times and it went away as fast as it came on. Thankfully I didn't have any of the all day nausea, etc that some ladies have to deal with. Probably the biggest "symptom" I had was being tired. I'd come home from work, take an hour and a half nap, make dinner, then go to bed at 9. Jason was happy when I got past that since I'm sure he was bored all evening with nobody to talk to.

So moving into the second trimester, I was looking forward to it. Everyone says that's when you feel your best and you actually begin to look pregnant instead of like you just finished off the lunch buffet at Pizza Hut. I started noticing my "bump" around week 15 (give or take). I managed for about a month to wear my regular clothes with a rubber band as an extension or used a "Be Band" from Target (which was handy). As I was closing in on the half way mark of week 20 is when I really transitioned into maternity clothes. Thankfully, I didn't have to buy too many. I had wonderful donations from my sister, cousins and one of my nurses to help get me through. I first felt the baby move on April 8th. Well, that was what I counted as the first time because I was more sure that it was a kick or jab versus a gas bubble or tummy gurgle. It's really neat to feel that movement but since it's still sporatic early on it made me anxious that something was wrong when I didn't feel it again for a day or two. It took a couple weeks before Jason was able to feel the baby. As soon as I got his hand on my belly, the kicking would stop and of course as soon as he moved away, kicking resumed.

I had my big ultrasound on April 13th. Jason and I had talked about whether we wanted to find out or not and he didn't care one way or the other. Being the planning person that I am, I wanted to find out so that I could get things together without having to worry about alternatives. I give props to those who don't find out - it probably is really fun to hear "it's a ____!" on delivery day but I don't think I could hold out that long. So we go in and the ultrasound tech was really nice. She took us on a tour of the head, spine, heart, limbs and then to the goods (or lack therof). Being sure to confirm it from all angles, she told us we were expecting A GIRL! Now I've heard all the stories how someone had a friend who had 3 ultrasounds that all said girl and out came a boy so I asked how accurate are these things today. She assured me that she could distinguish the anatomy well and if she had any doubt about what it was, she wouldn't make the determination. After the ultrasound we had my monthly check up with the doctor. He said he hadn't seen her miss yet so that's good. However, if we are lucky enough to disrupt her accuracy record, we'll let them know. :)

We called the family to let them all know then spent the rest of the day shopping around. That was the first time we went and really looked at some of the things at Babies R Us and Baby Depot to see if we could figure out what we'd need eventually. I'm sure all the sales people in those stores know exactly who are first timers...we all walk aimlessly through the store looking clueless about what we're looking at and about half way through, just quit and decide it'll be easier to bring someone back with us who's done this before to guide us through.

Now that we know that we're having a girl, we begin going through the baby name book, I begin thinking about color schemes for the baby's room and the planning has begun. We did meet with the lady who is making our crib bedding and picked out our fabrics so she could get started.

Next time on the Jarrell Journal - "It could only happen to me"
Stay Tuned!