As you now know... I'm PREGNANT!!!

That's right! Ricky and I are expecting our 1st child, due on Feb 29, 2012 which also happens to be Leap Day! If our baby is born that day he/she will be sharing his/her birthday with my cousin Jacob! Ricky and I are so excited and we hope you are as excited as we are. This is a BIG step in our lives and many of yours too. Some of you are becoming grandparents for the 1st or 2nd time, some of you are becoming great-grandparents for the 1st or 2nd time, and some of you are becoming aunts or uncles for the 1st time. Were so happy that all of you are going to be apart of this happy time. Since our families are all over the U.S we decided that in order to share this experience with all of our family and friends we decided to create this blog and hope that you all enjoy it!

I found out I was pregnant on Wed June 22, I was 4 weeks pregnant. I took a pregnancy test and was so nervous that I was literally shaking! It was honestly the longest 2 min of my life, then I saw that little pink + sign and my life changed forever. Ricky was at work when I took the test and because I still wasn't 100% positive that I was pregnant I went to the Dr office that day and got a blood test. A few hours later they confirmed that I was indeed pregnant. Since Ricky STILL didnt know I decided that I would tell him in a creative way. I decided to go to the store and buy some plain white onesies and some pink and blue fabric paint. Then I wrote the baby's due date in alternating pink and blue on the onesie and surrounded it with little pink and blue question marks. I hid it in his dresser drawer so when he got home from work to change he would see that and the positive pregnancy test. Unfortunately the paint wasnt exactly dry and Ricky grabbed it and ruined it. But he got the message and was VERY surprised and excited!

The onesie I made for Ricky before he ruined it! 

Fast froward to August 17 (12 weeks pregnant) and my 1st appointment. I was so nervous! I went in and the midwife asked me a few questions. Then it was time to look for a heartbeat. The midwife kept looking and looking but couldnt seem to find a heartbeat. Finally, she found the heartbeat and I got to hear the fast thump thump thump of my baby's beating heart, a healthy 162 bpm. Ricky unfortunately wasnt at the appointment because he was at a range and had to qualify therefor was not able to come. The midwife allowed me to call him and we put the phone on speaker and he got to hear our baby's heart beat too! After an exam and some blood work I then got to go see the baby on an ultrasound. It was there that I found out why the midwife had such a hard time finding the heartbeat. Apparently I have a tilted uterus which makes it difficult to see and hear the baby. Fortunately it shouldnt hurt the pregnancy in any way! After a minute of searching I caught my first glimpse of our baby.  I was surprised to see that the baby looks just like a real baby, I was really expecting it to still look like a blob lol, I was pleasantly surprised! The ultrasound tech took measurements as I watched my baby. I also got a video so Ricky could be apart of it too. It was amazing seeing the baby move around. At one point the baby looked straight at us and I got to see his/her face! It was incredible. The ultrasound tech said the baby was measuring right on time according to the due date and he/she looks very healthy. I was so happy to be able to finally see the little thing growing inside me. Until that point it wasnt real at all. Now it is very real! 

I am now 13weeks4days pregnant and Im feeling great! I was lucky enough to not experience ANY morning sickness. The only difficulty I have been having lately is with headaches that I seem to be getting daily and heartburn! Other than that this pregnancy has gone very very smoothly. For those of you who may be wondering, or even a little bit offended, the reason Ricky and I have kept this pregnancy to ourselves is because we wanted to wait until our 12 week appointment and make sure that everything was going okay with the baby. Then we waited another week and a half until my dad moved back to the states from Germany. We wanted him to be able to find out the same time as my mom. We decided to tell our family in a creative way. We decided to make cards that have a little poem on the inside and a picture of the 1st ultrasound along with the due date. We wanted to show everyone how excited and happy we are about this pregnancy. Also to those of you who are wondering, yes I still intend on finishing school, I will be taking the spring and summer semesters off. Yes this is another set back on graduating but finishing school is a priority for both Ricky and I, and I will finish no matter what the circumstances are. We hope that all of you are as happy as we are about our growing family and will share in this experience with us.