Stomach Bug Blues

Will, Onyx and I were excited about our long-weekend trip to Pinehurst this past weekend - we hadn't been to NC since Christmas so we were excited about seeing the family and hanging out.  We had a really great weekend... until Monday.  On Saturday, we had some people over to Mom and Dad's for cheeseburgers and hot dogs.  We got to hang out with cousins, family friends, aunts/uncles and Grandmother... and there were probably 10 little babies and kids all around.  I was super excited to see Emily W, mama Vanhoy, Ella Grace and Megan & Ryan who were all in town for the weekend!!  Saturday night Will, Dad, Harry and a bunch of other guys went to a Turkey Federation fund raiser event and had a great time.  On Sunday, I went to church with mom and dad to meet the new minister at Culdee and to see Jennifer become a member of the church.  Afterwards, we all went to Grandmother's for Sunday lunch.  There had to be about 30 people there.  We celebrated Grandmother's bday - it was a good time. 

On Sunday night April stayed over at Mom and Dad's.  We were all having fun talking, laughing and watching the Oscars.  I woke up at 4am feeling nauseated and thought it was just morning sickness.  Got up, ate a little something and layed back down.  I tossed and turned until I heard April get up with Emily at 5:30.  Long story short, Emily, Mom and I all got sick at the same time.  Come to find out, Harry had also been sick as well as mom and dad's neighbor, Mr. Gray, and two of the little girls who were at the cook out on Saturday.  It was the pits.  I ended up getting sick 8 times and had to endure the 6 hour drive back to Atlanta while I was still sick.  Dad gave me a bucket for the ride in case of an emergency but luckily Will was able to pull over in time for me to use the side of the road.  Will was pretty miserable b/c he got very little sleep in the midst of all the sickness.  I was finally able to keep some gingerale down after my side-of-the-road episode and at 6 I was even able to drive for a few hours to give Will some relief.  We finally got home at 8 and I can't remember a time I was more thankful to be home.  All the other victims, including mom and Emily came around about the same time I did thank goodness.  Mom and I agreed that being that sick really made us appreciate our health, something we so often take for granted!

Will really does love me.  I looked like hell... Pale-faced, stringy hair and sweaty (yuck).  He had to hear and watch me vomit multiple times all while taking care of me (and Onyx) on the way home.  He was just as eager to get home as I was but was patient through the long road-side stops.  Not the most attractive day and yet after the fact he said he still thought I was hot.  HA.

Regarding baby Tucker... the nurse said I was the only one that suffered and the baby got the nutrients he/she needed and is fine since I'm keeping fluids and food down now.

Anyway, here are a few pre-sick pics from the weekend.  More to come as soon as I get copies from April.



Connor, Carter and Chad with Grandmother




Cousins at Grandmother's




Ella, Emily, Me with Sadie, and Megan T!





Me and Sadie




Kathleen with a chair full of kiddos



Doctor's Visits

I feel really comfortable with the OBGYN I've chosen.  I started going here when I moved to Atlanta based on a recommendation from a co-worker who had a high-risk pregnancy.  The doctor's office is affiliated with Northside Hospital which I've heard is known as the "baby hospital".  It's a reputable group/hospital.

I didn't get to go for my first visit until I was 8 weeks along for a 'confirmation of pregnancy'.  We got to see the ultrasound for the first time.  It was amazing.  Will was with me and we were in a dark room with the ultrasound technician and a big screen tv in front of us where we could see the little embryo in detail.  I was not expecting it so I was totally taken back when we saw the little heart beating.  That's when it hit me in a big way how amazing it was that I have a growing, thriving baby in my belly relying on me to do all the right things to make growing as easy as possible for him/her. 

Here is what baby looked like at week 8:  The circle on the left is the yolk sac which disappears further into the pregnancy.  The white line on the bottom of the little blob is the back bone and the dark spot in the middle is the heart.  The whole thing was about the size of the tip of your finger at that time...



Ultrasound Photo - 8 weeks

Our second doctor's appointment was on Thursday, Feb 16th.  It is a long stretch between the first and second appointment... I'm a worrier so I was just dying to get confirmation that everything was still on track and dying to hear baby's heartbeat again.  this was a 2 hour long appointment where we did an ultrasound, questionnaire/interview with nurse practitioner, visit with a doctor, blood labs etc etc. Will was told he could leave after the questionnaire but, he stayed with me the whole time and wanted to be involved through the whole visit.  I have to take this opportunity to brag on him.  He has made this new experience so easy, comfortable and of course funny for me and I don't think he even realizes how wonderful he's being.

Okay, so... the first thing we did at the appointment was get another ultrasound and the first thing I asked the tech to do is find the heartbeat for me.  It was such a relief to see the heartbeat again and to know that baby's measurments were on track and within the normal range.  We got to see the little arms and legs that had developed since our first visit.  His/Her legs were crossed and were covering privates (Will asked the tech if there was any way we'd be able to tell the sex - she said if she could get a perfect angle, she may be able to tell but since baby's legs were crossed it was a no-go.)  The baby's left hand was up by his/her mouth; looks like we have a thumb sucker.   Look at how much he/she has grown:




Baby Tucker 13 week ultrasound





Baby Tucker 13 week ultrasound - left hand in mouth





Baby Tucker 13 week ultrasound - close up on hand



Nausea, Sleepiness & Food

Our refrigerator has never been so full.  I panic when we start running out of bread, cereal and fruit.  All in all, I've been craving healthy snacks and meals.  Salads have never appealed to me so much (even though usually topped with ranch dressing).  And I can't seem to get enough oranges, grapes and apples. 

I think I've had a fairly mild first trimester.  First of all, I'm so glad I had a full 9 days of no work soon after we got the news.  I was super addicted to caffeine and especially reliant on my morning coffee to break through the fog in my brain.  I spent the entire Christmas break weaning myself off caffeine and was so thankful I didn't have to be at work through that process.  Eventually, coffee started making me sick to smell or even to look at.  I wonder if I'll ever drink it again. 

Almost immediately after we told my parents, I started feeling sick.  I was getting up with Will to eat at 5:30am over Christmas break when he and dad were heading out in their camouflage each morning.  For about two weeks, I had to get up that early and immediately eat something and even choking down two slices of bread was at times nauseating.  At one point I kept fig newtons on my bedside table and when I would wake up at 2 or 3 in the a.m. to pee (side note: I started waking up to pee in the middle of the night at week 6! I always assumed that didn't start until the third trimester but I was wrong!) I'd have to eat a few to keep from getting sick.  Will always found it funny when he awoke every night to the sound of me wrestling with the wrapper.  But not once did he get annoyed with me.  He took my nausea just as seriously as I did and made it his mission to find food for me whenever needed, no matter what we were in the middle of doing.  Lucky for both him and me, the nausea passed within 4 weeks or so and I only actually got sick a handfull of times.  Throughout this whole time, I thought about Emily W... how did she endure that during her entire pregnancy.  Nausea is a pretty miserable and irritating feeling.

Since the naseau passed, I hit my tired phase and it hasn't passed yet, although, I think it's on its way out.  Onyx and I have been crawling into bed together when I get home from work for about 30 minutes so I can stir up enough energy to eat again.  Will has also been affected by the tired phase.  Some days he is just as tired as I am and we've both been sleeping a lot on the weekends.  It's been wonderful!  I love my sleep these days and I'm taking full advantage.

According to the doctors, I'm gaining weight at the right rate.  And I recently started back running a few times a week.  Feels good to move again.  I think I'm on my way to the supposed great feelings of the second trimester.  See ya later first trimester; thanks for being fairly easy and thanks for growing our little 3 inch shrimp.

Reaction to Pregnancy News...

Will and I talked the rest of the night on Dec. 20th after we got the positive results.  But, when I say 'talked', we really just asked ourselves a ton of questions, realized we were getting way ahead of ourselves and agreed we'd just take it one day at a time.  We fell asleep easily and slept the entire night.  So, I'd say we handled the news pretty good.  I've never been one to let anything get in the way of my sleep but the fact that Will slept the whole night through confirmed for me that we were ready and would be fine.  It took us all of about 3 hours to move from feelings of 'how are we going to handle this...this is not the plan' to disbelief to total excitement.  At the end of the day, we were thankful we were able to get pregnant.  We worried that we'd have trouble getting pregnant once we did decide to start trying - I think that's a normal concern.  Although this was not "our plan", it was in fact our plan... just one we weren't controlling.  It was humbling.

We told our close family the following weekend while we were home for Christmas.  We spent Christmas with Will's family this year.  We got to Cindy and Otho's house on Friday night. Jill and Matt were already there and Grandma and Grandpa were also there from Illinois to spend Christmas with us.  Wade and Jenni were on their Costa Rica trip but, we told them before they left (thanks Wade for keeping the secret).  I was SO nervous and Will could hardly wait to tell.  Everyone knows how I love my "Wine Fridays" so because we were waiting for the perfect timing, I had to brush off the 'do you want some wine?' question four times.  Jill once, Cindy once and Otho twice.  I made up some lie about being really tired and I should wait til dinner to start drinking anything.  I'm surprised that worked but it did.  So, as we were finishing up dinner, Will grabbed a gift I had wrapped and said he had one gift he wanted to go ahead and give his parents before Christmas day (we wrapped up one of our positive pregnancy tests in a Christmas gift bag).  Cindy opened it and thought it was just going to be one of Will's practical jokes.  She was scared to open it.  She FINALLY pulled out the zip lock bag it was in, threw it down on the table and then almost had a heart attack.  Jill said 'ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!' and Otho got teary and I think said 'that... is....wonderful'. I busted out in tears I think because of all the nerves that had built up that day.

We drove to Pinehurst on Monday morning to spend the week with my family.  Mom planned a post-Christmas dinner for Monday night and we planned to exchange gifts after dinner.  Mom & Dad, April & Harry, Emily, Sharon & Sarah and Grandmother would all be there.  For the second time, I got SO nervous but was so excited to finally share the news.  It had been SO wierd and hard to withhold such big news from my mom for nearly a week b/c I talk to her every day and tell her just about everything.  It was nearly painful for me but I definitely wanted to tell them face-to-face.  So, after dinner we moved into the living room for gifts and Dad was especially excited and in a great mood to have all his girls and family home for a while.  He made the comment in an excitable, almost joking tone 'oh this is gonna be a great year, I can feel it... next year at this time I'm going to have grand-babies'.  I must have looked at him like 'if you only knew haha'.  The last gift to open was the little bag for mom and dad with the positive pregnancy tests. Mom and dad were sitting next to eachother on the couch and everyone else was watching on... they pulled it out and mom said 'oh cool a toothbrush'.  She knew it wasn't a toothbrush but did not yet know what it was... they put their glasses on and two seconds later mom had a look of shock on her face and dad was jumping up and down.  Sarah and April were both really excited and surprised.  I tell them everything too and they knew Will and I were waiting for a while before we had kids etc. etc.  And Grandmother said 'Oh I'm so glad I was here for this'.  It was a good night.  I don't think my mom made a full sentence until the next day.  :)

How We Discovered Baby Tucker...

We found out I was pregnant on Dec. 20th, 2011. 

I was "late" by about a week but didn't think anything of it b/c that wasn't abnormal for me and I was feeling all the typical symptoms.  Plus, Will and I had been through this whole schpeel a few times.. the 'I think I might be pregnant... take a test... Negative'.  But this had been fine with us; we were not actively trying to get pregnant and had decided we were gonig to wait another 6 mos to a year before we'd start trying.

But, at work on Tuesday, Dec. 20th, I experienced a long and uncomfortable wave of nausea and thought to myself 'this is not normal, um... could I be pregnant?'  I emailed Will and told him what had happened and warned him that a pregnancy test would be used when I got home.  He wasn't nervous at all.  I think we were both thinking it would be a negative like it was the other times.  But deep down, I actually think he was hopeful it would be a 'positive'.

After work that day, I went to the mall to start and finish most of my Christmas shopping.  I got home at 9 and Will was lounging on the couch with Onyx.  We both forgot the plan.  I was about to hop in the shower and thought 'oh yea, i was going to...'  So I nonchalantly pee'd on the test and set it down, turned the shower on, looked back at the test, said to myself 'no, what?, ummmm?, oh shit'.  I put my robe on and about that time Will walked in, asked what I was doing and I was still at a loss for words.  He saw the test on the counter and said 'nuh uh, really?'  I took two more tests that night and one more the next morning just to make sure.

And that is how we found out about Baby Tucker. 

Welcome to Baby Tucker's Blog...

Thanks Paige for creating this fancy-schmancy blog for me!  I love it :) 

So... when I told Paige the baby news she suggested I create a blog to document all the highlights of my pregnancy to keep friends and family in the know.  I certainly had considered a blog before we even shared the news with everyone; however, I admit I have a track record of not making my good intentions materialize in a timely manner (or at all).  The baby probably would have arrived before I finished documenting my first trimester if this blog was left up to me to create.  So, again... thanks Paige for using your artistic & technical know-how and for being so excited for me that you wanted to create this sweet little blogspot for me and Will.

Thanks to everyone for being part of this new experience with us.  It has been fun sharing our news.  We have been dying to tell everyone for 3 months!! We hope you enjoy reading up on Mom, Dad and Baby Tucker's progress!

We have a little BIG secret...

We are expecting a Baby Tucker!