First Kicks!!

I was amazed how quickly it went from me not being able to feel anything to feeling him move all of the time. It was October 27-28 when I felt my first hard pokes and actually felt it from the outside too. I started to keep a log of when he was the most active and will be interested to see if it is the same when he is on the outside!

Day by day, his pokes were turning into full fledged kicks and I was able to see my stomach move from the outside on November 9. It wasn't until November 17 when Darin finally felt him move. I think he would get shy around his Daddy...he would stop moving every time Darin put his hand on my tummy! But, we finally got him and I was glad to share that with Darin. Now, I feel like this little guy is a ninja or break dancer with how much he moves! Feeling kicks is definitely another one of those surreal moments...and it makes you realize even more that you are growing a human inside of you!

Picture is of Lindsay and me on Thanksgiving @ almost 25 weeks!

It is definitely a Boy! 20 week appointment

We had our genetic ultrasound scheduled for October 25, 2010. Even though we knew, I was still very eager to see Bean again and actually get the doctor's confirmation that he was in fact a he! And, this is the appointment where they spend quite a bit of time measuring everything to make sure the baby is growing correctly and there are no visible defects.

It was wonderful to see the little man again. He was moving ALL over the place again this time. Almost to the point that she couldn't get the measurements! Might have been because I drank OJ on the way to the appt...I had read something that told me it would help get the little one moving. I kind of got in trouble though since he was moving so much and was told to not drink OJ next time! It was crazy to see him so active because I still really couldn't feel him too much. He was measuring 11 ounces and was definitely still a boy! He showed us his goods quite a few times...definitely not modest. The best part was the tech was trying to move him around to get a few more measurements and apparently he did not like that because at one point opened his little hand, stretched out his fingers, and then put all but one finger back down....yeah, he flipped us off! We knew we were going to have a little stinker on our hands, but this defnitely solidified that notion!! But, everything was measuring great...still a week ahead and no visible issues!

After the ultrasound, Dr. Santiago met with us and gave us even more great news! My placenta was completely out of the way and now was just low lying. I was still advised to take it easy, but with 20 more weeks to go, there was no doubt that it would be totally out of the way by "go time". I kind of felt like now maybe I could stop worrying so much and actually enjoy the second half of the pregnancy. And poor Darin would maybe be able to get rid of the crazy woman who had overtaken my body for the last 4ish months...well, I guess I am pretty neurotic all of the time, but pregnancy has definitely exacerbated my neuroses!

16 weeks!

Definitely starting to show! I am glad it's starting to look more like a baby belly and not an "I ate too many cheeseburgers" pooch! I think I started feeling flutters, but it's still pretty early to tell.

I received some great news from the doctor this week. I went in for my 16 week check-up on September 30 and actually got my 4th ultrasound since they wanted to follow-up from the ER visit. And, my placenta had moved a little! So now I just had partial placenta previa. Still not great, but definitely a step in the right direction. The movement may have also attributed to what caused my ER visit. I was happy to get some good news after the whirlwind week I had.

Is this normal?? Our first trip to the ER.

September 22 is definitely a night I will never forget. I had kind of felt funny all day at work, but just chalked it up to another lovely pregnancy side effect. As I was getting up to leave work at 5, something wasn't right. I will not go into details, as I am sure many of you would not care to know, but I did call the on-call doc and she advised that we go straight to the ER to get checked out. Of course, I am thinking the absolute worst and of course, Darin is thinking it's all going to be just fine. We were there for over 5 hours and they did blood work and some other tests. BUT, one of the scariest moments of my life turned into one of the BEST nights of our lives. They ordered an ultrasound to make sure everything was OK. I was over 15 weeks at the time, so in the back of my head, I thought just maybe we would be able to find out what Bean actually was...team blue or team pink.

The poor ultrasound tech got called in at about 8:00, which actually was to our benefit because she said she might as well make it worth her while and ended up spending almost an hour on us. It was so amazing to see him again. This time he was moving ALL over the place. Looked like he was doing laps in there! And we got to see all of his little bones and fingers and it was just the most incredible thing! She had done all the measurements and let us know that I was actually measuring at 16 weeks, so almost a week ahead. As she was winding down, I realized we still didn't know what Baby Weber was! I asked again and she giggled and said she had actually known for quite some time and just forgot to tell us. So, she turned the screen away, found a good shot, and turned it back around. Darin and I stared intently at the screen, but it was pretty darn obvious what we were looking at! At that point, we knew our little Bean was a boy. I started crying, which of course was very out of character =). Another indescribable feeling that I will forever remember.

They finally released me at about 11:00 that night, not really knowing what was wrong. But, everything looked perfect with the baby, so that is all they really cared about at that time. I was just told to take it easy and follow-up with Dr. Santiago. As I said before, what started as a terrifying night turned into an unforgettable one!

Bean's 2nd Ultrasound

We had our follow-up ultrasound and 12 week appointment on September 2 to check on the hematoma. As scary and upsetting as it was to find out I had one, it was also kind of a blessing in disguise because we got an extra chance to see Bean!! I was so nervous going into this appointment. Luckily, I didn't have any bleeding or cramping episodes, so I was hoping for the best. And of course Darin, Mr. Optimistic, knew everything would be fine! We had the ultrasound and when we first saw the screen, we were amazed at how big he had gotten!! His little legs were already so long! However, Bean did not want to move AT ALL during the ultrasound. The tech was trying everything to get him to move and all he would do is stretch out a leg or flip over. He mooned us at one point...already a stinker!! It was so interesting though because you could see his little spine, his heart beating and his little bladder, which was full when we started...not so much at the end! Again, I was just in awe and so amazed that this little miracle that we created was growing inside of me. Of course, I cried again...but that will be a common theme during this pregnancy =).

The good news was the hematoma was gone!! The bad news was I now had Complete Placenta Previa. This is when the placenta is completely covering the cervix. It does not affect the baby's development in any way, but when the baby is ready to come into this world, the exit is blocked and we therefore would have to do a c-section. Not a huge deal, but there are also a lot of other complications that come with previa, so again, I was extremely terrified. Dr. Santiago said with as "complete" as my previa was, he only gave me about a 20% chance of it moving up by the time I would be ready to deliver. I was kind of amazed by this since it was still so early in the pregnancy, but stuck to the doctor's orders and rested and moved as little as possible over the next few weeks. Another scary moment in our pregnancy, but again, we just tried to hope for the best and pray that little bean would be just fine and stay nice and cozy in there!!

Telling the Families!

We decided to get Darin's side of the family together for dinner in Cooksville on Friday, August 6. It was pretty funny because Scott asked me at one point why I wasn't drinking. My excuse was I was so hungry that I needed to eat before drinking anything...real believable! So, we decided we needed to get the show on the road because it was getting obvious! As we were sitting around the kitchen table, Darin got up to go put on Hoyt's t-shirt. We thought we would just let him run around in it until someone noticed. Not such a good plan because 1) Hoyt HATES clothes and just proceeded to pout by Grandma Kim's feet, and 2) no one noticed for quite some time! Kelly finally noticed and just started giggling with us because he was right at Kim's feet and she still hadn't really noticed yet. Finally, everyone realized something was going on and figured it out! It was a pretty funny situation!

We then decided to tell my parents on Sunday, August 8. We were going to order pizza and hang out at my parents' house. We decided to try the whole shirt thing again even though it did not pan out so well before! We put it on Hoyt and he again decided to pout behind my legs. Jeremy finally noticed that Darin and I were both laughing and trying to get Hoyt to run out in front of everyone and then read the shirt. He just smiled and waited for everyone else to catch on. Finally, I just picked up Hoyt and held him in the air for everyone to see. I think my sister was most in shock! She was already about 15 weeks pregnant at the time, so I was super excited to be able to share this journey with her! My Mom said that she had this small inkling that I was pregnant...a Mother's Intuition! Everyone was thrilled for us though and it was so great to FINALLY be able to tell my family (I had gone to lunch or dinner about 10 times with them in the weeks leading up to it and it took everything in me not to tell them!).

We swore both families to secrecy because we wanted to wait until the 12 week appt. to make sure everything was OK. But, we just could not keep the good news from our families for 4 more weeks! I know the news leaked out to a few people (guilty as charged!), but for the most part, everyone was very good about keeping the secret!!

First Appointment!!! 8 weeks!

We had our first appointment on August 5, 2010. We got a sneak peek at Bean. I was amazed that he actually already looked like a baby...he had a head and little nubs for arms and legs. He also had a little tail, but for the most part, looked like a mini baby! Hearing the heartbeat for the first time was something that still gives me goosebumps! It definitely made me teary and made this whole experience that much more real. Unfortunately, we did find out that I had a small subchorionic hematoma, which is essentially a small tear or blood clot. I, of course, rushed home and started researching it (not smart!!) and read some scary stories. However, my voice of reason (Darin) calmed me down as usual and assured me all would be just fine. Easier said than done, but we were scheduled for another ultrasound at 12 weeks to see if it had disappeared or grew. Hoping for the former!! I was just told to rest as much as possible, which really was not too difficult since nausea was a 24 hour symptom of mine! The 4 week wait seemed like an eternity though!

I didn't really have any physical morning sickness during the 1st trimester, but as previously mentioned, I was nauseous ALL day EVERY day, which in my opinion is just as bad. Cereal was about all that ever sounded good to me. I am pretty sure I boosted Cheerios' sales exponentially during the first trimester...banana nut, fruity, and Honey Nut were my saviors! Oh, and my only craving was (and still is) York Peppermint patties and/or Junior Mints. Not real sure what that is all about, but I HAVE to have one every single day!!

Baby Weber!!

We are having a baby!!! We found out on July 3, 2010 in the morning. I think I took about 4 tests that day and then a few more over the next few days until it was confirmed by the doctor. I kept First Response in business that week! Probably one of the most surreal moments of my life, and I will never forget the feeling I felt when I saw the digital test say PREGNANT! We were both very excited to start this new journey!! 

That night we had a housewarming/4th of July party to go to for Emily and Jeremy. It was definitely interesting pretending to drink, but Darin and I had a pretty good system and I think we pulled it off! I even managed to burn Matt with a sparkler and blamed it on the alcohol!! Fun times!