Our Little Excursion: Week 7

In the beginning of this week two friends from home came to visit for a day and we drove up to Savannah for a little photo excursion. We met up with a fellow photographer who took us around the area.

We basically ended up in South Carolina at this beautiful wildlife preserve about ten minutes from the Georgia border.  It was a lovely sunny day and we ended up walking roughly two miles (really fun when you're pregnant) and just soaking up everything. 

There were gators EVERYWHERE! It was definitely a sight to see. I was eaten alive by mosquitos; which I am paying for now, but it was all worth it in the end.

The sun was shining so brightly that it made for some interesting portraits. :) Brian just looks so thrilled to be out and about making sure his preggo wife doesn't

keel over from a heat stroke!  I'm totally kidding! I made sure that I stay hydrated. If only I would have made sure to bring some bug spray!

This was off on a little side trail in one of the little wooded areas. There was some sort of old water well and a path that circled around a little grove of trees that was filled with dragon flies, spanish moss, and little lizards. I saw that there was a historic sign and I believe that it said something about the path being part of the remnants of a slave quarters that was a part of a plantation. I'm not positive if that was what it said considering I just briefly glanced at the sign, but it was something of those sorts. 

Brian is getting to be a pretty good photographer! He snapped this portrait of me sitting on the edge of the old well (it had been filled in, so no worries!).  I'm not usually one for having my photos taken, I usually like being the photographer, but I was feeling photogenic. 

   

After going through the remainder of the preserve (driving through, thank goodness because I was already exhausted). We went back to Savannah and walked around down town in search of some interesting places to explore.

We went into a parking garage and went all the way to the very top and got an amazing view of down town. Brian climbed on top of the elevator's roof and snapped this photo. I wish I could have climbed up there with him, but I went against the urge to do so.

I have learned that going out exploring isn't as easy as it used to be...it is a lot more difficult while pregnant. You realize how risky a lot of things are now and it is kind of disappointing. But I'm not going to let being pregnant stop me from seeing amazing sights and experiencing wonderful things; I just now know that I need to be a little more careful while doing so.

***

The rest of week seven has kind of been a downer. I have been sick and I think I am suffering from bad acid reflux; which isn't fun at all especially since I won't be seeing my doctor until April and won't be able to get any relief until I see her.  I have been spending a lot of these passed few days on the couch sleeping, reading, watching SyFy marathons. Our apartment is so neglected because moving just makes me want to vomit, so hardly any cleaning has been done. 

Our little one is about the size of a blueberry now! 

I have also found a new addiction:

These little guys are absolutely delicious! Which is not really a good thing because you can't find them anywhere in town. 

St. Marys' Carnival: End of Week Six!

 

Welcome to the carnival! 

Brian and I were able to kick off our weekend (and end our week, since he will be back at work for the remainder of the weekend) by checking out the little carnival that was set up in one of our shopping center's parking lots. 

I was very excited about attending because I haven't been able to go to a carnival since I was back home in Illinois. I couldn't wait to get some tickets and hop on those rides!

Ooh, wait.

"You're pregnant, Chels!", I screamed at myself. 

I was bummed about not being able to get on any of the rides. I especially wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel; which I'm sure I would have been ok to ride, but I was not about to pay $8 for the eight tickets we would have needed for both Brian and I to ride. 

So I just stared at it in awe. 

I absolutely love Ferris Wheels! It has always been one of my favorite rides. The last time I was on a Ferris Wheel, Brian was home from Boot Camp on Recruiter's Assistance/Boot Leave back in 2010. We will definitely have to go on the next one we come across. 

We ran into some friends and walked around with them for awhile, watched Brian try to win a giant, stuffed Panda Bear for me, and then we raided the fried foods stand. 

I was craving a Corn Dog caked in Mustard.

It was delicious! 

After parting ways with our friends, Brian and I walked around a few more times. I wanted to play the fish game, but then we decided that it would be best if we didn't. After all, if I would have won a fish, we wouldn't have had any place to keep it. So, we walked back over to the Ferris Wheel and I convinced Brian to be my "photo of the week". 

For those of you who may not know, I have been working on a weekly project for the year: 52 photos for the 52 weeks of the year. This photo is week eleven's photo; each week is themed and this week's theme was "portraiture". 

Needless to say it was a pretty good night despite the fact that I was not able to ride any of my favorite rides. 

As far as pregnancy, the end of the week has been far nicer to me than in the beginning. My nausea is somewhat at ease (for now), but my cravings have been interesting.

My cravings list for the day was rather unique:

• Biscuits and Gravy
• Watermelon
• French Fries dipped in a Shamrock (Mint) Shake
• Corn Dog caked in Mustard

My emotions, on the other hand, have been intense. With having to deal with having Bandit here, I nearly lost my cool on a lot of people when all they were trying to do was give me advice. I actually ended up deactivating my Facebook account for a few days in order to prevent myself from looking like a crazy, rude, pregnant woman. But I am learning how to calm myself down so I don't come off as so insane. haha.

Some other exciting news going on in our lives right now: we are moving! 

Brian is still going to be stationed here in Georgia at least until October of this year, if not longer, so we are moving to the other side of town. Our current lease is up in April so it is time with us to part ways with our little two bedroom apartment and make new memories in the three bedroom, two bathroom duplex we will be moving into in about two weeks. We need the extra room for our little one when he or she arrives! I am very excited about having a bigger place, but not looking forward to the actual moving part. With being pregnant, I am not going to be much help and that bothers me, especially since we won't know who would be off work in order to help us. I am really hoping that it isn't as stressful as I think it is going to be.

Well, I am ready for week seven! 

I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is better than week six! 

Six Weeks

Welcome to week six!

This week my little sweet pea is about the size of a pea and their eyes, nose, and mouth are beginning to take shape. I can't wait to be able to kiss that little nose! My little one's heartbeat is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute and blood is already beginning to course through that little tiny body.
I am starting to experience the down side of being pregnant.
Sunday night I went to bed a little earlier than usual and woke up around two in the morning to run to the bathroom; I had my first experience of morning sickness. I was partially asleep, but I definitely recall having my head in the toilet. I haven't felt that sick since I was a little girl! Since that night, I have had the worst nausea ever. It gets almost to the point of vomiting, but I haven't thrown up since that first night.
EVERYTHING makes me nauseous! The garbage can (even though there is a lid on it), the litter box, the dog's accidents on the floor, the cat and dog food, the neighbors' cooking, you name it! I can no longer drink coffee, walk by a Starbucks, or even think about coffee without gagging.  Sweet Tarts and Preggie Pops don't even begin to take the nausea down a notch anymore, so I lay on the couch and nap for the majority of the day now.
My emotions are on hiatus.
I want to KILL anyone who says the wrong thing to me or looks at me strangely. I'm angry one second, crying the next. I cried to Brian over the phone because I was so upset about the puppy and I was so angry that he wasn't here to help or couldn't do anything to help me; he is gone until the end of this week. I get angry with him because I can't get angry with anyone else in regards to his scheduling. Believe me, if I could get into contact with his higher ups, they would get a lovely earful from me. I just hate myself for taking it out on him especially since he has no control of it, they say "you can't leave until Friday" when you came in on a Sunday, well, then, you don't leave. It is very hard being pregnant and not having him here everyday; I guess it comes with the territory of being a military wife.

A few things that have saved me from losing my sanity this week:

•  Ice cubes with lemons in them, put into my water-the lemon helps with nausea
• Town House Crackers, first thing in the morning-helps with morning sickness.
• Unsweetened Applesauce, to fill up my empty stomach in between meals-again, helps with nausea.
• Say Yes To Carrots C Me Smile Lip Butter in Mint-the only chap stick that doesn't make me want to               vomit.
• Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy, Sleep Night Time Tea Body lotion-to keep my legs and feet soft and because it is the only lotion that doesn't make me nauseous from its scent.
• My Scentsy warmers with Sweet Pea & Vanilla wax-not too strong, but strong enough to mask the smell of the litter box and everything else that smells disgustingly stronger.
• Phone calls with my mom.

Cravings:

• French Fries, preferably waffle fries and Ketchup.
• Peaches
• Cream Soda
• Mrs. Mikes Potato Chips; which sucks because they don't sell them down here! 

Books that are saving my life:  

• The Baby Bump
• The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy
• Your Week by Week Pregnancy
• What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting

A few things that made my day a little brighter, from the book, "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy":

"Don't talk too much about your good fortune. BE CAREFUL NOT TO GET SMUG BECAUSE THE GODS OF PREGNANCY ARE USUALLY FAIR." <--SO TRUE! Don't brag about not having m/s or any other crazy symptoms because it will come back to bite you hard in the ass. I was all "Ooh, I haven't gotten m/s yet, I probably won't get it that badly." Psssh, yeah, I was wrong!!


"We have all heard of women who do pregnancy perfectly...this book is not for these women. It is for the rest of us; those of us who put on twenty pounds between the home pregnancy test and the first doctor's visit. It is for those of us who get our first case of acne since the homecoming dance. It is for those of us who have hemorrhoids so bad that we have considered never eating solid food again, in hopes of avoiding another bowel movement for the rest of our lives. It is for those of us who have considered murdering our partners in their sleep because we thought we heard them say, "Moo" when we were getting dressed. It is for those of us who can no longer watch a Pampers commercial without being moved to tears..." <--Also true! This description is about me, I swear! It made me laugh though, when I really needed to.

My first set of doctor's appointments are in two weeks and I am very anxious. I am ready to see our baby!
As far as everything else goes, I'm ready to be finished with my first trimester and finished with the nausea! I am making best friends with my couch and am getting in all the naps that I can.
But for now, I'm going to go and eat some potatoes.

Baby Bandit

Welcome, Bandit to the Felda residence! 

This is Bandit (formerly known as Lurch), he is a three month old American Bulldog mix and is full of spunk and energy. He is just what we needed! He is here to help us learn some extra responsibility before Baby Felda comes into our lives; taking care of a puppy is just like taking care of a baby in a sense. 

We have baby gates set up so he has his own little section of the house (the hallway and the kitchen) until the cats warm up to him being here and until he is potty trained. He is doing pretty well with his potty training! He already knows to go potty outside and has only had two accidents since he has been here! I am rather impressed. He goes back in for his last set of booster shots at the end of this month and to make sure his incision from his neutering has healed alright. Always spay or neuter your pets!!

He went on his first car ride today as well! Brian and I had to go down to Orange Park and pick up the baby gate from Babies R' Us; it is the closest one to us and was about an hour drive. Bandit isn't a huge fan of car rides, particularly because he doesn't understand what is going on. But we hope to change that very soon! I can't wait to take him to the beach when he is all healed up! 

I also picked up a little something for myself while at Babies R' Us. 

That's right, Preggie Pops. 

I have experienced my first batch of extreme nausea and it isn't fun. A friend of mine had told me about these and when I saw them I figured, "What could it hurt?". They surprisingly help calm the nausea and they are pretty tasty as well. My favorite so far is Sour Raspberry. 

I had also read some positive reviews for Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter and I wanted to try it. I opened  it up expecting it to smell like cocoa butter and was prepared to be hit with nausea, but I was impressed to find out that it has no fragrance! My sensitive nose was thanking me. I tested it out on my forearm and liked the way that it felt, so I think that it is worth keeping and trying on my belly. 

Now, as I have mentioned before, I'm not the smallest girl out there; I have battled with weight gain and weight loss my entire life. So, yes, I have a few stretch marks because of that and I am anxious to try this product out on them. It is supposed to help stretch marks and help prevent them as well; which is exactly what I am looking for in a product. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it does the trick. 

Week five is over half way done and I have dealt with an increase in symptoms!

I have had two cravings this week, one was buttered toast and the the second was a meatball sandwich. I have been having a lot of whole grain toast with light butter for breakfast and snacks, and I don't mean toasted, I mean TOASTED. I like it to be darker than what I usually have it at, but not burnt!

Thank goodness my good friend, Magan helped me cure my meatball sandwich craving. A huge thank you, Magan! I owe you big time!! Let's just say I inhaled an entire foot long of meatballs from Subway in less than ten minutes. Can we say piglet?! 

I also learned that I can no longer eat black olives. I put one in my mouth and gagged! I had to spit it right out! This is rather depressing because I love olives. I just hope that I can still eat green olives! 

Perfume is no longer a necessity for me either. My nose is just so sensitive that I don't have the desire to put it on. I can still wear body spray, but perfume is just pushing it for me because it makes me nauseous. I really hope that doesn't last because I love smelling pretty. 

Well, I can't wait to see what the end of week five brings me!

And so it begins...

Today is the beginning of week five!
What that means is that my little embryo is now the size of a sesame seed and looks very much like a little tadpole. My little tadpole's heart will be beginning to divide into chambers and start beating and pumping blood this week!
Isn't it simply amazing?!
I just can't believe that my body knows what to do to help this little one grow.
Amazing.
I have been by myself these last few days and it has really been a trying time for me. Brian being gone for days at a time has never bothered me to the point of tears every day; being overly emotional has been a handful! The smallest of things set me off! Someone not texting me, friends talking about enjoying their days, cheerleaders on t.v., burning the popcorn, asking me how I'm feeling, you name it! EVERYTHING makes me cry. Perhaps this time to myself is for the better because then no one has to see me crying like a blubbering fool over who knows what.
The next few weeks are supposed to be the weeks that morning sickness really starts kicking in, so I'm waiting for it to happen so I can just truck right on through and get it done and over with. I have noticed that after eating anything I get more nauseous and the scent of my plug in air fresheners are really starting to make my stomach turn. But other than that, it has been pretty tolerable.
I am going to be battling the litter box issue this week as well. I know that pregnant women should avoid changing the litter box, but I have done a little bit of research and I'm not worried about developing Toxoplasmosis. I have been around cats my entire life and have most likely already been exposed to it before and it is generally only found in outdoor cats and well, mine are strictly indoors. Also, the bacteria needs approximately 48 hours to develop, so if the box is scooped daily, there is no need to worry. But to ease everyone's minds (and my own) I will be wearing a mask and gloves while changing the messy litter. If anyone has any issues with me changing the litter box, well, then they should volunteer their time to come and change it for me when Brian is gone for days on end. He usually changes the litter, but when he is gone for almost a week, the only other person here to change it is me. Like I said, if anyone has any issues, well you may as well just keep them to yourselves because I'm not letting the litter box go longer than two days without being cleaned; the smell is just too nauseating.

I got a lovely little surprise in the mail box last night/today! A huge thank you to my cousins, Kevin and Alicia for the lovely card and to my friend, Andrea for the post card! They most definitely put a big smile on my face and made me feel incredibly special. I can't wait to put them in our little tadpole's scrap book!

On that note, I am as prepared as I can be for this week. Bring on the morning sickness and any other symptoms I haven't experienced yet! Bring on the litter box changing (with my mask and gloves, of course!)!! BRING IT!

Four Weeks

I am almost through my fourth week and I am feeling pretty good. I have hardly suffered from any symptoms these last few days; which I am very grateful for!
As you can probably tell, I'm not showing much at all. What I am showing is some major bloating, but that is to be expected. I'm not the smallest girl out there, so I am very anxious to see if I develop a baby bump or if I just appear to look heavier. I guess we will just have to wait and see!
I have my first and second doctor's appointments made and they aren't until April 2nd and 9th; which is a bit disappointing but as long as Brian is able to be there I won't mind the wait. He is giving work a month's notice so they had better not give us any issues with him having those days off.
Brian and I have some what started discussing what we would like to do for the baby's bedroom since we are going to be moving in about a month. We are going to be moving to the other side of town and are hoping that we are approved for a three bedroom duplex since we are going to be needing that extra bedroom space. But as far as that, we haven't really had much of an opportunity to discuss any name possibilities and what not.
Now, as far as symptoms, like I said I haven't been experiencing too many these last few days. Sometimes I wonder if I am even still pregnant! But then the extreme fatigue and crazy emotions kick in and I remember, "Oh, yeah!".  I haven't had much heartburn, I've experienced some very mild nausea, and only had a craving for cheese pizza and cream soda. I have noticed that my fingers are kind of swollen which makes putting my rings on a little more difficult.
Remembering to take my Prenatal Vitamins is proving to be a challenge on those days that Brian is home from work and we are out running around. Drinking a lot of water and trying to stay away from foods high in sugar and fat is not as difficult as I thought it would be, but then again, it is only the first few weeks.              Saying goodbye to Brian as he headed back to base was extremely difficult; even more so than usual. I'm used to being by myself all of the time while he is gone, but with my emotions on hiatus, this time around it was just disastrous. I couldn't stop myself from crying and clinging to him as if I would never see him again and I hate myself for doing that, but I just couldn't control those emotions. I could tell that he felt terrible for having to leave, but duty calls and when they call, you don't have a choice but to go.
Ooh these emotions!! They aren't fun at all.