Boffo baby video

Here is a fun video that Mike made using our 10 week ultrasound pictures of the baby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tcoQmZhB38

The past four months

This has been the most emotionally and physically draining four months I have ever experienced. Actually, only the past three months have been emotionally draining because for the first four weeks I didn't know I was pregnant. I was only hungry and tired all the time.

Once I found out I was pregnant I got so scared of something going wrong with the baby that it was hard for me to enjoy the prospect of being pregnant and actually having a baby. I couldn't sleep at night. The thought of something going wrong simply overtook my every thought. I finally got over that when 1) I made it past a second ultrasound and 2) many family members reminded me that if I'm supposed to have this baby I will, and if I'm not supposed to have it then we'll deal with that if it happens. So I finally decided to do my best to be healthy for the baby and enjoy it.

I have actually had a great pregnancy as far as illness goes. I did have some bleeding in the beginning but my doctor quickly put me on Prometrium (a progesterone supllement) and that seemed to help. I never had the typical morning sickness that is so often associated with pregnancy. I only ever felt nauseous if I didn't eat or drink enough. It took me a while to get used to the fact that I 'needed' to eat more. It's okay if I gain weight now...just as long as I'm gaining it from eating a lot of healthy foods. Yeah!

I also haven't had any weird cravings such as pickles and ice cream. My only food ordeals have been that when I decide that something sounds good (such as a cherry limeade from Sonic), I have to have it NOW. I also had some major food aversions during the first three months. I really just couldn't find any food that sounded good to me. Not that anything made me feel nauseous, I just didn't want to eat most things. Now though, the only food aversion I'm having is geared toward seafood. I've never been a huge seafood fan but I do love salmon and the coconut shrimp at The Outback Steak House. But right now I just don't even like the thought of eating any kind of seafood and the smell really does make my stomach churn.

Another pregnancy related symptom that was very strong during the first trimester was tiredness. I was SO tired ALL the time. I would come home from work and lay on the couch to rest a little. Then three hours later Mike would be pulling me off the couch telling me I had to get some kind of homework done that day. It was really bad. I have a lot more energy now, but it is really easy for me to take a nap during the day and still be tired when it's time to go to bed.

I also seem to get headaches more often now. This is common because of all the hormone changes going on inside me. And they aren't too bad to handle. I haven't taken any medicine for it yet, I usually just try to rest a little and it will go away.

The most fun thing that has happened is that my belly is starting to grow! Mike says that he can tell that my belly is getting bigger on a daily basis. I have to agree with him. It's weird because when I wake up in the morning I feel normal, but then when I stand up and walk in front of the mirror I see the bulg on my belly. It's almost as if the baby is saying "Hi mom!" in the mornings to remind me he/she is there. It's fun.

So I'm 16 weeks/four months tomorrow. I don't know if I'm having a boy or a girl yet and I'll be happy either way (so will Mike).

How we told the family

On September 16th we had a 'Ring Dunking' party for Mike in which most of my family and some of Mike's family was in attendance. I had been keeping my pregnancy a secret from the family for a week which was hard! So Mike and I decided that we should do something creative and memorable when telling the family our big news.

So after nixing some pretty creative ideas we finally decided on the best one. We were so excited. When the day of the party came I couldn't handle the excitement. What we decided to do is get everybody around a table for a big game of Cranium. Most of our family LOVES the game so we thought it would be an easy way to get everyone focused on one thing. The plan was for me and Mike to be on opposite teams and when my team got a 'charades' card Mike would make sure he was the one to grab it and read it. And at the same time I would make sure I was the one from my team who performed the act.

So when my team finally chose a charades card my hand shot up in the air and I shouted "I'll do it!". I was a little bit overly excited but hey, that's me. So Mike stood up and announced that the subject was "A Future Event". I then proceded to point to my eye for "I" and then made motions showing a big, round belly for "pregnant". Everybody shouted right aways "I'm pregnant!". I pointed and nodded yes but they didn't catch on to what I was trying to say. They thought "I'm Pregnant" was the answer....they even kept guessing thinking it had something to do with pregnancy! They were getting frustrated because I kept doing the same thing over again and I was getting frustrated because they kept saying the right thing but it didn't click. They were even saying "Melanie is pregnant" and Scott even said "Are you pregnant?" and I pointed and nodded at him....but nobody got it! Then finally a light bulb went off and my mom real quietly said, "Melanie, are you pregnant?" and I finally shouted "Yes!"

Once they figured it out we were all in a big heap of laughter and the rest of the party was pretty much a daze to me. Everybody came over and hugged me and was congratulating Mike. It was really fun. We never finished the game. But Mike likes to point out that his team was winning.