5 Things I Thought BEFORE Having My Baby

We've all heard the lists of things non-parents swear they will never do when they have kids. (Think poo talk, screen time, leaving the house a mess, etc.) This list isn't like that.

Today I'm recounting some of the things I personally planned or thought that have NOT panned out the way I expected.

Nine months pregnant!

1. The baby would sleep in our room for at least six months.

Emerson was born in January. I knew we'd be moving sometime around August or September. I wasn't planning on having a crib before we moved because he'd be sleeping in our room for most of that time anyways. I planned to only have a pack'n play and stretch its use until after we moved.

Just a family nap!

Lucky for us, I found a family giving away a gently used crib, and I snatched it up. I didn't plan on having a crib, but when you get a free one, why not? Well, Emerson has proven to be an awesome sleeper and has been in his own room since 1 month, mostly sleeping through the night with only a few bumps here and there. I remember thinking when he was 3 months that I couldn't imagine him still being in our room. I know some babies do this, but I especially can't imagine him being with us for 9 months!

2. I'd have a skinny/small baby

All through my pregnancy I measured very small. I was always several weeks behind, and people always commented on my smaller-than-expected belly. Granted every pregnancy and body is different, I know. My sibling who I tend to be the most similar too also tends to have small babies, so for some reason I just assumed I'd have a small to normal size baby. 

Emerson and his cousin (who is 1 month older)

Emerson was 7 pounds, 8 ounces when he was born, which put him just above the 50th percentile. But he's been a good eater and steadily gaining weight since. Now at 5 months he's at least a steady 19 pounds tipping towards the 20 pound mark, which puts him right around the 90th percentile for weight. He is already in size 3 diapers, and I may have to try size 4 fairly soon. (I stocked up on diapers beforehand and have had to exchange quite a few size 1 and 2 packs for larger sizes.) He comfortably wears 6-9 month clothes, though I still try to squeeze him into some of the larger 3-6 month outfits.

Love that chunk!

3. I'd hang up baby clothes.

I was pretty good at washing and organizing Emerson's clothes before he was born. I snagged a huge free lot of baby boy clothes and filtered out what I wanted to use and organized everything by size and type. I was gifted several packs of child hangers and liked being able to see everything I had. We did purchase a small dresser to double as a changing table, and I designated certain drawers for sleepers or blankets. I wanted simple solutions for organization and in asking around, several people advised that they never used a dresser and use the closet or bins for all clothes.

Today the huge walk-in closet in Emerson's room operates pretty exclusive as a storage area for clothes he has grown out of, clothes he has yet to grow into, extra diapers and wipes, and other assorted baby items. EVERYTHING Emerson wears resides solely in the small, three-drawer dresser. I can't image hanging anything up and am baffled at the advice people gave me. I try to keep things as simple as possible so organization goes like this. Top drawer: half diapers and burp clothes, half bibs, socks, and hats. Middle drawer: onesies on the left, pants in basket in middle, rompers on the right. Bottom drawer: sleepers on the left, swaddle blankets on the right. That's it.

I also have a small basket right by the dirty clothes basket where we toss any clothes Emerson has grown out of. (I got that system from Do It On a Dime.) My own closet organization is also mostly hung up. I'm liking the idea o

4. I'd try to have a nap schedule

Like most newborns Emerson slept A LOT. After a bit, we did introduce a pretty regular bedtime routine but naps were pretty sporadic. Before I started working, I decided I would first finalize my schedule and find a set nap schedule to work Emerson into as he got a little older.

Nope. We have definitely maintained a go with the flow routine during the day. Bedtime we are very regular about, but it just hasn't worked out to do regular times for naps. (SO FAR...we'll see as he gets older and my schedule changes.) With my work schedule now, Emerson has several longer car rides where he takes short naps. If I'm home all day, we do usually get two longer (at least 1-3 hour) naps in. But other than that, we are out and about. He'll definitely sleep when he needs it though, whether in his carseat, in his carrier, or in the middle of the living room. (In the instance pictured on the right below, he'd been up maybe 1 hour from his morning nap...guess he needed more!)

5. My baby'd have sensitive skin.

My hubby has INSANELY sensitive skin. He practically scars from someone touching him. So add that in with naturally sensitive baby skin, I mentally prepared to have to very careful with our little guy. 

So far we've had no sensitivity issues. We had a diaper rash spray that we used as a preventative measure for the first few weeks but have never actually had a problem. I still wash most of Emerson's stuff with a baby detergent but also throw things in with regular loads and regular detergents and everything's been fine. I am still paranoid about the sun (who wants to deal with a baby sunburn?), but overall we're loving NORMAL baby skin over here so far.

Ready for the pool! No sunburns please.

A little blood clot update

Jake painted my toes for me. :)

I wanted to write up a quick blood clot-related update since I've had so many people ask me about it. I had a draft from when I was still in the hospital written up but I think once they released me, I apparently lost motivation to sit in one place and type. Haha.

Well, I'm happy to report that things have gone and stayed well since that second hospital stay. Putting me on the heparin drip for those few days really seemed to do the trick and get my blood coagulation right where it needed to be.

When I was in the hospital they took care of my Tdap and flu shots AND my glucose testing. If any of you follow me on Instagram, you may know that the glucose test turned into a little bit of an ordeal.

But they released me Friday morning/early afternoon. Jake off course had to work, but we were able to time everything so the nurses, pharmacy, doctors, etc. had everything done and me ready to go for the 45 minute lunch break where Jake could come pick me up. Leaving the hospital and going home is seriously one of the best feelings.

The swelling in my leg was almost completely gone, if only present ever so slightly. As far as medication goes, I was put BACK on my lovenox injections but this time with a higher dosage. So I again got a huge box of needles to take home. And I still have the lower dosage needles which obviously they can't take back. Sooo we'll see what ends up happening there.

I stopped taking percocet after the first couple days in the hospital and while I was allowed to take it, I never felt that much pain again. I think I took Tylenol maybe once in twice in those first few days home. But the "pain" aspect of the clot was over. I was still on crutches for a little over a week after that, but everything smoothed out and I first started walking on my own around home, then brought crutches but left them in the car, etc.

I was able to pick up a temporary handicap parking sticker Monday after leaving the hospital. That has been extremely helpful. Obviously when I was on crutches, but even now that I'm not, walking and activity really does tire my leg really quickly and I've been thankful for that (even though I'm a bit embarrassed at times to be using it.) I also took full advantage of driving carts at stores for a few weeks and Jake told me multiple times that I apparently have no shame. Yes I'm going to park in the handicap spot and yes I'm going to drive my slow cart around the store, thank you very much. :D

After being home a week, I decided to teach my senior Zumba class. I had been on crutches this whole time but didn't really want to show up on them to the gym. So I braved without the weights and adjusted class so I could be sitting down more. Because you can do that with senior Zumba. Class went well but it was definitely a bit hard for me. The next week teaching went WAY better  with my only needing to sit for 2-3 songs. Today will be my third week.

Jake and I went on a morning walk this week. While it wasn't as long as we usually go for, it was longer than I've done since the hospital. I'm hoping to attend some regular Zumba or fitness classes to see how I do and then MAYBE try teaching for a few more weeks until the baby says no again.

That's pretty much the gist at this point. I gave myself 15 minutes to write this update but have several more, mostly unrelated, posts to add. I'm finishing up my 31st week and I'm trying to get some many things in order. Yes, the nesting has begun.

My box of medication to take home.

Yay! Going home

Week 30

Back at the Hospital

I was slightly tempted to continue my "Hello Blood Clot" naming theme, but I don't think I realized how many updates might be involved around this. Sooo....

Tuesday was an interesting day. I got two calls in the morning I didn't really expect.

One from an outside facility calling to schedule a referral appointment I didn't know about (see my Facebook post). And the second from my new doctor (who had been on rotation when we first went in for my blood clot) following up on me since being home and seeing how my medication was working.

Can I just take a minute to say how much I like this new doctor? Goodness, she's very much involved and really looking into my situation to make sure we get me the the best care. I had a followup appointment scheduled with her on Friday, so I really appreciate the call as an extra measure.

I took her call as the opportunity to ask several questions that had come up in the last couple days. One question was about expectations for my leg swelling.

Although the swelling always fluctuates, I had noticed that it wasn't really going down and was actually getting worse. Jake and I had tried measuring at home and kept getting numbers quite a bit higher than what was recorded at the hospital. Plus, I saw the swelling go into my ankle and foot and knee—places that hadn't swelled before. I didn't know if this was normal and expected or what.

Doctor thought this was concerning enough to have me come in—and she offered to squeeze me in on her lunch break. She wanted to check things out and possibly do another ultrasound on the leg to see if anything was changing and hopefully that they weren't getting worse.

This call was around 10:30 am and I was then scheduled to go in at noon. I hadn't driven in a few days but luckily Jake and I switched cars so he was driving my manual clutch (Thank goodness I insisted he become comfortable with driving it last year.) and I had his automatic.

The appointment was pretty quick. She went over everything, checked my vitals, measured my swelling, etc. And agreed that the swelling was more intense. She sent me to radiology and said to come back and she'd fit me in to go over the results and decide what to do. One of the initial options was upping my dosage of blood thinner. You typically match dosage to weight and, for a general example, I was at a 60 dosage where the weight would put me at a 65-75 dosage. But they don't have needles for that range. While I could take TWO needles of 35 dosage, she (and I agree) wasn't too fly on making me inject myself FOUR times a day rather than two The other potential option was to give me a 80 dosage needle and train me where to stop at to get the right dosage.

I quickly got to radiology and then had some waiting time while we waited for results and such. In the end, the doctor pulled me in and said that the ultrasound showed the same thing as my one from last Thursday. However, after talking with some other specialists, she recommended it best to switch me to a Heparin drip, instead of my other blood thinning Lovenox.

Pros: Heparin is supposed to work a little more effectively and a little more quickly. They can adjust more often to more exactly match my levels and could cater the treatment to exactly what my body needs.

Cons: The Heparin drip needs to administered via an IV, with staff to make the changes as needed, and thus I would need to be admitted back to the hospital.

The team of doctors looking at my case felt most comfortable with this approach in order to get a handle on my levels. They anticipated I'd be admitted for 4-5 days and then could return to my previously prescribed treatment at home, hopefully with more workable results.

Taking all the information in, I asked if this would be an immediate admittance. After confirming I didn't show signs of a PE (pulmonary embolism), she said it would be fine if I'd want to go home, pack a bag, etc. Whew.

Plan was made. I head back to the car on my crutches and a near dying phone and text Jake to call me when he got a chance. I made it home and started getting stuff together: clothers, laptop, chargers, magazines, snacks, pillows, etc. Jake called and I caught him up and he was able to meet me at home to take me in. (Before I told him what was going on; I emphasized that he was NOT going to be staying at the hospital but hopefully this could help him focus on his busy week and not worry about me so much since the hospital would be taking care of me.)

By 4 p.m. we were heading back to the hospital, but definitely feeling a bit more prepared this time around. We went straight to Labor & Delivery where they had scheduled a stress test for the baby. They hooked up a monitor and listened for about 20 minutes there. Then the general medicine doctor came in and caught me up on the plan and looked at my legs. Then they transfered me down to my room and started the admission questions, blood tests, and procedures.

I got an IV in my right arm for the Heparin drip. The left arm is used for individual prick blood draws every 4 to 6 hours to test my levels, which would then affect what's happening in the Heparin drip. I think we did those draws around 8 pm, midnight, and 6 am, and noon.

Wednesday morning
This morning I spoke with the general medicine doctor and my OB doctor. Both said that everything went great, almost better than expected. They were able to really quickly match my levels and match the Heparin where it needed to be. (I don't really exactly know what these levels look like or mean but oh well). Looking at my legs, the swelling looks MUCH better. Although the swelling has always fluctuated, we have never seen it that "normal" since before I first came in last week.

My OB is going to do some background work and research to see if there is any reason to keep me the initially recommended 4-5 days. If the positive results stay around for the next 24 hours, they may be able to let me go home earlier. She doesn't want to keep me if it's unnecessary but also doesn't want any concerns or having me wind back at the hospital again anyways.

While I'm here anyways, we're going to try to get my 28 week labs down and possibly a few other things usually scheduled for the beginning of the 3rd trimester. For example, I may have my glucose test while here and probably my flu shot.

I think that's it for now!! Again, I'm doing great and really am back at the hospital just to have this particular medicine administered. Baby is also getting a lot of attention and doing well!

Hello Blood Clot: Treatment and Moving Forward

We finally made it to the outcome and moving forward. (Again, I'm sorry I ramble so much.) Everything has happened in such a short amount of time that I know things are likely to change and I don't know what will change or come up.

So the doctors found a blood clot, or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in my upper left leg. Having a blood clot while pregnant immediately puts makes this a somewhat "high-risk" pregnancy. (That seems SO weird to say since everything has been so low key and better than expected up to now.)

Aside from the pain and discomfort, the blood clot itself isn't the main concern; the potential pulmonary embolism (PE) is the bigger threat. PEs are life-threatening and occur when a clot moves to the lungs. There's also an increased chance of a clot forming in the placenta. A clot has to be treated with a blood thinner which could also cause complications come labor and delivery.

So here's what this means for me:

Switch in Doctor
My medical insurance is through the military and I'm being treated at the local naval hospital. Most pregnancies are handled through family medicine. With this new development, I am being switched to an OB specialist. This means I'll probably be seen more often and will have more ultrasounds and attention throughout the remainder of the pregnancy. I'm pleased with this because I wasn't super confident in my previous doctor and was considering switching anyways.

Crutches (For Now)
Before I was allowed to be released from the hospital, I had to meet with the physical therapy team. The doctor had requested I have some help since I had become so unable to walk. Initially they were thinking they'd send me home with a walker or cane (hello, grandma!). But after meeting with the team, they saw that I was young and typically active. We went with crutches because the problem wasn't balance (which walkers/canes help) but rather relieving pressure from the leg. The PT team made me practice standing up and sitting down with the crutches, walk all the way down the hall, and then practice going up and down stairs. That was the most activity I had down in a while and it left me really tired and sore. I'm hoping I will only need them for a week and can return to somewhat normal activity within two weeks. The doctors says everyone is different but definitely encourages me getting back as soon as I'm able to tolerate.

Monitor Swelling
My ability to return to normal activity depends on the swelling going down. The swelling causes pain and indicates that the blood thinners aren't quite working. Currently anytime I have to move a lot or

have been in a certain position too long, I'll have a noticeable increase in swelling, and thus pain.

Here is a look at my legs after my PT session (mentioned above) that probably lasted at most 10 minutes (left side) and Saturday evening after going to dinner with a group, sitting in a booth, and using crutches to and from the car. The difference in color is more noticeable on the left. Can you guys see the difference in size??? I swear my left leg seems twice its normal size. You'll also see the measurements still written on my legs from the hospital. (Yes, I've showered). Jake and I have continued measuring at home.

Injections Twice Daily
I will be on blood thinners for the remainder of the pregnancy. This medication comes in the form on an injection I will need to perform myself twice a day, 12 hours apart. Yes, twice a day. Until January. I have to insert the needle in the fatty sections of my side and alternate sides with each injection. Tonight Jake helped me decide to do "Night, Right" so I remember to inject on the left in the mornings and on the right at night. These injections MUST be done 12 hours apart, but I do have about 30 minutes to work in adjustments. Because I received my first injection at 11:30pm Thursday night, I'm adjusting each injection by 30 minutes until I get it to appropriate times. I've made it to 10pm/10am, but think I may aim for 8:30. We'll see. Before leaving the hospital, the pharmacy delivered my medications for the next month (Left: my two large bags of medication; Right: a look at my injection needles)

Managing Pain
For now, I'm on Percocet to manage the pain in my leg. I definitely do not want to stay on this long term, but for now it's been necessary. I don't think Tylenol will ever do anything for me, but I hope that will do in an emergency after we get this leg pain and swelling under control. I have enough for a about a week depending on how much I take. We'll reevaluate my need at my follow-up appointment next Friday.

Be Ready for an Emergency
The doctor tried not to scare me but made it very clear that I need to seek emergency help should I notice anything concerning moving forward. I need to call 911 for ANY chest pain or difficulty breathing. Immediately. She advised me to also check out the other local hospitals to know which I'd prefer should the need arise (the naval hospital does not have an ER). I'll also look into the different labor units in case we end up needing additional attention.

Hello Blood Clot: At The Hospital

I was going to try to keep this short, but alas, I failed...enter the three-part series. 

So we get to the hospital and are escorted to Labor & Delivery where they treat most pregnant patients who come in for urgent needs (i.e. without an appointment with their regular doctor). Luckily they had a wheel chair to get me around, which I was really grateful. We were escorted to a room and pretty quickly had a nurse checking my vitals and getting an account of my symptoms. They also immediately checked for the baby heartbeat and made sure everything in that arena was ok.

The doctor came in 15 or 20 minutes after that. It was actually my regular family practice doctor who happened to be on rotation in that unit. So we had a familiar face to work with. He knew my activity level and low key history so far. After asking the routine questions about my symptoms, he took a look at my legs. He preformed some touch tests on the sensitive areas on my hip and pelvic areas. We noticed some swelling and discoloring on the left leg so he did measurements and look at the difference between each side.

There were mainly two possible causes for my issues: 1) normal pregnancy discomfort that we can't do much about; pain might be more of a injury somehow and would heal on it's own, or 2) blood clot, also known as deep vein thrombosis, DVT.

My only risk for DVT is being pregnant. Pregnant women have increased levels of estrogen which means blood clots more readily as it helps the placenta to work and prepares for labor. However, typically only 1 in 1,000 women will actually experience a clot. Other risk factors include previous blood clots, family history, obesity, smoking, prolonged immobility (bedrest or long distance travel), multiple births, or being older than 35 while pregnant.

I don't fit with any of those. After bringing in another doctor who again measured my legs, went through the series of questions about my symptoms and history, they consulted and decided to order an ultrasound of my leg. Both doctors really didn't seem to think DVT was the issue, but thought it better to be safe. Maybe they were just trying to be reassuring...

We had to wait for someone in Radiology to come in, so of course there was more waiting. As Jake and I hung out on my waiting bed, I actually found myself quite comfortable, more so than I'd been in a few days. But then I'd get up to go to the bathroom and the pain would come back. 

Finally in Radiology, the technician focused the ultrasound on inner leg up to the pelvic area. This seemed strange to me because my pain and been in the outer hip and down the front/outer part of the leg. So the area she was looking at wasn't the "problem area" in my eyes. Obviously these doctors and staff know more than I do. 

After getting back and waiting for a little more, the nurse comes in will six or seven test tubes and says he's going to put a catheter in my arm. Jake and I are like...soooo, what does this mean? And Jake asks, "Is she getting admitted?" I, of course, thought he was off and that wasn't going to happen. But sure enough, the doctor comes in shortly after and confirms that I do have a clot. 

And that we caught it early. 

They are going to get me started on a blood thinning shot and keep me overnight for observation. She said I could probably go home and be fine, but that they wanted to make sure I didn't have immediate negative reactions to the treatment. She explained a lot more about what this means for the pregnancy moving forward (see next post.) 

They take my blood for tests and insert the catheter. Then they hook up me to some sort of system to keep track of my vitals (I think?). I was on two different types, but ended up with three trackers along my bra line and three higher on my chest. Then they move me down to the 5th floor to stay. The staff down there then checked my vitals, baby heartbeat, and got the rundown before things quieted down for the evening. 

 

Hello Blood Clot: At Home

I ramble a lot guys. I apologize for the excessive length of this post. It mostly serves as my personal documentation of my increasing pain and what led me to see the doctor. My next post will share more details about what's going on and what it means moving forward at this point. 

27 weeks.

Jake had Monday off for Columbus Day so we had decided to FINALLY visit the beautiful Pensacola Beach that morning. I don't remember exactly when I started feeling discomfort but I do remember loving the water for many reasons but most especially because my hip and back didn't ache while swimming.

So I think things started Monday morning. I attributed anything I felt to normal pregnancy stuff. Really it started very minor with some slight left hip and lower back pain. Since my belly had become more prominent in the last couple weeks, these things seemed like normal adjustments to the increased weight and alignment changes.

Monday evening I headed out for errands and after returning home told Jake that it felt good to move and that walking around helped my discomfort fade. That evening Jake was kind enough to give me a mini massage in some sensitive areas and rub some Doterra Deep Blue on my legs and back.

By Wednesday the discomfort had increased but was still bearable. I woke up sore and tried some foam rolling to ease out my leg and back. I usually walk 3 miles with some friends MWF, but was already feeling slower and ended up only doing 1.5-2 miles.

Thursday morning I woke up a couple hours earlier than Jake not being able to fall back to sleep or get comfortable. My hip pain seemed to be more intense and spreading down the front of my leg. At this point, my back didn't hurt much anymore, but my leg was increasingly unbearable. I had trouble moving from my bed to the couch and may have been whimpering a bit as Jake got ready for the day (:P). Before he left that morning, he made me promise to all the Nurse Hotline to see what I could do or if I needed to see someone.

After falling back asleep again, I woke up around 10 am and initially felt MUCH better. (Somehow I always tend to sleep better once Jake leaves the house.)

But then I tried to move (aka walk to the bathroom).

Immediately my pain was back. I called the Nurse Hotline and slowly walked around the house while going over my situation and symptoms with her. I was able to walk but was slow and uncomfortable. At the end of our conversation, she asked if I had taken anything for pain yet, to which I said I had not. (I'm not much of a medicine person even when not being pregnant.) She said at this point, I could probably still be treated at home. To take some Tylenol and the alternate between icing and heating my leg.

As I hung up the phone, I already felt disappointed. I think deep down I doubted those directions would do much for me. But I knew I at least had to try the advice. Problem: I didn't have Tylenol.

It was almost 11 am at this point, and I wanted to try the advice immediately so I'd know if I could teach my 5 pm Zumba class and/or so I'd know if I need to go to the doctor by the time Jake was done for the day. Despite not wanting to leave the house, I headed to my car to go to a little store nearby on base. I drive a manual car which was a bit tricky with my sore left leg but I made it work for that little two minute drive.

There aren't great parking options right by this little store and I made the mistake of parking in the farther lot. By the time I realized this mistake, I'd already walked too far to switch.

This walk to the store was very revealing to me. I had to stop a lot to let my leg rest and was struggling to hold back tears. But I made it to the store and quickly found the Tylenol I needed. I grabbed some Swedish Fish, Mambo's, and a too-expensive bottle of water as well. I knew I couldn't wait until I got home to take that medicine and needed water. When I was checking out, the lady asked if I was going to the movies. (The on-base movie theater is next door.) "No," I say. "I needed the Tylenol and just grabbed the others." And I'm pregnant. And in pain. And needed some pity treats.

I stopped at the bench outside the store entrance. I scrambled to tear open my medicine bottle and get that darn cotton swab out of the way. And then just sat there and wondered how I'd make it back to my car. I people watched for a minute and wondered if people would think it strange if I asked them to go get my car for me. Maybe drive me home. Instead I opened my Swedish Fish, had a couple bites, took a deep breath and started my what-seemed-to-be journey back to the car. I know I looked ridiculous limping along pregnant, in running shorts and Jake's oversized t-shirt, with my head down and trying not to cry. But I made it back to my car. And home. And inside. To my couch.

I sat down to rest and Jake arrived home for lunch a mere 10-15 minutes later. I told him about my trying excursion out and he wished I'd be able to ask him to pick it up for me. But Jake doesn't have phone access during the day and often doesn't come home for lunch until 1, sometimes later, if at all. He only had 20 minutes home and I was currently icing my leg. He got a bunch of snacks together for me, prepped my stuff for future heating and icing and insisted I only leave the couch for bathroom visits and discarding ice. My store visit had definitely opened my eyes to what I was capable of...I also arranged to cancel my Zumba class that evening.

I was able to take another nap but aside from feeling my leg numb from the ice, experienced no change in my pain. I took my second set of Tylenol as soon as allowed, so around 4 p.m. Jake got home a little after 5 p.m. and after talking with him, I called the Nurse Hotline again.

It was during this phone call (and with Jake's eyes helping) that I noticed that my left leg was a bit swollen and a different color. Jake and I were getting ready to head to the hospital even while talking to the nurse, and luckily they also confirmed that I needed to go in within the next 8 hours. Jake was starving and I hadn't eaten much of substance so we stopped at Chick-fila and got some food to eat on the way to Labor & Delivery. I think we got there by 5:30pm.

To be continued.

A Look at Pregnancy So Far

Now that I'm more than halfway through this pregnancy—and have completely announced the fact that I am in fact, pregnant, I've been feeling the need to attempt at documenting things thus far.

Honestly, I don't know that there is much to document. Jake and I found out I was pregnant exactly nine days before we moved across the country. Those nine days included me teaching my last full week of classes, packing, planning out our drive, coordinating where we'd stay the weekend after our belongings were picked up, various last-minute projects, finishing Air Force paperwork, shipping Jake's car, and more.

Then we had six days of driving, visiting family, and staying in hotels, followed by another week of living out of our suitcases with none of our belongings. Followed by multiple weeks of unpacking, organizing, exploring, and simply getting used to an entirely new life.

With all that said, I was very lucky to experience very few pregnancy symptoms. If fact, most of anything could have been explained by other causes.

During the traveling time, I experienced some slight stomach discomfort with some added bloating and gas. My limited physical activity and nutrition coming from car snacks and quick food stops on the road surely didn't help my slowing digestive system.  

After getting a tad settled in Pensacola, I really started to notice my fatigue setting in. I was tired ALL. THE. TIME. Can I take another nap please? Again, I'm sure the whole ordeal of moving would take a lot out of people, plus add in having no set schedule (aka nothing to do) and the heat. Oh the heat.

I never had much nausea. I've thrown up two times. Once because I took my yummy gummy vitamins and forgot to eat something quickly enough. (And that's happened to me when I'm not pregnant...) Twice, because I taught a Zumba class and got caught in traffic getting back on base. So I wasn't able to eat quickly enough to replenish my system after working out.

Jake had a training out of state during my 11-14 weeks and I was out of town during my 12th week. My sister and her family came to visit me during that 13th week. After all that, something must have gone bad in the fridge as I couldn't open it without gagging. There really wasn't much I was up to doing about it, so I just held my breath and plugged my nose anytime I used the fridge...and I definitely didn't explore much in there! Then I had Jake clean it out when he got home. I banned him from ever telling me what smelled.

Aside from that, everything has been pretty smooth sailing. My fatigue is the only consistent factor, but I really just don't think I do well in hot weather. I've also been a slow show-er, but everything including weight gain, baby size, and heartbeat are on track. I just seem to be getting chubbier and wider rather than having the typical baby bump...as of now.

I do have one story about fainting at week 16 (which I was fascinated about for a while as I've never experienced that before), but I'll share that in a separate post. I'll also share our experience with the first doctor's appointment.

Stay tuned. (For those and hopefully some non-pregnancy-related topics).

P.S. If you don't already follow me on Instagram, seriously do it. I post a lot more pictures and updates there on a day-to-day basis than I do anywhere else.

From Her: Finding Out

I woke up in the morning and on my way to the bathroom decided to take the last of the two dollar store tests I had impulsively bought a month earlier. I had been waiting a week for my period to start but was planning to wait a few more days before doing the test. Having stopped taking my birth control pills this month, I knew that change could be affecting my body and wasn't too thrown off by the delay.

I had actually taken the first of those tests just two weeks prior mostly out of curiosity of having never taken one. Obviously by going off the pill, we were planning to try for pregnancy. But I saw leaving my daily pill more so as a pre-step than I saw it as us actually "trying." I'll admit that my mindset and actions were more so aligned with the "not quite yet" approach than the trying approach. I didn't expect to have a positive result immediately after going off the pill and wasn't surprised when I did in fact get a negative with the first, probably premature, test I took. However, given the timing and my body history, if I were going to be pregnant this cycle, I thought it would have had to show up by that point.

My decision today was made in a split second. It was a Sunday morning, our one-year anniversary AND Mother's Day. I still hadn't started and figured if I were going to take the test that week anyways, I might as well do it today.

I completed the process of getting my sample in the right place and left the room. I played a game on my phone and just so happened to finish my round a bit more than 3 minutes later. In no rush, I made my way back to the bathroom, really and truly not expecting anything. As I looked down at the test, I saw the two lines and looked back and forth from the test instructions to the test itself.

Really? Positive? ... Really?

I thought about calling for Jake, but he was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up. Because it was our anniversary, I decided to turn the results into a present and let him wake up and open it on his own time. I tiptoed into our bedroom to pull a couple sheets of tissue paper out from the wrapping supplies box under the bed.

I found a small box to use and folded the instructions with the results key showing and placed it in the box with the test on top. I then layered multiple pieces of the white sparkly tissue paper around the box and taped them in place.

With my "anniversary present" ready, I slowly made my way back into the bedroom. Jake was stirring but I made my way to his side of the bed and placed the box on his dresser. Jake is a bit hysterical when he's sleeping and he says "What are you doing? Come back to bed."

"I am. But I have a present for you. You can open it when you wake up."

Jake groaned. We had decided we weren't going to do presents; we aren't really presents people anyways. But I think he always fears I'll say no presents and turn around and break the agreement.

Now with that present on the dresser, Jake was noticeably grumpier, even more so than his normal just-waking-up self.

I crawled back into bed and reassured him. "Don't worry, it's not really a present."

I really intended to go back to sleep for a bit and let Jake wake up on his own time. But I found myself not being able to relax.

"Maybe you should open it now."

"Ahghektjhejhkhgs Shtkhjkehs." (Translation: No I want to be sleeping. And now you've made me feel worse for not having a present for you.")

"Yeah, open it now."

Jake sits up, grabs a shirt, and lets me snap a picture.

I realize as he's unwrapping that this should probably be something I film. I thought...oh this is too dark, I need to turn on the light, but there wasn't time to do anything about it. This video shows what unfolded next.

I love the video and proceeded to watch it at least a dozen times today...even though Jake hates how he looks and sounds :D.

Read Jake's version here.

From Him: Finding Out

Jake:

We had talked about it before - a family. When do we start trying? Would we want a boy or girl? What name would we give? Sure these are all things that most married couples will think about, but just like in any physical science, the actual experience is nothing like the well thought out theories.

A few months ago, Karianne (aka LOML - love of my life, guys) showed me a video when a woman told her spouse she was pregnant through the "subtle" clue of putting a literal bun in the kitchen oven. He exclaimed, dropped whatever he was doing and picked her up and kissed her. He may have cried too... I don't remember. Anyways, I thought his reaction was sweet and heartfelt, and then I immediately felt a little bad for Karianne since I predicted that my reaction wouldn't be as memorable. I don't react excitedly in a visible manner, but Karianne would still see how happy I would be... right?

Ever since graduating from BYU and commissioning in the Air Force in April, we decided it was time to start trying to add a new member to the family. I figured that things would take a while for the birth control to clear her system, and I didn't expect any results in the near future - after all, I had no idea if we could even have children! I was just hoping a lot and trying not get my sights set on something that may not be physically possible for us.

So May 10th rolls around  - Our anniversary and Mother's Day (not to mention I also like to sleep in on Sundays). It's probably 8 o'clock or earlier and Karianne whispers for me to wake up. I flip the fluffy brown pillow over to its cold side and shove my face even deeper and grumble that it's too early.

"What?" Karianne asks.

"It's too early. Go to sleep."

"I have something for you..." Karianne says softly.

I roll over half upset and half curious. She tells me to put on some random shirt she found - of course the Flash one we got for Halloween when we dressed up as Sheldon and Amy from The Big Bang Theory - and places a package wrapped in white tissue paper (not the toilet paper, but the sparkly filler paper for presents). I grumbled and reminded her of our deal that we weren't going to buy gifts for each other and just enjoy doing things like going to see a play or going to the amusement park with each other this weekend. I was now in her debt with this package in front of me.

Still half asleep and as coherent as a teenager who just got his wisdom teeth taken out, I fumble with the package grumbling that she wasn't supposed to get me anything.

I finally figure out the "complex" opening to the small cardboard box and look in to see the blurry contents. I pull-out this kazoo-looking thing that resembles a USB device. Alright, now I'm confused.

"Is this a large flash drive?" I ask lazily and trying to show enthusiasm (I'm not good at pretending that I'm happy when I first wake up, so this was really brave of Karianne to even think I would show some sort of positive emotion).

"Read this," she says while pointing to the rest of the contents in one hand and holding her phone with the other. I completely didn't register the cell phone there or else I would have put some sort of hand in front of it... I can't stand pictures or videos of myself. ugh.

Anyways, I grab these instructions out of the box and start trying to make sense of the words - they might as well be Chinese characters, I couldn't figure out what I was looking at for a few seconds.

Finally, I see two images of the kazoo-looking flash drive and under one image it says "Pregnant" and under the other "Not Pregnant."

I start to put the pieces together, but everything becomes so much more urgent now that "Pregnancy" is at stake... I don't know why, that's just how my mind responded to the words. I figured Karianne could be the type of person to say, "HEY! We're not pregnant, but I love you anyways! Happy anniversary!" ... And I would probably hate her for waking me up, then. But she would do something like that. You see, she doesn't understand the value of sleeping in... yet.

I flip my eyes between the instructions and the pregnancy test (which I am now sure is not a flash drive) frantically trying to make sense of what I am seeing and what the results are. I beg her to just tell me what it all means...

"YOU'RE PREGNANT!" (Now she'll understand the value of sleeping in.)

I had no idea that we were this close to having a baby. Everything became so real at that moment. This is something neither of us has ever experienced. Just witnessing as much as a good aunt or uncle does... I'm really going to be a father?! Holy Smokes!

I think about the little guy (or girl) who is growing and can't help but imagine all of the experiences we're going to have together as a family. I start dreaming our entire lives and I don't even know what we'll name her/him.

And yet, while I'm so excited, I am still a bit reserved because I know a lot can happen in the first trimester of pregnancy. I am hopeful for everything to go well, but I am always prepared for the worst and the hardest of things - It's in my nature. The thing I know for sure is that I will support my lovely wife with all of the needs she will have - emotional or other - and continue to look forward to the future Ortiz family getting one girl or boy bigger.

I'm constantly thinking, "Am I the father I want to be? What do I need to change? There is no time better to change things than right now." There are so many things I need to learn about being a dad and becoming a better husband and I have always felt like the present is the best time to make changes.

While I was serving as a missionary in Las Vegas, I met an elderly man who invited us over for dinner with him and his wife. He asked me a question that he already knew the answer to - "What is the most important decision you will make in your life?"

"To get baptized?" ... "Nope."

"Who you marry?" .... "Good idea, but no."

He explains, "Both of those are indeed very important decisions, but the most important decision you will make... is the very next one have you before you."

I have thought greatly on that ever since hearing it 7 years ago. I realize that after we make a decision, its consequence changes is priority. The highest priority decisions we make in life are always the next ones we have to face. If you get in an argument, your next decision is to either apologize and make amends or let it fester. If you break a commandment, do you ask for for forgiveness or hide from God. If you are told you are going to be a parent, do you prepare yourself and change accordingly or do you ignore the higher calling?

I am so excited to be the father of Karianne's child. I can't believe I can even be writing these words now. Being married and having a family was a pleasant day dream of mine since I was a kid (of course I also wanted to go to space or invent some cool mechanism - call me old fashioned), but I didn't know what it would feel like when those things would finally be coming true. It feels like a jell-o is what your brain and stomach are made of and your heart just grows three sizes bigger. I am ready for the challenges that parenthood bring and I can't wait to welcome our whatchamacallit into the world....HURRY UP!

Read Karianne's version here.