9 Weeks

How far along? starting my 9th week but baby is measuring more like 8 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I'm down 2 lbs thanks to my annoying nausea
Maternity clothes? nothing yet.  My belly is a little sensitive and I am bloated so I try to avoid anything tight.
Stretch marks? none
Sleep: I take naps often and get up at least 2 or 3 times a night.  So far, I have been lucky to go back to sleep right away afterwards
Best moment this week: Well, last week....seeing the heart beat and getting our first picture of our baby!
Movement: None yet and can't wait to start feeling them in the 2nd trimester!
Food cravings: nothing major at the moment.  I'm just lucky to have an appetite some days and want to eat
Gender: I have had a strong feeling its a boy but the last few days, I have been thinking girl...so who knows!
Labor Signs: way too soon for that!
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
What I miss: eating and wanting to cook.  The smells of food have been really hard for me to handle! 
What I am looking forward to: having the nausea and vomiting to leave me!!!  But I have been feeling pretty good yesterday and today.  I haven't taken any anti-nausea medicine yet so hopefully it's a good thing and I won't be kicking myself in the butt for it later tonight!
Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy every moment of this pregnancy.  I'm lucky to be pregnant since so many have trouble.  Plus, 40 weeks are going to fly by!  The first 8 have been like a blink of an eye!
Milestones: surviving the first 8 weeks of my pregnancy


From babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Meet Baby Barker!

We had our first OB ultrasound appointment today and it went well!  I was a bit nervous knowing I would need to get my blood drawn (yes, I'm a chicken even though I'm a nurse *lol*)  and they were sticking a probe (where?!?) but Doug was right there calming me down!  We were so excited to see the baby for the first time and see the heart flutter!

So, our first baby picture!

 That little smudge in the big black hole is our baby!!!!  He's upside down and hanging out!  

You couldn't really make out much since the baby is a whopping 10 mm =)  

So tiny!!!

But we could see the heart just flickering away.  She didn't turn the sound on b/c she said it's too loud for the baby and didn't want to scare it.  I was fine with that!  So we just sat and watched the heart just beat away!

Amazing!!!!

Here's a 8 week belly picture.  

I am mainly just bloated and not really showing.  That will change soon I'm sure!

My due date changed and will now be around April 7th, 2011.  She said the baby was measuring a bit smaller.   April is a great month to have a birthday hehe!  Mine is April 10th!

Our next appointment is September 17th!  We'll meet the OB that will deliver the baby.  The OB that I see no longer delivers which is sad b/c she's wonderful!  But she highly recommended Dr. Poole and I'll deliver at The Ohio State University!!!!

Gifts for the baby!

Our friends Rick and Bre sent the baby some love from Virginia!

Thanks Rick and Bre =)

We love it!

First night...check!

I had my first night on my own at work on Monday and it went really well!  Of course it was crazy at the beginning but I left feeling so confident and was glad I had a good group!  Our census was low so I was actually asked to be "on-call" (which means I could go home and they can call me if they need me) but I told them that I needed to stay to get practice *lol*

So, now I'm off until Friday night!  I work the entire weekend which will suck but it's been so nice to have a few quiet days off at home!

Big day tomorrow...our first OB ultrasound!  I'm so excited to finally get to hear the heart beat of our growing raspberry!!!

I'm free!

I am officially out of training!  

I had my last night with my preceptor and it went really well!  I also had my 90 day evaluation and that went really well also!  Starting Monday, I'm on my own!  I'm a little nervous but excited to be pushed from the nest =)

7 Weeks

How far along: 7 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I haven't weighed myself yet but with the nausea and such, I can feel that my clothes are looser!
Maternity clothes: not yet and probably  not for a few more weeks!
Stretch marks: no...way to early 
Sleep: I need it all the time!  I never knew how tired you can be in the first trimester.  Feels like I have no energy to move.
Best moment this week: Spending Doug's birthday looking at Carter's for clothes and then sitting outside Jeni's talking and having him tell me I had a little "glow" today!  Love him!
Movement: none yet and not until a few more weeks!  I just have intense burning from my uterus growing
Food cravings: I have odd cravings and need food right now and then I go for a few days where I don't even want to think about eating
Food aversions: Chipotle (gag!) or anything too spicey.  I craved that last week and it had me so sick for days
Gender: I have a strong feeling its a boy!
Belly Button in or out: in
What I miss: rodeo red wine, a good ice cold coke, and just feeling hungry and have a normal appetite
What I am looking forward to: feeling the baby move and to look a little pregnant and not so bloated
Weekly Wisdom: to just be thankful for every ache and pain!  I'm growing a little miracle =)
Milestones: Just can't wait to make it to the first ultrasound next week!

Babycenter.com weekly update:

How your baby's growing:

The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.

Happy Birthday Doug!

Happy Birthday Lover!  

I hope your 28th year brings you as much excitement as your previous years!  You make me so happy and I am truly blessed to be married to such a funny, caring, and loyal man!

Love ya!

Does anyone know a cure to fix nausea?

Since I have been pregnant, I get nauseated about every other week but this week has been the worst!  I have tried ginger in my tea, ginger ale, lemonade, crackers, etc.  But nothing seems to work.  It will work for the time being but then it comes back.  I had to leave work last night after just 2 hrs b/c I vomited twice...ugh!  I have a prescription for phenergan but it makes me sleep so I can't take it and then go to work.

So, any advice would be greatly appreciated!  I also hear that it's supposed to peak around 10 weeks so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's peaking now and will get better!

Just Thursday...

Outside my window... it's sunny and looks HOT HOT HOT
The time is...1:23
Today I feel...nauseated...ugh!
I am thinking...that I should resist all my pregnancy cravings for Chipotle
At the moment, I am thankful for...my wonderful husband, family and friends
I am going...to have lunch with Karen then to the Ohio State Fair with Doug
I am wearing...shorts and a tank top
I wish...I had more energy and could see inside my belly at my growing sweet pea
I am reading...lots of pregnancy books
I am working on...fixing my nausea
I am hoping for...a day where I feel so comfortable and confident at work
I am hearing...the hum of the air conditioner
Around the house...it's just me and the pets and it's so peaceful
I bet you didn't know...that I helped save someone's life early Wednesday morning after he coded.
One of my favorite...places to be is on the beach
My weekend plans are...to work work work!  Not looking forward to working 3-12 hr shifts in a row.  With being pregnant, my energy left 6 weeks ago and I'm hoping for it to return quickly!

Head on over to murdock's mama to join the fun!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to the Deppens!

Happy 3rd Anniversary Abbey and Adam!

Hope you are having fun celebrating in Tybee Island!!

First purchases for baby =)

Doug and I have been out looking at all the baby stuff and couldn't help but buy a few things =)

These are the cutest outfits!  The duck on the feet is so fuzzy!  We had to go with unisex since we are unsure of the sex!  And we couldn't resist the I love my dad onsie!!!  Doug picked that one out!

While at Baby 'R Us, we found these Born free kits for $19 so we bought 2 =)  So, now we have 8 bottles, 2 pacifiers, 2 scrubbers, and 2 microwave sterilizers to start with.  I'm planning on breastfeeding so that should be enough bottles to start with. 

And a BIG THANKS to Sara and Jake for giving us their new born diapers that Ashton grew out of!

Lastly, thanks for all the cards, phone calls, emails, blog posts and facebook e-mails!  We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends!

This baby is going to be so spoiled and loved!!!

Visiting Ashton

On Saturday, we picked grandma up and brought her back to Columbus to meet her new grand baby, Ashton!

My cousin, Sara, had her on June 3rd.  

Hard to believe she's almost 2 months old already!

We're having a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

This has been the hardest secret to keep but we are slowly spreading the joy!

We had been trying for only a little over a month and were very successful!  While we were on vacation, we had suspected that we were pregnant but were unsure.  So, once we returned, I took a pregnancy test that Sunday but it was negative.  Then 2 days later, I still hadn't started my (.) so on my way home from work, I stopped by CVS and bought their brand of pregnancy tests.  Doug was with me that morning I got off so we both sat and waited then looked.  Doug's first response was that he was sad we weren't pregnant but then I looked closer and there was the faintest blue line you ever did see!  I guess that's what I get for buying generic tests.  He was still skeptical but I was hopeful!

Later after I woke up, I took another one and the result was the same, a very faint blue line.  So, I had Doug ask at work to see if I can get an order to have my HCG drawn at the end of the week!  He scheduled me and last Friday morning, I left work and got my blood drawn.  I went to bed and waited for his phone call!

Finally around 1:28pm, Doug called and his first words were, "we're going to be parents!!!"  I had signed a release to have the nurse give Doug the results as soon as they came in!  Best words to hear ever!  What made it more enjoyable was that they were from Doug and not a stranger!

you can see the faint blue line

Amazing!!!

Next came the joy of telling the family!

The next day was Saturday and we decided to tell the in-laws since Doug's mom was leaving later in the week to go on vacation again and it was her birthday.  So, we decided to celebrate her birthday early and tell her the news!

Kate's birthday gift =)

With my family, we had planned to have a cook-out so it was the perfect opportunity to tell them.

I handed mom and my grandma this card =)

Afterwards we had a nice cook-out and played cards!

We're only starting our 6th week so it's still very early in the pregnancy!  I have my first OB appointment on August 19th!  We can't wait to hear the heart beat!!!  I think we are still in shock but so overjoyed and excited!

So, more about the pregnancy after that!!