Pregnancy Survey

I found this on My 9 Months' blog and decided to snatch it. I think it will be neat to do now and then maybe do again later on to compare any changes!


Name: Mrs. P

Age: 22
Birthday: 12/12/1986
Birth Place: Zweibrucken, Germany
Height: 5'6"
Pre-weight: between 150 and 155... SH

Father's Name: LCpl P

Age: 25

Birthday: 2/26/84

Birth Place: Florida

Height: 5'8" or so

Are you still together? Yes, happily married

How did you find out you were pregnant? Home pregnancy test the day of my missed period.

What kind of Pregnancy test did you take? The first one was a dollar store brand, the second was a Clear Blue Digital

How many? Just those 2

What were your 1st symptoms? Funky smell - I thought the meat was bad when in actuality I just smelled it more than ever

Who did you tell first? Husband then mom

Who was with you when you found out? Husband, we were still on our honeymoon!

My 1st reaction: I believe I just kept saying We're pregnant! Mr. P stuffed his face full of chips and then didn't say much of anything haha

Was your baby planned? In a way, I went off BC and we said we'd leave it to God. We weren't actively "trying" but we were not- NOT trying either haha

When was the baby conceived? Between May 2 and May 6

How far were you when you found out? Right away, the day I missed my period.

How did your parents react? They're pretty stoked!

My baby

Due Date: 27 January 2010

Do you want to know the sex? YES! I was so impatient!!

Do you know the sex? Yup!

If so, boy or girl? GIRL!

Any names? Ariana Ralyn, still up for adjustment though

Any Ultrasounds? I had a couple in the very very beginning, like 5 and 6 weeks. Then one at around 7 at the orientation, one at 11, and the 3D at 18. Next one is 17 Sept @ 21 weeks

Have you heard the heart beat? Yes, I love it!

Who do you think it will look like? From the 3D he swears she has his nose, I think it's too early to tell but I'll let him think that ;-)

Will the baby have siblings? In the future!

Have you felt the baby move? Yes just little movements right now, like "Don't forget about me, I'm still here!"

Miscellaneous

Did you have morning sickness? Yes it was horrible. I'm hoping it doesn't come back!

Did you have any cravings? Burger King Nuggets, OJ, apple sauce/baby carrots, pb&j sandwiches, and whatever I see on tv haha

Did you have any mood swings? YES. Poor Mr. P.

Are you a high risk pregnancy? Not that I've been told thus far.

Any complications? So far, no. Knock on wood that this remains the case...

Formula or Breastfeeding? I'm really going to attempt breastfeeding, I am pretty dedicated to that option right now.

Have you bought anything for the baby yet? Bought the first little pink outfit after the 3D scan. Grandma has been buying lots of stuff though, and Grandpa helps A LOT haha.

When did you start to show? I feel like I showed right away, but I'm a spaz like that. I think I finally actually really do have a "pregnant belly" now at 18 weeks.

How long could you wear your regular clothes? I stopped wearing my pants really early on, they just weren't comfy. I still wear a lot of my dresses. Shirts are getting too short.

Will you keep the baby's clothes? Probably, or give them to someone who needs them.

Home or Hospital? Hospital.

Natural or Medicated birth? Most likely medicated, unless she comes really quickly.

Who will be in the delivery room with you? I pray pray PRAY that my husband will be there, that is depending on his deployment. Also my mommy.

Do you think you will need a C-section? I'm not planning on it...

Will you cry when you hold the baby for the 1st time? I'm sure.

What's the 1st thing you might say to the baby? I really think I'll be speechless. Or say something really stupid like "A baby." haha.

Will you let anyone video tape the birth? It's not allowed at our hospital. Which bums me out for if he's deployed so let's just pray he'll be here, k?

Are you excited? STOKED.

Who will help you with the baby after the birth? HOPING my husband, and probably mom and dad

What is your favorite thing about being pregnant? Eating and sleeping. Hell yes. I think I was a cat in a previous life haha.

What is the worst thing about being pregnant? Getting fat and being an emotional monster haha

What's one thing you miss doing since being pregnant? Drinking. Going out and acting a fool. It would be nice to still be able to enjoy a cocktail or two on the weekends... baby's worth it though :)

Any days you wish you were not pregnant? When I was really sick I felt like that often. Not that I didn't want the baby, I just felt like shit.

Are you ready for a baby? To be perfectly honest, no. I'm terrified. I will be ready when it's time though, I know.

Do you have insurance? Lol, yes thank you. Good ol' TRICARE

How many kids do you want? I think 3 is a nice number but we'll see...

Do you talk to the baby? ALL the time. I looked really crazy before people could openly see I was pregnant haha

Do you still feel attractive? No but my husband is good at reminding me that I still am, he's so great.

Have you had your baby shower yet? Nope, not for a lil while.

Do you like kids? I do. It's adolescents and older that are questionable - eep!

How far along are you now? 18w2d

We've Got a Wing-Wing (That's as Opposed to a Ding-Ding)

Well, the news is out...

WE'VE GOT A GIRL!!!

My impatience got the best of me. Yesterday, while hanging out with my mom in Wilmington shopping (where I got tons of fantastic new maternity clothes), I called one of the 3D ultrasound places in the area. I asked the lady when her nearest appointment was, she said she had some this week and I asked Any Saturday ones? She said no, Friday during the day, which wouldn't work. I of course explained to her the main reason I want to do this was so my husband can find out with me, as he leaves before our scheduled doctor ultrasound. She said she'd work with me and let me know on Friday if she could squeeze me in on Saturday. Realizing that when husband came out of the field he'd have all of Wednesday (today) off, I decided to call her back a couple hours later and see if there were any appointments for Wednesday, the next day. Of course, there weren't. She promised that we'd get in on Saturday, though.

SO. Husband came home today from the field. (hehehe) and we took a nap. At 1:46pm (that's 1346 for all you military buffs), we were awakened by my cell ringing. I noticed the number and screamed ANSWER IT, ANSWER IT! He handed it to me and I then hear that there is indeed room for us tonight. SO EXCITING. So, we get up, eat some delicious potato salad, go get things straightened out at the bank, stop by the housing office (which turned out to be the wrong office, long story) and then head down to Wilmington.

After sitting and goofing off in the waiting room for about an hour, it was finally our turn. We were so excited we were giddy. And I mean dorky, OMG YAY giddy. A pile of goo was squirted on my belly and we began watching our little miracle wiggle around my still tiny uterus. It was even more breathtaking seeing her in 3D than it was on the regular ultrasound, you could see her features so clearly.

We began looking for the goods in order to determine the "him" or "her" of the situation. And of course, she decided to be difficult. Someone that is born from me MODEST!? Can you believe it? I couldn't, but she sure wanted to keep her legs crossed and the cord close to her, as if to cover up (MOM get out of here, NO peeking!) What a brat! Finally we got the right angle and saw the "three distinct lines" of girls, according to the tech. Those lines, according to the tech were "labia, clitoris, labia" So there ya have it, baby girl, in the flesh.

As you can imagine I am over the moon! Not only did I want a little girl, I mean either way I am happy, healthy baby girl or boy, hooray. But a little girl! Girls are so cute. Now I'm not even trying to think about my little girl 12-14 years down the road and beyond. Right now I'm just focusing on birth - 2 years (haha short span that will fly by, I know) but HOW FUN is it going to be having a little tiny girl?! Eeeeee!!!

Naturally right after finding out, I had to buy something pink. To celebrate the end of the not-knowing-days and the beginning of the I'M HAVING A GIRL! Days. We headed over to the Jacksonville WalMart (after picking me up some Burger King nuggets, a weird craving, I know) and browsed the girl baby aisle. It was so difficult to pick something! After much deliberation we agreed on a pink and grey zip-up sweatshirt with matching pink sweat pants. Her birthday is set to be in late January, so we agreed that something warm would be best (Although the summer outfits were REALLY, REALLY hard to walk away from).

Now I am at home enjoying my midnight meal of potato salad before hitting the sack. I am just sitting here reeling over seeing my baby again and realizing that there is a real baby in there and that baby happens to be a girl.

18 weeks today

I still can't get over all the miracles of life.

I Love Storms and I'm Getting A Bit Round (Randomness)

This blog was written before the weekend, my computer has just been very uncooperative!

So usually I try to keep my blogs cohesive on one subject. But since nothing big and exciting is going on for me to really blog about, we'll talk about a few things today, mmk? K.

First, I love storms. They are sooo beautiful and powerful and when it storms I get excited. I open all the windows and just love sitting there and watching. It has been storming here since I woke up this morning. It's been loud, and dark, and moody! It looks like it's finally lightening up a bit, but for a while it was really going at it! And man it was loud, almost scary. Almost.

I do not, however, enjoy driving through storms. The only driving I really prefer would be clear, sunny (or a nice moon-filled sky) driving. That's the best kind. Speaking of driving, I'm making the trek up to good ol' Maryland tonight. My high school reunion is tomorrow! I'm pretty excited, lots of people I haven't seen in years, only talked to via facebook and/or myspace. It's at Magerks, my favorite bar in Bel Air (AND Federal Hill, yes, there are TWO!) and while I won't be drinking (duh) it will be a great time spent in one of my favorite places in my home town.

Lastly for today, I'm getting mega round! My belly is starting to look less like a goobly shaky fat area and more like an actual pregnant belly! Haha, ok so the only one who ever said it looked goobly, shaky, or fat was me, but I'm the only one that matters in this situation haha. We had our 17 week check up (ok I was 16 weeks and 6 days) last Tuesday. The heartbeat was 160 bpm, we heard lots of movement (wooosh woooooosh!) and all is well. The ultrasound is scheduled for Sept 17 and you better believe I am more than excited to find out the sex (pleeeease cooperate baby!) It is so fun to document the growth, look how much has changed in only a matter of weeks!

A couple weeks after we got the positive test so... 5 weeks, possibly? Still flat tummy, lookin hot!

"16 weeks," only about 11 weeks after above photo!
"17 weeks," just one week later, look how round I've gotten!

I'm Such a Good Wife! (A picnic dinner)

Hubs has 24 duty tonight. That means from 0700 today until 0700 he gets to hang out at the barracks and make sure the Marines of his company are not being complete idiots. That also means that I get a whole 24 hours to myself! What have I done with my 24 hours, you ask? Well, I cleaned some of the house (yay for motivation!), I lounged around watching TV, I made dinner, went on base, and went to the library. Sooo, yep typical day in the life of Mrs. P.

Something new I decided to incorporate into this day between the making of dinner and the going to base parts, is the purpose of the two - making dinner for hubs stuck on base. Aren't I nice? (Ok, I'm learning, remember?!) As husband is there all day, I figure a nice home cooked meal could definitely do him some good. After hearing from him that this is in fact allowed, and he wouldn't mind dinner around 6, I gussy up (gotta look pretty if I'm being a good wife!) and begin cooking at 1700 (that's 5pm - I'm getting good at this). I prepare steak tips which are cooked in brown beef gravy with white rice (Uncle Ben's quick ready - ready to eat in 90 seconds!), salads, and buttered bread. I pack all the ingredients for dinner into a brown paper bag - bowls, forks, knives, napkins, the salads, the bread, sodas, even salt and pepper. The main dish gets put into a styrofoam container (we're working on keeping things hot, here) and the rice bags (yes, they're cooked in bags) get wrapped in kitchen towels. As the gravy leaks from the styrofoam, I am left to hold it and watch it and drive more carefully than I ever have. Ever.

I, of course, get lost of the way to the duty hut. But it's ok because one speaker phone call later and I'm in the right area. Hubby heads over (in his cami's - ooooooo) and helps me carry the bag over to a little covered picnic table area. We unpack and hubs is surprised and delighted by the effort and full-course-ness put into his meal. We dine outside while watching Marines field day (clean their barracks - I guess I wasn't the only one on the cleaning bus today) and then it is time for me to go and him to get back to, well, duty-ing.

All-in-all it was a great dinner. I felt good for doing something nice and being able to get to see him (duty days are longer than they sound, ok?) and he enjoyed a good meal and saw that I really do appreciate him and enjoy doing things for him. Win-win for all involved.

After dinner, I headed over to the library and picked up a few books. I've got a full carton of chocolate ice cream calling my name for dessert and a long night ahead of me. I'll probably end up asleep early - go figure.