10 Weeks Pregnant!

Greetings to all of my loved ones! Most of you already know that Tim and I are expecting our first baby in less than 7 months from now; September 20th, to be exact. We are beyond excited and thankful for this huge blessing in our lives. After several people recommended me to start a blog to jot down my thoughts during this exciting time in our lives, I finally decided to do it.

Becoming pregnant wasn't an accident for us; it was completely intentional. We were both at a good point in our lives where we felt led to start a family. Though our 6 1/2 years of marriage with just the two of us has been wonderful, we are ready to move on to another chapter of life where we can nurture, raise, and experience all of the joys that a child can bring. Fortunately, it didn't take us very long to become pregnant, so we are very thankful for that.

We conceived shortly after Christmas and found out that I was pregnant on Sunday, January 13th. I woke up that morning and decided to take a pregnancy test since I knew that it was around the time my period was due. Since I was already cramping, I was pretty sure the test would come out negative; but, much to my surprise, it was positive! It turns out that I never had any bleeding that month and only a few cramps. I was definitely well on the road to being pregnant. I remember being so hungry the previous week at work. I ate so many snacks throughout the day, but it seemed like nothing could satisfy my appetite. It all made sense when I saw that plus sign on the pregnancy test! When I first saw that plus sign, I woke up Tim and asked him if I was reading the test right because I was so excited and in shock. We ended up going to church that morning and had lunch with my family; it would have been the perfect time to tell everyone the news since we were all together that day, but we decided to wait. We wanted to let the news sink in with just the two of us for a while before telling anyone.

A week later, I couldn't hold in the news any longer. I busted a gasket and told all of my immediate family and a few close friends over the phone. Tim and I knew that we'd be seeing his parents soon for his mom's birthday, so we decided to wait and tell them in person. We cleverly signed Pam's birthday card "Love, Tim, Carrie, and Baby Breeden" and we made her read the card out loud. Tim acted like he was taking a picture of her with our digital camera while she was reading her card, but he was really recording her via the video option on the camera. Pam started crying before she even got to our signatures even though the card was pretty corny. We had to make sure she'd read our signatures out loud since some people skip over that part. When she finally got to that part, she cried even harder and jumped up and down with joy. She hugged me three times, and Ted did the "grandaddy dance." It was hilarious and priceless.....so glad we told them in person. We told Tim's sister Amber and her husband Jeff the news over dinner the following weekend by Tim nonchalantly telling his nephew Kenden that he would have to "teach his cousin" whatever he was doing at the time. Amber caught it right away!

I am so blessed to be surrounded by family and friends during this exciting time. I've received so much support, enthusiasm, and great advice from those around me. Amber and my sister Laurie have already offered to throw me baby showers. I also have a close friend Liz who offered to throw me a shower. I figured I could have a shower for each side of the family and one for friends so that the showers could be smaller and more personal. I wouldn't want Amber, Laurie, or Liz getting overwhelmed throwing me one huge shower. Normally I'm not one to want to hog the spotlight, but I've been told by several people that it's ok to enjoy this time and make the most of it--even if it means having more than one baby shower. I'm sure each shower will be fun and bring many important people in my life together. I don't even really care about the gifts (even though I don't have any baby items as of now); I'm just looking forward to the fellowship.

My first appointment with my OB was Monday, Feb. 11th. Per several of my lady friends' recommendations, I chose Peninsula Women's Care for my OB/GYN. I was really pleased with all of the staff. Dr. Yonkers or Dr. O'Connell will be delivering my little one. They both seem like down-to-earth, professional, (and most importantly,) Christian women. It definitely gave me a huge sense of relief to know that I'll be in good hands for the upcoming months. Though I didn't think Tim would want to come to my first doctor's appointment, he insisted. I'm so glad he did, because we got to see our baby for the first time through an internal ultrasound. At 8 weeks, we could already see the little heart flickering away on the ultrasound screen. We could also see sprouts for the arms and legs and its little head bobbing around. It was humbling to see such a tiny being inside of me! How awesome! How can anyone not believe in God after seeing something like that?

My next OB appointment is Monday, Feb. 25th. Tim is insisting on going to all of my appointments; I'm so thankful for his support! We can't wait to see how our little one has progressed at 10 weeks! I will post more on this blog after the appointment. I promise that my future blogs won't be as long as this one! This one is just long because I wanted to capture all of the special moments that have happened in the last 10 weeks. Eventually, I'll start posting some pictures too (once I figure out how to do that on a blog website). So far, there's not a whole lot of physical change in my belly. I can see a slight belly bulge, but it's not too different than how I look after eating a big meal. My weight has been going up and down a couple pounds due to the fact that some days I'm more nauseated than others. I have been suffering from a lot of morning sickness, but I'm still able to keep my food down the majority of the time (thank God). I'm definitely more tired than usual and my boobs feel very tender right now. However, I'm still making it to work everyday and trying to exercise as much as possible and eat right. All in all, things are going well! Praise God!

Thanks for reading my mile-long post!