37 weeks!

So I wasn't very good at documenting my pregnancy. No journals were filled out. We didn't take a picture every week to track my growing belly. Before I forget everything, thought I would record some thoughts here as a little keepsake to look back on in the future. We are hoping for another child, but with my age and fertility problems this might be our only child so I don't want to lose all of the little details of this pregnancy. It might be a little long and boring, so feel free to skip over!


My belly pics:

The night we were admitted to the hospital to
be induced!

 

Outside of Redstone Grill, where we had our last dinner as a couple
the night I was admitted!

We have been waiting for you for a long time…

We have waited two years for you! We started trying in 2009. After seeing several specialists, two surgeries and some heartbreak, tears and lots of stress and worry,  we got our miracle! We are due on Sunday, March 4th.

When we found out we were expecting you...

We found out I was pregnant around June 15th. We were planning on painting the office furniture that weekend with oil-based paint. Lacey had mentioned that I couldn't be pregnant and use oil-based paint previously so I decided to take a pregnancy test that morning to be 100% sure. I was in such shock, I couldn't even read the test correctly. I had to ask Brian what the two red lines meant. After so many years of trying - we finally got our little miracle.

We decided that morning we wouldn't tell anyone until after Labor Day, when I would be 14 weeks pregnant to make sure everything was ok. That was REALLY hard, especially since my sister's family and my brother, Josh, were coming to visit for two weeks during the first month! I lied to everyone and said I couldn't drink because I was on fertility medication. To try and protect ourselves early on we kept referring to me as being "kind of pregnant". And we also kept saying "we won the free baby lottery" since we had taken the summer off from fertility treatments and didn't have to pay tons of $$$ to get pregnant. We were so excited but soooo cautious.

Weeks 5 - 9 of the pregnancy I had weekly blood work and ultrasounds with my fertility doctor. We got to see the little peanut every week slowly developing. Seeing the yolk sac, the future spinal column and hearing the heartbeat were all major wins and made us feel so positive and excited. Around week 8 my doctor started making fun of us, since I kept referring to us as being "kind of pregnant". He told us we were a whole lot of pregnant and to find an OB soon, as he couldn't deliver this baby. It was actually really sad to be discharged from Dr C's office, he was such a great doctor and we really do owe him everything for giving us our son.

Who we told first about you and their reactions…

The first person to find out (by mistake) was my friend Randi. We were out to dinner, during week 8 or 9, and I was going to order a salad with goat cheese on it (pregnant women shouldn't eat soft cheese which I had forgotten about). Randi then said "oh, I was hoping you were pregnant" but since I was eating goat cheese she assumed I wasn't. I was then stuck, because if I asked the waiter to remove the goat cheese she would have known but now there was no way I was going to order the salad with goat cheese on it and risk anything. So I got the salad without goat cheese and Randi knew.

The first "official" people were told were Kristin and Noel. They knew weeks before everyone else and kept our secret! In August we get the awesome news that Kristin and Noel are also having a baby, so its really exciting the two cousins will be only months apart.

The best reaction we got from telling anyone was from Kevin.  He was tending bar and we went in for something to eat.  He had just heard the announcement that Kristin and Noel were pregnant and wanted to celebrate the first grandchild on the Blair side of the family.  Brian toasted with Kevin and said "well, it won't be the first".  It took Kevin a minute to process it and I thought he was going to drop the bottle he was holding when he finally figured it out.

When we told my sister and her family and Josh, they all claimed they knew it from their visit. Its a little sad that my nephew Wilbur said "I knew Aunt Sarah was pregnant because I've never seen her not drinking before". Aunt Sarah likes her drink - ha ha!

Name choices…

Deciding on names was hard.  My sister Leslie killed so many names off the bat based on her past students. (Apparently boys who have a first name beginning with "a" are terrors and we were to avoid naming our son anything that began with an "a"). The other issue was I had a hard time coming to terms with giving our son a unique name that is hard to pronounce.

We were considering Evan, Colin and Connor but in the end the first name we liked, Cian, became the perfect name.

First trimester (June - August):

~ No funny cravings. Instead I had food aversion for the most part although fruit did taste unbelievable. Strawberries and nectarines tasted amazing. I remember standing over the sink, eating a nectarine and saying "this is the food of gods" which is quite odd. I ate cereal for breakfast and by lunch and dinner I had no desire to eat, let alone prepare anything. Raw chicken made my stomach turn. Poor Brian didn't have a home cooked meal for months. I would go grocery shopping and come home with several boxes of cereal, some fruit and not much else.

~ Had morning sickness in the evening. As the day progressed, I got more nauseous. This was the worst and I was so happy when this disappeared in my second trimester.

~ I was REALLY tired. It was hard to stay awake at work, let alone the drive home. There were some nights when I came home from work and went straight to bed.

~ Heard the heartbeat! I'm so anxious, I bought a doppler to listen to the heartbeat at home, to reassure myself that everything is ok. Had our 13week NT ultrasound and the little baby is healthy! Couldn't get a sneak peak of the sex, because the little stinker crossed its legs

~ Haven't gained a lot of weight, although I look bloated all over instead of looking pregnant. Its summer time so I am lucky and can still wear my normal skirts and sundresses.

Second trimester (September - December):

~ Feel great! My energy is back, still no desire to eat or weird cravings. Finally telling people our news and the response has been so wonderful. Everyone in so excited for us! Sporting a cute little bump, loving being pregnant.

~ Starting to wear maternity clothes, although finding it really hard to find clothes that I like.

~  Had our 20week anatomy ultrasound. The detail that we got to see was amazing! The little bones in the fingers, the roof of the mouth to the penis! Yep, we are having a little baby boy. I have a placenta previa (meaning the placenta is too low) so I'm put on light rest. Can't lift anything heavy, exercise, etc. We go back for ultrasounds every 4 weeks to monitor and wait for the placenta to shift as the uterus grows larger.

~ Let the shopping begin! Since we know we are having a boy I can start shopping. At first its hard to find cute boy clothes but I hit the mother load at Carters. Bought sooo many cute outfits and found the bedding at Pottery Barn. The whole nursery starts to be planned out based off of the colors in the crib skirt.

~ Waiting to feel the baby move forever. Finally during our 20week ultrasound I was told I had an anterior placenta, which means its in front acting like a big old pillow which is why I can't feel the baby kick yet. Throughout the entire pregnancy, I don't feel very much.

~ By week 28 the placenta has moved and I'm off light rest. Still being monitored every four weeks to keep an eye on the placenta and make sure I don't have an accreta (when it grows into the wall). The positive is we get to see our little boy every four weeks!

~ We had our tour of Abington Hospital. The maternity wing is new and the rooms are spacious and nice. Delivering here seems like years away.

~ We ordered the nursery furniture, which will be delivered in early February.

~ By December, I'm slowing down. Notice that I lose my breath very easily. Christmas shopping is not fun this year! For the first time ever, I'm shopping up until Christmas Eve as I can do very little.

Third trimester (December - March):

~ The final months! I'm feeling a little large and have fewer things to wear to work. Towards the end, my ankles and feet are swollen. One day they were so bad I had to wear sneakers to work because they were the only shoes that fit (except for my slippers!) The shoes I wore while swollen now don't fit me since they are so stretched out. Oh well, poor me has to go shoe shopping!

~ I'm feeling very stretched, like there is no more room for baby or my organs. I have something poking me in my ribs all the time!

~ I'm losing my energy. I go to bed around 9:30-10:00pm and sleep like a rock! I have a pillow under my belly to help support the weight and make endless trips to the bathroom each night.

~ We are busy taking classes to prepare! The breastfeeding class was first- 2.5 hours long! We both leave in silence, I'm totally overwhelmed. I've never seen such gigantic boobs in all my life! We also take an all day long birthing class as well as the newborn care class (which we took 4 days before we gave birth!)

~ I have my shower in January. We get so much! We have such generous and loving friends and family. My work and Brian's work also through us showers. Brian's work shower turns out to also be his last day of working since I'm having the baby that weekend.

~ Joe and Lacey come to help us paint the nursery. Brian put in a new closet to hold all of the clothes, we made window valances and the furniture is delivered! We finally finish setting up the nursery the day we go to the hospital- nothing like waiting till the last moment!

~ False contractions! On Feb 1st, after a stressful day at work, I spend the night awake with contractions. Knew they were false but they were painful! The next day my doctors want me to go to L&D triage to be monitored. And then, the dreadful high blood pressure spike started! I had several spikes, so immediately the doctors are concerned. I have a bunch of tests, and I'm sent home with more dr appointments and instructions to rest!

~ By Feb 8th, I have had one more episode of high blood pressure so when I have it again, the doctor asks me what I'm doing after that appointment. I told him "going to work". He said "no you aren't. You are done working, you are on bed rest and we might be delivering you tonight." I was in shock. I started crying, thinking about how I had a ton of things to wrap up at work, that my Boston girl friends were coming in town that weekend and the nursery wasn't ready. After another morning spent in triage, I was sent home to rest with the instructions to report back to the hospital on Sunday night to be induced. It was time to have our little boy!

I was so sad that my pregnancy was coming to an end early. I felt like I missed out on the last 3-4 weeks. I didn't get so large that its uncomfortable and I missed out on wondering when I'll go into labor. I loved being pregnant! It was such an easy pregnancy and such a wonderful time.  Now, off to our next adventure.....