Woke up thinking...

I'm so ridiculously excited about this baby and about being a mommy. But, this morning, I've got so much else on my mind. I have pretend grad school interviews playing incessantly in my mind. The last one ended with me pretend-apologizing to the person interviewing me because I had spent so much time thinking about how my interviews would go and was thrown off by how different they actually did. (Does that sentence even make sense??? I'm just going to hope it does. ) This baby and some other little issues I've come across working in the lab have made me think very hard about my future. But, I have decided to keep my head down and keep working towards what I've worked so hard on for these past few years. I have so much work to do over the next few months. I have to work so hard to make a really great score on the GRE, to publish something in the lab, and to prepare for a baby. I'm so thankful that once the baby comes, I'll have all of my applications in and will be able to spend some quality stress-free time with the baby. But, I'm going to have to learn to juggle a good bit in the next few months. More than I've ever juggled...

As I read and watch videos and prepare for a natural childbirth, I hear so many women say that once they experience giving birth that they believe that they can do ANYTHING. I think that this entire process over the next few months will leave me saying the same thing.

So, if you're reading this, please send me some positive thoughts. I've been discouraged ever since a research competition that I spent a while preparing for had a date change that I didn't know about that prevented me from participating. Bring on the positive energy. These next few months will be really tough... Who am I kidding? Life is tough anyway and probably about to get a lot tougher with another little life counting on us. I'm ridiculously blessed/lucky.

SO GREEN

So.... we painted it. And, it's green. REALLY REALLY REALLY GREEN. It literally looks like a green screen. The weather man could totally come over and film in there. It's bad. I thought for a minute yesterday that it was growing on me. Nope. It's bad. So bad. So very green.

Help.

Helllloooo Second Trimester!/ Nursery Time already!

So, I'm celebrating tonight. Today is my first official day in my SECOND trimester! Wooo Hooo! I've gone almost 7 days without losing my lunch.

Trust me, it's reason to celebrate.

So, Aaron and I are going ahead and getting a head start on the nursery. We're going with green walls, cherry furniture, and white acce

nts. I'm just excited to be doing ANYTHING with our ugly extra bedroom.

This is our starting point:

Not much to look at, right? That's about to change! Gotta figure out where we're going to put guests, though.

Here are some pics of our inspiration:

I'm loving vinyl decals:

And this is the crib that we bought today from a clearance center down the street (Aaron fell in love with it... sweet, sweet man). We got an AMAZING deal on it and it includes the conversion kit. Yay!

12 Weeks!

We had an appointment yesterday with my super-sweet doctor, Dr. Kimberly Hoover. It was very short and sweet. But, we got to hear the heartbeat! I really wish I could just lay there for a while by myself and listen to it. But, I'm thankful that I got to hear it. It's such a huge relief. I come from a long line of women who had the tendency to miscarry. So, I've been freaking out a little on the inside for the last couple of months. So, all of the nausea and other weird symptoms that came along with the first trimester really just put my mind at ease. Every time I spent the morning having quality time with my bathroom floor, I just thought to myself "well, I'm still pregnant. Yay!"

The good news now is that the nausea has tapered off. Today will be the 6th day in a row I haven't thrown up. I realize that that is a lot of information. But, I'm REALLY REALLY excited about this.

So, today is my last day of my first trimester! It's all starting to feel very real!

We find out the sex on June 27th!!

Baby Chandler!

So, the cat is out of the bag. I'm 11 weeks pregnant with our first baby! Yeah, yeah, I know... "That was fast." Let me go ahead and acknowledge that I'm well aware of the fact. However, be warned that very few people are actually allowed to joke around about this fact unless I initiate the joking. For some reason, all of my crazy-pregnant-lady hormones get all stirred up when people say things to the effect of "Well, you didn't waste any time. " Fair warning. :)

So, the timing is actually pretty amazing for a few reasons:

#1- I just finished undergrad (after 9 long years of working 7 crazy hurricanes and a few other crazy jobs and switching my major 2.5 times)
# 2- Aaron and I just payed off his car and will pay mine off next month!! Woo hoo!!!
#3- The universe apparently REALLY wants this baby to exist right now. I'll spare you the remaining details.

So, I'm close to finishing my first trimester! I'm excited about that. Let me tell you, this first trimester nonsense is for the birds! When I first found out that I was pregnant, I ate so many amazingly healthy foods and made shakes with yogurt, milk, fruit, and all kinds of goodness. Then my 8th week came along... and food was no longer my friend. Well, sprite, cheezits, and fruit loops have been my friends. But, the smell or the thought of most other foods made me lose it. I'm gradually getting better, though. I have cultivated some new skills, however. These include (and are not limited to) throwing up into a paper bag while driving down the road, disabling my sense of smell for hours at a time to get through shifts at work, and talking my husband into rubbing my back for long periods of time. Yay!

I did start prenatal yoga today. I'm very excited about it! I think that it'll be a huge help. So, here is the big kicker: I'm aiming for a natural birth. Please note that I am AIMING FOR this. I will still be signing up for an epidural. I am well aware of my history of threatening to punch doctors in the face (I broke the tip of my Radius bone in my elbow and he wouldn't stop touching it and bending it even after the x-ray!) . However, I will be hiring a doula and will be preparing myself mentally for birth for months ahead of time. Another bonus is that my doctor and potential doula are friends. So, they will work very well together. So, shut it if you're about to tell me that I'm crazy. :)

Love to you all!!