15 1/2 Weeks!

I had the best intentions to keep up with a weekly post, but I haven't been doing too well. I will try to do better! ;) Summer tends to be my busiest time of the year at work. I have done really well... not missed a day due to pregnancy symptoms. I have been late, staying home and trying to get over the nausea. My biggest troubles have been nausea in the morning, about 30 minutes after I eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then in the evenings, around dinner time. I also had a lot of fatigue in the first trimester. I would come home from work, lay on the couch, and not be able to move for hours. Poor Ellis! He would have to fend for himself for dinner because nothing sounded good to me and I didn't have the energy to cook anything for him.

Now that we are entering the second trimester, I am slowly noticing more energy. Still not enough to make myself go to the gym. But I cooked dinner three nights last week! Did laundry and put new sheets on the bed, too! I am still feeling the familiar upset stomach. And, sadly, I had my first throw-up episode on Saturday. It had been a while since I had eaten, nothing was cooking, so I have no idea what the trigger was. Just all of a sudden I started feeling it and had to run to the bathroom. Actually, at work last week I had a similar episode, but just ended up dry heaving over the toilet.

Now that I have shared some of the most LOVELY aspects of my pregnancy so far, here are a few better, lighter, nicer things:

*On June 12th, we had our first ultrasound. We saw our little one squirming and playing and having a good time. It was so sweet! We did get two pictures from the ultrasound that I have been carrying around in my purse. If you see me and I don't offer to show them to you, ask and I will gladly pull them out! I don't have the images on my computer, otherwise I would post them on the blog. We were also able to hear the heart beat. It was very strong and steady!

*On June 18th, I felt the smallest, tiniest flutter. I haven't felt it since, but I am convinced that it was our little one.

*On June 20th, I noticed the first change in my body that I knew for sure was due to the baby. My pants have been getting tighter, but I could not visually see a difference really. On the morning of the 20th, I was hopping in the shower and thought that I was looking a little "PG" when I glanced in the mirror. Then, I flexed my stomach muscles. Just to "hold it in," like I was taught to do as a little girl. Nothing happened. My belly stayed the same. THAT was big difference for me.

*Our next ultrasound appointment is scheduled for Friday, July 10th. Ellis's mom and step dad might be in town and able to go with us to the appointment. I will try to get pictures to post from that appointment!

How it came about....

Back in January, I was talking to my good friends Melanie and Andrea about the Nashville Country Music Half Marathon. I haven't run in a few years but I really wanted to start running again. This is a big race and a big distance. But both Melanie and Andrea assured me that if I followed the running schedule that I could take on this race. I made the decision soon after reading the book The Alchemist and I felt like running such a big race was part of my "Personal Legend."

The process has been wonderful! Melanie and I meet up to run every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We have been following the Hal Higdon's Beginner Training Schedule. I have totally enjoyed it and I finish every run feeling very proud of myself! And it doesn't hurt that I have lost about 12 pounds in the process, too! Also, Melanie and I have run about 130 miles since the beginning of February. Wow! I can't believe it!

Our race is this coming Saturday, April 25th. We had our longest run, to date, last Saturday, April 18th. As you can imagine, running together affords us a chance to talk about a lot of stuff. Everything from in-laws (mine are AWESOME!) to bodily functions issues (please don't ask!) to kids. Melanie and her husband, Joel, have two wonderful children. And I have thoroughly enjoyed the stories of Daphne's princess obsession and Micah's experiences on the pee wee football team. Melanie and Joel are great parents and being friends with them has helped me realize that parenthood is full of rewards and fun, not just disciple and laundry.

On our Saturday run, Melanie and I were a little quiet. It was strange. I think we had acutally run out of things to talk about. A few miles in, we started talking about kids. Melanie always says, "I can't wait to meet your kids!" After running for a while, I admitted that I couldn't remember EXACTLY when my last period was. I vividly remember that in January, it started the day after my birthday. In February it started the day after Valentines. For some reason, I think I had a light period right around March 14th. Obviously, I wasn't super late or anything.

Melanie told me that she found out she was pregnant at Chick-Fil-A. She said that she and her mom were driving around and got a PG test and stopped there for lunch. She then told me that Joel was a waiter at O'Charley's and was working that night. She went there to have dinner in his section and took him a little rattle as a gift to signal to him that he was going to be a father. I thought that was such a cute idea! It got me to thinking that if and when I am PG, I will have to do something funny or cute so Ellis could tell everyone how he found out.

When I got home from our 10 mile run, I was hot and stinky and sweaty. Ellis was playing Call of Duty on his Xbox so I decided to just jump in the shower and get cleaned up while he was playing his game. Before I got in the shower, I decided to dig out the pregnancy test my mom gave to me about a year ago. She brought it to me from the lab, just a little something to have on hand as needed.

I really didn't expect anything. I really didn't. But something happened. Two stripes immediately appeared. Clearly. Quickly. I am pregnant.



I spent about 15 minutes in the shower quietly thinking and holding on to my little secret. No one else in the world knew at that moment but me.

At the end of my shower, Ellis came in and started shaving off his huge beard. It had gotten pretty wild. And I was happy to see it transform from a large, furry, red rug to a small little patch of bristle. I had left the PG test on the counter and he hadn't noticed yet.

I quickly snuck into his closet and found an old undershirt. Then I went to the kitchen with some markers and scribbled out a message. I couldn't stop smiling. I threw a little skirt on and headed to the bathroom.



Ellis looked up from his handy work (his beard was nearly gone) and I watched a variety of feeling fleet across his face. His first words were, "Is this a joke?" Followed quickly by, "Are you kidding me?!" The faster, "Are you joking?"

All I could do is laugh. And shake my head, and squeeze out a "It's true!"