A boring update

Its been a week since I last posted, and I dont have much to report. Matt has been fighting Strep Throat so I have been trying to stay busy outside of the house (I do NOT want to get sick) doing some shopping and photography.

The pregnancy is going great, and we are looking forward to another ultrasound on Friday. I am only 1 week away from being out of the first trimester, and I really hope that the second one brings more energy and less nausea than this first one.

I am craving different foods every day, and lucky for Matt, they have all been at convenient hours. I am still growing in the mid section, and I will probably take another picture soon so that I can document every aspect of my life, because I like to do that, Colton.

Princess made her first kill the other day. A poor helpless sparrow. I tried to assure myself that she found it dead and then brought it to us, but then I noticed that the lawn was littered in feathers. I was really hoping to put some bird feeders up, but I guess that is out of the question now that Princess has tasted avian blood.

Matt and I are having fun planning for a baby, but we haven't done any shopping yet. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't buy anything until I find out if its a girl or boy. Its been hard but I have been doing pretty good.

Well, sorry that there is not much going on in the Aprecio world. I know some of you expect a lot out of us, but between sore throats and the constant desire to sleep, we haven't found time for adventures.

Until Friday :)

My first Maternity Shoot

And I had the best couple to do it! Jill was so willing to do "artsy" shots for me since I have been holding my breath to do some. Thank you so much you guys! I posted a few of my favorites on my photo blog :)

Thank you Seattle

For making it so hard to stay dry!

I did a photo shoot in the rain today, and as challenging as it was balancing an umbrella on my shoulder while trying to get the perfect shots, everything turned out beautifully.

Check out this adorable couple at www.hollyapreciophotography.blogspot.com

Nursery Theme

I have had a little obsession with owls for quite a few years now. So, I decided that I wanted owls to be the theme to the nursery that we will be putting together for the baby. I haven't done a lot, but this last week I got lucky with some great finds.

Shauna, Matt and I each made a little decoupage owl out of textured paper and canvas after Shauna sent me a picture of one she had seen at a store. I cant wait to finish these and put them into the room.

Then today, a blanket that I ordered through Etsy came in the mail to get me even more excited to have a baby. This blanket could not be more perfect! Its hard to think that I will have to wait until April to wrap someone in it.

Its hard to see, but the backing is a pattern of tiny owls too. I just love it!

On a trip to Target, I noticed this gem in the Halloween decorations. I didn't even hesitate to buy it :)

I know that I am a little ahead of myself, but don't worry, I haven't done much else. It just so happens that I found a bunch of cute owl things all in the same week! Can you tell I'm thrilled?

Let there be light!

So I was finally able to talk myself into buying the flash that I have been drooling over for months. I kept telling myself that I wasn't experienced enough to need something like this, but the truth is I have to at least look legit to be considered legit! I have a few photo shoots this weekend that I will need this baby for, so I did it. I bought it. And I don't have any regrets so far.

Now, I better get reading that manual....what the heck are all these buttons for?

Its all muscle.

Matt was getting jealous of all the attention that I was getting for my "cute" tummy, so we wanted to show off his body as well :)

I might explode...

...if I am already REALLY showing at 8 weeks. After all, "little mole" as my mother described it, is only the size of an olive at this point.I called the nurse when I started to bulge and she says that there are 3 factors for my size. 1) I was thin to begin with. 2) My uterus is ahead of the pregnancy because of the hormones I was taking. 3) I had no ab muscles before getting pregnant. All of these are contributing factors in my case.

So, although I look like a beer junkie, I am fine and healthy. I am actually loving the tummy, I just feel weird when people ask me, "How far along ARE you?" and I reply with, "Only 2 months. No its not twins."

Heartbeat

Here is our baby's heartbeat! 151 Beats Per Minute, which is very good. The little "swishing" in the middle of the "blob" on the right side of the "black hole" is the heartbeat. We LOVED witnessing this. Its so cool! Who do you think he/she looks more like? :)

Lowered Immune system

I got a horrible cold early last week that knocked me out of any activity or work for a full 7 days. It was hard to cope with considering that the only thing that I could take safely was Tylenol which really did nothing for any of my symptoms other than add to the tiredness.


So, I survived on tons of fluids, small meals and good movies. I highly recommend one that I watched this week called Penelope. It is so cute! I am not one for chick flicks, but I am always up for a little fantasy every once in a while.

Other movies I rented were Philadelphia, which Matt cursed me for never having seen, and Miss Pettegrew Lives for a Day, which was also a cute movie, but slow.

PS- Does anyone else find themselves talking in english accents after watching movies with them? I do.

Regarding the pregnancy, I was thankful this week to not have morning sickness on top of my cold. I am still getting nauseous spells during the day, but it isn't anything I can't handle. Matt and I are heading into the clinic again today to get another ultrasound, and hopefully spot will have graduated to a little "gummy bear."

Pictures to come!

The Baby News

After 18 months, 12 blood draws, 7 Dr visits and 2 surgeries we are finally pregnant! And it was all worth it so far.

I started on the Chlomid early in July, but I really didn't feel like it did anything. I didn't have the usual symptoms, and I was pretty sure that I was going to have to get a second, higher dose. So I bought myself some ovulation test kits, only this time I went with the digital ones.

It came with a free pregnancy test.

I only tried it out to see how the digital ones worked since I had only seen the "pink line" ones. So, I used it and just as I was throwing it away, I saw that it read pregnant. I was in total shock, and Matt had no idea that I was doing this, and if he did he would be making fun of me for "wasting" a test just to see how it worked. I waited for Matt to leave the room and I called my mom. We both agreed that it was a possibility that the test was just registering my hormone levels from the medication, so I calmed down a bit, went to bed and called my Dr.'s office in the morning.

At this point, I had not even skipped my period yet and I was not feeling any pregnancy symptoms so it was pretty easy to talk myself out of the excitement. But when I spoke to Nurse Nancy that next morning, she assured me that the only hormone that these home tests picked up was HCG, which is a hormone you only get when you are pregnant. She sent me to the lab a few hours later for a blood test to confirm that I was pregnant, and how high my levels were testing. I took 2 more blood tests that week, again keeping this news to myself and my parents. Matt had no idea and to keep it that way, I faked my period going as far as to leave tampon wrappers in the garbage can :)

Friday afternoon, after passing all the blood tests with flying HCG levels, I decided it was time to break the news to Matt. Mostly because it was getting SO HARD to keep it from him. So I went to our favorite restaurant Lombardi's, and set the table with baby things. Then I drove home and talked him into Italian. When we arrived back at the restaurant, they walked us over to the table set for us and Matt turned to me and whispered "This table is set for kids." I told him to sit down, and as he was obeying, he looked up at me and noticed that I had started to cry. He figured it out pretty quickly from there and I told him that I was pregnant.

It was perfect.

The sunset was so amazing, and we finished dinner just in time to walk out on the boardwalk and enjoy the weather. Matt, of course, is thrilled and has been so sweet about everything. He has been getting up early to make me breakfast and making sure that I take all my vitamins.

Sunday we headed over for dinner to Matt's parents house, where we gave them little gift bags with 2 bibs inside. They were so excited to hear the news, and cant wait to be Grandparents. Both our parents are pretty excited to say the least. We have all gone through a lot in the past 2 years, and we were all due for some good news!
Because I am what they consider a "high risk pregnancy" I had a very early ultrasound. I filled up my bladder to capacity, and headed into the hospital to see out little "spot." It was still to early to get a heartbeat, but we were able to see the yolk sack and the embryotic sac. It was amazing. We will go in on Sept 8th for another ultrasound, this time to hear the heart. I am so excited!
According the the ultrasound, I am on my 7th week now. I am not throwing up (much) yet, but I am nauseous a lot of the time. I am constantly hungry and/or tired, and I can smell everything. I am more than happy to be feeling all of these symptoms, since this is what I have wanted for such a long time.

So, come April 18th, we should have a little baby! Thank you for all the wonderful comments and all the prayers you said to help us get here! We are so blessed, and we couldn't be more happy about it!