Happy New Year!

Yes...I know, I am about six days late for Happy New Year, but I feel as though it is an appropriate title for my first blog of the year.  I have decided to start this blog for friends and family that would like to follow Dan and I thought the exciting journey of pregnancy and parenting. 

Dan and I have been married for 4 1/2 years and we are expecting our first child.  We anticipate the excitement to enter our lives mid June.  We are overwhelmed with excitement, a little bit of nervousness, and trying to be as planful as possible. 

The last few months have gone by so fast that it is hard to believe we are 17 weeks into the pregnancy.  Here is a brief overview...

• October 28, 2012:  At home pregnancy confirmed that I am pregnant.  I ended up taking three home pregnancy tests because I wasn't sure about the first one. 
• October 29,2012:  Called the Doctor to schedule my first doctor's appointment.  Confirmed that I am 7 weeks along and my due date will be June 13, 2013.
• November 19, 2012: I am 10 weeks along and today is my first doctor's appointment.  Dr. Mary Berg confirmed that I was measuring at 10 weeks.  We were able to hear the heart beat.  It was like  music to my ears to hear the pitter patter of our little baby's heart beat.  It is amazing how real the pregnancy becomes when you hear the beating of their heart.  The heart beat was strong coming in at a whopping 160.
• December 17, 2012:  I am 14 weeks along.  We had an 8:00am appointment with the doctor in Sioux Falls.  It was an early morning for us.  Dan came along which was very nice because the roads were not very good.  It was snowing and blowing all the way from Rock Rapids to Sioux Falls.  We made it on time for the our appointment thanks to Dan driving!  I lost around 5lbs. since my last appointment and the doctor confirmed with me that I should plan on gaining 25-30 1bs over the next 7 months.  Wow...that is kind of overwhelming. We were able to hear the heart beat again which was good.  I really wanted to hear the heart beat as we are planning on telling our parents over the Christmas Holiday.  The heart beat came in strong again at 152.
• December 24, 2012:  We are telling my parents tonight that we are expecting a baby.  I became a little crafty and wrapped 8 presents for each member of my family to open.  I have attached a picture! 
• December 25, 2012: We are telling Dan's parents this evening that we are expecting.  We also called Dan's sisters to tell them the news.  There is a big sense of relief when you are able to start telling your family.  Though I will say, it was fun for Dan and I to have this little secret between ourselves.  We spent a lot of night laying in bed talking about the baby and our future family.

We have told most of our family and close friends.  It is a lot of fun to hear my friends stories about when they were pregnant.  I am also getting a lot of good advice from my sister and Mom.  Dan is also getting some advice from friends and church friends.  I have enjoyed hearing the things that Dan is learning from a male perspective.  I usually have a laugh or two. 

Here are a few pictures to get you up to speed on where I am at with my pregnancy....


                                                                           Week 14

 

Week 15 

 

Week 16

 

Telling My Family -- December 24, 2012