Belly Pics

We have been TRYING to take a picture each week, but some weeks have escaped us.  Here is a series of belly pics, so far.  Last Saturday, we were 20 weeks pregnant.

Keep in mind, we found out we were pregnant at 7 weeks.  So, we started the belly pictures at 8 weeks.  Here's the first one:

8 weeks pregnant:

9 weeks:

10 weeks: (Who am I kidding, this is more like week 7-14... Carl snuck this picture while I slept away the nausea.)

11 weeks: We missed a couple of weeks because we were in Florida, but here's one at 11 weeks.  It's not much of a belly picture, but since I'm not really showing much anyway, it's okay.  This is my friend Rachel, holding Sugar, and I'm holding Belle.

13 weeks: (I all of the sudden started poking out!)

This was the week I felt the baby move for the first time.  Had my mom not told me how it felt when I moved inside of her, I wouldn't have understood what I was trying to feel.  She explained to me that when I moved inside of her, it felt like a muscle spasm or a twitch.  Everyone else had told me butterflies, but this definitely felt like a muscle twitch.  I felt him move again a handful of times over the next couple of weeks, but by about week 15 he has decided to continue to move as much as possible.

17 weeks:

17 weeks again:

17.5 weeks:

18 weeks: (After arriving home from the Sweetheart's dinner at church)

19 weeks: 

20.5 weeks: (another growth spurt!)

At 20 weeks, I felt him moving a TON one afternoon so I lifted up my shirt.  I saw a little movement in there!  I'm pretty certain a knee rubbed across my belly, and it was the most precious thing ever.  We are officially halfway there, and we will meet our little guy in about 20 weeks! 

And that brings us to today!  Tomorrow we will take our 21 week photo, and I will try to update more often!

Telling Carl's Parents

I'm so sorry this took SO long to get published!  Carl took this video on his phone, which isn't as readily available to me as my own phone, so I had a harder time getting it on to youtube.  

We told Carl's folks the same way we told mine... here is their reaction:

He or She?

Last Saturday, Carl and I had an appointment to find out if our little baby is a boy or a girl!

Our appointment was set for 10:00AM, but by 8:30, I was up and ready to go.  10:00 couldn't come fast enough!  I tried to push Carl to get ready quicker, thinking if we were early, they might see us early.  But the boy purposefully made me wait longer.  He moved like a snail!  I was behind him pushing him up the stairs and he just laughed at how he'd never seen me so anxious before.  Once I finally got him upstairs to get dressed, I put toothpaste on his toothbrush and told him to open up as I stuck the toothbrush in his mouth...brush brush brush! WE HAVE GOT TO GO!  I couldn't get him out the door fast enough!  He enjoyed making me wait a little bit.  Finally we got to the appointment (about fifteen minutes early) and then had to wait about 25 minutes to be seen.  AAAH... THE SUSPENSE!  Here we are in the waiting room, chomping at the bit.

The sonogram tech was really sweet, but she spoke REALLY softly... and she kept saying words that started with "fe.." so we kept asking "What?  Did you just say 'female?'"  "No, I said femur."  

She took all the measurements and told us little baby was not cooperating.  She kept trying to see the baby's face but baby kept turning away.  Finally, we were nearing the end of the ultrasound and baby's bottom was on the screen.  We knew it!  It's a girl!  Obviously no boy parts there!  We stood there smiling, knowing the whole time that this little one was a girl.  We just KNEW it.  Then, BAM!  What just appeared between baby girl's legs???  "It's a boy!" the tech confirmed.  Surprise!!!!!  Carl caught me on video gasping in shock.  I was so positive this baby was a girl; I had been calling him a "she" for months! But a baby boy is growing healthily in my belly... how blessed we are!  We were surprised, but we are over the moon in excitement!

We called all of our immediate family and told them our wonderful news!  Some were surprised, and some "knew it all along" and some said they can't wait to take him to his first gator football game!  :)  This baby is already so loved, I can't wait to meet him in July.  The ultrasound tech also said that my due date would be moved up because baby is measuring a little older than we originally thought.. but we shall see.  Sometime in the month of July he will grace us with his presence.  

My friends all encouraged me to do a small gender reveal.  I had liked the idea but I didn't want people thinking we were narcissistic so I threw the idea out the window until our friends pressured us.  Thanks, guys!  That was a lot of fun!  We kept it pretty simple.  We all got together for our regular Saturday night dinner, and I was in charge of bringing dessert.  I made a cake that our friends would have to cut into in order to find out if baby is a boy or a girl.  

So, when it finally came time for dessert, they cut into the cake and saw blue!  :)

Saturday was such a special and fun day!  And because I can't resist showing off our little boy, here's a picture of him from his ultrasound... and he's sucking his thumb.  How precious!

Telling My Parents!

Oh man, this was so exciting!  We arrived in Jacksonville and my dad was there to pick us up.  Our flight was a red-eye, so my leaning back in my chair in the car while holding my stomach (from nausea) was disguised as tiredness.  Austin was dropped off at his grandparent's house, and then my dad drove Carl, Belle, and I back to my parents house.  After greeting my mom and Sugar, and meeting my dad's new cat, Lucky, we all sat in the living room and chit chatted.  

Carl made a comment about how pretty my parents Christmas tree was, and then explained that we are making a scrapbook (not true) and we should get a photo by the tree.  He instructed me to get in between my parents and pose by the tree for the "photo."  He slyly switched his camera to video mode, and pretended to take a couple of pictures.  I think this video speaks for itself, so have a peek!

We cracked up at how my mom didn't believe Carl when he told them to say that I was pregnant.  I jokingly explain to people my mom has been wanting a grand baby since I was a baby, so for her to hear "Lindsey's pregnant!" was unbelievable music to her ears.  (Literally unbelievable!)  We later found out she thought Carl was trying to get her to think happy thoughts so he told her to say something that would make her happy!

We told Carl's parents the next day... stay tuned for their video!

Cat's outta the bag!

We were previously the people that never missed a church service, never missed a lunch with friends, and never missed any dinners with friends either.  All of the sudden, we became sporadic attendees.  My nausea wouldn't let me attend many activities. 

Thus, our friends were starting to think I was either avoiding them, or dying.  So, Carl and I felt that we had to tell them what was going on.  We had avoided telling them because we didn't want any chance of the news making it to Facebook before we were able to tell our families.  Before telling our friends, we decided to go ahead and tell Austin.  We impressed upon him how huge of a secret this was and I may or may not have alluded to never trusting him again if he let the news leak.  Thankfully, he came through for us and kept his lips sealed.  

Let's rewind...About a week ago, Austin had told Carl he would like a sibling… what timing!  The night we decided to tell him, Carl said "We are getting you something you have asked for, but it'll take about 7 months before you can see it."  Austin started naming all these toys and video games that he wanted but Carl just kept shaking his head.  Carl said "Think about it, why would it take 7 months before you could see it?"  

Austin unknowingly (yet, appropriately) answered "Because it hasn't come out yet?"  Carl and I busted out laughing and told him that was indeed correct.  Finally, Carl ended the guessing game and told him he would have a little brother or sister in July.  Austin was ecstatic!  We all hopped in the car and headed off to our friends' house where we should share the news with them as well.

The three of us walked in and I leaned against a door frame, feeling weak and nauseous.  Carl nonchalantly walked in and announced "Lindsey was admitted to the emergency room on Thursday, and it turns out she has a condition that doesn't allow her to keep food down."  He paused.  "It's called pregnancy."  Ruia screamed and hopped out of her chair in excitement, and she came and gave me a big hug.  Marramonie and Michelle both came over and congratulated me and said Carl's words had them thinking something was seriously wrong, but they were all so excited to hear about a new baby coming!  It was so much fun telling them, and finally our secret was out of the bag.  We told them that we couldn't tell anyone yet because we didn't want the news making it back to Florida before we did, and so to please keep it hush hush.  Everyone did a great job keeping it under wraps for us.  Over the next couple of weeks, Ruia rethought many conversations we had from the previous weeks and she was able to piece everything together.  All of my elusiveness made sense finally. Just that day, we were texting about how we were both feeling (she was battling allergies) and I mentioned "Yeah, this season is really rough."  She interpreted it as the winter season, but I meant this season of life (in my case, the nausea from the pregnancy).  It was so exciting and such a relief to finally let our friends in our secret surprise.  Just a couple more weeks and we can tell our families!

Here's a picture of Ruia and I at lunch a couple of days ago.  She's due with a baby girl in just a few weeks, and I am just shy of four months pregnant.  We went to a dinner a couple of nights ago and she laughed at the site of us... she said "You're about to puke, and I'm about to pop!"  So we had to get a picture of this exciting time in our lives.  It's amazing to think our babes will be five months apart!

7.5 Weeks

At 7 and a half weeks, Carl and I went in for our first ultrasound.  This made things so much more real!  We have a gummy bear baby growing in my tummy!  The doctor said everything looked great… and seeing baby's heartbeat was AMAZING.  I laid on the table holding Carl's hand and all I could do was cry from the happiness.  We created a baby!  The doctor told us that we were 7.5 weeks along, and informed us of our date of conception.  He looked at Carl, "You were in town right?"  Hahaha!  He then told us that the measurement of the baby told him the baby's exact age, and the due date is set in stone.  Around July 13th of 2013, we could expect a new little Horton in our arms!

The coming weeks brought on unbearable nausea.  The doctors kept assuring me that the progesterone was making me so sick, but progesterone was good for the pregnancy.  I began repeating the mantra, "Sick momma, healthy baby" to get me through my days.  I was loosing weight steadily, unable to keep any food or liquids in my belly.  At 9 weeks and 3 days, I felt for sure my stomach would throw itself up at any moment.  

Here's a shot of me with my faithful friend Belle.  She's giving me comfort kisses, but right after I took this shot I had to put her on the floor and, er, take care of business.  And yes, that is our porcelain bowl that I am sitting in front of.

With no strength whatsoever, at 9 weeks and 5 days, I had to take another trip to the doctor.  I was feeling awful yet again.  Carl came home from work to take me to the doctor and as I laid on the couch throwing up, Austin looked very concerned.  Carl told him "We know what is causing this, and Lindsey isn't dying.  We just want you to know that."  Austin asked what was causing it but Carl told him we couldn't tell him quite yet, but he assured him that I will be okay.  The doctor confirmed what I had suspected, my "morning sickness" is actually hyperemesis gravidarum.  You may have heard this in the news lately because the Duchess Kate is suffering from the same diagnosis.  Basically, where most women get some morning sickness (whether it's only in the morning or all day), a few women get hyperemesis gravidarum which is uncontrollable nausea and vomiting that results in dehydration and other complications.  It is very difficult to manage, but it is doable.  You just have to stay on top of the treatment and be very proactive, not letting yourself slip into not eating because it's easier than forcing something down.  Here's an article on the subject that I found very helpful: http://www.helpher.org/hyperemesis-gravidarum/ 

While being laid up in bed for hours on end, my faithful friend stayed right by my side.  Or should I say right on top of me.  "Why don't you feel better momma?"

The doctor tested my urine for ketones and send me straight to the ER for fluids when the test came back.  We went to the ER at our local hospital, and we were seen rather quickly (you know, for an emergency room).  They drew my blood, collected my urine (again) and hooked me up to many monitors (IV, heart monitor, and blood pressure cuff).  I had IV fluids in my veins, along with Phenergan.  Within a few minutes, I felt like I had been hit by a truck and was falling asleep.  Everything in my body got really heavy, and I kept trying to talk to Carl (who stayed by my side for these several hours, thank you honey!)  I felt like I was talking clearly but Carl said he couldn't understand me.  I remember fighting to keep my eyes open and even attempting to just peek out of one eye, but it wasn't happening.  I fell asleep for about an hour (I think).  When I woke up, I told the doctor and the nurse that I was nauseous, but they insisted the phenergan was working and to give it time.  I threw it up.  About an hour later, the doctor said he wanted to double my dose of phenergan because it should work with a doubled dose.  I told him I didn't think it would work and I'd like to try another medicine but he insisted.  Figuring that doctors must know better, I let him try again.  Within that hour, I threw up again.  I don't want to get too graphic, but please understand throwing up medicine burns your esophagus horribly.  I learned that should I need to go back to the ER again, I will insist that phenergan does not work for me and I will need something else.  Finally, a shot of zofran calmed my stomach.  By this time, it was around midnight and the doctors said if my nausea was easing up, and I could walk, they would discharge me since I had enough fluids in me.  This whole time, it was so hard not talking my parents about what was going on.  Carl kept reminding me that he was there and he would take care of me, but you know there's nothing like having your momma care for you.  I just couldn't tell them about this because they didn't know about our pregnancy at this point.  I wanted very very badly to surprise them with our news when we went home for Christmas.  This meant hiding the pregnancy for about 4 weeks….talk about the longest 4 weeks ever.   Carl and I even talked about telling them on the phone, but I just couldn't do it.  It had to be in person. 

A Lil Preoccupied!

I am so behind in blogging, and most of you know why!  Here's a little bit of what's been happening in our neck of the woods...

Back in November, Austin and I were both getting over a nasty stomach bug, but I was still feeling some remaining nausea.  Austin was already back at school but I was still spending my days in bed trying to keep any food or water down.  It wasn't pretty.  I wound up getting so dehydrated, I had these awful stomach cramps.  At the time, though, I didn't know that the dehydration was causing the cramps.  I only found out after going to my family doctor.  He gave me two bags of IV fluids and put Zofran in the IV to help me not be so nauseous.  For the first time that week, I had relief.  I was feeling so much better with a little fluid in me… finally! 

The doctor gave me some more Zofran to take at home over the next couple of days while I overcame the bug.  By Sunday, I was still unable to go to church and I was convinced something was off.  Carl and Austin went to church, and while they were gone, I did it (insert scary music here: dun dun dun….)  I peed on the stick… you know the one.

I rubbed my eyes and re-read the directions five times in disbelief that I had a plus sign appear immediately.  I kept comparing my plus sign to the one on the instructions, and it clearly was telling me something I just couldn't believe.  I'm pregnant.  I pushed the test wrapper to the bottom of the trash and ran and got back in bed.  Carl wasn't home yet, and I had several hours to figure out how I was going to share the news with him.  When he got home from church, he told me Austin went to a devotional with friends.  Perfect timing… I had Carl all to myself...time to share this bit of exciting news!

I presented him with this photo that I had taken earlier while we were laying in bed.  

He looked at it, read it, studied it, and asked, "Is Belle hidden in here?"  I shook my head and smiled.  He looked at the picture again and then it hit him.  "Wait a minute…" he slowly turned his head to look at me, my eyes welling up with tears… 

"Are you…" I nodded.  He was in disbelief as he teared up and kissed me.  We both were.  We laid there holding each other, both of us surprised and excited for our future.  We agreed to not tell anyone… we had a huge secret and it was just for us, for the time being at least.