Telling the Family

It's been about 3 1/2 weeks since we told the family. I'm finally getting to blog about the experience!!

We had to wait a WHOLE week after we found out, in order to tell the family. Of course, it must be done in person and we wanted to do something fun to reveal the secret.  So we made t-shirts.  Black t-shirts for the family and gray t-shirts for the Framily! 

Grama                                     Frama

Grampa                                   Frampa

Uncle (Jamey)                       Fruncle (Ty)

Uncle (Jon)                            Fruncle (Caleb)

Uncle (Tom)                          Fraunt (Emily)

 Aunt (Becky)                                                  

We first told mom and dad by giving them their shirts.  They were very excited and asked a lot of questions about the baby and the whole situation.  Then we told Jamey and Jon by giving them their shirts.  To say the least they were both speechless. Then we told Chris and Susie and the kids, by giving them their shirts.  When Susie finally figured it out she freaked out and was super excited.  The kids were all excited as well and Emily asked if she could help name our baby.  (I think we have that one covered!) Then we went to see Rob and Molly.  Of course Molly figured it out before we even got there.  But, they were very excited and we had a long conversation about it!  We ended up calling Tom and Becky and told them at the end of the weekend! 

We still need to tell the Grandparents and friends.  I think soon, we'll tell the world!

1 Year Anniversary Date

Wow! I couldn't have asked for a better 1 year anniversary date.  God totally blessed us with far beyond what we could have imagined (or afforded)! 

We bought Dinner Cruise tickets for the Edelweiss Boot Dinner Cruise.  It was a two hour dinner cruise on the Milwaukee river and Milwaukee bay (Lake Michigan). We left home, right after Anthony came home from work, and made it to Milwaukee in record time. There was NO traffic. So, we were an hour early for the cruise.  As we were standing outside, waiting, it started to pour.  We found refuge inside the Port of Call Bistro and Beer Garden (the restaurant where the boat cruise was going to leave from).  We ordered an appetizer and started chit chatting with a gentleman, who told us we were really going to enjoy our cruise.

 

We also decided to stay at a hotel, in downtown Milwaukee, on a whim.  I called Hotwire.com.  (For those of you who don't know how hotwire.com works, you have to reserve your hotel room BEFORE they will tell you what hotel you're going to stay at.  A little scary to say the least. So I called, to see if they could help us out.) The guy was great! He got us a 3.5 star hotel within a mile of where we were at!!! 

So our dinner started with a yummy salad and rolls. Our main course was salmon, filet mignon, carrots and red potatoes. Dessert was a giant piece of cheesecake with strawberries on top.  The waitress brought our cheesecake out with a candle on top, to celebrate our anniversary!

After the cruise, we went to our hotel. Except we went to the wrong one. They gave us free cookies! When we got to our Hilton, we were AMAZED. It was huge and beautiful. The front desk woman, Melissa, was so sweet. She gave us a free gift basket with cheese, crackers, popcorn, beef sticks, drinks, and cookies and she gave us complimentary breakfast buffet tickets. All because we mentioned we were celebrating our anniversary.  She put us on the 22 floor, with a fantastic view! The breakfast was amazing and I even ordered pancakes from the back!! Thank you Hilton for a fantastic 1 year anniversary night!!

I am so thankful for my amazing husband and for our first year of marriage.  I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate!! 

The First of the Firsts

Well... It starts.  

The baby made me nauseous yesterday.  The first of the many nauseous moments to come, I'm sure.  I felt horrible yesterday: headache that wouldn't go away, stomach that couldn't be cured and back ache that left me crooked all day.   I was hoping to be that 1 in a million percent, who didn't ever have horrible symptoms.  But yeah, who are we kidding? 

However, my hubby is being the best hubby to a pregnant wife ever! He massaged my back, made his own dinner and even did the dishes without complaining.  He's doing so well.  The pregnancy app on my ipad told him that he might have to do more than his fair share around the house. I think he's taking that to heart.  Maybe I'll find an app that tells him he should give me hour long massages every day after work??? Do you think that'll work??? (well a girl can dream, right?)

Today, has been much better. I stood straight this morning, which was the first clue that I was going to have a great day! Work went well. grocery shopping went quickly and I'm currently lounging on the couch in the air conditioning.  Is being HOT all the time a symptom of pregnancy? If so, I have it! 

This week, our baby is the size of a grain of rice. Eyes, ears and a mouth are developing and little stubs are starting to form that will soon grow into arms and legs with fingers and toes!! The baby's heat beat is beating, even though we can't hear it yet. Mommy and Daddy love our little grain of rice and we can't wait for you to develop more!! 

Finding Out!

Wednesday, July 10th was the first doctor's visit.  However, it was more of an information session with the nurse.  Of course, the first thing they make you do is pee in a cup.  (First of all: it's really complicated to accurately aim, and second of all: GROSS) But it was necessary for the nurse to do the pregnancy test.  So she starts the test and then looks at me and says "Did you only take 1 at home pregnancy test?" To which I replied "Yes, is there a problem?"  She quickly fumbled about her words and said "Don't worry, it's usually an immediate test, but it could take a few moments." After waiting, for what seemed like the longest moment of my life, she sighed and confirmed the pregnancy! 

Jeeze, that was nerve wracking... I can't imagine what the rest of doctor's visits are going to be like.

Afterwards, the nurse and I talked about my history, the baby and she gave me A LOT of literature to read.  However, when we talked about the baby's due date, there was confusion and nervous feelings.  She sent me to schedule an early pregnancy ultra-sound. However, I couldn't just go take it right away, she informed that I would need to wait a whole week. A WHOLE WEEK!! In case you didn't know, I am not very good at being patient.  I wanted to know about our baby right away!!

The next week was a waiting game. The day after my doctor's apt. I got a phone call from the nurse to inform me that all my blood tests came back great! She said my only problem was that my sugar numbers were a little high, but nothing to be concerned about. (But come on, if you know me, you know I like me some sugar... I guess I'll have to work on that lol) So Anthony and I waited until the Thursday of the final week for the ultrasound. 

Thursday, July 18th finally arrived.  I woke up at 7am, and drank a ridiculous amount of water. You know that feeling when you're on a road trip and you really have to pee, but the next rest stop is a million miles away. Yes, that's how I felt when Anthony and I arrived at the hospital for the ultrasound. We were finally called and the nurse took us back to the room.  We were super excited, because we were finally going to find out how far along we were... but of course, the ultrasound tech lady nurse person COULDN'T tell us anything.  Why? Why do they play that horrible mean cruel trick on expecting mothers?  I had to sit at home and wait, wait, wait and wait some more for the phone to ring. 

I'll give the doctor's office props however, because I think I only waited a few hours until the nurse called me.  She informed me that I was about 6 weeks pregnant and that the baby (or sac) looked healthy. She had no concerns based off of the early ultrasound!!! Praise the Lord.  (You know, I should probably listen to the Lord when he tells me to stop worrying, in Matthew 6. He know's best!)


So, the doctor doesn't need to see me until the beginning of September. Then we'll hear the baby's heart beat! Until then, I'll eat healthy, exercise the way I'm supposed to, nap a lot, and be happy!! 

We're pregnant!!

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

In many months we'll be welcoming the first Neal baby into our family!! Anthony and I couldn't be more excited.  It is so crazy to me, how God's work is the best work.  This has to be God's will.  It has to be his way.  We're ready for this journey because God's on our side!!

A month ago, (on vacation), I missed my first period.  Anthony and I took our first pregnancy test when we came home from vacation.  It was negative.  Even though we were discouraged, it was the beginning of God preparing our hearts.  We talked about it, joked about it, and thought about the possibility of having a baby.  So, when I missed my second period, we knew!  Sunday night when we got home, Anthony and I agreed that we would take our second pregnancy test. It was POSITIVE!! Anthony squealed, I smiled big and we hugged!!! We immediately started googling "What to do when you're first pregnant." Man, did we find some useful knowledge and some very weird knowledge.  We'll leave the new information for the doctors to give us! 

Yesterday was the doctor's visit to the RUSD Health Clinic. The doctor had had her baby about 4 months ago, so we discussed pregnancy dates, due dates, what to expect and how to handle certain things.  The doctor thinks I'm 8 weeks pregnant! She gave me a lot of good encouragement for this new journey.  The nurse couldn't find my vein (of course, that seems to always be the problem) and so they had to call a phlebotomist. She was great! She drew some blood on the first try and then it was a waiting game...

This morning about 7:30am, I got a call from the RUSD Health Clinic doctor.  She got my HCG (pregnancy hormone) level/number back. 95. Which she says puts me about 3-4 weeks pregnant.  She was a little confused by this number, because of my missed periods.  The OBGYN doctor will have to make the final determination. That appointment is tomorrow.  (enter nervous feeling here)

Anthony and I keep saying that if we're 8 weeks pregnant right now, our baby is the size of a raspberry!! Welcome little raspberry! Grow well, stay healthy and we can't wait to meet you! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!