popcorn popping + bubbles + leaves rustling

what do they all have in common? they describe what it feels like when the small fry moves!

I would give you my Girl Scout's honor that at almost 15 weeks I felt the baby move. It felt like leaves rustling and felt like it was happening very, very low in my body. My good friend g00gle told me this was unlikely.

But now that I KNOW what I'm feeling is the baby moving about, I'm quite certain that's what I felt before. I've felt the small fry move at least once a day for the past few days. And it is FUN. I am sure that later I will not think this is fun. I imagine my ribs and innards will all be kind of annoyed by the whole situation. But for now, I shall enjoy it!

I am also really super glad that our news is OUT. Tomorrow I officially announce it at work, though my boss and some coworkers know. But other than that, our proverbial cat is out of the bag!

We've also started taking the weekly-ish photos. We waited until 17 weeks to do this! Not totally by choice, but still. The solid green is the 17 weeks (it was St Patty's Day and my awesome in-laws got me that necklace to wear, and one for Matt too!). The one on the right is 18 weeks. You might think I look a little smaller at 18 weeks--and this is probably true because of the time of day. It is CRAZY how much smaller my little belly bump looks in the AM than it does at night. And we took the 17 week one right before it was time for pajamas! Plus, the ruched maternity shirts make you look bigger, I think!

Soon I'll tell about Disney. And probably recap Tennessee even though that's old news. I should probably make a list. :)

the post where I tell you I'm having a baby!

howdy.

so, I maybe should've buried the lead to make this a bit more interesting, huh? oh well, this is way more fun. and besides, we have been hiding this info long enough. it's time to share.

in the interest of full disclosure and sharing some things I wish I had known, I'll be giving details that some of you might not really want to know. and it's okay that you don't want to know. just skip those parts, or pretend like you didn't read them, or whatever.

so. we are having a baby. we are due on august 25th. I've a sneaking suspicion that it's a boy, but only a 50% chance of being right. One morning while drinking my orange juice I suddenly said, aloud and to only Gobi, Hazel, the baby in my belly and myself, "oh, you're a little boy, aren't you?" Hence, my sneaking suspicion. We shall see.

we are currently 17 weeks and 5 days pregnant. but we've only been "officially" having a baby since Thursday, since that's when I shared the news on the book of the face.

I know that 17 weeks is a kind of ridiculous amount of time to wait to share news like this. And I'm okay with that. In the interest of that whole things-I-wish-I'd-known part of this process...

From weeks 4-8 I was experiencing some slight bleeding. Nothing to worry about, they said, we'll check you out at your first appointment. I thought that when you went to your 8 week appointment you had two primary possibilities. 1. yay, baby has a heartbeat! 2. I am sorry to inform you [insert medical sad thing here]. I knew that there might be a complication or ect0pic pregnancy or whatever. But I really thought it was kind of cut and dry at that point. And since miscarriages run in my family, I thought I was going to get to breathe a huge sigh of relief after that appointment, as long as I experienced option 1.

I was terribly, terribly wrong. We had something that happens in 1% of pregnancies. this.

I won't be showing you pictures (pictures of my innards aren't for public consumption--but I'll email you one if you like). But I will tell you that the hemorrhage blob was bigger than the baby blob. Good news: strong, steady, appropriately placed heartbeat. Bad news: I was told they don't know why it happens, don't know what to do to fix it, that my risk of everything that wasn't a birth defect was increased, and that I needed to do everything I could to reduce stress and just be a princess (no exercise other than walking, no lifting, sit still as much as possible and be calm). riiiiiight. oh, and I was under strict orders not to g00gle. I gave my doctor my Girl Scout's honor and everything.

At 10 weeks, the baby was bigger and the hemorrhage was smaller, thank goodness! They told me it could resolve on its own, or that it could be there for my entire pregnancy and cause more bleeding, a later-in-term miscarriage, preterm labor and all sorts of freak-you-out kind of stuff.

But at 12 weeks, it was gone. I fully 100% believe in the power of prayer. I also believe in the power of acupuncture. And in the power of letting your body heal itself. And they combined together to make for a happy Carrie. :)

I wrote some posts in the interim and saved them in my email. Perhaps I will share soon.

But for now: surprise, we are having a baby! :)

a whole month without a post.

and now I come back and post about medical stuff? yeesh!

so, yesterday I was discussing my medical history and said "yeah, plus I always have weird medical problems." the gal asked me to elaborate. let's list a few, shall we?

-I have had the chicken pox twice. Two years ago they tested my immunity for said chicken pox. I was "equivocal." They vaccinated me last spring. I am still not immune.

-when I had allergy testing done in early 2010 I had a few bumps show up--nothing exciting, just stuff to take note of. two days later I have huge welts on my arms in some of the spots. I had a delayed reaction they had never seen before. I almost had to wear arm makeup on my wedding day. I am now a cautionary tale at my allergist's/ENT's office.

-when I was little something strange happened with one of my fillings. I ended up having some weird nerve something-of-other that traveled up my cheek. It was so rare that the doctor paraded me around spr!nger cl!nic to show the other doctors.

-I had to have sinus surgery twice. Normal people only have this once if they have it at all.

there's more. but yeah. strangeness.

also, sorry for the february hiatus. I guess it meant that I wasn't going to be moping around about it being february! and on the plus side, it's now march!