Telling the family!

We told my parents after our first OB appointment when it was clear there was a little baby brewing. They had just completed the Whole 30 at our encouragement (see here for previous post about that) so we were planning on going to dinner together for their first meal "off" the plan. I bought a few jars of baby food and stacked them in a gift bag. On the bottom of the very last jar, I taped a photo of our ultrasound. When we got to their house, we gave them the gift saying, "This is a little something to show you how proud we are of your success with the Whole 30- and a little encouragement to continue to stay strong." Mom opened the bag and started pulling out jars of baby food. They were bewildered. Then she got to the last one and turned it over. Cue gasps and waterworks and that look that says "really? you are?" My dad got a small, sly smile on his face and just said "Celina..." like I was in trouble or something. It was funny. They were very excited and we shared with my grandparents as well.

We already had plans to go to Grand Cayman with Tommy's family in early August. Since we really wanted to tell them in person, we waited until they came to Dallas to fly out for our trip. They got in late at night and we planned to tell them in the morning before we flew out. I think I was around 7 weeks at this point. We had purchased coffee cups that said "Great Dads/Moms get promoted to Grandpa/Grandma". That morning, Tommy made coffee and served up their coffee in these mugs. They were SO tired that they didn't even pay attention to what they were using. It was really funny because both of them were standing side by side at the kitchen counter with their mugs in their hands with the quotes facing out, totally oblivious. Tommy finally asked them if they liked their coffee cups. Both of them slowly turned them around to look at them and you could see their faces as they figured out what they meant. Again, that look of "really? you are?" So we nod and smile our affirmation and again, gasps and waterworks from Mom. Dad gets really big grin and shakes T's hand. Little sis is equally really excited. This being grandchild #1, they are beyond stoked!

I told my sister the weekend before telling Tommy's parents. Again, I really wanted to tell her in person and she happened to be in town that weekend. We were going over to my parents house to visit my nephew and her. The perfect moment arose when my 2 year old nephew, Austin needed to go potty. I quickly volunteered to take him. While we were taking care of business I coached him: "Austin, I need you to go tell Mommy- 'I'm going to have a cousin!" We worked on it and it was slightly intelligable. He was pretty awesome because he immediately beelined it for mom and said "Mommy, I gahihaa COUSIN!" "Um, what, Austin?" "I gahihaa COUSIN!" "You have a cousin?" "I gahihaa COUSIN!" "You're gonna have a cousin? WHAT?" Cue screaming and excitement. :) She has been great and it's cool that we are going to share the bond of motherhood together and that our kiddos will be so close in age.

After that, we started the looooong wait till 12 weeks when we felt we could tell people more openly. There were a few others along the way that we shared it with. It is so neat to see how excited people get! One thing we are super-fortunate about is that a large portion of our lifegroup friends are also in the baby/pregnancy phase as well. By next summer, our lifegroup will have 8 babies under 1 year (2 sets of twins!). It has been fun and encouraging to get to walk the pregnancy journey so closely with others who are going through it right there with me. It is a really sweet time for our group because we have had some infertility issues as well (not for us, but for others).

I think that about wraps up documenting the first trimester. Next posts will be about what is happening NOW!

Finding out

We have had people ask if we were "trying" for this baby. First of all, none of your business! Second of all, I hate that whole idea. Under the sovereignty of God, we really don't have much control over these things, do we? And I think it makes the whole process task-driven which is isn't how it should be either. So, while we weren't engaging in any kind of birth control and definitely felt "ready" to start a family, we approached it in a really relaxed way. 

I knew pretty early on that I was probably pregnant. I waited till I was a few days late and took a test. Negative. We were disappointed but not seriously bummed or anything. About 10 more days went by and I was still a no-show. I bought another test. The night before I took it, I had a serious meltdown- I think Judge had done something destructive and I seriously broke down about it in a really out of character way. Plus, I had been really sleepy that whole week. After my emotional escapade, I was pretty sure-something was different. Took the test the next morning, July 27- POSITIVE!

I think we were pretty much in shock that day. Didn't tell anyone, just kinda spent the day in a haze.  I  was pretty sure about our conception date but I called the doctor and they got me in for an "8 week" appointment. But they measure that based on the date of your last period. We went to the doctor on August 8 and surprise, surprise, turns out I was measuring closer to 5 weeks (which I could have told them). Everything looked good and healthy and I ws cleared to travel and exercise. 

Next up, telling the family!!

Strong for Two

So I am making a blogging comeback (maybe) to help document the next chapter of our lives. Nobody probably even follows this blog any longer so this is probably just for me but that's ok. I like the idea of having our journey "saved" or "published" in some way.

So yes, I am pregnant! 14 weeks to be exact. Feeling pretty good, everything is looking awesome. We are excited that I'm on my way out of the first trimester. Hoping that things start looking up!

Here is a little first trimester recap:

Baby Byrd at 8 weeks

Energy:  Super low-energy, lots of fatigue. Prior to school starting I got in a terrible habit of taking a nap everyday. Now that school is swinging, I come home totally wiped out and am pretty worthless at least until I get some food in me. It isn't uncommon for me to "nap" at 5pm when I get home. Previous to pregnancy, I did pretty well with about 7 hours of sleep at night. Now, I need about 9 to be functional.

Diet:  This was hard. I wish I could say I ate so cleanly and perfectly for my  little growing baby. I didn't. I did not ever get sick (throwing up) but I had some pretty severe food aversions. It took me a LOOOONG time to figure it all out but here is what I figured out:

-cooked veggies gross me out and give me heartburn

-grilled food has very little appeal

-I can handle meat that is "hidden" in other foods like soup or something, or in very small pieces (like shredded chicken)

-eggs are not happening

-I can't let myself get too hungry or I start to feel nauseous

-all I want are refined, simple carbs.

Here was my catch 22- we have been eating clean/paleo for long enough that I experience digestive distress when eating grains (mostly gluten/wheat). This translates to crampy, bloated, indigestion. BUT I would have such a hard time with eating large portions of meat and veggies that it would usually take grains to fill me up so I wasn't nauseous and wasn't gagging up my food (this happened with some steak). So it was either eat the filling, grain-y foods and not deal with nausea/hunger but deal with the digestive distress later OR deal with the nausea/hunger but not deal with any digestive distress.

Here was my happy place (it took me until 12 weeks to get here though): I added in greek yogurt, some potatoes and white rice, and corn tortillas here and there. Mostly, I just needed something starchy to act as a vehicle for my protein. I could handle fats pretty well-olives, coconut flakes, nuts and seeds. I ate alot of fruit. I figured that I could handle the extra sugar especially if vegetables weren't happening (at least I was getting some vitamins and fiber from somewhere) and ESPECIALLY if eating fruit kept me from eating other crap. I also discovered that RAW veggies I tolerated really well. So I added back in salads, cucumbers, carrots, etc. The best meals for me were some spicy ground beef lettuce wraps with raw veggies and sunbutter sauce, crockpot chili, and this salad topped with shredded chicken tossed in buffalo sauce. And then I didn't stress out- I just made sure I ate and made the best choices I could. If the only thing that sounded good was some white rice, then that's what I ate, and just made sure I topped it with some healthy fat to keep me full. NOW, however, I am *ALMOST* back in the swing of our normal diet. Except I live in starvation mode-hungry all the time!

Exercise:  This was mostly dependent on sleep. If I got enough sleep, I went to crossfit. If I didn't, I kept sleeping. We also tweaked our schedule a bit so we are only waking up for the 5:30 am class 2 to 3 mornings a week. Yes, I'm continuing crossfit. Yes, I'm lifting heavy weights. Yes, I would work out even when feeling like crap (exception being tired: I did NOT work out if I was tired). There were a few mornings I was nauseous the whole time and nearly lost it. But I always felt better on days that I exercised. I am NOT working out at the same intensity I always have. I am NOT trying to PR on every single lift and workout. I keep track of my heart rate but I'm not a Nazi about it. I'm well enough aware of my body mechanisms to not freak out if my heart rate goes above _____ (I have had SO many opinions on the magic heart rate number, varying from 140 to 180- for me, my "too much" number ends up being around 170). If I feel great, can breathe and talk to my neighbor, I keep going. If my heart is pounding and I'm too much out of breath, I take a break. Certain exercises spike my heart rate like crazy, most notably, snatches, thrusters, rowing, pull ups, jump rope, and wall balls.

My little belly at 12 weeks. and Judge.

Hubs: He has been a rock star. He never chastised me about my food choices (except for that one wretched day I felt I had to get WHATABURGER- he wasn't happy about that choice, and for good reason) and would sweetly eat his salad or whatever as I ate my white rice and oranges. He never accused me of being lazy or got upset when the laundry pile got a little high and I didn't swiffer the dog hair every day. He did alot of cooking and dishes and playing with the dog while I laid around. And he has been SUCH a great leader for our family in working out our finances for the next 9 months and beyond. Love him!

This is long so we will be done for now.