Confirm My Pregnancy

I headed up to Amarillo to the doctor's office this morning for my appointment. Little did I know this would be the first of two visits in one day. As usual, they always have paperwork to be filled out. I filled it all out and gave it back to the lady at the desk. Shortly after, a lady named Janet (who is NOT my doctor's nurse) called me back into this little closet of an office. She weighed me, went over the paperwork I had just completed, went over mine and Jason's family medical history, answered my questions, and gave me my paperwork to take down to the lab to get my blood work and urine analysis. She said I will be able to hear the baby's heart beat at the next appointment and Dr. Appel will do my exam. About the last week in June I will be about 20 weeks and I'll get an ultrasound. She didn't really tell me a lot that I wasn't already aware of, but she did give me a bag full of reading material. Oh! And she made sure to let me know I had to have my deductible paid off by the 7th month. THAT is very important! She estimated my due date for November 11, which is what I had already calculated on my own. She said after the ultrasound I will have a better idea of my due date after they are able to measure the baby. After the visit I went down stairs to have my lab work done and then I was on my way home.

I called Aunt Debbie and Lori and told them how it went, and they both asked me if the nurse had given me a pregnancy test to confirm that I was indeed pregnant. It occurred to me that she didn't, but maybe they would call after my lab work was completed??? So, I called back up there to ask them what the protocol was for that and asked if they would call me. The lady on the phone said that I must be pregnant if they scheduled another appointment for me. I explained to her that that appointment was made at the same time today's appointment was made. I asked her how was I supposed to know if I was actually pregnant if they weren't going to test me. She said they would confirm it at the next appointment - the 12 week one. Then she put me on hold and checked with Janet who I guess told her they don't normally do that and then she talked to Sally (who is actually Dr. Appel's nurse) and I guess Sally said I could go BACK up there and pay $20 she would confirm it.

I had already gotten back home, changed into my scrubs, grabbed lunch and was sitting in the parking lot at work when I was talking to her. So I ran in and told the office manager that I had to go back up there and I would be back. This was at 2pm. When I saw the same lady at the front desk and told her I was there to have Sally confirm my pregnancy, she said "Janet didn't do that this morning?" So anyhow, I went on back and gave Sally my pee sample. When I came out of the bathroom, she said to come in the back where she was and her words were "it's very positive!" So that was good to hear coming from a medical professional instead of just the EPT test! The lady at the first appointment also told me I couldn't have a prescription for pre-natal vitamins until the next one (April 27th) and to just take the OTC ones. Well, the pharmacy here in Canyon will give a year supply of free pre-natals with a doctor's prescription. I told Sally and she immediately called some in while I was in her office. I was happy about that.

All in all, it was a frantic day of running to and from Amarillo, but I'm glad I got a confirmation. Especially since I'm telling everyone this weekend. I've got 4 weeks to wait until the next one when some more exciting things will happen!!!!

Doctor Appointment Tomorrow

My first appointment is tomorrow at 11am. I called my doctor's office this morning to try to get an idea of what would happen at my appointment so that I would be able to let Jason know if this was one he needed to come to. Just as I thought, the lady on the phone told me that my appointment would be with Dr. Appel's nurse, Janet. She said Janet will go over my pregnancy and my care with me, get my health history, answer any questions I have, and order some lab work. So I think this will be Jason's freebie. Probably the only one, since I will want him to be at all the rest when I see Dr. Appel. So, I'll probably post another blog tomorrow after I have some info from the nurse.

It's A Snow Day!

The news has been saying we were going to be under a blizzard warning today. I had a text message from a girl at our office at 6:45 this morning saying that the office would be closed for the day. My dogs woke me up at 9:30am to go outside. They quickly changed their mind about it, took care of their business and hurried back in. It must have been too cold and windy for them. Then I was awake and they went back to sleep. Figures. I am going to start some Chili this afternoon to have for dinner on Frito Pies. Jason went to work this morning. They have to be ready for any calls that come in especially with this weather. He called and took my lunch order so I'm just waiting on my burger from Braum's. He's such a good husband....most of the time! Maybe after lunch I will get a nap.

Don't tell secrets on Facebook

Well, those of you reading this and those of you that will read this once you are allowed into my circle of trust know that my pregnancy is a surprise to Meme & Dan, Aunt Debbie & Uncle Tom, Melissa & Casey, Kara, Aunt Pam and Uncle Darren, Aunt Shirley, Aunt Patty & Uncle Herschel, Brooke & Larry, basically everyone. I am planning to announce it to everyone next weekend in Tyler at Meme's birthday party. Well that was until this afternoon. I logged on to my email this afternoon to find a message on FaceBook from Sue Harbstreet, a family friend that lives in Missouri saying she had heard I was expecting a baby in November. So, I immediately went to work trying to figure out which family member I would soon be planning to murder. Considering the only people that know that could have any contact with Sue or anyone that knows her are my Dad, Lori, Aunt Debbie, or Leslie. So, I called Aunt Debbie to ask her if she had told anyone and she said "no." She said she knew Les hadn't told anyone. I talked to my Dad and Lori... they had no idea either. I texted Leslie myself and have yet to hear back from her. Aunt Debbie said she would find out who it was and call me. So this evening the phone rang and it was her. She had tracked down the guilty party.....but much to her demise... it was herself! She is new to the FaceBook world (and should be banned, just kidding) and was unaware that posting messages on friends' walls made those messages visible to everyone else. She got on FaceBook to try to see how she could delete it and talked to Aunt Patty and Brooke who both informed her that she posted a message on one of her friend's walls and they were all able to read it. So she called me and we got on together and found a way to block that feature. So HOPEFULLY only Brooke, Aunt Patty, and Sue know but won't say anything to anyone else. It's been sooooo hard for me to wait this long to keep it a secret so just one more week and hopefully everyone else will still be surprised!

Baby Names

I posted new baby names that include middle and last names. So vote on your favorite. I am also open to any suggestions so feel free to leave comments! We have lots of time to change our minds about names but it's fun to come up with ideas for now.

If we have a boy we are planning on using my Dad's first name for the middle name. I thought about continuing his middle name which is "Leroy" but it is pronounced "La-roy." This is also my great grandpa Pete's middle name. But I don't want my child to go through school being tortured as LEROY! So we will see. We'll just plan on using Randall for now.

As far as the middle name for the girl, Danielle is my middle name. Since she will have Jason's last name I want to give some part of my name to her. I hope you can find a name choice that you like and I'm excited to see everyone's votes!

I'm starting the countdown to my doctor's appointment! One week from today! And if anyone else is interested, I follow my 2 cousins' blogs. One is Melissa's and it's about Addison who was born on Dec. 25, 2008 and the other one is Leslie's. She is expecting her baby at the end of August. We just found out last Saturday that she will be expecting a baby boy, so it looks like I'm going to be the tie breaker! So read up on their blogs if you are interested!

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home this evening and I'm glad to be here. We had a really good time in Denver, but I'm exhausted! We stayed downtown so we did A LOT of walking everyday and I was getting very tired easily. We stopped in Colorado Springs on the way to see the Fallen Firefighters Memorial, the next day we had to drop off a light tower that belongs to the Canyon Fire Dept. at this place to get fixed. Then I couldn't resist the Coach outlet store, so we stopped in there. We ate dinner at some nice places...one in particular was an Italian restaurant called Venice that the Concierge at our hotel suggested. I ordered a glass of water and the guy rattled off like 3 different kinds of water and whatever I said yes to was $6 for the bottle. So the next place we went to eat at and they gave different choices for water I emphasized that the water that was "FREE" would be perfectly fine. At Venice, Jason ordered Duck.... he got his plate and asked me where the rest of it was since there was a little piece of meat on his plate. And I couldn't find the Chicken Alfredo ANYWHERE on the menu. Evidently we should just stick the OG (Olive Garden)! Our hotel was really nice. They had a complimentary hot breakfast every morning, complimentary beer and wine for an hour every evening, and milk and cookies before bed. We went to a Comedy Club, saw the Capitol, went to the outlet stores (which was a dissapointment since it would be a waste for me to buy any clothes that I won't be able to wear for long), saw the Denver Broncos Stadium, and went to the Denver Firefighters Museum. On the way home today, we stopped at the Air Force Academy outside Colorado Springs and drove around. I didn't get out to do much sight-seeing, I have been sickly today. I was sick last night about 12:30-1am puking a couple times so I was definitely ready to be back at my house and ready to see my babies!!!!! Everything is unpacked, I just need to find something to eat and I will be ready to turn in!

Colorado Bound...

Jason's PawPaw seems to be doing better so we decided to go ahead and take our trip to Denver that we had planned a while back. We usually go to Red River, NM every February for Jason's birthday and Valentine's Day but we decided to go somewhere else for a change. We are planning on leaving Thursday morning to drive up there. I think the drive is about the same as driving from here to Dallas, about 5 hrs. The hotel we are staying at is downtown right on the 16th Street Mall. I've never been but, it's supposedly a 2 mile outdoor stretch with all kinds of shops, restraunts, bars, and entertainment. They also offer a horse and carrige ride through the whole thing. I hear they have awesome shopping...outlets stores like Banana Republic, COACH, Nike, and all kinds of other stuff. Aside from shopping, I think Jason wants to go to the Mile High Stadium where the Broncos play. They are his favorite team. We may go to the Denver Mint, probably a Comedy Club I've heard about, Hard Rock Cafe, the ESPN Sports Center, and whatever else we can find. We will be back Sunday. Looks like the weather there has been fairly mild and warm so I doubt we will be trapped in any blizzard conditions while we are there unless it's by some freak accident.

Suck In!

I wanted Jason to take a picture of me so I could have something to reflect back to once I get fat and get a belly. I wanted to have a starting reference point for any belly "growth" to come. The picture is taken at 5 weeks and 2 days according to "My" calculated due date. I calculated it based on how the computer told me to, but once I see the doctor I will get a more accurate one I'm sure. Since I am bloated all the time now, Jason had the camera and was going to take the picture and he said "Suck in.... suck in." Well, I said "I AM!!!!" I couldn't get it sucked in anymore!!!! So, I told him to forget and I'd just take it myself.

So much for waiting for the first appointment

Well, I went ahead and told the doctors at work today that I was expecting. It was getting really hard keeping the secret. Jason was having a hard time keeping it a secret too. The husband of a lady I work with is on the fire dept. with Jason so he was having to keep in on the DL until I broke the news at my office. So now it's all out in the open. Everyone at my office is really excited. I just hope I can make it until Meme's birthday to tell the rest of the family.

Pregnancy Symptoms

Well, I haven't started any puking yet but every now and then I will get a queasy feeling but that's about the extent of it, however I'm nearly half-way through reading "What To Expect When You're Expecting" and the puking usually starts around week six. I've been getting some heartburn already and I've got more gas than a bus full of football players... haha. I'm not sure if it was the pregnancy talking to me or what, but on Sunday night about 11pm I told Jason that some of that green sauce from Casa O'le sounded really good. He told me to go to sleep. I've already read so much of that book, I'm either going to have to read it several more times or get a few more pregnancy books to entertain me throughout the next 9 months. If I do start the puking, I don't think I will be able to keep it a secret at work for any longer. Only a couple "trustworthy" girls at work know. Jason did tell a few people at his work and also his family (with the exception of his parents - although I'm sure they have some indication). My Dad and Lori found out Saturday night...the announcement was followed by silence and then disbelief. I didn't hear much out of my Dad for several minutes, thought he might have lost consciousness. I know they were shocked but excited too. We are really trying hard to keep this a secret from the rest of the family. Every time I talk to MeMe she asks what's new with me and it's really hard to not yell into the phone... "oh you know, just having a baby is all!" The first weekend of April is her surprise birthday party in Tyler. All the family will be there, including the Missouri crew so we are going to write it in her birthday card. It will be a surprise for her and the rest of the family. I HAD to tell Aunt Debbie since I tell her EVERYTHING! She was just too excited to not tell Leslie! Leslie told me that I if told ANYONE that she was pregnant when she found out that she would "slit my throat" so, Les when you read this... you remember that and keep your mouth shut... I know you will! Mine and Leslie's baby will be about 3 months apart! I am waiting to tell my employers until after my first Dr. appt, maybe longer. The only thing is that my OB-GYN happens to be the wife of one of the doctors I work for. She can't and won't say anything but I still won't be able to help but wonder if he knows when I see him at the office. Jason and I are leaving the 19th to go to Denver for a long weekend. Now with a baby on board I won't be doing any drinking so that should make the trip a little cheaper. Lets just hope I don't start getting SICK plus the higher altitude probably won't help!

On another note, Jason's PawPaw isn't doing well. His kidneys are about completely shut down and his heart isn't pumping hardly half it's capacity so he's not getting much blood flow. His doctor is decreasing is meds and says he will likely go into a coma before he passes away. We just don't know when it will happen. It could be hours or days. He's not eating and hardly drinking anything. So, we are playing the waiting game right now.

Waiting on Two Pink Lines.....

On Wednesday night, March 4th Jason had left to go to drill around 7pm and shortly after, I headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a home pregnancy test. I got the two pack. I took one and left it sitting on the bathroom counter for its 3 minutes to do its thing. I came back to look at it and there were definitely 2 lines, one wasn't very dark but none the less it was there. So, not sure what I should do next I left it there for another fifteen minutes or so. I went back and checked it again just in case it changed its mind, but it did not. I left again and came back a little later again....still the same. So I figured I better keep it...as evidence for Jason when he came home. I put it in a little ziploc baggie and hid it until I was ready to break the news.

Meanwhile, I had been on the phone with Jason's cousin talking to him about his PawPaw. He's in the hospital and not doing well so I was getting all the details to tell Jason once he got home. Jason finally came home around 10pm and I was telling him what all I knew about his PawPaw. Jason mentioned that we should go down to Tahoka (it's about 20 miles south of Lubbock) on Friday. Well, I had a doctors appointment for my annual exam that had been scheduled months before. I got up to go to the bathroom and get my "evidence" and as I walked back in, I reminded Jason that I had that appointment scheduled for Friday. I held out my hand that had the test in it and said to him "I'm pretty sure I really need to go to that appointment because 2 lines means yes and I'm pregnant."

He kind of looked at me like I had just made it all up, but then it was just silence and a huge smile for several seconds. I showed him the test and told him I had one more in the box and that I would take it the next morning. Well, Thursday morning I took it and it was the exact same as the first one. We are both really excited but nervous at the same time.

I called my doctor's office Thursday morning and explained to them that I had an appointment Friday but that I had 2 positive pregnancy tests so they canceled the Friday one. I have my first appointment on March 31st which will be around the 8 week mark. This one will just be lab work and I will see the nurse. On April 27th I will go back and see the doctor this time. I will be about 12 weeks at that time.

So yesterday, we went down to see PawPaw in the hospital. We weren't really planning on telling any of our family until after the doctor's appointment, but we aren't real sure how much longer he will be around. The doctors said it could be hours or days. So, when we got there yesterday Jason told him and he was really excited to hear the news. Of course, some more of his family know now after yesterday too.

Our Babies

We have 2 dogs and they are the loves of my life. I had Possum before Jason and I were together. She is my little 5 yr old lab/heeler mix, and while we were dating I bought Riley (our Golden Retriever) for him. She's going to be 3 in May. We know she will love the baby after the way she acted when this little girl that was the same height as her came up and threw her arms around her at PetsMart! She just sat down and let the little girl love all over her!

Where It All Began....

In May of 2006, Jason and I had our first date. We had lunch together at a place here in Canyon called Feldmans. After lunch we went our separate ways and talked occasionally on the phone. We didn't really talk much the next week or two because he was spending all his time rotating with guys at the fire department since they were fighting wild fires around the clock in Palo Duro Canyon. We eventually started spending more time together, and what happened next was completely EXPECTED....He Fell in Love with Me! I'd be lying though if I didn't admit I loved him too.

In December of 2006 after a day of Christmas shopping, Jason and I were decorating the Christmas Tree, sharing a bottle of wine, and watching my favorite Holiday move - Love Actually when he disappeared for a bit. So I was "impatiently" waiting with the movie paused when he came back, got down on his knee and asked me to marry him! We were married in Canyon on August 4, 2007.

Jason and I left the following day to spend a week in Mexico on our honeymoon. It was the first time he had EVER seen the beach!