Pics

Finally -- here are a couple photos. I'm hoping to make a post that I'll update each week with a new pic to track the belly, but for now these pics are for starters.

This pic was taken and Kim's baby shower on March 9th. Of course I had no idea at the time, but we had to have conceived by then, so this is probably my very first pregnancy pic! 3 weeks and 3 days.

This pic was taken at Easter (March 23rd) at my grandparents. My Auntie Jennie took it to send to my parents and it was before we announced our big news, so she had no idea. You can't really tell because of where the pic cuts off, but I put my hand on my hip and pointed at my belly! 5 weeks and 3 days along.

Princess Portia's Crystal Ball -- Weeks 5 and 6

For those of you who don't know, Portia is our furbaby and as the blog title indicates, she'll be the big sis. For the sake of fun, we have decided that each week we're going to let her gaze into her crystal ball and tell us her prediction of the baby's gender.

We first asked her the day we found out. Aaron told her to lay down if she thinks it is a boy or to stand up and dance if she thinks it is a girl. Of course she just looked at him like he was crazy at first, but then she noticed something delectable on the counter and stood up to check it out -- thus week 5 Portia said GIRL.

Then last week, we were hanging out watching TV and Aaron asked her to get up and bark if she thinks it is a boy or to stay cuddled up if she thinks it is a girl. Of course that seems like a loaded question because who would choose anything but staying cuddled up. But, Aaron then yelled, "What was that!?" which is a sure-fire way to get Portia up and to hear a bark (which are otherwise uncommon). But, for once she didn't jump up and she just snuggled in deeper -- so for week 6 Portia stuck to the GIRL prediction.

For those of you wondering what Aaron and I are predicting, he thinks boy and for the most part I've thought boy, too, except that I keep catching myself saying things like "when she gets here" or "I wonder what she'll be like?" So, I really don't have a strong feeling either way at this point.

From the Flu to Morning Sickness?

Aaron and I were both struck by the flu bug this week. Of course everyone that I've told asks if I'm sure it wasn't morning sickness. At the time, I was sure, especially since Aaron had it (surely he wouldn't have sympathy morning sickness!), but now it is 3 days later and I am still nauseous all the time. Uh-oh! I am still holding out some hope that it is just lingering affects of the flu, but as time goes on I'm less and less sure.

Here's why I'm holding out hope:

1. I always heard that the nausea that you get with morning sickness comes on quickly and strong -- I feel nauseous at all times (like I did when I had the flu).
2. I always thought that morning sickness would feel more "hormonal" and not just like the flu. I only base this off of my experience from being on birth control when I felt sick for a while for the first few months after I started using it. I assumed it was probably a similar feeling to morning sickness at the time (thankfully at the time being pregnant never crossed my mind!)

Here's why my hopes are fading:

1. It has been 3 days since I've actually gotten sick (not sure if you still call it morning sickness if you are just nauseous and don't get sick, but let's say you do for this topic of conversation).
2. Aaron had the flu, too and has no nausea at this point.
3. While I'm eating and right after I eat I don't feel nauseous at all, but about 10 minutes after I'm done eating, it comes back.

I guess time will tell...

UPDATE 3/29/08: Ok, I concede, it is m/s. I woke up today and actually was feeling pretty good, but it only lasted about an hour and I'm back to the nausea. It's worth it though!

Hunger Pains

Well, today I am 6 weeks pregnant. So far so good! Other than the "girls" getting bigger (and tender), my other symptoms have only been being tired and hungry...really hungry. I eat and then I'm hungry again an hour later and within an hour and a half I am famished!

Operation Stork

So the big question with pregnancy is always -- when and how do you tell everyone. We decided to keep the secret to ourselves for a few days just so we could get used to the idea of it (it was hard to get it to sink in!). The following are just a few of the fun experiences we had telling our friends and family:

We called my parents first. For those of you that don't know, they are living in Perth, Australia. The time difference was 13 hours and in order to guarantee that they'd both be home we called early in the morning, which was late in the evening in Perth. As soon as Mom answered the phone I mouthed to Aaron, "she knows!" We had her get Dad on the phone, too and told them. As you can imagine they were very excited! It will be difficult having them in Perth through most of the pregnancy, but as Mom's English friend said, "they'll be back for the best bits at the end."

Next we told Aaron's dad and his family. We decided it would be fun to tell them at the same restaurant that we went to to tell them that we were engaged. We had been shopping earlier in the day and found a card that said "We're expecting" and thought it would be fun to give it to them. Also, BJ's birthday is coming soon, so we got him a card that said Happy Birthday Uncle and gave it to him at the same time. They were pretty excited, too and made sure to tell us that they were going to do everything they can to spoil the baby.

Then, we stopped by Aaron's grandma's and gave her an Easter egg (it was Easter weekend). Inside the egg was a fortune that said "Happy Easter from Baby Cain! See you in November." I think that she may have shown it to every person that she's seen since we gave it to her!

Aaron's mom and her family was next. We met them at Mark's high school baseball game. We gave them the same card that we had given his dad. It was fun telling Evan that he'd be an uncle.

Along the way we also told some of our friends. We told Jason and Kim just before they had their first baby, Jocelyn. So Kim and I got to go through about a week of pregnancy together! It was fun while it lasted. :)

On Easter we told my extended family. My aunts were taking pictures of my cousin Faith and new baby cousin Kolby. I tossed an Easter egg in Faith's lap and told her to open it. As soon as I did it everyone except Faith knew what it was. She read it (the same message as the one we gave Aaron's grandma) and thought that Kolby was getting a baby brother or sister until her mom explained to her that Aaron and I are having a baby. Her eyes got big and she looked at me and said "you're having a baby?!"

Finding Out

WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!

We found out the exciting news on March 16th, 2008. They say that you'll just know, but I had no idea. We had been trying to conceive for 9 months and decided to back off and I was trying hard to keep it off my mind. I was a few days late, but honestly didn't think much of it. On the 16th I was shopping with Kim and I had to go to the bathroom twice in about 15 minutes.

Hmmm...

I couldn't get it off my mind and knew I had a test at home, so as soon as I got home, I took it. It was instantly positive! I just kept blinking and thinking it wasn't real. After standing there with a dumbstruck look on my face for a few minutes, I ran downstairs and told Aaron that I had something upstairs to show him. Since I'd been shopping, he thought that I had bought something. I took him upstairs into the bathroom and pointed at the test. We couldn't stop grinning at each other!