Tuesday, April 30, 2013

There's a baby in there?!?



(Our announcement photo) 


March 1st, 2012
We found out we were expecting! I kept telling Chris I felt sick. I had one of those pregnancy tests that just have the pink lines on them. I took it while he was out working on his race car and just let it sit on the counter. I went back and it didn't look like it was positive...until I held it up to the light and there was a very faint line there. I ran out to the garage and told Chris to take me to the store to get one of the tests that says "pregnant" or "not pregnant". Chris kept shaking his head that he didn't think I was pregnant that it was just stress. But, once we got home I ran and took the test and sure enough he was waiting outside the bathroom door. We walked away and left the test for 3 min. We both ran back to the bathroom and sure enough..it said "PREGNANT"! It was a surprise, but a good one. We were super excited and nervous. I had just been laid off my job the day before so of course my mind was going 100 miles per minute thinking about how we were going to be able to afford a new little one.
 
We had been "trying" to have a baby since November 2011. After two (completely accidental) miscarriages (stupid antibiotics), I spoke with the doctor and she told me that we were going to be very lucky if we were able to conceive. We were instructed to start right away as the sooner we try, the better chance we had to conceive. It was all happening so fast, but we knew we wanted a child and we would make it work.
 
So when we found out there were tears of joy, tears of fear, and well....just LOTS of tears.
I visited the doctor a few weeks later, everything looked great. They set the original due date for November 11th, 2012. Although from what I figured it should have been November 1st, 2012 (which was when he was born). She told me to watch everything carefully, but so far so good.
 
I was sicker than a dog for the first 9 weeks. I lost a total of 25lbs just within that amount of time. I couldn't keep anything down and was miserable!
 
ADVICE TO MY BABY BUMP LADIES - BE SURE TO ENDULGE IN WHATEVER YOU MIGHT BE CRAVING, SERIOUSLY! THE ONLY FOOD I COULD KEEP DOWN (SOMEWHAT) WAS THE STUFF I HAD BEEN CRAVING SO BADLY (CHIPOTLE BURRITOS, YUM). ALSO, CALL YOUR DOCTOR AND GET SOME ZOFRAN ASAP! 
 
We waited a little while to tell all of our family, just because we didn't want everyone to be excited and then we have a miscarriage again. But, once we told our immediate family they were all so happy for us. There were a few family members that didn't agree but, you can't let those people get to you and ruin your excitement. We waited until we found out the gender- around 21 weeks - before we made it "Facebook Official". Baby boy P was announced and we were overwhelmed with the positive response. We have such great friends and family from the Speedway.
 
I found out around 28 weeks that I tested positive for gestational diabetes. When I got the phone call it was like someone died, pregnancy hormones got to me and I completely overreacted. I have a tiny fear of needles and definitely didn't want to give myself insulin shots. But, luckily my levels were controlled by diet only. To be honest, this was the first time I really had to learn about Nutrition Labels on food. Carbs are tricky! It was definitely tough changing my diet while I was pregnant and wanting sweets and craving pasta all of the time. But, I made it work and it was for the better. I learned a lot from the experience and to this day I still use some of the diet restrictions to be a bit more healthy.
 
As hard as it is, don't get over emotional about being diagnosed. You learn a lot about portion control and reading labels. Stuff that will help you and your baby now, and to also be able to teach your child how to eat healthy when they are getting older.
 
Everything was going smooth, we were ready for our little man to get here. The end of my pregnancy was quiet boring. I felt the common Braxton hicks contractions. Ladies, there are some things in your third trimester that are just gross and things you have never felt before. I literally felt like my whole "under carriage" was getting scrapped and poked during my Braxton hicks. It was the weirdest feeling ever, but apparently that was my form of the fake contractions (which by the way, feel NOTHING like the real contractions, OUCH) I think Chris was so tired of me complaining at this point that I had extreme hip and lower back pain, peeing CONSTANTLY, and the weird stuff happening inside. Not to mention my son LOVED his feet in my ribs...OUCH!
 
I was down to my weekly visits at 35 weeks. Every week it was the same thing, wait 45 min at the doctors office, pee in a cup, check for progress, and each time I gained at least a cm. But, at my 38 week check up....everything changed! TO BE CONTINUED...
 
Pregnancy is a beautiful thing, it is one of the things that our body just knows how to do. You literally just have to take care of yourself and follow a few restrictions for the safety of your baby. Otherwise, you don't have to wake up and be like "oh, I need to develop his kidneys today" your body does it for you, it is the miracle of life.

My Pregnancy Cravings
- Chipotle Burritos
- Watermelon
- Anything sweet
- Carrabbas Mezzaluna
- Chips and Salsa
- Potato Skins

My Pregnancy Symptoms
- Nausea and Vomiting (the entire first 9 weeks)
- Peeing ALL of the time
- Serious hip pain (we had to buy a special memory foam mattress topper because it hurt so bad)
- Braxton Hicks
- Headaches
- Hot, constantly
- Tired all of the time, but yet I had pregnancy insomnia at night 
 
 
 
 
 


Saturday, April 27, 2013

The Inside Scoop

Welcome Ladies and Gents to our family blog.
 
As we start our next adventure, you are more than welcome to join us. This is a new step for us starting this blog, and I have plenty of fun ideas that I look forward to sharing with you.
 
Let me start out by giving you the low-down about us and our family. My name is Danielle, I am 23 years young and I am a stay-at-home mom. My husbands name is Chris, he is 29 years young and works as a aerospace mechanic. He also races dirt track modified (something that we will share with you). We have been married 2 1/2 years and we were blessed 6 months ago with our handsome son, Jayden. He is our first born child and is ornery as all get out, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
 
Our life is, well...average. We are first time parents trying to figure out how this whole parenting thing works. My husband spends a lot of time working in the garage. Whether that be working on his truck, or building race motors and selling race parts. He sold his race car last year and wanted to spend this year watching our son grow. They sure do grow fast within their first year.
He plans on building a new car from scratch, so I will make sure to keep you all up to date.
 
I on the other hand, spend most of my time with my son and doing normal house work. I suffer from severe allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma so last year (a day before we found out we were pregnant) I lost my job due to having too many attacks at work. I have a weird sensitivity to cat dander. If I get near anyone who owns a cat, it can be in public, or even outside, I go into a severe attack and my throat closes up. Most doctors have been shocked at my sensitivity, and it happens to be so severe that there is nothing they can do to treat it. I basically just have to stay away from anyone or anything that has been around cats. Talk about tough. It was just a little over a year ago that it became this sensitive and we have lost a lot of friends and opportunities because of it. Not to mention we aren't able to see family members (in-laws, grandparents, and aunts and uncles) because of it. It is a sad situation that we are stuck in. But, we try to make the most of it and we are thankful that we have each other to lean on.
 
I think that sums up a bit about us. You will learn more as we go along.
 
STAY TUNED FOR 
- Pregnancy, birth story, and tips
- First time parent advice and tips
- Recipes
-Our journey of parenting
-Racing news, parts, and mechanical info
- Making our own baby food
- Baby product reviews
- Race product reviews
- and just our everyday story
 
We'll see you next time! =)