Holy Macaroni!

There's somebody living in there!!!!!  I literally scared myself when I caught my profile in the mirror this morning after yoga!  How in the world could this possibly pop out like this in a matter of 24 hours????  Now I wish I would have taken a picture yesterday to prove the difference!  CRAZY!  14 weeks and 6 days today!

And please pardon the messy house.  The Italian was kind enough to wash the slip covers for our couch and put them back on, but apparently he's opposed to zipping them back up :) 

And as an update to yesterday's post - I DID make it to the gym yesterday.  Not the "old me" gym routine - only eeked out 3 miles on the elliptical (and pretty slow at that), but it still felt good! 

I'm BACK! (I think)

So I woke up this morning and for the first time in MONTHS feel like MYSELF!!!  I used to be an EARLY riser - usually 4:30 or so and would get in a good 4-6 mile run or hour and a half of yoga.  Well, that me seemed to disappear into the toilet over the past 3 months and for the month prior to that was put on restriction by Dr. Katz.  Well this morning, I hopped out of bed at 5:30 (not as early as the old days, but still better than dragging myself out around 7/7:30), ate breakfast and then did my prenatal yoga DVD.  Now the prenatal yoga is NOTHING like my Power Yoga that I used to enjoy, but it's kind of nice to just stretch and relax instead of being the psycho yogi wanna-be that I once was. I'm hoping to actually make it to the gym for a short burst on the elliptical...it's been nearly FIVE MONTHS since a trip to the gym...for those who didn't know me before all this or don't know me outside of the blog world that is INSANE to me!!!!  I've been a religious and some may say "obsessive" work out person for years.  I have to admit, the break has been nice, but my mind and body both miss the regular butt kicking I used to give myself. 

I've been off Zofran (my anti-nausea meds) for nearly 2 weeks now and am thankful to only have occasional and light bouts of nausea now and then. 

We did our first day care tour on Saturday and there is only one word to describe it....TRAUMATIC!  The facility was perfectly nice and the people were so friendly, but I started crying as soon as we pulled into the parking lot so that started things off on the wrong note.  Then we go inside and fill out the form and the nice Director lady begins our tour.  We got into the infant room and she started going through the dailly schedule, what to bring each day, each week, how to check in, the "lesson plans", the sanitation guidelines, etc....I thought the Italian was going to lose it.  It was definitely way too much for the male mind to take in.  She wanted to continue to tour us through the Toddler, Twaddler and Pre-Schooler rooms, but Dave just wanted to BOLT.  It was definitely overwhelming. 

I don't know what made us think that it would be a good idea to head to Buy Buy Baby after that traumatic outing...but we did.  I just wanted to quickly look at cribs as we had a 20% off coupon which would be a nice discount on a crib but while we were there the Italian was like, "I want to look at Car Seats and Strollers".  So we bravely walked over to the foreign land of strange baby equipment.  We both just stood there in shock until Dave saw the Jog Strollers - "Well, you have to have one of these!" he said as he took off towards the heavy duty equipment.  I told him that I heard that Bob Strollers were good jog strollers so he said ok and pulled the price tag on the first one we say..."$699!!!!!!!" We both said and then noted that our 20% coupon was no good on Bob products.  So we hightailed it out of the store, headed to a dive and drowned our sorrows in Cheeseburgers and French Fries.  :)  Luckily one of my besties and all around super-mom is coming into town in February for the Reveal party and she's been kind enough to come help me register...I'm CLUELESS with this stuff!  It will feel so much better to have a real life mommy there to help pick out what we need! 

So wish me luck (or continued energy) so that I can hopefully make it to the gym tonight.  Thanks again for continued prayers and support.  Less than 1 month until our anatomy scan - until then I keep looking down and asking "Are you really in there?  Are you ok?  Will you please STAY ok????"  So grow baby grow!  Let's get this show on the road :) 

HELLOOOOO 2nd Trimester!!!!!

Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!  Baby Randazzler and I are officially in our second trimester - officially 14 weeks TODAY!!!!  HALLELUJAH!  I can't begin to express what a relief reaching this point is!  I know we still have a LOOONG ways to go (182 days to be exact), but reaching this milestone is something to be celebrated in my humble opinion!  I was reminded to be thankful with my morning devotion which was I Samuel 1:27-28..."I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.”  Thank God for Hannah...I've spent a lot of time reading her words over the past couple of years and sometimes I swear that her purpose in life was to be a source of inspiration to me thousands of years later :)

I know that I have all but disappeared over the last 3 months in the blogosphere and that is due to a number of reasons...1) killer morning/all day sickness, 2) craziness at work, 3) mostly due to fear and anxiety.  I never would have imagined that the first 3 months of pregnancy would be as SCARY as they are.  It feels so amazing to be blessed with such a miracle but SO SCARY to know that in the blink of an eye it can disappear and for no apparent reason.  It was definitely a difficult exercise in patience and trust for me, the control freak who likes to think that somehow I am directly responsible for the outcome of all situations.  I'd be praising God and thankful one minute and then questioning "Why is this working out for me?  I don't deserve this anymore than anyone else I know who is struggling, probably deserve is LESS if I'm being perfectly honest" the next.  I have so many friends who have not been so fortunate and I do not and never will understand why things work out for some and not for others.  I constantly remind myself that it is HIS will, not mine that will be done and that's what I pray for...even if it produces a result that I'm not happy with at the time.

Anyway, all that aside - I am ETERNALLY grateful for where we are now, TODAY!  We're now starting to explore daycares vs. nannies vs. "granny care" (yeah - uh Mom and Dad, need to talk to you guys about that :) ), cleaning out the soon to be baby suite as I call it, will probably be ordering furniture soon, and planning our GENDER REVEAL PARTY!!!  Some say they're cheesey - but I am committed to celebrating every little milestone, so YES, we WILL be having a Gender Reveal Party late February after our anatomy scan (which is scheduled for VALENTINE'S DAY - but the party will be a week or two after that)!!!!!  I can't wait to be surprised along with my family and some of our closest friends by finding out if Baby Randazzler is a boy or girl!   This is a NO PRESENTS party - just a celebration and us sharing something VERY special with those nearest to us. 

Speaking of gender - people ask all the time if I have a feeling one way or the other.  Well, initially I was thinking BOY - mostly because of wives tales I'd heard, on the rare occassion that I was hungry, I could/would only eat insanely spicy foods - loved tacos and could drink salsa by the gallon if you'd let me.  Then about a month ago I realized that I had subconsciously started calling baby "her" in my prayers or in my head when I'd be thinking about things.  Then after my dr's appt on Monday I bounced back to BOY - so to answer your question...I don't know!!!!  Honestly just praying for HEALTHY - please God let this baby be perfectly healthy!  I know that's a lot to ask and I have had a laundry list of requests that have graciously been granted over my 34 years on earth, but this is probably the most important and fervent prayer I've ever prayed. 

So thanks again for all the prayers and support over the past several months of my public journey.  I'm eternally grateful and know that God heard every prayer.  And every message, comment and email I received seriously helped to raise my spirits and help me to stay positive.  Blessings to you all!