Watch Baby Hughes Grow!

38 weeks and she's here!!!

2010-01-04T13:15:00.006-06:00

Here's one of the last belly pictures at 38 weeks...

But now, I'd like to introduce Juliana Marie! Born December 23rd at 7:41am weighing 7lbs 3oz & measuring 19 & 1/2 inches! My water broke at my doctor's office while waiting for my midwife to see me at around 6:00pm on the 22nd. I labored at home until around 4am when I decided to go to the hospital. My contractions we coming 2-3 minutes apart lasting about 60-70 seconds while in the car and it turned out I was 9cm upon arrival! My Hypnobabies program that I used worked so well for me that I can honestly say I don't remember any distinct time that I felt pain.

It all started when I was at work trying to get ahead on some of my work to prepare for my maternity leave. I started to have what I thought were just Braxton Hicks contractions around 4pm. I left work at 4:15pm to head home to pickup Adam to go to our 5:00pm appointment with my midwife. At the time I was 38 weeks 4 days and I really wasn't anticipating going into labor until well after my due date. I had a feeling I was going to run late but boy was I wrong. It was snowing quite a bit that day and I was running about 10 minutes late because I was stopped by a train on the way home so I called my midwife's office to let them know.

When we got there our appointment was delayed a bit since I was late and I decided to give my urine sample right away when we got there. To my surprise when I was putting the cap on my sample I noticed that it was full of what I thought was my mucus plug. I started to get really excited because I knew that something was happening! I went out to the lobby and didn't say anything to Adam about it because I didn't want him to get excited and think that I was going into labor because I knew that it could still be a while. We finally got called to the back where I was weighed, had my blood pressure checked and I told the nurse I wanted to be checked this week because I thought I was losing my plug.

I took my pants off, hopped up on the table and suddenly I felt like I had a lot of discharge going on. I stood up and moved the sheet down so I wasn't sitting in it but then I felt a whole lot more. When my midwife came in I told her I thought I was leaking amniotic fluid and she wanted to do a sterile speculum check. Well, while she was looking for one I felt a gush and I told her I really thought that my water had broken so I stood up and she put the little strip in the fluid that was all over the table. Sure thing it was amniotic fluid so now we all got excited. I was also starting to have contractions but I never felt anything in my back it was all mostly like bad menstrual cramps.

My midwife at this time told me to go home, eat, get everything ready and head to the hospital. Well, I knew that I didn't want to go to the hospital until something was really happening and my labor had progressed because I knew I wouldn't be comfortable all night in a hospital room. We went home and Adam made me a sandwich while I finished packing the hospital bag and diaper bag. I really never felt like a lot was going on so I decided to listen to my Birth Day Affirmations track from Hypnobabies. It was really relaxing and put me in a great mood and my contractions really started to pick up.

I decided to hop in the shower to relax myself, shave my legs and get cleaned up. It was around 8:45-9:00 by then and my midwife called to see if we were ok and when we were heading out. Since I was in the shower Adam talked to her and she told us she was staying the night at the hospital because she had another woman in labor (who was there during my appointment at 6:00pm) and since the weather was not so great. She told him that we could stay home if we'd like and she wasn't worried about me since my contractions were consistent at that point.

After my shower I told my sister and Adam that I was going to try to go to sleep for a while before my contractions became too much to sleep through since I knew I might be in for a long night. I put on my Easy First Stage track on my iPod, got cozy in bed and drifted off until around 12:30am. I really didn't feel like laying in my bed alone anymore and I figured Adam would want to get off the couch so I went to get him and get Lisa a blanket so she wouldn't freeze on the coach. My contractions at this point were coming every 6-7 minutes lasting about 30-45 seconds.

I laid back down with Adam and just tried relaxing by myself without listening to any Hypnobabies tracks. I used my lightswitch and turned inward to my special place to help me relax. When I had a contraction come that I felt I needed to walk through I used my center switch so I could get up. I started by walking between my bed room and the nursery where I had my birth ball. I'd either get on my knees and lean on the ball to get through a contraction or just walk between the rooms. At 1:22am I decided to finally start writing down and tracking the contractions. Between 1:22 and 2:16 my contractions were all 5 minutes apart lasting between 55-60 seconds each. The whole time I was just using my lightswitch and turning inward to get through each contraction. I'd lay in bed until my next contraction would come to keep rested and only get up if I really needed to. At this time I decided that this was really it and I wanted to get in the shower again to relax and get myself ready for the trip to the hospital.

After getting out of the shower I decided that I wanted to wait a bit longer to make sure that things were staying consistent and that I wouldn't get to the hospital too early. I started tracking my contractions again and at 2:55am and they were coming 3 minutes apart and were lasting 60 seconds. At that point I thought I was really starting to push it because it's a 20-25 minute ride to the hospital and no one was awake yet. I told Adam I thought this was it and that we should get going. So, he loaded the bags into the car and started Lisa's car and our car. I don't know why but I still didn't feel ready to leave and I dilly dallied around the house and kept timing the contractions. Between 3:15-3:25 there were a couple contractions that came 2 minutes apart so I finally got my butt out the door and settled into the car. I was most worried about the drive because Adam can make me anxious with his driving and it was snowing. Right when I was getting in the car I had a pretty uncomfortable contraction so I told Adam to put on by Birth Day Affirmations track and to wait until the contraction was done. I leaned my seat back, turned my lightswitch to off and tried focusing on the affirmations track.

Once we left I felt like I was having contractions left and right... did I wait too long? Was I going to feel like pushing before we got to the hospital!? I tried my hardest to listen to the Hypnobabies track but I felt like I was tuning it out and I would tell myself to relax and say peace (Hypnobabies cue words). Adam was doing awesome telling my to relax and to direct my anesthesia to where I needed it the most (he was definitely doing a good job of coaching me). I kept my lightswitch at center most of the time in the car because then I felt like I could shift my weight and I liked "mmmm"-ing through the contractions. I felt like the ride to the hospital was super fast, really it felt like maybe 10 minutes.

When went into the ER it was totally quiet. There was a young woman who asked if I was in labor and offered me a wheel chair. I asked her if I could stand because the idea of sitting was just not appealing. She said ok but that it would be up to the nurse if they'd let me walk up to L&D by myself so I just stood there and swayed back and fourth. Adam and Lisa strolled in and I felt like we were waiting in the ER for a long while because I remember having at least 4 contractions. The woman apologized and then asked how close my contractions were and when I told her she gave me this blank stare and said "Oh!" I guess maybe because I was cracking jokes with my sister about having a watermelon between my legs and laughing after I dropped down to the ground on all fours in the middle of the hallway.... I was cracking myself up with how silly I probably looked. Then the nurse finally came and told me that I could walk if I was up to it.

She was like "yeah, ok sure!" when I told her how my contractions were going. When I got to my room the nurse that was assigned to me was waiting in the room to hook me up to the monitors to check my contractions and the baby's heart-rate. She had already gone through our birth plan so she knew we were doing hypnosis. I loved her! She had the lights dimmed and was talking in a very hushed voice or spoke to Adam when she had a question(I love my hospital). I told her that when we left the house my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and were coming every 60 seconds but that it had only been that way for about a half an hour and before that they were about 5 minutes apart. She then told me she thought I was in early labor because they didn't sound like they were consistent(ummm...WHAT!?) and I think I gave her a crazy look.

She talked to me about Hypnobabies at that point asking me what words she'd like me to say (I didn't say birthing waves I kept saying contractions) and what she could do to make the room comfortable. So, she offered to get me a chair for the shower since the room with the birth tub wasn't available. After being on the machine for 5 or 6 contractions she told me that they were consistently 2 minutes apart lasting about a minute to minute and a half (I wanted to be like HA I TOLD YOU SO) and she was going to get my midwife. I decided to strip down to my bra because I knew my midwife was going to want to check my cervix and got up on the bed. Laying down wasn't the best but I turned my lightswitch off and I hardly felt her checking my cervix. Turned out I was 9cm dilated and boy was that great news!

My midwife was really apologetic that the labor tub wasn't available but got everything setup in the shower to make me comfortable. I stripped down and stood in the shower with the water on my back. I tried sitting on the chair but sitting was so uncomfortable so I used it to squat down when I was having a contraction. I could tell I was starting to hit transition because it seemed like I was spending a lot of time "mmm"-ing and squatting. Adam kept coming in to check on me to see if he could do anything but I was just so in-tuned to my body and trying to relax through the contractions I didn't feel I needed any help.

After a while the water on my back wasn't as relaxing so I started standing facing the shower head and I'd take it off to run water all over my belly through the contractions. After about an hour I started to feel pushy so I had Adam call the nurse over and told her that I thought I was ready to give pushing a go. My midwife came in to check my cervix again and said that I was complete and asked me how I'd like to push... what position I'd see as comfortable. I decided that I wanted to try my Hypnobabies Pushing CD and use the bed and my pillows. Just see what would work for me. Adam started the track up and I listened to it for about 20 minutes but seriously it was way to relaxing. I didn't feel like I was making any progress and "ahhh"-ing the baby out seemed like it was doing little for me. Here's a picture of me doing the pushing track and my last picture with my baby still in my belly...

When I told me midwife that I needed a little more direction because I didn't feel like I was making progress she had me go back into the bathroom and straddle the toilet and use the bars around the toilet to squat and bare down when I needed to. I did this for about a half hour before I felt like she was getting really far down and I was wearing out. I originally wanted to break the bed down and squat and push but at this point I was getting really tired and my hips were wearing down from so much squatting. So, I ended up laying down on the bed and had the nurse and Adam help me sit up and hold my legs back when I felt the urge to push.

My midwife did an awesome job telling me how great I was doing and that she was nearly there. No one ever counted she just told me to push when I felt I needed to and to take quick breaths to try to continue to push the whole time I had a contraction. She did warm compresses on my perineum between pushes that felt amazing. I never felt any pain from pushing it was just a whole lot of pressure. At this point my midwife told me I could feel her head and I reached down and felt all that hair she had. This made me so happy and excited. When I was about to crown and my sister took a picture of me before the big moment and I couldn't help but have a huge smile on my face...

Right after she took the picture I knew this would be it and I pushed my little heart out and Juliana was crowning. I didn't feel the ring of fire that everyone talks about I just felt tons of pressure so much more than before. I couldn't wait for the next contraction and decided to keep pushing until she was out. I think I made the right choice because it took no time at all... 2 more big pushes and she was out and in my arms.

It turned out that I had no tears and wouldn't need any stitches. It was such great news to me and it may have been all the kegels that I had been doing for months. I birthed the placenta easily and that was that. I did have quiet a bit of bleeding and even breastfeeding right away wasn't helping so they gave me a small blue pill to help my uterus contract. At the time I was so distracted that I didn't note what it was I just know that it wasn't pitocin. Now I really wish I would have paid more attention but it really helped me stop bleeding and didn't give me terribly painful contractions but they were more uncomfortable than the ones I had while I was in labor. I remember them only lasting a couple hours and being kind of random.

So, that's my story and if anyone has any questions about Hypnobabies let me know. I am a full believer of this program and it kept me so relaxed during my birthing time. I didn't use the tracks as much as I thought I would because I was doing a great job using my lightswitch and having those around me use cue words as well. The program does an amazing job of "reprogramming" your mind to not feel any pain during labor but to instead feel pressure or discomfort. If you believe in the program, believe you will have a safe, comfortable, easy and pain-free birth than you definitely will. It's mind over matter and I can't say more good things about this type of birth.

Here's one last picture of my happy family...

And here's me and Jules back at home...

For more information on Hypnobabies please click here and I strongly encourage you to use the program! It worked for me! I had a 100% easy, fast, normal and natural birth using this program and I'll definitely be using it for baby #2 :)

She can come any day now!! Weeks 35, 36 & 37 belly photos

2009-12-10T21:01:00.003-06:00

I've been trying to pack the hospital bag tonight but it's hard since I'll be using most that's on the list up until the day I go into labor. So, I'm going to do more laundry and do my Hypnobabies for the day. Here's the latest belly growth!

35 weeks

36 weeks

37 weeks!!!

Maternity Photos 36 weeks

2009-12-02T10:36:00.003-06:00

We had our maternity photo session on Monday night with Kim Youra and they turned out great. I want to post them all here but here's just a few:

Adam looks so handsome here

This will be hanging above Jules' crib

We couldn't stop laughing doing this pose :)

36 weeks!!! (Well, 35 weeks and 4 days)

We went over our birth plan with our midwife Dr. Kate last night at our appointment and it went really well. We're getting soooo excited about her arrival!

33 weeks

2009-11-15T14:00:00.001-06:00

I've been slacking on the pictures for the past couple weeks...

I'm hardly fitting in my shirts anymore.

2009-10-29T21:13:00.004-05:00

Daddy is making us cookies right now :) Chocolate chip. We're spoiled!

We're also cookin' away in there and starting to really pop!

We've come so far...

28 weeks

2009-10-12T22:30:00.002-05:00

We're getting there!

A real pain in the butt!

2009-10-05T09:47:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure little Jules here has flipped around and is sitting head down now. She's also been putting pressure on my sciatic nerve for a couple days and yesterday it was terrible. I had my last shift at Drifter's yesterday and it was terribly busy so I spent 9 hours straight on my feet running around. Around 4 in the afternoon I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it because the pain my my lower back/butt/hip was just aching none stop. If I went from a leaning over position to a straight up and down position I'd get a shooting pain that made me gasp for air. After staying off my feet all night, doing some stretching and getting a good nights rest I do feel better but I get a twinge right in my butt every now and then. At least I know she's probably just getting in position for the big day! It's giving me a kind of wobble to my step so I look like I waddle a little now. I feel like I'm far too small to be waddling around already! :)

She's also kicking on sort of a schedule now. She likes to kick for breakfast. Then mid afternoon I tend to start slouching in my work chair because it's a little more comfortable on my lower back and I usually rest my left arm on my tummy and she always kicks at it. Like mom get your arm out of my space! Then at night after dinner she does some crazy tummy shifting moves. She hardly ever kicks for anyone else, though. Adam has felt her a handful of times and he's seen her move a lot at night when she starts doing the wave with my belly. But, no one else has caught her yet.

26 weeks!

2009-09-26T10:25:00.003-05:00

We're starting to get to work on the baby's room and its slowly coming together. I also started working on a blanket, some flower hooks, painting a giant mirror I have, and we picked out two wall decals we're planning on going with. It's really fun and exciting! Here's the latest belly shot. I had to move where I've been taking pictures because I no longer have anywhere to set the camera now that the crib is in the way. (You can catch a peak at the crib behind me.)

6 Months!!!

2009-09-13T22:50:00.004-05:00

It's really starting to fly by now. The ultrasound confirmed that we're having a baby girl and she is measuring right on track and her brain, spine, etc are all looking great. I've been nesting a lot lately. Along with tons of reading, reading and more reading. As well as working on my Bradley exercises and Adam is being a great coach so far. :) Life is good.

22 Weeks - Feel it move, see it move and had a growth spurt!

2009-08-30T22:43:00.002-05:00

I look like I've hit a little growth spurt and I can feel the baby frequently. I've even seen little kicks on the outside but just my stomach jumping a little.

I ordered a few more books recently more geared toward breastfeeding and babies after birth. We also just registered at Babies R Us and Target for a few items. We decided to go with a jungle theme and keep a lot of things we registered for as gender neutral and I started on a baby blanket to match the room. We decided to buy a new kitchen table today to give us a table that's actually a good height to sit at and isn't too large for our pretty small kitchen. We also went and got a Sams Club membership because there's one in our area now. I found a swivel rocker-recliner we're going to be purchasing in a couple months for the baby's room. I feel like I'm starting to nest already and I should be doing thank you cards!

21 Weeks Picture

2009-08-22T22:59:00.001-05:00

I feel and kind of look like the baby is sitting on-top of my bladder today. When I took a picture I could see how low I'm starting to carry and it's been putting a weird pressure on my lower back today. I noticed it while I was on my feet most of the day at work. I don't look like I've grown much in the past couple weeks but I'm starting to be more aware of my belly as is everyone else.

Kickin' Daddy

2009-08-21T09:16:00.002-05:00

Well, we got married this past Saturday and it was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better day and everything turned out amazing. All of my visions and plans came together wonderfully and we actually pulled off a 100% DIY wedding (the food, beverages, decorations, invites, programs, flowers...everything). The ceremony was the absolute best part in my opinion. It was short but our vows really captured the love between Adam and me. I had to keep looking at Jeri our officiant when Adam was repeating the vows to me so I wouldn't get too chocked up before I had to say mine otherwise I might not have been able to get through them clearly. When we were pronounced we receded down the aisle to the Linus & Lucy song and I think it was a perfect end to our quirky and unconventional wedding and totally us. The reception was a blast and the food turned out amazing. We definitely had way more than enough of everything but better to have too much than too little I say. I'll post some pictures here as soon as I have them because my little baby bump looked ridiculously adorable in my white cotton dress.

In baby news - I've been slacking on pictures for the past couple weeks because of the wedding but I plan on getting one tonight. Daddy felt the baby for the very first time last night and his face was priceless. The baby kicked one really strong and hard kick that made us both go "whoa" and Adam's eyes got so wide! I've been feeling the baby moving all morning and it's so distracting because I just want to sit here and hold onto my belly to feel it on the outside, too. So far the kicking is my favorite part of my pregnancy. It's really an amazing feeling.

18 weeks 5 days Photo

2009-08-05T21:51:00.001-05:00

Here's the newest photo. Nearing 19 weeks right now and I'm wondering how much extra room they really gave me in my wedding dress :)

Blood-Test Results

2009-08-03T10:01:00.001-05:00

Well, the baby is good... no chromosome abnormalities. But, I'm anemic so now I have an iron supplement I have to take twice a day and I take it with OJ to try to help the absorption. I knew that it might be an issue because I haven't been able to donate blood every time I've tried for the past year because of my low iron and I knew I'd need more now that I'm pregnant. I wish I would have thought about it sooner so I could have had my blood test in the beginning of the pregnancy. I know now that my morning sickness was probably making my iron deficiency worse and it makes sense that I seem to have pretty bad fatigue and I get dizzy often. I attributed most of the fatigue and dizziness to pregnancy "side-effects" and so did my midwife. Oh well. I'm just bummed because iron isn't fun to take. It really upsets my stomach and my stomach is already testy. We'll see how it plays out. Hopefully my splurging on the time-released formula will help with that. So, I'm on my iron regimen until my next appointment on the 11th where they're going to test my blood again to make sure my iron is increasing. I've also been eating died apricots which are supposed to help but I need to start eating more broccoli, beans and iron-fortified cereals since I don't eat red meat often at all.

17 Weeks & Feelin' Some Twitchin'

2009-07-24T12:38:00.002-05:00

Holy moly I'm 17 weeks today. I'm getting sooo close to the halfway point it's just crazy. A couple nights ago I kept getting muscle twitches and weird sensations under my belly button so I busted out the doppler. I could hear the little bean moving around in there. I'd find the heartbeat and then a "whooshing" noise and the heartbeat would move away, then I'd wait and hear more of the "whooshing" and I'd hear the heartbeat again. It was unreal!

My belly is really really starting to pop out now. I was compairing it to my 10 week picture and 7 weeks really has made quite a difference. I have a feeling I'm going to have a pretty big belly at the end of this based on my growth so far! I look 100% pregnant in my street clothes now so I've been getting lots of comments and people staring at my stomach going huh!?!

4 Months!! Wow it's gone by fast

2009-07-17T22:48:00.002-05:00

Today I hit the 4 month point and we're now a month away from the wedding wedding! I had blood tests sent out at my midwife appointment on Tuesday. We also setup our sonogram to find out how the baby is doing and what we can name this little bean in my belly. Excuse me this little avocado in my belly, now. :) That appointment is on September 8th and were pretty excited. Hopefully we can get the baby to dance around for us.

Someone Noticed!

2009-07-15T12:15:00.000-05:00

Today when I was walking down the hall a girl from my old department stopped me and asked all hushed if I was pregnant. I think she was nervous about being wrong at first but I was really excited because she's the first one to ask! I haven't put on any weight according to the doctor's scale last night and my belly is popping out a bit. It's just so exciting :)

We had a couple of blood tests sent out yesterday and just the routine check. 150bpm and my uterus measured the right size so we're on the right track! My midwife gave me a prescription for Zofran to help with the morning sickness. I haven't been sick today just icky feelings this morning but nothing major. I had a decent appetite today so that's good, too.

The anatomy scan is set for September 8th so mark your calendars because we've decided to find out if we have a hamburger or hot dog cooking!

15 weeks 4 days - Still Feeling Ucky

2009-07-14T09:43:00.000-05:00

I had a terrible beginning and a terrible end to this past week. Monday and Tuesday I felt like death, Wednesday-Saturday I felt pretty good, then Sunday night through today I'm back to feeling crappy. Today I have an appt with my midwife and I think they may be putting me on something so I won't be so up and down. It's weird what triggers me... I can't figure it out. This morning I had a plain mini bagel to see how that would sit with my stomach and well, it didn't. After getting sick I get really nervous about what I'm eating. Usually plain carbs or plain fruit can stick with me but when my body rejects just a small plain bagel I get leery about what else I should try to eat. So, I've been sick twice this morning and next I'm going to try some plain rice cakes. I’m really envious of the people who can eat whatever they want, whenever they want when they’re pregnant. All I worry about is becoming dehydrated and the fact that I’ve gained about a pound after loosing some weight last week.

Anyway, that's what's going on the pregnancy front.

15 weeks & poppin' out

2009-07-09T17:52:00.003-05:00

Holy moly! Look at this belly!!!!

I'm up 4 pounds and it's all in my uterus, jeez. This past week or so I was feeling like I popped out quite a bit. I can't get any of my pants zipped up let alone buttoned. I haven't really been able to feel my uterus until 5 days ago and now look at this belly of mine!!! 15 weeks and poppin' out - what happens when I get to 20 weeks for the wedding, hehe. I was really surprised that I've began to show this much so soon because of everything I've read saying that you usually start to show around 18-20 weeks with your first. Oh well, everyone is different. I really really need to start getting some maternity gear ASAPalapa because my work pants are no fun to sit in all day.

Well, I'm freaking excited now. I have total visible proof of my little bean :)

2nd Trimester - Not Cured Yet

2009-07-06T23:54:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm still feeling qeezy most days and I still tend to get sick. I'm only up 2lbs from my start weight but that's better than losing so I'm good. I felt like my "bump" was sticking out so far tonight when I was getting ready for bed. If I pull my clothing tighter you can see my belly sticking out a little here but it's still hard to tell when I have jeans on. I don't think it's really bloat tonight but we'll see in the next couple days. Maybe the start of my baby bump <3

Picture Post, Weeks 11, 12 & 13

2009-06-30T23:03:00.002-05:00

Ok, I've been slacking posting pictures so here's the last 3 weeks.

13 weeks 4 days

12 weeks 4 days

11 weeks

Muscle Spasms

2009-06-23T11:47:00.001-05:00

This morning I started getting muscle or uterus twitching/spasms on the left side. It's seriously just like an eye twitch but right above my pelvic bone on the left side. It's a crazy feeling because it's so constant.

Today there's a heat wave and it was 81 degrees on my way to work at 7 this morning. It's been so cold for so long and all of a sudden yeterday it was hot in the 80s and today it's hotter in the upper 80s and feels like mid 90s. Crazy weather. At least I'm not big and uncomfortable yet. We're thinking that the wedding on August 15th is going to be one hot day though. We'll see!

12 Weeks

2009-06-19T09:58:00.004-05:00

12 weeks!!! Finally! I've had some pretty bad morning sickness that started around week 7 and at first it wasn't too bad but for the last 3 weeks I've been dreading it. I really hope that since I'm getting into my 2nd trimester it'll diminish a little or entirely would be great. I don't have much that's changed. I still get super tired and I still stay up probably a little too late. Being a night owl while pregnant probably isn't the best idea. So, I'm going to try to bump my bedtime to 10 or 10:30 instead of 11-11:30 like I've been doing.

The wedding planning and arranging has been going well. In the next month we're going to start purchasing anything that we can and get everything prepped and ready so that in August we can just worry about the perishable foods and such. It's going to be a much larger event than we were anticipating I think. I was thinking that we'd be at 130-140 people but we're up to 188. We'll see how many RSVP to go! Our wedding showers are July 11th at my mom's and July 19th by Adam's mom and sister which should be really fun. This weekend we're going to see a Nascar race (both Adam & my 1st time, & baby's too, obviously) so that should be a great time! Then our next fun event is the Kenny Chesney concert on July 3rd at Summerfest and hopefully going to see fireworks somewhere on the 4th. We have a pretty jam packed schedule coming up but it should be a lot of fun seeing as we've just been sitting around the house watching movies and stuff like that.

I haven't really started to show at all but my uterus is pushing the layer of cushion I had over my belly out. Not as much as before because I don't have belly bloating like I used to which is nice. My clothes are still fitting, although some work pants are a little on the tight end, and I'm back into my big bras that I put in the back of my drawer. I’ve bought one pair of maternity work pants I found on sale at Target, 1 tank top from a thrift store and my friend is loaning me a couple of her items. We’ll see how the next few weeks go but I may have to go shopping for some more shirts – especially for work.

I’ve been having some downs lately and I know a lot of it has to do with my hormones but I’ve gotten really down about how lousy I’ve been feeling. I’ve only had a couple days where I’ve felt depressed about a lot of things but the majority of the time I’m really happy and excited. I really can’t wait to start showing but when I’m giant I’ll probably be wishing it wouldn’t have came so fast. I think that Adam is doing great and he just loves rubbing my belly and talking to the baby. He always tells the baby to be nice to me and not make me so sick. It’s pretty cute.

Ultrasound!!!!

2009-06-10T12:32:00.000-05:00

Last night was our first doctor's appointment and it went really well. I really think we hit it off with our midwife and she was really exciting to talk to. Her views on childbirth are refreshing to hear and although I'm due around the holidays she said she will work with us and let us know right away when she will and won't be available. I get to meet everyone else in the practice when I get a chance and speak with them in the event that she would not be able to be at the birth. But, she told me a lot about her and her colleagues and that they're strict to whatever birth plan we come up with together even if they are not midwives. The unfortunate thing about this area is that finding a midwife as amazing as Dr. Harrod is quite a feat and thanks to Kristy for finding her for me! She has a lot of experience and she's actually a professor at Marquette for midwifery and she frequently teaches at the clinic she works from. So, she may contact me to have a student assist with an appointment or possibly delivery depending on comfort level, the need, etc. I thought it was all really exciting and I know that I'll be in great hands. Not to mention that she's just really fun to talk to and she did a great job getting to know us and letting us know more about her personally. Adam loved her too, so, yay!

So, everything with me checked out good (except the pap but I'm not worried about that) and we got to hear the heartbeat of the baby again :). My mucus plug is forming, cervix looks good and turning blue, and my uterus felt like the right size for 10 weeks and then she asked if we wanted to have an ultrasound to double check the date and to make sure there was only 1 bun in my oven. Of course I said yes. Without further ado, say hello to Baby Hughes.

Can you see the little legs on the left? The baby looks sort of like a lima bean.

Here's the measurement - 10w4d exactly what I thought & due date is 01/01/10!

10 Week Photo

2009-06-06T09:58:00.002-05:00

My belly is bumping out a little bit. Last night we got the Angelsound Doppler in the mail and we were able to find the baby's heartbeat! It was amazing!!!! I can't figure out how to record it but I plan on getting a recording at our appointment with the doctor on Tuesday. It feels a little more real now. :)

10 weeks! 1/4 of the way there!

2009-06-05T15:26:00.001-05:00

I’ve turned into a crabby, sickly, achy mess over the past couple weeks. I took a personal day on Tuesday and slept from 10:00pm the night before until around noonish on Tuesday. Then I spent the day with Adam because it happened to be his day off (he gets Tuesday’s instead of Saturday’s off) and it was really nice. But, daily vomiting has made me sore, it gives me headaches and I get so moody. Today I was sitting at my desk having a pity party and crying about how crap-tacular I’ve been feeling and then I started crying about feeling silly about crying about it. It’s a vicious cycle! I had a really rough morning today (which is odd because I’ve usually been getting sick in the afternoons) and I was having problems keeping water down. So, although I really know that it will all be worth it I’m still whipped out and feeling salty and lonely. Adam has really been great dealing with me and I love him to death. I don’t think I’ve done the dishes or made a meal in weeks which is totally uncharacteristic of me and he’s swooped down and taken care of everything. He loves holding onto me and he always wants to have his hand on my belly/the baby which turns me into mush. Every morning if I’ve been sick he gives me a big hug and he tells my belly/the baby to be nice to mommy. What a sweetie, haha. I did take a picture of my 9 week belly but I’d sort of slacking off and not posting them so tomorrow I’ll just get one up of 10 weeks because today I’m 10 weeks on the dot! I can’t believe that we’re 1/4 of the way through our pregnancy. It’s amazing to me and I really really REALLY can’t wait to go to the doctor on Tuesday. I’m crossing my fingers that we get to hear a heartbeat.

7 week photo

2009-05-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

The beginning...

7 weeks, 4 days and so far, it's okay.

2009-05-19T13:04:00.000-05:00

Today is definitely the worst I've felt and I went to bed thinking it was going to be a great day since I really had no sick feelings yesterday. I remember reading somewhere that when pregnant you tend to remember dreams more (which I hardly remember my dreams) and they tend to be a little off the wall. Well, last night I had the strangest dream about doing the most disgusting dishes of my life last night. I can't remember detail but I remember right when I woke up I immediately was feeling nauseous. Then when I was in the shower I had a coughing fit and I lost my cookies for the first time from "morning" sickness. So, the first time wasn't as bad as I was anticipating it to be. But, once I was all ready for work and was eating a few crackers and sipping on some OJ before jetting out of the house I got sick again. That time really left an icky feeling for the rest of the day. I've ran to the bathroom about a dozen times today at work when I felt it coming on but it never came. I'm just worried about someone catching onto me here as I eat my crackers, sip on water and run to the bathroom every 20 minutes. We've decided not to tell my bosses until after our first check on June 9th so it's sort of strange and stressful knowing and worrying about people finding out. I did take my first belly picture over the weekend but I’ve had a hell of a time finding my cord for my camera to upload the picture but I found it last night. So, tonight I’ll post my pre-bump picture. For the past 3 or 4 days I’ve been bloating terribly and I tend to look like I’m developing a little bit of a belly but it looks like I’m just bloated so I’m not too worried about it at work. Adam’s been feeling around every chance he can to see if he can feel something but I keep telling him it’s a little early and I can’t even feel anything. He’s convinced that he can but it just feels like tummy still to me, no uterus and baby. At any rate, I’ll have a picture of my super whiteness up tonight.

"Morning" Sickness

2009-05-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I experienced my first battle with "morning" sickness all day long. It was a long struggle to keep my cookies all day and I haven't decided if I should try to stop the sickness from coming or if I should just let it happen because today I feel like hell in a hand basket. My allergies were draining down my throat all night so that definitely aggravated my nausea. Today I'm also having some severe aversions to smells. When I walked by the hallway that has the coffee station here at work I almost lost it. Then I went to the cafeteria someone was cooking something with sausage in it and that made my tummy start doing flip flops. So, I think it's going to be an eventful day. I have managed to eat some crackers, an orange, and half a bagel with some cream cheese. Adam told me to stay home from work today but I have so much to do and I haven't even gotten sick yet. I just hope that as time progresses I don't start feeling worse and actually start getting sick because I'm a good jog from a bathroom here at work and I haven't told anyone here I'm pregnant so getting sick in my waste basket may raise some questions. We'll see how it goes! I'm definitely starting to feel pregnant now. Based on what I’ve read in some of my books I’m pretty excited to have “morning” sickness because it’s a good indicator that the embryo has burrowed deep into my uterus and my body is creating a lot of hormones which is causing the icky feelings. I never thought I’d be so happy to be all puke-y, haha.

The Unexpected

2009-05-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

While browsing some sites and reading some articles on my lunch hour today I found this article to be helpful and reassuring: The Unexpected Child

I've felt really guilty lately that I'm not totally overjoyed at the idea of being pregnant right now. I think it's going to take some time for me to really come to be fully excited and happy. I keep getting scared, I have some self doubt, I feel like I was stopped short of what I still wanted in life and it's really making me feel guilty. I need to realize more that it's normal for me to have feelings like this and I still have 8 months to plan and prepare for the baby's arrival. I'm not saying that I'm not happy and excited because honestly I really really am. I'm very happy and excited to become a mother it just wasn't at this time that I was really ready for it. It's really hard for me to tell people this as well.

6 Weeks, Early Pregnancy Signs/Symptoms

2009-05-11T09:26:00.000-05:00

I'm at 6 weeks and 3 days right now and I'm feeling a little nauseous this morning but not too bad. So far I luckily haven't had "morning" sickness and I've been coping with any nausea pretty well. I have had a few symptoms that have surfaced within the past couple weeks but nothing too terrible. Namely I'm really tired a lot and I'm constantly struggling to keep my eyes open any time I relax on the couch. My breasts have also been really tender and touching/having them touched is just not appealing. I have to say they do feel a lot better this morning than they have on others, though. Another symptom that might be from the pregnancy is I have been having some pretty wicked mood swings but I attribute the moodiness more toward stress and uncertainty about things more than my pregnancy really. I think my hormones are just amplifying the moodiness. But really I feel good physically, just tired a lot. I did have a terrible headache yesterday afternoon and I think a lot of that had to do with being in the car most the day, my allergies and caffeine withdrawal. I haven't had a caffeinated beverage since the day I took our pregnancy test. I've decided to take my first belly picture this Friday to start tracking the progression and I'm really excited to feel my first bump in a few weeks.

5 Weeks Today!

2009-05-01T09:09:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! For those who don't know us, my name is Sara and my fiances name is Adam. We recently got engaged in January of 2009 but we found out on April 28th that we have a bun in the oven so our plans have changed a little. Originally we were going to have our wedding in Punta Cana but things will have to change around with our little one on the way. By the way, we're 5 weeks along today! My 1st day of my last period was March 27th which puts our conception date at April 10th and our due date at January 1st.

Our first doctor's appointment to have the little one checked out will be on June 9th and I can't wait! I just wanted to make a short little post and I'll start uploading my weekly belly pictures every Friday to track our progress.