A Girl???

If our friend's and family's predictions are correct, we're having a girl (Suzanne is the only one who has predicted a boy so far...she had a dream). In fact, my aunt went to a psychic who said, "You're going to have more female energy in your family in 2009." Out of principle we'd really love to prove the psychic wrong, but otherwise I'm thrilled (and Jamie's terrified) with the idea of a daughter. Either way, we've got our names picked out for both. With the exception of the few people we told early on, we've decided not to share our names until the birth. This is my mom's fault: she's opinionated. She and I are very close, but she's also the type to say, "Well I really don't like that name," and so we've decided to share the name with her (and others) when we introduce our child. We will share the gender early, so we want to leave at least one major detail as a surprise.

Then again, I suck at keeping secrets, so if you ask me one-on-one I'll probably tell you.

I'm still having some nausea, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, my most annoying symptom by far is excess saliva. Talk about affecting a person's quality of life! This is a constant issue from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed, and the only relief I get is when I eat. I found a great online discussion board yesterday where other pregnant ladies where sharing their frustrations with this symptom. Unfortunately for most, it didn't go away until late in the pregnancy or when the baby was born. I prayed so hard last night for some relief because yesterday was especially aggravating, and God has answered! The issue hasn't disappeared altogether, but it's a lot more manageable today! In other words, I haven't been toting my little spit cup (discretely) around the office. Please pray for me in this area...it sounds petty, but I would happily take the nausea any day over this.

Hearing and Seeing Our Baby

We had a great appointment with our midwife this morning. We knew we were going to hear the heartbeat today, so we were very excited! When we got into the exam room, DeEtte handed me a small rubber doll the size of a 12-week fetus so that we could envision how our baby looks. We were amazed that so much could fit into such a tiny package - about 2 inches. She then explained that it would take several minutes for her to find the heartbeat. She said we would hear two heartbeats - mine and the baby's - and told us how they sounded different. She found mine immediately, and within seconds found the baby's. It was loud and strong - we were so thrilled! She then searched around for other heartbeats (ha) but only found the one. Needless to say, this appointment renewed my strength to continue enduring all these funky pregnancy symptoms. Hearing the heartbeat really made the pregnancy real to us.

This afternoon, we had a free ultrasound scheduled with a clinic in Kinston. The clinic was training their nurses and offered these ultrasounds as part of the training (thanks for the info, Carrie!). We had a great experience! The exam room was very tiny and there were about 6 people poking and prodding me, but I'm not really modest so it wasn't a problem. They spent about 50 minutes with us as each nurse got a turn to examine the baby. They ended up doing a vaginal ultrasound since I'm so early in my pregnancy, and this made the pictures much better. We got another heartbeat reading, and they also measured the baby and determined that s/he is exactly 11 weeks. I really enjoyed hearing them talk about the baby and discuss what was happening inside of me. At one point the baby got really energetic and started turning flips and throwing his/her limbs out. The nurses got so excited and started calling in other clinic staff to come see. Fun times!

A little about our weekend to close...we had the pleasure of spending Valentine's Day with our good friends, Drew and Christie Shoaf. The Shoafs now live in Washingston (boo), but they were visiting family in North Carolina and stayed a night with us. Several other friends came over Saturday to see them, and we had the best time hanging out with everybody. We're all in baby mode (all the couples except for the Shoafs either have a newborn or are expecting) so the conversation was babies, babies, babies. We had such a great time (expect for when I lost my Valentine's dinner) but all in all it was a great day!

Plasectomy

Jamie and I are undergoing a plasectomy this week - we are cutting up our credit cards. We are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course, and this week Dave debunked some common myths of personal finance. This was very eye-opening for us, especially what he said about credit cards. I always thought that if I paid off my cards (most) every month, then they actually worked FOR me. They're a safe, convenient way to make purchases, and I can even earn rewards. However, Dave says that "Responsible use of a credit card does not exist."

There are several reasons for this. First, when we pay with credit cards, we spend 12-18% more than we would if we paid with cash. WOW! Dave says when we pay with cash, we actually "feel" the money leaving our hands, but we don't have that same association with credit cards.

Then he got into credit card rebates/reward programs. In actuality, the rewards are minuscule compared to what you have to spend to get them. And since we're spending 12-18% more when we use credit cards instead of cash, those rewards don't seem so sweet anymore.

I have a great real-life example of this. When I worked at Gap in college, I got the store credit card because I earned $10 gift certificates for every $200 I spent. But that wasn't all. After I spent $800 in one calendar year, they gave me free shipping on any purchase! I know I bought a lot more using that card than I would have with cash because of that silly free shipping. I even remember saying to Jamie recently, "I need to spend $200 by Christmas to keep my free shipping benefits," and he was like, "But shipping costs $7." It really does sound silly when you think about it.

My last argument for credit cards was safety. If someone steals my credit card number, at least they don't have access to my bank account like they would with a debit card. But Dave said that debit cards are just as safe, and Visa promises to refund ALL your money if your card is ever mis-used.

Well darn.

So that's what we learned this week, and it had a big enough impact on us that I wanted to share it with you. As Dave says, "Live like no one else (now) so that eventually you can live like no one else."

A Spring Tease

Can I just say PRAISE for a beautiful weekend?! We went to the beach Friday and Saturday with my parents and had a wonderful time. Jamie is scoring the Crystal Coast Half Marathon in Morehead on February 28, so our "excuse" to go down this time was to check out the course. We spent a few minutes doing that and the rest of our time just chillin. I enjoyed eating my mom's cooking and walking through their Emerald Isle neighborhood looking at all the pretty houses.

Speaking of races, Jamie is hoping to score a gig with the Carolina Hurricanes in September. Depending on when it is, the baby would be only a couple weeks old, but we're going! I can already picture the hockey players posing in pictures with the baby - how cute!

My sister came home Sunday, and we went with Mom to see He's Just Not That Into You. I read this book when I was single and sour on relationships and thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever read. Too bad the movie is really not funny. If you were thinking about seeing this, I would save my money. If you haven't read the book yet, go buy that instead.

I'm feeling pretty good now. I would still vomit every single day if I didn't take my Zofran, but with the medicine I can live a fairly normal life. I occasionally have to remind myself that I can't go-go-go like Jamie and I were used to before. On weekends I can do about half of what we typically do, then I'm ready for a nap.

Once the baby comes, I'll be working part-time, mostly from home. In fact, they already have me set up to work from home and I'm taking advantage of that as much as possible. Sitting behind a desk all day is getting harder and harder. I need to move around or I fall asleep, and if I'm working at home, I can take little breaks and actually get stuff done around my house, too. I'm very blessed to have such a great work situation!

Bumpity Bump Bump

I'm petrified of nipple chafing. Once it starts, it is a vicious cycle. You have sensitive nipples...they chafe, so they become more sensitive, so they chafe more. So, I take precautions. - Andy, The Office

I'm happy to report that my nausea and stomach irritation have improved, but I'm now dealing with constant peeing and the most annoying symptom of all, Ptyalism (excessive saliva). I did not realize that was a symptom of pregnancy until I looked it up in my Pregnancy Bible, and sure enough it's there. The other night Jamie said to me, "When you wanted this so bad, you had no idea you'd be peeing after five minutes and slobbering like a dog!"

He's funny, my Jamie. Sunday I was trying to talk him out of watching the Super Bowl. USA network was showing a 17-hour House marathon, and even though I was DVRing the whole thing - and had seen all but 4 of the episodes previously - I wanted to watch that instead. He told me, "Um, I think they'd recall my testicles if I didn't watch at least some of the Super Bowl." So we did. Don't want any recalls ;-)

For someone who wanted to have a baby so badly, I'm surprised by how often I think about how this will change my life. I know the good will certainly outweigh the inconvenient, but my thoughts tend to rest on the inconvenient: will my child sleep? how will I function if s/he doesn't? will Jamie and I still be able to go and do even half as much as we go and do now?

Part of this has to do with how I feel physically right now. I feel that my body has been taken over by something that is sucking out all the good stuff (energy, etc.). I tend to think that's how it will be for the next 18+ years when I know this phase is temporary.

Another part of this is a reaction to my years of baby-sitting/nannying. I've seen countless parenting styles and determined how I want to be not only as a parent but as a wife, friend, and daughter after my child is born. For many parents, the child becomes the center of the world after its birth, and everything else becomes secondary. While I believe that children are welcome members of the family, I don't believe they are the center of the family to the point that the parents no longer have a life away from the child. I think children actually benefit from seeing their parents happily married, which includes mom and dad spending time away from the children (weekly date nights, vacations, etc.); pursuing their own interests and passions, even if it's only through a hobby; and engaging in relationships with others (friends). I really want to strive to have that balance with my child.