We got married, we bought a house, why not throw in a baby
to really round the year out? If you follow me on Instagram @hkpfeff523 this is
old news. Chris and I are so excited to let the rest of you in on our little
secret. We are expecting a baby next July!
Whenever I find out someone is pregnant I always want to
know how they found out and how they told the family. It’s just such a big deal
and I think most people really enjoy sharing their stories. I knew I was going
to break the news on the blog eventually but I’ve gone back and forth on
whether or not to do bumpdates throughout my pregnancy. So while I pondered the
idea I made sure to write down what’s been going on each week since we found
out just in case I wanted to put it all out here. I have since decided that I
am going to have you all follow along this journey with me if you choose. Don’t
worry, if you’re someone who just comes for the dog pictures or the funny
stories, those are not going away, I promise! This blog started because I have
the most fun and cutest furballs to share about and they certainly aren’t going
anywhere. The Ruff Life is just expanding to include our human baby and all
that will come with my first pregnancy and our first adventure into parenting a
non furry child.
So, get ready because this one is a LONG one. I just hit 9
weeks so I’ve compiled weeks 3 (when we found out) up through 8 to fill you in
on what’s been going on. I plan to do a post a week and start with bump
pictures once one starts to emerge! Let me know if you have questions or want
me to talk about anything specific. I appreciate all your love and support
through this very exciting time for us.
3 Weeks: Holy crap, I’m pregnant!
It was a Sunday, October 25th, and Chaos had been
acting…weird. Now you all probably know that Chaos is typically my little
shadow. He’s a total mama’s boy and likes to be where I am at all times that
he’s allowed to. But his behavior the past few days had been over the top
clingy. So much so that Chris noticed it too. At first I thought maybe he
wasn’t feeling well. He has a sensitive stomach and when it acts up all he
wants to do is lay in mommy’s lap. But this was different. That little niggling
feeling in the back of my head was telling me this was something to pay
attention to. So on Sunday as I was lying down on the floor talking to Chris
and Chaos walked up and promptly splayed himself across my stomach, we both knew
something was definitely up. On the slight chance he was trying to tell us
something in a fairly obvious way, we went and picked up the magic sticks that
might hold the answer. And about a minute later it was pretty clear that Chaos
did indeed know a little secret before we did. He was getting a human sibling.
Shocked and happy were the 2 big emotions of the day. I
could hardly believe that A, this was actually real life and B, that my dog was
the first to know. When I called my doctor the following day to break the news
and schedule my first appointments I found out it’s fairly common for patients
to find out they’re knocked up from a furry family member. Pretty cool, huh?
Week 4: Telling the family
I have heard that many people keep the pregnancy a secret until
after the first ultrasounds and sometimes through the end of the 1st
trimester. Chris and I agreed we would wait to tell the world but we couldn’t
wait to tell our families. When I was little I remember my parents having these
t-shirts that said “Hilary’s Mommy” and “Hilary’s Daddy”. And yes, they
actually wore them. I thought it would be fun to tell them the news by
recreating the shirts with “Baby’s Pfeff’s Grandma” and “Baby Pfeff’s Grandpa”.
My dad’s birthday was the Thursday before Halloween and we had planned to give
him his birthday gift that weekend anyway. I told Chris if the shirts came in
by Saturday (Halloween) we would give them to my parents that weekend. It
worked out perfectly because I just pretended it was an extra birthday gift. My
mom got it right away and cried but it took my dad a few minutes to figure it
out. They were both so excited.
My sister is still living down in Nashville so we FaceTimed
her as she was getting ready to go out with her friends. I asked her if she
wanted to see mom and dad’s Halloween costumes and then turned the camera to
them holding up their shirts. She cried and her friends screamed.
The following day we were invited to dinner with Chris’
family, which was perfect because everyone would be there and not the least bit
suspicious. We went to Michael’s craft store that morning and picked up some
supplies and a 6 pack. I used brown craft paper to cover the beer box and used
tape underneath to hold it up, wrapping the ends like a present. Then I used
stickers to put “Pfeff’s Home Brew Est. July 2016” on the front and added blue
and pink stickers of tiny footprints, bottles and rattles. After dinner Chris
set it on the table and it took a minute but once everyone got it they were all
extremely happy. My sister-in-law is pregnant and due in February so the little
cousins will be pretty close in age.
Symptoms: Tired early, missed period
Week 5: Morning Sickness and Aversions Arrive
I signed up for The Bump app since I’m a first timer and
want to know what’s going on in there each week. I laughed out loud when I read
that this week baby looks like a tadpole. I also read that morning sickness can
strike at any time and being that my hormones levels were pretty high pretty
early, there was a good chance I’d start experiencing it sooner rather than
later. I had actually already started feeling a little sick to my stomach if I
didn’t eat a little bit every few hours but I don’t know that I even considered
that nausea. But 5 weeks 1 day it hit me. I was in the bathroom getting ready
for work and all of a sudden OMG I’M GOING TO BE SICK. It didn’t actually
happen but it felt like it for a good 3 hours that morning. Luckily I was able
to eat a snack mid-morning and the feeling disappeared.
This is the also the week my hot beverages aversion showed
up. Of course it couldn’t be Spring when I’m about ready to switch over to iced
coffee. Nope, just as the weather started getting colder, so too my drinks had
to be. The strangest thing was that I could drink the exact same beverage iced
and it was fine, it just couldn’t be hot or even a little warm. I thought it
was simply a coffee aversion (like I’d read so much about in the first
trimester) after I took a sip of a hot latte and gagged. But later that day
while out at Panera for lunch I was nearly drooling over an iced vanilla latte.
And I sucked that sucker down so fast. I tried hot tea, hot apple cider and
even just plain hot water and they were all nada, no way, totally shut down. Oh
well, it could have been worse.
Symptoms: morning sickness, EXHAUSTED, waking up in the
middle of the night to pee and weird pulling sensations in my belly, aversion
to hot drinks
Week 6: Oh the Heartburn
So I had no idea that acid reflux is another wonderful
pregnancy side effect. It also can (and has for me) come along with heartburn. Early on the hormone relaxin is hard at work doing as its name implies,
relaxing your muscles so that they can stretch to accommodate the pregnancy.
Well the esophageal sphincter is a muscle and relaxin doesn’t really discriminate
so all the stuff that normally stays in your stomach is allowed to come up into
your throat. Fun times. Especially at 2AM when you wake up because you have to
pee and then can’t fall back to sleep because all of a sudden you’re hit with a
massive tidal wave of that burning sensation down your throat and into your chest and become so
insanely hot it’s like your insides are on fire. BUT munchkin is furiously
growing away in there and it’s all totally worth it.
Symptoms: heartburn, reflux, nausea, hot flashes at night and
waking up to pee, little cramps here and there and hold my eyes open until it’s
time to leave work tired, still no hot drinks
Week 7: Symptom Roller Coaster
In early pregnancy HCG doubles (or more) every 2-3 days. By
this point your body is starting to get used to the increase in hormones.
Something I learned that really stopped me from getting worried is that
symptoms can wax and wane significantly over these 2-3 day periods. HCG rises
and you feel sick as a dog with raging heartburn and extreme exhaustion. But a
day or so later these symptoms may be only mild or seem like they’ve
disappeared all together. That’s just because following the rise your body
adjusts to the new levels. And then it happens again. This doesn’t hold water
for every person or every pregnancy but it was nice for me to know that
vanishing or reduced symptoms for a day or two doesn’t warrant a panic attack.
Mostly I do feel sick in the morning before I eat but it’s the worst in the
afternoon. Working out, as hard as it is to force myself to do it, kicks that
car sick feeling right in the ass. So as soon as I get home from work I head
out for a walk or a moderate workout. It’s good for me and for the baby and
keeps the nausea at bay until bedtime.
Symptoms: same as the last couple weeks plus craving sweet
fruity treats like cherry pop-tarts, strawberry shortcake bars, apple fritters
and any kind of fruit danish but (thankfully) also healthy fruit smoothies, hot
drink aversion still going strong but now coffee, even iced, it totally off the
table
Week 8: Seeing Baby for the First Time
We got to see our teeny tiny baby for the very first time
this week. On Black Friday at 8 weeks 1 day we went for the first ultrasound
and it was beyond amazing. The tech found baby Pfeff right away, just hanging
out all content with a nice strong heartbeat flickering on the screen. There
was a bit of movement but even after the tech had me cough several times, she
laughed and said he or she is just very relaxed in there and isn’t going to
move for us. We were so excited to send pictures to our friends and share our big news. I also went public with it via Instagram that evening and got
some of the sweetest comments.
Nothing has changed much this week except maybe I had a few
silly mini tantrums over Christmas decorations. One incident involved a garland
that pissed me off and had me storming off muttering Christmas is SO hard! Yea, that happened. Thanksgiving was
wonderful and I stuffed my face sans sweet potatoes, which had me nearly
gagging although they are usually one of my favorites. There’s always next
year.
Symptoms: I still want to eat all the sweet, fruity things and
cold stuff! Apparently baby knows he or she is due in July and is a total
summer baby. Smoothies and smoothie bowls are on the dinner menu most nights. But
on the flip side there have been several occasions where all that sounds good
is an egg McMuffin (sans Canadian bacon) or veggie soup and grilled cheese from
Frisch’s.
Happy Weekend!
