first doctor's appt...

Today was our first doctor's appt.  Both of us have been pretty anxious to get this appt in since I really haven't had any major pregnancy symptoms.  I, for one, just wanted/needed a professional to confirm that there really is a baby in there.

And there is!  We saw it!  What amazing technology we have to be able to see a tiny baby only about an inch long -- and to see so much detail!  The ultrasound tech pointed out tiny arm & leg buds, the umbilical cord, the developing brain, even where the jawline is beginning to form.  Say what?!  It was incredible.

We didn't get to hear the heartbeat but we saw the little heart just a-going, about 167 bpm which they said was normal/average.  During the ultrasound, there were several times where it looked like our baby's little arm nub -- I like to think of it as a hand already -- was waving at us.  Aw.  And then every so often while the tech was looking at things, the baby would "bop around".  It was such an amazing thing to see and know at the same time that that miracle is taking place right there in my body.

So based on the u/s and other factors, my official due date is October 31.  Aka, my husband's birthday.  Do you even believe that??  Of all the times for us to conceive, it happened just so to produce that due date.  Some may think that's neat, but my prayer is that this baby will not be born on Jeff's birthday.  I want Jeff and our baby to have their OWN birthdays.  But whatever God plans is what we'll take.  Like we really have a say in it, right?

I am glad to have an official due date, whatever it turned out to be, and to know that I'm officially 9 weeks, 2 days today.  From here I can begin to tell folks with confidence when they ask, and I can start taking photos of my development, knowing now how far along I am.

successful shopping trip...

I went shopping in Myrtle Beach yesterday with some of my fave girls -- we went to the Tanger Outlets.  :)  And had so much fun!  My trip was very successful in that I found the few things I was looking for, as well as a couple things I wasn't looking for.  Bonus!

Of course, it was too early to buy anything for our baby since we don't know yet what it is (but rest assured, we WILL be finding out!) but it was such fun to go into places like Carter's, The Children's Place and Osh Kosh B'Gosh and see all the sweet, tiny little things that we'll soon be purchasing/receiving for our little one.  Oh!  LOVE those little tiny clothes!

So, since I really couldn't do that, I went looking for a dress or two for me and possibly a bathing suit (thanks for the idea, Momma!).  Most folks know that I'm NOT a dress-wearing girl.  I prefer pants or suits.  But in an effort to avoid having to buy a lot of maternity-specific clothes, I am looking for tops, etc. that have the potential to "grow" with me, if you know what I mean.  :)

My original goal for this trip, a month ago when it was planned, was to find something to wear for Easter.  However, we had a wedding to attend 2 weeks ago and I decided to get something to wear for that (I told you I'm not a skirt/dress-wearing girl so I really don't have much to wear to special events like that).  I ended up getting a new shirt for Jeff, too, and we look so spiffy together (coordination is a beautiful thing :) that I decided those would be our Easter outfits.

So yesterday's trip was just to see if I could find another dress or two to add to my wardrobe that would give me a few more things to wear throughout the pregnancy.  The first place we went to was The Loft -- success!  I found a few dresses in there and ended up walking out with one that I felt really cute in.  :)  It's very simple and doesn't have the potential to grow "all the way" with me, but it will be something I can wear for several more months and immediately after the baby is born, too.  THAT'S not something I had thought of, but my girl, Allison, pointed that out.  Good call!

Another place we went was Vanity Fair and I found a top that isn't specifically maternity but it has the empire waist with a flaring bottom so it has lots of room for me in it.  When I get to that point, it will be a comfy top, I think.  Another thing I'm not thinking about at this point is nursing bras/tank tops but my girl, Bekah, pointed out that this place had them for really cheap.  Thought maybe it would be prudent to check those out but I was confused on how I would know what size to get at this point.  I ended up with 2 nursing tank tops that were just S/M/L sizing.  I went with the L since I.have.no.idea what will happen to my body in the next 6.5 months.  :)  My girlfriends assure me that I will be comfy in these.  Yay!

The last thing I picked up yesterday was a bathing suit.  I went into the Motherhood store and I gotta tell you, it was kind of a weird experience.  It's still kind of surreal to me that we're having a baby, so I kinda felt like I didn't belong in there yet.  But I did see that they had some bathing suits so I looked through those.  They had some really cute ones and they were actually a lot less expensive than I thought they'd be.  Less expensive than even a regular bathing suit usually costs.  Score!  The one I got is really comfortable and is just cute.  Pinks, oranges and browns on white.  I was really excited to already have that taken care of!

I didn't look at much else in that store.  As I said, I was kind of overwhelmed and at that point in the trip, I was pretty much DONE with trying on clothes.  Some may not know this, but Motherhood has these "belly pillows" that women can try on to see approximately how big they may be at certain points in their pregnancy, to aid in their purchases.  My girlfriends asked me if I tried it on.  I told them that I hadn't, that I wasn't quite ready for that yet.  It's a little scary for me to think of getting bigger.  I have struggled with my weight/weight loss for the past 7 or so years, working so hard to have that needle on the scale go one way -- to the left -- instead of the other.  That will not be the case for the next 6.5 months so I've really been trying to just take it one day, one pound at a time.  No need to rush anything.  I think I'm doing okay so far.

The shopping trip was fun for me.  The other girls got lots of goodies, too, and we all had a good time just hanging out together.  My mom and I have already been talking about a shopping trip later on, meeting in Raleigh for the day.  That will be super-fun, too!

We have our first doctor's appt this Wednesday, March 31.  I'm so anxious to go and have a "professional" confirm this pregnancy and have an opportunity to see our baby by way of ultrasound.  Jeff will be going with me and we're both excited about it.  I'll post soon after that to fill you in.

gifts from family...

Wow, I didn't mean for a whole week to go by without posting, but this is literally the first chance I've had to sit down and edit photos for posting and type my post.  It's been kind of a busy week, I guess.

We've had these things for awhile, but I wanted to post some photos of some things we got in the mail from my mom & dad and from Jeff's brother & sister-in-law.  Can I just say how much fun it is to get not just a card in the mail (which TOTALLY makes my day/week) but an entire package, no matter how big or small??!  It's like Christmas!  Love it.  Absolutely love it.

My mom warned me that this would probably not be the last time we'd get something from them -- she is absolutely estatic about grandbaby #2, just as she was with grandbaby #1.  My dad is, too, for that matter.  They've been waiting a long time for US to "get on the ball" so I won't fault them for their excitement.  It just adds to our excitement.  Hopefully they won't go into debt buying things before our child even gets here.  :)

Pictured here, you can see that there is a cute maternity top, an adorable little duck sleeper -- which is just about as soft as it could possibly be, some little socks, a teether and a little "crinkly" book.

The maternity top, socks and "crinkly" book came from my parents.  They also included $10 made up of bills and change, stuck in about 4-5 plastic easter eggs.  Mom said it was "a little Easter" but I'm saying it could be the start of our kid's college education fund.  It's never too early to start, right?

I love the top -- it seems like it will be really comfortable once I get to the stage of needing to wear it.  The socks have little Pooh characters on them and the "crinkly" book is what I call it because it makes noise like paper being balled up when you touch it.  A fun thing for baby Wenzel to chew on, I imagine.  :)

  

The little sleeper and teether came from Scott & Jill and the kids along with a really sweet card, in which Jill wrote that she had been "praying for this day for sooo long..." :)  I think the sleeper is THE sweetest thing!  The little feet on it are just perfect and I already said how soft it was.  The other thing that makes it so cute is the fact that it's a newborn size -- so tiny!  The teether is perfect because it's in the shape of a seahorse.  I don't know if she really thought of that when she picked it out but, I mean, we DO live at the beach... :)

Thank you guys for starting us off with a few things to make us even more excited about this pregnancy and help us welcome our precious child!  We love you all!

if I had a dime...

...for every time someone said, "So, how are you feeling?", our child's college tuition would pretty well be taken care of by the time he/she gets here!  Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration but I do seem to be surrounded by lots of concerned folks.

Or maybe that's just what you say to a pregnant lady every time you see her.

In any case, I'm feeling pretty good.  I actually haven't had any true nausea and definitely no, uh, *follow-through* of the nausea (if you know what I'm referring to).  My appetite has changed, however, which I've heard is very common.  There are certain things -- lots of healthy things, I might add -- that I used to eat just  a month ago that I can't seem to find an appetite for anymore.  Mostly raw veggies.  I used to eat carrots and cucumbers with sandwiches at lunch (instead of the chips, etc.) but the thought of putting either into my mouth at this point, puts me on the path to feeling nauseous and I'm trying to avoid that at all costs so I don't even pack those in my lunch bag anymore.

I've also suddenly developed an aversion to peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.  The last two I ate (while pregnant, mind you) really didn't taste that great to me and I ended up just choking that last little bit down and trying not to think about what it tasted like.  That's a bummer.  I used to love me some pb & j sandwiches!  And it's an easy, low-cal lunch.  But not one I'm eating any time soon, I fear.  I've rediscovered egg salad, which, to some, may sound nauseating, but not to me.  I'm diggin' it so far, so we're going with it!

Another thing that has changed for me, and I never expected it, is coffee.  Most of you know how I love my coffee.  At least one cup every day, sometimes two; maybe one in the afternoon.  I don't have any problem drinking caffeinated coffee in the evening -- the caffeine doesn't seem to affect me in that way.  I also don't have a problem drinking decaffeinated coffee at any point during the day.  As I said, caffeine doesn't pep me up and the lack of doesn't let me down.

But I actually haven't had ANY coffee for the last 3 days.  It's weird.  It doesn't make me sick to think of drinking it.  And I still love the smell of it.  But the last cup I had in my office on Monday, I hardly drank any of it.  I brought almost the whole travel mug full of coffee home with me.  That's really not like me at all.  The next morning, I thought about it and just decided not to have a cup.  I don't want to be wasteful and I just figured I might do the same thing I did the morning before so I just didn't brew one.  And I haven't.  For the last 3 days, as I said.  Another bummer, but I don't seem to miss it.  Weird.

That's pretty much it in the way of foods and changes in that department.  Another thing that I wish I had a dime for every time I heard it is, "Well, you're eating for two now."

Like I need THAT encouragement to *oink* it up!

gifts from friends...

This past week has been pretty special with more and more folks finding out about our big news, and with that news really sinking in to our friends.  We've already gotten a few little gifts from some of our friends, which I thought was really sweet.

My last post talked about what the office did for me so the photo shows the vase of flowers and *surviving* balloon and the sweet card that everyone signed.  There's also a "Humpty Who?" book pictured -- that's from our friend, Amy, who stopped in one day this past week to visit for a minute.  The book has all kinds of nursery rhymes and even comes with a CD to listen to -- it looks really cute.

The cute little "baby's first Christmas" bib came from our friends, Henry & Allison -- their darling son, Tripp, will turn a year old right around the time that our little one is born so we expect them to be buddies growing up.  :)

The rest of the stuff pictured is from our friends, Matthew & Elizabeth, who came to visit over the weekend.  They have a sweet 8 month old, Emily, and Elizabeth swears by that book there, "The Baby Book".  She said it was the best one she read during her pregnancy and she still refers to it.  I absolutely LOVE the little UNCW onesie.  It's a 6 mo size which will be perfect because when our little one is 6 mos old, it will be spring, so he/she will get lots of wear out of that!  The little elephant was something Emily picked out for little Baby Wenzel.  Aw.

Our friends have really made us feel so very loved and so special, even more so than they've done in the past.  We wouldn't take them for anything!  God bless you all!

special day at work...

Yesterday was the first day at work after most everyone had heard the good news.  We figured that after our SS class found out, it wouldn't take long before everyone in the church would know, including, of course, all my coworkers.

And we were right.  I didn't have to tell a SOUL yesterday -- they all already knew.  And were real excited!  In fact, we had our monthly staff lunch yesterday and when I got to the MPR (multipurpose room), there was a vase of 3 yellow carnations and 3 balloons tied to it -- 1 pink & 1 blue latex, with 1 mylar that said, "Congrats!".  They also had a card for me that everyone had signed.  It was really neat to read through everyone's sentiments about our good news.  They also gathered around me at the end of the luncheon to pray over/for me and Jeff and the baby.  It was so very special.

The office is literally buzzing with the excitement!  The "office shower" is already in the beginning stages of planning according to one of my coworkers.  Guess it's been awhile since they've had anyone within range of having a baby.  :)

We will be well-celebrated, I have no doubt!

big deal today...

We had dinner with friends last night to share our good news.  I wore the shirt we'd made and when they asked us what we'd been up to that day, I said that I'd been crafting and made a t-shirt.  Then I asked if they wanted to see it.  They were really excited when they saw it and figured it out.  It was great to see their faces.  We got big hugs from both Adam and Bekah and talked about different things all night.

Bekah loaded me down with some books at the end of the night which I'm so grateful for.

The BIG DEAL was today, though.  We shared the news with our Sunday School class.  I wore the shirt (we made it originally to tell this group) with a jacket over it and at the end of class Jeff announced that we had decided to have new "Jeff's Class" shirts made and that I was wearing one to model.  I walked up to the front -- heart beating out of my chest -- and unzipped my jacket to hold the flaps open so everyone could see the "Finally!"

It only took a second when someone jumped up to say, "Are you serious?!" and then everyone began to catch on.  Some folks (girls) got teary-eyed, which turned my tears on, and others had big grins on their faces.  It was really, really special.  We got lots of hugs after that, lots of "congrats!" and "we're excited!"

There were only a few folks missing today that we really wish could've been there to hear it...

When we got home, we both posted the photo that we sent to my brother and sister-in-law on our Facebook walls and so far I have 24 comments (at 4:45pm -- **update: at 10:10pm, I have 43 comments. :).  I've had 2 texts and a couple phone calls.  It's amazing to me the love and excitement that this announcement has created.

We are so glad the word is out -- now we can really celebrate!