20 Weeks

Holy Cow! Half way! I'm officially halfway through my pregnancy. Last week we had the ultrasound to check the anatomy and determine the baby's sex. We decided not to find out the gender.

Some days it doesn't even feel that I'm pregnant. My weight gain is less than two pounds and I barely have a belly. I'm good with that though. All in good time!

I kept putting things off until after the ultrasound and now here we are. This week I've put a lot of time into planning the nursery and picking a name.

For a boy I'm still stuck on the name Max and for a girl Ava or Coraline. We're still stumped on all things middle so we'll see how it turns out.

Next on my list: Research birthing and breastfeeding.

Pregnancy Highlights

1. Felt the baby move for the first time on December 18th.

2. Wearing all maternity pants now but still proud to say I can wear my regular pants.....just not comfortably.

3. Hungry all the time.

4. The place where I had my belly button pierced when I was 18 is once again visible! LOL! I wonder if my innie will turn into an outtie?

5. Feeling really great. The exhaustion is completely gone.

6. I wouldn't say I've got cravings but I'm always thirsty and fruit is very appealing to me...especially bananas.

Week 14 AKA How far along are you?

That's right 14 weeks and no visible signs of baby Tilley.

I decided to blog today because no matter what book you read or which doctor you speak to, I'm officially in the second trimester....no ifs, ands or buts.

Speaking of butts, I'm happy to say mine isn't growing any bigger YET. Woohooo. That is not to say that I won't be sporting the maternity jeans to Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I'll be more than pleased to have all that room in my pants for the fully belly I'll be rocking later.

Pregnancy Highlights

1. We announced to the world at 11 weeks. I just couldn't take it anymore. Of course we had all positive reactions! Everyone is super excited for the first grandchild on both sides!

2. I made it through the first trimester with ZERO morning sickness. Sometimes at night I would feel super icky but I was usually in bed by 8 anyway. Now ladies and gentlemen, I can stay up until the late hour of 9:30....the exhaustion hasn't quite passed yet.

3. Heard the heartbeat at 12 weeks. This was super exciting as I still wasn't convinced there was really something in there! Now I've been lent a home doppler so I can hear it anytime I want. I'm trying to limit myself to Thursdays only as that's when my week changes.

4. Broke out in a NASTY rash all over my legs. I've never itched so bad in all my life. Thankfully, 1 doctor's visit, some steroid cream and a claritin later, it was all cleared up.

So there you have it. First trimester highlights.

5. My jeans are officially getting too tight to wear. I bought a few maternity things but I'm not ready to go there just yet. I see a baby bump in my near future.

$$$

Pregnancy Test #1 - $8.33

Pregnancy Test #2 - $8.33

Prenatal Vitamins - $20.00

1st Doctor visit - $25.00

Knowing I'll get to see my baby for the first time in less than week - Priceless

Going good! Little sickness and lots of exhaustion.

8 Weeks and counting

Today I'm 8 weeks preggo and terrified of all that could go wrong.

I've had no morning sickness up to this point. Occasionally I just feel yucky...for lack of a better term. I'm tired all the time! Mostly though, I'm enjoying my little secret!

Oh Baby It Was a Busy Day!

Friday, September 17 2010 was a big day around the Tilley house. It started as any other day. I got up for work, took a pregnancy test, got dressed then pretended to leave the house then put together a surprise party instead. Okay.....so not they typical day.

Rewind

Got up - I had to get up at my usual 5:45 and pretend to get ready for work. Today was the day of the big surprise party I've been planning for Steven for MONTHS. I took the day off but he had no idea.

Took a pregnancy test - well duh...there might be drinking at said surprise party and I needed to make sure things were on the up and up.

edit got up for work, took a pregnancy test, shook violently for 15 minutes when I read a positive test, debated whether or not to tell my husband immediately, couldn't wait and told him, shook violently again, got dressed then pretended to leave the house then put together a surprise party instead.

Got dressed - as I got dressed this morning I kept thinking it was a waste of time to worry about it. As soon as Steven left I changed back into yoga pants and a T-shirt. Then it was off to BI-LO for some canned drinks and cherry tomatoes. At this point I was still adjusting to the pregnancy news. I had already called my best friend and surprisingly brought her to tears. FUN! I found myself wanting to stop everyone in the store just to let them know. Crazy, I know.

On with the day - Not telling on this day was crazy hard! There were so many people in and out of the house to help with the party. Chris came by super early to drop off all the food him and Michael had been secretly stashing at their house. My dad came over to take care of some much needed yard work before the party. He ended up staying the whole day. He actually picked up my prenatal vitamins off the counter and took one without question. He's always been a vitamin junkie so he didn't think twice about taking one. However, I became a nervous wreck as soon as he picked them up. I started rambling about healthy hair and fingernails....smooth.

Rhonda and Steve were in and out throughout the day and of course Michael. (Who already knows about the positive test at this point.)

The party prep schedule when something like this

6:00 - BI-LO for some last minute things

6:00-11:00 Clean the house (Lila style) and cook a ton of pasta salad

11:00-12:30 Lunch with dad and a trip to Sam's to return the moldy bag of cheese so I could finish the pasta salad.

12:30-3:30 - Continue cleaning, cooking and setting up the back yard. Replace the passenger

side window of my car that was shattered as my dad was weed eating the yard.

Rhonda and Steve the drop off the cake.

3:30- Hay delivery - hay must be arranged and covered in the back yard.

4:00 Panic when Steven gets off work 2 hours early - have faith in my sister's ability to stall

him.

4:30 Food arrives via Rhonda and Steve

5:00 Panic because guests will arrive in 1.5 hours and frantically finish up the back yard

7:15 Steven arrives and is super surprise - SUCCESS!

7:15-2:00 Party the night away....with no alcohol of course....because I've got my little secret that I've yet to tell anyone but Steven and my best girl friends.

Summer love never lasts

Summer is coming to an end. Today is my last day before returning to work. It's a sad day around the Tilley house. Although, between pneumonia, no car and pcos, I'm ready to get back to some normalcy.

So, how will I be spending the last days of my summer?

1. Finish my list. I still need to organize the laundry room and kitchen. I never made it to the garage or finished the shrubs.

2. Do one last clean sweep of the house.

3. I might make something like this or even tackle something like this.

Goodbye Summer OH '10.

Dear Linen Closet

Dear Linen Closet,

I owe you an apology. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I let your shelves fill up with clutter and junk. I'm sorry I didn't take time to go through you sooner. Your shelves were dusty and weighed down with towels, crafts, luggage, household junk and paint that I've been toting around since high school.

Linen closet, I never considered myself a hoarder....except where you were concerned. But today, I promise you a new life! I life full of only my nicest towels. A world clear of purchases my husband made because maybe.... someday.... they would make a good gift. I promise you will only have one shelf of craft/decorating materials and one shelf of bed sheets. But do you want the best news Linen Closet? Our family games and puzzles will be moved to your bottom level! That's right, that old, dried up, hand me down paint is no more. I hope you can forgive me for my hoarding ways.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth