Finally our Secret Revealed!

Ok, so I didn't post anything after the last dr's appointment. All was well - got more ultrasound pics of the little nugget. Next appt is January 6th, and Daniel will be coming with me this time because we might be able to determine the sex. I am just about 14 weeks at this point and into the 2nd trimester! What an amazing ride this has been so far.
The doctor was concerned that I had lost 6 lbs from my first appt. She doesn't want me losing more weight, so insisted that I start taking my anti-nausea medicine more consistently. So far I have been doing that and have only thrown up a couple more times since then. Still tired a lot, run out of energy fast, but I am pretty sure the weight thing won't be an issue again. I know lots of women don't get as sick as I have been, but I know there are those who have it much worse. At work I am trying to use this as a tool to "relate" with some of the people I talk to (hey, I'm in sales after all...) & a couple of the women have been hospitalized during their pregnancies due to dehydration.
Tomorrow we tell our families! I hope everything goes perfectly, but I know when it comes to these kinds of things that I nothing is going to be predictable. During presents with my family we are going to "forget" my mom's present until the very end, and then have her read a poem I wrote. Giving her a pretty pearl necklace since the baby will be born in June and that is June's birthstone. Then for Daniel's parents he took one of the ultrasound pics and made it bigger and put "Can I be your grandbaby?" on it in a really pretty frame. Hopefully they will all be surprised and happy! I am almost scared to tell them after all this time of keeping our secret (mostly) to ourselves.
Well wish us luck!

Little Baby T

So it's been a while since I posted anything. I have been feeling absolutely miserable and have had nothing new to report. I have a dr's appointment tomorrow morning but am not anticipating anything too exciting to come from it. Pee in a cup? Check. Get group-groped? Check. Have blood drawn? Check. I will try to post if we find out anything earth-shattering.

I am almost in week 12, which means almost in the 2nd trimester, which is so exciting! We are pretty sure no one has guessed our secret yet, or if they have they have kept quiet. Daniel's mom asked me the other day if I had lost weight (HA!), so apparently I am hiding it well. Poor Daniel is keeping things together like a saint. Grocery shopping, cleaning, getting rid of smells I find unpleasant...and all the while he is in school, trying to study for a big test for work, and also get adjusted to his job that he's only had for a few months, after all.

Sometimes I wonder what on earth possesses people to have children! If I had honestly known this is what I would be going through right now, let's just say I would have waited. Maybe as the pregnancy progresses I will start to feel more of a bond with the baby, but right now it is merely "the parasite" or "the only child." I am documenting this not for sympathy, but hopefully to remind myself that the next time I get the brilliant idea to procreate maybe I will take a few moments to fully weigh the decision & all it's implications. You know, there are plenty of children out there in search of a good home!

On a lighter note, Daniel & I have been discussing our options for names. We still like Chloe for a girl. He likes Cailey, but I tell him that's just switching around the letters in Chloe. We were also contemplating an homage to our mothers - something like Lorianne or Loriana, but I don't know if that's too strange. Then for a boy, we still like Aidan. But we have been discussing a lot of different options, and funnily enough Atticus was one that Daniel brought up. He loves it! And of course I love it, considering one of my favorite books of all time is To Kill a Mockingbird. But I just don't know if it's right for little baby Tafoya. We shall see!

Sorry to be so Debbie Downer - this is partially why I haven't written in a while! But I am excited for Christmas and finally getting to tell our families (if they cooperate, that is...) we have some pretty special things planned for the big day, so cross your fingers!

The Smell of Coffee in the Morning...

9 weeks pregnant - only 31 to go! Haha.
This week has been interesting. I learned that I do absolutely need to take my anti-nausea medicine or I will seriously regret it. Even when I do take it regularly it doesn't guarantee anything. All of the women I have talked this over with seem to think my case is a little extreme, which is lovely. Apparently everyone else has a great time being pregnant! Luckily, the only aversion I have is to coffee and eggs. Unluckily, my entire work building REEKS of coffee because we have a Starbucks right next to my department. I have probably thrown up at work more often than at home because of that...
We had the perfect opportunity last Sunday to tell my family about the baby, but it didn't happen because we had not prepared ourselves what to say to make it more than just a random outburst. So, we are resigned to wait until Christmas. It's going to be a long month! We are keeping busy moving into our new house, but apparently when I ordered our appliances I scheduled them a week later than I thought. So while I am at work Daniel has been trying to fix it so that we have a refrigerator in our house the first week we are living there (!). I am blaming that on the pregnancy.
Anyway, if I don't post anything until this time next week have a happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Family...

No new developments to report in baby world. We are supposed to be closing on our house in one week but haven't heard anything from our mortgage lady in a while. The last we heard was in regards to our appraisal which came in a little higher than what we are paying. We are trying to decide what to do with all our stuff when we move (keeping in mind we want to keep one bedroom free for baby, but are going from a fully furnished three bedroom house to another). This means our extra bed that my sister uses when she spends the night might have to go away or else go into the living room haha. That would make me a little sad, but we need the other bedroom for an office.
So I was walking back to my desk at work today after a session with the porcelain god in the restroom and ran right into the executive director of my department. He is the nicest guy, and I didn't want him to think that I was unhappy/sick-of-work, so when he asked how I was doing I blurted out that I am pregnant. He was really excited and talked to me for a while about it, but I felt kind of dumb for having a big mouth. I mean, I spent six hours with my older sister and her kids yesterday and didn't say anything! Oh well...
Dear family, I hope you know this is agony for me to have this secret. I wish you would all get together at a convenient time and place for me to confess the impending arrival of this baby.
Love, Shannon :)

The Little Things

Update! Doctor's appointment went really well - I got to actually meet my doctor: Shannon Moorehead. I don't know why I chose her out of all the doctors out there (haha), but I do like her! Got to see the little hybernating nugget via ultrasound & hear the heartbeat! Daniel wasn't there since he had to be at work, but I knew he would have been so excited. The next ultrasound is not until week 18, which is in January, and that's when they determine the sex. And the official due date per Dr. Moorehead is June 26th.
So that was the really great part of the day. I did have to go in to work after the appointment (my lovely 11:30-8pm shift), and it was seriously the most miserable 8 hours of my life. I threw up 5 times and thought I was going to die!
Luckily the dr gave me a prescription for Zofran, which Daniel filled for me yesterday. I have to let it dissolve on my tongue (sick), but it has really helped. We went to my nephew's baby blessing this morning (so good), then went for breakfast and I ate a full meal! My first full meal in a couple weeks! Then we went and ran all of our errands without a problem and even went to the movies & had popcorn! You know, sometimes it's the little things in life that make a difference. I hope things are smooth sailing from here, but even if they're not, I will definitely be grateful for today.
Anyway, as far as telling our families...well the longer we wait the easier it is getting. We'd really like to plan the perfect time to make it fun & memorable, but if we can't wait until Christmas then I don't really know when the best time to break the news would be. My older sister is not going to be at my mom's for Thanksgiving, and we're not even sure what Daniel's family is doing that day at all. I kind of wish the stars would align and point us in the right direction...maybe they still will. :)

Reservations & Hesitations

Doesn't Christmas feel like an eternity away? We spent time with my family (including aunts & uncles & grandma) last night at Rockin R Ranch in Mesa. It was a lot of fun, but I was again feeling sick. Thankfully with the big group no one noticed. We had my sister Lyndsey spend the night with us, and this morning during breakfast I thought I might upchuck! I didn't, but I had a lot of errands planned for this morning and have accomplished nothing. All I can do is sleep to feel better, which means the kitchen is dirty, the laundry is piling up, and I haven't been to Target in far too long!
I accidentally told a few people at work since I have been feeling so awful & had to have an explanation for the constant green tinge of my face haha. I know the news will spread, so I am trying to convince Daniel that we need to tell our families soon. Christmas is still two months away! Since our doctor's appointment is in 6 days I am hoping to make it until then so we at least have some medical proof that I really am pregnant. We will only be 7 weeks by that time, and it just seems too early to be saying anything. If something were to happen I would be devastated! And then to have everyone know about it...I am not sure I am strong enough to handle that.
Oh well - it won't be like this the entire pregnancy, right? I have a lot more respect for all the mothers out there who have gone the distance & lived to tell the tale.
So I have to tell this hilarious joke that I found online & still cannot explain why I think it's so funny. It has definitely cheered me up at a time when I have needed it!
"A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack. So he says: 'Ms. Whack, I'd like to get a loan to buy a boat and go on a long vacation.' Patti looks at the frog in disbelief and asks him how much he'd like to borrow. The frog says $30,000. The teller asks his name and the frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's ok, he knows the bank manager. Patti explains that $30,000 is a substantial amount of money and that he will need to secure some collateral against the loan.
She asks if he has anything he can use as collateral.
The frog says, 'Sure. I have this,' and produces a tiny pink porcelain elephant, about half an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed. Very confused, Patti explains that she'll have to consult with her manager and disappears into a back office. She finds the manager and says, 'There's a frog out there called Kermit Jagger who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000. And he wants to use this as collateral.' She holds up the tiny pink elephant. 'I mean, what in the world is this?'
The bank manager looks back at her and says, 'It's a knick-knack, Patti Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone.' "
Hahaha ~ well until next time!

My Bright Idea

Hello! My very first blog ~ I am way behind the times. I have to confess that my motives are not entirely pure. I have been wanting to keep a journal of the months ahead, yes, but also do not intend to share with family until the time is right.

Yep - I am the big preg-o! My husband Daniel and I were lucky on our very first try! We are six weeks tomorrow, so our little T is about the size of an appleseed. Our roughly estimated due date is June 24th, and my first doctor's appointment is a week from tomorrow. I have been doing a lot of reading (what I do best) and a lot of the advice suggests keeping a journal for posterity as well as sanity.

The secrecy has reasoning, however. I am not in a big rush to tell every family member & friend in case in the early stages of things something goes wrong. But more importantly, I have recently been subjected to some pretty grandiose-sized secret-keeping (ahem, Julie), so I think it only fair to return the favor. Maybe on the petty side, but think how excited our parents will be when we break the news on Christmas day!

Normally, I would have rushed over and told my mom right away, so this blog will hopefully be my way of communicating with her through time. Mom, I have been dying to tell you - I have been feeling so very terrible that I want to come over for saltines & ginger ale and be on the receiving end of your patented comfort in times of sickness. But if we tell you, we tell all, and we want it to be a surprise! So Daniel ran down to Fry's and bought saltines & Progresso chicken noodle & I feel a little better. He said it's giving him some practice for when I start having cravings.

I have had such an easy time with that time of the month my whole life, that I guess the last week of morning sickness (which lasts ALL day) has been my payback. It is making me doubt whether we will have more kids after this one, but hopefully I will stop feeling this way very soon. Daniel says I have a hypersensitive sense of smell now ~ and that means I think everything smells disgusting.

Well, another part of this whole pregnancy deal is that I am constantly exhausted, so this will be the end of my very first post in my very first blog regarding my very first little baby!

Goodnight all!