Dr.'s Visit

So, like I said, here's the update from my visit to my obstetrician today:

So, when they weighed me today, I was at -1 from my starting weight. My doctor comes in and goes, "I love you!!!" Now, you have to understand that my doctor has absolutely no personality. He's kind of awkward, odd, you name it. But you just have to love him. :) So, y'all may not think it's funny that he responded that way, but I wish you could've been there to experience it with me, cuz it was hilarious!

Then, he gave me the speech he gives me every visit about how you don't have to gain a lot of weight to have a good pregnancy, so no surprise there. He told me if I didn't gain any weight at all during the entire pregnancy (which would mean that I actually lost weight), that it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing because I was a little "heavy" to begin with (thanks doc ;-). He did emphasize that I need to not change anything about what I've been eating or how much I've been exercising. Evidently between weeks 20 and 30, your body really starts to figure out that it's pregnant, and it's really easy to let yourself go as far as diet and exercise are concerned during that time. So he prepared me for that and said that if I keep up with what I've been doing, I should be fine (can you tell that weight is a big deal for him???).

Daniel and I have been planning to take a trip to Cancun with my parents and Keagan and Laura in June, so I asked the doc about that, to make sure that would be okay. And he said, "Oh, that'll be the perfect time to go!" I asked if I would need written permission or any documentation from him so that I could fly on the plane, and he said no. He said, "People will hardly know you're pregnant. They won't be sure if you're actually pregnant or just a little chubby." :) The only thing he told me I couldn't do is scuba dive, which I can't do anyway due to ear problems I've had my entire life. And, wouldn't you know, he told me to be extra careful with sunscreen because my skin will burn faster. HAH. Sorry, doc, I figured that one out already. :) Oh! And we got to listen to the heartbeat again today, which he said sounded normal. We also heard some "swoosh" sounds, which he said was the baby moving. Evidently the baby was moving quite a bit! So I wonder what that means.... But, he said everything was normal and good, so we are moving along!

Let's see..... I think that was basically it. Next visit is May 29th, the day after our ultrasound to find out if we're having a boy or girl! Yay!!! I can't wait. :) I have a room for the baby now, but nothing to put in it! Also, Daniel just told me that his parents are coming up this weekend and his mom is going to help us out with the crib, which is going to be a huge, huge, HUGE blessing (cribs ain't cheap these days). So hopefully we'll have a good time picking out baby stuff.

Okay, well I think that is the official update from the appointment today! Hope you guys have had a wonderful day!

New Home

So.... we just moved into our new place this weekend. It's about a mile down the road from our apt, so we didn't move far. And can I just say how annoying it is to have to pack up all your junk just to unpack it again? But I am very happy with our new townhouse so far, and am excited to live in a place that actually feels like a house! You'll have to come by and visit if you want to see. :)

I go to the doctor for my 18-week appt. in about an hour and a half. I guess I could've waited until I got home to update this, couldn't I? I guess that'll give me reason to update this again.

Last night, we took the youth group to see Switchfoot in concert--they were AWESOME!!!!!! They impress me more and more each time I see them live. So, way to go boys.

I'm trying to think if there's anything else interested to talk about..... umm... Daniel gets paid today. :) That's exciting! And other than that, I'll update later and let you know how my doctor's appointment goes. Hopefully he'll give me permission to go to Cancun in June! We'll see....

Passion, sunburns, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies...

Well hello! It has been a beautiful week here in Charlottesville, VA! Yesterday I laid out in the sun for about 2 hours and got BURNT! Ouch. I guess all the things I've read about being more prone to sunburns during pregnancy are true. :) But it'll tan nicely, I think, so I think I'll be fine. Also, I talked to my mom this morning and asked her if she ever got stretch marks--nope! So hopefully I'll have the same fortune. Someone told me yesterday that stretch marks actually stem from a zinc deficiency... so I may be going out and getting some zinc supplements here pretty soon.

Passion was AWESOME! Man, I am so glad I finally got the chance to go. And... let me just say... Chris Tomlin is the best worship leader I have ever seen--and I don't say that lightly at all. In fact, I was a little skeptical when we went, simply because of his mainstream popularity. But there's a reason for that mainstream popularity and it's because he is such an effective and sensitive leader. He's one of those people it's easy to worship with. And you know how there are some worship leaders who feel like they have to say something during every song or explain what we're singing all the time? Chris did that once, and the story he did share was so effective. But every other time, no words were needed. I don't really know how else to explain it. So, I hope I can be that effective one day--obviously not on my own accord, but my prayer is that God would use me that effectively in worship and that I would never be a distraction for others. Only an avenue through which God can sing, speak, display His beauty, and touch hearts and lives like only He can.

I was also very impressed with how much Passion was NOT a production. I mean, it had to be somewhat because there were 10,000 people there. But the way the lights were done, the video, the lyrics on the screen, the conduct of those leading worship, and the way the speakers spoke to us all testified to the fact that Passion is for the glory of God... that its vision is to raise up a generation of students eager to make Jesus famous in this world, instead of raising up a generation of self-serving students who ignore the needs and cries of the world around them. I can't tell you how impressed I was. Daniel and I both were just blown away. And the cool thing is that probably every time Louie Giglio got up to say something, he was always emphasizing the vision of Passion and the heart of Passion. So I don't think anyone left that place in the dark about what Passion is about. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Here's a picture of what the arena looked like... get ready for a taste of heaven :)



Let's see. In pregnancy news... I feel the baby a bit more regularly now, which is neat, and I am definitely starting to show. I guess I should take a picture, shouldn't I? Didn't I promise that a while ago? I can feel the top of the uterus right at my belly button now, so pretty soon there ain't gonna be anymore room for that to rise up, and it's going to have to start going out. Hah. Basically, when I'll full term, I'm going to look like I have a watermelon on its side under my skin. My doctor didn't put it to me that way, but I got the point. And current weight, as of either Tuesday or Thursday, I can't remember, is still in the negatives... -3 lbs. I go back to the doctor next Monday (the 28th), so then I can let you all know what the doc says about my progress and how I'm doing. Okay--off to worship practice. GET OUTSIDE TODAY!!!!!!!! :)

Looking Forward

Sooooo we're going to the Passion Conference in Atlanta this weekend. I am very excited! I am hoping I'll get a chance to hang out with Tomlin or something like that, but I seriously doubt that'll happen. I'll let you know how everything goes when we get back. It'll be a nice little get-away/vacation sort of thing, though, so I am definitely looking forward to it!

Let's see.... in pregnancy news.... I am 16 weeks tomorrow, and have a net weight gain of -4.5 lbs. So I guess that's a net weight loss? I guess my new eating habits should be the next weight loss program, haha. I am ready to find out if we're having a boy or girl! I want to go register and start planning the room and looking at clothes and picking out stuff! I gotta wait til May 28th. Come on, people!

My birthday is tomorrow. I will be 23 years old. I can't believe I just typed that. 23 just looks old (the numbers on the page is what I'm referring to). I don't really know what else to say other than that. Old. I'm getting old. We were having worship practice the other day and I made a comment about how I was getting old, and my friend Luke goes, "you're not old!" And I said, "Luke. I'm married and I'm pregnant. I'm OLD!" So for all you married people with kids--you're old :)

We sold our couch yesterday, yay! Aaaand we bought a new couch and some end tables/a coffee table in Richmond on Tuesday. Those will come in when we move into our new place. Hooray for the Roomstore. Seriously, for those of you who live in Charlottesville, don't waste your time at the furniture stores here. Take the time and go to Richmond. You won't be disappointed.... AND the Roomstore delivers to Charlottesville. So there. Now you have no excuse.

Okay, well, one of these days I'll take some updated belly pictures and put them on Facebook. And when we get back from the Conference, I'll let you know how that went. Have a great evening and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the sunshine!!

Yay blogs!!!

Okay so.... I have a lot of friends who are single or married and the concept of kids is SUPER far away. So, I figured I would give you all something to give you an idea of what it's like to be pregnant or to prepare for children. And I also know people who just want to keep up with how things are going. So, here's the perfect opportunity! :)

Let's see. Here's a basic overview of my pregnancy so far:

Currently, I'm 15 weeks pregnant, so the baby is about the length of a teaspoon. Cool! I had to go shopping for prego pants a little over a week ago. My pants all still fit, but the waistline was getting uncomfortable around my stomach, so I figured I should go ahead and buy some pants/shorts/capris so I'd be prepared when I really need them. I've felt the baby move a few times, which has been very neat! They movements are rather faint, but definitely there. As far as weight gain goes... I have a net weight gain of -2 pounds. My doctor has instructed me to not gain more than 2 pounds this month, so hopefully that shouldn't be too difficult. I have a bit of a belly... it looks more like I ate too much for dinner than the fact that I'm pregnant, but I do have one. :)

As far as my first trimester, I never really had any morning sickness (praise the Lord). I felt nauseous sometimes, especially in the mornings, but never threw up because of it. Now, a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to contract some sort of stomach flu, which reeaaallly sucked. I had both vomiting and diarrhea... eww. So I guess I was bound to puke sometime during the pregnancy. The worst part about it was that I felt sick when I ate, but then I would feel sick when I didn't eat... so... I didn't really have many options there. Oh well--we're back to normal now. :)

Today I came down with my first migraine. It was very strange.... my left peripheral vision got blurry and kinda flashy... then once that went away, the right side of my head was killing me. I'd never had a migraine before, so it was really scary. I called my OB doctor, and he told me that it's common for pregnant women to experience migraines, even when they've never had a headache in their life. Learn something new every day. I laid down on the couch and passed out for a little while, and the migraine went away slowly. Hopefully I won't get too many of those throughout the next few month

Daniel and I have had the great experience if listening to the baby's heartbeat! We got to hear it for the first time at our 10 wk. appointment, even though the doctor didn't think we were going to be able to hear it yet. It was funny because up until that point, being pregnant was still theoretical for me. I can't even describe what it's like to have the doctor put a doppler on your stomach, turn it on, and heart this little heartbeat coming from your belly. At my last appointment (14 weeks), I got to listen to the heartbeat again. We will find out at 22 weeks whether we're having a boy or girl!

Okeydokey, well, I'll post some more later when I have more to say. :) 'Til next time...