18 Weeks on Monday

Well, I've been wanting to start a pregnancy blog for awhile, so I decided that today would be the day that I would stop thinking about it and start writing! And what better day to start my blog but Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful Mom's out there (especially mine!). I would be lost without my Mom..I only hope that I can live up to the high standard she has set..she is the most amazing, loving mom!  It has been a great first "to be mommy" mother's day for me. My hubby Jon brought me home Sprinkles cupcakes and a beautiful card, it was a great surprise. He has been fantastic throughout the pregnancy.  I also received many mother's day wishes from my amazing friends and family. It really touched me that they would think of me today, this baby will be surrounded by so much love. I just can't wait!

So, since I'm picking this up at 18 weeks into my pregnancy..here is the 5..well maybe 10 minute recap of the first trimester. Jon and I had talked for awhile about starting a family and had decided that no matter what you plan for there is never a "good" time to start. No matter when..there will always be something going on with work, financially, etc. So we made the decision and started to try. We got the wonderful news that we were expecting at the end of January. I had envisioned all of these really creative ways to tell Jon, but all of those went out the window when I saw the first very faint sign of a positive on the pregnancy test. I couldn't wait and woke Jon up to have him make sure it really was there. He confirmed it was definitely positive, but then of course we had to go out and get 4 more different types of test just to be sure! It was a very emotional/life changing day that we both will never forget.

The next couple of weeks were very nerve wracking for us. I went to the Dr. to confirm the pregnancy and they of course took blood to confirm the pregnancy. I received a phone call from the Dr. once the results came in because my HCG levels (hormone levels that indicate pregnancy) weren't quite at what she thought they should be which could indicate a miscarriage or other "problem". I went back for another blood test. The results showed that my levels were going up, but they still weren't what she thought they should be which then lead to another blood test and an early ultrasound. The early ultrasound showed a pregnancy, which I was extremely relieved to see. I thought all would be in the clear, but then the next day I received a phone call from my OB/GYN asking me to come in the next day for another ultrasound because he thought I could be having an ectopic pregnancy (which means that the egg implants outside of your uterus). I was extremely anxious for this appointment. Jon was out of town, and I of course kept reading about all the possible scenarios on the internet. When I finally had the appointment, and the Dr. confirmed that I was in fact having a healthy pregnancy I broke down in tears. It was such a huge relief.

The anxiety/fear turned to excitement and we looked forward to sharing our wonderful news with friends & family.We were able to share the news in person with Jon's Sister and her family during our trip to Florida and even got to tell Jon's Cousins Nick, Dee, & Dimitri in person too! They were so excited and showered us with love & blessings. We shared the news with our family in PA a couple of weeks later. We gave both of our parent's onsies...one of them is below:

Our Parent's & Brothers were SO excited..it was so much fun to surprise them. We also were able to share a 3D ultrasound of the baby, which was just amazing. As our niece Ava said..Baby Bach looked just like an alien :).

The past 18 weeks have flown by. I've been very blessed to have zero morning sickness. My appetite has also been good and largely unaffected...although I seem to avoid protein, which isn't a good thing.. I know I need my protein! I also seem to have numbness/pain when I sleep at night on my sides. I've decided that if that is my only issue I'm extremely lucky!

Jon is busy working on the babies room...I'm so excited for him to become a daddy. He is absolutely in LOVE with the baby already. I feel so very blessed every day to have him in my life. I can't tell him I love him enough every day.

I hope to make this a weekly update moving forward and share some "bump"  updates. I'm starting to show a bit...but I feel like I just have a big belly and don't look pregnant yet! We also have the big gender ultrasound next Wednesday! Please say a prayer that Baby Bach is healthy!!! If you know me, you know how much of a planner I am so we'll be finding out the gender! We think it's a girl, but what do you all think?

Here is to next time! Let's make this week go by quick!