GIRL!!!

And a stubborn girl she is. It took 3 ultrasounds from friends before anyone could tell what she was just based on her position. She was either chillin with her legs completely crossed or moving around like crazy so we couldn't see the goods. So the Friday before Christmas I had a friend at work do an ultrasound. This is when she was literally just chillin in there sucking her thumb! Crazy. That Monday I went to my friend's fertility office for he to do an ultrasound and baby girl was so active that we just couldn't get a clear shot. We were there for an hour looking! On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, my friend at work attempted it one last time. FINALLY, she got the money shot. She said she was 95% sure her guess was accurate. 95% is good enough for me! (Ps I didn't look at the ultrasounds the whole time. I wanted it to be a complete surprise) I had my friend text my sister-in-law who was going to make a gender reveal cake for us to "open" on Christmas day in front of our entire families.  The anticipation was.killing.me.  Here's a few pictures of us cutting into the cake and everyones reactions.

We are beyond excited, and shocked, to be having a girl! Bring on the bows & tutus!

Baby Nardelli is a....

15 weeks

How far along: 15 weeks
Size: A pear

Gender: Stay tuned!

Symptoms: Headaches are GONE! Halleluiah. 

Maternity clothes: Do stretchy clothes count as maternity clothes? If so, then yes. 

Stretch marks: Nada

Belly button in or out: Belly button is in

Sleep: Sleeping great! Can't complain

Best moment this week: Having my sister and dad come into town! So excited they get to spend the holidays with us. I also got to see the bean during THREE ultrasounds this week! My friend at work attempted one on Friday to determine gender but baby wasn't cooperating. It was literally sitting indian style sucking it's thumb so we didn't get to see the goods. Monday, my other friend did one at the office she works at but baby was moving around too much for her to see anything. Sooo...on to plan C. I'll have my friend from work try to see again on Christmas Eve and then have her text my sister-in-law if she can determine the gender. The excitement is overwhelming!

Worst moment this week: Just feeling exhausted from cleaning, decorating, wrapping, shopping, baking, and spending. 

Miss anything: Feeling full. I'm always hungry!

Movement: None yet

Cravings: Anything and everything sour.

Queasy or sick: Nope

Looking forward to: Buying BOY or GIRL stuff, painting the nursery, and feeling movement :)

15 weeks

14 weeks

How far along: 14 weeks
Size: A little fuzzy peach!

Gender: I'm so torn. One day I think it's a boy, the next I swear it's a girl. Ken is leaning towards boy. I don't know why it's making me so stressed out lately. I want either! I just want to know which one! It's all I think about and it keeps me up at night! And names, specifically girl names. Oy. It stresses me out even more. I literally slept 4 hours the other night because I couldn't stop thinking about what we would possibly name this bean if it happens to be a girl!

Symptoms: Still getting these awful headaches. I've contemplated calling the doctor about it but I've read so many times that it's normal and just caused by all the hormones and know several people who had them early in pregnancy. The only thing that seems to help is an ice pack to the back of my neck and rest. Which is hard to do when you work a 12 hour shift. Anywho, that's really my only "symptom" these days. And my tummy feeling a bit bigger.

Maternity clothes: Nothing yet other than my "maternity leggings" which are the most comfortable things you can wear. I'm thinking about buying some maternity scrub pants today to be a bit more comfortable at work.

Stretch marks: None

Belly button in or out: In 

Sleep: Sleep has been iffy this week. Probably from all my tossing and turning thinking about gender and baby names. Most nights I'm still falling asleep between 9 and 10 but usually wake up to my dogs screaming bloody murder when Ken comes home. Then I lay there for an hour or two until I fall back asleep or just get up cause I have to go to work.

Best moment this week: Every week it's just cooler and cooler to say how far along I am. It sounds so far into pregnancy, 14 weeks! Then I remember that I still have 26ish weeks left to go. I love to read about what's going on with the bean each week and how it's developing. It really is a little miracle.

Worst moment this week: These headaches are overstaying their welcome.

Miss anything: A bottle glass of wine after a shitty day of work.

Movement: Ahhhh I CANNOT WAIT FOR MOVEMENT! This seriously makes me so excited. Just seeing the baby on an ultrasound screen moving around is amazing. People keep telling me to just wait till I FEEL the baby move! It'll probably be the best day eva.

Cravings: Anything salty or sour...and cereal.

Queasy or sick: Red meat is grossing me out a bit lately. We made burgers the other night, and although they were good, after I felt like crap and now they sound disgusting. A piece of meat in general really doesn't sound too great anymore.

Looking forward to: Oh so much. Finding out the gender next week on Christmas Day tops the list. Other things are having family in town for the holidays, buying clothes for a BOY or GIRL, painting the nursery, and feeling baby move!

14 weeks

13 weeks

How far along: 13 weeks, 2 days

Gender: Ahh I think I may have changed teams this week. I'm beginning to lean towards GIRL. Maybe because everyone tells me it's a girl? Doesn't matter to us, we're so excited for either!

Symptoms: I'm pretty sure I officially have a baby bump, eek! Still getting headaches here and there. All in all though, I'm feeling great. Even my energy is back, BOOYA!

Maternity clothes: Still rockin the leggings most days. A few people at work have told me I look pregnant. Really? That can't be good this early. I do think I'll need some maternity scrubs here soon.

Stretch marks: None

Belly button in or out: In 

Sleep: Sleeping great! My bedtime is usually around 9pm and I wake up around 7-8am. Man I sound like a party, don't I? Still sleeping on my right side mostly but wake up usually on my left side. 

Best moment this week: Heading into the 2nd trimester! I can't believe it. Time has already flown by so fast. I never thought I'd be able to say that I'm in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy, but here I am! It feels great to be out of the "scary zone". Although, I don't think I'll feel at ease until I'm holding a teeny babe in my arms. And even then I'll be worrying if it has twelve fingers, huge ears, or a purple tongue. We also got a lot of christmas shopping done this week. The tree is up and lit and we're officially done decorating. Time to poor me a cup of jack & coke hot cocoa.

Worst moment this week: Hmm. Nada.

Miss anything: Days without headaches.

Movement: Nothing yet. When will this come?! I'm getting impatient.

Cravings: Just everything. Anything you put in your mouth or talk about sounds good to me. 

Queasy or sick: Nope. So far this pregnancy stuff is easy. #sorryimnotsorry

Looking forward to: My sister, future brother-in-law, AND dad coming for Christmas! So excited to spend time with all of them. Baking, wrapping the last of the gifts, and watching every Christmas movie we own. And of course, I'm most excited to find out the gender of this baby! 

13 weeks

Gender Prediction

We plan on finding out the gender in a couple weeks at Christmas with all our family there! My friend at work is going to do an ultrasound and keep it a secret in an envelope. Then my sister in law is going to make a cake with either pink or blue inside the cake. Can't wait! I've had a gut feeling that it's a boy but we're both still pretty torn. I thought it'd be fun to try and "predict" what we're having using some of the old wives tales. 

Baby's heartbeat is above or below 140? ABOVE

i think it's always above 140 at this stage..

Do you crave sweet or salty foods? SALTY

Did you have morning sickness? NO

Are you moody or happy? HAPPY

and sometimes moody

Has daddy gained weight? NO

Have you had breakouts? NO

Do you have headaches? YES

Do you sleep on your left or ride side? RIGHT

mostly

Are you carrying high or low? LOW

i think? still early to tell

What does the chinese calendar predict? GIRL

Are you stable or clumsy? STABLE

Is your skin soft or dry? SOFT

String/ring test above belly? BOY

Gut feeling? BOY

What do you think it is?!

Gender Prediction

How far along: 12 weeks

Gender: I'm still leaning towards BOY. Ken is still undecided...and probably will be until we find out. Our ultrasound tech today said it was too early to make a prediction, darn. However, the nub looked boyish to me but what do I know. Have you heard of the "nub theory"? Google it.

Weight gain: 4 lbs.

Symptoms: Headaches. Holy moly. We're talking daily headaches lately. Every.single.day. I've read it's normal and is probably just associated with all the extra blood volume I have now. Only thing that seems to help is resting on the couch. I think my exhaustion is starting to ease off. It depends on the day lately. Some days I'm completely exhausted and ready for a nap by 11am and other days I'm able to get so much done throughout the day without thinking twice about going to sleep.

Maternity clothes: Happy to say I bought my first pair of maternity jeans! They were 50% off at Gap (score!) and are actually pretty comfy. Also loving leggings and maxi skirts.

Stretch marks: None on my belly! Hooray!

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleep is becoming iffy. I have no problem falling asleep but have been waking up between 1-2am and tossing and turning for atleast an hour. I have a hard time turning my mind off from stuff, or getting Kelly Clarkson's "Underneath the Tree" christmas song out of my head. I'm hoping Santa brings me a Bump Nest Body Pillow this Christmas...(hint hint, hubby) I keep reading how amazing they are and great for a sleeping prego!

Best moment this week: Hands down the best moment this week was our NT scan today. We got to see the baby and it actually looked like a baby! It was moving around a ton and we got some amazing pictures! Even one with its little hand in the air :)  We even got a DVD that recorded the entire ultrasound. So amazing. I can't wait to show our family around Christmas! The NT scan looks for characteristics that could be associated with Down Syndrome and a few other trisomy disorders. Best news of all, our little peanut doesn't show any of those characteristics and looks as healthy as can be!

Worst moment this week: These gnarly headaches making their debut.

Miss anything: Cycling. I was tempted to go the other day and just not work out as intense as I normally would but 1. Ken didn't like that idea and 2. I overslept.

Movement: Saw tons of movement on the ultrasound screen! Haven't felt anything yet. Maybe in a couple weeks!?

Cravings: Sour candy, salted soft pretzels, peppermint, apples, multigrain bagels.

Queasy or sick: Nada

Looking forward to: Everything Christmasy. Sending out our Christmas cards, wrapping gifts (one of my favorite things to do, weird right?), spending time with my sister, feeling baby move, getting into the 2nd trimester, and finding out if our little bean is a BOY or GIRL!

12 weeks

Announcement

We decided to officially announce our pregnancy yesterday, December 3rd when I was exactly 12 weeks along. And by "officially announce", I mean we made it "facebook/instagram official".  I'm not sure why but it was so nervewracking letting EVERYONE know we were expecting. Don't need to keep it a secret anymore!  We decided to use some small chalkboards I had had from our wedding.

I think it turned out pretty cute. Most people were completely shocked. I haven't talked about my fertility issues with a lot of people, and the ones that did know, were completely shocked as well. It felt so good to have so much support and nice comments to read. If you're reading this, then thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We are so excited for this little adventure.

Announcement

11 weeks

How far along: 11 weeks

Gender: My gut feeling is that it's a boy. Ken is still undecided. Everyone else says girl. Only a few more weeks until we find out, the anticipation is killing me!

Weight gain: Bloat + Bloat = Bloat! That's how much I weigh.

Maternity clothes: My regular jeans are getting pretttty tight. I've officially bought some maternity leggings and plan on getting a pair of pants or two during some Black Friday shopping.

Stretch marks: I may have a small one on my boob. Lovely. Ugh.

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleep is still pretty good. I've started waking up once in the early mornings to pee. Then it takes a half hour to an hour to fall back asleep. I can still easily sleep 8-10 hour stretches though.

Best moment this week: My first OB appointment! We got to hear the bean's heartbeat again which is always amazing. It was 177! She said at this stage in pregnancy, hearing the heartbeat drops the miscarriage rate to less than 15%. Phew. I also started going to Pilates again at the gym and so glad I have. I LOVE it. It helps with my stress, relaxes me, and still feels like a good workout.

Worst moment this week: It rained a full 2 days straight here and I worked those 2 full days. So that blew. Us Arizonans love the rain and I'm pretty sure it's good excuse to call in sick to work. Ah well. My doctor also told me that cycling class was a no-go. Bummer. I can't let my heartrate get above 140 and in cycling it's between 180-200. Guess I'll continue pilates and long walks with the pups!

Miss anything: Sushi, deli meat, & a glass of vino. Although, the doc told me today that sushi, deli meat, and caffeine were fine to have. Hooray! Bring on the vegas rolls.

Movement: Nothing yet. By the end of the day I feel like I have a small baby bump. I'm pretty sure it's just bloat & food though. Can't wait for real movement! & a real bump!

Cravings: Apples, pretzels, mexican food, bagels & cream cheese, frozen yogurt

Queasy or sick: Naw, nothing

Looking forward to: Our NT scan in the next week or two, we'll get to see the baby! And it should actually look like a baby now rather than a blob :) Cooking with my mama on Thanksgiving, stuffing my face with turkey and pumpkin pie, Black Friday shopping at 5am, colder weather, getting more nursery ideas together and making some decisions, and decorating the house for Christmas! Tis the season!

11 weeks

10 weeks

How far along: 10 weeks

Gender: EVERYONE has told me they think it's a girl. I really have no clue! I just want a healthy and happy baby. We've decided to have a gender reveal cake with our close family on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, so excited!

Weight gain: Haven't checked. And I really don't want to, I feel like I've already gained 10 pounds... in my boobs. I'll wait until my first OB appointment for the official weigh-in.

Maternity clothes: None yet, other than leggings and yoga pants. I feel like it's still too early to buy "maternity" clothes..? However, I'm sure this baby bump will quickly make its debut so I should probably consider buying some real pants soon. 

Stretch marks: None yet. Hoping they don't make their appearance anytime soon, or ever.

Belly button in or out: Still an innie

Sleep: Sleeping great. I can still sleep on either side, my back, my stomach, and for long 8-10 hour stretches. Did I mention my bedtime these days is around 11am when the exhaustion kicks in? If I plan on getting anything done in the day, it has to be early morning. 

Best moment this week: Telling all the girls that I'm pregnant! They seemed so happy and excited for us. Also pretty stoked about mine and Kasey's little babe having playdates. A lot of my extended family also found out (thanks Dad) since they were all in town for my cousin's wedding. Everyone is very excited! We also decided this week that we would host Thanksgiving at our house again with mine and Ken's families all here. For some reason I'm really looking forward to cooking, and of course eating stuffing my face. #eatingfortwo

Worst moment this week: Missing Ken. He's been working overtime so much lately, which is great extra money for when we do our holiday shopping but seeing him maybe one day a week makes me miss him! Luckily he's completely off work today so we plan on getting some errands done (aka looking for ugly christmas sweaters) and having dinner together. It makes me wonder how our schedules and daily lives will be like with a little one around :)

Miss anything: I miss my cycling class! Wahhhhhh. I haven't gone for about 6 weeks because I've read so many things online how you should avoid it, especially in the first trimester. So I'm waiting to see my OB doc and get the official verdict whether or not I can continue doing it. 

Movement: None yet, but I CANNOT WAIT to feel movement! I think that's when all this will really feel real.

Cravings: Still loving anything sour or salty. I could eat green apples and soft pretzels all.day.long.

Queasy or sick: Nope.

Looking forward to: So so much. Our first OB appointment next week, eek! Also looking forward to the Macy's Day Parade (my favorite part of Thanksgiving), holiday shopping, visiting with my sister in December, and starting the nursery! 

10 weeks

On Wednesday, October 30th, we got to have our first ultrasound at the fertility office. We immediately saw a flickering on the ultrasound screen and knew right away that it was the bean's heartbeat! We couldn't believe it. Then, if that wasn't great enough, we got to HEAR the heartbeat! The rate was 113 bpm which the doctor said was perfectly normal for where I was in the pregnancy. I was measuring 6 weeks, 3 days according to the ultrasound. He wanted us to come back a week later to compare the ultrasound for growth and then would be able to give us an official due date! We got our first ultrasound pictures and couldn't stop staring at this little sac and baby inside. So crazy. We went back the next Friday, November 8th, for the second ultrasound. I was so nervous/excited. I really didn't have any pregnancy symptoms yet so it all just didn't seem real. This ultrasound, we saw the heartbeat right away again. Phew! The rate was 161 this time, which was also perfect according to how far along I was. The baby was measuring 7 weeks, 4 days. Perfect growth from the week prior! They figured my due date to be from when I took my HCG trigger shot before the IUI, which put me officially at 8 weeks, 3 days with a due date of June 17, 2014! Can't wait to meet this little junebug.
 

How far along: 8 weeks

Gender: Won't find out for several more weeks. We hope to find out before Christmas! Otherwise we'll probably find out in January and I'm beginning to plan for a "gender reveal party". Something I've always wanted to do! I'm still unsure what I think it'll be but I'm leaning more towards a boy. Ken is still undecided.

Weight gain: Just feeling bloated.

Maternity clothes: None yet. Just lots of yoga pants, leggings, and anything comfy!

Stretch marks: None yet. I bought Palmer's Cocoa Butter Cream for Stretch Marks and started using that but the smell is horrible so I'm not sure I'll use it much longer. I also bought some Bio Oil but it says not to use it until the 2nd trimester (no idea why?). My mom never had stretch marks and they say it's mostly genetic if you get them or not sooo I'm hoping to NO stretch marks!

Belly button in or out: In. And it's staying there.

Sleep: Ah, sleep. I could sleep all day and night. That's the one pregnancy symptom I've noticed (other than my boobs KILLING me). Sleep is great right now :)

Best moment this week: Our ultrasound of course! I think the 2nd one was even more exciting than the first.  Oh, and I officially "graduated" from my fertility office! I cried when they told me that. No more fertility treatments every month? Pretty sure I can live with that. 

Worst moment this week: Can't really think of anything..this week was great!

Miss anything: The occasional glass of vino. Sushi. Deli meat. COFFEE. I do have a cup of coffee like once a week and deli meat just a few times. Not together though, gross.

Movement: Still way too early. Can't wait to feel this bean move!

Cravings: Anything sour or salty. Sour candy, green apples, pretzels, sourdough bread.

Queasy or sick: Not at all. At first I thought this was really strange that I WASN'T feeling queasy at all. Maybe it's still too early. Maybe I'm one of those lucky ones that doesn't get sick at all throughout her pregnancy. Thatd be nice. And right now, it is nice.

Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound in a couple weeks with my OB doctor, telling more friends and making it "facebook official". And, a bump of course!

Ultrasound 1 & 2

Two Pink Lines

I really can't believe it when I say this but, I'M PREGNANT! After two long years of disappointment, frustration, negative test after negative test, and ten months of fertility treatments, I can finally announce that me and my hubs are expecting a little bean next June 2014. We are BEYOND excited. It still seems so unbelievable. I feel like I'm making it up. But, it's true. So here's how it went down.

My fertility treatments the past few months have been pretty aggressive. Everyday I had to take several pills, including Clomid, which is a fertility medication given to help someone ovulate (which I was never doing). Well, clomid didn't work the first couple months. The final recipe of creating this little bean was Metformin, Aspirin, 150mg Clomid, 150 IU Bravelle injections, and my 4th IUI (intrauterine insemination). After the IUI and still to this day, I have to take a progesterone suppository every night before bed. Sounds fun, huh? Very expensive, very time consuming, very frustrating. I can honestly say though, it has all been worth it and will be even more worth it once I have a baby in my arms.

Ken and I told ourselves we wouldn't "cheat" by taking a home pregnancy test early before my blood work would confirm a pregnancy or not.  Well, I cheated. October 8th was 13 days after my IUI (the night before I had to have bloodwork done).  I took a pregnancy test that morning. It was negative. I tried to keep telling myself that "it could still be early", "maybe the bloodwork tomorrow will show something different".  That night right before bed, I decided to take another test. Hmm...that looks like a faint line....am I seeing things?  Nope, there it was. The faintest second pink line. I was freaking out inside. Should I tell Ken? Should I wait to see what the bloodwork shows tomorrow? Ahhhh! I went to bed without telling Ken because I had always dreamed of telling him I was pregnant in some sort of fun and memorable way.  The next morning I did another pregnancy test, and there it was again. A second pink line.  OMG.  I still didn't say anything to Ken and left early to my fertility doctor's office to have my blood drawn.  I couldn't stop smiling, I ended up blurting it out to the front desk girl and the girl who drew my blood. They were so happy for me! It felt so weird to say those words.  Driving home from the office, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it from Ken for long. He would be able to tell something was up.  I got home and grabbed a gift bag, threw my positive tests in it with some tissue paper and decided to make him breakfast.  After we finished breakfast, I told him I had an early birthday gift for him (his birthday was a week later).  I gave him the gift. He opened it. And stared at the pee stick for what felt like a full 5 minutes.  He gave me this look like "What! Really!?" and then I cried and could only shake my head.  We hugged and I cried some more and it ended up being something I'll never forget. We were finally going to have a baby!

We are so excited for this next chapter in our lives and will continue to document everything right here. Stay tuned!

Two Pink Lines