Due Date Change and First Picture....11.30.07

So, the due date is now July 12, 2008. The same day as two of my friend's weddings. Needless to say I won't be attending. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, says "maybe it'll be a July 4th baby." I hope it isn't. But not really under my control. The doctor's appointment was easy. Not at all as invasive as I imagined. Clint really liked the doctor. Me, too. We got to see the heart beat. It put my mind at such peace to see that little flickering on the screen. The heart rate was 145 beats per minute. Healthy, healthy, healthy. We go back on the 28th of December. Hopefully we can hear the heart beat by then.

No, nausea, there is not room in the inn....11.26.07

So, the nausea has come. Guess as long as these lovely things keep happening I know things are progressing. Doctor's appointment is Friday. We are ready. Ready to hear that little heartbeat. Still tired. Stayed up to watch the Alabama vs. Auburn game Saturday night. That was the latest I've been up in weeks. I felt like a toddler with my eyes trying to shut and me fighting it. Had a craving for cake yesterday. Made a whole one, ate one piece, I was over it after that. The vultures at work have finished it for me. Praise old Betty Crocker cake mixes.

Zzzzzz.....11.19.07

I could sleep ALL the time. Constantly. Seriously. Very tired. Other than the occasional nausea spell I am doing pretty good. The grandparents are still excited. They call, take us to eat, inquire about how I feel. Work has been understanding about me not going to the bank. Wonder if they'd notice if I took a nap. Ha. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have begun to organize everything to get ready for the holidays. I am about 90% done with the holiday shopping. That in itself is a relief. Our first doctor's appointment is next Friday and I am ready. Very ready. I want my fears to be eased. I want to hear that everything is OK.

Tears in A&W. 11.09-12.07

Ahhhh....Gatlinburg in the Fall. How beautiful are those mountains. Our weekend trip with Kevin and Dreama was just wonderful. The car ride didn't bother me one bit. I took my spot in the backseat and held on. We got there late Friday...ate, checked in at the main cabin booking place and set off to find our cabin. We found it after a good half hour of driving around. It was just perfect. Two bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, wonderful porch, gas fire place...just everything we needed. Tried to go to the Apple Barn the next morning but it was packed. Wound up at a Pancake House. We filled our stomachs and headed off for a day of shopping. The boys went to the knife store and us girls headed for the outlets. We shopped until we dropped. Seriously. I bought our first little set of onesies at the Carter outlet. Clint just grins when he sees baby stuff. It's so cute. That night we went into Gatlinburg and walked around. Got lots of Christmas shopping done that day!! Woke up Sunday determined to eat at the Apple Barn before we got on the road to the Biltmore. We had a thirty minute wait. I got a little icky waiting to eat. Dreama pulled the "pregnancy card" to get me some crackers. That was a first too! After a WONDERFUL breakfast we headed off to the great house of wealth. When we got into Ashville the guys decided we needed a snack. We went to A&W/Long John Silver. After me and Clint sat down I just started crying. OVER NOTHING. It was the weirdest thing. It stopped as soon as it began...now I'm an official weirdo. Went to the Biltmore. It was as beautiful as always. I always see something "new" when I'm there. Just so much to take in. Monday was the day to come home. Clint and Kevin went back to the knife store to make knives out of horseshoes. They talked about it all weekend. Clint donned the apron and goggles and hammered away. Dreama and I went to a bookstore and got even more shopping done. We were machines!! We arrived back in Huntsville around 6p.m. and mentally prepared ourselves for going back to work. Clint and I went home and loved on our 4-legged children. They missed us...maybe not as much as I missed them though. Another work week begins. 17 days until our doctor appointment...yes, I changed it. Moved it up because I'm antsy. Overall I feel pretty good. Tired at times...so tired I could just fall asleep standing up. But that passes. I visit the little girls' room a lot. I'm sure it's mostly because of the water intake. I'm even more thirsty than normal!! You know that's bad. I'm bloated too. Perhaps a combo of water and hormones. Pajama pants are truly a gift from the dear Lord above. I get icky a few times a day. Usually brushing my teeth, before I eat or if I get hot or out of breath. Nothing too bad. I hope and pray it doesn't get much worse this first few months. Too much work to do!! Everyone is still really excited about the little bean. Clint keeps asking if I think it's a beanto or beanta. Boy or girl for those of you that aren't privy to the Rowe/Spanish language. I tell him I have no idea. He is just dying to find out. A few more months before that little tidbit is revealed.

Good grief...I need all the sick leave I can save. 11.08.07

Two days off this week. You'd think I'd be saving up all the leave I could. Oh no, I go and get sick. If the bean didn't put me in a big enough fog...I go a get a serious cold. Back at work but totally unproductive. Told everyone here about the bean in the belly. Come to find out I'm the first, in at least 12-13 years, to have a baby in this department. Isn't that wild? No knocked up chicks around here! Needed to go ahead and tell so that I wouldn't have to go to the bank anymore. We have over $300 in coin everyday and it gets really heavy. Mira has been helping me secretly but I just wanted to be out with it. Much easier. Less explaining if I do need to call in or have an excess of doctor appointments. Ate lunch with Brandy today. Really fun to have someone going through the same thing at the same time as you. It's really fun and neat because it's both of our firsts. Totally blind and naive about everything and it shows. She's ahead of me and has already heard her "peanut's" heartbeat. Makes me really ready for my first appointment. It's not until December 5th. I just want constant reassurance that everything is okay. It's my body that's being invaded. Inform me PLEASE. I think I might ask to have another round of blood work for my obsessive peace of mind. Perhaps I am wacky. Glad some things won't change!!

Blood work and head cold. What a Monday. 11.05.07

Woke up and knew that my office would not be seeing me today. Couldn't breathe and my throat felt like I ingested razor blades for supper the night before. But I tell ya what...I HAD to get the blood work. Had to know the results. I got up, put my hair on top of my head and went to the lab. They looked at my puny veins in my arms that were still bruised from Thursday and didn't even bother to try to get anything out of them. Next option, top of the hands. First the left. She put the needle in, nothing. Then dear nursey decide to wiggle it around, that's right, piss the vein off. Still nothing. Second nurse, we'll call her the saint of butterfly needles. She went to the right side of my body. The vein in my right hand popped up immediately. It liked her I guess. Didn't feel a thing. Praise the dear baby Jesus. Went to the Wal-Mart for sick day necessities, went home, got in recliner, turned on TLC, got some juice and got settled in for a long day of nothing. I contemplated calling MY nurse so many times to find out the results. I made it until 2:30pm and I couldn't hold it any longer. She called the lab and called me back. 154 HCG level. Progressing nicely she says. Very happy with levels. She also put on her halo and called me in some drugs for my cold. Will pick these up after we tell the remaining parental units. Pam was ecstatic. It's about her - being Granny and all. She admits to this. Glad we got to share that with her. Daddy grinned his stoic grin and gave me the familiar Daddy hug. Felt good. All the Alexanders know. They of course are all sentimental like me. They reminisce about me being the first child, grandchild, neice, favorite. Ha. It was a fun day. Put my mind at ease. Thankful to know so much prayer surrounds me, Clint and the bean.

Opening weekend of Cold Season 11.03-04.07

Well, Memphis is as dirty, loud and great as I last left it. But with friends and family there you hardly even notice the grime that forms on your skin as you walk around the perimeter of Beale street. We went to Jillian's to watch the Alabama game. Michael and Johnny already know the news. THE news. So, we are waiting for my mom to get there. Stan shows up first but we hold out to tell the mother of the mother-to-be first. She gets there and I practically attack her. I make her walk to the "bathroom" with me. I didn't speak to her friend - she will forgive me for my mind wasn't in hospitality mode. I pulled out one of the four brag books entitled "All About Grandkids" and hand it to her....look at her and say, "I told you I'd tell you first". She grins, it widens into a smile, a slight squeal and then she hugs and shakes me like a separated bottle of dressing. It was too cute. She floated back to the table. I then prepare to tell Stan because Daddy Bean told me I should tell him. It took a minute for the book to settle in and then all he could say is "Are you serious? Are YOU SERIOUS?" Good reactions out of both. Mission accomplished. While sitting there watched the game my throat started hurting. By the end of the night it was SORE. I mean...I wanna go home and be in pajamas sore. Went to bed. Woke up. Throat raw. Boo. Back to Huntsville we head. Blood work Monday. I can't wait. Will ease my mind if everything is rising. Maybe my nurse will realize by then that she is MY nurse.

Annoy the nurse. I think it's okay. 11.02.07

So, I wait as long as I can to call and check on the blood work. I held out until 10am. This was relatively easy because I've already limited the caffiene intake and increased the water. Between running to the bathroom and reading every website possible the morning went by pretty quick. I call and apparently there isn't one nurse to every patient. Go figure. I thought it was all about me. So, she calls the lab and calls me back. With a very peppy "Congratulations" my stomach flipped flopped. I knew it already but now I REALLY knew it. HCG at 20, Progesterone at 20.4. Apparently I found out extremely early...only 5% find out that early. Lucky me, huh? The progesterone level was high, this is a good thing. Indicates strength in the pregnancy and accuracy in predicting due date. That date is July 15, 2008. Good, hot, feet swelling weather. Most of that phone call is a blur but I did manage to get a second blood work test set up for Monday. Anxious to see the numbers rise.

With the weekend in Memphis around the bend my nerves are jittery. Excited, anxious, nervous, caffiene-concerned.

Study hard. It's test day. 11.01.07

So, I go to CVS to pick up the random assortment of things that one finds they need on their lunch hour. Yet, as I wander the aisles I think that buying a pregnancy test feels like a real good idea. Of course, I get the 2 pack...always the bargain shopper. I go back to work and pass both. With double lines of course (Jennifer actually came to confirm for me - being a pro and all). Mr. Bean is already excited. I mean really excited. So, being the cautious hypochondriac I am, I call the doctor. I go for blood work after work. Go home, kind of in a daze. Interesting day to say the least.