Baby on Board

It has certainly been a while since I have utilized my blog! It has been a very eventful year and a half since the last time I posted!  We recently announced we have a little one on the way, so I decided there is no time like the present to start posting again!

A little disclaimer first though....since I began telling friends and family that I was pregnant I of course..have gotten LOADS of tips, advice, commentary, etc. I have had many requests that I don't have an "alien baby" pregnancy calendar on my Facebook and that I don't use my ultrasound pic as my profile picture. I am in agreement with these but I still wanted a way to share with my family and friends who do want to keep up with the pregnancy and not be shocked if they didn't see me for two months and my belly doubled in size over night! Sooooo with that being said, here is your disclaimer...do not read on if you don't want to see ultrasound pictures, pictures of my baby bump, and of course comparisons between the size of my baby and fruit, etc. Because its all going to be here because Brett and I are just plain EXCITED! And I want to share this experience with the people that I love and don't get to see every day! 

 So lets start back at the beginning of our 3.5 month little journey here! 

Back in the beginning of October we were about 30 minutes away from boarding a plane to Raleigh to spend a much awaited weekend with our best friends at the beach in North Carolina. Nothing other than gut instincts made me take a pregnancy test that morning, I really just felt like I should take one before that weekend. So I went for it while Brett was out running errands and much to my surprise it turned out positive! It really does hit you all at once, the weight of that moment. The future, how your life will change, how it from that moment wasn't just about me anymore. I didn't have time to think of an eloquent or original was to tell Brett, I just did it the old fashioned way and showed him the test.

It was really a WOW moment for us, I think we both just said wow back and forth until it was time to grab our bags and get in the car. Being the over eager person that I am, I called the OBGYN on the way to the airport and booked my first 8 week appointment....less than 30 minutes after finding out! 

So we proceeded with our weekend, all the while trying to act like nothing new was going on with us while around the people who know us best! It was an amazing weekend with friends and slowly but surely as the weekend went on we really wrapped our heads around the fact that we were going to be parents and this was going to be the most exciting ride of our lives.

Here is Brett and I on Allen's boat on our way to dinner!

 

Lindsey, Me, Amy, and Berk---having the time of our lives! Talk about hard to keep a secret from your best friends on a weekend like that!

So Brett and I returned home and the first thing we did after getting home from the airport was go out and buy a bunch of baby books! I knew I needed to read up on the dos and donts! 

That next week I had a blood test done to confirm the pregnancy and we finally let ourselves feel as excited as we truly were! 

This picture below was taken after the doctors appointment! 

 So we waited a week or so and then came to the conclusion we could not wait until 12 weeks to tell our parents, so we gave them the news early at about 6 1/2 weeks because we could not keep it to ourselves! They were thrilled and it was a relief to finally have people to talk to about the baby!

Next came our 8 week appointment where we got to see our little bit in person (or as we referred to the baby as blueberry--that was the size the baby was before our appointment). The baby was healthy and had an amazingly strong heartbeat!!

 Baby Mansfield's First Picture

The time passed fasted after our 8 week appointment, now that we knew the baby was healthy and growing as it should be! In the weeks that followed we told our siblings and immediate family which was probably the most fun part! 

Finally the long awaited 12 week appointment was here and we had a very healthy baby with a strong heartbeat! We finished up telling all of our best friends and then FINALLY made the announcement public last Monday with Baby Mansfield's stocking! 

Such a good feeling to have our amazing news out in the open!! Thank you everyone for your warm wishes, love, and support! This is going to be such an incredible experience! Only 26 more weeks to go!! Can't wait for our June baby to get here!

Picture of the bump to come soon! Until then! :)