Sonogram Surprise!!!!

    Well, we made it to August 29th, our 8 week sonogram!!!  I was so sick last night I didn't work today and Mason already had plans to take off for a Doctors appointment so we were home all day.  I spent my normal "off work" time in bed as I usually do.  I was trying to stave off the nausea and I am just so exhausted.  
    Around 1, we headed to our appointment a little early, I checked in and we waited.  When they called me back this very sweet, perky nurse put the blood pressure cuff on me and excitedly asked "soooooo, how are we feeling" and I promptly burst into tears.  I told her I was feeling HORRIFIC and that the medicine they called me in must not be working because I am still nauseous and feeling awful 24-7. She was so sweet and immediately pulled a box from a cabinet and opened it and told me to put it on my tongue (like Listerine strips actually) and let it dissolve.  It was almost instant relief.  Within 5 minutes my stomach was calm and the tears had stopped.  However, this medicine is ridiculously expensive so she suggested I speak with the doctor about other options.  He had emerged from another exam room while I was in the throes of my breakdown so I figured he would know what was up.  
    We went into the exam room and I hopped up on the table and Mason assumed his place next to me.  We didn't wait long and Dr. Richards came in and said his hellos. He immediately wanted to discuss my nausea and told me about a couple of different options. At the end of his spiel he jokingly said, "being this sick....its probably twins".   We all laughed and Mason made a comment about twins causing him to be laid out on the floor.
   He went to work doing what he does and casually chatted with us as he brought the picture up on the screen.  He said to us, "Yea, I like to joke with parents about having twins, but in this case, I'm not joking..." and sure enough, he turned the monitor around and there they BOTH were, TWINS!  OUR BABIES!  Heart rates were steady and strong at 180 bpm and there they both were.  I burst into tears again, I think Mason uttered an expletive of some sort but I just kept crying.  There was a heartbeat, two to be exact, and everything was looking great.  Dr. Richards asked Mason to lean out the door and call a nurse and our doctor's nurses, DeLana and Kelly, happened to be outside the door.  They came in and looked at our babies flickering there on the screen and there were tears from them too!  I think I was still crying at this point but they were happy tears.  He was having trouble getting both babies in one picture because one sack is further up than he could get the wand to reach so our pictures show both sacs but only one of the babies clearly.  
   Dr. Richards sat me up and I asked a series of questions that I can't entirely remember.  We discussed genetic testing blood tests, the pros and cons, and we scheduled my 10-week OB Appointment for September the 11th.  When we walked out of the room I was handed a giant box of prenatals, a pregnancy book, and two prescriptions. One for additional folic acid and one for DiClegis my new anti-nausea medicine.  Everyone hugged us and I cried again, I assured them this was normal that I seem to cry for no reason really.  My due date is April 15th but its unlikely I will carry to the full 40 weeks with twins so we are anticipating mid to late March.  We left on cloud nine and have been absorbing some of the shock value since.  We called all our loved ones and everyone was SHOCKED to say the least!  So here they are, the debut of the Cornelius TWINS!

 

The top one is really the best he could get of them together. The right one in the sack and then the little blurry one on the bottom left!

Week 7....hit HARD!

 Well, my symptoms that have been "manageable" took a turn for HORRIFIC at the end of week 6 and beginning of week 7.  I was throwing up all my meals, Gatorade, water, you name it. I feel like the front bathroom at my new school should be named after me because I spent so much time in there.  This also came on the heels of my first, real week back at work and it was a doozy.  I love my new campus, the people, the kids, all of it....but I spent the week either sitting at my desk willing myself not to be sick or in the bathroom losing the battle.  I finally got in touch with my doctor and they called me something in by Wednesday but by Thursday night I was still throwing up so bad I didn't even go to work on Friday.  I knew we had our sonogram appointment that afternoon so I made note to ask the doc for something stronger...here are a few updates:

*  I have lost weight as a result of the barfing...I am told that this should subside by end of first trimester.  Dear Sweet Jesus let it be true!!
*  I still want to sleep all the time.
*  I have good days and bad days. Some afternoons I get off work and feel like I can run to the store and other days I am in bed by 4:17...the approximate time I get home from work.
*  Plain baked potatoes, peppermints, cheesesticks, and honey nut cheerios seem to be the only things I can semi keep down.

  Anywho, my next post will be abut our sonogram!!!  Praying for a healthy heartbeat!!!

Week 6 & A Night Out


Well...we made it to week 6 (actually 6 weeks and 3 days) and we are 10 days away from our heartbeat sonogram.  I am battling first trimester hell symptoms most everyday but they are manageable.  Here are a few highlights:

*  I am nauseous most of the day but it is the WORST when I am driving.  I nearly had to make a sonic cup a barf bag driving home from work this week.
*   The heartburn is just awful, most days I cannot decide whether I am really "sick" or whether I feel like my throat is going to burn out of my neck.
*  I am wayyyyyyy bored with sprite and water and have made it my mission to find things I can drink that are caffeine free.  Today I discovered caffeine free diet pepsi and it was the highlight of my week...and I HATE pepsi.
*   I still want to sleep.  All.The.Time.
*   My clothes are tight from this bloaty feeling I have (yes, its the bloaty feeling, not the eating free for all I have been on since I found out I was pregnant).

So anyway, as much as I am NOT a fan I hope and pray its a sign of a happy, healthy, developing baby!

On Saturday, Mason and I got to go celebrate my good friend, Melissa's, birthday!  We got to do some dancing (and eating for me).  I wasn't sure how much fun it would be because I couldn't, um, partake in the fun!  But, it was a blast and we got to spend time with good friends!

My Pregnancy Observations So Far...

I have read everything I could get my hands on about early pregnancy, signed up for the "What to Expect..." App, and joined an April Babies forum (our proposed due date month).  And everything talks about the symptoms of early pregnancy and man are they right.  I.AM.EXHAUSTED. I am not a person who stays still very well.  Mason begs me sometimes to just sit down, let the laundry be for a minute and relax.  Well, since I found out I was pregnant, ALL I have done is lay down, sit down, think about laying down, wish I was laying down when I was sitting down, or driving, or anything really. I haven't managed to make it into the kitchen to cook dinner once this week and by 9pm my eyes are drooping.  Add to that the random waves of nausea after eating, after brushing my teeth, or when I stand up too fast, and I am a believer in the saying that the first trimester is about "surviving".  However, some sweet moments have happened too.  Mason now talks to my belly before we go to bed each night and we watch the videos on my App that tell what our baby is doing or how it is developing at this time in our pregnancy.  Baby is currently the size of an orange seed and has a tail!!!  On Sunday we walked around Costco and looked at baby related things...getting ourselves a little excited.  We are cautiously optimistic and looking forward to hearing baby's heartbeat in the next 18 days.

Telling My Family!

Mason and I have had many conversations about who to tell and when.  For every woman I know who has had a successful pregnancy, I know many more who have suffered miscarriages very early.  Despite knowing that I just had to tell my parents and my sister...it wasn't a choice for me!  I spent the week trying to decide how we would tell them and when.  We settled on having them over for dinner on Friday night and giving them something that told them they were getting a grandbaby and a niece/nephew. 

I spent the week making trips to Hobby Lobby and deciding how we would do it exactly.  Mason found a cute poem he liked and we decided to use that verses a picture of us holding the pregnancy test (which was good because since I found out I was pregnant I have found it difficult to leave the couch, let alone shower and make myself picture-ready). This is what we ended up with...

 

Frames for my dad and Lindsey and Ted

 

 

 

A "brag book" for mom!!!

 

The night of dinner arrived and we were BOTH nervous wrecks!!  We were going to try and make it through dinner but we couldn't.  Everyone arrived and I casually mentioned we had picked something up for them.  We brought the gifts out of our office; Mason handed dad his and I gave mom and Linds theirs.  Lindsey knew immediately and her hands went to her mouth and she started crying.  Dad says "REALLY?" from the couch and jumped up and hugged us both.  Mom was in the kitchen with hers and I heard her say "how cute" and realized she thought it was from the dogs (they call her nana too).  I told her to open it and after she read the inside her eyes got HUGE and the tears started.  She said "I so need this in my life right now!" and it was hugs and tears and handshakes all around. 

It takes a HUGE weight off my chest now that they know and we are just going to take it one day at a time!!!

August 4th: The Day Our Lives Changed FOREVER!

For people who know me, I have freakishly weird sinus issues.  3 surgeries, 2 different doctors, countless prescriptions, acupuncture...you name it.  So, on Saturday the 2nd I began feeling the twinges of a sinus infection...in my teeth.  They were numbing a little and fuzzy but usually if I can get ahead of it with meds I am ok.  We had dinner at mom and dads on Saturday night and the only thing I remember thinking was odd was the fact that I had to get up from the dinner table and go lay down.  I figured it was because I had too much to drink and eat!!!!  By the next day the pain was getting worse and I was getting relief from NOTHING. 

On Monday the 4th I went and worked at my new school and my sister insisted I check in at CareNow and go get some antibiotics.  I got back in a room and the nurse came in and asked me what was going on and I casually mentioned to her that my husband and I were trying to get pregnant but that I had taken a pregnancy test the previous Friday and it was negative but that I still hadn't started.  She insisted they test me before the doctor prescribed any medications so I peed in the cup and I was back to the table waiting to see the doc.

The doctor came in and sat down and flipped through some papers and said "what's going on" so I launched into my explanation and told him I was 99% sure it was a sinus infection.  He responded with, "well, you're pregnant" and just continued to speak about things that I cannot recall.  I stopped him and I said "WHAT...I'M PREGNANT...ARE YOU SURE" and he laughed and said that is what the results said in the chart.  I began crying HYSTERICALLY, holding my belly and rocking back and forth in my chair.  He looked at me with these huge eyes and I know he couldn't decide whether he had just made me the happiest woman on earth or ruined my life with this news. I somehow managed to eek out the words "I'm so happy" so he could understand the reasoning for my hysterics. The exam continued, I think he checked my neck and looked in my throat and nose but I am not 100% sure.  He began talking to me about specific antibiotics that were safe for "expectant mothers" and I remember thinking to myself "who is expecting"!!!  He left the room and I remember him telling me someone would be back to take me to check out. A few minutes later he returned with this little stick thing in a Ziploc baggy and said, "I dug this out of the trash...its your results stick...since you were so happy" and the waterworks just started again.  I looked down at it and saw the two lines....the two lines I had NEVER seen before because I have taken countless tests with just the one line, the blaring negative.

I have never been so happy to see 2 little lines!!!!

I paid the front desk all the while clutching my little baggy with my stick.  All I could think about was Mason.  How would I tell him?  He had already held me and let me cry the Friday prior when I took my negative test and despite countless pins to my "How to tell people you are pregnant" pinboard on Pinterest, in this moment, I had NO clue how to tell him!  I headed to Wal-Mart to find anything that said "Daddy loves me" or daddy anything really and after two Wal-Mart trips I had a girl onesie and a boy onesie laid neatly in a box. At Wal-Mart #2 I also bought some pregnancy tests and took one in the bathroom (just to be sure) and sure enough, PREGNANT, popped right up!  I nestled that test down with the onesies in the box and headed to Masons job.  I asked him to meet me at the Shell near his work because I had a surprise for him!

My Wal-Mart finds!!

He pulled up next to me in the Shell station and I had my phone all ready to record.  He got in the car and I think he was looking for a sonic drink since that's the surprise I usually bring him. I handed him the box and his reaction was one I will not soon forget. My favorite part is the end when I asked him if he was happy and he said "yea! and scared as shit!"...my feelings exactly! 

Mason's Reaction caught on video!!!

So here we go...on our way to becoming PARENTS! 

Many little girls dream about being a ballerina or a marine biologist or a cheerleader.  I never wanted any of those things. Well, ok maybe the ballerina thing but when I hit 6 foot tall in the 6th grade I was told THAT dream was out the window!  I always wanted to be one thing...a mom.  I had such specific plans for my life; 3 kids by the time I was 25, all girls, ballet lessons and soccer games in my early 30's. Welllllll, unfortunately, none of those plans have worked out the way I imagined they would! However, I have come to learn that this almost always works out in my favor so I am trying to learn to be patient with God's plans!

My husband, Mason, and I met in February of 2011 and were married in November of 2013. I am older than he is so we knew we wanted to start trying for a family pretty quickly.  Our baby journey began in January of 2014 and by the summer we were still childless.  I, in my Type-A personality style, launched into action.  I began undergoing tests and speaking with my doctor to devise a plan.  On August 4th, during an appointment at CareNow I found out I was pregnant!!!!  I have always had mixed emotions about sharing pregnancy news and updates via social media and swore when it was my turn I would simply start a blog.  That way, if people (my mom) wanted to know what was going on with my pregnancy they could simply click and read at their leisure.  And for those people that think they might die if they see one more person post about their impending pregnancy (been one of those people...guilty) then they can happily keep scrolling!

So here it is! I am only 5 weeks and some days but join Mason and I as we walk through this pregnancy journey! Happy reading!


       ~Kelly