First ultrasound.

On Thursday, Jan. 27th, we had our first ultrasound!  This was an impromptu doctor visit because of my jury duty schedule.  Jury duty caused me to miss our 12-week doctor visit, so as soon as I was released from jury duty, I called the doctor and thankfully he could get me in!  AJ wasn't able to make it because I could only give him about a 20 minute notice, and he was working in Maple Grove.

Dr. Teigen attempted to listen to Baby Saigh's heartbeat with a fetal doppler.  No luck.  After a few more tricks and tries...still no luck.  So he had me go in for an ultrasound.  The ultrasound tech got me right in (same day), and I will admit I was a little nervous without AJ there.  She searched around and there it was... our little baby!  But, where was the heartbeat?  I think all moms-to-be will agree... until you see and hear your baby's heartbeat, you're never "really" at peace.

As soon as my ultrasound tech pointed out the little flicker and turned up the volume so I could hear it, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  Baby Saigh's heartbeat was very strong... 162 (my mom says this means it's a girl - my ultrasound tech says that's an old wives tale).  I could have watched the heartbeat for HOURS!  I fell in love and couldn't wait to call my husband.

She took a couple of photos for us and told us some interesting news.  We're actually 10 days BEHIND where we thought we were in our pregnancy!  I was 11 weeks along instead of 12.  Pretty big bummer when you're hoping to be over your first trimester sicknesses sooner, rather than later:)  But thankfully, everything else looked great!

New due date for Baby Saigh: August 19th, 2011 (not August 9th as we originally thought).

12 weeks.

Today, I'm 12 weeks pregnant... FINALLY almost over the first trimester!  AND I cannot WAIT to get over the first trimester symptoms.  I am sick almost every day, which has quickly become an everyday inconvenience.  It usually arrives like clockwork and only lasts about an hour (10 - 11am).  I can't wait until I can get into the "fun pregnancy" stuff!

For the last week, I've been on jury duty and was actually put on a case.  Because the case has gone longer than expected, we had to cancel our 12 week appointment with the doctor.  I'm still waiting for this case to be over so we can head to the doctor and hopefully hear Baby Saigh's heartbeat!  I am so anxious to see, hear or feel something.  I'm not really showing yet, but I can feel a hardness in my abdomen.  I can't wait to finally look pregnant, and not just bloated/fat!

8 weeks.

My actual pregnancy tests.

Thursday, December 9th, 2010 is the day that changed our lives forever. We're pregnant!

Realizing that I was about a week late, I decided to take a pregnancy test. After one test showed a positive result, I decided to take another one. Again, same result. Since the "positive line" was pretty faint, I decided to take a test at the doctor's office the next day.

Positive.

I took a blood test as well, and the next day I called the doctor right away at 8 a.m. to hear the results (not sure why I needed to hear the results of another test). The doctor told me my hCG number was low, so although they knew that I was pregnant, they wanted me to take another blood test to make sure those numbers at LEAST doubled. Sure enough, my number went from about 50 to about 278. As if I had be be reassured, the doctor said I'm definitely pregnant!

At this point, I'm only about five weeks along, so we decided to tell a few close friends and family.  Keeping this exciting news a secret is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I wanted to shout the news from the rooftops, and rush to my phone to Facebook and Twitter our exciting news. Instead, we've decided to wait, and just keep a journal on our Minnesota Baby blog.

We told my parents first on my mom's birthday (Dec. 14th, 2010). We stopped by my parents' house after work with a birthday card that read, "Happy Birthday. Get Your Party On". And then we wrote, "Because we got our pregnant on. Love, Baby Saigh". My mom and dad were so excited and shocked at the same time, since we had JUST gotten married on Oct. 2nd this year. I guess we just work fast.

Next, it was time to tell my husband's parents. My husband's sister ordered shirts that read, "Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer", and something about Grandpa and Santa. We had them open the shirts while we were in Mankato celebrating our Christmas together, and the looks on their faces were priceless. Telling our big news to these first, few people is something that I will remember forever... especially the reactions.

My mother-in-law in her new "grandma" shirt.

So far, I've experienced a little bit of nausea, breast tenderness (holy cow those things get big), and I've turned into one sleepy girl. I think I took a half-dozen naps over Christmas. It's amazing how my eating habits have changed too. My body is basically telling me to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and I'm not as hungry as I'm used to. Every now and then, smells will gross me out. One day it was chicken, the other day it was baked goods. So weird.

Next week, we'll be 9 weeks pregnant and go to our first REAL doctor's appointment, where we will hopefully get to hear baby's heart beat!