Well, spit!!

I am alive.
It has been weeks since my last post, and that's partially due to laziness, but mostly due to sickness. Morning sickness, that is. However, my "morning" sickness was all day, all night, every moment sickness. While Derick and I were praying for a baby and actively trying to get pregnant, I remember promising myself that I would never gripe and complain about the problems and sicknesses that come along with pregnancy because it truly is a gift from God. I broke my promise the very day the doctors told me I was pregnant. Go figure.
Kelsey and I had gone to see Ingram Hill in concert in Raleigh, and earlier that day, we saw a surprise on the ultrasound. Before the show, we were eating at a cute little cafe. My food was delicious and I was enjoying every bite, when all of a sudden, I had to spit an entire bite of chewed chicken philly sandwich into a napkin. Kelsey just glared at me with questioning eyes, so I told her that if I were to swallow that bite, it--along with all the previous bites--would be instantly splattered all over the bar. At that moment, I think Kelsey knew I was going to be a handful as a pregnant woman, so now she is in Oregon. (Ok, the Marine Corps mostly drove her there, not me, but still...)
Other than the constant sickness (I lost 9 pounds!), inability to eat or drink hardly anything, and lack of energy, I think the pregnancy is going along nicely. I went to my first OB appointment Monday, and my mom was able to be there with me. The midwife found the heartbeat right away, and it was strong and sweet. I've gained six pounds since recovering from my sickness, but I still have three pounds to gain to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Plus, I have to gain 25 pounds by the end, though I don't think that's going to be a problem now that my appetite is back.
I'm still a little confused about the actual due date. My first two ultrasounds (that I looked at with my last doctor...it's a long story, but a good one) showed that I was due on September 18. However, when the midwife calculated all the weird days that involve ovulation and cycles and confusing stuff that I don't really understand whatsoever, she decided that my due date was actually September 8. I was thinking I was nine weeks along, and she told me I was more like eleven. Once she is able to look at my early sonograms, she will be able to tell me for sure. I'm just going with the flow. Right now, the due date isn't vital information for me because our baby will be here when he/she wants to be here. And that's that.
A funny but disgusting aspect of my pregnancy is that until yesterday, I was suffering with severe ptyalism. Sounds dramatic, and trust me, it was, but it's not harmful. It's actually severe, constant watery mouth. Doesn't sound as dramatic now. But imagine carrying around a trashcan that doubled as a spit can and everytime you spit or saw the spit hanging out in said trashcan, you wanted to (and sometimes did) puke up your guts. My mouth filled with spit faster than I could spit it out, and forget about swallowing it. I had to keep the trashcan right beside my bed at night so that I could spit when I woke up every few hours. I stayed away from public places, but I had to have a prescription filled and a mouthful of spit kept me from telling the pharmacist my date of birth. I just pointed to my mom, who had to go through a mental list of the names and birthdates of all of her kids, grandkids, and family pets until she finally remembered mine.
Anyway, the spitting and puking has, cross-my-fingers, run their courses. I'm feeling much better, still tired and a little weird when it comes to food and smells, but all-in-all, I'm doing great! I hope I haven't given anyone the impression that I think pregnancy is not fun because it is, and, jokes aside, I have no complaints. I've got so much to learn, but I'm surrounded by so many smart mothers who are so great about sharing their knowledge.
My dad will get ticked at me for posting my geographical location to potential terrorists, but too late because it's on Facebook already. I'm in Arkansas right now, and the weather is so comfortable! I miss my husband and it's really strange to be here without him, but I know he is having fun eating MREs, running convoys, and sleeping in tents.
Let's see...what else is going on in my ever-exciting life?? Mom bought the newly-released all-chocolate cereal, Krave, for me. I'm looking forward to eating it once I finish this blog. I love cereal. If you ever have to buy me a gift and just can't decide what to buy, always go with cereal. I will be pleased.
That's about it. Puke, spit, Arkansas, and cereal. My life. It's a good one.

A bowl of cereal

Well, I wanted to wait until tonight to post a blog about our big announcement. I don't know why because after much thought, I remembered Derick will be home and will probably want to watch TV--not me on the computer.
So, in case you are just now coming around, Derick and I are going to be PARENTS. PARENTS!!! I'm being a little bratty right now because I'm still relishing in this news, but all I can think about is a bowl of cereal.
We found out two weeks ago, and it was confirmed last week that I am, in fact, pregnant, and the due date is September, 18. Bare (or "bear," which one is it?) with me because I'm still clueless about pregnancy and due dates and epidurals and anything babies in general. So I'm just relaying the information that the doctor gave me. If you want the nitty gritty, ask my friend, Kelsey, who has a medical mind and has been instrumental to my maintaining enough sanity to understand what is going on with my body. Last week, I had an ultrasound, which we sent discreetly in a Shutterfly books to our parents as an announcement, and that's a blog post in itself! During the ultrasound, I was able to see the teeny baby and hear his or her teeny but strong heartbeat. How incredible it was!
I can't help but consider the majority of instances in my life a little less important than this little angel I have hanging out with me now. I believe that babies are a beautiful piece of God's magic, and Derick and I have gracious, humble hearts. God has blessed us more than I can even explain; more than I will ever know. We are excited and happy and thankful and scared to death. But we both have some wonderful examples, and I know it's going to be a joy to be parents to this little baby.

Up until about three hours ago, I had long beautiful fingernails, perhaps strengthened by all the crazy powerful hormones in my body, but now they are uneven and crazy. I guess with all of the excitement of sharing the news with our families and everyone else, I chewed and broke 2/3 of my fancy nails.
I also just had to break from blogging to eat that previously-mentioned cereal.
My eating has changed so much. My appetite is weird, and I've been pretty sickish for a couple of weeks. I've determined not to complain about that, though, because I'm so grateful for this baby and this experience. I don't want to sit around whining about how awful it is to be the key to giving someone else life. Because, frankly, it's not awful. It's a miracle.
I do have some funny stories--even this early along--including a nice little narrative about puking in Derick's work parking lot and driving off. I'm sure I will have lots of funny things to tell, questions to ask, and guts to spill! But right now, we're just taking it one day at a time, praying earnestly for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby!

Thank you all for the congrats and well wishes! This is just the first step to a giant adventure, I know! Please keep us in your prayers! And pray for Paris, too, as she deals with what she calls "Dragon Baby." (Also, the subject for another blog post!)

Secret Life....

Hey all you cool cats. What is going on? It has been such a long time since I have found the time or moto to blog. Derick is on duty all night, so I thought this would be a good time to update all my fans and followers on what's up with my life. I know you all have been on edge wondering what I'm doing. My life is a big wad of excitement and drama, so I'm sorry for the lack of info-sharing.
Tonight I painted my nails with three coats of clear, only to have all three coats on one finger completely chip off. My nails refuse to retain polish. I'm always running around with nails that look like I've been diggin' in the garden, minus the dirt. Kelsey even gave me gel nails the other day and they lasted a whole two days before my thumb nail polish started peeling off. Thus, I had to remove it all (actually D peeled it all off). I think my nails have something in their deadness that just rejects polish of any kind. Ah, and alas, I just realized not one but two of my nails are completely missing the clear coats.
I've been torturing myself by watching Secret Life of the American Teenager on Netflix. Don't do this to yourself. From episode one, it's been awful, but for some reason, I just can't quit watching. The story lines are so terrible, the acting is not the best, so many things on that show compromise other things, and I just don't feel like any of the parents ever act like true adults. The worst part was probably when bad boy Ricky did a sporadic kartwheel in the hallway at school for reasons mostly unknown. It's just a weird show altogether, but I keep watching and I don't know why.
Those last four words of that sentence reminded me of a BK song, which reminded me that we got his newest album in the mail today. I have yet to listen to it out of respect for Derick. I know he would want to hear it with me. I'm a nice girl.
I'm excited because in a couple weeks, my folks will be making their way to NC, then Paris and I will head back with them to AR for a bit. Paris is rotten here, but in Arkansas, she is Queen Rotten. They spoil her worse than I do.
So I see by all the fancy hair and poofy dresses that Campus Queen went on at my Alma tonight. Will someone let me know who won? It's hard to believe that all the teeny tiny girls that were in elementary while I was in HS are now in the Sr. High division. I feel wrinkly. Can you believe that in two years, I will probably attend a 10-year high school reunion? Can you believe that this month I will be twenty-six years old? Where's my wheelchair?
Oh, we became members of FBC Jax last weekend. Pretty exciting. We also started going to a Small Group class, or as I still call it, Sunday School. I doubt we make it tomorrow, though, because Derick will be home at 8, and he's been up since 5 this morning. He's weird, though. Sometimes, he just likes to go, go, go. Then pass out during really exciting movies or events.
What else is up around here? Hmmm...We went to the beach this week and Derick found another sand dollar, which is cool. Gap in the Jacksonville Mall suddenly closed for reasons unknown. I bought two pairs of designer jeans for $80 at Plato's Closet, saving an enormous amount. Ingram Hill was super good, despite the fact that it was definitely not a Jonesboro/Memphis crowd. Kelsey goes back to Oregon for a month in a couple weeks, then she comes back for a short amount of time, then she leaves again, so I'm ticked. Active Duty status has such great benefits when filing taxes. I am about to eat some cereal.

That's about it, for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful night! Please ignore any misspellings or grammatical errors. My brain is like mashed potatoes after watching several Secret Life episodes.