WOW

Thank you to everyone who has sent us warm wishes! We were so eager to share our exciting news but decided to wait until we passed the first trimester mark and had the AOK from the Doc.
So first off, Baby, a.k.a. Sprout, is looking great. Even before I was certain I was pregnant I felt a strange buzzing in my uterus. It was if there was a very strong electrical current running through me. This feeling continued for weeks although in the last month it has diminished to an extent that I hardly feel that strange sensation and I kind of miss it. The doctor was unable to pick up a heartbeat with a fetal heart monitor on Tuesday so she brought in a portable ultrasound machine and we were unexpectedly granted a peek at Sprout. He/She was waving his/her arms all around - it was incredible. The Dr.remarked "Wow, this is an active baby!" which is word for word the same phrase that was spoken at Griffin's first ultrasound...guess that's how I grow 'em. Griffin was so stunned he was silent (an absurdly rare phenomenon these days!) It felt so great to know Sprout is healthy and happy for the time being.
I, on the other hand, have been having a very rough go at it. This pregnancy is NOTHING like Griffin's and this has caught me by surprise. Looking back, I can see my body was getting prepared for a rough go at it. The day before the moving truck came I felt the overwhelming need to quit smoking. I had toyed with the idea of quitting then but had not committed to it. When I woke up that morning, I just knew, today is the day. I even had a full pack of Camels that I left in my purse for 2 weeks until I was sure I had really QUIT.
On moving day, I felt so serene and quite peaceful. So much so, that the Moms questioned me about what was going on...knowing that I am usually pretty high strung in such situations and quitting smoking and all. At first, I think they thought I had taken some kind of mood altering drug but by the end of the day they were convinced that I was pregnant. This is what made me angry that day. All day long I had floated along on a cloud with a rainbow attached as all of our possessions were tossed in a huge truck by two teenage kids but mention the word "pregnant" and I lose my mind. I have mentioned here before that we had been trying for a LONG time and felt pretty discouraged, every month our hopes being up only to come crashing down. By the time the move came, I had let it go and decided that as soon as we got to Kentucky and got our new health insurance we would start looking into fertility treatments and until then I would not let it get to me. Needless to day, it was a sensitive subject. That day, to protect my heart, I dismissed their wisdom and got back to the task at hand.
About a week week later, I had decided to make a spinach and artichoke dip for lunch to surprise Bruce with when he got back from doing some errands. As I was taking the beauty out of the oven, I dropped it. It completely dumped out of the dish into the bottom of the oven and every crack and crevice in the oven door. I lost my mind...not over the loss of such a delicious meal, but over the gigantic mess I now had to deal with. The cry that erupted from me was so primal that Bruce could hear it outside as he stepped out of his car. As he ran to the door and frantically struggled with the lock, all kinds of heinous scenarios that could elicit such a response from me were running through his mind. When he finally reached the kitchen and took stock of the situation the only thing he said to me was, "You ARE taking a pregnancy test tomorrow morning." And thus, the photo previously posted. (That morning was also Bruce's first day of work at the hospital - what a day!)
Since then I have struggled daily with exhaustion and almost constant nauseousness. It has been so hard not to tell y'all about this. I felt so lame when you would call and ask how Kentucky was and what we have been doing. I had very little response, and this is why. Most of the 2 months I've been here, I've been sick. This has severely limited our ability to stray too far from home or get involved in too many adventures. Fortunately for the last week or so I have started to have a hour here and an hour there where I have felt GREAT. I think I might be coming around the bend.
So I guess that catches y'all up. Sprout is due to join us 4/6/8. My next appointment is on October 30th and we will hopefully find out the gender then. Although, we didn't find out with Griffin and it was a lovely surprise, I would like to know this time. It will be good to find out if I should start unpacking the baby boy clothes or know if I need to go shopping for pink.
Hope y'all have a great weekend.