Baby Rainwater

It is my utter and complete joy to be able to write this post. David and I feel so blessed and excited to announce that we are EXPECTING! We are officially about 10 weeks along and our due date is November 20. We had an idea that we might be pregnant the whole weekend that David's parents were here in March. As soon as they left on March 18 we took a test and almost immediately it read positive!

We were thrilled. Beyond thrilled. We didn't even really know what to do! We took it in that day and then on Monday I called my doctor and got set up with an appointment for April 4. We thought we might try and wait to tell our families in person, which would mean we had to wait a month. We quickly realized we weren't going to be able to wait that long and ended up telling them over FaceTime. Everyone was so excited! My grandparents were also really fun to tell because this is their first great-grandchild.

We were right at 7 weeks when we went in for the doctors appointment. We didn't really know what to expect but it was so special and fun. My doctor did an exam and then sent us over to get a sonogram! We had no idea we would really be able to see our little peanut baby, but then he/she just appeared on the screen! At the time I think she said it was was a couple of centimeters long.

It's so amazing that we could see it. She even showed us the heart beating. The heart rate was 136 beats per minute, which they said was perfect. The nurse was nice enough to take our picture for us as well.

Since the appointment I've just been trying to do everything I'm supposed to and stay away from the list of things that are not good for me or the baby. I think the two hardest things so far have been how tired I get by the end of the work day and the amount of water I'm trying to drink. Right around 1:30 in the afternoon I hit rock bottom of being tired. Luckily that's my planning period, so I can usually bounce back by the end of the day and then I'm crashing around 9:00 again. This may sound weird, but I don't really "like" water. I would much rather drink tea, something sugary from Starbucks, or coffee. Now I'm trying to put down multiple glasses of water per day. I AM getting used to it, and it is becoming easier, but it's not that easy to go to the bathroom just whenever I want to while at work. Apparently the children need me there. :)

Having my class full of children know that I am pregnant has been hilarious. They ask me daily to "see my belly" and then pronounce, "Nothing has changed!" They remind me that my belly "will be huge!" They have made me cards saying, "Congratulations on your baby," and cannot wait to hear if it's a boy or a girl (even though that is a whole 10 weeks from now and we will not be in school then). :) They're so sweet about it and want to know what we will name him/her and freely give me suggestions as well.

We've had so much fun so far talking about having a baby, making plans, changing plans, and simply thanking God for the blessing. We feel so undeserving of the gift. We were able to go through Little Rock after David took his boards and celebrate a little bit with our families. While going through some old baby things at Mom and Dad's, we came across an old Razorback shirt that my brother and I wore. This shirt has to be close to 30 years old by now...we might as well start early! Around November 20th we're going to start raising a little Hog fan!

I don't think I will be a weekly belly pic poster, but I do plan to post updated belly pictures periodically. I am beginning to have a small belly...so here I am, in all my glory...10 weeks.

My next appointment is May 2 and we are hoping to get to hear the heartbeat. I don't think we have another sonogram scheduled for a while. More details to come!