Drink! Drink! Drink!

8 Weeks, 3 Days

On (more than) a few occasions, I was encouraged to "drink!" in college (don't worry, mom, I don't give into peer pressure very often ;D ). These days it's a very different drinking story. Even early on in pregnancy, everything in your body expands, including your blood and tissues. Staying hydrated is important for baby and your changing body, but I've found it especially challenging, given that I already feel like I spend more time finding and visiting restrooms than any normal person should. Jeff harps on me every few hours, a nagging role-reversal of sorts, asking if I've been drinking water, how much I've had, and seeing if he can get me more. I've never been one to just drink water unless I'm working out, and most of my favorite go-to flavor mechanisms aren't recommended during pregnancy. :(

So yesterday, I pulled this little beauty out of storge and dusted her off. She's a gem, right?

I used to carry this bottle to work with me, in an attempt to drink more water, and found that most of the time it helped. I'm hoping it can do the same for willfully unemployed stay-at-home me. Luckily, it's early enough still that baby isn't quite big enough to apply pressure to my bladder and cause me severe bathroom-seeking troubles, but that time can't be far off. 

So do a girl a favor, will ya? Next time we chat, ask I give been drinking enough water. And if or when we spend time together, never mind my little pink jug, and be patient with my side trips to the bathroom. We really appreciate it. :D

8 Weeks!!!

Surprise! We're expecting!! (A baby, we hope, but you really never know...)

At this very early point in our pregnancy, we've only shared our news with family (although not for lack of wanting to shout it from the rooftop). We're hoping to keep things under wraps until 12/13 weeks, when we're fully out of the first trimester. So for now, it's still a very big secret.

Speaking of secrets, one like this is HARD to keep!! Jeff and I keep talking each other out of telling people, especially our closest friends (and we've known since THANKSGIVING!!). Lucky for us, we've just got a little bit longer. It certainly doesn't hurt that everyone is out of town for exodus, either.

So here we are at the very beginning of Week 9. Baby Van Orsow is about the size of a southern pecan, and measures about 0.63" crown-to-rump (s/he is too curled up to measure accurate height, so crown-to-rump is what they measure until his/her legs stretch out a little more). Baby's heart beats approximately 160 beats per minute and apparently wiggles around quite a bit, although I still can't feel a thing (except nausea...lots of nausea).

We're scheduled for our first ultrasound during Week 10 on January 2nd, but won't meet with the Dr. for our true confirmation appointment until January 6th. Sometimes I wonder if there's actually a baby growing in there, and then I remember the myriad of symptoms I'm experiencing and know better.

I suppose, for now, that's all I really need to share. We did take our first "baby bump" (or lack thereof) photo last night. Hoping to make these a weekly occurrence, here's Week 8:

More updates soon!!!