Brandi White : Baby White. Weeks 0-11

I just want to start off by saying thank you to everyone who has already shown Baby White so much love! We have received so many calls, texts, emails & comments... it really means a lot to us and it has been more than we could have ever expected!

Week 5
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I can honestly say I had no idea I was pregnant. Just a few days before I had thought I started my period, which was implantation bleeding. I sometimes start off with light spotting so I didn't think much of it. Until now it had been a few days and still nothing. So I picked up a pregnancy test on my usual Saturday morning Target run. We were having friends over that evening for a UFC fight card and I knew I would be having wine or moscow mules so I decided to take the test as soon as I got back home. Knowing it takes a few minutes to read I thought I would take the test and let it "cook" as I put up groceries. Well it didn't take long for the test to cook. After flushing the toilet, I turned around and looked down at the counter and there it was... a positive pregnancy test. I starred at the test and then back at the box to assure myself it was positive at least 5 times before coming out of the bathroom. We had been trying off and on since we got married in October. I imagined doing something cute with Miller & Ella (our fur babies), like putting them in matching shirts that said "big sis" to announce the news to Mike or writing "Dad" on his Starbucks coffee cup. That did not happen. I could not contain my excitement for that long to put something together. He was sitting on his side of the couch as I came out into the living room and just blurted out, "it was positive" holding the test with my shaky hand. Of course he was just as excited as I was and jumped up and gave me a hug and said he knew it! I called my mom right away to share our news, she was BEYOND excited as well.

8/20/16

Week 6 & 7
Weeks 6 and 7 went by incredibly slow. I kept waiting to feel pregnant. I wanted morning sickness just to reassure myself everything was ok in there. My first OB appointment wasn't scheduled until I would be 8.5 weeks and as you can imagine that seemed like an eternity. During week 6 is when I had my first pregnancy symptom... constipation. Thanks to oatmeal, which I have everyday for breakfast, that problem is gone.

Week 8
Finally the week of my first doctors appointment. I could not sleep on Tuesday night, I was so excited! I literally jumped out of bed on Wednesday morning when my alarm went off. As we were driving to the doctor I had a million thoughts going through my head. I walked into my doctors office (trying to stick out my belly as much as I could) and they immediately sent us across the hall to the ultrasound suite. I was so nervous as the ultrasound tech was getting me prepped for the sonogram. All I wanted at that very moment was to see a strong heartbeat. The second I saw Baby White's little heart beating I was completely at ease. Mike gave me a tight hand squeeze and we sat there in awe just watching our little baby squirm around on the screen. It was very surreal. He or she had a strong heart rate of 170 bpm. After the ultrasound we went back to the office and met with my OB. He said because of my age and cervical history (more on that later) he was sending me to a specialist down the hall to be seen on a regular basis as well. Apparently any mom-to-be that is 35 or over (I'll be 35 on November 11th) is seen there as well.

Baby White's first ultrasound

Can you see my little bump starting to grow?

Week 9 & 10

The first and last time I took my vitamins on an empty stomach. OMG. I've been taking prenatal vitamins and an additional supplement of vitamin C & folic acid daily for well over a year now. I used to take them on an empty stomach all the time & even in the morning with just water before a workout. Well I took them on an empty stomach for the first time during week 9 and within minutes the room was spinning fast. This was the first time I've felt nauseous during my pregnancy. I never vomited but it took awhile for that feeling to go away.

During week 10 the headaches really set in. I went several days of having a non-stop headache before I finally gave in and took Tylenol. I know Tylenol is safe, but I was stubborn and I felt like giving into meds was a sign of weakness. Sounds crazy. The day I found out I was pregnant I quit drinking caffeine. I've read (& even my doctor said it was ok) to have 200mg of caffeine a day. I just didn't want it. I'm pretty sure that cutting out caffeine cold turkey like that was another reason why my headaches were so bad. *Fast forward to my second trimester and I am now drinking a cup of half-caff coffee a day, game changer.*

This was also the time when I first started to feel tired. Like reallyyyyy tired. I remember being at the grocery store and seriously contemplating taking a nap in my backseat before driving home. I could barely keep my eyes open, had it not been for the cold groceries I had in my car I probably would have. I rolled down the windows and turned up my radio really loud for the drive home As soon as I got home the groceries got put away and I was in bed. Those first trimester naps were the best. I would be dreaming within minutes, but I think we can all agree that pregnancy dreams are WEIRD. I kept having a repetitive dream that me and my baby were walking in the park being attacked by a giant chameleon and no one would help us.

Week 11

This week was a really fun for me. It went by really fast since we were getting ready for our trip to Destin that weekend (more on that trip in the next post). We had an appointment with the specialist the day before we left for our trip, which meant we got to see our little babe in an ultrasound. The appointment started off not as I was expecting. I knew that in the coming weeks I would be given the option to do genetic defect testing, I just didn't expect for it to be that day. We went into this small office and sat down to speak with a genetic counselor. She went over information about testing for chromosomal abnormalities, birth defects, etc. I could tell Mike wanted out of that room stat and so did I. We had never discussed anything more than not finding out the gender. At the end we both separately declined any genetic testing to be done on us or our baby, including the CVS test. What difference was it going to make? It's not going to change anything so why do it. I can fully understand though why some parents would want to know at that time and do it. This decision was just my personal choice.

I loved my new doctor. She was great. She did the ultrasound herself and took the time to answer all of my questions. We were able to actually hear the heartbeat for the first time that day too, it was so exciting. I'm so thankful that was the way we ended our appointment. Now we were off to finish packing for our Destin trip, where we would be celebrating our one year wedding anniversary and sharing Baby White's announcement!

Baby White's second ultrasound