Lil' Hoff Update Week 7

Well I am officially out of the first trimester. So far, not so good. Woke up my first day out of my first trimester and how a serious case of morning sickness. The rest of the day I had nausea really bad. Second day out of my first trimester I was eating saltines by 8:00 and a Sprite by 8:15. Third day out of my first trimester I was still eating saltines by 8:00. Fourth day, so far so good. This has me worried that maybe something is wrong with Lil Hoff, but Farmboy told me not to think like that and he is right. What am I to worry? I have prayed about it and Lil' Hoff is in God's hands and has been since the beginning so who am I to try to interfere?

What's going on with Lil' Hoff

1. Lil' Hoff is almost 3 inches long, about the size of a medium shrimp.

2. Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips.

4. It's veins and organs are clearly visible through it's still-thin skin.

5. Lil' Hoff's  body is starting to catch up with it's head — which makes up just a third of it's body size now.

(I sure do hope it's a rather small head) 

What's going on with Me

1. The news continues to travel. People are generally shocked that we have kept it a secret so long. 

2. I celebrated my first official "unofficial" Mother's Day and did receive two Mother's Day cards.

3. I fall apart when is see big bows on little girls heads. 

4.I also helped my niece get ready for her Senior Prom. I can't believe how time flies. I was only 10 years old when she was born and here she is off embarking on a whole new part of her life.

5. I had my first belly touch and there isn't even anything there! I'm not sure, but I don't think I am going to like that part about being pregnant. 

6. I am still missing caffeine, but I believe that I am starting to get used to drinking so much water. It is actually tasting good and refreshing.

7. I tried to clean my flowerbeds out the other night of weeds and it completely wore me out. I am totally blaming that on the pregnancy. 

8. The good side of being pregnant, we are having really simple dinners around here and Farmboy is helping prepare them!

9. I have had a few food cravings this week. Nothing weird or anything but one day I was craving Captain D's and then another Shoney's and then I saw a mexican pizza from Taco Bell and I wanted that too.

10. It is getting harder and harder to find something to wear in the morning. I still want to look nice, but what I really want to wear is a t-shirt with sweatpants.

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Little Hoff Update Week 6

I am in my 12th Week! Which I thought was a monumental accomplishment, but a friend say that really the 13th week is the big one cause you are officially out of your first trimester. I will give her that. But I think wow! I am three months pregnant. I'm a third of the way done, and it hasn't been that bad. God has blessed me very much with not having morning sickness and I will be FOREVER grateful for that.

What's going on with Little Hoff

Size - About the size of a lime

(just over 2 inches long from crown to rump)

Developing - Reflexes, Little Hoff is opening and closing it's fingers and curling it's toes. Little Hoff is clenching it's eye muscles and making sucking movements with it's mouth.

We got to hear lil' Hoff's heartbeat this week. Totally amazing! It was beating so fast and I looked at Farmboy and he had this fabulous grin on his face that melted my heart.

Lil' Hoff kicked the doctor when he was trying to find the heartbeat. In my mind I have a lime in my stomach, not a kicker. But oh wow! I spend most of my appointments in awe of the newness I am experiencing.

What's going on with Me

1. I'm going away this weekend with some Church Friends to Branson. I am nervous, because none of them know and as I was packing my snack bag for the whole weekend (which was no small feat) I began to worry about what the ladies might think of my snack bag and if I can really pull this off.

2. Getting very excited about my doctor's appointment, it is only 3 days away. Farmboy is going to go with me and I can't wait to hear the heartbeat.

3. Grandparents have GOT to find out this week. I am sure that we can not keep this a secret anymore and I don't want them to hear from someone else.

4. Word is officially out in the community that I am pregnant. I am getting texts/email from friends saying congrats! I honestly never expected this to be such big news. I figured that it would slowly trickle out. I am pretty sure that all of our little town and church has found out. That is what happens when you have very excited grandparents.

5. Women of Joy was wonderful! It always is good to renew and refill your spiritual life you leave as if you are on top of the world and God is right there with you. If only I could get caught on on the sleep I lost over the weekend.

6. Farmboy left me a not on the counter (as I was taking my 4 hour nap on Sunday after getting home from Woman of Joy) and it said he was so happy to have me and Lil' Hoff in his life. Besides being pregnant and just knowing you have a miracle inside of you, having Farmboy beside me thru it all has been amazing. He is plum goofy over this baby already and it's the size of a lime. I can't wait to find out what it is so that we can actually start visualizing what it might look like and to start picking out names.

7. I love the looks on people's faces when they find out that we are pregnant, it's just shock!

8. I had my first cup of coffee since finding out I was pregnant. It was soooooo good. I miss caffeine.

9. I gained a pound since my last appointment.

10.  I have my next appointment in 4 weeks on May 31st. There is a chance I should be feeling the baby move by then, but the doctor said if not, then don't worry. How exciting is that going to be? 

11. More and more people at church are finding out. I have figured out that telling people that someone is pregnant is like a very intense game of tag. Nobody wants to be the last one "tagged" so they go around telling everyone they know so that you know you are still in the game and not standing on the sidelines. 

12. It honestly shocks me every time we tell someone or when someone comes up to me to tell me congratulations. Even people who aren't that close to you want to hug you and tell you how excited they are for you. I forget all to easily how blessed I am with so many people in my life who care about me. 

13. When people find out that I am pregnant the next question is What does Farmboy think? Or How is Farmboy handling it? I just want to say one of these times, "I'm not 100% sure that it's his" with just as straight of a face as I can. How funny would that be? Maybe I just think it's funny. And yes, it is defiantly his.

14. People are starting to come up to me at restaurants to congratulate me. 

15. I can't tell somebody that I'm pregnant without tearing up. 

16. I cried when Steve Carroll said good-bye to everyone at "The Office"

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Little Hoff Update Week 5

Week 11! Almost to the end of my first trimester. My doctor's appointment is right around the corner.

1. Little Hoff is the size of a fig. I must decide what a fig is and figure out if I like that or not.

2. My mother in law referred to me as mommy. Wow!

3. We received our first gift. Very excited about that, it is the most precious and soft blanket. It says "Babies come from Heaven" A very happy aunt got it for Little Hoff.

4. It was Easter weekend and I sat in the church service thinking, this time next year, we will be a family of three sitting at church together.

 This is our Easter Picture

5. My emotions are very high this week. I cried at

                     

  * Easter Service at church Sunday. We had a play and when they were nailing Jesus to the cross, it just touched me to much on what he truly went through for us. And that he thought of me specifically while on the cross. And with the thought of Little Hoff inside of me and that Jesus knew that at that moment we would be a family. How unworthy I am. I am tearing up now thinking of it.

* A Hallmark movie

* A Hallmark commercial during the Hallmark Movie

* The card that my sister-in-law gave with the blanket.

* That my mom and dad came out and visited me. (It doesn't happen that often in the woods)

6.  My In-laws offered the crib that Farmboy and his siblings all slept in. (that brought tears as well)

7. My sister in law is already coming up with names that the grandparents can be called. So far she has that my father-in-law can be called poppy.

8. Brushing my teeth still makes me gag.

9. We have bought and unsuccessfully started reading a baby book name. It has only 100,000 of the most popular baby names. Baby naming rule #1 - If you can't pronounce it, it's not a possibility.

10. Farmboy is reading "What to expect while expecting" with me. It makes him appreciate all that is happening to me. At least that is my goal.

11. Farmboy brought me home iris'. I cried.

12. My boss sent me flowers for administrative assistant's day. I cried.

13. We took family pictures last night. Yea! Our first professional family picture. Of course my family didn't know we were a smiling family of 3 not 2. We did proclaim our good news after pictures were taken and the family was overjoyed! Tears were shed (not only mine this time), hugs were given, pretty much what the center of attention would want when announcing her big news!

14. The family is betting on a boy. The pressure is on with my family, cause we are now tied with 4 boys and 4 girls. So yes, Little Hoff will be the deciding factor.

15. I gagged on my prenatal vitamin and thought I was a goner.

16. I walked on the treadmill the other night for a whole mile! I then did 3 loads of laundry and cooked supper (with Farmboy's help) Quite a productive night for me.

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Little Hoff Update Week 3 & 4

OK...So I am already behind on what I hoped would be something I would stick with. But I shall persevere and just combine a couple of weeks. The problem with that though, is that my mind is wondering a lot lately and I can't remember stuff. So weeks 9 and 10 are kind of running together in my mind but let's see if I can come up with some stuff.

1. Little Hoff is the size of a medium olive. But I don't like olives, so I'm not sure where this leaves my feelings for Little Hoff.

2. My Energy has been up! Yea!! I am no backing to following Farmboy around and telling him to pick up after himself.

3. We have told now 3 more people! All very excited responses!! It's like people never thought we were going to have children.

4. I eat non-stop. A snack every 2-3 hours. If I don't eat, then I get a upset stomach.

5. Although energy is up, I still don't feel like doing anything. Boo!

6. I really don't feel like cooking supper. Farmboy says boo to that.

7. NO sickness in the last two weeks. Yea!

8. I get gagged every time I brush my teeth. I don't like that!

I think that is it. A new week has already begin so stay posted.

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Little Hoff Upadate Week 2

So this is was the big week. I met with my Dr. for the first time. I am going to a Dr. down at the Lake of the Ozarks which is about 30 - 40 minutes away. I was very nervous going, how this was my very first time and all, but I think I handled it ok. With us not telling anyone, of course Farmboy couldn't go. He couldn't think of a way to explain to his father why he needed to be gone by 11:00 in the morning. I really hated that he couldn't go.

My first instinct with my Dr. is that I trust him. Which I think in my position you would have to. He is not overly-friendly, but I think I can break him of that. My whole appointment was very cut and dry. We did this, then this, then this and we were done. I did run into a problem, when wanted to take my blood. Which I am not afraid of needles, they have never bothered me. What IS the problem though is that my veins are very thin and very deep (they are the only things on my that are very thin. HA) So after two nurses at my Dr's office and the Dr. himself trying to get my blood, they sent me to the hospital. Where they proceeded to draw my blood between my knuckles. But that was the bad side, the good side is that I had my very first ultrasound. It was amazing! I couldn't hear Little Hoff's heartbeat but I could see it pumping and it was going just as fast as it could. I personally took it as a sign as Little Hoff was saying "HI mom!" The Dr. said everything looked great and that he wanted to see me again in a month.

 Very dramatic huh? Not that I'm going to be a diva this pregnancy or anything. Ha!

After which I treated myself to McDonald's. I can not seem to get enough McDonald's. It makes me and Little Hoff happy to dine on McNugget's and Cheeseburgers. I then headed home started reading "What to expect when expecting" That book has a lot of words and not very many pictures, so I'm kind of skimming it. I am also along the lines of maybe knowing less is better. So if I have a question, then I have a reference book but I don't want to know all the things that COULD be happening to me.

Other news this week. We officially told our first people. I made some adorable announcement cards for the grandparents and we told my parents Saturday night in parking lot of Crackle Barrel. My mom sobbed and blubbered and sobbed and just keep saying "I can't believe it, I can't believe it". She then had herself so worked up that she couldn't concentrate on the menu to then order for supper. To say the least they were very excited. She is already planning on what Christmas will hold.

Thoughts & Feelings:

I am Eight weeks pregnant.

Little Hoff is the size of a blueberry. How Cute!!

This week I had my first bout of morning sickness.

I have been extremely tired - I'm not sure if I can blame that all on the pregnancy. I have been gone every night for the past two weeks and have been fighting allergies as well.

I've been nervous about getting sick at public places.

I feel worse as the day goes on.

I feel like I'm letting Farmboy down because I'm not cooking supper.

My house is a total mess AND I don't care.

I gave myself permission to do absolutely nothing on Saturday. Farmboy was gone for the day and I thought to myself how many more Saturdays am I going to have that I will not have to answer to anybody and I stayed in my PJ's all day.

I have not had that much of a appetite or I eat half of my plate and get instantly full.

Smells are starting to bother me.

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Little Hoff Pregnancy Post Week 1

I am writing this right now knowing that someday I will post it. Someday when we have told everyone our very exciting news and when I am ready for it to be on the Internet for everyone to see. When the news is out there not to be taken back. At this point I am still guarding this secret, and I'm struggling with why I'm not ready to shout from the rooftop that I AM PREGNANT!!!

I would like to think I am protecting the baby from all the what-ifs. What if we tell everyone, then something happens. But a bigger part of me, is afraid of all that is to come. I'm not sure about this.....

Farmboy and I had decided a year and half ago that we were ready to start a family. Then 7 months later we decided that we really WAS ready to start a family. But then once again we took the route that if it happens it happens, if not then God wasn't ready for us to be parents. Then other friends/family members were getting pregnant and we were thinking why not us? But we trudged through and kept going, then month after month would go by and nothing.  Then I finally got discouraged enough to actually do some research online and came across a highly recommended book called "Take Control of your Fertility" I bought it and started reading it, and figured out that my body might not be "normal" (shock! I know) but every woman is different when it comes to her peak ovulation time, and what the "normal" charts say is my peak time might not actually be. So I started tuning into other indicators of my body telling me that it was time and within a month, I am sitting here writing some very personal feelings of a hormonal woman.

So let's fast forward to the present. In March I waited and waited and I never got that monthly visit, so I started getting excited, but then I was afraid to get to excited cause what if..... My family has had some fertility issues and I did not want to go through all that, so I was not allowing myself to just simply think that I could be pregnant. It could not be that easy, really a month? That is all it could take. NO, not that easy. So when my usual 10 day wait period was up and I normally took a test, it was the weekend we went away to Branson and I suggested that we could and celebrate, but Farmboy was just as skeptical as I was and didn't want a negative to ruin our weekend so he said no. So then another week went by and another week and I'm doing more and more research online about possible early pregnancy indicators and feeling like there is no way that I am pregnant. Out of 20 possible indicators I had one! So I just kept waiting, Finally towards the end of March I decided that the consist waiting was not worth it and I was going to take my test and either way I would know. So I got home from Book Club  Monday night (March 28th) and told Farmboy that I bought a test and he told me I should take it. So with his encouragement I did and...............

I cried....I just stood there and cried. I am hoping they were tears of joy, but were they tears of relief, just knowing the truth? Farmboy came in and he was sooo excited and that made me happy to see his excitement. He then went to the computer and looked the gestation period of a cow and figured up my due date. Because yes,all Farmboy knows is cattle, and now that I am officially a cow I have made my husband proud. Technically I will be a late fall calver. (9 months of being compared to a cow? I can not wait)

So that is the background of where I am now. My hopes through this pregnancy is that I will update weekly on the happenings of me. Very exciting stuff I am sure. I am not a very bashful person (as this post has probably already convened) so I will try to maintain a level of dignity while expressing what is going on with me.

This would be week one of my Little Hoff postings. Take pregnancy test- check! Find doctor - Check! Make appointment with doctor - Check! Stay tuned.....

PS -

I cannot help but truly see God's hand in this miracle. I didn't realize how everything had to be just right to be able to conceive. I can now see how many women have problems with getting pregnant. Growing up you learn that you have a woman and a man and they make a baby. It is NOT that easy sometimes. So along with the simple miracle of a baby the timing is unreal. My brother and sister-in-law have had some problems and not been able to have a baby, so they turned to adoption and received the two most beautiful girls on February 17th. This is where God is always SO Good. All along while trying to get pregnant as I was praying for us, I was equally praying that God would bless my brother and sis-in-law with a baby. I didn't want to be the pregnant sister-in-law while knowing that they were trying so hard for a baby. But God fulfilled his promise and like I said, on February 17th they received two gifts from God and that weakened is when *ahem* *cough, cough* we got pregnant. Like I said, try to maintain dignity. I was just blown away about how God does have a plan and how he consistently shows his love for all of us. All in his timing, not ours.

PPS -
 I know there is probably some things in this post that were probably too personal to share. But I am just journaling my thoughts and feelings of what is a very special and important part in my life. This is not necessarily for other people, but for me to look back and remember what I was going through. This is my disclaimer. 

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