Fof: tummy butter and more!

[O N E]

You guys have heard me talk about my precious 7-year-old neighbor who lost her battle to leukemia and how her mom started Anchor Beads in her honor to raise money for childhood cancer research. Well this past weekend they had the first annual Anchor Run and all proceeds went to childhood cancer research. I walked the 5k and pushed my niece in the stroller. My whole family participated which was really fun. It was so great to get some exercise while raising money for a great cause and supporting such a special family.

How seriously adorable is my nephew?! Eat.him.up.

[T W O]

We went to the doctor on Wednesday to check on little babe. I swear I will never take for granted hearing that heart beat! We have our anatomy scan in 2 weeks and I am pretty anxious about that. IVF babies have slightly higher risk of heart abnormalities so we are praying for good news and a healthy baby.

[T H R E E]

My husband and I recently started watching Black List and we are hooked! Except for my few shows that I'm addicted to (hello RHOC and Bachelor) I don't watch tv much because I'd rather read [nerd] or sleep. But this show has sucked me in completely. We have been watching it every night for the past week and I have a feeling we will be watching a lot this weekend.

[F O U R]

My sweet friend Lindsey Thorne recently posted about some products she has loved during her pregnancy to prevent stretch marks so I knew I had to try them out. This girl knows her beauty products! I am sold on the tummy butter and the body scrub. The stretch mark oil is a little too greasy for me. I am using the body scrub every night or every other night in the shower then I get out and put the tummy butter all over my belly. Not only does it smell amazing but it leaves my skin feeling so soft!

[F I V E]

I recently got all of this baby stuff for $110!! A family friend was basically giving all her baby stuff away and I knew I had to scoop it all up. It is in perfect condition and will let us spend that money on other stuff we need. We will probably still register for some of these things because we will leave some stuff at the beach and obviously need stuff for our home as well. 

Linking up with April and Amanda

FoF: strollers and more!

Happy Friday friends! We made it! I am looking forward to a low-key weekend at home. Today I'm linking up with April and Amanda to share a random assortment of things!

[O N E]

Mommies, I need your help!! There are SO many strollers I have no idea which one to get! We are leaning toward Uppababy stroller as well as their infant car seat/bucket. I have a few new mommy friends that love their Uppababy stroller and bucket. However my sister has a Baby jogger and she's obsessed. We were learning toward Britax but now I'm thinking Uppababy. Any thought?!

[T W O]

Bella is 9 days post-ACL surgery. She is acting like herself for the most part and it is SO hard trying to keep her calm. She is only allowed on carpet, has to be on a leash at ALL times inside and outside, has to be lifted with a sling every time she goes down the back steps to the bathroom. No running, jumping, playing, etc. for 8 weeks. We had to get sedatives for her because she does not like sleeping and laying around all day and surprise, they don't work for her. She's still as wild as ever. We have to put her in a crate whenever we leave the house which is so sad because she is absolutely not used to that and she hates it. I keep telling myself it will be worth it once she is fully recovered and pain free but it's just breaking my doggy momma heart right now!

[T H R E E]

I was telling my fellow pregnant friend in Dallas (hi Diana!) how much I've been loving sour candy lately. Well this package shows up on my doorstep and I think they are my new favorite candy. Fellow NC people, do we have these here?! I have never seen them but I'm obsessed!

[F O U R]

Last weekend hubs and I took a road trip for a day date and it was glorious! Starbucks, nursery furniture browsing, yummy lunch, farmer's market. Some good quality time!

[F I V E]

Last weekend my hometown ECU pirates played in state rival NC State and all my girlfriends were in town for the game. They all went to either ECU or NCSU and I'm the lone one who went to UNC (go tarheels!). I tailgated then headed home to watch the game in the air conditioning… this preggo was not feeling sitting in the blazing hot 95 degrees humidity for a 3 hour football game for two schools that I didn't attend, no ma'am. It was so much fun getting together with my bff's, our time together is never enough!

Fall bucket list

Fall is my absolute favorite season. The leaves changing colors, cooler temps, breaking out the boots and sweaters, pumpkin everything, mums on the porch, crockpot meals and football on the weekends. Fall to me feels like a new beginning. I always make a list of things I want to accomplish during the Fall and Winter. Linking up with Jenn to share my list for Fall 2016:

-Tackle Bella's ACL surgery and recovery (surgery done, recovery in the process)

-Decorate front porch for Fall

-A Panthers game and weekend in Charlotte

-Mountain weekend with girlfriends

-Order nursery furniture

-Gender reveal party

-Host baby shower for my cousin

-College football game/tailgate
-Halloween/trick or treating with my niece and nephew

-Visit the Raleigh Farmer's Market

-Visit a pumpkin patch
-Babymoon/anniversary trip to the Grove Park Inn

Pregnancy update: weeks 1-14

How far along are you?
14.5 weeks

Size of baby?
A large Georgia peach

Movement?
Not yet

Symptoms?

-Starting on the day of transfer I began having cramping off and on. I was so excited to feel it so soon because I was praying that meant baby was "implanting". Apparently it was true! I have continued to have cramping off and on. My doctor has reassured me over and over that it's just my uterus stretching to accommodate growing baby.
-Sore boobs began even before transfer from my progesterone injections but that has gone away for the most part.
-Exhaustion is something fierce. Whew it's all I can do to not fall asleep on the drive home from work. I am hoping this goes away soon because I need to get my butt back in the gym!
-Just in the past 2 weeks I have had a pretty constant headache. I had a migraine basically all Labor Day weekend and had to stay in the dark. Taking Tylenol is like taking a sugar pill… it does nothing!
-I was literally praying for nausea so that I could feel some reassurance that things were working. Everyone kept telling me, "just wait until 6 weeks, it will come!" I literally woke up on the morning of 6w0d and felt like death and it lasted 24/7. For about 4 days I couldn't eat anything or even function without feeling like I was going to puke everywhere. Luckily my doctor is A-ok with me taking Zofran so that got me through work. Thankfully I only had to take it for a few days. Since then the nausea comes and goes. Sometimes I feel it right when my alarm goes off, sometimes it doesn't set in until 7pm or so. I will be hovering over the toilet smiling and telling my husband how thankful I am to be feeling this way. I am loving every second of every terrible symptom!

Sleep?
I have NEVER had trouble sleeping in my entire life until now. I usually fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow. This has seriously changed! I am waking up usually 4 times a night to pee and usually wake up around 5:00am for good and can't go back to sleep. So weird because I.am.so.exhausted at all times.

Gender?

We will find out at our anatomy scan around 18 weeks when we can have a fun gender reveal party with all our family and friends. I have always wanted a boy first and G wants a girl. Of course I will be over the moon with boy or girl! I really had no gut feeling for a while but I am starting to lean towards girl.

Cravings/aversions?

Not craving anything but the thought of 90% of food makes me gag. So basically I am eating what doesn't sound terrible to me and it's mostly unhealthy. Cereal, bagels, crackers, Gatorade, fresh fruit, etc. Looking at or smelling fish or chicken puts me over the edge!

Maternity clothes?
I took the plunge and bought 3 pair of maternity jeans last weekend. Where have these been all my life?! They feel like Heaven! I haven't worn them yet but you better believe I will be living in those things once it starts getting cool outside.

Missing most?

I thought I would miss champagne or a cold beer but I really haven't missed it. I think because my stomach has been feeling so queasy. I did miss having mimosas with my girlfriends this past weekend when we were tailgating. Not missing anything terribly right now… super thankful to NOT be able to drink or eat deli meat or sushi!

Hubby?
So excited. He tears up at every single ultrasound (as do I). Going through infertility has truly made us appreciate every tiny part of this. He is the best hubby, waiting on me hand and foot when I feel terrible. He loves putting his face up to my belly and "talking" to baby.

Nursery?

The nursery will go where our guest bedroom currently is and the guest bedroom will be moved to our "study" aka junk room. That room is filled with our desks, a couch, and basically all our crap that we have nowhere else to put. The first step is cleaning this room out so that's where we are now. Once it's empty we will move the guest bedroom then have a blank slate to start working a nursery! It will definitely keep us busy all Fall!

Best part of the week?
I am super spoiled because there is an ultrasound machine at my work so I can basically get one whenever I want to. I've had at least 10 ultrasounds already… I'm addicted. I had one this past Wednesday and baby looked SO big and was moving ALL around!! Makes me so so happy.

Looking forward to?
Finding out the gender! I can't wait for that! We already have both a girl and boy name picked out (and we have for years) so I can't wait to start calling baby by name! And start shopping for nursery. Also can't wait to start feeling baby move. That will reassure me that baby is doing ok in there. I honestly can't wait for every part of this pregnancy! Eeep I'm just so sticking excited!

Bella's ACL surgery

Our first baby had ACL reconstruction surgery on Wednesday. We have been dreading this process since March, back when she tore it but knew we had to bite the bullet and have it fixed. We were told to "rest her" for a few months and see if it would heal. However, she is a German short-haired pointer… they are super active dogs full of energy and we knew she would never be able to run in fields or on the beach again if we didn't have the surgery. Now that beach weekends are over, we went ahead with the surgery because we will be home bound for a few months while she recovers.

Her surgery was performed at a specialty surgical practice two hours from our house. The orthopedic PA in me was so fascinated with the whole procedure but it was not fun having it done to your own dog! She had to spend the night there Wednesday night and we were so sad without her! We were asking ourselves what we talked about before we had her haha (and I'm sure it will only get worse with children). I took yesterday off work to go get her and spend the day with her at home. She cannot do anything for 8 weeks. No jumping on the couch, no going up and down stairs, no going outside without a leash, no playing, and in her crate if we aren't home. Do you guys know how impossible that is going to be with a GSP?? So for the next 3ish months we will be nursing our princess back to health. Carrying her outside to go pee pee, lots of snuggles, extra treats and TLC. Hurts my heart seeing her in pain but I know it will be worth it in the long run! I can't wait to see her running in fields next spring!

2016… the year of endless medical and vet bills. 2017, please be nicer to our wallets ;)