Decisions decisions

Decisions decisions.
So I talked to my sociology adviser at school today and found out I am 100% on track for graduation! I will have to take 4 classes next quarter, and 2 for my final quarter. The only problem: my due date clashes with the end of school. I have about 1-2 weeks of time that I can't know for sure about. :-/ I can either try and complete school and work with my professors, or I can take my final quarter off and push it to the following fall. It would mean I would graduate December instead of June. I'm torn. Leave a 3 mo. old baby w/ daycare and go to school, or hold out? There is a pregnancy support group @ Davis every Wednesday, so I might pop in and check it out.

On a less confusing (and happier) note, my cloth diapers came in the mail! They will be so cute on my little bean's booty! I bought a cute Cal Berkeley onesie yesterday at Target, and I have my UC Davis one..this kid is going to look good from it's cute diapers to it's awesome shirts! I can't wait to use my bean as a baby-billboard. Ha. Maybe I could sell ad space. JOKING!

Early pregnancy is not very glamorous. This whole nipple soreness thing, followed by the exhaustion and poop-issues are very annoying. That being said, I am so grateful and excited to be pregnant. I can't wait to feel my body change and observe the growth of my baby. I don't want anything to bring me down emotionally, because I feel like the emotional and physical parts of a body are connected. I want to embrace and explore everything pregnancy and motherhood have to offer. <3

Onesies and Veggie Diet

Today I bought the baby a UC Davis onesie! It's a size 6 mo., but it was the smallest available. So, I still have to find a tiny one for my tiny tadpole. I can't wait for my first appointment, so I can start buying stuff without feeling guilty. I don't wanna jinx anything. I've been lurking on cafepress, and I found the cutest shirts!! This one is my favorite, followed by this one! I also found a MUST HAVE in this shirt/bib (it can be either).

I've been thinking about my vegetarian diet, and making sure I get all the right nutrition for Awesome. I looked online and read something about omega 3 pills being good for baby's developing brains, and that salmon is the best thing to eat for your developing baby. I am a vegetarian! Fish are living creatures, and eating them makes me feel squishy and wrong. That being said, I want the very best for my little Awesome's developing self. I am thinking that fish oil pills, just while pregnant, should be ok for my conscience. Eating salmon, on the other hand, does not sound appetizing to me...so I dunno what to do. Fish oil might be enough. Anyone have any advice? I am not worried about protein and iron though. I have a vegetarian pregnancy book, and I eat a well balanced diet. Well, I do when we have groceries..I better get on that.

Sleepy, weird rant

Right now I am writing from the baby's future nursery. It's so tiny; I hope everything we want to do in here will fit! The baby's room is currently our office/storage so I am in here printing pages for school. Today was my first day as a senior, and even though I was barely there, it was exhausting. I came home after running errands and crashed on the couch for two hours! I'm not the biggest nap-taker, so it felt weird and draining. My mom said it's normal to be sleepy in the beginning, but I am really pooped!

It was hard to walk around school today and not feel a huge disconnect between my peers and myself. I already feel like the black sheep because I'm 3-4 years older than everyone, but this little secret I'm carrying in my womb makes me feel lightyears away from them. I feel like I have a neon sign above my head that says "Baby on Board!" and all of these kids can read it, and see my womb jiggling about. I know they can't, but it makes me anxious to get out of that school. Maybe when I get bigger and walk around they will think I am a grad student or something. Lol. I wonder if anyone else on campus is pregnant..we should start a club. Ha.

It feels weird calling the baby "it". In my mind I flip back and forth with calling it boy/girl, I never call it "it" in my head, but when I talk about Baby, I can't just say he/she back and forth. I look bipolar and creepy. Maybe I'll just call our little bun in the oven "Awesome", and never use pronouns. Examples: "I felt Awesome kick! Maybe Awesome will be a soccer player. Awesome's new crib came in the mail!" and so on..

Man, I am sleepy! This blog just took a weird turn, and basically said nothing. Ha. Well, it's not my fault; it's Awesome's fault! Awesome is stealing my energy, but because we're family we gotta share. ;-)

Excitement, Appointments, and Diapers

So, I told my two closest friends about the baby! Cassie screamed when I told her!!! It feels really good to know that they are excited for us. I was worried that some people might say things like "already?" or whatnot..but we haven't heard that from our closest family and my two best friends. I am so happy. Michael's mom brought over a little newborn outfit for us last night! It was so sweet, and made me sure that we'll get any support or guidance we need from our families.

Also, after talking to Cassie, I called Kaiser and made my first prenatal appointment! It's in 19 days, and I don't know how I'll be able to wait! Just seeing that little heart beating will make this so much more real. Well, more real than just the exhaustion, peeing, and sore nipples I've been experiencing. Hah :)

This morning I splurged and started to add things to our wishlist, which will become our public registry when we announce the baby and my baby shower. We are going to cloth-diaper our little one, so I continued researching brands (we know we want to do GroVia, bumGenius, Charlie Banana and fitteds w/ covers) because I would like to have a mix of good diapers. Cassie said it's good to try out many things because sometimes different days/situations call for different diapers. We are also going to buy a pack or two of eco-friendly disposables for newborn poops and for Grandparent-fear of cloth. Haha. I have a little secret stash of baby stuff I've been collecting since we decided to start trying, and today I am adding two diapers I got for VERY cheap on ebay; and these are a brand I am excited to try: bumGenuis.

 Michael is so blah either way regarding diapers, so I'm sticking to exploring this new frontier on my own, and he can just use whichever I buy. The only thing he's said our baby needs (and I am 70% sure he's joking) is this; a Recaro car seat! Recaro is a racing seat, a really popular, nice brand, and they apparently make seats for babies. Um, this might look weird in my Saab. Michael's BMW used to have Recaro seats, but they were for smaller butts, and my hubby has a beautiful bubble butt that just couldn't fit.
Anyway, I'm sure Michael will get more into baby stuff when I have a huge belly (well, utuerus, I already have a pudgy belly) and he can feel the baby kicking. By then I'm sure I'll have 50% of our stuff done, but since he planned more of our wedding than me, I can't be upset. Michael is such a good man, I know he is going to be the BEST father. I am so lucky to have him.

Pets, cramps, and rambles

What is with the lower abdomen cramping? My pregnancy app on my iPod says it's my uterus growing, but isn't the baby just the size of a sesame seed? Shoot, I may look 20 weeks (hey, I'm chubby!) but this kid is still forming it's heart. It's teeny!
Is it too early to start thinking about the nursery? I already know I want to paint it a pale yellow/beige and hang this cute ass flag/banner/pennant my mom and I made for my wedding. I'd like to sew a quilt to match, but I pretty much fail at sewing. Maybe my mom will help me out :)

I'm a little worried about the cats and the baby. Baxter HATES babies and children and other small creatures, Zooey is a hording thief who pees on beds, and Charlie is still in his puppy stages where he will lick the heck out of a kid. Aye yi yi. It's gonna work out..I'm sure.
Speaking of crazy pets, wanna see pictures of mine? Too bad; here they are!

This is the crazy Charlie! He just turned one, so he's still a puppy :)

And these two devils are our cats, Baxter (left) and Zooey (right). We used to call them brother and sister until they fell in incestuous love; so now they are an old married couple. Ha.





My awesome older sister is on her way over to hang out and get some presents from our trip, so she's about to find out! I am excited to tell her!!!! <3

*Update*
My sister came by and I told her! She was so happy that she cried!! <3 I love my family. So, Nikki, if you are now reading this, hi! And, welcome to my baby-making blog!

Introductions are in order...

Well, I think a little background info is required. I'm Jessica, and I'm newly married to my best friend and partner of 7 years, Michael. We own a house in Fairfield, CA (smack dab between SF and Sacramento). Michael designs bridges and roads, and is a UC Berkeley grad. I'm a senior at UC Davis, studying Sociology. Below is a picture of us, being sexy and awesome on our honeymoon.

On said honeymoon we got some amazing news; I'm 4 weeks pregnant! Being a senior in college you probably think I am all worried and stressed about being pregnant; on the contrary! I'm 25 (took my sweet ass time in school, thank you very much), and my husband has a kick ass job that will help until I finish grad school w/o a job. So, now that you are all up in my business, how about some pictures to lurk into my life some more.

This is my husband Michael in Maui next to an awesome and old ass bridge on the road to Hana. Pretty cool huh? He's bearded, and smart, and funny, and probably the coolest guy ever. I am so lucky to have that yeti in my life.

Up there? That's me trying to look all nonchalant on the top of a crater in Maui. After this picture was taken, I jumped all around an squealed about the beautiful view. ;-)

Below is what I wrote on the plane about this past week and my pregnancy news. It's a copy and paste, and I was exhausted when I wrote it, so don't expect some gem..shooooot. <3
...........................................................


Baby Notes
9/23/2011

LMP: 08-25-11
Ovulatuion: ~09-07-11
1st test: 9/19 Technically positive. Super faint line; almost thought it was a line meant to be filled in for a  positive test
2nd test: 9/20 Positive. faint line, but definitely there.
3rd test: 9/21 Positive. Used different test and line was less faint.


Energy: LOW; not sure if it's from the wedding (planning, stress, etc), jet lag/traveling, or the adventures we've gone on
in Hawaii.

Notes:
Started trying, and conceived during my first ovulation. Basically Michael and I are super baby-making people, and he has super sperm that found my sexy egg too awesome to resist. I suspected something was up due to my low energy level, my crazy mood swings the week before (rage over lame stuff), and getting really dizzy/sick from flying, driving, and riding on the boat. The day we got our first real positive (2nd test) was the day we went snorkeling in the Molokini Crater. I was super excitd and when I told Michael (he was sleeping), he opened his eyes, smiled, and said "that's great" and then went back to sleep. Ha. That day I got very seasick (baby or genes, who knows) on the boat and while swimming in the ocean (LAME! There were cool turtles swimming two feet from me and I had to get out of the water or risk feeding the turtles a non-natural food source).
My appetite has been flaky and irritating. I am either VERY hungry or full to the brim after a few bites of my meal. Seems like I have to start eating more smalls meals throughout my day. Also, and I don't know if this is food-related, I get the worst stomach aches! It's like a dull cramping in my lower abdomen (i'm guessing it's that pesky uterus); It makes me feel like I have to use the restroom (#2 if you catch my drift). I'm normally not a daily-pooper, but it's becoming an everyday occurance. Maybe it's the island food I've been getting down on.
We told Diann about the pregnancy the day before we told my mom. She asked if I'd been having any alcohol and I sent her a picture of my positive test. When I told her she seemed very happy, and told Mike who said "oh yeah? Good job!". Hahaha.
I called my mother today and she immediately asked if I was. I couldn't lie, and even though I wanted to tell her in person, I spilled the beans. She sounded to excited! I asked to tell my dad over the phone on my own, and he seemed happy. I told him I got something cool in Hawaii and he asked what it was..I said "oh, just a positive pregnancy test!". He laughed and said congrats.
I am so excited to tell my sisters. I think I'm going to have to call or text Ash, as she's on an impromtu trip to Vegas with some guy; however, I am going to try and see Nikki tomorrow and tell her. I hope they are excited for us! My friends, on the other hand, I am debating when to tell them. I am enjoying the privacy. Now I know why Cass keeps her's secret for so long; it's fun to have that crazy news in your pocket, ready to launch it at the drop of a hat! >:)
Right now we are on the plane back home. Our little island fetus will now be a stowaway in CA to my classes at UC Davis. My little aggie <3 Michael says the baby will have UC Berkeley stuff, but as it will attend Davis for 9 months, I say it's an Aggie! Ha!

This is the 3rd test I took to confirm my first one!

The Mama-To-Be, 4 weeks pregnant!