12 Week Appointment

I was scheduled to meet with the OB nurse first, however, when we got there they informed me that I wouldn't be meeting with her because she was out with a sick baby and to just tell the receptionist I needed to meet with her at my next appointment. I'm new to this whole pregnancy thing so I wasn't really sure why I needed to meet with her anyways, so I asked. Basically she will tell me what foods to avoid, how to set up hospital tours, what to expect, etc.

So after checking in I went and sat down in the waiting room. Brad was with me which was so nice because I love how involved he is already but also because I had to bring Ella with me to this appointment and I was really stressing about how she would do since she is teething and had only slept for 10 min, yikes! She was so great though and the doctors and nurses loved her and said she was welcome anytime because she was quiet and sweet and she waved to them every time they passed.

We were lucky and were scheduled for another ultrasound so they take us to this room where they have a huge tv on the wall and then the machine on the side of the bed. I'll be honest at first I HATED the tech I had. I think she assumed that Ella was our baby so she just was going through the routine and being super short. While I was sitting there so excited about every movement because hello this is my first baby!! I'm still in shock when they pull it up and there's actually a baby in there! haha. Finally I said "this is the little girl I nanny, we are so excited to be having our FIRST baby" and I swear she turned into a whole different (nicer) person after that. It was so fun to sit there and compare from our first appointment because #1 the baby actually looks like a baby instead of a blob, and #2 we have a really active little one! Our sweet baby was in there kicking and waving it's little heart out! I think we will have a soccer player on our hands!

baby schmidt at 12 weeks, 5 days

Side Note: I know probably no one else out there cares to see our ultrasound pictures, I get it. Most of the time they are hard to see clearly BUT I absolutely love looking at our little one and most of my readers are family and they love seeing baby schmidt too.

After the ultrasound they took me back to triage to get my weight and blood pressure. Once again my blood pressure was great, 102/63. I thought the top number was really low considering 120 is normal but my nurse assured me that they would rather it be low than high and it wasn't a concern. I could get used to this blood pressure while pregnant thing! I'm still below the weight (barely) I had pre-pregnancy but my appetite is coming back so I'm excited to see a bump start to show. I may be a weirdo but I honestly can't wait to have a baby bump!

After triage we had to wait a little bit more to see the doctor. Once we saw her she said we were off to a great start and baby is measuring exactly where it should be. She wanted to run more tests because my thyroid levels were a little higher than what they should be, which is normal within the first trimester of pregnancy, but she wants to be proactive about it just in case there is actually a problem. So she sent me off to the lab with paper work she already did. After they took my blood, which was a struggle y'all...my veins decided they were over it after a vile and they were really working to get a little bit more so they could run all the tests, they ended up doing the genetic testing even though we were going to opt out because of my thyroid, so we should know all of those results within 10 business days.

We were so excited to be able to see our cute baby, each time it becomes more and more real and we feel so blessed to be welcoming a little one into our family next spring. Each ultrasound makes us wish it was here already so we can snuggle him/her. Also, I'm dying to find out what the gender is so I can stop referring to the baby as "it". Hopefully all of the results come back great. I'm praying that my thyroid levels will even out and that our sweet babe will be perfectly healthy.

our first doctors appointment

I picked the earliest appointment I could of the day, 8:45 am. What can I say, I was so eager to get this baby confirmed! However, I felt like we were in the waiting room forever. I guess everyone else likes to get their appointments done and out of the way because they were looking for rooms to put people in for a long time.

I was trying so hard to relax so that my blood pressure wouldn't be through the roof because I have a serious case of white coat syndrome. It doesn't even make sense. But I guess this little baby is my lucky charm because it was the lowest its ever been at the doctors! It was actually the ideal blood pressure, so thank you, baby!

Like I said in my previous post I had been in the same room not too long ago, so as soon as they saw me they were like congratulations, that didn't take too long after all.

I had heard that some doctors don't do an ultrasound at the first appointment so I didn't want to get my hopes up when they wheeled in the ultrasound machine because I was just expecting the heart Doppler and I would've been content with that.

However, the technician looked at Brad and I and asked what we were hoping for. Knowing that we wouldn't be able to find out the gender for another 10+ weeks I quickly replied "a healthy baby". haha. Brad said a girl and informed the technician that I would like a boy.

Once the technician got everything set up my doctor came in and started chatting with us. Then she said well lets take a peek at this baby. I was SO excited that we were going to get to see the little babe. Brad came over so that he could see the screen and hold my hand through the process, I was glad he did, not because I was scared, but because I felt like in that moment we were getting to see what we had been dreaming about for a long time.

Then we saw the little heart beating. SO surreal you guys, I started tearing up and Brad squeezed my hand. Although we didn't get to hear it, the doctor said it was beating at about 125-130bpm and was measuring exactly where it should be. It's so crazy to think that baby schmidt is already moving and growing like crazy in there. I can't wait to be able to feel it, but we did get to see it waving it's little arm like it was saying "hi mom and dad".

baby schmidt at 8 weeks, 6 days

Our next appointment isn't for another two weeks but I'm so excited to see how much our baby has grown and to hopefully get to hear the heart beat this time around. I will keep y'all posted! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I'll be 11 weeks tomorrow and it's crazy to think that I am almost done with this first trimester! Hopefully time keeps flying because we are so eager to meet our little one!

that precious double line

I'm back again to continue our story.

So after my appointment which was on July 31st, I went about life as normal. Except for the fact that I had finally convinced myself that it would be awhile before I got pregnant because my doctor had told me for some people it just takes a little longer, and that I would be okay.

Flash forward about a week and a half. I was at the church because I had an interview set up with the bishop to get a new calling and a sister in the ward came up to Brad and I and asked if we were pregnant because we just seemed so happy and like we were glowing. I told her that we wished so badly that we were but that it might be awhile before we got that opportunity.

I was due to start the next day. However, I just didn't feel like I was going to. I usually am really mean the week before and start to cramp a couple of days before I start but I hadn't showed any of those signs. So the next day came and nothing, this didn't really surprise me because sometimes my app is off by a couple of days. I told Brad that I just kept getting this feeling that it wasn't going to start, not that I thought I was pregnant, because I felt great and I had just been to the doctor.

He convinced me to buy a test. I was really hesitant because those things aren't cheap and I really didn't want to see another negative. I went home and debated back and forth about taking it. I think it was getting on Brad's nerves and he was like just take it already, there are two in the pack, so it doesn't really matter. So I headed into the bathroom, I told him when to start the timer, and I sat there to see the results. In the past they have seemed like those 3 minutes are like 300 minutes, but that double line popped up so fast. I was freaking out and I was like uh Brad you need to come here. I thought my eyes were playing games on me, because I was so used to seeing negatives. He was like "nope that's definitely a positive, we are pregnant! we did it!". I felt like I was in shock, I wasn't expecting to see a positive at all, especially after my doctor had told me that for some people it just takes longer. However, we were and are THRILLED.

We spent the rest of the night talking about how blessed we felt because we were finally getting to become parents. All of our prayers and fasting had finally paid off. This whole thing has been such a testimony builder of God's plan for us and how His timing is so perfect.

I won't have to be pregnant during the hot southern summer (hallelujah!) and the baby will be here before Brad takes his first set of boards so we don't have to worry about me going into labor while he is taking a $500 test. Plus Brad won't have to worry about too much studying and can enjoy the baby too since after boards he will just be in the clinic!

Sorry for such a long winded post, props to you if you made it through the end. Next up is all about our first appointment! :)

our journey to pregnancy

Hi there! I told you I would be back! Let's just get to the very beginning of this.

Ever since I was a little girl I have dreamed about becoming a mom. If you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up the answer would always be a mom. I always figured I would have an easy time obtaining that dream. I mean you hear of all these people who have sex "just once" and get pregnant, how hard could it be?

For us it took a little bit longer. Before Brad got into Dental School we had been trying for a few months with no luck. Once he got accepted, we put it on hold to see how we would survive dental school. The first two semesters went by and we did a lot of praying and fasting about continuing our efforts to extend our family.

At the beginning of this year we decided we would start trying again. Each month that went by with another negative test got a little more emotional than the last. I was getting frustrated that it wasn't just happening. I was getting bitter seeing more and more people announce their pregnancies when I felt it was my turn.

In July I set up an appointment to meet with my OB/GYN. I had always heard that they don't really do anything about infertility until after a year of trying, but I still wanted to get things checked out to make sure that there weren't any unknown issues that might be making it harder. I am also a stresser (which doesn't help when trying to get pregnant) so I knew that after I talked to a doctor I would feel better about it regardless of the outcome. At my doctors appointment I was reassured once again that everything was checking out normal and as we were wrapping up at the appointment my doctor said "for some people it just takes longer". I went out feeling hopeful, but also with a new faith that I just needed to trust in the Lord's timing and plan for us and our family.

beach babe

If you follow my husband and I on social media you would see that we made a pretty big and exciting announcement over the weekend!

Yes, you read that right! 30 weeks until baby arrives! We couldn't be more THRILLED to be welcoming a little beach babe into our family in April 2016 (at least I'm hoping they like the beach, haha)!

I thought I would play catch up on the blog about our journey of getting to this point, how we found out, and about our first appointment. I plan on blogging throughout this pregnancy (and future pregnancies) because to me this is a way of journal keeping and I want to be sure that it's here for me and our children to look back on one day. So if you hate reading about pregnancy/baby stuff you may just want to avoid my blog from here on out because I'm sure that will be what the blog consists of. haha. If you like reading that kind of stuff, keep on checking back! We are SO excited to finally be in this chapter of life!

3rd Wedding Anniversary

On July 19th we celebrated 3 years of marriage. We were joking the other day that we are pretty sure that means we are officially out of the newly wed stage now. I can't believe how fast these past 3 years have gone by. It seems so short and so long all at the same time.

It's kind of lame when your anniversary falls on a Sunday because it's not like we can go out and celebrate the day of. However, we've made sure to celebrate a little bit each day this weekend. Friday we met up for lunch at California Dreaming. It's located right on the harbor and a place we have been wanting to check out since we moved here. It had a beautiful view and the food was delicious and reasonably priced. So a win-win in my book!

Saturday we had planned to spend the morning at the beach but we only lasted for a hour because it was a miserable day to be at the beach, it was SO hot with no breeze whatsoever. So we headed back home, stopped at the grocery store, took a nap, and did house chores. Such a typical adult day! haha. Later that evening, after our friend's adoption party, we headed downtown and walked along the battery while sipping on a pineapple smoothie from smoothie king. It was the perfect cool down after a long and hot day.

Although it's been a super low key anniversary, it doesn't make it any less special. I'm so grateful to have Brad as my other half each and every day. This past year Brad has shown me over and over again how incredible of a husband he is. He is so patient with me even when I don't deserve it. Each day I strive to be a better wife because I know that's what he deserves. I'm so thankful that we have each other to lean on as we go through hard times together. I will always be his number one fan and I can't wait to see what is in store for us this next year of marriage.

I usually do a recap video of the past year of our marriage but I've tried about a million times to get it to work and it says I'm having copyright issues with the songs I choose...so that's been really obnoxious. I'm really horrible with technology so once I get it figured out I'll come back and post it here! 

Hope you guys have had an awesome weekend!

Let Freedom Ring

Although it's already the 7th, I can't not blog about how we spent our 4th of July because it was definitely one to remember.

Denim Bow Skirt//Apartment Eighteen

Since last year we spent the morning of the 4th on the beach, I decided to make that our little tradition. So that morning we headed out to Folly Beach. It was the perfect morning at the beach. We have finally found our "spot" on the beach and just always go to that same spot. We stayed out for 3 hours and then came home to change and get ready for our little BBQ get together with some of our friends.

I wish we would have gotten a picture of all of us together, especially since we were all in patriotic colors. The conversations are always so great with that group of friends!  I always end up laughing so hard my stomach hurts.

After the BBQ we headed to River Front Park, on the old navy base in North Charleston. They have quite the set up there. Complete with an entertainment stage, splash pad, inflatables for kiddos, and my favorite...food trucks! We met up with some of our closest friends that we've made here in Charleston.

The weather was beautiful up until about an hour before the fireworks were scheduled to start. They made an announcement saying we all had to evacuate the park and find shelter. UHHHH WHAT?!?!?! I was mildly freaking out. So we headed to our friends car and piled in the back seat with their 4 kids to wait out the wind and rain storm. Finally they said everyone could go back into the park and luckily a lot of people left because of the storm so we still got a good spot. We finished the night off by watching incredible fireworks in the rain, under our umbrella with our cute friends. It was a 4th of July to remember.