First Trimester Officially Done...for Reals This Time!

I *thought* that the first trimester ended at 12 weeks, but it actually ends at 14 weeks! So, let the celebrating begin because today marks the start of week 14 and the beginning of Trimester #2! 1 down, 2 to go! haha :) The picture at the top is showing how big our little lemon is this week!! Someone's getting bigger!!

Everything is going fine except for the fact that I'm sick...not morning sickness sick, regular, non-pregnant person sick. Sore throat- Check. Achy feeling- Check. Sleepless Nights- check. The worst part of all of it is that I can't TAKE anything for my ailments BECAUSE I'm pregnant. I have a list of medicine that is Ok to take, none of which does ANYTHING for sore throats. And this sore throat is a beast- one for the record books. It probably feels so bad because I haven't been able to get any relief, and haven't been able to get much sleep because of the lack of relief, omigosh it's brutal. I've been out sick for the past 2 days and unless something dramatic happens, I don't see myself going back tomorrow...not fun. The only good thing about sick days is that these days are not cutting in to my maternity leave- starting January 1st, I get 10 new sick days that I need to hold on to so I can take as much maternity leave as possible.

On a happier note, this past weekend Jason and I were in the bay area with his family for Christmas, and we were finally able to spill the beans on our baby bump news!! Everyone was *THRILLED* with our announcement, and had some pretty fun reactions! I think Jason's Dad's side of the family was the loudest and most animated with their reaction, probably because this is the first baby in the family for 11 years, and the first Grandchild, Great-Grandchild, Nephew etc so everyone was overjoyed to say the least :)

I also told my HR department this week, and will finally get to tell my team this coming Monday and then EVERYONE will know! YES! Finally!

Well, I'm on throat lozenge #7, and my throat is coated enough to take a nap so that's what I'm going to do!!!

Thank you everyone for your love and support as our news becomes more public! We are so looking forward to the day when we can meet this growing baby and say HELLO!! We've got some busy months ahead before we can get there...here's a preview:
January:
Jason's Cousin visits
Ash's Mom visits
Packing up our "old" apartment
Moving into our new apartment

February:
Possible trip to Seattle for Ashleigh to see Family

March: Hawaii!!

April: Birthdays GALORE

May: Staying close to home

June: 3 weeks till Baby!!

Get In My Belly!!!

So for those of you wondering how the the pregnancy is physically progressing...take a gander at the pics below! The first is from our 7 week mark, and the 2nd was taken this past weekend at 12 weeks- things are a-changing! See that nice oblique definition in the first picture...then see how it's absent in the 2nd? Oh sad day...I'll get those abs back again though! Just wait and see! I had to buy my first maternity shirt last weekend. It's not that I'm not fitting into my clothing anymore, but when we met up with some friends for lunch, they knew right away that I was pregnant because my mid-section was a little thicker than it normally is. Given that we're finally telling the family this weekend, I didn't want to give our secret away as SOON as we step foot in everyone's house. So I've got a nice, NORMAL looking shirt that doesn't cling to my waist that I'll wear to Jason's Dad's side of the family...hopefully it holds off the snoopers until we present our GIFT!

I spoke to Jason's Mom today (I'd been somewhat avoiding her phone call in case I sounded too tired, or she caught on some other way- as Mom's tend to do!), and I don't think she suspects anything...though she did mention a couple of times how she would like to have a crystal ball so she could know WHEN we're going to have children and WHAT we're going to have- looks like we'll be giving her a crystal ball for Christmas this year! haha. I'm chuckling though because she's had quite a few run ins with the name Catalina this week (Very weird, I know!) she has always thought that Jason would have a little girl first (As did Nana), so we'll have to wait and see if our Dr's prediction was incorrect- whatever the gender, i know she will be thrilled with the news!

Ok...on to the photos!!

Bad Chinese Food...

For the most part, most foods haven't really bothered me too much during the pregnancy. I can handle the smell of most food, the thought of most food, and even the site of most food. I haven't had any of those experiences where I see a food commercial and immediately make a bee-line to the bathroom...except when it comes to Chinese Food. On a few rare occasions, Jason has brought home Panda Express and the smell of the food sends me into a gagging convulsion (Jason's favorite part of all of this!). Some nights Jason will call me on his way home and ask if I want him to bring me home some Panda...the thought just makes my stomach flip (Even now, as I type this- I can smell it and my gag reflexes are in full effect).
For the most part, I've been able to avoid having to be really close to any Chinese food, and I've definitely been able to avoid having any of my own...until today.
For a couple of weeks now, my team has been dying to take me to this one Chinese restaurant in China Town...I keep saying that Chinese food doesn't sound good, or that they can just go without me- but they wouldn't give up. Finally I came up with a response that they seemed to buy; I told them that "Chinese food is Dinner Food, not Lunch food." Apparently wtih an Ashleigh-Answer like that, they figured they had no room to persuade me. But today, they were relentless- they all were craving food from this restaurant, and one of the guys even offered to pay for my meal if I agreed to go. My stomach was feeling pretty strong, so I gave in. Bad idea. BAD idea.
We arrive in Chinatown and as soon as we get out of the car, my tummy is doing flips. I can smell things that my pregnant nose is NOT liking. We make it to the restaurant and the guys just start ordering their usual items (They order family-style so we can all share the food). They order Hot/Sour Soup (*gag), Slipper Shrimp (*gag by the name alone), Steamed Rice (Phew), Lemon Chicken (*gag). I think my face must have been green the entire time we were in there. The Hot & Sour soup came first- and this was not good. Those of you who know me well know that under normal circumstances I have an issue with soup so being that this soup looked as though it was just a mixture of every dead or leftover thing they'd found in the kitchen did not help. I made the mistake of asking the guys what was IN the soup, and they pretty much confirmed that it was all of the scraps from the kitchen. Yum. Brian suggested that rather than eat the items in the soup, I just concentrate on the broth- that actually helped, if it hadn't been so dang spicy...and hot for that matter. Luckily, the rice came next and I grabbed a LARGE helping of that and dove right in. I was hoping that as long as the guys noticed food going into my mouth, they wouldn't notice I wasn't eating anything else. Not the case. They kept asking "Do you want some Slippery Shrimp? It's SO good!" Gag, Gag...gag. I did try 3 pieces, and yes it was good, but I couldn't enjoy it because I was concentrating so hard on keeping everything else down. Next a huge plate of BEEF showed up- that probably would have made me gag even if I wasn't pregnant, luckily they were all ok with me passing on that. Last, the lemon chicken came which actually looked really good. But, my nose was smelling SO many horrible smells by this point that i couldn't fathom putting ANYTHING else in my mouth...except more rice. Garrett shoveled a piece of lemon chicken on my plate and just sat there, waiting for me to eat it. He could tell I wasn't digging this meal, and he actually felt bad- but he wasn't giving up on me trying that damn chicken! Finally, at the end of the meal I took 1 bite of the chicken- and after chewing it for a good 5 minutes, it stayed down.
It's now 4 hours later since that meal and I'm still fighting back the gags and anything else my body is trying to make happen. Ugh. I am SO glad that this big secret will be revealed to my team in 2 weeks. Not that i want them to change their minds about where they want to eat on my account, but at least this way I have a WAY better excuse for NOT wanting to go to their crazy restaurants for lunch.

Blgh!

Boy oh Boy!

Today was a GREAT day for several reasons!

First of all, before our Doctor's appointment this afternoon, Jason and I met up in Santa Monica and headed off to the apartment complex we've been wanting to get in to after we move out of our current home. We'd been calling them a couple times a week for the last 3 weeks trying to get an idea of when an apartment would be available in mid-January. The office staff was less than helpful over the phone, so we decided to take matters into our own hands and just go to the leasing office! It turned out to be a great idea, because an amazing unit had just come available! Top floor, overlooking the community park, and an awesome layout. 2 Bed/ 2 Bath (Enough room for the latest addition!)- and just a great area! We are SO excited. So we put down our deposit, filled out the application, and will get our keys on January 2nd- this is about 3 weeks SOONER than we actually needed to move in, but with all that's been going on, we wanted to just have it down and know that we have a home to move into once our current lease is up!

Second of all, we had a big doctor's appointment today. We were doing our 1st trimester screening for birth defects. From what I understand, our doctor will take the results from today's test and then will do a similar test during our 2nd trimester, and will take those results and average them with the results from today and THAT should tell us our chances for having a child with chromosomal birth defects (Such as Downs Syndrome). The doctor came in and started the ultrasound and within 3 seconds he was done! Always the efficient baby, little Laubster was in the PERFECT position for the Dr. to gather the information he needed! It was great- I was such a proud Mom that our baby did so well!

The third thing that made today so great was the extra information the doctor gave us! Because the actual test went so quickly (And because the doctor really liked what he saw) he decided to reward us by doing an extra long ultrasound complete with a 3D view of our little one! It was so cool to see the baby in full form! Hands, feet, body, head! Very cool! But what was the COOLEST thing is that the Doctor THINKS he may have seen a baby penis on our little one...which of course, would mean that we are having a BOY! Some of you may be shocked because it's too early to tell, but actually- the fetus has already determined what gender it's going to be, it's just not usually well defined enough to see it in a typical 12 week ultrasound. The fact that we got to do a 3D ultrasound and the fact that our little one was in a good position let us in on the big reveal! Granted, nothing is for sure YET- I've had several friends be lead down the wrong path with an early reveal, so we're just kind of taking it all in as some fun information, but not really seeing it as a fact yet. Here's the photo the doctor took that showed HIM we were having a Laubster Jr. instead of a Laubster-ette! What do you think?


The FOURTH thing that went well today was that the Dr. was absolutely THRILLED with what he saw in terms of the test results. He said the development of the babies nose was encouraging, the brain size and development was encouraging, the translucency of the fluid behind the neck looked great and the development of the limbs and fingers/toes also looked great. The Doctor (Who was a bit of a character) kept saying "I love your Baby" "I am very happy with your Baby" "I like what I'm seeing" I figured he said that to all of his "Mothers" but I quickly realized, that more often than not, he probably does NOT get to say those things...so I was VERY happy and VERY relieved to get the doctor's approval!

At one point in the exam, our little one got a little tired of being LOOKED at, and started kicking off the side of the womb (No I didn't feel it) as though he was kicking off the side of a pool! It was hilarious! It was as though he was trying to say "Get that thing off of my head!" Meaning the ultrasound wand! And I believe that next, the little one turned on his side and had his butt to us- he was just done with being on camera!

The whole thing is jut amazing- getting to SEE our little one growing, getting to see a portion of a personality already- that this creature has enough say that he/she knows when hey are annoyed and wants to get out of a situation is just amazing! Every time we go to the doctor we feel more and more connected with our little one. Andi n turn, Jason and I always feel closer to each other as man and wife after each visit- it's just a really great feeling.

One thing I have realized this week, after the migraine incident, is that I need to take better care of myself in general. I think that because I've been feeling BETTER in general I've kind of put my pregnancy needs on the back burner- I haven't been going to bed as early, i haven't been eating as much or as frequently as I should (Which is why *I* think I had the ocular migraine)- so I'm changing all of that so i can keep gaining weight and keep this baby kicking and impressing doctors!! So even though I'm feeling more like "myself", I need to remember that my new SELF is still a pregnant-self and that requires a little extra care and attention (more food, more sleep, less activity!).

Alright, dinner is on the stove, and I've got a hungry family to feed!!

Little Update on How Today Ended Up...

As Murphy's Law would have it, once you say something is going GREAT, it usually turns around quite quickly! Everything is fine now, but at 11:30am today, things were a little...uhhh...weird.

I was sitting at my desk at work when all of a sudden I noticed my vision getting VERY blurry out of my right eye. It wasn't necessarily SPOTTY, but I couldn't focus and I couldn't see out of my peripheral vision. If I held my right had in front of my face, but off to the side a bit, I couldn't see it. If I held my hand at a certain angle, I could see part of my hand, but maybe not my fingers- like there was a black hole off to the side taking up my hand- creepy to say the least. After sitting there for a few minutes I convinced myself "Ok, this is NOT normal" and I headed out to my car to call Jason (Whenever I have to make a personal phone call, especially regarding the pregnancy, I have to go to my car...I share an office with a teammate, so obviously it doesn't work to talk about that stuff in his presence). I called Jas and we both agreed that i needed to call our Doctor. I called Dr. Morris' office and explained the situation and that i wasn't sure if I should be calling THEM or my General Practitioner- without hesitation, the woman on the phone said I should come in to see THEM at 2:30 that day (I LOVE this Dr. Office- they didn't make any issue about the situation, totally validated my concerns and made room to see me at such a short notice!), the suggested I have someone drive me to the appointment in case my vision got worse. So I called Jason and of course he said he would be right there to pick me up. Ever the one not to make a scene, I assured him I was fine enough to drive to Santa Monica and have him pick me up from my main office...really? He reluctantly agreed, and I went back into the office. As soon as I sat down, my vision got worse- both eyes were blurry and i couldn't focus on anything. I called Jason back and told him he should come pick me up- he agreed and said he was leaving right away. Over the next 20 minutes, my vision began to clear up but I was shaken by the whole incident. The weirdest thing about it all was that I felt NO PAIN. I, of course, was thinking the worst things- am I not eating enough? Am I not getting enough oxygen, and therefore the baby isn't getting enough oxygen? Oh jeez, this parenting thing is synonymous with WORRYING!

Jason picked me up and we grabbed some lunch, which made me feel a bit better, but I still felt pretty sick. By the time we made it to the Dr. Office I was feeling pretty close to fine. I explained my symptoms to Dr. Morris's and she said that it sounded like a migraine and that I she would refer me to a neurologist.

The best part of the whole appointment was that we got to do ANOTHER ultrasound and see the baby again! While "he" wasn't being very active, his little heart was fluttering and the doctor explained that he was laying there with one arm above and behind his head, and the other hand was in front of his face- too cute! She printed us another ultrasound, but you literally can't see anything- so no point in posting it.

We still have our big appointment on Thursday where we'll be taking a video of the ultrasound and will post that somewhere for you all to view. They'll be prodding around the baby in that appointment, so hopefully he'll be a little more active than he was today...and that will give Mommy some reassurance!

So I'll be calling the neurologist tomorrow to make my appointment. After doing a little research, and hearing input from friends who have had migraines, it sounds as though I may have experienced an Ocular Migraine- which is a harmless migraine, that doesn't necessarily cause pain, but does cause vision problems (Including zig zag lines, which is exactly what I saw).

Hopefully it's all nothing, and this was the last of my migraine experience!

Sorry if this freaked anyone out, but I figured everyone would want to be MORE informed than Less informed!

Love you all!

Love,
Ash & Jas

12 Weeks with a Twist of Lime

Well today marks a HUGE milestone...Jason, myself and our little growing Laubster have made it 12 Weeks! We are officially in the 2nd trimester! YAHOO!!! Actually, I'm not sure if week 12 is the END of the first Tri or the beginning of the 2nd...either way, I know it's all good that we've made it this far and that everything has gone according to plan!



Per our Babycenter.com weekly update, today we learned that our little one is the size of a LIME...just over 2" long from head to toe (Adorable little toes I'm sure). I think it's quite fitting that our little one is the size of a lime this week, because I will be using a lime tomorrow night to fend off suspicious, observant and nosey minds at my companies holiday Christmas Party tomorrow. How, you ask? Well, the last company function I went to, I thought that by NOT drinking I could just blend in with the crowd, and no one would be the wiser, but apparently when your recently married, feeling maternal and in your mid to late 20s and a female- any time you are spotted withOUT an alcoholic beverage in your hand, suspicious minds start turning into gossiping mouths! Blatant rumors started flying AT the function that I was pregnant (Which I was, but I didn't want anyone ELSE to know that!)...so, rather than go through ALL of that tomorrow, I'm going to work a deal with the bartender...I'm going to order my signature drink (Captain & coke) minus the leader of the ship (Mr. Morgan) and just have coke, in a cocktail glass...with a LIME. A lime will make all the difference in convincing my co-workers that I am operating business as usual at a party. I'm sure my plan will fail miserably, but I definitely get a gold star for trying!!

Sometime last week I started feeling like MYSELF again (much to Jason's relief! he got his wife back...finally!). I was pretty sick on Sunday night, Monday all day and Tuesday morning and was beginning to think that my morning sickness was getting STRONGER day by day (Which scared me!)...but then by Tuesday evening, as I was driving home I noticed something...I was actually alert! I was so alert that I was SINGING along to the radio, and I was changing lanes (A MAJOR improvement to the last 5 weeks in which I silently drove home in the slow lane the entire time, just trying to avoid exerting any more energy than necessary). It struck me as being so odd that I realized, I didn't feel sick...AT ALL! From then on I've felt pretty fantastic! Sometimes the morning can still be rough (I was really light headed all of this morning, and had to keep sitting down while trying to get ready), but overall, my health has vastly improved from the past 5 weeks (YESSSS!).

This past weekend, Jas and I joined some friends of ours out in Las Vegas at our favorite place; The Red Rock Resort. It was a great weekend for all, but I've definitely learned my lesson- no more Vegas until AFTER the Laubster hatches! haha. It was a lot of fun being with everyone, but I was constantly faced with things I could NOT participate in- drinking, eating sushi, being active (After 2 games of Bowling, I almost fell asleep in the lanes!), and getting the massage that I wanted! Everyone else had an amazing time, so that was good enough for me; but I'll definitely take a weekend at home the next time Huy and Jason plan a trip to Sin City!


TTFN (Taa Taa For Now for all of you Non-Poo bear fans!)

Word of Advice...

...If you are pregnant, don't fall asleep as soon as you get home (6pm) and sleep for 7 hours (1am) then feel sick because you didn't eat dinner and have to pee. It is now 2:45am and I am so wide awake, but feeling like crap (yes Mom, I've eaten since I woke up)...oh this is going to be an interesting weekend!

Good Night....Good Morning...Taa Taa for Now!

1 Announcement Down, 2 More To Go!

Since Jason and I were home in Seattle for Thanksgiving, we took advantage of that opportunity and decided to announce our BIG news to my family!

We made some sweet shirts the night before we left, Jason's said "WE ARE" with a picture of our 1st sonogram and mine said "Pregnant" with a picture of the Clear Blue Easy Prego stick (And yes, that is a picture of the actual stick).




We told my Mom on Wednesday night, when Jas got in from the airport, we ran upstairs to put our shirts on and set up the camera. Then we called my Mom upstairs to help us with something- we just stood in the room and let her realize what we were up to...after 2.5 seconds she SCREAMED and put her hands up in the air and shouted "YAAAAY!!" It was perfect- perfect reaction! Unfortunately, our camera didn't capture ANY of the perfection for some reason. Oh well, we got a cute shot of the 3 of us posing together after the announcement. Good enough for the scrapbook!

On Thanksgiving Day we were set to tell the rest of my family (Those that were coming to Thanksgiving dinner that is). We waited until after dinner and everyone was winding down at my Mom's place, then we put the shirts back on. We told my Brother Nathan first, because he was randomly upstairs when we were going to head DOWN stairs with our shirts on, then we called our Dad upstairs and pulled the same stunt that we did with my Mom. Same great reaction- so far everyone has been happy! Ha! Next, we headed downstairs where Gretchen, Luke, Uncle Rod, Aunt Kathy, Cousin Erin and Cousin Michael were hanging out...we just walked in the room and let their observant minds do the figuring out! Again- screams, cheers and lots of "I knew it!" coming from the crowd. Erin guessed we were prego because I didn't have any alcohol at dinner and she thought I seemed very tired. Rod and Kathy guessed it as well, though I'm not sure why- possibly the lack of alcohol or the discussion we all had about my hair right before we made the announcement (My bangs have decided to stray in formation from the rest of my smooth and lovely hair...and they are crinkly and annoying right now...everyone has guessed that it's due to hormone changes).
The rest of the night was spent hearing stories from the women who have been in my shoes in past years- crazy and interesting stuff!

On Friday Night, Jason and I headed to my friend Jen and Main's home in Burien for a Left-Over Dinner Extravaganza. Jen is my good friend from my Freshman year of college- Elizabeth and Lindsey and Lindsey's husband Jason also joined in on the fun. So we got to tell Jen that night as well (I had told Elizabeth on Wednesday night while hanging out with Lindsey, and Lindsey was the VERY first person to find out, since i called her at 6am the morning after we took the test!). Jen was asking Jason and I about The Newlywed Game and when we were going on our trip, so I told her "We're thinking about going in March, because I won't be able to travel in my 3rd trimester" she looked at me blankly for a second and then screamed! Jen was so excited for us. Jen has 2 adorable little ones, so she's all for more friends becoming Moms! haha.

Overall it was a great trip! The family knows our big news and everyone is very excited. In a few weeks we get to tell Jason's family and then after New Years I will tell my team at work. Having all of this be out in the open will be SUCH a relief! Of course, I will be in the 2nd trimester by then, so I'll probably be feeling better and have less symptoms so it'll probably be weird for the team to know when really nothing is NEW, but oh well! At least the cat will be out of the bag!

I'm still feeling relatively good. Being home and on a different schedule, different bed and having different food over the Thanksgiving Weekend really wore me out. I was completely out of it and tired all day on Sunday when we got back, and on Monday I was sick all day- the worst I've been by far. Tuesday was a really good day and I was even able to run an errand after work, Wednesday and Thursday were back to being Iffy, so I just kind of play it all by ear. The 1st Trimester is almost over, and I'm really hoping that I'm one of those women who just wakes up one morning in the 2nd Tri and feels energetic and refreshed...I'll keep you updated!!

Long Posts and Piggy Flu

I have another friend who is also pregnant right now (Just a few weeks ahead of Jason and I) and she also has a blog (She's had hers for awhile, and since announcing her pregnancy has been using that outlet to let friends/family know what she's going through) and I realized while reading a few of her posts the other day...that I am one long winded blogger! Not that that's surprising to those who know me well, but sheesh! Maybe I should just start getting to the point and call it a day! I'll try...but that's all I can promise...normally, when I think I've edited something down, it could still go for another 20 page deletion!

So on Sunday, Jason decided that I needed to get the swine flu (H1N1) vaccination shot. We tried to get it a few weekends ago, but the line was wrapped completely around the high school that the shot was being administered in! "No Thank You!" Said the Laubster family and away we went...back to bed! But, Jason realized last week that in a few days, I'm going to be flying on an airplane, which is probably an EXCELLENT way to contract the piggy flu! So with that logic, we decided to brave the crowds and head over to the lease ghetto area that was giving the shot (seriously...I was not about to stand in line in Compton...not gonna happen). I woke up feeling pretty sick that morning, and was worried about standing for a few hours, and what that would do to me...so I packed a huge bag of snacks...oranges, fruit leather, string cheese, cookies, fruit cups, popcorn- the works! We drove 20 minutes to our spot and sure enough, the line was pretty long. It wasn't as long as it had been when we tried earlier, but there would still be at least 150-200+ people in front of us. So we get in line, grab a form from the "form-giver-outers" and then hear an official person say "Is anyone pregnant in the line?” Immediately our hands shoot up and I yell out "Yes! I am!" the official person walks over to me and says "You're pregnant? OK, you need to head to the front of the line." What? Really? Awesome! So Jason and I march through the ENTIRE line, trying to keep our smiles to a minimum and approach another official person and tell them that we are pregnant and were told to come over here. After checking our forms, they sweep us past MORE people, and get us RIGHT to the people with the drugs! It was unbelievable! We got the shot, and were back to doing what we wanted with the rest of our day!
Immediately after taking the shot, I kind of got worried about what we had just done and I asked Jason "Did we really just inject some chemicals into our growing and developing fetus? Sheesh...I hope that was a good idea!" I'm normally not someone who gets freaked out by vaccines...maybe it's because my Grandpa was a doctor and a lot of my family has a lot of medical knowledge, but I’ve never bought into the whole "Vaccines are bad, they cause Autism" hoopla. There isn't enough scientific evidence to convince me NOT to vaccinate my child- it just seems irresponsible to me. Jason has expressed some concerns about the issue, but I believe there are ways around it- instead of giving the baby a lot of vaccines all at once within their first couple of months, there are not schedules that allow you to give your baby 1 or 2 vaccines every couple of months- that seems like a compromise we can deal with. But the idea of giving a fetus, who is in the initial stages of growing and developing a vaccine was just kind of freaky...but I'm sure it's all for the better, and assuming it went well, our newborn will be protected from the H1N1 virus after he/she is born, so that's good!
The only downside to all of it was by Sunday night, I was definitely feeling symptoms of the flu. I started feeling EXTREMELY nauseous that night, and even got sick before I went to bed...not fun! The next morning I woke up still feeling awful and stayed in bed ALL day, trying to get over it. Today, I'm back at work and feeling better, but not amazing...though my body did allow me to eat a piece of Pizza for breakfast, and I cannot tell you how amazing that tasted!

Well...so much for not being long winded!! Ayy Yiii Yiii.....

8 weeks down!

First a disclaimer...as you've probably noticed if you've been following this blog, the author tends to get a bit confused in terms of which person to write this blog in...first person, third person- it's all very confusing! So, since I (Ash) am going to most likely be the main blogger on this blog, I'm just going to write from my perspective...if Jas chimes in then he'll do the same...it's just too darn confusing doing it any other way! SO! With that said, on to the next blog....


On Tuesday, November 17th, we hit our 8 week mark. According to our weekly babycenter.com updates, the little Laubster is the size of a kidney bean (however big that is!), the baby has webbed fingers and toes (I swear we're not having an amphibian, but with the tail and the webbed-ness going on...I'm beginning to worry!) and the little eyelids are starting to cover the little baby eyes! Adorable! It's been really fun getting the weekly updates and learning what new and exciting things our little one is experiencing...it's mind blowing to think that just 8 short weeks ago there was nothing but a few cells hanging out together and now a PERSON has formed! Its absolutely amazing...and a miracle by all definitions of the word!

While we were very excited to learn about all of this technical growth mumbo jumbo, what Jason and I were REALLY looking forward to was our Doctor's appointment on Thursday because THIS was the appointment where we would get to SEE our little guy or girl and see their heartbeat beating away!

We met our doctor (Dr. Lillian Morris) again on Thursday afternoon in another exam room. She is such a nice doctor. I feel so safe and secure with her, and I just love that she has kind of a funky personality but is obviously very caring and loving and cares for ME as a patient and for Jason and I as soon to be new parents. She is gentle, patient and just a great fit for Jason and I. I am really excited that we made the changes that we did to our health insurance so that we are able to have her as our doctor. On a related note, in the past month I have spoken to TWO women who have both had their babies with the doctors at the Women's Health Association of Santa Monica...that's pretty impressive in my mind considering hte size of Santa Monica and the number of doctor choices there are! Both women loved their experiences with the doctors and the affiliated hospitals....all the more reason to feel great about the decision we made to move to this doctor's office.

So, after doing a full on exam, it was time to meet whoever is chilling inside me! I was a little nervous going in to the appointment, just due to common nerves. Those of you who know me know that I am a worry-wart by nature, and being pregnant has brought all of that to a whole new level. I am consciously trying not to think that way for the pregnancy because I don't want to stress the baby out, but it is very difficult at times. Especially when one of those times is when you are supposed to see a glimpse of your baby! the whole time on the exam table I was just thinking "What if we're not pregnant. What if this is just a mistake?" of course all of my fears were put to rest when the doctor came in and assured us we WERE indeed pregnant. As Dr. Morris pulled the ultrasound screen closer to her so that she could access the keyboard, I started to get sad because I thought I wouldn't get to see the screen (This happened last time, she pulled the screen close to her and I couldn't see anything...she did this on purpose because there was nothing to see, it was too early)- but then I noticed a small screen, exactly at my eye level for ME to have my own little viewing party on! Jason had to skew his neck so he could see the Doctor's screen, but he managed alright. In no time at all, an image came up on the screen and the Dr. said "There's your little peanut!" I couldn't believe it. It took me by complete surprise. I don't know if technology has advanced in the past 6 months since I've seen an ultrasound, but normally I can never see ANYTHING but gray on those pictures...but when she brought our image up on the screen it was as clear as day that there was a baby in there! It was absolutely breathtaking...next, she showed us that the heart WAS in fact beating! Again, breath taken away by this little creature! I stopped breathing at first and then giggled, which jiggled the screen and the image was lost, but it was SO great to see it up there for a few seconds! Next she looked around at my ovaries, did some measurements and then went back to the Bean! Heart was still beating and baby was still there! She said that everything looked absolutely perfect- from the size of the baby (1.81cm which Jason figured out is about 3/4") to the placement of the baby. Good news all around for baby Laub! It finally feels REAL that all of this is happening. It's been really hard the past couple of weeks because on the outside I don't look any different to anyone else, and as far as strangers are concerned, I don't even feel an y different. And it's not that I want this pregnancy to be an excuse for any slacking I may be doing in my life, but it would just be nice to have everyone know so that it's not some big thing that doesn't actually exist. So seeing the baby and it's heartbeat has just absolutely solidified that this is happening and it's going to be an awesome ride.

Next up for the Laub's is making some pretty big decisions. We have another appointment set up 4 weeks from now (12/17) at which time we are scheduled to do some prenatal tests. I believe we are set up to do some basic birth defect/chromosome tests on the fetus- they'll test for things like Downs Syndrome. There are more tests that we also have the option to take, but we're not sure what we want to do. These are genetic tests which will test Jason and I for specific genetic disorders that we COULD pass on to our baby. Our biggest issue/concern/dilemma with doing these tests is that they aren't diagnostic tests- meaning even if both Jason and I are carriers, it does not guarantee that our baby will have that particular disease. That, paired with the fact that even if we find out our baby DOES have something wrong with it, we would not terminate this pregnancy and these tests are ridiculously expensive, it just doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. The birth defect/chromosome tests that are diagnostic would at least either give us piece of mind that the baby is fine or let us prepare in any way that we need to if there is something abnormal with the baby. There is so much to know already in all of this, it's kind of scary! I'm just praying that our baby is healthy and without any major health problems...please pray with us!

We're very excited because we *FINALLY* get to tell my family next week during our Thanksgiving Day vacation. It has been absolutely killing me that I haven't been able to tell my Mom yet, so having that weight off my shoulders will be SUCH a relief! Our plan as of now is to make T-Shirts that say "We're" and "Pregnant" and then stand side by side as we present ourselves to the family (Hopefully we can figure out who to put where so it doesn't come out looking like "Pregnant We're" because that wouldn't make any sense at all!). We still have to wait an entire month before we can tell Jason's family and my work, which is just awful, but it'll be here before we know it! And we'll have a new set of ultrasounds to show them when we announce it to the Laub's, Blakeman's and Irwin's. We know everyone will be THRILLED with our news :)

That's all we have for now...no new health updates for me, Monday I was very nauseous and actually threw up for the first time (not fun!), and I'm just ridiculously tired every day and every evening when I come home. Apparently some people wake up on a day in their 2nd trimester feeling completely refreshed and ready to take on the world...I am so hoping that I am that lucky!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! I definitely know what *I'M* thankful for this year:

Blgh.

Well, the 6-week mark has proven to be a difficult one...for Ash's stomach. Her only symptoms before were a larger appetite and being exhausted all the time....now, along with that, she's feeling queasy most of the day. She's discovered that the cure (for her at least) for this nausea feeling is eating...ya...weird right? What is the LAST thing you normally want to do when your feeling like you're about to lose your lunch- eat right? Well, apparently prego ladies are the exception to the rule, because eating is exactly what Ash needs to do to hold off the gagging...yes, gagging. She's not so much puking, just walking around gagging every 30 minutes...she sounds like a cat with a hairball...pretty attractive! So every day, whether Ash packs a lunch for her and Jas or not, she packs a whole bag of *SNACKS* to munch on ALLLLLL day...yes, all day...she can go about 30 minutes or an hour without having food in her, but by the time she feels hungry, it's too late and the gagging starts all over again. She's been munching a lot on String Cheese, yogurt, dried fruit strips, baby carrots, cookies, popcorn and triscuts. And while there haven't been any overwhelming food-specific cravings yet, the one thing Ash desires all the time is to be FULL. Which is again, kind of weird. We think that it may be because normally, Ash eats a little bit throughout the day, but never engorges herself with a large food amount....and realistically, she probably wasn't getting enough food to begin wtih, so what her body is telling her NOW is to just EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT until you can't eat NO 'MO! SO what does that mean? Well, it means eating 3/4 of an entire box of Velveeta Mac N Cheese by herself, it means going to In N Out and ordering a cheeseburger meal w/ fries a drink and an EXTRA order of fries...and eating it all. True, this isn't the healthiest stuff to be eating, but Ash's breakfast, lunch and snacks throughout the day are pretty well balanced so it's dinner time when she lets loose. Poor Jason, has tried to be so helpful and he cooked some chicken and squash up the other night- gave Ash a piece of squash as she was running out to do an errand and it almost came right back up....Jas has learned pretty quickly that if it doesn't sound like a good idea to the Mamma To Be...it isn't. Every day Ash takes a Pre-Natal vitamin and a DHA vitamin (The prenatal vitamin is basically a multivitamin that has all of the vitamins that Ash needs to help the baby grow and develop, while a DHA pill is full of Fatty Omega-3 which is very important for a pregnant ladies diet). Ash is going along with the philosophy that as long as it sounds good, and relieves the gagging then it's Ok to eat. Even though it's not all super healthy food, the vitamins are hopefully counteracting most of that and getting the baby what it needs. Most of the books we've read say that while the first trimester is a crucial one for brain development and the overall initial growth of the fetus, as long as the mother is GETTING food (And not throwing it all up) then everything should be fine.

That's the update on the Laubster's so far....our next Dr. Appointment is on November 19th. We should get to see the heartbeat and get a picture of the little bun in the oven- we're very much looking forward to this appointment! Ash is also getting the H1N1 vaccine on Sunday at a free clinic in LA...pregnang ladies are strongly encouraged to get both the regular flu vaccine and the H1N1 flu vaccine so that the baby is protected as much as possible since Ash's immune system is compromised by carrying the baby...hopefully it all goes well.

Our first Doctor's Visit!

10/29/09



Today Jason and I met with Dr. Lillian Morris of the Women's Healthcare Association of Santa Monica. We had about 20 minutes with her today, and she seemed like a fun, loving and caring doctor- I'm really excited to be working with her through the next 9 months as all of this progresses into a new life!

What we realized immediately when we arrived at the office is that the medical building that all of our appointments will be in is LITERALLY right next door to Jason's new jobsite! It could not be MORE convenient! And, with parking being $12 a pop, being able to PARK at Jason's Jobsite will also be convenient! When I initially found the clinic online, I liked the fact that it was in the vicinity of Jason's new jobsite, because I knew how hard it will be for him to peel away from work in the middle of the day to go to an appointment, so I figured having it be nearby would make it easier- i had no idea it was THIS near by! We can see the jobsite when we sit in our Doctor's personal office! Too funny!

The first thing that we did today was confirm the pregnancy with another urine test (no blood test this time- that will be on our next visit), and sure enough, the Doctor confirmed what we already knew...we ARE pregnant! 5 weeks and 2 days to be exact! Next, Ash got her blood pressure taken and weighed...the blood pressure was a little higher than usual (Typical "White Coat" syndrome) and her weight was a little higher than usual (typical Pregnant lady syndrome!)- nothing alarmingly off though. As Ash was in the vitals area, the nurse wanted to confirm that I was with my husband and asked "You're here with your Husband, Correct?" I confirmed and then she asked "And his name is David, right" "Umm...no, it's Jason" we both laughed, then looked int he hallway an there was Jason, with an inquisitive look on his face "Who? David? Umm...no, that must be the boyfriend, I'm the HUSBAND" the nurse was so embarrassed! But she was adorable, and just apologized nd giggled her way into the next office.

Next, we were put into an exam room to wait for Dr. Morris. We weren't sure what exactly would be done in our first visit- an ultrasound, just a consultation etc...When we sat in the room we saw the huge ultrasound machine, and saw that on the screen it said "Laub, Ashleigh" so we figured we were going to get a vision of the little bean today! Very exciting! Jason took a few photos of me sitting on the table and of the machine (Weirdo) until Dr. Morris arrived. She took us into her office so she could ask us a few important medical history questions. She got the lowdown on my family history (Cancer cases, other hereditary abnormalities etc)...one thing she asked BOTH Of us that was odd was she asked if we were either Jewish or French Canadian (At first we were shocked she would ask if we were French Canadian...Jason had on a CANADA shirt from his recent trip, and we thought maybe she was just inquiring!)- but really, a disease called Tay Sachs runs in those cultures, so she was just ruling that out. So after all of that was taken care of, the Dr. looked at us and said "Ok, let's see who's in there" I thought that that was such a cute way to put it! It showed me that this doctor has some personality and is excited like we are about the new life forming inside me.

When we got into the exam room, the Dr. did warn us that since we are just at the beginning of the 5 week stage, there may not be much to see, but she at least wanted to check it all out to make sure we were were we SHOULD be and that everything looked ok inside. I won't go into details about this next part, but it was kind of comical....I get most of my medical knowledge from television (Grey's Anatomy anyone?) so I always thought Ultrasounds were done by putting the gel on the belly, and then having the wand run over the OUTSIDE of the stomach to see inside...apparently THAT kind of thing goes on farther down the line in pregnancy...so Jason and I kind of giggled when we saw the Dr. pull out a condom and some lubrication and put it on a wand...when I saw her grab the condoms, my first thought was "Umm...did she forget why we're here? OBVIOUSLY we weren't using those to get into this situation, and we're certainly not going to be using them now!" but she of course, had ANOTHER reason to use it!

So, as she had initially thought, we are too early in the pregnancy for an untrained eye to actually SEE anything on the ultrasound screen. She assured us that at our next visit (10/19) we'll be able to see the baby's heart beat...we're not sure if that means we'll get to see just the fluttering of a heart or if we can actually hear it.

Every week, we receive an email from babycenter.com which gives us an update on the progress of our pregnancy, and what is happening to the baby that week- it has been amazing to learn how quickly the little baby is growing inside....9 months seems like a long time to carry a little body inside...but when you think about it, that little body is being created from a few cells and in 9 months time becomes an entire PERSON it's mind blowing. The body is capable of doing some amazing things- creating life is one of them!
The main thing we got out of our first doctor's visit is that everything is A-Ok. The doctor said that the fetus is sitting right where it should be at this stage and that everything looks fine. She said she was happy with what she saw, so therefore WE are happy with what she saw.
We're anxiously awaiting our next appointment so that we can get to know this little person even more!

Symptoms Are Fun!

So it's been almost 1 week since we found out we were expecting (We initially took 2 tests...both of which came up positive....a few days later, still not convinced, Ash took 2 more...again, both positive...and then, 2 days later, STILL not convinced, Ash took 1 more...positive AGAIN....rest assured, she now fully believes she's Pregnant!). As the pregnancy has progressed, it's more obvious to Ash that she didn't need to pee on a stick to know for sure there's a little one growing inside...the symptoms have been hard to miss!




1. FATIGUE
Ash has been nothing but tired lately! Coming home at 6, eating (more on that later) and then dozing off on the couch! Thank goodness it's flu season so she can blame her fatigue on feeling flu-like to her co-workers and suspicious friends.

2. HUNGER
If you're reading this blog, you are obviously a close person in Ashleigh & Jason's life and therefore you know that Ashleigh is not the worlds biggest eater...well, throw those old ideas aside, because Mama is eating! Normally, Ash eats small bits and pieces every couple of hours...but recently she's been hungry enough to eat full meals every 2 hours! At lunch one day she ordered fish & chips and ate the ENTIRE plate....ALL of it. It was so out of character that one of her co-workers looked at the plate, then at her and said "Wow Ash...I've never seen you eat so much!" A little embarrassing, yes...but once the word is out then it won't seem so strange.

3. SENSE OF SMELL
Jason always teases Ash that her nose is broken- because she can NEVER smell anything that he smells (Ash's note: Why does that mean MY nose is broken? Maybe it's HIS...duh!). Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Ash started noticing that every time she walked into their bedroom she smelled this OVERWHELMING musty smell...especially in the closet. She asked Jason if he smelled that- he had no idea what she was talking about. As the week went on, more and more smells started being so bold- but still, Jason smelled nothing! After Ash remembered a story her friend Jen told her about HER sense of smell during her first pregnancy, Ash had her first idea that she may be pregnant. 3 weeks later, it was confirmed!

4. CATS
This isn't a symptom that Ash has been feeling, but one thing we've noticed is that the CATs have been acting funny. This could be due to many reason: a) Jason is out of town b) they are sensing the change in my hormone levels c) they're cats...who the heck knows why they do what they do! But, Earl has been a bit distant. He'll hop up and begin to cuddle with Ash, but as soon as he gets near her belly, he'll shy away and leave the area. It's making Ash pretty sad, because she would love for Earl to be a big cuddle bug friend for the little one, so hopefully he'll come around with time. Chase, is the complete opposite- he's NUTS! Granted, this could be due to the fact that he's a kitten, but he has been acting EXTRA ridiculous this week. Keeping Ash up all hours of the night- scratching the door, hurling himself at the door, trying to open up the door by the door handle (Seriously)...as with Earl, hopefully this behavior changes with time!

There are a few other changes going on, but those 3 are the top ones we've noticed so far. Most of the books or articles we've read talk about morning sickness beginning somewhere between weeks 6 and 8...Ash is praying that she is spared from that symptom! She's been asking her belly to be kind and do without that portion of this cycle...we'll see!









The first Doctor visit is next Thursday- we're hoping to be able to get an ultrasound and actually see our little Poppy Seed (That's how big the baby is supposed to be at 4 weeks).

More on the Laubsters later!

We're PREGNANT!

Our first blog entry is an exciting one for sure! On Sunday Evening, we found out that we are expecting our first child! While we were surprised to find out so soon, we are ecstatic that it's all happening so quickly! We set out to officially begin trying to get pregnant on October 1st...and given the timeline of my cycle, we're almost certain that THAT is the day we conceived! Though few who know us would be surprised to learn that we set out and accomplished exactly what we wanted on the exact day we wanted to do it...who would have thought our unborn child would act the same way? I can tell already, this is a match made in heaven!

Now, this is a bit odd, but as of right now, no one is reading this blog...we haven't announced our pregnancy to anyone...yet. As far as we can tell, we are only 4 weeks along at the most in this pregnancy...still a very scary and uncertain time in the realm of pregnancy. We have our first doctor's appointment next Thursday at 10:45am to meet with Dr. Morris at the Women's Health Associates of Santa Monica. We are both thrilled with this Doctor's office as it has the women's health vibe that Ash wants and is literally located right across the street from Jason's new jobsite! We just hope that our personalities and views for this pregnancy mesh well with Dr. Morris and that a beautiful relationship is formed!

That's all we'll write for now...we're planning on letting Ash's family know at Thanksgiving and Jason's family the very next week. It's been hard even in the past 3 days to keep it a secret...so here's to hoping we can keep it a secret for 3 more weeks!
We are so excited about this next stage in our lives and cannot wait to meet this little baby growing inside!!
Love,
J&A
PS- Ash is feeling well...just tired and hungry...all the time!