18 weeks!

How far along: 18weeks, 1 day

How big is baby: About the size of a sweet potato.

Total weight gain: Miraculously, I haven't gained anything.

Sleep: Lately I've had an increase in those weird dreams you always hear pregnant people talk about. I'll wake up and thing, "...what?" go back to sleep, and later wake up again and think, "...what?" My dreams are definitely weird. Overall, I sleep well though.

Maternity Clothes:Yes. They're amazing.

Morning Sickness: Nope.

Food cravings: Still french fries with ketchup. And Taco Bell. And...well, I just like to eat.

Food aversions: The biggest one is still barbeque, and I'm really beginning to miss barbeque!

Challenges: I can't get over the lack of energy.

Movement: I thought felt the baby last Sunday and Monday, but I haven't felt much since, but I had a really busy week, so either I didn't notice, or it was a false alarm.

Boy or Girl?: We still don't know, but we hope to find out tomorrow!

What I’m looking forward to: Finding out the gender, and getting to see the baby!

What I miss: Not wanting to take a nap 24/7.

Next appt: Tomorrow!

So it's been a while since my last post, and I've even had some people tell me to hurry up and update. Work was consuming my every waking moment for a while, and I'm the type of person that if my computer isn't conveniently placed, I'll just use the internet from my phone or iPad. We competed at our One-Act competition on April 3 against 4 other schools, and while we were disappointed that we didn't advance, we were given the title of Advancing Alternates. In One-Act, there isn't 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, but if there were, we basically would have come in 3rd. We also managed to beat a school that beat us at District last year, so that was an accomplishment. Four of our students won individual awards for acting, so we are quite proud.

I will say, that it's nice to have my life back. I actually have had time to do things. :)

Aside from work, things in our family have been busy as well. In November, my grandfather woke up one morning unable to walk and with intense pain in his legs. A week or two later, the pain subsided, but the inability to walk was still a problem. After many trips to the doctor, it was concluded that he needed back surgery.  On January 4th, he had his surgery and it went very smoothly. After a couple of weeks in the hospital, they sent him to a rehab facility to he could focus on building his strength back up. After a couple of weeks there, he developed pneumonia, and was sent back to the hospital. After he was better, they sent him to a different rehab facility. He wasn't doing well in his rehab, mostly because he refused to participate. He eventually got to the point where he wasn't eating or drinking well and everything was an argument. About 4 weeks ago, it was getting scary how bad he was. One night he complained of pain all night and in the morning they decided to take him to the hospital to see what was wrong. His blood pressure was really, really low, he was severely dehydrated and he was suffering from acute renal failure. They put him in the ICU and started looking better almost immediately. After 2 days in the ICU, they transferred him to a regular room, and he has been doing better ever since. He has encountered some major issues since he started doing better, but he continues to choose his health and happiness. After about a week or so in the hospital, he was sent back to the rehab facility, where after a few days, he took 18 steps with the help of the hand-bars. About a week later, (which was last Wednesday) he was brought home for the first time in exactly 3 months. He has an agency that sends a nurse during the day, and family members take turns in the evenings to help him with everything. His rehab therapists visit him at home and he is loving being at home. Yesterday he was sent to the hospital because they thought he'd had a stroke, however, he didn't and they're keeping him until a minor UTI that he has is better.

Needless to say, we are thrilled that he is doing better.

There are only 6 weeks of school left, and I couldn't be more excited. I am more ready for summer than ever, as I am ready to start focusing on getting ready for the baby. As each day passes, I am more and more eager to meet our baby. I'm curious about the gender, what he/she will look like, what his/her personality will be like, (let's hope that they DON'T get my hard-headedness) and things like that. I really hope that tomorrow we'll find out the gender so that I can start planning for the nursery. The only thing I think I've decided on for the nursery is the crib...which means I have a lot to do.

Hopefully, I can update this week about the baby's gender! Keep your fingers crossed. :)

2nd Trimester Recent Events Motivated Me to Update

How far along: 13 weeks, 3 days.

How big is baby: About the size of a small peach.

Total weight gain: I've actually lost a few pounds.

Sleep: I've been sleeping well, I just have to wake up early every morning because I need to relieve myself.

Maternity Clothes: I bought my first pair of maternity jeans recently, and they're amazing.

Morning Sickness: Um, I had an excellent streak of nothing. Until this morning. I'll spare you the details, but it was so intense my nose started bleeding.

Food cravings : Taco Bell Mexican Pizzas, French fries with ketchup & pizza. I apparently don't crave healthy things.

Food aversions: I've just been avoiding what I know I don't want, and no new developments lately, although I think that bacon maybe added to the list before too long.

Challenges: Adjusting to my ever-changing body.

Movement: Too early.

Boy or Girl?: I have an extensive ultrasound today to test for down syndrome, and the doctor said that they may be able to see what we're having today!

What I’m looking forward to: Finding out the gender.

What I miss: Sleeping in.

Next appt:A few hours.

So seriously, everyone says and all of the books say that morning sickness goes away after the first trimester. I know I'm only a few days into the 2nd, but I didn't appreciate my quality time with my head over a toilet this morning.

We had an appointment on Monday with the doctor, and she said that everything so far is coming along quite nicely. She said that the baby's heart-rate was good and strong, (154bpm) and kept saying how pleased she was with the heart-rate.

At the appointment, I also found that I've lost a couple of pounds, and I know that a couple of pounds isn't much, but considering that you gain weight in pregnancy, I was impressed. I've been saying that through this process, I hope to lose fat and only gain healthy weight for the baby, and so far that seems to be working. However, that's probably not going to be successful if I give into my cravings too often. ;)

I also was in disbelief that I have lost any sort of weight since I feel fatter than ever. I had to break down and buy maternity pants because mine were just getting too uncomfortable, and I can't say that I regret that decision, because those pants are probably the most comfortable pants I own, and I will not be looking forward to give them up when the time comes.

In work related news, it's Thursday and my spring break has finally started. We had rehearsal Monday-Wednesday, and I'm definitely grateful for the next few days off, but I wish it had been all week. However, we got a lot accomplished in just a few short days.

And now, I'll leave you with the latest picture of our baby. :) It's a little blurry, but you can see the face and arms and legs! The baby kept waving at us and at one point jumped like a jumping bean. :)

12 Weeks Down.

How far along: 12 weeks, 1 day.

How big is baby: About the size of a plum.

Total weight gain: Still, as far as I know, none. I need to invest in a scale.

Sleep: I still get tired early, and I wake up early every morning because I'm about to burst.

Maternity Clothes: I'm on the verge of needing to break down and find a solution to tight pants.

Morning Sickness: Nope, thankfully. :)

Food cravings : No majors this week.

Food aversions: I've just been avoiding what I know I don't want, and no new developments lately.

Challenges: Adjusting to having to go to the bathroom every five minutes. How am I supposed to get anything done? I know it's just begun...

Movement: Too early.

Boy or Girl?: Again, too early to know.

What I’m looking forward to: Finding out the gender.

What I miss: Sleeping in.

Next appt: One week.

I love Sundays, because it's church, lunch with Travis's family, and being lazy for the rest of the day. Today, I managed to get a nap, which was surprising since I slept later than usual this morning.

During my nap, I had the first dream that I was able to remember about the baby. In my dream, the baby was a girl, and we were taking her to church. There wasn't much detail to the dream, but I do remember the love I felt for my child. It was so pure. I was overflowing with happiness and warmth. The baby was so sweet and precious, and when I awoke, I was a little sad that I didn't get to dream about the baby longer.

It's just one of those things that got me even more excited to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl, and even more excited to meet the baby.

For years, I've said that the way that I love my nephew, Ethan, was the closest I could imagine to loving a child of my own. I always add that I know that the love I have for my children will be different of course, but it's hard for me to imagine what that love must be like, when I love a child that isn't mine the way that I love Ethan.

My grandmother always is sure to correct my thoughts on this with that I will never love Ethan like I'll love my own kids, and that's fine, but I'm just always amazed at our capability to love other humans, whether they're our own children, or someone else's.

The fact that I love sweet Ethan the way that I do---it's an unconditional, overflowing love--makes me overjoyed at the thought of the love that I'll have for my child. It already amazes me how attached I am to this baby, because I love it already, but I know it'll be an overwhelming amount when I meet him/her for the first time.

Now, that I've been sappy, I'll share other bits about my life these days.

One-Act season is here, and I am busy, busy, busy. With my rehearsal schedule and commitments that Travis has to the church during the week, I feel like I rarely see him these days, and I've been missing him a lot. However, we were able to spend the whole day together today, doing nothing, and it was perfect. :)

With One-Act season, there are always challenges...feeling like some of the kids don't want to succeed like we want them to, the long hours, the bus trips, etc. On Friday we attended our first clinic, which is an event where we perform our show and a clinician gives us critiques on the show. Overall, it went really well, the bus trip, however, did not. On the way up, we were complaining about the heat on the air-conditioned bus, and the driver turned it up all the way, and it was sweltering.

THE HEATER WAS ON. That's a little counter-active, no? We didn't find out until we were almost there, because one of our students finally said, "there's heat blowing out of this vent right here."  I wish she would have said that much, much sooner. When we told the bus driver, she was like, "But they're all off." Then she switched a switched and it turned off. I guess not, lady. The intense heat caused many, including Bobbi, the director, to get carsick. How fun! Thankfully, I don't have to deal with carsickness.

In other news, I have read the first two installments of The Hunger Games trilogy, and wow. It's amazing.  I highly recommend anyone and everyone pick up a copy immediately and begin reading. With the first book,The Hunger Games, after the first few chapters of learning about characters and the setting, it became an imaginary playground as I ripped through the pages, salivating for more. As soon as I finished, I couldn't wait to start the next book.

With the second book, Catching Fire, I was already attached to the characters and knew the setting so it was instant. I would read as much as I could during the day (before rehearsal starts), and stay up late reading---it took about a day and a half. If my student that has been loaning the books to me remembers the third installment, Mockingjay tomorrow, I'm sure it'll be an equally quick read. The story is just sooo good and the pacing of the book is so well written.

And now I cannot wait to see the movie.

11 Weeks!

Remember when I posted two weeks ago about how I was going to post weekly updates?


Remember how I used the word, "attempt" in the sentence?


I know myself well. :)


How far along: 11 weeks, 0 day.

How big is baby: thebump.com says about the size of a lime, which blows my mind a little. People keep telling me that I'll be more shocked when it's the size of a watermelon.

Total weight gain: None so far. :) I feel kind of like a rockstar.

Sleep: I still get tired early, and I wake up early every morning because I'm about to burst.

Maternity Clothes: I'm not wearing any yet, although I did buy two adorable maternity maxi dresses yesterday.

Morning Sickness: It' pretty much gone at this point. :)

Food cravings : Macaroni and Cheese, and Jack-in-the-Box curly fries with buttermilk ranch.

Food aversions: I have to be in the mood to eat meat these days, especially barbeque.

Challenges: I'm still having trouble/frustrations with not being able to help kids lift heavy things at work. I'm just so used to helping!

Movement: Too early.

Boy or Girl?: Again, too early to know.

What I’m looking forward to: Finding out the gender.

What I miss: Sleeping in.

Next appt: Two weeks.


Not much is changing with me that I can feel, anyway. I just think about the future and the baby constantly. I've had some mood swings, but even those aren't quite as bad lately.



The other day, one of my classes did something that really frustrated me, and a girl who tends to be somewhat disrespectful says, "Are you having a mood swing, or are you really mad at us?"


I'm not going to pretend like her assuming that I was going absolutely crazy didn't make me a little mad, but I told her that it wasn't a mood swing, it was that their choice of actions was beneath my expectations. I have, admittedly, felt like I was having an out-of-body experience when I find myself getting frustrated/annoyed over something that wouldn't typically be too bothersome to me, but even then, my 'mood swings' are really just my mind feels like it's going to explode. I have yet to turn into The Hulk.


Maybe turning into The Hulk would be the trick to getting some of these students whipped into shape. ;)

Oh, food.

It's crazy how being pregnant affects food in so many ways.

I had always heard of cravings and things tasting different or not liking favored foods at much, but it's just different than I expected, I guess.

For example, I usually eat Lean Cuisines for lunch---they're easy to take to work, they cook quickly, and they don't taste too bad. I recently tried a new one, Angel Hair Pomodoro, and I thought it was amazing. I brought another one to work over a week ago, and I just can't bring myself to eat it. It's still in the freezer. Every time I look at it, I'm disgusted---like a little kid would to brussel sprouts.

On Sunday after church, we decided to eat at Spring Creek BBQ with Travis' family and we decided to share the sausage/brisket plate. I was thankful that the side-dishes have unlimited refills, because the meat wasn't appetizing, but the macaroni and cheese was perfect to me.

I'm even having trouble getting excited about peanut butter and jelly, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite things to eat. I always say it's the perfect sandwich, because it's just so delicious and fool-proof. I'm finding it quite unfortunate that there's a growing distance between me and my old friend, the pb&j.

I'm also growing increasingly indecisive about choosing what I want to eat, which is frustrating when you're married to a person who is indecisive. Here's how pretty much every conversation regarding planning a meal goes in our house these days:

Me: Hey, what do you want for dinner tonight?
Him: I don't know...food?
Me: Oh, ok. I hadn't thought of that. But really, I don't know what I want, but I know we need to figure it out.
Him: Well, I don't know, that's the thing.
Me: Ok, we'll have that. That sounds delicious.

We always eventually figure it out, but this conversation continues in different varieties for what always feels like an extensive period of time many times a day. It's hard for me to figure out what I want sometimes, so I just need him to decide for me. :) I just need a live-in chef who can make us both whatever we want whenever we want. Interested? I'll pay you $1 a day. I'll go ahead an wait by the phone. ;)

Weekly Update

I have this plan, but we'll see if I actually remember to stick to it.

I'm going to attempt to post weekly updates about how I'm feeling and things like that, kind of like a survey a là MySpace bulletins. I've stolen this survey from my fellow blogger, Salt.

How far along: 8 weeks, 6 days

How big is baby: According to the books, about the size of a jellybean. My ultrasound measurement for Baby Hazzard was 1.5cm

Total weight gain: None so far. :)

Sleep: I tend to get tired early, I've gone to bed as early as 8pm in recent weeks, but I'm beginning to adjust. It's 7:58pm now, and I'm not even yawning.

Maternity Clothes: Nope.

Morning Sickness: Occasionally, mostly just if I get hungry, or if I'm having a food aversion. Those tend to make me instantly nauseous.

Food cravings : No major cravings as of yet, although I have had some. Last week, nothing was going to stop me from ordering a Pizza Hut pepperoni pan pizza...and I never get those!

Food aversions: Yes, yes, yes. On three separate occasions this week, the idea of eating the Lean Cuisine I brought to work that day become repulsive by lunch, so I get something else.

Challenges: I'm having a hard time not helping the kids with the physical aspects of my job, such as moving large set pieces and such.

Movement: Way too early to feel the baby moving.

Boy or Girl?: Again, too early to know. Travis wants a boy, and I just want a healthy baby.

What I’m looking forward to: Less nausea.

What I miss: Delicious White Chocolate Mochas from Starbucks.

Next appt: Four weeks :)

I told my students this week about the baby, and they're excited for me. They're typical high school students---full of questions. Every day they ask me questions like, "How's the morning sickness?" and "What kind of cravings do you get."

It's kind of nice that they're getting to see a more personal side of me, and realize that I'm a normal person. I'm always trying to explain that to them, maybe they're a little closer to believing me now. :)

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage, Then...

Comes baby!

Ultrasound - February 8, 2012 - 8 weeks

So, I have vowed to my friends on Facebook and Twitter that I would not and will not be that parent that once they have a baby-in-utero, they only update about being pregnant and the events after.

However, some people want to know those details, (because I guess it can be interesting) so I'll just update my blog with that kind of stuff, considering this blog is about me, and it's my blog so I can do whatever I want. :)

How We Found Out
Most women discover their pregnancy by typical symptoms (being late, fatigue, nausea, etc.), but I am not most women. If I'm going to find out I'm pregnant, I apparently choose a much different route.

On the evening of January 17, it was business as usual. I got home from work, ate dinner with Travis, watched Teen Mom 2 and then took a shower before bed. As I was taking on the physically-demanding task of rinsing my hair, my heart started racing and pounding. It freaked me out a little, so I decided to breathe slow and finish showering. When I got out a few minutes later, it was still racing, so I counted my beats per minute...it was so fast I could barely keep count but it was somewhere around 130-140bpm. I felt like this was definitely something to be alarmed about, but I didn't want to be crazy, so I decided to lay down so I could just be still. I figured sleep makes your heart rate slow down naturally, so it'd calm down.30-45 minutes later it was still going, so I told Travis that I was concerned, and I felt like I should go to the emergency clinic by our apartment.

Of course, by the time I got there, I felt like I was delusional, because it had finally slowed down, but I wanted to get checked out anyway. They checked me in and hooked me to a heart monitor within a few minutes (I love that place!), and began doing blood work and took a urine sample. I joked with them that if they were looking for a positive pregnancy test, they weren't going to find it. I definitely wasn't pregnant.

A little while later, the doctor came in, and this is how the conversation went:

Doctor: Mrs. Hazzard, we got your test results back. Now everything came back normal except for one...
Me: (inner-monologue) Oh my gosh. I need a heart transplant. Or I'm dying. This isn't good. 

Doctor: ...you're pregnant!

Me: WHAT? Are you serious? No way! For real? You're sure? Oh my gosh. Are you serious? I'm pregnant? No way!

Doctor: (after recovering from laughter) Yes ma'am, your tests came out positive for pregnancy. The good news is that all of your vitals are normal now and it was probably just a surge of hormones.

Travis and I were both so shocked. We were both pretty quiet, trying to absorb this new information. The worst part was that they told us around midnight, which meant that I was expected to go home, go to sleep, and wake up for work the next morning.

I should've asked for a doctor's note to excuse me from work.

Not Feeling Real
Aside from being more tired than usual, some nausea, and the occasional mood swing, overall, I haven't felt too different. We told our families, but it still wasn't feeling real. In the last two weeks or so, I kept thinking, "what if they mis-read my lab results? What if I'm not pregnant? I would be so devastated."

It was bothering me so much I even took a home pregnancy test.

It came out positive. :)

But I will say, now that I have seen (and cried over) the baby and the heartbeat, it feels real. I am soooo excited!

It isn't my intention to only update about baby-related information, but at least people have the option to read this instead of extensive Facebook updating. :)