@puffbrat That was one hell of a birth story, wow. I'm glad it had a positive ending! How are things now?

@SheilAnneSmith @Alioth @jennamae102 How are you all doing/feeling/etc?

@puffbrat I'm so glad things are much better now!

@puffbrat Holy cow! I'm thankful that you and the baby pulled through. That must have been so tough on you and Leo! Thanks for sharing your story. ...I wonder which opiate the shaking is related to in the epidural? I've witnessed the shaking you described with heroin addicts coming down in the emergency room. It's harmless, but scary to see. I think it has to do with the nervous system coming back online after being suppressed by pain killer. And it's good to know about if I end up encountering a similar situation 7 months from now!

@SheilAnneSmith have you checked with your state. California offers supplemental insurance for pregnancy that I qualified for.

@SheilAnneSmith Glad you're starting to feel a bit better! I get headaches too, but not so often as you're having them. That sucks. Hearing baby's heartbeat and feeling flutters must be very exciting. I have a few more weeks before anything might be picked up on a fetal doppler. All I'm feeling is gas. Haha.

@MimiLaza ;__; Wow, sorry to hear about your little one.

Welp, we told the parents last night. Picked them up at the airport, took them to a nice restaurant, and told them over a steak dinner. They are quite excited. Dad has forgiven us for not going on that mission trip with him to the Philippines. He'd had his heart set on us going, but I had to make up excuses why I didn't want to while TTC. But I was worried about Zika. Anyway, we also called the MIL and told her. She...texted us back suggesting we name it after her side of the family. lol. Josh is going to tell some people at church this morning. I'll announce on facebook later this week with a Christmas card. It's really pretty here right now because we got (for us) a lot of snow, which we normally don't get this early if at all. Also, the power is out in parts of town. We lost power at our house for a few hours Friday, and I tried to cook dinner in the dark over the fireplace, and that was a disaster. So glad I don't have to do that often! I was queasy all weekend, and queasy right now. Telling people what's going on, will be a relief so I can stop pretending I feel well when I don't.

@MimiLaza I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. HUGS!

@Alioth That's awesome that you finally got to share your big news and that everyone is excited! It's even extra awesome that you no longer having to pretend you're feeling well when you aren't! How far along are you now? Glad you got your power back!

@MimiLaza so so sorry to hear of your loss. How absolutely devastating.

@puffbrat thanks for sharing your birth story! That had to be really scary. Congrats again on your little one and welcome back.

@Alioth how exciting to be able to share with the world and make a Christmas announcement! I think a lot of us dream of Christmas-themed announcements, haha. Sorry again that you’ve been feeling so queasy.

Tks everyone! Feeling better today. This whole week has overall been better except for Sunday and Tuesday. Feels great to let people know. But extra scrutiny and facing a barrage of personal questions from coworkers, friends and customers is quite daunting. How do the rest of you deal with it/have dealt with that? My husband and my brother have been proudly telling everyone they meet, and it's embarrassing and makes me feel overwhelmed.

@puffbrat I took your advice. For breakfast I had natural crunchy peanut butter slathered on apple cinnamon toast. Have not needed my medicine today. (yet) Tks so much!

Found out one of my best friends is pregnant too. Her due date is 4 days away from mine. Hers is secret for now, but they let me and Josh know because we are dealing with the same thing. I saw her Wednesday. She was so pale and tired, I feel sympathetic! But also excited that we can go through this together.

Just for kicks, here's a link to my announcement Christmas card. Only a few people got it at first. So maybe it was too subtle?

Lizz, super cute announcement! I sent you a friend request (please no talk about me TTC there though if you do accept it)

glad you are feeling better and you have a friend to go through this with!

I've been a little quiet, just busy and not much to report. I've been feeling pretty good the last few weeks, think I finally have some energy back and am getting more done before work.

My current workout routine consists for 20-30 minutes a day of cleaning up the cow shed; it nets me about 1 1/2 miles of steps and probably a bit of a light arm workout too, so it's not too bad. I've been sneaking in other walks when I can, but the weather is getting pretty crappy, I'll resign to buying my gym membership finally after Christmas I think, just to give me a warm, dry option...but the cows never fail to make a new mess each day to be cleaned up!

Not surprisingly, I failed my 1-hour glucose test yesterday--but we are bypassing the 3-hour test and heading straight towards monitoring, which is fine. I appreciate my doctor allowing me to go that route rather than jumping through more hoops. I felt horrible all day yesterday just after the 1 hour test, I like sweets, but there is a reason I don't drink soda or eat straight sugar without protein and fats along with it! Only thing is trying to find the balance between macros I ate at in the past when eating low-carb vs. still having to make sure I eat enough carbs for baby. The guidelines I've found online for GD are surprisingly high carb, I've got a diabetic cook book that I hardly used because I felt the recipes carried too many carbs in the past, maybe it's time to revisit it and use it a bit more this time.

My Christmas spirit has been pretty minimal, we are headed to my parents tomorrow, it's about a 10 hour drive. Marlin I went Christmas shopping together, each pointing out what we wanted so we had something to wrap and take down to "put on a show" at my parents. We did agree to surprise each other with one small item, so I got him a funny "baby owners manual" book I think he'll get a laugh out of.

Thanks, guys. People finally caught on to the announcement. @puffbrat Haha, thanks. Yeah, everyone keeps telling me what I can and cannot do, can and cannot eat, can and cannot take etc. So far, I've been nodding and smiling and keeping my thoughts to myself so I don't offend anyone's feelings. I did put my foot down with the hubs and had some wine Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I watered it down with sparkling grape juice, so it was far less than the 2 cups a week recommendation. Although 1st trimester it doesn't matter a great deal. My friend is in shock, hers was a surprise. She was laughing about it though, and is taking it with a good attitude. Her husband is over the moon happy

Sorry it's taking me so long to reply, I had several bad days in a row of riding the nausea train. Last week was really hard. Survived the in-laws Christmas visit. I'm proud of myself that I didn't throw up on them or wring my MIL's neck, though it was a near miss. She and are gonna have a little talk down the line about how she is NOT going to view the birth, and she is NOT coming to the house afterwards until I've been home at least a day and a night. She watched her other grandkids pop out and loves to tell it all in gory detail to anyone who will listen. She is determined to be there for mine too, and when I told her no one was coming but the hubs, just brushed me off.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! I was sick all day for it, but managed to chow down on delicious Christmas food in the evening. I also got some new clothes today. Tummy popped out in the middle of last week--way earlier than it was supposed to, and I've gained even more weight. My family is joking that I might have twins. @__@ I got a fetal doppler in the mail today. Could not find a heartbeat but will try again later. I'm a little earlier than the manufacturer guidelines.

@Kirstie155 Awesome! I was wondering who you were all week. If anyone else wants to add me on Facebook, feel free. But I don't post a great deal.

@SheilAnneSmith Yay! I'm glad you're getting your energy back, even if it is in small doses. I have cleaned cow barns before. It is no picnic! But I also learned the hard way that putting it off is even worse! I can't imagine doing right now, and in the cold. That's awesome. And I have not been back to the gym in months, but really hope next week will be the week I'm feeling up to it. I think I could handle a stationary bike and weight machines just fine. Sorry about the glucose test. It sounds like you pretty much know what to do with your diet though, which is awesome. How did the baby owner's manual go?

Lizz, your mother in.law sounds like a nighare! Make sure you and hubby are on the same page...it's his mom, make him handle her!

@Alioth Marlin loved the "Owners Manual"-- I gave it to him before we left for Christmas, but I'm sure he plans on reading it. It's tongue-in-cheek but also not horrible basic info...especially for a 48 year old who has never cared for a baby or even changed a diaper.

I caught another dang cold over Christmas. The cough with this one is horrible, I've coughed so hard I think I've pulled a glute. Hoping it goes away fast, I'm miserable.

9 days until our ultrasound appointment...can not wait!! We have the ultrasound at 10:30, appointment at 11:30 and then a funeral at 1:00pm. It's going to be a busy day!

Hey, finally found baby's heartbeat. Link! Suddenly everything feels very, very real. There's actually a living creature hanging out by my bladder. O__O

Thanks for the advice, guys! And thanks @WifiresGettingFit I'm pleased I've had 3 days of low nausea in a row. Hope this keeps up! @kirstie155 The MIL is a continuing source of worry. She is referring to the baby as "hers" now. She is also threatening to move in for 3 weeks after the birth. >_o; The hubs tends to just shut down around her. But he has confronted her on my behalf at least a few times. He is totally on board with keeping everything private and quiet. @marianlyn Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I think not telling her when labor starts is a grand idea. And clear expectations always help. I'm gonna let Josh handle telling her the plan, since he's better at that. I think it's hilarious that your husband might have livestreamed everything! Glad he listened to you instead.

@SheilAnneSmith ZOMG! Can't wait to hear how your ultrasound goes. Unfortunate about the funeral, but at least you'll have something happy to think about while going through a time of sadness. And I'm sorry you got sick again. That type of cough is miserable. Are you getting any sleep? Hope you feel better soon!

@Alioth That is such a beautiful sound to hear! I hope the low nausea keeps up (or even better no nausea!) I hope things settle down with the MIL and she backs off.