Wikki beats!

Woosh Woosh Woosh! Wikki is now 17 weeks old and has a heart beat in the 150 bpm range!

He/she has already received a number of gifts from his/her loving Aunties! What a lucky baby!
A penguin onesie and booty socks from Auntie Kaye and Adrienne, "I love my Auntie" bibs and a baby penguin and daddy figurine from Auntie Christina, and another onesie from Auntie Elizabeth and Grandma Suzy!

Mommy is growing bigger and bigger! I've already gained 15 pounds... YIKES! I hope that's not too much for 17 weeks...

Anyway I'm super excited to celebrate my friend Krista's baby shower this weekend. She's having a baby boy named Sullivan in late September! I made a super cute watermelon stroller fruit basket! It was pretty easy to make after watching this youtube link.

Krista and Darren Driggers (with baby Sullivan bump)

Watermelon stroller fruit basket!

Week 12: My clothes don't fit!

It was a great weekend celebrating Lori Wall and Josh Sparkman's wedding! Congrats to the happy couple. The Wall's are some of my longtime friends from Summerville. I also got to catch up with Holly Bounds Jackson, my USC J-School and SCBA intern friend... Check out our HUGE breakfast from Page's Okra Grill in Mt. Pleasant! Cheese grits, eggs, bacon, biscuits, home fries and french toast! It was all so scrumptious, but off the record, we couldn't finish it all.

I've now finished my 12th week of pregnancy! Oh yeah baby! The past two weeks have been better -- I'm not as tired, not as nauseas, and do not have as many headaches!

So my belly is popping out more. My clothes don't fit so this weekend I went shopping for maternity clothes for the first time! It was a different experience, but luckily my pregnant friend Amy was there for advice. I think I ended up with some pretty cute stuff from the Motherhood store.

The neatest little thing which I recommend to all pregnant women is what they call "The Tummy Sleeve." It's a little soft tube like item that goes around the belly. Anyway, you can wear your own pants/shorts unbuttoned and the tummy sleeve hides all the bumps.

Stay tuned... William and I go back to the doctor this week and will have an update on little Wikki! Can't wait! :)

Meet little Wikki!

Week 9: First doctor visit and first picture of baby Nikki + William = Wikki Shealy! Dr. Suzanne Bradford with Mount Pleasant OBGYN confirms the baby is now 2.92 cm in "crown rump length," and that means I'm probably 9 weeks and 5 days. Our families and both sets of soon to be grandparents are elated! So here is the little butterbean-sized baby! The ultrasound also allowed us to hear the heartbeat, which was a very quick woosh woosh woosh sound!

I broke the big news to my bosses at work and a few other co-workers, checking over the tips on telling the boss from The Baby Center beforehand. Some women choose to wait until after the first trimester is over to share the news, as the risk off miscarriage drops.

Week 10: WOW! I'm rapidly rapidly growing! I'm now 34 inches around and I weigh 121 lbs. I started on my scale at home at 116 lbs. I need some nutrition help! Salad is yucky to me, which was what several of my meals were pre-pregnancy. My favorite foods right now are chicken, cheese, bacon, milk, pizza, pasta, bread, french fries and chips. I'M ALWAYS EATING! Good news is my fatigue and nausea has subsided! Hopefully that will now help me to shift my focus to nutrition and exercise. Any tips/recipes for me?

SURPRISE NEWS!

I was pretty nervous about sharing this news on the blog, but I'm pregnant!! I've kept up with the blogging, but I'm only making it public now as I'm nearing the end of the first trimester. Here's a look back at Weeks 5 - 8:

Week 5ish (so we believe): It was Tuesday April 12th, 2011. I noticed my period was about a week late, I had a few bouts with extreme fatigue, and I was eating lots and lots of food. My stomach was the size as if I were bloated, but I didn't feel bloated. I didn't really think I was pregnant, but I took the test(s) anyway. Two pink lines, one line faint. I didn't know what that meant, though some blogs I read the women said that meant pregnant, WHOA! I took the test again with the same result. The next day I bought some digital tests. Four tests later the digital tests read PREGNANT! William was so excited, we immediately told our families that evening.

Week 6: I went to the doctor's office for a talk with a Jackie the nurse. She gave me many brochures to read and prenatal vitamins galore. Right now estimations show a due date of Dec. 11th! I still had extreme fatigue, but now also high sensitivity to smell, and starving. I feel like I am showing and my pants are snug and some don't really fit anymore. Jackie says it's normal for people, especially if small, to begin with to begin storing the fat around the belly early. Also, William and I met up with friends Lyndsay and Berry to see the movie "Limitless." I ate a hamburger, but apparently it was not a good choice. I ended up vomiting in the parking lot. Sorry you had to witness that Lynds! :)

Week 7: Easter Sunday! Brunch at Husk with Deja, Andrew, Nikki and Crystal (Nik's friend)! I had beef tenderloin and ended up throwing up again. Apparently this baby hates red meat. My friend Ashley says there's no way William's boy would hate red meat, but I have developed an affinity for cheese, a food that I've never really obsessed about before. Mozzerella string cheese is delish and I always feel like eating mac and cheese! My fave is the wonderful Lobster Mac and Cheese (seen in photo below) from Graze! 10 out of 10! My stomach is now 32 inches around and I think I'm showing big time. I can't wear many pairs of my pants anymore! Friends say they can't really tell... I can!

Week 8: This is typically the week a pregnant woman would schedule a first doctor's appointment. I still have extreme fatigue and nausea, I guess what some people describe as flu-like symptoms. All sorts of smells and situations trigger it. The absolute worst smells for me are bleach, the seafood section at the grocery store, and restrooms! (poor Deja and Keke, my friends from Live 5, had to endure my gagging one day. I was gross. sorry girls!) I'm also eating so much food, it is exhausting. The baby is taking all my nutrients! Oh yeah - check out the reading material I purchased on Amazon for me and daddy William!