First Two Doctor Visits & More...

Ok. So I know it's been a long time since my last post, but I'm sure you all know how life can get sometimes, and I'm continually learning how to deal with all the physical and emotional changes during pregnancy.

A lot has happened since my last post. I've been to two ob/gyn appointments, with two DIFFERENT doctors. Those doctor’s appointments have been the only ones in my life I've been anxious and excited to go to. It's exciting learning about your baby and hearing the doctor say you and the baby are perfectly healthy.

There was some stress and complications with finding a doctor that accepted our insurance program. I started at one doctor who said they took my insurance, but once we were in the appointment we found out they didn't accept are particular program within that insurance company. Ah! I thought it was all settled. So then we spent much time and effort trying to find a doctor in New Braunfels who took my insurance. We used the online search engine from the insurance company and it would just say "No results". We then called the insurance company to try to get an exception made to pay for a doctor out of network. Actually we had to make that request twice because we learned when we called to check on the status that Michael can't make that request. I had to. And yet, the lady who took his request failed to mention that. Plus these people were SO rude. I hate dealing with that kind of stuff. And many of you may know how much worse it is when you’re pregnant. I'm normally not very emotional and I'm pretty rational, but.... all bets are off now. Haha. Sometimes I don't even know who I am. Then I called the doctor’s office to the doctor that we were trying to get the exception made for, and come to find out, they aren't willing to take patients who are out of network because it's a pain in the butt for them to get paid. Ah! I don't blame them, but I was getting pretty frustrated and stressed trying to figure this all out. I just really wanted to have a doctor that delivered at the hospital here in New Braunfels in case there might be an emergency at delivery and I need to get to the hospital quickly. Thank the Lord, I finally found a doctor. I just started calling doctors around town, even though my insurance information online said they weren't covered. I found that one of the doctors that came highly recommended to me was covered by my insurance. Woo hoo! I was so relieved. I immediately ran over to their offices to fill out all that paperwork ahead of time, just to make sure I was good to go and in the clear. I DID NOT want to find out otherwise a few weeks later when I’m sitting in my appointment.

My first appointment with the first doctor went well. I was happy with the doctor and the answers she gave to my huge long list of questions, but I didn’t come out of there thinking “Wow. I love this doctor. She’s amazing.” I had my first sonogram. That was the best part. Here is Baby Coburn.


A month later I had my first appointment with my new doctor. I LOVE him. He has a great bedside manner, and is very comforting and friendly. He and I both thought it strange that my first doctor failed to mention to me that she came up with a new estimated due date. Her estimate was June 6, three weeks after the first estimate (which was estimated according to my last period). So I went into this second appointment thinking I was 17 weeks pregnant, and come to find out it was more like 13 ½. Goodness, I had backtracked several weeks – so it felt. Strangely I felt good about the news though, because I kept having a feeling I wasn’t as far along as the calculations said I was. I guess it’s nice to know some “feeling” I was having was actually correct. My new doctor did a sonogram and came up with his own estimated due date, which is now June 3. Here is Baby Coburn at this appointment.



In the past week or so I THINK I've been feeling the baby move. I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for, so it's a guess. But I've definitely been feeling things in the area of the baby that are otherwise unexplainable. haha. I've heard the feeling described in so many different ways, but the feelings I've had I would describe as a quick rumble.

Some have been curious and asking about my symptoms and how I’ve been feeling. Being pregnant is a strange thing. Haha. Seems like I never know what to expect from day to day. Overall I would say I’m doing quite well. I’m feeling pretty good and I’m very happy and excited. (Michael is happy and excited too. :) ) First trimester I was slightly queasy most of the time and threw up a couple times, but nothing I would consider really miserable or anything. I definitely was super tired, but have mostly gotten over that now. I thought I would be completely over it by now, but no, that’s not the case. Haha. Like I said before it’s different from day to day. Like a roller coaster ride, I feel like my hormones go up and down from day to day. Some days I feel very energetic and “normal”, while other days I’m just dragging my feet and can’t survive without a nap. The strange thing that has happened lately though, is that that constant queasiness has gone, but there have been many times that out of nowhere I’m struck with the immediate need to RUN to the bathroom to throw up. That’s about twice a week now. I’m nervous to be too far from a bathroom, because it comes on without ANY warning. I’m okay with it because I don’t ever feel bad, and as quickly as it comes on it dissipates. But what’s a little annoying is that I don’t usually like eating. It’s just not fun anymore. Haha. This isn’t the case 100% of the time, but maybe 90% of the time. It’s mostly a chore now. Usually NOTHING sounds good. I would rather NOT eat, but I know if I don’t eat a little every few hours I will start feeling sick. Sometimes to test how extreme these feelings are, I will sit and imagine that I could have anything in the world to eat. Usually, STILL nothing sounds good. I go thru the list of usual favorites and I’m thinking “Blah. No Thank you.”

Question for you all – Why is it that as soon as you’re not supposed to have something, all of a sudden you really want it? First trimester it was hot dogs. I normally don’t care for hot dogs. I can take them or leave them. But about as soon as I found out I was pregnant I was dying for a hot dog. Hot dogs are one of those items on the restricted or limited list. Funny thing is I found out that my sister in law Cari went thru the same thing over the hot dog. Haha. Luckily I’m over it now. But let’s just move on to caffeine. So I’m supposed to limit my caffeine intake to no more than the equivalent of two cups of coffee a day. Normally I do not consume very much caffeine and am perfectly happy with that. I would have about 1-2 cups of coffee per month, then a glass a tea maybe 3-4 times a week, and not all of the tea would have caffeine in it. I almost never have soda. Well goodness, I’m surprised at how difficult it has been for me to stay away from caffeine. I’m guessing it’s because of me being tired. When I found out I was pregnant I decided to play it safe and eliminate coffee all together (easy right?) and then limit my tea to no more than 1 glass a day. Sounded so easy. This “issue” has been getting a little better lately (haha), but I’ve been surprised that this has been a struggle for me. I try to not have a caffeinated drink unless I’m REALLY craving one, just because I know I will crave it at some point. Although, first and foremost, I don’t stress over the issue. I’m convinced that’s worse.

I have definitely noticed a difference in how my body reacts to stress. I would say that normally I react to stress quite well. It doesn’t get to me that easily, and mostly there isn’t a lot that stresses me out. I always try to live by the little motto “don’t stress the small stuff”. But since I’ve been pregnant, no matter how hard I try I can’t ignore the fact that something might be stressing me. If I do, I get sick. If I get stressed, forget about me being able to hold down ANY food. I just have to go to bed. Michael is SO SO good to help in this area. He helps in MANY areas, but especially this one. I’m relieved to know that if a stressful task needs to be taken care of (like a dispute on a bill for example), he is happy and willing to take care of it, and gives me permission to not even have to think about it. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t mind taking care of it myself, but I thank God every day that I have such an amazing husband who is so extremely attentive and understanding to the weird things that are going on with his wife. Haha. I promise I have the best husband ever. Haha. Everyone should know how amazing he is. I can be kind of nutty sometimes and Michael will just put up with it and appease my strange requests. If ever I’m in any discomfort he tries to do anything he can to make it better. He insists on trying different ideas if the first thing doesn’t work. He regularly makes me hot tea (decaf – haha), and gets me a cool towel for my head when I have a headache, and will get me water, or pillows or anything else to try to make me comfortable. He treats me like a princess (as you can probably figure out by now), and I DO SO appreciate it. I am SO SO blessed. I can’t stress that or express that enough.

I often think about what it will be like to be pregnant with a second or even third child. I know I have it so good right now, with having the luxury to not work, or have many other responsibilities. I have the luxury of just staying home and doing nothing if I don’t feel well. Or take a nap whenever I need to. Or have a good amount of time to get ready for this baby. I can begin to imagine how different it will be with a second or third pregnancy. Haha. So I’m just going to say – I don’t expect every pregnancy to be like this (with these luxuries and all), but I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts! Haha

Getting Rid of Our "Baby" to Make Room for Baby

Some of you may have seen that Nissan commercial they have on tv right now, where the women tells her husband they are pregnant. After about two seconds into their celebratory hug, you see a thought come across his mind. It looks a little like panic, and then he runs out to the drive way where his Nissan Z is sitting. He pulls and tugs on various parts of the vehicle, until magically he has turned his Z into a Nissan Maxima. Michael had that moment. Haha.

When I told him that we were pregnant, his first words were, "WHAAAAAT?!......We need to sell the Challenger."


About two weeks ago we did just that. We said bye bye to our V8 engine with Hemi and 372 horsepower, and said hello to affordability, versitilty and ROOM. Will this baby ever know what sacrifice we made for it? Haha. Actually, although on one hand I was sad to see our challenger go (I often wonder who she will end up with, and if they will take good care of her), I am VERY VERY happy with our new Dodge Journey. A fitting name for exactly what we're on - a new journey. Michael and I are both very excited and very happy with our new wheels.

The Dodge Journey is a crossover, and it will seat up to 7 people. It actually has three rows of seats, and the back two rows fold down flat, so we can carry a lot of cargo if we need to. I love it already because it's great for taking Daphne places. We like to take her with us sometimes, and with the third row folded flat there is lots of room for her to lay down. In the challenger Daphne would often drool on Michael's shoulder or whine right in his ear - something he wasn't fond of. But now she's so far away she can't reach us. haha. Plus I think she loves all the visibilty she has, as she's surrounded by big windows. The Journey has a lot of other fun little features, like hidden ice chest compartments, a cooled compartment in front of the front passenger, and a 6 disc CD/DVD player. I love all the configurations I can make with folding seats flat, or leaving them upright, and I love that they are super easy to adjust. I was also pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the mid row of seats is for ADULTS, not just children.

So although we will miss our "baby", we're excited to have made this change for baby. (And by the way - it really wasn't much of a sacrifice at all. haha. I love my new car.)

Boy or Girl?

Several people have asked me if I thought I was having a boy or a girl. Each time I've been asked, I have told them that I really had no guesses, clues, or "feelings" as to which I was having.

It's funny to me that in the first week after hearing that Greg and Cari were pregnant I had already dreamt that they were having a girl and that they would pick something along the lines of a pink and brown nursery. I say first week, but it might have even been the first night after I heard. haha. So my dreams had that stuff right, although I should also mention that I also dreamt that Cari gave birth to her baby on her way to work (school). When I say on the way, I'm being very literal. She was still driving. Didn't even stop... Talented Cari... Although Lilly has not yet arrived I doubt that dream will come true. I hope not anyways...

So it's funny to me that I have not yet dreamt about whether I was having a boy or girl. I once dreamt I gave birth to just a baby skeleton, but lets not talk about that one. Eek.

Last night it finally happened. Before I tell you my dream I will tell you something else that happened that day that may very likely have influenced my dreams. I've been pretty tired lately, and figuring I likely will be feeling more energetic in my second trimester, I'm making the most of the first trimester and I'm taking it pretty easy. haha. I'm not concerning myself with any huge projects until later. So I'm doing a lot of reading, meandering, visiting with family, movies, etc. (Does Michael spoil me or what?!) So as I've been siting around more I got the urge to crochet. The urge may have come from the fact that I recently organized all my arts and crafts materials, but anyways I haven't crocheted in a while and it's kind of fun and relaxing. I went to my freshly organized crocheting materials and found I had four colors of yarn - white, pink, blue, and hunter green. Hmmmm....which color should I use? White of course. haha. I hadn't really decided what I was making, and if I was making something for the baby white would always match. By default I found myself crocheting a blanket. I wanted stripes, so after I had what I considered a sufficient size stripe I stopped to decide, "pink or blue?" That was a hard one. Knowing that I was mostly crocheting for my entertainment and not necessarily to perfectly coordinate with the nursery, I wasn't too concerned about whether or not I picked correctly. But I still had no clue which to pick, so I tried to leave it up to "chance". I put the pink yarn and the blue yarn in a plastic bag. I closed my eyes and shook it around, and with my eyes still closed I dumped them on the bed and went to grab for the first one my hand would touch. Lo and behold - I picked up blue! haha. So this boy or girl will have a not very good, but very loving, white and blue striped blanket. That night I told Michael we were having a boy. haha. He was very happy. :)

That night I dreamt that Michael and I were toasting with celebratory sodas (in the can). The cans had a blue label that said "It's a boy!" haha. So there you have it folks.

We must be having a boy. ;)

Noticing More Changes

Well, I guess I'm officially having some degree of "morning sickness". I just finished my 9th week and smells are intensifying for me. I started really noticing it Sunday night. My mother in law made some cookies and I wasn't hungry when it was "cookie time" at the house, so I took a couple home with me in a ziplock baggie. This has NOTHING to do with her cooking/baking skills, but I was about 5 seconds from throwing them out the car window on the way home. I was so close to throwing up from the strong smell of cocoa. NORMALLY I LOVE THAT SMELL! Actually I loved that smell just a few hours earlier when she was making them. I feel like I've gone crazy.

So I hadn't yet thought how these changes would effect me at the grocery store, especially since I've felt so good so far, apart from being tired. So today I ventured out for groceries. Once I finally procrastinated long enough and convinced myself to go, I soon realized it would be difficult. After about 5 minutes of being there the smells and even just sites of most things made me want to throw up. Random things would bug me, like the bags of salad. Normally I LOVE salad. Salad seems like such a bland food to get nauseous over. I don't get it. I had my limit once I got to the cheese and lunch meet area. I hurried to the bathroom to keep from throwing up in the middle of the grocery isle, but of course once I got there, not much happened. I still felt like I needed to throw up - but I didn't. I just hung out there for a while. haha. After a while I hurried to finish my shopping. Oddly, I started feeling better as soon as I got to the rice isle. What is it with my weird obsession with rice?? Even my desserts have rice in them. (Made rice pudding last night). Something about rice is so comforting right now. haha. I've been making rice as a side dish, rice in my casseroles, rice in my soups, and now in my pudding. I bought more rice today and I plan on making 10 bean soup mixed with rice. haha.

I was curious about something. Do y'all think that the food sampler people get offended if you don't try their food?? - Particularly the ones who are like cooking up their special little dish in the small "show kitchen" setup at HEB. I can't help but wonder. There was no way I was going to try anything that lady made....well....unless maybe it was rice. haha

Starting to Sink In

I think the reality of being pregnant and raising a baby is slowly sinking in for Michael and me. Michael has turned into a different person already, and he might say I have too. Haha. I’ve never seen Michael so serious about finances and budgeting, or seen him be so “restrictive”. It’s understandable, but it’s a side of Michael I’ve never seen before. Haha. I’m usually the one to be very conservative and will watch every penny, while Michael is the one to say “Oh, I’ll just make more money tomorrow.” Not anymore. Haha. I’m glad he’s taking it all very serious and thinking about the responsibility of taking care of the baby. I think we are both continually getting more excited at the thought of having a baby.

Please pray for the good health of the baby. I’m guessing this is normal, but I can’t get the threat of miscarriage out of my mind. You hear about it everywhere, and today I read that about 25% of pregnancies result in miscarriage. That’s a lot! I continue to pray for the good health of the baby and pray for peace, as I feel like maybe Satan is trying to torment me with these thoughts.

Many people are asking about how I’m feeling. So far I’ve felt pretty good. Mostly I’ve been really tired and my boobs hurt. Haha. I haven’t really had any morning sickness, unless you count the occasional queasiness. It’s not often and it’s minor. I haven’t been as hungry the past few days as I was last week when I was eating a lot more than usual. I feel like maybe I ate enough last week to sustain me thru this week. Haha.

Of course my hormones have been off the charts. (So it feels. Haha) Tuesday I cried so much I nearly threw up. Of course it was over something not very serious. It was crazy and totally uncontrollable. You wanna know what it was about? Of course you do. Well I’ve been trying to get appointments with ob/gyn’s - easier said than done. I haven’t picked a doctor yet, so I was hoping to meet with a couple to be able to pick one. This will be a long, important journey, and I hope to be able to use the same doctor for future babies as well, so I didn’t want to just go with the first doctor I come to. I got three referrals from my general doctor, and two of them don’t accept my insurance. I got an appointment with the third but the earliest she could see me was November 8th. I’ll be about 14 weeks then. Of course I freaked out over the thought of waiting that long. I’ve recovered. Haha. She’s the only doctor in New Braunfels area that accepts my insurance. So I’m not exactly sure what to do…

Today Michael, my mom, and I got to tour the local hospital – Christus Santa Rosa. We all liked it a lot. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, and everything I saw today confirmed what I heard. It was super easy to get to, to park, and find the birthing center. Nurse Cecilia took us on a spontaneous tour, and was SO helpful and able to answer all of our questions. She was very friendly, and I was pleased that it didn’t feel like she was rushing us at all. We got to meet the lactation consultant, tour a semi-private room, tour a labor/delivery/recovery room, view the OR where c-sections are done, and view the recovery room for that. She showed us the nursery, where there were no babies. Haha. I was glad to see that though, because they should be with mom, and they all were. :) She would have shown us a private room, but they were all full. She said everyone gets a private room, unless they are all full, in which case they will temporarily stay in a semi-private room until a private one is available. I was able to get some names of ob/gyn’s from her, and find out who the nurses all use, but most of the names she mentioned, I already knew they didn’t take our insurance. I think I’ll call my insurance and try to get them to let me use someone out of network, if I so choose. Haha. We checked out the waiting room on the way out, and we were happy with it. There was a woman there with her granddaughter, and we were able to talk to her for a minute. I asked her about their experience at the hospital and she raved about it. She said she’s been to a lot of hospitals and this one was defiantly one of the bests. She said everyone has been very kind and extremely patient and helpful, willing to answer their long list of questions. I’m pretty confident I’ll deliver here.

We're Pregnant!

I thought Carolyn had a great idea with the "parenting blog", so I'm stealing it. Thank you Carolyn. :)

For today I won't go into details about this past week, or how I've been feeling or anything like that, but what I will do is copy a journal entry I already wrote in my personal journal, written on the day we found out we were pregnant.

September 26, 2010

OK. Today was an interesting day. I've got to make record of it.

I'll just start out right at the climax and then tell about the process. Today I found out that I'm pregnant - first time. Ya, it's exciting, although I think I'm still in shock. I haven't screamed. I haven't cried. I haven't done much of anything outwardly. Haha. I guess it doesn't feel real.

So this week Michael got sick with some sort of cold and about the time he started feeling better (Thursday or Friday), I started feeling bad. I thought I was getting what he had because I was feeling SUPER TIRED. Thursday I thought maybe I was just starting my period because I was cramping bad and exhausted. But what I didn't understand was why I was cramping so bad without any blood. I didn't think pregnancy because I took a pregnancy test just a few days prior. My app on my IPhone said I was like 14 days late, so I tested. The test came back negative. So all day Saturday I was still feeling drained and cramping and this morning (Sunday) when I didn't even wake up until 11 am I figured something was up. So I took a test first thing. It came back positive. Although I "felt" pregnant I didn't believe it. I didn't want to get excited until it was confirmed. I thought I should take another test, but i Just used my last test.

Michael was at work through all of this, but I wanted him in on it ASAP. I texted and called him to meet up with me for lunch. I quickly showered, dressed and ran over to Clear Springs Restaurant (the closest restaurant to the house). I anxiously waited at the table for Michael to arrive. I think I had to wait for about half an hour. It's difficult to know exactly when Michael can get off for his break with unpredictable customers and all. Soon after he arrived I told him what happened, and I got it on audio recording. It's funny. First thing he said was "WHAT?!" He seemed very happy but also shocked. He basically said something to the effect of not being ready and that he needed to start working out TODAY because he has to keep up with a child running around. HAHA! I told him he had about two years before this child would be running anywhere. He started listing off all the things that needed to get done, like seel the car. I told him to slow down and that he was overwhelming me. I agreed with his "To Do" list, but told him we had plenty of time to get stuff done.

After lunch I ran a few errands - Walgreens for more pregnancy tests, Library for pregnancy books but it was closed, Hastings for pregnancy books, the HEB for prenatal vitamins and a few groceries. Throughout this time I felt really weird, like I was floating or having an out of body experience. I also felt very tired, faint at time and dizzy at times. Later I read those were pregnancy symptoms. haha. Sometimes I felt like I shouldn't be driving. I felt "out of it". Zoned out with slightly off depth perception. I hit a curb when parking at HEB. haha. At the time it made me kinda angry or frustrated. That didn't last long though. I was very happy.

Anyways, I headed home and had a very nice evening. I had a snack of potato salad. YUM! Watched a tv show, then laid in bed to read my book until Michael got home. When he got home he grilled up a sirloin steak and I made a spinach salad and we had a very nice dinner. Even the weather was great. Slightly cool with a breeze.

I'm sure my journal entries in the future wont be so detailed, my hand can't handle it, but I didn't want to forget what the first day was like.

Also this explains that INTENSE craving for rive the other day. Who craves RICE?! Lame. haha. Also yesterday I craved fries (which I'm now over), and last night I craved cream corn. Seems so random. I didn't get any creamed corn, but I did get crawfish chowder for lunch which is creamy with corn in it. So that worked. I'm going to try hard not to succumb to TOO many cravings or "indulgences." I want to be healthy and not have a bunch of weight to lose once the baby is here.

By the way, I estimated I'm about 6 weeks pregnant right now. I calculated my due date at May 17th.

Oh ya, One thing I forgot to mention that's kinda funny is that I took that second pregnancy test at Hastings. I couldn't wait until I got home. Plus I had to pee, so why not? I'm realizing now though that peeing is something I will be doing very frequently. haha

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Like I said, future posts wont be this long. But this is my personal record of the first day. :)

Thanks John and Kari for helping me start up this blog. I love how supportive y'all are to your pregnant sister in laws! :)