Who That Is? My BABY DADDY!

My baby daddy, my husband, my best friend, the love of my life......Hays Browning! So, I thought it was time that I tell those of you that might not know how absolutely fantastic Brayley's Daddy is! Hays and I have been together for over 10 years! We were just babies when we met....okay...not babies, but we were just four years old going to the library in downtown Greenville for story time. Then we went to preschool together, followed by K-12, and then off to UK together too! We've basically known each other our entire lives. We didn't always know we'd end up together, but I think we both had a feeling pretty early on.

When we were in middle school, May 10, 1998 to be exact, we became OFFICIAL (ie. boyfriend and girlfriend). After a lovely nearly 5 month relationship (which is impressive for 14 year olds) we broke up and decided to just be friends. It took almost 2 years for us to get back together, but by then we were both sure....and the rest is history. We began our fairy tale on June 16, 2000 after returning home from Mission Fuge (church camp). It was the summer before our junior year of high school, and I was 15! But I had found my husband!

Hays and I started talking about getting married really early in the relationship, honesly I think all high school couples do this not really knowing if it's actually going to happen or not. For some reason, I never really questioned it...it always just felt "right". Things were so easy with him! Since we'd been friends literally our entire lives, we had a pretty easy time dealing with the "dramas" of high school and each other. I loved him then....probably even before June 16th! ;) Our senior year of high school we both applied to UK (we both ONLY applied to UK) and ended up getting in and getting our housing assignments early (we were a little over anxious about college!). We found out we were living in the same dorm! Kirwan 3 on South Campus! I was super excited, I had heard great things about dorm life from Hays' sister, Whitney, and couldn't wait to go to school!

That summer, I moved into Kirwan 3 a week before Hays because I was going through sorority rush (which I would say was one of the worst weeks of my life because I was EXTREMELY homesick, but I'm SO glad I did it and got to be a part of Alpha Gam- love those girls). I was basically a basket case that whole week, and one of the only things that got me through was knowing Hays would be back to move in the next week. He and Brad moved in the next weekend to their room almost directly below me! I was so happy to have him there! I honestly don't know how I would have made it without him that first semester, he comforted me when I was homesick, encouraged me when I was nearly failing every Chemistry test, and loved me all the time! I really relied on him a lot that first year, and he was everything I needed him to be and more.

The rest of college was awesome (so much better than that first semester) and during our last semester at school (Easter 2006 to be exact) Hays proposed! At this point we had been together for almost 5 years! I was SO sure that I wanted to marry him, it was the easiest YES I've ever said. 14 months later (on our 7 year anniversary), we got married at his church in Greenville. Our wedding day was perfect- the happiest day of my life so far!

The last 3 years we've been living our fairy tale here in Lexington. I can honestly say that I love him more now than I did 10 years ago when we started dating (when I had the butterflies), and even 3 years ago (when he put ANOTHER ring on my finger). Today I love him because of what he HAS been to me (my best friend, my rock, my husband), what he IS (my soul mate, my better half), and what he WILL BE (the best Daddy in the world to baby Brayley)!

Hays, thank you for loving me and sharing the last 10 years of your life with me. I am the luckiest girl in the world to call you my "baby daddy"!

43143!!!

Whoa! We're Already 1/4 of the Way There!!!

Seriously?!?! How is it possible that this is already 1/4 over with already! Crazy! On Saturday I was exactly 10 weeks pregnant. Baby Brayley is the size of a plum (or a kumquat depending on what book you read) and is a little over an inch long. He or she weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. Apparently, the baby has completed the most critical portion of his or her development and we are now beginning the fetal period when the tissues and organs rapidly grow and mature. The kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver are in place and starting to function! WOW! Isn't it amazing that something so small already has everything already in place inside its body?!?! SUPER cool!

I have felt pretty good this weekend, I am back to taking my Phenergan every night at bedtime. It helps! I sleep better through the night and don't feel as bad in the morning. So that's good. I'm really hopeful that at the end of the first trimester (as I keep hearing) the sickness really will get better and I won't have to take the meds at all. Fingers crossed. We've technically got just under 3 weeks left in the first trimester, so hopefully the end of the morning sickness is in sight! :) I know the grandparents to be are probably MORE excited about the start of the 2nd trimester than me, because it means they get to announce Brayley to the world!!! They are all so excited to tell people, but I really want us to wait until we're out of the first trimester. It will be here soon enough.

Hays' parents were in town this weekend for his first official football game of this season. The defense played great, but his team didn't win. :( Oh well, lots more games to go, and I'm sure they will win lots! :) I think his parents have chosen their grandparent names: Karen will be "Grammie" and John will be "Brownie" or "Papa Brownie". I don't think my parents have finalized their names just yet, but there is plenty of time left. As for me...I am pretty excited to be a "Mama" and Hays is pretty pumped to be a "Daddy"! It will be SO fun!

We also got to see Whit this weekend and she brought lots of treats for me! It was so sweet of her! She got me Belly Bars (breakfast bars with prenatal vitamins), Preggy Pops (hard candies that help with morning sickness), stretch mark cream (which fortunately I don't need yet but I'm sure will come in handy later), and an awesome book about baby items we'll need and the reviews of each (so we can start our research)! It was so great to see Auntie Whitney!

I finished up my weekend with a baby shower for a co-worker who is due in just a few weeks. Her little boy is due around Halloween (which is around the time we will find out what little Brayley is). I couldn't help but think about OUR baby the whole time at the shower. I can't wait to meet our baby Brayley!

9 Weeks 2 Days

So, I just started this blog stuff and I'm already slacking! Sorry about that, I will try to do better! It's been a good week in the Browning household. Football season is starting, Hays has already had 2 scrimmage games and real games start this Friday! Woo Hoo! Go Eagles! I'm sure "Brayley" will be a BIG football fan too, he or she will have already been to so many games in the womb! ;)

So we're 9 weeks now. Brayley is the size of a grape. I got a book in the mail from my insurance company (how awesome are THEY?) that walks us through every week of pregnancy...even more than What to Expect When You're Expecting, it's pretty awesome. It shows pictures (well illustrations, not actual pictures) of what the baby looks like each week. It's crazy, it shows a blown up picture and then the ACTUAL size. It's totally crazy that something the size of a GRAPE already has arms, legs, fingers, and toes. That just amazes me!

I have been feeling much better lately, and actually haven't even taken my Phenergan in several nights (there for about 10 days I was taking it every night before bed). But Friday night I decided since I'd been feeling so good that I'd just see how I did without it. I slept great both Friday and Saturday night. So this is good! Maybe just maybe I'm over the hump. Fingers crossed! Even if it comes back, I know Brayley is worth it so I will deal with it. :)

I went to Cincinnati this weekend with Alicia to visit our friends and sorority sisters that live there now (Amy and Ashley). Ashley just had a baby, Breanna, and she is probably the cutest thing you've ever seen. She came to lunch with us and did SO GOOD! She was a little angel and I told the girls that she gave me "baby fever".

They are going to FREAK OUT when they find out that I'm ALREADY PREGNANT! :) Ahh....pregnant....this is just fun stuff! I love it! I can't wait until we're a little bit further along and I can tell my best friends, and...well.....EVERYONE! We are just SO excited about this little grape-size baby.

8 Weeks!

So we're 8 weeks in....hard to believe we're 1/5 of the way there! Eek! I am SO excited! We had a great weekend here in Lexington. Hays had a football scrimmage game on Friday night and that went well. Go Eagles!!! Saturday we slept in and dog sat for one of his friend's. We loved dogsitting Hank, he's pretty awesome! And best of all I'M NOT ALLERGIC TO HIM! Yay! Last night we went to a baby shower for a couple we are friend's with in Lawrenceburg, Kevin and Amanda. Hays used to coach with Kevin a few years ago and we just love them! Amanda is 31 weeks pregnant and looks fantastic! She's still wearing normal clothes from NY&Co. She's amazing! On our way to the shower we stopped at Babies R Us and picked out a gift for their baby girl (Isla). It was the first time Hays had been to Babies R Us and he was pretty amazed! The girl checking out in front of us had the cutest baby bedding that she was getting. Hays said "If we're having a boy I'm gonna need Jungle Sports!" It was pretty cute bedding that had elephants, monkeys, and other animals that were all playing sports. Kind of the best of both worlds for us! :) We'll just have to wait and see if little Brayley is a boy! We'll be happy either way!

Sorry I'm slacking on the weekly pictures- I will get an 8 week picture up soon! Promise!

We told the NEW Grandparents!

So, I'm a planner! This is kind of an UNDERSTATEMENT! I like to plan EVERYTHING! I HAD planned to wait until after the first trimester to tell anyone about the pregnancy...including our parents. I know, I must be crazy, right? Especially since "Brayley" is the COOLEST thing going on in my life BY FAR and I talk to my parents and sister every single night!!! I don't think I could have kept the secret much longer...seriously! Besides that I was starting to feel guilty about leaving them out of all the cool stuff that's going on....like the first ultrasound. I knew my mom would be SO excited and SO excited to experience it with me. So, we decided we just had to tell!

Hays and I decided at the beginning of last week (the Monday between our 1st and 2nd ultrasounds) that if everything looked good with the 2nd ultrasound (the baby was the correct size and the heartrate was good) that we would tell our parents that weekend. We had already planned to go home this weekend anyway, because with football season starting soon (NEXT FRIDAY is the first scrimmage) we wouldn't be able to come home again for a while. So I was to think of a cute way that we could tell our parents. We came up with a bunch of fun ideas, but the one I liked best was an invitation to the baby's first birthday party- the BIRTH!

Well, everything with Thursday's appointment turned out great! So after work I went to Kinko's and had some invitations printed that said "You're Invited to the birth of your first grandchild, March 26th, Central Baptist Hospital" (Rachel and Whitney's said niece/nephew instead of grandchild, of course). I also had the 2nd ultrasound picture printed on the back of each of the invitations. So, now we had a plan- this was really going to happen THIS WEEKEND! Yippee!

When Hays and I got home on Friday night, I was about to bust! We decided we were going to spend the night with his parent's Friday and my parent's Saturday, so we would just drop by my parent's house for a bit Friday night to tell them before we went to his parent's house. We came in and talked to them normally for about 20 minutes and then I gave Daddy his glasses and got the invitations out of my purse. I handed them out and nonchalantly told them that they were invitations to a party we were having. Rachel and Mama looked at each other and said "A PARTY?!?!?" before opening theirs. I guess I'm not much of a party animal! Hehe!

Well it wasn't long after they opened the card that the screams and tears started! I cracked up when I saw Rae because I've truly never seen anyone start bawling that fast- it was pretty incredible! My mom started screaming and jumping up and down. It was HILARIOUS! We all hugged and I told them it was for real...they were going to be grandparents! They were so happy! When I hugged Rachel she said "Wait....how did this happen?!?!? I need DETAILS!!!" We were like "ummm....I think you know how this works!!!" LOL- I was cracking up!

So we sat there and chatted with them for another half hour or so and then Daddy said "Are we the only ones that know? You better get over there and tell John and Karen!!!". We knew they'd be so excited too. We approached it much of the same way- we just came in and talked about normal stuff and updated them on our lives. Then we started talking about the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (of course! less than 50 days away now- eek!!!) and Hays said "Oh yeah....we have your all's personal invitations to the Games. Jess has to send invitations to her family." and he handed them the invitations to the birth. Karen started asking about Dr. Lyons' birthday this week and if these were invitations sent by him personally. I could hardly keep from laughing and just said "yeah...yeah...that's what it is". Once she got it opened up it wasn't .5 seconds before she lept off the couch and came and hugged us! Then John said "Well, I didn't see anything about the Alltech Games on this invite!". This was a MUCH better invitation than to the Games, that's for SURE! They were so excited too! Karen even went to her hope chest (that she's been working on for about 10 years) and pulled out our first baby present: size 1 football shoes! They are pretty precious! She has had them since before Hays and I even got married! WOW!

Needless to say, we suprised both parents and everyone was so happy!!! We had decided that the next day we would tell our grandparents (the great-grandparents to little Brayley). We went to Madisonville on Saturday to eat lunch with NanNell like we usually do when we were home. On the way there Hays texted Whitney a picture of her invitation and she immediately called and started screaming and said "Was that for ME?" LOL- she was shocked, but seemed so happy! I can't wait to see her and give her a hug!

I was feeling pretty crummy most of the morning on Saturday, so I drove to Madisonville (for some reason that helps me from getting car sick). I had really only eaten crackers and water all day. I was trying to put on a healthy face, but I think NanNell saw right through it because when Hays came back from picking up lunch he said "We have something to tell you" and she guessed "You're Expecting!!!!". She was really happy too!!! She's going to be a great-grandmother again!!! Hays is the youngest grandchild on that side of the family, so now the baby is having a BABY!

That afternoon when we got back we went to my house, where Mama had already decided to have her family over for dinner. Nana and Poppy were the first ones there, so we decided to go ahead and tell them too. They were looking at a mining cap that Poppy had found at an estate sale that day and Nana said she needed to look up close at part of it and needed a magnifying glass, so I said "Well, while you've got that magnifying glass out you should probably look at this (and held up the ultrasound picture)!" She started screaming and she and Poppy jumped up and hugged us. About 20 seconds after we told them Poppy said "I sure hope it's a little girl in there!" Hehe! He loves baby girls! But later he said, "You know, I'd take a little boy too!", he just loves babies!

A little later Judy (Mama's sister) and Wayne (her husband, I know it's crazy that both of them married men named Wayne, right?!?!) came in and Judy saw Ginger Ale on the counter as one of the drink options and she said "Why is there Ginger Ale? Who is drinking Ginger Ale?" When Mama said that I was Judy said twice "Jessica, why are you drinking Ginger Ale....why ARE you drinking Ginger Ale?" (she's a pretty quick one, that Judy)! I said.."Because I'm HAVING A BABY!" They were super excited too, and Wayne even said he felt like he was about to find out there was going to be another baby in the family because that afternoon when they were out at Target shopping he found himself looking at Congratulations Baby cards. WOW! Crazy, huh?

A few minutes after that Jenny (Judy's daughter) and her girls: Lauren (and her boyfriend Thad) and Maddie came in. I waited a little longer to tell them because they were all eating and talking about other stuff. We got into a conversation about You Tube and Daddy was showing them some videos on the computer. I went and got the ultrasound picture and after the video ended I said that there was something else on there they needed to see and I held up the ultrasound to the computer screen. Jenny's face was PRICELESS. She was like "Is that what I think it is? Whose is it? What is it? Oh my gosh!" They all started screaming when I said it was mine!

So now almost our entire family officially knows. I know I had originally planned to wait to tell everyone, but after I told my parents I knew it was going to be impossible to keep it from everyone else. Plus, this would be the last time I'd be home for a while and I wouldn't get to tell everyone in person if we didn't do it this weekend. So, I feel good about it. Everyone is excited and we are SUPER excited too!!!

2nd Appointment with the Dr.

So, after seeing Dr. Schell for the first time and having my first ultrasound she wanted to see me back in a week. #1 so she could go over my bloodwork with me and see if there were any concerns, and #2 so we could do another ultrasound (since during the 1st ultrasound they found the baby to be measuring about a week less than Dr. Schell had calculated). Well, turns out we had good news! Everything is looking normal and great!

I went back on Thursday, August 5th at 11:30AM for my follow up appointment. Again, I got called back to the ultrasound tech's office RIGHT ON TIME! Yay! She did a quick ultrasound to see how everything looked and measured. As soon as the ultrasound appeared on the screen I saw 2 little circles. I thought it was twins! AHHH! I quickly asked the tech what that was and she said that was the baby and the yolk sac (the thing that feeds the baby). Well, it definitely looked like another baby to me. Whew! It was a relief to know there's just one baby! She said that the baby was measuring 6 weeks and 5 days (exactly one week more than it measured last week- another huge relief)! She then took the heartrate, which I could see again (like a lightning bug) but still couldn't hear it. It was 129 bpm....exactly where it needed to be. YAY! She printed off some pictures and then sent me on my way.
Next, I met with one of Dr. Schell's nurses. She took my blood pressure (normal), and went through my blood test results. She said everything came back normal there too (I am immune to measels, my blood type is A+, I don't have AIDS, etc.). Yay! Then she said that my ultrasound looked good, but Dr. Schell would be in to discuss that with me shortly. Then she came back in 5 minutes and said "Dr. Schell will be a little delayed this morning- she is at Central Baptist delivering a baby!" Clearly, that's the best excuse I've ever had for a late doctor. :)

Dr. Schell came in about 45 minutes later and discussed today's ultrasound. She said it looked great and she was really happy with how things were progressing. She asked if I had any questions/issues to let her know about and I mentioned the morning sickness (more like the ALL DAY sickness) and I asked her if there was anything I could do. She said "Yes! Medicate!". She wrote me a prescription for Zofran (I told her I already had a prescription for Phenergan from when I was sick last winter). So she said that both of those should help. Woo Hoo!

Side note: I still haven't taken either the Phenergan or Zofran because I made the mistake of googling them when I got home. Turns out these medications are prescribed for SEVERE nausea, like the kind chemo patients get! And are usually only prescribed to mommies-to-be with EXTREME morning sickness causing them to vomit constantly and lose weight. I know my case isn't that severe, so I hate to take something when I could probably tough it out. I know that it's better for the baby if I don't take the medication, so I'm going to TRY to hold off. We'll see....if I get to the point where I can't keep anything down, and then I guess I won't have a choice. Honestly, today I don't feel as sick at all (AND I didn't get sick in the middle of the night last night). YAY! So maybe the worst is over. Fingers crossed!!!

I go back to Dr. Schell in 4 weeks- September 2nd! I will be almost 11 weeks pregnant then! Woo Hoo!!!

"Its" Name is Brayley

Hays came up with the cutest nickname for the baby last week: Brayley. Now, don't panic, this won't actually be the baby's name. If it's a boy we like the name Brady, and if it's a girl we like the name Bailey. So, instead of constantly refering to the baby as "the baby" or "it"- we've decided to call it a combination of those names: "Brayley"! Like it? We do!

Ouch Charlie!

So...the inevitable has happened. I don't know why I thought I would be lucky enough to survive this entire pregnancy without morning sickness, but for some reason I did. My first 6 1/2 weeks were fabulous!!! I mean, I felt GREAT! But Monday morning....whoa Nelly....totally different story.

I woke up normally on Monday at 6:30 and showered and started getting ready just like any other morning. When I woke Hays up at 7AM because he needed to get ready for school (they had teacher's meetings) I started feeling funny. I told him I wanted to just lay back down for a minute and I might start feeling better. Well, a minute didn't help, 5 minutes didn't help, I tried to get up after about 10 minutes and couldn't do much of anything without feeling like I was going to puke or pass out. Ouch Charlie! I somehow managed to finish getting ready and grabbed some dry toast on my way out the door for work. I started feeling better about 10AM, but honestly didn't feel great the entire rest of the day. That night before bed it got bad again and I actually woke up in the middle of the night and got sick! I can count on one hand the number of times I've been so sick it WOKE ME UP in the middle of the night. Well, turns out that's an every night occurance these past few nights. I usually wake up around 2AM feeling like the world is ending......but then after I eat something and make myself go back to sleep, I am usually feeling okay by the time by alarm goes off at 6:30AM. So that's a good thing. I am just hoping it doesn't get any worse, because I'm not the greatest at dealing with sickness/pain. Hmmm...perhaps God is testing me? Preparing me for later? Oh wow- I have a ways to go!!!

So, at first I thought there must be something wrong with me. I thought morning sickness was just in the morning.....so I did what I always do...I Googled! Turns out it's completely normal to have morning sickness all day....for the ENTIRE first trimester! And for some mommies it lasts even longer. Oh joy! :) You know what, though? Baby Browning is worth it!!!!