Confirmation!

Today was the BEST day.  It was the best day for one very good reason.  I got the phone call of a lifetime.  It came from a doctor's office...

Monday was my confirmation blood test.  The way this doctor's office works is that the blood work is sent to them and then I can call 24-48 hours later to find out the results.

Exactly 24 hours later on Tuesday, I call.  No answer.  I leave a voice message.  It was very calm but the real Rachael sounded more like this: "HI I NEED TO KNOW MY RESULTS NOW NOW NOW SO I CAN BE ASSURED THIS WHOLE BABY THING IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING, THANKS BYE!"

No return phone call. -_-

Call again on Wednesday - early morning (no longer waiting exactly 24 hours - who are they kidding).  This mama wasn't messing around anymore.  I am directed to the nurse.  She does not answer.  I leave another voice message.  Again, I sounded so calm and so happy but deep down inside I sounded more like this: "OHMYGOD WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, THIS IS NOT FUNNY! RETURN MY CALL BECAUSE NOW I AM STARTING TO THINK THAT YOU AREN'T CALLING ME BACK BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO MAKE ME SAD AND TELL ME THAT I AM NOT PREGNANT!"

Disclaimer - I am mentally sane.

Six hours later on my way to FedEx to pick up my long lost debit card (which actually ended up not being there, but in the apartment office which they failed to tell me) I get a phone call.  I immediately panic, my charm bracelet is caught on my phone charger, I'm half leaning while driving, a little swerving and my GPS is speaking over top of the nurse as I try to cancel my navigation.  I hear these words...
"Congratulations!"
BEST. WORDS. EVER.
Followed by: "your little one is showing strong numbers which is very good and you are definitely pregnant!"
Again, BEST. WORDS. EVER.

I just kept saying "Thank you so much, I am so excited!" when really I wanted to sound more like this: "OHMYGOD THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU, LET ME GIVE YOU HALF MY SALARY BECAUSE YOU'RE BETTER THAN SANTA- DO YOU WANT TO COME TO THE BIRTH?!"

And that, my friends, was the best day of my life.

Now- off with my husband to feed this baby mama some Popeyes. Apparently fried chicken cravings are running on high! ;)

I hope everyone has a blessed & wonderful day!

Get to Know Me - 25 Questions

I have always loved survey questions, so what better way to kick off this new blog interest than sharing a little bit about me :)

1. What is your middle name?: Celine - after my grandmother.

2. What was favorite subject at school?: Reading & writing.  I love to read (preferably from an actual book) and writing is like a form of therapy.

3. What is your favorite drink?: Currently - my BFF is Ginger Ale or flavored water.  On a non-pregnant day it's Diet Dr. Pepper, a caramel latte or an ice cold marg.

4. What is your favorite song at the moment?: I am ashamed to say I frequently find myself bopping along to Hey Ma by Nicki Minaj. *currently self-shaming*

5. What is your favorite food?: Again, currently it's all things salty or carby.  I have been really into Mexican (Qdoba burrito bowl) or some homemade cookies.

6. What is the last thing you bought?: Two really adorable onesies (one girl, one boy) to share the exciting news with family!

7. Favorite book of all time?: I am an elementary teacher, so probably the Rainbow Fish.  It has some pretty sweet morals hidden in there.  Check it out!

8. Favorite Color?: Pink, purple & teal.

9. Do you have any pets?: My husband and I have a little Shih-Tzu/Lhasa mix named Gus.

10. Favorite Perfume?: Anything by Taylor Swift. #loyal #diehardfan

11. Favorite Holiday?: Hanukkah/Christmas - I just absolutely love getting friends & family gifts and watching them open them!

12. Are you married?: Yes! And it was the best day of my life!

13. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?: I have been to Canada twice & to Europe once where I visited Germany & France!

14. Do you speak any other language?: No, but as a child I learned Hebrew through Hebrew school.

15. How many siblings do you have?: One younger brother named Josh.

16. What is your favorite shop?: Absolutely Target.  Or Forever 21.  Or Loft.

17. Favorite restaurant?: Typically anything Mexican.

18. When was the last time you cried?: Yesterday.  When I cried about giving blood to confirm my pregnancy.  I have a huge fear of needles & blood.  See previous post.

19. Favorite Blog?: Most definitely this one

20. Favorite Movie?: OF ALL TIME, WITHOUT A DOUBT, TITANIC. bam.

21. Favorite TV shows?: Almost anything on E!, Discovery Channel, or the Food Network.  I really love trash reality TV & I also love non-trash reality TV.  It's all about reality TV.

22. PC or Mac?: PC - I don't even care.

23. What phone do you have?: Samsung Galaxy S5

24. How tall are you?: 5’4"

25. Can you cook?: Yes, and I enjoy it very much... so does my husband.  Just ask him!

& there you have it folks!  I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about me!  I would love to learn more about you!  Leave me some comments below with a fun fact! :)

Week 5... I think

According to the 4 (yes, FOUR), pregnancy apps that I have downloaded, I am 5 weeks pregnant.  All four seem to range with different amount of days pregnant - 5 weeks 2 days, 4 weeks 6 days, 5 weeks 1 day, etc. Overall, I am going with the whole "about 5 weeks" idea.  Week 5 has been decent to me, so far. I have only experienced morning sickness (more like half-the-day sickness) two times.  Yes, some things make me feel nauseous (like even if I THINK about them) but overall,  I am doing pretty well.  Mostly, I have noticed an enhanced sense of SMELL. I can gag from the slightest smell of something rotting in the trash can, or my husband's feet (not a joke.. wish it was).  I will be sitting on the couch and SWEAR I can smell poop from my dog (that is absolutely non-existent).

So far, week 5 has been full of journeys for Baby Cross.  Over the weekend, we headed to Canada for one of my best friend's weddings!  It was an absolute blast!  Brittany was in my wedding so I was absolutely ecstatic to be a part of hers!  Brittany and I met at work, teaching third grade together, and immediately became great friends.  She is one I do not want to let go of!  The only issue with her wedding, was prancing around all the people asking me if I wanted a drink.  It was very hard to avoid at the rehearsal and the morning of the wedding.  I kept just brushing the topic of drinking aside or trying to distract the person with another topic.  The night of the wedding, I came prepared with a plan for all pregnant women!  Tonic with lime.  I had my husband bring my tonic with lime ALL. NIGHT. LONG. to make others think I was drinking the "basic girl drink" - vodka and soda. I absolutely hate tonic but, whatever, it worked.  I drank a few and acted white girl wasted and everyone left me alone.

The 10 hour drive to and from Canada was not fun on my bladder.  I have already seen a drastic increase in the amount I have to pee throughout the day and the urgency of it.  I just cannot stop! Plus, trying to drink the recommended amount of water (ahhemm.. half my body weight) isn't helping that little issue.

Today, I had my blood work done to confirm my pregnancy.  God willing it comes back positive tomorrow - otherwise I will have a lot of questions as to why 4 pregnancy tests reported positive.  Those that know me well know that I am absolutely terrified of needles AND blood.  Combine them, and I am done for.  Usually, Darius attends these types of affairs with me but today was his first day back to work after his leave.  I had to go alone.  I was all fine and dandy until I saw that chair.  You know that chair. With the arm strap and the needles on the counter.  Jesus.  Immediately panic set in, but I talked to myself and tried to calm down.  I was okay until the first arm was NOT giving her any blood.  She could see my panic, and my ghost white face and closed up that vein.  Seeing total panic on my face, she brought me water which helped momentarily. She tried my other arm, got blood immediately and closed it up.  Tomorrow I can call my doctor's to confirm the test.  Prayers please!

And here goes Week 5-ish questions:

How far along? 5-ish weeks

Maternity clothes?  No... but I am already looking forward to all things elastic.

Stretch marks? Nope!

Sleep: Sleeping better now that the initial shock has worn off... but now I am having dreams about all things baby.

Best moment(s) this week: My best friends wedding!

Miss Anything? This week I really missed sushi...

Movement: Nope!

Food cravings: Anything salty!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Weird smells!

Gender: I wish I could already know!

Labor Signs: No!

Symptoms:

1. Sore boobs

2. Light nausea

3. Sensitivity to smell

4. Frequent peeing

5. Excessive saliva in my mouth - I read about this and it's true, it does happen!

Belly Button in or out? In!

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or Moody most of the time: So happy and thrilled and excited - and then maybe a little cranky sometimes (don't ask my husband) ;)

Looking forward to: Confirming my pregnancy and my prenatal appointment!

HOLY SH!T - I'M PREGNANT

Monday, July 20th, sometime in the evening...

After days of complaining (what I thought jokingly) to my husband about being pregnant, we head out to Walmart (stay classy) to pick up a pregnancy test.  I, the over thinker, always jump the conclusion that I am pregnant if my period is .002 seconds late.  I didn't think too much of my week-long-sore-breasts or the fact that I suddenly had a intense obsession with green olives.  

The truth be told, Darius and I have been married about 3 weeks at this point and truly wanted to wait a year.  But, to make sense of why I was not "wrapping it up" or whatever, you need to know my medical history.  I was recently diagnosed with a blood clotting disorder (runs in my family) which causes my blood to clot 8x more likely than yours! I immediately was taken off the pill and this disorder eliminated any form of birth control with estrogen.  Which meant... not much.  And to just be dead honest, the idea of condoms was not ideal whatsoever.  So, we risked it.

The test came back positive.  I starred at it with my hands over my face for what felt like 300 years and then said "OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD" over and over again.  Let me be clear, I was (am) VERY happy, but I was VERY shocked.  I went upstairs to show Darius (who said he knew since the moment he saw me downing a container of green olives from Wegmans), we hugged, we cried, and we discussed how backpacking Europe next summer would have to be put on hold for 18 years.

Today, I told my mom, aunt, brother, my husband's mom and his dad.  All are extremely ecstatic, impressed at how quickly we jumped on it (no pun intended... ok, maybe a little, ha) and very supportive.  We are truly blessed to have had such a quick, wonderful ride of a relationship.  We are thrilled to be beginning our family together!

Now, why the blog?  I have ALWAYS been in love with writing!  It has been my passion since my first journal in the third grade given to me by a lovely lady named Johanna F. (shout out!).  I love the feeling of putting all my thoughts, feelings, emotions onto paper (or laptop) and letting it ALL out!  My blog will be funny, sarcastic, honest, and full of curse words.  It is written exactly how I talk and exactly how I think.  I hope you enjoy it!

Below are week by week questions I have seen on two fabulous blogs now and I hope they don't mind if I borrow them to track my amazing journey into motherhood!  Thanks for stopping by and please continue to do so! :)

Here and Here

How far along? 4-ish weeks

Maternity clothes?  Latching on to all my "normal" clothes while I still can.

Stretch marks? NO! *prays*

Sleep: I believe the only reason I have lost sleep is due to the fact that I am anxious as HELL about the confirmation of my pregnancy on Monday.  I keep thinking that 4 pregnancy tests was not enough to confirm... 

Best moment(s) this week: Finding out that I am pregnant!  After the initial shock wore off...

Miss Anything? Immediately missed not having one last margarita! It's summer and all I want is Mexican food and a nice cold marg.....

Movement: Nada

Food cravings: Listen carefully... ALL. OF. THE. PASTA.  ALL. SALTY. THINGS.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Just say the F word and I die... no, not f*ck... FISH!

Gender: EEEEKKK!

Labor Signs: Nothing, thankfully!

Symptoms:

1. It all started out with Sore Breasts - I never got that before a period.

2. Nausea - my morning sickness lasts from the time I wake up until about 1pm.  I have not thrown up but I have gagged quite a bit.

3. Cravings for salty things!

4. Bloating... ugh, it sucks!

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking forward to: Going to my confirmation appointment and then my first prenatal appointment after that!