Weeks 6-16

Baby O's first photo shoot

The first few weeks I was pregnant we stayed in a Residence Inn in Morgantown, WV. It was one of the nicer rooms I've stayed in but because the morning sickness (which should be called ALL DAY misery) was setting in, I was ready to get out of there when we picked up and moved about 2 weeks after settling in. Our first appointment with my doctor back home in Knoxville was at 8 weeks. It was surreal to see our little baby for the first time! It was tiny, but it was our baby nonetheless. Made in full my God's goodness, in part by the love Danny and I shared. It was and still is such a beautiful miracle that life comes from love.

The next city we went to was Wheeling, WV. Danny was excited about this move because he had lived here for 9 months a couple years ago when we were dating long-distance and he really enjoyed it. For the first 3 weeks of being there we stayed in a Spring Hill Suites. The room there was smaller and a little bit older than at the Residence Inn at Morgantown, but still pretty nice. Danny liked it alot - it had a pool, work out room, and hot tub - what could be better?! Lol. I, on the other hand, grew a deep hatred for that room. Weeks 8 - 10 I felt sick allll the time and being confined in that small space for so long made me resent being in Wheeling at all. These weeks were pretty hard on my sweet husband. He was worried about me physically and emotionally. I could hardly eat anything, I never left the room, and the smell of everything was just nauseating. 

Around week 10 or 11 I decided enough was enough of hotel life. I began searching for homes for rent in the area. Danny was pretty skeptical about moving out of the hotel and into a rental since all of our furniture and dishes were still in Knoxville and we couldn't live anywhere that required a lease of any kind. His company reimburses us for living expenses but they are used to being billed for a daily rate the way a hotel works. Well, God was good to us. I found an add on craigslist for a furnished 3 bedroom house for rent on a month-to-month basis. It was close to perfect for our situation - they even mentioned it could be a good place for oil/gas contractors. The only thing was the lease. The problem with a month-to-month lease in our situation is that Danny's boss can call at any time and tell us to pack up and head to a new county hours away. The company will only pay as long as we are actually living there so if it was the beginning or middle of the month we would just have to pay out of pocket for the rent for the rest of the month. It wouldn't be the end of the world but since we are still paying rent in Knoxville, Danny really didn't want to have to do that. We decided to call and see how set they were on a month to month lease. Danny was able to offer more money than the homeowner was asking and instead of a lease we would have a daily rate - perfect for Danny's company! We have been in this house for 3 months now.

Moving into the house is where I sort of mark a huge change in how I felt. It began the transition from the first trimester to the second. I now feel great compared to the beginning. For the most part the worst I ever feel is from a sinus headache (which just stinks because I can't take much for it), and when I take my prenatal vitamins (they still make me feel a little sick sometimes).

Since the early weeks when I lost about 9lbs (when I was sick), I hadn't really changed much in weight. I was, however, starting to feel pretty uncomfortably snug in my jeans around week 15 - so, almost 3 months. I bought a pair of leggings the next size up and those and an over-sized tee was all I ever wanted to wear. 

We didn't want to tell many people about our pregnancy until we were in the second trimester and since then we are slowly spreading the word. I have been off Facebook for Lent so that has kept it from reaching social media but now I am deciding if I should just wait until we have some cute pics from my pregnancy reveal shoot on April 8... we'll see!

My first baby bump picture - It was on St Patty's Day :)