16 Weeks!

Baby Size: the size of an avocado this week! Up to 4.6 inches and 3.5 ounces. I used to love eating avocado and making guac. Now, the thought makes me sick. Ugh. 

Total Weight Gain: 5 pounds since the beginning! My clothes still fit which is great. Some are a little more snug than others but I am mostly still able to wear everything.

Sleep: wonderful. No issues. I get up like clockwork usually between 6-7am to go to the bathroom though. 

Symptoms: well, my chest grew...again. These things are out of control! Time to invest in some new bras. I think that is where I have gained all my weight. But still feeling great!

Movement: I keep thinking I feel him/her but then it goes away. It is probably just gas and me over thinking it...

Cravings: still loving unhealthy food unfortunately. Thank goodness the fair starts this week! Not only is it one of my favorite places on earth, I get to fully indulge in fried fair food, preggo-style. 

Gender: the countdown is on for October 31st. Just 17 days away!!

Best Moment This Week: my co-workers started a Baby Rice Predictions. I love seeing what people are guessing for gender, birth date and weight. So fun! 

Most Looking Forward to: when we can hear the baby heartbeat with my stethoscope. I read that some women can hear between 17 and 18 weeks but we still periodically check :) I really just love seeing my cute baby daddy so focused on finding it 

Hurricane Harris at 15 Weeks

This weekend (October 3rd, again, blogging off) my best friend since forever got married!!! I have talked about Meghan a lot on here. I can't put into words what she means to me. She is more like my sister I never had. She married one of the kindest people I have met, Ryan. He already knows how lucky he is ;)

Hurricane Joaquin threatened to ruin their outdoor wedding in Atlantic Beach. It rained poured on Thursday and Friday. But, come Saturday morning there was nothing but clear skies and sunshine. It ended up being the most beautiful  and perfect 80 degree day for their big day! Everything went smoothly and the wedding was beyond gorgeous! [Yes, I sobbed like a baby the entire weekend].

All the bridesmaids after the rehearsal!

Meghan was absolutely STUNNING. She seriously looked like she stepped out of Southern Weddings magazine. These pictures do not do her justice.

pregnant Matron of Honor and her fantastic helper sidekick husband.

I could not be happier for my best friend and her new husband! We love you so much Mr. And Mrs. Harris!

15 Weeks

Forgot to take at 15 week belly shot. Oops. But thats the best side shot from the weekend I could find. 

Quick Update: baby is as big as a navel orange or 4.0 inches and 2.5 ounces. I feel great! Have been sleeping less with all the weddings and excitment (totally worth it). 

Best Part of This Week: aside from my best friend's wedding, was hearing the baby's heartbeat at our check up! It is so magical to hear. I fall more in love every single time! We also set our date for our gender scan, October 29th! But, we still won't find out until Halloween. 

All About That BASS! (And 14 weeks)

This weekend (September 26th, because my blogging is off) two of our best friends got married! I have known Hillman since high school and we've been close friends for 10 years! He married his long time college sweetheart, Nicole. Her and I quickly became friends back when they first started dating in 2007. She also played an important role in getting Jared and I together. These two are perfect for each other. We couldn't be happier for them! It was also Baby Rice's first wedding...even if he/she attended in my belly.

The wedding was held at Figure Eight Island Yacht Club, where Hillman and Nicole first met. I have never been to a wedding there, but it was just as wonderful as I expected. Everything was beautifully done but low key, just like them. These two were not even phased by the rain that came during there ceremony, which ended up soaking both of them. They just smiled through it.

Chinn made it all the way from Chicago!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Bass! We love you both so much!!

14 Weeks

Size: Baby Rice is the size of a lemon! 

Total Weight Gain: not weighing myself at home. Will have to wait until the next appoingment. But, all clothes are fitting still! Minus that pair of pants I had to unbutton at work. Minor. 

Sleep: still wonderful and sleeping like a grandma. Loving it. 

Symptoms: no real symptoms still. Feeling grateful all I have is headaches in the morning. 

Movement: still none yet.

Cravings: aside from wanting to partake in the glasses of champange at the wedding, none. I am still just against ethnic food and healthy things. Thank goodness for green juices. 

Gender: unknown. Reveal is set for October 31st!!! We had a lot of guesses at the wedding this weekend though. People are leaning more towards girl. I still have no idea!

The best thing about this week, besides seeing two of our friends get married, was celebrating our two year wedding anniversary!! I can't believe not only that it has been two years but I'm pregnant. I can remember when we first got married we talked about waiting until our 3 year wedding anniversary to start trying for a baby. Oh how life changes. We celebrated in typical Lauren and Jared fashion, dinner a Kanki. Not all our days together have been a fairytale but they are fun and we learn everyday. I can't wait to start the journey of parenthood with Jared. I love doing life with him! Cheers to two years and the last one just the two of us! 

13 Weeks and Making it Official

I think the saying these days goes something like, "it isn't official until it is Facebook official."? We of course made sure that we had told all family and close friends prior to hitting upload. Honestly, it doesn't feel any more real after putting it out there. However, it was so nice to get all the sweet congratulations from people we haven't seen in a long time!

This was our "social media announcement" picture

13 Weeks

Baby Size: baby is a big as a peach! About 0.81 ounces and 2.9 inches long. 

Total Weight Gain: hanging out at roughly 3 lbs from the start! 

Sleep: perfect! Taking full advantage of being able to sleep peacefully and comfortably. 

Symptoms: no real symptoms. My chest continues to grow, we are up two bra sizes at this point, oy vey. Headaches in the morning are still common. 

Movement: none yet. Can't wait to feel those first flutters!

Cravings: no real cravings just really strong aversions. Holding true with my simple American foods like chicken fingers and greasy burgers. I also love a sweet treat! My favorite is ice cream or frosty [yum]. 

12 Weeks!

Lots of excitement this week!

Baby Rice is the size of a PLUM!

First, We decided to do the optional 12 week nuchal translucency ultrasound which tests for risks of trisomy 13, 18, and 21. Even though I knew my risk was pretty low I really just wanted to see the baby again. Boy, was it worth it! He/she went from looking like a tiny bean to an actual baby in my belly! Of course I sobbed like any hormonal pregnant woman. I had spent the days leading up to the test very anxious. I have had zero "normal" pregnancy symptoms. Which to me meeant something was ultimately wrong. However, the scan confirmed that everything was 100% a-ok! On top of the scan we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time [swoon]. Ever since nursing school I have been obsessed with fetal heartbeats. There is just something so magical about that sound. Hearing my own baby's heaartbeat was everything. There are no words to explain. I couldn't hold back those tears of relief.

The ultrasound tech gave us her guess on the gender but the doctor said it was way too early at 11 weeks 6 days (exactly) to give a guess so it is still just a 50-50 guess.

Yes, I am obsessed with looking at these pictures!

Second, this week we got to share the news with our closest friends! It has been so hard keeping it secret from them especially when some were starting to catch on. We invited 25ish of our friends to a cookout on Friday, Septemeber 11, where we planned to surprise them. I fake drank a glass of white wine (mostly water) to trick the suspicious people. Just before dinner Jared gave the sweetest toast about how everyone there had played such an important role in our lives and how thankful we were for them. Then topped it off with something that went a little like "hope you all are ready to go through one more thing with us...March 25th were going to have another little Rice joining us!" You could feel the excitement. The rest of the night was spent filled with congratulations and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the ultrasound pictures.

Finally, ended the weekend with a tailgate and game where I no longer had a secret to keep! Man, did that feel good!

First Trimester

I was a total slacker and didn't do weekly blog posts in the beginning so most of the first trimester is going to be rolled into one.

8 Weeks
Baby Rice is the size of a raspberry! Still feeling great!!

9 Weeks

We traveld to Meghan's beautiful bridal shower in Charlotte. Where Caitlin point blank asked me, " are you pregnant?" And I just could not keep the secret any longer. Plus I can not lie at all. Felt so good for one of best friends to finally know!

This is also the week we tried the wedding ring over the belly to see if we could determine gender. One time it swung back and forth which meant boy but then the next try is went in a circle which is girl. Look like its 50-50 ;)

10 Weeks

Baby Rice is as big as a prune this week! The thought of eating a prune sickens me though. Still having food aversions instead of cravings. It takes me forever to eat my breakfast in the morning just because I don't want to. 

11 Weeks

Baby Rice is a big as a lime. This week this mama to be attended her first tailgate [alcohol free I might add]. I was able to convince people that I was on call for urgent care which I was I could not partake in the jello shots or keg beer. My white lie worked and it ended up being so much fun! It helps that that NC State won. 

Symptoms: Throughout the first trimester it has been sleepiness as my main symptom. I am falling asleep on the couch after dinner around 8pm every night. I am starting to get headaches on a regular basis but they are usually early in the morning and go away once I have some sugar or a tiny bit of caffiene. Other than that zero nausea (thank goodness) and remaining true with the food aversions. Currently disliking vegetables, which I used to love, and any sort of ethnic food. So far with the food it sounds like a mini Jared Rice in there. 

Movement: None yet. I can't wait to start feeling that though! I am just afraid I will mistake the movement for digestion or something. 

Most Looking Forward To: Can't wait for our 12 week ultrasound and to finally share the news with all our friends! People are definitely starting to get a little suspicious. 

Telling Our Families

We split this up over some time and told each person in a unique way which I love.

First, was my mom. We shared the news in person on the way back from Ocracoke with a tiny Wrightsville Beach onsie. Jared caught the whole thing on video for me to cherish forever. Next best thing to telling your husband hes going to be a dad is getting to tell your mom she is going to get her first grandbaby. 

A few days later we told Jared's parents. I let him plan this one. We had to FaceTime with them since they live in Texas. Jared told his dad that there was something wrong with the oven and we got it all on video. But he definitely used the ol "bun in oven" to get them. Of ourse they were overjoyed to hear the news of their first grandchild too! Can't wait to celebrate in person with them at Christmas!

We waited until after the first ultrasound to tell our siblings just to be 100% sure it was actually happening. 

My younger brother, Michael was the first to find out since I was going to see him first. We were going shopping and my mom insisted that she would not be able to keep that secret all day. So I wrote him this little card:

It took him a minute to get what I was referring to but there was an "oh shit" moment when it clicked. 

Jared's sister, Charli Kay, was the next to find out. We sent her this Mad Gab for her to read aloud, "eye mag oinking toby man haunt." Which obviously translates to, "I'm going to be an aunt!" We FaceTimed with her since she was living in Nabraska at the time. It was so sweet how excited she was. She is going to be one amazing aunt!

My older brother, James, was the last to hear the news. In typical James fashion he had a less than surprised reaction even though I tried really hard to make it special. Clearly he is thrilled to be having a niece/nephew :)

It was starting to feel really real after telling our family.