Baby Cochran ON THE WAY!!!

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!

We found out 2 weeks ago, on Sept. 9th, that we are expecting our first little "Crying Carter Cochran," as KeithAnn calls it. We are going for our first doctor's appointment this Friday, Sept. 26th to get our bloodwork and first ultrasound, hopefully. It has been such a struggle keeping it from everyone, especially our families. We told Jeremy's family a couple of weekends ago and they are all so excited. Sheila is excited about finally being a grandmother. She thought she'd be "Granny" to our dogs forever. She cried and thought we were kidding. She's already bought the baby diapers and 2 monitors. We told my family this past weekend by surprising them with a visit to Mississippi. I bought a "Due in May" shirt to wear specifically to announce it to my parents. They were so surprised and really excited!! They're excited that their "baby is having a baby." While we were there, KeithAnn let me borrow about half her closet of maternity clothes, shoes, books, and all kinds of stuff. She is super excited for us and I'm excited that she likes to share! ;o) It worked out perfectly because she was pregnant during the same seasons that I will be.

Jeremy and I are both so thrilled that we're going to be parents in 8 short months! It's hard to believe but I'm trying to soak it all in. As this sickness moves along, I'm definitely realizing that IT IS REAL!! Since I do ultrasound and have access to an ultrasound machine, I've been scanning myself A LOT! The week we found out, I couldn't see anything except a noticeable difference in my uterus. Then the next week, there was a small hint of a "black dot." By the end of last week, it measured 0.9cm. When I scanned myself on Monday, I was surprised to find that the "black dot," (aka...the baby's home) had grown to 1.6cm!!! But I was even more shocked when I scanned myself this morning and it measured 2.5cm!!! This baby is growing FAST!! My motto for this pregnancy is, "Grow, baby, grow!" And it is definitely doing that!!

We've started telling more and more people now that both of our families know. I'm excited about making an announcement to all of my friends at choir tomorrow night!! And then again on Sunday morning when we see all of our Singles friends. The only people that I can't tell right now are the people at work. They will have to wait until we are either 4 months or when I start showing. It's hard to not talk about it with the people that I'm around for most of the day. Everyone has been so supportive and so excited for us!! We are truly blessed to have such great family and friends in our lives!!

The sickness I'm feeling right now is not fun though. It's pretty much the worst thing ever!! Before I hit 6 weeks, I had some achy/crampiness mostly at night with a little bit of nausea in the mornings. But once I hit 6 weeks, it was all over. I wake up feeling awful and it continues for the remainder of the morning and some of the afternoon. I will get hungry but when I try to eat, I can't because of the nausea. Sometimes I wish I could just get it over with and hug the toilet but somehow my body will not let me. Booooo!!! I'm also so exhausted and worn down now! I guess it's all just part of it!! I keep hearing that the 1st trimester is the worst, then it gets better, and then it gets worse again 1 month before your due date. I'm looking forward to the getting better part!! I told Jeremy the other day that I wouldn't trade this baby for the world but right then, I wanted to spank it! We love our baby!!

Please pray for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, boy or girl!! We love you all and are so excited to share this journey with you!!