Shrimp

**Disclaimer: this is a sad post, and some of it is detailed, but it still needs to be remembered.**

I had a miscarriage today (Sunday, 3 April 2016), just three weeks after finding out I was pregnant for the first time. It was a very sad day, but Michael has been so kind and sensitive and incredible with everything. Here's the good part:

It was only our second month of trying when I found out via test on Sunday, 13 March 2016 at 8:10am. I got back in bed, then at 8:30 I asked if Michael was awake. "Can I tell you something?" Mhmm. "Okay. Close your eyes and hold out your hand." He was facing the wall with his back towards me, so I asked him to lay on his back. I put the tiny plastic baby figure in his hand (one of those Mardi Gras King babies they put in the cake), then closed his fingers over the baby. He looked at it, gasped, and quickly sat up. "You're pregnant?" I told him I was pretty sure and showed him the pink pee stick with instructions (saying its normal for the left line to be a little lighter than the right line). We both laughed a little and asked each other if we were excited. Of course we both said yes and kept laughing a bit. It seemed so unreal.

After that we were trying not to stress about finding an OB/GYN in a decent area to call, and Michael began looking at houses to rent (or buy). Our Bala Sands lease is up in September-- we later found out it is up at the end of July! My estimated due date according to all the pregnancy apps was November 15th and told me that I was 4 weeks and 6 days pregnant with baby being the size of a poppy seed. Although I got down to a very comfortable weight of 106 for Christmas, after the cruise with my parents in February, plus a month of eating mostly bagel bites and Oreos, I weighed about 115 pounds again. But I slowed down on the cookies and began eating bananas and salads at work again. Michael said he "knew" when he came home from Birmingham (after a trip where he had to spend a night in the hospital from a small fire that exploded in his face while he was working on a penny stove!!) that I was pregnant because certain parts of my body looked bigger (he used the word "sexier") but he wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to get my hopes up in case I got my period. 

3/14: That afternoon I made a doctor appointment for 9 super long days from then. (March 23rd) This day I kept referring to our baby as "Shrimp" because at the 5 week mark, the baby (embryo) looks like a teensy shrimp. We went for a walk. Then Michael asked me to take another pregnancy test (a different brand) because he didn't like that one of the lines on the first test wasn't as bold. I told him I was "super pregnant" since the second test gave the results in about 20 seconds!

We took these pictures on 3/15 when Shrimp was said to be exactly 5 weeks:

This walk bump picture was taken a week later, on 3/22. ^^

I went home sick from Teletype training, beginning of Phase 2 ~ at 2am on 3/13 & at 10pm on 3/16. On 3/17, I threw up three times at work (main /most time was at 9:15pm) as well as a lot of dry heaves once I got home at 7am, but forced myself to stay for the whole shift.  I was also getting really bad headaches during this week, but luckily after two more days of headaches, they were gone and I wasn't getting sick anymore. I cried when I told my trainer, Kim, as well as the Teletype supervisor, Cheryl. But I think that was more stress related.

3/19: When we drove around and looked at houses we liked (a few days before meeting our realtor), I asked Michael if we could also stop in to look around Buy Buy Baby, since I had never been there before and he previously told me that he wouldn't look for anything baby related until I was actually pregnant. This seemed to overwhelm Michael and stress him out about money since all the really good baby equipment is pretty pricey. However, the next day, he suggested that we go to IKEA, Macro Baby, and Babies R Us to look at cribs, strollers, car seats and high chairs. I later found him on his laptop watching video reviews of the ones we liked best. I almost cried then ~ overwhelmed with joy and peace. After that, Michael sometimes seemed more excited than I did about having a baby and came up with a little dance that always made me laugh. 

3/23: During my first doctor appointment, she said my uterus was measuring at 4 weeks and 6 days although according to my last period, I was calculated at 6 weeks and 1 day. The baby could not be seen on the stomach ultrasound or the intro-vaginal ultrasound, but they did see the gestational sac. Also I have two cysts on my fallopian tubes- one is 2cm, one is 4cm. But nothing ectopic, which was my worry since I had seen that happen on a couple of TV shows. She also said I need to drink more water (that's always true) and told me, "This is your first pregnancy. You have no reason to worry about anything going wrong. Just stay positive."

Unfortunately (back to the sad stuff), a few days later, I began to see a little bit of pink blood when I wiped sometimes. I looked up "bleeding during the first trimester" and it said it was very common and nothing to worry about. This happened almost every day that week, then on Friday (April 1st) there was more blood than normal and it was more of a red color. I still tried to stay positive and kept praying. I heard that some people had this happen and still ended up with a healthy baby. But Saturday night, my cramps became very strong and there was a lot of blood. Again, I read about it and many women said they rushed to the ER for an emergency ultrasound only to find a strong heartbeat. I kept praying.

But today, the cramps continued and so did the blood. I knew it was all over when I actually saw "the baby" in the toilet. I cried and yelled for Michael who was in the bedroom. He ran in and continued to apologize while hugging me. I called my mom on the phone after that. I had to. I had been wanting to talk to her about this exciting time since I first found out, but we were going to wait until after my next doctor's appointment which was supposed to be this Wednesday (April 6th). Then when everything turned out super great, we would drive up to see our families and surprise them in creative ways with the news in person over the weekend. But God often has different plans and we have to accept them and understand there is always a good reason for why He lets things happen when and the way they do. 

Pioneer Village Museum

Michael and I went to this place last May, but today I went with my parents, sister-in-law Jacquie, and her daughter, Peyton. Not much to say on this; today was more of me taking candid family shots rather than trying to get their attention. Peyton is almost 15 months now and has learned to walk on her own this month. However, she has also learned to say "up!" when she is tired of walking and wants to be carried. It is so cute to watch and I said she looks like a little bird. Possibly because of how skinny her wobbly legs looked in the tights and her cute face. I may have suddenly become overwhelmed with emotions while watching her eat a banana. Last month Michael and I began actively trying (and praying) to have a baby of our own.

 Don't worry PETA, these were not real eggs in the hen house. ^^ No hens present either.

 Inside the Overstreet home living room:

 I think it would be fun to go back during a festival when all of the volunteers are dressed up!

The double frame photos in the middle were taken by my dad on his iPhone 6 so I could post them on Instagram, hence the edits. The rest of the pictures were taken on our Canon T2i. PS- I think I created my new favorite outfit today. Thank you, Platos Closet. Also it should be remembered that I recently started training in Teletype (another area of 911) and am loving it so far!!

Portraits ~ Ritter Family

I had a really nice weekend: on Friday after Michael got home from work, we went to dinner at Carrabba's. My goodness, I don't know how we dated so long and never ate there until a few months ago. On Saturday I met Mia at Baldwin Park and we walked around the lake then ate in Winter Park. There were a lot of places to eat in that area, so she got a veggie burger from Burgerfi and I got a chicken salad pita with sprouts from Power House. Not to be confused with Hummus House, which was also good. That's where we ate the Saturday before when we hung out, then she sat with me for two and a half hours while I answered 911 calls since I'm not training anyone right now. On Sunday of this current weekend I met with Miriam and Garth to take family pictures of them at the gardens with their son Weston and Miriam's new baby bump. Their second son is due at the end of March! Here are some pictures from today:

They were very sweet and invited me over for dinner after we took the pictures, and paid for my admission to the gardens. (I usually only go on the free Mondays.) Garth grilled Omaha steaks and I helped mash the potatoes after Miriam and I went on a walk. I got another pedometer on Saturday, so I'm trying to make sure I hit at least 10,000 steps each day, which is recommended in order to stay active. It was cute seeing Wes run around the house with his plastic light saber and playing with their dogs. He is able to say some words and it was great hearing him repeat some things we said. Even when he got sick for a minute (his food went down the wrong pipe), it didn't make me any less excited to have our own kid. Wes will be two years old at the end of February.

Skinny Slytherin Diaries

Just over a month ago, at the beginning of our Amicalola Falls vacation with Michael's family, I began eating smaller portions more often and actually only eating when I'm hungry rather than eating when I'm bored.. as we all should do anyway.. I have been able to get down to a healthier weight for my small boned 5'3" frame. I was extra proud of myself for making pretty good decisions during the Thanksgiving feast and Peyton's 1st birthday party at my parents' house. Since I also recently bought a nice New Years Eve looking dress while Christmas shopping with Mia two weeks ago, I told Michael that I wanted to have a photo shoot with him. Michael's mom and younger brother took pictures of us, using my phone and our Canon T2i, then Michael took some of just me while we were in Birmingham over the weekend. Taaadaaa:

 And a sweet little babe snoozing in the chair in front of the Gores' Christmas tree. Look at all those presents. "I want a Buzz Saw Louie!".. "No, I want a Buzz Saw Louie!".. "I want ten Buzz Saw Louies!!" 

We All Need Each Other to Survive

Alternate blog post title: Portraits ~ the Underwood Family

Over the weekend, Michael and I were able to spend four days (Friday-Monday) in Birmingham since it was my three day weekend off and I was able to get a vacation day off as well. We went up to celebrate an early Christmas holiday and spent Saturday afternoon decorating sugar cookies. We brought all of our presents home to open on Christmas night at our apartment next week, but while we were in Birmingham we ran errands and went shopping together. We were also able to sneak in a couple delicious dates; breakfast at Egg & I on Saturday, then lunch at Schlotsky's on Sunday after we got our picture with Santa!! Not only was it nice to spend time with Michael's family again, but also great to spend time with him. It is wonderful that he is working a lot as Lead for Grinchmas this year at Islands of Adventure, but between our 10 and 12 hour work schedules, we haven't been able to see each other very much this month. A few times we have both woken up early (or I've just stayed awake after working at night) so we can go for a walk and exercise together. But I am excited that all of this work has helped us reach our current goal for our House Savings, as well as making a dent in our Baby Fund.

  On Saturday I met up with Danielle, one of my friends that I made while we lived in Birmingham. I keep in contact with her the most, but also get to see Lauren and Sandy through Instagram. Yay, technology! Danielle asked me to take pictures of her with her family and I told her that I wanted to meet at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens near the zoo in Mountain Brook. It's always free!! And although the flowers were not in bloom due to the "cold" (it was in the 70's while we were there), I still think it's pretty to see the last red and yellow leaves hanging on to the multiple skinny branches.

  I really liked Danielle's family. Her mom, Cynthia, was very nice and hugged me when we met as well as when I was done taking pictures. Her dad, Jimmy, was fun and you could tell he really loved his wife by hugging her and kissing her in pictures, and doing things to make her laugh. Danielle says they have been married for 29 years. My favorite part was when Danielle wanted her solo model pictures at the end and her dad stood behind her and smiled, but Danielle didn't even notice until she changed her pose three times. I also loved when I was able to capture candid laughing moments. I just kept clicking away, even if nobody was looking at the camera. Her brother, JR, was quiet but had a really nice smile. He would often stand behind me after I took a bunch of pictures to see how they turned out. He complimented me by saying the pictures were really nice and that I'm a good photographer. I do love me some compliments!!

  Her sister, Jimele, was the most like me, because she always looked at the camera, even in the pictures where everyone else was looking away. She and Danielle both have fun personalities and would make silly faces if they got tired of smiling. (I took 10-15 pictures at one time in case someone in the group blinked or looked away for a second.) Jimele said the quote of "We all need each other to survive" during the shoot after someone else joked about being tired of each other already. I liked it for the blog title. Danielle made the whole shoot really easy for me because she acted as the director and told everyone where to stand and picked the areas within the gardens that she wanted everyone to stand in. I did point out the wood and logs though and I think those turned out really pretty, especially with the matching white shirts and jeans.

  After Danielle and I met in Orlando in September for a fitness photo shoot (see it here!!) while her family was vacationing in Kissimmee, we spoke about how we would do another one when Michael and I came to Birmingham, which gave her time to lose more weight. She's down to 223 now, while she started at 270 at a height of 5'10". I am proud of her and like when she sends me screen shots of the routes she walks. I've been doing the same back to her when Michael and I walk. Here are some pictures that I got at the end of just her:

It was a really fun day and I really do enjoy taking these portraits, when I get the chance. I have been spending time on Pinterest lately, "pinning" my favorite pictures and poses. And looking at a lot of newborn/ baby pictures. I have told Michael that I am very excited just thinking about how this time next year I could possibly have a little (2 or 3 month old?) bundle in my arms with blue eyes and freckles like Michael. Here are just two more of Danielle and her family to finish up the post: