Ivy Van Dusen: November 2016

11/22/2016 2 sweet note{s}

11/20/2016 No sweet note{s}

Today was one of the neatest days of my life! It was our first baby dr. appointment and first ultrasound! I had been looking forward to it for so long. I was super excited but also pretty nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect and I was really hoping for good news- which was exactly what we got (right after we stopped for breakfast at Chick-fil-a).

I was right on the dot for guesing what my due date would be. Dr. confirmed June 13th. My mom's birthday is the 12th, my parents' anniversary is the 14th and my birthday is the 16th. Plus father's day tends to fall during that week, so we are looking at a crazy few days in June! :)

The ultrasound was such a neat experience. Kody and I were so excited as we watched a little baby pop up on the screen! I didn't think it would be as big or as clear as it was. You could clearly see a big head, little arms and legs and a cute little bum! We got a kick out of how much it was moving around. Its arms were going up and down and it's teeny legs were kicking. IT WAS THE CUTEST THING. We are already obsessed with this baby. We also got to see a very clear heartbeat which was very comfoting and again, very cute :)

I also got to get my long list of questions answered and it was such a good experience. My docotor seems super sweet and cool so far so I felt good. The whole thing actually seems real now! Even though I can't feel it moving quite yet, there really is a little baby growing inside of me.

I haven't had any big self-esteem problems in the past but, I mean, I'm a girl. So, there have been lots of times where I haven't felt pretty or skinny enough. Especially lately. I have definately gained weight in the past few weeks (probably more than I should), and I just haven't felt super cute! But today I got a little wake-up call about how dumb it is to be so hard on myself. OUR BODIES ARE SO COOL. No matter how fun it is to make them look pretty, that isn't really the main point of them. Heavenly Father was thinking about a lot more than our looks when he made us. I looked at that baby on the screen and thought about how happy my parents must have felt when they saw a tiny version of me on their screen and they probably felt the same way I did. Kind of a random thought, but it's true! Our bodies are SO VALUABLE no matter what they look like. Our bodies constantly change. We are WAY too hard on ourselves and it is ridiculous! For the next 7 months I know my body is really going to change, but I hope to be able to look beyond the stretch marks, the spider veins and the number on the scale, and see what is actually important. I am so beyond grateful for this body and for this baby.

xo

11/20/2016 No sweet note{s}

These past couple of weeks have been pretty tough if I am being honest. I went from having no symptoms at 5 weeks to having ALL the symptoms at 6 weeks. I feel sick, cranky, achy, chunky, tired and not cute. But I guess that pregnancy isn't all wonderful, glowing bliss right? Here is my update!

How Far Along: 8 weeks

Baby is the size of: a raspberry! Still teeny but growing so much!

Total weight gain: So far about 3-4lbs. Pretty sure this isn't actual baby weight though. Probably just water/bloating/too much eating haha.

Symptoms: Man, I'm not sure where to even begin. At 6 weeks, the morning sickness hit and it hit HARD. Since then, I have been super queasy allllll day. Then a couple of days ago the heartburn hit too. I never knew what heartburn was until then and let me tell you: heartburn + morning sickness is not a good combo! I feel miserable all the time but still have to go to work and school and pretend everything is normal because we still haven't told anybody.

I am still super duper tired all the time too. My life is all about sleeping and planning when I will sleep next. haha. I have never been a big nap-taker until lately. I seriously have to take a nap every single day! I am also super moody...I don't like to admit it but it's true. Trying to find parking at school and dealing with BYU drivers makes me way more angry than it ever has. Then today Kody showed me a video of a baby chameleon hatching out of its egg and I started tearing up. Ridiculous, I know!!!

Cravings: NOTHING. Literally everything sounds gross to me. I have to eat though so when I think of something that doesn't totally turn my stomach, I jump on it. I have been living off of saltines, apple sauce, popsicles, pb+honey sandwiches and soup.

Struggles: Lately I have really gotten homesick! I really miss my family, especially my mom. Sometimes when Kody is at school I feel really down being alone at home. I used to be just fine, but for some reason this pregnancy has made me really want to be close to home. I am SO jealous of all you girls that live close to your moms and get to see them often/go to lunch/have Sunday dinners with your families. Someday! And like I said, the morning sickness has really been keeping me down. I never knew it would be this bad. Everyday I pray that I will just be able to make it through the day at school and work. I try to keep a positive attitude though because I know this sickness is all for a good cause and I will do anything for this little raspberry!

Exercising: I have struggled so hard lately to work out. Feeling like you're going to throw up + running isn't a very fun thing, so I haven't been doing a whole lot of it. I try to do yoga though and although it's hard, it feels AMAZING. Hopefully I can get back into working out soon!

Baby Daddy: Kody has been just so awesome over the past few weeks. He takes me to the grocery store every time I have some sort of weird craving, he lets me sleep all the time, he listens to me cry about stupid stuff, he rubs my back he does the dishes, and he still makes me feel like I am hot even though I am usually makeup-less, tired, bloated and the exact opposite of hot. I don't know what I would do without him, I want to cry just typing this! (so emotional, remember?). I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband.

Discoveries: I finally bought the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book and I love it! I can remember my mom reading it when I was little and she was pregnant with my brother. Every time I have a few minutes I read a little bit of it!

Looking Forward To: Telling our families. And our friends. And everyone. We have our first ultrasound in November (once I am at 10 weeks) and plan on telling our families then. We probably won't tell everyone else until after the 1st trimester but that will be fun too :)

11/20/2016 1 sweet note{s}

Kody and I decided that we wanted to try to have a baby sometime in 2017, so this wasn't an accident. However, we did not expect it to happen as fast as it did, so it was a little bit of a surprise!

I was feeling a little off for a few days, so while I was grocery shopping I thought, "why not?" and threw a cheap pregnancy test in the cart. I took it as soon as I got home but got super pee-shy and because it took so long, the directions said the test was invalid. Nothing showed up on it so I didn't think anything of it. When Kody came home later, I told him and he just thought it was funny. Kind of as a joke, he told me to try it again even know we knew that test was already ruined. So I did and I was shocked when I saw a "+". I told Kody and we immediately ran to the grocery store (no makeup, no bra. that's how fast we went) and picked up two more. I cam home, and sure enough, another plus sign! I still didn't believe it so I did the second one and a plus sign appeared again! We were kind of in shock but we were soooooo beyond happy!! We paused Parks and Rec and then just kind of sat there for a minute laughing and saying, "what the heck?!" over and over. It is one of my favorite little moments in my life so far :)

I told myself we were going to wait to tell family until Christmas but what was I thinking?! I can't keep a secret! I'm sure we will tell our families soon. Our baby is going to have the very best grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins ever. Not telling people has been SO HARD. I just want to tell everyone I meet! Miscarriages and difficulties are more common during these early stages, so we don't want to tell the whole world just yet. It is kind of fun to have our own little secret for now but once I hit that second trimester, everyone on the entire planet will be notified! :)

I have always loved reading other moms' pregnancy updates so I am going to do my own on here! I will try to update it every few weeks or so. Sorry if you think it's annoying but be prepared for all kinds of updates and pictures and posts about cute baby stuff!! I am in full baby mode now.

How Far Along: 5 1/2 weeks

Baby is the size of: an orange seed! Teeny tiny!

Total weight gain: So far 0lbs! But I am super bloated so it feels like 20lbs already.

Symptoms: I am so TIRED. All day. By the time 7pm hits, I feel like I am literally going to pass out. I get such awesome sleep, and have to set 3-4 different alarms in the morning because otherwise, I would probably sleep for days. Every night I try to stay awake longer to talk and hang out with Kody but I am out after just a few minutes of laying there! Poor Kody. That is it for now though!

Cravings: EVERYTHING. My stomach is a bottomless pit! I feel like I have the appetite of a 16-year-old boy lately. We went to Chili's a few days ago and I got a turkey burger and fries and ate EVERYTHING clean off my plate and didn't even feel that full after. I remember thinking "hmmm that's weird". So my crazy appetite was honestly probably the first sign that I was pregnant. I want to eat everything in sight. So yes, I am sure the weight gain will come. Although, I hear the morning sickness starts at about 6 weeks so we'll see if my appetite sticks around. Cross your fingers I don't get super sick, I have school and work that I CANNOT miss!!

Struggles: I went off of caffeine cold-turkey as soon as I got the positive test. So it has been a whole...3 days since my last soda (so, so, so, long). If you know me, you know that diet dr. pepper is a MAJOR part of my life, heart and soul. I have read how too much caffeine can hurt a fetus so I just decided to go big or go home and cut it out all together. It is tricky but I know I am doing it for a good cause so I think I can do it!

Exercising: Even though I want to sleep 24hrs/day, I have tried really hard to hit the gym every day. Because I'm not having very many symptoms, most of my usual workouts are fine. However, I can't help but feel a little cautious about running up stairs, squatting a lot of weight and doing hard-core workouts like that even though I have heard it is okay. I have mostly just been running/walking, doing spinning classes and I am trying to get more into yoga because I know how wonderful yoga is! Also, lets just throw out my ab workout plan I started a few weeks ago. Don't think that will have a purpose for a while.

Discoveries: I have spent probably 50% of the last 72 hours on the "What to Expect" app. It is the best!! There is a whole group of ladies that are all due in June 2017 like me! I have been learning to much and have been getting so excited.

Looking Forward To: The first ultrasound! I want so badly to see my little soybean and hear its heartbeat! I hear it is an amazing experience. And YES, babies have a heartbeat at 3 weeks and you can hear it at 6 weeks! Isn't that just nuts?!

Although I am still verrrrry early along, I feel such a love for this little human and want to do everything in my power to make sure it is as healthy and safe as possible! Suddenly my worries about school assignments, news reports, work, cleaning the house, and doing all of those "important" things seem so small. Now, all that matters seems to matter in the whole world are two things 1) your family is safe, healthy, and happy and 2) the gospel of Jesus Christ. Seriously, if you have those things, what else could you ever, ever want? I am so beyond grateful to get to experience all of this with my very best friend. Kody is going to be the sweetest, best, most fun dad ever and I can't wait to see him with our baby.

YAYYYYYY!!!!! :) :) :)

11/20/2016 No sweet note{s}

11/17/2016 No sweet note{s}

It is only Monday and my brain is already fried from schoolwork, so I am taking a little writing break. I never really know how these posts will come out. I kinda just start going and see where it takes me! :)

I can't beleieve that Election Day is almost here! Am I the only one who feels like this thing has gone on for like 1,000 years?

Not going to lie, election day is kind of like my version of a superbowl. I think I have a pretty good guess as to who will win, but I am anxious to see how it will all go down. I got all my news reporting stuff done today so I could just chill tomorrow and follow it all! As lame as that may sound, it's true. I am kind of a nut when it comes to this stuff. I blame you, mom for listening to all that talk radio in the car when I was growing up :)

This was the first time I could vote in a presidential election! Last time I was only about 10 months too young and I was pretty bummed about it. I honestly wish I could be one of those people that says, "I just don't get into politics" or "I really don't care who wins. I don't like any politicians." but I just can't help myself but get into it all! I have had a lot of thoughts about this election and yes, I have my opinions on who I think should win. I don't reallly like to talk about it on my blog though. All I really want to say is that in the end, America is the greatest nation in the history of the world and will continue to be so, no matter who the president may be.

I feel like everyone is soo gloom and doom about this election (including myself at times). Our ancestors didn't give their lives for a nation, just to have it ruined by one (or a few) bad presidents. You can still feel pride for your country, you can still be grateful for your freedoms and you don't have to move away if someone you don't like gets elected.

So get out and vote with all your might and remember that this is YOUR country no matter who happens to be in the White House.

flag top is from Coco & Main

xo

11/07/2016 No sweet note{s}

11/02/2016 No sweet note{s}

11/01/2016 1 sweet note{s}

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