Hi! My name is Serina & I have the most wonderful boyfriend in the world! His name is Mike & he makes me all kinds of happy :) I am in my senior year of college & I plan on going on to Graduate School next year. We are expecting our first child at the end of July! I'm really excited & I can't wait until I have my baby in my arms! :-)

Pregnancy Survey
About You
Name?:	Serina
Age?:	22
Height?:	5'8"
Pre-pregnancy weight?:	ok nunya
About The Father
Name?:	Mike
Age?:	25
Height?:	6'1"
Are you still together?:	Always
About Your Pregnancy
Is this your first pregnancy?:	yes
When did you find out you were pregnant?:	November 2007
Was it planned?:	No
What was your first reaction?:	Shock then excitement
Who was with you when you found out?:	Mike
Who was the first person you told?:	Sissy, my nurse
How did your parents react?:	Non-belief, then excitement
How far along are you?:	6 weeks
What was your first symptom?:	sore boobs
What is your due date?:	July 22, 2008
Do you know the sex of the baby?:	Not yet, but we will find out asap
If so, what is it?:
Have you picked out names?:	Yeah, kinda
If so, what are they?:	Hunter for a boy & Baylee for a girl
How much weight have you gained?:	2 pounds thus far
Do you have stretch marks?:	not yet
Have you felt the baby move?:	not yet
Have you heard the heartbeat?:	no but in about 3 weeks
About the birth
Will you keep the baby?:	OF course!
Home or hospital birth?:	hospital
Natural or medicated birth?:	oh def medicated!
Who will be in the delivery room with you?:	Mike & maybe my mom if she doesnt drive me crazy
Will you breastfeed?:	if I can
Do you think you'll need a c-section?:	I dont think so! I hope not!
Will you cry when you hold the baby for the first time?:	Probably, or maybe just smile
What's the first thing you might say to him/her?:	Hi!
Would you let someone videotape the birth?:	No videocamera! & no pics once birth starts, until it is over!
Are you excited about the birth, or scared?:	oh definately scared!

MYYY UPDATES...

February 14, 2008 -

First of all, I want to say that I live in America, where it is a Constitutional right to have freedom of speech. I do not appreciate the censorship on this site; However, I do think this is an opportunity to reiterate myself in a different way so that people will understand that I am not trying to give judgemental views on what one should do. Rather, I am simply trying to give factual information & try to make a difference in even one woman's decision. We are all on the same team here and I have never looked at it is fighting or putting myself as better than anyone else because I am not a smoker.

There is some inaccurate information being given. First, I do not want anyone to think that nicotine is the most addictive drug out there because that is simply not true. I do not want anyone to think this because of the fact that if someone says that, then another woman could read it and it could make her feel defeated before she even tries to quit smoking. There are many drugs of abuse in the world that are much more addictive than cigarettes; this is the reason that cocaine, methamphetamines, etc have worse withdrawal symptoms than cigarettes. I do want to say this not as an expert, but as an educated psychology major, who has studied addiction extensively. Secondly, I do not want women to think that some people simply cannot quit smoking and some people can. That is not true. We all face difficult things in life...it is really an issue of some people will and some people won't. Anyone CAN, even though it is difficult. Also, the fact that some may believe it may not be bad for the baby. It has been proven for years that tobacco is one of the drugs that passes through the placenta barrier. The reason that no one considered it bad in past generations is because women simply did not know at that time. Studies had not been conducted & there was not education out there.

The reason that I asked "Would you be able to forgive yourself if your child had a birth defect because of smoking?" was because it is a fact that, if this situation does occur, there will be guilt. I thought maybe some people might not have looked at it that way and thought of how they would feel. We all have to give up certain things when we are pregnant, whether it be alcohol, sometimes sex, or even something as small as skiing. I know personally I had to give up wine. It may not have been an addiction, but it is something that I love. However, I know it is not good for the baby. If I would have indulged while pregnant, and something would have been wrong with my baby, I, myself would have never been able to forgive myself.

I am not trying to judge anyone and I hope all women, smokers and non-smokers alike, can respect this. I am hoping to help women by making them realize what their unborn children are experiencing while in the womb and give those children a voice. I hope to maybe help someone who is uneducated to understand the facts. I do not want someone to have that kind of guilt later because anyone wanted the issue of "smoking while pregnant" to be sugar-coated.

I give my most whole-hearted applause to the women who have quit smoking and are currently trying. If you need any motivation or support regarding this, I would be happy to talk. Your children will be greatly appreciative. I wish you all well!

November 18, 2007 -

Well, I don't feel pregnant at all. haha. The only real symptom I have is sore boobs. I do get hungry a lot, but I don't have any morning sickness. Ive finally learned to sleep on my side. I've always slept on my stomach my whole life, so at first, I couldn't get comfortable. I'm not really any more tired than I was before I got pregnant, because I've always been exhausted all the time. My boobs do hurt, SO BAD! I have some cravings, I guess. The only thing that will quench my thirst is orange juice, which is good since it has lots of folic acid. Also, I've never been a milk drinker, but I crave it sometimes now. I've been trying to eat healthy. I've never been one for fruits and vegetables, but I'm trying to eat at least one of each a day. I've been having a weird feeling that it is a girl. I don't know why. Of course, Mike wants a boy, but I just have this feeling. I don't really care what the baby is...I just can't wait for it to come!!!! :)

November 9, 2007 -

I'm pregnant. I took one this morning and it didn't look like a positive at first. I got in the shower and after I got out, I looked really close & I saw a faint second line. I thought maybe it was just a line that wasn't really a line. So I went to work and told my nurse about it. She said to go take one of the test that we give. I didn't figure it would show anything but I took it anyway. After it ran, I thought I saw a second line but I took it to her. She said "Yeah, they definately count that." I am so excited!

October 17, 2007 -

okay, this month my fertile days will be Oct 27 - 31. Hopefully this is my time. :)

October 16, 2007 -

YAY! I FINALLY started my period today. I know that doesn't seem like a good thing but its the first period I've had since I stopped BC. It's exactly 27 days late...but it's here. I am so glad because now I will hopefully be on a normal schedule like I always have been. In exactly 14 days, I'll (hopefully) be conceiving my baby :) I hope everyone else is doing good & getting all pregnant! hehe.

October 11, 2007 -

Still no period. My boobs & back hurt though. I'm not sure what that means. My back never hurts, except for when I sleep wrong or something. I figure I'll start my period in the morning. I'm not even thinking I'm pregnant, so I'm guessing it will. It's been like 40 days since my last period. I usually go EXACTLY 28 days, almost to the HOUR! The birth control messed me up, in more ways than one. I guess after I went off of it, my emotions also had a change. First, for the bad, but just for a few days. Then, I was a lot better than I was while I was on it. I don't get angry as easy. I kept waiting and waiting for my period, and when it didnt come, I was so excited because I thought I HAD to be pregnant, but no. After my ovulating period, we kind of just stopped having sex for a few days. We did it every other day during that time period, but I wish I would have knew the importance of continuing to do it. I don't know when I would have or will ovulate, so now that I know ovulation comes 14 days before your period, we've been engaging in the fun every day ;). teehee.

October 8, 2007 -

Well, it looks like I still don't have a period. I am trying to look on the bright side...if I don't have a period, then I guess I could still find out I'm pregnant this month. I took a test a few days ago for the hell of it just to see if maybe I was, but it was negative. I'm so sick of seeing negatives. I can't wait to get pregnant.

I've already bought a few books just to get ready. I know 9 months seems like a long time, but with all that's going on, I don't want to just wait until I'm pregnant to start reading. There's so much to know && learn. I want to be informed before I go into the doctor's office. I swear, these days you have to DEMAND health care. I'm not saying that doctors aren't good. They just have to see a certain amount of people a day, so if they get behind, you may be the patient that they rush through. I just know I can't count on a doctor to know everything. No one knows my body better than I do and hey, they're only human. They can make mistakes, too. I'm just excited about this new part of my life. It's hard waiting to get pregnant, but if you think about it...finding your soulmate to even HAVE the baby with is the hardest part. :)

October 4, 2007 -

I am so freaked out right now. This is my first month off of birth control. I got excited because I was late for my period. Well, a blood test proved that I WASN'T pregnant. so now I'm 4 days late for my period & I'm wondering what's going on. Well, I started researching. Apparently, it could take a while to get myself regulated. My body has to get used to ovulating on it's own and not relying on the pill to tell it what to do. It's really frustrating because I feel like the sooner I have my period, the sooner I can ovulate, then the sooner I can get pregnant, then the sooner I can have my baby IN MY ARMS! Isn't it odd that when you go on the pill, they have to tell you the side effects of going on it, but they don't have to tell you what will happen when you do go off of it? It actually kind of pisses me off because I would have just used condoms if I would have known that!