14 Weeks!

How far along are you?  14 weeks (holy crap)
How big is baby?  My little bean is already the size of a lemon - 3.5 inches!
Maternity clothes?  Still just the hair tie.
Weight -Loss or Gain?  I haven't weighed myself since eating my body weight in junk this weekend.
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep?  Yes, please.
Best moment this week:  "Officially" making it to second tri!  We're 1/3 of the way there :)
Any Movement?  Not yet, but I'm getting anxious!  Only a few more weeks!
Food Cravings?  Lots of Mexican food, honeycrisp apples, yogurt, pasta, anything spicy
Food Aversions?  I'm doing pretty good with eating now
Belly Button in or out?  In
What do you miss:  Honestly?  Not looking so chubby.
What are you looking forward to:  Feeling baby kicks, our 20-week ultrasound, getting the nursery painted
What was the BEST part of this week?  Spending quality time with Mike :)
What was the WORST part of this week?  My no-good, very bad Thursday.

 

 

14w1d

Finding my voice

Something I've always struggled with is telling people no.  For whatever reason I roll myself out like a welcome mat for people to come and go across as they please.  There are people who don't take advantage of that, of course, but many who do.  In that same way, I find difficulty in telling people when they are upsetting me, offending me, or are generally out of line.  Since being pregnant, this is an even bigger problem.  Why you ask?  Because everyone has an opinion that you MUST know.

I can't even begin to express how obnoxious it is to constantly have everyone telling me what I should/shouldn't be doing, how I should/shouldn't be doing it, and why I'm wrong.  It doesn't matter that I discuss things with my OB, because apparently once the second line appears on that pregnancy test, everyone you know becomes an expert.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are many valuable things I can learn from people who have been there and done that, but (BUT) that doesn't mean I need to be told what do to all of the time.  The thing is, I DON'T CARE what you, your sister, your friend did while they were pregnant.  That is not my life, my child, my pregnancy.  The only opinions that really matter to me are mine, my husband's, my OB's, and/or any other professional that can give me insight.

In that same way, everyone who is pregnant at the same time with you wants to be pregnancy buddies.  They want to compare what's going on with them and what's going on with you...even if it's totally normal for things to be different.  Just like opinions, I don't WANT a pregnancy buddy.  I already have a pregnancy buddy - s/he is growing up a storm and sucking all of my energy.  We're good.  We don't want you to compare yourself to us friends.  I don't understand why this is a foreign concept.  I don't want you to touch my belly (uhh, hello, you're not going to feel anything), to tell me I'm looking bigger (well, you look like a whale yourself), to explain to me what's going on with my body since this isn't your first time (yeah, I can read WTE too), or anything else for that matter.  We're pregnant together at the same time.  Pure coincidence, and not something I ever in a million years would have planned.  So here's my excitement.  You ready for it?  Really ready?  Whoopie.  That's the best you're going to get out of me.

Now mix all of that with the boatload of hormones I'm dealing with and you'll see my dilemma.  Some days I want to break out into a complete sobbing mess.  Bring on the tissues because the flood gates are opening.  Others days I'm literally thinking of the best way to hide the body from the cops (oh, I've thought of a few good ones).  Seriously, I'm going to sell my tips to gangsters for extra money on maternity leave.  Most days, though, I'm dreading my next interaction with someone who is going to start with me.  I really need to find the best way to tell people that I don't give a crap about what they have to say, and my quota of pregnancy buddies is full.  Thankyouverymuch.

Once that happens I'll write a book and be rich forever.  Until then, I may very well be plotting your death.

13 Weeks!

How far along are you?  13 weeks
How big is baby?  Baby's about the size of a peach this week!
Maternity clothes?  Nope, still using the hair tie mostly.
Weight -Loss or Gain?  Still around 2-3 lbs depending on the day
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep?  I'll take as much as I can get!
Best moment this week:  Hearing the doctor tell me I have a nice healthy baby on Thursday :)
Any Movement?  Still too early, but it won't be long now
Food Cravings?  Lots of Mexican food, fruit, and protein
Food Aversions?  Pretty much the same
Belly Button in or out?  In
What do you miss:  Not questioning, or being questioned about, everything I do.  I want to do everything perfectly for the baby, but it's hard to balance perfection and real life.  I just wish people would keep their criticism to themselves.
What are you looking forward to:  Having a real bump, feeling the baby move, second trimester (woohoo!!)
What was the BEST part of this week?  Just getting to spend some time with Mike.  He's such a great husband and he's going to be a great dad!
What was the WORST part of this week?  My mother-in-law going into the hospital.

13w1d - I think I feel much larger than I look!

SO, I'm not "officially" in second trimester until Friday, but let's just throw caution to the wind for a second and say I MADE IT!  I am so excited!  I don't know why second tri is so important to me though.  I mean, I've heard the Bean's heartbeat more times than I can count, I've seen him/her on two different ultrasounds measuring perfectly, and I just had my OB tell me that as of right now, everything is great.  All I know is that I'll take any milestone (no matter how small) when it comes to our baby, because I don't think I'll breathe a sigh of relief until s/he is in my arms... and even then I'll probably check constantly to see if s/he's breathing!

As far as symptoms go, I am relieved to say that I haven't gotten sick in over 3 weeks now!  Although I've heard sickness can return in the third trimester, I'm thankful to see it gone for now.  I do still have days where I'm nauseous or where I think I'll get sick, but luckily nothing more than that.  I still really miss my energy as well.  I always know when 3:00 rolls around because I get hit with a terrible wave of exhaustion and I can barely keep my eyes open.  It's hard going from being the type of person who's always on the go, to being the type of person who can barely function, but I'm learning to adapt.  I've cut back on volunteering to do stuff/help people/attend things and I'm trying to keep my scheduled functions to a minimum.  Now instead of a day's worth of plans, I'll only agree to one activity so that I have time to rest.  I have also been taking advantage of time I have available to nap.  Even though I usually see it as time wasted, (I have things to do, people!) it's much easier to take an hour nap in the afternoon/early evening, than it is to be so exhausted I not only can't function, but have to go to bed insanely early.  On top of all of that, I've noticed my hunger has really increased.  I used to be able to get away with maybe eating 1 or 2 larger meals and then snacking on fruits and veggies and other stuff throughout the day, but I've been noticing that some days my "snacks" aren't meeting my appetite demands.  So now instead of apples for throughout the day, I'll do apples and peanut butter and add additional extra protein to help keep me full.  I'll figure it out.

Mike and I also "came out" on Facebook this week since our 12 week appointment went well and all of our close friends and family know.  I'll admit that it's still pretty scary to me that everyone knows now.  Some days I just want to take it all back and keep the Bean our little secret for awhile longer.  Don't ask me why, I think I'm just paranoid.  Mike also told all of his coworkers, making me feel like the bad parent! ;)  He's so excited for his son/daughter to come and it just makes me so happy (and emotional).  Plus, I know he really loves a lot of the people he works with, so it was only natural to tell them the good news.  I finally got up the nerve to start telling people I work with today...okay, I told 3 people, but it's weird to talk about yourself!  I kind of hope the news just gets out at work and everyone kind of finds out.  I really don't want to make a big announcement.

In other news, we finally decided on a wall color!  We decided to ask some family members and they were no help at all (thanks a lot, guys!)  Some thought one color was too girly, others thought it was too boyish, some thought one was too dark, the other too light - what a pain!  My mother-in-law told us that she didn't like either color and that we should pick more classic colors.  Yeah, it was a GREAT idea asking for opinions! ;)  In the end we finally chose, and we're both happy since we liked both anyway.  We also bought the ceiling fan for the nursery, bought the paint for the trim, started to plan the nursery setup, and began looking at furniture we like.  This weekend, we'll probably finish cleaning out the stuff from the nursery and hopefully I can start painting the trim!  Very exciting!  I keep getting asked about our registry, and even though I think it's early, we'll likely start registering after our 16 week appointment next month.  My mom NEEDS the registry done before Black Friday, so that will give us about a month to tweak it and ask for opinions.

Appointment Update

Today was our 12 week appointment!  I met with an OB at the practice I haven't seen before since they want you to meet all of the doctors (because you'll never know who will be on call when you go into labor).  He was very nice and the appointment was short and sweet.  A few questions about how I was feeling, asked whether we're doing the Sequential screen (we're not - our insurance doesn't cover it), and whether we're doing the 20 week ultrasound (we are).  Then we did a quick listen to the Bean's heart beat, which the doctor said was "nice and strong in the 150's."

Other than that, I found out that my blood work all came back normal and then I asked about if I could paint the nursery with low VOC paint.  The doctor looked at me like I had 15 heads and told me that it was fine as long as it was lead-free and the windows are open.  I also asked about stretching for my iliosacral joint pain, but he said it's just trial and error, so keep trying to find something that works.

That was it!  Quick and painless.  I scheduled my 20 week appointment (holy crap!) and I'll be back on October 14th.  Now we're off to second tri :)

12 Weeks!

How far along are you?  12 weeks
How big is baby?  At around 2" long, the baby is now about the size of a plum.  S/he's really growing now!
Maternity clothes?  I tried wearing maternity jeans, but they were just too big.  I must have been having a chubby day when I tried last week because my regular jeans fit fine with the Be Band or a hair tie.
Weight -Loss or Gain?  +2-3 lbs
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep?  I have never been so tired in all of my life.  I overslept my alarm twice in the last week!
Best moment this week:  Realizing how close I am to second tri!
Any Movement?  Too early, but I'm really looking forward to feeling it
Food Cravings?  I'm not really craving anything in particular right now, just eating things as I want them
Food Aversions?  Pretty much the same
Belly Button in or out?  In
What do you miss:  My energy, not being tired all of the time
What are you looking forward to:  Having a real bump, feeling the baby move, second trimester
What was the BEST part of this week?  Having it hit me that in a few short months I'm going to have my own child.  It seems so unreal!
What was the WORST part of this week?  The awful migraine that I had on Sunday.

12w1d - morning picture

12w1d - night picture

[I posted 2 pictures this week to show how different (and large) my bump looks at the end of each day.  A lot of people tell me how much I'm "showing" when they see me in the evenings, but when I wake up each morning, I don't feel that big!  When you're pregnant, your food digests slower than normal so that your body can uptake as many nutrients from it as possible.  With slowed digestion also comes a larger belly at night.  All of my bump pics so far have been taken at night, so it's funny to me to see just how much my stomach changes every day.]

12 weeks is such a big deal - the unofficial end of the first trimester!  I can't even believe we're finally here.  For so long I set goals.  I just wanted to make it to 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 11 weeks, and now I'm at 12 weeks.  It is so crazy to me that I'll be in my second trimester by the end of next week!

Last night I laid in bed thinking about how we need to schedule our hospital tour for second trimester.  No big deal, I told myself, I'll schedule it after school's over.  School ends in December, then I'll hit second trimester.  But when will I hit third trimester?  I kept doing the math over and over in my head.  December is about three months from my EDD, so how can that only be second trimester?  Then it hit me... I'll be in second trimester next Friday.  As in, 10 days away.  As in, December will be too late to schedule our hospital tour.  (Yes, I know, the pregnancy brain has a terrible hold on me.)  I just can't believe it.  There is so much to do and so little time to do it in! 

Despite feeling like we've gotten nothing done, Mike and I have actually been quite busy in the past few weeks, especially lately.  We narrowed down our paint colors to 2 choices, we complied a list of first and middle names to take to the hospital, we purchased our travel system, we researched cribs and nursery furniture, we discussed baby items we will likely be registering for, we started looking for gliders, and we're attending a local consignment sale this weekend to see if there's anything we could use.  Hopefully this weekend we will be able to narrow down a paint choice, buy a ceiling fan for the nursery, and start cleaning out the nursery.  I'm so anxious for it to be the baby's own space!

11 Weeks!

How far along are you?  11 weeks
How big is baby?  This week, the Bean is about the size of a lime!  I feel like that's SO big.
Maternity clothes?  I'm in that awkward stage where some of my jeans are a bit tight in the hips, but maternity jeans are huge.  I need to go through my closet to see what fits :(
Weight -Loss or Gain?  +2 lbs
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep?  I'm still exhausted and trying to get all the sleep I can get.
Best moment this week:  Telling our extended families :)
Any Movement?  Too early 
Food Cravings?  Lots of protein, potatoes, strawberries, baby carrots
Food Aversions?  Tacos, coffee, sweets
Belly Button in or out?  In
What do you miss:  My energy
What are you looking forward to:  Second trimester - it's right around the corner now!
What was the BEST part of this week?  Spending a long weekend with Mike
What was the WORST part of this week?  Starting back to school last Wednesday :(

11w1d - The bump is growing!

We finally told our extended families this weekend and now just about everyone knows!  It's so exciting to not have to keep a secret anymore and it makes me feel like I'm really pregnant now.  Thankfully everyone was really excited for us and we only had to deal with a small amount of unsolicited advice.  We were also able to get the paint samples on the nursery wall this weekend, but of course we still can't decide what color we like best!  Mike and I were joking last night that we'll end up having to pick out of a hat, but that actually might end up being the solution, considering neither of us can make a decision.  At least we still have some time.

School started on Wednesday, but luckily I only have 1 class on campus and didn't have to go until Thursday night.  With how exhausted I've been, it was hard to keep my eyes open for the 3 hour lecture.  Thankfully we got out a half-hour early, but I'm really not looking forward to the full 3 hours tonight (I will also likely be taking my weekly bump pics a day late from now on due to Tuesday night class).  I am thrilled that my sickness has eased up lately, and at least I don't have to deal with that along with class.

I am also wearing maternity jeans today, even though they are still big on me.  I tried on a pair of my regular jeans yesterday, but they were a bit tight in the hips and I wasn't sure if it was from eating too much this weekend, or if I am expanding already.  I guess I have to go through my closet to see what fits and what doesn't.  Hopefully it was just a fluke, but with all of the iliosacral joint and hip pain I've been having, I don't think it's out of the question that my hips may have expanded.  Either way, I've still only gained 2 lbs, so if I'm growing, at least I know it's the baby and not too much junk food.  It will be nicer when I have a cute pregnancy belly, though. :)

Other than that, there's not much more to report.  Mike was able to hear the Bean's heartbeat on the doppler on Friday, but our little swimmer was definitely moving in and out of the area, so we could only hear for about a minute before searching over again.  Even though we don't use it very often, it was nice to be able to check in before we told all of our extended family.