13 Weeks

Looks like I still have one more week in my first trimester. So many sources say different things, but it seems like most says 14 weeks, what I always thought before too.

So one more week!

Look at that shirt! I'm starting to fill it in! I'm getting rounder more around the upper area rather than just in the lower area. You should see me after dinner time, it's quite comical.

This weekend we went to Asheville, NC for a much needed mini vacation. It was so great because I felt awesome! No queasy, no headaches, things smelled fine, food was yummy, sleep felt good...lovely. The only hint that I had that I was pregnant was slowing walking around The Biltmore for a couple hours really wore me out. My legs were shaky a bit once we were finished with the tour.

This was also the first time were we ate out a lot. I had to be careful what I ordered. A lot of the stuff I wanted had cheeses that I'm not allowed to have. No bacon wrapped mission figs with goat cheese for me. Most meals, I just ate half my order and saved the rest. And I think that really helps me not feel queasy because when we got home, I had a big lunch and ate more than I should've and I felt sick for the rest of the day.

Next week I have my monthly check up. I love going to the doctors, it just makes things feel a bit more real.

Pregnancy Ups and Downs

sprout - 12weeks 3 days

I thought I'd start a weekly pregnancy ups and downs. Fridays sound like a good day!

Pregnancy Ups:
- We got to see sprout again! Our screening ultrasound went really well and sprout moved around quite a bit after some poking from the ultra sound teach. We even got to see it turn. Amazing!!

- I am feeling about 80% normal now. I usually only feel icky after big meals and well, my headaches are a pain, but *shrugs* comes with the territory.

- I started sleeping with my Leechco pregnancy pillow (that I got a garage sale, but it was clean and I cleaned it again myself!). A little early, but I've been getting pain and tingling in my hips so I knew I needed to sleep with a pillow between the knees and this Leechco pillow is awesome! I have better quality sleep when I actually do get to sleep.

Pregnancy Downs:
- While the Leechco pillow is amazing, I still wake up a lot and often have a hard time falling back asleep. And this marks the first week I had to pee more than once at night and getting a charlie horse. Good-bye sleep.

- Smells still really bother me and I've noticed that that's what usually brings on my headaches. Smells that are the worst are garbage, cigarette smoke, heavy air fresheners and the litter box.

- I haven't exercised since Saturday and I've only walked the dogs once this week. I'm trying to tell myself that it's only the first trimester and soon I'll have the energy and will to get moving again.

12 weeks

I can't believe I'm at the end of my first trimester!

Nothing much has changed since last week. I know, just boring! Although, yesterday I noticed the bloating had kind of gone away and I'm just getting bigger around the front now. My tummy area is feeling more solid underneath. The next couple of weeks I'm going to start popping. Yes!!

I've trashed all my old make up, which is barely anything, and bought a natural powder foundation and a natural eyeliner. This is something I've been trying to do before, but now that I'm pregnant, I'm really trying to use only good stuff on my face and body. I even use natural hairspray. And truthfully, I'm not spending that much more, in fact it's still cheaper than getting department store beauty supplies. Any changes I can make to help ease my mind on what I'm putting in mine and my baby's body, the better.

But....on the other hand. I had two deli meat sandwiches this weekend! Scandalous! Rest assured, both sandwiches were heated up. I have been craving sandwiches forever now, falls into my comfort food craving. And even though both sandwiches were pretty heated up and toasted and tasted sooooo delicious, I still had that nagging worry and paranoia. *sigh* Hopefully that'll keep that craving at bay for a while.

This week we go for the Nuchal Folds Test and blood test to check for chromosomal abnormalities. A little nerve-wracking, but it's good peace of mind. Also, we'll get to see sprout again and that's totally worth it!

Mead!

fermenting mead

When Rob first started brewing beer a few years ago, he mentioned that he wanted to also try making mead ("honey wine"), since it's simple and we already have the equipment. I read up on it and I noticed it takes about 6-9 months for it to ferment and age.

Idea!

I told him to hold off on brewing mead until we got pregnant, then make it and when we have the baby, our mead will be ready too! Of course we waited to do this a little bit longer than hoped...

But about a month ago when we first found out we were pregnant, Rob said, "Guess what we can make now?!" Mead!!

A couple weeks ago, we got our supplies and Rob brewed some mead. He made a simple recipe with a bit of raspberries for a little hint of berry sweetness. Currently it's sitting up in the "beer closet" fermenting and by April it'll be ready! It's exciting to know that this drink it brewing along with our baby.

Of course I'm already planning a party which we bust open some mead and celebrate our baby being born.

Trivia: Mead was actually made to drink right after a wedding to ensure happiness and fertility, hence...Honeymoon!

11 weeks

11 weeks in!

I am kind of starting to notice a bump. More like an extending of my upper abs. I knew it'd be a little difficult for me to really start seeing a bump since I do have a pooch from when I lost a bunch of weight in my early 20's. My clothes are the biggest giveaway, shirts are tighter and some pants I can't wear anymore. It's this really awkward stage, no point in buying bigger sizes and too soon to buy maternity clothes. I do have a belly band, which I've worn once, but that doesn't help when the pants are tight in the thighs.

Everyday I am feeling more like my old self again, which thankfully I never felt really awful. I still get a bit tired and on weekends I usually take a nap. Food is still a bit hard for me, nothing really sounds appealing and thinking about food makes my stomach achy. It's actually quite frustrating because I was healthy girl! I made sure I ate veggies and fruits and a balanced diet. I loved desserts and sweets and coffee, even decaf, was a lovely warm morning ritual. Now, the only things that sound good is pizza, cold cereal, apples, oranges, pancakes and comfort food, which I've been craving my mom's cooking, but she's on vacation right now and I can't get any recipes. Oh and I've been a little hormonal, tears came a bit too easily these past couple of days.

This past weekend we also checked out the hospital where we are having our baby. Yeah, a little early, but they were having a baby fair and I couldn't pass is up. You should've seen how many magazines I got! I'm pretty familiar with this hospital already and its maternity/woman's health ward since that's where I stayed for 3 days when I had my surgery last year. It's a very nice and clean hospital and everyone is super friendly. The labor rooms are just as nice and, to my pleasant surprise, there's a jetted bath tub in each labor room for natural birthers, yay!

My wiggly sprout

Yesterday I went for a mommy check up and an ultrasound. It had been about 3 weeks since our first ultrasound and I was anxious to see if sprout was still doing well.

Now I've been reading websites and such and seeing the week-by-week, I know what the baby is supposed to look like, but to see it, see YOUR baby, looking like a real baby...now that's amazing.

*I flipped these upside down to see it better

I saw a head, little arms with elbows, a beating heart, a butt, legs with knees and toes and the umbilical cord. I couldn't get over how long its arms and legs looked. Too soon to think it'll be as tall as it's dad? I heard its little heatbeat, nice and good at 176 bmp. And the bestest!! I got to see it move and wiggling around! I wasn't expecting to see movement like that so soon. Now THAT makes it all more real! It put me on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

I'm on a normal OB schedule now and won't go back for 4 weeks. Such a long wait. By then I'll already be in my 2nd trimester! Rob's going to come to the next one, I didn't have him come to this appointment since I thought it was going to be an extra long one with my check up and all. At least he got to see pictures.

10 weeks

I am 10 weeks!

No bump yet, but it's still pretty early in the game. I am still feeling awesome, in fact, I've been feeling way better than I have been these past few weeks (which wasn't all that bad). I switched vitamins on Thursday night and since then, my dry icky mouth and my general morning sickness went away. Coincidence? Sometimes I still feel off and thinking about food just isn't as fun as it used to be. Oh and smells. I had my first melt down because the cat little box smelled bad, the air freshener stunk even worse and there was no escaping it. But we moved the box to its old spot and the air freshener is now in the garage and I'm a happy camper.

I'm starting to retire clothes now. Everyday I add something to the pile. It's mostly shirts though since most of my pants were always a little loose and needing a belt. Needless to say, I rarely wear a belt anymore. But that bloat feeling has gone away or I've just accepted it. I think every girl struggles with the first initial weight gain/thickening and then eventually gives up. You tell yourself that this is what's supposed to happen, but it's like, "Noo! Too soon!" And of course, not seeing a cute baby bump doesn't help.

This week my goal is to start exercising again. Walking the dogs is always my #1 form of moving around, more for the dog's sake than mine. I have a prenatal yoga dvd and a prenatal work dvd too. It's a weird thing knowing that you're not working out to lose weight, but just to stay in shape and help my body. Also, sitting at work all day just to come home and sit on the couch...well, that's lame and no good. I do try to at least take a short walk at work during lunch, even if it's only for like 5 minutes.

This week I have my 2nd OB appointment. I get a full head to toe check up and I get an ultrasound. I can't wait to hear sprout's heartbeat again, it's just the most amazing sound.