14 Weeks...

and expanding nicely! I mean really??? This is ridiculous! I'm not eating any more than usual so where is all this "extra" coming from? Baby doesn't even weigh half a pound. Blegh!
Oh well, at least I have some good news to report. Turns out I'm not the only one getting sick and bloated every night...it's the dairy and a friend of mine who is a couple months farther along said she's going through the same thing. She told me to take Caltrate, which I have yet to try (for now I'm just staying away from milk and such).
Also...Baby has fingerprints! According to one of the pregnancy weekly newsletters, the prints are formed as baby waves its hand through the amniotic fluid causing ridges and valleys to form on the skin. This apparently is why no two people (even identical twins) have the same fingerprints. I thought that was pretty awesome.
Also, baby is about 3 1/2 inches long now. When I started getting the updates, baby was only as big as the period at the end of a sentence...My how [he's] grown!...unfortunately so have I :o)

Snow Day

It's snowing in Austin...so fun! The bad news? I haven't done a SINGLE thing here at work today...too distracted. Ah well, they can't expect us to get much done when such a beautiful and fairly rare event is happening just outside our windows! I say we call it a snow day...no work. Seriously...no one in Austin can drive in the rain, can't wait to see how they do in the snow. :o)

13 Weeks...

...and counting! This is the last week of my first trimester. Woo-hoo! They say it's all uphill from here (well maybe not the actual labor, but you know...positive thinking and all that).

We had an appointment with Dr. Cowan as well as a sonogram this morning. It was amazing! We actually have a baby now (instead of a peanut). We couldn't get a good enough look to guess a sex but we were able to hear the heartbeat. I cried. There's a human inside me...who knew?
They took the measurements and blood and by all accounts, the little one is healthy (and a mover and a shaker according to the sonogram). They gave us the video and a GREAT picture of the little one with [his] hands tucked up to the side of [his] face like [he's] sleeping.

It's the cutest picture. We talked to Doc about the bloating issue and showed him a picture...after exclaiming over it he said his diagnosis is that I'm weird...his words "Your weird, that's my diagnosis." Then we all laughed. I love that my doctor has a sense of humor. Unfortunately, he didn't have any cure-all treatments for the bloating...its more of a wait and see type issue, although he said I can try Gas-Ex or something similar to see if maybe it will help...Here's hopin'. Oh?! I guess I should also mention that as of today, I've gained 5 lbs. Baby only weighs 20 grams so what the hell??? :o)

Corpus Christi Trip

Brian and I decided that we needed to take a trip down to Corpus since we hadn't seen most of my family since Christmas. It was really great. We were pretty busy getting in visiting time with everyone, but it was well worth it. Addison is growing up so quick, talking and running around. Adam, Lindsay, my dad, Brian and I all went to the TX State Aquarium which I haven't been to in quite a while and Brian has never visited. They have several new exhibits that I didn't know they had added (like the "Birds of Flight" where they had several birds, including a beautiful Bald Eagle). I've never seen one in person before. They also have a dolphin habitat that was amusing.
Time always seems to go by so quickly when we're down there...I guess because we're always moving, but it was wonderful to see everyone and we hope to get back soon.

Boys and Baking...

Here are 2 boys that not only located the oven but actually used it to bake. :o) Actually, it was pretty amusing.
The kitchen is not Brian or Joey's usual habitat so when they decided to bake some cookie/brownie hybrids I knew I had to get photographic proof, otherwise who'd believe me?
Brian (reading directions): "How do you know how much a tablespoon is?"
Joey (while mixing): "With brownies, you want to make sure there are lumps left in the batter, right?"
...PRICELESS...
Then there was the joy of watching them discover that butter, when put in the microwave, quickly overheats and boils over and that fast running water won't fill a tablespoon so much as just splash back out at you.
The final product may have come out a little early (or in other words-raw) but the look of triumph on their faces as they bit into their baking creation...well, it was worth every second of cleaning up I assume I'll have to do :o)

12 Weeks...

Blegh...just when things are supposed starting to get better (theoretically) they actually start to get worse. I have to say, I'm very grateful that things haven't been bad up to this point. I've been tired, but not nauseous, and I had the skin rash but even though the rash is still there, I'm not itching-thanks to the Zrytec.
However, even though I'm still tired but otherwise okay in the mornings, I feel terrible at night. Its the weirdest thing. If I eat ANYTHING after about 3:00 in the afternoon I'm miserable until the next morning. However, if I don't eat anything then I get nauseous because I'm so hungry.
So, if I eat after 3:00, here's what happens. About 30 minutes after eating, my stomach starts to bloat. This doesn't stop until its so distended that I look to be about 6-7 months pregnant. I can't move around...I lie in bed but can't get comfortable and have to deal with shooting pains in my stomach. What the hell is this? Apparently baby doesn't like food (or at least doesn't like any of the food I have so far tried to give him). We have a doctor's appt on 02/18 so we'll see what he has to say about it. Hopefully its easily remedied.
The VERY worst part? I can't seem to stop myself from being angry when I get to feeling this way. Bless Brian's heart, he's been great, but I tend to jump on him. I know I'm being ridiculous, but I can't help it. It hurts and it also affects my breathing. For some reason, I can't catch my breath. I don't know if things are cramping my lungs, or what's happening.
Come on, Doc, hope you know what's wrong...finger crossed...or better yet, hope you can fix it. I've included a picture of my stomach in its distended state. Above is a picture of my stomach in the morning...below is if I eat after 3:00.

11 Weeks...

I'm kind of freaking out a little bit. I'm only 11 weeks pregnant with my first and yet I'm showing quite a bit. I didn't think you were supposed to show until much later but I guess every one's body is different. I even took the time to look up pictures of women who were 11 weeks pregnant through google. What I found has made me feel a little better, but it doesn't help my pants fit. Of course that little extra I was carrying around before getting pregnant probably isn't helping out the figure either.
Anyway, I've been wearing jeans to work this week because I can't button my pants anymore and it's been too cold for dresses...ugh. Looks like I'm going to be doing a little shopping this weekend. Old Navy Maternity here I come. :o)
Well, the good thing is that I haven't been too sick. I've been nauseous a few times and actually threw up for the first time on Tues (02/02) but other than that things have been ok. I'm very tired. (Brian says the baby is "cramping his style" because I'm in bed by 9:00 most nights) Not really very hungry though...which I find weird. I'm actually eating less and not because I'm nauseous but because I'm not hungry. I'm taking ALL KINDS of supplements (prenatal vitamins, calcium, fiber, not to mention zyrtec to keep the rash away, welbutrin because I quit smoking, and colace for...well, that's pretty obvious). Hopefully the baby's getting all it needs. I don't know that I could swallow another pill in the mornings.

I like this

"It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives." Not sure who said that, but it sure does ring true...