12 Weeks - I Can't Believe We're Here!

OUR BABY IS 12 WEEKS OLD AND THE SIZE OF A LIME.

FINGERS AND TOES CURL WHEN HANDS AND FEET ARE TICKLED.

I am so excited to finally be out of the 1st Trimester!  This seems like such a huge milestone :)  This week we have another appointment and ultrasound, and I can't wait to see that our little boo is still doing well in there.  Once we see that we will FINALLY make a public announcement!  I will send an email announcement to our family (since unfortunately everyone lives far away so we can't tell them in person) and will also make it facebook official.  We're not gonna do anything super clever or funny, just a straight forward "We're Pregnant!" announcement.  This past week I have started to feel like I have more of a "belly"... which may be a real baby or it may be a food baby.... or equal parts both lol.  Unsure.  But it definitely feels different.  I've had some stretching pains in my sides, letting me know things are growing and moving around in there.  This is so exciting!   

11 Weeks - Almost Out of the 1st Tri!

OUR BABY IS 11 WEEKS OLD, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A LIME

KIDNEYS ARE FUNCTIONING AND CYCLING AMNIOTIC FLUID

Only one more week til we're out of the first trimester!  I decided to start doing belly pics every other week, because doing it every week was proving to be too often.  Hence why there isn't one this week.  So I'll be sticking to the even numbered weeks from now on.

Well, last week I mentioned that I had a couple goals I wanted to accomplish, and I did!  This coming Friday, Jan 25th, I have 3 tours scheduled at daycares that are near us and convenient for both Tim and I to pick the baby up since we'll likely have to switch off duties each day.  I've also signed up for a 10 week Prenatal Yoga class that starts on Feb 9th and I can't wait!  I've been dying to start taking yoga classes but they don't let you until you're in the 2nd Trimester.  I was so happy to find one that's held on Saturdays and starts early in my 2nd trimester.  There aren't that many options for these classes nearby, so thankfully this one fits the bill.  It's held at a maternity store at a nearby mall.  I want to get at least two 10 week sessions in before the baby comes.  These classes really help keep back and joint pain down and strengthen the muscles that facilitate birth.  I want to prepare as much as possible for an all-natural birth.

10 Weeks - 25% Finished!

OUR BABY IS 10 WEEKS OLD, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A STRAWBERRY.

BABY CAN DO ROLLS AND STRETCHES, TASTE BUDS START.

Another mom on Baby Center made a post the other day saying she was 25% finished, or 10 weeks along, in her pregnancy.  Thinking of it like that really puts it into a different perspective!  It brings to light just how far along I really am.  10 weeks still seems so early, but I guess it's really not.  A quarter of the way through is a pretty big chunk to get past.  Now I have a few goals for this coming week:

1. Sign up for prenatal yoga

2. Start researching and touring daycare centers

I want to exercise and prepare for birth as much as possible, so I need to get started on that yoga!  There's a store at a nearby mall that holds classes so I will sign up for those.  When I went to check it out over the weekend it was actually my first time in a maternity store... I was tempted to buy some things!  They had some cute stuff.  But it's too soon, so I resisted :)  I did get a body pillow for sleeping, that's going to help so much!  As for daycare, I am unsure about the wait list situation with nearby daycare centers.  The earlier we choose one the better, so that we can hopefully reserve a spot so the baby has a place to go when I go back to work.  I have a couple on my radar so I just need to dig a little deeper and see what Tim thinks.

9 Weeks - My First Belly Pic!

OUR BABY IS 9 WEEKS OLD, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A GRAPE.

HAIR, FINGERNAILS, AND TOENAILS START GROWING.

I am so excited to begin my belly pics series!  I finally went and got a tripod for my camera (a Canon Rebel T2i I invested in when we started TTC) so I can take photos of myself.  I tried getting the hubs to do it, but the poor man doesn't have a creative bone in his body.  He was totally stumped at how to get a nice, well exposed photo that was actually in focus.  No matter, I can do it on my own with a tripod :)  I'll be doing this every week starting now, and will put them all together into a book at the end.  There won't be much change in the beginning but it should speed up later and that's the point - to see the rate of change over time.  This is a project I have been looking forward to!  As you can see, I'll be including a short journal entry with each week's photo.  In the end I'll have a photo series with a quick sum up of what I was going through each week.  It should make for a really special keep sake.  

8 Weeks - 2nd Ultrasound, and It Went Well!

OUR BABY IS 8 WEEKS OLD, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A RASPBERRY, AND CAN KICK.

ALL MAJOR ORGANS, MUSCLES, AND NERVES ARE PRESENT.

What better way to kick off the New Year than with a positive ultrasound!  We went in for our follow up on Jan 3rd and found the baby measured 8w3d (although I was 8w2d) and had a healthy heart rate of 174bpm.  It was so cool to see that little gummy bear with it's little arm and leg nubs!  It was a relief, although I wasn't as nervous going in to this one as I was with the last one.  Last time, it seemed like I had to wait YEARS from the time I scheduled the appointment til it actually took place.  This time we had Christmas and New Years in between and that kept me so busy that before I knew it our next appointment was here.  

I am still having some persistent symptoms.  I'm definitely bloated (sexy), and I feel nauseous every single day (super sexy).  Nowhere near puking, thank God, but it is still not very fun.  When I'm nauseous I can't decide if I'm hungry, thirsty, or just have to pee.  It's a very odd sensation lol.